25

Silence.

Then an odd scraping noise, cut short as John drove the katana into the head of a Reaver that had been cut in half by Ianto's large Arabian blade, but still animated.

Ianto looked around at the carnage, at those several berths back pulling the bodies of the Reavers towards the shield markers with open disgust. He turned to find John there, their faces so close that he could feel John's breath on his cheek.

"You green?"

"I am super green Johnty" Ianto said, grinning as he flicked a blade down, sending a stream of blood into the rating "Ewww. Clean up Bay three?"

John started to snigger.

"IANTO!"

Ianto looked up to see Jack running towards him, the old antique Webley still in his hand as he pushed though people. Of course. That relic would not harm the hull integrity. Jack had been clever to bring a gun to a knife fight.

Then Ianto was laughing, letting Jack engulf him as they stood there clinging to one another. "You bastard, you bloody… I thought we had…. Oh Goram. Ianto. That was magnificent."

"Are the kids OK?" Ianto asked as he pulled back.

"Yeah, the vessel they are on is hailing to come in but… Goram, what a mess."

"Right. I suggest those with a strong constitution help shuffle these vessels about, the Reaver ones taken to the outer edge of the bay. Everyone else brought in and locked down. Once we have that done… we open the airlock and blast everything out… Reaver vessels and bodies… as close to the nearest sun as we can so the gravitational pull can eat the remains for us." Ianto said confidently.

"Sounds like a good plan" a voice said and Ianto swung to find the admiral behind him. "Ah. Ianto Tam Jones. May I?"

The old man held out a hand and to anyone else it might seem like he wanted to shake Ianto's hand but he knew better, letting the larger nasty blade slide from his own grip into the hand of the old man who grunted at the weight of it.

"My Goram… this was one of hers. I remember… like an avenging angel" the man whispered, holding up the blade to see nicks in it, a bullet hole right though the thin part near the hilt and the blood of their enemies dripping.

"I only remember her goodness." Ianto said softly back "But my mother was… complex."

"Sez her son" Owen joined them, his eyes wide and shocky as he jiggled on the balls of his feet "what's the go for clean up?"

"Everyone to park on the left-hand side of the bay, lock the landing gear to the couplings. We place the Reaver bodies and ships on the right-hand side, as close to the shield at the entrance as we can… then we all get on our ships, open the slides through adjusting atmo so the entire mess is blasted out into space. Then we close the shields, reset atmo and exit the ship for a good hosing down of the area." Ianto replied "Or … if the Captain of the ship allows… the fire sprinkler system could do a good job of cleaning up what's left if we spray some disinfectant about."

"You know… you always do look at things from a unique angle" the old man said, respectfully offering back the blade to its rightful owner "and I remember something else about your mother that clearly is passed on."

"Oh?" Ianto raised an eyebrow.

"You are very… likable."

Ianto laughed giving in as Jack reached for him, a public display as they kissed making those near them whoop and holler.

It took over an hour to accomplish, but as they stood on the flight deck of Myfanwy with the sprinkler system dousing the entire bay, John turned to Ianto "I would fly with you any day Captain."

"Thank you, Captain," Ianto nodded in a slight bow.

"Right, now here they come."

One by one, now the Reaver vessels were gone, the civilians vessels waiting outside now could enter and berth. Ianto knew which one held the kids and held back, watching Jack run from the Torchwood to the exit ramp so he could engulf the kids in his arms, telling them how proud he was of them, how well they did and hiding his son's weeping from the others in the flaps of his coat.

Then, Ianto disembarked and walked slowly towards them, expecting a polite hello. Alice launching herself at him was a surprise but one he accepted with delight.

"Hey there princess" he laughed holding her close and feeling the small shaking as she held him tightly, her face burying in his neck.

"We saw" Stephn puled back, no longer afraid as his eye grew large "they had it on the large screen. We saw you killing them with those big knife things. It was awesome!"

"What? Oh no… they let you see the battle?" Jack was aghast, as was Ianto.

"It was AWESOME!" the boy cheered "MY Taddy kicked Reaver arse!"

Everyone laughed so much that Ianto did not have the heart to scold, not when Jack was the proudest of all.