Unfortunately, their good plan didn't extend to good luck. Jack and Rhys headed back toward St. Mary's Street to the club where they'd first spotted Jerry with his misbegotten minions. After an uncomfortable conversation with the owner - where Rhys had to quietly mention to Jack to button up his coat because the visible blood on his shirt was going to weird people out- they discovered that Jerry was no longer there. It'd taken a few rounds of drink and some particularly crafty interrogating on Jack's part to discover that the trio had been planning to hit another club, some way over, and had invited some of the more attractive patronage to join them.
If Rhys didn't know better, he swore he saw a twitch on Jack's face at the story of "the tall local bloke" waiting outside with a cigarette dangling from his mouth and a girl trying to get her hand down his trousers. Rhys pointedly blocked out any stories about Gwen. Not only did he insist on believing that his Gwen, mind control or not, wouldn't let most of these men near her, but living in relative obliviousness had served him well so far through married life.
In the SUV again, on the way to their next destination, Rhys chewed on his nails. The silence was killing him as much as the stress of the situation. This must be Jack when he's worried, Rhys concluded, and that didn't help him with the worry in his own belly.
"Didn't know Ianto smokes," Rhys commented lamely. Jack cocked an eyebrow and tightened his grip on the steering wheel.
"He quits every few months. Then something tries to kill him and he starts back."
"Ah."
"Don't tell Gwen. He likes to think he's keeping it secret from us." Jack sighed and swerved in front of a fairly angry car. "He really likes his secrets."
Rhys let his hand fall uselessly in his lap. "Jack? Is he going to hurt them?"
Jack didn't answer at first. The SUV jerked, swerved and hit a curb as Jack quickly parked it on a busy street. Rhys was fairly certain that there wasn't parking allowed here like everywhere Jack apparently deemed appropriate to leave his vehicle, but one look at the serious expression on Jack's face made any objections die on Rhys's lips. Jack opened his car door.
"Rhys, I promise you I will see that creature bloodied and broken before I let him harm a hair on either of their heads. Now grab the gear, we've got to go be dashing heroes and kill a vampire."
"I thought you said he wasn't a vampire?"
"Whatever." Jack rolled his eyes as they walked across the street. The new club was called The Mask. There was a gaggle of people out front, so it wasn't easy to see signs of Jerry or anyone else who looked to be enthralled to a blood-drinking alien. The building was on a corner with an alley separating it from a row of trendy boutiques and restaurants – all currently closed. "Okay. Our current plan is to locate the kids. You hold our weapons until then. He gets near, you hand me a weapon. He dies by fire, removing the head or destroying the heart with silver; and gets some nasty burns from UV radiation. We try not to hurt Gwen or Ianto. However, once I engage the target you get them out in whatever way you must. Got it?"
Rhys nodded and pulled at the collar of his shirt. Scared? Yes. Prepared? Not at all. Blindly going into danger anyway? Definitely. Sounded about right for Torchwood.
As they crossed the street, Rhys saw the guard at the door touch his ear, using presumably a Bluetooth, and talking to someone while looking at Jack. Rhys trotted forward and tugged on Jack's coat sleeve. "I don't think we have the element of surprise anymore, Jack."
Pulling sharply, Jack freed his arm and Rhys saw a muscle tighten in his jaw. "Yeah, not really caring about that. He knew we were coming."
Rhys nodded. His entire body was tingling with nerves and his stomach felt like lead. Is this what Gwen felt every day? He doubted it. She always looked like going to work was just as difficult as going to the grocery. Jack stopped abruptly and Rhys, still nervously watching the bouncer, smacked right into his back. It was like hitting a wall. Rhys bounced back and scrambled to keep himself from falling. He righted himself, tugged at the bottom of his shirt, and put on his serious expression.
"Oi, Jack. What was that about?"
Jack held up a hand to silence Rhys. "Over there. In that group of students."
Near a group of University kids, leaning against a wall, were Ianto and Jerry. Jerry had an arm looped around Ianto's waist and was smoking a cigarette. His hair was mussed and he was smiling flirtatiously at whatever girl or boy caught his eye. He reminded Rhys, uncomfortably, of Jack. He'd seen Jack in the same contradictory pose quite a few times. He'd have an arm around Ianto, or a hand clasped around a shoulder in a possessive gesture and all the while sending smiles and winks toward whoever else took his fancy. The difference between now and then was Ianto. Ianto, instead of his normal bemused or affectionate expression, look exhausted and distant. The top two buttons of his shirt were unclasped and he leaned heavily against Jerry.
Jerry looked up and saw Jack. He waved and put out his cigarette before guiding Ianto away from the front door and further into the crowd of club-goers gathered on the sidewalk. Jack swore and darted forward with Rhys close on his heels.
