45

"So … what next?" Owen asked as he sat with Toshiko, watching their Weevil son washing his face in the large tub of hot water, the blood soon gone. He had been fierce, scary and definitely Weevil in his attack. It had been brutal, fast and over before anyone had a chance to raise the alarm, something to be said for that given the radios they all had strapped to them. Now they were being checked over by Toshiko so she could find the frequency to patch into.

As she did this the bodies were being dragged onboard. Well … some were.

Ianto was still unsure if things were moving in the right direction but he knew he had to have faith in the pack, his mate as well as those guiding them on this journey. They had not put them wrong yet…right? The way his pups had moved, synchronized and efficient causing minimal pain or suffering was something he comforted himself with. Efficient little killers….well…big killers as it goes. They were huge, almost to his resting size. He tried but failed to hide his pride there.

Jack was regaining strength as they worked, the birth shaken off now as his own restorative powers worked to heal and replenish. At least his milk supply was good and Jackson had had two feeds now, happy and content like a good little boy. Ianto was hoping for some bonding time later, once he knew Jack felt comfortable with handing him over. He did not want to push, this was important to jack and Ianto understood the pull for bonding to your own child. One you had borne. He could respect that. As long as he got him soon.

"Well … we have two ….ah…three options. We can either go back to their base and kill everyone … go back and drop off the bodies that are still recoverable to warn them or … ah …. We just land and confront them." Jack pondered their options.

"All three?" Hope asked.

"huh?"

"We go back with the remains, warn them that it's all over and they need to move on then give them a time limit on it, telling them after … 48 hours we will go in and cleanse the area" Hope clarified. "48? Long enough right?"

"You know …. Once upon a time I would have thought that barbaric but … I guess we have to be hard in this new world" Toshiko said softly "You know … we are giving them a time limit. We have moved our entire operation in under 48 hours."

"Very mercenary of you sweetie" Owen snorted "you're right. We dump the bodies, give them a little scare and see how they act. They will either retreat or attack."

"Agreed" Ianto nodded "This time … this time I think we need to use Marley. We send her in there with the Predis and the pups in Wolfling form. Only her in human form. Let's see how they react. If they act afraid and submissive we can let them have their retreat. If they react aggressively…then… we know they are going to attack anyway."

"So … again we sit back while our kids …." Jack started then stopped talking as Hope swung to face him.

"We are protecting, as we should. This is our job. This is our calling. We are Wolfling. Marley can easily retreat, so can we. The Predis are not about to take a hit gently … come on. Their shielding could withstand a bazooka hit at close range. We have a job to do … let's just get on with it." She scolded and he nodded knowing she was right.

"OK … I know you are right but I want those Predis to go in front, shield you OK?" Jack said after considering "And … Frank. You stay back here."

Jack looked over to check on Jackson, seeing him asleep so he took the controls and Ianto headed to the cargo bay to check the bodies they had dragged on board. He counted eight. "I thought there were a couple dozen."

"Too many bits…ah… we have some more heads over here" Dean pointed and Ianto blanched, his stomach rolling as he looked at the carnage. Great, morning sickness now? Damn, they had really enjoyed themselves. He was not sure if the Predis had encouraged the pups or the other way around but he had witnessed some real animalistic attacking down there. He looked around and sighed softly, letting go of the ideas he had in his head of his pups being little kids. For better or for worse, his father's research had created this as much as the Bad Wolf and her meddling … and the Mara. Let's not even start! Ianto accepted this natural …. Evolution.

They were not kids.

They were Wolfling.