_________________


Illuminate the way to my heart,
It's twisting on a thread
+ COME RAISE THE DEAD +

(( Something like that, yeah. xD ))


Jack sighed and slipped his coat off. It was going to be a long night, and someone was going to have to stay with Gwen.
"Owen, Tosh. It's been a long day. Take any research materials you need and go home."
His gaze lingered on Ianto for a few moments. They needed to talk, and he really did want him to stay, but with Gwen unconcious and unnervingly close to death, chances were it would just prove to be an intensely awkward situation.
"Ianto... if you want to go..."

_________________

- married fingon fingolfinion 6/4/13 -
~art credit~

_________________


Illuminate the way to my heart,
It's twisting on a thread
+ COME RAISE THE DEAD +

Owen said sarcastically, "Great, more predators. Like I didn't have enough of them after the Nostrovites." He narrowed his eyes sharply at Jack as if he was blaming him for their current situation for a brief second before turning away. He continued scrambling around, trying the vial that he had obtained from the medicine cabinet. Then Jack told him and Tosh to go home. Owen nearly dropped the vial in shock. Go home? While Gwen was dying. No way, he could do that.

"What the hell are you thinking, Jack?!" Owen asked indignantly, almost shouting. "She's dying, for ****'s sakes. What if your 'Doctor' shows up, you run off with him, and she kicks the bloody bucket? What then, Jack?" He angrily went around the cold storage. "We're a bloody team," he continued. "Well, were, before you ran off and came back." He continued to mutter mutinously, unwilling to believe Jack's stupidity in this matter.

Tosh could only gape at Jack and Owen, her jaw dropping down by a few inches. Owen, for the most part, had calmed down greatly after the Diane and Rift incident but she had no idea how short Owen's temper was. Then again, what Jack was asking was just ridiculous. Owen could still find the medicine needed to help Gwen and she could still track where the alien came from. They were far from useless.

_________________

I was cured all right.

Ianto cooly watched Owen out of the corner of his eyes, keeping the boiling anger that Owen's rants were stirring up hidden beneath of mask of calm. How could Owen be so insensitive at a time like this? They were part of Jack's team, and as leader Jack was personally responsible for Gwen. It was cruel to yell at him at a time like this

Jack's team? a wicked thought wispered in his head. Just an hour ago you felt the exact same way Owen does now. You were saying 'Gwen's team.' You thought Jack could never reenter.

That was before Gwen was hurt. Ianto countered. Before I realized that we, that I, need Jack.

Does that make it any better?

Ianto grimaced. It was no use beating himself up over such petty things. He his mental argument short, partly because he could think of no reply to the antagonist in his mind.

"Owen, lets just go home." He said tiredly. "You heard Jack. We don't even have an idea of what will happen to her. I'm sure Jack will call you if anything more developes. Besides, its no good to deprive every one of sleep." Lookeing to Jack, he said in a hushed voice, "We'll talk later, promise. I was irrational, and very angry, I'm sorry. Its just that now" He looked at Gwen. "isn't exactly the best time." A weak smile flitted across his face.

((I have a bit of an idea. It is sorta odd to send the team home when Gwen is dying with no idea what will happen to her. Maybe Jack could just keep the team at base and keep a vigil. The rest of the team will be sleeping, so they don't wake up until morning, when they find Jack dead (temporarily, of course) and Jack gone))

Owen glared at Ianto in turn. He hasn't been too bothersome in Jack's absence, mercifully. He looked around him, as if he was seeking supporters. Gwen, out of the bottom of her heart, would want them away from her just in case what she had was contagious. Jack had just ordered them to leave and Ianto had a nasty habit of sycophantly supporting him. That left Toshiko who usually supported his reasonable arguments, because she was a reasonable woman. But right now, she was looking at him as if she was pleading him to stop. Owen sighed and took several deep breaths before saying, "Fine."

He went to his desk to begin roughly packing some research material. Normally he would get himself wasted with drink and sex but his teammate was at stake here.

_________________

I was cured all right.

