Jack slept a lot as he hadn't when Ianto was unconscious. His cell mate accidentally woke him up by tightening his arm around him, and Jack had to roll on his back to see why Ianto was doing this. He noticed the young man shaking and frowned.

"Ianto are you okay?"

He nodded, but he didn't really seem okay. Jack pulled him into a hug and Ianto seemed to calm down in his arms. He wanted to say something, warn him that he shouldn't get too attached because he wouldn't be around him all his life, but he couldn't bring himself to do that. First because he didn't want to upset Ianto, not now, and essentially because he wanted to stay by his side. He wanted to protect him and show him a world he had been torn away from at a too young age.

"I swear it's going to be okay. You're going to be okay," he whispered, stroking his hair.

He pushed the hair away from Ianto's forehead and smiled when he eventually looked him in the eye. Ianto opened his mouth, as if to say something, but nothing came out, and Jack let his hand fall to his cheek. He slowly approached Ianto, to give him enough time to think and push back, if he wanted to, but Ianto did nothing. Their lips inevitably met and Ianto sighed against his mouth, as if he had been waiting for this for too long time, and tightened his hands on his shirt.

Suddenly feeling a wave of weakness, Jack threw his head back with a groan of pain, trying not to hurt Ianto as he grabbed his hair.

"Ianto... what the..."

He knew Ianto was doing this, he knew how it felt by now, but he didn't understand what was happening. And to be honest, he was afraid of Ianto's power. He could easily control him or whomever he wanted as long as they had powers... That was frightening.

"I need to know... what is it?" Ianto whispered, his voice shaking with mixed emotions Jack didn't understand.

Jack stared at him open-mouthed to give his mind the time to catch up. "What are you t..."

"This," Ianto cut him off, waving his hand between the two of them. He eventually sighed and let go of the pressure he was putting on Jack, then buried his head in his neck. "I'm sorry I'm just..."

"I know. I... We should have talked about it. I just... like you. Is that okay?" Jack asked hesitantly and hid a smile when Ianto nodded in his neck. "Listen, how about we get out of here first and after we're done with this place, we see what we do with all of this... is that still okay?"

Ianto nodded again but didn't seem to be moving away from Jack. As Jack was taking a deep breath to talk, he said "I like kissing you. It feels good."

Jack genuinely laughed and planted a kiss on Ianto's forehead. His head shot up and he looked at Jack with a confused expression, heavily blushing.

"You like that too?" Jack asked with a smile.

Ianto quickly nodded and sat to take his composure back. Jack laughed again and followed him, kissing him again, on the cheek this time. As they were getting ready – not as if they had a lot of things to do – Jack silently stared at Ianto. He hadn't given much of a thought about what he felt for the young man, he just happened to like him, which was convenient as they were stuck together. But it was more than that. He was always openly flirting with everyone, not always in the mindset of shagging the person, but just because it was part of him now, but he hadn't with Ianto. Mainly because they had been stuck in a cell, indeed. He didn't really know how to explain it but he knew that the fact he felt weak when Ianto wasn't controlling his power added something to the feelings he already had.

Not in a strange or kinky way, but he needed challenge in his life, and not dying suppressed all the life-threatening challenges. But there, he actually was vulnerable. And Ianto didn't judge him or anything. Moreover, he felt responsible for him. He had to help and take care of Ianto and for once in his life he actually felt like he was really helping someone. He was saving him from this doomed place.
Or he would save him. For now, they were still stuck...

"Jack!"

He jumped at the voice and turned to Ianto who sounded scared.

"What if I can't control it?" He asked again.

Jack sighed and put his hand on Ianto's shoulder with a reassuring smile.

"It's going to be okay. Really. We're well prepared in Torchwood if we have to."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean guns. You don't have to worry about suppressing someone's power. They still know how to shoot."

"Wh- What kind of organisation is this?" Ianto asked, not the slightest reassured.

Jack shrugged to avoid answering and sat down again. After a while, Ianto moved to sit next to him and Jack held him close. The minutes felt like hours and Jack could feel himself growing tired. He wanted to get out of here. Ianto lied on the mattress and Jack smiled softly when he put his head on his thighs. He caressed his hair with his eyes glued to the door but well aware that Ianto was looking at him. Jack eventually closed his eyes, bored and impatient, but didn't stop playing with Ianto's hair, which didn't seem to bother him.

