Dragon Age: Torchwood Clips
Cover-Up

CONTENT:

Rating: Teen
Flavor: Drama
Era: DATW Early Season 1
B&Z Spoilers: none
Language: some
Violence: a murder is discussed
Nudity: no
Sex: no
Other: questionable ethics
Gratuitous Jack Deaths: 0/0

Author's Notes:

Takes place sometime after "Pointy-Eared Street Punks."

Wow, I didn't post this yet? Yay, new story! (Yes, it's been sitting around for YEARS.)

Cover-Up
==#==

Jack sat at his desk early on Saturday morning, sorting through requisition approvals and the Torchwood Three budget allocation the Ministry of Defence had approved for the next quarter. Somewhere in all those numbers, he had to find the funds to pay for two new agents under the table. Fortunately, the elves did not have large expenses- no cars, no rent. Groceries. There was a big elven expense. Those two would eat Torchwood out of house and home.

Ianto came in with a tray. Jack glanced up and noticed that the young man had on a pink shirt with his dark blue suit. His mood must be improving, and it was about time, too. Ianto managed to find a spot for Jack's coffee mug, then he set a folded newspaper in front of the captain.

"What's this?"

"This morning's paper. I thought you should see this article."

Jack looked at the sub-headline at the top of the fold: Gay Bashers Stabbed In Alley. "Gee, couldn't happen to nicer guys," he said dryly. Ianto gave him a reproving look. "All right, it's a devastating blow to humanity. But I don't understand, it appears to be a normal homicide. No weevil bites, no mysterious burns, or slime, or..." He shrugged. "What's this have to do with Torchwood?"

"Only that they were stabbed, and Carver street is near the pub the elves have been frequenting."

Jack's brows rose. "You think they did this?"

Ianto straightened minutely. "Of course not, sir. But it does raise questions. Questions the police might start asking."

And if the police started examining the elves too closely... "All right. Thanks for bringing this to my attention. I'll talk to them. Where are they now?"

"Still abed, I imagine."

"When they get in, send them to me right away."

"Yes, sir." Ianto took the empty tray and departed.

Jack leaned his elbows on the desk and rubbed his face. He had a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Murderers. He'd brought murderers onto the team. Gwen would kill him. Twice, probably.

He sipped his coffee and stared blankly at the columns of numbers before him. He shouldn't jump to conclusions. He should keep an open mind. But in his gut, he knew the truth.

==#==

Finally, the two elves entered the office. "You wanted to see us?" Zevran asked.

"Yes. Shut the door."

Bannon turned to close the door and Jack set the paper on the edge of the desk facing Zevran. He watched both elves very carefully.

Zevran picked up the paper. "What is a 'Gay Basher'?" Bannon moved behind the blond elf while Jack answered.

"It is someone who is extremely homophobic. They fear and hate homosexuals and attack them when they can. They beat them, sometimes kill them."

Zevran shrugged and let Bannon have the paper to read the whole article. "So they beat somebody, somebody fights back. Inevitable, no?"

"Did you do it?"

Zevran shook his head. Bannon glanced up from the paper and said, "No."

Jack closed one hand into a fist. He ran the other down over his mouth and chin, trying to remain calm. They didn't seem to be lying. Still, he knew they had to be. "Look, you're not going to get into trouble," he said levelly. "But if you killed these men, I need to know." The elves shared a look, then turned back to him. Their faces were innocently blank slates. Jack gritted his teeth. "This isn't your little medieval town," he said, keeping his temper mostly in check. "If someone gets killed and there are no witnesses, the guards don't just shrug and give up. People in this world do not take murder lightly, no matter who the victims are. The police are going to start asking questions. They're not going to stop until they find the answers." He looked between the two. Zevran glanced at Bannon. Always the assassin followed his lead. Jack looked at the thief. "Were you at that pub last night?"

Bannon put the paper back on the desk. "Yes."

"Then people saw you there, and the police are going to want to question you, whether you did anything or not." Damn, this guy was hard to crack! "I can protect you, but I need to know the truth."

"Yeah, we did it." So calmly and matter-of-fact.

"Shit!" Jack looked for something to hit to keep from throttling an elf or two.

"So much for not getting in trouble," Zevran grumbled.

Jack reined in his temper one more time. He leaned over the desk and stabbed a finger at the newspaper article. "You can not do this," he said, carefully emphasizing each word.

"No one saw us," Bannon said.

"Look, on this world we have a special magic called 'forensic science,'" Jack snarled. "They can measure the size and shape of a wound and tell exactly what weapon made it. They can find blood that's been cleaned away- even after years! If you left one little hair behind, a drop of saliva or semen or blood, they can prove you were there." Jack eased back and let them absorb the information. Now they started to look worried.

He took a deep breath. "Torchwood can make this go away, this one time. But you are not ever to do this again. Do you understand me?" They nodded. Jack still didn't trust them. He hardened his voice. "As your commander, I'm giving you a direct order. If you go around murdering people, we will cut you loose, and you will go to prison. Have I made myself perfectly clear?"

"Yes, ser," they replied. They seemed sufficiently cowed, for now. That would have to do.

"As of this moment," Jack told them, looking each one in the eye, "this never happened. You're not to discuss it or mention it to anyone, ever." They nodded again, heads down. "Dismissed. Close the door on your way out."

==#==

When they were gone, Jack let out a long breath and sank into his chair. He raked his hands back through his hair. Torchwood had an entire team to clean up messes such as this. An information specialist who could find alternate sources of blame, a tech who could hack into police files to rewrite facts. A doctor who could adjust forensic reports. And now a person with contacts and direct access to police headquarters and evidence lockers herself.

He could not call on any of them. They would never agree to cover up a murder, or to harbor those murderers on their team. It wasn't the elves' fault. They had a different code of morals. And honestly, if they had been attacked by those men, Jack could not bring himself to blame them for turning around and fighting back.

The leader of Torchwood had to be capable of stepping in and handling any job that his team members could do. In the case they were incapacitated or lost, Torchwood would not be crippled. It had been a while since he'd actually had to do so, and perhaps he'd gotten a bit complacent lately.

He shoved the budgeting paperwork into a pile and dug out his laptop workstation. This would be a prime opportunity for him to keep his hand in.

==X==