4.

"Jack?" Ianto called into the Hub, wondering where the others were. He checked his watch and saw that it was well past dinner time. He vaguely remembered the others going out on a Weevil call during the afternoon, but was sure they'd returned. Maybe Gwen had called down to say good night, but he'd been so caught up in his research he'd completely missed it.

Hours spent searching the archives, both the paper trail as well as the digital files, had finally got him some results. He didn't know much about the Xrillian cube, but he had a lead on where to find more information.

"Jack!"

"In here," came a reply from Jack's office. Ianto entered to find Jack sitting behind his desk with his feet propped up, a drink in one hand and The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy in the other. He set it down and grinned.

"Ianto Jones, hard at work as always!" he said. Ianto raised an eyebrow as he stood before Jack's desk.

"I wish I could say the same for you, sir," he replied dryly, wondering why Jack was reading a book, instead of actually working; he always had paperwork to catch up on. Then again, it was past dinner and everyone else had left, why shouldn't Jack relax? They all deserved time off the clock, and Jack took the least of all of them.

"Research," said Jack. "Did you know a lot of this is true?"

"Right," replied Ianto, rolling his eyes. "Which parts? The Vogons? The Babel fish? The restaurant at the end of the universe?"

Jack leaned forward. "Forty-two," he whispered, and Ianto couldn't help but grin.

"The answer to life, the universe, and everything?" he asked, and Jack nodded very solemnly.

"And Vogon poetry really does make your ears bleed," he said. "The harmonics are too harsh for human ear drums."

Ianto shook his head. "I'm not even going to ask if that's true, nor am I going to ask what you're really doing."

"Taking a break," Jack replied with an open smile. "Find what you've been looking for?"

"If you mean you, then yes," Ianto replied.

Expecting a typical innuendo-laden response, Ianto was slightly surprised when Jack sat up and frowned. "What do you mean?" he asked, eyeing the folder in Ianto's hands.

Ianto knew Jack hated talking about his past, but he was reasonably forthcoming when it came to his long tenure with Torchwood, particularly when it affected the team or a case in some way. He hoped this would be the same and handed Jack the file.

"I've been looking for information on the Xrillian cube to help Tosh. There was very little about it or the Xrillians in the archives, until I finally tracked down the paper files from when it was brought in and found this." He motioned at the file and Jack picked it up, still looking wary. Ianto was unsettled by the other man's reaction, but continued. "You were there when the cube was found, in 1963. There were two of them, actually. You wrote the report."

Jack didn't even open the folder. His eyes had gone distant, his mouth a thin line. Ianto was tempted to step back, but held his ground. He had nothing to be afraid of, nothing to be sorry for. He'd found the file on the cube, but it hadn't told him very much, only that there had been an alien incursion in the Hub and that Jack had been forced to kill it in order to secure the site. What one had to do with the other wasn't clear, yet judging from Jack's reaction, there was much more to it, and he wasn't happy about it.

Jack nodded slowly, taking the still unopen file and placing it in his desk drawer. As he withdrew his hand, Ianto saw that Jack was holding his Webley, and pointing it straight at him. He instinctively stepped backward.

"Jack, what the hell is going on?" he exclaimed. The other man stood and came around the desk, his face dark and angry. Ianto continued to back away, this time with his hands up. Something niggled in the back of his mind, that this couldn't be happening, it couldn't be real, because none of the other times Jack had threatened him had been real. Only this felt as real as those moments had, possibly even more so.

"I'm sorry, Ianto," he said. Ianto's eyes went wide. Jack hadn't spoken, yet alone apologized, in Ianto's first two dreams, which meant it must be actually happening. A sick feeling churned in his gut, that this time he would die, by Jack's hand, in Jack's office. With a snarl of defiance, he took several steps forward, thinking to try and disarm Jack, only for Jack to click the safety and shake his head.

"Don't even think about it," said Jack. "You know I'm faster."

"Bastard," Ianto hissed. Jack shrugged.

