Sundown (1/2)
Title: Sundown (1/2)
Series: Something that starts with "S", part three
Characters: Jack & Ianto, Gwen, Martha + OFC
Rating: PG
Summary: TW reflects on what they learned during their visit to Nash Point. Ianto learns what his future holds.
A/N: A continuation of Shipwreck. For horizonssing Day 13. take cover, the mpreg monster arrives.
After the bizarre events at Nash Point, the Torchwood team settled into a slightly uncomfortable quiet back in the hub. Each member completed their report related to the event, but they were all silently processing what they had learned that summer's day. Martha, as the newest member of Torchwood, was a little concerned about the flip remark made by the woman from the future. 'Torchwood Extravaganza' made her stomach twist in knots especially after reading about Gwen's eventful wedding. A Nostrovite trying to rip open an alien-impregnated Gwen and an entire wedding party dosed with Retcon was not something Martha wanted to happen to her. She and Tom had agreed to a small wedding, only family and a few friends; mostly because they didn't want a lot of fuss- but the more Martha thought about it, it made tactical sense because their would be fewer people in the line of fire. Even with Gwen pushing her to have the perfect wedding (obviously in an attempt to make up for her own chaotic one) Martha stood firm and was wondering just how hard it might be to con UNIT into supplying her with an elite squad- just in case. Gwen was probably the least effected by Branwen's comments. Of course she'd hug Rhys, and being the optimist, she hoped that Branwen's request was because she had grown up around him. After all, Rhys loves children, and he is a big teddy bear so any little girl would probably love hugging the big idiot. Jack wouldn't tell anyone what Branwen whispered in his ear. The fact that he went pale at it meant it must have been pretty big. And it probably related to the shotgun wedding comment she lobbed at Ianto. Oh, they had all heard Jack's remarks about being pregnant in the past, but it was Jack and you never really knew if he was being serious or not.
Ianto was probably the most shaken by their run in with the woman from the future. It wasn't just how she set them all on edge and pressed all of their buttons with apparent practiced ease; nor was it the thought that Toshiko Sato, their brilliant technology expert, essentially lived on as the personality adapted by the Torchwood mainframe. It was the overall package that Branwen presented. The eyes were most definitely Jack's; but the facial ticks and subtle dry humor; well Ianto recognized those from his own reflection. As he replayed her appearance and movements in his mind, he could come up with no other alternative- Branwen, Torchwood field agent from 25 years in the future, is somehow the daughter of himself and Jack Harkness. Of course, Ianto didn't verbalize any of this to anyone; nor did it reflect in his field report. His report was concise and detailed, and referred back to a separate report he was writing regarding the changes already witnessed in the mainframe's iTosh persona since receiving the enormous download of data collected. Ianto was amazed that iTosh had already developed on its own several new modules to better predict rift activity and was reporting a possible way of duplicating the rift neutralizer technology they'd seen used based on the energy readings collected. In the background, Ianto had the mainframe running a search regarding the Sontaran copper-excitation technology which would be of great use.
As the day slowly grew to a close, Ianto made a pass through the hub making sure things were in order and cleaned up. After his little meltdown and near death from alcohol poisoning, the team had made a concerted effort not to just expect everything to be done for them. Ianto appreciated not having to search high and low to find all of the coffee mugs and he was positively ecstatic that they all finally learned how to put rubbish in the bin! Now instead of two hours cleaning up, he could complete the end of day rounds in about ten minutes. Another improvement was that there was a rota for on call duties on the weekend. With the mainframe doing such a great job of monitoring activity, even being able to detect if anything actually came through during a spike, there was less need to be always at the hub waiting. So, Ianto was looking forward to going home for the night and hopefully not seeing the hub again until Monday since Gwen was on call for the weekend. Ianto thought about asking Jack to spend the weekend with him, it was a bold move for Ianto; but Jack was still quietly sitting in his office so Ianto decided that maybe Jack wanted some time to himself. After putting the last of the mugs away and logging out of his station, he sent a text to Gwen letting her know he'd be home before going to say goodnight to Jack.
