It is Not About the Money It is About the Payback

by Kiraclara

It was a simple job to get them rich. When one of their own betrays them killing a dear friend in the process, Jack Harkness wants to get payback. His plan: to steal back what was stolen from them.

7. Los Angles

Title: It is Not About the Money...It is About the Payback

Author: Kiraclara

Prompt Italian Job (2004)

Pairing(s): Jack/Ianto

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: Language

Spoilers: There are no spoilers for Torchwood or Doctor Who. In addition, everyone is mortal. Disclaimer: The characters from Torchwood and Doctor Who and the plot from of Italian Job do not belong to me. I am merely borrowing them. This is for entertainment purposes only. Author's Notes: So excited! This is my first Reel Torchwood fiction and it's late so I'll post this as I finish. Hope you all enjoy this. I would love some comments.

Summary: It was a simple job to get them rich. When one of their own betrays them killing a dear friend in the process, Jack Harkness wants to get payback. His plan: to steal back what was stolen from them.

Chapter 7 Los Angles

Los Angles, California

Los Angles was booming. The traffic was busy. The parties were pumping, and the group had arrived at LAX. They met up at the top of a luxury hotel to figure out the next part of the plan. Mickey was leaning over the railing to look at the city.

"Man, out of all the places to hide, this joker picked Hollywood. He's an ass, but he isn't stupid." He reasoned.

"All right we need to figure out a way into John's house and make a video blueprint of the interior. I want audio surveillance on his phone." Andy jumps up excited.

"Oh yeah, I been wanting to try something. I crack into the phone company's remote monitoring system and fool it into thinking there's a legal tap on the line. Just reroute the digital copies of the calls to our own listening post. I've been doing it to my ex for years." Jack chuckles.

"How long?" Andy is just about to answer when Jack stops him.

"How long will it take to do it? Not how long you've been doing it to your ex." Andy blushes.

"I'll burn through the night; I'll have it running by morning." Suddenly, the guys turn their heads when they hear the door slam. Ianto had arrived.

"Sorry I'm late." Jack continued the meeting.

"We're working on how to get John out of the house. Ianto, how much time to you need with the safe?" Ianto takes no time in answering.

"Five minutes flat." Owen interjects.

"Don't be cocky. It's the not same as opening a safe for the police." Jack sighs annoyed. Owen was trying to rile Ianto up. "The perspiration on your fingertips, your heart pounding in your ears, whole different game." Ianto smirks that Owen seems worry about him.

"I appreciate your concern. I'll be fine." Everyone seem happy with Ianto's answer as no one questions him.

"Look just remember, this is all the easy part, okay? It's the get away that can get us caught." Jack said.

"So what's the plan?" Mickey asked.

"We drive to Union Station. Getaway cars go right on the train with us. We need to know exactly how long it's going to take to get from John's house to Union Station." Jack finishes looking at Owen for the last part.

The next day Owen sits in traffic trying to figure out the timing for traveling from the house to the station. He's only half a mile away from Union Station when he hits back-to-back traffic for another light. Checking his watch, he can see it's already been thirty-five since he left. Honking from the surrounding cars can be heard from all around. Meanwhile, Jack and Andy are set up in a van watching John's house from a hill. Andy is using a giant camera to take photos of the place. "Oh great. Carson's security systems." Jack looks at Andy. "How good is it?" Andy looks back at Jack. "Carson's held an annual contest. Fifty-thousand to anybody that can bypass the system. The Who's who of ex-con always shows up. Five years running, no one's been paid." Jack feels a little nervous inside his stomach, but he keeps his face neutral. Mickey speaks up from his position not far from the front gate of the property. "Okay people, here's the deal. It's an anti-scaling fence. It's hardened, electro-plated steel. Yeah, I'm going to have to paint that up with some nitramon."

"Security on the property?" Jack asked. "Got an armed guard here. Little rent-a-cop, with a nine millimeter on his hip. But that booth...security booth looks prime for a chemical grenade." Andy looks a little skeptical. "Nitramon, chemical grenade...I mean that stuff's pretty hard to come by." Andy said. "Yeah Andy, it's a bear market." Something catches Mickey's attention. "Shit. This guy got dogs. I don't do dogs. I had a...real bad experience," Mickey groaned. "What happened?" Jack asked. Mickey spoke louder into his Bluetooth. "I had a bad experience. Damn it. I'm deaf." Jack chuckles at Mickey's reaction.

On the other side of town, Owen was still stuck in traffic. Nearing a light to turn onto the next street.

"You turn in your badge and your weapon!" yelled a man in the car in front of Owen. Owen looks to see it's an actor rehearsing his lines. He groans. As the light turns green, traffic starts to move. The actor through doesn't move. "Hey! It's a green!" The actor continues to rehearse not hearing Owen. "Green!" Owen honks his horn to get the guy's attention. Noticing the light, the actor drives off as the light turns red, flipping Owen off as he drives off. "Unbelievable."

