Bloody Hell
Title: Bloody Hell
Characters: Jack/Ianto, Owen, Tosh, Gwen (tosh/gwen if you squint really really hard)
Rating: R for language
Spoilers: perhaps your lunch?
Warnings: Jen and Saria email fic. read at your own risk.
Summary: .... I don't think this is even possible.
Words: OVER 9000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Disclaimers: Jack belongs to Ianto. Them and the rest of the team belong to some people not worth mentioning.
A/N - Ok. So... remember how Saria and I get bored? Well.. we did that again. See, we have different views on angst to sap ratio that a story should have... this becomes REALLY obvious. lol. Some of it is so sweet as to cause diabetic shock. Some is so angsty you'll hear emo songs in the background. Rest assured... no. no thats a lie. There is no assurance I can give. Read at your own risk. This is unbeta'd.. and I tried to spell/grammar check it.. but I nearly fried Microsoft Word. So... yeah. you've been warned.
A/N 2. Apparently we write too much. So this will come in two parts.
Button's note - ....so yes. This time I had Ianto nekkid. *sighs* I just can't help myself. :)
Again, italics are mine. Non-italics are Saria's
Thank you, sariagray for this... :)
Bloody Hell
Owen watched as Tea-boy delivered this particular round of coffees. Gwen gave a brief nod and kept working at her computer, she was trying to find a particular occupant of Splott, grumbling about 'why was it always Splott...' Tosh favored him with a bright smile and a happy 'thanks' before going back to her work. Owen's arrived a very short time after that. Taking a sip of the much needed beverage and nodding his thanks, Owen spoke up. "Mate, come back down here after bringing Jack's to him. Need to talk to you."
Ianto raised an eyebrow and nodded in acknowledgement.
"You look...perplexed. Something wrong with the coffee?" Jack frowned as Ianto stepped into his office.
"Hmm? Oh, no. Coffee's fine. It's just...Owen says he needs to talk to me."
He shrugged in indication of his confusion and rested the mug to the right of Jack's elbow. Jack raised an eyebrow.
"Probably wants to petition you for more refrigerator space for his 'experiments'," Jack chuckled.
Nodding distractedly, Ianto made to leave. A hand on his wrist halted him and he was tugged into Jack's arms for a sweeping, passionate (although quick) kiss.
"What was that for?" Ianto asked breathlessly as he pulled away.
Jack grinned. "A kiss for good luck. It's Owen; you're going to need it."
Ianto leaned in for one more, preferring this to talking to Owen. After making him thoroughly breathless, Jack pushed him away and swatted his arse.
"Oh, go find out what he wants. It's gotta be important if he brought it up to you."
Grudgingly, Ianto nodded and took his own coffee back down to the medical bay to have his chat.
"Alright Teaboy, I know you were bitten by that alien bug the other day before we caught it, and I know you're hiding it from everyone... So strip down and let me look at you to find out what it did to you. Besides, isn't it about time for that physical you've been avoiding for the last month?"
"Fuck," Ianto muttered softly to himself before turning to smirk at Owen. "Look, if you just wanted me naked, you could've asked nicely."
"Bloody Hell," Owen groused, shaking his head vigorously as he looked over Ianto's chart. "You need to stop spending so much time with Jack. You're beginning to sound like him."
Well, that sufficiently chastised Ianto, who climbed up quickly (if reluctantly) onto the cold metal table. He sighed. "Make it quick?"
Owen snorted. "I take it back; you don't sound like Jack at all. Jacket and shirt. Off. Now."
Ianto obliged quickly, removing his jacket and tie with great speed, a light blush already forming on his cheeks. He unbuttoned his shirt slowly, though, reluctant to reveal the wound underneath. A sharp look from Owen hastened his fingers and he tugged the shirt off his body. Catching sight of the injury, Owen whistled low.
"Damn," he murmured before approaching Ianto's side.
A large reddened welt sat on the third rib up from the bottom of Ianto's left side. About 3 inches in diameter and almost perfectly round with a white spot in the middle, Owen looked closer. "Mate, you know the stinger's still in there, right?" He poked it and Ianto jumped. "How did you let this one slip by Jack?"
Ianto sighed and didn't answer. "Just ... fix it, Owen... please."
Owen shook his head. Did Ianto think it was that easy? "Gotta get the stinger out before anything." He took a pair of tweezers and removed the offending alien pin-butt from Ianto side as Ianto grabbed the edges of the bed to keep from twitching.
Owen sighed as he held the tweezers away from his face, his eyes crossing as he stared at the sharp stinger. "Still need to check if it's poisonous," he muttered to himself. "You feel weird lately? More than usual, I mean."
Gritting his teeth, Ianto glared at the caustic medic. "Ha ha," he intoned. "I feel fine. Maybe a little dizzy, but I haven't been sleeping well."
"Lack of sleep, dizzy, apparently sudden decrease in sex drive or Jack would've noticed by now," Owen ticked off the symptoms.
Ianto glared harder, refusing to speak as that would be a form of acknowledgement. His reddened face, though, was enough for the doctor.
"Right. Time for tests, then. If you submit quietly, I won't tell Jack."
"Won't tell Jack what?"
Of course Jack had to choose that exact moment to pop his head in to check up on them, his voice chipper despite the worry in his eyes. Ianto groaned.
"Doctor/patient confidentiality, Harkness, go away and Teaboy'll tell ya later if he wants to." Owen stood directly between the two men, blocking Jack's view of the half-naked, squirming Welshman.
Jack protested, "But... I'm the Captain. And I deserve to know what’s happening to my team." He was nearly whining, trying to crane his head around Owen, who was sidestepping and nearly dancing to keep Ianto covered.
"Jack. Go. I'm the doctor and I'm actually doing my job now. So leave me to it, yeah?"
Huffing and grumbling, Jack turned and walked off. Ianto shot Owen a grateful look, which withered a bit when Owen looked at him pointedly. "You owe me for that one, Jones."
Jack paced outside of the medical bay, avoiding the nervous glances of Gwen and Tosh who were whispering to each other, their concerned voices hushed and garbled by the distance.
Couldn't be just a physical. No, Owen wouldn't've kept that confidential. Owen wouldn't've kept anything confidential. Unless it was serious. Oh God, was it serious? He stopped mid-pace and noticed that the harsh whispers from the female half of his team had halted with him. It had to be serious. He glanced at Tosh's worry-creased brow.
TOSH! That was it! He strode over to her quickly, his face set with determination.
"There's CCTV in the med bay, right?"
She nodded slowly. "But..."
"Pull it up," he demanded, pointing to screens in front of her.
She nodded again and did as she was told. Jack watched over her shoulder as she typed, Gwen trying to glance at the screen from an awkward position to Tosh's right.
"What's going on?" she asked softly, stepping up on her toes to get a better view.
Back in the medical bay, Owen had begun "the tests." He'd taken a blood sample, a sample of the fluid in the welt, and was trying to figure out how to get a urine sample out of Ianto. "You ain't got nothing I've never seen before, Jones. Just pee in the cup, otherwise, you'll have to go back out past Jack. And I'm sure he's got the girls riled up now too. You know he's not gonna leave this alone."
Reluctantly, Ianto agreed with him. He sighed, "I suppose I've already lost all semblance of dignity." He did as he was asked, zipped himself back up, and handed Owen a cup.
The medic was professional whilst this was happening, and merely continued working, attempting to minimize Ianto's discomfort. Ianto mused on this fact; sometimes it was a harsh reminder that the sarcastic prat that was Owen Harper was actually a doctor first.
For his part, Owen had begun testing the stinger, trying to figure out the poison that might be in it, and how much might have been in Ianto.
Jack's gaze at the screen didn't falter. "Dunno yet," he murmured distractedly, brow furrowed in frustration. "Tosh?" Anxiety edged his voice.
