Title: Entertaining Notions 
Author: scy
Feedback: scynneh@yahoo.com
Disclaimer: Not mine
Fandom: Torchwood
Pairing: Gen, Jack/Ianto implied
Spoilers: Up through 1x07, 'Greeks Bearing Gifts'
Rating: PG-13
Summary: This is about tiny steps.
Author's Notes: Lattara made a request, actually it was more of a demand. Sequel to Theoretical Expectations. 
December 2006

Ianto never had trouble remembering that Jack was his boss, what made the entire situation unique were the frequent occasions when he thought that there was more to learn. Ianto had worked in situations where secrecy was as important as what brand of coffee everyone would drink, and that wasn't an acceptable policy anymore.

It was a personal research project; one that didn't use up agency time and resources but which he could work on while in the office at a loss for distractions. The Hub had multiple levels as well as the basement, with its secure cells and storage rooms. Sometime during construction, the architect or one of their advisors had set enough space aside for there to be a kitchen nook. He found Jack there with a pot and the spice rack on the counter. Piled up at the elbow were chopped onions and it appeared that he was sautéing tomato and garlic at the same time.

Ianto balanced the agency's expenses when he had spare time, Jack either hid out on the target range, or did complicated things with lentils. Ianto set down the folder holding a report on the rise of unexplained deaths at sea, and picked up one of the spice shakers.

"Cayenne?" Ianto asked curiously. 

"I'm going for a bit of variety," Jack replied. 

"I predict success," Ianto said, counting off spices with his fingertips and coming up with a wide array of flavors. 

Jack stirred the pot's contents, which looked like a slice of marine habitat uplifted and dumped into a piece of cookware. He brought the spoon up and eyed it as though he was waiting on a full confession. "Want a taste?" he asked, offering it to Ianto.

"What's in it?" he said nervously. Jack's whimsy struck at odd times and he wouldn't bet on it being excluded from the kitchen.

"A few different things," Jack said helpfully and pushed the spoon at Ianto. "Look, just tell me if you think it needs some cilantro."

That sounded innocuous enough, so Ianto let the spoon be forced upon him and took a small bite.

Jack waited for him to speak up. "Add a little more," Ianto suggested and Jack shook more green flecks into the pot. Then he carefully drained water off the lentils.

"Are you avoiding something, sir?" It had to be said sometime, and finding one's boss with his sleeves rolled up while he cooked late at night seemed like a good opportunity to open a conversation. Jack was more likely to talk freely when he didn't think that one of the others might be about to wander in. 

Jack didn't answer as he stirred the tomato mixture into the pot blended them together. "Not at all. Hand me a couple bowls, would you?"

Accepting that this was another instance where Jack's priorities were skewed away from rational objectives, Ianto located the dishes and handed them to Jack. He accepted a serving and was waved onto a stool, although he waited until Jack had started eating, then took a bite.

"I didn't know you could cook," Ianto said. 

"It passes the time," Jack answered dismissively, as if he was talking about having a fancy for word problems.

"Did you learn in the service?" This was a chance to add to some of the information he had on the man, and it wasn't too bold of a question. 

Since Jack wasn't one to insult someone's intelligence unless they truly needed reminding of their limitations, he didn't ask Ianto how he'd come to believe that Jack had been in the military. The way Jack had conducted himself in more than the recent crisis gave Ianto pause; and narrowed the field to a few likely explanations.

"No, I picked it up while I was traveling, after my tour was over." He neatly sidestepped giving away the name of his unit or where he'd been stationed. It was as if this sort of questions and answers were standard for these sort of moments, and he'd gotten a lot of practice in not giving away anything important. But Ianto wasn't a civilian and whatever Jack had done couldn't be classified beyond Torchwood. 

"You did quite a lot of traveling," Ianto said, more of a conclusion than a guess; between all of the anecdotal ramblings Jack contributed that seemed to be stories or wildly improbable adventures had to have some basis in reality and been at least witnessed or passed on to Jack as he was gallivanting around. As much as Tosh and Gwen scoffed, Ianto was beginning to believe more strongly that there was a lot about his background that Jack hadn't shared during his recruitment briefings. 

Jack had somehow hidden a bottle of whisky beside his computer and he moved it aside as he put his food down and took a seat.

Ianto carefully followed along and sat across from him, bowl in one hand, file folder in the other.

"You didn't lose that on the way down here?" Jack asked as he looked at the folder like it was offensive to him simply by existing. 

"You mentioned I should find more work to be done," Ianto reminded him. 

"How hard was it to pull all of that together?" Jack asked, still eyeing the folder dubiously. 

"I tracked several local newspaper stories, cross referenced them with historical accounts and found a correlation that warrants a look," Ianto said, not exaggerating the work, but not diminishing it either. "Witnesses all state that these men went out regularly, frequenting the same fishing spots, and each of them claimed that they'd seen a girl in the water. The very next time they set out, they didn't come back. Four bodies have been recovered, all of them along the same area of the coast." 

"Please tell me this isn't one of those gossip rag hoaxes that's caught on," Jack begged. 

"Some of those stories have had genuine basis in facts," Ianto felt compelled to point out.

"And then there are the rest of them, which haste time and newsprint with their hysterical babblings." The shudder Jack gave seemed only partly theatric. 

"We need to check them out if there is a reasonable amount of data." Logic wasn't only Gwen's, argument but Ianto through that he was more aware of when it was important to procedure and not get caught up in how they had come to investigate something peculiar. 

"The paper claim's it's a gang of rampaging mermaids," Jack said delicately. 

