Fear

Takes place between Countrycide and Greeks Bearing Gifts

Ianto Jones sighed as he came into the Hub. Only two days had passed since the incident in the countryside village. He still had a few cuts and bruises on his face and his ribs were still bruised. His suit hung a little looser on him than usual. Nightmares plagued him when he tried to sleep. He had spent the past night awake, afraid to go to sleep.

Toshiko Sato looked up from her station when the alarm sounded to tell them the door was being opened.

'Ianto? Why are you here?' she asked sounding concerned. 'Shouldn't you be resting?'

He just shook his head. 'I'm fine,' he said in an automatic voice. With a smile he asked, 'How are you?'

'I'm fine too,' she said smiling. She was more believable. There was still some bruising around her neck from being almost choked to death but she was still smiling and dealing with it.

'I'm sorry I couldn't help you more…'

'Ianto you helped me escape,' she said standing up. 'You let me get the others, to get help.'

'You mean to be slaughtered too…'

'Ianto, that's not true-'

'Where's Jack? I need a word with him.'

Tosh sighed and pointed to Jack's office. 'I think Owen is up there with him right now though.'

'Thanks,' he nodded and headed up the stairs. He tried to hide a wince but Owen Harper was just coming down.

'Ianto are you alright? Didn't I say you should stay home and rest?' Owen asked. He hated seeing his friend in such a way. He reached out to help Ianto back down the stairs. 'Come on, just turn around and-'

Ianto pulled away. 'Owen, I'm fine really. I just need to talk to Jack.'

'Yeah but-'

'Owen, it's fine,' said a voice behind him. Captain Jack Harkness stood in the doorway to his office.

Owen stood aside for Ianto to pass him. 'You're the boss…' he said as he went downstairs.

Ianto carefully continued up the stairs. Jack let him in first and followed, closing the door behind him.

'You know, Owen is right. You should be resting,' he said as he motioned Ianto to sit down at the desk.

Ianto sat down. 'I'm fine. I can't sit at home anymore,' he said. He looked down. 'Not by myself.'

Jack sat on his desk and looked at the younger man. 'Ianto, it's ok to be scared. The only thing you need to remember is that they are locked up and they can't hurt you anymore.'

'If you hadn't of come when you did, I'd be dead.'

'Then I'm glad I got there just in time.'

Ianto looked up at him. Tears were shining in his eyes and his skin was pale making the bruises and cuts stand out even more.

'The whole time I thought I was going to die…and my biggest fear was never seeing you again.' Ianto looked back down.

Jack carefully took his chin and lifted his head. 'Hey, it didn't happen. You're alive and you get to see me everyday. You're stuck with me.' He smiled. 'But for now, you really should rest.'

Ianto shook his head. 'I can't…I keep having nightmares…I'm afraid to close my eyes…I'm afraid I'll wake up and still be there and he'll kill me…This feels like a dream.'

Jack took Ianto's hand. 'This isn't a dream.' He leaned down at kissed Ianto gently on the lips and pulled away to look at Ianto. Ianto blinked in surprise. 'Was that real enough?' Ianto just nodded a little shocked.

'Hey, if you didn't like it…'

'No,' Ianto said quickly. 'I mean…it was nice…'

Jack smiled and kissed him again. This time Ianto kissed back until he felt a sharp pain in his chest. He backed away wincing.

'What's wrong?'

'My ribs…they aren't completely healed yet.'

'Then go and rest.'

'But-'

'I'll set up a mattress up here for you. That way if you have any nightmares, I'll be here to wake you up.'

Ianto looked up. 'You would do that for me?'

'I would do anything for you.' He gently kissed him on the forehead and headed to the door.

'Thank you.'

A few minutes later Jack came back up with one of the air mattresses they had. Ianto watched as he set it up. When he was done, Jack stood up and looked at Ianto.

'There, all done,' he said walking over to Ianto. 'Now, come and lay down.' The younger man got up gingerly and Jack went over to help him.

'I'm ok,' he said and walked over to the cot and sat down. 'Thank you again.'

'Don't mention it. Now, you look exhausted so try to sleep, ok?'