Ianto walked towards the door with slow meaningful strides. Owen and Tosh, the geniuses that they were, hurriedly packed up various items they would need to continue their investigation into Gwen's illness. Such brilliance that these two had by far out shone any of Ianto's potential. His line of work involed not lifeless computers, equations, and drugs; but living people, real life, and emotions so staggering and terrible they were a wieght. Emotions that Ianto desperatly wanted to shed, but couldn't, because it was his job. He knew he was the one who had to talk to Rhys. At times he wished he was brilliant, not so that people would admire him, but so that he would have a reason to distance himself from the pain.

The care ride to Rhys's house was quiet. The radio stayed silent, no pedestrians crowded the pavement. Even the hum of the car's motor seemed softer, as though it aknowleged this somber moment. As Ianto walked up to the door, a feeling of cold and numbness pierced his chest. His shaking fist pounded the door. Rhys opened the door.

"Ay, Ianto! Come in." In the dark he couldn't see Ianto's face. Rhys scurried indoors, leaving Ianto to follow. "I'll get you a beer, eh?" He said as he headed over to the kitchen.

"Rhys." Ianto called, but his voice came out soft and harsh. Rhys didn't hear him.

"Where's Gwen?" Rhys asked from the kitchen. "Not out snogging a weevil, is she?" He laughed. Rhys reentered the living room, and, handing Ianto a beer, got the first good look at his face. Rhys's smile fell as he realized why Ianto was there. "Oh god." He gasped. "What happened? Is she alright?"

Ianto took a deep breath. This never got easier, and it never would. "She was bit be a weevil, but was infected by an alien poison. She's stable for now, but even Jack doesn't know what will happen...We don't know how to fix her."

Rhys bit his lip, holding back tears. "I have to see her. We need to go, now." He grabbed for his coat, but Ianto gently blocked his path.

"You can't" He replied, his voice laden with emotion. "We don't know anything, not even if she's contagious."

Rhys collapsed onto the couch behind him. "I need to see her! She's my fiance, Ianto. She's going to be my wife!"

"I know" Ianto muttered, sitting down on a chair next to him. "And I swear I will call you the moment Jack says you can see her." He avoided Rhys's agonized gaze, only to have his eyes fall on a picture of Rhys and Gwen togeather. They looked so happy. Tears filled his eyes.

"I always told her I worried about her, but she never listened." Rhys cried. "I'd tell her time after time that she needed to be careful because I couldn't stand to loose her, but she always brushed it off, like I was joking. Why wouldn't she listen?"

Ianto looked into his lap. "Maybe she was just as scared of loosing you, but didn't want to show it. She loves you Rhys. She thinks the world of you, and always will."

"I know, but that doesn't help at all." Rhys's voice was forlorn and distant.

"I'll stay, if you want. We can just talk." Ianto offered.

"No." Rhys replied. "Go home. I just want to be alone."

Ianto nodded. Rising from the chair he gave Ryhs a sympathetic clap on the shoulder, and then left. The moment he closed the door, the flood of emotion he had been keeping at bay washed over him. He wept openly, not caring who saw him. This was his duty. He wasn't distanced from the world and its emotions. He was part of the terrible storm. The waves crashed and jostled. It hurt at times, but Ianto realized it made him feel alive much more than any flat, emotionless sea. "Take the bad with the good." He told himself.

That didn't make him feel any better.

(Okay, that was a bit long. I hope every one is alright that I power played Rhys. Nobody had taken him. Sorry if its overy poetic. I don't know what's gotten in me today. )

The team had trickled out by now. Jack watched them go, kicking himself over and over for leaving them. The way his team had looked at him, the things they'd said... He'd hurt them, quite badly.

And what for, really? "That's why I left you behind. It's not easy, just, just looking at you, Jack, 'cause you're wrong." He'd waited for over a century for that. Doctor was so hung up over Rose, he wouldn't even so much glance at anyone. Not him, not Martha. Not anyone.

Jack sat down on the Autopsy Bay steps, watching Gwen. She had a little frown on her face, but she didn't actually seem to be in pain. Rhys would probably be the one hurting by now, the poor man.

It did have to be Gwen, the one who actually tried at a normal life, who had to be injured, didn't it?

