2

"Well... this is lovely" Gwen said as she slowly turned, looking at the mess.

"Deceased was the one and only Dom Hendrix" Andy called out from another room "Pretty well known district attorney… he was heading the…."

"Saxon Case" Gwen sighed as she looked around "Yeah. They are gonna have a fucking Herbrix when they find out who the Vic is."

"They are? Are you kidding? This could cause a fucking riot" John said as he exited the bedroom to watch the other two detectives "This is a clusterfuck of the nth degree."

"He was not supposed to come home… we have the safe house… we have the fucking mistress on another… why the hell did he come back here?" Gwen frowned as she looked around.

"Probably for this" John held up the animatronic dildo "Looks like he needs an enhancement!"

"Come on! You can't be serious. He risked everything for a…"

"Rudy 5000" John said with glee "It would take me three months of salary for this baby"

"Trust you to know the pricing" Andy huffed, grinning at his partner "Gwen?"

Gwen was not listening, she was looking at the tablet that was linked to the building's security. "Panic button went off at the time of the attack."

"Surprised the fucker reached it… maybe he threw his tiny dick" John said with a grin.

Gwen looked over at him "Not from this apartment. Someone hit their button but it was manually overridden."

"No shit" Andy said with renewed interest as he passed off a tablet to Agent Frost who was tapping away at his phone "Oi, not on work time. We have a witness?"

.

.

Ianto was moving fast, the dog keeping easy pace as they usually ran like this in the mornings. An afternoon run was a new thing but she revelled in it, as she did anything with her Hooman.

Someone was following him, he was sure of it. He tried not to look over his shoulder as the footfalls seemed to keep pace. He had been seen. Fuck… fuckity fuck. Somehow someone knew and had found him.

Ianto's heart was pounding louder than his footfalls as he turned and passed under an overpass and through a slum area he knew well… had almost wound up living in when he was younger. He had stopped and spoken to some of the people at times, handed over his pay checks now and then even as Lisa condemned him for his heart… Ianto trusted these people.

Some noticed him and waved, noting his harried look as he rushed past with his dog. Some of these turned to look behind him with concern. They liked this man. An unspoken agreement to close ranks behind him so anyone following would find nothing of worth.

Ianto did not look back, the sound of that Drone still echoing louder than his heartbeat.

The one following did not mange to do so for much farther as he met a wall of anger, fists and ultimately… the bottom of a dumpster, not that it mattered. He was too dead to care.

They settled back on their little scraps of cardboard and their eager warmth.

They protected their own.

.

.

Ianto slammed into the apartment and his oldest friend in the worlds yelped with shock, then glared at him as the dog started to bounce about "If she breaks something you are paying for it boyo!"

"Not now Idris" Ianto said as he moved to the window to peer out, the ghost of the Drone still so real that he expected to see it there.

"Boyeeee, it's all over the vidscreen. A shooting at your building, mandems!" Idris said as he pointed at his TV screen, the view of the building from the ground showing the gaping hole in the glass mirrored siding.

"I know… I was there!" Ianto said with annoyance.

"No shit… really? Did you see anything?"

"I saw everything" Ianto replied, turning to face Idris "I saw the man… the Drone… heard it… saw the bullet casings…"

Ianto fluttered his fingers to show the casings fall, reverting to sign language. Idris knew this was weird. Ianto NEVER signed, this was the thing he did with his mama when they were kids. The weirdo aliens didn't do sign like that… but of course Idris knew it.

"Shit."

Ianto swung to face him "And I filmed it all too."

.

.

"So… someone DID see it?"

"We don't know for sure. Apparently this particular apartment has set off their panic button three times in the last year, two of those times were down to the dog" came the reply and Gwen screwed her face up.

"Come again?"

"He owns a Sherlish Hound that apparently can reach the button and has on two separate occasions … hit it." The superintendent huffed "bloody dog is a menace. We only replaced it a month ago, she smashed it completely. They said this new one was stronger. He paid extra for it."

"Hang on" Andy interrupted as Agent Frost moved behind him to check something "You said… three times. What was the other one?"

"His ex. Lisa. She attacked him and had to be pulled off… apparently he found out she was sleeping with another man and threw her out. She was pissed… was smacking him about. They made up afterwards… like now. She did it again, this time he says it's for real… left her stuff out but… I gave her a key again… you know how it is, in a week she will move back in."

"So… where is she now?"

.

.

Idris stared at the snow on the screen that signalled the end of the video with the classic display of shock as Ianto paced, his heart pounding though his chest now that he had made the mistake of watching the footage over his friend's shoulder.

"Not good" Ianto said to himself "Not fucking good at all."

"OK… I know who we can call" Idris assured him, rising to get his phone, scrolling the names until one popped up that he knew was the only thing he had left he could do for his bestie.

JOHN HART-SEHOLE

Idris texted that he needed to see him pronto.

Like…. NOW FUCKER.