Rec List: Older Torchwood fics that were never transferred to AO3 [Part 1: A-K]
[Apparently tumblr has a link limit so this will be in 3 parts]
This list is made up entirely of older Torchwood fanfiction whose authors never transferred the stories to AO3 (therefore the majority of fics are pre-2011). I found most of these by going through all the posts on the communities twstoryfinder, twgenrefinders, and torchwood_fic on LJ, as well as finding other people’s old fic rec lists, other lj communities, and my own old bookmarks. Most stories link to livejournal, some to fanfiction.net and a few to other sites like whofic, insanejournal, dreamwidth, and even the wayback machine. These fics span a wide range of lengths, fanfic genres, and writing styles, although most are longer than 1k. However, I am fairly picky when it comes to fic quality, so these are only the ones out of everything I read that I thought were very good. Any warnings, pairings, or clarifying notes I might want to write are in brackets. All fics are either gen or Jack/Ianto unless otherwise specified. This list is alphabetical by title.
01001111010010110100000101000001010100110100000101001110 by epithetta - Tosh might be dead, but no one explained it to the Mainframe.
A Brief History of the Lammergeier in Wales by cthonus - A character-study piece in three parts. Torchwood go birdwatching in Snowdonia.
A Process In The Weather by notevery - Ianto knows all about the fragility of the human body; he knows how it bleeds and how it breaks. And he knows, as he thinks of the cold uncaring perfection of metal, that it is better than the alternative.
After Life by blackbird_song - The Torchwood team is seeing ghosts. Then, everyone in Cardiff is seeing ghosts. Jack confronts people from his long past, and Gwen has an ancestor who can help.
And The Weather Will Hold by analineblue - A post-Exit Wounds weevil hunting expedition gone wrong, an admirable but slightly misguided clean-up effort by Ianto and later, a realization.
Angelystor by pike2 - The team investigates reports of WWI soldiers in a small village church. What they find is far older and more malevolent than they expected.
As Thorns Thrust Away by solsticezero - “They live in the time vortex and wait for a temporal anomaly, like a paradox, to open up a new dimension. An alternate one from the way that things are supposed to be. Then they enter that dimension and destroy it." The tiniest changes incur the deadliest consequences.
Bad Dog 1 2 by tanarian - Werewolf hunting can be a complicated business.
The Ballad Of Reading Gaol by invisible_lift - Jack Harkness returns to England in 1895 and is imprisoned in Reading Gaol after being convicted of "gross indecency." Mistreated because of the nature of his offense (and his attempts to get free), he finds himself going mad. His only hope? The man in cell C 3.3.
The Beautiful Uncut Hair of Graves by solsticezero - Ianto and Gwen and grief and comfort and grass.
Before The Children Green And Golden by cyus - Ianto doesn't die in Thames House, but the chain of events doesn't stop for that. The 456 are still making demands, the government is still complying, and so choices still need to be made.
Before This Life by veritas6_5 - “His name’s not on his chart. Agent 5047 is all we’ve been told. He was transferred to us from Building Nine.”
Before Time There Was A Void by heddychaa - And it’s all so embarrassingly simple, isn’t it? He’d asked for honesty, laid the foundations for honesty, and this is what Jack has to give. No pretences. Except–
Beneath The Winter Sun by aerynsdottor - It's instinct, seeking for warmth and companionship in their new cold and lonely lives, that's how Martha rationalises it later. [Martha/Tosh]
Between Light And Nowhere by giddygeek - He kneels for a moment on the floor after he slides Tosh and Owen's belongings into place, his thumbs over the locks that keep anyone with any sense from rifling through their pens, their hard candies and small change.
Body In Pieces by sanginmychains - After seeing too many bodies in parts, Ianto maps Jack’s body back into something whole.
Break A Silver Lining by analineblue and sariagray - A long drive, some much-needed communication, and eventually, a sunrise.
Brittle by heddychaa - He doesn't know if it's because Jack wants everyone else to be immortal, too, or if he's just so thick that he can't imagine that other people aren't.
Brothers In Arms by lookninjas - The boys talk about zombies and debate the merits of fresh vs. frozen brains.
The Bureaucrat’s Love Story Ends At Six Sharp by heddychaa - When the rift is quiet for three straight days, the whole team find themselves filling time. Left to his own devices in the archives with a hundred years worth of Torchwood 3 personnel files, Ianto Jones starts to question the permanence of the things he holds dear in the world. Especially disconcerting is the conundrum of his precarious relationship with Captain Jack Harkness...that is, until he comes to a novel solution.
Caput Sihil by lone-star-woman - Ianto Jones falls asleep in a London hotel room in 2009 only to wake up on a different planet in the 33rd Century with Jack sitting beside him. [Note: There is an epilogue to this fic, although personally I think the story is better left off at the final chapter.]
Cast No Shadow by electro-club - When he showed up on a Wednesday night, Rhiannon felt almost as though she should've been waiting for him.
Cavarian Combat by laligin - When snooker balls start turning up mysteriously in Cardiff, Torchwood investigate, and find themselves players in a dangerous game.
