Author's Notes: I'm actually posting on schedule for a change! Hope everyone enjoys the new chapter. Thanks as always to Prothrombintime for feedback, suggestions and encouragement.
Chapter Twenty-Six
November 12th, 2004
Ianto jumped with a start as a deafening rumble shook the SUV. He watched in horror as the building he'd been observing exploded dramatically, sending clouds of debris and dust billowing out into the night air in all directions. He tapped at his earpiece as he leapt out of the vehicle. "Jack!" he shouted frantically, hearing only crackling static in reply. "Jack!"
At the far end of the decimated two-storey building, an engine roared to life and a red sports car began to speed away from the scene. Ianto ran forward, aiming his gun, but the vehicle turned and disappeared into the night before he could take a clear shot. It had been a trap all along, he realised belatedly. Jack had been tracking the pair of drug dealing aliens, colloquially known as blowfish due to their appearance, for the past week. They'd obviously lured them to the deserted industrial building, having previously rigged it with explosives in readiness. It occurred to him that they could have employed far easier means to eliminate Jack. However, from what he'd read about the bipedal, humanoid, fish-like creatures, combined with what he'd seen first-hand of their hideous, flamboyant dress-sense, they had a penchant for the ostentatious and dramatic.
Cursing under his breath, he turned back to the SUV, grabbed a torch from one of the supply cases in the boot, and headed towards the building. He began making his way through the wreckage, waving the strong beam of light back and forward, and coughing harshly as the dust-filled air reached his lungs. His heart was racing, and he was dimly aware of the foolishness of entering the devastated structure. He knew the fragmented remains of the ceiling could crumble down upon him at any moment, but his only thought was of finding Jack.
"Jack!" he called desperately, stumbling over a broken concrete support beam and almost losing his balance. "Jack!"
His progress through the rubble was tortuously slow, his anxiety increasing with each passing moment. He continued calling Jack's name as he endeavoured to search the ruins in an orderly manner, worried that he might miss finding the other man if he was unconscious... or worse. He resolutely pushed aside that disturbing thought. Rationally, he knew Jack would be all right no matter how badly injured, but he hated the idea of Jack dying and being painfully dragged back into life again. He hated the thought of Jack being in any pain whatsoever, physical or emotional. They didn't know how Jack's condition actually worked, and it was his ongoing fear that whatever mysterious force imbued Jack with the ability to cheat death might eventually run out.
He'd almost reached the furthest side of the building when he spotted a flicker of movement a half dozen yards to his right. Focusing his torch on the area, he saw a hand poking out from under a large pile of jagged debris, clawing ineffectually at the ground. A low groan of pain reached his ears, and he scrambled forward, a rush of intense relief washing over him. "Oh, thank God," he murmured.
He reached the other man and kneeled down, carefully shining the torch towards where Jack's face was peering out through the rubble, his features contorted in pain. "Jack! Are you all right?" he asked worriedly, glancing around and trying to assess the extent of Jack's injuries.
"Ianto," Jack gasped, groaning again as he tried to shift forward. "Yeah, but I'm pinned down. Can't move."
Ianto touched Jack's hand tentatively and was relieved when the other man grasped it, squeezing firmly. "Right. Hold on. I'm going to get you out."
After quickly surveying the mountain of rubble he needed to deal with, he put the torch down and angled it to illuminate the area, then set to work. He managed to get the smaller pieces of debris cleared without too much difficulty, although it was a tedious, strenuous task.
"Almost there," he finally muttered, wiping a filthy hand across his sweat-soaked brow as he looked down sceptically at the slab of concrete lying across Jack's back. There was an ominous creaking sound from somewhere above them. He froze, a surge of fear tearing through him.
"Ianto, you need to get out of here," Jack shouted, his words coming out in a breathless stutter punctuated by low, anguished groans. "The rest of the building could collapse at any second."
"No, I'm not leaving you," Ianto shouted back determinedly. He grabbed a corner of the concrete slab with both hands, took a deep breath, and braced himself. Summoning every ounce of strength he possessed, he managed to lift it slightly, grunting with exertion. "Can you pull yourself out?"
"Yeah, I think so," Jack replied, slowly beginning to inch forward, but faltering several times and crying out in pain.
