Torchwood: Divergence
Book Three: Rheoleiddiad
Chapter 13
Gwen and Rhys had called it an early night. She'd told him the basic points of the nightmare Ianto had suffered at her mother's, described the cause, the horrific treatment for and continuing aftermath of it as well. Williams had been sympathetic to both sides, feeling badly for her inability to help with anything but her absence, and hoping their friend could recover from the mental and emotional trauma he'd endured. Still, they'd enjoyed a nice quiet dinner, watched a nature programme on telly with the baby, then given the now nineteen-month-old a bath and put her in her crib without a fuss. They'd shared a glass of wine after, Cooper actually happy to sit and listen to the latest news about Harwood's. But they'd both caught themselves drifting, so they'd headed upstairs to crawl into bed.
Now that they were cuddled beneath the sheets however, neither was quite as sleepy as they had been on the settee.
"So, what's the plan?" Rhys murmured, idly toying with his wife's just past shoulder length hair. "You think you need to go back to work straight off? Or you feeling like you need more time away?"
"Honestly, I don't know," Gwen sighed, one finger drawing circles on her husband's oversized t-shirt where her hand rested on his chest. "Part of me really wants to get back to the normal routine, but part wants to hang around home and just stay out of the way till Ianto doesn't run when I'm in the same room. I was thinking of taking a couple more days, but I was also itching for an alert when I was at the Hub earlier."
"Tell you what," Williams suggested after a moment. "Get up with me in the morning. We'll have breakfast and see which way you swing after that. Then you can either snuggle back in with Eb, or I'll swoop her off to Harwood's and you head for the Hub."
"That," the former PC half-smiled. "Sounds brilliant. In fact, I'll cook the eggs and bacon, yeah?"
"And I'll be happy to put down the toast," her husband chuckled, holding her close. "Though at the moment, I'm happy not sleeping on the settee. I missed my favourite nighttime buddy."
"I missed you too," Cooper breathed, levering up on one elbow to kiss him before shifting to cuddle close again. "I was just too wound up in myself to pay attention. You put up with a lot because of me. Is it worth it?"
"Every topsy-turvy minute," Rhys reassured quietly, feeling her relax in his arms.
Silence finally descended on their little home; the whole family peacefully asleep under the same roof for the first time in weeks.
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Evening at the Hub had wound down uneventfully, the team departing right on 9:00 pm. Jack had pottered around for a little while after, taking all the rubbish from the kitchenette to the tip down the Quay, doing a cursory search for likely B and Bs in sleepy rural towns in the Italian and Spanish countryside. He'd bookmarked a couple for further investigation, but nothing had really jumped out at him. Eventually the American had done a CCTV sweep of the base, then put the Hub into sleep mode and headed for the office.
It hadn't taken the Captain long to get stripped, washed up and between the sheets with his partner. Still generating an extreme amount of heat, Ianto had stirred just enough to give the older man a sleepy smile before snuggling close and drifting back off. So, he'd simply watched the young Welshman sleep for quite some time, fervently hoping that the current issue with Gwen would fade without incident in a few days.
Jack had managed to actually fall asleep for a couple of hours around 1:00, his dreams vague and unsettling though not true nightmares. When he woke a little after 3:30 however, he felt fear chill his blood even as his heartrate climbed. He was alone, the sheets beside him barely warm, which meant Ianto had been gone for a while. A quick glance at the ensuite showed the door was open and the lights off. Trying not to panic, the American scrambled out of bed, dragged on his trousers from the day before, pulled on his button up and headed for the door.
"Ianto?" he called urgently as he came out of the office into the dimness of the inactive Hub.
"I'm here…" the named twenty-six-year-old answered hoarsely, drawing his lover's attention to the couch.
Ianto was wearing a pair of old track bottoms and had one of their spare blankets draped over his upper body against the damp chill the base radiated at night. There was a half empty bottle of orange juice on the low table within his reach, and he'd apparently removed his own bandages as well as the staples beneath them. The surgical scars were still a livid, angry purplish-pink along his ribs and down the centre of his abdomen, but obviously fully sealed.
"I tried not to disturb you," he murmured, his voice still raspy and strained. "It's so rare you really sleep… Sorry…"
"You doing okay?" Harkness prodded as he came to sit beside the younger immortal. "Did you have bad dreams again?"
"Nothing horrific," Ianto breathed, leaning against his partner's side when he put an arm around his shoulders. "Rift alarm actually woke me a while ago. It was just an energy flux, no major spike or possible incursion. It may have been your Doctor refuelling for all I know. But I couldn't get back to sleep after, so I came out here to make sure Myfanwy was back and secure, and listen to the Hub for a span."
"I see you pried the staples out yourself," the Captain commented. "Bet that hurt."
