Disclaimer: RTD and BBC (and all that it entails) owns them and all rights, if I owned them I would have fic writers doing the scripts, regardless of what RTD thinks (hmmm assassin!Ianto, Empath!Ianto, or vampire!Ianto or even all three as cannon, that'd be fun)
A/N: THIS IS NOT GWEN FRIENDLY! Do not complain if you ignore this warning.
A/N2: This is the last chapter I will likely be moving Fragile Dreams to here as it's not really the conclusion.
"And why do we need another doctor, when we have me?" Owen asked as they watched Gwen approach Dr. Rupesh Patanjali on the Plass above. "And why are we letting Cooper up there to talk to him?"
"We need an upgrade to someone cuter," Jack replied with a twinkle in his eye.
Ianto just rolled his eyes at his lover.
"We would like for you to actually not be on call all the time and enjoy some time off. Silly us, thinking you'd like to spend some time with someone," Ianto's gaze drifted to Tosh's workstation as he continued, "outside of work without having to worry about being the only one available to do some doctor 'stuff.' Everyone else's responsibilities can be handled at least to some extent by another member of the team; unfortunately, cutting open things with any sort of skill is a bit beyond everyone else's range of knowledge."
Owen had the sense to look abashed before continuing.
"Fair enough, and appreciated; however, that doesn't explain why we're letting Gwen talk to him and why we're repeating the process that got us Gwen to begin with."
Ianto continued to work at the station, switching one of the monitors to find Tosh, who was getting lunch for the team.
"We're letting her talk to him because if she doesn't scare him off, nothing will," Jack replied with a grin. "We didn't actually plan the recruitment that way, we had been doing some background on him and he happened to be the doctor we talked to while dealing with the alien parasite, and then he saw the parasite, and, well…"
Jack just shrugged as if to say, what did you want me to do, let the opportunity go to waste?
Owen rolled his eyes as he headed back to Autopsy, muttering about how this would blow up in their faces again.
"She's calling us a couple now," Ianto said, glancing at his lover.
"Is that a problem?" Jack asked with a return glance.
"Just saying, I wasn't sure she'd ever admit it," Ianto said, resuming his monitoring of the Plass.
"I hate the word 'couple,'" Jack said suddenly.
"Oh?" Ianto said, rising to be eye level with Jack.
"Anything can be a 'couple': a couple of mates, a couple of ships, a couple of quid, a couple of bunnies, a couple of tentacles. Just being a 'couple' doesn't really say the level of commitment two people in a relationship have. Really, no word describes how much I love you and how much we mean to each other, but out of all the possibilities—lovers, partners, husbands—a 'couple' seems the most understated."
Ianto stood speechless for a moment before kissing Jack.
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Tosh deposited the lunch at the conference table as everyone planned out their next course of action with the children.
"If I could examine a child it might go a long way to explaining what is going on," Owen said as he shoveled Chinese into his mouth.
Tosh hit him lightly on the back of the head, saying, "Manners."
"There was also one adult, a man at Duke Of York Hospital, East Grinstead, that was speaking in unison with the children," Gwen said, pressing a button. An image of a man in a hospital room appeared on the screen behind Jack.
Jack frowned as he watched the footage.
"That's a few hours from here. Gwen, go interview him and see if we can find anything out."
"Right, I'll head out now, I have to stop and talk to Rhys on the way anyway," Gwen said as she stood up to leave.
After she left, Tosh looked at Jack, who was still frowning at the screen.
"Anything wrong, Jack?"
"I feel like I should recognize him, but I don't know why," Jack replied before spinning back around to address the team. "So, we need a child? Tosh, has our equipment been able to pick anything up?"
"I've been going through all our scans during the times of the incidents and nothing stands out, but that doesn't mean it's not there, just that I don't know to look for it, unfortunately. I'll keep looking, but I think Owen's right—we'll need a child to find anything out."
"Right. Anyone know a child?"
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"You do realize it'd make much more sense for me to take my car to my sister's rather than the SUV?"
Jack turned to his lover.
"Probably, Alice will pitch a fit if I did; tell you what, I think that maybe Torchwood should be in the background of this."
