Getting Even

Chapter Thirteen

The asphalt on the roof was uncomfortable. Gwen shifted from one butt cheek to the other. Everything had gone wrong with this operation from the start. Bad decisions had cost lives and it wasn't over yet. Wallswell had the upper hand completely. They were at his mercy and there was no one else competent to take him down. She looked around the small area which was full of people and equipment. Wallswell had the prime spot surrounded by weapons and supplies. He had made a good job of creating this hidey-hole and could hold off anyone who tried to attack except, possibly, from the air. But she had ordered the police helicopter to leave and she couldn't see DCI Hewitt taking responsibility for getting it back again any time soon. There was no denying they were in deep shit.

She studied her companions. Not far from Wallswell, and at right angles to her, Ianto was propped up against the lift housing hands and ankles bound like the rest of them. His normal immaculate appearance was marred by unidentifiable stains on his suit and a trickle of dried blood on his temple. He had regained consciousness but was sunk in retrospection – she preferred to call it that rather than the more accurate despair. Glancing sideways, she caught the profiles of Toshiko and beyond her Owen. They were stoical and she hoped that one of them was thinking up a brilliant way out of their current predicament because she was damned if she could. Even though she knew it was useless, Gwen pulled at her wrist bonds again.

Time was passing very slowly. Wallswell had ordered them not to speak, slapping Gwen when she disobeyed. They sat and stared at one another or up at the sky. It was still sunny and light and the nearby church clock had struck four not long ago; this whole disaster had taken just a couple of hours to unfold. Of them all, Ianto felt particularly bad about the current state of affairs. He had taken Jack, helpless in his impaired mental state, out of the Hub and abandoned him with barely a thought. Leaving him with Andy Davidson was stupid. The policeman had no idea what had happened to Jack nor of his special physiology and had probably already shipped him off to hospital. Ianto was supposed to be looking after Jack and instead he had left him among strangers. And to top it off, Ianto had been caught in the most ignominious way. Fancy letting Wallswell creep up on him like that! Had he learnt nothing from all his training? Keeping his head down, and his face averted, Ianto sank deeper into despair.

The two remaining members of the team were less pessimistic. Owen believed in fate and was prepared to wait and see what happened. Wallswell had kept them alive this long, there was no reason to assume he was going to kill them later. Provided any rescuers were sensible and didn't hit them with crossfire, Owen was confident they would be freed eventually. Waiting was boring but he could bear it. Next to him, Toshiko was still on a high from finding Owen alive and remained positive despite their situation. To keep her agile mind occupied, she was making an inventory of the weaponry and supplies. There was a lot here, from blasters to machine guns to pistols, but she couldn't see much ammunition. Had Wallswell used it all? His continuing drinking was also a problem especially as the whisky and beer were running out. How would he react when it had all gone?

In this strained atmosphere the sound of Gwen's mobile was very loud.

"What's that?" barked Wallswell. He glared at her, the blaster aimed at her midriff. "Shut it off."

"I can't," she complained, pulling at her bound arms. "It'll go to voicemail in a minute." No doubt Rhys was wondering where she was. They were having Big Dave and his wife round for dinner that night and Rhys always liked to check the menu with her even though he did most of the cooking.

"It better."

Owen saw an opening. "It might be better to answer it. Could be the paper trying to find out what's happened to us." He had grown to like the idea of being a newspaper reporter – move over Clark Kent!

With a grunt, Wallswell grabbed Gwen and patted her down until he found the mobile in her jeans pocket. The ringing stopped just as he got it out. "Huh." He flung it into her lap and went back to looking over the wall. The booze was making him sleepy and he fought to keep himself awake. "Why'd they send four of you?" he asked.

"Overkill, you know the sort of thing," said Owen blithely. "Tosh and I have been working on the Torchwood story together. Ianto there is the photographer and Gwen's a newbie who's shadowing us, learning the ropes." He smirked at Gwen's expression.

