Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. No copyright infringement is intended.

AN: This will be a two chapter story. There are mentions of Jack/Ianto's relationship and some cuddling. I will admit it; this is all fluff. I was sick the other day and feeling sorry for myself. And for anyone who cares, I am writing an epilogue for It's Cold Outside, because apparently I have no self-control.

I'm Fine!

Ianto had never more thankful that his job offered him a place to hide. The problem had started the night before when he was awoken from sleep by a slight itch on his neck. By morning, the slight itch had become a full fledged rash.

He managed to conceal it beneath his clothing when he dressed for work, but now it was spreading. He ran his ran over his face and cringed when he felt the warm skin.

He didn't have any allergies that he knew of, and he hadn't changed his aftershave. There really was no good reason for him to be breaking out in a rash.

He checked his watch and saw that it was nearly time for lunch. He would need to take the teams' orders and make a round of coffee soon. He sighed. He hadn't seen himself yet, but he was sure it wasn't pretty, and he knew his coworkers well enough to know that it wouldn't go without comment.

He trudged up the stairs and began to make his way to Jack's office, might as well get his shock and gasps out of the way first. He knocked lightly on the doorframe before stepping inside. Jack was looking down at the computer and hadn't noticed Ianto's less than stellar appearance.

"Excuse me, Jack. I'm taking orders for lunch." He kept his voice natural, hoping not to draw attention to himself.

Jack looked up and leaned back in his chair, probably about to say something lewd, when his face twisted in shock and he jumped to his feet.

Ianto swallowed and tried to remain professional. "Jack, it's fine, just little irritation."

But Jack was already in front of him, looking overly concerned. "Ianto, have you seen yourself? You're face is all … splotchy." And then he leaned in and sniffed him.

Ianto took a step back. "Did you just sniff me?"

"Yeah, some rashes I've seen have distinct smells, one I remember smelled almost like coconut. I was just checking."

Ianto raised his brow. "I wasn't aware there were any coconut scented rashes on earth."

"That's because there aren't. The last time I saw a case of that was on the planet Kepler."

"When would I have been in contact with anyone, or anything, from the planet Kepler?"

Jack shrugged. "Don't know. But it pays to be cautious. That guy's rash started just like that, but then his skin started to slough off. Poor guy died of shock before we could get him treated."

Ianto carefully brought a hand up and touched his face in horror. "Umm … I'm fairly certain it's just something I ate."

"Yeah, maybe, but I want Owen to check you out to be sure."

Jack leaned out the door. "Owen, my office now. Bring your kit, Ianto's all … bumpy."

"Jack!"

Jack turned and looked at him. "What, they were all going to find out eventually."

Ianto stepped around him and plonked down in a chair. He rested his head in hands as he waited for the doctor to arrive.

He could hear someone coming up the stairs and braced himself for Owen's arrival.

"What's this about Ianto being, as you put it, all bumpy?" Owen asked, coming through the door.

"I tried to tell Jack, it's just something I ate."

Owen knelt down in front of him, snapping on a pair of gloves. "Move your hands, I need to see."

Ianto was still holding his head in his hands. This was humiliating. He knew there was no point in resisting; Jack would probably pin him to the floor if he tried. He groaned, but dropped his hands and leaned back in the chair.

"I see why you called it bumpy."

He leaned in and grabbed Ianto's chin. He turned his head to the side and poked at the rash. Ianto was thankful that, so far, Owen was handling it professionally; in fact, he almost looked concerned.

Owen stood and nodded to him. "The shirt needs to go."

"What? No. It's just a rash. I'm not getting undressed in Jack's office."

"First, yes, you will; second, I'm the doctor, so I get to say what it is; and third, you've done it before."

Ianto narrowed his eyes at Owen, who was looking exceptionally smug.

"Jack?" Ianto gave him a pleading look.

Jack nodded his head.

Ianto rolled his eyes. They were acting completely ridiculous.

