Chapter 4 – Canary Wharf

Ianto woke sometime the next morning, still feeling tired; a restless nights sleep again. He rolled over, expecting Jack to be there and give him a hug. He was not.

A faint sound of running water was coming from the bathroom, Jack he guessed, probably causing a flood in there. He sighed, pulling himself out of bed. Better go and check on him before he makes a mess. He thought to himself, roughly pulling a shirt on and strolling into the bathroom.

"'Morning Ianto." Jack greeted him cheerfully, giving him a kiss.

"Good morning, how about I make us some coffee?"

Jack smiled, it was always about the coffee. "Nah, it's okay, I'll make us some in a bit. I ran this bath for you, thought you might like to relax." Jack turned the bath tap off as he spoke, wondering how to approach this; he wasn't quite sure how to confront Ianto about the nightmare, he'd never had to do this before, so he'd gone for the 'relaxation' approach.

"Relax?!" Ianto raised an eyebrow at him, swiftly shoving Jack backwards into the bath, causing a huge splash. He grinned cheekily at Jack's pouty expression.

"No fair!" He exclaimed childishly once the water had settled.

"Couldn't resist."

"Oh really?" Jack pulled a seductive smile at him, pulling Ianto into the bath with him. "I couldn't resist either."

Ianto pouted. "Now look what you've done… my shirt's all wet!"

"Well I do love you with a wet shirt… sexy!" He grinned, pulling Ianto against him, wrapping an arm around him.

"I noticed." He smiled, leaning back to kiss him.

"Look Ianto…" Jack started, he had to ask before he lost the courage. "About last night… the nightmare."

"Jack… I…" He tried to pull away; he didn't want to have to deal with this right now, if ever, but Jack was too strong for him, holding him back.

"No Ianto, we have to sort this out. Tell me what happens in this nightmare."

"Promise you won't laugh or tell me I'm stupid."

Jack smiled. "Of course I won't!"

"Canary Wharf…" He didn't have to say anything more for Jack to totally understand why he was having nightmares. "The Cybermen try to 'upgrade' me, strap me into their machine… everything has a red tinge to it, like blood, and then it hits me, it is blood, the whole place is covered in blood. I am so scared, helplessly watching as they try to start up the machine. I feel like they are taking ages deliberately just to torture me, raise my hopes before they 'upgrade' me, but it seems it won't work, they can't start it. I am screaming out for someone, anyone, to come and help me. That's when I hear your voice… calling for me, I yell back, a little bit of hope returning; desperate for you to find me, before it's too late. I can hear your footsteps, like you are right there but you're not, you still call after me asking where I am, I answer, more desperate than before, frantically looking for a shadow, movement of the curtains, anything that suggests that you are close. You tell me to relax, say you're coming but I still can't see you. That's when I lose all hope; I hear a whirring and look up. It's working."

"Oh Ianto…" Jack turns Ianto around in his arms, holding him close against him as a comfort. "Everything's going to be alright you hear me? The Cybermen have gone, the Doctor and Rose defeated them, and even if they do come back, I will be here to protect you; don't scare yourself over something that will never happen okay?" He had meant it to sound comforting, but it hadn't worked so well, he was pretty sure Ianto would understand though.

"I know… I just… oh I don't know…" Ianto sighed, wrapping his arms tighter around Jack's shoulders.

Jack kissed him reassuringly. "I tell you what, today we can just stay in, no Torchwood, no aliens, just me and you. Saving the world can wait for one day."

Ianto smiled. "Thanks Jack… you know I could really do with that coffee now."

A/N: So that is officially the shortest chap i've done as well as the quickest i've ever done one! Hope you like the nightmare... took me ages to come up with! With thanx to Hannah too! So next thing to do will be that oneshot mentioned in TSOL since so many of you want it. Review please, show me your love ;)