They Come in Pairs - 3/?
Jack/Ianto
NC-17
set between 1x08 and 1x13




They Come in Pairs - Chapter 3

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When Ianto woke, Jack was still with him, eyes closed, but with an intense look of concentration wrinkling the skin around them. Then Ianto noticed the gloved fingers still secure in his hair and Jack's other hand on the knife.

The knife...

Ianto gasped sharply, suddenly finding it impossible to breathe. And how was he supposed to, with that thing in his chest?

"I've got you," Jack assured him, his eyes snapping open to stare into Ianto's.

The metal fingers moved subtly against his scalp, not breaking contact, but gently soothing. Ianto tried to stay calm. "How long?" he asked before choking.

Jack shifted his hand on the handle of the knife, moving his wrist so that he could check his watch. And Ianto felt the horrible thing move inside him. He could actually feel the blade...

"Thirty-four minutes," Jack answered quickly as Ianto panicked.

"So I'm stuck here." He wasn't going to die, just like Suzie. That thought scared him immensely. With every painful breath, he struggled against the weight in his chest, the pressure, the wrongness of the knife keeping him alive but keeping him from being able to draw air. He gasped futilely, then grabbed weekly at Jack's sleeve. There was a blade slicing into his lung and Jack needed to get it out. Now.

"Take it easy," Jack instructed firmly. "I can't let go yet... I can't."

He couldn't breathe. He might have been doing so for thirty-four minutes, but it wasn't possible. He'd died in Jack's arms, but now he was here, and this wasn't possible. And what exactly was Jack planning to do? Keep him impaled against the damn table forever?

When he didn't stop hyperventilating, Jack swore, and for a fraction of a second, Ianto wondered who was more afraid. Then Jack yanked out the knife.

It clanged against the floor, the sound mixing with Ianto's cry. And Jack's hand returned empty, gripped Ianto's shoulder and held him, rubbed soothingly along his arm. Then he was being pulled against the other man as he coughed and spit a small amount of blood onto the floor beside the knife. The gloved hand slid from his head to his back, joining the other in rubbing back and forth, comforting.

"Stay with me," Jack pleaded. "Stay here. Stay..."

Ianto trembled in Jack's embrace as his breathing returned to a regular rhythm. He had a feeling he wasn't going anywhere. The glove stroking his back was rather disconcerting, but he knew it was likely the opposite for Jack, a reassurance, and so he didn't comment.

"You're cold." Jack rubbed his ungloved hand faster against Ianto's skin, restoring some warmth.

He again didn't think it wise to comment that he was trembling, not shivering. He was cold, though. Massive blood loss did that to a person. His body was still in a state of shock. "So this is 40% about warming me up and 60% feeling me up, right, Sir?"

Jack paused in his absentminded rubbing, not even knowing where all he'd been touching. Finally realizing that the remark had been a joke, he grinned. "Want me to get you a blanket?" His gaze moved over Ianto's torn and bloodstained clothing. "We should probably get you out of those clothes as well."

"You're relentless."

"Okay, so maybe that one was 70/30."

It wasn't though. Ianto did need to get out of his ruined clothing, but the bantering made the situation easier to handle. Jack helped him to lie back down, sliding him from the embrace Jack had been keeping him in, then started to go retrieve the promised blanket. He froze right before his gloved hand broke contact.

"Jack..." Ianto met his gaze, knowing what the problem was. "I'm not going anywhere."

After a moment more of hesitation, Jack lifted his hand. And nothing happened. He slowly slid off the glove. "Ianto?"

"Still here."

Jack nodded once before setting aside the glove. "Good."

"I lied to you," Ianto confessed quickly. Jack's situation now wasn't like his had been earlier. This time, there was actually the opportunity for forethought, and he owed it to Jack that his choice be fully informed. "About knowing what I was doing. I didn't know, I didn't decide anything. I just reacted."

He cupped Ianto's cheek affectionately in his palm. "It doesn't matter." He started to say something more but then seemed to think better of the idea. Ianto wondered if he'd been about to admit not knowing what he was doing either.

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Ianto was only alone for a minute before Jack was back with the blanket, a pair of sweatpants, and a t-shirt. Ianto still needed to change his clothing. Which was all wrong. They wouldn't have left him in what he'd been wearing when he died. He studied Jack, different clothes than Ianto last recalled, but he didn't look like he'd aged, not that Ianto could tell anyway. "How long has it been?"

"I think we're safely beyond counting the minutes."

