Owen looked at the bodies, took a few photos of the way they had fallen and some of the injuries that would change as the bodies cooled and rigor mortis set in. The scientist in him loved this sort of investigation, no police, no SOCOs to get in his way so he could get straight down to the slicing and dicing. There was no way that he could ID these guys from a photograph, their faces were none existent, the exiting aliens had mashed their features beyond recognition. Katie flashed before his eyes, at least she was spared that indignity, he wondered if anyone was missing these men the least he could do was find their families for a last good bye.
Ianto was still confused and felt like he could sleep for a year, but annoyingly Jenny wanted to keep him awake, at first he was happy just to stay as still as possible but as the drugs started to work he tried to look round, instantly regretting it. It felt a bit like shaking one of those paperweights with the blue oil in them, all wavy, and it took a while to settle down.
"Where's Jack?" He asked again, all he wanted was to cuddle into him and forget the pain in his head
"Oh he's a little busy at the moment, I'm sure he'll be back soon." She was glad she had turned Ianto a little so he couldn't see the play within a play acted out with Gwen and Jack, there was a strange dynamic there, some sort of link that she couldn't work out. Ianto's brain was working a bit slower but as the cogs slowly dropped into place and he tried to move again.
"He's dead again isn't he, I need to be there." He tried to pull away but he was as weak as a kitten and easily held down, somehow though he got the mask off and shouted Jacks name until he coughed and started to wretch.
"He'll bounce back, that's why he's Jack" said Jenny holding him tightly till the spasm subsided.
"He gets scared too." Said Ianto quietly. Jenny tried to think of something light and reassuring to say but there wasn't anything really so she just made sympathetic noises and rubbed his free hand. There was something to be said for the normal practice of medicine, when it got too emotional you walked out the room and let the nursing staff look after the broken souls.
Ianto's mind wandered again. Despite all of Jacks bravado he didn't go out of his way to die, it wasn't an easy solution to get yourself shot – unless it saved someone else. The first time Ianto saw Jack die was when Owen shot him and at that time he thought he deserved it. He hadn't had time to regret the fact that their part-time arrangement hadn't come to more and he never considered the pain it caused Jack, he thought it had been quick and probably necessary. Then Jack had gasped and grabbed Gwen's leg and the guilt started, he had felt compelled to just about carry Jack from the rapidly disintegrating Hub, he had a million and one questions but he didn't get to ask them because Jack had wanted Gwen, and when she had rung Owen an hour later Ianto still didn't get to ask the questions because she brought him back dead. Then he wasn't again and he only had one question answered, no words just a heart stopping snog, was that the right word? It seemed so banal, then a whispered promise of some time to talk later. And of course later didn't come, Tosh had taken him to buy coffee due to the fact that the kitchen had been destroyed and when they returned Gwen was bleating about Jack going missing. And Ianto lost everything for the third time in a week.
For what he thought were the next three months he had thrown himself into saving the world, though it all seemed a little hazy round the edges. The whole team remembered being tasked to go to the Himalayas and the cold, physical exercise and lack of sleep made it difficult to remember what happened, or that was the conclusion the team had come to when they found themselves inexplicably back in the Hub. So without anything else to do they had chased Weevils, saved Cardiff from various alien hoards and generally upgraded the Hub, correction Ianto had upgraded the Hub. He had worked like the very devil to cut out the pain of loneliness again. He thought he had it sussed until he had bottled it when faced with the prospect of killing a teenage girl because his hands were shaking too much to ensure he hit the blowfish.
Then Jack had swanked in "hey kids did ya miss me?". He wanted to pin him to the floor and alternatively beat him to a pulp and then smoother him with passion but of course nothing was that simple with Jack.
