buttononthetop: (Vizzini's Rule - Title)
[personal profile] buttononthetop
Title: Vizzini's Rule, Chapter 5

Rating: PG-13 for this chapter

Warnings: Nope.

Spoilers: Cyberwoman (1x4) and Fragments (2x12)

Disclaimer: Torchwood and all its wonderfulness belong to Russell T. Davies and the Mighty Beeb. Just goofin' around!

Summary: The origin fic continues - in which we see Ianto begin work at Torchwood.

Notes: Comments will be loved and petted and called George! :o)

Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four


Vizzini's Rule: Chapter Five

The next morning he pulled another suit out of the back of his closet since the Captain had seemed to like him in one. He tied his tie with care, making sure he looked as dignified as possible. He needed all the help he could get to pull this off and the suit made him feel surprisingly confident.

He spent a few minutes talking to Lisa as he downed a cup of coffee. He was worried about leaving her alone for so long, but she did everything she could to relieve his guilt. Giving her a dose of painkillers and some sedatives, Ianto kissed her softly and reported for duty.

He wasn’t sure exactly where to go or what time he was expected, so he headed for the door of the Tourist Office, fully prepared to wait. This was apparently the right choice as he saw the Captain standing outside, leaning against the railing and looking out over the water.

“I thought you’d be an early bird,” he said, not turning his head. Ianto joined him by the railing and faced the bay. “Everyone else wanders in between nine and ten; we often have late nights.” The Captain looked at Ianto, “Is that going to be a problem?”

“No, sir,” Ianto replied.

“No one at home waiting with supper ready?” the Captain asked, teasing and serious at the same time.

Ianto tightened his hands around the rail but said in a mild tone, “No, sir.”

The Captain watched him for a moment with narrowed eyes, almost as if he could tell Ianto was lying. But he merely said, “Alright then, why don’t we start with the tour?”

Ianto nodded, turning to follow the Captain as he unlocked the Tourist Office door. He flipped on a light, illuminating a very small, rather dingy room with a large counter covered in messy piles of fliers.

“This will be your…well, office for lack of a better term. We’ve never had anyone up here so you’ll need to get it kitted up for yourself. Feel free to raid the supply closet downstairs and just let me know if you need anything to make it comfortable.” The Captain pointed at a hideous beaded curtain. “Behind there is a little back room. We usually use it for storage, but you can set it up however you like.”

“Sir?”

Ianto noticed the Captain always smiled when he called him sir. Sounding amused, he replied, “Yes, Ianto?”

“I was just wondering, if you’ve never had anyone up here…well, don’t people come in for brochures and things?”

The Captain’s smile widened. He reached behind the counter for a little hand-printed sign that read Away for a moment, please help yourself! “We lock the door or just leave this up. Sometimes people wait for a while, but they always give up and leave after a bit.” He pointed to a small camera in the corner of the room. “Internal CCTV, we can watch all parts of the Hub – uh, sorry, that’s what we call the base – anyway, we can watch everything on the monitors.”

Ianto’s blood ran cold. Internal CCTV? That will complicate things. The Captain was still talking. “…pens, paper, whatever. It’s all in there. Like I said, just let me know what you need. I’ll show you the forms and stuff.” He smiled suddenly. “Hey! I just realized – you can do the paperwork now.” He rubbed his hands together, delighted. “You may have been right Ianto, we do need someone for the day-to-day stuff. I’m suddenly very glad you found that damn dinosaur after all.”

Ianto smiled weakly. “Thank you, sir.”

“Okay, the Hub. This way,” the Captain said, pointing at a stone wall. Before Ianto could question him, he pushed a button on the side of the counter and the wall swung back. Motioning Ianto to go through, the Captain followed him and the wall swung shut. Not sure which way to go, Ianto waited for direction. Instead of speaking, the Captain put his hand at the small of Ianto’s back, guiding him down the hall. Ianto swallowed hard and tried not to think about Jack touching him. Another door slid open at the end of the hall, revealing a service lift. The door shut automatically after they stepped inside. “Sensors,” the Captain explained. “A lot of the Hub is automated.”

Ianto nodded and then staggered a little as the lift shot downward. The Captain smiled and reached his arm out to the younger man, turning him so they were facing the back of the lift. They went several stories underground before the lift doors on the back side opened into a small hallway with a large cog door which the Captain opened by turning a key in the wall. It rolled back with a loud clattering as iron gates swung open to reveal a cavernous room of several levels with what appeared to be a waterfall in the center. Ianto realized he was looking at the base of the water feature outside the Millennium Center. The Hub, as the Captain called it, was part abandoned tube station, part tree house and part sailing ship with walkways and rooms jutting out in odd places. It was filled with equipment and computers and bits of alien technology all jumbled together with every day office detritus – files spilling off of desks, coffee mugs scattered around, pizza boxes piled on top of…was that a hand in a jar?

