m_findlow

Title: Wrongful arrest
Fandom: Torchwood
Prompt: Arrest at hc_bingo
Wordcount: 24,947 words
Rating: M
Warnings: N/A
Summary: UNIT are on the warpath, and they've got Jack in their sights.

The sound of his phone ringing woke him from his slumber.

'Martha? Any news?' he replied sleepily.

'I've been thinking. What if he's Jack, just not Jack right now?'

Ianto blinked a few times and tried to ignore the pains shooting up and down his neck, trying to get his brain working again.

'You mean like he's an earlier version? Or a future version?'

'We know he used to be able to time travel before he met The Doctor. Could be he's here from before that timeline, or he's from the future.'

'He can't be from the future. Jack would never kill innocent people. Besides, he wouldn't risk coming here knowing that he could run into his past self. Last time that happened he made sure Torchwood froze him to prevent him meeting himself.'

'Okay,' Martha stopped to let the concept sink in. 'So if we rule out a future version, we must be dealing with a past version. Presumably a version that hasn't met The Doctor yet.'

'Might explain the killing part,' Ianto mused.

'But even that doesn't make any sense. If Jack had done this in his past, he'd remember it right? Why wouldn't he stop it from happening?'

'Maybe he can't. If it doesn't happen in his past, his future self might be at risk.'

'Surely he would have warned us! If only I could get in there and ask him! UNIT are still blocking my attempts.'

Ianto's mind drifted while Martha continued to speak.

'Wait, if we really are dealing with Jack from the past, then how do we prove it? And what do we do about it?'

'We have to find him or course!' Martha declared.

'And in doing so we could alter Jack's future, permanently. Who knows what might happen? Plus, he can't meet us, either of us. We'd be altering Jack's timeline.'

Martha leaned back against her desk wearily. 'I hadn't thought of that. So what do we do?'

'I don't know, but first thing's first. You need to get in and speak to Jack, and find out if we really are dealing with another version of him in this timeline. I'll extend the search on local CCTV. I only had it searching the hours they claimed he wasn't at the hub. If there is another Jack in Cardiff right now, we'll find him.'

'How do you know he'll return to Cardiff?'

'The rift's here, so that's where Jack will head. I'm sure of it.'

Jack was left stewing in his cell for a lot longer than he'd expected. Whatever was happening, they clearly weren't in a hurry to ask him about it. That in itself was concerning. No questions meant they had enough evidence to back up their charge.

Eventually he heard a metallic voice issue from the corner of the cell.

The prisoner will stand and prepare for questioning.

Finally, he thought, pulling himself up off the floor.

His visitor was not who he expected. Colonel Oduya, chief in command at UNIT.

'You really are pulling out all the stops for me. What's the occasion?'

'I really don't see how you can sit there and make light of your actions, Captain.'

'Well maybe I'd take them more seriously if I knew what they actually were,' he replied, crossing his arms defensively.

The colonel opened the file in his arms and read aloud from its pages.

'One count of breaking and entering a secure UNIT facility, one count of theft, six counts of aggravated assault, three counts of murder, and one count of high treason against the Crown. Not that the charges are being made official just yet.'

Jack narrowed his eyes. 'You're going to have to be more specific.'

'You have the audacity to tell me that you have no recollection of breaking in last night, stealing classified alien technology and killing three UNIT officers in the process?'

'You've been misinformed.'

'Perhaps I could show you the CCTV footage of your escapades? Would that change your mind?' he responded, flipping around a tablet contained inside his folder.

Jack's expression remained inscrutable as he witnessed his own face doing the impossible. No, not impossible, just highly improbable. There were a dozen other explanations for it.

'That's not me.'

'Are you sure?'

'Come on! Seriously? It's a shape-shifter or a clone or something.'

'DNA evidence left at the scene would suggest otherwise. And your whereabouts last night? Just for the record, of course.'

Now Jack was annoyed.

'Cardiff. Wales. Asleep in bed with my boyfriend.'

'Ah yes, Mr Jones. We'll be wanting to question him as well. But not just now. We're still waiting for the official authority to shut down Torchwood before we take him into custody. I can assume he was either a willing accomplice, or your alibi. Either way, the truth will out. And as for Gwen Cooper, we understand that she is currently out of the country, so for the moment she is being cleared of any involvment. However should we find evidence to the contrary, she too will be arrested.'

'You've got the wrong guy. You're wasting your time asking me what happened.'

'I don't doubt it,' Oduya replied, turning and exiting the cell, leaving Jack alone once more.

Ianto's phone call to the Home Office had gone down about as well as he'd expected. Bridget Spears had railroaded him, insisting that Mr Frobisher wouldn't be taking any calls until he'd been fully briefed by UNIT personnel about the reported incident. If he could forward a copy of his own report, Mr Frobisher would attend to it in due course.

Of course he didn't have a report. He didn’t even know what the hell was going on, and Bridget knew it. She was the gatekeeper, and this was revenge for all the times Ianto had prevented Frobisher's annoyed calls from reaching Jack. Bridget didn't like Jack, that wasn't in dispute, but she had a modicum of respect for Ianto, if for no other reason than he had the good sense to use diplomacy. Today however, diplomacy was getting him nowhere, so he still had a full head of steam when the next call came through.

'Colonel Oduya here from UNIT.'

'Colonel,' Ianto greeted warily.

'I'm sure by now that you're aware that we have Jack Harkness in custody.'

'I am.'

'Good. Then you'll understand that I'll be despatching a team to the Torchwood facility within the next 24 hours to assume control of Torchwood and conduct a thorough search for the stolen item and anything else that might be deemed to be of evidentiary value.'

He'd been dreading this moment. There was always a chance they might try it on, but he hadn't expected them to be shipping out a team that quickly. He needed more time.

'Jack might be under arrest but the only one who can rescind his appointment as leader of Torchwood is her Majesty. Protocol also dictates that in the event that Jack is incapacitated, Gwen Cooper and I have authority to act as temporary leader of Torchwood, so for now you can consider me in charge. Until Jack's position is rescinded, UNIT cannot enter the Torchwood facility without express permission. And I can guarantee you, that's not going to happen.'

'Merely paperwork, but his position is easily terminated.'

'You think so?' came Ianto's response. 'If you hold him without trial, without conviction, the Queen has no power to rescind. You haven't even reviewed all the evidence, let alone done any proper investigation. How can you so blindly believe Jack would do something like this after everything Torchwood has done? Give me time to prove it to you.'

'Mr Jones, we're both reasonable men. And we both know that Jack Harkness is volatile and egocentric. Her Majesty will not be under any illusion that he is more important than the safety of this planet. He is a liability and a danger. You've got 48 hours to make your case, for what little it's worth.'

'Then I think we're done here.' Ianto replied coldly.

'For now. But don't get too comfortable.'

Ianto let out a long breath when the call ended and noticed his hands shaking slightly. He'd sounded a lot more confident than he felt, and in their current predicament, his leadership was tenuous at best. If UNIT wanted to play hard ball, he could easily find himself stripped of position and locked out of the hub. If that happened, they'd never get Jack released. He thought about calling in Gwen, but suspected he'd need careful planning more than willful determination right now. Besides, he had Martha in his corner for the moment. That would have to be enough.

Chapter four...