Fic: The Sea After a Storm (50/?)
Title: The Sea After a Storm, Chapter 50
Rating: R
Warnings: Some bad language and violence
Spoilers: Season Two thru Meat (2x04)
Pairings: Jack/Ianto
Disclaimer: Torchwood and all its wonderfulness belong to the Mighty Beeb and He Who Must Not Be Named. All ©'s to Catherine Tregenna for situations and dialogue borrowed from Meat. No infringement, only worship intended!
Summary: The assault on the slaughterhouse begins…
Notes: In the words of Angelus in Season Two of Buffy… "Yeah, baby, I'm back." It's true! New chapters every Wednesday for the foreseeable future. *fingers crossed* Thank you for your patience and I hope you enjoy! :) You can find all the previous chapters of The Sea After a Storm here. This is a sequel to Vizzini’s Rule and To The Pain. Thanks again and forever to my amazing beta and wonderful friend
thraceadams for all the help and support; any mistakes are mine!
The Sea After a Storm, Chapter 50
Previously on The Sea After a Storm: The team prepared to execute their plan to rescue the space whale fom the meat-gang…
Ianto sighed and drummed his fingers on the steering wheel.
"Will you please stop that, pet?" Gwen requested from the backseat of the SUV.
He stilled his hands but shot her a glare in the rear view mirror. She didn't notice since she was staring out the window at the door to Harwoods. Gwen hadn't called him pet since he'd told her how much it annoyed him when they were in the Himalayas. He could only assume she was still smarting over his kiss with Jack the night before. He ducked his head to hide his grin. Call me anything you like, pet. Won't change the fact that Jack chose me.
Thankfully, Tosh and Owen joined them in the SUV and the comms crackled to life.
"Ianto?"
"Yes, sir."
"We're moving out," Jack said, appearing seconds later at the green door to Harwoods. Rhys was right behind him, shrugging into his jacket.
Ianto pulled out behind them, following the Harwoods lorry closely since Gwen got fussy whenever he let it out of sight. His reassurance that he was still tracking it with the GPS carried no weight, she just gave him a fake smile and told him to catch up whenever he fell behind. By the time they were pulling into the warehouse to load up, Ianto was ready to smack her.
He secured the SUV and then joined Owen and Tosh into the back of the lorry. Once Jack and Gwen were inside as well, Rhys closed the door and they all lit their torches.
"Well," Ianto said as he opened the duffle with the stun guns, still on the charger. "This is a bit Scooby Doo, after all."
Everyone but Gwen chuckled, remembering her outburst during the team meeting. Ianto rolled his eyes at her frown before he started handing out the guns he'd prepped the night before. While everyone checked their side arms, Jack laid out the details of the plan one last time and then they were pulling to a stop.
"Let's go," Jack commanded.
One by one, they dropped out of the side door of the lorry as soon as it stopped and headed for their appointed positions. Owen and Ianto went straight for the door they'd used to breach the warehouse the day before. While they'd been prepared to 'deactivate' the lock a second time, they were surprised to find it wasn't necessary.
"Real professionals, this lot," Owen said in disgust as he kicked the broken lock that was still lying on the ground.
"Easier," Ianto replied, tugging open the door.
Owen grunted and pulled out his stun gun. He led the way, creeping through a long hallway until they found a doorway covered in hanging plastic. He pushed through, with Ianto close on his heels.
As soon as they were in the slaughterhouse proper, Ianto gagged. He brought his arm up to cover his mouth and nose as he fought through the nausea that hit him like a wave. "Mmmmm," he hummed sarcastically trying to distract himself from the piles of raw, red meat lying on every surface.
Owen gave him an exasperated look and motioned him on through the room whilst he veered off to a door their left. Ianto continued on, passing by more piles of meat just sitting out waiting to be processed or binned. Alien meat or not, this place is revolting, he thought to himself. He continued moving forward, adding each room and corridor to the mental map he was creating. He'd just rounded a corner into a stairwell when his comm sounded in his ear.