Ianto knocked on Jack's door before entering, "Jack, if there's nothing else you need, I think I'm going to head home. I've put a fresh pot of coffee on for you." Ianto smiled as Jack snapped out of his daze and smiled widely. "If things aren't too hectic this weekend, would you like to come over; maybe for dinner or something? If you aren't busy?" Ianto's own self-doubt and nerves started to catch him since Jack hadn't said a word. He quickly added, "it's not important, if you have other plans, anyway, I'll see you Monday if not before." Ianto turned to quickly leave but Jack had gotten up from his desk and grabbed Ianto's arm.
"I think dinner would be wonderful Ianto. I've got some stuff to take care of tonight; how about tomorrow? I'll bring something to drink and dessert? Maybe a film or two we can watch?" Jack was smiling again, the first real smiles since they'd returned from Nash Point. His entire face seemed to glow.
"Right, well; I'll plan on having dinner ready around 6 tomorrow if that works for you?" Ianto looked to Jack for confirmation and then leaned over for a small kiss. "I'll see you tomorrow Jack."
Ianto was running over all the things he needed to get done during the weekend, including planning a nice dinner for the next day. Torchwood tended to swallow a large portion of his time, so shopping and cooking usually didn't happen during the week when he lived on warmed up pre-packs and take away. He was thinking about laundry and changing the linens as he opened the door to his flat and was totally unprepared to find the future Torchwood agent sitting in his living room. He nearly froze, just standing there looking at her as she looked back and smiled with his own slightly lopsided grin. "Hi Tad. I've been waiting for you to get home." She rose from the couch and made her way to the entry, pulling him in and closing the door behind him. "Sorry I let myself in, I didn't want to look like a stalker on the street waiting, and I figure this is my home- at least it will be."
Ianto took his coat off and tugged his tie half way down so he could unbutton his collar which suddenly felt like it was choking him. "So its true, you are my daughter- and somehow you're Jack's daughter too?" He was a bit puzzled. He knew tall tales from Jack, but he couldn't really- could he?
"Yep. In about seven and a half months you will be the very proud father of a bouncing baby girl who just happens to be the most brilliant and beautiful girl in the world- if I do say so my self." Branwen laughed brightly about her high opinion of herself. "And I wasn't found under a cabbage leaf, or brought by the stork, and no alien tech made me bounce fully formed from anyone's head. As Captain Dad likes to say, I was made the old fashioned 51st century way, 'when a man and a man love each other and one of them just happens to have a fully functional womb.' Well, you get the picture. Yes Ianto Jones, you got Captain Jack Harkness up the duff. Congratulations. Would you like a cigar?"
"I think I need to sit down," was all Ianto could manage before nearly falling into an armchair. "You said in seven and half months- you mean Jack's pregnant now?" Ianto instantly knew exactly what Branwen had whispered in Jack's ear; and why Jack went pale- and probably why he had things to do tonight. "Wait, I thought. Jack always talks about paradox events and disasters. You touched him today, wouldn't that have been a paradox?"
Branwen smiled at her father, reliving her childhood and remembering him so young, "while the great Captain knows a bit about time travel; he doesn't really know everything- and he certainly doesn't understand the warping of reality that happens around the rift. I've always lived near the rift and as such, paradox doesn't apply. Its something the mainframe will report to you in the next couple of weeks, so be surprised okay?" She gave him a wink. "And as much as I'd like to spend several hours discussing temporal causality with you, I do have a limited window for this visit before Captain Dad notices the temporal cannon is active." Ianto remembered reading one of Mickey's debriefings that described a temporal cannon built on the parallel world; apparently Torchwood would build one here as well. "I'm here to make sure you screw up enough courage to ask Captain Dad to marry you. Tomorrow."
"Wait. What? Marry? Tomorrow!" Ianto was fumbling over his words. It was quite adorable, Branwen had to admit to herself she missed seeing her Tad this flustered. She hadn't been able to get him to stumble over a sentence since she was a teenager and came home with several piercings- both visible and hidden.
"Come on Tad, you have to do the honorable thing. You got him pregnant, you don't want me to be born out of wedlock now do you?" Branwen came over and knelt in front of Ianto, placing her hands on his knees. Looking up at him like she had as a child held fond memories, and she had to make sure things played out in their proper pattern. "You know he'll never ask, because he's too afraid of losing you, of losing everyone. He always plays the strong silent leader; but you know better. You're the one that listens to all of his concerns without forcing him to talk. My entire childhood I used to listen by your bedroom door as the great and mighty Captain Dad would whisper all of his fears to you in the night. He may be the unstoppable Captain Jack Harkness of Torchwood Three when everyone else can see; but with you he's just Jack and that's all he ever wants to be. You need to be strong now Tad and take control- make him understand that you love him." Branwen looked Ianto directly in the eyes. She was trying her best to make this very young and scared version of her Tad understand.