Huffing, in a way that some might call childish, Ianto stood and removed his jacket and waistcoat. He took his time to fold them and place them neatly on Jack's desk. Slowly, very slowly, he unfastened each button of his shirt. He caught Owen's impatient glare, and although it was immature to be so passive aggressive, he still found it pleasing.

Jack knew exactly what Ianto was doing and gave him an admonishing look.

"Would you hurry the fuck up?" Owen finally snapped.

Ianto had to hide his grin. He was happy he had made the Londoner crack.

He folded his shirt and turned for the doctor's inspection.

Owen huffed and began poking and prodding at him. He felt along his neck and listened to his chest. He finally grabbed the scanner from his bag and passed it over him. Owen made a few noncommittal noises before sitting back on Jack's desk.

"Well," Jack asked.

Owen scratched his head and shrugged. "Don't know what's caused it, but he's having a reaction to something. He's running a bit of temp, but nothing concerning yet."

Ianto rolled his eyes and looked to Jack. "See, nothing to worry about. Can I, please, put my clothing back on?"

Jack nodded and turned his attention back to the doctor. "Is it alien?"

"Don't know, Jack. This is Torchwood, and I sure as hell don't know what he could've been exposed to."

Ianto froze at the absurdity he was hearing. "It's just a rash, a simple reaction. It's not alien."

Jack stepped in front of him and placed a hand on his chest. "Look, things like this shouldn't be taken lightly, not working somewhere like this."

"You're serious?" Ianto looked to Owen and saw the same look of concern. "You two have lost your minds!"

"Owen, was there any sign it has affected his brain?"

Ianto eyes went wide, and he glanced between the two of them. "My brain is fine!" He finished buttoning his shirt and grabbed his jacket and waist coat. "I'm going to go order lunch now, if you two have finished."

Owen stood and exchanged a knowing look with Jack. Suddenly, Ianto had a feeling that he was about to be restrained. He had worked here long enough to know that look.

Even though the reasonable part of his brain knew he had a snowball's chance in hell of escape, the part that didn't want to be dissected over a simple rash had decided it was worth a go.

He bolted for the door and made it exactly three steps before he found himself pinned facedown on the floor by Jack.

"It's just a rash!" he shouted.

He felt Jack's warm breath by his ear. "Hey, you need to calm down."

Ianto closed his eyes in defeat and rested his forehead on the rough carpet, mentally noting how unsanitary it was. "You're overreacting."

Jack pressed a kiss against Ianto's hair. "Maybe, but I don't want to lose you."

"I'm not going anywhere."

Jack pressed his hips against Ianto, whispering in his ear. "I kind of like you like this, under me, Owen watching."

Ianto could feel that Jack meant every word, and it was taking all his self control to keep a moan from escaping.

"Jack …" Ianto groaned in frustration.

Jack had loosened his grip on his wrists and began trailing his fingertips up and down along Ianto's arm. "Hmm?" he hummed against his neck, sending a shiver down his spine.

"I know what you're doing, Jack."

"Yeah, and what's that?" Jack shifted again, pressing his hardened length against Ianto.

"Trying to distract me, so I'll forget why we're on the floor and why I should be angry with you."

Jack's body shook with laughter, and Ianto could feel him smiling against his neck. "Did it work?"

"Not really."

"Maybe I should try harder?" Jack nipped at the side of Ianto's neck as he tried to slide a hand under Ianto's body.

"Oi! Have you two forgotten I'm in the room?"

Jack sighed, and then Ianto felt him shift his weight off him. Ianto rolled over and took Jack's proffered hand.

When Ianto straightened up, he was greeted by two looks of shock.

"What?"

Owen stood in front of him and peered closely at his neck. "You're little 'it was just something I ate' rash has begun blistering."

Owen went to his kit and pulled out some swabs. "I want to take some samples, make sure we're only dealing with a reaction. I also want a couple vials of blood."

Ianto rubbed his temple.

"Head hurt?" Owen asked.

"Not yet. I'm sure it will by the end of the day, though."

