Chapter Fifty-Two

Has anybody else seen the video "Total Eclipse of the Heart: Literal Video Version"? If not, type that into YouTube and WATCH!!! It's brilliant!

Dedication: Peregrin Ionad for all the moral support last night as I was struggling to write. *hugs*

Disclaimer: Yes, I'm taking over writing for Torchwood in 2010. *bows proudly*
*is shot by BBC*
*gasps back into life, Jack-style* Fine! FINE! I don't own Torchwood – and I'm not going to be writing for Torchwood any time soon... :-(

The Doctor ran an agitated hand through his hair, messing it up into little tufts and spikes. "Have you ever heard of Blackbeard the pirate?" he asked.

Martha frowned. "What's he got to do with this?"

"Just bear with me," the Doctor said hurriedly. "So you've heard of him?"

"Yeah..." Owen said warily. He folded his arms, his face gaunt in the damp half-light.

"You may want to sit down." The Doctor nodded at Toshiko's desk. "It's quite a long story."

"We're fine standing, thanks," Tosh said coolly.

The Doctor sighed. "Okay. A long time ago – I forget how long, exactly – a band of pirates came to Sark."

"Sorry – probably really obvious – but where's Sark, exactly?" Owen asked.

"It's one of the little islands off Guernsey," Martha said, without looking around at him. She kept her gaze fixed on the Doctor. "It's famous for not having any cars."

The Doctor nodded at her. "Ten points for Gryffindor, Miss Jones," he said. Martha's glare didn't lessen, so he hurriedly continued the story, "It all started after the monks left Sark. One day, a kid – Pierre, I think his name was – ran into the village..."

It was a bright day, which the Doctor was glad of. It meant that he could wander around the village without getting wet, and observe the daily antics of the Sarkees.

"Hi there," he said casually to an elderly woman carrying a sack on her back. "Need any help?"

The woman smiled at him, displaying a mouth full of broken, blackened teeth, and shook her head. "Nay, but thanks, son," she said. "Not many offer help these-a-days."

The Doctor puffed out his cheeks and rocked back on his heels, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "That's not very nice, is it? Why don't you—"

"A ship!" sounded a cry, interrupting the Doctor. A small boy was sprinting to the church, his bare feet scuffing up dust and his grimy face broken into a beaming smile. "There's a ship coming in!"

A man, who the Doctor recognised as Simon, a fisherman, emerged from the church, a disapproving frown on his heavy-set features. "What's all this noise about, Pierre?" he asked, irritated.

Pierre skidded to a halt and pointed back behind him, in the direction of the cliffs. "There's a ship coming in," he repeated, dark eyes shining with barely-concealed excitement.

"Oh, aye?" Simon said casually. "What sort of ship?"

"A big one!" Pierre stretched up as far as he could on his tip-toes and made an expansive gesture. "An' it's coming in fast."

"What are we waiting for, then?" Robert, a farmer, was already starting off towards the harbour. "We'd better welcome it in!"

"Wait!" the Doctor said, holding up his hands. "How d'you know that they're friendly?"

Robert paused, frowning. "What d'you mean?"

"It could be pirates," the Doctor pointed out. "In which case, you should probably all start preparing to defend yourselves."

"John – you're a newcomer here. You can't possibly know enough to make that assumption," Simon said, though his tone was warm. "Yes, you fixed the church roof with simply your glowing stick, but we know about the sea. An' pirates have never been here."

The rest of the villagers were emerging from their houses. "What's going on?" one of them asked anxiously.

"There's a ship!" Pierre said, clearly trying not to bounce. "A big one."

"We'd better greet them—"

"I'll go and check the food-stores—"

"I wonder where they've come from—"

"A ship?"

"We should—"

"Enough!" Simon yelled at the top of his lungs. "Enough babbling. There's a ship coming in—"

"A big one!" Pierre piped up.

"—and we're going to go down to the harbour to meet them." Simon nodded at Pierre. "Women and children stay behind – we're goin' ta need a veritable feast for our guests."

"But—"

"Enough, Pierre. Help your mamma," Simon said sternly. He turned on his booted heel and marched down the hill, a dozen or so other men following behind him, Robert included.

The Doctor frowned. "This certainly doesn't look good..." he murmured to himself. But all the same, he was here for aliens – not for pirates.