"I've done it before, but didn't have to this time," Ianto explained, shivering slightly and still giving off a lot of heat. "It itched too much to ignore, so I cut the bandages away to check it and the staples stayed stuck to the pads. I think the Scieron cells shoved them out once the wounds sealed. Don't believe they can heal around foreign objects."
"Neat trick," Jack half-smiled, giving him a gentle squeeze. "What's on your mind that's keeping you awake? Your temp is still awfully high so the inner stuff isn't healed yet, and bed would probably be a lot better place for it than sitting out here in the cold dark."
"I just had some stuff to think about," the young Welshman breathed, tipping his head back against the cushions. "Tried to figure out the best way to ask something you probably won't like."
"Okay…" Harkness drawled uncertainly. "Are you asking me as your boss or as your partner?"
"Both," Ianto grated, his expression showing he was less than confident about the request but committed to going ahead with it anyhow. "I want to take a few days of leave… alone. There's something I need to do, something I've been considering for quite some time that seems a lot more important now. But it might come to nothing and I don't want to drag you away for it. I'll stay in touch… I swear I'm not going to disappear or anything. Can you… can you trust me in this?"
Jack blinked in surprise for a moment, rather taken aback by the mysterious request and the fear he could see in the younger man's eyes… fear of being refused, of not being trusted away from the Hub on his own anymore, fear of what could happen with his partner in his absence.
"I hope that you'll at least wait till you're healed from the surgery Turlough did," he replied slowly, wanting to choose his words carefully. "But yeah… if you need some time off alone, I'm not going to tell you no. As long as you let me know you're okay while you're gone, and it's not for like a month, it shouldn't be a problem. What about transportation? I have no idea what happened to your car from before the 456… do you want to take the SUV or the van?"
"No," Ianto declined quickly. "You need those here. It should only be a couple of days; I'll just do a rental… or maybe hire a taxi. I keep forgetting that my license is expired. And I'll be sure to call at least twice a day, so you know I'm alright."
"Why are you shaking?" the American beside him prodded quietly, shifting to put both arms around the Changeling. "The venom is pretty much gone. Are you really that scared of asking me for time off?"
"I just don't want to worry you, or make you think I'm pushing you away," Ianto insisted, his still healing voice breaking. "I'm not… I'd never do that. This is something I need to do on my own, but…"
"You're still worried I'll change my mind about wanting you with me if you don't stay close at hand," Harkness finished when his Archivist's words trailed off uncertainly. "Not gonna happen. I will be counting the hours till I have you back, and getting a taste of my own medicine. I've disappeared on you how many times? No warning, no contact. But you were still there waiting for me every time. I'll be ready and waiting for you, I promise."
The young Welshman relaxed against him with a sigh of relief, not bothering to hide it. Yes, he was still radiating heat and shivered occasionally, but was a thousand times better than he had been in the afternoon.
"You wanna come try for a couple more hours of sleep?" the Captain finally asked, kissing his lover on the top of the head.
"Actually," Ianto croaked, pulling the blanket a little closer over his chest. "I was wondering if you'd want an early breakfast. I'd like to get ready and go before the rest of the team shows up. I don't want anyone getting the wrong idea if they see me with an overnight bag."
"Are you sure you'll be healed enough for that?" Harkness frowned, only to smile when his partner gave a firm nod. "Then why don't we go shower and dress for the day. You can get the coffee on after and I'll scoot out to that little all-night diner for something more substantial than toast. Sound good?"
"Sounds perfect," the Shadow reborn twenty-six-year-old replied softly, sitting up straight in preparation for rising from the couch. "Thanks for being okay with this. It means a lot, Jack."
"Thanks for not just disappearing," Jack countered soberly. "It takes a lot more courage to make these kind of plans face to face, than to simply leave without a word or scribble a note. Just be careful when you go, yeah?"
"I will," Ianto promised, gaining his feet with a grimace then turning to the older immortal who rose beside him.
He wrapped the American in a solid hug, then engaged him in a strong "thank you" snog before easing back and heading for the office.
"Shower's going to be a bit awkward," the young Guardian grated, glancing over at his lover. "I'm still too sore to reach some places properly."
"Oh, I think I can help with that," his Captain grinned, following his favourite Jones back into their room and closing the door.
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AN: So, Ianto is going on a bit of an adventure of his own to give himself time to get over the venom/nightmare/Gwen=panic attacks issue without disrupting work at the Hub (yeah, he's good like that). And Jack will have to behave himself while he's gone… This should be fun.
The E-mail problem has to be on the site's end, as doing what they say to fix the situation does absolutely nothing (and I'm not the only one dealing with that). Again, I'm sorry if it's interfering with those who read the story. Just know that I do everything in my power to post every Saturday, even if you don't get an e-mail.
Thank you to those reading the story. And thank you to those who have followed, favourited, and reviewed. NM