Chapter Four

"Are you okay?"

Ianto really wished everyone would stop asking him that. When Yates had asked during breakfast, Ianto had muttered that he mind his own business. When Owen had asked on his way to lunch, Ianto had told him to go screw himself. When Glyn had asked when they had passed by each other in the gardens, Ianto had given him a fake smile and said that he had never felt better.

But because it was Tosh asking now, Ianto found himself lifting his head off his pillow to look at her. "Not really, no." Even now, with Tosh not knowing who she was, it was easy to be honest with her than with others. Jack was the only other person Ianto opened up to.

Jack. Just thinking about the man depressed him. He had fallen into a state of misery in the last twenty-four hours, unwilling to leave his room except for breakfast and lunch, and he had done his best to avoid Annie all day. The only time he had left his room to do something other than eat was to see if he could access the third floor to find out if Jack was there or not, part of him hoping that Tosh had been misinformed about Jack's location, but it was so heavily protected it was like having a prison right above the first two floors. Limited access, orderlies in every corner, twice the number of security cameras. As skilled as he was, even Ianto knew he wouldn't be able to sneak onto the third floor undetected. If Jack was there, Ianto couldn't help him. For now, at least.

Ianto hated playing the role of the lone brave soldier. He had tried that with Lisa and had failed spectacularly, and having Annie living across the hall only served to remind him of that. At least this time, if everything went to hell, it wouldn't be his fault.

Tosh walked further into the room. "What's wrong?"

A lot of things. He was in a mental institution, one of his doctor's was an alien, the other doctor might be working with the alien, his teammate thought she was hallucinating a dead teammate, another teammate told him never to call him again, and he still had absolutely no idea where Jack was.

Ianto sighed, and decided to give the least stressful reason. "I called Gwen."

Tosh stopped in the middle of the room, body going stiff. "You did?"

Ianto rolled over and pushed himself into a sitting position. He crossed his legs. "I just wanted to see if she can help me."

"And what did she say?" Her tone was tight, disapproval evident. Ianto wasn't too surprised by that.

"She said not to call her again."

Tosh relaxed. She closed the distance and climbing on top of the bed so she could sit across from him. "I told you not to call her."

"Yes, and Glyn told me that I hate her. The only problem is that no one has told me why." Ianto arched a brow at her. "So what happens if you tell me about my supposed issues with Gwen?" Tosh tightened her lips, looking slightly mutinous. Ianto resisted the urge to scowl in annoyance. Getting answers to simple questions shouldn't be so difficult, but it was like pulling teeth with Glyn and Tosh. "You can at least tell me that."

Tosh huffed, obviously peeved, but she gave in. "The last time I told you, you had a meltdown. You didn't believe me and was so desperate to get out of here that you had to be sedated. Owen and Dr. Yates told me that if you relapsed again and couldn't remember who you are, I should let you retrieve your memories on your own so you don't react too badly like you did before."

That totally didn't clear anything up for him and from the way Tosh was watching him, it wasn't about to get any clearer than that. "Why do I hate her? I'm the one that threatened her life—more than once, apparently. She would have more reason to hate me."

Tosh mulled over the question before shrugging. "She played a role in you being here. I mean, she didn't physically put you here, but she's partially responsible."

"But why? Because I threatened her?"

"Because of what she did."

Ianto was starting to suspect that Tosh was purposely talking to him in riddles. He didn't like it, nor did he like how the answers he was getting were only confusing him more. "But Gwen is my friend. What did she do that was so horrible that it made me want to threaten her?"

"Believe me, Ianto," Tosh said with a sniff, "she isn't your friend."

"What would you know?" he muttered. "You still think you belong in here."

"As if!" Offended, Tosh glowered at him. "I don't want to be in this hospital any more than you do, but unlike some people I know," she said, giving him a pointed look, "I don't go around accusing the doctors of being aliens or that creatures live in the sewer, or that a stupid code of numbers will threaten a nonexistent organization."

Ianto's head jerked up. "You know about the codes?"

"You tell me a lot. You don't hold back."

Yes, but Jack had told him to never tell anyone about the codes, Tosh included. "And let me guess, you think I should give up the codes."

"Well, yeah." Her answer was slightly condescending, as if his question had been dumb.

"I can't do that, Tosh. Giving anyone the codes will risk the safety of Torchwood and its operatives. It could cause devastation on earth if an enemy managed to get its hands on Torchwood's mainframe."

"Don't be so melodramatic, Ianto."

