Jack had been missing for two days now, and Ianto and Gwen were terrified. Neither of them had even seen him leave the Hub, and then he was just...gone. They searched for him in every way they could think of. Then Ianto got a call.
"Hello, this is Ianto Jones," he said distractedly, holding his phone between his shoulder and his ear so he could continue running a facial recognition program through the CCTV footage in Cardiff.
"Ianto Jones, this is Lily Drayer. I'm from St. Helen's Hospital. You're Torchwood, correct?" someone asked.
"Yes, I'm...I'm Torchwood, what is it?" Ianto returned, dread creeping in.
"I'm sorry to have to inform you of this, but the body of a man matching the description of a Captain Jack Harkness was found this morning."
"Where is he?" Ianto said immediately, standing up and shutting off the computer.
"Um, he's in the morgue in St. Helen's-"
"I mean exactly where," Ianto clarified, grabbing the keys for the SUV.
Lily Drayer sounded slightly confused. "I-I believe his body was placed in a cold drawer until Torchwood could be contacted. At least, that's what the instructions said."
"What instructions?"
"The instructions saying what must happen if a Torchwood operative was found dead by a civilian and brought-I'm sorry, I'm not supposed to be telling this to anyone."
Ianto was running up the stairs to leave the Hub. "I'm literally from Torchwood, I'm just about the only person you should be telling this to. Thank you, Lily, I'm guessing you're a receptionist?"
"Yes."
Ianto turned on the SUV's engine. "Tell them not to go into that morgue until I get there."
"I'm sorry, I can't-"
"Like I said, I'm Torchwood. Do it." Ianto hung up. Should I have told Gwen? He pressed two, her speed dial. "Listen, Gwen, they found him. He died, I'm on my way to St. Helen's. Sorry, I don't have time to go by the police station to get you, I can't let any of the hospital staff be there when he wakes up."
"All right, love, just tell me when he's okay?" Gwen answered.
"Will do. Bye." Ianto put down the phone and drove, then ran.
A doctor greeted Ianto outside the door to the morgue. "Sir, you can't come in here, this area isn't available to the public right-"
Almost rolling his eyes, Ianto pulled out his ID. "I am Torchwood, open the bloody door." Nothing was going to stop him from getting to Jack as soon as was humanly possible. Startled, the doctor opened the door for him. "Key," Ianto said, holding out his hand. The doctor dropped the key into Ianto's hand, looking confused as to why he would give the key to this man, but Ianto took it before he could change his mind. "Which drawer is he in?"
"Drawer 455."
"Thank you." Ianto closed the door behind him, locking it quickly from the inside. There would be enough questions when Jack walked out of there alive anyway without someone walking in on him waking up. 455, he repeated silently, scanning the wall. He found it, and ran over, unlocking it and pulling it open, exclaiming, "Jack!" as he did.
"Ianto?" came the trembling reply from inside the bodybag on the drawer bed.
Ianto unzipped it with shaking hands. "I'm here."
Jack rolled out almost before it was fully unzipped, almost crashing to the ground but catching himself at the last second. His coat and clothing was wet from yesterday's rain and his shirt was ripped and bloodstained. "Weevils," he stated when Ianto's eyes were instantly drawn to the blood. "Let's go."
"That's it?" Ianto asked incredulously.
"I think I'll wait until we're out of wherever this place is before having whatever meltdown you're expecting me to have," Jack told him, halfway sarcastically, but with an element of truth and urgency. "Where is this place, anyway?"
"St. Helen's morgue."
"Really?"
"Uh-huh."
"That's a first."
"Is it?"
"I think so. Let's go." Jack tried to take a step forward, but stumbled. Ianto went to help him, but even though Jack was shivering, he waved Ianto away. "It's fine."
Even though he knew that wasn't true, Ianto let Jack have a little space. "Okay. Come on, I have the key." They strode out of the morgue. Ianto might have laughed at the doctor's (who was still waiting outside) facial expression when he saw Jack alive. "Have a good day, sir," Ianto remarked to him.
"But, he, he was…"
Jack didn't turn around to face the doctor, but spoke anyway. "We're Torchwood. Get over it."
Ianto smiled disarmingly at the poor doctor and headed quickly after Jack, catching up and leading him silently to where he had parked the SUV, and Jack climbed into the passenger seat. Ianto drove, and together they walked up the narrow staircase to Ianto's flat.
Jack barely even made it through the door before sinking to the ground. Nodding barely perceptibly, Ianto caught him and practically carried him over to the couch. Still without saying a word, Ianto made Jack take his wet coat off and hand it to him. He hung it over a chair carefully and got some dry clothes for Jack to put on. While the captain was changing, Ianto grabbed a quilt from the bedroom and came back out into the living room.
Jack had his feet tucked up on the couch next to him, his wet and bloodstained clothing lying in a bundle on the floor. Ianto tossed it into a laundry hamper quickly and then draped the quilt around Jack's shoulders.
He sat down. "How're you doing?" he asked simply.
Holding the quilt tightly, Jack answered, "I've been better."
"Obviously. What happened out there, Jack? Why did you disappear like that?"
"I just wanted a bit of air, and then…"
Ianto pressed on, needing to know how his Jack had gotten himself into such a state. "And then what?"
"Was walking, lost track of where I was, attacked by Weevils," Jack listed. "Woke up in the dark."
Ianto watched him closely, but his face was emotionless. "And?"
