Will You Still Respect Me in the Morning? (or Why Ianto Jones is No Longer Allowed to Borrow the SUV

[czarina_kitty]

Title: Will You Still Respect Me in the Morning? (or Why Ianto Jones is No Longer Allowed to Borrow the SUV)
Author: czarina_kitty
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters/Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Rating: PG
Warnings: Language
Prompt: Ianto messes up at work or has a professional disagreement with Jack, and they have to deal with the separation between their professional and personal relationships.
Summary: see prompt
Disclaimer: I do not own, or make any money from the use of, these characters.
Notes:  Written for dark_fest.  My second attempt at this prompt.
Spoilers: The audio book The Sin Eaters, but nothing really critical to the plot of the audio book (and you don’t need to have listened to the book to understand this).  Mentions events from Cyberwoman, End of Days, and Adrift.  Also mentions something very minor from the novel Another Life.    

 

          

            “Ianto Jones.  Have we done enough work for today,” Jack asked watching Gwen leave for the day.

            “I think we have, yeah,” Ianto considered.  “Saved the world, looked cool doing it.  Good day all around.  Bed?”

            “Not quite yet,” Jack said, shaking his head slowly and leading the way up the stairs.  “My office.  We have something we need to discuss.”

            “Is there something wrong, Jack?” Ianto asked, slightly confused and worried by this turn of events.  It had been a long time since he’d been summoned to Jack’s office for anything other than a game but Jack is not acting like this is a game.

            “Yes, I think there is,” Jack said, with a deep sigh.  “It’s been bothering me since yesterday and I just haven’t found the right moment, but….”  Jack stopped, turning to face Ianto on the walkway.  “You want to explain to me why you felt the need to drive the SUV into the ocean?  After I told you not to?”

            “We needed to get out to sea, follow the signal,” Ianto explained.  “I knew the SUV was customized to be amphibious.  It made sense at the time.”

            “I told you it hadn’t been tested,” Jack said quietly, slowly.

            “You drove it down a cliff first and that hadn’t been tested either,” Ianto replied reasonably.

            “I told you to stop.”

            “I told you to stop before going over the cliff.”

            “We aren’t talking about me here,” Jack growled before turning and continuing on to the office, Ianto trailing behind.

            “I didn’t see another option, okay?” Ianto said as he entered the office and watched Jack sit behind his desk.   Jack made no motion for Ianto to sit, so he remained standing in the doorway, not quite sure where this conversation is going, but wanting to keep the option of a quick escape open.  “It isn’t like you bothered to tell me we have a speed boat before today.  Or at least we had a speed boat, until you sank it,” Ianto’s frustration was clearly present in his tone.

“Granted.  But you did know about the mini-sub, which still would have been a better option than the SUV,” Jack reasoned.  “And that stunt with the rocket boosters?   What was that all about?”

“You have to admit it was fun,” Ianto grinned.

“Ianto,” Jack warned in a low tone.

“Sorry, sir,” he said in his best game voice, lowering his eyes before looking back up through his eyelashes.  “I guess I have been rather naughty.”

“Ianto, this isn’t a game, it isn’t a joke,” Jack’s voice raised slightly as his tone became firm.  “If we were in the real world I’d fire your ass for misuse of company property, failure to obey a direct order, and general disrespect.  That isn’t an option, but you will take this seriously.”

“I…, Yes, sir,” Ianto said with a curt nod.  “I just thought we should test the features.  Why have all the extras if you aren’t going to use them?”

“There was a reason no one knew about all the modifications to the SUV, or the speed boat, or the….” Jack trailed off, not sure exactly how much Ianto had discovered and not willing to give anything else away.  “You weren’t supposed to know about those things.”

“You could have told me,” Ianto said flatly, defensively.  “Instead I had to find the records in the archives.”

“Yeah, about that,” Jack said narrowing his eyes.  “Unless I am very much mistaken, those records were sealed in a secure section of the archive which you do not have the proper clearance to access.”

“Tosh overrode the security protocols while you were gone.  We didn’t know if you were coming back and we thought we might need access to those records at some point.  Never got around to telling you about that, I guess,” Ianto replied, staring at his feet. 

“Hmm.”

“Jack?  Why are there still restricted archives?  What happened to telling each other everything?”

“I don’t tell you everything,” Jack ignores the shocked look on Ianto’s face and continues, “There are always going to be things you don’t know and times when you just have to trust me to know what’s best.”

            “I do trust you, Jack, but obviously you don’t trust me.  I thought we were past hiding things from each other.  No secrets, remember,” Ianto looked at his feet again.

            “No secrets in our relationship,” Jack stated softly.  “But that doesn’t apply to Torchwood business, it never has.  There will always be things that I can’t tell you, things I won’t tell you, things that were intentionally locked away and hidden and will be again very soon. There are things you can’t know, about me, about Torchwood, about the future. That doesn’t change just because we sleep together.”

            “I never thought it did,” Ianto said softly.  “But then I always thought I knew everything about Torchwood.”

            “What else have you found in the archives?” Jack asked, the air of command coming back into his voice.  “Any other stunts you’re likely to pull that I should be aware of?  Or did you finally learn your lesson with the cat?”

            “I’ll concede that using the invisible lift to bring the cat down here was a bad idea.  I didn’t really think that through,” Ianto replied miserably, absently rubbing at the fading scratches on his face.

