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Chapter 13: Ghoul
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Ianto and Hart were the first back to the Hub, and as it was getting uncomfortably close to sunrise by this stage, Ianto let them in through the lift in spite of the fact that this could - and probably would - result in some kind of security breach if Hart had seen how he did it.
Better alive (relatively speaking) and changing the locks, than twice dead and this dangerous criminal roaming free.
No, it didn't matter in the least to Ianto that Hart had not been convicted of it, murder was still a crime, and Torchwood had their painfully inadmissible equivalent of a taped confession.
He kept Hart in sight as he made his way through the Hub, going even so far as to drag the man with him to make sure he didn't wander off. When he got to the medbay he took the last bottle of blood out of the fridge, and drained it in one go. Not once did he take his eyes off the other man. In fact, he was quite tempted to tie him up, but didn't trust him to stay put long enough to go fetch some rope.
When they returned to the main floor of the Hub, it was still deserted. Still watching Hart carefully, Ianto tapped his commlink, and asked, "Jack, Owen. Hart and I are back at the Hub, but I'm really not looking forward to another day staying up past sunrise. Where are you?"
"Tosh and I are on our way back now." Owen answered.
"Just found it." Jack replied, "Be there in ten."
Ianto acknowledged this, and then sat down and directed a cold stare at Hart... who was staring at the canister in Ianto's hands. He slowly turned it over, half watching it, half watching Hart. After a few long, tense minutes of silence, Ianto asked, "Radioactive?"
"Of course." Hart answered a little bit too fast.
"You know, vampires do have superhuman senses..." Ianto said, as if it should be the most obvious thing in the world. Technically, it was even true, though he hadn't noticed much beyond very slightly clearer vision, heightened hearing, and the unnerving ability to tell the difference between the blood he could safely consume and that which he couldn't. Still, he must have sounded convincing because Hart hesitated... and that was the tell. Game over. "So what is it, really?"
Hart sighed, defeated, as he slumped into a chair opposite Ianto, "A treasure map."
Ianto raised a sceptical eyebrow, "You could have told us."
"You wouldn't have helped me."
"Probably true." Ianto admitted with a slight nod, "But lying to us doesn't help you in the long run."
Hart snorted, "But I didn't expect to stick around here in the long run."
Ianto rolled his eyes, smiling faintly, "Wow... and I was led to believe you were good at this."
"Again, I wasn't expecting the undead."
Ianto rolled his eyes, "You tried to con someone who successfully conned a conman. Admit it, you didn't even try to do any research."
Hart shrugged, "Not even a little bit. I got a date, a location, and an ID match for Jack's wrist-strap. That was it." After a brief pause, he then asked, "So who'd you con?"
Ianto glanced away for a moment. He knew this was a clear tell that he had been talking about himself, but he really hadn't meant to come back around to this subject.
At exactly that moment, the door alarm went off, and Jack, Gwen, Owen and Tosh all arrived. Ianto stood up, smiling brightly, "Jack." he said, slightly surprised to see Jack return the warmth of his greeting with a hug.
"We got them all!" Gwen cheered, holding up her canister, while Tosh held the third canister somewhat more sedately.
"Now we just need a safe way to dispose of them." Owen observed darkly.
Ianto glanced at Hart, raising an eyebrow at him. Jack noticed, and asked, "So what are they really?"
Hart chuckled morbidly, "You never expect the Spanish Inquisition... well, except that one time we went there on purpose, I suppose."
"John..." Jack said in a warning tone.
A frustrated sigh from Hart and the next thing Ianto knew, he was on the ground, pinned by a knee to the chest, laser gun pressing up under his chin, and the canister was in Hart's other hand.
And four guns were aimed at John's head as the rest of the team reacted.
"Ah ah ah, Jack. Remember what Rena liked to use her laser toys for?" Hart taunted. Jack lowered his gun a fraction at this, glancing at Ianto with concern.
"Oh, let me guess... portable tanning bed?" Ianto asked bitterly.
"Yes, as a matter of fact." Hart said with a grin, "So nobody try anything or Eye-Candy here is dust."
"You told him?" Jack asked, sounding surprised, possibly even hurt.
