The next day…

Jack stood surveying the scene around him. It had been one hell of a weekend, and not the best idea he had ever come up with in retrospect. Emergency vehicles were parked in haphazard fashion as medics and police worked to sort out everything. Jack looked over to where Owen was working with medics to secure Gwen to a stretcher before putting her inside the ambulance for the trip to the hospital. Owen had insisted that they drive all the way to Cardiff as he didn't trust anyone locally. After the day that they had, Jack really couldn't blame him.

At another ambulance, a medic was going over Tosh's injuries, which were thankfully slight, despite the harrowing experience she had had. She had scrapes and bruises from her time in the woods, as well as her run in with the cannibals. She had told him what had happened, and how Ianto had tried to save her. Inwardly, Jack marveled that on his first trip into the field that Ianto had kept his head the way he had, and had been willing to sacrifice himself so that Tosh could get free. He let his gaze move on to where Ianto was sitting on the back fender of the SUV.

Ianto looked a little dazed, and definitely battered by his recent experience. Jack hoped that this wasn't going to be a step backwards for him, since yet again Ianto had experienced the worst that Torchwood had to offer. That hadn't been Jack's intention. A medic approached Ianto and attempted to see to his injuries. He could see that Ianto refused assistance, and watched as he thanked the medic before the man moved away to someone else. Ianto stood and ran a hand through his hair as he surveyed the scene. A moment later, he headed off to where Tosh was finishing up. Jack watched as she smiled warmly at the young man before giving him a hug. The two walked arm and arm over to where Jack stood.

"Just the three of us," Tosh said as the ambulance that carried Gwen and Owen turned around in the small area in front of the pub and headed towards the main road. "They said Gwen would be fine."

"Yeah, Owen said that he just wants to make sure that he got everything before making her go home and rest," Jack agreed. He smiled down at Tosh. "How about you? You okay?"

"I'm fine," Tosh said with a tiny smile. She had never been so glad to see Jack as when he forced his way into that house with the tractor. She still had her arm around Ianto's and she turned to look up at him. "How about you?"

"A bit bruised but nothing a good soak can't cure," Ianto said as he looked down at her before looking back up at Jack. "Are we done here?"

"Yup, we're done. Let's get out of here," Jack said. He led the way over to the SUV, which they had retrieved earlier. "Ready?" Ianto opened the front passenger door and motioned for Tosh to climb inside. He made sure she was comfortable before getting into the back seat. Jack watched as he moved gingerly, taking care not to aggravate his injuries.

They got on the road, Jack driving. Neither Tosh nor Ianto spoke on the ride back. Jack decided it wasn't worth going back for their camping gear and decided that they probably wouldn't be doing such an excursion again for a long time to come. The good thing was that all of their important equipment had been in the SUV when it had been stolen, so they didn't have to backtrack to retrieve anything. Jack thought it best to leave it where it was.

He glanced at Tosh who was just staring ahead blankly. He owed them all for this one. He never expected for them to end up in this situation and he silently blamed himself for it all. Looking briefly in the mirror, he saw that Ianto was looking out the window. They both looked like they were in shock, now that it was over. He stifled a sigh.

He leaned his arm against the window and rested his head on his hand as he drove. Traffic was light, so they made the trip back to the city in good time. Jack stopped by Tosh's flat first and pulled over to the curb. He gently touched her arm, bringing her out of her reverie.

"Hey, you're home," he said softly. Ianto was asleep in the backseat, and didn't stir at all. "Let me get you upstairs."

"I'm fine, Jack," Tosh said. "Don't worry about me."

"Don't be silly. Let me see you upstairs," Jack said. He refused to take no for an answer and got out of the SUV. He closed the door softly, not wanting to wake Ianto. Following Tosh up the stairs to her flat, he waited for her to open the door. His gaze swept the room before he stopped to look at her. "Are you going to be okay on your own?"

"Yes, thank you," she said with a tiny smile. "I'm more worried about Ianto. He isn't used to these sorts of things."

