Fandom: Torchwood

Characters: Jack, Ianto, Gwen

Author: m_findlow

Rating: PG

Length: 1,400 words

Content notes: none

Author notes: Written for Challenge 280 - Whisper

Summary: Jack needs some quiet time but he's not very good at it.


'Please don't shoot the messenger,' Ianto called out from behind the enormous pile of files in his arms. 'You asked for all the files you hadn't yet signed off in the last six most on the off chance we get an audit from one of those random Torchwood Assessors. I just didn't realise you were this far behind.' He dropped the files down on Jack's desk, praying there wasn't anything breakable in the spot that an hour ago had been clear.

He grunted out a little sound of relief at having divested the heavy pile. When he looked up and over the pile, Jack had his elbows on the desk and was massaging his temples in a way that looked decidedly untheatric. 'You okay?'

'Headache,' came the one word reply.

'Migraine?'

'Think so.'

Ianto studied Jack's face which was a little drawn and waxy, like the worst of his migraine had yet to eventuate but wasn't far from it. It was amazing how quickly these things could escalate, and lucky that they only happened once in a blue moon. Ianto could sympathise. He got headaches, sometimes killer ones, but it was still nothing compared to the skull splitting agony of a full on migraine. 'How long ago did you take your tablet?' Ianto asked, knowing Owen had prescribed him medication to ease the worst of it.

'About ten minutes,' Jack replied, still leant over his desk in some discomfort.

'Half or a whole one?' He tried not to make the question sound too patronising. Jack wasn't a child, but he also wasn't very good at taking care of himself.

'Just a half. Figured I could tough it out. Just enough to take the edge off.'

Jack had figured wrong if his appearance was anything to go by. It was clearly going to be one of those migraines that didn't want to play nicely. 'Take the other half now. It's straight to bed with you until you're past the worst of it,' which Ianto assumed would be the rest of the day.

Jack reached into his drawer and pulled out the small white bottle, attempting to twist off the childproof cap but failing miserably. Ianto took it from his hand and with a snap, removed the cap, and shaking out another tablet and handing it to Jack. He was allowed two when things were bad so taking another whole tablet now wouldn't hurt. Jack quickly downing it with the remaining water in his glass and ran a hand over his face, kneading his eye sockets with the heels of his hands. Ianto took the action as a sign that Jack was flagging fast.

'Come on,' Ianto said, reaching out a hand to him. 'You'll start to feel better once you get out of these bright lights.' It was the only time he would ever describe the hub's lights as being bright. He joked that there were days when he needed a seeing eye dog to get around this place it was so dark.

Jack let Ianto lead him, taking the ladder down into his bunker ahead of Jack, just in case he should suddenly be overcome by one of those lancing moments of pain where his vision blurred and everything else became unimportant. It'd be just his luck to fall the rest of the way down the ladder, forgetting it keep a hold of it. At least Ianto would be there to steady him, or break his fall. It wouldn't be the first time after all.

Ianto tried to clear a path through the mess. It had been a while since they'd been down here, at least to live or sleep, much preferring to stay at Ianto's where the bed, bathroom and living room were at least not all crammed into a single tiny space. As a esuot however, it meant no one had been down here to tidy up and things had managed to accumulate into a muddled chaos without either of them particularly noticing.

Jack slumped onto the edge of the bed and lowered his head into his hands. 'God I hate these things,' he mumbled.

'I know,' Ianto replied, gently slipping Jack's braces off his shoulders and letting them fall. 'Lie down.' Jack lay down and curled onto his side, burying his head into the pillow so it would feel less like it was spinning in circles. Ianto tugged off Jack's boots one by one. One of them tumbled from the bed into the floor, thumping onto the floorboards.

'Too loud,' Jack complained.

'Sorry,' Ianto apologised, lowering his voice to a whisper. It was easy to forget how even the smallest sound could be amplified into the equivalent of an eighty piece brass band. He set them both down at the foot of the bed without further sound, before leaning over Jack to place a kiss on his forehead. 'Rest.'

'Stay with me?' came the request.

Ianto gave him one of his more skeptical looks. 'Isn't the best thing for a migraine to lie down in a nice dark, quiet spot? Emphasis on the quiet part.'

'Please? You know how much I can't sit still.'

Ianto rolled his eyes even though the action went unnoticed by Jack. 'Abundantly.'

'So, maybe if you stayed, it wouldn't be so bad. I like spending time with you, even if we don't do anything.'

But even more if we do something, Ianto didn't add, knowing the sorts of things Jack liked to enjoy with Ianto. Especially the kind that usual entailed lying down.

'I need a distraction. Please.'

Ianto could hardly deny him when he'd used the word please twice in as many minutes and looked as pathetic as he did. He supposed if his head felt like it was about to split open, anything would be a welcome distraction. 'Just for a little while,' Ianto promised. 'Some of us have to keep Torchwood running.'

He lay down beside Jack, grateful that they'd at least upgraded the bed. It was still only a king single, the biggest mattress they could get down here, but at least it gave them room enough to both lie down without risk of falling out. He sat up on his elbow and gently stroked a hand through Jack's hair, keeping the motion light and repetitive. Jack's eyes closed and he went completely still, as if he was focusing all his attention on the sensation.

'What do you want for Christmas?' Jack asked.

The question caught Ianto completely off guard. 'It's only August,' he cried, forgetting to keep his voice down into, he saw Jack wince.

'Takes ages to wheedle it out of you,' Jack replied, sinking lower into the pillow.

'Hush,' Ianto said, continuing to stroke his face.

Ianto kept up the motions for a good fifteen minutes before letting his arm rest draped across Jack's chest, his thumb running up and down along his collarbone as he let his own head rest in the crook of his elbow, lying next to him in the blissful peace.

There was suddenly a hand on his shoulder that made him start slightly.

'Ianto?' Gwen's voice called to him, his back turned away from her as he twisted it back around to see her.

He was about to say he hadn't been sleeping, but he wasn't sure. He knew he'd only closed his eyes for a second. Perhaps he had indeed dozed off. 'What is it?' he said, making sure to keep his voice impossibly low.

'Rift alert out in Splott,' Gwen replied, keeping her voice at the same volume as his.

'I'm coming,' he said, pushing himself carefully up and off the bed without disturbing it too much. Getting Jack settled like this was almost a miracle. His breathing was slow and even. He hadn't even noticed Gwen in the room. Ianto intended on keeping it that way if he could. If he was lucky, Jack might sleep through the worst of it. Thank God Owen's painkillers had a decent helping of sedative in them. Without it, Jack would be a nightmare.

'What about Jack?' Gwen asked.

'Migraine,' Ianto replied simply. 'Leave him be. He'll be no good out in the field.'

Gwen gave him a smile as she rubbed a hand up his arm. 'Lucky he's got you looking after him, then,' she whispered. 'Even if you were sleeping on the job.'

'I won't tell if you won't.'