Ianto Jones

The muscles in his arms burnt with exhaustion but still, he couldn't stop. He had to make it clean again.

The pain between his shoulder blades was like a knife slicing through his muscles while an imaginary monster seemed intent on twisting it inside, making the hole bigger and forcing the pain to radiate out through his arms and down into his fingertips.

"Gotta make it clean, why isn't it clean?"

His sobs where a pitiful sound, echoing through the hub, as he fought a losing battle with the floor, trying to erase a hundred years of use. Scrubbing harder now, Ianto watched as his hands moved determinedly back and forth over the hard concrete mesmerised by the constant rhythm and the bright pink foam covering the area he was attempting to clean.

Frowning he muttered to himself, "It should be getting cleaner."

Looking down, he let out an anguished cry, realising his hands were covered in blood.

He could feel his throat closing over as he fought for breath, hot tears rolling down his cheeks.

With a yell of exasperation, Ianto threw the scrubbing brush hard against the wall and watched it break against the unforgiving brick.

He sat back on his haunches and closed his eyes, rocking back and forth as more images haunted his mid. He could still feel his arms straining against the helpless man's torso, he could still feel his own fear too, as he fought for the man's life. His body trembled fighting for control of his emotions, yet it felt somehow soothing, cathartic so he fell back on the cold floor of the hub and let go.

Jack Harkness

Jack felt his pulse quicken as he neared the hub, the anxiousness to get inside making him move just a bit faster to the perception filter. Apart from the space that the roofs if Cardiff gave him to think, the Hub was the only other place he could sit and find order in all the chaos. Perhaps it was his connection to the rift that ordered his thoughts, or maybe it was the familiar surrounds he had called home for so long. Yet, the urge to get the Hub tonight had more to do with needing to be close to Ianto.

Jack was done with being alone for tonight.

The first thing he noticed when he descended into the Hub was the smell. The sharp tang of bleach was his first clue that he had left Ianto alone for too long, the second came when a loud sob drew his attention to a slumped figure on the floor by Toshiko's workstation. At the sight of his lover curled up on the floor sobbing, Jack felt his heart plummet to the pit of his stomach.

Ianto Jones

He felt two strong arms wrap around his waist and gently lift him to his feet before being pressed against a strong and familiar chest. The unique smell of Jack won out over the bleach and he breathed in deeply. Gentle hands swept back and forth over his back and warm breath and soothing words in his ear.

Ianto felt order and control slowly being returned to him as he strengthened in the embrace.

Jack loosened his arms slightly and Ianto felt himself being drawn back from Jack, meeting the Captains blue eyes with his own. He felt the gentle touch of thumbs to his cheeks as they brushed away wet tracks.

"Come on, sit over here for me."

He let himself be led to the couch, expecting Jack to sit beside him, grabbing his coat when he tried to walk away.

"It's ok, I'm just getting something for those hands. I won't leave you alone"

The caress to his face was reassuring, the kiss dropped on his forehead comforting as he let go of the coat, trusting in his return.

Earlier

Ianto's arms were quivering with the strain, he couldn't hold on much longer. The man, who only moments before had feebly asked him to save his wife, was now unconscious. At least he thought he was, anything beyond that was too hard to contemplate.

This thing was relentless, every time Ianto thought he had made ground he felt the Golem increase its pull and it felt like his arms were being wrenched out of their sockets.

Where was Gwen with that damn gun? Surely Jack had revived by now, so where the hell were they?

The situation was becoming more helpless as his arms weakened with each passing second.

A roar from the Golem and another hard pull tore a scream from Ianto, who felt the muscles across his shoulder blades rip, the pressure now too much. How easy it would be to just let go, give in to the creatures needs and let him have the man who was probably beyond saving anyway. But that wasn't who Ianto was, he would keep going until he saved this man or the creature won.

Looking down into the room below he tried not to let snarling figure intimidate him, even if inside it scared the crap out of him. He knew he was losing, He felt the fight slowly being lost when the door to the room below crashed open and Gwen burst in pointing the massive gun at the creature, who was yet to notice the intrusion.

With renewed strength, he tightened his grip and waited for her to shoot. He saw her hesitation and with the last ounce of his strength he yelled, "I can't hang on Gwen….SHOOT IT!"

But it was a fraction too late as he felt the floor beneath him give way and he crashed to the ground beside the man. Winded, Ianto opened his eyes and sucked in a sharp breath as stared into the vacant eyes of the man that had been the instrument in a human tug of war. Ianto didn't need Owen's medical degree to know the victim was dead.

"Oh god it won't reload, it won't RELOAD!" Gwen cried.

Ianto quickly got to his knees, his breath slowly catching up with him. He looked up to see the Golem now turning its attention to Gwen as it descended upon her while she hopelessly fiddled with the gun.

He brought himself to his feet desperate bid to help his colleague. "Hey! Over here."

Ianto picked up a piece of ceiling and hurled it towards the Golem, hitting it in the back. It growled but didn't break its stride as a long violent swing of its arm narrowly missed the Welsh woman's head. Gwen ducked, losing her balance in the process and toppled to the floor. Ianto rushed at it, throwing himself on its back as the creature reared up, trying to shake him loose. He tried desperately to hang on but once again his strength was waning and he felt himself slipping and hitting the floor for the second time. At least he had bought Gwen enough time to get out of harms way.

The Golem descended over him, its blank emotionless stare more menacing than any thing he had faced before and Ianto knew he was out of options and waited for the final blow to come.

Instead, gunshots rang out, and the creature turned to face an angry Captain with his Webley trained at its head. Ianto watched as Jack's aim was true, pumping enough bullets to the spot on its forehead, erasing the ancient letters. The creature fell, its bulky weight crushing Ianto beneath, once again forcing the air from his lungs.

Blackness crept around the edges of his eyes and he tried in vain to answer Jack when he called his name, but no words would come and he gave in to the dark.