Title: In The Air Tonight
By: Jonathan J Strange
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Disclaimer: This story contains adult themes and some coarse language.
Copyright ownership-
1 -Torchwood, all related characters and terms are the property of British Broadcasting Corporation.
3 - Any lyrics appearing will be credited to the appropriate artist in the Author's note on the final chapter.
2 - Any and all characters or races created by myself belong solely to me and are not to be reproduced without my prior consent.
Continuity Information: Chronologically this story would take place between Countrycide and Greeks Bearing Gifts.
Summary: Jack and Ianto are trapped inside the hub. Who locked them inside and what is this mysterious sphere doing to them...?

***

"But I know the reason why you keep this silence up,
No, you don't fool me,
Thought the hurt doesn't show,
But the pain still grows,
It's no stranger to you and me."
Phil Collins – Genesis.

CHAPTER 1

The hub was silent as Ianto walked down the spiral staircase to the bank of computers. All three desks were a mess, Gwen's topped high with official looking papers, missing person's reports and statements. Toshiko kept her desk no better with its piles of print outs and the odd gadget picked up here and there. Glancing at the monitor he noticed a program running, scanning the area for rift activity, hopefully there wouldn't be too much tonight, not after everything they had been through lately. Passing Owen's desk Ianto was surprised to find a scalpel laid out on top of a pile of medical reports referring to a study on microsurgery. Picking up the scalpel he headed toward the morgue. The Pterodactyl passed over head and flew round the monument and called to a mate now long since dead as Ianto stepped down into the white tiled room with it's cold metal table.

His eyes snapped open, someone was inside, someone was in the hub. Jack pulled himself off his bed; his toned body glimmered with sweat. The nightmares still vivid in his mind, he could still hear the screams, he could still feel his brothers hand in his and then feel it slip away. Looking at himself in the mirror he brushed his brown hair back with his hand and made for the ladder that lead to his office above. How many years had he slept down here? How long had he been here? He had lost count at around one hundred. Over one hundred years he had waited, waited for the Doctor to come back for him, did the Doctor even know he was alive? Taking his shirt off the back of the chair he pulled it on and hauled himself up the ladder and into his office. Something dropped, metal against the concrete. Who was inside the hub? Picking up his pistol, Jack checked it was armed and then slowly walked from his office and into the main room.

Glancing round the autopsy room, Ianto wondered how long it would be before he, himself, was laid on that table with Owen ripping out his guts and then sowing him back up to be placed in storage. Passing down the flight of steps he walked over to the trolley and placed the scalpel on the top in a kidney dish. The area was clean, sterile and even as he stood there he wondered just how many people had been torn apart on that table, how many people who's deaths would go unnoticed had found themselves under the knife of an unnamed doctor in the Torchwood Hub? Leaving those thoughts behind him, he started climbing the stairs back toward main room. As he reached the top he caught sight of a silver sphere sat on the table a few feet away. He had not noticed it on his way in. Walking over to it he looked it over, he wasn't sure where it had come from, he assumed Owen must have put it there to be catalogued later, he would have a word with Owen, this wasn't the first time he had just left something out. The silver orb was sparkling, perfectly smooth surface with no visible attachment markings, no nails and no glue residue. It reminded Ianto of a high priced aftershave bottle with the thin gold band, about five millimetres thick running round the middle of the sphere. Picking it up to move it to cataloguing Ianto was shocked. A small electrical charge ran out of the object and into his hands. His instinctive reactions kicked in and he dropped it. The hollow metal against metal clang rang round the autopsy room. Swiftly looking round he couldn't see anyone and he was sure there was no one here; no one would have to know he had dropped it. Ianto raised the perfect sphere in his hands to inspect it for damage.

"Ianto!" Jack had come round the corner. "What are you doing with that? Where'd it come from?"

Ianto almost screamed, for a millisecond he let go of the orb but caught it again. "Jack, I... I thought you were out." He notice Jack had not stopped looking at the sphere he held in his hands. "I think Owen left it here; I was taking it to Toshiko's station for when she came in tomorrow." His heart was racing but he wasn't exactly sure if it was the fight or Jack himself. God, how he wanted Jack, wanted to be in those strong arms.

"Ok." Jack holstered his pistol and turned back to the main room.

Ianto watched as Jack walked out of the autopsy room, his tight trousers hugging his taut buttocks as he passed through the door and out of sight. Glancing round he walked out of the room and into the main atrium. Placing the sphere on Toshiko's desk and checking the closed circuit television to make sure no one in the hub, Ianto turned toward Jacks office and started for the door.

The sphere sat on the desk, mist seeping from around the gold ring. The blue smoke hugged the desk as it poured from the silver device. Flowing to the floor like a waterfall, the blue mist flowed towards the air filtration system. After being pulled into the grills of the air supply the mist quickly disbursed and flowed round the pipes to exit all around the hub. The, now colourless, mist was filling the air, permeating the very walls of the hub it's self. The Pterodactyl flew from his nest, circled the atrium and then dived toward the pool as the mist filled the hub.

Ianto stood at the door to Jack's office, the smell of musk and hormones filled the air. Breathing deeply Ianto looked round the organized chaos that Jack surrounded himself with. The long blue coat hung on the back of his chair, the piles of paperwork littering his desk, Ianto wished Jack would just sweep it away and take him here and now.

