Slipping Through -- Splitting the Difference
Book cover by et_muse
Title: Slipping Through
Chapter Fifteen: Splitting the Difference
Date Written: 8/21/08
Rating: PG-13/T
Word Count: 3,570
Fandom: Torchwood/FAKE
Characters/Pairings: Jack/Ianto, Ryo/Dee, Martha/Tom (yes, that's right), Gwen/Rhys, Tosh and Owen
Spoilers: Up to Torchwood 02
Warnings: Violence.
Author's Notes: Totally a bribe for teachwriteslash. And this one, ladies and gentlemen and variations thereof, is our interpretation of Pack Animals. ETA: I reposted it 'cause for some reason it's not showing up on flists. Sorry.
Slipping Through master list found here.
Jack and Ianto were waiting for them outside All Saint's Church when the Searchlight support group broke for the week. Not obviously, because Andy still threw a fit whenever he saw the Captain, but the Laytner-MacLeans both recognized Ianto's car. They were talking, heads bent close together as they conversed. Ianto's mouth quirked into a smile at whatever the Captain had said.
Dee rapped sharply on the glass with the ease borne of much practice. Jack jumped guiltily, giving the younger American a wave. Ryo, smirking, made a motion for him to roll the window down and all of them were grinning like idiots when Jack did so. "Is there a problem, officers?" Jack asked sweetly.
Ryo leaned in, one hand on the top of the window as he looked past Jack. "This man bothering you?"
"Yes, please, take him away," Ianto deadpanned, and all four of them laughed.
"The Rift's quiet," Jack explained, grinning. "No Weevil calls."
"And we thought you'd like a distraction," Ianto added, nodding over at the mass exodus of people coming out of the meeting hall.
During the meeting concerning the support group, Ryo and Dee had volunteered to keep an eye on the way things developed and scope out the grief counselor they had hired. They'd also both privately told Jack that it helped them remember that they could have been some of those being cared for in Flat Holm, how lucky they had been.
Jack's reply had been that Torchwood took care of all its victims, that if the others had been capable of caring for themselves he gladly would have let them go.
"A distraction sounds wonderful," Ryo said with a smile, opening the door for Dee to climb in.
"Any suggestions? Things you've been dying to see but have been waiting for Torchwood to pay for?" Jack teased, looking over his shoulder.
"Let's do something really touristy," Dee replied, grinning.
"Touristy?"
"Yeah. We've got the tour guide," he teased, poking Ianto and making him laugh, "and when's the last time you stopped acting like a local and did really interesting stuff people come to Wales for?"
"Says the man who'd never been to the Statue of Liberty until after the Academy," Ryo replied, climbing into the seat behind Ianto.
"For the last time, I was sick when my sixth-grade class went," Dee argued, but he was giving his dead give-away busted grin.
"Sick my ass, you hoodlum! I still wonder how someone with your juvie record managed to become a cop." The lighter haired detective touched two fingers to his wrist then up past his elbow. "And that's just what you got caught with."
"The advantage of having a cop as a father," Dee said with a grin, and Ryo laughed, taking one his hands and kissing the back fondly.
Ianto winked over at Jack. "I know where to take the kids."
-----
Torchwood days off were rare creatures made of spun sugar caught in a typhoon. So when Gwen called and said Jack had given everyone the day off, Rhys faked a sudden stomach virus and went home early.
They'd gone out for lunch -- a real lunch where she wasn't checking her mobile phone every five minutes or getting interrupted by a Torchwood member running up and grabbing her. He was in such a good mood that he was the one who suggested they brave the post-holiday sales at St. David's. He'd even stood obediently outside the dressing rooms, holding her purse and various purchases and grinning like an idiot as the other husbands and boyfriends stared at him like he'd grown another head.
Ah, screw them. He was just so damn happy! And there were a few pretty lacy things in some of those bags...
Nothing could ruin this day. Nothing!
-----
"I don't like it here."
Jack gave Dee an odd look, while Ianto nodded. "I know. It is England."
"Don't like England," Dee agreed, crossing his arms.
Ryo rolled his eyes. "What, are you England phobic?" He took Dee's hand and squeezed it reassuringly. "C'mon, let's compare this one with Central Park's."
Jack raised an eyebrow at Ianto as Ryo pulled Dee off. "While the zoo does seem like something you'd think up, the one in Bristol?" he asked. "Are you possessed?"
"I used to come here with my parents when I was younger," Ianto sighed. "Besides, the zoo is in the process of acquiring new animals for its second location. They recently got a Sumatran tiger from a zoo in America."
"And you wanted to see it?" Jack grinned at Ianto's nod of assent. "Torchwood's little conservationist."
"Simply because we save Earth from aliens doesn't mean we shouldn't save her from ourselves too," Ianto replied easily, smiling a little when Jack put an arm around his waist and led him towards the other couple.
