A/N: Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry! No excuses I just hope this longer chapter helps make up for it a bit. I don't own blah blah blah. Also credit to a friend for Tosh's physics rant, Owen was all me ;p.
It was Ianto's last day with them that everything finally came to a head. Tomorrow he would be handed over to Brian and finally Jack could be rid of them both. Brian would certainly be no loss but Jack was still completely torn over Ianto.
He wanted the boy to stay so badly it hurt, but in the same breath he wanted Ianto gone, to at least taste Brian's punishment, to know exactly the extent of the sanctuary Jack had offered him.
The past day or two the boy had softened a little, he was laughing with Tosh, taunting Owen, losing that self imposed distance. Jack of course stayed remote; he was still stung by Ianto's rejection as pathetic as that may be. The boy had crawled under his skin despite the fact that Ianto's interest appeared minimal, or maybe because of it. It had been so long since he'd encountered a challenge, Jack held no illusions of himself, he knew he was handsome enough that he was never short of willing bed mates and he knew he was dangerous enough that very few dared cross him, but Ianto was the exception to both those rules.
Ianto's dismissive attitude only fuelled Jack's lust and need to make the boy submissive.
Xxx
"So it's a theory of parallel universes then, one where that cat lives and another where it is dead."
Tosh heaved a sigh, one of such depth it conveyed not only her annoyance but a deep set loathing for conversing with people who liked to think they understood beyond their comprehension, "No, Owen, Schrödinger was merely trying to express that observation can affect an outcome as easily as an inaccurate tool." Owens blank stare urged her to continue; this time her tone lacked its already strained patient, "Superposition? . . . Observer's paradox? . . . Quantum theory? Come on Owen you're a doctor, you had to do A level Science how does this not ring a bell."
"Doctor Tosh, doctor. I know biology. Anyway sounds like parallel universes to me."
"Actually Schrodinger meant quite the opposite, he never believed the cat could be alive and dead, he was really mocking quantum mechanics. It goes hand in hand with the double-slit experiment."
Both Tosh and Owen turned to the table, neither had particularly remembered Ianto was sat there in the heat of their squabble, but now Tosh was regarding him with a strange mix of surprise and joy, she glanced at Owen, eyes crinkling with smug bragging before turning her full attention to her coffee. Owen stuck to plain irritation remarking something like "shut it shackle boy" around a mouth full of crisps.
Tosh was about to launch into string theory, thrilled to finally have someone who could converse with her without making stupid comments, or shaking their head at the primitiveness of it all, when Jack strode into the room shouted "GEAR UP" and left just as suddenly.
Three heads snapped round at the command, two bodies sprang to action.
Five minutes later Ianto was beginning to think he really been forgotten, when Owen rounded the corner manhandled him to his feet and dragged him in the direction of the SUV muttering something about "idiot bloody marks".
Xxx
Jack had been eavesdropping on Tosh and Owen's conversation and was about to make his presence known by remarking on how none of it would be of any importance in about 50 or so years time, when Ianto's deeper lilt had beat him to it.
Jack's defences and higher awareness snapped to attention with the sound of that voice, the boy still made him unsteady and the fact that he was warming to the team, and them to him, could only mean trouble.
He'd been so deep in that train of thought that the buzzing of his mobile made him jump, not that Jack would ever admit that. Grasping for his work phone he was shaken further by the fact that said phone showed no signs of life.
The vibrating of his left jean pocket confirmed his thoughts, it was his personal phone, no one rang that, at least they didn't for anything good.
Jack's work phone was for his employers, Tosh and Owen had the comm system, telesales had the house number and Jack's dates didn't get any. His personal phone was for associates or informants, others in his line of work, a call on that wasn't ever good news, especially if he was already on a job.
Despite this Jack didn't hesitate to answer, "Yes?"
"Jack?"
"Yeah" It wasn't any number he recognised and they had rung him.
"Jack, its Terrance. Arts' brother."
"Arty Black?"
