Torchwood: Fanfic: On the run

[m_findlow]

Title: On the run
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack, Ianto
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 644 words
Content notes: Major spoilers for the new Big Finish audio play "The Conspiracy".The story belongs to David Llewellyn, I'm just filling in a little canon gap at the end.
Author notes: Written for m_findlow's prompt "Torchwood, any, forced to go into hiding" at fic_promptly
Summary: Jack won't leave this time without first saying goodbye.

The rest of the team were oblivious to Jack's dealings with George Wilson. All he'd said was that he was looking into something, and that they didn't need to worry about it. These days, they'd just learned to go along with it. Jack would keep his secrets and that was that. If he needed their help he'd ask for it.

Apart from a pack of weevils wreaking havoc in Debenhams, it had been an altogether quiet day. Which is why at seven o'clock the only one left at the hub was Ianto. He pottered around for a while, tidying and finishing up a few things, waiting for Jack to return. He'd said it might be a late one but that didn't matter. Eight o'clock came and went, as did nine o'clock. By ten, Ianto had reasoned that Jack wasn't making an appearance any time soon and headed home.

While he and the rest of the team slept, they were blissfully unaware of what was happening nearby. Jack standing at the foot of the Skypoint construction site, witnessing Sam being murdered. Jack returning to the hub and watching the faked suicide video. Jack breaking into Wilson's hotel room to interrogate then man about The Committee. Jack being shot, lying paralysed and bleeding on the floor as Kate murdered Wilson and admitted that The Committee was real.

Now Jack could hear the sirens and knew had less than half an hour to get out of the city before every authority was on his tail.

Ianto was still sleeping in the early hours of the morning when a hand brushed the side of his face, waking him.

'Jack?'

Jack didn't respond, just smiled sadly and turned away, headed to the closet. He shucked off his coat and that was when Ianto saw the huge bloodstained hole in Jack's upper back.

'Jesus Christ, Jack! What happened?'

'No time to explain,' Jack replied, already stripping off his shirt and replacing it with a fresh one from Ianto’s closet. 'I have to leave town. I need your car and your laptop.'

Ianto had dozens of questions but the tone of Jack's voice silenced them all.

'George Wilson was murdered in his hotel room by a group called The Committee. They've set it up to look as if I killed him. I need you to get hold of the CCTV for St David's hotel and get rid of it. No time for fancy editing, just scrub the whole lot. And any surrounding street cameras too. Oh, and you'll need to wipe my DNA profile so the police can't match the blood back to me. They also murdered a kid called Sam Hallett. Don't let the police write him off as a suicide. I'm going to find The Committee and put a stop to them, but they can't know where I am.'

Ianto was struggling to keep up as Jack moved from the bedroom to the study, grabbing the laptop and tucking it under his arm, then reaching for the car keys left on the side table.

'I've left a message for the team at the hub. Make sure they get it. No phone contact either, they already traced my phone. I'm not sure how long I'll be gone. Don't come looking for me, or them. These people are incredibly dangerous.'

He stopped for a moment, putting down the laptop and cupping Ianto's face.

'I promise I'll come back for you. I don't know when, but I will. Stay strong for the team. They'll need you to hold them together. And be safe.'

The whole exchange from Jack's arrival to departure lasted less than five minutes. With a chaste kiss, he was gone, disappearing in a blur of coattails out the door.

I wasn't until he was alone again that it sunk in. Jack might be gone for a very long time.

Comments

[bk_forever]

Very effective!

[m-findlow.livejournal.com]

He made the mistake of rushing off and not saying goodbye last time. He won't make the same mistake again in case he never gets another chance to say it.

[bk_forever]

Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks ;)