Satelite 5

Ianto sank onto the sofa in Jack’s office and rubbed the heels of his hands into his eyes. He was worried, and scared and nervous; all words for the same thing but meaning very different things. Over the last few months as he’d got to know Jack he’d discovered the depths of pain in his memories. Many times in the dead of night he’d held Jack through floods of agony, wiping away the tears and the pain with his presence, just as Jack had done for him

Now he had seen his best friend, his other best friend, descend into the same dark depths of despair. Jane’s memories had come crashing back, because she’d come to help him; that bloody file. He stood and swung himself down into Jack’s bunker for the third time since he’d started at Torchwood, and the first time he’d been down there without Jack. This was Jack’s private place, his home for the last eight years, until he’d moved in with Ianto. And when Ianto was gone, he would probably come back here. The young man froze in the middle of the room, aware of just how intimate this was, even when Jack was upstairs holding his ex-girlfriend. He wasn’t here, but he was.

He took the opportunity to look around the small room and wondered how Jack had coped in here over the years. Jack was larger than life, he would fill this room three times over with his personality, but there was little in the room to indicate that anyone had used it recently, let alone that someone had lived here for eight years; someone who had already lived over a hundred years by that point. There was nothing apart from a book and a couple of alien artifacts on the bedside table. Sighing, he perched on the edge of the bed with his head in his hands and allowed the Captain’s presence to swirl around him, half surprised at just how comforting he found it. The small room smelt of him, all fifty-first century pheromones and coffee, cotton and wool. Jack just smelt… right. He’d smelt it properly for the first time in that warehouse when they caught Myfanwy, when he hadn’t believed him about the fifty-first century pheromones, and then lying on top of each other, feeling the evidence of Jack’s attraction to him… Was that why he’d hired him, because he looked good in a suit?

Did it matter? Really? Jack’s reasons for hiring him couldn’t have been worse than Ianto’s reasons for wanting the job, now he couldn’t imagine life without Torchwood Cardiff, without Jack…

But Jack had to face life without him, an eternity of love and loss, and Ianto was just one more. He didn’t want to leave him, not ever.

A claxon blared in the Hub and he was upright and halfway up the ladder before his brain had kicked in. Torchwood had that effect, it wired your impulses straight to your reactions without having to bother with thought; he’d once managed to track down and capture a Weevil with Owen whilst drawing up a shopping list of things he had to get on the way home in his mind. Still, he mused as his lover rested a hand on his waist and stood slightly closer than was professional, it wasn’t like it didn’t have its perks.

“What have we got Ianto?” Jack asked, his eyes flicking between various readouts, maps and reports.

“Alien sighting down on Riverside, sounds like a blowfish.”

“Doing what?”

“Peddling dope.” He chuckled, “Atraxet again?”

“Probably.” Jack groaned, “I’ve got it.”

“Have you now?” Ianto shot him a glare, “You’re not going alone.”

“Ianto, we can’t…”

“The regulations state that at least two Torchwood operatives must attend every sighting, no one’s allowed out alone, not even you. Besides, I’ve got the SUV keys and you wanted to show Jay life at the pointy end.” As Jack showed continued reluctance he rolled his eyes and went to the printer to get the reports, “Sorry sir, the keys are on my desk.”

“You are impossible.” Jack growled, “Come on then, but I’m driving. It’s only Atraxet after all, you up for this Jay?”

The young woman raised an eyebrow, “Does a bear shit in the woods? By the way, you can consider the keys ya-woinked.”

Ianto helped him to put his coat on and they followed her to the cog door, “You can’t ya-woink the keys! You can’t even drive.”

“Can too, and I’m insured on all Torchwood owned vehicles, so nuh. And I have to say, as your boss, Ianto has a very good point, you shouldn’t be responding to anything on your own.”

“It hasn’t killed me yet. Why do I get the feeling you two are ganging up on me?”

Ianto grinned as he pulled the back door of the SUV open and got in, “That would be because we are. And we are the first response team for the day, it’s our job to come out here with you.”

“It’s only Atraxet!”

Jay smirked at him as she pulled away and Ianto prodded him in the back of the head, “Yes, and I remember what happened last time you tried to bust him.”

The Captain shot a glare over the back of the seat, “Are you just doing this because we’re in a relationship, or just ‘cos the others aren’t here?”

“Just because the others aren’t here. Gwen’s much better at bollocking you than I am.” He replied with a straight face, “The police are round there, do you want me to get rid of them?”

Jack’s brain took a second to catch up with the conversation change and resigned himself to professionalism, which was what he wanted. Really it was, but… OK, facing the facts, he’d only been with Ianto properly for one night and he was worried. Worried about the dangers the job presented, even if it was only bloody Atraxet. He’d get used to it, given time.

They pulled up in a quiet car park in Riverside and piled out, “You armed Jazz, sorry Jay?”

“Jazz is OK Jack, I’m back. Whether I want to be or not I think. And yes, always these days.” She pulled a gun from her jacket and winked at him

“That’s new.”

“Yeah, well I had to take care of myself after you died, didn’t I? No trigger happy American air force captain to save me.” She smiled to take the sting out of her words, “Not that I ever really needed it…”

He stuck his tongue out and glared at her, “He wouldn’t be impressed, you were the sweet innocent one.”

“With a right hook that could lay out a Sontaran…”

“You never met a Sontaran, did you?” there was worry in his tone

“I’m still alive aren’t I?” she nudged Ianto in the ribs and peered over his shoulder at his scanner, “Where are we going?”

He coughed, and looked down the street, “Down that way last sighting, probably in his usual spot, sir?”

Jack blinked and followed his gaze, slipping his Bluetooth into place, “I suspect so, Bluetooth activated?”

“I’m good.” Ianto confirmed

“Yarp.” Jazz grinned, “Let’s prod buttock.”

“Yeah Pratchett!” Ianto laughed and cocked his gun, “What’s he got to say for himself this time I wonder.”

Jack led the way down the brightly lit alley into a central court. In the shadows under a broken light stood a group of teenagers and their target. “Hey, Atraxet! Not impressed.” The teenagers turned to study them, equally unimpressed, but the alien broke and ran for one of the other exits. “Oh great!”

They raced after him, ignoring insults and cat calls from the teenagers as they took off. Torchwood spent an awful lot of time running, but still he was too fast for them, gaining ahead of them every second. “Jack?” Jazz asked for permission

“Go.” He gasped, slowing up and grabbing Ianto’s hand to slow him too. Jazz on the other hand lengthened her stride and sped up, gaining on the blowfish with every stride until they disappeared around the corner. “Bloody hell that girl’s got legs.”

“Good legs.” Ianto commented with a smile, “And don’t think I didn’t see you looking.”

“Yeah, well…” a yell from around the corner got their attention back on the task in hand, “We should…”

“Lend assistance?”

They got there to find Jazz glaring at Atraxet, who was handcuffed to a lamp post and struggling to get loose. “Nice of you to join us gents.” She smirked, “You’re getting slow in your old age Jack. And stop struggling! It’s not going to happen.”

Jack shook his head and looked askance at the handcuffs, “Do I want to know where you got those?”

“Oh you know me, I always know where to find a set of handcuffs.”

Ianto clapped a hand to her shoulder and laughed, “Why do I get the feeling that you’ve chained him up in some inappropriate places?”

Atraxet snarled at her, but there was no malice in it, “Oh I should have known, you’re the Captain’s bird. What do you want with me Captain?”

Jack folded his arms, “You know, I’d quite like you to keep your head down and stop selling drugs, especially the drugs bit. You are aware that the existence of aliens is still a secret, right?”

“They’re just my mates, they know about me.”

“They shouldn’t, it’s a security risk. We need to wipe their memories.”

The alien looked at him with desperation in his eyes, “Oh don’t do that, please? They like me, no one else does.”

“Well you keep putting the security of the community in danger! It’s not the best way to make people like you.”

“You keep shooting us!” the alien shot back, but the fight had gone out of him. This had happened a few times too often for him to bother

“Only if I have to. Ianto, will you go for the SUV? I think Atraxet’s going to be spending a night with Janet.”

When Ianto nodded silently and went back the way they’d come, Atraxet rolled his eyes, “Call me Rax Captain, everyone else does. So do I get to enjoy a night of your delightful company again?”

“Nope,” Jack grinned, “I get to enjoy a night of Ianto’s delightful company, and possibly Jasmine’s if she’s coming back with us tonight.” Jazz smiled at him and he winked at her, “Oh and for the record, this is Jasmine, the head of Torchwood. And she’s not my bird, Ianto is.”

