AN: Sorry it took me so long! Life got in the way and all... anyways! Chapter six, lemme know if you liked it a little or a lot.

"Okay team!" the Doctor called, clapping his hands to get everyones attention. "As we'll be stuck here for awhile I've decided we should do some team building exercises! Amy, go fetch the Rory!"

"Fetching the Rory," Amy said, snorting. The Doctor seemed to have gotten out of his funk, going from broody to the hyperactive being they all knew and loved. She quickly made her way over to her and Rory's room, thankfully devoid of bunk beds this time around. She checked on him every half hour or so, nervous as he seemed more and more tired. She suspected the Doctor (or Doctors, all three of them) was hiding something from her.

"Hello Mr Pond," she said gently, stroking his hair.

"Mm?" Rory blinked his eyes open, leaning into her touch as he yawned. "Hello." His bed head was adorable. "Whasup?"

"Team building exercises." Amy congratulated herself on being able to say it with a straight face.

"Really?" Rory made puppy eyes. "Do I have to?"

"If I have to, you have to. Come along." She pulled her fingers through his hair, then draped a blanket securely around his shoulders as he sat up. She hated feeling so helpless, all she could do was dote on him. "Move your arse," she demanded.

Not too much or it'd freak both of them out.

-'-'-

"Gather round everyone!" the Doctor beamed, urging them into a room filled with big, fluffy TARDIS-blue pillows. It was literally the only thing in there, Tosh noted, except for a painting of a goat playing chess with a hamster. "Oh, I love having a team," the Doctor enthused, happily bouncing across the room, seemingly looking for something as he was kicking the pillows around.

"Technically Torchwood is my team," Jack spoke up, raising his finger. Tosh snorted, knowing he'd said it just to mess with him. Or to be top dog. Most likely both.

"Except for Owen, he's team Edward," Gwen sassed, receiving a high five from Tosh. Owen being dead still hurt, the possibilities of what could have been dying with his body. She'd gotten used to it, somewhat. Many late nights with Ianto, the Welshman just being there, listening to her had helped her move on from the sadness and helped her see the bright side; Owen was still with them.

And they had so many dead/undead-jokes they could use.

"I'm dead, not a sparkly stalker," Owen glared.

"That's it! I knew there was something off with you!" the Doctor exclaimed, snapping his fingers.

"Gee, thanks," Owen muttered at the same time Amy arrived with an exhausted looking Rory in tow.

"Who's dead?" Rory asked, frowning. Owen raised his hand. "Oh. Sucks to be you. Been there and all." He tried to choke a yawn. "My body's aching like I've got the flu or something," he sighed, leaning towards Amy, looking half asleep. It looked so cute Tosh wanted to ruffle his hair.

I need a boyfriend. Or a life. Preferably both.

"Gotten worse?" Owen immediately asked, walking over to check his pulse. Tosh liked to see him work, the only time he seemed truly content.

"I dunno. It's like I'm more tired?" Rory sounded hesitant. "It's sort of weighing my body down." Alonso, just walking into the room, put his glasses on and took out his sonic screwdriver to give Rory a quick scan. Wait, that wasn't-

"That's my screwdriver," the Doctor pointed out, looking at River as if to confirm it. River just smiled, rolling her eyes.

"Pretty sure this is mine," Alonso said, putting it back in his pocket, making Rose snigger. He produced a small torch from another pocket, shining it in Rory's eyes.

The Doctor patted his own pockets. "Mine's missing."

"That's too bad, as I found this fair and square. Finder's keepers," Alonso told him, taking off his glasses. "Not sure what's wrong, obviously somethings wrong. It could be the flu, in which case I hope you've all taken you shots. Weeell, as long as it's not space flu, then having taken your shots will make you turn purple. That was a weird week..." he trailed off, smiling.

"Can we get to the part where I get my screwdriver back?" The Doctor stomped his foot, arms crossed over his chest.

