Truth be told, Ianto was torn over whether it was a good or a bad thing that his sister in-law had gone into labour on Christmas Day. People always got excited about "Christmas babies", but he knew what was likely to happen. For years to come, the poor child would be told the same thing.

"Since your birthday is on Christmas Day, we decided we'd just give you one special present…"

Combined celebrations, combined gifts… combined everything.
He said nothing, though, unwilling to do anything to put a dampener on his family's enthusiasm. And so, it was as he was only paying cursory attention to the excited speculation over the baby's gender, that he heard a voice speak behind him.

"I was told you were waiting on news about Jack Harkness."

Ianto's head snapped around so fast that it was a wonder he didn't give himself whiplash. Nearby was the woman that he recognised as Detective Swanson, the detective who had helped them out when Suzie's carefully crafted plans had left them locked inside the Hub. He watched as she stood up to meet the doctor who stood there, and listened with sudden attentiveness as she spoke.

"Yes," Ianto heard her say. "Is he out of surgery?"

A chill of fear swept down through Ianto's body. Jack simply being in the hospital created enough complications. For him to have actually needed surgery was plainly frightening.
He was standing up almost before he realised it, even as the doctor led the detective from the waiting room.

"Ianto? Where are you going?"

It was his sister who had spoken, and the question promptly brought him to the attention of everyone in their group.

"Just going to the bathroom," he said, displaying an outward calm that he certainly didn't feel. "Back in a minute."

He walked quickly away before they could ask anymore questions. He was almost to the doors when it occurred to him that he didn't know where to find Jack — if, indeed, it really was his Jack.

Two thoughts occurred to him simultaneously. The first was that it was highly unlikely that there was any other Jack Harkness in Cardiff. The second was that he had just consciously thought of the man as 'his Jack'. That, he realised numbly, was painfully at odds with the shameful way he had treated Jack over the last week, over spending Christmas with him and his family.

When Ianto had extended the invitation, in all honesty he had expected Jack to refuse. Time and time again, he recalled Jack insisting that he would never be 'domesticated'. That, however, had been before Jack had disappeared. The man who had come home to them… to him… was a different man, and this new and improved Jack Harkness had jumped eagerly at the offer to spend Christmas with Ianto's family.

Ianto, however, had had steadily growing reservations ever since extending the invitation.

His parents and his siblings, so far as he knew, had no clue as to his bisexuality, and the truth was that he was afraid to tell them. They were staunch Catholics, and his parents in particular hung on the Pope's ever word as though it came from God Himself. He dreaded their reaction, and that was just putting it mildly.

When he'd initially told them that he wanted invited Jack, he had given the excuse that 'he's the boss, and he doesn't have anywhere else to go'. The word 'boyfriend' had not entered into the equation. It wasn't until later, when Ianto had told Jack and Jack had responded by kissing him with enough passion to make Oscar Wilde blush, that Ianto had suddenly started to think that his well-intentioned gesture was, in fact, a monumental mistake.
And so, after nearly a week of stewing in his worries and fears, Ianto had finally done something that he was now inordinately ashamed of. He had withdrawn the invitation.

He had tried to be diplomatic about it, of course, and make it seem as though there was nothing personal about it. There had been changes in the family plans, he'd told Jack, all the while trying desperately to ignore the disappointment on his lover's face. Jack had appeared to be understanding and amicable about it, but in the end Ianto knew that he understood perfectly well what hadn't been spoken out loud.

Ianto had tried to tell himself that it didn't matter, and that he'd make it up to Jack later. He'd almost convinced himself of that, but something that happened the day before, on Christmas Eve, made him realise with a horrible jolt just how much he really had hurt Jack.

On his way out, he had been surprised to discover a small, beautifully wrapped gift on the seat of his car. He'd been confused, because they had all exchanged gifts earlier in the day and he had received something from each one of them, Jack included. His gift from the Captain, far from the suggestive and somewhat lewd gifts the others had received, had been a stunning pair of solid silver cufflinks, with a matching diamond-encrusted tie clip. It was simple, and yet incredibly thoughtful. Ianto had been deeply touched, and a little embarrassed that his gift to Jack had consisted of a selection of new sex toys.

Oh, Jack had made a big deal of it, throwing out dirty suggestions left, right and centre on how he could best put the new toys to use, but more than once over the course of the rest of the day, Ianto had spotted a look on the other man's face that suggested he was nowhere near as happy as he made out to be. The looks were fleeting, and always vanished with lightning speed as soon as Jack realised Ianto was looking at him, but Ianto knew he hadn't been mistaken.

