Title: Children of Earth: Amendum.

Author: SoLeo

Pairing: Jack/Ianto duh.

Spoilers: YES! for COE, so read at your own risk.

Notes: Oh, I’m so late with this!

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Chapter 6

It was just past twelve thirty and the officer on duty was making his rounds. Jack didn’t even stir when the small peep door opened and then shut. He heard the man move on to the next door. Too much had happened this week, and Jack finally had the peace and quiet to put it all together. He really was an idiot. Ianto had been right. He should have told him everything. Ianto had proved to him time and again that he trusted him and would stay by him, no matter what.

There was an explosion of noise outside so Jack leapt from his bunk. He looked into his small round window to see what was happening. Men in black had stormed the hallway from both ends and had easily taken down the one guard.

Jack’s door was burst open, the men pushed him out. “What’s going on?” He cried out. No one answered. They continued to push him down the hall, but he stopped dead in his tracks. Trying to stand still was like pushing back the tide. “I’m not going anywhere without Ianto.” He didn’t know if he was making the right call, as they could be headed into terrible danger, but he needed to keep Ianto with him.

The men that were ushering him out looked at each other. They were trying to be stealthy and speedy. One nodded towards the cell next to Jack’s and the man that had the keys opened it quickly.

Ianto, who had been watching seemed relieved. Jack was doing his best to keep them together. He didn’t hesitate when his door was opened and he was lead out by one of the men in black.

The whole group rushed down the hallway and out of the barred holding area. Ianto heard Lois Habiba trying to get their attention. It was too late to stop for her, besides she would probably be safer in there then wherever it was they were headed to. The soldiers seemed vaguely familiar, but right now that didn’t matter. If they were taking Jack somewhere he had to follow.

The last man out closed the gate and locked the guard in. It would give them those extra few seconds to get clear of the building to get where they needed to go.

Ianto had thought they would take them out the front door, but they were lead to the roof. Once on top of the building they were handcuffed again, apparently they weren’t being trusted 100%. He could see a helicopter in the distance coming directly towards them. He looked at Jack, waiting for eye contact, and gave him a small encouraging smile. That was his way of letting Jack know he didn’t regret the decision to go along with him.

Jack took in Ianto’s appearance and smiled back. It was almost one of his normal smiles, full of confidence and oozing with charm. Ianto felt better just seeing it.

No one dared speak as they boarded the helicopter and let it take them away from downtown London. Ianto was only mildly surprised when after a short journey they landed outside the military facility that he had broken Jack out of only a few days earlier. It seemed that their would-be assassins needed them for something besides rotting away in a cell. Ianto was less then thrilled.

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“Have you got a place we can hid all of them?” Gwen asked Rhiannon. She knew that any minute those soldiers were going to come knocking at this door and chaos would erupt.

“Yeah, I think so. Help me get them all ready.” Rhiannon went back into the living room where nineteen children were milling about. “Listen here all of you. Grab your coat, we’re all going to play an adventure game outside.”

The children playing video games seemed annoyed, but those that had been bored seemed excited by the idea. The littlest ones started to jump up and down, happy that they were getting to go outside.

“We’re going to play spies. We’ve got to be super quiet or the bad guys are going to find us.” Gwen stood in front of all those tiny faces explaining the rules.

“That’s right,” Rhiannon took up that thought. “And no one’s left behind. We’ve all got to go together.” The children nodded and started getting ready.

Gwen got down to her knees to help a little girl put on her coat. If this kind of event happened in just a few years it could be her own little boy or girl she would be protecting. ‘You can’t break down now Gwen. All these children need you.’ Gwen gave herself a little pep talk. She stood and turned to Rhiannon. “We’ve gotta go, right now.”

Gwen was proud of how calm and collected Rhiannon was with it all. ‘It must be a mother-thing. She’s so great with all the kids.’ She hoped that she could respond in kind when she too was a mother.

Gwen, Rhys and Rhiannon ushered all the children out, reminding them that they had to be especially quiet. When Gwen turned back to see what Andy was doing he had disappeared out the front. ‘I hope he knows what he’s doing.’ She didn’t have time to worry about him and followed the children out, closing the door.

Rhiannon took the lead with the children and guided them down the hill. Gwen heard fighting break out behind her and the shrill cries of children, but ignored it. They all started running. She kept up the rear, making sure none of the children got behind her and lost. They arrived at a mostly empty field. There were a few poorly constructed buildings that had seen better days. Rhys smashed in a portion of siding creating a door and hurried everyone inside.

