Author's Notes: This one is a bit darker and longer than last time, but that's what served the prompt, so here it is. Gluttony. Sticking to canon timeline for now; will develop it onward from that later.

Warnings: drug use is discussed and acted upon.

I hope you like it and, as usual, don't be afraid to let me know what you think.

Gluttony – over indulgences of anything to the extreme. Alcoholism and drug use are considered gluttony.

Gwen made her way through the abandoned building, trying not to flinch back in disgust of some of the things she had to step over. She'd been in the force for just long enough to have done this a couple of times, but it had always been strangers she'd had to find. Anonymous people she'd ever have to see again; not friends. Which happened to be what she was looking for here.

"Hey." She crouched next to a girl that had curled up on the floor; her eyes closed but her breathing too frantic for her to be actually asleep. "Sorry, I'm looking for a friend. Could you perhaps–"

Her voice died when the girl – about twenty, Gwen conceded – opened her eyes to look at her. Apparently there was something that classified her as not-police because she asked groggily, "Who're you looking for?"

"His name's Ianto." The girl snorted. "Tall, dark hair, his face is all eyes and cheekbones."

"He's asleep. Was asleep last time I looked at him, anyway." She waved her hand vaguely to the left. "That way."

Gwen huffed out a 'thank you' and stood up. So she'd been right. And, God, did she wish she hadn't been.

Ianto had disappeared last night. He'd got out of the Hub earlier and told Jack that he'd meet him at his flat and, when Jack had arrived, he hadn't been there. Jack had checked everywhere he'd thought of, but to no avail, and then he'd called her.

She hadn't told him of her suspicions so far but, since she'd seen Ianto mess about Owen's lab even when there was no autopsy or patient waiting for them to take care of, she'd checked all the places in Cardiff where a bunch of drug addicts could be – which was exactly where Ianto would go if he wanted to be just a nameless, unrecognisable face.

And here she was, at eight in the morning, going through the last location she'd thought of. She'd finally hit the jackpot, it seemed, unless there was another dark-haired tall Ianto who'd made poor decisions the night before.

The building had been abandoned before it had been finished at all. There were no doors and, to her dismay, Gwen was quickly reassured that it was a very familiar Ianto who took residence here. He was leaning against the wall, a think black cigarette between his long fingers. He didn't seem to have noticed her yet, and Gwen cursed under her breath.

That attracted his attention.

"Gwen!" He gave her a little wave with his free hand, surprisingly cheery when compared to his otherwise frozen posture. "Hello. What brought you to my humble– Jesus Christ!"

His fingers reached up to touch the angry red mark Gwen's hand had left on his cheek and she felt her heart tight itself into a knot when he smiled. "That sort of tickles, you know–"

"What do you think you're doing here?" Gwen hissed as she took the cigarette from between his unresponsive fingers and threw it on the ground so she could step on it. "We've been looking for you for hours."

"Didn't make you do it, did I?" He belatedly realised what the fate of – well, whatever the hell it was, frankly (Gwen couldn't say she'd seen anything like it before) – and looked down at her angrily. "You realise that I've got only two left, right? What the hell was that for?"

"What's that?" Gwen asked, ignoring his outrage and pointing down at the cigarette. "Where did you get it from?" Ianto's mind was usually blindingly fast but he frowned at being bombarded with questions now. He wasn't himself right now, she realised that, and that was exactly what upset her so much. She'd lost two of her best friends and she wasn't losing another one because he'd suddenly decided that he didn't fancy living much longer.

"A Kanatian tradesman; liked a good deal now and then, especially with soldiers. Knew we'd never come back if something went wrong. I got them from him. Kanatian cigarettes; a bit strong for you lot, but I'm doing fine."

Okay, perhaps it was time to call Jack. As much as she didn't want to say anything about this to him – she could only imagine how it would make him feel – maybe he would be able to help.

"Jack's worried sick about you," Gwen said as she pulled at his hand and he followed her reluctantly down the corridor. "He thought you might be dead. Don't you think we've had enough of that?"

"I'm sorry that my private attempt of a getaway got in the way of your sorrow." Ianto's tone was surprisingly scathing for someone whose mind wasn't exactly crystal clear. Maybe the effect was wearing off. "You and Jack aren't afraid to feel the whole thing through. I can't do that. I'm not capable of it. I'd like to forget for a few hours without any of you mother henning me." When Gwen didn't say anything, he kept going. "I just want it to stop."

Gwen abruptly stopped and turned around to face him. "You want what to stop?"

There was so much pain in his eyes that she almost wanted to look away. "The noise, Gwen. There's so much noise in my head. I just want it to stop."

