A large black car rolled slowly through the streets of Cardiff. Two men sat inside, staring intently out the windows, searching for something in the darkness. In silent focus they studied each alleyway they passed by, squinting as though it would somehow make things clearer. The headlights of the car reflected off the damp streets and a slight drizzle obscured their view just enough to make the surrounding buildings look soft and distorted.
"Are you sure they came through this way?" asked Jack, leaning over the steering wheel to get a better look through the windshield.
"I'm certain of it, Jack. I saw one, I know I did." Ianto held his face close enough to his window to feel the cold radiating through the seal, his breath leaving clouds of white on the glass. It was dark enough that he was having trouble seeing past his own reflection.
Jack sighed and, with a glance at his companion, pressed a button on his comm. "Tosh, we lost them. You got anything on the CCTV?"
"Sorry, Jack," came back the fuzzy reply. "But that just means they haven't come back out. They're in there somewhere."
"Maybe they crawled back down into the sewer," Ianto suggested, disappointed.
"Shit," Jack muttered, scouring the road ahead for any sign of movement. They had been out there for nearly an hour now, twenty minutes of which was spent in these dark alleys. It had been at least ten since they had last seen anything of use. He was about to call it off and head back to the hub when a figure, hunched and deformed, came lurching out in front of them. Jack held his breath and leaned forward in his seat. It turned and at the sight of its glistening teeth and beady eyes a grin crept over Jack's face. "Here we go."
The weevil took one look at them and hissed horribly before bolting down another side street. Jack hit the gas, earning a startled yelp from Ianto as he was flung against the door, and skidded after the creature. At only 10 or 20 km/h it was hardly a high-speed chase, but in the winding darkness that was the back alleys of Cardiff it set their hearts pumping and the spray of rainwater they sent kicking up behind them helped add to the visual excitement. A few more sharp turns and a pile of trashcans knocked over had them out in the open, driving down a larger road bordered by apartments on one side and the back end of a park on the other. The weevil ran, as much as a weevil can, along the pavement of the road before breaking off into the park.
The car came to a halt and the two men got out into the cold, wet night. Pulling tasers out of pockets they chased after the alien, feet slapping in grass still waterlogged from the downpour that had only recently let up. Fortunately the poor weather meant there were no civilians taking late night walks or mulling about and their pursuit went unseen by the public eye.
As they began to catch up to the beast, Jack whistled to Ianto and motioned for him to flank left while he headed right. Ianto nodded and, huffing from the exertion, put on an extra burst of speed to come even with the weevil. It noticed him and, with a frightened snarl, turned right, only to be met by Jack who was fishing the weevil spray out of his coat pocket.
The weevil stopped running and took on a defensive posture, dividing its attention between its attackers. Head low, teeth bared, it was truly a grotesque sight, but they were used to it. Ianto put his arms out to the sides, making himself appear bigger and more imposing, herding the creature towards his boss who was ready with the spray. When the weevil turned to Ianto, letting out a low growl, Jack pounced, grabbing its collar and giving it a blast of weevil spray straight to the face. It went down writhing and Ianto stepped forward tasering it into a final submission. He backed up and, trying to get control of his breathing, pressed his comm to let Tosh know they had been successful while Jack bagged and cuffed their foe.
Hand on hip, Ianto turned to Jack. "That's one down, then," he said between breaths.
Jack flashed him a grin. "Easy-peasy," he said, resting his arm on his knee. "Okay, let's get this guy to the car before the locals suspect anything and unless there are anymore problems I don't think we need to worry about the other two." He got to his feet and lifted the weevil over his shoulder with a grunt.
The two of them started back to the car. The rain had almost stopped and there were only a few drops every now and then. A mist was beginning to form in the lower regions of the park that matched the little bursts of white that came with each breath. Ianto glanced over at Jack and sighed.
"You're covered in mud. The dry cleaners are not going to have a fun time with that."
Jack looked down at his mud-soaked trousers. "Too bad, I liked these pants too." He flashed a look at Ianto that the other recognized all too well. "Does give you an excuse to take 'em off me, though."
