Fic - Electric Sheep #7
Title: Electric Sheep (7/13)
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack, Ianto, Owen, Jack/Ianto
Summary: Jack has been back at Torchwood Three for a few months now. He was fine with that; until he began to uncover a pattern in what had seemed to be random, unconnected murders. With an ex-lover, a new lover, an outspoken deputy, and an assassin right on his doorstep, Jack has his hands full.
Previously...
Electric Sheep #7
"Excuse me while I add to the Torchwood body count." Jack was having some difficulty forcing himself into his trousers, and it didn't help that Ianto was smirking at his efforts in the most infuriating and seductive manner. His entire body felt like it was burning up, his teeshirt scratching against sensitized skin, the first metal rung of the ladder painfully icy against his bare sole. "Damn it!" he cursed, turning back. Ianto, with uncanny anticipation, was now dangling over the edge of the bed, scrabbling for Jack's revolver.
"Thought you might need…"
"Thanks" Jack grunted, grabbing the gun from his outstretched hand. "Just stay there. We're not done yet. Oh, and no handling the merchandise!"
"But it's my merchandise, Jack." Ianto rolled back onto his side, slowly, provocatively stroking his hand across his own thigh.
Jack ducked towards him, snatching a quick kiss and a proprietorial cock fondle. "Don't you dare!"
"Jack!" Owen was sounding increasingly agitated.
"If you need me…" Ianto offered, suddenly more serious.
"I'll holler" Jack assured him, heading off up the ladder.
Owen was pacing in small circles around Jack's office, lips drawn into a tight narrow line. As soon as Jack's flushed face appeared, he launched his attack. "About fucking time!" he yelled. "Oh, and don't even try telling me I was wrong about that cock in the arse business!" he spat out, as a dishevelled Jack stepped up into the office. "You've got a stiffy the size of Blackpool Tower!"
"Pretty impressive, wouldn't you say?"
"Oh for fuck's sake!" Owen caught hold of one of Jack's dangling braces and started dragging him out of the room. "No time for this. He's here." He lowered his voice, and thrust a headset into Jack's hand. "Ianto. He's here. And he's got company."
Jack's attitude changed immediately. "Crap!" He fumbled the earpiece into place with slightly sweaty, shaky hands. "What's happening? Talk to me Ianto! Now!" he demanded urgently.
For a second or two there was only heavy breathing on the line, then a gasped "Sorry Jack. Thought I could keep ahead of him."
You were meant to stay home Ianto, Jack groaned inwardly. This is no time to lose faith in me! "Who? Where are you?"
"It's okay Ianto, we've got you" Owen interjected, turning a monitor towards Jack, who nodded his acknowledgement and leaned across him to take a closer look.
Ianto was represented by a white blob on the screen, indicating that he was close to base and out of his vehicle. "I need images, Owen. Fast!" Jack ordered.
Owen edged away from him. "Point that thing somewhere else, will you?" he muttered, turning impatiently to scowl at Jack's groin. Stretching over to the adjascent desk, fingers tapping at keys, he pulled up footage on a second monitor. "There. He's right there!" Owen stabbed at the screen for added emphasis.
Ianto was crouching down, back pressed to the gothic façade of the Pierhead building; no-one else in sight. "Who, Ianto?" Jack asked again.
"Don't know. Sandy hair. About five ten." He paused. Although the image was neither clear nor close enough to make it out, Jack was certain Ianto was frowning. "Haven't been able to get a good look" Ianto added hesitantly. "Too busy trying to keep my distance."
Owen widened the field of view, shaking his head. "No sign of anyone yet."
"Jack. He had my number. Landline. I had to get out of there."
"Alright. Don't worry about that now. Do you think you can make it?"
"I can try."
"Do better than that! Head for the water tower on my signal. I'm coming up."
"Hurry Jack!"
Jack was already on his way, racing down the stairs, charging towards the lift.
"Got him!" Owen shouted. "He's moving in."
"Gotta get more speed into this fucking thing!" Jack was in danger of losing his cool, as the lift ascended at its accustomed steady pace. Reaching the half-way point, he made the mental calculations; Ianto had quite a turn of speed when given the right incentives. "Okay Ianto. MOVE! You know how."