"I don't like this, Jack; this isn't just lying to them, this is putting them right in the middle of it."
Jack sighed.
"You're right, and I don't like it much either; but with us, at least we know the kid or kids will be safe as opposed to with UNIT. But we have to find out what's going on, otherwise more than just the kids we're related to will be in danger."
It was Ianto's turn to sigh.
"I know, sometimes the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, but it gets harder when 'the few' are the ones we care about."
"But that's why Torchwood is here; we make the tough choices so the people out there won't have to."
Jack leaned in, kissing Ianto goodbye, before they both climbed into their cars to visit their families.
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"What do you think you're doing?" Owen bellowed as he saw Gwen attempting to use one of his medical scanners.
"I need to check something!"
"Hello, doctor here, if you think something is wrong I'm supposed to be the one doing the checking!"
"I might be pregnant!" Gwen bellowed back.
"Give me that," Owen said, snatching the scanner from Gwen. "Have you lost your mind? You do not check for pregnancy by using an alien tech scanner! There's a reason why we don't confirm pregnancies that way!"
He reached into a drawer and then tossed her something slender, wrapped in silver.
"Use that."
"What is it?"
"A pregnancy test."
"What?! With all this technology, you want me to confirm a pregnancy with a pregnancy test?"
"Owen, why do you have pregnancy tests in the drawer?" Tosh asked from above them, raising her eyebrow.
"One: I have pregnancy tests in the drawer because you'd be surprised how universally similar pregnancy hormones are. Two: Yes, Gwen, because the sane way to check for a pregnancy is to look for the presence of human chorionic gonadotropin, not expose a potential fetus to alien radiation used in scanners. Now take the test into the bathroom and pee on the stick!"
Gwen huffed before going into the bathroom.
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Gwen was just coming out of the bathroom as Jack was entering the HUB.
"Oh my God, he was right, I'm pregnant."
"That's great!" Jack said, beaming, before bumping into Owen who was still holding the scanner.
Suddenly, the scanner went off.
"Uhh…Jack?" Owen said.
"What is it?" Jack said in alarm.
"Give me a second," Owen said, fiddling with the controls of the scanner.
"Bloody hell, Harkness! It's a bomb! And it's about to go off!"
Everyone stood in shock for a moment, before Ianto swooped in, grabbing Jack by the arm.
"Tosh! Get us in lock down, now!"
That shook Jack out of his stupor.
"Gwen, go down to the lower levels—they'll be the most secure," Jack said, pulling away from Ianto and heading down the corridors to a door, his team following.
"I'm not leaving you, Jack."
"You're pregnant; you have more to worry about than this team or even the world at the moment. Everyone, take cover once I'm inside in case this doesn't hold."
"Lock down will commence in two minutes. Jack, what are you doing?" Tosh asked.
"Torchwood has always been prepared for everything. During the War, it was made sure there was a section of the HUB that could withstand bombings. If it can withstand it from the outside, I'm hoping it'll take it from the inside."
"Jack, you can't be serious, that bomb will rip you apart!" Owen exclaimed.
"Dead serious. I'll come back. But I expect all of you to get to the bottom of this until I do, because I'll bet anything this is related," Jack said, ripping open the door to the bomb shelter.
"Jack?" Ianto asked.
Jack pulled Ianto close, kissing him, and handed him his vortex manipulator.
"I always come back—always come back to you. Everyone, take shelter, just in case."
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The shelter did hold; the HUB shook with the force of the bomb, causing a mess, but everything was intact and the structural integrity was still sound.
Now they just had to wait for Jack to return to them, and, in the meantime, figure out what was going on.
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"Rhys is on his way; are you sure it's alright for him to come?"
"We've been specifically targeted; it's safe to say, anyone we're in close contact with on the outside is in danger. Ianto contacted his sister and someone for Jack, and I've sent word to our contacts on the police force to be careful—all using secure lines, of course," Tosh replied as she continued typing.
"It looks like they're already freezing all of our accounts; they're trying to leave us with no resources. There's a suspicious group of confused-looking people up on the Plass; undoubtedly they counted on the HUB being destroyed," Ianto said.
