Title: Gift for BVB 2007

Author: tarotgal

Fandom: Torchwood

Rating: NC-17

Pairing: Jack/Ianto

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters or their world. Please don't sue me. I'm just having fun and not making any money.

Summary: Jack is sick and Ianto looks after him.

Notes: Meep! My first Torchwood fic attempt! Happy holidays, blackvelvetband!

            "Go home, Gwen." Jack was making his rounds around the Torchwood facility. Only the two of them remained. The sun was almost up and the case had been over for hours. Even with the usual calls to clean up after themselves, there was no reason for her to stick around this late.

            "You're still here," she pointed out.

            "I'm always here," he replied. "But you have a home, so go there." Jack skipped his usual bit about her going home to a normal life that she was able to have and go home to. He didn't mention the man she had at home, either. But he didn't need the reminder of their differences and most likely she didn't either, because she took off.

            She looked at him closely, considering. Then she gathered up her coat, hat, gloves, and scarf. "G'night, Jack."

            "Night," Jack said, sounding a bit too casual to be believed.

            Ianto watched the two from a distance when he wasn't supposed to be watching. He wasn't even supposed to be there. But having made mistakes in the past, this was the only thing he did that he wasn't really supposed to do that he was knowingly doing. Well, that and... "Twelve minutes and counting," he said, stepping out of the darkness.

            Taken unawares, Jack dropped his hands to his sides unnaturally. "I, ah, thought you'd gone." He was hiding something. The only time he was the least bit off his guard was when he was hiding something that he didn't mind someone knowing.

            "I had gone," Ianto agreed. "But I came back." For Jack. And he didn't even really know why, except that he suspected and was concerned and that made him bolder and a bit funnier than usual.

            "Well, you can go," Jack told him.

            Ianto pulled the stopwatch out of his pocket. "Thirteen."

            "What?"

            "Thirteen minutes since your last one."

            "You're timing my sneezes?"

            "Well I'm not timing contractions. Unless there's something you're not telling me." Jack looked away, avoiding Ianto's eyes, then moved away. "Jack... how many lines were there on the stick...?"

            Jack walked over to Tosh's station to stare at the figures scrolling past on the monitor, but he wasn't really watching. His eyes were watering and his nostrils were twitching just a little. "Go home," he managed to get out, then turned his back to Ianto. "huh-huhh-CHIHShhhh!" He sneezed strongly and freely.

            Ianto winced. He clicked the button on the top of the stopwatch to reset it. Then he withdrew the handkerchief from his breast pocket. It was a bright blue satin one he had added for looks, really, but cloth was clock and Jack really needed to wipe his nose on something. He held it out and insisted Jack take it.

            Jack dabbed it to his nose and kept it. Ianto wouldn't want it back now and Jack would probably need it.

            "They're becoming more frequent," said Ianto. "Your sneezes, I mean. This morning they were an hour apart or so." He could quote the numbers if prompted to do so, but he didn't want to sound as though he had been timing contractions.

            Jack's eyes widened. "You were watching me this morning?" Jack blinked at him. "You've been watching me all day?"

            Ianto nodded. This was Captain Jack Harkness; how could he not watch and how could Jack expect him not to?

            Jack grinned. "How do you get any work done?"

            "Oh, I'm very efficient, Sir." Besides, all he had had to do was give some directions, drive a car, and babysit a bound Weevil for a few hours. Practically pleasant, all things considered.

            "I bet you are," said Jack, holding back his emotions. He was holding back more, as well. He pinched his nose between thumb and forefinger and ducked his head down a little. His breath caught and his eyes closed, but a moment later he exhaled deeply. He looked at Ianto, who was staring again at the pocket watch and the little second hand ticking away, finger poised on the reset button. "Doesn't count if I don't actually sneeze, right?"

            Amused, Ianto smiled back. "Right."

            Jack headed to his office, with Ianto on his tail the whole time. He pretended to be busy sorting through files and organizing the piles on his desk, trying to make his job look as boring as humanly possibly. Ianto, however, could get an erection from the sound a color copier and collator and knew, besides, that the papers Jack was shuffling about were ones Ianto had finished with and put there earlier.  "I am all right, you know. You can go home and not worry."

            His breath caught again, and he turned away sharply. His black trench coat waved with a dramatic flair. Ianto heard a soft, irresistible buildup. One, two, three, four gasps then a tiny, wet squeak muffled into the handkerchief.

            Ianto forced himself not to laugh. He reset the stopwatch out of habit. "Bless you, Jack. Sounds like you should stop working, as well." He reached out and laid a hand on Jack's shoulder.

            He was so used to getting the brush-off from Jack that he was actually surprised when Jack let the hand stay there and only offered a feeble, "Yes, well..."

            Ianto understood and looked around the office where Jack spent most of his time. The most comfortable spot was the pseudo-ergonomic desk chair and even that was a bad bet. "Come back to mine."

