Title: Containment
By: lower-case-me
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Rating: AO
Spoilers: Up to and including Small Worlds.
Note: Anything that might be construed as Owen-bashing is incidental, and will be made up for in subsequent parts.
Summary: A piece of alien tech causes chaos.

***

The first moment Jack knew something was very wrong wasn't when Tosh slapped Owen. That had been on the horizon for a long time. It was when Owen started to cry.

Big-hiccuping-open-mouthed-wailing-sobs-crying. Tosh was calling him a filthy motherfucking misogynist bastard cunt at the top of her voice. At that point, he started to entertain the notion that the artefact in the back of the Rover might not be as inert as it looked. Gwen said she wanted to go home, and then she said it again, and again, with rising urgency, until Jack started to think she might be about to grab the wheel.
'Okay, okay. You can go home. Just as soon as we drop this off, you can go home to Rhys and everything will be find. Pipe down back there!' he added, yelling for the benefit of Owen and Tosh in the back.
'Jack, I'm scared. I want to go home now.'
'Just stay calm. You're feeling scared because the alien tech is making you scared. You're fine, Gwen. Trust me on this.'
'I want to get out. Please, let me out Jack. I'm scared. I'm really scared.'

He glanced over. She looked terrified, and as he watched, she reached for the doorhandle. They were doing 60 miles an hour down the M4.
'Damn.' Jack's fist thumped the child-lock button. Tosh was still screaming at Owen, that he was a rotten mean little chav prick, and Owen was still bawling at the top of his lungs and holding the side of his face. When the door wouldn't open, Gwen panicked and pulled frantically at the handle.

The first rule in situations like this was to take care of yourself first. You can't help others unless if you let yourself suffer the same fate. Jack focussed on what he was feeling, and thought it was completely rational. He just had to get home to the hub and everything would be fine. It was a safe space, and they could deal with the artefact, whatever it was, when they got there. Ianto would be there with coffee and those little pastry things and a hazardous materials container and it would all be alright. The feeling was pretty strong, sure, but that was only natural considering the chaos in the back and Gwen's attack of the fears.

In the rear-view mirror, Jack saw Owen curl up into the fetal position. Tosh had run out of invective and crossed her arms over her chest, breathing hard and by her expression, still absolutely furious.
'Toshiko' Jack growled, loudly. Gwen was begging him to let her go, let her out, and telling him she was scared and she wanted Rhys. 'I need you to cover the artefact with something. Toshiko are you listening to me?'

She was glaring out the window.
'Toshiko! Are you listening?' Jack yelled.
'Yes I am bloody listening. I'm not bloody deaf! And I'm not blind either.' Tosh yelled back, turning the death glare back to Owen. 'Unlike some people, I can see what's in front of my bloody face!'
'Tosh, you can yell at Owen as much as you want when we get back to the hub-' Owen's wailing rose a note. 'But right now, will you cover up the freakin' artefact! And do a scan. That thing's emitting something, I want to know what.'

Tosh grabbed Owen's jacket from the floor where it'd slid from his lap and threw it forcefully over the plain black cylinder that lay on the seat between them. Owen flinched and curled tighter.
'Jack-' Gwen said urgently.
'Gwen, please. We're all going to be fine. Hang in there.' They passed a sign that said Cardiff 4 Caerdydd 4. As Jack said it, he was filled with a warm surety that it was true. If they could just get home, everything would be fine. In his mind, a picture of a smiling Ianto holding a tray with hot drinks and jam donuts. He could see every immaculate line of Ianto's suit and smell the coffee. No, it wouldn't be coffee. They were having a stressful day. Ianto would give them whatever that herbal tea stuff was, the one he always pulled out when they were all too keyed up. He would know. He always knew. It would be right there ready when they drove in, and Jack would touch Ianto on the shoulder and he'd smile and it'd all be fine.

Maybe it would be better than fine. Yes, that could happen, he decided. 4 miles felt almost close enough to touch, like he could reach out a hand and pull them closer to Cardiff. He was calm, and emotionally together enough to slow down as they turned off the motorway and entered the outskirts of the city. In fact, Jack felt really good. He was going home, and that was exactly where he wanted to be.

'Gwen, you need to breathe. We're nearly there. Gwen?'
He got a frightened look, but that was all. She was breathing too fast and too shallow and starting to go white, but it would be alright. They were nearly home.

Jack pulled the rover to a halt in the usual parking space inside the shell of the Torchwood hub and waited til the doors slammed shut behind them, sealing them in, before releasing the safety locks. Immediately, Gwen's door opened in her hand and she tried to get out, not realising her seatbelt was still on.
'Oh God Jack help me Jack I can't get out. Please Jack I'm so scared.'

Owen uncurled and launched himself out of the rover. He ran away from the car, staggering and nearly falling over, and sobbing again. Tosh stalked away a few steps and then turned. She still looked angry, but it was clear from what she said that she was fighting the rage.
'Jack. It's not emitting any gas. There's a complex electrical signal. That's all.' Then, she spun around and stormed off, slamming the main office door behind her.

Where was Ianto? He wasn't there- he was always there. Jack choked back half a sob himself. He had to be there. If he was there, they could make everything alright again. Steady, Jack. Breathe. Take your own advice. Ianto's here somewhere. He's probably making the tea. It'll be waiting for you in the office space. Of course he will. He got out of the rover and went to help Gwen, who was gasping for breath and struggling.

She almost fell out of the car, and Jack had to drag her upright and half carry her out of the garage space and through the office to the tearoom. Ianto wasn't there, and Jack felt the hurt all the way through him. But it would still be alright. He just had to find Ianto and make everything right.
'Gwen, Gwen, it's okay. It's going to fade soon and you'll feel fine.' Lowering her down onto the couch, he turned and looked again for Ianto. More than anything, Jack wanted to find him, but Gwen was still struggling to breathe. He wrapped his arms around her and rocked her back and forth. 'We're safe now. We're safe. We're okay. It's over. We're safe, there's nothing to be scared of.'

Gradually, her breathing calmed down, and Jack felt his own sense of fanatical urgency fading, although it was still there. He felt it was safe to move back a little and shrug off his coat.
'You okay?'
'Yeah. Yeah. Better.'
'I'll get you a glass of water and then we'll call Rhys and he can come and pick you up from outside and take you home.'
'I'll do it, otherwise he'll be worried.' Gwen offered up a wan smile, and Jack knew she was recovering.

