Jack paced back and forth, his head was aching from dying but his heart hurt more. He knew how much Ianto hated watching him die, and he didn't want to think how a vulnerable teenage version of Ianto would take watching him die. He just hoped that he would wake up soon and have no memory of anything that had happened.

"Twenty five minutes," Owen said. They were still trying to work out a way to help Ianto if he couldn't help himself. But there was nothing they could find.

"Yes Owen!" Jack barked. "Can you stop reminding me how close I am to loosing him." Jack snapped.

"We're not going to loose him." Toshiko said softly, moving to stand next to Jack.

"He's so scared, you didn't see him Tosh..."

"What's he scared of?" Gwen asked curiously.

"It's not my place to say," Jack said quietly. He knew Ianto wouldn't want anyone to know how scared he was of his father. He was pretty sure he wouldn't even want Jack to know.

-x-

"You're all alone now!" His mothers voice laughed loudly in his head. Ianto curled in on himself, his face buried in his knees as he rocked himself back forth crying loudly. Jack was gone. Jack was dead all because of him.

"Useless."

"Pathetic."

"Stupid."

"Desperate."

"Disgrace."

Ianto couldn't listen as his mothers voice ridiculed him in his head. He stood him quickly and the sand around him seemed to get faster all of a sudden. "Stop it!" He screamed but the voice just laughed. "You're not real!" Ianto said quietly. But he couldn't believe his own words. Maybe he was pathetic.

Ianto thought back to Jack, how the American teen made him feel so much better about himself. Jack said this wasn't real. If he could get out of this nightmare he could be with Jack again. He could be happy. "You're not real!" Ianto shouted loudly.

The sand seemed to slow down but didn't stop. "You're not real!" He screamed again. "This is in my head. Just a sick and twisted joke!" Ianto seemed to have gained more strength he moved closer to the shadow.

As he approached he watched the shadow turn into the familiar figure of his father. The father that haunted him in his dreams. The red eyes. The pointed teeth. Ianto shivered. He shied back and stared as the figure seemed to grow.

"You're not real. You're not real..." Ianto repeated over and over again.

"Aren't I son?" The voice was just like his father and seemed so real.

"No this is just in my head!" Ianto said shaking more and more. "Jack said so..."

"Jack's dead." He laughed.

"You killed him!" Ianto shouted.

"And what if I did? What are you going to do about it boy?" His father sneered. "You're just pathetic."

"I'm not!" Ianto shouted.

"You're a dirty fag, and I am ashamed to have you as a son." Ianto felt the words hit home and he couldn't help but wonder if this was real, he had heard those words so many times before and he had started to believe them. But then he remembered Jack. Jack who made him smile and made his heart beat faster.

"No I'm not!" Ianto shouted. He thought of Jack's lips, Jack's touch, Jack's smile, and he found the strength he needed. He just hoped it was enough. "You're the pathetic one!" Ianto screamed. "You're supposed to be my father, you're supposed to love me no matter what. You might be ashamed to call me a son but do you know what I'm ashamed to have you as a father!"

The figure seemed to get smaller and Ianto knew it was working. "You're a bad father and a bad husband, and I know mum isn't happy with you. I don't even think you're happy being you. You make the people around you scared and hurt is that what you wanted?" Ianto's voice grew louder as the sand began to stop.

"You've ruined my childhood, but I'm not going to let you ruin my future." Ianto stopped talking when he realised the figure had vanished. But so had everything else, he was alone in blackness and he wondered if he had done the wrong thing. But then the blackness took him over and he couldn't think or feel anything any more.

-x-

"Jack..." Owen sighed.

"No! He's going to wake up! He has to wake up!" Jack was crying freely now, the last five minutes had passed by slowly and there was no Ianto.

"It's been four hours." Owen said carefully. "What do we do?"

"No! He can't be gone!" Jack shouted.

"He's stopped moving!" Gwen yelled over the two men's voices. Jack turned to Ianto who's body was now still on the slab.

"Yan." Jack said his voice softer now as he stood next to his lover. "Yan, please you have to wake up now."

-x-

Jack stared at Ianto's body waiting for some sign that would tell him that he was okay, but for the past forty-five minutes nothing had happened. Ianto was still out cold. Jack thought back to everything that had happened in the past four hours; it seemed like a life time ago. He never knew Ianto had been through so much in his childhood. He knew that the alien had made his memories seem a hundred times more worse, but he knew there was some truth behind it.

"You have to wake up now, Yan." Jack whispered as he took Ianto's hand in his. "I need you."

"Jack, I brought you down some coffee." Toshiko smiled and handed him a Starbucks cup.

"He'd kill me if I drink this." Jack smiled. "I.."

"You love him don't you Jack?" She asked softly.

"Yes. I really do." Jack sighed.

"Thought I'd be the first to say it," Ianto whispered but to Jack his voice was loud and clear.

"Ianto," Jack breathed heavy and pulled Ianto into a tight hug but when Ianto moaned softly Jack let him go. "You okay?"

"My head's killing me. What happened?"

"You don't remember anything?" Jack asked softly.

"No." Ianto mumbled. "Tell me."

"It doesn't matter, you're okay now. Toshiko get Owen." Toshiko hugged Ianto softly.

"I'm glad you're back." She whispered and ran to get Owen.

"Back?" Ianto asked.

"I'll explain everything to you as soon as Owen's told me you're okay."

"I'm fine, Jack."

"I need to hear it from Owen, please." Jack said softly. Ianto nodded and Owen and the girls walked down the stairs, Gwen headed over to him and hugged him loosely.

"Right, he needs to breathe Gwen." Owen sighed, Gwen nodded and stepped onto the stairs and sat next to Toshiko on the stairs. "How are you feeling?" Owen asked moving towards Ianto.

"My head feels as if it's been ran over by a truck and then jumped on by twelve weevils." Ianto said running his fingers through his hair.

"Any where else sore?" Owen asked, he was already reaching into his drawers and grabbing a scanner to make sure Ianto was telling him all his pain related problems and not hiding anything like he had done in the past.

"No, but I feel funny like... disorientated. Like I've been away for a while, and I'm just waking up."

"You were out cold for almost five hours." Jack sighed. "You were only supposed to be gone for four, I thought I lost you." The last bit was said in barely a whisper.

"What do you mean supposed to be gone?" Ianto asked, the confusion was making his head hurt even more.

"I told you I'll explain everything soon. I promise."

"Okay tea boy." Owen smiled and held the scanner to Ianto's head and then down the rest of his body, he was pleased to see that Ianto was telling the truth. The only part of his body that seemed sore was his head. "I'll give you some, painkillers but they'll probably knock you back out for a few hours."

"Give them to me, I'll take you home you can have a bath and then go to sleep and relax."

"But..."

"No buts." Jack said. "If everything is done here you can all go home too."

An hour and a half later Ianto was wrapped up in Jack's arms on his large double bed. Jack had made him have a hot bath where his lover had washed him making him feel loved and cared for. "What happened, Jack?"

"I'll tell you when you wake up, okay." Jack promised.

"Mm... love you Jack." Ianto whispered.

"I love you too." Jack pressed a kiss to Ianto's forehead and watched as his young lover fell asleep. "Thank you for coming back to me."