Tenth move
The voices in the corridor wake him up. It can't be more than half an hour since Jack left – the bloody poison makes it hard to be accurate with time. Who's convinced who to come down again? He can't make out the words despite straining his ears. He tries to sit up as the door opens just a crack, but his body still seems to belong to somebody else.
"You can't be serious, Jack." Steps stop, a heavy sigh. "He's in no shape to be out there!" Eye Candy, once again the calm voice of reason. Jack mutters something he can't quite hear. "No!" He can't help but smile at Ianto's protective streak. No wonder Jack keeps him around. So would he, if he could. Just the right balance between blind loyalty and questioning disbelief – a rare trait indeed.
"It's not your decision." He tries to raise his voice, but his throat is still dry. Nonetheless, the door opens, and two pairs of impossibly blue eyes look at him from equally puzzled faces peeking from behind the half-opened door. He rolls his eyes - something he seems to be doing a lot lately; the scene feels like some stupid cartoon moment. He waves his free hand – not too much, the shoulder still hurts like Hell – and the two of them walk in, looking quite unsettled. "Whatever it is, if it concerns me, neither of you have any say on it. I'm all grown up, you know?" A pause. What's it gonna take to get them to talk? "What is it?"
He looks from Ianto to Jack and back; once again, they are both just standing there, hands in their pockets, mirroring each other. He tries the death glare – that always used to get Jack to own up. Eventually, Ianto sits on the edge of the bed. For a second, he half expects Jack to clear his throat or make some kind of sarcastic remark that will make Ianto jump away, but it never comes. If anything, there's a hint of curiosity in Jack's look.
"Another pod." He's not sure what shocks him more, the news or the look of concern on Eye Candy's face. Raising an eyebrow, he waits. Patience is not really his thing, but he has come to appreciate its usefulness. Ianto shuffles his feet, not sure how much to tell him. "Will be completely on this dimension soon, and we have nothing to contain it with, unless you have another spare battery." He shakes his head. Great. Another pause, a hand playing with the bed covers, almost nervously. "Quite a secluded area. Roundstone Woods." He tilts his head. "The army are already there. They've already lost four men."
"We need your help." The words seem to taste bitter to Jack. Not that he can blame him. Still, why the interruption? Is Ianto telling him too much, or is Jack just trying to reassert his authority? He smiles at the thought – between Ianto and PC Cooper, he'd be surprised if Jack manages to get through a single day without being questioned, not informed of something, or simply overruled by his own team. Ianto shoots Jack a meaningful look, and he pretends not to see the whole conversation they have without him. Not that he misses that. "If you think you can move." He lets out a sigh and tries, once again, to sit up. This time he – sort of – manages.
"Key." He holds up his hand in front of Ianto. The kid gives him a defiant look. He raises an eyebrow yet again. There is no time for this, however much he loves the cute, determined look in Ianto's face. The sooner they are done with this, the sooner he can come back here, collapse in bed, and sleep until it doesn't hurt anymore.
"No." He frowns. Swallows. Wonders why Ianto is so concerned, cos he'll be damned if he's going to believe the paperwork excuse. Jack opens his mouth, then closes it again. Apparently, Captain I'm-In-Charge knows better than argue with Ianto when he decides to stand up to him. Well, well. Something stirs deep inside him, despite the poison, despite the wounds. The need to know just how strong Ianto's resolve is, just how much he'll have to push until Ianto capitulates.
"Ianto, if John wants to..." He holds Jack's gaze for a moment, reminding himself that Jack will side with – almost – anybody if it helps his plans – whether they involve the greatest con in the universe, or saving the world – then tilts his head towards the door. Jack stares back, and makes his best effort to miss the hint. After a while, eventually, he relents, and heads for the door. "Right, fight it off on your own, if you want to." When the door slams back into place, he turns back to Ianto, and holds his hand up again.
"Ianto, please. Key." Ianto shakes his head, and makes to get up and follow Jack. He takes a deep breath, feeling his mind start to clear just a little – whatever he's been given to counteract the poison seems to be having some kind of effect. Well, so be it, if Ianto wants to play the hard way, they'll play the hard way. "Why? Why are you so intent in going out there, outnumbered, barely armed, and die? I can help. You know that."
"You are wounded." Ianto looks away for barely a second. "You did more than enough yesterday."
"Why do you care?" At that, Ianto snorts. Fumbles for words. Looks at his feet. Fingers twist the cufflinks on his shirt. He allows himself a smile. Oh, Goddesses, Ianto actually cares. "I deserve to know, don't you think? After all, I'm the one you want to leave in this stinky basement, so tell me." Ianto shuffles around, finally standing up and taking a couple of steps towards him. For a second, he seems tempted to run a hand through his hair, to do something, but he just stares.
