Some Down Time (Gwen/Open)

[Ianto Jones]

The mop hit the wall causing Ianto to grip his fist which he always did when he was about to shout at someone for breaking his things yet stopped as Daniel told him that the goo had tried to eat the pair for breakfast apparently even though it wasn’t really that early, not for him anyway. He sighed to himself in order to calm himself before nodding at Gwen’s commands, she was a good leader when Jack wasn’t there and the pair were fairly good friends although Ianto still didn’t like the way that she looked at Jack or the way he looked at her. That said the male wouldn’t say anything to the pair at risk of getting into an argument which he had had his fill of recently.

Ianto shrugged to himself as he grabbed some vials from Daniels desk which he gripped tightly before descending downwards past Daniel when he noticed what the goo was doing and with a shout that escaped his lips the very thing he didn’t want to happen, did. “Shit” muttered Ianto now encased in complete darkness, the creature or whatever it was had to have a brain as it strategically had turned off the lights so that they couldn’t see anything beyond a few feet. The Welsh male ran back up the stairs with a frown on his face muttering to himself about how annoying the creature was and how they should get their security checked.

He met the medic at the top of the stairs who began to speak about various subjects including Ghostbusters causing a grin to escape on his face. “You still watch that?” he asked with a smirk before adding “You know it isn’t real right?” Of course torchwood didn’t have a leg to stand on which was the irony that the male was digging at, they all had to pretend that aliens and various other creatures didn’t exist when they did. Although it was fairly easy for Ianto as he only spoke to the other torchwood members unlike Gwen who had Rhys.

Daniel began to make remarks about how horny Jack was saying that he would have sex even with the goo and that the medic actually wanted some at that moment. “Well it’s quite sticky so you might like it Daniel” he told the medic with a large smile plastered on his face before he reached is own desk and pulled out a torch which he flicked on to make sure that the device worked. It quickly illuminated the male’s desk which was where it was aimed at causing Ianto to nod as he walked back to the open door.

Brushing his suit down slightly the Welshman raised an eyebrow at Ianto’s last comment before saying something that no one would of expected him to say yet he was in a sarcastic mode. “Well the goo doesn’t answer back so see you later” he told Daniel with a small laugh to himself as e stepped onto the first step down. The male shone the torch light onto the creature which had grown even bigger than it had done already. “Great” he muttered to himself with a sigh “Daniel, need some help here” Ianto wasn’t sure exactly what to do as he didn’t know if the creature was poisonous or dangerous and thus didn’t want to go near it unless it was absolutely necessary, which unfortunately for the Welshman it was making him shake his head in disgust.

[Gwen Cooper]

Ping.

Of course. The computer didn’t have anything specific other than that goo was a bad thing. No specific alien that they personally had taken in, but hello. It was in the archives. It was something Torchwood had encountered in the past and hoped never to see again. It burned bare skin and was stubborn and time consuming. The reporter had written that he had doubts that it would end at that and given time, it grow exponentially and could not only damage building but hurt people well beyond burns. No specifics on how to get rid of it htough.

Gwen scanned for the author. Jack Harkness. Double of course. Why was she surprised at this? She groaned and opened up her desk drawer (wait, wasn’t it unlocked? No time to think about that now) and pulled out gloves and one of those aprons Owen would wear during autopsies. She found it was useful to hold one for herself.

She quickly walked down the stairs; mindful of the fact she seemed to have tracked it out of the room. She checked her soles of her shoes and noticed that they seemed ok. Hopefully the boys’ shoes held up equally as well.

“Wait, before you do anything, the computer came up with something. Jack came across it a few decades ago and it’s not pretty. My shoes seem to be holding up ok, but it burns skin and god knows what else. I suggest gloves and aprons. Maybe even facemasks. Could one of you go grab gloves and aprons for you two and face masks for all three. Maybe even find shoe covers, as I don’t think those lovely dress shoes of yours, Ianto, will hold up to this.”

Gwen looked at the dripping goo. It was doing just that, luckily not expanding or growing, but that still made her uneasy. “Who wants to go find Jack?”

[Daniel O'Neill]

Gwen being a good leader when she needed to be was something that surprised him at first. He had not expected Gwen to take charger and be able to be a leader the first time she had done such. Now he knew better than that and even though Jack would always be his leader, Gwen wasn’t a bad second in command. If he were in charge, he would have choice her though he was sure Ianto had it in him to be a leader from what he had seen in the young male.

The looks exchanged between Jack and Gwen that he seen Ianto noticed, he could tell there was something between the three that wasn’t easy on Ianto or something that he liked very much. Though Daniel knew to stay out of it and not say anything. Daniel had moved to follow Ianto before the other man had already started coming back up the stairs. It looked like the creature had tried to eat Ianto too. Though he had been joking about it trying to eat Gwen and him, it was clear that the goo was getting more dangerous.

