HARPERS MONKEY PT 2
Leap of faith.
Owen settled himself behind the steering wheel of the SUV. He grinned at Gwen as he keyed the ignition.
"Just what we needed on a night like this. Hope you've got thermal underpants on love."
Gwen smiled, pulling on a woolly hat and tucking the ends of her scarf down the front of her leather jacket.
"Let's get going. Tosh is going to get Ianto to meet us there."
"Great, hopefully the idiot boy would've got some sleep today."
Gwen sighed. "Don't be hard on him Owen, he's been slowly falling apart since Jack ran out on us. If he ever comes back I'm going to punch him so fucking hard."
Owen chuckled. "Yeah, you and me both mate."
Owen did his usual, floored the accelerator all the way, heedless of the icy roads. Gwen gripped the dashboard in terror throughout the 35-minute journey.
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Owen and Gwen piled out of the SUV and stood in the street looking around.
"Tosh anything?"
"No… wait hang on, the building site at the far end. It's on the CCTV, looks like another one of those Monkey things we picked up yesterday."
Guns at the ready they ran up the icy residential street, Owen's medical bag bouncing annoyingly against his hip. Still, he never liked to be without it these days. Owen hated call outs like this. Running around in the dark. There were too many hiding places and he sighed unhappily as they turned into the gated entrance of the building site. Gwen made short work of the pad lock, a little trick she'd learnt from Ianto and they darted inside as quietly as they could, leaving the gate ajar for Ianto to follow them. They paused beside a large cement mixer, breathing heavily and taking in their surroundings.
"Why the hell don't we have night vision goggles?" Owen complained. "Remind me to tell Tea Boy that we need to get some. This is going to be a nightmare."
Gwen couldn't agree more as she sucked in a breath shivering at the coldness of the air.
"Should we split up?"
"No fucking way mate. If it is one of those Monkeys they've got nastier claws than the weevils and judging from its physiology I imagine it's going to be a slippery bastard to catch. Ianto'll be here in a minute. Lets stick together and just see if we can locate it first. Then we'll decide how to catch the bugger."
Gwen was smiling. "Oooohh, I love it when you go all bossy on me Harper."
"God woman, you're starting to sound like Jack!"
Gwen smiled at him a little uncomfortably. "Now that is scary, don't tell Ianto that."
"Owen, Gwen, where are you?"
Owen touched his bluetooth at the sound of Ianto's voice in his left ear.
"There's a building site at the top of the street where we've got it cornered. Make sure you've got your maglight with you. It's pitch bloody black in here."
"On my way."
"Right then Miss Cooper, shall we?"
They edged their way out across the site toward a portacabin. It was eerily quiet until they could hear Ianto's footsteps approaching from behind. Gwen turned.
"Hey. Where's the suit?"
Ianto was grinning. "In this weather? You have to be joking me, don't you start going all Harkness on me for God's sake."
Owen and Gwen exchanged snickers of amusement.
"Do we know what it is yet?" Ianto asked sobering the mood.
"Tosh reckons it's another monkey, could be the two of them came through the rift together."
"As in mates?"
Owen nodded. "Maybe, the one at the Hub was a male, well at least I think it was. If this one's its partner…"
"It's going to be very pissed off."
"You think it's sentient?"
Owen looked back to Gwen. "We can't rule that out, most primates on this planet are to a greater or lesser degree."
"Is there any chance of capturing it alive?" Ianto asked.
Owen lowered his bag and pulled out a tranquillising gun. He handed it to Ianto.
"Much as I hate to admit it. You are the best shot here. There are two doses in there. If that doesn't bring it down then I am afraid it's bullets."
Ianto tucked his handgun away under his coat as he took the dart gun.
"I'll do my best. I don't want to kill it unless we have to."
Owen nodded. "Agreed."
They were distracted by a scuffling sound and three torchlight beams were pointed in the direction of the scaffolding in front of them.
"Shit!"
Owen thrust his bag at Gwen. "You stay down here in case it comes back down. Ianto? Fancy playing on the monkey bars?"
Ianto rolled his eyes. "I thought you'd never ask."
They jogged over the gravel and frozen slush to the base of the structure and looked up. There was movement, a gentle thud, thud of feet. Ianto caught a brief glimpse of a shaggy shape in the torch beam but it was quickly gone. Cursing and muttering Owen grasped the rung of a vertical ladder and gave it a bit of a shake. Well it seemed stable enough but the cold bit into his skin.
"Bollocks forgot my bloody gloves!"
Ianto hadn't but he didn't have the heart to brag. Gun clutched tightly in one hand he followed Owen up the ten rungs to the first level of the scaffolding. They swung their torches about, but the thud thudding was coming from above on the next level. Dust dropped down on them from between the planks that made up the walkway over their heads. They climbed up. Owen in front again as he cautiously peered over the boards before easing himself up like a cat to stand.
