Title: Lack of Vision
Author: TheRani
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Rating: PG
Summary: When Jack get hurt in the line of work, Ianto cares for him.

***

Jack was chasing an alien down a dark alley. So what else was new. Gun in hand, he crept along wall toward the corner. He crouched down a bit to peer around it. He didn't even get to complete the move. He was body slammed to the pavement. Momentarily stunned, he rolled sideways. He felt a blow skitter down his back, not quite connecting. He bounded to his feet and lunged sideways to avoid another blow.

"Back off! I'll shoot" he yelled. The creature seemed oblivious. An appendage slammed into his chest and drove him back against a rubbish bin. And then it hissed at him. A hiss accompanied by a spray of liquid straight in his face. Jack let out a strangled scream, as the venom burned his eyes and skin. Blinded, in incredible pain, he fell to his hands and knees, vainly trying to wipe the stuff off his face with his sleeve. He heard a shot, then more. The creature shrieked once and fell silent. The pain was nearly paralyzing. Then Gwen's voice was near his ear, hand on his shoulders.

"Are you ok then?" she asked.

"No," he managed to get out, before sprawling face down on the pavement. She rolled him over and saw blackish liquid sprayed across his face and seeping from the corners of his eyes.

"Owen !" she screamed, "Emergency!" Owen scrambled in their direction and took one look.

"SUV now. We have to get the stuff off his face!" he said. He and Gwen managed to haul Jack to his feet and half dragged him back down the block to the SUV. They laid him on the pavement behind it and Owen hastily dug out a couple of bottles of water and couple of saline. First Owen used the water to wash Jack's face, then he cracked open the bottles of saline and pried Jack's eyes open to rinse them too. This, elicited screams from Jack.

"I know it hurts like fucking hell but I gotta do it!" shouted Owen and Gwen did her best to hold onto Jack's wrists to keep him from fighting against Owen's hands. Tosh and Ianto appeared behind the SUV.

"Oh god, what happened!?" yelled Tosh.

"It sprayed him with some sort of poison," replied Gwen. Owen flicked a penlight across Jack's eyes then groped one handedly in his bag for bandages.

"Is he going to be ok?" asked Gwen hesitantly.

"Fuck if I know. If it was anybody but Mr. Energizer Bunny here, I'd say no. With him-" Owen gave a bit a shrug. "I think we're going to have to wait and see." And he laid some gauze pads across Jack's eyes and carefully wrapped more gauze around his head to keep them in place.

"Right then. That's as much as I can do here." Ianto moved in to help Owen pull Jack to his feet. Jack was unsteady and Ianto kept a tight grip on him as they helped him into the back of the SUV. All the rest quickly loaded in and drove toward the Hub. Jack slumped against Ianto, his hands clenched in his lap. Ianto wrapped an arm around Jack's shoulder.

Back at the Hub, Owen and Ianto carefully walked Jack down toward autopsy. Ianto stripped off Jack's coat and laid it on a stool. He and Owen helped Jack to lay on the table. Then Owen unwound the bandages. Jack's teeth were gritted as Owen pried open his eyes to get a better look. Tears were seeping from the corners of his eyes. He let out a whimper as Owen used the penlight again.

"Not good", muttered Owen.

"What?" asked Ianto. He stood at Jack's side, letting Jack's hand clench around his fingers.

"Corneal damage. Jack, I'm going to give you something for the pain and put the bandages back on. Ok?"

"Yeah, fine" whispered Jack. Owen scrunched up Jack's sleeve and injected him with a mix of painkillers and sedatives.

"Back upstairs. Some place where you can have lie down for a while," said Owen.
Tosh and Gwen watched Owen and Ianto guide Jack up the stairs and to the sofa on the main floor. They eased him down and Ianto produced a blanket from somewhere to cover him. Gwen grabbed Owen's arm as he headed back toward autopsy.

"So? How bad?" she asked

"Give me like, 10 minutes, then everyone in the conference room."

"All right"

Ianto sat on the edge of the sofa next to Jack, watching Owen head through the archway.

"-think he pu' more'n' pain stuff in th' needle.." slurred Jack, curled on the sofa.

"You need the rest," said Ianto. His hand rested on Jack's hip.

"S'ill hurts-" His hand slid out from under the blanket to touch Ianto. Ianto took his hand, gently squeezing his fingers.

"Give it a few minutes."
Jack's body slowly relaxed and his breathing evened out. Ianto brushed a finger along Jack's lips before heading for the conference room.

Owen carefully shut the door after Ianto entered, then flopped into a seat.

"So, details, prognosis, what ever," demanded Tosh.

"Right-. If he was well-. Human-.. I'd say he'd be permanently blind most likely. The venom, or whatever it was, is very caustic. Extensive damage to both corneas. Ok, mind you, I'm not an ophthalmologist, but it's pretty bad."

