The Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters (wish I did), or anything else to do with Torchwood, I have no intent to infringe any rights, etc. If you recognise it, I don't own it…
Be warned, I've rated this MA for adult themes and swearing. Definitely Jack/Ianto (some intimate stuff in later chapters if I get that far...)
Spoilers for CoE, well, sort of anyway, and not that it matters now anyway, who hasn't seen it?
I wrote this ages ago, right after CoE actually. Hated the end of that. So, this is an AU version of events contemporary with CoE but certain characters are not dead, because they shouldn't be, so here's my take on things. If the procedures, etc., are not quite accurate, please feel free to advise as I am not a doctor, but if the tv can get away with it, then hopefully so can I. It's a bit of fluffy relationship stuff anyway, so what the heck… I really am not sure about this one, I think its not my best but here goes anyway.
His deeply in-drawn breath shocked the people who surrounded his bed, sufficient to bring them closer. All, that is, except one, who probably couldn't get any closer if he tried. Eyelids fluttered. The light was too bright, it hurt his eyes. Several rather horrible smells assailed his too-sensitive nose, making him feel sick. He was dizzy, disorientated, his ears felt as if someone had stuffed them with cotton wool. He caught a brief uncomprehending glance at a mass of wires and tubes attached to his body, a drip attached to the back of his left hand. He was hooked up to beeping monitors with alarming flashing lights. Ohmygodwherewerethechildren…?!
"Ianto! Can you hear me? Ianto…?" a man's voice, very far away.
"Jack, don't distress him" the voice was female, calm, gentle, cutting through Jack's panicky urgency "Ianto love, we're here, you're not alone, wake up when you're ready, ok?"
It was such a struggle to open his eyes. Where the hell was he…? Oh God, the children! Were the children safe?
"Did…did you…?" his voice lacked strength, came out as little more than a whisper. Someone caught his flailing hand and held it firmly.
"What? Did we what?" Jack asked, concern etched on his face.
"Jack?" he knew who it was now, the voice, the hands "Are they…are they…safe?" he started to cough, a hard racking cough that shook his whole body. He dragged in a desperate breath, looked around wildly, then moaned "Ohhh God…" and clutched at his stomach. Jack grabbed a bowl from the bedside table and shoved it under Ianto's nose just in time. Gwen pursed her lips, trying not to show her distaste, as Rhys let out a sigh.
"Well, what can you expect?" he demanded "He's ill, poor bugger"
Pragmatically, Jack held Ianto's head until he was sure he had finished throwing up, then removed the bowl and laid him back against the pillows again.
"Ianto, who are you talking about? Is who safe?" he felt Jack's fingers gently brushing his damp hair, then those same fingers laced through his, desperately wanting to give him some of his own strength.
"The children…did you save them?" this time, his voice had just enough strength for them all to hear. Non-plussed, Jack looked at the others but everyone looked as blank as he. Gwen shrugged, glanced at Rhys who shook his head. Andy, who was standing by the door on guard duty, frowned and said "Well, don't look at me, how would I know? You never tell me anything anyway" He had been the one to bring them the news when Ianto had been brought into the hospital.
"Ianto, who is in danger?" Jack asked again, trying to keep his voice calm.
"The children…" Ianto began to sound desperate.
"What children?"
"All of 'em, everybody's…" how could Jack not know? It made no sense!
"Its OK, you rest easy" Jack patted his shoulder gently "They'll be safe, I promise" he looked at his stricken lover and frowned, having no clue what he was talking about.
"He's delirious Jack" Gwen said softly, laying a comforting hand on her boss's shoulder "The nurse said he might be confused when he came round"
Jack covered her hand with his own and nodded "Just wish I knew what he was so upset about. Why are children in danger?"
The noise of hurrying feet reached them from the corridor and Andy's "Oh, there you are" was followed closely with the door opening to admit a breathless Toshiko with Owen in tow. They took in the room at a glance and Tosh' said "Sorry we're so late, we only got Gwen's message an hour ago" Her expression on seeing Ianto was almost as worried as Jack's.
