Torchwood Canary
Dec. 19th, 2010 11:28 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
silkendreammaidWorking Title: The Torchwood Canary
Episode Title: Cardiff
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 1 and probably beyond
This is the second part of the second episode following on from After the Battle
Cardiff - part 1
Cardiff – Part 2
Ianto Jones stared at the open doorway and wondered when they'd unlocked it. He usually woke before the timed locks noisily clicked signifying the start of a new day. His eyes followed the lines of Victorian brickwork he could see and idle thoughts swirled in his head. He'd never been able to see out the door from his bed before and the passage outside his room had never been anything but smooth featureless plastered concrete.
The light was dimmer than he remembered it to be and he couldn't hear anyone. He must have really overslept if he'd missed the morning shift coming in. They usually appeared chattering noisily and cheerfully, especially on a Monday when they had full weekends to share. Something he didn't quite envy them for – well, not as much as he used to. He had probably missed breakfast as well. Unless they'd saved him some or one of the guards wouldn't object to slipping upstairs to the canteen. But he didn't feel hungry although he rather thought a coffee wouldn't go astray.
He blinked slowly, shifted an inch and pain wrapped around his ribs and back with a vicious spiking that made him gasp. He tried to curl up but the agony gripped him and he forced himself back into stillness, breathing shallowly as he blinked furiously against sudden tears. His fingers dug into the sheets as yesterday's events tumbled through his mind and he had to swallow hard.
Two years ago he'd woken up to agonising pain and found his life completely changed. He'd never expected to face that again, but yesterday – was it yesterday? – Ianto didn't know how long he'd been asleep. But yesterday everything had changed again, and again he was waking up in pain with his old life torn away. As he tried to breathe through the agony of his ribs he sincerely hoped that there would never be a third time.
He focused on making himself move and it took several tries to be able to move slowly and carefully enough to minimise the stabs of agony that held him frozen and struggling to breathe evenly. He supposed he should he be grateful he only had bruised muscles and not broken ribs, but every movement hurt and it took five minutes before he could sit up. He leant forward, bringing his knees up and rested his chin on them. His back pulled with a steady ache and his wings felt like a dead weight behind him. He turned his head to sight the door and tensed hard as his muscles burnt. He forced himself to relax as he bit at his lip and tried to breathe evenly and shallowly.
The open door suggested that he was free to move around as much as he wanted and the longer he sat there contemplating it, the more he realised he needed to go to the bathroom. Not only that but he could avail himself of those hot showers as well. It would ease the ever-present ache for a moment and that would be as much a relief as getting to the toilet was going to be. His eyelids fluttered as he took a deep breath that he immediately regretted and he straightened up. Pulling the sheet away he moved, swinging his legs around and inched his way to the edge of the bed.
Ianto was shaking by the time he made it to the doorway. Moving slowly and carefully didn't stop his back from seizing up and holding him in place until he could relax enough to breathe and move again. It hurt to walk and it hurt to stand still but he kept moving. His wings dragged on the ground behind him. He'd tried to lift them and the pain had nearly brought him to his knees.
Toilet, shower, find painkillers.
It was his mental mantra as he inched his way from his room to the communal shower room he'd been in yesterday. Every few feet he had to stop and lean against the wall until the cramping agony faded and freed him to move forward again.
Ianto Jones was stubborn and it needed every ounce of that stubbornness to make it to the showers. He almost collapsed from relief the moment he entered the tiled room but he kept going, dropping his change of clothes on the bench and heading straight to the nearest toilet.
He was almost embarrassed by the soft moan that escaped him as his bladder emptied. With his arm outstretched to the wall beside him, he lowered his head, eyes closed as the relief overshadowed the constant aching for a brief moment. It was a long minute before he straightened up carefully and reached to flush the toilet. Being unable to lift his wings up meant he had been unable to close the door and he backed out of the stall watching his feet, not wanting to inadvertently step on his wings. For a moment he wished for the larger stall he had always used at One.
Torchwood One had pandered to political correctness enough to have installed larger toilets for employees with disabilities, although they had never actually employed anyone with a politically correct disability. Disabilities at Torchwood One were usually caused by alien technology and most had been temporary. Those who became permanently disabled disappeared with no accessible records left behind. Ianto had often been told he had been very lucky to have survived and allowed to live. He hadn't told them otherwise and had made use of the facilities without comment. He had wished for larger shower recesses though.
