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fandomweekly2026-01-11 09:12 pm
m_findlow) wrote in fandomweekly2026-01-11 09:12 pm
Entry tags:
[#286] PARTNERS IN CRIME (TORCHWOOD)
Theme Prompt: #286 - Working together
Title: Partners in crime
Fandom: Torchwood
Rating/Warnings: PG.
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 1,000 words
Summary: Ianto has come to Owen in need of a favour.
‘Owen,’ came the gentle Welsh tones from their general support officer. It was a rather pleasant change, Owen decided. Since almost. Everyone else barked his name at him, usually indicating that he'd made a hash of something and was about to be told all. About it. Even so, he was busy now, and the interruption, polite thought it might have been, was still Unwelcome.
‘Yes,’ he replied, his tone indicating command to respond rather than curiosity or friendliness.
Ianto came down the steps of the medical bay, polished shoes clicking quietly on each concrete step until he reached the bottom. ‘I have a favour to ask.’
Oh boy, Owen thought. Here we go. He avoided lifting his head, forcing himself to pretend he was still deeply absorbed in the slide underneath his microscope lens. ‘If it has anything at all to do with the bowel movements, or lack thereof, of a certain prehistoric resident, then I'm not interested. I'm a doctor, not a vet.’
‘Actually, her most recent stool has been quite–’
‘Don't,’ Owen said, lifting his head and raising a pointed finger at him. ‘I do not need to hear the finer points of your analysis. And for the record, the answer to your question is no.’
Ianto didn't let Owen's words put him off. He was belligerently stubborn like that. ‘You don't even know what I was going to ask.’
‘Yes, I do. This is going to be one of those “please Owen, come with me on a case and let me pretend to be in charge,” am I right?’
Ianto shuffled from one foot to the other, awkwardness setting in. ‘Sort of.’
Owen heaved a sigh. ‘Not again.’
‘What?’
Owen pointed at Ianto. ‘You,’ then pointed at himself, ‘and me.’
‘We've done it before.’
Owen rolled his eyes, unable to keep the stupid grin from his face. ‘Yeah, and wasn't that a massive success?’
Ianto didn't seem to find the humour in it. He just stood there and stiffened his posture, shoulders back. ‘I thought it worked out okay.’
Owen moved closer and lowered his voice. ‘Only because we lied to Jack about what we really found, which is to say we told him we didn't find anything.’
‘It was for the best.’
‘For the best?’ Ianto scowled at him, reminding him that it had been Owen who'd finally gone in to bat for him, taking responsibility for the idea of lying in the first place. ‘Yeah, alright so we did the right thing, but that doesn't mean Jack won't bust both our balls if he ever finds out.’
Ianto's determined scowl remained fixed in place. ‘He won't. Or at least not for a very long time. Not until long after we're dead.’
‘Well, isn't that so very reassuring?’
‘It's only a small case file,’ Ianto said, trying to get Owen back on topic. ‘You know Jack wouldn't give me anything big.’
Owen leaned back casually against his autopsy table, folding his arms. ‘What, despite your brilliant one for one track record?’ he teased. ‘The one where you end up with a busted ankle, I almost got my nose broken by the local rugby squad and we both nearly died in a fictitious flood and fire down a mine shaft?’
Ianto chewed his lip in annoyance. ‘Jack's just being cautious.’
‘First smart thing he's done in ages.’
Ianto stepped forward, trying a different tact. ‘Let's not forget the positives. We stayed in the same hotel room together, got drunk together, shared a kebab together, saved the last of the Telescotian species in the entire universe together…’
‘Yep, it was a real Hallmark moment.’ Okay, so it hadn't been all bad. What was the worst that could happen? And it wasn't like Ianto was going to take no for an answer. ‘Please just tell me it isn't out in the middle of sodding nowhere again where nobody speaks a word of English and you're the only thing standing between me and Google Translate.’
‘It's in Barry.’
Owen groaned. ‘Same difference. Right, so assuming I've got a say in this and haven't already been voluntold…’
‘Jack said I was welcome to ask anyone. I didn't drop you in it.’
‘Gee, thanks.’
‘Think about it, Owen. I had a choice of anyone to come with me. Anyone at all. And I chose you. What does that tell you?’
‘That everyone else has already said no?’ Ianto folded his arms and Owen threw up his own in surrender. ‘Okay, okay I'm only teasing. I'll take you at your word that I was the only one you wanted.’
‘It's true. I wouldn't have asked otherwise.’
‘I know. I get it. You and me, we've done this before. You've proven yourself and you trust me to back you up if you need it.’
‘Not that I doubt for a moment the others wouldn't as well, but yes. I trust you. Completely.’
Owen was slightly taken aback by the honesty. ‘Even though I act like a total bastard sometimes and do my best to make your life miserable?’
‘Even then. More so because of it. You're Owen Harper, unfiltered, always know where you stand with him. In a world of people pleasers, that's actually quite refreshing.’
Owen felt his cheeks go hot. ‘Yeah, well you're not alone. I might not always know what's going on inside that head of yours, but I know that if I've crossed a line into being a total twat, I know I can rely on you to call me out on it.’
‘So, have we got ourselves a deal? You come with me and we shut down any illegal alien artifact trading?’
‘Yeah, alright. Team Harper-Jones, it is. Let's go bust some kid hiding in his bedroom at his mum's house playing swapsies on Amazon.’
Ianto looked pleased. ‘Could it be team Jones-Harper instead? Or we could come up with a combined nickname like–’
‘Shut up, Ianto, before I change my mind.’