She pulled out her phone and Jack went to the kitchen to get the water, for himself and for her. He was filling the glass when a movement caught the corner of his eye. Something was under the table.
'Owen?' He bent over to get a better look. Although he was standing yards away, Owen flinched visibly.
'Don't hurt me.' Owen sobbed again, once.
'I'm not going to hurt you. It's me, Jack.'
'Jack, why'm I hiding under a bloody table?'
'The artefact was emitting some kind of signal that messed with our heads. It'll pass soon and you'll feel normal.'
'What kind of signal?'
'Tosh just said electrical. You're the doctor. You tell me.'
'I'd say... I'd our inhibitions have been removed.' Owen wiped his nose on his sleeve. 'We're processing emotions we usually suppress.' He sniffed, but looked Jack in the eye.
'Sounds plausible. You coming out?' Jack offered a hand and Owen took it and got out from under the table and back onto his feet.

As Jack herded Owen back to the tearoom and Gwen, he felt more rational. Of course Ianto wasn't here. It was late, he'd gone home. In the morning, when everything was under control, Jack could find him and talk to him and they would sort it all out. Owen sat down, but on the other couch, as far from Gwen as possible. Jack pulled out his own phone.
'Hi, I'd like to order a taxi for a Dr Owen Harper. Outside the Millenium Centre on the Bay. 15 minutes? Great.'
'Jack-'
'Don't start, Owen. Go home, get some rest, and both of you call me if there's any side effects. I'm going to find Tosh.' And then, he thought, screw tomorrow. I'm going to knock on Ianto's front door.

Toshiko was sitting at her computer, pounding the keys furiously.
'Hey Tosh. Effects wearing off yet?'
'Gradually' she snapped, paused, and took a deep breath. 'Sorry.'
'That's okay. Go home, Tosh. Sleep it off.'
'Is Owen...' Tosh frowned and pursed her lips at the monitor.
'Owen's fine. You didn't say anything he hasn't heard before. And frankly, 50 to 80 percent of what you said was true.'
'But the way he reacted. I don't understand.'
'Whatever electrical wobble that piece of tech was giving off, it brought things to the surface in all of us. Sometimes people have reasons for the way they act. Sometimes that includes Owen.'
'And other times?'
'Other times he's just being a twat. Now go home. You want me to call you a cab? No-one's driving tonight.'
'No, I think I'll walk. I could use the exercise and the idea of cold air is appealing.'
'Call me if there's any other effects. Anything at all, Tosh.'

She got up, and started to move towards the coat rack and the lift.
'Jack?'
'Mm?'
'What did you feel?'
'Go home Tosh. We'll talk about it in the morning.'

Actually, he had no intention of talking about it in the morning. What he wanted to do was get everyone out and close the place down as quickly as possible. There were things he very much needed to do.

He closed down Tosh's computer and checked the scanners.
'Jack? We're going.' Gwen came out of the tearoom, followed by a tear-stained and furtive Owen.
'Get some sleep, both of you. I realise how unnerving the whole experience must have been. Remember, it wasn't you. You weren't going crazy or having a breakdown. It was just a thing that happened, okay?'
Owen swallowed nervously, eyes searching the room for Tosh out of fear or something else, and Gwen nodded.
'There's tea in there if you want it' she said as she put on her coat.

Jack nodded and smiled and watched them go home. Gwen would be alright in the morning. She was strong enough to face her fears. In the long run, she might even feel better for the experience. Owen and Tosh were going to have to talk it out in private, tomorrow or some day very soon. But they'd get through it, even if the talk turned into a raging argument. Jack thought through everything he had to do to shut the hub down for the night. There wasn't much left. Ianto would have fed the pterodactyl before going home, and taken care of most things. It was probably a good sign that he had gone home instead of waiting, but Jack felt a stab of loneliness. Tea, he thought. What an idea.

Maybe it was a sign he was going native. People here, and in England, seemed to use tea as a cure for everything short of actual beheading. He'd made the mistake of remarking on the British love of tea, and gotten the same reaction as that time he mentioned the British love of chips with curry sauce on them- indignant and patriotic Welsh attack on from Gwen on one side and Ianto on the other. Gwen had accused him of colonial sympathies and cultural insensitivity and Ianto had said something probably very similar but more ironic in Welsh.

He walked back through to the tea room and helped himself to a cup from the tray on the table, and an oat biscuit from the plate beside it. It was going cold, but still warm enough to be good. Gwen must have found Ianto's stash of the herbal stuff, he thought. Policing skills. Tomorrow I'll ask her to figure out where he keeps his coffee. A special stash had to be hidden somewhere, because when Jack was alone and used the coffee grounds kept in the cupboard, it never tasted the same.

Suddenly, Jack froze with the cup halfway to his lips. Something was wrong. His coat- where was his coat? He'd left it on the couch beside Gwen, but it wasn't there now. And the tea- there were four cups, two empty plus the one he had, and one left over. Both empty cups sat on the table on coasters, and the last one was still on the tray. Gwen wouldn't have used coasters. Gwen wouldn't have arranged biscuits in a neat symmetrical pattern. She might have picked up his coat, but only to drape it over a chair. Only one person would have taken it away to hang it up.

***

Jack slammed the cup down on the table, not caring that tea sloshed over the rim, and dropped the half-eaten biscuit. As he ran to the garage, he caught sight of his coat hanging on the rack beside a heavy black one- Ianto's. How the hell does he always do that without me seeing him? Jack wondered, pelting through the doorway.
'Ianto?' he called. There was no answer, but the back door of the rover was open. Jack ran, and skidded to a stop when he saw what was there.
'Ianto?'
'Don't come any closer. Don't you dare.'

Ianto was sitting on the ground by the open door, hunched over and crying, but it was the blood that stopped Jack. Ianto had a hand pressed to the side of his neck. Wet redness flowed down his arm, staining his shirt red and dripping off his elbow to pool on the bare cement.
'Ianto, there's a-'
'I fucking know. What do you thinking the fucking HazMat gear is for. It's done. It's in there.'

There was a grey metal box by Ianto's foot, and a can of foam designed to contain chemical spills resting on its side a little further away. The HazMat boxes, Jack knew, were electrically shielded.
'If you wanted to kill me Jack, you should have shot me when you had the chance. Slipped something in my bloody coffee. Not like this. You bastard, shinach cachgi fucking cont' Ianto sobbed and pressed his hand harder against the wound. He was holding, hugging himself, with the other hand too, but there was so much blood Jack couldn't tell if there was more than one injury.
'Ianto, I didn't mean for this to happen.'
'No? You just didn't care enough to tell me there was a frigging biohazard in the car. Left it there for me to clean up just like the rest of the mess' he spat, bitterly. Jack took a step forward and he screamed again. 'Don't come any closer. Go away. Go away and leave me be and I'll never inconvenience you ever again.'

