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m_findlowTitle: Tough love
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Ianto, Jack
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 500 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for Challenge 630 - Protect at![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
slashthedrabble
Summary: Ianto is furious with Jack for being selfish.
Ianto slammed the door so hard that it made the keys Jack had dropped on the sideboard rattle so much they slipped right off the edge and into the floor. 'What are you so mad about all of a sudden?' he asked. Ianto had been giving him the silent treatment the whole way home so Jack just knew something was brewing.
'What am I mad about?' Just having the question repeated at him made Jack wary. It was the precursor to a whole litany of complaints in his experience. 'As if you don't know!'
Jack resisted the urge to roll his eyes, knowing the attitude would only incense Ianto even more. Of course he probably knew. Bad days were unavoidable but Ianto was usually better at coping with them and moving past them. Today was not one of the good ones, with several casualties. Owen was still sorting out the last of them when Jack had shoved Ianto out the door, telling Owen they were going home. There was nothing else for them to do. What Jack really wanted however was to go home and try and shake off thoughts of just how much worse it could have been.
'People died. We did our best.'
Ianto rounded on him, face full of pent up anger. 'That girl died because of you! Because you decided not to save her.'
Jack's jaw clenched. 'It was a split second decision. You or her. I didn't exactly have time to debate the relative merits of whose life needed saving the most. I chose to protect you.'
Ianto pointed an angry finger at him. 'I don't need you to protect me!'
Now it was Jack's turn to be incensed. 'You'd be dead right now if I hadn't!' The thought still sent a shiver down Jack's spine. Jack didn't know what he would have done if he hadn't been there to intervene at the right moment. The thought of losing Ianto was unbearable.
'Except I choose to put myself in danger, to protect others. My death is guaranteed.'
'Don't say that!' Ianto was pressing all of Jack's buttons now. He didn't ever want to think of Ianto as being on borrowed time. Or any of his team for that matter. He'd die a thousand times to save them and, he admittedly guiltily, maybe put their lives ahead of others if it came down to it, just like tonight. What was a stranger compared to the love of your life?
Ianto shook his head, still furious but so disgusted with him that he couldn't even find the words.
Jack sighed and let his boyfriend storm off to the bedroom, leaving Jack in no uncertain terms relegated to the sofa, or worse, not even allowed to stay in the house. He wouldn't apologise or do anything more to placate his lover. He was going to do whatever it took to keep him safe and if Ianto didn't like that, then it was just tough luck. Or tough love.
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Ianto, Jack
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 500 words
Content notes: none
Author notes: Written for Challenge 630 - Protect at
slashthedrabbleSummary: Ianto is furious with Jack for being selfish.
Ianto slammed the door so hard that it made the keys Jack had dropped on the sideboard rattle so much they slipped right off the edge and into the floor. 'What are you so mad about all of a sudden?' he asked. Ianto had been giving him the silent treatment the whole way home so Jack just knew something was brewing.
'What am I mad about?' Just having the question repeated at him made Jack wary. It was the precursor to a whole litany of complaints in his experience. 'As if you don't know!'
Jack resisted the urge to roll his eyes, knowing the attitude would only incense Ianto even more. Of course he probably knew. Bad days were unavoidable but Ianto was usually better at coping with them and moving past them. Today was not one of the good ones, with several casualties. Owen was still sorting out the last of them when Jack had shoved Ianto out the door, telling Owen they were going home. There was nothing else for them to do. What Jack really wanted however was to go home and try and shake off thoughts of just how much worse it could have been.
'People died. We did our best.'
Ianto rounded on him, face full of pent up anger. 'That girl died because of you! Because you decided not to save her.'
Jack's jaw clenched. 'It was a split second decision. You or her. I didn't exactly have time to debate the relative merits of whose life needed saving the most. I chose to protect you.'
Ianto pointed an angry finger at him. 'I don't need you to protect me!'
Now it was Jack's turn to be incensed. 'You'd be dead right now if I hadn't!' The thought still sent a shiver down Jack's spine. Jack didn't know what he would have done if he hadn't been there to intervene at the right moment. The thought of losing Ianto was unbearable.
'Except I choose to put myself in danger, to protect others. My death is guaranteed.'
'Don't say that!' Ianto was pressing all of Jack's buttons now. He didn't ever want to think of Ianto as being on borrowed time. Or any of his team for that matter. He'd die a thousand times to save them and, he admittedly guiltily, maybe put their lives ahead of others if it came down to it, just like tonight. What was a stranger compared to the love of your life?
Ianto shook his head, still furious but so disgusted with him that he couldn't even find the words.
Jack sighed and let his boyfriend storm off to the bedroom, leaving Jack in no uncertain terms relegated to the sofa, or worse, not even allowed to stay in the house. He wouldn't apologise or do anything more to placate his lover. He was going to do whatever it took to keep him safe and if Ianto didn't like that, then it was just tough luck. Or tough love.
