The Hunt

Here is the next chapter, which I have edited a tiny bit since the beginning was a little confusing. I hope you enjoy it.

Also, just a note to let you know that the PNC is the Police National Computer.


Chapter Four

Ianto slowly extricated himself from Jack's grip and stood up, looking down on him for a moment as he dusted himself off, then looking at Andy. They'd have to move him. Jack would be angry enough when he woke up without them leaving him on the floor. For a moment the thought of Jack's anger refused to leave him. He would be furious, and Ianto realised he wasn't taking it at all seriously enough. How was he going to diffuse it?

Refusing to think about that just yet, his eyes drifted to the stairs that led up to the office, and he imagined the rest – like the ladder down to the sleeping space – and knew it couldn't be done. He cast his glance down to Jack again, aware that Andy was watching him closely.

“Damn,” Ianto said at last, one hand on his hip, wondering if there was even a way to solve it. Even with the two of them, it must be impossible.

“What is it?” Andy asked.

“There's no chance of getting him into bed,” Ianto replied without thinking, shaking his head with a regretful sigh.

“There isn't?” Andy’s answer was half-disbelief, half disappointment, and it made Ianto realise just what he'd said. He gifted the policeman with a hard look, and was slightly gratified when Andy's eyes widened in alarm. “I mean,” Andy said in a kind of insincere apology, holding up his hands, “no, of course not!”

Ianto could detect sarcasm from a mile away, and so he folded his arms and continued staring, saying nothing. Eventually, the blond policeman smiled. “The more you look like that, the more I want to do it to you,” Andy said in amusement. But do what? Him or Jack? Why was he even thinking about it!? This was a brand new challenge he really didn't need. Ianto held back a sigh.

“One of us is going to have to practice a little restraint,” Ianto pointed out carefully, as if he were speaking to a child, breaking the eye contact. “Why don't you try it on yourself?”

“I was liking that suggestion right up until just after the 'try it on' bit.” Andy was quick, Ianto had to give him that, and suddenly there was a blossoming of interest in him for this man. Who was he? Almost instantly, he had become much more than Gwen's ex-partner.

“You mean you don't get the last word?” Ianto said with a hint of a smile, waiting to see what Andy came back with.

“Apparently...” Andy said, and then grinned when Ianto drew in a breath to speak. “Or maybe not.”

“I'm glad we understand each other,” Ianto said, and felt that he might even be smirking. With a quick shake of his head, he ran his hands through his hair and puffed his breath out through his lips, his mind returning to the problem at hand. Perhaps the settees, he thought, turning it over in his mind. Well, it wasn't perfect, but it would be comfortable enough.

“So am I,” Andy returned. “This is going to be interesting.” Ianto was already thinking about pillows and blankets.

“Okay. Just stay here and watch him,” he said, distracted, turning away suddenly and sprinting up the stairs to get some things from the sleeping space.

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When he came back, between them they made short work of pushing the settees together to accommodate Jack's height, and Ianto provided the pillows and covers. They moved Jack together with a little effort, and Ianto made sure he was comfortable before turning away, remembering what all of this was for and getting eager to begin. It felt like it would be good, useful work. A list. He was good at lists.

“Okay,” he said, eager to get down to business, seating himself in front of Tosh's monitor and swivelling the chair around to look at Andy. “So what did you have in mind? I can get the PNC up on here, and we can search through the files that...” Something about the way Andy looked at him wasn't quite right. “What?” he asked, wondering at the reason for the attention just as Andy dropped his gaze and looked over at Jack.

“You two are a love story just waiting to happen,” he commented, and Ianto frowned.

“You think we're waiting?” he asked, feeling uncertain about it all and wondering what Andy had seen in them.

“You didn't say it to him,” Andy pointed out. There wasn't any doubt at all what he meant.

“Well, he just fired me,” Ianto said dryly, “and I just gave him a mind altering drug.” He paused to draw in a deliberate breath. “It really didn't seem like a good time under the circumstances.”

“Did he mean that then? About firing you?” Ianto didn't even have to think about the question.

“Yep,” he said, nodding. “Absolutely. At least he thinks so. I'll have to deal with that when he wakes up.”

“How?” Andy asked, and Ianto stared at him until he smiled again. “Just curious,” he said, spreading his hands as if to say he wasn't a threat. How was he going to deal with it? The gravity of what he'd done began to hit home, and Ianto swallowed nervously, but he wouldn't show that to Andy.

