Five times Jack kissed a member of Torchwood (and one time that he really, really didn't) (PG13)

[mhalachai]

Five times Jack kissed a member of Torchwood (and one time that he really, really didn't)
A Torchwood story
by mhalachaiswords

Summary: Five times Jack kissed a member of Torchwood (and one time that he really, really didn't)
Disclaimer: Russell T. Davis and the BBC own it all.
Rating: PG-13 for some brief swearing. It's all pre-watershed hour.
Setting/Spoilers: Set early in series two of Torchwood, after 2.03, with spoilers for that, and a Casting Spoiler for later in the series - be warned. Some spoilers for the last bit of series three of Dr. Who.
Characters/Pairings: Jack paired with Gwen, Tosh, Owen, Martha Jones, Ianto, and a mystery character. And, of course, any sundry of these with innuendo in the background.
Words: Around 3,000, all told.
Notes: Any character study involving Jack Harkness is going to involve kissing. It's like a rule.

~~~

I. Gwen Cooper
Wedding

Gwen ducked around a gaggle of giggling women, narrowly avoiding a collision with the buffet table. Jack, leaning against a nearby wall, reached out a steadying hand. "Careful of that dress," he warned.

Gwen gave him a look. "It's not like I'm planning to wear it ever again," she said, brushing invisible lint off the creamy white skirt of her wedding dress.

Jack didn't let go of Gwen's hand. "I don't think I had a chance to congratulate you," he said under the music.

"Thank you!" Gwen appeared honestly grateful. "I'm surprised you made it!"

Jack wanted to tell her how lovely she looked, how lucky Rhys was, but the words stuck in his throat. Instead, he said, "I wanted to see at what point Owen would be struck by lightning."

Gwen's eyes danced with guilty laughter. They both knew that Owen was only attending Gwen and Rhys' wedding reception under dire threat from Toshiko. Even so, he sat alone at the table while Tosh and Ianto danced across the floor.

"Why aren't you dancing?" Gwen asked.

Jack shrugged. "Because I think if I ask Ianto to go for a twirl, some of Rhys' co-workers might take umbrage."

Gwen pursed her lips in annoyance, not aimed at Jack. "Since when would that bother you?"

"You want me to start a fight at your wedding?"

"It'd certainly be memorable." She smiled. "You know, you could ask someone else to dance."

"Yeah, I could." Jack lifted Gwen's hand to his lips. "Congratulations on your marriage, Mrs. Williams."

He let go of Gwen's hand and wound his way across the dance floor to the head table. "Mrs. Cooper?" He smiled down at Gwen's mother. "Might I have this dance?"

Across the reception hall, Jack knew Gwen was glaring daggers at him.

~~~

ii. Toshiko Sato
Christmas

"You're four years old!" Gwen chided Owen as she ducked out of the way. "Mistletoe is for doorways when you're drunk, not at the office!"

" 's not my fault that this place doesn't have any doors!"

Ianto stepped deftly down the stairs, avoiding the mistletoe hanging above Jack's head. Jack's eyebrow went up at the avoidance, but he didn't say anything.

"I swear, if you come anywhere near me with that thing, I'm going to hurt you!" Gwen's voice rose above the columns.

"It's just a plant!"

"And it's attached to your arm!"

Something bumped into Jack's elbow. He put out an arm automatically to keep Tosh from tripping down the stairs. "You okay?"

Tosh pulled off her glasses. "I'm fine, just..." Her voice trailed off when she spotted the mistletoe hanging over Jack's head. "Jack."

He shrugged. "If I move without being kissed, I think I get ten years' bad luck."

"Mistletoe, the cause and solution to all of a girl's troubles," Tosh muttered.

Jack blinked. "That's a little bitter."

"Just not a huge fan of the holidays, that's all." Tosh's gaze lingered on the scene on the floor, of Owen chasing Gwen around and around the central pillar.

