Since the Prologue was pretty short and didn't really begin the story I thought I'd give you all the first chapter as well. I hope you like it
Chapter 1
Ianto floated in a haze of pain, completely unaware of anything going on around him. After a while the pain deadened and faded somewhat and he was pretty sure he'd lost consciousness because the next thing he knew he heard voices talking around him.
"We need more blood; he's losing too much blood."
"Go faster people we're losing him."
"Make sure the operating theatre's prepped, we need to get him in and under as quickly as we can."
"Yes, Doctor."
"Mr. Jones, can you hear me? Ianto?"
He tried to answer the other man but all he could come out with was part of the question currently burning in his mind despite his current predicament.
"Owen?"
Was the doctor okay? Had he gotten away? Or had the monster had it's fun with Ianto and killed him?
"Owen?" he asked the question again. "Is he okay?" he wasn't sure if his words were making sense but the voice answered him.
"Mr Harper is fine, Mr Jones, you need to be worrying about yourself."
Ianto let out a sigh of relief, a small smile spreading across his face. He might be going to die but at least Owen was okay. That was the last thought that went through his mind as consciousness abandoned him.
"Mr Jones! Mr Jo…"
XX
"I don't care what you say, you're not in charge of me and if I want to stay I'll stay."
"Owen, you're not yourself, you need to let the Doctors have a proper look at you; you can't even remember who I am for god's sake! And I think you'll find that yes, I am in charge of you."
"Not according to my brain, and I'm not leaving. When he wakes up and I know he's okay I will let the wacko UNIT doctors look at me, but not before, I'm staying here!"
"Owen you don't even like Ianto!"
"How the hell would you know? You don't even know me!"
"Once again I think you'll find I do."
"I'm staying, Gwen, if that's really what your name is, and there's nothing you can do about it."
"Owen I-"
"Oy! Would you stop arguing! You're really loud and I'm trying to sleep!" Ianto interrupted the argument going on beside his bed.
"Ianto," both voices addressed him at once and he opened his eyes to find Gwen and Owen standing beside the bed looking down at him. He was slightly disappointed, but not really surprised, to find Jack absent. He was a little surprised that Tosh wasn't there though.
"How are you feeling?" Owen asked.
"Dizzy … lightheaded … sore … a little hungry … thirsty, definitely thirsty, but I'll live … I think," Ianto replied groggily. "How about you?" he asked in return.
"I'm fine," Owen replied with a soft smile. "Been worried about you though, you were hurt pretty badly."
"Oh my god!" Gwen exclaimed. "Owen what the hell is wrong with you? You hate Ianto!"
"I. Do. Not!" Owen snarked back, enunciating every word.
"OWEN-!"
"HEY!" Ianto yelled as loud as he could, interrupting Gwen before she could get far. "I may not know where we are exactly, but from the looks of it we're in a hospital of some kind and you don't yell in hospitals," he berated. "I also have a monster of a headache and you are not helping. Now be quiet or get out!"
Gwen huffed and stalked out of the room, Owen went to follow her but Ianto stopped him.
"I was talking to her not to you," he said softly. "I want to know what happened. Where am I exactly? Why am I in here? How come you don't know who she is? And why are you being so nice to me all of a sudden?" he asked.
"Why is everybody so surprised by that?" Owen asked sounding annoyed.
"Because you don't like me, Owen, you're always calling me names and putting me down, I can't remember the last time you said something to me that wasn't insulting," Ianto replied.
He was more than a little surprised when he saw guilt flash across Owen's face and the Doctor looked down. "I'm sorry, I don't remember," he replied quietly. "They told me I must have hit my head because I can't remember much of anything. I know I'm Owen Harper, I know I'm a doctor, I know I'm 29 years old and I grew up in London, I remember that my mother hated me and sent me off to boarding school the moment my father died. Apart from that I remember you and I remember Tosh, but just who you are and the mental associations I have with you, that's it. I don't remember Jack or whatever his name is or that Gwen woman, I don't remember this Torchwood they're going on about, none of it."
