badly_knitted: (Immortal)
[personal profile] badly_knitted
 


Title: Taking Care Of Business – Part 2
Author: 
[personal profile] badly_knitted
Characters: Jack, Dekker, Agent Johnson, Alice, Steven, Ianto.
Rating: PG
Word Count: 2573
Spoilers: Children of Earth Fix-it.
Summary: Jack struggles to find a way to stop the 456.
Written For: Weekend Challenge ‘Oh The Places You'll Go 2,’ at 
[community profile] 1_million_words.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters.
 

 
Part 1

 
 
Across town, in another warehouse space, an argument was underway. Building a constructive wave had potential, Jack had realised that quickly enough, but there was a problem. The delivery system…
 

“We’ve got no way of transmitting.”
 

“Of course you have.” Dekker was sneering, gloating, he was the only other person there who understood, and Jack had never in his life wanted so badly to kill someone, to strangle the life out of them so he wouldn’t have to listen to them anymore.

 
“Shut up!” he snapped.
 

“Same way as them.”

 

“I’ll find something else! Don’t listen to him!” Jack told Agent Johnson.

 

Jack wasn’t in charge here though, he had no authority, and he knew he was wasting his breath when Johnson turned to Dekker. “Tell me.”


 
“The 456 used children to establish the resonance. We need a child.”

 
Dekker was taking pleasure in this, especially knowing there was only one child they had access to: Jack’s own grandson. To save the world’s children, he’d have to sacrifice his daughter’s only child, and he couldn’t! No one could ask that of him! But Dekker carried on remorselessly.

 
“We need a child to be the centre of the resonance. Oh, that child’s going to fry!”
 

Dekker was practically rubbing his hands with glee at the thought. He wanted this, wanted to kill an innocent child, the sick bastard! More than that, he wanted to see Jack break. They’d never even met before, but Jack could sense Dekker’s hatred of him, his resentment as well as his bloodlust. He was a small man who’d never been as important or as powerful as he’d wanted to be, and he saw this as his chance to get one-up on everyone.


 
Alice caught on to what they were talking about, horror filling her eyes. “No, Dad! Tell them no!”
 

He wanted to, more than anything he wanted to tell his little girl that he would never allow it, but…


 
“One child or millions,” Johnson said. “We’re running out of time.”
 

Johnson was looking right at him; they really expected Jack to do this! Worse, he knew he really didn’t have a choice, because it was going to happen, no matter what he said. If he didn’t do it himself, he’d be restrained, or killed, and Dekker would do it, only he wouldn’t be gentle about it. He’d be as cruel and brutal as he could be, because he didn’t care about anyone but himself… The suffering of a small boy meant nothing to him, aside from boosting his own ego.


 
Before Jack could do or say anything, the lights abruptly flickered, the screen on Jack’s laptop went blank then came on again, data scrolling rapidly down it, and he stared at it in confusion. The lights flickered again.

 
“What’s happening?” Johnson demanded.
 

Jack shook his head. “I don’t understand. The constructive wave is building, reaching critical… preparing to transmit, but not from here.”

 

“What do you mean, not from here?”

 

“I mean I’m not doing it. Neither is he.” Jack pointed at Dekker. “It’s someone else, somewhere else…”

 

“Someone in another country?” Dekker demanded, looking incensed that he’d lost his chance to play God with a child’s life.

 

“No, someone right here in London, no more than twelve or fifteen miles away.”

 

“How do you know that?” Johnson asked, moving to stand behind Jack, watching figures scrolling across the screen. They meant nothing to her, but they did to Jack, or so it seemed.


 
“They’re using the Torchwood servers, both London’s backup, and the ones in Cardiff. That’s why I’m picking it up here, we’re both logged into Mainframe.” Jack turned to Dekker with a savage grin. “You only thought you hacked into Torchwood years ago, you moron. My tech expert was light years ahead of anything your people could manage, she set up a dummy server, loaded with useless information. That’s what your people hacked. You never got close to the real thing. We knew all about your clumsy hacking attempts. We used to laugh about it, how we were feeding you nonsense, you and anyone else who tried to hack us. Did you really think we wouldn’t notice? That it would be that easy?”

 
Dekker paled. “But…”
 

“You really think Torchwood wouldn’t have everything tucked away behind multiple layers of encryption? Dream on!” Jack turned his attention back to the screen. “But whoever’s doing this knows our codes. They’re good.”

 

“Won’t do them any good,” Dekker sneered, all false bravado now. “If they don’t have a child at the centre of the resonance… they might just as well be standing in the street, shouting at the sky. We have to act! Get that kid over here!”


 
“No,” Jack snapped, moving to block access to Steven. “No one touches my grandson!”
 

“You’re dooming millions of other children, all for the sake of one snivelling brat?”

 

Before anyone could move to stop him, Jack slammed his fist into Dekker’s face, so hard that he broke the other man’s nose and knocked his front teeth practically down his throat. Dekker went down like a bag of wet sand, out cold.