"I'll make sure he's okay," Jack promised her. He pulled her into a hug and squeezed her tight. "You get some rest. Take tomorrow off if you need to, all right?"

"Sure," she said. She kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you again."

"Get some rest," he said again. She nodded and he patted her on the back, his attention already turning towards getting Ianto home. "Call me if you need anything." She nodded again and closed the door behind him. He waited until he heard her turn the lock before leaving. Tosh would be okay. She had been through worse than this.

Making his way down the stairs, he headed back out to the SUV. Ianto was still out of it, which was a good thing in his opinion. He got into the driver's seat and closed the door as quietly as he could. Looking back, he saw that the noise hadn't disturbed Ianto. He started up the SUV again and pulled a u-turn in the middle of the quiet street. Taking a left out of Tosh's street Jack headed towards Ianto's flat.

Ten minutes later they had arrived. Jack got out and opened the rear door, gently touching Ianto so to wake him. Startled, Ianto jerked upright and had a wild look to his face for a moment until he realized that he wasn't back in the charnel house.

"What?" He asked until he turned and saw Jack. "Oh."

"We're home. Come on, I'll see you upstairs," Jack said, offering his hand to Ianto. Ianto gave him a polite smile before making his way out of the back seat.

"Oh, you don't have to do that," Ianto said. He stifled a groan as he stood up. The aches and pains from his ordeal were making themselves felt. He couldn't hide the wince from Jack.

"Yes I do," Jack informed him. "Come on." He took a few steps towards the entranceway to Ianto's building before pausing to watch him. Ianto sighed. Jack obviously wasn't going to let him go up on his own. He fished for his keys, which thankfully he had left in the SUV. He was glad he didn't have to rely on a neighbor to get him in. Closing the back door of the SUV, he opened the door to the lobby and slowly climbed the stairs with Jack behind him.

Jack followed, his eyes scanning Ianto's slow and deliberate movements. He feared that Ianto was more injured than he was letting on. His lips compressed into a thin line while he thought about what had almost happened to his team. He was still tempted to turn the SUV around and kill off the rest of the town. They were worse than animals.

Eventually they made it up to Ianto's flat and he opened the door. Ianto paused just inside and turned towards Jack. "Thanks, I'm all set."

"No you're not. I'm coming in," Jack said in that tone that said I am the boss and I'm not taking no for an answer. Ianto sighed and let Jack in.

"Can I get you anything?" Ianto asked, that mask he wore at work firmly in place. Jack sighed.

"No. I want you to go get undressed," he said.

Ianto blinked. "Excuse me?" He said.

"You heard me," Jack said. A second passed before he smiled. "I want to see those bruises."

"I'm fine," Ianto insisted. Jack crossed his arms and just looked at him. "Really." When Jack didn't move, Ianto gave in. "Fine." He turned and walked through his living room and headed towards the bedroom. Jack didn't move for a moment as he critically watched Ianto. He could see that Ianto was favoring one side and his hand kept on creeping up to his waist. That was where he had been kicked. Jack stifled a sigh before following him.

In the bedroom, Ianto stood awkwardly. He was very uncomfortable, but one look at Jack's face told him that he wasn't going to win this argument. He awkwardly took off his jacket. If he was going to have to take off his clothes for Jack, he was going to take his time doing it. He moved over to his wardrobe and hung the jacket up after inspecting it. Jack leaned against the doorframe.

After carefully bending over, Ianto was able to untie his shoes and kick them off. He picked them up and placed them precisely on the floor next to the wardrobe. He hissed softly as he stood up again. Turning away so that Jack couldn't see his face, he unbuttoned his shirt. He had refused any in depth treatment from the medics, but he knew that he had taken a beating. He felt every cut, scrape and bruise. He took his shirt off, his eyes avoiding the mirror on the wall. A glance at Jack showed that the other man's face was impassive as he watched.

