A/N: alright everyone. Sorry it's been a while since I've updated. It's been a very long couple of weeks and I've been stuck with writer's block for a bit. I hope you guys like this chapter. It wasn't as good as I hoped. But I tried.

Disclaimer: I still don't own Torchwood.

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Jack let out a heavy sigh as he sat at his desk. It had been a long day. Hell, to him, it had been a long week, even a long month.

First there was the issue of the night travelers. Those creatures scared Jack to no end and to top it off out of six victims including an entire family, they had only been able to save one little boy. Jack had been kicking himself endlessly over that.

But he also noticed it had affected Ianto quite badly. Jack knew Ianto was partially blaming himself for letting the ghost maker get the bottle back. For letting the creature loose five of the six final breaths, resulting in five deaths, including the little boy's sister, mother, and father.

Stella had kept her distance, only giving her Tad the small bits of comfort she knew how to offer, telling Jack that he was obviously better at helping Ianto.

But Just when Ianto appeared to be brightening up, the whole incident with Flat Holm had occurred.

Jack had been annoyed when Gwen kept pushing for the Jonah Bevin case. He had told her to leave it alone. Kept telling her there was no way for them to help. But she had kept pushing, even going so far to return to the hub after Jack sent everyone home, catching him and Ianto in a bit of a compromising position in the hot house leaving Ianto red and Jack laughing.

But then Jack had found out about Ianto betraying him and telling Gwen about Flat Holm.

That was the cause of his current predicament. His current issue. The argument that had ensued had been loud and angry. Well come to think of it, the whole thing had been more like Jack screaming till his face went red, and Ianto feebly trying to defend himself, but barely getting a word in since his voice had been so quiet, drowned out by Jack's shouts.

Now their peaceful family was somewhat broken.

Ianto had turned unusually professional towards him, everyone had confronted him in their own way.

But Stella had hurt Jack and Ianto the most.

She had screamed and yelled at both of them who just starred her down sternly, defending their own positions in their argument. She had stormed out of the hub, grabbing Russell and dragging him out the door with her by the front of his shirt. Stella hadn't been home in the entire week they had fought. Hadn't even called them to let them know she was okay. Instead, Ianto would get a call from Ms. Havenshire telling him that Stella was fine, staying with their family every night.

The middle aged woman had even gone so far to chide him on their ridiculous behavior. Then she had made Ianto hand over the phone to Jack where she began to hound him for the same reason telling them that the two were being stupid and needed to work past whatever issues they were having because they belonged together.

Jack had just stood and taken the woman's verbal abuse before handing the phone back and turning to his office.

Since then Jack had found himself attempting to sleep in his old bunker, keeping only a few outfits in his closet and his essential toiletries.

But he missed Ianto. He missed the bed he shared with the young man, the flat he shared with Ianto and Stella. Missed having a place to go to after a long day. Instead he couldn't let go of his anger, and he continued sulking, unable to forgive the young man. He was so absorbed in his wallowing that he didn't notice that something was increasingly wrong with Ianto until it had almost been too late.

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Ianto had been sticking to the archives like he usually did. But at one point the rest of the team had been sent out to the field and Jack had been too busy with paperwork to see Ianto walk down to the autopsy bay then head back to the archives.

After the team had returned, Jack sent everyone home early, but Owen decided to stay a little longer to finish some paperwork, though Jack had a feeling it was to help keep an eye on him and Ianto since Ianto had been hiding in the archives.

Jack had sat doing his paperwork in silence, when there was a cup of coffee set in front of him. But he was surprised when it was somewhat sloppily dropped, some coffee spilling over. He looked up to say something snappy, but he paused when he saw the way Ianto was watching him.

Ianto leaned against the desk, supposedly for support as he looked at Jack sadly. "Look Jack, I know you're still angry with me, and you have every right to be." he sighed, throwing himself down in the chair in front of the desk. "But, I can't keep with this guilt, I'm really sorry. And I know you have trouble deciphering between us as lovers and us as Boss and employee, so I'm going to help you distinguish a line here."

Jack just sat, watching the young man closely.

Ianto suddenly looked unusually unprofessional as he slumped in the chair, looking exhausted, and very pale.

"As your employee, I apologize for what I've done, sir. It was wrong for me to disobey your orders, and normally I would never do such a thing, but I felt Gwen needed to be put in her place when it came to your authority, and your decisions which in the end, really are always for the best. She needed to see that, and I understand that what I have done has, in the end, made me no better then her when it comes to being disobedient. Feel free to punish me how ever your feel fit for insubordination, whether it's suspending me, or keeping me from field operations, I deserve what I get."