“Wow,” Ianto said with his voice full of wonder.

“It’s pretty impressive, isn’t it?” the Captain replied, smiling smugly as he surveyed his little empire.

Ianto didn’t think it would be wise to correct the Captain’s misinterpretation of his astonishment. He’d been thinking that it was a pit and he couldn’t imagine how four people could make such a mess. Instead he simply nodded, fearing his voice might betray his dismay.

“And look,” the Captain nudged Ianto with his shoulder and pointed to a cave-like overhang about three stories above their heads. “It’s perfect, don’t you think?”

Before the words perfect for what? could escape his mouth, Ianto saw the pterodactyl emerge from the hole in the wall. It screeched in a bizarre show of recognition and flew across the Hub to cling momentarily to a piece of railing and screech again. It swooped down over their heads and then returned to its new nest.

Ianto looked at the man next to him who was grinning like a little kid. Unable to resist such infectious amusement, he smiled back. “Perfect,” he said, not sure he was talking about the pterodactyl habitat.

Jack laughed and clapped a strong hand against Ianto’s back. “It’ll need a name. The others around here are crap at naming things. Maybe you can come up with something?”

It was definitely a challenge, Ianto thought, looking into Jack’s blue eyes. Wracking his brain, he couldn’t think of anything…how the hell do you go about naming something from the dawn of time?...and then his brain snagged on a memory of a John Cale bootleg. There was a song on there that Lisa was fond of – she had asked him to play it for her the other night as she tried to sleep.

“Well...,” he said slowly, “how about Myfanwy?”

“Myfanwy?” Jack asked.

“It’s from an old Welsh song,” Ianto explained, flushing slightly.

“Myfanwy,” Jack murmured as he watched the blush creep charmingly up Ianto’s smooth cheeks. “I like it.” He took a deep breath and turned away, walking purposefully to the center of the Hub. “Right, full tour – here we go. This is the Rift Manipulator…”

The Captain had shown Ianto most of the big equipment and the layout of the Hub before anyone else came in. The long haired woman was first and the Captain introduced her as Suzie Costello, second in command. She was polite, shaking hands with Ianto as she said hello, but she couldn’t quite hide her surprise when the Captain added that he was the newest member of the team. Wide-eyed, Suzie didn’t linger, heading quickly to her workstation.

The Captain watched her hurry away and frowned. “Maybe I should have had you come tomorrow so I could warn everyone.”

“Sir?” Ianto asked.

Smiling again, the Captain continued, “We’re a rather small group by any definition, especially by Torchwood One standards – only four of us. Technically I’m the boss and Suzie’s number two, but we tend to do things more as a team. I hired you kind of on impulse.” He looked up at Ianto from under dark lashes, “I didn’t think it through. Just knew I wanted you…” he dropped his eyes and coughed, “Sorry, I wanted you on the team. Hope I didn’t make things harder for you.”

“I’m sure I’m up to the challenge,” Ianto said primly.

The Captain laughed, “You haven’t met Owen yet. Do you want a cup of coffee or tea or something? The others should be coming in soon.”

“Coffee sounds good.”

“This way.” The Captain took Ianto up to a small kitchenette which housed the requisite coffee maker, microwave, kettle and various accoutrements. Pouring Ianto a cup of coffee, the Captain apologized, “I don’t make the world’s best coffee.” He handed the mug to Ianto who sipped the dark liquid and just barely managed to keep from spitting it back into his cup. The Captain tilted his head a bit to look and Ianto. “Did you make that coffee you gave me the other morning?”

“Yes, I’m rather addicted to the stuff.”

“Great! First official job – coffee. Save me running to Starbucks three times a day. I don’t care if they’re gonna be the Official Coffee of Planet Earth, yours was better."

There was another one of those strange comments that had Ianto wondering just who the hell Jack Harkness really was. Deciding your first day of work was not the best time to question your boss on all the rumors you’d heard about him, Ianto misguidedly took another sip of his coffee. Grimacing as he swallowed, he moved to dump his cup down the sink and said, “If you’ve no objection, sir, I believe I’ll start right now.”

“Great!” the Captain said again. “You know, Ianto, we’re pretty informal around here. You can call me Jack if you like.”

“Thank you, sir, I’ll try to keep that in mind,” Ianto said and turned to the coffee maker.

Jack lingered for a moment, watching as Ianto emptied out the carafe and began to clean the machine. He strolled over to Suzie’s area to see how she was really doing with the addition of another team member.