"And nothing. I waited. You came and found me." Jack gave an involuntary shiver. "What more is there to say?" Ianto waited. "Alright, yes, I panicked a little bit. Who wouldn't?" Ianto waited a little bit more. "I'm doing alright, Ianto. Don't worry about me." Jack shrugged the quilt off his shoulders. He stood up and walked around the couch towards the kitchen.
Ianto sighed. If Jack was being stubborn, there was nothing he could do. He wondered if it was better for Jack to be acting like this or to be completely freaking out. To be honest, he might prefer the latter. That was easy enough for him to deal with, without having to tiptoe around with words because Jack could snap at a moment's notice.
There was a crashing sound from the kitchen. Ianto jumped up and bolted towards the noise. Jack was clutching the edge of a counter, barely holding himself upright. A pair of mugs had falled to the ground and shattered. The captain stared downwards at the broken ceramic, breathing heavily. "Sorry," he whispered when he saw Ianto out of the corner of his eye.
"No, it's fine, it's just a couple of mugs. Hey, hey," added Ianto, stepping forward, careful to avoid the razor-sharp shards. "It's okay, it's not a big deal. Come back to the couch, I'll clean it up." He rubbed Jack's shoulder reassuringly. "Don't worry about it. Step this way, careful, don't step on-Oh-Jack, hey, why're you crying?"
Jack turned his eyes upwards, trying in vain to make the tears disappear. "I'm sorry," he repeated.
Ianto guided him away from the mug fragments and back onto the carpeting of the living room. "It's alright, it's fine," he soothed. "Seriously, Jack, it was a couple of mugs. Is that what you're upset about, or is it everything else?"
He shook his head and started to fall to his knees. Ianto caught him and sank down with him, feeling how hard Jack was trying not to break down. "I'm fine, I'm fine," the captain choked out. "I'm fine, I'm fine."
One hand on the back of Jack's neck, one around his waist, Ianto rocked slowly from side to side. "I know," he whispered. He felt a shudder pass through Jack's body as a sob escaped him, holding him just a little tighter.
"I'm fine," Jack repeated, like a broken record, repeating the same phrase over and over, hoping the listener would understand. He pressed his face into Ianto's shoulder.
"I know you are," Ianto murmured. "I know you are. You're fine. Everything's going to be alright. I've got you." Jack's sobs were so violent his whole body was wracked with them. "Shh, shh, I've got you."
Jack coughed weakly and kept crying.
Every time Ianto thought Jack was done, or was starting to calm down, the tears started afresh. "Oh my goodness, cariad," Ianto said softly. "How is it this bad?" He settled into a more comfortable position, hopefully for both him and Jack. He didn't expect a response.
"I don't kn-know," Jack managed. "I h-hate this."
Ianto held him tighter. "I know you do. Just breathe for me, okay? Shh, try to calm down, Jack, please, I don't want you to make yourself sick." Curling up and letting Ianto take most of his weight, Jack took a few shaky breaths without sobbing. Ianto inched backwards until he could lean against a wall. "That's a little better, cariad."
"What…" Jack started, then broke off as tears threatened to spill back over. He shook with another sob, and Ianto practically felt his own heart break. "S-sorry."
"It's alright," Ianto told him. "I'm here. Take as long as you need." Jack slowly stopped crying, most likely because he was too exhausted to even do that anymore. He slumped completely into Ianto's arms, so drained of all energy that he neither helped nor protested as Ianto stood up and brought him to the bedroom. After Jack climbed weakly onto the bed, lying on his back, Ianto sat down on the edge of the mattress, keeping his hand in contact with Jack constantly. "How're you doing?"
"I'm tired," Jack whispered.
"Let me get you some water before you sleep, okay? The last thing we need is you getting dehydrated and sick." Ianto stood up and walked away to get a glass of water, letting his hand stay on Jack's arm and his fingers slip away as he left. Jack missed the contact instantly.
"Stay?" he requested weakly.
"Jack, I'll be right…" Ianto's protest died away as Jack reached out and took his hand tightly to keep him there, pleading with his eyes. "Okay," murmured Ianto, going back to stroke Jack's hair away from his face. "I'll stay."
Jack breathed a sigh of relief as Ianto sat back down next to him. "I'm glad you're here," he remarked softly.
"And where else would I be?" asked Ianto.
Not answering the question, Jack rolled over onto his side so he faced away from Ianto. The younger man sighed and leaned down to press his lips to the captain's cheek, but Jack turned his head at the last second and Ianto's kiss landed on his lips. Ianto tried to sit back up in surprise, but Jack's hand was at the back of his head, keeping him where Jack could look at his eyes as he spoke. "Whole universe where you could be that isn't here, Ianto. I guess I should consider myself lucky that you ended up here because I don't think anyone else would put up with me like this."
"Jack…" Ianto started, slightly flustered. "I can't, I can't promise...I won't always be here, you know that."
"I know." Jack let him sit up. "But right now is good enough, I think."
"Is it?"
"It has to be," Jack said grimly. "It has to be."
Oh my goodness, thank you to everyone who has reviewed, I never thought my stupid plea would do anything. You really inspired me to write this next chapter, which I was thinking about but had almost decided not to write and to just end the story there. But thank you, thank you, thank you for convincing me not to. It's getting difficult to keep my writing fresh and original(ish) when I'm writing a story like this with repetitive themes or events, and I think that things are probably going to escalate in the next few chapters. Thank you so much for reading, sticking with me, and reviewing. I love you all so much!
~Clare