Ianto slowly awoke, automatically knowing that he was in an unfamiliar place, but also feeling strangely secure.

Cracking open his eyes slightly, he tried to move his head, only to feel the gentle pressure of someone's hands on either side of his head, stopping him from moving, but not aggravating the pain inside his head.

Panicking, he opened his eyes widely; only to see the concerned but grinning face of Captain Jack Harkness, which was calming yet invigorating in his own way.

"Good to see you awake again Ianto. Calm down, Yan. You've been badly hurt and need to rest. Captains orders." He grinned cheekily at him, but Ianto was just confused.

Hurt? Him? What happened? All he did was stay in the Hub, there wasn't really anything dangerous about that. What could have possibly caused this to-

"The Cannibals!" He managed to gasp out, his arms flailing, heart rate rising. He started to struggle against Jack, trying to get free, not listening to what he was being told.

"Ianto! I need you to calm down! You're hurting yourself even more. Don't do this!"

Ianto ignored him, trying to push back against Jack's arms that were pinning down his own, effectively trapping the top part of his body.

"Tosh!" He yelled to himself. "They'll hurt her! Got to get free. Gotta help Tosh!" He was panting heavily, exhausted, still trying to break free until Jack covered him with his own torso, stopping any movement.

"Ianto! They can't hurt Tosh, she's safe. You're safe! Listen. You're in the Hub, in my room; with me; no one else is here! No one can help you. Just calm down! You're doing yourself even more damage!

Ianto scrunched his face up, trying to turn away from Jack's insistent face. Lies. That's all that was being told to him. Lies, everything was lies.

He kept on struggling, even though he knew it was futile.

"Yan, I'm sorry; but I've got to do this, it's the only way you won't hurt yourself any more."

Ianto heard this distantly, barely noticing Jack pick his arm up and hold it steady until he felt as if ice was flowing into his arm in his veins and around his body, only heating it up once it had passed, but leaving a weird sensation behind.

His face was gripped gently in a strong hand and he forgot his fears and looked up angrily at Jack.

"What did you do?" His voice dripped with hatred and it showed on his face.

Jack's face showed remorse as he looked pleadingly at Ianto lying below him.

"It was the only thing that would stop you." Jack lifted his arm up until it was in Ianto's line of vision. On his wrist, there was a small green patch.

Ianto tried angrily to pull his arm free of Jack's grip, but felt no sensation in it, his arm didn't move.

Jack looked upset.

"It's a medical patch from the 51st century. They're designed with rowdy or seriously injured patients in mind. It contains a drug that overrides your nervous system; you won't have any control of your body. Sorry, but it's the only way!"

Ianto closed his eyes and felt Jack rearrange his limbs and torso into a more comfortable position.

The warmth that had disappeared reasserted itself and Ianto saw that Jack had moved the blanket back off the floor and over him and was running his wrist-band over hid body, frowning at the results.

"Well it looks like you managed to break another two ribs and bruise the muscles in your arm in the process. You've just managed to help what the cannibals started," he began running his fingers through Ianto's hair when he noticed the expression he got when he mentioned the Cannibals.

"Shh, Yan. It's okay. They're all locked away; they aren't going to hurt anyone ever again."

He smiled in relief as Ianto' s eyes opened carefully, shyly.

"They gone?" Ianto's voice held a childish quality as the concussion and drugs fully took effect.

"Yeah, Yan. They are all gone now. Forever." Jack leaned over and kissed him softly on the forehead before propping him up and picking up a bowl of soup.

"Let's see if you can get this down," he held up a hand when Ianto opened his mouth to argue.

"No arguments. You are either going to eat this, or I'm gonna stick a tube down your throat and nose." He held up the spoon and they tried, but Ianto couldn't swallow it, it caused too much pain.

Patting Ianto's hair soothingly as he struggled to cough, he reflected that he probably should have realised that with his damaged ribs, Ianto wouldn't be able to eat anything.

"Hush now, Yan. It's okay, I'll just give you the tubing when you're asleep. Just relax."

He carefully laid the distressed Welshman back down, closing the tired eyes and settling him down properly; waiting patiently until his breathing had leveled out before setting up the equipment and inserting the tubing and the solution.

Finally done, he lay down next to the sleeping man and cuddled him into his arms softly; whispering quietly to try and keep him asleep before kissing the bruised forehead, whispering,

"I love you." And gently sleeping himself.

TORCHWOODTORCHWOODTORCHWOOD

"I thought I told you to sleep." Jack frowned disapprovingly as Ianto blearily opened his bloodshot eyes.

"Ngh. My nose feels weird."

"It'll be like that for a while." He nuzzled his nose into the silky hair, smiling at the little happy noises that Ianto unconsciously made.

"Why are you doing this? You don't need to look after me, I'm fine."

Jack frowned at him, "I'm doing this because I want to. You are part of my team. I look after my team. You are also my friend, but you shut yourself off from the rest of us and that worries me. Also, you look after us so well that we sometimes forget that occasionally you need to be looked after and right now I'm here and I am more than happy to care for you."

He said this while carefully checking the tubing lines, then the bandages on his ribs, ensuing that they were tight enough.

He had been shocked when Owen had shown him the true extent of Ianto's injuries and had made a promise to look after Ianto, so that he wouldn't ever feel inclined to go on without telling anyone.

Keeping his mind fixed firmly on the extent of Ianto' s injuries, he lifted the blanket and checked the cast on the Welshman's right leg, making sure that his eyes didn't stray up any higher on his naked friend.

The wrist patch was still firmly in place and the IV port was still correctly aligned.

He checked the list given to him by Owen and after looking at the clock on the nightstand, picked up a needle from the kit he had been given and looked Ianto in the eye.

"You have a severe concussion, Yan and I promised Owen that I would give you this sedative periodically and I intent to keep that promise. I'll be here when you wake up okay?"

He didn't wait for a reply and gently inserted the syringe into the IV line and watched the worry lines smooth over as sleep took over the young man.