Spook_me 2021 - Paying the price (Part five)

[m_findlow]

Title: Paying the price
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters/Pairings: Gwen, Jack, Ianto, Rhiannon, Johnny, Rhys, Andy
Author: m_findlow
Word Count: 23,181 words
Rating: M (language)
Notes: Written for spook_me 2021 Challenge - Cyborg
Summary: Something strange is occurring at Cardiff's largest discount furniture retailer.

By the time he'd gotten back out of the car and slunk towards the warehouse building, sneaking back along the side driveway, he'd lost some of his nerve. The building itself wasn't glowing quite so much now; just the odd dull flash every now and then. He guessed it had run out of bits to convert, at least for now. He wondered how many other people had bought something online and were right now being told to drop by tomorrow to come and collect.

He spotted the roller door, still sitting only a foot ajar from the ground, just the way he'd left it. No one had come out looking for him or it would have been thrown all the way up, enough for a robotic drone to easily walk through, or pulled down completely, sealing them back inside and away from prying eyes.

He knelt down, knees clicking in protest from two decades of beer and pork scratchings. Underneath the gap he couldn't see anything, so he crawled under on his belly, and scrambled over to the pile of tyres, huddling behind them as he listened for any signs that Jack was still alive in the room beyond.

As his eyes adjusted to the lack of light, something by the door caught his attention. There was Jack's coat, crumpled on the ground by the door, missing its gung-ho owner. It only cemented the idea in Johnny's mind that things had definitely gone to shit and Jack's torturous screams had indeed been fatal ones.

It occurred to Johnny only now that he didn't have a single thing to use as a weapon. He leaned tentatively forward, out from behind his pile of tyres and hooked a finger around the edge of the hem, dragging it back towards him in his little hideout. He rifled through the deep coat pockets, praying for a gun or something, even if he'd never used one in his life. Jack surely carried more weapons than just the gun he kept holstered on his belt. He was disappointed to find nothing of any use concealed inside the heavy wool garment. Jack's mobile was in one of the pockets but it was keypad locked and fingerprint enabled, so Johnny couldn't call anyone else for help. He wasn't going to wait until morning like Jack had suggested. They might not have that long.

He canvassed his options. The cyborg was too big to leave the warehouse in its current form. What would it do if it wanted to get out? Would it dismantle itself into smaller pieces, or was it waiting until it was the size of the whole warehouse and then just planning on breaking its way out, forcing the concrete and steel walls to collapse? Maybe it needed a steady power supply until it was strong enough to get by on its own. All that unleaded petrol it had stolen from cars couldn't last very long - not to power a beast that size. Perhaps he could find out where it was connected to the power and cut it off, or short circuit the thing. Maybe he could find a tap somewhere and let it run over, covering the floor with a few inches of water. Might electrocute himself in the process, but wasn't that worth it? He was just a nobody. Apart from Rhiannon and his kids, who really cared if he was around?

He pulled his phone out again and called Rhiannon.

'Oh, decided to call me back now, have you?' she greeted him, her tone settling on sarcasm rather than anger. 'Pissed, is it? Well, it'll be the sofa for you when you get home, assuming you bother to at all. Sofa all week if you don't, Johnny Davies,' she added as further threat.

Johnny swallowed down that lump in the back of his throat. Even tamping mad at him he still couldn't be swayed. 'I love you, babe. Just wanted to say. You and the kids.'

There was a derisive sound in the back of her throat. 'Well, now I know you're absolutely mulletted. Lads put you up to that, did they? Bloody hilarious. Now, you got anything else you want to say to me? Maybe like, sorry love. Sorry I'm such a useless lump. Sorry I can't even do something as simple as go out and buy a bloody fridge. Sorry I lied to you and went down the pub with the boys. Sorry I didn't even have the balls to text you and say.'

Johnny bit his lip, trying not to let his emotions get the better of him as she continued to rant and rave at him. Once she got going she was impossible to stop, but it didn't stop the tears from pricking the corner of his eyes. 'Sorry,' he finally managed to get out.

'Aye, I bet you bloody are and all. You'll be making it up to me for weeks, mark my words.'

