Hi guys, I know I haven't done an author's note before on this fic, but here we go...
If you could, could you pretty please review after you've finished reading each chapter? It really is a massive help and encouragement to receive reviews :) critical reviews also welcome, as they can help me improve my writing, which can only be a good thing, right? Thank you all so much ^_^ All the reviews and subscriptions so far have been a fantastic help! Love you guys! Also wow this chapter is like, double the length I thought it was gonna be :') Also I'm not Welsh, but the lullaby i mention... I'm thinking a Welsh 'Hushabye Mountain' if it exists... :)
Promise I'll try not to do an author's note again :P I know how annoying they can be! Xx

Chapter four – Like Wild Fire

Ianto lay on the boardroom floor. His head was pounding, and the rest of his body wasn't fairing any better. He choked back a sob.
It had been weeks since the first attack. They happened every day, at least once, but up to six times some days. Since the first few had all taken place at the Hub, he had taken a week off, but then they started happening in his own home. He had gone back to work, simply for something to occupy him. Jack still wasn't talking to him, except to give him orders.
He slowly pulled himself onto all fours, wincing at the strain on his legs. As he tried to stand up, he felt the pain shoot up his body, worse than ever before. He couldn't suppress a yell of agony, and he fell back onto his hands and knees, his breath rasping and fists thumping the ground as he tried in vain to control the pain.

"SHIT, IANTO!"
He whipped his head around, still on all fours. To his horror, Gwen was stood in the doorway behind him, taking in the scene.
The carpet around Ianto was stained with lower half of his body was covered in bite marks, blood and semen.
She rushed over to him. Ianto grabbed his shirt -which had been ripped off his body, and was now missing several buttons- and attempted to cover himself, even though he knew Gwen had just seen everything. She knelt down beside him, and made to place a hand on his shoulder. He scrambled away into the corner, grabbing his clothes.
"Ianto..." Gwen breathed "what's happened love?"
Ianto chuckled darkly. "You can see what's happened, Gwen." He whispered.
Gwen nodded. She had dealt with a few rape victims in her time as a Police officer.
"Who?"
"I don't know." Ianto replied truthfully "I've never seen his face. He attacked from behind...always from behind." He closed his eyes and leant back, knocking his head against the wall.
"...always? This has happened before?" She looked around again. How could Ianto –no- how could ANYONE take this amount of violence and abuse, let alone more than once?
"No...I mean..." his voice broke, his body racked with sobs. "Gwen, you can't tell the others. Not a word...If Jack finds out..." words turns to wails as he broke down, clutching hold of Gwen as if he feared he would be lost if he let go.
Gwen felt tears flood her own eyes as she held the sobbing, broken man in her arms. She stroked his hair and murmured comfortingly in Welsh.

Once again, Ianto Jones found himself in front of the mirror in The Torchwood Hub bathroom, cleaning blood and ejaculate from his body, and tear stains from his face. Gwen had held him tightly, rocking him back and forth, and whispering a Welsh lullaby. She had helped him get to the bathroom without being seen by the others, and had fetched him a clean shirt from his locker. It felt good to have someone know, even if he had purposefully withheld a lot of what he had been going through; he wanted to retain a little dignity at least. He felt a strange combination of relief and deep shame now that his secret was out. He trusted Gwen not to tell anyone, but he knew that she would never be able to look at him without remembering his time of weakness and vulnerability.
He sighed, stretching his arms out above his head, and winced. God his muscles ached. Weeks of abuse and battering had left his whole body feeling like one big bruise. He pulled a packet of tablets out of his pocket, and popped three into his mouth. He was constantly taking a cocktail of painkillers, anti-inflammatory pills...and he was on his third bottle of sleeping pills.
He took one last look in the mirror, and straightened his tie. He needed to be presentable. He hadn't let his appearance deteriorate over the past month, so there was no reason to now, just because Gwen knew his shameful secret. Ianto strode over to the door, and pulled it open; his head was held high, but his hands trembled.
Gwen and Owen were stood outside the bathroom. Ianto looked at Owens face, and knew instantly that Gwen had told him everything. A quick glance at Gwen confirmed his suspicion; she did not meet his eyes.
"Ianto." Owen stepped forward, and held his hand out to pat Ianto on the shoulder.
Ianto looked into Owen's eyes and let out a strangled yelp. He rushed back into the bathroom and slammed the door behind him. He lent with his back against it, and slowly slid down into a crumpled heap on the floor, gasping. The sympathy in Owen's eyes... The pity. That's what he had been afraid of this whole time, the reason he hadn't told anyone.
He crawled towards the toilet, dragging himself across the floor to once again empty what little he still held in his stomach. With vomit and bile spewing from his mouth and tears flooding from his eyes from the strain, he didn't even notice the click as the door was slowly opened.
He didn't even notice someone else was in the room with him until a hand lightly touched his back. Ianto spun round, screaming and lashed out, eyes squeezed tightly shut.
"Ianto! Jesus mate -I didn't think- I'm sorry." Owen took a step back, hands up in the universal 'I surrender' position.
Ianto opened his eyes, still sitting on the floor in front of the toilet. He glared at Owen.
"Gwen...Gwen told you?" Ianto croaked
Owen nodded, and Ianto saw that pitying look again.
"I see." He said coldly. "Everything?"
Owen nodded again, slowly. "Ianto, I'm-"
"Don't Owen. Just Don't." He breathed heavily. "Please Owen. I don't want your pity."
Owen bent down and placed a hand on Ianto's shoulder.
"Ok. Ok mate, but I need to check you over. I guess you haven't seen a doctor at all?"
"No. And I don't want you 'checking me over' either. Just leave me alone. Please."
Owen took Ianto's hand, and looked him in the eyes.
"Ianto. I NEED to check you over. You may have long term or internal damage, STI's or who knows what else, seeing as we don't know who or even what... attacked you. Please mate. Let me help."
Ianto closed his eyes, thinking. So his secret was well and truly out. He knew that if he didn't agree to letting Owen give him a physical examination, Jack would be told, and not only would he be forced into Owens 'check up', but Jack would know how weak Ianto was. He might even take him off the team.
"Ok." He whispered, opening his eyes.