"Held up on the M4" Owen admitted "Bloody traffic. How's our Tea Boy?" he stepped to the bedside and began a rapid series of checks on his vital signs.
"Not good, he's rambling" Jack told him "Something about children being in danger…"
At that moment the door opened again and they all looked around as a doctor came in, a woman in her late thirties, dressed in a long white coat, looking worn and tired. There were grey streaks in her dark hair, lines at the corners of her eyes. She took in the scene in one glance – Jack sitting on one side of the bed holding Ianto's hand, Tosh on the other side holding his other hand, Owen close behind her checking the monitors, Gwen and Rhys arm in arm near the door. "What the hell are you all doing here? You shouldn't have been let in"
"I'm sorry, we've a tendency to ignore barriers" Jack said gently "especially when a friend of ours is involved"
"That's as maybe but we haven't yet established what's wrong with him" she sighed, exasperated.
"Whatever he has, we've all been exposed anyway" Jack told her, ignoring the worried looks the rest gave him, apart from Owen who was nodding in agreement "We were working with him all last week"
When she looked at Ianto, Jack noted the compassion that softened her features. She walked across to stand beside Jack and looked down at her patient "Hey there, Beautiful" she said gently "You had us worried there for a while. How do you feel?" She took hold of his wrist, feeling for the pulse. Ianto didn't answer, his blue eyes blank. Jack looked up at her and said "he's awake, he's just been sick and he's not making sense"
"Just now? Well I won't say I wasn't expecting it"
"He was asking about children" Jack said.
"Hmm, he's been rambling about children off and on since he was brought in. He wasn't specific about them, just that they were in danger, but we had a deal of trouble reassuring him. His temperature was off the scale"
"That can cause confusion, even hallucinations" Owen offered and the doctor glanced at him and nodded, then asked Jack to vacate the bed before proceeding to examine her patient thoroughly, listening to heart and lungs, probing his belly with gentle fingers, looking into eyes and ears and taking his temperature and blood pressure. She talked to him all the while, explaining what she was doing, calmly and firmly. She checked the monitors, noted all the results down on the chart at the end of the bed, then turned her attention back to Jack.
"So, you work with him, yes? What can you tell me about his behaviour last week"
"His behaviour?" Jack frowned "Normal, for Ianto"
"I sent him home early on Friday" Owen said "He had flu"
"Well, the good news is he began to get better yesterday, although he had no symptoms other that the temperature. We've done the blood work and that came up with nothing, no virus, no infection, nothing abnormal" she shrugged "It looks like he's continuing to recover on his own now. Although he'll no doubt be very weak, very tired and probably confused and disorientated for a while yet, so don't expect too much. If he doesn't know who you are, don't worry. Just reassure him, OK?" she took in all of them with a glance "But I don't want you exhausting him, am I clear?" she received nods all round "Good" then she lowered her voice and drew Jack and Owen to one side of the room, away from the bed "I have to say he's probably going to take quite a while to recuperate fully. Tell me, are you in touch with his family?"
"Why?" Owen asked but Jack cut across him.
"We're his family" he said firmly.
The doctor glanced at him with an assessing look then said "You ought to understand that there's a chance he might not recover fully"
"What do you mean?" the concern in Jack's voice deepened "I thought you said he was recovering on his own"
"Oh he is, and very well too. We put him on antibiotics just in case of secondary infections, but you must remember he's been though a tough time. It was touch and go for a while" she took a deep breath and said "I'm afraid we nearly lost him, he flatlined on us. His temperature was so high he had a seizure" Jack flinched on hearing that piece of information "I just want you to remember his brain has taken a hammering from the fever, even if we don't know what caused it. Its really too soon to tell how well he'll recover" She shrugged "He was unconscious when they brought him in and the paramedics said he looked like he lived alone. At least they said there was no evidence of anyone else living with him. He must have just got worse and been unable to call anyone. That's why we were confused about the children, we wondered if he was talking about his own kids but that didn't fit with the paramedics' observations. Does he have any children? Is he divorced?"