"No." Ianto said with a sigh, as the others lowered their guns as well, leaving Hart firmly in charge of this situation. Very slowly, Ianto propped himself up on his elbows, only slightly surprised that Hart allowed it. Only the weapon trained on him was keeping him on the ground at all now. "We were attacked by another vampire."
"The combination of him knowing how to kill it, and then wanting to bite me to recover from the attack... didn't really leave much room for doubt." Hart explained, far too cheerfully, "Now. Hand over the canisters and nobody gets hurt."
"You said that on Risia." Jack said sceptically.
"I lied on Risia." Hart answered simply, as if there was some perfectly obvious distinction, "Besides, we were meant to blow that place up, it was part of the job. This time though, I really just want the canisters and then I'll be on my way."
Jack shook his head, "Tell me what's in them."
"He said it was a treasure map." Ianto answered, earning a bitter glare from Hart.
But then Hart deigned to explain, "Yeah. To an Arcadian diamond. Even I can't spend that much money." he seemed to consider this for a moment, but then suggested, "Hey, I'll even cut you in, if you like."
"I just want you to get off this planet." Jack growled darkly. He took the canisters from Gwen and Tosh, and held them out, "Here's your damned map."
Hart frowned, suddenly. Forced to choose between relinquishing either his treasure or his hostage, he clearly didn't know which way to go. Finally, "You open it." he handed the third canister to Jack, instead. "But any funny moves..." he warned, pulling Ianto to his feet with surprising strength and not once letting the aim of his gun waver from Ianto's jaw.
Jack looked to Ianto, who carefully tested Hart's grip without actually trying to escape. There was no give whatsoever. He was incredibly strong. "What are you, Superman?" Ianto grumbled, darkly.
Hart chuckled, "No. My mother was a 3-EG high-gravity colonist. That means denser bones and muscles, and less-sensitive pain-receptors. I only rank in at 2-EG, but I could probably take down most professional wrestlers without breaking a sweat."
Ianto shook his head, "I did not want that mental picture."
Hart chuckled at that, while Jack rolled his eyes.
"I'm not really a fan of contact-violence unless it's in the bedroom, though." Hart continued, "So your boss over there better hurry it up before I have to do something... uncivilised, like actually throw a punch."
Jack glowered, but obeyed all the same, opening the three canisters one at a time, and setting the metal pieces out on the table next to him.
"Fourth bit's in fishy's pocket." Hart gestured to the autopsy room.
Jack raised an eyebrow, "You had a partner?"
"Hired goon. Will work for crack. Get the component already." Hart emphasises his point by waving the laser-gun in Ianto's face some more.
"You have crack?" Ianto asked sceptically.
"Thought I couldn't poison a vampire?" Hart laughed.
"I'm just trying to think of legitimate ways we could get you arrested... since I imagine the taped confession on Jack's wrist-strap wouldn't fly in twenty-first century court."
"Don't, Ianto." Jack said coldly, returning with a pyramid-shaped piece of metal that matched the three flat pieces from the canisters, "He broke out of Alcatraz when it was still a real prison. Twice."
"Yeah, waste of everyone's time to put me in jail." Hart agreed cheerfully, "I even got out of the Stormcage once. One of only three people in the universe... and one of the other two had help."
"When were you in Stormcage?" Jack asked, seemingly unable to stop himself.
"Couple years after the Agency collapsed. Long story."
Jack shook his head, and set the pyramid piece between the other three. With one final wary glance at Hart and Ianto, "You're sure this is just a treasure map?"
"If it isn't, I know someone who'll be having their timeline fractured for multiple painful deaths."
Jack winced at that, but then reluctantly pushed the three flat pieces into alignment around the pyramid... and the device activated, projecting a holographic image of a beautiful woman, who turned to face Hart.
"There she is." Hart said with a smile, loosening his grip and lowering his guard on Ianto.
"You've travelled several galaxies for this. Well done." the hologram said, smiling in an eerie way that looked very much like she was hiding something.
"Thank you, gorgeous." Hart gloated.
"Except... there's no diamond." the hologram continued, that smile becoming cold and malevolent.
