Ianto was not entirely certain what was going on; he knew that when he had closed his eyes he was lying on the increasingly comfy sofa, a blanket round his shoulders placed there by Jack. So why did he feel like he was being made to sit up. He tried to open his eyes but he couldn't. He tried to call out but he couldn't even open his mouth. Suddenly, the realisation hit Ianto; he was still asleep all right, but something had taken over his system. Something was pulling him away from the sofa and onto his legs. He tried to wake himself up, tried to encourage his brain to take control once again, but nothing seemed to be working. He was trapped inside his own body and there was nothing he could do.
Gwen Cooper was still staring at her computer screen, her own eyes blinking rapidly before closing for a fraction of a second. Jolting her head backwards, she prised her eyes open and forced herself to stay awake. She knew she maybe should have left Rhys to finish off the bottle, but it had been such a nice night and Rhys had made his special lasagne, so it seemed only right to polish it off with a bottle of red wine. Something she was regretting greatly now. It wasn't that she was hung over, but she had barely touched the stuff for weeks, having to work almost constantly. But it was her well deserved night off and she wanted it to be special. Slight hangover or not.
'Oh, God.' Gwen produced an ear popping yawn as she rested her jaw on her raised arm, hoping that the numbers on her screen would start to make sense if she kept looking at them. No such luck. The numbers had beaten her as she closed her eyes for a few more seconds. If Ianto can have a lie down, why can't I? That was the last thought Gwen Cooper made before her eyelids closed and she let her defences down for the artefact to make its move.
'Jack? Gwen?' Ianto screamed in his head, unable to physically scream, shout or cry out. He was getting quite scared now and the movement of his body sluggishly making its way across the Hub was not helping him quell his fear. It wasn't the fact he couldn't see where he was going which caused him to worry; he could walk this place blindfolded, something which he had done when Jack insisted they try and play Naked Blind Man's Bluff. But there was no time to think of such things now; all that mattered was trying to take control of his actions once more and work out exactly what was going on before anything happened. He would have to work quickly as he was edging closer to the glowing box on the workstation.
Gwen tried to catch herself as she felt her cheek slide down her hand, but found it almost impossible to move her head. She hadn't thought that she was this tired, wondering why she was finding it so hard to open her eyes. It was then that she felt herself rise from the seat, her legs shaking as she tried to balance. This definitely couldn't be attributed to sleep deprivation. As far as she was aware, she had never once walked in her sleep, except that one time round Sally Dawkins' 12th birthday sleep over, something she hadn't been able to live down until she went to college and left the world of school behind. But this was no time for thoughts of what was, Gwen needed to understand what was going on now as she joined the possessed figure of Ianto next to the artefact.
'Hey, Gwen.' Jack had his nose buried deep in a file he had found behind a tray of instruments in the medical bay, some old document on the space whale, complete with crude childish drawings Jack placed as belonging to Owen. He sighed as he caressed the pages and smiled at the use of colourful language Owen had used in describing the captors of the poor creature. He was too late to see his two friends reaching out and holding up the glowing box between them. All he caught was the blinding light which surrounded his two friends. He shielded his eyes and tried to edge closer, the piercing light encompassing Gwen and Ianto as they both began to convulse.
Jack was terrified. 'Gwen! Ianto!' There was nothing he could do; yet again, he was going to have to stand by and watch as two of his teammates died in front of him. He couldn't do it, he just knew he couldn't do it this time. Watching Owen die the first time and then holding Tosh as her life ebbed away like the blood from her bullet wound was bad enough, how could he watch Gwen die? How could he let Ianto...no, he didn't want to think about that. They had been through too much, he wasn't about to let his young lover go just yet. Summoning up all of his courage and not caring one bit about his own safety, he began to charge towards his two friends, hoping to tackle them to the ground and break their death grip on the artefact. He didn't reach them, for as soon as he began his movements, the blinding white light died and released its two captives, their bodies slumping ungracefully to the ground.
Jack stood at the feet of his friends, a knot tying tightly in his stomach as he tried to decide who to access first. The thumping beat in his heart was telling him to check Ianto first, lay his head in his lap and try and awaken his lover. He needed to see the bright blue orbs of Ianto's eyes and make sure he was alright. He couldn't help but feel a little guilty at putting his own needs before his other teammate. He could imagine Rhys pummelling him into a resurrection if he had just left Gwen to come around on her own. His mind decided, he bent down quickly and held out a shaking hand to Gwen's neck. He felt a pulse; he exhaled deeply and then scurried over on his knees to Ianto, nervously laughing as he felt the same beat against his fingertips.
'Ow.' Jack heard Gwen sit up. Knowing the young woman was well enough to moan he brought Ianto's head onto his lap, the same position he had found himself in sometimes when he had died and Ianto sat with him until he revived, and began to brush away the hair on his forehead.
'Come on, Ianto.' Jack said as tried to encourage his partner to open his eyes.
'Um, Jack?' Gwen was still sat down, a look of fear in her eyes which was totally missed by the immortal man. Her head turned to look down at her body and instantly knew that this day could not get any worse.
'Gwen, help me get Ianto up,' Jack said, not bothering to turn to check on his colleague. Deep down, he knew he should be paying as much attention to Gwen as he was Ianto, but as she was sitting up and evidently talking, she was definitely in a better physical state than Ianto at this current moment.
'Jack?' Gwen's voice spoke again, followed by a stern cough. Trying to stand, Gwen's body swayed and finally had to balance itself on a chair, which was futile as the wheeled chair in front of her merely slipped from the grip of the weakened hand, causing Gwen's slightly tired body to rocket forward before finally gaining some form of balance.
'Gwen, please just help me get him on the sofa.' Jack's mind was completely focused on the task in hand, he didn't even comprehend what he had just seen happen with the glowing artefact. There would be time for questions and blame placing later. Right now, all he needed to do was...
'Sir!' Gwen's voice barked through the Hub, stilling Jack in his steps as he clung to Ianto's body. The word had the desired effect as Jack slowly turned and stared at the figure in front of him.
'Why did you...' Jack felt as though he had been slapped by a wet fish as he stared at the figure in front of him, watching as Gwen's arms placed themselves on her hips. He knew that stance, he knew that word and he knew they belonged to someone else. 'Ianto?'
'I would say in the flesh, but apparently that doesn't seem to be the case.' Ianto found he was quite glad that he had at least maintained his witty sarcasm.