Author's Note: I do not own Torchwood or any of its characters. This is set between Exit Wounds and Children of Earth. Please enjoy.
"Has anybody seen Ianto?" Jack called through the Hub before kicking himself. Of course, only Gwen would be there. He had done that a few times during the past month since Tosh and Owen died. He would probably be doing so for a bit longer. It was always hard for him to let go of the ones that were lost.
"I haven't today, Jack," Gwen said quietly as she came over to him. She gently took his hand as she usually did when he forgot that there were only three of them now.
Jack gently drew her into a hug, knowing that she needed the comfort as much as he did. "So, have you seen Ianto today?" He asked quietly.
"No," Gwen replied quietly. "I know he's been around cleaning different things up. He's been more quiet than usual, Jack. I haven't seen him that quiet since – well, since Lisa."
Jack sighed, not liking when the topic of Lisa came up. "We've all been hit hard by what happened."
"You shouldn't blame yourself," Gwen said quietly as she gently let go of the hug. "How do you want to go about finding Ianto?"
"I'll just call his cell phone," Jack said as he pulled out a cell phone and dialed Ianto's number. He raised an eyebrow as the phone went to voice mail after two rings. "That's odd."
"Voicemail?" Gwen asked quietly.
"Yeah," Jack said as he thought about it for a moment. "Gwen, could you – "
"Already doing so," Gwen said as she started to type into the computer to figure out where Ianto's phone was. It didn't matter that it was off – Tosh had made sure that they would be able to find any cell phone, on or off. She waited for the computer to come up and blinked. "It says that he's at the docks."
"Then that's where I'm going," Jack said as he put on his coat. "Can you stay for a few hours?"
"Yes," Gwen replied with a smile. "Rhys isn't going to be home tonight anyways. He's going out with friends – someone's getting married or something soon."
"Thanks Gwen," Jack said as he made sure he had everything before leaving the hub. He decided to run to the docks instead of getting into the SUV, knowing that he would be faster on his feet instead of the car.
Ianto looked out at the water, remembering how Jack had told him about Owen running into the water. It brought a smile to his face now. He didn't like staying at the Hub for too long anymore. He knew that the familiarity would come back in time, but for now, the Hub felt like it was closing in on him. He had nearly snapped at Gwen, something he couldn't forgive himself for right now. He couldn't help but feel that it was a bit his fault that his two teammates were dead at the moment. "That's a stupid thought," he muttered to himself.
"What is, Eye Candy?" John Hart asked, leaning against one of the posts on the dock. He had been watching Ianto for a while now, but didn't want to say anything. He could see why Jack was interested in the man, even if he didn't want to admit it.
"What are you doing here?" Ianto asked, his hand moving towards his gun.
John pulled his gun out faster, holding it steadily at Ianto. "I don't think you want to do that, Eye Candy. Although it would be amusing to shoot you."
"Answer my question and I won't," Ianto said, glaring at Hart.
"I didn't go as far as I liked," John replied with a bit of a smirk. He moved closer to Ianto, keeping his gun on the man. "Or maybe I wanted to just take someone with me."
"I'm quite happy where I am," Ianto replied as he tried to keep himself in check without pulling his gun. "So you could go and find someone else."
"See, the thing is, I am going to take you with me," John said.
Ianto was about to say something in reply as his phone rang. He moved to take it out of his pocket and answer, knowing he could yell for help. "Let go!" He said as John moved to take the cell phone from Ianto. He watched as his cell phone landed in the water and punched John as hard as he could.
"You really should not do that, Eye Candy," John said as he easily pistol whipped Ianto. "You should come with me. You know he's not going to be faithful. I could tell that easily from the different times that we met. You have a better chance with me or with anybody else that we meet."
"I am not going with you," Ianto growled as he kicked hard at John. He drew his gun, every intention to use it before getting shot in the arm. He cried out in pain as he laid there on the dock, clutching his arm. His gun was forgotten as he tried to move pass the pain and either into the water or away from John.
"Told you," John said with a sigh as he moved to pick up Ianto. He paused as a bullet whizzed by his head. He turned and returned fire on Jack, not about to leave where he was. He was going to hurt Jack, even if it meant that he might be bleeding when he left with his prize.
"Let him go, John!" Jack yelled before firing again. "This is between the two of us!"
"You're the one who put him in the middle!" John retorted. "And you are going to be the cause of his death, Jack Harkness! Best to leave him with me!" He was going to say more when he dodged a bullet in the other direction, turning to fire on Gwen. As he got hit in the shoulder and then leg, he teleported away, cursing as he did so.
