A Complex Man; Chapter 4

TWTWTW

Ianto heard the last words that Jack spoke, over and over in his head.

'….we need to be ready….we need to be ready….we need….to be….ready…

"Ianto,? Oi, Tea boy!" said Owen, giving Ianto a quick poke to his good arm. "I asked how your arm felt, now it's in a sling."

"Oh, er, fine. Thanks."

Owen shook his head. "You better smarten up, mate. Jack is not pleased with you right now."

Ianto gave Owen a weak smile. "Yeah, I know."

"It'll be light in four hours and we still haven't found out how we can send those buggers back!"

"It's all my fault. If I hadn't shot it…."

Owen watched as Ianto moved towards the stairs.

TWTWTW

The Tookalon had dispersed, but Jack knew from experience, that they would soon return. They always did.

They had latched onto Ianto's mind in the car park and they knew exactly where he was.

Having his arm in a sling hampered the Welshman, so, going down to the archives, he removed it.

Owen knew he would 'Too impatient' the medic thought.

Once in the archives, Ianto switched on his own personal laptop and put in 'TOOKALON WARRIOR' in the search engine. Having downloaded data from the mainframe in the Hub, Ianto was able to check as if using the Torchwood computer without anyone knowing. A picture, description and Planet location popped onto the screen. Picking up his PDA, Ianto began to punch in data. He looked back at the laptop and put in 'WEAKNESSES'. Thinking nothing would come up. Ianto was surprise to read what did appear. As he read through, he picked up one anomaly.

"Why hadn't Jack seen this before?" he said aloud. "Salt! They hate salt!"

Without turning of his laptop, Ianto rushed back up to the main Hub, looking for Jack. He found him in his office, with Gwen and Owen.

As Ianto entered the office, they all looked at him.

"What?" he asked.

"We….need to get you out of here. Somewhere safer."

"What! Why?"

Jack stood, rounded the desk and stood between Gwen and Owen. "They connected with you, twice. They're here at the Bay, because of you, and they won't leave until they find you!"

"So, moving me will help how, exactly?"

Jack closed his eyes and sighed. He knew this was going to be difficult. "If we move you…." began Jack.

"They'll follow!" Interrupted Ianto. "So what's the point?"

"The point is…."

"No!"

"Damnit, Ianto! Will you please stop interrupting me!"

"Salt," said the Welshman. "They hate salt!"

Gwen looked at Jack.

"So," Jack joked. "we break into Tesco and steal all their salt?"

Ianto smiled.

"Will it kill them?" asked Owen.

Ianto shook his head. "No, but it might make them think twice about staying on Earth."

Jack began to smile, seeing the bigger picture for the first time. "Hop to it, Ianto. We're going early bird shopping!"