The obligatory 'let's beat up Ianto' that is Countrycide

Ianto pinned up the reports on the screen, fully aware of the Captain watching him, analysing his analysis of the situation. Once he had them all tacked up and had drawn tentative lines connecting them he stepped back to admire his work. This was apparently all the invitation Jack needed to come closer, although why he hadn't before Ianto had no idea, and he soon felt the warm presence close behind him. Risking a glance at his handsome friend, Ianto saw that Jack was deep in thought, his eyes flicking from one photo to another, following the lines he had drawn, weaving backwards and forwards seeking an explanation. He wouldn't find one, Ianto knew, there just wasn't one.

"It's not random, not just some serial killer turned up there, it's been happening for over a hundred years." He said, needing to say something before he exploded, "It's like a tradition."

"Sounds at least paranormal, if not extra-terrestrial." Jack confirmed, "We should definitely take a look, go out there and see what we can find."

"Go out there into country where there may be mad serial killers, yep, that sounds like Torchwood."

Jack treated him to a trademark Harkness grin, "Doesn't it just? I think we're going on that camping trip."

It hurt so much, it was pure agony. He had broken ribs, all the fingers of one hand were broken, he was bruised – tenderised even – all over and his head felt like it was being split in two. He'd lost count of the number of times unconsciousness had claimed him in there, and now the adrenaline and the relief at their rescue was fading he could feel it tugging at him again as he sat in the back of the SUV.

Jack was already walking towards Ianto when his friend's eyes dipped for the first time, the warning sign. In a second he was running, getting there in time to catch him before he fell, securing the young man in his arms and laying him down gently to prevent further injury even as he called for Owen. The medic rushed over and pulled the medical kit from the back seat, swearing as he took in Ianto's pallor, "Jack, we need to get him back to the Hub, better still to a hospital, he's in a really bad way." That was stating the obvious, the Welshman's breathing sounded laboured and even unconscious he appeared to be in pain.

Even so, Owen expected the Captain to argue, but instead he just nodded, "See if we can use that ambulance, I don't want to move him in the SUV in this state." The medic hurried away, knowing full well that the paramedics were only waiting around because they knew that Ianto belonged in a hospital, but he'd never believed he'd persuade Jack. That was until he'd seen the look in his boss's eyes, pain and guilt and fear mingling with something deeper than affection in the American's eyes as he gazed at the injured tea-boy. Moments later Owen was back with two of the paramedics, whilst the others prepared the ambulance to take Ianto away. He had to get quite close before he realised that Jack was murmuring to Ianto, soothing him gentle as what appeared to be a nightmare took hold. The young man stiffened and attempted to struggle, but either Jack's voice or his hold or something else calmed him enough that he turned slightly and huddled against Jack without waking up.

Owen shuffled uncomfortably for a moment until he was sure Ianto was out of it again, then put a hand on Jack's shoulder, "They're ready to take him Jack, you'd better go with him. I'll take the girls back." His usual sarcastic manner was replaced by a sort of embarrassment in the face of problems of this magnitude. Jack just nodded his thanks and released his hold on the still unconscious Ianto, promising to be with them shortly. He told Tosh where they were going and considered telling Gwen, but she was lost in her thoughts some distance away, and he didn't have the strength to hold himself and Ianto together today, let alone Gwen as well. He turned back to the ambulance, now just waiting for him, and climbed in the back, sitting beside Ianto and holding the Welshman's undamaged hand gently, stroking the back with his thumb. Ianto murmured softly at one point and turned his head to face him, but other than that there was no sign of him regaining consciousness.

Jack was waiting by his bedside when he finally awoke, holding his uninjured hand and watching him carefully. Ianto blinked as the world swam into focus, then sought out and found the bright blue of Jack's concerned eyes. He smiled, too tired and befuddled to say anything, and shuffled deeper into the pillows, squeezing the American's hand gently to reassure him. He closed his eyes and prodded gently at his memories, trying to remember what he was doing in a hospital. Disjointed recollections drifted back – he remembered shoes, and Tosh, and a woman with a gun, and a bag being put over his head, it was so dark and he could barely breath; and all the while they were beating him, kicking him or hitting him with something, some things. Meat, veal, a fridge full of bodies.