The SUV pulled up alongside them with perfect timing and Ianto got out to glare at the Blowfish, his hands on his hips, “Are you going to behave yourself or do we have to put you in the boot like a Weevil?”

“You’re kidding right?” he leered, “Pretty girl’s not as off limits as I thought, I’ll behave… To an extent.”

“Oh great.” She groaned, unlocking him and shoving him into the back seat before cuffing him to the headrest, “I get to be letched at by a pervy alien, again.”

“You love it really.” Jack called across to her as she closed the door, earning him a kick when she got close enough

“Just shut up and drive, and stop flirting with me in front of your boyfriend. It’s making him laugh.”

An hour and a half later, with Rax safely locked in the cells for the night, they were all sitting in the table in Ianto’s kitchen, drinking coffee and eating ice cream from the tub. Both men were watching Jasmine carefully, and she seemed to be carefully oblivious.

“How are you doing Jazz?” Jack asked gently

She sucked the ice cream off her spoon and refused to meet his eyes, “I’m coping. Mainly by suppressing it, I admit, but it seems to be working.”

He covered her spoonless hand with his own, “If you suppress them, they’ll only come back to bite you in the butt.”

She turned her hand over to squeeze his gently, “I’m not getting rid of them, just not thinking about them. There’s so much there that I don’t want to… That I want to move past. Torchwood’s given me that opportunity, a chance to start again with a new life. I just want to put the past behind me and concentrate on now.”

“Your family think you’re dead. I managed to get into the Leaky Cauldron, arranged to meet them there. I couldn’t…” he swallowed, tears in his eyes, “I couldn’t show them any photos of you, I only had one with me when we left the TARDIS that last time, and that was destroyed sixty years ago now. But they were pleased to hear of what you’d been up to. You’d only been gone a day when I saw them…”

“I should tell them I’m OK.”

“Yeah, you should, they’ll be glad to know you’re safe.” He sighed and locked eyes with Ianto, who was looking uncomfortable, “What are your plans then?”

“Erm… dunno. File stuff I suppose.” She sighed, “I should probably go home via Scotland, which will be a bit of a round about trip. Sooner rather than later too…” she grunted, “Too much to think about. But it’s time I got home really, my work here is done.”

“I thought you were here to archive? We’ve barely started.” Ianto raised an eyebrow

“Whatever gave you that idea?” she asked in feigned shock, “My sole purpose in coming here was to hook you two up. Now I’ve got you two sorted I can set to work on Alicia and the cute UNIT guard who always asks to be put on duty at the tower.”

“You came here to get us together?” the young man asked in shock

“Oh yeah, if I’d wanted to do filing I could have stayed in London.”

“You’re incorrigible.” He shook his head, “How long will you stay then?”

She looked at her watch, “I’ll go now, if I do that then I can catch up on the paperwork and catch the morning train up to Hogsmead.”

“Are you sure?” he stammered out, surprised but not overly upset by it; having his boyfriend’s ex around wasn’t great for the start of a relationship, even if she was his best friend.

“Yeah, I’m sure.” She smiled at him and stood up, “Jack, thank you. I won’t forget you again, I promise. And I dare say I’ll be back before long, chasing some file or another.”

“You don’t have to go.” Ianto whispered, pulling her into a hug, suddenly reluctant to see her leave

“Yeah I do, I’ve got a lot of catching up to do, a whole identity to recreate. Besides, you two need to get to know each other without a house guest. Take care of him Ianto.”

“I will, take care of yourself, OK? Call me if you need someone to talk to.”

“Thanks.” She turned to Jack and hugged him too, “Look after him. And I’ll see you around.”

They went to the door to wave her off. Jack slid his arms around Ianto’s waist from behind and gave up trying to figure out the chain of events that had led them here, it was too bizarre and fantastical. As the roar of her Jasmine’s bike faded into the distance he felt Ianto turn in his arms. The young man studied him carefully for a moment before leaning in to capture his lips gently; their hands traced sensuous paths down their bodies and then Ianto’s slid underneath his undershirt and he gasped into his mouth at the sudden blaze of heat where the young man’s hands touched his bare skin. This was all the opportunity Ianto needed to deepen the kiss, his tongue slipping into Jack’s mouth to claim him.

Before very long, Jack was aching with need, and he could tell by his tension and the way his lover clung to him that Ianto was in the same state as he was. He lowered the pace slightly by trailing kisses along Ianto’s jaw across to his ear, “Take me to bed?” he whispered

The Welshman looked slightly taken aback by his submission, but made no comment as he led Jack up to their room and pushed him gently onto the bed, kneeling beside him to kiss him back into the pillows.

Some time later, Jack lay on Ianto’s chest, listening to his heartbeat as it slowed to its normal rate. He felt sleep dragging him away and relaxed, secure in Ianto’s arms. “You know,” he whispered, not really knowing why he was speaking or what he was saying, “immortality has its advantages.”

The young Welshman’s accent was even thicker this close to sleep, “Like what?”

“You.”

-----------------

The End

Author's Note: OK, this is so far from what I intended it's not even funny. It just sort of happened...

---

Jack raised his gun and pressed himself against the wall, gesturing at the others to wait for him. He tested the door handle and was reassured to find it locked, it was less likely to be a trap if they’d locked the door, they wouldn’t be expecting anyone. Pulling a set of highly illegal lock picks from his pocket he unlocked the door silently and pushed it open gingerly; when there was no gunfire, no sound of any sort, he pushed it further and beckoned to the others to follow him. The light inside was dim, but bright enough to see the boxes stacked all around. He indicated that Owen and Gwen should watch the door and that Tosh should check the boxes whilst he covered her, the building was silent, in a deserted part of the docks.

They’d found it with Guron’s help, he’d done a scan for alien tech, “very spock” as he had been told once upon a time. The scan had indicated a few items here, so they’d come to investigate. Guron had been determined to come, but Jack had persuaded him to stay behind with Ianto, monitoring their situation from there.

Tosh’s excited whisper attracted his attention to the boxes and he hurried over to take a look. Inside were weapons, lots of them, mostly human but some recognisable alien. He whistled quietly as he turned an AK-47 over in his hands, then put it down when he noticed how nervous it made the young woman. She gave him an embarrassed smile and pulled out a 51st Century sonic blaster, “So what do we do with this little lot?”

Jack looked astonished when he saw the blaster, but then shook his head in amusement, “One hundred years ago and that must be the fifth or sixth time I’ve thought about that night in the last week.” He thought to himself.

“Right, well here’s what we do… We take the alien weapons back to the hub, deal with them when we get back there, and we tip the police off about this place. I know it’s not our field, but I don’t want these weapons on the streets of Cardiff or London or wherever any more than the next man.” He took the blaster form Tosh and smiled at it, speaking into his coms, “Ianto, can you get me a crate of bananas?”

Half an hour, and two false alarms, later, Jack helped Owen to lift the crate of assorted confiscated alien weaponry into the boot of the SUV and grinned at him. The medic simply rolled his eyes, checked that it wouldn’t slide about when they were on the move and took the proffered car keys from Ianto. They had spent the last half hour sorting what was alien from what was human and packing everything alien into one of the crates. Once they’d done that they were down by one crate, which would be noticed, so Jack had substituted a crate of bananas. He wouldn’t tell them why, but he seemed to find this highly amusing, as did Guron by the sounds of it. The alien had come out there with Ianto, God only knew where the lad had got a crate full of bananas at this time of night, and was talking earnestly with Jack as they surveyed the warehouse. Owen shook his head to himself as he took the SUV around the corner. Apparently Jack had a plan, which involved the SUV being out of sight from the Warehouse, and which also involved giving Guron quite a large gun. Owen was more than slightly worried, it had often been said that there was madness to Jack’s method, Owen disputed that; occasionally there was method to Jack’s madness.

When he returned, Jack had gathered the team and they were waiting for him. As soon as he was close enough, Jack clapped his hands and started explaining his plan, “OK, so Gwen has called the police, and they’re on their way. In the meantime we’re going to watch the place and make sure that whoever’s behind this doesn’t get away with it. If they go in we’re going to keep them there, if they don’t before he police arrive we’re going to help them to bring them in?”

“That’s not our job.” Owen pointed out.

“Is it not? Our job is to protect people, and maybe by doing this we can save someone’s life. Maybe even help to stop the flow of guns to the teens of London. But we can’t just let them slip away.”

“Agreed.” Gwen glared at Owen

“Hey, I wasn’t saying we shouldn’t. Just that it’s rare for us to overstep our bounds.”

