Hi all, I was pleased to see people enjoying this story and wanted to post up a bit more. Hope you like it.

Assistance

Ianto glared up at the plate on the top shelf of his cupboard. It was just sitting up there, out of his reach, mocking him. "I hate you," he snarled at it and could almost imagine it laughing at him.

Jack had sweet talked the nurses into letting him leave the day after he'd woken up, which meant he'd only had to stay in the UNIT hospital one more night. Jack had kept his promise not to leave Ianto alone, but he'd stayed away until Ianto was about to go to sleep. When he'd woken up the following morning Jack had helped him get home and into his flat only leaving after Ianto promised he'd call in to Torchwood if he needed help -he had no intention of doing so-. Their goodbye had been brief, it had to be.

It was now the next day and Ianto was learning what he could and couldn't do with his arms. His left hand and arm could move somewhat, which he was grateful for as it meant he could still take care of personal necessities. Unfortunately his movement was severely limited, something he was now struggling with as he tried to reach the plate which should have been within easy reach just above his head.

Movement wasn't the only thing he was having trouble with either. While he had been in hospital he'd been about as heavily medicated as he could be without permanent harm befalling him. Before the Doctors had sent him home they'd pumped him full of more drugs to keep him going for the rest of the day and loaded up a compartment in the metal casts on both of his arms with as much as they could fit in them. They came linked to a button which he could press if he began to feel any pain and thankfully his limited range of movement allowed him to do that without an issue. Unfortunately it would only dispense so much within a certain time frame to keep him from overdosing himself accidentally and the night before he'd awoken all but screaming in agony because the drugs had worn off. He'd managed to get to his button, but it had taken several minutes for the drugs to take effect and he'd had to bite his lip so hard it bled to keep from screaming and freaking out his neighbours.

He looked up at the plate again and wondered if it were possible to hate an inanimate object any more than he currently hated this plate. He'd been so drugged up the previous day he'd spent the bulk of it asleep and hadn't felt the need to eat at all. Now he was starving, but the damn plates were too high for him to reach. Finally he decided to try and find another way to get the plate down, and after a few moments thought, he clocked on an idea of how he might do it. Heading into his hallway he managed to get the cupboard door open and pulled out an old walking stick he had from when he'd hurt his ankle a little while back –Jack had bought it for him as a joke, but it actually turned out to be quite useful-. With a determined look in his eyes he headed back into the kitchen and lifted the walking stick up until it hooked onto the edge of the plate and began to pull as quickly as his arm would allow.

Owen strode down the hallway toward Ianto's flat. He knew it was highly possible Ianto would be asleep but he didn't care, he wanted to make sure the other man was all right. He could have blown his top when Jack had told him he'd allowed Ianto to go home alone, but somehow the tone in Jack's voice kept him from voicing his annoyance at the immortal man. Jack was hurting, and while Owen wasn't sure why, he was loath to make it any worse for the man.

He reached the door and raised his hand to knock, only to freeze when he heard a loud crash come from within the flat followed soon after by a heavy thump.

"Ianto!" he called frantically, banging on the door. "Ianto!"

When he got no answer he tried the door knob and finding it locked he stepped back ready to ram it open. He was about to when he remembered that Jack had given him a key to Ianto's flat before he'd left the UNIT hospital and asked Owen to keep it away from him so he didn't use it. Thankful that at least his short term memory seemed to be working fine he ripped the key out of his pocket and slipped it hurriedly into the lock. Throwing the door open he ran inside immediately spotting Ianto sitting on the kitchen floor, surrounded by broken crockery, blood dripping from a gash on the top of his head.

Owen flew to his side, pulling a tea towel off the handle of the oven door and pressing it to the gash. He felt Ianto tense at the contact so he spoke to reassure the Welshman of who he was.

"It's okay, Ianto," he said softly, feeling the injured man relax.

"Owen," Ianto mumbled quietly.