Ianto gritted his teeth at the nonchalant way Tosh tossed aside his warnings. If Tosh had been herself, she would have understood his refusal to utter the codes.

"I told you once before, once I'm out of here I want you out there with me." Tosh lifted her right hand. "I'm right here. Very close to leaving." She lifted her left hand, but kept it beneath her right with a few feet of space between them. She wriggled her fingers. "This is where you're at." She wiggled the fingers of her right hand. "But I want you up here, with me. If giving up the access codes is the only way to get you to forget about Torchwood and bring you up here with me, then I'm not going to go against the idea."

Ianto fell back on his bed, unwilling to rehash old arguments about Torchwood's existence. He had tried in the last three days to convince Tosh of the truth and she was too damn stubborn to believe him.

Silence reigned for several seconds, and Ianto's thoughts eventually returned to Annie. He wondered if Tosh knew anything about her. "The woman who lives across from me, how long has she been here?"

"Who? Annie?" Tosh looked thoughtful for a moment. "She came a few weeks after you arrived. She's not violent, but she's a bit weird. I think it's the hair. Makes her look crazy."

"Do you know anything about her?"

"Just whatever you've told me." Tosh stretched out one of her hands in front of her and examined her fingers. "She's your neighbor."

"And if you recall, I can't remember much about this life."

Tosh huffed at Ianto's mild form of sarcasm. "She was committed for schizophrenia. She doesn't seem to have delusions, just hears voices in her head. She thinks she's a delivery girl for a pizza place, though."

There were obvious connections between his memories of his actual life and the events that were occurring right now, but the connection that came about in the form of Annie made his stomach churn. The memory of Annie would always be entangled with the final moments of Lisa's life, of her last words telling him that they could be upgraded together.

And Ianto suddenly wondered if Lisa was around in the institution. He hadn't seen her among the patients, and Ianto was sure he would have recognized her no matter how she looked like, but maybe she was on the third floor.

"Have I ever mentioned someone named Lisa?" His heart pounded, unsure how to feel at the prospect of seeing Lisa again, even if she was an alien walking around with Lisa's face.

"Yep." Tosh stretched her arms up in the air, her back popping. "She exists in your episodes."

"So there's no Lisa here in the hospital?"

"I'm sure there are a couple of Lisas, but definitely not the one you made up. She might exist in your life outside the hospital." Tosh frowned, dropping her arms. "You've never mentioned a Lisa except for the one in your delusions, though."

So Lisa didn't exist here. When his emotions settled, he realized he was relieved. Ianto wasn't sure if he could have handled another surprise such as his dead girlfriend walking down the halls of Whittier. That might have been a bit too much.

Hoping to keep his mind off both Lisa and Annie, he asked, "How was your session with Owen today?" Even though he had warned her that Owen was actually an imposter, she continued to keep her scheduled sessions. The only way Ianto could make sure he wasn't hurting her was to ask how her sessions had gone under the guise of innocent curiosity.

"Good." She grinned. "I'm ninety-nine percent sure that he's going to ask me out!"

Ianto was doubtful. "What makes you say that?"

"Well, he asked me what I'd like to do when I get out. I told him that I wouldn't mind finding a boyfriend, maybe get married. And he smiled at me!"

"He always smiles at you." Technically, Owen was always smiling at everyone. It really made his skin crawl.

"This was a smile smile." Tosh looked at him as though she expected him to understand what she was talking about. Ianto's mind was blank. "There was a look in his eye," she finally explained. "You know, that look that lets you know when someone's interested in you?"

This was bad. Not only was Tosh crushing on a non-real Owen, she now thought he was interested in her. Ianto now realized what Yates meant when he had said that Ianto usually told Tosh in a straightforward and blunt manner that she should let Owen go. His Tosh, the one who knew who she was, didn't fool herself the way this one did. His Tosh may have asked Owen out on a date, but she hadn't let her happiness blind her to the glaring fact that the possibility of a relationship ever developing between her and Owen was slim to none.

"Are you sure you're not seeing things that aren't there?" he asked gently.

Tosh stubbornly shook her head. "I know what I saw. He likes me, Ianto, and as soon as I'm out of here he'll ask me out."

"But wouldn't you be returning to Cardiff?"

"But how would any relationship work between you two? From the looks of it, Owen practically lives here and you told me that once you're out you might go back to London."

"It doesn't mean he can't follow me to London. And if I have to, I'll stay here, get a job or something. Maybe be a nurse. Who better to work here than a previous patient?"