'This is going to pass, Ianto, and it's going to pass soon. The others recovered within minutes of getting out of range and they're all fine. You're going to be fine too.' Carefully, Jack raised his hands, palms towards the other man, in what he hoped was a calming gesture.
'Don't pretend like you fucking care. You left this here for me, deliberately or not.' Ianto shook his head, sending a slick rush of blood down his wrist. 'You were looking after the others and I don't matter because I never matter except when you feel like a fucking coffee and no-one told me.'

Ianto curled tighter and groaned, pain from the wound or something else, Jack couldn't tell. The only thing he knew for sure was the artefact hadn't damaged Ianto like this- at least not directly.
'I need you to give me the knife, Ianto' he said, trying to sound calm and in control.
'What bloody knife, you idiot. D'you think I'd still be alive if I had a fucking knife?' Ianto snapped.

The fingers on his neck closed, clawing into the wound and twisting and tearing. Jack moved out of pure instinct. In three steps he was there. He fell to his knees and grabbed Ianto's hand and tried to pry the fingers away, but Ianto was surprisingly strong. Jack wrapped his arms around Ianto's shoulders, trying to get a better grip or to stop this somehow. If he just yanked Ianto's hand away, he ran the risk of tearing more flesh and maybe the artery, but he was desperate. Ianto didn't struggle, rather trying to curl into a ball as if he were protecting himself. He sobbed, and to Jack's surprise, turned his head and pushed his face into Jack's chest.
'I can't stop. I can't stop. I tried and I can't stop. Oh god please help me Jack I can't stop' he cried, as warm blood soaked through Jack's shirt and turned cold.
'It's okay. Shhh. It won't be long now and it'll start to get easier.' Jack felt cold and empty. In his arms, Ianto sobbed again and gasped for breath. He just needed Ianto to let go, and everything else in the world would take care of itself.

'I'm so sorry Sir.'
'It's okay. The artefact is emitting an electrical signal that-'
'No. Sorry for everything.'
'I know. I understand that.' He rubbed the back of Ianto's hand, massaging the knuckles and ignoring the blood. 'I just need you to let go. C'mon. Everything'll be fine I promise.'

Instead of easing, Ianto's fingers dug further into his neck. Blood washed over both their hands.
'I can't.'
'You can. The signal's contained, the effects are fading. You can do this. Please. Just try for me. C'mon Ianto. I know you're strong enough to do this for me.'
'I'm not' Ianto said. Jack rocked him like he had Gwen, and rested his head on Ianto's crown, feeling thick dark hair under his face. The convulsive tightness of the clawed hand didn't ease, but the rhythm of Ianto's breathing did. From desperate gasping, it became slower and deeper and more deliberate, as if he were running a marathon. Despite what he'd said, Jack could feel Ianto fight for control.

A minute passed and gradually, Ianto's hand relaxed. The fingers pulled out of the wound, which made the bleeding worse, but Jack knew that if he tried to hurry the process it would stop altogether. He settled for a litany of soft comforting words, for rocking him gently and massaging the back of that hand. 'C'mon. Easy, Ianto. You can do this. It'll pass and you'll feel better soon. Do this for me. I know it's hard but you can. There, I know you can.'

Agonisingly slowly, Ianto's fingers pulled back and he flattened the palm of his hand against the bleeding. Jack took his hand away and more or less picked Ianto up and set him on his feet.
'C'mere. You'll be okay. Everything's gonna be fine.'

The first aid kit wasn't far away on the other side of the garage, but Jack wasn't going to leave him alone for even a second. He was damaged badly enough as it was, although the weight that slumped against him told Jack that Ianto was coming to the end of his strength. The way his head lolled back as Jack put him back down by the first aid box confirmed it. There was a lot of blood on his clothes and the floor, and on Jack, and it was still coming. Now that Ianto had relaxed, he could see that the usually immaculate blue business shirt was ripped in two or three places, and Jack strongly suspected there would be damage to the skin at least under there as well.

He pulled out a thick white pad and lifted Ianto's fingers for long enough to place it underneath.
'Hold that. Press down if you can. Ianto? Stay awake.'
'Y'Sir' Ianto said quietly. He blinked and then his eyes closed. The relaxation was sudden and almost as frightening as the tension had been. He started to slide over and Jack caught him and lowered him the rest of the way, putting his hand firmly back on the gauze.

There were wounds under what was left of Ianto's shirt. Jack cut it and stripped the material away. A few of the tears were deep, like the three parallel gouges running down and across one flank. Dark bruises were already forming around all of them, but none were pumping out as much blood as the one on his neck. Jack covered them quickly.
'Ianto?'

To his surprise, Ianto opened his eyes. He looked exhausted, but he was there awake again, and what was more, he was sane. Jack forgot what he was going to say next. Instead, he took the hand that was resting on the floor and held it tightly while he fished his phone out of his back pocket.
'Owen, damn it. Pick up your fucking phone. I need you to come back in. Right now, as soon as you get this message. Ianto's been affected by the tech we picked up and he's hurt, needs patching up.'

Jack ended the call. Although he barely let it show, Ianto faintly disapproved of his telephone style. He felt there should be formalities, hellos and goodbyes. Another British quirk, Jack thought, although he would never say so, but mostly an Ianto thing. Who am I kidding, he thought, to say I don't know this man. I know everything that matters.

Could be 20 minutes, Jack thought. Could be 10 hours. Wherever Owen was, there was probably an open bottle of tequila. He spread the emergency blanket on the cold cement floor and shifted Ianto onto it, propping his legs up on the medical kit box.
'Still awake?'
'Mm. Yes.'
'Good. Stay that way.'
'I'm not sure you can order me to stay conscious, Sir' Ianto slurred.
'Seems to be working so far.'

Ianto coughed, which obviously hurt. He was still holding the pad to his neck, but blood was starting to seep through.
'Hang in there.' Jack squeezed his hand and got a response. It was weak but it was there. 'Hey, if it makes you feel any better, all of us went a little crazy' Jack continued. 'Gwen freaked out. Tosh slapped Owen and made him cry.'
'I saw them in the tearoom. Gwen and Owen. I assumed they'd...'
'Assumed they'd what? Are you being tactful or passing out?' Jack brushed Ianto's face, trying to keep him focussed.
'Tactful, Sir' Ianto said, so faintly. 'Although-'
'Don't even think about it. Talk to me.'

