Treachery part 18/?

[aviv_b_artwork]

TITLE:  Snake Eyes (Part 18 of the Treachery Series)
RATING:  PG-13
WARNING:   None
CHARACTERS:  John (Ianto), Tosh, Owen, Jack, Gwen, Liz (OC) 
DISCLAIMER:  Not mine; Aunty B's and RTD's
WORDS: ~ 1015
SUMMARY: Tosh and Owen try to prevent the rest of the team from finding out Ianto's in the Hub.

Treachery (Part 1) here:  http://aviv-b.livejournal.com/49816.html 
All chapters are linked.

 

“What’s going on here,” Jack asked as he looked down on Owen and Tosh in the medical bay.

 

“Just working on dissecting that blowfish we killed the other day,” Owen replied.

 

“I thought you were done…and not feeling well…” Jack’s voice trailed off as he wiped a hand up his face in exhaustion. “Never mind. Tosh, I need you to check into why Mainframe sent us chasing after nothing.  I have a feeling there’s more to this than meets the eye.” Jack walked over to his office and closed the door.

 

Tosh said a few words to Owen before heading up to her computers. She’s keep an eye on Jack’s communications to make sure he didn’t let anyone outside the Hub know he was alive. She looked around with relief when she saw Liz heading down to the archives. Gwen was busy writing up a report for the day’s activities. That would buy Owen a little time to make sure that Ianto came out of sedation without any complications.

 

Tosh continued to putter at her computers. An hour later, Jack came out of his office. He looked over Gwen’s report and suggested she go home. “Never know what tomorrow will bring, so might as well spend some time with that husband of yours while you can.”

 

Gwen didn’t have to be told twice; she grabbed her coat and purse and headed out via the tourist office.  Jack headed over to Tosh’s work area.

 

“So, anything wrong with Mainframe?”

 

“Not that I can see. I think my first suspicions were correct.” Tosh said showing Jack the false readings she had created.  “Something burned up entering Earth’s atmosphere. Probably something large and unfriendly, so despite the long drive, it’s likely a good thing you didn’t find anything.”

 

Jack bent over Tosh’s shoulder looking closely at the data. Tosh felt a shiver run up her spine as Jack effectively had her trapped against her desk.

 

 “So what’s up with Owen,” he whispered. “I thought he was sick.”

 

Tosh rolled her eyes. “He was, but like me, it was nasty but quick,” she whispered back to Jack. “And you know how he is. He can’t stand sitting around doing nothing.”

 

“Makes a change from before you two were together,” Jack said smiling. “He could spend a whole day sitting in the medical bay playing video games and watching porn on his computer.”

 

“Nice to know I’ve been a good influence on him.”

 

Jack snorted and nodded. “Well, I’m going out for a bit; make sure you get him home, ok? I can’t afford for either of you to relapse, not when Mainframe is sending us chasing all over the area looking for non-existent alien ships.”  Jack went back to his office, grabbed his coat and headed out on the invisible lift.

 

Tosh watched on the CCTV until she saw Jack strolling across the Plass and out of site. “Probably going to brood on a roof for a while,” she thought.

 

That just left Liz. She radioed Liz on the com but got no response. She checked the tracker in her cell phone and found that Liz was already home. Tosh shrugged. Liz probably left quietly through one of the exits in the lower levels. She had done that a few times in the past, much to Jack’s irritation.

 

Tosh shut down her computer and joined Owen in the medical bay. “How’s he doing?”

 

Owen pulled the sheet down he had over Ianto’s head. “Still sedated, but his vitals are steady. I’m wondering if it would be better to hide him here or take him to one of our flats.”

 

“I thought we agreed on keeping him here. You have medical equipment here that you don’t have at home and we’ll be close by.”

 

“I know,” Owen said sighing, “but I have a bad feeling about keeping him in the Hub. It’s too much like when he hid his cyber-girlfriend in the sub-basement. It’s risky and if Jack finds out…"

 

“Finds out what?” A voice said from above the medical bay. It was Liz. And she had a gun pointed at Owen.

 

***

 

Jack stood on top of the roof of Capital Tower taking in his favorite view of the city. It was a quiet night, cool and a little breezy, but not unusual for early summer in Cardiff.

 

“All these people depend on me. And I don’t even know how long I’ll be staying. I need to hire someone to be my second. Someone I can train to take over when I leave.”

 

He thought about all the people he had worked with over the years. His current team was highly skilled, but none of them really had the overall leadership abilities he knew would be necessary. Tosh, Owen and Liz were specialists. Gwen was the only possibility and she had already told Jack that she and Rhys were planning on having a family and she might want to cut back her hours at that point. 

 

Jack knew he needed to get someone started sooner rather than later.  It would take time for a new team member to become accepted, especially if they were someone who the others would have to take orders from.

 

“Too bad about Ianto, he had some leadership potential…no point going there,” Jack chided himself, “he’s never coming back to the Hub.” 

 

Jack smiled. He’d call UNIT in the morning. Surely they had someone who would be qualified. A junior officer with potential, but not, perhaps, the right fit for senior command at UNIT.  And he knew that the Brigadier would more than happy to stick his nose into Torchwood business. He and the Brigadier had been at each other for months. This would be a good way to start to patch things up so that his team wouldn’t be at odds with UNIT when the Doctor arrived.

 

As he headed back to the Hub, for the first time in a while Jack felt at peace.

 

“Sometimes the hardest part is making the decision to move forward,” he thought. “Things are going to be fine from now on.” 

Part 19 here: http://aviv-b.livejournal.com/101263.html