5
Ianto didn't know why he didn't tell Daryl about the radio. Or Torchwood. It was like he felt afraid to. I mean, could he trust him? Just because he was another survivor, it did not instantly make him a friend, right? You can't rush into things.
It was three days later when he found them standing in the middle of a store facing off at another group of survivors, where he did NOT want to be.
"So are you sure you are clean?" the leader of the others asked.
"What does it matter?" Ianto replied calmly "If you do not want to let us join your group, even if we did not even ask about that possibly, then what does it matter to you?"
"We all need to calm down. Come on now… we have a baby here" Daryl said as he motioned at Ianto who tried not to snarl at him for that.
"A baby" one of the women pushed into the middle of the area "You have a child?"
"Emma" Daryl nodded enthusiastically "A little one, not quite walking yet!"
"Daryl!" Ianto hissed.
"A child. This changes things" the woman swung to her group "We have to let them in."
"Maybe we don't want in!" Ianto said firmly.
"Let's all take a moment" Daryl asked "Let's just calm down."
"We can't go anywhere now anyhow, the Nasties are out there" someone said and Ianto find himself locked in the store with the group of almost twenty people. "The side alleyway to the sewers is blocked for at least another three hours. Let's all get to know one another and pilfer a bit."
As he sat watching them interact he saw Daryl coming alive with delight, saw the way two of the women kept taking Emma to look at and fuss over, and most of all he felt the way they were all watching him.
He felt out of place.
He knew this would not work but also saw that he was losing his new friend. Not that he WAS a friend and obviously his tactic of pulling back from a fully fledged friendship was a good idea. Then he wondered that if he had been friendlier, would Daryl go with him when the time was…. Ianto became aware of the loss of his child again and went searching for her. He had been in the Baby Gap so he was carrying some stuff for her.
He found the two women in a back room with his child stripped naked as they examined her and to his horror one of them pinched her to try and garner a noise. Emma cried out silently, her hands slapping as she tried to fight them off and Ianto saw red, shoving the women back hard as he scooped up his child and revealed the knife he had hidden in his boot the entire time. He then erupted from the back room and ran for his stuff, his knife waving around as he tried to console the little one and the place became a mess of sound and bluster.
"Hang on, come on let's all calm down" Daryl begged as he tried to get Ianto to stay.
"Why was she pinching her like that? Tell me Daryl? To see if she was faking? Or were they testing her body index? She is such a chubby little thing, she is right. Do they want to stick an apple in her gob and cook her in a camp stove?" Ianto hissed at him while he shoved things in his backpack with one hand and clung to his child with his other hand.
"I think this is all a misunderstanding, come on" Daryl begged.
Ianto sighed and straightened up, turning to face him "You stay. It's OK. Maybe I am too sensitive, maybe I am wrong. This is just me and I have seen things, know things you never will. I am glad you have found a place and people to be with. I don't mind. I am leaving" Ianto hefted the backpack and then the child who was now too big for the backpack, was in a front pack he had acquired. Then he zipped the oversized jacket up over her. Like a bulletproof vest. "I don't do people so well."
"Ianto, please. She's so small and this is the busiest time of day out there" Daryl begged, then sighed "Damn it. Let me pack too, I can't let you go alone."
"You have to" Ianto said without turning back to him "You need to stay here now. You know that, I know that. This is what you have been looking for, a community. We both knew we were not going to…"
"I suggest you hand the baby over and calm down" the man snarled the pistol in his hand mere inches from Ianto's face as he stared him down. Ianto stood impassively staring back at him, then raised an eyebrow.
Like a snake, Ianto struck. One hand slapping the gun and twisting the wrist to remove it from the man's grip and gain control, the other hand hitting him so hard in the chest that he staggered back with a bark of pain, then horror as the gun was now raised into his own face.
"You were saying?" Ianto asked calmly "I AM calm. I am fucking icy calm. You have no idea the shit I've seen, done and can do. I have killed, can kill without a second thought. I worked for Her Majesty and this little pop gun does not scare me. Especially as you didn't even release the fucking safety, ya divvy."
"Please, we can protect her" one of the women begged.
"Stellar job so far" Ianto replied as he took a step back and then turned to hand the gun to Daryl, "Don't give it back to him until I am gone. I do not want to leave them unarmed but for fucksake, show him how to arm the bloody thing."
Ianto slid out the door and ran, moving quickly through the Mall to the back exit and with a deep breath he opened it to find the back docks…. Empty.
Well… apart from a big arsed Mack Truck sitting there like it belonged.
Well, if the Gods allow, it might belong to someone now, right?
Ianto hoped for keys as this would be a bitch to hotwire.
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Sorry my posts are a little sparse at the moment but we are experiencing our stormy season and the snow, wind and hail have been a pain in the arse. We lose internet, are at risk of tornadoes and i have more work on for some reason that i do not understand so i am going though a few changes of clothes a day, am tired and cranky LOL. Hopefully things will ease soon. I am still working on projects, there will be more once things settle and i can focus.