Jack looked up from the U.N.I.T report on the attack on Canary Warf, they were still keeping as much of the truth out of the domain of the public as they could, not even the prim minister had been given the full details. That had been a dark day for Torchwood, an all out assault on the head office. The doctor had been there, the doctor had once again been in the thick of it, as always. Jack had wished he could have been there, but he had to lie low, knowing, as he did what was to transpire, he had to be in waiting. Ianto was stood in the doorway; his tailored suit hugged his body, his mess of brown hair combed back. Jack thought of how much better Ianto's hair would look all messed up, and he'd happily be the one to mess it up. Ianto had been through so much lately; Jack was surprised he hadn't collapsed into a pile of gibbering mush. First, the loss of his girlfriend, to lose someone he loved so much by the hands of those he trusted. Then almost being hacked to bits for food, to be degraded to nothing but meat. Jack had to admire his strength, he had come through both with an air of confidence and defiance that was unsurpassed by the human race.

Ianto looked at Jack, his blue eyes sparkling in the light from the desk lamp. Ianto could see beneath his white shirt, that smooth body, that rock hard abdomen. He wanted to rip Jacks shirt off and run his tongue across the soft skin. Make his way up to Jacks nipples and...

"Where's everyone?"

Jack's question brought Ianto back to reality. Swiftly checking his watch he found it was two in the morning. "There at home Jack. It's the middle of the night."

"But somewhere it's the middle of the day." He stood up, breathing in deeply to expand his large chest. He had many years on Ianto but this young boy could still do things to him he had never dreamed of before. The tape-measure was still in the draw and the cuffs still hung in the cell. That had been a close call, they hadn't expected Owen to come back from the university so quickly, they thought they had at least a couple of hours but Owen, ever the quick one, had located the source of the energy spike and brought it back under an hour and a half. That was just frustrating.

"But here it's the middle of the night, you should get some sleep." He didn't want to but he had to turn and start to walk back to the main door. His trousers had started to press hard against him, he couldn't hide it much longer and no matter what he thought of, he couldn't get it to go down.

Jack stood and rushed, with his usual nonchalant manner, to the door. Leaning against the door jam he admired Ianto. The flaps of his blazer only allowing the odd glimpse of the tight little buttocks bobbing up and down beneath the tight blue trousers. He could still remember the first time he had taken hold of those firm little hunks of flesh. Softly kneading with his fingers as Ianto tried to listen to Suzie talk about the tracking unit that kept switching its self on. "Ianto, have you got your keys?"

Ianto stopped, his keys were in his pocket, he fingered them with his index finger as he turned round and faced Jack. Ianto stopped, fingering his keys in his pocket with his index finger to be sure they were there. He turned to face Jack. "Yes, I always carry them." The smile that crossed Jack's face told Ianto exactly what was going through his mind. Moving toward Jacks office he started to unbutton his blazer.

"Hey," Jack looked distressed as Ianto walked toward him. "Stop spoiling my fun." Jack winked and Ianto let go of his blazer. Stepping toward Ianto he ran his hand round Ianto's back and took hold of his left buttock. Pulling him closer he pushed his lips to Ianto's, probing his tongue across Ianto's teeth he pressed harder against him. Feeling Ianto's hardening against his leg Jack squeezed harder on Ianto's buttock harder. He felt Ianto's hand running through his hair as the kissed, hard. Sweat ran from Jack as his heart sped up, he could feel himself pushing against Ianto's stomach.

Falling back toward Jacks office Ianto pushed his hand inside Jacks waist band and grasped a hard buttock. The sound of the pistol falling to the floor and sliding under the desk was obscured by the klaxon, the hub was locking down. Jack pressed harder against Ianto, his finger running up Ianto's inner thigh, he moaned softly. The hub was locking down and he couldn't let go of Ianto, he wanted to push Ianto off and run but he wanted to push Ianto to the floor and rip off his clothes, just as much. The lock down would be complete in a moment and they would be trapped, but he didn't care, all he wanted, was right there in his arms. Pulling Ianto closer, Jack could feel him puling away, they had to get out. Pushing Ianto off they turned to the door as the light turned to red, Lock down was complete, they were trapped.

The indicator on his wrist flashed, the package had been delivered. He looked round; it would not be long before they were indisposed. Too wrapped up in each other to stop him, all he had to do was; wait. The night was cold and the street light glimmering off the water spattered the dark water with patches of yellow. Soon he could do what he must, no matter the cost.

***

CHAPTER 2

"Jack?" Ianto looked round. The hub was closed off, they were trapped inside. He turned and looked around, nothing seemed to have moved and nothing seemed to have moved or been changed, there seemed to be signs of unauthorized entry. He followed Jack to Owen's desk and watched as Jack pulled up the closed circuit television monitors. From what they could see there was no activity. "I'll call them in." Ianto picked up his phone and dialled the first three numbers of Owen's number.

Jacks hand caught Ianto's and held it. "Don't." He didn't want the others to come, what was the use in pulling them out of their beds and bringing them down at this time of the day. "It's probably a glitch, there's nothing they can do, leave them sleeping." Turning toward the main door Jack let his fingers run across the back of Ianto's thigh. He still wanted him badly but there was nothing he could do at the moment. His chest heaved as he walked away from Ianto, his mind screamed fro him to go back and satisfy himself. Reaching the door he accessed the control panel and tried to override the lock down but it was use.

"Jack." Ianto watched as Jack tried to open the door. "It'll open on its own if you leave it." Ianto knew that the lock down didn't engage for any reason, there was something in the hub; the air was sweeter than it normally was. He looked at Jack, crouching down to re-wire the door panel, Jacks trousers were pulled tight against his him, his shirt un-tucked at the back rode up his back, Ianto wanted to run his hand beneath that shirt, run his hand beneath and pull the shirt off completely. Ianto stepped toward Jack, holding himself back he wanted to jump on Jack and... He pushed the thoughts out of his mind. Walking over to Jack he looked down at what Jack was trying to do with the controls. "If you can get the door open what are we going to do then? We can't leave; we have no idea what's happened?"

