A special Thank you to PCJanto, el33ri and badly-knitted for reviewing the last chapter and thank you to everyone reading this.

Badly-knitted, you're probably going to hate me for this… Sorry :-/

Warning: Death of a character

Chapter 18 A rock and a hard place

"Wait, how are…?" Ianto said, as Warwyn changed in front of him into a beautiful yellow bird. It reminded him of a large yellow peacock with its long tail feathers and a crest on top of its head. It was quite breathtaking, but it wasn't large enough to lift a human. Ianto was just about to say so, when the bird, Warwyn, started to grow.

"Woah!" he stumbled back a step or two. Within minutes the bird was gigantic, every bit as large as the two dragons had been. It blinked at him, waiting for him to do something. When he showed no response, Warwyn sighed and moved its head, to indicate that he should climb onto its back.

"What? No! I'm not climbing onto your back." Ianto said suddenly appalled. He normally had no problem with flying, but now the thought made him balk. He didn't know this kid after all, although Orion would probably have his hide if he didn't trust his mate. His fear was irrational, he knew that it was, but it didn't change things. He backed away.

Warwyn sighed. It would seem Orion's father wasn't going to climb on. Well there was nothing else to do then. It shook its body, stretching its wings and with a mighty flap it took to the air. It wasn't used to being that big, so it put rather too much effort into it and found it self higher up than it had intended. It circled experimentally, getting a feel for the larger frame and the air currents in the Ravine. Then it circled back and swooped down and grabbed Orion's father off the ground.

Ianto yelled in surprise and fear. He had tried to duck out of the grip, seeing the bird coming, but failed. He was now dangling perilously from Warwyn's claws and the bottom of the Ravine was getting further and further away. His heart was pounding in equal parts mortal fear and exhilaration. He had never felt anything like this. He knew that he would fall to his death if the bird opened its claws. He remembered seeing birds kill crabs that way, back home. But at the same time it was so much fun flying through the air like this, being totally free of machinery. He understood now, why Orion never wanted to come back down, when Myfanwy and he went flying together. He understood now why the dragon was Orion's favourite form. He understood now.

Warwyn strained itself to keep climbing. The updraft had disappeared and made the flight a strenuous one. Its wings were still largely untrained and it had never had to carry something so heavy. It was breathing hard now and its wings were tiring, when they finally cleared the upper edge of the Ravine. That was when a strong gust of wind pounded into them. The strength and surprise of it almost caused Warwyn to lose its hold of the human. The man yelped, but was powerless to assist. Warwyn would have gritted its teeth if it had had any in this form and continued.

Finally they made it over to the destruction area and Warwyn glided in for landing. But another strong gust of wind blew it off its course, to the side and downward. It released its grip on Orion's father before slamming into the ground hard. It felt its wings break with a loud snapping sound and it screamed in pain.

Ianto fell the short distance to the ground and rolled out of the fall. He got a bit bruised and would be rather sore in the morning but was otherwise unharmed. He hurriedly got his bearings and rushed over to Warwyn. The bird cry had sounded unnervingly eerie. He could immediately tell that both its wings were broken, one of them quite badly. It lay gasping, crumbled into a heap. Before Ianto could do anything to help, Orion appeared at their side. He looked around frantically and spotted Warwyn on the ground. With a small cry he rushed down to Warwyn's side and gently held it in his arms. Warwyn changed into its normal form again, though the broken yellow wings remained attached to its back. It whimpered and Orion drew it closer into his embrace. He looked like he would collapse any moment, being badly injured himself. Ianto decided to scold his son later and left the two alone for now.

Instead he got up and walked on shaking legs over to the wreckage. The ground was hollowed out and charred from the fire. There were pieces of the wreckage scattered all over the place and many of the fires were still burning. The main part of the remaining wreck was the front of the transport. It was where the cockpit had been located. It would have been designed to act as a bomb shelter and an escape pod in case of anything like this happening. Hopefully Rea and Xarion would have been in there when they were hit. He walked around it, climbing over a large twisted metal beam. He had to find a way in.

