Chapter 9
Ianto was as ready as he could be for that meeting. He had one full cartridge for his gun in his jacket's pocket and three bullets remained in the current cartridge. Tosh and Jack had tested the strength of the pill he had taken for five days; he would lie even under duress or drugs. The people contacting him had to trust him; they may not be from the Front, but hopefully they were, or were connected somehow to it.
He had brushed his pants and jacket as much as he could; had cleaned his face, and was dearly hoping to get a hold of a razor soon. He felt as derelict as the building he had spent the last two hours.
He was also trusting Tosh and Jack to watch his every move; they had his location, they had a fair amount of control on the CCTV network. Things had to go right.
He approached the Red Dragon Inn from a back alley, surveying the back door first. He checked the windows – all securely locked from the inside. He swore inwardly. He took a very deep breath and walked toward the front door.
The doorman looked him up and down, sniggering openly.
Ianto made to enter the pub.
"Oy mate, where do you think you're going?"
"Jones, Ianto Jones!"
The doorman started to mutter not quite silently and called inside abruptly "Bert, tell Ed his man's here"
"Go in!" He pointed Ianto toward the bar.
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"Tosh, tell me something I don't know?" Jack's patience was running thin.
"Well, I don't know either Jack. So please let me work and go … go … I don't know. Go jump in the bay and come back in an hour!"
Simon and Rhys, who were attending Gwen's needs, heard the two Torchwood team mates argued once too many. Rhys left his wife's side and walked toward the conference room.
"Guys, come here and sit down! I'll fetch you coffees and sandwiches then Tosh; you'll go home and sleep for at least five hours!"
Jack, upon hearing Rhys chastised them both, suddenly saw Tosh; really saw her. She had dark circles under both eyes; her skin was closed to a grey tone, which in her case was quite alarming. The pair of them was working non-stop since Ianto had given the signal he had been contacted. But Tosh didn't have Jack's inner rebuilding vital energy. She was exhausted. Completely and totally exhausted.
"Tosh, I apologized"
Jack approached Tosh softly and gathered her in his strong arms, squeezing her tenderly to his chest. Tosh laid her head on his large torso and suddenly let go of her stress. They remained tightly attached for a few minutes; long enough for Rhys' coffee to finish brewing.
"Come for coffee; Tosh, I'll drive you home and I'll pick you myself in ten hours. You're not helping my Gwen in the state that you're in"
Tosh left shortly afterward and promptly felt asleep in Rhys' car; he had to shake her up and walked her all the way to her apartment's door.
Jack ate two sandwiches and went down to his bunker; Simon had stared him down. Two hours sleep for him.
He didn't sleep; he just went over and over the last events in his head. Trying to figure out the best way to get Ianto, Edward Frazer and the solution to his colleague's comatose state. Ianto had been seen a few times around Cardiff, twice in London, and now he was around Oxford. The tracking device was perfectly fine; it would work around the planet. Ianto had not sent any distress signal, or the fervently hope for, all clear signal – the signal that would have meant he had the original rock, the trust of the Front, the probable remedy, the time to pick him up.
Jack was more worried that he thought he would be.
What did that meant about his relationship with Ianto?