Here's the final part to our hunt for Pirate treasure. I hope enjoy!
Next up: Jack faces a personal issue when one of the team decides to quit. What will he do to get them to stay?
bbmcowgirl: Those blowfish are very annoying! And i couldn't have a tresure story without Captain John, it wasn't possible. It just seemed like something he'd come for! Well, attack at the hub? You need a little Myfawny right?
Elanor16 & Lutherian: Glad you liked it guys!
Pirate Treasure 2
"Astra, would you mind telling us, why they're trying to kill us
"Astra, would you mind telling us, why they're trying to kill us?" Ianto asked.
"Because you know where you're going."
"Brilliant..." Taye muttered.
Jack interrupted, "Astra, do you have any idea where the building is that the final map corresponds to?"
"I'm still looking guys. I've pulled all the plans from the city, sewers, private properties with tunnels, basements, anything I could think of. The program is still running the comparison, but I should have something for you by morning with regards to that. I do have something interesting though and it might explain why everyone wants to kill us."
"We're listening," Gwen commented, leaning back on the bed in the hotel room.
"Well..." Astra started, but there was a knock at the hotel room door.
Jack said, "Hang on Astra."
Ianto stood and went to the door. He opened it, revealing a young guy in a pizza delivery uniform, "Order for Torchwood?" The boy said.
"How much do we owe you?" Ianto asked his Welsh accent considerably different against the kid's Irish accent.
"Thirty quid."
Ianto fished his wallet out from his pants pocket and handed the kid thirty quid, plus a tip. The kid handed of the pizza over, "Have a good night Mister!"
"Who's ordering under Torchwood?" Jack asked.
Gwen sighed, "Me..."
Ianto closed the door as the kid walked off. He put the pizza on the coffee table and they crowded round the table to eat, "Go on Astra," Ianto said.
"Is that pizza? Yum... I haven't eaten dinner yet..."
"Why not?" Jack asked, grabbing a slice.
"I just got home and you guys called me remember, but actually Shannon's parents are taking us out for dinner."
Ianto spoke up, "Where to?"
Through the web cast that they'd set up, they could see Astra bite her lip in thought, "Le Gaurdia's."
"That's an expensive place," Gwen commented, sitting down beside Jack, "What are you wearing?"
Astra frowned at them, "Guys, aren't we supposed to be talking about why Pirates are trying to kill you? Not my dinner arrangements."
Taye laughed, "We're just trying to help, how about you tell us about that something interesting you found while showing us the dress you're going to be wearing?"
"Who said anything about a dress?" She asked.
"You're not wearing a dress to Le Guardia's?" Jack asked, horrified.
"Just how fancy is this place?"
"Very!" Ianto confirmed.
They watched as Astra got up from her desk in her bedroom and disappeared off screen, but they could hear her talking to them, "On each of the maps, there was some text along the sides," The heard some rustling in a closest, "I've been running the text through the translator, It's sketchy, but it warns of danger, that the treasure is guarded, that the guards are unbeatable and they're either immortal or the treasure offers immortality, I'm not sure."
"Unbeatable alien guards, sounds fun..." Gwen said, less then enthusiastically.
Jack grinned, "Yeah it does!"
They heard Astra laugh, "Well, I'm running the text from the latest map, hopefully I'll have something for you by morning," She reappeared on screen carrying two dresses. She held one dress up, by the coat hanger in each hand. In the left, was a simple blue satin evening gown with spaghetti straps and looked to be about knee length. The one being held in her right and was a floor length Burgundy halter neck.
"Ohhh..." Gwen cooed looking at the dresses, "I like them both."
Jack leaned back in mock serious thought, "Can we see them on you?"
Astra glared at him, "No... I'm already taking too long... They're probably waiting for me already."
"The burgundy," Ianto said.
Taye nodded in agreement, "I agree."
"Ok, I'll wear the burgundy to dinner while go guys try to survive the night without getting killed."
"Deal," Jack said, "Just promise you'll show us?"
