Chapter Two: So It Begins

Ianto stepped into the makeshift bedroom he'd set up less than an hour earlier; it was a room they'd all slept in at least once, just off to the left of the main part of the hub. It was private enough for someone to sleep in, but open enough for people to see what was going on. It was a simple room; there was a cot, and plenty of blankets to the left of it. A bathroom with a door and shower was off to the right, there was a chair sitting by the end of the bed for someone to occupy should they need to.

He immediately picked up the sound of vomiting coming from the bathroom; he sighed and closed his eyes against the harsh sounds. He felt a lump forming in his throat, tears burning his eyes. He could recall every time he'd watched Jack die, it felt like every time was more painful than the next. He didn't want to believe this would be the last time; he wasn't ready to give up on the captain yet.

Sighing, he opened his eyes again and quickly stepped out of the room, he wasn't sure anything would help, but he could at least try and keep his lover hydrated. He grabbed a bottle of water and a straw, not wanting to upset Jack's stomach further. When he stepped back into the room he found the bathroom door open, Jack was seated on the floor, back against the shower/bath combo. His face was pale and drawn already, hair damp and glistening with sweat. "Here sir, rinse out your mouth." Ianto handed him the bottle with the straw.

"I've died so many times Ianto, so many. Even at the hands of a ruthless bastard I didn't feel this scared."

Ianto sighed again and sat down beside Jack, scooting as close as he could. He nodded. "You aren't alone Jack. We're going to take care of you, and when this is all over you'll wake up and we can go back to living our normal lives."

Jack let out a sarcastic life. "What's normal?" He took a slow sip of the water, trying to breathe deeply. "I'm sorry you're going to have to witness this, I've seen it before. It isn't pretty."

"Death is never pretty sir, it's a terrible thing, unfortunately for you, it would appear as if you're just proving which way is most painful."

"It would be easier for all of us if you shot me now." Murmured Jack.

Ianto shrugged. "Perhaps, only on you though. We've shot you before Jack; I don't think any of us are prepared for a recap. It's bad enough that we're all going to have to deal with this."

Jack whimpered suddenly as he gripped his stomach. Ianto took it as a signal and left the bathroom quickly to preserve some of the man's dignity just as Jack undid his pants. Closing the door behind himself he pressed his hand to the door. "I love you," he whispered softly before stepping out of the room to go speak with Owen.

Owen was in the medical bay, speaking discreetly with Martha when Ianto entered, he studied them for a moment, obviously they were in the midst of a heated discussion. "He's in pain, a lot of pain, and he's already vomiting and has diarrhea." He offered, interrupting the two.

Two sets of brown eyes looked up at Ianto and Owen sighed, "All right, we're trying to figure out what to give him right now. It's a bad idea to give someone with gastrointestinal problems morphine, it may only worsen the problem, Valium will make the ataxia worse, we can give him a low dose of Vicodin for now when his body decides to stop revolting—as much—I'll set him up with an IV."

"What were you talking about?" Ianto asked quietly.

"Nothing Ianto." Owen replied.

Ianto sighed. "Can I ask you both a question?"

Martha met the younger man's eyes. "Of course you can."

"If it weren't Jack, if it was me, or Gwen, Tosh anyone of us—would you kill them, knowing they'd never come back? Could you willingly put an end to the misery?"

Owen's eyes dropped to the ground, giving Ianto the answer he'd been seeking. "No," whispered Owen in reply.

Ianto nodded. "We can't kill him, like we've all said; he may only have so many times he can die. I know it's going to be painful, but he has the right to say goodbye and know that we love him. I can't hurt him. Not like that."

Owen finally met Ianto's eyes. "Neither can we. That's what we'd been talking about. I hate myself for not being able to put him out of his misery. Martha we may have to set him up with a catheter sooner rather than later. I'll go set him up with some Vicodin now." Owen left the room, leaving Martha and Ianto alone in the autopsy/medical bay.

"Ianto? Are you okay?"

The young man looked down at her and gave a weak smile, "You don't realize how much you care about people until you see them hurting."

Martha nodded. "I'm afraid it's only going to get worse."

"What can we do for him?"

"Hold him through the pain Ianto, all we can do is hold him, and when that becomes painful just talk to him."

"Tell me it's going to be okay," he whispered.