Ianto rolled his eyes and put his hands in his pockets, but a smile crept onto his face. "Walked right into that one didn't I?"
"You're too easy," Jack laughed. "I thought I'd trained you better than this. I'll have to start working you harder."
"Would that be official training or our more 'extracurriculars'?"
"Oh, I think you know the answer to that."
Ianto moved a little closer to Jack and shivered. "It's the middle of April," he said under his breath. "I thought it was supposed to warm up by now."
"Not when you're in Cardiff." Jack shifted the weevil, freeing one arm, which he put around Ianto's shoulders. "You'll be plenty warm when we get back to the hub."
"And you'll see to that, will you?"
"I can't be the only one not wearing pants, now can I?"
When they reached the car Ianto detached himself from Jack's side and opened up the trunk. With some effort they deposited the alien in the car and Jack walked round to the driver's side while Ianto shut the door.
"Hey, do you know if we have any of those mini-pizzas left in the freezer?" Jack called over to him as he looked through his keys. "I've got a craving for something small, round and cheesy."
"I could just call out for a pizza," Ianto replied as he walked round his own side of the car. He stopped at the door and faced Jack over the roof. "It would be faster and I think we could all use something warm to eat."
Jack folded his arms on top of the car, his jacket protecting his arms from the water that had begun to pool there. "Yeah, but there's just something about microwavable foods, they have a completely different flavour to them. Something in the dough, I think."
"It's called preservatives, Jack." His boss sent him a skeptical look before stepping back and opening the door.
"You know this whole thing people have against preservatives, I don't get it. If people knew about all the chemicals the government has pumping through the water supply they'd be a lot less concerned about a few extra-"
Jack's thought was cut short by a shape, big and dark, shooting out of the side road and slamming straight into Ianto. The Welshman went down with a shout, the momentum of the shape throwing him up onto the edge of where the sidewalk met the grass, disappearing behind the SUV and out of Jack's line of sight.
"Ianto!" Jack shouted, slamming his door closed and running around the car to find the archivist struggling underneath a large, black animal, a combination of growls and cries of pain being their response. He pulled out his taser and was close enough to the creature to incapacitate it when it noticed him and turned. There was a flash of yellow and red, teeth or eyes, he couldn't tell, before it took off and vanished between two dilapidated buildings across the street.
Jack knelt down, knees soaking through immediately. "Ianto! Ianto can you hear me?" He put his hands on Ianto's shoulders to get his attention, but instead elicited a howling scream. Pulling his hands away he found one of them to be slick with blood. "Oh God."
.oOo.
Owen leaned back in his chair, bored. With a lazy glance around the hub he sighed loudly. "Need something to do, Owen?" Tosh asked from where she was standing, engrossed in something on her monitor that looked suspiciously mathy.
"If what you're suggesting involves anything to do with paperwork, programming or cleaning then no, thank you, I'm quite busy right now." He cast a look over to Gwen who was sitting at her own station filling out paperwork on some alien or other, looking equal parts bored and distant. "What's all the paperwork for anyways?" he continued. "Who actually reads it because I can bet you anything Jack doesn't even look at it, just sends it straight to the archives."
"Protocol, Owen," Gwen said without looking up. "We need a record of the things we do for the government or else we're just firing our guns randomly at some strange looking people in the street."
Owen nodded, chewing his lip thoughtfully. After a brief silence he spoke again. "Do you think Ianto's ever looked at our personnel files while he's down there in the archives alone? 'Cause I can tell you right now, that's what I would do. Probably a lot of interesting stuff written up in boxes down there. Bet each of us has got more than a few dirty little secrets." He nudged the back of Gwen's chair with his foot and grinned wickedly at her. The look quickly changed however as he was struck with an idea. "In fact," he said, "I'll bet you we can find out more down there about Harkness than that man would ever let on." He hopped off his chair and started eagerly towards the archives while he coworkers weakly protested.
He was stopped in his tracks, however, by Jack's voice over the comms. "Owen!" he said, obviously excited over something.
