T.O.R.C.H.W.O.O.D

Summary: Torchwood Mnemonic. Selection of one-shots based on Jack and Ianto whump. One of each letter of 'Torchwood.' Each can be read separately.

Chapter Summary: Ianto is attacked in the tourist office. Set Season 2. Post To The Last Man, but before Meat.

Disclaimer: UnfortunatelyTorchwood and all its characters belong to RTD

Chapter One: T is for Tourist

Ianto sat at his desk, typing away at some reports while keeping an ear out for customers. He'd decided to do a stint in the Tourist office while everything was quiet, always feeling it was important to keep up their cover.

When he had first arrived at Torchwood, the office was in shambles. Pamphlets were out of date and covered in dust with Jack excusing that they 'were too busy saving the world'. Instantly, Ianto had argued 'how long you'd take to start to question four people coming in and out of a disused office at god all hours of the day and night' apart from an inappropriate innuendo, Jack had no comeback and had allowed Ianto to clean up.

Chucking out everything from the room, he'd ordered new timetables, leaflets and other memorabilia. At first he'd tried to keep to specific opening times, but since being allowed on field missions, he had less time on his hands. However, Ianto still tried to open it as much as possible. He'd ensured it wasn't as much as 'grand' so that it encouraged a great stream of customers at once, but there was still an odd few with queries on directions and events.

The front door creaked, pulling Ianto from his musing. He'd saved his half-finished report and pushed the curtain aside. Smiling, he welcomed a young woman and child who looked about six years of age.

"Hello Ma'am. Can I help?"

"Oui, we are looking for a… er de dépliant…de leaver….leafat…"

The women had a strong French accent, and Ianto was thankful French had been one of the subjects he'd excelled in, helped by his almost eidetic memory.

"A leaflet? What on … et quoi?"

"Oui. Er…Castell Coch?"

As he searched the stack for a French edition of the leaflet, his comm beeped in his ear. Certain it was Jack (who else?), he tapped his ear to unmute the mic.

"How can I help you sir?"

"My my... Sir. What have a done to warrant this professionalism? Anyway, there's been a Rift Alert. It seems we have a stray Hoix on the loose in Cardiff City Centre. Wanna tag along?"

"I'm afraid I'm currently with a customer, Jack, sorry." Sensing Jack was about argue, he continued. "I'm sure you can survive without me. I'll make it up to you later." The hint in the comment did not go unnoticed.

"Ooh, Ok. I'll look forward to it."

Jack hung up as he found the leaflet which he quickly handed it over to the woman.

"Sorry about that – my boss. Anything else I can help with?"

"Non. Merci - ".

The woman was interrupted surprisingly her son, who was standing straight as if to make himself taller, trying to see over the front desk.

"Monsieur, is your boss' name really Jack? That's my name too!"

Grinning, Ianto stepped around the counter, squatting down to the boy's level.

"Wow. You can't be the same person though can you because that would be impossible – though in my opinion he does sometimes act like a kid…?

The boy – who he had mentally christened Jack Jr. – giggled. "No way! I'm too small to be boss, plus we move from France."

"That's true. Well then, I have to say your English is great."

"Really! Yay! Dada taught me. He said I learn fast and now better than Mama."

"Oh really?" Ianto smiled up at the woman, who returned the gesture. "Maybe you'll have to help your Ma with hers"

The boy grinned and looked at his Mama. "Can I?"

The door creaking open again disturbed the happy moment and a tall, heavily built man staggered in. He was visibly drunk, hands clenched, coat filthy and eyes bloodshot. Ianto tensed at the arrival, praying the man had sense not to cause a scene with a child around.

"Oi. What'd it take to get some bloody service out here?"

"Sorry, Sir. I'll be with you in a minute. I'm just finishing-"

I don't fucking care. You do what I say, boy!"

Alarm bells were beginning to ring in Ianto's head and he slowly stood up. Hopefully, he could deal with the man quickly before there was any trouble.

"Yes Sir. How can I help?"

"I take it you know everything round here right, so you must know where my wife and my good for nothing kid live"

The man was getting angry, but for Ianto the situation was becoming slightly clearer.

"Sorry, this office is only for tourist information; we can't give off that sort of personal data"

"Oh, now I'm sorry. It seems I didn't make myself clear enough. It wasn't optional!"

Jack Jr. screamed as the man reached into his pocket and withdrew a gun, wavering it unsteadily at Ianto. Shielding the young couple with his body, he ushered them down behind the counter, before raising his hands. His own gun was in the drawer. He'd might be able to grab it in time, but this was meant to be a tourist office in Wales, you couldn't easily explain away the presence of a gun. Anyway, he couldn't exactly start a firefight with civilians here.