A lot of people, though Ianto didn't say it out loud. He sighed. He was accustomed to using subtlety to get Tosh to see that there were other men out there for her, but this Tosh needed a more aggressive approach. "Find someone else," Ianto said shortly.

Tosh didn't look all that surprised by his straightforwardness. "Is this because you still think he's an alien?"

"No, it's because a relationship between you and Owen would be a failure. Whatever you saw probably wasn't what you think it was." He remembered Yates commenting on Owen's tendency to indulge his patients, particularly Tosh, but as far as Ianto could see, Owen's indulgence was still on the professional side. "He's your psychiatrist, and that's all he'll ever be."

"You don't know that. You don't see how he is with me when we're together."

"I've seen enough. I don't want you to become delusional—"

He knew the moment the word escaped his mouth that it was the wrong thing to say. But before he could apologize or backtrack, Tosh glared at him, her face flushed rosy with anger. "Don't you dare accuse me of being delusional, Ianto Jones! You want to talk about delusional? Let's talk about you and you're stupid belief that all of this is some made up lie by aliens. Let's talk about how you think the whole damn staff is out to get you, or how you think little Miss Gwennie is your friend. Or even better! Let's talk about your delusional idea that by keeping a stupid set of codes is your way of protecting a made up organization!"

Tosh stood from the bed, boring down on him. She looked absolutely furious, and through the shame and fascination of seeing the mousy Tosh explode into this angry madwoman, Ianto had to wonder if his Tosh ever got angry like this.

"You're a hypocritical prick if you're sitting there judging me about falling for my doctor when you're the one having the delusions," she snapped.

Stung by her words, shame and fascination quickly morphed into ire. Ianto scowled and stood up as well so he could confront her face to face. "I am not having delusions, damn it! I know what I'm talking about."

Tosh didn't back down, her eyes snapping fire. "No, you don't. You're mentally sick and Torchwood isn't real. It's a fake organization that exists only in your mind. You say you want to get out of here, but at the rate you're going you're going to die in this room still screaming that your delusions are real."

"They're not delusions!" He hadn't meant to shout, but the words had burst out of him as if they had been eager to be heard.

"They're delusions, Ianto," Tosh snapped. "They aren't real. It's all in your head." Tosh suddenly gave a short and bitter laugh. "You're trying so hard to convince everyone around you that this—" She used her hands to indicate the room. "—is not real, that your life as a Whittier patient is not real, that you refuse to look around and see this this is your life. You belong here."

"I do not belong here," Ianto hissed.

"Yes, you do!" Tosh nearly shouted. "Damn it, you arsehole, for once in your bloody life, listen to someone other than yourself! You're schizophrenic so fucking deal with it!"

Breathing heavily, Tosh continued to glare at him fiercely. Ianto returned the glare, and they remained like that for several minutes, urging the other to listen as both refused to believe anything other than what they deemed true.

Eventually, he gave in first by closing his eyes and turning his head away. "You and everyone else keep saying that this is my life, but all I remember is a different life. I remember the smell of blood, the sound of gunfire, the touch of a gun in my hands." He spoke softly, the anger slowly seeping away as despondency took its place. He turned back to Tosh. "A life where you aren't in a mental hospital and where you're the most intelligent woman I know. You're superior when it comes to computers, and you have every right to be snobby about it but you're so modest. You're so much more than a mental patient. We're both more than just mental patients. We have lives that give us meaning." His words were the truth, but they seemed to have the added bonus of cooling her indignation. "I swear, Tosh, I'm not making this up."

"Of course you're not." Tosh sighed, her anger mostly gone as she grabbed his hands. She squeezed them, a silent reassurance of her friendship. "You're sick, Ianto, but you'll get better."

It pained him to hear his friend continue to believe that Ianto was the one who needed help, but what else could he do but smile weakly and nod? He couldn't force her to listen to him, or make her believe him. He sighed, temporarily defeated. "I'm sorry for what I said. It came out wrong and it was out of line." He squeezed Tosh's hands in return, giving her his own reassurance. "I just meant that I want you to be careful and not see things that aren't there when it comes to Owen. He may not be interested in you and I don't want your hopes lifted. I don't want you to get hurt."

Tosh considered him for a moment. "I know you're finding it difficult to accept that this is reality, so I'll accept your apology." She hugged him, and Ianto took comfort from that. The last thing he wanted to do was alienate the only friend he had in the hospital. She pulled back, her face serious. "But I meant what I said. If you don't accept that this is real, you're never going to get out of here. I may not be as smart or as sane as the Tosh in your Torchwood, but I can be wise here and there, and even I can see that the best thing for you to do is to reveal the codes."

