Ianto had not long been asleep when his mobile phone rang, dragging him back into reluctant awareness. Groaning, he started to reach for it, only to have Lisa grab his wrist.

"Don't answer it, Ianto. Whoever it is, they can wait until morning, like normal people."

He was almost tempted to do just that. Almost. Ignoring her annoyed huff, he answered the call.

"Jones."

"Ianto, it's Gage..."

Ianto's heart skipped a beat.

"Gage? What's wrong? Is Joe okay?"

"Not exactly, mate. He had a bad nightmare, r something. He's upset, and he doesn't want to let me touch him. Look, I'm really sorry, mate, but I think you're going to have to come in. He only wants you."

"All right, Gage. I'll be there as quickly as I can."

He felt no irritation or frustration; only concern for Joe and anger at himself for leaving Joe alone when he was clearly distressed. He climbed out of bed and was half dressed when Lisa lifted her head from the pillow to gaze at him muzzily.

"Ianto? What are you doing?"

He didn't look at her as he answered, not wanting to see the look of condemnation that he expected to be on her face.

"I have to go in to work."

"What? Why?"

"It's Joe, all right? He's in a bad way."

He risked a glance at her, and... yup, there it was. Disbelief, tinged with disgust and annoyance.

"You can't be serious!" she burst out, sitting up properly. "Damn it, Ianto, it's the middle of the night! Come back to bed! You can deal with it in the morning."

Ianto felt a rush of anger at her casual disregard. He had long since given up hope that she might come round to his perspective, but he had hoped that she might at least respect his feelings. That, apparently, was not to be the case.

"For the last time, he's not an it. And I have to go in. He's my responsibility."

"He is just a freak that Torchwood brings out to poke and prod every now and again," Lisa argued, her own anger getting the better of her. "You're supposed to feed it and keep it clean, Ianto, and that's all! You don't have to go running every time it bloody squawks!"

Ianto stared at her, his eyes dark with an anger that he could no longer be bothered to hide.

"I'm going now, and I would appreciate it very much if you would leave your key behind when you go later."

She gaped at him, barely able to believe what she was hearing.

"Are… Are you kicking me out?"

He was unapologetic.

"I think it would be for the best if we had some time apart. I need to do some serious thinking, Lisa."

She sat stunned in the middle of the bed.

"I don't believe this! You're kicking me out over the Torchwood freak!"

"Don't call him that!" Ianto exploded, and Lisa flinched back, away from him. He stood glaring at her, trembling with ill-suppressed rage, before turning away and pulling on a jumper. "Look… I'm not going to argue with you. Not now. I have to go."

Recovering a little from her own shock, Lisa spoke up again in a slightly shaky voice that held less conviction than she would have perhaps liked.

"Ianto, look at me! Damn it, I'm telling you right now that if I leave, then I won't be coming back. I am not going to settle for second place behind some freak of nature!"

Ianto paused in a moment of consideration, and was mildly curious to realise that the idea of breaking up with Lisa wasn't nearly as painful as he'd imagined it might be.

"Ianto?"

"Just leave your key in the mailbox when you go," he told her quietly. Tears filled Lisa's eyes abruptly, and she spoke bitterly.

"I wish I'd never pushed you into going for that job."

Ianto laughed. He couldn't help it – the irony was simply too much.

"And I'm glad now that you did. It's curious, how fate plays its hand."

He paused a moment longer before shaking his head and walking out without so much as a glance back.

Gage was waiting anxiously for him when he arrived at Secure Archives.

"I'm sorry, Ianto, but he's in a right state. I didn't know what else to do."

"You did the right thing," Ianto reassured him. "I was wrong, though. I should never have left him alone."

"You couldn't have known what would happen," Gage protested.

"No, but I knew he was upset, and I just left him alone. He's like a child at the moment, Gage. He needs comfort and love when he gets distressed, and I just ignored him. That was unforgivable."