"Careful, no-one needs to get hurt. Put the gun down."

Ianto eyes flickered slightly in the direction of the security camera, wondering if Jack was watching as he often did, before remembering that they'd probably already left on the rift call. Unfortunately, his action hadn't gone unnoticed and he flinched as the man swung the gun round, firing shots randomly at the ceiling, shattering the camera.

The sound of muffled crying from under the counter made him cross. He took the chance while the man was still distracted by the camera, launching himself forward. Using the training Jack had drilled in him after the incident in the Beacons, he pinned the man's arm to his side, twisting his wrist until he drop the gun in pain.

Temporarily distracted as he kicked the gun across the room, he didn't see the man's other hand grab a paperweight from the counter, until it hit him hard behind the ear.

His comm scattered across the floor as Ianto fell forward, striking his head against the corner of the desk, causing it to bleed. He collapsed face first on the floor, unconscious.

Panicking, the man fled from the office, sweeping up the gun from the floor and slamming the door behind him. After as few seconds of silence, the boy pulled out of his mother's grasp and began to edge out from where he'd been hidden and towards his new friend.

"Monsieur, are you okay. Monsieur?" The young boy shook Ianto softly, but there was no reaction. "Mama! He not woke up. He need a doctor!"

***TW***TW***TW***TW***TW***

Jack winced in pain as he strode towards the SUV. The Hoix had been particularly agitated and had ignored the food bait trap they'd set. In the end, it had taken all of them to restrain it so that Owen could sedate it, but not before Jack had gotten taste of how sharp its teeth were as they clamped around his arm. It had almost ripped his bloody arm off. And to top it all of he'd ruined another shirt – Ianto was going to be pissed. He'd had to replace half a dozen already this month.

The others piled the alien into the boot as Jack moved round to the driver side door. He gingerly pulled out his keys, only to have the swiped away instantly by Owen and chucked to Gwen.

"Uh-uh. No driving for you Mister. You're still dripping blood everywhere."

"Owen, come on! It'll be healed any minute."

"And that's one minute for you to cause an accident, especially with your driving and I personally want to get back to the Hub before our friend in the back decides to wake up. Now no arguing - Doctor's orders!"

Jack glared steadily at Owen briefly before giving up and moving to the passenger side. Owen outranked him on medical issues. "Fine. I'll let Ianto know we're coming back."

As Gwen set off back toward the Hub, Jack opened the comm connection so Ianto could hear him.

"Ianto. We're on our way back. Do you think you prepare a cell for the Hoix? … Ianto?"

Jack frowned, confused at the lack of the reply and checked the connection. Assured it was on, he tried again. "Ianto, can you hear me? …Ianto!"

This time there was a response but not from the voice he expected, and a lot closer.

"Jack. No need to shout. He's probably taken off he's comm. Relax. You know what Teaboy's like when he's busy."

Jack fell silent but kept the line open, hoping to hear something. He was worried. Owen was right, he did know what Ianto was like, which is why he knew Ianto would never take off his comm while the others were out, in case back up was ever needed.

Sensing Jack's mood, no one spoke for the rest of the journey, until they neared the Plass.

"Owen give the Hoix another dose and then it can wait. Gwen drop us here, park the car and come join us."

Jack was out the car before it had fully stopped. He strode straight for the tourist entrance, ignoring Tosh and Owen's continuous calls as they struggled to catch up. "Jack? What's going on? Jack!"

Eventually Jack responded, barely pausing in his steps. "I don't know OK. I just have a bad feeling."

"Hell Jack, seriously! You're over-reacting…"

Jack held up his hand to cut Owen off. The Tourist office door was ajar, and swallowing a wave of panic, Jack pulled out his Webley. Mirroring his action, the other two drew their own gun.

***TW***TW***TW***TW***TW***

The office was empty as the cautiously creeped in, guns ready. At first glance, nothing seemed out of place but as Jack continued forward, something broke under his foot. The others continued past him, clearing the rest of the room as he bent down. Picking up the object to inspect it, he froze when he recognised Ianto comm earpiece. His stomach was churning stronger than before, he'd been hoping the feeling he got in the car had been wrong.

"Jack, here!" Owen startled him from his thoughts. Glancing over at what he had found caused his heart to fill with fear and vanished any hope he'd had that Ianto had maybe just dropped his comm.

Blood discoloured the wood of the counter, the stains running down the edge to join a puddle on the floor. The sight of it energised Jack and releasing the lock for the hidden door, he charged down the steps into the Hub, refusing to wait for the lift.

"Ianto! Are you here! Answer me, Yan. Ianto!"

