Title: Mountains and Molehills
By: Mrs_Ianto_Jones
Pairing: gen
Rating: PG
Spoukers: Spoilers for 'Cyberwoman' and 'Countrycide'.
Summary: Ianto runs away.

***

They were all keeping out of Owens way. Every so often a clatter could be heard from the autopsy room, swiftly followed by some fine examples of Anglo-Saxon. Gwen and Tosh rolled their eyes at each other but kept quiet. Neither of them wanted Owens wrath directed at them. Jack had sought refuse up in the boardroom. He wanted nothing to do with it, figuring Owen would burn himself out eventually. The only person who wasn"t aware of the hub"s current atmosphere was Ianto. He was up in the tourist office doing his "public face" job.

It had been a fairly standard morning for Ianto. He served all of two tourists. It was rare to get more than five in any one day. He"d spent the rest of his time in his office, catching up on Torchwood paperwork. After locking the tourist centre door, Ianto headed to the lift, which would take him into the hub. It was time to take everyone"s lunch orders. He hadn"t reached the lift when the door open and Owen stormed out. He ploughed into Ianto, knocking him hard against the wall.
"Watch it." Ianto called after him.
Owen span "round.
"Fuck off Ianto, you shouldn"t have been in the way." He thrust his palm at Ianto"s chest causing the receptionist to fall backwards. "You"re always where you"re not wanted."
With that, he continued his way out of the facility.

Ianto sat on the floor a while, insecurities creeping into his head. Without meaning to, he had taken Owen's words to heart. Did he really mean that? Did the others think the same way? They were funny around him sometimes. Convincing himself that they must think like Owen, Ianto went back to his office. Grabbing a piece of paper and a pen, he wrote a short letter. The letter was placed in an envelope addressed to Jack and left on the counter. Ianto grabbed his car keys and exited, locking the door behind him.

45 minutes later, Jack made a trip up to Ianto"s office. He could have just phoned up, but as he wasn't doing much he decided to come up. He"d come looking to see why Ianto hadn"t come for the lunch orders yet. Calling out his name. Jack looked through the beaded curtain into Ianto"s office. Finding it empty he turned to pick up the phone on the counter. As his hand reached out, he noticed the envelope bearing his name. He very quickly tore it open and read its contents.

Jack,
I"ve had enough. I"ve reached the limit to the amount of shit I can put up with. Everyone takes me for granted and when I am noticed I often get a load of verbal abuse. I"m leaving.

I want nothing more to do with Torchwood.

Ianto

Jack slammed his fist down on the counter. Then hotfooted it down to the hub. He pelted through the cage doors to his office, shouting over to Toshiko along the way.
"Tosh get a trace on Ianto"s car."
She was about to question Jack when she noticed the thunder in his face. Once in his office, Jack tried to call Ianto"s mobile. As he expected he was forwarded to voicemail. He threw his coat on and pocketed the keys to the SUV.
"I"m going after Ianto; I"ll fill you in on the way. Keep me on his tail."

* * * * * * * * *

After driving aimlessly for two hours, Ianto came across a small B&B. He decided that it was as good a place as any to stop for the night and plan his next move. Before setting off properly, Ianto had made a very quick detour to his flat. There, he picked up a few clothes and toiletries. From the bathroom cabinet he retrieved a small tub that contained a small amount of Retcon. Ianto had stolen it after the incident with Lisa. No one knew it had gone missing, as it was his job to keep the inventory in check. He"d eventually decided not to take it but hadn"t yet taken it back. As he climbed out of the car the first spots of rain began to fall. The heavy black cloud seemed to have been following Ianto since he left Cardiff. Looking around at the expanse of fields all around him, Ianto shuddered involuntarily. He wasn"t so keen on the countryside these days. That whole business with the cannibals had put him right off.

The B&B was a fairly small building with a large garden. It didn"t take Ianto long to acquire himself a room. The owner, Mrs. Evans, had commented that it would be a nice change to have a handsome young man staying. Ianto had given her a weak smile before making his way to his chintz-laden room. He stood in front of the window for a while, watching as the rain got heavier. He watched as the rain washed the grime from the windows, the cleansing rain. Without any conscious thought, Ianto soon found himself standing in the garden. The cleansing rain falling on him almost unnoticed. Mrs. Evans went out once to try and persuade the young man to come in, but as she got no response from him so left him to his own devices. Ianto pulled the tub of Retcon from his pocket and stared at it.

* * * * * * * * *

It took Jack longer than he"d hoped to catch up with his errant receptionist. He"d managed to get caught up in Cardiff"s busy lunchtime traffic and the SUV wasn"t the nippiest of vehicles. It certainly didn"t help his mood. Once on the open road though, he soon made up time. Jack had no qualms about breaking the speed limit. As far as he was concerned, Torchwood could do whatever it liked when necessary. Besides, he was using the in-built blue flashing lights. He finally arrived at Ianto"s location and parked the SUV next to the younger mans car. Jack had seen the Ianto standing in the garden as he pulled in. Getting out of the vehicle, he fastened his coat around him and pulled up his collar. He silently cursed the welsh weather and strode off towards Ianto.