"Jack is Ianto's partner…" Gwen offered. She had sidled over to find out what was being said. Jack looked guiltily back in Ianto's direction and Gwen added "Jack is head of our…department. We're very understaffed…" she defended "Owen sent Ianto home with the flu' on Friday, but he seemed to be getting better…nobody thought anything of it. We work very long hours and we didn't have time to check on him."
"I have to admit, we've tried every test we know. We still don't know exactly what caused it" she said "Its lucky he has a vigilant neighbour and he obviously wasn't lying ill for too long if you say he went home on Friday. However, he's going to need 24 hour care when he does go home, at least for the first few days. Has he anyone he can stay with?"
"Me, I'm his partner, I'll look after him" Jack said hastily "this time, I won't leave him alone, you can be sure of that"
The Doctor smiled "I'm sure you won't" she said confidently.
Owen frowned "I think I might know what caused this" he said into the silence "I didn't fucking see it! We've been so wrapped up in chasing…" he stopped, remembering where he was "…troublemakers… I never thought we might be attacked by something so…normal!"
Jack looked at him "Well?" he prompted "you going to let us in on the secret?" Owen was looking distinctly uncomfortable.
"Sorry, yes, er… well…" he said, then made exaggerated eye movements towards the doctor.
"Retcon" Jack said pointedly "Just share, Owen, we can worry about that later"
"Vektoan Influenza" he said succinctly "Remember that slimeball of an amphibian that came through the Rift a few weeks ago? The one that washed up in Cardiff Bay, scared everybody into that panic about radiation causing mutations?" he shook his head "We had to retcon so many traumatised kids that day…" he dragged his attention back "Where was I? Yes, well, when you, Gwen and Tosh were all at that conference last week, you left me running tests. I realised it was carrying some kind of viral infection so I cross-matched samples with all known samples from Torchwood archives as usual, came across a sample from Torchwood 1 with reports about the flu outbreak in '98. The effects are a like ordinary flu, but its incubation period is fast, three days or so and it goes away in less than 48 hours. Good news is it goes away on its own, most humans don't know they've even had it. Trouble is, its fatal for Vektoans, hence the body in the Bay. In humans it causes a soaring high temperature but it isn't fatal. Causes almost no other symptoms. Why Tea Boy there had to go and be the exception to the bloody rule, I don't know"
"So how come Ianto got it?" Jack wanted to know.
"Hang on, I'm saying this is a possibility, not an actuality. I haven't done any tests to confirm or deny it yet"
"OK, so how might he have caught it then?"
"We had an accident in the medical bay" Owen sighed "Ianto brought me coffee, he put it down in the wrong place, I knocked it flying, it caught a pile of paperwork, that slid into the samples I was working on, they hit the floor. He went for a cloth and started to clean up the mess before I could stop him. He must have breathed it in then. Don't worry, I ran a decontamination procedure and cleaned the place up, I'm not totally stupid"
Jack's expression said otherwise "You didn't think to run tests when Ianto looked like he had the flu though, did you?" He snapped "Owen, why the hell didn't you put 2 and 2 together? He might have died!" worry made Jack angry.
"I'm sorry Jack, truly, but even if I'd thought about it, I wouldn't have been bothered. As I said, there's no indication for this type of reaction. What's more, I'm at full stretch here" Owen said, gathering steam "You have to understand, I'm doing my absolute fucking best! I've got a backlog of bodies to complete post mortems on, you left me with that weird cult stuff to sort out, then we had that infestation of weevils to clear out, you three buggered off for three days and I've got no help! I'm working 18 hour days here. Ianto's been off sick and with no archivist to do the filing, I can't find anything…" a note of desperation entered his voice. Tosh got up and came over to him, her expression concerned and not a little fearful. Jack opened his mouth to reply when a quiet voice cut through the agitation.
