Chapter Three

24 November

"Oi! Look who's getting up and about on his own!" Owen exclaimed when he saw Ianto gingerly emerging from Jack's office. The climb had been slow and painful, but the Welshman had been determined to get out to the Hub and make it on his own.

"I was going to get a coffee," he told the medic.

"I would have brought you one," Owen answered. Ianto stared at him in disbelief. Did he honestly think that Ianto was going to drink the swill Owen produced from his precious machine? The doctor flushed under the younger man's scrutiny.

"Well, I could have run up to the coffee shop on the Plass."

Ianto nodded in acknowledgement. Their coffee was nearly drinkable.

They were silent for a moment, and Ianto took advantage of the opportunity to glance around.

"Where's Jack?" he asked curiously. The captain had rarely been out of his sight for the last three days.

"You were sleeping, so he ran out to get food. I volunteered to hang around in case you needed anything."

Ianto started to protest that he didn't need a babysitter, but realized not only did it sound churlish, it was probably untrue.

"Thanks."

"No problem, mate. Nice to see you up. How are you feeling?"

Ianto shot him a wan, ironic smile.

"Sore."

"Want something for the pain?"

But he shook his head.

"Not just now. It's not like it was two days ago. I can handle it at the moment."

"I know you CAN, I'm just suggesting that you don't necessarily NEED to. Want to change your mind?"

"No. Thanks."

"You know, you don't deserve to be in pain, Teaboy. This isn't some cosmic penance you're paying—it's the aftermath of stopping psychotic serial killers. It's okay to take pain medication, okay to be comfortable, at least as comfortable as you can be."

"What makes you so sure it isn't penance? It's not like I'm really a member of the team. All of you, Jack recruited you. I badgered him into letting me in—wore him down. And do you know why he took me into the field? Because he didn't think it was a real case. He expected a team building exercise, camping. I'm just the bloody butler, and I keep putting the rest of you in danger."

"You can't think that, Ianto," Owen told him gruffly. "When Gwen asked Jack about going after you, he told her that you knew what you were doing, that you and Tosh could take care of yourselves. He didn't have any doubts about your abilities."

"Looks like he was wrong, though, eh?"

"Every ten years for generations, Teaboy, hundreds of people, and no one else ever survived. I'd say he got it right. Which doesn't mean he wasn't going out of his mind with worry. I tell you, mate, I don't want to know what would have happened if we hadn't found you alive. And before that, back when, well—when you disappeared down into the tombs, and the power was acting up, and we thought we were under attack, do you know what Jack said? He told everyone, 'The priority is to find Ianto.' No matter what else was going on, no matter who was attacking us or why, YOU were his priority. That man cares for you. And that hasn't changed. Not because of what happened with Lisa, not because of what happened on the Brecon Beacons. Oi, the first two times I met Jack, I tried to beat the crap out of him. I wanted to kill him. Yet here I am. Jack understands matters of the heart, and he understands forgiveness. I know Jack has moved past what happened. Don't you think it's time you forgive yourself?"

"The first two times I met Jack, I wanted to shag him," Ianto admitted with a small smile, barely registering Owen's answering chortle.

Ianto thought back to hearing Jack's garbled words through failing comm link as he struggled to hide Tanizaki's body, 'Ianto? I need to hear those beautiful Welsh vowels!' and to the sight of Jack bursting through the wall at Brynblaidd, guns blazing, like an avenging angel. Even when Jack had been fighting him while Lisa was being attacked by Myfanwy, ordering him, threatening to kill him, he had never stopped trying to convince Ianto of the truth as he saw it, to win him over to his point of view, explaining where he was coming from.

Ianto would never have expected to turn to Owen for insight into Jack, but the medic had certainly given him food for thought.