Ianto carried on. It took him a long time, with only one hand. The filing was slower but after he got himself into a system it seemed to work out quite efficient. With Jack's help he had managed to clear almost three quarters of the table and mooching along on his own he slowly went through the rest. Until Owen interrupted him.

"Are you and Jack ready to go home then?" he announced over the comms. Ianto looked at his watch, it was twenty to five.

"Have you finished with Jack then?"

There was a long buzzing pause over the comm. "About forty minutes ago, I sent him back down to you."

Ianto looked up, his stomach tensed, his inners running cold for one terrifying moment. Several facts landed in his brain, adding up and making him panic. He had been upset, Owen probably didn't help and Jack still had his wrist strap. The fact that he hadn't paid much attention to it didn't eliminate the fact that it probably still held the codes to allow Jack out of the building. Or wherever he wanted in the building.

"He's not here, he must have got lost…"

"How the hell can he get lost?" Owen snapped. "He can't have got anywhere; at least he hasn't managed to blow anything up as yet! But…"

"Its fine," Toshiko said calmly over the comms. She looked at Jack, sat on the stone floor of the vaults. "Vaults, Level One, Ianto, he's looking at the weevil babies."

Tosh snapped off the comm she didn't need fractious men annoying her when she dealt with a fractious amnesiac. She stepped forward. Jack's eyes flickered towards her but then went back to the two little creatures. Toshiko moved round and looked at Janet. The adult weevil was at the corner of her cell, near Jack and the babies. She was giving off, low steady growls. They sounded very soothing, but Tosh frowned, they did not seem to be just directed at the two babies.

Janet lurched up and snarled as Tosh stepped forward and crouched down close to Jack

"Jack, are you all right?"

Toshiko ignored Janet's jealous behaviour. She always did it when people strayed too close to Jack, unless it was Ianto. Ianto was growled at, but somehow it was clear she tolerated him. Jack looked at Janet in shock.

"Is she all right?"

"She's fine," Toshiko said with a slight smile. She looked at the little babies in the cell next door. Mini weevils. There was no other discernable quality about then except their size. They still had the teeth, the nature of a weevil. It was just in a smaller package.

"Does she like them?"

"I think she recognises them as youngsters, maybe it brings out her protective nature."

"That's nice," Jack said absently. He put up a hand to the reinforced plastic wall. One of the little babies followed the movement trying to chew through the partition to get to him. The other had its nose in the food that Toshiko had left. It was nothing spectacular; she had bought some mincemeat and softened it up even further with some milk. Owen seemed to think it was a good enough idea, guessing that the weevil mother regurgitated food. The mince had a similar consistency.

Toshiko smiled as the little weevil pulled back; sneezing violently as some milk went up its nose. The little thing shook its head vigorously banging into its cell mate. The other weevil whirled round and knocked the sneezing one down. For a moment the two little weevils tussled, growling and snapping at each other. It was, in fact, rather cute.

Jack, however, didn't seem to think so. He leant forward, pressing his head against the partition then he glanced at Toshiko, worry written all over his face.

"Are they all right?"

Toshiko looked at him. Crouched down she was on eye level with him. Janet snarled again, louder this time. And the babies stopped scrapping and crawled to the corner, snarling and snapping in response. Janet gave another low purr. It sounded like a purr to Tosh. Her head snapped round and she pressed the comm.

"Owen, are you recording this?"

"What?"

"The weevil interaction, Janet's making sounds like… I don't know what she sounds like actually. Rather maternal though I think."

"It will be on the footage, do you want me to isolate the sounds for you?"

"Thanks," Tosh said. Jack's eyes were on her listening intently, then he looked down at the babies. One of them was still trying to nibble on his hand through the clear partition.

"Jack they're fine. We'll look after them, and they have Janet for company."

Janet, seeming to realise the conversation included her, growled at Toshiko in an unfriendly manner. The babies scrabbled over each other, snarling at her in response. Janet gave another low purr.

"Could we put them in with her, so she can look after them?" Jack asked. He was watching the two little things intently, worried about them because their fate was all his fault.

"Not really," Toshiko said gently. "She could still be aggressive towards them, if they don't smell right, or she doesn't recognise them. This could just be an automatic response."

"What's going to happen to them?" Jack asked his voice low. Toshiko smiled.

"We'll look after them. They'll be fine."

Jack looked up and around at the cell the babies were locked in. "Not much of a life is it. Locked up in here for the rest of their lives."

Toshiko was so stunned by the comment she wasn't sure how to answer. Jack never commented on the containment of the weevils. It was necessary when they went rogue to control them. They were dangerous creatures, those that came to the surface. It never occurred to her that Jack felt sorry for them. He always just seemed so practical about what needed to be done.

As Jack looked to her for an answer she was distracted by Ianto appearing in the doorway. When she looked up Jack's head moved round to follow her. Ianto smiled in relief as he saw Jack sat cross-legged on the floor in front of the cell.

"You had me worried for a minute then," he said, moving closer. Jack smiled up at him and Toshiko watched as Ianto casually put his hand on Jack's head and Jack put his head against Ianto's leg.

"Sorry," Jack said.

