9
"Don't worry, we will. Just stay positive, like you've been." The tiny squeeze of Jack's hand on his was meant as encouragement, but for some reason Ianto couldn't shake the feeling this wasn't going to go the way they hoped.
He closed his eyes, shutting out the small light that had barely given them any illumination, and then listened to Jack's even breathing, allowing it to calm his mounting nerves and slowly lull him to sleep.
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"Get up to the control room. I'll hold them off." Owen put the phone back in his pocket and pulled out a gun about the size of a small banana. He'd shot the others with a sawed off shotgun, what was this tiny thing supposed to do?
"Owen, you can't be serious. You might as well spit at them. Come with me, come on." She tugged at his sleeve, but he wouldn't budge.
"Don't worry. This here is a little alien technology, compliments of our friends.
Sean gave it to me when you were upstairs. Now, move already. Nothing you can do without a weapon, and I only got the one. Get up the alley and out of sight."
Tosh hesitated, but he had a point. Suzie turned to go.
"Tosh."
"Yeah?"
"Stay close. The gang will be here in a few minutes."
"I'll stay close all right."
The plucking sounds came louder and faster as a Gerfs crested the hill. Heart pounding, Tosh sprinted up to the control panel and tried to work out what the different buttons were for.
Tosh glanced back.
The small gunshot a red beam directly into the Gerf's skull. The alien fell backward as a mass of brain matter spilled onto the bricks. Tosh stopped, but another Gerf went for Owen, who took aim and fired. Shit, how many are there?
Her heart raced as she turned to choose a button she thought might mean 'Transporter' from the weird wave symbols and went head first into the stinking chest of a Gerf.
No! Panic shot through her as she turned to get away.
Massive arms encircled her.
The alien jerked her up and spun her around, holding her back pinned against its body. The stench of its breath and skin was putrid.
The creature placed its hand over her open mouth, and she tasted the acidic and slightly tangy skin. Bile rose in her throat and silence fell over the alley.
Tosh struggled, but it was no use. Incredibly strong, the more she struggled, the harder the rancid thing squeezed until she couldn't breathe. Stars danced in front of her eyes as she silently cried out.
She vaguely heard Sean call out and a grunt of pain, then Owen's voice abusing the Gerf as he threatened it to release her.
The crushing weight and stench as it dragged her up the alley enraged him. He bolted up the passage, turned the corner, and fired.
The Gerf's head exploded, covering Tosh in blue blood and brain matter. Suzie closed the distance between them. Both fear and shock were in her eyes.
The creature's arms still circled Tosh's body as it fell backward. Owen lunged forward and grabbed her shoulders. She was soaked and slippery, so he grabbed handfuls of her collar and pulled against the dead weight. Finally, as its body relaxed, the arms slipped down Tosh's side and its bowels released their contents at her feet.
Her skin was pale and her eyes wide. She stood looking at him, wild-eyed, dripping bits and pieces of Gerf.
Tosh swayed slightly.
"Did you say you found the right button?" Owen asked, ready to catch her if she fell.
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Blinding light and a cacophony of noise pierced Ianto's senses.
He winced and then quickly threw his arm over his eyes to shield them before realizing there shouldn't be any light, and that the blaring horns and rumbling engines he could hear close by were not the soft, rhythmic breaths of the man he'd fallen asleep next to.
Figuring out he was out of the dark, tomb-like room took all of two seconds, but as he carefully opened his eyes and glanced around the small alley he now found himself in, he figured out something else.
Jack wasn't with him.
Fear hit Ianto harder than it had when he'd first woken up in the straw-filled room.
He quickly stood up—ignoring the pain in his shoulders and the sick nausea that almost had him doubling over—and staggered toward the end of the ally, checking every nook and cranny to make sure Jack hadn't been dumped further away.
However, as he desperately searched, Ianto knew he wasn't going to find him; some sixth sense told him Jack was nowhere close.
"Hey!"
Ianto turned at the sound of the voice behind him, his heart hammering as he sought out the caller.
"You can't be here."
Ianto blinked.
"I don't know where I am," he said, his disappointment a sharp pain in his chest as he spotted someone who wasn't Jack standing a few feet away.
He hurriedly explored his pockets, frustration turning to anger when he couldn't find his phone.
"I need to call the police."
"Why?" The stranger took a few steps toward him, but Ianto held up his hand, as if warding off a possible threat. He didn't want anyone getting close to him, too afraid, too uncertain.
"I was attacked," he said. "And my friend is missing. I can't find him."
Ianto heard the panic in his voice, and knew the other guy did too.
"Okay, okay. I'll call them now for you."
Nodding, Ianto glanced around him again. It would have been easy to dump him here. There didn't seem to be any apartments or dwellings nearby, therefore no one to see anything untoward, but why not the park, why hadn't he been dumped where he'd been taken, or was the park still being monitored by Jack's team?
"How close is the park?" Ianto asked, suddenly realizing Jack may have been left there.
"Which one?"
"Bute."
"Just over the road."
Ianto took off running, not caring for his own safety as he crossed the busy two lane traffic, his thoughts centred on Jack and getting to him.
If Jack had recently woken up he might be feeling the same fear; wondering where Ianto was.
That knowledge spurred Ianto on, but as he hit the edge of the park he had no idea where he was supposed to start looking. He had no memory of how far in he'd gotten before he'd been abducted, and he didn't even know from which side he'd entered that night.
Once again he felt fear slam into him, but he knew he had to hold it together—for Jack.
"Think, damn it. Think." He took a slow deep breath, trying to gain a small measure of composure. It didn't seem to slow his heart down any, but he was able to notice a group of people to his right, so deciding it was as good a place as any to start, he headed that way.
He was within a few feet when a blonde man with a Heddlu uniform on approached him.
"Ianto Jones?"
Ianto stopped, fear trickling down his spine.
Shit, was he ever going to trust anyone other than Jack again? Forcing himself to not retreat, he nodded. "Yes."
"I'm Officer Andy Davison. We've been directed to come here and look for you. You were abducted, right?"
Realizing these men must be part of Jack's team, Ianto felt his legs go weak with relief.
"Where is he? Is he all right?" Had Jack been injured, was that why he wasn't here?
The man's expression turned careful, and he glanced toward the other two men who stood a couple of feet away. "Are you talking about Jack?"
"Yes, of course." Not liking the way all three men were now looking at him, Ianto bristled, but then fear reared its ugly head again. "Is he all right?"
"We don't know."