"Can I ask you to remember where you are?" the doctor said gently, a hint of steel behind the words "You're adding to my patient's distress and unless you are pulling Torchwood rank and removing him, which, I might add, I would consider a very poor idea right at this moment, he is still my patient. So keep it down Gentlemen, you can discuss this in private" Sobered, Jack fell silent and glared at Owen who looked at the floor "I think" the doctor added "you've all been under some stress recently. Your job must be high stress at the best of times, without this. Now we know he's recovering, I'll give you the samples and you can cross check them just to make sure that it is what you think it is" The doctor smiled "I guess when you work for Torchwood you don't expect your enemies to come from such an ordinary direction" she said, looking straight at Jack. He nodded, one eyebrow raised in curiosity, and she added "I have a cousin in UNIT, believe it or not. Captain Frances Wintringham? You can check with them when you get back to base. And before you ask, no, he doesn't tell me anything. He doesn't need to, you'll find my name on their list of official consultants and it doesn't take a PhD to work out that you're the local sheriffs where alien activity in Cardiff is concerned"
"We weren't aware of any UNIT personnel in our vicinity" Jack commented dryly.
"That's because I'm not UNIT personnel, I'm only a consultant they bring in occasionally so I only have level three clearance. I don't know all Torchwood's secrets, but I know you exist, the same way that everyone in UNIT, the Government and the Police know you exist. Second, I'm only on temporary assignment here for a couple of months and I've only just arrived. So" she grinned cheerfully "before you decide to wipe my memory with Retcon I suggest you access UNIT's records first"
"Pitched well and truly in at the deep end with this one, eh?"
"Just my luck. But, let's face it, I might have gone through my whole two months here and never once seen any of you. Anyway I can't say I envy you, but you perform as essential service"
"Not everyone shares your opinion" Gwen said gently.
"Isn't that the age old cliché?" came the dry reply "The heroes who fight for the world are vilified by their patrons and hated by the very people they try to protect. It's a recurrent theme in plenty of folk tales" She sounded as though this was a recurrent rant "These days the world is so stuffed with reality TV and tabloid journalism, I wonder what else can we expect? Look at the unpatriotic reactions of some folks to our troops returning from Afghanistan? Fifty years ago such a response would have been unheard of"
"Hear, hear" Andy said from the door.
"People are free to speak their minds, but they are too gullible to suggestion at the same time. The majority don't think for themselves any more. For what its worth, I appreciate your efforts" she said with a warm smile "Everything has changed since the turn of the century, we need people like you" she surveyed them for a moment before becoming brisk "Now, its plain you've all been in contact with him, so, even if you're right about this thing and it doesn't have much effect on humans, it still had some kind of dangerous effect on Ianto. Now, you might be the law when it comes to telling aliens to behave but when it comes to the spread of disease, that's my job. Viruses don't recognise Torchwood ID's so I think it would be a good idea if I take blood samples from all of you then if they show positive we can get you on a course of antivirals, as soon as possible. Assuming that, what did you call it…?"
"Vektoan Influenza" Owen said
"…Vektoan flu responds to our drugs" she finished.
Owen looked at his boss "I should have thought of that too Jack, I'm sorry"
Jack sighed and grabbed Owen into a hug, he had calmed down considerably "We've all had a lot to think about lately" he said amicably, clapping the smaller man on the back "You and Tosh kinda have an excuse…They've only been married a few weeks" he explained.
"Congratulations" the doctor said with a grin.
"Well, come on, we can hardly refuse" Gwen glanced at the others, but, receiving no reply and seemingly having been promoted to spokesperson, she added "Sooner the better"
"It's a bit late for introductions" the doctor said with a smile "but my name's Jess Wintringham, by the way. You've obviously got a doctor already" and she grinned at Owen "but anytime you need help, let me know"
"Thank you" Jack could recognise a genuine offer when he heard it and held out his hand. Her answering handshake was firm "Captain Jack Harkness" then he pointed to each of the others in turn "that's Dr Owen Harper, Gwen Cooper, Rhys Williams, Toshiko Sato, sorry, Toshiko Sato-Harper, PC Andy Davidson and you know Ianto Jones already" he turned back to the bed, smiling at Ianto who still looked distressed, Tosh by his side, holding his hand "Can't you give him anything to calm him down?" she asked.
