CHAPTER EIGHT

Ianto stumbled off of the 'service exit' and onto Roald Dahl Plass, shaken and angry. The image of Lisa being ripped apart by Myfanwy would haunt him for the rest of his life, he knew.

The anger swelled in his chest, painful. He would have cried up he was sure there was no water left him his body, so he found another release for that hunt.

Spinning around he allowed his fist to fly towards the man he blamed for everything. His guilt, his shame… for making him forget Lisa for even the briefest moment. – For a thousand brief moments.

Bone connected with bone, as Ianto's fist found its target. It didn't make him feel any better, but it was all he could do.

"You could have saved her!" he yelled, as Gwen put her police training into action and backed him away from their leader. "Your worse than anything locked up down their!" he continued to shout, his face ridged with fury.

Jack turned slowly towards the younger man, his lips seeping blood. He was silent, not arguing, not taking his own swing.

"One day I'll give a chance to save you and I'll watch you suffer and die." Ianto said with a sting of venom.

"It was the only thing that would stop her!" Jack yelled back, finally making a move towards his subordinate. Only to be restrained by Owen.

Gwen and Owen fought to keep the two men apart, trying desperately to calm the situation. Ianto's fight seemed out of him almost as quickly as it had flooded in. He turned away from the scene. Barely listening or caring anymore….until he heard Tosh's voice.

"Listen, when I was at reception I managed to trip the lockdown timer. The power should be coming back on any second. – We could get back in."

And then he was running. Away from the team and back to Lisa. He heard them call his name. Heard Jack demand that he stop, but he just kept on running. He was going back in there, whether it was to find Lisa alive or dead.

He reached tourist center door, the cover for their secret base, rushing through he grabbed the weapon that was kept behind the desk for security purposed and hit the button to open the false wall.

"Ianto, don't be stupid." Gwen pleaded as the four Torchwood member rushed in after him.

Ianto turned the weapon on them. His face hard with determination, fear and panic. "I have nothing left to lose."

"There's always something left to lose." Gwen stated in her police woman manner.

"I'm going back in to save her. Anybody tries to stop me, I'll shoot them." It was a lie of course. He wasn't a murderer. He couldn't shoot them…. He couldn't shoot Jack, no matter how much he wanted to.

Jack either saw it in his face, or just instinctively knew it as only a soldier could, cause the slightest distraction in Ianto attention and he was on him. Knocking the gun from the younger man's hand, gripping his wrist and twisting, slamming him against the false wall, while pulling his own weapon.

"You make a threat like that; you'd better be prepared to follow it through." Jack announced harshly.

Ianto's face pressed against the doorframe of the false wall. He'd believed himself out of tears, but they proved him wrong by once again welling up inside him. Jack didn't understand. How could he. He was a soldier. Everything Ianto knew about Jack told him the man cared for nothing else but Torchwood.

A small part of his brain briefly questioned who a man who show no sign of caring, could place himself in harm's way for a whole planet, day after day.

But the thought was swept aside by the hard tone of Jack's voice.

"See? You disobey me now, I really will shoot you."

"Get off me."

Jack seemed to push him harder against the wall. "You want to go back in there? You go in to finish the job. – If she's still alive, you execute her…"

"No way."

Jack roughly turned the Ianto to face him and for the first time, he could see the pure look of betrayal and hurt hidden under Jack's anger. "

"You brought this down on us. You hid her." Jack voice was hard, unwavering but his features said so much more. "…you hid yourself from us..."

Ianto knew he meant him. He'd used everything he could think of to get inside Torchwood. He used Jack and now Jack knew it. That guilt he'd felt over the last few months, that heavy weight that he couldn't shift, grew heavier with seeing that look on Jack's face.

"…Now it's time for you to stand as part of the team!"

"Jack." Gwen tried to step in, but was brushed off with a swift shake of Jack's shoulder.

"The girl you loved has gone. Your loyalty is to us now."

Ianto glared at Jack. His callous words poking at that still raw wound. Lisa wasn't dead, he wouldn't believe it. Not until he saw it for himself. And if she wasn't, he would not kill her. He would find another way to save her, to get back the woman he loved. Jack Harkness be damned.

"You can't order me to do that."

"You execute her, or I'll execute you both." Jack said through clenched teeth.

"I won't do it. You can't make me." Ianto said determinedly. Jack may be his boss, but Lisa was his life. "You like to think you're a hero, but you're the biggest monster of all."

Ianto watched as his words struck. Jack's posture chanced, his features darkened. It was as if Ianto had hit a nerve and Ianto felt a surge of pleasure. If he could cause the mighty Jack Harkness an ounce of pain it was worth it. He meet the older man's blue gaze with his own, unflinchingly.

"I'm giving you 10 minutes, then we're coming in." Jack informed him in a low and dangerous tone. "Pick it up."

Ianto' stared at Jack for a brief moment. Then reached down and lifted the gun. He had no intention of kill Lisa. He'd never do that. His plan now was to get to her before the team and hopefully they could both get out of the hub… or die trying.