Which Torchwood Three had and he turned to face the showers. He stopped as he caught sight of the figure in the doorway and his back cramped hard as he almost fell back against the stall door.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you," Toshiko Sato spoke softly from the doorway as she tried to keep her eyes focused on his face and not on the bruised mass of his side. She hadn't realised how badly he was injured. The vivid bruising covering his right side worked its way around to his back disappearing under those drooping wings. Grazes and scratches were swollen lines amidst the deep purpling of his skin.
"It's ok," Ianto managed to say as politely as he could as he breathed through the pain and slowly straightened up again. He hoped she hadn't been standing there too long and he began to feel rather self-conscious as her gaze kept dropping to his chest and ribs.
"Why didn't Owen strap you up?" she blurted suddenly and then realised how disapproving she sounded and put her hand to her mouth. "Oh, I'm sorry, I shouldn't…"
"It's rather difficult to strap me up anymore," he interrupted her apology with a small smile. "And it's just bruised ribs. There's not much any doctor can do for that." Ianto nearly shrugged but caught himself in time.
"I can get you some painkillers," she offered, forcing herself to look away from his ribs and focus on his pale face. She noticed the lump on his forehead that was half hidden by his hair. With his wings drooping so low and the dark shadows under his eyes it was obvious how hurt he was.
"Thank you. That would be … much appreciated," he replied and was at a loss to know what else to say. Now he was over his initial surprise at seeing her, he wondered how he could politely ask her to leave so he could shower.
"And maybe some food as well," Toshiko added and he nodded. He didn't really feel that hungry right now but knew that would probably change once he was actually facing some food.
"Yes." He paused. "Do you know what time it is?"
"It's just after four. In the afternoon," she clarified knowing how easy it was to lose track of time when you were underground.
Ianto blinked. He'd slept for over twelve hours. He frowned slightly. Either that sedative had been stronger than the doctor had claimed or he had been more tired than he had thought.
"You… you're not allergic to anything? Food I mean," Toshiko asked and Ianto shook his head.
"No, anything is fine." He smiled at her, a small smile of reassurance and she found herself nodding.
"I'll go order us something. Should be in about an hour so you can shower and I'll have the painkillers ready for you as well." Toshiko closed her mouth as she heard herself start to ramble. Talking to him had been much easier last night when Jack had been there and when he'd been fully dressed.
"Thank you Miss Sato," Ianto repeated.
"Tosh, call me Tosh."
"Tosh. Thank you." Ianto's smile was a bit wider and it made him look younger. He looked to the showers and then back at her.
"I'll be in the Hub, you remember the way to the main area, don't you?" Tosh asked, straightening up slightly.
"Yes, I remember it," he replied.
"Good. I'll see you there," she said and turned quickly to hurry away.
Ianto listened to her fading footsteps and gave a wry smile. She seemed like a nice woman although not as comfortable with him as she had last night. There was no doubting the genuine compassion beneath the stilted politeness though and he was glad that he hadn't been able to detect any pity mixed with it.
But Ianto was under few illusions. He was a stranger and he was different. The Captain had been different to anyone Ianto had ever met before, but the Captain was still Torchwood. The other three, they were Torchwood too. No matter how different they appeared to the people of One, it all came down to one fact. They were Torchwood. Regardless of how unlike London Cardiff was supposed to be, it was all still Torchwood.
And he knew that if he hadn't had wings the Captain never would have offered him a place here. Because that was just how Torchwood was.
"So, how is he?"
Toshiko Sato looked over at Suzie Costello as she entered the main Hub and headed to her desk.
"He's all bruises and very polite," she replied as she sat down and then shook her head with a small grimace. "A lot of bruises," she added for emphasis.
"Jack did say he'd had a run-in with the cybermen. He's lucky to have gotten away with just bruises," Suzie noted.
"I know. But its one thing to know that and another to see the damage. The bruises go all the way around his back," Tosh pointed out and a small teasing grin appeared on Suzie's face.
"And is he nicely buffed under the bruising?" she asked lightly. "It was hard to see clearly on the CCTV." The two women had caught sight of the young Welshman on the internal CCTV feeds and had watched him make his way to the shower room. They had winced in sympathy at every slow and painful step even as they had tried to see the extent of his injuries that the grainy pictures had not fully shown.
"Probably," Tosh said before she looked away and then back again. She let her breath out. "I didn't look that closely actually. It was hard to see past the bruises."
"And the wings," Suzie remarked.