Ianto breathed a sigh of relief when Jack walked away. He’d been tense all morning, waiting for those keen blue eyes to see something that Ianto was hiding. So far, so good, Ianto thought.

He had finished cleaning the coffee maker and a new pot brewed by the time the cog door rolled back again. Two people came in bickering.

“If you didn’t even watch the end, then how can you say it’s stupid?”

“I didn’t need to see it to know how it was going to end, Tosh. It’s like all those stupid shows – bollocks. I don’t know why you waste your time with– Hello. Who the hell are you?”

“I’m–” Ianto started.

“This is Ianto Jones,” Jack said, taking the mug of coffee Ianto was holding out to him. “Newest member of Torchwood Three.” Ignoring the shocked stares from his colleagues, Jack continued the introductions. “Ianto, this is Toshiko Sato, resident computer and technology genius.” Ianto shook hands with the Asian woman who gave him a warm smile. “And this is Doctor Owen Harper, our medic.” Ianto reached his hand out to the doctor, but Owen just stood there with his arms crossed.

“So what’s he gonna do around here? Besides make coffee that is?” he asked with a sneer in his voice.

“Knock it off, Owen,” Toshiko said, pushing Owen towards his workstation. Giving Ianto another smile she said, “Welcome,” and followed.

Ianto could hear them squabbling as they crossed the Hub.

“All I’m saying is that if Jack needed a secretary to fetch him coffee, why couldn’t he hire some cute little blond thing with big tits like any other self-respecting man?

“Shut up, Owen,” Ianto hear Toshiko say as she darted an embarrassed look at him. He smiled back at her. So that was Owen. I can handle him, Ianto thought. All bark is my guess.

Turning, he was rather surprised by the dark look on Jack’s face. “Staff meeting in ten minutes!” he called across the Hub. Everyone groaned.

Ten minutes later, everyone was assembled in the glass room Ianto had seen jutting out of the wall at a strange angle. Hoping he wasn’t going to have to introduce himself in front of everyone, Ianto sat straight in his chair waiting to see what would happen. He had brought a tray of coffee with enough for everyone. They all seemed grateful – well, everyone but Owen, who managed to make it look like drinking his was a chore.

Jack walked into the room, already talking. “Suzie, what’s the status on that load of weapons we recovered last week?”

Suzie seemed taken aback by the question. “I…uh…well, I haven’t had time to begin anything. I’m still trying to –”

“Right. Tosh? Any progress on those numbers for UNIT?”

“You said you didn’t need them until Friday so I’ve been working on that translation. I can get started today if –”

Jack cut her off too. “Owen, have you managed to get the morgue filing up to date yet?”

Owen, looking sulky and realizing where this was heading, didn’t reply. He just shook his head and took another sip of coffee.

“Right. So are there still questions about why I hired an Admin?”

The team looked slightly abashed. Ianto wanted the floor to open up and swallow him. This was not the way to engender camaraderie.

“I didn’t get Ianto from some temp agency either. He was a junior researcher with Torchwood London for two years.” There was a small gasp from someone at the table, but Ianto was staring at his coffee cup so he wasn’t sure who it came from. “I’m sure he has more than the necessary qualifications to clean up after you lot and help with your paperwork. He survived the Battle of Canary Wharf and still came here looking for a job because he wants to help. Just some things to keep in mind. Any questions?” No one spoke. “Great. Then get back to work.”

The team filed out of the conference room quickly and headed back to their workstations.

Jack sat down and smiled at Ianto. “Yeah, I should have had you come in tomorrow. Sorry about that.”

Ianto shook his head, “Nothing I can’t handle, sir. Is there anything in particular you’d like me to start on today?”

Jack nodded. “Why don’t you come down to my office and you can go through the computer while I’m there. I can answer any questions you think of and point out some things to you. You can work on getting your space set up this afternoon.”

“Sounds good, sir,” Ianto replied as both men stood up. Jack was out the door before he realized that Ianto wasn’t following. Glancing back over his shoulder, he saw Ianto putting the coffee cups on a tray and pushing in the chairs around the conference room table. He smiled. He was going to like having Ianto around.


TBC in Chapter Six
 

Date: 2008-06-29 08:56 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] missthingsplace.livejournal.com
So happy to see a new chapter :)

Another great one, hoping this goes on and on and on ...

Date: 2008-06-29 10:47 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] buttononthetop.livejournal.com
That's the plan! I feel like the energizer bunny with this one!! :D

Date: 2008-06-29 09:23 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] criccieth.livejournal.com
ah! found it! Yay for the new chapter!!

btw have friended you if that's ok? And now i'm hoping you won't be thinking that I've nicked ideas from you - cos my day one is with the betas!