'I'll make things right,' he promised feebly. He couldn't really. He couldn't bring Jack back for Ianto, but maybe he could stop the cyborg monster from killing anyone else. At least his kids might be proud of him for doing that.

'That all?' she asked, still managing that skeptical tone.

'Love you.'

'Yeah, love you too,' she sniped back before hanging up on him, the remaining string of expletives reserved for her ears alone.

He leaned his head back against the tyres and squeezed his eyes shut tight, trying to force the tears back inside. He needed to get his shit together before he went in there. He wiped the back of his wrist under his nose and then down his jeans, gave one huge sniff and then pushed himself up, darting around the tyres and through the loading bay door.

The delivery van that had been sitting there previously was completely gone now, save for the four tyres that now lay abandoned on the concrete floor. Everything else had been stripped and consumed.

The giant hulking machine hummed idly, but appeared to otherwise be powered down, or conserving energy. The drones were nowhere to be seen, as best he could tell, as he squinted through the darkened space which cast strange shadows all around, making him second guess everything. He tiptoed along one huge wall, looking for any signs that the cyborg was somehow plugged into some electrical power source that he could disconnect. Failing that, he hoped there was a lunchroom somewhere that had a sink he could flood.

He managed to make it all the way around one side of the building and was just turning the corner when a particularly dark spot resulted in him tripping over something. He's hands went out to break his fall but instead slammed into something cold and metal. The touch woke up the sleeping cyborg immediately and its inner workings and scrapped together shell screeched as it turned to see what had disturbed it. The huge mechanical head that had confronted them before now craned around its body and forced Johnny back into a corner as it got right up close to him. Two dozen human eyeballs sprung open, mere inches from his face. They were so close he could see the pupils dilate and the light from within the cyborg glowing out through them to illuminate him.

'Jonathan Davies,' it repeated, remembering his name.

'Aye, that's me you greak hulking shit heap. Where's Jack? What've you done with him?' He already knew the answer but he needed to hear it anyway. He tried not to think about two of those eyeballs ogling him having once belonged to Jack.

There was a bemused hum. 'He's with us now. His parts have provided extremely useful. As will yours.' It peered more closely at him. 'Not so much useful muscle as the others, but we can always find a use for the fat cells.'

Fat? Some giant alien monster calling him fat? The bloody cheek of it. It wasn't even the worst insult he'd ever been given. He'd had far worse on the rugby pitch than at that. 'Oi, well he was my brother-in-law. Bit of a pompous git sometimes, but I love him. And you went and killed him.'

'He joined us willingly.'

Johnny's fists balled up as his sides. 'Bollocks, he did.'

'You filthy organics are so emotional and dull witted. You fail to see that you can be part of something greater and that is your sole purpose for existing.'

'Torchwood will stop you!' Johnny spat back.

The cyborg chuckled. 'I know all about Torchwood now, thanks to your friend. There's nothing they can do that can stop me. Others have tried but they had far superior technology to you, and even then they could not wipe us out completely. This planet will become the base for the new empire. We will be strong enough to leave this place soon, and then nothing will stop us.'

Overhead, one of the enormous metal arms arched up and came straight towards him. With its two pincer claws it pinned him into the corner, before squeezing around his body and picking him up like he was a rag doll. This was it, he thought. His inglorious end. His arms were pressed at his sides by the metal claw, unable to do anything to free himself from them as it carried him higher up. A second clawed arm was coming to join it, preparing to dissect him for parts.

His flailing right hand found his jeans pocket and the lump of Jack's wrist strap inside it. He tugged it out, intending on tossing it as far as he could, away from the cyborg, so that if anyone from Torchwood came here, they'd know at least Jack had been here and that they'd died trying. The tiny digital display flipped open as he clutched the leather strap, and a few words lit up in red light glowed up at him. "Press me," the tiny display read, with a tiny arrow pointing at one of the three buttons lining the right hand side of the display. Johnny vacillated, trying to understand the strange message. The message disappeared and was replaced by a new one. "Just press me!"

Johnny swallowed hard and realised now why Jack had given him the  device. It wasn't for some stupid sentimental reason. It was some kind of weapon.