"I see." Jack let the corner of his mouth curl up. "So I guess I'm stuck here for a while."

He certainly wasn't expecting Tosh to turn to him, saying, "Maybe not."

Her cheeks were pink, fingers white on the files she held, but there was such daring in her eyes.

"You sure?" he asked.

"Why not?"

Jack let himself smile for real. Tosh was really so adorable. He'd never let himself flirt with her, because she'd think it was real, and she deserved better than that. But ever since Tommy, ever since she'd lost yet another bit of her life to the job, she'd been dancing the edge of recklessness.

"Ready when you are," Jack said. It was her choice. He'd leave her a chance to back away if she wanted.

Tosh licked her lower lip, concentrating hard on Jack's mouth. "You're too tall."

He responded by moving down one step on the staircase. He expected more talk, more moments for Tosh to try and compose herself. He didn't expect for her to move in and kiss him, just like that.

But there she was, her lips were on his, hand on his shoulder to steady herself. Never let it be said that Jack Harkness didn't know what to do while being kissed by a beautiful woman. He slipped his hand around Tosh's waist, ignoring the sharp press of file folders poking against his chest. He had more pressing matters at hand.

Tosh's lips parted and Jack couldn't stop himself from running his tongue over her lower lip. Her mouth tasted like cherry lip-gloss and cinnamon breath mints, such a strange combination that Jack kept at it, trying to figure out which was stronger, until he decided that it didn't really matter.

The absolute silence in the Hub was what finally drew Jack's attention away from Tosh. Gwen, Owen and Ianto were all staring up at them, in various states of stunned astonishment.

Tosh cleared her throat as she stepped back. "Happy Christmas," she said, putting on her glasses once again and continuing down the stairs as if nothing had happened.

Jack almost laughed at Owen's open-mouthed shock. If the man didn't get a move on, Tosh would finally get over him.

Although Jack wasn't really sure he wanted to understand the calculating curious expression on Ianto's face.

~~~

iii. Owen Harper
Water

Of all the ways to die, Jack really hated drowning. He hated the instinctive suffocation of holding the breath underwater, he hated that first sputtering intake of water, he hated the sensation of cold water filling his lungs and dragging him towards death.

Most of all, he hated coming back from drowning, choking up water from raw lungs for days. The threat of aspirated vomit was just the topper of a really shitty cake.

But at least he knew he'd be back.

So when the lightning strike from the Rift struck Owen square in the chest and knocked him backwards off the pier into the sea, Jack didn't hesitate. He shucked off his coat, tossed his gun to the ground and dove in after his doctor.

In the eternity it took Jack to dive down, to find Owen's body under the black water, to drag his fully clothed and unresponsive body to the surface, and strike out for the closest piece of land, his team had worked their way down the dock.

Ianto and Gwen grabbed Owen's arms and pulled him from the water, giving Jack just enough time to haul himself onto the dock.

"He's not breathing!" Gwen called.

"I'll call an ambulance," Ianto said into the air, and perhaps no one was listening.

Jack coughed up a bit of water as he rolled Owen onto his side and put him into the recovery position. "Is the Rift closed?" he asked, searching desperately for Owen's pulse.

"What?" Gwen cried incredulously.

"Answer me!" If the Rift was still open, if they had failed, then if Owen lived wouldn't matter. Because in a matter of minutes, everyone in Cardiff would be dead.

"It's closed," Tosh said distantly. She was standing back, staring at Owen as if she'd never seen him before.

Just then, Jack's fingers found a faint pulse in Owen's throat.

"I told you weren't getting out of Torchwood that easily," Jack said as he pulled Owen's jaw open to give the man mouth-to-mouth.

One breath. Two. Three. Seven. Thirteen. Twenty. Salt water trickled out of Owen's mouth, his chest rose and fell under Jack's hand, but he wouldn't breathe on his own.

Thirty breaths.

Forty-two.

Then Owen jerked and started coughing, deep lung-wracking coughs in between frantic gulps of air. Jack grabbed Owen's shoulders before the man slammed his head into the ground.

In the distance, sirens sounded.

"You're all right," Jack said, meaningless words meant to soothe a human body that probably still thought it was drowning.

Owen choked up a mouthful of bloody water. He said something indistinct.

"The Rift is closed, is that what you want to know?" Gwen said.

Owen rolled his eyes as best he could before trying again. "If you wanted to make out, Harkness, all you had to do was ask."

Jack couldn't help it. He laughed. "Only you would think the Rift was playing matchmaker."

Then the paramedics came clambering down and Tosh was beside them, her hand in Owen's, and Jack was really rather superfluous in the whole equation and that was okay with him.

