Ancient Welsh Heroes of the Post-Modern Era

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TITLE:  Ancient Welsh Heroes of the Post-Modern Era
RATING:  G/PG
WARNING:  None
CHARACTERS:  Ianto, Gwen with a dash of Jack.
DISCLAIMER:  Not mine; Aunty B's and RTD's
WORDS: ~ 4665 (posted in two parts)
SUMMARY:  Ianto and Gwen travel to nothern Wales to track down an alien. Not COE compliant.

Written for redisourcolorChallenge 12 - Theme: Spring; truncate, demonstrable, earth, "It was a week before (s)he could walk normally again."

Posted in two parts because LJ is not behaving today.


PART II

(... As they walked the signal got steadily stronger.)

 

“GAAAAAAAARH.”  Out from the trees a man leapt yelling as he did. Gwen went to pull her stun gun but Ianto shook his head. The man had long straggly hair that covered his forehead and ran down almost to his waist. He was of average height and build and Ianto noticed that his clothes were clean though a bit ragged.

 

“SNARRRL,” the man shouted as he flailed his arms wildly. Ianto showed Gwen the energy signal. This was the alien they were searching for.

 

“Long way from home then?” Ianto asked gently. The man growled at them with a bit less conviction.

 

“We’re not going to hurt you,” Gwen said.  “We’re from Torchwood.” Apparently this was not the right thing to say as the man bared his teeth and hissed at them.

 

“Maybe we could sit down and talk this over like civilized beings,” Ianto suggested. “Really, it’s in your best interest. If you’re harmless we’ll leave you here. If we can’t determine whether you are or not…” Ianto let his voice trail off.

 

The man looked at Gwen and then Ianto and then Gwen once more. Gwen began to sit down on a small rock. “Come on, let’s talk.”

 

To their astonishment the man sat down as well. “Yeah I reckon that’d be best,” he said sitting down on another rock opposite them.

 

“Well, guess I won’t need the universal translator then,” Ianto said sitting down near Gwen.

 

An hour later they had determined that the humanoid alien had crash landed his spacecraft into the bog where it slowly sank into the mud. “I was trapped here, no way to get home, no way to contact my planet, so I had to make due, didn’t I?” the alien said a bit petulantly.

 

“How is it that we can understand you,” Gwen asked.

 

“I studied Earth cultures for years at the University of Cassiopeia. My area of concentration was Ancient Welsh Culture up through what you would call the 21^st century.” 

 

Ianto smiled. “Where, or shall I say when are you from?”

 

“I reckon it would be from about the 40^th Century by your calculation. I was supposed to land at the spaceport at Cardiff for the Intergalactic Symposium of Ancient Welsh Cultures, but I hit an ion storm and got sucked into some sort of time vortex.  Landed here. Didn’t take me too long to figure out that I was a bit early to deliver my lecture.

 

He seemed pretty harmless, but Ianto was puzzled by one thing. “Why didn’t you go to a city and just blend in?  You speak the language well, you’re obviously very intelligent, so why live out here?"

 

The man smiled and pulled the hair back from his face. Two prominent ridges ran across his forehead and in between was a small horn.

 

“That would be a problem,” Gwen agreed.

 

“I did try out that town down the road, but over a short time, people became suspicious about me. The way I walk is a bit different, and someone said they thought I had something growing out of my head. I was able to laugh it off, but I knew it was only a matter of time before I was found out. So I scouted the area and found a nice cave to live in.”

 

“But how do you survive, what do you eat?”

 

“My species is totally vegetarian. We subsist on a variety of greens, but mostly on what you call tree bark. And there’s plenty of that around here.”

 

They spoke a bit more and learned that George visited occasionally bringing books and magazines for him. “He thinks I’m a professor gone a bit off, and he’s very nice to me.”

 

Gwen tried to convince him to come to Cardiff. “We might be able to help you get home. Or maybe you could work for us at the Hub. Wouldn’t that be better than living out here?”

 

The alien smiled and shook his head. “I’m fine here. We live in caves on my planet, the temperature is delightfully warm compared to my home world and I am content. My only regret is that I’ll never get to give that lecture at the symposium.”

 

“Maybe you could share that lecture with us,” Gwen suggested.

 

The alien politely declined. Gwen and Ianto realized that it was getting a bit late and they better be heading back to the farm.

 

“Well it’s been nice meeting, you,” the alien said. "Would you mind if I asked your names?”

