9

"Ianto, sorry about last night. I seem to have had entirely the wrong end of the stick… well... the wrong stick too apparently" Gwen said as she stood at the kitchen doorway the next morning.

"I know, let's just chalk it up to the stress at the moment. Jack says they might let a few planes fly today to see if they can get around the anomaly" Ianto said, handing her a large platter of bacon.

She nodded turning to take it to the table where others were settling in for the morning humming. God, the man can cook.

"Rhys" Ianto said as he sat "Would you like to cook tonight?"

"Yeah? Lasagne?"

"God, yes. Sounds great" Ianto nodded.

"He is allowed to use the kitchen?" someone said… guess who?

"Well... HE didn't break it" Ianto replied calmly, reaching for a slice of toast.

"What are we all up to today?" Owen asked like this was normal talk.

"I am going over to the mayor's office to listen in on the radio to the maiden flights of the drones around the anomaly" Jack said.

"I am going to tackle the back garden over by the treeline" Ianto added.

"I am going back to the church to see if everyone is OK and offer my services" Owen said, nodding to Toshiko "And Toshi here wanted to take some supplies for the kids."

"Oh, can I come?" Gwen asked.

"I am going to get stuck into that cart in the shed if that's OK." Rhys said.

"Cart?"

"A golf cart. Must have been for puttering around the town. I think if I charge the battery it might still go, just needs some TLC" Rhys said.

"Well… go for it." Ianto nodded going back to his coffee. "Better than upsetting Randy in the boatshed. That little fella is so territorial he might bite your nuts off."

Everyone laughed as they got their day sorted.

So they thought.

.

.

Ianto was kneeling in the dirt, enjoying the solitude in a life that had been full of bullshit and bluster. Funny really. Inheriting his Grandy's firm had meant a lot of stress, busy work and long days finished with taking showers and boring food Lisa preferred for her figure.

Here he was, in the dirt. It felt kinda… what the fuck. The sky had been crackly all morning. Now a faint sort of boom popped his ears. They were getting used to these bouts of weirdness now. Ianto loked up as the sound of something roaring overhead made him rise. Was it a plane? God… no. Why was one flying near here? Jack didn't say… fuck.

The plane was dipping… well… not dipping… it was… fuck.. crashing.

Ianto was on his feet running as the sound of the impact echoed around the lake, followed by the impact's shudder through the ground, the pulse making him stumble and windmill his arms, then swing around a tree and keep running.

He entered a clearing that had probably not been there before, earth end foliage all clear-felled like a huge blade had… is that a plane? Ianto walked towards the crash with his heart pounding as he took in the strange aircraft that had crashed. Maybe it's a weather one, one of those unmanned drone things?

"Ianto?"

Ianto turned tp find the Mayor and Sheriff along with some other townsfolk who had clearly followed his path. Across the new clearing others appeared, everyone pale and shocked.

"Holy shit… they finally got one" Remmy said so softly only Ianto caught it. The old man loked at the sky "Maybe they will stop now."

"Deputy Malcom, go get Jack off the lake. He's a pilot so… he is our best aviation expert right now" Ianto yelled out as he took in the need to some control "Sheriff, let's clear and secure the scene. John… hey."

Hart had appeared, panting as he folded over and clutched at his knees and Ianto breathed a sigh of relief "John. Come on, is this manned or unmanned? Is it a drone?"

John straight up and loked at Ianto like he was nuts, then at the plane and frowned as he finally loked at what Ianto was motioning towards. He then shared a look with Ianto that told him the man had no fucking idea what it was either.

"OK, everyone… search the ground for any debris. When the Air Traffic Investigation guys manage to get here, it will be probably days if not weeks and the incoming rain will wash everything away. Anna, camera? Come on photos for Africa woman!" Ianto took over, then confidently said "Me and John here will take a gander while we wait on Jack."

Then with a show of confidence, the two men approached the vessel.

"Could it be a drone? Checking the anomaly?" Ianto softly asked John when they were far enough away to speak freely "The sound it made was not … right. I have spent my entire life around planes, my Grandy owned a few and we flew as much as drove for vacations around Wales. Did you hear the squeal of it? The engines sounded weird."

"Yeah, why I started to run before it hit. I had a feeling it was not going to dip and rise again. It is shaped… well. I know stealth planes are shaped like this, only larger for a couple of pilots to be on board, it currently makes sense that this could be a drone. Maybe preprogrammed to go up, check the anomaly and then report back to it's handler?" John crouched "The door's open."

"Blew in the crash?" Jack's voice joined them, amazingly not out of breath or frazzled, just all grinning and sexy. Prick.

"No sign of a pilot, it MUST be a drone" John said back, "The little seat in there would not fit a full grown person, it would be fine for a tech squeezing in to fiddle with the computer setup, preflight. That's about it. Shit. We need to radio it in."

"Radio silence until they are done, they are jamming things they said" Jack replied "And they must know they lost one by now. Let's just… make sure it's not going to wind up with kids in it playing like it's a bloody cubby house."

Ianto wandered back home slowly, wondering what it cost for one of those things only to have it nosedive like that. Jamming…. Who was jamming? And what? Was this why the cell phones don't work? Who was trying to stop any communications out of the town?

Man, he was tired after that burst of energy, he's out of shape for sure.

Maybe he needed to start walking around the lake each day, might need a dog.

Do they have spare dogs here?

Will he be here long enough for a dog? Well… was he ever intending to leave?

Ah.

There is the big question.

Did he want to leave?

He DID want a dog. Randy Racoon was not the sort of animal you want take for a walk ya know.

With a giggle forming at the image of a raccoon on a leash trying to attack people as he struggled to hold him back, Ianto headed back to his gardening.

A dog might be nice.