24
Breakfast was a quiet affair and once the kids were all gone Thane demanded a meeting. Jack and Ianto shared a look. Yeah, he was definitely going to be trouble.
"So... they came out of nowhere and you just… what… welcomed them in?" Thane was roaring at the others "They could have been anyone. Anything!"
Ianto tried not to bristle but Owen was not going to stand for that "We could have passed you by … then the Greys out there in the tree line would have swept in already!"
"What Greys?"
"Out there… the distant woods has traps, signs of them in the area. The only reason they have not attacked this place if because they don't see the value in it. You lot coming back might change that!" Owen swung his arms "you upped the body count!"
"What?" one of the old men asked with surprise.
"Well… he is not wrong there either" Thane agreed with venom "We moved in a large group of about thirty but they kept coming. Those of us from here agreed to splinter into small six to eight person groups, run independent of one another, leapfrogging and meet at designated points. We all made it… none of the large group did. If they were not here, we might have still been safe then?"
"Body count" Owen said softly to Jack and Ianto "The large cities, smaller ones.. then towns… they are scanning somehow, using electromagnetic imagery? Some form of heat?"
"Hmmm" Jack turned to him "I don't like it, if this is true this place will get hit one way or another."
"I think we can all agree on that" Ianto sighed as he tapped Jack's arm "This is getting us nowhere. Thane just wants to pontificate and show his balls. For some reason he is intimidated by us."
"Likes being a big fish in a little pond… sees us as bigger and not enough room? The ripples are… " Owen frowned "wait… is that analogy getting away form me?"
"Nice try Rocket Man" Jack snorted, slapping Owen on the shoulder and Ianto smiled as well, the nickname one he had heard Jack use with Owen before. Maybe he reminded him of Elton John or something? Who knows.
More like Ground control to Major Tom … Owen is a bit spacey.
.
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Ianto was in the barn feeding the horses when he turned to find Thane and three other men. Great. Really? "Thane, I don't want a problem."
"Neither do we" Thane said with a sniff "But I see Torchwood on those vehicles out there and…"
"Not me. I met up with the group while on the road, I was alone. Me and my dog. We met them on the road, same as you." Ianto put his hands up "But they are the ones with answers. They know what these Grey Men are, we have already encountered them and fought them off before we got here, got a good look at them and they are creepy as fuck!"
"They have guns?" one of the others asked.
"Sort of sonic things that…"
"Nah. Your friends" Thane interrupted and Ianto sighed. Right. Still stuck on Jack.
"Look… if you are that intimidated by the Captain let me assure you… he is with me. He is not going to snatch someone's wife or daughter… or son. He is with me, we are not here to cause trouble and only want to get through this invasion, same as you."
"That's what we all want" a voice chimed in and Gordon stepped into the light from a stall, staring down the younger men. As they backed off he glanced at Ianto and said softly "They will keep pushing."
"I know. I hope they don't push too hard or they might find out that their push is nothing compared to my shove" Ianto said as he walked away and Gordon watched him leave with a look of trepidation.
He felt the warning might come too late for the young men who would find out the hard way that sometimes it is best not to look a gift horse in the mouth.
.
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"So what did you do?" Gwen asked, her arms folded like Ianto was giving her a debrief instead of talking to Jack in front of the others.
"I spat on him and called him a cad, I pulled off my glove and slapped him with it… hard!" Ianto said slowly blinking at her as Owen started to snigger. "I accused him of being intimidated by Jack."
"Which is true" Owen nodded as he sat back and fiddled with a small blade "This Thane thinks he is big shit. He thought he would come back and save the village or something, like a conquering hero and is not happy Jack is walking around in Hero Pose already."
"Something like that" Ianto agreed and Andy huffed.
"Well… they would not last five minutes witohuth us. Those walls were too low, there were no livestock inside the walls… you notice they are gone? The ones in the far field by the tree line are gone?" Andy asked, making them all rush to look, standing at the wall staring at the empty far field with shock.
"When?"
"Sometime in the night" Andy shrugged "I woke up and always pee on this bit of the wall. You know me, man of habit. I always look for the sheep… nothing there this morning."
"Well… shit" Jack sighed "They are betting bolder."
"And time it running out" Ianto agreed.