“That’s cos they’re already set so wide.” Ianto quipped and Jack grinned at him. Owen was sure there was something going on there, but he wasn’t quite brave enough to ask. Mainly because he wasn’t sure he wanted to know the answer.

“So, any arguments?” there was silence, so Jack clapped his hands again and started gesturing to locations, “Owen and Gwen, I want you two over there and there, watching those two streets and that side of the building, Guron, Ianto and I will take that side, Tosh I want you to monitor the police movements and keep us informed, let me know as soon as they get close. Everyone armed?” They all nodded in confirmation and he continued, “They’re not to be used, unless they engage us in a fire-fight. Whatever happens, stay safe. If you need to shoot someone to protect yourself or someone else then don’t hesitate, but don’t shoot on sight. Getting this lot may help to bring down a network, and I don’t want the chance to escape. Plus, I’m sure Ianto could do without the follow up that a Torchwood death invariably brings.”

“And there was me thinking you didn’t care.”

“It’s not that he cares, tea boy, it’s just the fact that every time you have to clean up after a death you put something in his coffee as payback. Can we go to our positions now Jack? Before someone walks in on us.”

“Go, and remember: don’t use your weapons unless you have to.”

As they moved to their positions together, Guron asked Jack and Ianto the question that had interested him since the day he met them, “I don’t mean to pry, but are you two…”

They smiled at each other and at him, “No, we just live together.”

“Share a bed.” Ianto added helpfully, “You know, normal stuff like that. I’m…” he struggled to find words for a moment before looking away towards the corner of the building, “I lost my girlfriend, not long ago. We help each other, I guess.” Jack smiled at him compassionately and Guron got the impression that the Captain would quite like there to be more to the relationship than there was.

Feeling suddenly uncomfortable he turned and surveyed the surrounding area, “Any preferences for where you’d prefer to be? There’s a few skips up there that could be used for cover,” he pointed, “streetlight out on the corner there and a tree over there.”

“Good thinking.” The Captain nodded, “I’ve no preference, although it would make me feel better if I was at the pointy end, so to speak.”

“Why is that?” Guron looked mildly offended, he wanted to be there to get his revenge on his wife’s killers after all.

Jack shrugged, “I’m immortal, it makes more sense for me to be in possible danger than you two.” He could tell that Ianto was shocked that he’d told Guron, it was a secret he kept close, fearing the effect it would have on people. The only people who knew about it apart from the two of them and now Guron were Gwen, who had seen it, and Jane, who had found it in the records. Jack didn’t tell anyone about it, until now. It must have been even more out of the blue as Ianto could only hear his half of the conversation, he smiled apologetically at the younger man, and then wondered why

“You’re impossible, mad and impossible.” The Watulah told him, “But I believe you. So you will stay by the tree, has Ianto any preference?” When Jack passed on the question and ascertained that he didn’t mind, they agreed that he would wait by the skips in the middle and Guron would take the furthest point in the shadows under the street non-light. As they parted they activated their coms and heard Tosh’s voice giving instructions to Owen and Gwen,

“The police will be here in fifteen minutes, Gwen, you’ll need to be somewhere you can slip round to them without being seen from the warehouse, just in case.”

“OK Tosh, I’ve found somewhere, there’s a garden, I can get from here onto the next street and the along the back if I need to. If they arrive around the other side then Jack will have to deal with them.”

“Are you there yet Jack?”

“Present and correct marm!” he laughed quietly, “Any sign of anyone coming?”

“Nope, and I’ve hacked into their CCTV system and the door lock control, if they go in and shut the door I can lock them in.”

“Good work Tosh, I don’t pay you enough.”

“Watch it Jack, I might just remind you of that.”

“Yeah well, annual reviews are coming up soon, I might remember on my own.”

“What’s put you in such a good mood Jack?” Owen asked

“Don’t ask questions Owen, just make the most of it.” He grinned back, thoroughly glad to be a part of his team. “Now, we’ve only got a few minutes to wait, so can we try radio silence? I know it’s not strictly necessary, but it would make me feel better about your safety.” He took the ensuing quiet for agreement

“Jack.” Ianto’s voice whispered in his ear a couple of minutes later, “Jack, I’ve got a van here, it’s not the police.”

“How many?”

“Two men, they’re heading your way up this side of the building.”

“OK, stay out of sight guys, Tosh, can you tell the police to arrive quietly?”

“On it Jack.”

“Captain.” Guron muttered, “They have just passed me.”

“I can see them, hold your positions.” He watched them moving in and out of the patches of light down the side of the building. They didn’t appear to be taking any care about not being seen, apparently they had no idea they weren’t alone. The two men were similar in appearance, tall, muscular and dark haired, and were speaking quietly. One of them walked slightly in front of the other and appeared to be dominating the conversation, but it wasn’t an argument.

Jack didn’t move as they passed him, experience having told him that a) he was well hidden enough as it was and b) they would notice the movement. He held his breath as the leader of the two stepped into the shadows by the door, then disappeared inside, closely followed by the other man, and he swore when they left the door open.

“Jack, I can’t seal them in, the door needs to be closed.”

“I know, Tosh. Bare with me. How far off are the police?”

“Five minutes.”

“Damn, that’s too far off.” He looked around and realised there was no alternative. Without a word of warning he’d dashed across to the side of the building and was peering in through the open door. One of them men spotted him instantly, and he only just had time to grab the door and slam it shut as a shot and a cry rang out, “Shit, Tosh lock it, now!” He bit his lip and clutched his arm, aware of blood soaking his shirt sleeve but not of pain. Not yet. “Fuck.” Now the pain had hit home, he leant against the wall and let his head fall back as he tried to cope, then regained awareness of his surroundings; the hammering on the door of the two men trapped inside, Guron and Owen at his side, three worried voices coming over the coms. “I’m fine, don’t worry about me. Back to your positions, we don’t know if there are any more to come.”

They were interrupted by squealing brakes and flashing lights that heralded the arrival of Cardiff’s finest; he swore again and advanced on the first car, extending his hand to the officer in the lead, “Glad you could make it,” he greeted him sarcastically, “we’ve got two men locked in there. Torchwood has requisitioned an unspecified quantity of weaponry. That’s exactly what it’s going to say in your report. Now, we’ll leave it to you. Good night.” He was being shorter than he would have liked, but God his arm hurt.

“You’ve been shot.” The officer looked horrified

“Yeah, I’d noticed, so we’re leaving.”

He turned and stalked towards the SUV where the rest of the team were waiting for him. Owen glared at him and shoved him down to sit on the edge of the open boot, pulling his coat and shirt off to bandage his arm more roughly than necessary, “What was that about Jack? Who was it who was worried about us taking unnecessary risks?”

“The first word I heard when I got to the door was bananas, “he gasped as Owen yanked hard on the bandage, “Do you have to do that? I had to get the door shut, they’d figured out that something was wrong and I didn’t want them coming out on the alert and shooting any of you.”

“So you let them shoot you instead.” The medic shook his head as though he didn’t believe any of it

“Yep, it was worth it.” His eyes finally met Ianto’s and he relaxed, feeling reassured by the amusement shining there. “Any idea what they’re doing?”

“Armed police are on their way, and they would quite like us out of the way, sir.”

“Right,” he flexed his shoulders slightly and immediately regretted it, “OK, let’s call it a night, Ianto, you and Guron can get straight off home as your car’s here. I don’t think I’ll be coming back tonight. The rest of you can go straight from the Hub, or from here if you don’t need to pick anything up.”

The ride back was silent and quite painful because Owen was driving. Jack tried hard to keep his injured arm from bashing against the door but when Owen took corners like that… he hissed and shot a glare at the younger man but decided it would be wisest not to say anything. He knew he was in trouble for taking the gamble with the door, but he was still sure he’d done the right thing.

Owen went straight from the car park, assuring Jack that he wouldn’t need to check the bandage until the next morning and muttering something about getting a drink. Gwen and Tosh both had to pick things up from the Hub, so the three of them went in together through the TI office. Jack sank into Ianto’s chair, knowing that the young man wouldn’t mind, and propped his head on his uninjured arm with his chin in his hand, watching Tosh hang his coat up as she chatted happily with Gwen.

“Jack?” his attention snapped back to the present at Gwen’s voice, although he wasn’t entirely sure where it had been before, “You told Ianto that you didn’t think you’d be going back to his tonight. I don’t mean to pry but…”

He chuckled, “I’m living with him, that’s it. We’re just very good friends who got fed up of living alone and discovered that our talents compliment each other’s.” The expression on her face was priceless, “By which I mean that I’m a great cook and he makes the best coffee in the known universe. Besides, he needed looking after, after Lisa.”

