Apologies for the delay, I'm usually quicker than this! But this chapter insisted on being difficult...Hope you enjoy it.

Toshiko was intensely aware of her own failings. She knew that the yearning for praise, for approval, for appreciation was one of her greatest weaknesses. And that weakness was currently being fed well beyond approved limits.

She'd only been in the basement for an hour, and already she'd made a difference. Just identifying and wiring in a backup power source already within the converter.

"He didn't even know it was there," Lisa exclaimed, gasping out the words. "I tried to tell him, but he wouldn't listen."

"I was too afraid I'd knock out the main power supply," Ianto admitted, eyes shining. "You're amazing, Tosh. Now I won't have to spend every minute in the Hub scared something's gone wrong down here."

"You'll have more time to yourself, Ianto," Lisa said, the joy fading perceptibly from her voice. "Isn't that great?"

Ianto grabbed Lisa's hand and kissed it. "I don't want time away from you, sweetheart," he protested. "I'm just glad you'll be safe when I can't be here, that's all."

Tosh choked up again. The sacrifices these two made for each other flared from every sentence, every touch. Ianto's presence was the only respite Lisa had from what amounted to imprisonment down here, and she was encouraging him to leave more often. And Tosh already knew the risks Ianto was taking.

"I'll have to do something about your breathing next," Tosh offered happily. "You'll be able to speak so much more easily if I can get the respirator circuits working properly."

"Can you start now?" Lisa asked impatiently.

"Tosh needs to go home," Ianto interrupted, before she could answer. "Before Jack comes back and realizes you're still here," he added, looking meaningfully at Tosh.

Toshiko nodded. "I'll need to do some research first, before I do anything," she explained, feeling guilty. Lisa had such expressive eyes and Tosh could clearly see the disappointment in them.

"When will you be back?" Lisa demanded.

"Soon," Tosh hedged.

"Lisa!" Ianto chided. "It's late. Tosh needs sleep."

"I'm sorry," Lisa said. But she sounded like a child who'd been scolded and made to apologize.

"I'll walk you to your car," Ianto offered.

Tosh buzzed with plans as Ianto escorted her out of the Hub. An adrenaline high, she supposed. It took her a while to realize Ianto wasn't sharing her enthusiasm. He was quiet, unresponsive. Finally, she asked what was wrong.

"I don't want to get my hopes up," Ianto answered. "You might change your mind by tomorrow. No really, Tosh, think about it," he added, cutting off her automatic protest "Think about what would happen if you were found out helping us. What do you think Jack would do?"

"He'd kill Lisa," Tosh blurted automatically. "And he'd…. Oh, I don't even know what he'd do to us." She actually chuckled. "After he'd finished throwing a fit."

Ianto looked at her incredulously. "You think it's funny?"

Tosh shook her head, shocked at herself. "Adrenaline," she identified. "I'm a bit hyped, I think. Sorry."

They paused beside Tosh's car.

"He'd….kill her, you said," Ianto repeated her words, his voice cracking. "You sounded pretty sure. I thought…but I guess you know him better than I do." Ianto sighed. "I've had this stupid fantasy that he'd help, in the end. He's gone out of his way for so many of the homeless that have come through the Rift."

"He told me once that he lost one of his best friends at Canary Wharf," Tosh said meaningfully.

Ianto nodded. "Guess that means Cybermen and Daleks don't make his compassion list."

Tosh hugged Ianto impulsively. "She's not a Cyberman," she said reassuringly.

Ianto hugged back, hard. "I know. Thank you." He released her and stepped back.

"Think about it though, Tosh," he reminded her. "Don't jump into this. I couldn't…I don't think I could bear it if you started helping and changed your mind later. Back out now, if you're going to. And," he hurried on, before she could protest, "If you do decide not to help, that's fine, I understand. Just please, don't tell anyone else. That's all I ask."

"I won't," Tosh promised. She was annoyed that he still doubted her, but on the other hand, the amount of trust he'd already given her was staggering. He must be wondering if he'd done the right thing. Tosh stretched up and kissed his cheek, again totally on impulse, before jumping into her car. As she drove away, she could see Ianto in the rearview mirror, hand to his cheek. And she realized how starved they both were for simple, uncomplicated affection. It was her last pleasant thought of the night.

-XXX-

High above, someone watched them. From a roof. Jack's coat flapped in the breeze. Tosh's car purred away, taillights vanishing to red specks in the distance. Below, Ianto turned, not to his own car, but back to the Hub. Cleaning up after the big date? Jack fought the emotions twisting in his stomach. He headed for the lift that would take him back to ground level, trying to sort it all out in his head.

It had been a frustrating evening. He'd had his eye on a stunning blonde, whose girlfriend arrived at just about the time Jack was planning to move in for the kill. Jack wasn't used to missing out once he'd picked a target, and watching Owen and Suzie leave together hadn't make him feel any better. No prizes for guessing what they'd be up to tonight.