"I've been called worse. I have no choice, Ianto. You shouldn't have found that file."

"No," Ianto replied. "I don't believe you. There's nothing in that file worth killing me over!"

"Probably not," Jack agreed. "But the others can't know about it. I'd Retcon you, but let's face it, you're too tenacious to give up. Just as bad as Gwen sometimes."

Ianto wasn't sure if it was an insult or a compliment and ignored it.

"What's so terrible about the cube, Jack?" he demanded, knowing he had to keep Jack talking. It gave him time to try and come up with a plan, though he really doubted he'd succeed. He was alone in the Hub with Jack, he didn't have his comm, his gun, or even his mobile with him. Attacking Jack would only get him shot sooner, as would running. Time was his only ally right now. "What can't we know about 1963?"

"If I told you I'd have to kill you," Jack grinned. It was the same over bright smile Ianto had seen in his dreams, and he shuddered. Jack wasn't joking; he was dead serious.

"You're going to kill me anyway, so tell me what I'm dying for," he snapped. "At least make it worth my life."

Jack shook his head as he took several steps backward, his eyes flashing that strange shade of violet. "I don't think so. No more stalling for time. Good-bye, Ianto. The dark is waiting."

The sharp retort of the gun echoed loudly in Jack's office, the smell of powder instantly filling the air. Ianto felt the bullet slam into his chest; he jerked once and fell forward, blood splattering his shirt and suit coat. He landed on his hands and knees, then toppled to his side. The bullet had obviously punctured a lung, if not nicked his heart, because he couldn't breathe and there was a lot of blood. Already his vision was going dark.

It had happened again. Ianto was dying at Jack's hand, and he knew this time he wouldn't wake up.

"Shit!" Ianto fell out of his chair in the archives, landing on the cold floor with an ungainly thud and banging his head on the chair. For a moment he sat there, breathing heavily, trying to piece together the images in his brain. While he was in full blown panic mode due to being shot by Jack, Ianto was sure there was something else going on. Something to do with the cube. He only had to remember.

He scrambled back up to his desk, grabbing the folder he'd been reading when he'd fallen asleep at his place. It was an incident report on the Xrillian cube, dated October 14, 1963. It was written in Jack's looped script, and though it was short on details, it was something. He had been about to take it to Jack when he'd fallen asleep.

With a disappointed sigh, Ianto realized he'd simply incorporated the file into the theme of his other dreams. There was nothing in the file worth hiding, after all, nothing worth killing him over. His subconscious was once again making up images to deal with his fears, or perhaps one of his frustrations. Jack really didn't like to talk about his past, and there were times when Ianto genuinely feared it would come back to bite them all in the proverbial arse—John Hart being a prime example.

There was a sound behind him, and he scrambled in his desk drawer for the handgun he kept there for emergencies. Whirling around, he found Jack standing in the doorway, his face startled as his hands flew up.

"Just me," he said, sounding unsure. Ianto didn't lower the gun.

"Prove it," he growled, his heart still racing.

"What?" asked Jack, stepping into the office and glancing around. "Ianto, it's me, Jack. How am I supposed to prove that?"

Ianto found his hands starting to shake as the adrenaline left his system. His arm fell, and he dropped his head with a curse. "Why does this keep happening?" he whispered. Jack was there in two steps, wrapping his arms around Ianto in spite of any protests.

"We'll figure it out," he said. "Please let me help."

Ianto let himself relax into the embrace for a moment, then stepped away, ignoring the hurt look on Jack's face. "There's nothing you can do."

"Because it was about me again, wasn't it?" Jack asked. "You had another dream."

Ianto stared at him, unwilling to admit it, but what else could he say? He held up the file instead. "It was about this."

Jack took the file and began to read through it. Ianto kept a tight hold on his gun, the terrible scene from his dream replaying in his mind's eye. He even checked to see if Jack had his Webley, but as far as Ianto could tell, it was still in Jack's office. He knew he shouldn't feel threatened, but he didn't feel safe either.

