Partners in Every Way - Chapter Four
15 June 2008
Ianto immediately disliked the self-named John Hart.
And no, it wasn’t because the man had kissed his mate, nor because the man had obviously felt the need to practically paw at Jack…although seeing that had caused a growl to rise within him that had been hard to silence. He trusted Jack completely to take care of himself in those circumstances, and Ianto was well aware of how he felt about his former partner. Besides, if he got mad every time Jack kissed someone or someone kissed Jack, he’d be perpetually pissed off.
It also wasn’t because Hart dared punch Jack. Yes, it had taken all of Ianto’s self- control not to go to his mate’s aid, but the dragon did know that Jack could hold his own in a fight. It bothered him a little that Jack seemed to be enjoying it a bit too much - and that was something he’d be certain to ask about later, and in private - however Jack had quickly looked as if he’d gained the upper hand. It had still been hard to simply stand there and watch.
The one time he hadn’t felt like running to the rescue was when the two men had been in that stalemate, with guns pointed at each other. Yes, he hated Jack dying, but at the same time Ianto knew his mate would come back. Hart, of course, would not.
Ianto was pretty certain he didn’t feel at all bad about that.
His sensitive dragon hearing caught their conversation as they leant against the bar. Ianto was relieved about the Time Agency; there had been a small part of him that had worried that, someday, someone would come after Jack for leaving after they’d wiped his memories. If that had happened, then Ianto would have protected his mate from being taken, even if it had meant his life. But now, it looked as if he would never have to do that, and Ianto was grateful that Hart had brought that important piece of information, even if the man put Ianto’s teeth on edge.
Of course, Jack had said they couldn’t trust anything Hart said. The man could very well be lying about that, to lull them into a false sense of security.
Which made Ianto feel even more paranoid about their ‘visitor’.
He certainly didn’t like the notion of something called ‘murder rehab’, not at all.
Ianto knew that Jack would keep his eye on Hart, but he would also do the same. No one was going to hurt his family.
The gun shots, when they came, hadn’t really surprised Ianto all that much. He knew Jack’s slightly advanced human senses, and it had been a safe bet that Hart had the same. He’d deliberately put himself between Gwen and any harm, knowing that, even if he was shot, the bullets really wouldn’t do too much damage to him. He might not like Gwen very much, but he’d still protect her. It was his duty, after all. He’d Named her, and he would keep that vow.
His first impression of Hart from a distance didn’t hold up under closer scrutiny, either. There was just something about the man…something that felt slimy against Ianto’s skin and scales. A small voice in the back of his mind - one that sounded very much like his mother’s - was telling him to trust this, to trust this feeling, and Ianto listened.
“Toshiko Sato,” Jack introduced them, “Owen Harper…Gwen Cooper…and my Second in Command, Ianto Jones.”
The dragon kept his gun up, his arms not wavering. He was gratified to see that the others were doing the same.
“Captain John Hart,” the man said, nodding to each in turn. He’d seemed to have lost the slightly manic tone he’d had before, his expression turning sombre.
“What are you doing here?” Jack demanded, his posture suddenly stiff.
“Down to business,” Hart congratulated. “I like that.” He raised his arm, revealing a vortex manipulator.
“It’s not the same as yours, Jack,” Toshiko commented, her eyes on the wrist strap.
“It’s smaller,” Jack answered.
“But lasts so much longer,” Hart snarked, rolling his eyes. “Get two Time Agents in the same room and it’s all about the size of the wrist strap.”
The innuendo was obvious, and Ianto was proud of his team for not rising to the bait.
Hart looked disappointed. “Anyway,” he said, “I’m working with this woman - beautiful, clever, sexy, yadda yadda yadda - and we both get shot. As she’s dying, she begs me. She tells me about these radiation cluster bombs she’s been working on.” He pressed a button on his wrist strap, and a hologram appeared…it was a rotating canister, about ten inches long.