“I'll remind him of some other things...” Ianto replied at last, thinking about some of them and allowing just a little of a smile, realising that whatever happened, he was probably going to enjoy making it up to Jack. A lot. He might be too confident, but then Jack was too easy. They were perfectly matched that way.

“Really?” Andy asked in interest, obviously imagining something along similar lines himself, and Ianto didn't see any call to deny it.

“Yeah,” he said, and after a long moment, Andy looked away.

“So? You can get the PNC?” Andy said, changing the subject and the tone so suddenly Ianto was caught off guard. “Do you use it?”

Those moments from the kitchen returned to Ianto, and he stopped himself this time before he would have given out information for free. “Stop interrogating me,” he warned, narrowing his eyes as he stared at the monitor. “I know what you're playing at.”

Andy came to stand behind his chair as he brought up the login screen for the PNC and got access. “Do you? Most people don't,” the policeman remarked. As an opportunity, it was completely irresistible to Ianto.

“Oh, is that why you're so obvious?” Ianto asked, longing to laugh. Instead, it was Andy who laughed, and Ianto jumped because he hadn't realised the blond policeman was so close to him.

“I'll get you,” Andy promised, amused, and Ianto felt something click on inside his mind.

He leaned his head back in the chair to look up at where Andy was stood. “Only if you're quick enough,” he pointed out. It was fun. And Jack usually gave right in at this point. But Andy wasn't Jack, and Ianto held his breath when Andy's hands settled on the arms of the chair as he stared down. He really hadn't meant to flirt, it had just kind of happened, and now...

“Are you going to run?” he asked, eyes travelling over Ianto in speculation. A memory came to him, unbidden, of Captain John Hart and that little game he had played. Run, Ianto Jones! He felt his face fall, and it obviously wasn't the reaction Andy was expecting, but it didn't matter. There was something else for them to do that didn't involve playing games.

“Shall we get started?” Ianto suggested, much more serious, sitting up straight so that Andy had to move away from him. Ianto indicated the other chair, and soon enough they were sifting through unsolved murder files, searching for the ones that had the characteristics of a Weevil attack.

At first Ianto had thought – naively, as it turned out – that the search would be easy. Like fitting blocks into the correct slots. Find the murders, note them down. But it wasn't like that at all, and he found himself paying attention to everything Andy said, learning from him because it was all there to learn.

Torchwood could jump to conclusions at times, but police work just wasn't like that. For every case they didn't just go through the autopsy report and make a judgement based on the injuries. They went through witness statements and evidence, trying to piece together what had happened the night in question. They looked at suspects and possible motives. They made little case files for the victims, noting the evidence, and only when it was beyond a shadow of a doubt was the victim put onto the list.

Quite early on, Ianto realised this was going to take much longer than he had first thought. Even with Andy to help, and he was a great help, it was going to take them much longer than a couple of hours. It could take days, if not weeks to do this. And that would just be for those victims who had lost their lives over the last few years. Still, he wanted to do it. Paying so much attention in every case made them real to him. It wasn't just a list of names they were compiling. It was a roll call. A monument.

But a couple of hours was all they had, because after that amount of time, Jack began to stir. Anyone else would have been out for the full night and well into the morning. Jack obviously recovered from it more quickly, and Ianto began to feel slightly afraid for the consequences of what he had done.

Without saying a word to each other, Ianto and Andy stood and left the computer screens to wait before the settee, watching Jack as he groaned and turned over, still unconscious, but surely not for much longer.

“Can you make coffee?” Ianto asked, not looking away from Jack, and beside him, from the corner of his eye, he noticed Andy draw back from him a little in puzzlement. “It doesn't matter,” he said quickly. “I'd better do it anyway.” Jack would know if it wasn't his, but he'd better be quick.

“Look after him for a few minutes,” Ianto said hurriedly and jogged off to the kitchen.

When he was nearly done, Jack started to call for him, and he shouted that he was on his way, carrying the tray back to the main area, only pausing for a second when he saw the coat stand. On it was Jack's coat, plus the ugly yellow thing that Andy had to wear. It was new and shocking, but somehow it didn't seem wrong. Ianto got moving again as Jack shouted and came upon something he really should have expected.