 

Gwen and Ianto told the alien who smiled and nodded. As they said their goodbyes, Ianto had a thought. “Could you tell us the topic you were going to present?"

The alien looked a little amused, and then a bit wistful.  “Heroes of Wales – The Final Years of the Ancient Era.”

 

“Like Owain Glyndŵr and Llywelyn ap Gruffudd?” Ianto asked.

 

“Something like that. You best be going, smells like the weather’s going to change. Nice meeting you Gwendolyn Cooper-Williams and Jones, Ianto Selwyn Jones.”

 

As he turned and walked away, Gwen realized that she hadn’t told him her married name just Cooper and Ianto, she didn’t even know he had a middle name. “Oi!” she shouted at him, “how did you know our whole names?”

 

“Spoilers!” he yelled back and then he disappeared into the woods.

 

The moment he disappeared it was if a spell had been broken. They looked around and the sky was getting dark and the wind was picking up. They ran back down the path to find the horses safe but nervous. The mounted them and moved back up the path toward the farm.

 

Ianto reckoned that they were about half way home when a bolt of lightening cut across the sky followed by an ear splitting clap of thunder. Gwen felt her mount twitch nervously under her.

 

“Ianto we need to ride. I mean really ride or we’ll not get us or the horses back in one piece.”

Ianto nodded and urged his horse to a trot. When Gwen did the same, her horse took off like a rocket with Gwen holding on for dear life. Ianto’s horse picked up speed not wanting to be left behind.

 

The horses and riders raced against the storm. Ianto and Gwen were terrified but the horses were sturdy and knew the way well. A few minutes later the rain began to come down in buckets. The horses continued to run and Ianto thought they were lost and hurtling toward disaster. And then in the distance they saw a light. It was George with a flashlight in hand waving them home.

 

As they entered the farm, George called out something they couldn’t understand. The horses however knew the command. Ianto’s horse slowed to a walk and George was able to catch the horse and hold him while Ianto dismounted. Gwen’s horse stopped so abruptly that she lost her balance and slid sideways off the saddle. Her foot got caught in a stirrup and she couldn’t get free. Her horse snorted and shifted his weight nervously. Ianto ran over to untangle her as he was afraid the horse might bolt and Gwen would be seriously injured. At Ianto’s quick movement toward him, the horse skittered just a bit causing Gwen to slide completely off the horse. Ianto caught her just in time, but he slipped and they both ended up sitting in the mud.

 

“You okay?” Ianto asked he helped her to her feet.

 

Gwen nodded yes, but in fact it was a week before she could walk normally again. As Ianto helped Gwen limp to the door of the farmhouse, Dorothy came out to help.

 

“You two get inside and go to the back of the house. There’s a big soaking tub in the last room on the right. Get out of those wet clothes and get into a hot bath before you both catch your death of cold. I’ve got to help George with the horses; I’ll be back in a bit.”

 

As Ianto helped Gwen to the back of the house, he winced at the trail of mud they were leaving behind. Gwen rolled her eyes. “Stop worrying about the mess, we’ll clean it up later."

 

Ianto snorted. “You mean I’ll clean it up later.”

 

“Yes, because you’re the best husband in the whole world.”

 

Ianto carefully lowered Gwen into a chair in the tub room and turned on the taps. Gwen could hardly bend over to get to her boots and when Ianto went to help her she winced in pain. 

“That’s it,” he said pulling a small multi-tool out of his pocket. 

 

“No Ianto, don’t. They’re brand new, I’ve only worn them this once, please don’t.”

 

“Sorry,” Ianto replied as he expertly slit the boot down the side. Easing her foot out he tried to get her sock off but she asked him to stop.

 

“Hurts too much, just cut the bloody thing off.”  Ianto did and then examined her ankle.

 

“Looks like it’s a bad sprain, but I don’t think anything’s broken.”

 

He quickly pulled off her other boot and sock. “Can I give you a hand with those jeans?”

 

“You’ve got to be kidding.”

 

“Well if you think you can get them off yourself…”

 

“Ok, go on then.” Once he had her jeans off Ianto got up took off his own shoes and socks and began to leave the room.

 

“Where are you going?”

 

“Good point, let me help you into the tub.”

 

“Don’t be daft,” Gwen said unbuttoning her shirt. Just keep your pants on and get in with me." He took off his jeans but left his shirt on.

 

“Are you going to leave your shirt…” her sentence was cut short by the look that Ianto gave her.