"But since he-." Gwen began, then stopped, unsure exactly where the thought was leading.

"Yeah, we've seen him come back from the dead, several times in fact. So,- They might heal. But even if they do, I suspect it might take a while. Couple days, maybe couple of weeks-I'm really just guessing"

"What do we do in the mean time?" asked Ianto carefully.

"Medically?" Owen asked.

"Yes."

"Keep his eyes covered. Give whatever passes for his body natural healing time to kick in. I know he's in a lot of pain. I have drops for topical anesthesia and Demerol tablets to give him. Right now, assuring that he gets a few hours of sleep is the best thing I think."

Discussion turned to the creature for a few minutes and hope that there was only one. But the topic drifted back to Jack.

"I'll stay with him," said Ianto. Owen gave him a tight-lipped nod. They were all aware that Jack and Ianto had something that might pass for a "relationship".

"I'll leave meds with you then. Call me-. If things get worse," said Owen and they all drifted back down the stairs to gather coats and depart. Ianto checked on Jack. He looked down at Jack curled on the sofa, curled in as close to a fetal position as his 6 ft frame would allow. Owen handed Ianto a bottle of tablets and a dropper bottle.

"1 or 2 tablets every 4- 6 hours. Use your judgment. In the morning, if he's awake before I get in, you can try the drops. No great rush. They might help the pain. No guarantees," instructed Owen. Ianto nodded and Owen left. Both Gwen and Tosh reiterated the "please call if you need something," before departing.

In the near silence of the Hub, Ianto sat down on the edge of the sofa, stroking a hand across Jack's hair. And he worried. He knew all too well that the rare times when Jack slept, it was in a careless sprawl. Seeing Jack curled so tightly made him know the pain medication was only doing a halfway job.

He made a quick trip to the "tourist office" to grab his laptop and then settled into moderately comfortable position on the floor in front of the sofa, laptop propped on his legs. A couple of hours passed before he heard a sound behind him. Jack whimpered and his hands pressed against the bandages over his eyes. Ianto carefully took hold of Jack's wrists.

"Don't. You're apt to make it worse," he said softly.

"Ianto ?"

"Yes, it's me. Everyone else has gone home till morning."

"Unh." Jack slowly pushed himself into a sitting position. "I -need to take a leak." Ianto took hold of his hand.

"Can you walk ?" he asked.

"Probably, but not without running into something." Jack said with a short humorless laugh. Ianto carefully pulled him to his feet.

"Do you want to put your hand on my shoulder? Or have me put my hand around your elbow?"

" I guess shoulder." He followed Ianto very gingerly across the room and down the short hall to the loo. Ianto placed his hand on the edge of the toilet.

"I'll be back in a couple of minutes. Ok?" asked the younger man.

"Yeah, I can manage even without being able to see."

Ianto returned a few minutes later. Jack was leaning against the door frame, forehead resting on the cold metal.

"Done?" Ianto asked.

"Yeah."
Ianto placed his hands on Jack's shoulders and he flinched a little at the touch.

"Owen left some pain meds for you-..", Ianto said slowly.

"I could really do with a cup of coffee or a stiff drink."

"Coffee might go better with narcotics."

He took Jack back to the sofa and left him there while he went to get coffee. When he came back, Jack was sitting with his knees drawn up and his arms crossed against them, head bowed forward. Ianto sat down beside him. Jack lifted his head.

"I smell coffee," he grinned weakly.

"As requested." Ianto carefully wrapped Jack's hands around the mug and let him drink a fair bit before pressing 2 tablets into Jack's palm. " Demerol"

"This going to knock me out like whatever Owen gave me before?"

"Honestly, I don't know."

"Might be nice if it did-." Jack downed them and drained the rest of the mug.

"More coffee?"

"No, not right now," he pressed the heels of his hands to his bandaged eyes again.

"A bed might be more comfortable-.." suggested Ianto.

"Only if I'm not alone it," Jack shot back, momentarily sounded normal.

"That can be arranged."

"Not like I'm in much of a position to take advantage of it-- I just-." and he trailed off. Ianto took the mug from his hands and pulled him back to his feet. He rocked a bit unsteadily and Ianto wrapped an arm around his waist.

They went down to what passed for Jack's quarters and sat down on the bed. Jack slowly, felt for his shoelaces and pulled them loose and dropped his shoes on the floor. Ianto shed his jacket, tie and shoes. Jack slumped back on the bed, still basically fully dressed.

"Do you want some help undressing then?" asked Ianto softly.

"No-. It hurts too much-" Jack whispered. Ianto crawled across the bed and pulled Jack carefully into his arms. Jack's breathing was shallow gulps.