Owen watched on the monitor as Ianto began to run into dangerously exposed territory; body low, zigzagging his way into Roald Dahl Plass. "Not just a pretty face, ey, Ianto. Four hundred yards, south east of you. Bollocks! Shift your arse, he's waving his gun around!"
Both Jack and Owen heard the muffled thud through their earpieces, and inhaled sharply.
"Okay" Ianto panted. "Missed."
"Close call. Keep going, almost there… Oh shit!" Intent on tracking Ianto and his pursuer, Owen hadn't heard the other man coming up behind him. He was standing motionless, white as a sheet, wide-eyed and staring at the screen. "Jack, we have a problem!"
"You don't say!" Jack gritted his teeth. But he was at the top now, heart pounding, no cooling spray from the hulking stainless steel water tower on this still, warm June night. He spun around, frantically scanning the amphitheatre-style construction of the Plass, the Armadillo looming behind him. Fuck, the assailant was gaining ground fast. "Ianto, to me. NOW!"
Ianto ducked out from behind the water tower and lunged for the slab, trusting Jack to be there for him. Jack grabbed him by the lapels, hauling Ianto to him, rendering him well-nigh invisible; shielding him as he took aim at the moving target. Before he could squeeze the trigger, another thud was heard. "Aaah, fuck!"
"Jack!" Ianto squirmed in Jack's embrace.
"I'm okay. It's nothing."
***
"Bit of a mindfuck, yeah?" Owen tried to take his arm, but Ianto shrugged him off, staggering back towards Jack's office as he heard the lift descending.
"Where's the shooter now?" Jack's voice thundered simultaneously in Owen's ear and from across the Hub. "Owen!"
Flustered, Owen turned back to the CCTV. "Shit! Lost him! But Jack… Oh, sod it!" Priorities decided he hurried after Ianto, the sound of wretching reaching him before he spotted him slumping to his knees by the wastebin. "Easy there, easy" he said lamely, squatting down beside him. He could hear the other two men jumping off the lift, splashing through the water. "Jack, you better keep him there!" he warned.
"Just stay here for now" Jack said, taking the stairs two at a time, mind racing but strategies stubbornly refusing to form.
"Jack? What's going on?"
"Just wait. Please!" Jack burst into the office clutching his arm, blood seeping through his fingers. As the stench of bile hit him, Jack felt something twist and shift inside him, something far more painful than his flesh wound. "Owen, get down there."
Ianto was on his knees, chest heaving, but he began to crawl away as Owen reluctantly left his side, slumping back against the desk as Jack reached him. He was obviously, understandably, distraught; but there was an unwelcome awareness in his eyes, too. The look of a man for whom everything was suddenly falling into place.
Expecting to be rebuffed, Jack risked it anyway. "I'm sorry. I didn't want you to find out like this." He moved in close, gently lifting Ianto's chin with thumb and forefinger, forcing eye contact. "I tried to tell you, but..."
"But I stopped you." Ianto swallowed hard. "I think I guessed what you were going to say and I stopped you."
"No excuse, I know that" Jack admitted, cautiously stroking his thumb along Ianto's jawline. Any second now he's going to punch me, or worse, Jack thought.
But Ianto surprised him. "You're hurt" he said softly.
"It's just a scratch. And nothing compared to what you must be feeling right now."
"Oh, you have no idea Jack!"
"I guess not."
"So was it me you wanted to fuck, or him?"
Jack winced. "You, I swear."
"Because you've had him more times than you can remember, right? So, what? Wanted to know if it would be any different with me?"
Jack shook his head, but couldn't bring himself to articulate a denial. "Maybe that was part of it, yeah. But…"
"Jack" he interrupted. "Just for the record, it's not important."
"No?"
"Bigger things to worry about. And seeing myself, as I used to be, even that's not the worst of it. Him…" he faltered, before taking a deep breath and continuing. "Him being here, part of me knew. I just didn't want to face up to it." He grabbed Jack's wrist, looked at him intently. "But worse than that Jack, I saw who was out there, the man who was trying to…" His gaze slid over Jack's shoulder as he became aware of being watched; of the figure now standing in the doorway. "Oh god!"
