Is That A Leek (on your lapel) Or Are You Just Glad To See Me?

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POSTED IN 2 PARTS CAUSE LJ IS BEING A PILL

TITLE:  Is That  A Leek (on your lapel) Or Are You Just Glad To See Me?
 Author: Aviv_b
RATING:  PG
CHARACTERS:  Ianto, Jack, Gwen, Tosh, Owen, Rhys
DISCLAIMER:  Not mine; Aunty B's and RTD's
WORDS: ~ 3280
SUMMARY:  Gwen and Ianto keep disappearing at lunch time. Jack isn't worried, no, not at all. 

Written for redisourcolor Challenge 19 - Theme: Celebrations.  Words: pormanteau, dense, ravel and the sentence: "I'm so hungry I could eat an elephant!"

PART I

 

“Something’s going on, it’s not like Gwen and Ianto to ask for a day off without an explanation, let alone the same day,” Jack thought.

 

“I know Gwen’s been a bit out of sorts ever since she found out about Owen and Diane, I wonder…No! They wouldn’t; that’s impossible.”

 

Jack refused to consider that Ianto and Gwen could be having an affair. He knew he wasn’t the most emotionally demonstrative of lovers, but surely Ianto knew how he felt about him.  Didn’t he?

 

Part of Jack’s brain was telling him that nothing was happing between Gwen and Ianto, while a tiny corner of his mind was pointing out that Ianto didn’t need Jack’s permission to see other people, (“but Gwen, of all people”).

 

The largest part of Jack’s brain was berating him. “You treat him like part of the furniture, why shouldn’t he be attracted to Gwen?”

 

“Because he’s mine,” Jack growled not realizing that he was speaking out loud.

 

Tosh had just been entering Jack’s office when he voiced his thoughts.

 

“Something wrong, Jack?”

 

“No, everything’s fine. Got any special plans for March first?”

 

“Uh, no, why do you ask?”

 

“Just checking as Gwen and Ianto are taking the day off.”

 

“Well I wasn’t planning on taking that day off, and I certainly won’t be if they are both going to be out of the office.”

 

Jack took a deep breath. Either Tosh knew nothing about this day off, or she was an expert liar.

 

Owen wasn’t much help either. He had been sulky ever since Diane had disappeared through the rift. When Jack questioned him about Ianto and Gwen, Owen scowled.

 

“What? You think they’re having a go?  Come on, Tea Boy and Gwen? Really? Now that would be fun. Part-time shag and some-time slag, yeah?”

 

Owen wisely shut up when he heard a growl deep in Jack’s throat.

 

“Looks, like I hit a sore spot,” Owen snickered, as Jack stormed out of the medical bay.

 

Back in his office, Jack was seething. It was bad enough to be worried about Gwen and Ianto, to then have Owen speak so dismissively…he was going to ravel out what was going on if it’s the last thing he did.

 

****

The rift was quiet the next day. Jack was on the phone with UNIT all morning discussing their upcoming joint training exercises. Once off the phone he strolled into the main area of the Hub to see if lunch had arrived.

 

“Where’s Ianto?  Did he go to get lunch?”

 

“He ordered lunch for delivery before he and Gwen went out. Said they had some things to do,” Tosh replied.

 

Jack didn’t like the sound of that one bit. ‘What kind of things Tosh? Did they say?”

 

“Don’t know,” she replied looking at Jack curiously. “They’re always back in about an hour. And then they head off to the showers. I can’t imagine how they’d get so hot and sweaty in February.”

 

Jack couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He knew Tosh wasn’t always the most perceptive of people when it came to personal interactions, but how could she talk about Gwen and Ianto coming back hot and sweaty and not think that he would find this disconcerting.

 

He could see Tosh finally realizing that what she had said might be upsetting to him.

 

“Don’t worry; I’ll take care of getting lunch from the tourist office,” she told him in her most reassuring voice.

 

“Do that,” Jack snapped and stormed back to his office.

 

As Tosh looked back at her computer screen a small smile blossomed on her face.

 

Jack pulled up the employee tracking program he had on his computer. Everyone had these programs linked to their cell phones so they could be located quickly if the world was coming to an end.

 

He found Gwen and Ianto’s signals without much difficulty. The signals were moving together through a nearby park. So at least they weren’t at a hotel, or one of their flats, Jack thought with relief.

