Jack frowned, glancing at the clock on the wall again. He stuck his head out of the office door, and Tosh looked up from her computers. 'Still no sign of him Jack.'
Jack grunted, withdrawing into his office, but still heard Owen's almost of inaudible comment about him needing his daily dose of teaboy. He made a mental note to throw something at the medic later.
And that was when his mobile rang.
He snatched it up and glanced at the caller ID.
IANTO
He flipped it open and spoke into it. 'Ianto, where the hell are you? We're all worried sick.'
The voice that answered wasn't Ianto.
'Is this Jack Harkness?'
'Speaking.' Jack said warily. 'Who are you, and why do you have my friend's phone?'
'My name is Darrel Stevenson, I'm a paramedic. I'm sorry to tell you there's been an accident.'
Jack listened, his face going steadily paler. Gwen opened the door to bring in some reports and stopped with her mouth open, frowning at the look on Jack's face.
'Right. I see. Where? Okay. Thank you.'
He hung up and snatched his coat from the peg, pushing past Gwen. She followed him down into the Hub.
'Jack, what's wrong? What's happened?'
He paused at the door. 'There's been an accident. Ianto's hurt.'
He vanished before they could ask him any more, and seconds later they saw the SUV speeding away on the CCTV.
Jack sat on a chair outside the operating theatre, his head in his hands.
A drunk driver. That's it. No aliens, no attack from weevils.
Ianto had been on his way to work, walking along quite ordinarily, when the driver had lost control of the car, mounting the sidewalk. According to witnesses, it had been headed straight towards a little girl, and Ianto had hurled himself in front of it, pushing the little girl away, and taking the full impact himself.
Now he was in there, injured beyond belief, with a tram of surgeons trying frantically to keep him alive long enough to fix him.
Jack felt someone sit down beside him, and he looked up to find a petite young woman with dark hair tied neatly back and blue-grey eyes that seemed strangely familiar. She was dressed in a nurse's uniform, and he could see by her badge that her name was Gwyneth Jones. Jack almost laughed at the irony.
She passed him a polystyrene cup. 'Hot and sweet. Best thing for you, if you've had a shock.'
He took the cup and swallowed a mouthful. Hot chocolate. He blinked. He'd never liked hot chocolate, but this tasted wonderful.
Gwyneth smiled. 'My own little talent.'
Jack smiled back almost mechanically, but what she said next made him sit up and take notice.
She was regarding him almost critically. 'So, you're Captain Jack Harkness...funny, I thought you'd be taller.'
He blinked. 'Excuse me? How do you know my name?'
She gestured to the closed doors, behind which Ianto was clinging to life. 'He never shuts up about you.'
Jack shook his head in amazement. 'You know Ianto?'
She dipped her head 'Yeah, we're very close.'
She stretched her legs, resting her head on the wall. 'Ironic, isn't it? He fights flipping aliens on a daily basis – and then get's run over on the way to work. It sounds almost ridiculous.'
Jack was fairly sure his heart couldn't take many more of these shocks.
'How the hell do you know about that?' he asked, keeping his voice low. She shrugged. 'Yan told me. After the whole business at Canary Wharf, he told me what he did for a living. And since then, he's told me all about you, and Lisa, and you, and the rest of your team, and you, and that damn pterodactyl. And you again.'
Jack put the empty cup down. 'He shouldn't have done that.'
'The circumstances are a little different. Besides which, I was on duty on the ambulances that day. The things I saw…I spoke to him about them afterwards, and he told me everything.'
She sighed, tucking a strand of hair behind his ears. 'It nearly broke him.'
Jack crumpled the up and threw it in the bin. 'Damn, Ianto, why do you always make things so difficult?'
Gwyneth laughed. 'He does, doesn't he?'
She touched Jack's hand. 'Listen to me, Jack.'
He looked up, startled by the seriousness in her voice.
'Ianto is fragile right now. The combination of the memories of Torchwood One, and then Lisa, and now his feelings for you are slowly wearing him down. He might not have the will to keep fighting. He was starting to heal when you upped and left him to go with the Doctor, and that hurt him more than you can ever know. Now you're back, and he has no idea where he stands with you. Close your mouth Jack, you look like a guppy fish.'
Jack snapped his mouth shut. 'How the hell…'
'I told you, we're very close.'
Jack opened his mouth to question her again, but she shushed him. 'You're going to have to tell him how you feel Jack. Be truthful…and for gods sake, look after him. He's so alone; he needs someone who cares so badly…'
Jack gaped at her, trying to think of something to say – but was distracted by the doors opening, and an exhausted looking doctor appearing. He gave Jack a weary smile. 'I think he's going to be alright.'
Jack fell back down into the chair in relief, running a hand through his hair. He turned to see Gwyneth's reaction, and was surprised to find her gone. He looked along the corridor, and saw he at the far end. She turned and gave him a broad, affectionate smile, and vanished into the crowd.
And then his team were pushing their way through it and running to his side. He raised an eyebrow. 'How did you know where I was?'
Tosh looked guilty, lifting up her tracking computer. 'There's a transmitter sown into your coat lining.'
He shook his head, smiling. Gwen looked at him questioningly. 'Ianto? Is he alright?'
'The medics think he's going to be okay.' he said quietly. Gwen sighed in relief, and Owen clapped him on the shoulder.
Jack smiled mechanically, but he was still thinking about the strange young woman with the grey-blue eyes and gentle smile.
