Chapter 10
It was dark by the time Owen reached the outskirts of Cardiff, but at least there were streetlights finally illuminating the road – a relief after having travelled several miles following the tail lights of the cars ahead of them.
As they passed a road sign for Cathays, Owen offered to drop Ianto off at his house, but he shook his head and pointed out that he was ready to take a stint on rift watching duty back at the Hub.
"You're not fully recovered yet, you do know that, don't you?" sighed Owen. "No need to be a bloody martyr."
"I'd figured that out, the cast gives it away," Ianto held out his arm dramatically. "So I'll give weevil wrangling a miss for now. But, I reckon I can cope with sitting in front of a monitor for a few hours. At least I can cover while the rest of you take it turns to grab some sleep."
"Can't argue with that. Luckily the rift's been quiet over the past few days, but I bet Gwen will still be desperate to get home to her fiancé."
"Really? You're not taking the piss?" Ianto frowned as he tried to see what expression was on Owen's face in the light of an oncoming car.
"Well, she's not going to waste her efforts fluttering her lashes at me or Tosh, now is she?"
"You tell me – she's locked lips with you, a sex alien and John-bloody-Hart, who knows what or who she'll do."
"Oi – are you lumping me in with a possessed girl and a psychopath?"
"If the cap fits. Ah well, if it makes her appreciate her own boyfriend more, maybe having Jack way beyond arm's length does have a silver lining."
"Bloody hell, it's a Welsh thing isn't it? Getting all possessive as soon as someone else shows an interest-"
"You've not been chatting up married women again, have you?" teased Ianto.
"Chance would be a fine thing – thanks to you and Jack practising unsafe sex, I've not had time for any sex."
"Hey – I'll have you know, I was a good boy and I'd been to Boots for supplies, it was Jack who said we didn't need to –"
"Stop there!" interrupted Owen. "You lost all sympathy as soon as you chose to believe everything he told you. Have you any idea how many partners he's had?"
"Unfortunately, yes." Ianto said with more than a hint of exasperation.
"Notches on the bedpost?"
"Nope – stories. I've been keeping a record-"
"Not in your diary I hope – he reads that."
"No – not in that diary."
"Either way, I'd not have let him near me without protection."
"Yeah, well you knew he could get pregnant."
"That's not what I'm talking about – but we're nearly there. Ready for the third degree?"
"Yep – I've been at home all week, watching Bond movies and eating pizza."
"Until this weekend when you went to visit your auntie up in Abergavenny. That's where you got the mud on your boots and the dog hair on your jeans."
"Exactly."
"Ianto!" exclaimed Tosh as soon as the two men walked through the gated entry to the centre of the Hub. "How are you? You're looking so much better."
Tosh wasn't one for effusive acts of affection, but that didn't stop her rushing over to Ianto and grasping his hand, squeezing it enthusiastically. Making sure Gwen hadn't surfaced from where she'd been all afternoon, Tosh gave Ianto a sly wink, as if to say she knew exactly where he'd been.
"It must have been the fresh air." Ianto grinned as he wrapped his good arm around her shoulders and gave her a gentle hug.
"Oh yes, that must have been what it was- can't think of anything else that give you that pink glow in your cheeks." Tosh smiled conspiratorially.
"How've things been, Tosh? As quiet as predicted?" Owen asked as he stood in front of a bank of monitors to check for himself.
"Well – as far as the Rift and the weevils are concerned… yes…"
"But?" Owen demanded.
"But what?" Tosh shrugged insouciantly.
"I heard a 'but' there, didn't you, Ianto?"
"Yes, definitely a 'but'. Come on, Tosh, you can't fool me. What's been happening?"
Tosh looked from one man to the other, as if working out a way to break bad news. However, she didn't get the opportunity to say anything else because Gwen chose that moment in time to make her appearance.
"So there you are, Ianto. Glad to see you're still alive – you could've answered my messages you know."
Owen raised an eyebrow and turned to see Gwen slowly descending the metal stairs from the direction of Jack's office.
"Hello, Gwen. I would have, but doctor's orders said I wasn't to even think about work."
"It wasn't about work, I just wanted to check that you were alright. You are, aren't you?"
"Much better thanks. Now that I'm back you can take the rest of the evening off, I'll-"
"Whoa there, I'm not going anywhere until I've got some answers."
