Previous part of The Doctor's Son.

***

Ianto took a deep breath and straightened his tie as the lift came to a halt. He'd never thought he'd get used to wearing the suits and, while they'd never be his favourite form of attire, he could at least appreciate why his dad wore them. There was something almost comforting about being enclosed in the expensive fabric.

 

Shaking off the introspection, he stepped out of the lift and triggered the cog door. Ianto was assaulted with a wall of sound as the door rolled back. Loud music was playing and the Hub was filled with shouts and laughter as the team played two-on-two basketball. The teams were Jack and Tosh vs. Owen and Gwen.

 

Ianto stood behind the barred door and watched the group he'd come to know over the last couple of months. If Dr. Tanizaki succeeded in helping Rose, how much longer would Ianto be a part of these people's lives?

 

Owen was a brilliant doctor and a wounded man hiding underneath an abrasive exterior. They'd gone to the pub a couple of times together, but Owen really didn't appreciate the competition Ianto gave him when he was on the pull. It wasn't like Ianto was even trying. He enjoyed flirting, but Jack was more than enough to keep his libido occupied.

 

Gwen was a spark of normalcy in a chaotic world. The team needed someone like her to remind them of the real world they were fighting to save. That it wasn't all just research and adrenaline rushes. She was especially needed after Suzie's descent into obsessive madness. Ianto hoped that Gwen would never allow Torchwood to darken that bright spirit, even if she could be irritating to the core sometimes.

 

Toshiko was the quiet one. But the shy technical genius had a wicked sense of humour once you drew her out of her shell. She didn't recognise him from when she'd autopsied the space pig in London, but he remembered her. If Rose hadn't already been travelling with them, the Doctor might have tried to convince Tosh to go for a trip in the TARDIS.   Ianto wondered how Jack would've handled that situation.

 

Jack. Would Jack leave with them when Ianto and Rose headed back out into the universe with the Doctor? Ianto didn't know. Would his father even want Jack to come? He felt the anger towards his father flare up again. If his dad refused to let Jack travel with them, maybe Ianto would stay in Cardiff.

 

The game ended with Owen and Gwen winning. Owen calling loudly that drinks were on Jack. The team filed out past Ianto, Jack's eyes meeting his briefly as the Captain tossed him the basketball. An entire conversation took place in that quick glance.

 

Jack would do his best to keep the team occupied and out of the Hub while Ianto brought Dr. Tanizaki in to work on Rose. Ianto would also keep an eye on the CCTV, just in case any of them came back. They'd managed to keep Rose a secret this long and it wouldn't do to have the team find out about her now, on the verge of her recovery.

 

*********

 

"As soon as they're gone I'll be back down," Ianto told Rose, smiling happily. 

 

He turned and hurried back up the stairs to the main level of the Hub. Almost dizzy with happiness that Dr. Tanizaki had been able to get her breathing on her own, Ianto concentrated on keeping the elation out of his expression. He moved quietly through the bustle surrounding the team. Tosh and Owen were quickly searching for information on computers. Gwen was on the phone. Jack was…

 

"Ianto?" Jack called from his office. "Would you work some coffee magic?"

 

Ianto turned to look at his lover, seeing the question in those blue eyes. His green eyes sparkled in return, letting Jack know that the treatment was working. A smile graced his lips when he saw the answering sparkle from Jack.

 

Jack folded his hands together. To the others it would just look like he was begging Ianto for coffee, but Ianto knew it was a gesture of thankfulness and hope. He nodded and continued up the metal staircase to the coffee area.

 

A few seconds later the lights started flickering. Ianto's head snapped up, quickly thinking of a reasonable explanation for the team.

 

"What's happening?" Gwen asked.

 

Toshiko looked at her computer screen. "Internal power drain," she said slowly.

 

"What's causing it?" Gwen looked towards Jack.

 

He walked out of his office. "Something big to drain that amount of power. Tosh, run a system diagnostic."

 

"Actually, we've been having generator problems all evening," Ianto explained. He moved along the gantry to look down on the team. "I was down there checking on it earlier…a couple of bits of cabling came loose. I thought I'd fixed it."

 

He kept his eyes on Jack, willing the other man to go along with the ruse.

 

"Let me have another look," he insisted.

 

Jack crossed his arms. "Fine, go check."

 

Ianto moved quickly for the staircase, concerned with what Dr. Tanizaki could be doing to Rose.

 

"Want some help?" Gwen called.

 

"I'm fine," he dismissed. 

 

Once he was out of the main Hub, Ianto broke into a run. If Tanizaki had done anything to hurt Rose…

 

He burst into the storeroom and ran straight to the conversion unit.

 

"You've got to turn off the power," he admonished, pushing the power button.

 

Turning to where Rose was standing in the middle of the room, Ianto stopped short at the macabre scene that greeted him.

 

Dr. Tanizaki's body was lying on the floor, covered in blood.

 

"Oh, god. Oh my god." He rushed forward and knelt by the doctor's corpse. "What happened?"

 

"His upgrade failed," Rose replied, a metallic overtone to her voice.

 

Ianto felt his stomach clench at her words. "Was it an accident?" He paused, breathing heavily. "Tell me you didn't do this," he pleaded.

 

"I wanted to repay him for helping me," she replied. "By removing the weaknesses of his humanity."

 

"What have you done?" Horror laced his words as he stood and turned to her. "You've killed an innocent man."

 

"It's all right," Rose insisted.

 

Ianto grabbed her and shook her. "It's not all right," he yelled. "Rose, nothing about this is all right. Think about Jack and all he's done to help you. Think about my dad! What would he say about this?"

 

"Doctor…" Rose closed her eyes, visibly struggling for control. When she opened her eyes again and spoke, the overtone was gone from her voice. "Oh god, Ianto. What have I done?" Tears welled up in beautiful brown eyes.

 

Ianto placed his hands on her shoulders and leaned his forehead against hers. "I need you to stay here. Rest. Don't come out unless I tell you. I'll take care of you, Rose."

 

He knelt down next to Tanizaki's body again, preparing to drag it away. His emotions suddenly overwhelmed him and he choked back a sob.

 

"This is my fault. I'm responsible for this." Ianto felt sick to his stomach. He understood his dad so much better now. Ianto's guilt and horror was a small hint of what the Time Lord must have felt when he destroyed Gallifrey and ended the Time War.

 

Standing up, he began to drag the doctor's corpse away. "I'll hide the body," he assured her. "Everything's going to be okay."

 

*****

 

"Ianto," Jack's voice sounded in his ear. "Everything all right down there?"

 

Ianto stopped dragging the body for a moment and thought about how best to answer Jack's question.

 

"I need to hear those beautiful Welsh vowels, Ianto," Jack insisted.

 

"Jack, I'm here," Ianto replied. "The generator is fixed. But," he paused, looking down at the mangled body of Dr. Tanizaki and suppressed a sob. "I ran into another problem in the storage room in sub-basement level five that I could use your help with."

 

 Ianto heard the sharply indrawn breath Jack took when he realised what room Ianto was referring to.

 

"I'll be right there," Jack promised.

 

Settling the mutilated body of Dr. Tanizaki in an unused storeroom, Ianto threw a tarp over it and rushed back to Rose's room. He let out a cry when he stepped through the door and saw Rose.

 

"Rose, no! What are you doing?" he demanded, reaching for the scalpel she held in her hand.

 

"I won't let you stop me, Ianto," Rose insisted, her breathing harsh and labored as she backed quickly out of his reach. "It has to be done before the Cyberman is too strong. I'm fighting, Ianto, but it's winning. It may already be too late."

 

Ianto watched in horror as Rose sliced her exposed upper thigh, severing her femoral artery. Her scream of pain was overlaid with metallic tones and Ianto hesitated for a moment until she collapsed to the floor, blood flowing freely from her leg.