"Ianto?" Jack yelled. He pushed through the crowds of people, winking at one girl who yelped in surprise at his touch. That, even in the middle of chasing after Jerry and Ianto, bristled Rhys. He'd have been smacked pretty thoroughly if he tried the same, Rhys thought as he tried to follow Jack. They reached the corner where the alley emptied into the street and Jack glanced around quickly before disappearing into the dark.
"Oh yeah," Rhys panted. "That won't give him any sort of advantage." When he turned into the alley, Jack had his gun drawn. It was a dead-end from what Rhys could see. Jerry was near the end, pressing Ianto against the brick wall of one of the buildings with his head buried against Ianto's neck. Rhys gasped and fumbled for the bag even as Jack lifted his Webley.
"Jack," Rhys yelped. "Gun." He pulled out one of the handguns Jack had packed, it looked similar to Gwen's and nothing like the antique he'd seen Jack carry all night. Jack snapped out of his daze and yelled at the figures down the alley.
"Let him go," Jack growled as he grabbed the new weapon from Rhys. He flipped off the safety and raised the gun to aim in one fluid motion. Jerry's head snapped up and Rhys was taken aback by the change. The person Rhys remembered was gone and, once again, he saw the alien closer to his true self. He was animalistic. His face smeared with Ianto's blood and his eyes large, oval shaped like a predator's and that inky black again. Gone was the sculpted chin and easy smile. Instead, a mouth with too many shark-like teeth and just too large for his face to be actually human, had taken its place. He looked… demonic. One hand was up, wrapped tightly around Ianto's throat, and Rhys could see in the murky sodium lights behind them that jagged looking silvery claws were attached to too long fingers. His other hand was bunched in Ianto's shirt, holding the sickly man upright.
Ianto's neck was a bloodied mess and Rhys couldn't bear to look at his too pale face and glazed eyes for more than a moment. Apparently, neither could Jack. Jack took another step forward, gun still aimed determinedly at Jerry, and his face a mask of fury that Rhys couldn't ever remember seeing before. "Let him go," Jack repeated.
Like a dog clearing itself of water, Jerry shook his head – nearly too fast for Rhys to follow – and when he finished the same movie star looks Rhys had grown accustomed to seeing were back. Rhys raised his eyebrows and took a step back. This was getting to be too much and his fight or flight instinct was kicking in and definitely leaning more toward the flight side of things. Jerry cocked his head and a deathly grim pout cast over his face.
"Jack Harkness, I gotta admit, I really didn't think you'd be here so quick." Jerry jerked his head toward Ianto. "He did though. He and Gwennie Beth say you can't die." Rhys's eyes narrowed at Jerry's use of Gwen's middle name. The fucker didn't have the right. "You don't have a pole in you so I guess they're right about you being a persistent fucker."
"Where's Gwen?" It took Rhys a second to realize that the outburst had come from him. It seemed to put off Jack and Jerry too. Jerry's focus turned to Rhys and Rhys felt the hairs on his arms stand at the expression of disgust on the monster's face directed at him.
"You've been a lot more trouble than I thought you'd be," Jerry complained. "I thought you were just nosey and, fairly certain here buddy, if you hadn't delivered up the hot wife and boy toy I would've ripped your throat out by now."
"Yeah, well, you didn't," Rhys blinked at the inadequacy of his own comeback and Jerry just looked… amused.
"Alright, Jack Harkness," Jerry said, dismissing Rhys with barely more than a shrug, "you're determined, I'll give you that. You're also going to be more of a pain than I want to deal with and you're equipped with an obnoxious amount of knowledge about me. Very unfair. I don't like conflict – all in all I'm a pretty peaceful guy and I know when it's time to retreat. So. I'm ready to negotiate."
Jack shook his head. "No negotiating. Let him go. Tell me where Gwen is."
The laughter that escaped Jerry's lips sounded dry and cold. He squeezed Ianto's neck and a fresh trickling of blood spilled over his fingers. "Negotiate."
It was obvious to Rhys that Jerry had found Jack's weak point, which meant it had to be obvious to Jerry as well. Ianto groaned and his mouth fell open in shock. As soon as the low, pained noise filled the alley Jack's arm wavered,
Jerry raised an eyebrow at Jack. "I'm trying to figure out if I can snap his neck before you can fire your gun." That did it. Jack lowered his gun to his side and let his arms hang limply. Jerry nodded in approval. "So I'm going to make you a deal."
Jack said nothing, though it didn't seem to deter Jerry.
"I seem to have, completely accidentally on my part, raided your little nest and stolen both of your chicks. So, now I have the attention of someone who, I imagine, isn't going to let up and just let me be, and a surplus of followers."
Rhys shifted his weight and inhaled sharply. "No," he snapped as his brain started to put together the path of conversation. Jerry ignored him.
