And as I promised, another chapter update. But this is where my ideas start to fly away from me. I beg them to stay and have dinner, but they decide they'd rather go off, cavorting in a field of flowers, than help me with my problem. Damn plot bunnies. When you have 'em, they bite you (hard). When you need them, they go off to gather pollen.

Actually, this one will be longer than number three. I just felt like spewing out words.

And the ladder? It's always been there. I swear. Sure there's no visual proof, but who needs that anymore?

Disclaimer: Don't own… mumble grumble

Task 4) Investigate the disappearing pterodactyl poo, to put it simply.

Ianto didn't move. It was either that he lacked to motivation at that point to scale all the way up to the cave, or that he was considering any consequences to his soon-to-come actions. He thought it was a little of both. He'd climbed the ladder only twice before out of necessity. Both times was to help Myfanwy. There were the repercussions, thought. It wasn't that he wanted pterodactyl droppings everywhere, falling into the coffee and dirtying up the Hub past any sort of salvation; it was more that he was worried for Myfanwy. He'd grown quite attached to the prehistoric beast, and she seemed to like him better than the others. If he found out that dubious alien technology was being used and was possibly threatening Myfanwy's health, he'd sacrifice the cleanliness of the Hub.

Other than that, he really, really, really didn't want to climb all the way up. First of all, Owen would definitely spot him. The doctor'd probably wait until Ianto was halfway up before throwing something at him. Probably a scalpel. Second, it was extremely high up. Maybe he could replace task five on his list with, "Ask Jack to invest in an easier way to get up to Myfanwy's cave. Ladders are hell." Everyone would be happy, then. Well, mostly Ianto would. But seriously, confronting Owen wasn't necessary, right? Right. He could easily replace that task with another!

Ianto sighed. It was now or never. Rung one… Two… Three... Twenty-four…

Eventually, he was able to reach the artificial cavern, his arms aching. Myfanwy was silent. She'd probably heard him coming and was waiting to attack the unsuspecting Welshman. He made sure he had that bar of dark chocolate in his pocket. He always kept one there until he saw Myfanwy in the morning. Either she'd seek him out, or he'd call for her (she now recognized that she was 'Myfanwy'). Luckily, he'd remembered to tuck it in there.

Ianto threw his hands to the edge of the cave. He hoisted himself up enough for his head to be visible through the cave mouth. He scanned the area, and very nearly fell down in complete and utter shock.

Myfanwy was sleeping, her giant head resting against her chest. No… that wasn't what surprised him. Deep in the back of Myfanwy's home, in one dark and lonely corner, stood a shiny white porcelain toilet.

Ianto just stood there, frozen, for a while. His mouth was hanging open slightly, his eyebrows furrowed. He lowered himself, blocking his view of the toilet. No way. There is no way in hell. He pulled himself up once more, as if to see if the toilet was still there. It was.

"You know what?" Ianto grumbled. "I'm not even going to ask. It's not worth my sanity."

One thing Ianto knew: there was absolutely no way that the reason the Hub was free from Myfanwy's waste was because she'd somehow learned to use a toilet. Also, there was absolutely no way that that particular flush toilet could be connected with the Hub plumbing. Absolutely. No. Way.

"You will just ignore this whole thing," Ianto told himself calmly as he descended to the Hub below. "It doesn't matter anymore. Just be thankful you won't have to clean up after her. Just forget it."

"What are you doing up there, Ianto?" For the second time, Ianto nearly fell to his death.

The now-irate Welshman slowly turned his head, getting a pterodactyl-eye view of the Hub. And Jack. He was the one who called. He gripped the rungs so hard, his knuckles were turning white. Now that he'd been interrupted, he couldn't seem to move.

"Ianto-o-oh?" Jack shouted again. By now, Ianto noticed, Owen had turned his gaze upwards, spying the young man.

"Sir?" He called back, his voice wavering slightly. "I'm trying to get down! Can we talk then?"

"Fine! Just!" Jack paused. "Don't!" another pause. "FALL!"

Ianto cringed, holding the ladder even tighter. Slowly, he made his way down to the ground, letting out a sigh of relief.

Jack ran up to the Welshman. "What were you doping in Myfanwy's cave, Ianto?" Jack asked.

Ianto sighed inwardly. There goes the whole, 'Ignore it,' thing. "Well, sir," the Welshman began, "I've noticed that while we have a pet pterodactyl, we don't have the unpleasant waste that usually goes along with having one. I was looking into it."

"Hmm, I've been wondering about that too. You should ask Owen. He probably has something to do with it," Jack said, shrugging. He turned, heading for his office.

"And sir?" Ianto added quickly.

"Yes?" Jack raised an eyebrow at the younger man.

"Do you know why there's a toilet in Myfanwy's cave?" And away flies the 'Don't ask about it,' part.

Jack chuckled. "Oh, that! Well, like I said, I noticed it before. I didn't feel it had top priority, though."

"But that doesn't explain-"

Jack interrupted him. "I'm not done. While I have yet to get to that mystery, I decided it would be fun to install a toilet in her cave. It doesn't work, obviously. Maybe you can solve it." With that, Jack strode off, as if that was explanation enough.

"Alright, sir," Ianto said quietly after him.

So, Jack had not, in fact, found a convoluted way to rid the Hub of Pterodactyl poo. He just decided to put a completely unnecessary toilet in a cave. And now that the subject was brought up again, he'd have to talk to the others. Owen was first since, as stated before, he was the prime suspect. And Ianto was really hoping he'd be able to steer clear of that one.

Ianto sighed for what seemed like the millionth time that day.

Task Four: Yet to be completed. Ongoing into task five. Task Five: Confront Owen.

Indeed, this chapter did turn out much longer than expected. I'm very happy with it. It's fun to imagine Myfanwy having a toilet.

What was so frustrating was that there are like three synonyms I could use for pterodactyl poo, and I had to mention that a lot! I really don't like over-using words (unless absolutely necessary).

Well, I hope this at least somewhat makes up for my lengthy absence (It doesn't, does it?).

PLEASEPLEASEPLEASEPLEASE review for both chapters! Love and kisses!