Ianto sat on the operating table in the medical bay, his shirt hanging on a hook on the wall. Owen had taken numerous blood samples, swabs, blood pressure tests –the lot. He had answered the majority of the questions truthfully, but with as little detail as he could get away with. Now his heart was pounding. He knew what was coming.
Owen turned back from his test kit on his desk. "Gonna need you to take the rest off mate."
"Are you sure? You can't just..." His voice trailed off as Owen shook his head "Right. Of course."
Ianto stood up, and slowly unbuckled his belt, and dropped his trousers. He heard Owen gasp as he took in the cuts, bites and bruises that covered Ianto's legs. He folded the trousers, and placed them neatly beside his shoes, which he had already removed. He turned around so he wouldn't have to meet Owens gaze as he removed his grey boxer shorts, which were still stained from the most recent attack.
"How many times did you say this had happened?" Owen breathed.
Ianto remained silent, eyes fixed away from Owen.
"Lay face down on the table, please."
Ianto did as he was told, wincing slightly as the cold metal touched his exposed skin. Owen examined the bite marks on Ianto's thighs. They were deep, and had bruises surrounding them, covering the majority of his skin. Some were fresh, bright red and still bleeding. Some were slightly older, seeping plasma, but still enflamed and covered in purple bruising. But some were older still; healing, bruises faded to yellow and green.
"Ianto. You said the attacks started a few days ago. But some of these are weeks old. Tell me the truth, please."
"A month." Ianto whispered. The shame he felt was over powering. Owen, of course, had seen him naked before –he was his doctor after all- but this was different.
He heard a sharp intake of breath from Owen. He tried to block out what was happening as he was given an internal examination. He had become good at blotting out events over the past few weeks; pretending he was somewhere else.
Owen dressed the cuts and welts in Ianto's flesh. He noted that none were infected, so at least Ianto had been attempting to deal with it, and hadn't just ignored his health completely. On the other hand, now that he wasn't wearing his suit, Ianto was looking very thin. Much thinner then he was on his last physical examination. His skin was also blistered and puckered from being scrubbed and practically boiled in bath after bath of scalding water. Owen also noticed that his patients hands were shaking, and he appeared to be trying to put as little pressure on his stomach area as possible –not an easy feat for someone laying face down on a metal table.
"You've got a lot of rectal fissures, but as they are all only minor, they will heal themselves in time. I need to ask you a few more questions, but I've cleaned you up as best as I can, so you can get dressed now." Owen said as he moved back to his desk, discarding into the bin the latex gloves he had been wearing.
Ianto sat up, relieved, and pulled on his soiled boxers. After he was once again fully clothed, Owen motioned for him to take a seat. Ianto obliged, begrudgingly. He shifted uncomfortably, trying to find a patch of skin on his behind not painful to sit on. He failed.
Owen had a clip board in one hand and a pen in the other. Ianto had the unnerving feeling of being cross examined.
"Ianto. When was the last time you ate? Properly, not just biscuits in meetings."
"I had a sandwich for lunch." Ianto replied truthfully. No need to mention he had thrown it up less than an hour later.
Owen eyed him suspiciously.
"What did you have for dinner last night mate?"
"I...I had..." Ianto's brow furrowed as he tried to remember.
"The night before? When was the last time you had a meal?"
"I had...I had dinner with everyone at the pub." Ianto smiled, as he remembered. "Gammon, egg and chips."
He noticed that Owen was looking at him with a mixture of shock and pity.
"Ianto. You were sick not long after that. You said you had a bug." Owen put his glasses on. "And that was three weeks ago."