"Hello Jack," Owen said, a little disappointed, pacing back over to the girls who were watching him with diluted interest. "I hope you're coming back because if I have to spend one more second-"
"Owen, listen to me," Jack interrupted. "Ianto's been hurt, badly, we need the stretcher. I'll tell you what happened when we get there, but he's going to need stitches. Gwen? Tosh?"
"Yes, Jack," Gwen replied, suddenly alive with concern, ready for anything.
"I need the two of you to meet us with Owen. We've got a weevil in the back. He's subdued, but I don't know for how much longer."
"Yes, Jack," she repeated, jogging over to join Owen in the medi-bay where he was pulling a box of supplies out on the counter, "We're on our way."
"We'll be there in five," Jack told them before turning off the comm.
"Still bored, Owen?" Tosh asked, grabbing her coat as she hurried over to the door that would take them to the underground car park.
"Not on your life."
Five minutes later the SUV pulled up to where the team was waiting, stretcher at the ready. Jack got out and sped over to the passenger side, where he opened the door to reveal Ianto, barely conscious and obviously dealing with some serious blood loss.
"Weevil's in the back. Get it to the Vaults, we'll handle this" Jack told the girls as he reached an arm around their colleague to heave him out of the car.
"Oh my god, what happened," Tosh asked, she and the others staring stunned at Ianto's injuries. His coat had been torn across the chest and stomach, and he was bleeding profusely from the shoulder.
"Must've been one hell of a weevil," Gwen exclaimed.
Owen helped Jack get him onto the stretcher with a moan. He looked up at their boss, a small amount of fear in his eyes. "These don't look like weevil injuries to me. Jack, what happened?"
Jack waved Gwen and Tosh to the back of the car as he said, "You're right, they're not, but I'll explain what happened after we stop Ianto bleeding to death. Okay?"
"Right."
As Tosh and Gwen took care of the alien, Owen hurried Ianto into the hub, Jack following close behind. When they reached the medi-bay they carefully moved him over to the sterile table. Owen pushed the stretcher out of the way and began to work on undoing the remaining buttons on Ianto's coat. "Ianto, I need to take off your coat and jacket. It might hurt, but I need to you stay with me, you understand?"
The man grimaced and nodded weakly.
"Right," Owen said, freeing the last of the buttons. "Jack, I need you to help me with this." With a great deal of effort they sat Ianto up and removed his coat and then his jacket. Owen silently cursed Ianto's formal dress as they removed his waistcoat as well; too many layers, simply not practical for fieldwork. The further down they got in the layers the larger and brighter the spread of red across his torso became, almost entirely consuming his blue dress shirt. The scratches across his chest and stomach reached down through the shirt, but Owen quickly confirmed that they were only superficial. The real concern was Ianto's shoulder where the cloth of his shirt appeared to have a series of puncture holes that reached deep into the archivist's flesh, blood pouring out of them at an alarming rate. Owen cursed sharply, out loud this time.
"I need to know what did this, Jack," he said as he started cutting away the fabric around the wounds. Ianto's eyes were beginning to sag. "Hey." Owen patted his face and his eyes lazily opened again. "Don't give up on me yet, teaboy, we're not finished here. Jack, what was it, tell me."
"I don't know, it was dark," Jack said in a rush of words. "I think it was a dog? It was huge though, maybe a-a…" He breathed out heavily in a whoosh, thinking. "I don't know. It was dog-like, but bigger than any dog I've ever seen."
"Was it visibly frothing at the mouth?"
"Not that I could see, but there was a lot of blood and, as I said, it was pretty dark out there, I could hardly tell it had a mouth."
Tosh and Gwen appeared at the rails overlooking the bay, out of breath from running. "Jack, what's going on? What happened?" Gwen asked, clearly terrified.
"Ianto was attacked by a dog," Owen told her in a voice that suggested he didn't quite believe it as he pressed Jack's hand down on a thick fold of gauze over the shoulder wound. "Keep pressure on that," he muttered even as the cloth soaked through with red.
"What kind of dog could do this?" Gwen asked.
"I don't know, I didn't get a good look at it," Jack told her, most of his attention on keeping Ianto awake and staunching the blood oozing from his flesh.