Andy moves the camera to check out the entrance to the house when he sees legs with a briefcase moving. He angles the camera up to see the face. It was John Hart. "There he is." Andy catches Jack's attention looking at the monitor to see what Andy sees. Upon seeing his face, Jack's insides start to boil, his heart race. Yet his anger can only be seen b the flaring of his nostrils.

After finishing their jobs for the day, they all headed back to the hotel. Heading through the door to the roof, Owen pointed out to the city. "It's either bad traffic, peak traffic...slit-your-wrist traffic." Mickey heard the conversation between Jack and Owen and spoke up. "You know, they do have the Metrorail, Owen. You could always use that."

"That would be ideal for carrying a ton of gold, wouldn't it, genius?" Owen shot back. Jack decided to intervene. "What's your guesstimate?" Owen sighed. "The last twenty times I've done the journey, you got an average of thirty-two minutes and a top of fifty, but if we had green lights all the way, we could do it in fourteen minutes." Mickey agreed. "We could do anything with green lights all the way." Everyone look towards Andy. "Andy?" Jack questioned. "Andy?" Mickey repeated. Andy smiled at them. "I'll see what I can do."

On the other side of the city, John banged on a metal door of a closed pawn. After a few times, a white haired man opened the door to allow John entrance. "You're right on time." Bilis said as he closes and locks the door behind John. "All those poor men out there, putting their live saving in banks and S&Ls and mutual funds. How do they think when the collapse comes, the can depend on the government? I don't think so." John walks behind the counter towards the back of the pawnshop. He notices four video feeds recording activity in the shop. He points to them angry and nervous at the same time. "Are you taping me?" Bilis just shakes his head. "Of course not. I never tape you. Come see for yourself." He proves this by showing there were no disc in the video player. John lays a briefcase on top of a table in the middle of the back office. A Bilis walk back to pick up a small case and lays it on the table. "Governments are nothing more than puppets and strings in a world where NAFTA can overrule the Supreme Court. Like my nephew Harold always say: 'this is our only refuge- gold." Bilis says as he opens the briefcase to see four gold brick inside. He picks one up to inspect it under a giant microscope. "Every time I look at these engravings, she so beautiful. Where'd you say you got these?" John stops what he is doing looking up at Bilis. "I didn't." Bilis opens the small box to show it is filled with wads of cash. "A little walking around money." John inspects the money counting it as well. He slams the case's lid down hard when he counts less than he wanted. "I guess I'm not going very far." Bilis just shrugs. "I'm sorry. I'm just the middleman. I'll buy the other two from you on Wednesday." John opens the case and starts putting the money in the briefcase. "Don't waste my time, Bilis." He leaves right after.

Hours later, Jack and Andy are still in the van on the top of the hill watching John since he returned home. Andy watches from the camera into John living room. "So what does a man with thirty-five million dollars worth of gold do at night?" Andy asks. John in his living room grabs his remote and flips on his television as he plops on the couch. "He watches his big ass TV." Jack watches from behind Andy. "That's our in."

Hotel room 4209 AKA: Ianto's room. Jack knocks Ianto's door repeatedly as he gets no answer. Ianto on the other side of the door is practicing opening a mock safe with his equipment. He calms himself by removing his shirt. He is deaf to the outside world as he has his headphones on. Ianto jumps when he feels a hand touch his shoulder. Turning, he grabs his headphones off to shout at Jack. "Jesus. Jack! How did you get in here?" Jack has the decency to look a little guilty for making Ianto jump, but he also can't help but eye Ianto with his shirt off. "I knocked, but you didn't answer." Ianto feels exposed with his shirt off, so he jumps up putting his shirt on also putting some distance between him and Jack. Ianto cannot help but blush. "So you just let yourself in?" Jack smiles at Ianto's blush and tries to calm Ianto down. "I was just making sure you were okay. I apologize. I just..." He looks down at Ianto's equipment. "You know you got a lot of stuff. Your dad was old school. Did it all by touch." Ianto just shrugs and heads towards the safe. "That worked for him; this works for me. Technology guarantees speed and accuracy, you know?" Jack looks up at Ianto with a serious expression. "Yeah, but there's no guarantee in this business, Ianto. Why the headphones?"

"Just training myself. Ambient noises, just in case." Both Ianto and Jack are silent for a moment until Ianto breaks that silence. "What do you want, Jack?"

"We're going to knock out John's cable, and we need to send a repairman." Ianto nods and asks. "To get your video blueprint of the interior." Jack nods. "Yep. Only problem is John thinks we're all dead." Ianto frowns. "Expect me." Ianto look Jack in the eye with a serious expression. "I'll do it, Jack. I'm in all the way, whatever it takes." Jack nods happy with Ianto agreement in the plan. "Al right. It's set." Jack heads towards the door only to stop halfway to turn back to Ianto. "Um...you...um maybe want to get a drink downstairs with me before I go back to my room?"

Ianto's shoulders slump slightly as he turns his head towards the safe. "I should finish stuff up, you know?" Jack nods, although disappointed. "Yeah...sorry I scared you. Good night Ianto."

"Good night, Jack."