Gwen looked shocked, and he understood why, it was the first time Lisa’s name had been mentioned since she’d nearly killed them all. She still wasn’t sure how she felt about the whole thing, or who she blamed. She knew that Jack was watching her carefully, taking note of her reaction so she nodded carefully and turned to leave, “Take care of your arm, I’ll see you in the morning.” Tosh simply smiled and followed her out of the cog door, not needing to say anything.

As soon as they were gone he got up again and headed for the bunker beneath his office. It was hard work getting down the ladder when he couldn’t properly use his arm, but he was emotionally and mentally exhausted. He tried to remove his shirt but it hurt far too much. Sighing he rested his head in his hand and ran his hand through his hair distractedly. He felt strangely desolate at being alone tonight. Since Guron had come to stay over a week before, he had spent every night with Ianto curled against him warm and protective. It wasn’t something they’d talked about, it wasn’t even something he’d seriously thought about until now, it was just what they did. That way, when Ianto woke sobbing in the middle of the night Jack was already there holding him and soothing him, and when Jack needed reminding in the middle of the night that there was a reason he got up in the mornings there was one lying in his arms. And that was so true, so true it was breaking his heart, because he was rapidly falling in love with Ianto Jones.

He felt like he was falling without a parachute, and he of all people should know what that felt like, and how much it hurt when you landed, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. His quick humour, almost gentle sarcasm and how good he looked in a suit were all factors, that was true, but it was the little things that meant the most. The big things were important, like the way he always knew what to say to help matters, like when they’d come back from the incident with the fairies and the others had blamed him for letting Jasmine go, as though they couldn’t see how much it hurt him to let her go, as if it wasn’t bad enough having to let one go but with that name? And Ianto had brought him coffee, and then held him when he broke. Yes, the big things were\pretty damn important, but really it was the little things that were getting to him most. It was the way he smiled slightly whilst he made the coffee, the adorable way he ran his fingers through his hair when he was at a loss, the way he smiled over his shoulder when Jack found him in the kitchen first thing in the morning, the way his face lit up whenever he got a message from Jane in London.

And that was what was breaking Jack’s heart the most, because even as he felt himself falling in love with Ianto, he could see Ianto falling in love with Jane. He hadn’t realised it yet, but the little clues were all there, the way he was getting defensive of her, the way he’d be happy for hours after talking to her, even if it had just been a request for information.

He stood up and tried to take his shirt off again, but it was still too painful, 21st Century painkillers had never really been enough with his physiology, and because he hadn’t died the wound would heal slowly, for him at least. He closed his eyes and allowed a grunt of pain to escape as he moved his shoulder in just the right way to send lances up and down his arm and across his shoulders. Before he’d recovered, however, he felt gentle hands pulling at his shirt, sliding it gently off his shoulders and helping him to get his arms free. He didn’t need to open his eyes to know who it was, the mixed scent of coffee and coconut only served to confirm what his instincts were telling him, so he kept his eyes closed, “I thought you’d gone home.” He sighed with a smile

“I did, then I came back. You need me more than Guron does, but I had to pick up a change of clothes.”

“Are you staying?” he finally opened his eyes and smiled gratefully at his friend, confident that the pain he’d been feeling would be safely hidden again now

“If you are.”

“Thanks” he whispered, not needing to speak any louder in the confined space. Suddenly, on a whim, he pulled Ianto into a hug, and as he felt Ianto relax into him and wrap his arms around Jack’s waist, the immortal breathed in the scent of the coffee, of coconut and of Ianto, absorbing himself in a moment that was just him and the man he loved.

“Oh, right…” he repeated, “well that… that might complicate things a little.” He continued to stare at the tip of the remote with its glowing nanobot cloud and reached out absentmindedly for the lights and the door mechanism. As soon as it had repaired sufficiently it dropped open and Gwen and Owen tumbled in.

“What the hell?” Gwen asked breathlessly, her eyes wide as the computer system crackled into life again. Without a word, Jack swung himself into one of the seats and cancelled the defence programs, the radar, scanners, signals, everything. The last thing they needed was this sending out an SOS signal: he’d probably answer it and create an enormous paradox.

Still, he couldn’t help smiling, not his usual grin but a proper smile that just grew and grew, like the glowing cloud. He waved it around and their eyes followed it in amazement. As he caught sight of Gwen’s hands, which Owen had bandaged after they left, he beckoned her towards him and took hold of her hands, as he had done once for a young blonde in a Union Flag T-shirt. He gave her a reassuring smile and directed the glow towards her hands and couldn’t stop it spreading as the two of them stared at the rapidly disappearing cuts. “Nanogenes.” He finally explained, with a comment which could in no way be dignified with the description ‘an explanation’. “Nanobots and nanogenes, the air’s full of them. Sub atomic robots, when the system’s activated the nanobots scurry round and repair anything that’s wrong with the ship, quite a lot in this case, and the nanogenes heal the occupants. You have to tell them to heal anyone else.”

“Like me, for example…” Gwen was still staring, but now she was staring at him, at his goofy grin. “Jack this is impossible.”

“You think this is impossible, these are quite early ones. Some of the last nanogenes I…” he drew in a breath, “encountered, those ones were about three generations beyond these and could bring people back to life.”

“Don’t be dumb, Jack.” Owen snarked, “We’ve heard all your stories before.”

“It’s true!” he pouted but still couldn’t hide that smile, it felt so good. But boy did he miss them, Rose… Don’t go there, not when he was in a happy place, “Nanogenes, they’re Fantastic!”

Gwen heard the capital letter drop into place and worried about their boss, but she reasoned that anything that made Jack that deliriously happy and still in control of all his faculties was probably a good thing. She did make a mental note to ask Ianto about it when they got back though. “Do you think we should get out, Jack?”

Suddenly he was the Captain again, slamming up the walls that had been deconstructed by the memories and she regretted it, “Right, yes. We need to get back to Cardiff. I have here,” and here he grabbed a handheld console from down the side of one of the seats, “a device which will help us to track the jettisoned escape pod.”

“There definitely was one?” Owen asked

“Computer?” Lights flashed and Owen and Gwen escaped an exasperated glance, he ignored them, “Locate escape pod.”

A surprisingly biological voice, but not speaking any language they recognised responded. Jack seemed to understand it though, because he nodded and turned to them, “See?”

“No, Jack, we’re not all fluent in Klingon. Let’s get out of here and back to Tosh and Ianto.” Owen turned abruptly and stalked out through the door. Gwen gave Jack an amused smile and followed Owen, leaving Jack to bring up the rear for once.

They thanked the UNIT forces and Jack gave them an update on the situation and headed back to the SUV. It wasn’t until he was ensconced in the driver’s seat that he turned round to give Owen his usual hundred megawatt grin, “You know, you really ought to think about learning Klingon Owen, a surprising number of alien species use it as a middle ground language. They may come from opposite ends of the universe, but if they’ve seen Star Trek they’re OK. Sindarin’s used for the same purpose.”

“Sindarin?” Owen just looked sceptical

“The language of the grey elves in Lord of the Rings.”

“I bet I know someone who speaks that…”

“Tosh, Ianto and I all do, which is why we do most of the communicating with alien species. Who needs a translator when you have a knowledge of Tolkein?”

Owen looked disgusted, “I can believe it of Tosh, but Tea-boy? Don’t tell me he’s into LARPs or MMORPGs too?”

“I don’t even know what the last two are, Owen, and please don’t enlighten me. Lord of the Rings is Ianto’s favourite book, he and Lisa used to talk and write to each other in Sindarin to stop people understanding them; by the time she died she’d forgotten all she knew.”

There was an uncomfortable silence after that, broken eventually by Gwen, “Is he going to be OK, Jack?”

He sighed, suddenly weary, feeling his true age and the full weight of the years crushing down on his heart, “Yes, he’ll be OK. I don’t know how long it’ll take, but he’ll get there.” He didn’t mention the fact that he only knew about Lisa loving Tolkein because he’d called Ianto ‘Nîn kal’ a few days ago, and that Ianto had broken down at that because Lisa had called him it, or that Ianto hadn’t had an uninterrupted night’s sleep so far since, or that it ripped him apart inside every time he had to hold him late at night or early in the morning because he cared too much and there was nothing he could do to help apart from be there. Too often he’d watched someone he cared about fall apart and had to pick up the pieces. Too often he hadn’t been strong enough.

