Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Any response Mariko could've made was cut off by the sound of a car pulling up outside the pub. Mariko's head snapped up and around. One hand curled around her Colt, flicking the safety off. Her eyes shot over to Spanner. The green-eyed woman nodded, sliding to her feet and scooping up her AK-47. They both swung round, guns pointed at the door as it banged open. Then Mariko and Spanner blinked, quickly lowering their weapons as Ianto stumbled back into the pub, blood seeping through his shirt.

"The fuck, Ianto?!" Mariko holstered her gun and rushed forward, Spanner not far behind.

"Cardiff's not safe anymore," Ianto grimaced as small hands wormed their way under his shirt, "Leave it, Mariko."

Spanner frowned, helping the Welshman over to a bench, "Whaddya mean?"

"The Hub's been compromised," Ianto said shortly, then hissed as Mariko gave up on trying to get under his shirt to get to the wound and simply ripped it instead.

Spanner scowled, hands clenching tighter on her AK-47, "What? How?"

Ianto scowled in response, "The Doctor," he raised one hand as Spanner opened her mouth to speak, "Not deliberately. He must've known something was coming, knew that Martha could do something about it when he couldn't. He left information for her in the Hub."

Mariko snorted, "Perfect. Our greatest cover op. Blown to fuck."

Ianto raised an eyebrow at her, face pale and drawn, but composed, "Eloquent. But true. Martha snuck in to collect whatever it was The Doctor had left for her. Got spotted on her way through the tourist centre. Tried to grab her, but she lost them in the Plass."

"Shit," Spanner growled, "So what do we do now?"

Ianto sighed, then hissed, making Mariko scowl up at him, "If I can get into the Hub one last time, steal a computer and a headset or three…" he trailed off.

Mariko nodded slowly, "T3 don't get suspicious. Evil asshats don't rule the world. I approve."

Ianto snorted with laughter, "So glad."

Mariko shot him a grin, then smacked the inside of his thigh, "Now stop moving. I can't see what I'm doing."

Ianto watched the top of Mariko's head with a fond smile as she bent over the wound in his side. Then a frown abruptly creased his brow and he turned away. Spanner rolled her eyes at him, making Ianto's frown even deeper. Spanner nodded over to the other side of the pub. Ianto's eyes narrowed slightly, then he slowly turned his head, catching sight of Nick, Stephen and Connor.

"Okay…" Stephen held up a hand, "One. What's the Hub?"

Ianto sighed, then grimaced, "Torchwood headquarters in Cardiff."

Stephen nodded, "Right. Two. Who's the Doctor?"

Ianto twitched away from Mariko's questing hands and winced as he spoke, "Another alien, one who's actually trying to help us."

"Okay…" that word was drawn out, before Stephen spoke again, "And last one. Who's Martha?"

Spanner cut in gleefully, "The Doctor's ho!"

"Spanner!" Mariko and Ianto snapped at the same time, before Ianto continued, "The Doctor's companion. Human woman who travels with him."

"Right…" Stephen nodded slowly, obviously trying very hard to process all this information at once.

Ianto, Mariko and Spanner watched Stephen, but it was Nick who spoke, " So… You're plannin' on goin' back into the place where you just got shot…"

"It was just a graze," Ianto interrupted defensively.

"Still got shot, sunshine," Mariko gave him another smack on the thigh, "Hold still, damn it!"

"And let the man continue," Spanner added.

Nick nodded his thanks, "You're plannin' on goin' back to where you just got shot… for a computer and a headset?"

Ianto nodded, "Only those in the Hub are tuned in to Torchwood frequencies."

Connor looked down, "You said before… the Tourist Centre was a cover op for the Hub…" he was obviously thinking out loud.

Ianto nodded again, "Yes, but if The Doctor is Public Enemy Number One and Martha is Public Enemy Number Two… and they end up in Torchwood Three's Hub…"

"Yeah," Connor drew out, "But look at yourselves… all three of you… no offence… but back home… if I saw you coming, I'd cross the street to get away."

Spanner grinned at that, inordinately pleased.

"What's your point, Connor?" Ianto's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Well, if you've already been had… and… Mariko and Spanner can't go anywhere without attracting attention…" he tilted his head, still thinking out loud, "Tourist Centre…" he mused.

"Connor…" Stephen said softly.

Connor blinked and shook himself, "Okay. Obviously, we can't send you," he pointed to Ianto, "Because you're hurt and because the baddies generally hate your guts and want to kill you."

"Poor Ianto," Mariko smirked at him as she pressed gauze over the wound in his side.

"We can't send you," Connor shifted his pointing finger down to Mariko, "Because you go everywhere with so many guns it's no wonder you're only 4'9. The weight drags you down."

"I'm 5'1, thank you very much," Mariko scowled.

"Poor Mariko," Ianto laughed down at her, smiling.

"And we can't send you," Connor transferred his gaze over to Spanner.

A raised eyebrow was his only response. Spanner looked over at Nick and Stephen, hoping to find an answer there. No such luck. The two men looked just as lost as she felt. The redhead sighed and flipped her braid over her shoulder, looking back at Connor. She folded her long legs underneath her and waved a hand.

"And why, pray tell, am I to be left out of this hayride?"

"Well, you're the token female," Connor replied as though the answer were obvious.

"I'm the what?" Spanner's voice was low and deadly.

