"Well, you can't half tell that Jack's got his memory back," Rose said with a short laugh as she and the Doctor returned to the TARDIS a couple of hours later. The Doctor grunted.

"Not sure whether that's a good thing or a bad thing. I mean, really! running naked through the market? What were they thinking?"

Rose poked at him lightly, while grinning at the memory of hearing about the two human men who had created an uproar earlier by running through the market in their undershorts.

"They weren't naked. They were wearin' their shorts."

Her defence of them was answered with an annoyed, and slightly amused huff.

"As good as, wasn't it? And really, I thought at least Ianto would have known better. If I have to get the TARDIS to lock them in their room..."

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he knew it was the wrong thing to say, and a look at the suddenly dark expression on Rose's face confirmed it.

"Don't you dare," she warned him softly. "I mean it, Doctor. You bloody well know how it could affect Jack if you do that to him."

He sighed and shook his head, contrite for once.

"Sorry. Stupid thing to say. Of course I wouldn't lock him in, Rose. I just wish I could trust him to show a little bit of simple modesty!"

Rose chuckled again as the tension evaporated as quickly as it had developed.

"Oh, go on. You can laugh, you know. It's funny!"

"It's typical Jack, is what it is. I'd hoped Ianto would have kept influencing him, but it seems like it's happening the other way around."

He tried to scowl, but Rose didn't miss the amused glint in his eyes. she grinned and gave him a playful shove.

"There, you see? It is funny!"

"Oh, all right, I admit it is a little bit funny..." He trailed off as they entered the TARDIS, and all signs of amusement fell away in an instant. "Something's wrong."

Rose's giggles dissolved, and her own grin quickly faded.

"What's wrong? Doctor? What is it?"

He didn't answer her immediately, listening instead to the whisper of the TARDIS inside his mind. Then, he broke into a run, leaving Rose to chase after him.

"Where are we going?"

"Med room," he shouted back to her. Rose swore softly, and ran faster.

Ianto barely glanced up as the Doctor and Rose ran in. He sat beside Jack, who was curled up in the bed, drenched in sweat and trembling violently. His arms were folded around his stomach, and he was the colour of ash. Worst of all, though, were his eyes. Glazed with pain and completely unfocused, it was obvious that he was unaware of anything happening around him, including Ianto's efforts to soothe him.

"What happened?" the Doctor asked, striding over and pulling out his sonic screwdriver to scan Jack's inert form.

"We were ambushed in the market," Ianto explained softly as he lifted the cloth from Jack's forehead, and replaced it with a fresh, damp one. "I think we happened to be the latest in a long line of people who have been abducted and sold as slaves. They told us that was what they were going to do to us. They were going to sell me on the regular market, and Jack on the... the pleasure market."

The Doctor's face darkened with anger.

"Were they, indeed? We'll just see about that...."

Ianto went on in that same, subdued tone, as though he wasn't even aware that the Doctor had spoken.

"We were grabbed and dragged into this tent... It was brightly coloured, but I don't remember much else about it."

"Could you take me to it?" the Doctor asked, and Ianto nodded slowly.

"I think so. I'm not leaving Jack, though."

"Ianto, what happened to him?" Rose asked anxiously. Ianto shuddered a little.

"After we were grabbed, we were tied up and stripped down to our shorts. This woman came in. Called herself Maia. Bloody ugly bitch, if you ask me, but she seemed pretty full of herself. And she knew Jack. She was pretty excited to see him, actually. Said the Time Agency would be pleased to have him back."

"Oh god, no," Rose whispered in dismay.

"Go on," the Doctor encouraged him. "What happened next?"

"She tried to flirt with Jack... She kiss him, and... well, let's just say she got up very close and personal with him, and I don't think she was terribly impressed that he didn't react the way she expected him to. Then she made a fatal mistake. She told Jack she was going to sell me as a slave. Jack didn't take too kindly to the idea that I was going to be taken away from him."

The Doctor regarded Jack with grim understanding.

"Did he kill her?"

A sad smile crossed Ianto's lips.

"No, he didn't kill her. He didn't kill any of them. He took them down, but he didn't kill them. It was amazing to watch, Doctor. I know you don't condone violence, but there was almost something poetic about the way he moved."

"He's a trained soldier, Ianto," the Doctor pointed out quietly. "It might still be mostly buried, but the instincts are still there."

Ianto breathed in slowly.