"And the wings," Tosh nodded in agreement. It was the wings that fascinated her mainly because of the Tengu. Tosh had grown up hearing and loving the many legends and stories about the Tengu and it was them she'd thought of when she'd first seen him last night. The Tengu were demons who had taken on the appearance of winged men with large beaked noses and clawed feet. There was nothing demonic about the young Welshman and his nose was cute rather than largely beaked, and she hadn't looked at his feet, but those wings. She itched to touch them, just once.
"I wonder how he got them. Jack just said alien tech." Suzie smiled as Tosh gave a small snort and carried on. "I know; it's always alien tech but it must've been something incredibly complex to give a man wings. Tech like that would be fascinating to study."
"Jack said there were medical records but I can't find them in One's database," Tosh said with a puzzled frown. "Ianto's computer records all end two years ago."
"Anything about the actual incident?" Suzie queried.
"No," Tosh replied. "There's no cross reference in his file and I can't find a record of any incidents about the time he's supposed to have died. His cause of death is listed as being a car accident. The death certificate is where it all stops. But Jack said there were hard copies in London so they must have had them in the database too."
"They're hidden somewhere then."
"I know, but I can't find them. There are four other people listed as deceased on the same day and their files are the same. Death by car accident and nothing further. It's highly unlikely that four people all had car accidents on the same day so it was obviously a major incident but it's been completely covered up and all the files hidden. They shouldn't be able to hide that from me."
Suzie smiled slightly at the almost pout that graced Tosh's face and nodded in agreement. Toshiko was the best, sometimes it felt as if she was beyond genius, when it came to computers. Brilliant with tech and even more so with computer systems, she hadn't come across a program she couldn't hack. Torchwood One's files should have been an open book for her.
"You could ask our winged friend when he appears," Suzie suggested and Tosh frowned.
"Wouldn't that be rather rude of us? To ask him to help us access his personal information?" Tosh asked uncomfortably and Suzie laughed.
"He's Torchwood, Tosh. He already knows that there's no such thing as privacy here." Suzie tilted her head to one side. "Did he ask you why you suddenly appeared in the showers?"
"…No."
Suzie nodded. "That's because he knows that Torchwood always watches. And he has wings, Tosh. Do you really think that One didn't have him under their complete control? That band Jack asked you to remove? I bet it does more than the usual restraining bands the police have."
"Jack said he had deactivated it."
"Because it probably would have killed him if he'd left the Tower otherwise."
Tosh shook her head. "No. That would be… No."
Suzie took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Tosh, we don't deal with Torchwood One for some very good reasons. When they last tried to get in here they wanted to kill all the weevils. They didn't just want to hunt the ones that came out of the sewers, they wanted to go down there and exterminate them. Eradicate them like rats. London has… had a motto when it came to anything alien. 'If its alien it's ours.' That's what Jack says they believe. But when it comes to actual aliens, it's more like 'if it's useful, keep it; if not, kill it.'"
"Why didn't Jack tell us this before?"
"Jack hates Torchwood One. He really, really detests them. He does all the talking with them and he never lets us have contact with them. I don't know if he's trying to keep us safe or if he's afraid they'll say something he doesn't want us to know. Either way he keeps them at more than arm's length."
"I know he's always said to have nothing to do with them."
"Well, it will be worse now that One has stuffed up so comprehensively. We'll have all the other communities trying to blame us and Jack will rightfully deny that and any mention of One is going to have him in a very bad mood for the next few months."
"I didn't realise…" Tosh said almost apologetically.
Suzie shrugged. "It doesn't matter. You like the computers better anyway." She smiled wryly. "Jack had to tell me some of this because I'm his Second otherwise none of us would know any of it."
"Yes, he does like his secrets," Tosh agreed with a nod and then she was one with a wry smile. "But then, don't we all." It wasn't a question.
"That's Torchwood for you," Suzie replied.
Ianto Jones inched his way from his temporary quarters to the main Hub area. The relief he'd gotten from the hot water had faded and he was once again at the mercy of his cramping muscles. If it wasn't for the promise of further pain relief and food Ianto would have preferred to remain in his room and gone back to bed.
But Toshiko was waiting for him and presumably the other female member of Torchwood Three as well. Ianto did remember the Captain saying he would be heading straight back to London and sending her back. Ianto had to think hard for a moment. Costello, Suzie Costello, that was the name of the woman he'd briefly met. She'd be back in Cardiff by now and he'd be meeting her properly this time. At least the acerbic Doctor Harper was still in London.
