Friends and Lovers
As Owen looked around him, he realised that he was totally alone. No Gwen. No Ianto. No Jack. No alien. But he knew he'd been shot and the bullet that had passed through his side, hurt like hell, and, dressed in jeans and a sweat shirt, he was freezing cold.
'Bloody hell!' he thought. 'Am I gonna die like this?'
Laying his head down on the cold cement of the footpath, he resigned himself to the inevitable. He was going to bled out, or die of hypothermia. Either way, it bloody sucked!
"Owen!"
The voice echoed in the stillness.
"'Nah, it can't be!"
"Owen!"
"Bloody hell, its Tea Boy!" His head shot of up. "Over here!" He called out.
A few seconds later, the young Welshman was kneeling beside him. His hands went to the medic's wound.
"Bad, ain't it."
It wasn't a question.
Ianto kept his features unreadable and his voice calm. "I can't tell yet." He looked bat the bloody sweatshirt. "I've...seen worse."
"Ha!" Snorted Owen. "Doctor bloody Jones, I presume."
Lifting the sweatshirt, Ianto inspected the wound. "You'll live." He smiled.
"Thanks." Owen looked around. "Where's Jack?"
"Don't know. I lost him."
"You mislaid a perfectly good 51st Century man?" Owen forced a smile. "How clumsy of you, Mr Jones."
"I think...he's dead," answered Ianto. "He'll find us."
Owen frowned, seeing the concern on the younger man's face. "Sorry, mate. I know how you hate it when that happens."
Taking a handkerchief from his jacket pocket, Ianto pressed it against the wound. "I should be used to it by now. But it still hurts."
"Arh!" Owen hissed.
"Sorry."
"It's okay." Owen watched Ianto. "Better him than us though, mate. Right?"
Ianto just nodded.
Helping Owen to his feet, Ianto put his arm around the medic's waist. "Let's yet you back to the Hub. I'll call ahead and let them know you're injured."
"We're not gonna wait for Jack?"
Ianto shook his head.
"Right."
After getting Owen buckled in, Ianto drove them back to the Hub. Tosh was at her computer, smoothing things over with the police. Gwen was putting out hot water, bandages and swabs.
"I came straight back here, when I couldn't find you." She frowned. "Where's Jack?" she asked, looked around.
Owen just shrugged, then took off his sweatshirt so he could inspect the wound. "Bullet's gone straight through, so it just needs cleaning and bandaging." He looked at Ianto. "You okay doing that, Ianto?"
Ianto nodded. "Yes."
"I'll need a couple of shots, too."
"Just tell me where everything is and I'll do my best."
Owen nodded.
Lying down on the autopsy table, Owen watched as Ianto carefully bathed the wound, dried it and then bandaged it. He told the Welshman where the vials were for the injections and where to inject him. Ianto cringed when he put the needle into Owen's arm.
"Good," said Owen, sitting up. "Job done."
"I'm glad to see you both made it back okay," came a voice from above them.
Ianto looked up into the eyes of his lover and smiled with relief. "Jack!"
Moving up the stairs, Ianto walked into Jack's outstretched arms, as they hugged.
"Sorry," Jack whispered, so that only his lover could hear.
Ianto sighed, as he took in Jack's scent. "It's okay."
After a few moments, they parted, both looking down at the now smiling Owen.
"I could do with a coffee," he told them.
Ianto smiled. "Coming right up." He walked to the kitchen.
"You okay?" Owen asked Jack.
"Fine."
Owen inclined his head in the direction the Welshman went. "He was worried about you."
Jack sighed. "I know."
"Go talk to 'im, Jack."
"Is that the doctor in you talking?"
"No, Jack, his friend."
Jack smiled, then walked towards the kitchen. Ianto was busying himself by putting five mugs on a tray. He looked up briefly as Jack approached. A shaking hand lowered the last cup onto the tray. Jack covered the hand with his own.
"I'm okay, you know."
Ianto smiled weakly. "You'd think I'd be used to it by now, but I'm not. It...hurts every time. It hurts even more when I can't be there when you come back."
Jack sighed aloud. "You don't have to..."
"Yes," interrupted Ianto. "Yes, I do."
The older man ran a finger across Ianto's lips. "I love you."
"And I love you, too, Jack."
FIN