"Yeah it's Owen," Owen replied softly. "What were you doing?" he asked, alarmed by all the broken crockery on the floor.

"Was hungry, trying to get a plate down," Ianto mumbled groggily in reply.

Owen sighed, shaking his head. Ianto shouldn't be alone; it was stupid to think he'd be okay. "Do you think you can get up?" he asked the Welshman.

"Think so," Ianto replied and Owen slowly helped him to his feet.

He got Ianto to the couch and sat him down before heading back to the kitchen to get an ice pack and the first aid kit Ianto had in his cupboard. Thankfully, the injured man worked for Torchwood so he had a decent first aid kit complete with morphine and sutures.

He returned to the couch to find Ianto trying to lift his hand up to touch his head. Owen got him to relax and pulled the towel away so he could get a better look at the injury. It wasn't too severe, but it would need stitches. He told Ianto as much and the Welshman just nodded, sitting still while Owen stitched him up.

As soon as he was done Owen helped Ianto lie down on the couch before disappearing back into the kitchen to clean up all the crockery. When he returned to the lounge room he found Ianto curled up on the couch with tears streaming down his face. He felt so bad for the poor man, he may not remember much about his life, but he remembered what kind of person Ianto was and he knew as difficult as it would be for anyone else to lose the use of their arms, it would be doubly difficult for Ianto who was the king of self sufficiency and spent so much of his life looking after everyone else.

He slid down onto the floor in front of the couch and lay his head down next to Ianto's. He reached out and wiped the tears from the Welshman's face before gently caressing Ianto's cheek. Ianto closed his eyes and leant into the touch, more tears escaping from beneath his closed lids.

"It's going to be okay," Owen whispered. "I promise."

Ianto opened his eyes and looked back at him, the expression on his face telling Owen that he wanted to believe him. They stared at each other for what felt like hours before Ianto's eyes slowly slid shut and Owen watched as the young Welshman slipped into a peaceful sleep. Owen waited until he was sure the young man was well and truly asleep before slipping quietly out of the apartment. There were some things he needed to see to.

XXX

Ianto wasn't sure how much later it was when he finally woke up again but he was immediately aware of the heavenly smell of food what was filling his apartment. He opened his eyes when he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder and found Owen leaning over him.

"Hey," the doctor greeted softly. "How are you feeling?"

Ianto stopped for a second to take stock of his body before replying. "A little sore, but not too bad."

Owen nodded. "I got some dinner for us. You like pasta don't you?" he asked.

Ianto nodded. "Yeah I do," he replied. "Thank you,"

Owen helped him sit up before returning to the kitchen and remerging a few moments later with two bowls of ravioli and two glasses of water on a tray. "I know you're not supposed to have alcohol or caffeine until you've fully recovered so I thought water would be the best bet," he said, putting the tray down on the coffee table in front of the couch. He handed one bowl to Ianto before heading over to the TV.

"Do you want to watch something?" he asked.

"I don't mind, whatever you like," Ianto replied, watching as Owen turned on the TV and flicked through the channels until he found something good to watch. Once he was done he sat down next to Ianto and picked up his own bowl.

"Are you going to be okay to eat?" he asked gently; obviously not wanting to upset Ianto.

Ianto nodded. "Yeah, I can do that okay," he replied with a gentle smile. "Thanks though."

Owen nodded. "Okay, tell me when you want a drink and I'll pass you your cup," he said before settling down to eat.

Ianto half watched the TV and half watched Owen all the way through dinner. He still found the other man's actions curious, but he had to admit he actually liked having the doctor there with him, his presence was surprisingly soothing. After dinner they sat a little while longer watching TV before Ianto started to get tired again. He dreaded going to sleep, knowing he'd likely wake up in agony like he had the night before, but the need for sleep was winning out.

