24
They were ready to go, heading off to the garage that held several vehicles they had 'obtained' over the week.
Ianto knew Jack was panicking but not why, the plan was a good one.
Then it occurred to him as Jack checked the vehicle's tires yet again, Jack was worried about being apart from him. Not for his safety, but for their bond.
For some reason it filled Ianto with immense pleasure that Jack felt so close to him and he wondered if he should stay with him but then knew that if he gave in now, his mate would get worse as time went by.
Instead, he allowed a cuddle before climbing into the Saab and let Jack close the door to lean in for another kiss.
"I love you" Jack whimpered, his face so open and full of love that Ianto felt like he could take on the world as he returned the affection.
To think that only 24 hours earlier he had felt so shitty.
Ianto had also agreed to stay up top as a lookout, knowing it wasn't just Jack fussing now as Mickey looked over more than once as well.
He stood in the middle of the Plass with the breeze bringing him a plethora of smells and he found himself scenting the air as his eyes scanned the faces around him.
There was something familiar about this, so calm and so dammed familiar.
An underlying scent of the bay, the smell of the boats passing with their exhausts, people's perfumes and natural body odors, newsprint from the book store, fresh bread from the bakery and … something familiar.
Of course it's familiar, he reasoned with himself, its home.
He lowered his head and let his hooded sweatshirt cover his face more, and then wondered why he felt the need to hide.
Something was happening and he felt himself …sort of bleed into the cobblestones and he breathed out as he slid into the world around him.
A cat was sitting by the butcher shop licking a paw as it stared at the fire hydrant on the other corner.
A couple was having a quiet argument over the cost of their meal in the restaurant by the fire hydrant.
The hydrant was leaking.
Each drop of water forming and then dropping, like a diver into the blue below, with a boom.
Boom.
A dog took a drink from the puddle forming and then followed its master obediently, it's tail wagging as it passed Gwen who was …
Ianto's eyes opened and the world bled away.
There was no sound, the bodies around him seemed to turn to mist and fog and he saw across the Plass as clearly as if they were not there.
Gwen was crouched by a rubbish bin with an intense stare, looking across to one side of him and he knew without turning to see the direction that she was watching the invisible stones original place.
Silly bitch.
Did she not know that the stone was long gone, the power of the Tardis blown sky high along with the upper level of the hub?
No. She wasn't looking for that, she was looking for the person who stopped to it to see if it worked.
A black man, lean and self assured.
He stank of sweat and that underlying stink of annoyance Gwen seemed to garner from all men after a while.
Ianto wondered how he was able to do this, see like this and canted his head as she spoke, her voice whispering on the breeze.
"Well I know what we saw Rex!" she was bleating "Jack is back and sooner or later he will come here. If only to drop a rose or something."
"He would be that sappy?" Rex snorted.
"Yes"
Ianto frowned as he felt himself bristle at the throwaway attitude and he wondered again what Jack had not yet told him about these last few missing years between them.
Something told him that he was not going to find Gwen all that favorable.
And as for Rex …
Why did he have a hint of Jack in his scent?
Ianto felt a spike of jealousy as he wondered if he was the one who had filled his spot when the 456 had forced Ianto to vacate it.
Then he let it go.
Why be jealous when he can be vengeful.
Ianto smiled as he felt himself crouch lower to hide in the throng, watching as Gwen looked directly at him.
And then her eyes moved on.
Good.
But I see you!
When he got the click on his coms to tell him they were moving out he watched Gwen swing to look around frantically.
"Let's go lover" Jack's voice purred in his ear and Ianto resisted the urge to answer as Gwen signalled frantically to her partner.
His eyes narrowed as he now knew she was scanning the coms frequencies.
Fucking bitch.
Fool me once.