2

Like What? Why me? Admittedly, that had not been my finest moment.

Ianto had glared at me when I'd said it, as if I was a high school bully complaining about him being assigned to my team in volleyball or something. But that wasn't what I'd meant. At least, not for the most part. But when Chief Reiger assigned me to go with the flaming gay guy… in his ridiculous pink hoodie, gray legging jogger-type pants that cuffed at the ankle, and metallic gold Converse shoes my first reaction had been fear.

As if I was being singled out because I was gay.

The thing is, I'm not out yet. Not to my station. And not to my family either. It was… complicated. I loved my family. But if there was a more macho, football-watching, beer-swilling, weight-lifting, testosterone-driven family than the Harknesses, I didn't wanna know about it. To the Harkness family two things were gospel. One: family. And two: being a man. And my dad and brothers had very definite ideas about what being a man meant. As the second youngest, I'd always looked up to them, so I wasn't exactly looking forward to facing the shit storm that would be my coming out. Like I said: complicated. But, anyway, Chief hadn't given me the assignment for that reason, as Gray pointed out in his oh-so-mature way. And I'd looked like an asshole to Ianto. Not that it mattered what Ianto thought of me. All I wanted was to get him to his grandfather's place, load the old guy up, and get back to my crew. Then I'd never see Ianto again.

I'd never spent time around guys like Ianto and didn't want to. That level of flamboyance made me uncomfortable. I mean, there was nothing wrong with it. You do you, bro. It just wasn't me. No, Ianto wasn't my type at all. Even if he did have the most beautiful eyes I'd ever seen on a human being. They were large and a brilliant teal blue surrounded by dark lashes that matched his curly hair. But the best part about his eyes was how clear they were. They were so clear and sparkling, the whites were absolutely white and pure, like he'd never had a bad moment in his life, and wasn't surrounded by an irritant as toxic as this smoke.

They were The Picture of Dorian Gray perfect. Like, how was that even possible? Well, not just his eyes. He also had super clear and perfect skin—probably moisturized with some expensive shit. His soft lips were a little too pink to be natural. Lip balm maybe. All organic and gluten-free, no doubt.

Tall and skinny. Almost fragile-looking. So unlike the thick Harkness physique. I glanced at his hands gripping the steering wheel. Nice hands. Long fingers. And, currently, white knuckles. White knuckles. Ianto was scared shitless. Maybe I should stop ogling him and do my fucking job. He was being brave just driving forward into this shit. I'd been fighting the Dixie Swarm for a week, and it still scared me too.

"What are you studying at Obama State, Ianto?" I asked, hoping to distract him. He blinked those blue eyes, both hands clutching the wheel like it was a life preserver.

"Me? Oh. Um. Literature and English. I'd like to write. Something. Anything. Like, documentation or ad copy or whatever pays the most. But I also want to be an editor. Like, for a big publisher? It would be cool being that close to the process. I love books." He was babbling nervously, but it was better than panicking.

"What kinds of books do you like?" I asked.

"I read all the things. Science fiction, horror, thrillers, even a little romance. Especially the older romances, with all the dashing heroes, because real-life dating kind of sucks ass? And of course I have to read classics for my classes, and they're all amazing. Well, mostly amazing. Even when they're bigoted or sexist or whatever. Because you learn so much about the era and what…." Ianto trailed off as we passed a group of Bug Fighters working a few feet from the road on the right. It looked like they were trying to establish a new line to keep the south fire back from the highway.

Highway 49 was the only major road going in and out of Torchwood Lake, and thus the only evacuation route. I was glad to see them pushing the fire back here because, yeah, it was too damn close, and there were a lot of cars stuck in the traffic jam. But, shit, this was a new development and not good. I looked up at the trees next to the road. I could see the tops of them here and there as smoke blew around. They were waving around and bending in wind gusts. Not. Good.

Ianto's gaze fixed on the Bug Fighters as we passed, those blue eyes wide and scared. I reached out and touched his shoulder. "See? We've got it all under control."

He gave me a doubtful look. Ianto wasn't stupid. But he focused back on the road. "Talk to me about something else. Tell me about your brothers. Huey, Dewey, and Louie, was it?"

I chuckled, though I was still uneasy. "Pretty much. Gray, Tony, Andrew… we call him Ace… Paul, and Gabe. Gray and Tony are in my station."

"Is that weird, working so closely with your brothers? Do they give you a hard time?"

I shrugged. "Sure. But I give them a hard time right back. I dunno. I'm used to having a big family around, so it seems normal to me. They're good guys, really."

"Hard to imagine. I have one sister, but she's eight years older and I haven't seen her since, well, since I left home when I was sixteen and went to live with Grandy. My mom and dad and sister, they're Third Rock Adventists. Uber religious." Ianto mentioned his mom and dad kicking him out before. Add in religion and his flamboyance and it wasn't hard to guess why. The thought made me sick. Family should never desert family. Not ever. My family would never do that to me. I hoped not, anyway. God, that would kill me.

