Chapter 9: It's a Bird!
Even after the incident in the kitchen, Ianto didn't talk with Harry about his powers. It wasn't that he was afraid of his son, it was just that he didn't know how to approach the subject in a positive way. He didn't want to just go up to Harry and say, "I know all about your powers and I will always love you, but there's this group of people whose entire job is to find people like you and use them or kill them."
It wasn't the first part that scared him, he told the little boy that he loved him all the time, it was the "but" that scared him. How do you tell a 4-year-old that he will always have to hide what he was? How do you put that on a child? The only answer was that you didn't.
So, Ianto kept quiet and they went about their lives. Harry went to school on Monday, Ianto went back to looking for work, and when they went to the park next, Ianto kept an extra close eye on that damned rabbit.
Despite their flat returning to normal, Ianto could not stop thinking about Captain Jack Harkness and the potential threat that was Torchwood.
Now, however, was not the time to think on such things. It was Friday afternoon and Harry had gone to spend some time at his friend, Sarah's house. The two had become close in the months since school had begun and Ianto was proud of the progress his son had made with his social life. It was quite the opposite for Ianto himself.
After disappearing for days following the death of Lisa, Ianto had been, understandably, fired from his job as a PA and finding a new one was proving difficult. He felt restless and unsatisfied with everything that he did. Additionally, nothing had the flexible hours that he needed in order to give Harry the attention that he needed.
As Ianto approached the house, he heard children's laughter bursting out. Harry's laugh was so distinct, and it warmed his heart to hear the bright tones. Immediately after knocking on the door, the laughter redoubled and grew louder until the door opened and he was gifted with the sight of his smiling child and a happy blond-haired girl.
"Tad," Harry's words came out more a breath than anything else, still winded from laughing so hard. Launching himself at Ianto's legs and he held tight.
"Sarah, how many times have I told you not to answer the door?" a deep masculine voice came from inside. Ianto looked up from his son to see John Clark, Sarah's father, walking towards them. "How are you Ianto?"
"I'm doing well. Thank you for letting Harry spend the afternoon, he's really been looking forward this." He and John had met a couple times at the school and Ianto liked both he and Sarah's mother, Elise, well enough.
The small group stood in the doorway for a while longer, making small talk, before Harry let slip a wide yawn.
"I think I best get this one home before he falls asleep." With one final thanks, Ianto lifted Harry into his arms and took him back to the car.
It was a quiet night as they drove back to the flat, they only past a few other cars on the road. Ianto took a moment and glanced back to see the black-haired child asleep in the seat. When his eyes returned to the road, he slammed on the breaks, bringing the car to a screeching halt. In his car seat, Harry began to whimper, having been startled awake by the sudden stop in motion. Despite the crying, Ianto could not take his eyes off the creature in the middle of the road. It was unbelievable, sitting there staring back at him was a pterodactyl.
The bird like creature stood in the middle of the road. Scared by the unexpected appearance of Ianto's car, it had furled out its thin long leathery wings, making it appear as big as possible. The world stood still, Ianto and the creature staring at each other, the only sound coming from Harry sniffling in the back seat.
"Tad," Harry whispered, "Is that a dinosaur?" Ianto looked back and thankfully saw a small smile dancing on the child's lips. There was a moment of relief that Harry was not frightened, before the creature, that was most definitely a dinosaur, admitted a screech unlike anything that the ex-Torchwood agent had heard in his life. But rather than being frightened, a smile burst onto Harry's face and his eyes lit up.
Ianto turned back to see the pterodactyl had begun to take flight and violently lifted itself into the air. It was incredible to see. This long dead, dangerous animal rising into the air and disappearing into the cloudy night sky.
"Bye bird," Harry called after it. Ianto couldn't help it, he just began laughing. This encounter could have gone so wrong, the dinosaur could have attacked them, and he would likely be dealing with a dead pterodactyl and a traumatized child. Instead, they were safely in their car and Harry was as happy as could be.
There was only one thing they could do now.
"Should we go find it, Harry?" Ianto inquired, smiling. Harry laughed and smiled and nodded his head as quickly as he could. With a quick trip to the trunk, Ianto had a rift detector in hand and locked on to what he hoped was residue left of the pterodactyl, because where else could it have come from. Off they went, driving carefully but quickly until they reached a warehouse district.
They came to a halt in front of one particularly large warehouse and the ex-Torchwood agent was certain that the creature has hiding itself in there. Rain had begun to come down as they drove, and it was only getting harder. Ianto regretted not changing out of the suit he had put on for the job interview he had had earlier in the day, as it offered no protection from the weather.
"Stay here Harry, I'll be back very soon." He tried to reassure his son. When he received a tentative nod in response, he took off running toward the building.