"So, I have these two. And, good finds that they are – one so desperate to be noticed and the other one just wanting so damn much to be special - they were just asking for someone to scoop them up. Actually, I imagine that's what's attracting you too, isn't it? You keep them like followers just the same."
"Shut up," Jack gritted out between his clenched jaw. "Don't fucking dare compare it."
Jerry chuckled and his hand slackened around Ianto's shirt, running up to stroke his cheek. Ianto's eyes were squeezed shut and he was breathing heavily, but didn't appear to know where he was or what was going on around him. "So the deal," Jerry continued, his gaze going back to Jack. "Is pretty simple. I'll give this one back – it'd take forever to get your stench off him anyway – and you will let me leave with the female. Otherwise, I'll get away from you, I promise you that, and I'll kill him. I'll kill him in this dirty alley and he'll know it was because of you. I'll kill every person I come across on my way out of this shit city and every single one of those deaths will be on your head."
At that, Rhys's stomach dropped. He looked at Jack, tempted to grab his arm, shake him, and demand he shoot the bastard then and there. Jack wouldn't, would he? Gwen said he had the nerve to sacrifice anyone, even her or Ianto, if he needed to do so. It's one of the reasons that, no matter how many dinners or nights out at the pub, Rhys could never really warm to the man. One of the reasons. That coldness, and Gwen's solemn tone as she told Rhys what she thought Jack was capable of, always lingered around him. And now, Jack had to choose between the life of the person who shared his bed and Rhys's wife. Rhys reached forward tentatively. "Jack?" He hated how his voice sounded shaky, even to him. Jack snarled, actually snarled, and Rhys jerked his hand away before he made contact. He couldn't even begin to decipher the expression on Jack's face.
Jack took a deep breath and he opened his mouth, but his eyes flickered to Ianto's face and he seemed to hesitate. "You'll kill even if you leave," Jack finally mumbled. "You'll kill wherever you go. It won't matter what I choose"
A shrug lifted Jerry's shoulders as if to concede Jack's point. "So then I guess it's a matter of which one you want to lose. Come on, Jack Harkness. It's sharing. I'm no worse than you. I need them to fit in here. Is that different from what you're getting out of them? I've seen things from them. You were an interesting topic after our little run in earlier."
The silence in the alley was oppressive. It felt like death itself was now lurking in the shadows and oozing out of the brickwork.
Before the silence reached the point where Rhys actually wanted to scream, Jack, with an almost anguished noise, shook his head and lifted his gun in Jerry's direction. "I'm not choosing between them. That's the difference. They're mine. You've no claim to them and I don't hurt them. They chose this. Me. Not you." Jerry snorted and opened his mouth to contradict Jack's statement but stopped when Jack's finger curled around his gun's trigger. "So, I've got some bullets in this, and I think you know they'll hurt. Irradiated silver. Poison that will go straight through you. That's my offer. I won't shoot you if you let him go."
Now it was Jerry's turn to hesitate, and he squeezed Ianto's throat, blood running over his hand from whatever wound he was covering. Jack fired instantly, emptying the small clip, and scored a direct hit to the alien's shoulder. Jerry hissed, his face twisting back into its true animalistic form, and he flung Ianto's limp body toward Rhys and Jack. Rhys jumped forward, just as Jack dropped his gun to do the same, and they caught Ianto before his head could crack against the dirty pavement. Rhys fell to his knees, grimacing at the jolt of pain that shot through him, and eased Ianto into Jack's lap. When he looked up, Jerry was gone, and for the first time during that evening of insanity and vampiric aliens, Rhys let his anger show. He stood up, swearing loudly, spinning around to see where their opponent went. When nothing made itself immediately visible, Rhys swung his fist into the brick wall of the nearby restaurant. And… that hurt. The rage dissipated as he clutched his hand to his chest, bleeding now and feeling more than a little daft. He rubbed his eyes with his good hand, exhausted, and dropped down to where Jack was lightly shaking Ianto, hoping to bring him back to consciousness.
Rhys didn't realize he was holding his breath until Ianto's eyes flickered open, but both he and Jack exhaled at the same time. "Ianto," Jack breathed. "You with us?"
Ianto blinked, then winced as if that small act pained him, and looked up at Jack with some of the most tired eyes Rhys had ever seen. There was the barest of nods and Ianto shivered. "'m cold," he mumbled. It didn't take Jack more than a moment to shrug out of his great coat and wrap it around the younger man.
Rhys flexed his leg muscles, his knees and hand aching, and his patience running thin. "Ianto, mate," Rhys choked out. "Do you know where he has Gwen? If you know, please tell me." Jack shot Rhys a venomous look and pulled a handkerchief from his pocket to wipe the blood from Ianto's throat.
