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fandomweekly2025-12-14 09:15 pm
m_findlow) wrote in fandomweekly2025-12-14 09:15 pm
Entry tags:
[#283] THE VETTING PROCESS (TORCHWOOD)
Theme Prompt: #283 - First impression
Title: The vetting process
Fandom: Torchwood
Rating/Warnings: PG.
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 1,000 words
Summary: Jack’s attempts to recruit go a bit sideways.
Jack’s foot tapped impatiently as he waited outside the cafe. He’d always hated waiting, preferring to be at the centre of action, but there were also times when he had to accept that patience was a necessary evil. For a guy that had to wait over a hundred years to reconnect his Doctor, he thought he'd be better at waiting by now.
He didn't have to wait much longer, spotting the young man in skinny faded jeans exiting the cafe, head down, looking thoroughly dejected. He almost walked straight past Jack, his head looking down at his feet as he made his way from the café. Jack had to reach out and grab him by the elbow, which startled him. ‘Hey,’ Jack said, putting on a smile, ‘so how did it go?’
‘Terrible,’ he replied, running a hand through long sandy blond hair.
Jack was surprised. ‘Where's Ianto?’
‘Still inside. He offered to pay, which is pretty nice of him. Sorry I wasted your time. Thanks for the offer, though.’ And with that man kept on walking down the street leaving Jack standing there feeling thoroughly confused.
He waited impatiently for Ianto to rejoin him before rounding on him. ‘What did you do?’
It was well understood that Torchwood was vastly understaffed. It had probably been shortstaffed even when Owen and Tosh had been around, but now that it was just the three of them, it was becoming an inescapable fact that there was simply too much work. Jack had been reluctant to replace Tosh and Owen, still grieving in his own unique way, blaming himself for their deaths, and knowing the same fate awaited anyone else who joined.
It didn't stop him from acting on his instincts. He'd met the young man a couple of days ago whilst out solo on a case. Within a few minutes Jack could tell that Damien was smart – book-smart as well as street-smart – and something else indescribable that Jack couldn't put his finger on. Jack had always been good at picking the right kind of people at the right moment and didn't regret a single one of his choices. He'd known instantly that this was the person he'd been looking for.
Of course, he didn't like to make these decisions on his own anymore. He wanted buy-in from the two other important people in his life, except Gwen was on a week's vacation, leaving only Ianto in the decision-making category.
“Just have a chat with the guy and tell me if you see what I see,” Jack had told him.
“You want my opinion?”
“Of course. Your opinion is valuable to me.”
“Really?” Ianto replied. “Usually you listen to my opinion and then just do whatever the hell you want anyway.”
Jack rolled his eyes at his lover. “Just talk to the guy. Tell me he's the one.”
And so the coffee date had been set up, Jack left outside to wait so he couldn't influence Ianto’s decision, or simply take over the conversation. They'd already installed an audio dampener under the table so nobody within three yards could hear a word they were saying, leaving them free to talk frankly about anything and everything, which when recruiting for Torchwood pretty much meant anything and everything.
‘We had a good chat,’ Ianto replied.
‘It didn't look like that from where I'm standing,’ Jack replied, looking down the street, the young man no longer in sight. ‘He came out of here looking like you'd shot his dog.’
‘He’s actually a cat person.’
‘What happened?’ Something had clearly gone off the rails and Jack was desperate to know.
‘It was going fine, and then he just sort of… put his foot in it a bit.’
‘What do you mean?’
Ianto looked contrite, averting his gaze. ‘Well, obviously I described what Torchwood does and then he took one look at me and asked if I liked working in admin.’
Ah, Jack thought. It was the suit. Everyone always assumed Ianto was the office boy, kept the paperwork up to date and answered the phone calls. He did all that, but he was also a gun-toting, butt-kicking, alien hunting badass. Appearances could be deceiving, and the Torchwood agents didn’t go around dressed in commando gear, army boots and guns visibly strapped to their bodies. ‘Please tell me you didn't give him the James Bond lecture.’
Ianto grabbed his tie-knot and tugged at it uncomfortably. ‘Well…’
So Ianto had given him the James Bond schtick, Jack thought. Small wonder that the guy left the café looking the way he had. He’d gone in there for the job interview of a lifetime, and came out thinking he completely tanked it.
‘You know it's not personal, right?’ Jack said, unable to keep the grin from his face. He tried to picture Ianto discussing the finer points of the great, yet fictitious James Bond. Jack had a lot of dealings with MI-5 over the years and he could attest to the fact that not one of them looked anything like James Bond. Ianto had that market cornered all on his own, although far be it from Jack to break his little fantasy bubble. First impressions were very misleading.
‘His faux pas notwithstanding, I actually think he's an excellent candidate,’ Ianto said.
‘Really?’
‘Absolutely. I mean, I'm no Gwen, and people skills are not my forte, but as much as you've been putting off recruiting anyone, I think he might be the one.’
Jack breathed a sigh of relief, reassured that his instincts hadn't completely abandoned him. ‘Well, in that case, I think you should be the one to break the news to him.’
‘I doubt he'll believe me. I'm not apologizing about the suit thing,’ Ianto told him.
‘I know,’ Jack conceded. ‘You know I love the suit, right?’
‘Of course. But just for the record, we’re not making it the official uniform of all future recruits.’
