Author's Note: Not sure what happened, but someone kindly pointed out that chapter six wasn't available even though I posted it, so I'm re-posting it. Let me know if it's working for you. Chapter Seven will be up later, once I give it a quick read-through.

Chapter Six

Two things occurred to Ianto during the middle of the night. One was that he would need money for transportation. He didn't want to steal a car and risk getting caught, so that left public transportation. A cab was the only option, actually.

The other thing that had occurred to him was that there was a way for him to climb over the wall without recruiting someone for assistance. The only issue with it was that it required climbing a tree.

It wasn't the brightest of ideas, that was for sure. It was idiotic and silly, especially when he hadn't climbed a tree since he was a young teenager. The idea being idiotic wasn't enough to deter him from considering it, though, especially when a quick stroll through the gardens after breakfast revealed a tree that had a long limb hovering over the wall. There were footholds on the tree trunk that he could use climb up until he reached the limb, and if he crawled across it he'd be able to move right over the wall. Besides, the sky was cloudy and rain was predicted later in the day. The cold air would deter most patients from going outside, so the gardens wouldn't be bustling with as much activity as it usually was. Chances of being seen climbing his way out of Whittier would most likely be slim.

It was a plausible plan.

It was still idiotic, though.

At least getting money wouldn't be as troublesome. He had been arrested for shoplifting once, but he had never been caught robbing the purses from women and money right from the pockets of men's trousers, and one of the reasons why he had been so good at that was not only because he had nimble fingers, but also because he had chosen his targets wisely.

The doctors, nurses, and orderlies were crossed off his victim's list. He doubted any of them actually carried any kind of money or credit cards with them, and they were trained to keep a close eye on patients. They would see him coming a mile away. The patients themselves definitely didn't carry money around so Ianto hadn't considered them at all.

That left him with the only option of pickpocketing a visitor of.

There were slim pickings in the gardens to choose from. It was still morning, so there were only a handful of visitors, but he made do with what he was offered.

He spotted a woman in a business suit sitting on a bench with another patient. Her body was facing the patient, but her back was facing the handbag that was sitting beside her.

Ianto casually strolled by, keeping an eye on the handbag. It wasn't left wide open, but it wasn't zipped closed either. If he could knock the bag to the ground, it'll most likely cause several items to fall out of it. He hoped one of those items was the woman's purse.

He paused, turned on his heel, and headed towards them. As soon as he was close enough he pretended to trip and lunged his body towards the woman. He fell against her and used his hand to push her bag right down onto the ground. Even as the woman made a sound of surprise, he could hear dozens of items scattering onto the ground.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Ianto exclaimed, scrambling off of her. The woman scowled, but the patient didn't react to his intrusion, staring off into space. Ianto wondered if something was going on in the man's head that kept him from responding to the world around him, which currently worked in Ianto's favor. He didn't have to worry about the patient catching him in the act of stealing from his visitor.

The woman huffed, standing up. "Watch where you're going." She crouched down to pick up her bag and returned the items that spilled out of it.

"Of course, of course." Ianto bent down to help her. The woman was muttering curses, which didn't make Ianto feel too sorry about robbing her. His eye caught sight of a small wad of folded bills. Ha! Could he pick them, or what? The lady didn't even bother to keep her money in a purse. He quickly hid the money under his knee and grabbed a compact mirror and a glasses case.

The woman yanked both things out of his hand and put it in her bag. She glowered at him and turned back to the patient. Ianto carefully removed the money from beneath his knee and stuffed it in the pocket of his robe. He stood up and sniffed before turning on his heel and walking away, seeking an isolated spot to count the money.

He hid behind a tree on the other side of the gardens, which was as far as he could get from the woman. She hadn't checked to see if all the things that had flown out of her bag were there, but he didn't want to be around her in case she eventually noticed that she was missing some money.

He counted the bills and was satisfied to have more than enough for cab fare. He tucked the money back inside his pocket and leaned against the tree. He was one step closer to getting out, and he was anxious to get to the Hub so he could fix this whole mess. From Annie's sudden resurrection to Jack's affair with Gwen, being in the mental hospital was making him face things he hadn't wanted to face.