"I am not!" she protested.

"Don't try and deny it, sweetheart. She's got the hots for me too," he added with a wink.

"You are such a load of crap." She addressed Wallswell, sensing an opening. "Actually, sir, I'm investigating the death of a young girl. Rebecca Carpenter."

"Becky? Becky's dead?" Wallswell looked stunned.

"Murdered two days ago. I believe you knew her."

"She's my daughter. Little Becky." He sat staring into the distance. That didn't make sense, no one at Torchwood had a family although there were rumours that Jack had had a wife and daughter who had gone into hiding to get away from him. And yet … and yet it felt right to call Becky his daughter. He could see her performing on stage, running in the garden, sitting on his knee. He must have a daughter to remember these things and to feel this way about her but that didn't make sense …

"What was she like growing up, sir?" pressed Gwen. "She was beautiful so I guess all the boys were after her."

"Boys? I …" He couldn't remember a grown woman. His Becky was a child. "No, no." He shook his head. He was John Graham Wallswell, sergeant in the Gloucesters and now a Torchwood operative. There was no Becky. He was here to protect Cardiff from aliens, from the Jizm'll Horde.

"Can't believe that," went on Gwen. "She was way too pretty to be a wallflower. Clever too. Don't get into university without brains."

"Gwen, that's enough," said Owen softly. Wallswell was getting agitated and they didn't want him any more confused that he already was.

She decided to carry on. "You need to have your say, put your side of things in the paper. I can do that for you, John. You don't want her stepfather to hog the limelight, do you?"

"Shut up!" Wallswell was on his feet again, blaster pointed at Gwen. "Shut up, you bitch! Shut up!"

"That's no way to talk to a lady, Wally." The American drawl was familiar. "Time to go. Karen's called us back."

Ianto twisted and stared up at the tall figure leaning against the lift housing. It was Jack! Jack was here! Jack was better! Ianto's black mood lifted instantly. Toshiko almost fell over trying to get a good look at him. Beside her, Owen felt his spirits rise; you could rely on Jack to do the unexpected. Gwen was similarly happy to see her boss and smiled up at him. No one should ever write him off. Her smile faltered when she saw the strain around his eyes. He was not his old self, at least not yet. Looking more closely, she spotted a dark figure hidden behind him and opened her mouth to warn him.

"About time. Got the Horde?" Wallswell let the blaster hang loosely from one hand.

In an instant, Andy Davidson leapt out from the other side of the lift housing coming up behind Wallswell. He activated the stun gun. Wallswell arched his back, shuddered and fell to the ground partly over Ianto's legs. Panting but grinning with success, Andy looked round at the bound Torchwood team.

"How the mighty are fallen!" he crowed. His mouth fell open when he saw Owen alive and well.

At that moment, Jack's knees gave way and he crumpled to the ground. His descent was more graceful than Wallswell's as WPC Pam Jones kept hold of Jack's greatcoat and helped steady him. His greater weight pulled her down with him and she sank to her knees behind him, holding him against her chest. Jack was conscious but had closed his eyes and had both hands pressed to the sides of his head. He was obviously in pain.

"Jack!" screamed Ianto, frantically shuffling on his bottom to reach him. "Jack!"

Gwen took it all in and effortlessly took control of the situation. "Andy, untie Ianto. Now!" She waited until her former partner had sliced through the ropes. "Now us."

Ignoring everything and everyone else, Ianto went to Jack. He pushed the female police officer out of the way and took Jack in his arms, rocking him back and fro. As they rocked, he hummed softly just as he did when Jack came back from dying. He had no idea if it helped Jack, he had never asked, but it helped him. "You're safe, sir. You're safe," he murmured. He kissed the top of his head.