Jack remained silent, listening to Ianto, deciding it was best not to interrupt him.

"As your lover or partner or whatever it is that I am, I'm am truly sorry that I hurt you Jack. I should never have betrayed your trust the way I did. But I felt Gwen needed to stop questioning. She thinks your heartless sometimes, and that's just not true. I wanted her to see that you take care of those people to the best of your abilities. In all honesty it pains me to see what I've done to you and I am so sorry Jack." Ianto let out a heavy sigh as he stood up, not even bothering to straighten his suit. Then he took a deep tired breath. "There now. I've got my apology out there. I'll let you decide what to do next. I don't expect you to forgive me quickly, if you forgive me at all. I know you aren't going to apologize for anything, and I'm not saying you have to. So now that I've apologized, I shall excuse myself sir."

Jack watched as Ianto walked out of the office, stumbling slightly. He looked down at his hands, before clenching his fists and putting his head on his desk.

Ianto had officially drawn the line between being Jack's employee and being Jack's lover and he had apologized from both sides, but instead of feeling like some of the tension was gone, Jack felt like an ass. The young man had told him that he didn't need to apologize for anything, but he had been wrong. Jack needed to apologize for everything.

But before he could think anymore he heard Owen calling for him, his voice full of fear.

"JACK! Jack! Get down here fast!"

Jack jumped up and ran to the autopsy bay to see Owen sitting on the floor, cradling an unconscious Ianto in his arms

"What the fuck did you do Jack?" Owen snapped.

"I didn't do anything Owen!" Jack snapped back, helping the medic get Ianto onto the examination table. "What the hell happened?"

"Ianto just came stumbling down here, saying he didn't feel good, and next thing I know, he just passed out and toppled over taking me with him." Owen growled, gently feeling Ianto's forehead. "He's burning up Jack. Something's very wrong with him. Didn't you notice something was wrong?"

Jack paused. Suddenly he realized what had been bothering him as Ianto had sat apologizing. The pale color of Ianto's skin, he had looked like he hadn't shaved in days. The fact that he had trouble setting the coffee down on the desk, that he needed to lean against it for support before shoving himself into the chair, the way he stumbled when he walked out of the office. He closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh. He had neglected the one man he had promised to take care of.

"You know what? I don't even want to know what happened, just get out of my workspace!" Owen snapped, obviously getting defensive of Ianto. "I know what Ianto did wasn't exactly right, but it's been eating him up from the inside out, and you've been too busy to notice that apparently our beloved tea boy hasn't slept in days, that he hasn't eaten, he's barely even had any coffee. No wonder Stella has shunned the two of you. Whatever you said to him, it's been hurting him and you haven't been smart enough to even attempt to correct it. Sometimes I don't know what he sees in you, because times like this just remind me that, friend or not Jack, you can be a downright arse! Now get out of my medical bay!"

Jack felt like he had been slapped in the face and for once he didn't argue with the dead medic, because Owen was right and he knew it.

Whatever was wrong with Ianto, Owen could help him. Jack….. Well he just felt lost. So he wandered down to the archives, wondering what it was that Ianto had been doing during the week he had been hiding.

But when Jack saw the normally neat and tidy desk, he felt his breath catch. Sitting on top of the files that appeared to have been stacking up, were several orange medication bottles sitting open, and half a bottle of scotch.

Jack could hardly believe what he was seeing. Had he really been dumb enough to hurt Ianto to the point that he tried to die? He sat down in the chair feeling guilt well up inside till it was practically unbearable. But then he saw something written in Ianto's diary which was sitting open on the desk. The problem was, it wasn't Ianto's handwriting.

'I'm the annoying little creature that lives in this boy's mind. They always said that I was never strong enough to hurt him. But then the lovely rift gave me all of the power I needed to take over. He'll never remember when I made him steal all of these pills, and he'll never remember drinking all of that scotch. But that's if he even wakes up. If I had my way, he'd just die and I'd be free, and dear Master Alistair, the stupid human lover of the underworld, will take the kid's poor withered soul to hell, just like he should have the first time. He never did want to die. But he's been so sick, so weak, that it was just too easy. To top it off, that stupid captain that was supposed to love him forever, has lost his interest in the kid, and his neglect will be the boy's downfall, perfect right? This isn't a suicide note, it's more of a confession to the murder of Ianto Jones, carried out by an evil little demon that hides in his mind. The perfect murder that will send me home, that looks like a suicide so my dear master won't know. By the time anyone finds this I will be free and laughing because I caused the death of Ianto Jones, well before his time.'

