Fffc Bingo Card - A job worth doing right

[m_findlow]

Title: A job worth doing right 
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Ianto, Penny Adams 
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 1,000 words
Content notes: none 
Author notes: Written for Bingo Card Prompt 14 - Archive at fffc
Summary: Ianto inducts his newest employee into Torchwood's biggest and longest running project. 

‘Here we are,’ Ianto said, stepping inside his old office. ‘Welcome to the Torchwood archives, Ms Adams.’ He stood and watched the awestruck expression that crossed Penny's face as she took it all in. All those years he'd waited for someone to finally look impressed. 

‘It's huge,’ she said, staring down the rows and rows of shelving that rose twenty feet high and seemed to stretch out into a never-ending darkness at the far end. 

‘This is just one of the thirty two vaults we have down here, but it has a nice little office here that used to be mine. I hope you'll find it as comfortable as I did.’ 

‘I get an office?’

‘Well, it only seems right that the master of the archives has a space from which to administer their fiefdom. Feel free to brighten it up with your own artwork or flowers or anything you like. It's yours now.’ 

Penney brushed a long lock of honey coloured hair behind her ear as she took it all in. ‘It looks a lot different to Aberystwyth.’ 

‘We've segregated the vaults into different sections. Artifacts take up the bulk of it, but there's separate areas for all our old case files and research notes, a general resource library which probably feels most like what you're used to, and then there's several electronic archives. A lot of the old paper files are still original copies. We've got a hundred and fifty years of records to be scanned into our computer database and in all the time I've been here, we're only about thirty years in. One thing you won't be short on is work. Plus, and you'll be completely forgiven for this, it's impossible to scan in any file without getting sucked into reading it. If anything, that's not a bad thing. With a memory like yours, that's an invaluable cache of information to have at your recall. It'll come in handy in ways you can't even imagine.’

She didn't say anything, but she didn't need to. Ianto could read her expressions like a book. She was so much like him, thinking more than she ever verbalised. She was incredibly bright and just needed a little confidence boost. 

‘So, this is everything? All here in your hub?’ 

‘And then there's a log of everything we've got stored up at Torchwood Two,’ he added as an afterthought, having nearly forgotten about it himself. 

She raised an eyebrow at him. ‘Two?’

‘Glasgow. It's not really a Torchwood base so much as a place we just keep stuff. I'll get you an introduction with Archie one day. Everyone around here thinks he's just a mad old Scot, but I think you'll get on well. He's not as bananas as he makes out, you just have to get him chatting about something he cares about, and nobody has been looking after Torchwood's archives as long as he has. He'll tell you all kinds of stories and all of them are true.’ 

Penny tugged on the ends of her cotton scarf, chewing her lip. ‘Are you sure about all of this Ianto? I mean, I'm just a librarian.’

‘I'm absolutely one hundred percent sure. You faced down those Archamen, didn't you?’

She gave him an unbelieving look. ‘You did all the heroic stuff.’

Ianto snaked an arm around her waist and kissed her hair. It was something Jack would have done and it caught him a little by surprise being so forward and tactile. Jack was definitely rubbing off on him. Penny was his special project, his protégé. She was going to be a great archivist, he already knew it deep down in his gut. ‘I don't want you to be heroic, Penny. I want you to look after our archives. I want you to give it the same love and attention I did. This is our record of everything Torchwood has done and our legacy to hand to the next generation. The stuff down here is beyond value.’ 

‘I thought you said a lot of it was junk.’

He smiled. ‘There's junk too, don't get me wrong. Stuff soaked in rift radiation, waiting for it to dissipate sufficiently so that we can dispose of it. Plenty of broken technology, too. Maybe one day we'll figure out what it does and how to fix it, but until then, we keep it safe. You never know what you're going to need or when you're going to need it. But just know that when we do, we need someone who knows exactly where to find it, and who can pull up anything that might be even remotely connected.’

‘I suppose I can do that.’

‘I'll be here every step of the way to get you up to speed and comfortable with how things work. The Dewey decimal system doesn't really apply so well to what we do, but there is a system. I know you'll get to grips with it pretty quick. It'll make perfect sense to anyone as organised as you.’

Ianto could see another question brewing. ‘How will I know where to put new stuff?’ 

‘That comes with practice. If in doubt, just ask me. Or Jack. He knows more about alien stuff than anyone.’ He paused. ‘Just a word of warning if you do ask Jack, though.’

‘What's that?’ 

‘If he says he doesn't know what it is and insists on keeping it, let him. Don't ask questions.’ 

Penny gave him a worried look. ‘Is that because it's something really dangerous?’ 

‘Sometimes. But you'll have knowledge about our secure archives for dangerous artifacts, even if you don't have physical access.’ 

‘So, what's the other reason?’ 

Ianto couldn't help but smile at what he was about to say. ‘Because sometimes those items are of a personal nature and Jack might want them for his private collection.’ 

Penny frowned. ‘Like coins or stamps?’ 

He squeezed her tight against him again. Bless her innocent heart. ‘Something like that. When it happens, you'll understand what I mean.’