"What?" Hart asked in confusion, as if the image could hear him and reply.
"Only this." the holographic woman gestured to the pyramid, which split open to reveal a glowing object.
"No, no, no." Hart insisted, still in shock.
The object levitated and mutated into a metal circle with sharp claw-like points around its circumference. Ianto instinctively backed away as it rotated in mid-air. Hart was entirely too shocked to stop him.
"No, no, no, no, no. There's got to be a diamond. It's all about the diamond! What the hell is that-!"
Then the object moved. Very fast. One second it was hovering sedately in the air, looking wicked but not doing anything in particular... the next it was latched onto Hart's chest, emitting an ominous beeping noise and causing him obvious pain.
"It's an explosive device, which will latch on to the DNA of whoever killed me." the hologram explained, "It'll detonate in ten minutes." Ianto started the countdown on his stopwatch, as the hologram continued, "It can't be removed without exploding, so don't bother trying. Goodbye, lover."
"No! Wait!" Hart shouted desperately.
But she was already flickering out, with the last words of, "See you in hell." and she was gone.
"She can't be serious. Ten minutes." Gwen asked sceptically.
"Get it off me!" Hart yelled.
"Actually, nine minutes fifty, forty-nine, forty-eight... always at the ready." Ianto observed, holding up the stopwatch for the rest of the team to see, and feeling entirely too smug that Hart was getting a taste of his own medicine being threatened with deadly force here.
"Okay. How big is this explosion likely to be, Jack?" Gwen asked.
"That technology, that size..." Jack said thoughtfully, "Big."
"So, we should really get him out of the city." Owen said, quite casually.
Ianto was beginning to see the problem with that theory. Even if they could leave the city that quickly, dragging an uncooperative victim with them would definitely make it much more difficult. And no one else seemed to really care about Hart's life, in this situation. The threat, that was downright funny... the reality, not so much.
"You've got to help me! Please." Hart begged Jack.
Jack simply stared him down and asked, "Why?"
Hart seethed, but Ianto spoke up at this moment, "I have a thought."
"Just one?" Owen sniped, still cheerfully irreverent.
"It's attracted to his DNA?" Ianto asked, more for clarification than anything else.
"Yes..." Jack said warily.
"I think I can get it to let him go, but I need both him and you to agree to it." Ianto answered, looking first to Hart then to Jack.
"Anything, just get it off me!" Hart pleaded.
"You know I'm a vampire." Ianto told Hart bluntly, "To make another person a vampire I would have to drain them dry then feed them my blood. If I just fed you my blood without killing you first it would still have a corrupting effect but it wouldn't turn you."
"Okay, I'm cool with that." Hart said nodding desperately.
"There are side-effects." Ianto warned, "Crippling addiction to the blood, for a start." Hart did not look deterred. "Also it would kind of make you my slave."
Now Hart looked a bit hesitant. "Ianto, I don't think that's such a good idea." Jack warned.
"Better than blowing us all to smithereens." Owen put in brightly.
"You've said yourself, Jack, he's very dangerous." Ianto said carefully, "I don't know about you, but I've always preferred the theory to keep your friends close and your enemies closer. If I do this, he would suffer if he disobeyed me and most of that pain would be self-inflicted. Not that I'd like to abuse such a power... but if it would stop him from hurting anyone else."
Jack considered this for a moment, then shrugged with a faintly malicious smile, "I can see where you're coming from there. If he allows it, I'm not going to stop you."
Hart seemed to have made up his mind in the meantime, and as soon as Jack said this he announced, "I'm up for it. I'd rather be enslaved than dead, and you seem to have a fair few more morals than most slave-masters I've met. I think I can live with this."
Ianto immediately bared his fangs and bit into his own wrist, then offered it to Hart. "I'll tell you when to stop."
Hart didn't hesitate. In fact he looked positively gleeful at this prospect. He immediately grabbed the offered wrist and began to drink. Ianto's free hand moved instinctively to Hart's neck to feel his pulse as he did this. It wasn't necessary in the slightest, but it was somehow a balancing feeling.
After about ten seconds, he pulled his arm away, "That's enough."
