I've only been this young once.

"No, we're doing fine here. You enjoy your day off." Ianto smiled as he finished his call with Tosh. She had been incredibly reluctant to take a personal day but Ianto reminded her that seeing her family was more important. Over the past few months, she had become a dear friend and he knew she never asked for anything unless it was important.

With meticulous care and detail, the young archivist went about his daily routine. First he brewed a fresh pot of coffee on the intricate machine that only he could manage to work. Starting with Gwen he delivered a mug and as usual received no response until he was walking away. "Love, do you have any of those biscuits I like?"

"No, I went by the shop last night and they were out. I suppose I can run over again when I pick up lunch." Ianto answered politely.

"That would be lovely." Gwen cooed as she returned her attention to the computer.

Next stop was Owen who, unlike Gwen, didn't even pretend to be working. Casting a brief look at Ianto, he asked accusingly, "Did you put sugar in it?"

Ianto rolled his eyes briefly. "No, you don't like sugar before noon."

"Good, you're learning," Owen replied derisively.

His last visit was always to Jack. Eager to toss aside his paperwork, Jack smiled warmly when Ianto entered. They had developed an unspoken signal that when Ianto wanted the captain to make a move he would come around to Jack's side of the desk and set down his coffee. The suspense of Ianto crossing the room and deciding which side to approach always made Jack's heart race. The young man seemed to have perfected a poker face that even an immortal time traveler like Jack could not decipher.

That morning as with almost every morning, Ianto came to Jack's side of the desk and carefully placed his coffee. As soon as the mug was down, he felt strong arms envelope him from behind and pull him backwards. Jack settled Ianto squarely on his lap and began running his hands along his chest. While he placed lingering kisses on his neck, Ianto let out a sweet moan and ground his hips seductively. As Jack's arousal increased so did his output of tantalizing pheromones. The smell would sometimes bring Ianto close to swooning. Jack had become a drug he could no longer live without.

Unfortunately, their moment was cut short when they heard Gwen come running up the stairs. Ianto was off Jack's lap and across the room before she even opened the door.

"Jack! I've been getting some strange reports. I think we should check it out."

Jack jumped to his feet and eagerly followed to her station. Ianto could not help but notice that was information she could have easily relayed over their coms. Dramatically entering Jack's office while Ianto was alone with him had become an increasingly annoying habit of hers. He only hoped the timing was coincidental.

As Jack and Gwen poured over the information at her station, Ianto resumed his daily routine. His next task was feeding Janet. The weevil seemed to despise everyone but him for obvious reasons. Jack was the one that caught her, Owen would give her injections and draw blood, Tosh attached her tracking collar, and Gwen thought she was too scary. That left Ianto as her sole caretaker. He sometimes wondered if he was not there if the poor creature would starve to death.

Approaching her cell cautiously, Ianto began to speak Welsh in a low voice. He did not know why but speaking Welsh seemed to calm certain aliens often to the point where he could touch them or at least approach without being mauled. Jack told him it was not the language but Ianto's smooth dulcet tones that the creatures responded to. It seems to work on me. Jack would tell him before leaning in for a stolen kiss.

When the cell door opened, Janet perked up and began sniffing excitedly. Ianto had brought raw lamb, which seemed to be her favorite and, coincidentally, it was the pterodactyl's as well. He found that awfully convenient for when he placed orders at the butcher shop. Sometimes he wondered if aliens had adapted to entering Earth through the rift into Cardiff and had developed the taste for lamb, and he supposed that would explain the comforting response to the Welsh language.

With Janet happily munching away on her breakfast, Ianto was just exiting the cell when Owen appeared and shouted, "What the fuck are you doing?"

His irate voice caused the alien to snarl and swipe out in anger, but, luckily, Ianto was able to dodge the blow and close the door before she charged the doctor. Breathlessly, Ianto replied, "I'm feeding Janet."

"Who? Oh, that thing," Owen spat out before giving her a low growl. "We have a creature loose and since Tosh is out, Jack wants you to come with. Now this isn't like making coffee so try not to get in our way."

Following a tip from some teen delinquents, they had tracked a large alien to an old warehouse that was thankfully empty. The creature moved at blinding speed making it difficult to even get a visual confirmation on what it was. Tracking it had taken most of the day and the sun was beginning to set. As they parked and took out their weapons, Owen prepped a syringe. "This sedative is strong enough to bring down a bull elephant."

While they cautiously approached, Ianto could hear a distinct breathing that made his blood run cold. He tried to catch up to Jack who was rounding the corner and issue a warning but it was too late. A loud roar sounded, making the old building quake and was immediately followed by a succession of ineffective shots from Jack's Webley. In front of Jack was a massive lizard like creature with six legs and hard scales.

Owen was the first to give his advice, "Fuck this! Jack, let's get the big gun."

Ianto stopped him and spoke quickly, "Give me the syringe; it's vulnerable around the neck. If I can get close enough, I can bring him down. We need this creature alive."

Handing over the needle, Owen scoffed, "Good luck, mate, but if it gets loose, we're shooting."

"Fair enough," Ianto replied as Owen took off for the SUV to prepare the hopefully unneeded weapon.

Before following the doctor, Jack stopped and kissed Ianto's cheek then whispered, "Good luck and make sure nothing happens to Gwen."

The creature was cornered in the back room creating the only opportunity for Torchwood to catch one of those rare aliens alive. While extremely dangerous, their fresh blood was known to have immense healing powers. Tosh once told him that if she could examine the substance, then they could possibly create a medicine that would surpass even penicillin in terms of human importance. He knew she would not want to miss the opportunity to see it, so he sent her a quick text.

