13.
Half an hour later, Jack was beginning to regret his decision. "I said 'yes' to digging, not to you trying to talk me into that stupid job!"
John turned around to him, the tunnel too tight to sit properly and have this conversation, but Jack couldn't have waited longer with his words even if he'd tried. He wiped his sweaty forehead, his shirt clinging to his body.
John didn't look much better, his face smudged with dirt and sweat dripping into his eyes. "You're serious."
Jack nodded, leaning back against the wall. "They need me. Nobody here understands them and they're us, John, when we still had a chance."
John frowned. "I didn't know you resented our life so much."
"I don't," Jack replied. "I didn't." He closed his eyes. "I guess I just didn't know it could be better."
John swallowed. "Right. I guess we'll finish up here then and … go our separate ways."
Jack recognised the look on John's face, though. An expression intending to mask he was feeling hurt. "We don't have to-"
"Jack!" John snapped, continuing to dig angrily, his shovel clearing dirt away angrily. "You want to be Mr. Do-Good, you can't have me hanging around!"
He paused, his eyes going wide. He dropped the shovel, digging with his hands instead … and now Jack saw what had caused John's reaction.
It was a bag hidden in the dirt.
Jack recognised it, even though the colours were faded and nature had started to do damage to the outside. He pulled it out of the hole with John's help and crawled backwards, leaving the tunnel in an ungraceful tangle of limbs. John joined him only seconds later, when Jack was already opening the zip in the light of the torches they'd brought to illuminate the basement.
Jack laughed in relief when he found the money inside, wrapped additionally in a plastic bag. John laughed as well, before he grabbed Jack's face and planted a kiss on his lips. "Yes!" Just a second later, he seemed to notice what he'd done and stepped away, clearing his throat. "Sorry."
"John-"
"It's all right. Just ..." He motioned at the bag. "If I'd known that was our last robbery together, I would have chosen a different bank. Something more up-scale."
Jack quirked a smile. "More up-scale than Splott?" Before John could answer, movement on the stairs caught Jack's attention. His eyes widened when he recognised the man staring at them in disbelief. "Ianto?"
Ianto turned and ran. John dropped the bag with a curse and followed him.
"John!" Jack called and picked up one of the torches. "John, no!"
xxx
Ianto ran up the stairs from the basement and, hearing rapid steps behind him, turned towards the main entrance to the school. He'd only intended to talk to Jack about what he'd said about John. After Jack had left, he'd realised just how prejudiced he'd sounded about someone that could be a close friend of Jack's. He'd been taught not to let first impressions get the better of him and yet, in John's case, it had happened.
He'd wanted to drive to the Exotic, hoping to find Jack there until his shift at the night club would start, but going past the school, he'd noticed faint light coming through the basement windows. He probably wouldn't have noticed if the lamps illuminating the school yard at all hours weren't broken in that area.
Ianto sometimes cursed his curiosity.
He fumbled with the keys to the door, cursing himself again for locking it behind him, and finally gave up when John charged at him. He managed to run half-way up the stairs, not really knowing where he was going, when John's hand closed around his sleeve. Ianto kicked out and hit John square in the shoulder. John grunted and let go of him. Ianto stumbled up the rest of the steps before he was grabbed and pinned against the wall.
"Got you, Eye Candy," John hissed, knocking Ianto's feet out from under him. Ianto scuffled backwards into a corner and John approached threateningly, his eyes seeming dark in the low lights coming from outside. "It's not nice to eavesdrop."
Ianto pressed his back against the wall behind him. "If you kill me, they'll know who did it."
"Really? And how would that work with me having no ties to this school?" John approached further and Ianto raised his hands over head.
"John!" Jack joined them with a torch, stopping behind John. He looked at Ianto, his face a grimace. "Shit!"
Ianto glared at him, feeling so much anger and betrayal he could barely breathe. "Are you going to watch him kill me now?"
John snorted. "Christ, Eye Candy! Nobody is going to kill you." He put his hands on his hips and glanced at Jack. "Let's put him in the basement and get out of town, first flight to California is ours. We'll be long gone by the time somebody finds him."
Ianto didn't know what he'd expected Jack to do, but he certainly hadn't expected him not saying anything … actually considering it. He swallowed and looked at Jack beseechingly, looking for a trace of the man he'd thought he knew. "It's the weekend. Nobody will come here until Monday!" He got to his feet. "That's two days, Jack!"
"You would go to the police," Jack replied softly. He looked sad and tired … but determined.
Threatening and dangerous.
Ianto shook his head. "Oh God. You're a criminal." He closed his eyes. "Did you break out of prison?"
"What?" Jack asked in disbelief. "No, I did my thirteen months."
"Thirteen?!" Ianto asked. "Thirteen months?!"
"Bank robbery. My last raid is buried here."
John cleared his throat pointedly. "Our last raid."
"You gambled yours," Jack replied. "This is my half. I'm only lending you some of it."
Ianto stared at them. "You're insane."
John chuckled while Jack's expression became stricken again – that weird mixture of sadness and hardness that made it difficult for Ianto to guess what he would do. He should have seen this coming, somehow, from the start. After all, Jack had faked his degree. Ianto should have seen … he realised why he hadn't. He'd been blinded. "Was that the reason you pretended to like me? Because I almost caught you and you wanted to distract me?"
"At the beginning, yes," Jack admitted. He stepped closer and Ianto shook his head, walking around the both of them without taking his eyes off them. Jack stopped approaching, raising his hands in a placating gesture. "Ianto, it wasn't a lie at the end."
"As if I can believe that. You still kept digging for your money," Ianto replied.
Jack ducked his head. "Listen, I like being a teacher." He sent John a glare when he snorted. "I really do. If you knew how much we work I'm putting into that test-"
"It doesn't matter," Ianto interrupted him bitterly. "I don't believe you." He steeled his resolve. "I shouldn't be surprised. I was rather naïve in believing that someone like you would actually care about teaching or about other people. All you care about is yourself. That's the only thing your tiny brain can comprehend. To think that I actually believed you're more than the pathetic, uneducated, tough guy image you're projecting – turns out it's all you can be." He turned to walk towards the stairs.
"Ianto," Jack said, grabbing his arm.
Ianto whirled around and pushed him away. "Don't touch me!" He took a step back … but didn't encounter the floor. He slipped on the edge of the first step leading down to the ground floor, trying to grab the rail to prevent falling. Jack and John both lunged forward to catch him but they were too late.
The last thing Ianto heard was Jack calling his name.