26

Ianto was relieved that there was candlelight so he could see his hands moving over the white cloth, the red blob of wine viable in the glass as he reached for it, hating the thought of mixing up his settings.

"Wounded in battle" the father spoke, "You lost your sight but you seem to have adapted well."

Ianto took a deep breath and smiled politely as he canted his head, "My facial injuries were terrible and they managed to repair my face to the extent that you can't see the scars."

"But you can feel them under your fingertips" Jack said softly, "He also has scars on his body from the other injuries inflicted. I'm sure some were visible the other night in the vidcom."

"Your back" Jack's father huffed.

"Amongst other things, yes. My eyes were more complex as the facial lacerations went right through the bone and pieces of shrapnel were lodged in my brain." Ianto continued calmly, seething inside at the offhand way they were speaking of his pain.

Rose asked a question and Ianto was allowed to eat in silence as they talked, then Lola asked for more water please and Ianto watched the smudge that was her hair as she jiggled in her chair.

"Sit still please Lolly" Ianto said softly and she sat, still wobbling her hair.

Jack and Rose were talking about the cruise, or lack of it and Ianto was listening when he became aware of a hissed conversation between the parents and turned his head slightly to hear, a voice in his head warning him that he was probably not going to hear anything nice.

"He isn't really going through with this just to spite us, is he?" the mother hissed.

"Since that bloody woman he has been hell bent on punishing us for forcing him into that union" the father hissed back, "I had hoped that Hart bod was the payback but it looks like he wants it to be a lasting insult."

"Goddess. A mud child with our family name, thank the goddess it as least doesn't have our bloodline to claim" she sniffed and Ianto felt the bile in his stomach shift.

He couldn't eat anymore, placing the knife and fork neatly on the plate as he had been taught and he cleared his throat, "Jack? I am feeling unwell, may I please be excused?"

Jack swung to look at him, seeing the distress and then his eyes moved to Lolly who was standing on her chair leaning over her plate.

"Taddy? Am I made of Mud?" she asked innocently and Ianto made a nose as he rose, slapping a hand over his mouth as the bile started to come up, turning to vomit on the cameraman's shoes closest to him.

Jack was pale as he stared at the little girl, her innocent face so sweet over the flower arrangement.

"Jack" Ianto croaked and Jack sprung from the chair scooping Ianto to his side and helping him from the room as Lola clambered down and ran after them, still checking her hands with interest.

In the room that was once Jack's, Ianto was able to breathe, gasping as tears rolled down his face, apologising to the cameraman for his ruined shoes.

"I'll pay for them" he gulped, "I am so sorry Malcom, I'll get a new pair for you, oh Goddess, I think …I …"

Jack was there, soothing as he rubbed his shoulders, holding a bowl that had materialised and Ianto clutched at his husband with horror at the public display of shock.

"It's OK Tiger" Jack crooned, "No shame, I feel like throwing up as well. I …goddess. They said that?"

"They say I'm made of mud but not your blood so I don't have to have your lines" Lola frowned as she pulled up her sleeves to regard her skin, "Is this really mud? Don't I have blood in here?"

"Baby, you have my blood in you" Ianto swung to face her, pushing Jack away, "I am a warrior, same as Mama. I am a fucking soldier. I bled for our quadrant, part of me died with Mama and still I strode forward. I competed my mission, I secured the victory and I bled. I bled. You have my blood in you. You are a Jones. My father was a Logan! You come from some if the most superior military stock there is, your grandfather was genetically modified to be a super solider and we carry HIS blood in our veins. I am invincible. I can have a limb chopped off, I have another to defend you!"

Jack blinked as he looked at Inot, "Why do you not carry the name Logan?"

"My father bonded to Admiral Jones of the Royal Fleet" Ianto smiled, "So his mate was a higher rank"

"Wow" Jack grinned, "I read about Admiral Jones of the Star Fleet, really? You are …so …why no money?" Jack frowned, "If you are of such high stock?"

"Military all the way" Ianto snorted, "Pay checks were seizeded to fight the war."

"I heard of that, it really happened? Your mother fought and died for no credits?" Jack sighed.

"She died in battle when I was 4, him five years later, I was left an orphan at aged nine" Ianto said, looking defiantly at his husband, "The military state raised me in a military orphanage. I am a product of their gene splicing, selective breeding and upbringing. I am not kidding, I may be blind but I can still defend my child."

"Our child" Jack amended, "Our child."

"Prove it then" Ianto snapped, wiping the angry tears that were rolling down his face, "I want to leave, this place is making me ill."

"Then we leave, wheels up in five!" Jack nodded, waving a finger in the air above his head to signal the engine start in progress and as they stormed back towards the space hopper he was keying in the return route via his PDA, Lolly skipping along.

"And we will have so much fun, do you like doggies? This is Jewel, she's my friend too"

It wasn't until they were cruising above the clouds that it registered to Jack that Lolly had been talking to someone and he turned to see Rose sitting silently with Ianto, holding his hand.

His parents had just lost another child.