What Happened to My Life? (26/34ish)
Title: What Happened to My Life?
Author: Otrame
Summary: Ianto Jones is an ordinary bloke. Maybe a little on the geeky side. Works for a big insurance company. Married, first baby on the way. So, why won’t his kidnappers believe him when he tells them that he has never, ever heard the word Torchwood before?
Rating: PG 13 for mature themes.
Pairings: Jack/Ianto
Warnings:This story contains some descriptions of torture, most of which is psychological. Occasional highly charged sexual language, frequent cursing, etc. There will be some explicit violence and occasional brief sexual scenes, though these will be not be detailed or terribly explicit. It is an AU.
Spoilers: Potentially all of S1 and S2 until after Owen's first death.
Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction and is intended as a tribute to characters and stories developed and owned by Russell T. Davies and the BBC. No copyright infringement is intended.
The story begins here.
26. Casualties
In which Ianto gains control and more trouble brews.
Mr. Oliver managed to get up off the floor and had moved to his desk, with the intention of calling his supervisors. He had just discovered the destroyed phone connector when the door burst open and he found himself ducking down behind his chair with a little squeak of alarm.
“Oliver, what the hell is going on here? There was no one on guard duty.”
Oliver stared in consternation at the man who had just come in. He was tall, well built, about 50 but still exuding a sense of strength and purpose. His grey hair was cut short. There was a thin and very old-looking scar just under his left ear. His black t-shirt and “combat-style” trousers were without wrinkles of any kind. An automatic pistol was holstered at his hip. There was no insignia on his clothing, which was identical to the clothing of the four men who followed him into the room, but there was no question who was in charge and there would not have been even if he had not spoken. He scowled as he looked around the room.
Oliver managed to regain some composure and said, “Ah. Mr. Walker. Your arrival is fortuitous. I’m afraid the mercenaries we hired to reacquire our test subject became violent. Your men will have to go after them. They have escaped.”
“When?”
Oliver, frowning at the look Walker was giving him, said, “About 5 minutes ago. They were-”
“Then they haven’t escaped. We’ve been in the building longer than that.” He turned to one of his men. “Mick, you better get after Dr. Perkins and her contingent. Bring her back up here until we have handled the mercs.”
Mick, a thin, fairly short man who looked as if he were barely 20 said, “She ain’t gonna like it, boss. She’s been like a kid on Christmas Eve since we heard they got him back. She was all eager to get down there to play with her toy.” But he was already on the way out the door.
Walker turned to Oliver. “So why did the mercs get violent?”
Oliver cleared his throat a little nervously. “The plan was to dispose of them now that we have Mr. Jones back, but they…” He cleared his throat again. “They appear to have realized we did not intend to pay them. They reacted very quickly and…” He did not like the sneers he was getting from the black-clad men.
Walker went to a chair and sat in it. In a tone of weary patience, he said. “I think you better start from the beginning.
***
“Why did you come back down here?” asked Ianto as he quickly searched Chris Butler. Cross was on his knees, facing the wall, his ankles crossed, his hands on his head, leaning over until his forehead touched the wall. It was an awkward position, and one he could not move out of easily or quickly. When Chris didn’t answer the question, he said, “We came down to take you out of here.”
“Why?” Ianto’s hands on Butler’s body were completely impersonal, but he was very thorough. When he was finished, he could not be absolutely sure she didn’t have a weapon but he was absolutely sure she didn’t have one where she could get at it easily. He told her to assume the same position as Cross and when she had, he made Cross stand and went over him just as carefully.
“They weren’t going to pay us. In fact, I am pretty sure they intended to kill us. We didn’t hang around long enough to find out for sure. And I think we need to stop hanging around here now. It wouldn’t occur to them to start their search down here, but-” He stopped because Ianto had gotten that “listening” look that was becoming more and more common as small headphones became available even to those not in a secret alien-fighting organization.
There was a moment’s pause. Then Ianto murmured softly, “Shit.” He quickly finished his search of Cross, then told him, “Both of you, over by the door. Hands on your heads.”