"We were going to leave, but before we could, that bitch injected Jack with something she called B31. I brought the syringe back here with us, but the TARDIS is still trying to analyse it. She won't be able to produce a cure in time to help him. He's going to die, isn't he?"

"I'm sorry," the Doctor said softly. It was all he needed to say, and Ianto uttered a soft, miserable sob. Rose looked between them before speaking tentatively.

"I don't understand. He'll just come back to life, so what's the problem? I mean, it's not like it's going to be permanent..."

"You don't understand," Ianto said heatedly. "He's in agony, Rose. Maia said it's a slow-acting poison."

"She wasn't lying," the Doctor confirmed. "I've come across B31 before, but I didn't know until now that it was Time Agency manufactured. I think it's well past time that I paid them a visit, and dealt properly with them. They've had a free hand for long enough."

Rose shook her head, bringing the conversation back to the present.

"I'm sorry, I still don't get it. He'll be all right, even if he does die..."

"Would you wish a death like this on anyone?" Ianto asked, snapping with impatience and distress. "I know I wouldn't. And on top of that, coming back to life is not exactly pain-free, either. The worse the death, the harder the resurrection."

"Well... is there something we can do, then?" she wondered. "You know, to speed up the process?"

"We are not killing him," the Doctor growled before Ianto had a chance to respond. "We'll take care of him, and ease the pain and discomfort as much as we can, but we are not killing him."

Rose looked over at Ianto, looking very much like she wanted to argue and was hoping for support from the young man, but he was in agreement with the Doctor, and shook his head wearily.

"No, Rose. I can't do that. Not again. Not even knowing he'll come back."

Rose sighed in concession. She wasn't sure she understood their reasoning even then, but with two against one, she wasn't going to waste time arguing with them over it, either.

"All right, then. What do we need to do?"

Half an hour later, the Doctor had set up an IV unit that was providing Jack with a veritable kaleidoscope of drugs, all with the purpose of easing his pain and making him as comfortable as humanly possible. Ianto had lost track of the explanations after the first two and frankly, he didn't especially care. What he did care about was that it was working. Jack had emerged from the pain-induced stupor that he'd sunk into and, though he was still in obvious discomfort, he was at least aware of what was happening around him.

For the most part, he was generaally calm, although it quickly became clear that that was the case only whilst Ianto was in close proximity to him. The young Welshman tried to move away once, with the intention of going to get Jack's blanket and dog for him, but Jack became so distressed that Ianto didn't try again.

And so he sat by Jack's side in silence, watching him die a slow and agonising death. His thoughts took him back to the last time Jack had been poisoned. Then, one of his colleagues had taken the initiative and shot Jack dead to save him the prolonged agony.

Ianto shuddered. Even if the Doctor hadn't put the kibosh on killing Jack, he himself would not have been able to do it. As he had said to Rose, even knowing that Jack would come back to life, so soon after Lisa...? He just couldn't stomach the thought of taking another life, no matter how temporary the situation might theoretically be.

"Yan?"

Snapping back to reality, Ianto leaned in close.

"What is it, Jack?"

Stupid question, he thought angrily. Why didn't he just ask the standard idiot question 'how are you feeling?'.

"Hurts," Jack whispered miserably. Ianto wanted to weep.

"I know, love. I know it hurts, but there's nothing we can do."

Jack uttered a soft whimper.

"Am I going to die again?"

"I'm sorry," Ianto whispered. "I'm so sorry, Jack."

He expected tears from his charge, and was quietly surprised when it didn't happen. Instead, a soft, resigned sigh escaped Jack's lips.

"Not your fault. Yan... Please... Will you do something for me?"

Ianto felt nausea swell inside him. He knew what was coming. Jack was going to ask him to kill him, just like Lisa had done. He was going to ask for a mercy killing, to end his suffering. Ianto wanted to run and hide, and not come out again until it was all over, but he didn't. To run from Jack now would have been a terrible betrayal. And so, instead, he continued to hold Jack's hand and stroke his forehead, and he braced himself for the terrible request that he knew was coming.

"What do you want me to do, Jack?"

Jack drew in a harsh, ragged breath, and Ianto cringed as the sound rattled ominously inside his chest. The poison was systematically shutting his body down, the Doctor had explained. Gradually, everything would literally grind to a halt, all his vital organs would cease their functions, ensuring that Jack suffered a slow and agonising death.

Ianto couldn't blame him for wanting it to be over sooner, rather than later. He just hoped that afterwards, he would still be able to look Jack in the eye.

