A/N: I'm SO SORRY! Such a cliffie. And then THIS wait! (groans) Okay. There's only two chapters and an epilogue left. And I have a VERY firm plan for those. So, if you'll still have me, what's left of this story will be all yours…?

THANK YOU, so much, for your reviews and support! Without you guys this story might've drifted away into the oblivion. You're PRECIOUS!

Okay, because you've been waiting for TOO LONG already… Let's go! I really hope that this turns out worth the wait.

I'm Here

Ianto had known that giving birth wouldn't be a picnic for him. But this… This was ridiculous. Even with his luck.

Giving birth with John bloody Hart as his midwife? Bleeding like crazy and locked up into an ice cold room? Well, the universe managed to surprise him.

If he wasn't in a hellish amount of pain he might've been amused by the look on John's face. The man had gone curiously pale. "Just…" There was a loud gulp. "Just so you know, I've never done… this before."

Ianto scoffed, then groaned and fought the urge to wiggle when a brand new tsunami of agony slammed at him. "You… You think… I have? Just… catch!"

John actually had the nerve to bite his lip, holding back a laugh. A pair of suddenly amused eyes glanced towards him. "'Catch'? What else did you imagine I'd do with it?"

Without a warning the pain got several degrees worse. Ianto gritted his teeth so hard that it hurt, squeezing his eyes shut. "I… I don't care what you do with it! Get… Get it out of me! Right now!" He wanted the torture to stop before he'd lose his mind. Or worse.

John stared a bit too eagerly at his crotch. The man's expression was absolutely priceless. "I… don't think I have to. The brat's coming, anyway. Is that… the head?"

Ianto felt like snapping at that but he had more important things to focus on. He was already beginning to feel dizzy from blood loss and exhaustion. The cold wasn't helping. He seriously didn't want to give birth under those circumstances but his baby girl wasn't leaving him with much of a choice.

"Shut up…", Ianto growled under his breath. He was shaking to his core from fatigue and all the bleeding. "Right now." With those words as his only warning he threw his head back and cried out, straining all there was in him to the extreme.

"You just kicked me!" John accused as soon as he was done. The man didn't sound surprised. "You did that on purpose, didn't you?"

Ianto didn't dignify that with an answer. Especially when he was sort of preoccupied. Once more he closed his eyes tightly, then howled at the top of his lungs and pushed with whatever strength there was left in him.

In the meantime Jack wandered around rather aimlessly, his whole body impossibly heavy under his heartbreaking task. He wasn't about to go home without Ianto, even if there was no hope left. Even if his family…

All of a sudden he heard a scream.

At first Jack froze. Wondering if he was hallucinating. And then he ran, not giving what might be waiting for him even a single thought. If he wasn't too late he wasn't going to let such a miracle go to waste.

Or well, Jack was trying to run. Because without a warning he was starting to feel exhausted and dizzy. When he had to lean heavily against a wall for support a rather unnerving memory crossed his mind.

That injection Gray gave him… What was in it? Some sort of poison?

No…! No, no, no! Not now…!

While he struggled forward the speakers on the hallway's walls crackled to life. Gray's chilling chuckle echoed everywhere in his dimming mind, taunting him. "Sorry about that, brother dear. I guess I wasn't fully honest with you. That little office boy of yours is still alive. But considering how heavily he's bleeding… I wouldn't say that he has long. And your brat? How long do you think she'll last in a freezing cold room?"

Jack didn't know that he was crying. Not that it would've mattered much at the moment. His jawline tightened while he struggled on, still reliant on the wall. "You can't…!"

"What? Punish you for what you've done? Make you pay? I'd say that I'm already at a pretty good start. Or well, I'm almost finished. And so are you." There was a long, torturous pause. "Do you feel it, Jack? The death coming to you? Considering how much of that stuff I injected you with… I'd say that you have somewhere around five minutes." It sounded like Gray was smirking, wherever the man was. "At first I thought about making you die over and over and over again. Maybe bury you alive or something like that. But then I saw your little lover boy and came up with this. Wouldn't it be worse to wake up and wish you were dead, too, every day since then, for all eternity? I won't just kill you. I'll burn your heart and soul. I… will… destroy… you." His brother was practically purring. "Tick tock, brother dear. You may still have time to say goodbye."

Jack would've wanted to scream. To rant and rage. To shout at Gray that this wasn't fair, that the man couldn't do this to him. But he knew that it'd be of no use and he didn't have a single second to waste. So, biting his teeth together as hard as he could and desperately attempting to keep both his failing body and breaking heart under control, the Captain continued his journey.