"Tosh—"

"I'm serious. You're letting a few set of numbers have a lot of power over you. Don't you think it's time you got your life back?"

Ianto grimaced. "That's what Yates said."

She smiled at him. "Look, why don't you just tell me?" She leaned a bit closer. "Whisper them, if that will make you feel better. You'll see that nothing bad is going to happen."

She was eager, but he couldn't do as she asked. The codes were crucial to Torchwood's safety, and Jack had entrusted him to keep them safe. He couldn't—wouldn't—betray Jack's trust again when it came to the safety of Torchwood, especially not when one of the people asking for them was an amnesiac teammate who might end up telling Owen what the codes were.

Tosh seemed to sense his reluctance. Her tone went from eager to coaxing "Go on, tell me. I want you better. If you say them to me, then maybe you'll no longer have episodes."

Ianto shook his head. "You're not authorized to know, especially if you don't even know who you are."

Tosh snorted, but she stopped pushing. "Fine. But you'll see that it's best you do give them up. Maybe once you get your memories back you'll realize it."

Not if the damn memories were false ones implanted by an alien.

They both looked towards the doorway when someone knocked on his opened door. Ianto straightened at Glyn's presence. "Yeah?"

"Someone's here to see you."

Ianto was surprised. He had a visitor? "Who?"

"Come see."

He heard Tosh mutter something under her breath. He turned and frowned down at her. She was scowling. "What?"

She waved her hand in the direction of the door. "Go on, see your visitor."

"But why are you scowling?"

"Because it's the dick who—"

"Now, Tosh—" Glyn began, but Tosh interrupted him.

"Shut up, Glyn." She flounced out of the room. Actually flounced. Ianto wondered if she would remember all this once everything returned to normal. She would likely be embarrassed over her actions and words.

But the resentment in her voice when she referred to Ianto's visitor could only point to two people: Jack or Gwen. Considering the fact that Gwen had told him never to contact her again, and considering Tosh's lovely choice of adjective for his visitor, Ianto doubted it was her coming to visit him, so that left Jack.

It was about bloody time the bastard found him.

He willingly followed Glyn out of the building and into the gardens. Ianto glanced around, trying to spot his visitor. He looked out for anyone in a RAF coat, but frowned when he couldn't spot anyone wearing it.

"Ianto!"

He turned at the sound of Jack's voice, eyes moving frantically around, but he couldn't spy Jack anywhere. He saw other patients, the orderlies, a man with glasses, a doctor—

Wait. Go back.

His eyes returned to the man in glasses, and his jaw literally fell when he realized who it was. "Jack?"

It looked like Jack—sort of. He had glasses on and his hair was longer than usual, curling around his ears. He lacked the RAF coat he was fond of and instead of the old-fashioned ensemble he usually wore, he had an ordinary buttoned down black shirt, grey jeans, and black trainers. No braces, no blue shirt, no black trousers, no boots. He looked so . . . ordinary. He hadn't looked like that in the vision Ianto had the day before. Had he? The vision had been quick, though, so maybe Ianto hadn't noticed.

Well, he was certainly noticing now.

Jack grinned wide and closed the distance between them, wrapping Ianto in his arms and hugging him tightly before giving him a peck on the lips. Ianto was so gobsmacked that all he could do was stand there and take it all in as he stared at the man whose blue eyes twinkled with joy and—love?

Jack's grin faltered when Ianto continued to stare at him, not returning his greeting. "You okay?"

Ianto shook himself out his state of shock. He gave him a smile, although he wondered if it even looked like one. "Yes, I'm okay." Ianto smile became a little more genuine. "I'm just happy you're here. I've been calling you for the past couple of days."

"Yeah, I know. I lost my phone and by the time I found it, it was dead. I didn't have time to charge it enough to call you before I hopped on the plane to come here."

Jack sounded so calm, so put together. It was a contrast to how frazzled Ianto had been feeling for the past few days. Still, relief was pouring in at Jack's arrival. "I've been stuck here wondering where the hell you've been." Ianto tugged at his robe. "I don't know if you know anything, but Tosh thinks she's a patient here and an alien is impersonating Owen."

"Alien?" Confusion appeared in Jack's eyes.

Ianto nodded. "I called Gwen but she—"

"You called Gwen?" Jack interrupted, now looking a bit startled.