"Working on it...there're more codes to bring up the CCTV in the bay. It's only supposed to be for emergencies...."
"This is an emergency," Jack replied flatly. Tosh pursed her lips in a tight line and nodded briskly.
"Aha!" She grinned. "Here we are."
Jack leaned in closer to the screen, his eyes squinting at the grainy image. Ianto was still sat on the bed as Owen removed a printout from the EKG machine and frowned at it in worry. Jack's heart clenched and its beat sped up rapidly. He gripped the back of Tosh's chair until his knuckles went white.
"Audio?" He asked, voice sharp and harsh.
"I can bring it up, but it echoes something awful."
"Try it anyway," he ordered.
Owen stared at the readout. "Well you aren't dying yet. That's the good news." He glanced up at Ianto, and the worry was evident... which was probably scarier to Ianto then anything else. Owen NEVER showed this sort of emotion.
"So... then what’s the bad news?"
"Ianto, you need to learn to come to me when these things happen. This shit can be dangerous, especially when we don't know what we're dealing with."
Ianto was shocked at the use of his name, and that worried him even more. He stared at the ground. He knew that he should have gone to Owen sooner... but it hadn't bothered him at first, and then when it started to he was too worried to. He mumbled an apology and swung is sock-clad feet like a nervous child.
The medic sighed... he hated this part of his job.
"What the hell is he saying?" Jack growled, more at the screen than Tosh or Gwen.
"Sounds like 'Whhhshhsh whhhshhhh wshh' to me," Gwen supplied, trying to be helpful.
Jack tore his gaze from the image for a moment to scowl at her.
"Tosh-"
"I'm trying, Jack! I told you, the audio is terrible in there!"
"Owen looks worried and Ianto looks chastised. That doesn't look like a good combination. Oh God, did Owen just put a hand on his shoulder?"
"That's it," Jack roared, shocking both the women into emitting perfectly-harmonized "eep"s. "I'm going down there."
Gwen frowned at him. "Jack, I don't think that's a good -"
"Something is clearly wrong with my - with one of my team. I need to be informed. Immediately."
Owen put a hand on Ianto's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Ianto. You're going to have to stay here for a bit so I can monitor you. This thing's venom is poisonous. I'm hoping it hasn't been too long... the reason you've been so dizzy lately is that it’s paralyzing you slowly."
Ianto looked up at him, terror evident in his eyes.
"This is why you come to me immediately. You're lucky that I could identify this toxin so quickly. Now. Strip and get this on." Handing Ianto a medical gown, he turned his back and pinched the bridge of his nose. How the fuck was he gonna tell Harkness.
Ianto made a small noise when he was finished. Ever so carefully, he folded his pants and suit and lay them gently on the chair. Owen pulled out a small cot that was hidden under the metal table. "Sit here, it’s more comfortable. I'm gonna get the IV going. And then I'm going to get Jack, he's gonna have to know about this."
He strode as fast as he could to the med bay and ran smack into Owen. Instinctively, he grabbed at the flustered doctor's lab coat and practically hauled him off of his feet.
"What. Is. Going. On?" He ground out, face flushed with anger.
Owen was about to snark back. Then he looked into the Captain's eyes and saw nothing but fear. He tugged himself away from the grasp and smoothed down his coat. Better to just get out with it, he decided.
Fixing him with a steady expression, he sighed. "He's been poisoned. The whatsit...that bug from last week. Ianto was stung. Didn't want to tell anyone. It's -"
He stopped his speech when a flash of blue rushed past him straight for the med bay and its solitary patient. He let out a frustrated growl and ran after the Captain, catching up to him at the entrance.
"JACK. If you go in there like that, you'll just make it worse. CALM DOWN. You can see him in a minute. Bloody fucking HELL," he whispered harshly.
Jack snarled but obeyed, his darting eyes indicating just how torn he was.
Ianto was nervous. Ok. That was a lie. Ianto was scared shitless. He knew he should have gone to Owen immediately.... but then there was a Weevil, and then that pendant that he had to Archive THEN and THERE. And then Jack's phone call to the PM, he had to write the notes for that, and then make sure that all of the paperwork was filed. Make sure that the creatures in the cells were fed.... and it all just added up. It just kept adding up. He groaned. When had he let his life get this crazy? He groaned again, this time from pain. It fucking hurt. He sighed. Was this it then? Some stupid little pin-butt alien bug thing and his own carelessness? He couldn't go out doing something useful like saving the world by Jack's side or something. Another sigh, another groan. God, and what the fuck was Jack going to think? Ianto felt stupid. Ianto felt lost. Ianto just wanted Jack.
Owen crossed his arms across his chest and stood in front of Jack, scowling, a brick wall of focused doctor. Jack's breathing evened out, slowly, and he ran his hand through his hair. His expression softened from anger to frustration to almost pitiful worry.
"Right," he sighed. "Tell me what's going on."
Relaxing his position (but only slightly; he didn't put it passed Harkness to trick him into complacency, not anymore), the medic grimaced. "Too soon to tell. He's been getting dizzy, losing sleep. The poison's a paralytic; I'm hoping I caught it in time. Had to force him into an examination."
Jack's face paled. "How long did you know?" he asked harshly, looking for someone to blame.
"That he'd been stung? Only since this morning. He was favoring his side. He's almost as stubborn as you sometimes."
Trying to steady himself and calm his nerves, Jack clapped his hand on Owen's shoulder. "Thanks," he murmured. "Can I go in now?"
Ianto's musings were cut short as the object of them walked tentatively into the room. "Ianto?" Jack whispered, as though speaking louder might shatter his currently broken lover.
"Jack." Ianto's voice was equally soft and filled with pain.
Jack sat on the cot next to him and pulled him in close, kissing his forehead tenderly. "Gods Ianto, I can't believe I didn't notice. I'm so sorry. I should have seen this. Should have seen what Owen did."
Ianto shrugged and cuddled closer into Jack's side, tears finally spilling over.
Owen watched from the doorway, forgotten for the moment while the two of them had their moment. He knew they'd need time. He hoped that he could fix this. The medic hated this part of the job. It made it worse with it being Ianto of all people. He may not show it much, but he loved Ianto like a brother. However, this was not the time for regret. He had an idea..... it was just going to take some time. He hoped he had it.
Tosh shot a look at Gwen. "Right. This is getting ridiculous. Something's clearly wrong."
Gwen nodded, staring intently at the two men on the screen. She'd seen them kiss, walked in on them having sex, but this. This was something else entirely, something far more intimate. She felt guilty for watching, but couldn't tear herself away. The overwhelming desire to call Rhys surged through her, making her shudder.
"We can't...just barge in there, though. Can we?" she asked and Tosh shrugged, a helpless expression marring her features.
"Don't need to," Owen said briskly as he approached. "I'm going to need your help. Ianto's been poisoned. It's a paralytic. It wouldn't've been an issue if he had gotten over his pride and came to me sooner. Bloody fucking Christ. Tosh, pull up whatever you can find on that bug thing from the other day. Gwen, I need you to keep an eye on them for a bit." He nodded to the screen. "If it looks like Ianto's getting too agitated or upset, get Jack out."
They didn't argue with sudden apparent leadership. They didn't even acknowledge that he had spoken; instead, they went about their assigned tasks without a breath of hesitation.
Ianto finally composed himself and tilted his head up to look at Jack. The look in the Captain's sea blue eyes was heartbreaking and nearly began the tears anew. He resolutely held them back. Jack was being strong and so he needed to be. "Hey..." he started softly, "I'm still here. I'm not gonna leave you." He ended that with a soft kiss. He poured all of the things he couldn't say to Jack into that kiss.
