Chapter 21

Jack had finally broached the subject of the differential passage of time on the way back to the Hub in the SUV. Ianto had been thoroughly sick when they'd arrived back in 2008, so he was sat in the front next to Jack, while Gwen was in the back next to John Hart, who they had cuffed to his seat. Jack had cut off their questions about what they'd missed by stating that less than a day had passed for him, Tosh and Owen, whilst they had been stranded in the past. Their individual reactions had been telling; Gwen had ranted and struck John about the head several times, whereas Ianto had just settled back into the passenger seat, eyes shut, silent, as if having trouble processing the implications.

Gwen had eventually calmed down when Jack pointed out to her that because it had only been a day Rhys wouldn't have had time to worry about her being missing. He'd more or less said that it had hardly been a blink of an eye for them. Then he swore under his breath realising that it was too late to take back the words that seemed to implicitly suggest that he hadn't missed Ianto either, a quick glance to the left showed Jack that they had already sunk in and been taken to heart. Ianto turned his head to look out of the side window, probably not good after the nausea of time travel, but Jack thought better of telling him he'd get motion sickness unless he looked out the front window. He caught Gwen's look in the rear view mirror and shrugged as he wondered how he'd make up for that faux pas later.

"Owen! Over here now!"

Tosh and Owen had been startled to hear the alarms and cog wheel grinding open. They hadn't known quite when to expect Jack to return, but it hadn't been this soon. They had been curled up on the sofa together, Tosh dozing, her head on Owen's chest.

"What's the matter? What's going on?" Tosh asked, momentarily disorientated.

Tosh awkwardly sat up to see what was going on. Owen was already on his feet rushing across to where Jack stood supporting a groggy looking man, who appeared to be dressed in a sopping wet, woollen cloak and baggy checked trousers. Owen was shocked to realise that it was Ianto, with a beard and uncharacteristically long hair that looked matted. Jack's arm was around Ianto's waist, while Ianto's arm was draped over Jack's broad shoulders, hanging on tightly.

Gwen was barely recognisable. Her hair had grown long as well, it was roughly braided and she was wearing what looked like a coarse brown sack, with a thin cord tied about her waist. A far cry from her usual figure hugging attire, instead of looking sleek and slender, she looked lumpy and bedraggled. The expression on her face was belligerent as she shoved the barrel of Jack's gun into John Hart's back. The latter just stood there sheepishly, his hands tied in front of him, fresh bruises adorning his face.

"What the fuck-?" Owen had expected their friends to have been injured, but it hadn't occurred to him that he'd have trouble recognising them.

"Seven months!" Jack blurted out angrily. "Thanks to John, they were stuck there for seven months."

"What's wrong with Ianto?" Owen asked as he tried to assess any obvious injuries and saw nothing apart from a grubby looking dressing below his ribs.

"He's got an infected wound and is still suffering the after effects of time travel. As for anything else, I want you to check them both out thoroughly – injuries, diseases, malnutrition, anything. Do whatever you have to."

Owen moved over to help support Ianto. Jack, in turn, took his gun from Gwen to take over custody of Hart.

"Ianto? Are you OK?" Tosh asked, slowly approaching her friends, wanting to do whatever she could to help.

"I could ask you the same question." Ianto pointedly appraised Tosh, his eyes travelling slowly from her bare toes to her dishevelled hair. "You're in your underwear with a lab coat on top and you've got a bandage wrapped around your midriff."

Tosh blushed as she realised that she was almost as much of a sight as the other two. She hastily readjusted the lab coat, doing up the buttons that she'd forgotten had become undone.

"Shit! What happened, Tosh? My God, did this bastard hurt you again?" Gwen glared at John, looking for any excuse to put him in hospital. She wasn't normally a vindictive or violent person, but he brought out the worst in her.

"Hey – I wouldn't hurt her! I'll have you know I happen to like Tosh. Even if she did stick her heel in my nuts – or maybe that's why I like her." John couldn't help the lascivious grin that actually hurt his split lip. The brief glimpse he'd caught of what looked like very naughty, lacy, black lingerie covered up with a white lab coat just did things for him. Jack really did like to collect pretty things.

"Shut up, John or I'll gag you, again." Jack gave him a pointed look.

"Promises, promises," muttered John.

"No, it wasn't him. Anyway I'll be fine now. Owen took care of me – but what about you two?"

"Reunions and debriefings later guys." Jack knew there was a lot to be discussed, but there were priorities and it was up to him to make sure he took the lead now. "Owen, I want you to check out Ianto's wound, see what you can do. I'm going to lock John in a cell and do my best to resist the urge to throw away the key. Gwen, you might want to… um… freshen up a bit before going home to Rhys … um, you know …"

"Are you trying to say that I stink?" Gwen made out that she was offended and then grinned. "I know I do … I'm heading straight for the shower block and a disposable razor, maybe two."

"What?" Jack thought he hadn't heard right.

"Don't ask, please, just don't ask." Gwen had no intention of discussing her desperate need to remove seven months' worth of body hair with Jack. "Tosh – if I run out of shampoo and shower gel is it alright if I use yours?"

"Please do- I mean of course you can. As much as you need." Tosh stopped talking before she really put her foot in it. She could see how embarrassed Gwen was getting.

"Off you go, Gwen, but as soon as you've cleaned up, I want you to see Owen before heading anywhere." Jack didn't like the thought of losing sight of her so soon, but he knew that she needed to get home to her husband as soon as she could. "I hate to think what you could've picked up back there."

"Gwen, before you hit the shower, let me give you something to make sure any hitchhikers you picked up get killed before they make new homes."

"Hitchhikers?"

"Lice, fleas … external parasites generally." Owen sighed as he regretted even bothering to try to use euphemisms. He just held out Ianto's arm and pointed at hers. "You're both covered in bites."

"Oh shit, I just got used to them – we both did." Gwen looked mortified and tried to cover her arms to hide the tell tale red splotches and scratch marks. She looked across to Ianto who smiled at her indulgently.

"Hey – just think of all that hot running water and soap. No more skinny dipping in ice cold streams to get cleaned up."

That was enough to make Gwen grin, he'd managed to remind her of times when they had ended up laughing together – she recalled how she'd screeched as she immersed her naked body in the freezing cold water, whilst Ianto gallantly stood guard waiting his turn. She caught Jack's eye and she could have sworn he actually looked jealous, just for a fleeting moment, and then it was gone as he turned his attention to John Hart who had an evil smirk on his face. Gwen could tell what he was thinking and was grateful when Jack took command once more.

"Gwen, go and get cleaned up. Ianto – let Owen sort you out, and don't hide anything from him, if it hurts, tell him. I don't want you collapsing on me later on because you kept important medical details from our doctor, got it?"

"Yes, sir." Ianto let Owen lead him towards the autopsy bay, with Gwen walking beside him, lending a hand and Tosh following at a discrete distance.

Jack shoved John Hart into the lift and as the doors slid shut he looked out as his team supported each other. It occurred to him that he was lucky to still have them all alive and more or less well. No thanks to his ex partner though. He'd nearly got them all killed. And then there was Gray. Later. For now he wanted to focus on what he had almost lost. Later on he'd deal with what he'd probably lost for good.