And it wasn't just those awful discoveries that were making life in Whittier nearly unbearable. Being here, he was forced to confront the memories of his mother he had thought he had buried so deep that he had hoped he would never have to deal with them again. At every corner was a reminder of his mother, and now he was forced to face the fear of inheriting her mental illness.

He rubbed at his face, turning his mind back to his plan of climbing a tree. Common sense said that he should wait until he had a more concrete plan, but all other plans would result in him staying in the mental institution longer. It wasn't even a week since he woke up here, and he was already struggling with doubts. He was afraid of what would happen if he stayed any longer.

Besides, all other avenues of escape seemed risky for someone to do it alone—it wasn't like he could call for back-up or depend on someone to cause a distraction while he made his grand escape—and just because the plan was stupid didn't mean it wouldn't work. Some time ago, he and Jack had joined a dancing competition to stop an alien who had enjoyed using its powers to watch humans dance themselves to death. The plan had been stupid, but it had worked.

As casually as possible, he walked to the tree he had labeled as the best one to help him escape. He looked up and studied the limbs until his eyes singled out the limb he had found earlier. It looked thick enough to hold a grown man's weight, and the limb stretched out far enough for him to make his way completely over the wall. He estimated the wall to be about eight feet tall, and the limb hovered about three feet over it, for an estimated total of an eleven foot drop from limb to grass.

He could handle eleven feet.

"What are you doing?"

Ianto jumped and spun around. Owen was standing in front of him with a slight frown. Ianto cleared his throat and tugged on his robe. "Nothing."

"You've been standing there for a few minutes staring up at the tree." Owen glanced up. "What are you looking at?"

Ianto arched a brow. "I can't admire a bird?"

Owen glanced up again. "I don't see any birds."

"Are you accusing me of seeing birds that aren't there?"

Owen looked genuinely shocked. "I was merely saying that I don't see any birds."

"What do you want?" Ianto asked, hoping his impatience didn't show.

"You've been avoiding me."

"Well of course I have." Ianto scowled. "I have nothing to say to the alien who put me here, and after I figure out a way to prove it to everyone, I'll personally take great joy in locking you up in the Hub's cells."

"I was under the impression that you were beginning to have doubts about your Torchwood life."

"Who told you that?"

"Glyn."

Bloody Glyn. In a moment of weakness, Ianto had allowed himself to drop his emotional barriers and now it was biting him in the ass. "I never said I had doubts about anything."

"But you did say that you were beginning to wonder if Yates's and my suggestion to say the codes would be, as it had been quoted to me, your 'ticket' out of here. That, to me, speaks of doubts."

"I never mentioned the codes to Glyn."

"Didn't have to. I understood the implication."

Ianto ignored that. "And I don't have doubts." Ianto kept his voice firm despite the fact that he was lying.

By the look on Owen's face, he didn't believe him. "Anyway, I wanted to let you know that my door, and Yates's door, is always open if you feel a need to talk to someone besides Glyn. You don't have to wait to have your sessions to talk to us."

"I'm fine." Ianto crossed his arms and leaned back against the tree, striking a casual pose. "I'm perfectly fine."

Owen narrowed his eyes. "You sure? Because there was also mention of you seeing Jack in a RAF coat in your room."

"Is nothing ever kept secret around here?" he muttered.

"No, not when it comes to our patients."

In that case, Ianto would never reveal his thoughts to anyone ever again. "Yes, I saw Jack, and no, he wasn't a hallucination. I already told Yates this." He looked away, taking interest in a buzzing bee that flew by them. "Now leave me alone."

Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Owen open his mouth, close it, and then walk away. If he had been in a different situation, he would have commended the way the doctors, and especially Owen, were so involved in their patients' recovery process.

But Ianto—and he couldn't believe he was thinking it—actually missed the real Owen. Even though the fake Owen was an alien in disguise, it was still unnerving to be faced with a smile on Owen's lips and compassion in his eyes. He missed the cynical glint in Owen's eyes and the insults he always threw at everyone. He couldn't wait to see him again.