            Jack turned back around, sniffling into the handkerchief which had already reached its usefulness limit. It wasn't meant for a head cold. Ianto had proper ones at home.

            "Come back to mine. We'll get you good food, a hot bath, and a nice large bed. And..." It seemed Jack needed some extra convincing tonight. He must really have been sick. "There's an all-night chemist just down the block from my building." Ianto stuck his elbow out.

            Jack shivered in his coat and took Ianto's arm. "What are we waiting for?"

*

            "More tea?" Ianto picked up the teapot and wiggled it around. The contents sloshed about temptingly.  

            Jack shook his head. His voice was rough, deep. "I'll be pissing for a week at this rate. Three cups is definitely my limit. Heh-hehh-hept'Chishhhh! 'Scuse..."

            "Bless. I'll go draw you a bath then. Give me three minutes, forty seconds exactly." He placed the stopwatch on the table beside Jack and pressed the button to start it counting.

            Jack pushed it to the edge of the table, back towards Ianto. Then Jack sniffed and got up from the table. "If it's all the same, I'll come in with you now."

            It wasn't the same, actually. He didn't mind cooking dinner, but he didn't like Jack hovering over him, watching his every move. And he was perfectly capable of putting a stopper in a tub and running the tap water hot, but he wanted to add a few pinches of lavender and obsessively test the water to make sure it was just right and he couldn't do that with Jack watching. "All right," Ianto said, reluctantly.

            Ianto stripped off his suit jacket and tie. He hung both on the hook on the back of the bathroom door then he rolled up the cuffs of his white shirt until his sleeves came down to just above his elbows. Then he started filling up the bathtub and started on Jack. "Keep the handkerchief until you get in," Ianto recommended as he unhooked Jack's suspenders. "You'll need it, I think?"

            "I'll need it," Jack agreed, ceasing dabbing at his nose long enough to have his undershirt pulled up over his head. A double sneeze temporarily halted the rest of the undressing process. "h'IHSchh-Chishhh!" But then Jack willingly obliged and stepped out of his trousers and shorts.

            By the time Jack was naked, the bathtub was half full. Ianto was wishing they'd waited another minute and Jack was shivering. "Ianto..." Jack whispered through chattering teeth, and it was a request. Not the kind he gave at Torchwood, and not the kind of tone he usually used with him, either. But something soft and needy and Ianto had his arms wrapped around Jack an instant after hearing it.

            "Should have taken your temperature first," Ianto murmured. Jack had felt a bit warm to the touch, but nothing too unusually high. He should have been more careful though, and approached it properly. He should have used a thermometer instead of trusting his estimating skills. He should have checked to make absolutely certain the man wasn't running a high fever.

            "It's just a cold," Jack said, sniffling. "I can't die from a little head cuhh... cold. Huhh-huhh-huhCHIHshhhh!"

            Ianto felt him shake from the somewhat powerful sneeze and only held him closer, tighter in response.

            "Can't die from a big head cold, either," Jack joked meekly.

            Ianto helped him into the bathtub then folded himself down onto the floor beside the tub to keep Jack company. He raked his fingers through Jack's hair repeatedly, gaining confidence at each pass when Jack not only didn't pull away but seemed to like the touch. Jack closed his eyes and made a very Jack-like sound- something low and instinctive and utterly unrestrained.  "Climb in with me," Jack murmured. He rubbed his nose with his wet hand and sniffed all the more. He hadn't taken the handkerchief into the tub with him.

            Ianto hesitated. There wasn't room for him in the tub, not really. Jack would be scrunched up and wouldn't be under the water the way he was now. Besides, he didn't trust himself. Not naked, touching Jack, holding Jack, pressed up against Jack. No way.

            "Get in." It wasn't quite like an order, but it was the same kind of forceful, no-nonsense tone that Ianto couldn't disagree with. His hands were already at his waist, undoing the button at the top of his slacks.

            This was an especially bad idea, and Ianto knew it as he slid into the bathtub behind Jack. He spread his legs wide, shivering as his thighs touched the ceramic. Then Jack sat back against him with a content sort of sigh and Ianto wrapped his arms around Jack from behind.

            It took only a moment for them to get settled and one minute- estimated only roughly since Ianto was without a watch- for Jack to become amorous. Jack shifted from side to side and Ianto closed his eyes, unable to do anything about the hardness rubbing against Jack's gorgeous body. Smooth back. Flawless arse.

            "Jack..." It was difficult to keep his head about him. He was there as a caregiver. He was there for Jack. He kept his arms around Jack in the most innocent hold he could manage, but Jack moved again, turning to the side, and then turning around completely to face Ianto. Jack stared into his eyes. "What's wrong?" Ianto asked, his hands slipping down to Jack's sides. "Do you need to sne-"

            Jack's kisses were legendary and even though he was sick, this one was no different. Ianto felt Jack's lips press hard against his and one wet hand stroking the back of his head. For a moment, Ianto thought he should resist. Jack was in no condition for this. But then there was another hand, under the water, cupping his crotch. Ianto exhaled deeply and slid down mostly under the water and under Jack.