She sighed, "Fine!" The screen went black as she cut the web cast.
Gwen rolled her eyes, "You guys, it's not like she's got a hot date!"
Jack perked up, "Yeah, but when she does he'll have to go through me!"
Ianto nodded, "Me too," He reached over for another slice of pizza.
Taye laughed, "Poor guy's gonna wish he never met us!"
As they ate they turned their conversation back to the information she'd given them. They discussed the possible guardians that they could face, plans for what they'd do with the treasure. Stick it in the safe. Ten minutes passed until the laptop screen sprung to life again. Astra's face appeared.
"Ok, back."
"Let us see!" Jack insisted.
She nodded and stood back from the screen. She'd decided to wear her hair down with a clip holding it back on one side. The shoes she'd chosen matched the color of the dress and she had a black shawl. Jack whistled in agreement.
"Looking good there kiddo!" Taye said.
"I was right, that dress is stunning," Gwen commented.
Ianto smiled, "Have a good time."
"I will... And promise me you won't go hunting any aliens till tomorrow when I get to the hub? I'd hate for you guys to get killed out there!"
"Night Astra, we're going to grab some sleep. Any idea what time you'll be going in tomorrow?" Jack asked.
She grinned mischievously at them, "Well... I was thinking of sleeping in and..."
"Come on, seriously?" Jack asked.
"About six or seven, I'll call you when I get in," In the background, they could hear someone calling her name, "I gotta go, talk to you guys later... and thanks!" The screen went black.
"Ok, and we're going to get some sleep," Jack said. They said their good-nights and turned in for the night.
-T-O-R-C-H-W-O-O-D-
True to her word, at six thirty-seven am all their cell phones went off at once. Gwen buried her head under her pillow and mumbled something in Welsh, but the sound of four different ring tones didn't go away. Her arm reached out from under the blankets and banged around on the side table till she found the phone. Pressing the receive button, she pressed it to her ear...
Taye groaned, muttered something about early mornings and the Navy, then sat up in the floor cot. He looked around on the floor beside the cot for his phone. He tried looking at who was calling, but his eyes were still half closed with sleep, so he just pressed the phone to his ear and pressed receive...
Ianto rolled over in bed and felt Jack beside him. They'd won on getting the double, Gwen the single in the corner and Taye had been unlucky enough to get the cot that had been under Gwen's bed. He sat up and looked at Jack who was smiling, shaking his head, he grabbed his phone from the side table...
Jack couldn't help but laugh as he watched them wake up, the groans, the curses, the Welsh profanities. He didn't sleep often and he was glad he'd been awake to see this one. He'd been waiting for Astra to call and like the other's he raised his phone to his ear...
"What?" Gwen, Taye and Ianto groaned in unison, only to hear laughing on the other end.
"Good morning," Jack beamed enthusiastically, "Don't mind them, they're just grumpy about not getting their beauty sleep."
"Rise and shine sleepy heads you have treasure to find and what are you guys complaining about? I've been up since five-thirty. Luckily too, there were road works on the way here!"
Taye rubbed his eyes, "What's up Astra?"
Gwen looked at them, "Why's she so perky this morning?"
Jack just laughed, "Go on Astra."
"Ok, I found the tunnel system that matches the map we've got. It's so old it's not funny, it's below the sewer system even and there's only one place in Rossaveal that has access that low down."
"Where?" Ianto asked.
"Town Hall. Not sure how you're going to do it, but in the basement there's a door leading to a way down, but I can't find any information as to what that might be, you might want to scout that out first."
"Anything else?" Jack asked.
"Yeah, the translation from the map piece you sent me is back, it's broken like the others, but apparently the guardian is... 'Of water' I'm not sure what that means, but I have a search running through the database currently looking for any species with a high level of H2O, that look like water or come from planets that are mostly or all water. I'll let you know when I find something though."
"Ok," Jack said, "We'll check out the Town Hall."
They said their good-byes and Gwen looked at Jack, "Who told her we had conference call?"