"We need to try and get in touch with our government contacts; Gwen, can you try to call John Frobisher and…?"
"We might want to rethink that idea; I've just finished comparing the scans I got with the references in Tosh's database, and the bomb was made by our own bloody government."
"Looks like we'll need to go to London, once Jack is back with us."
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It was hours later that they started to hear it. Screaming.
"Jack?"
"What the bloody hell is going on?" Rhys asked.
Owen checked his scanners.
"Jack, his body…his body is reforming. I'm not showing any sign of consciousness yet, but it's probably excruciating."
"Is there anything you can do?" Ianto asked.
"We know Jack experiences pain reviving from the dead, however, we've never attempted to treat it as it's usually fleeting enough, even if the effects are more long-lasting. I can try releasing an airborne painkiller into the room, but I don't know how much he's actually breathing right now besides just enough to scream, and even if he does get a large enough dose, I still have no way of knowing if it'll work…and too much would kill him with an overdose."
Owen looked at Ianto before continuing, "I'm sorry. I can try, but I really don't know if it'll help."
Ianto paused, taking a deep breath.
"All we can do is try."
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By afternoon of the day after the bomb went off, Jack emerged, looking very tired and worn around the edges.
"What do we have, people?"
Ianto came over to embrace him as Tosh started the report.
"It would appear that the bomb was made by our own government, and there have been a number of other suspicious deaths since the bombing; they may or may not be related, but I'll give you a list once all the information is compiled."
"We have suits hanging around up top, but we're locked down so they can't get in; but we do have a back door for when we're ready to get out. They've also frozen all our personal assets," Owen continued for Tosh.
"Gwen made contact by accident with a Lois Habiba, who works in the government office and seems to believe us and is willing to be our eyes there."
Ianto pulled away from Jack to continue.
"But it seems everything is happening in London, or that's the center of it all, so we'll need to set up there."
"Right. Tosh, source what we'll need in London; we're going to have to be as low key as possible. I want you and Owen to stay here, make sure any family related to Torchwood is safe from being targeted, and keep gathering information. Make sure our comm signal is not hackable; last thing I want is us putting ourselves in danger just by communicating. Gwen, see if you can get the adult that was affected…Timothy White, was it? Get him here and find out what's going on; he's the anomaly here."
"His name is Clem McDonald."
Jack frowned again before continuing.
"Whatever his name is, get him and find out why he's the only adult affected."
"But Jack, what if you need me, what if you need more resources? I was a copper; I know how the criminals do it."
Jack laughed.
"Gwen, I was a conman, I think I know 'how criminals do it,' and Ianto's had a bit of experience with shoplifting; I think we have it covered."
"But—"
"Just do it, Gwen."
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Jack and Ianto made it into the old Torchwood One warehouse the next day.
After setting up, they received a communication from Tosh.
"Tosh is sending us the list of the unusual deaths," Ianto said, passing the handheld to Jack for him to see the list.
Jack's eyes widened.
"I need to go," Jack said in a hurry, about to run out of the warehouse.
"Wait," Ianto said, grabbing Jack's arm.
"I…I don't have time to explain right now, but I recognize those names. It's from an old task I'm not proud of. If I'm right, we're in for a bigger fight than we thought. Please, please just trust me?"
Ianto looked at his lover for a moment.
"Always, Jack, always."
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Jack had just got off the phone with Frobisher; he didn't for one moment believe they had Alice and Steven. Tosh and Owen knew that one of the first things they had to do was get all of their families to safety, and Jack had quietly handed them the file on his daughter and grandson as he and Ianto left, so he knew they were safe. Tosh and Owen would have called them if any of the family weren't safe.
He had just taken a calming breath when Ianto called him.
"Gwen and Rhys are here, and they brought Clem with them."
"Are you kidding me?!"
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Ianto stood for a moment before joining his lover.
He had always known that Jack had darkness in his past, things he was not proud of, but he had never imagined that one of them was something like this.
As he sat down, Jack spoke.