Jack thought Ianto was about to wretch again and was already reaching for the bin when realisation dawned. Fucking Owen! Was it really that hard to follow orders? "Oh god" he echoed, as he slowly turned and slumped down alongside Ianto.
"I don't think any form of deity is going to be of assistance here, sir."
Jack shivered. That voice! It seemed so calm, so normal, in these most extraordinary of circumstances. The two of them, together, in the same room. They should be ranting, raving, going out of their minds, shouldn't they? Or was the shock making them both numb, the calm before the storm? Ianto's fingers slid down from Jack's wrist and clutched his hand tightly; and Jack returned the squeeze, watching, waiting.
Owen suddenly appeared at Ianto's shoulder, wiping blood from his mouth with the back of his hand. "Forgot about that right hook of yours, mate." His eyes flicked from the Ianto standing beside him, to Jack and Ianto huddled together on the floor. "Christ Jack, you should see yourself! Bad enough I've had to watch you following him about with your tongue hanging out, but this? Bit of a slap in the face, innit?"
"Owen, not now." Jack's throat felt tight. He should be handling this some other way, some better way, he knew that.
"Oh, inconvenient is it? It's all looking a bit more desperate and sad than it was with pretty boy!"
The man beside him clenched his fists at that. "I'm right here, Owen" he said quietly, eyes downcast. "I'm right here" he repeated more firmly. "And forgive me if I'm missing something, but I'd say the fact that there's another me over there is of rather more relevance than what Jack chooses to do with his…" With an effort, he forced himself to meet Jack's gaze. "I could have died tonight, Jack."
"I was trying to protect you."
He glanced down at the crimson stain blooming on the sleeve of Jack's shirt and gave a terse nod. "If I still warrant an explanation" he said in a tightly controlled voice, backing away. "You know where to find me."
"Ianto, wait!" Jack scrambled to his knees. "Owen, go after him!"
"Oh no! Your mess Jack. Deal with it!"
As a loud crash echoed up from the depths of the Hub, Ianto carefully withdrew his hand from Jack's. "You go, Jack. You want to. You need to. But later... I need to speak to him too. We might just have some answers for you."
On to #8
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack, Ianto, Owen, Jack/Ianto
Summary: Jack has been back at Torchwood Three for a few months now. He was fine with that; until he began to uncover a pattern in what had seemed to be random, unconnected murders. With an ex-lover, a new lover, an outspoken deputy, and an assassin right on his doorstep, Jack has his hands full.
Previously...
Electric Sheep #7
"Excuse me while I add to the Torchwood body count." Jack was having some difficulty forcing himself into his trousers, and it didn't help that Ianto was smirking at his efforts in the most infuriating and seductive manner. His entire body felt like it was burning up, his teeshirt scratching against sensitized skin, the first metal rung of the ladder painfully icy against his bare sole. "Damn it!" he cursed, turning back. Ianto, with uncanny anticipation, was now dangling over the edge of the bed, scrabbling for Jack's revolver.
"Thought you might need…"
"Thanks" Jack grunted, grabbing the gun from his outstretched hand. "Just stay there. We're not done yet. Oh, and no handling the merchandise!"
"But it's my merchandise, Jack." Ianto rolled back onto his side, slowly, provocatively stroking his hand across his own thigh.
Jack ducked towards him, snatching a quick kiss and a proprietorial cock fondle. "Don't you dare!"
"Jack!" Owen was sounding increasingly agitated.
"If you need me…" Ianto offered, suddenly more serious.
"I'll holler" Jack assured him, heading off up the ladder.
Owen was pacing in small circles around Jack's office, lips drawn into a tight narrow line. As soon as Jack's flushed face appeared, he launched his attack. "About fucking time!" he yelled. "Oh, and don't even try telling me I was wrong about that cock in the arse business!" he spat out, as a dishevelled Jack stepped up into the office. "You've got a stiffy the size of Blackpool Tower!"
"Pretty impressive, wouldn't you say?"
"Oh for fuck's sake!" Owen caught hold of one of Jack's dangling braces and started dragging him out of the room. "No time for this. He's here." He lowered his voice, and thrust a headset into Jack's hand. "Ianto. He's here. And he's got company."