Jack lost all sense of time and direction along the way. The poison in his veins was clearly getting a hold of him, very quickly. If he didn't find Ianto before that happened…

With how desperately he needed help Jack was almost relieved to hear Gray's voice once more. Even if his brother was highly likely only trying to mess with his head. "Getting closer… Closer… Ooooh, now you're almost right there! Who would've thought? Maybe you're capable of caring, after all."

Jack barely heard past the announcement that he'd reached the right spot. Because what he saw, through infuriatingly bleary eyes but still, quite literally stopped his heart for a couple of seconds. Nearly killed him right there, a few moments too soon.

The door… It was covered in scratch marks and other damage. Weevils, Jack realized instinctively and it made him shiver violently. Those things hadn't made it inside, though. The dying immortal chose to focus on that instead of wondering where the creatures were.

There was a key, taped right above the door. Clearly Gray had been busy after ensuring that his brother's pregnant lover had been trapped inside. Stubborn to a fault Jack dragged himself closer despite the fact that he could barely stand. He actually managed to grab the item, was even able to place it to the door. Then his knees buckled entirely while black spots began to dance in his line of vision and he was down. His desperate fingers lingered only a breath away from the key that he would've needed to twist to set free his whole world. A whimper of frustration, rage and misery broke out, mainly because he didn't have enough breath for anything louder.

Ianto was right there, on the other side, needing his help, and he couldn't even…!

Another scream echoed from within, heartbreakingly lot weaker than the previous one. Ianto was muttering something in Welsh. It didn't sound very flattering.

Jack gasped, feeling like his heart had been torn right from his chest. The sensation had nothing to do with the poison. "Ianto…", he choked out, pressing his hand hard against the door. The other one lingered on the key, willing it to move but he just didn't have the strength anymore. Everything was falling away.

At least until there was a barely audible voice. "Jack…?" Ianto sounded incredibly weak and pained. Terrifyingly so.

"I'm here." Jack tried to sound stronger than he felt and failed miserably. He had a very nasty feeling that he didn't have a lot of time left. He struggled with all his might to grasp on the key but just didn't have enough will in his muscles. His eyes blurred while immense frustration took over. "I… Ianto, I though I…" … I honestly thought that I'd lost you and that feeling…

"But you didn't." Groans and a wrenching yelp managed to reach him. Ianto was clearly fighting furiously. "I'm here, too."

Jack wanted, needed, the door to disappear, needed to hold Ianto in his arms, needed to…

"Look, as adorable as this is… Eye candy here is in labour." John's voice was incredibly tense. "The baby's nearly out but… He's bleeding."

Jack did not want John there with his pregnant boyfriend. Not yet when the memory of his former… whatever giving them to Gray's hands was far too fresh. But as it was there was fairly little he could do about it. And he hated it.

Without noticing it Jack sagged a little more heavily against the wall. His eyes slipped closed and he wondered if he'd manage to open them before coming back to life. "I… I tried, Yan…" It was a pained whimper. "I tried…" His hand fell from where it'd almost reached the key that would've meant everything to him.

He was fairly sure that someone called out to him while he slumped all the way to the floor. Then there was nothing. Jack never knew of the tears rolling down his cheeks.

I'm so sorry…! God, Ianto, I'm so sorry…!

John had never, even seen a birth before. And he really, honestly wouldn't have wanted to witness one now. He'd, admittedly, had fantasies of Ianto with his pants down. He had such fantasies of pretty much any attractive person who crossed his path, really. This, however, wasn't what he had in mind.

John couldn't help wondering how much more Ianto could possibly bleed. The red was all over his hands, on the floor and, freaking hell, even stained his clothes. And why the hell did everyone coo about how beautiful a birth was? There was absolutely nothing even remotely beautiful about the carnage before his eyes.

"Jack, hurry the fuck up!" John snarled. "Your… Your brat's sort of in a hurry! Get us out of here!" There was no response and cold that had nothing to do with the room's temperature wrapped tightly around John. Shit…!

Ianto didn't even need to be told. Despite being in what had to be a world of agony and barely conscious. They both knew that there was only one thing that could shut the Captain up now. The Welshman blinked away moisture that wasn't caused by physical discomfort. "He's… He's dead… Isn't he?" It sounded broken and misery filled. Nothing short of heartbroken. It reminded John yet again why he gave up on love a long time ago.

"Yeah, that son of a bitch checked out on us", John confirmed, a little more harshly than he'd meant to. It got the other's attention, though. Good. "But we both know that he won't stay down for long. Right now you need to focus on popping out that disgusting… whatever is trying to crawl from you. It seems to be impatient." I wonder who that might be inherited from…

Ianto did focus, right there. Didn't seem to have a lot of choice over the matter. The archivist threw his head back and roared, the best as he still could. Pushed, again, again and again. How someone could hang on like that was beyond John. The Welshman pushed himself to impossible extends like a true warrior, putting his whole body and soul into the battle. And then… it ended.