For a moment Ianto said nothing and Jack thought he was going to fade away.
'Hey, Ianto. Talk to me. That's an order too.'
'What happened to you?'
'What d'you mean? I was driving. I was up the front, further away from the device.'
'Gwen sits with you. She was affected.'
'You can be annoyingly logical for a man who should be in shock by now.'
'In half an hour I will be, Sir. For me it's always delayed. Tell me.'

Jack wondered, not for the first time, how Ianto had come to be here, and be Ianto. But he could think about that later. Ianto might be calling him Sir instead of Welsh obscenities, but he was still bleeding, and going blueish around the lips. Anything that kept him alert and talking was a good thing.
'I just wanted to get here and be safe' Jack said, putting another gauze pad over the top of the first and taped it into place before pressing Ianto's hand back down. He wasn't lying but neither was he giving Ianto the full picture.
'You took care of the others' Ianto whispered. His face twisted with misery and he started to cry again. It was too quick, Jack thought. Damn it. He's still under the influence.
'Hey, hey. I thought you'd gone home. You're usually right here waiting when we get back in.'
'It's the first of the month. I was in the archives.'

The archives were supposed to be updated to every month. Relevant CCTV footage had to be edited, reports filed, and any miscellaneous debris catalogued. This month there had been the fairies, the ghost machine, and Lisa. Ianto was crying hard now, and trying to curl up again.
'No, stay still. It's okay. You didn't have to do that.'
'It's my job.'

There was no answer to that.
'How you feeling?'
'Fine, Sir' Ianto said automatically. His eyes were screwed closed. Despite everything, Jack was amused.
'Now is not the time to be stoic, Ianto.'
'Cold, then. Cold and tired and it hurts.' You're not the only one, Jack thought.
'Okay. Time to make a move.'

Jack bent down and slid a hand under Ianto's neck, only to find him pulling away.
'I can get up.'
'Ianto, you don't have to...' Jack trailed off. Ianto was rolling weakly over and pushing himself upright with his free hand. 'Oh hell. Ianto-'
'I can get up.'
'Ianto, you're blue. It's a tasteful shade and I'd expect nothing less from you, but seriously.'
'I'm Welsh. I'm naturally pale. It's not as bad at it looks.'
'I forgot. You're Welsh. I'd have to dump 10 tonnes of coal on your head to stop you.'
'Not funny Sir. Aberfan is less 20 miles away.'
'Are you actually lecturing me?' asked Jack in disbelief, as he helped Ianto to his feet. The man swayed and Jack caught him before he slid back down the wall.

There was no answer. Jack had a hand against his chest, on bare skin now the crisp blue shirt was now in stained pieces on the floor, and felt his heart racing and flickering. His eyes were wide open and staring, and he gasped like he'd been running hard. Before he passed out altogether, Jack took as much weight as he could.
'C'mon. Bedtime.'
'Don't talk to me like I'm a bloody child or your dog.'
'Getting really tired of the mood-swings, Ianto' said Jack, dragging him out towards the door.
'Fire me then.'
'Nope. Sorry. Need you too much.'

***

Ianto stopped trying to walk and lifted his head to look up at Jack. He didn't say anything, and Jack felt that now wasn't a good time to be standing around, so after a moment he started moving again, taking Ianto with him.

By the bedroom, Jack was more carrying than helping. He lay Ianto on the bed and pulled off his shoes and socks, dropping them on the floor without ceremony. The shoes smelt like polish. It least that'll make the blood easy to clean off. Jack looked up and saw Ianto looking at him with detached interest, and sadness.
'What?'
'Red on your shirt.'
'Ianto' Jack said, shaking his head. He didn't know what else to say.
'Don't pretend you don't like it. I know you do.'

Jack stared, momentarily speechless.
'That's supposed to be my line, Ianto.'
'You like the suits, especially if I wear a waistcoat. You like the coffee and the napkins and the coasters. You love finding me here after hours.'
'Did I mention that you are stunningly mouthy for someone in your position?'
'It's funny to you. Who I am is funny to you, like a puppy that will do a trick for a biscuit.'
'Ianto-'
'You like it because it makes you feel like a hero' Ianto said tonelessly. 'It makes me feel like shit but you don't mind. Because you don't mind.' There was a pause.
'Why d'you do it then, if it makes you feel so bad?' Jack asked, crossing his arms over his chest.

Ianto said nothing. He rolled over to face the wall and started to curl up again. Jack grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back, a lot more roughly than he intended.
'Ianto. Answer me. Why do you do it if it makes you feel so bad?'
'Because I can't not. Because otherwise I'd just be an empty shell and I couldn't say anything at all and if I did it would just be pathetic. More pathetic.'

He was crying again, but Jack was too hollow to do anything about it. After the blood and the yelling and now all this, a few tears didn't have much of an impact.

There was a problem. So many things Jack wanted to say to Ianto, but he hadn't said them early enough. If he'd said Ianto, thanks for staying behind while we went to the pub. Ianto, how are you? Ianto, I'm sorry about the mess. Ianto, I'm glad you dress like that. You look gorgeous and it brightens my day. Especially the waistcoat... If he'd said that before the Lisa incident, everything would be so much easier. Now, he wanted to say all those things, but if he did, it would look like pure patronising hypocrisy.

'You don't care' Ianto whispered. 'I don't matter. Didn't before and now I never will.'
Jack looked down at him, exhausted and pale and bloody and weeping.
'Do you want to see what happened to me earlier today?' he said, perfectly calm. Ianto just stared. Jack sat down on the edge of the single bed, hip against Ianto's. He leaned down and cupped his face with both hands. 'Listen to me. That alien tech generates an electrical signal that screws with the human brain. From what I can figure out, it removes all the barriers that regulate our behaviour. We do what we feel. Tosh finally let out all her pent-up anger at Owen. Owen showed how vulnerable he'd be if he let himself. Gwen is terrified and she panicked. I... I'll show you what happened to me.'

He put his arms around Ianto and pulled him into a sitting position. Then he stood up and strode over to the desk. Ianto didn't come in here, so it was a mess. Jack turned the computer monitor so Ianto would be able to see it and dialled up live CCTV for the Torchwood garage. When he had a good view of the HazMat box, he turned back to Ianto.
'Watch' was all he said.