The Chemicals Between Us by badwolf36 - Tension is found not only in the body, but in the soul as well. [Owen/Ianto, vaguely, closer to friendship]
Chronology by lo0o0ony-lauren - Various little scenes and moments, interactions with the team and between Jack and Ianto.
Cold Storage by littledoglaughd - Jack keeps Gwen company when she’s in a tight spot.
Come Away, Oh Human Child by sparking_off - It is no coincidence that they have found a chosen one in Cardiff, of all places and times they can go. It is a message to him, that he is not forgotten. A reminder that he should not forget them.
Comfortable Horrors by alex51324 - After the events of "Cyberwoman," Jack keeps Ianto prisoner in the Hub, despite the rest of the team’s reservations.
Countdown by thaddeusfavour - What's so special about an unassuming object in the UNIT vaults? No one knows what it does, or even what it's made of, only that it was recovered in the carnage after a Time Lord's visit. Now this object, and the fate of the world, rests in Jack's hands.
Counting Stars by soera - Jack and Ianto’s relationship, as it develops throughout S1 and S2. Spins off into AU towards the latter half of S2. [Link goes to the final chapter which links all the other chapters.]
Crash Course by beesandbrews & lawsontl - Dr. Megan Muli's first mission with Torchwood involves a rescue at sea, a mysterious alien disease, and uncomfortable revelations from her new team-mates.
A Cyborg Manifesto by kindkit - Of bodies and machines.
Dangerous Side Effects May Include by dru - A life-threatening camping trip brings revelations. [TW: opiate abuse]
Danse Macabre by valderys - A day in the very ordinary life of Ianto Jones.
Debts To Be Paid In Full by sparking_off - After the events of ‘Cyberwoman’, Tosh and Jack take care of Ianto.
The Difference Between Then And Now by nightanddaze - A comparison of the Ianto that was and the Ianto that is.
Dinner Date by lucy_fic - Owen puts his foot in his mouth, then apologises. [Owen/Ianto]
Disinterred by seize - "What is a man? A miserable little pile of secrets." Ianto asks a question and gets a very detailed answer. [TW: torture, violence of various types]
Domestic Goddess by doyle_sb4 - She’d fought aliens, for heaven’s sake. She looked at the pasta sheets and wished they could be as easily sorted. [Gwen/Rhys]
Dorian by kalichan - "Have I not stood face to face with beauty; that is enough for one man’s life." - Oscar Wilde
Draw The World In Shades Of Grey by calavarna - The night after Ianto's secret is revealed comes with the chilling realisation that he has only two options left.
Drowning On Dry Land by shadowbyrd - Jack's not crazy. Really. He's just been thinking a little too long.
Easier by lookninjas - Sometimes you have to let them go.
Empty Chairs At Empty Tables by addyke - Ianto is stopping Torchwood from falling apart, but who is going to do the same for him?
Exhibit by mirrankei - Owen, Toshiko, and Ianto find themselves kidnapped to the future. Stuck on an asteroid, thousands of years from their time, they become research subjects and part of a 21st-century Earth exhibit in the station museum. But the time travel portal that brought them there is malfunctioning, and the whole situation stinks of a trap to a visiting Time Lord.
The Face Of God by alex51324 - An entire intelligent civilization in a jam jar– It appears to be perfectly safe in there.
Falling Through Fire by remuslives23 - Jack's back catalogue is impressive and more than a little intimidating. It has, however, allowed Jack to hone his skills so that he knows exactly how to make a body burn.
Family Business by misswinterhill - A party on the Cromwell Estate ends in disaster, bringing Torchwood closer to home than ever before for Ianto Jones. As the team race to stop an unknown toxin from killing again, Ianto learns that some secrets can't remain hidden forever.
Far Off, Like A Dull Rumour Of Some Other War by paperclipbitch - “What’s the point of trying to save the world if it’s going to end anyway?”
Fine Lines by laligin - Ianto has a motive, and Jack's suspicious... but still clueless.
The Flat Holm Stories by beesandbrews - After the events of Cyberwoman, Ianto is made to carry out his suspension working to assist the employees on Flat Holm.
Forward by sariagray - Jack and Ianto discuss life after Owen and Tosh.
For When It’s Dark by giddygeek - "Is it possible, sir, that we're lost?" Ianto says.
Fruit Bowl Alchemy by beesandbrews - When faced with a medical emergency, Owen must use his knowledge of botany to snatch a family of Welsh farmers from the brink of death.
Getting To Yes by smokeringhalos - Now that they've settled into this pattern, how is he to tell Jack that, in all fairness, he thinks Jack ought to let him have a go?
Glassboy by canningtonclose - The rift took Ianto, then returned him, almost whole but not quite.
Gold by frock - Tosh is the one who unties Ianto, pulls the gag from his gasping mouth, rubs his hands until the blood rushes back into his long fingers.
Good Boy, Brave Boy by heddychaa - Ianto Jones never really did understand how one formative experience in life informed another, couldn’t see those cause-to-effect relationships working like a perpetual motion machine inside his own psyche. But just because you couldn’t see or understand something, yourself, didn’t mean it wasn’t there.