Considering the Doctor was an ancient alien, highly intelligent, the stuff of legends and prophesies, he rarely made any sense and really wasn't the maturest of men. Tosh found she rather liked that.

"I've heard mud wrestling is a great way of solving arguments," Jack said, failing miserably at looking innocent. "Just throwing it out there."

"No," Amy vetoed. "Last time he spat mud for a week."

Silence.

"... do you have a photo or a video of that occasion?" Jack asked. Because of course he'd ask, Tosh thought. He'd even taken pictures, or so Owen claimed, when Owen had a major freakout and ran into the bay.

Tosh might have tried to hack Jack's phone, which was, unfortunately, bound to his wristband making hacking it impossible. She'd only done it to check if Owen had been telling the truth. Not to see him dripping wet, clothes clinging to his body. Nope.

"If you do I want a copy," River added. Amy smirked, making the Doctor splutter indignantly.

"We'll talk later," Jack stage whispered, getting a wink and a nod in return.

"Moving on," the Doctor said, glaring at everyone before smiling happily. "Team building! Everyone take a seat." He made a shooing-motion. People slowly sat down, unconsciously in groups. Tosh found herself between Gwen and Jack, Owen on Jack's right side. "Right, good. Now here you go..." He started handing out small purple notebooks with matching pens.

"I have such a bad feeling about this," Rory told no-one in particular, Amy patting him on the head.

"We're gonna write poems!" The Doctor looked expectantly at them. Tosh realized she was gaping and quickly closed her mouth.

"Brilliant!" Alonso said, then immediately began scribbling in his notebook.

Oddly, no-one seemed to share his enthusiasm.

"Come on you lot. Chop chop! Not literally, write write would be the best term I suppose. Not sure why you say chop chop. Feels a bit ominous when you think about it." He plonked himself down on a pillow, chewing on his pen.

"He's kidding, right?" Tosh whispered to Jack who shook his head.

"He really isn't." He bumped her shoulder with his own, smiling. It looked forced.

"Jack," she said softly, hesitating before taking his hand, squeezing it. Jack squeezed back.

"Distractions are good," was all he said. Letting go, both of them went back to their papers. Tosh begun writing, mind empty.

One of my best friends are in danger. I'm scared and I really can't write poems. I mean, if I wanted to write poems I'm really in the wrong line of work. Then again, Ianto could probably help me with this. Please let him be okay

She crossed it out, then feeling vindictive (Ianto would have appreciated what she was doing) she begun writing again.

-'-'-

Peetha looked at the pale man lying curled up on the bed. When Ianto had complained about being in pain he'd gotten a real bed with a soft madras, anything to make things easier for him.

Anything to make sure the pain doesn't drive him out of his mind. Small comforts to keep him occupied, to keep his mind occupied and sane. Anything to make sure he doesn't end up like the previous subjects.

Peetha gently stroked Ianto's hair, carefully sitting down next to him on the bed. This last week had been hell. He'd been here everyday, unable to do anything, unable to stay away, offering comfort when he could. His presence had an obvious calming effect on Ianto, which the nurses were very pleased with.

"Mmm, Jack?" Ianto mumbled, opening his eyes to slits, peering up at him. "Hey," he smiled.

"Hey." Peetha continued stroking, Ianto sighing contentedly. He'd called him Jack several times, his mind more and more confused by the hour. The treatment this week had been hard on him. It had been done in steps, Ianto growing more and more agitated until yesterday where he'd just seemed... detached. Like he didn't know where he was or who he was with.

Peetha had his own suspicions as to why Ianto referred to him by another name. "You feeling better?" he asked.

"I don't know. Take me home?" Ianto asked, looking up at him with big, sad eyes.

"I can't." It shouldn't make him feel so ashamed. He'd done worse than denying someone their freedom. Hell, he didn't even know where or when Ianto was from. He hadn't been allowed to ask, which sort of bothered him. Timelines?

