Title: Escalating debts 

Fandom: Torchwood

Characters: Torchwood team 

Author: m_findlow

Rating: PG 

Length: 4,330 words

Content notes: none

Author notes: Written for Challenge 319 - Debt 

Summary: Alien debt collectors have come to Cardiff and Torchwood are caught in the crossfire. 


‘Everybody get down!’ Jack yelled, throwing himself over the top of Tosh's body. She was the only one close enough that he could protect as the next hail of laser fire rained down on them. The rest would have to seek whatever shelter they could and he prayed none of them got hit. He was of course banking on the fact that the lasers were meant to terrify more than kill. Dead people never coughed up money and intergalactic debt collectors like these guys knew their trade.

Jack knew a debt collector when he saw one. He'd faced a few of them in his Time, usually hot on his heels after his partner in crime, one John Hart, had done his usual thing of swindling everybody and leaving them up the proverbial creek without a paddle. John was a master of leveraging everyone without ever having to part with a single penny, or worse, borrowing so deeply and so heavily to maintain their lifestyle that someone somewhere was eventually going to come calling. How they'd ever gotten away with it still boggled Jack's mind to this day. He supposed that was the beauty of being able to travel through time. They were always more than one step ahead of whoever was after them. He was however, pretty sure that no one had come all this way to collect on him. He'd covered his tracks well and most of his debts still lay somewhere off three thousand years from now. Plenty of time to invest enough to be able to pay them off by the time anyone came calling. He planned on squaring them all away so that he wouldn't have people on his back chasing him for the next few millennia.

None of that was going to help him with their current problem. These guys meant business. They were the shoot first and ask questions later type. Jack knew how they operated.

‘Is everyone okay?’ he asked, as the strafing lasers disappeared off in a different direction sweeping across the Plass. He pulled Tosh to her feet, keeping her close in case the lasers came back for them. The others were huddled behind the water tower, using it for whatever shelter they could. It probably wasn't a bad place to be. At least the laser beams would ricochet away if they struck. It was everyone else that should worry about where they might bounce. It was lucky it was a Monday afternoon and that the Plass was only occupied by a few dozen people, all of who were frantically running from one end to the other to avoid being hit.

‘What the hell are they shooting at us for?’ Gwen demanded to know, chancing a look up at the grey ship hovering barely fifty feet above the Plass.

‘They want their money.’

‘What money?’

‘That's what we need to find out. And fast, before anyone innocent gets killed. Someone here owes a chunk of change to someone powerful and these guys are the heavies being sent in to collect it. Only problem being that if you've got this far and not coughed up the cash, chances are whoever it is doesn't have it now.’

Owen grimaced, ducking sideways to avoid some piling into him in their blind panicked run across the Plass. ‘That doesn't sound like it helps us.'

‘If we can find the alien that owes them we can give them what they want and leave.’

‘You'd offer someone up to them?’ Tosh exclaimed. ‘They're trying to kill us.’

‘You don't owe this kind of money by bankrolling the local bingo hall. Only crims get away with owing that kind of debt and letting it get this out of hand. These kinds of bullying tactics are what they do.’

Ianto's expression read appalled. ‘What happened to that Level Five Protected Planet status we're supposed to have?’

‘Do you see any Judoon around here ready to enforce our rights? These guys will be long gone before anyone gets here to stop them.’

Gwen swept her hair out of her face as they ducked to avoid another wave of low aimed laser fire. ‘Do you suppose we might find out who does owe them before they blast this city apart?’

‘Whoever it is they can't be far away.’ Jack pointed out beyond Bute Street where things began to grow a little hazy, but still clear enough to make out that the people on the other side of the road and all the cars rolling up Lloyd George Avenue had in fact come to a complete standstill. They were trapped in a temporal bubble, whilst the rest of the world simply stopped until the matter was resolved. Jack didn't like these things on principle. As a former time agent, he knew all about what was legal and what wasn't and these hovered somewhere on that very fine line. It was one thing to protect the majority of a planet's citizens from getting caught up in the crossfire, but it didn't help anyone who just happened to be inside the time bubble when it was activated. They were still fresh game and collateral damage.

