Treachery part 23/?

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TITLE:  Squeeze Play (Part 23 of the Treachery Series)
RATING:  PG-13
WARNING:   None
CHARACTERS:  John (Ianto), Tosh, Owen, Jack, Gwen, Brigadier (not a cross-over)
DISCLAIMER:  Not mine; Aunty B's and RTD's
WORDS: ~ 1090
SUMMARY: Tosh and Jack learn some disturbing news about the attempted assault on the UNIT facility in London.  Can they rescue the remaining prisoners in time?

Treachery (Part 1) here:  http://aviv-b.livejournal.com/49816.html 
All chapters are linked.

A/N:  Once again, sorry this took so long. As some of you know, a pinched nerve in my arm has resulted in two numb fingers. This makes typing a bit challenging and painful if it's more than a few sentences. I'll keep plugging away with my eight finger typing method - hopefully there aren't too many typos.

 

The minute the Brigadier’s sedan pulled away, Jack pulled out his cell and made a call.  ‘Well that’s sorted, my contact in the CIA is waiting for the image of the remaining assassin.” He took Tosh’s laptop and sent the photograph of the assassin off to his contact.

 

Lethbridge-Stewart confirmed that the clone at the Ministry of Defense has been dealt with the moment they entered the UNIT base. When the Brigadier fell silent Jack couldn’t wait any longer.

 

“What did you mean about casualties? Did you find the prisoners and the clones?”

 

Lethbridge-Stewart held up his hand for quiet. “All in good time, Jack,” he said as he turned and handed an open laptop to Tosh. “See what you make of this Miss Sato. The red dots are our men, the green dots are other individuals in the facility.”

 

Tosh studied the schematic of the UNIT facility. “It looks like you were able to gain entry to the clone lab, but what’s this going on at this entry point,” she asked as she pointed to the map.

 

“We got to the clone area, but found only one living clone. That door you’ve pointed out is the entry to the high risk security cells for special prisoners.”

 

Tosh searched her memories, but the layout didn’t mesh with where she had been kept as a prisoner. Lethbridge-Stewart nodded. He knew exactly what Tosh was thinking.

 

“No not your section, it’s an area that once housed visiting officers. They changed it over to house their special prisoners. It’s totally separate from the other cells, apparently staffed with the new Brigadier’s people.”

 

“But what about the casualties?”

 

“We believe there were twelve prisoners in this area when we entered the complex. The Brigadier’s locked himself in with them. We made contact but he won’t negotiate. Says he’ll kill a prisoner every hour until we arrange safe passage for him out of the UK. There are five less heat signals than when we started monitoring the area. I think he’s making good on his threat.”

 

“What do you think; anyway we can get into that area other than that door?” Lethbridge-Stewart asked Tosh.

 

Tosh ignored the question and continued to scan through the schematics.  When she finally looked up, her face was grim. “I can see only one possibility. There’s a ventilation shaft that runs through that area. It’s about three feet in diameter. It’ll be tight, but I think I should be able to squeeze through there.”

 

Jack was horrified. “No way are you going in there alone Tosh. That Brigadier is a madman, I won’t allow it.”

 

Tosh didn’t see any other solution. “Look we either barge in through the front door which is sure to be booby trapped or we at least try to take him by surprise.” 

 

Jack shook his head in anger. “I can’t allow….”

 

Tosh gasped, “Oh no! Another heat sign has disappeared.”

 

The Brigadier checked his watch. “3 am. He’s been eliminating a prisoner every hour on the hour since 23:00 hours.”

 

“There really isn’t any other choice, Jack.”

 

Jack took the laptop from Tosh and looked carefully at the building plans. “I hate to admit it, but I think Tosh has found the only other way into that part of the base. But I have an idea that might help ensure that our Brigadier is distracted,” he said smiling at Tosh.

 

Tosh immediately sensed what Jack intended to do. “You can’t Jack. That’s just suicidal.”

 

“Yes it is, but at least in my case, it won’t be permanent.”

 

***

 

It was another hour before Gwen, Owen and John arrived at the safe house. John was exhausted and in a lot of pain. Before John could object, Owen had injected him with a pain killer and sedative.

 

“Let’s get him settled,” Owen ordered two of the men who had come to get meet the car. One man, who was one of the most muscle-bound people Owen had ever seen, picked up Ianto.  Gwen’s eyes were as big as saucers as the giant strode up the steps of the house as if he were carrying a bag of groceries.

 

“Probably best if we stayed on his good side,” Owen snarked to Gwen.

 

“Oh that’s Stanley,” the other man remarked, “he’s Lethbridge-Stewart's personal trainer.  Good bloke, wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

 

As the second man walked toward the house Gwen turned to look at Owen. “I still think we should stay on his good side,’ Owen said.

 

They entered the house to find that one of the rooms had been modified into something approaching a hospital space. John was already lying on an adjustable bed and there was a woman taking attaching him to a medical monitor.

 

“Right, I’m Martha Jones and you must be Dr. Harper,” she said extending her hand.

 

Gwen introduced herself and listened politely to them shop talk for a bit. Duw, she was tired. She yawned before she realized what she had done. “Sorry, long day…”

 

Martha and Owen both insisted that she go get some sleep. “I’ll be watching your friend the rest of the night, so once I finish getting briefed by Dr. Harper I’ll be sending him to bed as well. Doctor’s orders,” Martha said smiling.

 

Gwen had to admit that getting some sleep sounded very appealing. As she walked out the door she heard Martha and Owen discussing John’s condition. Frankly, she couldn’t make sense of most of what they were saying.

 

“His blood pressure numbers are OK but I’m a little concerned about the airway respiratory rate.”

 

* * *

 

Jack, Tosh and Lethbridge-Stewart finally arrived at the UNIT base. Tosh was quickly equipped with an infrared head lamp, a pouch of tools, a small but powerful rifle and several concussion grenades. Jack slipped a comm over her ear. “Assuming that everything goes as planned, once you are through the ducts and are ready to enter the hallway, signal us. We’ll save our major distraction for then.”

 

Tosh nodded. She was scared but there was no way she was going to back out. Too much depended on her getting through and disabling or killing the rogue Brigadier. And she was the only one who could do it.

 

As she turned away to follow a soldier over to the far end of the facility, Jack grabbed her and hugged her tight. “Don’t take any chances. I need you back in one piece. If anything happens to you…” his voice breaking as he spoke.

 

For the first time in months, Tosh felt herself sympathizing with Jack.  

Chapter 24 here:  http://aviv-b.livejournal.com/105575.html