Shame.

UNIT will never learn and Ianto will never understand.

Ianto sniffed again, wishing the tears would stop as he gently lifted another small body from the water. Passing it to a waiting solder who made a sad noise in his throat as he noted the un-natural crick its neck Ianto sighed and rubbed at his face. With a muttered oath the soldier carefully adjusted his load and wadded to the shore as Ianto looked up over the lapping waves.

What a mess. Jack stood nearby in the shallows looking about at the debris like a lost soul. How had this happened? Bloody UNIT getting on their high horses and not stopping to even attempt to contact them or the ship before they blew the small vessel from the sky.

Now this. Now UNIT was more than happy to defer to Torchwood as they tried to hide their shame at the unnecessary carnage. Oh yeah, Her Majesty was not happy. Ianto dreaded the name calling, the finger pointing that would come from this and the hours of his life lost forever in pointless meetings between divisions trying to "fix" the fault that has caused this. Unit. Unit had caused this.

Ianto knew his scathing report that he had been mentally compiling in his head for the last hour would have to be censored for Her Majesty but he would hold nothing back. She would know the whole mess inside and out. Ianto knew she listened to him before Jack as she had long since accepted that his theatrical reports were often vanilla with respect to internal fingerprints when compared to Ianto's own neatly honest version with correct names and titles not just "dick-head number 3" or "Arse-wipe in red".

At barely a meter high, the Adrovians were no threat, just a lost friendly race of families in search of coordinates back to their star system. The black hole that had flicked them here neither gave them warning that they were near Sol 3 nor that this Solar system were full of murdering fucking bastards like UNIT.

All afternoon they had retrieved first the survivors and then the victims with more to come before nightfall, Ianto hoped they wouldn't have to put up flood lights as the blue bodies would be harder to find in the water. The cruiser had held over ninety souls and less than a quarter had survived. Owen sat on the shore openly weeping as he tried to help those injured and he showed affection and comfort with the knowledge the boys wouldn't rat him out to the girls.

Mickey had drove deep to reach the submerged vessel and refused to leave until divers had forced him and he now waded back and forth between dive crews and the shore tenderly carrying bodies that resembled small toddlers. Their broken limbs and sightless eyes boke Ianto's heart but those that were whole tore at it more because of the whispered voice telling him they had survived the initial crash only to drown in the water after splash down.

Another heartbreakingly small blue body floated past in the knee deep water, this one not even the size of Ianto's foot and as he scooped the small baby from the water his instinct to cradle it to his chest was undeniable.

Wading from the water towards the few damaged survivors who huddled at the water's edge he tried to hold back a sob. With trembling lips he kissed the child's face and swiped his thumb across its small cheek. Miller was safe at the base with Tosh who had been sent to comfort Gwen as the devastation had felled her when they first arrived to the screams of the survivors. His first maternal feeling had been to follow and cuddle his baby safely to him but he knew Jack needed him more right now. This was too much.

Their Captain grieved alone in the tidal pools with his hunched shoulders warning everyone away.

As he neared the shore a small eye opened and regarded its rescuer. Ianto froze with shock. It was alive. A small limb reached for Ianto's hair and with a tenderness unusually reserved for Miller he rubbed his face against the small creature and purred softly. A small noise from the child drew his face back and tiny fingers stroked his cheek with the wonderment of an innocent child.

Ianto hadn't heard Jack approaching and when his arm slid around his waist he lent into his mate for comfort as he turned to show him his find.

"Oh Gods, Yan! She's alive. A baby girl, she's beautiful. Look at those big green eyes" Jack reached out and stoked the child's cheek with a finger. "Hello Gorgeous one."

Ianto smiled and gave the being another kiss of encouragement and with rewarded with a small coo.

One of the survivors heard the noise and gave a shrill cry of hope. The answering coo was louder as the child craned its head in the direction of the adult.

With a scream of joy the adult leapt into the water and struggled toward Ianto who quickly waded to meet it in shallow water where he knelt and opened his hands in front of a gasping alien.

There was no translation needed as the trilling became loud shrieks and Ianto carefully deposited the small body into the trembling arms of its rightful owner. Others who feared the water called urgently for them to approach and Ianto placed a steadying hand against the adult to help it ashore. Jack's hands on Ianto's shoulders tightened with emotion as the other adults joined the shrieking song of joy.

Many soldiers that had accepted that the rescue mission had turned to recovery stopped to watch the reunion and word quickly spread that a baby had been found alive in the water. With renewed hope, many dove back in and Ianto's fears of a long night faded as another survivor was found in deep water on the other side of the crash site.

Ianto knew he should return to the water but Jack's sobs of relief and clutching hands stopped him so he gave a silent prayer to the gods and cuddled his mate.

Finally overcome he raised his head to speak to Jack but instead found the first words of "Never walk alone" tumbling out. Taking a deep breath he gave into the song and his sweet voice carried over the water as he serenaded the coming dusk with other voices joining him from the UNIT troops whose hearts were lifted by the moment of connection.

As the song faded into the waters a new one began. The Adrovians sang their answering song and although the words were foreign its sweet melody was a balm to the soul. Some medics began to weep and Owen found himself rubbing the back of a sweet young thing whose blonde ponytail may have tickled his nose a bit but he was far from complaining as her uniform hugged her curves in such a way that her breasts were like pillows.

Mickey had reached Ianto and Jack by the middle of Ianto's song and had accepted their embrace. Now as the Adrovian song washed over them he dropped his face to Ianto's chest and he silently mourned those whose small voices would never be heard again.

Jack took a deep cleansing breath. His anger was spent and his grief drained from him into the water that surrounded them. Jack stoked Ianto's cheek that was tilted up as he rested his head against Mickey's and Ianto's eyes opened to reassure Jack that all was well.

Owen finally reached the huddle and drove in, knowing Ianto and Jack would cocoon him for a few minutes. After a while Mickey sighed and extradited himself from the pack and shook himself off.

"Right then, I'm hungry!" He declared and Ianto's smile told him food would soon appear.

With reassurance all was OK Owen returned to the shore looking back at his friends as Jack kissed Ianto warmly in the setting sun turning the water into fiery oranges and reds that flickered in Ianto's silver steaks as his hair softly waved in the breeze.