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Ianto was tired. Dog tired. He wondered where that saying came from as a child, now as an adult he knew. Dragging his feet, tongue hanging out and balls dragging on the ground too. Done.
Dog… yeah.
Ianto collected his dog from the neighbour who kindly cared for her when he was not working. Ianto had long since agreed to let the man take the dog from the Doggie Day Care on the ground floor level, taking her up with him until Ianto got home, a message ping to tell him Dom had her again nothing new. Quite a nice guy, that Dom. No one of his own, a real lone wolf. Did like Myfanwy though, mad mare that she is. He was one of the few people other than Ianto who could control her. Dom seemed tired, harried even and the weird way he had shaken his hand was… well… yeah… weird.
Work had been nothing weird… just shitty as per usual, the state of the apartment told him that Lisa had finally come to get the rest of her things and the shitty superintendent had let her in despite him telling him not to, all her shit was in the storage room. Ianto dropped the money clip in the bowl still by the door like nothing had happened. No change form his pockets, he gave that away every day.
The sofa was shredded, stuffing scattered about like confetti. Seems Lisa had vented her rage at being thrown out on the sofa, even if she stole other items that she had no right to take. Typical. The only thing in the apparent Ianto had actually chosen himself without her putting her opinion forward for THEIR future.
Their future.
Funny that now she was trading-up he was no longer 'future' material. If she was really moving up in the world why did she felt the need to shit all over…. Oh no… Ianto looked at the area on his wall where the large TV used to hang, the quiet made it possible for him to hear a soft hum. He had pulled out his phone to record the mess Lisa had made, the restraining order he was needing to file more evident now and the noise made him stop pointing the phone at the wall as he turned slowly to stare out the full wall window of his apartment and the Drone that was slowly moving past the glass. Ianto blinked.
What the fuck?
"Aren't those illegal in the city grid?" he said out loud, the clicking of Myfanwy's nails in the other room so loud in the quiet. Of course she did not answer. She never did but still he talked to her out of habit.
Ianto walked to the glass and leaned on it, able to see the Drone as it moved to the next set of windows, and then it began to move up. Ianto frowned as this was weird and made no sense. He then turned to look at the other apartment on the other side, the walled window open and a man was standing on the small balcony that Ianto knew was not to code, why he personally never used his ya know.
The man was controlling the Drone, his head tipped back watching the Drone as it moved up the levels. His mouth was moving and Ianto instinctively knew the man was counting. Partly because Ianto was an interpreter for the Ferizzians. The Ferizzian Race did not speak, they were also deaf. They had learned a rudimentary sign language but preferred the weird way of communicating by tapping their finger on the arm of the one they were talking to… like a weird Morse Code. The thing that amused some people when they met them was that they mouths the word at the same time, mimicking the words they were trying to communicate with. This made it easy to learn if you could read lips. Ianto read lips for more than just a living, his dear dead mother had been deaf. Why, when this race appeared he was one of the first to learn their weird form of communication.
It was so damned tiring though.
Now, after a day of work he could tell without even really processing it that the man was counting out loud. Numbers. Like… floors? Ianto looked up and hummed softly, then back to the man who had no idea someone could see him. Was Dom's apartment up there?
You see… the glass was mirrored on the outside so the building was more… aesthetically pleasing. Bullshit right? It just reflected the other shitty high rise buildings around it. What is even slightly pleasing about that shit?
Ianto became aware of the fact he was holding the phone, filming all of it and he knew he ws working on an empty tank now. This was stupid. He needs to get something to eat, some sleep and tomorrow tell Dom in case he didn't know some pervert is trying to watch him. Can't see shit though the mirrored glass, dickwad!
Although you know… Dom does like the ladies. Maybe it's some PI thing, one of the ladies in there has an angry husband? Shit. Whatever, not his life right? His life is Lisa's madness. He sighed and was about to lower the phone when … came the sound of… thunder?
Ianto looked up at the Drone to see something that turned his blood cold.
The thing was firing into the apartment four floors up and two over. Like… bullets?
DOM!
Ianto knew he was gaping, unable to look away as the bullet casings rained down, the sunlight catching the brass casings and Ianto thought inanely that it looked sort of pretty. A waterfall of death… death… oh shit. Ianto swung for the front door and the panic button by it, slamming his hand on it and to his horror nothing happened.
"Lisa! Jesus, you silly cow… did you break this too?" he groaned, running back to find the Drone slowly moving back toward the man and Ianto dropped behind his couch before remembering about the mirror thing. Then he went to rise only to find the Drone against the glass, like it was looking in. Jesus! Ianto crouched again and looked back at the panic button.
"OK… sorry Lissy… maybe you didn't' do anything to it after all" Ianto whispered as he felt his balls shrivel. Someone with the high tech ability to control the building would soon work out the owner of the apartment was home… after all the sensors would have gone mad with Ianto racing about the apartment slapping the button.
Just because the sound didn't go off… doesn't mean they do not know someone just pushed the button.
Ianto felt like he had lain there forever, the damaged sofa the only thing between him and that… weapon.
Then a voice in the back of his mind hissed that they were coming for him as he lay there… each second was … Myfanwy bounced into the room, barking and throwing herself about and Ianto let his breath out. Dom had not fed the damned dog and she was hangry. He watched her savage the sofa she then launched herself at the wall while yodelling…. Hitting the button with her body before landing on the ground to pant and chuff some more.
Last month she broke the bloody button and it was just replaced. Damn it… Ianto remembered now that it was a brand new button… it should have gone off when he hit it… and just then when she did.
Could it be that easy?
Did they buy the possibility the dog did it again? No one home, just the dog hitting the panic button? After all… she did the same thing last month, right? They check the records, it will be on the screen… right? A warning that there is a mad dog in the building? Ianto prayed to Gods he did not even believe in anymore as the hum of the drone continued outside the window.
Then finally, the Drone moved away and Ianto let out a sob of relief.
Then he slid along the floor to peer over the side to the man who was packing up the Drone like nothing was wrong. A final glance at Ianto's apartment and a shake of his head with open amusement, and then he was stepping into the apartment and gone.
He HAD seen in. Ianto let his head hit the glass as he let his breath out.
But had he seen him? OR just the dog?