~~~

iv. Martha Jones
Dreams

They'd been working for three days straight, catching sleep when they could, and were still no further ahead than when they started. Jack knocked back another cup of coffee, absently noting that Gwen was passed out at her desk while Ianto, Owen and Tosh struggled with the latest organic translation from the computer.

It took him a minute to remember that he had someone else under his roof to look after. He wasn't used to Martha Jones being around, no matter how much her presence filled a room. When she was awake, that was.

He finally spotted her, collapsed on the couch. Asleep, after two days of frantic wakefulness, but not resting. Her eyes moved frantically under closed lids, fingers twitching against the fabric of the couch.

Nightmares chased her still.

Making sure he was being ignored by the rest of the team, Jack set down his cup and headed up the stairs to the couch. Martha's hand was chilled to the touch when he gathered her palm in his hand.

"Martha," he called softly. "Come on, Martha, wake up."

She came awake with a gasp, dark eyes full of a million moments of terror and fear from a year of death, a year that hadn't happened to any but them. "Tish!" She choked on the word. "He's got Tish!"

Jack caught Martha's flailing hands. "He doesn't have your sister," he said forcefully, trying to draw her out of her nightmares. "He's dead."

"No, you don't understand, he's a Time Lord, he can't die, the Master can't die, he's coming back, he's coming--"

Jack pulled Martha into an embrace, not reacting as she gripped hard at his shirt, digging nails into his skin as she held on, trying to pull herself back to something solid.

"The Master's not coming back," Jack murmured in Martha's ear. "You stopped him, Martha Jones. You saved the whole world, the entire future."

Martha's breath was soft against his neck. "You and the Doctor, you did it. Not me."

"You're the only reason the world is still here." Jack pressed a kiss against Martha's hair, letting himself wonder briefly how things could have been so very different. "And your sister is fine, your family is fine. All thanks to you."

Martha took a deep breath and released her death-grip on Jack's shirt. "I dreamt that... the Master had Tish and he was doing things to her and there was no one to stop it."

Jack rubbed his hand down Martha's back. He could feel her ribs through her shirt and it surprised him, yet another change over the last months since he'd left her and the Doctor. "That didn't happen."

"Doesn't make the nightmares go away," she muttered.

"I know."

Martha pulled back to look at him, curiosity chasing back the shadows in her eyes.

"You try being killed over and over for a year." He didn't bother smiling away the confession like he would with anyone else in Torchwood. Martha knew what had happened to him.

Jack reached over for Martha's mobile phone, scrolling down in her phone book until he got the entry for 'Mum'. He hit send while Martha kept staring at him with that intelligent, gleaming, alive curiosity.

"Hey, Francine, it's Jack," he said when the phone was answered. "I've got someone here who'd like to talk to you." He handed the phone to Martha, who gave him a look of exasperation and gratitude. "I'll get you some tea."

He knew that Ianto and Owen were staring at him as he walked to the kettle, but he ignored them. There was no way on earth that he could explain to them about a year of pain that hadn't happened to them, only to him and the Doctor and Martha and most of her family, along with a handful of others. They wouldn't understand and Jack wasn't sure if he could find the words himself. But then, he'd gone into that world as damaged goods.

