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

They managed to navigate their way to the lab without running into anyone else. A couple of times they'd paused, or diverted from the most direct course, to avoid heat signatures that popped up on Ianto's PDA, but were able to reroute themselves back on track. The door to the archive was keypad and biometrically locked.

'May I?' John asked.

'Can you do it without showing off?'

'Very droll,' John quipped.

A few seconds later John had keyed his vortex manipulator, pressed his palm against the reader, and the locked beeped open.

Ianto hated being slightly impressed and slightly horrified at how easy he made it look. Even Tosh would have struggled for nearly a minute before being able to crack a lock like that.

He took one final look back down the corridor before they both slipped inside.

The large spacious room was filled with floor the ceiling shelving, blocking off access to other rows completely, except for one passage that cut across all rows perpendicular.

'Which one?'

'They all look the same to me.'

He had a point. If there was method to the filing system here, Ianto failed to see it. Then again, nothing would ever quite meet his own high standard. In a single glance, he could tell a well structured and logical filing system from one that was far more ad hoc.

'Needle in a haystack,' Ianto muttered, more to himself than anything. He was surveying the room before making his next move when something flickered and caught his eye, causing him to spin around.

'What is it?'

'Nothing. Just a broken fluorescent tube,' he confirmed, watching the poor overhead light in the third row sputtering sadly, trying to hold onto life and failing.

'Wait, I remember that!' John said, dashing for the aisle.

He was turning the shelves upside down when Ianto caught up with him, files and boxes discarded on the floor around his feet.

'Good to see you employing the methodical approach,' he observed. John growled in frustration.

'It's not here.'

'What do you mean, it's not here?'

'Someone must have moved it.'

'Great.' Ianto pulled out his PDA. 'What kind of trace should I be looking for? I don't even know what it looks like.'

'Try an ion resonance. It's about the size and shape of a tube of lipstick, so the trace might be faint.'

Ianto keyed his PDA with the instructions and frowned. 'No good, there's dozens of readings, here and in several other locations. It'll take all night to check them all. Can't we narrow it?'

'It came through with me, so there should be some residual rift energy as well.'

Ianto tried again, adding the parameter to his scan. This time he could narrow it to four areas.

'We should split up.'

'No way,' Ianto protested.

'Look, the longer we take, the more they torture Jack. Is that what you want? You need to trust me.'

Ianto didn't trust John as far as he could kick him, but the idea of prolonging Jack's suffering was enough for now.

'Fine.' He forced the word out. 'Be careful and make sure you don't get caught.'

'I'm a time agent. We don't get caught.'

As John left, Ianto began by packing away the debris he'd left on the floor. There was no point in it looking obvious that someone had been through, looking for something they probably shouldn't be.

He tracked the first signal to the far end of the room he was already in. In a stainless steel containment box sat a large ovoid shaped object, about the size of a grapefruit. That clearly wasn't what they were after.

The second signal was a floor further down. He got lost twice, the schematics obviously out of date, and the floor having since been renovated and remodelled. Even the stairwell wasn't where it was supposed to be. He carefully disabled cameras all along the path to his destination.

The hallway seemed to be filled with office suites. Small brass plaques adorned each door, noting who the occupant was, and their military rank. It made sense, since this was the Ministry of Defence. What chance that someone from higher up could have moved it? It seemed unlikely but he checked anyway. Perhaps someone more junior had discovered it and passed it up the line. Or it could have just been another wild goose chase. These doors were fitted only with simple Yale locks, so Ianto was easily able to pick it open and step inside.

The interior was set out just as Ianto expected. All strict military precision. A bookshelf lining one wall, books neatly stacked on its shelves. A plain desk, with a computer and blotter. Nothing extraneous on it. Everything tidied and filed away. Two chairs sat opposite the owner's, but it was otherwise spartan. All military types were the same in their unforgiving fastidiousness.

Well, all except Jack. He'd served in several military outfits, but had somehow never mastered tidiness and order. How he'd made it through inspections over the years was anyone's guess. Ianto was fairly sure he didn't even know what a hospital corner was, let alone having ever folded one.

The neatness of the office made it easy to find the object. All he had to do was think where he would have put it. Another small act of deft criminal lockpicking and, lo and behold, in the now unlocked drawer of the desk, was the object. Only it wasn't what Ianto was expecting.

Instead of John's wayward device, he found a very nasty laser weapon. Forty-third century. They had two similar ones back at the hub, tucked safely away in the secure archives. Flat and disc-shaped, lightweight, with multi-directional laser points, timer settings and capable of causing a lot of damage. Designed purely to be set and left on the field of battle for your enemies to find. It was the futuristic version of a claymore mine.

How it had come to be here was a complete mystery. It shouldn't be here, Ianto reasoned. He was sorely tempted to pocket it right here and now. It's what Jack would have done. He wouldn't have let it out of his sight for a minute longer, knowing what it was capable of.

Well, that discounted both of his targets. He had to hope John was having more luck.

God knows what else MoD might have here. Out of curiosity he took out his PDA again and set up a new search with a few very specific parameters. The screen lit up like a Christmas tree. Oh yeah, when this was over, they were coming back here to do a full audit. He was already composing in his head the very stern letter to the Home Office, asking them for a "please explain" for the very exotic contents kept here. It was bad enough having to let UNIT play with alien toys, and knowing there was precious little they could do about it. This time, they'd be putting their foot down.

It wasn't that John was pleased to be splitting up, he just figured he could do with a few minutes peace from his unwilling companion, and all the snide, sarcasm filled commentary. The man was a stickler, a control freak, and took himself way too seriously. It was fortunate he was at least easy on the eyes. Given the wastage rates of Torchwood employees, he really should spend more time out enjoying life, what little of it there was likely to be, John decided.

Despite the reprieve from his accomplice, after about ten minutes on his own he actually began to miss the company. Or maybe just the attention. It was so hard to tell the difference. He was doubly disappointed not to be able to show off his skills in breaking through several electronically locked doorways that stood in his path. He had a natural flair for breaking in and breaking out of things, aided by plenty of practical experience.

'Who says I can't do delicate,' he declared proudly, hearing the gentle hiss of a hydraulic lock giving in to his commands.

He swept into the room and looked around. It was a lab of some sort, but accommodated more computers than test tubes. It's purpose was clearly more technical. He couldn't help but peruse the items sitting on desks and next to diagnostic equipment, determining if there was anything else worth plundering while he was there. It was whilst he was doing this, that he almost wandered straight past his intended target.

'There you are,' he said, cradling the object in his palm. 'What a lot of trouble you've caused. But soon it'll all be over. You get a new home and I get my money. All of it.'

Satisfied he pocketed the device and glided back out of the room.

Chapter five...