He looked around the gardens. Even though a lot of the patients had remained indoors to avoid the cold weather, there were still too many outside. If he was going to go through with his plan, then his best bet would be during lunch. Lunch was served for about two hours, but everyone tried to get their lunches as early as possible—the best sandwiches were always the first to go—so while everyone was venturing inside to get their lunches, there would be less of a chance of being seen climbing up the tree. Once he was on the limb, the leaves and branches should cover him if people opted to ignore the cold weather and eat outside.

For now, he stepped away from the tree and killed time by returning to the lounge. He had two hours to wait before lunch was served and he might as well look busy.

Ianto sat on a couch in front of one of the televisions and snagged a newspaper from the coffee table. A while later, he was engrossed in a story of an earthquake striking the Middle East when a slim hand waved in front of his line of sight.

"I'm reading, Tosh."

Tosh laughed and climbed over the back of the couch to settle on the cushion beside him. "I'm bored," she announced.

"Go play with someone else." He focused on the paper, hoping she would go away. Usually he didn't mind spending time with Tosh (she was practically his only friend in the entire hospital), but she tended to stick to him like glue most of the time. If she was still at his side when lunch was announced, there would be no shaking her off. She'd wonder where he was going if he said anything about skipping lunch, and if he didn't provide a sufficient explanation she'd follow him. He wouldn't be able to attempt an escape if she followed.

Tosh grabbed the top of the newspaper and lowered it just enough to prevent Ianto from reading. When he glared at her, she pouted. "Aw, come on!" She shifted closer when another patient sat on the couch on the other side of her. "Let's play chess."

Ianto grimaced. "I'd rather not." He wasn't particularly good at the game and one could only take losing for so long.

"You don't suck that bad."

He lightly slapped her hand away from his newspaper and he shook it so it could straighten it. "I'm sure you can find someone else who'd like to play chess with you."

"Half of them are too busy talking to walls, and the other half don't suck as much as you do."

Ianto shot her a look. "You just said I don't suck that bad."

"In general, you don't. But against good players, you're pretty bad."

"Then why are you bugging me to play?"

"Because I get to win!" She smiled wide. "Not too often I'm better than you at something."

Ianto rolled his eyes and returned to his newspaper, hoping she would get the hint and leave him alone. She ignored the hint and shook his shoulder. "Tosh," he warned.

She sighed loudly, but didn't move. Instead, she said, "So are you ready to talk about Jack?"

Ianto kept his eyes on the newspaper, but his vision turned inward at Tosh's question. "No," he said softly. After yesterday's encounter, Ianto had ignored and brushed off all of Tosh's questions, only telling her that he now knew why Tosh hated Jack and Gwen so much. "There's no point in talking about it."

"No point? Ianto, you just found out that the man you love had an affair with someone else." She paused. "Well, you haven't just found out, technically, but—"

"It doesn't matter." He lowered the newspaper to look at her. "To you and everyone else, Jack cheating on me was something that actually happened, but to me it's just a nasty memory implanted in everyone's head." He shrugged a shoulder when Tosh frowned at him. "So yeah, it doesn't matter. Talking about it isn't going to change anything." He lifted his newspaper. "Getting everyone's memories back will. And finding Owen," he added with good measure. Finding Owen would probably have to wait until after he fixed everyone else's memories, though.

"Bullshit. It clearly had some impact on you since you wouldn't be so determined to not talk about it."

"I talked to Glyn, if it makes you feel better. "

"Why would you talking to Glyn make me feel any better?" Tosh snatched the newspaper out of his hands, and he was surprised he didn't get a paper cut. "You should have talked to me."

"Am I not allowed to have conversations with other people?"

"No."

Ianto arched a brow. "Possessive, aren't you?" He reached for the paper, but she held it out of his reach. "Tosh."

"What?" She opened the newspaper. "I'm reading."

"You are so childish." In some ways, Tosh reminded him of a bratty little sister, despite the fact that she was older than him. He wondered if that was how her personality might have turned out if she didn't have Torchwood matters weighing on her mind or if her mental illness gave her free reign to act as she pleased. "When did your hallucinations start?" he asked, realizing that he never inquired as to what story the alien had implanted in Tosh's brain to explain how she ended up in the hospital.