‘We're in a time bubble,’ Jack said, dragging Tosh over to the water tower with him so that the five of them were all huddled together in its shadow. ‘No more than a mile wide judging by the looks of things. Nothing gets in, nothing gets outThe rest of Cardiff is safe. Whoever it is, they're in here with us. That at least helps us narrow things.’

A nearby pillar exploded as one of the lasers struck its electrical lights at the very top, causing it to spark and fizz angrily. The Plass was suddenly devoid of people as they all hunkered down under the eaves of cafes and the entrance to the Millennium Centre, which was only stuck in the time bubble as far as the copper overhang and not an inch more.

‘Don't we vet everyone who comes here?’ Ianto asked. ‘Last I checked we weren't in the habit of letting criminals stay here.’

Jack nodded. ‘Makes me think we're dealing with someone who's been here a while and gone bad.’

Owen scowled up at the ship as it began taking potshots, causing more of the lighted pillars to explode. ‘Are they planning on coming down anytime soon to actually talk to us, or are they just waiting for whoever it is to give themselves up?’

‘Probably the latter,’ Jack replied. He did a three hundred and sixty degree survey of the situation, formulating a plan before the heavies up in their ship decided they made good target practice. ‘The only safe building inside this time bubble is the hub, so get everybody you can rounded up and inside. Owen, Gwen, help those who've been injured. Tosh, I need you to reprogram our internal lockdown. I want it so that nobody can get in unless we say so. That ought to hold these guys off for a bit. Ianto, you're in charge of getting every name and address and cross-referencing those to our database of knowing alien residents. We're about to let someone through our doors that we don't want to. I wanna know who that person is asap.’ The last thing they needed was someone thinking they were harboring whoever it was.

Jack flipped open his wrist strap and set the invisible lift downwards, carrying Tosh and Ianto inside to get to work, whilst he, Gwen and a Owen ran zigzag across the Plass, doing what they could to convince people to follow them out into the open, down the steps to the quay and into the tourist office. By the time the first dozen people were beginning to cram into the tourist office, knocking over the neat pamphlet holders and bumping into brochure stands, Ianto was already there, waiting and ready to take down personal details, and having dumped several boxes of first aid supplies on the counter, ready for Owen to start treating scrapes and burns.



Jack headed back out into the fray with Gwen. Tosh had made quick work of tweaking their lockdown programs and was now using their other tech to override CCTV cameras in the area, searching for people who were still out there and directing Jack and Gwen in their general direction. Jack was amazed at some of the places people had squeezed themselves into to hide, and it was a job to convince them they'd be safer somewhere else.

Jack tapped his comms unit. ‘Tosh? Any more?’

He could hear the clack of her keyboard and picture her pushing her glasses a little further back up her nose. ‘I think that's all of them. Get yourself back here before your luck runs out.’ He didn't argue with the instruction. He'd had more than a few close shaves and there was now a large tear in the bottom of his coat where a laser had missed him by inches as he dove out of its path. Better the coat than him.

He jogged back towards the hub, hugging whatever shelter he could. Now that he was threatened only one out here, the debt collectors were having fun chasing him with their lasers, always managing to miss him by inches only. It was just a game to them now and Jack wished he could just blow them out of the sky. Perhaps some of those big guns Torchwood One had invented wouldn't have gone astray. A pity he'd destroyed them all.

He flew down the steps to throw quay toward st a time, making his final dash toward the tourist office and salvation. As he neared the door, one last person lingered in the corner, dressed in a pile of clothing that was too big for them. He didn't bother with niceties, simply grabbing them and hustling them through the door.

‘How're we doing?’ Jack asked, keen for an update from his efficient general support officer, stood behind the counter.

‘Owen's got them all lined up and triaged in the hallway,’ Ianto said, thumbing over his shoulder at the long dark tunnel that led from their makeshift entrance to the lifts that took you further down into the depths of the hub. There'd be a lot of retcon by the time they were done, Jack realised poking his head through the door and seeing about fifty people crammed into the space, looking like refugees from a war zone. ‘Gwen's helping keep them calm and Tosh is just waiting for the green light that you're back to lock down everything.’

