Odyssey
a Torchwood & Stargate story
by RoadrunnerGER
Disclaimer: I neither own Torchwood nor Stargate.
Summary: Abducted away from Earth and sold into slavery Team Torchwood has to fight for survival. Being left behind Tosh works with the Stargate team, going on a frantic odyssey across the universe in order to save her friends. Crossover, set s2
A/N: Hey! Thanks for being so patient. I'm afraid that I'll be away for a while so you'll have to be patient once more. I'll be back with ch16 as soon as possible. Enjoy!
Chapter 15
"Jack! Thank God!"
Ianto's anxious voice greeted the captain when he came to again. Sometimes it was confusing to wake up. There were moments when he did not know if he had been unconscious or if he resurrected. This time it seemed to be the former. What had happened?
"Yan." Opening his eyes took an effort so he did not even try to move.
"Jack? Are you all right?" Ianto asked fearfully.
"I think so," he groaned.
"You don't look it," Ianto said meekly. "You were out much longer than the others."
"Really?" Jack moaned. He felt as if his head was bursting. Still he realized that it was not normal for him to be worse affected by whatever the Tebr'ox did than the others.
"At least we're still locked up together," Ianto sighed, ruffling Jack's hair.
"Grant still here?"
"Yeah, I'm here," the other man confirmed. "How're you feeling?"
"Like I was run over by a bus," Jack groaned as he tried to sit up. Scooting back he reached the wall and leaned against it. "Gwen? Owen?"
"Are in the cells right across the aisle now," Ianto told him.
"Rupert?"
"Dead," Grant said flatly.
"And the newcomers?" Jack queried. He remembered seeing the women fight now. They looked awesome in their rage.
"Fell silent after a while," Ianto said. "Interesting language they're speaking."
"Could you understand anything?"
"Nope."
"But they're bloody gorgeous!" Grant smirked. "If there weren't the bars between us…"
Ianto snorted with wry amusement.
"Are you two related, Jack?" he wanted to know.
Jack stared at him with mild bewilderment. "As far as I can tell, no, we're not related," he chuckled. He reached out for his young Welshman and brushed his fingers over his cheek, then threading into his hair. When he sensed that he could get a firm hold he gently pulled Ianto down and into a soft, lasting, and emotional kiss.
When Jack released him Ianto leaned his forehead against Jack's. Softly he asked, "Are you scared?"
"I'm scared for you, Yan. You, Gwen, Owen… and all the others."
"Do you still want to work on that escape plan?"
"Do you?" Jack replied with amused surprise.
"Yeah."
Jack swallowed hard as he heard the determination in that single word. Instinctively his hand clawed at Ianto's hair. Pride welled up inside of him that was immediately followed by fear. Ianto had come so far during the last year, from a simple administrative worker to a full-fledged field agent. Jack saw it with obvious pride and ever growing love, but he could not help but worry more and more the better Ianto became at his job and the more often he accompanied the team in the field.
"Jack?"
"Yes, Yan? What's up?"
"Are you brooding about me? About us?"
"You know me, Yan," he murmured, drawing him closer again to be able to whisper in his ear. "I'm always worrying about you. I love you."
Ianto winced. It was not Jack's protective side he wanted right now.
"I love you, too, Jack," he murmured. "I need you to do something for me, cariad."
"What is it, Yan?" Jack queried.
"You need to be our Captain Harkness, Jack," Ianto whispered urgently. "Find the rage inside of you that drove you when you rescued us from the cannibals. Resort to what you learned at the Time Agency, whatever that was. Just pull yourself together and help us to get out of here."
Jack swallowed hard. "What are you presuming?" he panted. "Are you calling me a coward?"
"No, Jack. I'd never think you're a coward." Tears were brimming his eyes. "I'm just under the impression that you're holding off for fear that something might happen to us. To me." He smiled sadly. "Jack, we're already in danger as long as we're locked up here. They want to sell us. I…"
Instinctively Jack tightened his hold on the Welshman who was shivering in his arms. For a moment Ianto let it happen, but then he pulled back, eyeing Jack intently.
"Jack. I'd rather die fighting than live in slavery. You're the best chance we've got. Fight with us."
The determination sparkling in Ianto's eyes and the resolve sounding in his voice sent chills down Jack's spine.
"Anything for you, cariad," Jack rasped. Once more he pulled Ianto in for a passionate kiss that he drew out as long as possible. When he let go the same determination lit in his eyes.
Ianto grinned. Whoever the Tebr'ox pray to, they certainly need his help now. Captain Jack is back.
xXx
Toshiko followed the officers through the tunnels to a big room stuffed with technology. One side consisted of a glass wall that offered a great view into the gate room. There the huge ring stood atop a ramp, its centre currently covered by a metal shield. Armed soldiers took position in front of the ramp.
"What's up, Walter?" O'Neill demanded to know.
"We just received an IDC," Harriman told him. "It's the Hak'tyl."