On the screen, Ianto saw Jack walk over to the steel box and undo the catch with the usual bouncy Captain Jack stride and the usual tightly contained flamboyance in his gestures. He drew out the alien cylinder and tossed it up and down in one hand. Up and down, up and down, for five or six minutes. Ianto found it strangely hypnotic. Resting back against the wall, perfectly still, he stared at Jack playing with the artefact. He didn't realise it, but his body was growing cold and he was slipping closer to sleep.

After a while, a change came over Jack's face. It looked as if he'd come to a decision. He dropped the tech back in the box and kicked it carelessly shut with a toe, carelessly. No, Ianto decided, not careless. Distracted was a better word. Focussed on something else.

He kept staring at the screen even after Jack had left, right up until the bedroom door opened again. Even then, he found it hard to turn his head. He was very, very tired, but sleep seemed a long way away. It was easy to believe that he could slump here, staring into nothing, forever.
'Ianto.' Jack's hands felt warm on his face and pleasantly solid. He leaned forward and rested his head in them. 'No, wake up. I need you.'

Ianto looked up, somewhere between disbelief and an inability to understand.
'I need you to make everything better. Make everything the way it was again. You're going to, right? You always do.' Jack's face was fevered, wilder than Ianto had ever seen him. But Ianto was so tired. He wanted to say something, but before he could, Jack had him by the shoulders and was shaking him. 'Ianto? Say something. Say you're sorry and tell me it's me now.'

Instinctively, Ianto pulled away. The intensity of Jack's behaviour was frightening, and he still remembered the gun pressed against his head. Jack was strong. Ianto was weak and crying again. He wanted to ask Jack to stop, let him go, leave him alone.
'Ianto- Ianto talk to me. Tell me it's alright. Tell me you're sorry.'
'I'm sorry, Jack.'
'Tell me it's me now. I'm the one you're going to look after. I'm the one you're going to be loyal to. It was always supposed to be me.'

Jack leaned in, ducking under Ianto's hanging head to kiss him. Ianto cried harder but he didn't pull away. He didn't know why, if it was physical weakness or another kind. Jack's tongue was hot and eager, reaching deep into Ianto's mouth, sucking and licking, then it as gone.
'Tell me' Jack ordered. Ianto couldn't remember the words Jack wanted, and when he saw the flash of anger in the man's eyes he gave up trying. A part of him pulled away and hid inside his head where it was safe, and waited for a fist, or a gun again.
'Ianto? Ianto please. C'mon. I need you. You betrayed me and I need you to make it better.' Jack was using his command voice, and Ianto would have obeyed if he could.
'Don't know how' Ianto moaned.
'Find a way. Please. I need this. I need it so bad. Please, Ianto.'

Ianto could only cry. He was sick to the heart of weeping, too much crying for far too long, but he couldn't stop. Jack was begging for something he had no idea how to give. He didn't even really know what it was.
'Come on Ianto. You were going to fix everything earlier. You were going to be waiting when we got home with tea and cookies. I knew it. You weren't supposed to be whipping yourself in the archive room.'
'I'm sorry, Sir. So sorry.' Ianto knew it wasn't enough, but he didn't have much else to offer.
'I need you. Don't you see that? You take care of me- you care. I need that from you. Otherwise I'm just some arrogant asshole in a weird coat. You were right. What you do does make me feel like a hero. And then you betrayed me and fucked it all up. Now you don't care about anything, especially me. You bastard. I need you and you're not there any more. You're just pretending to be you but you don't care any more.'

Jack shook him again, violently. Half to steady himself, and half because it was all he had left to give, Ianto let himself fall forward and wrap his arms around Jack's shoulders. If he'd had the energy, he would have been surprised by the way Jack burrowed into the hug, rubbing his face against the good side of Ianto's neck and giving it tight little kisses, and wrapping Ianto in a bear hug tight enough to hurt. One hand slipped down to grab his arse, and squeezed.

Ianto just held on, stroking and rubbing Jack's back. He had always done this, expressed everything through actions. Even tiny things- in fact, the tinier the better- were Ianto's chosen method of communication. If it didn't matter to anyone else, Ianto could use it say what he needed to say. Once, he'd almost thought Jack understood what he was trying to say- I care enough about you to remember your top five favourite choices, and to know what to use to best clean them off your shirt. Ianto liked to tell himself they understood, but time went on and on and Jack never said anything.

With his hands, he comforted Jack until he himself stopped crying out of sheer exhaustion. Jack pushed against his touch like a cat enjoying attention. One of the last thoughts to cross Ianto's mind before everything faded to black was the crazy, idle idea that he might start to purr.

He woke still holding Jack, but they were lying down. His face was still wet, so it probably hadn't been long. Ianto was too tired and too numb to care.
'Ianto?' Jack said quietly, into his shoulder.
'Sir?'
'Are you alright? You feel cold.' As Jack moved so that he could see Ianto's face, the arm that had been circled around his shoulders slid off and flopped limply over the side of the bed.
'I think I'm going to be sick' Ianto whispered.
'No, you're not. It'll pass.' Jack extracted himself from Ianto's arms and touched his face. Now that he was back in something approaching his right mind, Jack could see that Ianto's pallor was worse and he was breathing too fast and too shallowly. Blood hadn't come through the second pad on his neck, but the way Ianto sprawled on the bed, leaving his limbs where they lay, worried him.

He'd been surprised that Ianto hadn't slipped into shock before, but it was happening now. Not shock as in “you've had a nasty shock, have a brandy” shock but “where the fuck is Owen when you really need him” shock. Circulatory collapse shock. Jack moved quickly, but didn't rush. He didn't want to frighten Ianto and make it worse.

There was a pile of spare blankets under the bed. Jack put a pillow under Ianto's calves to lift his legs and covered him with both the spare blankets and the one that lay in its usual place on the floor.
'Stay awake, Ianto.'
'Can't stay awake forever.'
'You with the logic again. What happened to the Yes, Sir?'

Ianto said nothing. Only a few times in his life had he been so very tired. The last one had been two or three days after the battle for Torchwood London. He'd fallen asleep leaning on the jerry-rigged equipment that was keeping Lisa alive. It had taken that long to scavenge and set up enough technology to keep her breathing and her blood pressure even. Not everything was working right. It took more than a week to figure out any kind of workable system to deal with the pain, and even that was a long way from perfect. Cyber-technology wasn't designed to fit human needs. He needed her help too much to let her stay unconscious. Lisa had been in constant pain from Canary Wharf til the day she died in Cardiff, but that first week was agony for both of them.

