Time to be bled

a Torchwood story

by RoadrunnerGER

Disclaimer: Don't own them, but I'm happy that they were ready to play along. LOL

Summary: The Ianto side of Countrycide. Enjoy!

A/N: Thank you so much for your reviews. It feels good to know that the story's received so well. Special thanks to my faithful beta reader mandassina. Enjoy!

Chapter 11 - Statements

Owen took a deep breath and let the medic take over. He did not know how he found his way out of the house, but he was relieved beyond belief when he took the first breath of fresh mountain air. The smell of grass that he had loathed at the beginning of their trip was wonderful compared to the stench of the slaughterhouse. Even though he had not been long in there the disgusting odour clung to his clothes.

I want a pint and a shower, he thought, brushing over his jacket and trousers without being able to get rid of the dirt and the blood. Or a beer shower? Better to smell like a pub than like a butcher shop. Yeah, that would be cool. Knock drinking and washing off at the same time.

The police cars and ambulances in front of the house were a sign of civilization and safety and a welcome sight. Still Owen strolled along the house and around the corner to find some privacy. Right now he did not want to talk with anybody. He had to get order into his own thoughts first.

Bloody hell, I thought he had killed Tosh. She was so pale and not breathing when I first pushed the bastard off her. Oh, I should've shot the fucker! Would've spared us some trouble.

Owen was fuming.

The fear he had felt back then on the clearing turned into rage. In his mind's eye he saw the man smirk up at him and his weapon, an evil smirk that lacked any humour. Owen could not describe the horror he felt when the constable pulled his weapon on him. Gwen reacted fast, but she didn't know what to do. She just couldn't shoot. It was a stalemate, a fifty-fifty chance. If Gwen had shot I might be dead...

I really thought Tosh was dead. For a moment there she could've been. Then Gwen gave her a hug and Tosh started rambling about the villagers cannibalizing the bodies.

He gave a strangled laugh.

I didn't even realize which bodies she meant. The truth only sank in when we were pushed into the slaughter house. They butchered the missing travellers.

Suddenly Owen felt sick. His stomach rolled and he staggered away from the house, supporting himself against the wall as he emptied the nonexistent contents of his stomach into the grass. His dry retching hurt. Owen choked it down and leaned with his back against the wall.

They nearly killed the teaboy, Owen thought. I saw Tosh look around for him even before she asked about him. When that man pulled him up… the meat cleaver against his neck…

His stomach protested again, threatening to turn over.

Don't, Owen ordered himself.

Too late.

A second later his imagination shoved the meat cleaver against his own neck and he coughed violently.

"Owen, you jerk. It's just the cheeseburger coming back to haunt you," he scolded himself. "That's all. You're not becoming queasy."

Thankfully he was distracted by yet another car pulling up in the front garden. Peeking around the corner he saw a man in a suit get out of the vehicle and scan the area. Then he walked to the house and vanished inside.

Who could he be? Owen mused. Another officer? CID?

Well, he was pretty sure that he would find out soon, but for now he wanted to be left alone. So he leaned back and looked up at the stars, escaping to memories of alien hunts.

xXx

Staying with Ianto was a good decision, Toshiko thought. Slowly the quivering beneath her hand ceased. Still she kept on caressing her colleague's forearm. Watching him unobtrusively she could see how the tension in his jaw lessened and his forehead smoothed. It looked like he fell asleep and that made her aware of how tired she was herself.

Toshiko glanced over to the table where the medic renewed the dressing over Gwen's gunshot wound. The former police officer steadfastly insisted on being fine and refused to go to the ambulance. Finally the medic turned to Kieran who on the other hand was glad to have someone taking care of him.

Sighing Toshiko got up from where she squatted beside Ianto, never breaking the contact. She just needed to stretch her legs and find a better position. The flesh under her hand was warm and the contact reassuring, for him but also for her.

We almost lost him. Toshiko shuddered, remembering the moments in the slaughterhouse. Once the first terror hit home and ebbed away she thought frantically about how to escape.

Only there was no escape.

She saw Ianto attack the couple and how he was knocked down, effectively winded by a blow to his solar plexus. Toshiko's horror intensified when she saw the handcuffs close around his wrists. It was that second when she was about to use the diversion and dart past the woman, but she thrust her rifle in her face. Before she knew what happened the man kicked into her legs and brought her down to her knees. Pulling her arms roughly behind her back he wrapped rope around her wrists.

That was when she was ready to give up…

…only to hear Ianto whisper to her to get ready to run.

We thoroughly underestimated him, she reflected as she settled back down beside him. If hiding his Cybergirlfriend in our basement for almost a year wasn't a clue of what he could achieve then this mission was.

