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The next two weeks became much of a blur for Ianto. After the touch of dizziness leading to the injured arm, he'd had several days respite, but it wasn't long at all before he was suffering from what he knew were the results of his encounter with the Raspotahn – who they, annoyingly enough, had still yet to name. He wasn't far off from just calling it Bob and being done with it – and his body wouldn't allow him more than a couple of hours rest.

On a now typical day consisting of nothing but feeling nauseous and fatigued he was lying on the Hub's couch yet again, but this time with a cold cloth over his forehead. "I can't take it, sir," he groaned, eyes closed. "Just shoot me."

"I wouldn't want to dirty the floor," Jack replied, humor in his voice. He was standing at the other end of the couch while Owen knelt by Ianto's side, taking his blood pressure. "I know a Welshman who'd be none too happy with me."

Ianto groaned again. "I think he might forgive you just this once."

"I'd rather not take the chance," said Jack.

"Blood pressure is slightly elevated," Owen told them, getting to his feet. "Same thing as yesterday and the day before. Only I can't figure a reason for it."

Ianto opened his eyes, squinting. "Perhaps some blood pressure medication?"

Owen shook his head. "I'm not convinced that's not just a symptom. It shouldn't be causing nausea and certainly not this exhaustion. All I can do is run more tests."

Ianto groaned and Jack shoved his hands in his pockets. "What about a scan? Maybe there's something we're just not seeing."

"The Bekaran scanner?" Owen asked. Jack nodded. "I can't see why it would hurt. I'll be back in a minute."

Jack took the doctor's place at Ianto's side, sliding his hand down Ianto's right arm and reaching for his hand. Ianto let their fingers entwine for a moment before his eyes went wide and he ripped his hand away, pointing to the rubbish bin sitting nearby.

Jack knew the code and grabbed the bin, holding it up for Ianto just a fraction of a second before the Welshman vomited. When the medic returned they were still in the same place, Jack offering a few word of sympathy while Ianto heaved and gagged.

"Again?" Owen asked, shaking his head. "Take your time. We're not in a hurry."

Ianto pulled back far enough from the plastic-lined bin to glare at the doctor. "Believe me," he said, clearing his throat, "I would much rather avoid the vomiting at all costs."

Jack handed him a paper towel and Ianto took it gratefully, wiping his face before dropping the towel in the bin and lying back against the side of the couch where Jack had generously provided a pillow from his bed. When he was offered a bottle of water, however, Ianto waved it away.

"It only serves to make it worse," he explained.

"If you wouldn't mind?" Owen said, indicating with his head that Jack should move out of the way.

Jack got to his feet and backed away, folding his arms across his chest, while Owen fiddled with the contraption in his hands. After apparently adjusting it to his satisfaction the doctor turned it on, guiding it slowly over Ianto from head to feet.

Owen frowned, and Ianto raised an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"I'm not done yet, Tea Boy," Owen replied, running the scanner over him again. "Give it a minute."

Ianto sighed, trying to relax into the couch. It wasn't easy, as the couch was threadbare at best and it smelled a bit. He made a mental notation to find the upholstery cleaner once he was feeling better.

The scanner went over him once more, and then again. Finally Owen lifted it away from him. The frown hadn't left his face.

"What's wrong, Owen?" Jack asked, stepping closer. "What did you see?"

"There's something weird showing up on the scan. It shouldn't be there."

"An abnormality?" guessed Ianto. "Could the bite have caused it?"

"Tosh, be a love and come over here for a minute, would you?" Owen asked.

Toshiko looked up from her screens and turned to face them. "I'm sorry, what did you say, Owen?"

"I need a second pair of eyes."

The tech looked surprised but got to her feet, moving over to Owen's side and sliding her glasses on to take a closer look at the screen he was showing her. "And what is that, exactly?" she asked, looking up at the rest of them. "Is it what's making Ianto so sick?"

Owen sighed. "As far as I can tell, Tosh, in all likelihood it is, yes. I was hoping you'd be able to help me confirm what we're looking at."

"Oh, you're much more proficient with that thing than I am, Owen," she said, smiling.

"Obviously," he replied.

"Let me see," said Jack, closing in on Owen's other shoulder. He took one look at the scanner and then looked back down at Ianto. "That's impossible."

"What's impossible?" Ianto asked, confusion coloring his face. Jack just looked at him, brows furrowing as if he were angry. "What? Would someone please tell me what's going on?"

"Jack?" asked Tosh.

"What did you do, Ianto?" Jack asked, leaning closer to him.

"What's everyone so upset about?" Gwen said from the main level of the Hub. She'd evidently just come in and no one had even noticed the proximity klaxon blaring. "I could hear raised voiced before the door even opened."

"I don't understand," Ianto replied, swallowing. "Owen?"

"According to this scanner," Owen said, the hint of a smile curving his lips, "you're pregnant. Congratulations, you're going to be a father."