Silence.

Everything was exactly as they'd left it, and though there was no sign of Ianto, Jack could help but feel a positive spark when he noticed that there was also no more blood. After checking Ianto's desk in the archives, he returned to the main level just as an alarm signified the entry of Owen and Tosh.

Turning towards them, he shook his head in frustration, before kicking a chair. "What the HELL HAPPENED HERE!"

Owen ignored the raised voice. "Don't know. But the blood's half dry, so I'm reckoning it happened about an 45 – 60 mins ago. Good news is there not a life-threatening amount in the office, but the bad news is Tosh noticed there's bullet holes in the ceiling which smashed the camera, so if he's shot, he'd might be losing more as we speak."

Jack blanched at the comment, mentally visualising Ianto being shot and was thankfully interrupted by Gwen who'd apparently arrived mid-conversation.

"What's wrong?"

"Ianto's missing – and he's hurt."

The response surprisingly came from Tosh, who'd been silent so far. Jack had always suspected that Tosh and Ianto had a closer friendship than they displayed. The finality of her statement however was almost too much for Jack.

"Ping his phone and check the CCTV footage from before it got smashed. Come find me if – when – you find anything. I'll be in my office."

Entering his office, he went directly to his bunker, pausing only to chuck his coat on his chair, heart clenching when he remembered Ianto wasn't here to complain and hang it up neatly. Moving almost mechanically to his wardrobe, he refused to look at his unmade bunk. He couldn't believe that not 6 hours ago, Ianto and him had rolled out of it together. Luckily, he was now fully healed but he simply just changed his shirt – not bothering with crusted blood on his skin. Opening his hidden whiskey stash, he slumped in his chair to wait for news, drinking straight from the bottle.

He hadn't be there 10 mins when Tosh entered his office above him. "Jack?" After waiting for him to reach the top of the ladder, she continued. "We think we found something."

"His phone give you a location?" Jack asked, looking hopeful as he followed Tosh out the office.

"No, his phone and wallet are still in the tourist office, but we've watched the CCTV footage to give us a clearer picture. Watch."

Tosh pointed towards a computer screen. The sound wasn't on but he watched, getting increasingly angry as he witnessed a man pulling out a gun and threatening Ianto, while also feeling a sense of pride at how his lover protected the couple. He almost could hide his flinch as the gun turned towards the camera and the screen turned black.

"Is that it? What about the external cameras?" Even as he enquired, he knew it would be a dead end. The security camera outside the tourist entrance had been broken for months, Ianto always planning to fix it but never having the time.

"Nothing sorry there, I even checked the Plass camera..."

Jack looked at the floor, despondent, but Tosh continued with a smile.

"…however, I ran the footage through facial recognition and got a hit on the man – he's in the system."

Looking up again, Jack's eyes were wide with anticipation.

"Roy Burner. 52. Divorced wife and 14-year-old daughter. Multiple past reports of suspected domestic abuse, but no evidence so nothing stuck. I pinged his phone. He's home – and I've got the address."

***TW***TW***TW***TW***TW***

Roy Burner was passed out on his sofa when Jack burst through the front door. Filling a glass, he poured cold water on the man's face, making him sit up in shock at the four people standing angrily in his living room. He barely had time to gain his senses before his found himself pulled up and thrown against the wall.

Jack pressed an arm across the man's chest to pin him in place, but it was obviously it wasn't necessary when the man froze, feeling a gun pressed against his forehead, but it didn't seem to stop his mouth.

"Who the fuck are you?"

"Where is he?" Jack almost spat out the words with gritted teeth, pressing the barrel harder until the man winced with pain.

"What the heck talking about? Get the hell out of my house!"

"Ianto Jones. If you've hurt him I swear to God…"

"Never heard of him. Who do you think I am?"

"Tourist office. Today. What did you do to him?"

"What? Nothing."

Jack moved his arm up so it pressed against the man's throat, hard enough to restrict his breathing. "Liar! We have you on camera, and now he's missing. What do you expect us to think. So, I'll ask you again - where is he? And if you lie to me again, I'll shoot – don't think I won't!"

There was no reply until Owen piped up behind him.

"Jack. He has to breathe to talk!"

Jack loosened his arm slightly, not realising he'd been pressing so hard. The man leaned forward, spluttering as he tried to catch his breath, but froze again as he heard the gun cock.

"Alright, don't shoot! We fought but he started it okay. You kids have no respect for their elders nowadays"

Without an answer, Jack changed his tactic. Holstering his weapon, he grabbed the guy by the collar at the scuff of his neck, pulling his head back and dragging him to the car. The others followed, their own guns still raised.