And then, the gift had appeared on the seat of his car.

There had been a card attached, and Ianto had found himself reading words that had brought tears to his eyes.

My dear Ianto, I've had this gift for you for weeks, but I didn't know if you'd want it now. I don't know what I've done, or haven't done, but I just hope you'll give me a chance to fix it. I'm backing off now, because that's obviously what you want, but maybe when Christmas is over, you'll let me take you out, and we can talk this through. In the meantime, I hope you'll accept this gift. It's what I'd always intended to give you, but I didn't want to embarrass you in front of the others, and that's why I gave you the cufflinks and tie clip. Although, if you want something more on the lewd side, you know you only need to ask... Anyway, I hope you have a great Christmas with your family.
Love, your Jack.

Ianto's practised eye spotted a slight waver on the word family, and felt his heart clench almost painfully as he began to wonder just how much Jack really had been looking forward to not spending Christmas alone. He'd then unwrapped the gift to discover a brand new stopwatch, immaculate in silver and gold. On the back there was an inscription.

For my dearest Ianto. You made my life worth living again. Yours always, Jack.

Watch clutched in his hand, Ianto had virtually sprinted back down into the Hub, fully intending to find Jack, blurt out the truth and beg him to come with him after all, but he was too late. According to Tosh, who was just getting ready to leave herself (Owen and Gwen had both left nearly an hour beforehand), Jack had taken off almost within seconds of Ianto heading out, taking the SUV.

Ianto had spent the rest of that evening trying desperately to reach Jack, to no avail. In the end, he went to his parents' home with nothing but family gifts, a cheesecake and a guilty conscience. Now, that lingering guilt was tinged with fear. If something had happened to Jack because of his foolishness, he didn't think he would ever forgive himself.

Deciding to play it officially, Ianto pulled his Torchwood ID out as he approached the counter.

"Torchwood," he stated firmly, with a confidence that, right then, he honestly didn't have. "I'm here for Jack Harkness."

He could feel the eyes of his family drilling into his back, and he studiously ignored them. The nurse nodded and spoke in a sympathetic tone that sent fresh chills through him.

"Oh, I'm glad they were able to find one of you for him. The condition that poor man was in..."

"Can I see him?" Ianto asked, starting to feel seriously ill. She consulted her monitor with a frown before nodding.

"Yes, I think so. Although, you're Torchwood. I guess it wouldn't matter even if I said no. You'd probably just take yourself up there anyway, wouldn't you?"

"Please," Ianto said tensely. "Where can I find him?"

"Oh, right. Sorry. Yes, he's just been moved from Recovery into a room on his own. You'll find him in room 16, the Davidson Ward, Level Three."

Ianto went, and was only barely able to stop himself from running. When he finally arrived at the room, he wasn't sure whether to be relieved or not to find Detective Swanson just outside the door with the doctor. As he approached, they both turned to look at him.

"Let me guess," Swanson said quietly. "You're with Torchwood."
Ianto nodded.

"That's right."

She frowned a little.

"Didn't you come in with that group that brought in the pregnant woman?"

Again, Ianto answered with a nod.

"Yes, that's my sister in-law. I overheard you talking, and heard Jack's name mentioned. The nurse at the reception desk directed me up here." He glanced uneasily at the door they were currently blocking. "If you don't mind, I'd like to see my Captain."

Swanson walked over to him, then.

"What's your name?"

"Ianto Jones, Detective."

"Okay, Ianto. Come over here and have a seat. I think I need to make you aware of a few things before you go in there."

Ianto sat reluctantly. He desperately wanted to go in to see Jack, but a deeper instinct warned him to wait, and hear what the detective had to say.

"What happened to him?" Ianto asked softly as she sat beside him. "I assume it's something serious, because otherwise he would never have allowed himself to be brought to hospital."

"I'll tell you what I can," she answered. "Or at least, what we've been able to determine from the evidence so far. We don't have all the details yet, and we won't have until your captain is capable of speaking again."

Ianto really did not like that sound of that, but he kept quiet, and waited for an explanation.

"As near as we can tell, Jack was ambushed some time yesterday. We don't yet know exactly when or where. His assailants seem to have brought him down with a stun gun to the back of his neck. His face was also smashed into the driver's side window of your SUV. Then, he was taken to another location, where we estimate he was assaulted over the course of several hours. He was found pretty much by chance, thanks to a nosy neighbour who was investigating what they thought was just an ordinary break-in."

