Tosh spun in her chair as she focused her attention on a monitor near the edge of her desk. On screen was a little red blip, representing a Slithoriax that was running, or oozing rather, down the back alleys of Cardiff, and a larger blue blip, the SUV, was in pursuit, veering slightly as it crossed the screen, due to Jack's erratic driving. She could hear both Owen and Gwen cursing good-naturedly over the comm.

Ianto tapped rapidly at the keyboard beside her, bringing up information, and sending it to the SUV on board computer. "Jack?" He asked calmly. "Are you getting this?

"Got it, Yan! Tosh?"

"Jack you need to take the next right, go half a kilometer, then take the left and you're there!" Tosh said zooming in on the red blip as it hung a right near the corner deli.

"Alright people, we have a rogue alien, we can't let it escape. Tosh, Ianto keep a eye on the sensors, Gwen, Owen, be ready for anything!" Jack had slipped in to commander role, firing off orders that bordered on stating the obvious. Tosh murmured an affirmative into her Bluetooth, before turning to a second screen that had a detailed description of the Slithoriax.

Ianto and Tosh kept constantly checking the screens in front of them. Tosh flicked her eyes over just in time to see Ianto pale, touching shaking fingers to his temple.

"Ianto?" Tosh questioned quietly, keeping one eye on the monitors. It had been two weeks, and, if anything, Ianto's spells had been getting more frequent.

Ianto took a deep breath. "Headache, nausea. I- uh I think another attack is coming." He swallowed convulsively, and rubbed at his eyes before bringing up CCTV footage that showed the SUV at the mouth of an alley.

"I think-" He swallowed again. "I think I should go. Will you be okay without me?"

Tosh gave him a worried look. "Go lay down in Jack's room. I'll be fine. I do this everyday." Movement on the screen caught her eye, and she tapped her comm. "it took a left Owen." She said briefly, and then turned her attention back to Ianto.

"Are you sure you're okay? Do you want me to look you over?" Tosh asked. Ianto nodded, shook his head, and then rubbed at his eyes again. He wavered slightly.

Tosh opened her mouth just as Jack called though the comm for information. She quickly got it to him, and when she glanced over to Ianto again. He was gone, though there was movement in Jack's office. With a sigh she turned her full attention back to the situation at hand, trusting Ianto to take care of himself.

000

And hour later the team, minus Tosh, who was currently aloft feeding Myfanwy, were laughing and joking as they entered the hub though the rolling cog door. Things had gone well and spirits were high. Ianto met them with a tray of coffees and a slight case of bed head. Jack smiled and caught the tea towel that was tossed towards him, using it to blot at the slime decorating his greatcoat's shoulder.

"Mission was a success I take it?" Ianto asked, rotating the tray just so, so that each person could take his or her mug.

"Yup! Got the Slithoriax and managed to shove it back though a rift opening, without anyone getting hurt. Took awhile to get that rift, but I call it a successful mission." Jack answered cheerfully, giving Ianto a quick kiss as he took his coffee.

He paused, and then dove in for another kiss. Something was off. He frowned at the taste of toothpaste instead of the coffee he had been expecting. Lately that meant Ianto had been sick recently. After a scrambled episode Ianto brushed his teeth obsessively, and coffee usually irritated any remaining nausea. He gave his lover a worried look.

Owen narrowed his eyes watching Ianto closely as he took his mug. Gwen brushed by him taking hers with a thank you and a quick, concerned glance before she moved on to her desk. Adam shot Ianto a worried glance as he took his coffee and sat at his own desk.

"What's wrong?" Owen demanded eyes still glued to Ianto.

"Nothing, why do you ask?"

"Something's wrong, I can tell."

"He was feeling ill before, had to go rest." Tosh said, coming down the stairs with an empty meat platter.

Owen instantly set his coffee down and moved closer to Ianto. "Yan?"

Ianto sighed and shifted the nearly empty tray to one hand. He rubbed the bridge of his nose. "I felt an...attack coming on. I'm sorry, I thought I was past this, I thought I was getting better, and you could depend on me, but I guess you can't, if I'm going to get sick and have to lie down." Ianto stared down at his shoes as he spoke. "I- I should go home, and stay there till I'm normal again." The confessions came out in a guilty rush, tinged with more than a little disappointment.

"Yeah, but then you'll never be back." Owen said casually, and smirked when Ianto scowled at him. "Ianto, you did fine. You felt sick, so you laid down. I'd be ordering you home and cuffing you to the bed if you ididn't/i go lay down when you felt ill." He studied Ianto. "Which I'm going to start considering, if you don't go back to sleep now, till you stop looking green." Owen looked around, spotting a bottle of orange juice on the coffee table. He picked it up and pressed it into Ianto's free hand.