He turned to look at Owen, knowing he should tell him but not wanting the other man to go. In the end he decided to stay where he was and just let sleep claim him whenever it wanted to. He was already lying down on the couch now at Owen's insistence -the Doctor had migrated to one of the other couches after dinner-. He'd gone and got Ianto a blanket and a pillow and insisted he lie down, so he had, not having the energy to fight with the doctor over the couch.

He stared at the screen for a while longer before sleep eventually claimed him. If he didn't see Owen leave he could at least pretend he was still there.

Owen awoke around midnight to the sound of Ianto sobbing quietly. When he'd realised that Ianto was asleep earlier he'd done a little rearranging of the furniture and made himself up a bed on the floor next to the couch. After throwing another blanket over Ianto and making sure he was warm, Owen had slid into his own bed to sleep, thinking about the conversation he was going to have to have with the Welshman the following day.

It hadn't taken him long to fall asleep, he'd been pretty tired. Now however he was instantly awake and he looked over at Ianto to find the young Welshman lying on the couch, writhing in agony, his face a mask of pain. He immediately crawled over to Ianto and placed a gentle hand on his cheek to soothe him.

"Ssh, it's okay," he whispered, gently stroking Ianto's hair.

Ianto stilled slightly and Owen used the opportunity to press the button on Ianto's most easily accessible caste which he knew was meant to deliver pain relief. He'd heard the doctors talking about it while they were putting the casts on Ianto and was extremely grateful he'd been paying attention.

As soon as he'd pressed both he went back to gently stroking Ianto's hair, whispering softly to him until his face relaxed and he stilled completely. As soon as he was sure Ianto was asleep again Owen returned to his bed and crawled back under the blankets, chilled to the bone by what he'd just seen. He'd use that new information when he spoke to Ianto the following day, there was no way in hell he was going to leave him alone after that.

Ianto awoke the following morning to the smell of bacon and eggs. Confused, he looked up at the clock and was surprised to find it was 8 in the morning. He hadn't woken up the night before in pain, why not? And who was cooking food?

He heard footsteps approaching and looked up to find Owen looking down at him once more.

"Morning," the young doctor greeted. "How are you feeling?"

"Okay, thank you," Ianto replied. "How are you?"

"Good thanks," Owen replied. "Breakfast will be ready soon. Do you want to eat where you are?" he asked.

"Okay," Ianto replied and Owen disappeared back into the kitchen.

He returned a few moments later with two plates of bacon and eggs and Ianto grinned when he saw that Owen had already cut all but the toast up into bite sized pieces.

Owen noticed his grin and returned it with one of his own. "Can't make you do too much work now can I?" he asked before starting on his breakfast.

Ianto knew he should be upset about having to have his food cut up for him, but he honestly found it so damn amusing to see his food pre-cut he couldn't help but find the whole situation funny. He was also feeling mildly giddy about the fact that Owen was still there with him, he'd expected to wake up alone and in pain.

They ate silently and when they were done Owen washed the dishes before returning to the lounge room. He plonked himself down on the coffee table he'd moved back to its position in front of the couch and looked at Ianto.

"You can't be alone, Ianto," he began. "I know you're used to being Mr Independent but you can't do that this time. You need help, whether you like it or not. Now I know I'm not your favourite person on the planet, (actually right now he was) everyone's told me we don't exactly have a stellar past, but I'm not going to leave you on your own. That being said I think you should come and stay with me while you get better and before you argue with me about it hear me out okay. My apartment is bigger so we'd each have a bedroom and a bathroom to ourselves, it's closer to the city so everything's in walking distance and if, for some reason, I'm not around and you want something to eat or drink there's a little place at the bottom of the building that will make anything you want and deliver it up to the room."

"I've already made your room up, I have very nice, high thread count, Egyptian cotton sheets on the bed, but if you want to bring your own you can, you can even bring your own pillows and blanket if you want to, but if you don't everything's all set up you just have to pack anything else you want to bring. You can bring anything you want with you, I'll carry it all down to the car. You can have full control of the TV if you want it, if I bug you at any time you can tell me to go away and I will. I am a very good host and I will take very good care of you while you're recovering. Now you can be as mad at me as you want to, but I am NOT leaving you alone. I'm sorry if you don't like it but tough, you're stuck with me. Now I will stay here if you want me to but I think we'd be better off at my place. It's up to you, what do you want to do?" Owen finished, looking at Ianto expectantly.