Hart looked thoroughly put out by this, but didn't voice his protest, still tense and afraid. Ianto could hear his heart racing. And half a second later a beeping emanated from the bomb on his chest, dropping it to the floor between them.
Still active.
Ianto stared at it, "Damn." he muttered, checking his stopwatch, "Nine minutes twelve seconds."
Gwen looked to Tosh now, "Tosh? The rift predictor program, have you perfected yet?"
"Pretty much." Tosh answered, seeming to get what Gwen meant, and sounding excited.
"Anything in the next few minutes?" Gwen asked.
And just like that the two women ran over to the rift manipulator console, to try to figure it out. Owen picked up the bomb and followed them.
Hart eyed Ianto speculatively, "I liked that." he said with a grin.
"I can offer you better things if you behave... and much, much worse if you don't."
John grinned, looking from Ianto to Jack and back again, "I think I'm going to enjoy this."
"No." Ianto said, very much matter of fact, "You're probably not."
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Gwen, Tosh and Owen had left to dispose of the bomb, in a rift event that had appeared at the car park where Hart had first arrived. Jack had refused to leave John and Ianto alone together, and thus stayed to keep an eye on his evil ex.
That had been two minutes before sunrise.
The moment Ianto awoke the next night he needed to find out what had happened. The fact he had woken in his own bed below the Hub was not of great concern. The safety of the city and the rest of the team was.
He was also starving.
Talyn has nearly killed him, and he couldn't exactly take more than was medically safe from Hart. Aside from any moral issue, Hart had stopped him. He didn't really think the moral issue made the slightest impact on his instincts... and that scared the hell out of him. Even as he was barely able to think straight for the hunger now, he was still repulsed by the instincts that craved human blood instead of anything more civilised for sustenance.
The fear that he could hurt someone.
As soon as he made sure the rest of the team was safe, he was going to have to go and buy more blood from the Toreador bar.
However, as he was walking up the corridor, which ran between the top of the stairs to the lower levels and the doorway into the main Hub, he found himself shoved up against the wall, being kissed and manhandled very aggressively.
Jack would not do this without at least pausing to grin at him and say something obscene between pinning to the wall and molesting him. That pause was his subtle way of asking permission - if Ianto had ever wanted him to stop, all he had to do was say so.
There was no request for permission... therefore Ianto assumed his assailant was most likely John Hart.
He tried to push his attacker away, but found him far too strong. Just another clue it was probably Hart - Jack was stronger than Ianto, but not by this much... and he hadn't tested their relative strength since his Embrace. He didn't know yet if the vampire deal came with some level of super-strength or not, but tended to guess it would.
Either way, it made no difference. When he realised Ianto was resisting Hart paused to speak, and in doing so finally revealed his face.
But Ianto was faster. "Stop!" he shouted immediately, meeting Hart's eyes as he said it. Hart positively froze, staring at him in what appeared to be shock.
Several tense seconds passed, and Hart remained still, unmoving except for slow, surprised blinking... followed by shaking his head as if he had no idea what the hell just happened. Ianto wasn't entirely sure either. This was his first ghoul, he didn't exactly know how commanding a blood-slave was supposed to function, technically speaking. Or was that even what he had done? Aiden had told him one of his vampire abilities was a form of domination. It could have been that. He really needed to do more research.
"What are you doing?" Ianto demanded, trying to regain some air of calm and/or authority.
Hart stepped back, letting him go now, "I- I really don't know." he said, shaking his head and not meeting Ianto's gaze now, "I feel... feel like I'm on a bad high. All the thrill, but no control. I haven't been able to sit still all day. I just- I need-" he stepped closer to Ianto, but hesitated.
"Need what?"
"Sex, blood, drugs, anything, I don't even know!" Hart shouted, turning away and running fingers through his hair in an aggravated manner.
"Medbay." Ianto said flatly, after only a moment's consideration.
"What?" Hart asked sceptically.
"Go to the medbay. If you don't know what's wrong, maybe Owen can figure it out. Just no more molestation, okay?"
Hart sniffed indignantly. "Can't promise anything right now."
Ianto rolled his eyes, and pointed in the direction of the main Hub floor. Hart's gaze fell to the ground, very much like a scolded puppy, and he did as instructed.