Jack could hardly believe what he was reading. Ianto had basically been possessed by something that had wanted to kill him, and it used Ianto's exhaustion and Jack's neglect to do so. It was his fault. He quietly cleared away the bottles and the scotch, tossing them all into the waste basket beside the desk, trying to figure out what to do. Debating on going to check on Ianto, but knowing that Owen was angry at him.

After a while Jack heard quiet footsteps. He looked up to see Owen walking towards him wearing the oversized doctor's coat that Leon Ashtor had given him. Jack had noticed that Owen had taken to wearing it when trying to help any of them, the sleeves tied up to a shorter length with rubber bands, it was almost like he was hoping that the coat gave him the luck and the strength to help the people he cared about.

"This place really is a maze." Owen griped, "We're lucky. Tea boy will live another day. But he was damn close to dying from a shit load of medications he swallowed. Care to explain why he swallowed them?"

Jack just picked up the diary and handed it to Owen.

"What d'you want me to do with this?"

"Read the bottom of the page, the part that Ianto obviously didn't write." Jack sighed, feeling immense relief, but still tons of guilt.

Owen just sighed and began reading as Jack starred down at his feet. "What the fuck? You tellin' me tea boy was possessed by something?"

"Seems that way." Jack sighed, standing up. "This really is my fault."

"Yeah it is. If you want to help, take him home, let him rest. He's asleep right now, but when he wakes up he'll have one hell of a stomach ache. I actually had to pump his stomach to get all of the crap out. He may be slightly grumpy over it. If he gets hungry, soup only, got that Harkness?"

Jack suddenly hugged Owen tightly. "Thanks Owen. He's lucky to have a friend like you." he said, then he headed upstairs. He found his way to the autopsy bay where Ianto was on the examination table, a blanket tucked in around him, his suit jacket, waist coat, and tie draped over the near by chair. He walked over to Ianto and gently ran a hand through Ianto's hair.

Ianto let out a tiny snort and rolled over, wrapping the blanket tighter around him, letting Jack know that he was just asleep.

"I believe he apologized Jack." said Owen, making Jack jump slightly. "I think now it's your turn."

"I do believe you're right Owen. When he wakes up I've got a lot of groveling to do."

"Yeah you do." Owen agreed. "Take tea boy home, call Stella, tell her to come back, and the two of you need to keep an eye on him. He should be fine now that I've got most of it out of his system, but if anything happens, call me, I'll have my phone on."

Jack immediately did as he was told. He drove Ianto home in the SUV, and managed to get him into the elevator without anyone seeing him carrying the unconscious Welshman. When he managed to get Ianto into the flat, he gently laid him on the bed before stripping him down to his boxers and undershirt, and pulling the covers over him.

Once he was sure Ianto was going to be alright, Jack laid down on top of the covers beside him and kept a close eye on him.

But Jack couldn't help but feel like he was home again. He hated being in the hub alone, especially knowing that he practically kicked himself out of Ianto's flat.

After a few minutes Jack was brought out of his thoughts when he heard Ianto stirring. He turned to see Ianto slowly opening his eyes, watching him groggily.

"Jack?" he asked sleepily.

"Hey there sunshine." Jack said softly.

"Ohhh! What happened?" he groaned, stretching a bit.

"It's a very long story. How are you feeling?"

"I've got a tummy ache and a sore throat." he admitted.

Jack found himself smiling a tiny bit. "But all in all okay?"

"All in all okay." Ianto agreed.

"Ianto, I… I'm sorry." he said honestly. "I was being a jerk towards you, and I neglected you and I never should have. I was only thinking about myself, not you, and not Stella. I know I can be an idiot sometimes…" he paused. "Well, a lot of times, and I just wanted to say I'm really sorry too Ianto. Thanks for putting everything into perspective for me."

Ianto said nothing, he just sat there, watching, his blue eyes still hazy with sleep.

"Why did you say I didn't need to apologize?" Jack asked.

"Because I wasn't sure if you were going to apologize or decide that you were right and you didn't need to. All I know is I want my family back." Ianto said somewhat shyly.

Jack was somewhat taken aback by his answer. "So you were going to just let me slide?"

"Basically, yeah." Ianto shrugged.

Jack pulled Ianto into a tight hug. "Next time you should be more selfish and demand an apology." he murmured.

Ianto laughed softly. "But then it might back fire." he quipped. "Anyway, it appears our apologies are accepted, and we'll get over the awkwardness of the aftermath with some time. Anything else we should resolve so there's no tension?" Ianto asked, obviously knowing things weren't going to be perfect, but on their way to healing with time.