Arriving back at the Hub, he offered no explanation to the confused man as he marched directly towards the cells. Shoving him against the glass of Janet's cell, Jack leaned forward and whispered harshly in his ear.

"You've messed with the wrong people. Now think carefully or Janet here is going to have a early dinner, and I have a feeling she's very fond of Ianto so trust me when I say it won't be quick. So, one last chance. What. Did. You. Do. To. Ianto!

The man was visibly trembling at the sight of the weevil, trying to struggle back but fruitlessly in Jack's grip.

"I didn't do anything I swear. I just knocked him out. Nothing else honest. Please. Get me away from it." In other circumstances, Jack might have laughed at how the man had been reduced to a whimpering mess, but now he only sighed dejectedly. Locking the man into the adjacent cell, he left without looking back, returning to the main level, where it was clear the others had be watching on the CCTV.

"What do you think?"

"Well he's story hasn't really changed even though he was almost pissing himself with fear. As much as I hate to admit it – I think he's telling the truth." Owen declared, and looking around the girl nodded in agreement.

"So what? That It? Back to square one? Ianto out there - God knows where – with a fucking head wound. He could be unconscious even and don't have a single clue where the BLOODY HELL HE IS!"

"Jack!" This was Tosh. "Shouting isn't going to help. Ianto survived worse than this. He's strong – he'll be fine."

"We still have to find him."

"What about the woman and child?" Owen cut in "Could they have something to do with this?"

"Tosh? Any luck on facial rec?"

"No. No hits in the local database or in the UK. I can widen the parameters to worldwide but it might take a while."

"Do it."

With that, he stormed into his office, slamming the door behind him. Ianto has been missing, injured, for nearly three hours now, and he was beginning to become desperate. He'd only just got him back after his death at the hands of the Master. He couldn't lose him again. Not this soon. He slouched in his desk chair and pulling a folder out of the drawer, he gently fingered the stapled image on the front.

The rest of the team worked sullenly, trying to gain some new leads on their friend's whereabouts. The tapping of keyboards was all they could hear until the sound of Gwen's mobile broke the silence and looking at the caller ID, she answered the phone. Owen almost growled under his breath, if it was Rhys, he was going to kill her. There were more important matters at hand. However, he was surprised at Gwen response.

"Andy, hi. Sorry, we're a bit busy right –"

Interrupted, Gwen was quiet for a while before continuing excitedly.

"What! Is he okay?" Tosh's head also rose to join Owen's at that comment, but if Gwen knew they was being stared at, she didn't comment. "No we didn't. Thanks Andy. Really."

Gwen was up and on her way to Jack's office before she'd fully hung up, calling his name continuously.

"Jack!" Pushing open his door without knocking, she felt she was interrupting something, but didn't bother to wait as Jack sat forward, clearing his eyes self-consciously.

"That was Andy. He's at St Helen's Hospital saying was called in to a reported assault case on a John Doe. Jack! He said it was Ianto."

Jack was moving before she'd even finished, Tosh and Owen looking a mixture of confused and worried, as he strode towards the Cog Door. He didn't stop, simply calling out behind him as he left.

"Gwen will catch you up. Stay here. I'll call later."

***TW***TW***TW***TW***TW***

Jack thundered into the hospital reception. The whole car journey his mind had be conjuring hundreds of different possibilities, almost making him crazy. He headed for the front desk but stopped when he saw Andy walking towards him with who he suspected was a nurse.

"Well isn't it Mr Mulder? Thought I'd be seeing you soon."

"Andy! Thanks for the call…"

"No problem. I'd better be getting back to the station. I have a feeling you'll be taking the case from me."

"Yes. Well no. We already caught the guy from the security camera, we just didn't know where Ianto was. You're more than welcome to the scumbag." Well maybe after a couple doses of retcon Jack added to himself.

"Really?" Andy looked surprised "We'll organise it in the morning then. This is Dr Jane, she's Ianto's Doctor."

After watching Andy leave, Jack turned to Jane, not wasting time with introductions. "Where's Ianto? How is he?"

"He's upstairs. Room 339. I'll take you to him. It seems he was hit on his head hard a least a couple of times, but the woman who came in with him didn't know his name, and he had no ID on him so we'll need some information from you."

"That's fine – but he'll be alright?"

"He lost a bit of blood but he's stable at the moment. We're fairly certain he's only got a moderate concussion but we have to wait for him to wake up to be sure."

"He's still out?" Jack asked, worried.

"Yes. He woke up briefly when he first arrived, but not long enough for us to run any tests. We just have to be patient – he's wake up when he's ready." The doctor patted Jack reassuringly on the shoulder and pointed towards a door. "I'll be out here if you need me."

