Torchwood Canary

[silkendreammaid]

Working Title: The Torchwood Canary

Episode Title: After The Battle of Canary Wharf
Author: silkendreammaid
Disclaimer: I do not own, nor ever will, Torchwood or the characters within.
Rating: PG13
Warnings: Language
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Notes: A series of interconnected episodes starting from Canary Wharf and leading into Season 1and probably beyond

Summary: Torchwood One held many secrets and after the Battle of Canary Wharf, Captain Jack Harkness discovers one of them - Ianto Jones.

After The Battle - Part 1
After The Battle - Part 2

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After The Battle – Part 3

 

Ianto Jones decided he liked Suzie Costello more than Owen Harper. The tall slender woman had smiled, given him a firm a handshake, said “wings huh” and then gone into a huddle with the Captain and Doctor Harper. Now he could hear her talking about organizing transport for the sub-level archives. However despite the calm and decisive manner Suzie had, after hearing the Captain and Owen talking about the Torchwood Three’s archives Ianto felt nothing but foreboding about his new job. His new life.

He wrapped his arms around himself as he felt the shakes begin in his hands and in his thoughts. The wall of the sub level lobby kept him upright as he leant against it. He stayed close to the door leading back into the sublevels while the others were gathered in the middle of the room. 

He wished he knew more about Torchwood Three. It was considered to be the black sheep of the Torchwood family. It was small and situated in Cardiff because of the rift there. Apart from Captain Harkness he’d never heard of the others. Any contact with Three was always done through the Captain.

Ianto knew there had to be records in the Archives. Torchwood kept files and records on everything. But you had to know where to look and Ianto knew where to look. There were many little caches of hidden information and technology scattered in the archive shelves and databases. Ianto had found many of them. Most he had come across accidently and others he had actively looked for but he’d never had the interest or need to search for Torchwood Three before. He wanted to slip down to the archives now and look. He let his breath out slowly. 

He was never going to walk through that door again. Never going back to the sub levels. Never going back to his home. As soon as the Captain was ready he was going to take Ianto to Cardiff and Ianto doubted he’d ever see London again let alone Torchwood Tower. It’d been nearly five years since he’d left Newport and Wales and found a new home in London. Even though he’d spent the last two years confined, he’d still been in London. Still in a place he considered home. He’d left homes before but never had it felt as final as this did. Usually leaving home meant there was always a chance you could return. Not this time. 

“Ready to go, birdman?” Owen Harper was suddenly right in front of him and Ianto reared back slightly in surprise. He’d been too deep in thought and missed their small conference coming to an end. 

“Yep,” Ianto replied, keeping his anxiety hidden. He distracted himself by wondering when the doctor was going to get bored with calling him ‘birdman’. Ianto had the feeling that the more he objected to it, the more insistent Harper would be. And let’s not forget I’m going to be working with the annoying sod Ianto thought with a mental sigh as he straightened up slowly. His ribs hurt. Doctor Harper had not been wrong when he’d said that Ianto’s wings were making his injuries worse. The muscles across his back were aching and it was getting harder to keep his right wing close to its normal position. He could feel it dragging him off-balance and he felt lopsided. 

“Take these,” Owen Harper ordered, his hand held out with a couple of pills on his palm. “Painkillers, slightly stronger than the ones you had earlier.”

“Aren’t you supposed to wait four hours before taking more?” Ianto asked feeling annoyed with himself that his pain was obvious.

“Its close enough and you look like you need it.” Owen waited until Ianto had taken the two tablets and then held up another two in a small box. “These are sedatives and you will take them once you’re in the Hub.”

“I don’t need sedatives,” Ianto protested with a small grimace. Sleep was the last thing he wanted to contemplate. He didn’t think he’d want to sleep for some time yet. Owen Harper was looking at him with an entirely too knowing expression on his face.

