Chapter warning: Graphic depiction of attempted rape.
Just as Methos and Duncan were leaving the flat, across the city on the twentieth floor of the old Torchwood Tower at Canary Wharf, Miranda Ryan let out a soft groan.
"Don't try and struggle," said a voice.
Miranda lifted her head. She was in what she assumed was Brogen's office at Canary Wharf. She was sitting in a wooden chair, her wrists were secured to the arms of the chair with handcuffs. She was still wearing her scrubs from work. Her memory was fuzzy. She'd been called in to examine a man with a cut on his head. It hadn't been deep but when she'd turned away to reach for an instrument, the man had jumped her. She vaguely remembered the prick of a needle in her neck. She looked around for the source of the voice and saw Carl Brogen. Unlike her, Ianto was restrained at the wrists and ankles. He was still unconscious.
She took a breath to calm her anger. Brogen wasn't aware she was immortal. Ianto's presence would be masking her own. Brogen had no idea who or what she was. He thought she was mortal, ignorant of aliens and Ianto's true nature. She needed to have him continue his assumptions.
"What… what do you want?" she asked, feigning fear. She didn't think it sounded very convincing. She'd never been a very good actress.
Brogen said, "Hartman always said you people at Three were half wits. Isn't this proof positive?"
Miranda wondered if she'd be able to make herself cry. Probably not… "Three what? I don't know what you're talking about! Let us go… we won't tell anyone…"
Brogen strode forward with a gun in his hand. He grabbed a fistful of Miranda's hair and snapped her head back. When he pressed the gun to her temple, Miranda forced out the appropriate scream.
"DROP THE ACT!" Brogen shouted into her ear. He pointed the gun at Ianto. "I know you're Torchwood Three and when that sodomite wakes up, I'm going to let him watch while me and my friends over there use you till you're bloody jerky. Me first though, sloppy seconds and all that. I want him to hear every scream and, oh, I do know you're a screamer."
Brogen snickered and then whistled at one of the mercenaries who tossed him a buck knife. He waggled the knife a few inches in front of her face.
"Then I'm going to cut you, nice and slow, and then when you're dead, I'm going to start in on him," Brogen said slowly. He pointed the knife at Ianto's still unconscious form, slumped forward in the chair. He dropped his voice to a whisper so the mercenaries couldn't hear him. "I'm going to flay him alive; skin him like a piece of game I am. Then I'm going to let him heal and do it all over again until he begs me to take his head."
He ran the knife along her jaw. "When you're both dead, I'm going to cut the two of you into so many fucking pieces, Harkness is going to have to squeegee you out of the fucking carpet to put you into a drawer at Three."
Ianto let out a low groan and Brogen smiled. He crossed over to Ianto and slapped him hard across the cheek. Ianto's head snapped up and he looked around, his eyes widening when he saw Miranda restrained next to him.
"You bastard! Let her go!" Ianto shouted.
"Awake at last," Brogen said, spreading his arms. "'Have they not divided the prey? To every man a damsel or two…'"
Ianto started to struggle against the cuffs binding him to the chair, nearly tipping it. They needed to buy time. Ianto had no idea how long he'd been out but it had to have been long enough that the rest of the team would be here shortly. He knew that Miranda wasn't in any real danger, she could tear Brogen limb from limb.
"I swear to God, if you hurt her…" Ianto threatened.
"You'll what Jones? You're not in a position to make threats," Brogen said, drawing his sword from his coat. The other men looking confused by its appearance. He laid the blade against Ianto's neck. Ianto drew in a single breath, afraid. "'… and the city will be captured, the houses plundered… women ravished…'"
Miranda screamed and started to struggle. The cuffs holding her to the chair held firm but Ianto knew she was just trying to draw attention away from him to herself.
Brogen leaned in, whispering in Ianto's ear. "When I've used her up and left her an empty shell, I'll do the same to you."
He turned away from Ianto, leaning the blade against his desk. He drew his gun and pressed it to Miranda's head and then whistled. One of the mercenaries stepped forward, uncuffing Miranda from the chair and dragging her to her feet by her hair. They cuffed her arms behind her back.
"You bastard!" Ianto shouted.