"Careful, Owen."
Owen smiled nervously as Ianto emerged from the top of the ladder.
The platform was empty and far too high for Owen's liking but he moved forward anyway, feeling thoroughly exposed by the lack of structure around him. He heard a juddering thump and swung round as a mass of teeth and fur flew at him. His flashlight clattering away Owen was thrown bodily down on the planks. Next thing the creature was snarling and biting. Owen raised his arms to protect his face and heard Ianto fire off the two shots to no avail. Suddenly the creature was gone as Ianto wrenched it away by the fur on it's back. It was growling and snarling. Owen watched horrified as it spun in Ianto's grasp causing the man slip on the slick icy surface. Ianto back pedalled a pace trying to hold his balance, but he fell back over a scaffold bar to the ground twenty feet below, the creature still in his grasp. Owen lurched upright and peered over the edge. He could make out movement as Gwen ran to her fallen colleague.
"Owen. Owen!"
"I'm coming. Hang on!"
Owen had never run so fast in his life. He practically flew down the two ladders to get to Ianto's side ignoring the gashes to his arms where the creature had bitten him.
Owen slid to a stop at Ianto's side. Gwen already had her phone out dialling for an ambulance.
"Get the green flight case from the SUV!"
Gwen bolted her phone at her ear as she went.
Owen bent down and shoved the limp monkey away from the top of Ianto's still body. Its matted fur stank. Ianto was on his back; his left arm twisted unnaturally underneath him, a pool of blood spreading out from under his head.
"Shit, shit." He search for a pulse, found one, but it was faint and irregular. There was no way he dare move him though, not until the paramedics got there.
Gwen came back flight case in hand.
"Ambulance is on its way."
Owen grabbed the case flung it open and pulled out an O2 kit.
"Here hold the mask over his face but don't try to put it on. The extra air will help him. I'll put a line in."
Owen set to work, getting the canula inserted first time and pushing through some fluids. They both turned with relief at the sight of the blue flashing lights.
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Ianto wasn't overly fussed on the idea of waking up. Even now in his sleepy state he could feel his brain dancing about within his skull. It was like being in a warehouse rave with the worst Drum 'n' Base thing happening imaginable. He was too old for all that nonsense so why was his head trying to pretend otherwise?
He remembered falling. He also remembered a big monkey trying to claw his eyes out. But his eyes were still there, tightly squeezed shut against the throbbing in his head and now his arm was throbbing too. Could he think of a better word for it? Wasn't he the poetical one? OK. It fucking hurts, come on Ianto just accept that and everything else will fall into place. Except he knew it wouldn't. It was times like this that he wanted the reassurance of Jack's arms around his tired body and weary soul. But fucking Jack Harkness had deserted him, had deserted all of them. Ianto would have to do with out.
"Ianto?"
"Go away Owen. I've got a headache."
"Yeah mate I know I'm sorry, you've also broken your pelvis and your left arm."
Ianto forced himself to open his eyes and he regretted it immediately. "So why does my head hurt so much?"
"Because you have a compressed skull fracture as well."
"That's bad I take it?"
"It certainly isn't good, you'll be ok in a few weeks though."
Ianto could sense that Owen was hovering about a little nervously.
"The Monkey?"
"Sorry mate, died in the fall. I think it cushioned you a bit actually."
"Shame that. When can I go home?" Ianto opened his eyes again with slightly less blurry results. He could make out Owen's silhouette against the light.
"Not for a while. The pelvic brake will mean you're off your feet for a few weeks."
"Are you Ok? And Gwen, was she hurt?"
"We're fine, couple of scratches." Owen assured him.
"I'm sorry I screwed up Owen. This is just going to…"
"What? Ianto you saved my life! Don't you dare apologise, I'd be Monkey food if you hadn't have pulled it off me."
"I was stupid. Didn't think things through."
Owen let out a big huffy sigh. "Ianto, you had no time to think. Trust me I am glad you didn't stop to think. You saved me, that's not stupid in my book trust me."
Ianto fell silent feeling thoroughly dejected. "I miss Jack." He uttered it trying to hold back a tear that found it's way out.
Owen didn't know what to say. "Well Tea Boy, you'll just have to settle for my company for a bit. Is that so bad?"
Ianto finally looked at him through focussed eyes. "That's not so bad, but I've never made you a cup of tea in my life so why don't you call me coffee boy or better still 'Coffee King' instead?"
Owen couldn't believe what he'd just heard, but it made him laugh all the same.
"You know what when you get back to work I shall make you one."
Ianto grimaced. "Please don't."
