Vengeance - Chapter Eleven

Author: Milady Dragon

2 February 5193 (Earth Standard Date)

Ddraig Llyn

Ianto awoke slowly, feeling languid as he rose out of dreams of his family, not wanting to wake up yet but feeling as if he was being watched in his sleep.

He was surprised to find that it was his daughter, Morgan, who was doing the watching.

The dragon raised his head, smiling at his talented child as she sat on the floor, her eyes on him as she hummed softly. Ever since Morgan had been a child she'd been like that, humming at times as if the music simply couldn't stay inside. It really should have not been a surprise when she'd become the professional singer in the family.

She wasn't wearing her usual bright colours, dressed instead in sombre dark blues. Her dark hair was hanging loose around her face, and Ianto could see Jack in her, in the dimple in her chin and blue eyes at were made even darker by the clothing she had on. Still, there was a lot of himself in her, and even after so many centuries it still amazing the dragon that he and Jack had gotten the family they'd never expected to have.

Morgan stopped humming, giving him a sweet smile. "You alright, Tad?"

Ianto thought about that. He knew what he'd discovered has shocked him, and had brought back a lot of memories he would have preferred to remain in the past. It had been shock, plain and simple, that had struck him when he'd discovered that the Dragon Slayer that had murdered Sabrina and had hurt Rowena and Skylar was the same one who'd helped kill his first family. He'd reacted to that badly, but then no one could blame him for it.

He was going to have to thank Anwyn for getting him home. He would never have been able to do it on his own.

Ianto mentally prodded the painful recollections of that day, when he'd lost his family. It would always hurt, and this didn't help that, but he thought he was going to be fine at some point.

As soon as he got really angry about it. Which would most likely happen as soon as he got his equilibrium back.

He sighed. "I…will be." He sat up. "When did you get back?"

She shrugged. "About an hour ago. Anwyn told me what happened, and I volunteered to sit with you while she went to get supper started. You know I have absolutely no talent at cooking."

This was true. It was as if Morgan didn't have any other room within her for any talent but her music. Not that Ianto would ever stop teasing her about the time she'd burned boiling water…

"How long have I been asleep?"

"Not sure. Several hours at least. Long enough for Dad to go to Hubworld and back, and for you to miss lunch. And don't think Anwyn didn't clue me in about you not eating lately." She waggled a finger at him in admonishment.

To avoid rolling his eyes at her, Ianto reached within himself and triggered the change back into his human form. He could understand that everyone was worried about him and honestly, he should have known they'd all turn into overprotective hoverers when the time was right, but he really didn't think this latest blow would set him back, at least in that department.

"I was shocked," he said as he stood, "but I'm going to be fine." At her sceptical look, he added, "I promise."

"Alright." She also stood, stepping forward to hug him.

Ianto returned the hug gratefully, glad that the last of his children were finally home. He'd been worried about both her and James, being out there and a possible target for the Dragon Slayer, but they'd possibly been the safest of all his children, as they were public figures and were constantly surrounded by a host of others who would have been more than willing to look out for them both. Still, they were now back in the valley where they would truly be safe.

"I'm so glad to see you," he murmured into her hair. Morgan's arms tightened around him in response.

Eventually, they broke apart and, arm-in-arm, headed downstairs. It was a full house, and not for the first time Ianto thought that, perhaps, he and Jack should have designed a larger place when they'd rebuilt the old Green Dragon Inn. And this wasn't even everyone, which made it even more amazing.

It had Ianto wondering, once again, what exactly they'd need to do in order to have their own planet. Although leaving this place would be incredibly difficult. It had been his home for so very long, and even with a break of six hundred years when he and Jack were offworld Ddraig Llyn had still been in his heart and soul.

Something was smelling wonderful, and Ianto heard his stomach grumble. It had Morgan laughing, and it earned them both surprised glances from everyone in the room.

"I guess we don't have to worry about you not eating," Gareth teased.

Ianto did roll his eyes then. He adored his family…even if they could be a bunch of mother hens.

"Ianto!"

The dragon turned toward his mate's call. Jack was striding out of the dining area, where he must have come from the kitchen. He'd shucked that horrible black coat – and while Ianto did understand why Jack had worn it, he was glad that it was gone for the time being – and was in his shirt sleeves, a tea towel draped over one shoulder. Anwyn must have roped him into helping with supper…and there she was, right on her Dad's heels.

Jack reached out and Ianto had no trouble at all stepping into his arms. Jack wrapped him up in a fierce hug. It never ceased to amaze him at just how safe he felt in his mate's embrace.

"I'll be fine," he reassured Jack quietly. "I had a bit of a shock, but I'm better now."

Jack didn't need to say anything for Ianto to figure out that he thought the dragon was fudging the truth a bit, but he let it slide. Instead, he rested his face in the crook of Jack's neck, inhaling deeply of the pheromones that he'd become so familiar with over the centuries. He'd never get tired of that scent.