Rubbing sore wrists, Gwen took a moment to watch them. They were closer than she had imagined for Ianto to be so open. Turning away from them, she surveyed the scene. First task was to secure Wallswell and get him to the Hub. What they would do with him after that she had no idea but he clearly couldn't be allowed to roam around on his own. They needed the SUV brought closer and … She suddenly remembered the Krittenack was in the vehicle waiting to be neutralised.

"Tosh, we need to stop the Krittenack changing shape. Can you –"

"That's done. I put the small emitter under the SUV. Should last another couple of hours or so," said Ianto.

"Well done, Ianto. We need to get it and all this," she waved at Wallswell and the weapons, "out of here like now. Tosh, you take as much as you can carry. Andy and his friend will help you. Check the emitter then bring the SUV close as you can. Owen and I'll be down with the rest."

"Hang on just a minute," protested Andy. "That man is a murderer. This is all evidence."

"And we're Torchwood. Don't make me say it, Andy." They stood facing one another. She hated pulling rank with him but she would do it.

He sighed accepting the inevitable. No matter that he had rescued them, they would always exclude him. "You'll make sure he's not back on the streets?"

"Word of honour." She smiled sympathetically; he was a good guy.

"I don't like it, Gwen. It's not right, but I'll do it." He bent and picked up the defabricator gun. "And what's this when it's at home?"

"Just carry it, Andy. No questions." She turned to Owen who was kneeling by Wallswell. "He okay to be moved?"

"Yeah. What the hell do we do with him?" He handcuffed the unconscious man; no need to take chances.

"No idea. Just get him to the Hub for now, we can decide that later." She helped Owen get the heavier man over his shoulder and saw him on his way, trailing behind Toshiko and the two police officers.

They would need another couple of trips to gather up the rest of the guns and equipment so she took a moment to kneel by Jack and Ianto. "How is he?"

"Ask him," said Ianto with a rueful sigh.

"Okay," breathed Jack. "Killing headache."

"Need anything? There's water if you want a drink." she offered.

"Give some to the cops," Jack muttered. His immortal body was mending his brain but it was taking a long time and was more painful than coming back from the dead. It had taken considerable willpower to stay on his feet as long as he had and to speak normally. Closing his eyes he burrowed further against Ianto.

"Okay. We'll need to move him soon," she said to Ianto. "Once we've loaded up, I'll have to tell DCI Hewitt he can come back into the area. The place will be swarming." Someone would be needed to clear the remaining bodies and to make Waterstone's shop safe before opening up the area to shop owners. That reminded her to check the cover story Ianto had started, a gas explosion if she remembered correctly. As for the gunman, she'd tell Hewitt he was in Torchwood's custody and no longer a threat. That should do him.

"Another few minutes. Facing down Wallswell took it out of him." Ianto wasn't sure how he knew this, Jack had not said much, but thought it was a safe guess.

"Okay." She stood up. "How did you get here?"

"My car. It was parked by the barrier. Can you, or Andy maybe, he knows where it is, bring it downstairs? I'll help Jack down soon as he's ready." He fished the keys out his pocket.

"Okay. I'll take some of this down now."

When she had gone, Ianto shifted to relieve the pressure on his left leg, bent underneath him. "I'm so glad you're back with us, sir. I missed you. Seems a long time since you took me in the hallway." It was less than twenty-four hours but seemed a lifetime ago.

"Good, wasn't it?" said Jack. The headache was now a continuous throbbing with random bursts of pain. Manageable if he didn't move too much.

"So-so. I think you could do better if you tried."

"Damn right, I can. You been looking after me?"

"Uh-huh. You were a messy patient. Dribble everywhere."

"Sorry."

"Oh, I don't mind wiping up after you. I'm used to it."

"Not what I meant. Sorry for worrying you."

Tears pricked the back of Ianto's eyes and he blinked them away. Jack did not show concern or affection often and this was more than Ianto had expected. The two men sat in silence for a few more minutes until Owen reappeared for more of the equipment.

Yay, Jack and Andy to the rescue. Just the clear up to sort out now ...