Ianto tried to moisten his lips, but his mouth was dry, "I, I don't think I can do that. I mean, after we lost Owen and Tosh I might have been able. Jack needed me to help him get over that. But, but after the Doctor and he brought Mickey and Martha to Torchwood; I, I kind of figured he didn't need me anymore. He had them, he had links to the infamous Doctor and Rose. I was just a space holder until he had someone better. If it hadn't been for my little drink..." Ianto stopped himself quickly, trying not to look at Branwen.
"If it hadn't been for your little near-death experience trying to drink yourself to death? What Tad, you think you never told me about that? Just who do you think sent me here?" Ianto looked at Branwen with a slightly confused look. "You did you twpsyn. Right now, you are sitting at the temporal cannon keeping an eye on the time and replaying this little visit over in your head." Branwen reached into her pocket and withdrew a pocket watch. Ianto recognized it as the same one he carried, it had been his fathers and he never went anywhere without it. "You sent me with this, read the engraving you added to it Tad. Just read it." Branwen opened the back cover of the watch, displaying the crystal that covered the timework.
Ianto Jones & Jack Harkness - Some things survive the test of time.
"Hadn't you noticed a little change in your sex life Tad?" Branwen was speaking quietly, trying not to look Ianto in the eyes. Discussing your parents sex life apparently was still awkward in the future. "When was the last time you bought condoms? He wants to have a family, and knows that you do too; so he made the decision. Now its your turn. You need to ask him and I'm here to help you create the perfect proposal. First, I need to borrow your watch. I'll give it back." Ianto handed over his pocket watch, still a little stunned by what he was hearing. Then his eyes flashed in concern as his watch disappeared in gold light from the coffee table. "Don't worry, I just sent it upstream for some minor updates. It will come back in a minute. So, the proposal. Captain Dad is a romantic- don't let him tell you otherwise. Dinner up in the roof garden with music playing is the perfect setting. But don't go with Glen Miller for the music. As much as he loves that stuff, the era still holds too many bad memories. Frank Sinatra- he goes soft for Sinatra. Summer Wind is his favorite song- I know, because I've heard it enough times in my life to absolutely despise it." Another flash of gold and Ianto's pocket watch was sitting on the coffee table. "Here, you'll want to take care of that. Never ever let it leave you again- that's important Tad."
Ianto listened to all of the details his future daughter was pouring out to him. All of the little things about Jack he'd wanted to know but was too afraid to ask. He was heartened to hear that Jack proudly wore the wedding band Ianto gave him even 25 years later. The fact that it had been Ianto's own father's made it special. Ianto knew exactly where it was in his small keepsafe and would pull it out later. Ianto reached out and touched the side of Branwen's face and was surprised to see that she leaned into it just like he did when Jack touched him. "Why are you telling me all of this? Am I such a complete failure in the future that I can't be trusted to do this?" Ianto was a little concerned of what she might say.
"Oh god no Tad. You are the strongest person I've ever met. Captain Dad may be the comic book hero of Torchwood, but you are the foundation that keeps it going and keeps him strong. You let him be weak when he needs to be, and you taught me I could be anything I want if I try hard enough. Captain Dad may be a super hero to everyone else, but you are my hero." Branwen was crying and hugged Ianto tightly, "even when I drive you insane, and believe me- I will drive you round the bend more than once- I always come to you and need you." She kissed Ianto on the cheek and hugged him tightly when her bracelet began to beep. She released Ianto and tried to straighten his shirt an waistcoat before standing up. "I need to get back home now, I'm sure you're about to loose all patience with me. She looked at Ianto again, taking his appearance in while smiling because he was doing the exact same thing. "I forgot how young you were Tad. I'm sorry for all the grey hairs I'm going to give you."
"I'm sure you've been worth every single one. But can you tell me something?" Ianto looked at her, seeing the unshed tears glistening in her eyes. "Are we happy, I mean, are we still happy in your time?"
Branwen gave Ianto an enormous smile as the cascade of golden light began to dissolve her, "oh yeah. He definitely makes it worth your while."