"I might of," Ianto said, getting out of bed, "Let's grab something to eat then go to the town hall."
-T-O-R-C-H-W-O-O-D-
They grabbed coffee and sandwiches from a different diner from the day before and Ianto drove the SUV to the Town Hall, they ate on the way, with Ianto threatening all hell to break loose should he find crumbs in the SUV. They pulled up outside the Town Hall. The building didn't open till ten o'clock and it was just past seven. Getting out of the SUV, they split into two groups and checked the surrounds of the building. Jack and Ianto went to the right, Gwen and Taye to the left.
Jack and Ianto made their way along the side of the Rossaveal Town Hall, looking for a side entrance in. They didn't find one, but on the good side, they didn't run into trouble either. Gwen and Taye were also unsuccessful in finding a way in on their side, but as both teams round the corner to the back of the building they found a door. They met up in front of it.
"Anything? Jack asked.
Gwen shook her head, "You?"
"Nothing," Jack replied. He tapped his ear piece, "Do you know where we're going Astra?"
"Yeah, I've got a map of the building here, I'm sending it to Ianto's PDA. I've marked where the entrance to the basement is. After that, you'll be on your own. I suspect that far down comms won't be so good either."
"You're a wealth of joy, Astra," Taye commented.
"I try to be."
"Any security alarms attached to the hall that we should know about?" Gwen asked.
There was silence on the other end for a few moments, "Hang on, I'm working on that. For a security company they really suck..." The could hear the instant typing even through the comm system, "Security alarm is disabled."
Jack tried the handle, but it was locked. He and Taye sized up the door, then kicked it in, "Shall we?" Jack asked Gwen and Ianto.
Gwen nodded, trying to suppress a laugh. The entered a narrow service corridor and Ianto pointed to the left. They quietly made their way down the corridor till they reach the door which lead to the basement. Gwen opened it and the team made their way down in single file. They found themselves in a damp, grey corridor.
Jack tapped his earpiece, "Astra any idea where we're going down here?"
"I believe from the maps that I've tried matching up that you need to go somewhere near the front of the building... Hang on, I may have something, there's some building work in room B.1.3. I'm sending that to Ianto's PDA. There was apparently a sink hole there!"
Ianto checked his PDA, "This way."
"Thank's Astra," Jack said. They followed Ianto through the corridors till they found the room. It was blocked by construction tape, "Whatch you're footing," Jack ordered, then slipped under the tape.
The room looked as though it used to be a file storage room. There were metel shelves along the walls. Some cardboard boxes lined the shelves. some Shelves were strewn over the floor and looked as though there were about to fall into the giant hole that now filled the centre of the room.
"Wow..." Taye muttered.
"I guess that's our way down..." Ianto said.
Jack nodded. He circled the sink hole and looked down. It's not that far down. I'll go down first, then Taye."
Jack used the metel shelves that filled the hole and made his way down carefully. They wobbled slightly, but he made his way to solid ground, "Ok!"
Taye followed suit, he carefully scrambled down the metel shelves. He slipped once, but grabbed the leg of a shelf nearby. Once he'd regained his footing, he continued down, till he was safely beside Jack. Gwen came gown next, she moved very slowly and cautiously down the shelves. Jack talked her through it as she came down and after she was down, Ianto started down.
Once they were all down, Ianto pulled up the cave map on his PDA. He looked down the corridor, "Astra, any way to track us down here?"
"What... Guys... I can't..." Her voice was crackled and half of what she said was covered by static.
He looked at the others, "We're on our own."
"But, there's still a clear path to the top? How can our comes be so bad already?" Gwen asked.
Jack froowned, "Something is protecting this place... Let's go and get out of here as soon as possible."
Jack and Ianto took the lead as they headed down the roughly dug out corridor. In some ares it was so low, the taller members of the team had to crawl through. After some time, Ianto orientated them on the map and was finally able to direct them to the X.
"We still know nothing about the gaurdians," Gwen said.