A clap of thunder overhead startled him; the sky had suddenly become overcast, roiling with dark clouds, as rain started to pour down onto the small village, making the dry dirt jump and dance as the raindrops hit.

The Doctor sent a suspicious look up at the clouds, before heading into the nearest house after Pierre and his mother.

-T-

Jack paused in the doorway to the cell. His stomach clenched as he gazed at the figure in the bed, tubes and wires feeding into his arms; Ianto's face was deathly pale and his eyes were closed. Jack had to look extra close to see the gentle rise and fall of his chest. But finally, at long last, Ianto Jones was being cured.

So much for the aliens being evil, Jack thought with quiet amusement. Then again, things are never that simple – there always has to be two groups of aliens fighting each other whilst on earth. And using humans as pawns.

"You going to stand there all day?" The quiet murmur startled Jack, as Ianto's eyes fluttered open.

He quickly hurried over and dropped to his knees by the bedside, taking Ianto's hand – the previously burnt one – in his own. "How're you feeling?"

"Other than shit?" Ianto asked, then coughed. "Good, I guess. Better, anyway."

"They did say that it would only take a few hours," Jack reminded him, letting go of Ianto's hand so that he could touch Ianto's cheek.

Ianto frowned. "How long's it been?"

"One hour and forty minutes," Jack replied. "G-Ianto's trying to book some transport to get us home."

Ianto raised an eyebrow. "'G-Ianto'?" he asked, amused.

"Stands for 'green-eyed'," Jack explained. "It's too confusing to call you both Ianto."

"Better than Ianto-1 and Ianto-2," Ianto conceded. "Have you told the others about him?"

Jack suddenly found the hem of the blanket very interesting, picking at it with his fingernails. Ianto waited. Finally, Jack said, "Not exactly."

Ianto raised both of his eyebrows this time.

"...no. I haven't told them."

"Well, then," Ianto said, smiling slightly.

The counter on the IV stand clicked, and another bag of liquid started to feed down the plastic tube into Ianto's wrist, hidden under the cast. Jack had to look away when Ianto winced.

"So..." Ianto said, voice slightly strained. "I was thinking that we should really take a proper holiday sometime."

Jack tried to smile. "Where were you thinking of?"

Ianto shrugged – or at least, as best he could in a bed. "Paris, maybe? That's where Gwen and Rhys went."

"I'd like to take you to somewhere in Italy, actually," Jack said.

"Does that make me the girl?"

"You could always take me, if you're that fussed," Jack offered with a grin. A grin that quickly vanished as Ianto leant over the side of the bed and vomited into the bucket placed there exactly for that purpose.

Ianto wiped his mouth with a grimace. "Couldn't pass me some water, could you?"

Jack helped Ianto take a sip, then placed it back on the floor again. "I haven't actually spoken to the team yet," he admitted. "I was planning on waiting for you to wake up before I did anything."

"Idiot," Ianto said. Jack could see the pain in his eyes, the way that he clutched at the blanket with white-knuckled fingers. Ianto managed a thin-lipped smile. "I'll be okay, Jack. Stop worrying."

"I wasn't worrying," Jack deferred immediately. "Well, maybe a bit. A tiny bit." He held up his hand to demonstrate, his index finger and thumb a bare centimetre apart.

Ianto raised his eyebrows.

"Maybe a bit more than that." Jack allowed the gap to widen to an inch.

Ianto's eyebrows were still raised.

Jack sighed. "Fine, I was worrying myself silly. Happy?"

Ianto just chuckled and tapped his cast. "I think that this can come off now," he said with a grin. "The nanogenes did a lot."

Jack flashed him a brilliant smile. "You can get Owen to take it off when we get back to Cardiff."

"How long'll that be?"

"You should be back with your beloved coffee machine by this time tomorrow," Jack promised.

"That's good," Ianto said, with a slight sigh and a small smile. His eyes started to waver closed; Jack stroked his temple with gentle fingers, waiting patiently for him to fall asleep once more.

Don't worry if you're confused – all will be explained next chapter! :-)

I'm really sorry if I haven't replied to your review for the last chapter – it's really hard to find the time to write at the moment, as I've got several music exams on the 20th June, as well as a couple of maths exams, a French exam, a German exam and three science exams. So I'm really short for time at the moment!

I still really appreciate the reviews, though, as they keep me writing even when it involves me staying up late! :-) So please review – I love to hear what you all think!