 

Knowing it only took minutes for a person to bleed out from a cut artery, Ianto dropped to his knees beside Rose and frantically pressed his hand to the wound. Looking around for something to use as a tourniquet, his gaze rested on two broken vials on the floor next to the conversion unit. There was a syringe lying next to them and Ianto knew without looking closer that they were the vials of morphine he kept in the room to help manage Rose's pain.

 

"Rose... Oh Rose, why?" His voice was hoarse with unshed tears. "We were going to go off into time and space again, with my dad and, maybe, Jack..."

 

The tears started to fall when he noticed that Rose was no longer breathing. He tried to give her CPR, but the metal breastplate wouldn't let him do the necessary chest compressions. 

 

Ianto ignored the sound of the door opening behind him as he reached out with a shaking hand to touch Rose's face. He barely heard Jack's gasped demand of, "What the hell happened?" when Rose's eyes snapped open again.

 

"Rose?"

 

"Yes, Ianto," she answered, the strange metallic overtone present in her voice again. "We will rebuild the Cyber-Army and travel through time and space together for all eternity."

 

"No, Rose, please fight this," Ianto begged. "We can find a way to fix you, you can be human again..."

 

"Listen to him, Rose," Jack encouraged softly. "Remember who you are. Rose Tyler. You travel through time and space with the Doctor."

 

"Doctor..." Rose's voice was soft and filled with pain, the overtone gone. "Ianto, you have to end it. It's too strong. I can't fight it anymore. Please."

 

"You can beat it, Rose," Ianto answered, tears falling silently down his face. "You have to fight."

 

Rose's face twisted in agony and, pushing Ianto away forcefully, she stood up.   Not expecting her action, Ianto fell back, striking his head against the wall. Through the haze of pain and tears, he saw Jack draw his gun and aim it at Rose.

 

"Jack, no!" Ianto yelled.

 

"The army will be rebuilt from here," Rose said, the robotic tone back in her voice. She looked around the room, paying no attention to either man. "This building is suitable."

 

Ignoring his lover, Jack spoke directly to Rose, lowering his gun to try and reason with her. "Rose, you know I won't allow that to happen. Think about what happened at Canary Wharf. All the lives lost. If you won't allow us to try and help you, then you will force us to stop you."

 

"This building belongs to me now," the Cyberwoman stated, striding swiftly towards Jack. "You will all be deleted."

 

She reached out and, before Jack could raise his weapon, sent jolt after jolt of raw energy racing through his body.

 

"Jack!" Ianto's anguished cry echoed Jack's tortured yell throughout the room. Acting on pure instinct, Ianto pulled out his own weapon and emptied the entire clip into Rose's body. He watched as she fell to the floor with a clatter.

 

Staggering to where Jack lay crumpled on the floor, Ianto picked up his lover's gun. Pausing to carress the cooling flesh, he looked at the Cyberwoman lying next to Jack. His eyes wandered over the familiar face encased in steel. 

 

The beautiful brown eyes opened. With a look full of suffering and desperation, she whispered one word, "Please."

 

Nodding calmly, he murmured, "I'm sorry, Rose."

 

Taking careful aim, Ianto shot bullet after bullet right between her eyes.

 

Once the gun was empty, Ianto fell to his knees in between the bodies of his lover and his friend. Clutching his arms across his middle, tears poured down his face as he rocked back and forth.

 

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry...." Ianto didn't hear the gasp signalling Jack's return to life. All he could hear was the sound of Jack's agonized scream as the Cyberwoman ‘deleted' him, and echoes of the gun shots that killed his best friend.

 

Ianto jumped when he felt arms encircle his shoulders. The familiar scent of 51^st century pheromones permeated his senses. Turning into the comforting embrace, Ianto threw his arms around Jack and clutched him tightly.

 

"I thought I'd lost you," Ianto choked out.

 

Trying to divert Ianto's attention away from his death and resurrection, Jack said the first thing that popped into his head.

 

"Hey, if a bunch of overgrown pepper-pots can't kill me, a tin-can on legs doesn't stand a chance." He winced as soon as the words came out of his mouth.

 

Ianto pushed Jack away and scrambled to his feet.

 

"Fuck you, Jack Harkness!" Ianto's anger surged bright and hot. "That wasn't some random alien, that was Rose."

 

Jack stood up and reached out for Ianto. "I'm sorry, Ianto, I didn't mean that the way it sounded. I loved Rose, too..."

 

"I just shot and killed my best friend," Ianto continued, Jack's apology not penetrating through his rage. "I was supposed to be helping her and instead I emptied my gun and yours into her body, because she hurt you. And you just dismiss her death, like she was just another monster."

 

Ianto looked at Jack, eyes narrowed with fury.

 

"You like to think that you're a hero, but you're the biggest monster of all," he spat. "No wonder my dad left you on the Game Station."

 

Incensed, Jack swung his fist, connecting with Ianto's mouth. Ianto staggered back, hand coming up to wipe the blood from his lip. 

 

Green eyes filled with revulsion stared into icy blue eyes filled with disdain. Both of them ignored the devastation and hurt swirling behind the veneer of hatred.

 

"Get out," Jack said through clenched teeth. "Get the fuck out of my base and out of my life."

 

Ianto inclined his head. "Like I'd want to stay here with a freak like you." He turned and exited the room, not even stopping to say a final goodbye to Rose.

 

The rest of the team were nowhere to be seen and Ianto quickly left through the Tourist Office. Taking a deep breath of the warm night air, Ianto tried to think of what to do next. The last couple of months had been filled with Jack and trying to save Rose. Now, he just wanted to go home.

 

Da, he sent his thoughts reaching out through time and space. Da, I need you.

 

Ianto? Came the reply. Where are you, son? I'll come pick you up.

 

I'm in Cardiff. On the Plass in front of the Millenium Centre.

 

The familiar grinding sound of the TARDIS echoed through the night and Ianto smiled tiredly as the ship materialised in front of him. He opened the door and stumbled into the waiting arms of his father.

 

**********

Before Ianto's footsteps even died away, Jack was regretting his harsh words and actions. He knew how close Rose and Ianto were and shouldn't have let the Time Lord push him to anger like that.

 

Wanting nothing more than to apologise and be held in his lover's arms as they grieved, Jack ran up to the main part of the Hub. His eyes avidly searched for any sign of Ianto, but the man was nowhere to be found.

 

As he moved towards the cog door to go up to reception, his attention was caught by the bio-container that held the Doctor's hand. The liquid inside was bubbling madly, making it look like the hand was dancing and waving. 

 

While he watched, the activity in the jar slowed and then stopped. That was when Jack knew it was too late. Ianto had gone with the Doctor. And Jack was left behind with the bodies once again.

***

The Doctor stepped back from comforting Ianto, his gaze taking in his son's dishevelled state.

 

"Go clean up and change, Ianto," he suggested. "Then maybe you can tell me why you look like you just went ten rounds with a Tarkazian prize fighter and lost."

 

Ianto left the control room and walked down the corridor to his room. He trailed his hand along the wall as he walked, smiling softly at the comforting touch of the TARDIS in his mind. He could sense her curiosity at his sadness, but knew that, unlike his father, she wouldn't pry. 

 

Closing the door to his room, Ianto shed his clothing and walked into his private bathroom. Stepping into the shower, he leant against the wall, closed his eyes and let the warm water soothe his tired body.

 

Tears mingled with the water running down his face. Tears for Rose, for Jack and for himself. Ianto thought about the hurtful things he'd said to Jack. He allowed himself to remember the misery hiding behind the coldness in Jack's beautiful blue eyes.

