A STOMACH FULL OF RATS PART FOUR

Ianto was not in the tent. Tosh frowned in puzzlement and wandered back out to Jack.

Ianto crawled under the tarpaulin and stood outside at the back of the tent and heaved up his lunch into the grass. He wasn't quite certain how he managed it so quietly but he thanked God he'd stuffed a packet of mints in the pocket of his jeans. He shoved one into his mouth as soon as the retching stopped and straightened himself up before crawling back into the tent. He grabbed a PDA from the trestle table to make himself look busy if any one came in and then he heard Jack yelling his name and demanding he bring a forensics kit with him. Ianto grabbed the correct case and came out of the tent. Tosh offering up a wide eyed look and Jack giving him a knowing one.

He really didn't want to look at the body, he'd seen enough of them in his short life and whilst Ianto wasn't in the least bit squeamish, well what sick fuck would choose to look at a corpse without good reason. He got busy with the tape and kept out of the way whilst the gang examined the..... shit, was that the SUV? Ianto looked up, already Jack was running with Owen and Gwen at his heels. Tosh hung back, helping gather up the kit he had brought with him. Ianto thanked her and Tosh smiled at him in a way that made him feel distinctly uneasy.

Jack was furious and Owen tried desperately to shake off his mistake as one of those things. Ianto didn't much care, without the SUV and the tech it contained they were pretty much helpless. He stood there feeling the chill as he tracked it on the PDA, he couldn't help the small degree of smugness as he told Jack where it was. Owen was such a twat sometimes. Ianto just wanted to go home and he strode ahead thinking that maybe the SUV had been taken to set a trap.... one they were blithely walking into. He didn't mind the walk over the hills, so long as he could out Owen's constant moaning and Gwen's teasing him. Tosh too was silent and Ianto quietly thanked her for it. Jack walked at his side occasionally glancing down at the PDA in Ianto's hand from over the younger man's shoulder, getting in close enough that Ianto could feel the heat coming off him. At one point Jack rested a hand on his shoulder as they paused to look at the terrain, Ianto tried not to flinch.... he tried not to show any kind of response to the contact at all, especially when Gwen caught his eye. His stomach pains just got worse and Ianto seriously wondered how long he could stay on his feet.

The others had no idea.

Ianto was more than relieved when he and Tosh parted company with the rest of the team. As they walked he let Tosh take the PDA, she was nervous and clearly needed the anchorage that the little piece of tech could provide her. Ianto didn't mind and he'd lost the ability to be able to see the screen properly anyway. The farm house was foreboding and as they approached Ianto's guts tightened further, this time with fear. Tosh had her gun out and was confidently striding around kicking things over and checking doors. Ianto did his best to look like he knew what he was doing.

He remembered the panic of losing sight of her and then the monster that struck him down, he fainted before he hit the ground.

Jack was terrified. Gwen was bleeding on the table and Owen had shoved him out of the way to take over. It didn't look too bad, and she was tough enough to take it, but Jack really didn't want her exposed to all this, she was the heart of the Hub and he'd be damned if that was going to be stripped away from her. He belatedly wondered what had happened to Tosh and Ianto and cursed himself for sending them away alone with no back up and no way to communicate with the rest of the team. Tosh was more than capable of taking care of herself, but Ianto........

There was a fridge full of........ Ianto thought he was dreaming, but the smell was unmistakable. He knew he'd have nightmares about that for years to come, and shoes..... lots of shoes.

The baseball bat swung again with a resounding crunch against his knee and he screamed praying that his death would have given Tosh the time she needed to get away. He vaguely wondered if he'd still be alive when they started eating him. One pain blurred into another and Ianto choked against the gag and couldn't breathe against the sack over his face. Light exploded and he was hauled up and through his tears he could see a flash of steel, Owen, Tosh and Gwen looking on in horror. He wasn't sure about the rest, and just waited for the razor slice across his throat, beyond terror now.

They made a lot of fuss over Gwen, she was demanding and angry and her hands hugged the gunshot wound constantly as if to make a point. Owen and the paramedics were patching her up and Ianto sat motionless on the tailgate of the SUV too stunned to move and in far too much pain to even contemplate the idea of movement full stop. He sat hunched and shivering grateful to be ignored because he just wanted to be left alone. He thought about maybe finding some nice quiet corner to go and die in. It took him some moments to register Tosh at his side. She looked shaken and slightly wild in the eye but she smiled at him and rubbed his shoulder.

"Come on Ianto, lets get the medics to look at you." She said gently grasping his arm. Ianto winced, really not wanting to be moved, just wanting to.... just....tears flooded, but he didn't make a sound as he looked at Tosh and took her breath away.

"Oh Ianto.... come on, please. Let me help."

He really couldn't move and his voice froze in his throat so he settled for shaking his head unaware that he was trembling under Tosh's soft hands. Water blurred his vision which went tunnel like. His ears rang with a horrible high pitched squeal and his gut convulsed..... There was red everywhere. And Ianto pitched forwards onto the grass almost taking Tosh with him.

"Owen, Jack!"

It was the last thing Ianto heard.