Ianto clicked his heels together. ‘Got it.’
Title: Partners in crime
Fandom: Torchwood
Rating/Warnings: PG.
Bonus: Yes
Word Count: 1,000 words
Summary: Ianto has come to Owen in need of a favour.
‘Owen,’ came the gentle Welsh tones from their general support officer. It was a rather pleasant change, Owen decided. Since almost. Everyone else barked his name at him, usually indicating that he'd made a hash of something and was about to be told all. About it. Even so, he was busy now, and the interruption, polite thought it might have been, was still Unwelcome.
‘Yes,’ he replied, his tone indicating command to respond rather than curiosity or friendliness.
Ianto came down the steps of the medical bay, polished shoes clicking quietly on each concrete step until he reached the bottom. ‘I have a favour to ask.’
Oh boy, Owen thought. Here we go. He avoided lifting his head, forcing himself to pretend he was still deeply absorbed in the slide underneath his microscope lens. ‘If it has anything at all to do with the bowel movements, or lack thereof, of a certain prehistoric resident, then I'm not interested. I'm a doctor, not a vet.’
‘Actually, her most recent stool has been quite–’
‘Don't,’ Owen said, lifting his head and raising a pointed finger at him. ‘I do not need to hear the finer points of your analysis. And for the record, the answer to your question is no.’
Ianto didn't let Owen's words put him off. He was belligerently stubborn like that. ‘You don't even know what I was going to ask.’
‘Yes, I do. This is going to be one of those “please Owen, come with me on a case and let me pretend to be in charge,” am I right?’
Ianto shuffled from one foot to the other, awkwardness setting in. ‘Sort of.’
Owen heaved a sigh. ‘Not again.’
‘What?’
Owen pointed at Ianto. ‘You,’ then pointed at himself, ‘and me.’
‘We've done it before.’
Owen rolled his eyes, unable to keep the stupid grin from his face. ‘Yeah, and wasn't that a massive success?’
Ianto didn't seem to find the humour in it. He just stood there and stiffened his posture, shoulders back. ‘I thought it worked out okay.’
Owen moved closer and lowered his voice. ‘Only because we lied to Jack about what we really found, which is to say we told him we didn't find anything.’
‘It was for the best.’
‘For the best?’ Ianto scowled at him, reminding him that it had been Owen who'd finally gone in to bat for him, taking responsibility for the idea of lying in the first place. ‘Yeah, alright so we did the right thing, but that doesn't mean Jack won't bust both our balls if he ever finds out.’
Ianto's determined scowl remained fixed in place. ‘He won't. Or at least not for a very long time. Not until long after we're dead.’
‘Well, isn't that so very reassuring?’
‘It's only a small case file,’ Ianto said, trying to get Owen back on topic. ‘You know Jack wouldn't give me anything big.’
Owen leaned back casually against his autopsy table, folding his arms. ‘What, despite your brilliant one for one track record?’ he teased. ‘The one where you end up with a busted ankle, I almost got my nose broken by the local rugby squad and we both nearly died in a fictitious flood and fire down a mine shaft?’
Ianto chewed his lip in annoyance. ‘Jack's just being cautious.’
‘First smart thing he's done in ages.’
Ianto stepped forward, trying a different tact. ‘Let's not forget the positives. We stayed in the same hotel room together, got drunk together, shared a kebab together, saved the last of the Telescotian species in the entire universe together…’
‘Yep, it was a real Hallmark moment.’ Okay, so it hadn't been all bad. What was the worst that could happen? And it wasn't like Ianto was going to take no for an answer. ‘Please just tell me it isn't out in the middle of sodding nowhere again where nobody speaks a word of English and you're the only thing standing between me and Google Translate.’
‘It's in Barry.’
Owen groaned. ‘Same difference. Right, so assuming I've got a say in this and haven't already been voluntold…’
‘Jack said I was welcome to ask anyone. I didn't drop you in it.’
‘Gee, thanks.’
‘Think about it, Owen. I had a choice of anyone to come with me. Anyone at all. And I chose you. What does that tell you?’
‘That everyone else has already said no?’ Ianto folded his arms and Owen threw up his own in surrender. ‘Okay, okay I'm only teasing. I'll take you at your word that I was the only one you wanted.’
‘It's true. I wouldn't have asked otherwise.’
‘I know. I get it. You and me, we've done this before. You've proven yourself and you trust me to back you up if you need it.’
‘Not that I doubt for a moment the others wouldn't as well, but yes. I trust you. Completely.’
Owen was slightly taken aback by the honesty. ‘Even though I act like a total bastard sometimes and do my best to make your life miserable?’
‘Even then. More so because of it. You're Owen Harper, unfiltered, always know where you stand with him. In a world of people pleasers, that's actually quite refreshing.’
Owen felt his cheeks go hot. ‘Yeah, well you're not alone. I might not always know what's going on inside that head of yours, but I know that if I've crossed a line into being a total twat, I know I can rely on you to call me out on it.’
‘So, have we got ourselves a deal? You come with me and we shut down any illegal alien artifact trading?’
‘Yeah, alright. Team Harper-Jones, it is. Let's go bust some kid hiding in his bedroom at his mum's house playing swapsies on Amazon.’
Ianto looked pleased. ‘Could it be team Jones-Harper instead? Or we could come up with a combined nickname like–’
‘Shut up, Ianto, before I change my mind.’
Ianto clicked his heels together. ‘Got it.’