"I'm not suggesting that it's completely reliable, but there is something there," Ianto said, watching as Jack lingered over a witness statement. 

"That's your professional opinion?" Jack said. 

"I've gathered the evidence, sir, it's your job to decide whether it warrants investigation," Ianto said. 

"But you're sure of this." Jack seemed to be trying to figure out how certain Ianto was of his findings. 

"Look at the bodies. The marks aren't made by a weapon, but like claws. Given the drag marks, where they were found, the water in their lungs and their own words about seeing women in the water, mermaids are the most likely conclusion."

"I love it when you tell me that the most unlikely suspect is the one we should be looking for." Jack spread the pictures out and nodded as he picked out the clues Ianto had mentioned. He turned to his computer and pulled up a search engine. 

"Did you want a second helping?" Jack asked, and Ianto took another bite. 

"This is enough, thank you," Ianto said politely.

"You don't like it." It was possible that Jack was pouting, but Ianto wouldn't accuse him of it outright. 

Ianto met Jack's gaze. "It's not that I don't care for it, I'm just not sure what I think of it overall."

"And that's bothering you more than usual?" Now Jack was paying attention, leaning away from his computer and watching Ianto's every gesture. 

"More than a little," Ianto admitted.

"Because of Mary," Jack surmised.

"She was involved with Toshiko." Ianto had seen her walk out of the Hub with Jack after Mary had been sent on a trip that she'd never return from and he wondered what Jack had said to her. He'd given everyone the next several days off 

"And she was an alien who murdered anyone that she felt like, and she would have done the same to all of you," Jack said flatly. 

"So you took it personally," Ianto said, working out Jack's reasoning. He'd figured out the transporter, had the time to reprogram it, likely in case there was a need to dispose of its owner in the most effective way available. 

"It always is, when they come after my team," Jack said, smiling, but only in the sense that he was showing teeth.

"It can be difficult to tell when you're protecting the team, instead of striking out at someone for what they've done to Torchwood." Ianto had taken Tosh's statement afterwards; she'd been dabbing at her eyes with a tissue, speaking quickly to get every piece of information out, not letting Ianto give her even a moment's respite. When she was through, Jack had collected her as she walked out. 

"One has to practice alertness." Jack said loftily and Ianto frowned.

"So there is a distinction."

"Are you taking a survey for the Board of Health, Ianto?"

"It's a valid concern, sir." He hadn't been bluffing; when he had been trying to reason with Mary there had been a trade, and Jack had followed through, not being sure that the alien would agree to the bargain. The loss of technology that would be potentially useful was justified by the life of a teammate, not that Ianto would have wanted it the other way, but there were scenarios for these things, and only Jack's wouldn't allow someone's life to be worth less. 

"No, I do not exact petty revenges when the mood strikes. That's not to say that I think revenge is petty, a vendetta should never be diminished by one's ability to carry it out. I knew a guy once, loved the outdoors, had a running feud with hunter. The two of them would get into it whenever they met. They even set traps for each other. I wound up between them, which wasn't an unpleasant prospect, it kept them from squabbling." Jack took a breath. "Are you going to let me go on very much longer?"

"I was preparing a reply," Ianto said primly. Jack waited, and Ianto continued, "It seems that anytime one of the staff has a relationship, it goes badly."

Ianto didn't imply that there was an unfortunate romantic trend, but his voice must have implied that they were cursed, because Jack frowned at him sternly.

"You're not cursed, Ianto, don't say that."

"How can you be sure?" Ianto asked, hoping Jack could offer irrefutable reassurance. 

"Because I've seen curses at work, and what's happened recently is just bad luck and us being near a rift in space and time," Jack said firmly. 

"That's all, then." There should have been a wilder explanation, something fitting with their work.  

Jack gave him a gentle look. "Not everything is more complicated than that."

"Even you?" Ianto asked. 

"How do you mean?" 

"Mary, just before the transporter was enabled, she said you were different."

"Flattery didn't get her anywhere, though," Jack reminded. He looked surprised that Ianto had caught what Mary said. 

"She had that pendant, knew things about people, what did she know about you?" Ianto took another bite and then put the bowl on Jack's desk, to give him the chance to explain. 

"That trinket didn't let her read my mind. Tosh couldn't either. Stuff like that just slides off."

"Why's that?"

"No idea," Jack said lightly.  

"Right." Not willing to go through another round of Jack telling stories to fill the air instead of telling the truth, Ianto motioned to the file's contents. "What'll you do about that, then?" 

"I think you're right, it does require at least a bit of poking around." Jack gathered up the photos and other documents and bundled them back into the folder. 

"I'll call the team, then, sir?"

"No, I gave them time off and they get to have it."

"You shouldn't go into the field alone," Ianto protested, knowing that Jack could take care of himself, but it was the principle of the matter. 

"I suppose not," Jack agreed. "Want to come along?" 

"Pardon?" 

"I asked if you wanted to get out of here and go hunting for mermaids," Jack said clearly.

"I thought that, after the last mission, I wouldn't be going with right away." Or ever, Ianto thought.

"If you're going to be part of the team then you need to get back out there, I need to know that I can depend on you."

"You can." Ianto said, not wanting there to be any doubt of his determination.

"Then what do you say? I'll stop by the armory, you toss a couple bags in the SUV, and I'll meet you outside in fifteen minutes."

"Very well, sir, fifteen minutes," Ianto said. He walked out, leaving the dishes on Jack's desk, but just this once, they could wait until later.

-end