 

“Should’ve done that an hour ago,” Jack muttered, nursing his shattered hand as he turned back to the computer, already feeling the broken bones beginning to knit back together.

 

“Was he right though?” Johnson asked. “Do we need a child?” She glanced at Alice and Steven.

 

“No, we don’t.” Jack looked at the figures on the screen. “The constructive wave is cycling far more strongly than I would have been able to manage with the equipment I have available, amplified to levels far greater than a single child’s brain could ever achieve.”

 

“So whoever’s doing it, they’re using more than one child?” Alice sounded sick as she clutched Steven to her.

 

“I don’t think they’re using a child at all, the resonance reads differently, not by much, not enough to alter its effectiveness, but almost like someone’s set all parameters to optimum efficiency, something you’d never get in a human brain of any age. An artificial brain, on the other hand… I remember Torchwood One was working on a project like that ten or twelve years ago. Last I heard, they shut it down because it wasn’t working, the android brain wasn’t maturing. Looks like our mysterious benefactor might have resurrected one of the prototypes.” Jack watched the numbers on the screen, knew the instant it reached its peak, transmitting at a level so powerful it was off the charts…

 

Suddenly Steven froze, letting out a shrill scream. Around the world, every single pre-adolescent child joined in at exactly the same pitch…

 

At Thames House, the 456 in its tank thrashed violently, splattering thick blood and other fluids on the glass in its death throes, and somewhere in orbit, far above the earth, the aliens’ ship exploded in a massive fireball, clearly visible even without a telescope.

 

Steven fell silent, leaning against his mother as if nothing had happened.

 

Alice crouched down, checking that he was alright. “Steven?”

 

“It’s okay, mummy, they’ve gone.”

 

“Who have?”

 

The boy shrugged, and Alice looked up at her father. “Dad? Is it over?” she asked tentatively.

 

Closing his eyes for a moment, relief washing over him, Jack nodded. “Yes, sweetheart. It’s over.”

 

Alice bit her lip as she stood up. “Would you have done it? Would you have sacrificed my son to save the children?”

 

Jack looked at the ground, ashamed. “I honestly don’t know.”

 

Taking a step towards him, Alice slapped his face, hard, then shook her head, and hugged him, tears leaking from her eyes.

 

“Mummy?” Steven tugged at her coat. “Mummy? What’s wrong?”

 

“Nothing, sweetheart, everything’s fine now.” Alice smiled down at her son ruffling his hair.

 

“Captain Harkness?” Agent Johnson sounded oddly tentative.

 

Jack turned to look at her, eyes wary; this was, after all, the woman who’d been in charge of the kill squad sent out to keep Torchwood from interfering with the government’s plans to surrender the children.


 
“What?”

 
“Do you know the identity of our mysterious saviour?”

 
Shaking his head, Jack sighed. “The only person I know for sure could’ve pulled that off died months ago.”

 
“And you can’t think of anyone else?”

 
“One other who might have figured out a way, yes, but he’s dead now too, because of me. My arrogance and stupidity got him killed.” The bleakness in her father’s eyes made Alice’s heart clench painfully; she’d never considered before just how much her dad must have lost over the years.

 
“Is there any way you can track them down?” Johnson asked, watching Jack closely.

 
“Why?”

 
“Well, I for one would like to thank them. Whoever they are did just save the world, or at least the world’s children.” Johnson smiled awkwardly, diffidently. “I know what you must think of me, but I was only following orders. You of all people should understand how that goes.”

 
“Is that meant to be an apology? Because it’s not much of one.”
 

“No, just an explanation. I don’t get to pick which orders I follow, and usually I’m fine with that, but all of this…” She shook her head. “It’s left a bad taste in my mouth. Willingly handing innocent children over to aliens… That shouldn’t sit right with any decent human being.”


 
“No, it shouldn’t.” Jack’s expression hardened. “And I plan to make those responsible pay.”
 

“I wouldn’t mind being a part of that,” Johnson said. “I rather think my career is over at this point, my unit shut down, my services no longer required…” Johnson trailed off. “Uh, the computer’s asking for you.”


 
Jack spun around. On the laptop screen was a message, flashing demandingly for attention.
 

‘Jack? Are you there?’

 

Striding over to it, Jack typed out a reply, wincing at having to use fingers that weren’t fully healed. Punching Dekker had been satisfying, but painful.

 

‘I’m here. Who is this?’

 

‘Are you still a captive?’


 
‘No. Not anymore. Turns out my services weren’t needed.’
 

‘Thank God.’ A camera must have been activated then, because a face appeared on the screen, and a familiar Welsh accent came through, sounding a bit tinny but wonderful all the same. “Would you mind turning your camera on? Do you have one?”


 
“Ianto?” Jack gasped. His fingers typed quickly. “Basic internal webcam, hold on a minute.” He pulled up the laptop’s settings, connected the webcam to mainframe so she could route image and audio to wherever Ianto was, and…
 

A smile lit up Ianto’s face. “There you are! Are you okay?”