The baby slid into John's tense waiting arms. Like that was how it was supposed to be from the start. Covered in blood, tiny and…

Bloody hell, she looked just like Jack and Ianto!

John's marvel lasted until he realized some disturbing facts. The baby wasn't crying, at all. Just lay there in his arms, entirely still. Her skin color also didn't seem right. And the breathing… It wasn't supposed to sound or look like that. As though every inhale and exhale was a small war.

"Why…" Ianto fought but didn't manage to sit up. Frustration and bottomless worry were clearly visible in the man's eyes. "Why isn't she crying?"

Without thinking John peeled off his coat and wrapped it around the newborn, determined to provide the little one with at least some warmth. So yes, he'd done some questionable things. A lot of them. But he wasn't a monster. "She's fine. Just tired." He was a liar, though. This might be his kindest lie yet.

It seemed to be enough for Ianto's faltering consciousness. The man sighed heavily, his eyelids drooping dangerously. "Good…", came a slurred murmur. "That's good…"

John's eyes widened a fraction and his stomach knotted uncomfortably. Oh, he so didn't like where this was going… "Ianto?" If he'd dared to loosen one of his hands from the baby he would've tapped at the Welshman's cheek. "Do not fall asleep on me! Shouldn't you know better than to leave me alone with your kid?"

Misery was loud and clear in Ianto's half open eyes when they fought to focus on him. A couple of tears rolled down the archivist's cheeks. "You'd better… look after her… You hear me? Look after her."

John knew that if they didn't get out of the cold the baby wouldn't have a lot of time left. He himself would last just a bit longer. Things… They definitely weren't looking good. But even he wasn't tactless enough to point that out when Ianto obviously spent what seemed to be the last of the man's strength just to hang on for a little bit longer.

John groaned. How the hell did he get into this situation, anyway? Age was making a sentimental idiot out of him. "Jack would probably kill me with his bare hands if I didn't. So… You have my word, eye candy."

Ianto nodded and seemed to relax marginally. Then, visibly shutting out John and everything else, the man focused on his child. The baby emitted a clearly delighted, tiny and weak whimper when Ianto's fingers brushed her cheek gently, even if his skin must've been ice cold. John couldn't understand the words the Welshman murmured and had a feeling that they weren't meant for his ears, anyway. Then, with a one more remorse filled look at his newborn daughter, Ianto closed his eyes and curled up on the floor. Becoming unnervingly still.

Leaving John alone with a probably already dead Jack on the other side of the door and a quite possibly dying parent and baby.

None of them, of course, could possibly know that help was already approaching. Owen, Tosh and Gwen advanced as quietly as they possibly could. Tosh was keeping an eye on the signal Jack's tracking device transmitted. "Only two more hallways", she announced.

"Good", Gwen sighed tersely. They could only hope that they weren't too late, anyway. If the situation was bad enough to have Jack activate that thing… Well, at least he'd been alive long enough to do so.

Apparently all worry could wait, though. Because in a flash they realized that they were surrounded. Weevils, a lot of them. Closing in on them from every direction.

Owen wasted no time. Gritting his teeth, he stepped forth. "Leave us", he commanded firmly. Giving the order of a soldier. "Right now!"

For a while the Weevils stared at them. As though wondering if they should do as they'd been told. Then, in one flood like army, they disappeared into the shadows.

Tosh gulped hard, her eyes wide. "That… That was…!" The word she uttered wasn't in English.

Owen stared. Then laughed somewhere between hysterically and manicly. "King of the Weevils, remember?"

"Yeah, cute", Gwen commented dryly. She sounded shaken. "Let's just keep going. We have to find them before those things do."

Owen had no objections to that plan. Quiet and even more tense than before they went on, their hearts hammering and the knowledge of the Weevils' presence still making their skins crawl. They'd advanced a good five minutes until they froze.

Jack lay behind a battered door. Obviously dead. There was a distraught look on the Captain's face. His hand still lay on a key that he hadn't quite managed to turn.

The sight was heart wrenching, even if they knew full well that he'd come back to them any given second. For a few moments they stared in shock, disgusts, worry and sadness. Then Owen groaned loudly. "Well, shit." After checking that Jack was really dead he moved the man out of the way and started working on the door.

"What are you doing?" Gwen cried out, unable to tear her eyes off the for the time being dead Captain.

"What do you imagine would've made him fight until his death to get that door open?" Owen scowled and swore under his breath. "It's too quiet in there."

