Ianto awoke the next morning with a loud yawn. He blinked his eyes open and groaned at the light streaming in from the office above his head. Rolling over, he grabbed his watch off the small bedside table. His eyes widened when he saw it was after eight in the morning. It wasn't usual for him to sleep late as he preferred to be working by that time. Apparently their activities the night before had worn him out.

Shrugging the covers from his body, Ianto rolled off the small cot and stretched. He made his way to the tiny bathroom and took a quick shower, dressing in the spare suit he kept in Jack's bunker for just this occasion. He made a mental note to pick up another suit when he went home that evening.

Climbing out of the room he was greeted with the sight of Jack hard at work at his desk. He was deep in concentration, if the fact that he hadn't heard Ianto stirring was any indication. Ianto stepped up beside him, smiling. "Good morning, sir."

Jack jumped, spinning around to face him. A grin split his face. "Ianto! Good morning."

"I slept rather later than I expected," Ianto replied as way of apology. He rubbed the back of his neck. "Would you like a coffee?"

"I'd love one." Jack put down his pen and reached up to tug Ianto closer. "But first…" He drew Ianto down and kissed him hard on the mouth before pulling away with a loud smack of his lips. "Much better."

Ianto raised an eyebrow. "I should really begin chastising you for your public displays of affection."

"What public? We're in a secret underground base and no one is here."

"No one?" Ianto straightened up and looked out the glass door toward the workstations. Not one of his coworkers was sitting there. "Where's Tosh?"

"She called earlier, feeling a little under the weather. I told her to take the day off. She insisted she'd be in this afternoon after a bit more sleep."

"Owen? Gwen?"

"I'm sure they'll be along shortly. It's early yet."

Ianto nodded, stepping away from Jack and heading for the door. He made his way to the kitchen and began the first coffee of the day. Poking around the cupboards he managed to find a package of Hobnobs that hadn't been devoured by Gwen. She had quite the sweet tooth and he constantly had to find new places to hide the biscuits so she wouldn't eat them all. He wasn't at all sure how she maintained her figure.

Placing the biscuits on a plate he prepared a couple of coffees for himself and Jack, then made his way back to the captain's office. Setting the plate and coffees between them on the desk he pulled up a chair, making himself comfortable while Jack set aside a folder he'd be working on.

Jack reached for a biscuit and downed it in one bite. Taking a sip of his coffee next he moaned, closing his eyes. "I don't know how you do it, Ianto."

"How I do what, sir?"

"How you make a cup of coffee into an orgasmic experience."

Ianto took a sip of his own drink before answering, "I'm a sex god. Obviously."

Jack laughed out loud, opening his eyes and grinning at the man across from him. "I never doubted it for a minute."

They finished the remainder of their breakfast with small talk, and when they were finished Ianto cleared their plate and mugs and took them back to the kitchen for a thorough cleaning. He hummed to himself as he worked, going through his mental checklist of chores he wanted to accomplish that morning.

First up would be the Raspotahn's feeding. He wanted to spend some time with the alien today, to try to form a connection of sorts. Perhaps if they bonded the creature would communicate with him and they could determine sooner rather than later if they could integrate it into their population of aliens given asylum. He hoped Owen would be working with the alien that day as well. They really needed to determine its sex so they could give it a name. Referring to their guest as "it" would become very old, very fast.

Cleaning done, Ianto prepped more vegetables for the alien and once again donned his gloves and mask, having left them in the kitchen for convenience. He placed another cup of water on the tray and started to leave, before deciding to bring the chocolate biscuits with him. Might as well see if the Raspotahn enjoyed a more diverse vegetarian diet.

Setting the tray down on the floor of the cell, Ianto waited a moment to see if the alien would approach him. When it didn't, Ianto sighed and backed out of the cell, closing the door behind him. It only took a few seconds for the creature to move forward and poke around the tray. It grabbed a large leaf of spinach and munched it carefully, its eyes not leaving the open package of Hobnobs.

"I think you'll like those," Ianto told it, nodding at the biscuits peeking from the opening.

The alien eyed him, swallowing its spinach. It appeared to frown, if that was how their faces worked, and it shoved the package of biscuits off the tray. It instead grabbed a handful of broccoli and backed away, munching the veg.

"Or maybe not."

The alien then began to keen. Softly at first, then gradually louder. It rocked back and forth on its haunches, still chewing on its breakfast as it stared disdainfully at the offending biscuits. Ianto thought that perhaps it didn't like the food touching its breakfast, and that was why the Hobnobs had been cast aside.

"Do you want me to remove those?" he asked the alien, pointing toward the package. The alien keened louder, and looked up at him with what appeared to be a pleading expression. "I'll take that as a yes then, shall I?"