Trying to ignore his own pain from his stretched and protesting muscles, Ianto took another deep breath and heaved the slab a little higher until Jack finally managed to pull himself free. Letting go of the slab and ignoring the resulting loud crash, he moved to Jack's side and carefully helped him to his feet. "You okay?" he asked again, looking at Jack's dirt, sweat and blood smeared face.
"My shoulder. I think it's dislocated," Jack muttered, wincing as he slowly straightened up and breathing in short, stuttering gasps. "Damn. A few broken ribs too. I'm gonna need you to pop my shoulder back into place." He grimaced as he tentatively nursed his useless arm close against his body, then glanced around before his eyes rested on Ianto's again. "We'd better get out of here first though."
"Yup," Ianto agreed, retrieving the torch and moving to Jack's right-hand side. Jack wrapped his good arm around Ianto's shoulders for support, and Ianto put his arm cautiously around Jack's waist as the other man leaned heavily against him.
"Careful," he warned as they began to move, cringing in sympathy as the other man slipped slightly and gasped in pain. "Take it slowly and watch your step."
They made their way as steadily as they could out of the building, following Ianto's previous path to avoid any unsurpassable obstacles, Jack clinging to Ianto the entire time. Stumbling through the rubble, they finally cleared the perimeter of the ruins and reached the SUV. Ianto looked at Jack worriedly as he slumped against the side of the vehicle, panting from exertion and clearly in excruciating pain.
Jack glanced down at his immobilised shoulder. "Brace yourself and give my arm a good hard yank to the side," he said, looking up to meet Ianto's gaze.
"You sure?" Ianto asked, peering at Jack doubtfully, but willing to do whatever was necessary to alleviate the other man's suffering.
"Yeah." Jack huffed, looking vaguely offended, and Ianto had to refrain from rolling his eyes at the display of male bravado.
"Okay. Um, take a deep breath." Ianto gripped Jack's damaged arm, and with a final anxious glance into the other man's eyes, he pulled firmly, causing Jack to cry out in pain. Fearing he'd done something wrong, he was relieved to realise Jack's shoulder had slipped back into its socket.
"Thanks," Jack muttered, his features clearing, the pain he'd been experiencing evidently beginning to dissipate. "Thanks for the rescue too."
Ianto nodded, giving him a tremulous smile. "Any time."
He was thankful he'd been allowed to accompany the older man on the stakeout of the seedy nightclub that evening. It was there that they'd spotted the two elusive blowfish making a drug deal at the back entrance, then followed the aliens eight miles north of the city centre to the run-down industrial estate. Jack had spent every evening alone for the past week, staking out various nightclubs around Cardiff, and Ianto had decided the Captain needed some company. His motives hadn't been entirely selfless, and he'd been inordinately pleased when Jack had given little more than a token objection.
Jack produced a cheeky grin. "I'd love to kiss you right now, but you're kind of dirty. Not that it isn't a hot look on you." His grin turned lecherous. "Gotta admit though, I prefer my usual method of getting you all messy and dishevelled."
Ianto rolled his eyes. "You're hardly the epitome of cleanliness yourself, sir."
Jack chuckled and pulled Ianto in close against his chest, his hand stroking gently over the back of Ianto's head. Ianto went willingly into Jack's arms, but kept his reciprocating embrace loose out of fear of hurting the other man.
When they'd pulled apart, Ianto went around to the passenger side door and retrieved a packet of wet wipes and a small bin bag from the glove box. Returning to Jack's side, he handed him several of the wipes, then took some for himself, proceeding to remove the worst of the dirt and sweat from his face, neck and hands.
"Best we can do for the moment," he said, dusting himself off and frowning dejectedly as he noticed the jagged tear in the sleeve of his suit jacket. He was just thankful it wasn't one of his favourite or more expensive suits. Unfortunately, Jack's greatcoat was looking similarly battered and the worse for wear too. He was grateful that this particular coat was one of the spares he'd acquired from an army surplus store and not the original, which was currently at the cleaners. "Next time you take me on a stakeout," he muttered. "Remind me to change out of my suit first."
Jack smiled at him fondly. "Don't worry about it. I'll buy you a new one."
Ianto tried not to cringe at the idea of going suit shopping with Jack, suspecting he'd suffer more than a slight loss of dignity before the ordeal was over. He dropped their used wipes into the bin bag and neatly knotted the top. "Are your ribs all right?" he asked, changing the subject.