Ianto thought it didn’t look much like a bomb, but then it was from the future…who knew what sort of advanced technology it had been constructed from?
“Don’t like the sound of that,” Owen muttered.
“Three canisters,” Hart replied. “Contents beyond toxic, swallowed up in a Rift storm.”
“And they ended up here,” Toshiko posited.
“Bingo,” Hart agreed. “That’s the downside of your city being built on a Rift in space and time. Now, left to their own devices, the radiation will break down the canisters and then infect the people, and the planet. They need to be neutralized.”
Ianto could tell, by the look on Jack’s face, that he was a bit skeptical of Hart’s story, which made the dragon even less willing to believe it. He kept his gun up; he wasn’t about to risk anyone getting hurt by anything Hart did, even though the ex-Time Agent apparently was letting his guard down. And no, he didn’t trust that, either.
Toshiko and Owen still had their weapons ready, but Gwen had lowered hers, and he knew he’d have to talk to her about that at some point. Jack had warned them about Hart, had explained that the man was dangerous, and not to trust him. Even at ease Hart oozed something that set the dragon’s instincts buzzing.
The hologram vanished, and Hart closed his wrist strap.
“What’s in it for you?” Jack asked, his eyes narrowed.
“Dying woman’s wish,” Hart shrugged.
Jack made a scoffing noise. Ianto was glad of that, because even though he’d just met the man, he didn’t believe for one minute that Hart would go out of his way to respect a death request.
And it was obvious that Hart knew Jack didn’t believe him.
“Problem is,” he continued, as if it didn’t matter, “I don’t know where they are. I’m hoping local knowledge can help.”
Hart sounded so sincere…perhaps too sincere. Ianto couldn’t kick the notion that there was something else, something that Hart was keeping back, and that this so-called bombs were some sort of…well, he didn’t know what.
“I can run a citywide scan,” Toshiko said. “Look for any radiation surges and cross-reference that with Rift activity for the specified time period.”
“You must be the beauty and the brains of this outfit,” Hart leered at her.
Toshiko let it just roll off her without reacting, which sent Hart into a pout. It wasn’t at all an effective one, either.
“See,” he said, “it’s an easy job.”
Jack was frowning. “We do this, and then you’re gone. Immediately.”
Hart didn’t look happy. “Fine, if that’s the way you want it.”
“It is.”
A sudden grin broke out over the man’s face. “Does this mean I get to see your house?”
**********
“Letting that man into the Hub is a really bad idea,” Gwen said.
Ianto couldn’t help but agree with her.
The four of them were riding back to the Hub in the SUV; Jack had wrestled Hart into a taxi, saying they would meet them back at the Hub. Jack had taken Ianto aside, giving him specific instructions for their arrival.
Ianto hadn’t wanted to leave Jack alone with Hart, but they all wouldn’t have fit in the SUV. He’d tried to convince Jack to let him come with them, but Jack had said that he could handle Hart just fine on his own. Ianto didn’t want to doubt his mate…but then, he did trust Jack.
It was John Hart that he didn’t trust.
That was why Ianto made certain to confiscate Hart’s vortex manipulator before they’d left the two men at the bar.
“We don’t have much choice,” he answered, his hands tightening on the steering wheel. “Jack’s in charge.”
“We don’t know anything about this Hart character,” Gwen said.
“We know enough,” Owen said. “We know he’s some sort of nutcase.”
“Which is enough for me,” Toshiko added.
“We know he can’t be trusted,” Ianto said. “He’s a liar…which is fairly obvious.”
“Then you don’t believe his story then?” Gwen asked.
“I don’t, no.”
“But if there’s a bare chance he’s telling the truth -“
“Which is why we’re helping him,” the dragon said. “We simply can’t take a risk.” He didn’t want his adopted home to suffer because they’d been wrong.
“I say we chuck his arse into a cell then go after these canisters ourselves,” Owen suggested, somewhat gleefully.