Jack gave him a salute. ‘Duly noted. Nobody rocks the suit like Ianto Jones.’
Title: The vetting process
Fandom: Torchwood
Rating/Warnings: PG.
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 1,000 words
Summary: Jack’s attempts to recruit go a bit sideways.
Jack’s foot tapped impatiently as he waited outside the cafe. He’d always hated waiting, preferring to be at the centre of action, but there were also times when he had to accept that patience was a necessary evil. For a guy that had to wait over a hundred years to reconnect his Doctor, he thought he'd be better at waiting by now.
He didn't have to wait much longer, spotting the young man in skinny faded jeans exiting the cafe, head down, looking thoroughly dejected. He almost walked straight past Jack, his head looking down at his feet as he made his way from the café. Jack had to reach out and grab him by the elbow, which startled him. ‘Hey,’ Jack said, putting on a smile, ‘so how did it go?’
‘Terrible,’ he replied, running a hand through long sandy blond hair.
Jack was surprised. ‘Where's Ianto?’
‘Still inside. He offered to pay, which is pretty nice of him. Sorry I wasted your time. Thanks for the offer, though.’ And with that man kept on walking down the street leaving Jack standing there feeling thoroughly confused.
He waited impatiently for Ianto to rejoin him before rounding on him. ‘What did you do?’
It was well understood that Torchwood was vastly understaffed. It had probably been shortstaffed even when Owen and Tosh had been around, but now that it was just the three of them, it was becoming an inescapable fact that there was simply too much work. Jack had been reluctant to replace Tosh and Owen, still grieving in his own unique way, blaming himself for their deaths, and knowing the same fate awaited anyone else who joined.
It didn't stop him from acting on his instincts. He'd met the young man a couple of days ago whilst out solo on a case. Within a few minutes Jack could tell that Damien was smart – book-smart as well as street-smart – and something else indescribable that Jack couldn't put his finger on. Jack had always been good at picking the right kind of people at the right moment and didn't regret a single one of his choices. He'd known instantly that this was the person he'd been looking for.
Of course, he didn't like to make these decisions on his own anymore. He wanted buy-in from the two other important people in his life, except Gwen was on a week's vacation, leaving only Ianto in the decision-making category.
“Just have a chat with the guy and tell me if you see what I see,” Jack had told him.
“You want my opinion?”
“Of course. Your opinion is valuable to me.”
“Really?” Ianto replied. “Usually you listen to my opinion and then just do whatever the hell you want anyway.”
Jack rolled his eyes at his lover. “Just talk to the guy. Tell me he's the one.”
And so the coffee date had been set up, Jack left outside to wait so he couldn't influence Ianto’s decision, or simply take over the conversation. They'd already installed an audio dampener under the table so nobody within three yards could hear a word they were saying, leaving them free to talk frankly about anything and everything, which when recruiting for Torchwood pretty much meant anything and everything.
‘We had a good chat,’ Ianto replied.
‘It didn't look like that from where I'm standing,’ Jack replied, looking down the street, the young man no longer in sight. ‘He came out of here looking like you'd shot his dog.’
‘He’s actually a cat person.’
‘What happened?’ Something had clearly gone off the rails and Jack was desperate to know.
‘It was going fine, and then he just sort of… put his foot in it a bit.’
‘What do you mean?’
Ianto looked contrite, averting his gaze. ‘Well, obviously I described what Torchwood does and then he took one look at me and asked if I liked working in admin.’
Ah, Jack thought. It was the suit. Everyone always assumed Ianto was the office boy, kept the paperwork up to date and answered the phone calls. He did all that, but he was also a gun-toting, butt-kicking, alien hunting badass. Appearances could be deceiving, and the Torchwood agents didn’t go around dressed in commando gear, army boots and guns visibly strapped to their bodies. ‘Please tell me you didn't give him the James Bond lecture.’
Ianto grabbed his tie-knot and tugged at it uncomfortably. ‘Well…’
So Ianto had given him the James Bond schtick, Jack thought. Small wonder that the guy left the café looking the way he had. He’d gone in there for the job interview of a lifetime, and came out thinking he completely tanked it.
‘You know it's not personal, right?’ Jack said, unable to keep the grin from his face. He tried to picture Ianto discussing the finer points of the great, yet fictitious James Bond. Jack had a lot of dealings with MI-5 over the years and he could attest to the fact that not one of them looked anything like James Bond. Ianto had that market cornered all on his own, although far be it from Jack to break his little fantasy bubble. First impressions were very misleading.
‘His faux pas notwithstanding, I actually think he's an excellent candidate,’ Ianto said.
‘Really?’
‘Absolutely. I mean, I'm no Gwen, and people skills are not my forte, but as much as you've been putting off recruiting anyone, I think he might be the one.’
Jack breathed a sigh of relief, reassured that his instincts hadn't completely abandoned him. ‘Well, in that case, I think you should be the one to break the news to him.’
‘I doubt he'll believe me. I'm not apologizing about the suit thing,’ Ianto told him.
‘I know,’ Jack conceded. ‘You know I love the suit, right?’
‘Of course. But just for the record, we’re not making it the official uniform of all future recruits.’
Jack gave him a salute. ‘Duly noted. Nobody rocks the suit like Ianto Jones.’
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