2

The village was silent as it usually was this time of day and Ianto took the time to stretch his legs as Rhys and Owen changed out the flags. The two poles stood at either side of the entrance to the village like sentries so it was the right spot for some flags to let those in the know see that friendlies were close by. Those who knew the school would head straight for them along the road with a smaller flag here and there to mark the way like breadcrumbs. Tosh's sensors able to pick them up easily for warnings.

"Ya know, I think we must have all the dogs, none have come out to watch" Owen said as he landed by Rhys and looked around, the Jeep parked with the bonnet against the pole for Owen to stand on. Smallest, he didn't dent the metal and he enjoyed the superman leap form the bonnet to the ground like it was from a building or something.

"Yeah, there is usually a couple that don't like humans skulking about in the shadows watching us like bloody miniature wolves though" Rhys frowned as he looked down a side street, "Sort of weird. A real ghost town now."

"They must have moved on to the next town where there are other dogs. A pack might have run though and scooped them up. Remember Tosh saw that pack of about fifteen or sixteen dogs running along the road the other day like they were on their daily run. Just kept going." Owen reminded him "A new world. Stands to reason they are reverting back to their animalistic roots."

"What does that make cats then?" Rhys pointed to a cat watching them from a nearby rooftop of what appeared to be the local cinema "Gods again?"

Owen squinted into the sunlight as he looked at the cat and sighed, "Damn. A straggler. Looks hungry too, did we get the box of stuff?"

The two of them pulled out a cardboard box and rummaged through it until Owen came out triumphantly wielding a can of tuna "Ta Da!"

"Yay" Rhys said with a droll expression, "Offerings for the gods."

"Yeah" Owen shoved the tin into his back pocket and started to shimmy up the drain pipe as Ianto turned to watch, his face changing to one of surprise as he started to jog towards them.

"Owen, be careful!" Ianto called out as he got near Rhys and looked up, shading his eyes with his hand like Rhys was "We need you in one piece. A broken leg or broken neck might not help Gwen with the baby!"

Owen swung to gape, "What? You only want me for the baby delivering business?"

"Well, come on mate. You have to admit, you are a bit hard to live with" Rhys answered with the same bland look, "We sometimes have to take turns going into another room and swigging from a bottle of rum we have hidden just to resist the urge to smother you with a pillow. We keep a little teddy bear by the bottle and squeeze it while hissing horrible things to it. We call it Owen."

"Do you now!" Owen tried to sound insulted but the corners of his mouth were twitching as he finished opening the can for the cat and turned to place his hands on his hips in a parody of Jack's Captain pose, "Is that right fuckface!"

"Once the baby is born we shall have a ritualistic bonfire where we will dance naked, scream our thanks to the gods as the afterbirth waits to be buried in the burnt ground" Ianto said in a deep growl, "We shall place Owen Bear on the top of the pyre and let our hatred of your puniness rise to the gods that they may forgive us when we accidentally push you off a cliff … once Gwen and Bub are doing well of course."

"Yeah?" Owen sneered, "And what if she gets preggers again?"

"Ah!" Rhys turned to Ianto and shook a finger at him "He's got us there."

"Shit" Ianto's' arms dropped in defeat, "You are right. We might have to keep him then."

"Maybe a little room we lock him in at night so we feel calmer?" Rhys canted his head, "Let the mad thing out of his box for walkies and climbing poles? Baby catching and stuff?"

Owen had started to laugh, pronouncing them both pricks as he turned to watch the cat eat, his face lighting up as two more little ones came out of nowhere and he swung back, "Hey! Two kittens too! Jackpot!"

"Well, aren't you having a day of it then!" Ianto said then blanched "Owen?"

Owen had turned to walk towards the cats and Ianto started for the drainpipe Owen had climbed, "Owen, get back here. Come on, you do not know how stable that roof is!"

"It's fine mother!" Owen said as he reappeared back at the edge, a kitten in his hands, "Look. Friendly too. Awwww … fluffy. Mimi is gonna…."

Whatever Owen was going to say was lost in the sound of the tin roof finally giving way and Rhys screamed with horror as his friend simply ….

Dropped out of sight.