Title: House of Glass and Fog – Chapter 6
Word Count: Overall ~30,500 words, chapter ~4,500
Pairings/Characters: Jack/Ianto, Torchwood Team
Rating: NC-17 overall, this chapter PG13
Warning: Slasharama
Spoilers: Season one through Something Borrowed
Disclaimer: I wish I owned Jack, Ianto and all related Torchwood material but I don't. Someday I will… Someday!

Exactly 3 hours, 15 minutes and 3 nearly averted crashes later Jack and Owen flew into the waiting area of the hospital's ICU. "Where is he?" Jack snapped at two blond women, who he knew belonged to Torchwood 2. He barely remembered their names, too furious at them for being a part of whatever caused Ianto to be tossed about like a rag doll.

"He…he's been taken into surgery," one of the girl stuttered, shrinking into her chair.

"Why?" Owen asked staring down both women. Ianto should not be in surgery; blunt chest trauma was almost always successful treated without heavily invasive procedures. Ianto was hurt worse than he was originally told.

"Doctor said he ruptured his diaphragm or something," another member of T2 said coming around the corner carrying a tray of coffees. Unlike the women, who were short but had firm builds, this man was tall and lanky. He barely looked suited to do more than work in a cubicle with his thick glasses and awkward gait. Ianto was right; this team needed more than a few weeks of training to be physically and probably mentally equipped to go out in the field.

"How the hell did the doctors miss that?" Jack asked grabbing a coffee off of the tray. Owen followed suit. The lanky man opened his mouth as if to tell the two men off but one of the blonds smacked his arm.

"Jack, with massive chest trauma it sometimes gets over looked or the symptoms are masked. It's not because the doctor's are incompetent." Owen insisted firmly. "As long as none of his abdominal organs have herniated into his chest cavity he should be okay."

"Did any of the doctors mention that?" Jack directed towards Archie's team. Speaking of Archie, Jack wondered where the odd little man was.

"What's a hernia?" One of the girls asked. Jack decided he was going to call her the stupid one.

"Oh never fucking mind," Owen snapped, losing his patience. "I am going to talk to a nurse."

"I want him in a private room when he is done, not the ICU. I don't care what you have to do, make it happen."

"No problem." Owen headed back towards the nurses station they had breezed past on their way in.

"I'm Susan, by the way," The stupid one said. "This is Ethan and Emily."

"Do you think I care?" Jack barked. "And where the hell is Archie? One of you go find him now!" The three didn't move until he yelled again at which point Ethan took off. Probably to avoid Jack's wrath for the time being.

"We're sorry for what it's worth." Emily tried.

Jack flinched. It sounded far too much like Ianto had said in the archives almost 2 months ago. But this time his answer was different. "Nothing, it's worth nothing."

"Jack," Archie said from the waiting room entrance with a tired sigh. The graying man looked far worse than the rest of his team. At least he seemed to understand how serious the situation was. "The lot of you get out for a while, I need to talk to Jack."

The remaining members of Torchwood 2 slunk off to lick their wounds. "Whatever you have to say right now doesn't matter. If anything happens to him you will be minus a team."

"I know Jack." Archie ran a shaky hand through his hair. "I know."

TORCHWOOD

When Ianto was wheeled into his room from recovery he looked worse than Jack had ever seen him. Only his lower half was covered leaving his battered chest bare. Besides being spattered with dark purple bruises, Ianto had a chest tube inserted and had various lengths of stitching groups. The longest line was on the centre of Ianto's belly from what Jack assumed was the surgery to repair his diaphragm.

"God Ianto," Jack murmured and sat down next to the younger man's bed, taking his hand.

"He may look like a mess but he will be okay." Owen said softly while skimming Ianto's chart.

"Is there anything you can do?" Jack asked vaguely gesturing at Ianto's battered chest and abdomen.

"I can try and heal up some of the bruising and surface abrasions but I will need to take the current sutures out to do it. There isn't much I can do for his lungs and diaphragm without opening him up again. Don't ask I won't do it."

Jack slowly messaged Ianto's hand – he had made sure to sit on the side opposite the IV pole. "What about his ribs. I know we have a bone knitter."

"He isn't strong enough for me to use it. It's a lot harder to heal bone and the knitter facilitates the healing process; it doesn't actually do the repairs. It would take too much out of him. We can use it when he's a little better." Jack scowled at Owen's answer but kept his mouth shut. He trusted the doctor's judgment.