"Now, now, keep quiet, Jones. We're getting acquainted here," Brogen sneered. He grabbed either side of the v-neck of her scrubs with both hands and yanked. The cloth gave way and Miranda let out the appropriate scream.
"Don't touch her!" Ianto snarled.
"Oh, don't worry, she's gotten the synopsis already. Don't want to spoil the plot for you," Brogen sneered. "Without giving too much away, the second part is where I knock your little tart's teeth out and shove my cock down her throat."
Ianto was yelling and cursing from where he was restrained. He'd struggled so much that he'd tipped his chair. He couldn't let this happen. Buying time or not, there was no way he'd sit here and watch while they assaulted her. He saw something shine on the floor by his hand… a paperclip. He caught Miranda's eye, glancing at the paperclip and back up at her. She knew what he needed. Time.
Miranda struggled and Brogen dug the gun into her head again, "Don't. Fucking. Move."
Brogen pushed Miranda onto the desk, face down. She could no longer see Ianto or whether his efforts to pick his handcuffs were successful. The men weren't paying attention to Ianto at all. They were focused on her prize.
She felt cold metal against her skin. Brogen was cutting off her clothing. She started to struggle. He grabbed a handful of her hair, pulling her up and laying the knife against her throat.
"What the fuck did I say?" he said as he slammed her back down onto the table. Miranda pretended the move had stunned her.
The sound of the sniggering men and ripping cloth echoed in the room. Miranda couldn't turn her head and had no idea how much progress Ianto had made. She struggled, but not enough to incite Brogen's anger. He was certainly taking his time and that didn't bother Miranda one bit. By the time Brogen had stripped her down to her knickers, Ianto still wasn't free. Miranda bucked, struggling to delay further. Brogen picked up his gun and pressed the barrel to Miranda's leg and pulled the trigger. She screamed, blood trickling from the wound.
"Naughty, naughty," he said. "Now hold still."
The tip of the buck knife sliced Miranda's knickers from her and the ruined cloth dropped to the office rug. She was now completely nude, her hands cuffed behind her back. Miranda felt Brogen's cock sliding up and down the cleft of her arse. She shifted and saw the mercenaries fondling themselves through their jeans. She twisted under the guise of struggling again so she could catch a glimpse of Ianto. He was nearly free but there was no more time. She couldn't wait any longer. There was no way she would allow Brogen to assault her. The bullet was still lodged in her leg. It would take longer to heal than a through and through wound as the healing flesh pushed the bullet out. She didn't have time to wait for it to heal completely. It was nearly the right moment, the moment that would give Miranda the opportunity she needed. Brogen stepped back, lining himself up and Miranda brought the heel of her foot up, kicking Brogen square in the balls. With a howl, he fell backwards.
Miranda used the moment's distraction to jump off the desk. She dropped to a crouch and brought her cuffed hands under her buttocks, rolling forwards. Her hands now in front of her, she grabbed the gun off the desk, whirled and shot one of the mercenaries. The bullet landed square in his chest. She shifted her aim and shot the other mercenary in the chest as well. As they fell to the ground, Brogen was heading for the door, holding his trousers up with one hand. Miranda took careful aim and fired, the bullet ending up in his leg.
Nude, she strode over to him, limping a bit on her injured leg. She seized Brogen by the ankle and dragged him from the doorway. She fisted her hand in his hair, yanking his eyes level with the bullet wound in her leg. Fear blossomed in Brogen's eyes as he watched the wound heal itself and close, the bullet falling to the floor with a plink onto the carpet.
"A deadly error, Herr de Brugge. The Highlander is not the Welshman's teacher. I am. And I am not as honourable as he," Miranda said, pleased when Brogen blanched. She lifted the gun, pressed the barrel to Brogen's forehead and said, "There can be only one."
She pulled the trigger, killing him instantly. With cold precision, she walked over to the mercenaries and, after putting bullets between their eyes, located the key to the handcuffs. She uncuffed herself and then went to free Ianto. He had mostly freed himself already. She handed him the key and then crossed over to Brogen's corpse, turning the man over. Disgust filled her.
