16
The Grey Man made a strange sound, a high pitched scream as it flung it's arms up and the Harbinger seized it, swinging it into the air as two more Grey Men exploded from the tree line and that is when Jack realised he hadn't really known anything at all.
They were being chased by a smaller, fluffier Harbinger. Jack turned to watch the huge one now turn to run for those that ran from one to find the big one out in the open waiting for them. They turned to run back into the smaller of the two demons and Jack placed his hands on his hips with wonder as they all disappeared in a strange mist.
A tractor beam.
"OK… what the hell was that!" Owen demanded as he leaned around the doorframe from inside the house where he and Tosh had taken shelter.
"friendlies" Jack answered as he pushed Owen back into the house and told everyone to get ready to move out, they were clearly burned.
They clambered into the SUVs and Jack was not surprised to find Ianto behind the wheel of one like nothing was wrong, his eyes staring stonily ahead. Jack wanted to say something but he couldn't'. Not like Ianto hadn't said right? They heard one another, she called to him, he found her. He had heard of sleeper agents but this was something he really should have considered.
The Grey Men had come to ransack the place... of course there would be not only a team coming to try to warn and defend … one of the units that crash landed… there would already be some form of defense set up. Shit.
Jack instead patted the door and leaned in through the open window to say to Ianto gently "you lead, I will follow."
Ianto finally looked at him, those grey eyes searching and then he nodded.
Jack watched the SUV take off, a second following and he ran for the other one to follow them to the other place. He had time to stew as he drove, chew over the irony of his stupidity when he himself was an Alien here. Ianto knew. Of course he did. Smelt him right? Right… heard him. Empathic.
He knew, had even been told at the academy that some planets have Harbinger sleeper agents there amongst the general populous to protect against invasion… of course.
"Jack?"
"Hmmmm?"
"You are grinding you teeth so hard I can hear them cracking" Alice said softly from the passenger seat and he glanced at her, then grinned weakly.
"Sorry Love"
"So those things…"
"Harbingers. The mortal enemies of the Grey Men and maybe our only line of defense right now" Jack admitted "Apparently, if memory serves me from the Academy books, they are placed on planets that the Shadow Proclamation has under their protection and Greys are considered a threat at some stage. If the Grey Men happen to sneak in under some false pretenses these creatures are the hidden landmines that will hopefully ensure the continuation of the civilization, even if there are some major losses."
"So… those big scary monsters are on our side Uncle Jack?"
"Yes love" Jack nodded looking at his grandson in the back seat "You OK there solider?"
"Yes Uncle Jack. They got close this time." Stephen said softly.
"I know but we will be OK, the Harbingers will protect us" Jack assured him.
"Why us? So many people dead, all the things happening, what makes us so special?" the boy demanded with that unerring intelligence that reflected the man driving so well that Alice snorted softly as she glanced at her father.
"I think he can answer that one with one word" she said softly as she kept looking at those muscles clenching around Jack's jaw.
"what's that mum?"
"Jack!"
.
.
They were all confused and talking at once as they tried to tell the villager what had happened, some of the men heading to the stone walls with their rifles as the last SUV pulled up.
Jack watched Ianto walking along with the dog that had materialized to of nowhere. Jack leaned forward as Ianto reached out to stroke the dog's head before walking on. Yeah. What a dick. How could he have missed it?
Ianto turned to look at him like he heard that and then Jack remembered Ianto saying his shields didn't work on Harbingers and he grinned. Well… so … Ianto knows he is sexually attracted to him? And he is still here? They could have run, could have left but… there he is.
Jack decided to give him a chance.
.
.
The house had belonged to someone that had gone to the sales, an older couple thank god. Jack couldn't have handled a young gamily with pictures of smiling dead kids everywhere and he was also glad the rooms were large, Alice and Stephen each taking one each, leaving the master bedroom to him.
He didn't know where Ianto was and wondered where he would wind up, if he stayed at all.
"Are you OK?"
Jack looked up as Ianto stood there with his hands in his pockets and his backpack hooked over one shoulder.
"Tell me… how do you get undressed and dressed so quick?" Jack asked.
Ianto reached out and pushed to door closed as he dropped the bag, making the room they were in just their own space and Jack sat back on the bed to watch Ianto consider the next move. Then Ianto… shimmered. Naked. Bold.. stark… bloody… ooooooo… big. Nice. Er … shit, he can hear that right? Ianto's blush confirming it.
"Sorry.. I just…"
"I am attracted to you too" Ianto finally let Jack out of his misery "But things have changed now I have shown myself. We didn't' get them all so… the Hunt is on."
"Look, we knew they would come sooner or later even as we lied to everyone else and said we were safe. We both know that sooner or later they will sweep everywhere they can for life. At least this way we have the upper hand in knowing they are coming. And now they know a full grown Harbinger is here… they will come. The real plus is that these kind are known for wanting to be winners so they will not tell the others cells they found you… they will want to be the ones to present you triumphantly to their leaders. This is our only advantage. We have to go hard, fast and vicious. We prepare for war, we kill them all before they can finally admit they found you and then … we wait it out."
"Wow. That was a mouthful" Ianto finally said "you think that speech up all by yourself?"
Jack grinned as he leaned back on the bed then asked "So… where are you going to sleep? Left side… or right?"
Ianto's snort was all he needed to hear to know either side was good… as long as in was this bed.