Jack spent the next few hours aimlessly talking to Ianto about anything that came to his mind while Owen painstakingly removed the other doctors' hard work. Owen would remove only a few sutures at a time and filled the gap with a bonding cream that generated fresh tissue. It took hours but when Owen was done the result was obvious. Most of the lacerations were already healing and the bruising had lightened.

"When is he going to wake up," Jack asked after a nurse had come to change Ianto's IV bags. Owen had covered up the Welshman's chest to prevent the nurse from noticing the significant improvements in his injuries.

"Maybe in 3 or 4 hours. He was awake for a few minutes in recovery but was barely aware of what was going on. He kept pawing at his oxygen mask; we had to switch him to a nasal cannula before he would calm down. He'll be okay, I promise." Owen reassured, placing a hand of Jack shoulder.

"Okay." Though Ianto would eventually heal physically, Jack knew they needed a serious talk when the archivist woke up. Pushing him away hadn't done any good. It had left Ianto alone when he needed Jack the most.

TORCHWOOD

"Jack?" Ianto rasped around cracked lips. He squeezed the dead weight intertwined between his fingers.

Jack jumped out of his half sleep when he felt the light pressure Ianto was applying. "I'm here. How are you feeling?" Jack leaned over the bed and kissed Ianto's cheek in relief.

Ianto tried to take a deep breath and gasped. "My chest hurts." Jack could tell Ianto was still a little out of it as his eyes were hazy and half-lidded.

"I'll go get Owen, alright?" Ianto tried to shake his head but the intent of the movement was lost as his head lolled to one side. "Shhh, I'll be right back."

"No need." Owen said coming into the room, back from a short dinner – well more like midnight snack break. "Scale from 1 – 10 where is your pain at?"

"6 maybe," Ianto groaned. When Ianto said 6 he really meant 7 or 8, Owen had come to learn. "It's this bloody awful ache, except when I breathe deep, then it's sharp."

"I wish I could say don't breathe deep but you are going to have to as much as you can. We need to keep as much oxygen in you as possible." Owen checked Ianto's morphine dosage before upping it slightly. "That should help but will make you woozy again."

"Mmmhmmm," Ianto hummed tiredly and let his eyes droop.

"He'll be in and out of it like that for a while." Owen said and began to examine Ianto's chest. His breathing was slightly labored "If he is keeps improving I want to do a chest x-ray tomorrow afternoon to see if we can take the chest tube out."

"I was wondering what that annoying burning was," Ianto slurred. "Thank god for morphine."

"The gods' nectar." Owen snorted. "I need to go grab a few things from the supply room." Owen gave Jack a stiff nod and left the room.

"Why don't you get some rest," Jack said continuing to hold the younger man's hand. The only hints of his emotional turmoil were the deep creases in his forehead and slumped posture.

"Stay," Ianto said, barely above a whisper. "Know things aren't right between us but I'm too tired and hurt too much to pretend I don't need you."

Jack grazed his knuckles down Ianto's cheek and then rested his palm on the other man's neck. "We'll talk when you feel a little better. I promise."

"Don't want your pity. Don't want you to only care when I'm about to kick the bucket." Ianto shifted trying to ease the pressure on his chest. Ianto recognized he was contradicting himself but he was a little too woozy to care.

"I know," Jack replied gently. "When you're a bit clearer we can have deep meaningful conversations. "

"K," Ianto said around a yawn then grimaced. Even yawning hurt how pathetic. He wasn't giving up but didn't have enough energy to fight the cool blanket the morphine wrapped around him. He could tell Jack off later.

TORCHWOOD

"Why do I still have a chest tube?" The Ianto grunted to no one in particular, he was finally lucid but still in a lot of pain.

"Last time I checked you were still leaking too much fluid. It's slowed down but not enough to take the tube out. Maybe later this afternoon," Owen said from the plastic chair sitting in the far corner.

"Brilliant." Ianto shifted and moaned. "Where's Jack?"

Owen closed his book. "He had to go back to Cardiff. The rift started to spew up crap and the girls couldn't handle it alone. He tried to tell you but you were too drugged up."

"Oh." Not the reaction Owen was expecting. "When can we go back to Cardiff?"