 

"God, Jack," he whispered. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it. I lashed out in pain and guilt. You're not a monster, or a freak. You're my brave, beautiful Captain and I'm so sorry I hurt you."

 

Realising that he needed to say these things to Jack, he hurried through the rest of his shower and, wrapping a towel around his waist, rushed into his room to find his mobile phone. Grabbing his own sonic screwdriver, Ianto used the device to upgrade his mobile like his father had once done to Rose's.

 

Tossing the sonic screwdriver onto the bed, Ianto scrolled through his contacts until he found Jack's number. He pressed the call button and waited for it to connect.

 

"I'm sorry, but the number you are trying to reach is not accepting calls at this time."

 

Ianto pulled the mobile away from his ear and frowned. Hanging up, he dialled Jack's number again and received the same message.   Jack had obviously blocked his number.

 

"Damnit!" he yelled, throwing his mobile against the wall. He watched as it shattered into several pieces. Leaning forward, Ianto ran his fingers through his hair in frustration.

 

Feeling the gentle touch of the TARDIS in his mind, Ianto relaxed back onto the bed. She didn't intrude on his thoughts and for that the Time Lord was grateful. He couldn't get the picture of Rose's body covered in metal and blood, or the desolation in Jack's eyes when Ianto called him a monster, out of his mind.

 

A knock on the door roused him from his melancholy thoughts. Moving quickly, Ianto grabbed a pair of jeans and put them on. He used the towel to wipe the tears from his face before throwing it in a corner.

 

"Ianto," the Doctor called, knocking on the door again. "I want an explanation."

 

Ianto jerked the door open and told his father, "Yeah? So do I."

 

Letting his father into the room, he buried his devastation over Rose's death and let his anger come forward. 

 

"Explanation for what?" the Doctor asked, bemused. "What did I do?"

 

"What did...? You lied to me," Ianto spat. "You told me that Jack stayed behind to help rebuild the Earth."

 

He could see the dawning awareness in his father's eyes, along with guilt over what he'd done.

 

"I, well, he did stay behind," the Doctor stammered.

 

"Because you left him there. Left him in that floating tomb with no idea of what had happened to him or why." Ianto shook his head in disgust. "How could you, Da? How could you just abandon him like that? And then you lied to me about it. You lied to Rose. Did you know what had happened to him?"

 

The Doctor straightened up and set his shoulders, a hard look entering his eyes. "Yes, I knew. I could feel what he'd become and ran. If you've seen him, then you've felt it, too. He's wrong, Ianto."

 

Ianto struck without thought, catching his father on the side of the mouth with his fist. "You bastard," he hissed. "He is not ‘wrong'. You have no idea what he's been through because of you."

 

"We're Time Lords, Ianto. It's instinct. He's a fixed point in time and space. A fact." The Doctor wiped a trickle of blood from his lip. "That's never supposed to happen and you know it. Rose brought him back to life with the power of the Time Vortex, but she couldn't control it and she brought him back forever."

 

"So instead of explaining all that to him, you ran away," Ianto sneered. "Tell me, would you have left Rose behind if their situations had been reversed?"

 

The Doctor's lips quirked into a disdainful smirk. "Jack never could've done what Rose did with the TARDIS."

 

Ianto clenched his fists in an attempt not to hit his father again. "Why not? Because he's a con-man without any redeeming virtues?"

 

The older Time Lord opened his mouth to speak, but Ianto cut him off.

 

"Never mind," he growled. "You have no idea what kind of man Jack is - the decent, honourable, heroic man that I know. You just see him as cannon fodder to use when you won't stick your own neck out. Then you abandon him when you have no further use for him. You're a bloody coward. Get out of my sight. Just looking at you makes me sick."

 

The Doctor moved towards the door, then turned and looked back at his son. "I can only assume, since you're asking me about all this, that you ran into the Captain while you were on Earth. Does he have anything to do with the state you were in when I picked you up?"

 

"No, he doesn't," Ianto replied shortly, deciding not to tell his father anything about what he'd been doing the last few months. "I'm tired and I don't want to talk about this anymore. Please just leave me alone."

 

"Fine," the Doctor said, opening the door. "But I still expect an explanation of what happened to you. Get some rest and maybe you'll calm down enough to be reasonable."

 

The door closed behind his father and Ianto growled in aggravation. "Bloody, stiff-necked...He always has to be right. I should've stayed with Jack on Earth." Knowing it was too late to go back, Ianto stretched out on the bed. He reached for the pillow that Jack had used during his time on the TARDIS and buried his face in its softness. His lover's scent had faded completely away, but Ianto imagined he could still smell those delectable pheromones.

 

"I'm sorry, Jack. So sorry," he whispered. The events of the day caught up with him and Ianto relaxed the tight hold he had on his emotions. He sobbed into the pillow, letting all his anguish and guilt pour out of him until he fell asleep.

 

***************

"Oh, hello! You must be Ianto."

 

Ianto turned away from the coffee maker to see an attractive young black woman standing in the doorway of the TARDIS' kitchen.

 

"Yeah, I am," he growled. "Who the hell are you?"

 

 She didn't let his surly response deter her. "I'm Martha. Martha Jones," she replied, smiling. "I just started travelling with the Doctor. Oooh, is that coffee?"

 

Huffing his breath out in annoyance, Ianto nodded and poured her a cup. Taking his own mug to the table, he sat down and tried to ignore Martha's chattering. He figured he'd succeeded when she set her cup in the sink and quietly left the room.

 

Even with the TARDIS trying to soothe him, he hadn't gotten much sleep. Every time he closed his eyes he saw flashes from the basement room of the Hub. Rose's metal-clad body lying in a pool of blood; Jack writhing as volt after volt of electricity surged through his body; the mangled corpse of Dr. Tanazaki.

 

The Doctor walked into the kitchen just as it occurred to Ianto what Martha's presence in the TARDIS meant.

 

"How long has it been for you since you left me in London?" Ianto asked, stomach churning.

 

"Oh, just a couple of months," the Doctor breezily replied. He continued speaking, oblivious to the rage emanating from his son. "Did you meet Martha? She's brilliant! She helped Shakespeare defeat the Carrionites with an incantation from Harry Potter, of all things. I'm thinking of taking her to New Earth. Rose loved it…"

 

"How could you?" Ianto snarled, interrupting his father's enthusiastic rambling. "You fucking replaced her. She dies and you just move on to the next pretty young thing."

 

The Doctor's eyes widened in shock and then turned cold. "It's none of your business how I conduct my personal affairs, Ianto."

 

"Affairs," Ianto spat. "Is that all she was to you? An affair?"

 

"Enough, Ianto!" the Doctor thundered. "I loved Rose, but she's gone. There's nothing I can do to change that. I refuse to apologise for wanting someone around to keep me company."

 

"Funny how it always seems to be a young, adoring girl, isn't it?" Ianto sneered. He stood up and strode to the door. Turning to face his father, he said, "Sometimes I wish I'd never met you, Father. You make me ashamed to be your son. Does Martha even know what's expected of your Companions?" he sneered. " Someone should tell her - adoration, love and the sacrifice of her life whenever you see fit."

 

His nerves raw, Ianto returned to his room. As much as he loved the TARDIS, he couldn't stay here.   Knowing the Doctor wouldn't take him back to Cardiff - and not sure if Jack would welcome him back, even if he did return - Ianto began to form a plan.

 

Caressing the wall next to his bed, he whispered, "Will you help me, girl?"

 

**********

 

A short time later, Ianto felt the TARDIS land at their destination. Waiting to make sure the Doctor and Martha had left to explore, he began to set his plan in motion.

 

Walking into the console room, he set his bag down on the grating next to the door and started to program the TARDIS.