"Everyone…" Owen said, the resignation in his voice clear even over the tinny earpiece. "They're armed."
Wonderful, Ianto thought as he hurtled down a stairwell liberally splashed with blood and viscera. He stuck his head around a corner to find a small vestibule with several doors opening off of it. Before he could decide which door to try next, he heard a creak behind him. Turning, he saw one of the slaughterhouse workers coming through yet another door. Place is like a godamned labyrinth, he thought as he raised his hand in a wave and offered the surprised worker a cheery hello.
Ianto patted the pockets of his overcoat as he kept the worker off balance by prattling nonsense at him. "I have a… thingy here somewhere," he said, keeping his face cheerful and calm. He got his hand wrapped around the butt of his stun gun and pulled it out, shocking the worker in both senses of the word. "Hell of a day," he commiserated as he hefted the now unconscious man in his arms and dragged him down the hallway, looking frantically for a place to hide him.
He had just given up and left the man's body at the foot of the stairs and was deciding where to head next when Gwen interrupted him.
"Ianto, did Rhys get away?" she asked.
He tapped his ear piece as he checked for any other workers strolling the halls. "I'll check now," he said reassuringly and bolted back up the stairs.
He took a deep breath as he opened the door to the room with all the meat and hurried through it as quickly as possible. His progression was halted suddenly when he ran into several men, one of whom had a gun pointed right at him. His heart dropped when he saw that the armed group had Rhys as well.
"You looking for someone?" the gunman asked. "How many more of you?"
Ianto and Rhys locked gazes for a second and Ianto tried to gather what the other man had told them. He knew that protecting Gwen was the most important thing to Rhys so he assumed he would have said as little as possible. He rolled his eyes upward in sheer irritation at the whole situation and answered the question.
"Just us," he said, praying he wasn't contradicting Rhys.
"You thought the two of you could take us out?" the gunman asked.
Ianto raised his eyebrow, clearly implying that he still thought it was a possibility. For a second, the gunman seemed unsure of himself, but he called Ianto's bluff.
"Nah," he finally said scathingly. "You're not that stupid."
Ianto blew out a breath of disappointment as the gunman frisked him, confiscating his stun gun, and then gave his cohorts instructions to tie them up and secure the warehouse. He caught of glimpse of Owen's pale face behind a set of shelves just as the leader manhandled him out towards the exit. He hoped Owen stayed out of sight and had followed what was happening. Sure enough, a few seconds later, he heard Owen over the comms as he was shoved face first into a wall and forced to put his hands behind his back.
"They've got Rhys and Ianto."
Ianto tensed his wrists as one of the henchmen tied his hands together, giving himself some slack to work with. He and Rhys were marched through the warehouse, the agonized wails of the creature getting louder and louder as they neared the centre. Ianto didn't have to fake his look of horrified awe as they rounded the corner and he saw the beast for the first time. Even though he'd had a idea of what to expect, the sheer size of the creature was mind-blowing.
"What is it?" he asked, deliberately sounding as freaked out as possible as his mind raced, checking the possible exits and looking for signs of the rest of the team.
"The lads call it the Cash Cow," the leader said as he pressed his gun to the back of Rhys' neck.
The sound of footsteps was followed by an exclamation as another man ran in behind them. "Dale! What are you doing?"
Ianto filed away 'Dale' as the leader and 'Vic' as the unarmed man as the two men talked. Ianto jerked forward when Dale shoved Rhys and aimed the gun at his head, but the other gunman was still covering him and moved around to wave the gun in Ianto's face before he got too far. Ianto took advantage of the change in position to start working on loosening the ropes around his wrists behind his back.
"Show yourselves!" Dale yelled. "Or I shoot the delivery boy!"
Ianto snorted softly. Surely he doesn't think they'll just - He stopped mid-thought as Gwen popped out from behind a stack of crates. He groaned.