Jack knew this; he knew they couldn't do anything. Why was he trying to get out? He hadn't really thought about it, why was he trying to get out? He caught a glimpse of Ianto's leg stood behind him. He felt the urge to turn round, turn round and take Ianto. He knew he like Ianto but this was going a little further than he had normally. Jack had to admit that he would be quite happy to take Ianto to bed and fuck him till the middle of next week, but that was normal, right now he wanted Ianto, wanted to drag him to the floor and take him right here and now, rip Ianto's clothes off and ride him like Tonto. It was almost impossible to keep his mind on the wires with Ianto stood so close, his smell filling Jacks nostrils with every breath.

Ianto looked round, he still couldn't see anything amiss, the motion sensors hadn't detected anything and the security net had not been breached. The smell of Jack drifted up to him, the musky smell of a strong man working. Ianto tried to think of what could have set the security lock down off. He knew that even minute changes in the hub that weren't caused by authorized personnel could affect the system but there was only him and Jack here, or was there someone else? The paperwork still mounted up Owens desk, the gadgets still covered Toshiko's so he knew no one had been near the work space, even the silver sphere had not moved. Glancing down Ianto looked down Jacks trousers, the position Jack was in had pulled his trousers tight against his backside and pulled the waist band away at the back, Ianto could see straight down to the soft flesh that was the top of his buttocks, he could feel his trousers start to tighten again. Walking over to the workspace he accessed Gwen's computer. He wasn't sure what he was looking for but he had to get away from Jack. He accessed the internal sensor grid and started running any scans he could think of.

"What you doing?" Jack didn't look round; he had heard Ianto walk off and start tapping on the keyboard. He couldn't access the doors from the terminal; he wouldn't be able to access anything, not during lock down. He felt cold, the air behind him no longer warm. Ianto's clean smell had drifted away also. Jack felt lonely, exposed and even a little uneasy. The feelings he was getting were nothing like he was used to, he normally felt a connection with Ianto but now all he felt was a desire to push him against a wall and release himself all over him. Pushing his groin down through his trousers Jack pulled a red wire from its place on the back of the panel, he had to get out and get some fresh air. He heard the footfalls behind him as Ianto walked back over. "Find anything?"

"I've left the system scanning the hub, the main net can't find anything to explain the lock down but something tripped the system." Breathing in he could taste Jack below him. It was as if Jack was giving off an aroma so thick it could almost be seen. Pushing his hand over his trousers Ianto tried to think of anything but Jack. All he could think of was Owen in his autopsy room, Owen in his autopsy room with someone strapped down on that cold metal table waiting... Thinking of Owen really wasn't helping, Ianto wanted to scream with frustration. Jack groaned as he connected the wire back to the panel and nothing happened, Ianto glanced down, his eye line straight down the back of Jacks trousers. God he was horny.

"Damn!" Jack dropped the panel and groaned as it bounced off the wall, it hadn't worked. The clean smell had come back, Ianto was behind him again. His mind was spinning; he could hear his heart beating in his ears. The blood was rushing round his body so quickly through every appendage he thought that one of them was going to explode. He was going to turn round, he was going to stand up, but he found he couldn't do either. He knew if he turned round he would pounce on Ianto and he couldn't do that, there had to be something wrong and he didn't want Ianto to feel used when everything went back to normal. His head was pounding, he could here the Jack that didn't care screaming inside his head, screaming for him just to do it. "Ianto?"

Toshiko's terminal started to bleep, the system had found something. Ianto hesitated, he didn't want to move, he didn't want to leave Jack. Placing his hand on Jacks shoulder he took another look down Jacks trousers. His teeth would go well on that belt, he wasn't sure he'd have the strength to rip the belt off but he'd give it a bloody good try. The terminal bleeped again.

"Ianto, find out what that is, I'll try and get the door open." Jack wanted him to move, if Ianto stayed there much longer he was going to turn round and rip his clothes off him. They had to find out what had caused the lock down; they had to know what was going on. He could hear Jack inside his head screaming at him, louder now as the blood coursed through his veins. The sweat was trailing down his back into his trousers and running down between his buttocks. He listened as Ianto walked off toward the work stations. Glancing over his shoulder he allowed himself a moment to appreciate the contours of Ianto's body as he walked up the steps to the platform.

He moved toward the office, the dockside office that supposedly sold information about the Cardiff dockland, but he knew the truth. He'd been watching this place for a wile now and he knew it was right. The moon vanished behind a cloud as he made his way down the wooden path. The door opened easily after he had used the decoder and then given it a hard push from his shoulder. The inner door was locked, as it should be if they were in lock down. Walking behind the counter he looked down to the floor and there was the emergency hatch. Pulling it open he slid down the ladder into the darkness of the ventilation tunnels.

***

CHAPTER 3

Ianto checked the readings, the system had finished it's checks and had found nothing in the hub that matched the data base or anything anomalous heat readings, it was still running the micro scan of the filtering the air purification system. That would take another five minutes, another five minutes of wanting to rip Jacks clothes off and play with the Yankees doodle dandy. He wanted to take a cold shower and relieve himself of these feelings. Glancing over he met Jacks eyes, those big puppy dog eyes, he felt the stirring in the pit of his stomach. It was two thirty in the morning, he was so glad it wasn't two thirty in the afternoon. Ianto looked back at the monitor; the progress bar was only a quarter of the way through. Did he have the strength to stand so far away from Jack for another three minutes? His groin stung with anticipation, his heart raced with the though of him and Jack, their bodies entwining, both thoughtless and silent as they moved their bodies rhythmically together in that dark world of night Jack lived in. Ianto now knew how Christine felt; it was such a horrid place to be. "Jack!" He had to get his mind of everything he was feeling. "Why do you just fuck me?"