His wings rustled, still hung low and brushing over the floor behind him. It felt wrong to have them dragging so low but at the moment it was impossible to fold them in their usual position over his back. And while his feathers were mostly waterproof, dust was another matter and Ianto knew he'd be spending some time cleaning them later.
He stopped and looked at the small flight of stairs that led up to the main Hub. Six small steps. Only two other people here and he had met them before. Only once but it still counted. And they knew about him. They had seen his wings and he was quite certain they had read his file. So why was he suddenly feeling so nervous?
Being bruised and injured didn't help he realised. It made him appear weak and he'd quickly learnt not to show any weaknesses at One. They hadn't liked it when he'd been too confident either and he had cultivated a polite and modest façade that he reached for now as he began to carefully climb the stairs, trying to quell his nerves with each slow step.
He'd survived so much over the last few years and he'd thought there'd been nothing new that could terrify him. Yesterday had taught him otherwise and he was doing his best to avoid thinking too hard about how he felt about that. He was alive, he'd survived again, he was no longer at One. That was all he needed to concentrate on at the moment. Later he would talk himself through the rest of it and minimise whatever breakdown was laying in wait for him.
By the time he reached the sixth step he had managed to control most of his nerves through force of will and denial. He stepped into the Hub proper with a slow but mostly confident step that nearly faltered when two pairs of eyes fixed on him.
"Ianto Jones," Suzie Costello said without inflection. "Nice to see you again."
"Thank you," he replied politely and took another couple of steps towards them. They were both staring rather intently at him and he had to force himself not to flush or twitch under their scrutiny.
"Uh…" Toshiko chewed at her bottom lip for a brief moment before visibly gathering her courage. "Ianto, um, is there a problem?" She waved her hand towards him in a vague gesture that had both Suzie and Ianto looking puzzled.
"What sort of problem?" Suzie asked Toshiko at the same time as Ianto shook his head.
"Um, you don't have a shirt on," Toshiko blushed as she spoke. The young Welshman wore only jeans and loosely laced shoes.
Ianto blinked in surprise and looked down at his bruised chest before looking up at them. Suzie was grinning and trying to hold back a chuckle while Toshiko seemed to be getting redder by the minute.
"I couldn't put one on. My back and ribs hurt too much." Ianto flushed as he replied. He hadn't given his shirtless state any thought.
"I'm not going to complain," Suzie said with a wide smile and a friendly leer that reminded Ianto of Captain Harkness. "It's a pleasant addition to the scenery here." Ianto's flush deepened at her obvious appreciation and he began to wish that he had ignored the pain and put his shirt on.
"It certainly is," Toshiko said and then her eyes went wide as she realised what she'd said. "Ohh, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have…"
Ianto shook his head carefully and managed to smile at her. "It's ok, it's just a bit embarrassing that's all."
"We don't mean to embarrass you Ianto, but we don't often get shirtless men in here, so you can't blame us from enjoying this opportunity," Suzie told him.
"Jack would probably take his shirt off if we asked," Tosh mused
"He'd take it off even if we didn't," Suzie snorted and tilted her head at Ianto. "You're very lucky he's not here at the moment," she grinned at him and Ianto involuntarily groaned. Both women laughed.
"Jack was behaving true to form last night," Tosh giggled.
"He is predictable," Suzie agreed. "Well, Ianto, to save you from further embarrassment, how about we help you put a shirt on?"
"After the scan," Tosh added quickly and Suzie nodded.
"What scan?" Ianto asked.
"Oh, we have a medical scanner. Jack was supposed to run it over you when you first arrived but he forgot," Tosh told him as she picked up something from her desk. "It picks up most soft tissue damage and it'll let us know if you've managed to crack your ribs."
Ianto eyed the solid black unit Toshiko was holding with interest. "It's an alien scanner, isn't it?"
"Yes, Jack says it's a Bekaran scanner."
"Never heard of it," he said with his archival senses stirring. "Where did it come from?"
"It came through the rift a few years back," Tosh said watching as Ianto came closer to their desks, seeing his embarrassment fading as a look of curiousity appeared on his face. "Owen plays with it every six months or so and sometimes finds new scans that it can do."
Ianto studied the scanner, making no move to touch it as he looked from the small blank screen to the myriad of buttons around it. His lips moved soundlessly as if he were taking notes and Toshiko watched with fascination. She moved her hands slightly to have it laid flat over her palms and his lips curved briefly in a distracted smile of thanks, his eyes never leaving the unit.
