Shady Lady - Part 11
Part 1 is here
Complete fic is available via the Big Bang site here
Jack stared up along the height of the Water Tower, unable to move his head and waiting for the poison to take him. But instead of getting worse he almost felt as though he was regaining some feeling in his fingers. He could hear Justine moving around and working on her machine in the dim Hub, the red glow turning the Water Tower an ominous red.
His fingers twitched and in his surprise Jack made a small cry, his paralysed muscles starting to reawaken and his voice returning. He heard Justine stop working and the sound of her heels tapping on the grate as she came over to stand over him.
“Hello there handsome. Don’t worry about that, it will take you a while to be able to move again but you’ll be just fine. I used the mild version.” Grinning she stood astride him and looked down at him, the hem of her skirt dragging over his chest. “I didn’t want you completely immobile. After all, your best bits needs a bit of blood to really work properly...” She dropped to her knees to sit astride him and looked down at him curiously, grabbing his head and turning it to the left and right as she considered it.
“You are older than I remember, even without the immortality thing.” Her fingertips ran over his forehead and the edges of his eyes. “Here. Right here.” Her fingertips strayed into his hairline and she smiled lopsidedly. “And here. Just a little. Makes you look almost respectable Jack.” Sighing, she wriggled down his body and shifted to lie half atop him, her hands flat on the grate as she hovered over his face.
“What happened to us all, Jack? We were trained so well, to kiss and to kill. And yet we grow old and suddenly all we want is a place to call home.” She tilted her head to one side and grinned. “Well except for John of course. I swear, he has barely changed. Still as predictable as ever.” She pushed her hair back from her face, the red glow of the lights shining over half her face, the other side lost in hair and shadow. “Although even he is showing signs of sentimentality...”
Jack groaned again, a feeble sound but enough for her to notice and sit up again. “Sorry baby, am I squashing you? You never used to complain.” She looked at the open top button of his shirt and grinned wickedly as she dragged her fingers along his shoulders to tug at the next one, opening his shirt just another inch. “Of course neither did I. Even though I could have had you both shot for what you did.” Another feeble protest from him and she let go, her hands falling to her sides before with a shrug she stood up again, easily rising up to stand over him. “Yes, I know it was mostly John’s fault. Still, everything worked out great in the end.”
She left him, returning to her equipment and leaving his sight. “Thanks for the watch by the way.” She chuckled softly to herself, the sound of the faint scrapes of metal on metal reaching Jack. “I keep meaning to ask you how you worked out what I was doing from it though, what tipped you off? I would love to know where you might have seen one of these before.”
“Such a rare item,” she said quietly, her voice growing distant for a moment as though she was looking away or bent over. “It took me years to find any trace of their technology. They are barely a legend to most races but I always did have a healthy obsession with time travel. When I was a child my grandfather used to tell me those old myths and legends, the Greek Gods, the Vikings and Valhalla, the Maylon nomads wandering the stars forever and of course, the legend of the Time Lords.”
“I never told you my father once fought against the Daleks did I?” Her voice grew stronger again and Jack found he could turn his head a little, just enough to make out the top of her head at the manipulator. “Or maybe I did. You wouldn’t remember though so what does it matter.” She chuckled again and turned back to the machine she was working on.
“My grandfather used to threaten my cousins and me with stories of lost Daleks who escaped the war coming to take us from our beds if they found us awake. We used to lie awake whispering to each other, wondering what a Dalek looked like. We didn’t really believe they would hurt children.” She glanced back at Jack and this time he could just about make out her face and the sad look on it. “Fortune favours fools and small children. Of course there don’t have to be Daleks in the universe for it to be a dangerous place. Even for children.”
“Mmm...” Jack could just about move his tongue as he wriggled again, confused by what she was saying and trying desperately to get her attention and get her away from the rift manipulator. He almost felt as though he should know what she was talking about, as though she was expecting him to know where this was going, but he just couldn’t seem to make sense of it all. Summoning his strength Jack let his head loll to look at her fully and shouted as best he could, “Juuuuuuuuu.”
“Shhhhh.” Laughing she looked down at him and took a step closer, raising her eyebrows quizzically. “You’ll hurt yourself if you try too much too soon. Oh, I wanted to show you something!” Leaving his view again she ducked out of sight before returning, the Celestial Sphere held lightly in her hands, her fingertips spread over its glass surface.
“Isn’t it beautiful? If you look close you can make out the starscape,” she said, twisting it to point to a particular section. “I remember seeing those stars every night growing up. It’s almost a shame to have to destroy it.” Placing it on his chest she stepped back and pulled out her Arbalet, aiming at the glass sphere and grinning at Jack. Her face was partly distorted by the glass and Jack was suddenly grateful he had enough control to close his eyes as he realised with only a second to spare what it was she was going to do.
With a soft click then a loud crash the bolt pierced through the glass, shattering the fragile layer and the shards showering over his chest. The bolt slammed into the grate beside his ear, the sound reverberating through his skull. Opening his eyes hesitantly Jack watched as she leaned over him, picking up the metal base and pulling the sphere at the centre of the globe out and rolling it between her fingertips. At her touch the metal seemed to melt, morphing into a different shape that he frowned as he recognised.
