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According to Ianto’s watch it had been six hours and thirty-seven minutes since he’d last been in the hub. The first alarm of the day had come shortly after lunch, and the team had bundled into the SUV. A report had come in from the Penarth police of several human-like creatures with hideous faces roaming the streets. Tosh had immediately informed Jack, who decided the entire team was needed to track down the three weevils that had decided to become more vicious and visible than usual.
"It’s always the fucking weevils." Owen grumbled, as he closed the rear passenger door. Jack didn’t say anything as he slid into the driver’s seat and turned the key in the ignition. Gwen had taken the front passenger seat which meant Owen, Tosh, and Ianto were crammed into the back.
The ride was relatively silent, except for an occasional exasperated sigh from the back seat; the annoyed glances from Tosh, who was seated next to Owen, kept him from making any further comments. None of them were happy to have to chase down weevils in the middle of the day.
As the SUV reached the edge of town, everyone was thrown forward in their seats when Jack stepped on the brake, hard, to avoid hitting the weevil that had appeared right in front of them. Owen and Gwen removed their seatbelts, and were out of the vehicle a moment later.
"Try not to kill it." Jack called after them, having rolled down his window. "Herd it back to the sewers if you can." A quick wave from Owen acknowledged Jack’s order, and he watched them disappear around a corner, pulling their guns out … just in case.
Tosh slid from the middle seat into the spot vacated by Owen, and referred to her PDA. "The report said there were three of the creatures in different locations. I’m guessing that one was reported on Glebe Street which means there are two more near Stanwell Road."
Ianto gripped the door to keep from falling over as Jack took a hard left at the next street, only letting go when Jack pulled up next to the curb and cut the engine. All three stepped out of the vehicle, scanning the area for any possible weevil activity.
"They’re most likely hiding in the alleys," Jack said, noting the gaps between buildings where the businesses and residents usually kept their rubbish and wheelie bins. As Jack began walking toward one alley a movement in the corner of his eye made him pull his gun from his holster; he carefully peeked around the nearest corner. Seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he continued down the street with Ianto following, his gun also in his hand, and Tosh bringing up the rear.
"Keep an eye on the reports that come in, Tosh. I want to know where these things are as soon as possible." Jack instructed. He had barely entered the next alleyway when he heard a tell-tale growl coming from just in front of him and to his right. Ianto raised his gun as he followed the captain into the shadowy walkway, wrinkling his nose in disgust at the smell of rotting food and the sight of stains littering the ground and walls of the buildings on either side of him. Another growl caught his attention, and he focused on the sound instead of the deplorable surroundings.
Suddenly, a disfigured hand came swinging from behind the nearest wheelie bin, almost catching Jack in the face. He quickly sidestepped the attack and aimed his gun, but the weevil started to run away instead of continuing the attack. He lowered his weapon and ran after it, his coat flying up behind him. Before he reached the end of the alley, however, the weevil disappeared out of sight. Ianto caught up to Jack, and saw the manhole cover lying on the ground next to an opening to the sewers.
"Right. One down, two to go." Jack said, holstering his gun. "Tosh, has there been any update on the sightings?"
She glanced down at her PDA and replied, "No, but there should be one more around here."
"Okay. Ianto, can you get that cover back on? Tosh and I will head down the street to try to find the other." Jack tapped the comm. device in his left ear. "Gwen? Owen? Give me your status." He listened for a moment, then replied, "Good. As soon as that’s taken care of, meet us on …"
"Stanwell Road," Tosh filled in, tapping her own comm. link to supply the information directly to Gwen.
At the fourth alley, Jack found the last weevil crouched behind another smelly wheelie bin. It looked up in surprise at the sound of a gun being cocked. The weevil looked around, trying to find a way to escape, but seeing none it lunged at Jack and knocked him to the ground with the force of its weight. Tosh raised her weapon as it ran toward her, its teeth bared and growling. Before it could reach her, however, a shot rang out and the weevil toppled to the ground, revealing Ianto behind it. Just as Jack was getting to his feet, Gwen and Owen ran up to the group, panting from exertion.
As Ianto lowered the gun, he placed a hand on Tosh’s shoulder. "Are you alright?"
"Yes. Thanks." she said, her shaky voice betraying the fear inside, though her eyes looked up at Ianto in gratitude.