Ianto regarded his shirt. It was pretty much ruined, and destined for the bin. He draped that on the tailor's stand that stood over by the window. He thought about telling Jack he was fine, but one look at the other man told him that he wasn't going to leave. Ianto slowly unbuttoned his trousers and pushed them over his hips. Wincing, he carefully worked them down his legs and stepped out of them. He was left with his underwear, which he had no intention of taking off in front of his boss.

"Let's get a look at you," Jack said. He moved forward so that he could see Ianto better. The light from the lamp was dim, but it was not so dark that he couldn't see the livid bruises. Jack reached up and ran his fingers over Ianto's ribs, checking to see if the medics had missed anything. He ignored Ianto's wince and gently turned him around so he could see the front. There were several deep bruise marks from where he had been kicked and Jack pressed carefully, looking to see if there had been any serious internal damage. "How's that?"

"Better when you don't touch it, thank you," Ianto said through gritted teeth. "I'm okay."

"No you're not, Ianto." Jack informed him. "Stop playing the stoic and let me take care of you." Ianto turned his head so that he was looking at the wall. Jack continued to run his hands along his torso, occasionally asking him whether it hurt when he pressed his hands against his ribs, hip or stomach. Ianto told him no each time. Though he ached in more places than he could count, he didn't think he had any internal damage.

Once Jack had satisfied himself that Ianto wasn't severely hurt, he told Ianto to climb into bed. Ianto did, grateful to be able to pull the duvet up to cover himself. He was feeling confused by the emotions he felt while Jack was looking at him. He didn't want to think about why that was, so concentrated on tallying each individual ache to distract himself. Jack went into the bathroom and rummaged around, coming out with a bottle of paracetamol and a glass of water. He pulled the straight backed chair that was by the window over to the bed and sat down.

"Here, take these," he said, spilling out a few into his hand and giving them to Ianto. "They'll help with the pain." Ianto accepted them, looking down at the pills in his hand. It was more than he would normally take, but then he had never hurt like this before. He nodded and accepted the glass of water from Jack, drinking the water to swallow the pills down. He handed the glass back to Jack before lying back down.

"You didn't do this with Tosh," he said quietly.

"Tosh has been through this sort of thing before. You haven't," Jack said in a matter of fact tone. "Besides, I think you got the worst of it back there in the kitchen." Ianto looked away. He didn't want to think about what had happened.

Jack watched him carefully. That mask was definitely back in place and inwardly Jack sighed. He needed to get Ianto to open up about what happened. He thought for a long moment as Ianto stared up at the ceiling, wondering how long it would be before Jack decided to leave.

"Tosh told me what you did today," Jack said. Ianto glanced over at him before looking back up at the ceiling.

"It didn't work," Ianto said, a bit of a sour note in his voice.

"Actually, it did. She got away, and was able to stall for time. She almost got completely away," Jack said, a note of admiration in his voice for what Ianto had done. "Ianto, that was amazing."

"How?" Ianto asked, a bit shocked by what he heard in Jack's voice. "How can you say that?"

"Because you've had no field training to speak of," Jack said to him. "Yet you have the right instincts."

"That being I didn't want them to eat us?" Ianto asked in disbelief. "Anyone would have that instinct!" He had sat up at that point and Jack gently pushed him back into the pillow.

"But not everyone would be able to think clearly in a situation like that and think on their feet," Jack said patiently. He watched as Ianto worked to release the tense muscles in his arms as he forced himself to relax. "That showed quick thinking and the ability to act. That is important, Ianto."

"Oh, so you'll let me into the field again?" Ianto asked.

"Sure, why wouldn't I?" Jack asked. Ianto attempted to shrug, but winced when he tried. "Ianto, this wasn't a one off. I think you need to be more involved in the work we do. You're part of the team, it's about time we started getting you out of the Hub."

Ianto stayed silent for a long moment while he digested that. He turned his head so that he was looking at Jack.

"Why?"

"Why what?" Jack asked. He had a puzzled look on his face.