Tosh gave up any pretense of reading the paper and lowered it. "I've had them for years. I had them in my early twenties, but they weren't big or distracting back then. In fact, a part of me thought they were the result of an overactive imagination. But then they started getting more intense and my parents were concerned, so they put me in here." She leaned against the back of the couch, tugging the blanket that had been draped over the back of it and wrapping it around herself. "It took a long time for me to be able to tell what was real and what wasn't. Even when they talk to me, I more or less ignore them."

"Like Suzie?"

"Yup." She pointed to a corner across the room. "She's right over there, but I know she's a hallucination so I try to ignore her."

"But didn't you ever fight the idea that you were having hallucinations?"

"Of course. I didn't want to be one of the crazies and when I first arrived I refused my meds." The patient sitting next to her began to tug on the blanket, presumably to take it away from Tosh, but she hanged on tight to the material and slapped the patient's hand. "Ask, don't just take!" She sniffed and returned her attention to Ianto. "But after a few sessions with Owen and a bit of soul-searching, I realized that I wasn't crazy. I was just not quite right in the brain and that the meds would help me function."

"But you still refer to yourself as crazy."

"In jest!" She shrugged. "And besides, I can get away with calling myself crazy. I'm the one that sees things that aren't there."

"Weren't you ever scared?" he asked quietly. "You know, of having a mental illness."

"I think everyone is scared when they're being told that they have a mental illness, and I don't think that fear ever truly goes away, but once you realize that being mentally ill isn't the end of the world the fear isn't quite as strong." Tosh placed a hand on Ianto's shoulder, squeezing tight. "I know you're scared, but it's all going to be okay."

"Yeah," he said. By the end of the day, once he found the Hub, everything would be okay. He smiled at her. "So, can I have my newspaper back?"

As he hoped, Tosh eventually got bored with Ianto ignoring her and went in search of someone else to talk to. Ianto amused himself with the newspaper until it was close to lunchtime. He put the newspaper back and left the lounge, going out to the gardens and remaining calm and casual in the face of the patients who were walking in the opposite direction and towards the lounge.

He wasted no time going to his selected tree, trying to stay out of any of the cameras' views. He did keep his pace steady, though, on the off-chance that a camera caught him walking by. If a security guard viewing the video feeds saw him, he would think Ianto was just walking around the gardens.

When he reached the tree he kept it between himself and the camera that was pointing in his general direction. He peeked around, waiting for the number of people in the gardens to drop to a minimal level until only a few people remained in his area. He would have preferred it to be empty, but at least no one was facing his way. He hoped it stayed that way while he was climbing.

Ianto grabbed hold of the tree and looked up, taking a deep breath as he calculated the best way to climb. As he started to climb, he had a few false starts. His slippers weren't the best footwear, since the soles were smooth and kept slipping every time he tried to gain leverage on the tree bark. He considered the idea of taking off his slippers and climb barefoot, but his feet probably wouldn't survive if he removed them. So he soldiered on with his slippers still on his feet, and eventually he managed to find a certain angle with his feet that lessened that chance of slippage. His hands dug tight to the tree bark and he winced at the way it would sometimes bite into his skin.

It was tedious work as he made his way up, but most of the tediousness stemmed from his worry of being caught. Any minute now, he expected an orderly to catch him or for a patient to draw attention to him by shouting at him. He was sweating by the time he was straddling his chosen limb, and he took a moment to revel in the fact that he made it without anyone seeing him. He rolled his shoulders to work out the kinks and examined his hands. They weren't too bad, but they were scratched up in places.

He lay down on the limb, prepared to belly crawl his way across it. It was his only option that wouldn't result in a fall. As he prepared to scoot forward, he unwillingly caught a glimpse of the ground below and froze. He belatedly realized that perhaps he should have waited for a more concrete plan.

"I'm an idiot for doing this," he whispered, heart in his throat as he got a good look at how high up he was. It sure as hell didn't look like eleven feet from where he was. Maybe he was crazy. What sane person would do this? Belly crawl across a limb. Babies belly crawled on the floor, not grown men on tree limbs that were several feet above the ground.

If he made it over the wall, it wasn't because of skills or talent. Oh, no. If he made it, it would only be because of sheer dumb luck.

He sighed. Might as well move forward with his plan.