-T-O-R-C-H-W-O-O-D-
Back at the hub, astra had compiled a list of all possible aliens in the database that could be protecting the treasure. Not that she was sure which one it was, but some seemed easier to deal with then others, but none were immortal or unbeatable.
"As... way...us do... here?" She heard the crackled voice over her earpiece. The only thing she could descern, was that the voice was definatly male, therefore not Gwen.
"What is it Guys? I can't hear you!" She said back. She waited for a response, but none came. She typed frantically on the keyboard to bring up the map of the building that she'd beentracking them on. Their signals were gone. She pulled up the cave map, no signal.
"Damn it!" She said, she tapped her earpiece again, "Guys? ... Jack? ... Gwen? ... Ianto? ... Taye? ..." No reply from anyone, not even static.
-T-O-R-C-H-W-O-O-D-
They's been the tunnel for about an hour when they entered a room full of water. They'd been going steadily down the entire time. There was a small path that lead through the water to the other end. Ianto looked down at the map, "This is the only way."
"Great... water!" Taye said.
Jack stepped forward, "Well, let's see!" He put a foor onto the path. As he did, creatures started to emerge from the water, but upon a closer look, they were human... Or had once been human.
"Tuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrnnnnnnn... Baaaaaaaaaaaaack..." They cried in unison. It was an eerie, unearthly howl.
Gwen, Ianto and Taye stared in horror as Jack made his way closer, "What's here?" he asked.
"Whaaaaaaaaatssssssss... heeeerrrrrreeeee... iiiiiiiit... aaaaaaasssssssssksssssss..." They all cried again, then appeared to laugh.
"We want to help!" Jack said.
The creatures continued to laugh, "Heeeeeeeelllllllllp... Weeeeeeeeee... aaaaarrrrrrrrreeeeee... theeeeeee... gaaaaaauuuuurrrrrdiiiiiiiiaaaaaannnnnnsssss... Weeeeee... nnnnnnnneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeed... nnnnnnooooooooo... heeeeeeeelllllllp..."
"People are coming for what you're protecting!" Jack cried.
"Weeeeeeee... wiiiiiiillllllllllllllll... trrrrrrriiiiiuuuummmmmmppppphhhh..."
"What's here?" Jack asked again, "What is it they want?"
"Trrrrrreeeeeeeaaaaaasssssssuuuuuurrrrrrreeeeee... offfffffff... Trrrrrraaaaoooosss..."
Jack looked back at the others, but they shrugged, "What's the Treasure of Traos?" Jack asked, looking bak at the small army of creatures.
"Iiiiiiiiiimmmmmmmooooooorrrrrrrrrtaaaaaaaalllllliiiiiiityyyyyyy..."
"I'm already Immortal!" Jack said, "I don't need it!" Jack told them.
"Aaaaaallllllrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeaaaaaadyyyyy?? Nnnnnnnnoooooot... poooooosssssssssssiiiiiblllllllleeeee!"
He looked to the others, "SHOW THEM!" Taye looked confused at him, he still didn't know about Jack's immortality. Ianto shook his head, so did Gwen, "DO IT!" He yelled, "THAT'S AN ORDER!"
Gwen and Ianto looked at each other. Gwen could see the pleading in Ianto's eyes. He loved Jack and couldn't be the one to do it. Gwen clenched her eyes shut, took a deep breath, then sighed. She looked up at Ianto, "I'm sorry..." She whispered to him, then took a step towards Jack, "We'll talk about this later Jack," She said, before pulling her gun out and shooting him. Jack's body went stiff. He went down and the creatures reeled in fear.
Taye stared at her, "How... How could... Gwen?"
"Wait..." She said softly.
After a few moments, Jack's hands moved and he slowly climbed to his feet. Blood covered most of his shirt, but he stood and stared at the creatures, "SEE!"
Taye looked at Gwen and Ianto, "HOW?" He asked them, but neither answered him.