“That’s your opinion. You’re not the doctor here, I am. Therefore my opinion beats your opinion.”  Owen held his hand up to stop Ianto from possibly protesting further. “Today has not been a good day,” he said with massive understatement. “And you look like the stubborn kind of patient that would drive most doctors to drink. Well, I’m already there and because I am your doctor now, you’re going to do exactly as I say. This is a very mild sedative, it will make you drowsy and hopefully relaxed enough to sleep. Eight hours after you’ve taken it, or when you wake up – whichever comes first - you’re going to ring me. Is that clear?”

“I don’t recall asking you to be my doctor.” Ianto frowned as he began to work his way through what Doctor Harper wasn’t saying. It was too early for Ianto to be displaying any definite signs of post traumatic stress disorder, he’d have to go through the shock first. And while Ianto had seen and understood the battle around him, while he had tried and failed to help the others, he hadn’t begun to think much beyond berating himself for not being able to help more. Captain Harkness’s appearance had distracted him before there’d been a chance for the shock to really begin and he’d been given something else to think about, something to plan for although he hadn’t actually made any of the plans. As he looked at the doctor he realised that sometime soon he was going to feel everything he’d lost today. And Owen Harper, Doctor of Medicine and non-existent bedside manner, had already realised that. Ianto took as deep a breath as his ribs would allow him. At least Harper wasn’t acting as if he expected Ianto to have his breakdown right now. 

“I didn’t ask for you as my patient.” Owen shrugged.

“What if I wanted a different doctor?”

“There isn’t one. Welcome to Torchwood Three, birdman.” Doctor Owen Harper smirked and Ianto wondered if he wouldn’t be better off with UNIT after all. 

“You boys ready?” Captain Harkness interrupted before either of them could say anything else. “We need to sneak out through one of the loading bays.”

“Would have been easier if we just backed the SUV in,” Owen grumbled.

“And UNIT would have come straight down to see what we were trying to steal,” Jack replied. “As it is I’m going to need you to help Suzie keep UNIT distracted while Ianto and I leave. Make noises on the other side of the building or something.”

“Like waving shiny tech in their faces?” Owen offered and Jack grinned at him.

“That’ll do it. But nothing too shiny. We’ll never get it back otherwise.” Jack turned to Ianto and studied the pale young man. The shadows under his eyes were deepening and there were lines on his face from obvious tiredness. “I’ll carry your stuff and we’ll walk out like two normal people…” Jack ignored the scoffing noises Owen made and worked on reassuring Ianto. “… minding their own business. As long as we don’t draw any attention to ourselves we’ll be fine.”

Ianto didn’t feel very reassured. He could think of several things that would make staying unnoticed rather difficult. And that was in spite of the fact that Ianto was the one with the wings. Because Captain Jack Harkness did not strike him as man who could easily avoid attention. If anything Ianto would have thought the Captain would actively seek out any and all attention. 

“You’ll wear my coat.”

Ianto blinked at the words and before he could move Jack had removed his coat and moving in close. Ianto was suddenly trapped as the Captain stood in front of him, reaching around and trying to put the coat on Ianto’s shoulders. He had to dip his wings before it could sit on his shoulders. He slipped his arms into the sleeves and the Captain pulled it closed in front of him. Ianto twitched as he was buttoned into the coat. He wasn’t used to having his wings covered and it felt uncomfortable and confining. He stepped back as soon as the last button was closed.

The coat was warm and heavy and Ianto was surrounded by the smell of the Captain’s cologne. Ianto kept shifting his shoulders despite his aching ribs and back and he pulled at the coat to make it settle over his wings. He was almost positive that some of his feathers were out of alignment and it was strange to hold his wings so low on his back. He was used to seeing them out of the corners of his eyes, always there and visible above his shoulders. 

Jack watched the Welshman fidgeting. Even though he was of a height with Jack, Ianto was thinner and the coat had been made for a wider, stockier build. The coat hung a bit longer at the front, and from the front Ianto was suddenly no more remarkable than anyone else. When Jack moved around and looked at the young man’s back he could see his coat stretched and uneven. The sharp line of a wing joint was visible, pushing the heavy material out to the side and Jack could see it moving as Ianto kept on fidgeting.

