Alright everyone, love the comments everyones leaving, I go on holiday from the 28th to the 1st so I'll try get a chapter written while I'm away, it's great that people are enjoying it. Maybe one day my little dream of being a script writer can work if i can get people interested. lol.
Anyway, this chapter was once again beta'd by the wonderful winterhill, thanks alot for reading them all for me.
Anyway back on track heres chapter 3 -
Stalked chapter 3
The Hub was quiet as Jack surveyed it from the gantry; the darkened sewer space was like something from a horror film, Hollywood would pay millions of their hard earned dollars to create something as truly frightening as the Hub. Jack had always found the space scary in a good way; it saved getting overly attached to something he'd get overly attached to, although this had come to be his home, he lived, worked and loved here. So much emotion now connected him to the dank space, memories good and bad reminding him why he carried on the way he did, saving humanity, helping them, as he watched people he loved grow old and die as he remained, almost suspended in time. He was aging so slowly, who knew how it would affect him, he could live to watch the universe die all over again, then what, would he still exist suspended as time and space collapsed around him? He had to much time to ponder while he stayed here, burying himself in work and locking out the people who he loved, keeping them at arms length, in the darkness shrouding him. But one person managed to truly step forward.
Jacks thoughts shifted to Ianto, the beautiful, young man sleeping soundly for the moment, cocooned in the sheets from his small bed, looking less than his 24 years; he looked barely old enough to live on his own, but here he was, working for a secret organisation, keeping it running from the back seat, offering advice, information and a never ending supply of caffeine and witty comments. The backbone of the Torchwood 3 team, making sure everything ran smoothly, all the archiving, filing, feeding (of both the team and the animals) and generally taking care of everyone, which went largely unnoticed, how easily the Welshman had blended himself into the background, working like a perfectly oiled machine. He'd come more out of his shell after Lisa had died, he'd stopped hiding after his four week suspension, becoming more open and assertive. Shooting Owen had certainly proved that point. Ianto, his fiercely loyal employee, he'd kept Jack fighting while in the clutches of the Master, that single young man had commanded his thoughts, the team had made him fight, but Ianto made him leave the Doctor behind. If only the young man knew how much power he held.
Speaking of which, he wandered into his office looking down into his small bedroom, Ianto's hand had wrapped round the pillow and his mouth was slightly open, small puffs of air escaping as he slept peacefully, he was almost as quiet asleep as he was when he was awake. No snoring, no loud breathing, barely any movement at all, sometimes it was a little disconcerting, this young man whose face and eyes were more expressive in a moment than most people were with their body most of their waking hours, he was almost like a corpse, hardly any movement as his breath escaped.
Jack smiled slightly seeing the young man so relaxed, so at ease, who knew what could have happened if he'd been even a few minutes later; the thoughts in his head had compacted, overridden by his absolute need to get back to Ianto, to protect him from this person who had invaded his home, his life. He could still feel his feet pounding on the concrete as he ran, his greatcoat had flown behind him like a cape, his breath had been thick and his body running on pure fear and adrenalin. Ianto's frightened voice on his phone had hit him with such terrifying thoughts that he believed he may have broken the land speed record in his need to get back to the terrified young man who'd stolen his heart.
Jack looked at his watch, it was nearly 9. Usually Ianto would have the coffee machine going for when Tosh got in at 9 exactly, then Gwen was usually in by 9:15 and they were lucky if Owen got in before 10 some days. But Ianto looked so peaceful he didn't have the heart to wake him. The coffee could wait and hopefully Ianto would remain asleep long enough for him to explain what was going on. Trying to get the team to help him watch out for the youngest team member.
The alarm sounded as the cog door rolled open, Jack quickly and quietly lowered the door so as not to disturb Ianto, the door was easy to move when it was like this so Ianto could wake up and join them if and when he wanted to. Jack looked up, seeing Tosh strolled through the Hub on the way to her desk.
"Morning Tosh," Jack called out.
"Morning Jack, anyone else in yet?" she asked, taking off her coat.
"There's me, you and Ianto's asleep under my office." Jack said smiling at her.
"Why's Ianto sleeping here?" Tosh asked her voice showing her concern.
"An incident at his flat, which I need to talk to all of you about," Jack said trying not to disclose anything.
"Is he alright?" Tosh enquired her eyes wide.
"He's alright, little shaken up, but he'll be fine," Jack assured. "Would you mind nipping to Starbucks before the others get in? I really don't want to wake Ianto but we may end up with mutiny if there's no coffee."
