Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood or Doctor Who, and I know you didn't think I did.
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The Doctor's words had an instant effect on the room. Ianto's head whipped up and he had his gun out in a matter of seconds, mobile still clutched in one hand. Jack's attention snapped to the Doctor, the hologram, and then finally to John. His expression…mixed disappointment and anger? Bewildered too.
John's reaction however, came quicker than either of them. As the Doctor mentioned a problem, John's hand sneaked towards his gun. As the Doctor called his bluff, John's gun was out of its holster. And as Jack turned to look at the Doctor, John had raised his gun and shot him through the heart. The shot rang loud and clear through the bar. The Doctor and Ianto both bore shocked expression. Shocked expressions that turned into disgust (of weapons) and pity (for Jack) on the Doctor's face (who wouldn't look down because he'd seen enough of death – especially Jack dying), and sheer rage and a touch of fear on Ianto's as he looked down at Jack and then up at John. John watched Jack crumple to the floor, making sure he was dead before looking up to deal with Ianto and the Doctor.
And for the second time that night, it was the mistake of not paying attention to a man with a gun that heard another gunshot go off in the bar.
John clutched his shoulder and swore (the Doctor looked indignant about this, and mumbled something about telling 'her' not to translate vulgar things when he got back). He stumbled backwards and, as pain washed over him, dropped his gun. John didn't like pain. In fact, it was fair to say he despised pain. Given a choice between betraying his own father and being in pain, he wouldn't even think twice. He had never liked him anyway, the bastard.
This time, the Doctor was the first to react to the gunshot. He started forwards, grabbed John's arms and twisted them behind his back. It was the cool metal of the handcuffs clipping around his wrists that brought John back to reality from seeing red with pain.
"Handcuffs." He commented dryly, "You mean I was right about breakfast? Why do you have handcuffs?"
The Doctor paused for a moment, lost in thought. "Spoilers."
Ianto was dialling Gwen's number.
"Gwen? Where are you?"
"Outside the Tourist Office. Listen, I'm sorry I'm later. Traffic was awful for some reason. I swear it was a riot on the streets! I'll be inside in a moment. What's the problem Ianto?"
"Are Owen and Tosh with you? You need to get here now-"
"Just wait a sec, love. Damn it! I've forgotten my keys! Can you come out and let me in?"
"I'm not in the Hub Gwen, listen-"
"Oh, wait. Here's Owen now. Forget it; he's got his keys with him."
Ianto sighed, making the Doctor look at him curiously. John looked like he was about to vomit. Why did Ianto get the feeling Gwen wasn't listening to him? Well, at least he knew she and Owen were in the Hub, so maybe he should hang up and then she'd call back when she realised something was wrong. Preoccupied as he was with Gwen, Ianto only noticed something had gone wrong when he heard the explosion.
"Gwen, get in the hub, and get on comms. I've got to go." He hung up on her without waiting for a reply.
The Doctor straightened up and glared at John. "What did you do that for?" Whatever it was that John had spat at him had missed the Doctor only because he had ducked quickly. In fact, the small pellet had hit the fish tank behind the Doctor and scattered the glass into Atmos. The Doctor counted himself lucky. If it had hit him…well, he wasn't sure if he would have had enough time to regenerate. And he wasn't willing to find out, either. Years of running and dodging had honed the Timelord's reflexes well. Except…he was soaking wet now.
"Doctor, are you alright?"
"Very wet, but no physical damage. It looks like it just took the glass. Hence the wet. Although I daresay the fish are doing worse." He scooped up the fish in his hands and gently released them into a metal bowl - which had survived the earlier fight - filled with water from the fish tank.
John shrugged. Well, it had been worth a try. It wasn't as if he had really expected it to work anyway. It was a diversion design to give him enough time and distraction to work his hands around and reach for his lock-picking device. Once he had that, and had gotten rid of these pesky old-fashioned handcuffs (really, he couldn't use any of the cracks he knew on something that was just metal!), he'd be free to reach his weapons… He had almost touched the device when the Doctor slapped his hands away and take the little square lock-picker away from him. Damn it!
"Just because you think I'm not paying attention, it doesn't mean that I'm not paying attention. Try anything funny and I'll send you into the void. Or I'll make sure you get stranded on Gravnor Two with a blue pass. Don't think I won't." The Doctor's voice had a strange tone of menace to it. They were empty threats. But he was sure a time agent – even an ex-time agent – wouldn't notice.
John stopped then. He knew he'd been outplayed –this time, at least. He wasn't giving this Timelord any reason to have him killed or tortured. The Doctor thought for a moment and then removed John's wrist-strap and pocketed it. It really was quite a dangerous piece of equipment.
Seeing how narrowly they had avoided another disaster, Ianto realised he would have to search John for weapons, and get rid of anything he could use against them. Before he could move however, his mobile rang. It was Tosh. He answered quickly.
"Ianto! Nobody was here when I arrived so I realised you must have gone out. I checked the rift activity when I got here. It's been active. And there are three signals of alien tech around Cardiff. They're all giving off a bit of a pulse. It looks like radiation – enough so it's picking up when I do a radiation scan – but I think it's more like a tracking system or data transmission. Might be harmless, but since you're already out, maybe you should pick them up on the way?"
Sometimes, Tosh's brilliance startled Ianto.
