Fffc May Special Daily Challenge (May 7th) - Cold as ice

[m_findlow]

Title: Cold as ice
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Ianto, Lisa
Author: m_findlow
Rating: PG
Length: 708 words
Content notes: Spoilers for episode 1.4 - Cyberwoman
Author notes: Written for fffc May Special Daily Challenge - May 7th - Even robots need blankets (Mayday Parade)
Summary: Ianto wishes there was more he could do.

'I'm sorry I'm late,' Ianto apologised, quietly closing the door behind him. He never truly felt safe until that door was shut, locking them in away from prying eyes. This place was huge, and like a labyrinth, but that didn't help to shake the feeling that Jack would find them down here somehow, and put an end to both of them.

He checked the readings on the machine, having become an expert at analysing the slight nuances in the outputs. He knew which systems were working just as they should, regulating breathing or blood pressure, and which ones were deficient or needed refining. There were still some things the computers couldn't guage though, like how much pain she was in, or how bored and lonely she was, or her level of hopelessness. Those things still required a human being to understand.

'Long day?' she asked.

Not as long as hers, he was sure. At least for his part he'd been kept ridiculously busy, though it only made him feel guilty that he hadn't had time to spare a thought for her, down here suffering in silence.

'Nothing new,' he said. 'Everyone was busy and needed something.' He'd talked about them all at length so that Lisa knew them almost as well as he did. Maybe one day she'd get to finally meet them, once she was better. How he'd explain that she'd been dead and now wasn't was a problem for another day.

He tinkered with the IV lines, adjusting the doses of medications, most of which he'd rifled from Owen's stores, doctoring the inventory records just in case anyone checked. He didn't think so, since the only person who'd done a stocktake in the last three months  had been him, but it never paid to be too careful.

'You must be freezing down her,' Ianto said, reaching for the thick blanket left beside her makeshift bed.

'I'm not cold, 'she said.

'You look cold,' he replied, unfolding the blanket and laying it over the top of her, making sure to tuck in the sides around the metal frame. He couldn't figure out how she could possibly be comfortable, stuck in that thing. Perhaps it wasn't as bad as the pain  she was often in, or perhaps the drugs he'd given here were good enough to mask the discomfort. Or perhaps the mere thought of being stuck like this, half human, half machine, drove out all those petty, insignificant thoughts like being cold or hungry.

'I'm okay, Ianto. You don't need to fuss. I don't feel the cold like I used to.'

'Even robots need blankets,' he said, blurting out the words before he'd realised what he'd said. It was stupid and insensitive. Perhaps he'd thought it was funny or clever in his head, trying to make light of the seriousness of their situation, but somehow it came out wrong. She wasn't a robot. She was his girlfriend, his best friend, his whole reason for being.

'I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that. I just...'

She'd always complained about the cold back in London. Their flat was permanently like an icebox, even with the radiator cranked up, and there were always spare blankets on the sofa to curl up under. He used to laugh at her and tease her when she wore double socks, but once he'd realised how much warmer they were then he'd started wearing them, too. They could look daggy together, but at least they'd be warm. Seeing her trapped in this metal bed, covered in cold steel and bare skin in other places, it was impossible to think she wasn't cold. He felt cold just looking at her.

'Ianto?'

'Uh huh?' he said absently, unable to take his eyes off the menacing bits of metal that trapped her inside her own body now.

'It's going to be okay,' she said, seeing the look of sheer sadness on his face and trying to reassure him.

He reached under the blanket and grabbed her hand. He was right. It felt ice cold. 'I know,' he said. 'I'm going to do everything I can to make you better.' He'd move heaven and earth just to be able to feel the warmth back in those hands again.