 

“Shite, now what do I do? What would Gwendolyn the Brave, Hero of Late Welsh History do?”

 

“Ianto, its ok, you can take the shirt off. It won’t be a problem. I saw…I saw last night.”

 

Ianto nodded and discarded the shirt. Ianto helped Gwen into the tub and eased her gently into a sitting position. He sat down across from her and stared down at the water.

 

“Come here.”

 

Ianto shook his head no.

 

“Well I don’t know how you are ever going to get into that lecture about Late Ancient Welsh Heroes if you are afraid to sit by me.”

 

“What?”

 

“Didn’t you hear what the alien said? We’re going to be heroes.”

 

“Don’t be ridiculous Gwen. He’s probably is a bit empathic or has a little ESP and could sense our full names even if we didn’t say them out loud.”

 

That made perfect sense and Gwen hadn’t really taken the alien seriously. Alright, maybe just a bit if she was honest.  Ianto saw her frown and felt bad and then worse when he saw her shift and bite her lip as pain coursed up her leg.

 

“Though, I think you’d make a wonderful hero. I can just see it. Our friend starts his lecture and everyone listens politely. Then he comes to Gwen Cooper-Williams, and a drawing goes up showing her in full armor riding her white steed into battle as she protects Earth from alien invaders. The audience is in awe.”

 

Gwen threw her head back and laughed. “And you, Jones, Ianto Selwyn Jones, would come right after, drawn in a dashingly handsome suit, stun gun in one hand, weevil spray in another. And the audience would marvel not only at your cleverness in fighting aliens but how you manage to end the day looking as pressed and professional as when you started. They would attribute it to your magical powers.”

 

Ianto laughed at Gwen and splashed playfully at her.

 

“Get over here,” Gwen asked again and this time Ianto moved next to her. “What are we going to tell Jack?”

 

“I’m not worried about Jack so much, but I don’t want a report written about this. If something were to happen to the Hub, it could fall into the wrong hands. I wouldn’t want our alien friend to be harmed.”

 

“Maybe we should tell him we didn’t find anything,” Gwen suggested. They sat in silence for a moment.

 

“No, that wouldn’t work,” they both said practically at the same time.

 

Gwen kissed Ianto on the cheek. “Well I don’t know about being remembered in the future, but you were my hero today. You could have been trampled by my horse, but you never hesitated in helping me get untangled.”

 

“And you were my hero today as well. If you hadn’t been brave enough to let your horse run like that, we’d still be out there, wet, cold and lost for sure,” Ianto replied.

 

“Yeah, that was a brilliant move. I not only sprain my ankle, but my arse is also going to be sore for days as well.”

 

“Well one good thing, we’ll get your boots charged off to an expense account, so at least you can buy another pair.”

 

Gwen began to laugh hysterically. “Ianto, I never intend to get near a stable again if I live to be a hundred.  Maybe we should think about getting out of this tub, the water’s gone cold. Achoo,” Gwen sneezed.

 

“Be right with you,” a voice called from down the hallway.

 

****

 

When Gwen and Ianto returned to the Hub they, of course, told Jack the whole story. Jack had strange smile on his face as they finished their report.

 

“What is it Jack?” Ianto asked. “You knew all about that alien didn’t you? You set us up!”

 

“I did know about the alien, and I wanted to check up on him, but we had a falling out about ten years ago and I didn’t think I’d be welcome.”

 

“Why didn’t you just tell us,” Gwen asked. She was truly perplexed.

 

“I thought it would be a bit of an adventure for you, and if I had asked you to go look for a hermit in the woods, you would have thought I was daft.”

 

“And I was hoping he’d tell you about his lecture on Ancient Welsh Heroes. You will never be forgotten Gwen Cooper-Williams and Jones, Ianto Selwyn Jones, not by me, not by many, many beings all across the galaxy.”

 

Ianto looked at Jack with a small smile on his face. He had a pretty good idea why Jack had sent them.

 

“What?” Jack asked.

 

“I see your point,” Ianto said as he got up from his chair. “I would have thought you were telling us tales if you had asked us to go find the Abominable Snowdoniaman.”

 

Gwen snorted. “Oh, Ianto. That was…” her words drifted off.

 

As Ianto reached the office door, he turned back. “Brilliant, yes I know. Would you expect anything less from a post-modern hero of ancient Welsh history?"

 

Ianto winked at Gwen and nodded to Jack. "Anyone want a coffee?” he said as he headed over to make a fresh pot.