"Yeah. Look you said if we needed anything to ring. Arts' latest job went south, someone squealed 'nd he got caught out half way through, anyways he made to escape underground 'nd ran into a nest of them creatures, weebbils or somethin'. Anyways they caught his scent or whatever 'nd tracked him back, problem is they seem to like our hide out better than their own, we can't shake 'em. Wouldn't 'ave called but Art said you knew a bit 'bout 'em 'nd we're already two men down."
"Terrance . . ." Jack's tone said it all, he was half way through a job and as a general rule the less you knew about other jobs the better, he owed Art but he couldn't risk Ianto using this as an opportunity to run.
"Look Jack before go 'nd say no, Art was made we can't just run he needs to lay low, and we ain't a match for 'em animals no more, not without riskin' injury 'nd we'd be sittin' ducks in a soddin' hospital."
Jack bit back the sigh he'd been brewing and resigned to lock Ianto in the SUV before answering "Okay, sit tight."
Ending the call Jack strode to the kitchen, shouted and left.
Xxx
Arty wasn't short for anything, it was a name the man had inherited with his life style. He was slim and lithe, clever and pretty. Too slight to be a mercenary, Art was a grifter first and foremost, his looks gave him an advantage, he was trusted easier, made friends quicker and had little if any trouble getting into places. For his brother, Terrance, the heavy lifter, the mercenary, 'Arty' was a piss take of the man's looks.
For others 'Arty' was an apt representation of the man's skill. His victims didn't know they'd been hit till long after the event, by which point 'Arty' was long gone. He slipped in and out of people lives without ripples, trusted while he was there, forgotten when he wasn't, the man was an artist.
For 'Arty' himself the name was self indulgent, it was a reminder of better times when money wasn't so tight and he could steal because he was good at it, because he wanted to, not because he had to. It was a reminder of art galleries and museums, of high profile places because they were a challenge; it was a reminder of fun.
Jack had met Art while he was still young and impressionable, while he was still having fun. Jack had been hired to acquire a certain piece of art work and deliver it safely from its home in Rome to its future place of residence in London. Transportation was a non issue; as was muscle, but Jack soon found that no amount of bribery or threats would gain him easy access to the piece. Jack had caught wind of Art's reputation and lured him in. Art had got Jack's piece and in return Jack had seduced him and left him.
Over the years they'd bumped into each other playing out the same game over and over, each taking turns to come out on top.
Xxx
The ride to Art's hide out was quiet, Jack was preparing himself for the fight to come, Tosh remembering the onetime she had met Art, and Owen and Ianto shared the quiet confusion of those left out of the loop.
The first time Tosh had met Art was also the last, he'd seem nice, polite even, but stupidly reckless and the effect he had on Jack was worse. They performed to outdo each other, to show off and flirt. Jack took no heed of his own safety and it scared her. She'd told him so, told him that it was stupid and would only end in tears.
Jack had wanted to laugh it off, to snub her idea, but Tosh was his family now and he only saw Art from time to time. It hadn't even been sexual for years, both putting too much into the impress, being too caught up in it to bother with seduction. Jack found he couldn't risk Tosh; Art wasn't worth that much, so Jack had told him, called it quits and left his number.
Tosh worried now that Jack would be coaxed into something reckless again, even if he'd lost the need to impress Art they had Ianto with them and Jack definitely had the need to impress him.
Xxx
The sky was clouded over, no moonlight filtered through and the stars were nonexistent, street lamps didn't reach beyond the nearest ally entrance but left a residual orange glow as the only real source of light.
Jack parked the SUV at the entrance to one of the allies; they'd have to approach on foot or risk giving the weevils' fair warning.
"Owen gear up, we're aiming to subdue if possible, but if you have to shoot aim to kill." Owen hoped to and Jack turned to regard Tosh, "We should be ok but keep the comm open and be prepared to give tactical if necessary."
Ianto had thought he was going to be outright ignored when Jack turned to him and looked him dead in the eye. "Do. Not. Move." Each word was punctuated with a swift jab of Jacks index into Ianto chest.