He blinked suddenly and realised that they were near Bristol, he’d been on autopilot most of the way to this point, which scared him, but apparently it had done wonders for his driving. Gwen had actually nodded off in the front passenger seat, which had to be a first. They’d become a really, really strange little family, but it was the closest thing he’d had to family since two wonderful years in a blue police phone box. Even his wives hadn’t been family; family required shared strength, solidarity and usually bitchiness. And Torchwood, Torchwood was everything. He wiped a tear from his cheek and hoped that Owen hadn’t noticed, if he had he didn’t mention it, and concentrated on the road again. At the next service station he pulled off, got out and passed the keys to Owen, slipping into the back to work with the computers to find the escape pod.

Owen watched his boss carefully, worried that there’s been something in the air in that spaceship, besides the sub-atomic robots that Jack had harped on about. The Captain had swung from over-the-moon cheerful to miserable and on to, if Owen wasn’t mistaken, sentimental. And he had yet to make an inappropriate comment to Gwen, which was definitely cause for concern.

The phone rang just on the edge of Cardiff and he answered it distractedly, “Yeah, what’s up?” he called as he tried to suppress the road-rage at a particularly stupid learner driver. Gwen chuckling at him wasn’t helping.

“Erm… we’ve located the other Watulah.” Ianto’s voice came over the coms and the three in the car immediately tensed, something in the young man’s tone told them that all was not right, “Or I think it might be more accurate to say that he’s located us.” He was choosing his words carefully.

“Where is he?” there was a barely noticeable trace of panic in Jack’s voice as he pulled up the Sat Nav systems from the back.

“Erm…” there was a pause and the team held their breaths, “In the conference room, actually. Drinking tea, I hasten to add.”

“De-caff?” Jack’s brain had shut down, apparently, all he could think about was the fact that caffeine was poisonous to Watulahs, not that his best friend was in the same building as one of the deadliest killers in the universe and he was too far away to be any use. He gestured at Owen to go faster, so the medic let rip with the accelerator.

“Yes, I got some in for Gwen the other day, lucky I did really.” There was an argument that they could barely hear at the other end of the line, then Ianto came back speaking in a fractured but beautiful language that Owen and Gwen couldn’t understand. Jack groaned and responded in the same language, then rolled his eyes at Gwen and Owen,

“Our guest is insisting that Ianto speaks Sindarin, so that he knows what’s going on. Ni tul Ianto.”

“Ni is, Jack.”

Jack willed Owen faster, cursing himself for leaving Tosh and Ianto alone at the Hub, especially when the intelligence he had suggested that there would be another Watulah around. Who knows what else could have happened? As his mind dredged up a seemingly never-ending list of possibilities he started on a new list of options for when they reached the Hub. Ianto would hopefully have talked the Watulah into cooperating, at least for a while, or at least have distracted him with tea and cake. Then when they got there they could take him out, or take him back to the ship if he was prepared to cooperate further. But what if they went back to an empty Hub, what if Ianto didn’t manage to calm him? What if he got back to find that, after everything, the too young Welshman had died and it was all his fault?

They pulled up in a squeal of brakes outside the TI office and stormed through the doorway. When they reached the bottom the cog door was jammed open and the Hub was silent; half drawing his weapon, Jack led the way up to the conference room, dreading what he would find up there.

---

Author’s note:

Don’t ask me where all the Elvish came from, apart from www.uib.no/people/hnohf, a wonderful website if you ever want to use some (and I will be using it more in the future, I have a wonderful fic planned using lots of Elvish. Hopefully I’ll also learn Welsh too.) Story is now vaguely back on track, apart from the unexpected alien invasion of Cardiff of course

Translations used:

Nîn kal – My hero
Ni tul – I’m coming (I come, technically)
Ni is – I know

Author's Note: Wahey, and now we're back on familiar territory. How long can Ianto deny his attraction to Jack? On a scale of one to Jack, just how attractive is Jane? And what happened to those weapons that turned up whilst Ianto was having his panic attack during One Week? Don't know what I'm talking about? Read One Week to find out, otherwise tune in whenever I get another chapter up to find out what's going to happen to our lovely boy and their team.

Disclaimer: Own nothing, although I wouldn't say no to a pint

---

Ianto made his way across to his friends with a pint and dropped into the chair next to Jack. The others looked mildly shocked when he took off his tie and put it in his jacket pocket, “What?” he raised an eyebrow, “We’re not at work are we?”

“He has a point.” Jack laughed, “Good trip?”

“Yeah, London was a nightmare, as always, but I still made good time. I didn’t really expect to be back for another hour.”

“So…” Tosh leaned forwards conspiratorially, “What’s it like, do you think we’re in for trouble?”

“They’ve got a great set-up, easier to defend than the last one apparently, and she’s got an…” he struggled to find the word, “an interesting system.”

“You don’t approve?” Gwen asked.

“It’s bloody brilliant, to be honest. She’s got a numerical system that works, and because the interfacing is all done by her team rather than a computer it will actually honestly work. And it makes sense to use that system because she organised UNIT’s archive, which is the biggest one in the world, that’s how she got put in charge in London.”

“Whoa!” Jack choked on his drink, “You’re saying that someone from UNIT’s in charge? Whoever has control of Canary Wharf is the de facto head of Torchwood!”

“Yeah, she’s UNIT, but I think the current regime were glad to be rid of her. From his attitude today, I’d say that Mace isn’t a fan of her any more than he is of you.”

“Doesn’t mean we can trust her.” Jack pointed out

“What’s her line?” Owen interrupted

“She’s a bit odd really, very pro-Doctor I think. Treats anything alien as the property of the alien who lost it, wants to know as much as she can about everything. She’s had a…” he hesitated for a moment, not wanting to betray too much but needing to defend her, “She’s not had an easy past, I’d say she took an unorthodox route into UNIT.”

“A prisoner?” Tosh asked angrily

He nodded sadly, “Although I think it’s more complicated than that.”

“So what’s she like, really like? Middle aged dragon?” Gwen asked

“Not at all.” Ianto couldn’t keep the lingering surprise out of his voice, “She’s young, early twenties at the oldest although she looks to be in her late teens. Blonde hair with blue streaks, very cute.” Owen suddenly looked more interested, “And far too young for you Owen.” Ianto felt strangely protective of her, which was ridiculous, but still… “She’s lovely, really lovely. And strong enough to look after herself, she dealt very, very well with a government official today.” Taking a sip of his drink he allowed a grin to spread across his face, “My God that girl’s got spunk.”

Owen got up with a groan to get more drinks, Gwen following to help with the glasses. The three remaining knew that this was the only opportunity they’d get for serious discussion, so they took it, “All the official government organisations from across the world are involved. I heard about two dozen different languages being spoken today, everything from Spanish, French, other European languages right through to Japanese and Chinese. It’s the only thing that the whole world is united on, apparently. The latest reports and base files went up this morning and will be updated as we process them, but they need to be filed from there. Older reports, archived stuff, she’s gathering everything she can together to form concise reports, but everything will be available to view there or she’ll send it to whoever needs it by helicopter.”

“Whoa,” Owen returned and set the glasses down, “she has a helicopter? How come we don’t have one of those?”

“Because we’re based inside Cardiff, Owen. Why would we need a helicopter?”

“Besides,” Tosh commented, “Who’d fly it?”

“I have a pilot’s licence.” They stared at Jack for a while, and he raised an eyebrow in amusement, “Oh come on, even Captain Slow has a pilot’s licence, surely the Captain of the Innuendo Squad is allowed one.” They all laughed, and Jack smiled at the memories of the young man who’d called him that, Mickey Smith had turned into quite a character by all accounts. Now there was someone he’d like to work with.

The talk turned to more mundane topics like rugby and, trust Jack, cricket because Rhys arrived with some friends of his and Gwen’s. After a while, he and Gwen headed home for an ‘early night’, Owen spotted and attractive girl at the bar, which filled Tosh’s eyes with pain and caused her to disappear shortly afterwards. Jack glared at Owen across the room and smiled tensely at Ianto, “Do you think he knows?”

“I hope not,” Ianto responded sadly, “I don’t think even Owen could do that if he knew.” He downed the rest of his drink and gestured at Jack’s equally empty glass, “You done?”

They left the pub together with their coats over their arms because of the warm night. Jack still wasn’t quite used to going back to Ianto’s, but it was strangely reassuring having somewhere to go that wasn’t the Hub. His mind, however, was troubled. “So the head of Torchwood, my, dear God my immediate superior. Now that’s something I never thought I’d have to say again, but you like her?”

