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fandomweekly2026-01-30 01:55 pm
badly_knitted) wrote in fandomweekly2026-01-30 01:55 pm
Entry tags:
[#289] Frozen Jack (Torchwood)
Theme Prompt: #289 – Hot Cocoa
Title: Frozen Jack
Fandom: Torchwood
Rating/Warnings: PG
Bonus: Yes.
Word Count: 1000
Summary: Poor Jack, sometimes Rift retrievals are as hazardous to his health as dealing with dangerous aliens.
Hauling Jack’s frozen, dead body back to the SUV had not been easy. Even with the anti-gravity clamps, he’d been so sodden from falling through the ice covering the lake that it had been difficult getting all of him off the ground at the same time, meaning that legs and arms had wound up dragging, and had consequently caught on every single obstacle in Ianto’s path. He’d had to keep stopping, putting Jack down, and disentangling whatever bits had caught on the undergrowth, usually sleeves or trouser legs. It was a good thing Jack had removed his coat before venturing out onto the ice; that had left one less thing to get caught and potentially torn.
Ianto didn’t blame Jack for the misadventure; he’d had no choice but to chance whether or not the lake’s frozen surface was strong enough to support a man’s weight, since the latest gift from the Rift had been delivered approximately twenty feet out. One of them had needed to fetch it, and while Ianto might have been a few pounds lighter, Jack had the advantage of being immortal, so even if the ice broke, he wouldn’t suffer permanent harm.
He’d done his best to minimise the risk by spreading his weight out on the slippery surface and sliding his way out. Then he’d skimmed his find back to the lakeside like a hockey puck, making it easy for Ianto to reach and secure. Everything had gone surprisingly smoothly, until Jack had been within five feet of the bank, where the ice was thinnest, at which point it had abruptly given way, dumping Jack, who’d already been shivering with incipient hypothermia, into the icy depths.
Well, not exactly depths, not that close to the bank, but Jack had gone in headfirst, probably drowned almost immediately, and while Ianto had been able to secure him to a bush so he wouldn’t sink further or drift away, actually pulling him out of the water had proved impossible. After several attempts, Ianto had been forced to abandon Jack and dash back to the SUV for the clamps. It was a good thing he’d been too cold to revive, because drowning repeatedly would not have been fun for him.
It was also a good thing that it happened to be the early hours of the morning, on one of the coldest nights of winter, and there was no one around to see Ianto dragging a dead body out of the lake in Tredelerch Park. That might have been a bit difficult to explain.
Still, he’d got soggy dead Jack back to the SUV, shoved him into the boot after spreading out the tarp, and turning the heating on full blast, had driven back to the Hub. He’d probably left a trail of water along the roads in his wake that had no doubt frozen within minutes. Hopefully it wouldn’t cause any accidents.
By the time he’d arrived back at Torchwood’s underground base, Jack had thawed out a bit, and revived, but he was shivering, his teeth clattering like castanets, as Ianto helped him from the boot, steered him straight through the Hub, and down to the locker rooms. Once there, he stripped his lover, shoved him into a shower with the water running warm, and left him to fetch a few essentials, such as dry clothes, a pile of towels, and a hot drink to warm Jack’s insides and take away the taste of lake water.
Arriving back in the locker room, laden with everything he needed to make Jack feel something approaching human again, Ianto found his lover still sitting on the floor of the shower, and still shivering, despite the hot water pouring down on him, and the steam enveloping him. Crouching down just beyond the shower spray, Ianto half-filled a cup with hot cocoa from the flask he’d brought with him.
“Here, this will help.” He passed the mug to Jack, who accepted it with a trembling hand.
“Thanks.”
“It’s only powdered instant cocoa,” Ianto explained. “I thought for the moment speed was more important than taste. I’ll make you something better once you’re thawed through, but at least that should help warm you from the inside.”
Jack drank, then held the cup out for a refill. His hand seemed to be shaking less now, so Ianto filled the cup almost to the top.
By the time the flask was empty, the shivering had almost stopped, so Ianto turned the water off and urged Jack to his feet. His own jacket off and his shirtsleeves rolled up, the Welshman set to work with a towel, scrubbing at Jack to get him dry as quickly as possible, while Jack tried his best to dry his face and hair.
“Feeling any better?”
“Less like an icicle. Why’d you shove me in the boot though?”
“It was quicker than trying to get you into a seat. You weren’t very bendy and I was worried I might break a leg off, or an arm. You fitted into the boot more easily. Perhaps not the most comfortable ride, but you weren’t in any condition to complain, and my priority was getting you back here and thawed out.”
“That makes sense.”
