Hello, me here, just to let you know, that there is a few 'large-ish' paragraphs, well their in most of my chapters I guess! But the main thing is that they are all important in this chapter if you want to understand it, sure, you can skim-read them and just about understand but I don't recommend it! Love youuuuu 3

S T O R M E Y E

The First Sacrifice

Toshiko Sato walked through the secret entrance, first metal door, the cog door and then the gate, the alarm sounded that someone had arrived. Tosh walked in and took off her coat draping it over her arm as she walked to her desk and put it over the back of her chair, she immediately opened all of her monitors and logged in, The top monitor went to CCTV of the tourist office, the two middle ones went to the most recent crime scenes in the police files incase anything spiked her interest, one on the bottom was monitoring rift spikes, one was on the Stormeye e-mail box and the last was just on the Stormeye screensaver waiting to be used.

"Tosh, ouer beansh?" *Tosh, your early?* Said Larka bounding in looking unusually happy.

"What's the occasion?" Asked Tosh.

"In a few days war breaks out, what I've learnt from my Doctor is that you have a choice, you don't have to kill, the war will start, and riders and Lycans will ride, ride out to victory, death, it can't be avoided this time. I get to go home, to see Kuski, he promised to fight along side me, in the same wave." Tosh nodded to herself, Larka confused her, but really she didn't mean to.

"Hey, Larks fetch Ianto will you?" Jack's voice boomed through the Hub.

"Gottcha!" Said Larka clicking her fingers and pointing at Jack, who was standing on the balcony outside his office. When a loud shout - which was muffled by being blocked off by several doors - occurred, Ianto's, Jack burst out laughing. Tosh was hardly aware of the man and laughing woman walking into the Hub and all walking upstairs to Jack's office.

It was her mothers birthday, her dead long gone mothers birthday, she cringed at the memory of her parents, every year she returns home with a smug smile on her face, it fell from the rift ages ago, the gemstone, she took it home as Jack called it harmless, and Ianto said that the Archives were full on that category anyway.

Larka was pumped about the war. To see Kuski and Nadra, and their riders, Kuriske and Sinia. She was on her computer at her station finishing her e-mail and reading the latest news headlines. Her mind flicked to her mate, Kuski, then her smile grew, she remembered Khyber, Khyber is Kuski's brother, twin white. Last time she was on Lescu Khyber didn't have a rider, she hoped he did now.

Jack was coming with her, then he would return but she would stay. She thought of Ianto. She would train there, fight in the royal pack, it was her pass time. Then maybe pups, but the pups would be part Human, wouldn't they? That would be bad, she was the only Lycan that could transform into a Human form because of her strange genetics.

An experiment, She had been called an experiment by him and she wanted to be normal. At first the Lycans had been hesitant about trusting her when she was in Human form, but now they trusted her, wether she was in wolf or Human form.

Jack walked down stairs, Ianto was tailing slowly behind him, a solemn look plastered his face. Larka couldn't look at Ianto, he had been sticking around her and Jack a lot but, hadn't said a word about them leaving. Larka couldn't pull herself to tell Ianto they were leaving tomorrow! She realized Jack hadn't told him either.

"Why did you come here?" Asked Jack to Larka suddenly.

"Why didn't you just open a pub if you needed currency?" (A/N Thank you for that line Cordelia, there I put it in, be happy now!)

Jack huffed and walked off, unable to answer the question. The tension between him and Larka has been intense recently.

Tosh scanned the screen with her well trained eyes, her professional facial expression was stuck to her face and she sighed deeply, as the quiet Rift made no attempt to do anything. She got up to go home followed by Owen, Gwen and Ianto.

It was time. Thought Larka. Jack stepped out onto the balcony, looking at Larka, he knew it was time as well.

It was late night on the same day. Larka and Jack stood in the center of the Hub, the humble sound of Myfanawy's cries had stopped hours ago as she went to roost for the night. Jack turned to Larka.

"Is he?"

"No, he's not coming, I doubt he even knows." She said shaking her head. Jack had to go with her; he wasn't going to substitute for him.

"You ready?" She asks now. "I have transfered the particle energy to transport us." She looked at Jack, his face was sad and down, Larka knew he would smile for the camera, but inside his pain still fosters.

"Loot gick." *Lets go.* Jack turned to face her now as if just by saying that she just committed the worst crime.

"What?"