"Oh, Owen, I'm sorry, you must be so freaked out right now," Ianto said quietly, immediately feeling bad for the doctor.
"Well I am and I'm not," Owen confessed, looking up at Ianto once more. "Honestly the only thing I've really been freaked out about is you. You've been out of it quite a while and your injuries were extensive, I really thought you were going to die for a moment there." The doctor moved over to the bedside and placed a gentle hand over Ianto's, "I'm really glad you're okay," he confessed quietly. "Whatever I used to do or say … I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings, I won't do that again."
"Okay," Ianto replied, not sure what to make of the young doctor's actions.
Owen gave him a small smile. "Do you remember what happened?" he asked gently.
Ianto shook his head, he really had no idea.
"Me neither, but then that's not surprising," Owen replied with an ironic half smile. "What's the last thing you do remember?" he asked.
Ianto thought about it, the most recent memory that popped into his head was… "Going to bed last night … well … I think it was last night … Tuesday night," he replied.
"Well, It's Saturday now," Owen informed him.
"Oh," was all Ianto could say back.
"Yeah it's a bit like that," Owen replied. "I know we were attacked, I shot the creature responsible for our current predicament, it was huge and frightening, I can't believe the gun killed it, I must have just hit it in the right spot. Anyway, I guess it doesn't matter, it's dead now. I was checking on you when Jack and the others showed up and not long after that UNIT showed up, apparently the creature that attacked us was something they lost," he explained, pulling a face at the last bit. "They brought you here to be treated, since I was deemed incapable due to my memory loss. Jack yelled at them all the way here and I don't think he's stopped yelling at people since we arrived."
Ianto chuckled slightly at that.
"And up until now we've just been waiting for you to wake up. The UNIT types want to scan my head and Jack wants them to as well, they're worried I might have permanent damage or something. Personally I don't want them anywhere near my head, I may not remember who they are but my gut is telling me not to trust them. Unfortunately I have been told Jack's our boss so I have to do what he says," Owen continued.
"Unfortunately yes he is," Iantp confirmed. "But don't worry, he won't let them hurt you, he's usually pretty good like that."
"I hope so," Owen said quietly, looking down at his hands. After a few moments he looked up at Ianto once more and said. "Ianto, there's something you should know."
Ianto didn't at all like the tone in Owen's voice. "What?" he asked warily.
"Your arms," Owen began and Ianto immediately looked down at his arms.
"Oh my god!" he cried, horrified by what he saw.
His arms were completely covered in metal. There were tubes sticking out of them everywhere, lights flashing from panels on the surface and when he tried to move them, nothing happened. He felt himself beginning to panic, what the hell had the UNIT wackos done to him? His arms looked like they had been replaced by…
"Cyberman," he heard himself cry, his heart racing in his chest. "Get it off me, get it off me!" he screamed, struggling to move. He didn't want a single piece of those monsters anywhere near him.
"Ianto, Ianto," he vaguely heard Owen calling his name and he turned wild, frightened eyes on the doctor.
"What the hell have they done to me?" he cried, tears blurring his vision.
"Ianto it's okay, calm down, it's okay," Owen said soothingly as the room suddenly began to fill with people.
"What have they done to me, Owen?" he sobbed, the fingers of his left hand -the only thing he could move at the moment- gripping the doctor's hand tightly.
"Mr Jones, I'm doctor Moore," he heard a voice say from the other side of him. "You were brought in with extensive damage to both of your arms and drastic measures had to be taken to save you and your limbs."
"Owen," he looked pleadingly up at the doctor once more. "Owen please tell me what's going on?" he pleaded.
"Doctor Harper is not qualified to answer that question right now, Mr Jones; he isn't in his right state of mind. You will direct any questions you have to me," Doctor Moore spoke again.
Ianto ignored him his eyes never leaving Owen's. The young doctor opened his mouth to speak but Doctor Moore interrupted him.
