Torchwood: Divergence
Book Four: Hatchweliad
Chapter 17

Treatment of the Captain's injury complete, it was finally time to start wrapping up things in the Hub as well. All in all, it had been quite the day.

"I can figure the correct dose of Morphine or the like later if you need it," Ianto breathed, his expression clearly showing his concern for the older immortal. "The programme Martha has on here is good for that if nothing else."

"I think I'll try the kiss method first," Harkness half-smiled, leaning in for a good solid snog. "Nice… I can see why you're a fan. Excellent emergency treatment, by the way. Thanks."

"Please don't make it necessary for me to do it again anytime soon," the young Welshman insisted, stripping off the surgical gloves and starting to shake once more. "I am not cut out to be a medic. Gwen, you still looking for ways to make amends for yesterday?"

"What?" the former PC blinked, taken aback by the sudden subject change.

"Hand me my crutches and spot me up the ramp," Ianto stated tightly. "I think I'm heading for a seizure, and I'd rather be on the couch than here in the Lab with breakable equipment."

"I'm not a total invalid with this," Jack complained, moving to field his lover's crutches one at a time as Cooper hurried down into the bay. "Gwen, keep just ahead of him, I'll have my good hand on his back."

They made their way to the couch, the twenty-six-year-old shaking more and more as they went. He managed to get sitting down on the cushions by the arm on the far-right end past the table, crutches out of the way, just as his breathing deteriorated to small gasps. The Captain quickly shoved the table farther toward the other end of the couch with his foot, settled beside his Archivist and got both arms around him, holding him close but mindful of his own injured hand. Ianto strangled a cry of pain as the convulsions set it, the muscle spasms pulling sharply against his still healing leg.

When the world swam back into focus for him, Jack was still cradling him against his own body, stroking his hair with his mitten covered hand and murmuring reassurances. Lois was close by now, handing Gwen a damp flannel that she used to wipe down his hands, then his face when his partner eased back slightly. Intense pain was radiating up and down his right leg from his knee, and he knew he'd likely set back the joint repair.

"You all right now, sweetheart?" Cooper asked anxiously.

"Yes and no…" the young Welshman panted with a grimace.

"We heard something pop in your bad knee when the seizure was at its worst," Harkness nodded, not bothering to let go of the still trembling Guardian yet. "Lois, go grab the Bekaran from the Lab. I wanna see how much damage the convulsions did to his leg. Gwen, I don't think he's steady enough for the crutches, so I'll need you to help me get him over into the bedroom in a bit. I don't trust this hand enough to just pick him up right now."

Habiba came hurrying back with the deep tissue scanner, gave it to the former PC still crouched close to their friend's brace-bound leg. Cooper turned it on and focused it over the twenty-six-year-old's right knee, making a face as she looked at the image.

"Bones are okay," she reported evenly. "Joint looks to be intact, but the knee cap's a bit skewed, there're a few muscle tears, one of the main tendons is slightly frayed and the ligament closest to it has partially ripped loose from the bone. That's probably the hideous noise we heard. You might want Hardd back for the pain, yeah?"

"Lovely…" Ianto breathed shakily. "I have.. another idea on the pain… so I can make it… to the office… Try 1000cc's of Morphine…"

"Even I know that's way, way beyond a lethal dose," Lois protested, her eyes wide.

"Not for me…" the shivering Changeling insisted. "I'll be lucky if it… takes the edge off long enough… to get to the room… before the Shadows in my body… purge it… Vein, not muscle… give it a bit longer… in my system…"

"Get it," the Captain nodded reluctantly, still leary of such risks with his partner's life, but tyring to be practical. "I'll do the injection."

Habiba went to fetch the medication, Gwen meeting the gazes of both men on the couch.

"I'll do it," she stated firmly. "You hold on to him in case that big of a dose causes any bad reactions. Soon as it seems to be dulling the pain, we get him up and into your room. You take the left side; I'll take the right so he has more space for the bad leg. Then you two settle, make each other feel better, yeah? Lois and me'll get things squared in the Hub before we head out. Any alerts after that can hang till morning, unless you want us to stay."

Jack gave her a tiny nod of permission, the younger immortal in his arms simply taking deep breaths and trying to stop shaking. Their remaining team member returned with a large, capped, fully filled syringe and a rubber tourniquet, handed both to the one-time constable when she reached for them.

"Okay," Cooper breathed, pushing Ianto's left sleeve further up past his elbow, placing the length of rubber tubing tight above the crook of his arm to raise the veins and easing the needle into the most prominent blue line before releasing the tourniquet as she mentally thanked Owen for insisting they all learn IV insertion and blood draw techniques along with the usual first aid basics. "I'm going to do this slow and it may burn."

She carefully depressed the plunger on the syringe, easing the drug in 1cc at a time. Only about 200 in however, her friend's fingers curled jerkily into a fist and he made a small sound in the back of his throat that was either from pain or fear.

"Too slow…" Ianto hissed, apparently feeling his Shadows already negating the drug. "All at once…"

"Shit," Gwen whispered, sending the remainder of the drug flooding into his system at one go and hoping for the best as she removed the needle.