When they broke apart, Jack looked like his world was ending. "Ianto... I... I need to tell you something." He paused and looked at their clasped hands. He pulled Ianto's hand to his and kissed the back gently. "I'm not sure when it happened or why it happened... or even if I wanted it to happen... But I ... " he looked back up and saw the hope and fear in his partners eyes. "Ianto, I love you.... and I didn't want... I didn't want this to end without telling you."
"I know Jack. I told you. I'm not going anywhere." With Jack's words... gods he felt like he could take on the world. He knew it was an illusion, but it was ok anyway. Tear filled blue eyes locked on equally tear filled blue eyes. "I love you too, Jack. I always have."
Owen cleared his throat as he approached. "Enough with the sap, yeah? No one's dying on my watch. And if we're lucky, no lasting damage at all. I'm heading out for a bit. Need to get some things, call up an old friend who owes a favor." He paused and looked at Jack. "You can stay here, but try not to get all hearts and flowers on me. You'll make him diabetic, too, and I really can't handle that right now."
Jack gave the medic a tight smile and a curt nod, though his eyes spoke of gratitude. Owen held his hand out expectantly and Jack raised an eyebrow.
"Keys? To the SUV?" Owen prompted and Jack tossed them over quickly. "I've got Tosh researching and Gwen...well, I'm keeping Gwen occupied." He turned to Ianto and grinned. "One mother hen is enough. You don't need two."
Seeing the slight smile on the young man’s face, Owen, jogged out to the SUV. He wasn't really as confident as he let on, but it wouldn't do to let them know that, of course. He'd had Gwen make a call over to the police station to give him clearance on the roads. He didn't have time to get pulled over right now, nor did he have time to be slow about this. He raced over to Cardiff general and pulled into the Emergency care section. Leaving the SUV running, he raced into ICU/poison control and ran to a cabinet and began pulling out vials, barely reading their labels. He found the two he wanted and pocketed them, and was back to driving again before the song that was on the radio had changed.
Now... to call in that favor.
Meanwhile, back at the HUB, Tosh had found the file on the bug. "It's called Strongylopthalmaya. It's kinda like our mayfly, only blue and about a foot long. Only lives for 12 hours or so, but is wildly vicious." She skimmed the file, reading Ianto's precise handwriting, trying not to tear up as she found the part she was looking for. "Oh..." She fell into her chair.
"Galya," he acknowledged with a nod as he slammed the SUV door shut.
"Owen," she cried as she turned toward him, face beaming excitedly. "Things, they are good, yes?" She leaned over and kissed him on the check.
"Good. Yes. No, actually," he muttered, ducking as she waved a lit cigarette around as though it were a magic wand. If only it were.
She frowned at him, pink lips an exaggerated pout. "There is trouble?"
"Much," he sighed. "Do you still have the Halvauslama serum?"
She nodded and raised an eyebrow.
"Good. I need it."
"It is rare, this thing. It will cost you."
Owen growled. "You owe me."
"Yes," she shrugged. "So it will cost you slightly less. Is good?"
He sighed, resigned. "Fine! Email me the bill, fax it, whatever. I just need it. Now."
Gwen looked at Tosh as she slumped in her seat. "The cure is nearly impossible to find. It's an alien cure that is very rare even on its own planet. The Havauslam people of the 5th Solar System in the Haug Galaxy. Its used in rituals, and thats all. The poison is slow acting.... God, the consequences of this are horrible." She looked defeated.
"I wonder if Jack knows of anyway to get any? Maybe he can call on that Doctor of his.... " She glanced at the medbay, then at the CCTV that was still showing what was happening inside. It hurt her heart to see. The boys were clutching at each other like the world was ending, and god knew she'd seen that look before.
"I'm .. I'm gonna call Rhys, I ... just need to talk to him." Gwen pulled out her mobile and made the call, turning away before she could see the look of utter despair cross Tosh's face. Poor Tosh curled up with her arms around her knees. Where was Owen?
"Hey," Jack whispered, smoothing back Ianto's hair. "How're you feeling now?"
Ianto rolled his eyes. "Not much different from two minutes ago."
Jack raised an eyebrow and Ianto sighed.
"Look," he continued. "I trust Owen. I'll be fine, I'm sure. I just...I just panicked. Really, I feel fine."
Jack didn't believe him for a minute, but decided to play along. "Huh. So you don't love me, then?"
"Daft sod," Ianto muttered affectionately and grasped Jack's hand, squeezing it lightly.
------
Owen slid back into the driver's seat of the SUV and pressed his comm. "Tosh?"
"Yeah?"
"What've you got?"
"Doesn't look good. Rare alien plant, the Havausalm use it. That's the only cure, but the dosage is tricky and it doesn't always work."
"Yeah," Owen muttered. "I know. I've got it."
"What? How?"
"Favor. You think Jack will sign off an expense report for it?"
"Do you really need to ask?"
"Good point. How are they?"
"Holding up, I think. Ianto looks...more determined. They haven't been speaking much. Hurry back."
"Will do."
Running into the Hub, vials clinking and clacking, Owen looked a bit more mad scientist than usual. He bolted down to the medbay, bursting in without thought to what might have been going on in there. Which, he was pleased to find out later, was nothing more then some simple cuddling and much needed closeness. "Right. I've got what I need... however, its tricky and iffy and well, we'll just have to see, now won't we."
He handed Ianto a vial of something that looked thick and sticky. "First, drink this. All of it, and no complaints about how it tastes."
Ianto shrugged and kicked back the vial as though it were a shot of Jack Daniels. It was vile and awful and slid down like thick paint. But he swallowed, grimacing at the pain in his chest. That pain hadn't been there a minute ago. He thought about saying something, but didn't bother. It would either work out, or it wouldn't.
Owen made sure he drank it all, noting the wince at the end silently.. Nodding he turned towards his counter and began to carefully mix ingrediants, talking softly as he went along. "That was just to make sure that your stomach would accept this antidote. It's kinda like an accelerator, made to help this into your blood stream."
"Hm," Ianto murmured as he tried to get more comfortable.
"Okay, explanations. Now," Jack demanded as he rubbed Ianto's shoulder distractedly.
"Right. The bug was a Strongylopthalmaya. Poison is terrible, causes a slow paralysis. Not death, which may actually be better, but almost complete system shutdown of the body. The only known cure is this plant used in rituals on Havausala. I happened to procure a bit of the serum. I have to mix it with a stabilizer and a base and there're no instructions so it's really all guesswork. Too little won't do anything other than make him hallucinate. Too much can kill him." He winced as he mixed carefully. "And we won't know if it's working until it does."
Jack frowned and gripped Ianto's shoulder tightly. "That's all we've got?"
"'Fraid so. Here," he said as he turned around and handed a small cup to Ianto. "Drink this, too. It'll relax your muscles, stave off any further paralysis for at least an hour or so. Shouldn't effect the cure."
Ianto sipped it back, same as he had the vial. "Owen it seems you are trying to slip me a mickey. First naked, now this." He arched an eyebrow, then the stormy eyes widened. The effects of the muscle relaxant hit him nearly instantly. "Wow. That works fast..." He slumped against Jack, who lay him down, head in his lap. Tears flowed fairly freely from Jack's eyes, and soft pale hands reached up to brush them away.
"I'll be fine, Jack. Owen'll make me better. You hired him cause he's the best. You always hire the best." he murmured, eyes slipping shut. "I'm just a blip in time for you anyway. You'll move on and find someone new. Its ok, Jack. I understand."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Owen ignored the pair on the cot as he worked as carefully as he ever had. He didn't believe in a God... not as such. Anyone working for Torchwood for any length of time soon lost any semblance of proper religion. He chose instead to pray to the deities that ruled over the Havausala. It seemed like the most appropriate thing... He poured what he thought was just the right amount of base into a tube, adding half of the antidote from the bottle. He sighed, covering the tube and shaking it vigorously, using the moment to glance at the cot. Jack was speaking quietly to Ianto, their hands clutching each other tightly. Owen uncovered the tube, and, holding his breath he poured in the stabilizer. He hoped against hope that this was right. They only really got one shot at this. Covering the tube again he mixed it briefly, holding it up and remembering to breath.