Ianto's eyes went wide and he grabbed at the bin, throwing up until there was nothing left of the small breakfast he'd had before he'd come into work that day. He was left with dry heaves and when Tosh offered him the same bottle Jack had offered previously he finally took it, sipping slowly.

"That's not possible," he said. "I can't…we didn't…?"

Jack shook his head and turned his back on them, storming into his office. He didn't slam the door, which Ianto took as a very good sign, but a moment later the captain came walking back out, wearing his coat. He didn't say a word as he passed them, clamoring down the stairs and out the cog wheel door before Ianto could quite grasp what was happening.

"I still don't understand," Gwen said softly. "Where's Jack going? What are you using the scanner for? Ianto, are you ill again, love?"

Ianto closed his eyes and sank deeper into the couch. His stomach was still threatening upheaval, his friends were crowded around him in a mess of confusion, and Jack had just disappeared to go who knew where. This day had just gone from bad to horribly worse, and he had no idea how to fix it.

Once Ianto was able to get up from the couch without the room tilting in on him, he headed for the kitchen, figuring the team could use some coffee. Owen was back down in his lair, waiting for Ianto to feel well enough for some other tests, Tosh and Gwen were at their workstations, and Jack still hadn't returned.

As he filled four cups for himself and his coworkers he contemplated the results Owen had given him. He couldn't be pregnant. He and Jack hadn't so much as kissed on the lips since being told pregnancy was a possible side effect of contact with the alien's saliva. In fact, just the idea that his body could have been so drastically changed in such a way to allow for a pregnancy to occur at all was more than enough to curb his sexual appetite, regardless of his agreeing with Jack about not being able to control their desires.

He carried the tray of coffees to his friends, stopping first at the top of the stairs to the medical bay. He carefully made his way down, placing a mug at Owen's elbow.

"I'll be back in a few minutes," he told the medic, getting a grunt as his only reply. It really didn't take the doctor long to become engrossed in something new.

He headed back up the stairs and then up to the workstations, handing Toshiko her coffee and giving the other to Gwen. He smiled at their thanks and started to walk away.

"Oh, Ianto?" called Gwen, stopping him before he left.

"Yes?"

"Jack's not back yet, is he?"

Ianto shook his head. "Not yet, no."

"Okay," she said, pointing to the last mug of coffee on the tray. "Who's that for, then?"

Ianto looked down, confused. "It's mine, Gwen."

Gwen put her own mug down on the desk and gave him an apologetic smile. "You can't drink it, love. You're pregnant."

Ianto stood there a moment, letting that sink in, before his face fell. He licked his lips, swallowed the lump in his throat, and looked back up at his teammate. She shook her head gently, grimaced, and then looked back down at her paperwork. Ianto walked straight back to the kitchen and poured the coffee down the drain.

He stood there for several minutes after he'd washed the last of the brown liquid out of the sink, staring at the tray on the counter and the lone mug sitting atop it. For a split second he had the overwhelming urge to throw the mug at a wall so he could watch all the pieces fall apart. It seemed symbolic.

Gripping the edge of the counter in both hands he closed his eyes, leaning over the sink and catching his breath before he found himself doing irrevocable damage. He couldn't be pregnant. He knew he couldn't. Not based on everything he'd been taught growing up, and everything he'd ever read. Surely his father's sex talk couldn't have been that far off the mark? Not even as drunk as he'd been when he'd given it.

All the denial in the world wasn't going to do him any good, however, until he went down to talk to Owen. He groaned, not wanting to do it. He didn't feel very well, he had just wasted a mug of his favorite coffee, and he really didn't want confirmation of something that he knew to be impossible. He was not Mary, and he was not going to have a virgin pregnancy. The very thought made him want to laugh. And where the hell was Jack?

Frustrated, Ianto opened his eyes. Taking one last look at the offending mug – he would clean it later – he left the kitchen, straightening his tie. He reached to tug down on his jacket but realized he wasn't wearing it. Right, he'd taken it off before he'd lain down. Being so sick was making him forgetful. It was surely still lying across the back of the couch where he'd left it.

Taking a deep breath Ianto headed out of the kitchen and down to the medical bay, hesitating a few moments at the top of the stairs. He glanced down at his watch. It was after one. Jack had been gone for hours, lunch hadn't been ordered, and he was starting to feel queasy again.

"Don't hover in doorways, Jones, it's rude."

"There isn't a door," he argued, starting down the steps.

"Rule stands," Owen replied, shrugging, before he moved to a cabinet and started removing supplies he would need. "On the table and shirt sleeve rolled up. You know the drill."

"Do I?" Ianto asked, feeling the nerves hit him full force. He looked up, hoping to see Jack standing at the railing. But there was only empty space. "There is a first time for everything."

Owen turned to look at him, expression softening just slightly. "I know." He stepped closer to the table and stuck a thermometer under Ianto's tongue, then sighed. "Trust me, I know."