 

He watched as a headset lowered from the ceiling. Inserting an antique fob watch into the correct slot, Ianto took a deep breath. Fitting it over his head, he pointed his sonic screwdriver at the controls.

 

"I want to go to Rivelus Prime in the year 5094. Remember, don't let my father know where I am. I don't care if he knows what I've done; he won't be able to find me once I'm human. I just need some time to heal," he told the TARDIS.

 

He smiled when he felt her soft touch in his mind. He knew she understood why he needed to do this, and that she wouldn't betray him to his father.

 

He closed his eyes and pictured Jack's blue eyes smiling at him. With a smile on his face, he pressed the button on his sonic screwdriver to activate the process of becoming human.

***

Jack closed the file on Abbadon and rubbed his hands down his face. He leant back in his chair and thought about the months since Ianto had left.

 

The Torchwood team had crumbled. There was no other way to say it. He'd tried to keep them together, but the difficult decisions he continually had to make as their leader drove them apart.

 

It started with the faeries. He'd lost Estelle. Then he'd had to let Jasmine go to save the world. The team had been livid. It took weeks for them to let that go.

 

Just as they were beginning to come back together as a team, there was that disastrous trip to the Brecon Beacons. Owen and Toshiko had been captured, and Gwen had gotten shot. Jack couldn't help feeling that if Ianto had been there, he'd have been able to do something to help them; and Gwen would still be alive. Instead, she'd pushed on with the investigation in spite of her injuries and ended up losing too much blood. She'd died in Owen's arms just before the paramedics had arrived on the scene.

 

Jack had often wondered if there had been something ‘brewing' between the medic and the former PC. A part of him was almost relieved that she had died before anything developed in that respect. It would've driven a further wedge amoung the team, especially considering Toshiko's unrequited feelings for Owen.

 

Not long after losing Gwen came the incident with Mary and the pendant. Just like with Jasmine, he hadn't had a choice. Mary had to die; and he had to make the decision. Intellectually, Toshiko had known it was the right thing to do, but emotionally she had never forgiven him for killing her lover.

 

That had made her vulnerable to Suzie when they'd brought her back from the dead. Toshiko had taken her out of the Hub and almost ended up dying. Fortunately, before he'd left Ianto had rigged up a signal relay using the water tower - in his words, ‘It's bloody stupid not to have a backup to the failsafe.' Otherwise, Jack wouldn't have gotten to Toshiko in time.

 

The passengers from the Sky Gypsy had affected all of them. John committing suicide, Diane flying back into the Rift, and Emma dying in a bus crash on her way to London.

 

Jack figured he should've replaced Gwen on the team, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. So it was really no surprise that when he and Toshiko had been trapped in 1941, Owen felt he'd had no choice except to open the Rift and bring them back.

 

Then time had splintered and Bilis Manger had duped both Owen and Toshiko into thinking the only way to stop the splinters would be to open the Rift all the way. Bilis had been correct, but with an ulterior motive, and Jack had wound up dying in the fight with Abbadon.

 

Which was why Jack had found himself waking up all alone lying in a morgue drawer earlier that afternoon. After seeing him come back to life from a bullet to the head, at least they hadn't frozen him and shut him in the drawer.

 

Jack still wasn't sure exactly what had led him out of the darkness. He'd been lost for a long time. When he closed his eyes and concentrated, he got flashes of blue eyes and a lilting accent whispering his name. It didn't make sense because neither the eyes or the voice seemed familiar and he hadn't gone by the name it whispered in over 135 years.

 

Dismissing the confusing images, Jack pushed back from his desk, stood up and walked out into the Hub. He looked around and sighed at the amount of damage they still had to repair. 

 

"I could really use some coffee," he said to himself.

 

Striding toward the cog door, he was distracted by a gurgling noise. He glanced at the bio-container that held the Doctor's hand and saw it bubbling madly. He ran down the stairs to stand in front of the jar, not daring to hope.

 

A smile dawned on his face when he heard the familiar grinding noise of the TARDIS. 

 

"Ianto," he breathed. A genuinely happy grin, the first in months, formed on his lips.

 

Not wanting to wait for his lover to come to him, Jack grabbed the jar and raced to the invisible lift. He tapped his foot impatiently, mentally urging the lift to move faster.

 

Myfanwy poked her head out of her nest and squawked at him questioningly.

 

"It's okay, girl," he soothed. "I'm just going to see Ianto. Maybe he'll have a nice big bar of chocolate for you."

 

The lift finally reached the top and he stepped off of the paving stone, looking around anxiously.

 

He spotted the TARDIS at the other end of the Plass and started running. When he was halfway to the ship, the sound of the engines echoed across the intervening space. 

 

"No!" he yelled. His stride hesitated and then he was running even faster than before. "Ianto, wait! Doctor! Ianto! Please!"

 

The ship began to dematerialize but Jack put on an extra burst of speed, telling himself, "No. Not this time. Not again." He dove for the door; grabbing on to the outside of the TARDIS, Jack hung on for dear life.

 

"Ian-to!"

 

********

 

A scream assaulted his ears as Jack gasped back to life. 

 

"Well, so much for me," a female voice said. "It's all right. Just breathe deep. I've got you."

 

He realized that he was clutching a young woman and relaxed his grip. Grinning slightly, he introduced himself, "Captain Jack Harkness. And who are you?"

 

Her dusky skin turned a shade darker and she smiled. "Martha Jones."

 

Chuckling, Jack replied, "Nice to meet you, Martha Jones."

 

"Oh, don't start," another voice intruded.

 

"I was only saying hello," Jack protested, glaring at the man in the long, brown coat that was frowning down at him.

 

The woman looked over her shoulder at the man, still smiling. "I don't mind."

 

Jack accepted her help in getting to his feet. Still trying to catch his breath, he eyed the man standing next to the blue police box.

 

"Doctor?" Jack queried, lifting his chin defiantly.

 

"Captain," the Doctor responded, a look of disapproval on his face.

 

Arching an eyebrow, Jack observed, "It's been awhile."

 

"It has," the Doctor agreed. "Same as ever...although...have you had work done?"

 

Jack's face registered his disbelief. "You can talk!"

 

The Doctor frowned in confusion before he realised what the Captain was referring to. "Oh yes, the face. Regeneration. How did you know this was me?"

 

Rolling his eyes, Jack replied sarcastically, "The police box kind of gives it away." He paused. "I've been following you for a long time. You abandoned me!"

 

"Did I? Busy life," was the Time Lord's breezy reply. He glared pointedly. "Move on."

 

Knowing he wasn't going to get the answers he wanted, Jack let it go for the moment. Looking around hopefully, he asked, "Where's Ianto?"

 

The Doctor's eyes hardened in anger. "I don't know," he said carelessly. "He hijacked the TARDIS, programmed her to not tell me where she took him and used the chameleon arch to become human."  

 

Jack's heart sank. This wasn't the reunion he'd been hoping for. He'd wanted, no, needed to see Ianto and make things right with his lover. Instead, he was stuck god knows when, not to mention where, with the man who had sent him off to his death and then discarded him like so much trash.

 

Sighing in defeat, he hitched his pack higher on his shoulders and trudged after the Doctor and Martha Jones.

 

*********

 

Jack leant against the wooden crate behind him and closed his eyes. So much had happened - was still happening - but all he could hear were the Doctor's words ringing in his head.

 

"I ran away from you."

 

"It's not easy just, just looking at you, Jack - ‘cause you're wrong."

 

"You're a fixed point in space and time. A fact. That's not supposed to happen."

 

"...flew all the way to the end of the universe just to get away from you."

 

"...you're the biggest monster of them all...freak..."