Then, hopefully not a few minutes too late, the door opened. While Gwen stayed with Jack, wanting to make sure that Gray wouldn't sneak up on them, Owen and Tosh pushed their way in. What they found wasn't what they expected.

John Hart, of all people, sat there, trembling miserably. A newborn, horribly still and quiet baby in his arms. And right beside him lay Ianto, just as lifeless as his daughter. "What the fuck took you so long?" John snapped.

Without even a second's hesitation Owen pulled out a gun and pointed. Fury danced in the doctor's eyes. "Put the baby down and get away from them." John was the one who helped Gray get his hands on Jack and Ianto. He didn't want the man anywhere close to the pair and their baby. Or himself, for the matter. Their very first meeting was a highly unpleasant memory.

"Owen, don't!" If Tosh was embarrassed by the two men staring at her with disbelief she didn't let it show. "Save that for later. Ianto and the baby… We need to help them."

Owen gritted his teeth so hard that it actually hurt. "We've gotta get them out of here", he decided. "It's too freaking cold. And they need medical attention."

John snorted. "How about that. We agree on something." Without a warning the man shoved the firmly covered baby to his arms. "Take this." Then, just as suddenly, the man from the future scooped up Ianto's limp, unconscious form. Oh, Jack would hate that when the man found out…! And so would Ianto. Because of course the archivist would pull through. There was no other alternative.

"You shouldn't move him…!" Owen cautioned.

John groaned. "How much worse do you honestly think I could make this? He's practically bled to death already! We need to get a move on."

Owen couldn't really object to that. Agreeing begrudgingly he glanced at the child instead and felt his chest tighten with worry. "She needs an incubator. Among other things."

"I can arrange one." Seeing their surprised looks John shrugged. "I have… an old accomplice that owes me a favor."

"Don't you mean 'who'?" Owen pointed out, determined to focus on anything but the nearly dead baby in his arms and the fact that Ianto didn't seem to be doing any better.

"Nope, definitely 'that'."

For the second time in less than a day Jack gasped back to life, for a while unable to comprehend just what was going on. In exactly three seconds it all slammed at him. Gray… Ianto… He bounced up to a sitting position at a speed he soon regretted dearly, his lips opening for a desperate shout that never came out.

Ianto…!

"Easy, easy!" Gwen tried to support him up and keep him still at the same time. "You just came back but you're okay." Her voice didn't sound right, though. The tears in her eyes didn't exactly comfort him, either.

He was about to demand answers when he encountered a sight that made all words get stuck in his throat. From the room that he'd been unable to get into emerged a grim faced Owen, a baby held securely in his arms. A little girl Jack knew immediately to be his own. Not far behind followed John, also sombre, carrying Ianto. The Welshman was horribly pale and covered in blood. Was he even…?

There was a time when Jack imagined that he didn't have any heart left. That it'd been broken so many times that it didn't even work anymore. But at that very moment… There was no mistaking the immense surge on pain that flowed through him. Every piece of his shattered heart broke.

Jack attempted to get up but once again Gwen stopped him. He darted a look of sheer fury towards her. "They're my family!" he snarled, using his voice for the first time since waking up. It sounded pathetic.

Gwen wasn't startled. Grief could be read from her eyes while a single tear rolled. "I know. But let me help you, alright? You only just came back to life."

As much as he hated it Jack knew that she was right. The need to get to Ianto and their daughter was far stronger than any pride. So he nodded and didn't resist when she helped him up. The slow pace at which they proceeded to follow the others threatened to drive him insane.

"They'll be okay", Gwen swore to him. Even if it was uncertain whether she believed in her own words. She wiped her eyes as subtly as she could with the hand that wasn't occupied by aiding him. "They have to be."

Jack couldn't have agreed more. Because if he'd lose those two… Then Gray would win. He'd be dead with no way of coming back, even if he still walked the earth.

Through monitors Gray observed their departure with a small, ice cold smile on his face.

TBC

A/N: Gosh…! I really don't know if I feel more sorry for Jack or Ianto. And their little girl…! Let's hope that they'll be okay. Gray just can't win! And as for him, don't worry. He'll definitely face his punishment…

Soooo… Any of you still willing to read on? PLEASE, do let me hear from you! After such a unforgivably long delay it'd be fantastic to know if you're still there.

Awkay, I really have to get going now. I really hope that you'll still be sticking around!

Take care!

Steve Merchant: I'm super excited that you enjoyed it so! Uh huh, yup, we definitely weren't expecting a smooth sailing. Let's see what happens next… I truly hope that it'll be worth the insanely long wait!

Colossal thank yous for the review!