"What are you on about, Gwen? Ianto was badly injured – I sent him home for a week and he's spent the weekend at his auntie's – what's there to ask?"
Owen was feeling irritated, he knew damn well that he'd covered his tracks and that there was no way Gwen could have figured out where he'd been in reality.
"Not about Ianto," snapped Gwen. "Jack. You two know where he is and so do I now."
"What?" Ianto demanded, confused by Gwen's attitude.
"UNIT called," Gwen stated as if that alone was all the answer Ianto and Owen needed.
"Fuck, I told you that I'd handle them." Owen winced, wondering what damage he'd have to get Ianto to fix.
"Well you weren't here, were you, Owen? Gallivanting off first thing this morning, leaving me in charge-"
"Actually, I left Tosh in charge." Owen turned to Tosh and glared at her. He'd made it perfectly clear that any calls from UNIT or the ministry were to be forwarded to him.
"I'm sorry, Owen, the call came in when I went out fetch lunch," Tosh said apologetically. "Gwen told me when I got back, but she didn't tell me what it was about."
"I was waiting for Owen to return. Seems that they know where Jack is and wanted to know if he was to be spending much longer being decontaminated, or whether they needed to send in a replacement."
"Decontaminated?" It was Owen's turn to frown.
"You know damn well where he is, Owen and I bet you know as well, don't you, Ianto?"
"Enlighten us, Gwen – where the fuck is he?" Owen flung his arms in the air hoping against hope that Gwen was bluffing.
"A quarantine station in the SnowdoniaNational Park," declared Gwen triumphantly.
Neither Owen nor Ianto were able to mask the shock on their faces at Gwen's announcement.
"So, what I want to know is, what the hell has Jack got and is it contagious? Is there any danger I could have caught it from him?"
Whatever reaction Gwen was expecting, it wasn't the one she got. Both men stared at her and then at each other before bursting out with laughter that bordered on the hysterical.
"It's not funny! If he's got some alien plague, we could all be infected!"
"Gwen – trust me, Jack's got nothing you're going to have caught from him." Ianto's expression was steely as he glared at Gwen, the humour of the situation dissipating as it sunk in that Jack's security was in jeopardy. He only hoped that Gwen had not said anything that could have made the situation worse than it already was.
"Owen?" demanded Gwen, hands on hips.
"He's telling the truth, Gwen. What Jack's up to is highly classified. I can neither confirm nor deny that he's staying in the quarantine station in North Wales. Meanwhile, I hope you've recorded the conversation you had with UNIT, or written up a detailed report, as required for all communications with other agencies."
"Um, well, as it happens, I've not … I'm …I'll do that now."
"Not to worry, you used Jack's phone didn't you?" asked Ianto knowingly.
"Well, yes, I was looking for something in his office when the call came through."
Ianto smiled, he knew she'd have taken up residence in Jack's office in his absence, especially if Owen was away as well.
"Then the call would have been automatically recorded."
Gwen blanched.
"You spy on Jack's phone calls?"
"No, I monitor all the calls coming in from government agencies, so that I can sort out any misunderstandings more effectively."
"Wise move, tea boy," muttered Owen in admiration.
"Thank you."
"Right then, Gwen. You're off duty now until tomorrow morning. Off you go – I don't want to see you until nine o'clock. You can fetch in the breakfast butties and coffee on your way in."
"But-"
"Come on, Gwen, you must be desperate to get home to Rhys," Ianto cut off Gwen quickly. "It's fine, I'll monitor the Rift and sort out the problem with UNIT."
"Tosh – you can go home as well. I'll keep Ianto company here. We'll call you in if there's an emergency."
"I don't mind staying a bit longer-"
"I'm sure you don't, Tosh, but you need a break," Ianto insisted. "We can manage just fine."
"You two are trying to get us out of the way, aren't you?" asserted Gwen, suspiciously.
"Yeah, because I can't wait to get my hands on tea boy while the captain's out of the picture," Owen replied sarcastically.
"You wish," mumbled Ianto.
"Damn it – come on, Tosh. But tomorrow morning, you two are going to tell me, I mean us, as much as you can about where Jack is, and when he's coming back. Is that clear?"
"Crystal. Tomorrow, we'll tell you as much as we can, but for now I need to get in touch with my contact at UNIT before they try to move in and take over." Ianto gave Gwen a tight-lipped smile, knowing that it would take every ounce of diplomacy he possessed to halt UNIT in their tracks.