"When we come back. After all this mess is sorted." Ianto flashes a shaky smile. He raises his eyebrows, not sure whether Ianto is referring to the answering questions or the doing something part. Grabs Ianto's hand when he makes to walk away. The kid looks back at him. Shocked? Surprised? He can't really tell.
"Well, then, you'll really have to hand me that key." He gives Ianto his most innocent smile, and shakes his hand so that the bracelet jangles against the cuffs. "Cos I really want that answer. And I'm not going to let you die so you can wriggle out of it."
The surprised look in Jack's face when he walks – staggers, mostly – in the main area of the Hub is worth the pain, the headache, and the one or two stitches he might have pulled on the wound on his side. Leaning back on the wall, he lets go of Ianto's shoulder. Not that he really needed any help – it's just a chance to feel Ianto up. Or so he tries to tell himself.
"I'm not going to ask how you convinced him." Jack, standing by the door to his office, raises his hands in a mock defeat gesture, and grabs his coat from the hanger. Since when does Jack leave clothes in the appropriate places? It must have taken Ianto a lot of persuading to get something like that through to Jack. Mind you – Ianto has already proven that he can be more than persuasive enough when needed. Jack walks towards the cog door, stops halfway through and turns around, trying not to appear concerned. "Are you sure you are up for this?"
He rolls his eyes and lets out an audible sigh. Of course he isn't, which idiot could look at him and think he is? But damned if he is going to let them go without him. Not because he cares what happens to this bloody hell-hole of a planet. Because he really doesn't. Although there is a tingling in the air that not even a rogue like him can ignore after so many years in the Agency.
"Of course." Jack smiles, that tense smile he came to know so well in their days together. "Just like old times." He pushes himself away from the wall, takes a few hesitant steps towards Ianto and takes the gun belt from him before realising he can't put it on with just one hand. Without a word, Ianto snatches it back, moves behind him, nudges his good arm out of the way and does up the buckles, fingers barely brushing against him. He swallows, trying to keep a straight face and hold Jack's gaze. When Ianto kneels behind him to tie the cords around his thighs, he nearly loses it, and not only because of the poison.
"Best dresser I've ever had this side of the 1910's." Jack's voice is full of praise, despite the snigger that follows. Ianto stands up, shaking non-existent dust off his hands, and slides the sword into its place on the belt. He opens his mouth to reply to Jack, some witty comeback or another, but closes it again when Ianto places a hand on his back. Trying not to wince at the moment, he follows Jack out of the Palace under the Pavement towards the car park.
As the SUV catches yet another bump on the road, he flinches. To his left, so does Ianto. It takes a moment for his brain to provide the answer: the bracelets. He curses under his breath. This stopped being a good idea about a bite and a stabbing ago.
"These need to come off." He shakes his hand in front of Ianto, who seems too absorbed in the screens in front of him to even notice the stab of pain the link just jolted him with. He stares at Jack on the rear view mirror. Three, two...
"Afraid you'll need a way out, John?" The snark is back, closer to good-humoured banter than to actual bile-fuelled annoyance and hatred. He rolls his eyes, wondering when it became one of his trademarks, as much as it is Ianto's.
"No, Jack, afraid Eye Candy here needs a clear head, and this," he shakes the bracelet again, "is not helping." Silence. Ianto looks from him to Jack and back. Jack pretends to concentrate on driving. "Try it yourself, if you don't believe me."
Before he knows it, Ianto's hands are on his, fidgeting with the clasp. Jack starts to say something, but Ianto shoots him a look that makes it very clear this is not a discussion. He can almost hear the muttered 'fine, do as you wish, on your head be it' that Jack is thinking. Long, slender fingers circle his wrist, and that simple touch is enough to make him yearn for more. Lowering his head, Ianto gives him a coy smile before finally opening the bracelet and putting it in his jacket pocket.
"Blimey." Ianto blinks a couple of time. "I didn't realise it was so... bad." As he undoes his own bracelet, he looks positively baffled. "You really should be in bed." He tries to look annoyed, but probably doesn't quite manage it.
"Yeah, well what about we leave that for some other time, when I can drag you in there with me," he watches the blush on Ianto's cheeks, "and concentrate on this other pod first?" He looks straight at Ianto. The kid looks away for a moment, then back. Shuffles on his seat. Pats his good shoulder, fingertips barely brushing his neck. His Immortalness huffs a bit on the driver seat.
"Oi! Behave there in the back seat!" Jack's grinning, despite his tone. Ianto snorts and takes his hand away.
"Just because you are too busy to join in..." For a second, the three of them snigger, before the weight of the situation falls on them again.
