"He shoots! He scores! And the crowd goes wild!" Owen called out as the orange basketball swished effortlessly through the white net. He flung his hands up in the air and swaggered around, cockily grinning at the others.
"That's just because I let you," Jack laughed as he grabbed the bouncing ball. "I felt sorry for you."
"Like hell you did. I won because of my mad skills."
"I say the best way to settle this is to have another go," Gwen piped up.
"I agree," Toshiko nodded, smiling as well. "Two on two, like last time."
"I'll prove that I'm better than you, Jack Harkness!" Owen boasted as he pointed a finger at Jack.
"All I have to say is bring it on," Jack shrugged. He heard the chink of porcelain and looked over to the table where Ianto was picking up cups and saucers. "Ianto, come join us."
Ianto looked up and smiled. "You look like you have enough there to play. I'd just be an extra wheel."
"Nonsense Ianto!"
"We might have enough people, but Jack could use all the help he can get," Owen added.
"You wish!" Jack laughed.
"How many times have I won?"
"Recently? Twice. All together? Now, that's the big factor."
"The record gets wiped clean every month."
"You wish," Jack laughed.
"You don't remember the score either!"
Jack chuckled again and then looked back to Ianto expectantly. "Well?"
Ianto looked over the faces of his team mates and shook his head. "I'm afraid I'm not much of an athlete."
"Neither am I," Toshiko stated.
"That still leaves the problem of the number of players though."
"I can drop out," Gwen offered, receiving a pitiful moan from Owen. "I should be getting home anyway. Rhys will be wondering where I am if I don't show up soon."
"Oh come on Gwen! You said one more game!" Owen whined.
"Yes, but if Ianto wants to play-"
"Thanks for the offer, but I'd much rather watch. I have work to do anyway."
"Well, if that's really how you feel…"
"Okay Ianto, but try to relax every now and then. Work yourself too hard and you'll get sick," Jack nodded his head.
"I agree," Gwen nodded and gave him a smile. "You're so tense Ianto. You need to loosen up."
Ianto gave her a weird look. "Thanks for the advice, I suppose."
He continued on, finishing up his cleaning and then headed up the stairs a little bit quicker than he normally did.
Gwen looked over to Jack. "I probably shouldn't have said that, huh?"
"I'd say that's a good guess," Jack nodded. "So, Owen, you think you can beat your boss?" He turned back to his competitor.
"I don't just think I can, I know I can!" Owen replied.
The game began again, the team jumping around dribbling the ball in the cramped space they had to play and tossing to each other as they tried to score. They were so loud that none of them heard the computer alarm sound off. None of them save Ianto.
He stiffly walked over to Toshiko's computer and clicked a few things on the keyboard, bringing up a new screen. His eyes quickly scanned over it before looking over the edge to the group below.
"I hate to break up the fun," the others froze in place as he called, all giving Ianto their attention, "but you might want to see this Jack."
Jack sighed. He had the ball and was hunched over, trying to keep Gwen away from it, who was hanging over him. Owen was near the net, crouched down and ready to block anyone who came near, and Toshiko was on the other side between Jack and Owen, ready to help Jack out.
"I was about to score too," Jack groaned, straightening up.
"You would only like to think so," Owen smarted, standing with the rest of the crew.
"I know so."
"Yeah right, we had you completely covered," Owen boasted as they came up the stairs to stand beside Ianto. "Right Gwen?" he looked to Gwen, who nodded.
"Whatever makes you sleep better at night," Jack laughed and looked to the screen. "What is it Ianto?"
"Person called the police complaining about a neighbor's pet. They reported that the neighbors have had this pet for a year or so by now, but they had just been tolerant of it up until now. Said that odd things have been happening since they brought the animal home, but within the last few months or so, it's gotten worse. Things mysteriously breaking, food going missing, so on and so on. They themselves don't have a pet and it's not a burglar because there are never any doors open or windows broken. They claim they would've noticed that. So, they finally called the police to report the neighbors owning an illegal pet, which would be a red fox."
"Not our problem," Jack shrugged. "Stinks to be the neighbor then."
"Well, that's the thing. The neighbor never actually saw the creature do any of these things, only assumed it was that. The fox is still illegal anyway, so it really doesn't matter all that much if they saw it or not. The police show up around eight o' clock tonight, and they find the fox, but it's not what they expected. The fox they found looked to be nothing more than a skeleton until the light hit them. Then, it looked like a normal red fox, except with crazy killer eyes and very sharp teeth."
"Fexilaoc, or at least I think it is," Jack sighed. "An alien from our galaxy, actually, that fits that description perfectly. The problems with things going missing and happening around the house are not surprising; Fexilaocs are very playful, just like normal Earth red foxes. However, they also have a ghost aspect. 'Fex' is Gerianlian for 'fox' while 'ila' means 'ghost.' 'Oc' just means 'being.' Its name literally translates as 'fox ghost being.' It's very interesting, in fact."
"Should we go out and collect it then?" Gwen asked.
"We can wait until tomorrow," Jack shook his head. "It would be easier to catch in the light. It will be fleshed out and only slightly skeleton-like when it's in shadows. Moonlight and shadows turn it into a skeleton. Light of any sort, except moon light, turn it back into flesh."
"But won't we be putting them in danger?"
"No. It's harmless unless you anger it. And I think it's very docile because it's being taken care of. It can wait until morning, and should. Get some rest tonight. We'll need it for tomorrow. These things are nimble and quick."