"It's all right, just tell someone where you're going next time," Ianto said stroking Jack's hair. Janet looked up and growled at him. It wasn't aggressive; there was something else to it as she looked up at Ianto.

"Hi Janet," Ianto said. Janet's head moved and she purred at the babies again. Ianto raised his eyebrows.

"That's a new one."

"I think she's gone broody," Toshiko said. She rose to her feet as elegantly as she could in heels and a pencil skirt. Jack gazed intently at her as she moved, his eyes concentrated on the curve of her hip and legs. Self-consciously she smoothed her skirt down, Jack's eyes widened a little. She avoided looking at him and concentrated on Ianto. Jack's head turned again, to Ianto, following her gaze.

"Would she really hurt them if we put her in there?"

Ianto frowned; he looked at Janet and the little weevils. Both of them now were chewing at the minced meat, Janet was still growling.

"I wouldn't want to risk it. She might be responsive to them but she's still a little wild."

"Would she really hurt them?" Jack asked, sounding shocked. Ianto shrugged.

"It's a risk, she likes you but I don't think you'd even trust her. Janet can be fairly unpredictable."

"Maybe we could train them?" Jack said, his voice brightening slightly.

"Pet weevils," Ianto said blandly. He felt Jack press harder against his leg, demanding attention, and also demanding that Ianto make it all better for him. Ianto probably could, if he was up for sex and if Jack remembered who he was. There was no other way to look at it; Ianto was the thing that stood between Jack and his pain, fear, insecurity and total destruction.

It was one hell of a way to look at yourself, Ianto thought. But he knew it; he understood exactly what to do. He had been doing it for months. He looked after Jack; he was even doing his domestic chores. Not because Jack demanded that he did but because Ianto liked it. Bringing Jack's shirts in first thing in the morning, and taking all the washing home at night. Ianto always gathered it up and Jack watched him with a level of indulgence. Because, Ianto thought, Jack was humouring him. He could not have been enjoying watching, Ianto told himself.

"It's worth a try," Toshiko said. They weren't going anywhere; they didn't really have a protocol for releasing weevils back into the wild. If such a thing was possible in the first place.

"Not much of a life for them is it, stuck down here," Jack said again.

Toshiko watched as Ianto looked down at Jack, as utterly stunned as she had been. Jack seemed so worried. It wasn't that he hated weevils exactly, but he usually just treated them like the dangerous animals they were. Ianto looked up and stared at Toshiko, he saw what he was feeling in her eyes too.

Did Jack really care that much, he was usually so ruthless. Just because he knew what he had to do didn't necessarily make him regret it. Toshiko had been in shock after Jack had killed Mary, hardly believing he could do such a thing.

In the interview after Ianto had glossed over several things Jack wanted to know because he knew what Jack had done had shocked her. Ianto had been through it, and he didn't want to put anyone through that. It was a hideous thing to have to live through.

They both looked at each other, understanding what the other was thinking. The moment was only broken by the sound of footsteps in the corridor beyond.

Owen appeared in the doorway and surveyed the scene before him. Toshiko stood a little back from Jack and Ianto. Jack still sat on the floor, leaning against Ianto's leg, peering around him to look at Owen. Ianto stayed where he was, his hand still in Jack's hair. Owen raised his eyebrows but didn't comment on that. Quite frankly what Ianto did with Jack, whether he was compos mentis or not didn't much matter to him. That was for Ianto to worry about, and Jack probably wouldn't care anyway, when he got his memory back.

"Come on then boys, home time," he said.

For some reason Jack still had possession of Ianto's house keys, so he opened the door for Ianto and Owen.

"I don't think I need an escort this far," Ianto said to Owen. Owen looked at him steadily.

"I might as well pick up what I need while I'm here," Owen said. Ianto frowned for a second, wondering what Owen was talking about. The steady look continued and Ianto felt himself blush as he realised what Owen meant.

Ten minutes later, with Jack happily sat watching television with a cup of coffee and a large slice of fruit cake to keep him occupied, Ianto and Owen were in the bathroom. Owen pulled the clear plastic bag complete with the Torchwood logo on it opening it up. He picked the bottles off the shelf in the cabinet one by one. He read the labels of the two at the front and then frowned at each of the other three, peering through the brown plastic to estimate how many of the pills had been used. All of the bottles were less than half full.

Ianto stood there, feeling a little ashamed of himself. He wanted to say something, but he wasn't sure what. Apologise maybe, but Owen never really thought much of apologies, they seemed to be a waste of time to him. Besides Ianto wasn't sure what he could honestly apologise for. Having nightmares, being totally emotionally screwed without Jack to support him or being so ashamed that he didn't dare tell anyone about it.

"I'll test those three, just to be on the safe side."

"Safe side of what?" Ianto asked, slightly alarmed by that comment. Owen winced and shook his head.

"Nothing, just…" he stopped talking knowing saying any more would be beyond tactless. It was a very bad habit of his. He always said more than he should when he was trying to be reassuring. What he wanted to do was test the pills just to make sure they were going to have no adverse affects on Ianto. Something that might not be too obvious but there all the same, Ianto probably had no idea what was really in them, and Owen wanted to know. Ianto nodded, getting the point of what he was saying and trying not to be to too frightened at the thought.