A brief line of argument swept Ianto brain before it was swiftly disregarded; he didn't know the first thing about what was going on never mind whatever the hell weevils were, besides any argument would be pointless against Jacks stubborn, but highly accurate, belief that Ianto would run at his first opportunity. So Ianto settled for scowling at the patronising tone and offending finger.
Xxx
Jack saw the first boiler suit covered hunched back about a hundred yards from the warehouse doors rummaging through abandoned boxes and bins, "Owen one o'clock".
The weevil was big, broader than average with visible muscle mass Owen noted, it was the alpha or close enough.
Jack took several steps to his right; Owen echoed the action but to his left. The unspoken agreement had been reached quickly, Owen was to bate the creature, distract it enough that Jack could move in behind it and sedate it.
The plan was solid, or at least it had been. The moment everything went to hell could be exactly reduced to the moment Terrance fired his pistol.
Terrance and Art had received Jacks text informing them that he and his team were less than five minutes away; Art thought it best to round up all the scavengers to the front of the warehouse, it made them easier to deal with if they were all in one place. It took the boys a couple of moments to notice that they were in fact already in one place and had not ventured too far from the doors. It took them only a little longer to realise that jumping around making loud noises was not driving the creatures outside but was rather serving to rile them up, the larger of the pack baring their teeth and emitting low snarls. By this point Terrance had had enough of the whole debacle and fired his SIG Sauer into the air following the logic that big bang scares stupid animal.
Unfortunately weevils are not stupid animals and are in fact by Owens reckoning, not that he's had much dealing with them, perfectly intelligent.
At the sound each weevil took the offensive and the four men, apparently Terrance's other men had legged it not long ago, found themselves viscously outmatched.
Three fully grown weevils launched themselves at the Black brothers, Terrance emptied his cartridge into the closest weevil's head, and luckily it was enough to permanently floor that one but it also left him with an unloaded gun and an arm full of newly enraged dead weevils mate.
Art was not a brawler he just wasn't built for it, however he was a self assured excellent shot, the weevil that had been trained on him was kept easily at bay by Art's onslaught of bullets. He had enough ammo to keep this up but his shots weren't coming quick enough or from close enough to put the weevil down or even put it off.
Outside Jack and Owen found themselves just as busy, the snap of sound had alerted not only the big guy in the bins but also two others who had cropped up seemingly from nowhere. Later Jack would note that their position at his back had meant they'd been in a nearby ally and once again in Jacks rush to jump in and be the hero, in his rush to show off he'd put himself in danger. The only difference was he was pretty sure that this time Art hadn't been his intended audience.
Jack was now grappling with two weevils; they were smaller than the others but infinitely more viscous, undoubtedly females protecting their home. Jack was loath to do it but holding off two was not an option he could entertain for long, so he discharged two shots into the closet weevil's knee grounding it hopefully long enough for Jack to deal with the other one.
As the wounded weevil hit the floor the second bounded forward intent on shredding its attacker, Jack waited till the last second before dropping down into a crouch, weight place firmly on his more forward leg. The weevil missed the now smaller target, its forward momentum carrying it on past Jack and giving him time to stand, the balance of his weight pulling him further from the weevil which was now regaining its control and pivoting back to face him. Jack reached with his right hand into his coat and withdrew the stun gun, not too effective but Owen still wasn't quite finished with the deterrent spray, they just didn't have the equipment. The weevil finally had its charge back on target and Jack had only seconds to decide how to handle this. He opted for letting the creature hit him dead on, if he pulled the stun gun into his chest he could let the weevil plough straight into it and his chances of hitting it near the heart were vastly improved.
As the weevil gained ground Jack spread his stance hoping to lessen any specific damage that could be caused on impact. The weevil hit him head on; claws sank into skin, teeth into flesh. Pain screamed foremost in Jacks head, but the stunner hit the creature right on target, the attack paused and the death grip Jack found himself in slackened. Jack stumbled under the new dead weight of the creature in his arms and dropped it.