The cyborg's snake-like head curled around to look at him. 'Anything you'd like to say before you serve your true function?'

He looked up at the giant mechanical monster and scowled at it.

'Yeah, actually. On behalf of the filthy organics, this is me telling you you're fucked, mate.' He pressed the button on the wrist strap and squeezed his eyes tightly shut, expecting some kind of massive explosion or the end of the world.

For a few seconds, nothing at all happened, and Johnny panicked, thinking he'd assumed far too much. Maybe it had been nothing more than an emergency signal, a little red alarm light going off somewhere at the hub, signalling impending doom. It wasn't going to stop Johnny from being torn limb from limb.

Sparks began to fly from the surface of the hulking cyborg. Johnny heard a snapping sound as more sparks flew and metal parts creaked and squealed in protest.

'What have you-' the last word disappeared in a thrum of fizzing and crackling as huge pieces of metal began to fall away from the cyborg's body. There was a great clattering as metal components tumbled to the floor, the whole thing slowly disintegrating into a mangled metal mess. The claw gripping Johnny tightly around the middle fell away and he landed heavily from ten feet up, lucky not to break his back as he wound up sprawled on top of huge shards of metal. 'Aw, fuck!' he swore as sharp bits of metal poked into his body where he landed.

The clattering and clinking of metal continued around him for an age as the pile settled, pieces tumbling and drifting down the huge mound of now lifeless debris like a slag pile slipping down a mountainside, followed by the rotting stench of human remains.

He lay there in the mess of rubble for a moment, still stunned and a bit detached from reality. He raised his hand to his face, still clutching the leather wrist strap which was now as blank and lifeless as everything else. There were no more messages on its tiny screen for him. No sign from Jack that all was well; no thanks, no goodbyes. Nothing. Just Johnny lying there alone atop a mountain of dead alien.

It felt like it took forever for him to pick his way out of the pile, Sharp bits of metal snagging ihis clothes and knicking his exposed skin. Everything was sharp and jagged, or twisted bits of piping cables knotted together around his legs as he tried to clamber out of it, and everything else was made slick and treacherous by the fleshy organic bits that were no longer fused together with it.

He landed on the concrete floor with a slippery thud, and then jumped back in alarm as he came face to face with the lopsided head of the cyborg creature. The angular pile of mechanical parts was still somewhat recognisable, but the cluster of eyes were gone now. There was nothing more than a gelatinous pool on the ground where they'd melted right out of their sockets. Thinking about the humans they'd once belonged to made him sick up on the floor, adding to the pile of gloopy mess. He should have felt relieved that it was dead, but there was an emptiness inside him that twisted and writhed. It was a hollow victory because he hadn't saved anyone. They were all still dead. The cyborg had killed them all and nothing he'd done could bring them back. It felt almost wrong to have survived.

He stepped back, taking in the whole tragic sight of it, swallowed down the bile gathering at the back of his throat and then, realising there was absolutely nothing he could do, turned and walked out.

 

 

 

He didn't recall the short walk from the warehouse back to his car. It was like he was stuck in some paralysis where his mind had just stopped working, stopped processing inputs and just drifted in a haze. He sat there, just staring off into space, totally oblivious. He didn't think about having to face Rhiannon, or what he was going to say to Ianto. He didn't even think about having potentially saved the entire planet from being overrun by terrible cyborgs. His mind shut it all out, and the only thing that registered was the feel of soft leather under his fingers as he clutched Jack's wrist strap. Jack who'd died knowing that he was leaving the task to Johnny to complete. It seemed impossible to understand why Jack had to die if pressing a few buttons was all it would take. There had to be more to it. Small consolation that would be to Ianto when he found out what had happened.

He had no idea how long he sat there when eventually reality began to slowly drift back into place and time started up again. He was going to have to go home sometime and face the music. Just a few minutes more, he told himself, before he would work up the courage to start the car and drive away. He imagined he might rehearse what he'd say, but he didn't even know where to begin. He looked down at Jack's wrist strap, sighed heavily and then said 'I'm sorry.' And he really bloody was.