“Yeah, she’s a lovely girl, is this going anywhere?” he put on an expression of amusement

“I’m just trusting your judgement on her, and feeling slightly sorry for her.” He lied, “I didn’t really want to have to fight her on a regular basis like I did Yvonne, but it sounds like she’ll be OK.”

Ianto tried to deny the disappointment; he’d thought that Jack sounded… jealous? But that was dumb, because he wasn’t interested in Captain Jack Harkness, not remotely interested so he shouldn’t be disappointed that Jack wasn’t interested either. He shoved his hands in his pockets, “She likes you, it’ll be fine. I have a feeling she’d give you anything you asked for, no matter what it was.”

“She likes me?” Jack sounded surprised

“Yes, hero-worships you. She’s read all the files about you.”

“All of them?” now he was worried, it didn’t suit him

“Yeah, she knows you were arrested way back when, so she’s presumably figured out that you’re immortal. She didn’t comment though.”

“I knew I should have covered my trail better.” He let out a laugh, “Ah well, as long as she likes me.”

Ianto could hear the smirk in his voice, “Oi, she must be at least 100 years younger than you!”

“Spoilsport.” Jack laughed again, seeming not to notice the jealousy fighting with Ianto’s feigned indifference.

Woop, yet another chapter which I had exactly planned which didn't go exactly to plan. I hope you enjoy and like what I've done with the place. Please give me feedback, cos I'm a little fish swimming in a sea of madness and I'm not sure that I'm going in the right direction. I think I'm heading towards the end of the story but beyond that... Who knows? So feedback on it would be extremely helpful.

I think I should point out my general time frame for this. I think that the Battle of Canary Wharf was between the Christmas with the Sycorax and the Christmas with Astrid, and as one Christmas is before the battle and one is after Jack leaves, that leaves only one left to be the setting for Out of Time, which is the one with Donna. As a couple of months have passed since the Doctor and Rose were on Earth last in Love and Monsters, which also appears to be set a couple of months after their last visit for Christmas, so call it five months in total, putting that in May. That leaves us with a total of seven months maximum before Out of Time, possibly less. There are three months between Everything Changes and They Keep Killing Suzie, but we also need to leave time for Ianto to have got settled in before Gwen. As good as he is, I'm going to have him there by the start of June, settled in for Gwen's arrival (and with Myfanwy settled in and accustomed to Suzie) by the end of August, so she starts there at the start of September. This sets TKKS at the start of November (call it the 1st, 'cos it's my best friend's birthday) and gives us two months for Random Shoes before Out of Time (hey, we like to fit our own adventures with them in there too!) This means that by the time this is set (about a week after One Week finishes), Lisa has been dead two weeksish or a maximum of seven months, counting from Cyberwoman or the Battle respectively, call it five and a half to fit stuff around it

To summarise, this is set five and a half months after the Battle of Canary Wharf and only two after Cyberwoman.

---

Ianto straightened his tie nervously and got out of the car. He leant against it to take in the sight of the place where he had worked for four years, the place where everything he had dreamt of had come crashing down around him and he had been shown wonders beyond his wildest dreams. Here he’d fallen in love, learnt about the mysteries of the universe, found himself, lost everything else and ended up in a world that would never let him go. And now, less than a year later, he was back here for someone else. Funny old world.

He glanced at his watch and noted that he was about ten minutes early, but headed in anyway. Someone would be there at this time, and it might give him a chance to pry. Jack had told him what they needed to know, how best to approach it, what to do should the Doctor appear. Ianto felt ready for what was practically his first field mission for Torchwood 3. Pushing through the revolving doors he flashed his ID at a UNIT security guard and made his way to the counter to wait. He used the time to survey the room and its few occupants. As well as the security guard and his partner there were two UNIT representatives whose ID badges identified them as Colonel Mace and S Jones conversing in a corner, a middle aged woman with auburn hair who smiled at him nervously and clutched her handbag tightly and a young, frazzled looking woman who was being harassed by a government official.

Pretending to be moving to study a pile of leaflets he moved closer to be able to hear their conversation.

“Look, Office Monkey, get these files sorted. I don’t care if the Queen of England is coming today, these files need filing and I’m not sticking around to do it. I’m going to report you to your superior. You think you’re so clever because you work for the high and mighty Torchwood, but Torchwood is nothing now, just a washed out filing system and I don’t have the time or the inclination to deal with it.”

She took the files from him and set them on the counter before leaning back on it to regard him carefully, “I think you’ll find that my only immediate superior is the Queen of England.” He smirked more broadly but slightly nervously, “And possibly the head of UNIT or the UN, but officially I can ignore anything they say to me. My name is Jane Doe and I run this washed out government filing cabinet, which from here on in will be working tirelessly to protect you and your family so I suggest that you leave now and send someone with some manners in future.”

He bristled and Ianto knew that he wasn’t the only one tuned into the conversation now, “Are you threatening me girl?”

That was a mistake, Doe stood upright and advanced on him, “No, I was just pointing out how important my job is compared to yours, and how little time I have to waste on you.” He flinched back, then turned on his heel and walked out through the revolving door. The guards and UNIT representatives relaxed visibly.

Ianto took a moment to study Miss Jane Doe. She was quite a bit shorter than he was, five foot seven at a guess, although the high heels could put him out by an inch or more. He guessed that she was probably in her late teens or early twenties, probably the former, picked straight from Sixth Form, degrees weren’t much use at Torchwood after all. She wore a black skirt with a white blouse, black Mary-Janes and a bright blue scarf, which matched the blue streaks in her hair but, interestingly enough, not the rainbow striped pencil holding it up in a tight bun. Her eyes were brilliant blue and reminded him of Jack’s, especially the way they were currently blazing with anger. After a moment the fire left her eyes and she sighed, relaxing her tense shoulders and shaking her head slightly. As though oblivious to the people watching her, she turned back to the files and flipped through them before slipping behind the desk and filing them neatly in the cabinets behind there. She did something at the computers and then looked up properly, smiling as she met his eyes for the first time across the counter, “Government officials, eh? Their department is always the most important.” He offered.

She laughed and it was a beautiful sound, full of vitality and the joy of youth, a sound he’d long since lost to Torchwood, Ianto dreaded the day when it happened to her too, “Yeah, tell me about it. And I have the extraordinary good luck to work just around the corner from them. At least you’re in Cardiff, most of them wouldn’t notice if it just ceased to exist entirely.”

His face must have been a picture of astonishment but he tried to cover it, “You sound like a Welshman, except for the northern accent. Where are you from?”

Jane winked at him as she came around the desk and extended a hand, which he took almost nervously, she was so full of confidence, “Apart from the accent, which kind of gives the game away as we have only one Welshman coming today, it’s on your name-tag…”

He blushed and rolled his eyes, “I always forget the little details.”

“Really?” she’d raised an eyebrow and clearly didn’t believe him

“Well, no. Not normally. I guess today’s an exception.”

“We’ll make exceptions for you today, it must be hard. I’m sorry about Lisa, it must be hard to lose someone like that, especially after you fought so hard to save her.” He knew he was gaping now, but he couldn’t help it, part of him was angry too, “I’m sorry I read the report, I know it’s none of my business, but after what happened here, I decided to find out everything I could about the cybermen. When the report came through the computer picked it out. Captain Harkness is a good man.” She looked decidedly uncomfortable, “I wish I had a boss like him to look up to at the moment, but like I say; there’s only her Majesty above me.” She shrugged, “Don’t worry, I’m going to leave well alone in Cardiff. They say these days that free radicals are good for us.” A half smile ghosted across her young face and he returned it tensely but was extremely relieved when the auburn haired woman came across to them to introduce herself as Sarah-Jane Smith, an investigative journalist. Jane immediately launched into a discussion about the Doctor and Ianto reflected that staying ahead of her would be hard work if she chose to interfere.

Within a very short while the foyer had filled up with people of all nationalities and a huge variety of uniforms. As well as UNIT people from around the world he recognised the uniform of Liberty Towers, the pro-Doctor American equivalent of Torchwood, a few former companions of the Doctor, some of his old friends from Torchwatch and a couple from Australia. They really were keen for the whole world to see. He was just about to go over to speak to Mark, a friend from Torchwatch when he saw Doe approaching him through the crowd. She flashed him a bright but brittle smile as she arrived and laid a hand on his arm, having to stand on tip-toes to reach his ear and make herself heard over the noise of the other guests, “Ianto, whilst I remember, will you stay behind after the meeting. It won’t last long, but there’s something I want to show you in private.” She looked nervous, so he nodded silently but his throat was dry, he had no idea what she wanted and the idea of being alone with her made him nervous. Which was frankly ridiculous. She was just a kid, definitely younger than him, extremely attractive, very intelligent and running a secret organisation which dealt with aliens. She knew about Lisa, she knew what should have been done, would he ever make it home?

