buttononthetop | Fic: Vizzini's Rule (40/105)

Title: Vizzini's Rule, Chapter 40, Part 1

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: Mentions of violence and naughtiness

Spoilers: Season One thru They Keep Killing Suzie (1x8)

Disclaimer: Torchwood and all its wonderfulness belong to Russell T. Davies and the Mighty Beeb. Just goofin' around! All ©’s to Paul Tomalin and Daniel Mcculloch for dialogue and situations borrowed from They Keep Killing Suzie.

Summary: In which the we see the end of Suzie...again...

Notes: Thanks so much to everyone who is reading!! And BIG CHOCOLATE COVERED IANTO'S to everyone who's commenting - you make me smile. :o)

Previous Chapters

Vizzini's Rule: Chapter Forty, Part One

The next day was a very long one indeed. Suzie regained consciousness sometime during Jack’s shift, but he waited until dawn to wake everyone else up. Ianto had fallen asleep in his old spot on the sofa in the Hub and Owen had taken the sofa in Jack’s office while the girls slept on cots in the interrogation room. Ianto was pretty sure that Jack hadn’t slept at all.

Questioning Suzie had gone about as well as it could have. Ianto was surprised that she appeared to genuinely want to help them, but he just couldn’t shake his sense of dread around her. Later, once Suzie had escaped and the rest of them were trapped in the Hub, Ianto wished that Gwen had shared a little of his dread.

While the others debated exactly how Suzie had arranged everything, Ianto sat down on the steps and pulled out his cell phone. He turned it over in his hands, thinking hard. What would she have thought of? What would she have missed? Suzie was always great with computers and she was obviously clever. Ianto tapped the phone against his lips. He let his eyes wander around the Hub, blocking out the sound of Jack, Owen and Tosh. The water tower! he thought triumphantly and got to work.

A few moments later he had a signal. He stood up and caught Jack’s eye. “I’ve got reception, sir.”

Jack crossed over to the top of the stairs, a look of astonishment on his face. “How’d you do that? We’re sealed off,” he said, as if Ianto hadn’t been there the whole time.

“Just used the water tower as a relay,” he said simply.

Jack looked up at the tower and then back at Ianto who was holding out his phone. Jack took it and headed back to the computer. He looked back over his shoulder with a nod and a smile, saying, “Nice work, Ianto.” Before Ianto could reply, Jack had thought of one little problem. “But who the hell do we phone?” he mused.

After they had broken through Suzie’s lockdown (thanks to Tosh’s genius and some invaluable assistance from the Cardiff police), the rest of the night passed in a haze of worry and waiting for Ianto. He and Tosh were left to man the hub while Jack and Owen went chasing after Gwen, everyone praying they reached her before Suzie’s plan took her life. Only when it was clear that Suzie was well and truly dead for the final time, did Ianto feel that he could breathe again.

It was mid-morning when he was finally tidying up the loose ends and readying Suzie’s body for storage in the morgue when Jack joined him.

“Thanks for doing this,” he said.

Ianto smiled and went back to his clipboard. “Part of my job, sir.”

“No,” Jack sighed. “I should be doing it, but…” He sighed again and leaned against the wall of doors. He looked around, discouraged. “One day, we’re gonna run out of space.” He dropped his head with an air of defeat.

Ianto scribbled on his clipboard. He wondered how best to help Jack. He knew that the Captain blamed himself for Suzie’s death – both of them – and he needed a distraction. As Ianto filled in another line on the form he felt something heavy shift inside his pocket. He smiled to himself. Perfect.

“If you’re interested, I’ve still got that stopwatch,” he said, looking at Jack, hoping he would see what Ianto was offering.

“So?” Jack asked, not understanding.

“Well, think about it,” Ianto said, smiling and trying to sound suggestive. If I was Jack, this would be so easy! he thought. “Lots of things you can do with a stopwatch.”

Jack smiled a little. “Oh yeah,” he said, the smile becoming a grin. He looked over at Ianto, “I can think of a few.”

Ianto raised his eyebrows and gave Jack a small smile. “There’s quite a list.”

Without dropping his eyes from Ianto, Jack said, “I’ll send the others home early. See you in my office in…” He brought his wrist up to glance at his watch. “Ten,” he finished, somehow making the number itself sound naughty.

Ianto reached into his pocket and pulled out the stopwatch. “That’s ten minutes,” he said playfully as he clicked the button on the top, “…and counting.”

Jack held his eyes for another moment and then pushed off the wall to stride out of the morgue, but Ianto stopped him a few steps away.

“Oh Jack?” he called. When Jack turned with a questioning expression, Ianto asked, “What do you want me to say on the death certificate?”

Jack looked perplexed. “Good question.”

“She had quite a few deaths in the end.”

Jack shook his head slightly. “I don’t know.” He paused for a second. “Death by Torchwood.”

Trying to lighten the moment, Ianto said, “I’ll put a lock on the door, just in case she goes walking again.”

“Nah,” Jack said. “No chance of that. The resurrection days are over, thank God.” He turned to leave again, only to be stopped short by Ianto.

“Oh, I wouldn’t be too sure. That’s the thing about gloves, sir – they come in pairs.” Ianto bit his tongue. He’d been trying to make Jack feel better, to make him stop worrying about Suzie and that damn glove. What the hell were you thinking, you stupid git? he thought angrily as Jack turned around and gave him a long look. Ianto dropped his eyes to his clipboard and returned to his paperwork. He heard Jack leave and wondered if he’d completely ruined things.

Ianto sighed deeply and finished with the body. He glanced at the stopwatch, still merrily ticking away the seconds. Less than three minutes to get to Jack’s office. Ianto walked slowly, wondering if Jack would even be there. When he entered the Hub, he was glad to see that everyone else had indeed gone home. Maybe, he thought, maybe I didn’t screw it up after all.

He walked more briskly to Jack’s office and grinned when he saw Jack sitting behind his desk. He stepped through the door and clicked the button on the stopwatch.

“One minute and forty-eight seconds to spare,” he observed.

Jack grinned. He leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers. “So, what sort of things are on this list, do you suppose?” he asked.

TBC in Chapter Forty, Part Two

Current Mood: sleepy
Current Music: Olympics!