DISCLAIMER: Again, I don't own them. They own me.

I own Sam, Dresden, Draconus, Rio, and the Hoppers. Stay away.

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Chapter 5

The second we stepped foot inside the hub, all eyes were on me. Well, on my shoulder, at least. Draconus had decided that he preferred sitting on my back to flying, and we were currently in a silent battle of wills to see who would flinch first. I refused to look at him, and he refused to look away. A lesser man would be distracted. I ignored him and followed Captain Jack into the medical bay where he had me sit on the examining table and began performing various scans of Draconus.

"Don't you have a doctor type person to do that?" I asked him, leaning away from a sharp, pointy rod shaped sensor that he'd chosen to wave uncomfortably close to my eyeball.

"We did," Captain Jack said, pain evident in his voice.

"Ah. Sorry to hear that," I said, feeling suddenly guilty. At least I won't be messing with any set flow of events.

Of course not. That would be rude, Draconus said, inching his snout ever closer to my face in an effort to make me look at him.

"What are you, the dragon version of Donkey? That's not gonna work," I informed him.

You know I can read your thoughts, right? Draconus asked, quirking his head to the side in the way I'd quickly come to relate to a human raising a single eyebrow at you.

"I know," I said. "But he can't."

I inclined my chin in Captain Jack's general direction, while said Captain turned away to scrutinize the results of his scans.

"But that can't be right," he muttered to himself, rubbing his jaw. "To- Ianto, come take a look at these, see what you think about them. I think the Rod might've been damaged in that little encounter with the Snorlack."

"What's a Snorlack?" I asked, quirking an eyebrow at him.

"You really don't want to know," Ianto Jones informed, descending the stairs in all his professional Welsh gloriousness.

"Oh. Well, whatever it is, I'm pretty sure that thing isn't broken," I informed, while Draconus nudged his snout still closer, until he was almost touching my cheek.

"And how would you know that?" Captain Jack demanded, the embodiment of skepticism.

"Because I know everything. And it keeps giving off this really annoying high pitched note whenever you wave it at me," I informed. "And if you lick me, I will drive you through the nearest wall, you overgrown lizard."

Draconus froze, his tongue halfway out of his mouth, and retracted it with great haste, looking to the entire world like a kid caught with his hand in the proverbial cookie jar.

Party pooper, he decreed, dropping his head onto my shoulder in disappointment.

"Absolutely," I confirmed, victorious.

Short this time. I know. But more will come!