Rating: PG-13 (high)
Characters/Pairings: Jack/Ianto
Genre: Hurt/Comfort
Spoilers: Doctor Who S2 finale; 1x04 Cyberwoman; 1x13 End of Days
Warnings: ANGST; slightly disturbing imagery.
Summary: Somedays, even Ianto Jones needs to break down.

Disclaimer: I don't own them sadly, they belong to RTD and the BBC.

Author's Note: This is for my lovely cherry_soup888 just because! I felt like giving Abby a shiny new oneshot and this was the perfect one! I've had the idea for a while to use the shower scene in Casino Roylae in a fic and this was what sprouted from it! I hope you enjoy it, just a cute little H/C fic to tend my needs!

More 'Sky Blue and Black' later on =]

---

Soul Fractures

 

The blood stain was particularly tough today.

 

Ianto was kneeling on the floor, his sleeves rolled up and his hands shaking as he scrubbed at the pool on the floor of Jack’s office. His eyes and nose stung with the bleach fumes and the tears he was biting back. His jaw was tensed and his shoulders shook with the suppressed sobs.

 

He closed his eyes and concentrated on blocking out the smell and metallic tang of the blood as he scrubbed hard at the carpet. With every scrutch scrutch of the brush, he felt a new wave of nausea. No matter how many times he did this, he would never, never get used to it.

 

He never wanted to.

 

The shaking spread up his arms and through his shoulders, his entire frame shaking violently to the point where he couldn’t continue. As if hit by a static shock, he dropped the brush in his hands and scrabbled backwards, gasping in horror at the sight of his hands.

 

They were covered in semi-diluted, half-congealed blood from the floor, tainted varying shades of rust coloured red. His fingers were splayed out, the tendons standing out as he tried to still them – failing spectacularly.

 

As he stared at his palms, memories flashed behind his eyes – the corpses in the ruins of Canary Wharf, the blood spattered across Lisa’s and Annie’s bodies as they fell to the floor, the blood stains left after Owen had shot Jack – where all he could see was red and all he could smell was the decay and fragility of human life.

 

He looked up and caught a glimpse of the broken and damaged coat lying across the back of Jack’s chair. There was a huge gash through the back of the material and blood soaked through the wool in various different places. In some places, it still glistened wetly in the half-light.

 

He scrambled to his feet and took deep gulps of air, sucking in oxygen as if he was being deprived, his hands still splayed out in front of him, held away fearfully. He’d done this so many times before, he’d cleaned up so much blood in his life, but this was different. Something had snapped and this time, he couldn’t do it any more.

 

Without a second thought, he fled from Jack’s office.

 

*

 

“Ianto?” Jack called as he walked into the Hub, shrugging his jacket off. His greatcoat had been badly damaged earlier that day when an alien artefact had been triggered and sent a large, knife-like object straight through his torso. He’d managed to stay alive for long enough to get back into the SUV and drive home, but it had been a close call for him to get into his office before he passed out completely.

 

He’d woken up in Ianto’s arms, the young man murmuring to him until his erratic heartbeat normalised and he remembered he was okay. It was always better when Ianto was there with him. The man was always so reliable and supportive in those times of completely vulnerability and fear.

 

Only an hour later, they’d been called out again and this mission had gone successfully. They’d managed to clear up in good time.

 

Feeling in a particularly good mood, he’d given the others the rest of the evening off to spend it how they would. Jack had plans to romance Ianto, to treat him and show him how much he loved him.

 

When he heard no reply, he frowned and walked through to his office.

 

He saw the mess that he’d left and his confusion deepened further. Surely Ianto would’ve finished cleaning up by now. Quietly, he threw his jacket to one side and pulled his gun from its holster, cracking the safety back as he moved out of the room.

 

He scanned the Hub briefly and listened hard to what was going on. Underneath the sounds of Myfanwy’s scuffling and the water trickling down the tower and the walls, Jack could hear the soft hissing of a shower running. Instantly, he sighed and put the safety back on, holstering his weapon before moving through to the staff showers.

 

The door stood ajar, steam curling out of it  and billowing as he pushed it even further open.

 

He walked across the damp tiles towards one of the cubicles which had the door flung open and water pouring across the floor from it. Before he got any closer, he toed off his boots and left them by the wall.

 

Then he walked far enough across to see inside, to see Ianto sitting huddled under the jet of water, fully dressed and shaking.

 

Jack’s breath hitched painfully and he grimaced before crossing over to the shower and sitting down next to his lover. The cold water pelting down from above must’ve been painful, but Jack had the horrid suspicion that Ianto couldn’t really feel it. He was just staring off to one side, knees clutched to his chest.