"I'm fine." Ianto insisted, though the tray he was holding started to tremble slightly. Jack acted quickly and rescued the last of the coffees. Ianto set the empty tray and the bottle of juice down, and stuffed his shaking hands in his pockets. "I'm here to work. I'm not paid to lay around."

"Well you are now. Go on, sweetheart. Lay down before Owen snaps and cuffs you to the bed, and not in the fun sense. Adam and I will probably help him catch you." Jack ordered with a gentle smile, handing the coffees off and stroking his lover's arm.

Ianto scowled, but leaned into the touch a bit, sighing as he rubbed his temples. Jack expected another protest, not Ianto stepping closer, winding his arms around Jack's waist and pressing in until his cheek rested against Jack's shoulder, the unstained one, of course. Out of habit Jack pressed his cheek to the top of Ianto's head.

"Alright," Ianto said quietly, after a minute. "I guess I'll go lay down for a bit longer."

Jack bit back a wince, knowing Ianto was less then all there, if he was being so hands on with the others in the room. He put on a bright grin, with a touch of leer. "Want some company?"

"Yes- Um no. No. I'll be fine. But thank you." Ianto muttered, turning and heading back towards Jack's office, and room. He stopped, turning around suddenly. "Yes." He nodded. "Yes, please?" Ianto made the request sound hopeful.

Jack gave Ianto a small, but real smile. "Sure thing. Give me a minute to gather up some supplies. Wait in the office for me okay?" Jack didn't think it would be the brightest idea to let Ianto go down the ladder himself, when he wasn't at 100 percent.

Ianto nodded again, and headed towards the office, Jack watched him go, a look of concern on his face.

Owen followed the younger with his eyes as he propped himself against Adam's desk, sipping his coffee. "Supplies would be juice, water, and some crackers or plain biscuits." The doctor offered. "I'll bring down a goody basket of meds later. It's probably just best to let him sleep here." They had already decided that either Jack or Adam would stay with Ianto at his flat, but this would work in a pinch. Jack wondered if Owen was planning to camp out on the couch, and figured it was more than likely. The doctor was more than a little overprotective of his friend turned patient.

Jack nodded, taking a minute to finish his coffee.

"He'll be fine." Owen continued. "I meant what I said, it's good that he knows his limits, and stops when he needs to. I'll check on him later, but I'm sure he'll be fine after a bit more sleep. That normally helps."

"I know...I just worry." Jack muttered rubbing his face. Tosh came and sat down on the couch, and Owen flopped down heavily beside her.

"He was fine all afternoon Jack." Tosh said quietly. "He was doing an excellent job, and then he got a bit ill. I know he's disappointed but It's only been a few weeks since he was hurt. We all just need to give it some time. "

"And until then we'll adapt." Gwen chimed in, trying to sound reassuring. "He's still ten times as useful as Owen." She added with a grin.

"Oi!"

Gwen stuck her tongue out. "So we just take it as it goes and wait it out right?"

Jack sighed and drained the last of the coffee. "I managed to wait over 100 years to find The Doctor... Why did I have to lose my patience now?"

Even though it was a metaphorical question, the rest of the team shrugged.

Adam clapped a hand on Jack's shoulder comfortingly. "He has his good days too, remember."

Jack gave Adam a small smile and nodded slightly. "I know. I still just..."

"We'll get though this Jack. We're all here for you, and him. We take care of our family." Adam reassured him before giving him another friendly pat and pulling away. The rest of the team murmured in agreement.

"Jack?" Ianto's voice was uncertain, and only his head peeked out from around the office door. "Jack?" he called again, followed by a stream of mixed Welsh and French that lilted up like a question at the end.

"I'm here." Jack called out, grabbing the orange juice from the table, and catching a box of crackers that Owen aimed at him, obviously left over from Tosh's earlier attempts at care giving. As he passed Gwen she offered up an unopened bottle of water that set on her desk. Adam popped open his DVD drive and handed him the copy of Princess Bride that Ianto had been watching earlier.

Jack smiled. "Don't worry, Sweetheart." he reassured Ianto, who was smiling shyly at him now. "I'm right here."

The End

(Authors' Notes:

Yep. You read that right. The End. Thanks for sticking around, the feedback has been amazing. And thanks for putting up with the slow updates, totally my fault. Hope you enjoyed the ride. –qualli

Thank you everyone so much for all your reviews, favorites, alerts, and everything and liking this fic so much! Hope you like the ending, and don't die on us! A sequel will be coming, eventually! –dru)