Confesssions
Fleur made enough coffee for everyone before joining everyone in the living room, where they’d all squeezed in around the room. She set the teapots and mugs of coffee on the coffee table before using magic to retrieve the multiplicated tea cups for people to use.
She poured two cups of herbal tea, passing one to Ianto as she squeezed into the space between Ianto and bill on the sofa with her own tea in hand. She knew coffee wouldn’t be a good idea in Ianto’s current state. Ianto didn’t protest about the tea, knowing better than to argue with the french witch. It hadn’t ended well for anyone who fought her, even molly. He just drank his tea silently.
Nothing was said as the others scrambled to get their own cups or mugs. Luna soon returned to the flat with Susan. Upon seeing Ianto's state, Susan dropped her medical bag, kneeling in front of him, worry filling her eyes.
“Merlin Ianto, what happened? Luna said you were hurt, but she didn’t tell me it was this bad. You look like death warmed up.”
Cannibals. We had a case of people going missing in the same area every ten years. Thought it might be aliens, so we went out there to investigate. Within half an hour, the SUV got taken, and we followed the tracker to the village of Brynbaidd. Tosh and I got caught and knocked out. Woke again in a basement. There were piles of victims' shoes and a fridge of human meat. Some of it was identifiably human. They were humans. They were muggles. I tried to give Tosh a chance to escape but got knocked out and beaten to hell. She got caught again, along with Owen and Gwen. They put a clever to my throat, and they almost killed me. Jack stopped them, but Gwen was insistent on Questioning them to understand what happened and why they did it. Owen brushed off any injuries I had. Only focused on Gwen. Tosh was ignored too.”Ianto told them, scared. His hands were shaking along with his tea though none of it spilt from the cup.
“Owen, is your team medic, no?” Fleur asked, already knowing the answer. She had heard many things about Owen from Ianto since he started at Torchwood Three.
“He thinks with his dick, not with his actual brain,” Ianto muttered, still shaking.
“He neglected his patients to get laid? that is just wrong. The oath is to do no harm. Neglecting your injuries probably has done harm. A fracture could have become a break, and there could be internal injuries and bleeding that could have killed you.” Susan said, performing some diagnostic spells. “Your left kidney is swollen, which, if not treated, can cause severe issues for you. You have fractured and broken bones, primarily your ribs though your left humerus is fractured too. Your jaw is fractured, and your ankle is dislocated. I have no idea how you’ve been walking. A mild to moderate concussion too. Not to mention the bruises everywhere, including on some bones. You’re lucky these are mostly easily treated with spells and potions. You’ll have to be on a course of potions to be sure I haven’t missed any other injuries.”
Ianto could only nod slightly as Susan started using a few spells to mend his bones and ease his concussion. She then proceeded to retrieve a few potions from her bag and gave a few of him to drink while setting the others aside for him to take later. Each had a label of when to take them.
“I can’t help the bruises, sorry, but hopefully, they should ease in a couple of days. They’re pretty deep, so there are some pain positions you can take if you need to. If they worsen, let me know. Now I want to know everything about this team of yours. You didn’t tell me last time you needed help.” Susan told him, grabbing her own cup of tea.
“Okay, I’ll start with Owen. He’s a dick. He’s our medic. He was a doctor in London before he was recruited. His fiancee died from an alien parasite in her brain. He likes the weevils more than me. He calls me tea boy like that’s all I do.
Then There’s Gwen. She’s the newest member of the team and has this weird obsession with Owen and Jack. She was a police constable and got into a murder investigation where one of our own employees, Suzie, was murdering people. Gwen thinks she was hired to replace all of Suzie’s roles, including second in command. She constantly breaks protocol, knows nothing about Torchwood and treats me worse than Owen does. All while being sickly sweet, she acts like none of us have a heart and that she’s the heart of Torchwood. That’s also not to mention the way she manipulates her way out of trouble and getting her way.
Tosh is nice enough. She’s a tech genius. She’s working on our systems to upgrade them. She’s the only one who brought me coffee after my suspension, a peace offering. She joined Torchwood after her mother was kidnapped, and she was forced to build a sonic disrupter for the kidnapper. She managed it but got arrested by UNIT and thrown into a UNIT prison. Jack offered her an alternative, five years at Torchwood with minimal contact with her family. She accepted it because otherwise, it was life in the UNIT prison with no contact with anyone but a few guards.