"Sshh," whispered Ianto. "Just try to relax." His lips brushed lightly across Jack's. Jack's fingers tightened their hold in the fabric of his shirt, and he buried his face in the side of Ianto's neck. Eventually the drugs caught up enough to allow him to drift into a restless sleep.


Ianto woke to a pathetic whimper of pain. Jack was clutching him, half asleep, arms wound around Ianto's body, as if he was drowning. Whispers of words drifted from Jack's lips.

"Please-.please-. don' leave me. -. Not alone-- Not here-." Followed by sounds of sobbing. He could feel Jack's body jerking in his arms.

"S'ok, I'll not be leaving you then," Ianto whispered in Jack's ear. He held his lover tightly for a several minutes.
"Hurts so bad-." moaned Jack.
"I think you need more pain meds." He managed to rouse Jack close enough to coherence to get him to take more Demerol.

Ianto glanced at the clock on the bedside table. 6:15. Morning. Jack was curled against him. Not in the same desperate way as in the night, but still pressed tightly to him. Ianto eased into a sitting position. He saw Jack reach for him, half woken by the motion.

"It's morning. The rest of the team will be here in a bit," Ianto said laying a hand on Jack's arm.

"What time is it?" muttered Jack.

"6:15 You don't have to get up. No one will expect it."

"I could really use a shower," muttered Jack.

"I'll turn on the shower," Ianto replied and padded in the direction of the bathroom. When he came back, Jack was peeling off the bandages. He grimaced and flung his arm over his eyes.

"Oh god, it's too bright! It's burning," he hissed through clenched teeth. Ianto hastily shut off the overhead light, leaving only the wan light of the office filtering down through the opening above.

"Better?" Ianto asked, in a worried tone. Jack nodded and slowly dropped his arm. He tipped his face up toward Ianto, tears seeping down his face. In the dim light, Ianto could see the hazy whiteness of Jack's corneas, like frosted glass.

"Can you - see anything?" he asked gently.

"Just the light. Nothing else really."

"I'll turn off the light in the bathroom. After you go in, I'll turn on a light out here. That way you'll get just a little light."

"ok"
Jack shuffled into the bathroom.
"I'll go start the coffee, back in a moment," said Ianto. When Ianto returned, he slipped into the shower with Jack and stopped dead. Even in the indirect light from the other room, the skin of Jack's back was deeply and horribly bruised in great patches from his shoulder to his thigh.

"Jack."

"Hmm?"

"You're bruised. Absolutely black and blue from your shoulder to halfway down your leg."

"Guess that's why it's hurts so damn bad," he leaned his head against the tile, letting the water cascade down his back.

"You -. Usually heal in a few hours," Ianto traced his hand very lightly down Jack's wet skin.

"Nothing about this has been normal-"

"I think you should let Owen have a look. - How did this happen?"

"That thing rammed me to the ground then later chucked me against a dumpster. Guess it left marks." Jack turned to face Ianto, reaching for him. His hand felt it's way across Ianto's shoulder to his face.

"Do you think - the immortality thing's run out?" There was a hint of fear in his voice.

"Jack.."

"Course then that might mean I could actually die -"

"Please Jack-" Ianto's mouth sealed itself against Jack's. A heated passionate lover's kiss. "I don't want to lose you."

"Just -. wondering."

Jack laid back on the bed so Ianto could put the drops in his eyes. They did seem to dull the burning part of the pain a bit.

"Why don't you roll over on your stomach?" suggested Ianto, "Make it easier for Owen to have a look." Jack complied with a bit of a groan. Ianto drew the blankets up over him and left to see if Owen had arrived yet.

Owen had a good look at Jack's bruises. He drew a blood sample, rebandaged Jack's eyes and vanished off to run some tests. Ianto helped Jack to dress and guide him up to his office. Jack sat on the sofa in his office, fingers wrapped around a cup of coffee. Gwen walked in.

"You look a bit better," she said.

" Does half stoned out of my mind on demerol qualify as better?"

"Does it help?"

"I guess-.I've probably slept more in the past day than in the past month." Jack's fingers traced the rim of his mug.

"Jack-."

"Hmmm?"

"You're bleeding."

"What ?"

"The sleeve of your shirt had blood on it. " Her fingers touched the inside of his elbow. The sleeve had a damp spot of blood.

"That's where Owen drew blood," he said. He felt her unbutton his cuff and push the sleeve up his arm.

"Looks like it soaked through the cotton taped there-." she commented.

"I'm not surprised-." said Owen from the doorway.

"Why?" asked Gwen.

"The venom from that thing appears to have soaked into his blood stream and is acting like a near overdose of Coumadin. That's a clotting inhibitor. His body is behaving a bit like he's a raging hemophiliac." Owen dropped to one knee beside Jack and pulled the soaked cotton loose. He pressed a much bigger piece in place and put Jack's thumb on top of it.