"I think the doctor needs more fingers," he murmured as he moved his hand over the buttons without actually touching them. He brought up his other hand and held them both still and spread his fingers out. "The layout suggests that extra fingers on each side would allow for greater useability."
Toshiko frowned not seeing what he was saying and he reached out and cupped her hand. "Hold it as you were," he instructed. "One hand supporting with your fingers over the buttons here," he said as he moved her hand into position. Her fingers lightly touched four of the buttons on the side of the screen. His larger hand stayed under hers and his fingers curled up over the unit slotting neatly between hers. "See, seven buttons covered and two more within reach from one hand. And with your free hand for the other side, there's no telling how many more functions it has, although there's nothing that seems to indicate if this was intended for a right or left handed person either, so they're either ambidextrous or one side does the same as the other." Ianto's voice trailed off slightly and Toshiko looked at him.
"How do you know all this?"
"I work in the archives. I've seen a few items that need multiple hands to make them work." He smiled at her as he took his hands away and stepped back.
"I never would have thought of extra fingers," Toshiko said as she looked at the scanner with appraising eyes.
"Sure you would," Ianto replied. "There's a lot of speculation and guesswork when it comes to alien artifacts, but when you have to catalogue and cross reference each one, you soon learn to recognise certain similarities in design and usage."
"I'm not an archivist. I wouldn't know what to look for," Toshiko told him and he shook his head.
"This is where the speculation and guessing comes in. Where you need imagination and the ability to think outside the box." He smiled at her. "Archivists like boxes and labels but without someone to imagine and to test it, there's not much an archivist can do. And there aren't many archivists that actually have an imagination," he added with an edge that had her frowning. Before she could say anything he waved his hand at the scanner. "So, how does this scanner work?"
"It's very simple. I just wave it over you," she said. She thought about calling him on his attempt to distract her but he had visibly tensed up and his breathing was catching as he waited for his muscles to stop cramping. It could wait she decided and she turned the scanner on instead.
She held it six inches from his right side and moved it up and down slowly. The small screen glowed and the images shifted. She watched it carefully and Ianto remained still without her telling him to.
"The scrapes are all clean, but the bruising is deep," she said as she shifted around to scan his back. "Oh."
"What?"
"You… your wing's in the way," she told him looking uncomfortable and he smiled.
"They often are," he quipped and he took a deep breath before he reached behind to pull the right wing away from his back. His back ached as the muscles burnt. "Is that okay? It hurts too much to lift them up."
"Its fine," she told him, hearing the strain in his voice and she scanned him as quickly as she could. Her eyes flicked continually from the small screen to the bruised back in front of her. She itched to touch the dark feathers, to see if they were as soft as they looked. This close to him she could see the smaller fuzzy feathers lying underneath his wings. Along the underside of his right wing there was a red scar line that ran the length of the joint and few inches beyond. When she moved further around she found the skin between his wings to be smooth and unmarked. She moved to his left and he let go of his right wing to pull the left one up for her. She saw a matching scar under his left wing but couldn't linger too long as his breathing was becoming increasingly ragged. She finished the scan and stepped back. Ianto let his wing drop with visible relief and he sat down on the closest chair. He sat on it backwards, his arms crossed along the chair back. He closed his eyes and rested his head on his arms for a moment before lifting his head and looking at her. His face was pale and the shadows were dark under his eyes.
"You have two cracked ribs," Toshiko told him as he recovered. "And your muscles are really bruised. Your … wings, mainly the right one, are pulling at the muscles as well but there's no tearing. It's all just bruising and strain according to the scanner."
"Does it say how long before they're healed?"
"No, but we have some cream that works wonders on strained muscles. It'll help with the bruising as well."
Ianto tilted his head at her caught by the tone of her voice. "Alien cream?" he queried lightly.
"Maybe." She smiled at him.
"As long as it works," he smiled back at her.
"It does. I've used it before." She paused and watched him carefully. "We could use it now, before you get your shirt on. With the painkillers, we should be able to make it hurt a whole lot less for awhile."
Ianto nodded. "Sounds good." Pain relief was what he wanted and he was prepared to ignore her obvious and unnecessary discomfort with the situation to get it. He was too used to having people poke and prod at him to feel uncomfortable at the prospect of having soothing cream rubbed on his ribs. Besides, he thought, the more relaxed and accepting of it he appeared to be, the easier it would be for her.