Reluctant admiration was written on her features when she looked up at Ianto now.

Who would've thought that he'd try to fight them? I have to admit that I didn't. But despite his obvious fear he was ready to defend himself. She took a deep breath. No, that's not entirely correct. He was even ready to sacrifice himself for me when he attacked the cannibal.

Toshiko choked on that thought.

Before she could further delve into that matter her attention was drawn by two men entering the room, Jack and a bloke in a suit. Owen came trailing behind.

"This is Detective Inspector Morrison," Jack told them. "He's here to take our statements about what happened. I've told him we're willing to cooperate so these monsters can go to jail where they belong, but he does understand that it has been a very long day for us, so he's going to be as brief as possible."

As he spoke, Jack had been giving his team reassuring looks. Seeing Ianto blink tiredly he ended with a comforting squeeze to the younger man's shoulder. "Owen, Gwen, since you two found the first body, maybe one of you should start."

"Gwen had that honour," Owen remarked.

"Actually, before we get to that, I do rather need to know what you lot were doing out here in the first place," Morrison said.

"We're Torchwood," Jack responded before anyone else had the chance to speak.

"Torchwood? What's that?" Morrison asked with an arched brow

"That is what you are going to go back to your station and ask your superior, and he will ask his superior, who will ask his superior, and so on, until it gets back to a very high-level government office. Then the message will come back down through the chain of command to tell you not to ask that question again," Jack responded cheerfully.

Morrison frowned. "Special OPs then? All right."

Jack grinned and nodded, liking the guy for accepting his answer without protest, so he threw him a bone. "We thought the disappearances had something to do with a case we should be working. Turns out it was even worse than most of the stuff we deal with."

Morrison stood a little straighter then, clearly registering the subtle compliment.

"Okay," the detective inspector said. "Then let us begin, Miss…"

"Cooper," Gwen said, getting up from her chair and moving to another corner of the room away from her colleagues where she could speak to him in relative privacy without having to leave the comfort of their support altogether. Morrison followed her example.

"Good, Miss Cooper… By the way, do you have ranks in your organisation?"

"Not that I'm aware of," she replied. "You can call me Gwen."

"All right, Gwen. Please tell me what led to your discovery."

"We had just set up camp and I went to get firewood together with Owen," she began her tale. "We were absorbed in our talk when I noticed a figure among the trees and alerted Owen to it. We attempted to apprehend the person watching us but lost track of him in the forest. Instead we found a sodden blanket. When we lifted it with a branch we found a human carcass."

"If you say a carcass…" Morrison interrupted her.

"Remains," Gwen affirmed. "Skull, bones… with just a little tissue sticking to them. That was all there was left."

"I see. What did you do next?"

"We informed the rest of the team and cordoned off the scene. Owen just began with his preliminary examination of the body when we heard our car and returned to the camp just to see the vehicle vanish between the hills. We traced its GPS signal and followed it to the village. The settlement appeared to be vacated when we arrived and first checked on the inn. That is Owen, Jack, and I were inspecting the pub while Toshiko and Ianto went to find the SUV." She paused a moment to collect her thoughts and continued, "Jack and I went upstairs where we separated. I entered the kitchen and, around a corner, found a second body, this time complete with only a few parts missing."

"If you don't mind my asking, how did they manage to steal your vehicle?"

"Someone left the keys in it," she replied without hesitation.

Why doesn't she name the guilty party? Morrison wondered. Was she the one? Or is she protecting, forgiving, or just refusing to blame the individual responsible for getting them into such a mess? Or maybe she just doesn't know.

"All right. Please continue," he said, suspecting that his questions would eventually be answered by one of the others.

Morrison listened to her tale with growing trepidation, but still could not help noticing the way she spoke. She knew their terms, the terms a police officer would use in a report. He also did not need to push her along with questions. Once she found her stride she only stopped talking after she told him about interrogating Evan Sherman.

So the detective inspector made some notes before he asked, "Gwen, may I ask what you did before you joined your task force?"

"I walked the beat in Cardiff," she replied.

That explains a lot, Morrison thought. Silently he was impressed by how composed she was given the horror she had experienced, especially as she was shot.

"Thank you, Gwen. I think that's all I need to know for now."

"No problem," she said and got up, making an offering gesture to Owen. Frowning deeply the doctor went to take his seat across the detective inspector.

"Okay, Mr. Harper…"

"Dr. Harper, actually," the medic informed him, offering him one of his patented wry smirks.

"My apologies, Dr. Harper. Please describe your version of the events."

"Well, our boss brought us out here to the ruddy countryside to investigate a case and we had just managed to set up the bloody tents when Gwen and I decided to go and collect some firewood." He snorted with wry disgust. "That was when we found the carcass. While we were examining the body, we discovered that I… I had left the sodding keys in the car!"