The Welshman choked, his eyes rolling back as all his muscles suddenly went rigid then totally lax, his partner quickly checking his pulse.

"Ianto?" Harkness called worriedly, barely able to feel a faint unsteady flutter beneath his fingertips.

"Go… now…" the Scieron Changeling whispered haltingly, surprising his co-workers by weakly struggling to sit up in spite of how depressed his vital signs were.

Gwen and Jack hurried to haul him upright and start for the office, the younger man's breathing extremely shallow and his balance shot but he did his best to walk with them nonetheless, keeping his weight on his left leg. His companions were both sweating by the time they got him down on the bed, and it was obvious that the beyond lethal dose of pain killer was indeed already wearing off as his breathing grew deeper and he managed to shakily drag himself onto his preferred side of the mattress.

"Let me have your coat, Jack," Cooper suggested. "Cosy up with him and rest your hand. I'll have Lois bring you some water and juice in case he needs it. You doing alright, Ianto?"

"Better…" her young countryman replied wearily when she reached over to remove his shoes, while their leader unlaced and kicked off his own footwear. "Thanks…"

"Good job," Harkness told the raven-haired woman, easing over to sit beside his lover and get an arm around him again. "Tell Lois the same. You two did great on the alert tonight and pulled together here in the Hub like old pros. I'm proud of you both."

Gwen nodded, then met the younger man's less than focused gaze.

"Please don't ask me to overdose you again," she requested, a slight tremor in her voice. "I've already done you more damage than I can ever make up for, and it scared me to death giving you that shot. I was sure you were going into terminal shock or cardiac arrest when you had me push the last 800cc's. And I know you'll come back, but I don't want to be the one that sends you into the Dark. I've come so close to putting you there already… I couldn't bear to have it really happen."

"If I ask," Ianto countered quietly, managing to keep his voice and gaze steady with obvious effort. "You aren't to blame, I am. And I'd never ask if it weren't the only way to help me in the end… It could come to that someday, Gwen, so you can't be afraid of letting me die or helping me along. Because I need to know I can trust you to be there to have Jack's back and keep him sane while he waits for the Scieron to revive me or send be back from Hell… You want to put the world right between us? Promise me those things and mean it."

The former PC swallowed hard as she stared at the now immortal Welshman, his grey tinged blue eyes telling her how incredibly serious he was. So… this was what it came down to. The only way to truly repair their friendship, was to swear to kill him or leave him to die if he asked her to… to be a trustworthy, supportive companion for their leader when it happened and not try to use it to further her own illicit desires. It would've been easier to have him ask her to leave Torchwood, her heart rebelling at the idea of doing what he wanted. But if it wasn't a punishment as well as penance, what was the point? Something seemed to click in her head then, a cold weight uncoiling from her guts to melt away. It would be unbelievably hard, but she would do as he said if the time ever came. It's what he truly needed from her and as a friend, as a best mate, she'd never say no.

"I promise," Gwen stated, her voice low and tight. "I'll likely cry and cuss and scream, but I will let the Dark have you if you ask. And I'll help Jack bear-up till you come back, lead if I need to, be a friend he can lean on for however long it takes. I won't betray your trust in this, I swear."

She could see relief and gratitude in the young Welshman's eyes as he simply nodded and gave her a tired smile to acknowledge the vow.

"I'll go grab your crutches," Cooper breathed, managing to smile back even as she hated herself for planning to still pursue their Captain in any circumstance not related to their Archivist's death.

She headed out into the Hub, and Jack shifted to kiss his partner on the forehead.

"I think she honestly would've preferred getting fired and Retconned," he murmured solemnly. "Mighty harsh punishment, buddy. Better than anything I could've come up with though, and if it's really gonna fix things for you, I'm okay with it… sort of. I'm not too thrilled with you ever dying regardless, but I understand what you mean and know it goes for me too. Sometimes the only way to save you is to let you go, and I will do that… just like when you were blind and bleeding out. Because I also know that no matter how much it hurts, you'll do the same for me."

"It's hard," Ianto breathed, closing his eyes and shakily reaching over to take up the American's mitten sheathed hand. "But as long as I know you'll come back… yeah… I can let you go."

There was movement in the office just then, both their teammates appearing in the doorway. Gwen had the Archivist's crutches, and Lois carried a bottle of water in one hand and orange juice in the other.

"Perfect," Harkness smiled, handing both his and his lover's headsets to Habiba in exchange for the chilled bottles that went onto the night table. "Why don't you two call it a night. Ianto and I will do the same once he's a little more settled, and we'll worry about cleaning up any black hour incursions tomorrow if they happen. Go home, get some sleep, and we'll see you in the morning."

Both women said their goodnights and headed out, leaving the two immortals to their well-deserved rest. It had been a rough day, start to finish, but at least it seemed there'd be smoother track in the time to come now. With Torchwood, that was often all you could hope for.

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AN: So, things have settled at last. Just in time for the next spot of trouble to find them. Buckle up… things are about to start getting very active very fast for Torchwood-Cardiff.

Thank you to those reading the story. And thank you to those who have followed, favourited, and reviewed. NM