The usual don't own anything of course. :) There is some smut in this chapter of m/m nature so if it offends you skip the marked section.
Jack could never have imagined the nightmare that everything turned into. While he had known Suzie's mind had suffered more and more toward the end of her life he had never anticipated the depths of insanity - or hatred and anger - to which she had fallen. At both murder scenes a more careful search turned up evidence of a group called Pilgrim and with that in mind Ianto and Tosh were able to recover several flyers advertising the group in amongst Suzie's things. Further investigation turned up Max Tresilian, an unwitting puppet in Suzie's sick game who had been triggered to kill after a length of time had passed. He seemed an altogether pleasant bloke until you mentioned the word Torchwood and after that he had to be physically restrained to keep him from strangling Jack. Once in a cell he sat motionless, rocking back and forth and ignoring everything until he heard Torchwood and only then did he react again, this time violently attacking the clear wall of the cell in an effort to get to anyone on the other side. As soon as it started it ended and he once more dropped to the floor to sit in stoic silence.
"Well, that was interesting." Ianto glanced at Jack. "Now what?"
"Don't know. Boardroom, everyone. We'll see what we can come up with." He waited until the others had filed out before he shook his head, stills taring at the silently rocking man. "It would really help if you could tell us what you know," he said. When he got no response he sighed. "Fine, sit there and...sit there." jack started for the heavy door that kept the first level of vaults secured from the rest of the Hub. A few steps from it, he turned back and once more fixed his gaze on Max Tresilian. "Torchwood!" he whispered, watching as once again he leapt to his feet and attacked the wall.
"Captain Harkness, stop teasing the inmates," Ianto's Welsh vowels purred in his ear.
Grinning, Jack left the vaults and headed back to the main Hub to rejoin his team.
-TW-
"No!"
"I hate to agree with her but she might have a point. The only connection we've found is this whole Pilgrim business and since it seems that was her weekly thing we might have to just go ahead and try. We need answers Jack, and we aren't getting them any other way." Owen was drawing circles on the table, leaving smears and making Ianto itch to smack him. "Look, I'm not looking forward to seeing her again either but if this is something that was started in that madness she wallowed in we have to see if she knows how to stop it."
"Tosh?"
Tosh shrugged. "It might be the only way but I'm not having anything to do with it. It gave me the creeps before all that and I maintain it takes something twisted in order for it to work." She glanced at Gwen. "I'm not so sure why you're so eager to try it out but keep in mind we never did figure out what sort of energy powered it."
"Ianto?"
Ianto shook his head. "No, no, a thousand times no. You know how I feel about the glove. I said that it gave off something that made me sick to my stomach when you first found it. That hasn't changed. If anything, the thought of it now makes my skin crawl. I agree with tosh, I want nothing to do with it. Nothing."
Jack sighed and leaned back in his chair. "I'm inclined to agree with Tosh and Ianto. At this point, I see nothing that would benefit us by using the glove. You used to be a cop, so use that training." he focused his gaze on an obviously angry Gwen. "You weren't here to know her before the glove. She was dedicated, brilliant and..."
"Shagging her too were you?" Gwen snapped.
Before Jack could answer, Owen waved a hand. "Nope, PC Cooper, that was me. And she was brilliant at that as well." He grinned at Gwen's murderous glare. "Not the first, although I have to say you did teach me something." His eyes darted to look at Tosh before returning to look at Gwen. "Too late, but I still should say thanks."
"Enough!" Jack barked before the discussion could descend into a blazing row. "Tosh, keep digging on Pilgrim. Owen, go over everything from the autopsies, see if there is even a speck of dust on a fingernail that might help. Gwen, start phoning all the halls, banquet rooms, specialty places - anything that could be used to host meetings. We have an idea of what day of the week they met. Use Pilgrim, the names of the victims, and even try Suzie's. Ianto, with me." Jack stood up and swept from the room, Ianto rolling his eyes and following. Tosh got up and gathered her laptop and the papers she had brought into the meeting, ignoring the other two as she left.
"So you make it a habit to shag the women while Jack shags the men?" Gwen snapped.