"I wan't to go home. There there's coffee and my TV-shows. They're not rubbish, sod off," Ianto snapped, frowning at him.

"Sorry," Peetha said, having no idea what shows Ianto was referring to.

"You better be recording them for me," Ianto glared, then winced, gasping as he pressed his hand against his chest.

"Hey, hey." Peetha gently eased him onto his back, leaning over to massage his chest gently. Ianto looked up at him unfocused.

"I feel wrong." He reached for him, clinging to Peethas arm. "Something about me is wrong, I'm an, an abomination. I need- Tosh'll figure this out, won't she? She'll fix me? She's a genius. She'll think of something and Owen will help. We're a team. We're like family, they'll help me." Ianto looked emptily at the ceiling.

"Of course," Peetha promised, the lie coming easy to him.

"You'll stay? Only, I can't- I can't focus-"

"Of course," Peetha repeated, interrupting him. Ianto smiled, pupils dilated enough to only show a small ring of blue.

"I don't want any more tuna sandwiches," Ianto whispered. "I only eat them for the corn 'cause apparently vegetables are good for you but I'm so very tired of them."

"What would you like instead?" The rambling worried him, especially considering how quiet Ianto had been in the beginning. "I can-"

"I love you, Jack."

Peetha swallowed, throat dry. Ianto was looking at him like he was the most precious thing in the universe. Ianto, quirky and sassy and dyi-

Peetha kissed him, because he wanted to. Because he needed to. Because Ianto needed him to.

-'-'-

"I'll go first," the Doctor said, clearing his throat.

"Fezes are red

My TARDIS is blue

Amy is ginger

I wish I was too."

"Brilliant!" Alonso cheered while the rest of them clapped politely. River seemed to be in the process of folding her paper into a miniature TARDIS. Tosh couldn't see properly, but I looked like she had even re-created the small sign on the left door.

"I don't want to brag or anything..." the Doctor said, abashed.

"My turn!" Alonso straightened his paper.

"Pears are nasty

Bananas are good

Bring one to a party

If you come to my hood."

"Speaking of bananas, you never told me what happened to my gun," Jack said.

"It turned it into a banana," Alonso claimed.

"He threw it into a supernova," Rose supplied.

"What is it with you and throwing stuff into supernovas?" Amy asked the Doctor, raising an eyebrow.

"They're nature's own trashcans." He crossed his arms over his chest defensively. "Anyone else have something to share?" Gwen shrugged, Rory held up his blank sheet as Tosh held up her own.

"You wrote a binary-poem...?" Gwen asked, snorting.

"That is beautiful," the Doctor said, wiping his eyes. "Especially that in the middle, the 00011000111100010101001. Heartwarming."

"That's- that's real poetry," Alonso agreed, looking a bit misty-eyed as well. "Well done Tosh. Brilliant work."

"I- thank you." She smiled, bowing her head, nervously folding the paper. The other looked a bit sceptical, but hey, she was used to those looks.

"I did this drawing ..." Jack said. Tosh and Owen simultaneously leaned over to look.

"How is that-?" Tosh began, feeling her cheeks blush.

"It's only two persons right?" Owen asked.

"Yes, only that one's got four arms," Tosh pointed out, squinting at the drawing. "Unless that's a leg?" she added.

Gwen crawled over, looking at the picture up-side-down. "It kinda works from this angle too."

"Please tell me this isn't a self portrait?" Owen begged.

"It's not a self portrait," Jack said, giving Owen a shit eating grin, making him mutter "stuff of nightmares," under his breath.

"Jack!" Both Doctors complained while Rose craned her neck to try to get a look.

"What? It's art."

"Okay my turn," Owen interrupted.

"There was a man from Capri
Who tried to piss over a tree
The tree was too high
And it fell in his eye
And now the poor bugger can't see."*

Silence reigned for a few seconds until Rose burst into hysterics. "Oh my god," she wheezed. "We should do this more often."