Ianto nodded and laid down. He somehow felt safe with Jack there. Jack covered him with a blanket.

'You'll stay, right?' Ianto asked looking ashamed.

'Of course I will. I'll be right here the whole time.'

The younger man nodded and tried to make himself more comfortable. Soon he was fast asleep.

A little while later, Gwen Cooper came upstairs. 'Jack, do you have a minute?'

Jack quieted her and pointed to Ianto. She looked over and lowered her voice.

'Why is Ianto here?' she whispered. 'Shouldn't he be at his place resting?'

'Look who's talking,' Jack responded. 'You were shot.'

'I'm ok, it wasn't that bad or anything and Owen fixed me up.'

'I bet he did.'

Gwen gave Jack a look that quieted him but he still grinned.

'Why did he come in?'

Jack sighed and the grin faded. 'The incident got to him more than we thought.'

'Poor thing…when I was holding him, he was shaking so badly and crying. I couldn't undo the handcuffs…I couldn't think anything to help him except hold him.'

'You did all you could,' Jack assured her.

Gwen quietly walked over to where Ianto lay. 'Look at him…he doesn't seem to be sleeping well.'

Jack walked over too and looked down. Ianto's brows were knitted to together and he was breathing harder and faster. The captain put a hand gently on Ianto's shoulder and said, 'Ianto, it's ok. I'm here. No one can hurt you.'

To Gwen's surprise Ianto relaxed and slept more soundly.

'You're good at that, aren't you?'

'I just couldn't bear to see him like that.' He took a few steps back. 'Now, what did you need?'

'Oh right,' Gwen said remembering. 'I almost forgot.' Her reason for coming in didn't seem important anymore. 'I needed to tell you that I finished that paper work you asked me to do. Only I sort of forgot it at home. Is it ok if I bring it in tomorrow?'

'That's fine, Gwen,' Jack assured her. 'I wasn't even expecting you to finish it after what happened.'

Gwen shrugged. 'Well, I couldn't just sit around my place all day, could I?'

Jack was about to respond when Ianto let out a frightened yell. Even though Gwen was closer, Jack still reached the young man first. He gently took Ianto's shoulder and gave it a little shake.

'Ianto, wake up,' he said in a gentle voice. Ianto was visibly shaking now. 'Come on, wake up.'

Slowly Ianto's eyes opened his eyes. He was breathing hard and he looked so young. He was so young Gwen realised. Gwen thought he looked like a frightened child as Jack wrapped his arms around him.

'It's alright,' Gwen heard Jack say quietly. 'I'm here.'

Gwen quietly left Jack's office to let the two be by themselves. As she walked down the stairs Owen was heading up from the medical bay.

'Hey, is Ianto still up there?'

'Yeah, they are, um, talking.'

'Well he can wait,' he said heading up the stairs.

Gwen put her arm out to stop him. 'No, you should wait.'

Owen sighed and looked up at her. 'What are they doing? Shagging?'

'No,' Gwen said a little too quickly. Great, now he won't believe me, she thought.

'Oh, right.' Owen smirked as he turned around and walked back down the stairs.

Gwen sighed with relief and glanced back up and continued to walk down stairs. She walked over to where Owen was talking to Tosh.

'What's going on anyway?' Gwen asked crossing her arms.

'I just picked up a huge alien energy spike,' said Tosh. 'And it's moving. We really should get Jack.'

'Right,' Gwen said. 'I'll go and get him.' She headed back up the stairs toward Jack's office.

'Yeah, and make sure you apologize for interrupting,' Owen said sarcastically.

Gwen ignored him and went up and knocked on the door. 'Jack, Tosh has picked up a weird energy spike,' she said coming in.

Jack was still holding Ianto, who was now crying. When Gwen came in Ianto pulled away and tried to act like nothing happened. Gwen pretended not to see.

'You said there was an energy spike?' Jack said standing. 'Where?'

'It's not too far from here but it's moving.'

'Right, I'll be right down.'

Gwen nodded and left.

Jack looked down at Ianto who was wiping his eyes. Ianto looked up at him.

'You should go,' he said. 'I can stay here and track it for you.' Ianto stood and straightened his jacket.