"Jack shags women and men. In fact, before Ianto, Jack would pretty much shag anything that caught his eye. Man, woman, alien, he didn't care. However, oddly enough, despite the fact you have thrown yourself at him since the first day he never shagged you." Owen shook his head and clucked his tongue. "Not sure if that says something for him, or for me. More likely him though." He picked up the stack of files containing the results of the autopsies. "Work to do." he sauntered out, leaving her fuming.
-TW-
*M*M*M
"Jack?"
"Hmm?"
"Aren't we supposed to be trying to figure out who is behind these murders and why?"
"Umhmm."
"Then - oh fuck - why aren't - oh fuck - we doing something...Jack!"
Jack, on his knees in front of a very disheveled Ianto Jones, blew another stream of air over the head of his weeping cock. "We are doing something. I'm thinking. And you know I think better when I'm relaxed." He once more took Ianto's cock down to the root and sucked hard as he drew his tightly clasped lips up the shaft, enjoying the garbled sounds that resulted from the onslaught. He really had brought him to the office with the intention of brainstorming but he could tell the thought of the glove and what had happened with Suzie was bothering Ianto and the only thing he could think of to distract him was to force him to focus on something else. It was just an added bonus that it was something Jack enjoyed as well.
Ianto had insisted this was a bad idea. He had insisted right up until Jack was on his knees with one hand toying with his balls, the other stroking and rubbing his hole and his cock sucked down to the root. He might even have tried to continue the argument but every time he opened his mouth the only thing that came out were garbled words and sounds he wasn't sure up until that moment he was actually capable of making. One hand was bracing himself as he leaned back on the desk, the other was wrapped in the soft strands of Jack's hair and giving it an occasional tug when he thought Jack was taking a bit too long in one spot. He was so brilliant at this that Ianto had often wondered why he even bothered to try to maintain any semblance of dignity (which he was also sure that he never quite succeeded in - in fact he knew that Jack was capable of making him look completely and utterly debauched). Close, so close to spilling into Jack's eager mouth, Ianto gave in and began to thrust his hips, feeling Jack still his movements and allow Ianto to fuck his mouth at his pace and it was only when the evidence of Ianto's impending orgasm was clear that he took control once again, positioning his mouth just so as Ianto's muffled cry came just as the head of his cock rested on the center of Jack's tongue, allowing Jack to embrace the full flavor of the thick liquid that spurted from the tip. Sucking, he used his tongue to stroke the underside of the pulsing flesh, taking Ianto deep to let the last bits hit the back of his throat as he swallowed. Slowly, gentling the sucking on the sensitive flesh, he drew his lips up the shaft until the head slipped free and only then did he look up at the panting, red-faced man above him.
"Good?"
"Always," Ianto breathed, dropping his head to look at Jack. "Bastard. How is it you managed to talk me into this?"
"I'm good, baby," Jack said, grinning as he got to his feet, his own arousal still obvious as the tented front of his trousers brushed Ianto's thigh. "Now, how are you going to say thank you?" he purred, leaning closed to lightly rub his stiffened cock on Ianto's leg.
"I'm not going to give you decaf," Ianto said smugly, laughing aloud at the pout that appeared. "We need to get back to work, so it'll have to be quick." With that, he shoved Jack back into his chair and after fixing his pants and trousers Ianto dropped to his knees, long fingers making short work of Jack's flies and without preamble he reached in and withdrew Jack's cock, giving the head a quick lick before taking it deep and doing everything he knew that made Jack come undone. After all, it certainly wasn't fair if he was the only one that ended up looking debauched.
END*M*M
-TW-
Gwen knew the only way to get to the bottom of it all was to find some way of asking Suzie. Standing in front of the vault that was the Secure Archives she crossed her arms, staring at the lock as if will alone would force it open. She heard footsteps coming behind her and then the very identifiable smell that was Jack and she stiffened her shoulders, prepared to once more present her reasoning for this to happen. "If the pattern continues then another murder will happen tonight, are you willing to live with that on your conscience?"