“Let’s get you into some dry clothes and head back upstairs. I’ve got some blankets warming for you, so you can snuggle under them while I heat the leftover pizza and make some proper hot chocolate for you. Soon have you feeling yourself.”
“I’d rather have you feeling me.” Jack leered at his lover.
“I’m sure you would, but that will have to wait a bit. I need to hang your wet clothes to dry so they can go to the drycleaner first thing in the morning, and then I need to fetch whatever the Rift left us from the car. Your coat too. Good thing you weren’t wearing that out on the ice; it would have dragged you to the bottom. I might not have got you back until spring.”
The End
Ianto didn’t blame Jack for the misadventure; he’d had no choice but to chance whether or not the lake’s frozen surface was strong enough to support a man’s weight, since the latest gift from the Rift had been delivered approximately twenty feet out. One of them had needed to fetch it, and while Ianto might have been a few pounds lighter, Jack had the advantage of being immortal, so even if the ice broke, he wouldn’t suffer permanent harm.
He’d done his best to minimise the risk by spreading his weight out on the slippery surface and sliding his way out. Then he’d skimmed his find back to the lakeside like a hockey puck, making it easy for Ianto to reach and secure. Everything had gone surprisingly smoothly, until Jack had been within five feet of the bank, where the ice was thinnest, at which point it had abruptly given way, dumping Jack, who’d already been shivering with incipient hypothermia, into the icy depths.
Well, not exactly depths, not that close to the bank, but Jack had gone in headfirst, probably drowned almost immediately, and while Ianto had been able to secure him to a bush so he wouldn’t sink further or drift away, actually pulling him out of the water had proved impossible. After several attempts, Ianto had been forced to abandon Jack and dash back to the SUV for the clamps. It was a good thing he’d been too cold to revive, because drowning repeatedly would not have been fun for him.
It was also a good thing that it happened to be the early hours of the morning, on one of the coldest nights of winter, and there was no one around to see Ianto dragging a dead body out of the lake in Tredelerch Park. That might have been a bit difficult to explain.
Still, he’d got soggy dead Jack back to the SUV, shoved him into the boot after spreading out the tarp, and turning the heating on full blast, had driven back to the Hub. He’d probably left a trail of water along the roads in his wake that had no doubt frozen within minutes. Hopefully it wouldn’t cause any accidents.
By the time he’d arrived back at Torchwood’s underground base, Jack had thawed out a bit, and revived, but he was shivering, his teeth clattering like castanets, as Ianto helped him from the boot, steered him straight through the Hub, and down to the locker rooms. Once there, he stripped his lover, shoved him into a shower with the water running warm, and left him to fetch a few essentials, such as dry clothes, a pile of towels, and a hot drink to warm Jack’s insides and take away the taste of lake water.
Arriving back in the locker room, laden with everything he needed to make Jack feel something approaching human again, Ianto found his lover still sitting on the floor of the shower, and still shivering, despite the hot water pouring down on him, and the steam enveloping him. Crouching down just beyond the shower spray, Ianto half-filled a cup with hot cocoa from the flask he’d brought with him.
“Here, this will help.” He passed the mug to Jack, who accepted it with a trembling hand.
“Thanks.”
“It’s only powdered instant cocoa,” Ianto explained. “I thought for the moment speed was more important than taste. I’ll make you something better once you’re thawed through, but at least that should help warm you from the inside.”
Jack drank, then held the cup out for a refill. His hand seemed to be shaking less now, so Ianto filled the cup almost to the top.
By the time the flask was empty, the shivering had almost stopped, so Ianto turned the water off and urged Jack to his feet. His own jacket off and his shirtsleeves rolled up, the Welshman set to work with a towel, scrubbing at Jack to get him dry as quickly as possible, while Jack tried his best to dry his face and hair.
“Feeling any better?”
“Less like an icicle. Why’d you shove me in the boot though?”
“It was quicker than trying to get you into a seat. You weren’t very bendy and I was worried I might break a leg off, or an arm. You fitted into the boot more easily. Perhaps not the most comfortable ride, but you weren’t in any condition to complain, and my priority was getting you back here and thawed out.”
“That makes sense.”
“Let’s get you into some dry clothes and head back upstairs. I’ve got some blankets warming for you, so you can snuggle under them while I heat the leftover pizza and make some proper hot chocolate for you. Soon have you feeling yourself.”
“I’d rather have you feeling me.” Jack leered at his lover.
“I’m sure you would, but that will have to wait a bit. I need to hang your wet clothes to dry so they can go to the drycleaner first thing in the morning, and then I need to fetch whatever the Rift left us from the car. Your coat too. Good thing you weren’t wearing that out on the ice; it would have dragged you to the bottom. I might not have got you back until spring.”
The End