Jack looked over to him briefly from where he was stood at the side of the settee, a look of uncertain anger in his eyes as he pointed a gun at Andy, who had his arms up. Andy chanced a quick wave at Ianto where he stood with the tray. “Can I stop looking after him now?” he asked hopefully, his complexion a little paler than Ianto remembered. “I'm thinking it didn't go all that well to be honest.”

“Ianto, what's happening here?” Jack demanded. “It's retcon. I can tell. I never wake up disoriented like that.” No, he really didn't, and Ianto realised he might have been able to predict this if he'd dared to give it much thought.

Calmly, Ianto put the tray down, and walked over to Jack, putting a hand over the gun and looking into his eyes. “It's all right. I'm going to remind you,” he said, and amazingly Jack trusted him. Behind him, there was movement, and he couldn't stop Jack from raising the gun again, his gaze switching to Andy with a definite dangerous warning.

“Whoa!” Andy said in alarm. “Okay! Not moving!”

“Are you all right?” Jack asked in concern, trying to look at both Andy and Ianto at the same time. It was such an unexpected question that Ianto blinked for a second in confusion, and then he smiled, feeling warm, though his growing sense of responsibility wasn't helped by Jack's worry at all.

“Yes. I'm all right,” he said reassuringly, then felt immediately guilty for what he had done. “I think you'd better sit down,” he said, swallowing in nervous dread. Maybe he should get the gun away from Jack before he started? Happily, Jack didn't seem to mind swapping the gun for a cup of coffee, and Ianto put the gun safely out of reach. Then he took a deep breath and began.

“Do you remember that we went hunting?” Ianto began hesitantly, and Jack frowned, sighing as he tried to recall it. After a moment, he reached out and ran his forefinger over Ianto's cheek, then his eyes dropped and he shook his head slightly.

“There was blood,” Jack said vaguely. “My blood. All over you.” Ianto nodded in encouragement.

“What did you do with the shirt?” Jack asked, his voice low with suddenly remembered desire, and Ianto smiled.

“I threw it away,” he replied quietly. It had been completely ruined. Jack sighed in disappointment. “Do you remember the club?” Ianto asked then, pressing forward, and Jack frowned again.

“It went into the men's room. We followed it.” Ianto nodded, and then Jack grinned at him wolfishly. Ianto tried not to edge away, knowing what had to be coming next. Jack didn't need his help now. “Afterwards, we went outside, and...” Jack paused, and looked over at Andy who hadn't moved. “He found it.” Andy nodded at him. “So we brought it back here along with him. I called Owen. It wasn't dead but then it was an autopsy in the end. You...” A look of sheer betrayal came over Jack's face, and Ianto closed his eyes.

“Why?” he demanded, and Ianto opened his eyes meekly, a kind of cornered desperation making him tell the truth.

“It... I... That is, I wanted to make a list of the victims. The Weevils kill people, Jack. I just wanted to,” he paused and shrugged miserably at Jack's obvious anger. “I just wanted to make a list, for them.”

“And you had to retcon me to do that?” Jack asked, ice in his voice.

“I needed his help.” Ianto looked around for Andy for support, and found he had seated himself a respectable distance away from them at one of the monitors. “Admittedly, it sounded a lot more justified in my head...” He gulped, unable to say anything else.

“I remember something else,” Jack said coolly. “You're fired.”

Now was the time. Ianto took a deep breath and in the end he didn't dare to try and tempt Jack, but his earlier intention was in his eyes. It must be, because Jack looked him up and down as if considering, before finally shaking his head, and Ianto's heart fell into his shoes.

“No,” Jack said, and Ianto leaned forward to rest his head in his hands. This wasn't going how he had hoped at all. The silence between them was awful. Ianto needed so much to break it, but there wasn't anything to say. There wasn't any defence he could give for what he'd done.

“You'd owe me something if I let you get away with this,” Jack suggested at last, and Ianto knew. That little bit of mercy! Oh, he knew that Jack had engineered his agreement, but he just couldn't help giving it.

“Yes,” he said instantly, not looking up, willing to agree to anything to stay.

“Promise me anything,” Jack said as if reading his mind, and Ianto did look up at that. There was no escape from it, and though he had some idea what trouble he might be getting into, he couldn't deny it was kind of exciting. He licked his lips.

“Okay,” he said nervously. “Anything.” Something in Jack's eyes lit up as though he had won, and Ianto swallowed, but Jack didn't seem to want to take him up on it right away.