“You got news?” Cross asked him as he helped Butler to her feet.
“A whole party of people just arrived. They are professionals.”
Cross said, “Damn.”
Bulter said, “Then Cross was right. We need to get out of here.”
Ianto had been staring into the little white room, a look that Cross suspected was barely-suppressed rage on his features. Now he looked over to them and shook his head. “I’m getting out of here. You two are staying right here.”
Cross felt Chris go silent and still. Quickly he said, “Listen, Jones, do you really think that what we did to you was worthy of a death sentence? I mean even assuming that it wasn’t you who climbed into our car and told us to drive to London. Even assuming that we grabbed you, which I admit was what we were there to do, does that deserve the death penalty? Because believe me, if you leave us here, they will kill us.”
Ianto seemed to turn his full attention to them for the first time since he’d heard from Harkness. “Why should I care any more about what happens to you than you cared about what was going to happen to me?”
Cross glanced at his partner. She shrugged. He sighed. “You have a point.”
The door to the hall outside opened suddenly, and a woman, looking back over her shoulder as she spoke to a companion started into the room, saying, “-form of training. It results in absolute loyalty and-”
Butler reacted quickly, grabbing the woman’s jacket front and throwing her hard into the wall to the left. There were two men still in the hallway. Cross pushed the door into the face of one of them, then reopened it, pushed him back against the far wall, and kicked the other in the knee. By the time he had disabled and disarmed the first man, Chris had kicked the second in the belly hard and was removing his weapon while he struggled to breath. Cross saw that Butler had followed his lead, tossing the weapon she’d acquired into the room to where Ianto stood. She had read the Welshman the way he had.
Ianto did not seem to even notice. He was staring at the woman who been slammed into the wall face first. He was covering her with his pistol, but the look on his suddenly ashen face suggested he didn’t remember he had it.
***
Walker sighed. “You’re lucky they didn’t put a round behind your ear, the lot of you. I wonder why they didn’t.” Unsaid, but implicit in his remark was the addendum I would have.
One of his men murmured, “Command should have had us take care of it. These idiots couldn’t-” ” He stopped when he heard a faint noise from the hallway.
Another one of his men came running in. “Sir, I believe we may be under attack. I was on comms with Ramon and he just started screaming. There was a funny buzzy sort of noise and then…” He swallowed. “We lost contact.”
Walker said, “Okay, Johnny, get set up. You know what to do. You can use these gentlemen wherever you think they will be useful.”
The man looked at the five original guards, then back to his boss. His expression flickered. Then he grinned and said, “Yes, sir. Come on, lads, time to show us what you are made of.”
He harried the men out of the room. Walker had pulled a cell phone out of a pocket and hit a speed dial.
***
“I’m sorry to interrupt, sir, but Mr. Walker is reporting a situation.”
The man listened to his subordinate’s quick report, then picked up his phone and spoke directly to Walker. “Can you report on the status of Mr. Jones?”
“No, sir. Dr. Perkins went down to see him. As soon as I saw what the situation was, I sent men down to bring her back up here, but I am no longer in communication with-”
There was a low-pitched buzzing noise and the man jerked the phone away as a loud scream echoed in his ear. Then he cautiously returned the phone to his ear and listened carefully. After a few moments, he put the phone down and, frowning, looked up.
“Harkness?”
“Yes, sir. We just got confirmation from some CCTV.”
The frown darkened. The man sighed. “Well, I believe the amputation you mentioned is in order. Shut it down. Cauterize it.”
His subordinate swallowed. “Sir, Mr. Walker…”
“Yes?”
“He’s been with us for a long time, sir.”
He stood, put on a face of solemn gravity. “He has served us with distinction and loyalty. He has believed in our cause as deeply as I do myself. This is a war, Edward. There are casualties in war. Heroes. If he were standing here now, he would tell you it needs to be done. He would understand.”
The man lowered his head. “Yes, sir.”
