Don't Know Where It Goes - 3

Jack was hunched over his small cot, head in his hands, watching the young man sprawled over the sheets and covers. Every now and then he would reach across and still his restless slumber with a soft touch of his hand or gentle words that fought against those stalking Ianto's confused mind.

Tosh held onto the metal rung of the ladder, observing their small bubble, not wanting to burst it with her presence. It was Jack who spoke, his eyes not looking up from his charge. "Tosh?"

She stepped into the dull light of the room lit only by an ancient bedside lamp. "Here." She handed him a mug of coffee, making an apologetic face for the contents.

Jack smiled and wrapped his hands around the decorative stripes; his eyes met her; Tosh shook her head. "I couldn't pinpoint the source of the pulse, Jack. All I can tell you is that it used Archangel satellites to bounce the signal…"

"I thought they had been destroyed." Jack stood up abruptly turning to meet her stare.

"The network has but the satellites are still in orbit, they were kept for government use."

The captain placed his free hand in his pocket and looked down into the liquid. "Jack, this visit tomorrow…" she sighed, "…sorry today…"

"Goes all the way to the top." He looked up into her tired face. "Go get some rest, Tosh."

She pushed her fringe away from her eyes. "I'll try."

He nodded, looking at his watch. "The lift?"

"I disabled it." She smiled. "Annual maintenance."

Jack gave a weary grin. "Will you open up the office, later?" She nodded.

"You better take this." He placed his mug down on a clear surface and stood, reaching through the clutter to pick up a model Spitfire. He held onto it, for a moment, his direction elsewhere.

"You think Owen will remember?" She gently took it from the captain's grasp, turning it over in her own.

Jack shook his head. "No." He placed both hands in his pockets. "You'll remind him?" He inclined his head; the Asian woman nodded.

"Jack, if this turns bad…"

The captain rubbed a hand through his hair. "I'll think of something, pull some sort of rabbit out of the hat." His shoulders slumped slightly.

Tosh reached across to hold his arm. "I know," she whispered. "Jack…" His eyes held hers. "It's good to have you back." She squeezed his arm.

Ianto sat bolt upright in the bed, his body shaking, crying out against some unseen torment, unsure of his surroundings. Tosh looked from the captain to the young man. "Should I get Owen to come down when he comes in?" She let her hand drop.

Jack shook his head. "I'll see to it." He moved away and sat down on the small cot, steadying the younger man in a gentle and reassuring grip.

Tosh took a step forward but found herself outside their bubble again, excluded. She smiled sadly and headed back up the ladder.

------------------------------------

"Ianto." Jack's voice pulled him from the shadows.

"Ianto," she whispered in blood, relief seeping into her gaze.

He looked around, squinting at the shadows, digesting the backdrop of Jack's disorder; the man was like a magpie for the past. He glanced up at the captain, his vivid blue stare grounding the younger man. "What…?"

Jack guided him back on the pillows. "There was an energy pulse, it seemed to affect you." He studied the young man's face, searching the deepening folds of his brow.

Ianto's looked away, pushing the heel of his hand against his forehead as flashes of ghosts turned in his mind.

"No, leave me, you must go."

"Here." Jack handed him the mug; Ianto looked hesitantly down at the wave of brown liquid. "Tosh made it," the captain explained.

The young man took a much needed sip, letting the bitter taste chase away all vestiges of the past. He closed his eyes and relaxed back against the odd assortment of pillows.

Jack lent forward resting his arms on his knees; he looked at his folded hands, following the ridges and peaks of his knuckles. "What did you see?" He glanced back up watching as the Welshman drew himself inward.

Ianto gripped the mug tighter weighing his answer on the sway of coffee touching the rim. "I don't remember." He looked away from the captain's challenging stare, the lie expanding the short distance between them; Jack could not afford to wait.

"Master. Master. Master."

He heard its tormented echo. He drew breath and grabbed the Welshman's wrist making Ianto look at him. Coffee slopped on the covers. "I know."

Ianto buried himself in Jack's stare. 'I know.' The statement cut through the disarray of his mind, leaving him in no doubt.

He looked to the span of Jack's firm grip. "How?"

"Does it matter?"