 

As Jack settled back, Ianto suddenly gripped his arm, his fingers holding onto him as if to reassure himself that his lover was still there, still alive.

 

“The blood won’t come off this time… It just won’t come off…” Ianto muttered, his teeth chattering slightly from the cold. Jack dreaded to think about how long he’d been sitting there.

 

“Let me see…” Jack said softly, taking hold of Ianto’s hand and inspecting it for a moment. Gently, he placed one of the young man’s fingers in his mouth and sucked it, as if to remove the imaginary blood – for there was none left on him at all. Slowly, he moved onto the next finger and the next until he’d warmed them all. He laced his fingers with Ianto’s and glanced over at him.

 

“That’s better.” He soothed in a low voice, Ianto still staring off to one side and shaking, managing to nod his head in agreement. The sight of the young man – so strong and so brave – reduced to the vulnerable and fragile human he saw now made Jack more protective over him than he ever had been. “You cold?”

 

“Yeah.” Ianto whispered, his eyes unable to move from the spot they were fixed on.

 

“Here…” Carefully, Jack manoeuvred his arm from the young man’s grip and reached up to twist the dial on the shower, turning it until warm water started to fall, soaking through the cold and making the tiles more comfortable.

 

Ianto leaned further towards Jack, as if the change in temperature had woken him a little. Jack cradled his head against his shoulder and tightened his embrace.

 

The young man started to sob and Jack murmured soothing nothings into his ear until the shaking subsided and his breathing evened out. It could’ve taken a few minutes or it could’ve taken hours. Jack didn’t care.

 

“I’m sorry, Jack.” Ianto murmured, his voice clear of the taint of shock that had laced it earlier.

 

“What the hell for?” Jack asked in reply, slightly amused by the statement.

 

“For not cleaning up… I’m just so tired.” Ianto whispered, closing his eyes in pain. A tremor passed through the young man from the top of his head and Jack stroked his hair gently, murmuring incoherent comforts again.

 

Now that he thought about it though, Ianto did look tired. He had faint, purple rings under his eyes and his skin had a slightly ashen shade. He must’ve been working practically non stop and Jack occupying most of his night time didn’t help matters much.

 

“I’m just so tried of washing the blood from your coat…” His voice was barely audible over the sound of the water, but Jack’s heart clenched painfully and he pressed a chaste kiss to the top of Ianto’s head.

 

*

 

Jack heaved a sigh as he watched Ianto sleeping peacefully. It had taken a while to coax him from the shower room and move him through to his car. It had been a simple matter of driving him home then. There was no thought given to staying at the Hub – it was the least conducive place to heal a soul that Jack knew of.

 

He quickly guided the young man up to his flat and through to the bedroom. He left Ianto there to dry and change into his pyjamas as he went back out into the living room to sort though the post, to make sure Ianto hadn’t let anything fall by the wayside – not that he was expecting him to have done so.

 

When he went back, Ianto was still standing in the middle of the room, looking for all the world like a lost little boy. He carefully stripped the unresponsive young man down to the flesh and urged him into a pair of warm pyjamas before tucking him up in the large, soft duvet.

 

Ianto had curled up on his side, eyes closed as he pulled the heavy cover instinctively around his shoulders and up to his chin.

 

Now he was sleeping softly, peacefully. Jack just sighed again and moved over to the curtains to close up the gap which was casting a slither of moonlight across the room. He glanced back at where the light fell and his hand stilled before he could twitch the material closed.

 

Instead, he crossed to the bed and sat down next to Ianto’s huddled form, watching him affectionately.

 

Jack gently traced the light across Ianto’s cheek and nose and ran his fingers lightly across the young man’s cheek, enjoying the soft, warm feel of it. Ianto’s lips parted and he sighed slightly in his sleep, shifting towards Jack’s touch.

 

Jack smiled and bent down to press a kiss to the young man’s forehead, stroking his hair gently before retreating and stripping down to his t-shirt and boxers. Carefully, he pulled back the covers and lay down facing Ianto, quick to tuck the duvet around them once more.

 

The young man instinctively curled closer to him and nestled his head to Jack’s neck, making the older man smile warmly as he wrapped his arms around his lover. He began to hum to himself, running his fingers gently across Ianto’s back and pressing kisses to the young man’s hair every so often.

 

It was nights like this when he just wanted to protect the young man and keep him safe. It was nights like this when he could. Away from the danger and break-neck pace of Torchwood, Jack could keep Ianto safe, even if only for a few hours.

---

Fin - Comments adored, opinions loved and any other random phases you feel like dropping off would make my day!