Title: Locked In
Fandom: Torchwood
Author: badly_knitted
Characters: Ianto, Jack, Suzie, Gwen, Owen, Detective Swanson.
Rating: PG
Spoilers: They Keep Killing Suzie.
Summary: Torchwood are in a spot of bother.
Word Count: 384
Content Notes: Canon character death.
Written For: Challenge #113: Locked.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Torchwood, or the characters.



They’re locked in. Ianto says the lockdown is one hundred percent; no one’s getting in or out until they come up with a solution. Everything is down; they can’t even get a signal out until Ianto comes up with the nifty little trick of using the water tower as a relay. Then Jack has the unenviable task of explaining to Detective Swanson that Team Torchwood are locked in their own base and need her help. They’re never going to live that one down.

The humiliation isn’t important in the grand scheme of things, however. Suzie is on the loose, a deranged serial killer, and if she succeeds in draining off all Gwen’s life force and escapes, there’s no telling what she might do. She’s smart and ruthless as well as unstable, stopping her is imperative. The Cardiff police already think the Torchwood team are idiots, so they’re not really damaging their reputation.

Swanson comes through for them, the lockdown lifts, and the chase is on. One good thing about the police; once they’re convinced it’s a life or death situation, they pull out all the stops and see to it that the Torchwood SUV has a clear run in pursuit of the fugitive. Good thing too, as Jack breaks about every speed limit in existence.

He and Owen catch up just in time for Jack to save the day again, although re-killing Suzie proves a bit tricky until Jack realises the glove is keeping her alive. Once it’s destroyed, Suzie just… stops. It’s over.

Back at the Hub, putting Suzie back in her morgue drawer, things take an interesting turn with talk of stopwatches and their uses. It’s an unusual approach, but it gets Jack thinking about life again instead of death. He’s in much better spirits by the time Ianto suggests locking Suzie in her drawer as a precaution. Jack assures him it won’t be necessary, this time Suzie is gone for good. Then again, as Ianto is quick to point out, gloves do tend to come in pairs.

As Jack heads up to his office to wait for Ianto, he thinks it over. Maybe a padlock wouldn’t be such a bad idea after all. There’d be time enough for that tomorrow though. For now, he had more pleasant things to think about.


The End