"Why are you doing that? Why have me go out with you at all? I thought I was the butler and clean up man," Ianto said, a bitter note in his voice.

"Ianto, you are a man with some amazing talents. If I've learned nothing else over the last few months, I've learned not to underestimate you, and what you are capable of accomplishing when you put your mind to it," Jack said. Ianto turned away with thoughts of how Jack had learned that lesson.

"So, I'll go out on other missions with you?" Ianto asked, his voice muffled since he was looking away.

"Yes, you will." Jack asserted. When Ianto didn't respond, Jack sat and waited. He was hoping that Ianto would open up about what happened in the mountains. They needed to talk about it. He debated on whether he should bring it up himself, but didn't want to lead Ianto in the discussion. It should really come from him.

After the silence stretched for some time, Ianto sighed. "Feeling better?" Jack asked. He saw Ianto nod. Jack looked down at his hands and waited.

"Jack, can I ask you something?" Ianto asked.

"Sure," Jack waited to see what he was going to say.

"This… thing we do. When Tosh and I were trapped in the basement, I… I kind of lost it," Ianto admitted, feeling a bit ashamed at how he had panicked. "You all seem to relish these sorts of things. Like it's a challenge."

"It is a challenge," Jack admitted. "It's putting yourself and your skills, knowledge and intelligence against something else. That might be an alien, a threat to people, or a sick human being like we ran into today. "

"Tosh told me that it was something that we had to do, in order to save people," Ianto said. He turned back to look at Jack. Ianto was feeling more comfortable, the medicine taking some of the physical pain away. He was still left with the images of what had happened stuck in his head, however.

"That's right," Jack nodded.

"What do you do about the memories though?" Ianto asked. Jack let out a tiny sigh of relief. Finally. Ianto shifted uncomfortably in the bed. If he allowed himself to think about it, he could still feel the cleaver pressed against his throat. Had Jack been a minute later, he would have been dead, his blood spilling out onto the floor at that awful place. "How can you sleep at night when you know there are people like that out there?" Ianto let out a bit of laughter as he realized that Jack didn't sleep much. Perhaps stuff like that was the reason why.

"When I can sleep," Jack acknowledged Ianto's laugh with a wry grin. "I know that those people have been put away and can't hurt anyone else. What we do matters, Ianto. I see us at the lone guard at the gate, keeping people safe."

"Not everyone," Ianto pointed out. "Look how long that town was operating." Jack nodded. "So many people were killed over the years." He sighed.

"I can't do anything about the past," Jack said. "I can't look backwards. Though it does make me want to go hunt each of them down and take them out. Prison will be too good for them." Ianto nodded. Jack could see that the lack of sleep was finally getting to him. His eyes were starting to droop. "Feeling a bit better?" He asked Ianto.

"A bit," Ianto nodded. "Jack?"

"Yeah?" Jack asked. He leaned forward, since Ianto's voice was dropping lower as he started to drift off to sleep.

"Thanks," Ianto said. Jack reached out and brushed Ianto's hair back.

"You're welcome. Go to sleep, Ianto." Jack pulled back, not wanting to disturb Ianto. He sat for a long time, just watching Ianto sleep. Leaning against the straight back chair, he decided to stay there just in case Ianto had a nightmare. He wouldn't blame him if he did. The last couple of days were harrowing and Ianto was still relatively young.

Jack decided to leave the lamp on. He didn't want Ianto waking up with the room dark. Jack settled in on the hard chair and crossed his arms in front of him. He wasn't sleepy, but he did want to think about the team and some ways of getting them to work together more. As difficult as this whole adventure was, he thought it did some good, though he was worried about Gwen. He knew that Owen would have been in touch if there had been any problems there. Jack sighed. It had been a bit of a trial by fire for both of his newest employees.

Still, it wouldn't be Torchwood without a few trials and tribulations, would it? Jack smiled and settled down for a long night of watching over one of the two who was asleep in front of him.

~*~