"I'll call back to see him later and we'll review his progress then. Right now, Captain, your presence will do more for him than drugs. As well as the stuff about the children, he was calling for you too. I think he needs you now. If he's still upset when I come back I'll sort something out then" she turned to the others "right, lets get this sorted out and leave them alone for a while. I'll see to you when I get back" she said to Jack "Dr Harper, I'd appreciate it if you would assist me. We may as well take more than one sample, then we can each run tests and compare results. Come on everyone" and she lead the way out "you too" she said to PC Andy as she passed and with a bewildered look, he followed.
A few hours later Ianto woke up to bright sunlight pouring through the curtains. His mind was clearer, calmer, the bad dreams receding into memory. He surveyed the mess of wires attached to electrodes on his bare chest, leading to the bank of monitors nearby. Tubes were attached seemingly everywhere, an oxygen line was taped across his face, running under his nose, a drip lead to a canula taped to the back of his hand, a near-empty bag of clear fluid suspended above it. It made him feel slightly nauseous. His head was aching annoyingly. Jack was sitting in a chair close to the bed, the familiar coat thrown gracelessly across the chair back. His upper body was slumped over the bed, head pillowed on his arms near Ianto's side, eyes closed. Sleeves rolled up, shirt neck open, he was snoring gently. Ianto tried to lift his hand to rest it on Jack's hair but he was appalled at how weak he felt. He settled for the merest touch of his fingers against Jack's arm. He didn't wake.
"He was up all night with you" said a quiet voice from the doorway. A white-coated doctor stood there, a smile on her face, eyes alight with cheerful good humour "wouldn't leave your side. How do you feel?"
"Very tired, aching" Ianto replied economically, taking stock "slightly sick"
"Not surprising" she put down the metal dish she had been carrying and came over to the bed, captured his wrist in her cool fingers to check his pulse "I met your friends yesterday, Dr Harper told me what he thought it was, some kind of alien flu"
"Alien flu?!" Ianto muttered in disgust, of all the things…
"Your friends thought you went home with ordinary flu"
"So did I" ironic really, he thought. Of all the things to lay him low it had to be a bloody virus "Thought it was getting better as well"
"Your neighbour called 999. Happened to see the post still tucked in the letterbox and the milk on the doorstep. She knew something wasn't right, you didn't answer the door and you're apparently too methodical to ignore things like papers and milk?" her tone was tinged with disbelief.
"Yes, I am" he admitted "sad, isn't it?"
"It saved your life" she answered "so 'sad' it isn't. Let him sleep" she added "I can examine you without disturbing him. He arrived in the small hours with the rest of your team, then spent the rest of the night holding your head. I'm afraid you've been rather sick"
Ianto grimaced "How nice for him" his recollections were vague but disturbing, moments of lucidity between flashes of dreadful sickness. His throat felt raw and his mouth tasted like something had crawled in and died there.
"You've a good one there" she said unexpectedly "he really loves you. Anybody can see that" she said as she shone the pencil light in his eyes. Ianto blushed and she ran through the rest of her thorough check up of him without making further comment. Satisfied, she said she was pleased with his progress, updated the chart on the end of the bed, then checked the monitors again. As she did so, Jack suddenly sat bolt upright, blinking sleep from his eyes, hair tousled and clothes rumpled. He looked around blearily, shook his head to clear it and grasped Ianto's hand "You OK?" Ianto nodded "When did I fall asleep?" Jack asked.
"You expect me to remember?" Ianto replied "Don't worry…I'm OK"
"What time is it?"
"5.30am. Don't worry, I think he'll be fine now" Startled, Jack looked round, registering the doctor's presence. "How about you?" she asked.
"Me? I'm fine…" he hugged Ianto to him carefully and the younger man allowed the caress, leaning in to the body of his lover gratefully. Jess watched with a smile. She did like happy endings. The next thing Jack felt was his sleeve being pushed further up. Startled, he pulled away. "What are you doing?"