But Martha... she'd done so much to hold her family together, to pass her exams, to do what she could to save the world even without the Doctor, that it was high time that someone else did a bit of looking after her.

~~~

v. Ianto Jones
Flat

It was just one more bad day in a long series of bad days. The bad guys weren't winning, but neither was Torchwood, and that was beginning to bother them all. Gwen's temper was short, Tosh wasn't talking, Owen was throwing sharp objects when he thought no one was looking, and Ianto...

Jack stood, across the street from Ianto's apartment building, the inevitable Welsh rain trickling into his coat collar. After everyone in the office had spent the better part of an hour screaming at each other, Jack had sent everyone home early.

No one had argued and no one had stayed, and Jack hasn't been able to stand being in the silent Hub with only dead bodies and the Weevils to keep him company.

But he didn't know why he was standing out in the street, in the rain, in the dark. He didn't know what he wanted.

After about half an hour, the building door opened and Ianto came out with an umbrella.

"Are you going to stand there all night?" he asked, face expressionless.

"I'm thinking about it."

Ianto fell silent, and Jack had a long minute to reflect that he didn't really know what he was doing. With Ianto, with Torchwood, with any of it.

Gwen seemed to think that living so long and dying so often meant that Jack had some kind of answers, that he actually knew what he was doing, instead of the reality. That he didn't know what he was doing, only what had to be done, and that wasn't any easier.

"I was going to start dinner," Ianto said. "You could come up for that."

"I could," Jack agreed.

"Because I doubt you can get a pizza place to deliver to a street corner," Ianto continued. He was either being deadpan or completely serious, and Jack wasn't sure which one would be less disturbing after the week they'd had at work.

"You have no idea what I can get the pizza places in this town to do," Jack replied, flip because that was what was expected of him. It was familiar and safe and like the rest of his life, a lie.

"Probably not," Ianto conceded. "I wasn't thinking of having pizza, anyway."

"What were you going to have?"

Ianto stepped forward, close enough for the umbrella to cover Jack's head. "Don't know."

Well, weren't they just a pair.

"Come on up," Ianto said again.

"Or what, I'll catch my death of cold?"

If possible, Ianto's face grew even less expressive. He turned and crossed the street, going back towards his flat.

Without knowing why, Jack followed.

The flat was cold and dimly lit, everything in its usual place and as lifeless as ever. Ianto placed the folded umbrella by the door, leaving Jack dripping in the entrance way.

The silence was more uncomfortable than the screaming at work. Jack tried to come up with a quip, some witty retort as to why he'd been standing outside Ianto's flat in the dark, but the words didn't come and after a while of watching Ianto move about the kitchen, he stopped trying.

"Is it always going to be like this?" Ianto asked finally.

"What do you mean?"

"Never getting ahead. Never being able to save the world for good."

Jack wanted to lie to him, to tell him that things would be better, that they'd save the world, close the rift, be the big heroes.

But Jack was sick of lies.

"Yeah," he said. "It's always going to be like this."

Ianto closed the cupboard slowly, a little more of the fight going out of his shoulders.

Jack edged closer to the man. "But it makes a difference, what we do."

Ianto turned around. "You can't know that."

He was almost too close now, close enough to kiss, close enough to hurt. Jack touched Ianto's cheek, feeling faint stubble under his fingers. "If it doesn't matter to you, then get out now. While you still can," he said.

"Is that what you'd do?"

"Yeah."

"But you're here."

Jack leaned in and kissed Ianto. Just for a moment. Just enough for it to matter. "I'm not going anywhere."

It might have been the truth. It might have been a lie. Not even Jack knew which it was.

It might even have been a little bit of both.

