SUMMARY: Ianto and Gwen travel to nothern Wales to track down an alien. Not COE compliant.
Rated G/PG
Written for redisourcolor Challenge 12 - Theme: Spring; truncate, demonstrable, earth, "It was a week before (s)he could walk normally again."

Gwen didn't like the idea from the very start. Sure it was a chance to see some beautiful northern Welsh countryside. But really, why did she have to go on this trip? Tosh could have gone but she wasn't suitable for the mission, or so Jack said.

She sat in the passenger seat of Ianto's car and pouted. She liked Ianto, but a two day trip with him just wasn't how she wanted to spend her weekend. Rhys would be heading home from work about now and she sighed thinking about how she would miss his arms around her when she went to sleep tonight.

Ianto looked over at Gwen at the sound of her sighing. "Come on Gwen, it's not going to be that bad."

"I still don't know why Jack couldn't have made Tosh go. She doesn't have a life outside of Torchwood."

Ianto gently tut-tutted her. "Well she doesn't ride for one thing. And Jack felt that you and I could more easily pass as a couple without raising a lot of questions. So let's have some fun with this, my darling, wonderful bride of exactly one year."

Gwen snorted. "Oh yeah, I can ride. Four lessons when I was ten years old and suddenly I'm National Velvet. And you, have you ever even been on a horse?"

"A couple of times. But as I recall they were limited to the ponies at the zoo."

Gwen snorted. "You mean where they put the little ones on them and walk them in a circle. You must have been, what, four?"

Ianto put on his most serious face. "Oh no, I'm sure I was at least six," he said before his face transformed into a small smile.

They continued their friendly banter for the rest of the drive. By the time they reached their destination Gwen had gotten into the sprit of the trip. "I think a really nice husband would let me have the bed and he would take the floor."

"And I am of course, a very nice husband."

"Well I'd actually have to ask Jack that…"

"Oi! None of that my little Welsh cake, we don't want our fellow guests thinking we're into kinky stuff."

Gwen looked over at Ianto with the most innocent look on her face. "Why not?"

Ianto rolled his eyes. They both burst out laughing. Ianto shook his head. "Jack was a bit daft sending us out here, wasn't he?"

"Aliens in Snowdonia National Park. What chance have we got to find them let alone deal with whatever they are?"

Ianto shrugged. A little while later they were pulling into a dirt area at the front of a tidy little whitewashed farmhouse. "Well here we are."

"And where is that?" Gwen said as she opened the car door.

"About four miles from Betws-y-Coed."

They got out of the car and looked around. A few horses were out in a fenced yard nibbling on grass and enjoying the early evening late spring weather. There was a small horse barn around back but otherwise the place looked deserted.

They knocked on the door of the farmhouse but got no answer. Just as Gwen was going to suggest that they drive on to Betws-y-Coed, a woman answered the door. She was probably in her mid-sixties, short and a little stout, with rosy cheeks and a big smile. She had a gingham apron on which was dusted in flour. "You must be the Harknesses. It's lovely to meet you."

She went to extend her hand and realizing that they too were covered in flour, she wiped them quickly on her apron. "I'm Mrs. Miller, but call me Dorothy. Been doing a bit of baking for tomorrow's breakfast. Hope you have good appetites as it will be a full traditional Welsh breakfast."

She hesitated for a moment as she realized that her guests were still standing at the front door.

"Now where is my head, come in, come in, you must be tired after the long drive from Cardiff."

As they both went to enter the house, Gwen turned her face to Ianto and with a look of mischief said, "Sweetheart, would you get the luggage, it's so heavy."

Ianto opened his mouth to retort and wisely shut it again. "Of course darling, anything for you."

As Dorothy led Gwen into the house, Ianto heard Dorothy say, "Cor, you caught yourself a good one there, love. Such a gentlemen and good looking too."

For reasons even she didn't understand, Gwen found herself blushing. "That's OK, I was a young bride once, now as Mac's gone it just me and my son, Achoo." Dorothy smiled as she led Gwen back to the kitchen.

Noticing the curious look on Gwen's face Dorothy continued, "See when they asked us what we wanted to name him, my husband sneezed at that very moment and that's how our baby boy got his name."

"What have I gotten into? She's mad, totally mad."

At that moment, a man in his forties knocked at a side door. "And here he is now," Dorothy said letting the man into the kitchen. "Achoo" he sneezed as he kicked off his boots.