Mariko stopped fussing over Ianto's wound for a moment to watch the exchange. Ianto resisted the urge to bury his face in his hands. Stephen and Nick stood up, trying to take a step towards Connor without attracting the attention of the gun-toting Spanner.

"Mmhmm," Connor carried on obliviously, "If we send you then we run the risk of you getting hurt. And the token female can't get hurt until the final battle, they are too fundamentally useful to the team."

Mariko raised an eyebrow at Spanner, "As garbled as it is, he does have a point, Spanner. Not a damn one of us can get that shit-heap," she gestured vaguely at the SUV, "To go after we've tanked it so many times."

Spanner nodded slowly, braid swinging back and forth between her shoulder-blades, eyes still narrowed, "We need someone to go. Who do you suggest?"

Connor blinked, "Um… us."

Spanner frowned, "Only one of you knows how to use a gun with any kind of confidence!"

Connor nodded emphatically, "Yes… exactly!"

Mariko blinked, "And… lost."

Connor's eyes were wide and earnest as he spoke, "How many tourists do you know that can blow holes in foreheads from seven hundred yards?"

Ianto smiled abruptly, "Tourists who got stuck in Cardiff when the world started to end…"

Connor nodded along with Ianto, looking a little sheepish when the Welshman asked, "Where did you learn that?"

"Erm…" Connor blushed a little, looking away from Spanner and Mariko, "Unreal Tournament…"

"Unreal Tournament…" Mariko raised an eyebrow.

Spanner went off into gales of laughter, "Unreal Tournament! I love it! Can I keep him?"

Connor looked slightly alarmed at that and took a half step back. Ianto saw the move and snickered slightly, wincing as Mariko smacked his leg again and berated him for shifting, gauze square held firmly in her other hand. Ianto frowned at the top of the petite woman's head for a moment, then sighed and turned back to Connor.

"As garbled as it was, it does seem to make sense," he allowed, "I don't really feel up to running for my life again. And we can't afford to lose Spanner's technical knowledge…" he glanced down at Mariko, flicking his eyes back up and away when he saw the Asian woman looking back up at him, "And we can't afford to lose Mariko either," he coughed, fighting a blush.

"Wait a bloody minute here…" Nick's heavily accented voice cut into the conversation, "You're talkin' about sendin' us into a hostile situation… unarmed…"

Spanner interrupted him, "Maybe a little bit armed…" she didn't bother looking at him, her attention occupied by sniggering at the heavy blush that crossed Ianto's face as Mariko settled herself between his thighs, eyes narrowed in concentration while she pressed the gauze into place over his wound.

"No," Mariko said from somewhere near Ianto's left nipple, "No guns. Guns will tie them back to us. If they get caught, they need to look like schmucks caught in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Connor blinked at her, "We are schmucks caught in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Mariko looked over her shoulder at him, the one visible brown eye looking very amused, "That's the spirit. Method acting!"

That comment earned a snort from Stephen, who turned to Ianto, "What exactly are we stealing? Where are we stealing it from? And… more to the point… why the hell should we?"

Ianto raised an eyebrow at Stephen's words. Mariko paused in her ministrations, pressing one last time on the square of gauze before turning and looking at Stephen. Spanner let out a sound remarkably like a growl. Connor stepped a little closer to Nick. Nick let him. Stephen, however, stood his ground, staring the militia leader down.

Ianto winced slightly as he shifted, "Fair questions, I suppose. For your first question… You'll be stealing a laptop, two mobile phones and as many headsets as you can find. The second… You're stealing it from the Hub. Torchwood Three's headquarters, located inside the Tourist Centre of the Roald Dahl Plass. And your final question…" he tilted his head at Stephen, "Have you met any others here? Do you think they'd be willing to do anything other than shoot you on sight? Or enslave you?"

Stephen nodded slowly, "Alright then…" he added dryly, "So what are we expecting from the Hub? I'm assuming this is a little more complex than a smash 'n' grab or a ladder against the back fence."

Ianto nodded, smiling wryly, "Just a little."

Stephen wandered past Spanner and pulled out a chair, straddling it easily, resting his chin on the back, "So… are we talking lockpicks and motion sensors?"

"Yes," Ianto scooted over on his bench, wincing as he did so, allowing Mariko to sit down next to him, "And metal detectors, heat detectors, DNA identification, retinal scanners…"

Stephen lifted his head from the back of the chair, "You're bloody kidding me."

"The heat and metal detectors have been shut off," Ianto admitted, "But you will still need to get through the DNA identification and retinal scanning."

"We're not bloody Charlie's Angels, mate!" Connor interjected looking stunned.

Stephen snorted, but agreed, "He's right. The only way we can get through those is with you and since the whole point is you not going…" his eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

"Stephen…" Nick said warningly, "What are you thinking?"

Stephen ignored him, turning to Ianto, "What happens when the alarms go off?"

"You've got three minutes before the entire Hub goes into total lock… down…" Ianto eyed Stephen warily, "You're not…"

Nick buried his face in his hands, "He is."

"He's not what?" Connor looked understandably worried.

Mariko's eyes widened a little, "Ballsy…" she exchanged a look with Spanner.

Spanner looked back over at Stephen, "Oh, no way… he's not…" she looked back at Mariko.

"He's not what?!" Connor's voice went an octave higher.

Nick sighed, placing a falsely soothing hand on Connor's shoulder, "We're goin' down to this Hub place. And we're goin' to set off the alarms on purpose."