dani_the_girl | Simultaneous release

Fandom: Torchwood
Title: Simultaneous release
Summary: Jack takes Ianto weevil hunting during his suspension, hoping to ease them back into a working relationship. All does not go as planned.
Rating/Warnings: Gen. Jack!death
Prompt:

fanfic50 #37, Admit
Note: Unbeta'd, all mistakes herin are my own. All feedback/crit welcome. The title is a line from the song Dani California, from which the lines which inspired this also come from - "Lookin' down the barrel of a hot metal 45, Just another way to survive"

Ianto glared at Jack, standing in the hallway looking just the same as usual. "I thought you were the curry delivery guy," he snapped and made to close the door.

Jack pushed his foot over the threshold, blocking the path. "Didn't fancy pizza, then?" he asked, an edge in his voice. "Get dressed. I've got a job for you."

Ianto stared at him, astonished. "A job?" he asked, anger forgotten in his surprise. "Why on earth would you need me to do a job?"

"Well," Jack said, "correct me if I'm wrong, but you are expecting to come back to work for Torchwood, yes? Or have you changed your mind about the Retcon?" Ianto shook his head, bewildered. "Well, this needs doing and you need to get used to working with me again. Bring your gun and don't wear anything too nice. We're going weevil hunting."

By the time he was dressed and in the car, Ianto had got over some of his surprise and found his anger with Jack had resurfaced, along with his curiosity. "So," he asked shortly, "what is it that you couldn't get one of the others to help you with? Bit of garbage disposal or something?"

Jack, focusing on the road, gave no sign of reacting to the tone of voice. Instead, he said "Owen's got a theory about what causes the weevils to come above ground, get aggressive. If he's right, we can put something in the water, we won't have to deal with so many. He needs test subjects."

"Animal testing is it now?" Ianto asked bitingly.

"You got a better suggestion?" Jack responded mildly. "If it works, there'll be fewer casualties on both sides. I thought that was what you wanted."

Ianto subsided, staring out at the dark streets. He didn't want to think about that right now. Jack pulled up and parked the SUV in a quiet side road in an industrial estate. "Tosh tells me there should be some nesting in one of the unused units around here," he told Ianto. "At least, according to her tracking of the sighting patterns in the area. I'll flush some out, you spray. Owen says we need at least three."

Ianto stared at him. A nest could mean anything up to fifty of the things. How the hell was Jack going to flush them out without getting torn limb from limb? He didn't care, he reminded himself. "Where do you want me?" he asked.

Jack gave him a sidelong look that Ianto couldn't interpret. "Let's locate the nest first, then we'll figure out the best spot," he said.

They crept along in silence, checking for sounds or traces. Ianto eventually spotted what looked like some tracks and a blood trail that suggested the weevils had caught something and dragged it away. "Good work," murmured Jack. "I'll take point."

They crept along until they came to a building with broken windows and door slightly ajar towards the back of the estate. No lights, but they could hear the weevils moving around inside, grunting. "Right," said Jack, "lets back up a bit." They circled around and then followed the main access road back towards the centre. Jack halted them at the first side junction. "Right," he said decisively, "you wait here. Most of them will break this way as it's the clearest path. Just lean out, spray them in the face and lean back - three of them if you can. Don't take any dumb risks. There's a fire escape here if any of the others try to follow you - you can climb up and they shouldn't be able to follow you. And you've got your sidearm if you have to. Once the rest have passed, tie up the ones you've caught and then wait for me. Just stay here. Got it?"

"Yes, sir," Ianto said briskly. "And what will you be doing while I'm risking my life for the sake of Owen's research?"

"Starting the hares," Jack replied with a feral grin. "Just stay here and wait for me." He loped away, back towards the nest

Ianto waited, mouth dry, spray can at the waiting. He tried not to think about the fact that if this went wrong, no-one would care. Or even notice that he wasn't around most likely. He was startled out of his thoughts by the sound of running weevils close by - what ever Jack was doing must have already worked. He leaned around and swallowed hard. About six of the things were heading down the road. He reminded himself it was for their own good and stepped out. He managed to get the two closest fairly easily. The next one nearly swiped him in the face but he dodged back and sprayed again. Job done, he thought, but the other three seemed to be less interested in the fact that he had already dropped their comrades and more interested in whether he might make a tasty snack and his spray can was getting remarkably light. He dashed for the fire escape, just managing to swing himself up ahead of the needle sharp claws. He cursed and sprayed downwards but he wasn't close enough and the spray didn't seem to have any effect once dispersed. He yanked his sidearm out of his trousers and shot at the ground just by the weevil's feet.

The explosion had the desired effect - the weevil and its companions took fright again and rushed off the way they had been going. Lucky the estate seemed to be deserted tonight, Ianto thought grimly. He dropped down and started securing the three weevils. He was just in the process of tightening the last lot of restraints when he heard a shout and a shot. He swore under his breath and grabbed for his own gun but silence seemed to have descended again. He waited for five more minutes. No more noises and no sign of Jack. He cursed again. What the hell was he doing here, he thought to himself disgustedly. He should have just slammed the door in Jack's face. He set off in the direction of the nest, gun out, senses alert.