Jack spun round, had Ianto just asked that? "What?" He couldn't have heard that right, Ianto complaining about sex?

"Why do you just screw me? Don't you trust me enough?"

"Enough for what? Don't you enjoy the sex? Never had any complaints before?"

Ianto glanced down, two minutes remaining. "All you do is joke. Can't you be serious for once?" He didn't really care about the answer; he just wanted to think of something more that what was hanging between Jacks legs. "Why can't you open up to me?"

"I thought I had or did you forget the night you had me up against the cell wall?" Jack didn't want to think of this, but he really didn't want to run up and jump on Ianto, he'd probably break a computer or worse, Ianto.

"Fuck you!" Ianto should have known better than to try and have a conversation with Jack, Capitan of secrets and subterfuge. His cock might be big but his brain wasn't.

"Ianto, I'm sorry. There are things about me you wouldn't want to know." He couldn't' get out of it, he couldn't understand, his humour had turned every conversation, and a few people. "I didn't want you think I was not..."

"Wasn't what, Jack? Wasn't an amazing, immortal arsehole!" He was feeling better; anger was making him feel better. 'All I have to do is keep it up.' Not quite the wording he wanted to use in his mind, keeping things up wasn't the problem right now. There was one minute left; he had to keep arguing, what else could he say? "Wasn't thinking of me as anything but a cock on legs?"

Oh, a cock on legs, Jack was thinking how lovely that would be right now. Why was Ianto getting so worked up? It couldn't be the same thing that had been affecting them all this time; it hadn't made him angry, just very bloody horny. "What's your problem Ianto? You've never complained before?"

Ianto checked back, thirty seconds left.

"What? Don't you think I listen to you? I love it when you moan in my ear, and it lets me know I'm getting you right where you like it." Jack could feel the blood rushing through his body, his body was beginning to shake, and he couldn't withstand the tension much longer. He wanted to grab Ianto, throw him to the floor and tear every last shred of clothing of that hot Welsh body of his.

The computer sounded, the scan had been completed. Ianto looked down, his loins still yearning for somewhere warm and wet but his mind screaming for him to get something personal from Jack before he played bedroom Olympics with him again. The computer had recognized a pathogen, air born. The monitor flickered and died, Ianto had only caught sight of one word below the materials bar, Cantharidin. Ianto wasn't sure but if he was correct that chemical was better known as Spanish Fly and it was a very powerful drug that was used to arouse people. They'd been drugged; he and Jack's night of passion had been interrupted by someone infecting them with a drug to make you horny, the irony didn't escape him just made him angrier. "I don't need any help getting horny; I'm frustrated enough as it is."

"Ianto?" Jack stood up, what was Ianto going on about, he shouldn't be frustrated, they had a regular session on a Friday night, what was wrong? "Ianto, what did you...?" Jack noticed the monitors had switched off. "The power has been cut. Someone's inside the hub."

He had found the main network relay, one snip and the systems would be down for hours and they wouldn't even know until tomorrow. Taking the panel off the wall and then pulled the wire snips out from under his robe. Placing it gently round the mesh of thin fibre optic cables he compressed the handles together and with a satisfying 'click ' the pincers bit through the wires. Placing the panel back on the wall he made his way toward the main hub atrium. Soon they would pay for what they had done. Soon. Very soon.

Jack and Ianto had moved to Jacks office but the computer was down in there too, Ianto could only think of one possibility. Jack was leaned over the desk tapping at the keyboard to try and illicit some reaction from the dead machine, as Ianto watched he laid his hand on Jacks back and slowly ran it to the base of his skull.

Jack shivered as he felt the fingers softly touching the hair on the back of his neck, turning round he took Ianto and kissed him. The Jack inside his mind screamed, this was what he wanted, this is what they both wanted. Ianto stroked the back of his hand over Jacks crotch and then flicked his hand out toward him. Jack gave a yelp and back away falling onto the desk holding his groin.

"That hurt." Ianto had never hurt him before, well, not unless he'd asked first.

"Jack... we... have to keep... level headed." Ianto really hadn't wanted to do that, he had wanted nothing more than to hold Jack and let him kiss every part of his body. Let him nibble on the soft pink flesh of his nipples and run his hand down his back until he found the supple flesh of buttock to fondle and kneed. The blood and once again stared to rush to his extremities as his trousers pressed against him. "So, why don't you let anyone in?"

"This isn't the time to be asking personal questions." Jack was looking round for his pistol, he had had it earlier when he had found Ianto in the autopsy room, what had he done with it? Looking round he couldn't find it, it wasn't on the desk or in its holster on his belt. "Where's my weapon?"

"I thought you'd have known where that was by now?" Ianto couldn't help it, he had to be so straight laced during the day, he was allowed to let his hair down some times.

Jack couldn't believe it, Ianto cracked a joke. "I meant my pistol. I could have..." Jack stood up and walked over to the entrance to his bedroom go cell. He could never be sure wish was more appropriate for him. Climbing down into the semi-darkness he searched, if it was anywhere it would be on the bed but he could see nothing. After a few moments he realised nothing could get lost down here, there was no where to lose it.

Making his way up the ladder into his office, Ianto was stood in front of him. Looking up Jack could see the curved out line of Ianto's manhood, hard against his trousers. Jack couldn't stop himself; pulling up on the floor to raise himself up he brushed his face against Ianto.

Ianto grasped Jacks hair, pushing him back down, he wanted him, now! Having Jack brush over his trousers had caused a surge or testosterone to rush made him feel like he could fight the world, every part of him throbbed and screamed for satisfaction. He felt Jacks hands on his thighs, those big hands grasping his thighs. His fingers finding their way towards his flies. It wouldn't be long; it would be so excruciatingly exciting his body trembled with the thought of what he would do once Jack's mouth surrounded him. He felt like he was going to drop to the floor, melt into a pool of mush with the felling of pleasure he was going to feel once he was satisfied.