"I wouldn't beat yourself up too much, mate. I think he'll just be happy to see you. Oh, that's another thing. He had a bit of an accident. He… you know… wet the bed."

Ianto swallowed a sigh, not wanting it to seem as though he was frustrated with Joe.

"All right. Gage, do me a favour, and go run a bath for Joe?"

"One step ahead of you. I finished filling the bath just before you got here. It's all ready to go."

"Great, thankyou. I'll bring him along shortly."

"Okay."

Once Gage had gone, Ianto braced himself and went into Joe's room. The moment he stepped inside, Joe wailed loudly and held trembling hands out to the young man. Ianto went to him without hesitation, and crouched down to hug his distraught charge.

"It's all right," Ianto soothed. "Hush, now."

Gradually, the sobs quietened until all Ianto could hear was the soft hitching of breath as Joe cuddled in against him, seeking whatever comfort he could get. Ianto continued to hold him, his own heart breaking in response to Joe's distress and misery.

"Right," he murmured, peering down at Joe's tear-streaked face and puffy, red-rimmed eyes. "What's this all about, now?"

He really didn't expect an answer, and was astonished when Joe answered falteringly.

"Bad dream."

Shaking off his surprise, Ianto gently thumbed away a tear that rolled down Joe's cheek.

"You had a nightmare, did you?" he asked, and Joe nodded miserably. Ianto barely withheld a smile, as the response proved that Joe did understand when being spoken to; perhaps more than on just a basic, rudimentary level. He decided to see how far he could actually get with him.

"Was it about those pictures I showed you yesterday? The picture of that girl?"

Another nod, this time more tentative, and Ianto sighed softly. He couldn't know for certain whether Joe was nodding in deliberate response, or if he was nodding simply because he thought that was what Ianto expected. Ianto rubbed his back gently.

"I'm sorry, Joe. I didn't mean to upset you with those photos. All right, then. Let's get you up. Gage has run a bath for you, so we can get you cleaned up."

And then, seemingly for the first time, Joe noticed the mess he'd made of his bed and his pyjama bottoms, and his face fell once more.

"Mess," he whimpered, and looked as though he was about to cry again. Ianto squeezed his hand lightly.

"Hey, new rule. No more tears about silly things like this. It's all right, Joe. I'm not mad at you. It's all right."

The tearful gaze retreated somewhat, and Joe managed a somewhat shaky smile. Ianto smiled back in return.

"That's better. Okay, let's go and see if Gage remembered to add bubbles."
It was obviously the magic word. Joe's face lit up like a beacon.

"Bubbles!" Joe echoed happily, and let Ianto guide him to the bathroom.

Minutes later, Joe sat happily in a steaming hot bubble bath while Ianto rinsed the saturated pyjama bottoms in a nearby sink.

"Any idea what that was all about?" Gage wondered.

"I have an idea," Ianto murmured. "Can't talk here, though."

"Yeah, you can. I've got the security cameras on a loop. I sorted it before you even got here. Figured Joe would be needing a bath, and I didn't want Spence saying you'd used one of Joe's bath privileges for the week. So as long as we're careful to clean up, no one will ever know we were in here."
"Gage, you're brilliant," Ianto praised him. "But hoe would you even have a loop of film to play?"

At that, Gage smiled cagily.

"Firstly, you don't think that the archive stacks is the only place where Carl has his little trysts, do you? And secondly, how do you think I knew about it?"

Ianto laughed softly before becoming serious again.

"I showed him pictures, Gage."

"Of what?"

"Not what. Who. I showed him pictures of the Doctor."

Gage sucked in a sharp breath.

"There was a rumour a while back that he used to be a companion of the Doctor, but I was never sure how much validity it had. So, he recognised one of the pictures, then?"

"Yes," Ianto confirmed, "but not of the Doctor. There was a picture of a girl. Blonde, maybe eighteen or nineteen. It was her that he recognised and got upset over."