“It’s only until we get to the car,” Jack assured him as he pulled at the coat, lifting it outwards to give Ianto some extra room to settle his wings. Jack missed the quick disbelieving look Ianto gave him as he brushed a hand down the length of a wingtip before lowering the coat over them. “They fit quite nicely under there and as long as no-one sees your back, they won’t know they’re there.” Jack’s frown was thoughtful as he studied the adjusted fall of his coat over Ianto’s wings. “It looks like you have a large flattened hump down your back.”

Ianto blinked. Very few people had treated his wings this casually but both the doctor and the Captain had neither avoided them nor been hesitant to mention them if necessary. Ianto was suddenly very curious as to what Torchwood Three got up to if they could so easily accept his wings. It was very different at One. Even after two years there were still some people who couldn’t meet his eyes, although Ianto knew that there were other reasons why that might be so. 

“I’ll carry the box. Are you ready?” Jack had already picked the box up.

“Yeah,” Ianto replied, his anxiety less hidden this time and Owen Harper tapped him on his shoulder.

“If you like I can give you the sedatives now. You’ll probably demand them once Jack starts driving anyway.”

“Hey!” Jack protested as he began to walk across the room. “I’m not the one who’s dented the SUV four times this month,” he shot back over his shoulder to Owen.

“No, you’re up to six,” Suzie said as she began to follow him. Owen grinned and nudged Ianto in a friendly manner.

“But never let Suzie drive because she only dents it once. When she totals it.”

“I did that once!” Suzie replied easily without heat. 

“Yeah and you have to admit that she didn’t get a scratch on it the second time.”  The Captain disappeared through the door as he spoke.

“Only because it landed in the Bay,” Owen retorted. Ianto almost smiled at their banter. It was obviously a familiar discussion between them and it carried him past the centre of the room and to the door that opened into the basement level. 

Ianto had taken the first step into the large area before he realised it. He slammed backwards against the wall breathing hard and eyes wide, ignoring the increased pain in his ribs as he stared wildly around him. Scorched walls and shattered machinery he almost ignored as his eyes focused on the bodies lying no more than thirty feet away.

“Shit!” Ianto didn’t hear the Captain’s curse as he thrust the box at Owen and moved to block Ianto’s vision. Ianto tried to look behind the Captain but Jack shifted to keep the bodies from his sight. There was a terribly blank emptiness to the Welshman’s face.

“I… they’re… I have… They can’t…” Ianto couldn’t find the connection between the turmoil of his mind and his mouth. Coherency was lost as he struggled to think. Words and thoughts jumbled all over themselves and he found himself staring at the buttons of the Captain’s blue shirt. Large hands warmed his biceps even through the thick coat and the heady scent of the Captain made him shiver.

“… breathe with me Ianto. That’s it, nice and slow. Good.”

He could feel the Captain’s breath wafting at his face, could see shirt buttons moving slowly with each breath, could hear the encouraging voice and he would have slipped down the wall if not for the Captain’s grip. The twisted confusion of his thoughts quieted slightly and he closed his eyes on a long breath out. He swallowed another breath before his eyes opened and he looked up to meet the Captain’s concerned eyes. They were blue Ianto noticed vaguely, bluer than his own with no shades of grey. The lighting must be better in the basement than it was in the sub-levels Ianto thought, if he could see the colour of the Captain’s eyes. His hands shot upwards and grabbed at the Captain’s forearms.

“The basement? I’m in the basement? I’m not supposed…The others… They’re still here… I saw them.” The words spluttered out of him and he would have stepped away from the wall if the Captain hadn’t kept him in place.

“Yes, you’re in the basement. It’s deactivated, remember? You’re safe now, you can go wherever you want. You’re not a prisoner…”

“Detainee. We are… were…they called us detainees,” Ianto interrupted blankly as he latched onto words that finally made some sense. “Why are they still here?”