As if trying not to disturbed anyone, Jack crept into the hospital room slowly. His gaze instantly fell on the figure in the bed who looked if he could have been simply sleeping save for the bandage round his head and the IV connected to his hand. A range of multi-coloured cables also ran from under the blankets to the monitor that was beeping regularly. Jack drank in the sight of the man he'd – half an hour ago – thought he might not see again.

"Are you Jack?"

Startled, Jack span around. A woman was sitting in the chair in the corner of the room, a young boy asleep in her arms.

"Yes?" Jack replied, slightly apprehensively.

"Bonjour. Nice to meet you. I do not mean to intrude. We will go now. Little Jack here didn't want to leave, et it did not seem right to leave him, especially when nobody knew who he is."

"It's fine" Jack flashed is usual, warming smile. "You're the lady that helped him then? Thank you."

"No worry - he help us first. Thank him for us?"

"Will do."

The woman left, carrying her son so gently and with much practice that he didn't even wake. Jack pulled the chair closer to bed, clasped Ianto's hand in his and leaned forward, pressing a brief kiss to the Welshman's forehead. Settling down in the chair to wait, he didn't let go of his hand.

It was another hour and half before Ianto begun to stir. After calling the team to apprise them of the situation and suggest they take off home early, he'd fallen into a repetitive routine of reciting one of his familiar, unbelievable stories of space travel, followed by a stints of silent musing.

He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he almost missed the first twitch of the hand in his, but by the second, he was up out of his chair, his other hand reaching out to press the call button by the pillow.

"Ianto?" He was answered with a slight groan and a flicker of the eyelids, so Jack continued, squeezing his hand. "That's it Ianto, almost there. Open your eyes, Yan."

"-ack?"

"Yes it me. Come on Yan, I want to see those stunning blue eyes of yours."

His eyes flickered a few more times but this time they eyes stayed open. "Jack?" Ianto repeated, more clearly this time, but still slightly slurred.

"There you go. Sleeping on the job were we? You're safe – you're in the hospital."

"Hospital?" Jack didn't really have time to answer before he was pushed out the room by a group of nurses, wanting to run tests. By the time, he was allowed back in, Ianto was sitting up slightly and looking more alert.

"Hey. How are you? What did the doctors say?"

"Hey back. Killer headache and concussion, but nothing permanent. From what the Doctor are saying it seems I have a hard head." He grinned trying the relieve some of the tension he felt in the room. "What happened? How long was I out? Is everyone okay?"

"You don't remember?" Jack asked, looking worried again.

"Relax. Doc said it was normal and might come back to me soon, but no."

"Ok" Jack still didn't seem convinced, but dropped the subject. "You've been out about 5-6 hours I think, and everyone else is fine – this wasn't Torchwood related."

"Then what was it?" Ianto asked, trying to think.

"You were attacked. In the tourist office."

The words seemed to trigger something and Jack had to almost hold Ianto down to stop him ripping his IV out, as the memories returned to him.

"The woman? Jack? Are they Ok? Did he hurt them?"

Jack, remembering what the woman had called her son, smiled calmingly, still keeping hold of Ianto.

"They're fine Ianto. You did good. They wanted me to say thanks. But you -" Jack paused until he had Ianto's full attention before grinning cheekily. "I'm thinking I need to put a tracker on you. I was out of my mind. I thought I'd never see you again…"

Jack trailed off as Ianto looked at him with a puzzled expression so he leapt into an explanation of the last few hours and how they had no clue where he'd been.

"You didn't think to check the hospitals?" Ianto asked, incredulously.

Jack looked almost awkward. "I didn't think I had to. I have an automated system set up to alert me if any of you end up in hospital – but coz you had no ID it didn't work."

Ianto nearly laughed at Jack's expression. "Hmm. Might be something to think about when I get back." He briefly closed his eyes, wincing at the pain in his skill, and hoped, unsuccessfully, that Jack didn't notice.

"Get some rest," Jack whispered, rubbing his shoulder. "You need it."

"Stay?" Ianto asked, barely audibly, already half asleep.

"Naturally".

Note: There. The End. That took days! Made me notice how much of my last story was mainly Ianto's thoughts, yet this one barely had him in. Anyway, as described in the summary, I am aiming for 9 stories based on each letter of 'Torchwood', so Jack whump up next up with O is for Optical. Hopefully will only take me a few days but in the meantime feel free to watch my new Torchwood Fanvid.

Link: watch?v=9AxxRx3sTvA or search "Torchwood Fanvid – Alan Walker Medley" into youtube.