35. Agony
Ianto was aware of light, noise and pain. His body was knotting back together slower than Jack's had after the hub explosion.
Jack had seen the earth begin to move, flecks of dirt rolling as it relinquished DNA trapped beneath the particles.
Roping off the area he believed Ianto had been in when the explosion happened, he had a tent erected and heaters brought in to warm the area.
Rex waited, pacing at the fringe as the mound became a torso, a body with limbs forming, a skull. God. Rex went outside to vomit, the eyeballs forming were too much for him.
Mickey didn't leave. Not once. He sat with Jack on the cold earth as they willed Ianto back. The musculature system was almost fully formed when the screaming began.
Rex ran back in to see the unskinned body writhing with pain and staggered back into the light, vowing to wait until the screaming stopped. As Martha pushed past, he fell to his knees and took deep, soothing breaths.
Skin, pale and see through, eyelids and lips.
Jack groaned as he felt his beloved's pain.
Finally the body settled, the screaming stopped and the chest moved as Ianto breathed.
Jack gently lifted the new body onto a waiting gurney and they began a slow, careful journey home.
Francine wept when she saw the young man, unconscious but back and Tish touched his face with wonder, the freshly scared face greeting her again.
When Ianto woke it was dark.
For a moment he panicked, thinking he was blind but as his eyes adjusted he saw the faint glow of the bedside clock telling him it was just after two in the morning.
Miller was asleep beside him in the bed, little hands clutching as his arm. Jack was snoring nearby, not in bed but close.
Ianto reached with his free arm and touched the lamp, illuminating the room in a soft glow.
Jack woke and struggled from the blanket thrown over him in the chair he'd fallen asleep in, reaching for Ianto.
"I'm sorry" Ianto whispered, tears falling.
"It's OK baby, I understand." Jack sobbed, kissing him, "I understand. Did you get them?"
"Yeah. The one who killed our daughter is gone" Ianto murmured as he settled back into slumber.
"Robyn, that's what Miller called her. Our little lost chick" Jack sobbed, climbing onto the bed to feel Ianto's arms around him.
"Robyn. Perfect" Ianto whispered as he kissed his love.
Next morning he was visited by each person in turn to touch, comfort or cajole.
Gwen was one of the last, hesitantly sitting as she reached for his hand. He let her talk, tried to listen and understand.
Finally he gently asked to sleep and settled back under the covers with his little beast.
Jack left him sleeping and went to the gun range to find an outlet for his anger. His screams as he shot the targets less rage and more agony.