He made his way down the tunnel, the vent only a few meters away. He could here the sounds of heavy breathing. They were still at it? He couldn't believe it, they must be both superhuman, it had been at least an hour since the gas had been released, giving ten minutes for it to take effect that would mean they would have been having sex for over forty five minutes now and with the effect of the drug when they finally climaxed they would both have heart attacks. This was just too perfect, he could destroy the Torchwood files and dispense of two operatives all in one fell swoop.

Walking out of the tunnel he looked round the atrium, nothing moved. The sounds were coming from the office. Quickly stepping over to the secured lock up, he pulled a small hand held device out from under his robe. The sounds of two people hard at it drifted through the air. Placing the triangular device on the door, a row of lights flashed from one side to the other. A light at the top blinked and then stayed on blue. The row of lights flashed again. Someone groaned, long and hard as if they had lost their tongue but were desperately calling out. Another light blinked and stayed on in the bottom left corner, soon he would be into the archives, and soon he would be able to bring them down from inside their own hub.

Ianto had heard something, he was sure he had heard something but he didn't want Jack to stop, it was too nice. He let out a groan as Jack pushed his nose up against the top of his groin, taking him all the way in. He had to stop this, he had to. "Jack..." His words came laboured, his breathing deep and strong. "Jack, do you love me?"

***

CHAPTER 4

Jack stopped, he was frozen. Pulling away from Ianto he looked up. "What?"

"We have to move, someone's in here." Ianto stared to pull away. Jack grabbed his waistband.

"Why did you ask me that? You know the answer."

"I know but we have to move." Ianto didn't want to move away but he had to.

"I'm not right Ianto." Jack couldn't explain it but ever since he had been come back to life after the fight with the Daleks his feelings had not been the same. "You couldn't understand." Jack pulled himself to his feet and as he did so he caught sight of his pistol lying under his desk. Moving across the room he bent down and picked up the pistol.

"Jack, try me?" Ianto had had enough with all his games, all he wanted to know was why Jack was always so closed. "You never seem to want to tell anyone anything." Ianto stepped out of the office and glanced round the atrium. "There's someone over by the lock up."

"You could never understand Ianto; I wouldn't want you to try." Jack stepped behind Ianto, taking his arm he led Ianto behind him and took the lead.

"Try and what, try and understand what a dark place it is when you want someone but they don't want you?" The venom in his voice surprised Jack; he had never heard such venom in Ianto's voice before. "Just tell me, God damn it."

"Ianto, keep it down." Jack passed down the steps and towards the lock up. He could make out the outline of someone stood at the door. They had something held against it, it was flashing. Ianto's last statement stuck in is mind; it kept running round and round. "You really want to know why I never open up to you."

They were getting closer to the stranger by the security door. Ianto wanted to jump on this man in a robe and then maybe him and Jack could get back to doing something that they both would enjoy, he would sooner be laid in Jacks arms than hear Jacks life story but he had asked. "Yes, I do." That was a little too loud.

The monk turned, he looked straight at Captain Jack and Ianto, stood only a few feet away. The last green light flashed on and stayed. The locks retracted, he was in. The gun was so close he could almost taste the metal but he could see from both of them they were suffering badly. The drug had worked, the sweat was running down both of them, one had his shirt half off and the other was stood with his flies open. The monk looked at them, he wanted to laugh; did they know how long they had left?

"You are fighting a losing battle, do you realize that Captain Jack?" The thick Scottish accent filled the words with venom, his mouth spat them at the pair stood there, dishevelled, sexual ravaged pair of men who were no more men than the ones who had fallen so quickly in Scotland. "Yes I know who you are." The looks from the two told him he had defiantly caught them by surprise. "You are Torchwood." The last word like poison in his mouth, they had won the battle but not the war.

"Who are you?" Jack had not heard of any attack on Torchwood in Scotland, not since the nineteen hundreds. Who was this man, what could he want with Torchwood Wales? "Answer me!"

"The drug you have been exposed to will kill you. It will make you heart work so hard to reach climax that it will give out. There's no reason to stop me, you may as well enjoy yourselves." he couldn't be bothered with fighting now, he was too close, he just wanted them to go away, go away and die like good little Torchwood assassins.

"You obviously don't know as much as you think, I can't die!" He felt a surge of pride at that, this littler mans trick had failed; no matter what he did he was immune.

The monk looked from Jack to Ianto. It was true, they had known this. Captain Jack was immortal, well, that changed things a little. The monk looked around; there must be a way to distract him somehow. He had been training all his life in secret. Taken in by the order at St Catherine's when his mum passed away, he had been blessed. Now, as he stood before the two men he realised how this may all have been fro nothing, if Jack couldn't die he could not complete his mission. Then he glanced at the young man stood beside Jack, the sweat was running down his shirt, the white material sticking to his skin, his pert nipples pressing, outward, like little rods of steel. "I wonder if you little friend is so lucky?"

Jack turned, he had not thought about Ianto till now, he had not realised they had both been infected. This was different. If it had just been him he would have shot the monk but he couldn't, he couldn't kill Ianto's only hope. "What's the antidote?" His voice almost a scream, he didn't want to lose Ianto, not now. "How do I counter act the effects, tell me?" Jack was pressing the gun in the face of the monk now, he wanted the answer and he wouldn't take no for an answer.

The monk leaned close to Jacks face, his voice full of hatred and loathing, he seemed to take a perverted pleasure from the news he gave Jack. "There isn't one."