"Yeah. They've already started healing." Jack glanced over to the destroyed building and sighed wearily. "I take it our pair of blowfish got away?"
Ianto nodded. "They left in their sports car just as the building exploded."
"Damn," Jack muttered. "Well, looks like we're back to square one again."
"Er... not quite." Ianto looked at Jack sheepishly, hoping the older man wouldn't be too angry that he'd disobeyed his orders about remaining inside in the SUV. He tried not to think that if it wasn't for Jack's overprotective streak, he would have gone into the building with him to help apprehend the blowfish and quite possibly not have survived the experience.
Jack raised his eyebrows. "What do you mean?"
Ianto took a deep breath. "I, um... just after you followed them into the building... well, I sneaked out and put a tracker on their car." He shrugged his shoulders. "In case they managed to escape. As long as they don't abandon it too soon, we should be able to find them."
Jack frowned. "So, you disobeyed my orders?"
"Just a tiny bit," Ianto argued, knowing he was on somewhat perilous ground. "It wasn't dangerous."
Jack continued scowling at him for a moment, then his face broke into a broad grin. He grabbed Ianto's now relatively clean face in both hands and kissed him fiercely. Ianto was momentarily stunned, but then returned the kiss enthusiastically.
"Nice work, Ianto," Jack exclaimed, looking at him with obvious pride. He pulled open the driver's side door, pausing and glancing back with a determined set to his jaw. "Okay. Let's get out of here and find those fish-faced bastards."
Jack jumped into the SUV, Ianto dashing around and climbing into the passenger seat beside him. He immediately accessed the SUV's systems and began working to pinpoint the location of their rogue aliens. With a roar of the engine, Jack steered them away from the ruins of the building and onto the road back to Cardiff.
###
Finding their quarry proved easier than Ianto had expected. They'd tracked the stolen sports car to a cash point west of the city centre, arriving just in time to see the two blowfish jump back into their car and speed off again. The pursuit lead them into Grangetown, with Ianto fearing for his life – a not uncommon experience when Jack was at the wheel and in a hurry – as they raced down a long residential street in chase of the misappropriated sports car.
"Hold on!" Jack shouted as he swerved around a corner, the SUV only barely remaining on all four wheels, and Ianto having to resist the urge to close his eyes.
Once they were travelling on a straight path again, Jack lowered the window and reached for his Webley. "Ianto, hold the wheel."
"What?" Ianto asked in confusion, tearing his eyes away from the road and looking over to Jack, who had unfastened his seatbelt and was starting to climb out the window. "Oh, no. You can't be serious!"
"Hold the wheel!" Jack reiterated, clearly not willing to take no for an answer. "I'm not letting them get away this time."
Ianto sighed and shook his head reproachfully, but he shuffled over far enough until he had a firm grip on the steering wheel. "Right, got it. But hurry up, and don't bloody well miss."
He kept his attention firmly on the road as Jack leaned further out the window, took aim, and shot at the other vehicle, hitting the rear, right-hand tyre twice. The sports car swerved violently, finally coming to a stop in the middle of the road.
Jack was grinning as he slid back inside. He dramatically blew a puff across the end of his revolver, quickly holstered the weapon, and reclaimed the steering wheel. Ianto sighed with relief as he slumped back into his seat. Although he disapproved of Jack's impulsive behaviour at times, he couldn't deny that it was fun when Jack was around. If nothing else, being with Jack was certainly never dull.
"Not bad, huh?" Jack asked smugly, slowing the SUV as they approached the immobilised car.
"Show off," Ianto retorted, although he couldn't quite hide the smile from his face. "Anyway, I could have taken that shot," he added confidently.
Jack laughed. "Oh, you think so, do you?"
"Absolutely," Ianto said with conviction. While he wasn't immodest in nature, even Jack had praised his marksmanship skills on several occasions.
Jack pulled up behind the stopped car, keeping some distance between them. "Okay, next time we do this, it's your turn to take out the other car. Deal?"