 

Day after day, work permitting, Gwen and Ianto continued to disappear at lunch time. And every time Jack looked at where they were, he found them moving around together. Mostly in parks, but sometimes their signals would register at the shopping mall or on residential streets of Cardiff.  Jack couldn’t make sense of it. They’d appear back at the Hub about an hour later. Gwen would mumble hello and duck down into the shower room first. Ianto would grab some lunch and head down to the archives. About a half hour later, he’d see Ianto dressed in jeans, sweatshirt and trainers going into the shower room, reappearing not long after, neat and tidy in his suit.

 

Jack observed Ianto carefully and noticed only one other change in his routine. Every morning he came in with a portmanteau and then left with the old battered leather bag at night. The one time in recent weeks that Jack went home with him, Ianto stashed the bag in his closet to ‘deal with later.’ The next morning the bag was waiting at the front door as Ianto had obviously ‘dealt with it’ during the night.

 

“Could Ianto be taking items home from the archives? And how would that involve Gwen?” The thought frightened Jack more than he wanted to admit.

 

Then there came an evening when Ianto has been swiped by a weevil and while he let Jack drive him home, he made it clear that Jack wasn’t welcome to stay. And funny thing, Gwen left the Hub right after Jack returned. “Stop it,” Jack berated himself. “Nothing is going on.”  Still…he took out his cell.

 

“Oh Rhys, its you, is Gwen home? Is Gwen there?”

 

His mood darkened as Rhys said she wasn’t. Jack asked him a few questions about their upcoming wedding to see if he could detect anything wrong. Just as Jack was about to hang up, Rhys interrupted, “Hang on, she’s at the door.”

 

A few moments later Gwen came to the phone. “Jack what’s wrong?”

 

“Where were you?” Jack asked his irritation clear.

 

“What? I stopped on the way home to pick up groceries. You didn’t try my cell did you? Is everything OK? On no, did something happen with Ianto?”

 

Jack realized that Gwen’s concern was genuine. She obviously wasn’t coming home from Ianto’s.

 

Jack suddenly felt foolish. “I just wanted to make sure you are OK.”

 

“Yes I am. I know you’re worried about Ianto, but we’re fine here, honestly.”

 

Jack ended the call as quickly as he could. He needed a new plan to find out what Ianto and Gwen were up to.  He considered following them but knew that Tosh and Owen would catch on and probably tell Gwen and Ianto, which would make both of them angry with him.

 

The fifth time he asked Tosh what Ianto and Gwen were doing at lunchtime, she was obviously annoyed. “I don’t know Jack. Why don’t you just ask them?” she said as she rolled her eyes.

 

Jack mumbled something about not wanting to appear nosy and skulked back to his office. 

 

That night the Team minus Jack went out for drinks.

 

“He’s making us crazy,” Tosh confessed to Ianto and Gwen. “Please let us tell him what’s going on.”

 

Owen laughed. “I can’t believe he hasn’t figured it out. How long has he lived in Cardiff?”

 

“A hundred years, plus or minus. And don’t forget, he still can’t speak more than ten words of Welsh,” Ianto snarked.

 

After some debate, Gwen and Ianto agreed that Tosh and Owen could talk to Jack the evening before their day off.

 

****

 

Jack got more distracted and irritable as March first drew near.  Gwen and Ianto both left promptly at 6 PM on the last day of February.  Owen was also packing up to go while Tosh was still working at her computer. Jack managed to pick a fight with Owen and then ordered Tosh out of the Hub.

 

“Well since no else is working, there’s no sense in you staying either. Go home Tosh.”

 

When Tosh tried to argue, Jack snapped.

 

“I said go home. Now,” he yelled.

 

Tosh was going to yell back, but Owen intervened just in time. “Come on Tosh; let me buy you a drink. We’ll just leave mister cranky-pants here alone.”

 

It wasn’t until they were at a nearby pub that Tosh realized that they hadn’t talked to Jack.

 

“Oi, if you think I’m going back there to make him feel better after the way he treated you, you’re bonkers.”

 

Tosh found it hard to disagree.

 

***

 

 

2 AM. A rift alert sounded.

 

“Yeah, I’m on my way,” Owen said sighing into the phone. When he arrived at the Hub, Tosh was there as well.