"Ishta," Teal'c murmured, more to himself than to the others. A small smile played around his lips.
"Open the iris," O'Neill ordered.
The shield opened to reveal a shiny pool that looked like the rippling surface of a lake. Toshiko stared at it with wonder and her eyes widened further when a woman in leather clothes stepped out of the gate. Once she had passed through the gate, the surface of the pool rippling around her as she moved, the water effect dissipated, giving an unobstructed view of the concrete wall behind the gate.
"That's Neith," Teal'c said.
"Let's see why she's here," O'Neill said and left the control room first.
Teal'c followed right on his heels as well as Carter and Daniel. As nobody stopped her Toshiko trailed along with them. Upon entering the gate room Toshiko took a deep breath. The Stargate looked impressive. As did the woman who had just arrived.
"Greetings," O'Neill said to her.
Neith nodded at him before she turned to the Jaffa right behind him, "Shal kek nem ron, Teal'c."
"I too shall die free," he returned with a slight nod of greeting. "Is something wrong with Nesa?"
"My sister was doing well until she was stolen," Neith told them. "That is why I am here, Teal'c."
"Moloc? Did he find you?"
"No." Neith shook her head. "There were no Jaffa. They were alien to me as well as to our sisters."
"What did they look like?" Toshiko spoke up.
All eyes were directed to her when she asked that question. While the officers' looks expressed astonishment about her being there, Neith eyed her with undisguised suspicion.
"Who is the woman?" she asked snidely.
"Neith of Hak'tyl, this is Dr. Toshiko Sato," Teal'c introduced the Torchwood operative. "She is a liaison officer."
"Tek ma tek," Neith said with a nod to Toshiko who could only guess that it was a greeting.
"Pleased to meet you," she replied.
"They were quite tall," Neith then explained. "They wore simple clothes with a body armour. Dark hair. Long fingers. They had a ridge on their foreheads."
"Please tell us what happened, Neith," Teal'c said, gesturing her to come with them.
"They came to our camp! At first we thought they were Goa'uld, but their ships did not look like anything I have ever seen the Goa'uld use. Then they came for us."
O'Neill led them back into the board room where they all took a seat. Then Neith continued her tale.
"They walked into the settlement as if they owned it. Ishta and Ginra approached them. It was still possible that they were friendly." She grunted with anger. "They were not. Without warning they opened fire. Their weapons did not kill. They rendered the victims unconscious. We fought them, but it was not enough. They took our sisters."
"Who was taken?" Teal'c wanted to know, a sudden anxiety lacing his voice.
"Nesa," Neith choked as she was her sibling. "Ginra, Ka'lel, Kar'yn…"
When she trailed off Teal'c's features darkened. "Jaffa, ma'kree!" he shouted, jumping up from his chair and towering over her.
Holding her head high even in the face of the warrior's rage Neith replied. "They took Ishta."
"No!" Teal'c shouted. "Not Ishta!"
"Yes, it is true," Neith insisted. "Ishta was taken from us."
Teal'c sat back down heavily, clenching his teeth.
"Teal'c, I'm sorry," Carter said. Compassion sparkled in her eyes when she looked at him, knowing how close he and Ishta had become while the SGC had helped the Hak'tyl to become truly independent of the Goa'uld by teaching them how to use the drug Tretonin.
"Does the description tell you who they were?" Neith suddenly turned to Toshiko. "Do you know who did this?"
"Yes. The description fits the Tebr'ox," she replied and got out her PDA. It took only a short moment to find what Toshiko was looking for and she held the device out to Neith, the display showing the picture she had found in the database.
"Yes, that is them," Neith confirmed. Her features darkened. "This attack is an offence! We did not fight for our freedom from the Goa'uld to be taken like that! Ishta is our leader, a former High Priestess! We will not rest until she and our sisters are found!"
"Nor will I," Teal'c declared. "We will need a ship. Bra'tac can help us."
"Whoa! Teal'c!" O'Neill cut in. "Hold your horses, buddy. You can't just run away to hunt them with your Jaffa friends."
"Besides," Carter added, "you might not be able to follow them."
"What do you mean, Colonel Carter?" Teal'c asked, seeming to ignore General O'Neill for the moment.
"If the attackers on Hak'tyl were the same as they were here on Earth, then their ship made the trip in two days," Carter explained. "An al'kesh needs at least a week to get from here to Hak'tyl at top speed."
"Now that's fast."
"It is," Carter agreed, glowering at Sheppard for his unsolicited comment. "Jack, if we were in doubt about going after the Tebr'ox before, now we have no choice. We know that they're a threat not only to us but to our allies as well. We have to do something."
Thoughtfully General O'Neill nodded.
"We need to make a plan," he decided. "Contact Thor and Selmak. I want to hear their opinions as well before we do anything. We'll meet here again in an hour. Dismissed."
tbc…
A/N: ma'kree = report