Title: Seeing Red

Pairings/Characters: Captain Jack Harkness, Yvonne Hartmann, Ianto Jones, Toshiko Sato, Mentions Owen Harper, Suzie Costello

Warnings: ..I don't know haha.

Summary: Jack tries to stop Torchwood London firing on the Sycorax warship

Author Notes: Set for the 100 word prompts I received from Sushi Chi. Seriously, you should thank her for Silence, Chicken Pox, the Alphabet challenge and this challenge 'cause she's the one who sends me the prompts and stuff

Disclaimer: I don't own the TV show or the characters.

"Tosh, what's going on with that weapon?" Jack asked tensely, his phone held firmly to his ear.

"It's still very much armed Jack. They could fire it at any moment."

"They have me on hold. Torchwood has me on hold!" The captain growled.

"I can't hack into their systems Jack. Even if I tried when they didn't know I was trying to. Now they do and they have all their top firewalls up. They're impenetrable."

"Toshiko, don't stop trying. I need you to get into their systems. Owen and Suzie are out on a weevil hunt. It's just you and I on this one and I need your best work."

Toshiko's hands moved frantically along the keyboard, trying desperately to break through the heavy security of Torchwood's mainframe.

"Hello?" Jack let out a frustrated sigh, "I need to speak with Yvonne Hartmann. This is crucial…Captain Jack Harkness."

- - - - - - - - - X x X - - - - - - - - -

Ianto Jones walked into Yvonne Hartmann's office, straightening his already immaculate tie. Yvonne was having a conversation over the loud speaker.

"You and I both know this is wrong so just stop Yvonne! They surrendered, they're leaving! Let them leave!" The voice on the end of the phone seemed desperate and as Ianto looked over at Ms. Hartmann…he saw that she was enjoying that little power over them.

"I've told you before, we're just following orders."

"Torchwood doesn't follow orders; you and I both know that."

Ianto handed a file to her, smiling politely. She took it and looked straight back at the phone, glaring at the man on the other end. It could be clear to anyone she didn't like this man. The glint in her eyes made the Welshman think that if she did it for much longer, the phone would burst into flames.

Ianto started to walk away as he heard the words coming from the phone.

"They surrendered. They're leaving. What good is it going to do firing at them?"

"Ma'am?" Ianto cleared his throat, obviously feeling out of place and knowing he'd regret this, "With all due respect, he's right. Wouldn't it be safer to let them go rather than fire at them and risk retaliation?"

If the look on her face was anything to go by, Ianto Jones was about to be demoted…or worse, fired. But what does firing involve in Torchwood? It seems like a 'once you're in you can't leave' kind of place. Ianto closed his eyes and prepared for Yvonne Hartmann's rage to be unleashed.

- - - - - - - - - X x X - - - - - - - - -

Jack was smiling. He couldn't stop smiling because there was someone there who saw sense.

"Listen to your people Yvonne. What else are they there for?"

There was a pause on the other line which Jack could only guess was because she was torturing the man who stood up for him. Jack wished he could shake his hand…the man brave enough to stand up to her, other than himself.

"Yvonne…please don't do this. I'll give you access to all our files and hidden data, just don't do this."

"You're supposed to be giving me access to that stuff already." She pointed out.

"Well then don't fire at that ship and you'll be bringing back the natural order of things won't you?"

There was a tired sigh on the other end of the phone, "You and I both know this isn't as simple as you're making it out to be."

"No it isn't! Fire or don't fire! It's pretty straight forward!"

"Jack, the fact of the matter is that we are Torchwood. We are here to protect this planet from extra-terrestrial threat. The Sycorax fall under that category. In the end it falls to a higher command as to whether or not we fire or not."

"We don't answer to anyone!"

"No Jack, you don't answer to anyone! Things aren't so simple for me. You have three people to command. I have the whole of the Canary Wharf building filled with them."

"I am begging you Yvonne. Reconsider."

"Goodbye Jack."

"No! Yvonne!" Jack yelled out in frustration.

He paced over to Toshiko's desk, where she was still typing frantically, "Keep trying Tosh, we need to get in there." He clicked redial and groaned as he was once again put on hold.

"Jack! It's just powered up."

"No! Toshiko, do something!" Jack yelled desperately.

"I can't Jack! I'm not into their systems yet."

Jack raked a hand through his hair, running to another station and bringing up the CCTV footage of the weapon. He watched helplessly as it prepared to fire.

"No…" He murmured, barely a whisper, "Please, no."

The weapon began to fire and Jack screamed, kicking the chair next to him to the floor, "No! We should've stopped them! Why couldn't we stop them!"

"Jack…" Toshiko's voice was timid, scared for the older man.

"If I can't stop something like this, why am I still here? What is the point in me!" He kicked the chair that was already on the floor aggressively, stalking to his office and calling, "Go home Tosh!"

A/N: I've wanted to write this for a while. I hope I did it some justice :) Please review and let me know what you think.

Cheers,
Gabz
xx