They make it to the military perimeter in about 17 minutes. The poison must be slowly clearing from his system if he is recovering the knack of tracking time. Without a Garg'kat nanny to shoot him another dose, his body should be able to completely get rid of it in about twenty-four hours. If he makes it that far.
He reaches for the flask in his jacket, hoping its contents will help, only to remember Ianto took it away to be mended. Without a word, Ianto digs into one of his own pockets and hands him the flask, eyes still fixed on the screen in front of him. There's a brush of fingers as he grabs it and takes a sip. Apparently nothing escapes Ianto. He likes the idea of some of the stuff he normally hides in his clothing now being stashed in Ianto's neat three-piece suit, but the look he gets when he hands the flask back makes it clear he shouldn't ask.
Jack brings the vehicle to a screeching halt just by what looks like the centre of all activity in the area; he nearly passes out. He opens his mouth, aiming for a snarky remark that may get through Jack's stubborn manner and remind him about the benefits of arriving in one piece, but the words catch in his throat – there is too much at stake right now.
He slides more than gets off the SUV, head still spinning more than is healthy when fighting Really Nasty Aliens. As usual, Ianto is already there before his feet hit the ground, hands casually stashed in his pockets – yet he's got no doubt he wouldn't fall hard if he lost his balance. Jack slams the front door and heads to the group of army personnel that seem to be running the show. When he comes back, followed by Gwen, he's frowning. Which, with Jack, is never a good sign.
"On the good news front, they finally swallowed their pride and talked to U.N.I.T." Opening the boot of the SUV, Jack starts rummaging through it. "They have some sort of device that can track these things." Interesting. "At least for a short period of time, while there is still residual energy from folding space-time."
"And the bad news?" Ianto runs a hand through his hair in what he's come to identify as a nervous gesture. Jack seems to freeze for a moment. Even though he can't see his face from where he's standing, he can picture the haunted look Jack always get when he's about to put people in danger.
"There's a lot of them in the pod. And a few of them outside." Gwen takes a sip of a plastic cup that probably contains coffee. Personally, he feels more inclined for a bottle of good scotch right now – end of the world and all that – but that will have to wait. "They have teams out there chasing the ones that made it out, and they are waiting for the really big guns to blow the whole thing up once it is completely in this dimension, but until then, we can't touch it." Gwen doesn't sound happy about it. He can't help but roll his eyes – under that hardened exterior, PC Cooper still hates being reminded that most aliens are not cuddly bunnies and most definitely do not come in peace. "Until then, there's only one thing we can do." He snorts. All eyes turn to him.
"What?" No. Oh, no, not again. "What?" The look in Jack's face leaves no room for misinterpretation. "You know as well as I do that the closer something is to actually being here, the harder it is to send it back." Jack stares at him. For a moment, he entertains the thought that maybe, just maybe, His Immortalness will be happy to let him die in there – that would, after all, take him out of the equation, and make things between Jack and Ianto a bit less complicated. But it is only a moment, until he remembers that Jack actually went into one of these things to get him out, when he could easily have left him there to die.
"Someone has to go in there, and send it back." Jack's voice is full of future regrets, like it has been ever since he first come back pursuing the Arcadian diamond. As if he were already blaming himself for people that hadn't been hurt yet. "We can't wait until it crosses."
"John's in no shape to do it." He turns towards Ianto, who's standing in front of Jack, eyebrows raised, cute look of determination in his face. He's about to retort when the kid opens that kissable mouth again. "Not on his own, anyway." No. This is madness. Ianto can't be suggesting... "I'll go with him."
"No!" Surprisingly – or not so much – he and Jack snap back at the same time. Even Gwen spins around, a look of pure disbelief in her face. "If anybody other than John is walking in there, it'll be me." Jack stares at Ianto, defying him to argue the point. He's got to give it to Jack, the protective streak suits him.
"If you are planning on using this to determine who's the most stubborn of you three, I suggest you all go in there." Gwen's voice is cold when she raises her hands in mock defeat. "Cos if we have to wait for you, these things will have taken over before you move." Ianto clears his throat and looks away, hiding away a cute pout. Jack shakes his head as he checks one of the big guns and passes it to Ianto. "I'll coordinate with U.N.I.T from here and make sure the lads don't shoot the pod while you are still in there." She turns around and walks back towards one of the tents. "Although I may change my mind about that one if you keep annoying me!"
Countermeasure
Taking a deep breath, Ianto forces himself to relax just a fraction, to loosen the grip on the gun in his hands. It feels strange to get so close to something both Jack and John consider more dangerous than the average alien Torchwood is used to deal with. Not that that means much these days – every day seems to be worse than the last one: more incidents, nastier creatures, more times when normal weapons are not at all effective. Sometimes it feels like somebody – something – is testing their defences, trying to find a way past them. To Cardiff, and, from there, to the world. Shaking his head, he pushes the thoughts away.
