42

Owen was waiting for them when they emerged from the Vault the next morning, his face showing his impatience. "well? Whatcha doooo…."

Anything else he was going to say died on the breeze as Ianto pulled out the large wall tablet, letting it fall backwards to slam into the ground. Then, as he gaped, Ianto picked up a crowbar and began wailing on the thing. Clearly whatever it was doing, it was gonna stop now!

Ianto seemed almost frantic as Jack took deep breaths.

"Holdfast, you are with child, in fact you are very with child. Give me that, I will fix it" Jack said as he took the crowbar and stepped onto the thing, now swinging with a calculated force, the sound of it finally cracking like a gunshot, Ianto instinctively crouching, then starting to laugh as the entire thing began to break apart like Jack had started a domino effect.

The relief between the two men was clear.

"So… you didn't like it? Did it glow in the dark while you were having your sexy time?" Owen asked with confusion.

"Yes Owen, it played creepy horror movie style music and put us completely off our rhythm" Ianto replied as he took a moment to look at Owen long and hard. He has aged, of course he has. 20 years is a long time but despite the cane, the limp and the flecks of grey, Owen's eyes were as crafty and intelligent as ever. Something was up.

"You know what? I remembered something last night while we were cloistered away talking about our next move" Ianto said to Owen, smiling as he moved closer "And we can take the Valiant."

"A Recon?"

"Mmmmmmm, one that we can take the big uni-mog in the Valiant and then go across country"

Owen's eyes widened "The tape deck still works, my Iron Maiden Tapes are still working ya know"

"So… some travel music. Maybe a boy's trip, just a few of us and an overnight stay to pack the Valiant?" Ianto nodded like it was a big deal and Owen was making the decisions.

Owen was running with it as he swung to address Frankie "and you can help with the drones, you are good with drones, right son?"

The Weevil grunted as he scratched his leg and stared at Owen, and then he said in his guttural growl "I get to drive a Go Cart."

Owen opened his mouth to argue and they wandered doff trying to decide what to take.

"Look at that, he doesn't even know where we are going" Jack laughed, turning to kiss Ianto gently "This… Ianto. Are we done?"

"Cariad, we are just beginning"

.

.

"I know where this is" Toshiko cut into the conversation as the men stood looking at the maps. Hope stood nearby with mild confusion. Then Toshiko added "it's in the Bay right? Oh my god… this is in Cardiff. We… we're going home?"

"This is home Blossom" Jack assured her, "But there was something we left behind and we sort of… forgot."

She stared at him long and hard, and then said softly "Ianto… you…. You forgot."

"Well… maybe we placed it aside and now… it's time to do it." Jack watched her face and he knew that she knew. Not quite what had happened but… that something had. He knew she needed something she could accept. She had been touched during it despite their best efforts.

"We closed a paradox we didn't know we had created, why I was weird after the Barrens" Ianto said as he walked past, a book in his hand that he had retrieved from the vault.

"Oh" she said with surprise "Why didn't you say so."

"Strange, she remembers when we were so careful to keep her timeline intact, same as Fuckface's… I mean Owen's" Ianto frowned "Maybe I forgot something?"

"Says the one who is immune to Retcon and remembered this entire fucking time where the stash was but didn't say anything!" Jack scoffed back.

"Paradox" Ianto said slowly "I had to wait until now. At least now I understand why you made the baby joke. Also… why our daughter is called Hope."

Hope turned to look at them, her mind whirring as the bond gave her nothing. Last night Daddy had been shielding, both of them. Like something was wrong and they had been afraid it was something wrong with the pup but now… she knew it was Taddy. Something happened to Taddy.

She glanced over at the remains of the stone wall and also knew it was her fault.

Again.

"Hope, come over here and let me tell you a story" Ianto requested as he settled on one of the many seats around the place and she sat next to him, letting her hands rub over the unfamiliar stuff called... plastic.

"When all this kicked off me and Daddy were not… bonded. We were still trying to connect and making a hash of it. We had an agreement, one that has ensured the bond and this life. You know what the agreement was?" Ianto asked.

"Don't go to bed angry?"

"Oh... no. That one is bullshit, no. I still go to bed and lay there imagining ways to kill him.. no. That is something he says to try and sound clever" Ianto snorted, then added "No… we agreed that we had to have hope to make it. Hope. Why we named you that. You were our Hope, our future. Do you get it?"

She looked at him with surprise as he reached out and place his hand over hers "Hope, you… even now with the boundary pushing… you were our first true connection and you will always be the one we expect the most from. The eldest. Daddy and I are Alphas… Hope… so are you."

Finally she understood why she felt so… trapped. Pushed, contained.

She was not supposed to be at loggerheads with her parentals, this was not a matter of proving herself. It was matter of living up to their expectations.

And she intended to do just that.

If she was allowed the Flight Card back.