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Fov roared with pain, staggering back, his hand on his side as he looked at Ianto with disbelief, Ianto snarling as he pushed himself up off the table, now raising the knife above his head as he gave an animalistic scream then he plunged it into the man's chest.
Owen slammed into the room, the chair quickly grabbed and smashed against the man's back as he fell to his knees, now grunting through spasms of pain, his hands gripping Ianto's hands and the knife they had still held in the heaving chest.
"Let go" Owen snarled, snatching the bottle of wine from the table and smashing it over the man's head. Finally Fov fell back and Ianto could only go with him, still caught in the unrelenting grip. Owen grabbed Ianto's arms and yanked, Ianto falling back to land on his butt and he sat stunned as Owen then threw himself onto the knife, making sure it was in as far as it could possibly go.
"Ianto!" Rhiannon was there gathering him up as Elizabeth pushed her aside and slammed Ianto's head into her chest.
"Husband" she sobbed stroking his hair as she embraced him then drew back and kissed him gently "Ianto, darling. Are you OK. Oh praise the gods, my darling. Speak to me. Are you Ok?"
Ianto rolled to one side and threw up as Owen now staggered to the table and grabbed another knife then turned back to kneel and calmly cut the dying man's throat.
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Adham's wife was sitting with Ianto holding his hands as Owen spoke softly to him, encouraging him to sip from the cup of tea he was holding to his lips. The womenfolk were on their hands and knees, scrubbing the floor as Adham calmly stepped to one side and began to simply rip the carpet up, the noise finally making Ianto blink. "what?"
"The blood is seeping through. Scrubbing only forces it down. We must remove it, back to the boards. Scrub the boards. We must hurry while it is still dark" Adham panted "We need a way to move this mess."
"The Hover" Ianto said as he patted the woman's knee and stood, shaking still as he walked towards the lump in the middle of the room, the floor rug rolled around the body. "He said it is not marked or ID'd. We load everything into the Hover, take it out to the mudflats and then we set it all on fire. By the time anyone finds it the fleet will be gone and as it has no ID they will be blamed for the death."
"Agreed" Adham nodded "Yes. I will fly it, someone follow me so we do not leave footsteps … footsteps?"
"A trail" Ianto was calm now, his stomach settling with the sweet tea "We must not leave a trail. Yes. These boards are dark stained, look. Why did Jack cover them? We will get the rug from the guest living room and cover the blood spot … the blue one."
People started to move with purpose as Owen stepped closer to Ianto "You're preggers?"
"Yeah. About four months. Didn't want to say as Jack would scold about Kit. Funny the way things work. Kit's clinginess and desire for my milk is what helped sell the Strangles theory."
"And now … you must wean him. The baby will need that first shot of goodness that will not be there if your body does not have time to cook it" Owen whispered "you bloody prick. You drank alcohol too."
"Threw it up … gotta love that morning sickness." Ianto huffed "I have been trying to tell Jack but Sean arriving made it … difficult to talk about anything else. Each time I tried to start talking about babies he would say he didn't want to talk about any more. Before you fly off … we both know he will be excited. Also as horrified as you."
"What do you need?" Elizabeth asked, stepping close to her husband. Her eyes were wide as she listened to the conversation and Ianto turned to her, dragging her into a hug.
"Just comfort me for a moment, will you? I am all a bluster" he whispered into her hair "I do not want them to know but … I really thought he was going to … oh Gods. Lizzy."
She clung to him, rubbing his shoulders and back as he let his hormonal impulses loose, starting to weep softly as the images of what might have been passed through his mind. Losing the boys. Rape. Possibly all of them murdered for insubordination.
He drew back, shakily rubbing his face as she reached into the front of her blouse, producing a lace handkerchief she used to wipe his face as she cooed.
"Adham and I will be back in about an hour" Owen said as he touched Ianto's shoulder, making him jump and squeak. "Shit, sorry."
"It's OK. I need to rest … to … hold my children" he finished moving swiftly to the Children's wing where his babies slept unaware of a problem. Rhiannon rising from where she had been sitting beside the bed of the twins, smiling as she said softly "Was going to put them in your bed ready for you but they fell asleep in here with Gem."
"It's Ok. I just needed to see them" Ianto smiled "My heart, my poor heart. Jack had better get home soon. I need some quiet."
"You sit here, be quiet. We will clean up" she patted his arm then said softly as she leaned in to kiss his cheek "Line?"
"Yes sister" he sighed softly "Line on this night."