Title: "Come Fly With Me"
Rating: PG- I don't think there's anything dodgy in here- at least not yet.

Spoilers/Disclaimers : Torchwood, belongs to the BBC and RTD, I'm just borrowing the characters- I own nothing here, nor do I make any money!
Summary: Torchwood characters in a story set in the glamorous world of international travel! Fluffy, romantic and cheesy in the extreme, I suspect!

A/N: Also X posted to LJ and DW

"Come Fly With Me" Chapter 1

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The young man stood outside the door of the staff meeting room of Torchwood International Airlines and reflexively straightened his tie, even though it didn't need straightening at all. Finally, he ran a hand over his short dark hair, before taking a deep breath and reaching forward to open the door.

Inside he was about to meet the small group of people that he'd be spending the majority of his working life with for the foreseeable future; unlike some airlines who staffed their cabin crew from a pool of flight attendants, Torchwood International Airlines (TIA, or just Torchwood for short) preferred what they liked to call a 'team' approach. Barring illness, holidays and flying time restrictions, in the main, the same close knit crew of pilots and attendants worked together, TIA rightly convinced that this offered the best service for its exacting customers. And its customers were exacting, since the carrier prided itself on servicing the luxury market. Its aeroplanes were some of the most comfortable in the world, and not one of them had an economy section- the cheapest seats (which were in no way 'cheap') were more akin to business class seats with other airlines, and when it came to First Class, the cabin resembled a scene from a 1940s or 50s film set in the 'golden age' of air travel, with a small bar and sofas as well as quieter, fully reclining seats where the customer would be hard pushed to even be able to see the next seat, never mind touch it. Some of the 'planes also had a more private cabin which was often favoured by celebrities, politicians and other high profile public figures.

The dark haired young man had never had a burning ambition to work as a 'trolley dolly', but when he'd joined the company on their domestic routes over three years ago after leaving Cardiff, he found that not only did the job pay well, but it provided him with quite a large amount of free time in between flying- ideal for the Masters degree in English Literature he was starting with the Open University.

He pushed open the door, and looked around for Suzie Costello. She was the senior crew member, otherwise known as the Cabin Service Director, and he'd been asked to report directly to her. Luckily he'd met her during his time with Torchwood and she'd been one of those on the interview panel when he'd applied for the transfer from domestic to international flights. He looked out for Suzie's shock of dirty blonde pre-Raphaelite hair twisted into a loose bun.

A small group of six women turned to look at the newcomer, all of them immaculately and identically dressed in the Torchwood uniform of dark charcoal grey wool with dark red pinstripes for the jacket and skirt, with blood red fitted silk shirts. They all wore a small matching red hat with a dark grey band, tilted at an angle. The man's own suit was made of the same fabric, with the addition of a matching waistcoat, a red silk shirt which matched the lining of his jacket, and a darker red tie, striped with grey.

"Ah, Ianto! Good to see you," a voice from the back said loudly. It was Suzie. Hurried introductions to the all-female crew took place. It didn't surprise Ianto. He'd been told he'd be the only male member of the cabin crew. He quickly tried to memorise the names of his new colleagues: Emma, Diane, Toshiko, Martha, and Beth. Ianto knew immediately that the crew was one down: with him there was an uneven number of crew, and TIA always worked on an even number of cabin crew. Before he had too much time to think, the door burst open and a wide eyed, brunette with a broad smile entered.

"Ooh! I'm sooo sorry! I'm Gwen Cooper- got caught up in traffic and Rhys, that's my fiancé, couldn't find the car keys to start with..." she trailed off glancing at her wristwatch, a look of relief washing over her face as she realised that she wasn't irretrievably late. Ianto looked over at her; she'd spoken with an unmistakeable Welsh accent, much like his own- he wondered idly if she liked rugby; it could give them something to talk about on the longer flights. She wore her dark brown hair up, like the majority of TIA female attendants, and had large, dark, doe eyes and a gap between her two front teeth. She could certainly be regarded as attractive. Not that it mattered to Ianto- he'd sworn off 'trolley dollies' after splitting up with his last girlfriend, Lisa. In fact, that was exactly why he was here. Lisa was still working on Torchwood's domestic routes, and he'd felt the whole situation would be a lot easier if he moved on to working on the long haul flights.

"No problem, Gwen- although don't leave it too late in future. We need to know you're on your way in. It's not as if we're going anywhere, not until the pilots arrive. " She raised her eyebrows, used to the 'last minute' appearances of her two pilots. "Anyway, that gives me time to introduce everybody and go over your duties. Everybody, this is Gwen Cooper. Gwen- meet Toshiko, Martha, Beth, Diane and Emma. And this," she gestured to the young man and smiled, "is Ianto Jones. He's new to the crew today, too, so you're not on your own."