"Everything taken care of?" Jack asked Gwen and Owen.
"Yeah," Gwen replied, still breathing heavily from the run.
"It was a bloody nuisance getting it to go into the open drain pipe, too." Owen added.
"Ianto?"
"All secure."
"Good. Let’s head back."
As the group walked back to the SUV, trading details on the weevil hunt, a loud pinging noise started coming out of Tosh’s jacket. She pulled out her PDA again, which had a remote rift detector program, and tapped the screen a couple of times with her stylus.
"Let me guess," Owen snarked, "the rift just spat out another piece of alien shit, and we have to clean up the mess." He looked at Tosh for confirmation as Ianto rolled his eyes.
She looked up at the team staring at her, waiting for the bad news. "Sorry."
"Where is it at?" Ianto asked.
"Right in the middle of Cardiff."
The team piled back into the SUV, Gwen and Owen both grumbling at the fact that Ianto had claimed the front seat, and headed back to town. The location of the rift spike took them to Queen Street. An initial inspection by Jack revealed nothing out of the ordinary, while Tosh calculated that the energy was coming from below. An hour and forty-eight minutes of walking through rat infested, disgusting sewers later, the team found something; definitely not from earth, and really pissed off. The slimy, multiple tentacles were beside the point, as it also had four very large mouths, each one filled with extremely sharp teeth that were apparently excellent at shredding clothing, not to mention flesh.
Fifty-three minutes, one extremely large gun, five sets of torn clothing, and one very dead alien later, the team stumbled back to the SUV, dripping with slime, sweat, and a little blood, and piled back in. Ianto noticed the strange looks they were receiving from shoppers on the street, who wondered what in the world had happened, as noted by the raised eyebrows and barely hushed whispers. Ianto sighed as he closed the door and the vehicle pulled away from the curb. He was not looking forward to cleaning all the mucous off the upholstery.
It took exactly six minutes and twenty-nine seconds for the SUV to pull into the garage and the door to close. The time seemed to have flown by with the buildings outside, and the people walking the street, unaware of the threat they never knew they lived with. And yet, back at the hub, Ianto glanced at his watch and noted that it clicked along at its normal pace, reminding him that time was a steady constant.
~~
A flurry of paperwork and cleanup dominated the next few hours; after Owen had cleaned and bandaged the multiple, minor wounds on everybody’s bodies, despite the protests that everything was fine. Tosh was working on a computer program to identify the types of alien artifacts they might encounter, based on the energy readings given by the object; Gwen was scouring police reports for any possible alien intervention; and Ianto had spent the better part of an hour scrubbing out the interior of the SUV, disinfecting and cleaning it until it smelled almost new. Jack was alone in his office fielding a phone call that had him yelling, which was never a good sign.
At 8:30 pm Gwen left, saying she had to meet Rhys for a late dinner, and Owen and Tosh followed shortly after. Ianto brought a fresh cup of black coffee into Jack’s office, setting it down on the desk, and sat in the chair opposite the captain, loosening his tie in the process. He sighed as he rubbed his temple, and ran a hand through his hair, looking up at Jack, who was reclined in his chair and watching Ianto’s every move.
"Does it get any easier? The job?" Though he hated to admit his vulnerability, Ianto was a little shaken by having taken a life, albeit alien.
Jack leaned forward, his eyes searching Ianto’s. "No."
"There’s so much death—"
Jack raised an eyebrow as Ianto continued, "Wouldn’t it be better for people to know what’s out there, and to learn how to deal with it themselves?"
"How would that be better for people? Knowing that the things of fantasy and nightmare are real?"
"You’ve always said that the twenty-first century is when everything changes."
Jack leaned back in his chair. "So I have." Ianto looked at the intense blue eyes staring back at him for a moment, before lowering his gaze. Jack knew that Ianto had had a difficult day; killing always took a toll on the mind. He stood up from his chair and walked around his desk to stand in front of Ianto, reaching down to unclench his hands and pull him out of his chair. Jack wrapped his arms around Ianto in a comforting hug while Ianto leaned into Jack’s body, feeling the tension start to slip out of his shoulders. He always felt more at ease with Jack’s strong arms around him, almost as if Jack was keeping him safe from the dangers of the world.
Jack loosened his hold, and slid one hand down Ianto’s arm, pulling him gently into the main part of the hub.