"Not since you brought me back. Since I died," Ianto clarified. What if it had been years? "When did you find the glove? Where are Toshiko, Gwen, and Owen? Are they all alright?"

Jack almost laughed. "It was in the box. No time has passed, and Tosh, Gwen, and Owen are fine." They'd be showing up come morning. "Shit!"

Throwing the blanket and clothes to Ianto, Jack instantly dashed for a computer and grabbed the keyboard. How was he supposed to explain this to his team? He put the hub into lockdown.

"Jack?" A confused Ianto was sitting up now and watching him.

"I need time to think."

"Think about what, Sir?" Ianto struggled to get up, for the first time noticing that he'd been lying on Jack's coat. Which he knew he hadn't been wrapped in before he'd died. But it was with him now, streaked permanently with dried blood. "God, Jack..."

"It doesn't matter." Jack was quickly by his side again, cupping Ianto's face in his hand once more, this time moving to press a chaste kiss to his lips.

Ianto shoved him back roughly. This entire situation was wrong. "You are planning to trade. You need the others locked out so they won't stop you. It's not their call, fine, but don't you think I deserve a say in this?"

"No. I mean yes, but I'm not..." He reached for Ianto again. He did intend to die, but he wasn't going to stay that way. "I need you to trust me."

"I'm destroying the glove, Jack, when you start bleeding." His tone left no room for argument. "You can take part of this, and maybe we get lucky, maybe it will be enough. But you are not playing hero and taking all of it. I won't take that chance."

"Alright," Jack agreed in defeat. He wondered what that said about their friendship, that Ianto was willing to die for him, but he couldn't trust him. Neither of them had the strength for this conversation right now. Ianto looked ready to collapse any second. Jack wrapped his arm around him. Ianto didn't push him away.

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Lying in Jack's bed, while *Jack* fixed *him* a cup of tea, Ianto couldn't get his sluggish mind to realize that thinking was pointless when he was so exhausted. He kept replaying the events of the day over and over, and odd as it might be, he found himself pondering over Jack far more than over the fact that he'd died and had been brought back to life by an alien glove. As far as bizarre mysteries of the universe went, Captain Jack Harkness was quite possibly at the top of the list.

He shamelessly flirted with Ianto, but he also said hello to nearly everybody he met in a way that might as well have been asking "Your place or mine?" as opposed to giving his name. And while he was quite probably risking his life with the damn glove, he might be doing the exact same if it were Toshiko, Gwen, or Owen in his place. He'd joked about finally getting Ianto naked and into his bed, but when he'd actually helped strip Ianto of bloodstained clothing, there'd been absolutely nothing sexual behind any of his gentle touches.

When Jack walked over to the bed several minutes later, cup in hand, Ianto truly didn't know up from down anymore. "Our dinner. Would that be an actual date?"

Jack looked a bit surprised at the question. "We're still on for that?"

He nodded as he shoved himself into a more upright sitting position and took the hot cup from Jack. "Assuming I can take a rain check on the offer and that we both survive until then."

Jack raised an eyebrow in amusement. "You do realize that you're the one who decided "back in time for dinner" meant dinner together, right?" He grinned.

Had he? Ianto made a noncommittal "hmm" as he sipped his tea. "This is terrible."

Jack placed his hand over his heart in mock offense. "You wound me. There's nothing wrong with the way I make tea."

Ianto carefully set down the cup. "Well, for starters, Sir, this is coffee."

Jack was obviously working on a witty retort when he suddenly turned and walked across the small room, putting his hand to his ear. "I initiated the lockdown. Minor problem with the pick-up last night."

Headset. Ianto listened to the one-sided conversation.

"Ianto's been exposed to the artifact. It's a precaution until I'm sure he's no longer under the influence of the device." Jack nodded a few times to whatever was being said. "No, I don't seem to be affected yet. I've got the situation under control, so why don't you all just take the day off, I'll keep you apprised."

It wasn't exactly a lie, except for possibly the part about having the situation under control, and of course Jack's failing to mention that he'd been purposefully exposed in order to bring him back from the dead. So as for under control, Ianto figured the jury was still out on that one. He picked up his cup once more and took another sip of the offensive liquid.

Jack paced back and forth several times as he listened to the undoubted argument. "There's nothing you can do. Go home. He'll be fine." He looked over his shoulder at Ianto before turning toward the wall again. "No, it looks like the only permanent side effect is memory loss."

Ianto didn't hear the rest of the discussion after that. He was too busy staring at the innocent little teacup in his hand.

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TBC