"IIIIIIIIIItsssssssssss... trrrrrrrrrruuuuuuuueeeeeee... Thhhhhheeeennnnn... Whhhyyyyyyy..."
"People are coming to attack this place!" Jack told them, "Let us help you!!"
Near the back of the room, the water started to bubble and small waves emerged from the area as another creature emerged from the water. It was four times the size of any of the others.
Algae, plaque, seaweed and various other things grew from the body of the large creature, it opened eight eyes to look at Jack, "Weeee... aaaarrreeee... theee... Mmmmiiillllaaaannnn! Weeee... prrrrooooteeect... Trrrrraaaaoooosss... tiiiilllll... thhheee... iiiimmmmmooorrrrtaaaallll... cooommmmeeesss... Cooommmeeee!"
Jack moved slowly across the narrow path to the larger creature. The larger creature didn't move, neither did the smaller ones. Jack stood right infront of the larger creature, "What do I do now?"
The creature seemed to reach inside itself and slowly asmall, glowing gobe emerged and was held out to Jack by a tendral, "Thhhhiiiiiisssss... Iiiiiissssss... yoooouuuuurrrrrrssssss... nnnnnoooowwww... iiiimmmmmmmmoooorrtaaaaallll... Prrrrrrooooooteeeeeect... iiiiiiiit."
Jack nodded, "We willl."
"Nnnnnoooooowwww... wwwwweeeee... caaaaaaaannnnnn... diiiiiiieeeee... ooooouuuurrrr... duuuuuuuutyyyyy... iiiiiiisssss... doooooonnnnnneeee..."
Jack nodded, "Rest well," He said softly, then turned back toards the others. When he made it to the other side, he was bombaareded by the others.
"What the hell happened there?" Taye cried!
"Don't you ever! Ever ask us to do that again!" Gwen yelled at him.
Ianto looked at him sadly and then looked down at the PDA, "Let's go home..."
Jack put his hand on Ianto's arm and when the younger man looked at him, he planted a light kiss on his lips, "I love you, you know that right?" Ianto nodded.
When they reached the surface, they told Astra, that they were coming home!
-T-O-R-C-H-W-O-O-D-
Jack, Taye, Gwen and Ianto stood on the invisible lift, as it descended, Jack looked around, trying to figure out if anything had been lost or broken since they'd been gone. While everything seemed in order, he noticed Astra asleep at her desk and a CCTV feed of the vaults where he could see Captain John sitting around.
Stepping off the lift everyone went to their areas and dumped their bags, quietly as to not wake their sleeping colleague. Jack headed down to the vaults to see John.
"Taken out by the new girl John?"
John looked up at Jack, "Come to gloat have you?"
"Well, I thought about it. I mean, Astra's only been here a few months," Jack said, grinning, "But no. I'm here to tell you to leave."
"I would Jack, but I'm locked in a cell with none of my stuff."
Jack laughed, "She's efficient. I'll get your stuff back from her after I find out why you're here."
"Do you really have to ask that Jack?" John asked getting up and standing as close as he could with the cell door in the way. He looked right at Jack, "The Treasure of Traos. Immortality Jack. Why should you be the only one to have it?"
Jack shook his head, "It's a curse John. You don't want immortality."
"Yes. I. Do."
Upstairs, Ianto had prepared coffee for everyone. He placed a steaming mug on the desk beside Astra and watched as she sniffed, "Mmm..." Sitting up, she looked at him through sleepy eyes, "Ianto?" Looking back down at the coffee she smiled, "My hero."
Ianto laughed, "Enjoy."
"What are you still doing here? It's late," Gwen asked as she took her coffee from Ianto.
Astra sipped at her drink and looked up at her, "I was doing some work on an assignment and time slipped away from me."
"Where's John's stuff?" Jack asked coming up from the vault.
"In a box on your desk," Astra replied.
Jack came back out with the box, "Is that Ianto's coffee I smell?"
"It is indeed Sir."
Jack put the box back down and came to get his mug, "John can wait."