Tosh had left hours ago. Jack had wondered why she'd agreed to join them when it was obvious she'd wanted to leave practically from the minute they'd arrived. Now he knew. Distracting them all so she could slip back and meet Ianto. His Ianto. The elusive, enigmatic, frustrating, Goddamn gorgeous Welshman. There was a growl somewhere in Jack's chest. He knew he had no right to be feeling like this, but the knowledge wasn't helping.

I should never have employed him, Jack berated himself. But no, to have turned him away because I was attracted to him is just as bad as employing him because of it. And the worst part of all was he still didn't know which one it was. Had he employed Ianto in spite of the attraction, or because of it?

The lifted clattered downwards. Ianto and Tosh. How long had this been happening? But it didn't make sense. Tosh recoiled from all things physical. Understandable, given her history. But it was Ianto she'd turned to when her mother was shot, Ianto whom she'd welcomed into her home while she was mourning. She'd kissed Ianto. And he'd let her. On the cheek, admittedly.

Jealously settled in Jack's gut regardless. Ianto refused to kiss him, refused to allow it. Hardly even looked at him while they….He's using me, Jack realized suddenly. Tosh won't, maybe can't, get physical with him, so I'm the outlet. It was almost funny. Almost. Jack was used to having an outlet, not being one.

But it is better this way, Jack told himself firmly, stepping onto the invisible lift and letting it lower him back inside the Hub. I can't afford to get involved with anyone now, anyway. The century has turned. If that prophet was right, the Doctor will be here soon and I'll be gone. Better this way. We're both getting exactly what we want. As the lift ground to a halt, Jack could hear the sound of someone moving around in the archives. A predatory smile settled onto his features. He's still here. And we've both missed out tonight. Perfect timing. Couldn't be better. But try as he might, Jack couldn't avoid the suspicion that maybe he was just trying to claim his territory.

-XXX-

Ianto slipped back into the Hub, hoping the alarm wouldn't wake Lisa. It had been a big night for her and she needed to rest. He moved quietly through the archives and into the basement. Good, still asleep. Far above, the echoes of the lift mechanism sounded. Only Jack could operate the lift from outside. Damn it, Ianto thought resignedly. He's back, and I was so caught up with Tosh I forgot to move my car underground. He must know I'm still here. And yes, within seconds of the lift stopping, Jack's voice bellowed his name. Ianto locked the basement, bolting into the archives as Jack called again. Impatient tonight, Ianto thought, with a kind of half-contemptuous amusement. He hurried back through the archives, intent on getting into the main Hub before Jack seized him. At least, he thought resignedly, as he was pushed back against the wall, as he let everything vanish in a wave of purely physical sensation, At least we'll all get a good night's sleep tonight.

-XXX-

Ianto killed my adrenaline rush, Toshiko thought glumly, as she drove home. But as the night wore on, she realized how justified his doubts were. Fear poured in as the adrenaline died. Tosh hardly slept that night. She thought about what might happen if Jack found out she knew Ianto's secret. At the very least she'd have to expect dismissal from Torchwood, with attendant Retcon. The penalty for actually helping would be much worse. He could send her back. When she finally slept, Tosh had nightmares about being back in the prison. She woke, shaking, covered in sweat. She couldn't risk that. She couldn't.

Ianto opened the Tourist desk early the next morning. He wanted to make sure he saw Toshiko when she arrived. Lisa had been awake when he'd gotten back to the basement, and they'd talked for hours. The discussion had alternated between excitement about what Tosh could do for them, and planning what to do if she changed her mind. Lisa was exhausted now. Talking tired her.

Ianto saw the shadows under Toshiko's eyes as she entered, carrying a tray of Starbuck's coffees. He wondered if she'd brought her own coffee so she could avoid him for the morning. But he couldn't risk that. He had to find out what she'd decided. There was a bottle of Retcon in his pocket, not that she'd take it if she'd decided to betray him. Not willingly. Ianto swallowed against the sudden dryness in his throat. He hated the thought of forcing the pill onto her, but he'd do it if he had to. For Lisa.

But Tosh only smiled weakly and placed one of the Starbuck's cups on his desk. She leaned forward so the CCTV couldn't record the way her lips moved and spoke softly.

"I want to help," she said intensely. "But I'm scared." Just that. Ianto released his grip on the bottle in his pocket.

"Take your time," he said, equally softly. "I don't want you to do anything you'll regret."

A veiled threat, Tosh thought, fear coiling inside her. But perhaps he was justified. She'd practically forced him to confide in her, promised help, and now she was on the verge of backing out.

"I have to pick a side, don't I?" she asked, looking directly into Ianto's eyes, seeing the weariness, the loneliness, and yes, the fear. Hating her own cowardice.

