52
Ianto was outside.
It was early morning and the father and son slept as Ianto padded around preparing breakfast, this done and ready for when they woke, he headed outside to do some tai quan do.
He was stretching when he heard someone approaching and turned to see an older couple break through the tree line with a couple of dogs and a younger man with them. A child then burst from a bush and two more followed with loud laughter.
They all went still as Ianto regarded them and it suddenly occurred to him that he was only in his PJ bottoms and also sans arm. Shit. All eyes had fallen to his stump and he fought the urge to raise his hand to cross his chest and cover it, the connecters glinting in the sunlight.
"Good morning" he tried for calm casual, a soft smile as a child neared him.
"You don't have an arm" he pointed out and Ianto blinked at the child's logical statement.
"Correct" Ianto nodded, "I lost it. Can't find it for the life of me."
The child laughed as he turned to his siblings, "He sez he lost it."
Ianto looked back to the adults who had slowly approached their shock wearing off. "Who are you?"
"I am the owner" Ianto said with a bit of annoyance at the young man's tone "I bloody own the place, I could ask you who you are barging through my property."
"You sound Welsh" the older man said like it was an accusation, "I always communicated with the owner himself. He's a Yank. How does a Yank become Welsh?"
"Excuse me?" Ianto blinked as his mind whirred, realising this must be the caretaker Jack employed to keep an eye on the place.
"The man who owns this place is a yank!" the older man repeated.
"I've been called worse" Jack said from the deck, "Hello Ralfie. This is my husband Ianto. Lovely isn't he?"
"How did you lose your arm?" the smaller one demanded and Ianto looked down at the wide eyes.
"In battle" Jack replied, "Ianto survived a battle, he was in a war and his lost his arm due to injury."
"Cool" the children as breathed softly.
"Which battle?" the younger man demanded, his stance telling Jack he was military and he felt himself bristle at the tone.
"Captain Jack Harkness, and you are soldier?" he demanded as he stomped down the steps to eyeball the man.
"Covert ops" Ianto replied, placing his hand on his Cariad's arm to soothe the bristling man, "Classified, I cannot tell you of my missions. Only that they were for the safely of us all and I did my duty for queen and country."
The younger man stared at him for a moment, then blinked, "Torchwood. You are Torchwood aren't you. Jesus wept, Da. This is Captain Harkness, the leader of Torchwood. Her Majesty's own personal attack dog against alien threats."
Ianto was bristling now, his frown deepening and then to his horror he felt his chick's anger as well. Heath stood there with the arm in his little hands and his face fierce as he started at the ones upsetting his parentals.
"Thank you love" Ianto sat and allowed the chickie to place the arm on, the connectors clicking softly as the arm assimilated and he reached out to stroke his son's face with a soft smile.
"Amazing" the young man said, "Cyber tech."
"Unit" Jack spat, "You are fucking Unit. Get off my land before I fucking…"
"Language Dada" Heath said softly as he leaned in to kiss Ianto and then toddle back inside to check his own babes.
"Our son, Heath" Ianto smiled softly, "Cariad. Be calm. He is not armed, clearly I now am."
Jack snorted at the joke and stopped posturing, "Sorry. I am a little protective of my family"
"I apologise for my son, he is ex military himself. Injured at a battle as well. He has flashbacks and a lot of bad memories" Ralf said softly, "He is nothing to do with those knob heads now."
"Canary Warf" Ianto blurted, "I was there. You?"
The man nodded, his face falling at the name and he looked to the children, "Mine. Their mother is at home enjoying a rare break from me. Them she can handle but me…she finds it hard to speak to me now. It has been only a day for me, not the years for her."
"And it probably always will be" Ianto nodded, "Great trauma stays like a tattoo under your skin. It defines you, melds you and you are forever changed."
The man nodded.
"Please, you are welcome to cross my land but please leave us in peace" Jack said now he had regained his calm, "Ianto is recovering from a short illness, we are here so he may convalesce and strengthen his lungs, not get into arguments with our neighbours."
"We don't want that either" Ralf said with obvious discomfort, the stipend from this man topping up his meagre pension.
"Good." Jack said as he saw the panic in the old man's eyes, "We don't want a problem, we just want some peace. I would like our agreement to continue."
"Yes, yes me too" Ralf hastened to assure them, his eyes going to the doorframe where a little hand was gripping it tightly, and Ralf realised the little one was afraid.
"Let's go" he said, rounding everyone up and heading out, looking back as the little one peeked out at them.
Such intelligence in one so small.
Ralf looked at his son and decided a talk was in order to make sure his son left that family alone, Unit and their bloody meddling ways.
Bad enough they had almost cost him his son.