Jack really wanted to ask about the evil little creature that wrote in Ianto's diary, but at the moment he was just glad that Ianto was alive and well, and that he was forgiven for being neglectful and obnoxiously self centered. There was one last thing.

"Go ahead and ask." Ianto said softly.

"Ianto…. Can… can I come back home?" he blurted out suddenly before he could think.

Ianto jerked back and gave him an odd look. "Can you come home? Jack, I never kicked you out."

"I know, but I…. I basically did that for you didn't I?" he muttered, somewhat embarrassed.

Ianto smiled and gently kissed him on the lips. "Yes Cariad, you can come home, I missed you. Needless to say, I haven't gotten much sleep since you've been at the hub."

"You do look a bit scruffy." Jack said with a tiny smile, gently running his fingers over the prickly hairs on Ianto's jaw.

"I was going to shave this morning, but I was so tired I realized that if I tried, I'd cut myself, give up then go to work half scruffy instead." Ianto admitted with a tiny chuckle.

Jack found himself smiling. It appeared that apologies were all that was needed, yet he had been such an arse that he had sat and let his brooding get in the way. After a second he was brought to the present by Ianto moving around, but this time he was trying to get out of bed.

"Hey now, where do you think you're going?"

"I'm hungry Jack." Ianto muttered, standing up. But he faltered slightly and grimaced.

"Ianto, are you alright?" he inquired, sitting up and quickly jumping to Ianto's side.

"I'm alright. I think I twisted my knee when I fell on top of Owen though." he admitted, sitting back down. "It could've been worse though I suppose."

Jack gently pulled him back into an embrace. "Are you sure you're alright though?"

Ianto looked at him questioningly. "Okay, you're scaring me Jack. What happened? You went from ignoring me, to suddenly being over protective, and to top it off I feel as though I ate something I shouldn't have. What happened?"

Jack winced. He really wasn't sure what to tell the young man. "It really is a long story Ianto." he sighed.

"Well I've obviously got time." Ianto said, getting somewhat annoyed.

"Well…. You ended up raiding the medicine locker, and you ate about ten different medications, and drank half a bottle of scotch." he said slowly.

Ianto suddenly paled. "I did no such thing!" he snapped defensively.

"I don't think you did personally. No. But it was all there sitting on your desk." Jack sighed the reached over onto the night stand where he had set Ianto's diary. "Here, read the last page, it was obvious you didn't write it."

Ianto suddenly looked furious that Jack had his diary as he snatched it back and flipped through the pages.

'Maybe I asked to come home a little too soon.' Jack though to himself watching Ianto's angry expression. He jumped though when Ianto suddenly threw the diary against the wall before resting his head in his hands.

"Damn it! I was doing fine until I got tired!" he growled, his voice muffled.

Jack crawled forward and gently wrapped his arms around Ianto's waist.

"Leave me alone Jack!" Ianto snapped, trying to shake him off.

"Ianto, please, what is it?"

"I don't know, but when the king of the demons can't even get rid of the stupid thing I should've known I was in trouble." Ianto mumbled. "It just sits there, whispering all day that everyone's unhappiness is my fault and when I get too tired I believe it."

"You've never made anyone unhappy Ianto." Jack said, "This whole thing with flat holm, I caused my own unhappiness, I made a bigger deal out of it then I really needed to."

"Well that may be true, but after a while you tend to believe it no matter what anyone says." he sighed.

"Well I'd say you should ignore it, but I guess that's kind of hard when it's in your head." he sighed, unsure of what to say.

"I'm still hungry." Ianto muttered trying to get up.

"Owen said only soup tonight." Jack told him.

Ianto sighed. "I don't want soup. I want normal food. Why soup?"

"I guess Owen wants you on a liquid diet since he had to pump all of that garbage out of your stomach."

"Suddenly I'm not hungry anymore." Ianto grumbled, trying to stand again.

"Wait, wait, hold on Ianto." Jack said, gently pulling him back. "If something's wrong with your knee, we should probably keep you off of it and get some ice."

Ianto just let out a heavy sigh. "Then at least let me stretch out on the couch." he grumbled.

Jack watched as Ianto stood up and slowly made his way to the living room, limping with each step. He let out a defeated sigh.

Ianto was suddenly acting very dependent, and all Jack could do was let him be that way.

After a moment Jack stood up and followed Ianto out into the living room where he saw the young man stretched out on the couch, lying on his back and staring up at the ceiling.

"Are you sure you're not hungry?" he asked carefully.

