Title: Day 8
Author: tarotgal
Fandom: Torchwood
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Disclaimer: Not my characters, not my 'verse. I don't get paid a cent to play. Please don't sue and make things worse.
Summary: Jack and Ianto are stuck in the woods during a snowstorm.
Note: Part of the 12 Ficlets in 12 Days project 2010-2011. Requested by Lady Korana

Jack checked his communicator again, then his watch. “I still can't contact Gwen on any channel!” he yelled so he could be heard over the rush of wind. Snow whipped around them on all sides. It was no surprise that the weather would interfere in their communications, though it had never been a problem before.

“I… c-can't… either.” Ianto's teeth chattered and he looked as though he were trying to stop himself from shivering.

Concerned, Jack pulled off his greatcoat and put it around Ianto. It wouldn't help too much in these conditions, but an extra layer of wool couldn't hurt. Jack would have liked to have kept it, but he wasn't going to die of the cold; Ianto needed it more. “We should find shelter somewhere!”

They hadn't brought a tent or even a sleeping bag. They didn't even have a map. All they had was a thick forest in front of them, snow around them, and a head cold between them. Ianto reached into his pocket and fished out his handkerchief. He blew his nose into it just a little, just enough. When he lifted his head, his nose and upper lip twitched just a little. “Back to the car that duh-doesn't work?”

Jack looked him over and nodded. “At least we'll be mostly out of the wind and easier to find there.”

“Easier for the cult to find us?”

Jack hesitated. Then he nodded. “Just try not to sneeze too loudly.”

The front third of the SUV was gone. That meant the engine was severed and the front windshield shattered into little chunks. The devices built into their dashboard were mostly broken. They'd had a faint signal from there, and the idea had been to walk to where they could reach Gwen and send a distress call. Hell, at this point they would do just as well to contact PC Andy for help. Or Rhys, for that matter. Anything was an improvement over being stranded in the middle of nowhere amidst a snowstorm and with a band of aliens-worshipping cult leaders hunting them down. The problem was that they hadn't managed to find a signal anywhere else, and they'd been walking for several hours.

“Jack, I…”

“Shit,” Jack laughed. “I mention sneezing and now you need to sneeze?”

Ianto forced a smile. “Well, yes, I do need to sneeze. Quite badly, actually. But what I was going to say was that I can't feel my feet any more.”

Jack reached out and took his hand. They both wore gloves, and the squeeze wasn't as tight as it could have been. But it was enough to make Ianto take a step back toward where they'd started in the first place.

The trek was not an easy one. Ianto kept stopping to sneeze, not taking the chance of doing both at the same time, because that had made him stumble and fall into a snowdrift the last time. He gripped the nearest tree or Jack, whichever was closest to him, and sometimes got his handkerchief out. “ih-Hitshhh! Uhtshhhhh!”

This time, he had held onto Jack. And Jack rubbed his head through the thick hat. “Bless you. Bless you. And…”

Ianto pitched forward again. “Uhhhhhhhhh-HITchuhhh!”

“Bless you.” Jack kissed his bright red cheek. “Can you make it, Ianto?”

Ianto nodded. “I'll sniff I'll get there.” He took an uncertain step forward, clutching Jack's arm more tightly.

Jack chuckled. “Yeah, that's what I thought. I'll make sure you make it.”

“Tha… thanks. Uhhh-Itshhh!” He held onto Jack and they stumbled forward together with Jack trying to provide direction, Ianto trying not to sneeze quite so much… and one not succeeding as much as the other.

The snow was really coming down by the time they were within sight of the SUV. The snow had accumulated halfway up the tires already, but they were able to get the back doors open and get inside. The front was not only a total wreck but also too cold to stay in. Jack found a tarp in the back and taped it up to keep the wind from sneaking in around to them past the front seats. “Strip,” Jack insisted. “Shoes and socks first.” Ianto hesitated. “Go on then.”

“Jack?” Ianto coughed. “I hate to disabboidt you, but I really dod't feel ub to…”

“You're the one who said you couldn't feel your feet. Do you want to lose them to hypothermia or are you going to take your wet clothes off?”

“Oh, right.” Ianto started to undress. The tarp was in place, but it wasn't airtight, and Ianto shivered terribly in the cold. “J-Jack…” He knew he needed to take off his jacket and shirt but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He was too cold. His fingers slipped on the zip pull. His whole body shook with cold. And he still couldn't feel his feet.

“Here.” Jack did it for him, stripping Ianto down to just boxers and undershirt, including taking out the Bluetooth earpiece. “What do you think? Skin to skin?” Jack was too cold to react properly to a completely naked Ianto, but there was no telling what would happen when he warmed up a little better.

