Chapter 21

"No! No! This can't be happening!" Jack yelled.

"Jack – what is it? What's happened?" Ianto demanded as he clambered up from Jack's sleeping area. He'd pulled on the green cords but that was all he was wearing, the tee shirt he had been wearing was crumpled on the floor and he didn't have time to find anything else.

"They've let that bastard free! He's probably on his way out of the damn country by now!"

"Who? Which one?"

"The Australian – the scientist. I don't understand it - Torchwood jurisdiction determines that any person placed in custody at our request is exempt from all bail applications!" Jack was pacing up and down, making violent hand gestures. Ianto needed to calm him down.

"Right then, let's deal with the details. Where from? Cardiff or Swansea? When was he released?" Although Ianto was tempted to scream out loud himself, he knew that one of them had to start thinking rationally if there was to be any chance of tracing the released Australian.

"I don't know - the message was from South Wales Police – didn't say where. Listen to the message yourself." Jack pointed in the direction of his desk momentarily confused by the absence of the phone.

"I would Jack, but the phone appears to have thrown itself at the walls." Ianto sunk down onto the sofa. Jack sat next to him, taking his hand and wondered if he should tell him the rest of the bad news, and just to prove Owen wrong he did.

"Copley, his name is Philip Copley."

"Shit. So there is a possibility that he could be related to the Copley that ran the Pharm." Ianto could now appreciate the outburst he'd heard earlier.

"You know what I think about coincidences Ianto-" Jack looked directly into Ianto's eyes as he left the sentence unfinished. They all knew that Jack was a non-believer in the concept of coincidence.

"OK – taking that to its logical conclusion, then he's probably Aaron Copley's younger brother seeking bloody revenge. Oh shit, if that's the case, then I really am in trouble aren't I?" Ianto rubbed his free hand over his face.

"Hey there, we'll find him, I promise you. I will find him." Jack pulled Ianto into a hug, wishing he was as confident as he tried to sound.

"Right then, let's not waste any more time, fetch me your mobile and I'll get in touch with my contacts at South Wales Police and see what I can find out, the old fashioned way, you know, by talking to people nicely..."

"Good idea, I doubt if I could do diplomacy right now." Jack was grateful for Ianto's offer to talk to the idiots who'd let Copley free, if he had his way he'd let his fists do the talking, which probably wouldn't do anyone any good. Ianto would talk to them in his polite, calm voice and hopefully get some information that they could act on.

"Oh and Jack – why don't you go find something from the kitchen for us to eat and drink, I would go but I'm confined to your quarters."

"You know what? I rather like the idea of you being confined to my quarters."

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"OK – I've got fruit juice, some leftover sandwiches and some pastries that I think Tosh meant for us to eat for breakfast. I was going to make coffee, but- "

"I would love some coffee. But you thought right, I might suffer a relapse if you touched the coffee machine."

"So, any luck with your contacts?"

"Yep, Copley was released from Cardiff Central Police Station last night, someone from the embassy turned up with the relevant papers authorising his release. They both left by taxi. I've got the name of the taxi company, so we can find out where they got dropped off."

"Good – that's a start." Jack spoke with his mouth full of croissant, which caused Ianto to roll his eyes in dismay.

"Also I found out that the other man, the hired muscle," Ianto winced slightly, rubbing a bruise on his face as he remembered his encounter with the man at the farmhouse. "He's still being held. Name is Colin Thomas. My contact suggested that if we wanted to interview him, that we did so before eleven o'clock this morning, as that's when he's due to meet with his brief."

"Right – I think I'll take Owen with me to have a chat with Mr Thomas –"

"Oh yes, you might want to avoid any further physical contact with him. I've only just managed to persuade the constabulary of South Wales that any charges of assault levelled at you and Owen would not stick." Ianto took a sip of the fruit juice, all this talking had made his throat rather sore.

"The bastards weren't going to try that?" Jack almost spat out a mouthful of crumbs in his indignation.

"Apparently Copley was considering it. But I can't see him coming in to give a statement somehow."

"OK – time to call in Tosh and Owen." Jack wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and swigged a few gulps of juice straight from the carton.

"Do you think you could ask Tosh to bring in some coffee?" Ianto felt as though he was suffering from caffeine withdrawal symptoms, if the headache lurking in his skull was any indication.

"Good idea! Anything else?"

"I'm going to need some stuff from my flat eventually. Clothes maybe, unless you intend to keep me confined to your office naked."

"Oh, now that idea really appeals to me." Jack's face lit up as he pondered that possibility, already appreciating a semi-naked Ianto on the sofa with pastry flakes caught in his chest hair. However, there was work to do and he turned quickly to head down the stairs into the main area of the hub to call Tosh and Owen, away from distractions.

Ianto smiled at the suggestive smirk on Jack's face, maybe they could get through this after all. However, this thought fled rapidly as a stabbing pain suddenly shot through his head. He realised that he was clutching his head as the peripheries of his vision began to blur and become darker, blackness reaching into the edges of his field of view.

Luckily Jack had already left the office before this happened. Ianto could hear his booming voice from where he sat, even through the cotton wool that seemed to be filling his ears. He took a deep breath, sat back into the cushions on the sofa and decided that he was not going to let Jack know. He needed to be looking at the wider picture and although Ianto loved it when Jack gave him his undivided attention, he knew that Torchwood could not afford for Jack to be distracted, there was too much at stake.

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