"Well, trust me when I say that it's people who think like that who will save Earth for future generations," he whispered conspiratorially, giving him a secret smile.
"You are the leading authority on such matters."
-----
Toshiko was bored. Bored stiff. She'd enjoyed her day off immensely, getting the phone call from Jack right as she was about to bound out the door. She'd collapsed back into her bed, sleeping like the dead (that weren't Owen) for a few extra hours. She got up later than she had since college, caught up on a little recreational reading, and even watched some of the television programmes she'd bought on DVD in the vain hope of watching one day.
Now, at a little after four in the afternoon, she found her mind wandering back towards work. Even as a child, she'd hated being idle for too long. Her mind needed a challenge.
Well, if Jack had given everyone the day off, there was a chance that Ianto had taken him back to the Welshman's flat. As long as she didn't get caught, Jack wouldn't complain too much if she got that time lock program working...
-----
Jack didn't even check his screen when he answered his mobile, just flipping it open and pressing it to his ear. "Captain Jack Harkness."
"JACK! OH MY GOD!"
Heads swiveled as Jack jerked the phone away from his ear, frowning at him as they heard the screaming coming through the tiny speakers.
"Oh my God, is that Martha Jones?" Ryo asked, eyes gleaming as he recognized the voice.
"Fanboy," Dee shot back.
"Shut up!"
Ianto rolled his eyes at the childish behavior, looking over at Jack. "Is she okay?"
"I think this is happy yelling," Jack said, putting the mobile back to his ear. "Martha? Martha, calm down," he said, stepping away from the crowd.
"Happy yelling," Dee said, giving Ryo a little nudge.
"Sounds like Tom's right on schedule," Ryo replied, smiling back.
"Tom?" Ianto paused for a moment. "You mean Tom Milligan? Martha's boyfriend?"
"Yup!" both Laytner-MacLeans intoned, holding up their left hands and flashing their wedding rings.
"Martha got engaged?"
-----
Gwen wasn't paying any attention to what Rhys was saying. Frankly, neither was Rhys. The man was just blathering on about nothing to see if his wife was paying any attention to what he was saying.
"So I says to Jack, 'I guess I'll give it a go, Ianto seems to enjoy himself'."
"Uh-huh," she intoned, watching something over his shoulder.
"Gwen!"
She jumped and gave him the wide-eyed I'm totally paying attention to you and not at all drifting off look that was, frankly, a dead give-away. "Yes?"
"You're not paying attention." He looked over his shoulder but saw nothing but the crowd moving back and forth, like colliding schools of fish. "What's more important than me?"
"Rhys," she said in exasperation. "It's... That door."
"The one that says Employee Access? What about it?"
"I've seen ten kids go in there in just as many minutes," she said.
"And are your cop senses tingling?"
"Rhys!"
"Fine, okay. Day off work, you still see aliens around every corner." He smiled when she got up and pressed a kiss to his mouth.
"Mmm, it's probably nothing," she reassured him. "Just let me get this out of my system and then I'll let you get something out of yours."
"Ooh!"
-----
"Tom proposed!" Martha squealed, holding her phone with both hands.
Jack's laugh rumbled through the speaker. "Martha Jones, engaged! Oh, he's gonna have a fit."
Both of them knew who 'he' was. And oh, he would! He'd be ecstatic and he'd bring the best wedding presents ever.
"Martha, does he make you happy? Really?"
"Yes, Jack," Martha rolled her eyes and grinned over at Tom. Tom, in turn, gave her a wink. He'd met Jack a few times when he'd been in London, and they'd hit it off. He was very much family to Martha, and he'd been incredibly happy when Jack had given him the okay.
"Is it a big rock?"
"It was his grandmother's!" Martha said, laughing.
"So no then," Jack teased, then laughed as well.
"We're coming over to Cardiff next weekend," Martha said with a smile. "But first we have to go back home and let my family know."
"Go back home? Where are you?"
"Bath," she replied. "We were visiting Tom's parents when he proposed."
"Turn around!" Jack ordered with a laugh. "We're in Bristol."
"Bristol?" She looked over at Tom and he winked again, already starting to turn the car about.
"At the zoo."
"That..." Martha paused, thinking about it, "sounds like Ianto."
"And that's my Martha Jones. Although I guess I should start saying Martha Milligan!"
There was a commotion in the background. "What's all that?"
"I don't -- oh fuck!"
The line went dead, and Martha pulled the mobile away from her ear, staring.
"What is it?"
"Go," Martha said, starting to dial UNIT. "Something happened, we need to get to Jack. Now."
-----
There was a scent in the air, heavy in the back of her throat. Gwen felt her lunch starting to bubble up, and she swallowed hard.
The smell of blood always made her want to vomit.