***
Jack found two men in the hall on the second subbasement, one unconscious and the other with both hands wrapped around his leg at the knee, his harsh breathing indicating pain. Jack hit them both with the tranquilizer and then pushed the door open. His eyes went first to Ianto. He was putting an armload of weapons on a table. His face was pale but he did not appear to be injured. In one corner, he saw the two mercenaries Ianto had grabbed. They were holding the arms of a woman of 40 or so with dark hair. She was the one who he had seen entering the building carrying the briefcase. Her professional demeanor was shattered now. There was blood on her face and on her blouse. Jack looked at the man holding her arm and said, cheerfully, “Hi, Gerry. Long time no see.”
Cross stared at him a moment, then grinned. “Well, hello, Jack. It has been a while. You’re looking well.”
“Who is your lovely friend?”
The woman gave him a feral look and Jack thought she might actually have growled at him.
“My partner, Chris Butler. Chris, this is Captain Jack Harkness.”
“The one you said we should stay away from?” she said with a hard dark look at her partner.
Jack laughed. “I’m hurt. So, Ianto. Are we ready to go?”
Ianto was staring at the woman almost expressionlessly, but Jack thought he could see an echo of horror, fear, and hatred in his blue eyes. Jack felt something hard and cold drop into the pit of his stomach. He really looked at the woman for the first time. She had a stunned, blank stare. Her dark eyes blinked at him. There was a lump beginning to swell on her forehead, over her left eye.
“Ianto?” He said softly.
Ianto looked up at him. He managed a thin smile. “I believe we have what we came for,” he said evenly.
In his ear, Gwen said, “Jack, we have the last of them secured.”
Jack touched his earphone. “Excellent work, ladies. I have Ianto and Dr. Perkins. I believe we are ready to-”
Tosh’s voice came suddenly, “Jack, I’m getting a radio signal from outside, beamed directly here. I’m trying to- Jack, I’m getting a warning from the scanner. Gas. It’s being emitted from several locations in the building. Not sure what- Jack, it’s poisonous!”
Author: Otrame
Summary: Ianto Jones is an ordinary bloke. Maybe a little on the geeky side. Works for a big insurance company. Married, first baby on the way. So, why won’t his kidnappers believe him when he tells them that he has never, ever heard the word Torchwood before?
Rating: PG 13 for mature themes.
Pairings: Jack/Ianto
Warnings:This story contains some descriptions of torture, most of which is psychological. Occasional highly charged sexual language, frequent cursing, etc. There will be some explicit violence and occasional brief sexual scenes, though these will be not be detailed or terribly explicit. It is an AU.
Spoilers: Potentially all of S1 and S2 until after Owen's first death.
Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction and is intended as a tribute to characters and stories developed and owned by Russell T. Davies and the BBC. No copyright infringement is intended.
The story begins here.
26. Casualties
In which Ianto gains control and more trouble brews.
Mr. Oliver managed to get up off the floor and had moved to his desk, with the intention of calling his supervisors. He had just discovered the destroyed phone connector when the door burst open and he found himself ducking down behind his chair with a little squeak of alarm.
“Oliver, what the hell is going on here? There was no one on guard duty.”
Oliver stared in consternation at the man who had just come in. He was tall, well built, about 50 but still exuding a sense of strength and purpose. His grey hair was cut short. There was a thin and very old-looking scar just under his left ear. His black t-shirt and “combat-style” trousers were without wrinkles of any kind. An automatic pistol was holstered at his hip. There was no insignia on his clothing, which was identical to the clothing of the four men who followed him into the room, but there was no question who was in charge and there would not have been even if he had not spoken. He scowled as he looked around the room.
Oliver managed to regain some composure and said, “Ah. Mr. Walker. Your arrival is fortuitous. I’m afraid the mercenaries we hired to reacquire our test subject became violent. Your men will have to go after them. They have escaped.”
“When?”
