Rating: G

Word count: ~ 1,600 (this part)

Warnings: Weirdness, dæmons, etc.

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters are the property of their respective owners. I am in no way associated with the creators, and no copyright infringement is intended.

A/N: I recently reread the entire His Dark Materials books and then started reading crossovers with my favorite fandoms. And while I tend to avoid Torchwood crossovers, because canon gives me practically everything I need in a plot, this one jumped up and bit me in the ass. So, therefore, first meeting fic. I'll likely write more in this universe, given time, because it's startlingly addictive, but they'll be a separate series of one-shots. This is just to get it out of my head so I can focus on JAW and Impressions.

Edit 7/1/13: So the one-shot thing really bugs me—hence reposting as a chaptered story. Sorry for any inconvenience/confusion. This is still the same story/stories, just…collected now. (And I changed this one back to present tense, to fit with the rest.)

More Things In Heaven and Earth (Than Is Dreamt of In Your Philosophy)

Ianto has always been aware of the fact that he's fairly unusual. Mielikki settled when he was very young, and stood out sharply in a family that was almost entirely possessed of dog or small bird dæmons. His father never quite forgave him for the oddity of having a ten-year-old son with a settled dæmon, especially a dæmon that stood over two feet tall at the shoulder and outweighed her human at least twice over.

But for himself, Ianto knows that Mielikki settled because they were both ready for her to do so. He's always had a good grasp of who he was, and she's always reflected that. Ianto is careful and cunning and loyal, and more dangerous than he appears, and Mielikki is a predator dæmon in a family of follower dæmons.

They've practically been forced to be self-aware, being as they are.

In truth, it's utter chance that Ianto even meets the man, and especially when he does. Ianto supposes, after the fact, that in some world, some universe—because it is a widely acknowledged secret that there are many, even if none of The Powers That Be will ever make it official—there is a version of him that never met Jack at all, or perhaps didn't meet him until after the tragedy that was the Battle of Canary Wharf. But here, in this one, Ianto is a junior researcher assigned to a science team that just happens to be studying something the Captain of Torchwood Three is interested in.

Naturally, because of that interest, Captain Harkness comes in person to get the item transferred to Cardiff so his own tech can study it.

Yvonne Hartman is most certainly Not Amused, Ianto can see as she sweeps into the laboratory. He doesn't even have to look at her dæmon to know that, although the giant huntsman spider is bristling on her shoulder. Never one to indulge in his more blatant attacks of stupidity, Ianto immediately leaves off staring at the pretty lab tech—"Hallett," her nametag reads, and he's heard one of her friends call her Lisa—and pretends to be immersed in the files he'd pulled from the Archives the day before. Mielikki, despite being equally enamored of Lisa and Lisa's Green Iguana dæmon, leaps up from where she'd been curled at his feet and tries to slink under his desk. As a fairly large snow leopard, it's a bit of a tight fit.

Thankfully, Hartman barely glances at them in her quick survey of the room before turning her attention to the man accompanying her.

"Well, Harkness?" she demands icily. "Our teams have everything well in hand. There's no need for any of your dramatics."

She spits the word out as though it is, in her book, tantamount to treason and similarly punished, though Ianto thinks privately that she herself is fully accomplished in such fits. After a quick, covert glance, however, he turns his attention to the man behind her. There are, of course, rumors abounding that address all facets of the infamous Captain Jack Harkness's life. But then again, rumor also says that Hartman is sleeping with her secretary (a perfectly nice girl, really) when Ianto knows for a fact that she and the (married) Head of the Research Department have a standing hotel reservation every Wednesday at four, which they bill as a staff development meeting.

(Truly, Ianto half-wishes that he'd never left the secretarial department; they hear all the best gossip. But Lisa is here, and Ianto had hoped that being in close proximity would help him get the nerve up to do something.)

But, for once, the rumors have little on the actual truth.

Jack Harkness is a handsome man, like an early film star. That jaw line alone can probably break hearts at thirty paces. He isn't smiling right now, but Ianto has no doubt that the man would be gorgeous if he did—he seems like one of those unfairly beautiful people who could look amazing while buried neck-deep in muck, if it were so required.

Ianto finds it fairly surprising that he's even noticed all of this. When he pines, it's usually to the exclusion of all else.