"Takes after his father, he does."

The man shook his head at his mother good-naturedly. "My mam loves to tell that story. My name is George actually," he said shaking Gwen's hand. "And I do take after my father in that I'm allergic to hay."

Meanwhile, Ianto had gotten his small duffle out of the car boot and was trying to lift Gwen's luggage out of the boot as well. "How did she manage to get this in here?" he wondered. "Stupid thing must weigh two stone."

Finally, he succeeded and began to carry the bags up to the house. A middle age man met him at the front door taking the bags from him. "Name's George," he told Ianto. "Mam calls me Achoo cause I'm allergic to hay," punctuating the statement with an eye roll and a sneeze.

Ianto followed him up to the second floor and into a small bedroom. Observing the look on Ianto's face, George apologized, "yeah, sorry about that. I know you're here to celebrate your wedding anniversary but a pipe in the bathroom burst in the room we were going to give you and this is the only other one available. Feel free to move things around, if you like," George said winking at Ianto as he left the room.

Ianto smiled as he looked at the two single beds. Gwen came up a while later, laughed at the single beds and began to unpack her things.

"You bought riding boots." Ianto was incredulous. "You actually bought riding boots. If that isn't demonstrable proof that you really wanted to go on this mission, then I don't know what is."

They were tired and decided to turn in early; they would leave the two beds alone tonight and push them together the next morning. Gwen changed in the tiny bathroom while Ianto stripped down to his pants and slipped under the covers. When Gwen came out hoping to model her teddy bear pajamas for Ianto, she found him sound asleep, covers pulled up to his waist. He looked even younger asleep, all the stress smoothed from his face and his dark hair curling at the back of his neck. She noticed something on his back and moved just a bit closer to get a better look. She gasped but fortunately, Ianto did not awaken. A long pink scar ran down from his shoulder blade almost to his waist where it was truncated by another scar running at a ninety degree angle across his torso.

"Canary Wharf," she thought in horror. She knew Ianto had a back injury that Owen checked on periodically but she had no idea of its severity. She felt tears welling up in her eyes and her heart ached for him.

"Thank goodness he's got Jack to rely on. I always thought Jack was teasing when he'd say that he had to massage alien medicine into Ianto's back to keep the pain tolerable."

Gwen had long harbored just the tiniest bit of jealousy toward Jack's seemingly inexplicable preference for Ianto, but as she thought about how much this young man had suffered and how well he and Jack suited each other, she felt the last vestiges of resentment slip away. She leaned over and kissed him on the cheek.

"Sleep well sweetheart," she said as she slipped into her bed.

The next morning after a mountainous breakfast, George took them out to the barn to see the horses. There were a dozen; all beautifully cared for, the stalls clean with fresh bedding and the horses munching on oats and hay.

Gwen and Ianto were surprised when George told them that he did all the cleaning and feeding by himself.

"Well, I've got naught all to do all day except take care of the horses and the barn. We don't get many riders this early in the year; when we get busy later in the summer, there's a couple of kids from town who come out and help in exchange for getting to ride the horses."

George matched them up with quiet horses after learning that they really weren't experienced riders. "So what made you decide to go riding for a weekend to celebrate your first anniversary?"

Gwen and Ianto looked at each other in horror. This was not a discussion they had anticipated. Gwen spoke up. "It was my idea really. It seemed so romantic, and Ianto, he just doesn't know how to say, 'no.'"

George chuckled.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time," Ianto said doing his best to look a bit embarrassed.

They headed out for a day of riding but an hour in, Gwen's horse began to try to turn around. The chestnut mare was gentle enough, but it was obvious she didn't want to go further. Upon inspection, George found that one of her shoes had worked loose. "Well, I hate to spoil your afternoon…"

"No we understand," Gwen replied. "Maybe I could ride your horse and we could go a bit further on our own." George was a bit concerned as his horse, while a gelding was a bit livelier. He finally relented and drew them a map of the path he was going to take them on.

"Now assuming everything goes well, you should reach a glade with a little pond by lunchtime. You can go a bit further on the path as it runs back into the forest, but don't go any further than where the path divides. The right hand side runs into an open area of boggy earth while the left one…well there's a man who lives in a cave there. He's a bit odd, kind of hermit like. Not dangerous but he doesn't like to be disturbed. I don't know how he survives really, but he does. If you do see him just back the horses up and leave quietly."