It was plain from the young man's tone and expression how much guilt he felt about that error. It would take him some time to accept that he was not responsible for the ordeal they had all been through, but he did not seem the type to graciously accept comforting platitudes from a stranger. So Morrison just remained quiet and listened attentively.

Of course Owen's statement was partially the same as Gwen's but he definitely noticed the differences when the doctor talked about the body they found in the kitchen above the pub.

"An initial examination revealed that the ribs had been removed from the upper right chest to allow access to the organs of the chest cavity, which had been removed along with the Pectoralis major and minor and rectus abdominus..."

"Actually…" Morrison interrupted, "I don't need it that detailed."

"Oh. Sure. Okay," Owen agreed. "I assume that you'll get the details from your medical examiner. So, I was examining the corpse when I heard a shot and shouts. I grabbed my bag and ran out of the house to see what had happened. Gwen was injured and Jack brought her inside where I treated her wound. The ruddy bastard simply shot her."

Kieran craned his neck to look at the doctor when he heard that. Then he ducked lower in his chair. "I was scared," he whined.

Gwen tried to comfort him, but she could not pull him out of his guilt trip. Of course he knew that he should not have shot, but in his terror he only saw a strange woman with a gun in her hand that forcefully pulled open the door he had locked to keep his assailants out of the house. So he shot.

Toshiko watched the former police officer deal with the kid. During her testimony she had listened attentively to the parts about the pub and the bodies they found. As she herself had taken another path she did not know about the other victims. This was the first opportunity for her to get to know what the others had encountered.

She looked up at Ianto, but there was nothing in his features that would indicate that he was listening, too. For all she could tell he dozed off again. So she let her gaze wander until it came to rest on Jack who now leaned with his back against the wall, watching his team members in turns. When their eyes met the corners of his mouth quirked to a small smile.

Toshiko shivered.

There's something in his eyes, she thought. I don't think that I've ever seen him looking like that at one of us, at least not when we could probably notice it. It's so… tender, almost loving.

When she saw his gaze shift over to Ianto Toshiko noticed the tiniest change in Jack's features. There was definitely more than concern and protectiveness. It was there for barely a second before it vanished again.

I know what I saw, though. Now what's going on inside him? If he just wouldn't shut us out all the time.

Out of the corner of her eye she noticed movement and when she turned her head she saw Owen leave the place opposite Detective Inspector Morrison. Sensing that now was the best moment to give her statement she took a deep breath and got up from the floor. She felt Ianto stir and offered him a reassuring smile.

"I won't be far away," she murmured and lightly squeezed his forearm. What she saw mirrored in his eyes was clearly reluctance to let her go, though she could not tell if he did not want her to go because he did not want to be alone or because he feared something would happen to her. In the end she left him and went to the investigator, offering him her full name as she sat down across from him and he wrote it down.

"Okay, Miss Sato," he began. "You also were present when Dr. Harper examined the body you found in the woods?"

"Yes. Then we heard our car wreck our camp and followed its signal to the village. Jack asked Ianto and me to go and find the SUV so they went over to the pub while we walked up the hill to another house in the distance, hoping to find the vehicle there. All we found was a vacated house. We went around it to check on the back and then everything went dark. When I came to we were locked up in a cellar. Searching a way out we found a fridge with… body parts inside. That's how we realized that we were food for whoever or whatever had attacked us."

"Whatever?"

"As we were still lacking information it could also be a whatever," she replied and offered him a crooked grin. "Do you know Welsh legends?"

"I read them to my kids."

"I'm sure you know that many legends originated from real events the people could not explain at that point in time?"

"I heard about that, sure."

"Anyway. Someone came to open the steel door and we were confronted with a woman. She had a rifle, claimed to be a nurse and first asked questions before she stated that she couldn't help us. Instead she threatened us with the rifle and made us come with her. She led us to the house here."

Morrison listened attentively. Despite recording the statements on his laptop he took notes on a pad, too. Additional information for his report. Toshiko for example gave him a plethora of information and he wanted to make sure that he would transfer the details correctly to his report later. Finally she finished her statement with her description of how Jack had saved them by crashing through the gate with the old tractor and shooting the cannibals. Morrison thanked her and looked expectantly at Ianto.

The young Welshman did not notice the prompting gaze. He had closed his eyes again and Toshiko decided to gently nudge his upper arm.

"Ianto?"

"Yeah, I know," he grumbled. Then he opened his eyes and pushed himself up from his chair. He was somewhat stiff from sitting for so long in the same position as well as from the pain that ran through his body in waves. "Ianto Jones," he said as he took his place where Toshiko sat only a moment ago.