“Because the UNIT clean-up hasn’t gotten this far yet,” Jack told him bluntly. 

“They’re dead,” Ianto said, equally bluntly as his jumbled mind found it easier to cope with the abrupt and honest words. 

“Yes,” Jack agreed. “We can’t help them right now and we will make sure they’re taken care of later, but it’s more important to get you out of here. You’re alive Ianto. You survived…”

“I couldn’t help them.” Ianto ignored most of what the Captain was saying as it made little sense. His mind was working its way through the mayhem and was doing so with the simple concepts first. Implication and connotation could wait until he had regained some internal balance.

“No, you couldn’t. You tried, remember. You told me you tried.”

“Yes, I tried but I couldn’t leave, I couldn’t help.” Ianto parroted the words as the memories worked their way through the overlying shock. Recognition sparked and his head lifted slightly. “The daleks were waiting for them!”

“Yes, that’s what you told me.” Jack stayed patient as he watched Ianto slowly lose the blankness that had worried him. Ianto’s eyes began to flicker and Jack could almost see him forcing the shock away as he straightened up. His hands lost their death grip and Ianto took several slow breaths.

“You’re going to need their names,” he said in an even tone. It was a thin veneer of calm and they both knew it.

“You can write a list up,” Jack told him. “You can do that while I drive and I’ll bring it back with me.” He didn’t say the list would be unnecessary once the computers were restored and the personnel files could be accessed. Jack had the feeling that Ianto knew that too but if it would keep him distracted and not going into hysterics then Jack was prepared to humour him. 

“They’re not… not going to be left here?”

“No.” Jack turned slightly, still blocking Ianto’s view of the bodies, and gently eased the younger man from the wall. “I don’t know where they will go yet, but they won’t be left here.” Some of them might even get a proper funeral Jack thought but didn’t say. It wouldn’t be his concern. He fully intended to let UNIT deal with the bodies once he was sure any remaining cyber-tech was destroyed and he had removed any and all of the tech One had scavenged and stolen over the years. “Don’t worry; they’ll be taken care of.”

Ianto made a small noise in his throat and Jack wasn’t sure if Ianto believed him or not but he wasn’t about to elaborate. With small steps he managed to get Ianto further away from the wall and deeper into the basement. Ianto’s grip was so loose on his forearms that Jack twisted his arm gently and Ianto’s hands fell away. Jack grasped one of his hands and held it carefully as he moved to walk at his side, guiding him towards the large doors that led to the outside.

Owen walked behind them carrying the box of Ianto’s belongings. He was tempted to administer the sedative now. The birdman was going to need looking after and he wasn’t going to get it for a few days. Jack would dump him in Cardiff and come back to London. Tosh and Suzie, when she returned, weren’t trained to deal with this sort of stress. Maybe Owen should get Tosh to keep him sedated until Owen himself could get back to Cardiff and take care of him properly. Owen grimaced. He knew he wasn’t the counseling type but he doubted Jack was going to let anyone else handle it. Jack was usually extremely reluctant to let anyone into the Hub. It was surprising enough that he was letting the birdman stay, but even Jack wouldn’t leave anyone to UNIT’s tender mercies and Owen knew that. He sighed. He’d have to dig out all his old psychology texts and maybe even open up the medical journals he still received but never read.  God, he hated living patients. Such hard work but as he watched Jack’s manner with the young Welshman he began to smile. 

Jack could do the counseling. All Owen had to do was persuade him to take it on.

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Ianto came to a dead stop and his hand gripped at the Captain’s the moment they left the basement. Jack and Owen immediately looked at him with concern but they weren’t prepared for the almost awe on the young mans face. Eyes wide not from shock stared at the empty street and then upwards to the buildings around them and further up to the twilight sky.