"As horrible as it was, it seemed like such a small price to save all those lives. I was always suspicious, but it wasn't my decision; and honestly, even with the suspicion I had, it's hard to justify millions of deaths for a feeling. Even all that aside, by then I was just numb to everything and everyone, suspicious or not…I just couldn't bring myself to care that much."
"I'm not sure I believe that you didn't care, not really."
"You might be right, I really don't know anymore. I was numb, tired of hurting, tired of losing people. I don't remember feeling anything for awhile around then."
Ianto swallowed.
"It's no surprise to me you have such a dark event in your past; and I'll be honest, this is one of the most deplorable things I've heard."
Ianto noticed Jack wince as he paused before continuing.
"But, I can't say I'm surprised by the decision, or, even as awful as I find it, think it was entirely the wrong one."
Jack looked at him in surprise.
"I remember Jasmine, one for the world; not that different, really. I also remember how much that decision hurt you; that's why I don't think you didn't care. Maybe you didn't feel it then, maybe not for a long time, but I'm all but certain you did eventually."
Jack leaned over, resting his forehead on Ianto's shoulder.
"Hopefully, shooting me will give Clem at least a bit of closure."
Ianto snorted.
"I'm not terribly concerned with his 'closure' at the moment; he claims I smelled queer. I want to feel for him, but after that I'm having difficulty."
Jack first looked shocked, then thoughtful, for a moment.
"Granted, I haven't seen much of him, but he doesn't really seem to have progressed with the times. It's like he's still stuck as that little boy, and he was with the 456 for a bit of time; given everything else, the contact with them might have screwed with his brain in ways we can't imagine. I doubt he actually smelled that you were "gay," but he definitely perceived something that told him about that and Gwen's pregnancy, and he just seems to interpret it as a smell, or thinks it is."
Ianto paused, considering his words.
"That seems very possible, and he more than likely doesn't know any better. Maybe after all this is over, Owen might be able to help him; but I am still very offended."
Jack chuckled.
"Well, yeah, it is pretty offensive, but, hmm….I wonder what offensive thing we could do to pass the time while that office girl is playing at agent?" Jack said with a glint in his eye as he tilted his face toward Ianto's.
"Oh, yes, whatever will we do," Ianto murmured as he sealed the kiss.
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Jack activated his comm as he and the others in the warehouse watched the meeting conclude under Lois's recording eyes.
"Tosh, Owen, you get all that?"
"Roger that, Jack, it should be enough to give us a leg up," Tosh replied.
"Oi! Harkness, tell Cooper she's in deep shit for running off without doctor approval, and to get her butt back here."
"Shut it, Owen!" Gwen snarked back.
"Oh, Owen, I'm so glad you agree!" Jack said in a sickeningly sweet voice.
"Gwen, take your husband and Clem back to the HUB; undoubtedly some of our government friends will find you guys, and make sure they see the tape when they do."
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Jack turned to Ianto as they prepared to storm Thames House.
"You ready?"
"As I'll ever be; ready with your vortex manipulator to get us out?"
"It's all warmed up," Jack replied with a smile.
"Well, let's get this over with, then."
"Wait!"
Jack pulled Ianto close, kissing him deeply.
"Now let's go," he said, beaming at his lover.
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Tosh, Owen and Gwen turned from their confrontation with the government agent, Johnson, at the sound of Clem's screams.
"What's going on?"
Tosh ran to her computer.
"It's the 456; they're introducing some sort of feedback into him…it's killing him!"
"Can you stop it?" Owen asked from where he was kneeling next to Clem.
"There's not enough time!"
Suddenly, a whirring sound filled the HUB and a blue police box phased into existence, followed shortly by a man in a bow tie poking his head out of the door.
"Oh, what's this? Oh, Torchwood. Oh, there seems to be a spot of trouble. Everyone into the box! Don't dwaddle—trying to save a man's life, here. Children to save, so much to do."
Owen didn't need telling twice as he immediately hefted Clem into the TARDIS, followed closely by Gwen.
"Who are you?!" Johnson demanded.
Tosh grabbed Johnson by the arm, pulling her into the TARDIS. "Sorry, we just can't let you stay in the HUB," she said.
As they approached the TARDIS door the Doctor said, "Me, I'm the Doctor."