"OK!" she called. "There's no need to make any threats."
Dale looked over at Ianto. "Just the two of you, is it?" he sneered. He turned his attention back to Gwen. "Gun down. Kick it over here," he ordered.
Gwen dropped her arms and stepped forward. "I don't have a gun," she said in her best reasonable-cop voice, but Dale wasn't fooled.
"He had one, so you must have," he shouted, waving his gun at Ianto.
"OK! OK!" Gwen called. She pulled her gun out and held it up for a moment before tossing it away.
Ianto groaned softly again. She'd brought her sidearm instead of just the stun gun and now she'd just thrown it away. Fuck, where are you, Jack?
"Any more of you? And before you answer, have a proper think, 'cause if you lie, I will shoot you," Dale said calmly, transferring his aim from Rhys to Gwen.
Come on, come on! Ianto worked on the ropes that bound his hands as Gwen tried to convince Dale there were no others. With the gun off Rhys, if he could just get free, he could grab the gun from the man covering him. Gwen knew the drill and would be able to take care of herself. She was already walking slowly towards her gun as she tried to reason with Dale.
Gwen's words had no affect on Dale who had clearly reached the end of his rope. He ordered Gwen to stop and shoved Rhys over to join her. With a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, Ianto followed Dale's direction to stand with them. He knew as soon as he got there, Dale would start shooting. Before he'd managed more than three steps, a voice rang out from above.
"Dale! Two more, far corner. They can't get out, it's locked."
Ianto flinched when Dale grabbed his shoulder and dragged him back, his gun at Ianto's neck as he ordered Jack and Tosh out of their hiding places. Ianto felt equal parts relief and despair when he saw Jack. It's all up to Owen now.
"Do you know what you've got here, Dale?" Jack asked calmly.
Dale dug his gun into Ianto's chest. "Shut up now!"
Ianto winced at the pressure but continued to work on his ropes while Jack distracted his captor.
"It's an alien," Jack continued. "A creature from another galaxy. It came through a rift in time and space, and it was unlucky enough to find you."
Ianto vaguely heard Vic boggling over the idea that the giant creature was from outer space. He put all his concentration into the ropes. He'd gotten one loop from around his wrist, but they seemed to be tied somewhere in the middle as well, making it more difficult.
"You're carving up a sentient creature," Jack yelled. "And you've got to stop!"
"And then what have I got?" Dale sounded desperate, pushing the gun harder against Ianto's chest until he swore he could feel the round hole of the barrel against his skin. "I'm making money here! This is my business. For the first time in my life, I've actually got something for myself!"
"Dale, stop," Gwen said quietly. "You can still walk away from this."
Ianto felt Dale go very still behind him. Oh, fuck.
"No," Dale said. "You lied to me."
The ropes finally slipped off Ianto's hands as Dale swung the gun toward Gwen. Dale fired, but Rhys threw himself in front of Gwen at the last second, taking the bullet intended for her. Ianto grabbed for the gun, trying to wrest it from Dale as he kept firing.
The constant low drone of the creature's pain intensified into a wail as random shots hit it, making it fight its bonds. Dale drove his fist into Ianto's kidney and then caught him in a vicious fishhook when Ianto cried out. Ianto moved into the attack instead of pulling away and getting his cheek ripped open. He bit Dale's finger at the same time and used his momentum to swing around Dale, knocking him off balance and throwing him to the ground. He dimly heard crashes and bangs nearby as the creature broke free from the cables holding it and thrashed about, but all his focus was on Dale. He straddled the other man and managed to retrieve his stun gun and get in several good punches before Dale recovered and sent him flying with a right hook that made his ears ring. Ianto fell to the side and turned over to find Dale standing over him with his gun.
"Die!" Dale yelled, and pulled the trigger.
TBC in Chapter Fifty-One
. This entry was originally posted at http://buttononthetop.dreamwidth.org/101002.html. Please comment there using OpenID.