"Uh, Ianto… When I went in to see to Joe initially, before I called you, he said something. He said 'gone'."

Surprise filled Ianto's face.

"That's not a word he's gotten from us. I wonder…"

"What?"

"I wonder if he was left behind by her and the Doctor."

Gage snorted.

"If that's the truth, then I wouldn't mind taking a shot at the Doctor myself. How anyone could abandon a person to this sort of existence is beyond me. The Doctor must be one cruel son of a bitch."

"He might not know about this," Ianto murmured, while at the same time wondering why he was defending someone that he didn't know a thing about. He glanced around surreptitiously, as though suddenly concerned that Joe might be listening in to their conversation, but Joe was oblivious to them. He'd just discovered that the bubbles were fun to scoop up and blow into the air, and he was currently thoroughly engrossed in doing just that.

Ianto had to smile faintly, his heart warmed by the innocent joy that Joe was displaying. At the same time, though, he couldn't help but feel a moment of intense sadness, that a grown man could be reduced to this.

"Assuming you're right," Gage said, drawing him back to reality, "what are you planning to do?"

Grim determination filled Ianto's face.

"I'm going to find the Doctor."

Gage shut his eyes.

"I was afraid you were going to say that. Ianto, mate, you are walking on dangerous ground here."

"You think I don't know that? I have to try, Gage, for Joe's sake. I think the Doctor might be the only way to get Joe out of here, and I've only got a limited time frame to do it. Yvonne Hartman gave me six months, and then they plan to start experimenting on him again. I can't let that happen. I have to get Joe out of here."

"All right," Gage conceded. "Just tell me one thing. You say you think Joe was abandoned by the Doctor. Assuming that's true, what makes you think that he'll even want to help Joe?"

Ianto's face darkened at the mere possibility that the mysterious Doctor might refuse to help.

"If I find him, and he won't help me to save Joe, then I swear I'll turn him over to Hartman myself." He glanced once more at Joe, who was happily oblivious to the sudden tension in the room. "He has to help. He has to. I have to do this, Gage. I have to find him."

"No, mate," Gage corrected him quietly. "We have to find him."

It took them another half hour to coax Joe out of the bath, and by then it seemed that any remnants of his nightmare had been washed away. While Ianto helped him to dry off and change into clean pyjamas, Gage stripped and remade the bed. Both men then watched with fond smiles as Joe crawled in under the covers and tucked his wadded up blanket under his chin once more.

"You know, I watch him do that, and I keep wanting to bring a teddy bear in for him," Gage said with a chuckle. Ianto smiled as he crouched down and tucked the blankets in around Joe's shoulders.

"I think we'll let him keep a little dignity, thankyou."

Gage laughed.

"Right, because cuddling a blankie isn't demeaning at all."

"It was the first thing I gave him to keep, and he fought to hold onto it when Spence's lackeys took everything else away. No, he can cling to it for as long as he needs to." Ianto leaned in close and pressed a gentle kiss to Joe's forehead. "Thankyou for helping us tonight, Gage. I think we'll be okay now."

"You're staying?"

Gage couldn't find it in himself to be surprised. He'd had a suspicion that Ianto would stay for the rest of the night.

"Yes. I think Joe could use the company, and frankly, so could I."

"I'll go get the cot from the rec room, then."

Ianto was barely aware of Gage leaving.

"We need help, Joe," he whispered. "I don't know how to reach the Doctor, but there must be someone out there who does. I'm going to find them for you." He caressed Joe's face, causing the other man to hum softly in contentment. Ianto smiled sadly. "You like being touched, don't you? Just one more thing they took from you."

Gage returned with the cot a few minutes later, and they soon had it set up beside Joe's bed.

"Okay, I'll give you a call about an hour before Spence is due in. And don't worry about the CCTV footage. It's going to be accidentally deleted when I trip over and land on the wrong button."