"Yes, but something weird is going on with her. When I called her she said that she hasn't spoken to you in over a year and then told me never to call her again, and everyone keeps saying I threatened her but you know as well as I do that I would never do something like that." The words rushed out of his mouth, and he had to pause as he ran out of steam. He took a breath. "Jack, everyone here thinks I have schizophrenia. You need to get me out of here."

Jack was looking at him oddly before he glanced at Glyn, who stepped forward and calmly reported, "He relapsed. Torchwood."

Three words, but it was obvious that it was enough of an explanation for Jack. His expression went from confused and lost to an unusual combination of understanding and disappointment, which made Ianto a bit nervous, although he didn't know why. "Jack, we need a game plan."

Jack glanced at him, but he turned his attention to Glyn. "When did he have it?"

"About four days ago. It was only a matter of time, since he got off his meds."

Jack grimaced. "I should've come sooner to talk to him."

During the short exchange between Jack and Glyn, Ianto's stomach had clenched until it was nothing more than a tight ball of nerves, heavy and difficult to ignore. That certainly wasn't how he had expected Jack's arrival to occur. Half of him had actually expected Jack to burst into the hospital and conduct a dramatic rescue, using the opportunity to show off his heroic tendencies. And now here Jack was, dressed like a normal person and talking about Ianto's 'relapse' as if it was a common thing.

He grabbed Jack's arms, forcing the man to look at him. "You're getting me out of here, right, Jack?"

Jack smiled, the curve amazingly loving. "I can't."

His breath caught just a little. "An alien put me here and that same alien is impersonating Owen." Jack's eyes flashed. Was that pity he had just seen in Jack's eyes? "Jack, please tell me you're here to get me out so we can save Tosh and find the real Owen."

Jack placed his hands on Ianto's hips, squeezing lightly. "I'm here to visit you, Ianto, not to get you out."

"But—" Ianto bit his lip as Jack's words implied what Ianto didn't want to believe. This couldn't be happening. "Not you, too."

Ianto had been depending on Jack to help him come up with a plan to save the others. More than that, Ianto had desperately wanted to have at least one person who believed him and not look at him like he was crazy when he spoke about Torchwood.

He watched Jack's face closely for a hint or a sign that Jack was only pretending in order to avoid detection from the alien. They knew each other's signals, knew how to phrase certain things or portray certain looks to send subtle messages that they didn't want enemies to decipher. He looked for anything that told him that Jack knew exactly who he was and was merely working undercover.

There was nothing.

Jack turned to Glyn. "Give us some privacy."

Glyn nodded and left them alone. Jack stepped back and took Ianto's arm, guiding him to the concrete bench he had been sitting on earlier. Feeling a bit numb, Ianto allowed himself to be led. Ianto suspected that Jack hadn't wanted privacy in order to talk about escape plans.

As they sat, Jack ran his hand down Ianto's arm until he reached his hand. He intertwined their fingers together, an action that took Ianto by surprise. He blinked at their conjoined hands. Rarely did they hold hands in public, mostly because of Ianto's reserved nature.

Jack used his thumb to rub a knuckle. "I've missed you."

"What the hell am I supposed to do now?" he muttered.

"Not exactly what I wanted to hear in response to my words."

Ianto ignored him. Despite everyone else's memories being taken and replaced, somehow Ianto hadn't expected Jack's memories to be gone also, probably because Ianto hadn't wanted to even consider the possibility that Jack, his last remaining ally, would be just as ineffective and unhelpful as everyone else. Having reached out to the others for help only to fail, Jack had been his last hope.

Ianto had to make Jack remember. "Listen, you're the leader of Torchwood Three. I'm your employee. I work for you. Something is going on and I'm stuck here."

Jack continued to move his thumb over his knuckle. Ianto wondered if it was supposed to be a soothing gesture. "What do you know about this life?"

Ianto clenched his jaw. "Why?"

"Because you're obviously confused and I want to make things clear."

He found himself resisting the urge to punch Jack. Maybe that would jolt the bastard's memory. "If this is your way of punishing me because of the fight we had, then you're crueler than I thought."

Jack knew about his mother's schizophrenia, knew how his mother nearly tried to kill him. If anyone could understand his desire to never set foot in a mental institution or his fear of becoming mentally ill himself, it was Jack. It would be cruel of the older man to pretend that everything happening around him was real just for the sake of punishing Ianto for their nasty argument.

But Jack merely frowned. "What argument?"

"You know, the one where you called me delusional and childish? The one where you said that we should end our 'fling'? Ring any bells?"

"If you can't handle my way of life, Ianto, then screw this fling. You were never worth more than a good fuck anyway."