Gwen grinned at her new colleagues nervously as they all muttered 'hello's.

"Right. Beth and Emma you're still together- in steerage," she said- not as if steerage meant much, when customers were going to be in surroundings which most package tourists could only dream about. "Gwen's new to Torchwood so, Martha, you're going to be showing Gwen the ropes with Beth and Emma. Toshiko and Diane- you'll be in first class, along with me and Ianto. Ianto's been working the first class in Europe and on domestics for two years now."

The final comment drew sighs and 'mmmms' of impressed interest from the rest of the regular crew and Gwen. The Welshman had indeed made his mark at the higher end of Torchwood- his quiet efficiency and politeness had made him a popular steward amongst passengers and fellow crew; regular flyers had been known to ask specifically if he'd be on their flight, such was his ability to quietly accommodate their needs without any fuss.

Before the briefing could continue the door to the room creaked open. The tail end of a mundane conversation drifted in, before two men in black pilots' uniforms entered the room.

All eyes turned to the newcomers. They consisted of a slim, light brown haired man in his early thirties followed by a taller, dark haired man in his late thirties or so.

Suzie and the rest of the panel hadn't been explicit about who he'd be working with, but Ianto had had his suspicions. He knew that he would be replacing Cheryl Smith, the leggiest blonde in the organisation, who'd left to complete her nuclear physics degree- Cheryl really was the exception to the rule when it came to 'dumb blondes'; Gwen was taking over from Jane Stevens, who'd left to start a family. Both women had worked on the Far East routes with Captain Jack Harkness and his co-pilot, Owen Harper. Harper had reputation as a ladies man, and Captain Harkness was perhaps Torchwood Airline's most eligible (and lusted after) bachelor. Ianto had never met Harper or Harkness, but he had seen the Captain from a distance at one of the annual staff parties. Lisa had been with him and had been unable to tear her eyes away from the man, and Ianto had had to admit that the pilot was good looking. However, that hadn't prepared him for seeing him close to. He had the chiselled features of a classic movie star, complete with dazzling smile and a self assured swagger. His dark hair was tousled and fashionably spiky, but still looked tidy and professional.

By a process of elimination he deduced that the other man was Owen Harper.

"And about time, too!" Suzie said good naturedly to the two men. "You've missed the breakdown of who's working with whom, so I'll get straight down to introducing you to our two new crew members. Jack Harkness, Owen Harper- meet Gwen Cooper." She gestured towards Gwen. "And Ianto Jones."

Harkness was the first to speak as he held out his hand to shake Gwen's. "Jack Harkness. Nice to meet you, Gwen!" he said in a marked American accent.

He'd obviously made quite an impression on the Welshwoman; her eyes were wide and it took her a few moments to respond with a slight stutter, "H...hello."

Harkness' eyes flickered briefly towards Ianto, before returning to Gwen. "Well, I think we officially now have the best looking crew in the Airline. What do you say, Owen?"

Gwen blushed as the Captain moved away, allowing his co-pilot to introduce himself. "Got to agree with you there, Jack," Owen said as he reached forward to take Gwen's hand. "And I'm Owen, Jack's co-pilot."

"Hi," she replied, although Ianto noted that she seemed noticeably less impressed than she'd been when she'd met Harkness. The man was a charmer- a little cheesy, but a charmer none the less.

"And you're... Yan...?" the American said uncertainly as he turned his attention to Ianto.

"Ianto, Ianto Jones. It's a Welsh name, Sir," he supplied helpfully, as the Captain shook his hand.

"Ah, Ianto. Are we only recruiting from Wales these days?" he laughed.

"As far as I'm aware it's a coincidence- I'm not part of any Welsh plans to take over Torchwood," Ianto said seriously, but there was a hint of humour in his voice.

Captain Harkness gave another laugh. "I'm not complaining, not with all those lovely Welsh vowels. And I don't think I've seen one of our uniforms actually look so good before." It seemed it was Ianto's turn to be subjected to the 'Harkness Charm' as Jack quickly looked him up and down, before his eyes returned to Ianto's. The young man felt a slight blush as he returned the gaze; the pilot's eyes were impossibly blue and crinkled slightly at the corners when he smiled.

"Careful, Sir, that could be classed as harassment," he said raising his eyebrows. He wasn't sure what made him say that, apart from the fact that it was the only response to the comment that he could think of...and in retrospect he wondered whether he should have made it at all. He needn't have worried, because Jack Harkness again laughed loudly, winking at Ianto as he turned away.

"And call me Jack, we're not that formal here!"

xxx

To be Continued...