Jack was nodding to himself. "I remember this now," he said, looking up at Ianto. "Did you dream about the Xrillian?"

"Not exactly," Ianto sighed. "Look, Tosh is looking for anything to help her figure out that cube—whether it's working, activated, dangerous. We've got nothing on the device or the Xrillians other than that file, so is there anything you can tell her?"

Jack was frowning at him. Ianto knew he was being short, but he wanted to focus on the case, not on the fact that he'd fallen asleep at his desk and had another nightmare. It was embarrassing, to say the least. Yes, he'd had nightmares ever since Canary Wharf, and Jack knew it. But three bad dreams in three days that left him gasping and unsettled was extreme; he was starting to dread falling asleep that night.

"Jack?" Ianto prompted when Jack didn't answer. He shut the folder and sighed.

"Tosh left a few minutes ago. We had another Riftquake, but there was nothing to follow up on, so I sent her home. I came down to see if you'd felt it. Thought maybe you might want to take a break, get something to eat…" He trailed off, probably at the look on Ianto's face. He wasn't hungry and he certainly wasn't tired right then, and the thought of heading home with Jack made him nervous and tense. Apparently Jack could sense it, because he handed Ianto the file and shook his head.

"Look, don't feel like you need to stay around here," he said. "There's nothing else predicted and if there are any calls, I'll head out and handle them. You get some rest."

Ianto wanted to protest, felt like he should, and any other night he would take advantage of the down time to spend it with Jack outside of work. But not this night. He wanted to go home and … well, he wasn't sure what he would do. Something that had nothing to do with Torchwood or Jack or dying. Maybe head to the local he'd found while Jack had been gone and play pool for a few hours. Watch a match, have some pints, and see if that didn't help him make it through the night without imagining another grisly death at Jack's hands.

"Right," said Ianto, avoiding Jack's gaze. "I think…yeah, I'll do that. But what about the cube?"

Jack tucked his hands into his pockets with a shrug. "I don't think there's much I can add that will help, but I'll go over it tomorrow with you both, first thing. The important thing is to come in well rested and feeling better, okay?"

"I feel fine," Ianto protested.

"You fell asleep at your desk," Jack pointed out.

"Not unusual in this job," Ianto muttered.

"You had another bad dream and pulled a gun on me," Jack replied quietly. "That's unusual."

"Yes, well…" Ianto sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm sorry. I really don't know what's going on."

"You don't have to apologize," Jack replied. "You've done nothing wrong. If anyone should be apologizing, it's me. I wish I could help you."

"You have nothing to apologize for either," Ianto said. "And I know you want to help, but I don't think there's anything you can do. I have to work through whatever this is on my own."

"Let me know if you need anything, all right?" Jack said. "And I mean anything—call me in the middle of the night if you have to. I'll be here."

Ianto nodded. "Thanks." He set the file down and grabbed his suit coat. "I guess I'll see you in the morning then." He offered Jack a small smile, not sure what the proper goodbye was for them, particularly when things were uneasy. Jack nodded and stepped aside, then reached for Ianto's arm as he passed. He placed a gentle kiss on Ianto's cheek before he left.

"Call me," he said softly. "And have a good night."

"You too," Ianto replied, and left. He knew Jack would probably wait to follow him upstairs, but he still moved as quick as he could, grabbed his coat, and left the Hub without a glance back. He thought about stopping at Tesco on his way home, then decided he didn't want to bother cooking and would rather eat out. A noisy pub might be exactly the thing to take his mind off his dreams. Fish and chips, a few pints, some pool, and hopefully he'd be too tired to dream about Jack shooting him again. Or worse.

Author's Note:

Weekend update, as I hoped! And I'm working hard to edit the next chapter for Halloween! Once I catch up to myself, updates will probably take a bit longer. I thought I was pretty close to the end when I started posting, but it keeps growing and growing. Both a good and a bad thing. I do hope you enjoy it. I am trying to do several things with this story, so please let me know what you see or think! Thank you!