As soon as Jack was back he ran off again, Ianto was seeing a pattern, so many questions unanswered and now they had some mad, cocky bastard from Jacks past or was it future, to deal with. The only comforting thought was that John Hart, real name also unknown, didn't seem to know about this inability to die so Jack wasn't just keeping it quiet from them. They didn't get another chance to talk until Gwen saved the world and Jack banished John through the Rift. The team quickly skedaddled from the car park in case they saw themselves and sat in a lay by round the other side of the bay till they worked out where they had been and where they could hide. After ruling out every ones house – neighbours might ask their other selves too many questions, the Hub and anywhere close to the centre of Cardiff they had finally told Jack that if they were going to a hotel it would have to be a good one and he had to explain why five people were turning up in the middle of the night, one soaked in blood, and why no one was to disturb them. There were only four rooms left and Tosh and Gwen offered to share but Ianto muttered something about needing to talk and Tosh took the hint even if Gwen had taken a while to click.
Tosh and Gwen took Owen and made sure that he bothered looking after himself and left Jack and Ianto standing in a darkened corridor staring at each other. Ianto was dog-tired and took four attempts to get the electronic key to register and open the door. Finally the light turned green and they went inside Jack walking behind him as they went through the small corridor formed by the bathroom. Ianto threw the key on the desk and let his shoulders drop. He turned to face Jack and without words they just grabbed each other in a bear hug that spoke volumes about their loneliness and need. They could have probably stayed all night like that if Ianto hadn't realised that his shoulder was getting damp, he pulled back to see Jack silently weeping and realised that sleep was still a long time away. So they had talked, he had asked the obvious question, why did he leave, did he find his Doctor and was pleased with the reply, Jack had found out what Ianto and the team remembered and the ever perceptive Ianto had probed till he found out a little about the year that never happened for them. Jack didn't want to say too much in case it triggered memories that had been reset when the year had been reversed but when he went to get up to replace the now sodden pocket handkerchief with some paper tissues his recently healed back was so stiff he cried out in pain. That was a new one for Ianto so after lifting him back onto the bed and being convinced that Owens services were not required Jack told Ianto about the fall from the building and the pain he went through every time he was dragged back.
Everything Jack had bottled up inside came flooding out, the physical pain, the mental torture of seeing others die and his new found acceptance of his permanent state. No specifics, but Ianto thought it was more important to get any information rather than allow him to clam up again. And clam up was all he had done since. Finally the sun rose again and they both realised the time, stiffly Jack had got up from the bed and Ianto had realised the state he was in so he shrugged out of his suit jacket and took off his tie before feeling a little awkward. He had offered Jack the bathroom first but rather coyly Jack had offered to share instead, the hot water had washed away the grime and released tense muscles, but nothing more happened that night. Jack wanted to do things properly, start all over again, rewind and Ianto wasn't complaining, so they had shut the curtains, thrown their clothes in the washing sack, put up the 'Do Not Disturb' sign and pulled the heavy duvet over them, the proximity of each other was all they needed to keep the demons at bay, if only for one night.
Despite the fact Gwen was waiting for this moment Jack still caught her unaware. She felt something change, a rush of energy perhaps, and she was about to call Owen over when he yelled. He yelled fit to stop the traffic, he flailed around as if a giant octopus was wrapped round him and Gwen was powerless to help. She tried put a hand over his mouth in an attempt to muffle the sound but he just threw the hand away and pulled more air into gasping lungs. He wasn't in control of his body and his arms thrashed like windmills, he felt his chest where the bullet wounds were only just healing, it was like red-hot pokers searing through his lungs. His head swivelled from side to side as he tried to work out what had just happened, head shots could really scramble his brain and being shot usually meant he had to be back on the ball quickly. Jesus this was like wading through porridge, something was obscuring his vision and he could hear someone calling his name. One by one each of his senses came back online, like a reboot of vital systems, touch, vision, sound, taste, a horrible metallic taste in his mouth and finally smell, Gwens perfume mixed with blood and vomit, he hoped he hadn't thrown up, the only time he lost control anymore was just after this happened.