Before Ianto could offer a sarcastic reply, the two blowfish leapt out of the other vehicle, both brandishing guns and firing at the SUV. Ianto instinctively ducked, but the bullets simply ricocheted harmlessly off the SUV's reinforced, bullet-proof windows. The blowfish turned away and ran off, each of them going in a different direction. Feeling a surge of anger, Ianto thrust open the door and jumped out, readying his gun, as Jack did the same.
He glanced at Jack who seemed to be caught in a moment of indecision. "Jack, go," he urged, tilting his head towards the blowfish that had headed eastwards down an adjacent lane-way. "I'll go after the other one."
"You should wait here with the SUV," Jack argued.
"We're wasting time," Ianto said determinedly. "I'll be fine. Go on."
Jack looked extremely unhappy, but he nodded, albeit with obvious reluctance. "All right, but be careful. They're dangerous and unpredictable. And stay on comms."
Ianto nodded tersely, extracting his earpiece from the inside pocket of his jacket and slipping it into his ear. With a final glance at Jack, he turned away and sprinted off in pursuit of the blowfish.
###
"Let her go," Ianto demanded, forcing his voice to remain calm and narrowing his eyes at the fish-like creature, hideously dressed in a purple suit and an orange tie.
He'd pursued the blowfish into a house at the far end of the street, where it had taken the solitary occupant hostage. The creature had his gun pressed against the terrified young woman's temple, his other hand wrapped around her throat, and glared malevolently at Ianto with dark, glazed eyes. With his gun held firmly in a two-handed grip, Ianto tried to keep it trained on the red skinned, spiny head, but the blowfish kept moving from side to side, jostling the terrified woman around to shield himself.
"Ah, so who do we have here? Torchwood's office boy," the blowfish sneered. "Promoted beyond his measure. Pretending to be so brave. But really, so scared. Where's your master? Finally let go of your leash?" The fish tightened his grip on the wide-eyed woman, causing her to whimper. A contemptuous smirk spread across his face. "A pity our little trap didn't take care of both of you, but don't worry, my colleague will deal with your precious Captain."
Ianto gripped his gun more tightly, his palms feeling slick against the cool metal, his finger poised tentatively on the trigger. He forced himself to take steady, even breaths, trying not to tense up too much, all of his senses heightened to a state of hyper-awareness. A trickle of sweat trailed uncomfortably down his back. He was on his own, he couldn't defer to Jack, it was up to him to handle the situation. He needed to take out the alien, but he didn't want to risk injuring the woman by accident. However, he knew that if he didn't act, the blowfish would probably kill her anyway. The alien was clearly acting in desperation, and Ianto suspected he was wired on cocaine, recalling from the Torchwood records that the species apparently had an affinity for the drug.
"You'll find Jack isn't quite so easy to stop," he scoffed, ignoring the alien's other disparaging remarks.
The blowfish hissed, revealing a set of sharp, pointed teeth. "Well, we'll just have to see about that, won't we?"
Ianto clenched his jaw, refusing to rise to the pointless mockery. His finger quivered over the trigger as he tried to anticipate the creature's furtive movements. He avoided making eye contact with the panicked woman, knowing it might cause him to lose focus for even the briefest of moments.
"So, what about it, minion?" the blowfish taunted, dodging out of Ianto's line of sight again. "Can you do it? How good are you? How sharp is your aim?"
Despite his efforts, Ianto's entire body had tensed up, wound tight like a coiled spring. He shifted his stance slightly and took a deep breath to steady himself.
"What if you kill her?" the creature continued relentlessly, causing the sobbing woman to cry out as he pressed his face closer to hers. "What if I kill her first?"
Ianto loosened his grip slightly as he tried to re-adjust his aim, his eyes unblinking and locked with those of the blowfish.
"Can you shoot, before I do?" the blowfish asked mockingly. "Can you?" he repeated. "Dare you?" He shifted his head, a menacing grin pulling the corners of his mouth upwards. "Will you?" He shifted again. "Won't you?"
The tension in the air was palpable, and Ianto knew he couldn't delay any longer. Steeling himself, he found his chance as the blowfish's movements stopped for just a very slight moment. There was an instant where the mocking facade abruptly vanished, the blowfish seeming to realise that Ianto was actually a serious threat.
Ianto squeezed the trigger, his confidence in his aim wavering as he braced himself against the recoil. He watched in shock as the bullet tore through the blowfish's skull, its brains splattering on the wall behind with a sickening squelch.