Ianto's eyes drifted toward Rhys and held his gaze for a long moment before nodding again. "There's a private room… I think. Things are fuzzy." Ianto's eyes flickered and slid closed before a squeeze from Jack caused him to jerk awake. "It's downstairs. She was there. It's not safe. She's not… he's killing people. I saw him kill – oh god, I helped lure –" Jack shifted Ianto's weight in his arms and held him little closer until Ianto calmed. "Get her out," Ianto finished, after the initial panic faded and he was left looking wrung out and drained, quite literally.
Jack nodded and ran his hand over Ianto's neck, checking for still bleeding wounds or worse damage. Ianto didn't appear to be losing any more blood, but oh, he really was cold and he looked so pale. Nearly gray at this point. "Right," Jack sighed, his fingers digging into Ianto's arm. "Game plan is to get Ianto some help – or somewhere safe – and get Gwen. We've got him on the run and he's hurt. He'll be weaker, but desperate because of it. You good, Rhys? Rhys?" Jack looked up when no response came immediately and bit his lip to keep from screaming in frustration. The alley was empty. Rhys Williams was gone. Worse still, except for the now ammo-less gun lying somewhere nearby, Rhys Williams had taken every single weapon Jack had brought with them.
It took every ounce of self-control that Jack didn't even know he possessed to stop himself from shouting and punching a wall himself. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and counted to ten. When he was finished, there was still quite a bit of rage running through him, but at least it wasn't of the homicidal nature anymore. Jack brow furrowed as he assessed his situation. Ianto's eyes were cloudy again – Jack was losing him even now to whatever influence Jerry had over him. Jack tapped Ianto's cheek one, twice and then Ianto blinked up at him in that same sad, slow fashion as earlier.
"Hey," Jack said with a smile. "I need to move you."
"Tired," Ianto mumbled.
"Yeah, I know." Jack slid his knees up and helped hoist Ianto unsteadily onto his feet. He was leaning his entire weight onto Jack and his face looked tense. "You're alright," Jack soothed. "I'll get you somewhere to sleep."
It took a bit of an effort, but Jack half-carried and half-dragged Ianto to the SUV. Fortunately, the crowds near the club had thinned out either from boredom or the sound of gunfire. The ones still there, more than likely, thought Jack was helping a friend who had overindulged home. It helped that Jack's long great coat covered the majority of blood starting to dry on Ianto.
At last, Jack crossed the final distance to the SUV. The back still had the seats down and the Plexiglas barrier up from a weevil retrieval earlier in the day, which was perfect for Jack's current needs. Ianto looked at Jack, confused, when he opened the rear door of the SUV with the remote lock. "I know it's not a warm bed and bath, but it's the best I can do right now," Jack apologized. He eased Ianto into the cargo area of the vehicle and tucked his coat tighter around Ianto's frame. Jack sat on the edge of the car. "What was he giving you to keep you... you know?"
Ianto frowned and rubbed his face like a child who'd stayed up far too late. "Things are fuzzy," he repeated and the exhaustion evident in his voice made even Jack feel tired. "It keeps going in and out. I get… glimpses and sometimes they don't make sense." Jack waited while Ianto tried to piece bits of the past day together. "Blood," Ianto coughed. "Oh fuck, that's disgusting."
Jack laughed but there was no humor or warmth to the noise. "I was afraid you'd say that." He sighed and stood up, though he still leaned partially into the SUV to talk to Ianto. "I'm locking you in here." Ianto looked about to protest and Jack raised a hand to silence him. "You're compromised. You're injured and I think that's why you're… here right now. You were starting to go on me a few minutes ago though," Jack explained. "I need to go find Gwen, and stop Rhys from getting killed so I can kill him later, and he's run off with my weapons and your antidote."
That news seemed to drain whatever strength Ianto had left in him, and he wilted, burying himself further in Jack's coat. "Is everything going to be okay?"
Jack's face softened. "Oh yeah, I'm going to kill the bastard. Nobody messes with my crew." With a smile, Jack leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Ianto's forehead. "It'll be easy. Kill the super strong alien, without weapons, rescue the Williams couple, and give you and Gwen a nice big cocktail of drugs to get rid of that nasty alien blood. Nothing I haven't done before." Ianto laughed, briefly, and returned Jack's smile with a shadowy one of his own.
"Well, hurry up. I'm going to sleep if you don't mind."
"Don't mind at all," Jack replied. He closed the latch on the SUV door and locked it. Ianto wouldn't be able to get to the front seats, nor unlock anything from where he was, so there wasn't really anywhere safer Jack could think to keep him. Safety was covered. Now he just needed to worry about blood loss, trauma and whatever other injuries were lurking; but first, time to find Gwen Cooper. And murder Rhys Williams.