Fic: A Conference Room Confrontation

[gingerbreadlass.livejournal.com]

Wahay for anti-Gwen fic! The best thing? She's not actually in it so she can't say anything for herself! *jazzhands* Hopefully the cut text will work...

Title: A Conference Room Confrontation
Author: Gingerbreadlass
Rating: U
Characters: Ianto, Jack, Suzie, Owen and a little Tosh for good measure. Gwen is heavily mentioned but thankfully not present.
Timeline: Set in the preliminary stages of ‘Everything Changes’.
Warnings: Owen is not particularly kind to the Welsh through this. Oh, and Jack does stand up for Gwen, too. Silly man.
Inevitable disclaimer: I am not Owen Harper or Suzie Costello – I love Ianto - andearly. Regrettably, Owen did not (and evidence in 'They Keep Killing Suzie' leads me to the conclusion she does not either). Neither am I the BBC. In fact, even if I was the BBC, I wouldn’t admit to it after the embarrassment to television which was Children of Earth.
Summary: Jack’s got his eyes on a new recruit. No one else is convinced. Ianto really doesn’t appreciate having to sit in on this meeting.

The CCTV reel of Gwen Cooper and company at the crime scene ended, leaving a freeze frame displayed on the monitor of the conference room. "Christ, she's Welsh," Owen said in disgust, leaning back in her seat and crossing his arms. "We're not having another Welshie in here, Harkness." Sat silently at the conference table at Jack's insistence, Ianto made the resolution to give Owen instant coffee for the rest of the day. ‘Welshie’, indeed. Next he'd be calling them 'Taffies', for god’s sake. This wasn’t the Victorian times.

"Owen, we are in Cardiff," Tosh pointed out gently.

"I'm aware," he replied abruptly. "Doesn't mean I want more of them in here, thank you very much."

"Oh, please. Can we try not to be racist?" Jack put in quickly. He glanced up to Ianto for some recognition, but Ianto didn't deign to respond. By now, Ianto had become more than used to not giving Jack any unnecessary chances (or hope of chances) to cajole him into bed. In any case, if Jack spent his time plotting how to get Ianto to sleep with him, he at least wasn't thinking about other things properly - for instance, the reason behind the occasional power outages through the Hub.

"She's more Welsh than Teaboy, and Teaboy's more than Welsh enough for me. Did you listen to her voice?" Owen couldn't have given his opinion in a way which would make Ianto dislike him further. "I can deal with him," he prods a finger in Ianto's general direction, "because he doesn't talk much. She's a foghorn. She obviously doesn't shut up."

"Yes, I did hear her voice, thank you. Nothing sounded wrong to me." Jack shrugged.

"It's jarring as hell," Suzie said dismissively. "Ianto." He looked up, wide eyed. If he was absolutely honest, Suzie scared the shit out of him, and she was probably the one most likely to find out who he was hiding downstairs. She was also oddly obsessed with the resurrection glove, but he wasn’t going to say anything about that. "You speak Welsh, say something. Anything."

Ianto quietly did as he was told. He told Suzie (no one else understood it, so who cared what he said?) that if Owen continued to spit vitriol at him, he would be subjected to instant coffee for the rest of his life without mercy or biscuits to make the situation slightly more bearable. His calculated, purposely softened accent became slightly thicker, but such side effects were entirely unintentional and could not be helped.

"See? He's speaking the bloody lingo and he still sounds less Welsh than she does speaking English, which as a language actually has some use." Owen all but spat his disgust across the conference table. Ianto, in a steady show of self control, completely ignored him. After all, his Welsh accent and language skills (the latter not naturalised by any means, but meticulously self-taught with stolen school textbooks) had got him quite far over the years, especially with women in pubs during university.

Suzie looked over to Jack, only to discover that he was staring at Ianto again, with a particularly hungry expression on his face. Ianto had registered this, and found it mildly amusing, though keeping his countenance pleasantly blank. She clicked her fingers in front of his face. "Jack. Jack?"

"I was listening," he replied, affronted.