“I like that idea,” Toshiko agreed.
Ianto did, as well.
“We don’t have any proof he’s actually lying,” Gwen argued. “Locking him up won’t solve anything.”
“And yet you don’t trust him enough to let him into the Hub,” Toshiko pointed out.
“Of course I don’t trust him,” the ex-copper said. “But I just don’t see that keeping Hart prisoner will make any difference.”
“It’s up to Jack,” Ianto said. “If he says we’re to help Hart get these canisters and then send him on his way, then that’s what we do.”
“Yeah, well Jack left us,” Gwen groused. “Seems to me he lost his right to lead the team when he took off.”
Ianto found himself grinding his teeth. “Jack will always be our leader, even long after you’re dead and dust, Gwen. And I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ll keep following him until the day comes when he wants to put Torchwood behind him for good.” Even after, he didn’t add.
“I’m with you, Ianto,” Toshiko said, leaning up from the back seat and squeezing his shoulder. “Jack’s our leader. There will never be anyone else.”
“Yeah,” Owen replied. “I’ll follow Jack - and you - until you put me in the ground…or the morgue, as the case may be.”
Ianto felt a warmth grow in his chest at their words. They really were true friends, and he was glad to know them. “Thank you both.”
“Well don’t let it go to your head, Dragon Boy, cause I’m not about to stop giving the pair of you shit.”
The dragon laughed. “The day you stop being a prat, Owen, is the day I start looking for the alien influencing you.”
“Damn right.”
“I don’t get you both,” Gwen exclaimed. “Jack abandoned us, and Ianto…isn’t human. And yet you’re both willing to let them be in charge?”
“Yes, you don’t understand,” Toshiko said. “You don’t understand loyalty and friendship and honor. When you do that, then you’ll realize just what it means to be in Torchwood, and to follow Jack and Ianto.”
Gwen was silent, and Ianto hoped that she was digesting what she’d been told. Perhaps it was naïve of him, but he did hold out some hope for her. During Jack’s absence she’d proven to be a competent field agent, and her engagement to Rhys had shown him a side of her he hadn’t known existed: that of loving partner. After her affair with Owen, the dragon had doubted that would ever be the case.
He honestly didn’t care how Gwen felt about him. To Ianto, the only one who mattered was Jack…and Toshiko and Owen after that. One day she might come around, and on that day his opinion would change. But, until then, she could say what she wanted, as long as it wasn’t against Jack or his friends.
They made the rest of the trip to the Hub in silence, and only once they’d pulled into the underground car park did he speak again. “First, we’ll scan him as he comes into the Hub. Toshiko, I want you and Owen to take comprehensive readings on him and anything he happens to have on him. Gwen, you’re with me. I want you to use a portable scanner and check him carefully for any weapons. Oh, and Tosh…make certain you have him in scanner range at all times. I don’t want him sneaking around the Hub. There’s no telling what he’d get into.”
There were murmurs of agreement, and they all headed into the Hub.
Ianto went to the kitchen, grabbing one of the silver serving trays that he’d brought up from his hoard. From what Jack had said, Hart would be heavily armed, and the dragon doubted he would have enough hands to hold everything they managed to find. Plus it never hurt to be prepared.
Jack had said he would bring Hart in on the invisible lift, and it was from that direction that the dragon got the first faint tingle in his mind that announced his mate’s arrival. He made his way to the lift, but not before stopping heading into Jack’s office and locking Hart’s wrist strap into the Secure Archives, not wanting their ‘visitor’ to get it back before they were ready.
The clunking of the lift mechanism officially announced Jack and Hart’s entrance. Ianto stood waiting, the tray behind his back, and Gwen joined him, her scanner ready. He spared her a look, and then turned his eyes upward, to the descending lift.
“It’s roomy,” he heard Hart say. “I’ll give you that. Although your interior decorating has a lot to be desired. What is this…sewer chic?”