Jack pressed his comms. ‘Tosh, shut us down.’ There was a loud clunk as several invisible locks bolted into place and the whole place buzzed with additional protective shields and monitoring systems.

Jack pushed his charge towards the desk and Ianto. ‘Once you're done here, go see who else needs help.’

Ianto nodded and then turned his attention to the disheveled man, his pen poised to take down his details. ‘Hey, I know you,’ he said. ‘You're that hobo guy who's been sleeping down here outside the tourist office.’

Jack raised an eyebrow, turning his head. ‘He has?’

Ianto nodded. ‘The first day I gave him twenty quid, hoping he'd move along. Then when he was still there the next day I gave him another twenty and a mug of soup. The day after that it was a bacon sarnie, a coffee, a blanket and another twenty quid before I realised he was probably getting a good deal and didn't want to leave. So today I only gave him ten quid and a map of all the homeless shelters in the city.’

‘Bless your charitable heart.’ Jack took in the sight of the homeless guy and now that he looked more closely at the unshaven face and the rumpled clothing, he recognised them. Almost capable of passing for human but most definitely alien.

‘Oh,’ Jack said, coming face to face with one of their long-term alien residents. ‘I guess I should've known it might be you. Didn't we bust you five years ago for selling dodgy artwork?’

‘They was the real deal!’ the alien replied.

Jack snorted. ‘Yeah, and I can just pop down to the local flea market on the weekend and pick up a genuine Michaelangelo for my living room wall.’

‘Sir, I was just about to start crossing referencing this list,’ Ianto said, holding up the clipboard full of names and addresses.

‘Don't bother. Lucky last here is our guy. And if he's not, I'll eat my boots.’ He gave the alien an appraising up and down look. ‘I see your landlord kicked you out. Can't blame them.’

‘Give a harmless Terranian a break!’

‘Only it wasn't for the free feed and the money you were hanging around Torchwood like a bad smell, was it? You figured with all that tech we've got here, those debt collectors wouldn't be able to find you for all the interference our base would emit. And now they think we're harboring you.’

‘Come on, Jack. You and me go way back.’

Jack's eyes narrowed. He disliked being taken advantage of. ‘We let you stay here. Don't take that for friendship. You screw up and this planet is giving you a one way ticket to wherever it is they let people like you repay what you owe the hard way. I'm not having the planet and those innocent people in there, and us, stuck in a time bubble forever just because of you. Those guys up there have been shooting at us like it's sport. I should shove you right back out that door now and let them take you.’

The alien fell to his knees. ‘Please don't. Please! I'm begging you. You don't know how much I owe them. It'll kill me.’

Jack scowled. ‘You're right. I don't have time for that right now. I have to make sure that all those other people are okay first. You come last. Ianto, don't even think of offering him so much as a breath mint.’ Jack scrunched up his face at the foul scent emanating from Terranian. ‘Even if he could use a few. Not to mention a shower.’

‘Yes, sir. And we can always arrange for a hosing down if needed.’



Gwen and Owen seemed to have things well in hand, all things considered. Those who were merely shaken up were taken to the lift and down several floors to a section of the hub that looked like nothing more than an underground hotel - their temporary accommodation area - and settled in some of the larger rooms until they could figure out what else to do with them.

Jack was also interested to get an update from Tosh. He wanted specifics on the size of that time bubble and what their visitors were up to now that they were all tucked up inside the hub.

‘It's exactly one point two miles in diameter,’ Tosh reported, ‘and for the moment the ship is locked in a fixed planetary orbit. They don't look like they're going anywhere.’

‘And they won't,’ Jack replied. ‘Not until they get what they came here for.’

‘Are we any closer to knowing who that is?’

‘Oh, yeah. There's a cell next to Janet with his name on it.’

‘Actually,’ Ianto said, announcing his arrival, ‘I put him a few cells further down. It didn't seem fair to subject Janet to the smell. I kind of feel sorry for him.’

