17

Daisy chuffed softly as she deflated, looking at the doorway that was now full of Ianto and John, both men with weapons of their own.

"Come away" Ianto said calmly "It is done now."

"Not until I say so" she snarled and she reached for her waist but Jack fired, sending her slamming back into the far wall, her face full of shock as she slid down the wall and Ianto ran to her, crouching to pull back her sleeve and reveal the brand.

"Well… fuck" John said with a shake of his head "I half-pie hoped we were wrong."

"Why it was set to stun" Jack sighed, turning the pulse gun sideways to flip the switch to kill mode before aiming it at the woman once more.

"Daisy… if that is even your name… why? Why were you here?" Ianto asked gently "We are Agency too… look."

Ianto pulled his sleeve and she stared at his Brand with wide eyes, then she frowned "But… we were told… I don't understand."

"I was a Wolverine. Jack and John there were both Jackals. We are Agency as well, if you had said there was a mission we might have been more accommodating… mind you… the whole … blowing up half the ship thing… not good." Ianto huffed, rising to his feet, leaning against the wall as the others relaxed as well.

"Helix… he misjudged the charge" she rose shakily to her feet and looked at them "Wry are not docking are we?"

"Who were you after!" Jack demanded.

"The Phoenix is on board, we had word that he was here and we were sent to seek and destroy" she said as she looked at the men and Ianto took a physical step back with open confusion.

"The Phoenix. Come on… that man has died so many times… like a cat with those lives" John laughed "Almost as many as Jack here has slipped though. You don't even know what he looks like!"

"Ageless" she said defiantly "He has Boeshane blood, like the Captain here. He is several hundred years old but does not look it… we were told he would be alone. He would be in a room on his own and his Brand would be visible through the thin paper of the overalls!"

"The Brand!" John said "Like… ours?"

"He is one of the originals. Yes. His brand is different to ours, one of the first Brands… it held more than the A in a circle… it also had the small paw print to symbolise the treaty with the Catkind." She said and Jack lowered the gun to stare at her, considering the things he knew, did not know and now had learned. His eyes slid to Ianto who was still staring at her as she held his gaze.

"So… why kill him? He was a loyalist, right?" John frowned "What did he do to piss off the Agency?"

"Good question" Ianto said blandly, his face changing got pure anger "Come on… what did they tell you? What was worth the lives on board?"

"He bred. Banned as you know... he bred and his daughter then went on to have two children of her own… one of them male. It is his Grandson that is the danger. We have to take him out before we can take out the boy. He has thrown pure Dagone… we saw the latest tests on him and he is dangerous, as if not more so than his Grandfather and we know that this boy is capable if not only controlling the dissidents the Agency fears, he is already showing signs of leadership." She stopped talking as Jack blinked slowly and John tined to look at him.

"Kill the Phoenix, force them out of hiding for the memorial service… then kill them all." John sighed, " classic death bait. Is she talking about… you grandson Steven? No… you have the same brand as me!"

"David. She talks of David." Ianto said softly as he tore at his sleeve, ripping it from the seam at the shoulder to revel his entire Brand, the small paw print visible that theirs lacked. "My daughter Rhiannon… she is part Harbinger. She bred with a man who is also part Harbinger, part Catkind and also a drop of Dragone. Mix that with my bloodline and you have a dangerous future challenger."

"You… you are the Phoenix. Bullshit!" John snorted then his smile faded as Jack looked at him silently. "You knew?"

"Worked it out" Jack croaked "It all made sense all at once. Of course I am attracted to him, he is Boeshanninan too."

"My mother was" Ianto nodded, his smile widening "Seems the bastardy side of me is, eh? Well, well, well. They want me dead. So… what are we going to do about this? They will either kill me when we DO dock or they will blow this boat oot of the black when we are within range killing everyone on board."

.

.

"This is soooo not good" Owen muttered as he fiddled about and then stood back with a look of satisfaction "Done."

"Pretty good… can't even see… wow. Owen, you should have been an artist" Ianto said as he canted his head, the brand on the dead body's arm identical to Ianto's and the black ink Owen had used was already drying to the faded black of a tattoo.

"His face is pretty much mush, the blood sample from you sent along with the photos will convince them that Daisy did the deed" Owen rose and rubbed his hands on his pants "If she can be trusted to keep to the story."

"I believe so… she did not know I am Agency born… even though they explained the brand… she truly believed I was some monster and anarchist. Mad really… the brand IS Anarchy… they are the ones who placed it on me when I was a child and chosen to serve form the pool." Ianto sighed "all I know right now is that I am so made I could set fire to their headquarters for the people they have killed just to get to me as …. Bait! Rhiannon and her children are in hiding… I have not seen them in years…. We fell out over her choice of mate. A risky move that might not have flushed her out at all … and yet we would all b dead for the chance of it?"

"You know what? I would hand you the fucking match" Owen snarled and everyone nodded silently as they agreed.

Not nice to feel so damned expendable.