He sat up and tried to throw up, but he had nothing to bring up, he'd got rid of it all out in the Beacons. Tears rolled down his cheeks as he dry retched and he could see the blood, smell it, feel it all over him. Hands grabbed him and he struggled against them for a moment as he drifted back to reality, until he felt the tender and reassuring strength in that grip and felt the smell that was uniquely Jack permeate his senses and drive away the lingering smell of death. Jack had moved from the chair to sit with him on the bed, cradling him in his arms as the young man let the tears flow.

Once they stopped coming, Ianto released his grip on Jack's shirt and wrapped his arms around his friend, resting his forehead against his shoulder as he got his breathing back under control and tried to ignore the stabs of pain from his broken ribs. He resisted the urge to laugh and pulled back to look at Jack properly, "You did it again Jack, you saved the day."

"You're the real hero of the hour though," Jack shifted slightly so that he could get a hand free to dry Ianto's cheeks of the lingering tears, "All I had to do was work out how to drive the damn tractor, you gave Tosh a chance to escape. Better than most people's first missions."

"You mean apart from the stolen SUV, trashed campsite, mad cannibals and the fact that we all ended up captured again." He muttered, leaning into Jack's shoulder again. The Captain stiffened suddenly and Ianto thought he'd said something wrong, but all he did was tighten his grip around the young man and press a kiss into his hair

"I was so scared." His voice was barely a whisper, but it chilled Ianto

"Why, what scared you?" some of the team wouldn't believe that Jack could be scared, but Ianto knew how much deeper the Captain's emotions ran.

"I thought I'd lost you," a tear slipped down his cheek onto Ianto's hair but he made no attempt to stop it, "I thought I was going to be too late, that I'd get there and you'd be gone."

"I'm here Jack, I'm still here, thanks to you." He squeezed Jack back and pulled away slightly, because leaning on him like that was putting too much pressure on his ribs. He ran a hand down his side gingerly and grimaced when he felt one of the breaks. Jack was immediately concerned and helped him to lie back down and get comfortable again. A nurse came in to check on him, glaring pointedly at Jack as she did so, and they waited until she'd left to continue their conversation. Ianto took Jack's hand again and tugged him closer, "So what are you doing in here anyway, she didn't seem happy at you being in here, and surely you should be off somewhere saving the world."

"They think you should be left alone to recover, but I waved my Torchwood pass around and they let me in."

"You know it's not supposed to have that effect, right?"

Jack shrugged, "Don't care, I didn't want you to wake up alone, but if you want me to go?"

"No, don't go." He realised that he'd said it too fast, almost desperately, but he didn't care. He couldn't stand being alone right now. To his intense relief, Jack didn't look remotely smug or amused; in fact he looked relieved, grateful, nervous even as he sat back down again closer to Ianto and took his hand again, stroking the back of it again with his thumb, "Thank you." Ianto whispered

Jack looked up in surprise and met his eyes, "What for?"

"Just generally thank you. Have it in credit if you like." He smiled, recalling Jack's words from over a week ago now. It seemed like a lifetime ago. Jack looked like he was about to say something, but instead he chuckled when Ianto couldn't fight back a yawn; the Welshman blinked apologetically but couldn't keep his eyes open much longer.

The Captain reached out to brush hair off his forehead, and then smiled gently, "Get some rest, I want you well enough to take home tomorrow where I can look after you without all these nurses fussing around."

"God help us," he smiled and tried to fight another yawn, "You'll stay?"

Jack squeezed his hand and nodded, "I'm not going anywhere, I'll look after you." He watched as his friend slipped into sleep, and felt himself slipping further down that slope towards love and Ianto and loving Ianto

Ianto was woken the next morning by the sounds of a heated but quiet discussion at the end of his bed. Opening his eyes blearily he saw a doctor arguing ineffectually with Owen and Jack, the last of whom was the only one to notice he had awakened and treated him to a warm smile, alerting the others. Ianto smiled as Jack moved to sit down with him, but was shooed away by the doctor and the medic who both came to check on his condition.