"Tad." Orion called. He looked over and saw the two adolescents standing near the upturned soil, leaning on each other for support. Orion was bleeding badly and looked to be in considerable pain and Warwyn's wings hung limply in an odd angle. He rushed over to them and made them sit on the ground.

"Take it easy. You're both hurt. You shouldn't move around too much." He scolded gently. He put his hand on Orion's cheek and on Warwyn's shoulder, wishing desperately that Owen was there to help them. What he wouldn't give to hear the snarky doctor's grumbling right now.

"Tad, Daddy is over here." The youth pointed in the direction of the disturbed soil. Warwyn's previous attempt at unearthing him was still visible. "We need to get him out. He can't revive until we do and we need his help." Ianto nodded. He was only one man, after all. With the children both injured there was no way they could help and they still needed to find Rea and Xarion and they might be in a bad way too.

"Maybe…" Warwyn said. "Maybe I can help." Orion looked at it sharply.

"You're hurt. You can barely move." He protested.

"I might not have to." It said with a weak and tired smile. It turned to look intensely at the place where Jack lay buried. Ianto frowned in confusion uncertain what was going on. But Orion had a look of understanding and expectance on his face. Then Orion smiled slowly and Ianto turned to see… he gasped as he saw the small stones and some of the soil begin to tremor and lift into the air.

"That's it. Keep going. You're doing great, Zuuva." Orion whispered, careful not to break his mate's concentration. "Don't try to lift it all at once. Just move a little at a time." Warwyn nodded and kept going. The airborne dirt flew calmly to the side and deposited itself in a pile. Then a new layer rose slowly into the air and floated to the side. It kept at it. Layer by layer the hole got deeper and the pile grew larger.

Soon Ianto spotted a fingertip peaking up through the soil and he set to work digging with his hands, ignoring the pain of his already damaged fingers when they grated on the rocks and pebbles and the burn of the dirt in his wounds. He dug on and followed the contours of the arm down to the shoulder and soon located the head. He brushed the dirt away from his fiancée's face and almost wept at the sight of him. His features were locked in a death mask of horror and pain. The burns were gone and Ianto realised the man must have revived while buried alive only to die again from lack of air. That meant his airways could still be blocked.

Frantically he opened Jack's mouth to find it full of more dirt. With trembling fingers he scooped it out as much as he could. But there would be more dirt lodged in his throat. His eyes began to well up in the frustrated horror of it. 'What if I can't get it out?' He began gasping desperately. It was almost as if he could feel himself choking, trying desperately to breathe, but was unable to. His chest constricted in an acute panic attack and all he could think about was Jack dying like this, buried alive.

Then suddenly a feeling of calm flooded him, as if someone had poured a bucket of icy water over him. He blinked and looked up… into Warwyn's calm eyes. Their eyes remained locked as his breathing gradually returned to normal and his heart rate slowed.

"Thank you." He said softly. Warwyn smiled softly and nodded. Then it turned to look at the man before them. He was still half covered in dirt, but his upper half was free. It winced as a stab of pain came from its wings and it refrained from moving any further. Very carefully it held its hand out over the man's throat and closed its eyes. Ianto was looking on, growing more and more worried.

"What..?" he began, but was cut of by Orion shushing him. He glared at his son for a brief moment, but soon forgot all about it when he saw small pieces of dirt floating out of Jack's mouth. He glanced at Warwyn, who was completely absorbed in its task. It was trembling slightly and had a sheen of perspiration on its face. It was clearly taking a lot of effort and concentration. Several minutes later the young Micurii'an leaned back with a wince of pain, gasping for breath. Orion put his arm around it and it leaned into him a little.

Now all they could do was waiting for the man to revive. Ianto sighed. This was the part he always hated. The waiting, the uncertainty, the longing for the man to return and yet the silent hope that this time he would find peace. It was such a contradictory desire, both wanting his lover to die at last and dreading it. He would always fear that the man wouldn't come back to him, but at the same time he wanted him to be happy and not suffer eternally. He sighed and placed Jack's head in his lap.

They waited.

