3
Ianto had kissed Jack goodbye with a pat on the bum while calling him 'fly boy' knowing how much it would please him. The leather bomber jacket looked so cliché that Ianto wondered where the hell it came from… ah. Douglas waving from the limo with a matching one, aviator glasses and all. Big bloody kids. Once Jack was gone Ianto shooed the kids off to the car and drove to school with a pep in his step.
Ianto then drove into town to the store he preferred to peruse at his leisure… for things of… ah… leisure. He knew Jack would get back overly excited and would not be able to sleep without being worn out. Ianto chose a lovely set of lingerie for a larger… ah… man who wanted to be pretty, then after sharing a look with the young man serving him, accepting the open wink and headed to the car to dump his parcel in there before heading to the forecourt for lunch.
He checked his phone and smiled as he saw a message from Jack telling him of the day so far and sat swiping through photos of clouds. Ah. Lovely. Typical Jack. Photograph everything while forgetting there is a photographer and bloody cameramen filing everything beside you. So cute.
Then his phone rang.
"Ianto! I saw sheep running along like little specs. I love it up here!"
Ianto grinned at the childlike glee in his voice "Well, you might be like a big scary dragon flying overhead."
Laughter as Jack agreed and told him he was having a great day.
Then Ianto head it.
A thud.
"Jack? What was that?"
"I don't know Tiger… bird strike? Really? What? Which engine?"
Ianto felt his mouth go dry "Jack?"
"Ianto, I will have to…back…shit…. What?"
"Jack?"
Ianto had risen from his chair and stood in the middle of the busy diner while he listened to the sounds of his husband's plane going down, the voice of the panicked pilot in the background as Jack told him that he loved him and it would be alright… or at least… broken versions of it.
"Mayday …. mayday"
.
.
"I don't care! I want it now! I will pay whatever is needed here" Ianto was thumping the desk and he didn't care if he looked like a maniac, looking over the desk at the man at the airstrip who was leaning back as far as he could go while Ianto snarled at him.
"Look we just need the flight plan" John asked more politely, a hand on Ianto's arm "If you can't find him, more eyes needed, right?"
"Clearly they went off track for some reason" the man said.
"BIRD STRIKE!" Ianto roared.
"Easy, step back" John demanded, stepping between Ianto and the desk, "Look… what about the GPS on the plane?"
"Wasn't turned on"
"WHAT?"
"The transponder was playing up and it was going to be looked at on Friday" the man now rose from his chair to plaster himself against the filing cabinets as Ianto snarled like a wild thing in John's arms.
.
.
"Any news?" Rhiannon asked, her eyes red from crying.
"They are sending up more choppers now the studio has woken up. Douglas and Jack will be fine, probably talking about some documentary about it" Ianto said without his smile meeting his eyes. "I was listening, they all were clam and the sounds of the plane landing was loud but I heard them yelling before the phone cut out. They were alive."
"It's bad, isn't it" she said, then hiccupped.
"Don't' cry. Come on. We need to be strong, the kids will be home from school any time now" Ianto tried to be brave "when those men get home they are in so much trouble for scaring us like this. We will both need jewelry for this."
"Your mother came for the kids, she thinks it best to occupy them and not tell them until we know something." Toshiko said as she rubbed her face "Your Mother-from-Hell has also been around for the twins, was more than pissed to find them gone already. Tantrumed in the driveway like a mad thing. We had to threaten security to make her fuck off."
"Oh god. I didn't even think about her. So she knows?"
That's the thing. She didn't. She came for them without knowing about the crash. That refocused her and she took off like a dog shot in the balls" Owen replied.
Ianto did not like that.
Not one bit.
.
.
"So you are OK with them for now?" Ianto asked his mother as he paced, the phone to his ear burning into his brain.
"They are fine. They love Pompy" she gushed, her black Pomeranian a clear winner in the distraction stakes. "David is trying to be a grown-up for them all poor lamb."
"Well, no news is good news right? There are four choppers up there as well as ten or so rangers on horseback canvassing the entire area. I am sure in no time he will be home with his tales of terror and survival, asking me for foot rubs." Ianto said with more enthusiasm than he felt. To be honest, he felt horrible.
Owen watched him get off the phone and then stand to stare out the back window at their pool with a look of… devastation. Mongo leaned against his leg with a groan of comfort, the dog clearly feeling Ianto's fear even if he did not understand it. Owen walked over and placed an arm around his shoulders "Like ya said mate. The twat is probably sitting in a rock trying got get cell phone reception with a torn sleeve bitching about how much the damned jacket cost. Right?"
Ianto tried to smile but could not pull it off, nodding mutely lest his voice break and give away the fear that was threatening to straggle him alive.
Jack was in danger.
He knew it.