He banished the thoughts from his mind when he caught sight of her relieved smile and managed a smile in return; she turned and headed for the staircase where she ascended a couple of steps and clapped her hands, catching everyone’s attention to inform them that the meeting would be taking place in a conference room on the next floor, if they would care to follow her?

They followed her up the wide staircase to a long corridor that he knew ever so well. Leading off it were large rooms, which had been the research labs. Judging by the signs over the doors now they were archiving rooms organised by some numerical system. He couldn’t deny it, although Owen would laugh at him for weeks about it, he was extremely interested. He’d never yet found a system apart from alphabetical that worked properly.

At the end of the corridor a large presentation room had been turned into a conference room with a long, glass topped table in the middle and a projection screen at one end. In front of every seat along the table were a file and a pad of A4 paper with a plain black pen. No flashy logos here. Doe caught his eye and grinned, either she was a mind reader or she’d noticed the puzzled glance at the pen, because he knew that that’s what she was laughing at. There didn’t seem to be set seats, apart from five at the head of the table, so he sat down between Sarah Jane Smith and Sally Jones of UNIT and watched Miss Jane Doe carefully. She had one eyebrow raised in amusement and seemed to be studying the arrangement in the same way that he was studying her. Once everyone had sat down she picked up her pen and span it between her fingers almost nervously, then flicked a loose strand of hair away from her face and smiled brightly.

“Thank you all for coming today. I know that today is the last thing many of you wanted to see, some more than others, so I’m extremely grateful to you all. I also know that some of you have had…” she rolled her eyes and puffed her cheeks out, “let’s call them problems, with our recruitment procedure. I assure you that I wasn’t aware of the messages being sent until I got a less than polite letter from Captain Harkness telling me to leave his team alone.” Ianto fought the blush and smiled shyly at her in response to a similar one, Jack had that effect on people, “Anyway.” She glared at the ceiling for a moment and then looked back down, “There will be no more of that, although any applications to transfer here will be given thorough consideration if anyone ever wants a bit of peace and quiet or a period of convalescence. The Torchwood Archive is purely that, a great big filing cabinet for anything extraterrestrial. As you are probably aware, we have the remaining files from Torchwood 1 and copies of all the computerised files in your archives. What this means is that access to these files will be considerably sped up, because not only are they all in the same place but they will also be better organised.” Well, and here she grinned at his, again! “In some cases at least. Basically, my team spend their lives putting together the tiny-huge things in your reports which will only make sense when coupled with a similarly tiny thing in someone else’s report and which will make someone’s job much, much easier in the future.”

She looked at the ceiling again as if searching for inspiration, then stared at the surface of the table for a moment, “Sorry, I seem to have deviated a bit there. My next point should have been introductions.” After a rapid whirl round the table, Ianto realised that his old friends hadn’t yet been accounted for and were looking rather smug. Also that they hadn’t recognised him until she introduced him, he felt rather miffed. “Which leads me back to the top of the table,” she was saying, “and Torchwatch, or the surviving members of it. Normally conspiracy theorists are the bane of our lives, digging where we don’t want them to, putting half the information together and still getting the right answer, hacking into things and changing our passwords or blowing up Number Ten. And Torchwatch are, without a doubt, the most annoying. The late, great Mickey Smith was with them for a while and caused more trouble than we could possibly have imagined, as was Ianto over there.” Seriously, did she fancy him or something? “So I did the only sensible thing. Once they’d crashed my systems twice in one day, I Rick-rolled their computers and hired them. Allow me to introduce my team: Mark Bond, Alicia Devon, Hannah Trigg and Lucy Trigg.” The team now grinned broadly at the looks of stupefaction from around the table and Mark caught his eye, sending him an exaggerated wink. All Ianto could think was that this woman was brilliant, the organisations had been hand-picking their agents from them for years, but they’d never just hired a full team. It was either brilliance or stupidity.

Several hours later and they had returned to the conference room after a tour of the archives and the rest of the facility and even Ianto’s hand was full of the information they’d been given. He looked up from the notes he’d made when someone set a cup of coffee down in front of him. Smiling gratefully he took a nervous sip and discovered that, whilst it wasn’t up to his standard, it was a decent cup of coffee. He leant back and looked around the room again, watching as small groups formed to discuss the day’s events. Doe was circulating again, saying goodbye to a group who had to leave to catch their flight home, giving instructions to her team, exchanging email addresses with one of the UNIT guards and annoying Colonel Mace enormously. He didn’t know anything about her, had only just met her, didn’t even know if he could trust her, but Ianto knew that he liked her.

He drank some more of his coffee and watched more people depart, then felt a hand on his shoulder. Spinning round, he found himself face to face with Mark and Hannah and grinned, “So you two finally got together then? Congratulations.” They laughed and dragged him off to one of the side rooms where the old team were gathered cross-legged on the floor, just like the old days.

“Bloody Hell Yan, you mean you actually got in? When?” Lucy laughed as she tugged him down.

“About five years ago now, about the time I disappeared from meetings.”

“And we thought you’d found someone.” Mark mused, wrapping an arm around Hannah, but he saw the look crossing Ianto’s face and grew concerned, “What’s up?”

Ianto shook himself, “I did, she got me a job there.”

“Oh God.” Alicia paled and put her hands over her mouth, “The Battle?” he nodded silently, memories threatening to overwhelm him. He needed Jack to hold him and tell him everything was alright, but Jack was a good two hours drive away, “I’m so sorry Yan.”

“Yeah, well…” he sighed heavily, “that’s Torchwood. I hope you lot know what you’re getting yourselves in to.”

“Oh come on Yan, you know what happened to LINDA, and Colin.” They nodded, “We’re safer in here than we are outside. As soon as we poke our noses in it’s curtains. And we’re safe here, except from papercuts.”

“Yeah, the papercuts are a nightmare.”

“Don’t forget shutting your fingers in the filing cabinets or burning yourself on the coffee machine.” Ianto offered as he leaned back against the wall

They stared at him, “You’ve actually done that?”

He scoffed, “Don’t be daft, but I know someone who has.” Owen, he grinned

“Do tell?” Alicia pulled her knees up to her chest and smiled wickedly. The young Welshman relaxed in the company of his friends and vowed silently to keep in touch this time. When he’d joined Torchwood he’d severed his ties in an attempt to keep them safe, now they were on the other side of the line though…

He glanced at his watch and realised that over an hour had passed. Standing up he apologised to the others and promised to email them, before going off in search of the mysterious Jane Doe. He started in the conference room, which was empty, and then headed for her office the other end of the corridor. When he got there he pushed the door open gently and was surprised by what he saw. Jane was sitting at her desk with her head in her hands and her shoulders hunched. Her hair was loose around her shoulders and curled slightly around her face and she’d changed the stark white blouse for a soft, pink sweater. She looked so young and so vulnerable that his heart bled for her. She was far too young to carry the weight of an organisation like this; even Jack was too young for that weight. He took the opportunity to look round the room, which had once belonged to the head researcher. Back then it had had bits of alien technology and books of essays on the bookshelves, potted plants in the corners and photos of his wife, their three children and their first grandchild on the desk. Now the bookshelves were full of science-fiction novels, the corner held a table with a lava lamp and the walls had posters of classic rock bands, but there were no photos; no sign that the girl behind the desk had any sort of family or friends.

She didn’t seem to have noticed his arrival, so he moved around silently and rested a hand gently on her shoulder, which made her jump in shock. “Sorry, Ianto. I thought you’d gone home, I was just…”

He smiled and pulled away again, shaking his head as he did so, “Are you alright?” he asked worriedly

“Yeah, just one of those days, you know? When the moment you wake up you want it to be over.” They shared a smile, oh he knew those days well, “Anyway, I wanted to show you this before anyone else because, well, it will mean more to you than most.” She stood up and led the way to the lift, then pressed the button for the top floor.

As he followed her, Ianto realised that they were going to the void room, where the Ghost Shift had been operated from. The last time he had been here it had been a mess, desks and paper all over the place, bodies… He shut that thought down hurriedly and looked around now. The room had been emptied, like most of the other rooms, but it hadn’t been refilled with cabinets or servers like the others. It was just a wide empty space. In the next room, where there had been empty space to operate the shift there was instead a sculpture, like a fountain but with a cascade of glass. The walls had been painted black, with white or silver engraving all over. As he went forwards to look at the sculpture, Jane pressed a button on a remote and the main lights went out, to be replaced by rainbow faceted light coming from inside the fountain and splintering through the glass. “It’s beautiful.” He whispered, feeling like he was in some sacred, hallowed place.

