Title: To The Rescue!
Author: 
badly_knitted
Characters: Ianto, Jack, Tosh, OCs, mentions Rhys, Owen, Gwen, Kathy Swanson.
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Nada.
Summary: Jack and Ianto are racing to save the day, but Ianto’s a bit worried by Jack’s driving.
Word Count: 1055
Written For: My own prompt ‘Torchwood, Jack, team/any, If Jack drives the SUV any faster, they're going to be airborne!’ at fic_promptly.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters. They belong to the BBC.
Ianto was well aware that this was an emergency and they needed to hurry, but call him odd if you liked, he really would prefer to arrive in one piece. He’d be of more use that way. He was pretty sure by now that if Jack drove any faster, they were going to be airborne, and the SUV wasn’t exactly designed for flight.
He clung to the sides of his seat, hoping to prevent his head from connecting with the inside of the roof every time they hit a bump in the road. These kinds of speeds might be tolerable on a motorway, but the surfaces out here weren’t conducive to a smooth ride. He’d almost bitten his tongue off when they hit a big pothole and he spared a thought for the SUV’s suspension, not to mention its axles. It would need some serious repairs when Jack got through with it, and that was always assuming it survived the ordeal it was being put through.
“Jack, slow down! This isn’t the Indy 500!”
“We have to get there in time to stop them!” Jack snapped back.
“I know, but we won’t be any good to anyone if we crash. How fast do you think we’d get there on foot?”
That seemed to sink in and Jack lifted his foot off the accelerator a bit, letting the SUV slow to a slightly more manageable seventy from they ninety-three he’d been doing just moments before. Ianto loosened his white-knuckle grip and tried to relax his cramped fingers.
“Better?”
“Yes, thank you. I was beginning to think I’d be going through the roof any moment without the benefit of an ejector seat. I think I’ve left dents up there from my head.” He wiped his mouth with a tissue, which came away stained with red. “And I bit my tongue.”
Jack cast him a very brief sideways glance. “Sorry.”
“You’re forgiven. Just remember this is a motor vehicle, designed for road use. It will not fly, at least not successfully, no matter how fast you go.”
That got a snort of amusement from the man in the driver’s seat and some of the tension that surrounded them eased.
“How much further?”
Ianto checked the readouts on the monitor in front of him. Now they were going slower he could actually make out what they said. “Nearly there, about four more miles. Just keep following this road and take a left at the next junction. You might need to slow down a bit more to get around the corner.”
“Right.”
“No, left.”
The corner approached, Jack braked hard, swung around the turn and accelerated away.
“There! Ahead and on the right!” Ianto called out a few minutes later.
The stolen van was stopped on the grass verge a little ahead of them and Ianto could just make out several figures crossing the field beyond, weighed down by their burden.
“I see it!” Jack put his foot to the floor and then they really were flying, like a scene out of The Dukes of Hazzard, smashing through a post and rail fence and skidding across the grass, their tyres gouging out deep grooves in the soft ground. Jack gunned the engine, heading at speed towards their quarry, and Ianto stuck head and shoulders out the passenger side window, aiming his gun carefully, as Torchwood’s leader swung the SUV broadside on to a small scout-ship about the size of a panel truck, and slammed to a stop.
Ianto fired off a warning shot. “Stop where you are or the next one won’t miss.”
Jack was already out of the SUV, resting the Big Gun on its bonnet and aiming squarely at the scout ship’s engines. “Put her down carefully or I’ll blow your ship sky high.”
”You would not do so. Destroy our ship and you destroy those who are already within.”
“Better that than a life of slavery. And if you don’t put the one you’re carrying safely on the ground and move away, my friend here will kill you. He’s a very good shot and I happen to know that our weapons are very effective against your kind. Or have you forgotten why there are only three of you left?” There had been seven of the alien slavers to start with, but Torchwood had picked them off one by one until the survivors had taken Tosh prisoner and made off with her.
The slavers carefully lowered their burden to the grass.
“Now, raise your hands and slowly move away.” Jack’s voice was calm and perfectly controlled despite his concern for Tosh.
Instead of following his orders, the three aliens reached for their weapons, apparently thinking that their superior reflexes gave them the advantage. They were wrong. It was the last mistake they ever made.
Ianto ran over to Tosh and untied her while Jack went into the ship to check for other aliens and free the prisoners. Before long, five dishevelled women were sitting on the grass beside the SUV, sipping from bottles of retcon-laced water. Tosh was over at the alien ship, studying its systems.
“I called Rhys and he’s bringing a truck to transport the ship back to our warehouse,” Ianto said, joining Jack at the van. “Owen’s coming with him. He’s patched Gwen up and says she’ll be fine.” Gwen had been injured in the fight against the other aliens.
“Good. Owen can take the women back to Cardiff in the van.”
“Are you sure that’s wise? Owen in a van with five women?”
“I’ll go with him to keep him in line,” Tosh offered, walking over to them.
“Sure you’re up to it?””
“I’m fine, Jack.” They smiled at each other. “Thanks for the timely rescue.”
“You’re welcome. We weren’t about to let you be whisked away by slavers. We need you.”
“Come on.” Ianto nudged Jack. “The other rescued prisoners should be asleep by now, we’d best get them loaded. I should call Kathy and tell her we’ve found the stolen van and we’re bringing it back. Wouldn’t do for Owen to be stopped and arrested for grand theft auto and kidnapping.”
“I suppose not,” Jack agreed, “although it is tempting.”
Laughing, the three of them made their way back across the field to the SUV. Once again, Torchwood had saved the day.
The End