"Ianto! What the fuck is...?" He stopped mid-yell, seeing what Ianto was holding. Jack"s heart landed in his stomach. He gently removed the tub from Ianto"s unresisting hand.
"Have you taken any of these? Ianto?"
"No."
It was almost a whisper. Ianto looked his boss in the eye.
"There are some things I don"t want to forget.
Relieved, Jack put his hand on Ianto"s shoulder.
I think we need to talk. Come to the SUV, out of the rain."
Ianto pulled away. He didn"t like the idea of getting into the Torchwood vehicle. Jack could simply lock the doors and drive off with him. The captain could guess at the reason behind Ianto"s reaction. The kid could be a suspicious bastard at times.
"Okay. No doubt you"ve got a room here, we"ll talk there.

Once in the room, Ianto stood facing the window with his arms folded around him, and resumed his earlier rain study. Jack perched on the edge of the bed, which sank alarmingly, having removed his sodden great coat.
"Well?" He asked gently. His anger has dissipated, leaving behind a gnawing fear. Torchwood really couldn"t afford to lose Ianto. More than that though, he himself didn"t want to lose him. He listened patiently as Ianto recounted the altercation with Owen. Jack made a mental note to have a word with Dr. Harper.
"Okay, Owen pissed you off. That doesn"t explain the Retcon."
Ianto"s head dropped and his shoulders shook as he started to sob. Jack looked to the ceiling in exasperation. When had he become a counsellor? Not that he minded really. It was part of being a good boss. Standing up, he took Ianto by the shoulders and guided him to the overly flowery armchair. This also seemed to possess amazing sinking capabilities. Fishing around in his pocket he found a handkerchief, which he handed to Ianto.
"Tell me what"s really going on, Ianto."

It was a couple of minutes before Ianto finally spoke. When he did, it was hardly more than a whisper.
"I"m a liability. You should have executed me when you said you were going to."
"What?" Jack thought back. It was during the whole Lisa thing. He"d said that if Ianto didn"t kill Lisa he would execute him. That had been a heat of the moment thing. Jack had meant every word at the time but in hindsight he probably could have dealt with it better. What he"d said had obviously fucked Ianto up.
"Ianto, if you were a liability, you wouldn"t still be with Torchwood."
Ianto looked at Jack.
"What about the whole Brecon Beacons incident? I managed to get myself captured and almost eaten."
Jack sighed loudly.
"So did Tosh. Don"t forget, if you hadn"t tackled that sick bastard, Tosh wouldn"t have managed her temporary escape and it wouldn"t have bought me the time to find you. You were hurt badly that day, physically and emotionally, but your sacrifice mattered."

Jack was in no doubt that Ianto had fucked-up by stashing the half converted cyber-Lisa in the basement, but he understood the motives. He was also well aware that every member of Torchwood 3 had fucked-up in their turn. Jack had forgiven them all in time, he was no saint himself after all. They"d all been chosen because they were the very best. Ianto was the best of all. Without him, Torchwood simply wouldn"t function. He was definitely more than just a tea-boy. Jack did feel very guilty that Ianto was, indeed, often ignored. It was mainly that he was so good at his job that no one needed to notice him. He told all this to Ianto.
"As for getting yourself captured, it can happen to anyone in this line of work. The stuff we do is dangerous, stupidly so at times." He grinned broadly.
"Can you imagine how a health and safety inspection would go?"
Jack"s heart was lifted when Ianto suddenly smiled.
"The pterodactyl would have to go." Said the younger man.

* * * * * * * * *

A couple of hours later, the two men arrived back at the hub. Ianto seemed nervous about going in.
"What"s up?" Jack asked him.
"I feel a bit stupid." Ianto confessed. "I... ran away like a 10 year old."
Jack laughed.
"Don"t worry, I phoned ahead. I told them that Owen had pissed you off and you"d had to get away to calm down."
His face clouded over slightly.
"I will be having words with Owen."
They both stepped onto the invisible lift.
"Before we go in, if you were running, why did you take your easily traceable phone and car?"
Ianto shrugged his shoulders.
"I dunno. I suppose subconsciously, I wanted to be found."
As the lift descended they saw Owen waiting at the bottom. The look of remorse on his face was enough for Jack to postpone the chewing out that he was going to give him. He brushed past, leaving Owen to face Ianto.
"Yan, I"m really sorry. I took my bad day out on you..."
Ianto held up his hand to stop him.
"Don"t worry about it Owen. You were stressed and I may have over-reacted, slightly."
He gave Owen a brief smile then headed of to make some coffee.

Finis

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