On that day, or night, he hadn't known which, he'd waited while she slept and watched the signals on the monitoring screen hold steady for exactly an hour before letting himself put his impossibly heavy head on the cold steel beside Lisa's hand and fall into thick, numb darkness.

It felt that way now. The weight of the blankets was enough to almost crush his chest, as if someone had turned the gravity way up. This was Torchwod- it could happen. Back in London, he'd known that he'd have to wake up, because there were a million things he still needed to do. He'd done them. All of them, methodically, one after the other. Whatever else he'd done wrong, Ianto knew he had done absolutely everything he could for her. That was the only reason he was still alive- the only thing left to hold onto.

He'd done all he could for so long. Ianto thought it was only fair that he be allowed to rest now, when he was so tired and cold. He'd fought for Lisa as long and as hard as he could, and now it felt like he'd bled out everything that was left for Torchwood Cardiff.

But Jack was still here, demanding more. It wasn't fair, Ianto thought, to keep touching him and talking at him, lifting up his head and making him drink over-sugared tea. Not when he should be allowed to lie quiet and fade away. He wanted that, and he'd earned it.

Jack Harkness never played fair.

***

Most nights Jack didn't sleep. Tonight wasn't one of the few restful ones. He let Ianto drift off after an hour or so of gentle but insistent harassment, when his colour was better and his breathing sounded normal again.

Doing nothing was an art. The long list of things that Jack did well could be divided into three categories. There were the things he was naturally good at, and that category overlapped with the next one- things he liked and enjoyed practising. The last and least favourite category contained those things he needed to learn out of necessity. Handling boredom was one of those. Jack knew he had to learn to cope with it or- he hadn't worked out the 'or', yet.

He did some paperwork, read half a chapter of Moby Dick from a first edition he'd owned from brand new and not yet finished, and washed the blood off himself and Ianto. Dabbing the red smears off Ianto's chest he managed to find interesting- he'd always wondered what was under the suit, and the answer seemed to be a surprisingly solid human male. Ianto contrived to make himself as unobtrusive as possible, and he was very good at it. Until you saw him standing next to someone else it was easy to think of him as small, but in reality he was as tall as Jack and almost as broad across the shoulders. It was one of the many little things Jack had noticed long ago, and he'd been reminded forcefully when Ianto took a swing at him.

It wasn't hard to distract himself from the bruises and scrapes. Jack had a near-infinite capacity to enjoy the bodies of others, and Ianto was easy to enjoy.

Cleaning the blood and shreds of meat from under his fingernails was less fun. There was no way even Jack's mind could make that sexy. His mood clouded.

They had been careless with the van before. The first time a weevil got left in there, Ianto left a polite note on the steering wheel on a white post-it. By the fifth time, the paper was bright pink and written in deeply scrawled capitals with bad spelling and it was a bit of a joke, or Jack and Owen had thought it was funny at least. Tosh hadn't laughed, and Susie given Jack a meaningful look. Today's accident- yesterday's, now, Jack saw as he glanced at the baby longcase clock- hadn't been caused by carelessness. It wasn't that he hadn't thought of Ianto, although on reflection, the idea that the man had gone home before they got back was crazy. Ianto would never not be there, in case they needed food or coffee or help. Denial, Jack thought, was a powerful force. He hadn't wanted to believe he needed to worry about Ianto.

It had still happened, though. This was Torchwood. Fun place to work, but bad things did happen. Sitting on the bed by Ianto, Jack thought about Canary Wharf, and Susie Costello, and so many others. Absently, he worked the last traces of gelled stiffness out of Ianto's hair. He'd always wanted to see Ianto with messy hair, too. Thinking about it, Jack came to the conclusion that it wouldn't make that much difference. Naked and with bed hair, Ianto would still be Ianto. It wasn't so much what he was wearing as the way he stood. Even at his most broken, Ianto still knew exactly who he was and what he was doing. Strangely, it was easier to picture him completely naked than in casual clothes.

'Jack!' Gwen called urgently from the office.
'Aw, hell' he swore, quietly. 'Coming!'

Gwen was standing on her own in the hub, looking pale and scared.
'Jack, there's blood all over-'
'I know. Relax.'
'It's yours?'
'You don't have to look so relieved. Just because I can't die. A man has feelings' Jack smiled, but only briefly. 'But no, not mine. Ianto's.'
'Oh god. The device.'
'Got it in one.'
'Is he alright?'
'He's sleeping now. You want coffee? Gonna have to be a la Jack today. It won't actually kill you, but beyond that I'm not offering any guarantees.'

She followed him to the kitchen. Jack found that he really didn't want to talk about the events of the last hours. He'd seen a lot of horrible things over the years, but that memory was fresh enough not to have scabbed over yet.
'What happened?' Gwen asked straight off. Police tact and subtlety, Jack thought.
'Nothing that couldn't have happened to any of us if we'd come on that thing in a dark mood. By the way, don't open the grey box in the garage. Ianto got it that far before it got him.' Jack didn't mention that he'd pulled it out again. He still wasn't sure what to think about that, or what Ianto would think about it in the unlikely event that he remembered anything at all.

He was saved by another shout from the office.
'Jack?'
'In here, Owen.'
Jack, followed by Gwen, went back out to the tearoom. Behind him, she took a sip of coffee and made a face. There was tea staining the table by the couch, and the cups and tray from last night were still there. Jack winced. Someone was going to have to mop up the garage floor, too. Owen stuck his head around the doorframe, looking like hell.
'Got a med kit?' Jack asked, conversationally. Owen nodded carefully, in case his head fell off. Jack's phone message had not been the best way to start a hung-over day.

Back in Jack's room, Ianto was still sleeping. He didn't wake up when Jack said his name or touched his arm.
'How much blood did he lose?'
'You can see for yourself. It's still all over the floor in the garage.'
'Passed out when you found him?'
'No. He was still very much in the crazy zone. He came close about 20 minutes later, but I bugged the crap out of him til he stopped.'