"Good morning sleeping beauty, and how are you today?"

He groaned and felt an almost irresistible urge to throw his pillow at the Cockney, "Why are you only cheerful on the mornings when I'm ill?" he asked grumpily

"Well it is nearly noon, and you being ill means I have something to laugh at, doesn't it?"

"Well at least we've found the silver lining to that cloud." He retorted, earning him a grin from Jack and a smile from Owen

"Good to see your sense of humour wasn't damaged along with pretty much every bone in your body. Still, not a bad first mission, all things considered. You came across as the professional one."

"Owen." Jack warned, and the hospital doctor watched nervously as their wills battled until Owen finally backed down and turned back to checking on Ianto's hand. The Captain breathed a quiet sigh of relief and laughed at the amused and bored expression on Ianto's face, "Alright there? How soon can I take him home?"

The doctor caught Owen's glance and shrugged resignedly, "This afternoon, I'll go get the forms to sign him out." And he hurried off, away from the strange atmosphere that always seemed to follow Torchwood around.

Owen appeared to have something on his mind, "You know Jack, I'm not sure taking him home in the Jag's such a good idea. I mean with his ribs and the not exactly modern suspension."

Ianto laughed and Jack glared, "No, Owen. You are not taking my car again, once was quite enough."

"You let him drive the Jag?" Ianto asked in astonishment, then winced as Owen prodded him in just the wrong place, "Hey, don't take it out on me!"

"Yeah, he brought it round here for me, I wasn't going to leave you just to go pick up my car."

Ianto blushed in surprise and gratitude and held his hand out to the older man, "Thanks."

"Ok, are you two sure you're not screwing? Cos from where I'm standing…" Ianto did the only thing that came into his mind to answer a question like that; he pulled Jack closer, cupped his cheek with his hand and kissed him full on the lips. The broke apart when Owen swore and both laughed at his shocked expression, "OK, now I'm getting worried about letting you take him home Jack, no sex for at least a week, he's got concussion."

They laughed even harder at that, "We're not really, Owen." Ianto grinned, "I just wanted to see that look on your face, sorry Jack."

"Kiss me like that and there's no need to apologise, whatever the reason." He laughed, but inside it felt like he was on fire, something more real than he was taking the place of blood in his veins and carrying more life around his body than mere human substances ever could. Ianto's kiss had been like a drug, no matter what the reason for it was, and he ached to feel it again. Pushing those thoughts from his mind he concentrated on the medic again and feigned offence at his disgusted expression, "I seem to recall that when it was Gwen kissing Carys you were eager to watch, in fact do you still have a recording of it on your hard-drive?"

"Yeah, want a copy?"

"No thanks, but what's wrong with us kissing when I know full well that if it were Gwen and Tosh you'd be all over them."

"You're kidding right? I'd jump in there, but with you two it's a bit weirder, I mean you're my mates, they're just Gwen and Tosh. And you're my boss!"

"So if we were?"

"Give me an hour or so to rejig my systems and I'll be fine, just don't invite me to join in because I will shoot whoever suggests it."

"You're not prejudiced, are you Owen?" Ianto asked with a smirk

"I'm not prejudiced, I hate everybody. And for your information, I actually had a boyfriend for about three months at university. Mind you, I can't remember all that many nights when we weren't joined…"

"Owen!" Jack was trying hard not to laugh again but it was tough going, "Put the spade down and step away from the hole, we already know the sort of things you get up to of an evening, Ianto was just teasing."

"Probably" the Welshman added in a stage whisper, "Look, Owen, go push buttons and get me out of here before I go insane." He rolled his eyes and smiled at Jack as the medic beat a hasty retreat, then called after him down the corridor, "And thank you!"

Any thoughts of a quiet chat with Jack were thrown out of the window with the arrival of Gwen and Tosh, faces flushed from the cold outside and arms full of shopping bags. Gwen, always the more confident one, came straight over to the bed to kiss his cheek, "Are you OK sweetie? How are you feeling?"