 

“I’m fine. How…” Jack started, his voice stuttering to a halt.

 

“No idea, but right now I’m not in the mood to question it. I died, pretty sure of that. Woke up in some sort of makeshift morgue, but you were already gone. Didn’t know if you’d been taken prisoner or not, so I figured I’d better see what I could do about the 456. Found this place…” He gestured around him, although Jack couldn’t see much on the screen. “Secure storage facility, home to Torchwood One’s backup servers, and a whole load of mothballed research projects. Shame about Joe, but at least he served a useful purpose in the end.”

 

“Joe?” Jack was reeling, still trying to accept the fact that Ianto was alive and well, talking to him, not a cold, dead body beneath a red sheet.


 
“Prototype android with an artificial brain. Burnt out now, but he lasted long enough to take care of business. There’s a lot of interesting stuff here; we should come back once the dust settles, see what we can use. Where are you?”

 
“Honestly, I don’t have a clue. Where are you?”
 

“Not sure this connection is secure, so I’d rather not say, just in case anyone’s still out to get us. You know, tying up loose ends. Have you still got that burner phone?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Right, I’ll text you the address. It’ll come up as an unfamiliar number.” Ianto held something up to the camera. “Borrowed phone. Or stolen. Found it in the pocket of the jacket I swiped. I’ll erase the call after I send it. Let me know once you’ve got it.” Ianto’s eyes closed for a moment, his lips moving soundlessly, and Jack stared hungrily at his face on the screen. Then his lover looked down at the phone in his hands and started pressing buttons.


 
Moments later, Jack’s phone alerted him to an incoming text, and he opened it, memorising and then deleting the address. “Got it. I’ll be there as soon as I can find transport.”

 
“I’ll be waitin’ in the bookshop.”
 

“Bookshop?”

 

“You don’t think I’d lead you to the facility’s location, do you? What if someone follows you?”

 

“Think of everything, don’t you?”


 
“I do my best.”
 

“That you do.” The warmth in Jack’s voice was clear to everyone listening.

 

“Don’t take too long.”

 

“I won’t,” Jack said, then impulsively, before the connection could be severed. “I love you.”

 

“Tell me that in person when you see me.” Offscreen, Ianto reached for the button to shut everything down, pressed it, and both screens went blank.


 
Jack logged out, disconnected from mainframe, and straightened up, looking a bit shellshocked, but smiling.
 

“Who was that, Dad?” Alice asked. Without him even noticing, she’d come up behind him, and Jack wondered briefly if Ianto had seen her there, known who she must be.

 

“That,” Jack said proudly, “was Ianto Jones, coffee-maker extraordinaire, knows everything, and looks good in a suit.” His expression softened. “I think it’s about time I made an honest man of him, if he’ll still have me after all this.”

 

Alice studied her father’s face. “He must be quite something if he can make you smile that that.”

 

“Oh, believe me, he is.” Jack turned to Johnson. “Got a car I can use?”

 

Johnson nodded. “Outside.”

 

“Good. Alice, you and Steven are coming with me. We’ll go get Ianto, then come back here. We need to figure out our next move. Personally, I think we should pay a visit to my Commander in Chief, let Lizzie know exactly what’s been going on. I guarantee that idiot Green hasn’t been keeping her in the loop.”

 

“Lizzie?” Alice asked, confused.

 

“He means Queen Elizabeth,” Johnson said, somehow looking both scandalised and impressed.

 

“The Queen? You know the Queen?”

 

“Ever since she was a baby,” Jack said. “And her father before her.” He held out his hand to Steven. “Come on, soldier, let’s get out of here for a bit.”


 
“Mummy?”
 

Alice nodded and Steven scampered over to his grandfather, taking his hand.


 
Jack turned to Johnson, nodded in Dekker’s direction. “Do something with him, will you?”
 

“I’ll deal with him personally,” Johnson promised.

 

“Don’t kill him, he doesn’t deserve that kind of mercy. Just make sure he’s restrained. I have plans for him.”

 

“Yes, Sir.”

 

“And don’t call me Sir, only Ianto gets to do that.”

 

“Your… boyfriend calls you Sir?”

 

“Oh yeah…” Jack grinned. “But only if I deserve it.”

 

Turning away and reaching for Alice’s hand, he led his family out of the building, glancing around at the assorted vehicles and picking one, ordering its driver out before taking over the driver’s seat, and disabling the GPS tracker. Alice got in the back with Steven, buckling her son’s seatbelt; the car was moving before she could fasten her own, roaring out of the compound and away, heading further into London.


 
 
TBC in Part 3



 
 
 
 
 

(no subject)

Date: 2025-07-10 07:18 pm (UTC)
mrs_sweetpeach: (Default)
From: [personal profile] mrs_sweetpeach
Wow, that was so good you could stop here. Glad you won't, of course.

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