AN: Here you go the next chapter in which…oh hold on you have to read it to find out.

Chapter 4

Sitting back

Owen had done all he could in the first half an hour. Ianto was connected to all manner of machines…simply to keep him alive.

Heart monitor, ventilator, dialysis and many other contraptions that beeped and whirred softly. The only noise in the Hub.

Jack was pacing in his office; at intervals he would sigh loudly and lean against the walls. He had punched the wall a couple of times, earning him two broken bones and an angry red bruise on his knuckles. Owen had patched him up, Jack had kept silent. He would usually moan and groan to Gwen for sympathy, but he had simply stared at Ianto's lifeless form.

Tosh was stabbing furiously at her keyboard. Owen had pulled a sample from the dart and had given it to Tosh. She was now running a program to get an antidote. She was also silent, on occasion she would get up and check on Ianto but he had simply got worse then better.

Gwen was sat next to Ianto; she had intertwined her fingers with his and was rubbing the back of his hand. Owen had said that his body had gone into a coma to heal; though human contact would keep his mind on track.

Owen was helping Tosh. It was strange seeing Owen work for once. His brow was furrowed as he experimented with samples and checked on Ianto at 10-minute intervals. He had sworn loudly when Ianto's heart had stopped briefly, and promised that if he survived…Owen would kill him personally.

Ianto's condition had deteriorated in the first 20-minutes of being back at the Hub. Jack had sworn loudly as the machines that Ianto was hooked up to screeched. Ianto now had another machine helping his heart beat. The ventilator pumped air through his lungs and other machines kept his other organs stable. He had woken up briefly, he mumbled something but collapsed into a violent fit that scared Lily and made her scream in terror.

Lily was sat in the corner, watching Ianto slowly ebb away. Tears streamed down her cheeks in silent remorse. She had sung softly after Ianto's heart scare, Gwen had laid a hand on her shoulder but Lily continued to sing. She paced past him at times, others she would talk to him softly. Gwen did the same, trying to encourage Ianto to come back.

Suddenly Tosh cried out in triumph.

"I've done it! I have the antidote!"

The others ran to her station as she pulled out the sheet of paper from her printer. Owen snatched it from her and read it fast.

He bolted to his stores, his lab coat billowing behind him. He vaulted over the railing and flung open the cupboard doors.

He grabbed vial after vial and threw them into a beaker. He shook it vigorously and extracted a syringeful. Owen looked up at the others from the rail. They all had the same look on their faces. The look of silent prayer.

Owen gulped and injected the concoction. Then he stepped back and watched each machine in turn.

"Now come on Ianto…you're not dying that easily…that's my job mate." Grumbled Owen. After 2 minutes, something came up on the screen and Owen smiled.

"It's…working. He's coming back."

Jack ran both hands through his hair, relief filled his body. He laughed once and then again. Tosh and Gwen followed; he held each of them and laughed again and again.

Lily stood next to Ianto's form. Slowly Owen turned off machines that had once kept Ianto alive. Owen smiled with each machine that was turned off.

Suddenly Ianto turned his head to the side and groaned softly. The others perked up; Jack hurried down the stairs to Ianto. Lily was stroking a stray hair from his face and whispering to him.

"Ianto, wake up Ianto."

He looked at her, his eyes blood-shot. They darted from side to side, then focused on Lily. He squinted slightly.

"What…what happened?" Croaked Ianto, he stared bleary eyed at the rest of the team. The smiling faces confused him. He attempted to get up but his body protested. He groaned again and riffled a hand through his hair.

He saw Jack standing by the bed, he smiled weakly and waved. Jack raised his hand slowly and waved back. Jack walked forward and pulled Ianto into a tight embrace, he laughed softly into Ianto's neck.

Jack helped Ianto to sit up; he clung to Jack's shoulders and swayed dangerously. He soon found his balance, but was promptly grabbed round the neck by Lily in a neck-snapping hug. She was sobbing softly into his neck and giving him a prompt telling off for almost dying.

"If you EVER do that again I will have to shoot you." He chuckled weakly and cuddled Lily back.

Gwen and Tosh had both given him the same treatment, even Owen seemed to be happy that he was alive and Jack hadn't stopped smiling since Ianto had woken up.

"Please tell me that Ianto will be alright soon…cuz I hate over stewed coffee." Moaned Tosh, Gwen agreed vigorously. The others chuckled.

"How long was I out for, had to be a while for them two to be moaning for caffeine." Chortled Ianto.

They stopped laughing.

"The poison that was in the dart would have killed you in three hours, you were out for 2 hours and 59 minutes. Another minute and…" Admitted Jack. He didn't finish; he simply pulled Ianto into an embrace and muttered that he will never let Ianto out of his sight ever again.

Ianto was confined to the sofa near the autopsy room. He had grumbled and moaned that the best thing for him would to walk around and do something. Jack and Owen had looked at each other and given him the same reply.

"No fucking way!" They had said in unison.

Owen had laughed and asked Ianto if he had OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder). Ianto had shook his head vigorously, but was met by combined sceptical looks from Jack and Owen.