"Hey," Anwyn interrupted eventually, sounding fondly exasperated, "give the rest of us a chance, Dad!"

Jack laughed, pulling away. Their eldest was standing there, hands on her hips, giving them both such a glare that belied the love that was shining from her eyes.

She wasn't the only one standing.

Every single member of their family that was currently present in the house was, as well. Ianto let his eyes rest on each of them, noticing who was missing among those present.

Jack must have noticed, because he said, "I've convinced the Doctor to corral everyone from Hubworld and bring them along in the TARDIS in time for supper. Nicole, Rory, and Lisa are all outside, being hovered over by Mom and the Great Dragons. Clint's up with Skylar – "

"Who's sleeping," their son stated, entering the lounge from the hallway. Clint was carrying little Daisy…or, more truthfully, Daisy was clinging to his shoulder and laughing. She nearly overbalanced when she saw Ianto, reaching out toward him and chirping, "Gata!" in what was very much not an inside voice.

Ianto reached out for her, and the little dragon practically leaped into his arms. He stared at her as she nestled into his grasp, blue eyes sparkling and her tiny tongue poked out between her rows of sharp, baby teeth. "Did she just…?" he asked in amazement. "Another word?"

"She did," Clint said proudly. "She knows 'Da', 'Gada', and 'home', too, although I understand she can't quite get the 'm' down yet. Although, from what Phillip told me, she called him Da first, and I'm denying that I'm jealous. Skylar's been trying to get her to say his name, but all she can manage is 'Ska'."

Ianto couldn't help the smile that bloomed. Dragons learned to speak and fly pretty quickly, but even this was a bit faster than any of the other children. He had to wonder if Clint had been right, back when he'd been carrying her, that she'd have Phillip's ice magic. The white on her scales seemed to indicate that, but at the same time it wasn't the gold that properly announced a magic user to the family.

Except for Robyn. As far as anyone knew, she hadn't a lick of magic to her name. Which was fine with her; she had a hard enough time dealing with her dragon form on good days. Skylar had taken it upon himself to tell her just how fabulous her golden dragon form was, and Ianto only hoped it would eventually work.

"Henry and the twins with Rowena?" he asked. They'd taken a house nearby, on the side of the mountain that had once been Ianto's old aerie and what was now called the Mating Cave, while Rowena healed from the attack on her.

Jack nodded. "We'll take their supper up to them. We certainly have enough to feed an army."

He didn't need to say that it had to be, as dragons ate quite a lot. "I hope it wasn't just the two of you cooking."

That earned him several outraged exclamations from the gathered children.

Anwyn rolled her eyes. "As if I'd let these lazy yobbos get away with sitting on their arses while Dad and I slaved away! Well, Clint has an excuse…"

"I did offer," her brother retorted, "but you shooed me upstairs."

"Like you'd be able to get much done with a baby in your arms," she countered. As if she understood, Daisy laughed and babbled something in the baby-speak that the Doctor swore he understood.

"Point."

Ianto laughed. It felt good.

"It's almost done," Jack reported. "If I could get some help with plates and drinks…?"

That thinly veiled order got him Gareth, Emlyn, and Morgan volunteering.

"And Tad will make the coffee," Anwyn suggested…no, she'd inherited that tone from her Dad, and used it when she wanted someone to do something they might not usually want to do.

However, it was wasted on Ianto, who certainly didn't mind making coffee for the ravening hoard. He passed Daisy back to her Dad, who tried to fly to Clint but failed miserably, and he caught her before she took a header onto the floor. The little one seemed to think it was hilarious. Honestly, Ianto hadn't heard a child laugh so much as Daisy did. "And tea for Pryce, of course," he teased. "Although how one of my children turned out not to like coffee I'll never know…"

"Thank you, Tad," Pryce said graciously, grinning. She was used to the comment by now, and had even once admitted that it was a mystery to her, as well.

"Does someone want to go out and fetch in the others?" Ianto suggested. "Because your Dad suggested that the Doctor bring everyone by TARDIS, so he might not show up before breakfast…"

"He's gotten a lot better at piloting," Jack defended the Time Lord. "They'll be here."

Ianto shook his head in amazement. There'd been a time when Jack would never have come to the Doctor's defence, and he was glad that they'd all put what had happened during That Year behind them and had moved on. The dragon quite liked this regeneration, and the Doctor was a part of their family now, one that he was happy to know.

"Let's get everything ready for supper," he said, instead of speaking out loud what he'd been thinking. "I'm starving, so I'm sure that means everyone else is fading away from hunger…"

That got him a stampede – and Ianto was convinced that three children, even ones as old as Gareth, Emlyn, and Morgan, could very well be a stampede – out toward the kitchen. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Clint head outside, as Daisy was once again climbing him like a tree to perch on his shoulder, her tiny claws gripping the material of his eldest son's sweater tightly as she curled herself around her Dad's neck.

