Fic: Hell Hath No Fury Like a Woman Pissed Off
Title: Hell Hath No Fury Like A Woman Pissed Off
Series: Torchwood
Characters: Tosh, Jack, Owen, Ianto, Gwen, Rhys, PC Andy, OC
Rating: R
Beta: luvinthe88and20
Spoilers: A Day In The Death (TW 2.8)
Disclaimer: I do not own Torchwood or the characters therein, they belong to the BBC and RTD. Any original characters and places are my property.
Summary: Sometimes the team doesn't realize everything that is done in their name.
Author's Notes: Written for the tw_lucky_7 prompt of "wrath."
Hell Hath No Fury Like A Woman Pissed Off
If anyone could have gotten close enough to look Toshiko in the eyes, they would have tucked their tails between their legs and scampered off, afraid to let out one tiny yelp of warning to their comrades. She wasn’t as physically violent as Jack or Owen, she didn’t have the ability to make people feel guilty like Gwen, or as aggressive as Ianto when he set his mind to a task. Instead, she was the methodical one, the contingency planner, the one who saw all.
Unfortunately for Nate Kirschner, she was Toshiko Sato, no longer a scared little girl that had to be plucked and saved from a UNIT prison by Captain Jack Harkness. At the time, she had seen him as her saviour. Through the years he had been many things to her, including teacher. The things Jack had taught her - including some encryption programs, better espionage, and how to handle a variety of weapons - would come in handy, but none more than now.
Three days ago she had spied Nate Kirschner trying to weasel his way into Mainframe. Two days ago she tracked down two of his men on CCTV; one had followed Gwen and Rhys on their date night and skulked around outside their flat, the other had been seen exiting Owen’s building and keeping watch until the morning hours. The men were barely in the camera’s line of sight and would have gone unnoticed, unless you were someone like herself, who knew exactly what to look for. Yesterday she came in to find another of Kirschner’s men chatting up Ianto, trying to conceal the weapon under his coat. She hovered around the tourist office until the man had gone, a smile on her face for Ianto’s sake.
Today had been the last straw, when she spotted Kirschner and two of his men ambush Jack, Owen and Ianto heading back from an early morning call about a Flugwyrm at the hospital. Jack didn’t know which man to cover - his lover, or his friend who couldn’t heal - and took the majority of bullets. She had seen them skulking around and within minutes, and with a carefully placed call to PC Andy Davidson, the police had swarmed the area, sending Kirschner and his men running.
Ianto and Owen dragged a dying Jack into the tourist office, a trail of blood behind him, while Tosh diverted the police away from the Plass and eventually away from Kirschner. The boys didn’t know she had watched the whole interaction on CCTV, nor the whole aftermath. Despite knowing Jack would come back, she hoped with all heart Owen could staunch the bleeding. But, it was to no avail. Her heart ached as she watched Ianto hold Jack in his lap as his last breath shuddered out, his strong hands gently caressing Jack’s temple. A tear fell from her eye as Ianto gave a small kiss to Jack’s forehead and Owen didn’t dare utter a crack, just sat back on his knees keeping vigil as well.
Wiping away the tear with the back of her hand, Toshiko knew it ended tonight. Whatever little vendetta Kirschner had concocted against Torchwood was done with. She pulled up everything she had amassed over the last several days on Nate Kirschner and his operation, tracing their base back to an old, wealthy subdivision on the outskirts of Cardiff. Tapping her fingers against the desktop, she made another call to PC Davidson to have him keep an eye on Gwen for the day. She could only guess at the hard edge her voice had as Andy didn’t even question why she needed him or why Gwen couldn’t know.
Hearing Jack come back to life - something that still awed her - she knew she had to hurry. There were some things she needed from the armoury, and the less the boys saw, the better for them. Tucking her laptop into her bottom drawer where no one should find it, Toshiko stuffed the bag with the components and weapons she would need. Sending Ianto a text message stating she was checking out a lead on Merthyr Industries and some supposed alien tech, Toshiko exited through the back stairwell as Owen helped Jack stumble through the cog door.