Rating: R
Warnings: Some bad language and violence
Spoilers: Season Two thru Meat (2x04)
Pairings: Jack/Ianto
Disclaimer: Torchwood and all its wonderfulness belong to the Mighty Beeb and He Who Must Not Be Named. All ©'s to Catherine Tregenna for situations and dialogue borrowed from Meat. No infringement, only worship intended!
Summary: The assault on the slaughterhouse begins…
Notes: In the words of Angelus in Season Two of Buffy… "Yeah, baby, I'm back." It's true! New chapters every Wednesday for the foreseeable future. *fingers crossed* Thank you for your patience and I hope you enjoy! :) You can find all the previous chapters of The Sea After a Storm here. This is a sequel to Vizzini’s Rule and To The Pain. Thanks again and forever to my amazing beta and wonderful friend
thraceadams for all the help and support; any mistakes are mine!
The Sea After a Storm, Chapter 50
Previously on The Sea After a Storm: The team prepared to execute their plan to rescue the space whale fom the meat-gang…
Ianto sighed and drummed his fingers on the steering wheel.
"Will you please stop that, pet?" Gwen requested from the backseat of the SUV.
He stilled his hands but shot her a glare in the rear view mirror. She didn't notice since she was staring out the window at the door to Harwoods. Gwen hadn't called him pet since he'd told her how much it annoyed him when they were in the Himalayas. He could only assume she was still smarting over his kiss with Jack the night before. He ducked his head to hide his grin. Call me anything you like, pet. Won't change the fact that Jack chose me.
Thankfully, Tosh and Owen joined them in the SUV and the comms crackled to life.
"Ianto?"
"Yes, sir."
"We're moving out," Jack said, appearing seconds later at the green door to Harwoods. Rhys was right behind him, shrugging into his jacket.
Ianto pulled out behind them, following the Harwoods lorry closely since Gwen got fussy whenever he let it out of sight. His reassurance that he was still tracking it with the GPS carried no weight, she just gave him a fake smile and told him to catch up whenever he fell behind. By the time they were pulling into the warehouse to load up, Ianto was ready to smack her.
He secured the SUV and then joined Owen and Tosh into the back of the lorry. Once Jack and Gwen were inside as well, Rhys closed the door and they all lit their torches.
"Well," Ianto said as he opened the duffle with the stun guns, still on the charger. "This is a bit Scooby Doo, after all."
Everyone but Gwen chuckled, remembering her outburst during the team meeting. Ianto rolled his eyes at her frown before he started handing out the guns he'd prepped the night before. While everyone checked their side arms, Jack laid out the details of the plan one last time and then they were pulling to a stop.
"Let's go," Jack commanded.
One by one, they dropped out of the side door of the lorry as soon as it stopped and headed for their appointed positions. Owen and Ianto went straight for the door they'd used to breach the warehouse the day before. While they'd been prepared to 'deactivate' the lock a second time, they were surprised to find it wasn't necessary.
"Real professionals, this lot," Owen said in disgust as he kicked the broken lock that was still lying on the ground.
"Easier," Ianto replied, tugging open the door.
Owen grunted and pulled out his stun gun. He led the way, creeping through a long hallway until they found a doorway covered in hanging plastic. He pushed through, with Ianto close on his heels.
As soon as they were in the slaughterhouse proper, Ianto gagged. He brought his arm up to cover his mouth and nose as he fought through the nausea that hit him like a wave. "Mmmmm," he hummed sarcastically trying to distract himself from the piles of raw, red meat lying on every surface.
Owen gave him an exasperated look and motioned him on through the room whilst he veered off to a door their left. Ianto continued on, passing by more piles of meat just sitting out waiting to be processed or binned. Alien meat or not, this place is revolting, he thought to himself. He continued moving forward, adding each room and corridor to the mental map he was creating. He'd just rounded a corner into a stairwell when his comm sounded in his ear.
