"You're never going to disappoint me," Sulu said immediately, nearly cutting off Ianto's sentence. He knew that might be a bit strong, and that Ianto could very well do something to disappoint him, but he couldn't imagine what. Even this, holding the truth from him for so long, wasn't disappointing. Not really, at least; he could see the logic behind it, however warped it might've been.

"I need you to do something for me," he said after a moment, keeping his eyes on Ianto's and thinking just how gorgeous the man was, even sick and exhausted and scared like he was now. "I need you to keep faith, okay? I don't care if you have to force yourself to hope for the best, but I need you to believe that this is going to turn out all right. I'm... I haven't been in good form, lately. I can't do it on my own, be optimistic for you, Jack, and myself. Can you try, for me?" He knew it was a long shot, but he needed Ianto to realize that he could be honest with himself, that he could realize things weren't better, but also know that they would be.