Owen gave his patient a tired sigh. Did no one in Torchwood understand what a recovery period was? "Maybe in a few days. On the outside you may look better but your insides are still a mess. I won't stick you in a car for 6 hours like this for the foreseeable future."

"When can you do something about my ribs?" Ianto asked. The sharp pains had caused him to shy away from deep breaths leading him to bouts of dizziness and chills. His lungs were also not retaining oxygen as well as they should do to the lacerations and bruising, which compounded Ianto's discomfort. If Owen could fix one problem he wanted it done as soon as possible.

"2 days at least and you're going to feel like trash again. Here let's try and ease some of the pressure." Owen came over to the bed and reposition the other man onto his side with the broken ribs to ease the pressure. It wasn't an easy position to get Ianto into with his chest tube but it was a way to deal with the pain and pressure morphine did little to ease. Ianto was already two sheets to the wind and Owen didn't see the need to drug the other man further if there was an alternative that worked just as well.

"Thanks Owen." His chest already felt better. Well as good as it was going to get with his current injuries.

"No, problem mate. You let me know if it gets worse. Do you need anything else?" Owen offered slowly checking Ianto over again.

"Call Tosh and ask her to get some groceries for my flat if she has time?" Ianto was not looking forward to going home to a dusty flat but it was better than staying in Glasgow. He had failed miserably and just wanted to be home.

"Do you want me to send nasty SMSs to Jack for you? Because I am perfectly willing." Owen joked, though he secretly hoped the other man would say yes. He hadn't said anything more to Jack about what happened 2 months ago at Ianto's request but if the Welshman changed his mind he would happily inform the captain where to stick it. Especially after Jack had the nerve to play devoted boyfriend when Ianto was drugged to the gills and vulnerable then fucked off. It was necessary for Jack to leave but he could have at least called Ianto in the 15 hours he had been gone.

Ianto squeezed his eyes shut in annoyance. He appreciated Owen's barely veiled concern but he could take care of himself. "I've already told him what I expect from him. It's his decision what to do with it. And honestly if the girls got mangled by some alien because he stayed I would have been more pissed. What he does is no concern to me personally anymore."

"Alright mate, if you say so."

TORCHWOOD

The foreseeable future ended up being 4 days later and probably one of the worse car rides of Ianto's life.

Despite the amount of painkillers Owen pumped into him before they left every bump, dip, or tight turn jarred his freshly healed ribs. Although they were healed they were still stiff and achy not to mention he was still having problems breathing because of his lungs.

What made the trip worse was that Ianto had left the Glasgow teams in ruins. He didn't want to but he was in no condition to deal with them. He had let them down – been unable to train them properly and now he was taking off on them. Jack had trusted him to pull them together and give them a sense of camaraderie and Ianto had fallen flat on his face.

With very few other options and his time dwindling he and Archie and decided to transfer Ethan to a UNIT research facility and bring in a new staff member to take lead for field missions. The only problem was finding someone who could deal with Archie (the man was crazy but likable in Ianto's opinion) and lead the girls.

Archie had tentatively suggested that Ianto stay but he couldn't accept. In spite of everything that had happened in Cardiff, it was his home and the team was his family. Unless they kicked him out the door with a large dose of retcon, he would not leave. Dissimilar to Torchwood 3 he felt no sense of belonging with the team except with Archie.

Ianto would have to start looking into staffing options in a few days with Archie. Though the man could pick the perfect researcher out of a crowd, his skills weren't quite as attuned to field agent qualities. Ianto knew Jack could probably find someone quickly but it was he had a responsibility to find somebody that could bring out Emily and Susan's potential. He would find a field leader worthy of them.

By the time Owen had pulled up to Ianto's house both men were exhausted. Owen had to practically carry him into the house; both decided the stairs up to the Welshman's bedroom were a bad idea. Instead they settled on Owen getting a fresh pair of nightclothes, a blanket, and a pillow so Ianto could crash on the living room couch.

After a decent meal of reheated spaghetti Gwen had left in the fridge from Rhys and another check-up Owen was on his way out with a promise to be back the next day. Owen wanted to watch his lungs closely to ensure he didn't develop an infection from the healing lacerations.

The silent townhouse was more than Ianto could take leading to a stupid DVD being popped in the player. Ianto was certain he would be asleep before the previews were even over. No one ever really appreciated the previews the archivist decided as he watched an ad for a movie that had come and gone years before.

