Chapter 38

The sound of shots being fired echoed loudly in the tunnel and brought Jack's heart to his mouth. Unfortunately the echoes in the caverns, coupled with the sounds being made by his own boots pounding on the rocky substrate, hadn't allow him to distinguish clearly how many shots had been fired and if they were from the same weapon or different ones. He failed to control the rising panic and any caution was thrown to the wind as ran even faster, until he rounded a corner to see Ianto pinned to the ground by a dark suited man, who had a foot firmly planted in the small of his back, whilst holding a gun to his head.

Jack drew his own Webley and aimed it directly at the man threatening Ianto.

"Put that gun down, now!" he yelled frantically. He couldn't see Ianto's face, but he could see his arm out stretched, grasping for purchase on his own gun that was just out of reach. He had been too busy focusing on Ianto to notice that there were others in the tunnel around him, until he heard a whimper from behind him.

Keeping his gun aimed at the man in front of him, Jack backed up so that he could steal a quick glance to catch sight of three men in the darkness, barely lit by the LED lamps attached to the head sets they all seemed to be wearing. There appeared to be a body lying crumpled in a heap, one man crouched over it, his hand pressed hard against a shoulder wound, blood seeping between the fingers. It looked as though Ianto had fired at least one shot. But Jack was sure he'd heard more than one shot ring out; he looked back in front of him, trying desperately to see if Ianto had been hit. In the darkness and sharp shadows it was impossible to tell if there was any blood coming from underneath his prone body.

In his anxiety to determine whether or not Ianto had been shot, Jack's concentration slipped for long enough for one of the men behind him to step out of the shadows, and press his weapon to the back of Jack's head.

The man restraining Ianto grabbed a handful of hair and jerked his head up, jamming his gun against his temple, so that any pressure on the trigger would result in the young man's brains being blown out.

"Do you think you can stop all of us? Without risking his life?"

"Please put your weapon down or I shall have my colleague incapacitate him." The instruction came from the man holding a gun to Jack's head. "Despite instructions to bring him back alive, there's nothing to rule out an accidental injury, or two. If you know what I mean?"

Jack had no choice but to go along with the instructions from the man in the shadows, not with Ianto's life in the balance. He put the safety back on and let his gun drop to the floor. He then received a sharp kick to the back of his legs, causing him to fall to his knees.

"Put your hands on the back of your head, please."

Jack went along with this for now, he had yet to even see Ianto's face properly, he didn't know if he was conscious or not, whether or not he had sustained any further injuries. He couldn't help but be worried; however, these concerns were only amplified as he heard the man behind him report in to his superior.

"The two intruders detected have been apprehended, sir… Yes, one of them is Jones and the other is Harkness… yes, sir, I'll have them escorted to the reception hut straight away… Barnes was hit, sir, substantial blood loss… no, he's not mobile. What are your orders? Affirmative, sir."

Jack almost got whiplash as he spun his head round at the sound of a gun being fired. For one dreadful moment he though that their captors had changed their minds and had shot Ianto after all. Then he caught sight of the slumped body on the ground behind him, the shoulder wound no longer troubling him, the bullet hole in his forehead having sealed his fate. The man who had coldly executed an associate turned to Jack, his expression betraying no emotion at all. The one who had been attending the injured man impassively wiped the blood from his hands on his jacket and then walked over towards Ianto.

"I won't hesitate to shoot either of you if you fail to co-operate, or order my colleagues to do so on my behalf. So I do hope you choose to come along quietly."

Jack felt his arms being pulled behind his back and tightly bound with what felt like nylon twine, from past experience he knew that any struggles would only cause the twine to cut into his wrists. He watched on helplessly as Ianto had his wrists tied behind his back in the same manner, before being dragged to his feet. That's when Jack saw the scratches across his face, oozing blood and dark with particles of grit from the ground that had become embedded in the abrasions. Ianto had the good grace to look sheepishly at Jack as he caught his glare.

"You OK?" Jack asked gruffly. Although he was pissed off with the stunt that Ianto had pulled, he was also relieved that there were no signs of any other injuries.

"Was trying to buy you time, looks like you decided to pass on it."

Jack picked up on what Ianto was trying to say; although he suspected that Ianto had intended for him to make a break for it along with Gwen and Owen, he was now trying to salvage the situation by getting their captors to believe that they were on their own. His decision to come after Ianto however, also made it abundantly clear that he was now working with Jack and probably always had been. That could only make things more difficult for Ianto.

Jack could hardly put into words what he wanted to say to Ianto out loud, so he hoped to convey it in a single look, one that said 'never leaving you behind, will always come back for you'. He was rewarded with a shy smile that acknowledged the sentiment and expressed gratitude. The exchange was brief, but enough for both of them to know where they stood.