 

Jack shook his head. No. Ianto hadn't meant it. He was distraught over Rose and lashed out. He didn't mean it. Jack had to believe that Ianto didn't think he was a monster, a freak - otherwise, what was the point of striving to be worthy of the second chance he'd been given so long ago?

 

He glanced across the warehouse to where the Doctor was sitting in front of Martha's laptop, monitoring the news. The Time Lord was completely focussed on finding out what the Master was planning.

 

Jack shivered. An insane alien was Prime Minister of Britain. If he could command the TARDIS to travel without the Doctor; if he could deceive the entire country into voting for him; what was to stop him from finding Ianto and using him against them?

 

"Doctor?" he asked quietly. The Time Lord ignored him. He cleared his throat and spoke louder, "Doctor?"

 

"Hmm? What is it, Captain?" the Doctor replied absently.

 

"Ianto...are you sure the Master can't get to him? Doesn't know about him?" Jack's eyes silently begged for reassurance.

 

The Doctor huffed in annoyance. "Jack, we're in the middle of a crisis and you're worried about your boyfriend?"

 

"My boyfr...?" Jack began, incredulous. "Doctor, he's your son! Aren't you the least bit concerned for his safety?"

 

"Bah! There's no way the Master can track him while he's human," he said dismissively. "That's not important right now. How did he mask himself from me?" he muttered. "I should've been able to sense another Time Lord on Earth."

 

Jack's heart skipped a beat. If the Master had been here for the last eighteen months, he may have been able to sense Ianto. He opened his mouth to ask about the possibility, but then snapped it shut again. The Doctor hadn't seemed to care about Ianto's safety. Had, in fact, gotten annoyed that Jack had even asked about him.

 

The Doctor may not care, but Jack did. He vowed that he would do whatever it took to make sure the Master's plans didn't succeed and that his focus stayed right here on Earth. No matter what Jack had to do, he would do it - for Ianto.

 

*********

 

"Maybe I've been wandering for too long. Now I've got someone to care for."

 

After everything they'd been through, everything the Master had done, Jack couldn't believe what the Doctor was saying. He was just going to keep the bastard. Let him live in the TARDIS.

 

The Time Lord had abandoned him without batting an eye because of something that had been done to him and he was going to take the Master - a psychotic, ruthless killer - with him. The last, little bit of respect Jack had left for the Doctor died a quiet death at that realisation.

 

When the shot rang out and the Doctor rushed to the Master's side, Jack had to turn away, his stomach churning. He took the gun from Lucy Saxon's limp grasp and briefly considered using it on the Master himself. No. He was a better man than that. Jack almost changed his mind, though, when he heard the conversation going on between the two Time Lords.

 

"I've got you," the Doctor soothed. "I've got you."

 

"Dying in your arms," the Master sneered. "Happy now?"

 

"You're not dying," the Doctor insisted. "Don't be stupid. It's only a bullet. Just regenerate."

 

Jack could barely stand to look at them. Why would the Doctor want to save that piece of garbage? It wasn't like he was the only other Time Lord in existence. There was still Ianto. But the Doctor had clearly shown who was more important to him in the grand scheme of things.

 

"Regenerate. Just regenerate," he begged. "Please. Please! Just regenerate. Come on!"

 

"Spend the rest of my life imprisoned with you?" the Master spat.

 

Jack turned away and tuned them out. He didn't understand and he didn't want to. He just wanted to get off of this stinking ship and find someplace he could rest.

 

His shoulders slumped as he realised he didn't really have anyplace to go. Owen and Tosh wouldn't welcome him back. He didn't know where Ianto was - or when. He couldn't bear to stay with the Doctor now, even if he was invited to, which didn't seem likely.

 

‘I could use my Vortex Manipulator and go anywhere I want,' he thought. But there wasn't anywhere he really wanted to go. 

 

He glanced around the bridge, ignoring the Doctor sobbing over the body of the dead Time Lord. His gaze took in the shattered looks on the faces of Martha's family. There. That's where he could start. He could help them.

 

Jack's shoulders straightened as his sense of purpose returned. After he got the Jones family safely home, he would go back to Cardiff - back to Torchwood. Even if his team didn't want him back, that's where he would stay.

 

Someday, the right Time Lord would come back - and Jack planned to be there waiting.

***

Ian Jackson sat up in bed with a gasp. Another nightmare. For as long as he could remember, he'd had the strangest dreams. Dreams of travelling through time and space and having adventures. Some left him happy and smiling; others left him hard and aching, covered in sweat. Then there were the nightmares.

 

All of the dreams, and some of the nightmares, had one common element - a man with ocean blue eyes and a thousand watt smile. Ian had no idea who the man was, but he swore that if he ever saw him, he would drag him to the nearest bed and keep him there for a week. Tied up, if necessary. The things his dream-lover could do with his tongue...

 

Realising that he wasn't going to be getting any more sleep, Ian pushed himself out of bed and padded naked into the en-suite. Turning on the tap in the sink, he cupped his hands under the cool water and leant down to splash it on his face.

 

Standing back up, he shut the tap off and studied his reflection in the mirror.  He saw shaggy blonde hair sticking up every which way, except where the ends had gotten wet; thick eyebrows arched questioningly over blood-shot green eyes shadowed with exhaustion and lingering horror.

 

Shaking off the remnants of the nightmare, Ian stepped into the bathing cubicle and instructed the voice-activated controls to run the morning shower program. While he was standing under the stinging spray of hot water, he ran over the mental checklist of things he needed to get done before meeting his associate.

 

Ian had crossed paths with the rogue Time Agent when they were both trying to track down a woman rumoured to have an Arcadian diamond. Someone else had found her first and ended up blown to bits for the effort. Ian and John celebrated their lucky escape over a few Hypervodka martinis.

 

Hart was a shameless flirt and had tried several times to get Ian into bed. He shrugged off Ian's continued rejection with a breezy, "You'll give in someday, Eye Candy."

 

Rolling his eyes at the remembered comment, Ian got out of the shower and stood in front of the air dryers. The warm air caressed his body, drying him from all sides. When the sensors registered that the excess moisture on his skin was gone, the air turned off. Ian walked back into the sleeping area and quickly dressed before going to make some coffee. 

 

He was meeting John at the club where they'd first met. Not his favourite place to spend time, but Hart seemed to enjoy it and they wouldn't be there very long anyway.

 

Ian hoped John's partner from the Time Agency didn't call again. They'd been in the middle of a con when Hart had received a message on his wrist strap and taken off. He'd had to do a lot of fast talking to salvage the deal they'd been working on together.

 

Still, Ian had to admit that he'd like to meet John's partner. Anyone that could exert that much control over John Hart was someone Ian thought it would be interesting to know.

 

Finishing his coffee, Ian made sure he had everything he needed - communicator, identification, jacket.  He absently grabbed his pocket watch, shrugged into his jacket and left the building.

 

**********

 

Ian walked into the pub and paused, looking around. He spotted John immediately. The red coat the man invariably wore stood out like a sore thumb amongst the darker colours everyone else was wearing.

 

Hart appeared to be in the middle of a particularly outrageous tale, if the wild gesticulations and facial expressions were anything to go by. Ian found himself wondering if all Time Agents were as flamboyant as John Hart. He made his way to where the man was holding court.

 

"...and that's when she said, ‘Oh, didn't I tell you I was part of the emperor's royal harem?'" Hart finished his story amid peals of laughter and exclamations of disbelief. Spotting Ian, he called, "Eye Candy! Just in time for the next round. C'mon, then, what's your poison?"

 

Ian rolled his eyes at the stupid nickname and replied, "I'll have an Argolin whiskey."

 

"Such expensive tastes, Eye Candy," Hart scolded. "Still, you're worth it. Someday I hope to find out just how worth it you are."

 

"They do say that hope springs eternal, Hart," Ian retorted, settling into a chair.

