Fffc Bingo Card - Against a wall

[m_findlow]

Title: Against a wall
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Ianto, Jack
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 1,000 words
Content notes: none 
Author notes: Written for Bingo Card Prompt 17 - Wall at fffc
Summary: Jack is stumped when it comes to figuring out how to break down Ianto's defensive walls.

Captains Log. 17th November 2006.

Another weevil running amok in Bute Park tonight. That's what, the fourth so far this month? I don't know why their appearances in public spaces is on the rise all of a sudden. There's been no disturbances of their general nesting areas of late. I had Gwen check with the council just to be sure. We'd be the last people they'd tell if they were planning on doing works or re-routing some of the sluice gates. We'd also be the first people they'd blame if some of their workers got a first hand welcome wagon from the local sewer population. Idiots. At least when we had a mayor who was alien she understood these kinds of things. 

Anyway, the weevil itself wasn't a big deal. It was pretty tame by all accounts, and even if it hadn't been, well... Let's just say tonight was a bad night to be a weevil. 

Owen and Tosh were busy off investigating those weeping headstones and Gwen had already hightailed it home when the alert came through. I should have dealt with it on my own but for some stupid reason, I asked Ianto to come with me. Did I think I couldn't handle it? No. Did I think maybe, just maybe, it might be good for Ianto to get out of the hub for the first time in oh, I don't know, weeks? Months? When the hell did he last get out? 

They say when you fall off the horse, the best course of action is to get straight back on. Problem is, I don't think Ianto was ever on the horse to begin with. That's where I made my mistake. I thought taking him out to help capture and release that weevil would do him some good. Maybe take his mind off other things. Boy did I make the wrong call. 

It all started out okay. We geared up, got in the SUV, tracked the signal down to the area just alongside the river. So far so good. Everything is perfectly normal. I figure, why not use this as the opportunity to maybe have a little talk. Ianto isn't big on talking, especially if he thinks the others might hear. His pride is a little bit fragile and I can't really blame him for that. It's hard enough most days trying to convince everyone that there's no hard feelings and that it's all just part of the job, but I can tell Ianto is still taking it hard. 

So here we are, all alone - well, alone except for one rogue weevil somewhere nearby - so I figure, what the heck. Now is as good a time as any to be blunt, so I go right ahead and ask him how's he's doing since Lisa. 

Well, he just threw up a big old wall right there and then. Said he didn't want to talk about it and didn't we have a weevil that needed catching? Now, there's denial and there's denial. Ianto takes denial and cranks it right up to eleven. I figure maybe now was the wrong moment to ask. Ianto is one of those "focused on the job" kind of guys. Asking personal questions right before we take down a weevil maybe wasn't the best choice of timing. That's okay, though. There's always the ride home, and this time I'll be more subtle. 

In hindsight, this was so the wrong moment to take Ianto out and put him up against a deadly alien. What happened next... He lost it. I mean, he had this stick in his hand and I thought he was joking, and that there was no way he was going to take on a weevil with it. As a side note, not a good idea to go in aggressive with a weevil, unless of course you enjoy losing limbs. For that report, refer Captain's Log 29th April 1905.

I have never seen someone display that much aggression against a weevil. I actually felt sorry for it, cowering there on the ground beaten and hurting. Ianto went too far, and I can't help but think that poor weevil took a beating for me. After that, it was like Jekyll and Hyde. Old Ianto came back, or maybe a third version, totally detached from reality. He just walked off towards the SUV like nothing had happened. 

Now, I get that he's mad at me for killing Lisa. I expect that and I don't blame him. How could any reasonable person not be? But I just don't get it. I don't get Ianto. Full stop. Ever since he's just been, well... Ianto. Quiet. Efficient. Helpful to a fault. Maybe a little bit down and reserved sometimes, but otherwise... 

I shoved that weevil in the back of the car. On my own, I might add. So much for “helpful to a fault” Ianto Jones. I get in the car and he's just sitting there, like I've gone to pick up the fish and chips instead of that weevil who is now thankfully sedated, putting it out of its misery for a little while. 

‘Your hands,’ I say, noticing Ianto idly picking splinters out of them, scratched and bleeding. 

‘I'm okay,’ he says. Okay? OKAY? Seriously? Ianto Jones is most definitely NOT okay. 

‘I'll take you home so you can get them cleaned up. I'll handle the weevil.’ That's what I said. Captain Jack Harkness, leader of Torchwood Three, and I didn't even have the guts to confront him about it. Was I scared? Damn right I was scared. I can face down a blowfish any day of the week, but this complete mystery of a man frightens me in a way I can't even explain. I don't know how to get through to him, or even if he wants me to get through, but that doesn't mean I'm going to stop trying. Maybe tonight wasn't the right night for it. Somehow, some way, I will make things right.