Spook_me 2020 - Haunted - Chapter 37

[m_findlow]

Title: Haunted
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack, Gwen, Ianto, OCs
Author: m_findlow
Rating: M
Length: 50,847 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for spook_me 2020 Prompt - Ghost
Summary: The team investigate rumours of a haunted house in rural Wales.

Jack had almost dropped off to sleep when he finally felt Ianto stir. If Father Michael's bed hadn't been so religiously small and spartan, Jack might have lifted the thin patchwork duvet and clambered in next to him. He was tired enough to sleep for two days himself.

As it was Gwen had been napping at the end of the bed, sat in a wooden chair pilfered from the kitchen, with her upper body slumped over the bed, using her good arm for a pillow. Her bedside vigil had not been as successful as his own, succumbing to sleep within an hour.

He reluctantly woke her a few hours later, sending her packing with Father Michael to see the local town doctor to get her shoulder checked out. He was fairly certain the ligaments were torn and needed more than his rudimentary first aid skills and a sling. She'd argued in her typical fashion that she was fine and wanted to stay until Ianto woke up, but he used all his Captain influence on her to finally convince her to go. And a little piece of him wanted this moment alone when Ianto woke. He felt like he owed Ianto that much.

'Hey.' He ran a hand over Ianto's face, still pale and worn. Blue eyes stared bleary up at him, trying to clear the fug. 'What do you remember?'

Ianto's face scrunched up in that adorable way of his when he was trying to think hard. 'Not sure,' he replied, carefully evading the question.

'That's okay.'

He shifted slightly under the covers. 'Where am I?'

'Father Michael's.'

He looked down at himself and saw the narrow single bed he was lying on. 'Not the king suite you promised, then.'

Jack smiled. No one could wake from an exorcism and deliver such a dry Ianto Jones line other than the genuine article. 'Maybe next time,' Jack promised.

'Or maybe you just owe me a real holiday next time.'

Jack nodded. 'That too.'

'France? Wasn't that what you said?'

'Or maybe somewhere a little further abroad. More tropical.' A week of sunny beaches and blue water was just what the doctor ordered, and no less than what was deserved.

Ianto gave him another little frown. 'Gwen?'

Jack squeezed his hand reassuringly. 'Sorting out that busted shoulder. Local GP should be able to put it to rights until we can get back to Cardiff. Rhys will no doubt have words for me,' he added, trying to lighten the mood. 'Or a cricket bat.'

Ianto nodded feebly. 'Okay.' He didn't seem to want to say anymore on the subject. He was sometimes strange like that, yet it was so overwhelmingly Ianto. Most people would be overbrimming with questions. Jack guessed he already knew and remembered more than he was letting on. That was okay. If and when he wanted to talk about it, Jack would be there, ready and waiting.

'Why don't you get some more rest? There's no rush for us to
leave.'

Ianto acquiesced easily, nestling his head back down into the pillow and closing his eyes.

Jack ran his hand over Ianto's forehead and through his hair before quietly getting up and leaving.

As he closed the door behind him he could already hear another one opening as Gwen and Father Michael returned.

'What's the diagnosis?'

Gwen had a proper sling replacing Jack's earlier efforts. She was also toting a small paper bag that no doubt had some much needed painkillers. 'Torn ligament, just like you said.'

Jack smirked. 'What did I tell you?'

Gwen rolled her eyes at him. 'Makes me wonder why you bothered sending me out to see a real doctor.'

'Better safe than sorry. You wouldn't want me performing surgery on you, would you? I'd probably cut off the wrong limb.'

'How's Ianto?'

Jack shoved his hands in his pockets and suppressed a yawn. 'Just woke up and on Captain's orders for some more rest. Same goes for you. There's a perfectly good armchair over there with your name on it,' he said, nodding his head toward the battered looking furniture which had just the right amount of well worn comfort.

Gwen's brow creased as she looked at him.' Couldn't we just go? Not that your little town isn't lovely, Father,' she qualified, giving him a sympathetic smile, 'but all the same, I'm not sure the country life suits me as much as I thought.'

Father Michael folded his hands behind his back and acknowledged the statement with a little bow. 'You would be  quite forgiven. And I think I do need to forgive you. The number of occasions you and your friends invoke the name of our Lord and Savior in vain are quite shocking to the ears of a man who has led an uneventful life dedicated to God for so many years now.'

If the statement was intended to make Gwen blush, she didn't outwardly show it. Jack smiled at her unyielding resistance to faith. 'Your alien hunting days are well and truly behind you, huh?' he asked Father Michael, hoping to draw him in with the teasing question.

'Very much so. Yet I fear Abercrafen House shall carry its tales of haunting for a long while to come yet. People do have an unnatural love of the macabre.'

'And someone still has to go back up there to collect all our equipment. That'd be me,' Jack added before anyone else could interject. 'And before you ask, Gwen, no I haven’t told Ianto about the broken back window. He can be pissed at you about that later.'

And he would be, Jack knew. He'd moan and complain the whole way home, unable to ignore the fact that their car now had extra air conditioning in a season where heating was the only setting to have on. Jack was looking forward to listening to it. Having things back to normal was just how he liked it.

Gwen ignored his attempts to change the subject on her. 'Are you ever going to tell us the whole story, Jack?'

He grinned. 'One day,' he said without making a firm commitment. 'Preferably when we're all half drunk and stuffing our faces with crisps in the rowdiest pub in Cardiff where stories like that aren't going to spook anyone.'

Comments

[jo02]

Finally got to reading it! This may be my favourite long story of yours - but I think I say that after each one of them.

You always get the perfect balance of great story, great characters, and great characterisation. I really loved this, thank you.

[m-findlow.livejournal.com]

Thank you! It's the longest of the long stories so far (which I didn't expect when I started writing it) but it was fun and I got really into it with all the spooky music and pinterest photos whilst I was writing it. I have more fun with it when it becomes a fully immersive experience.
I'm hoping to re-release it later in the year as a pdf version with location pictures (all done as black and grey illustrations). I have the converted images but I just need to find time to put it together (maybe as a 2021 Halloween release). I would really love to make it into a podfic with music but I have a terrible reading voice and TTS is awful.