"Doctor who?"
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Johnson had just enough time to marvel at the size of the interior of the police box when there was a lurch and a thud. Then the strange man in a bow tie was pushing her out the door.
"Sorry, private party and you're not invited. Don't worry, I've already let UNIT know you'll be their guest until Jack can deal with you, so you'll be fed."
Then she was left alone in a small, dank cell.
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"I love you," Ianto said as his breath was stilling.
Jack was so dizzy; the "virus" or whatever it was had taken effect so fast he didn't have enough time to activate his vortex manipulator, at least not with any skill that would ensure they didn't end up at some random time and place.
The last thing he heard was a whirring, and his last thought was, 'He came.'
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Jack gasped back to life to the sound of his lover chuckling.
"Told you he'd be back shortly," Ianto said with a twinkle in his eye.
Owen shifted from Ianto's side to Jack's, grabbing his wrist to check his pulse.
"Bit high, but that's normal for you after reviving; bloody hell, Harkness, can we try and have a major invasion without anyone on the team dying?"
"Sorry, I was sure I could get us out before anything to bad happened, it just hit too fast."
"Yes, extremely fast-acting, nothing to be done if you weren't in clean air within a minute of exposure," the Doctor said absently from where he was poking Clem.
Jack stood up and walked over to the Doctor.
"Doctor, it's good to see you. Wish it was better circumstances, but I'm—we're—so glad you're here."
The Doctor glanced up at his old friend.
"Funny thing about this TARDIS, you tell her you're thinking of visiting a friend and she drops you in the middle of the world ending; she seems to think she knows where I need to be, despite what I think."
Jack smiled at the Doctor, then at the console of the TARDIS.
"Now, not that my team isn't brilliant and the best at saving the world as we know it, but I'm hoping you'll be able to give us a shortcut to the answer?" Jack asked with pleading eyes.
"I'm brilliant; of course I can. Interesting fellow you have here," the Doctor said, gesturing at Clem. "He seems to be in tune with the frequency this '456' are using and they actually used a variation of it to try and kill him…fascinating."
Jack waited for the Doctor to get to the point, shooting Owen and Gwen a look to quiet the snarky doctor and questioning former copper.
"Now I don't see why we can't send this signal right back at them," the Doctor said, whirling around and zooming to the TARDIS console.
"What? How? Even if that was possible, you'd need Clem or a child who is in tune with the frequency to send it back, but whoever was used would be killed!" Tosh said.
"Not an option to use an innocent like that, Doctor," Jack said, glaring.
"Well of course not, but we have another option. Funny thing about time agents, they have to be able to handle strange frequencies, waves and loads of nasty things hitting their brains just for training alone and to help them be less standoutish to natives," the Doctor said. He then turned to Ianto and Gwen. "You'd be surprised how just your brain being slightly different from other times can be noticeable to natives."
Ianto's eyes widened in surprise.
"You want to use Jack?!"
"It's the best option. It'll bounce the signal and he'll revive; should be minimal risk. Sorry, Jack," the Doctor said with a hint of sadness in his voice.
Jack nodded in acknowledgement of the Doctor's apology.
"What do you mean, 'minimal'?" Owen asked.
"There is a slight, ever-so-slight chance that it could cause a catastrophic altering to his brain waves, causing them to become destructive, permanently destroying his mind…and there'd likely be no coming back from it."
"What?"
"Are you mad?"
"NO!"
"Absolutely not!"
The team all protested at once.
Jack leaned over the TARDIS console.
"No, no, he's right; it's the best option," Jack said calmly
"Jack, I don't care how slight the risk is, it's too dangerous!" Ianto exclaimed.
Jack walked over to Ianto, pulling him close, before addressing him and his team.
"It's a much smaller risk for me than anyone else, anyone else being an innocent person. Our team fights for all of humanity everyday of our lives…of their lives. Every one of those days their lives, your life for awhile, was in danger; any of our team could make the ultimate sacrifice for the people of this world, this wonderful, backwater world.
"I've lived a long time, and I'll likely live much longer, but how can I lead such brave people with flickering lives, if I can't take a similar risk? I've died for humanity, more than once. Even when I wouldn't come back, I still made that risk, even died for that."