The lift stone settled into its base. Jack stepped off, turning to glare at Hart, who made to step down…and then Jack’s hand shot up, pushing him back. “Weapons.”
Hart sighed, rolling his eyes. Ianto flipped the tray around, holding it in both hands. Something about him earned a leer from the ex-Time Agent, and the dragon ignored it.
He unsnapped the safety catches on his holsters, removing the guns and handing them to Jack. Jack in turn placed them on the silver tray, giving Ianto a slight wink.
The katana was next, and Ianto had to admit that he wouldn’t have minded getting a closer look at the sword. He wondered where Hart had gotten it, and if it was authentic.
Jack turned back to Hart, and the innocent look the man had on his face wouldn’t have fooled a baby. Jack held his hand out, waiting.
“And the rest.” Jack didn’t say it as a question, either.
“You know me,” Hart grinned. “I’m a two-weapon kinda guy.” He winked broadly.
Like Ianto was going to believe that.
“One pistol strapped to each leg,” Gwen reported, her eyes on her scanner, “laser knife below left elbow, seventeen small explosive charges in the linings of his coat…”
As she rattled off the various devices on Hart’s person, Jack removed them and set them on Ianto’s tray. The dragon was glad that he was a bit above human-level strength; the pile was getting a bit heavy.
Once they were done, Hart simply shrugged. “They must have slipped my mind.”
“Yeah, right.” Jack turned to Ianto. “Let’s lock those down and then we’ll all meet in the boardroom and come up with a plan.” He stepped away from the lift, letting Hart off.
Toshiko and Owen had joined them, their own scans obviously complete. Owen had his gun out, and Toshiko was holding another scanner. “Come on then,” the medic growled, motioning with his weapon. “I’d hate to have to shoot you just to patch you up.”
“Nice of you to show me your gun,” Hart leered. “I’d show you mine, but Eye Candy here wants to keep them all to himself.”
Eye Candy?
Oh gods and goddesses and Great Dragons…
Chapter Five
Ianto immediately disliked the self-named John Hart.
And no, it wasn’t because the man had kissed his mate, nor because the man had obviously felt the need to practically paw at Jack…although seeing that had caused a growl to rise within him that had been hard to silence. He trusted Jack completely to take care of himself in those circumstances, and Ianto was well aware of how he felt about his former partner. Besides, if he got mad every time Jack kissed someone or someone kissed Jack, he’d be perpetually pissed off.
It also wasn’t because Hart dared punch Jack. Yes, it had taken all of Ianto’s self- control not to go to his mate’s aid, but the dragon did know that Jack could hold his own in a fight. It bothered him a little that Jack seemed to be enjoying it a bit too much - and that was something he’d be certain to ask about later, and in private - however Jack had quickly looked as if he’d gained the upper hand. It had still been hard to simply stand there and watch.
The one time he hadn’t felt like running to the rescue was when the two men had been in that stalemate, with guns pointed at each other. Yes, he hated Jack dying, but at the same time Ianto knew his mate would come back. Hart, of course, would not.
Ianto was pretty certain he didn’t feel at all bad about that.
His sensitive dragon hearing caught their conversation as they leant against the bar. Ianto was relieved about the Time Agency; there had been a small part of him that had worried that, someday, someone would come after Jack for leaving after they’d wiped his memories. If that had happened, then Ianto would have protected his mate from being taken, even if it had meant his life. But now, it looked as if he would never have to do that, and Ianto was grateful that Hart had brought that important piece of information, even if the man put Ianto’s teeth on edge.
Of course, Jack had said they couldn’t trust anything Hart said. The man could very well be lying about that, to lull them into a false sense of security.
Which made Ianto feel even more paranoid about their ‘visitor’.
He certainly didn’t like the notion of something called ‘murder rehab’, not at all.
Ianto knew that Jack would keep his eye on Hart, but he would also do the same. No one was going to hurt his family.