"You will direct any questions you have to me Mr Jones," he repeated.
Ianto finally turned his attention away from Owen and looked Doctor Moore straight in the eye. "Fuck. Off!" he snarled each word slowly and clearly. "You are not my doctor and I don't want to hear anything you have to say; now get out and take the rest of them with you."
"Mr Jones-" Doctor Moore began.
"You heard him, get out," Owen interrupted the man, repeating Ianto's earlier words.
"Mr Harper, you have no say over what goes on here. This is a UNIT hospital and I-"
"It's Doctor Harper, DOCTOR!" Ianto interrupted the other man. "And he is my doctor and I want him treating me not you. He is not incapable of caring for me, on his worst day he's a better doctor than any of you who reside in this psychotic chop shop, now get out!"
Doctor Moore looked like he was about to argue, but another voice interrupted him.
"I suggest you do as he says, Doctor," the American voice instructed as Captain Jack Harkness waltzed into the room and fixed the doctor with a stare that only a complete moron would question.
Thankfully for Doctor Moore he wasn't quite that stupid.
As soon as he was gone Jack closed the door behind him and turned his attention to Ianto who was still gripping tightly to Owen but felt a hell of a lot calmer with his captain in the room.
He took several deep, calming breaths before saying, "Thank you," quietly to the Jack. He then turned his attention back to Owen "What happened to my arms? What have they done to me?" he asked.
"The creature that attacked us, well … it crushed your arms, Ianto, there's no gentle way to say it," Owen replied softly. "Because UNIT were responsible for the creature they offered a way for us to save your arms and since you couldn't answer we agreed for you. Before you say anything or get upset again they're not cyberman arms, I know they might look a little creepy but they're nothing to do with the cybermen, I promise you. It's a technology UNIT have created to reform damaged bones. It's a long and complicated description but the basic idea behind it is that the technology finds all the shards of bone and repositions them into their proper places, coating them in a special, super strength, metal alloy to strengthen them and keep them in position while they heal. Any bones or parts of bones that are too damaged to use or can't be found are replaced by the same metal alloy. Once the bone is reformed or replaced the cast starts to reform your muscles around the metal and when they're all back in place the cast is removed and replaced with another one. It's still metal but smaller and more light weight, more like a conventional cast; it keeps your arm immobile so the bones can knit together properly. While it's doing that your skin and nerves reform and once that's done you're healed and it comes off completely. You'll be back to normal … well, almost anyway, apparently you'll be stronger," Owen finished.
Ianto studied the doctor for a moment. "And that's it?" he asked.
"Yep, that's all," Owen agreed.
Ianto nodded, "Okay, I feel a little better now, thank you, Owen" he said quietly. And he did; he hadn't meant to panic at the start it had just happened, but he definitely felt better now.
"That's okay," Owen replied softly. "I'm sorry; I was trying not to freak you out. I guess I didn't do a very good job."
Ianto shook his head. "No it's okay, that wasn't your fault," he absolved the doctor. "Really there was no way I wasn't going to freak out after seeing that."
Owen gave him a soft smile and gently squeezed his hand.
"Wow, Gwen wasn't wrong, you really aren't yourself." The pair looked over at Jack who was watching Owen with a surprised expression on his face. "I mean the memory loss I can understand, but this is like a complete personality overhaul. You really need to have your head scanned, Owen."
"But, Jack," Ianto began.
"No, that's an order," Jack interrupted. "I promised him he could wait until you woke up before I'd make him go, a strange request in and of itself, but I figured he is your doctor and he may just want to make sure you're okay so I didn't worry too much, but this … I'm sorry, Owen, but I'm really concerned about you," Jack finished, turning his attention to Owen at the last part.
"Jack you hate UNIT, why would you hand Owen over to them?" Ianto asked concerned. "Right now I'm more worried about your mental state."