Ianto resisted the urge to chuckle at Owen's stubbornness and nodded. "Okay, Owen, I'll come and stay with you," he agreed. He almost laughed again at the relieved expression that crossed the doctor's face as he said it.

"Okay," Owen said with a nod. "We'd best get you packed then, do you have luggage?"

Ianto nodded and showed Owen where it was. He got it down and they headed into Ianto's room to pack up what the Welshman needed to take. About halfway through the packing process a thought occurred to Ianto. "Hey, why aren't you at work?" he asked.

"I'm not allowed at work until Martha figures out what's wrong with me," Owen replied. "I'd like to say I'm sorry about that, but I'm really not."

"Really? I thought you loved your job," Ianto asked.

"Oh I do. Don't get me wrong, I love being a doctor. I'm just happy to have a little time off and be able to help you out. I really didn't want you to be by yourself," Owen explained.

Ianto felt warmed by those words and smiled despite the awfulness of the situation. He watched the doctor moving around the room packing the things Ianto asked him to and suddenly felt extremely grateful for whatever memory loss Owen was experiencing. He didn't want the man to be having troubles, but it was so nice to have someone around who honestly just wanted to help him.

By the time the packing was done Owen had half the apartment in bags and boxes. Ianto tried to tell the doctor he didn't need it all, but Owen was convinced Ianto would be more comfortable if he had as much stuff from his own apartment with him as possible. Soon Owen had it all down in the car and Ianto was looking around the apartment to make sure he didn't need anything else. Really he already knew he didn't, but Owen had insisted on it. Finally they were locking up the apartment and heading down to Owen's car.

As they moved through the apartment complex Ianto snuggled deeper into the coat UNIT had given him before he'd left the hospital, feeling more than a little self conscious. The coat had to be big enough to accommodate the huge metal casts on his arms and because of that it was far too big for him and made him look homeless. Still, he wasn't about to go out and about without something covering him, people would freak.

He slid into Owen's car, thankful the other man had left the top up, and breathed a sigh of relief when he was once more out of sight.

"You okay?" Owen asked as he slid into the driver's side.

Ianto nodded. "I'm fine," he lied, giving the doctor his best reassuring smile.

"Oh yeah, that's convincing," Owen replied sarcastically before starting the car and turning to look at Ianto. "Don't lie because you think it's what I want to hear. Tell me the truth, okay, I can't help if you don't," he said quietly.

Ianto looked down at his hands. "Sorry," he mumbled.

He looked up when he felt Owen's hand on his. "Don't apologise, you haven't done anything wrong," the doctor gently chastised. "I just want to help you, please let me."

Ianto nodded and Owen moved his hands back to the steering wheel and waited for a gap in the traffic.

The ride over to Owen's apartment was spent in silence, but it wasn't uncomfortable. When they got there Owen opened the door and led Ianto inside.

Ianto had never been inside Owen's apartment during the day so he took a moment to take it all in. It was absolutely gorgeous, tidy, which surprised Ianto greatly and the view was spectacular.

"Okay, now I know why you wanted to come back here rather than staying at my place," he stated in awe.

Owen chuckled. "I fell in love with this place the moment I saw it," he admitted. "I always wanted to settle in Cardiff and when Jack offered me the job with Torchwood I decided I'd find myself somewhere nice, somewhere that didn't remind me of Katie, and this place was perfect."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring up bad memories," Ianto said quietly.