 

Jack was furious. “I tried to reach Ianto and Gwen, but they aren’t answering their cells.”

 

“Well they do have the day off you know,” Tosh pointed out.

 

“That’s tomorrow, not today,” Jack replied.

 

“Uh…it’s tomorrow, Captain, March first. And really you don’t need all four of us to catch a couple of Weevils.”

 

“I decide who gets called out…”

 

Tosh couldn’t listen to Jack anymore. “Stop it Jack. Stop before you say something you’ll regret later. Just what is your obsession with Gwen and Ianto lately?”

 

“I don’t like them spending so much time together.”

 

“Why not? It’s not like you have any commitment with Ianto is it?” Owen retorted. “And even if you did, why would Ianto have to report to you what he did with his friends?”

 

Jack didn’t know what to say. “It’s not like that. Ianto and I… Let’s just go get the weevils and be done with this,” he finally replied.

 

The weevils were easily located but subduing them was another matter. One of the weevils swiped at Jack and ripped open his arm in the process. And while Tosh and Owen knew that Jack would heal, they wasted no time getting him back to the Hub.

 

Jack sat in the medical bay brooding while Owen monitored his condition. Tosh pulled up a chair next to Jack. “What happened out there Jack? You almost got yourself killed.”

 

“Thinking about Tea Boy and Gwen, I bet,” Owen snarked.

 

“Yeah, I guess I was. I’m just worried that something’s going on that they are hiding from me.”

 

“And just what do you think they would be hiding?” Tosh asked.

 

“Maybe Ianto’s sick and he doesn’t want me to know. Or maybe Gwen’s having problems with Rhys. Or maybe its Ianto’s sister or niece or Gwen’s mother or I don’t know.” 

 

Jack’s answer surprised Tosh and Owen. “So you don’t think they are having an affair,” Owen asked.

 

“No,” Jack answered, adding “well I thought that at first” when he saw the look of disbelief on Owen’s face. “But that can’t be it. They just walk around for an hour or so. They can talk to each other in the Hub; it would have to be something really private and serious for them to have to go off somewhere to talk.”

 

Owen and Tosh looked at each other. “Ok, I’m going to tell you what’s going on. Tomorrow is March first. Do you know why that day would be important to Ianto and Gwen?”  Jack shook his head ‘no.’

 

“You’ve lived in Cardiff for a century and you really don’t know, do you?” Owen snarked. “Earth to Captain Oblivious; it’s St. David’s Day.”  Seeing the black look on Jack’s face, Owen continued, “St David, you know the Patron Saint of Wales.”

 

“Ok…”

 

“The last few years Cardiff has been holding big celebrations in honour of St. David’s Day.”

 

“There’s a parade by school children and this year First Minister Carwyn Jones, who is Ianto’s third cousin, will be making the opening greeting. There are going to be musicians and storytellers at the Central Library, various choirs performing as well as other events. Didn’t you notice the daffodils all over the city?” Tosh asked.

 

Tosh was incredulous when Jack said he hadn’t. “So Gwen and Ianto are taking off to celebrate,” Jack said, the relief palpable on his face. “But why so secret about it?”

 

Owen smiled. “There’s also a ten kilometer race. While you were in London a month ago, UNIT called and challenged their best male and female runners against ours. Ianto and Gwen volunteered. Said they had to uphold the good name of Torchwood as well as Wales. And before you complain, remember you are supposedly an American.”

 

“So they’ve been running at lunch time.” 

 

“Exactly. Outdoors when they can but indoors when it’s too cold.” Owen shook his head at Jack. “You really can be incredibly dense Harkness. You could have asked Ianto. He was surprised that you never did. Or Gwen. She wouldn’t have been able to keep a secret from you for ten minutes let alone three weeks.”

 

“But why was it a secret in the first place?” Jack asked genuinely puzzled.

 

“They thought you’d tease them about it, or make fun of their running ‘for the glory of Wales.’”

 

“I wouldn’t…yeah I probably would.” Jack admitted. “I haven’t had a real home or country for so many years, I forget that others take great pride in their roots. So what time are all these events, especially the race?”

 

“Jack, what are you thinking?” Tosh asked suspiciously.

 

Jack smiled.

PART 2 HERE: http://aviv-b.livejournal.com/111856.html