They sat on every available surface, nineteen very beautiful, very scared children. They were hidden for now, but for how long. They looked at her for guidance. “What I need you to do is be as quiet as you possibly can, like mice.” She smoothed down the hair on the youngest girl hoping to comfort any worries and prevent any crying.

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Jack and Ianto walked down the wide hallway flanked by four guards. Up ahead a woman and a young boy were sitting on a bench. When they spotted Jack the boy got up and called out “Uncle Jack!”

‘So this is his daughter Alice, and grandson Steven.’ Ianto smiled at the warm affection Steven had for his ‘uncle’ and how Jack seemed to light up when he saw them. They didn’t appear to be locked up, as Jack had told him they were.

“We haven’t got time.” Ianto didn’t even know this woman’s name, but she was in charge here. Her exterior exuded confidence and leadership. If he could have his way this woman would pay for what she had done to them, especially Jack. Now was not the time or place, as they continued down the hall and into a very open room. The man from Thames House was in front of them, being lead by more soldiers. Alice followed them in.

“This should be everything you need, and if it’s not we’ll find it.” As the woman talked the soldiers undid their handcuffs.

Ianto rubbed at his wrists, expecting chaff marks, but there were none. ‘They must not have been that tight…’ He briefly wondered if they could have escaped all along.

“For what?” Jack was rubbing at his wrists, helping the blood to circulate back into his own hands.

“Wavelengths. The 4-5-6 are named after a wavelength, and that’s got to be the key to fighting back.” She seemed confident, but maybe she just always did. Jack didn’t seem too impressed, so Ianto remained indifferent.

“You’re wasting your time. There’s nothing you can do.” Mr. Dekker seemed to be getting agitated. “I’ve analyzed those transmissions for forty years and never broken…”

It happened so fast that Ianto could have almost imagined it, except for the fact that Mr. Dekker was now rolling on the floor clutching the wound in his leg and the sound still reverberated in the open space. No one moved. At least she had only shot him in the leg. As long as they were needed this woman apparently was going to keep them alive. Ianto quirked his lip up, glad that he was a very useful person to have around.

“What do you think captain? She told me you were good.” She motioned to Alice. “Was she right?” They must have talked while Alice had been her prisoner. Alice must have done a pretty good job of convincing since they had been dragged from their cells to be here.

Jack turned to look at Alice. He smiled happily. He never thought he’d see the day that Alice would speak highly of him. ‘Maybe there’s hope for us.’ His eyes twinkled merrily, ready to figure out the problem at hand. “Let’s get to work.” He walked over the computers set up for his use, taking off his coat.

Ianto nodded at the two women and followed Jack. Now that Jack had a purpose Ianto knew they would be able to figure out something. They always did. Jack was already in ‘work mode’ and took one laptop bringing up some information. Ianto started working on another.

“Get me access to the Torchwood software.” Jack commanded.

“Already on it,” Ianto replied. Their software was the most sophisticated they knew of, except for maybe U.N.I.T.

“Welcome back.” Jack watched the screen flicker as the laptop connected to the Torchwood main computer. The blue light pulsated and Jack smiled at it. The old girl hadn’t let them down yet.

“It still won’t work. There’s nothing on there. It’s useless.” Ianto was starting to get annoyed at Mr. Dekker’s negative personality. ‘Maybe he just doesn’t like the idea that we are smarter then him.” He noticed that Ms. Whatever-her-name-was shared his dislike for the man. He almost wanted her to shoot him again.

“We’ve got technology way beyond you,” Ianto told him. He was sure that only a few people knew that the computer for Torchwood 3 was actually a living being and it was capable of learning and adapting.

“We handed it to Torchwood years ago, you idiot. Nothing.” The man seemed intent on making everyone give up. Ianto wondered for the first time how the man had managed to survive the bio-toxin released at Thames House when so many good people had not. ‘I guess that’s what happens when you’re only concerned about your own skin.’ He kept working, ignoring the other man’s pessimism.

“Bring him over here.” Ianto smiled to himself, maybe she was going to shoot him again.

“Dad, come take a look at this,” Alice called out. “It’s some sort of pirate station. They’re trying to get the story out to the public where they’re taking the kids.” They gathered around the small screen watching the footage of buses loaded with children entering an army base.

This was bad. Jack knew there were only a few outcomes possible, and being able to save the children was pretty low on the list. If they couldn’t do anything and the public knew what had happened riots would be likely to happen all over the country. Hell, all over the world. He had to get back to work.

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A/N: Wooh. That was pretty long for me. I hope you’re all still enjoying this. Remember it is all un-beta’d so I’m hoping my grammar and spelling is ok. Please let me know what you think so far. =^_^=