Ianto blinked repeatedly trying to clear his vision. The team was running down an ally and the slight dizziness of before seemed to be getting worse. The whole alley dipped and bobbed drunkenly in front of him, and the air felt like ice around him. He suspected that was just him though. For once Cardiff was sunny, and very nearly warm. A wall swooped towards him and he veered at the last moment, running blind as his eyes protested the swift change.
Owen was behind him, panting and wheezing like an asthmatic. That man, Ianto thought distractedly, was going to drop dead of a heart attack in the middle of a chase, one of these days, Ianto was positive of it. Maybe Owen would join a gym, would if he knew he could stare at toned bodies. That was the ticket. When they got back he-
The path in front of him suddenly bobbed wildly, and the colour dripped from his vision. He paused, startled and looked at the ground, expecting maybe a puddle of blues and reds on the pavement. He blinked, gasped as the world heaved and pitched in slow motion.
The ground leapt at Ianto and he met it, falling into a muddled sort of gray.
---
Owen fucking hated running. Why did the aliens always, always, have to run? Couldn't they just go along quietly, or die quickly? But no they had to fucking drag him off though the streets of Cardiff, running till he thought he was going to pass out.
He looked ahead and saw Ianto running a few yards in front of him. How the fucking tea boy, in a three-piece suit no less, could run so fast he'd never know. Stupid long legs. He squinted. Actually Ianto was a lot closer then he'd expected. Normally he'd be ahead of even Jack, running like a scared little crack bunny being chased by a pack of wolves. What the hell was he doing all the way back here?
Suddenly Ianto stumbled and went down. By the time Owen's brain had gotten a handle on the situation he had already passed the fallen man, grinding to a halt.
"FUCK!" He yelled, partially to himself, and partially into his comm. He spun sharply, nearly taking him self down, and ran back to Ianto.
Owen landed on his knees next to the still body and pressed his fingers against Ianto's throat. He was relived to find a strong, if fast heartbeat there. Of course they were running, his own heart was trying the claw it's way out of his ribcage. so a fast heartbeat wasn't that surprising.
"Owen? What the hell is going on back there?" Jack demanded over the comm.
"I don't know! Ianto just collapsed! Keep going after the weevils, I got him."
"Shit! I'm com-"
"Get the fucking weevils Jack!" Owen growled.
There was a brief hesitation before Jack answered. "Keep me updated!" he ordered, but Owen turned him out while he started checking for any signs of injuries before he moved Ianto. No blood, no obvious injuries, all limbs pointing in the right direction. Owen ran his fingers over Ianto's neck checking for any damage.
"Ianto? Hey, mate, come on wakey, wakey." He turned him over on his back, examining the scrape above Ianto's eye, bleeding sluggishly, already swelling from where it had connected with the ground. That seemed to be the only thing out of the ordinary, barring the unconsciousness, of course.
"Nap times over, time to wake up and tell me what the fuck is going on here!"
Ianto groaned as Owen lightly slapped his cheek. "Wha-what happened?"
"You know, everyone says that. How do you feel? Can you move? Anything broken?"
"I- uh" Ianto paused, with a look of worried concentration. "I don't think so. I mean I don't… think so." Ianto started to push him self up, and Owen put a supporting hand under his arm to help him. Ianto went a shade whiter and dropped his head, swallowing roughly
Owen put a hand on either side of Ianto's face, tipping it back up and looking in his eyes. "Pupils are equal." Owen probed at Ianto's forehead, and Ianto winced. "That's gonna be nasty." He frowned, studying Ianto. His lips were white too. Bloodless, and Ianto looked exhausted.
Owen grabbed Ianto's hand looking at his fingernails. The beds were colorless, and the nails dull and splintered. "You're really pale." He said. Ianto was staring at his fingernails as well, looking fascinated. Owen shook him slightly to get his attention while started looking for any injuries or sources of blood loss again.
"Ianto have you been bleeding, given blood, anything like that?"
"What? No. I just...I got dizzy and tripped."
