m_findlow

Title: Off centre
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters/Pairings: Owen, Ianto, Jack, Gwen
Word Count: 500 words
Rating: PG
Notes: Written for Challenge 190 - Centre at anythingdrabble
Summary: Jack is having trouble staying upright.

‘Stop it, I'm fine,’ Owen heard Jack say as the team re-emerged into the hub from their little morning's outing. He didn't mind being left behind. He had a pile of work to catch up on.

‘You're clearly not fine,’ Ianto argued back.

Owen rolled his eyes, flipping closed the file that was almost done and snapping on a pair of latex gloves from a box nearby. He suspected, judging by the loud protests going on, that he was probably going to be needed.

‘What's he done this time? Owen asked. Knowing Jack, he'd touched something he shouldn't have, or pushed buttons, or twiddled dials. When it came to alien tech, he was strict as hell on the rest of them not toying with stuff they didn't know about, but those rules didn't apply to him. Just because you couldn't stay dead didn't make it a free for all, but try telling Jack that.

‘There's nothing wrong with me,’ Jack argued, tugging his arm free of Ianto who was trying to keep hold of it.

‘You fell over in the middle of Bute Street and then stacked Gwen into the wall when you fell into her on the way back.’

‘So, I had a moment of clumsiness. Big deal.’

‘Just shut up and let Owen check you over,’ Gwen ordered, taking charge. ‘You don't just start falling all over the place for no reason.’

Owen watched the pair of them both take Jack by an elbow each and frog march him towards Owen. ‘What's he been exposed to, do you know?’ Owen asked.

‘Nothing,’ Gwen replied. ‘Our rift alert was a wheelbarrow and two empty steel drums.’

‘Which is why it's disconcerting that he suddenly has no concept of his own centre of gravity,’ Ianto added.

Jack looked about to protest again, but he stumbled left into Ianto even as they were escorting him down the steps. Ianto got crushed against the tiles, barely able to keep upright, let alone take Jack's weight, leading to both of them crumpling in a heap. 'See what I mean,' Ianto said, groaning as he tried to extricate himself out from under Jack.

Owen ignored Ianto. A few bruises didn't require a medical opinion. He helped Jack sit down on the step so that he couldn't tackle anyone else to the floor. ‘When did this all start?’

Jack shrugged. ‘An hour ago. Swear to you I haven't touched anything I shouldn't have.’

‘Present company excluded,’ Ianto quipped.

Owen examined Jack's pupils, both equal and reactive to light, before grabbing a second aural scope and checking inside Jack's ears. ‘Have you had any pain in your aural cavity recently? Earache, that sort of thing?’

‘It was a little sore a few days ago. Why?’

‘You ruptured your eardrum by leaving the infection untreated. It's messing with your balance.’

‘Can you fix it?’ Gwen asked.

‘Nope. Has to just heal on its own. I'd prescribed a course of no guns or fine china until it does.’