7

With his phone in hand, Franklin and Gray exit- the bar "I'm gonna' call a cab"

Hart suddenly looms over them, his goons standing half-in/half-out of the shadows behind him. "Were you the one inquiring about Ianto Harkness-Jones?"

"And just who the hell are y…" Gray starts to snarl. In a move identical to the one Ianto pulled earlier in the day, Hart lands a lightening quick strike to Gray's thoracic diaphragm, dropping him to the ground with a muffled grunt.

"I am the one..." Hart calmly reaches out-"...who can liquefy all of your assets on a childish whim..."

And calmly plucks Franklin's phone from his hand, crushing it as if it was little more than an afterthought. "...and donate the proceeds to a charity you'd find morally reprehensible. That being said, though, in this moment, and far more importantly... (growls) ...I am the one asking the goddamn questions."

Franklin swallowing hard, then "He's -uh- my son-in-law. (on his silence) I was just -uh- curious is all."

"you're Jacks father?" Hart asks "Curious."

"Yes, sir."

"Curious people... are a fucking bane to a man like me. So with that then said... are we still curious?" Hart snarls.

"No. No, sir."

"Now..." Hart is suddenly upbeat " ...where can we get some ice cream?"

"What?"

"And I ain't talking that frozen yogurt shit." Hart declares.

"There's a Dairy Queen just down the way."

turning with a nod Hart days "Peanut Buster parfait, it is, then. Good day, gentlemen."

Franklin watches them leave... as Gray finally pulls himself to his feet. "What the fuck was that?"

"That, my boy, was an encouragement to us both... as to us treating Ianto like the family he deserves to be."

"I don't follow."

"And I don't reckon you should try." Franklin motions, sighs "Come on. Let's walk this off. All... of this."

.

.

Stifling a yawn, Beta leans back in her seat to rub her eyes...when one of her screens glows with a simple message which simply reads '1' FILE FOUND.

She growls "...finally..."

Beta leans forward to open the file...which includes an old, uncompressed, digital image of someone who "could be a young Ianto". As she reads her face falls as the blood drains from her flesh, breath caught in her throat.

Panicking, Beta suddenly stands, and slams her laptop shut as Saxon enters, casting her an odd look.

"You find something?"

Beta tucks her laptop beneath her arm "I'm out. Good Luck."

She beats a hasty retreat, eyes mounting with panic

"Well... shit." Saxon makes a call on his cellphone. "Let's just get this the fuck over with, shall we? I want him alive. As for the family? (grins) Surprise me."

,

,

With Blake and Alice doing the dishes that night, Ianto and Jack enjoy their glasses of wine and rare moment of connection.

"That was nice." Ianto admits.

"It was." Jack agrees "Y'know... I can't remember the last time we all ate together."

"Neither can I." Ianto motions "Refill?"

"Please Tiger."

As Ianto opens the door to the fridge, retrieving the bottle of white wine, he casts a glance towards the street. A trio of sedans, their headlights extinguishing in one accord, slow to a stop at the curb.

Ianto replaces the bottle and closes the door, turning "Ok, everyone. To the basement."

"Ianto? What are you- "

Ianto holds up a finger with glare, silencing now. "Just... Now."

Blake is laughing "Jesus, Tad, you…"

Ianto clamps a hand down onto Blake's shoulder, eliciting a hiss of pain as he corrals them. Alice follows down the stairs- "Is this a game? I like games!"

Blake massaging his shoulder. At the top behind them, Jack enters and turns to confront Ianto "What... is going on, Ianto?"

Ianto opens his mouth to reply but decides otherwise. With an apologetic sigh, Ianto reaches over to rip off the light-switch cover to reveal a second button inset beneath it within, pressing it. "Don't call 9-1-1."

Ianto closes the door...and we hear a series of thick, internal latches sealing it shut with a pneumatic hiss.

"Damn it Ianto, we agreed to never bring work home" Jack sighs, and then ushers the kids downstairs.

.

.

Seven men dressed head to toe in black body armor, their faces masked, eyes covered by night vision, heavily-armed with silenced Hecklor & Koch UMP submachine guns- swiftly approach the home.

Ianto pulls free a knife from the block.

One of the gunmen uses a military "lock-aid/lock-release gun" to jimmy open the door. They enter.

Playing out like a horror movie, we watch as the shadows themselves seem to dispatch and devour one gunman after the next... ...as we hear the sound of a knife cutting through flesh accompanied by silenced gunfire...until FOUR remain.