"Feels different, like this," Gwen muttered, her eyes glued to the screen.
"It would," Tosh answered automatically, trying at sarcasm and failing miserably.
"No, I mean, like we're actually intruding this time. Like this is somehow more intimate than snogging or shagging or whatever the Hell else those two get up to in here after hours."
Tosh huffed a giggle-sob and Gwen wrapped an arm around her slight shoulders. The technician leaned into the half embrace and sniffled.
"Do you think he'll be okay?" she asked, voice soft and quiet and fragile enough to shatter when it makes impact with Gwen's ear.
"I hope so, I really do. We won't leave his side, though, love. Jack won't leave his side. Owen'll think of something."
She nodded and rested her head on Gwen's shoulder. And then, with a start, sat up straight.
"His side! That's it!" she gasped and pressed her comm unit. "Owen! I just thought of something!"
Owen, for his part, did not jump and did not spill the very very important liquid. He glared up at .. whatever was up there. Growling softly, "Yes, Tosh? And next time... please, for the love of god, make sure I'm NOT holding a vial of near priceless and impossible to come by antidote."
"Owen.... I remember... from the files... he's not supposed to drink that! That's for rituals only! The part of it that is the antidote needs to be injected near the site of the wound!"
Owen shook his head. How could he have forgotten such a vital part of this!? He'd nearly made a lethal mistake. "Shit. Tosh, thanks...."
Turning to look at the men on the cot, he walked over slowly... "Ianto? I’m going inject you, it means that I need to get to the wound. Ok?"
With a silent nod, Ianto turned onto his side, keeping his head in Jack's lap, if possible cuddling closer to his Captain. Owen pulled the sheet off of the wound, and Jack hissed. "Ianto...... Gods, tell me next time." He shuddered.
Ianto smiled wryly at him, if a bit upside-down, and Owen coughed pointedly. Jack looked at the irate medic.
"Yes, I know, I should've noticed. Now isn't the time."
"Right, right, okay. Just a little pinch, I promise." Owen wasn't about to tell Ianto that the needle was big enough to put the stinger to shame.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You know what Owen reminds me of?" Tosh asked, snuggling next to Gwen as they watched the drama unfold on the screen.
"A frog? A fish?"
She giggled. "No. House. I'm thinking of buying him a cane for Christmas."
Gwen laughed outright, the tense anxiety of the situation putting her over the edge into hysterics. "You know," she gasped. "I always thought Wilson and House had a bit of a thing together. So who would be Wilson?"
Groaning, Tosh turned her head to look at Gwen pointedly. "I want to say Ianto, but that's wrong on so many levels." She grinned.
Ianto hated needles. Had since he was a child, when he had sliced his hand open on a rusted nail outside his house. His mother had taken him to a doctor's and he'd needed a tetanus shot. He'd screamed when he saw the needle, but even when he was young, he'd been dignified.
Now, as Owen advanced on him with a needle bigger then he'd ever seen, he turned his face into Jack's leg, and clutched Jack's hands tightly, grimacing.
"I haven't even touched you yet, Ianto. But I can't numb the area, it might interfere with the antidote."
Ianto mumbled something. It could have been Yes or No or Belguim or The Weevils are Attacking, for all Owen knew. He looked at Jack, who nodded and clutched Ianto as though the world was ending... and his may have been. It was all up to the medic now.
Owen plunged the needle into Ianto's side, just below the stinger mark. He pressed the plunger and watched as the clear liquid evacuated the vial.
Ianto's only reaction was to tense up and moan in pain as he felt the large bore needle breach his skin...
Owen's eyes met Jack's and they waited.
Jack pet his hair soothingly, whispering words that Ianto couldn't quite understand. Things seemed a bit hazy and all he could focus on was the back-and-forth of Jack's large, warm hand on his head. He glanced at Jack. Jack had both hands. He looked at Owen. Owen had both hands. He made to reach up and grasp the hand taking liberties with his head, but was stopped by Jack.
"What is it, Ianto?"
"Hand. Head. Stoke. It feels like blue, but it isn't yours, so it can't be blue. And it's not Owen, because Owen feels like yellow. It's an imposter."
Jack glanced, frantic worry creasing his brow, at Owen. He simply shrugged.
"Told you it's hallucinogenic. At least we know it's working."
Sighing, Jack looked down at Ianto. His pupils were large as saucers and if he wasn't quite so out of it and the situation wasn't quite so dire, Jack would've taken a picture.
Ianto sighed contentedly. The fake-blue was gone and he snuggled into Jack-blue as Owen orbited them, all yellow with sometimes-brightwarm, sometimes-sicklypale shades. The air tasted of honey and he was about to inform Jack of this marvelous fact (because surely Jack would like to know), but Jack was kissing him softly (and maybe that's why the air tasted like honey after all) and the honey-air clogged his throat and words weren't quite making their way out of his mouth.
Jack had listened to Ianto's rambling, it was so wrong coming from the young man.... Ianto was always so proper. He spoke little, and never like this. It was unnerving and Jack's nerves had already had almost as much as they could take. To stop the incoherent thoughts coming from Ianto, he did the only thing he could think of and kissed him deeply. He did NOT tell himself that it felt like goodbye. He did NOT tell himself that it was the last time. He did, however kiss Ianto like his life depended on it. Jack remembered back to the day that he had brought Ianto back from the brink of death once before... When Lisa had attacked him. He thought about how he had dipped into his own life energy and poured it into the nearly dead Welshman. He remembered all this and he did it again.
The kiss deepened as Jack literally poured his life into it. He poured all of the love that he felt for Ianto into it, and when he came up to allow them to breathe again, some of the coherency had returned to Ianto's eyes. Some of the color back into the pale cheeks.
Ianto's slight shivering stopped.
"Owen, how long's this stuff take?"
Owen snorted. "Probably a lot less time if you let him breathe! Other than that, I have no idea. That's part of the tricky bit. I'm gonna go check on the girls. Call me if anything changes."
Ianto smiled tightly up at Jack as doctor left. "Can't say I feel better. I don't feel much of anything, actually."
Jack nodded distractedly. "Probably for the best...."
-------
Owen stared at the two, huddled close together, arms wrapped around each other, giggling hysterically. He almost fell over when Gwen nuzzled Tosh's cheek to the amusement of both women. He wished, quite fervently, that he had his mobile. This was a picture worth saving for eternity.
"Is this a private party, then?" he snarked instead.
The two women jumped away, blushing, and then started laughing again.
"Do I want to know?" he asked as he approached them cautiously, as though they were wild animals.
"We were just...it's been...stressful?" Tosh managed.
"Yes," he said. "I can see that."
Owen began to wonder if maybe there wasn't something wrong with them too.... Maybe a hallucinogen had made it to the air as he was mixing? Or... He rationalized, maybe it was just the stress. He began a strict regime of pacing back and forth in front of them, waiting for the call from Jack.
"Owen, is he going to be alright?" Gwen interrupted his nonthinking.
"Dunno, Gwen. We're going to just have to wait... I've done all I can." Owen's stance was somewhat defeated. The fire that still raged in his eyes though, said otherwise. He was going to fight this as hard as he knew how. If there's one thing that Owen was good for it was stark determination.
The girls watched him pace, and huddled back together in front of the now darkened monitor. Tosh, in a moment of clarity had shut it down when Owen had come up.
None of them were prepared when, a very very long half hour later, Jack called up to them, tears in his voice.
