Title: A Stab in The Dark
Author: Outside Edge
Pairing: very minor Jack/Ianto Fandom: Torchwood
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, merely borrow them from time to time. LOTR influence.
Summary: A simple stabbing escalates into something more life-threatening.

***

He sensed the presence of his attacker behind him even before he heard Gwen's warning shout.

Already turning to face his assailant he felt a pain, like a dart of poisoned ice, just below his shoulder blade.

Then everything went into slow motion.

He remembered gasping in pain, then lashing out with his fist. The satisfying sound of a jaw breaking. The knife twisting and falling away as his attacker stumbled backwards clutching his jaw, blood pouring from his split lit.

He felt to his knees gasping for breath, he could feel his blood running down his back in a warm trickle seeping into his clothes.
"Another shirt ruined" he remembered saying and then blackness…..

When he awoke, he was in the medical bay at the Hub. The steady beeping of the heart monitor assuring him that he was alive.
"So you're awake then." Owen said, peering at him over the top of the clipboard he was studying.
"So it would seem." Jack replied, "You really should brush up on your bedside manner" he commented.
"That depends on whose bedside it is" Owen replied, grinning. "Hey where d'you think you're going!"
Jack had sat up and was swinging his legs off the side of the bed, the wires attached to his chest detached themselves and the heart monitor flat-lined with a wailing alarm.

Gwen burst through the door, with Tosh and Ianto not far behind.
"Jack!" she cried, wide-eyed, "Oh you're awake, thank God I thought."
"Well you thought wrong, unfortunately" Owen snapped, turning off the equipment.
"Owen!" Gwen shot him a look, which if it had been a loaded gun would have killed him outright.
"Don't mind him," Jack said, "He's just pissed off because I won't let him play Doctor and Patient."
"Very funny" Owen said, "Now if you'll excuse me I have more important things to do."
"Oooowww" Gwen pulled a face at his retreating back.
"I'll get your clothes Sir." Ianto said. "I took the liberty of sending your greatcoat to the menders, so it will be your No 2 coat if that's alright."
Jack smiled; trust Ianto to worry about the little things.
"That'll be fine" he assured him. Gee that man would have made a fantastic batman in the First World War.

The coldness crept up on him gradually during the day. He found himself huddled in his greatcoat and drinking copious amounts of Ianto's industrial strength coffee.

Now during the late evening he found himself sitting on the sofa in the recreational area, trying to keep himself from shivering.
"Jack are you sure you're alright?" Toshiko asked, as she handed Jack another mug of coffee.
"Yeah, fine just a little cold" Jack assured her, he held out his hand to take the coffee, but found that his fingers were unable to grasp the mug. It fell to the floor with a crash. Toshiko jumped backwards out of the spray of hot coffee.
"Jack!" she screamed.
"Tosh are you alright?" Gwen asked, rushing to her side. "Cone on I'll help you get cleaned up. Are you hurt?"
"I-I don't think so" Tosh stammered "Just a little shook up that's all"
Ianto appeared with a mop and bucket.
"Don't worry sir, I'll get this cleaned up in a jiffy" he assured Jack. And proceeded to deftly mop and clean the area, within a few minutes all trace of the accident had been removed.
Jack sat, looking at his right hand in bewilderment. Try as he might he couldn't get it to close in a fist.
"Here let me take a look," a soft voice said, taking his hand in theirs. For all his buff and bravado, Dr Owen Harper was able to play the compassionate card when it mattered.
He manipulated Jack's hand.
"Can you feel this?" he asked.
Jack shook his head.
Owen moved his attention to Jacks elbow.
"How about this?"
"Kind of, but it feels fuzzy" Jack replied.
"What about here?" Owen asked, as he gently squeezed Jacks shoulder. Jack nearly jumped a mile in the air.
He sucked in his breath in an effort not to cry out in pain. "Yes, that hurt." he hissed.
"Sorry" Owen said, "but I needed to know."
"And the prognosis."
Owen sighed. " I think the knife blade has damaged the nerves to your arm, which is why you've lost sensation in your hand. At the moment there's nothing I can do. The nerves and muscles will be bruised and damaged, they need time to heal. I'll put your arm in a sling, that will enable the area to rest and we'll monitor it over the next few days."
Jack nodded "Thanks Owen."