At once Morrison noticed that something was different about this young man apart from being apparently roughed up. Bruises darkened on his forehead and he looked rather battered. Now the detective inspector had to find out what else was different, something that pricked his curiosity.

"I take it you're also a Torchwood field operative?" the detective inspector asked.

"I'm the support officer."

"I see," Morrison said, scribbling it down and barely hiding his surprise. "So you accompanied the team on this mission why?"

That's what I was wondering, too, Ianto thought. I still am.

"I'm responsible for whatever accrues," he explained. "From A as in administration to Z as in zookeeper."

"Zookeeper?" Morrison asked, confused.

Unnoticed by the others and least of all Ianto, Jack pricked his ears and focused entirely on the two men on the other side of the room, waiting anxiously for what Ianto would answer.

Ianto, though, left the question unanswered at first, a mysterious smile playing around his lips before he said, "You'd be surprised what the others can get up to."

"I see," Morrison mused, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. As he could also watch the captain from his position he noticed how Harkness bit in his fist not to laugh out loud at that comment. Realizing that they should not drift off from the subject he decided to go ahead with the interview. "According to what your colleagues told me you played a very active role in your investigation here."

"Out of necessity."

Morrison nodded and wrote something on his pad. "What can you tell me about the first body you found when Miss Cooper and Dr. Harper went to collect firewood?"

"A carcass."

"Excuse me?"

"Just… a carcass," Ianto shrugged.

"What did you do while Dr. Harper examined the remains?"

"Cordoned off the scene."

"Anything else?"

Ianto shook his head and regretted it at once. For just a second his vision blurred.

"Then you heard the car's engine?"

"Yes."

"What did you do then?" Morrison demanded to know and had a good idea of what the young man would answer.

"We ran."

Don't talk too much, Morrison thought. Slowly he guided him through the interview, and as he listened to the tersely recited report about the young man's capture, he noticed how his voice wavered slightly.

"I was pushed from behind, fell, and got knocked out. I came to. Someone dragged me forward. I tried to escape, ran into a wall. I fell. They threw me into the cellar."

Morrison pricked his ears. "Did you see them then?"

"No."

"What happened next?"

From there his statement was not much different from Toshiko's…

…until he reached the moment when he helped her to escape.

"I head butted the man. Tosh ran. I tried to follow. Both he and the woman held me back and he hit me. I went down on my knees. He kicked my stomach. He left and she came and hit me with the rifle butt…" Ianto's voice trailed off. It was not only his general weariness of the situation, of the constant fight to stay alert, and the effort to keep the pain at bay. It was also the memory of what had followed his colleague's escape. He knew that he should tell the detective inspector what the men had done to him, but for some reason he hesitated.

It would be easier to say that I was unconscious until the others were brought in. Until that animal tried to cut my throat.

He choked.

"Mr. Jones?" Morrison asked. "Are you all right?"

Out of bleary eyes Ianto looked at him. Isn't it obvious that I'm not all right?

"I… think I was awake when Evan returned with my team mates," he said. "He pulled the sack off my head. A… m-m… meat cleaver… against my neck."

Now Ianto looked as if he was about to be sick.

"I think that's enough," an adamant voice interrupted and a calming hand came to rest on Ianto's left shoulder.

"I-it's okay… Jack," Ianto mumbled. His vision was foggy, but he still knew that he had to finish this. "He… let go of me then. He went to fight. The tractor broke through the gate."

Morrison nodded.

"I was bound," Ianto said tonelessly. "Nobody came. I… couldn't move…"

Distress crept into his voice. Ianto felt Jack's hands squeeze his shoulders. He tried to wind out of the grip, but as soon as he moved pain stabbed his chest, so he stiffened up and let it happen.

"That's enough," Jack repeated brusquely.

"We're finished anyway," Morrison told him, silently stunned by his protectiveness. "It's your turn, Captain Harkness."

"Owen!" Jack shouted and waved the doctor over. "Take care of Ianto."

"Sure," Owen confirmed as he hurried to their boss. "Come, Ianto. Let's find you a calmer place."

Without any sign of resistance Ianto followed Owen to where he sat before. Toshiko welcomed him with a quick hug and he sank down on the chair again. Quite surprised Ianto noticed that now Gwen started to fuss over him and he wrinkled his nose.

"A fine team you have, Captain Harkness," Morrison said, accompanying his words with a small smile.

Over his shoulder Jack glanced at the group behind them. I hope one day they will be a team. "Yeah, I know," he murmured. "They are good at what they do." Tearing his gaze off team Torchwood he turned back to Morrison. "Let's wrap this up."

"Sure, Captain. You give your statement and you'll be free to go."

"Sounds like a deal," Jack smirked and started to talk.

tbc…