The fever continued to rise. Chi placed cold compresses around the Captain's body without success. He was forced by the sutu procedure to keep Jack's upper body in an upright position, but he was careful to change positions every four hours to relieve the strain in the the Captain's muscles. The captive had not spoken since the Commander had used her powers to shred his memories. Chi had seen her do this to the highest ranking prisoners after the mutiny as revenge and a warning to others. But Laal and his companions died within days of her assault. The Captain couldn't die. To do this to an immortal, and then use his body this way was beyond cruel

The guard who brought his meal told him of a flurry of activity on the ship. Three small attack fighters used by the raiders were fueled and primed. The raiding parties were gathered on the launch deck ready for action. The support personnel had shifted to high alert. More would die, Chi thought sadly, and for what? This was madness, nothing but madness.

He could hear footsteps in the corridor, and stood as the door swung open.

The Commander briskly entered. She looked closely at the Captain and briefly felt his forehead.

"Why is there fever?" she demanded

"His physiology is unique, Commander." Chi said quietly. "His immune system is trying to reject the fetus."

"This isn't just any child," she said bitterly as she examined Jack's body. "She is my child and will inherit my position. His bearing her may bring her some of his qualities." She turned to the guard. "But if he fails, you fail. Old man, I will end you."

"I do my best, Commander. I consult our best physicians, and keep a cot in here to monitor him at all times." Chi glanced at the captive. "But a man bearing a child is unheard of in our time, and the sutu comes from the shape shifter traditions, not ours. It may kill him."

She reached down and turned the Captain's face towards her. His brow was beaded with sweat, and his expression was the slack countenance of a comatose patient. She pulled open his eyes. They were dull and unfocused. "His death is of no consequence, but if my child dies…"

Chi nodded his understanding.

"Perhaps entering into his mind may help control the fever." She put both of her hands on his temples.

Chi stepped forward. "Commander, please let me attempt this. His condition is complex and…"

"And my military training is not enough?" she snarled, but relented and withdrew her hands, letting the Captain's head fall back on the pillow . "Then see to it, physician!" She rose and went to the door.

Chi quickly saluted as she left the cell. He could hear the sharp clip of her boots stalked down the corridor.

The Adyan drew a sigh of relief at her departure. He did not wish that she see the fylgia. He readjusted Jack's body on the cot so that he was lying on his back, with just his shoulder's elevated. He wiped off the sweat from his patient's face, and readjusted the cold compresses. Finally, he placed his hands on the Captain's temples to re-enter the landscape of his mind.

He could see shattered memories drifted in mounds around his patient's body as the whirlwind had dissipated; however the fylgia was still here. The man in the suit cradled Jack's body.

As he moved forward, the fylgia noticed, and pulled the Captain's body closer, watching the approaching Adyan warily.

Chi held his hands up, "I come to help."

"Stay where you are!"

"Let me help him!"

"Why should I believe you?" the fylgia growled.

Chi was at a loss. Why would anyone believe an Adyan on the raider ship would help a captive?

Jack's eyes opened. He tried to focus. "Ianto…" he whispered as he reached up to stroke his face. He then saw Chi, and reached towards him. "Please…"

"Let me help him."

Ianto looked into Jack's face as he drifted in and out of consciousness. What did he need?

"Trust me, I can help him," pleaded the Adyan.

The fylgia looked skeptical, but beckoned the guard closer.

"What is your name, spirit?" asked the Adyan as he drew nearer. Chi thought about the myths of his youth. "Do you protect this man?"

"You could say that," Ianto said cautiously. "And you?"

"I am a physician, a healer," Chi said. "He has fever, and is in pain."

Ianto looked again at Jack's face twisted in anguish, then back at the Adyan. "If you hurt him…" he warned.

Chi knelt opposite from the fylgia and carefully put his hands on Jack's head. Ianto pulled back as one hand morphed into a fang-like limb, and injected something into Jack's arm. The other hand stayed on the forehead. They watched as the Captain's face began to relax as the fever receded. The restless movement slowed and stopped. Soon Jack began to sleep.

Chi looked around the mosaic of shattered memory mounded as far as his eyes could see. How could he repair this? He then sat back on his heels and observed the fylgia. The young man continued to hold the sleeping Captain in his embrace.

"Has he spoken to you?" he asked the fylgia.

"Yes."

"Complete sentences?" Chi asked.

"He talks to me."

"A good sign. Many victims of this type of assault never regain speech," said Chi. "He is strong, your Jack."

Ianto nodded and pressed his face into the Captain's hair.

"What is your name, spirit?"

The fylgia hesitated and then replied, "Ianto, Ianto Jones."

"How do you know this Captain you protect?"

"I was…I am his lover." Ianto said quietly.

Chi thought for a moment. "I have heard stories of love so strong…love that survives death." He paused and looked carefully at the fylgia. "May I touch you?"

Ianto hesitated, then held out his hand.

Chi took the hand. "You feel warm, you look alive in this space within his mind. Can you project yourself out into our world?"

Ianto shook his head. "I've tried, but it takes too much…energy to remain. I once tried to warn him about his brother, but I couldn't stay. I am just with him…here."

"Does he know?" Chi asked.

"Yes, but the memory fades when he returns to consciousness," Ianto said sadly.

"This is an impossible thing," Chi said as he slowly shook his head.

"I don't know what I am now, anymore than I truly know what he is." Ianto sat back. "Something happened to Jack, a long time ago. Vortex time energy flows through him. Some of it may have transferred into me to make me what I am now."

"I've seen him die," said Chi. "What then?"

"I stay with him...in the dark," said Ianto quietly. "I hold him so he is not alone."

"Does he remember?"

"No," Ianto said sadly.

"Your Jack is much like my son, Ianto Jones," said Chi. "Brave, sometimes foolishly brave. A good man."

Ianto nodded. The Captain shifted in his sleep, wrapping his arm around Ianto's waist then resting his head on his shoulder. A faint smile crept across his face. Ianto adjusted his body and pushed away the hair from the sleeping man's face.

"How long have you…been like this?" asked Chi as he watched them.

"About four hundred years, give or take a decade."

"And he doesn't know, yet you…"

"Know his feeling, know his thoughts…" said Ianto sadly.

Chi was quiet for several minutes, musing over what this would mean both for the Captain, and his young lover.

"You would never harm him," Chi said cautiously, "even if he…is with others?"

"No," said Ianto sadly. "I love him, just him."

"Then stay here and protect your Captain, young Jones," said Chi as he rose. "However, if you see my Commander enter, hide yourself. She has great destructive powers and must not know you are here. I will protect him as best I can from my side."

Ianto nodded, "Agreed."

Chi disconnected the mind link with the Captain. As Jack continued to sleep as he removed the quilt to check his torso and swollen abdomen. Red stretch marks were appearing as the embryo grew larger. It would be four more days now. He readjusted the quilts around the sleeping man, then put his hand on the forehead. Normal. Chi then settled on the extra cot he had pulled into the cell to be with his patient. He drew an quilt over his body and closed his eyes and thought. He had an immortal, a fylgia, and a Adyan baby on the way; and he was not sure how he could help any of them.