George helped Gwen onto his horse. The horse danced a bit at the feel of a lighter rider and then settled down. He began the walk back to the farm leading the young mare along.

"Starts getting dark around seven," he called out. "Please be back by then."

They rode for another hour until they came across the pond George had described. Dismounting they let the horses graze having been assured by George that they wouldn't run off. They sat by the side of the pond eating their lunches and enjoying the view.

"It really is beautiful here. Any energy readings?" Gwen asked.

Ianto slipped the alien detection device out of his pocket. To his surprise it was picking up a small but distinct signal. It wasn't one he was familiar with He showed it to Gwen, who shook her head. "Don't recognize it, but it can't be very big or very many of them with a signal like that."

They finished their lunches and walked around a bit to determine where the signal was coming from. When they realized that the signal was coming from a little further down the path, Ianto insisted that they leave the horses by the pond where they were happily grazing.

"If its an item that's fallen into the boggy area, we won't want to take the horses in and at least here we know they're safe."

"And what if its in the direction of the hermit?"

"If we can talk to him we'll see if he's seen anything strange, if not we'll just leave him alone just like George said."

They walked down the path for about twenty minutes until they came to where the path divided. The energy signal was clearly off to the left. "Time to meet the strange man in the forest," she said whispering the last few words. Ianto grinned and they began to walk in the direction of the signal. As they walked the signal got steadily stronger.

"GAAAAAAAARH." Out from the trees a man leapt yelling as he did. Gwen went to pull her stun gun but Ianto shook his head. The man had long straggly hair that covered his forehead and ran down almost to his waist. He was of average height and build and Ianto noticed that his clothes were clean though a bit ragged.

"SNARRRL," the man shouted as he flailed his arms wildly. Ianto showed Gwen the energy signal. This was the alien they were searching for.

"Long way from home then." Ianto asked gently. The man growled at them with a bit less conviction.

"We're not going to hurt you," Gwen said. "We're from Torchwood." Apparently this was not the right thing to say as the man bared his teeth and hissed at them.

"Maybe we could sit down and talk this over like civilized beings," Ianto suggested. "Really, it's in your best interest. If you're harmless we'll leave you here. If we can't determine whether you are or not…" Ianto let his voice trail off.

The man looked at Gwen and then Ianto and then Gwen once more. Gwen began to sit down on a small rock. "Come on, let's talk."

To their astonishment the man sat down as well. "Yeah I reckon that'd be best," he said sitting down on another rock opposite them.

"Well, guess I won't need the universal translator then," Ianto said sitting down near Gwen.

An hour later they had determined that the humanoid alien had crash landed his spacecraft into the bog where it slowly sank into the mud. "I was trapped here, no way to get home, no way to contact my planet, so I had to make due, didn't I?" the alien said a bit petulantly.

"How is it that we can understand you," Gwen asked.

"I studied Earth cultures for years at the University of Cassiopeia. My area of concentration was Ancient Welsh Culture up through what you would call the 21st century."

Ianto smiled. "Where, or shall I say when are you from?"

"I reckon it would be from about the 40th Century by your calculation. I was supposed to land at the spaceport at Cardiff for the Intergalactic Symposium of Ancient Welsh Cultures, but I hit an ion storm and got sucked into a…some sort of time vortex. Landed here. Didn't take me too long to figure out that I was a bit early to deliver my lecture.

He seemed pretty harmless, but Ianto was puzzled by one thing. "Why didn't you go to a city and just blend in? You speak the language well, you're obviously very intelligent, so why live out here?

The man smiled and pulled the hair back from his face. Two prominent ridges ran across his forehead and in between was a small horn.

"That would be a problem," Gwen agreed.

"I did try out that town down the road, but over a short time, people became suspicious about me. The way I walk is a bit different, and someone said they thought I had something growing out of my head. I was able to laugh it off, but I knew it was only a matter of time before I was found out. So I scouted the area and found a nice cave to live in."

"But how do you survive, what do you eat?"

"My species is totally vegetarian. We subsist on a variety of greens, but mostly on what you call tree bark. And there's plenty of that around here."

They spoke a bit more and learned that George visited occasionally bringing books and magazines for him. "He thinks I'm a professor gone a bit off, and he's very nice to me."

Gwen tried to convince him to come to Cardiff. "We might be able to help you get home. Or maybe you could work for us at the Hub. Wouldn't that be better than living out here."

