Chapter Three:
As the team stood just above the autopsy/medical area, they watched Owen work on Martha, who was still unconscious, but muttering in her sleep. "She's running a fever of 102.4; her blood pressure and heart rate are through the roof."
"She was complaining about being tired this morning." Ianto offered quietly from where he stood beside Jack.
"We're all tired though, that's just part of Torchwood." Gwen replied.
"Is it?" Jack spoke up suddenly.
Owen glanced at all of them, noticing how haggard they'd become just over the course of the past few hours. "I'll keep her under observation. You're all feeling all right?"
Gwen shrugged. "Tired, nothing else really."
Owen sighed as he looked back to Jack. "All right, well I hate to break it to you, but everyone of you should probably stay here tonight."
Jack glanced around; they'd had a late evening yesterday, working until nearly seven. And though that wasn't unusual he had to admit the past several weeks had probably weighed heavy on all of them. "All right, Gwen call Rhys, we might as well settle in for the night, Ianto why don't you help me get the rooms set up. We'll figure out what's going on tomorrow."
"You too, Captain." Owen stated, eyeing Jack out of the corner of his eyes.
Jack shook his head. "I still have a lot of work to do, Owen. I'll relax in a couple hours."
Ianto opened his mouth to say something, but then thought better of it and nodded. "I'm coming after you if you're not resting by six."
Jack nodded. "Fine."
Tosh and Gwen nodded, both women heading back to their desks. Owen's eyes were on them all the way. Looking back at Ianto and Jack, he studied the two immortals for a moment. "Jack—are you tired?"
Jack shook his head. "I'm a little tired, but nothing out of the ordinary—I've been pregnant before Owen, this is normal for me."
Owen nodded. "All right, let me know if anything abnormal happens then. Ianto, how do you feel?"
Ianto shrugged. "I don't know—normal."
"All right. Could you pull up a medical history on all four of you?"
"Of course, want any coffee before I leave?" Ianto asked Jack.
"No—caffeine isn't good for the baby."
Ianto pressed his lips quickly to Jack's before heading off in the direction of the archives. Jack sat down at his desk, eyeing the alien plant curiously. Shaking off the strange feelings, as he dove into the paperwork on his desk. He heard the cog door open and close, made a mental note that it was nearing two in the afternoon. He would work for a couple more hours then head home for some rest.
o0o
Tosh was sharing a room with Gwen, feeling a little more lonely than usual. She felt exhausted; worried she might be getting ill. She had a mug of tea and read a book she'd been working on for several days, grabbed a shower and crawled into bed around eight in the evening. Closing her eyes, Tosh felt the exhaustion overcome her.
Tosh walked into the Torchwood hub, only to find it empty. "Hello?" She called out. Normally, Owen, Ianto or Jack would be around by now. When she didn't get a response, she stepped further into the hub, and felt an eerie feeling settle in her stomach. Moving around, she found everything to be completely immaculate—even on his most frustrating days, Ianto wasn't this pristine.
"Someone?" She called out again. She moved towards Jack's office, looking around she again found no one there. Normally, she wouldn't even consider looking down in Jack's old bedroom in the basement, but she poked her head into the doorway, a light filter through from the bathroom on the opposite side of the room.
"Jack? Ianto?" She stepped onto the floor from the ladder and felt her roll at the sight of the two men on the bed. Lying together, facing each other on the small cot. Their eyes open, chests frozen. She felt her stomach churn with acid, her eyes burn with tears. Reaching out she touched their cheeks, finding them cold and stiff. "Please wake up?" She whimpered.
No—it was impossible. They couldn't die, couldn't possible, definitely not Jack. He was supposed to be immortal. Tears coursed down her cheeks as she stroked his cheek very lightly. "Please." she whimpered.
She practically ran up the ladder, back into the hub. "Owen! Gwen!? Martha! HELP!?" she sobbed, just then her computer beeped. She moved over to it, rapidly typing and studied the information. Her eyes grew wide. "No—this…this is impossible." She whispered as she read the information. No life signs, not anywhere. She rapidly continued to type, no life signatures anywhere—the whole planet couldn't possibly be empty.
She ran out of the hub. She ran out of the tourists office, she felt panic creeping into her heart as she looked around. Lining the streets were bodies, dead bodies, scattered everywhere. "What happened here?" She cried. "Someone help me! Anyone!?
o0o
Jack sighed softly as he scrubbed at his eyes, his stomach had started hurting an hour ago; he assumed it was all part of the morning sickness. He scoffed at the idea of morning sickness. More like all day sickness. He remembered being pregnant about five years before meeting the Doctor—his time with John, he'd lost the baby, but for the first three weeks Jack could remember vomiting every time he ate. Though, Jack could also remember being terrified, at the time he'd been so young—barely over twenty-three, and John hadn't been much older. They weren't even close to being ready to be parents. He wondered later if that part of why he lost the child. He pressed his hand against his stomach, glancing down at the non-existent bump. He'd been so happy when he found out he was pregnant. It had been so long, and though he'd sworn it off forever, he could feel the initial excitement coming back, the idea of carrying a little human with him—a little Ianto.
Jack looked at his clock. It was nearing five-thirty; he had to get downstairs to their quarters before Ianto came up and brought him down physically. Standing up, he grimaced at the ache in the pit of his stomach. He groaned as he felt a minor cramp there. Taking a slow deep breath he stood, hands still gripping his stomach he grabbed his jacket, slid it on gingerly. "Owen, I'm heading to bed."
Owen glanced up from his position at his desk and nodded. "Have a good night Captain. Call if you need anything."
Jack nodded with a brief wave. He headed straight for the bathroom and lost the little food in his stomach. Sitting back on the floor for a moment he closed his eyes against the dizziness.
"Jack?" Ianto's voice sounded concerned.
Jack looked at his watch in surprise; he'd been sitting on the bathroom floor for nearly an hour. "Yan—I—I think you should move me to the bed."
"Are you all right?"
"I'm really dizzy Ianto, and I can't keep anything down." Jack all but whimpered. A moment later his stomach cramped and he threw up again. His eyes drifted shut. The next thing he knew there was a chilled hand against his forehead.
"You're burning up. Let's get you into bed and see if we can't you cooled off. Do you want me to call Owen?"
Jack shook his head. "Please just—" Jack whimpered, doubling over he gave several dry heaves. Ianto just kept his hand against Jack's head, until the man had stopped.
Ianto wasn't going to deny he was terrified something was happening to Jack, but he would just do his best taking care of Jack. He got Jack settled into the bed, the man instantly curled on his side in a fetus position. Ianto sighed sadly as he leaned over and pressed a kiss to Jack's temple. "I'm going to get a wet washcloth, and clean you up a little, can you curl on your back."
"Something's wrong." Whimpered Jack.
Ianto sat down beside his lover, rubbing the man's back in slow gentle circles. "I can get Owen babe."
Jack shook his head, tears beginning to slip from the corners of his eyes. "I'm scared, Yan."
Stripping off his shoes and shirt, he scooted down, wrapping his arms around Jack from behind. He pressed a kiss to the base of Jack's neck where it met his back. "I'm here Jack." He was scared too, because deep in the pit of his own stomach, Ianto knew there was something very wrong.
TBC