“Ahhh you see now!” She held it up for him. “Data spheres, such a fabulous invention.” Standing again, Justine left him covered in glass and the abandoned stand and moved over to the Hub computers, putting the now flat square of circuitry flat against the screen. Jack could see the look of triumph on her face as whatever was on it flashed across the display. “Perfect. They did survive the jump. Oh they are going to be so surprised when they see me!” Her smile faded and a frown took its place before she slammed her hand against the screen, swearing loudly in Judoon.
“Just two? Where are the others...?” Shaking her head she pulled the square off the screen and hurried back over to her machine. “They gave me dates though, it’s possible the others were nearer than they thought. The rift nearly always brings them here, I just have to find the right time...” Jack could feel his fingers twitching under his control once more and slowly tried to feel his way to the ropes she had tied around his wrists.
“Tiiiiiiiiiime...” His voice was still weak as he tried to speak but she looked at him curiously and he tried again. “Ti-” A fit of coughing overtook him and she grinned at him, enjoying his discomfort as his lungs screamed back into full action.
“Time?” she asked with a chuckle, “oh Jack, you picked the right word there. Time is the key to everything - and you have a key to time.” A soft beep from her machine made her turn her attention back to it. “No more? I guess they didn’t have the technology with them to give me more data...” Sighing Justine shook her head dismissively. “It will be enough. It has to be.”
“And with a little bit of luck there will be enough Time Lord magic left in this watch to help me out.” She looked over at him and looked young again; almost as young as when he first met her. “Even if it’s dormant there should be enough residual energy in it to help me out. And if not...” She shrugged. “I think this still makes an appropriate good luck charm.”
Jack shivered as a painful spasm ripped through his body as his muscles protested the feeling returning to them and began to cramp. Crying out he pulled tight against the ropes reflexively, the sensations too much.
“You okay Jack?” Justine asked as she walked over, standing clear of him and regarding him curiously. “Poor thing. Condemned to always fight, to always try to fit in and never succeed. You should never have left the agency, Jack.” Her face grew dark for a moment and she crouched down beside him, pulling the knife from underneath her wrist guard and sliding it along his throat thoughtfully.
“You should never have left us. Things were never the same after you left.” She smiled as her eyes focused not on him but some memory. “I kept hearing stories of you though. Those cons of yours were truly brilliant sometimes. I met a couple of the lovely young agents you had conned before and helped them commiserate their rotten luck - and all the while laughing at them for being so gullible.” She stroked the blade along his throat, tracing over the familiar map of veins and arteries thoughtfully. “Why did you leave Jack? We needed you. I needed you.”
“They stole” Jack started before he coughed again. With a shudder he looked up at her, his voice hoarse but working at last. “They stole my memories Juice, what choice did I have?” Her eyes widened in surprise and she laughed disbelievingly.
“Is THAT what you’ve been telling yourself all this time? That they were stolen from you?” She slapped him hard across the face, the blade in her hand slashing along his cheek and leaving a gash. “Did it really never occur to you that you might have asked for it?” Justine looked at his face and then the blade in her hand in confusion, as though uncertain as to why he was bleeding. Standing up again she wiped the blood off the blade using his trousers before sheathing the knife.
“Did you never believe that you might have begged and pleaded, been screaming in the dark and made them take them from you? That you were too big a coward to face up to what had happened and you had to forget instead?” Her voice was shaking now, the anger plain on her face as tears of rage and sorrow threatened to escape her brown eyes.
“Two years Jack,” she said shakily, her voice speeding up as though the words had been waiting for too long to come out. “You had to go and lose the whole two years, you couldn’t risk having the slightest trace of those memories resurface so you went and lost the whole two years. Jack, I needed those memories!” Her voice lowered to a whisper. “You were the only other person who knew!” .
“Is that was this is all about, Juice?” Jack looked up at her in confusion, his voice returning fully at last. “You’re pissed at me because I forgot some dirty weekend with you?” Laughing in exasperation she turned away, returning to her machine and raising her voice.
“You are unbelievably arrogant Jack, has anyone ever told you that? Of course it must all be about you, you are the only person in my life who I could ever have loved and I’ve spent the last decade trying to find you again just so we can get back together.” Turning back a moment she pointed at him angrily. “You’re an arsehole, you know that right? Never, ever mistake someone needing you for wanting you, Jack. You would do well to remember that, especially with your little team.”
She returned to her work and he could hear the hum of power entering the rift manipulator build up a level, the buzz increasing in volume a notch along with her voice, “two whole years of your life Jack, that’s a lot of time to lose. And ironically I only needed two months of that back from you.” She looked at him and considered him carefully, her head tilted to the side. “It was right at the beginning and you do remember some of it, you just don’t know it.” Grinning softly she shrugged and turned back to her work. “It doesn’t matter, I’ll be able to introduce you to everyone soon enough. None of it will have ever happened.”
Jack lay still against the grate for a moment and tried to take in what she was saying. He’d always thought in films when the baddie started talking it would make sense but right now he was more confused than ever and had to consider one terrifying possibility.
She was crazy. Absolutely crazy. And lethal.