The alien smiled and shook his head. "I'm fine here. We live in caves on my planet, the temperature is delightfully warm compared to my home world and I am content. My only regret is that I'll never get to give that lecture at the symposium."

"Maybe you could share that lecture with us," Gwen suggested.

The alien politely declined. Gwen and Ianto realized that it was getting a bit late and they better be heading back to the farm.

"Well it's been nice meeting, you," the alien said. Would you mind if I asked your names?"

Gwen and Ianto told the alien who smiled and nodded. As they said their goodbyes, Ianto had a thought. "Could you tell us the topic you were going to present. The alien looked a little amused, and then a bit wistful.

"Heroes of Wales – The Final Years of the Ancient Era."

"Like Owain Glyndŵr and Llywelyn ap Gruffudd?" Ianto asked.

"Something like that. You best be going, smells like the weather's going to change. Nice meeting you Gwendolyn Cooper-Williams and Jones, Ianto Selwyn Jones."

As he turned and walked away, Gwen realized that she hadn't told him her married name just Cooper and Ianto, she didn't even know he had a middle name. "Oi!" she shouted at him, "how did you know our whole names?"

"Spoilers!" he yelled back and then he disappeared into the woods.

The moment he disappeared it was if a spell had been broken. They looked around and the sky was getting dark and the wind was picking up. They ran back down the path to find the horses safe but nervous. The mounted them and moved back up the path toward the farm.

Ianto reckoned that they were about half way home when a bolt of lightening cut across the sky followed by an ear splitting clap of thunder. Gwen felt her mount twitch nervously under her.

"Ianto we need to ride. I mean really ride or we'll not get us or the horses back in one piece." Ianto nodded and urged his horse to a trot. When Gwen did the same, her horse took off like a rocket with Gwen holding on for dear life. Ianto's horse picked up speed not wanting to be left behind.

The horses and riders raced against the storm. Ianto and Gwen were terrified but the horses were sturdy and knew the way well. A few minutes later the rain began to come down in buckets. The horses continued to run and Ianto thought they were lost and hurtling toward disaster. And then in the distance they saw a light. It was George with a flashlight in hand waving them home.

As they entered the farm, George called out something they couldn't understand. The horses however knew the command. Ianto's horse slowed to a walk and George was able to catch the horse and hold him while Ianto dismounted. Gwen's horse stopped so abruptly that she lost her balance and slid sideways off the saddle. Her foot got caught in a stirrup and she couldn't get free. Her horse snorted and shifted his weight nervously. Ianto ran over to untangle her as he was afraid the horse might bolt and Gwen would be seriously injured. At Ianto's quick movement toward him, the horse skittered just a bit causing Gwen to slide completely off the horse. Ianto caught her just in time, but he slipped and they both ended up sitting in the mud.

"You OK?" Ianto asked he helped her to her feet.

Gwen nodded yes, but in fact it was a week before she could walk normally again. As Ianto helped Gwen limp to the door of the farmhouse, Dorothy came out to help.

"You two get inside and go to the back of the house. There's a big soaking tub in the last room on the right. Get out of those wet clothes and get into a hot bath before you both catch your death of cold. I've got to help George with the horses; I'll be back in a bit."

As Ianto helped Gwen to the back of the house, he winced at the trail of mud they were leaving behind. Gwen rolled her eyes. "Stop worrying about the mess, we'll clean it up later.

Ianto snorted. "You mean I'll clean it up later."

"Because you're the best husband in the whole world."

Ianto carefully lowered Gwen into a chair in the tub room and turned on the taps. Gwen could hardly bend over to get to her boots and when Ianto went to help her she winced in pain. "That's it," he said pulling a small multi-tool out of his pocket.

"No Ianto, don't. They're brand new, I've only worn them this once, please don't."

"Sorry," Ianto replied as he expertly slit the boot down the side. Easing her foot out he tried to get her sock off but she asked him to stop.

"Hurts too much, just cut the bloody thing off." Ianto did and then examined her ankle.

"Looks like it's a bad sprain, but I don't think anything's broken."

He quickly pulled off her other boot and sock. "Can I give you a hand with those jeans?"

"You've got to be kidding."

"Well if you think you can get them off yourself…"

"Ok, go on then." Once he had her jeans off Ianto got up took off his own shoes and socks and began to leave the room.

"Where are you going?"

"Good point, let me help you into the tub."