Oliver, frowning at the look Walker was giving him, said, “About 5 minutes ago. They were-”
“Then they haven’t escaped. We’ve been in the building longer than that.” He turned to one of his men. “Mick, you better get after Dr. Perkins and her contingent. Bring her back up here until we have handled the mercs.”
Mick, a thin, fairly short man who looked as if he were barely 20 said, “She ain’t gonna like it, boss. She’s been like a kid on Christmas Eve since we heard they got him back. She was all eager to get down there to play with her toy.” But he was already on the way out the door.
Walker turned to Oliver. “So why did the mercs get violent?”
Oliver cleared his throat a little nervously. “The plan was to dispose of them now that we have Mr. Jones back, but they…” He cleared his throat again. “They appear to have realized we did not intend to pay them. They reacted very quickly and…” He did not like the sneers he was getting from the black-clad men.
Walker went to a chair and sat in it. In a tone of weary patience, he said. “I think you better start from the beginning.
***
“Why did you come back down here?” asked Ianto as he quickly searched Chris Butler. Cross was on his knees, facing the wall, his ankles crossed, his hands on his head, leaning over until his forehead touched the wall. It was an awkward position, and one he could not move out of easily or quickly. When Chris didn’t answer the question, he said, “We came down to take you out of here.”
“Why?” Ianto’s hands on Butler’s body were completely impersonal, but he was very thorough. When he was finished, he could not be absolutely sure she didn’t have a weapon but he was absolutely sure she didn’t have one where she could get at it easily. He told her to assume the same position as Cross and when she had, he made Cross stand and went over him just as carefully.
“They weren’t going to pay us. In fact, I am pretty sure they intended to kill us. We didn’t hang around long enough to find out for sure. And I think we need to stop hanging around here now. It wouldn’t occur to them to start their search down here, but-” He stopped because Ianto had gotten that “listening” look that was becoming more and more common as small headphones became available even to those not in a secret alien-fighting organization.
There was a moment’s pause. Then Ianto murmured softly, “Shit.” He quickly finished his search of Cross, then told him, “Both of you, over by the door. Hands on your heads.”
“You got news?” Cross asked him as he helped Butler to her feet.
“A whole party of people just arrived. They are professionals.”
Cross said, “Damn.”
Bulter said, “Then Cross was right. We need to get out of here.”
Ianto had been staring into the little white room, a look that Cross suspected was barely-suppressed rage on his features. Now he looked over to them and shook his head. “I’m getting out of here. You two are staying right here.”
Cross felt Chris go silent and still. Quickly he said, “Listen, Jones, do you really think that what we did to you was worthy of a death sentence? I mean even assuming that it wasn’t you who climbed into our car and told us to drive to London. Even assuming that we grabbed you, which I admit was what we were there to do, does that deserve the death penalty? Because believe me, if you leave us here, they will kill us.”
Ianto seemed to turn his full attention to them for the first time since he’d heard from Harkness. “Why should I care any more about what happens to you than you cared about what was going to happen to me?”
Cross glanced at his partner. She shrugged. He sighed. “You have a point.”
The door to the hall outside opened suddenly, and a woman, looking back over her shoulder as she spoke to a companion started into the room, saying, “-form of training. It results in absolute loyalty and-”
Butler reacted quickly, grabbing the woman’s jacket front and throwing her hard into the wall to the left. There were two men still in the hallway. Cross pushed the door into the face of one of them, then reopened it, pushed him back against the far wall, and kicked the other in the knee. By the time he had disabled and disarmed the first man, Chris had kicked the second in the belly hard and was removing his weapon while he struggled to breath. Cross saw that Butler had followed his lead, tossing the weapon she’d acquired into the room to where Ianto stood. She had read the Welshman the way he had.
Ianto did not seem to even notice. He was staring at the woman who been slammed into the wall face first. He was covering her with his pistol, but the look on his suddenly ashen face suggested he didn’t remember he had it.
***
Walker sighed. “You’re lucky they didn’t put a round behind your ear, the lot of you. I wonder why they didn’t.” Unsaid, but implicit in his remark was the addendum I would have.
