Huge thanks to my reviewers who make me feel that squeezing in time to update is worthwhile: L.A.H.H., gernumblies, milady dragon, FoxGlade, NikkieSheepie and Marian Locksley! And particularly to L.A.H.H. for pointing out all the mistakes. I will try not to do that this time.

Chapter Two

The first point at which anyone in the main section of the Hub noticed anything was wrong was when Ianto's voice came in across the comms.

"Tosh!"

"What, Ianto?"

"The Hub's flooding! There's all this water from the Bay pouring in! And I can't find where it's coming in!"

Tosh cut through Ianto's stream of panic-stricken comments. "Ianto, where are you?"

"The lowest level. Room 105. But it's not just this room, it's all of them!"

Tosh brought up the CCTV feed fast. The image was not a cheerful one – Ianto was standing in a room rapidly filling with brown water.

Gwen swore loudly as she looked at the screen over Tosh's shoulder. "Ianto! Get out of there!"

"I can't! The door to the stairs is locked!"

"Alright," said Gwen hurriedly, trying to think. "Tosh, go and get that unlocking device of yours…"

"But we can't! If we open that door the rest of the Hub will flood too!" Tosh took a deep breath. "If this is some kind of internal system – which I think it is – as soon as we open that door the main entrance will seal. This thing's supposed to make sure nothing down there gets out."

Gwen swallowed. Tosh was right – the whole of the Hub was already underneath sea level. It wouldn't take much to flood it completely.

"What should I do?"

"Just hold on, Ianto! Tread water or something! We'll get you out, I promise!"

"Gwen! I can't swim!"

On the screen the water was already nearly at Ianto's waist.

"Hey, Tosh, what's happening?" Owen's shower had put him in a much better mood.

"Some sort of emergency system's been triggered, the lower floor's flooding and Ianto's trapped down there." Tosh replied briefly, her attention focused on searching the computer archives for anything that could help them.

"Shit!" Owen swallowed hesitantly. "I messed around with the pipes a bit -"

"Where?" Tosh demanded immediately. She ran after him as he sprinted back down to the showers.

"Gwen!"

"Ssh, Ianto, it's going to be ok." Gwen crossed her fingers behind her back as tightly as she possibly could. She glanced at the screen again. "Is there anything that floats in there that you can hold onto?"

"No!"

"Alright." Gwen took another deep breath and tried to sound cheerful. "So, you need some emergency swimming lessons then?"

"Yeah." Ianto's voice wobbled slightly.

"Ok. So, to tread water you kick your legs and move your arms about…"

"This isn't helping, Gwen!"

"Sorry. It's just like jogging on the spot, only in water, whilst moving your arms a bit like a frog."

"What do I do when I meet the ceiling?"

"Errm… hold your breath." Gwen was suddenly very aware that this was not what Ianto was wanting to hear.

"Where are Tosh and Owen?"

"They're sorting it out. Don't worry."

Ianto doesn't comment. 'Don't worry' is not the most appropriate statement at the moment.

"Gwen?" Tosh's voice came in over the comms. "Get on the computer and search the plans of the Hub for these controls."

Gwen clearly heard the unspoken message beneath what she was saying. Tosh and Owen could not work out how to reverse the damage. Her worry came out in the falsely cheerful voice she used to reassure Ianto. "I won't be long, Ianto. I just need to concentrate on giving Tosh a hand."

Ianto croaked something in reply, but Gwen didn't hear, already frantically searching the blueprints of the Hub for the instructions they so desperately needed.

Ok, not a very long chapter, I confess, but quite a lot happened. Or you could just sum up the whole thing by saying that Ianto got a bit wet, I suppose.

Any thoughts? Is drowning Ianto cruel?

Please, please review. I like getting nice comments about things I've written, preferably on my essays, but on my stories too. Even negative comments help me improve. Threats aren't so great, but they're fun to read. And now I'm just trying to add to the word count. I'll go start writing the next one instead, shall I?