"Oh! There's Mo's Diner. Thank God!" Ianto said. The fifties-style diner was the first building on the west side of town, and I felt relief seeing it too.

"Just a couple of blocks, right?" I asked. "You said it was by the bakery?"

"Yeah. Just two. And—oh. Wow." He stared ahead. I'd been working in the area for over twenty four hours, but I saw it fresh through his eyes. As the town emerged from the smoke, it looked spooky. The buildings changed the flow of the smoke so the street was clearer, but over the tops of the buildings hung a dense black shroud. The building themselves were backlit with an eerie red glow, and the particles were so thick in the air, it looked like it was snowing. It was completely deserted. It looked post-apocalyptic. The skimmer drifted to a stop as he stared.

"Ianto, we need to hurry," I said firmly. He blinked those big pale blue eyes rapidly and sat up straighter.

"Oh. Yeah. Sorry. Almost there. Oh fuck." His voice shook.

"It's okay. Let's just pick up your granddad and go." He nodded, blinked rapidly a few times, and kept driving. Another half a block and I saw the bakery.

The Bun and Mug.

It was closed, like all the businesses. The parking spaces on Main were empty except for a couple of older simmers that had been abandoned to their fate. Ianto turned right on Pine, gunning it up a slight incline. Just before the next street, he swung to the left into an older apartment building.

The Ridge.

I handed him my spare mask. "Wear this. Those particles are bad news."

"But I'm so pretty. It'd be a shame to cover up all this." He waved a hand at his face. I frowned.

"I'm kidding! Thank you. Truly." He put it on. Despite his attempt at humour, his hands were shaking. I couldn't say much to reassure him, because I didn't like the look of that red glow in the air myself, or how the wind had picked up. A tree at the edge of the parking lot danced, leaves twirling. But the radio in my hand stayed silent. If this part of town was in danger of going up, Reiger would call me. Still, we had to hustle.

The apartment was on the ground floor. There was a cement step in front of the door with a wooden ramp installed over it. Ianto stood on the ramp and banged on the door.

"Grandy? Grandy! It's me. Open up!" The door swung open. Ianto's grandfather was in a wheelchair, but even seated, he was tall and thin. He had a head of thick hair the colour of iron and a nose like a red fire plug. He wasn't as old as my grandfather—maybe in his 60s. He had on an old brown plaid flannel shirt, jeans, and an expression that went from afraid to annoyed and back again.

"Goddamn it, Ianto! I told you not to come. What the hell are you doing here? There's a Swarm fire!"

Ianto rolled his eyes dramatically. "Really? That would explain the inferno I drove through to get to you. Why didn't you evacuate, Grandy? The Bugmen said they came door-to-door and you said—"

"lot of fuss and bother! There's all kinds of buildings and streets the bug swarm would have to go through before it'd ever reach me. You really think they're gonna let all that burn?" He turned to look at me on this last question in an accusatory tone. Like I was the entire fire service.

"Grandy, I told you. It could happen!" Ianto insisted. "Torchwood Lake wouldn't be the first town to entirely burn, and you know it. Are you trying to make the six o'clock news?"

He was talking with his hands now, and his blue eyes flashed with anger.

"Sir, if there wasn't a risk, we wouldn't have evacuated," I put in, but Grandy was focused on his grandson.

"Well, if it comes to that, that one-in-a-million chance, I guess I'm ready to go!" he snarked. "I'm not exactly a spring chicken."

"You are not ready to die!" Ianto hollered. "You will be at my damn wedding someday! You're not even that old!"

Wedding? Was Ianto engaged? A sharp stab of disappointment went through me. But of course, Ianto was, objectively, super cute, even if he wasn't my type. And he was a nice guy who cared about family, so he would be dating someone. Or maybe he was just talking about a hypothetical wedding.

"I know I'm old enough to make my own damn decisions!" Grandy retorted. Ianto stared at Grandy, eyes narrowed. Grandy stared back. Ianto threw up his hands.

"Fine! If you insist on staying and risking dying a horrible death, then I'm staying too!" He stepped inside the apartment, forcing his granddad to roll his chair back a foot. Ianto plopped down to the carpet right inside the door. "I guess you'll have to hope you're right, and all the authorities the state put into place to protect you are wrong, because otherwise you'll kill your grandson, and I'll haunt you forever!"

Ianto waved his hands in a spooky gesture and glowered. I had to bite back a laugh. Checkmate, grandpa. Some people might be put off by the way Ianto and his grandfather argued. But me? I had one big, rowdy family. If we weren't arguing, we weren't breathing. It was how we showed we cared. Ianto and his Grandy loved each other. That was clear. They reminded me of my granddad and me. I was always his favourite. I'd even told him my big secret one rainy afternoon, and he'd promised to hold it close to his heart until I was ready to tell the rest.

Look, Jacky, I don't care who's in your bed. It's none of my damn business. But I know you're the least boneheaded grandson I have. And if being gay makes you less likely to jump out windows or cut your own head off with a chainsaw, like those macho brothers of yours, then all I can say is, thank god for the gay. Man.