The story continues in Sundown, Part Two
Series: Something that starts with "S", part three
Characters: Jack & Ianto, Gwen, Martha + OFC
Rating: PG
Summary: TW reflects on what they learned during their visit to Nash Point. Ianto learns what his future holds.
A/N: A continuation of Shipwreck. For horizonssing Day 13. take cover, the mpreg monster arrives.
After the bizarre events at Nash Point, the Torchwood team settled into a slightly uncomfortable quiet back in the hub. Each member completed their report related to the event, but they were all silently processing what they had learned that summer's day. Martha, as the newest member of Torchwood, was a little concerned about the flip remark made by the woman from the future. 'Torchwood Extravaganza' made her stomach twist in knots especially after reading about Gwen's eventful wedding. A Nostrovite trying to rip open an alien-impregnated Gwen and an entire wedding party dosed with Retcon was not something Martha wanted to happen to her. She and Tom had agreed to a small wedding, only family and a few friends; mostly because they didn't want a lot of fuss- but the more Martha thought about it, it made tactical sense because their would be fewer people in the line of fire. Even with Gwen pushing her to have the perfect wedding (obviously in an attempt to make up for her own chaotic one) Martha stood firm and was wondering just how hard it might be to con UNIT into supplying her with an elite squad- just in case. Gwen was probably the least effected by Branwen's comments. Of course she'd hug Rhys, and being the optimist, she hoped that Branwen's request was because she had grown up around him. After all, Rhys loves children, and he is a big teddy bear so any little girl would probably love hugging the big idiot. Jack wouldn't tell anyone what Branwen whispered in his ear. The fact that he went pale at it meant it must have been pretty big. And it probably related to the shotgun wedding comment she lobbed at Ianto. Oh, they had all heard Jack's remarks about being pregnant in the past, but it was Jack and you never really knew if he was being serious or not.
Ianto was probably the most shaken by their run in with the woman from the future. It wasn't just how she set them all on edge and pressed all of their buttons with apparent practiced ease; nor was it the thought that Toshiko Sato, their brilliant technology expert, essentially lived on as the personality adapted by the Torchwood mainframe. It was the overall package that Branwen presented. The eyes were most definitely Jack's; but the facial ticks and subtle dry humor; well Ianto recognized those from his own reflection. As he replayed her appearance and movements in his mind, he could come up with no other alternative- Branwen, Torchwood field agent from 25 years in the future, is somehow the daughter of himself and Jack Harkness. Of course, Ianto didn't verbalize any of this to anyone; nor did it reflect in his field report. His report was concise and detailed, and referred back to a separate report he was writing regarding the changes already witnessed in the mainframe's iTosh persona since receiving the enormous download of data collected. Ianto was amazed that iTosh had already developed on its own several new modules to better predict rift activity and was reporting a possible way of duplicating the rift neutralizer technology they'd seen used based on the energy readings collected. In the background, Ianto had the mainframe running a search regarding the Sontaran copper-excitation technology which would be of great use.
As the day slowly grew to a close, Ianto made a pass through the hub making sure things were in order and cleaned up. After his little meltdown and near death from alcohol poisoning, the team had made a concerted effort not to just expect everything to be done for them. Ianto appreciated not having to search high and low to find all of the coffee mugs and he was positively ecstatic that they all finally learned how to put rubbish in the bin! Now instead of two hours cleaning up, he could complete the end of day rounds in about ten minutes. Another improvement was that there was a rota for on call duties on the weekend. With the mainframe doing such a great job of monitoring activity, even being able to detect if anything actually came through during a spike, there was less need to be always at the hub waiting. So, Ianto was looking forward to going home for the night and hopefully not seeing the hub again until Monday since Gwen was on call for the weekend. Ianto thought about asking Jack to spend the weekend with him, it was a bold move for Ianto; but Jack was still quietly sitting in his office so Ianto decided that maybe Jack wanted some time to himself. After putting the last of the mugs away and logging out of his station, he sent a text to Gwen letting her know he'd be home before going to say goodnight to Jack.
Ianto knocked on Jack's door before entering, "Jack, if there's nothing else you need, I think I'm going to head home. I've put a fresh pot of coffee on for you." Ianto smiled as Jack snapped out of his daze and smiled widely. "If things aren't too hectic this weekend, would you like to come over; maybe for dinner or something? If you aren't busy?" Ianto's own self-doubt and nerves started to catch him since Jack hadn't said a word. He quickly added, "it's not important, if you have other plans, anyway, I'll see you Monday if not before." Ianto turned to quickly leave but Jack had gotten up from his desk and grabbed Ianto's arm.