Turning to Gwen, Ianto gave her exact instructions, "I'm going in there and closing the door. Do not come in until I tell you. This thing is insanely fast and deadly. Do you understand?"

Gwen nodded her head absently and Ianto spoke again, "Tell me you understand."

"I got it," Gwen snapped, irritated by Ianto's belittling tone.

Taking a deep breath, Ianto entered the room and closed the door behind him. The only light was the setting sun seeping in through the dusty windows. The low beams reflected on the alien's intricate scales making them gleam in arrays of red and orange. Ianto had studied the fabled creature since his time at Torchwood One. He had written a report surmising that the alien was what his ancestors came to call dragons. Of course, no one had paid much attention and he believed Tosh was the only person to read through the entire thing.

Easing his way over to the creature, he spoke coolly in Welsh, which seemed to calm the alien. As he moved, he kept a careful eye on its pointed tail, making sure to avoid the small but sharp tip leaking fluid. When he was only a meter away, their eyes met and Ianto nearly gasped at the beauty held in its large orbs. The alien had five eyes, each shining bright purple and locked on Ianto's blue pair. Raising the syringe, Ianto was about to slide it between the small scales of the neck, when the door burst open.

Gwen, whose curiosity had gotten the better of her, stood mouth agape staring at the massive creature. However, the alien was not happy with the interruption and let out an immense bellow before effortlessly shoving Ianto against the wall. It leapt forward and slashed Gwen across the stomach before whipping its tail and bolting from the room. Once he recovered, Ianto sprinted over to Gwen to find her bleeding profusely. Immediately, he whipped off his suit jacket and used it to compress the wound.

That was when he felt the small trail of blood down his own cheek. He had been sliced by the alien's tail. As the realization of what had happened sunk in, his entire body seemed to go numb. He was not even aware of the sound of the alien being blown to bits by Jack and Owen. Jack, who had heard somewhere that the creatures were venomous, proceeded to incinerate the remains with his beloved flame thrower he had acquired in WWII. Owen ran to the back room and swore loudly upon seeing Gwen sliced across the abdomen.

Angrily, he yelled, "Ianto, what the fuck happened?"

In a weak voice, Ianto replied, "It was startled."

Owen snarled at Ianto, "Fucking useless," then roughly pushed the disoriented young man out of the way.

Soon they were joined by Jack who went pale upon seeing Gwen covered in blood. Once Owen had the bleeding stabilized, he and Jack loaded her into the SUV and nearly took off without Ianto, but Jack had grabbed him by the arm and shoved him into the passenger seat. Back at the Hub, Owen and Jack went to work, cleaning Gwen and patching up her wounds.

Owen released a big sigh and smiled, "She's going to be fine. The scratches aren't that deep and didn't hit any vital organs." Turning to Ianto, he sneered, "You got lucky."

Noticing that Ianto was still dazed and pale, Owen approached him. "What's wrong with you?"

Lightly touching the scratch on his cheek, Ianto replied absently, "It got me with its tail."

Owen scoffed, "It's not serious. Put some antiseptic on it and go home."

"I need to stay . . ." Ianto answered while trailing off.

"No, I think you've done enough." Owen bitterly replied.

Ianto gazed sadly at Jack who was staring at Gwen's unconscious body, petting her hair. "Jack, I need to-"

"Just go home, Ianto." Jack spoke without looking up.

Ianto lowered his head and left the autopsy bay.

An hour later, Gwen was awake and responsive as Tosh came storming through the cog door. She was still decked out in her red dress and heels but practically ran over to Owen and Jack. Excitedly, she spoke, "Where is it?"

"Where's what?" Owen answered.

"The Rulian. Ianto texted me that you had corned a Rulian. I tried calling him but he's not picking up."

"Is that what that thing was? We had to blow it up. Don't worry, Jack incinerated the remains."

Tosh's eyes widened, "What? Where's Ianto?"

Jack responded as he entered the main Hub, "I sent him home. Relax, he's fine, just had a scratch from the sharp tail."

Tears began to form in Tosh's eyes and she grabbed onto a table to keep herself from falling.

Running to her side, Jack asked, "What's wrong?"

"Ianto wrote a paper on it. The tail is venomous; it kills humans within a matter of hours. The only cure is the creature's blood." Tears were then pouring down her cheeks.

Jack staggered backwards as his head swarmed with the information. Desperately, he began calling Ianto's mobile receiving no response. He quickly ran over to the computer and searched the GPS on the phone: Ianto was still inside the base.

Jack began barking out orders, "Tosh, pull up Ianto's report and check for any other treatments. Owen, look up on the CCTV where he went and relay his location over the coms."

However, Jack already had a good idea where Ianto had gone. Running through the Hub's lower levels, Jack soon came upon Ianto's body, lying in the spot where Lisa had died. Fearing he was too late, Jack sank to his knees and pulled the young man into his arms. Hope sprang in his chest when he felt for a pulse and found a one, albeit frighteningly weak. Knowing it was his last resort; Jack drew Ianto into a deep kiss, trying to give whatever life force he had within him.

After an impossibly long time, he felt the faintest movement below him. Jack pulled away and gazed into Ianto's then open eyes. In a painfully soft voice, Ianto spoke, "I'm so sorry, Jack."

"No no no, you did nothing wrong. Why didn't you tell me?"

Coughing, Ianto hoarsely answered, "It had purple eyes . . ."

Ianto was fading quickly as Jack panicked, "Stay with me, Darling."

In his last breath, Ianto whispered, "Rwy'n dy garu di."

Desperately, Jack tried to breathe life into him again, but he was gone. As Jack stood and pulled his Webley from its holster, the last thing to go through his mind was how much he wished he understood Welsh. Although only temporary, the death gave him some relief from the guilt and sorrow that would haunt him for years to come.