With his hands gripping the sides as he used his feet to push forward, he moved across the limb. He grimaced at the way the bark rubbed against his body—the hospital's standard pajamas and robe did nothing for him—but he didn't stop. It was a slow-moving process, though. He was going as fast as he safely could, but when stray voices began to reach his ears he realized that people were beginning to return to the gardens. Shit, how much time had passed? Twenty minutes? Thirty? Well, it wasn't like it took too much time to finish a sandwich and apple.

It seemed like forever before he reached the point where the limb was stretching over the wall, but once he did the limb shuddered heavily. Ianto stilled. Oh god, he feverishly hoped that it didn't crack under his weight. He was so close! The last thing he needed was for the limb to break and send him tumbling down. It'd probably result in broken bones, and it would be weeks, if not months, before he could remotely attempt another escape.

The limb stopped shuddering and Ianto waited a long moment before slowly resuming his journey. Ianto's vision soon saw the grassy green that rested outside the walls that enclosed the hospital, and when his body was fully over the wall, he sat up and patted the limb fondly.

But now came the final, and perhaps the hardest, part: getting down. He would have to fall, of course, but if he managed to land on his feet and distribute his weight equally, he would be less likely to snap an ankle. Maybe. Hopefully.

He looked left and right and saw no one. For once he was grateful for the extra few acres that put distance between the hospital and the closest neighborhood. Ianto carefully lowered himself onto the limb again and grabbed onto it with both hands before he slowly shifted his weight to one side. He kept shifting until his body completely slid off. Ianto grunted but managed to hold on tight to the limb with his hands as his legs swayed and the limb jerked.

He tightened his hands and looked down below. Once again, the ground felt miles away and he couldn't help but think what would happen if he snapped a bone. What would he do? He couldn't crawl to the nearest neighborhood.

"I better get a raise for this," he muttered.

He took a deep breath and let go.

Ianto managed to land on his feet, but ended up falling on his ass anyway. He winced, but a quick inspection of his body revealed no injuries. Ianto took a precious moment to revel in the fact that he wasn't hurt. He couldn't believe his good fortune.

He didn't spend much reveling, though. He was still in the vicinity of the hospital and could still get caught. He quickly stood up and ran towards the closest neighborhood. He glanced over his shoulder a few times, but no one followed. When he managed to reach the neighborhood, it was quiet and lacked any activity. It looked almost abandoned, if not for the few stray cars parked in front of small homes.

He sought out street signs to guide him as he walked down the pavements, and even though it took a lot longer than he wanted, he finally managed to track down a semi-busy area where cabs could be called. He whistled and lifted a hand when he spotted one, but it went right on by. Frowning, he tried again with a second cab, but it also ignored him.

"Damn it," he muttered, tightening the knot that held his robe together. He knew he looked out of place standing in the middle of the pavement wearing his pajamas and robe, but he had seen cabs pick up people who were dressed worse than him. He got a few curious looks from fellow pedestrians as he continued walking, but he hoped they pinned his wardrobe down to eccentricity and didn't call the police.

When a third cab ignored him, he reached into his pocket and took out the money. The next time he spotted a cab, he made sure the driver got a good look at the bills as he called out for it. He hid a smirk when the cab obediently stopped in front of him.

Money was a beautiful thing in this day and age.

He got inside and quickly told the driver to take him to the Plass. He leaned his head back against the seat and stared out the window as the cab pulled into the street. He hoped no one noticed he was no longer at the hospital just yet. He wasn't sure what time it was, but if he was calculating it correctly, over an hour had passed by since he first started to climb the tree. He figured it would take a while before anyone realized he was actually off the property and not just hiding somewhere in the building.

When the cab reached the Plass, Ianto paid the cab driver more than the required fare, making the older man grin in appreciation. Ianto left the cab and headed towards the tourist center. He shivered at the wind and hunched into his robe, wishing that he had a jacket or something thicker to chase away the chill.

Another shiver struck him when he reached the tourist center, but it had nothing to do with the cold.

The front of the tourist center didn't look right. There was wood over the glass window that took up a good portion of the upper half of the door and the paint on the exterior walls was faded, chipped, and covered in graffiti. What the hell? It looked like it did back when Ianto had first started working at Torchwood Three, before he had decided to spruce up the tourist center so it would make a more believable cover.