Initially, she'd intended to challenge Brogen properly, honourably. Now, the situation had changed. She and Ianto were alone, high above Canary Wharf in the old Torchwood Tower away from the prying eyes of the Watchers. This couldn't have worked out better if she'd planned it. Ianto could now take Brogen's head, earning his first quickening without the danger of a true challenge. With the Watchers ignorant of Ianto taking his place on the scoreboard and with a quickening already in his veins, Ianto would gain a slight edge when his training was complete. Yes, it was a bit underhanded - well a lot underhanded - but it didn't break the fundamental rules of the Game, merely bent some of the secondary ones. By taking Brogen's head now, they also lowered his chances of survival completely to zero. Miranda picked up Brogen's blade and tossed it in Ianto's direction. Ianto caught it by the hilt, staring at it dumbly.
"He's yours," Miranda said gesturing down at Brogen's prone body. "Time to get on the scoreboard, Ifan."
"He's dead and unarmed, Mandy," Ianto said, gaping at his teacher open mouthed.
"I told you, we cannot allow him to fall into UNIT hands," she insisted.
Ianto continued to gape at her. There had to be another way. It was one thing for Ianto or Miranda to face Brogen head on in a fair fight. It was an entirely different thing for Ianto to kill this unarmed and unconscious man. Ianto couldn't believe this was what things had become for him. Was Miranda really asking this of him? Was this some sort of test? He dropped the blade to the floor.
"No," he said. "I won't kill a man who can't defend himself."
"Fine," Miranda said. She walked over to him and picked the blade up off the floor. She raised it up over her head. He couldn't allow it. He reached out and grabbed her arm.
"Don't!" he said.
She shrugged him off, shoving him aside. "You dare interfere?"
"This isn't a challenge, Mandy! He's defenseless," he insisted. "Wait for him to revive and then challenge him!"
Her motivations that had roots in the Game, Ianto would never agree with. He was simply too young. He wouldn't understand. Her motivations that stemmed from their mission, those she could possibly get him to agree with.
"We don't have time for this, Ifan. We need to ensure that he has no chance for escape. His life must end."
"You'd have his head in four seconds flat!" Ianto shouted over her.
"You do not know that. Do you know why I left Torchwood in aught five?" she asked.
"Jack interfered."
"Yes, do you know why he interfered? Because fortune did not favour me that night. I slipped on a broken beer bottle. I lost my footing and the man I was fighting would have had me had Jack not intervened. Sometimes, Ifan, no matter how hard you train, no matter how careful you are, you still die! I cannot and will not give Carl Brogen a chance, however slim, to take my head, gain the quickening of a four thousand year old immortal and then vanish into the night!" she snapped and then turned away from her student, lifting the sword again. "This isn't an honourable way to kill but we have no choice."
Ianto bent down and picked the gun up off the floor. "There's always a choice, Mandy."
He lifted the gun, turned and aimed.
"IANTO!" she screamed holding her hands out in front of her, reflexively. Ianto's bullet went through her right eye and blew out the back of her head. She fell to the floor in a heap but she would recovered quickly from a single gunshot wound to the head. He leaned over her. I'm sorry… and emptied the entire clip into her chest and belly. The extra wounds would buy him more time.
Ianto bent and began searching Brogen's corpse, locating the man's car keys in his pocket. He cuffed Brogen's hands behind him and picked him up, slinging him over his shoulder, making sure to grab the sword as he left. He took the lift to the underground car park and started pressing the buttons on Brogen's key searching for his car. He heard the beep of the car alarm and swerved towards it, locating the car with ease. After securing Brogen into the passenger seat, he drove for the car park's exit. He'd have to stop across town at the flat for his own sword but he had no choice. Suddenly, he saw Duncan and Methos drive past him, entering the car park just as he was leaving… was that his car?
He slammed his hand into the horn and stopped the car. He got out, waving his arms. The other car screeched to a halt and the two other immortals got out.
"Ianto!" Duncan shouted as he jogged over to him. "What's happened? Where's Mao-Lin?"
"She's waiting to revive upstairs," he said. "The twentieth floor."
Methos was standing next to the car, his hand resting on the car's roof with a gun in it. Ianto recognised the weapon - a standard issue Torchwood sidearm. It was from the field box in their flat!
"Do you have my sword?" Ianto asked. He couldn't believe his luck.