As the strength began returning to his body Jack hoped he would be able to get free somehow and stop her in time, or that someone else would. Feeling his wrists chafe against the rope he wondered idly how many people she had tied up like this before. Because he had to give her this; she was good. It would take an escape artist to get through those bonds.
Or just someone who was very good with knots....
**********************************
Captain John Hart awoke slowly and wasn’t surprised to be naked. Waking up naked and tied down was less common but not unheard of - but twice in two days and because of the same woman had never happened before. A soft groan from beside him made him groggily lift his head, his eyes blearily focusing on the naked Welshman beside him.
“Hello there handsome,” John said with a broad grin in spite of the situation - not to mention the complete lack of feeling in his arms - as Ianto froze and turned every so slowly to face him. “Are we awake?” Ianto blinked slowly and stared dumbly at John for a moment before answering.
“I don’t know,” Ianto answered hesitantly, as though hoping it was a bad dream, “are we... naked?”
“Yep.”
“Oh. Thought so.” Ianto closed his eyes but resisted the urge to sink down into the cover again. “Then we’re awake but we’re very confused.” Tugging on his bonds Ianto sighed and buried his head in the pillow for a moment.
The bed smelt slightly musty and overly perfumed, as though the woman sprayed her bed with something or used way too much fabric conditioner. Ianto lay there for a moment, taking in their situation and hoping it wasn’t actually as bad as he thought. He lifted up a little, wriggling his hands numbly and trying to get enough blood back into his hands to make his fingers uncurl.
“So Ianto Jones...” John shifted on the bed, trying to relieve the strain in his shoulders. “Any great ideas for an escape plan?” Ianto rolled onto his side, wishing it didn’t mean moving his bare backside against John’s hip but reflecting on that he decided he would prefer it was that side of his body than the other.
John continued lazily, “course it’s not that I’m complaining about a bit of bondage between the two of us. I just didn’t imagine us both tied down at the same time, gets a bit more complicated that way.”
“Just a bit,” Ianto agreed stiffly as he pulled his legs up towards his chest, his muscles protesting the move and the soft covers rumpling around him making it awkward. “You’re the handcuffs expert; can’t you get yourself out of there?” John laughed and with an effort rolled on to his side, his arms twisting uncomfortably but the view more than making up for it.
“I’m good but even I need something to work with,” he said, clinking the handcuff against the bed to draw the other man’s attention. “Besides, she did them up extra tight just to make sure I didn’t have enough room to move. Unlike you...” He grinned as Ianto with some effort rolled on to his knees, kneeling awkwardly on the bed and wincing as the blood began to flow back into his arms. “Now there’s a sight for sore eyes.”
Ianto closed his eyes in pain, whether from his arms or the remark it wasn’t clear but he shifted his knees on the bed, working to get a firm position and trying to uncurl his dead fingers.
“Enjoy it whilst you can, you are never seeing it again.”
“Oh I intend to.” John chuckled evilly and shifted his head to see as much of Ianto as possible. “And never say never, Eye Candy, stranger things have happened.” Ianto glared at John and instantly regretted glancing sideways; John was hard and even though Ianto looked away again straight away John chuckled evilly. “You can look. It’s ok, I won’t bite. Unless you want me to...” Growling softly Ianto shifted again, making sure he kept as much of his body turned away from John as possible. As blood returned to his fingers he set to work on the knot, trying to work it loose.
“What is it with you lot and biting? And no thanks, I would rather sleep with Janet than you.” At John’s silence Ianto sighed and clarified. “She’s a weevil.” John laughed in delight and bounced a little on the bed, the movement making his whole body shake, something Ianto was all too aware of even out of the corner of his eye.
“Well, well, kinky to the last, Mr Jones. You do surprise me.”
“I’m sure there are many things about me that would surprise you, John.” Ianto tried to concentrate on his work, wanting nothing more than to be out of this situation - and preferably dressed again. “But the best bit is you are never going to find them out so would you just shut up and let me get on with it.” John purred softly and wriggled closer on the bed.
“Now there’s something I’ve often pictured you saying whilst naked with me tied to the bed beside you.”
Ianto froze as the door opened and turned, the carer stumbling into the room as though recovering from the same drugs they had been exposed to. She stared at him, then John, then back to him before screaming loudly and running from the room. He heard the front door slam and turned to John as the thief spoke.
“What’s the betting,” John said slowly, “she’s about to go get either the police or her friendly neighbourhood lynch mob?” Ianto swallowed hard and got back to work as he answered, John rolling fully onto his back and looking around the room for their clothes, weapons, anything that might help.
“As I am known to the local police I’m not sure which I’d prefer,” Ianto replied with a shiver, “so let’s just get out of here before she gets back shall we?” John nodded as his eyes settled on the woman’s dressing table.
“If you can get free there’s bound to be a hairpin, brooch, something with a point I can use on these handcuffs. Wonder if Juice was nice enough to leave our clothes at all...”
“She drugged us, stripped us and tied us to a bed,” Ianto pointed out sarcastically, “I don’t think ‘nice’ is going to be a phrase I’ll apply to her any time soon.”