 

"You wound me, Ian," John said, theatrically clasping his hands against his heart and slumping into his seat.

 

"Wanker," Ian muttered, taking a sip of his drink.

 

"Only because you refuse to succumb to my not inconsiderable charms." Hart straightened up in his chair, a serious look crossing his face. He abruptly dismissed his fawning entourage and turned toward Ian. "My end is all set up. Do you have everything ready on your side?"

 

"Yep. The energy blasters are at the warehouse. They've all been disabled except for the top layer in each crate," Ian replied. "Your contacts can test a weapon from any crate and it will work."

 

Hart nodded. "Good." A cunning look crossed his face. "So, how did you disable the weapons? Will they be able to make them work again?"

 

"Not without these," Ian replied, smirking. He held out a small, round disc.

 

Hart inspected the disc, turning it this way and that, before handing it back to Ian. "What is it?"

 

"The energy cell," Ian answered. "They can't be duplicated and the only plans on how to make them aren't available outside of a top secret factory that produces them."

 

"Did you destroy the cells you removed?"

 

Ian scoffed, "No. They can't be destroyed without detonating. The blast radius of just one of these would be roughly the size of the city. Destroying all of them would probably take out the planet."

 

"Interesting," Hart mused. "So what did you do with them?"

 

Ian gave him a suspicious look. "Why do you want to know?"

 

"Just curious," Hart grinned. "I want to make sure that if anything goes wrong tonight, we won't blow up the planet accidentally."

 

"Hmm, they're safe." Ian didn't entirely trust Hart's offhand reply. 

 

"Okay, I think we're ready then." Hart stood up and clapped Ian's shoulder. "I'm off to meet my contact. We'll see you at the warehouse in an hour."

 

"Right. See you then," Ian agreed, finishing his drink. 

 

He watched as Hart left the pub, an odd feeling of danger permeating his being. Ian shook the feeling off. So long as Hart kept his end of the bargain, everything would go as planned and they'd both be rich men by the end of the night.

 

*********

 

"So much for well-laid plans," Ian said, gasping in pain.

 

Hart puched him in the gut again and laughed. "You were an easy mark, Eye Candy. The perfect patsy to get me out of the Time Agency."

 

Shaking his head to clear the haze of pain, Ian focused on the man standing in front of him. "Patsy? You're leaving the Agency?"

 

"I've wanted to get out of that bureaucratic hell-hole for years," Hart sneered. "And away from that arrogant, overbearing partner they stuck me with."

 

Ian frowned in confusion. "I thought you two were involved?"

 

"Hastings is a good fuck, sure," Hart granted. "He's a by-the-book kind of guy, though. He never lets me have any fun. It'll be a relief to be rid of him and all the Agency restrictions."

 

"I don't know much about the Time Agency, but I doubt they'll just let you go," Ian replied.

 

"Ah, but you don't see the whole picture, Eye Candy." Hart patted him on the cheek, condescension dripping from every word. "By the time the Agency notices that I'm missing, they'll track me here. Where they'll find your dead body and enough evidence to implicate you as the mastermind behind this little operation."

 

Hart pulled out an antique hand gun and trailed the barrel down Ian's cheek. Ian struggled against the mercenary holding him captive, but the man just laughed and held his arms tighter.

 

"They'll see my Vortex Manipulator on the floor." Hart removed the wrist strap and dropped it carelessly. "It's already programmed to show them that I was tracking you, hoping to stop the deal from going down. They'll assume that I was taken hostage by my friends here and executed someplace else. Very sad. A loyal Agent killed in the line of duty," he grinned. "I may even get a commendation out of this. Posthumously, of course."

 

"Why are you doing this?"

 

"We're a cosmic joke, Eye Candy, an accident of chemicals and evolution. The jokes, the sex," Hart stroked Ian's face with the barrel of his gun again. "It all just covers the fact that nothing means anything.  And the only consolation is - money."

 

"You're insane," Ian spat. "A complete nutter."

 

Hart threw back his head and laughed loudly. "That is quite probably true, Eye Candy. But I still managed to out-con you."

 

He stepped back and jerked his head at the man holding Ian. The mercenary let him go, but before Ian could move, Hart pulled the trigger, shooting him in the stomach.

 

"Enjoy the last few minutes of your life, Eye Candy," Hart taunted. "I'd say see you around, but..."

 

**********

 

Ian lay gasping on the floor of the warehouse, pain wracking his body. Hart had left with the mercenaries, taking the weapons with them. They were probably going to ransack his flat and find the energy cells for the blasters, as well.  

 

He smiled at the thought of how upset the mercenaries would be with Hart when they found out the cells had been disabled, too. He'd had a feeling that Hart couldn't be trusted, so he'd lied about the cells detonating if anyone tried to destroy them.

 

Shrugging out of his jacket, Ian tried to use it as a compress to slow the bleeding. His pocket watch fell out and the dim light of the warehouse gleamed dully on the gold surface.

 

‘Lord of Time...'

 

Ian stared at the metal sphere lying on the ground in front of him.

 

‘...can feel the turn of the universe...'

 

‘A trick of cheating death...'

 

The voice was coming from the watch. Ian reached out to grasp it, wondering what was happening.

 

‘Regeneration...'

 

He released the catch, opening the ancient timepiece. A bright light swirled out and entered him; entered his mind. Gasping at the cascade of memories invading his head and the pain invading his body, Ianto Jones struggled to his feet. 

 

A tingling ran along his nerve endings. He stretched his arms out and threw back his head, closing his eyes against the brilliant light surging out of his body. A yell was forced out of his throat. He could feel the energy racing through his body, healing it - changing it at a cellular level.

 

The energy faded along with the light and Ianto sank to his knees, breathing heavily. He looked down at his hands, stretching his fingers wide in front of his face. They were longer and more slender than before - an artist's hands.

 

Wishing for a mirror, he felt his face and hair. Jawline more square, nose slightly upturned at the end; hair shorter, with a tendancy to curl and sideburns longer than they used to be.

 

"Well, that was different," he said, testing his new voice.  "Still Welsh, then. That's good."

 

Ianto buried his face in his hands, trying to merge his Time Lord memories with his time as a human. Tears fell from beneath his closed eyelids. Rose. I'm sorry, so sorry. My god, Jack. His heart ached at the memories.

 

Hearing a door open behind him, he leapt to his feet, searching frantically for something, anything, he could use as a weapon.

 

"Time Agency," a voice exclaimed. A niggle of familiarity travelled down Ianto's spine. "Turn around slowly and keep your hands where I can see them."

 

Ianto held his hands up in surrender and turned toward the source of the voice, eyes closed.

 

"Well, hello, there." A leer coloured the well-known baritone. "Agent Jasyn Hastings, and who are you?"

 

Ianto opened his eyes and felt a jolt of desire as he stared into the bluest blue eyes he'd been longing to see again.

 

Jack!

***

Ianto smiled when he heard the front door slam shut behind his lover. Jasyn loved to make an entrance, even when it was just the two of them. No change there, then, he thought, his smile twisting into a smirk. 

 

"Ian, where are you?" Jasyn called. "You'll never guess what I got today!"

 

Saving the security program he'd been working on, Ianto left the home office and met Jasyn in the front room.

 

A year had passed since the night he had regenerated and met this past version of Jack. They'd spent the first month tracking down John Hart and his band of mercenaries. Once they'd found him, they turned him over to the Time Agency for punishment.

 

Working so closely together, it hadn't been long before they'd become lovers. Ianto had never been able to resist those cobalt blue eyes and, to be honest, he didn't even try.