"I think dinner would be wonderful Ianto. I've got some stuff to take care of tonight; how about tomorrow? I'll bring something to drink and dessert? Maybe a film or two we can watch?" Jack was smiling again, the first real smiles since they'd returned from Nash Point. His entire face seemed to glow.
"Right, well; I'll plan on having dinner ready around 6 tomorrow if that works for you?" Ianto looked to Jack for confirmation and then leaned over for a small kiss. "I'll see you tomorrow Jack."
Ianto was running over all the things he needed to get done during the weekend, including planning a nice dinner for the next day. Torchwood tended to swallow a large portion of his time, so shopping and cooking usually didn't happen during the week when he lived on warmed up pre-packs and take away. He was thinking about laundry and changing the linens as he opened the door to his flat and was totally unprepared to find the future Torchwood agent sitting in his living room. He nearly froze, just standing there looking at her as she looked back and smiled with his own slightly lopsided grin. "Hi Tad. I've been waiting for you to get home." She rose from the couch and made her way to the entry, pulling him in and closing the door behind him. "Sorry I let myself in, I didn't want to look like a stalker on the street waiting, and I figure this is my home- at least it will be."
Ianto took his coat off and tugged his tie half way down so he could unbutton his collar which suddenly felt like it was choking him. "So its true, you are my daughter- and somehow you're Jack's daughter too?" He was a bit puzzled. He knew tall tales from Jack, but he couldn't really- could he?
"Yep. In about seven and a half months you will be the very proud father of a bouncing baby girl who just happens to be the most brilliant and beautiful girl in the world- if I do say so my self." Branwen laughed brightly about her high opinion of herself. "And I wasn't found under a cabbage leaf, or brought by the stork, and no alien tech made me bounce fully formed from anyone's head. As Captain Dad likes to say, I was made the old fashioned 51st century way, 'when a man and a man love each other and one of them just happens to have a fully functional womb.' Well, you get the picture. Yes Ianto Jones, you got Captain Jack Harkness up the duff. Congratulations. Would you like a cigar?"
"I think I need to sit down," was all Ianto could manage before nearly falling into an armchair. "You said in seven and half months- you mean Jack's pregnant now?" Ianto instantly knew exactly what Branwen had whispered in Jack's ear; and why Jack went pale- and probably why he had things to do tonight. "Wait, I thought. Jack always talks about paradox events and disasters. You touched him today, wouldn't that have been a paradox?"
Branwen smiled at her father, reliving her childhood and remembering him so young, "while the great Captain knows a bit about time travel; he doesn't really know everything- and he certainly doesn't understand the warping of reality that happens around the rift. I've always lived near the rift and as such, paradox doesn't apply. Its something the mainframe will report to you in the next couple of weeks, so be surprised okay?" She gave him a wink. "And as much as I'd like to spend several hours discussing temporal causality with you, I do have a limited window for this visit before Captain Dad notices the temporal cannon is active." Ianto remembered reading one of Mickey's debriefings that described a temporal cannon built on the parallel world; apparently Torchwood would build one here as well. "I'm here to make sure you screw up enough courage to ask Captain Dad to marry you. Tomorrow."
"Wait. What? Marry? Tomorrow!" Ianto was fumbling over his words. It was quite adorable, Branwen had to admit to herself she missed seeing her Tad this flustered. She hadn't been able to get him to stumble over a sentence since she was a teenager and came home with several piercings- both visible and hidden.
"Come on Tad, you have to do the honorable thing. You got him pregnant, you don't want me to be born out of wedlock now do you?" Branwen came over and knelt in front of Ianto, placing her hands on his knees. Looking up at him like she had as a child held fond memories, and she had to make sure things played out in their proper pattern. "You know he'll never ask, because he's too afraid of losing you, of losing everyone. He always plays the strong silent leader; but you know better. You're the one that listens to all of his concerns without forcing him to talk. My entire childhood I used to listen by your bedroom door as the great and mighty Captain Dad would whisper all of his fears to you in the night. He may be the unstoppable Captain Jack Harkness of Torchwood Three when everyone else can see; but with you he's just Jack and that's all he ever wants to be. You need to be strong now Tad and take control- make him understand that you love him." Branwen looked Ianto directly in the eyes. She was trying her best to make this very young and scared version of her Tad understand.