~~~

vi. Myfanwy the Pterodactyl
Railing

Jack was perched on the edge of the railing, half-heartedly teasing Owen, when there was a swoop and a rush of air and the pterodactyl landed on the stairs next to Toshiko's computers. A wing-swipe knocked the top monitor to the ground amid Tosh's horrified shrieks.

Right about the moment when Jack had decided the damned thing had gone rabid and was going to eat them all, it finally stopped flapping its wings about and fixed a beady eye on Jack.

And... winked?

"In your dreams," Jack muttered. He waved the pterodactyl off the bank of monitors and went to help Tosh salvage what she could of the mess.

Seriously, working at Torchwood got stranger every day.

end

Comments

[rhianona]

this was lovely. I like how you captured Jack's relationship with everyone in this. Very sweet. I liked them all, but I do like the Martha one and the Ianto one, though that last one is more to the guilty pleasure at it than anything else.

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I wrote each one separately, trying to get a gauge as to where Jack would be at each time... I'm pretty happy with these, in any event :)

And seriously, Jack/Ianto are so hot it's perhaps not surprising that they keep sneaking into all the Torchwood I write. All hail canon slash!

[emeraldswan.livejournal.com]

Fantastic! This. Is. Fantastic!

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

Thanks! Once I watched the first few eps, I realized what all the fuss is about. I love this show beyond measure :D

[mlab555.livejournal.com]

This was really lovely. I especially liked the Martha one. You captured Jack and the Torchwood relationships so well.

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

Thank you! The Martha and Jack relationship is certainly an interesting one, after the missing year. But then, I love Martha so much. Smart girls are sexy :D

[badwolf36.livejournal.com]

Loved all of these. And the Myfanwy one had me giggling. Crazy girl. :)

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I have to admit, the MyFanwy one was the first part written. Jack can't help it if he's irresistible :P

re: Myfanwy

[hohaiyee.livejournal.com]

Except, with Jack, I've always imagine that if Myfanwy had hit on him, he'll be for it...

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Nice. And nice to know that Jack has some limits, even if it's just all those teeth etc. that put him off.

[lurkslikefox.livejournal.com]

That was lovely. The relationships within Torchwood are really blooming this series.

Though I still wish Gwen would die a horrible firey death, I'm starting to not loathe her quite as much. Still plenty, but not quite as much, and your Gwen/Jack really captured that. If that makes any sense...

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

The team is so very incestuous (in that non-creepy way) and it's fascinating to watch (and write about).

I think Gwen is getting better this season - she's not acting so grating. Although we'll see how next week's episode treats her.

[hellenebright.livejournal.com]

This was brilliant. You caught a different voice, a different aspect of Jack in every one, and they all worked.

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I had a lot of fun in finding how Jack would approach each member of his team. He's a complicated man, is he.

[burntcopper.livejournal.com]

Really, Jack, rejecting Myfanwy? How could you, she's got a brilliant reputation...

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

Well, you know Jack. Watching the girl disembowel a cyberman would put anyone off.

[tonko-ni.livejournal.com]

BWAHA, that last one totally surprised me after the seriousness of the Jack/Ianto one. Nice one XD

They're all wonderful... oddly, I think my favourite is the Owen one. Though I am pretty fond of him and the rather nastily vivid description of death by drowning make me sympathize extra hard. Plus, Jack being all dashing to jump in after him...

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

I couldn't help myself with the last one - after all the angst and woe, I needed a laugh myself :D

As for Owen, I couldn't think of a way that he and Jack would ever actually go at it. This was a nice work around (and Jack does that that dashing hero thing down)

[tonko-ni.livejournal.com]

As for Owen, I couldn't think of a way that he and Jack would ever actually go at it

Sex pollen from space would also have been acceptable XD

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

I'm saving the sex pollen for the team orgy one :)

[coffeegirl18.livejournal.com]

Team!Orgy? Where?