Martha moved up the stairs towards the tea-boy, she wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him close. "If I knew that, I would tell it to you in a heart beat." She replied, as she felt him wrap his own arms around her shoulders. They remained in their hug for several moments, drawing strength from one another for as long as they could.

o0o

Owen entered the small bedroom to find Jack lying curled up on the bed in a corner; he'd lost his pants and was only in a pair of boxers and a light shirt. He was shivering and Owen could see a fine sheen of sweat on the man's brow. "I brought you something for the pain," Owen offered quietly as he moved over to the bed.

"What happens when I can't make it to the bathroom anymore, Owen? Who the hell is going to clean up after me?" He whispered quietly, never turning to face the doctor.

"We will, because you're family. I know it's strange to hear from me. But you'd do the same for any of us."

Jack smirked weakly, "Well not you, that projectile vomit thing was the most disgusting thing I've ever seen."

Owen chuckled softly as he patted Jack's shoulder. "We'll take care of you Jack, no matter what. Do you have any questions while I'm down here?"

"Where's Ianto?"

Owen smiled. "Tea boy is upstairs with Martha discussing running off with her. Something about a torrid affair."

"Mmm, if I were in the mood, I'd consider that sexy."

"It's always about the sex. I'm going to insert an IV port which I'll then tape to your hand, we won't have to remove it and we can just change your IVs as needed. I've also placed a mild sedative in the solution along with the pain killer; it will keep you hydrated, pain free and hopefully help you get some rest."

"Have you ever watched someone die of radiation poisoning?" Jack questioned as he carefully turned towards the doctor, trying not to jar his body too much. He put his hand out and watched as Owen skillfully slipped the needle into the back of his hand then slid the port in.

"Yeah—once, when I was a first year intern in London."

Jack met the hazel orbs. "The man died?"

"Yeah, less than five hours after he was admitted. It was terrible, his insides literally seemed to melt from the inside out. He was covered in so many bandages to stop the bleeding. So many sores developed on his body, making it almost impossible to recognize him." Owen's face had taken a far off look to it, as he recalled every sickening detail of the red welts on the man's body, the whimpers and cries of pain. "Five hours he was tortured with pain."

"If I told you I didn't want any of you to sit with me, would you listen?"

Owen shook his head honestly. "No, Jack I know you want to spare us and you want to keep your dignity, but we've all got each other. If it gets to be too much then we'll switch sooner, but you aren't going to suffer through this alone."

The door to the bedroom opened, a moment later Ianto stepped into the room with a soft smile and a tray of tea. "I don't know if you can actually handle it, but I thought perhaps you'd like to try some tea."

Jack glanced up at Owen, as if waiting for the doctor's reply. "You can at least try it. I'll leave you two alone. Try and get some rest Jack, the more of this stage you can sleep through the better, it'll make the final stages a little less grueling."

Jack reached out, grabbing Owen before the younger man could walk away. "Thank you."

Owen just looked at his friend. A part of him had hated Jack for bringing him back to life, but another part—the part that thrived off others—was so thankful to have as much time with his team as he could have. He didn't reply he just gave a brief nod before leaving Ianto and Jack alone in the room. He stopped right beside Ianto, "I'll be back in a few hours, come get me if anything changes."

Ianto moved over to the bed, setting the tray down on the floor he handed the cup of tea to Jack smiling sadly. "How do you feel?"

"On top of the fucking world," muttered Jack as he remained on his side, accepting the mug in his hand and setting it on the bed. He looked at Ianto who'd taken up residence beside his head on the floor. "Careful I might puke on you."

Ianto smirked. "I'll take my chances." Lifting his hand he placed it on top of Jack's head, smoothing back the sweat dampened silk hair. "Jack—"

"Ianto save it, I'm going to die from this and wake up fine."

The tea boy nodded. "I know that, but that doesn't mean you have to act like it doesn't scare you." Without another word the man stood up, preparing to leave Jack alone.

"Damn it!" hissed Jack as he snapped his hand out and pulled Ianto back. He moved his mug to the floor then pulled Ianto down onto the bed. "Stay with me. Please, don't leave me to face this all alone."

Ianto, laid down next to his lover and looked at the man. "I hate that you can drive me crazy and make me love you even more in one sentence."

Jack smirked. "It's my irresistible charm."

