Whoop, back from a weekend of practicing my saxophone almost non stop. Reasonably fun, but I'm g;ad to be hme. I'm pretty busy this week, but I'll try to get a chapter up midweek at the latest! Thanks for reading :D

Chapter 7

Yeah, and I was much younger then
And I must have thought that I would know
If things were going to end

Shortly after Ianto's bout of consciousness, Jack and Owen had noted elevated brain activity in him. At first, it was only a small increase, but over the following hours, it had got steadily higher, wavering between the base level and almost fully conscious.

For once, Jack was exceedingly glad that he didn't need sleep, for he could watch over Ianto in those times. He'd soon learnt that whilst the young man wasn't fully present in the room, he could feel the pain his wound caused him. A couple of times, his grip had tightened just that little bit more and the muscles in his face shifted slightly into a grimace and Jack would call a doctor in.

For now though, he was sleeping reasonably peacefully. His heart rate was a little stronger and his breathing had picked up as well, echoing the latest test that said he was regaining control of his body. Of course, when asked, the doctors all had no idea how it could possibly be happening - yet miraculously, it was.

Once again, Jack was alone with Ianto, only the beeping of the monitors to keep him company. It had been almost a day since he'd been brought out of surgery now and Jack was starting to feel just a little rough around the edges. Despite Gwen's objections, he refused to leave Ianto alone at night. They could barely drag him away to stretch his legs for five minutes.

"I tell you, when I first found out they were together, I never thought there was this amount of devotion." Tosh murmured over a cup of coffee at the coffee shop on the corner of the street outside.

"It makes me feel kind of silly." Gwen admitted, taking a sip of her own drink. it wasn't as good as Ianto's, but it would do. "All those times when I thought it was just a thing they did and it was so much more."

"To be fair, they weren't serious until Jack came home." Owen said pointedly, surprising both women. "Oh, come on! You must've noticed the way he couldn't stand the sight of Tom! Don't you remember all those trips he took alone, all those days he spent out of the Hub?"

"You're right." Tosh said with a nod, the three of them lapsing into silence as they continued to work their ways through their coffees.

"I never thought it would end like this for them though." Gwen said finally, sighing as she looked into the bottom of her mug. Whilst they all prayed and hoped that Ianto was going to recover, the doctors were doing their best to make sure they prepared for the worst. Only Jack refused to see the possibility that he wouldn't bounce back.

"It's not over, Gwen. Don't think like that." Tosh said reprovingly, flinching at her words. Gwen grimaced and apologised.

"If there's one thing that working in a hospital has taught me, it's that on rare occasions, positive thinking actually does work." He said sagely to Gwen. Then he shook his head and realised what he'd said, clearing his throat and scowling a little. "Of course, that's only on very, very rare occasions… But for tea-boy's sake, he better be able to make me a cup of coffee soon!"

He walked off then and Tosh and Gwen looked sideways at each other, laughing together at Owen. No matter how much he tried to hide it, he was rather attached to Ianto, in a brotherly kind of way. They fought and bickered almost every waking minute, but they'd both die to save each other - that much was obvious.

*

Back in the hospital, Jack was alone with Ianto, watching the young man absently, his fingers running a pattern across the back of his pale, cool hand.

"Ianto Jones… I don't think I've thought as hard or as much about anything since the moment I realised I loved you." Jack murmured, watching Ianto with a wistful expression on his face. "I've decided that you're going to get better. If you don't… well, I'll think of something, but there'll be a punishment...

"How the hell do you do this to me, Ianto? Just facing the possibility of losing you – losing you now, before I could say goodbye – has me ready to just shut down… I don't know how I'd carry on without you, Ianto."

"You'd survive… You always do…" The voice was faint, a low murmur that he felt as much as he heard, but Jack looked up in shock to see Ianto's mouth had fallen open just a little. Jack felt himself crying again, hot, angry tears sliding across his cheeks in now well worn trails. Was imaginging Ianto's voice some new kind of torture? Or was he actually beginning to go mad?

He leaned up to press a soft, gentle kiss to Ianto's lips, his heart cracking that little bit further when they remained unresponsive.

"I would've before I met you, Ianto. I would've been able to go on… But I was so much more naïve then." Jack continued to cry, his voice choked with tears. "I've learnt so much with you, you've… I just need you to open your eyes…"

*

'…just need you… open your eyes…'

Ianto's eyelids snapped open and he found himself staring at the small room in the TARDIS once more. He swore he'd been back in his body, he'd been back there and he'd heard Jack fall apart, felt his lips on his own once more, as he started to slip away.

If anything, that just made him more determined to get back to him, to get back to Jack and show him just how alive he was.

He gritted his teeth against the threatening tears, refusing to let himself being to cry again, and got up from the bed, taking one last moment to remember Jack's scent before leaving the room and heading down the corridor, back to the main console room. The Doctor was sitting down on the chairs to one side and looking at the screen, worrying at his lip as he sat back with his hands behind his head.

"What's wrong?" Ianto asked quietly as he approached.

"What makes you think there's something wrong?" He replied defensively, looking over at Ianto with a look of interrogation in his eyes. Ianto just smiled.

"Jack does the same thing." Ianto took the seat next to the Doctor and looked at the screen he'd been staring at. The Doctor sighed and patted his shoulder sympathetically. He could see exactly why Jack was so taken with the young man now. "So?"

"Well, I've been trying to work out what caused this whole detachment, I'm trying to figure out how being shot could make you separate like that…" The Doctor frowned again. "Where did you say this guy was from?"

"Fifty first century, he was one of Jack's old 'colleagues'." Ianto said dully, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in his chest at the memory.

"Fifty first century… fifty first…" The Doctor's eyes widened and he grinned. "I think I've got a plan."

He jumped up and headed off down the corridor at a run. Ianto watched him go then looked around the large, humming room. After a few moments, the humming changed pitch again and he looked at the central column with a slight frown.

"This isn't the end, you know." Ianto muttered to it, the machinery humming its affirmative in return.