3
Behind the apartment building, the back door explodes open. Ianto rushes out of it with his field kit backpack over shoulder .9mm in hand, with Jack who is not even handcuffed.
The rain has stopped.
Ianto searches up and down the alley way. No clear options. But he isn't thinking. No time for that. "This way."
.
.
The Trapdoor leads to a stairway that is narrow and filled with cobwebs. Creaky steps. Vargas leads his hit team in pursuit.
Ianto and Jack arrive in front. Ianto needs wheels and looks to the black van. Remembers it has no battery. "Shit."
Jack looks at him. "Maybe you should've called a cab."
.
.
Vargas is moments away from the exit. A Volkswagen comes roaring up. Ianto stands in front of it, fires a round into the air and aims the gun down at the driver, who screeches to a stop.
"GET OUT OF THE CAR!"
Ianto swings open the back passenger door and orders the driver to run. Directs Jack toward the open door "Get in."
"Those men aren't coming to free me. They're coming to kill me." Jack is trying to convince him to just let him go "You don't have the balls for this. As long as you're with me, you're dead."
Ianto cocks the gun. "And as long as you're with me, you're not. Get in the fucking car"
Jack eyes the barrel sizing up Ianto.
.
.
Vargas and his men bomb out the back and race to the front.
Ianto hops behind the wheel. Throws the backpack onto the passenger seat beside Jack. Slams the door. Drops the hammer. Hits the gas and the Volkswagen peels off.
The men arrive already FIRING - BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! Bullets riddle the back of the Volkswagen and blow out the back window. Glass rains inside. Ianto switches gears. Cranks the wheel. Thunders forward, running a red light … nearly getting clipped by traffic.
Vargas watches as the Volkswagen roars off, disappearing into the distance and is hauling arse, weaving around cars, sliding into hard lefts and rights.
Ianto white knuckles the wheel, threading traffic, on edge. He takes a hand off the wheel. Reaches across to the backpack on the passenger seat. Pulls the zipper down. Draws a secure phone. Punches in a number.
"Ianto?"
"Code Red… I am a Code Red. I have the captain on board and we are moving fast, get me coordinates for another safe house or something sweetie" Ianto says calmly like he is asking her to turn on the lights for him or something.
"Shit… how compromised are you?"
"Think Cyberman compromised" Ianto pants, glancing in the rearview mirror where the man in the back is staring straight back at him through the mirror "Try and get hold of The Box, if you can't… ring me back Martha."
Now Jack's head whipped back at the mention of a companion he knew; one he knew well. Who is he talking to? How does he know this… The Man. Who is The Man.
"Who is The Box?" Jack finally asks a question.
"The Box belonging to the Man in the Blue Box" Ianto says over his shoulder "Do shut up now sir, listen … get me what you can. I have Red Caps up my arse and I am going to go full Dragon on them soon."
"OK… let me see what I can do."
The Volkswagen makes a tight turn tires SCREEEEEEECHING.
"Are you damaged?" she asks "I need to know right now: can you ditch the guest?"
"Negative. He's too high a priority. Follow protocols. There's another house. 8-B. I'll be safe there."
"Can you make it?" she asks "The house is still under contract, so you're gonna need a key. I'll have it ready for you. Location six. Twenty minutes."
CLICK.
Jack lunges through the seats to try and grab the wheel.
Ianto reacts - total shock - loses control of the wheel. "GORUM!"
The Volkswagen goes mashing up against other cars, shaving metal. Tires screech as horn blare. Jack sees the vehicle Ianto is seeing now, the huge black Jeep bearing down on them and realizes that they are not safe yet.
Ianto twists the wheel and slides the Volkswagen into a hard turn, rounding the corner. The Volkswagen screams forward moving too fast for Jack to jump into the front. A truck bears down the Volkswagen with shining blinding lights.
Ianto reacts "shit!"
He swerves and swings into another lane. Fishtails madly. Clips a third car. Takes its wing mirror. Zooms ahead. Ianto gets a second to breathe as he flicks the wheel. Quickly drives into it, snapping the wooden arm.
The Volkswagen spins around the structure, tires shrieking. Ianto cranks the wheel and yanks back the emergency break at the same time. The Volkswagen spins at a breakneck pace and slams the back of itself into a parked car.
For a second: silence. Then the driver's side door swings open. Ianto steps out and opens the passenger door and pulls Jack out of the car hurling him to the ground. Jack shakes the cobwebs from his head as Ianto looks to the Volkswagen now totalled with its engine busted and steam shooting out of it.
Ianto looks back at Jack.
"Well… that's fucked."
Ianto walks the car park trying car doors and finds an open car door a Jeep. He directs Jack inside. Ianto pulls out ignition wires and crosses them.
Ianto successfully hot wires the Jeep. The engine roars and Ianto peels out of the garage.
The Merc Jeep cruises past, neon lights of the city blurring by. Ianto stares ahead, trying to ignore Jack, who has other plans. "What's your name?"
Ianto is silent, hesitant to share anything.
"You're not a NOC. What's it Iantoer?"
"Ianto."
"Ianto what?"
"Ianto Jones."
"You know who I am?" Jack asks.
"Yeah."
"How long have you been an agent?"
Ianto doesn't want to engage him, but "I'm not an agent."
"Housekeeper then." Jack amends with a shrug.
A beat, then "traveller, same as you"
Jack watches with shock as the key on a piece of twine is pulled from Ianto's shirt and then tucked back in. Ianto looks at him silently for a while and then looks away "I thought they would never get you here… but I knew if they did ever catch you, it would be my house they would want you in as it's off grid."
Jack nods, now understanding less but sensing that thi man knows more than he lets on.
Come on" Ianto finally sighs "We need to get to the meeting place."
"Meeting place?"
"Yeah, to get some money and then get to another Safe House" Ianto nods "The second safe house is only four hours away. It can't be opened without the key. We're gonna wait for the key and then we'll go."
"And you think I'm just gonna let you take me there?"
"Thought never crossed my mind." Ianto grins "I just know you want to get there… after all. You have a key the same as mine. You would never trust someone who doesn't have one. Red? Hasn't."
You know what else hasn't been considered? Just exactly how your house was crashed in the first place."
Ianto pauses. Hadn't considered that yet. He thinks. A beat, then "They followed Red from the extraction site."
"You don't really believe that do you?"
No, he doesn't. He is still thinking. Jack is just distracting him.
Jack continues to talk "That house was a secure location. The people who crashed it didn't stop at the gas station to ask directions to the nearest Torchwood safe house. They were invited. Someone told them where the house was. Someone you know. So you have to ask yourself: how much do you trust your landlord?"
Ianto considers that. Then realizes the source. "This is just misdirection. You just don't want me reaching out to anyone."
"You have another theory then?" Jack grins.
"Yeah… that injection site on your arm. You wanna tell me what is in your arm if not a tracker?" Ianto points and Jack looks at the site with surprise like he has not noticed it before. "My house went from a sanctuary to a mortuary in less than an hour. That doesn't happen without intervention. I'm not your only enemy tonight. "
Jack considers that. Worries he's right.