“Th-th-think s-s-so.”

Jack helped the slow-moving Ianto out of the rest of his clothes, and then he stripped off his underwear as well. Then he wrapped himself around Ianto and eased them both down across the backseats. He draped a blanket from the back of the SUV over them; it wasn't so thick but it was large enough to cover them. He breathed hot breath against Ianto's neck and hugged him close, their cold skin progressing slowly to warm skin. “We'll stay like this until we quit shivering,” Jack declared. “And then… we'll stay like this some more.”

Ianto chuckled and nuzzled against Jack. “S-sounds like a… p-p-plan.” He scrubbed his finger against his nose.

“Are you shivering or sneezy?” Jack asked, not able to move well enough to see Ianto's face. He could felt the man's jaw chattering and the man's whole body shaking against his.

“B-both!” came the weak response, making Jack laugh a little. He rubbed the man's back and arms, trying to generate heat. He had seen a lighter and a flare gun in the back of the car, but he wanted to use the former to dry their clothes later and the latter would give their position away.

Soon enough, Ianto's body stopped shaking. “Warber dow,” Ianto whispered.

Jack felt it, too, and he was sure it wasn't just the last stage of hypothermia tricking them into thinking they were warm. The glass on the side windows was fogging up slightly from their hot breath and Ianto's nose had started running again. Jack pressed a corner of the blanket to it for him. “What a time for you to be sick.” He kissed the top of Ianto's head and then hugged him close again. “Just rest and I'll keep trying to get a hold of Gwen, all right?”

Ianto's head moved in what might have been a nod. It was difficult for Jack to tell in this position. He lay there until Ianto started snoring. He had seen Ianto sleep a dozen times before, but the snoring was brand new to him. The in breath sounded like a very surprised pig snorting a gasp very slowly. And the out breath was more like the soft hiss of a snake, only in the back of the throat and with a little bit of a rumble. Then, between the two most times, there was a clicking sound, as if Ianto were resetting himself and getting ready to do it again. Even if Jack did sleep, he wouldn't have been able to do so with this racket going on. At least Ianto was keeping him entertained.

There was still no signal and no response from Gwen on the earpiece communicator. He thought about broadening the frequency, but that would surely catch the cult's attention. And that was all they needed right now, on top of being cold and naked in the back of two-thirds of an SUV. He surveyed the SUV to figure out other options. They didn't have much. There were some bottles of water and some emergency rations. There were a few extra battery packs and some ammunition as well. He wondered if there might be some way to boost the signal on secure channels using more battery power. There was a first aid kit which had bandages, alcohol, and pain killers; the latter would be useful for Ianto, considering they didn't have any cold medicine at hand. It also had warming packs, Jack remembered.

He shifted and stretched out his arm, trying to reach under the seats or around the seats. But he couldn't quite get to it. “Sorry, Ianto,” he whispered, kissing the man's cheek. Jack pulled away, sat up, and lunged for the first aid kit. There were more than a dozen heat packs inside. Jack ripped open about half of the packets. He used some to warm up a bottle of water and used others to warm their underwear and socks. It might not be enough to dry the clothes out, but they couldn't hurt. 

“Uhph?” Ianto woke and began shivering again. But this time it was good shivering, the sort of shivering that actually had a hope of warming his body up on its own. He still smiled when Jack lay back down on the seats with him. “Ady hobe of rescue?”

“None yet. But I did find…” Very gently, he pressed the heat pack against one of Ianto's armpits, and the man gave a start. Then his eyes glazed over with relief and he snuffled close to Jack again.

“Feet… hads…?”

“Not yet,” Jack advised. “Let's get your middle warmed up first, then we'll worry about the rest. Just stay here under the blanket with me.” He shifted the heat pack to Ianto's other arm then wedged it between their chests. 

“Oh, such a robadtic offer. As usual, I cad't refuse you, Sir.”

“I only wish we had some of that wonderful tea of yours. You'll have to brew some when we get back.”

“Add I wish the tissues had't beed id the glove cobartbedt. I'b feeling so… sdeezy.”

Jack laughed. “Don't you worry. I can take it. If you have to sneeze, just sneeze.” He felt the tip of Ianto's nose, cold against his bicep. He felt the nose move against him, turning up a little, not just cold but wet. It made Jack's heart beat a little faster. Maybe he couldn't take it after all. He started to protest, but then he heard Ianto's breath hitch and he knew what was coming. More importantly, he wanted what was coming. He wanted it badly. Just one sneeze. Or… just a few sneezes. He wouldn't be greedy. Just enough to get his stomach fluttering and…

“ihhh… have… hah-have to…” Ianto grabbed hold of Jack so tightly, pressing his nose right up against Jack's chest. “sn-sn-sneeze-ihh-IHShffffff!”