Duncan nodded and jogged back towards the car. He opened the back seat revealing the two cylindrical cases. Ianto took out one of them and opened it. It was his longsword.
"See to Mandy. I have to take care of something," he said, vaguely.
"Ianto, don't do anything stupid," Methos said. "Your team is on their way."
"You talked to Jack?" Ianto asked.
Methos nodded. "I just spoke with him. He's on his way with the others. They should be here shortly."
Ianto swallowed on a dry throat. "Tell him I love him."
Without another word, he turned and ran for Brogen's car. The two other immortals caught sight of Brogen in the passenger seat.
"IANTO! DON'T!" Duncan and Methos both shouted simultaneously.
Ianto ignored them, got back into the car and sped off. Duncan got back into Ianto's car and was about to pursue him when Methos laid a hand on his arm.
"Mac, you can't," Methos said, sadly.
Duncan hit the steering wheel with his palms. "I know!"
With an angry sigh, he slammed his palms against the steering wheel again. After taking a few deep breaths, he drove across the car park towards the lifts. They parked the car and got out, taking the lift up to the correct floor. Duncan's breath was still heaving in anger the entire ride up. They bolted through the doors and started searching every room. They found Miranda quickly, laying on the floor in a pool of blood and brain. Methos bent down, gathering her nude body into his arms. The wounds had mostly healed. It wasn't much longer before Miranda convulsed and screamed. She flailed against Methos's arms.
"Mei-Xiu!" Methos shouted as he cradled her against him.
"Methos?" she gasped, turning. "Ifan? Where is he?"
"He's gone. I don't know where," Methos said.
"We have to follow him. He took Brogen. He's going to challenge him. He's not ready! He'll be killed!" she cried, trying to get to her feet.
Duncan removed his coat and held it out to her. "You can't interfere, Mao-Lin."
She rounded on him. Her voice was full of venom. "Do not presume to tell me what I can and cannot do, Highlander!"
"It's against the rules, Mao-Lin," he said sadly. "Only one immortal may challenge another. Once the challenge has begun, another cannot interfere."
"He hasn't challenged him yet!" she bellowed.
"You know he is right, my darling," Methos said, sadly, "and by the time you get there, it will be too late and you would be forced to stand by and watch."
With a cry of rage, Miranda grabbed the chair Ianto had been restrained in and hurled it against the wall. She sank to her knees still screaming. She slammed her fists on the carpet, her chest heaving. The sound of footsteps reached their ears. All three immortals turned to the door.
"Tell me you sods are armed," she gasped, getting to her feet.
"What do you take me for?" Methos said with an eye roll. He tossed her a gun.
Miranda caught it and pointed it at the doorway. The door opened and there was no one.
"Ianto? Will? Don't shoot!" a tentative voice called out.
"Jack!" she cried. "It's safe. We're alone."
The entire team piled into the room behind Jack. Mickey and Martha both gaped at Miranda a bit. She bent down and picked up Duncan's coat and put it on.
"Where's Ianto?" Jack asked, his eyes frantically darting around the room.
"Jack…" Miranda started to say.
"WHERE IS HE?!" Jack snapped. He grabbed Miranda by the arms and shook her.
"He's not here, Jack," she said, softly.
"I can see that!" Jack shouted, waving his arm around the room.
"Your young Mr. Jones has done something rather foolish," Methos said, a smile on his face.
"METHOS!" Miranda snapped, her anger making her forget to use his alias. She started angrily hissing at him in some language that none of the others could understand.
"Captain Harkness? I'm Duncan MacLeod," Duncan said, stepping forward, trying to distract him.
"I don't care who you are. I want to know where Ianto is and I want to know now," Jack snapped as he opened up his wrist strap and tapped on the buttons. He was narrowing down Ianto's location.
"Jack, don't," Miranda pleaded, grabbing at Jack's arm. "He's challenged Brogen. You can't interfere! You promised, Jack!"
"Wrong, Will. I made that promise to you," Jack barked. He shook off Miranda's grip and started for the door.
"Jack, please!" Miranda begged, seizing Jack's arm. "You can't!"
Jack brought his fist up and it impacted squarely with her cheekbone again. She reeled backwards into Methos's arms. In a swirl of greatcoat, he was gone.