Part 2
Characters: Jack/Ianto, Owen, Tosh, Gwen (tosh/gwen if you squint really really hard)
Rating: R for language
Spoilers: perhaps your lunch?
Warnings: Jen and Saria email fic. read at your own risk.
Summary: .... I don't think this is even possible.
Words: OVER 9000!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Disclaimers: Jack belongs to Ianto. Them and the rest of the team belong to some people not worth mentioning.
A/N - Ok. So... remember how Saria and I get bored? Well.. we did that again. See, we have different views on angst to sap ratio that a story should have... this becomes REALLY obvious. lol. Some of it is so sweet as to cause diabetic shock. Some is so angsty you'll hear emo songs in the background. Rest assured... no. no thats a lie. There is no assurance I can give. Read at your own risk. This is unbeta'd.. and I tried to spell/grammar check it.. but I nearly fried Microsoft Word. So... yeah. you've been warned.
A/N 2. Apparently we write too much. So this will come in two parts.
Button's note - ....so yes. This time I had Ianto nekkid. *sighs* I just can't help myself. :)
Again, italics are mine. Non-italics are Saria's
Thank you, sariagray for this... :)
Bloody Hell
Owen watched as Tea-boy delivered this particular round of coffees. Gwen gave a brief nod and kept working at her computer, she was trying to find a particular occupant of Splott, grumbling about 'why was it always Splott...' Tosh favored him with a bright smile and a happy 'thanks' before going back to her work. Owen's arrived a very short time after that. Taking a sip of the much needed beverage and nodding his thanks, Owen spoke up. "Mate, come back down here after bringing Jack's to him. Need to talk to you."
Ianto raised an eyebrow and nodded in acknowledgement.
"You look...perplexed. Something wrong with the coffee?" Jack frowned as Ianto stepped into his office.
"Hmm? Oh, no. Coffee's fine. It's just...Owen says he needs to talk to me."
He shrugged in indication of his confusion and rested the mug to the right of Jack's elbow. Jack raised an eyebrow.
"Probably wants to petition you for more refrigerator space for his 'experiments'," Jack chuckled.
Nodding distractedly, Ianto made to leave. A hand on his wrist halted him and he was tugged into Jack's arms for a sweeping, passionate (although quick) kiss.
"What was that for?" Ianto asked breathlessly as he pulled away.
Jack grinned. "A kiss for good luck. It's Owen; you're going to need it."
Ianto leaned in for one more, preferring this to talking to Owen. After making him thoroughly breathless, Jack pushed him away and swatted his arse.
"Oh, go find out what he wants. It's gotta be important if he brought it up to you."
Grudgingly, Ianto nodded and took his own coffee back down to the medical bay to have his chat.
"Alright Teaboy, I know you were bitten by that alien bug the other day before we caught it, and I know you're hiding it from everyone... So strip down and let me look at you to find out what it did to you. Besides, isn't it about time for that physical you've been avoiding for the last month?"
"Fuck," Ianto muttered softly to himself before turning to smirk at Owen. "Look, if you just wanted me naked, you could've asked nicely."
"Bloody Hell," Owen groused, shaking his head vigorously as he looked over Ianto's chart. "You need to stop spending so much time with Jack. You're beginning to sound like him."
Well, that sufficiently chastised Ianto, who climbed up quickly (if reluctantly) onto the cold metal table. He sighed. "Make it quick?"
Owen snorted. "I take it back; you don't sound like Jack at all. Jacket and shirt. Off. Now."
Ianto obliged quickly, removing his jacket and tie with great speed, a light blush already forming on his cheeks. He unbuttoned his shirt slowly, though, reluctant to reveal the wound underneath. A sharp look from Owen hastened his fingers and he tugged the shirt off his body. Catching sight of the injury, Owen whistled low.
"Damn," he murmured before approaching Ianto's side.
A large reddened welt sat on the third rib up from the bottom of Ianto's left side. About 3 inches in diameter and almost perfectly round with a white spot in the middle, Owen looked closer. "Mate, you know the stinger's still in there, right?" He poked it and Ianto jumped. "How did you let this one slip by Jack?"
Ianto sighed and didn't answer. "Just ... fix it, Owen... please."
Owen shook his head. Did Ianto think it was that easy? "Gotta get the stinger out before anything." He took a pair of tweezers and removed the offending alien pin-butt from Ianto side as Ianto grabbed the edges of the bed to keep from twitching.
Owen sighed as he held the tweezers away from his face, his eyes crossing as he stared at the sharp stinger. "Still need to check if it's poisonous," he muttered to himself. "You feel weird lately? More than usual, I mean."
Gritting his teeth, Ianto glared at the caustic medic. "Ha ha," he intoned. "I feel fine. Maybe a little dizzy, but I haven't been sleeping well."
"Lack of sleep, dizzy, apparently sudden decrease in sex drive or Jack would've noticed by now," Owen ticked off the symptoms.
Ianto glared harder, refusing to speak as that would be a form of acknowledgement. His reddened face, though, was enough for the doctor.
"Right. Time for tests, then. If you submit quietly, I won't tell Jack."
"Won't tell Jack what?"
Of course Jack had to choose that exact moment to pop his head in to check up on them, his voice chipper despite the worry in his eyes. Ianto groaned.
"Doctor/patient confidentiality, Harkness, go away and Teaboy'll tell ya later if he wants to." Owen stood directly between the two men, blocking Jack's view of the half-naked, squirming Welshman.
Jack protested, "But... I'm the Captain. And I deserve to know what’s happening to my team." He was nearly whining, trying to crane his head around Owen, who was sidestepping and nearly dancing to keep Ianto covered.
"Jack. Go. I'm the doctor and I'm actually doing my job now. So leave me to it, yeah?"
Huffing and grumbling, Jack turned and walked off. Ianto shot Owen a grateful look, which withered a bit when Owen looked at him pointedly. "You owe me for that one, Jones."
Jack paced outside of the medical bay, avoiding the nervous glances of Gwen and Tosh who were whispering to each other, their concerned voices hushed and garbled by the distance.
Couldn't be just a physical. No, Owen wouldn't've kept that confidential. Owen wouldn't've kept anything confidential. Unless it was serious. Oh God, was it serious? He stopped mid-pace and noticed that the harsh whispers from the female half of his team had halted with him. It had to be serious. He glanced at Tosh's worry-creased brow.
TOSH! That was it! He strode over to her quickly, his face set with determination.
"There's CCTV in the med bay, right?"
She nodded slowly. "But..."
"Pull it up," he demanded, pointing to screens in front of her.
She nodded again and did as she was told. Jack watched over her shoulder as she typed, Gwen trying to glance at the screen from an awkward position to Tosh's right.
"What's going on?" she asked softly, stepping up on her toes to get a better view.
Back in the medical bay, Owen had begun "the tests." He'd taken a blood sample, a sample of the fluid in the welt, and was trying to figure out how to get a urine sample out of Ianto. "You ain't got nothing I've never seen before, Jones. Just pee in the cup, otherwise, you'll have to go back out past Jack. And I'm sure he's got the girls riled up now too. You know he's not gonna leave this alone."
Reluctantly, Ianto agreed with him. He sighed, "I suppose I've already lost all semblance of dignity." He did as he was asked, zipped himself back up, and handed Owen a cup.
The medic was professional whilst this was happening, and merely continued working, attempting to minimize Ianto's discomfort. Ianto mused on this fact; sometimes it was a harsh reminder that the sarcastic prat that was Owen Harper was actually a doctor first.
For his part, Owen had begun testing the stinger, trying to figure out the poison that might be in it, and how much might have been in Ianto.
Jack's gaze at the screen didn't falter. "Dunno yet," he murmured distractedly, brow furrowed in frustration. "Tosh?" Anxiety edged his voice.