Owen peeled back the dressing on Ianto's neck and let out a low hiss of disapproval.
'You should have taken him to the royal infirmary and let them bug the crap out of him. He could have died last night.'
'I kept an eye on him, Owen.'
'Look at this, Jack' he said, turning Ianto's chin with two fingers. Jack bit back the urge to tell him to be more careful. A swollen black bruise reached from under Ianto's jaw to his collarbone. 'A little more swelling and his windpipe would have closed. Four minutes without air and no more Ianto.'

Jack chose to take the lecture instead of telling Owen the truth, that he'd listened to Ianto breathe all night long. That he hadn't let Ianto rest until the sound slowed and deepened. That if Ianto had so much as gasped or wheezed or skipped a breath, Jack would have known instantly.

He watched as Owen cleaned and re-dressed each wound in turn. It bothered him to see someone, even a friend and a doctor, touching Ianto. Although he hadn't said it last night, Jack had always felt Ianto belonged to him exclusively. That was why the betrayal hurt so much, although even if Ianto had been the fresh face at Torchwood instead of Gwen, he'd have been pretty damn angry.

Owen had made all of them give blood in case they ever needed it back. Ianto didn't even stir as he pushed an IV needle in the back of one hand. Jack sat on the bed and put a comforting hand on Ianto's knee. If he wasn't responsive to pain, Jack knew he wouldn't be feeling a touch, but that didn't matter. Most of the comfort was for Jack.

After a few more minutes he looked up and found Owen staring, with an inquiring look on his face.
Jack raised an eyebrow in a What? gesture, and Owen cleared his throat.
'His condition should improve in the next couple of hours. Ideally I'd like him sitting up and having a spot of lunch by the afternoon, but we'll see. Someone should stay with him. I still don't like the look of that swelling. I can it, if you want.' Jack shook his head.
'Give me ten minutes. I need to talk to Gwen and Tosh. No, make that 20. There's still blood all over the floor in the garage.'
'Cement floor' said Owen. 'Trust Ianto to bleed somewhere it's easy to clean up.'
'Be nice, Owen. Today is not the day for snark.'
'I was being nice. He's considerate, is all I'm saying, as well as being a neat freak.'
'He's gonna be pissed if the last night's tea stains the table' Jack said.

He wanted that. In fact, right now there was nothing Jack wanted more than to be lectured about leaving coffee-cup ring marks on the computer console. He knew it would make him feel like Captain Jack Harkness, the carefree man he was supposed to be, and it would also make him feel cared for and supported.

In the office, Gwen and Tosh were talking and drinking tea. Jack hoped Gwen hadn't poured her coffee on any of the pot plants. He'd done that himself once, alone in the hub late at night, and the heat had killed Ianto's biggest, greenest and most luscious fern. Ianto had joked about it, but he hadn't replaced the plant.

They looked up, and Jack knew instantly they'd either been discussing him, or something else they didn't want him to hear.
'Jack, is everything alright?'
'This is what we're gonna do' said Jack, cheerfully ignoring the question. 'We're gonna have us a nice quiet day where nothing major goes wrong. We're gonna deal with yesterday like grown-ups, remembering that there is not a human on Earth who wouldn't have been messed up by that device, 'kay? We're all people, people, and we all carry some of the bad around with us. Yesterday it came bubbling to the surface, but we're all still here and we can deal with it. Yes?'
'Yes' said Tosh, nodding. Of all of them, Tosh felt the most clean and calm this morning. A little guilty, but still, she felt better and lighter.
'Jack, is Ianto alright?' Gwen asked. Jack thought it was typical of her to be concerned for someone else first, but today he would prefer she dealt with her own emotions.
'Ianto's having a day in bed. He needs a little rest but he'll be fine.'

Real Jack listened with amazement to Leader!Jack. He'd always had an incredible ability to pretend nothing was wrong. Today he was outdoing himself in smiling, shining, confident reassurance. Owen's voice sounded inside his head: He could have died last night. Then, Ianto's: You took care of the others.

Jack squeezed a shoulder of both women, and left them to it. They'd sort each other out, and that was good. Team building, Jack thought, and then winced when he remembered grabbing Ianto and shaking him. The limp, lifeless feel of the body in his hands was a worse memory than anything that had been said.

Involuntarily, he gritted his teeth. Just clean up the blood, Jack. A trail of rusty footsteps and spatters reached between two broad smears on either side of the garage. Jack mopped up the concrete, washed the mop, put the HazMat box away, and went to get the tea-stain on the table. He wondered if this was Ianto's life. Someone, probably Gwen, had already cleared up the mess in the tearoom, and he decided not. This was just cleaning. What Ianto did, everything from coffee to hacking to disposing of bodies to weevil handling to picking up nuances as tiny as a funny sort of weather, was something else entirely. He had Jack's back, or it had felt that way until recently. Last night, when Ianto had been so deep in his own misery and so very angry and fucked up, he'd still tried to hold on to Jack. What he'd said didn't matter.

Jack could only hope that Ianto would be as willing as he was to forget the words.

***

Owen was flicking through Moby Dick, sitting in Jack's chair and resting his feet on the edge of the bed. Again, Jack felt a stab of completely groundless jealousy.
'You can go on up, Owen.'
'Tosh in yet?' The man in the chair asked casually, not moving.
'She's not in a slapping mood. Relax, Owen. We're just gonna have a chilled out day where nothing horrendous happens to anyone. Catch up on your paperwork or something.'
'What happens if there's an emergency?'
'Then best of luck. You're in charge.'
'Jack- what?'
'Just for today, Owen. We're two men down and you're the one I was looking at when I made the decision.' And the one who needs it most, he added internally. 'Don't screw up.'
'Right then.' Owen stood. He was almost at the door when he turned around. 'Two men down?' he asked.
'Go finish your reports, Owen.'

Although Jack picked up the book again, Owen didn't move off straight away. There was a just a moment's pause. As soon the door closed, Jack put the book down again, and pulled the chair closer to the bed. With the back of one finger, he traced Ianto's cheekbone. He'd always liked them. Ianto sighed and shifted restlessly.
'Hey. You're waking up' Jack said quietly. He smiled faintly, watching, but Ianto didn't come around altogether.

Jack didn't mind. It was good to watch Ianto sleep naturally and peacefully. It was like watching a hungry person eat or giving someone a warm coffee when they were shivering. After a few hours he got up to go the bathroom, and found all three of Owen, Gwen, and Tosh in a conspiratorial huddle.
'Planning something, guys?'
'Morning tea. Or an early lunch. I never got breakfast and my hangover's wearing off' Owen said. He did look a lot brighter.
'Ah. Planning. Ianto keeps the menus and takeout junk mail with the phone book.'
'Got them. Indian, Chinese, pizza, sushi, rolls, pasties, or that low fat rabbit food place Tosh likes?'