"I still thank that it would be better if Doctor Sato—" and the way he emphasizes her name leaves little doubt that he thinks Sato is eminently more suited to the task than any of Torchwood One's techs "—takes a look at it. She's got a lot more experience in time manipulation technology."

Hartman gathers herself and opens her mouth—most likely for a fairly witless retort; she isn't exactly known for the brilliance of her arguments, especially with Captain Jack Harkness—but before she can so much as utter a word, Harkness makes a sharp sound of surprise and looks down. Ianto follows his gaze automatically and can't hold back a wince.

Mielikki blinks up at him with wide, pale blue eyes that make her look innocent even when she most emphatically isn't, and says quite calmly, "Your dæmon isn't with you. She's not here."

There's a collective freeze around the lab. Ianto steels himself for the backlash, even as he mentally rolls his eyes. Dæmons are an extension of people's souls—and in Ianto's case, Mielikki is the innate curiosity and unfettered bluntness he's long since otherwise buried under a polite mask and the occasional bout of sarcasm. Honestly, she'll be the death of him.

Perhaps literally, given the look Hartman and her spider dæmon are sending them.

But Harkness doesn't fly off the handle at the implication, or flinch away, or even step back from the near taboo of another person's dæmon addressing him directly. Rather, he looks Mielikki directly in the eyes and answers, "Why do you say that? We could just be Separated."

Separated, like a witch's dæmon—able to travel long distances from their human without any of the debilitating side effects. But somehow Ianto doesn't think that's it, even if Harkness looks nothing like the pale, wasted shadows that are those who've had their dæmons die before them. Which, by process of elimination, means there must be some other explanation, even if Ianto can't think of it.

Drawing a careful breath, Ianto pushes back his chair and rises to his feet. "Mielikki has good instincts," he says, keeping his voice bland, "even if she isn't incredibly gifted with tact."

Mielikki pins her ears back in affront, but doesn't move from her spot at Harkness's knee. Her gaze doesn't waver. Harkness looks away, though, startled eyes turning to Ianto. Ianto is fairly sure—almost certain—that Harkness had taken one look at him and then either forgotten him or written him off completely once he'd looked away. It's Ianto's armor, after all—being completely forgettable and equally indispensible, the perfect secretary or butler. He's always been very good at his job, and might someday even become accustomed to people dismissing him out of hand like they always seemed to.

At least, the way they seem to up until they see Mielikki, who is about as memorable as Ianto can be forgettable, snow leopards being all but exclusively a soldier's dæmon. The two of them have always been a fairly odd pair, for all that she's his soul.

But there's no shock or confusion in Harkness's face at the appearance of a new person. Just faint puzzlement, as though Ianto has revealed something startling but not entirely beyond the bounds of conception. Even as Ianto watches, that clears up as well, and a quick grin flickers across his strong features.

"Oh?" he asks, and there's a wealth of meaning in the word. "What about your instincts? What are they telling you?"

Ianto shares a glance with Mielikki, slightly startled. That had been blatant innuendo, if he isn't mistaken, stuck in a sentence where innuendo has no place. Looking back at the Captain, he raises one eyebrow and offers, "You're not Separated, but your dæmon is also not here. We'll take option C, 'There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio.'"

Harkness laughs at that, bright and very nearly delighted. It shocks Ianto, who has never had someone look at him the way Harkness is, with pride and happiness and like he's done something wonderful. He and Mielikki stare at the man, speechless, their eyes equally wide.

"Perfect," Harkness says with a grin, turning that bright expression on Hartman. "Send the piece to Cardiff; there'll be someone waiting tomorrow to meet the courier. And send him while you're at it." The Captain jerks his thumb at Ianto, who realizes suddenly that his jaw is in true danger of dropping.

"What?" Hartman demands, very close to a splutter, but Harkness is already sweeping back out into the hall, coat flaring behind him, with a final call of, "Don't make me get UNIT involved, Hartman; I'd rather they had the device then you."

Hartman hurries after him in her sensible pumps, yelling. As the door swings shut behind her, Ianto looks down at Mielikki as she slinks back to his side and sighs.

"Time to clean out our desk again?" she asks.

"Indeed," Ianto murmurs in return.