Ianto tried to moisten his lips, but his mouth was dry, "I, I don't think I can do that. I mean, after we lost Owen and Tosh I might have been able. Jack needed me to help him get over that. But, but after the Doctor and he brought Mickey and Martha to Torchwood; I, I kind of figured he didn't need me anymore. He had them, he had links to the infamous Doctor and Rose. I was just a space holder until he had someone better. If it hadn't been for my little drink..." Ianto stopped himself quickly, trying not to look at Branwen.
"If it hadn't been for your little near-death experience trying to drink yourself to death? What Tad, you think you never told me about that? Just who do you think sent me here?" Ianto looked at Branwen with a slightly confused look. "You did you twpsyn. Right now, you are sitting at the temporal cannon keeping an eye on the time and replaying this little visit over in your head." Branwen reached into her pocket and withdrew a pocket watch. Ianto recognized it as the same one he carried, it had been his fathers and he never went anywhere without it. "You sent me with this, read the engraving you added to it Tad. Just read it." Branwen opened the back cover of the watch, displaying the crystal that covered the timework.
Ianto Jones & Jack Harkness - Some things survive the test of time.
"Hadn't you noticed a little change in your sex life Tad?" Branwen was speaking quietly, trying not to look Ianto in the eyes. Discussing your parents sex life apparently was still awkward in the future. "When was the last time you bought condoms? He wants to have a family, and knows that you do too; so he made the decision. Now its your turn. You need to ask him and I'm here to help you create the perfect proposal. First, I need to borrow your watch. I'll give it back." Ianto handed over his pocket watch, still a little stunned by what he was hearing. Then his eyes flashed in concern as his watch disappeared in gold light from the coffee table. "Don't worry, I just sent it upstream for some minor updates. It will come back in a minute. So, the proposal. Captain Dad is a romantic- don't let him tell you otherwise. Dinner up in the roof garden with music playing is the perfect setting. But don't go with Glen Miller for the music. As much as he loves that stuff, the era still holds too many bad memories. Frank Sinatra- he goes soft for Sinatra. Summer Wind is his favorite song- I know, because I've heard it enough times in my life to absolutely despise it." Another flash of gold and Ianto's pocket watch was sitting on the coffee table. "Here, you'll want to take care of that. Never ever let it leave you again- that's important Tad."
Ianto listened to all of the details his future daughter was pouring out to him. All of the little things about Jack he'd wanted to know but was too afraid to ask. He was heartened to hear that Jack proudly wore the wedding band Ianto gave him even 25 years later. The fact that it had been Ianto's own father's made it special. Ianto knew exactly where it was in his small keepsafe and would pull it out later. Ianto reached out and touched the side of Branwen's face and was surprised to see that she leaned into it just like he did when Jack touched him. "Why are you telling me all of this? Am I such a complete failure in the future that I can't be trusted to do this?" Ianto was a little concerned of what she might say.
"Oh god no Tad. You are the strongest person I've ever met. Captain Dad may be the comic book hero of Torchwood, but you are the foundation that keeps it going and keeps him strong. You let him be weak when he needs to be, and you taught me I could be anything I want if I try hard enough. Captain Dad may be a super hero to everyone else, but you are my hero." Branwen was crying and hugged Ianto tightly, "even when I drive you insane, and believe me- I will drive you round the bend more than once- I always come to you and need you." She kissed Ianto on the cheek and hugged him tightly when her bracelet began to beep. She released Ianto and tried to straighten his shirt an waistcoat before standing up. "I need to get back home now, I'm sure you're about to loose all patience with me. She looked at Ianto again, taking his appearance in while smiling because he was doing the exact same thing. "I forgot how young you were Tad. I'm sorry for all the grey hairs I'm going to give you."
"I'm sure you've been worth every single one. But can you tell me something?" Ianto looked at her, seeing the unshed tears glistening in her eyes. "Are we happy, I mean, are we still happy in your time?"
Branwen gave Ianto an enormous smile as the cascade of golden light began to dissolve her, "oh yeah. He definitely makes it worth your while."
The story continues in Sundown, Part Two