Ianto's head hurt. I mean really hurt. It was as though every brain cell he had, had decided to put on hob-nail boots to spring clean the interior of his skull with wire-wool, sandpaper and broken glass.

Chilli-pepper would have been more soothing.

He couldn't open his eyes. It was too painful. Every time he had attempted it this morning, it felt as though each ray of daylight was being delivered to his sockets by javelin.

It was safer not to try.

His senses were all-to-cock too.

He couldn't get the smell of gasoline out of his nostrils, however hard he tried.

Strange.

He only had a vague recollection to the previous evening. Just shadows, a few bight hues and a feeling of weightlessness.

He knew the evening had contained alcohol.

Ianto understood the concept of cause and effect; but he felt that he was being unduly punished. Yes he had drunk lots (lots and lots actually) but this felt like retribution; as though he had committed the original sin.

Ianto vowed to never drink again. Again.

As a fresh wave of nausea washed over him, Ianto relinquished the last shreds of his free-will and settled back in his (surprisingly ordered) bed. He felt sure he could outrun his present predicament, with duck down and determination.

All he needed was five more minutes.

-OOO-

Meanwhile at an unspecified location, Jack debriefed Tosh on the previous night's events.

"Did he argue or object?"

"No not at all. He seemed a bit dazed but I just guided him to my SUV and took off. It was very straight forward. Textbook almost." Jack spiked his direct eye-contact with Tosh, with sincerity, as he lied through his teeth. Being an expert in reading body language, he could tell that this was going some way to placate her.

"It's just that, last time when he was …agitated; he ratcheted it up several gears and gave The House of Commons a run for their money."

Jack smiled inside and out.

"He seemed exhausted, it was raining. I think that curbed his enthusiasm."

Tosh nodded in acknowledgement of this fact.

"Did you find his address ok?"

"Yes, it wasn't what I expected."

"I know right."

"That's a swanky part of town he lives in. I must be paying him too much."

Tosh's gentle laughter climbed an arpeggio. "I think he inherited it. It's a beautiful townhouse, four floors, with a garden."

"Even in the dark, I could tell it was outstanding, but …"

"I know."

"It seemed erm, very minimalist in décor."

Tosh nodded again, she lowered her head and spoke to the Formica. "I know."

Jack felt that there was a story behind this comment that he probably wasn't going to be told.

"He's in the process of...re-establishing himself." She added.

"Since the last episode?" Jack was beginning to piece the puzzle together that was Ianto Jones; he could do with the lid for guidance.

"Yes he's a work-in-progress." Tosh hastily grabbed Jack's hand. "He is getting there. Please be patient Jack." Tosh's eyes and voice worked in tandem to implore their message.

Jack was aware of the adage that said, you are judged by the company you keep. Ianto appeared to be in excellent company.

-O-

Toshiko Sato was not the type of girl to stick her head above the parapet. You wouldn't pick her out of a line up. She wasn't the type that you would notice first when entering a room; however she was the type that you would want on your team.

While others used up all the available oxygen drawing attention to themselves, Toshiko observed, digested, considered and evaluated before she came to her conclusion.

Tosh was a scientist through and through.

Although deeply grateful to Captain Jack, for his immediate and unswerving help with the Ianto issue, something didn't quite add up.

Something was amiss.

It was not that Tosh doubted Jack's motives, no he seemed genuine in that respect; it was just that she didn't feel as though she could see all the questions on the exam paper. She felt as though somebody's hand was covering up an instruction, a tip that could speed things along.

She wanted to know why.

Flawless manners meant that if she felt she could help anyone in any way, she would.

Tosh observed that Jack's watch was broken. The face had been smashed and the leather strap bubbled, as though it had been burnt. She kindly offered to take the watch to the menders, it was no bother, it was on her way. Jack had been surprised and delighted at this unexpected offer. He quickly unstrapped the useless time piece and handed it over. The hands appeared to be stuck at 1.15am.

Toshiko noticed this.

-OOO-

Dr Owen Harper was a bit like Marmite, you either hated him or you hated him.

Brilliant though he was in his field of psychiatry, he was not in it to make friends. He had every sympathy for those in need; however he didn't suffer fools gladly. He was out of step with the current trend to praise mediocrity or to fawn over the brainless.

He did not have an entourage.

One person who was able to stand his brusque diagnosis and cutting analysis, was Tosh.

Friends since Sixth Form, they had formed an unlikely alliance and had remained in touch over the years, despite the odds.

Owen would hate to admit it to himself, but seeing Tosh lifted his spirits in a way no-one else could.

He almost felt as though he needed her.

Almost.

-O-

Saturday mornings were sacrosanct to Owen, work could be stifling and all consuming at times but the birth of the weekend brought the promise of temporary tranquillity.

Tosh was aware of this and still she called.

Something was wrong.

They arranged to meet in a little coffee shop on the tip of the bay. The views were dramatic. To the left the metropolitan sprawl displayed the fruits of a vibrant city. To the right the beginnings of the countryside could be glimpsed. The lure of the land.

It was one of Ianto and Tosh's favourite spots.

"Ianto had an episode yesterday." Tosh plunged straight in, setting the agenda before she had even removed her coat, on her arrival.

"Tell me everything." Owen dispensed with the social niceties too.

"He went missing, all day and most of the night."

"Again?"