Ianto was pushed ahead first, made to walk in front of Jack. They walked in silence, both trying to memorise the route, so that perhaps they could make it back the way they had come should they get the opportunity to escape.

They were eventually led into the same hut where Ianto had been questioned before. Apart from a few dried blood stains on the floor, it looked just the same as it had when Jack had rescued Ianto. The bright lights inside made both men blink as their eyes grew accustomed to the change in lighting. Jack watched Ianto carefully, gauging his reactions and didn't like what he saw. This wasn't good, not good at all.

They were pushed down into chairs and held firmly in place by the two of the dark suited men that had accompanied them through the caves. From out of the corner of his eye, Jack could see a light sheen of sweat on Ianto's forehead, the muscles in his jaw clenched tight, he wasn't surprised, after all this was exactly where he would have been shown the images from Lisa's cyberised memories.

"Ianto?" Jack whispered softly. He could see how the adrenaline was affecting him, he was swallowing hard and breathing faster.

"I'll be fine, Jack." Ianto wished he could believe that, but he felt obliged to speak the words of glib reassurance, despite knowing that Jack would see through the untruth.

The door opened behind them, and although Jack was unable to turn to see who had made an appearance, he was not surprised to hear a familiar voice.

"Good of you to join us, Captain Harkness and for your assistance in providing answers to some of our questions, ones that Mr Jones tried to evade. You nearly had us fooled for a while. Letting us think your ever loyal servant would betray you. But now we know for certain that you own him, body and soul by all accounts. A pity, as that shall be the downfall of you both."

"Gates – I'd say it was a pleasure, but it isn't."

"Likewise, you have now murdered a number of my colleagues – I am assuming that it was you that shot poor, demented Morgan? And the two on guard?"

"The guards got in my way, unfortunately for them. As for Morgan, my only regret was not making his a slow and painful death. I showed him more mercy than he deserved."

"Oh dear, I am sorry that's the way you feel. You see we're still prepared to negotiate, to strike a deal. You let us keep Mr Jones and we'll leave you and Torchwood Three alone, for now."

"No deal." The mention of Torchwood Three made Jack think of Gwen and Owen, he hoped they'd got away; otherwise Ianto's noble gesture would have been for nothing.

"We could just kill you and keep him, but I'd like to explore the options. There's a job here for Mr Jones, one that he possesses a unique skill set for."

"And I'd be desperate to work with you on account of your hospitality and warm welcome?" Ianto frowned in disbelief at the assumption that Gates was making.

Gates had moved to stand next to Ianto, giving him an appraising look as if he had a card up his sleeve that he had yet to reveal. Ianto wondered where the hell this was all going to end and whether or not he'd even have the opportunity to pursue his own agenda. There was something he'd come to realise that he needed to do and he knew that he couldn't allow either Gates or Jack to find out, neither would be happy about it, but for very different reasons.

"What the hell do you want him for?" demanded Jack. He'd caught the look on Ianto's face, the way he had caught his lip between his teeth, his eyes slightly unfocused, he was up to something. The image of Ianto running off down the tunnel, after having virtually kissed him goodbye, came back to haunt Jack. It dawned on him that Ianto had fully intended to allow himself to be caught and that scared him.

Fortunately, Gates was unaware of the subtext and his smugness at having captured both Ianto and Jack made him bold. He had them exactly where he wanted them and it was time to let them in on some of his plans. After all, what could they possibly do now?

"Mr Jones kept a partially converted Cyberman alive after the Battle of Canary Wharf. We could use those skills. He also managed to remove a substantial amount of equipment from under the eyes of both the prime enemy of the Torchwood Institute and you, the lackey of said enemy."

"Are you talking about the Doctor?" asked Jack incredulously. "He's not the enemy!"

"Not yours obviously. But he is the enemy of Torchwood, as enshrined in the original mission statement of 1879. As detailed by Her Imperial Majesty Queen Victoria."

"She is dead you know?" Jack was reminded of his past experiences with the original Torchwood and was having his fears for the sanity of their captors confirmed.

"The Torchwood Institute was brought into existence for the sole purpose of protecting her Empire from alien forces. We have failed to do so in the past, but now we have the weapons at our disposal to reclaim that Empire and to ensure its security."

"You're fucking power mad!" It was now the turn of Ianto's memories of Torchwood London to be triggered, in particular the use of alien weaponry to destroy the Sycorax colony ship.

"And now The Queen claims your servant, as is the right in the original charter. Those that signed the contract at Torchwood in London swore an oath of allegiance to the Queen and that cannot be recanted."

"I don't have my people swear that out-dated oath-" Jack spat, getting angrier by the minute.

"Yes, but Mr Jones worked for us first, he is ours and we're taking him back. The Queen reclaims her own. If he refuses, he will be guilty of treason and this time we shall not hesitate to have him executed."