            “No, you certainly didn’t.  You haven’t thought a lot of things through recently.”  Jack paused for a moment, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly, before he continued.  “You never would have done something so irresponsible when you first started here.”  Ianto raised an eyebrow, but remained silent.  “Well, that may be a bad example since you were actively hiding the fact you were doing something extremely stupid.   But you never would have done something like this a year ago.  A little bit of self-confidence is a good thing, but you’ve gotten cocky.  And that makes you dangerous to yourself and to everyone else around you.”

            “You’ve always been cocky.”

            “And this conversation is still not about me,” Jack raised his voice, emphasizing the last four words.  “It’s different for me and you know it.  So unless you have found a way to make yourself immortal and neglected to tell me about it, we are going to address the issue here.  Now take a seat.”

            “Yes, sir,” Ianto replied, reflexively lowering his eyes as he slid into the chair in front of Jack’s desk. 

            “I have put up with a lot from you since you started here.  Hiding your girlfriend in the basement, opening the rift, telling Gwen about Flat Holm, all the lies you’ve told me.  I just keep telling myself that you’re young, that you don’t mean any harm and that it won’t happen again,” Jack shook his head before continuing in a lower tone.  “There are only three of us, and yes I know we need to hire, but right now, I need to be able to trust you to work on your own.  We don’t always have the luxury of a partner in the field.  I need to know that you’re safe out there, that you’re taking the risks seriously and not acting like a 12 year-old.”

            “You still think I’m a just a kid?” Ianto asked miserably.

            “No.  I think you act like a kid sometimes,” Jack clarified.

            “Same difference.”

            “No, it isn’t,” Jack said firmly.  “I know you can be responsible.  I’ve watched you blossom in this job and seen you do amazing things.  And there is nothing wrong with having a little fun, but sometimes you forget that there is a time and a place for that.”

“I know that.”

“I know we have talked about it before, repeatedly, but you still haven’t gotten the message.  We wouldn’t be having this conversation again if you had.” Jack again lowered the volume of his voice, “Keeping yourself safe, saving the world, those things have to come first.”

“They do come first, you know they do,” Ianto’s voice was small, but defensive.

“You don’t always show that.  Three times during the last 24 hours you have done something stupid, childish, even after being warned not to.  And maybe this is partially my fault for not making this clear earlier, but that is not acceptable behavior.”

“I’m sorry,” Ianto said, refusing to make eye contact.  “I know you thrive on excitement, on the adrenaline rush, same as Gwen, same as Owen and Tosh did.  Sometimes I feel like I need to do something unexpected, something dangerous to keep your attention.  I just don’t want you to get bored with me.”

“Is that what this is all about?” Jack asked softly.  “You’re feeling insecure?  About us?  I though we were past that.  You don’t need to prove yourself to me like that, Ianto.  You don’t have to impress me.  I don’t want you to put yourself at risk to keep me entertained.”

“Sometimes I feel like I was your second choice, that you are only with me because you couldn’t have the person you really wanted.”

“Ianto,” Jack took another deep breath and continues in a stern tone.  “That line is getting a little stale, don’t you think?  You drag that non-sense out anytime things get uncomfortable for you, but you know damn good and well it isn’t true.  It never has been and it never will be.  It’s been a long time since this was just a casual fling and you know that.  You don’t have to compete for my attention and you certainly don’t need to take risks just to impress me.  Understood?”

“Yeah.”

“Come here,” Jack said softly, moving his chair back and letting Ianto settle onto his lap.  “You don’t sound convinced.  Look, you know I’ll never tell you what to do outside of work, that you are your own person and can make your own decisions.  Right?  Whether you stay in this relationship or continue working here or pitch it all and move to some place sunny, it’s all up to you.  I don’t want to lose you, but if that’s the only way I can keep you safe, I will.”

“I don’t want to leave, you or the job,” Ianto said resting his head on Jack’s shoulder.

“Good.  I’m glad,” Jack said, placing a kiss on Ianto’s temple.  “But given that, I need you to act a little more grown up at work.”

“Then maybe I shouldn’t be sitting on your lap for this conversation.”

“Hey.  Listen to me.  No more joy riding in the SUV, no more reading restricted files, no more ignoring your boss when he tells you to do or not do something.  Agreed?”

“Yes, sir.  I’ll do my best.”

“I know you will.  We both need to work on defining the boundaries here.  I don’t want you to go back to the invisible man routine you did when you first came here, and I certainly don’t want to go back to the tension between us after Lisa, but having some respect for your boss, maybe even a tiny bit of fear,” Jack teased, “Isn’t too much to ask.”

“I do respect you, Jack,” Ianto said simply.

“No, I don’t think you do,” said Jack flatly.  “You like me.  You’re my friend and my lover, but as your boss you don’t respect me.  Every time you ignore what I tell you, every time you decide you know what’s best, every time you put yourself in danger, you disrespect me.”

Ianto sat stunned for a minute before stuttering out an apology.  “I…I’m sorry, sir, I…I never really thought about it like that.  But I see your point.  I don’t always look at you as being my boss, especially when it is just the two of us.  It isn’t like we keep regular hours and we live at work, so the transition from home time to work time isn’t always clear.”
            “I know,” Jack replied, “But this is important.”

“I get that.  And I want to make this work, but this isn’t always easy.  Give me another chance?” Ianto asked meekly.

“Of course, we’ll tackle this together.”  Jack paused before asking, “Bed?”

“Yes, Jack.  Although, maybe it would help to define those boundaries if we slept somewhere else once in a while.  Like a nice hotel, with a view.”

 

Comments

[aviv-b.livejournal.com]

I like this story too! Very different take - Less angst more sweet stuff.

Not as dark as the one you used for dark_fest. Less angst On to story #3!

[black59.livejournal.com]

here is one more development needed and well done!