Chapter Text
The final door into the Hub slid open with a sickening clang, Ianto’s stomach dropped to his feet. He hadn’t thought this far ahead. He knew every system in the hub inside and out, every door to lock, every alarm to sound. But he had no clue what could get him out of this, he had no idea how to save himself.
Alex pushed him into the main area of the hub with a rough shove, the barrel of the gun still painfully pressed into his side. They staggered in, Alex’s gruff voice in his ear.
“Take us to the main terminals, we have an important phone call to make. And a few other little surprises to pop in place. Your team have a busy afternoon ahead of them.”
They arrived by Tosh’s monitor. Ianto scanned the screens quickly. The SUV was driving towards the edge of the city. No other trackers were live, so Ianto knew he was alone. The whole team speeding away from the hub, from him. Ianto felt Alex’s rough hands grabbing at his restraints, untying them…
“What are you doing?” Ianto asked in a tight breath.
“I’m trusting you to be very, very careful. You are going to pull up the schematics for the SUV, you’re going to enable the deadlock seals as soon as I instruct you to. And you’re going to tap us into the comm system so I can speak to your precious Jack Harkness. You’re going to do it very quickly and very quietly. And I swear on my life, If you try anything, my next stop will be to a little housing estate not far from here where I’m going to line your sister, your brother in law, your niece and your nephew up against a wall, and shoot them one by one. Okay?”
Ianto swallowed the bile rising in his chest. And nodded. “And while you’re there, Jones.” Alex continued with gritted teeth and barely contained joy. “Pull up those fiddly little rift controls, and of course, I’ll be needing the password.”
Ianto turned back to the monitor, tears blurring his vision. Alex reached forward and placed a roll of thick gaffer tape on the table in front of them, pushing the gun forward as he did, pressing painfully into Ianto’s ribs.
--
Owen sped through the city towards the hub. The flashing alert on the screen capturing his eye with every sickening pulse. A simple ‘Intruder Alert – Level 4’ text blinked every few seconds. Owen’s blood was running cold. Level 4, intruder assisted by hostage. There’s only one person it could be: Ianto. And the team would be too busy to notice. His phone was dead, his PDA on the blink – locked by the intruder alert. This was on him. He had to get to the hub, before it was too late.
--
“And now you’ll both pay. Torchwood will pay. All of Cardiff will pay. Strap in Captain, we’re in for a bumpy ride.”
The comm clicked off. The silence in the hub echoed around Ianto as he tried to steady his breathing.
“Well, I think that went very well, don’t you?”
Ianto’s anger flared. “What the fuck is wrong with you? What possible part of your fucked-up brain can excuse what you are doing? I’m sorry about what happened, about… about everything… but I refuse to do your bidding anymore!” Ianto huffed, backing away.
Alex punched Ianto hard in the jaw. He wasted no time. Ianto fell to the floor, too weak to take the punch. “You refuse? That’s sweet isn’t it. I appreciate your apology, but it’s a bit late for all of that now. You’re going to do what your told now Ianto. I was serious before, I’ll do whatever it takes, and I would take great pleasure in killing every person who means anything you. Slowly, one by one. Don’t push me, Jones. I’ll do it. And I’ll enjoy it.” Alex pulled Ianto up from the floor and pushed him towards the screen. “Now, I need that password. We’ve got more to do today than simply locking doors and chit chatting with Captain Harkness. We’ve got a world to end.”
---
“Jack! What are we going to do?” Gwen said, panic strung through her voice. Tosh was next to her, staring at Jack with wide eyes.
Jack turned from them, he needed a second, maybe two, to completely collapse in on himself. He couldn’t bear the thought of Ianto alone experiencing such horrors. It was one thing to wonder what could be happening to him, another to know for sure. Jack knew what torture a mad and hurt man could inflict. He wanted nothing more than Ianto safe, in his arms, out of harms reach forever. And preferably, with the man locked up in a UNIT cell for the rest of his life – or better yet, dead and buried.
He took a deep breath, calming his frayed nervous and pounding temper. He had a job to do, and the girls needed him level headed. Ianto needed him. And where the hell was Owen?
Jack turned back to Gwen and Tosh, shoulders back and the confidence he only felt as The Captain. “We’re going to commandeer a vehicle, we’re going to get back to the hub and save Ianto, stop whatever plan has been set in motion and make sure that nothing like this can ever happen again. And I will personally make this bastard pay, for what he’s done and for his intentions. Do you trust me? Gwen, Tosh?” He looked at them, eyes stern. They nodded, clearly both worried. “Let’s go.”