Jack fixed him with a look. ‘Don't. That homeless guy thing is all an act. He knew they were coming for him. That's why he's been hanging out for days.’

Tosh's brow furrowed with concern. ‘So, what happens now? We just give him up to them?’

Jack heaved a sigh. That would have been the simple answer, but it didn't feel right. The Terranian was a pain in the arse, no question, but these guys that had come calling for him were way worse. The old Jack would have given him up without a second thought, but could he really live with himself if he handed over someone he'd offered protection to? This planet had a reputation to maintain and it was home to any number of asylum seekers from other worlds. If word got out that Torchwood would have no qualms about handing you over to a group of thugs or mercenaries, chaos would ensue. Being brought up on intergalactic law charges with the Shadow Proclamation was one thing, but Earth was not the wild west. People should feel safe here, even if they were a little on the questionable side of altruistic.

‘They're not the negotiating type, but you're right. We can't just offer him up like some sacrificial lamb.’ Jack groaned. This job used to be so much easier!

‘How long can they maintain this temporal bubble?’ Tosh asked.

‘Indefinitely. We could be stuck in here until we're old, grey and dead, and everyone outside the bubble won't even know it's happened.’

‘Well, some of us will be old, grey and dead,’ Ianto reminded him. ‘Not really thrilled by that as a concept.’

Jack grit his teeth. ‘Believe me, I'm well aware of the lack of good alternatives.’

Ianto seemed to be deep in thought as the three of them chewed over the problem. ‘What was that you were saying earlier about not having enough time to get Shadow Proclamation law enforcement here quick enough to stop them? We're stuck in a time bubble, right? Doesn't that mean time is moving differently in here?v

Jack rolled his eyes. ‘Yeah, a whole lot faster. We send a signal for help and it'll take three weeks for anyone to get here. Three hours by local Earth time but we're not in local Earth time anymore.’

Tosh's eyes began to light up as she seemed to latch onto the same train of thought. ‘And those guys aren't leaving without what they came here for but they can't get into the hub. So…’

‘So, we send for help and sit tight and hope these guys don't run out of patience,’ Jack finished.

Ianto groaned. ‘You're suggesting we put up fifty civilians inside the hub for the next three weeks until help arrives? I didn't exactly stock up at Tesco this week.’

Tosh chewed her lip. ‘He's got a point. We can house them all but how do we feed that many people?’

‘They're not getting my coffee,’ Ianto said, putting his cards on the table.

‘It's fine,’ Jack assured him, already beginning to think on his feet like the resourceful time agent he'd once been. ‘There must be twenty cafes and restaurants inside the bubble with us. Go raid their kitchens. Bring back everything. And I mean everything. Get Owen and Gwen to help. And wait until dark. We'll be less of a target out there once it's night time.’

‘We're preparing for a siege?'

Jack nodded. ‘Looks that way. But send that signal now. The sooner we get a hold of someone at the Shadow Proclamation to let them know what's going down, the sooner they can send help.’



Even with all the foodstuffs they managed to pilfer from local cafés under the cover of darkness, it took some ingenuity to convert all of that into meals enough to feed everybody. To their credit, the people stuck inside the hub quickly got used to the idea that cereal and toast for breakfast were far less likely than fried rice and tins of baked beans. It helped having a few of them who'd been working in the kitchen of those smells cafés who could lend a hand in putting together a menu without having the use of an industrial size kitchen.

At least there was plenty of coffee after several kilo bags of coffee beans were procured from café storerooms, even if most of them had to drink it black for a lack of fresh milk. There were a few baristas on hand that Ianto allowed to use their spare coffee machine, assured they would take care of it. They even got used to the idea that they were safe down here and that the world maybe wasn't ending. Once the batteries on their phones lost charge they stopped worrying about what was going on in the outside world, not that it would have mattered. On account of the time bubble, news websites never seemed to update because what appeared to be a single day inside the hub, was only a few minutes outside in the real world. They entertained themselves with whatever the team could provide, books from the archives, movies streamed and projected onto the wall, and even a smattering of board games that no one could remember having but which must have been dredged up from the archives. By the end of it, Jack was amazed they hadn't gone stir crazy. If anything, they were all a little bit crazy and silly with the kinds of things they were inventing to amuse themselves, and Jack often heard their hoots of laughter and yelling from three floors up in the main hub, wondering what was so amusing and why he was stuck here working when they were all having fun. It was Jack's team who were the boring ones.



