33
Alice wanted to go to the bookstore for something and Caden made it clear he wanted to spend the day with his Daddy, the little desk Jack had introduced to his office a total hit, especially as Henry liked pretending to be a minion sitting there nodding diligently while pretending to take notes as Caden talked nonsense. Occasionally Jack had to end a call so he could laugh as Caden's wee voice boomed over his call, so sweet.
Ianto saw that it was a beautiful day and without the danger of having Caden in the vehicle he gave into her pleas for the Hover instead of the large and imposing Transporter. With the topless vessel skimming along the road Alice yelled with glee, her arms out and the wind in her hair as she showed her Daddy's love of speed. In a rare show of abandon Ianto throttled out and let the engine roar as they moved along the secure roads in the fast lane.
They got to the store and she was soon lost in a corner with a display of some unicorn … dragon… er… thing. Ianto settled in another corner to go over some classics, even finding a few Caden and his bugs might like.
They were at the counter paying when Ianto felt a niggle, something alerting him so he swung to see a hover careening towards the front of the store at top speed in a slow zone. Now some might think it would screech to a sudden stop so the woman behind the controls would laugh as her companion's fear but Ianto had his superior training and intellect that screamed in the back of his mind to move.
Ianto scooped up his daughter and swung her over the counter, following as he grabbing the small child that had been waiting behind him to be served while it's parental waited on the other side of the store.
The hover slammed through the glass frontage with a horrifying crunch and hit the counter hard enough for it to move the counter several inches. Ianto rose, the weapon in his ankle holster already in his hand and he fired before the glass had finished hitting the ground. The woman behind the controls didn't make a sound as her head whipped back but the man was returning fire as he slid from the side of the vehicle and tried to flee.
Unfortunately for him Ianto was not actually alone. Not really. The bug had been sitting in the back of the hover and then had slid into the shop, now she was attacking with extreme malice and the shrieks of the man were horrific to hear as Mavis tore one of his arms off, throwing it back into the stacks, then reached for him once more.
"NO! MAVIS!" Ianto barked, "I need him alive!"
She turned to face him, then clicked as she turned back, neatly severing the hand of the other limb.
Still alive.
Right?
"MAVIS!" Ianto yelled again, sliding over the counter and debris to reach her as she left the useless man to reach for her boy. Ianto fell into her arms and let her hold him for a moment, before pulling back, "Get her out of here. I don't want her to see, please my love."
Mavis did not want to leave him, not when he had larva in him but the little buggette was crying and she could not stand that either so she scuttled over the counter and took Alice out to the forecourt where a clump of bugs had clustered to watch the action. They immediately moved towards a fellow bug and surrounded the child she was telling them was her baban.
Ianto stood over the man with a calm anger, that cold kind that makes your stomach feel light.
"Who sent you?"
The man spat a mouthful of blood onto Ianto's shoe, then leered silently.
The loud drone of a Transporter filled the air, some covering their ears as it descended and Ianto glanced over to see his daughter still crying as she pushed the pin on her top again and again, calling her Grandfather to her.
The Brig was running, his face pale as he reached the child and scooped her up, looking for his boy and moving towards him.
"No! I don't want her to…" Ianto turned and folded over as he vomited, the smell of the blood too much with his hormones and Mavis was steaming back into the store with the other bugs to comfort.
The Brig had the whimpering, bleeding mess dragged back to his Transporter and as much as Ianto wanted to go as well he knew his stomach would revolt again. Besides, his daughter needed him right now.
Ianto watched Mavis doing something at the hover and as she turned to return to him he knew she had contacted Jack.
As they headed home with more bugs on board than a tick covered dog Ianto saw the Transporter taking off from their keep with a roar of its engines, then shoot over them heading for the Jones Militarial Base.
Ianto knew Jack would tell him what he and the Brig would discover.
Right now his daughter needed comfort.
And his shoulder was on fire.