Weevil Hunt
Chapter Eight
The next day Owen called to see Ianto, making one of his regular visits to check on his progress. The doctor appeared at lunchtime and wangled an extra plate of tuna bake and a hunk of crispy bread, which he ate sitting on an easy chair, dropping crumbs all over the floor.
"I'm sick of takeaways," he said, his mouth full. "That's all we've had since you've been in here. Bloody pizza mostly."
"It wouldn't have been anything else if I'd been there." Ianto was at the table, part turned away from Owen and resolutely ignoring the mess he was making. "I don't cook."
"That's right." Owen stopped chewing and considered this surprising piece of information. "Funny, seems more than a takeaway when you get it."
Not sure if this was a compliment or not, Ianto said nothing. Lunch was delicious and after two morning sessions of physiotherapy he was hungry. The exercises were still difficult and painful but he thought there was some improvement. His leg had stayed supple and the damaged muscle was beginning to mend. Every movement was just a little bit easier although Cracknell was always pushing him to do 'just one more' as a result.
"What state is the Hub in?" asked Ianto, putting down his fork. "All those takeaway boxes still all over the place?"
"Nah, they're thrown out. I think." He shrugged. "Can't remember seeing them anyway."
"The only way you'd see them is if you fell over them."
"Ha-ha. Tosh was going round with one of those black sacks this morning, I know that 'cos she had to leave it when the Roundhead came through." Owen loaded his fork and stuffed more food into his mouth.
Ianto, in the process of taking a drink of water, spluttered in surprise. He turned his wheelchair to look at Owen. "What Roundhead? No one said anything about a Roundhead." He had talked to both Toshiko and Jack, and had a text from Gwen, and none of them had said anything about this.
"Was one of those temporal doodahs. Very confused bloke came through and started attacking people with his pike."
"With his what?"
"Pike. Big knife on a pole." The doctor grinned, tearing off some bread and using it to mop up the tomato sauce. "Was on one of those bits of green they call a park round here. In Tremorfa."
"Was anyone hurt?"
"Nope. Well, one stupid bloke decided to be a hero and got his arm sliced open. Oh, and a copper got a poke through the hand. Nothing serious."
Ianto closed his eyes and took a deep breath, mainly to calm himself at Owen's lack of regard for other people but also to avoid seeing the mess on the floor all around him. It looked as if more lunch had been spilt than had made its way into the doctor's mouth. "Was there a lot of clean up? Where's the Roundhead now? I assume you did subdue him."
"'Cos we did! Used Gwen as bait then Jack and I rushed in from the sides. Worked like a charm for once."
"And did what with him?" prompted Ianto.
"Shoved him in the cells. He was making quite a racket when I left. Was pleased to get out of there for a bit." He leant back, rubbing his stomach. "Very nice, very nice indeed. Worth getting injured and having a stay here when the food's that good."
"Glad you liked it." Sarcasm dripped from the words but washed over Owen who was oblivious. "You want to check my leg?"
"Suppose I'd better. You walking yet?"
The discussion continued as Ianto gingerly rose and showed that he was indeed able to put a little weight on his left leg. That had been the focus of the exercises that morning and Cracknell had promised to supply crutches so Ianto could get used to them; he'd have to use them for a while after being released from the nursing home. Lying on the bed, he was relieved when Owen pronounced himself pleased with the way the wound was healing. They talked about how much Ianto would be able to do after his release. Not much, thought Ianto, when he realised how inaccessible the Hub was for anyone with mobility problems. To reach every section one had to negotiate steps and stairs - Jack's quarters would be impossible - with various different floor surfaces to contend with too.
"Don't worry, mate," said Owen breezily, reaching for his jacket. "Long as you can get to your coffee machine, we'll be happy. See ya." With that he was gone, leaving Ianto wondering if the team regarded him as anything other than a supplier of hot drinks.
-ooOoo-
"He's still at it," reported Gwen coming from the cells to join Jack in the Boardroom. "The Roundhead's trying to convert me now."
"That's a lost cause," said Jack dryly. He was sat at the head of the conference table, paper cup of Costa coffee in hand, clicking through images on the plasma screen.
"Thanks!" She sat down two chairs away from Jack and watched the screen. "Is that supposed to mean something?"
"Tosh picked it up on one of her long range scans." He stopped clicking so one image, of a large blob and a cluster of smaller dots, stayed still long enough to be examined. "Could be a fleet of ships." A pause. "Or interference."
"Let's go for interference. What's the blob?"
