Just Forget The World

His hands had been shaking too badly for him to drive safely, even when he'd gripped the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles were white. It had taken three stops along the road back to Cardiff to convince him to let someone else drive and even then, Jack had had to pull the shaking man out of the driver's seat. And all of this done without a single sound from Ianto. By the time they got back to Cardiff, Ianto had at least uncurled from the partial fetal position he'd managed to get into in the back seat of the SUV, but he refused to actually get out of the car and into the Hub.

"Don't worry, Jack, I'll take care of this. He's probably going into shock, which wouldn't surprise me given what he just went through. Give me a few minutes and I promise, he'll be just fine." As he crawled into the back of the SUV, Owen had to suppress the urge to tell Jack that, if he cared as much about Ianto as he claimed to, then he should be the one doing this. Just because Owen was a doctor didn't mean that he had to take care of every single little problem that the team had. Not that this is one you mind taking care of, he told himself, leaning out the door to watch as Jack and the others walked off towards the entrance. In fact, he much preferred being the one sitting here.

"You can't honestly think that Jack would have wanted to stay here and help me, even if I hadn't just nearly died on the camping trip from hell."

The soft, scratchy voice made Owen jump and it took him a moment to realize that it had been Ianto. "What are you talking about? Jack cares about you, he just ..... Well, he's probably going off to call the hospital where those monsters are being taken and he'll make sure that--"

Ianto cut Owen off in the middle of his sentence, his own voice starting to crack as he tried to keep from crying as he'd done while the "monsters" were being loaded up in police cars and ambulances. "That's all he cares about, isn't it? Doing his job, doing what's right. As long as he's got that, nothing else matters." Not even me. The words hung unspoken between them as Ianto turned away from Owen.

Owen sighed and looked over his shoulder for a moment, then shifted over and wrapped one arm around Ianto's waist. Almost immediately, the other man's body tensed and Owen loosened his hold a little, but he didn't let go. "Hey, it's alright. Listen, why don't you go home, get yourself cleaned up, and then come over to my place? I'll cook us something to eat and you won't have to worry about spending the night alone."

There was silence for several minutes as Ianto appeared to be contemplating the idea and then he sighed, squirming out of Owen's arms as politely as anyone could have managed. "I'm really not that hungry after ..... But I think I will take you up on the offer of a place to stay for the night. The thought of being alone right now--"

"I know. Just try not to think about it, okay? Nothing and no one is going to get you."

***

Ianto had only been to Owen's apartment once before tonight and it hadn't been a very pleasant experience. It was intended to be a New Year's party for the entire team -- with the exception of Tosh, who had offered to keep an eye on things at the Hub "just in case" -- but of course, it had been interrupted by a case that needed attention immediately. Everything usually was, he thought, glancing back over his shoulder to search for the source of what sounded like footsteps.

Nothing there. Was this just a bit of paranoia brought on by the shock of what had happened today -- something that would hopefully fade with time -- or was this going to be permanent and thus make it impossible for him to go out in the field anymore? Best case scenario, it would be neither, but Ianto crossed his fingers all the same and hoped that Owen wouldn't ask too many questions about it. The last thing he wanted was to spend the night having every little move he made analyzed. Of course, he still didn't know why Owen suddenly seemed to be so interested in him.....

Just as he raised his hand to knock, Ianto noticed a scrap of paper stuck to the door -- apparently a note from Owen. Go to the door at the end of the hall and up the stairs. I'll be waiting at the top. More than a little confused now, Ianto followed the instructions in the note, not knowing what Owen might have planned that would require them to be on the roof. When he got there, the sight made Ianto gasp in surprise.

There was a small two-person tent -- Ianto could only assume that there were sleeping bags or something similar inside -- and what appeared to be a campfire. Not one of the electric or gas types, either. An honest, wood-burning campfire. The man responsible for both was sitting next to the fire prodding it with a stick, but he had looked up when Ianto came through the door and was now smiling up at him. "Owen, what is all this?"

Owen stood up slowly, walking over to Ianto with his hands stuffed into the back pockets of his jeans. "This is what I call making you feel better after everything you've gone through today. Something tells me you wouldn't have said that you hate camping if all that hadn't happened."

Ianto couldn't think of anything to say that would actually make sense; he just stood there, looking from Owen to the tent and back again. He couldn't figure out why the sometimes prickly doctor would do something so sweet for him. Especially after the number of times Ianto had told Owen off for not following procedure. "I just don't understand, Owen. You used to take the piss out of me all the time for being so 'by the book' about everything. Even the way I eat pizza with a bib so I don't get grease on my suit. I just can't figure out why you've suddenly decided that you need to cheer me up instead of telling me to suck it up." He plopped to the ground in frustration and started prodding at the fire with the same stick Owen had been using moments before.

Owen stood there watching Ianto for a moment, debating whether or not he should just go on and say what was on his mind. There was definitely the possibility that it could make Ianto run off, which would in turn make working with the man extremely awkward for a while, but hell..... This was worth the risk. Taking a deep breath, Owen walked over and sat next to Ianto, one hand reaching out to rest on the other man's thigh. "Because I've been watching you. I see the way Jack treats you and it makes me wish I could tell him just what I think about it."

"He's not as bad as he seems. Yeah, he's not too terribly demonstrative unless it has to do with sex, but it's not as though I have a lot of options. I can't just go out and meet someone, because I could never tell them about what I do on the rare occasion that Jack lets me go out in the field with the rest of you. I would have to bottle it up inside and act as though nothing is ever-"

"Will you please shut up," Owen murmured, cutting Ianto off as he pulled the other man close and silenced his complaints with a kiss.

For a few seconds, all Ianto could do was sit there, stunned and completely unsure about what was going on. Owen was incredibly good-looking, there was no denying that, but .... Why him? And why hadn't Owen said anything before now? Or was he just kissing Ianto to shut him up? Before Ianto could sort out his thoughts to where they made at least a little bit of sense, Owen had pulled back just enough to allow Ianto a bit of breathing room. "That was .... unexpected," he murmured, wrapping his arms around Owen's shoulders. "But definitely not unwanted."

"Well, that's good. I would've hated it if I'd planned all of this out for nothing," Owen said, gesturing around them with one hand.

Ianto followed the moment, really taking in the sight of what Owen had put together for the first time. It didn't look as rushed as it could have, or as much as he had been expecting. Instead, it was incredibly sweet, the kind of gesture that practically screamed 'I fancy you and I want to let you know by doing something I know you love, even if I'm not too keen on it myself'. "If this is planned, I can only imagine what it would look like if you had more than just a couple of hours to get everything set up."

"Stop getting ahead of everything for one night, okay? You'll find out one of these days, but I'm not telling you when." As he spoke, Owen disentangled himself from Ianto and walked over to the tent, half crawling inside and then turning around to peek out at Ianto. "It's getting a bit chilly out here even with the fire. Why don't you join me in here we can get a little more comfortable. Unless you'd rather go downstairs?"

"No, this is perfect," Ianto murmured, shaking his head as he carefully put out the little fire and got up to join Owen. Somehow, he had the feeling that they were going to end up spending quite a few nights up here.