"Jack?" Ianto asked, uncertain of where they were going. His body was tingling from his close contact with Jack, and he wanted him back in his arms.
Jack stepped onto the lift, leading Ianto to stand in front of him, Jack’s arms coming around from behind to hold him close. With a few taps to his wrist-strap, the lift began to rise. "I need to show you something." Ianto unconsciously hit the top of his stopwatch, out of habit, through the fabric of his jacket.
The lift was about halfway to the surface when Jack started running his hands down the front of Ianto’s chest, though never going below the waist of his trousers. A clear night sky with faintly twinkling stars greeted them as the lift came to a stop. Ianto tried to step onto the Plas, but Jack forestalled the motion by trapping Ianto in an embrace and pinning Ianto’s arms to his side.
"Tell me what you see." The sensation of wandering fingers was making it hard for Ianto to concentrate.
"I see…" Ianto gasped, as one hand slid down the front of his trousers, brushing against his hardening cock, "… Cardiff."
Jack chuckled in his ear, "Look closer."
Just then, a mass of people erupted from the Millennium Centre with a wave of sound, words becoming jumbled in the crowd. Some were even singing loudly, the laughter of friends mocking them.
Jack released the top button of Ianto’s trousers and slowly lowered the zip, the sound echoing in Ianto’s ear louder than the noise surrounding him. As Jack pulled out Ianto’s hardened cock, he whispered. "This is why we fight."
"Th-the people…"
"Can’t see us." Jack finished, starting to stroke back and forth. His other hand was on Ianto’s chest, holding him close, almost as if he were trying to keep Ianto captive, though Ianto wouldn’t dare step off the lift in his state of undress.
"The people all around us go to work, have families, walk their dogs, go to concerts, and fuck—" Jack squeezed at the base, causing Ianto’s breath to catch in his throat, "—without having to worry about what is coming to kill them. They live unaware of the danger that surrounds them, that an unlucky step down the wrong alley, or touching a seemingly random object, could change their lives forever. For the worse."
Jack sped up his tempo as Ianto reached his left hand back to grip Jack’s thigh in an effort to hold himself upright, his right coming up to his chest to cover the hand that held him. "Look at them, Ianto."
Ianto’s eyes snapped open, not sure when he’d closed them.
"We, Torchwood – Owen, Tosh, Gwen, you and I – we allow these people to have ‘normal’ lives." Ianto’s breath was coming in short gasps, and Jack knew he was close. "We sacrifice our lives because it’s necessary for the rest of the world to believe they are alone in the vastness of space."
"Jack?" Ianto whispered harshly, his eyes watching the crowd of people rush past him.
"Their lives are the reason we fight." Jack twisted at the head, his hand flying back and forth while Ianto gripped Jack hard on the thigh, fingers digging into cotton and muscle. A couple of people glanced his way, as though they could see something, but their gaze seemed to pass right through him and they looked away; seeing but not seeing.
Jack could feel the pinch of fingernails driving into his skin, sure to leave a bruise. His mouth was right next to Ianto’s ear, so that Ianto could feel every hot breath that Jack took. "You are the reason I fight."
Ianto groaned under his breath as he climaxed into Jack’s hand, the pressure releasing, and elation coursing through his body. He trembled and drew ragged breaths, as Jack held him tightly to his own body, feeling Jack’s desire against him. The crowd that had once filled the Plas had dwindled to a few people who lagged behind, but quickly disappeared from sight as the lift drew them below the surface. Ianto hadn’t noticed when Jack triggered the descent, blissfully unaware of anything but the pleasure of release, and Jack’s strong arms around him.
When they reached the bottom, Jack spun Ianto and captured his lips in a kiss that was hot and needy, full of passion and want. He pulled away to look into Ianto’s eyes, pupils so wide that their black almost obscured the blue irises.
"Now do you understand?" Jack asked, his voice husky, and filled with desire and the promise of more. Ianto nodded, whether out of satiation or comprehension, he didn’t know, but it would do for now. He reached into his pocket and clicked the top of the stopwatch, noting the minutes that had passed from when they first went up the lift.
As Jack led him to the bedroom beneath Jack’s office, Ianto knew he would understand more in the next few hours, and smiled at what was to come, clicking the stopwatch into action once more.
~~The End~~