* * * * *
Toshiko walked towards Kirschner, a feral smile on her face. “I wouldn’t struggle so much,” she stated, her voice flat. “Not like you would be able to get far,” she said, stroking the barrel of her Glock.
“You’re a crazy bitch, you know that?” Kirschner tugged on the steel handcuffs that kept him attached to a pipe in the wall.
Crazy doesn’t begin to cover it. Her PDA beeped at her, and Toshiko glanced down at it. “Looks like your boys are back,” she said, pulling a small electrical device out of the pocket of her leather coat. “Time to welcome them home,” Toshiko said as she depressed the green button on top of the device.
The building above them shook as the first set of explosive charges Toshiko had set went off. She didn’t even move as the plaster fell from the ceiling in a shower of white and mould. All she did was stare at Kirschner as he ducked his head into his chest, a look of actual fear on his face for the first time that day.
“Bloody… SHIT!” Kirschner looked at her, the look of a caged animal.
The dust settled around them, a crack in the foundation behind her. She moved towards him, calm and cool on the outside, but inside she was at full boil. The nuzzle of the gun tucked under his chin as she used it to push his head up and look him in the eyes. Kirschner tried to sink back into the wall if he could.
“You have one chance to try and survive today,” Toshiko said, leaning in until their noses almost touched. “As it stands, we’re stuck down here. I sabotaged upstairs so the basement would be left standing. No one can help you.” She lowered the gun and held it against his heart. “Why are you so interested in Torchwood?”
“Because, I’d be willing to do anything for that power,” Kirschner sneered.
A second before he moved his head, Toshiko realised what he was attempting and pulled back as his head came crashing forward, hitting nothing but air. Ianto liked that trick, she had seen it enough times. With the butt of the gun, Toshiko slammed her fist, gun and all, into Kirschner’s nose. The river of blood that ran from it only whetted her appetite.
“You hurt people I care about,” she replied.
“And this is what? You playing house and trying to take on the big bad wolf? My men will save me and then you will regret it. The things I will do to your body even before I-”
Kirschner’s mouth opened wide as he stopped talking. Both him and Toshiko looked down at the hole in his abdomen as the blood stained his shirt around the bullet wound. She could feel a smirk tugging at the corners of her mouth as she watched Kirschner’s blood drip to the dusty floor.
“Bitch! But you didn’t kill me. A woman doesn’t know how to handle a gun,” KIrshcner sputtered out in between jaws clenched in pain.
“I didn’t want you dead,” Toshiko replied, slipping the gun back into her coat. “I want you to slowly bleed out. I want you to feel as much pain as you put Jack through. I want you to know you are dying.”
She took her laptop bag and slung it over her shoulder. The heels of her boots clicking on the wooden stairs that led out of the basement mixed with Kirschner’s laboured breathing, echoing off the walls. She took her time, fingering the remote device, feeling it’s cool mechanics in her hand.
“You can’t leave me here!” She could hear the handcuffs rattling against the water pipe. “Isn’t Torchwood supposed to help?”
Toshiko couldn’t help but chuckle at that remark, her laughter chilling. Without turning back to him, she strode up the stairs and closed the door, locking it tight. Walking over an exposed arm of one of Kirschner’s men as he lay crumpled under the rubble of a support beam, Toshiko made her way through the great room and into Kirschner’s study. She unplugged his laptop and slid that into her now empty laptop bag. Retrieving the bag of alien tech she had set aside under his desk, Toshiko climbed out of an unobstructed window.
Glancing around her, Toshiko could see the destruction she had already rendered. Bombs set on the support beams had knocked in the east facing wall, while the glass had shattered in the front windows. Toshiko walked down the driveway, tossing a small charge inside the open window of the Lexus Kircshner’s men drove. Passing under the blooming trees that lined the path, she pressed pressed her thumb down on the red button, a slight smile on her face.