“She could have just killed us.” John shrugged carelessly. “I’d say this is much nicer than that option.” Ianto smiled in spite of himself but the smile faded a moment later and John continued. “Oh and just for the record, she didn’t strip us. She made me do it so there’s no reason to be so coy. I’ve already seen it all.”
“Fabulous.” Ianto felt his eyes close in embarrassment and tried desperately not to blush. Not in front of John.
“Hell yeah.” John chuckled wickedly. “So listen, whilst we got a few moments something’s been bothering me. You know we um, accidentally of course, stabbed Jack yesterday, is he healed yet? I mean does it happen instantly or does it take time? I only ask cos Juice and I were reminiscing about this thing we did on Centauri Prime with knives but that wouldn’t be any fun if he just healed up again-”
“Do you really think I want to discuss your kinky sex life right now?”
“You’re right.” John nodded thoughtfully and shifted on his side. “We should be discussing yours. So if Jack’s up for a caning does he still get the red marks or do they fade right away? Don’t know about you but I’d find that annoy-”
“The only thing I find annoying right now is you!” Ianto shouted angrily, losing his cool at last. John just looked up at Ianto questioningly. With a soft sigh Ianto conceded defeat, hoping it would end the conversation - or at least steer it away from sex. “Small wounds take a while to heal, faster than ours but still same process. If you kill him outright though everything usually heals at once.” John nodded thoughtfully.
“So if we say took him to one of those tattoo parlours and-”
“How about you do me a favour and just shut up for a few minutes and listen out for trouble, I need to concentrate on this.” Ianto winced and closed his eyes again as his fingers began to work their way under the scarf, trying to pull on the slightly slippery fabric. John nodded and wriggled to make himself comfy on the bed, content to simply watch Ianto work for a moment.
It took him a good few minutes but eventually Ianto felt the fabric start to give and quickly stopped putting any pressure on it, concentrating on using the slack to start working the knot loose.
“Almost there...” Ianto whispered softly. He was sweating slightly from the strain of the task, his body complaining about being made to work so soon after regaining consciousness. He could still feel the traces of the drugs at the edge of his mind, affecting his concentration and making his limbs feel like lead but it was easing. Slowly. As the scarf began to shift free Ianto froze, spotting the gold band on his wrist under the fabric.
“John....” he asked cautiously. The thief looked up at him expectantly and Ianto glanced at his wrists in the handcuffs. “Why did she give us matching gold bracelets?”
“She what?” John frowned and leaned back, looking up above his head at his bound wrists before saying something that could only be a swear word in some language. “Ianto, I know you don’t like me but just in case you had any thoughts about leaving me here and running off to save your precious captain on your own I wouldn’t advise it.” John looked at him again, deadly serious. “They’re electroshock cuffs. You go more than a certain distance from me and we both get zapped.” Ianto growled and got back to work, careful not to disturb the band.
“Any idea how far exactly?”
“User preference,” John replied as he ran his numb fingertips over the band as best he could,
“but last time she used them on me it was one metre. We should get a minor discharge if we stray by ten percent, as a warning. More than that and it’s goodnight again.”
“Better not test it too much then.” Ianto could feel the scarf giving way and grinned ferociously.
“Almost...” With a final pull the scarf slid off one wrist, letting Ianto pull free of the headboard to sit upright on the bed, his back to John. “Right, face down then John.”
Raising his eyebrows in surprise the ex time agent wriggled to lie face down on the bed, grinning as he felt Ianto’s hand slide down his body, gripping lightly along his leg as the Welshman stood up and began to slide around the bed.
“Is this my lucky day?” John asked hopefully as he twisted to face to his side. He frowned as he saw Ianto reaching out with his bare wrist to the dressing table, searching its surface for suitable metal objects whilst never getting too far from John. “Oh right. Escape. Pity...”
Ianto grabbed a small dish of hair pins and came back over to the bed, climbing over John to reach up to the handcuffs. Picking one pin from the bowl he straightened it before slipping it into John’s fingers, his hand over John’s and one knee between the thief’s spread legs.
It was at that moment that the bedroom door flew open and a Welsh voice Ianto knew all too well echoed around the room.
“This is the police, get your... Oh.” As one they both turned to look at the shocked policeman before Ianto forced a cheery tone into his voice.
“Hello Andy,” Ianto said cheerfully, “how’s it going?” Andy’s mouth was wide open and they watched as he closed it then opened it again a few times before replying.
“Not too bad. You?”
“Oh you know, same old.” Ianto shrugged and smiled politely. “Actually it’s good you showed up, we could use a bit of a hand.”
“Or more if you’re interested,” John added as he leaned further from round beneath Ianto to grin at the cop lasciviously. “Nice truncheon by the way...” Andy holstered his truncheon and stared blankly at Ianto before leaving the room and pulling the door closed again. Sighing, Ianto smacked John on the head and returned his attention to the pin.
“I can’t take you anywhere,” Ianto growled. Finally setting to work John chuckled, his eyes closing as he concentrated on the touch of the improvised pick.
“Eye Candy you can take me anywhere you like. Any time, any place, any way...” Ianto shifted back off the thief and sat on the edge of the bed, his head in his hands.
He was definitely never going to live this one down....