"Sure, I'll be back soon." Tosh said putting her coat back on.
Jack smiled as she left the door rolling closed with a thunk. Jack looked back at his office and walked up the stairs, he slowly lifted the 'door' to his subterranean room; seeing Ianto's beautiful eyes blinking hazily up at him, there went plan A. Jack clambered down the ladder, he turned towards Ianto as he reached the bottom, petting the sleep mussed hair.
"How you feeling?" he asked.
"I'm alright," Ianto said smiling at him. His face was completely open, to Jack, Ianto was most beautiful when he was this unguarded, so genuine.
"Tosh has gone to get coffee, then when the others get in, we need to tell them," Jack said waiting for Ianto's reaction.
Ianto sighed heavily but nodded, he couldn't have this person hurt one of his friends to get to him, because if he'd been following him for a while, he'd definitely know the rest of the team.
"Alright, want to get cleaned up? I'll keep everyone busy, then we'll get it over with." Jack said, leaning in impulsively and kissing the Welshman so gently it was as if a feather had brushed his lips. A slow, gentle kiss filled with love and trust.
"Yeah, I'll be up soon." Ianto assured moving to untangle himself from the bed before grabbing his bag and heading for the ladder, the showers were down stairs, in a small almost locker room type area, with showers and storage for the team should they need them.
Jack watched him go, seeing how his body language correlated with what he said, he was holding himself with the dignity he usually did, back into the role he played in the team.
Jack pulled himself away and walked over to Tosh's work station, checking security feeds from the night before. He'd need to ask Ianto what happened when he'd lived in London, how long had this man been following Ianto and how far had it gone?
Not realising how long he'd been sitting with Ianto, Jack was a bit surprised when Tosh and Gwen entered the Hub, Starbucks bags and cardboard cups held between them as they joked.
"Morning ladies," he greeted, swinging on Tosh's chair; she looked at him disapprovingly and he moved to give her back her seat.
"So, anything happen yet?" Gwen asked drinking her cappuccino from the card cup looking at the glances thrown between Jack and Tosh.
"We have something personal to look at. I'll explain more soon, but Tosh can you bring up the security cameras from last night?" he asked.
"Yeah, gonna tell me why yet?" she asked.
"Something to do with me," Ianto commented, he'd entered while they were talking, he was quiet and looked as professional as he usually did, his hair a bit damp but otherwise he looked like he did every morning, silver and blue tie, light blue shirt, fitted waist coat and pinstriped suit, shoes polished to perfection.
"You'll both be filled in when Owen gets here, now Tosh can you get set up in the board room and we'll go over this in there," Jack asked gently, smiling encouragingly at Ianto.
Ianto was already heading to the boardroom, the young man wasn't giving any indication of the fact he was absolutely terrified, if Jack didn't know he wouldn't have asked.
Tosh picked up her laptop and moved to follow Ianto, carrying both her coffee and the young Welshman's.
Gwen looked questioningly at Jack, her eyes large, trying to get him to open up with that pleading look she was so good at, Jack couldn't help but think that Ianto was cuter when he looked at him the way she was.
"Jack what's going on?" she asked the Welsh lilt of her voice highly pronounced her face open and worried.
"Gwen, wait for Owen, we don't want to have to go over this more than once, alright, I need to get something from my office, head on up, alright?" he spoke to her gently, not wanting to get into an argument with Gwen so early.
Gwen nodded reluctantly.
Jack smiled at her and headed to his office to collect the camera Ianto had pulled from his ceiling, maybe Tosh would be able to pull something from it. It certainly was connected to anything, but with Bluetooth connection then the footage was probably accessible for quite a range, for all he or Ianto knew this man could live across the road.
Jack clutched the small device, which was causing Ianto so much fear and grief, something so small could ignite absolute terror in anyone, the idea even frightened him, how long had this man been watching Ianto, seeing him sleep, live his life, hell for all he knew they could have been installed before Ianto had finished his first week on the job. The unknown in this case, truly was frightening.
Jacks head jerked up as the cog door rolled back, Owen sauntered in, his posture relaxed and wearing a look he often seemed to wear, informing Jack that he'd gotten lucky last night, knowing Owen, it was probably a leggy brunette, he seemed to be fond of brunettes recently, the thought slowly crept into Jacks mind, that Owen would probably like to get lucky with the officer last night. What was her name… Eira, that was it.
"Owen." Jack called out of his open office door.