'Are you sure?' Jack asked. 'I don't want you to have to stay here by yourself.'

'I'll be alright,' Ianto insisted.

'Ok.'

The two went downstairs together. Gwen, Owen, and Tosh were waiting for them at Tosh's station. They looked up as Jack and Ianto came over to them.

'So what do we have?' Jack asked.

'There's a huge alien energy spike that keeps popping up sporadically,' Tosh explained. 'It looks as if it, whatever it is, is teleporting.'

'Teleporting huh?' Jack said with a smile. 'Well, here's the plan. Gwen, you and Owen take a car and head out while Tosh and I will take the SUV. Ianto you stay here and keep track of it and let us know where it is and if it changes course.' They each nodded. 'Good. Let's go and find out what this thing is.'

The four headed out and Ianto took over at Tosh's station. He put his comm piece in his ear and sighed. He glanced around the Hub. It was empty and he knew it. He couldn't help but think that he was somehow vulnerable without Jack there.

Then Jack's voice came through the comm. 'Ianto can you send us the coordinates?'

Ianto shook his head to clear his thoughts. 'Yes, sending them now,' he said pressing a few keys. 'They keep changing though. It seems to be headed in the same general direction though so it's not as sporadic as we thought.'

'Where's it heading then?' Jack asked.

'It appears to be heading out toward London Square.'

'Right, Gwen, Owen. You two head directly there and see if we can cut it off. Tosh and I will take the same route it's taking just in case it changes course.'

'Right,' came Gwen's response.

'Ianto, pay close attention to it. I don't want whatever it is to slip away from us.'

'Got it.'

Ianto watched the screen carefully, tracking it's movements and sending the exact coordinates to the SUV. He sat down on the edge of Tosh's chair and took a deep breath. With a few key strokes he was tapped into the CCTV at London Square. Whatever it was it was getting close. He watched it closely to look for any sort of disturbance.

'Jack,' came Gwen's voice. 'Owen and I are at London Square but we don't see anything.'

'Ianto, how close is it?'

'It's only about ten metres from the centre. I'm not seeing anything either with the CCTV.' Ianto paused and looked at the tracker again and compared the coordinates in London Square. 'Hang on…it's not there anymore.'

'Where did it go?' Jack asked.

'I'm locating it again with the tracker…' Ianto stopped. The blinking light on the screen flared up. It was the Millennium Centre. From behind him he heard someone or something move.

'What is it?'

'Jack, it's in the Hub.' Slowly, Ianto turned around. Behind him stood Evan, the leader of the countryside village. He carried the same bloody butcher's knife in his hand and had the insane smile on his face as he did when he almost slit Ianto's throat.

'Ianto, what is it?'

'It's…Evan…from the village…' Ianto breathed. He backed up and hit Tosh's desk. This seemed to make him come back to his senses a bit and he ran around the desk. Evan started to run after him.

'That's impossible…' Jack said in Ianto's ear. 'Ianto, he was locked away.'

'Jack, he's here. I don't know how but he's definitely here,' he said as he ran up the stairs toward the exit.

'We're coming back. Owen, Gwen get back to the Hub as fast as you can. Ianto, just try to hang on.'

Just as Ianto reached the bared door the power cut out and everything locked up. Ianto shook the bars. 'No!' He turned around. Evan was coming up behind him.

'Let's make this easier on the both of us, shall we?' Evan said, speaking for the first time. 'You escaped, but just barely. If that bloke hadn't of showed up like he did, you would have been my supper.' He grinned madly as he ran at Ianto.

Ianto just barely dodged out of the way causing Evan to run into the bared door. He ran up the stairs toward Jack's office.

'Ianto!' Jack yelled. 'What's going on? I heard a crash. Are you ok?'

'Jack, I'm fine,' Ianto said breathing fast. He glanced down at Evan, who lay on the floor. He locked the door to Jack's office when he got in and began to barricade the door. 'Jack, he's locked down the Hub. I can't get out and you can't get in.'

'It's alright, we'll think of something. It's not the first time we've had to override the lock down.'

Ianto knew what he was talking about. When Lisa has tried to take over to make a cybermen upgrade facility of the base. It had been Ianto's fault in the first place. He had brought Lisa there to try to heal her. He had betrayed his friends and now he had another problem he caused.