Jack had dealt with the two disable weevils, they were detained slumped against a particularly grimy wall.
His wounds were healing, skin knitting back together, scabs and bruises already forming and fading.
Finally he turned his attention toward Owen just in time to see the man lose control of his heavy set alpha.
Owen had been trying to back the alpha against the near rest wall, it would restrict the weevil's movement allowing Owen to approach from an angle, get in close enough to stun it. But Owen miss calculated. The alpha had deemed its family in danger, the creature wouldn't back up as Owen hoped but would be more inclined to lunge and advance. The Weevil lashed out catching Owen outstretched arm with its claws, the force of impact drove the stunner from Owen grip and the claws raked across vulnerable skin. Owen withdrew his hand in pain and panic he took several small and shaky steps back. The alpha advanced lashing out almost blindly in rage, Owens retreat quickened his body jerking in odd angles away from the attack.
Jack had looked round in time to see Owen catch his foot and stumble, his heart leapt into his throat as Owen fell and the Weevil continued to advance. Owens back hit the cold cement and Jack launched himself forward already heavy with the knowledge that he was too far away, that he'd advanced too late, that Owen was in serious trouble.
The alpha saw its prey fall, it quickened its pace. Owen tried to scramble away fingers clawing at dirt and loose stones. Two steps and it would be in range; Owen felt his tummy tingle with anticipated pain. He closed his eyes and held his breath.
There was an enraged shout, the dull thump of an impact, and no pain. Owen open his eyes to look up at nothing, the Weevil was gone. A hand at his arm made him start and he looked up to see Harkness' concerned face. But Jack was here too quickly and a brief glance behind him showed no crumpled Weevil, it hadn't been Jack that saved him.
Xxx
"What are Weevils?" Ianto wasn't too concerned with the answer, but it had been quiet for too long, and he was already done with trying to pick the improved cuff locks, Harkness wasn't an idiot.
Tosh didn't look at him or away from the screen at all. "Aliens, viscous, humanoid in basic bone structure but animal in instinct and appearance. Nasty creatures."
Ianto turned to look at the screen "so, red blips human, blue not?"
"Yep that basically covers it." Tosh was visibly distracted, antsy about not being able to physically help them, maybe even a little nervous about being so close and alone with Ianto. "Hmm" Tosh let the puzzled noise slip from between her lips and it caught Ianto's attention.
"What? Toshiko what is it?" Ianto was a little surprised at amount of concern palpable in his voice.
"huh? Oh it's nothing, I'm sure everything fine." Tosh was a bad liar.
"Toshiko, tell me, I know tactical inside out." This finally drew Tosh's eyes from the monitor as she regarded him with steely curiosity, searching out the sincerity in his eyes. She found what she was looking for.
"Jack and Owen," she said pointing out two close red blips "they seem to be focused on this weevil" again showing Ianto exactly what she meant "but there two others just here behind one of them and I can't tell if they haven't seen them or are ignoring them."
Ianto studied the story the monitor depicted, "It could be that one is larger, the other two don't seem to be moving so maybe Jack knows they're not aware and is targeting the bigger threat first." This seemed to placate Tosh and her frame lost a little of its rigor. "Or it could be that Jack ha . . ."
Ianto's theory was cut short but the dull echo of gun fire that cut through the SUV.
The Blips on the monitor flared into action, blue outnumbered red six to four, then one blue blip blinked out and Ianto heard a small breath of relief from Tosh before she resumed calling down the comm link. "Static, bad reception. Damn it." Tosh threw down her headset; it bounced one on the floor before falling completely still and silent.
"Tosh." Ianto was ignored, "Tosh. Toshiko."
"What? Ianto just . . . What?"
"I can help Tosh I . . ."
"No!"
"Something's gone wrong Tosh I can . . ."
"No!"
"Tosh they need help."
"No!" she was breaking; he could hear it in her voice. Her resolve was weakening as the action on the screen increased.