“So, you retconned me to spend time alone with a policeman?” Jack questioned, changing the subject slightly. Ianto wanted to smile, but settled for a little shrug.

“Well, when you put it like that, it sounds –”

“You've got a thing for coats as I remember,” Jack said, teasing. “It's not the yellow jacket, is it? Because, even for role play, I really don't think I could...” He grimaced. “You know.”

“It's not the coat,” Ianto said, laughing a little.

“Good. What is it then?” Jack queried, raising his eyebrows a little.

“Nothing!” Ianto denied the idea vehemently.

“Well, thanks!” Andy's voice floated over to them, proving that he'd been eavesdropping all along. Ianto rolled his eyes.

“Stay out of this,” Ianto warned, and got a reply back in stereo from Andy and Jack.

“No,” they both said, and Ianto saw something in Jack's eyes that he really wished he hadn't seen.

“You owe me,” Jack said with a grave nod.

“Yes,” Ianto whispered back faintly.

“Anything,” Jack reminded him. Ianto nodded with a gulp.

“Something from the list,” Jack said in smug satisfaction, sitting back as he allowed Ianto to draw his own conclusions. Oh, yes, because one of the things on Jack's list was predictable, wasn't it?

“Oh, you wouldn't,” he said, almost pleading, but there was no mercy.

“I was hoping for Owen,” Jack said in consideration, folding his arms as though the discussion was over. “Was even thinking we might have to go with Gwen since you and Owen seem to want to kill each other most of the time. But this is just perfect. I mean, I'll bet he's even brought his own handcuffs.” Ianto shook his head, and Jack's eyes moved away from him for a moment to Andy.

“Have you?” Jack called out, and Ianto heard the sound of steel as Andy undoubtedly held the handcuffs up in answer. Jack laughed.

“Oh, God...” Ianto began, and then realised he didn't know how to carry on. “Jack... when I said – “

“Anything,” Jack broke in with a little smirk.

“Yeah, that,” Ianto said carefully. “When I said that I thought it might be something kind of... private?” Now it seemed foolish. This was Jack. Promising Jack anything was like promising the devil. You were sure to regret it.

“Why?” Jack asked him, as if it were a completely reasonable request he was making.

“Good question,” Ianto said, seeing the fault in his own logic regarding the promise he'd given. “Erm...” As he searched around for something to say, Jack moved one hand and began to undo Ianto's shirt. There wasn't even a hint of seduction, and Ianto just watched in shocked stillness. “Oh, God.” There really wasn't anything else to say.

“Notice he doesn't say no,” Jack pointed out as Andy came over to join them on the settee, sitting at the other side of him as Jack nudged his shirt out of the way, and ran warm fingertips over his chest.

“I was noticing,” Andy said, just watching Jack's hand. Ianto looked down just as Jack's thumb brushed over his nipple, and bit his lip. He raised his eyes again only to find Andy was looking at him now. “Are you going to say no?” Andy asked.

Something about his mind wasn't working right. He'd promised this. Jack had made him promise. And then there was this kind of amusement in Andy's eyes. “I wouldn't give you the satisfaction,” he said at last, still trying to think as Andy laughed.

“I think you'll find that satisfaction is exactly what you're going to give me if you carry on.” Ianto raised his hands to his face, the movement nudging Jack's hand away. Before he could breathe again, Jack was pulling at his hands with a smirk and holding them so that Andy could take off his shirt. Ianto looked at Jack with a kind of desperation.

“You're not going to help me, are you?” he asked hopelessly.

Jack chuckled. “No way.”

“Great,” he said, feeling put upon, and also something else he wouldn't admit for the world. They couldn't make him admit to anything at all.

“I told you I'd get you,” Andy said.

“On the numbers I've won two out of three,” Ianto pointed out with a sigh. “I'm winning.”

“Are you sure?” Andy asked, and Ianto really wasn't. He had a sneaking suspicion that it was neither of them. Actually, he had a sneaking suspicion that Jack was winning. “Who wants these?” Andy jangled the handcuffs, and Ianto drew in a deep breath, but Jack beat him to it.

“I really think it should be him,” Jack said, and Ianto gave him a betrayed look.

“Me too,” Andy said with a grin. That seemed to be settled. Ianto wondered how long it was before they could expect any of the other team members to come in, and wondered if Jack would even be bothered.


To be continued...


Author’s Note: Thank you for reading, I hope you’re enjoying it.