Eventually the hub received a signal from an incoming Judoon ship that it was entering their solar system. It didn't take long before Jack and Tosh were watching satellite images of the debt collector's ship hightailing it out of the galaxy, but not quick enough that the Judoon didn't manage to ensnare it in a forcefield beam from their own vastly superior ship and dragging it back with them. Jack wasn't a huge fan of Judoon but they had their uses when they were batting for the right side.

Now there was only one last undesirable to be evicted from Jack's line of sight, as he trudged down to the cells where his Terranian friend had spent his last three weeks, reconsidering his life choices.

Jack swiped his access card and the cell door swung open. ‘Much as it pains me, you're free to go. Those guys who were looking to remove your spleen and other vital organs to see them off for whatever they're worth are now rotting away in some Proclamation labour camp for the next fifty years.’

‘Oh, thank you! Thank you!’

Jack shrugged off the alien's pawing at his sleeve. ‘Don't thank me. I'm not doing this for you. I'm doing this because these guys break intergalactic protection laws and this was one chance to rid the galaxy of a few of them.’ He grabbed the alien by the scruff of its neck and personally dragged him the entire way from the cells to the tourist office, shoving him out through door with one final threat that if he ever tried to run a bad deal again, Jack would have worse places for him than the Torchwood cells.



Gwen flopped on the sofa next to Ianto. With everyone now released from the hub, given a personal escort to their homes and retconned to remove the last three weeks of memories, the whole five of them had called it quits, too tired to even be bothered with a takeaway pizza. ‘I am never volunteering for a soup kitchen,’ she declared. ‘I have done enough cooking to last me a lifetime.’

‘At least we had them do all their own laundry,’ Ianto agreed. ‘I don't mind doing Jack's but I draw the line at fifty strangers with only one change of clothes and a weevil boiler suit for every alternate day.’

‘And we didn't have any riots,’ Owen added, resting his feet up on the desk as he lounged as far back in his chair as he could go without toppling it over. ‘That's bloody amazing. I was dreading every single day that someone was going to start insisting they wanted out. It only takes one and then you've got a whole mob on your hands.’

‘They were actually pretty well behaved, really,’ Tosh admitted. ‘And pretty understanding given the situation. I think a few of them ended up making good friends.’

Jack waggled an eyebrow. ‘I think a few of them made more than friends, if you know what I mean. I thought we were going to have to start printing up “do not disturb” signs for the doors.’

‘Torchwood. Bringing couples together since 1879,’ Ianto quipped, letting Jack squeeze in on his other side and wrap an arm around him. ‘Still, I for one am glad to no longer have fifty flatmates. And a pity for them that they won't remember any of it.’ Retcon had done a fine job of erasing their three week sojourn at L’hotel du Torchwood.

‘Kinda makes naked hide and seek a little challenging,’ Jack said. That was one game he was happy to play only with Ianto for now. As much as they'd restricted their guests' movements around the hub, you never knew when someone might wander somewhere they shouldn't, and boy oh boy would they get a surprise finding naked men hiding in storage closets or running down halls trying to find places to stash what was left of their clothes!

‘Yeah and I'm looking forward to not living in the pockets of you losers for a few weeks,’ Owen added.

‘I missed Rhys and he doesn't even know I've been gone three weeks.’

‘So go on home people,’ Jack announced. ‘You've all paid way more than your dues on this one. Take a few days off and enjoy mooching around your own homes, or whatever is it you do when you're not here saving the world. I think it's time we took a pause and let the rest of the world sort itself out for a few days.’ Even Torchwood were allowed to occasionally call in their chips.