I loved him so much. These days, he didn't even know my name most of the time, to say nothing of remembering my secret. Just thinking about that gave me a lump in my throat.

"You are not staying, Ianto!" Grandy grabbed Ianto's arm and tugged. He looked at me. "Help me, will ya? Take Ianto to a truck or something, where he'll be safe."

I folded my arms over my chest. "I'm sorry, Sir. Is it Mr. Jones?"

He jerked his head in acknowledgment. "Same as this little troublemaker, yes."

"Well, I'm sorry, Mr. Jones, but I can't force your grandson to evacuate anymore than we could force you. He looks pretty determined to me."

Ianto lay all the way down on the floor, looking at the ceiling placidly. "I wonder if the ceiling will burst into fire first, or the walls?"

Damn. Ianto's dramatic flair was growing on me. I put on a stern expression. "Listen, Sir, I don't want to leave you two here, but I will. And no one will be coming back again to save you or your grandson. We wait any longer, and Ianto may not get out."

I meant it too. In fact, I was thinking the time line was already iffy. Because as amusing as Ianto's antics were, we were wasting precious minutes that we didn't have. Grandy visibly deflated.

"Dang it. Oh, all right! You win, Ianto. I'll go.''

Ianto sat up abruptly. "Really?"

"As if you leave me any choice," Grandy grumbled, but something on his face looked relieved. Maybe he'd been more afraid, sitting here alone, than he'd let on.

"Great!" Ianto jumped up. "My skimmer's right outside."

The door was still standing open, and Ianto moved to push his granddad's wheelchair out.

"Can't I even grab a bag?" Grandy groused.

Ianto looked at me, worrying his lip.

"Five minutes. Not a second more. And he should wear a mask. Heaviest one he's got." I stared at Ianto hard to make sure he understood the urgency. Ianto nodded, and I went outside to radio while they did that. "Station 75 Gridley, this is Jack Harkness. Over."

"Jack? Where are you? Over."

That was Gray's voice. He sounded anxious. Chief came on. "Jack, report position. Over."

"I'm at the grandfather's apartment, The Ridge at Pine and Main. He agreed to leave. Over."

"Get Jack the fuck out of there, Cappy." Gray's voice. His tone caused the hair on the back of my neck to rise. Gray was pretty cool in fires. He didn't get rattled. He was rattled now. Cappy or Captain was a childhood nickname not used anymore by any of my siblings. Yeah, he was rattled.

"Gray, I've got this," Reiger barked. "Jack, listen up. You get them in the skimmer and headed back down 49 immediately. You hear me? Have them drop you off back here at the west staging area. This damn wind. We've lost control of the south flare-up. Over."

"Okay. There's nothin' you want me to do in town? Sit report? Anything? Over."

"Just get back here. Double-time! Out."

The chief was done talking, that much was clear. But I had a dozen questions. Had they pulled the stations on the east side of town? Was the swarm out of control there? Was it already headed our way? What about 49 heading west? I thought of the Bug Fighters I'd seen near the road.

Gray's voice came on. "Jack! The traffic's all jammed. We've opened another lane, but… shit… if you get caught in the fire, you know the protocol. Out."

If you get caught in the fire? Ianto came out of the apartment, wheeling his granddad who had a heavy-duty mask on and a duffel bag on his lap.

"Gotta lock the door!" Grandy insisted.

Ianto rolled his eyes again, but he took the keys Grandy held out and ran back to lock the door. I took the handles on the wheelchair and rolled Grandy to the car, double-time. I opened the passenger door, tossed his bag in the back, and moved to lift him but hesitated, unsure where to grab him.

"I can do it," Grandy said stubbornly. He stood up and gingerly transferred himself to the seat. He picked up one leg and put it in the seat well. I bit my tongue. Too slow.

"I've got this." Ianto came up behind me and took the chair. He folded it up and put it in the trunk. I didn't want to talk in front of Grandy, so I went back and, as Ianto slammed the trunk lid, put my hand over his. He looked at me, his brow furrowing with worry. "What?"

"I called in. We need to get back down to where you picked me up. And fast."

Ianto's face paled. "Oh my Goddess. Does that mean they're abandoning the town?"

"I don't know. But we need to hurry."

Ianto looked around, and I did too. The red glow had intensified. A gust of wind whipped the branches of nearby trees. Wind was your worst enemy as a Bug Fighter. We were like ants trying to build up defenses in the sand, but wind could come in like a tidal wave and knock them all out. Those trees looked dry, so dry. If that gust didn't bring bugs, the next one might. Ianto turned his hand over to clutch at mine.

"I'm scared," he said quietly with a quick glance toward Grandy in the car.

"Me too," I admitted. I was supposed to be the pro here, the confident first responder barking orders and keeping everyone calm. I'd never felt more like a fraud.

"We'll be okay," I managed. He nodded.

There was nothing to do except get into the skimmer.

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Hey Diane, no I have not read Nora Roberts Guardians Trilogy but now you have told me of them, I shall see if my local library has those books. I do like Nora Roberts, her style is easy to imagine. Thanks for the share, I do love my books