"Jack" shouted Gwen, only just dodging an arm "Jack, calm down, it's alright, Jack." she sounded exasperated. Jenny marvelled at the fact that the rest of the team were acting like seeing a man shot in the head and then returning to life was an everyday occurrence, Tosh hadn't even stopped what she was doing. Ianto tried to crane his neck round ignoring the pain and dizziness, this one sounded bad for Jack, he normally just slid back into being after a few minutes and got up and carried on as if nothing had happened. Jenny tried to keep him as calm as possible but it was like holding only a small bird and nothing was going to help him until he knew what had happened.
Jack rolled over onto all fours and shook his head like a shaggy dog
"Can't see, what happened?" he said breathily, he sounded like an asthmatic donkey which had peaked Owens interest. Owen took any chance he could to study Jack, he had even asked to do some clinical trials on recovery times and couldn't understand why Jack hadn't seemed interested in being shot and observed. Owen grabbed Jacks head under the ears and tilted his head back,
"Yep there's your problem." He turned a motioned for the med kit which came sliding across the floor. He pushed Jack back till he was sat up with none of the care he had used on Tosh or Ianto. "Slash across your eye hasn't healed yet." Jack stopped struggling as he felt Gwen rub his arm, Owen worked efficiently to wash out the tear that had ripped half his eyelid back and exposed his cornea to the air all the time he had been lying there making it slightly cloudy. Anyone else it could have meant reduced vision for the rest of their life, scratch that anyone else would have been dead. He got Jack to lie back down on Gwens knee and placed the two sides of the wound back together, no point in stitches so he placed a couple of steri-strips on before covering it with a pad to keep the eye shut. Jack pawed at the cotton wool like a dog unable to comprehend why he could only see from one eye.
"Just for a few minutes Jack, give it time to heal." Said Owen checking the rest of him over, "How do you feel?"
"Like I've just been shot." He said grumpily. "What the hell did you do here?" he said looking pointedly at the hole in floor.
"She shot you, three times." Said Gwen pouting
"Thank you Miss Sensitivity." Said Owen happy that Jack being Jack everything else would be fine.
Jack looked round the room and saw Tosh propped against the wall, tapping away on a laptop, she gave a wane smile and thumbs up, he could see she was holding her leg at a funny angle and he mentally cursed himself for letting the team down. Gwen was obviously fine, she was talking twenty to the dozen in his ear and he was only half processing what she was telling him, Owen, well apart from the obvious, seemed fine even though Jack had a hazy memory of him lying very still on the floor. His good eye scanned round and finally he found what he was looking for, Ianto, pale features a blossoming bruise at his temple and one eye stating to puff up slightly, his head craned over his shoulder leaning against Jenny. His brain parked the fact that she shouldn't be here and his legs independently started to move across the floor, it was a bit like watching Bambi.
"Take it easy Jack, lack of blood remember." Said Owen moving out of the way.
Jack looked at the lake of blood on the floor around him and realised most of it was his own, his once blue shirt was a bright sticky red, one of the last shots must have hit a major blood vessel. It took time for his body to replace that much blood and a lot of fluid intake, boy was he going to have a headache tonight, until then he had to work round the bits that didn't work, like getting the blood back into his legs. He took the easier option and crawled like a baby across the floor to take Iantos face gently in his hands.
Ianto surged forward to hug Jack, he wanted to hold on and never let go. Jack held him tightly, listening to his partners hitched breathing, muttering apologies under his breath and rubbing small circles across his back. Jack kissed Iantos forehead on one very small piece of pale unbruised skin and looked at Jenny in askance.
"He'll survive, nasty concussion, some heavy bruising round the kidneys, I want to run some tests but Owen tells me the Hub has all I need."
She motioned for Jack to take her place and support Ianto, he immediately relaxed back into Jacks embrace but was brought up short by the damp and rapidly hardening blood on his shirt. Jack shrugged off his questions and shushed him, pulling him back into his arms and Ianto willingly curled up as he did so. Jenny pulled the blanket around them and checked his vitals once more.
"No going to sleep." She said in a mock stern voice and Ianto gave a barely perceptible nod and she went to offer her help to Owen and Gwen, arching an eyebrow when Owen suggested she help him carry the bodies downstairs.