Jack put away his weapon as he ran over to Ianto, quickly tearing part of his shirt to make a tourniquet for Ianto's wound. "I told you to stay in the Hub," he said, a bit sharply to Gwen.
"I'll listen next time when it's not someone who had a hand in Tosh and Owen's deaths," Gwen retorted as she moved over to the constibules that had responded to the shooting. She got them to go away, explaining that it was a Torchwood matter.
Jack sighed softly as he took off his coat and wrapped Ianto in it. "Ianto, I'm sorry," he said quietly as he picked Ianto up.
"My legs are fine," Ianto insisted, but didn't put up too much of a fight at being carried by Jack.
"I know," Jack said quietly as he kept Ianto close to him as he moved into the backseat of the SUV. They were all quiet as Gwen drove them to one of the clinics in Cardiff that wouldn't ask too many questions about why they were there. It was the same one that they used when Martha was turned many years older in just a moment. He didn't leave Ianto's side, save for when the doctors told him to leave. "This is my fault," he whispered as he looked down at the floor.
"How?" Gwen asked quietly. "Ianto needed air and he went out to get it. Unless you're going to be John Hart's keeper, this isn't your fault."
"It feels like it is," Jack replied quietly as he looked up at the sound of his name being called. He got up and went over to the doctor, signing a form that released Ianto into his care and collected the pain medicine that Ianto would need. He walked out with Ianto in a wheelchair as Gwen went to get the SUV. "I'm sorry," he said quietly to Ianto as they waited.
Ianto took Jack's hand and nodded a yes. "I forgive you," he whispered.
Jack smiled at that, gently squeezing Ianto's hand at that. "You're going to be okay though. I'll see to that."
"I'll be fine," Ianto said. "I still have one good arm. And it's only a scratch."
"Ianto," Jack said and sighed. "You're going to be on rest."
Ianto was quiet as he looked up at Jack and nodded a yes. "Okay," he said quietly as he knew that Jack meant it. They were quiet as Gwen pulled up the SUV. He let Jack help him into the backseat of the SUV, moving over so Jack could sit there as well. He smiled as Jack did so, not saying anything for the moment.
"To the Hub?" Gwen asked as she smiled at seeing the two in the backseat as she started to drive away.
"No," Jack said as he gently pulled Ianto close. He hugged Ianto as he thought about where to go. "It would be best to go to Ianto's place. We can monitor the rift from there and I think we all need to be out of the Hub for a while."
"Couldn't agree with you more," Gwen said as she turned to go to Ianto's apartment.
"Oh – alright," Ianto said quietly, closing his eyes as he rested against Jack. He could hear Jack and Gwen talking quietly as he slept, but couldn't make out what they were saying. It wasn't until a few hours later that he woke up in his own bed and slowly got up. He cursed under his breath as he woke up in a bit of pain and went towards the kitchen to get some tea. He blinked at Jack sitting on the couch with a laptop in front of him on the coffee table. "Jack?"
Jack turned to see Ianto in the kitchen and got up to go over to him. "I can do that," he said as he went over to make tea. He kissed Ianto's cheek softly. "I'm glad you slept."
"I don't know if I really did or not," Ianto said with a soft smile. "Thanks Jack."
"For what?" Jack asked as he put the water on to boil. "It's my fault, anyways."
"Is not," Ianto replied to that. "And I can make my own tea," he protested, even though his words were a bit weak.
"You were shot," Jack said. "I can do a little bit, like make you tea. Or whatever you want, really."
"Okay," Ianto replied quietly as he let his head rest on Jack's shoulder. "Should we go back to the Hub?" His mind wandered back to work, even though he didn't mean for it to do so.
"We're fine with monitoring it here," Jack said quietly. He turned and softly kissed Ianto's lips, pulling him a bit closer. When he gently broke the kiss for the both of them to breathe, he asked "think the tea can wait?"
"Yeah," Ianto said quietly. "I think you'll help more than the pills will."
"Okay," Jack said as he kissed Ianto's lips deeply before gently picking up Ianto and taking him to the bedroom. He was gentle that night, letting Ianto have as much pleasure as he could take before letting him go back to sleep. He watched over Ianto as he slept, gently stroking Ianto's hair as he did so. "I love you," he whispered, knowing that Ianto couldn't hear him. He didn't care as it was out there now. He knew his feelings, even if he couldn't express them the right way. He was going to let his actions show his love when words couldn't. It took another month for Ianto to be fully healed and he stayed there the entire time. It was just luck that nothing came up that Torchwood had to deal with. He was sad to go back to the Hub when the month was over, but everything slowly went back to normal. It wasn't that he loved Ianto less – he showed all he needed to, in that month taking care of Ianto.