A.N. so sorry for the delay in posting this. Uni got on top of me.

Chapter 11.

Owen Harper parked his car at the bay. It was early in the morning. Very early in fact. The birds had just started waking up, making that annoying twittery noise of theirs as they began their work of the day.

He was walking along the bay in the strange hum that preceded complete sunrise. As he neared the millennium centre, he noticed another person walking towards him. This other person looked somewhat familiar to him. It was hard to tell in the strange hue of the half-light, but the brisk walk and unique clip of the footfalls reminded him of only one man.

"Ianto…I thought I'd be the only one arriving this early. What are you doing here? Jack didn't want us back for at least another forty five minutes."

"Oh I usually arrive early Owen. How else do you expect to find your coffee waiting for you? I hadn't planned on it today though. I'd planned on staying asleep as long as possible like the Captain said…but I felt as if I had to come in…like it was important."

"Strange that is…the tea boy with the sixth sense. Psychic maybe. Like somehow you knew I was coming in and couldn't bare the thought of me brewing my own coffee. Aw Ianto…you care too much!"

"Hardly…I just don't want my machine broken again."

They were walking together towards the public entrance to the Hub. Of course the public never used it anyway, but the fake tourist shop had its uses regardless. If Owen snuck up there when the rest of the team weren't looking, he could get some very nice quality alone time. Just him, the waitress from the opposite side of the bay, and his binoculars. Good, times. That was when the idea hit him.

"I know how you did it Ianto…you're stalking me."

Ianto stopped dead in his tracks, cocking his head to the side and giving Owen the most incredulous frown imaginable. He actually managed to make Owen feel quite uncomfortable. Although most of the team had originally underestimated Ianto, they all now knew that he was a force to be reckoned with in his own rights. They didn't even know all that he did in his role for Torchwood, but they did know that it was the dangerous tasks that required cunning and a strong stomach. Those unpleasant jobs that nobody thought of, nobody wanted, but someone had to do. So Owen had formed a certain grudging respect for Ianto the tea boy. He didn't want to push the man too far in his teasing, but it was very hard to tell just how far was too far with the Welshman. It wasn't like he was going to stop taking the piss altogether. That would just be wrong and against Owens very nature.

"Stalking you?"

"Yeah…you know…I swear I've seen you following me everywhere I go. I see you across the way from my flat looking at me with binoculars. I've seen you watch my ass in the hub. I mean…I know I'm a catch…and I know that you must want me…of course, who wouldn't…but Ianto…there are better ways!"

"Doctor Harper…if I really were stalking you…you'd never be able to tell."

"That good are you…sly fox and all th…whoa…what the hell is that?"

Seeing the confusion in Owens widened eyes, Ianto turned around in an attempt to discover what had caught his attention.

Hunkering towards them in the still dewy darkness of the bay was a large solid shape, humanoid, though much larger. It was too far away to see any detail of the thing in the present state of light, but it was lumbering heavily towards them, slowly, like a lion sizing up a prospective meal.

The only distinguishing attribute that they could ascertain from their distance was the smell.

It was putrid. Utterly foul. The smell like acidic decay was seeping all around them. It felt as if it were choking their very pores with fetid rancidity.

The unidentified creature was getting closer.

"Ianto…you wouldn't happen to have a gun on you would you?"

Ianto thought momentarily, his eyes still trained on the advancing figure, before pulling one of Jack's favoured pistols from a hidden holster at the small of his back.

Owen briefly wondered why on Earth Ianto had one of Jack's guns before filing the query to the back of his mind. Right now he didn't really care, he was simply grateful of the convenience of a firearm on their side.

The beast stopped short of them, just hidden out of sight in the early morning darkness. It was shadowed still, and no feature could be made out.

"Hello there, what can we do for you on this fine morning?"

The creature made no indication that it understood or even heard him, so Owen tried again.

"All right, I'm pretty sure you're not a native so where do you come from and what the hell do you want? Hey…you…big guy. I'm talking to you. Hey…ET not speak any English? Rude that is…come to our planet and not even bother learning the dialect. What's the matter, need to phone home?"

The beast made no move forward and no discernable attempt at communication. It did, however, give a strangle kind of shivery shake thing that they could only just notice in the dim light.

"Hey Ianto…you don't think it's scared do you?"

The creature gave a grunt that if given any human attributes to, would be described as indignant.

"There is great power in this location and you are too primitive and pathetic to feel it. Your species thinks it is so strong but it is weak. And it talks too much."

The next thing Owen knew, was he was surrounded by a tingling green light, suspended in mid air, with the sound of Iantos gun going off, seemingly amplified around him.

A.N. What do you think? Please review.