Ianto briefly mused if Jack would turn up while he was stuck at home. He pulled his comforter closer and was certain it was a waste of time to sort out Jack intentions. The older man often acted without rhyme or reason leaving everyone chasing after his flapping coat tails and perfectly sculpted arse.

No wonder Jack was always alone he never slowed down long enough to let anyone catch up with him.

TORCHWOOD

When Ianto woke up he was aware of two distinctly different things. The first being he had to piss something dreadful and in no way did he want to move from the couch. The second was that there was somebody in his house. He could hear them shuffling around in the kitchen and a quick look at the clock told him they were not supposed to be there.

Owen had mentioned Tosh might stop by the next day to bring back his car and then leave with Owen after the doctor checked his lungs.

"Where the hell is my gun?" Ianto whispered to himself. Ianto looked around the living room noticing his bag from the hospital was sitting on top of his luggage by the door. Owen had been too lazy to drag it elsewhere. "Fuck."

Ianto started to freak out a tad when he heard the shuffling in the kitchen head towards him. He was going to kill Owen for leaving him alone, unarmed, and so stiff he could hardly move.

"I was wondering when you were going to wake-up." Ianto instantly felt relief wash over him then annoyance. What the hell was Jack doing in his house?

"What are you doing here? Better yet why did you think it was perfectly okay to use the key I gave you?" Ianto sat up stiffly.

"It was suggested that someone should be here with you for a few days. At least until you can manage up and down the stairs on your own." Jack walked the rest of the way into the living room and sat down in an armchair across from the couch.

"I am so sure Owen suggested you come." Ianto bit back. "And I don't need a nursemaid."

"You're right, Owen didn't want me to come. But I promised you a conversation and there is something else I wanted to talk with you about. Will you at least have some supper and hear me out?" Jack asked, running nervous hands along his slacks.

Ianto pulled back his aggravation. He had promised himself that if Jack ever needed him he would be there no matter what sort of relationship they had. Though Ianto knew he shouldn't put any hopes into what Jack wanted to say. Ianto expected to hear tired arguments and half-hearted words of pity but he wouldn't shove Jack out the door just yet. "Alright."

"Thank you," Jack replied warmly, giving Ianto a soft smile. "I already have something on for supper, why don't you go get cleaned up."

Ianto tried pushing himself up but stopped with a groan as his chest protested the movement. The stupid bone knitter was good for nothing.

"You need a hand?" Ianto nodded and tried to push away his annoyance at needing help. Jack helped him up slowly and shuffled them to the bathroom. Jack obediently waited outside the door to help Ianto again but was firmly waved off; much of the younger man's stiffness has been eased through movement. Okay maybe the bone knitter wasn't a complete piece of rubbish.

In the time it took Ianto to get back to the couch Jack had fetched supper and set it on the coffee table. "Tomato soup and cheese toasties?"

"With bacon." Jack laughed, knowing exactly what the other man liked to eat when he felt under the weather. Jack sat down next to Ianto and began eating his own sandwich.

"Are you quite finished sucking up?" Ianto asked, breaking a handful of crackers into his soup.

"Oh no, I could go on like this for quite some time." Jack grinned back, passing Ianto the pepper.

"Cut the bullshit. Let's hear it." Ianto took a few bites of his sandwich and had to suppress a groan of appreciation. If nothing else Jack was an excellent cook, probably better than himself. Who would have though to use Brie in cheese toasties?

"Archie called me." Jack started. "He said you both decided it was best for Ethan to leave T2 and have a field agent come in to whip the girls into shape."

Ianto sighed, his spoon scrapped lightly against the inside of the bowl. "Yes."

"Don't you think it would better to keep them together? As pissed off at them as I am, I still think there's potential there."

"Thanks for reminding me that this is all my fault." Ianto said sourly. "I don't want to split them up but Archie doesn't have the funding for a 5th member. That is why you sent me and I shat the bed on the whole thing."

Jack rubbed at his forehead. "No this is my fault for sending you out there with a standard training plan. You told me it wasn't working and I didn't listen. Would you be willing to try something different?"

"No." Ianto said firmly. He would not go back there to ruin the team's lives anymore than he already had.

Jack bit his lip in surprise. It wasn't like Ianto to give up so easily. "Ianto I need you to convince Archie to keep them together until we can come up with a new training plan. I don't know them well enough to do it alone – I need your help."

