Ianto had a feeling from the time he woke up. When coffee didn't help any, he knew there wasn't going to be anything that would. Still, he kept the paracetamol close at hand, though three before 3:00 had, as he'd guessed, done nothing.
The rest of team had run out after a Rift-gift just before 5:00 and Ianto took the opportunity to sit down in the quiet and hope that the banging in his head would be pacified by the stillness. Within minutes, he'd carefully laid down on the tatty old couch and curled in on himself. There was a chill setting in and he wanted to go fetch a blanket or raid Owen's surgery for something stronger than paracetamol, but the thought of getting up and having his head throb even harder with the change of blood pressure put that right out of his mind.
Instead, Ianto closed his eyes and tried not to sob as the pain gave no indication of letting up.
An hour and a half later, the "incoming" alarms began blaring through the Hub, jolting Ianto out of the sleep he'd drifted into and causing him to whimper and curl in tighter on himself, instinctively trying to hide from the awful racket.
"God, there is no way I'm staying up passed 9 tonight without coffee," Gwen announced, first through the cog-door. "Has Ianto got any of those takeaway cups around still?"
"He doesn't like serving his coffee in those when it can be avoided," Tosh said. "The paper of the cup alters the taste, he says, and the lid causes the steam to condense and drip back into the coffee, watering it down too much and impeding the aroma, so you don't get the full sensory experience of the coffee."
Jack just chuckled and skirted around them with the containment case holding nothing more exotic (for Torchwood) than a bog-standard Dogon eye. "Ianto!" he called out, "Got another eye for your…. Ianto?" Jack dropped the case, spotting a suited lump on the couch. "Ianto, what's wrong?" Jack asked frantically, dropping down beside his young lover and looking for any sign of injury.
"Headache," Ianto forced out. "Quiet… please?"
"Yeah, yeah," Jack promised, lowering his voice. "Owen!" Jack shouted, breaking his word immediately. "Shit. Sorry, Yan. Sorry."
"What?" Owen grumped, already in his jacket and ready to knock off for the day.
Jack put a finger to lips and gave Owen a stern look. "Headache," he said, pulling Owen away toward his operating theatre. "Can you give him something?"
"He gets migraines. I can, but it'll have him out for hours," Owen said.
"Do it," Jack said, then pointed across the room and waved Gwen and Tosh over. "Let's have quiet in here, ok? Everybody out till tomorrow morning. There's nothing here at the moment that can't wait and I'll handle anything that comes up. Oh, and go out through the garage. I'll disable to alarm long enough for you all to leave."
As soon as the team were all out, Jack hurried down to his bunker and fetched up pillows and blankets. He carefully tucked them in around Ianto, doing his best to make sure he didn't jostle Ianto too much in the process. "Those meds kicking in yet?" Jack whispered, knelt beside the couch.
A muffled "mmf" was all the response he got.
"Ok," Jack said, gently kissing the back of Ianto's neck. "You get some rest. I'll be right here when you wake up. Like you always are for me."