He grabbed the doorknob, but it refused to turn and the door didn't budge when Ianto pushed himself against it. Backing up, Ianto kicked the door in, grunting when pain shot up his foot. His slipper wasn't thick and it almost felt like Ianto was kicking in the door with his bare foot.

The door swung wide and slammed against the wall. Ianto limped inside and coughed as he walked right into a small cloud of dust. He waved his hand around as he took in the tourist center, grimacing. The area looked like it hadn't been touched in years, the air stifling and dust covering every surface. A sense of foreboding began to wash over him. Ianto swallowed and walked around the counter, searching for the button to open the hidden entrance that led to the Hub.

He frowned when the button wasn't in the place it usually rested. He licked his lips nervously and began to feel all around the space under the counter. He even crouched down to look, but it wasn't where it was supposed to be.

"Damn it," he muttered, beginning to sweat at the implications of the missing button.

He stood up and turned his attention to the hidden entrance. He palmed the wall and pushed hard, but it didn't give way. Ianto kicked at it, which did nothing except make his poor foot throb even more.

Hands on the wall, he realized there were a few loose stones. Similar to what he had done to the brick wall in Whittier, he pried at the stones, trying to locate the loosest. When he found one, he wiggled it out. It required less effort than the brick had required at Whittier, but it was still hell on his fingers that already had scratches from his tree-climbing.

He dropped the stone on the floor and peered into the opening, seeing—darkness. Nothing but darkness. Ianto took a startled step back. That was impossible. The staircase to the main Hub was curved and long, so there were a couple of bulbs that kept the staircase lit twenty-four a day, seven days a week. He had changed the bulbs himself not too long ago. There should be light in there.

He needed to knock the wall down. He looked around and spotted a steel chair leaning against a corner. He retrieved it, noting a missing leg but dismissing it. The steel chair was the best weapon he had to break through the wall; a missing chair leg didn't matter. He leaned the chair against the counter and proceeded to remove the rest of the loose stones, hoping that it would weaken the wall enough for him to create a big enough hole to crawl through.

Once he had a small pile of stones on the floor, he grabbed the chair and shifted it in his hands to angle it in the best and most effective way possible, ignoring the way his hands stung as he gripped the chair tight.

He swung.

It took many strikes and a lot of strength behind each swing, but stones began to drop and Ianto kept going until he had a nice big hole in the middle, big enough for a man to go through. Ianto dropped the stool and approached the hole, breathing heavily. He looked inside, the open door of the tourist center letting in enough light for him to see.

Something in his chest plummeted down to his stomach and right in front of his feet on the floor. He had expected to see stairs leading down, but he didn't see stairs. He saw the things that normal walls had: pipes, wires, and plywood. There was no entrance to the Hub.

He stood stock still for several seconds before he reeled back a few steps and ran out of the tourist center. His legs pumped as he crossed the Plass, not stopping until he reached the slab of stone where the perception filter was. He stepped on it, hoping it would shift and descend.

It didn't move.

He jumped on it several times, urging the fucking thing to lower him into the Hub, but nothing happened. He looked up and found several people staring at him. He stepped off the lift and moved to the right, their eyes following him. He moved back on the lift where the perception filter should keep him invisible, but his unwanted audience was still watching him. They could see him.

Throat tight and heart furiously pounding, Ianto left the lift and returned to the tourist center. Once inside, he stared at the broken wall, as if by looks alone the entrance to the Hub would materialize, but nothing happened. He couldn't believe it. It was just a broken wall.

There was no Hub, a voice whispered, and Ianto's breath caught as he stared at the proof of that statement.

There was no Hub.

Ianto leaned back against the counter and slid down until his bottom hit the floor with a thump. His breath came out in gasps and he knew he was on the verge of a panic attack. He had been so sure that the Hub was the solution to all his problems, but instead he found nothing. Literally nothing. Not finding the Hub meant only one thing, and Ianto gulped, trying to breathe but finding it difficult to do so. He couldn't deny what was staring him right in the face.

Torchwood didn't exist.

Ianto didn't even realize he was crying until he realized that the sobs that reached his ears were his own.