The gun shots, when they came, hadn’t really surprised Ianto all that much. He knew Jack’s slightly advanced human senses, and it had been a safe bet that Hart had the same. He’d deliberately put himself between Gwen and any harm, knowing that, even if he was shot, the bullets really wouldn’t do too much damage to him. He might not like Gwen very much, but he’d still protect her. It was his duty, after all. He’d Named her, and he would keep that vow.
His first impression of Hart from a distance didn’t hold up under closer scrutiny, either. There was just something about the man…something that felt slimy against Ianto’s skin and scales. A small voice in the back of his mind - one that sounded very much like his mother’s - was telling him to trust this, to trust this feeling, and Ianto listened.
“Toshiko Sato,” Jack introduced them, “Owen Harper…Gwen Cooper…and my Second in Command, Ianto Jones.”
The dragon kept his gun up, his arms not wavering. He was gratified to see that the others were doing the same.
“Captain John Hart,” the man said, nodding to each in turn. He’d seemed to have lost the slightly manic tone he’d had before, his expression turning sombre.
“What are you doing here?” Jack demanded, his posture suddenly stiff.
“Down to business,” Hart congratulated. “I like that.” He raised his arm, revealing a vortex manipulator.
“It’s not the same as yours, Jack,” Toshiko commented, her eyes on the wrist strap.
“It’s smaller,” Jack answered.
“But lasts so much longer,” Hart snarked, rolling his eyes. “Get two Time Agents in the same room and it’s all about the size of the wrist strap.”
The innuendo was obvious, and Ianto was proud of his team for not rising to the bait.
Hart looked disappointed. “Anyway,” he said, “I’m working with this woman - beautiful, clever, sexy, yadda yadda yadda - and we both get shot. As she’s dying, she begs me. She tells me about these radiation cluster bombs she’s been working on.” He pressed a button on his wrist strap, and a hologram appeared…it was a rotating canister, about ten inches long.
Ianto thought it didn’t look much like a bomb, but then it was from the future…who knew what sort of advanced technology it had been constructed from?
“Don’t like the sound of that,” Owen muttered.
“Three canisters,” Hart replied. “Contents beyond toxic, swallowed up in a Rift storm.”
“And they ended up here,” Toshiko posited.
“Bingo,” Hart agreed. “That’s the downside of your city being built on a Rift in space and time. Now, left to their own devices, the radiation will break down the canisters and then infect the people, and the planet. They need to be neutralized.”
Ianto could tell, by the look on Jack’s face, that he was a bit skeptical of Hart’s story, which made the dragon even less willing to believe it. He kept his gun up; he wasn’t about to risk anyone getting hurt by anything Hart did, even though the ex-Time Agent apparently was letting his guard down. And no, he didn’t trust that, either.
Toshiko and Owen still had their weapons ready, but Gwen had lowered hers, and he knew he’d have to talk to her about that at some point. Jack had warned them about Hart, had explained that the man was dangerous, and not to trust him. Even at ease Hart oozed something that set the dragon’s instincts buzzing.
The hologram vanished, and Hart closed his wrist strap.
“What’s in it for you?” Jack asked, his eyes narrowed.
“Dying woman’s wish,” Hart shrugged.
Jack made a scoffing noise. Ianto was glad of that, because even though he’d just met the man, he didn’t believe for one minute that Hart would go out of his way to respect a death request.
And it was obvious that Hart knew Jack didn’t believe him.
“Problem is,” he continued, as if it didn’t matter, “I don’t know where they are. I’m hoping local knowledge can help.”
Hart sounded so sincere…perhaps too sincere. Ianto couldn’t kick the notion that there was something else, something that Hart was keeping back, and that this so-called bombs were some sort of…well, he didn’t know what.
“I can run a citywide scan,” Toshiko said. “Look for any radiation surges and cross-reference that with Rift activity for the specified time period.”
“You must be the beauty and the brains of this outfit,” Hart leered at her.