Jack snorted, stopping behind her. "Trust me, I have far more than that which weighs on my conscience, Gwen. What are you doing?"
"The glove, Jack. Five mintages and we can find out everything."
"I'm so sick of arguing with you. Fine." Jack shoved past her and keyed in the code to open the lock. he swung open the door and went inside, returning quickly with a large metal containment box which he set at her feet. "The glove. Now you have it. All you have to do is get Owen to help you. I want no part of this. And when it all goes to shit, and it will, don't look to me to save you." He stormed off then, leaving her alone with the box. Taking a deep breath she picked it up before keying her earpiece.
"Owen, it's time to wake up Suzie." Ignoring his loud and unhappy demands for answers, she headed back to the main Hub, sure she was doing the right thing.
-TW-
Obviously it wasn't. Two minutes stretched into two hours and she was sitting in the interrogation room getting more alive every minute. No one but Gwen wanted anything to do with her and her lack of concern about Gwen's power to do anything to her in retaliation had Suzie being rude, combative and telling Gwen nothing but how useless she was as a replacement. She did very quickly figure out that playing on Gwen's sympathies and her belief in her own opinions would work to her advantage, so she fed Gwen a story of a dying father and a frightened, desperate daughter, willing to do anything to save her Daddy. Four hours after her resurrection, she and Gwen had left the Hub with Gwen once more on one of her "I know best" crusades while the Hub was locked down. Tosh had been keeping tabs on the women and had discovered a strange sort of energy that was being leached by Suzie, one that seemed to be strengthening her by draining the life from Gwen. Jack was keeping it to himself but there was a part of him that felt Gwen was actually - for once - getting exactly what she deserved but he was trying, and it was only after a rather humiliating phone call to Detective Swanson they found the key to unlock the Hub. It was too late for Suzie's father though and nearly too late for Gwen by the time Jack and Owen reached them and while both men emptied their guns into Suzie it was only the act of destroying the glove that ended it all and a very weak Gwen was bundled back in SUV to return to the Hub. In the transference, she had developed the injury that had caused Suzie's death and the hole under her chin where the bullet had entered and the hole in the top of her head where it had exited were sources of intense, searing pain and although she was once more clinging to life Owen wasn't sure she was going to make it. It was a long and subdued trip back to the Hub with one of the PCs offering to return Gwen's car, thus allowing Jack to drive the SUV while Owen monitored Gwen's condition.
Jack had fully expecting things to go wrong but not this wrong and while he was furious with the way she had handled the whole situation a part of him was very grateful he was not making a visit to Rhys Williams to explain that his girlfriend had died on a mission. Despite the fact it had been completely of her own making, he would never have blamed her for the situation to Rhys and he would have allowed the man to place the blame squarely on his shoulders. He knew Ianto was unhappy with him over permitting her to use the glove but at some point he knew that the only way she would learn would be to experience the consequences. However, he also knew that this was once more he had allowed her to get her way over not only the logical objections put forth by the team but over his own objections as well. Once she was healed there was going to be a massive change in her position within the team, and this was indeed her final chance.
"You were right."
Jack snorted. "Imagine that."
"Fuck you, Harkness. We're human, we don't always act as rationally as we should. You should know that. And after seeing the lengths you'll go to in order to find out something I think using the glove wasn't near as farfetched as you made it seem."
"It nearly killed her. Would that have been far enough?"
"Knowing her? Probably not." Owen sighed and looked over at a sleeping Gwen. "She's like a bloody bulldog."
"She's about to be kennelled."
"What?"
"Nothing, I'm going to discuss this with Ianto before I make a final decision. And yes, I am going to officially name him as my SIC. Tosh doesn't want it and while you are a brilliant doctor you are a shit human being. I need someone who can balance my behavior."
Owen simply grunted his assent, inwardly imagining the explosion that would come from a certain former PC when Ianto was formally named as Jack's second. Despite every reason not to - and after a quick glance at Jack to be sure his attention was firmly on the road ahead - Owen allowed himself to grin. He had to make sure Tosh was ready that way they would have the best angles of the CCTV footage when it happened.