"I feel like no-one is taking this seriously," the Doctor huffed, Alonso nodding his agreement.

"I'm making some tea," Amy said, ignoring him. "Anyone want some?"

"Oh! Could you make me a cup of hot chocolate?" Alonso asked.

"Sure," she said, leaving with a shrug.

"Did you know, chocolate is a very strong aphrodisiac?" Jack said conversationally, batting his eyelashes at Alonso. Tosh handed the drawing over to a beckoning Rose.

"Yes, in fact I did know that," Alonso informed him, raising an eyebrow, lips twitching.

"Loving this room, by the way. Is there a reason the TARDIS has a room full of pillows?" Jack asked.

"They're comfortable?" Alonso sassed.

Jack grinned, waggling his eyebrows as he stretched out on his back. "They sure are."

"Pillow fight!" Gwen yelled, throwing one at Jack's face.

-'-'-

"Agent Smythe-" The abbess had quietly entered the room while Peetha had been occupied by his own thoughts. And Ianto's face, to be honest. He looked so deceptively peaceful.

"Ma'am?" He got up, saluting her.

"You're right," she said. Before Peetha could question her she continued. "He's from your future."

It felt like a stab in the gut. "Paradox-"

"Obviously it will be solved," she interrupted sharply. "He's dying." Peetha swallowed thickly.

"I know." And damn was that horrible to admit. He cared about Ianto, had come to care about him ever since he'd begun suspecting Ianto would know him in Peetha's future. The thing was, he was not a caring person, not anymore, not since- He cut that thought off. But I must do something right in the future to make him look at me like that. And yeah, it was stupid but Peetha felt like, like he had to be worthy? Which was stupid. Still...

"You've done your research, we've noticed," the Abbess informed him cooly, making him snap back to the present. "There is a way..." she trailed off. "If you're willing."

He looked at the sleeping Ianto again, realizing he'd reached out when Ianto mumbled in his sleep, leaning into his touch. Trusting.

When had it come to this? "I am." He hadn't even hesitated.

"Good."

-'-'-

Suddenly he was out of air. One second he'd been lying comfortably, head in Amy's lap, in the admittedly weird pillow-room, the next he'd sat bolt upright in panic. Rory tried to breath but it was like someone had stuffed his mouth and nose with clay. He grabbed Amy's arm, pointing to his nose and throat, body convulsing as he tried to draw breath.

"Rory? Rory!" Amy raised his arms over his head. "Doct-" All three Doctors were already crowding him, discussing what to do. Finally the Doctor pushed his head back and forcefully blew air into his mouth. Rory took a gasping breath, clutching at the floor. He took another, and another, realizing tears of chock and fright were trickling down his cheeks. Amy was wiping them away, kissing his forehead, tears of her own running slowly.

"I love you, God you scared me, you stupid twat," she whispered.

"What the serious fuck?" Owen snarled, throwing a pillow across the room in frustration.

Rory hated seeing Amy like this. "Oh my God," he said, looking at her, widening his eyes. "I just kissed the Doctor." He made a blerch face, wiping his mouth. His words had the desired effect, making Amy laugh, swatting him gently on the head.

"Hey, don't make that face!" the Doctor demanded. "That wasn't a kiss, I'm a great kisser. Ask River!"

"I'm not asking my daughter if my son-in-law is a good kisser." There were so many disturbing things in that sentence.

"Wait, what? How?" Gwen spluttered. Everyone who wasn't the Doctor or a Pond stared between the four of them, the very picture of did-he-just-say-what-I-though-he-did-if-he-did-the n-are-you-SURE-he-said-that?

"Spoilers," River smirked.

-'-'-

"Did it work?" the Abbess asked the nurse responsible.

"Yes. They will be compatible."

"How long until they're here?"

"Not long. A few hours."

"Good." The Abbess left, walking towards their top priority subject's room. "Get me agent Smythe," she ordered another nurse as she passed her. "Tell him it's time."