"I need a blood sample, remember? We had an emergency last night and I got called away. I need to do it now, soon as possible"
"But I don't need it…"
"That's what Gwen said you'd say"
"It'd be a waste. I'm probably immune…"
"That's what Owen said you'd say, but he wouldn't say why"
"Owen can do it when I get back to work"
"He asked me to do it. Said you wouldn't listen to him, besides, the sooner the better, especially with an incubation period of three days"
Jack looked at her, unable to find a suitable argument "You're like Owen, you know? You don't give up easily, do you?"
"No, I don't. So tell me, why are you being so evasive?"
"It's a long story…"
"I can't believe its something as simple as not liking needles"
"That's my problem" Ianto muttered "Not his, he's not afraid of anything"
Jack grimaced "So not true" he said firmly "but its not that, its…." he hesitated, then sighed in exasperation "…complicated" He gave in and offered his arm. Wrapping the tourniquet round his bicep she smiled, gave his muscle a little squeeze and said "Do you keep yourself in shape or is this from chasing aliens?" Jack was suddenly on home ground, the inveterate flirt in him unable to resist "beats a workout" he said "although it's a while since I had an MOT. Do you do private consultations Doctor?" Behind Jack's back, Ianto rolled his eyes.
"That depends" she replied, tapping his arm to raise the vein "on whether you can afford me" She arranged his arm to a better position. Standing so close to him, he could smell the scent of…roses on her skin, as well as something spicy and warm.
"Surely you're not in it for the money?" he murmured "Someone as dedicated as you…"
"A girl has to survive" She grinned and, lifting his hand in hers, she curled the fingers over "Just make that hand into a fist for me, that's it" he felt the cold as she swabbed the skin.
"I know you'll be gentle" he said and she had to bite her lower lip to stop herself laughing. He winced only slightly as the needle went in, catching Ianto's infuriatingly amused smile. He glared at him but if anything the smile broadened. "Still here you know, I might be ill but I'm not deaf!" the patient murmured.
Jess grinned at him, releasing the tourniquet "There, nothing to it" she said, brightly, jamming a puff of cotton wool over the wound and drawing the needle out "Just press hard over that will you"
"Whatever you say Doctor" Jack managed to make anything sound like an innuendo.
"That's not the only thing you like to press hard…" Ianto muttered but only Jack heard him. Jess replaced the cotton wool with a plaster and Jack rolled his sleeve back down. He caught her eye and winked.
"Now, Mr Jones" she was back to being the professional medic, finishing labelling the sample before dropping it back in the dish and facing her patient again "I think you can come off those monitors tomorrow, maybe go home in another couple of days, how would that be?"
"Already?" Ianto sounded a little alarmed.
"Yes, you're doing fine. I think you'll be alright now. You're alert, your vision is clear, temperature is way down. Just to be sure, we'll keep you another day, remove all this spaghetti" she grinned as she lifted the wires "then see how you're going on without it all. If you're ok by the weekend, Jack can come take you home. OK?"
"OK" Ianto didn't sound convinced but Jack was clearly overjoyed.
"I'll look after you" he said enthusiastically "You'll see"
Jess smiled and left them alone.
"Jack?"
"Ianto?"
"Did I really nearly die?"
"Apparently" the reply was gentle "You flatlined on them for nearly two minutes"
"Oh"
"Does it bother you?" Ianto felt gentle fingers stroking his hair. It felt good, soothing.
"I don't know" he admitted "but I'm glad I didn't know anything about it really" he sighed "I wouldn't have wanted to know I was dying, if you see what I mean. I wouldn't want to leave you…like that"
"Tell me, if you can, did you…see anything, when you were…?" Jack struggled for words.
"When I was dead, you mean?" Ianto said helpfully.
"Mmm"
"Can't remember. I don't remember a tunnel of light, if that's what you mean. No heavenly choir or pearly gates. Nothing really. Bit disappointing"
Jack laughed softly "Don't worry Yan, if there's a heaven, you'll have no problem getting into it. You're an absolute angel if ever there was one"
"Ianto?"