He smiled, "I'm fine mum, tired and sore but fine, what about you? You got shot?" he'd been in such a state yesterday by the time he was reunited with the whole team that he hadn't been able to take in much of what had happened to the others, but that had drifted through to him

She smiled, "Yeah, I'm fine, hurt like hell at the time but it's not too bad." She moved aside to let Tosh come through.

The young woman seemed nervous, even shyer than normal, but Ianto held his arms out and she folded into them, "I'm sorry Yan, it's all my fault."

He hugged her tighter, "Don't be daft Tosh, it was no one's fault, definitely not yours, and we're all OK, that's all that matters." He caught Jack's smile over the top of Tosh's head and couldn't prevent a blush colouring his cheeks. Gwen, in the mean time, was busy pulling things out of bags.

"We knew that Jack wanted to get you home today, but Owen said it probably wouldn't be until this afternoon, and we couldn't leave you to suffer hospital food, so we erm… Actually I think we went a bit mad, but we brought you loads of food, vegetarian. Mostly sweet stuff actually."

"Like we got you one of every flavour muffin, just because."

"And several bags of cookies of varying flavours, and cream éclairs."

Ianto stared in astonishment at the huge variety of cakes and pastries they brought out of the bags, "Thank you." He said, hugging Gwen as she was nearest, "But you do realise you're going to have to help me get through it all, don't you?"

Owen appeared in the doorway and an almost comical expression of shock appeared on his face, "Are we expecting the whole of Cardiff to this party? And sorry girls, but you can pack it all away, Ianto's clear to go home."

"Let's take it back to my place," Ianto suggested, "It's more comfortable and I have proper coffee making facilities. And jelly and ice-cream." They stared at him in amusement, apart from Jack who just smirked, "It's my comfort food." He shrugged.

"OK, party at tea-boy's house." Owen helped the girls to pack away what they'd got out, whilst Jack helped Ianto to his feet so that he could put his clothes on. That done they headed down together, calling out cheery goodbyes to the hospital staff in reception.

When they got back to his house the phone was ringing in the kitchen, so Tosh hurried to get it for him whilst Jack settled him in the living room. Normally Ianto hated being made a fuss of, but if it was Jack he just didn't seem to mind. Tosh appeared in the doorway with a slightly shocked expression and passed him the phone, "It's the head of Torchwood 1, she called because she's read Owen's report."

"Owen's finished his report already? That must be a record." He smirked at the medic and put the phone to his ear, "Morning Jay."

"I never realised that Cardiff was in another time zone as well as another century, I read Owen's reports this morning, all it said about you was that you'd been taken to hospital, so when I couldn't get an answer from you, or the Captain or even the Hub I got worried, I've been trying this number and those three for ages."

"You tried Jack?"

"Well he does live with you, but never mind that, are you OK?" she sounded worried and he rolled his eyes

"Yes, I'm fine. Broken ribs, broken fingers, broken most things actually, but everyone's here fussing over me, with muffins I hasten to add." He smiled at Jack as the Captain set a tray of coffee mugs down on the table, then realised that he couldn't pick one up because his uninjured hand was holding the phone.

"I can breath again then," she laughed in relief, "As long as your team's there I'm sure you'll be fine. I'll leave you to it then."

"OK, thanks for calling, I've got a few days of convalescence to look forwards to, so expect dozens of bored emails."

"Excellent, I've got nothing to do apart form emergency requests. I got snarked at them yesterday and yelled at them, so now I just sign forms pretty much."

"No archivist should ever be bored, there is always a new and more confusing system to devise."

"If she's bored she should come over here, you wanted to rearrange the archives into her system didn't you?" Jack suggested

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, she can stay here, she can have my room."

"What's that?"

"Jack suggests that you could come over here, to reorganise the archive. Joy of joys. I'd give it a couple of days though, until I can actually do some work, unless you want to keep me company whilst I'm stuck at home."

"That's be great. Shit, I've got a request through from Liberty Towers, I'll call you back."

"OK, take care." He smiled and put the phone on the table, then sighed in pleasure as he picked up the coffee, "Thank God, now I can start feeling human again."

"Steady on mate, it's coffee not a magic potion." Owen teased