Ianto shook his head. "You don't owe us anything." He made a sudden decision. He was trapped in this. Trapped with Lisa. But he could set Tosh free. He reached back into his pocket, concealing the tiny bottle in the palm of his hand. "If you want to back out," he said meaningfully, dropping the bottle into the cardboard coffee tray.

Tosh pondered the significance of that bottle for the rest of the morning. She could forget everything. Back away with no guilt, with no risk of Jack ever finding out what she knew. Ianto was offering her an escape. With the woman he loved suffering, still he made no demands. Tosh realized with wonder that she'd never met anyone so thoroughly good before in her life.

Ianto didn't bring it up again. Well, he wouldn't want to risk triggering her memory if she had taken the Retcon, would he? So while Tosh made up her mind, she began with little things. Undetectable things. Painkillers. Lisa was in pain. Tosh managed Torchwood's firewall. It was simple to intercept Owen's monthly pharmaceutical order. A tiny alteration, moving the 'quantity' from the zeroes column to the 'tens,' gave them a surplus of painkillers. When the confirmation from the suppliers arrived, she altered the figures back before it reached Owen's inbox. Easy. Undetectable. She warned Ianto what to expect via a muttered conversation on her way out that day, warmed by the stunned gratitude on his face.

When the delivery arrived, Lisa had morphine for the pain and anti-inflammatory drugs for the swelling around the places where the metal had imperfectly invaded her body. Owen had his full order. No one suspected anything. As Lisa improved, Ianto began to smile again.

The CCTV was next. Tosh modified the camera outside the basement so that it continuously displayed a view of empty corridor. A common trick, easily detected if you were foolish enough to use a short loop. Tosh's loop contained twenty-four hours of footage. Well, twenty-three hours and fifty-seven minutes. A slight time delay, so if anyone did check, they wouldn't get suspicious about the fact that a mouse ran across the hallway at 10.42 pm every night. Ianto no longer had to waste time every day deleting the footage of himself entering and leaving the basement. He had time for proper meals again.

Tosh knew that Ianto was still vigilant about deleting the other footage. Her mind still cringed away from that. Ianto never referred to it, but Tosh could see the haunted expression in his eyes those mornings after Jack had to be 'distracted'. And she decided to help him with that, too. All it took was arranging after-work drinks with the team, so that Jack was safely out of the way. Some nights at least. So Ianto didn't need to 'distract' him as often. Ianto started getting some real sleep. On a mattress on the floor beside Lisa.

Tosh knew she'd crossed the line when she started taking a turn on that mattress, so Ianto could sleep in a real bed, or get a proper meal, without suffering from guilt at leaving Lisa alone. He even got the chance to go to his nephew's birthday party. After her first night on the mattress, reveling in Lisa's breathless gratitude, Tosh realized how far she'd gotten into this, and that she really didn't want to back out. But it wasn't until the next 'after work drinks' night that she finally picked her side.

Tosh was still nursing her first glass of wine, fuming silently over the fact that no-one ever thought to invite Ianto to join them. Not even Jack. Not that Ianto would accept, but they could ask, surely? Tosh watched contemptuously as Suzie and Owen began snogging drunkenly in a corner. Jack just laughed at them and went back to chatting up the barmaid. Leaving Tosh alone at the table. Team bonding, yeah right. And Tosh realized suddenly that she didn't like any of them half as much as she liked the quiet young man trying desperately to keep his girlfriend alive. Or even as much as she liked the tortured woman trapped in that machine. Lisa hadn't said much - she didn't really have enough breath for conversations - buIt Tosh liked the way Lisa's eyes followed Ianto, even thought the rest of her couldn't move.

Quite suddenly, her mind was made up. She'd picked a side. She left the others drinking and snogging in the pub and went back to Hub. Called Ianto first, of course, so he wouldn't panic when the alarm went. He had the basement door unlocked by the time she arrived.

"I think," Tosh announced, as she entered, "that's it's time I had a look at that respirator."

Ianto's smile was blinding. Lisa's face was blank. And it was Lisa's life, so it was her eyes Tosh looked into. "If you want me to, Lisa," she added intently.

"Of course we do," Ianto said eagerly.

Tosh looked back at him, smiling. "It's up to Lisa, Ianto." She looked back at Lisa, noting that the morphine seemed to be wearing off. It explained the blank expression. She was trying to control the pain. Good, in a way. She could decide with a relatively clear mind. "Do you trust me to do this, Lisa? I might," Tosh swallowed. "I might just make things worse, you know."

Lisa's eyes moved. The only part of her that could. To Ianto and back. "How could it get worse?" she asked.

AN: If anyone wants to know more about what's going on with Jack/Ianto behind the scenes of this fic, check out 'Cocky' by Stossle. Exactly how I'd have put it, if I had the talent! (Or if I could write slash without laughing at myself cos I'm so bad at it)