Owen was just finishing putting Jack's arm in a sling when Tosh and Gwen returned, Tosh wearing her spare set of clothes which she kept at the Torchwood Hub.
"Jack are you okay?" Gwen asked.
"Nothing to worry about girls" Owen assured her "Just a bit of nerve damage, Jack need to rest his arm for a few days and everything will be fine."
"Hey I'm sorry about the coffee Tosh" Jack said.
"I've made another one sir" Ianto interrupted with a fresh mug of coffee which he placed in Jack left hand.
As he raised the mug to his lips, a fierce shiver caused the coffee to spill over the edge.
Gwen snatched the mug from his hand before he could do anymore damaged.
"I just feel so cold," Jack whispered.
"You should go to bed then" Gwen said, firmly
Jack shook his head and waved at the pile of paperwork on the table in front of him.
"Reports don't do themselves sweetie" he replied.
"Ianto have we got any portable heaters?"
"No, but I'll go and get some." Ianto said, heading for the door.
"He'll be lucky at this time of night, it's nearly midnight." Owen commented.
"And high time you lot were home" Jack said, "I'll be fine, Ianto will find me a heater, don't ask me how but he will and I'll take it easy checking these reports. Now go" he shooed them away with his good hand.
"Okay, but any problems you ring right" Gwen said.
"Scouts honour" Jack replied, saluting.
"You were never a Boy Scout" Gwen laughed.
"There's a whole new meaning to Bob a Job Gwen" Jack replied with a grin.
"I think it's time we went home," Tosh said, trying to interrupt the conversation before it got too smutty.
"Yeah, go go" Jack said, "Leave me with my Boy Scout memories."
"Jack Harkness, you're just way too much" Gwen said as she grabbed her bag and headed for the door.
"Ring if you need us" Tosh said, gently putting a hand on Jack's shoulder.
"I will" Jack assured her "And sorry about earlier."

By the time Ianto returned with the heaters the Hub was quiet. Jack was sprawled across the sofa asleep. Gently Ianto touched Jack's cheek, he did feel cold. Quietly he set up the two heaters and set them to low, he then went upstairs to the back office of the Tourist Information Centre and brought down the duvet from the cot that was there. No one else knew that Ianto sometimes, like Jack, slept at the Hub guarding the Torchwood HQ. He covered Jack with the duvet and then settled down on the opposite sofa to watch over his boss for the remainder of the night.

Jack woke to the smell of coffee. He shook his head trying to remember where he was and why he was there.
"Ah you're awake sir" Ianto's soft tones said. "How are you feeling?"
Jack rubbed his face with his left hand.
"Er fine I guess" he said.
"I'm sure this will help" Ianto said, holding out a mug of coffee "I took the precaution of only half filling it sir, but here's plenty in the pot. Are you warm enough, shall I take the duvet."
"Yeah, thanks. Where did that come from?" Jack asked.
Ianto only smiled as he went to put the duvet away.
"What time is it?" Jack asked when he returned.
"0600 Sir" Ianto replied.
"And you've been here all night." Jack surmised.
Ianto nodded.
Jack sighed, he should be mad at Ianto for disobeying orders, but then again Ianto hadn't been there when he had told the others to go home. He took a deep draught of the coffee.
"Thanks" he said.
Ianto smiled.


"I'll think I take a long hot shower." Jack announced, when he had finished his third cup of coffee "Before the others get in."
"Good idea sir, wouldn't do for them to see you in just a towel" Ianto replied.
Jack looked at him sharply, looking for signs of sarcasm, but as usual Ianto's face was impassive. 'God what would it be like playing the guy at poker?' Jack wondered.

Jack got up and wandered down to the showers. He still felt chilly, but he put that down to a night on the sofa. Yes a long hot shower would do the trick. He stripped and left his clothes in a pile by the door. Ianto would deal with them, he always did. Freshly laundered clothes would appear, as if by magic by the time he came out of the shower, it was one of the perks of being the boss.

