Title: The Hour of the Wolf (8/10)

Author: Emma

Characters: Jack Harkness, Ianto Jones, Torchwood Three team and their offspring

Rating: R

Disclaimer: Oh, please. If I owned them, would I let some of those idiots write the scripts? And if I were making any money off them, would I be where they could find me?

Spoilers: None. This takes place in my Homecoming AU, four years or so after The Eye of Neith.

Summary: Something is happening in St. Catherine’s Glen, and whatever it is will change the Cooper-Williams family forever…

            Ianto combed his fingers through his partner’s hair. Jack had kept up the energy transfer until Pryce’s system had stabilized, and then he had collapsed into a fitful sleep, his head on Ianto’s shoulder. One of his hands still rested on Pryce’s chest, and Ianto knew Jack would be instantly on the alert if Pryce showed any kind of discomfort. Fortunately Pryce seemed to be resting easily, his breathing shallow but even, and his heartbeat much stronger.

            On Ianto's other side, his namesake kept watch, one of Archie’s prized rifles across his lap.  When Ianto had materialized in the burial chamber he had found Yan standing watch over his brother and their friends armed only with a walking stick. His only reaction to the sudden apparition was an upraised eyebrow, a speculative look, and a hug. He helped Ianto calm down the other boys and gotten Pryce ready to move. The only time Yan had openly shown emotion had been when his father had entered the chamber. Yan had thrown himself into Rhys’s arms, tears running down his face.

            “Uncle Ianto?” Yan whispered. “Why are we going to Torchwood House? Why not head for Cardiff?”

            “I wouldn’t mind an answer to that one myself, pal,” Rhys said. “The copter is still where we left it. I can have us there in forty minutes and we can be home by midmorning.”

            Ianto shook his head. “The only surefire way we know of to kill a haemavore is to use the telescope at Torchwood House.  If it managed to infect Pryce we can use it to burn the infected cells out of his wounds.”

            Yan twisted slightly to look at the space behind them, where Don and Merry slept fitfully in a nest of blankets. “I think Merry’s in bad shape, too. They kept giving him stuff.”

            “Do you have any idea what was in it?”

            “No, but” Yan reached into his backpack and brought out a small vial, “I stole some from the infirmary.”

             “Your Uncle Jack will be very proud of you.” Ianto unstoppered the vial and sniffed. “Ugh.”

            “I thought maybe your TARDIS could help us figure out what’s in it.”

            “Is there anything you guys don’t know?”

            Yan shrugged. “We don’t know what we don’t know. We expect to be told what we need to know when we start our training.”

            “Training? What training?” hissed Gwen, who had been listening in from the front passenger seat.

            “Face it, mum, you and aunt Martha have been raising the next generation of Torchwood agents.” When she glared at him, he scowled. “Come on, mum! What else could we be?”

            “Oh, I don’t know. Doctors. Physicists. Computer geniuses. Writers. Small business owners like your Tad…”

            “Mum, Tad’s only a part-time business owner! His real job is to make sure you don't go spare, and to jump in when he’s needed. Like Uncle Tom or Uncle Ianto. They’re Torchwood’s support network.” He tapped his own wrist meaningfully. “Although Uncle Ianto’s role might be changing.”

            Ianto grinned at him. “I can do more than one thing at a time.”

            “But…”

            Rhys’s beat a rapid tat-tat-tat on the steering wheel. “Let’s table that discussion for a while, Gwen love. We got more pressing things. That bunch back there isn’t going to give up.”

            “Not likely,” Ianto said. “They’ve been planning this for too long. Yan, why do you think they kept giving Merry stuff?”

            “Merry thinks his Tad gave him to the Brethren as a host for the haemavore.”

            “Yan.” Jack’s voice was weak but his eyes were alert. “We need the details. Everything.”

            They listened as Yan told his story. Ianto could not help noticing that he presented the information almost like a case report; he knew Jack wouldn’t miss it either. Yan answered Jack’s questions concisely but in full detail, and his extrapolations were logical and properly reasoned. Ianto foresaw some explosive shouting matches between Jack and Gwen, because Jack wasn’t about to let all that natural talent slip through his fingers.

            “Thank you, Yan. Well done.” Jack sat up, stretching as much as he could while balancing Pryce on his knees. “Priority one is to get Pryce and Merry under lock and key until tonight.  The best place for it is the library. Every wood surface is soaked in oil of mistletoe. Then as soon as the sun sets we will need to get them to the observatory.  Priority two is to make sure that the Brethren never, ever get the chance to try another stunt again. We need more information about them. Gwen…”

            “On it, Jack.” She pulled out her cell phone and pressed a button. “Andy? Sorry to get you up. You were? Good. We need to know everything we can about Jonathan Conway and…”

            Francis Hadley, I think,” Yan said.

            “Francis Hadley. We also need to know what they know about the Brethren. And Andy? They’re probably up to their hairlines in this, and we don’t have time for subtle… Yeah. Bye.” She turned to Jack. “What about getting into Torchwood House?  Jane has to have warned the others by now.”

            “I lived there for a while between the wars, “Jack said. “Best way to avoid the earlier me. Archie and I explored the place top to bottom. The house is built around the shell of an old square tower. One of the old MacLeish lairds was  either a paranoid sonofabitch or an excellent defensive planner. He built a passageway connecting the old kitchens to one of the storage rooms near the library. It must have been collapsed for centuries. Archie and I cleaned it up enough so it could be used again.”

            “Whoa,” Rhys said. “Isn’t Archie the guy in charge now? How old is he?”

            “No, no.” Jack laughed. “I’m talking about Archie’s father, also Archie. We met in India and I recruited him a few years later.”

            “Why did you fix the tunnel, Uncle Jack? Were you expecting the werewolf to return?”

            “Not really, Yan. Archie wasn’t too sanguine about the prospects of a lasting peace in Europe, so he decided to turn the passageway into a storage place for Torchwood files and records in case something happened to Torchwood One. I just helped him out.”

            “You knew about the Blitz,” Ianto said softly.

            “Yeah. We duplicated all the files and took them to Torchwood House. Good thing, too, because the old Headquarters took a direct hit.”

            “So we have a way into the house.”

            “If we can get into the old kitchens without being noticed, we can get into the house,” Jack corrected her. “We still have to get past the gates and the courtyard. That might be a bit more difficult.”

            “I have an idea,” Ianto said. “From things Jane said, I gather that Archie has not been particularly forthcoming with her. So, Gwen, if you didn’t know Jack and went only by his reputation, what would you think he’d do?”

            “Charge in with all guns blazing.”

            “That’s what I thought too. Let me check on something.” He ran his fingers over the center band of his bracelet. *I can move myself. Can I move others?*

            *You are not yet strong enough to do it alone.*

            *But it can be done?*

            *Yes, with some limitations. Translocation of objects that are not part of you can be rather… noticeable to those with the ability to detect its energy signature. Haemavores are rather good at it. We must take care not to attract its attention.*

            *We?*

            Ianto took the rather chilly silence for assent. “TARDIS approves. I’ll crash the SUV through the gates, make lots of noise. Distract them. Once we are near enough to the gates,TARDIS will translocate you as close to the kitchen gate as it can. It can't get any closer to the house. Moving all of you will take a lot of energy, and it could attract the haemavore’s attention.”

            “Translocate?” Rhys’s said faintly. “Like beam me up Scotty or something?”

            Ianto bit back a chuckle. “Or something. Don’t worry, pal. We won’t scramble your molecules.”