Behind Toshiko, she could hear the explosions rattle the air around her. In the windscreen of the rental car, she watched the blaze of fire rise off the debris. Bits and pieces - a car axle, part of the front door, a brick from the chimney - littered the road as she looked back towards the house. Her heart swelled with pride as she watched the utter carnage, knowing Kirschner would never harm her family again. Torchwood was the closest thing to family she had any more, and no one hurt her family and got away with it. If anyone ever dared to look close enough, they might find a ghost trail of those who had come before Kirschner, but then Toshiko would take care of them.
She climbed behind the wheel of the rental car and took the back roads into the city proper. After hiring a broke college student to drop off the car - with cash of course - Toshiko meandered through the City Centre and back to the Hub.
She had been perusing Kirschner’s laptop, amazed at how much he had found on Torchwood and what kind of alien tech he had been playing with. If the man weren’t already dead, she would have killed him even slower this time. Toshiko ran her palms against her black jeans, her boot heels tapping an impatient rhythm as she tried to calm down.
Jack entered from his office, trousers on, braces down and an undershirt thrown on haphazardly. He should have been sleeping this late at night, she had checked the CCTV and saw him and Ianto disappear into his private quarters. Most nights after Jack died, if they weren’t chasing down aliens or tech, Jack and Ianto spent the night in each other’s arms. Probably reminding each other they were alive. She wished she could do that for Owen.
“What are you doing here, Tosh?” Jack looked at her, hands in his pockets.
“Finishing up some things,” she said, closing Kirschner’s laptop and placing it in the same bottom drawer she had stored her own laptop in earlier. Toshiko locked the drawer and put the key in the pocket of her tight, black shirt.
Jack seemed to be looking her up and down. “Those things you’re finishing up, have anything to do with what you checked on at Merthyr Industries earlier?”
“Yes,” she replied, standing up and throwing on her leather coat. “I’m done now, everything’s okay.”
“Right.” Jack didn’t move. “Taking off?”
“It’s been a long day,” Toshiko said, picking up the knapsack of alien tech she had taken from Kirschner’s house.
“It’s late, will you be safe?”
Toshiko just smiled at Jack and left. She would be safe, and so would her family as long as she was around.
Series: Torchwood
Characters: Tosh, Jack, Owen, Ianto, Gwen, Rhys, PC Andy, OC
Rating: R
Beta: luvinthe88and20
Spoilers: A Day In The Death (TW 2.8)
Disclaimer: I do not own Torchwood or the characters therein, they belong to the BBC and RTD. Any original characters and places are my property.
Summary: Sometimes the team doesn't realize everything that is done in their name.
Author's Notes: Written for the tw_lucky_7 prompt of "wrath."
Hell Hath No Fury Like A Woman Pissed Off
If anyone could have gotten close enough to look Toshiko in the eyes, they would have tucked their tails between their legs and scampered off, afraid to let out one tiny yelp of warning to their comrades. She wasn’t as physically violent as Jack or Owen, she didn’t have the ability to make people feel guilty like Gwen, or as aggressive as Ianto when he set his mind to a task. Instead, she was the methodical one, the contingency planner, the one who saw all.
Unfortunately for Nate Kirschner, she was Toshiko Sato, no longer a scared little girl that had to be plucked and saved from a UNIT prison by Captain Jack Harkness. At the time, she had seen him as her saviour. Through the years he had been many things to her, including teacher. The things Jack had taught her - including some encryption programs, better espionage, and how to handle a variety of weapons - would come in handy, but none more than now.
Three days ago she had spied Nate Kirschner trying to weasel his way into Mainframe. Two days ago she tracked down two of his men on CCTV; one had followed Gwen and Rhys on their date night and skulked around outside their flat, the other had been seen exiting Owen’s building and keeping watch until the morning hours. The men were barely in the camera’s line of sight and would have gone unnoticed, unless you were someone like herself, who knew exactly what to look for. Yesterday she came in to find another of Kirschner’s men chatting up Ianto, trying to conceal the weapon under his coat. She hovered around the tourist office until the man had gone, a smile on her face for Ianto’s sake.