It's going to be interesting reading yours and seeing how we go in different directions - mine isn't QUITE an origin fic per se but the first few chapters will run that way (stop pimping yourself woman!). I LOVE the snarking from Owen straight away btw. I swear the first time I can remember Ownn even ADDRESSING Ianto is in Cyberwoman when (in response to Ianto asking why he would tell Torchwood of all people about Lisa) he says that Ianto owes them loyalty! He certainly doesn't seem to think much of Ianto until Season 2 - the "teaboy" thing isn't affectionate!
(which makes me wonder what happened to change all that whilst Jack was away!)

Date: 2008-06-29 10:50 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] buttononthetop.livejournal.com
Yay for friends! It's more than OK. :D I'm gonna return the favor cuz now I'm all interested in your fic too! See? Pimping works!

Glad you like my Owen. I'm rather snarky myself so he's fun to write. :) It'll be fun figuring out what-all went down while Jack was with the Doc!!

Thanks so much!

Date: 2008-06-29 09:31 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] christine-twfan.livejournal.com
Yeah a new chapter! This is great, and I love to hear Ianto's thoughts in these early days.

Date: 2008-06-29 10:51 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] buttononthetop.livejournal.com
Thanks so much! I'm glad you're enjoying it :o)

Date: 2008-06-29 09:42 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] cynic2022.livejournal.com
I like this one, fun to see Ianto's first day! I'm so excited to read, but so sad to know what's coming!

Date: 2008-06-29 10:52 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] buttononthetop.livejournal.com
Yes, our poor boy has some stuff to get thru in the next chaps! Thanks so much for reading and always commenting! :D

Date: 2008-06-30 12:39 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thrace-adams.livejournal.com
Oh I liked this chapter ! But you knew that :) I love the awkwardness that Ianto feels, the anger Jack feels and I LOVE what he does in the staff meeting...very good. Love Owen and wanting a blonde LOL - so Owen, and the end is made of win! As always, looking forward to more :)

Date: 2008-06-30 02:28 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] buttononthetop.livejournal.com
Oh that staff meeting! Poor Ianto. :D It just added to his general uncomfortable-first-dayness. I'm really enjoying writing Jack. More to come soon, probably tomorrow if I can actually get out of work on time! Thanks as usual sweetie! :o)

Date: 2008-06-30 01:58 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] butterflycell.livejournal.com
I loved it! I really like the way you write Ianto, and they way he saw things in this was really cool. I felt like I didn't know the hub at all.

You really hit the nail on the head, well done!

Date: 2008-06-30 02:34 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] buttononthetop.livejournal.com
Wow! and Yay!! Thanks so much for the awesome comments!

Date: 2008-07-03 02:09 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] alba17.livejournal.com
I've been reading these all along, may not have commented on each one. I think they're getting better and better.

Date: 2008-07-03 03:48 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] buttononthetop.livejournal.com
Thanks so much! I'm glad you're enjoying it! :D

Date: 2008-09-06 03:00 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] bandgeek01.livejournal.com
Awww this is good :)

Nicole

Date: 2009-05-06 01:26 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] evester.livejournal.com
Things I loved about this chapter:

-The Hub, as the Captain called it, was part abandoned tube station, part tree house and part sailing ship with walkways and rooms jutting out in odd places. GREAT description
-He’d been thinking that it was a pit and he couldn’t imagine how four people could make such a mess.
-Just knew I wanted you…” he dropped his eyes and coughed, “Sorry, I wanted you on the team. No, Jack. You were right the first time. You cannot resist Ianto. Admit it.
-Starbucks as Official Coffee of Planet Earth. I can totally see it coming. As long as there is still Tim Hortons. Us Canadians would die with our Timmies.
-why couldn’t he hire some cute little blond thing with big tits like any other self-respecting man? Probably because he's Jack.
-Owen's characterization is very well done.
-Jack's whole 'See Why We Need An Admin' speech

Great job!

Date: 2009-05-09 02:19 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] buttononthetop.livejournal.com
Things I loved about this comment - all of it! :D

LOL, no one can resist Ianto. :) Thanks so much for this - I adore it when readers tell me what lines they like. *hugs*

And I ADORE your icons! I've snagged a few and will credit of course! :D

Date: 2009-09-13 10:28 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] theorclair.livejournal.com
I'm such a nerd that I saw "John Cale bootleg" and, well, see icon.

Date: 2009-09-14 08:27 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] buttononthetop.livejournal.com
LOL! Love that! Thank you so much :)

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