Definitely time to call Jack. Gwen ignored the feeble protests her phone's sudden appearance produced from Ianto and dialled Jack's number as fast as he could while still dragging her colleague after her.

"Did you find him?" Jack's voice was tense and Gwen hurried to reassure him.

"Yes, I've got him. He's fine. Well, mostly. I think he's having some sort of hallucinations."

There was silence on the other end of the line and then a deep sigh of resignation. "He's taken something, hasn't he? Did he say what it was?"

"He did, but I'm not sure what to make of it. Whatever it is, it looks like a cigarette, long and black– Kanatian, I think? That's what he said."

"Get him home." Jack's voice was small and defeated and Gwen could tell that he didn't have the power left in him to be surprised or disappointed. "He need to take a shower; even a cold bucket of water will do if you're willing to dump one on his head – and trust me, I'd support you in that decision. He needs any sort of water you can get in or on him; he might faint otherwise."

"His flat's too far away, I'll get him to mine. That okay?" There was an affirmative sound. "Jack– did you know about this? Has he done it before?"

"Not in front of me, no. But he has a history of it. I was hoping that–" There was a short, bitter laugh. "I was hoping that he'd come to me if he needed support."

"He said he bought it himself. Mentioned something about soldiers. Is he hallucinating, or–"

"I'm afraid not. I don't know how or why, but it's happened at some point."

"You mean–"

"I don't mean anything, Gwen. Yes, he might not be from around here; no, it doesn't really matter right now. Go easy on him, okay?"

Gwen ended the call before she could say something she'd regret about Jack's acceptance and just how easy she was tempted to go on Ianto at the moment. They had just got of the building where Rhys was waiting for them in the car. He looked tired and Gwen felt a stab of guilt for putting him through this yet again and pushed Ianto – perhaps a bit more roughly than it was strictly necessary – on the back seat.

"You know, after all of this," she turned around to face him as the car took off and he blinked several times, as if trying to get her into focus. "After all of this, if there was one thing Jack believed in, it was you."

"I'm not responsible for Jack." Ianto's voice was quiet and strangely bleary. "He's a grown man."

"Yes." Gwen was trying to touch something inside him, strike some chord, and was apparently failing, which hurt more than she'd expected to because she'd be damned if she lost someone else now. "But he relies on you."

There was silence from the back seat and when Ianto spoke, he sounded dead.

"A mistake made by many."

o.O.o

"Jack?" Ianto dropped his keys in front of the mirror in the hallway as he closed the door.

"In here." Jack's voice was coming faintly from the kitchen and Ianto followed the sound.

His head was clearer now and, as he'd started to put himself back together, the emotion that had reigned above anything else was shame. Yes, all the chaos in his head was back on again, but it was worth it for the fact that his thought was on his usual level and he was able to control himself. The conversation he'd had with Gwen almost an hour ago could have gone much worse, and he realised it.

She'd been right. Of course she had been. He'd failed.

"What are you doing here?" He asked quietly as he leant against the door frame of the kitchen. Jack gestured at the cat food package on the ground next to him without looking up.

"Feeding the beast you recently acquired." Ianto's cat was one they'd saved. After the Dalek invasion, they'd found the kitten in the ruins of a house and he'd brought it home. "A British shorthair called Sydney Carton? Can you get any more pretentious?"

Ianto managed a week smile but abandoned it quickly in favour of speaking. "Jack, I'm sorry. I didn't–"

"You don't need to explain yourself to me," Jack cut him off. "I'm not your father. I can't tell you what to do or not to do."

"No, you can't," Ianto agreed carefully. "But Gwen was more right than she realised. You relied on me, and I let you down."

"You're allowed to have a moment of weakness every now and then."

"No, I'm not," Ianto objected softly. "I'm not allowing it to myself. You and Gwen needed to take your time; I could just keep going, as long as I could do this once in a while. And by the way, about the cigarettes–"

"I don't care where you've taken them from," Jack said quickly and Ianto felt relief wash over him. "Just give them to me, yeah? Please. Give them to me so I can destroy whatever's left of them."

"You don't need to do it."

"Oh, trust me, I do." Jack raised himself from the ground and took Ianto's face in his hands; his fingers brushing his lover's neck. "I understand the need you feel for them, but next time, you can come to me. Talk to me." There was so much earnestness in his words and his eyes that Ianto's heart broke. "I can make you forget, if that's what you want."

"It's not." It was quite a revelation even to himself, but it was the truth. "It's not what I want. In fact," he closed his eyes and brought Jack closer so that he could envelop him in his arms. "never let me forget any of this."