Jack was shocked to watch a bullet pierce Ianto's shoulder just before he broke through the shattered glass. He couldn't even think about moving. Ianto hadn't told him that he was a werewolf. Jack knew that he should be thinking about all this rationally, but he just couldn't stop thinking about Ianto's deceit. He was sure that he was in shock. Ianto had even lied to Jack about it, in front of everyone. Just before the gun had gone off Jack had seen in Ianto's eye that he just knew what Jack was thinking. He couldn't deny that while he felt hurt that Ianto hadn't trusted him- Ianto was beautiful. Deep blue eyes that were so like his human eyes and a glossy brown fur coat. There was no mistaking that this werewolf was his Ianto.
Jack could sense movement behind him and looking he could see Owen helping Tosh to a chair and Alistair talking Gwen's gun away from her. She didn't put up much of a fight; too busy staring blankly at the smashed wall. Talking a deep breath, Jack stood up and turned to Owen, ignoring everyone else in the room.
"Where do you keep the tranquillisers?" Jack demanded, slamming his hands on the table.
Owen looked up from Tosh, but didn't move away from her.
"First cupboard next to the stairs on the right." Owen answered before turning back to Tosh, not giving him a second glance.
"You alright? No glass hit you did it?" Owen carefully turned Tosh's arms over, checking them for glass.
Tosh blinked rapidly, trying to hold back the tears. "No I'm fine… Do you think Ianto's ok?... He sounded like he was in a lot of pain."
"I'm sure Mr. Jones is alright, Miss Sato." Alistair said, stepping in the way of Jack. "What are you planning to do Jack? After you tranquillise him, what then?"
Jack glared "I don't think it's any of your business what I plan to do." Jack wasn't above pushing Alistair to the ground if he had too.
"Jack! You have to do something." Gwen nearly knocked Doctor Hill over as she barged past, her face creased in fear.
"What should I do, Gwen? Should I shoot him? I think you've done enough shooting for everyone." Jack spat at Gwen, causing her to step back. Gwen straightened defiantly, but her tone held a warped sincerity.
"He was making a noise, Jack, and I thought he was going to hurt you. I'd never want anything to happen to you... or Tosh." Gwen added as an afterthought.
"He was happy, Gwen. Happy that someone was touching him." Tosh stood up, ignoring Owen who was unsuccessful in trying to make her sit. "Happy that we weren't treating him like the- the danger that he thinks he is. He was acting like a dog getting petted by people that love him." Tosh was fighting the tears that filled her eyes. "He wasn't going to hurt us… He saw that you had the gun and he didn't want anyone to get hurt."
As Tosh got more and more upset Owen wrapped his arms around her, pulling her to his chest. He rubbed her back soothingly and she tried not to break down and cry, giving Gwen a blatant glare from over Tosh's shoulder, an expression that clearly said 'look what you've gone and done now'.
Jack felt like his whole team were falling to pieces all around him and there was nothing he could do to stop it. But he knew that wasn't strictly true. He could look after Ianto for the rest of the night, making sure that his shoulder healed nicely in the morning. And maybe, just maybe, he would get some answers.
Looking back at Alistair, Jack could see that he was prepared to fight Jack if he didn't agree with his plan about what to do with Ianto.
"I'm going to get a tranquilliser gun and take him back to his apartment. I'll watch over him until the morning." Jack reluctantly told the Brigadier. "I don't want anyone near him. Not even you."
Alistair stared at Jack with sad eyes. The Brigadier nodded solemnly, but acceptingly. "Look after him Jack. He may act all tough, but really he's still a little boy who needs to be loved and looked after."
Not saying a word Jack walked around Alistair and down the stairs. He carefully stepped on the glass-covered floor, avoiding the splashes of blood littering it. He climbed down the autopsy stairs, knelt in front of a cupboard and opened it. On the little shelf was the tranquilliser gun as well as the box of darts. As he picked the gun up he also grabbed a dart. Standing, he loaded the gun and headed up the stairs, his entire air expressing impassiveness.
Stopping at the top of the curved staircase, Jack looked around the main hub floor. Jack knew that there were very few places that Ianto could and would hide. The archive was the most likely place, but also the most difficult to search if Ianto was up and moving.
Taking a deep breath, Jack once again made his way over the glass, grabbing a torch along the way before going down the stairs into the archive.
Shining the torch up and down the room he stared along the thirty endless rows of artefacts. He could be here for years looking for Ianto, but he hoped that Ianto was hiding at his little desk that he seemed to think no one knew about. Jack smiled to himself. Ianto could never keep small secrets from him. Jack's expression fell. Only big ones it seemed…
Slowly setting off down the 'J' aisles Jack held the tranquilliser gun out in front of him, ready to hit Ianto with the dart if he jumped out at him.