Ianto checked his watch. Jack had been in the shower for over 45 minutes, a record even for the term 'long hot shower'.
Ianto knocked on the bathroom door.
"Sir?"
There was no reply, only the sound of running water.
Ianto knocked again, harder.
"Jack!" he called.
Again no answer.
Ianto took a deep breath and opened the door.
He had been right to worry, Jack was sprawled on the bathroom floor, blood running from a nasty gash on his forehead where it had hit the toilet bowl as he had fell.
Ianto reached over and turned the water off and then rolled Jack over to check his condition. He pulled down a towel to wipe away the blood and another to cover his boss's nakedness, cursing himself for his earlier joke.
Jack's eyes flickered open as he wiped away the blood.
"Hey" Jack said softly.
"Keep still, you've got a nasty gash here," Ianto said, applying pressure to the wound.
Jack gasped.
"What happened?" Ianto asked.
"I don't know" Jack said, "I remember thinking it was time to get out and then my right leg kinda gave way and the next thing I know I'm in your arms."
"You're safe now" Ianto assured him. "Let's get you out of here and dry."
Ianto got Jack to his feet and helped him stumble to the bedside. Jack was too disorientated to argue as Ianto dried and dressed him.
"The others have arrived" Ianto suddenly said.
'Bat Man - Bat Ears' Jack thought
"I'll have Owen look at that cut, although it appears to be healing quite well on it's own." Ianto said.
"It'll be fine, don't make fuss, it'll only make him more insufferable" Jack counselled. He got to his feet, took a step forward and then fell into Ianto's arms.
"Whoa!" he cried.
"I think Owen should check you over." Ianto said, firmly.
"My leg, it's like my hand, I can't feel it properly" Jack whispered, he looked up at Ianto a look of terror in his eyes "Ianto what's happening to me?"


"Right, can you feel this?"
"Nope."
"And this?"
"Nada."
"What about this?"
"Do that again and I'll shoot you." Jack warned.
"Right, I need to do a scan, something's not adding up here. Gwen, you and Ianto go back to the alleyway where Jack was attacked and see if you can find the knife."
Gwen snorted "After all this time?"
"Well perhaps you should have searched for it at the time" Owen said sarcastically.
"It was dark, it was raining I was on my own and Jack was down possibly dying, what was I expected to do" Gwen said, hotly.
"Come on Gwen, let's go and see" Ianto said, taking hold of her arm.
"What are you hoping to find Owen" Toshiko asked.
"I don't know. But something isn't adding up here. The original wound isn't enough to cause all these problems. Perhaps the knife had been dipped in something, some sort of drug that attacks the nervous system. If Gwen and Ianto can find the knife perhaps there's something residue that will tell us what we're dealing with."

An hour later Gwen and Ianto returned. Gwen with a face like thunder.
"Find anything?" Owen asked.
"Yeah, vomit, dog shit, urine, more vomit, oh and this" Gwen slammed a knife handle down on the counter "I'm going to take a shower and no I don't need someone to scrub my back Owen."
Ianto shrugged apologetically. "It appears to have some form of writing on it" he said "But there's no blade."
"I'll see what I can do," Toshiko said, taking the blade over to her desk.