"Oh no, don't worry you didn't. I mean, I'll always miss Katie, but it's actually nice to think about her now," Owen replied with a smile. "Come on, I'll show you to your room," he suggested, leading Ianto down the hallway. "That's the laundry," he pointed to a door on the left, "study," he pointed to one on the right, other rooms, he motioned to another set of doors opposite each other. They reached the end of the hallway and pointed to the door on the right. "That side's my room (Ianto already knew that but he didn't say anything) and this one is yours," Owen finished, opening the door on the left and leading Ianto inside.

"Wow," Ianto gasped when he walked in. Like Owen's room one of the walls was comprised entirely of floor to ceiling windows. The head of the massive king-sized bed was pushed up against the wall to the right of the door and the bed was made up in light blue sheets with a sapphire and royal blue doona cover and about a million pillows. The bed itself was made of a dark brown wood and had bedside tables to match on either side, complete with lamps. The wall separating his room from Owen's had a tall bookcase and an entertainment unit constructed of the same dark wood as the bed. The bookshelf was empty, the entertainment unit however was filled with a flat screen TV, DVD, blue ray and Video player, an impressive sound system and an assortment of DVDs. The other wall that wasn't filled with windows had a walk-in-robe which lead through to the ensuite, complete with a toilet, shower, sink and even a bath tub. It was gorgeous.

"Owen this is … you didn't do all of this for me did you?" Ianto asked.

"Would it matter if I did?" Owen asked from the doorway, where he was leaning with his hands in his pockets, watching Ianto's reaction.

Ianto turned around to face him and it was only then that he realised how nervous Owen looked. "No," he replied, "I don't suppose it does. I guess I just don't want to have caused you any unnecessary trouble."

"You're worth the trouble," Owen replied, moving away from the door to stand in front of him. "Do you like it?" he asked, still looking somewhat nervous.

Ianto nodded, "Yeah I do," he replied with a smile. "Thank you."

Owen smiled back. "You're welcome," he replied, turning to head back to the door. "I'll go get the rest of your stuff."

"No, Owen, I mean thank you, really, for everything," Ianto said before he reached the door.

Owen stopped and headed back to stand in front of him. He studied Ianto's face for a moment before leaning forward and pressing a gentle kiss to his cheek. "You're welcome," he whispered into Ianto's ear before pulling away and heading for the door again, leaving a rather dazed Ianto in his wake. "I'll go grab your stuff, make yourself at home," Owen called over his shoulder as he left the room.

Ianto moved over to the bed and carefully lowered himself down. His heart was racing in his chest and he was finding it a little hard to breathe all of a sudden. He knew Owen had an effect on him, he'd known since that first night they'd spent together all those months ago, he'd just forgotten how strong it was. What was happening? What was going through Owen's mind? Did he actually want Ianto now? After everything that had happened between them Ianto hadn't thought he did, but now he wasn't so sure. This selective memory loss of Owen's was so confusing; Ianto had no idea what to do.

Should he ask Owen what was going on? He thought about that option for a moment. Asking Owen what was going on would probably lead to an awkward conversation, possibly even a fight and Ianto really didn't have the energy to fight at the moment. After much deliberation he decided to leave things the way they were and see what happened. After all, Owen was probably going to get his memory back eventually and things would likely go back to normal anyway.

That thought made him stop. What would happen when Owen got his memory back? He'd just done all of this for Ianto, would he freak out when he was back to normal and kick Ianto out? Just then Owen returned to the room with a whole lot of Ianto's stuff and he pushed those thoughts aside. He knew he should probably ask Owen about it now before all his stuff was up here, but the other man had been so good to him he really didn't want to hurt his feelings. Instead he helped Owen get his stuff unpacked and put away before watching Owen make lunch and sitting out on the balcony, that jutted off the lounge-room, with the Londoner eating it. He'd worry about Owen's memory when and if it did eventually return.

XX

End of chapter

Poor Ianto, he's having a hard time and now he has to deal with the confusion of Owen's behaviour. Oh well, at least he's not alone now and Owen is being very nice to him. More soon hopefully, let me know what you think xxoo

Kayla