Finally, you have Jack, the boss. He’s now also the director of the institute, no one really knows much, but he likes to wipe his own records. He had this vendetta against anyone from Torchwood One. His friend died there because of Yvonne’s hubris. Us survivors were just as bad as Yvonne herself. It took so long for him to give me a job at Three. He’s actually warmed up to me and reminded me a bit of dad in how many insane stories he has. But he’s also extremely different.“ Ianto explained thoughtfully, thinking about each of his teammates.
George had been glaring since the mention of Gwen but let Ianto finish. “Let me get this right, she’s the newbie and thinks she’s the boss and that You, the biggest bleeding heart I know, is heartless?” He wanted to laugh at the insanity but didn’t because he was pissed.
“Pretty much. Owen is actually the second in command though I do his extra paperwork 'cos he doesn’t know how to do half of it.”
“Guessing you, the guy who knows everything, didn’t get the job of second in command ‘cos this was before Lisa, and they just ignored you,” Bill asked from Fleur’s other side.
Ianto simply nodded, not wanting to vocalise his thoughts. Fleur hugged him gently as to not cause him any more pain with his bruises.
“You aren't telling us something, little star. You know you can trust us.”
Ianto’s response was almost inaudible. When no one spoke, he sighed and spoke again but loud enough to be heard. ”I have a crush on Jack. I shouldn’t, but I do, and it’s infuriating. He’d never love me.”
Fleur’s grip tightened around him, and the others joined the awkward hug that was soon enough more like a dog pile on Ianto. Who was now trapped under his friends.
“It’s okay little star. He’d be a fool not to love you. You are the most caring and sweet person we know. Anyone you date is lucky to have found you.” Fleur reassured him.
Ianto fought off tears hugging Fleur back in the mass of bodies. “Thank you.” his voice was soft as he fought back the tears.
They stayed in the strange dog pile for a few more minutes before they returned to their earlier spaces around the room. A comfortable silence fell upon the group. This lasted until Susan’s watch began to beep like an alarm. She rose and made sure she had set out enough potions before hugging Ianto one last time. She said her goodbyes as her break was now over and then left. George was still brooding, his brain running over everything in the joke shop’s inventory that could make Gwen’s life miserable and thinking about what Fred would do.
“Can I make Gwen’s life miserable, or would that be too mean?” George asked thoughtfully upon compiling his mental list of products.
“You could, but I don't think her boyfriend would be happy. Then again, if he knew how she was acting, he might want to make her life miserable himself.”
“She has a boyfriend and is still going after Owen and Jack?” Hermione but in as anger rose inside her. ”that poor man.”
“Yeah, Rhys Williams. She never shuts up about him, yet shamelessly flirts with Owen and Jack. All while saying we’re heartless. I don’t use this word lightly, but she's a bitch. A complete and utter bitch.”
“The last person you called a bitch was Bellatrix, so I take you seriously when you say that. Feel free to use anything from the joke shop on her free of charge. Kinda wanna see the effect they’d have on a muggle.”
“There was a Rhys in George’s year. Doubt it’s the same person, though. He went to a muggle college after Hogwarts.” Bill said out loud though he’d only meant to say it to himself.
“You mean the Hufflepuff that kinda looked like Neville did in First year? Maybe. Never really took much notice. Too busy with pranks with Fred. Plus, the guy kept to himself for the most part, not even really talking to members of his own house unless he had to, from what I remember.” George said, thinking back “might have to look through some old school photographs to find him. If it is him, he deserves to know about Gwen.
Ianto sighed thoughtfully. “He was welsh, so it wouldn’t surprise me if it really was him, but I've never met him, so I couldn’t tell you honestly. He probably wouldn’t recognise me if we had met. I looked a lot different back then. He probably looks different too .”
“I’m going to find him then.” George’s smile was full of true mischief, a rare sight since Fred’s death. “I’m going to make Gwen Cooper regret her actions and pay dearly for them,”
He had disapparated as soon as he spoke, leaving no room for argument. No one doubted George’s ability, especially when it came to revenge.