Chapter 1Jack shook his head as he watched Gwen and John supporting Ianto into the autopsy bay. From what he had gathered, while he had gone out to try and capture a rogue Weevil (he'd failed), Ianto and Gwen had been called out to answer a call about a Blowfish attempting to rob a small charity shop. It had sounded like a relatively simple job; eliminate the threat (sedate the Blowfish and bring him back to the Hub where he could wait in the cells with Janet), liaise with the police and, where necessary, Retcon bystanders. A simple clean-up operation.
Unfortunately, the intelligence they had received had not been entirely accurate, to say the least. As soon as Gwen and Ianto had appeared on the scene, one Blowfish had quickly become five, two of which were severely intoxicated.
A Blowfish in itself was dangerous. A Blowfish with alcohol was even more so.
Oh, and, just to make things even better, they had been taking hostages.
Luckily, John had been at the Hub on standby and had been able to get to them fairly quickly once had had learned the gravity of the situation. Five bullets later and there were five very dead aliens at the former Time Agent's feet. Ordinarily, Jack would have been horrified, if not shocked, by his former partner's slightly over-aggressive techniques, but this time, he found that he was grateful for them. If those aliens had killed anyone...if they had hurt Ianto any more than he already was...just the thought made Jack shudder in anger.
But, whether he liked it or not, what the incident had also done was bring home an important truth - something that Jack knew he had been putting off for far too long.
~*~
After Gwen had given the team her report on the events, Jack asked Ianto to meet him in the hothouse. He saw a confused look on Gwen's face as they left - she must have noticed that his face was too serious for this to be about his and Ianto's private relationship - but he ignored it. Even if she was, strictly speaking, his second-in-command, what he was about to ask would concern Ianto far more.
He leaned on the table in the middle of the room.
"We can't go on like this," he stated. "What happened to you, both of you, today...it made me realise something that I've known for a long time, but never wanted to admit."
"We need a doctor," finished Ianto. "I know, Jack - and, as good as she is with alien autopsies, Andie can't be that."
Jack shook his head; Andrea, or Andie, Carlowe, was an old friend of his whom he had recruited to oversee the autopsies. She was a great employee, but she wasn't a medical doctor. "No, she can't." He closed his eyes. "I guess I just haven't been ready to let go of Owen," he admitted. "And, for what it's worth, I didn't want to have to replace Tosh, either."
Ianto blinked in surprise. "I - Jack, I never thought you did!" he exclaimed. "Listen, what I was shocked by was that it was Captain Hart - sorry, John - who you brought in. I know he's a good field agent, very good even - and I never had a problem with Tosh being replaced, never."
A brief smile flickered over Jack's face. "Thank you," he said quietly, reaching out to take his partner's hand. "You're the only person who's never asked why I could replace Tosh, but could never bring myself to replace Owen -"
"Until now," interrupted Ianto, wanting to get back to the original issue. "Who were you thinking of recruiting? None of the recommended doctors were right, and Martha -"
"I know," answered Jack. "But there is still one more who I think is right. However, I wanted to talk it over with you first."
Now, Ianto was confused. "Why?" Jack didn't speak; instead he motioned to a pile of notes. Curious, Ianto picked them up and started to look at them - and his heart stopped in shock.
"You can't be serious!" he exclaimed. "You can't be!"