One of his men murmured, “Command should have had us take care of it. These idiots couldn’t-” ” He stopped when he heard a faint noise from the hallway.
Another one of his men came running in. “Sir, I believe we may be under attack. I was on comms with Ramon and he just started screaming. There was a funny buzzy sort of noise and then…” He swallowed. “We lost contact.”
Walker said, “Okay, Johnny, get set up. You know what to do. You can use these gentlemen wherever you think they will be useful.”
The man looked at the five original guards, then back to his boss. His expression flickered. Then he grinned and said, “Yes, sir. Come on, lads, time to show us what you are made of.”
He harried the men out of the room. Walker had pulled a cell phone out of a pocket and hit a speed dial.
***
“I’m sorry to interrupt, sir, but Mr. Walker is reporting a situation.”
The man listened to his subordinate’s quick report, then picked up his phone and spoke directly to Walker. “Can you report on the status of Mr. Jones?”
“No, sir. Dr. Perkins went down to see him. As soon as I saw what the situation was, I sent men down to bring her back up here, but I am no longer in communication with-”
There was a low-pitched buzzing noise and the man jerked the phone away as a loud scream echoed in his ear. Then he cautiously returned the phone to his ear and listened carefully. After a few moments, he put the phone down and, frowning, looked up.
“Harkness?”
“Yes, sir. We just got confirmation from some CCTV.”
The frown darkened. The man sighed. “Well, I believe the amputation you mentioned is in order. Shut it down. Cauterize it.”
His subordinate swallowed. “Sir, Mr. Walker…”
“Yes?”
“He’s been with us for a long time, sir.”
He stood, put on a face of solemn gravity. “He has served us with distinction and loyalty. He has believed in our cause as deeply as I do myself. This is a war, Edward. There are casualties in war. Heroes. If he were standing here now, he would tell you it needs to be done. He would understand.”
The man lowered his head. “Yes, sir.”
***
Jack found two men in the hall on the second subbasement, one unconscious and the other with both hands wrapped around his leg at the knee, his harsh breathing indicating pain. Jack hit them both with the tranquilizer and then pushed the door open. His eyes went first to Ianto. He was putting an armload of weapons on a table. His face was pale but he did not appear to be injured. In one corner, he saw the two mercenaries Ianto had grabbed. They were holding the arms of a woman of 40 or so with dark hair. She was the one who he had seen entering the building carrying the briefcase. Her professional demeanor was shattered now. There was blood on her face and on her blouse. Jack looked at the man holding her arm and said, cheerfully, “Hi, Gerry. Long time no see.”
Cross stared at him a moment, then grinned. “Well, hello, Jack. It has been a while. You’re looking well.”
“Who is your lovely friend?”
The woman gave him a feral look and Jack thought she might actually have growled at him.
“My partner, Chris Butler. Chris, this is Captain Jack Harkness.”
“The one you said we should stay away from?” she said with a hard dark look at her partner.
Jack laughed. “I’m hurt. So, Ianto. Are we ready to go?”
Ianto was staring at the woman almost expressionlessly, but Jack thought he could see an echo of horror, fear, and hatred in his blue eyes. Jack felt something hard and cold drop into the pit of his stomach. He really looked at the woman for the first time. She had a stunned, blank stare. Her dark eyes blinked at him. There was a lump beginning to swell on her forehead, over her left eye.
“Ianto?” He said softly.
Ianto looked up at him. He managed a thin smile. “I believe we have what we came for,” he said evenly.
In his ear, Gwen said, “Jack, we have the last of them secured.”
Jack touched his earphone. “Excellent work, ladies. I have Ianto and Dr. Perkins. I believe we are ready to-”
Tosh’s voice came suddenly, “Jack, I’m getting a radio signal from outside, beamed directly here. I’m trying to- Jack, I’m getting a warning from the scanner. Gas. It’s being emitted from several locations in the building. Not sure what- Jack, it’s poisonous!”