The words hit Jack like a thump in the crotch; he was going to lose Ianto. He didn't believe it, he couldn't believe it, there must be a way to reverse the effects of the drug. "Tell me, you're lying! Tell me!" The sorrow and fear in his voice permeated every word. "Tell me now!" A tear ran down hi cheek as he thought of losing Ianto, he had never told Ianto but he was more than a work mate, more than a fuck-buddy, he really cared about him. He didn't want to think of losing him, not now. He had so much he still wanted to say, so many things he wanted to tell him. "Tell me!"

The monk stayed quite, he just looked at the now quivering wreak that was once the great Captain Jack Harkness. He had told the truth, there was no cure, Jack's little friend would die and there nothing anyone could do about it. There was no way he could escape now, there was only one thing he could do. Screaming he ran at Jack.

"Long live the wolf. Death to Torchwood!"

The shot rang out; the monk slowed and finally fell at Jacks feet, his eyes laid open as his head rolled a little on the floor, finally coming to rest with his face looking to the wall on their right. Jack just stood there looking down at the monk. He couldn't turn, he didn't want to look at Ianto, it was too much for him to handle, he had never had to go through an hour, a day or even a minute knowing someone so close to him was going to die.

***

CHAPTER 5

Jack sat in his office; Ianto had taken the body out to the river and disposed of it. Jack couldn't move, he couldn't think, didn't want to think. Jack had thought of doing a scan through the computer systems for a cure to the drug they had been exposed to, it had finished a few minutes ago and the monk was telling the truth, there was no cure. Ianto walked into the hub through the main door. As it closed behind Ianto, Jack watched him walk up the steps to the platform, looking round Jack knew he was taking a good look at something he may never see again. His face was still pink but it was covered with sweat. Reach down Jack pushed on his groin to ease the aching pain that had started, since he had been erect for over an hour now. He still wanted Ianto badly but he knew that if they went through with it would be last thing Ianto ever did.

Jack watched as Ianto collected the rubbish from round the hum and placed it in a black plastic bin bag, life goes on, at least for some of us. He couldn't' understand how Ianto could be so calm about what he had been told. He was going to die and he had not even seemed to care. Jack stood up and walked to his door, leaning against the door jam as he had only a couple of hours before, god it seemed like a life time ago now, he had stood there with the only thought being of him and Ianto twisting round one and other in his bed, or in the cells or the autopsy room or... he hadn't cared where, he just wanted to thrust himself into Ianto.

"Ianto?" Jack called him over, it was now five am and he could see Ianto was tired. "Step into my office." Jack watched as Ianto strolled aimlessly toward the office, he had never seen the young man like this before. He seemed so lost and yet so focused. Ianto walked into the office and sat down opposite Jack.

"Ianto, I have lost so many people." He paused. "I never wanted to get close to anyone again."

"Now you tell me." Ianto didn't know weather to laugh or cry. He had wanted Jack to open up to him for years, ever since he had arrived here and they had started having an affair, you couldn't really call it a relationship, not back then, it was just sex. "I've wanted you to open up to me for all this time and you just stayed closed, now, when I'm about to die you decide to open up. You really do have crap timing." He wanted to screw Jack, here and now, right on the desk. Have his last memory the best memory. 'Death sex sounds great.'

"Ianto, you know I talk about the Doctor?" A nod from Ianto told him he could go on. "Well, I don't know why he left me, I thought he... well... I thought he cared about me but he just left me. He just left me for dead." Ianto seemed to understand, he seemed to know exactly what Jack was saying. "I know he'll come back here, he has to. I need to see him, I need to know. Can you understand that?"

"I can understand more than you can image Jack." Ianto looked across from Jack to the Pterodactyl who was circling the water tower as usual. "Jack, I care about you so much, and all I ever wanted was for you to talk to me. Why has it taken so long?"

"I don't know. You couldn't understand how much it hurts..." Jack never got chance to finish.

"You mean when you love someone and they don't even seem to see you?" The voice gave away the underlying hurt he was feeling. "Yes Jack, I know it's hard for you to understand." He wanted to get it all out, he would be dead in a few hours, and this was not the time to hold back. "I watch you all day, you flirt with Gwen, Tosh and Owen and yet you rarely give me the time of day, I just don't understand it. You treat me like I'm the only person in the world when we're in bed together but as soon as someone walks in the room I may as well not be here." He wanted to cry, his crotch hurt and his heart was pounding. The Pterodactyl cried out as he flew past the office window, Ianto wished he could be like him, he just wished he too could fly away and never be seen again. "I just wish you realised how much I understand. I may be young compared to you but I'm not daft." He turned to Jack and looked straight into his eyes. "Jack, you're not alone, if you could only understand that."

"I have always known you are there. Ianto..." Jack placed his hand on Ianto's shoulder and squeezed it lightly; he didn't want to cause him any pain, no matter how much he liked it. "...I may flirt with Gwen, Owen, and Tosh..."

"Anything that's got a pulse...?"

"But I come home to you." Jack realised as he said it what he had said, he so wanted to take it back but it was too late now.

"Come home to me? Only because you live here! It's not like we're married, Christ Jack, I don't want you to pretend I mean more to you than I do but at least you could give me the truth in my last hours." Ianto wanted to scream, how could Jack say something like that, what was he trying to say?

"I didn't mean anything by it. I was just trying to say..." Ianto had turned away from him now; he was looking out at the atrium and the pterodactyl that was flying round doing laps of the air. "I'm scared Ianto, I've never had anyone who wanted me because I was me before."

"Well, that's all I've ever wanted." Ianto stood up, turned round and leaned down to Jack. "All I ever wanted was you, just Jack." Kissing Jack long and hard on the lips he felt the surge of pleasure rising in his gut. If he was going to die he wanted to die happy and in the arms of the one man who could do that for him. Taking Jacks hand he pulled him off his seat and towards the entrance to his cell.

