9

In the bedroom, Sean has had enough. "We're leaving."

"The hell we are." David snaps.

"Hey man, after all we went through I am not walking out when we're this close" Adam says strongly.

"Close?" Sean gapes, "Are you insane? We're nowhere near close! Fuck this, I'll make an anonymous phone call on Monday, they'll find the floor safe, and I'll inherit the shit. Little piece of it, anyway, it's better than nothing."

"What about us?"

Sean thinks, then pulls out his wallet. He thrusts a fistful of bills at them. "Here. For your time."

They both just stare at him.

"Five hundred bucks here."

Neither one of them moves to take it. Sean shurgs, drops it on the floor. "Suit yourself."

"Nobody leaves." David says.

"Observe." Sean heads for the door, expecting David to block him, but as he draws close - - David just steps out of the way. Sean passes through and heads for the stairs.

"We're not leaving. I'm getting in that room, and I'm opening that safe." David points.

"Lookin' doubtful there, Big Guy, but ten out of ten for attitude." Sean scoffs and he disappears, down the stairs, Adam still pleading with him.

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Jack rifles the foodstuffs that are stored in the room. Ianto, in the corner, is starting to tremble.

"What if I spazz out?" Ianto whispers with wide eyes.

"No biggie, we've been through it a dozen times, I just jab you with the Glucogen."

Pause.

He keeps looking.

"Where is the Glucogen?" Ianto asks calmly.

"Oh, you know, it's uh... it's in the little fridge in your room."

" I'm sorry, Daddy. "

"Hey, quit apologizing, you're starting to sound like an old Grandma. You're not gonna have an attack. Okay?" Jack tries fake bravado.

"Okay." Ianto lays back, oddly passive, his lips changing color.

He stares at the monitors.

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Sean strides into the living room, purposefully. He tosses some tools into his duffel bag and heads for the stairs down to the kitchen.

Adam is behind him. "Would you wait? Would you please just wait a minute?"

But Sean heads down. Adam follows.

David is just coming down from upstairs.

Sean reaches the door of the kitchen, tries to open it, realizes it's screwed shut. He takes out a screwdriver and starts unscrewing the screws.

Adam stops at the stairway. "You walk out that door and you lose your share of the money."

"Yeah, whatever." Sean snorts.

"I mean it!"

"Adios." He gets the last screw out, throws open the door, andablast of wind gusts in, it's a blustery night out there, he takes a step into the doorway - - and with a quiet PFFFT from right behind Adam, a bullet whizzes across the kitchen and hits Sean in the back of the head.

He crumples, right in the open kitchen doorway.

Adam shouts incoherently and turns.

David is standing there, two steps up, a silencer twisted onto the barrel of his gun.

"Nobody leaves."

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Ianto is staring at the video monitors, eyes wide.

He raises one trembling finger, points at the kitchen monitor, tries to mouth the words, can't.

Jack looks up.

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Adam is freaking out, but trying to stay calm. "Oh God... oh, my God..."

David walks past him calmly, grabs Sean by the ankles, and drags him back into the house. He turns, looks at Adam, whose jaw is dropped in horror.

"You should see the look on your face."

"The fuck did you do that for?!" Adam says with a shaky voice.

"Fuckin' asshole, thinks he knows me. Drives his German car up to 125th Street a couple of times, buys a few rounds, thinks he's a tough guy, thinks he knows me. (to the corpse) You don't know one thing about me!"

While Adam stares down at the body in shock and David stares at Adam, his back to the outside, a small, thin voice comes from the still-open doorway.

" What the h –"They turn. A man, fourtyish, stands there in hastily thrown on clothes, staring down at the dead body in mute shock.

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Jack, watching the monitors with Ianto, gasps as he sees the man, Jack's ex John. While he and Ianto watch - - they see the silent image of John, set upon by David, who grabs him roughly and drags him inside.

Adam hurries to the door - - and SLAMS it shut.

He puts his back to it, thinking, terrified, things are spinning out of control, fast.

David, in the middle of the kitchen floor, is venting some more of his rage on John, whom he has hurled to the floor. He lands a solid boot in the side of John's head, leaving him groaning in pain, completely disoriented.

John rolls groggily into the spreading pool of blood coming from underneath Sean.

"Stop it! Stop it!" Adam cries.

"Who's the clown now? Huh?! Who's the fucking clown now?!" David screams and he pulls his gun, shoves it into Adam's eye, hard, we can hear the faint sizzle of skin burning.

"Me. I am."

" That's right." David leers.

"Burning me. It's burning my eye."

" I have the gun."

"Yes."

"Remember that."

"Please..."

David pulls the gun back, just an inch. The skin around Adam's eye is an angry red. His eyes dart, strain to look over at John, moaning on the floor. And at Sean, dead.

"What? What do you want me to do?" Adam asks.

"What do you think? Get us into that room."

"I can't."

David pushes the gun barrel back into Adam's eye socket. "You can. You're full of ideas. You just need to squeeze one out."

"I can't..."

"You got till the count of three. Then you end up like him." He tilts his head over to Sean, whose brains are spreading out on the kitchen floor.

"One" Squeeze.

"This is ridiculous..."

"Two." Squeeze harder.

"I can't just..."

"Th –"

"Okay, okay! Okay." Adam yells.

"You got an idea?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I got an idea. I gotta check something." Adam assures him.

David grunts, satisfied. Pulls the gun back. Adam slides away, shaking. He bends down, to the floor. He looks at John's left hand. At his index finger.

He sees a white strip of skin, where John wore his wedding ring, until recently.

John, still semi-conscious, is hurled against the metal door of the panic room. He collapses at its base. Adam, bends down next to him.

"Okay, look. I know you can hear me. Your Husband and toy-boy are in there. You're gonna get 'em to come out. Or – " He looks up at David, hulking overhead, gun in hand. "Or I can't stop what he's gonna do. Do you understand?"

John, regaining some semblance of consciousness, nods feebly.

"Good."

Adam stands up, turns to the video camera, and shouts, "OPEN THE GOD DAMN DOOR!"

Ianto and Jack see the horrifying sight on the video monitors.

Adam shouts at the door to the room. "OPEN UP!"

They see Adam, standing over John; they faintly hear him call to them to open the door.

And then they hear another voice, calling back to them.

Ianto sits up, recognizes his lover's ex-husband's voice.

"Him? You got one shot at getting help and you called your ex-fucking partner that you just had a wee affair with?" he asks with open disgust, "His number was the one you remembered?"

John is shouting against the closed door. "DON'T DO IT! NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS, DON'T OPEN THE DOOR! DON'T O – "

He's silenced by a vicious kick to the ribs. David begins to beat him.

Adam stands by, powerless, horrifies, watching as David savages John, who continues to call out, as long as he has strength, telling Jack not to open the door, no matter what.