"The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long"

PARADOXOSIS PT 7

"What shall we ever do?"

"Are you trying to tell that you want to die?"

Ianto was gaping at Owen. "No. Owen don't you get it? Of course I don't want to die. It's the last thing I want. I'm scared shitless, but there was a time when I did and maybe this is why this is happening to me."

"Shit, this is way over my fucking head. There has to be a more scientific reason for it Ianto. You're delving into the realms of the paranormal, this isn't the freakin X- Files you know!"

Ianto smiled at that. "I don't understand it myself, it just makes sense in some loony way. Maybe it's the constant proximity to the rift?"

Owen's face lit up. "Genius! I'm calling Tosh; we need to get her in. You could well be right." He turned to leave. "I'll get Jack down here."

Ianto watched as he ran up the stairs wondering why none of them had considered that possibility before. He sighed, feeling exhausted by all the things that were happening. He really didn't want to die, not like this and not now he knew there was still too much to live for. Ianto closed his eyes and before he could stop himself he immediately sank into a black sleep.

"Ianto! Ianto! Wake up, please wake up. Please come on."

"That's it, he's coming round."

"Come on Ianto, come on easy now."

"His vitals are stabilising. Shit, at last."

"Come on Yan, come on wake up, that's it now."

The light was horrendously bright.

"Jack?"

"Yeah. That's better, you really need to stay with us now, OK?"

Something was ruffling his hair, hot fingers brushing his cheek. Ianto shivered.

"It's Ok, you're fine now. It's ok. Come on wake up."

Ianto cautiously sat up and surveyed the collection of worried faces around him.

"It was dark Jack, there's something there on the other side. Don't let me go back, please. I really don't want to go back." Jack's arms enfolded him. Then he registered the stranger looking at him. "You're the Doctor aren't you?"

This statement elicited a wide smile from Jack and from the Doctor.

"We meet again Ianto Jones. A pleasure. Now how are you feeling?"

A strange silver object with a blue light was held in front of his face.

"Is that a…?" It was Tosh.

"Sonic screw driver, yes."

Ianto watched them all gathered about him from his place on the exam table

"How long was I out?"

"About 6 hours." Owen answered. "We had to thaw you out again."

"I need to pee."

Everyone gaped at him and Ianto felt himself blush. "Sorry, it's all that IV fluid I expect."

"Do you wanna walk or shall get you……"

"Walk!! And stop looking at me."

Jack and Owen helped him to his feet.

"Are you sure you want to walk Ianto, you're pretty wobbly."

"Jack can help me, can't you?"

Jack was smiling at him in that 'I want to pounce on you' way of his.

"On second thoughts Owen maybe you should."

"No he won't, come on you're with the Captain. This, by the ways is Martha Jones."

Ianto looked up into a beautiful dark face. "Hello Martha, did you come with the Doctor?"

She nodded and smiled at him. "Yes. I wanted to meet the man who protected my family, even though you don't know it. You're my hero." He was given a hug and that made him blush even more.

Jack and Martha assisted him out of the autopsy bay, as soon as they got out of earshot Owen turned straight to the Doctor.

"Can you help him?"

The Doctor seemed completely unconcerned by the slightly hostile looks on the faces of the Torchwood team.

"I'm not sure. Toshiko, what did your scans reveal?"

Tosh smiled shyly at him. "He's giving off high levels of Meason radiation, the same kind of radiation we come to associate with anything that comes through the rift. This is slightly different though, it's as if it's out of phase or not quite on the same frequency. The thing is though he shouldn't be radiating it; the energy is coming off him. As if he's been overdosed and now his body is spewing it out. Though how that ties in with this 'year that never was' of yours I don't know. When he was unconscious the intensity of the radiation increased. This is weird."

"Dr Harper?"

Owen glanced from Tosh to the Doctor; he still wasn't sure about trusting this man.

"When he lost consciousness all his vitals dropped, as if he was suffering from hypothermia. His sleep state was almost verging on being a coma, but the brain activity was way too much for that. He was definitely reacting to something whilst in the sleep state."

"And this all started the day of the weevil attack?"

"No, not really, he's only been getting these freezing episodes for the last couple of days. Before that it was extreme tiredness and his injuries not healing. Truth is the tiredness I just put down to the work load and the fact that he's been upset about Jack leaving him."

The Doctor was looking thoughtful. "Are any of the rest of you exhibiting these symptoms?"

Owen shook his head. "Tosh and I did thorough checks. We are all normal and Jack is Jack normal. Look mate, I know you and Jack are big buddies from way back and he trusts you, but I don't. What I want is Ianto better, so can you help him or not?"

Gwen shuffled her feet awkwardly, worrying that Owen in his usual brash manner would offend Jack's friend and scare him off. But the Doctor just gave them all a cheeky grin.

"I really don't know. Now bare with me for a moments while I ask more questions."

"OK."

"Does this branch of Torchwood keep an archive?"

The team all nodded.

"Ianto manages it. He knows everything." Gwen replied trying to lift the mood.

"Right, so presumably he'll know what's stored there?"

"Yes I do." Everyone turned to face Ianto who was being supported by Jack and Martha, who had taken an instant liking to him. "Can we discuss this in the board room, it's nicer in there."

They all agreed happily to the suggestion and Gwen decided to make herself useful by making a pot of coffee.

Jack had his chair round to face Ianto so that the young man could more comfortably lean against him, wrapped in Jack's coat with a couple of hot water bottles courtesy of Gwen. Jack wanted him close in case he started to slip back into the sleepfulness again; he kept one arm protectively around Ianto's waist under the coat. The Doctor watched them closely, he knew why Jack loved this man so much and he was quietly grateful that Jack had found some happiness, even if in years to come he was to lose it. Ianto had definitely had a positive effect on Jack.

"So, where are we at?" Jack wanted to know.

"Archives, what do you have in the archives that is likely to affect time?"

Ianto was yawning again and Jack discretely pinched the skin on his arm to liven him up.

"Yan?"

"Err, the only thing here is the rift manipulator. Of course there's still 3 levels I haven't gone through yet and the Victorian paperwork is a nightmare to make sense of because most of it got flood damaged in '72."

"Maybe The Master did something?" Martha suggested.

"You mean Harold Saxon? I never met him, he didn't come here."

"No, but you did speak to him almost daily at one point when he was still Minister of Defence, he fooled everyone with the Archangel network, maybe you were affected by that."

Ianto grinned and squirmed round to smile at Jack. "That's it. I was affected. Stupid I should've realised."

"Realised what?" Owen demanded.

"The dodgy thing in my head, those headaches. It all started when the network went on line. Perhaps he's done something that's pulled me into Paradox and left part of me there. I mean, well I don't understand how…but Jack that would make sense, even while you were away he was phoning here right up to the assassination of the US President, drove us round the bloody bend, but I was the only one of us who had regular contact with him."

"So the question remains, how has he done it? And how do we undo it?" Jack was looking expectantly in the direction of the Doctor.