Mentally and emotionally, Ianto was reeling, and the only clear thought in his mind was that it was his fault. If he had not withdrawn the invitation for Jack to spend Christmas with his family, then Jack would not have been alone. He would not have been vulnerable to attack at all.

"How... How badly hurt was he?"

At this, Swanson turned to the doctor, who answered the question soberly.

"First of all, let me stress that none of his injuries are life-threatening. Don't misunderstand me. They are extensive, and very vicious, but he's not remotely in danger of dying. He has a number of ribs that are cracked, and there are a lot of knife wounds, burns, bruises... His attackers really went to town on him, I'm afraid."

"Is that all?" Ianto asked, starting to feel the first hints of relief. A few broken ribs and some cuts and bruises were nothing to the likes of Jack. His relief, though, was short-lived.

"No, it's not all," the doctor answered grimly. "I'm just coming to the real damage. Detective...?"

Swanson took over, only too aware of the ashen colour that Ianto had turned.

"It took us over an hour to free Jack after he was first found. He was tied to a bed with barbed wire."

Ianto blanched, positive that he couldn't possibly have heard her correctly.

"I'm sorry, I must be tired... I thought you said barbed wire."

"I did," she confirmed grimly. "It had been wound so tightly around his wrists and ankles that it had become embedded in his skin and had to be surgically removed. It was also used to gag him."

Horrified, Ianto launched himself to his feet and strode past them both to the doorway of Jack's room. Later on, Ianto was positive that nothing could have prepared him for the sight of Jack in that hospital bed. It wasn't so much his injuries that shattered what remained of the Welshman's composure, though God knew they were horrific. More than anything, in those initial moments, it was the aura of complete vulnerability that surrounded Jack as he lay there unconscious.

Slowly, Ianto approached the bedside, his eyes scanning Jack's body and automatically noting the injuries that weren't hidden from sight by the crisp, white bed sheet.

Jack's face was a kaleidoscope of bruises, puncture wounds and ragged lacerations. Puncture wounds lined both of his cheeks, and his mouth was a mess of torn flesh.

"The barbed wire did a lot of damage," the doctor said quietly as he and Detective Swanson joined Ianto in the room. "There's nerve damage to his hands, feet and face. It will heal, but it's going to be a long time before he regains proper mobility in his limbs."

Ianto's mind was racing, cataloguing the doctor's words and adjusting the time frames. Non-fatal injuries... three to four weeks maximum for recovery from the nerve damage... Two to three weeks for his shattered arm to heal... Perhaps a week for his ribs to heal... and days for any and all bruising to fade. He had no idea how long Jack's mouth would take to heal, and couldn't even so much as summon a smile at the thought of Jack unable to speak.

He drew in a long breath. He had to get Jack out of here, before he began to attract attention with his uncanny ability to recover. Hardening his expression, Ianto turned to both doctor and detective.

"Torchwood is taking jurisdiction, as of now."

"No."

Ianto blinked, taken aback by the abrupt rejection.

"Excuse me?"

Swanson stared at him hard.

"You heard me, Mr Jones. Torchwood is not usurping the police this time, and the fact that your Captain is the victim is just one of my reasons. It isn't appropriate for you lot to take this investigation, and you know it."

Ianto frowned, but didn't argue with her. He would leave that fight to Gwen and Owen. His immediate concern was with Jack.

"How soon before we can take him out of here?" he asked, and the doctor gaped at him in shock.

"Excuse me? You are kidding me, aren't you? He isn't going to be in a fit state to leave hospital for at least a week or two, if not longer. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go and arrange for more tests for Captain Harkness."

"What sort of tests?" Ianto asked, while at the same time not entirely sure that he wanted to know. The doctor looked pointedly at Swanson, who gave a slight nod.

"For sexual assault," he answered softly, and the bottom dropped out of Ianto's stomach.

"You think he was... assaulted like that?"

Swanson didn't flinch at Ianto's intense, wide-eyed stare.

"He was found naked, with blood between his legs. I don't think it's an unreasonable leap of logic. Do you?"

Ianto shut his eyes and, to his great shame, the first thought that sprung into his mind was that knowing Jack, he probably would have enjoyed it. But no, he thought bitterly, thrusting that thought from his mind. That thought was an awful betrayal, and he had no right thinking it.