"Don't be daft," Gwen said unbuttoning her shirt. Just keep your pants on and get in with me. He took off his jeans but left his shirt on.

"Are you going to leave your shirt…" her sentence was cut short by the look that Ianto gave her.

"Shite, now what do I do. What would Gwendolyn the Brave, Hero of Late Welsh History do?"

"Ianto, its ok, you can take the shirt off. It won't be a problem. I saw…I saw last night."

Ianto nodded and discarded the shirt. Ianto helped Gwen into the tub and eased her gently into a sitting position. He sat down across from her and stared down at the water.

"Come here,"

Ianto shook his head no.

"Well I don't know how you are ever going to get into that lecture about Late Ancient Welsh Heroes if you are afraid to sit by me."

"What?"

"Didn't you hear what the alien said? We're going to be heroes."

"Don't be ridiculous Gwen. He's probably is a bit empathic or has a little ESP and could sense our full names even if we didn't say them out loud."

That made perfect sense and Gwen hadn't really taken the alien seriously. Alright, maybe just a bit if she was honest. Ianto saw her frown and felt bad and then worse when he saw her shift and bite her lip as pain coursed up her leg.

"Though, I think you'd make a wonderful hero. I can just see it. Our friend starts his lecture and everyone listens politely. Then he comes to Gwen Cooper-Williams, and a drawing goes up showing her in full armor riding her white steed into battle as she protects Earth from alien invaders. The audience is in awe."

Gwen threw her head back and laughed. "And you, Jones, Ianto Selwyn Jones, would come right after, drawn in a dashingly handsome suit, stun gun in one hand, weevil spray in another. And the audience would marvel not only at your cleverness in fighting aliens but how you manage to end the day looking as pressed and professional as when you started. They would attribute it to your magical powers."

Ianto laughed at Gwen and splashed playfully at her.

"Get over here," Gwen asked again and this time Ianto moved next to her. "What are we going to tell Jack?"

"I'm not worried about Jack so much, but I don't want a report written about this. If something were to happen to the Hub, it could fall into the wrong hands. I wouldn't want our alien friend to be harmed."

"Maybe we should tell him we didn't find anything," Gwen suggested. They sat in silence for a moment.

"No, that wouldn't work," they both said practically at the same time.

Gwen kissed Ianto on the cheek. "Well I don't know about being remembered in the future, but you were my hero today. You could have been trampled by my horse, but you never hesitated in helping me get untangled."

"And you were my hero today as well. If you hadn't been brave enough to let your horse run like that, we'd still be out there, wet, cold and lost for sure," Ianto replied.

"Yeah, that was a brilliant move. I not only sprain my ankle, but my arse is also going to be sore for days as well."

"Well one good thing, we'll get your boots charged off to an expense account, so at least you can buy another pair."

Gwen began to laugh hysterically. "Ianto, I never intend to get near a stable again if I live to be a hundred. Maybe we should think about getting out of this tub, the water's gone cold…Achoo," Gwen sneezed.

"Be right with you," a voice called from down the hallway.

When Gwen and Ianto returned to the Hub they, of course, told Jack the whole story. Jack had strange smile on his face as they finished their report.

"What is it Jack?" Ianto asked. "You knew all about that alien didn't you? You set us up?"

"I did know about the alien, and I wanted to check up on him, but we had a falling out about ten years ago and I didn't think I'd be welcome."

"Why didn't you just tell us," Gwen asked. She was truly perplexed.

"I thought it would be a bit of an adventure for you, and if I had asked you to go look for a hermit in the woods, you would have thought I was daft."

"And I was hoping he'd tell you about his lecture on Ancient Welsh Heroes. You will never be forgotten Gwen Cooper-WilliamsandJones, IantoSelwyn Jones, not by me, not by many, many beings all across the galaxy."

Ianto looked at Jack with a small smile on his face. He had a pretty good idea why Jack had sent them.

"What?" Jack asked.

"I see your point," Ianto said as he got up from his chair. "I would have thought you were telling us tales if you had asked us to go find the Abominable Snowdoniaman."

Gwen snorted. "Oh, Ianto. That was…" her words drifted off.

As Ianto reached the office door, he turned back. "Brilliant, yes I know. Would you expect anything less from a post-modern hero of ancient Welsh history?

Ianto winked at Gwen and nodded to Jack. Anyone want a coffee?" he said as he headed over to make a fresh pot.