m_findlow

Title: Trading places
Fandom: Torchwood
Prompt: Blackmail at hc_bingo
Wordcount: 13,803 words
Rating: M
Warnings: N/A
Summary: Ianto will have to team up with an unlikely ally to save Jack

Ianto was savouring the quiet morning at the hub. With Gwen and Rhys both tucked up in bed and making each other miserable, stuck at home with the flu, it was just him and Jack.

He counted himself lucky that he hadn't caught it as well. It seemed half of Cardiff was suffering from it, and winter was showing no sign of ending anytime soon.

He was actually quite enjoying it just being the two of them, even though he knew he shouldn't. If he could, he'd have had Owen and Tosh back in a heartbeat.

Suddenly the peace and quiet seemed empty, and he almost would have preferred to hear the clattering and swearing of Owen down in autopsy, and Tosh's keyboard gently clicking away. Too many ghosts, and not enough flesh and blood human beings to keep him company.

As if sensing his current state of emotional isolation, the rift monitor began bleeping madly at him. Checking the readings, he was surprised to find that they were originating right by the quayside, just outside the tourist information office.

Be careful what you wish for, Jones.

He pulled up the nearby CCTV to see what had caused the disturbance. Moments later he had his answer. A familiar figure was stood there in a dirty red military style jacket. John Hart.

Ianto's fingers flashed expertly across his phone, whilst his eyes remained fixed on the live video feed, texting Jack. "Your pal from the time agency is here. Get here when you can. I."

So much for my quiet morning, Ianto thought, grabbing his gun and heading upstairs.

Hart had his back to Ianto when he slipped silently through the door, appearing to be perusing a nearby stand of brochures like a lost tourist.

'Hands up and where I can see them,' he ordered, his gun firmly fixed on Hart.

John took his time turning around, slowly raising his arms and grinning impishly.

'Only my hands?'

Ianto couldn't help but roll his eyes. Nothing's changed then, he thought. Still same old John.

'Why are you here?'

'You really keep this place as a tourist office?' he asked, looking around and picking up a glittery snow globe with a dragon inside. 'Someone's got too much time on their hands. Doesn't Jack keep you busy enough? If I'd known, I'd have come by sooner.'

Ianto repeated his question. 'Why are you here?'

'I thought I'd come visit. No one ever calls, no one ever writes me. Haven't you missed me Eye Candy?'

'No.'

'Well, see now I'm just hurt.'

'My heart bleeds for you,' Ianto replied coldly. 'Jack's not here, so you can leave. I'll let him know you called by.'

Hart sighed, 'And now we get to the pointy end of things. I know he's not here.'

Ianto's brow furrowed in confusion. He still didn't know what John was up to, and he didn't trust him for a moment.

'Do you know where Jack is?' Hart asked.

Ianto didn't like the question. It wasn't so much that his honest answer was that he didn't, it was the way John had asked the question that seemed to indicate he already knew the answer. And that worried him.

'He didn't come home last night, did he?'

It was true. Jack's text had said, "late one, don't wait up". Still, he'd half expected to be woken up in the middle of the night to warm arms snuggling up to him when Jack finally did return. All indications in the morning were that he hadn't been back at all. At least, he hadn't come to bed.

'How did you?' The question had fallen out of his mouth before he could stop it.

'He's been kidnapped. Held for ransom.'

'You're lying.'

'Fine, try calling him if it makes you feel better.'

Ianto kept his gun arm extended at Hart and reached for his phone with the other, hitting the speed dial.

'This is Jack Harkness. Please leave a message. The naughtier the better.'

'Dammit,' Ianto cursed. 'What have you done?'

'How about you put the gun down first? I find it very hard to concentrate when you're making me so horny with your bad cop routine.'

'Weapons on the floor. All of them,' Ianto instructed. 'Then we can talk about me not shooting you.'

'Urgh, fine,' John sighed dramatically, starting to disarm his vast collection and leave it in a pile. 'This is starting to become a habit with you people. You're not very trusting.'

'You haven't given us much reason to trust you.'

John stood up from the impressive cache and held his arms out placatingly. 'Now can we talk?'

Ianto didn't move, eyes boring into him. 'I said all of them.'