Toshiko let it just roll off her without reacting, which sent Hart into a pout. It wasn’t at all an effective one, either.
“See,” he said, “it’s an easy job.”
Jack was frowning. “We do this, and then you’re gone. Immediately.”
Hart didn’t look happy. “Fine, if that’s the way you want it.”
“It is.”
A sudden grin broke out over the man’s face. “Does this mean I get to see your house?”
**********
“Letting that man into the Hub is a really bad idea,” Gwen said.
Ianto couldn’t help but agree with her.
The four of them were riding back to the Hub in the SUV; Jack had wrestled Hart into a taxi, saying they would meet them back at the Hub. Jack had taken Ianto aside, giving him specific instructions for their arrival.
Ianto hadn’t wanted to leave Jack alone with Hart, but they all wouldn’t have fit in the SUV. He’d tried to convince Jack to let him come with them, but Jack had said that he could handle Hart just fine on his own. Ianto didn’t want to doubt his mate…but then, he did trust Jack.
It was John Hart that he didn’t trust.
That was why Ianto made certain to confiscate Hart’s vortex manipulator before they’d left the two men at the bar.
“We don’t have much choice,” he answered, his hands tightening on the steering wheel. “Jack’s in charge.”
“We don’t know anything about this Hart character,” Gwen said.
“We know enough,” Owen said. “We know he’s some sort of nutcase.”
“Which is enough for me,” Toshiko added.
“We know he can’t be trusted,” Ianto said. “He’s a liar…which is fairly obvious.”
“Then you don’t believe his story then?” Gwen asked.
“I don’t, no.”
“But if there’s a bare chance he’s telling the truth -“
“Which is why we’re helping him,” the dragon said. “We simply can’t take a risk.” He didn’t want his adopted home to suffer because they’d been wrong.
“I say we chuck his arse into a cell then go after these canisters ourselves,” Owen suggested, somewhat gleefully.
“I like that idea,” Toshiko agreed.
Ianto did, as well.
“We don’t have any proof he’s actually lying,” Gwen argued. “Locking him up won’t solve anything.”
“And yet you don’t trust him enough to let him into the Hub,” Toshiko pointed out.
“Of course I don’t trust him,” the ex-copper said. “But I just don’t see that keeping Hart prisoner will make any difference.”
“It’s up to Jack,” Ianto said. “If he says we’re to help Hart get these canisters and then send him on his way, then that’s what we do.”
“Yeah, well Jack left us,” Gwen groused. “Seems to me he lost his right to lead the team when he took off.”
Ianto found himself grinding his teeth. “Jack will always be our leader, even long after you’re dead and dust, Gwen. And I don’t know about anyone else, but I’ll keep following him until the day comes when he wants to put Torchwood behind him for good.” Even after, he didn’t add.
“I’m with you, Ianto,” Toshiko said, leaning up from the back seat and squeezing his shoulder. “Jack’s our leader. There will never be anyone else.”
“Yeah,” Owen replied. “I’ll follow Jack - and you - until you put me in the ground…or the morgue, as the case may be.”
Ianto felt a warmth grow in his chest at their words. They really were true friends, and he was glad to know them. “Thank you both.”
“Well don’t let it go to your head, Dragon Boy, cause I’m not about to stop giving the pair of you shit.”
The dragon laughed. “The day you stop being a prat, Owen, is the day I start looking for the alien influencing you.”
“Damn right.”
“I don’t get you both,” Gwen exclaimed. “Jack abandoned us, and Ianto…isn’t human. And yet you’re both willing to let them be in charge?”
“Yes, you don’t understand,” Toshiko said. “You don’t understand loyalty and friendship and honor. When you do that, then you’ll realize just what it means to be in Torchwood, and to follow Jack and Ianto.”