Owen snapped a tourniquet around his arm and proceeded to draw far more than Ianto considered a couple vials of blood. "You know that the accepted definition of 'a couple' is two, right?"

"Don't care." Owen pressed a piece of gauze to the site and secured it with a strip of tape. "I should have the results from the cultures in about an hour. Until then, we're on lockdown."

xXx

Ianto lay alone on the small cot in Jack's room.

Owen and Jack had just left to confer with the girls after interrogating him on everything he had done, eaten, and drank in the last seventy-two hours. There had been nothing new or out of the ordinary. Everything that he'd done, he'd done before.

He had made coffee, fed the weevils, and worked in the archives, nothing special.

The only thing he learned from recounting the last three days was that he led a far too predictable existence. When he got better, he would really need to mix things up a bit.

He closed his eyes and rolled over. He might as well try to sleep, he reasoned.

Stretching out his legs, he felt a twinge of pain in his calf. He had forgotten all about the scratch Janet had given him. He had cleaned it and dressed it himself, not wanting to worry Jack or bother Owen with something so small.

He briefly considered calling Jack and letting him know, but shrugged off the thought. He really didn't think it was anything to worry about. He had gotten nipped and scratched plenty of times, sometimes worse, and never had a reaction like this.

He shifted in the bed to take the pressure off the wound and pulled the blanket tighter to himself. It felt cold in Jack's room and he soon found himself shivering. He was beginning to feel genuinely ill, and he felt a pang of worry shoot through him. What if he had some alien disease, or his skin started sloughing off? A violent shiver rattled through him, and he tightened the blanket around himself.

Jack had left the comm. on the bedside table, so Ianto could call him if he needed anything. Ianto eyed it for a minute and debated on whether he should. His head was beginning to feel heavy and the room was swaying. He reached for the comm. and then it went black.

xXx

Ianto opened his eyes and looked around. He was still in Jack's bed, but he noticed immediately what was different. He was now very naked and only covered by a sheet.

He tried to sit up but a warm hand pressed against his chest. He blearily followed the line of the arm up to Jack's concerned face. "Easy, you're pretty sick."

Jack sat down on the edge of the bed and placed his palm over his brow. "You're fever still pretty high." Jack ran his hand along Ianto's jaw.

"W-what happened?"

"You had a reaction to an alien bacteria."

Ianto blinked, confused. "From what?"

Jack nodded towards his legs. "Seems you failed to mention you were injured."

"The weevil scratch?"

Jack nodded. "Yep, took us a few minutes to find it, too. You should have told someone."

"Didn't seem important."

"Your health is always important."

Ianto nodded. "Sorry, didn't mean to worry you." A shiver spread through his body, causing his teeth to nearly chatter. "I'm cold."

"Here." Jack laid a blanket over him. "By the way, I owe you a suit."

He scrunched his brow in confusion. "Huh?"

"When we found you unconscious, we cut off your clothing."

So, that explained why he was naked. Realization seeped in and Ianto felt his face heat up from embarrassment. "You mean … you and Owen … Oh god." He was mortified.

"We needed to find the source of the infection."

He groaned and threw an arm over his eyes. "So, I'm going to be alright?"

"Yep, Owen's cleaned out the wound and started you on something he thinks should clear it up." Jack lifted Ianto's arm from his eyes and leaned in, pressing a kiss to his head. "You have nothing to be embarrassed about. I protected your modesty, checked you over myself. Owen didn't even catch a glimpse."

"Thank you."

"Anytime I get to undress you is welcomed, I would just prefer it under less … concerning circumstances."

"Me too." Ianto yawned. "I'm tired, lay with me?"

Jack smiled and stood, stripping off his shirt.

"Scoot over." Jack lifted the blankets and crawled in beside him. He slid his arm beneath Ianto and pulled him to his chest. "Comfy?"

He wriggled against him. "Very."

"Good, get some rest. Owen will be back soon to setup an IV."

Ianto groaned, but didn't open his eyes. He was too tired to care what Owen had planned.