Jack's eyes drifted to the Doctor's remorseful face.
"We're Torchwood, and we risk it all everyday; just because that risk is different for me, doesn't mean that it's any different from the risk that Owen, Tosh, Gwen, or even you at one time had.
"Long, long ago I was once a coward who would run for my life, but an idealistic girl and a funny man in a blue box, picked me up from the heap I'd found myself in and showed me how to live again, how to care, and how to be brave enough to risk everything for what is right. And this is what's right."
Jack turned to the Doctor fully.
"How long will it take you to get it ready?"
"A few hours."
"Good. Tosh, Owen, Gwen, you'll go back to Cardiff. Take Clem with you and protect as many as you can; do not let them take a single child. Ianto and I will go with the Doctor and end this."
Jack walked back to the TARDIS console and then spun around, his coat swishing.
"We're Torchwood; and I'll be damned if we let the future of this world be destroyed by aliens or the hubris of politicians."
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Ianto watched in silence as his lover started to crumble, the bounced frequency taking its toll. But they had done it; he could hear the Doctor saying that the 456 were being destroyed.
As it finally stopped, Ianto could only feel awe at his lover.
Jack had always been the one to make the hard decisions, ones where you sacrificed some to save many more. Always been the one to make sure his team knew the risk as he lead them into
life-threatening battle. Threat that had no meaning to him. But with this, Jack proved to any who would doubt him that he didn't just make the tough decisions; he lived them. He didn't just ask his people to risk their lives when he hired them; he was willing to take that same risk.
He didn't just talk the talk; he walked the walk.
"No! No! No!" the Doctor cried.
"What is it?" Ianto asked, alarmed.
"Help me get him into the TARDIS."
As he helped carry Jack, the Doctor continued, "Remember that slight chance I mentioned?"
"Doctor, the next words out of your mouth had better not be a variation of 'that's what's happening!'"
"Oh well, then let's just get him into the TARDIS so I can stop it."
"Doctor!"
"Would you rather argue, or help me get him into the TARDIS and back to your base where we can save him?"
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Ianto felt Gwen come up beside him as he looked on. The Doctor buzzed around, trying to halt the destructive brainwaves in his lover, with Owen hovering nearby. The doctor was desperate to help, but this was far beyond his realm of expertise.
They had landed the TARDIS to find the team in the HUB finishing paperwork for the cleanup; apparently, the TARDIS hadn't opted to just move through physical space, but also to move two days ahead.
"I spoke to your sister," Gwen said out of the blue.
"Oh?"
"She said your dad worked at Debenhams, not as a tailor."
Ianto sighed.
"It really isn't any of your business, but the person I call "dad" and the person Rhiannon calls "dad" aren't the same person."
"You have different…?" Gwen started to ask.
"No, we have the same father; the one I call "Dad," our biological dad, was a master tailor, but he disappeared when I was just a little boy, which I believe I've mentioned before."
He glared at her a bit before continuing.
"Mum remarried not long afterwards. "Father" was alright, I suppose, if a bit rough, but he was never "Dad" to me; Rhiannon, on the other hand, was bitter that dad was just gone, had seemingly left us; so her "dad" is always mum's second husband."
"I'm...I'm sorry, I didn't realize."
"No, no, you didn't, but you thought I had lied to you so you had to confront it, no matter that this is by far not the time or place. The man I love is lying there, and he might never wake up. Might forever be in a coma."
"Ianto, I'm sorry; I didn't think."
Ianto chose to stay silent and let her sulk away.
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It seemed like forever before Jack started to show any signs of stabilizing, let alone waking.
Ianto stayed by Jack the whole time; he knew, however this turned out, that he would remain by his lover's side.
Finally, the Doctor said, "His brain waves are stabilizing; looks like we were able to halt the damage before it was too late."
Owen snarked in response, igniting their familiar banter. Ianto felt his heart lighten; everything was going to be okay.
They had saved the children, saved the world, and best of all, their Captain would remain himself.
Well, apparently a slightly confused Captain, but he could deal with that.