"I'll just get it," she almost whispered and hurried off. He watched her disappear down a flight of steps. Medical facilities of some sort he assumed. Torchwood One had had a whole floor set aside as a mini hospital. He'd been in there on several occasions and they had been as impersonal as any government hospital. They had been more efficient however and had relied heavily on alien technology. They would have had a field day with that scanner, Ianto thought. Ianto was long used to One's system of using whatever they came across be it medication or technology so the thought of using alien cream to heal his bruises did not worry him. If anything he was relieved. Compared to the technology and other things they had used on him over the last two years, cream was completely harmless.
The smell of food had him looking around and he saw Suzie entering the hub with a large plastic bag in one hand and his shirt in the other. She made her way towards him holding the bag up.
"I thought you'd be hungry by now."
Ianto nodded. "What is it?"
"A mixture of Chinese and Thai. The Bay Restaurant around the corner does a delicious Pad Thai and Tosh loves their sea bass. We got you a Thai and Cantonese mix so you can pick out what you like."
Ianto blinked as his mouth watered and his stomach growled. Apart from the monthly pizza with Lisa, he'd been fed dried roast and overcooked vegetables from the London canteen with the ubiquitous bangers and mash every Thursday. The aromas from the bag in Suzie's hand was reawakening his appetite with a vengeance.
"Thank you," was all he could manage to say. Suzie gave him a small smile.
"Been awhile, has it?"
Ianto nodded. "Yes."
"Then you'll enjoy this. We usually eat upstairs in the boardroom but I don't think you need any more stairs in your life at the moment so we'll have it down here."
"Here's the cream," Toshiko announced as she reappeared.
"I'll plate the food while you do the cream," Suzie said and moved to the small kitchenette. Tosh and Ianto looked after her and then at each other.
"I can do my ribs if you do my back," Ianto said. "It'd be quicker that way."
"Sure," Toshiko nodded.
Toshiko had nearly finished rubbing the cream into Ianto's back when Suzie returned. Ianto was much slower as he rubbed the cream in carefully unable to move too fast or press too hard. Suzie tossed Toshiko a small towel to wipe her hands on after placing the food on her desk. Toshiko helped Ianto finish before moving the chairs closer to the food. Suzie came back with cups of tea and they all sat down.
It felt strange and unreal as they filled a plate for him, sharing their food with him and making sure he had more than enough. He hadn't been the recipient of such attention before. Pizza with Lisa had been completely different. He moved his chair closer to the desk and used his chopsticks to pick up a mouthful.
The food slipped from the sticks and he cursed silently. He was more than capable to eat with chopsticks but it had been two years since he had last used them. He looked at the plate and tried again. He managed to get the food almost to his mouth before it fell again and he felt the sticky warmth of rice sliding down his chest.
"The chair back's in the way," Toshiko said carefully.
"Yes, but I can't sit the other way," he pointed out.
"Use my stool," Toshiko said putting her plate back on the desk. "We'll lower it for you." She stood up and went to her station to get the tall stool she preferred to use. Owen and Suzie liked the backed chairs, Owen especially given to leaning back to the point of imminent disaster.
"Thanks," Ianto said as he picked the food from his chest. "I need a bib," he muttered.
"Let's get your shirt on and then you can tuck one in to it," Suzie suggested.
"You have bibs?" Ianto asked in disbelief.
"Well, not exactly bibs," Suzie replied. "But we have some napkins."
"Why do we have napkins?" Toshiko asked.
Suzie shrugged. "No idea but there's a full dinner set and tea service as well. They look like they've been here for decades."
"Where are they?"
"That room off from the boardroom. There's all sorts of old stuff in there."
"I'll get the napkins," Toshiko said and stood up.
"And I will get you dressed," Suzie added as she held up a shirt. Ianto looked ruefully at them. He felt as if he had suddenly acquired two older sisters and looking from one determined face to the other, both smiling at him, he knew he wasn't going to be able to refuse them.
"Thank you," he said with the most genuine smile they'd seen from him so far.
"Right, let's make this as painless as possible," Suzie told him, shaking the shirt out and looking at the alterations with interest. Ianto was glad she'd picked up one of the button down shirts. There was no way he would be able to lift his arms up for a t-shirt.
Suzie moved around him carefully easing his arm into the first sleeve and then stretching it across his back, keeping it bunched up over his wings. She helped him with the other arm, pulling the material taut over his back to make it stretch as far as it could and lessening the distance Ianto had to move his arm. Once his arms were in she eased the shirt down his back, keeping the splits wide to slip past his wings. The feathers rustled as her hands brushed against them.
"They're soft," she murmured.
