6
Ianto could hear bird sin the distance as he woke and stretched, groaning as the pulling told him to cut that out and he curled up again so his poor stomach muscles could ease.
It had been almost two months since the scare of Torchwood and three shuffles before he found himself here and he rose to walk to the window and peer out over the water. He could see the seagulls dipping on the wind, landing on the water and gossiping amongst themselves.
He smiled as the salt air seemed to soothe and remind him of the quay. Then he walked to the kitchen where he made his one cup a day, rubbing the now large bump as he hummed softly to it, wandering outside to sit on the deck on his little sea shanty and enjoy the view.
He had checked the harbor reports as he wandered past, no boats in the area so he felt comfortable in just his huge shirt that covered bump and felt like a dress. He pondered the last place he had gone to and the scare he got upon arrival to find the spot burned.
.
.
He slid the key into the lock and felt a weirdness he could not describe, pausing to turn his head and in the distance he saw something glinting in the street lamp's dull light. He removed the key and stepped back, still staring at the glint that he knew had to be a lens or something.
He kept his head low, the baseball cap over his eyes as he moved back from the steps of the old house and he checked the letterbox, finding three letters in there that he scooped out and moved around the house, along the alleyway to the motorbike he had arrived on, soon roaring off into the night.
He found a diner and settled to check the mail finding one was for life insurance….yeah funny right… one was about the upcoming election and the third ….
Ianto
If you find this it means I found you. If you have this letter, I have you and there is no point running anymore. Please stay where you are and let me come get you.
We can talk about this.
Jack
Ianto tined the piece of paper over in his hands as he wondered how the hell he knew about this place, then snorted as he knew Toshiko had ferreted it out, as she likely had a few other safe houses he had set up. Fuck. He knew there was possibly to be only a handful she wouldn't have locked down as they were pre Cyberman in T1 and quietly soon would have traced too.
He rose and chucked some money on the table, then he folded the letter up and leaned over the counter to ask for a toothpick, sliding the letter into the backpack on the seat that belongs to a pretty young thing that would no doubt have a ride sorted with the truck driver she was talking to animatedly. Yeah, he knew paper can be marked with a tracker… he helped make the paper and knew the watermark. Proof that yet again they had o idea of his worth.
Ianto booked it out of there and found himself trying to think of somewhere that was not previously on his safe house list. There had to be somewhere left to hide. Time was running out.
.
.
Ianto yawned and stretched again, not caring about the stitch marks he was creating. Who cares... who would look at his body's imperfections ever again right? Why care if he added more to the Torchwood medals of honor. He rubbed the bump lovingly and muttered "Little bugger. You better be cute, all I am saying."
The vessel bobbed on the water as Ianto looked around the vast ocean around him and hummed a soft lullaby to the kicking monster within, his hands patting gently as he went over his list of things he had, needed and really wanted.
He had to go in to port one more time before B Day.
He knew he had to get a few more things as purchasing everyone in one place was a red flag, so he had stopped at multiple orts and gathered things. He was unable to bring himself to change the name of the boat (bad luck) so had instead changed dinghies at each stop, swapping them out for others left tied up along the wharf with a hasty rename of the one he was leaving behind. They all looked the same, the weekend fishermen probably not even noticing until weeks later.
The current dingy to be taken in had been a bugbear, the motor faulty, taking twice as long to get back to the boat and he would be glad to swap it over this time for something with a more reliable motor.
.
.
"Anything else pet?" the woman asked as she watched the man grimace and rub his large puffy jacket.
"No thanks ma'am" Ianto said softly "I am just… IBS you know? Irritable Bowl Syndrome. Something the cramps are a doozy."
"Oh, my cousin suffers with that, poor lamb" she shook her head as she packed the things into the bags for him "You OK to carry all this?"
"Yes, the villa I am staying at is just up the way" Ianto smiled as he headed out and turned through several back alleys to get to the wharf, lading in a skiff. He didn't have time for niceties or for real thought. He had to move and he had to have a good boat. This one had been tied a long time, the knot had tightened so he cut it. The line of dust on the controls told him it had been several weeks, even a month or so since anyone had been on here, the beer cans telling him those who had only used it like a man cave or when in the dog house. A fight with the missus, came down here. This boat was not used much, more like a toy. Sure, they would notice it gone in a few days but Ianto would be long gone on his vessel by then.
Right?