Suddenly there was a bang on the door. Evan was standing there, grinning. A small amount of blood was trickling down his forehead from the small gash. 'There's no place you can run to now,' he said hitting the door with the butcher's knife.

'Jack…' Ianto whispered.

'We're here Ianto. We're going to get you out of there.'

'It's too late,' Ianto said as Evan managed to get in. Ianto backed up as far as he could. Evan made his way into the room slowly.

'No!' Jack yelled. 'You had better fight, Ianto!'

Evan laughed. 'He can't fight me!'

Jack heard the voice but could not believe it. 'It really is him…'

He could hear the sound of the door to the visitor's centre open as Jack, Tosh, Gwen and Owen came in. Ianto could hear them as they talked among themselves. He couldn't understand anything he was hearing. He could only look at Evan, and hear him breathing, sounding excited. And then, before Ianto knew it, Evan was right in front of him, knife raised and ready to strike.

The sound of four guns echoed in the small office. Evan's eyes widened in shock, but then they weren't Evan's eyes. They turned black and his skin turned ashen gray. The knife he held was really a long claw. Soon it did not look like Evan at all. It was a monster, an alien. It fell to the floor, dead. Ianto looked up at his team members and then collapsed to the floor beside the creature.

When Ianto awoke he was lying in the med bay. As he looked around he saw Jack was sitting with him. He slowly sat up. 'What happened?'

'You passed out from exertion,' Jack said. 'How do you feel?'

'Tired,' Ianto admitted.

'Then you should go home and rest.'

'How did you guys get in? The Hub was under lock down.'

Jack shook his head. 'It really wasn't. It was an illusion.'

'What was that thing?'

Jack sighed. He had hoped Ianto wouldn't bring that up. 'It was a creature that feeds off fear. They kill their victims by what scares them the most. They absorb the fear and the more the victim believes it's real, the more real it becomes.'

Ianto looked down. He had brought another dangerous creature into the Hub. Why did he keep messing up like that?

'Jack, I'm sorry…'

'Hey,' Jack took his hand. 'It's not your fault. This creature targeted you. You didn't do anything wrong.'

'I let the fear consume me. I'm weak.'

'You are not weak. If you were weak, you would be dead,' Jack said firmly. 'Don't ever think that you are weak.'

Ianto looked up at his captain with tears in his eyes. 'I cause too many problems for you and the others.'

Jack shook his head. 'No, you don't.' He laughed. 'I have more problems with Owen.'

'Oi!' Owen said coming downstairs. 'I heard that.' He walked over to Ianto and took his pulse and checked some other stats. 'How are you feeling, mate?'

'I'm fine, thank you,' he said nodding.

'You need to get more sleep. Doctor's orders,' Owen said. Ianto nodded and stood. Gwen and Tosh saw he was awake and came down stairs as well.

'Hey Ianto,' Gwen said smiling. 'How are you?'

'I'm fine,' he said. 'Really.'

Tosh smiled. 'Good.'

'Alright, there are way too many people in my med bay,' Owen practically shouted. 'All of you out.'

The group went up stairs and Jack said, 'Alright, let's call it a night, shall we?'

The group agreed and grabbed their coats and things and headed to the door. The alarm sounded as the doors opened. Everyone said good-bye to Jack.

Gwen stopped before she got to the door. 'Aren't you two leaving as well?'

'Maybe,' Jack said grinning.

Gwen rolled her eyes. 'I still can't believe you really live here.' Jack just shrugged. 'Aren't you coming, Ianto?'

'I wanted to talk to Jack first,' he said sounding casual.

'Alright,' she said. 'Have a good night.'

Ianto nodded. 'You too.'

When Gwen was gone, Jack led Ianto to his office. 'Why do I get the feeling you aren't going to go home?' he teased.

'I just…'

'It's ok, Ianto. There's room for two but just barely.'

Jack and Ianto lay in Jack's bed. Jack's arm was across the younger man, who was sleeping soundly. Jack smiled to himself as he gently stroked Ianto's cheek. That night Ianto had the best sleep he had ever had.