Jack's attitude changed immediately. "Crap!" He fumbled the earpiece into place with slightly sweaty, shaky hands. "What's happening? Talk to me Ianto! Now!" he demanded urgently.
For a second or two there was only heavy breathing on the line, then a gasped "Sorry Jack. Thought I could keep ahead of him."
You were meant to stay home Ianto, Jack groaned inwardly. This is no time to lose faith in me! "Who? Where are you?"
"It's okay Ianto, we've got you" Owen interjected, turning a monitor towards Jack, who nodded his acknowledgement and leaned across him to take a closer look.
Ianto was represented by a white blob on the screen, indicating that he was close to base and out of his vehicle. "I need images, Owen. Fast!" Jack ordered.
Owen edged away from him. "Point that thing somewhere else, will you?" he muttered, turning impatiently to scowl at Jack's groin. Stretching over to the adjascent desk, fingers tapping at keys, he pulled up footage on a second monitor. "There. He's right there!" Owen stabbed at the screen for added emphasis.
Ianto was crouching down, back pressed to the gothic façade of the Pierhead building; no-one else in sight. "Who, Ianto?" Jack asked again.
"Don't know. Sandy hair. About five ten." He paused. Although the image was neither clear nor close enough to make it out, Jack was certain Ianto was frowning. "Haven't been able to get a good look" Ianto added hesitantly. "Too busy trying to keep my distance."
Owen widened the field of view, shaking his head. "No sign of anyone yet."
"Jack. He had my number. Landline. I had to get out of there."
"Alright. Don't worry about that now. Do you think you can make it?"
"I can try."
"Do better than that! Head for the water tower on my signal. I'm coming up."
"Hurry Jack!"
Jack was already on his way, racing down the stairs, charging towards the lift.
"Got him!" Owen shouted. "He's moving in."
"Gotta get more speed into this fucking thing!" Jack was in danger of losing his cool, as the lift ascended at its accustomed steady pace. Reaching the half-way point, he made the mental calculations; Ianto had quite a turn of speed when given the right incentives. "Okay Ianto. MOVE! You know how."
Owen watched on the monitor as Ianto began to run into dangerously exposed territory; body low, zigzagging his way into Roald Dahl Plass. "Not just a pretty face, ey, Ianto. Four hundred yards, south east of you. Bollocks! Shift your arse, he's waving his gun around!"
Both Jack and Owen heard the muffled thud through their earpieces, and inhaled sharply.
"Okay" Ianto panted. "Missed."
"Close call. Keep going, almost there… Oh shit!" Intent on tracking Ianto and his pursuer, Owen hadn't heard the other man coming up behind him. He was standing motionless, white as a sheet, wide-eyed and staring at the screen. "Jack, we have a problem!"
"You don't say!" Jack gritted his teeth. But he was at the top now, heart pounding, no cooling spray from the hulking stainless steel water tower on this still, warm June night. He spun around, frantically scanning the amphitheatre-style construction of the Plass, the Armadillo looming behind him. Fuck, the assailant was gaining ground fast. "Ianto, to me. NOW!"
Ianto ducked out from behind the water tower and lunged for the slab, trusting Jack to be there for him. Jack grabbed him by the lapels, hauling Ianto to him, rendering him well-nigh invisible; shielding him as he took aim at the moving target. Before he could squeeze the trigger, another thud was heard. "Aaah, fuck!"
"Jack!" Ianto squirmed in Jack's embrace.
"I'm okay. It's nothing."
***
"Bit of a mindfuck, yeah?" Owen tried to take his arm, but Ianto shrugged him off, staggering back towards Jack's office as he heard the lift descending.
"Where's the shooter now?" Jack's voice thundered simultaneously in Owen's ear and from across the Hub. "Owen!"
Flustered, Owen turned back to the CCTV. "Shit! Lost him! But Jack… Oh, sod it!" Priorities decided he hurried after Ianto, the sound of wretching reaching him before he spotted him slumping to his knees by the wastebin. "Easy there, easy" he said lamely, squatting down beside him. He could hear the other two men jumping off the lift, splashing through the water. "Jack, you better keep him there!" he warned.
"Just stay here for now" Jack said, taking the stairs two at a time, mind racing but strategies stubbornly refusing to form.