Ianto opened the door once more. The alien was still watching him and did not stop its keening, though the sound had lessened fractionally. He moved closer, barely registering that the creature was only a meter behind the plate. Later he would realize that if he'd considered his actions a little more thoroughly he would have waited until the alien had backed farther away.

Reaching down toward the biscuits which lay just beside the Raspotahn's tray, Ianto took his eyes away for what was likely a second too long. The alien lunged at him, its mouth closing around his hand in a flash of movement. Its teeth sunk in and Ianto yelped, knocking the tray. The sound startled the creature and it released his hand. As Ianto backed away toward the door behind him, clutching his injured hand, the alien once more took up its keening, making its way to the back corner of the cell and huddling down into a shaking mess. It looked extremely remorseful.

The package of biscuits remained next to the tray, and the vegetables were now floating in the spilled water from the cup that lay tipped over on its side.

Ianto closed and locked the cell door carefully; a difficult task with only one hand. He hurried from the vaults and made his way up the stone steps, fumbling with the door to the Hub. Luckily Jack met him halfway, pulling the door open and drawing Ianto through before closing it once more.

"I saw what happened on the CCTV," Jack explained to him, his arm around Ianto as he led him through the Hub and down into the medical bay. "I called Owen. He's already on his way in. Should be here within minutes. Did it get through the gloves?"

There was a tinge of panic in Jack's voice, but Ianto knew he wouldn't be able to give him any assurances. While there was no blood streaming from his wound, he'd already noticed the puncture marks in the latex. He wished he'd thought to wear something thicker, but the assumption had been that the Raspotahn race was non-aggressive. He'd been protecting himself from the creature's saliva touching his skin, not from the threat of a bite.

"Yes," he mumbled.

Jack sat Ianto on the table and pulled off his face mask, tossing it aside. He reached for his hand, but the Welshman tucked it closer against him, shaking his head. "Gloves," he told him, eyes wide. "It's poisonous."

"Right," Jack agreed, turning to fumble through drawers until he found a box of gloves and pulled a pair on. Then he turned around and smiled gently. "Even though it can't kill me."

Ianto frowned. "Yes it can. You just won't stay dead."

Jack's smile faded. "Yeah."

The cog door rolled open with its blasting klaxons and Owen hurried through. "Jack? Ianto?"

"Down here," called Jack, stepping to the side. He wrapped an arm around Ianto again, pressing a lingering kiss to the side of his head. "Owen's here."

Ianto snorted. "I heard. Don't worry, Jack. I'm fine."

Owen quickly made his way down the steps, washing his hands. He grabbed a pair of gloves and slipped them on before pulling Ianto's hand toward him. "Jack said the Raspotahn bit you?"

"Yes. I was trying to clear away something from its tray and it reacted."

"I thought they were non-violent, Harkness," Owen growled, removing Ianto's glove and examining the wound.

"They are," Jack replied defensively. "I can't remember ever hearing about them being aggressive."

"I don't think it meant to hurt me," Ianto told them, wincing as Owen dabbed alcohol on the puncture marks. "It seemed really upset afterward."

"Probably thought you were going to retaliate," said Owen. "Should have shot the bloody thing."

"No," argued Jack, shaking his head. "We need it alive, Owen. Otherwise there's no way to create an antidote."

"Yeah," the medic muttered, cleaning the wound. "Do we know how long the poison takes to kick in?"

"Tosh would have that information," Ianto replied, watching as Owen reached for a needle and extracted what he assumed was an antibiotic from a small glass bottle. He winced as the needle pierced his skin.

"I'll call her," said Jack, heading up the stairs.

Owen grabbed gauze and a sterile bandage, looking him in the eye. "How's the pain?"

"I'm fine," Ianto replied.

"Don't be so bloody stoic, Jones. Jack's not here. Tell me the truth."

Ianto sighed. "It hurts."

"That's what I figured," the medic replied, reaching for another needle and bottle. He injected the pain medication before securing the gauze and bandage around his hand with surgical tape. "I'll put together pills for you as well."

"That's really not necessary," Ianto tried to argue.

"And exactly who is the doctor here?" asked Owen, taking off his gloves and washing his hands again. "You can be as stubborn as you want to, but you're still going to take the pain meds."

Ianto sighed, pulling the glove off his other hand and dropping it and its match in the bin by the side of Owen's workbench. He knew it was pointless to argue with the medic when it came to his patients. The man might have the bedside manner of an ogre, but he knew what he was doing.

Jack appeared at the railing above them, looking grim. "Tosh says the poison spreads through the system within thirty minutes, but that the full effects might not be noticeable for several days. She wanted to remind us that it's listed in the records as mild. It's not a neurotoxin."

"Then we have a little time," Owen replied, pulling test tubes and vials out of a cupboard. "I'll start with some blood samples from both Ianto and the Raspotahn. Where is Tosh, anyway?"