"I am, but I don't want soup." he said stubbornly.

Jack sighed again before walking over and sitting down on the floor beside Ianto. "I get the feeling this isn't really a fuss over the fact that you don't want soup for dinner."

"It's not. But I still don't want just soup for dinner." Ianto admitted. "I just…. I wish this obnoxious thing would go away, but instead it just gives me headaches. Ever since Abbadon it's been worse."

Jack just sat listening quietly figuring Ianto would tell him whatever he wanted with time.

"He's has no name. I just know he's a follower of the demon Ornias. Ornias is considered the harasser among demons and the stupid little thing just likes to harass me. No one knows how he got into my head, or why, I just know he's been there since I attempted suicide all those years ago."

"So those times when you get those really bad headaches?"

"That's him. He used to get really bad around Alistair for a while. Now he doesn't dare anger my brother." After a moment of silence Ianto turned his head to look at him. "So…. Did Owen really say soup only?"

Jack finally found himself chuckling softly. "Owen said soup only."

"What about stew?"

"Would you like me to ask him?"

"That would be nice." Ianto agreed.

"Alright, I'll be right back." Jack stood up and went into the bedroom where he retrieved his mobile phone out of his coat pocket before dialing Owen's number.

"I swear to God Harkness if something else goes wrong today…." Owen began.

"Ianto wants to know if he can at least have stew. He's griping that he doesn't want just plain old soup." Jack interjected.

There was a moment's pause, then a laugh on the other end of the line. "Really? He's complaining that he doesn't want soup?"

Jack found himself smiling. "Yup. He doesn't want soup."

"Well it depends, how's his stomach doing? Is he queasy?"

Jack walked into the living room. "Owen wants to know on a scale of one to ten, how queasy does your stomach feel?"

Ianto held up two fingers.

"He said a two." Jack told Owen.

"But I think that's mostly cause I'm hungry!" Ianto shouted so Owen could hear.

Owen laughed again. "Alright, he can have stew, but make sure it's small bites that he chews thoroughly, and that packet of powder that I gave you? Put that in a glass of milk and have him drink it. It'll replace the bacteria he lost earlier."

"Okay. Owen says you can have stew Ianto."

"What about coffee?" Ianto asked.

"One cup max tonight. And not a big one either. Then we'll see how he feels tomorrow. Simple stuff for now considering he hasn't had much food or liquid in the last week, got it?"

"Got it. Thanks Owen."

"Alright. Take care of the kid. I'd like some coffee tomorrow after all."

Jack chuckled softly as he hung up the phone. "Well, only one small cup of coffee tonight. That's the most you can have."

"And you're laughing about that?" Ianto looked disgruntled.

"No, I'm laughing because Owen was trying to hide his concern about you by claiming he wants you well enough to make coffee tomorrow." Jack said sitting beside him again.

Ianto leaned over and kissed the side of his head. "I guess that's enough to make me smile too." he said. "Despite the fact that I can't have more then one small cup of coffee."

Just then the front door opened and Stella came into the house.

"Oi, so you two decided to finally make up huh?" she asked.

"Yes we were a bit stupid over it." Ianto agreed.

"Now come give us some hugs, we missed you Stella." said Jack with a smile.

Stella grinned and pounced on Jack, giving him a big hug while she leaned over and gave her Tad a kiss.

"You're getting awful whiskery there Tad." she giggled.

"It's been a long week." Ianto sighed.

"Well I brought some beef stew for dinner." she said pointing to the bag she set on the table.

Both men gave her a curious look. "Did Owen call you or something?" Jack asked.

Stella blinked and shook her head. "No, why?"

"Never mind." Ianto said with a chuckle, sitting up slowly.

"You really did have a long week, didn't ya tad?"

"I think I twisted my knee earlier, but other then that and some exhaustion I'll be okay." Ianto told her reassuringly.

Jack nodded in agreement. "So anyway, you brought dinner, and I think it's safe to say that the three of us are fairly hungry, so why don't we just share dinner here?" he said changing the subject so Ianto wouldn't have to explain.

Stella had given him a strange look, but then she shrugged it off and retrieved the food.

After that the rest of the night seemed to resemble the normalcy that they had gotten used to.

Jack was extremely happy to be back in the big soft bed, curled up behind Ianto who had quickly drifted off to sleep. He was more then content drifting off to sleep next to the man he loved. Glad that he had forgiven and been forgiven. Everything else would fall into place with time and he was more then content about it.

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A/N: alright, I hope you guys liked this chapter. It took me a while to get it all. So let me know what you guys think. Sorry again for taking so long everyone.