Part 12
Complete fic is available via the Big Bang site here
Jack stared up along the height of the Water Tower, unable to move his head and waiting for the poison to take him. But instead of getting worse he almost felt as though he was regaining some feeling in his fingers. He could hear Justine moving around and working on her machine in the dim Hub, the red glow turning the Water Tower an ominous red.
His fingers twitched and in his surprise Jack made a small cry, his paralysed muscles starting to reawaken and his voice returning. He heard Justine stop working and the sound of her heels tapping on the grate as she came over to stand over him.
“Hello there handsome. Don’t worry about that, it will take you a while to be able to move again but you’ll be just fine. I used the mild version.” Grinning she stood astride him and looked down at him, the hem of her skirt dragging over his chest. “I didn’t want you completely immobile. After all, your best bits needs a bit of blood to really work properly...” She dropped to her knees to sit astride him and looked down at him curiously, grabbing his head and turning it to the left and right as she considered it.
“You are older than I remember, even without the immortality thing.” Her fingertips ran over his forehead and the edges of his eyes. “Here. Right here.” Her fingertips strayed into his hairline and she smiled lopsidedly. “And here. Just a little. Makes you look almost respectable Jack.” Sighing, she wriggled down his body and shifted to lie half atop him, her hands flat on the grate as she hovered over his face.
“What happened to us all, Jack? We were trained so well, to kiss and to kill. And yet we grow old and suddenly all we want is a place to call home.” She tilted her head to one side and grinned. “Well except for John of course. I swear, he has barely changed. Still as predictable as ever.” She pushed her hair back from her face, the red glow of the lights shining over half her face, the other side lost in hair and shadow. “Although even he is showing signs of sentimentality...”
Jack groaned again, a feeble sound but enough for her to notice and sit up again. “Sorry baby, am I squashing you? You never used to complain.” She looked at the open top button of his shirt and grinned wickedly as she dragged her fingers along his shoulders to tug at the next one, opening his shirt just another inch. “Of course neither did I. Even though I could have had you both shot for what you did.” Another feeble protest from him and she let go, her hands falling to her sides before with a shrug she stood up again, easily rising up to stand over him. “Yes, I know it was mostly John’s fault. Still, everything worked out great in the end.”
She left him, returning to her equipment and leaving his sight. “Thanks for the watch by the way.” She chuckled softly to herself, the sound of the faint scrapes of metal on metal reaching Jack. “I keep meaning to ask you how you worked out what I was doing from it though, what tipped you off? I would love to know where you might have seen one of these before.”
“Such a rare item,” she said quietly, her voice growing distant for a moment as though she was looking away or bent over. “It took me years to find any trace of their technology. They are barely a legend to most races but I always did have a healthy obsession with time travel. When I was a child my grandfather used to tell me those old myths and legends, the Greek Gods, the Vikings and Valhalla, the Maylon nomads wandering the stars forever and of course, the legend of the Time Lords.”
“I never told you my father once fought against the Daleks did I?” Her voice grew stronger again and Jack found he could turn his head a little, just enough to make out the top of her head at the manipulator. “Or maybe I did. You wouldn’t remember though so what does it matter.” She chuckled again and turned back to the machine she was working on.
“My grandfather used to threaten my cousins and me with stories of lost Daleks who escaped the war coming to take us from our beds if they found us awake. We used to lie awake whispering to each other, wondering what a Dalek looked like. We didn’t really believe they would hurt children.” She glanced back at Jack and this time he could just about make out her face and the sad look on it. “Fortune favours fools and small children. Of course there don’t have to be Daleks in the universe for it to be a dangerous place. Even for children.”
“Mmm...” Jack could just about move his tongue as he wriggled again, confused by what she was saying and trying desperately to get her attention and get her away from the rift manipulator. He almost felt as though he should know what she was talking about, as though she was expecting him to know where this was going, but he just couldn’t seem to make sense of it all. Summoning his strength Jack let his head loll to look at her fully and shouted as best he could, “Juuuuuuuuu.”
“Shhhhh.” Laughing she looked down at him and took a step closer, raising her eyebrows quizzically. “You’ll hurt yourself if you try too much too soon. Oh, I wanted to show you something!” Leaving his view again she ducked out of sight before returning, the Celestial Sphere held lightly in her hands, her fingertips spread over its glass surface.
“Isn’t it beautiful? If you look close you can make out the starscape,” she said, twisting it to point to a particular section. “I remember seeing those stars every night growing up. It’s almost a shame to have to destroy it.” Placing it on his chest she stepped back and pulled out her Arbalet, aiming at the glass sphere and grinning at Jack. Her face was partly distorted by the glass and Jack was suddenly grateful he had enough control to close his eyes as he realised with only a second to spare what it was she was going to do.
With a soft click then a loud crash the bolt pierced through the glass, shattering the fragile layer and the shards showering over his chest. The bolt slammed into the grate beside his ear, the sound reverberating through his skull. Opening his eyes hesitantly Jack watched as she leaned over him, picking up the metal base and pulling the sphere at the centre of the globe out and rolling it between her fingertips. At her touch the metal seemed to melt, morphing into a different shape that he frowned as he recognised.
