SPLASH

Chapter Eleven

I'm a bad, bad girl. Really bad girl. (_) I can hardly believe that I left you for nearly two weeks! (OK, fair enough, I haven't updated my Charlie Bone fics since June... but that's irrelevant.)

Please don't kill me – I hope this makes up for the long wait!

Disclaimer: Torchwood is a fantastic playground created by Russell T. Davies. I just like playing in it. If I promise not to vandalise it, please can I stay for longer?

Jack dropped the radio and was at his side in an instant.

"Ianto?"

There was no response. Ianto's head lolled and his eyes were closed.

"Owen, what's wrong with him?" Jack asked, back in captain-mode.

Owen frowned, listening to the unconscious Welshman's breathing. "Not sure. I think he's just blacked out – check his pulse."

Ianto's pulse was slow and sluggish beneath Jack's fingers. "It's really slow," the captain said, blue eyes betraying his fear for his lover.

Owen stood back and folded his arms. "OK. Put him on the bed and we'll see how he is when he wakes up."

"What?" Gwen asked.

Owen shrugged. "There's nothing we can do now, other than just wait for him to wake up."

Just then, Ianto gave a shuddering gasp and his eyes snapped open. He flailed, grabbing at Jack in terror.

"Shush – it's OK, Yan, it's OK-" Jack tried to reassure him.

Ianto stopped flailing desperately and instead clung to Jack, his breathing slowing and his face relaxing.

"What happened?" Gwen wanted to know. "Ianto, pet, tell us what happened."

Ianto let out a shaky breath and managed a weak smile, letting go of Jack's coat lapel.

"What did you see?" Gwen pressed.

Ianto shook his head, blue eyes wide and scared.

Jack took his hand and squeezed it comfortingly. "Yan?"

Ianto swallowed. "It was dark. There was nothing."

Jack and Owen exchanged a glance.

"Nothing but water. Everywhere, water," Ianto continued, his grip on Jack's hand tightening. "Water, in my nose, my mouth, my eyes, my lungs... I was drowning."

Owen frowned. "I think you'd better sit down for a bit, mate. Have a rest."

Ianto fixed him with a look. "Owen. I am sitting down. I've only just woken up. I certainly don't need a rest."

Owen shrugged. "Suit yourself."

Toshiko was bent over the VHF radio and her PDA. "Jack – I've got the co-ordinates from the caller."

Jack looked over. "What've you found?"

"The readings just don't make sense. Apparently the caller was a mile off the coast of Guernsey, nearly two-hundred feet underwater." Toshiko shook her head. "I don't understand it."

"Right," Jack said decisively, standing up. "We need to set off straight away."

"Jack, it's six o'clock in the morning!" Gwen said in horror.

Jack grimaced. "We've got a thirteen-hour sail ahead of us."

Owen froze. "Sorry, I can't have heard you right, but I could have sworn you just said we've got a thirteen-hour sail."

Jack nodded. "You heard me right. None of you get sea-sick, by any chance?"

Gwen looked green. "I do."

"Ah."

"We've got some sea-sickness tablets," offered Ianto.

"Where are they?" Gwen asked.

"Back at the Hub."

"Great."

-T-

"Are you sure you know how to steer this thing?" Gwen asked Jack, holding on tightly to the rail.

The said captain was grinning madly and spinning the wheel around as they backed out of the berth. "'Course I do!" he said unconvincingly. "Owen – untie that rope there, and Tosh – that rope there!"

Owen and Toshiko fumbled with the ropes and cleats, struggling to keep their balance as the boat rose and fell with the swell.

The boat slid smoothly away. Ianto twisted around to look back at the now-empty berth. "Er – Jack? Just a guess, but I think we're meant to keep the ropes on the boat, not the berth."

"Probably," Jack agreed. "But it's more fun this way, don't you think?"

"Well done, Harkness," Owen muttered drily, clambering back across the deck and jumping into the cockpit. "You drag us on a boat which nobody knows how to sail and expect us to get across the bleeding Channel!"

Jack shrugged.

Owen continued in his rant. "No doubt we'll sink before we're half-way across," he said with morbid delight. "I'll be OK, though, 'cos I can't exactly drown, and Jack'll be fine – more's the pity."

Toshiko and Gwen looked nervous.

"Jack, why are we doing this?" Gwen asked, looking upset. "I should be at home, with Rhys, not heading off to in a boat!"

"Because Ianto's got an alien stalker that has a working telephone on the bottom of the ocean," Jack replied, bringing the boat sharply around as they left the marina.

Owen rolled his eyes. "That doesn't answer the question."

Ianto shrugged. "Might be fun," he added optimistically.

Little did he know how fun it was going to get.

Not very long, is it? Sorry about that. That's just how it came out.

I apologise if this story is dragging on a bit – I don't want you guys to get bored! If there's anything in particular you'd like to see in future chapters, be it action, domestic Janto, Towen fluff, Janto fluff, more humour, or whatever, please let me know. The only thing I won't do is smut... I'm far too young to do that.

Hope you enjoyed – peace, love and Janto!