Disclaimer: I do not own Torchwood. Nor am I making any money from this. I'm only borrowing the ideas for my own amusement and hopefully providing a moment of entertainment for others.
Mixing beer with pain killers and muscle relaxants before noon probably wasn't the best idea but Ianto really couldn't bring himself to care. Taking another swig he inspected the pill bottles that Owen had tossed at him last night. Tramadol and Methocarbamol, nothing too strong. A few more beers wouldn't kill him but they would definitely knock him out for a while.
Sitting in his empty apartment he had never wanted to talk to Rhi so badly in his life. The chaos of the last few months had enabled him to keep going but now that Ianto was forced to stay put and slow down he felt like his world was collapsing. He wasn't entirely sure where the desire to call his sister had come from but now that the thought was in his head he couldn't rid himself of it.
What would he say? 'Sorry I haven't talked to you in nearly a year. By the way I'm living back in Cardiff now, moved home so I could save Lisa. I had to watch her be consumed by a pterodactyl and I'm not handling it well. Oh, and I was almost butchered by cannibals yesterday and I'm incredibly attracted to my boss who is consequently somewhat responsible for Lisa's death. Also, my boss is a man. How are the kids?'
Jack had ordered him to take a few days of to recoup after almost becoming dinner but he really wished he could have just kept working. It may have been more physically painful but working would have been better than sitting on his couch, staring at the blank television and reflecting on the last few months.
Hugging a couch pillow to his chest he finally began to feel the effects of the alcohol and medication fogging his thoughts. He stretched out on the couch and gratefully succumbed to oblivion.
The sound of a bottles clinking together woke him with a start. He blinked a few times until he was able to focus on a sheepish looking Jack. It took him a few moments to realize the noise that had woken him was Jack cleaning off the beer bottles that littered his coffee table.
"You don't have to do that."
"I know"
"Why are you here? I don't think it's to play housemaid."
Jack shrugged then flashed his usual smile that made Ianto's heart skip a beat. "But I do look good in the outfit."
"I'm sure you do, Sir, but why are you here?"
Jack reached down and tapped on Ianto's leg indicating for him to make room so that he could join him sitting on the couch. Jack gazed intently at Ianto, assessing him until Ianto began to feel even more uncomfortable with the situation. He was unnerved at having woken up to Jack in his home and was still feeling mentally sluggish due to the medication and alcohol. The combination didn't bode well for him.
Jack finally shifted his gaze focusing on the bottles he had once again discarded on the coffee table. "Two reasons really, I wanted to see how you were doing and I wanted to tell you how proud I am of how you handled the situation yesterday."
Ianto raised his eyebrows in surprise. After Lisa he hadn't been expecting praise from Jack. He seemed to have been granted a semblance of forgiveness and was beginning to regain the team's trust but Jack telling him that he was proud of him seemed surreal. Maybe the mixture of meds and alcohol had been a worse idea than he had thought. He could be hallucinating.
Jack was watching him again with a concerned expression and Ianto tried to offer a reassuring smile.
"Tosh told me what you did for her. You were very brave. Maybe you acted a little foolishly, but aren't most brave acts a little foolish?"
Ianto felt too many emotions for him to begin to identify swelling with in him. Tears welled behind his eyes and he refused to let them form. Instead, without thinking he sat up and surged forward in a fluid motion and kissed Jack. He poured all of his emotions, anger, shame, despair, desire, fear, lust, forgiveness, into that kiss.
Jack was momentarily thrown off balance by the suddenness of the action then he responded with just as much passion and conflicting emotion. He had wanted Ianto since that day on the warehouse floor. The betrayal that he felt after Lisa hadn't dampened that desire despite Jack's anger.
Jack quickly took control of the kiss, pushing Ianto back down onto the couch and molding their bodies together. Ianto let out an involuntary hiss of pain when Jack's weight put too much pressure on his bruised ribs and Jack immediately broke the kiss, pulling back to look at Ianto in concern.
"I'm fine" Ianto murmured trying to pull Jack back down. Jack smiled and placed a tender kiss on Ianto's forehead, lingering breathing in his scent. He carefully untangled himself from Ianto's grip and stood, placing his hands in his pockets and looking uncharacteristically unsure of himself.
"I should go, you need to rest. Those ribs need time to heal and I want you back at the hub healthy as soon as possible. Come in Wednesday morning and have Owen take a look at them. I don't think I'll survive Gwen's coffee attempts much longer."
Jack leaned down to brush a soft kiss against Ianto's lips before heading toward the door. Ianto watched him go and forced himself not to beg Jack to stay. As Jack opened the door he turned back and said "Don't hesitate to call me if you need to talk."
After Jack left, Ianto picked up the discarded couch pillow and once again hugged it to himself snuggling back into the couch. He drifted back to sleep with the final thought that if Jack's visit had been a hallucination it was a damn good one.