"Or your overzealous libido," Ianto returned.

"You love me?"

"Well if you don't know by now sir; I'm certainly not going to tell you."

Jack shook his head playfully; he could feel the sedative beginning to take affect, his eye lids were beginning to drop. "Me too," he managed before he lost consciousness.

Ianto took a moment to look at Jack. He'd seen Jack die, he'd seen him angry, frustrated, and he'd even seen him cry once or twice. But this was a different side of Jack all together. He looked so much younger and peaceful when he slept. Leaning forward Ianto pressed his lips to the soft forehead, taking a moment to breathe in Jack's scent of cologne and watermelon shampoo.

o0o

Martha stepped into the bedroom three and a half hours later, expecting to find Jack in the bathroom being ill or something. What she found instead made her smile. Jack slept on his side, curled into Ianto's arms, who was facing Jack. Both men were fast asleep on the bed, securely wrapped in each other's arms. She studied both men for a moment, Ianto asleep, looked so much younger than his twenty-five years. His face was smoother, making him look far more innocent than she knew him to be. Jack's face had tightened; he was obviously in some pain, the beginning stages no doubt. Even with all the pain he looked more relaxed than she'd seen him in a long time. She almost hated to wake them, but she needed to check on Jack, and Ianto deserved a break.

Moving over to the two men, she gently brushed Ianto's hair from his forehead, bringing him out of his light sleep with her touch. He turned his head to look up at her over his shoulder. "Time is it?"

"Almost two, they have some food upstairs if you want some. Take a break I'll stay with him for awhile."

Ianto looked back at the figure in his arms. "Come get me if he needs something."

She nodded, "You know I will."

Ianto gently began to untangle himself from his lover's arms, wincing as Jack elicited a groan; though Ianto wasn't sure if it was because of the loss of warmth, or because Jack was in pain. Once he was standing again he leaned down and pressed a light kiss to Jack's temple. "I'm always with you."

Martha watched him go quietly for a moment before she turned back to look at Jack, he'd curled up further into a ball, preserving the lost heat. In only a matter of hours his face was pale and drawn. "Wish the Doctor was here," she murmured softly.

"Wouldn't make much of a difference," came the weak whisper.

Martha's eyes met pain filled blue ones. "I didn't mean to wake you."

"Then you probably shouldn't have woken Ianto up." replied Jack as he closed his eyes against the brutality of the lighting.

Martha noticed his forehead stitch in pain, "What's wrong? How can I help?"

He groaned. "Get me to the bathroom."

She waited just outside the door, grimacing at the sound of the vomiting that sounded so forced. She was about to walk out of the room to get him something to drink when she heard a cry from inside, "MARTHA!" She never recalled Jack Harkness sounding so completely terrified. She burst into the bathroom, not caring about his privacy anymore. She felt her heart sink at the sight before her, for starts his body seemed to have gone on mass revolt. His pants and shirt were completely soiled; he looked completely lost and miserable. The next thing she noticed was the smell of iron in the air. She looked down into the toilet.

"Shit!" She raced out of the room and up the stairs. "Owen! Ianto! Get down here now!" she yelled at the top of her lungs. She raced downstairs to the medical bay and grabbed some towels and a basin. Ianto and Owen were two steps in front of her as they headed back into the room.

The first thing that hit them was the overwhelming stench of vomit and feces. Sometime between when Martha had left the room and their return he'd lost consciousness and was now lying on his side. "Damn, I think we can skip the latent stage, Ianto—"

The tea boy lover stepped forward and gently turned on the shower, filling the tub with warm water. He looked back at the two doctors. "This is only the beginning isn't it?"

"Yes, and it's definitely only going to get worse. Do you want help?"

Ianto sighed. "No, I'll clean this up, what does the blood mean Owen?"

"He's already bleeding internally I'm afraid. When he's finished come get us, he's going to need to be monitored at all times now."

Ianto looked back down at his lover and felt tears in his eyes. "You're safe Jack, you'll be safe with me."

Owen and Martha both slipped out of the room, leaving to prepare to monitor Jack much closer than originally planned. Meanwhile Ianto slowly began to strip Jack of his soiled clothes, before carefully lifting the man and depositing him into the tub. "I love you so much," Ianto whispered, pressing a kiss to the man's head.

TBC