"Yeah," Ianto replied resisting the urge to shake them out. He always felt the need to do that after anyone touched them like a cat after its fur had been rubbed the wrong way. He could feel her pulling the shirt sides together under his wings and couldn't lift them up to make it easier for her. His back twitched as she moved them upwards slightly.
"They're heavy," she noted in surprise.
"Yes," Ianto nodded.
"Birds always seem so light," Suzie remarked as she joined the velcro strips and made sure the shirt was even.
"Birds are, when they're small." Ianto began doing up the buttons of his shirt.
"Birds have hollow bones," Toshiko said as she re-joined them with a handful of white napkins. "The scan… your ribs aren't," she added shyly.
"No, they're not." Ianto took a breath. "The bones in my wings are, but the rest of me is still human."
Suzie stepped away from him and surveyed the smooth back of his shirt around the wings. She gave a small nod of approval at her work and then moved back to her chair. "That would mean you couldn't fly either, right?"
"Yes, that's right. I can't fly." Ianto kept his face carefully blank. Flying was a topic he did not want to discuss, but didn't miss the flash of disappointment that crossed Toshiko's face. "Even without the different bone density there's also the lack of a tail. No way to balance and steer."
"That's a shame," Suzie commented without insult. "All the pretty and none of the perks."
"Yeah," Ianto agreed keeping his tone light and easy. It was too easy to feel bitter at times and he worked hard not to let it show. He took the napkin Toshiko was holding out to him and carefully tucked it into his shirt. He looked up at the two women and smiled. "I think I look a twat."
"But your shirt will be clean," Toshiko told him with a laugh as she helped him pull it wider across his shirt. "Completely covered."
"And it may inspire Owen to have a care when he eats," Suzie added with an amiable grin.
"I doubt it," Toshiko replied. "Owen probably can't even spell napkin, let alone recognise one."
Ianto felt himself relaxing as he ate. The two women did most of the talking and Ianto was content to listen to them. They didn't ask him many questions and they avoided being too specific when they did ask. Ianto was very grateful for that.
He knew and they knew that he would have to answer their questions some time but they were prepared to wait. And despite his wings hanging like a dead weight behind him and the aches that had him struggling for breath occasionally; despite being in a strange new place and facing an even more uncertain future, he found himself content to just eat and listen. Time enough to let the nightmares out when he didn't hurt so much.
The sound of a phone ringing had him blinking out of his thoughts.
"Jack," Suzie said into her mobile after picking up it from her desk. Her eyes focused on Ianto and she nodded. "Yes, he's awake. We've just fed him."
Ianto looked at his empty plate. He hadn't thought he was that hungry but the food had been delicious and so different to what he'd become used to. Toshiko reached for his plate as they both listened to Suzie's side of the phone call.
"Yes, Tosh ran the scanner over him… nothing major, just bruising and a cracked rib or two."
Ianto pulled the napkin from his shirt and made a note to put it in with the next load of washing. After the first few mouthfuls he'd had no problems with spillage and had been quietly pleased at regaining his old skills with the chopsticks, but he didn't have that many shirts and he wanted to preserve them for as long as he could. Getting new shirts and getting them altered to fit was something he was going to have to address at some later time but it wasn't as pressing as his other concerns.
"Tosh rubbed in that Praxian cream and we'll …" Suzie paused and suddenly grinned at Ianto. "Yes Jack, she rubbed it all over him." Ianto blushed, rolling his eyes as Toshiko started laughing. Ianto ducked his head briefly. "No Jack, I think he'll be all healed by the time you return. Sorry," Suzie continued and Ianto looked up to see Suzie looking and sounding anything but sorry. He couldn't help smiling as Toshiko continued to laugh. It wasn't hard to imagine the Captain's no doubt mock-offended reaction to the teasing. It struck Ianto again how different Three was.
"No Jack, I don't think you need to talk to him. You'll only confuse the poor boy," Suzie admonished the Captain and Ianto was torn between feeling offended and thankful. Probably more on the thankful side of things he thought. The contact he'd had with the Captain made him cautious and he had yet to reconcile what he'd seen so far with what he'd heard about the man. Although some aspects of the Captain's reputation needed no reconciling he realised as he listened to Suzie.
"Yes Jack, he does have his clothes on now and no, I will not get him to remove them just for you." Suzie rolled her eyes at Ianto and gave an exaggerated sigh. "No Jack, I will not take photos of him either now or next time ..."