She covered her nose with her jacket sleeve, trying hard to stave off the stench as she went further down the hallway, some plastic sheeting hanging at the end, that probably opened into a bigger room.
Gwen pulled out her gun -- Jack never insisted they remain armed at all times, but it was strongly encouraged -- and carefully used the barrel to nudge the sheeting apart. She carefully peered through the slit.
Bodies littered the floor, human and Weevil, butchered and lying out with open, unseeing eyes. There were more of the poor Weevils locked in cages up against the walls, in various stages of abuse and neglect.
Brecon Beacons slammed into her, the stench and the memories too much and she turned and braced herself up against the wall, vomiting all over her shoes. After she'd cleared her stomach and the dry heaving subsided, she wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, other hand fumbling for her mobile.
-----
Owen answered his phone on the third ring. "Yeah?"
"Owen!" Gwen sounded breathless. "Where are you?"
"Home. Day off and all that. Why?"
"I need you to come down to St. David's Centre. As quick as you can."
"And why would I want to do that?" Owen asked, cradling the phone between his ear and his shoulder.
"Because I need the Weevil King!"
Owen raised his eyebrows. "I'll be there in ten."
-----
Toshiko jumped guiltily when her mobile phone went off. Busted. She checked the screen, smiling as she answered it. "Moshi moshi*, Dee."
"Please, for the love of God, tell me you're at work!" The American voice sounded frantic, border-line panicked.
The Japanese woman frowned a little. "Yes, I am. Why?"
"Because I tried calling Owen and Gwen, but neither of them are picking up." She heard Dee take a deep, calming breath. "There's been an accident. Jack needs you to get some stuff out of storage and come over to the Bristol Royal Infirmary."
"The BRI?" Tosh sat up a little straighter in her chair, sudden dread seeping over her. "Is everything okay? What happened -- and why are you in Bristol?"
"No time, I'll explain it later. Got a pen and paper handy?"
The woman scrambled for a biro, then found a scrap of paper with some writing on it. She vaguely remembered that it was a request letter to UNIT, but those things could be rewritten. Dee rattled off some numbers to her and she scrawled them down, handwriting messy in her haste.
"And Tosh? Hurry!"
She rang off before studying the paper curiously. She didn't have Ianto's head for the archives, but she knew that quite a few of the things were alien medical tech.
What the hell had happened?
-----
"I am getting far too many unpleasant memories of the countryside lately," Owen muttered as he bagged the last Weevil. The thing was cowering in that mix of fear and awe, but it was complacent and let Owen manhandle it down to the SUV and sedate it.
Mall security was itching to go in, to get in on something bigger than a shoplifting spree, but Gwen had managed to talk them into just setting up a perimeter.
There were seventeen Weevils still alive, cowering and blissed out in the back of one of Harwood's trucks that Rhys had volunteered.
Owen had no idea where they were going to put them. And Jack would murder him again when he found out they'd roped Rhys into yet Torchwood mission.
He gave Rhys directions for a discrete parking spot where they could move the Weevils and sent the Williamses on their way before turning back to the bodies. Ten human bodies and at least twice as many Weevil ones, just from what he could see. The blueprints showed there were other rooms tucked away behind the slaughter, probably holding more bodies.
Stopping by the closest body -- a human male, probably about fifteen -- he swatted down and picked up his arm by the wrist. Bruises littered the pale flesh, ugly and purple.
"What the hell happened to you, mate?"
-----
Ryo didn't recognize the room when he came to. It was a hospital, that much he knew -- all hospitals had that sort of unmistakable aura of attempting to soothe pain while simultaneously making people scared as hell that they were in a hospital.
He shifted a little, wincing at a dull ache in his left shoulder. Oh. Had he been shot again? Well, it was going to hurt like a bitch when the morphine wore off.
The door opened and he caught a glimpse of a woman in white lab coat. He closed his eyes again, settling back against the bed. Dee must be outside with Chief, calming down before he was allowed to come in.
"How are you feeling, Mr. Laytner-MacLean?" a feminine voice asked, and Ryo frowned a little. An English accent?
"Sore," he admitted, opening his eyes. His gaze focused and onyx eyes widened. "Holy fuck, you're Martha Jones."
Martha laughed. "Well, that's one hell of a greeting," she teased. "No wonder Jack likes you."
"Jack likes everyone," he replied, shifting a little. He knew he was getting a little star-struck, like they'd been with the others, and it was frankly getting a little embarrassing. A grown man acting like a fanboy.
"Careful, don't open your wound," she said, putting a gentle hand on his good shoulder.
"Where's Dee?" he asked.
"He's with Jack, I'll get him in here as soon as he can."
Ryo nodded, quietly watching as she read the clipboard. "What about Ianto?"
She paused before looking over at him. "He's still in surgery."