Owen shuffled the menus like oversized playing cards and fanned them out. Gwen plucked one at random.
'Thai' she said decisively. Over her shoulder, Jack scanned the menu for something tasty. He'd skipped dinner and breakfast had slid by, and there was a really good green curry he remembered having once, but he couldn't recall what it was called or exactly what had been in it. Halfway down the mains, there was a note that said Jack- when hungry get 2 in tiny, familiar lettering. That was the one. Green curry with pork and pumpkin.

Out of curiosity, he read the other notes. Jack was written beside a few other entries, and Jack- very after the crab claws in plum sauce. The beef with chilli was listed as Owen in winter/Too hot for Suzie. The prawns in coconut milk was labelled Owen – not with hangover/alcohol. There were a few other Suzie, Tosh and Owen entries, but no Gwen yet. They didn't have Thai very often and Jack couldn't remember having it since she'd arrived, but her name would be on some of the others, he had no doubt. He ordered the green curry with the crab claws as a starter, and chose mild satay chicken strips for Ianto. There were no Ianto notes, but Jack reasoned that they'd be easy to eat at least.

'We should go and pick it up instead of getting delivery' Tosh said. 'It's near that juice bar. We could get smoothies for morning tea.'
'Smoothie choices' said Gwen, pulling out another leaflet. 'Says Tosh blueberry and cucumber, Gwen banana and honey- that one is bloody good, Owen mango and lime, and Jack classic strawberry. This is slightly sinister. Sweet, but sinister.'
'That's my Ianto. Someone loves you, be glad' Jack said. He adored this. One evening he was going to have to sit down with these menus and go through the comments. It would be a fascinating way to pass an insomniac night.
'What does Ianto want?' Tosh asked. I remember him having something that smelt like-'
'Orange and ginger' Owen finished for her. 'What?' he said, to Jack's raised eyebrow. 'I was curious and he let me have a bit of a taste, that's all.'

Jack was aware that he probably shouldn't be letting both Tosh and Gwen go off to get lunch, leaving only Owen to respond to anything that cropped up, but today was an easy day. They all needed one. Food and chatting and the rain outside and the pressure just easing away.

Back by the bed, he watched Ianto wake up ever so gradually. At first he tried to roll over, but must have felt the pain his neck even in sleep, and rolled back. He sighed, and the corner of his mouth moved. Jack smiled as he blinked, sighed, blinked again and opened his eyes properly. The first thing he saw was Jack, grinning.
'Hey there.'
'Jack' Ianto croaked, and coughed.
'Water' Jack said, passing him a glass. 'It's good for you.'

Ianto took the glass, but in haled sharply and almost let go immediately. Jack caught both the glass and Ianto's hand between both of his.
'Easy. Take it easy. It's okay.' He moved from the chair to the bed beside Ianto and helped him lift the glass to drink. There were dark bruises on Ianto's fingertips. It looked like he'd hit each one with a straying hammer.
'Better?' Jack asked, putting down the glass but not moving away. Ianto nodded and winced again. 'I'll get Owen to give you something for the pain' Jack said, shifting to get up. A hand on his thigh stopped him.
'No. It's fine.' Ianto's voice was still hoarse, but considering the likely state of his throat that wasn't surprising.

There was a pause where neither man seemed to know what to say. Ianto moved slowly from his elbows to a sitting position and reached for the glass again.
Jack was only a fraction of a second behind him.
'It's alright Sir. I can get it.' Picking up the glass between the palms of his hands, Ianto closed his eyes while he sipped at it.

To fill the emptiness, Jack rubbed a hand along his thigh, reasoning that it was perfectly okay because Ianto had touched his first. Ianto looked up, and Jack took the glass for him.
'Ianto-'
'Sir?'
'Don't worry about last night. We both said things we didn't mean.' You idiot. Jack Harkness you are a coward and a fool. To Jack, it sounded like Estelle's voice in his head. She always was scathing when he deserved it. He could feel himself pulling back into Leader!Jack, smiles and confidence and more than anything else, distance. Too scared to let anyone close.

Ianto said nothing. He looked at his own hand resting on the dark blanket. The bruised fingers and the torn nails. Someone had cleaned them, but there were still traces of blood at the corners. More than the pain, and there was pain, there was a sense of bottomless exhaustion. He closed his eyes. When he opened them, Jack was still there, with a smile on his lips and sadness in his eyes. And a hand on Ianto's thigh.

'It's you' Ianto said firmly.
'What?'
'It's you. You asked me to tell you so.'
'Are you just saying that because I-'
'No.'
'I wasn't asking you to give up Lisa.'
'Yes, you were. And I haven't, but it's you anyway. It doesn't even matter what you say now. I'm not asking you for anything. It's still you.'

'Ianto.' Again, it's all Jack can think to say, so instead of talking he decided to act.

Half an hour later, when he heard Tosh and Gwen come back, bringing with them a smell of chilli and coriander, Jack took Ianto's sleeping head from his shoulder and lay it back on the pillow. He extricated himself from the blankets and, more carefully, from Ianto's arms. Before moving away, he kissed him on the cheek.
'Nhm. Jack, where're you going?'
'Food. You need to eat, and drink more. After that you're going to rest and get better.'

For the first time that day, Jack really felt like grinning, so he did. He looked down at Ianto, sleepy-eyed and peaceful. Get better quickly, pretty man, because as soon as you're on your feet I'm bringing you right back to bed and screwing you from dusk to daybreak. With a range of waterproof battery-operated toys, chocolate sauce, a variety of new uses for your shiny silk ties, flavoured body paint, rippled condoms, most of the contents of the fruit bowl in the tearoom, whipped cream, black leather with studs, hot wax, scented oils, and absolutely anything else I can lay my filthy hands on. And my filthy hands, and every other part of me. All of those things, one by one then all together. And then again, in reverse order. And again, with strawberries and a suede glove.

Jack was aware of getting a little carried away, which was alright. A little carried away was his favourite state to be in. It would have to be real whipped cream, though. Ianto had standards, and would undoubtedly object to fake cream from a can being licked out his navel.

Before leaving, he kissed Ianto again, properly now, with tongues and depth and heat and wet lips sliding over each other. This man looked after him, cared for him, and Jack Harkness could think of plenty of ways to say thankyou.

***