“Ahhh you see now!” She held it up for him. “Data spheres, such a fabulous invention.” Standing again, Justine left him covered in glass and the abandoned stand and moved over to the Hub computers, putting the now flat square of circuitry flat against the screen. Jack could see the look of triumph on her face as whatever was on it flashed across the display. “Perfect. They did survive the jump. Oh they are going to be so surprised when they see me!” Her smile faded and a frown took its place before she slammed her hand against the screen, swearing loudly in Judoon.
“Just two? Where are the others...?” Shaking her head she pulled the square off the screen and hurried back over to her machine. “They gave me dates though, it’s possible the others were nearer than they thought. The rift nearly always brings them here, I just have to find the right time...” Jack could feel his fingers twitching under his control once more and slowly tried to feel his way to the ropes she had tied around his wrists.
“Tiiiiiiiiiime...” His voice was still weak as he tried to speak but she looked at him curiously and he tried again. “Ti-” A fit of coughing overtook him and she grinned at him, enjoying his discomfort as his lungs screamed back into full action.
“Time?” she asked with a chuckle, “oh Jack, you picked the right word there. Time is the key to everything - and you have a key to time.” A soft beep from her machine made her turn her attention back to it. “No more? I guess they didn’t have the technology with them to give me more data...” Sighing Justine shook her head dismissively. “It will be enough. It has to be.”
“And with a little bit of luck there will be enough Time Lord magic left in this watch to help me out.” She looked over at him and looked young again; almost as young as when he first met her. “Even if it’s dormant there should be enough residual energy in it to help me out. And if not...” She shrugged. “I think this still makes an appropriate good luck charm.”
Jack shivered as a painful spasm ripped through his body as his muscles protested the feeling returning to them and began to cramp. Crying out he pulled tight against the ropes reflexively, the sensations too much.
“You okay Jack?” Justine asked as she walked over, standing clear of him and regarding him curiously. “Poor thing. Condemned to always fight, to always try to fit in and never succeed. You should never have left the agency, Jack.” Her face grew dark for a moment and she crouched down beside him, pulling the knife from underneath her wrist guard and sliding it along his throat thoughtfully.
“You should never have left us. Things were never the same after you left.” She smiled as her eyes focused not on him but some memory. “I kept hearing stories of you though. Those cons of yours were truly brilliant sometimes. I met a couple of the lovely young agents you had conned before and helped them commiserate their rotten luck - and all the while laughing at them for being so gullible.” She stroked the blade along his throat, tracing over the familiar map of veins and arteries thoughtfully. “Why did you leave Jack? We needed you. I needed you.”
“They stole” Jack started before he coughed again. With a shudder he looked up at her, his voice hoarse but working at last. “They stole my memories Juice, what choice did I have?” Her eyes widened in surprise and she laughed disbelievingly.
“Is THAT what you’ve been telling yourself all this time? That they were stolen from you?” She slapped him hard across the face, the blade in her hand slashing along his cheek and leaving a gash. “Did it really never occur to you that you might have asked for it?” Justine looked at his face and then the blade in her hand in confusion, as though uncertain as to why he was bleeding. Standing up again she wiped the blood off the blade using his trousers before sheathing the knife.
“Did you never believe that you might have begged and pleaded, been screaming in the dark and made them take them from you? That you were too big a coward to face up to what had happened and you had to forget instead?” Her voice was shaking now, the anger plain on her face as tears of rage and sorrow threatened to escape her brown eyes.
“Two years Jack,” she said shakily, her voice speeding up as though the words had been waiting for too long to come out. “You had to go and lose the whole two years, you couldn’t risk having the slightest trace of those memories resurface so you went and lost the whole two years. Jack, I needed those memories!” Her voice lowered to a whisper. “You were the only other person who knew!” .
“Is that was this is all about, Juice?” Jack looked up at her in confusion, his voice returning fully at last. “You’re pissed at me because I forgot some dirty weekend with you?” Laughing in exasperation she turned away, returning to her machine and raising her voice.
“You are unbelievably arrogant Jack, has anyone ever told you that? Of course it must all be about you, you are the only person in my life who I could ever have loved and I’ve spent the last decade trying to find you again just so we can get back together.” Turning back a moment she pointed at him angrily. “You’re an arsehole, you know that right? Never, ever mistake someone needing you for wanting you, Jack. You would do well to remember that, especially with your little team.”
She returned to her work and he could hear the hum of power entering the rift manipulator build up a level, the buzz increasing in volume a notch along with her voice, “two whole years of your life Jack, that’s a lot of time to lose. And ironically I only needed two months of that back from you.” She looked at him and considered him carefully, her head tilted to the side. “It was right at the beginning and you do remember some of it, you just don’t know it.” Grinning softly she shrugged and turned back to her work. “It doesn’t matter, I’ll be able to introduce you to everyone soon enough. None of it will have ever happened.”
Jack lay still against the grate for a moment and tried to take in what she was saying. He’d always thought in films when the baddie started talking it would make sense but right now he was more confused than ever and had to consider one terrifying possibility.
She was crazy. Absolutely crazy. And lethal.