"Yeah," Owen called back, sounding almost uninterested, maybe he needed to give Owen more to occupy himself.
"Meeting in the boardroom." Jack exited his office and headed for the room, he quite liked what they'd done in here, it had an official air, which was something their former boardroom, turned hot house had lacked.
Owen followed behind Jack, not asking why they were having a meeting, so he must have gotten something good last night, Jack would almost describe him as mellow. But give it five minutes without coffee and he'd be his usual self.
The boardroom occupants looked up as Jack and Owen entered, the door left ajar, Owen took his seat next to Ianto and Jack moved to stand at the head of the table.
"Alright, everyone except Owen, knows why were here," Jack started. "To fill Owen in, there's a security risk, possibly a risk to our safety and it's concerned with Ianto." Jack paused looking at the faces of the team, Ianto was closed off and ignoring the questioning looks from the team.
"Someone broke into Ianto's house last night," Jack told the team, watching as both Gwen and Tosh's mouths dropped in shock and Owen looked slightly concerned although that seemed to quickly fade.
"So, someone broke into tea boy's house, it's not a reason for us all to be on edge," Owen commented.
"But when said person puts cameras in Ianto's bedroom ceiling and breaks down his door about 10 minutes after I leave then I think we have reason to be concerned Owen," Jack said coldly, glaring at the doctor.
"A camera?!" Tosh said her voice shock and her face one of horrified fascination.
"Yeah, a camera." Jack said looking at Ianto to explain.
Ianto sighed and looked so small, slumped forward in his chair, which looked enormous as he seemed to try folding in on himself, to keep away from the team's prying eyes.
"It started happening when I lived in London, I'd get a couple of weird texts, calls, email and letters a week; then it started getting more frequent, I changed my numbers, email, even moved in with Lisa, but they kept coming, then Canary Wharf happened, I packed up and came to Cardiff and didn't think any more of it. I'd changed all my numbers, email my address, I got some silent voice mails and the like, but thought it had been wrong numbers, so I didn't think anything of it, then when Jack left last night, I got a call. Thinking it was Jack I picked up, he started talking, god that voice, I hate that voice, anyway I hear him, he said he'd found me, I hung up and called Jack, heard him banging on my door; I locked myself in the bedroom, he broke the door down, I got my gun out, it seemed like forever, he kept taunting me, I couldn't hear anything, then I heard Jack. I don't know where he went or anything, but god knows how long he's been watching me."
Ianto finished, he looked like a very frightened 5 year old, who'd just found out there really was a monster under his bed, only this monster watched him in his bed. He was slightly shaky and Jack reached out and laid a hand across the back of his neck, hoping to calm him slightly.
"You told me someone at London had seen someone following you," Jack prompted hoping for a little more information.
"Yeah, I never saw him, Cassie said he was tall, gaunt, of course I think he had something to do with silencing her," Ianto said quietly, closing his eyes so as not to see the pitying looks from his colleagues.
"What do you mean by 'silencing her' Ianto?" Tosh asked, extremely concerned for the young man who she considered a close friend.
"She was in a car accident about a week later, killed her, police said someone had tampered with the brakes. That was an understatement, I looked at the report, brake lines were cut, pedal was connected to the accelerator, she went head on into a lorry. She died instantly, I had to tell her family, that she wasn't coming home," Ianto said leaning back into Jacks hand.
Jack looked around the table, he was horrified at that revelation, Gwen looked almost ill, Tosh had gone very pale and Owen looked concernedly at Ianto, who was shaky and white as a sheet, his breath a bit raspy.
"Ianto mate," Owen spoke softly waiting as Ianto turned to look at him through half closed eyes. Owen turned Ianto's chair slightly so they were facing each other, he had gone into doctor mode, he lifted Ianto's wrist and took his pulse. "Slightly elevated, pale, shaky, Ianto lean forward alright, head between your knees, try get your breathing under control."
Ianto did as he was told hooking his hands behind his neck and resting his elbows on his knees taking deep breaths. Jacks hand moved to rest over Ianto's rubbing gently over his fingers, hoping to help him relax.
"Tosh, can you look at the camera, there didn't seem to be any wires, so it may be remote, Gwen see if you can see this guy on CCTV from last night, he had to get in through the front door, there were no other entrances or exits in the building," Jack said with his usual boss tone.