Involuntarily, Jack moaned. It had been even better than expected. The intensity, the spray, the way Ianto had been thrown into him further… “Bless you,” Jack breathed.

“Snrff! Snfff! Sor… sorry… heh-Ihshffffffff!” The second sneeze was just as good as the first, maybe better, because Jack knew what to expect for this one. Ianto's mouth had dropped open and his breathing was intensely hot against Jack's skin. Jack reached up, running a hand over the man's head, stroking his hair, petting tenderly. “ihhhh-hefshffffffff!” They were like little wet blasts against his skin, making him tingle everywhere.

“You don't need to apologize,” Jack said. “Really, if anyone should be, it'll be me. I shouldn't have had you come along. You should have stayed back at the hub.”

Ianto shook his head, the nose moving against his chest again. “We're short staffed as it is.” He laughed dryly. “Dever thought I'd biss havig Owed aroud, but there you have it.”

Jack had to agree. He would have called in Martha to cover until they acquired another medical specialist, but this situation had come up so quickly. He hadn't thought it would take much to resolve it, either. Obviously, he had underestimated the cult… and Ianto's condition.

“ihhh…” Jack kissed the top of Ianto's head, expectantly. “ihhh-Hishffffff!” Ianto did not stop there, though. “Sniff! Ehhh-Hihshfffffff!” The sneezes struck hard, going straight to Jack's head and his crotch. He just couldn't help it, with a sneezing Ianto up against him, Jack moaned despite himself. “Oh, sniff, I did't bead to… ihh-ih-ih-HIFSHFfffffffff!” The sneeze jerked Ianto forward, wet nose and wet sneeze against Jack's warm chest. “Just cah-cad't helb… it… ihhh-Hishffffffff!”

Jack couldn't stand it. He felt his breath race and body tremble with desire. “I can't either.” He felt like a teenager again, unable to control his body. Jack knew his body temperature was rising when he felt perspiration on his forehead. Huddling here with Ianto was making him hot in more ways than one, almost as if his survival depended upon being turned on and coming now. “Ianto…”

Ianto reached down, feeling Jack's manhood. “Ihh-it's all right, Jack. I just wadt warbth right dow.”

Jack thought he could provide that. As Ianto continued sniffling and sneezing against him, Jack started rocking. His cock rubbed against Ianto's thighs and his arms still held Ianto close. Now that he sort of had Ianto's blessing—his understanding, at least—he quit resisting and let himself just enjoy being stranded and naked in the back of a car with his lover and his lover's horrible head cold.

“ihh-Hishffffff!” Ianto nuzzled against Jack's chest, snuffling wetly, unable to stop his sneezes. “Ehh... Ehh-HETChffff! Hetshiffffff! Hsfff! Ihshfff! Kshfffff!”

Jack's breath caught and he felt a surge rush through him. It wouldn't be long now. He rocked and rubbed and jumped about a mile at the knocking at the window.

He looked over his shoulder, seeing a dark figure through the now fogged up window. He really didn't want to throw off the blanket and sit up in order to clear it and see who it was… but he knew he had to. Holding Ianto against him, keeping the blanket wrapped around them, Jack leaned back. He grabbed his gun but swiped his wrist over the moisture on the cold glass to see Gwen's face.

There was a mixture of relief and disappointment. Damn, she had awful timing. She stood there and rolled her eyes, and then she turned her back to them and shouted, “I got a distress call from you! This doesn't look like distress!”

Jack knew how it must look, and it would have taken far too much time to explain what had happened and that he really had had nothing but innocent intentions when he'd ripped Ianto's clothes off and thrown him down onto the back seat.

“Worried about hybotherbia, Gwed. Do you have ady bladkets?” Ianto called out to her, coughing. He grabbed Jack's earpiece and repeated the question. Jack thought it was the pathetic tone to his voice that made Gwen turn back around. She gave Jack a stern look, and he still wasn't sure how to explain this.

But with only minor effort, they managed to transfer everything of value in the SUV over to Gwen's car, including Jack and Ianto. Ianto curled up in the backseat with air vents blasting warm air at him. He had a blanket wrapped around him and Jack's coat draped over him for heaviness and extra warmth. Jack sat in the front seat, also wrapped in a blanket. Every so often, Gwen glanced over at Jack, looking skeptical, as if she wanted the truth about what was going on. But she didn't ask and no one spoke. Ianto snuffled and sneezed a little, and Jack and Gwen both blessed him.