_________________

- married fingon fingolfinion 6/4/13 -
~art credit~

_________________


Illuminate the way to my heart,
It's twisting on a thread
+ COME RAISE THE DEAD +

Jack was at Gwen's side in an instant.
"Gwen?" She didn't respond, and Jack frantically felt for a pulse. "C'mon Gwen, answer me?"
No. No, no, no. This wasn't happening. She couldn't really be dead. Jack brushed some of the blood off her face, his knees starting to go weak.
"Gwen?" It came out barley louder than a whisper.

_________________

- married fingon fingolfinion 6/4/13 -
~art credit~

"So why do you think Jack made us leave, Tosh?" Owen asked.

Toshiko sighed and continued to type in her laptop in the lab. Since neither Owen nor Tosh was in the mood of turning their flats into biohazard labs, they simply requisitioned one from the hospital. After five minutes of negotiating, including one particular delicate moment when Owen nearly lashed out against the manager, they were given a Biohazard Level 3 lab and two hours to work in. Owen wasted no time taking more samples from Gwen's infected blood and transferring them into cell plates. Toshiko helped him by using a computer programme which simulated the different drugs and their effects on cells. She did take a couple classes on biomedical sciences so she knew a little bit of what Owen was doing. Something that proved extremely useful when Owen, in a fit of depression over his fiancee, drunk all night and woke up with a major hangover.

"He probably thinks whatever Gwen has is contagious, Owen," Tosh answered in a calm reasonable voice that Owen knew her to have. "Even you don't understand all of the effects."

"Yes, well, I've seen people who got alien blood in them before.." Owen said, actually began to say. He couldn't finish the sentence because one of the stains that he injected into a dish was starting to react with the chemical inside. "Tosh, add another component into your simulator. Chemical 4528: Haraliane."

"The alien carried haraliane in it?" Tosh asked almost incredulously as she typed that in.

"Yes, at least, that's why this dye's telling me."

"But that means..." began Toshiko but her voice faltered a bit. "She's going to go psycho."

"Yeah," Owen said as he furiously packed up his kit and cleaning up his mess. "That means Ianto or Jack's definitely not safe now." They've dealt haraliane before. It was a chemical that induced uncontrollable rage and aggression in its victim. Usually that victim went on a homicidal rage for, what Jack theorised, forever. Meanwhile Tosh was calling Jack, "Jack. Owen found haraliane in Gwen's blood. You know what that means. Send her down to the vaults now!"

_________________

I was cured all right.

((Yay! It lives!))

Ianto entered the driver's seat of his car. For awhile he sat there, motionless, just thinking. He was scared, far more scared than he could remember. Sure, he had been terrified before, like during weevil attacks, but that had been for his immediate safety. This fear was different. It wasn't a heart pounding fear that forced him to terror. The feeling was more a heaviness of the heart and mind that drove him to sit and think, over and over again, of the most terrible situation. He suddenly picked himself up from his thoughts and turned on the radio. A song blared to life. He couldn't name it, but the tune sounded familiar. Ianto drove to his flat as quickly as he could.

Bump!

"Jack? Jack!" Toshiko called desperately as she climbed into Owen's sports car. Obviously he wasn't answering so she tried calling Ianto's mobile. She growled in frustration as her phone tried to contact Ianto's while Owen climbed into the driver's seat and sped out of the hospital parking lot.

Toshiko grabbed the arm rest tightly as Owen drove at an alarming speed to the Hub. Normally she would scream hysterically at Owen and he would laugh mischievously but this wasn't exactly a normal situation.

_________________

I was cured all right.

Ianto could barely hear his cell phone ring over the loud blaring of the radio. Quickly he turned off the radio. Taking his eyes off the road briefly to check who was calling him, he recognized Tosh's number. He flipped it opened and pressed the mobile to his ear. "Tosh? do you have anything?" he asked a bit desperatly.

(( Where ish teh Lothy? I've been waiting for her to post... ))


Jack was dimly aware of someone trying to call him. It didn't matter. They could wait. Gwen was dead.

Gwen was dead.

Jack sank to the floor and held his head in his hands.

No.

_________________

- married fingon fingolfinion 6/4/13 -
~art credit~