"Can you h... hold me? Please?"

Ianto blinked, confused.

"Sorry?"

"Would you hold me?" Jack asked again, shakily. "When I die... and when I come back... I'd like it if you held me. It's not so scary when you're holding me."

Tears blinded Ianto. It was the last thing he'd anticipated being asked, and it touched him to the heart.

"Yes, cariad, I'll hold you," Ianto promised. His voice broke a little with emotion as he held Jack's hand to his lips to press a tender kiss to the knuckles. "Of course I'll hold you."

"I know what you thought I was... was going to ask."

Yes, Ianto reflected ruefully. He probably did, at that.

"I'd do that for you if you asked," Ianto told him softly. "I wouldn't like it, but I'd do it."

Jack shook his head weakly.

"Wouldn't ask. Not after Lisa. I'm sorry, Yan..."

"I know you are, Jack, and I forgive you. Don't worry about it anymore, sweetheart."

Jack snuffled a little at the endearment.

"I miss Gage."

"I know," Ianto whispered. "So do I."

Over the following hours, Ianto witnessed as Jack suffered with what could only be described as quiet dignity and courage. He didn't complain, made no demands,, and when he wept for the pain he was in, he did it almost silently. Gone was the little boy persona. In its place, Ianto could see the mature adult – not the consummate flirt and irrepressible joker that the Doctor and Rose so vividly remembered, but the good, brave man that Jack had eventually become under their influence and care.

Ianto wasn't sure whether the maturity that Jack was displaying now made the situation easier or harder. More than once he found himself contemplating the morality of ending Jack's suffering, only to dismiss it each time. Jack had not asked for that sort of release, and Ianto would not disprespect the courage he was showing by taking the choice out of his hands.

Fifteen hours after being poisoned, Jack slipped into a coma whilst being cradled in Ianto's arms. An hour and half later, his body convulsed once as the poison finally reached his heart, and then it was over.

"Thank God for that," Rose whispered tearfully. "Doctor? How long before he comes back?"

"After a prolonged death like this?" the Doctor mused. "Could take him a couple of hours or more to come back. Ianto? Ianto, you can let him go."

"No," Ianto said quietly. "I promised him that I'd hold him when he died, and that I'd still be holding him when he comes back. I don't care how long it takes. I'm not letting go until he's come back. I won't take the chance that he might wake up without me." He looked up at the Doctor, pleading for understanding. "I promised him, Doctor. He could have asked me to kill him and end his suffering, but he didn't. He just asked to be held while he died, and when he woke up. I won't break that promise."

"All right, Ianto," the Doctor answered. "I understand. You're a good man, Ianto Jones."

Tears made tracks down Ianto's cheeks as the Doctor and Rose quietly left. He leaned down and pressed his lips briefly to Jack's before settling back to await Jack's resurrection.

"It's not fair," Rose said as she and the Doctor retreated to the kitchen. "Seriously, how much more can they take?"

"I know," the Doctor agreed. "It seems the vortex is the only place truly safe for them."

"Still," Rose conceded," at least we know they're not helpless."

"Maybe," the Doctor said grimly, "but I'm starting to wonder whether it would be better for Jack if he just stays here in the TARDIS, permanently."

Rose stared at him, her tear forgotten.

"You mean you're just gonna... keep him?"

The Doctor returned her stare, and for a brief moment the look in his eyes was completely alien to her.

"It's for his protection, Rose."

Rose answered that argument with a loud, obnoxious snort.

"Yeah, I'll bet that's what bloody Torchwood said when they first locked him up, too."

Anger flashed across the Time Lord's face.

"I am not Torchwood."

"No, but you sure as hell sound like it! You can't just keep Jack shut away in here, Doctor. He's gotta learn to live his life again. He's gotta learn to take care of himself again, 'cause one day we'll all be gone – even you – and what'll he do then? Probably get himself into trouble all over again, 'cept there won't be anyone to save him. He's gotta learn to stand on his own, Doctor. That's what Ianto was trying to make him understand when he was still talkin' about leaving. You can't keep him here, not forever. If you try, then you really will be no better than Torchwood."

She was right, of course. He knew it, and didn't bother to even attempt arguing the point with her. The whole point of rescuing Jack from Torchwood, of petitioning the Queen to save him from UNIT dubious interest, was that he would have the freedom to make his own choices; to go wherever and do whatever.

He had no more right than anyone to remove that freedom.

"I just want him to be safe, Rose," he said finally. She slipped her arm through his, and hugged him fiercely.