"She's heading in now," Jack replied. He smiled down at Ianto. "I told her she didn't have to come, that she could help us via phone, but she refused. She says all the research she was doing yesterday is on her computers here at the Hub."

"She wasn't feeling well and called in earlier," Ianto said, responding to Owen's confused look.

The klaxons blared again and Ianto looked up, assuming it would be Tosh. When Gwen came to stand beside Jack with an anxious look on her face he realized the captain must have called her too.

"Nice of you to join us this morning, Miss Cooper," Owen muttered. "Alright, Tea Boy, off with the jacket and roll up your sleeve."

Ianto got to his feet and shrugged off his jacket, but frowned when he had a little trouble with his cufflink. Jack hurried down the stairs and removed the cufflink for him, tucking it in his own pocket.

"Are you alright, sweetheart?" Gwen asked, concern marking her features.

"I'm fine," Ianto told her, offering a smile as Owen swabbed the crook of his arm before inserting the needle.

"Don't worry, Gwen," said Jack, winking. "He's easily got a few days before his hand falls off and the rest of him turns purple."

Gwen looked scandalized. "Jack, this could be serious!"

"It's not a deadly poison," Ianto assured her, still smiling. "I'll be just fine. Owen's going to work on an antidote."

"But we still can't be sure what the poison will do to you, love."

"Tosh said it's different with each person," Jack explained. "She'll brief us all when she gets in, but she told me not to worry."

"That's enough for me," Ianto replied. Gwen still didn't look convinced.

Once Owen had set Ianto's blood sample aside, Jack helped him refasten his shirt cuff and pull his suit jacket back on. Owen and Jack then headed down into the cells to obtain a sample from the alien as well. Ianto watched them from the CCTV feed in Jack's office. The Raspotahn hadn't moved from the spot where he'd left it, and it was still looking repentant. They used tranquilizers to ensure there would be no other incidents.

When they returned Owen started a blood analysis and Ianto headed down into the archives to see if he could find any files on the Raspotahn that Jack wasn't familiar with. He wasn't very hopeful, but he couldn't stand to just stand around awaiting his fate.

By the time Tosh arrived Ianto had come to no less than four dead ends, and he emerged from the archives a short time later with a small headache and a throbbing hand. He found the technician at her computer, furiously typing away and compiling documentation.

"How are you feeling, Tosh?" he asked, noticing she appeared tired and a bit drawn.

"I'm alright, Ianto," she replied, smiling up at him. "I should be asking you the same thing."

Ianto glanced at his hand, shrugging. "It's not so bad. As long as I don't move it."

"Oh my!"

"I'm teasing, Tosh. It's fine, really."

She nudged his side with her shoulder, going back to her work. "Can you let Jack know I'm just about ready?"

"Of course."

He made his way over to the captain's office and passed on the message, before heading to the kitchen to prepare some coffee for their meeting. As he carried the drinks to the conference room he felt a twinge in his hand. Perhaps his answer to Tosh hadn't been so far off the mark after all.

"Here, let me help you with that," Gwen insisted, removing the tray from his hands as he started through the door.

"Thank you, Gwen," Ianto replied, nodding.

Gwen set out the mugs of coffee as Ianto settled into his chair. He looked up as Tosh entered, carrying a stack of folders. She smiled sweetly at him. He smiled back, flexing his hand gently. It was definitely still sore, but the drugs Owen had given him had taken effect and dulled the pain significantly.

"Why don't you fill us in on more of what you found out?" Jack asked Toshiko.

"Of course. I took the opportunity to print out copies of One's notes when I got in," she stated, handing out the files. "There were three cases. Two field agents at one time and a third a few years later. The first two were trying to extract a tooth from the creature and didn't realize the saliva was poisonous. The creature was under anesthesia. The third was infected while killing one of the aliens. Bodily fluids went everywhere."

Ianto opened his file, looking to see if there were any names he recognized. There weren't. But then again, he didn't know that many field agents during the time he'd worked there.

"What was the most severe case?" asked Owen.

"Well," Tosh replied, clearing her throat, "that's the interesting part."

"How so?" Gwen asked.

"According to One's files, one of the instances resulted in…a pregnancy."

Ianto's head snapped up. "She was impregnated by a Raspotahn?"

Tosh's eyes flitted from Ianto to Jack, and back again. "No. The attack left certain markers inside the agent that made changes to body chemistry."

"So, she became more fertile?" Gwen ventured.

"You could say that," Tosh replied. "They didn't think anything was wrong at first, but not long after the incident, Ronald Smith became impregnated by his boyfriend."

Ianto's mouth fell open and he looked at Jack. Jack's eyes were wide and he was staring at Tosh with a dumbfounded expression.

Damn.