Jane didn’t seem to be listening though, instead she was staring at the engraving on the wall, which were now glowing dimly in the light from the fountain. “We don’t know what this metal is, it was found under the Yucatan Peninsula and is believed to have come from the meteorite which killed the dinosaurs. It doesn’t reflect visible light, so there’s ultra-violet light in with the colours in the fountain. The effect is quite extraordinary, don’t you think?” her voice was sad, so he came to her shoulder and studied the engravings. He felt her take his hand and looked at her briefly, aware that the shock must be showing on his face and determined not to let her see his tears. She squeezed his hand as he looked back at the name in front of him, “I wanted to do something to remember them, the people who gave their lives to defend us. And one day, I hope, everyone will be able to come in here and remember them. Lest we forget.”

He raised his free hand and traced her name with the tip of his finger; his voice was barely a whisper, “Lisa.”He

Author's Note: AU rewritey bit, plus fluff. Where on Earth is this going? Well we know, but they don't. If you like, please review. It won't make me write any more or less, but everyone likes to feel loved :) Especially Jack

I apologise for the abstract bit. It was 2 in the morning and it made me laugh, so I put it in. I won't argue with inspiration when it comes.

He gave orders confidently, hiding his own terror behind layers of flirting and assurance, but he couldn’t hide it from himself. He prayed to a God he’d never even known about until he met her that He’d keep her safe, that she’d get out of this alive. He knew that he wouldn’t, but she was so young, she couldn’t die like this, not with all the wonders of life and the universe ahead of her.

People were looking to him for guidance, for a hero, how the Hell had that happened? What he’d said to the Doctor, it wasn’t true, he was safer as a coward, but he’d never have known this wonderful mix of pain and pleasure that was falling in love, falling so hard that there was no return. Jack only half paid attention to the communications flying around, his training enabling him to pick out what was relevant to his defences and filter out what wasn’t, so he heard when Lynda told them that the Daleks were on the ship, but he listened fully in horror when she said that they were going down as well as up.

“Please, no.” He begged silently, not wanting anyone else to see his terror when they relied on him, but almost unable to control it, so strong was the urge to break down and scream. She was going to die and there was nothing he could do. Down on the bottom level people started screaming, which meant that the monsters had arrived. He struggled to hear her voice, but he knew it was useless because she wouldn’t scream. But he heard her, yelling above them all,

“Will you please SHUT UP! Thank you. We’re all going to die, but we can at least do it quietly.”

“You will be extermin…”

“Yeah, yeah, I had kinda guessed. But you know what, it doesn’t matter, not for me, because I know I won’t see Jack again whether I survive or not, and without him life wouldn’t be worth living. There’s a difference between living and existing, and I don’t want to exist without him, I want to live or die with him, because a life without love isn’t worth living.” Her voice was full of fear, and pain but still so strong, and so full of love. Jack knew what was coming and wished that the communications channels would be shut off, so he wouldn’t have to hear what came next, but there was no escaping it.

”Then live no more.” The sound of a blast from a Dalek weapon rang out and he knew she was gone, because a part of him had just died.

He sobbed awake and felt the tears already soaking the pillow beneath his head. The pain was still so close, a never-ending part of him that just cut afresh every day without her. In all the years she’d been gone he’d never truly moved on, because he couldn’t. How did you move on from someone who hadn’t even been born yet, who you knew you would see laughing happily with you one day? Now the times when he could see her were gone, in her timeline she was gone, he’d found her friends and told them, and now the void had truly hit him. It was like he’d only really lost her a couple of years ago.

The agony consumed him again and he cried, waves of pain consuming his whole being. He didn’t feel the strong arms gathering him up, or hear the soothing words his friend muttered into his hair as he cried. It was a long time before he realised that he wasn’t alone, and when he did he was embarrassed and pulled away. Ianto watched him in concern and indicated the glass of water he’d placed on the bedside table. Jack took it gratefully and stared into it, as though wishing he could lose himself in it. After a while he took a deep breath and let it out slowly, then looked up at Ianto properly for the first time, “Thanks.” The younger man just nodded and settled down on the bed in a way that indicated that he wasn’t going anywhere any time soon, for which Jack was grateful. “Well that was… weird.” He said after another long pause when he finally trusted himself to say more than one word.

“Weird in what way?” Ianto asked

“How many ways are there for a dream to be weird?” he pondered, avoiding the question.

He was grateful again when the young Welshman went with the flow, “Well, there’s the ‘that hasn’t happened yet but wouldn’t it be cool if it did?’ the ‘that happened yesterday but not quite like that’, the ‘that’s frankly impossible or highly improbable’ and the old favourite, ‘I had too much cheese last night’ type of weird.”

“Does cheese really give weird dreams?”

“I don’t know, I avoid it on principle because my dreams are weird enough. You know, pterodactyls flying around under Cardiff, aliens living in the sewers, nuclear warheads turning into baby whales and geraniums.”

“I always wondered about the geraniums myself.”

“Any dream which involves geraniums must be beyond the usual weird.”

“Yeah…”

“It’s a rule I’ve lived by all my life.” He added.

“Have you ever had cause to use it?” Jack asked, intrigued

“Once.” His face was unreadable, so Jack took the plunge

“Oh?”

“Yes, about a minute ago, actually. It came up in conversation.” He finally gave up and laughed out loud at the bemused expression in his friend’s face, “Sorry, I shouldn’t go abstract at this time of the morning.”

Jack smiled tensely but genuinely and shuffled backwards to lean on the wall behind the bed, so Ianto swung properly onto the bed and propped himself up in a reversal of their usual positions. The thought made them both smile simultaneously and then laugh out loud; Jack could feel the tension ebbing away in the companionship. He reached across to his bedside table and grabbed a bar of dark chocolate from on top of his book and broke a piece off, passing the rest to Ianto, who did the same. Finally, as if as an afterthought, Jack glanced at the clock, did an amusing double take and swore.

“Did I wake you?” He asked guiltily

“Yes, but I wasn’t sleeping properly anyway. You’re not about to apologise are you?” The look on Jack’s face told him that he was, “Well, don’t. After the number of times I’ve woken you, it’s only fair.” He smiled gently, trying to reassure his friend.

“Yeah, but I’m supposed to look after you, not the other way around.”

“On what grounds?” Ianto raised an eyebrow and tried to hide a smirk when Jack adopted his defeated expression. “We’re friends, we’re here for each other. Especially, I note, at two in the morning. And, face it, if you hadn’t woken me I would have woken you. It must be your turn.” He was relieved when Jack smiled slightly again, “So, are you going to tell me what’s up?”

“Jasmine.” He tipped his head back and scowled when it bounced off the wall behind him. Rubbing his head he met Ianto’s eyes again and saw that the young man was hurting for him, he felt like a heel, “Sorry, I just don’t seem to be able to shake her these days. I guess, I just don’t know really. She’s been dead for over one hundred and forty years for me, but last time I saw her was just a couple of years ago. It’s so weird.”

“How did you see her?”

“Time travel, we were travelling together and ended up in Cardiff. And I sort of stumbled across her on her own. She didn’t see me though. She was so brave, a heroine right to the end. But I’m glad I came back instead of her, because I wouldn’t wish immortality on my worst enemy.”

“If you could become mortal, if you could die today, would you?”

“If I could become mortal, yes. But die today, no. I’m not ready.” They sat in silence for a while, each lost in his own thoughts before Jack set the now empty glass on the table and grabbed another lump of chocolate, “I dreamt about her dying, I remembered it really. Her final words.”

“What were they?” Ianto asked, worried by the far-away look on Jack’s face

“A life without love isn’t worth living.” Jack seemed to return to the here and now and looked at Ianto again, “She really believed it. She could have saved herself, she could have lived, but she didn’t want to live without me. I’ve never felt more in love or more guilty, especially when I came back.”

“Do you agree with her?”

“Oh yes, every day. It’s all that kept me going sometimes, kept me living. Because once I stopped loving, I don’t think I’d ever be able to start again.” The look in his eyes was unreadable but he held his hand out to Ianto who took it without hesitation, “Stay here for the rest of the night?”

Ianto just nodded and surprised Jack by moving around to lean against him. Still, he didn’t seem to be complaining as he wrapped an arm around Ianto’s waist and pulled the covers over them both. The younger man curled himself against the immortal captain and held him as they both drifted off to sleep again.