"Thankyou, Gage," Ianto said gratefully.

"Thankyou, Gage."

Both Gage and Ianto looked down at Joe in surprise. It was unclear whether he understood what he'd just said, or whether he was simply mimicking Ianto, but Gage decided to take it at face value.

"You're welcome, Joe," he told him warmly. "Goodnight, you two."

Then they were alone.

"All right, you," Ianto said fondly. "Time to sleep, and no more bad dreams, okay?"

He felt a hand close around his own, and looked down to see Joe had his hand in a firm hold. It didn't take much effort to understand what Joe wanted, but was incapable of vocalising.

"It's okay," Ianto told him. "I'm not going anywhere, cariad. I'm staying right here with you."

He made no attempt to extricate his hand, and instead took great pleasure in watching Joe slide into the peacefulness of sleep, soothed by the physical contact. Lying on the cot, with his hand securely in Joe's, it wasn't long before Ianto joined him in slumber.

Gage woke him the next morning in good time to pack away the cot bed, and make it seem that Joe had spent an undisturbed night alone. By the time they were done, there was still a good forty minutes before any of their colleagues were due in, and Ianto took the opportunity to shower in the bathroom. He was surprised to come back to find Joe just finishing off a stack of pancakes, complete with strawberries, bananas and maple syrup. Gage sat beside him, reading to him from a brightly illustrated book.

Ianto paused in the doorway, touched by the sight of Gage interacting so freely and easily with Joe.

"Hope you don't mind," Gage said with a wry smile. "I thought I'd make pancakes for him… although, I'm not sure what he's enjoying more, the pancakes or the fruit."

Ianto laughed and ruffled Joe's hair affectionately as he joined them.

"He does love his fruit. Don't you, Joe?"

"Fruit," Joe echoed cheerfully, and both Ianto and Gage laughed out loud as he lifted the empty plate and licked the remnants of syrup off the surface.

"What are you reading to him?" Ianto asked curiously as he gently took the plate off Joe and used a napkin to wipe his mouth.

"It's a book of old Irish folk tales. My gran gave it to me when I was little more than a baby, and my dad used to read to me from it every night when I was a boy. I don't know how much of it Joe really understands, but he seems to like listening."

"And you just happened to have it on you?" Ianto asked wryly. Gage smiled sheepishly.

"I brought it in a few days ago. I was going to lend it to you for Joe, but… Well, he got a little upset when you went off to shower, so I thought I'd give it a try, and see if distracted him. I guess it worked, because he really settled down."

"Well, thankyou. I'll have to bring some books in to read to him… and maybe some puzzles to keep him occupied." Ianto looked around the room with a frown. "This room is so bloody awful. I wonder if we can brighten it up at all?"

"One step at a time," Gage advised him lightly. "We try to do too much, too quickly, and you know Spence will take it out on Joe." He paused, glancing at his watch. "Speaking of which, he'll be arriving any minute. I'd better get out of here."

"The CCTV footage…?"

Gage pressed a finger to his lips, and winked. He then ruffled Joe's hair and grinned at the resulting giggle.

"Be good, Joe, and I'll try to come back later to read some more to you, okay?"

"Okay," Joe said pleasantly as he returned his attention to his blanket. Gage watched him for a moment before looking back at Ianto.

"He doesn't really know what he's saying, does he? He's just copying us."

"To a degree," Ianto admitted. "I don't think he has a comprehensive understanding of the words he's using, but he understands enough to use them in their right context. He knows he'll get my attention by using my name. He understands the word treat means something good, but at the moment he only equates it with food. Really, he's at the mental and emotional level of a two year-old. This is Torchwood's legacy, Gage. It took a man who had once travelled with the Doctor, and probably knew more about the universe than you and I will ever know, and damaged him so badly that he may never recover. He's effectively been brain damaged back to infancy, Gage."

"I know," Gage whispered sadly. "I know."

tbc...