Ianto's eyes widened. Was that really the last time he had had dinner? He racked his brain. He had had fish and chips when Gwen had done the food run on a late night rift watch... But he had thrown up half an hour later. He'd made himself a bowl of cereal...but he hadn't felt like eating it, and had flushed it away. Realisation dawned on him.
Owen saw his face, and nodded. "Eating disorder. Typical behaviour in your circumstances." He made a note on the paper attached to the clipboard.
"What drugs have you been taking?"
Ianto started. Drugs? Did Owen think he had taken up cocaine or something?
"Medication." Owen corrected himself as he noticed Ianto's confusion. He made a note on his paper again.
Ianto leant forward slightly to see what he was writing.
"Diminished alertness? Obsessive self cleaning... Suspected sleeping pill addiction...Classic RTS? STOP TREATING ME LIKE A FUCKING CASE STUDY!"
Ianto leaped from the table, knocking it backwards, causing it to crash into Owens desk. Medical tools, paperwork and knickknacks clattered to the floor. Owen didn't even flinch.
"...and misdirected rage. Ianto, I'm so sorry for what's happened to you, truly I am. But I need to do my job. Tell me what medication you have been taking." He expected Ianto's anger to escalate, but to his slight surprise, the rage in the Welshman's eyes dulled, and he returned the table to the centre of the room, and sat back down.
Ianto sighed. "Aspirin, paracetamol, ibuprophen... and alternating between Rozerem and Halcion."
Owen nodded, his suspicions confirmed as Ianto listed the sleeping pills.
"How did you know?" Ianto asked, looking at the floor.
"Your hands are shaking uncontrollably, and you are clearly having severe discomfort in your abdomen. Both classic signs of over use of sleeping pills. How long have you been suffering with nightmares?"
"Since I was nine. My dad...my dad used to...well he was violent. I've been taking sleeping pills ever since Canary Warf. They were too vivid. I had to stop them." Ianto looked so miserable; Owen put his pen down, and sat next to his colleague. "I've been taking double the dose, every night since the...since this started. I needed to, Owen." Ianto looked up at the doctor, his eyes brimming with tears.
Brushing aside professionalism, Owen slowly put his arm round the trembling Ianto, and drew him into a hug. Ianto's body was shaking, and Owen could feel the back of his t-shirt getting damp where the sobbing mans tears soaked through it.
"Ianto...I swear we will catch whoever is doing this. Jack will-"
"NO!" Ianto cut him off and pushed him away. He looked desperately into Owen's startled eyes. "No, Owen. Not Jack. You can't tell Jack, Please" He looked like he was going to break down again.
Owen nodded. Of course he wouldn't want Jack to find out. He should have thought before he spoke, he silently reprimanded himself.
"Ok. I won't tell Jack, I promise. But I swear to you mate, Gwen and I will find out who or what is doing this to you, and we will make them pay." He put his hands on Ianto's shoulders. The younger man suddenly looked so small and fragile –nothing like the cheerful tea-boy he teased on a daily basis. He suddenly felt a warm rush of affection and respect for Ianto. He had kept up with his duties with a smile on his face during all this horror. He pulled Ianto into another tight hug.

From just outside the medical bay, a crouched figure watched the two men embrace. Its eyes burnt as the doctor pulled the sobbing man closer. So... The medical man was encroaching on his territory was he? He could not claim ignorance; he had seen the bite marks branding the suited man as his mate. Even the male with the blue coat -who seemed to be the leader of this tribe-, had left this one alone. But this man wanted to try and steal his mate, and the young one appeared to be reciprocating?
The figure let out a shallow guttural growl. He would have to show him who his owner was. And this time; he wouldn't forget it.