"Yes?" he was dozing, comfortable and warm and drowsy. He wished this could carry on forever, especially because Jack was at his side, lying along the bed next to him, an arm around his shoulders, stroking his hair again. Every now and then he felt Jack's lips on his hair, his breath soft and warm as he kissed him gently.
"Do you remember anything about all this?" Jack ventured to ask "Do you remember being brought in?"
"No, nothing really. I remember going home Friday, I felt awful but I took some paracetamol, made myself a coffee and went to bed. I snuffled my way through Friday night and into Saturday, then I felt better so I got up. I had a shower, watched some tv and had some cereal…then I remember going to the bathroom, then nothing after that. I remember the kids though, but that's all"
"What kids, what about them? You kept asking about children"
"They were in danger, from an alien race we called the 456"
"The 456? Who were they?" Jack asked, non-plussed.
"They'd been here before, in 1965. We called them that because of the radio wavelength they broadcast on. Back then, you gave them 12 children…"
"I what? I would never…"
"Jack, it was a nightmare, I was delirious, dreaming" Ianto said reassuringly "the 456 apparently needed human kids and took them over so they could send us messages. They would all stop what they were doing, in playgrounds, in the street, every one of them, all over the world too, and stand there chanting "We are coming" and then "we are here", it was freaky" He stopped, trying to recall the finer details, letting the general memories of the dream come back "They wanted 10% of the worlds' kids, I dunno what for, never found out. The government was trying to get rid of us all, you particularly, trying to cover up when the 456 visited before, when they took the first kids. They knew if people found out about it that there'd be rioting in the streets. They put a bomb inside you Jack, you blew up the hub"
"Did I survive?" Jack was intrigued.
"Oh yeah, they collected all your bits though, some kind of black ops, the ones who planted the bomb in you in the first place. They were lead by one Agent Johnson, a woman, scary"
"Who did she work for?"
"I'm not sure. Just shut up and listen or I'll forget the story. Gwen was pregnant, she was using the scanner. That's how we found out you had the bomb in you, with the scanner. You put your hand on hers and then the alarms went crazy! Because of that we got away while you stayed and blew up, but we got separated so I didn't know what was happening. Gwen and Rhys went to London to try talking to someone in Government" he warmed to the tale "The Black Ops folks took you to some abandoned airfield, locked you up. They'd got rid of a contact of yours too, some doctor you made friends with. You told us they shot you and you woke up next to him and he was dead as well, and you assumed whoever had got you had got him too. You told us that when you got back to the hub in Cardiff before you blew it up. You were right, but it was a covert mission, he was undercover for the black ops, and they got rid of him so you'd think you'd both been targeted. Anyway" Ianto paused to catch his breath, he was still not feeling very strong "after the Hub was destroyed they took you to this airfield place. When they decided to release the doctor's body to his family, unbeknown to me Rhys and Gwen were pretending to be undertakers to go collect the body and get into the site so they could rescue you. They waylaid the funeral director and tied him up, nicked his gear and his van. They got in but you'd been encased in concrete to hold you"
"Concrete?" Jack shivered at the thought, alive, encased in concrete, yugh.
"I nicked a JCB thingy and rammed the cell you were in, dragged the block out with you in it and then dropped it over the side of a nearby quarry" he sounded rather pleased with himself "We all met up in a stolen car, collected you, you were in handcuffs, stark naked, covered in concrete dust…" his voice sounded thoughtful, reliving the image, he blinked and continued "…and we got the hell out of there, to one of Torchwood London's abandoned warehouses. Then we had to nick all sorts of stuff, laptops, cars, mobiles, just to equip us again"
"Some story" Jack agreed, eyebrows raised "so you enjoyed the part where I was handcuffed and naked…?"