As the strength began returning to his body Jack hoped he would be able to get free somehow and stop her in time, or that someone else would. Feeling his wrists chafe against the rope he wondered idly how many people she had tied up like this before. Because he had to give her this; she was good. It would take an escape artist to get through those bonds.
Or just someone who was very good with knots....
**********************************
Captain John Hart awoke slowly and wasn’t surprised to be naked. Waking up naked and tied down was less common but not unheard of - but twice in two days and because of the same woman had never happened before. A soft groan from beside him made him groggily lift his head, his eyes blearily focusing on the naked Welshman beside him.
“Hello there handsome,” John said with a broad grin in spite of the situation - not to mention the complete lack of feeling in his arms - as Ianto froze and turned every so slowly to face him. “Are we awake?” Ianto blinked slowly and stared dumbly at John for a moment before answering.
“I don’t know,” Ianto answered hesitantly, as though hoping it was a bad dream, “are we... naked?”
“Yep.”
“Oh. Thought so.” Ianto closed his eyes but resisted the urge to sink down into the cover again. “Then we’re awake but we’re very confused.” Tugging on his bonds Ianto sighed and buried his head in the pillow for a moment.
The bed smelt slightly musty and overly perfumed, as though the woman sprayed her bed with something or used way too much fabric conditioner. Ianto lay there for a moment, taking in their situation and hoping it wasn’t actually as bad as he thought. He lifted up a little, wriggling his hands numbly and trying to get enough blood back into his hands to make his fingers uncurl.
“So Ianto Jones...” John shifted on the bed, trying to relieve the strain in his shoulders. “Any great ideas for an escape plan?” Ianto rolled onto his side, wishing it didn’t mean moving his bare backside against John’s hip but reflecting on that he decided he would prefer it was that side of his body than the other.
John continued lazily, “course it’s not that I’m complaining about a bit of bondage between the two of us. I just didn’t imagine us both tied down at the same time, gets a bit more complicated that way.”
“Just a bit,” Ianto agreed stiffly as he pulled his legs up towards his chest, his muscles protesting the move and the soft covers rumpling around him making it awkward. “You’re the handcuffs expert; can’t you get yourself out of there?” John laughed and with an effort rolled on to his side, his arms twisting uncomfortably but the view more than making up for it.
“I’m good but even I need something to work with,” he said, clinking the handcuff against the bed to draw the other man’s attention. “Besides, she did them up extra tight just to make sure I didn’t have enough room to move. Unlike you...” He grinned as Ianto with some effort rolled on to his knees, kneeling awkwardly on the bed and wincing as the blood began to flow back into his arms. “Now there’s a sight for sore eyes.”
Ianto closed his eyes in pain, whether from his arms or the remark it wasn’t clear but he shifted his knees on the bed, working to get a firm position and trying to uncurl his dead fingers.
“Enjoy it whilst you can, you are never seeing it again.”
“Oh I intend to.” John chuckled evilly and shifted his head to see as much of Ianto as possible. “And never say never, Eye Candy, stranger things have happened.” Ianto glared at John and instantly regretted glancing sideways; John was hard and even though Ianto looked away again straight away John chuckled evilly. “You can look. It’s ok, I won’t bite. Unless you want me to...” Growling softly Ianto shifted again, making sure he kept as much of his body turned away from John as possible. As blood returned to his fingers he set to work on the knot, trying to work it loose.
“What is it with you lot and biting? And no thanks, I would rather sleep with Janet than you.” At John’s silence Ianto sighed and clarified. “She’s a weevil.” John laughed in delight and bounced a little on the bed, the movement making his whole body shake, something Ianto was all too aware of even out of the corner of his eye.
“Well, well, kinky to the last, Mr Jones. You do surprise me.”
“I’m sure there are many things about me that would surprise you, John.” Ianto tried to concentrate on his work, wanting nothing more than to be out of this situation - and preferably dressed again. “But the best bit is you are never going to find them out so would you just shut up and let me get on with it.” John purred softly and wriggled closer on the bed.
“Now there’s something I’ve often pictured you saying whilst naked with me tied to the bed beside you.”
Ianto froze as the door opened and turned, the carer stumbling into the room as though recovering from the same drugs they had been exposed to. She stared at him, then John, then back to him before screaming loudly and running from the room. He heard the front door slam and turned to John as the thief spoke.
“What’s the betting,” John said slowly, “she’s about to go get either the police or her friendly neighbourhood lynch mob?” Ianto swallowed hard and got back to work as he answered, John rolling fully onto his back and looking around the room for their clothes, weapons, anything that might help.
“As I am known to the local police I’m not sure which I’d prefer,” Ianto replied with a shiver, “so let’s just get out of here before she gets back shall we?” John nodded as his eyes settled on the woman’s dressing table.
“If you can get free there’s bound to be a hairpin, brooch, something with a point I can use on these handcuffs. Wonder if Juice was nice enough to leave our clothes at all...”
“She drugged us, stripped us and tied us to a bed,” Ianto pointed out sarcastically, “I don’t think ‘nice’ is going to be a phrase I’ll apply to her any time soon.”