"Jack? What's going on?"
"Just wait. Please!" Jack burst into the office clutching his arm, blood seeping through his fingers. As the stench of bile hit him, Jack felt something twist and shift inside him, something far more painful than his flesh wound. "Owen, get down there."
Ianto was on his knees, chest heaving, but he began to crawl away as Owen reluctantly left his side, slumping back against the desk as Jack reached him. He was obviously, understandably, distraught; but there was an unwelcome awareness in his eyes, too. The look of a man for whom everything was suddenly falling into place.
Expecting to be rebuffed, Jack risked it anyway. "I'm sorry. I didn't want you to find out like this." He moved in close, gently lifting Ianto's chin with thumb and forefinger, forcing eye contact. "I tried to tell you, but..."
"But I stopped you." Ianto swallowed hard. "I think I guessed what you were going to say and I stopped you."
"No excuse, I know that" Jack admitted, cautiously stroking his thumb along Ianto's jawline. Any second now he's going to punch me, or worse, Jack thought.
But Ianto surprised him. "You're hurt" he said softly.
"It's just a scratch. And nothing compared to what you must be feeling right now."
"Oh, you have no idea Jack!"
"I guess not."
"So was it me you wanted to fuck, or him?"
Jack winced. "You, I swear."
"Because you've had him more times than you can remember, right? So, what? Wanted to know if it would be any different with me?"
Jack shook his head, but couldn't bring himself to articulate a denial. "Maybe that was part of it, yeah. But…"
"Jack" he interrupted. "Just for the record, it's not important."
"No?"
"Bigger things to worry about. And seeing myself, as I used to be, even that's not the worst of it. Him…" he faltered, before taking a deep breath and continuing. "Him being here, part of me knew. I just didn't want to face up to it." He grabbed Jack's wrist, looked at him intently. "But worse than that Jack, I saw who was out there, the man who was trying to…" His gaze slid over Jack's shoulder as he became aware of being watched; of the figure now standing in the doorway. "Oh god!"
Jack thought Ianto was about to wretch again and was already reaching for the bin when realisation dawned. Fucking Owen! Was it really that hard to follow orders? "Oh god" he echoed, as he slowly turned and slumped down alongside Ianto.
"I don't think any form of deity is going to be of assistance here, sir."
Jack shivered. That voice! It seemed so calm, so normal, in these most extraordinary of circumstances. The two of them, together, in the same room. They should be ranting, raving, going out of their minds, shouldn't they? Or was the shock making them both numb, the calm before the storm? Ianto's fingers slid down from Jack's wrist and clutched his hand tightly; and Jack returned the squeeze, watching, waiting.
Owen suddenly appeared at Ianto's shoulder, wiping blood from his mouth with the back of his hand. "Forgot about that right hook of yours, mate." His eyes flicked from the Ianto standing beside him, to Jack and Ianto huddled together on the floor. "Christ Jack, you should see yourself! Bad enough I've had to watch you following him about with your tongue hanging out, but this? Bit of a slap in the face, innit?"
"Owen, not now." Jack's throat felt tight. He should be handling this some other way, some better way, he knew that.
"Oh, inconvenient is it? It's all looking a bit more desperate and sad than it was with pretty boy!"
The man beside him clenched his fists at that. "I'm right here, Owen" he said quietly, eyes downcast. "I'm right here" he repeated more firmly. "And forgive me if I'm missing something, but I'd say the fact that there's another me over there is of rather more relevance than what Jack chooses to do with his…" With an effort, he forced himself to meet Jack's gaze. "I could have died tonight, Jack."
"I was trying to protect you."
He glanced down at the crimson stain blooming on the sleeve of Jack's shirt and gave a terse nod. "If I still warrant an explanation" he said in a tightly controlled voice, backing away. "You know where to find me."
"Ianto, wait!" Jack scrambled to his knees. "Owen, go after him!"
"Oh no! Your mess Jack. Deal with it!"
As a loud crash echoed up from the depths of the Hub, Ianto carefully withdrew his hand from Jack's. "You go, Jack. You want to. You need to. But later... I need to speak to him too. We might just have some answers for you."
On to #8