Ianto sighed, and followed him. This was going to be more difficult than he thought.
x x x
"Well, he's definitely high, but it's not any kind of artificial drug." Owen declared, "It's the vampire blood."
Everyone turned to look at Ianto, who was also pretty shocked by this revelation, "What?" he asked, "I didn't know this was a side-effect."
Owen rolled his eyes melodramatically, "Well it turns out those unusual elements in your blood have been absorbed into his system, and drastically elevated his adrenaline and testosterone levels. At least, assuming my bloodwork on Jack is standard for the fifty-first century." Jack nodded at this. Owen continued, "Right now he's got the kind of super-strength that you hear about when ordinary people lift cars because they just crashed in them and a loved one's still trapped inside. Pure adrenaline rush - bet he could knock out a Weevil without breaking a sweat."
"And you'd know all about that, now wouldn't you?" Gwen teased.
Owen pulled a face, but didn't retort. Instead, "But that kind of thing usually over-stresses muscles and leads to serious injury to the person doing the adrenaline-fuelled stunt. Your blood has gone and put some kind of regenerative element in his system. Observe."
Owen very suddenly swiped a scalpel at Hart's forearm, slicing clean through the skin and flesh... but before more than a few small drops of blood were lost the wound sealed itself right back up again. Ianto found himself staring at the single bead of blood now simply sitting there on Hart's arm... but with some effort managed to pull his attention back to Owen's analysis.
"I think he can only do that within twenty-four to forty-eight hours of the blood being ingested. I'll have to test again later to be sure." Owen said with entirely too much cheer at the prospect of cutting a man's arm open again, "As for the elevated testosterone... well, that one's obvious enough. He was already willing to jump anything that smiled at him - now I'd say keep him tied down until he's had time to get used to it, otherwise I do not want to be here for whatever happens next."
"No kidding." Jack said darkly, "It really is best not to let a super-powered, fast-healing, uninhibited nymphomaniac run loose around the Hub."
"He might find the Weevils." Ianto offered, trying very hard to look like he thought that was at all funny. It wasn't. It really, really wasn't.
Owen cleared his throat pointedly, "There's a reasonable chance that, with exposure over time, he could become accustomed to these effects, and learn to control himself. My advice would still be cold turkey."
"NO!" Hart shouted. He had been awake, restrained, and seemed almost calm for most of the conversation, barely even registering when Owen cut his arm, but now... now he looked like any desperate addict begging you not to take away his fix. "Please no - you said if I tried it I'd need it, and I do. Please, let me just have another taste, please."
Ianto looked at Jack, who was watching Hart with a pensive expression.
After a moment of thought he leaned over and whispered to Jack, hand covering his mouth so no one could lip-read, "I didn't want to tell him it was reversible, because I didn't trust him... but it only becomes irreversible after three doses. He's only had one."
Jack looked at him now, a faintly amused frown crossing his face for a moment, "You know you had a point last night." he said, "Far better to keep your enemies close."
Ianto considered it for a moment, then, "I suppose it is your choice. And you do still have one." Ianto told Hart carefully, "If you choose the blood, we will keep you restrained while you feel the worst effect. Myself, I usually take the advice of medical professionals."
Hart looked from Ianto to Owen, to Jack, and then back to Ianto, slowly. Finally he spoke, his voice steady enough to pass for calm, "I want more."
"I'll let you think about that when the initial high wears off and you actually can think." Ianto said flatly, "In the meantime, I need to feed, and you are not a suitable option at the moment."
"Why not?" Hart protested. Ianto wasn't sure if it was merely instinctive indignance, or a sincere desire for the sensation of the bite again.
Either way, his answer was simple, "I'm far too hungry. I would kill you."
Hart pouted at this, but didn't complain.
The rest of the team allowed Ianto to head towards the exit undisturbed. Only Jack stopped him briefly, one hand on Ianto's shoulder to offer comfort. Ianto only rebuffed him with a murmur of, "Not right now." in spite of every sense of reason telling him he should push Jack away before he hurt him as well.
And with those morbid thoughts, he left the Hub, to go and buy more blood.
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