"We can see." Suzie did not sound impressed. "Which accent do you prefer?"

"Alright, alright. I prefer his. Okay? But she might be useful as well." He crosses his arms. "We're not having a 'one-in, one-out' policy on basis of Welshness, of all the things. I hire on merit." A voice at the back of Ianto's head pointed out that 'Welshness' was not an actual word, but he couldn't fault Jack for trying.

"She's spent six months in the police force," Owen pointed out. "She essentially has Teaboy's job minus dealing with the archives. At least he can give us coffee as well as taking up oxygen." Ianto silently resolved to make that decaffeinated, instant coffee.

"Can we stop the mindless abuse, please?" Jack said sternly. "Back to the point. Ianto, where's she from again?"

"Swansea, sir," he said, in a carefully neutral, uninterested tone.

"Reason three why we shouldn't hire her. She's from Swansea. At least this one," Owen pointed an accusative finger at Ianto, "is a local."

"Why don't we see how she reacts to us in here and then go from there?" Jack pleaded.

"Oh, you are not going to let her into the Hub," Suzie said, in angry exasperation. "People can't just walk in here, Jack."

"Well, we know what she's planning. Why not see whether she manages it? It'd be fun." He paused for a moment. "I'd retcon her after. Honestly."

"Would everyone disagreeing stop you at all?"

Jack considered for a moment. "Probably not, no."

"Well then, you'd better go forth and conquer, hadn't you." She sighed. "There's no point sitting around here arguing about it, is there?"

"There is a point," Owen said defensively.

"I'm not going to sit here and let you use this as an excuse to throw insults at Ianto, he doesn't deserve it." Jack's tone was particularly final. Ianto appreciated this gesture immensely, though he wouldn't say it.

"I suppose Ianto is occasionally useful," Suzie said, with some effort.

"Yes, he is. For instance, right about now he's going to go into the Tourist Office and start the ball rolling. Take your coffee up, Ianto, mess with her a bit and then let her in. Come down once you're done so I can introduce you. Clear?"

"Crystal, sir," he replied, and stood up, leaving the conference room quickly without another word. Tosh and Jack watched him as he went. Suzie and Owen didn't bother.

If completely honest with himself, Ianto disagreed with this idea as much as Owen did. As his opinion counted less than the others, he didn't really feel the need to mention it, but the sentiment remained. Also, he and Owen had actually agreed on something for once, which Ianto saw as anathema in itself.

Still, the thought bothered him as he stood in the lift, waiting for it to reach the Tourist Office. It took him careful planning, three weeks of dangerously obsessive stalking and a loose pterodactyl to get access to the Hub. Why was this Gwen Cooper about to be allowed to waltz in with a pizza?

Comments

re: conference room

[hohaiyee.livejournal.com]

Good job, you've really captured the mood of Series 1. I love the way Ianto keeps himself in the background, while Owen talks about him as if he isn't in the room, Suzie being scary and interested, and Jack leering at Ianto's corner.

Re: conference room

[gingerbreadlass.livejournal.com]

Aw, thanks. Early series one is fun to write because everyone's all edgy and angry, and Jack is quite obviously desperate to shag Ianto. Always fun! I'm glad you thought I did it well (I have more bits and bobs on my PC which I've written, so I might consider putting them up for people to see).

[jo-dewni.livejournal.com]

It took him careful planning, three weeks of dangerously obsessive stalking and a loose pterodactyl to get access to the Hub. Why was this Gwen Cooper about to be allowed to waltz in with a pizza?

And here we are, three years later, still wondering. It makes absolutely no sense at all, does it? Especially when, give his experience at Torchwood One and simply surviving the Battle of Canary Wharf he *must* have been more qualified than Gwen. Brilliant how you managed to sum it all up in two sentences.

[hohaiyee.livejournal.com]

Succubus?

[jo-dewni.livejournal.com]

Would you believe I have considered such a storyline?

[gingerbreadlass.livejournal.com]

Aw, thanks! Glad you enjoyed it.

I do enjoy comparing Ianto and Gwen and watching as, inevitably, Ianto comes out on top.