--
Owen drove at breakneck speed, hurtling towards the hub. His PDA still blinking the same haunting message. He decided to take the same route into the hub, with stealth on his side, he might be able to rescue Ianto in time.
He swung his car next to the entrance to the car park, and took the rest on foot, not wanting to set off any of the alerts in the hub, and risk Ianto. If he was still alive, Owen intended to keep him that way.
He took the stairs three at a time, diving to the lowest level of the car park where the hub entrance was located. He skirted around the edge of the dark room, his movements sending eerie echoes bouncing away from him. He kept his back close to the wall and avoiding the cameras as best he could.
When he reached the blank, unmarked door, he blinked three times. The light flashed red, purple twice, then green. The hub had protocols for everything, and Owen knew how to get through the lower levels without alerting the hostile force.
--
“I won’t do it.”
“You will.”
“No. I’m not doing it. We opened the rift before and it had deadly consequences. We can’t do it again.”
“Ianto, I don’t know how I can make it any clearer. Open the rift, Jones.” Alex gripped the gun harder with shaking hands, his knuckles white. He lifted it high, cocked it, then pressed the cold metal into Ianto’s skin. “Or I will shoot you in the head.”
Ianto stared, head on, he tried to keep his trembling nerves out of his voice.
“You won’t shoot me in the head. You need me. Without me, you have no plan. Jack and the others will arrive soon. They’ll stop you. All I have to do is wait you out – If you open the rift, I die anyway. Don’t threaten me with the one thing I’m willing to gamble. My life? Or all of Cardiff? The whole world?” Ianto asked indignantly. He scoffed at Alex, the disgust clear in his expression. Almost snarling, he leaned right into Alex’s face. “I’ll put the bullet there myself if it means you never get a hold of that code.”
For the briefest fraction of a second, Alex’s eyes lit up with fear, but he recovered quickly. He huffed a mirthless laugh and rolled his eyes.
“Fine. I won’t shoot you in the head. First, I’ll shoot you in the leg, then the shoulder, then the stomach. I’ll pop holes in every part of you until there is nothing left. And when Jack gets here I’ll make him watch you bleeding out on the floor of his office. So everyday he’s reminded of your betrayal.”
Ianto blinked, confusion blurring his fury momentarily. “My…?”
“Oh that’s right. At first I was forcing you, but soon you realised your true hatred for Jack Harkness and everything Torchwood stands for. You joined me. Opened the rift of your own choice. You chose to end the world, you chose to betray Jack Harkness. I only shot you when you turned on me. You were out of control… I had to…” Alex’s hand flew to his chest mockingly; as if retelling the story later, distressed at the memory.
“Jack will never believe it.” Ianto said, firm.
“Oh, but he will. After all, you’ve done it all before.”
Alex stepped forward. Gun pressed into Ianto’s shoulder. “Open the rift controls. I won’t ask again. Or please, keep mouthing off. I would love to shoot you.”
“You and me both, mate,” Both Alex and Ianto jumped as Owen popped up from around the corner in Jack’s office. Ianto twisted in Alex’s arms and used the brief moment to elbow him in the stomach.
Alex doubled over in instant pain. His head snapped up, he saw Owen dive behind the workstations, moving on the lower level of the hub. Then Ianto, his perfect Ianto, staggering away from him, feet dragging and hand clutching his side. Alex’s face split into a sickening grin, and he pointed the gun directly at Ianto’s back.
BANG!
The bullet sped through the air and into Ianto’s shoulder. His weakened body couldn’t take it; he collapsed onto the floor, blood pooling down his arm. BANG! BANG! Two more shots fired, and only one of them Alex’s. A second narrowly grazed Ianto’s thigh, slicing through the material of his trousers and sending another round of electric pain through him. Owen’s bullet hit Alex in the shoulder, though he barely reacted, he was too busy grabbing Ianto off the floor by his ruffled shirt collar.
He pulled Ianto up in front, using him as a human shield, and pointed the gun at Owen. The doctor instantly moved out from his hiding point, holding his hands above his head in surrender. “Okay, okay. I’m gonna put this gun away, and you and I are gonna have a chat.”
Alex laughed coldly. “He’s bleeding out. I’ve got a gun to his head and you’re standing there like you can do a single thing to stop me. What is there to chat about? I need a password that lover boy here has. Either I get it, or I blow his brains out. What will it be, Doctor Harper?”
Owen edged closer to where Ianto was held, Alex gripping his bleeding shoulder. He looked to Ianto, saw his pale and desperate face, then down to the widening red patch in his shirt. He was bleeding out. He needed medical attention fast or he was going to die here and now.
"There has to be another way. I don't know who you are, or what you have against Ianto, but opening the rift isn't the answer. It's never the answer."