“My god…” Ianto’s voice was a whisper. “I’m outside.” He felt the wind against his skin. He shivered at its touch. He could smell the dying heat of the day in the air along with the nearby river and acrid smoke. He turned to look at Torchwood Tower. Windows were shattered and sooty marks stained the broken frames. Black streaks ran down from some windows but it appeared remarkably undamaged to him. He had expected there to be more destruction. Some outward sign that spoke of how terrible it had been on the inside.

“There’s more damage on the other side,” the Captain said as if he’d known what Ianto was thinking. 

“Kinda surprising the building’s still standing,” Owen commented.

“Not really,” Jack shrugged. “The daleks and cybermen don’t waste anything that’s potentially useful and the tower would have been very useful. A base with all the tech they could utilize. The cybermen had already managed to position themselves worldwide from whatever Hartman was playing at here.”

“The Sphere,” Ianto mumbled. He kept taking long deep breaths and continually looked upwards. Clouds moved between the buildings across the deepening purple sky and he watched them closely.

“What sphere?” Jack asked with a frown.

“It came through the Void and the ghosts came with it. They set up a room on Sub One for it and they were trying to open it,” Ianto spoke in a distant voice. “The daleks came out of it.”

“Is it still here?” Jack spoke louder.

“No. They said it disappeared once the daleks appeared.” Ianto blinked, his voice no longer distant but keeping his gaze firmly on the clouds. “Andrew said there was a confrontation with the cybermen and then they went upstairs.”

“And you followed?” The question was asked as if the answer didn’t matter but Jack waited longer than he expected to for a response.

“Not then.” But later was silently added and both Jack and Owen heard it. Owen doubted they’d ever hear everything the young birdman had seen and done during the attack. Some things you just never found the words for. Nor did you want to. 

“Time enough later to hear the rest,” Owen said, purposely breaking the mood. “Time to get birdman on his way to Cardiff.”

“Yes,” Jack replied. “You okay, Ianto?” The young man was still gripping his hand tightly and seemed unaware of it.

 “Yeah.” Ianto looked away from the sky accepting the change of mood and wanting to change the topic. He studied the streetscape noticing several parked cars and hearing the distant sound of the city. “It’s warm out here.”

“It’s been warmer than average this month,” Jack said.

“You following London’s weather now?” Owen queried as he spotted the SUV and began walking towards it. Jack followed him keeping Ianto at his side.

“No, I heard it on the radio while we were driving up here.”

Ianto looked at the black SUV they were approaching with interest. The dents were noticeable as was its need for a wash. He could just make out the word Torchwood in raised letters along the side and a glow barely visible through the tinted windows.

“That’s an SUV?” he asked as he got closer. “It’s a Range Rover.”

“It’s been modified and Captain America here can spell SUV easier than Range Rover,” Owen said. A loud beep was heard and Ianto heard the car’s locks flick back. A line of blue lights flickered along the side as Owen opened the back door.

“What’s with the lights?”

Owen turned after pushing Ianto’s box into the back and closing the door. “It makes it look cool,” he answered with a shrug. “My idea.”

“Not the best idea you’ve ever had, Owen,” Jack said as he opened the passenger door and Ianto finally let go of his hand as he inched close to look inside the vehicle. “Problem Ianto?”

“I… I don’t know if I’m going to be able to sit there.” Ianto sounded embarrassed and Jack looked blank for a moment before he realised what the problem was.

“How have you managed before?” he asked and then shook his head. “Sorry, I forgot. You haven’t done this since the… since, have you?”

“No.” Ianto looked upwards briefly before looking back at the SUV. “I …haven’t been outside or done a lot of things since the wings.”

Owen walked over and sighed loudly at them with a smart grin. “Take off the coat and try the front seat, birdman. If you don’t fit then you can sprawl over the back seat instead.”

“Smartass,” Jack said good-naturedly and Owen’s grin widened. “Let’s try it Ianto. He’ll be even worse if we don’t.” Jack began to unbutton the coat and Ianto let him. “Of course if Ianto can sit in the front, he’ll get shotgun rights for a month,” Jack told Owen with his own wide grin.