When he raised his head there was a white mass blocking his side window. He jumped out of his skin, thinking some part of the cyborg had survived and was coming to kill him. Except it wasn't.

Johnny could barely believe what he was seeing through his driver side window. There was Jack, alive and whole. And also absolutely butt naked. He wasn't sure what shocked him more, seeing Jack alive or getting a framed view of his family jewels which just so happened to be at exactly the same height as the driver side window. No wonder Ianto wouldn't talk about their sex life. Jack was bloody-

A fist slammed into the window, startling Johnny. 'You gonna let me in or what?' Johnny stuttered and reached over to pull up the lock, releasing the car door as Jack slowly ambled his way around the front of the car toward the other side.

Jack slid into the passenger seat, dropping his coat into his lap and at least gratefully covering the thing that made Johnny feel totally inadequate. 'You're…'

'Alive?' Jack offered when he was clearly lost for words. 'Yeah.' Jack looked at him. 'You were gonna leave without me? For shame.'

'But you were…'

'Dead? I thought we'd been through this. I always come back. Even if I've been ripped apart and melded into a cyborg central core.'

'Blimey.' Johnny let the concept sink in properly. 'And Ianto? He's okay with that?'

Jack shrugged. 'Not so much, but it's who I am. Still, better than being dead, huh?'

He didn't look dead at all. He looked just… well, normal. Johnny couldn't even wrap his head around how you do that. 'Does it hurt? All that coming back?'

Jack grimaced. 'How about we just not talk about that?'

'Er, right'. Johnny paused for a moment and then lunged across, enveloping Jack in a bear hug. 'Christ, I thought I'd left you to die.'

Jack returned the hug which was usually reserved for birthdays and Christmases. 'Nope. Just part of my plan to wipe out Cardiff's latest alien threat.'

Johnny pulled back from the hug and then punched Jack hard in the arm. 'Bastard! You could've told me!'

Jack winced and made a show of rubbing his arm which was no doubt smarting. 'There wasn't time. Besides, would it really have made a difference? I needed time for my DNA to blend with everything else. You'd have gotten trigger happy and hit the button too soon.'

'Oh, so now you admit you thought I was going to balls things up?' To be fair, Jack was probably right. 'How's it work, then? What exactly is it that you did?'

Jack nodded down at the wrist strap sitting in Johnny's lap. 'That device is hardwired to my DNA. No one else can use it unless I grant them access.'

'But I don't get it. I don't have a clue how it works.'

'You didn't need to. I pre-programmed a routine into it. One that would scramble the cyborg's main programming, disconnecting the mechanical parts from the flesh parts it needed to survive. Programming it to attack my DNA specifically, which was completely absorbed into its own. Enough to recognise the cyborg as something it needed to destroy. I'll take that back, by the way,' Jack said, snatching back his wrist strap from Johnny and dutifully wrapping it back around his wrist, bucking it in place.  

Johnny frowned at him. 'How'd you know I'd come back?' He been terrified out of his wits yet Jack had put blind faith in him that he'd come back at just that right moment to activate the program.

Jack looked at him with an earnest expression. 'Because you're family, and family sticks together.'

 

 

 

Johnny sat there with Jack in silence for a few minutes. As family moments went, this was the most bizarre one ever. After everything that had happened, Johnny found himself laughing. It was completely barmy and mental. 'Eh, look at us, Jack. Alien butt kickers, you and me!'

Jack looked less enthused at the outcome. 'Let's try not to make a habit of it. Besides, Ianto would kill me if he ever found out.'

Johnny's face fell. 'Oh, bollocks.'

'What?'

'I, um… might have panicked a bit and left him a voicemail about how a cyborg ripped you up and used you for body bits.'

Jack used a swear word Johnny had never heard him use before. Ianto had used it plenty of times, but never Jack. They both knew how much trouble they were going to be in.

'Is there any chance you can use that fancy wrist strap of yours to, you know, like, delete the message?' He figured if they could annihilate an alien cyborg, deleting a voicemail should be a piece of cake.

'It's a Torchwood phone,' Jack replied flatly. 'They're unhackable.' Jack considered their options. VWe could tell him it was a prank call. That we had a few too many and thought it would be hilarious.'