"Jack stay still" Owen said, as he ran the Bekaran scanner over Jacks back. Jack leant to the side, trying to make out the words on the plasma screen in front of him.
"Jack!" Owen warned, "You're just making this harder."
"Nice line." Jack commented, squinting at the screen.
"Would this make it better?" Tosh asked, pushing a few buttons on her laptop. The image flipped 90 degrees and enhanced.
"Thanks sweetie" Jack said. He studied the images, mouthing the strange words on the knife handle. As he finished he went pale and grasped the arm of the chair.
"Bingo" Owen said. "Tosh bring this up on the screen."
The image of the knife handle was replaced by the scanner image of Jacks back.
"I think I have traced the problem," Owen said, crossing to the screen. "This is a scan of Jack's back. As you can see, these are his ribs and this is his spine."
"Get on with it" Gwen snapped.
"Zoom please" Owen said, enjoying his moment of fame "And this my friends is the source of the trouble."
A bright triangle appeared on the centre of the screen.
"This is the tip of the knife blade which stabbed Jack two nights ago"
"But how on earth has it got there?" Toshiko asked, "Jack was stabbed in the shoulder not the spine."
"It's travelled." Jack said in a monotone.
"Well done" Owen said, brightly "Yes it appears to have travelled within Jacks body and is now pressing on his spinal column causing his paralysis."
"It's en route to my heart" Jack said
"What?" Gwen asked.
Jack reached over and reinstated the image of the knife handle on the screen.
"This is a wraith knife as used by the Dark Riders."
"Dark Riders, is that some sort of Goth band?" Owen scoffed.
"It thought that was just a legend, you know a fairy tale" Gwen whispered.
"Legends are usually based on fact. Though I must admit I thought that they had died out long ago or at least were restricted to some very isolated areas."
"Not the middle of Cardiff then" Ianto commented
"No."
"Now hold on, you said it was en route to your heart." Gwen interrupted.
"The Wraith knife is used by the Dark Riders to make people one of them, convert them to wraith status. Once it reaches the heart, it drains the life force out of them and then leaves them in a semi-alive status"
"Like a zombie?" Ianto asked.
"Yes but much more dangerous" Jack replied.
"Well then there's just one thing for it" Owen said decisively.
"What's that?" Tosh asked.
"We need to get that thing out of Jack."
"How?"
"I need to operate."


"Are you sure about no anaesthetic?"
"Perfectly"
"I think you're mad" Gwen commented
"You're entitled to your opinion."
"Look guys this is difficult enough without this " Owen interjected sharply.
For all his bravado, he was really very nervous about performing this operation.
"Jack couldn't we just take you to the hospital." Tosh pleaded.
"And wait 10 hours, play 20 questions, who, why, where, what, how and come out with MRSA? I don't think so" Jack replied "Now just strap me down and get on with it." Jack looked up to see Ianto barely hiding a smirk. He reached out and grabbed Ianto's hand. Ianto gave him a nod to let Jack know that he would be there for Jack throughout the operation.

"Gwen more suction" Owen hissed, "I can't see what I'm doing."
"I'm trying!" Gwen replied, panic in her voice.
"Hey guys" Jacks tired voice came over the tension, "Chill okay, you're making the patient nervous."
"Shut up Jack you're supposed to be asleep." Owen snapped.
Jack gripped Ianto's hand tighter as Owen's scalpel moved closer to his spine.
"Vital signs?"
"All normal" Ianto assured Owen.
"Tosh any change your end?"
Toshiko had set up a neural conductivity test on Jack's arm and leg, which would tell her if Jack regained the feeling in his limbs.
"Nothing yet."
"Okay, I think I can see it. Gwen see if you can get it, remember straight out."
"Right" Gwen took a deep breath and a good hold on the forceps. "I'm not sure I can do this," she said.
"Cause you can Gwen, you're the best" Jack assured her, his breath coming ragged "Please." he begged.
"Okay" Gwen leant forward and took the tiny piece of blade into the jaws of the forceps and pulled.
None of them were prepared for the scream that emanated from Jack as the blade was removed. Ianto felt his fingers being crushed by Jacks grip and then all went calm as Jack slid into unconsciousness.
"I have readings," Toshiko announced from her laptop.
Gwen dropped the blade into the box that was on the instrument table. Jack had left instructions that it was to be kept in the dark, natural light caused the blade to disintegrate and he wanted to run some tests on it. She picked up a bottle of liquid, which Toshiko had formulated earlier that day to counteract any residual wraith poison still in Jacks system.
"Let's close" Owen said, relief evident in his voice. "Ianto, pass me the silk."
There was no response.
"Ianto?" Owen looked up, Ianto was deathly pale.
Ianto swallowed hard.
"He broke my fingers," he said quietly, cradling his right hand.


Pillows, softness, warmth, the faint aroma of coffee mixed with a light musk and the sound of someone else's breathing. Jack was aware of these before a light touch on his cheek brought him back to reality.
He glanced to his side the best he could, given that he was face down on a bed, his back felt on fire and his whole body ached. Gingerly he moved his right foot.
"The operation was a success sir" Ianto said.
Jack smiled and then noticed the bandage on Ianto's hand.
"Ianto your hand." He whispered.
"On the mend Sir, as are you, now get some rest." Ianto replied, as he leant forward and gently kissed Jack's cheek.

***