Jack walked and walked, passing boxes that were stacked neatly on rows of shelves, nothing out of place and no sign of dust. Just when Jack thought about giving up and turning back he heard light rumble.
Snoring?
Stepping warily, Jack carefully raised the torch.
There, curled up under his desk, was Ianto sound asleep. Sighing, Jack came closer, the gun still held high. He could see blood slowly running down the hit shoulder; a shallow pool of the substance had trickled down onto the laminate floor, flowing down from the clotted fur.
Kneeling down, Jack aimed for Ianto's right haunch.
Ianto's eyes shot open, staring straight at him. He'd woken at the click of the gun. He saw Jack's fingers coiled around it, the trigger already eased back. Holding still, Jack watched Ianto watching him. Startled eyes glistened back at him. Jack guessed that Ianto didn't know that the gun he was holding was in fact a tranquilliser and that he had no intention of killing him. Smiling gave Jack an air of reassurance, Ianto's eyes still trained on him.
"It's alright, Ianto. It's alright." Jack whispered, shooting Ianto's back leg.
Ianto's eyes widened before slowly becoming droopy and closing. Taking a deep breath, Jack stood up and chucked the gun on top of the desk. Leaning down he ran his hand through the thick fur that sat behind Ianto's ears. Reaching around, Jack carefully slid Ianto out from underneath the old desk. Gently, he lifted Ianto into his arms. Jack was surprised by how little Ianto weighed in this form. He felt strange. He knew this was Ianto, but this sinewy, heavily-jointed body lax in his arms felt so different compared to his affectionate Welshman.
But no matter what he weighed; Jack struggled to carry both Ianto and the torch. He somehow managed get the both of them safely back to the hub. Not even pausing to catch his breath or to drop the torch, Jack soldiered on up the stairs towards the garage, his face strained with effort. Walking through the ruined door, Jack could see that the bodies of Lieutenant Stevenson and Major Green had been moved in the time that he had been finding Ianto, something he was grateful for.
He laid Ianto softly on the ground -avoiding the patches of blood- to search his trouser pockets for the SUV keys, praying that he hadn't left them in his great coat. Finding them, he unlocked the door, wrenching it open he then threw them and the torch on to the passenger seat.
Being careful not to step on Ianto, Jack opened the back door, the black steel swinging wide. Turning around he braced himself before picking Ianto up. Jack grunted, panting while placing him in the backseats.
Slamming it shut, Jack jumped in the driver's seat. He grabbed the keys and shoved them in the ignition. He felt a line of sweat ease down his temple as the engine revved and the garage door rolled back, showing the road ahead. Easing out of the drive, Jack glanced at Ianto in the rear-view mirror. He hadn't moved since Jack had shot him. He knew that was a good thing, the tranquilizer was obviously doing the trick, but it was worrying how easily he had gone down. Pulling out onto the road, Jack sighed and headed in the direction of Ianto's apartment.
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Stopping outside Ianto's apartment, Jack killed the engine, taking the keys out of the ignition and stuffing them into his trouser pocket. He looked out of his side-window up at Ianto's block of flats. He could see people moving around in their apartments, going about their normal lives totally unaware of the danger that was right outside their doors. And it was breaking his heart because he was thinking about Ianto being dangerous instead of weevils and other things that go bump in the middle of Cardiff.
Jack stared at Ianto in the rear-view mirror as he reached down and unfastened his seatbelt. If it wasn't for the gentle movement of Ianto's breathing Jack would have believed he was dead. No eye movement under closed eyelids or soft snoring that could sometimes fill a quiet space.
He didn't know that he was doing here or what he was going to do now, he hadn't really planned that far ahead. All he knew was that he needed to get Ianto out of the base as fast as humanly possible before something horrifying happened to someone. He really didn't have many places to choose from. The Hub, Flat Holm or Ianto's apartment. The first two were out of the question and the third option… the third option was the best one and that said something all three.
Slipping out of the SUV he slammed the door shut and ran around to the other side. Taking in a deep breath, he pulled open the back door, half stepping inside he reached over and wrapped his arms around Ianto's soft belly. Hearing the sound of car doors opening and closing, people shouting and laughing, Jack stopped and lifted his head, looking around he could see shadows of people dancing and running in the street. He waited -watching them- until they had disappeared out of sight before he carried on, gently sliding Ianto out of the SUV. Walking backwards, Jack struggled slightly under the weight of Ianto. Turning around Jack swung his leg back, kicking the door shut.
Panting lightly he shuffled around the car and onto the road. He didn't bother to lock up the SUV as he knew that it would self-lock after ten minutes thanks to the modifications that Tosh had made. Crossing the street Jack and Ianto safely made safely up the 'garden' path to the block of flats. It was truly a sad attempt at a garden. No flowers or water-features, not even a bench to sit on. He prayed that no one popped in or out of their homes while he carried the heavy beast that was his lover. Maybe if he ran into someone he could pass Ianto off as an Alsatian or something… Highly unlikely to work, but that's what retcon is for.