Ianto -moving like the goddamned boogeyman- grabs a pillow, rips the pistol from a gunman's holster, and as he turns- kicks in the man's knee. As he falls back down against the sofa at an odd angle, Ianto fires three rounds into his face at point blank range. Suddenly, Ianto is hit in the back -followed a half-second later in the front- by a TASER, convulsing as he drops to the ground.

Ianto is kicked over onto his stomach as a pair of handcuffs is latched tight around his wrists.

Half-conscious, Ianto is carried to one of the Sedans at the curb. The trunk is opened and he is unceremoniously dumped inside

Removing their masks, GUNMAN #1 drives with GUNMAN #2 in the passenger's seat and GUNMAN #3 in the back.

"Who the fuck is this guy?"

"Did you see what he did to Sergei?"

"Yeah, that was... (softly) ...uncalled for."

Ianto awakens in a daze. Squeezing his eyes shut hard, he shakes his head, centering himself. In one smooth -yet no less brutal- motion, Ianto DISLOCATES both of his thumbs with a moist CRACK to slip free the handcuffs.

Searching, Ianto finds the trunk release cable and pulls it, opening it. But he hesitates, thinking... and then closes it.

Ianto searches, pulling back the false floor to find a Fire Extinguisher. Removing the pin from the fire extinguisher, Ianto holds it in one hand and grasps the seat release handle with the other. Positioning himself just right, Ianto plants his feet against the lower lip of the trunk behind him, tenses, and pulls the release folding Gunman #3 down before him as he pulls the trigger, filling the interior of the vehicle with foam.

A silent beat... and the sedan is launched into the air to land, tumbling end of over end before resting on its roof, sliding to take out a traffic signal, the red light blinking to oddly illuminate the scene. A beat... and Ianto -covered in foam along with blood- emerges.

Reaching inside, he retrieves a pistol -making note of that the two gunmen in front are dead- stands, and walks around to the other side...where Gunman #3 lays half-in/half-out of the back window, blood seeping between cracked lips, his lungs wheezing.

"Sorry I tried to kill you."

Ianto lowers his gun, turns, leans back against the sedan, and slides down to sit beside the dying man. Ah, it's just the game we play. (motions) So, who sent you?"

"I can't just give up my boss, man."

"Either you do that... or I leave you to die alone."

"No, man, please, I...please..."

Ianto nods, staying as the Gunman takes a shallow breath, his eyes at half-mast.

"Saxon"

"I don't know him. So... why me? Why now?"

"Because... one of the men you... uh... took out on the bus was Saxon's brother, Teddy."

"Ah."

"He's Vegemite now."

Ianto is confused "Vegemite?"

"Yeah." The man coughed "Y'know, like the spread. Vegetable-based."

"Oh" a beat, then Ianto admitted "That wasn't my intent."

"Doesn't matter, man. Like my old man used to say... we reap... what we sow."

"Wise man."

"Yeah, and..." staring down at his seeping wound "...I'll be seein' him right soon. (a beat, then) You think... you think there's any... thing, any... place... after this?"

"Y'know, I never really gave it much thought. I hope so. But then again, I'm not so sure I'm owed either place." Ianto replies gently.

"Yeah." Gunman #3 sighs "Yeah, me neither. (a long beat, then) Who the fuck are you, anyways?"

The Gunman's voice begins to slur, the blood loss heavy. "Or maybe better yet... (chuckles with a cough) What... the fuck... are you?"

Ianto hesitates, but then smiles, deciding in this moment to tell the dying man the truth. "It's actually kinda' interesting. I was what they called an auditor for the CIA."

"So... you were a numbers man?"

"No. It's just tongue-in-cheek slang. The spooks thought it sounded far more intimidating than the official government title of independent counter-intelligence recon specialist."

"And what kind of job does that entail, exactly?"

A shadow crosses Ianto's face. As he locks eyes with Gunman #3, we see a glimpse of the wakening demon within Ianto. "The kind where I -and I alone- was placed within a government, Business, institution, or cartel... and told to bring it to its knees... by any and all means possible. But then, I fell in love with my handler. Had a family. Built a career. And now... here we are."

Ianto glances over to find that Gunman #3 has died.

Ianto sighs "...here we are..."

Ianto stays with him for a long moment, seemingly oblivious to the approaching sounds of police sirens. When suddenly, his face falls, eyes widening, remembering what is waiting for him at home.