Disclaimer: I do not own Torchwood. Things might be a touch different if I did.
A/N: I am decently content with the outcome of it. So, I hope you are as well. Be nice and let me know what you think of it.
Title is a song by Nat King Cole.
Jack had taken Ianto aside. He was still new and needed to learn a few things. Jack wanted to take Ianto out of the office soon, there was a possible case that sounded easy enough. A quick little outing to the countryside. Hopefully the not much trip would bring the team closer together.
But before going into the field, Ianto needed to learn how to properly use a gun. At One he had only been a Junior Archivist. He knew that they had never even been allowed to touch a gun. Though they'd know all about them. Jack smile inwardly, he would have fun teaching Ianto how to shoot. He always had fun teaching them how to shoot. He loved being a distraction to them.
"Sir," Ianto started as he realized where Jack was leading him, "There is no point in teaching me how to shoot."
"Nonsense Ianto. I plan on taking you into the field with us and so you need to learn." He turned and flashed a grin at the younger man. Jack heard Ianto sigh. He guessed that was Ianto's way of giving in.
They came to the shooting range and Jack had already had all the guns displayed on the table. Ammo next to each gun. Jack turned to Ianto, "How much do you know about each of these guns?"
Ianto's cool blue eyes looked over the table. "I know their names and what kind of ammo they take. How to put them together and clean them. I also know how to shoot them."
Jack scoffed. "Oh yeah. Everyone knows how to shoot them. Pull the trigger. But it is totally different to shoot than know how to." He raised an eyebrow to prove his point.
Jack watched as Ianto fought the urge to roll his eyes, which he seemed to loose and sighed. "Shall I show you how much I know then, sir?"
Jack nodded and watched and Ianto picked up one of the guns and loaded it. He certainly knew how to do that. It looked like he was pro. Jack felt his brow crease in slight confusion as he watched as Ianto pointed at the paper target and shoot off a round.
Jack brought the paper up and was surprised to see that Ianto's aim had been perfect. Not a single bullet missed it's mark. He tried to think of something to say and only found his mouth opening and closing a few times. He looked up at Ianto.
"Shall I do another, sir?" Jack nodded.
Ianto set up another paper target and put it back farther than the first one before switching guns. Once again he took the proper stance and looked like his normal poised self as he shot off the round. When the target came back Jack was still a bit surprised to see that once gain the aim had been perfect. "But how?"
Ianto put down the weapon, "Torchwood." He gave a tight smile.
"But, Ianto." Jack said with a small shake of his head, "One wouldn't allow people in your department to even look at guns."
"True. But who said I started at One?" He took apart the weapon he had just discharged.
Once again, Jack's brow creased in confusion. "You were at Two? When? And why doesn't it say on your background that you were there?"
"I've never been to Two." Ianto pursed his lips, "And it doesn't say because One actually deleted that part of my background. Hartman didn't want others to know who I was. Couldn't have them asking questions."
Jack ran over this in his head. Ianto hadn't been at Two and One didn't teach Archivists weapon training. He only recently started at Three, then… "Four?"
Ianto gave a small nod.
"But, Ianto." Jack protested, "Four disappeared. If you were there you would be gone as well."
Ianto gave a more noticeable nod, "True. If I had been at the Abode at the time. But as it were I was taking the Ha'nna out. They needed coffee supplies."
"The Ha'nna?" Jack swallowed dryly. The Ha'nna were not a very nice race. They tended to jump onto a planet and take over it. "Wait, coffee?"
"When they showed up at the Abode I walked up and introduced myself." Jack's eyes widened. That had to take some courage. "I then offered them a cup of coffee. Not knowing what it was they demanded me to tell them. Very politely I told them what it was and they agreed to a cup." He paused, "As you can imagine they enjoyed the drink." Jack knew too well that Ianto made orgasmic coffee. "I then explained to them that if they took over the planet that there was no way they'd ever get coffee again. They demanded that I teach them how to make coffee, which I did, and then they'd leave." He paused, "Since then the Ha'nna have come back three times to restock."
"That is some story." Jack said after a short length.
"Indeed." Ianto agreed.
"So, One actually changed your background?" He had slight trouble over that idea. One loved going by the book. And Torchwood loved backgrounds. Background checks ran so deep that they knew about every secret or not to secret event in a person's life. First kiss? Weight and length then born? What their second grade teacher said about them? All easy information to get. And they wanted it.
But then, Four hadn't been like the other branches. One was branch that did everything by the book. They believed in Queen and Country. The perfect and stuck up branch that couldn't do wrong (until they very clearly did). Two was the close sibling. Slightly off, but still close enough to be in on all the good gossip. But the gossip was usually about the black sheep cousins Three. Three tended to do what was needed. Not caring if that broke the rules. Four though? Four was amazing. If One were the perfect kids then Four was what One was jealous of and wanted to be.
Four was in a league of its own. Like a very prestigious and very secret club that was impossible to get in. Only the smartest could go there, of course the smartest also had to be the most spry and be able to win a fight against anything they came across. There had been theories that the members of Four either were grown or were somehow changed to be the perfect Torchwood Officer. When Four went missing there was a huge hole in the Torchwood family. The other branches had to learn to make up for the impossible members.
Jack could see why One would try and keep Ianto quiet, if he had been a member at Four. If only One knew about him they could keep him. If Two and Three had found out they would have wanted him. It also made a lot of sense. Ianto did seem rather impossible at times.
"So, you're actually Four?" Jack heard himself ask.
"Yep." Ianto seemed unsure on how Jack would react. Of course this had been another secret. And he had said he wasn't hiding anything from them except for Lisa. That's when it hit Jack.
Ianto had not only lost everything at Canary Wharf, but also at the Abode. Ianto had lost everything twice already. He looked around and really hoped Ianto wouldn't loose it all for a third time.
Ianto cleared his throat, causing Jack to loose his train of thought and look at him, "Can I assume that our training session is over?"
It should be. Jack knew this, it was very clear now that Ianto didn't need training. He could even go so far as to guess that Ianto was a better shot than anyone else. Possibly even him. "Uh. Yeah. I guess so." He stammered.
Ianto gave a smile, a real one, before nodding and walking away. Jack watched him leave, finding a smile on his own face. He needed to somehow get that real smile out of the ex-Four member of his team more often. He hoped that the quiet outing to the countryside could do that.