Chapter Eleven – Brooke Has A Past
"So what have you found?" Jack asked curiously as they walked subtly around the room, trying to stay under the radar which was all the more difficult after Jack's little outburst.
"Brooke either is or was part of a civilian unit known as Guardians." Jack looked at him strangely, "Yeah, I know, odd name. Basically, they're the anti-Torchwood." Ianto shrugged when Jack raised an eyebrow at him curiously, "You remember the great big spaceship over London at Christmas?"
"How can I forget?" Jack groaned.
That paperwork was the worst. He had tried to get Torchwood London to listen and not to fire but it was futile. Ianto could only watch as Jack lost what little respect he had left for Torchwood London. The Welshman lost all his respect for them when he saw the pain in Jack's eyes, when he found out it was too late and they'd already destroyed the ship.
"Yeah, well apparently some conspiracy theorists and you know, whack jobs put all sorts of stuff about it on the internet. Some of them got it right."
"Well they were bound to. A giant ship over London, what did they expect people to think?" Jack chimed in.
Ianto nodded, "So people are angry, just like we were. They couldn't hide the firing or the explosion from that ship from everyone. They don't want us doing that, which is understandable. They think we might be pissing off the wrong people."
"And by people you mean…"
"Aliens, yeah. Anyway, one of these theorists started this 'Guardians' thing and it grew until eventually they got people to infiltrate Torchwood. They've been getting information on us, or at least on Torchwood London and finding ways to use it against us."
Ianto turned to Jack and let out a breath and Jack could see he was just a little bit worried, "Jack, I think they're trying to take down Torchwood all at once. They must be smart because they've laid out some very good traps and it was purely luck that we've found them so far."
Jack put a reassuring hand on the Welshman's shoulder, "It's okay, we'll stop this. Do you think this means she is the one doing this?"
"I don't know. I don't think she did this alone if it was her. I think there's more to it. I need to do some more hacking so I can get more names. Jack, what if they do this? I can understand where they're coming from but this would destroy Earth's biggest line of defense."
"Hey." Jack cupped Ianto's face in his hands, "I won't let them, you know I won't."
Ianto simply nodded, smiling at the older man, "I need just a little more time, is that okay?"
Jack sighed, "I don't know. We're acting a bit strangely according to Steph. We need to show our faces a bit more."
"More? How much more do you want?"
"Face it Ianto, we've been in that closet most of the night."
"…Fair point. Well, maybe I can make it look like I'm sending off work information or something."
"Don't worry about it Ianto, we'll stop them and we'll stop Gavin." Jack chuckled, "It's really weird to say that. 'We'll stop Gavin'. You don't really think of 'Gavin' as a bad guy's name."
Ianto frowned and shook his head in confusion, "Jack, focus!"
"Right, sorry."
"Who did you want to talk to first?"
"Uh…maybe we should talk to Dylan. That's him over there." Jack said, pointing to possibly the dullest looking person in the room."
"Tell me he isn't as boring as he looks." Ianto sighed.
"What do you care? You'll be preoccupied. He's really not that bad. That's what I look like at these things usually."
Ianto stared at the man on the other side of the room. His blonde hair done neatly and his eyes glazed over; even from a distance he could see that.
"I know your lying. There is no way you could look that dull."
"Well that's really sweet of you Ianto." Jack chuckled.
Ianto groaned, "Okay fine, let's get this over with."
- - - - - - - - - X x X - - - - - - - - -
"Hey Dylan." Jack smiled enthusiastically and the other man seemed to soak up just a little bit of it, smiling back.
Ianto smiled politely holding out a hand, "Ianto Jones, nice to meet you."
"Ah, so this is the man Brooke was raving about." Dylan laughed, shaking the offered hand.
"Oh god, what did she say?" Ianto's eyes widened just a little bit, fearful of what that woman could say.
"That Jack was a lucky man and that Jack should relax. You really ripped into her." He laughed to Jack.
"She's been asking for it all night."
"Yeah, I can believe that. Well Jack, you finally bring someone to this thing. You've passed on the looking bored in the corner of the room job to me."
"Yeah, sorry about that." Jack laughed, "Just can't get away from him."
"You say that now but the moment I try to walk away, there you are." Ianto murmured and he looked down at his phone as it beeped, "I'll be back, this is really important."
"Hurry back or I will follow you." Jack teased, watching Ianto walk away.
"So, the infamous Ianto Jones, huh?"
"Yep, he's quite a guy." Jack smiled as he thought of the many memories they shared.
"Are you good to him?"
Jack was a bit surprised by the question, "Everyone else tonight has asked if he's good to me."
"I know you Jack, you can look after yourself. You are good to him, right?"
"I try to be. He certainly doesn't complain."
"Look after him, okay? I worry about you sometimes. You can be a bit cold, you know?"
Jack nodded, "Don't worry. I've changed since I met him. I could never hurt him."
"Well then I'm happy for you."
- - - - - - - - - X x X - - - - - - - - -
Ianto stared at the phone screen, reading through the file that he had finally hacked into. Names, Brooke's of course but so many others. He didn't expect there to be so many of them. One other name on there was familiar though and…
"Shit…"
I know, I'm cruel xD I'd hate me if I were you too! Please keep reviewing
Cheers,
Gabz
xx