"Where you going?" Jack already knew. He knew instinctively what was happening, he didn't want to do this, he didn't want to be the one to kill Ianto, but did he have any choice? Ianto felt so warm now, he could feel the heat rising from every part of Ianto body, it was defiantly hot now, just not for the same reason it had been earlier. "Ianto, if we do this you'll... you'll..."

"I know. I want to be with you Jack."

Jack wasn't sure he could do this but Ianto was. It was all he wanted, to spend his last hours in the arms of his boss, his lover, his friend. They walked toward the hole in the floor as the Pterodactyl flew past once again and cried out.

"I wonder if I'll remember him?" Ianto had turned to watch him fly past for the last time.

Jack couldn't do this, he knew there had to be another way, and he couldn't do this to Ianto. Looking round he realised what his only course of action could be, the only thing he could do. It hurt even to think of the risk he was taking but he had to do it. He couldn't sit here and watch his friend die slowly, he deserved better than that.

"Ianto, I'm not doing anything with you tonight." His voice so harsh he felt bad for it.

"What?" Ianto couldn't believe it, Jack was saying no, NO. "Of all the times you had to say no, you picked now? Jack I want to be with you now, I want to feel you against me for the last time." Ianto was amazed; Jack had turned him down now, Jack of all men. What was going on in his head? Ianto knew he didn't have long left, weather Jack and him went down stairs or not, weather they took part in the carnal pleasures or not, he was going to die, the least jack could do was let him die happy.

Jack left the office; he walked round the atrium and toward the gun cabinet. Ianto looked on in dismay and confusion. 'What the hell is he doing?' Ianto was totally confused. Then it struck him, Jack was going to kill him, he was going to shoot him here and now. Jack was going to shoot him so he didn't have to have sex with him.

Turing back Jack stepped out to the little walkway between the work stations and the archives, the gun held in both hands. He hoped this would work, he really did hope this would work, it was his last chance. Raising the gun, his eye line swept toward Ianto stood on the raised area. The look of horror was more than he could bear, his stomach did somersaults, his mind screamed. How could he let his friend die like this, just decay away slowly over the next hour? He couldn't do it, Ianto deserved better. He held the gun in both hands. Jack looked straight through Ianto, he didn't want to see fear filled eyes looking back at him. This was the right thing to do; this was what had to be done. There was no way around it; he had to do it this. Looking at Ianto stood on the raised platform. Jack lowered the gun, his eyes filling up with tears at the sight of Ianto stood there, waiting for his end with so much dignity.

Jack raised the gun, and fired!

***

CHAPTER 6

The Pterodactyl screeched and fell to the ground, the sound of the large body splashing down into the water sounded off the walls of the atrium, the dart had hit its target. Ianto stood on the raised area, his legs almost giving way, his bladder ready to empty its self but the bullet had not come, just the roar of the gun. Looking at Jack over the gun he was sure Jack was going to kill him, but then, the release of fear as the gun fired and he opened his eyes to see the Pterodactyl falling from his place high in the atrium.

"What are you doing?" Ianto couldn't understand what was going on, why had Jack just shot the creature? What was he hoping to accomplish?

Jack threw the gun aside and pulled a syringe from his top pocket. His shirt hanging open he let the mist from the water blast against this hot skin. Climbing down into the water Jack jammed the syringe into the Pterodactyl and extracted twenty millilitres of its thick red blood. It seemed logical to him.

Ianto stepped down from the computer area, his legs gave way and he landed hard on his face. He felt weak, the blood rushing round his body for so long had left a lot of his muscles starved, he could feel the strain on his heart beginning to take effect, it was beating harder now. The pain down his left arm stared slowly, an ache at first. He had landed hard. Was this how he was going to die, laying on the floor of the Torchwood hub, it didn't seem fair. He had lived such a short, secluded life. He wasn't ready to die; he didn't want to die, it wasn't right for him to die. The glove, they could use the glove... 'Oh my god.' Did he really want that, to come back for two minutes, two extra minutes to spend with his friends as they cried over him and asked him what it was like? Why couldn't Jack just have had sex with him and let him die in those big strong arms.

'Oh god I'm going to die.'

The sentence kept running round and round in his darkening mind. Why wasn't he in Jacks bed? Why couldn't he be laying on Jacks chest as he slipped away?

Jack ran from the atrium and into the autopsy room, passing Ianto on the floor he didn't want to move him, he was laid down, Jack knew that would be best for him. Taking the steps four at a time he leapt to the lowered floor. He wasn't going to lose Ianto now, not after everything they had been through tonight. Pulling the centrifuge from the draw he poured the blood into a test tube and rammed it on to the grips. He had seen this done a hundred times or more, it was simple. Pushing the start button the machine gave a satisfying clunk and the motors came to life.

"Seems they made these things for idiots."

The timer stared counting down, three minutes to serum. Grabbing the trolley, Jack pulled it toward him, tipping it over he heard a distant sound, Ianto was calling him.

"Hold on Ianto! Please hold on."

Ianto lay on the floor, the cold steel didn't seem to affect him, his whole body was growing cold now. He could hear something whirring behind him, what was Jack doing in the autopsy room? Why wouldn't he come?