Jack sat by Ianto's bedside again; he had been coming here every night. Despite the doctors efforts and their original announcement he would live, Ianto was slowly slipping away. It was like, the baffled medics said, he didn't want to live.
He heard footsteps behind him, and looked up to find Gwyneth standing in the doorway. Her expression was inscrutable when she looked at him, and she sighed suddenly, shaking her head. 'Weren't you listening to me before, Jack? I told you he might not have the will to come back. You have to help him?'
'How the hell am I supposed to do that?' he asked angrily. 'He's been unconscious for over a month.'
Gwyneth marched into the room and picked up Ianto's limp hand, enfolding it with Jack's.
'Talk to him, you idiot. Tell him how you really feel.' she scolded gently. She left the room before Jack could answer, leaving him sitting there perplexed.
Well, it was worth a try.
He leant over Ianto's bed and took a deep breath.
'Yan…come back to me. We need you. Torchwood will fall apart if you're not there.'
No response. He heard Gwyneth's voice as clearly as if she was in the room. 'Tell him how you feel, I said!'
'…I'm lying. I'm not very good at this am I? …It's not just the team that needs you, Yan…I need you. I need you there to stop me from doing stupid things; I need you there to make me understand why Gwen's so obsessed with a certain case, or why Owen is being particularly bitchy. I need you there to stop me from falling apart…because I love you.'
He caught his breath, amazed at what he had just said, but forged on.
'I love you, Yan, and I can't live with out you. It wouldn't be life, it would be living death.'
He felt tears trickling down his face, and he rested his head on Ianto's chest.
'Please come back to me…'
A light pressure on his hand, a whisper. Jack jerked his head back, and gazed into startled grey-blue eyes, and he sobbed with relief.
Ianto lifted a hand to cup his face, unable to talk because of the tube in his throat, but the meaning was clear.
'I love you too, Jack.'
Ianto shuffled into his kitchen, adjusting the sling that held his arm in place. He filled the kettle one handed, and felt a small surge of triumph – which vanished quickly when he was faced with the task of unscrewing the coffee jar lid one handed.
'You should be in bed.' said an amused voice form behind him as he attempted to unscrew it with his teeth. He turned round guiltily, to find Jack leaning on the doorframe, eyes twinkling.
He gave a soft smile. 'I was going crazy sitting in bed. All the memories…'
He stopped just in time. Jack frowned, stepping into the kitchen and wrapping his arms round Ianto's waist.
'Are you alright? You've been a bit off all day.'
Ianto sighed running his hand through his hair. 'Have you any idea what day it is?'
Jack looked panicky for a moment. 'Oh crap! Don't tell me I've forgotten your birthday?'
Ianto laughed slightly. 'No, idiot. You haven't forgotten my birthday.'
'Then what?'
Ianto sighed. 'It's been two years Jack. Two years since Canary Wharf.'
Jack bit his lip, pulling him closer. 'I'm sorry Yan, I should have thought.'
Ianto disentangled himself gently. 'It's not your fault. But you could help me with something.'
'Anything.'
And that was how they found themselves in the car, Jack driving and Ianto sitting in the passenger street with a bouquet of blue iris flowers in his lap, gazing out the window pensively. He spoke little, other than directing Jack where to turn.
They pulled up outside the gates of the cemetery, and Jack got out warily. 'Yan, why are we here?
Ianto got out the car with some difficulty and started up the path. 'I want you to meet someone.'
Jack followed him up the hillside until they came to a marble headstone with flowers carved at the top. Ianto laid the flowers on the soil, and stood back, allowing Jack to read the name.
GWYNETH JONES
SISTER
CARER
FRIEND
SHE GAVE HER LIFE BRAVELY TO SAVE OTHERS
RIP
Jack's eyes opened wide at the impossibility. 'Ianto…who?'
Ianto touched the headstone gently. 'My little sister. She was two years younger than me. She'd just passed her exams and become a medic. On the day of Canary Wharf, she was sent out with the ambulance crews. Gwyn was killed helping to pull a child from the wreckage of a house. There was a cyberman there that hadn't died yet. It attacked the child and Gwyn jumped between them. She was killed almost instantly.'
Jack put his arm round Ianto's shoulder, but his mind was still reeling. 'Ianto…I saw her. While you were in hospital. This girl gave me a drink and started to talk to me. She knew who I was, and somehow she knew all about Torchwood and what we do. Her nametag said Gwyneth Jones. I remember thinking how ironic it was, and how her eyes seemed familiar.'
Ianto shook his head. 'Jack, that's impossible. She's been dead for two years.'
'But she knew about Lisa, and what you did, and even about Myfanwy. She said that you were close, and you told her about everything. She said you never shut about me, in particular. It seemed to irritate her.'
Ianto's eyes widened.
'I…I used to come and talk to her a lot. I'd come sit here and tell her everything that was happening.'
'There you go then.'
Jack quickly grabbed Ianto's arm as the younger man's legs threatened to give out. 'Jack, that's impossible!'
'Ianto, you're dating a man from the fifty-first century who can't die. Impossibility doesn't get a look in.'
Ianto touched the headstone again, marvelling. 'She always used to say that she would look after me. Our parents died when we were very young in a house fire, and it was always just us. She used to patch me up when I got into fights. She would mother anyone, right from when she was tiny.'
Jack pulled him close. 'I guess that means she's just keeping her promise.'
They walked away together, and as the wind whistled through the trees Jack could have sworn he heard a girl laughing.