"You were unconscious, and you're white as a sheet." Owen glared at Ianto finger as he pressed down. A small moon shaped dent appeared in the soft fingernail, where Owen had dug his own in.
Ianto yanked his hand away, bringing his fingers up to prod at the bloody abrasion over his eye. "Well I hit my head...I think."
"That doesn't explain why you look like you're bleeding out..." Owen had seen the look more than a few times, and it usually resulted in him being drenched in someone else's blood. Unless it was internal.
The jacket came off easily, despite Ianto's protests, but Owen cursed as he got to the waistcoat, resisting the urge to just rip it open. He flinched as cold fingers brushed against his, and Ianto carefully unbuttoned the waist coat.
He yanked up Ianto's shirt, ignoring Ianto's disgruntled yelp, running his hands over the younger man's stomach and chest. No bruising, swelling, tenderness. Nothing. "We should get you back to the hub so I can run some tests."
"Oh." Ianto said softly, buttoning his waistcoat back up, over an untucked shirt.
"Don't oh me. Tell me the exact symptoms you were having before you passed out." Owen made a grab for Ianto as he swayed again, making sure he was steady before withdrawing his hands.
"Um. Dizziness. Flashes of hot and cold. My vision kept going in and out." Ianto bit back another yawn, dropping his head to grind the heel of his hand against his temple. "Confusion. Exhaustion. Headache now. It's never lasted this long before."
"...Before? You've been having problems? And you didn't say anything? I'm not a mind reader Ianto! I can't help you, if you don't tell me you're sick!"
Ianto frowned. "I- maybe its low blood sugar or something?"
"We just ate lunch 15 minutes ago, and you were chugging liquid sugar." Owen argued and then froze. "Lunch...you're fucking anemic!" Owen slapped the ground, the medic in him thrilled that he had solved the puzzle, and relieved that it was something he could fix.
"What?"
"It's when your-"
Ianto snorted quietly. "I know what it is. But what makes you think-"
Owen cut him off in turn. "You're a vegetarian and you live on the same crap fast food we eat, so you're not making up for the lost iron in your diet. You fucking idiot."
"You- how can you go straight to that? You don't know...it could be something else."
Owen rolled his eyes. "I'm a doctor? I'm aware of the connection between not eating iron, and having low iron levels? You need to eat vegetables high in iron, and eat a balanced diet, and take a multivitamin, if you're not going to eat meat. Have you been doing any of that?"
Ianto glanced down at his feet and Owen snorted.
"You can't just decide 'meat is icky, I'm not eating it anymore' and keep going, you need to make changes to keep your self from getting sick like this."
Evidently, Ianto was still feeling a little off kilter, he stared at Owen for a full minute before replying, indignantly "You wouldn't know a vegetable if it smacked you in the face!"
"Yes but I eat meat!"
"Oh yes of course, and that's all the matters!" Ianto went to rub his head again and Owen grabbed the hand before it could aggravate the abrasion above his eye.
He rubbed his own face. "You are such a fucking pain in the arse. You'll live if you start eating meat, eat better, or take a supplement. Probably both of the last two. Other wise enjoy passing out, tiredness, weakness, shortness of breath, and other exciting symptoms. Or maybe even some nice heart palpitations and heart failure if it gets bad enough." Owen shook his head sharply and stood up, pulling Ianto to his feet, holding on to him to a minute to make sure he wouldn't fall over. "I'll run some blood tests when we get back to the hub to confirm, but I'm positive I'm right. Come on let get you to the SUV."
He steered Ianto easily back the way they had come, having to stop occasionally while the younger man tried to stay upright. Ianto had to feel like shit, something that made Owen feel marginally better. Maybe if he scared him, the little idiot would think twice about letting himself get so bad again.
"Owen!"
Owen rolled his eyes at Jack's angry growl in his ear.
"Yes?" Owen asked as Ianto stumbled again, landing in the passenger seat of the SUV. He reached over and bucked the younger man in, before pulling out a small med kit. "Hunting go well?"