 

Knowing he was already playing with fire when it came to timelines, Ianto had kept the name Ian Jackson instead of using his real name. He knew he shouldn't be doing this, but he looked so different from when he'd known Jack.  He just couldn't pass up the chance to have Jack in his life again. It had to be close to the time that Jack's memories were taken from him. For a whole year he'd been telling himself these ‘truths'. Everything would be okay. It had to be.

 

"Ian, are you even listening to me?" Jasyn asked, exasperated.

 

"Yes, sorry. You were talking about Carnival in Rio."  Ianto looked closely at Jasyn's excited expression. "Wait a minute, you were able to get tickets?"

 

Jasyn's grin lit up his face. "Ian Jackson, pack your glad-rags.  We're going to Carnival!"

 

**********

 

Ianto stepped off the transport and closed his eyes as the heat, smells and sounds of Rio De Janeiro washed over him. Feeling Jasyn's hand tugging him forward, he opened his eyes to blue skies, white beaches, and the multi-hued colour of the city.

 

It was amazing to him how much and yet how little the city had changed since he'd been there last. Over three thousand-three hundred years of linear time had passed since he and his father had saved the emporer from possession by a Memorist from the Void. A native woman had been arrested for trying to ward off the evil spirits by throwing limes at them.

 

He shook off the recollection and watched his lover's excitement as Jasyn took everything in. Ianto knew from comments his lover had made in the past that he had come from a small colony on the Boeshane Peninsula. Even though Jasyn had travelled extensively for the Time Agency and seen many new and wonderful worlds, Carnival in Rio De Janeiro was a brand new experience. The best party in the universe - over three thousand years in the making.

 

**********

 

Jasyn pushed Ianto against the wall of the alley, hands slipping under the red, silky shirt to caress the sweaty skin beneath. 

 

"Fuck, Ian," he groaned. "Where did you learn to dance those dances?" Jasyn's hands travelled down to cup Ianto's ass, pulling him closer and rubbing their groins together. "Dancing like that oughta be illegal."

 

Ianto laughed breathlessly, running his hands across Jasyn's chest. "I've always had a good sense of timing."

 

"I know," Jasyn smirked, his tone laced with innuendo. "I've tested your sense of timing on many occasions."

 

"Timing, rhythm - it's all the same."  Ianto trailed his lips down Jasyn's neck then licked his way back up the smooth column until his mouth reached the other man's ear. "I feel the beat here," he whispered, his hand resting over Jasyn's heart. His hand moved down to massage his lover's erection. "And I feel it here. I let the music sweep through me and my body moves in tempo." 

 

Jasyn gasped, pushing forward into Ianto's hand. He could hear music all around him. It was pouring out into the night from clubs and bars all over the city. The drum beats merged, making the warm night air pulse around them. 

 

"Show me," Jasyn breathed, closing his eyes and pressing against Ianto's body.

 

Ianto rolled his hips, capturing Jasyn's moan of pleasure in his mouth. He placed his hands on Jasyn's hips and began to guide the other man's movements.

 

"Move with me," Ianto murmured into the kiss. "Keep your eyes closed and let the rhythm flow through you."

 

They moved together; bodies melting into each other, hands moving restlessly, and mouths searching for any exposed bits of skin.

 

Ianto felt Jasyn shiver as his tongue teased the sensitive skin on the lobe of his ear.

 

"I need to feel your skin against mine," Jasyn pleaded hoarsely.

 

Separating just long enough to yank their shirts off over their heads, they were soon pressed tightly back together. Skin, slick with sweat, slid against skin.

 

Gasping in pleasure, Ianto glided his hands down Jasyn's smooth back, dipping into the waistband of the loose, black trousers the Time Agent was wearing. He chuckled when he realized Jasyn was wearing nothing under the trousers.

 

"You are shameless, Agent Hastings," he teased, nipping Jasyn's neck playfully.

 

"Like you'd have me any other way," Jasyn retorted, grinning widely.

 

Ianto's eyes darkened, all amusement draining away. His voice was serious as he replied, "I will take you any way I can get you, Jasyn Hastings. You are my present, my past, and my future. Time Agent, conman, penniless beggar on the street - whatever. You. Are. Mine," he punctuated each word with a quick but intense kiss.

 

Jasyn stared into the impassioned blue eyes watching him and saw the truth in the words that had been uttered. This beautiful person standing in front of him truly didn't care if Jasyn was a Time Agent, or a poster boy or an orphan from a backwater colony. He just cared about Jasyn Hastings - the man.

 

Releasing the breath he hadn't realised he was holding, Jasyn wrapped his arms around Ianto's shoulders and crushed their lips together.  Surrendering himself to the kiss, he told Ianto with every stroke of his tongue and movement of his body exactly how he felt about Ian.

 

Yours.

 

Ianto felt Jasyn's acceptance of his words in the way the other man yielded to him, relinquishing control completely. His hands fumbled with the fastenings on his lover's trousers, undoing them and pushing the fabric down past Jasyn's hips.

 

Jasyn broke off the kiss with a gasp when he felt the warm night air caress his bare skin. "Oh god, Ian, yes. Hurry." He reached out to help shove Ianto's trousers down to his knees.

 

Moving deeper into the shadows, Ianto pressed his lover against the wall and leant close, thrusting his erection against Jasyn's rigid cock. One hand was braced next to Jasyn's head on the wall and the other wrapped around their cocks.

 

Groaning at the pleasure coursing through his body, Jasyn entwined his fingers with Ianto's, encircling their erections completely. They began to move; precum and sweat easing the friction as they thrust against each other.

 

The alley was filled with their gasps and moans, the rustle of fabric, and the distant sounds of the music. The spicy scent of the night air - mingled with the heady aroma of sweat, pheromones, and sex - permeated their senses.

 

Sloppy, open-mouthed kisses gave way to murmured endearments and entreaties. Their thrusts became erratic the closer they came to completion.

 

Ianto felt the minute tensing of Jasyn's muscles and the slight swelling of his cock. He buried his face in the crook of Jasyn's neck and bit down, thrusting harder against the velvety hardness enclosed in their hands.

 

With a shout, Jasyn came hard, coating their hands and stomachs with his release. Ianto's hips stuttered but he kept moving, prolonging Jasyn's orgasm until the waves of his own climax washed over him.

 

Sagging against his lover's spent body, Ianto was grateful for the wall that was holding them both upright. His breath caught when Jasyn raised their joined hands to his mouth and began to lick them clean. 

 

Watching as his lover's tongue darted out to taste their combined release, Ianto thought he had never seen such an erotic sight. Jasyn's ocean-blue eyes locked with his own gaze and Ianto tangled his fingers into his lover's hair, tugging him forward into a tender kiss.

 

When they broke apart for air, Jasyn rested his forehead against Ianto's. "Ian, you know I…" he began.

 

Ianto placed a finger against Jasyn's lips. "I know. I do, too."

***

The day Ianto's world went to hell - again - started normally enough.  He'd gotten up, made coffee, drank said coffee, showered and dressed, then left for a meeting with a client.

 

Jasyn had been off-world on a mission for the Time Agency the past couple of days, but he was due back that evening. Ianto was planning a nice ‘welcome home' dinner with a sinfully chocolate dessert. He'd also picked up the latest James Bond film, Forever Is Too Much, on holo-disc.

 

Ianto stepped onto the public transport, happily going over the plan for the evening in his head. He had no idea that the end to his idyllic bubble of time with Jasyn was approaching with the rapidity of an oncoming storm.

 

**********

"Are you kidding me?" Ianto asked incredulously.

 

They were in the front room, curled up together on the sofa, watching the end credits of the movie roll in front of them.

 

Jasyn's lips twisted into a pout. "What? I like his accent."

 

Ianto rolled his eyes and sat up. "Out of all the hundreds of actors that have played James Bond over the centuries, you are trying to tell me that Sean Connery is still your favourite?"