Ianto slumped tiredly, pulling the cuffs on his sleeve. Jack recognized it as a sign of the other man's nerves. "Jack I can't do this. I already told you that, would you just listen for once in your life!"

"I am listening and you know what I hear? A man who is rightfully scared by his first leadership experience that didn't go perfectly and who doesn't think he is worthy. But you're wrong." Jack place hand on Ianto's shoulder and rubbed. "You are worthy. I am the one that screwed this up and WE are going to fix it together. Okay?"

"I…I can't go out into the field with them alone again." Ianto admitted.

"You won't. Together remember?" Jack knew it would take some time and work from the Glasgow team before Ianto could trust them with his back. It would be even longer before Ianto trusted himself as a leader.

"Yeah. I'll call Archie tomorrow and buy them some time. It's the least I can do." Jack knew he had only achieved a reluctant win but it was something to work with.

"It's more than they are owed. They had a part in everything that happened. Remember that." Jack ran his hand down Ianto's arm and held it out. The archivist ignored it and Jack's chest tightened uncomfortable. He would try and fix that next.

"Anything else you need to get off your chest?" Ianto asked, drawing away from Jack. The immortal had gotten uncomfortably close in the time they had been talking.

"I told you there were two things I wanted to talk about. If you hadn't figured it out I want to talk about us." Jack said, trying to keep his voice calm. On the inside he was shuttering with nervousness.

"There is no us, you made that perfectly clear."

"I did and I was wrong."

Ianto stared at Jack for 3 loud heartbeats that reverberated across both men's ears before blinking slowly. "Sometimes saying you're wrong isn't enough to piece everything back together... Not everything is fixed so easily."

"I don't want to go back to what we were or weren't. I lied when I said I was giving you all I could. I was giving you just enough to keep you around but not enough to let myself to belong to you. Belonging to someone has always hurt when they eventually go." Jack admitted thickly. "Keeping them at arm's length was safe, loving what I could never have was safe. You Ianto Jones were never safe."

"Why am I safe now?" Ianto asked, rubbing absentmindedly at his sore chest.

Jack laughed sardonically. "You're not. But safe or not, with you or not, you are eventually going to go. And I realized I was just making that happen sooner than it had to be. I did the same with Estelle and it hurt just as much to loose when she passed as the day I walked away. I tried to forget that until it started to happen with you. I don't want to make the same mistake twice and maybe this way we both can get some enjoyment from the time you have here."

"You know that's slightly morbid?" Ianto said with a reassuring smile – Jack had decided to give them a real shot. The younger man settled against Jack's chest.

Jack snorted and wrapped an arm around Ianto's shoulders. "Does this mean I am forgiven?"

"Jack I was never angry with you. I was waiting and wanting to make sure I wouldn't let myself fall into our old routine – I couldn't handle that anymore. I just needed you to show me you were willing try and you've started too." Ianto set a hand on Jack's knee and rubbed lazy circles. "This is a start."

"I'm not sure I remember what a real relationship is anymore." Jack said honestly.

"Do we need to define it? I doubt I know any better than you. " Ianto tilted his back to look at Jack. "We want to be together, we can deal with the rest of the shite as it comes. All I expect from you is to not give up when things get tough. What do you need from me?"

Jack tensed in surprise. He had never stuck around long enough for someone to ask him what he needed from his partner. He would usually hightail it in the other directions when they even hinted at wanting a commitment. "No one's asked me that for a long time."

"Think about it, yeah? We're on a two way street now. I would be a bit of a self-contradicting prig if I asked for you things and didn't expect you to need anything back." Ianto relaxed further into Jack and the older man shifted them into a reclined position. Ianto laced his fingers with Jack's and rubbed his cheek against the other man's day old stubble.

"You love me?" Jack asked breaking the soft rhythm of their quiet breathing.

"I love you Jack." Ianto said kissing Jack deeply.

"Aren't you going to ask me?" Jack whispered against Ianto's ear. Ianto could feel the soothing breaths fill the crevices of his ear.

"I can wait until you're ready."

"I think I'm falling in love with you, Jones, Ianto Jones." Ianto felt himself go warm with contentment. Maybe you didn't always have wait for the good things, just ask for them.

We do not have the power to change the winds, but we can turn the sails.

Fin