4
Jack was straining against those trying to hold him back and he managed to connect his forehead with one, sending him flying back as the door to the room opened and the deep boom of laughter had Jack looking over to find a handsome man in a three piece suit, cowboy hat and boots.
What the fuck.
Jack blinked and stopped fighting as the man stooped laughing and stepped forward "well now Captain. That is a hard head, true Boeshanninan."
"You were flying" Jack said with surprise "You came for us … I know that voice."
"Yes I did. Hell of a thing" Ianto smiled, then the smile faded "We didn't' get them all. I am sorry Captain... your sister-in-law… her kids … they did not follow you. They panicked and ran back for the building."
"I know… I saw them turn" Jack sighed, then looked around as he let them lead him to a bed.
"Your niece, she is a little miss" Ianto perked up "So sweet. A small burn to one leg, that's all. Already healed enough to be let loose."
"Emilie?" Jack said with shock "she… she's alive?"
"And she needs you so stop being an arse" Ianto nodded.
Jack grunted, watching the man as he turned to leave and he wondered about that hat. Might like a hat like that, good idea having a wide brim like that.
.
.
The room was swish, the word opulent actually crossed his mind as Jack stood looking around with wonder. The bed looked comfortable, big and lush as well so Jack shuffled over to sit on it and groan with pleasure.
Ianto entered to find him laying on the bed with a look of satisfaction, the little one in Ianto's arms squealing as she saw him. Jack sat up a little too fast and grimaced as his healing skin pulled. "hey princess."
Ianto let him take the child, cuddling her as he looked at her from head to toe before accepting that she really was OK. Ianto sat on the edge of the bed "I lost my sister and her two children to the flares not long after I arrived here. I am sorry for your loss but at least you have comfort in this one."
"Thank you" Jack said as he stroked her hair and crooned to her. "How can I afford all this?"
"Agency compensation. There is a call button just there, I have staff that will help you in any way you need and I will just be in my office down the hall."
"You work from here?" Jack asked.
"With these flares it makes sense to stay in the same space if you can so… yeah. I only go across to the main house when I have to… I can work for three or four days here in the quiet" Ianto assured him. "welcome to my home Captain."
Jack nodded and watched him leave.
He seems to walk away a lot.
.
.
Breakfast was eaten in relative silence as Ianto worked at the table, the tablet next to his plate tapped occasionally as he watched the screens fly past, absorbing at an extreme rate that made Jack's head ache.
"How the hell are you reading all that?" he finally asked.
"Edidic memory… I am taking a mental picture of each screen, then I read it in the back of my mind while checking the next one. I can have up to five downloading in my subconscious at any given time." Ianto muttered pausing his finger to answer, then resuming the taps.
"Enhanced" Jack said softly "you… you were a super soldier."
"Once. Yes. I am a Meatstick" Ianto sat back, abandoning the table as he regarded Jack now "I was bred for battle, my brothers and sister beside me."
"So when you say you lost your sister…"
"We were full blooded, yes. There was a flock of five… almost always five to a cell" Ianto nodded. "She was bred and have her two little ones with her … retired. Injured in battle so… she was free. For a time."
"Cell… like… a unit?"
"Like a room."
Jack stared at him as the cold chill crept in. He had heard of course, they all heard of these babies born in a lab and trained from birth to do one thing… serve the Agency. Assassins, scientists, analysts, linguists… their heightened DNA making them machines.
Now Jack knew why this man did not have a family here, why he was so calm and collected.
He was a fucking Meatstick. Meatstick is the name given to a piece of flesh created to serve a task like grafting a finger or a foot… once entire beings were created the name stuck to them as well.
Ianto blinked like he knew what Jack was thinking, looking back down at his tablet. This is when Jack finally saw something, the cowboy hat in another chair and as Ianto leaned forward the tail was visible.
"You have a tail!" he said stupidly as he stared and Ianto blinked slowly.
Jack did not understand. He was a Meatstick. Why… why have a ponytail? Funds like this? These tails are a mark of a warrior, a sacred and ancient thing that had both religious and cultural significance. Why did he have one?
Jack knew he had to find out more about this man.