"Working on it...there're more codes to bring up the CCTV in the bay. It's only supposed to be for emergencies...."
"This is an emergency," Jack replied flatly. Tosh pursed her lips in a tight line and nodded briskly.
"Aha!" She grinned. "Here we are."
Jack leaned in closer to the screen, his eyes squinting at the grainy image. Ianto was still sat on the bed as Owen removed a printout from the EKG machine and frowned at it in worry. Jack's heart clenched and its beat sped up rapidly. He gripped the back of Tosh's chair until his knuckles went white.
"Audio?" He asked, voice sharp and harsh.
"I can bring it up, but it echoes something awful."
"Try it anyway," he ordered.
Owen stared at the readout. "Well you aren't dying yet. That's the good news." He glanced up at Ianto, and the worry was evident... which was probably scarier to Ianto then anything else. Owen NEVER showed this sort of emotion.
"So... then what’s the bad news?"
"Ianto, you need to learn to come to me when these things happen. This shit can be dangerous, especially when we don't know what we're dealing with."
Ianto was shocked at the use of his name, and that worried him even more. He stared at the ground. He knew that he should have gone to Owen sooner... but it hadn't bothered him at first, and then when it started to he was too worried to. He mumbled an apology and swung is sock-clad feet like a nervous child.
The medic sighed... he hated this part of his job.
"What the hell is he saying?" Jack growled, more at the screen than Tosh or Gwen.
"Sounds like 'Whhhshhsh whhhshhhh wshh' to me," Gwen supplied, trying to be helpful.
Jack tore his gaze from the image for a moment to scowl at her.
"Tosh-"
"I'm trying, Jack! I told you, the audio is terrible in there!"
"Owen looks worried and Ianto looks chastised. That doesn't look like a good combination. Oh God, did Owen just put a hand on his shoulder?"
"That's it," Jack roared, shocking both the women into emitting perfectly-harmonized "eep"s. "I'm going down there."
Gwen frowned at him. "Jack, I don't think that's a good -"
"Something is clearly wrong with my - with one of my team. I need to be informed. Immediately."
Owen put a hand on Ianto's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Ianto. You're going to have to stay here for a bit so I can monitor you. This thing's venom is poisonous. I'm hoping it hasn't been too long... the reason you've been so dizzy lately is that it’s paralyzing you slowly."
Ianto looked up at him, terror evident in his eyes.
"This is why you come to me immediately. You're lucky that I could identify this toxin so quickly. Now. Strip and get this on." Handing Ianto a medical gown, he turned his back and pinched the bridge of his nose. How the fuck was he gonna tell Harkness.
Ianto made a small noise when he was finished. Ever so carefully, he folded his pants and suit and lay them gently on the chair. Owen pulled out a small cot that was hidden under the metal table. "Sit here, it’s more comfortable. I'm gonna get the IV going. And then I'm going to get Jack, he's gonna have to know about this."
He strode as fast as he could to the med bay and ran smack into Owen. Instinctively, he grabbed at the flustered doctor's lab coat and practically hauled him off of his feet.
"What. Is. Going. On?" He ground out, face flushed with anger.
Owen was about to snark back. Then he looked into the Captain's eyes and saw nothing but fear. He tugged himself away from the grasp and smoothed down his coat. Better to just get out with it, he decided.
Fixing him with a steady expression, he sighed. "He's been poisoned. The whatsit...that bug from last week. Ianto was stung. Didn't want to tell anyone. It's -"
He stopped his speech when a flash of blue rushed past him straight for the med bay and its solitary patient. He let out a frustrated growl and ran after the Captain, catching up to him at the entrance.
"JACK. If you go in there like that, you'll just make it worse. CALM DOWN. You can see him in a minute. Bloody fucking HELL," he whispered harshly.
Jack snarled but obeyed, his darting eyes indicating just how torn he was.
Ianto was nervous. Ok. That was a lie. Ianto was scared shitless. He knew he should have gone to Owen immediately.... but then there was a Weevil, and then that pendant that he had to Archive THEN and THERE. And then Jack's phone call to the PM, he had to write the notes for that, and then make sure that all of the paperwork was filed. Make sure that the creatures in the cells were fed.... and it all just added up. It just kept adding up. He groaned. When had he let his life get this crazy? He groaned again, this time from pain. It fucking hurt. He sighed. Was this it then? Some stupid little pin-butt alien bug thing and his own carelessness? He couldn't go out doing something useful like saving the world by Jack's side or something. Another sigh, another groan. God, and what the fuck was Jack going to think? Ianto felt stupid. Ianto felt lost. Ianto just wanted Jack.
Owen crossed his arms across his chest and stood in front of Jack, scowling, a brick wall of focused doctor. Jack's breathing evened out, slowly, and he ran his hand through his hair. His expression softened from anger to frustration to almost pitiful worry.
"Right," he sighed. "Tell me what's going on."
Relaxing his position (but only slightly; he didn't put it passed Harkness to trick him into complacency, not anymore), the medic grimaced. "Too soon to tell. He's been getting dizzy, losing sleep. The poison's a paralytic; I'm hoping I caught it in time. Had to force him into an examination."
Jack's face paled. "How long did you know?" he asked harshly, looking for someone to blame.
"That he'd been stung? Only since this morning. He was favoring his side. He's almost as stubborn as you sometimes."
Trying to steady himself and calm his nerves, Jack clapped his hand on Owen's shoulder. "Thanks," he murmured. "Can I go in now?"
Ianto's musings were cut short as the object of them walked tentatively into the room. "Ianto?" Jack whispered, as though speaking louder might shatter his currently broken lover.
"Jack." Ianto's voice was equally soft and filled with pain.
Jack sat on the cot next to him and pulled him in close, kissing his forehead tenderly. "Gods Ianto, I can't believe I didn't notice. I'm so sorry. I should have seen this. Should have seen what Owen did."
Ianto shrugged and cuddled closer into Jack's side, tears finally spilling over.
Owen watched from the doorway, forgotten for the moment while the two of them had their moment. He knew they'd need time. He hoped that he could fix this. The medic hated this part of the job. It made it worse with it being Ianto of all people. He may not show it much, but he loved Ianto like a brother. However, this was not the time for regret. He had an idea..... it was just going to take some time. He hoped he had it.
Tosh shot a look at Gwen. "Right. This is getting ridiculous. Something's clearly wrong."
Gwen nodded, staring intently at the two men on the screen. She'd seen them kiss, walked in on them having sex, but this. This was something else entirely, something far more intimate. She felt guilty for watching, but couldn't tear herself away. The overwhelming desire to call Rhys surged through her, making her shudder.
"We can't...just barge in there, though. Can we?" she asked and Tosh shrugged, a helpless expression marring her features.
"Don't need to," Owen said briskly as he approached. "I'm going to need your help. Ianto's been poisoned. It's a paralytic. It wouldn't've been an issue if he had gotten over his pride and came to me sooner. Bloody fucking Christ. Tosh, pull up whatever you can find on that bug thing from the other day. Gwen, I need you to keep an eye on them for a bit." He nodded to the screen. "If it looks like Ianto's getting too agitated or upset, get Jack out."
They didn't argue with sudden apparent leadership. They didn't even acknowledge that he had spoken; instead, they went about their assigned tasks without a breath of hesitation.
Ianto finally composed himself and tilted his head up to look at Jack. The look in the Captain's sea blue eyes was heartbreaking and nearly began the tears anew. He resolutely held them back. Jack was being strong and so he needed to be. "Hey..." he started softly, "I'm still here. I'm not gonna leave you." He ended that with a soft kiss. He poured all of the things he couldn't say to Jack into that kiss.