"Is he going to be okay, Owen?" Tosh asked as Gwen made her way down the ramp to stand at Ianto's other side.
"I don't know," Owen replied though gritted teeth. "These cuts on his chest aren't as bad as they look, it's those puncture wounds on his shoulder I'm worried about." He looked up at Jack. "It looks as though he's been bitten."
Jack shrugged helplessly. "Could have been. I didn't really see what happened, the SUV was in the way."
"His head is bleeding over here too," Gwen told Owen. After a cursory look at it he handed her some materials to clean it, priority on cleaning the shoulder.
"He landed pretty hard on the sidewalk, that's probably where that one came from," Jack told her, resting his hand on Ianto's forehead on the premise that he was wiping the sweat from the young man's brow. But his hand lingered and Gwen gave him what she hoped was a consoling glance.
"Possible concussion," Owen muttered to himself and directed Jack down towards Ianto's hip so he could get at his shoulder more easily. Jack took Ianto's hand as the doctor worked, handing him things when he needed them. Though he tried to hide it it was obvious he was worried. Tosh took up residence opposite him and placed her hand over Ianto's forearm, watching Jack carefully.
"Jack?" Owen said carefully, eyes flitting between him and his hands hard at work to stop the blood. "Jack, I need you to clean those scratches, okay? They aren't too bad, but we don't need them getting infected." Jack nodded, reluctantly letting go of his colleague's hand to get to work.
After what felt like hours of work Owen sat back and pulled off his gloves. "I think he'll be fine," he told Jack who was standing opposite, watching Ianto's sleeping features. "He'll need rabies shots just to be safe and some pretty strong painkillers, but I don't think there should be any problems. Plenty of rest and he'll be fine."
"Thanks, Owen," Jack said without looking up. "Tosh, Gwen, you two should go home. It's late, you need sleep." Gwen was sitting on the ramp behind Jack and Tosh was in a chair by the computers looking worried. They both were tired, the kind that came with too many emotions in too short a period of time, but neither really wanted to leave.
"Is there anything else you need us to do before we go, Jack?" Gwen asked softly.
"Nothing that can't wait until tomorrow." He turned to look at each of them in turn. "Go on," he insisted. "Owen said he'll be fine. Can't have you all exhausted when you come in and have to suffer through my crappy coffee."
Tosh stood from her chair and walked over to where Gwen was sitting, pausing to gently touch the top of Ianto's head, mindful of the bandage that had been taped over the scrape just above his temple. He didn't react, soundly knocked out by the drugs Owen had pumped into him. Tosh reached Gwen and helped her to her feet. The two women muttered their goodbyes before leaving the bay and then the hub.
"Can he be moved?" Jack asked Owen.
Owen nodded slowly. "I think that should be fine. But I don't know where we can put him. We can't exactly carry him down the ladder to your bunk and the couch is hardly suitable."
"There's a bed in a room down that hall," Jack said, pointing to a door next to the door that led to the archives.
"What, really?" Owen asked, a little annoyed. "That could have come in handy a few times. Jesus, this place just seems to keep getting bigger."
With great care they transferred Ianto to the new bed. It being late, Jack sent Owen home and, after instructions on how and when to change their friend's bandages, he agreed, leaving his boss and young friend alone in the hub. Jack spent the night in a chair in the room with Ianto, cleaning sweat off his brow and changing his bandages when they began to soak through with blood and sweat.
At some point, late in the night, Ianto woke up in a state of confusion and asked for water. By the time Jack got back with the water Ianto had passed out again. Setting the mug (it was all he could find) of water on a table by the bed, Jack sat down again, taking Ianto's hand in his own. Smiling a little and rubbing a thumb over the back of his more-than-friend's hand, Jack let out a sad laugh. "Can't have one normal night, can we?"
There was no response. He didn't expect there to be. And there was no response until Ianto woke up late the following afternoon.
A/N: I wasn't planning on uploading this tonight, I wanted to get more done on it first, but I think I need the motivation - LL
I don't own Torchwood