Tears streaming down his face, Ianto glared at Jack.

"One day," he said, "I'll have the chance to save you, and I'll watch you suffer and die." Ianto spoke those words, and meant every one of them. He'd never break this promise, he told himself. Not as long as he lived. Not as long as he remembered the events of that night. And he'd never forget.

DELETE.

That sound.

DELETE.

There it was again.

YOU. WILL. BE. DELETED.

Oh no. Oh. No. Not again. No.

"JACK?" Ianto called out frantically. "Jack where are you?"

"I'm, uh, Ianto, maybe you should get out of here."

"Jack. Please. Where are you?"

"Ianto. I change that to a GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE NOW." Ianto followed the sounds of Jack's scream and what he saw was worse than he had expected. They were everywhere.

"Not without you." He could barely see Jack trying to fight off the swarm of them, but at last he saw Jack's head turn towards him. Two sets of angry blue eyes locked

"To hell with that, Ianto. I can survive anything, remember?" Ianto almost rolled his eyes. How many times had he used that one?

"To hell with that line, Jack," Ianto said furiously. "You may be immune to death, but this, this isn't death. You won't be immune to having your brain cut out and placed in the body of a Cyberman. Hell, you'll probably make for a completely indestructible Cyberman, too, just what we fucking need. And I'm not leaving you. You can't get out of here alone." Jack glanced over and looked Ianto straight in the eyes.

"Ianto," he said calmly. "Please. Just. Turn around. Now. Walk out of the room. Down the stairs. I'll be fine. Please."

"Jack," Ianto said, just as calmly. "No."

"Ianto!" Jack called. Ianto was am instant later.

"Sir." Jack was bent over one of the hub's computers, examining the screen closely.

"There's been some-" he looked up at Ianto. "There's been some rift activity in an old building just down the street. I'm heading over there to check it out. Wanna come with?"

"I'd love to, Sir," Ianto said. "Gwen, Owen, and Tosh all unavailable?"

For a moment Jack looked confused.

"No…" he said. "I just thought you might want to come along." He raised his eyebrows and gave Ianto a slight smile. "I want you to come." He put his hand on Ianto's shoulder. "And besides. It should be nothing. We'll just take a look around and be back in no time."

"Famous last words," Ianto muttered, but he wasn't going to turn this down. He smiled. "I'll get your coat."

When they'd gotten there they had split up. Ianto had looked around a bit, gun raised. That was when he'd heard it. That horrible dreadful sound that had haunted every dream he'd had since that day. That day in Canary Wharf. And since that other day. The one when he'd forever lost the woman he loved. Lost her all because of what now stood between him and the man he maybe, just maybe, had also grown to love. No way was this happening. Not again. Not to Jack. With these thoughts, Ianto let go of whatever it was that had kept him from marching straight over and sending those Cybermen begging for mercy.

"Right," Ianto muttered to just himself. "Let's do this." Jack, however, had other ideas, it seemed, still pleading Ianto to leave him to fight the Cybermen off himself.

"Sorry Jack," Ianto said with confidence. "But I already lost my girlfriend to the Cybermen, remember? I'm not going to go and lose my-" he stopped, because he didn't know how to end that. His what? "-lose you, too." At that he pulled out his gun and fired not directly at the Cybermen, but at the ceiling. The bullet made contact with a loud bang, causing the Cybermen to react as though they were startled, though Ianto doubted they had the capability of actually feeling so. They scattered in different directions, leaving Jack standing in the middle of the chaos worriedly at Ianto. Ianto wasted no time in making his way towards him. He paid no attention to the quickly closing in Cybermen, ignoring them with the hope that if he could just waltz over to Jack, who for whatever reason remained glued to the spot, and get him out of there was quickly as possible…

DELETE.

No such luck. A Cyberman that had been standing directly behind Jack came into view, and an instant later, Jack had fallen to the ground, having been shot by the Cyberman.

"Shit," Ianto said loudly. He would never forget the first time he had seen Jack die. Die and come back to life right before his eyes. He'd died, and Ianto had sunken to the ground beside him in disbelief. But he hadn't had time for disbelief because the world had been ending, just like it always seemed to be. And then with a huge gasp of air, Jack had returned from the dead, and disbelief turned into relief. Except then relief turned into grief, when minutes later Jack was dead again of a different cause. That time Ianto was sure it was for good, until Jack walked right in to the center of the hub with Gwen days later, pale as a ghost, which at the time Ianto had thought he might have been.

Ianto had never been able to help but feel a horrible sinking feeling whenever he saw Jack slip from life. Like the world was ending all over again. He tried to fight the feeling this time as he bent down and with some difficulty picked Jack up in his arms. Then keeping an eye on every single Cyberman all at once, he backed slowly out of the room and closed the door securely behind him. He knew they'd have to come back later, and soon, with more protection, better equipment, and additional team members, but for a moment, at least, they were safe.

He had still not come back to life as Ianto placed him gently on Jack's bed beneath the hub. It seemed that the amount of time it took Jack to wake up depended on the severity of the death, and while he couldn't imagine death by Cyberman was all that severe, he couldn't help feeling grateful that Jack had not awoken on the way back. He knew he'd have had a difficult time getting Jack back to the hub if he'd been conscious, as Jack would probably drag himself right back to the Cybermen-infested building the minute he woke up. True, something had to be done about them before they got out and wrecked havoc upon the world, but right now the more important thing to Ianto was keeping Jack safe for as long as possible. Saving the world could wait.

Ianto lay down on the bed on the other side of Jack and took his lifeless hand. He then leaned over and pressed his lips to those of the older man. Then he laid back down on his side of the bed and rested his head on Jack's shoulder. He felt exhausted suddenly and moments later his heavy eyelids closed, just as he felt the warmth return to the man lying next to him. He was too tired to open his eyes and greet him, but he felt a warm hand pulling him closer, and felt a soft kiss upon the top of his head And with that, Ianto Jones slipped into sleep.

Sometime later he awoke, and just as he had had expected, he was alone. He sat up and saw a note scribbled on a scrap of paper sitting beside him on the bed. Ianto read the note, smiled, and put it in his pocket. Then he got up, because he may have just rescued Jack from a fate arguably worse than death, but this was Torchwood, where it was rare that a day would pass without at least one near-death experience. And so life went on, and there was work to be done. He would start by making himself a cup of coffee.

Hope you slept well, Ianto Jones.
I'm sure you know I had to go back to get rid of the Cybermen. Couldn't keep them waiting any longer. Anyway, thanks for saving my life. Guess you changed your mind, huh?
You were right. I couldn't have gotten out of there alone.
See you once I've kicked some Cyberman ass.

Love,
Jack