"Tosh" Ianto kept his tone low and appealing, it wasn't quiet playing fair but these people had been good to him and he couldn't just wait around to watch them die "If you let me go I can't promise I'll come back, but I can promise you that they will. I can help them Tosh, I can."
The silence was heavy and just as unnerving as if it were filled with screams, Tosh sat facing the screen, Ianto attempted the cuffs once more and this time he didn't bother hiding it. But then Tosh was there close at his side, he could smell her sweet and subtle perfume, feel the brush of her hair and hear the click of the locks.
For a second or two he sat quite still, unbelieving, Tosh shouted "Go!" and he sprang up and out the door where he hesitated for only a moment "I promise" he stated as he caught her eye. Tosh shook her head a little "Just, just hurry." And she watched him sprint toward Jack and Owen.
Xxx
The scene before Ianto was complete disarray, shots were sounding regularly and almost rhythmically from just inside the warehouse, Jack appeared to be dancing with the alien as one lay bleeding at their feet. And Owen . . . that's when Ianto saw just how close the animal was to him, he also appeared to be clutching his arm. And then he fell. Time didn't stop or slow or anything Hollywood cheesy, Ianto just ran, charging forward tackling the beast relying more on high school rugby skills than anything Torchwood had taught him.
The impact was heavy and hard, the air was forced from his chest and he shook himself to recover, the alien underneath him stirred, it seem to come off no worse from their fall than Ianto.
Ianto reacted by pulling himself away from teeth and claws, he stayed crouched and low, body weight on one leg ready to sweep out with the other as the weevil tried to stand. It was a good idea but the weevil was strong and firm, it didn't wobble or waver as it stood its animal balance far better than human. Ianto's leg hit fury wall, the animal finally in full control of its senses lunged and Ianto drew himself up and rolled backward to safety, but not before claws raked down his retreating calf. Standing Ianto winced in pain and shifted the majority of his weigh to his back leg he used this to deliver a strong side kick to the stomach of the ever advancing Weevil. The impact jarred his injury but had the desired effect of making the creature stumble Ianto used the flinch to get under its guard raining swift blows to it sides and chest. A normal man would be winded by this crippled and forced to bow out but this was Weevil and animal that purely by instinct wrapped it's arms around the fighting man and sank it's teeth into the readily available expanse of shoulder it was presented.
Pain blossomed throughout Ianto's body, blocking out his other senses, again time didn't slow or stop but the seconds stretched, drenched in pain.
Ianto's brain did register several shots, vibrations of impact and arms that caught him when others let go.
xxx
Jack had watched the whole event play out, it took only seconds but those seconds were filled with confusion, how the hell didn't Ianto get out? Was Tosh ok? Why the hell was Ianto here and not legging it?
He was snapped from his confused reprieve at Owen's shoulder by the sound of Ianto gasp, a look confirmed that the alpha was back in control. The idiot of a boy had obviously tried to fight it like a man and now the Weevil was jaw locked on his shoulder. Jack stood, running at the pair and firing five or six bullets at the alpha's forehead and caught Ianto as the no longer conscious being dropped him. Clutching the boy to his chest Jack searched the shock of blue eyes for an answer and when none was forth coming Jack decided to voice his question, "Why?"
A wan smile curled Ianto's lips as he muttered "You looked like you could use some assistance." Jack felt his own lips curl in response.
Owen chose this point to barge in, "Move!" a brief look over and Owen was back to barking orders "Keep pressure here," he snapped directing Jack's hands "and we need to get him back to the house, now."
A/N2: I hope you enjoyed it and sorry for the little cliffy if it is one I just couldn't think of a better place to cut it. Thank you so much for people still reading and following I promise you that this has not been forgotten at all , the long breaks come from loads of coursework and being the eldest in a single parent family, I don't have that much spare time. All I can do is say sorry and I hope you can stick with me.
I really hope you enjoyed this and please R and R because your comments make me stupidly happy :D