            There was no escaping it now, and absolutely no desire to. It was sudden and desperate, hands on cocks and lips on skin. Jack's breath was heavy- a bit raspy but better. The steam and hot water had seen to that. Jack moved smoothly in the water, finding Ianto's body without searching, touching everywhere that needed to be touched. The palm wrapped around Ianto's cock began to glide up and down, and Ianto bucked his hips upward, into Jack. The rhythm was quick, urgent. Ianto was desperate for it, especially as Jack's cock floated against his thigh, ready and willing.

            Ianto groaned greedily. One of his legs broke the surface of the water and hooked over the side of the tub, holding him in place and giving Jack more room between his legs in which to work. The water swished around them from their motions, like the water in the pot, only as if trying to escape their madness. Ianto found part of Jack's arse, exposed above the surface of the water, and pulled it under again with one desperate yank. He wanted Jack closer, as close as the man could get and then closer still.

            Jack was right up against him now, pulling Ianto as fast as he could, his cock teasing Ianto's balls and crack as he moved up and down in time to the fisting. Ianto's hands tried, slipped, and failed to hold onto the tub. He felt himself almost going under as he almost came all over and had to grasp something. One seized Jack's shoulder and the other found its way into Ianto's mouth to stifle the most satisfied yell of his life as he came.

            He thought for certain the water would never settle down around them. The bathtub that had turned into an ocean for the briefest of moments suddenly then felt two sizes too small and Ianto was in a most uncomfortable position he would not be able to maintain. He pulled his leg back into the tub and sat up a little. "Now," he said, softly, alluringly. "Your turn."

            Jack stared into his eyes for a long second. Ianto moved in for a kiss. Then Jack turned his head and scrambled to steady himself on the edge of the tub. "hehCHISHH! Hah-EHChechhhh!"

            Ianto had almost forgotten. No, he had forgotten. It had been so easy to forget. But now he drew Jack close in a hug, reminding the man through touch of what they'd just done and how Jack was just as handsome and charming as ever, sneezes or not. Jack sniffled, nuzzled into Ianto's chest, and sneezed again, helplessly and unrestrainedly. "eeee-YIHShhhh!" He gasped for breath afterwards but his eyes stayed shut. It was barely a second until he had to sneeze again. "IhChishh! Hehh-heptshhhhh!"

            Ianto looked around, but the towels and toilet paper were too far away to be of any use. He patted Jack's back as Jack sniffled, trying to let him know it was all right and trying not to be worried that Jack couldn't stop himself from sneezing now.

            "heh-hehh-HIHShuh! hehChuhh! Sniff! Hihh-IHShhh!" he sneezed into Ianto's chest.

             "At this rate, I'm going to need a bath to recover from this bath!"

            Jack lifted his head and blinked at Ianto. Instantly self-conscious, Ianto looked away. It was the kiss that brought him back, hard and warm, pushing out every single bit of worry that had been playing in Ianto's mind. Jack was fine, would be fine, nothing to be bothered about. "Water's getting cold." And the mood was broken. "Better get you into bed."

            Twice as much shivering took place after the bath compared to before. Ianto combined quick toweling off with a series of well-placed hugs until Jack was guided out of the steamy bathroom and into Ianto's bed.

            Ianto plumped the pillows routinely and lay down.

            "Don't let me fall asleep," Jack whispered. "I can't..."

            Nodding, "Just rest. I'll see to it that you stay awake, Sir."

            Jack instantly cozied up to him. The man rubbed his nose and sniffed and Ianto held him warmly, tightly in the darkness. The silence naturally gave way to thoughtfulness and doubt. "Jack, in the future- the future you've seen- do people still come down sick like this?"

            Jack considered his answer before replying. "In the future, it's different. Different kinds of sicknesses, just like there have been different things in the past. But not like this, no."

             Ianto nodded. Tonight was about comforting Jack, which was a hard enough feat in and of itself, but Ianto needed just a bit more reassurance as well. "So is it worth? Being back here where you can get sick, I mean?"

            "I won't say it's delightful," Jack said, rubbing the tissue against his nose. "But I chose to come back here. And that means taking the bad along with the good. You just have to hope that the latter outweighs the former in the end." His breath caught and eyes instantly closed. "heh-CHIHShhhh! Ehh... EhShihhhh!"

            Ianto stroked Jack's head, even as the man blew his nose and coughed a little. "And tonight?" Ianto whispered.

            "Too early to tell," Jack said, with a certain amount of charm seeping through above the stuffiness. His eyes remained closed but an irrepressible smile appeared on his face. He nuzzled closer, encouraging the petting. "Keep this up, though, and we'll be on the right track."

            With absolutely no intention of stopping or leaving, Ianto smiled back. He clicked his stopwatch to let it reset and begin counting upwards again to mark the passage of what proved to be a long but rewarding night.