Gwen was silent, and Ianto hoped that she was digesting what she’d been told. Perhaps it was naïve of him, but he did hold out some hope for her. During Jack’s absence she’d proven to be a competent field agent, and her engagement to Rhys had shown him a side of her he hadn’t known existed: that of loving partner. After her affair with Owen, the dragon had doubted that would ever be the case.
He honestly didn’t care how Gwen felt about him. To Ianto, the only one who mattered was Jack…and Toshiko and Owen after that. One day she might come around, and on that day his opinion would change. But, until then, she could say what she wanted, as long as it wasn’t against Jack or his friends.
They made the rest of the trip to the Hub in silence, and only once they’d pulled into the underground car park did he speak again. “First, we’ll scan him as he comes into the Hub. Toshiko, I want you and Owen to take comprehensive readings on him and anything he happens to have on him. Gwen, you’re with me. I want you to use a portable scanner and check him carefully for any weapons. Oh, and Tosh…make certain you have him in scanner range at all times. I don’t want him sneaking around the Hub. There’s no telling what he’d get into.”
There were murmurs of agreement, and they all headed into the Hub.
Ianto went to the kitchen, grabbing one of the silver serving trays that he’d brought up from his hoard. From what Jack had said, Hart would be heavily armed, and the dragon doubted he would have enough hands to hold everything they managed to find. Plus it never hurt to be prepared.
Jack had said he would bring Hart in on the invisible lift, and it was from that direction that the dragon got the first faint tingle in his mind that announced his mate’s arrival. He made his way to the lift, but not before stopping heading into Jack’s office and locking Hart’s wrist strap into the Secure Archives, not wanting their ‘visitor’ to get it back before they were ready.
The clunking of the lift mechanism officially announced Jack and Hart’s entrance. Ianto stood waiting, the tray behind his back, and Gwen joined him, her scanner ready. He spared her a look, and then turned his eyes upward, to the descending lift.
“It’s roomy,” he heard Hart say. “I’ll give you that. Although your interior decorating has a lot to be desired. What is this…sewer chic?”
The lift stone settled into its base. Jack stepped off, turning to glare at Hart, who made to step down…and then Jack’s hand shot up, pushing him back. “Weapons.”
Hart sighed, rolling his eyes. Ianto flipped the tray around, holding it in both hands. Something about him earned a leer from the ex-Time Agent, and the dragon ignored it.
He unsnapped the safety catches on his holsters, removing the guns and handing them to Jack. Jack in turn placed them on the silver tray, giving Ianto a slight wink.
The katana was next, and Ianto had to admit that he wouldn’t have minded getting a closer look at the sword. He wondered where Hart had gotten it, and if it was authentic.
Jack turned back to Hart, and the innocent look the man had on his face wouldn’t have fooled a baby. Jack held his hand out, waiting.
“And the rest.” Jack didn’t say it as a question, either.
“You know me,” Hart grinned. “I’m a two-weapon kinda guy.” He winked broadly.
Like Ianto was going to believe that.
“One pistol strapped to each leg,” Gwen reported, her eyes on her scanner, “laser knife below left elbow, seventeen small explosive charges in the linings of his coat…”
As she rattled off the various devices on Hart’s person, Jack removed them and set them on Ianto’s tray. The dragon was glad that he was a bit above human-level strength; the pile was getting a bit heavy.
Once they were done, Hart simply shrugged. “They must have slipped my mind.”
“Yeah, right.” Jack turned to Ianto. “Let’s lock those down and then we’ll all meet in the boardroom and come up with a plan.” He stepped away from the lift, letting Hart off.
Toshiko and Owen had joined them, their own scans obviously complete. Owen had his gun out, and Toshiko was holding another scanner. “Come on then,” the medic growled, motioning with his weapon. “I’d hate to have to shoot you just to patch you up.”
“Nice of you to show me your gun,” Hart leered. “I’d show you mine, but Eye Candy here wants to keep them all to himself.”
Eye Candy?
Oh gods and goddesses and Great Dragons…
Chapter Five