"Jack..." He couldn't call any louder, his mouth was dry and his throat had started to close up. His mind was turning black as his heart screamed for him to climax. His erection still pressing hard into his leg. Ianto thought of how Jack had finally opened up to him, after all these years Jack had opened up to him. They were both so alone, they both knew how much pain the other was in and neither could help without the other opening up, and Jack had done this tonight. Ianto heard the whirring continue as he lay on the floor, something moved near him, it was the Pterodactyl, it was waking up, and Jack must have only given him a light sedative. Was this going to be it, was he going to be eaten by this great creature who was so out of time, so alone in this world that had forgotten him? Ianto tried to move, he tried to get out of the way but ever twitch ran burning pain through is body, his head was light and his heart was beating too fast now, he knew it. He could see the fuzzy figure of the great creature as it pulled it's self off the floor, it was moving, moving toward him.

"Ja..." He couldn't say anything more; his mouth was too dry, his lungs burned with the effort of breathing. The creature was above him now, its sharp teeth only millimetres away from his face, it was all over now; his life was going to end with one bite from this gigantic creature so alone in time. Ianto closed his eyes as the hot breath wafted over his face, this was the end.

Jack wanted the machine to go faster, he was ready. The syringe was assembled, the needle ready to suck into it the serum. The centrifuge gave a bleep and began to slow, coming to a stop only a few seconds after Jacks attempts to pull the test tube from its rotating prongs. Flipping the cap from the tests tube Jack plunged the needle in and filled the syringe from the top layer of the two-tone liquid. Filling the syringe Jack dropped the remaining deep red liquid into a drain and bounded up the stairs back toward the atrium. Was he going to be in time?

Jack ran over to the prone body of Ianto lying on the metal floor, the Pterodactyl had flown back to its nest behind the waterfall. Jack turned Ianto over, there was no response form his closed eyes but his chest was still raising and falling, slowly, shallow breaths. Jamming the needle into Ianto's arms Jack depressed the plunger and sent the entire contents of the syringe into Ianto.

"Come on, come on." Jack had no idea what he could do now, he had done everything he could, if this didn't work then nothing would. It had to work, he didn't know what he would do if he lost Ianto. Iantos head fell back, his breathing laboured. Jack hadn't been in time, he had failed to protect another one, he had failed again. Jack screamed as the clock struck six. He could do nothing, everything had been for nothing. He had opened up to Ianto, he had let him in. He hadn't wanted him to die, Jack had given him a reason to live but it hadn't been enough, it was never enough. The tears started to fall, he couldn't hold them back, it had been so long since he had cried it felt alien to him but he had lost another one, another love had passed into the darkness. Was this all his life would be now, was this all he had to look forward to? Jack would boast about relationships like they were cars, he would pretend they meant nothing but, but to a person who could live forever, to be able to hold someone close and know they would be there forever, that was something he could only dream of.

The tears were flowing now, running down his cheek as he held Ianto in his arms. Why had this happened? What had he done to deserve this? Jack was holding Ianto so close to him; he just wanted to feel the boy's heart beat. Just once to let him know he hadn't lost another one, not like this. The team would be in soon, what would he tell them? What could he tell them? Ianto would still be lying in his arms. He couldn't let him go; he didn't want to let him go. Not like this.

"I'm sorry Ianto." Leaning down Jack kissed Ianto softly on the lips. He knew he would have to let go of him soon. He would have to put Ianto in one of those cold dark storage bays, it wasn't fair. He had not been there when Ianto needed him the most; he had not been there to hold him when he died. He wished he could take it all back, do it all again. "I'm so sorry."

Ianto's sharp intake of breath made Jack fall back and drop Ianto onto the metal floor. Coughing Ianto sat up, looking at Jack with amazement, his eyes alive and his chest heaving. "What happened?" Ianto looked round, was this heaven? If so, why was Jack clothed?

"Ianto?" Jack could do nothing but stare, his mouth too loose to form any words at all; Ianto had risen from the dead with out the use of the glove, how? Jack was lost for words, his mind could not process this fast enough. Ianto was sitting in front of him, sat in front of him and Ianto was alive. Before he thought about it, Jack threw his arms round Ianto and pulled him close. "I'm so sorry."

"For what?" Ianto was confused, he should have been dead, he had felt life slip away and had felt the darkness take him, take him to a place he couldn't describe or did he want to think of. Why was Jack sorry, what had he done? The last thing Ianto could remember was being breathed on by the Pterodactyl, where was that beast now? Why hadn't it killed him, but he had died, what was going on?

"I left you alone; I left you alone to die. I'm sorry." Jack could never make this up to him, but he would try.

Ianto tried to stand up, his legs still weak but he tried. Jack held his arm as he rose from the cold metal floor. Staggering, he was glad to have jack beside him now, he was glad to see his friend and lover still with him after all that had happened, and he was glad he hadn't awoken in a storage bay.

"What do we say?" They had reached the office and Ianto looked round. There were no signs of the night's coinsurances anywhere, nothing to give away that he had died in the night. It would go unnoticed; it would be like a cloud in the sky, a single street light in a city, no one would ever know about it or ask... 'So, Ianto, what's it like to die?' He would not have to tell them he didn't know he wouldn't have to lie and tell them it was a bright light at the end of a dark tunnel.

"Nothing, we say nothing, it's easier that way." Jack now had something only he and Ianto shared, they had both come back from the dead, they had both had crossed the line and stepped back again.

"So what do you want to do?" Ianto just wanted to sleep. Jack was steering him toward the hole in the floor where the ladder led down to his cell. So, the night would end as it was meant to have continued. In bed with Jack.

Lowering Ianto into the room. "I think we should get some sleep?" Jack jumped down.

Jack had undressed Ianto and helped him into bed. Now they lay there, side by side. The lights turned low and only the occasional call from the Pterodactyl could be heard as they laid together, in one and others arms, safe.

Author's Notes: Lyrics / Lines used:
Lyrics by Tim Rice – Phantom of the Opera, 'Past the Point of No Return'
Homaged lines from 'Monty Python's Life of Brian'.

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