"You're gonna have to hold it at least 15 minutes. Your clot time's like 10 times normal. Hence the massive bruising where you hit the rubbish bin."

"This just gets better and better," muttered Jack.

"I do think your body is trying to get it out of your system. But it's pretty toxic stuff."

"Any idea how long? Or am I going to bleed to death from a needle stick?"

"No clue. Under the random guess assumption that it's being partially metabolized and partially just eliminated, 48 hours? I could be totally wrong too," replied Owen. "I do think you should drink at least 2 liters of water say in the next 4-6 hours. Yeah, I know you're gonna spend a lot of time running off to the loo. But it might help get some of it out of your bloodstream."

"Fabulous."


Jack spent a couple of hours having Gwen read to him so he could dictate commentary on various reports and send replies to email. She also brought him a couple of bottles of water, per Owen's suggestion. By the time lunch rolled around, he was exhausted. Ianto brought him a sandwich, but he barely touched it. He was listening to voice mail messages when Ianto came back to check on him.
Ianto stood silently in the doorway of the office, watching him for a long minute. He was hunched forward on the sofa, the heel of one hand pressed to his forehead, his elbow resting on his knee, mobile in the other hand.
"Hey Henderson, it's Jack Harkness. Sorry about being slow to get back to you. My e- mail's hosed till at least tomorrow. Leave me some voice mail. I've got my people working on it. Bye." Jack thumbed the mobile in his hand and sat motionless with the phone dangling in his hand.
"You're pushing yourself too hard," said Ianto. Jack's head jerked up at the comment and he grimaced a little.
"The job goes on," said Jack.

"Tell them you're sick, got the flu, fell and threw out your back. Shit happens. People will believe you."

Jack shrugged a little and laid the mobile on the table in front of him, pressing both hands to face. Ianto sat on the sofa beside him and laid a hand on his leg.

"It's been over 8 hours since you took any of the Demerol," he chided Jack gently. "And you look like you're in agony."

"Eyes feel a little better. My back on the other hand-."muttered Jack into his hands.

"So take something or lay down. Or both." Ianto put an arm around Jack's shoulders and pulled him against his chest. Jack let himself slouch sideways into Ianto's arms.

"No meds. They make my brain feel like it's packed in wet cement," said Jack. "Just -. Stay here for a few minutes-."
Ianto slid back on the sofa and let Jack lay his head in his lap. He gently ruffled his fingers through Jack's hair, and stroked a thumb along the back of his neck. He could feel the tension of the muscles there. He felt Jack relax a fraction at a time. Gwen started to walk into the office. She stopped dead, seeing Jack apparently asleep across Ianto's legs.

"Later," she mouthed silently, with a hand motion, and went back the way she had come.

The healing was slow. Jack's corneas gradually repaired themselves and he could see again, if a bit fuzzily. The bruising vanished a little at a time, turning greenish, then yellowish as his body metabolized the damage.
After 3 days of no sight, Jack's healing eyes were still extremely photophobic and he sat wearing his sunglasses in his office while he typed on the computer. Owen poked his head in.

"Less computer. CRT makes you not blink as often," said Owen.

"Fine, you want to type the stuff?" snapped Jack. All the muscles down his back still ached and he was in a piss poor mood.

"Dr's orders."
Owen glared at him. Jack pushed his chair back and crossed his arms.

"Ok, Ok," said Jack. "Ever finish the autopsy on the bugger?"

"Yeah, all the physical stuff. Still working on some of the biochemical stuff. Pretty fascinating."

"For you. I can't say I appreciated being on the receiving end."

"Yeah, well-.. I'm about to head off. Get some rest ok? You still look under the weather."

"Yeah, ok." Owen headed off down the stairs. Jack sat immobile in his chair for a while before he dragged himself up and out the office door. He trudged wearily down the steps. Ianto was retrieving a coffee cup from Tosh's desk.

"Thought you'd gone," said Jack. "I should know better." Ianto gave him a hint of a grin. Jack stretched a little and made a face. "The bruises may be gone, but I still feel like a lorry backed over me." Ianto placed the cup in the sink of the kitchenette and walked back toward Jack.

"A back rub might help-." said Ianto softly.

"That sounds like a proposition"

"Doesn't have to be."

"I'm not objecting- just not sure all the parts of my body are up to -."

"If it doesn't lead anywhere, that's quite all right-.. Jack, sometimes -. Having you in my arms is all I want."
Jack stared at the floor for a long moment. He stood in his characteristic pose, hands jammed in his pockets. Then he looked back up at Ianto.

"I can't think of anywhere I'd rather be," he replied softly


Fini

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