"Uranus." Even using the now accepted pronunciation, Ur-a–nus, Jack still grinned; his sense of humour was pretty basic. "Problem is, if it is ships what are they doing out there?"
"Not our problem, Jack. Hand it over to UNIT, it's their job to look after anything in space. We've got enough to do keeping Cardiff safe." She turned to look at him. "And haven't they got that new spaceship thing? Let them play with their toys.
Jack shifted uncomfortably, remembering his time on the Valiant and wishing he hadn't. He downed the last of his coffee, now only lukewarm, and turned his mind back to terrestrial matters. "You're right. You wanted to see me?"
"Yeah. I've been collating the Weevil sightings. They've more than doubled in the past couple of months." She held out her hand and gestured for the remote. "I'll show you." Now holding the remote, she brought up the PowerPoint presentation she'd prepared earlier. She didn't always go to the trouble but had felt like playing.
"Oh, picture show, goody!"
"Shut it. Look at those figures, we're averaging two Weevil sightings a day. On Thursday last week we had five separate incidents! That can't be normal." She clicked to another slide. "Most of them are around the city centre and in particular the new developments."
"Ah, look at the little Weevils." Gwen had used small images of Weevils overlaid on a city map to show the hotspots. "Aren't they cute?"
With a long-suffering sigh, Gwen regarded her boss. "Could we concentrate here?"
"You're the one who made the pretty pictures. Must have too much time on your hands if you did all that." Jack was not in the least put out, leaning back in his chair and grinning at Gwen.
"It didn't take long, Tosh had them in the system already and …" Gwen realised she had been sidetracked. "That's beside the point, Jack. What we need to decide is why are the Weevils coming out of the sewers. It's not been particularly wet."
"No." Jack stared up at the ceiling, thinking about the problem. The Weevils usually only came above ground when their 'natural' habitat became flooded which was quite often given the amount of rain in Cardiff. "These new places, I suppose they need new sewers. Could be disrupting things down below."
"I checked. There's no new work going on underground." She brought up a map of the Cardiff sewer system. "All the developments are replacing old buildings so there's adequate coverage. I wondered about vibrations."
"Good, good, good, good vibrations," sang Jack, reminded of the old Beach Boys' song. "1966, some great songs that year. And we won the World Cup."
"We didn't win it, England did," pointed out Gwen forcefully.
"Typical Welsh," he shook his head at her patriotic pride, "can't let the English be praised for anything."
"Why should we! They took away our nationhood and … Oh, how did we get onto this!" She glared at him. "I was suggesting that vibrations," she raised a finger in admonishment when he opened his mouth to sing again, "from the building work might be the cause. It must be felt in the sewers."
Deciding he had had enough fun with her, Jack considered the suggestion seriously. "It's possible, but why now? They've been rebuilding the city for a few years. Why is it only in the past month or so that's it affected the Weevils?"
"Umm." He had a point and Gwen was silent as she thought about it. "Maybe we haven't noticed before. I haven't gone back in the records very far. Could have happened without us realising."
"Possible. Why don't you look into it? You'll be able to play with your pretty pictures some more." He sniggered when she glowered at him. "But I'm off to see Ianto. I said I'd go in this afternoon."
She followed him out into the corridor. "He's in good spirits, all things considered. I think the evenings are pretty long for him. He was really bored last night."
"Yeah, I know." Jack hated not being able to drop in on Ianto whenever the Welshman needed him. Evenings were not easy for Jack; he was needed in the Hub then to monitor the Rift and respond to alerts giving the others some much needed downtime and a chance for some social life. "Thanks for going in to see him."
"I enjoyed it. Besides, I didn't have anything else on."
"Still, you made the effort. I appreciate it."
She shrugged. "I'd do it for anyone. Even you, Jack, if I got the chance!"
They laughed, both remembering her vigil when he had laid dead for three days after defeating Abaddon but not mentioning it. Neither felt it necessary to talk of that time and the part she had played in bringing him back from the dead. It had been an intimate connection between them that had led nowhere: Jack was happy with Ianto and did not intend to louse up her relationship with Rhys. Besides, Jack's disappearing act shortly afterwards had not endeared him to her.
"At least Ianto's getting better. Soon be back."
They entered the work area just as Owen walked through the cog door and the Rift alarm sounded. As things transpired, Jack didn't get to see Ianto that afternoon after all.