Orion spent the waiting period searching for Rea and Xarion with his mind. He stretched out his awareness to the wreckage and searched for any life signs. He almost screamed with joy when he found the both of them alive. They were indeed in the cockpit, as they had suspected. One of them, Rea was rather weak, but Xarion seemed to be strong enough. They were both unconscious however. He hoped his Daddy would awaken soon. Rea badly needed their help.

xxXxx

Jack came back to life with a huge gasping breath and then promptly began coughing the remaining dirt out of his lungs. Ianto tried to soothe his aches, by rubbing him gently. After recovering Jack looked around him and saw his loved ones around him. 'This had to have been one of the worst ways to die', he thought to him self, 'but a good way to come back.'

"Miss me?" he said cheekily. Ianto rolled his eyes, but Jack could feel him squeezing his arm a little tighter. Then he noticed the state of Orion and his mate.

"What happened?" his fear for them evident in his voice.

"Lartorc." Ianto said grimly. Jack jumped to his feet looking around for the enemy. Ianto jumped up beside him and put his hand on his arm. "Easy. He's gone now. We," he indicated the kids and him self. "Made sure of that."

"Gone?" Jack sounded rather dazed.

"Yeah, he's dead." Orion said with a soft growl in his voice. Warwyn whimpered slightly, causing Orion to rub his head at its temple in a cat like fashion.

"But…" Jack was confused. He couldn't seem to take it in. The big bad villain that had caused them so much grief was gone? "How?"

"Later." Orion said with a touch of urgency. "Rea and Xarion need help. They're in the cockpit and Rea is hurt badly. They're unconscious." Jack nodded, getting into Captain mode again.

"Ianto." He made a motion for Ianto to follow him.

xxXxx

It took a while for them to dig their way in to cockpit door through all the debris. The door itself was jammed tightly shut and the hydraulics was not functioning. In the end Warwyn had to Jump back to cave to retrieve their laser cutter. It made short work of the door and they were soon able to gain entry.

Xarion was laying spread over the controls. His head was bleeding from a cut where a piece of the metal framework from overhead had come down on his head. But other than that he just seemed to suffer from bruising. Rea was another matter. She was lying on the floor twisted around the base of the pilot seat. A large piece of metal was pinning her down and was lodged in her leg and her left arm. The arm had been almost severed. There was blood all over the floor, but not as much as one would expect given the severity of the injury. The metal piece was blocking the flow of blood.

Jack rushed over to her and immediately removed his belt to use it as a tourniquet. They couldn't risk moving the metal or Rea would bleed out. Ianto was removing Xarion and carrying him outside. Jack looked at Rea. She was pale and clammy to the touch. He cursed Lartorc, wishing the man wasn't dead, just so he could get the pleasure of killing him. What the hell were they supposed to do now?

Her leg was broken and the metal was cutting into it deeply. They would need to stop the blood flow on that leg, before lifting the metal. He hoped the main artery wasn't damaged. Ianto came back in.

"How is she?" he asked. Jack shook his head.

"Bad." Ianto put his hand on his shoulder and Jack turned to luck up at him. He had tears in his eyes. "I don't know how to save her." Ianto had tears in his eyes now too. "If we move her, she'll die. If we move the metal, she'll die. If…" his voice broke and Ianto hurriedly hugged him. They broke apart moments later. Jack looked at the woman on the ground. Her breathing was growing shallower. They were loosing her.

xxXxx

Outside the wreckage the three invalids were resting. Warwyn was tenderly attending to Orion's injuries, trying to staunch the bleeding with a scrap of its clothing. Orion had finally collapsed in exhaustion and was resting with his head in Warwyn's lap. Xarion was lying close by, stirring slightly. Warwyn looked up at the two men as they exited the wreckage. It knew just by looking at them, that the news was not good. One of them, the one Orion called Tad, noticed it looking at them and came over.