Ianto tried the first door he came to only to find it locked. Not letting this discourage him, he moves further along the building. Before he rounded the corner, he sent one last look towards the car. It may have been his imagination, but he thought he could see Harry's little nose pressed up against the glass. With that final image, he moved on. The sooner he found this thing, the sooner he could get back. Immediately after coming around the corner, he spotted a large loading door standing open. Running towards it, he tried to keep quiet, now glad for the rain which was muffling his footsteps and washing his sent away.
As he approached the opening he began to feel his heart hammering in his chest, it was beating so hard he was certain it would burst from his chest.
Something like that had happened before, back in London with Torchwood One. There was an alien parasite that got into people's blood stream and eventually the pressure would get to a point where their hearts literally exploded in their chest. It had been a messy business and difficult to coverup, but Ianto was good at his job and the dramatic events never reached the news.
Coverups were one thing, field work was never something Ianto was particularly good at. This was evident by his clammy and shaky hands. He took a deep breath, smelling the air, now cleaned by the rain. Despite this, he could still smell the bay. Closing his eyes, he could see it; the vast water with the lights of the city reflecting off it. The image soothed him nerves. This was something he could do, this was something he had done before. When he opened his eyes again, he was calmer, more focused.
He finally stepped into the building; soaked to the bone. The large room was mostly emptied and lit by only a few lights hanging from the ceiling, casting a soft glow over everything. A screech came from overhead. It was high pitched and grating. The sound made Ianto stop mid-step.
His head whipped around, desperately searching for the flying beast. Finally, he saw it dip down from the shadows and land on the far side of the warehouse. Ianto allowed himself to relax a little but didn't let his guard down. This was his time to act. Act with no traps, no sedative, and no gun. Still, he couldn't let it escape.
The answer was clear but choosing to follow through with it was difficult. He must close the loading door; the old, slow, loud loading door. So much for staying calm; Ianto began to hyperventilate. If he was able to start the door closing, the dinosaur would hear it and fly out. If he distracted the beast then it would eat him, if it didn't eat him, he would be trapped in here with it and Harry would he trapped in the car. Why he used to work in a place where this was the daily, he did not know.
But now was not the time for regret or second guessing. He desperately searched his pockets and came up with a singular chocolate bar. Compared to the giant pterodactyl the bar was just a crumb of chocolate. He needed something else. He needed more. He needed – but it was too late. It had seen him.
Without thinking he took two quick stops to the left and hit the button. The door began to rattle closed. The sound was only over powered by the unearthly screech of the flying beast. It took off from the ground and, seeing Ianto's small figure, began to charge.
In one last ditch effort, Ianto yelled, "Hey! Fetch!", and he threw the chocolate as far as he could from himself and the dinosaur. Miraculously, the creature veered away from him going after the flying object that smelled like food. Wasting no time, Ianto ducked under the closing door.
As he burst back out into the rain, he tripped and fell onto his backside. The water slowly began to soak into his cloths bit he didn't get up. He sat and stared as the door closed agonizingly slow. Though it was likely only seconds more, it felt as though hours had passed before the door gave one last shutter and there was resounding thud as it closed against the pavement.
What followed was a blissful silence until the sound of rain came back to Ianto's attention. He was wet and cold and sitting on the ground. So, he carefully pushed himself to his feet and made his way back to the safe warm car.
He sat there in his car just staring at the warehouse where he had trapped the dinosaur. Wasn't that a surreal? There he was, an unemployed single father and he had just gone off and chased down a dinosaur.
Harry was now peacefully asleep in the backseat. He had been so excited, he wanted to go in and see the reptilian bird. Ianto had only just been able to console him by saying that Harry would be able to see the creature later. To Ianto that meant never, to Harry that likely meant as soon as the rain stopped.
As Ianto had stared out into the downpour of water wandering what had come over him, Harry had chattered all about what he was going to do with his new pet. Of course his son wouldn't be satisfied with a dog or cat or fish. No, he wanted a pterodactyl. In fact, he had already named it Myfanwy. Which was, apparently, the name of the class rabbit and Harry liked the name very much.
This had gone on for a while, Harry talking and Ianto siting in near shock. Finally, Ianto shook himself and turned around, only to find the child asleep.
That's where they were now, sitting in the car as the rain poured down around them. This was getting ridiculous. What was he going to do with a dinosaur? He lived in a two bedroom flat for God's sake! With this thought he turned on the car, ready to turn on the headlights and drive away, never to come back to this place again. Who can say what would have happened if Ianto had left right then, he would have likely moved away from Cardiff, away from the rift. Either closer to his sister or closer to London where he would likely find better work. But, thankfully for everyone involved, that never happened.
As he turned the key and started the car, lights appeared ahead of him. They grew brighter as the car they were attached to drew closer. Ianto waited, holding his breath, hoping that it wasn't some innocent bystander he would need to stop from going into the warehouse. The car ahead came into sight and as it turned right Ianto let out a sigh of relief.
Written in large font on the side of the SUV, declaring the owner of the vehicle, was one word. TORCHWOOD.