Owen slid off his chair and knelt in front of the Welshman who was taking deep breaths and trying to get his body back under control, he'd almost forgotten about Cassie, she'd worked on the desk opposite him for his career at London, she was energetic, warm, friendly and loved to have fun. She'd try and get a small group together to go out dancing at least once a week, even if it was only at her flat, they'd have fun, it was one of the best parts of his former job. Then she was gone, he went to her funeral, he owed her that much, he still kept a photo of a group of them on a few of their nights out, it was still in a box in his wardrobe, maybe it was time to remember a ghost or two.
Ianto kept his eyes closed, concentrating on his breathing and feeling the muscles that had been tight in his chest relax slightly as more oxygen entered his system.
Jack looked at Owen for reassurance, the doctor offered it in the form of a small smile, Ianto was relaxing, his skin had gained back some of it's colour and his pulse was coming down.
Ianto sat back slowly; Owen didn't stop him from sitting back, but did make sure he didn't make an attempt to get up.
"Stay sitting down for about another 10 minutes, keep taking deep breaths, than I'll come check on you," Owen said seriously.
"Owen could you pull up the police file on Cassie; what was her last name Ianto?" Jack asked gently, not wanting to upset the young man.
"Hall." Ianto replied simply still taking deep breaths. Owen knew this had shaken him, because Ianto was notorious for trying to get back to work ASAP. He'd seen the young man work with bruised ribs after the cannibals. That had him deeply worried.
"Alright, I'll go find the report. Make sure he doesn't get up," Owen told Jack sternly as he left, casting a glance back as he went out, Gwen and Tosh had already left, leaving Jack and Ianto alone in the quiet room.
"We'll find him Ianto, we'll find him and make it all go away," Jack said running his fingers through Ianto's neat hair, making it curl attractively. Jack smiled gently and kissed his forehead.
"The Captain will protect you," he promised.
"I don't want him to hurt them Jack, not like he did Cassie, to our friends then, I don't want to have to call Rhys or anyone else and say that a loved one isn't coming home because of me, I can't do that, not again," Ianto said his eyes tearful, but refusing to let them fall.
"Ianto, everyone will go home, he won't hurt you and he won't hurt them." Jack wiped lightly at Ianto's eyes collecting the moisture and moving to sit in Owen's discarded seat, pulling Ianto to lean on his shoulder.
Ianto relaxed breathing in the warm scent, trying to hide from the world if only for a few minutes. The world seemed to stand still, just the pair of them, so alone in the echoing hub, a moment frozen in time, so completely right.
"JACK!" they heard Gwen screech, the moment ruined.
Jack pulled back sadly and kissed Ianto tenderly.
"WHAT?" he yelled back, pulling away from Ianto so as not to deafen him.
"Got someone on CCTV, entering after you left, male, wearing a hood," she yelled. That correlated with what the neighbour had told Officer Morgan the night before.
"Can you make anything else out?" Jack asked, anything at this point would be better than a male in a hooded shirt.
"No, he doesn't come up on any cameras until he enters Ianto's building, looks like he knew the code," she called back.
Ianto looked away, he hoped his neighbours weren't in danger, Mrs Taylor, the landlady, was nearly 80; he'd feel terrible if anything happened to her. His other neighbours were Freya and Rachel, both were students; they didn't need to be exposed to a mad man.
"We'll make sure everyone stays safe Yan," Jack told him turning Ianto's face to look deeply into his eyes, eyes that were so full of promise, hope and fear.
"Hey, how about we set up those bedrooms, you can all have one each, we have enough space," Jack smiled trying to get Ianto to think about something else, if only for a few minutes.
"Alright, as much as I like your room it's too small to be comfortable in," Ianto joked, his face looked relaxed but Jack noticed the telltale tenseness around Ianto's mouth.
"Alright, we have plenty of rooms past the firing range. We could set those up, there big enough and we could easily set them up with plumbing," Jack suggested.
"We need to find him Jack, I don't want to have another life on my conscience."
"We'll get him Ianto, I promise we will," Jack said lightly, petting Ianto's suit covered body, running his hands over the firm body. It was then Jack realised that Ianto was slightly too skinny, he'd have to get him to eat a bit more, he loved Ianto no matter what, but that healthy weight would put his mind at rest at least partially.
"What if he hurts someone Jack? I don't want to live with another person on my conscious, not like Cassie, Canary Wharf was bad enough, I went to nine funerals within two weeks and have to live with survivors guilt. I had to watch them bury my friends; I can't do that Jack, not again." Ianto whispered.
"Canary Wharf wasn't your fault, survivors guilt is normal, I'm sure none of them blamed you sweetheart, but he won't hurt anyone else, I'll protect you." Jack said, his voice like steel, true meaning and force behind every word he spoke.