Ianto felt his precarious mental stability threatening to shift again. To hear the Captain speak as if Ianto would be able to go driving again, to be outside again, was to hear something he’d given up expecting to ever happen again. He had learned to accept that many things were no longer possible. Things that most people took for granted that he could no longer do or had to change completely. Sitting down, laying down, showering, dressing. He’d had to learn new routines to be able to cope with the change to his body. The sudden brushing of the wind against his feathers made him jump. The Captain had managed to remove the coat while he’d been distracted.

Automatically Ianto lifted his wings back up to their normal position ignoring the pull of aching muscles. The right wing still hung lower and he knew he’d have to wait until his ribs healed before he’d stop feeling lopsided. He could feel individual feathers ruffling in the wind and his shoulders twitched with an urge to stretch his wings out wide to catch the wind. But he forced himself to take a deep breath and study the best way to get into the SUV. If possible he really wanted to sit in the front. He did not want to be relegated to the back.

He placed one foot on the door frame and reached upwards to the handle gripping it carefully as he turned sideways. Like with most backed chairs he wasn’t going to be keep his wings behind him so he brought them forward curling them around his sides. The good thing about the SUV seat was that it had no arms so once his wings were drawn forward he sat on the edge of the seat. Using his free hand to lift his right wing he slid sideways on the seat and once he was completely seated he turned again to push the wing carefully between the two front seats, angling it to the back. It was more difficult to settle the other wing. He couldn’t push it behind the chair, there was no room and the seatbelt was in the way. In the end he left the wing curved to his front and had to have the seatbelt strap pulled close to his throat before it could go down to lock into the buckle. 

It took him nearly five minutes and felt uncomfortable but he was able to give a quiet little smirk of achievement as the doctor cursed and the Captain laughed.

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Jack drove just over the speed limit along the M4 towards Cardiff. His passenger was silent, head turned to the left staring out the opened window at the scenery barely visible in the night. The radio played a constant stream of soft classical music barely audible above the wind rushing past. Most stations were covering the events at Canary Wharf and making so many incorrect assumptions and wild guesses that Jack had switched to the first non-news dominated station he could find. 

Ianto hadn’t spoken much once they’d left Canary Wharf. He’d stared at the city as Jack had worked his way through London to the A4. He’d taken several unnecessary turns just to give the wide-eyed young man the chance to see more than he would have if they’d driven straight. Ianto had reclined the seat once they’d left London and Jack had noticed that he’d moved to be able to look out the window to the sky again. Jack wasn’t surprised but he wondered how Ianto would cope to going back underground once they reached the Hub. He’d have to make sure Ianto got plenty of opportunities to go outside.

“You okay? Comfortable?” 

“Yep.” There was the rustling of wings that Jack was beginning to expect to hear every time he spoke to the Welshman. “Reclining the seat made it easier.”

“And my coat as well?” Jack smiled. Ianto had used the coat to cover himself as they’d driven through London and then as a blanket after he’d settled back to watch the sky.

“I love the coat,” Ianto said with a smile in his voice. “It’s very useful, but it needs cleaning. There’s egg on the collar and your cologne is all through it.”

“It’s been a busy week and I don’t use cologne.” 

“Your after shave then. It’s potent.”

“I never wear any,” Jack replied.

“You smell like that naturally?” Ianto asked.

“Fifty-first century pheromones. You people have no idea.” Jack laughed slightly as he overtook a truck.  Ianto was about to turn his head to question the Captain’s statement when he caught sight of the advertising on the side of the truck.

“Wha… A new James Bond?” He sat up and twisted as much as he could peering back at the truck.

“You like James Bond?” Jack asked.

“Yep. Had all the books when I was growing up.”

“We’ll have to see if we can’t get you in to see it then.”