Jack leaned against the brick wall, filling his lungs with puffs of cold February air. His arms were starting to ache once again, but he wasn't going to let go of Ianto until they were both safe inside, hidden away from prying eyes.
Turning his head toward the brightly light doors Jack took a deep breath, readying himself for the worst. Pushing himself off the wall Jack shoved the door back using his back to prop it open until he had Ianto inside. He didn't know what or who he should be glaring at the most- the stairs for being there and not a lift instead or Ianto for living on the top floor in a building that had no lift. Jack settled on glaring at the stairs as it meant he was less likely to fall over while carrying Ianto up them.
Staggering to the top of the stairs, he quickly and gently lay Ianto down on the carpeted floor. Bending over and leaning on the wall Jack struggled to breathe, but he didn't care… well, not as much as he would under normal circumstances. As he caught his breath he ran his hand through the soft fur that was behind Ianto's ears- which where twitching lightly now.
Stepping over Ianto, Jack pulled out his ring of keys, looking of the two keys to Ianto's apartment. One after the other he shoved the keys in and unlocked the two deadbolts. Jack threw his keys deep into the apartment and the door back into the wall, going back over to Ianto and picking him up- he was very tempted to drag Ianto into the apartment, but he couldn't bear to do that even if his arms were hurting.
Kicking the door shut Jack was tempted to stop and lean for air once more -this time against the shut door- ,but he was so close to his goal -Ianto's bedroom and bed- that he daren't stop. The Captain dragged his feet over the wooden floors of Ianto's corridor towards the bedroom. Entering the room, Jack hiked Ianto higher into his arms before gently laying Ianto on the edge of the bed.
Having reached his goal Jack sat down next to the drugged werewolf on the lovely, beautifully soft bed that he was sorely tempted to ask its hand -if it had any- in marriage.
Looking around the room he realized that he could see Ianto had somehow left his lights on when he left this afternoon. 'God was it only this afternoon. I wish this whole day was at an end, but it won't be over for a long time yet.'
After resting for a few minutes Jack crossed the corridor to the bathroom and looked for the first aid kit, leaving Ianto on the bed. Finding it under the sink he went back to Ianto's side. Jack set it next to Ianto on the bed. Opening it he searched for gauze swabs and antiseptic to clean the wound. Once he cleaned the bullet-hole -somewhat grateful that the bullet had eased from one side and out the other since he'd dealt with bullets fragmenting inside the skin and poisoning the victim's blood before- Jack picked up the first aid kit and put it on the dresser next to all of Ianto's personal affects.
Sitting back on the bed, Jack started to stroke from the tip of Ianto's nose to the tip of his tail. Taking in the blackened pink of that wet feature and the smoothness of that fur Jack could hardly believe Ianto was anything more than a large Alsatian or Doberman. He watched the rise and fall of Ianto's back before staring off into space. He knew that there was nothing that he could really do until Ianto woke up, and that wouldn't be until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest. Sighing, Jack laid down next to Ianto. Still running his had up and down the silky fur; he wished this entire day had never happened.
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Sometime during the night Jack had dosed off, but he was woken by the snapping and popping of Ianto's transformation back to human. Pulling away, Jack fetched the used antiseptic from the first aid kit, rubbing it on the bullet wound that was now only bright pink skin and the surrounding skin. Clearing everything away, Jack looked in the opened closet for something for Ianto to wear. Behind Ianto's clean suits was a light blue shirt of Jack's. He'd been looking for that shirt for a few weeks now. He had never thought to ask Ianto about it, but he should have. Running his hand down the empty sleeve he remembered helping Ianto slip it on before sending him home on a cold wet night after a weevil had destroyed Ianto's shirt and waistcoat. It was very unlike Ianto to have not have washed and returned it. Sighing, he took it off the hanger and started to unbutton it. Tugging a pair of boxer-briefs from a half-closed drawer, Jack turned back to Ianto.
The fabric slipped over Ianto's limbs as Jack manipulated them through the holes. He wasn't surprised that Ianto was still under despite the transformation- if the tranquilizer could knock a werewolf on it's ass it would have no problem keeping a human down.
After dressing him in the shirt and boxer-briefs, Jack carefully laid Ianto under the covers and left the room. He watched him for a few minutes from the doorway, his face forlorn, before walking out of the room, down the corridor and into the sitting room. Going up to the sofa, Jack sat down on the cordless phone that Ianto had thrown yesterday afternoon. Wincing, he yanked it from underneath him before throwing it aside.
Glancing at the clock, Jack saw that it was just before noon. There was nothing for him to do until Ianto woke up which could be hours from now. He hadn't been entirely sure what dosage of tranquilliser he had hit Ianto with, but he knew he was in for a long wait.