Back at the nest building, the weevils were starting to return, sniffing around and generally looking unsettled. Ianto gave them a wide berth, trying to get some idea of what Jack had done. He circled around the area, trying to stay one alleyway away to give himself some cover. Finally, he managed to find the blood trail. Fresh and copious. Shit. Tracking it back, it led to the door of a nearby building which appeared to have been barricaded. Ianto found himself grinning - good enough to keep a weevil at bay, but not him. He scouted around the warehouse until he found a fire exit and let himself in by the simple expedient of shooting the lock.

Once inside, door blocked behind him, he felt secure enough to turn on his torch. Fortunately, he didn't have any hunting to do. The warehouse was one big room, mostly empty, a few packing crates at one end and next to them, slumped down, Jack. He jogged over.

"I thought I told you to wait for me," Jack whispered.

"Yeah, I can see you'd have been on your way any minute," Ianto replied. He reached down a hand to help Jack up and when Jack seemed to ignore this, grabbed one hand where it was loose on Jack's lap. It was hot and sticky. He dropped it and shone his torch over the other man. There was a red shiny rent in his stomach, a gathering pool of blood underneath. "Shit, Jack! You need an ambulance!"

"No!" Jacks voice was low, but fierce. "If you can't obey any other orders at least obey that one!"

"But," Ianto felt at a loss. "I... There's nothing Owen or I can do about this."

"I know. I thought you were looking forward to seeing me suffer and die anyway."

Ianto spun away, striding three or four steps to get some space, trying to keep his breathing steady.

"Sorry," Jack said after a second. "Low blow. Look, I dropped my gun when the damn thing jumped me. It must have doubled back instead of away like the others. This is getting worse, not better, but it's going to take a while to finish me off. If you don't want to watch, can you..." he tailed off and gestured to Ianto's sidearm.

"Jesus, Jack," Ianto whispered, "just let me call the ambulance. We'll think of a story to tell them."

"Like hell," Jack retorted. "You do that, I really will Retcon you. The only way out of this is through. I can't explain it to you but it'll be OK. Just give me your revolver, if you can't."

Ianto stared at him. At the mess of his abdomen and his shallow, rapid breathing. At his eyes, fierce and bright still, fixed on Ianto's face. He raised the gun and pointed it at Jack, amazed that his arm was steady enough to aim. "I was wrong," he said softly. "This wasn't what I wanted." He pulled the trigger.

The noise seemed vast in the large, echoing room. Jack's head fell forward, a surprisingly small amount of blood produced, compared to the sucking stomach wound. For a second, Ianto just stared, and then he had to turn away and vomit. He could feel his whole body shaking in reaction. He tried to think of what the hell he was going to say to the others. Would they even believe him? He still couldn't quite believe what had happened. Somehow it seemed the wrong death for Jack, weevil wounds and a mercy bullet, practically alone in a cold warehouse. If there ever could be a right death. He remembered all the times he'd imagined deaths for Jack. It could have been worse too.

He was so absorbed by his grief and confusion that when a hand was laid on his shoulder, he didn't register it for a moment. "Ianto," said a familiar voice.

He shot to his feet and backed away, raising the gun again. "Oh god," he said, "whoever the hell you are, you are not using his body."

Jack... Jack's dead, he reminded himself. The thing in Jack raised it's hands. "It's OK, Ianto. It's me. That's what I meant - the only way out was through. I told you I couldn't explain."

"You eavesdropped," Ianto said, wildly. "Just waiting until he was gone to steal him." He could feel himself shaking but he kept the gun pointed at the Jack-thing's chest.

"No, it's weirder than that," it said. "I can't die, Ianto. I didn't want you to see this. I told you to wait," it added with a touch of asperity. It paused, watching him. "How do you think I survived Lisa?"

Ianto stared at him, feeling unable to speak, thoughts whirling inside his head.

"I thought if anything went wrong, if I didn't get killed outright, I could deal with it myself while you were busy with the captives and then come find you," Jack said softly. "I didn't plan for dropping my gun."

"You planned for maybe dying, but you didn't plan for dropping your gun?" Ianto asked.

"Put like that, it does sound faintly disturbing, but then so many things in my life are," Jack said with a sigh. "I'm sorry, Ianto. It really is me. Come back to the Hub, I'll show you the records."

"You would have told me beforehand," Ianto asserted softly.

"I thought about it," Jack admitted, "but I didn't think you'd believe me. I thought it would make it harder for you to do what needed doing if you thought I was delusional. If I was wrong, I'm sorry."

Ianto stared at him. The front of his shirt was still ripped out, but the wound appeared to be gone, a bizarre section of clean skin in the centre of the bloody, stained area. The spot where Ianto had shot him was almost invisible, a thin trickle of blood down one cheek, and a dark circle where the bullet had entered. His eyes looked pained and guilty. But they were still fierce, still bright. He lowered the gun.

"Okay then," he said shakily. "Show me the records and then I'm going to need a stiff drink."