John returned his stare, smiled, and removed a further half dozen items. Ianto duly pushed them away and out of reach with his foot.

'We good now? I won't say no if you want to frisk me, maybe conduct a full cavity search. Hmm? Just to be sure?'

Ianto slowly lowered his arm. 'Start talking.'

'Thought you'd never ask. Any chance of tea and biscuits?' Ianto's gun arm started rising again. 'No? Probably best. Not really time with Jack's life in danger and all.'

Ianto moved behind the desk and sat down, eyes never leaving him. He still didn't trust Hart, but he liked the idea that there was a sturdy piece of furniture separating them, if for no other reason than to prevent him from strangling the man.

'Talk,' he ordered.

'Jack may have, accidentally,' he paused to make quotation mark fingers, 'gotten caught up in a little deal I was brokering with some Pretalsians. I had something they wanted, they could give me something I wanted.'

Ianto tried not to let his emotions show. There would be time to process later. Right now he needed information.

'They were prepared to offer me ten million Sarvian dollars for it. Eight million up front, two million on delivery. They never really were that smart with finances. After I'd procured, it I told them it wasn't enough. That I was going to need a bigger incentive.'

'You were hoping they'd offer you more money,' Ianto said flatly.

'Well, yeah,' John replied, rolling him eyes like it was the most obvious thing in the world. 'It's expensive being me. I wasn't expecting them to seal the deal with fifty two virgins, but now that I think about it...'

'Moving on,' Ianto interrupted. 'What happened?'

'When they didn't come to the table, I told them I'd passed it on to a colleague for safe keeping until they came up with a better offer.' John crossed his arms, looking pleased with himself.

'Jack.'

'No, no names. I promise. They're Pretalsians. One of the nastiest and most vengeful species in the known universe.'

'So why would you risk double crossing them?'

'Because I have a very large ego that needed stroking!' John declared, raising his voice and silencing any comment from Ianto. 'Turns out they knew more about me than I thought. They knew about me and Jack.'

He frowned at the death glare Ianto gave him. 'Back in the day,' he clarified. 'Their intel must be out of date. That's why they came here. They also think he might have been the one who I entrusted the device to.'

'He's your "bigger incentive"?'

'They'll trade his life for the device. In the meantime, they'll probably press him for information. Basically they're blackmailing me. Device or Jack dies.'

'You blackmailed them first! Lucky for you he can't die then, isn't it?'

'Oh, trust me, I'd wish death upon him,' he replied seriously. Hart began closing the distance between them, as if to emphasise the severity of the situation. 'They have the most brutal torture techniques I know. Once they know he can't die, they'll up the ante.'

'I can't believe you've brought this down on us!' Ianto growled.

'I didn't know, okay! I didn't know they knew about Jack. Why else do you think I'm here now?'

'Guilty conscience? I find that hard to believe,' Ianto snorted.

'Listen, you might not like me, but I owe Jack. And if we're going to get him out of this mess, we need to work together.'

Ianto thrust himself forward, hands pressed hard against the counter, stopping him from propelling himself further forward.

'You created this mess!'

'And now I'm here to fix it,' he replied patiently.

'And you couldn't just travel back in time and stop it from happening?'

'There's strict rules about crossing one's own timeline. Even I'm not stupid enough to mess with that. Too much chance of everything going tits up.'

Ianto felt like he was being boxed into a corner. But what choice did they have? He didn't want to entrust Jack's safety to John. He would be keeping a very close eye on him.

'Fine. But if I think you're about to double cross either of us, I won't hesitate to shoot you.'

'Glad we've got the ground rules sorted then. Anything else? Or can we get going? Picking up Gwen on the way?' John snarked, clapping his hands together enthusiastically.

'Gwen's sick. And even if she weren't, I don't know that I'd let you near her.'

'Oh, since when did you become everyone's protector?'

'Protecting you from her, more like.'

'I didn't know you cared.'

'I presume you have a plan and that it requires us, or you wouldn't be here.'

'Work in progress. At the moment we're giving them what they want. If you can figure out a way to get me the rest of my money, that would be better.'

John grinned, and Ianto hated it.

'You and me a team, Eye Candy! Isn't that exciting?'

Ianto kept his mouth shut. Just remember you're doing this to save Jack.

Chapter two...