Ianto stalked into Jack’s office and slammed several newspapers down on his husband’s desk. He looked furious. “Have you seen the headlines?”

“Uh, no, not yet. Why?” Jack pulled the top newspaper towards him, turning it around, scanning the big black letters splashed across the front page. The lead article was, unsurprisingly, all about the aliens who had come to earth to demand ten percent of the world’s children, threatening dire retribution if their demands weren’t met. For several days, every child on the planet had paused at regular intervals to chant in unison, freaking out parents everywhere, while ruling governments had begun preparing to give the 456 everything they wanted. “What the Hell?”

“That’s what I said!” The intensity of Ianto’s glare was almost enough to make everything on Jack’s desk spontaneously combust. “I can’t believe UNIT are trying to take credit for dealing with the threat!”

“Neither can I!” Jack snarled. “Especially when most of their senior officers were busy helping the government decide which children should be sacrificed, and arranging for them to be rounded up and delivered to the 456!”

“I hate to admit it, but you were right, we should have come forward right away and told the world the truth about Torchwood, and how the government tried to keep us from doing our job, sending a kill squad after us to prevent their dirty secrets getting out. It’s a good thing we didn’t fall for any of their tricks to smoke us out of our base, into the open, where they could get to us. If you hadn’t ordered all of us to bring our families to the Hub for safety, they might have been used as pawns to convince us to play along.”

“I wasn’t about to leave anyone we cared about out there where we couldn’t protect them. I never trusted the late Prime Minister. Self-serving bastard.” Rather than face the consequences of his actions, Green had taken the easy way out with an overdose of sleeping pills.

“No argument from me. I voted against him in the election, for all the good that did.”

Jack reached for the phone. “I’m calling Lizzie. I already briefed her on what went down, but I suspect some of the higher ups in the government are trying to put a different spin on events, so they don’t get booted out of their cushy ministerial positions.”

“About par for the course with the current government. What do you want me to do?”

“Prepare a statement with all the pertinent information, including who was actually responsible for the destruction of both the 456 ship and their ambassador in Thames House.”

“Are you sure that’s wise?” Ianto frowned, concerned.

“Wise? Who knows, but I think it’s necessary. Credit should go where it’s due, and I have no idea how we could have dealt with the threat without Nosy’s help. Even with Mainframe’s AI construct in play, it wouldn’t have been enough. The only other way of transmitting the constructive wave would have been to use a child as a conduit, and that amount of energy passing through a human brain, especially one so young, would have been fatal. Even so, that scientist, whatever his name was…”

“Decker,” Ianto supplied.

“Yes, him. He was all ready to do it himself, although where he planned on finding a child I don’t know.”

“Probably would’ve ordered the soldiers to snatch a couple of kids off the street, just in case the first attempt failed. I’d love to get my hands in him.”

“I’ll see if Lizzie will authorise handing him over to us,” Jack said, already dialling Her Majesty’s private number as Ianto picked up notepad and pen, preparing to jot down notes for a press release.

By the time he and Jack were done, the whole of Great Britain, if not the entire world, would know the truth, not only about the aliens calling themselves the 456, but about Torchwood, UNIT’s involvement in the plot to hand over the children, and who was really responsible for saving them. Ianto could only hope that Nosy was ready to become an international celebrity. He had a feeling when the news got out, practically every family on earth was going to want a Fluff of their own. Not that he would blame them; if it hadn’t been for the friendly, not to mention almost indestructible, alien, the latest extraterrestrial incursion might not have ended so well.

All the power of the constructive wave, passed first through Mainframe’s hastily created AI, which had completely burned out, and then through Nosy, a wave so intense it would have liquefied a human brain… Amazingly, the only effects Nosy had suffered were some minor singeing of the fluff on its tail end, where the electrical current was discharged to earth, and a slightly hoarse voice for a few days from loud and prolonged humming. A few cups of strong coffee after its job was done, to restore its energy, and Nosy had been fine.

Ianto turned to watch as the Fluff slithered into Jack’s office, having sensed Ianto thinking about it.

“Hum?”

“Everything’s fine, Nosy. Or it will be. Looks like we might be going to London soon to straighten out a few misconceptions though. How d’you feel about a road trip?”

“HUMMMM!”

Jack was right: credit should go where it was due. Nosy had saved the children, after all. Maybe this was the ideal time for the people of earth to learn that not all aliens were a threat to the planet, and who better to get that point across than the friendliest, most lovable alien of all?


The End