"She didn't make it." he said gently. Warwyn felt a surge of coldness rushing through its veins. Orion would be devastated. Feeling the surge of emotion through their bond, Orion squirmed and whimpered a little, but didn't wake. Warwyn nodded its understanding and the man gave them a weak sad smile, before going back to his lover. The two men hugged and Warwyn could hear one of them sob. It wanted nothing more than to curl it self into the arms of its mate, but he was lying with his head in its lap, preventing it from moving too much. Instead it slumped down over him and placed a tender kiss on his forehead.

xxXxx

Xarion came to about a half hour later to the sound of Orion screaming in pain. He sluggishly turned to the side and saw Jack stitching up some deep gashes on his son's body. Ianto was holding the youth down, while Warwyn was trying to comfort its mate. Oddly enough Warwyn had yellow wings sticking out of its back and they seemed to be broken. Xarion felt something on his head and moved his hand up to touch it. It was a bandage. He must have hit it at some point. He wondered what had happened. One moment he was looking at the controls of the transport and then… nothing. 'Rea! Where's Rea?'

He searched for her through the connection they shared, but she was gone. He frowned, as his head throbbed. 'Why would she close it?' he wondered. Then it dawned on him. She was gone. His mentor was dead. He closed his eyes as the pain overwhelmed him. But he couldn't give in to his grief. The screams from Orion called him back to the present and the tasks at hand. With a heave he crawled over to the others and put a hand on Orion's forehead. With a moment of concentration he sent the boy into a deep healing sleep. Ianto and Warwyn both looked at him gratefully. Both had tears streaming down their faces. But it was Jack who said:

"Thank you." He then proceeded to pour a dollop of disinfectant on Orion's wounds and continued sowing him up with practised moves. Xarion briefly wondered how the man had learnt how to do that. This time the youth stayed unmoving and silent. Ianto sniffled a bit and used his sleeve to wipe the tears of his face. Normally he would have been appalled at such an action, but this was a different situation. He took one glance at the winged youth beside him and snatched it into an embrace. It cried into his shoulder and he just held it, rocking it gently.

Xarion stumbled to his feet, swaying a little as a wave of dizziness hit him. When it passed he surveyed the area and the people remaining. He was frankly amazed he had survived, what looked like some type of powerful explosion. The ground was charred, debris everywhere. He couldn't see Rea's body anywhere, but was certain they hadn't had time to bury her. 'She must still be in there.´ he reasoned. He longed to go in and pay his respects, but the living needed him more right now.

Orion had obviously been badly injured somehow and Warwyn had two broken wings. Ianto also looked rather worse for wear, with bleeding hands and bruises all over. Jack seemed fine though. Filthy, but fine. Xarion remembered being told of the man's immortality and figured that was the cause. It was still a rather disconcerting concept to him, but he couldn't hold it against the man. It wasn't like he could help it, after all.

He sighed and went over to Warwyn and Ianto. When he placed a hand on Warwyn's shoulder, the adolescent turned to look up at him.

"I want to put you into a healing sleep, so we can set your wings." He told it. It looked up at him with big teary eyes. "Do you know where we can find something to brace the bones with?" It nodded and sniffled a little.

"Down in the Ravine. There are some plants up stream you can use." It sent him an image of the plants in question and what it knew of their properties. It had used some when weaving, to make a stronger frame.

"I'll be right back." He said to no one in particular and Jumped. He found the plants quickly enough and soon had what he needed. He Jumped back. He had expected to find them as he had left them, but Warwyn and Ianto were both standing gazing at the horizon.

"There's a storm coming." Warwyn said a tone of dread in its voice. The adults all remembered the very descriptive tale the children had given them of the storm that had knocked them about in the life boat. "We have to get back to the cave." There was a long moment's silence. Then Jack said:

"How? Only you and Xarion can Jump. Orion is not awake and shouldn't be moved and Ianto and I can't Jump or fly. We don't even have a rope long enough to lower us into the Ravine with."

"We could use telekinesis." Warwyn said defiantly, glaring at Jack.

"Do you think you could?" Xarion interrupted before an argument could develop. Warwyn looked thoughtful, and then slumped a little.

"I've never lifted anything as heavy as a person before nor moved anything that far." Jack threw up his arms and was about to scold the child, when Ianto slapped his arm hard. They glared at each other. Xarion ignored them.

"It's a good idea." He said, making Warwyn perk back up from its embarrassed slump. "I can move the three of you and Warwyn can Jump back on its own." It nodded happily at that.

An hour later the people were tending to their wounds in the safety of the cave. Some animals were prowling around the corpse of the insane madman lying at the bottom of the Ravine. Above the storm was howling across the plains like a demented animal.