Jack shook his head. "I'm not letting UNIT have him, Ianto, I just want Martha to take a look at him. I know her, she's a good woman and she'll take good care of him. And after that last comment I might have you both scanned just to be on the safe side."
Ianto glared at the captain. "Don't be stupid, Jack," he growled quietly.
Jack pulled a face at him, "I wasn't being serious, Ianto. You've already been scanned in every possible way, I made sure of it."
"Great, so I've already had some UNIT wacko poking around in my head, wonderful," Ianto griped.
"Oh don't worry, Mr Jones, I didn't poke too hard." Ianto looked up to see a dark skinned woman in a doctors coat walk through the door. She smiled at Jack before turning her attention to Owen. "Are you ready for our little date, Doctor Harper?" she asked sweetly.
"It seems I have no choice in the matter, Doctor Jones," Owen replied grimly, turning to Ianto and squeezing his hand gently. "I'll see you soon," he said softly before heading out of the room.
"Don't worry I'll return him in one piece," the woman Ianto guessed was Martha reassured Ianto before following Owen out of the room.
Gwen walked through the door as she was leaving and told Jack Tosh wanted to see him about something.
The captain made sure Ianto was okay before promising to come back and heading off to find Tosh.
Gwen gave Ianto a smile and moved to sit down beside the bed. "How are you feeling, any better?"
"Fine," Ianto replied. "Sorry for yelling at you before." He was and he wasn't but it didn't matter, he needed her to be okay with him so he could ask her to do something.
"That's okay," Gwen replied, giving his leg a gentle pat. "You'd just woken up, I understand."
Ianto nodded. "So where's Tosh?" he asked curiously.
"Jack asked her to investigate the technology UNIT used on you, make sure there are no bugs. She seems pretty confident that it's all on the level," Gwen replied reassuringly.
Ianto nodded again before asking. "Gwen, do you think I could get you to do something for me?" he asked.
Gwen looked surprised but she immediately replied, "Of course, love, what is it?"
"Martha just took Owen down to scan his head. I know she's a friend of Jack's but I don't trust UNIT as far as I could throw anything right now, which is not at all. You're a police officer, Gwen, you're good at getting answers -his polite way of saying she was a snoop-, could you go and keep an eye on him, please?" he asked.
She smiled at him, looking all too pleased with herself, and nodded. "Of course I can, love," she replied. "I'll head down there right now."
"Thank you," he replied.
"No problem, you get some rest hey," she said before getting up and heading for the door. "Don't worry, I'll bug the hell out of her," she added as she left the room. He imagined she would too.
He had nothing against Gwen aside from the whole sleeping with Owen thing while she had a boyfriend –he personally frowned upon cheating– but right now he just wanted to be alone and process everything and he was really worried about Owen. Jack hated UNIT and Ianto had learnt a long time ago that Jack's instincts were usually right when it came to such things.
Jack … why did he feel like crying whenever he thought of the other man? He closed his eyes and tried to concentrate on the feeling, hoping it would spark a memory, which unfortunately it did. So they weren't together anymore, well, he'd be lying if he said it surprised him. At least Jack had let him down gently. Wanting to distract himself from those thoughts he racked his brain trying to remember anything else that had happened over the last few days. When nothing came to him he gave up and turned his attention to his current predicament.
He looked down at his arms and made another attempt to move them. He managed a few fingers on his left hand but nothing at all on his right, which caused him to smile and frown at the same time –yes Ianto can do that-. He knew Gwen was right, he needed to rest, but the moment he closed his eyes all he could think about was the fact that he was in a UNIT hospital and that anyone could come in and do anything they wanted to him while he was out. Unfortunately the thought then occurred to him that with his arms the way they were anyone could come in and do anything they wanted to him anyway and he suddenly regretted sending Gwen away. That thought immediately vanished when he thought of Owen.
He lay there for what felt like hours before the sound of footsteps heading toward his room drew his attention to the door and he watched warily until Tosh and Jack came into his line of sight. He sighed in relief and smiled at Tosh as she came over and gave him a hug.
