AN: As I hoped here is a (short) update in time for Christmas. Happy Christmas and New Year.
Chapter 17
As the Torchwood team drove at full speed towards Splott, Tosh kept her eye on Jack's location. She pulled up a magnified map, showing the part of Splott where Jack was. "It's the drug district," she informed them sadly. "Jack would know that he could buy drugs there."
The rest of the team absorbed that in silence. Ianto and Owen were looking grim.
"At least he's staying put," Tosh pointed out, looking on the bright side. "We'll be there in five minutes."
Minutes later, the SUV pulled up outside a run down doss-house. Tosh checked her laptop. "He's in there," she said. "First floor, back of the house."
"Do you want me to stay with the SUV?" asked Mark.
"Yes, that's a good idea," Owen agreed. "There's no need for us to show up mob handed. That would just spook Jack even more."
That agreed, Ianto, Tosh and Owen headed for the house. The front door was unlocked, and no one was in sight inside. The men followed Tosh up the stairs. Part way up, they heard the sound of a fight. Hurrying, they reached the first floor, where they could immediately see that a door had been kicked in. The sound of a struggle was still going on.
"Shit, is that where Jack is?" demanded Owen.
"Yes," Tosh answered, with dread.
Pushing past her, Ianto and Owen drew their guns and, taking one side of the door each, burst into the room. They were met with the sight of a man pressing a gun to Jack's forehead, and Jack about to inject the contents of a syringe into his arm. Two other men were standing back, watching. Though not in uniform, they all looked military. This clearly was not just a drug deal gone bad.
As they burst in, the two soldiers closest to the door drew their own guns. Ianto and Owen did not hesitate. They shot to kill, but not before one of the soldiers got a shot off. Owen felt a burning sensation along his arm, as the bullet grazed him.
As the Torchwood team burst into the room, Charlie swung around instinctively, removing his gun from Jack's forehead. Jack could see that he was about to shoot at Ianto. Acting instantly, he attacked Charlie with the best weapon he had; the syringe. As he stuck the needle into Charlie's thigh, he jammed the plunger down and emptied all the contents of the syringe into his leg.
Charlie only had a couple of seconds to register what had happened, before he fell to the floor, convulsing and fitting. Jack, and the team, watched him thrash on the floor. In less than a minute his breathing stuttered and ceased.
Mark had heard the gunshots from the street and, as silence fell in the room, he burst through the door, gun drawn. Seeing that the only casualties were strangers, and no threat remained, he holstered his gun and demanded "What the hell just happened?"
Tosh shushed him and moved over to Jack, who had not moved from the position he had been held in at gunpoint. He was rigid, and seemed to be in shock.
Ianto also approached Jack tentatively. "Jack," he whispered. "It's OK, they've been dealt with. Whatever they were trying to do, there's no threat now."
Jack's thoughts were whirling. He could barely believe what UNIT had been planning to do to him. The horror of it was overwhelming. To die and revive endlessly, for decades or centuries, with no hope of rescue. And drowning was not a good death. And, if he had been slightly quicker with his fix, UNIT might have found him totally helpless. But Torchwood had come. Ianto and Tosh and Owen had saved him from that. They had killed for him. And killed UNIT personnel. Gratitude flooded him. He would never forget this. The barrier of bitterness and distrust, that he had built up towards the Torchwood team over the years, began to soften. If they would do this for him, perhaps he could trust them enough to help him in other ways. And he would need it. He hadn't had a fix. Things would go downhill very soon.
Ianto and Tosh, seeing Jack's distress, leaned in to hug him. And to their surprise he let them.
Owen was kneeling by the body of the soldier that Jack had killed. "That was a massive overdose," he explained to Mark. "Even half a gram would be enough to kill a non user. With Jack's dose, he'd have had no chance."
Mark checked the other two bodies, just to verify that they were indeed dead. "I can organise the cleanup, if you want to get back to the Hub," he offered.
Owen nodded gratefully. He needed to get Jack back to the Hub, and treat his own arm. Seeing Tosh and Ianto with Jack, he went over to them. "Jack, do you know who they were, or why they attacked you?"
Jack looked up at him, focusing for the first time. "They are UNIT soldiers. But I don't know why they were doing this. They said I'd upset someone."
Owen was stunned by the revelation that the men were UNIT, but he didn't want to pursue it while Jack appeared so fragile. He also didn't think it was the time to start demanding answers, as to why Jack had run off to look for drugs.
With Tosh and Ianto's encouragement, Jack stood, and went out of the house. Just before he got in the SUV, he gave them the first genuine smile since they had found him in Manchester. "Thank you," he said, and meant it.