"Remind me again. Why are you two here?" Gun on his left hand, right one still hanging to his side, John manages to tap a few buttons on his wriststrap and get the panel on the side of the pod, still a few feet ahead, to open. Well, as far as he's concerned, if somebody shouldn't be here, it is John: he's still pale, and looks like he could keel over at the slightest poke. And somehow he doesn't expect the Garg'kats to be gentle.
"We're your nannies." Jack snaps back with a smile, but he can tell, under the pretences, Jack's worried. "How close do you need to get?" John doesn't stop, doesn't turn around. He can't help but wonder how the rogue is coping with this – he's not an easy man to read. Much as he hates to admit it, he nearly misses the bracelets, even with the jolts of pain that every now and again would shake him through them.
"For something this size, and nearly on this dimension, very." Of course, why would things be easy, just this once? "And unless you are expecting me to stand in there until it is fully back where it came from, I need a terminal." He grimaces; walking into a pod full of those... creatures still sounds like a Very Bad Idea That Will Get Us All Killed. Yet another day at Torchwood Three.
Jack, looking not at all happy about this, sneaks into the pod through the opening. John follows him, still tapping on his Vortex Manipulator. With a last look around and a deep breath, he goes in after them. He's not entirely sure how he manages not to throw up and keep moving despite the stench. The corridor around him is covered in some kind of vines that reach out to them as they walk.
"Don't let them touch you." He rolls his eyes at Jack's warning – he's not the one who has made a habit of letting aliens catch him, hurt him or even kill him, but pointing that out right now doesn't seem appropriate. "Shoot them if you have to." The whirring noise is louder in here, but it disappears as they enter the chamber at the end of the corridor.
"Oh God." The stench of the room is even worse than it was outside, and it fills his mouth, his nostrils. For once, he's grateful he never got around to having breakfast. Along the walls, a battery of bowl-shaped spaces seem to be waiting for a body to hook up. Four of them are already full. Amongst the tendrils and vines and oozing substances, he can barely make out the army uniforms, empty eyes and lifeless skin.
"Closest terminal is always the nursery." John curses under his breath and walks towards what he presumes is the console, and taps a few buttons on his wriststrap. "Should've warned you, Eye Candy." He shakes his head, dismissing John's words. Jack takes a few steps towards him and places a hand on the small of his back. Supportive. Reassuring. "Maybe then you would have waited outside."
"You okay?" He nods, quite certain that opening his mouth again wouldn't be such a good idea. Jack pats his shoulder and walks towards John. Soon the conversation derives into something that reminds him of the space-time folding documents back in Torchwood One: he can get the gist of it, but most of it is as obscure as an alien language. John curses, snaps his Vortex Manipulator closed, and nearly falls over when he turns around too quickly. Luckily, Jack catches him on time, and helps him gently to the floor.
From the other end of the room, gun trained on the still open door, Ianto swallows hard at the sight. Jack's attitude towards John seem to have changed since their conversation last night. He can't help but wonder exactly why Jack was so determined to kick the rogue out of 21st century Cardiff before that. Was John right when they talked in his hotel room, and Jack doesn't trust himself around John? Or was Jack just trying to make sure that John didn't make walking away from him any harder than it needed to be? Knowing Jack, he'll never get a straight answer.
"It's not working." John's voice breaks the eerie silence in the room. "It should be working, damn it!" Jack looks over John's shoulder and frowns.
"Are you sure you are using the right data?" John pulls a face, rolls his eyes and seems about to slap Jack when he checks his wriststrap again, his expression changes and he curses.
"Unbelievable." He raises an eyebrow. "The readings in here are completely different from the ones I was getting outside. That's why it isn't working, it is already fully on this dimension, it has been for a few hours already! How the Hell did that happen? These things are supposed to be accurate, for fuck's sake!" John closes his Vortex Manipulator again. "I suggest we get out of here, blow it up, and hope for the best." John's left arm is curled around his middle, as if to help himself stand up. When he takes it away, there's fresh blood on his t-shirt. He curses under his breath. John shouldn't be here. He taps his headset.
"Gwen?" A torrent of questions from the other end of the line. "Nothing we can do from here. We're coming out." A pause. "How long until we can...?" He leaves the question in the air, not sure whether the Garg'kats are listening. "We'll let you know as soon as we are at a safe distance."
Just as they head back for the corridor, Jack almost carrying John, the doorway seals itself before his very eyes. Behind him, both Jack and John swear. It's never good news when Jack does that. A moment later, something knocks him to the ground. The last thing he sees before his eyes close is Jack lying on the floor, one arm around John's shoulders, the other stretching out towards him. Then, everything goes black.