Ianto didn’t quite believe him but was not going to say anything. “I think it said Casino Royale but I couldn’t make out the name of the actor. Didn’t look like Brosnan.”

“Oh no, it’s a whole new Bond I hear. Daniel someone. He’s blond, looks hot too.”

“A blond Bond? No!”

“You have something against blonds?” Jack asked around a laugh at Ianto’s reaction.

“No, but not for James Bond. That just seems so wrong.”

“You sound like a purist Mr Jones.”

“I just like the original,” Ianto said as he settled back into his seat, pulling the coat up and looking out the window again. “Where are we?”

“Just gone past Swindon. You should try and sleep a bit.”

“Doctor Harper has already organized my sleep for tonight.”

“Make sure you take that sedative. Tosh will look after you.”

“Who’s Tosh?” Ianto asked cautiously.

“Someone you don’t want to get on the bad side of,” Jack said fondly.

“Really?” Ianto felt nervous.

“Oh yeah. Owen always claims that she controls the internet and I think he’s about right on that one. Tosh is a very smart lady, a bit shy but you’ll probably get on well with her.”

Ianto stared at the sky. Apart from this Tosh being good with computers he knew no more than he had before he’d asked. He let his breath out and slipped further under the coat. The scent of the Captain tickled at his nose and he thought briefly of the pheromone comment. Another question that would probably have an even more confusing answer if he tried to ask it. This was turning out to be more challenging than he’d expected and he wasn’t sure if he liked that.

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Ianto felt the SUV came to a stop and he blinked and sat up slowly. He’d been dozing since they’d crossed the Severn, the continual movement and silence soothing him into an almost dreamlike state. He looked out the window. The sky had gone and there was concrete all around. A steel door was in one corner and two other cars were parked close by. The smell of diesel and oil made his nose wrinkle and he turned to look at the Captain. Harkness had his hands resting on the steering wheel and a solemn expression on his face.

“Underground parking.” Jack tilted his head towards the steel door. “Through there is the Hub. You ready?”

Ianto nodded abruptly, his dazed state clearing rapidly. He fisted his hands under the coat for a moment before pushing it down and reaching for his seat belt. The Captain had already left the SUV and opened the passenger door by the time Ianto had managed to extricate himself from under the coat. He handed the coat to the Captain who shrugged it on as Ianto slipped sideways from the vehicle. He straightened up stretching his wings out without thinking.

Jack stared at the broad sweep of the wings. A richer darker brown than he’d imagined in the dim light of the sub-levels, matching the colour of the young man’s hair. The feather tips were a warm golden cream. They looked sleek and smooth, rustling as Ianto shook them with several twitches of his shoulders. Jack watched, fascinated as Ianto easily brought them forwards to enable him to straighten several feathers with his hands. He was careful and took extra time with the right wing. A final shake and Ianto settled them at his back and looked up to find the bemused and awed look on the Captain’s face.

“Absolutely gorgeous.”

Ianto blushed, embarrassed and unsettled by Jack's obvious delight and unsure if the Captain was referring to his wings or himself, or possibly both judging from that gleam in those blue eyes. Jack smiled a comforting leer and Ianto looked away unable to hold the Captain’s gaze any longer. He couldn’t think of anything to say that wasn’t going to sound either silly or self-conscious. He looked up as the Captain opened the SUV and picked up the box with Ianto’s clothes.

“Well, let’s get you settled in.” He walked to the steel door and typed in a code before the door gave several loud clicks and a grating noise echoed around them. The door slid open with a swirl of cool air and a corridor beckoned. Florescent lighting ran along the walls.

“Welcome to Torchwood Three, Jones, Ianto Jones.”

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 Notes:

I am taking July 2006 for the date of The Battle of Canary Wharf.

Daniel Craig's Bond Casino Royale premiered in November 2006.  I've probably taken liberties with the length of advertising lead time and stretched it out by a month or so...



To Episode Two:  Cardiff - Part 1

 

 
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