Owen reached into his inside pocket, producing another bottle.

"Replacement sleeping pills, slightly different but probably better over the long term."

"Thanks." Ianto took the bottle and scanned the label. Owen reached into his pocket again. Ianto raised his eyebrows as he produced another bottle.

"Painkillers," Owen said. "I won't bother with any anti-biotics. I gave you a mega dose and the wound looks clean enough, but we'll keep an eye on it. You can probably do without the sling for a bit, just try and minimise your movement on that shoulder."

"Okay, thanks."

Owen put the painkillers in the cabinet; Ianto put the sleeping tablets next to them and shut the door.

"If you need to do anything, especially lifting anything, get Jack to do it. He might as well make himself useful. And you can have the day off tomorrow."

Ianto frowned, "Owen, I'm fine."

"I don't care if you are or not, take a day off. I'll try setting up the Microtron to disperse the energy and I'll spend some time testing it. If I need Jack for anything I'll phone you. I certainly don't need to scan him any more. And quite frankly he's a pain to have in the hub."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I can man the hub overnight."

"Will you be all right?" Ianto said. He knew Jack spent nights there but Jack was… well… Jack. Plus Ianto often kept him company.

"I'm sure I can cope, and no doubt Tosh will hang around, now she's into weevil study mode. Until of course I can think up a suitable insult to annoy her and she'll go home in a huff." Owen grinned. Ianto rolled his eyes.

"You could just tell her to go home you know."

"I do that first, several times," Owen said. "Now and again I just don't waste the effort. Anyway, it won't kill you to have a day off and do… whatever it is you do on your day off."

Ianto opened his mouth and then closed it. It was a little hard for him to ever get time off. In fact Ianto couldn't remember the last full day off he had. If he had any time off he wanted to spend it with Jack, who was at the hub, so inevitably Ianto always ended up there, one way or another. Jack never really took much time off either. It would have sounded incredibly sad to say that out loud, but without even hearing it Owen got the gist.

"Never mind." He glanced at his watch. "I'll get back and start these tests."

"OK, thanks Owen."

Owen gave him a very steady look, then he reached out and briefly gripped Ianto's left shoulder. He turned and headed swiftly down the stairs. Ianto followed along behind him. Owen put his head around the living room door.

"Oi!"

Jack turned, looking a little startled. He had found an episode of The Simpsons and had been avidly watching that when Owen interrupted him, as he licked the last few crumbs of fruit cake off his fingers.

"You can stay with Ianto tomorrow; don't let him do anything strenuous. He can put you to work if needs be."

Ianto rolled his eyes. It wasn't that he was planning to do anything much that would particularly work his shoulder but now he would have Jack hovering over him, taking his carer role very seriously. That was probably why Owen had also said it to Jack, just to be on the safe side.

"Okay," Jack announced. Owen turned to Ianto.

"Do you want me to take that sling off now?"

"Please." Ianto glared at Owen, who smirked as he unknotted the material, knowing exactly what he had done. Ianto glared at him but that made absolutely no impression. Owen folded the sling and handed it to Ianto who took it.

"Don't worry, Jack knows how to put it back on. I showed him how."

"Owen said I was very good!" Jack shouted from the living room. Ianto kept his glare levelled at Owen.

"Did he now?" Ianto asked.

"Yes," Jack said, suddenly sounding confused. "Why?"

Ianto rolled his eyes. Owen's smug smile faded a little and he exhaled and stopped halfway through. That knocked Ianto off his stride, when it occurred to him Owen didn't actually need to breathe.

"If you need anything call, otherwise have a day off, with Jack. That's got to be a first."

It was, the brutal comment made Ianto flinch a little. With Jack you could never have a conventional relationship but now and again it would have been nice to do just silly little everyday things. Owen, for some reason, was giving him the chance.

"I'll call if I come up with anything useful."

"Thanks," Ianto said. Owen's grin returned and he disappeared out of the front door. Ianto stood in the hallway, he moved his arm slightly. It didn't hurt so much now, but the painkillers Owen had given him earlier that afternoon were doing their job, and the ones he had left would carry that on.

And Owen was right, Ianto needed a day off.

"Ianto?"

He spun round and looked at Jack. He hovered in the doorway, his blue eyes nervous.

"Are you all right?" Jack asked when he had Ianto's attention. Ianto smiled. It wasn't Jack's fault, and he had to admit a bit of time with Jack would be nice. Just the two of them, with no other distractions. Ianto smiled and he saw Jack relax.

"I'm fine." He moved his shoulders in the suit slightly and grimaced. "Could you help me get changed? Then we'll get something to eat."

Jack's blue eyes brightened and he smiled, then it faded. "Owen said you shouldn't do anything. Should I cook?"

That had disaster written all over it and Ianto smirked. The thought of Jack let loose in his kitchen was not something he wanted to contemplate. He'd already broken the coffee machine at the hub and Ianto liked his kitchen without a charred décor.

"How about we leave that to the microwave?"

"Okay," Jack said amicably. "Ianto?"

"What?"

"What's a microwave?"