4
"So, Jack took Beckett with him two hours ago?"
"Yes, Simon called in that they picked up John along the way too" she nodded as she confirmed that her brother and Jack had indeed left two hours ago. Their last communication with base just six minutes later."
"And that was the last coms?"
"Yes." She nodded again.
Ianto sighed and touched his ear "Jack? Go for Jack?"
Nothing.
"Beckett? Simon Bloody Beckett" Ianto roared.
Nothing.
"See?"
Ianto rose and headed for Jack's office and his own small desk in the corner, retrieving a wrist strap that looked like a smaller version of Jack's, seating himself in his chair as he placed it on his own wrist before activating it.
"Hang on… is that… is that Hart's?"
"No" Ianto said softly, not expanding on why Jack had another Vortex Manipulator. Or why it was in his own desk, not Jack's. Instead, he pressed buttons, made a noise in his throat and then rose from the chair behind the desk "Right. What other SUVs are still operating?"
.
.
The vehicle that crawled into the street was not a Torchwood SUV. No, this was a car of class, culture and clearly… Ianto's personal vehicle. The car seat in the back told that story.
What this vehicle did not scream was Torchwood.
What it did scream was power.
It was the Astin Martin Vanquish. It was not a model anyone had seen before… I mean… would not for about a decade I guess, but it was Ianto's, and we shall not talk about how he managed to get a car from a decade in the future now… bloody torchwood right?
The two-door car was a deep dark red that seemed to move and undulate with the light as it moved, and the black trims only added to the stealthy danger in the vehicle.
And the driver.
He was dangerous too.
Ianto saw the Torchwood SUV sitting on the side of the road with the doors open and no one in sight. He slid from the vehicle, looked around and then heard distant gunfire. He walked calmly to the back of the Vanquish, opened the boot and reached in, removing a tube. He shook the tube and then removed the two thin, sharp blades that appeared in his hand, hilt first.
They sort of looked like short katana, they were called Tanto. They were ancient and they were authentic.
Again… let's not talk about how they found their way into the back of this yet to be released model of car. And… let's stop blaming Torchwood for something that is clearly more of a Timey Wimey sort of thing. Right?
Ianto had stores to tell about his time with the Doctor, clearly these stories were going to be like pulling teeth to get out of him but if Jack was happy blinking and moving on… so shall we for now.
The thing is… Jack and John barely had time to comprehend the fact that they were no longer battling the things alone before Ianto calmly walked past them into the fray, swinging his arms around and slicing and dicing.
John stood with his mouth open, those little blades making a crazy high-pitched sound, only punctuated by the occasional plop of another head on the ground. It was Jack who first started to move, calmly stepping up to the nearest head and shooting it, then moving to the next head with the jaws snapping as it tried to bite him even without a bloody body.
Then Ianto grunted.
Jack looked up to see one of the blades stuck in the Decayed's head, Ianto struggling to dislodge it as another Decayed moved around to flank him. Jack was about to call out a warning when Ianto swatted behind himself like shooing a fly, then continued to the shake the Decayed off his blade as the one behind him simply stood there, half it's head sliding off to the ground.
"Why didn't he cut all their heads in half!" John asked, finally coming back to life.
"Because he doesn't like cranial fluid on his shoes" Jack replied like it was a normal thing to say, "Come on. He is pissed, things will speed up now."
Then there was silence, Ianto standing there while he wiped the blades on the shirt of one of the soldiers that had turned to a fresh Decayed. He was unsure if his anger was at the number of them, the fact Jack and John had been cornered so stupidly or the last but not least fact… most of them were UNIT men who had obviously fallen to the Decayed.
"So, what now?" John asked.
"Now? I change my shoes" Ianto turned to glare at him, then at Jack "And it was YOUR turn to pick the kids up from daycare… I guess you will need to stay here and do the old bag and tag routine. You know…. Hang on. Where's Beckett?"
Both men gave him the patented grimace of Torchwood.
Ah fuck.
Ianto sighed and motioned with one of the blades.
They moved towards the last known area the men had been with Beckett.
"If he's dead I am gonna kill him" John muttered as the rounded a corner, "he knows to stay in the vehicle but oh no… he had to bolt."
"There was a dog" Jack added like it made sense.
Sure.
Of course there was a dog.
Could have bene worse I suppose.
Could be another fucking Raptor.