He was told that he could walk around later and could have as much coffee as he liked. Which he declined. He said that he would rather drink sewer water.

"That can be arranged mate." Admitted Owen. Jack roared with laughter.

"I think that would be the better option 'doc', 'specially' if you insist on making it.

"This time Ianto laughed, the girls sat around the room giggled into their hands. Owen blushed and stormed off. Ianto leaned back in the sofa and sighed in pleasure at the fact that he had the day off.

Happy that Ianto was all right, Jack ruffled his hair and walked off. Ianto suddenly realised that he wasn't wearing his suit. Instead he had a large, white, baggy T-shirt. He recognised it as Jack's. Also he was supporting a pair of light blue jeans that seemed to fit nicely. He shuddered at the fact that they were Owen's.

'Jack's right' thought Ianto. 'Owen is a skinny git'.

The others worked silently to cover the alien spacecraft. Tosh had used a satellite-guided laser to destroy the craft. Torchwood would usually salvage the craft and adapt it for their own uses. But since the craft had hurt Ianto, Jack wanted it blown to bits. All Tosh had to do now was ret-con the guy that owned the plot of barren land.

Gwen was creating a story for the police, easy work since the place had all manner of junk already there. She had come up with the story that a French film artist was using the site for his latest masterpiece. As soon as the police heard the words 'French' and 'film', they washed their hands of the incident and sulked off with their tails between their legs.

Jack was talking on the phone to the weird Scottish bloke that ran Torchwood Glasgow. He was chuckling at intervals; Gwen walked past the office at one point to ask Owen about a recent autopsy that she was curious about.

Jack had seen her and mouthed 'help me' and make a circling motion with his finger near his ear. Then made a gesture that looked like he was hanging himself.

Gwen giggled and poked Owen. Owen looked at Jack and grinned, he turned fully to face Jack and made to pull out an imaginary shotgun and shot Jack. Jack pulled the amateur dramatics and held at the place where Owen had aimed.

He then began to talk on the phone again. With a swift goodbye he put the phone down. He slumped onto the desk and began to bang his head sharply on the desk. Gwen and Owen burst into fits of laughter. Jack continued to smack his head on the desk, while holding up the finger to them both.

Lily was sat with Ianto; she had curled her legs underneath her and was leaning on Ianto's shoulder. She was learning about the past that she had missed while floating through the Rift. Ianto was glad of her company. The others would cast a glance over every few minutes. It was like they couldn't believe he was there.

Toshiko was forced to make a coffee run; she brought Ianto a hot chocolate just the way he liked it. Sitting back and watching the action close up was a strange experience for Ianto. Usually he would stand from the rails near the boardroom and keep the coffee flowing, that way he avoided ill-mannered team members and the odd hissy fit from Jack.

Ianto had always felt left out, apart from that time in the country. He shuddered at the thought. He still had scars on his wrists from the metal handcuffs and the nightmares were still frequent enough for him to dread sleeping.

Jack was supportive, if Ianto fell asleep at the Hub; Jack would sit by him if it looked like he was having a bad dream.

Lily was fast asleep next to Ianto now. Gwen cast a glance over and mouthed 'Awww' as she saw Lily. Ianto looked down and shrugged his shoulders. Gwen made a gesture of child-like kissing. Ianto screwed up his nose like a 9-year-old and stuck his out his tongue in protest. She giggled and gestured if he wanted a re-fill. He declined and snuggled into the sofa, sleep washing over him.

Jack decided that Ianto would be strong enough to answer some questions. He looked over to where he was sat and saw the two sleeping on the sofa. He snorted with laughter.

He walked over and shook Ianto ever so gently. Ianto stared at Jack with a puzzled look.

"I need to ask you some questions Yan." Whispered Jack, he didn't want Lily to wake up, she looked tired.

"Like what Sir." Asked Ianto, he stifled a yawn with his hand and stretched, pulling himself away from Lily's grasp.

"How do you know about Lily?"

Ianto stopped and looked away.

"Not here, in the boardroom and bring the others. Lily shouldn't hear this." Replied Ianto. He sighed deeply as Jack nodded and walked away.

Jack called the others, who questioned the sudden meeting, when it was obvious no one had done any work since Ianto's near death experience.

Ianto looked at Lily as she shifted in her sleep. He smiled and pulled a white, blonde strand of hair from her face.

'They need to know, she needs to be protected…from them.' Thought Ianto, he kissed Lily on the cheek and got up slowly, still weak he made his way up to the boardroom. To warn the team of the impending danger that could take Lily far away.

Ok, that should keep you happy, if not here is a taster of the next chapter.

"I won't let you Lily. They'll kill you and I won't let you go…I can't." Cried Ianto.

Lily turned, her wings spread. Her feet were teetering over the edge.

"I can't let you take the fall for my actions. I'm sorry." She fell.

Ianto cried out and struggled against Jack. He couldn't let her go…not like the last time, not like Lisa.

Tune in next week for

'Chapter 5'

'Fugitive'

R&R