Today had been the last straw, when she spotted Kirschner and two of his men ambush Jack, Owen and Ianto heading back from an early morning call about a Flugwyrm at the hospital. Jack didn’t know which man to cover - his lover, or his friend who couldn’t heal - and took the majority of bullets. She had seen them skulking around and within minutes, and with a carefully placed call to PC Andy Davidson, the police had swarmed the area, sending Kirschner and his men running.
Ianto and Owen dragged a dying Jack into the tourist office, a trail of blood behind him, while Tosh diverted the police away from the Plass and eventually away from Kirschner. The boys didn’t know she had watched the whole interaction on CCTV, nor the whole aftermath. Despite knowing Jack would come back, she hoped with all heart Owen could staunch the bleeding. But, it was to no avail. Her heart ached as she watched Ianto hold Jack in his lap as his last breath shuddered out, his strong hands gently caressing Jack’s temple. A tear fell from her eye as Ianto gave a small kiss to Jack’s forehead and Owen didn’t dare utter a crack, just sat back on his knees keeping vigil as well.
Wiping away the tear with the back of her hand, Toshiko knew it ended tonight. Whatever little vendetta Kirschner had concocted against Torchwood was done with. She pulled up everything she had amassed over the last several days on Nate Kirschner and his operation, tracing their base back to an old, wealthy subdivision on the outskirts of Cardiff. Tapping her fingers against the desktop, she made another call to PC Davidson to have him keep an eye on Gwen for the day. She could only guess at the hard edge her voice had as Andy didn’t even question why she needed him or why Gwen couldn’t know.
Hearing Jack come back to life - something that still awed her - she knew she had to hurry. There were some things she needed from the armoury, and the less the boys saw, the better for them. Tucking her laptop into her bottom drawer where no one should find it, Toshiko stuffed the bag with the components and weapons she would need. Sending Ianto a text message stating she was checking out a lead on Merthyr Industries and some supposed alien tech, Toshiko exited through the back stairwell as Owen helped Jack stumble through the cog door.
* * * * *
Toshiko walked towards Kirschner, a feral smile on her face. “I wouldn’t struggle so much,” she stated, her voice flat. “Not like you would be able to get far,” she said, stroking the barrel of her Glock.
“You’re a crazy bitch, you know that?” Kirschner tugged on the steel handcuffs that kept him attached to a pipe in the wall.
Crazy doesn’t begin to cover it. Her PDA beeped at her, and Toshiko glanced down at it. “Looks like your boys are back,” she said, pulling a small electrical device out of the pocket of her leather coat. “Time to welcome them home,” Toshiko said as she depressed the green button on top of the device.
The building above them shook as the first set of explosive charges Toshiko had set went off. She didn’t even move as the plaster fell from the ceiling in a shower of white and mould. All she did was stare at Kirschner as he ducked his head into his chest, a look of actual fear on his face for the first time that day.
“Bloody… SHIT!” Kirschner looked at her, the look of a caged animal.
The dust settled around them, a crack in the foundation behind her. She moved towards him, calm and cool on the outside, but inside she was at full boil. The nuzzle of the gun tucked under his chin as she used it to push his head up and look him in the eyes. Kirschner tried to sink back into the wall if he could.
“You have one chance to try and survive today,” Toshiko said, leaning in until their noses almost touched. “As it stands, we’re stuck down here. I sabotaged upstairs so the basement would be left standing. No one can help you.” She lowered the gun and held it against his heart. “Why are you so interested in Torchwood?”
“Because, I’d be willing to do anything for that power,” Kirschner sneered.
A second before he moved his head, Toshiko realised what he was attempting and pulled back as his head came crashing forward, hitting nothing but air. Ianto liked that trick, she had seen it enough times. With the butt of the gun, Toshiko slammed her fist, gun and all, into Kirschner’s nose. The river of blood that ran from it only whetted her appetite.
“You hurt people I care about,” she replied.