"Yes." The word slashed through the exchange as Ianto tugged away from Jack's hold, ditching the mug on the bedside cabinet. "I would have told you." His gaze travelled to Jack's eyes; he felt betrayed.

"I know." The captain's voice was gentler, his stare softer. "I just put two and two together…"

"How long?"

"Ianto…"

"How long, Jack?" Ianto ground his teeth.

The captain sighed. "Since I took you back, before…" he paused, "… before the Toclafane. I saw the pocket watch."

Silence.

Jack moved off the bed, turning his back to the younger man, leaning an arm against a jutting wall. "What did you see?" His words punctuated the still room.

The young man swallowed, his eyes never leaving the captain's silhouetted figure. "Does it matter?"

Jack clenched his fist with frustration. "Yes," he hissed.

Ianto closed his eyes and turned his head away. "I saw death, Jack, okay?" He moved off the bed and began to button up his shirt.

The captain stayed where he was, tapping his chin against his wrist, eyes scanning the brickwork of the wall. "What did you see?" he asked again.

Ianto's fingers froze on the top button. "What did you see?" Jack's persistence was pushing at the Welshman's resolve.

He drew breath. "I already told you…"

"No, no you didn't."

The young man turned his attention to the captain, the button forgotten, his eyes burning with emotional tears. He moved from the bed, distancing himself from the other man.

"Ianto…"

The Welshman looked over his shoulder. "I saw my past, Jack, I saw my mother die at the hands of a Slitheen." He shut his eyes, dragging himself from desperate tears.

Jack swallowed. "But that's not all you saw." He turned back into the room, leaning against the wall while looking to the unused ceiling fan.

"No." Ianto curled his hand around the ladder, hoping to blend into the shadows. "I saw him."

"Who?" Jack's question edged toward the other man, his stomach tightening.

"My… The Doctor." He turned his gaze to the captain's own. "There was something else, a shadow maybe…" Jack's posture stiffened.

"It was just a feeling." Ianto shook his head, searching the vague folds of his memory.

"Tell me what you felt?" Jack pushed gently.

The young man shrugged and turned away. "A ripple, a twist of time, an instability, a kink. Jack, I can't, it was just a flicker of a moment…"

"Was it him?" There was no need for further explanation.

Ianto ran his fingers through his hair, feeling the yoke tighten around him. "You called out his name." The captain's eyes never left the young man, pressing him in their coil. "Three times," he added.

"You know who we are." The voices bounced off the walls in the Ianto's throbbing head.

"I can't be sure, Jack, it could have been a distant memory, a residue from the Doctor's own..." he bit his lip. "… Torment."

The captain pushed away from the wall. "Well, someone sent the pulse."

Ianto smoothed the creased cotton of his shirt front. "Has Tosh been able to track it?"

Jack shook his head. "They used Archangel Network to transmit the signal…"

Ianto froze. "I thought that was defunct."

"You and me both." Jack stepped into light from the lamp. "Did the Doctor say anything yesterday?"

"No. But for him time isn't linear."

The captain nodded. "And you were careful?"

Ianto sighed. "I'm not an amateur, Jack."

The captain smiled. "No, no you're not, sorry." He reached out and turned the young man's collar down at the back. "And neither are we, that's why we're taking no chances." He pulled his braces onto his shoulders. "I'm sending you away, now…"

"What?" The young man jerked his head round.

"We'll make up a bogus alien sighting, I don't know, I'll get Tosh to fabricate something…"

"No, Jack, no way."

"Ianto, I'm trusting my gut here…"

"I'm not running, not again…" The Welshman moved away, rolling down his shirt sleeves.

"Ianto." Jack's voice was softer as he stepped behind him. "I made a promise."

The young man stilled. "To whom, Jack?"

The captain placed his hands Ianto's shoulders. "To myself," he whispered, "during that long and painful year, that I wasn't going to let him hurt you, not to get to the Doctor and not to get to, to me."

Ianto turned to face the other man. "Jack, that's a promise you might not be able to keep."

The captain swallowed, letting his thumb ghost the young man's lips. "I know."

Ianto reached up and held his hand, placing a soft kiss against the digit. "I ran once before, Jack, in a year that didn't even exist, I'm not going to do it again." His eyes held a flare he'd inherited from both parents.

The older man let his hand fall to his side and looked away.