Anyone could argue that things were said in the heat of the moment, but they usually had a grain of truth in them. He was in love with Jack, maybe even loved him more than he had loved Lisa, and to be belittled by him? To be insulted and labeled as nothing more than a convenient sex partner who couldn't offer more? Ianto's heart had shattered to millions of tiny pieces.

Ianto wasn't sure what would have happened after Jack had said those words—with Ianto walking out or Jack asking for forgiveness—if the rift alarm hadn't gone off seconds after Jack's devastating words. Ianto had hid behind his professionalism and proceeded to check the rift coordinates and Jack, perhaps following his cue, had contacted Owen and Tosh before they had gone out to capture the Chyla.

Part of him wished that he had kept his mouth shut, but another part of him was glad he had let everything out in the open. Ianto no longer had to pretend that he was okay with Jack disrespecting his feelings and, as painful as it was, he now knew what Jack truly thought of their relationship, but that still left a lot of things unresolved. He wasn't sure if there was anything that could be salvaged between them or where their relationship stood.

Taking in Jack's bewildered expression, he wasn't going to get answers anytime soon. The man sitting next to him obviously had no clue what he was talking about.

"I'm sorry, Ianto," Jack eventually said. "I've never considered what we had a fling. I would never say that to you."

"But you did," Ianto said miserably. Running a hand through his hair, he was reminded of what Tosh had told him. "Did you really put me in here?"

"I had to. Your delusions were getting worse. I had no choice."

"But I'm not having delusions." Jack was his last shot at freedom. He had to convince him that he wasn't crazy. "They're my real memories. I've lived through each and every one of them, I swear. Torchwood is my life. I don't know how, but an alien put me here and somehow erased your memories." He grabbed Jack's other hand. "Don't you remember four nights ago? We were chasing after the Chyla."

"Four nights ago I was at home, correcting papers."

"No, you were—" He frowned. "Correcting papers?"

Jack nodded. "I'm a professor of astronomy."

"Professor of astronomy," Ianto repeated. "Seriously?" Ianto couldn't see Jack as a professor of anything. The teaching profession seemed too restrictive for someone like Jack, who liked doing whatever he wanted without following the rules of others. That was why there was a lot of friction between Jack and UNIT. The government organization wanted Jack to follow their rules and orders, especially after Torchwood One's downfall, but Jack wasn't about to let go of his rank as leader of Torchwood Three, nor was he going to follow anyone else's orders unless they came directly from Her Majesty. "No, you're Captain Jack Harkness. You're my boss, leader of Torchwood. You protect the earth, you traveled through time—you're most definitely not a bloody professor."

"Calm down," Jack said.

Ianto scowled. "Don't patronize me!" He yanked his hands away. This was just bloody frustrating. Instead of the dashing hero, what did he get? An amnesiac Jack who thought himself a professor of astronomy.

"I'm not patronizing you." Jack grabbed his hand again, ignoring his tugs. "I just don't want you to get overexcited. I didn't come here only to have you sedated during my visit."

Ianto frowned and glanced around, spotting Glyn who was watching them from a distance. Jack's point had merit. Patients were constantly being watched and any form of privacy was more of an illusion than an actual fact. Ianto forced himself to take a calming breath, taking in the scent of flowers, but he couldn't quite relax. His body was still tensed, humming with agitation.

"Ianto," Jack murmured. "I can assure you, I'm not a captain of anything. I don't lead Torchwood and I'm not your boss."

"Yes, you are." Ianto scrambled for something that could serve as a trigger for Jack's memories. "You're immortal. You've lived in Cardiff for the past century, and you've traveled across the universe."

Jack sighed. "Ianto—"

"The Doctor," Ianto blurted. "Remember him? You're practically in love with him, you've traveled with him, and you'll do anything for him."

"Doctor who?"

Ianto stared at him for a moment before slumping. The Doctor was perhaps one of the most important people in Jack's life, if not the most important. Even though the Doctor had once been labeled Torchwood's number one enemy, and despite the Doctor's decision to abandon an immortal Jack on a satellite, Jack still trusted and loved the Doctor. If Jack couldn't remember his Doctor, then Ianto had little hope of jostling his memory of anything else.

"I suppose next you'll tell me that we're boyfriends," he complained.

"Of course not."

Well, that was insulting. Jack sounded mildly annoyed by Ianto's chosen label, and Ianto glowered at him. It looked like Jack's disdain for labels had managed to remain intact even with the memory loss. "You don't have to sound so damn—"

"We're more than that. We're married."