He opened his eyes when the lights went out.

"What's that?" Ianto asked, sitting with difficulty – and a suppressed yawn – on the bed. He already missed Jack's presence.

"That? It's a pissed Gwen. And it's not going to be pretty," Jack smiled, relieved their nightmare would end soon.

They both stood up and Jack motioned Ianto to stand away from the door. As Jack felt a new wave of weakness, he turned and smiled at Ianto who sighed and calmed. Jack just hoped everything would go fine.

After a couple of minutes of standing still, away from the door, Jack felt fingers brushing his before Ianto finally took his hand.

"Thank you," he whispered with a weak pressure on his hand. Jack smiled inwardly and pressed back, so Ianto would know he had heard him.

When the door opened – more like exploded – Jack reaffirmed his grip on Ianto's hand and dragged him towards the corridor. Gwen was there, opening other doors, and Jack called her. He let go of Ianto to hug her but quickly patted her back.

"How can we help?" He asked.

"You don't, it's a clear operation. You get to safety with the others. Tosh is outside."

"But..."

"Trust us," she smiled. "And you don't want to be here when he comes in."

"He's here?!"

Gwen nodded then pointed Ianto with her chin. Jack didn't answer her silent question and turned to the young man who seemed lost and scared. As Jack started to feel weak again, and saw Gwen's concerned look, he took his hand and followed his friend's orders. Each time there was a blow or a gunshot, Ianto jumped and pressed Jack to walk faster or end this, and Jack reassured him.

As they were near the exit, a voice stopped them.

"Oh I don't think so. You stay here or you die!"

Ianto completely froze and Jack guessed he must know the man. He looked at him and move without thinking when he saw his gun.

Ianto jumped when the man fired. He was convinced he would die. Instead, he felt something on his face. Blood. It took him a few seconds to understand it wasn't his own, but Jack's. He stared open-mouthed at him as he fell backwards, and all he could do was open his arms so Jack wouldn't hit the ground.

"Ianto..." Jack groaned in both pain and frustration. He could feel his weakness come back and he knew it was both because he was in pain and because Ianto was losing his control. "Ianto, focus..." he said, but he felt blood in his mouth and stopped talking, only looking at Ianto who hadn't moved and was eyes and mouth wide opened in shock.

Jack understood too late what was happening. He was about to yell at Ianto not to do it, but the force field had already formed around them. The other man laughed, then Jack heard the sound of bones breaking and a yelp of terrible pain.

"Ianto!" he finally managed to say, and the force field disappeared.

Ianto collapsed on the ground, still holding Jack and heavily panting, probably on the edge of having a panic attack. And Jack couldn't move because of the pain.

"Ianto please... I need..." He had no energy left to finish his sentence. He needed his power, quickly. He needed to be able to heal or he would probably die. And he didn't want to experience a death with Ianto besides, he didn't know if he could live again with Ianto next to him.

Ianto didn't move, his eyes were out of focus, he wasn't looking at anything, but his face was directed towards the floor, so Jack could perfectly see him. Even if he didn't move, Jack's words made their way in his mind as Jack felt his wound closing. Before it could even heal properly, he sat down and gently shook Ianto by the shoulders. When he eventually looked up, Jack's heart broke. Since he had first seen him, Ianto had this look of innocence and purity, the look of someone who hadn't seen the world, someone who had suffered but someone had never, ever, hurt anyone. Let's not talk about kill someone, which he had just done.

"He didn't give you a choice. Ianto you had to... I'm not saying it's good but you had no other choice... Ianto, this place is going down, we can't be here when it does."

"What..." Ianto cleared his throat before talking more. "What is happening...?"

Jack tightened his hold on his shoulders. "I honestly don't know. But it's not going to be pretty if he's involved. Ianto, I made you a promise. We're going out, but for this, I need you. Okay?"

