Torchwood: Fanfic: In hiding

[m_findlow]

Title: In hiding
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack, Ianto, OC
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 1,213 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for badly_knitted's prompt "Any, any, Hiding in the closet seemed like a great idea, but there's no handle on this side of the door" at fic_promptly
Summary: Jack was determined to win at any cost.

This will be brilliant, Jack thought as he pulled the edge of the door right against the jamb, crouching in the darkness.

He could hear the obscenely loud voice issuing from the stairs below him as his son was doing his best to count all the way to thirty. That in itself made Jack beam with pride. Ianto might be able to take credit for the achievement, but their kids could almost count to fifty on their own, which was something none of their classmates could do yet. The public education system had a lot to answer for, but for now it was okay. They could give their offspring a head start in life by teaching them outside normal school hours, yet still make it seem like fun. The headache would come later when they were older and they started asking Dad to help them with their algebra. He might be able to fix the flux drive on a quantum cruiser, but ask him to solve for x and Jack was likely to crumble under the pressure.

On this occasion though, he had the mental upper hand. All those years of naked hide and seek with Ianto were finally paying off. There weren't that many places in their comfortable house that a fully grown adult could successfully hide, but Jack knew this time he had it nailed. Children had the advantage of size, able to crawl into small spaces between boxes and under beds. There was no room for Jack under his own bed. Ianto had already claimed that space for storage. It didn't matter though. Jack had a plan.

Perhaps it was wrong to try and beat your children at simple games, but Jack was a competitive beast and hated to lose to anyone, even if he had the benefit of two hundred years life experience. Ianto would frown and tell him it was pathetic, tying to outdo your children. Jack disagreed. Kids were molly-coddled too much these days. Better they learn that not everything in life comes easy and that you have to sometimes work for it.

Just like now. Jack was going to win this round of hide and seek if it killed him. He'd crept carefully and quietly upstairs as Tom counted. Not that he needed to bother with being quiet. Tom was loud enough to mask any sound Jack made. In their bedroom, he pulled open the wardrobe door and shunted aside a box meant for shoes, slipping in behind it and the thick wedge of shirts and pants all hanging neatly, forcing himself behind them and then sliding down the wall until he was right behind the box, hidden from sight. It might be cramped in here but, Jack had to admit, it smelled really good. Everything had the scent of Ianto and laundry detergent clinging to it. The combination was heavenly. Perhaps next time he needed to hide from Ianto and his reports, this would be a good place.

Finally the sound of his son's voice disappeared and Jack knew he was now tearing around the house, looking for his dad. Jack grinned. He'd go for all the obvious places, like underneath the beds, behind the sofa, in the pantry, behind the curtains. He'd look in places where Jack was never going to fit, because any five year old worth his salt would always check places he himself would hide. Once those were exhausted, he'd tried odd places, like inside the fridge, behind the TV, and sitting on the toilet. He wouldn't come up to the bedroom until there was nowhere else.

That was because Ianto had always told them not to go in there without one of them. Snooping in Daddy's room was a no no. It was to protect them more than anything. As good as he was at keeping things clean and tidy, there was the occasional item left lying around that little people just shouldn't get their hands on.

It was dirty and underhanded for Jack to hide in here, really, since they were technically not allowed to look here, but he knew Tom. He wouldn't let one silly rule get in the way of solving a mystery.

Jack held his breath as he heard little footsteps coming up the stairs, pausing at the doorway before considering the consequences, and then ignoring them. Jack listened intently as he went through the motions, checking under the bed, and in the en suite, behind the side table, and then coming to stand in front of the wardrobe. Jack waited with baited breath. Was he about to be found out? There was a moment of silence, and then the footsteps left. Yes! Victory was his!

It was another ten minutes before Jack heard the distinct sound of yelling.

'Daddy! Daddy! Where are you?' It wasn't panic but it was clearly a distress that he couldn't be found and that perhaps he'd been left alone in the house or that Daddy had run away. Jack stood up, ending the game. He worked his way back through the maze of clothes and went to push open the door, only to find that somehow, where he had left it almost completely closed, it was now fully closed. And with no handle on the inside, there was also no way out. Crap.

'Tom!' he called out. 'Tom!'

'Daddy?' the voice replied.

'I'm in the bedroom!' Jack yelled out. There was a thud of feet coming back upstairs. 'I'm in the wardrobe, Tommy. Can you let Daddy out?'

There was an awkward pause. Why wasn't he opening the door? 'Daddy? I can't reach the handle.'

Jack hadn't thought of that. It was quite high up. Damn it. Jack pushed against the door but it was stuck tight, the mechanism clicked tightly into its alloted space, sealing him in. 'Step back from the door for a second,' Jack warned. He tried to hip and shoulder it, but without any space to get momentum up, it was impossible to get it to budge.

'Okay, Tommy. You're going to have to call Daddy and get him to come home early with the girls, okay? Can you find my phone? It's on the bed.'

'I found it.'

'Good.' Jack told him what numbers to press, first to unlock the phone and then to dial Ianto. He could have used the address book, but it was going to be difficult to explain to his son why Daddy was listed as "Sexy".

'Just tell Daddy that the door is stuck,' Jack instructed. Gods, but he was going to get such a bollocking for this, he thought.

'Hello? Daddy?' Jack heard his son answer the phone at the sound of Ianto's voice. 'I'm okay,' Tom replied. 'Daddy won hide and seek.' Jack could just imagine Ianto sitting there on the other end of the phone asking why he was calling and could he speak with Jack. 'Daddy's stuck in the wardrobe.' There was another lag. 'The one in your room. Can you come home and let him out? He broke the rules.'

There was another pause.

'Daddy says the punishment for breaking the rules is time in the wardrobe,' Tom reported back.

'Ianto, you come home right now!' Jack yelled. 'You can spank me later for being naughty!'