"Yeah, well, course I did" A faint flush crept up Ianto's neck "But that's not the end of it" he added, gathering pace again "Gwen and Rhys had gone on the run since the Cardiff Hub blew and they ended up in London. They'd got a girl from the Government to help, a PA for John Frobisher"
"Who was he?" Jack asked, curious.
"Oh, he was the Permanent Secretary to the Home Office, he was left in charge of the 456 visit. Lois Habiba was the girl's name. She'd not been working for him long. She'd been looking at your files since she'd heard mention of you in the office, and when she heard Frobisher give the order to have you eliminated, she didn't know what to do. Then Gwen rang wanting to speak face to face with Frobisher, but instead of him she got Lois. Lois met them in some café or other and explained it was Frobisher who was trying to get rid of them so talking to him wasn't a good idea. She gave them the plans to where you were being held, gave them cash, told them about them releasing the body, as much as she could anyway but she was scared, poor thing. Gwen got her to wear those contact lenses that transmit pictures of what the wearer is looking at. So we saw everything in the room in MI6, floor 13, where the 456 was contained in this glass cabinet thing with its own atmosphere" he paused for more breath.
"We'd captured it?" Jack asked
"No, it was visiting" he said "We built the case for it from its instructions, or rather, the Government did. Torchwood knew nothing about it. It was filled with gas for it to breath and it kept throwing up all over. We were using the lip-reading software cos the contacts only have visual so we knew what people were saying. They asked for 10% of the world's kids and said they'd get rid of everyone on the planet if we refused. Lois wrote down what the 456 said in shorthand, which apparently only I can read out of all of us, so I read what it was saying as she wrote it on her pad. Gwen recorded everything that was said in the room and everything said in the cabinet office where Lois went with them all. She was PA to Frobisher or something, which got her in everywhere he went" he paused again, shifting his position for comfort.
"And?" Jack prompted.
"Well, they were all trying to cover it all up, agreeing that the kids belonging to everyone in the room would be exempt from the selection process. They were deciding to choose kids from failing schools, leaving the clever ones, the ones they considered worth keeping, alone. They were deciding to make up some lame story of mass vaccination, to explain it to the parents. Then we threatened to expose it all to the media, unless they allowed us - you and me - access to the 456 so we could try to end this. And…well, that's what we did, we faced it down"
"What, just like that?"
"You were very heroic Jack, but it all went wrong. You tried holding the 456 to ransom threatening to tell everyone in the world so they would have a fight on their hands in order to take the kids but the 456 wouldn't take the threats seriously and released some kind of deadly virus into the air of the MI6 building. It sealed the exits so no one could leave. Then I…" he paused, a catch in his voice "I'd breathed the air, and you, you were so desperate for me…but I died…in your arms…" he sounded subdued, felt Jack's arms tighten their grip around him in reassurance "so that's all I remember. I didn't know if you'd saved them you see, I wanted to know if they were safe, the kids…"
"I see" Jack said "Doctor Jess said you were asking for me as well"
"Was I? I can't remember" he frowned "I remember the dream, that's about all" He sounded exhausted by the telling of it. Jack looked down at him and asked "The people in the Government, Frobisher, Lois, did you know them when you worked in the London Hub?"
"No, Lois said she'd only just joined. Maybe they're a figment of my overactive imagination…" Ianto yawned "God, I'm so tired"
"Tell me though, who was the Prime Minister, do you remember?"
"Same one we have now, Brian Green. One thing I do remember, I even dreamed Owen and Tosh had been killed. It was horrible, not having them with us"
"Hmm, well, that's the fever talking. They're very much alive and you know that so you can rest easy. Get some sleep, I'm right here with you"
"I know" there was a pause as Ianto closed his eyes and relaxed "Jack?"
"Yes?"
"Thank you for being here"
Jack smiled, kissed his hair again "any time"
So there you are, another AU version. Not sure about this as I wrote it before all my other stories. But I came back to it, re-read it and thought it wasn't too bad. Will continue later if you want more. There is more, just not sure about it. Just introduced Jess as a convenient extra character… if I add more she will appear again. If I've written anything wrong about CoE put it down to Ianto's memory...