Ianto felt Jack poking at his shields again, like a little child wanting attention. He sighed and strengthened the psychic bubble he had created around him, refusing to give Jack the satisfaction of knowing the testing was getting to him.
On an intellectual level Ianto knew it was completely necessary to continually test his shields, but there were days when he was hard-pressed not to strangle the other man. Jack was such a child. He'd actually tried playing the 'I'm not touching you! Not touching you!' child's game the other day, egged on by Owen, of course.. And the man dared to scold him and Owen for being children? At least they weren't over 150 years old and still acting like they were in primary school. Ianto supposed that Jack was just glad to have someone to play psychic games with. He wondered if everyone in the 51st century went around poking each other in the brain all the time.
He sighed, took a deep breath, and pushed the annoyance from his mind, letting the very beginnings of a headache follow the unhelpful emotion.
In the back seat Owen was too busy reading a tabloid he had snuck in the cart to pick up on Jack's attempts at baiting Ianto. He had taken a taxi, planning to ride home with the other two men, only slightly put out when Ianto had refused his suggestion of making out in the backseat while Jack drove home. Occasionally he would comment on an article, or scribble a note in the margin if the picture looked too good to be photoshop, though Ianto seriously doubted that the jersey devil was holidaying in St. David's.
The phone vibrated in Jack's greatcoat pocket and Ianto jumped. After a brief but futile struggle between the long coat and the driver's side door, it had been balled up and thrown onto Ianto's lap, putting Jack's mobile in the unfortunate position to buzz against the Welshman's crotch as it rang again. He dug it out quickly, and put it on speakerphone, "Harkness." He said, answering for Jack.
"Ianto? Is Jack-"
"Right here." Jack called, waving briefly at the mobile.
"Jack, it's Tosh. We have a weevil sighting, you have to go get it."
"Why us?" Owen whined, throwing his tabloid into the foot.
"Because it's near a school, and you guys took the SUV to go on a milk run." Tosh told him not missing a beat. "Sending the information to the on board computer." She hung up as soon as she heard the navigation system beep.
Jack checked the coordinates and quickly headed in the right direction, flipping the warning lights on. Ianto reached under the seat, pulling out a weevil containment kit, passing out the spray and cuffs, while taking a mental inventory of the groceries piled beside Owen. Nothing that should go bad too quickly.
--
The SUV pulled to a stop outside the school and they all slid out.
"Keep your eyes open. It could be anywhere, and we don't want any kids getting hurt."
The three men took off, senses scanning out for the weevil. "Smell it. This way." Owen said taking the lead.
Despite the overcast day, Owen was squinting in pain. Ianto felt the stabs of pain flickering though his own skull in response. He pulled a pair of sunglasses out and handed them to Owen. "I keep telling you to carry a pair with you."
"I keep losing them." Owen muttered slipping them on, and the pain in Ianto's head faded.
Ianto felt a rough, clumsy poke at his shields and glared at the back of Jack's head. What was the man thinking, screwing around at a time like this?
He shook his head and focused on the alley in front of him, trying to keep alert for any signs of the weevil that had been sighted in the area.
All three of their heads swiveled as a loud growl echoed down the ally. They turned and saw the weevil crouching low, growling and watching them.
She was large. Larger then the average weevil they caught, and damned bold, to be out this time of day. Her eyes seemed to view them with disdain, and she grumbled deep in her throat.
Owen moved in front of Ianto and Jack, his own lips pulling back, baring white teeth, and growling.
Ianto put a hand on Owen's shoulder, trying to calm him down. It was times like this he worried Owen was spending too much time with the weevils. "Coc Oen" he whispered warningly. "Behave."
Jack held up the weevil spray. "Come on... mmm.." He paused and eyed the weevil. "Marcia. We can't leave you here. You're coming home with us, the hard way, or the easy way. What's it gonna be?" he asked the weevil cheerfully.
The weevil, Marcia?, Ianto sighed. There were downsides to giving Jack vintage television programs. Marcia stared at them. She studied Jack first, dismissing him quickly. She spent more time on Owen, sweeping her eyes up and down before giving a short snort of disgust. As she turned her eyes to Ianto he felt a series of sharp rough shoves against his shields.
Shocked at Jack's complete lack of common sense, Ianto turned his head, opening his mouth to yell at the other man.
As soon as his eyes left hers, the weevil hissed and rushed towards Ianto.
"Yan!" Owen grabbed Ianto's elbow, yanking him out of the way, and Jack stepped forward, spraying her in the face, but missed hitting her fully, only slowing her down for a moment. She shook it off and lunged at him again.
Ianto snagged her by the back of the neck, spinning her around to face Owen, who hissed loudly. She cowered back for only a second, but it was long enough for Owen to raise the spray, hitting her directly in the face, stunning her.
Ianto clamped on the cuffs, and the three men hauled Marcia back to the SUV, sedating the weevil before lifting her up into the black vehicle.
As Ianto secured the lock on the SUVs weevil cage he grit his teeth in annoyance. Jack was still prodding at his shields, though much more weakly. Adrenaline always made Ianto's shields shaky, something Jack knew all too well. He concentrated, raising his shield as far as they could go. He made the shields thicker until he could barely see or hear the real world around him. But at least he couldn't feel Jack's attempts to get through his shields.
Really though, what was Jack thinking?