Ianto nodded and Jack smiled to reassure him. He stroked his face, hoping it'd look like a kind gesture when all he was trying to do was wipe his own blood away. But Ianto seemed to relax and Jack stood up to help him get back on his feet. He was still in shock and it would probably take time to process it – taking one's life was something hard – but it meant that Ianto was human. Jack could help him as well, he had freaked out the first time he had severely injured someone, he knew what it felt like.

Ianto could walk at least, even if he must have emotionally disconnected his brain. They had no time for panic right now, and Jack apologised in silence as he helped Ianto – even if Ianto seemed to be helping him more, as he was still pretty weak from his injury. He could heal, but it didn't mean he was all good and full of energy afterwards.

As they walked, Jack realised that Ianto had used his force field without Jack getting affected, nor Ianto fainting. He still didn't know if it was safe or not for Ianto, but he seemed to control it a bit better than before. Unless it had been a spontaneous act, which it probably had as he had just seen Jack getting shot. He had acted on impulse to protect himself and Jack. Jack didn't think he could do it again purposely.

When they finally got out of this damned place, they both jumped as they heard an explosion. Someone told them to follow them, and they did, frequently looking back. They weren't the only one to stop when the night was lightened by a fire. Ianto gasped besides Jack, who tightened the grip he had on Ianto's shoulder.

"I told you we had to get out," he said, relieved they had had time to exit the place.

"Who..."

"I warned you, you don't want to see The Doctor using his power."

"So that was him... Does he always...?" Ianto asked, not looking away from the fire and the explosions that were destroying the entire building. He didn't look at the night sky he hadn't seen in all these years, or at the new cars he had never seen before, or at the other people. No, he witnessed the place he had been kept in for more than eight years burning down to ashes.

"No. I've never seen him using his power like that. But we didn't know they were doing experiences on human beings, he must have discovered it."

As Jack talked, the building collapsed and a human form walked out of the fire. Or he flew. It sure looked like he was flying, though he arrived by walking in front of Jack. His eyes were ice-cold and Ianto immediately thought he should never piss this man off if he wanted to live. The contrast between the fact he was producing fire and that he could probably throw little spikes of ice with his look was scary and Ianto swallowed hard.

He flinched when the man waved at Jack to salute him with a childish smile. The contrast with this attitude compared to the one before shocked Ianto even more. Who the hell was that man? Now he wanted to be his friend because he had that stupid yet cute smile on his face.

"Jack," he said.

"Doctor. I've missed you, right?"

"I didn't see anything. It sure was quieter than usual!"

"So what'd I miss?" Jack smiled.

"Not much. We'll take care of them, Jack."

"I know. About that..." he said, putting a hand on Ianto's shoulder.

"You want to take care of him?"

"Are you okay with this? He helped me go through this."

"Sure. Is he...?"

"Yes," Jack answered, knowing his friend was asking if Ianto had powers too.

"Okay. But he's your responsibility now, Jack! And I'll have to talk to you two, but there are things I need to do first."

The Doctor smiled again, and jogged off to a van, his serious expression back on. Jack looked at Ianto who was now staring at the sky and he let him be for a while, taking a look at everyone around them. The authorities were there, taking names and identities, and checking things, and some former prisoners were with doctors. Owen was helping them, and Tosh and Gwen the police. He smiled. Home.

He turned to Ianto who was now looking at him, and they both smiled at each other.

"I made a promise. I told you I'll get you out," Jack said.

He was surprised when Ianto threw himself in his arms, and they almost fell backwards but Jack steadied them and laughed as he put his arms around Ianto's body.

"Thank you," Ianto whispered through tears, and Jack simply smiled and tightened his hug because there were no words that could express what he was feeling at this very moment. True happiness of having saved Ianto, and of the idea he would spend more time with him.

They still had a long path ahead, and Jack would probably have to explain everything that had changed in the world for hours, but they were free, Ianto was free, and the look in his eye was all Jack needed to see he had made the right choice.

That's it! Thanks for reading :)

I've been writing a sequel for this, though it is set two years later, and more about Owen than the rest of the team (... Okay it was supposed to be, but it's also a lot about Ianto...) I still haven't finished it yet, but I think it won't take me long! Anyway, I'll post it soon, probably as a new story though it is a sequel for this one, if you are interested :)