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

It's Torchwood. There has to be a team orgy at some point ;)

I read a lovely one in the porn battle.... unfortunately, I'm away from my bookmarks at the moment. When I get home, I'll pull up the link for the story :)

[coffeegirl18.livejournal.com]

I know, it's kind of funny. The now infamous Owen/Ianto/Tosh exchange is pretty funny too.

I think I recently read that one.

[kira-snugz.livejournal.com]

omg. the last one is my favorite. thats made of win.

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I have to admit that I like that one a lot. Poor Jack :D

[siranan.livejournal.com]

These are lovely, but I think my favourite is the Jack/Tosh one. It's just...nice. That he seems to 'get' her, and that it's probably the one time everyone in the Hub is looking at her - with Jack...nice thought. However, as my icon may show, I'm a bit of a Tosh fan ;)

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

I find the idea of Jack/Tosh to be completely fascinating - Jack doesn't flirt with her like he does everyone else (well, excepting Owen) and there has to be a reason why.

I'm with you on the Tosh love. That I haven't a Tosh icon to use at this time is a sad, sad reflection on the state of my icons.

[ladybeth.livejournal.com]

Heh:) Love it:)

[waterfall8484]

I don't think I've said how glad I am that you've finally discovered the wonder that is Torchwood and Doctor Who. Your writing is as talented, distinct, and insightful here as in any other fandom, and I'll be looking forward to more! ;~)

These are all very good; I especially like how you get inside Tosh's head (or everyone's heads, for that matter), how Jack takes care of Martha, and that last little snippet...

Although, if he had a very slow month, I don't think Jack would say no to Myfanwy either - as long as it gave its consent.

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

Listening to people rave how awesome Dr. Who etc. was, I was all like, how cool could this fandom really be? And then I watched Rose and it was like Whoa. I love sci-fi. I grew up in a sci-fi house, and never saw Dr. Who (I think I was growing up between doctors) and now, I realize what I've been missing :D

And something about Nine and Ten just makes me go GUH (in different ways). On a shallow note, the fact that David Tennant is over six feet tall always surprises me.

But I rave. Ahem.

I love Torchwood for so many reasons, only a few of which involve the boys kissing. It's not even really that -- it's not the boys, per say, but the fractured relationship between two fractured individuals (because seriously, both Jack and Ianto have BUCKETS of issues). All the characters fascinate me because they're dysfunctional and yet still manage to save the world repeatedly. While looking really hot.

And yeah, depending on the kind of month Jack has... :D

[elyssadc.livejournal.com]

Just gorgeous. Each vignette captured their voices perfectly and all of the scenarios felt absolutely right. Truly excellent work.

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

Thank you. These characters are just so fascinating and (from a writer's perspective) well put together on screen... I love how the actors manage to knock things out of the park, every time. It's easy to write with these guys :D

[penyn-1600.livejournal.com]

The last one was really funny. And the way you capture Jack's relationships with each of the Torchwood is very deft. :) Love d the Martha one.

[(Anonymous)]

These are good.

typo twice -
lightening = getting lighter
lightning = electricity

"throwing sharp object " is probably meant to be objects

[padawanpooh.livejournal.com]

This is lovely - the way you write the relationships between Jack and everyone else is beautiful ;-)

(And Myfanwy? *sporfle*)

[strangevisitor7.livejournal.com]

I really enjoyed this. Jack has a unique relationship with each memember of torchwood. This feels like second season - as those realtionships get better defined. You really captured that.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_xanthia/]

So I have to admit that I have never actually sat down and watched an episode of Torchwood, and that Jack is only familiar to me because I made a point of watching those two episodes with him and The Master and the year of hell that ended up not happening for most everyone. Just so I'd know what everyone was going on about. But... I couldn't resist this, since I seem to really enjoy your stuff.

I think I liked the Tosh one best, for the description of the kiss (and the reaction of the others) and the cuteness of attaching mistletoe to one's person to get a Christmas kiss.

And #6 totally needed to come after #5, just to lighten the mood a wee bit, yeah.