Fandom: Torchwood
Challenge: longliveianto Cliche Bingo!
Prompt used: Cuddling whilst sick.
Rating:PG
Spoilers: None.
Disclaimer: I do not own Torchwood, I just play with it.

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Always and forever.

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Ianto groaned and pulled another blanket over himself, glancing at the clock and wincing as he realised he still had another few hours before he could take some more painkillers. He turned over and winced as he nearly yanked the wires out of the machine that was monitoring his blood pressure and pulse. The machine was connected to Owen's cell phone and Jack's wrists tarp, it had been the only reason Owen had let Ianto go home, the only reason Jack had left him alone when the first reports of 'strange blobby creatures' in Cathays had come through. Ianto looked up in surprise as he heard a key in his front door; that was odd, and quite worrying… He was the only one with a key. Ianto managed to move just enough to pick his phone up off the table and was just about to tap in Jack's number when his bedroom door opened, "Don't move, I've got a gun!" Ianto managed to croak out, struggling not to cough, this was partially true, his gun was, however, the other side of the room.

"It's me, Jack." Came the voice, "Sorry, I thought you'd be asleep, I didn't want to disturb you, so I took the emergency key from the Hub." Ianto dropped his phone onto the bed and collapsed back against the pillows, "Sorry, I should have thought it through, didn't mean to freak you out." Jack murmured, flicking on the light by Ianto's bed and making the man wince at the light, "How are you feeling?"

"Fine."

"Ianto." Jack said, his eyes stern as he knelt by Ianto's bed.

"Crap, no better at all and these antibiotics Owen gave me are making me feel even worse." Ianto admitted.

Jack nodded and moved his hand to stroke at Ianto's hair, "You need to eat and drink, it'll help. I bought some stuff with me, how about I go and sort that out and I'll put the telly on for you?" Jack offered.

"Thanks." Ianto whispered, hating how vulnerable he felt but aware that he didn't have the strength to move much himself. It was probably a good thing he'd barely drank anything today because he was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to make it to the bathroom. "Has Owen figured out what it is yet?" He asked, his voice catching slightly on the last word as he doubled over, coughing loudly.

"It's a virus, from the future but not too far in the future. The antibiotics should work, they might take a little longer than usual though, we think the Graskong were carrying it but it wouldn't have affected them as much because they have different DNA." Ianto gave a small nod, the Graskong looked mostly human, apart from their bright purple hair and blue skin, the DNA was also remarkably similar to humans and Jack had explained that they were the product of humans breeding with other species. "You'll be okay though." Jack added softly.

"If it's contagious you should go." Ianto murmured, not wanting to make Jack sick too.

"I'm pretty immune to most things." Jack explained quietly, pressing his lips to Ianto's clammy head.

"What about the others, have the caught it?" Ianto asked worriedly.

Jack smiled, "They're fine, Owen thinks it hit you because you had a mild cold anyway. Which you should have told me about by the way." Jack said sternly.

"I…"

"Shh, it's okay. You just rest." Jack said, he moved and turned on the TV, handing Ianto the remote, "I'll just be in the kitchen, yell if you need me." Ianto watched as Jack left, then he began to flick through the TV channels, there wasn't anything interesting on, or anything he particularly wanted to watch which was mildly amusing since he had a couple of hundred channels, and so he settled on a repeat of a friends episode. Ianto managed a small smile as he watched the show, memories of watching it with his sister, or his friends, watching it with Lisa, appearing in his head. It was one of those shows that was always on in the background, always being repeated during the day too. Ianto looked up as Jack walked back in with a tray, "Right, got some soup, nothing special just plain tomato, didn't want to make you feel even worse. Also some salty crisps, they might help with the nausea. And some water and some lucozade." Jack smiled, balancing the tray on Ianto's bedside table.

"Thank you." Ianto murmured, picking up the glass of water first and sipping at it, he put it back down as Jack moved back towards the door. "Don't go." He whispered suddenly, flushing red as he realised what he'd done, "I mean… You should probably get back to the Hub." Ianto added quickly, covering his mouth as he began to cough again. Jack simply smiled and left the room, Ianto sighed, he hadn't meant to sound so needy but he would have liked Jack to stay. He jumped as Jack came back into the room, "Forgot the spoon." He grinned, holding it up and giving it to Ianto before pulling his coat and shoes off, along with his braces and shirt. Then he climbed onto the bed next to Ianto and wrapped an arm around the man, "I'm not going anywhere." He murmured gently, helping Ianto sit up a bit more.

"Always look after me when I'm sick?" Ianto asked, wondering what it was about alien virus' that made him sound so whiny. "Always, always and forever." Jack promised, kissing Ianto's neck. "Even when you're an old and wrinkly man." He added, laughing as Ianto jabbed him in the ribs.

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