58
Gwen was pleased to have some new stock… fresh blood…. That is what she said, and then paled as her hand went over her mouth. Beckett giggled as he slid across the floor in his chair, his sister slapping at him and hissing at him to cut it out. Gwen could always amuse him with her mouth … no filter at all that one.
The two Heddlu were easily accepted but it was the teenager that had them surprised. Until they discovered that he had no family and had actually evaded the creatures better than the Heddlu had. This boy reminded Ianto of himself and he was not hesitant in pointing this out. Age has nothing on street smarts. Jack agreed anyway… so… there ya have it. His spot next to Lucy was instantly chosen as he drank in her workspace with open lust.
Maybe a little lust thrown her way as well but ya know… she was used to that. ALL woman and not afraid to flaunt it. Actually… she sort of felt sorry for him once she learnt of his life. Living in a group home, trying to get through school by working a shitty night job stacking shelves and his bike was his only real possession in the world. Why he was out on the streets so late. She always thought small villages looked out for one another but some things change I guess. In the three hours they had been here she already found herself making room for him.
"Initial reports are in, it was a good hit" Rex said as he watched the new team members looking at the boards along the walls full of Decayed stats and photos.
"Neil, here" Sarah hissed "Dominic!"
Jack turned to look at her and walked over to look at the photo she was tapping gently "you know him?"
"Yeah, weird man. Moved into town a few months ago, paid with cash and then moved about in this creepy old Oldsmobile, looks like a hearse" she said "We all thought maybe it was a vampire moving in, you know… a coffin in the hearse everyone saw at times."
"A wooden one?"
"No. Shiny silver" Paul agreed out of nowhere, "We seen him too. Everyone thought he was like… creepy and sort of smelt funny."
"Smelt?"
"When he got close to you in the supermarket at night, he smelt like …. Old paper … you know? Old musty things" Paul said as he picked up a paperweight to fiddle with "The pod thing was only in the car every third or fourth night, like he was taking it somewhere… not always the same one though. I saw one with a little mark in it like… four little circles."
Jack looked at Ianto who nodded a she had the same idea "Pods."
"Shit. So… we didn't get rid of it, it's there too?" Jack groaned "It the house in the village?"
"On the outskirts. To the eastern side by the river…. What?" Sarah saw Ianto's face change when she mentioned the river.
"Water again" Rex said as he pulled out a map "Right… can you show us where?"
"Is this ever going to be over?" Ianto said softly and Jack reached out to squeeze his hand.
"We knew it would not be easy. Like washing fleas off a dog, you have to accept some are gonna hang on and come back for a second fight" Jack whispered "We will end this … we will. We just have to be more relentless than they are."
"Well… UNIT are taking this one. Her Majesty has given the order" Ianto finally sat and rubbed at his face, Gwen finally remembering he was preggers and gaping at him.
"Ianto! Did you go out in the field? You're with child for Godsake!"
Ianto stared at her, then turned to look at the three new recruits who had all frozen, staring back with wide eyes. What was I saying about the filter thing? Yeah.
"I am not an Alien. I am a Welshman born and bred. A little… accident made me .. different. Think of it as a workplace accident" Ianto explained to them. "Torchwood is a weird and whacky place and … one of the side effects I picked up over time working here is the ability to conceive. Jack and I already have a little boy. I am fine, this will not kill me and Gwen will often blurt things that surprise you… be warned… I have also come to the conclusion that Rex there is a bit of a twat."
"OI!"
"Yeah" Beckett said as he went back to his comported screen "He is one, rather old man!"
"Will we be able to at least see that it's over?" Sarah asked.
"UNIT are releasing the footage to us as soon as her Majesty demands it, the pricks hate sharing anything" Lucky huffed "then we can see the actual footage from the drone as well as the Bots."
"Bots?"
"Yeah, they sent in some robots to check for any signs that we didn't get it right or there is a need for a higher payload in a second strike. They are like… little robots that were designed by us actually" Lucy said with pride "Doctor Sato and Doctor Harper created them and Simon .. sorry Boss … Beckett and I tweaked and finished their calculations to get them online. UNIT of course, played up merry hell the first time they saw them in the field until we agreed to give them some and now they act like they are theirs. Of course… if it was one thing I learned from Doctor Sato … it is to always leave a back door. Those Bots are ours and we can take control at any stage."
"Good girl" Jack nodded "Tell us when they are in and Ianto… let's get the conference room set up so we can all sir and have something to eat while we watch the show."
Ianto nodded, knowing UNIT were going to put on a show alright… but they might not like the gatecrashers about to take over and dazzle.
Toshiko would have loved this.