“She could have just killed us.” John shrugged carelessly. “I’d say this is much nicer than that option.” Ianto smiled in spite of himself but the smile faded a moment later and John continued. “Oh and just for the record, she didn’t strip us. She made me do it so there’s no reason to be so coy. I’ve already seen it all.”
“Fabulous.” Ianto felt his eyes close in embarrassment and tried desperately not to blush. Not in front of John.
“Hell yeah.” John chuckled wickedly. “So listen, whilst we got a few moments something’s been bothering me. You know we um, accidentally of course, stabbed Jack yesterday, is he healed yet? I mean does it happen instantly or does it take time? I only ask cos Juice and I were reminiscing about this thing we did on Centauri Prime with knives but that wouldn’t be any fun if he just healed up again-”
“Do you really think I want to discuss your kinky sex life right now?”
“You’re right.” John nodded thoughtfully and shifted on his side. “We should be discussing yours. So if Jack’s up for a caning does he still get the red marks or do they fade right away? Don’t know about you but I’d find that annoy-”
“The only thing I find annoying right now is you!” Ianto shouted angrily, losing his cool at last. John just looked up at Ianto questioningly. With a soft sigh Ianto conceded defeat, hoping it would end the conversation - or at least steer it away from sex. “Small wounds take a while to heal, faster than ours but still same process. If you kill him outright though everything usually heals at once.” John nodded thoughtfully.
“So if we say took him to one of those tattoo parlours and-”
“How about you do me a favour and just shut up for a few minutes and listen out for trouble, I need to concentrate on this.” Ianto winced and closed his eyes again as his fingers began to work their way under the scarf, trying to pull on the slightly slippery fabric. John nodded and wriggled to make himself comfy on the bed, content to simply watch Ianto work for a moment.
It took him a good few minutes but eventually Ianto felt the fabric start to give and quickly stopped putting any pressure on it, concentrating on using the slack to start working the knot loose.
“Almost there...” Ianto whispered softly. He was sweating slightly from the strain of the task, his body complaining about being made to work so soon after regaining consciousness. He could still feel the traces of the drugs at the edge of his mind, affecting his concentration and making his limbs feel like lead but it was easing. Slowly. As the scarf began to shift free Ianto froze, spotting the gold band on his wrist under the fabric.
“John....” he asked cautiously. The thief looked up at him expectantly and Ianto glanced at his wrists in the handcuffs. “Why did she give us matching gold bracelets?”
“She what?” John frowned and leaned back, looking up above his head at his bound wrists before saying something that could only be a swear word in some language. “Ianto, I know you don’t like me but just in case you had any thoughts about leaving me here and running off to save your precious captain on your own I wouldn’t advise it.” John looked at him again, deadly serious. “They’re electroshock cuffs. You go more than a certain distance from me and we both get zapped.” Ianto growled and got back to work, careful not to disturb the band.
“Any idea how far exactly?”
“User preference,” John replied as he ran his numb fingertips over the band as best he could,
“but last time she used them on me it was one metre. We should get a minor discharge if we stray by ten percent, as a warning. More than that and it’s goodnight again.”
“Better not test it too much then.” Ianto could feel the scarf giving way and grinned ferociously.
“Almost...” With a final pull the scarf slid off one wrist, letting Ianto pull free of the headboard to sit upright on the bed, his back to John. “Right, face down then John.”
Raising his eyebrows in surprise the ex time agent wriggled to lie face down on the bed, grinning as he felt Ianto’s hand slide down his body, gripping lightly along his leg as the Welshman stood up and began to slide around the bed.
“Is this my lucky day?” John asked hopefully as he twisted to face to his side. He frowned as he saw Ianto reaching out with his bare wrist to the dressing table, searching its surface for suitable metal objects whilst never getting too far from John. “Oh right. Escape. Pity...”
Ianto grabbed a small dish of hair pins and came back over to the bed, climbing over John to reach up to the handcuffs. Picking one pin from the bowl he straightened it before slipping it into John’s fingers, his hand over John’s and one knee between the thief’s spread legs.
It was at that moment that the bedroom door flew open and a Welsh voice Ianto knew all too well echoed around the room.
“This is the police, get your... Oh.” As one they both turned to look at the shocked policeman before Ianto forced a cheery tone into his voice.
“Hello Andy,” Ianto said cheerfully, “how’s it going?” Andy’s mouth was wide open and they watched as he closed it then opened it again a few times before replying.
“Not too bad. You?”
“Oh you know, same old.” Ianto shrugged and smiled politely. “Actually it’s good you showed up, we could use a bit of a hand.”
“Or more if you’re interested,” John added as he leaned further from round beneath Ianto to grin at the cop lasciviously. “Nice truncheon by the way...” Andy holstered his truncheon and stared blankly at Ianto before leaving the room and pulling the door closed again. Sighing, Ianto smacked John on the head and returned his attention to the pin.
“I can’t take you anywhere,” Ianto growled. Finally setting to work John chuckled, his eyes closing as he concentrated on the touch of the improvised pick.
“Eye Candy you can take me anywhere you like. Any time, any place, any way...” Ianto shifted back off the thief and sat on the edge of the bed, his head in his hands.
He was definitely never going to live this one down....
Part 12