"Everyone…" Owen said, the resignation in his voice clear even over the tinny earpiece. "They're armed."
Wonderful, Ianto thought as he hurtled down a stairwell liberally splashed with blood and viscera. He stuck his head around a corner to find a small vestibule with several doors opening off of it. Before he could decide which door to try next, he heard a creak behind him. Turning, he saw one of the slaughterhouse workers coming through yet another door. Place is like a godamned labyrinth, he thought as he raised his hand in a wave and offered the surprised worker a cheery hello.
Ianto patted the pockets of his overcoat as he kept the worker off balance by prattling nonsense at him. "I have a… thingy here somewhere," he said, keeping his face cheerful and calm. He got his hand wrapped around the butt of his stun gun and pulled it out, shocking the worker in both senses of the word. "Hell of a day," he commiserated as he hefted the now unconscious man in his arms and dragged him down the hallway, looking frantically for a place to hide him.
He had just given up and left the man's body at the foot of the stairs and was deciding where to head next when Gwen interrupted him.
"Ianto, did Rhys get away?" she asked.
He tapped his ear piece as he checked for any other workers strolling the halls. "I'll check now," he said reassuringly and bolted back up the stairs.
He took a deep breath as he opened the door to the room with all the meat and hurried through it as quickly as possible. His progression was halted suddenly when he ran into several men, one of whom had a gun pointed right at him. His heart dropped when he saw that the armed group had Rhys as well.
"You looking for someone?" the gunman asked. "How many more of you?"
Ianto and Rhys locked gazes for a second and Ianto tried to gather what the other man had told them. He knew that protecting Gwen was the most important thing to Rhys so he assumed he would have said as little as possible. He rolled his eyes upward in sheer irritation at the whole situation and answered the question.
"Just us," he said, praying he wasn't contradicting Rhys.
"You thought the two of you could take us out?" the gunman asked.
Ianto raised his eyebrow, clearly implying that he still thought it was a possibility. For a second, the gunman seemed unsure of himself, but he called Ianto's bluff.
"Nah," he finally said scathingly. "You're not that stupid."
Ianto blew out a breath of disappointment as the gunman frisked him, confiscating his stun gun, and then gave his cohorts instructions to tie them up and secure the warehouse. He caught of glimpse of Owen's pale face behind a set of shelves just as the leader manhandled him out towards the exit. He hoped Owen stayed out of sight and had followed what was happening. Sure enough, a few seconds later, he heard Owen over the comms as he was shoved face first into a wall and forced to put his hands behind his back.
"They've got Rhys and Ianto."
Ianto tensed his wrists as one of the henchmen tied his hands together, giving himself some slack to work with. He and Rhys were marched through the warehouse, the agonized wails of the creature getting louder and louder as they neared the centre. Ianto didn't have to fake his look of horrified awe as they rounded the corner and he saw the beast for the first time. Even though he'd had a idea of what to expect, the sheer size of the creature was mind-blowing.
"What is it?" he asked, deliberately sounding as freaked out as possible as his mind raced, checking the possible exits and looking for signs of the rest of the team.
"The lads call it the Cash Cow," the leader said as he pressed his gun to the back of Rhys' neck.
The sound of footsteps was followed by an exclamation as another man ran in behind them. "Dale! What are you doing?"
Ianto filed away 'Dale' as the leader and 'Vic' as the unarmed man as the two men talked. Ianto jerked forward when Dale shoved Rhys and aimed the gun at his head, but the other gunman was still covering him and moved around to wave the gun in Ianto's face before he got too far. Ianto took advantage of the change in position to start working on loosening the ropes around his wrists behind his back.
"Show yourselves!" Dale yelled. "Or I shoot the delivery boy!"
Ianto snorted softly. Surely he doesn't think they'll just - He stopped mid-thought as Gwen popped out from behind a stack of crates. He groaned.