"Is he going to be okay?" His voice sounded small and pitiful even in his own ears.
"He'll be just fine," Martha replied, giving him a reassuring smile. "Tosh and Jack and your husband are using some alien tech to make sure he pulls through."
"Good." Ryo raised his good arm to run a hand through his hair. The IV pulled a little and he winced, letting the arm flop back onto the bed. "He has to be there."
"Be where?"
Fuck! He looked up at Martha. "You've seen them," he replied. "Without Ianto they'll all starve to death."
She laughed and moved to sit in a chair next to his bed. "Randy or Ryo?"
"Either's fine, honestly. I imagine Jack and Dee referred to me as Ryo, so that might be easier."
She nodded in agreement. "What happened, Ryo?"
Ryo closed his eyes, trying to make the memories resurface. "We were watching the tiger," he finally managed. "Jack was off to the side, talking to you 'cause people were staring at the screaming." He opened one eye, giving her a smile. "Congratulations, by the way."
"Thanks," Martha said, blushing prettily.
"Dee did the same thing when he called Mother," he reassured her. "Hell, I think the whole block heard him."
She laughed and he thought back again. The trauma and medication was taking the edge off things. "There... was this kid. Couldn't be older than Biks. He had this... looked like a toy." He moved his hand like he was holding a gun, but moving his thumb like the trigger was on the top of it. "Looked like half of the ghost machine. He aimed it at the tiger and it started going crazy, scratching at itself." He frowned. "The kid pushed the button again and the bars just - just evaporated."
"And then the tiger jumped out."
Ryo nodded. "Dee and Ianto and I, we tried to get everyone away from it." He looked over at her when he realized what he'd said, eyes wide in sudden panic.
She put her hand over his. "Just you and Ianto were hurt. The others had a few bumps and scrapes, but they're okay." She gave him a smile. "You're a hero."
"You're a hero," Ryo countered, blushing faintly. "But it went straight for Ianto. I tried to pull it off him and the last thing I remember was a paw coming at me." He touched his face, frowning. "I don't have any marks."
Martha laughed. "You get the perks of working for Torchwood," she reassured him. "I'll send Dee in once Ianto gets out of surgery, you'll be kicking alien arse in no time."
-----
"He said it looked like half of the ghost machine?" Martha asked, looking up at Jack.
The Captain took a deep breath, arms still crossed across his chest as he watched his two freelance agents through the hospital room window. Dee was holding Ryo's hand as Toshiko used the tech to patch him up.
"It's nothing to do with those ghost shifts?" Martha didn't know the specifics of what had happened in Torchwood London but the Doctor, Jack and UNIT paperwork had told her more than enough.
Jack shook his head. "Quantum transducer that fixes on lingering emotional energy. Nothing to do with what happened, but we know what it looks like now."
She nodded. "How's Ianto?"
"He's okay. Sleeping for now. The tech really takes a lot out of the person it's used on, and he'll be tired and sore for a few days." Jack took another deep breath. "I almost lost another one, Martha. If Ryo hadn't distracted that tiger, it would have bitten his head off."
"But it didn't," she reminded him. "They're both okay. Everyone lived."
"This time."
Martha put a hand on his arm and he smiled at her, moving to pull her into a hug. "Thank you. And I'm sorry I ruined your big day."
She laughed and hugged him back. "Gwen's told me about her wedding. I think we're par for the course." She pulled back and patted his shoulders. "I'm going to get their paperwork pushed through so you can take them back to Cardiff tonight."
"Thanks." He smiled and kissed her cheek fondly before she left. He watched as she hurried down the hall and caught the elbow of the Chief of Medicine before turning back to watch the three in the hospital room. Tosh had tucked the alien device back into her shoulder bag and was coming out of the door.
"He'll be okay," the Japanese woman told Jack with a smile. "Says he wants to take one home."
Jack laughed. "London's going to have my ass enough as it is."
"I think they'll understand," she said. "Once you let them know that Ianto was one of those injured. The new regime is fiercely protective of the Canary Wharf survivors."
"The new regime is a bunch of Canary Wharf survivors," Jack pointed out.
"All the better!"
The two of them watched as Dee kissed Ryo before leaning over to kiss the now-healed shoulder. Ryo gave a lazy smile, watching his husband. He said something, carding his fingers through Dee's dark hair and the younger man leaned in to kiss his shoulder again.
"Oh, and Dee had a message for you."
Jack turned away from the window to give Tosh a questioning look.
"Roughly translated? Never-fucking-ever going to England again."
A laugh burst out before he could stop it, and he covered his mouth with a hand as the others turned to look at the captain. "We'd better get them home then."
-----
*moshi moshi -- Japanese form of greeting over the telephone. Kitsune (fox spirits, the tricksters of Japanese mythology) aren't supposed to be able to say 'moshi', interestingly enough.