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Now that she had been read in on everything about Torchwood, who they were and what they did, why they were forever chasing her people off and taking over crime scenes, Kathy Swanson had decided she should, in the interest of building an effective working relationship, perhaps try to be more… cordial towards the team. After all, they were only trying to do their job, just the same as Kathy and the rest of the Cardiff police were, and she didn’t envy them the kinds of things they had to deal with. They had it even tougher than the police, and there were only five of them to handle every crisis up to and including preventing the world from ending.
However, despite her very best intentions, cordiality was proving a lot harder to manage than she’d anticipated. The Torchwood team themselves seemed intent on hampering her efforts at improving the ability of the two organisations to cooperate in a mutually beneficial manner. Ever since she switched sides, ex-PC Gwen Cooper had developed a bad habit of lording it over her former colleagues and friends, looking down on them with a patronising smile and an air of condescension.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, the doctor, Owen Harper, was an obnoxious bastard, and a Londoner to boot, the tech expert, Ms Sato, was more interested in her devices than the people around her, and as for Harkness himself… Well, he was just as arrogant, cocky, and flirtatious as ever; most of the time it was all Kathy could do not to slap him, charge him with sexual harassment, or both.
The only one who showed any kind of good manners was young Mr Jones, always smartly dressed in a tailored suit that looked like it must have cost him more than she earned in a month. He was unfailingly polite, and respectfully apologetic whenever he felt his boss was being too high-handed, and it didn’t hurt that Jones made the most divine coffee she’d ever tasted. Because of that, and because it seemed only fair to try to make the young man’s life a little less stressful, just as he was trying to do for her, she did her best to simply smile, greet the team as pleasantly as she could manage, and resist the temptation to have them all locked up… For the time being, at least.
“The scene is all yours, Captain Harkness. Let us know if there’s anything we can do to assist.”
Harkness opened his mouth, then gave a startled oof as Jones aimed a scarily accurate elbow at his middle without even looking his way.
“Not one word, Jack.”
“You take all the fun out of everything,” Harkness grumbled.
“This is work; it’s not supposed to be fun.”
“I could make it fun…” Harkness was actually leering at the young man.
“Hold that thought for later.” Jones gave Kathy an apologetic smile. “I really must apologise. Too much caffeine and not enough exercise is making his behaviour worse than ever. I’m seriously considering enrolling him in obedience school, but the only classes I can find are for dogs, and I’m afraid he’d be a terrible influence on the other attendees, although he is quite good on a lead.”
How Jones could say things like that with such a perfectly straight face, Kathy would never understand, and the expression on Harkness’s face was a study in indignation warring bizarrely with raw lust.
“Go and secure the scene, Jack, and do it politely, or there won’t be any treats for you later.”
Harkness set off towards the police cordon in a swish of coat, eager to do as he was told, despite the fact that he was supposed to be the head of Torchwood Three.
Jones smiled mildly at Kathy. “There, that’s much better, don’t you think?”
Kathy couldn’t help feeling a bit confused. “I always thought Harkness was your boss.”
“That’s what he thinks too, but if I pick my moments, I can persuade him otherwise.” Ianto winked. “He rather likes it when I order him around.”
It occurred to Kathy that there was a lot more to Ianto Jones than she’d realised. If he could keep Harkness under control, then out of the whole team, he might be the most important one to get along with.
The End