Daniel had a taser in his hand that he had made a grab for after he seen Ianto pick up a vile to get a sample. ”Can’t remember if I seen it before so I watched it the other night, both of them. Looks like you were not tasty to the goo.” He moved to wipe some of the goo off the other’s cheek gently with his hand. His eyes looked at Ianto softly for a moment before giving a shrug of his shoulders. ”Been messing around with Gwen about Ghostbusters since we first noticed the goo. You know like in the library scene in the movie.” He wasn’t sure where Torchwood stood on the real or not area when it came to life outside these walls. He wouldn’t be surprised to see that there were stories and legends about the group out there.

His eyes winced shut a little when the other male brought up the fact the goo was sticky and he shook his head. ”Nah, I’m not into sticky things unless its cleaning honey or chocolate off someone.” He flashed a grin before looking back at Gwen who was still working away on the computer. Daniel watched the other male pull out a torch and checking it before he turned back around to face Gwen for a moment. ”Anything yet?”

With his attention back towards Ianto as he started to speak, ”Maybe we can shape a mouth for it so it can speak?” He said joking around now, trying to keep things light at the moment. Then Gwen spoke about needing to go find Jack. ”You head off and do it. Sounds like Ianto need help down there. Try his com link first before heading out.” Daniel said before grabbing a flashlight also before heading down into the room. His hands holding out the torch and taser aimed at the goo. Not beliving how fast it grew, trying to figure out what caused it.

”Did it feel like it was doing anything to you when it tried to eat you?” Daniel asked wondering if it fed off something or something caused it to grow this fast.

[Ianto Jones]

He smirked at the others comment about honey and chocolate which was followed by a look that told the male that Ianto wasn’t finished with the conversation yet. However he knew that at that moment it wasn’t the time, Gwen could get touchy over things like that so he decided to ignore what he wanted to say at that moment in time. The Welshman instead allowed Daniel to wipe the goo or whatever it was off of his face which produced a freezing cold sensation on his cheek, not from the touch but from the goo almost like it had been trying to freeze to his face. He frowned at the feeling but didn’t say anything, not for now anyway he didn’t want the team to worry.

Ianto looked over to Gwen to see any reactions that she had found something but found none at that desired moment making his heart sink as she said that they needed Jack. It seemed that they couldn’t do a single thing without Jack which often annoyed the male yet what could he do, he was just the teaboy. That said he had proven himself many times before although he knew that he would never be leader of the team not unless he was the last one alive, even the new medic would more likely be a leader that he would.

“We don’t need Jack” he muttered to the pair before the vial was placed gently in his pocket and before he went to snatch the taser from Daniels hand while he placed the torch in his other. He then made his way back down towards the goo until he was surrounded by the darkness meaning that he couldn’t see upwards but for some reason he couldn’t see the goo either even though it had been there moments before. Now he was slightly scared and the mad feeling about him being less worthy than the team wasn’t even there anymore as his temper had now gotten him into a bad situation.

The male gripped the taser harder than he already was and tried to focus his eyes to the darkness that seemed to be circling around him, that’s when he noticed that the darkness was blowing at him making him frown. He flashed the light around and noticed that he wasn’t surrounded by darkness at all but the goo which was directly above him had almost created a curtain around him, trying to trap him within the goo. With a yell he tripped and fell backwards down the stairs dropping the taser which thudded against the concrete which was followed by the vial that smashed and the flash light which collided with Ianto’s chest as he layed in a heap on the floor.

The torchwood member coughed and gripped his stomach as a drop of blood ame dripping from his head. The anger emotion was now back as he now felt that he was worthless amongst the team, none of them would of fallen down the stairs at that important moment yet he had. He mentally hit himself as at that moment he couldn’t physically hit himself, he was in enough man as it was.

[Gwen Cooper]

Gwen was shocked at Ianto’s reaction to getting Jack. She only said it because he wrote the report and the more hands, the better. She was not at all prepared for the vehemence in his voice. She frowned. She wanted to say fuck it, but she also knew that they were better off with more people.
“You know what, fine. You don’t like my suggestion, then you can leave, but we need all the hands we can get.”

At Daniel’s suggestion she get Jack, she realized she would have been the one to do it all along. However, she was most upset when neither of them went to get the equipment needed to protect themselves. A taser was not on the list. She was not doing a good job keeping the situation or her temper under control.

She didn’t have enough time to think when Ianto went off on his own without proper protection. She ran when she heard him yell.

“IANTO!” She ran down the stars and kneeled down next to him. “Oh please be ok. I am sorry if I made you mad. I am so sorry love. Please be ok.” She knew she was babbling now, and tears were pouring down her cheeks. “DANIEL! Get your skinny arse down here, now!” Gwen turned back to Ianto and started to check him over.

There was a deep lash across his forehead and he seemed to be in pain in his stomach. She wiped her running nose on her sleeve and took one of his hands and put her other hand on his forehead.

“Please, darling, be ok, I need you. We need you. Please be ok. Please.” Gwen was sobbing and trying to make sure that Ianto was conscious at the same time. Not now. Not her Ianto. Whatever he thought about her, right or wrong, she wanted him alive, she would set their relationship right.

She knew he was mad because he thought she and Jack had something going on, but it wasn’t true, not anymore. Gwen was now more the mother of the group then the slut. "Please Ianto, be ok, I was never trying to hurt you."