Gordian Knot by curriejean & kalichan - Cardiff: a modern city full of modern people, their lives tied together by mobiles and computers, cars and stoplights and all of it balanced precariously on a rift in time and space. Tonight, the city falls dark – police stations, hospitals, streets and even the Hub. Someone is killing the city. Without their most basic technology, how will Torchwood solve the mystery before it's too late?
The Grand Café del Verta Nor by amethyst_lupin - Ianto is lost in time and space. Jack is very eternal. The Doctor is worried about the universe imploding. And Rose gets to have chips. Really it's just a love story.
Green by letterblade - "I tend," he says, slightly muffled, "to safeword like a traffic signal. You?” [Jack/Kathy Swanson. TW: bdsm. Link goes to the wayback machine.]
The Guardian by xenutia1 - A garbled message leads Torchwood to a small village where a boy has gone missing, and a freezing church housing a silent priest seems to hold some clues.
Guilty by bioathens - We've both been accused of believing too long… Ianto and Jack don't quite make it work. But they're trying.
Hamartia by paperclipbitch - Owen, Ianto, and the convoluted emotions in the fallout of End Of Days. [Owen/Ianto]
Have You Seen Me Lately? 1 2 3 by chicleeblair - Jack never expects to go back to Cardiff, but the Rift has other plans. Now he's working for Torchwood again, under Gwen's efficient command. The changes in her fascinate him, but she won't let him near enough to discover their roots, and he's not sure that her new hatred of him is unwarranted. He just wishes that he knew what caused it.
Hearts (hand-made): 1.50 quid a piece by cyus - Amidst paper animals, looking like he's scrapbooking for five-year olds, that's Ianto Jones.
Here We Go Round The Prickly Pear by halfspokenwords - During The Year That Never Was, Ianto and Tosh are the only ones left. On a food run, Ianto makes a very important discovery.
Hidden In Plain Sight by butterflycell - There was a piece of Ianto Jones’ history that had been wiped from his records. Every trace of it was gone from his paperwork and had been buried for the past nine months. It would’ve stayed there if Jack hadn’t taken Ianto’s ‘secret project’ as a personal offence.
Holy, Holy, Holy by heddychaa - Poetry in bed. [Goes with Sunflower Sutra, recc’ed below.]
Hooked by fic_tionalized - Owen's angry. Jack's helping as only Jack can.
Hot Zone by beesandbrews - Jack and Ianto’s dinner is interrupted by a piece of irradiated rift debris.
Hourglass by lazuli - Death is not the only form of loss. Torchwood grieves the loss of Owen and Tosh, and something strange is wrong with Jack. [Link goes to wayback machine, but all chapter links work.]
Human-Shaped by wintercompanion - Jack, and the language of remembrance.
The Hunt by beesandbrews & such_heights - A killer on the loose, a strange alien encounter, and plans gone awry. For Team Torchwood and Rhys Williams, it's just another night in Cardiff.
I. Jones, Author by cyus - They show these places in the films, bigger and greater and everyone's happier, always.
If You Pass Go, Do Not Collect £200 by paperclipbitch - Ianto is sent to rescue Owen from 19th Century London, but he’s less than impressed by what Owen has been doing to survive.
I Had No Idea I Had Been Travelling by rm and kalichan - It's not how you die; it's how you live, especially when your life is built of stories. And in the end, all lives are. [Note: One of the longest Torchwood fics I’ve ever read, but also hands-down one of the most amazing.]
I Loved A Woman With A Heart Of Amber by blue_fjords - Gwen during Ianto’s four-week suspension post-Cyberwoman.
In Good Conscience by seize - In which Jack picks up the pieces. [Note: This fic is an abandoned WIP, but it’s brilliant and still worth reading.]
In The Cold Light Of Day by dune_drd - When Jack got agitated enough to track down something as minor as overdosed drug addicts, Ianto could be sure it wasn't a case to be shoved carelessly towards the local police department.
In The Dark by dani_the_girl - After they get home from the Brecon Beacons Ianto has a bath, Jack is blindfolded and then there isn't sex.
I Should Not Care For Any Darkness by solsticezero - “Unless we figure out what’s happening to him in the next forty-eight hours, his heart’s going to wear itself out. And there’s no telling what kind of brain damage he might have already.”
It All Changes by kel_reiley, thaddeusfavour & xtricks - It's the end of the world as we know it… and nothing's fine.
It Will Bleed You Dry by paperclipbitch - Europe is dying. But Jack refuses to let his team go.
Just An Ordinary Bloke by erin_giles - Rhys Williams may not know how to save the world from alien invasions but he knows how to save a man from himself.
Killing Me Softly by midlanddan - The letters showed up in a plastic Royal Mail bag.
Kind Of Hush by tanarian - Jack's feeling down and Ianto tries to help.
Known Some Call Air Is Am by lookninjas - When a ghost hunter vanishes in the haunted house that he was examining, the Torchwood team is called in to investigate. Once inside, they discover a mysterious hallway, a spiral staircase, and a strange series of connections to a childhood that Ianto can't remember. [Note: this fic is based on House Of Leaves by Mark Z Danielewski. Knowledge of the novel is not necessary but probably handy.]