"OK!" she called. "There's no need to make any threats."
Dale looked over at Ianto. "Just the two of you, is it?" he sneered. He turned his attention back to Gwen. "Gun down. Kick it over here," he ordered.
Gwen dropped her arms and stepped forward. "I don't have a gun," she said in her best reasonable-cop voice, but Dale wasn't fooled.
"He had one, so you must have," he shouted, waving his gun at Ianto.
"OK! OK!" Gwen called. She pulled her gun out and held it up for a moment before tossing it away.
Ianto groaned softly again. She'd brought her sidearm instead of just the stun gun and now she'd just thrown it away. Fuck, where are you, Jack?
"Any more of you? And before you answer, have a proper think, 'cause if you lie, I will shoot you," Dale said calmly, transferring his aim from Rhys to Gwen.
Come on, come on! Ianto worked on the ropes that bound his hands as Gwen tried to convince Dale there were no others. With the gun off Rhys, if he could just get free, he could grab the gun from the man covering him. Gwen knew the drill and would be able to take care of herself. She was already walking slowly towards her gun as she tried to reason with Dale.
Gwen's words had no affect on Dale who had clearly reached the end of his rope. He ordered Gwen to stop and shoved Rhys over to join her. With a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, Ianto followed Dale's direction to stand with them. He knew as soon as he got there, Dale would start shooting. Before he'd managed more than three steps, a voice rang out from above.
"Dale! Two more, far corner. They can't get out, it's locked."
Ianto flinched when Dale grabbed his shoulder and dragged him back, his gun at Ianto's neck as he ordered Jack and Tosh out of their hiding places. Ianto felt equal parts relief and despair when he saw Jack. It's all up to Owen now.
"Do you know what you've got here, Dale?" Jack asked calmly.
Dale dug his gun into Ianto's chest. "Shut up now!"
Ianto winced at the pressure but continued to work on his ropes while Jack distracted his captor.
"It's an alien," Jack continued. "A creature from another galaxy. It came through a rift in time and space, and it was unlucky enough to find you."
Ianto vaguely heard Vic boggling over the idea that the giant creature was from outer space. He put all his concentration into the ropes. He'd gotten one loop from around his wrist, but they seemed to be tied somewhere in the middle as well, making it more difficult.
"You're carving up a sentient creature," Jack yelled. "And you've got to stop!"
"And then what have I got?" Dale sounded desperate, pushing the gun harder against Ianto's chest until he swore he could feel the round hole of the barrel against his skin. "I'm making money here! This is my business. For the first time in my life, I've actually got something for myself!"
"Dale, stop," Gwen said quietly. "You can still walk away from this."
Ianto felt Dale go very still behind him. Oh, fuck.
"No," Dale said. "You lied to me."
The ropes finally slipped off Ianto's hands as Dale swung the gun toward Gwen. Dale fired, but Rhys threw himself in front of Gwen at the last second, taking the bullet intended for her. Ianto grabbed for the gun, trying to wrest it from Dale as he kept firing.
The constant low drone of the creature's pain intensified into a wail as random shots hit it, making it fight its bonds. Dale drove his fist into Ianto's kidney and then caught him in a vicious fishhook when Ianto cried out. Ianto moved into the attack instead of pulling away and getting his cheek ripped open. He bit Dale's finger at the same time and used his momentum to swing around Dale, knocking him off balance and throwing him to the ground. He dimly heard crashes and bangs nearby as the creature broke free from the cables holding it and thrashed about, but all his focus was on Dale. He straddled the other man and managed to retrieve his stun gun and get in several good punches before Dale recovered and sent him flying with a right hook that made his ears ring. Ianto fell to the side and turned over to find Dale standing over him with his gun.
"Die!" Dale yelled, and pulled the trigger.
TBC in Chapter Fifty-One
. This entry was originally posted at http://buttononthetop.dreamwidth.org/101002.html. Please comment there using OpenID.