Toshiko smiled happily as she listened and rested her hand lightly on Ianto's arm. "He's really quite harmless," she murmured. "But he does love to tease and flirt and we all find our own ways of reacting to it."
Ianto nodded. "Yes, I kinda got that from him before." Although Ianto wasn't sure that he'd ever call the Captain harmless. He looked at her. "But does he ever stop?"
"Sometimes. He does understand the concept of time and place even if he usually ignores it."
Ianto groaned quietly. "Oh joy." Tosh smiled at him.
"It could be worse," she told him and his eyebrow rose in a silent query. "That could be Owen on the phone after you," she responded with twinkling eyes. Before he could reply Suzie held the phone out.
"Hey Ianto, Owen wants a word."
Toshiko bit her lip in an attempt to stop the loud burst of laughter she could feel wanting to escape. Ianto groaned much louder this time and Suzie looked from one to the other wondering what she'd missed. She waved the phone at Ianto and he took it as if expecting it to explode as soon as he touched it.
"Yes?" he said as he placed it to his ear.
"I told you to ring me as soon as you woke up birdman," Owen's voice grated in his ear and Ianto stiffened slightly.
"You forgot to give me your number," Ianto retorted and heard the sound of what might have been a snort.
"No excuse. The girls would have given it to you. How long did you sleep?" Ianto could hear the sudden authority in the last words and it startled him. Doctor-mode he realised as he responded to the tone.
"About twelve hours."
"Good. It sounded like Tosh used the good cream on you so get her to do that again tomorrow."
"Okay."
"Make sure you do. I'll be ringing tomorrow to check up on you. Have you had anything to eat yet?"
"Yes."
"How's the head?"
"It's fine." Ianto lifted his fingers and brushed them carefully over the wound. He could feel the sutures poking through his hair. He always forgot it was there, one tiny ache lost amidst the other far larger hurts. "It doesn't hurt."
"Have you had another painkiller yet?"
"Not yet."
"Take one now and then go sleep again."
"Yes Doctor."
"You'll be fine by week's end if you do as you're told. I don't want to have to patch you up all over again when I get back there, birdman."
"And thank you for caring, Doctor Prat." Ianto rolled his eyes and then realised he'd spoken aloud as the two women started laughing and he heard Doctor Harper loudly swearing at him through the phone.
Ianto eased himself into his bed with a pleasant drowsiness threatening to overtake the continual ache of his body. The sedative within the painkillers was starting to have an effect. It took a little careful manoeuvring to get his wings settled behind him as he sank into the thin mattress and pulled the blankets up.
He stared at the open door and the dim light from the hall that lit his small room. In the Tower his room had either been brightly lit or in complete darkness. So bright during the day and so dark in the night once the door had been closed and locked. He shivered and curled up.
Three was different; Three was not One he told himself. There was dim lights and no locked doors. There was Thai food and long hot showers. And there was Toshiko and Suzie. He'd spent a couple of hours with them and he had the feeling that he could like them. Really like them and not just tolerate them as he had many of those in the sub-levels at One. It frightened him a little.
It wasn't that he hadn't cared for the people around him at One. It was just the way they looked at him, the way they treated him. There was always a distance, an awareness that he was different and he had let them keep their distance. But there was no distance here in Cardiff and those in London were all gone. Gone. All gone.
He closed his eyes as they prickled and he turned his head to press his face into the pillow. Several tears managed to escape before he forced himself back to calmness with slow deep breaths that made his ribs ache. He had no intention of breaking down into one large sodden teary mess. He knew how Torchwood dealt with such things and he had no intention of that happening to him. He would parcel it out in small manageable pieces and while he knew that he wouldn't be able to keep it all to himself, he was certain he could the worst of it hidden. He had done it two years ago, he could do it again.
He shifted and relaxed further, the memories of One safely locked up in a small corner of his mind for now. Time enough to remember later, preferably after the bruises had gone and when his muscles no longer ached.
...
Reference Notes:
Tengu (heavenly dogs) take their name from a dog-like Chinese demon (Tiangou) and were originally thought to take the forms of birds of prey. They are traditionally depicted with both human and avian characteristics. Buddhism long held that the tengu were disruptive demons and harbingers of war. Their image gradually softened, however, into one of protective, if still dangerous, spirits of the mountains and forests.
The Bay Restaurant site does not have a takeaway menu, and there is no mention of a takeaway service provided. I couldn't find any reference anywhere that said they have one, so I have taken the liberty of giving them one for the purpose of this fic. If anyone does know if they do takeaway, please let me know.
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