Alex laughed harshly, digging the gun into Ianto's side as if to punctuate his cackles. "Of course you don't know who I am! Why would you? According to Ianto here, and your precious Jack, I am nothing!"
Ianto struggled against him. "That's not true, Alex, I never-" Alex clamped his hand across Ianto's mouth.
"Please, shut up. You've done enough. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter..."
Owen looked between them, trying to assess his options. "Tell me who you are, Alex was it? I've had my own problems with teaboy here, tell me what he did to you. Maybe, if i understand, I can help..."
Alex eyed Owen suspiciously, but couldn't resist. This was his endgame, afterall. "You don't know me, but i've been here since the start. I've been watching you for a long, long time. I'm Alex, I was at Canary Wharf, I was there when everything went to shit. Because of him!" He turned his head until his nose was up against Ianto's cheek, growling at Ianto, he continued. "I watched hundreads die, because of him. I had nothing. Because. Of. Him."
Owen took another cautious step. "I'm sorry you went through that, I know the fucked up things that were happening at One. You should have never been put in that position. But it wasn't Ianto's fault. He's a victim too, Alex."
Alex's manic laughter filled the cavernous space of the hub. "And yet, here he is. He found his place, his happy ending. He got to live on and find purpose, and the rest of us were left to the dogs. Left to die as the memories burn the inside of my skull... You will all know what it feels like. Everyone in this whole fucking city, the whole world will know the pain that Ianto Jones inflicted on me. I want that password, you may have blundered in here, Doctor Harper, but you don't get to save the day. Open the rift, so the whole world can suffer as we have." He shifted the gun with shaking hands, from Ianto's side and pressed it hard into Ianto's temple. "Open the rift, or I'll blow his tiny brain out, and paint your walls red with blood."
Ianto gulped and shifted, trying to ease into a better position for his failing body. Owen was on the edge of panic, this was too close, he didn't know how to fix this. Was the only way to pretend to open the rift? To give Alex the password and hope he had long enough to stop it after saving Ianto? Owen thought briefly about the irony of this situation. Had they not been here not too long ago? Owen and Ianto caught in yet another dangerous dance involving opening the rift. It was their thing apparently. Owen took a slow step towards the monitor. Alex was nodding maniacally “Yes.” He hissed. “Do it. Open the rift.”
Owen took another step. Then looked back to Ianto. He couldn’t talk, his mouth was covered by Alex’s filthy hand. But his eyes were wide and screaming. Screaming no. No stop. Owen inclined his head. And Ianto responded with the smallest shake.
Owen nodded. Understanding.
He watched Ianto taken at deep breath, then as he charged his elbow backwards into Alex’s stomach. Alex, so distracted by Owen’s approach to the computer, was shocked to be suddenly off balance. He coughed, aware now of his own bleeding wound.
Ianto twisted again, and slammed his hands into Alex’s back, he brought his knee hard into his chest, knocking the gun out his hand. It skittered across the floor. Owen leapt into action, grabbing the gun off the floor and aiming it at Alex. He didn’t shoot. He couldn’t. As Alex had regained his strength and turned to begin attacking Ianto.
But Ianto, despite hours of painful torture had height, strength, adrenaline and the fact he was mightily pissed off on his side. He tackled Alex, punching him in the face and clambering on top of him. Alex responded by punching Ianto directly in his shot shoulder. The pain was almost overwhelming, but Ianto bit his lip and yelled out, a hazy red mist descending. He pushed his hand forward, past Alex’s grabby hands, trying to topple him. He covered Alex’s mouth and neck with his hands, pushing as hard as he could. His eyes blurred, tears streaming down his face as he pushed, and pushed, and pushed…
Ianto vaguely heard Owen coming up behind him but was too focused on the man below him, grabbing at his wrists trying to free himself, to notice Owen injecting Alex with a fact acting sedative. Alex’s eyes rolled back into his head, leaving him limp on the floor outside Jack’s office.
Ianto released his hands and looked up to see Owen staring at him, empty syringe in a shaky grip.
Suddenly, the aches and pains in his body from the last 48 hours of agony finally overwhelmed him. He tumbled off Alex’s unconscious body and onto the hard floor of the hub. He was vaguely aware of Owen rushing back into his field of vision to his side with what he hoped was a medipack. And Ianto suddenly remembered he’d been shot. Twice. And the pain was back. It hit him in such a violent wave, he rolled onto his side and gagged, a dribble of blood coming from the side of his mouth.
The last thing he saw before he blacked out, was Owens worried face and the flashing red and yellow lights as the cog door opened....