AN: Bit of a cliff-hanger here, though I'm sure you all have reasonable guesses as to what might be going on.
Please review x
"How are you doing?" Jack asked as he descended the steps to the autopsy bay carefully. Owen was sat up on the bed checking over his wound.
"I'm okay. Pain killing injection has taken the edge off. Thankfully the wound isn't deep, and apparently Ianto knows more about being a medic than he lets on." Owen admitted with a small smile. "I should be fine in a couple of days."
Jack nodded. "I'm sorry for putting you in danger."
"I work for Torchwood Jack – danger is all part of my average day. I think the point Ianto was trying to make was that if you ask both of us to come then don't leave one of us sat in the car – get us both to help. He just worries – you know what he's like." Owen explained.
"Yeah I know. Once he's calmed down a bit I'm going to talk to him, but right now I think he'll probably toss a coffee mug at me." Jack replied with a smile.
"Have you taken a look at Janet recently?" Owen asked.
Jack shook his head before moving over to the monitor Owen had set up with a live feed down to the cells. "Wow." He breathed as he looked at the image of Janet, whose stomach had swelled albeit slightly in just a few days.
"Yeah apparently the pregnancy of a Weevil is shorter than a human, or she is going to become massive. We've never experienced a juvenile Weevil before so I have no idea if the young come out small or full sized. I was thinking of sedating her and doing some kind of scan, maybe using the Bekaran scanner?" Owen suggested.
Jack nodded. "Good idea. Give me a shout and I'll lend a hand." Owen nodded in response and with that Jack made his way back out of the autopsy bay and to the confines of his office. As Ianto appeared at the railings that overlooked the autopsy bay Owen glanced at his watch.
"It's 2am." He said.
Ianto nodded. "Yep. Coffee?" He offered.
"Few hours sleep would be preferable." Owen replied.
"Well I imagine things are going to be pretty quiet here until Gwen arrives at 6, so go for it." Ianto said.
"Yeah lying alone on the autopsy table is not what I had in mind." Owen smirked.
Ianto grinned. "No, but my idea is out until that wound heals so you sleep there, or you sleep on the sofa up here."
Owen sighed as he led down on the autopsy table reluctantly defeated. "Go talk to him." He said softly.
"I will." Ianto nodded. "Now get some sleep, and I'll bring you a coffee at 5. Shout if you need me." He said pushing back from the railings and leaving the medic to get some rest. Moving through the Hub he made his way up to Jack's office and knocked lightly on the door, only entering once access had been granted.
"How's he doing?" Jack asked as Ianto entered and settled into the seat across the desk from him.
"He's getting some sleep." Ianto replied.
Jack nodded. "Look I'm sorry about earlier. It was a bad judgement call on my part – I think my rule about not having you two out on missions together needs to be changed. I'm just trying to protect you both, and give you the best chance I can at a future together." He admitted.
Ianto smiled. "I appreciate that. And I'm sorry for going off at you. I just don't like being made to sit in the car whilst any member of my team gets hurt."
"I understand. It won't happen again." Jack conceded. "So did you have a good evening before I interrupted? He told me he was taking you to that fancy French place in town?" He asked.
Ianto nodded. "It was lovely. I think Owen was massively uncomfortable the entire time, but it's not really his sort of place."
"The things you do for love." Jack mused with a fond smile.
"Tell me about it." Ianto said softly. "It's been an interesting few weeks to say the least."
"Oh yes. Not the kind I ever expected to see either. But I am happy for you Ianto, for both of you. I hope you get your happy ending." Jack said sincerely.
"I think I already have." Ianto murmured softly. Jack's eyes widened. "Yeah came as a bit of shock to me too, but the way I feel about him, and the way he feels about me, well its unexpected but there is nothing I can do about it. There's nothing I want to do about it. Rift permitting I'm going to get my Mum over next weekend for lunch and introduce him."
"Meeting the parents. Very serious." Jack smiled.
"Just glad I have the chance. I need her to like him. I'm sure she will." Ianto said nervously.
"Is this leading to something more?" Jack asked gently.
Ianto shrugged. "Maybe. Maybe not. Right now its one day at a time. See what the future brings." He said vaguely as he got to his feet. "Right I'm going to check the rift monitor and then check the Internet for anything that might be of interest. I'm taking Owen a coffee at 5 – will you be okay till then, or would you like one sooner?" He asked moving towards the door.
"I'm fine thank you." Jack replied. "And Ianto?" The Welshman turned to look at Jack. "Whatever the future brings for you, I'm sure it'll be a brilliant one, and I'm sure he'll be there with you all the way."
Ianto nodded before walking out the office and down to the main Hub. Wandering over to the autopsy bay to check on Owen he smiled as he saw that the older man was curled precariously on the bed fast asleep. Walking back into the main Hub he settled himself at Owen's workstation and powered up his computer and flicked on the monitor. The rift monitor programme indicated a small spike late that afternoon but nothing else until then and so he opened up the Internet and began running his usual searches for anything untoward that might require Torchwood's attention, including a brief poke around on Ebay. Making a note of any items on Ebay that he thought looked suspicious he sent Jack a message with the details on asking him to take a look. Stretching slightly in the chair as he yawned he glanced at the clock in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen. It was just after 4am and he still had another hour before he needed to make coffee for Owen. Opening up a new window on the Internet browser Ianto selected a search engine and typed his search term into the box before hitting 'Enter'. A myriad of results flooded his screen and Ianto smiled softly as he clicked the top result and began to read the information on the page.