Johnny shook his head. It was a pretty weak plan, even by his standards. 'Mate, he's still going to be pissed as buggery. Cut from the same cloth as Rhi, that one.' If they got out of this with their balls still intact it would be a small miracle.

'I'll take buggery from a practical joke done in poor taste over the truth,' Jack replied.

'Do you know what the worst part is?'

Jack raised two eyebrows at him. 'That I'm sitting naked in your car and you don't find me the least bit attractive?'

'Eh! Save it for lover boy. Last time you're getting naked in my car, I can tell you.'

'So, what is the worst part, then?'

'I don't have a bloody fridge. And it was fully paid for. God, I'm going to be in the doghouse for weeks. And she thinks I just knicked down the pub all night.'

Jack grinned'. On that count I think I can help you out. A decent alibi is the least amount of thanks for saving the world.'

 

 

 

Ianto trailed his suitcases behind him, glad to finally be home. The jet lag had been brutal, though after the two weeks he'd had, it was still less brutal than everything else he'd experienced.

'Honey! I'm back,' he called out, leaving the cases in the hall and toeing off his shoes before padding into the kitchen.

Jack was there waiting to envelop him in a warm hug and some very welcoming kissing.'Gods, I missed you. How was Russia?'

'A lot more exciting than expected.' He yawned. 'But perhaps I can fill you in after I've had about fourteen hours sleep. I'm absolutely knackered.'

Jack smiled and brushed a hand through his hair. 'Happy to oblige. Oh, and before you ask, I need to apologise about a voicemail you might have gotten from Johnny. He was worried I might be lonely so he took me out for drinks one night. We might have had a few too many and I might have dared him to leave you a message freaking out about me getting carved up by an alien. It wasn't until the next morning I realised what a stupid thing it was to have done, making you worry about us like that.'

Ianto rubbed his neck, remembering the bizarre message and wondering if Johnny had had a few too many lagers. 'Yeah. I admit I didn't check it straight away. But I called Gwen and she assured me that you were definitely okay and in one piece. At least until I got home.' She'd had a  few other choice words to say on the matter, calling it out as an appalling practical joke, but leaving it in Ianto's very capable hands to deal with his own horrible family.

Jack blew out a relieved breath. Oh. Well, I'm glad.' Then he stopped and frowned. 'You weren't worried about me?'

'Should I be? I mean, it was only two weeks. How much trouble could you possibly get into?' Then it was Ianto's turn to pause and consider things. 'You and Johnny went drinking?' He could scarcely imagine an odder couple at the pub than those two. What must his sister have been thinking, giving them a free pass for the night?

Jack gave an embarrassed shrug. 'You know how it is when you get a little bit too drunk and think everything is hilarious. Still, I'm sorry.'

'At least I didn't get a drunken message from you sobbing that you couldn't live without me.' If he had, he didn't think he'd have been able to stop himself from laughing right in Jack's face at the absurdity. It had been hard enough keeping a straight face and sobering reassurances the first time.

'Hey, that was totally a one time thing!' Jack protested. 'And I was very very drunk. You know I get a bit emotional and melancholy after too many.'

'Don't I just?' Ianto yawned again, feeling the tired weight of his limbs dragging him down towards the floor. 'Now, can we please go to bed? Otherwise I might just curl up on the floor here.'

'No arguments from me. Let's sleep in tomorrow and take the whole day off. Then you'll have plenty of time to fill me in on your exciting ambassadorial trip.'

He was about to let Jack lead him by the hand into their bedroom, where he knew Jack would have no issue helping him out of his clothes and into bed when he clocked his head sideways, staring into an empty gap in their kitchen wall. 'Didn't our new fridge arrive while I was gone?'

'Oh, that?' Jack waved it off. 'Someone called to say there was a delay in shipping. It'll be another week. I've got the old fridge plugged in the garage for how, just to keep the milk and eggs cold.'

'Hmph. So much for that prompt delivery. First thing tomorrow I'm going to hack their website and take down my four star review. Their customer service is terrible.'

Jack nodded in agreement. 'It really is.'