"I never mentioned Canary Wharf, did I?" Ianto asked.
"No, you didn't need to re-live that." Jack said.
"Shame, my friends deserved to be remembered, I didn't want to. We were a motley crew though," Ianto said a fondness in his voice and a reminiscent smile on his face.
"Then remember them, don't hide them away," Jack smiled at Ianto warmly.
"Alright, how's the patient?" Owen asked, strolling in purposefully.
Jack pulled back from Ianto slightly so Owen could check the Welshman over. Ianto kept a hold of his sleeve though, not wanting the charismatic Captain to go too far.
Owen knelt down and looked into Ianto's eyes, placing his fingers against the pulse point in Ianto's neck.
"Pulse is good, breathings better, you can start moving around but I'm going to check on you every hour or so, just to make sure you don't go into shock or something, that'd be all we need," Owen commented.
Ianto nodded, pushing himself up from the chair, his body shaking slightly as he regained his balance and staved off vertigo.
"Take it easy for about half an hour, then you can start doing your normal work load," Owen said, standing and facing the Welshman.
Jack looked at Owen, making sure that the doctor was comfortable with Ianto moving around the Hub, there were a few things Jack wanted to discuss with the young man and it would be easier if they could talk while giving the team the impression of them looking for an area to set up some over night rooms.
"He'll be fine Jack," Owen assured watching the Captain. He was positive that this experience had definitely changed the dynamic of the pair, where these overly protective urges had come from Owen had no idea, but if it helped the team then he shouldn't really argue, he could complain though.
"Well Ianto had the idea of setting up rooms for everyone in case we all need to stay at the Hub, so we're going to find somewhere we can set them up," Jack said wanting to get Ianto away from the group at least away from their pitying looks.
"Sounds like a good idea, but Ianto, if you get short of breath, dizzy, tired or anything like that, sit down and call me, got it?" Owen asked. Ianto nodded reluctantly.
"I'll keep an eye on him Owen, he'll be alright." Jack tried to reassure the doctor, whose professionalism was showing through, when normally he wouldn't show so much concern.
Ianto tweaked an eyebrow at him, Jack always found Ianto's face so expressive, not as open as Gwen's, but he was so easy for Jack to read, even behind the distinct mannerisms he displayed so often, those eyes, the slight hardening of his jaw, the ever expressive eyebrows and that delightful smile.
"Come on Ianto, lets get to work." Jack smiled enthusiastically, grabbing hold of Ianto's hand and pulling him towards the door of the boardroom and propelling them out across the hub. Gwen and Tosh were sat at their work stations working hard on trying to identify the man, cross referencing people in the area, days and even weeks before the incident.
"Jack, there's a police officer entering the building. She entered a couple of minutes after you did." Gwen said turning to look at the pair of males.
"Let me guess, Female, long brown hair. Officer Eira Morgan, she responded to a call made by one of Ianto's neighbours when they heard banging. She secured Ianto's flat for us and we're working with her and her alone." Jack told the team.
"So now we work with the police?" Owen asked his voice back to it's normal tone.
"For this yes, there are innocent people who could get hurt, she agreed to the terms I set, we take the forward and she gets the finished report, for once I didn't think that the police were being juvenile, I told her my name and she was more professional than almost anyone I've met. So we're working with her," Jack said with an air of finality.
"Gotcha," Owen said.
Tosh nodded and Gwen huffed slightly and turned back to her monitor a pout on her face.
"Come on Ianto, lets go dig round in the deep, dark recesses of Torchwood." Jack said trying to lighten the mood.
"Yeah, before you get distracted by something and we all end up facing the apocalypse because you had to play with something dangerous," Ianto joked.
"Now that is unfair, I do not play with unknown alien artefacts," Jack protested.
"No but you have been known to play with the ones we know are dangerous." Ianto retorted, which was a slightly low blow, because he'd only done it once and it was on the shooting range with an alien weapon.
"Low Mr Jones, very low blow." Jack commented but unperturbed he dragged Ianto off towards the shooting range, they had a group of currently unused rooms down there which would be the perfect place for what would in essence be a sort of home away from home for some of their more challenging cases.
Ianto let a chuckle escape, Jack had been a bit more fun since he'd come back, so much more relaxed, not so unrelenting as he once had been, he seemed to have made peace about something and it made Ianto relax, knowing that he'd be safe in the protection of his Captain.
TBC