Yes, Jack loved sex, but it was beyond wrong to think for even a second that he would enjoy being raped. No matter how sexually ambiguous a person was, rape was still rape.

"I have to call the others," he realised suddenly. Swanson nodded understandingly.

"Why don't you go ahead and do that? I'll stay with him until you get back."

Ianto eyed her incredulously.

"Why? Not that I'm ungrateful, but... I thought you hated Jack."

She smiled sadly.

"Hate is a strong word. But no, I wasn't particularly fond of him. Right now, though, he's not the leader of Torchwood. He's just a victim of a horrible crime, and I'm not offering to do for him what I wouldn't be willing to do for any other victim."

A soft, sad sigh escaped Ianto.

"Thankyou," he murmured and, with another glance at Jack, Ianto hurried from the room.

To his chagrin, he had to go all the way back to the waiting room to make the calls. By then, though, he was beyond caring what his family thought. Jack was upstairs, badly injured — quite possibly because of his own idiotic paranoia and inhibitions — and it was time to drop the charade.

Ignoring the growing interest of his family, Ianto called the first number listed in the speed dial memory of his mobile phone, hoping fiercely that the call would be answered.

Truth be told, when his mobile phone rang, Owen couldn't have been more relieved. As much as he'd promised to spend the day with his siblings, the thought of an alien emergency was a far more pleasing prospect. Offering his family as sincere an apologetic smile as he could, Owen snapped open his phone and spoke gruffly.

"This had better be good, Jack. We were just getting ready to play Charades."

"It's Ianto, Owen. Check your caller ID once in a while."

Owen rolled his eyes.

"Whatever. Spit it out, Ianto. What's wrong?"

"I'm at St Michael's A&E, Owen..."

"Oh, bloody hell, what did you do? Are you badly hurt? You didn't crash the bloody SUV, did you? Jack didn't crash it, did he? Bloody hell, he did, didn't he? I'm going to turn up there and have to deal with hysterical Harkness, because he's gotten you hurt in a bloody car accident..."

"Owen, will you shut up and listen? I'm not hurt. It's Jack..."

A cold rush crashed right through Owen, but he spoke with a forced calm.

"All right, Ianto. What's happened to Jack? And why the hell is he in the hospital?"

"He was attacked, Owen."

"What, by a..." He faltered, stopping himself just in time before he said something damning within hearing distance of his siblings. "By one of the residents?"

"No," Ianto answered in a strained voice. "It was people, Owen. Detective Swanson thinks he was ambushed, taken somewhere and... and assaulted. It's bad, Owen. He's in a bad way."

"Okay... But won't he... You know...? Be okay?"

"All of his injuries are non-fatal," Ianto told him. "He's in a serious condition, not a critical one. Owen, I need you here. We have to get him out of here before someone notices something."

"All right, mate, calm down. I'm coming. I'll call Gwen and Tosh, as well. You get your ass back to where Jack is, and make sure they don't go taking samples of his blood, or anything else like that."

"I think they might have done already. He went straight into surgery when he was brought in, apparently."

"Shit. What for?"

"Broken arm... and apparently to remove the barbed wire that he'd been tied down and gagged with."

Owen very nearly lost his lunch on the spot.

"Did you just say what I think you said?"

"He was bound and gagged with barbed wire, Owen."

"I'm coming, Ianto," Owen told him in a soft, determined voice. "I'll be there in twenty minutes."

Tosh was less than pleased to get the call from her colleague, and she wasted no time in letting Owen know it. Owen rode out the verbal tidal wave with uncharacteristic patience, and when she was done he spoke in a short, grim tone.

"Jack's been attacked and badly hurt. He's at St Michael's A&E. Ianto's there now, and we need all hands on deck to get Jack out of there, and to somewhere that we can take care of him properly."

The silence that met his words was profound. Then...

"I'll be there right away."

He was expecting a similarly agitated reaction from Gwen, and wasn't sure whether to be relieved or not to get Rhys.

"Owen, what's the problem?"

Owen hesitated for just a moment before ploughing ahead.

"Rhys, I'm really sorry, mate, but we need Gwen at St Michael's A&E. We've got an emergency."

"Oh, aye? Anything I can help out with?"

For a split second, Owen nearly said no. At the last moment, though, he changed his mind, realising that including Rhys might just prove to be a boon.

"Actually, maybe you can, mate. Could you both get to St Michael's, quick as you can?"

"Sure. What's happened, anyway?"

"It's Jack, Rhys. He's been hurt, badly."

