Chapter Two

22 November

Ianto Jones awoke suddenly, all senses on alert. He was in a strange bed, curled up in someone's arms. There was no outside light, but an illuminated clock told him it was early morning. And he hurt EVERYWHERE. The events of the past day flooded into his memory and he realized that he was back at the Hub, down in Jack's bunker, entwined with the man he loved and hated and yearned so deeply for. A single deep inhalation confirmed his conclusion. That scent was so uniquely Jack.

He'd said some awful things to Jack after Lisa's death. During Lisa's death. It was still hard to know how to think about that. He had no doubt that what had died that day, in Annie's body, cut down by a firestorm of bullets from his friends' guns, had not been Lisa. From the time he found Dr. Tanizaki's body, he'd known deep inside that Lisa was gone. Oh, he'd made excuses initially, and had been SO torn...

Not that he'd ever hesitated to protect his friends. They were not a sacrifice he'd ever have been willing to make. But he'd so wanted to be able to have his new life AND Lisa too. And for awhile he had. Jack might be convinced that Lisa had died at Canary Wharf, but Ianto had spent four months taking care of Lisa, spending time with her, sharing stories, making plans, dreams. The woman who corrected Dr. Tanizaki when he called Ianto her "friend"—that was the Lisa he had always known. The Lisa he loved. The excitement on her face, the need to share it with him when she found herself off of life support, "I'm ALIVE!"--that too had been Lisa.

It was the last time he'd really seen Lisa, except for that brief flash with Annie—oh, Annie! he was SO sorry!!--recounting a memory, that monster who had killed two people and was a threat to the world, but sounded so like the woman he'd loved. He wished he knew what had changed. Perhaps Dr. Tanizaki tripped some switch while working to disconnect Lisa, perhaps that moment of apnea when the machines went off rebooted some cyber circuit, perhaps whatever it was that made her a cyberman had simply been lying dormant, waiting to make a move. Whatever it was, the cyber expert had paid a very high price. And that would always be yet another burden Ianto would have to bear, a guilt he would have to live with. Tanizaki had come to help, and it had cost him his life.

Jack had almost killed him that day. Ianto'd seen it in his eyes. And he would have welcomed it. Because he'd seen more there than just Jack's anger. He'd seen his own betrayal, Jack's hurt, Jack's love. That Jack, the ultimate secret keeper, was enraged by Ianto's own secret might have seemed ironic, but Jack had made it clear what upset him the most:

"You brought this down on us. You hid her. You hid yourself from us. Now it's

time for you to stand as part of the team. The girl you loved has gone. Your loyalty is to us now."

And Ianto had to admit, no matter how little they might know about Jack's history, his motivations, his anything, the one thing the Captain had never done was hide himself from his friends.

Ianto shifted a little, and he heard Jack's breathing alter in response.

"Yan?" Jack asked softly, his voice heavy with sleep. "You awake?"

"Yeah."

"How're you feeling?"

Ianto's only response was a desperate laugh.

Jack glanced at his timepiece.

"I'll go see if Owen's made it in. I told the girls obviously they weren't expected, but Owen was going to come check on you. We'll get you some pain meds before you try to get out of bed."

Jack gently eased away from the younger man, and reluctantly Ianto let him go. In the process of climbing over the Welshman and off the bed, Jack dislodged the sheet that had been covering him. He sucked in a breath involuntarily as his eyes fell on the torso of his young friend.

"God, Yan!"

There was no visible part of Ianto's beautiful body that wasn't some hue of purple, green, brown or yellow. Patterned bruises demonstrated where various types of tools and equipment had been used to strike him. Boot marks marred his back and stomach.

"Don't, Jack, please. You just make it worse!" Ianto protested.

With great effort, Jack tore his eyes away.

"Don't you move! I'll be right back," and he headed up the ladder.

To Jack's great relief, Owen was in the Hub, standing, contemplating the coffee machine.

"Why is it, do you think, that only the Teaboy can get this thing to work?"

Jack shook his head.

"I'm not kidding when I call it 'coffee magic'. That machine's been there more than a hundred years that I'm aware of, and before Ianto the best it ever achieved was drinkable joe. Which is still better than you've ever gotten it to produce."

"Oh, because your coffee is so superior to mine?" Owen shook his head. "So, boss, he awake?"

"Yeah, and in a lot of pain. You sure he wouldn't be better off in hospital?"

"I never said he wouldn't be better off, just that he didn't need to go. Not like Tosh, who is fine, by the way. I went by this morning. She's being discharged and is going to stay with Gwen and Rhys for a day or two."

"Good," Jack replied absently. "Now, get your stuff and come take a look at Ianto."

Even Owen couldn't help wincing when he saw the bruises that had evolved overnight.

"Oi, mate! You look more like abstract art than a person!"

Ianto shot him an annoyed look.

"Got any good drugs in that bag?"

Owen flushed. He might consciously cultivate his asshole personality, but he was a fine doctor, and he took that seriously. It wasn't often that something distracted him from plying his craft.

"Yeah, mate, I do. Hang on one sec, we'll get you nice and happy, then take a look at how you're doing."

He reached into his medical kit and pulled out a vial and a syringe, smoothly drawing up 10 mg of morphine, cleaning the site and injecting the analgesic intramuscularly high up on his patient's butt. Ianto yelped at the injection but after a few moments he visibly relaxed and his breathing became less ragged.

"Better?" Owen asked.

"Much, yes, thanks."

"I'm going to give you a couple more minutes for that to really kick in, and then I'm going to take a look at you, okay?"

Ianto's gaze moved across the room, found and held Jack's eyes.

"Yes, " he answered softly, never wavering from Jack's intense look.

Owen did his best to be gentle, but Jack found himself wincing along with Ianto at nearly every touch.

"Well, you look like crap, but I think you're going to survive," Owen concluded brusquely as he finished his exam. "You ready to get out of bed?" He glanced over at the ladder which was the main access in and out of the bunker. "Not sure you're ready to escape this chamber, but I figure you might want the loo, and a shower." He raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Yes, please," Ianto acknowledged. He'd become very aware of his full bladder when Owen had poked at it. Jack moved closer.

"How can I help?"

He and Owen maneuvered Ianto around, as gently as they could, although even with the morphine on board, it was clearly extremely painful.

"I'm sorry, Yan," Jack told him softly.

"No worries, Sir," the younger man hissed through clenched teeth. After several long minutes, he was standing, grasping the captain's forearm for balance. Owen stepped back and surveyed him critically, then gave a brief nod of approval.

"Can you walk, mate?" With Jack at his side, supporting him, Ianto shuffled his way to the bathroom.

"Want me to leave?" Jack asked in Ianto's ear. The Welshman glanced at him grateful for the offer, but with a rueful smile shook his head.

"I think sensibility had better override modesty this morning, Sir," he whispered back.

"Ah, if I had known all it would take to get to see—"

"Yes, Sir, I know: you would have arranged it long ago."