"You talk Lescuian."

"Fing fust let luesed juts jit." *I must get used to it.*

Larka turned to look at him.

"Oue juts?" *You to?* She asked.

"Gan..." *Fine...* Larka smiled, Jack still seemed to grow distant. Suddenly her ears pricked and her top lip curled back over her teeth a soft growl echoed through her chest with ease. Her eyes perked up as the familiar scent of coffee filled her nose, Ianto walked through the cog door, sounding the light and alarm which soon subsided, and then through the gate, her face softened, her lip rolled back down and Jack's questioning eyes left her face and flew to Ianto's.

"Ianto, oue far night, lietic?" *Ianto, you are here, why?* Asked an uncertain Larka as she looked at Jack's face, his eyes were looking at the ground, his long eyelashes resting on his cheek bones.

"Im just going to finish with some...um...Medical supplies?" Said Larka awkwardly improvising, walking to the med bay.

Jack finally turned to look at Ianto.

"Il be back, for you I promise." Ianto smiled weakly at this.

"Will you get hurt?" Jack looked down feeling very much cornered before looking back up into the Welshman's grey eyes.

"Yes." Ianto jaw clenched, Larka heard it from a few feet away.

"Will you be gone long?" Jack sighed, he couldn't lie, not now.

"A few months maybe, I don't know how long the war will last, how different the time zones are!" Ianto considered this a moment and nodded. Jack began to think he should just leave now and stop hurting this man, but Ianto pulling him into a searing kiss, while a few meters away a ginger haired girl smiled mutely to herself.

Larka cried a moment. She walked up behind Jack, unnoticed by each of the men, taking one last look at Ianto's face, she reached out, whispered "Im sorry." And touched Jack's shoulder. Ianto fell to his knees as he had been leaning against Jack, his startled face cringed and turned to tears as Larka's final words played again and again in his head.

'Im sorry. Im sorry. Im sorry.'

Ianto knew then that she was forgiven.

Ianto took shaky breaths, Jack was there, then gone, disappeared, with his best friend. His soulmate. He went into Jack's office, he saw quite a few things missing, including a picture of Khaz, he remembered very clearly what happened, it was all his fault that he was killed, he remembered the red hand reaching into Khaz's throat, pulling apart the skin, long red strings- still twitching- followed. Ianto closed his eyes, Khaz jumped out to save me, his eyes fluttered open when Toshiko Sato's voice came from behind him.

"Ianto?" He turned, tears ran down his cheeks, dripping onto his well-ironed purple shirt collar, Jack didn't see him last in his best suit, but that wasn't exactly on his mind right now. He ran, shoving Tosh to the side, he ran down the stairs, three at a time, he grabbed his coat and was out the door. Now, in the tourist office and threw his hands on the desk, screeching through his clenched teeth, deep breaths, looking around, car keys, better dead-lock the cog door as well, Tosh will come after him any minute and it won't take her that long to break the security dead-lock. He did so and ran through the door, Cardiff, Mermaid Quay was cold, breezy, might rain later. The thick clouds trickled water now, like a fiddle would trickle notes, Ianto picked up his brisk pace, he had a guitar and his very own fiddle at home waiting for him, or maybe...Yes his car. He never spoke of his musical talents, no one ever asked so why should they know? No one thought of him as anything else than tea-boy...At least coffee-boy was less demeaning. No one ever thought of him having a life outside Stormeye, except Larka maybe, did Jack understand? No, he wouldn't, he never does...

He ran through the rain and into the waiting car, parked in a reserved space for him. He drove, he drove way past his apartment, further and further, he looked behind him, he saw the long black leather guitar case in the back seat with an identical but smaller one containing his fiddle. He didn't even smile when he saw them, just one look to make sure they were there. Ianto, pushing further down on the acceleration and was now driving in the Welsh country out of Cardiff.

Ianto drove into the small village where he grew up, and into the local park, it was raining still and it was practically deserted apart from the odd person running to their cars.

The old willow tree still stood, and Ianto placed the guitar case at the foot of the trunk and took his fiddle up with him, also leaving the case by the foot of the trunk. The willow's branches swooped over, sheltering the Welshman from the down pour, after he tuned his fiddle and felt around the neck for the strings, he played for a while, singing too, one of his own songs. But didn't get through the entire song due to a soaking wet, drenched Toshiko Sato approaching him.