-ooOoo-
The room was dark and all was quiet in the nursing home. Outside, the wind had got up and was blowing the branches around dangerously but none of this could be heard on this side of the double-glazed windows. A faint orange glow from a security light high on the wall outside seeped in where the curtains didn't quite meet and left a stripe diagonally across the floor from window to bed. It stopped short of the bed itself where Ianto Jones lay, lost in a dream of childhood. He had spent a couple of nights in hospital with a broken leg when he was seven and memories had come back to him during the long evening hours and now he was feeling the fear and anxiety of that time once again. He shuffled restlessly.
"Shhh, it's all right." A soothing hand ran across Ianto's forehead.
The Welshman settled again, his breathing returning to normal as the fear receded. A contentment washed over him and his lips quirked up in a smile.
"So cute, so very cute," murmured a familiar voice and warm lips lightly brushed the Ianto's.
"Whaa?" The touch brought Ianto out of his light sleep and reluctant eyes opened. "Who is it? Who's there?" he croaked.
"Only me. I shouldn't have kissed you, I know, but I couldn't stop myself." Jack smiled down at the still drowsy man. "You'll be complaining again I suppose." One of Ianto's few problems about sleeping with Jack was that the man did not sleep enough and usually woke him far too early, mostly for sex. They had had words about it often.
"No." Ianto freed an arm from under the covers and cradled Jack's cheek. "It's nice to see you." He pursed his lips and Jack took the hint, bending down to kiss Ianto again, this time with more pressure. "What time is it?"
"Three oh seven."
"That's very precise."
"I know how much you like things to be exact. Besides, the clock's right there." He glanced at the other side of the bed beyond the pillows where the green numbers showed clearly before clicking over to 3.08. "You want to go back to sleep?"
"No. Not unless you join me." Ianto's hand, now threaded into Jack's hair, caressed, and his expression changed to one of enquiry. "Or are you too busy?"
"Not busy at all, not now." It had been a frantic afternoon and evening but all had been cleared by midnight when the others had finally gone home. After an hour or two in the Hub, Jack had come to see Ianto, creeping into the nursing home and managing to avoid detection.
"Good." Ianto's arm fell to the covers which he pulled back invitingly. With a grin, Jack toed off his boots, eased braces off his shoulders and dropped his trousers. His shirt followed. He was about to get into the bed when Ianto stopped him. "Socks off, Jack."
"Pedant."
With the offending items left on the floor, Jack crept into the bed on Ianto's right side, away from the injured left leg. Ianto shuffled over carefully to make a bit more room but there was still not much for two full-sized men in the single bed. However, they were used to Jack's narrow bunk in the Hub and were soon arranged with Jack on his side, one arm under Ianto's neck and the other draped across his stomach.
"I've missed this," said Ianto, twisting so he was facing Jack. It was awkward as he had to keep his leg still but by moving his hips he managed it. "Tell me what happened today."
"You don't want to hear about that."
"I do."
"Well I don't want to talk about it. Before I forget, I have a favour to ask." Jack's had was now resting on Ianto's hip inside the pyjama bottoms.
"You don't have to ask, Jack. I want it too." Ianto's hand slipped inside Jack's briefs, the ones with a red stallion motif on the front, and found what it sought.
With a chuckle, Jack said, "Actually I was thinking of something else. But I'm not saying stop."
"Oh," Ianto's explorations continued, "what was it then?"
"Wondered if you'd do some research for us. We're looking at Weevil incidents – they've gone up a lot in recent weeks – and we need to – Ah!" Ianto's nimble fingers had tightened round his cock and were tickling his balls.
"Need to what?" There was a distinct smug tone to Ianto's words as he saw Jack's discomfort.
"Analyse some old data. Look," Jack swallowed and then went on, speaking quickly, "we can set it up on your laptop if you want to fill some time. No pressure, only if you want to. Gwen and Tosh can fill you in."
"Why don't you tell me?"
"Because you have my little captain at a disadvantage. Come here!" He brought his lips down on Ianto's smiling ones and forced the Welshman's head back onto the pillow. "Now, let's see what we can do without injuring you any more."
They managed a lot that night. Mutual masturbation was followed by a blow job for Ianto, all accomplished with the minimum of noise but lots of muffled laughter and stifled moans. The bed covers ended up on the floor along with Ianto's pyjama bottoms and Jack's remaining clothes. It was over an hour later, when Ianto sent Jack to the bathroom for a flannel and, when they were both cleaned up and Ianto fully dressed, got him to make the bed. There were no hospital corners but it looked tidier when the two men lay down once more, wrapped together in a close embrace and slept.