“And this is what? You playing house and trying to take on the big bad wolf? My men will save me and then you will regret it. The things I will do to your body even before I-”
Kirschner’s mouth opened wide as he stopped talking. Both him and Toshiko looked down at the hole in his abdomen as the blood stained his shirt around the bullet wound. She could feel a smirk tugging at the corners of her mouth as she watched Kirschner’s blood drip to the dusty floor.
“Bitch! But you didn’t kill me. A woman doesn’t know how to handle a gun,” KIrshcner sputtered out in between jaws clenched in pain.
“I didn’t want you dead,” Toshiko replied, slipping the gun back into her coat. “I want you to slowly bleed out. I want you to feel as much pain as you put Jack through. I want you to know you are dying.”
She took her laptop bag and slung it over her shoulder. The heels of her boots clicking on the wooden stairs that led out of the basement mixed with Kirschner’s laboured breathing, echoing off the walls. She took her time, fingering the remote device, feeling it’s cool mechanics in her hand.
“You can’t leave me here!” She could hear the handcuffs rattling against the water pipe. “Isn’t Torchwood supposed to help?”
Toshiko couldn’t help but chuckle at that remark, her laughter chilling. Without turning back to him, she strode up the stairs and closed the door, locking it tight. Walking over an exposed arm of one of Kirschner’s men as he lay crumpled under the rubble of a support beam, Toshiko made her way through the great room and into Kirschner’s study. She unplugged his laptop and slid that into her now empty laptop bag. Retrieving the bag of alien tech she had set aside under his desk, Toshiko climbed out of an unobstructed window.
Glancing around her, Toshiko could see the destruction she had already rendered. Bombs set on the support beams had knocked in the east facing wall, while the glass had shattered in the front windows. Toshiko walked down the driveway, tossing a small charge inside the open window of the Lexus Kircshner’s men drove. Passing under the blooming trees that lined the path, she pressed pressed her thumb down on the red button, a slight smile on her face.
Behind Toshiko, she could hear the explosions rattle the air around her. In the windscreen of the rental car, she watched the blaze of fire rise off the debris. Bits and pieces - a car axle, part of the front door, a brick from the chimney - littered the road as she looked back towards the house. Her heart swelled with pride as she watched the utter carnage, knowing Kirschner would never harm her family again. Torchwood was the closest thing to family she had any more, and no one hurt her family and got away with it. If anyone ever dared to look close enough, they might find a ghost trail of those who had come before Kirschner, but then Toshiko would take care of them.
She climbed behind the wheel of the rental car and took the back roads into the city proper. After hiring a broke college student to drop off the car - with cash of course - Toshiko meandered through the City Centre and back to the Hub.
She had been perusing Kirschner’s laptop, amazed at how much he had found on Torchwood and what kind of alien tech he had been playing with. If the man weren’t already dead, she would have killed him even slower this time. Toshiko ran her palms against her black jeans, her boot heels tapping an impatient rhythm as she tried to calm down.
Jack entered from his office, trousers on, braces down and an undershirt thrown on haphazardly. He should have been sleeping this late at night, she had checked the CCTV and saw him and Ianto disappear into his private quarters. Most nights after Jack died, if they weren’t chasing down aliens or tech, Jack and Ianto spent the night in each other’s arms. Probably reminding each other they were alive. She wished she could do that for Owen.
“What are you doing here, Tosh?” Jack looked at her, hands in his pockets.
“Finishing up some things,” she said, closing Kirschner’s laptop and placing it in the same bottom drawer she had stored her own laptop in earlier. Toshiko locked the drawer and put the key in the pocket of her tight, black shirt.
Jack seemed to be looking her up and down. “Those things you’re finishing up, have anything to do with what you checked on at Merthyr Industries earlier?”
“Yes,” she replied, standing up and throwing on her leather coat. “I’m done now, everything’s okay.”
“Right.” Jack didn’t move. “Taking off?”
“It’s been a long day,” Toshiko said, picking up the knapsack of alien tech she had taken from Kirschner’s house.
“It’s late, will you be safe?”
Toshiko just smiled at Jack and left. She would be safe, and so would her family as long as she was around.