"So do I, but we can't wrap him in cotton wool forever."

The Doctor sighed dramatically.

"Oh, all right. I'll let him choose. I suppose it's the least I can do."

A smirk formed on Rose's face.

"That's very big of you." She paused, and then exploded into a fit of the giggles. "Can you imagine the innuendoes old Jack would have come up with at that!"

The Doctor smiled wryly.

"Yes, and the TARDIS would have given him a nice, healthy shock for it."

Rose's giggles faded.

"I miss our Jack. D'you think he might ever be back to the way he was?"

"I don't know, Rose," the Doctor answered honestly. "I think that the man we knew is not too far beneath the surface now, but even so, one hundred years of constant abuse, torture and neglect is a lot for anyone to overcome and put behind them."

"Yeah, I s'pose. Thank God he's got Ianto, eh?"

The Doctor nodded distractedly, and Rose tugged lightly on his arm to get his attention.

"What are you thinking?"

"Something that I said to Ianto," the Doctor said, "about Jack being a trained soldier, and his instincts still being there after all these years."

"Mm, what about it?"

"Think about it, Rose. Jack brought down a time agent, and half a dozen soldiers, according to Ianto. Why then, back in 1899, was he unable to escape Torchwood?"

Rose shrugged.

"Dunno. Maybe they used some alien tech on him, or maybe they just kept him drugged."

The Doctor snorted derisively.

"Please! They would not have had either the drugs or the technology to have been able to hold the likes of Jack. And even if they did, they wouldn't have known how to use it. No, there must be another explanation."

It didn't take all that much effort to see where the Doctor was headed with his train of thought, and Rose smiled wryly.

"Let me guess. You wanna go back and see for yourself, right?"

"Yes, I do... but not without talking to Jack first. I don't want him finding out what I did later on, and feeling that I betrayed him all over again. I won't do that to him."

"Well, what will you do if he says no? That he doesn't want you doin' that?"

"Then I won't do it," the Doctor said simply. Rose looked sceptical, to say the least.

"Really? As simple as that?"

He answered with a nod and a sincere gaze.

"As simple as that. I will not deliberately do anything to cause Jack anymore grief. If he doesn't want me to know what happened, then I'll abide by that."

It was, in fact, two hours and twenty-seven minutes later when Jack finally came back to life. He returned to the land of the living with a strangled gasp as air filled his lungs, and the pain that washed down through his body in nauseating waves before it finally settled into a dull, aching throb. And through it all, he was aware of two arms holding him close, of lips brushing his cheek and temple and a voice murmuring soothingly in his ear.

Gradually, those sensations overpowered the negative ones, and Jack found himself relaxing into Ianto's embrace. It was comforting and reassuring, and somehow helped to make the agony of resurrection not seem quite so bad.

"Yan..."

"I'm here, love. Just like I promised."

Tears stung Jack's eyes, and he relaxed a little in Ianto's embrace.

"Thankyou."

He continued to lie there for a while, taking solace in Ianto's arms before finally moving – albeit very reluctantly.

"Easy," Ianto murmured, watching with concern as Jack eased himself up. "Go slow, Jack. You might still be a little weak."

"I think I'm okay," Jack murmured, only to have his knees buckle. Ianto was at his side in an instant, arms around his waist to support him.

"Not yet, you're not. C'mon, back into bed with you."

"No," Jack protested, feebly trying to resist. "Please, Ianto..."

"Jack, you need to rest, and I'm going to... Hold on, what did you just call me?"

Jack looked up at him bemusedly.

"I called you Ianto. That is your name, right...?"

"Well, yes... but you couldn't pronounce it! You just called me 'Yan'!"

"I suppose I can keep calling you that if you want. Might do anyway. But you're the one who gave me a lesson in saying your name properly."

Ianto snorted derisively.

"You were hardly paying attention at the time. Too fixated on dogs, if I remember. Jack... are you okay? I mean, are you really, really okay?"

Jack stared back at him wearily, and for the very first time since Ianto had first met him, his eyes reflected his age and experience. Ianto saw the renewed maturity there, and a part of him wanted to weep for the innocent child that was quite possibly lost for good.

"I'm okay," Jack confirmed quietly. "But... I would really like a bath. I feel like I went twelve rounds with a Slitheen."

Smiling, Ianto helped him up off the bed, and ushered him to the door.

"I think we can do that. C'mon, cariad. Let's run you a bath."

to be continued...