"I know."

"Damn he promised he wouldn't."

"I know."

"What triggered it this time? Do we know?" Owen had taken a seat and had raised his arm indicting he required service. A waiter quickly came to his aid. "A double espresso and a cappuccino mate. Ta."

The order was given. No consultation.

"He finally met our boss."

"I'm not following."

"He's an Alpha-male."

"Shit."

"He's confident, friendly, too friendly some might say. He's genial, warm and loud. I think he sent Ianto into a tailspin."

"Course."

"His anxiety levels shot up."

"To what?"

"8 or 9"

"Jesus, why didn't he contact me?"

"I thought he had, he said he was going to."

"Where is he now?"

"At home. Jack put him to bed; I'm on my way round there now to check on him."

Owen couldn't help himself. "Jack? Who's Jack?"

"Captain Jack Harkness, our nearly new boss. He's American." Tosh informed with a slight smile on her lips. "He's been a real godsend. " The smile remained.

Owen squinted at her expression and took a scalding gulp of his espresso. He was not amused.

"Don't trouble yourself, I'll go. It's time Ianto and I had a talk."

"Owen you're an angel." Tosh leant over the small round marble topped table and pressed her lips to Owen's cheek. "Keep me up-to-date, yeah?" She got up and slipped away, hardly disturbing the throng around her.

Owen watched her go.

-O-

Owen was a man of science. He needed facts, figures, hypotheses and proven theories. He needed to believe what he had seen. Today he had encountered a twist. A ripple in his rationale.

In his opinion some things were just meant to be. Fish and chips. The sand and the sea. The papers and Saturday mornings. Whilst browsing earlier today, Owen had come across an article which intrigued him.

A young man, mid-twenties had been found dead on a piece of wasteland in Splott. This was not outstanding in any way, people slipped over the edge of consciousness daily. No, the fact that caught Owen's eye was that the man had been immaculately dressed, in bespoke menswear.

Odd.

Owen only knew one man who invested that much time and money into his attire, at such a young age.

Allowing his eyes to graze the page again a funny thing happened. The letters were lifting from the page and disappearing into nothingness. Like someone was removing Sellotape from a piece of wood and taking the imprint of the grain with it. The picture of the council estate was being replaced with one of a middle-aged man, beaming at his good fortune of finding true Welsh gold, on the beach with his metal detector.

Owen's eyes hunted for the original story.

They hunted in vain.

Usually if Owen had a conundrum that was ripping his brain to shreds, he would thrash out all the possibilities with his close friend. Usually he would play devil's advocate, until his close friend presented him back to him.

Only she had just left.

-OOO-

Ianto had only been up for half an hour. With all the agility of the walking dead, he had managed to stagger down the stairs to the kitchen and was now on his third cup of coffee.

The fog was beginning to lift.

The memory board was still blank.

The peace that he had finally managed to find was shattered. His front door was being rattled off its hinges.

He shuffled forward, the soles of his feet providing his floorboards, with the only heat they would feel that day.

"Ianto, Ianto open up." The voice was familiar. Ianto undid the locks with a sense of ease.

"Hello. " The door swung open.

"Fuck you."

Even in his punctured state Ianto raised a smile.

"Come through, I'm in the kitchen."

Owen marched through the house, au fait with the layout. He turned left, reached up and opened a cupboard and retrieved a mug.

He held it out to Ianto.

Ianto did the honours.

"So what the hell happened?"

"Happened?"

"Tosh said you got spooked. Elvis left the building for a little bit."

Ianto played with his sugar cubes distractedly. He appreciated his therapist's interest in him, but sometimes his aftercare felt more like afterconcern.

"It was nothing really."

"The nothing that made you play hooky from work?"

Ianto let out a heartfelt sigh. He started to crush cubes between his fingertips.

"The nothing that sent you on a bender?" Ianto was on the verge of protesting but Owen cut him off.

"Don't try to deny it Yan; I could wring you out if I wanted to."

Ianto began to trace patterns in the crushed debris on his kitchen counter.

"I met him."

"I heard."

"He's loud. He's annoying and he's everywhere."

"I heard that too."

"We were meant to meet but I couldn't."

Ianto then heard a tone of voice that Owen only used with his patients.

"Why not Ianto?"

Ianto stopped playing with his creative carbohydrate and faced his interrogator.

"He's just too real, too tangible. He's not a fantasy figure or wishful thinking, he's an actual possibility."

"This scares you because..?"

"He's flesh and blood. He's now. I can almost taste him. I can smell him. It's all too much."

"Why too much?"

Ianto turned away flustered, upset.

"I shouldn't think like this. Things go wrong when I think like this. Look what happened last time."

"You didn't have any semblance of control then Yan. You were taken by surprise."

"I wanted it though."

"It's ok to want, it's ok to have. You just have to be present that's all."

This wasn't the first time Ianto had tried to digest this particular message, but it was the first time his ears had transferred the meaning to his brain.

"Look next time, don't suffer in silence, don't go off the grid, call me. You've got my number, use it you muppet."

Ianto nodded his head, he felt he ought to mention something at this point, but he couldn't remember what that was.

"Well I'm off." Owen drained his mug even though the contents were cold now. This coffee was too good to waste. "Don't be a stranger, look after yourself man."

Owen let himself out, he knew the way.

-OOO-

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