"Actually, we're about to head in. We'll have to deal with the canisters later. For now, could you find a secure cell? Preferably opposite a big scary alien." – well, why not? – "And when Owen and Gwen get in, warn them to be prepared. We're bringing in a hostile-" He looked at John. "-creature."
"What? I kill your boyfriend and suddenly I'm not human anymore?" John looked drunk. John felt drunk. He had never really liked captivity. Or being handcuffed. He was usually the one handcuffing others.
Ianto ignored him. "Okay, thanks Tosh. See you when we get in."
He walked towards John and removed John's snakeskin sword, laying it on the counter-top. He then proceeded to search John, his nimble fingers quickly finding – and removing – any weapons he came across. Guns, knives, anything that looked remotely like a weapon went onto the counter. Every time Ianto found something he was unsure of, he held it up for the Doctor to see before he either replaced it or added it to the growing pile of weaponry.
"Ooh, Eyecandy. If you wanted me, you only had to ask." John smirked as he felt Ianto's hands on his body. "A little lower please."
Ianto didn't bother replying. He was too busy wondering why Jack hadn't revived yet. The reason - though he was not to know it -was that Jack was still recovering from multiple deaths. A lot of energy was used to bring Captain Jack back to life, and the loss of so much at once…well, it was like what had happened after Abaddon. He needed more time. Ianto stepped a little closer to John, double checking that he had removed all of John's weapons.
Later, when they looked back on the night, they realised three mistakes, three quite simple things really, had given John the opportunity to kill. The first, was not paying attention to a man with a gun, and led to Jack's death. The second, was Ianto being on the phone to Gwen, and nearly forced a regeneration (or more) from the Doctor.
The third was letting John Hart get within kissing distance.
Ianto was nothing short of surprised when John Hart pushed himself forward and locked lips with him. Somehow, the counter of the bar had gotten behind him. Ianto was now pinned between it and John. He had a moment to register that kissing John was a little like kissing Jack. He could smell the pheromones pouring off the man. The same, and yet so very different. The sound had rushed out of his ears. John was quite a good kisser really. Ianto almost forgot himself. His hearing had dimmed. Somewhere in the background, a gasp as Jack came back to life. Somewhere else, a mumbled protest against the kiss. Somewhere else, a man hurtling towards them and ripping them apart.
No! He wanted to keep kissing Jack. He struggled. Oh. It was John. Not Jack. Jack was holding him now. He looked furious. Ianto blinked up at him. And oh, he was going all fuzzy. Where had he learned to do that? He looked really, really mad. The last thought Ianto Jones had was 'But it was just a kiss…'
Jack was furious. Upon coming back to life, his first sight had been a handcuffed John thoroughly snogging Ianto. His Ianto. His first reaction was amusement. John in handcuffs? Ianto kissing another man? Wow. His second reaction was jealousy. He wanted to rip them apart and scream. His third reaction was fear. Poison lip balm. He had scrambled to his feet and rushed to Ianto, tearing him away from John.
John's eyes widened as he saw Jack. He took a step backwards.
"You were dead."
"Yeah." Jack almost barked the reply out, "I can't die."
"Well, he can. He just can't stay dead."
John swore.
Jack looked down at Ianto, who was blinking blearily up at him. His body was going limp. Jack grabbed his sleeve and wiped at Ianto's mouth.
"Stay with me Ianto, come on!"
"It won't work. There was tongue in that kiss. Face it. He's as good as dead."
Jack drew his gun; an impressive feat considering he was now supporting Ianto's full weight on one arm.
"How long does he have?"
"It's really no use."
"How long does he have? And if you don't fucking answer me-"
"Okay! Okay! The maximum's about half an hour."
"And the minimum?" the Doctor asked quietly.
"Ten minutes. Actually, good point. Why didn't you die before? There isn't a cure on Earth that will save him. But if you let me go, I'll get it for you. Of course, I'll have a few extra demands for the trouble…"
"You walk back into my life with a con, kill me, poison Ianto and you expect me to help you?!"
"I'm his only chance. Only I know what the antidote is."
"No. No, there has to be another way. There has to be!"
The Doctor ran over, waving his sonic screwdriver at Ianto's lips. "If I could just get a reading on this…" He flicked through the settings madly, gave up and then started pulling things out of his pocket in the hope that there was something that could help. Anything. He didn't want to lose Ianto either. He hadn't even finished getting to know the man!
"Owen!" Jack shouted into his earpiece.
"Ouch! Jack, what is it?"
"I need you to get here, quickly. Ianto's been poisoned."
"Shit. Jack, hate to break it to you mate, but there's no way we can get out fast enough. There's some sort of riot on the streets. Most roads are sealed off. And we don't have the SUV. We don't have a car at all, in fact. And it's not like we can take the sub."
Jack couldn't take it anymore. He sank to the floor, collapsing under Ianto's dead weight. His face was wet with tears. The Doctor watched him, reminded of another death not so long ago, on the Valiant. His eyes said everything. Sorrow, pain, anguish. Frustration. But Jack was oblivious to it all. He cradled Ianto's limp body, completely losing any sense of reason he had retained before. All he could think of was Ianto, slipping slowly into the dark embrace of death, into the void forever. And he hadn't even had the chance to mend the gulf between them. He had never even told him…
"Oh, Ianto please…Please stay with me! You still owe me a date! Don't die on me now! I-I love you! I'm so sorry!"