TOUCHING THE VOID PART TEN

If he were honest with himself, Ianto was quietly relieved to be away from the Hub, even charred and sore as he was and in a strange hospital miles away from Cardiff...... Well things could be worse he surmised rather coherently considering how much morphine was flowing through his veins. The drugs were nice, rather like a foggy, feather down cushion for his frayed senses and Ianto would've been content to remain there forever if the coffee were better. He watched the room through half closed eyes, a drug induced smile on his lips as the UNIT nurse bustled in and did whatever it was nurses were supposed to do. Ianto really didn't care that much, he lay there amid starched sheets and pressure dressings and drifted happily.

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Jack growled as he hung up the phone on his desk. He really hated dealing with UNIT and had been most unhappy at Owen's insistence that Ianto be sent to one of their hospitals for treatment, he was even more unhappy about being fobbed off by some power crazed nobody at the other end of the phone. He just hoped that Ianto was ok and not worrying about the rest of the team like he always did. Two days of his absence and already there was a coffee crisis and a very stroppy pteranodon. Jack found himself wondering how they had actually managed before Ianto joined the team two years before. He sucked in a sharp breath suddenly realising that it was in fact almost two years to the day since the devastation at Canary Wharf. Sighing he glanced out of his office window to where Tosh was working. She had come in early to give some time over to Jonsey's dimensional shifting problem, Gwen and Owen had not yet arrived and Jonsey and Cockney hadn't come up from their temporary quarters yet. Jack turned his attention back to the paperwork he needed to sign off; Ianto would be away for at least a week so he didn't really see the point of doing anything with it until the young man came back to work to file it.

It was weird, Ianto not being around. The Hub felt empty without his presence, which was nuts when Ianto made the least impression on anyone. Jack hadn't really realised just how much he relied on never having to ask for his coffee, his lunch or clean clothes and serviced weapons. Ianto just did it, without fuss or comment or expectation. After all it was his job; he just did it very well. He found himself wondering if Jonsey would have been the same if life had gone better for him, somehow he doubted it. Jack shook his head deciding a trip to Cafe Nero was in order, their coffee was at least better than Starbucks. He vaguely wondered how far Gwen had got with the new identities for their visitors as he was pulling on his Jacket. The great coat was still waiting to be cleaned. Jack couldn't wait for Ianto to get back. Tosh did a double take as he walked past her in a shabby old leather jacket from the 1970s and Jack gave her an affronted look.

"What?"

Tosh smiled, she was missing Ianto too. "Latte please Jack?"

He grinned at her. "Any cake with your coffee?"

Tosh appeared to give it some thought. "If they have that nice lemon cake."

"One slice or two?"

The smile widened just a little and Jack was gratified to see a mischievous glint in her dark eyes. "Better make it one."

"I won't be long." He left via the lift.

It was cold and wet once again and the sky looked like it was going to fall in with the weight of the rain it was carrying. Jack loved the weather, the chill searching out his bones and making him shiver slightly without the protection of his faithful coat, somehow it made him feel like he was really alive, like those rare moments when he thought he really would die for sure, like the times when he was alone with Ianto, when Ianto challenged him, fought with him and fucked him. Jack stopped himself just short of the roadside completely distracted by his train of thought. Wasn't Ianto the reason why he had come back in the first place? Wasn't the young Welshman always the one, with his great coat at the ready, his somewhat dry wit always on standby to lighten the mood, his coffee always available to sooth frayed nerves in the dead of night? Sighing Jack strode across the road and entered Cafe Nero. He knew he was getting too attached to his archivist. It would only end badly, his relationships always did. Ianto gave too much and he gave nothing.

By the time he got back to the Hub with drinks and cake he was in a cranky mood and he left Tosh wondering what the matter was as she nibbled on her slice of cake.

By mid day Gwen had completed the task of creating two fake IDs and presented everything to Jack in his office, for him to check. Jack found himself distracted by her low cut top as she leaned over his desk to point a few things out on the documents. It wasn't her fault, she was damned attractive and unavailable. Jack didn't do unavailable, it wasn't his style, but he certainly wasn't about to stop taking an interest.

"So, how's Ianto today? Has anyone called the hospital?"

He lurched out of his mental wanderings and offered his best white, cheesy grin.

"These are good... and yes I rang the hospital this morning first thing and they wouldn't disclose how Ianto was because I am not a relative, never mind the fact that I am his boss and head of Torchwood."

Gwen sat down in the chair in front of his desk. "So when are we packing off the visitors?"

Jack leant back in his chair and picked up a pen and started doodling on the cover of a folder, Ianto was going to kill him for that later.

"Soon as. I'm going to have to Retcon them."

Gwen arched her eyebrows. "Is that completely necessary?"

Jack nodded, knowing full well how Gwen felt about the use of Retcon.

"Yes, I think it is, the question is, how far back do we go?" He looked at Gwen, hoping for a sensible answer.

"Jack, you can't. You'd need to wipe everything, and that is a one way ticket to Providence Park Mental Institute. You don't have that right."

Jack put the pen down.

"They are a security risk, especially Jonsey."

"This wouldn't have anything to do with making life easier for Ianto, would it?"

Jack frowned at her. "No, why do you ask that?"

Gwen just rolled her eyes in exasperation. "It's no secret Jack..... You and Ianto.... you like to pretend that the rest of us don't know you are.... you know. My point is.... well it's hardly fair to take away their lives like that when they haven't done anything wrong. They're no threat."

"This isn't about Ianto, though I have to say that both he and Owen are not happy about their duplicates being here. Ianto was worried about Jonsey running into his family."

"Ianto has family?"

Jack nodded. "Just an older sister who's married with a couple of kids. How would you feel if your double was wandering around, even their fingerprints match Gwen, their DNA, they are literally identical, I think their nervousness is justified."

"That's not enough of a reason to take their lives away Jack."

"Which is why offered them resettlement in Australia. Cockney seems happy with it, but Jonesy just wants to go home." The pen became interesting again as Jack wondered at the Captain Harkness that Jonsey had been separated from.

"I can't say that I blame him, his life may have been saved but he's clearly heartbroken. It must be hard for him."

Jack merely nodded. "Anyway, these IDs should be good; you can have the honour of briefing them in the board room."

Gwen rose to her feet. "You're not really going to Retcon them, are you?"

Jack met her concerned, pleading look with a faint smile and a shake of his head.

"I should, but I won't."

"Good."

Jack reached a hand over to his phone; he really needed to talk to Ianto. Gwen left the office, closing the door behind her.