When they broke apart, Jack looked like his world was ending. "Ianto... I... I need to tell you something." He paused and looked at their clasped hands. He pulled Ianto's hand to his and kissed the back gently. "I'm not sure when it happened or why it happened... or even if I wanted it to happen... But I ... " he looked back up and saw the hope and fear in his partners eyes. "Ianto, I love you.... and I didn't want... I didn't want this to end without telling you."
"I know Jack. I told you. I'm not going anywhere." With Jack's words... gods he felt like he could take on the world. He knew it was an illusion, but it was ok anyway. Tear filled blue eyes locked on equally tear filled blue eyes. "I love you too, Jack. I always have."
Owen cleared his throat as he approached. "Enough with the sap, yeah? No one's dying on my watch. And if we're lucky, no lasting damage at all. I'm heading out for a bit. Need to get some things, call up an old friend who owes a favor." He paused and looked at Jack. "You can stay here, but try not to get all hearts and flowers on me. You'll make him diabetic, too, and I really can't handle that right now."
Jack gave the medic a tight smile and a curt nod, though his eyes spoke of gratitude. Owen held his hand out expectantly and Jack raised an eyebrow.
"Keys? To the SUV?" Owen prompted and Jack tossed them over quickly. "I've got Tosh researching and Gwen...well, I'm keeping Gwen occupied." He turned to Ianto and grinned. "One mother hen is enough. You don't need two."
Seeing the slight smile on the young man’s face, Owen, jogged out to the SUV. He wasn't really as confident as he let on, but it wouldn't do to let them know that, of course. He'd had Gwen make a call over to the police station to give him clearance on the roads. He didn't have time to get pulled over right now, nor did he have time to be slow about this. He raced over to Cardiff general and pulled into the Emergency care section. Leaving the SUV running, he raced into ICU/poison control and ran to a cabinet and began pulling out vials, barely reading their labels. He found the two he wanted and pocketed them, and was back to driving again before the song that was on the radio had changed.
Now... to call in that favor.
Meanwhile, back at the HUB, Tosh had found the file on the bug. "It's called Strongylopthalmaya. It's kinda like our mayfly, only blue and about a foot long. Only lives for 12 hours or so, but is wildly vicious." She skimmed the file, reading Ianto's precise handwriting, trying not to tear up as she found the part she was looking for. "Oh..." She fell into her chair.
"Galya," he acknowledged with a nod as he slammed the SUV door shut.
"Owen," she cried as she turned toward him, face beaming excitedly. "Things, they are good, yes?" She leaned over and kissed him on the check.
"Good. Yes. No, actually," he muttered, ducking as she waved a lit cigarette around as though it were a magic wand. If only it were.
She frowned at him, pink lips an exaggerated pout. "There is trouble?"
"Much," he sighed. "Do you still have the Halvauslama serum?"
She nodded and raised an eyebrow.
"Good. I need it."
"It is rare, this thing. It will cost you."
Owen growled. "You owe me."
"Yes," she shrugged. "So it will cost you slightly less. Is good?"
He sighed, resigned. "Fine! Email me the bill, fax it, whatever. I just need it. Now."
Gwen looked at Tosh as she slumped in her seat. "The cure is nearly impossible to find. It's an alien cure that is very rare even on its own planet. The Havauslam people of the 5th Solar System in the Haug Galaxy. Its used in rituals, and thats all. The poison is slow acting.... God, the consequences of this are horrible." She looked defeated.
"I wonder if Jack knows of anyway to get any? Maybe he can call on that Doctor of his.... " She glanced at the medbay, then at the CCTV that was still showing what was happening inside. It hurt her heart to see. The boys were clutching at each other like the world was ending, and god knew she'd seen that look before.
"I'm .. I'm gonna call Rhys, I ... just need to talk to him." Gwen pulled out her mobile and made the call, turning away before she could see the look of utter despair cross Tosh's face. Poor Tosh curled up with her arms around her knees. Where was Owen?
"Hey," Jack whispered, smoothing back Ianto's hair. "How're you feeling now?"
Ianto rolled his eyes. "Not much different from two minutes ago."
Jack raised an eyebrow and Ianto sighed.
"Look," he continued. "I trust Owen. I'll be fine, I'm sure. I just...I just panicked. Really, I feel fine."
Jack didn't believe him for a minute, but decided to play along. "Huh. So you don't love me, then?"
"Daft sod," Ianto muttered affectionately and grasped Jack's hand, squeezing it lightly.
------
Owen slid back into the driver's seat of the SUV and pressed his comm. "Tosh?"
"Yeah?"
"What've you got?"
"Doesn't look good. Rare alien plant, the Havausalm use it. That's the only cure, but the dosage is tricky and it doesn't always work."
"Yeah," Owen muttered. "I know. I've got it."
"What? How?"
"Favor. You think Jack will sign off an expense report for it?"
"Do you really need to ask?"
"Good point. How are they?"
"Holding up, I think. Ianto looks...more determined. They haven't been speaking much. Hurry back."
"Will do."
Running into the Hub, vials clinking and clacking, Owen looked a bit more mad scientist than usual. He bolted down to the medbay, bursting in without thought to what might have been going on in there. Which, he was pleased to find out later, was nothing more then some simple cuddling and much needed closeness. "Right. I've got what I need... however, its tricky and iffy and well, we'll just have to see, now won't we."
He handed Ianto a vial of something that looked thick and sticky. "First, drink this. All of it, and no complaints about how it tastes."
Ianto shrugged and kicked back the vial as though it were a shot of Jack Daniels. It was vile and awful and slid down like thick paint. But he swallowed, grimacing at the pain in his chest. That pain hadn't been there a minute ago. He thought about saying something, but didn't bother. It would either work out, or it wouldn't.
Owen made sure he drank it all, noting the wince at the end silently.. Nodding he turned towards his counter and began to carefully mix ingrediants, talking softly as he went along. "That was just to make sure that your stomach would accept this antidote. It's kinda like an accelerator, made to help this into your blood stream."
"Hm," Ianto murmured as he tried to get more comfortable.
"Okay, explanations. Now," Jack demanded as he rubbed Ianto's shoulder distractedly.
"Right. The bug was a Strongylopthalmaya. Poison is terrible, causes a slow paralysis. Not death, which may actually be better, but almost complete system shutdown of the body. The only known cure is this plant used in rituals on Havausala. I happened to procure a bit of the serum. I have to mix it with a stabilizer and a base and there're no instructions so it's really all guesswork. Too little won't do anything other than make him hallucinate. Too much can kill him." He winced as he mixed carefully. "And we won't know if it's working until it does."
Jack frowned and gripped Ianto's shoulder tightly. "That's all we've got?"
"'Fraid so. Here," he said as he turned around and handed a small cup to Ianto. "Drink this, too. It'll relax your muscles, stave off any further paralysis for at least an hour or so. Shouldn't effect the cure."
Ianto sipped it back, same as he had the vial. "Owen it seems you are trying to slip me a mickey. First naked, now this." He arched an eyebrow, then the stormy eyes widened. The effects of the muscle relaxant hit him nearly instantly. "Wow. That works fast..." He slumped against Jack, who lay him down, head in his lap. Tears flowed fairly freely from Jack's eyes, and soft pale hands reached up to brush them away.
"I'll be fine, Jack. Owen'll make me better. You hired him cause he's the best. You always hire the best." he murmured, eyes slipping shut. "I'm just a blip in time for you anyway. You'll move on and find someone new. Its ok, Jack. I understand."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Owen ignored the pair on the cot as he worked as carefully as he ever had. He didn't believe in a God... not as such. Anyone working for Torchwood for any length of time soon lost any semblance of proper religion. He chose instead to pray to the deities that ruled over the Havausala. It seemed like the most appropriate thing... He poured what he thought was just the right amount of base into a tube, adding half of the antidote from the bottle. He sighed, covering the tube and shaking it vigorously, using the moment to glance at the cot. Jack was speaking quietly to Ianto, their hands clutching each other tightly. Owen uncovered the tube, and, holding his breath he poured in the stabilizer. He hoped against hope that this was right. They only really got one shot at this. Covering the tube again he mixed it briefly, holding it up and remembering to breath.
