m_findlow

Title: Now it's personal
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters/Pairings: Ianto, Rhys
Word Count: 500 words
Rating: PG.
Notes: Written for Challenge 147 - Personal at anythingdrabble
Summary: Ianto was trying to keep things professional but he didn't count on Rhys The Rant.

Ianto pinched the bridge of his nose as he listened to the Welsh voice on the other end of the line. 'Rhys, I want to assure you that this is just business. It's nothing personal.'

He could hear the heavy breathing on the other end of the line. It wasn't the sexy kind he was used to, like the "tell me what you're wearing, now describe the way you're taking off your clothes" kind. It was the furious husband kind that Jack had always been on the receiving end of, the "if Gwen doesn't come through our front door in the next five minutes, I'm coming over there to remove your balls with a pair of very blunt scissors" kind. His left hand instinctually rested over his lap as he held the phone to his ear, as if that could protect him from what came next. 'It was a delicate situation. We needed to go in undercover.'

'Oh, and you thought having the pair of them shack up for the week was what it called for?'

Ianto chewed the inside of his lip. Gwen had set him up nicely for this, he thought. How she could have possibly forgotten to mention to Rhys she was going undercover until the last possible moment as she was headed out the door was too convenient to believe anything else. "You couldn't call Rhys and explain, could you?" Sure he could. Provided no one wanted him alive when all of this was over.

'A married couple wouldn't draw any attention,' he tried to explain. 'It was the best cover for what we needed.'

'Oh, but of course you couldn't go. What with you being married an all...'

'They're not big on...' he paused, trying to find the right word, '...gender fluid relationships.' He'd done the undercover gay couple thing with Jack before and it hadn't been the pleasant "at least we'll get to spend lots of quality time together" assignment he might have hoped for. At least when Jack and Gwen went out there and put on an act for everyone's benefit, they wouldn't spend hours afterwards arguing about who actually meant what they said.

'Thought I might take a few days off work,' Rhys ranted. 'Gwen was due a week's vacation, she said. Thought we could drive down to Porthcawl and rent a cabin by the sea.'

Ianto cringed at Rhys holiday plans. Gwen had once described a caravan as a prison cell on wheels. And Porthcawl was hardly equivalent to San Sébastien.

'You know, Ianto,' Rhys began again, 'I think this whole being boss thing has gone to your head.'

He snapped. Rhys had gone too far now. 'You think I want my husband shacked up with your wife? Don't think Jack won't kiss her to keep up appearances and don't think she won't enjoy it. They're my best two agents and they'll act like the best married couple in all of Wales. I don't hear you being sympathetic about my sacrifice!'