Of all their family, only Cadi had been that much of a climber. Ianto hoped that wasn't a sign of things to come; Cadi had been all over the place when she was growing up, finding the best places to perch and often jumping down on people, mostly Anwyn.

He had no doubt it was going to be extremely entertaining in the Coulson-Jones household the older Daisy got.

"Good to know you're hungry," Jack murmured, stepping close and wrapping an arm around Ianto. "I've been worried this might…"

He didn't finish, but then he didn't need to. Ianto knew what his mate was trying to say. "I was in shock," he admitted, "but this didn't hit me as hard, I think. Well, that's not true…just wait into the rage sets in. And it will. But for now, I think I'm still in a little bit of denial, if that makes sense."

He was certain he wasn't explaining it well, but Jack seemed to understand. "I thought you might want to follow this lead up, so I've already asked Anwyn to go along with you. Alyce and Robyn have volunteered to tag along as well. The more, the merrier, especially in this case. I'd feel better if you had a team with you when you go Slayer hunting."

He could see Jack's point. He did fully intend on attempting to track down the Dragon Slayer, and he was hoping to go back to the British Museum and speak with Dr Dorian again, in hopes of getting a solid lead. Even though he knew he could be excused for the sheer shock and horror of what he'd learned Ianto felt as if he should have made a better showing, especially in front of the pair of detectives from Luna.

Speaking of the two coppers… "Has anyone contacted Detectives Walsh and Shraeger and let them know what was going on?" Both had proved to be invaluable in their war against HYDRA; they'd been the ones to find their one clue to the identity of the Dragon Slayer.

While a part of him wanted to keep the two policemen out of harms' way, the dragon thought that might prove to be hard to do. He had experience with the police, and the really good ones tended to go at their cases with everything they had. Perhaps, if they were kept in the loop a bit, it might mitigate anything that might happen in the course of the investigation.

It could have been so very easy to play the Torchwood card and keep them out of it. However, this wasn't Torchwood business, and Ianto was savvy enough about protocol to know they really hadn't had a leg to stand on if they'd even attempted to throw their weight around.

It would have also added to the fire that Phillip was trying to put out on Throneworld…not that they'd known that at the time. This way they could at least pretend there was an official investigation and that Torchwood wasn't involved.

And, technically, it wasn't. Phillip had taken leave. But he was smudging things by using Torchwood resources – in the shapes of Jemma Simmons and Leo Fitz – to help study the artefacts they'd brought back from Avalon. Still, Jemma and Fitz were practically family, and Ianto was well aware that there was really no way to keep them out of this, especially with Phillip and Clint so heavily tangled up in events.

The faint sounds of the TARDIS arriving outside came to them as they made their way toward the kitchen. Jack looked smug, and Ianto simply rolled his eyes at his mate.

The dining room used to have one long table in it, but with the size of their family now Jack and Ianto had decided to redecorate, and it now more closely resembled the dining area that had once been a part of the original inn. A dozen tables were positioned around the room, with places for six at each table. That would be enough for today, even depending on who the Doctor managed to wrangle into the TARDIS.

Out the large window Ianto caught sight of Lisa, in her human form, talking with Rory and Nicole, with Samara and Clint standing close by, Daisy very interested in proceedings. The pair of wizards were helping Lisa gain control of her newly awakened magic; their daughter hadn't been all that accepting of it, and Ianto knew that Phillip had meant to sit her down and talk to her about it; he knew exactly what it was like to be given magic against his will, and had hoped to help Lisa deal a little with what Morgause had done to her.

But he'd been called away to Throneworld, leaving Nicole and Rory to do what they could to help Lisa.

It had only been a couple of days. From where Ianto was watching, Lisa still didn't look all that happy, not that he could blame her. But the two grandchildren were being unbelievably patient with her, and Ianto was so proud of them for taking on the task of teaching Lisa about her new abilities.

He was about to continue on his way to the kitchen when Merlin appeared.

Lisa's relationship with Merlin had always been a little touchy, but then that was understandable. After all, she carried the reincarnated soul and memories of Morgana le Fay, and Morgana and Merlin had been enemies back in their Camelot days. That was all water under the bridge, as it were; especially after Avalon, when Merlin had so easily accepted the new status quo and had promised to do his best to help Lisa through it.

"They'll be in in a second," Jack reassured him. "The coffee machine is calling your name." He cupped a hand to his ear. "Can you hear it? Ianto…come and use me, Ianto…"

The dragon barely resisted the urge to smack his mate. "Yes, yes…I'm coming."

He'd turned and was a good few feet from the kitchen when a loud, surprised roar had him spinning in place and staring out the window…

At the sudden appearance of a strange dragon just outside.