Monday 2nd February 8:33am

'Right,' Ianto said even though the cog door hadn't finished closing over.

'I was just going to call you,' Jack said looking up at Ianto, the phone already in his hand.

'I know,' said Ianto, moving up the stairs. 'The weevils can wait, though.'

'How did-'

'I'm stuck. This is the third Monday now, and I'm fed up. I can't get out of this Monday. I wake up, I have the day from hell, and I die before I wake up to do it all over again the next day. Only it's not the next day, it's still the same Monday!'

Jack was frowning. 'Did you fall asleep watching Groundhog Day again?'

'You made that joke yesterday, and it wasn't funny then either,' said Ianto. 'And before you say it, yes it is a pity the lottery doesn't play on a Monday.'

Jack stared bug eyed for a moment.

'How do you-'

'Third Monday, Jack. Third.' Ianto was pacing back and forth across the work area in front of the settee now as Jack watched him uneasily.

'Right, so lets sort out the facts,' Ianto started, but Jack was already interrupting him.

'Facts, Ianto, what are you on about?'

'Two days, two Mondays ago, I got up, had the day from hell and then to top it all off died, only to wake up in the exact same Monday again, only this time I didn't die in quite the same way, but when I did die – because this is now clearly the norm for Monday's - guess where I woke up?'

'In an institution?' said Jack, trying to joke. Ianto stopped in his pacing and looked at Jack.

'You didn't take this seriously yesterday either. Look, Jack, I need you to trust me on this, because I really don't want to be stuck with a permanent Monday feeling because I can't get out of it. So I need your help, okay?'

Jack made a show of keeping his mouth shut, gesturing for Ianto to continue.

'So I woke up in the same Monday again after dying, which suggests I can't die, or if I do die I go back to the start, like a game. This is someone's idea of a game, maybe?' He looked to Jack like he was expecting an answer, but before Jack had a chance to open his mouth Ianto was back to pacing and thinking out loud.

'So if this is a game to someone there must be a way for me to win. Logically for me to win I have to not die, yes? Which means I have to avoid everything that could kill me, like Weevils and canisters that blow up in my face. There must be a clue with that. I need you to pick something up for me. Later though,' Ianto added when Jack looked like he was ready to go at a moments notice.

It was disconcerting having Ianto rambling to himself in the middle of the Hub about repeated days and dying. Jack didn't wonder that the stress of Torchwood had finally taken its toll on Ianto and he'd snapped. Jack wouldn't really blame him, if he were honest.

'So maybe all I have to do is to survive until the end of the day, do things exactly as I did them on the first Monday, but just survive this time. Has to be easy, right?' Ianto was looking expectantly at Jack now, and Jack carefully straightened himself like Ianto was a wild animal he didn't want to scare with any sudden movements.

'Ianto, it's your day off, maybe you should just go home and sleep. You're probably just overtired and your imagination is playing tricks-'

'There's five Weevils out the back of the Old Custom House at Penarth. Three of them will drown in the sea, I'll bash the fourth one's brains in on a rock when it tries to have me as a tasty treat, and the fifth one you'll manage to handcuff. Kathy Swanson will call us about a body that washes up on the shores of the Taff by Nos Da. We'll get bacon butties for lunch and you'll complain I don't bring you back any ketchup. We'll argue and-'

'Stop,' said Jack. Holding up his hand and Ianto complied. They held each other's gaze for a long moment, allowing Jack to see the desperation in Ianto's eyes.

'I believe you,' said Jack, and with the relief of those words Ianto sagged onto the settee.

'I don't want to die again,' Ianto said, letting out a shaky breath. It was said with such pathetic childishness, but that made the statement all the more bold.

'No,' Jack agreed. 'It's not the most pleasant of things.' Ianto looked up at Jack again but didn't say anything.

'So, do we call Gwen in on this?'

'No, she'll come in around half two and complain about the weather,' Ianto replied, giving Jack a half smile that said it was okay, when it really wasn't.

Ianto made it all the way back to where he'd died on the first day, but instead of going with Jack and Gwen to retrieve the canister he stayed behind at the Hub, twiddling his thumbs and awaiting their return. Jack had been twitchy all day, scared that Ianto was going to drop dead at any moment, no doubt. Ianto had worried that he was going to jump in front of a bus at one point when they'd been crossing the road in Penarth, a bus braking just slightly too late. But Ianto was hypersensitive to near death experiences too, looking more than thrice before he crossed the road. He felt like a paranoid person.

He gazed round the Hub, noting everything in it that was hazardous to his health before his eyes finally settled on the greenhouse. No one really took much care of it anymore, not since Owen had died. Ianto watered the plants when he remembered, or had the time, but the past week had been so busy that he'd neglected it completely. To be honest, he'd been wary of setting foot in the greenhouse ever since that incident with that alien plant trying to bleed him dry. He shuddered slightly at the memory as he rose from his seat and made his way carefully across the Hub, deciding that now was as good as time as any to water them.

A lot of them were looking sorry for themselves, wilting leaves and bone dry soil as he reached for the watering can, turning the tap on in there. As he was filling it he felt like someone was watching him out of the shadows, lurking just beyond the edge of his peripheral vision. Something that was hiding just out of sight behind one of the bigger plants.

Of course, he realised when he was bound up in green tendrils that it was the plant they'd retrieved last week that had been watching him with hungry eyes. He struggled for a while before he was reminded of the Harry Potter book he was currently re-reading to his niece. He relaxed in the vain hope the plant would let him go. If anything it tightened its grip and Ianto belated realised it was more a Seymour than Devils Snare. It didn't eat him, at least not while he was conscious, but it squeezed him like a boa constrictor until there was no air left in him. It wasn't the most bizarre way he died, but it was certainly up in the top three.