"I'm sorry I wasn't here before," she apologised quietly.
"No that's okay," he replied. "Gwen told me what you've been up to."
"Where is Gwen?" Jack asked.
"She's watching Martha scan Owen's brain and hopefully making a pain of herself," Ianto replied.
Jack gave him a stern look. "Did you send her down to spy on Martha?" he asked.
"Yes I did," Ianto replied without a hint of regret. "I'm sorry, Jack but this is UNIT, god knows what they might be planning."
Jack sighed. "Yeah, I suppose you're right," he agreed, flopping down into a chair next to Ianto's bed. "How are you feeling?" he asked.
"I don't feel much," Ianto replied. "I'm guessing they've got me drugged up pretty good."
"Apparently yes," Jack agreed.
"Otherwise I'm … well I'm freaked out, Jack, when can I leave?" he asked.
"I'm not sure," Jack replied. "They haven't really told us yet."
"Well could you find out, please?" Ianto asked with only a slightly pleading edge to his voice. "Wink at one of the nurses or something."
Jack chuckled slightly. "Are you asking me to flirt your way out of here?" he asked jovially.
"I'm begging you to get me out of here, I don't care how," Ianto replied and it was only then that Jack seemed to grasp just how frightened Ianto was.
"Hey," he said gently, reaching forward to take one of Ianto's hands. "What's wrong?" he asked, and it was only then that Ianto realised he was crying.
"I don't like it here, Jack," Ianto admitted. "I don't trust these people. I am completely incapable of protecting myself from anything they want to do to me and it's scaring me. Please get me out of here, please, I know you can," he pleaded tearfully.
"Hey, it's okay," Jack reassured him, reaching forward to take Ianto's face gently in his hands. "I'm not going to leave you alone, I promise, as long as you're in here I'll be here with you."
"You can't promise that," Ianto replied. "If there's an emergency you're going to have to go and you and I know it. Besides, I don't think us being alone together is such a good idea right now do you?" he asked sadly.
He saw the captain's expression become one of sorrow. "Ianto, I-"
"It's okay," Ianto interrupted. "It hurts, but I understand why you did it. I'm upset, but not with you, I'm glad you were honest with me. But I need space right now; I need time away from you to get over it. I know it's going to be hard but it has to be, you know it does."
Jack's eyes swam with tears but he nodded. Standing up he wrapped his arms around Ianto and held him tightly. "I'm sorry," he whispered, kissing Ianto gently on the top of his head.
"It's okay," Ianto replied, allowing his own tears to fall.
"I'm going to miss you so much," Jack sobbed quietly. "But I understand you needing time away from me. Can you just promise me something?" he asked.
Ianto nodded against Jack's chest.
"When you're okay again come back to me, please," he pleaded quietly.
"Always," Ianto promised. "I'll never leave you, Jack, not while my heart still beats."
He heard Jack sob quietly and yearned to wrap his arms around the immortal man and offer him whatever comfort he could, but of course that was impossible. "I wish I could hug you, Jack, but I'm kind of stuck here," he said, eliciting a quiet chuckle from the captain.
"I know it's okay, I'll come and claim a decent hug when you've recovered," Jack replied, pulling back to look at Ianto.
"I love you," he said quietly leaning forward to kiss Ianto's forehead.
"I love you too," Ianto replied quietly.
Jack closed his eyes and leant his forehead against Ianto's and for the longest time they just stayed that way. When they finally parted Ianto knew it would be the last time he would allow himself to be that close to the immortal man for a long time. Jack gave him a watery smile and after taking a deep breath to calm himself headed out to talk to the nurses.
"Goodbye, Jack" Ianto whispered after him.
XX
So Jack and Ianto have parted amicably, I honestly hate stories where Jack is an ass without a good reason. Anyway, now we're free to move on to more of the story. If you're interested in more please review and let me know.
Love you all
Kayla