A brief silence met the statement, and when Rhys spoke Owen felt some relief to hear genuine concern in the other man's voice.

"How badly hurt is he?"

Owen fought the urge to shut his eyes against the images that Ianto's words had put into his head, and he opted against giving specifics to Rhys.

"It's bad enough. Look, we need all the help we can get, because we're going to have to find some way of getting Jack out of there. Don't ask me why. I can't explain it. Not right now."
Rhys could hear the tension in Owen's voice, and thankfully didn't press for any further details.

"Okay, Owen. We'll be there, pronto."

Gwen was thoroughly enjoying a long, gossipy chat with the other women in her family when Rhys apologetically interrupted.

"Sorry, ladies. Going to have to steal drag Gwen away."

She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Can't wait until tonight, love?" she queried saucily, much to the delight of the other women. Rhys smiled affectionately, taking the teasing in his stride.

"Sorry, sweetheart. I'm afraid it's work."

Her face fell as she followed him out.

"Oh, no... Not today!"

"C'mon, I promised we'd be there pronto."

She blinked, taken aback.

"We? What do you mean, we?"

"I mean both of us. It was Owen that called. He asked for both of us."

Confusion rapidly gave way to irritation.

"This isn't fair!" she persisted as they headed for their car. "Jack said there wouldn't be any emergencies!"

Rhys regarded her grimly.

"Gwen, love, I don't think Jack was expecting to end up in St Michael's A&E."

Gwen froze, staring at Rhys in shock.

"What?"

"Owen said that Jack's been hurt, and he's in St Michael's A&E. It's why he asked me to come with you. He said that we need to get him out of there, for whatever reason."

Gwen's mind reeled as she tried to work through what Rhys had just told her, and work out what possible scenario could have resulted in Jack being admitted to hospital. She couldn't think of one, and that frightened her.

"I don't get it," she stammered finally as they got into their car. "Jack was supposed to be spending Christmas with Ianto and his family. What could have happened...? And why would Ianto take him to a hospital?"

"I don't know, love, but I guess we'll find out when we get there."

Ianto had barely come off his call to Owen when a hand alighted on his shoulder, startling him into swinging around. It was his father, watching him with a familiar piercing stare.

"You want to tell us what's going on?" he asked quietly. "Because it's pretty obvious that something is wrong."

Briefly, Ianto considered outright lying before deciding he had neither the time nor the energy to construct any sort of fabrication. Squaring his shoulders, he spoke tensely.

"My boss is here. He's been badly hurt."

"Jack?" his father asked with a frown. "The one who you invited for Christmas dinner, and who fobbed you off?"

A fresh wave of guilt swept through Ianto. He was going to have a hell of a lot to atone for when everything was finally all sorted.

"He didn't fob me off, Da. Someone had to be on call at work to monitor everything, and Jack volunteered to do it so that the rest of us wouldn't miss out on spending Christmas with our families. He wanted to come... He really did." Ianto swallowed hard, and felt his chest tighten with emotion. "He was pretty upset at having to miss out."

It was more a half truth than an outright lie. Semantics, Ianto knew, but damned if he was going to stand there and allow Jack to be disparaged in any way. To his relief, his father seemed to accept the explanation.

"When you say he's been hurt, how do you mean? Was it a car accident?"

"No," he answered hoarsely. "He was ambushed... and assaulted."

Assault, Ianto thought numbly. It was such and inadequate word for what had been done to Jack, but at the same time he could just not consciously use the word 'torture'... or, for that matter, 'rape'.

His father squeezed his shoulder reassuringly.

"Does this captain of yours have any family?"

"No, Da. He doesn't have anyone."

The reality of that statement, in light of his own recent cruel dismissal of Jack, hit hard and fast, and suddenly Ianto found himself in a flood of tears. Misunderstanding the reason for his son's emotional outburst, the elder man spoke warmly to his son.

"Then you need to be his family. Don't you worry about Anna and Liam. I promise you I'll call and let you know as soon as the baby's born. Now, who were you just calling?"

"A... A work colleague. He's coming in now."

"Good. You go and do whatever you need to, and be sure to let us know if you need anything. All right?"

Ianto didn't think he could possibly feel worse than he did right at that moment. He spoke dully, unable to look his father in the eye.

"Thanks, Da."

The hand on his shoulder squeezed once more, a gesture that was meant to be comforting, and yet wasn't.

"Go on, then."

Feeling thoroughly sick, Ianto turned and headed back up to where Jack was.

tbc...