"Feels different, like this," Gwen muttered, her eyes glued to the screen.
"It would," Tosh answered automatically, trying at sarcasm and failing miserably.
"No, I mean, like we're actually intruding this time. Like this is somehow more intimate than snogging or shagging or whatever the Hell else those two get up to in here after hours."
Tosh huffed a giggle-sob and Gwen wrapped an arm around her slight shoulders. The technician leaned into the half embrace and sniffled.
"Do you think he'll be okay?" she asked, voice soft and quiet and fragile enough to shatter when it makes impact with Gwen's ear.
"I hope so, I really do. We won't leave his side, though, love. Jack won't leave his side. Owen'll think of something."
She nodded and rested her head on Gwen's shoulder. And then, with a start, sat up straight.
"His side! That's it!" she gasped and pressed her comm unit. "Owen! I just thought of something!"
Owen, for his part, did not jump and did not spill the very very important liquid. He glared up at .. whatever was up there. Growling softly, "Yes, Tosh? And next time... please, for the love of god, make sure I'm NOT holding a vial of near priceless and impossible to come by antidote."
"Owen.... I remember... from the files... he's not supposed to drink that! That's for rituals only! The part of it that is the antidote needs to be injected near the site of the wound!"
Owen shook his head. How could he have forgotten such a vital part of this!? He'd nearly made a lethal mistake. "Shit. Tosh, thanks...."
Turning to look at the men on the cot, he walked over slowly... "Ianto? I’m going inject you, it means that I need to get to the wound. Ok?"
With a silent nod, Ianto turned onto his side, keeping his head in Jack's lap, if possible cuddling closer to his Captain. Owen pulled the sheet off of the wound, and Jack hissed. "Ianto...... Gods, tell me next time." He shuddered.
Ianto smiled wryly at him, if a bit upside-down, and Owen coughed pointedly. Jack looked at the irate medic.
"Yes, I know, I should've noticed. Now isn't the time."
"Right, right, okay. Just a little pinch, I promise." Owen wasn't about to tell Ianto that the needle was big enough to put the stinger to shame.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You know what Owen reminds me of?" Tosh asked, snuggling next to Gwen as they watched the drama unfold on the screen.
"A frog? A fish?"
She giggled. "No. House. I'm thinking of buying him a cane for Christmas."
Gwen laughed outright, the tense anxiety of the situation putting her over the edge into hysterics. "You know," she gasped. "I always thought Wilson and House had a bit of a thing together. So who would be Wilson?"
Groaning, Tosh turned her head to look at Gwen pointedly. "I want to say Ianto, but that's wrong on so many levels." She grinned.
Ianto hated needles. Had since he was a child, when he had sliced his hand open on a rusted nail outside his house. His mother had taken him to a doctor's and he'd needed a tetanus shot. He'd screamed when he saw the needle, but even when he was young, he'd been dignified.
Now, as Owen advanced on him with a needle bigger then he'd ever seen, he turned his face into Jack's leg, and clutched Jack's hands tightly, grimacing.
"I haven't even touched you yet, Ianto. But I can't numb the area, it might interfere with the antidote."
Ianto mumbled something. It could have been Yes or No or Belguim or The Weevils are Attacking, for all Owen knew. He looked at Jack, who nodded and clutched Ianto as though the world was ending... and his may have been. It was all up to the medic now.
Owen plunged the needle into Ianto's side, just below the stinger mark. He pressed the plunger and watched as the clear liquid evacuated the vial.
Ianto's only reaction was to tense up and moan in pain as he felt the large bore needle breach his skin...
Owen's eyes met Jack's and they waited.
Jack pet his hair soothingly, whispering words that Ianto couldn't quite understand. Things seemed a bit hazy and all he could focus on was the back-and-forth of Jack's large, warm hand on his head. He glanced at Jack. Jack had both hands. He looked at Owen. Owen had both hands. He made to reach up and grasp the hand taking liberties with his head, but was stopped by Jack.
"What is it, Ianto?"
"Hand. Head. Stoke. It feels like blue, but it isn't yours, so it can't be blue. And it's not Owen, because Owen feels like yellow. It's an imposter."
Jack glanced, frantic worry creasing his brow, at Owen. He simply shrugged.
"Told you it's hallucinogenic. At least we know it's working."
Sighing, Jack looked down at Ianto. His pupils were large as saucers and if he wasn't quite so out of it and the situation wasn't quite so dire, Jack would've taken a picture.
Ianto sighed contentedly. The fake-blue was gone and he snuggled into Jack-blue as Owen orbited them, all yellow with sometimes-brightwarm, sometimes-sicklypale shades. The air tasted of honey and he was about to inform Jack of this marvelous fact (because surely Jack would like to know), but Jack was kissing him softly (and maybe that's why the air tasted like honey after all) and the honey-air clogged his throat and words weren't quite making their way out of his mouth.
Jack had listened to Ianto's rambling, it was so wrong coming from the young man.... Ianto was always so proper. He spoke little, and never like this. It was unnerving and Jack's nerves had already had almost as much as they could take. To stop the incoherent thoughts coming from Ianto, he did the only thing he could think of and kissed him deeply. He did NOT tell himself that it felt like goodbye. He did NOT tell himself that it was the last time. He did, however kiss Ianto like his life depended on it. Jack remembered back to the day that he had brought Ianto back from the brink of death once before... When Lisa had attacked him. He thought about how he had dipped into his own life energy and poured it into the nearly dead Welshman. He remembered all this and he did it again.
The kiss deepened as Jack literally poured his life into it. He poured all of the love that he felt for Ianto into it, and when he came up to allow them to breathe again, some of the coherency had returned to Ianto's eyes. Some of the color back into the pale cheeks.
Ianto's slight shivering stopped.
"Owen, how long's this stuff take?"
Owen snorted. "Probably a lot less time if you let him breathe! Other than that, I have no idea. That's part of the tricky bit. I'm gonna go check on the girls. Call me if anything changes."
Ianto smiled tightly up at Jack as doctor left. "Can't say I feel better. I don't feel much of anything, actually."
Jack nodded distractedly. "Probably for the best...."
-------
Owen stared at the two, huddled close together, arms wrapped around each other, giggling hysterically. He almost fell over when Gwen nuzzled Tosh's cheek to the amusement of both women. He wished, quite fervently, that he had his mobile. This was a picture worth saving for eternity.
"Is this a private party, then?" he snarked instead.
The two women jumped away, blushing, and then started laughing again.
"Do I want to know?" he asked as he approached them cautiously, as though they were wild animals.
"We were just...it's been...stressful?" Tosh managed.
"Yes," he said. "I can see that."
Owen began to wonder if maybe there wasn't something wrong with them too.... Maybe a hallucinogen had made it to the air as he was mixing? Or... He rationalized, maybe it was just the stress. He began a strict regime of pacing back and forth in front of them, waiting for the call from Jack.
"Owen, is he going to be alright?" Gwen interrupted his nonthinking.
"Dunno, Gwen. We're going to just have to wait... I've done all I can." Owen's stance was somewhat defeated. The fire that still raged in his eyes though, said otherwise. He was going to fight this as hard as he knew how. If there's one thing that Owen was good for it was stark determination.
The girls watched him pace, and huddled back together in front of the now darkened monitor. Tosh, in a moment of clarity had shut it down when Owen had come up.
None of them were prepared when, a very very long half hour later, Jack called up to them, tears in his voice.
Part 2