 

"Yep, that's what I'm sayin'." Jasyn grinned cheekily. "Sure, there've been other actors that were good - Adrian Fields, Jasper Price…that Gareth Lloyd guy in the early 21^st century was pretty good." Jasyn glanced at Ianto, chuckling. "You kind of look like him, by the way. But, yeah, Sean Connery was the best."

 

"You daft sod," Ianto said, laughing. "You think I look like…"

 

A tingling awareness brushed against his mind. It was a touch that he hadn't felt in almost three years, and it was getting stronger. The well-known grinding sounded in his ears as the wash of a familiar presence flooded into his brain.

 

"Fuck!" he exclaimed. "Not now."

 

"Ian, what's wrong? What's happening?" Jasyn's worried voice penetrated the muddled emotions clouding his psyche.

 

Ianto leapt off the couch and, knowing it was an exercise in futility, told Jasyn, "Stay here. Whatever you do, do not come outside. I'll be fine; I just need to make someone go away." He turned towards the door, but before he could take a step, Jasyn's hand grasped his arm and swung him back around.

 

"Who is out there, Ian?" Jasyn demanded. "If you think I'm going to let you face an enemy all on your own, you don't know me very well."

 

"I'll be fine," Ianto assured his lover. "It's just my father. Please, stay here, Jasyn. Please," he said, trying desperately to keep the edge of begging out of his voice. If he begged, his lover would know something was wrong.

 

Nodding, Jasyn reluctantly let go of his arm and Ianto turned back to the door. Taking a deep breath, he reached out to open the door and came face to face with a Time Lord in an icy rage.

 

The Doctor brushed past Ianto without a word and planted himself directly in front of Jasyn.

 

"Hello, I'm Jas-" Jasyn began brightly.

 

The Doctor cut him off, "I know who you are and my son knows better than to be here with you."

 

"Wh-" Jasyn didn't even get the chance to finish the word.

 

Placing his fingertips against Jasyn's temples, the Doctor reached into the Time Agent's mind and flashed through his memories of the last two years. 

 

"Stop," Jasyn gasped, anguished, and then collapsed forward onto the floor, unconscious.

 

It all happened so fast that Ianto didn't have a chance to react until it was over. He stared in shock at the still form of his lover on the floor and the angry Time Lord standing over him.

 

"What did you do to him?" Iantoo demanded, gaze narrowed on his father.

 

"What you forced me to by being here with him and messing with the timelines," the Doctor replied disdainfully. "I took his memories of the last two years. He won't remember from the time he first met you to now."

 

"You!" Ianto was incensed. "It was you all along. You're the one who wiped his memory and sent him on the path to becoming Jack Harkness."

 

The Doctor sneered at his son. "No, it was you. You forced my hand by breaking the first rule of time travel, Ianto. You meddled in the past in the hope of changing the future. Now help me move him out to the TARDIS, we can't leave him here. Too many things could trigger his memory."

 

Ianto pushed his father away from Jasyn's unconcious body. "Don't you fucking touch him," he snarled, gently easing Jasyn to his feet and lifting him into a fireman's carry. As much as he hated what his father had just done, Ianto knew it had already happened. This is what caused his lover to leave the Time Agency and led them crossing paths in 1941 London. Ianto walked out the door with his awkward burden, leaving his father to follow in silence.

 

The door to the TARDIS stood open. Ianto manuevered his lover through the doorway, making sure not to bump Jasyn's head on the frame. Placing him gently on the bench seat, Ianto sat next to him and cradled the unconscious Time Agent in his arms.

 

He studiously ignored his father as the Time Lord moved around the console, preparing the ship to take off. Instead, he looked around the room, feeling that something wasn't quite right. He closed his eyes and reached out to the TARDIS, feeling her gentle touch in his mind. There was a tinge of fatigue in her answering caress, like she'd been ill. He opened his eyes and looked at his father.

 

"What's wrong with the TARDIS?" he asked.

 

"I'll tell you about it later," the Doctor replied shortly. There was a bump as they landed and the Time Lord glanced briefly at his son. "We're here," he said unnecessarily.

 

Ianto glared at the older Time Lord. "Obviously. I'll find a safe place to leave him and then you and I are going to have a long talk."

 

***********

 

It was dark. They had landed in some sort of industrial area. Ianto didn't recognise the planet but guessed they were on the other side of the universe, if the positions of the stars were any guide.

 

He carefully placed Jasyn on the ground in front of a doorway and arranged his lover's limbs in a way that would be semi-comfortable. He had no idea how long the Time Agent would be unconscious after whatever his father had done.

 

"I'm sorry, Jasyn," Ianto whispered, kissing the other man's forehead. "I always seem to end up leaving you alone when it's the last thing I want to do. You won't even remember me when you wake up this time."

 

Ianto stroked his hand down Jasyn's still face, fingers tracing the dark eyebrows and outlining the chisled jawline. He choked back a sob.

 

"Maybe it's better that way. At least you won't hate me when you wake up alone this time." He paused, shutting his eyes for a moment. When he opened them, there was a determined look on his face. "I swear to you, I will come back for you. I will always come back to you, Agent Jasyn Hastings - or Captain Jack Harkness. Whatever name you go by in your long life, I will find you."

 

Contemplating all he'd learned about this man, Ianto made another promise, but to himself instead. One he would keep even if Jasyn/Jack never wanted anything to do with him again. He silently vowed that he would get his lover's memories back from the Doctor and return them to where they rightfully belonged.

 

Ianto leant down and gently pressed his lips to Jasyn's in a soft kiss. Rising, he took one last look at the unconcious man in front him and murmured, "Good bye, Jasyn Hastings. I love you."

 

Straightening his shoulders, Ianto's face took on a determined look.  He turned and marched back to the TARDIS, anger clipping his steps. It was time to have it out with his father - once and for all.

 

**********

 

Ianto stepped into the TARDIS, fury radiating off him in waves. The inflexible look of stubborn self-righteousness on the Doctor's face did nothing to calm his mood.

 

Lurching a bit as the TARDIS took off into the Vortex, he made his way across the control room to stand in front of his father. 

 

Hands clenched into fists on his hips, Ianto demanded, "What gives you the right to decide what's best for everyone around you?"

 

"We're Time Lords, Ianto," the Doctor replied patronisingly. "That's what our race is supposed to do; observe the universe and protect the time-lines. We repair the paradoxes created when careless individuals, who really should know better," he added, glaring pointedly at his son, "decide to meddle in their own timeline."

 

Ianto scoffed, "Like you've ever let that stop you in the past if it didn't suit you. Remember when Rose wanted to see her father?" He suppressed the flinch of pain that mentioning Rose engendered. The cruel senselessness of her death still caused the younger Time Lord sorrow.  "So don't give me that bollocks about meddling in timelines."

 

"Do not bring her into this," the Doctor spat. "This isn't about Rose. It's about you and Jack Harkness, and your reckless disregard of everything except your own selfish interests."

 

"Not about Rose? This has everything to do with Rose, Dad," Ianto insisted. "Rose is the reason Jack is immortal, in case you forgot that little fact. Remember the reason you abandoned him on the Game Station? Why you called him wrong?"

 

"He is wrong," the Doctor thundered. "Even the TARDIS feels it, why can't you? She flew to the end of the universe to get away from him, Ianto. You have no idea what I've been through, what this ship has been through, or what the entire Earth went through because of Jack Harkness. You want to know why the TARDIS seems weak? I'll tell you why. Captain Jack Harkness."

 

"What happened?" Ianto ground out.

 

"Martha and I stopped in Cardiff to refuel the TARDIS and Jack came tearing across the Plass, calling for you…"

 

Ianto listened in shock as his father told the story of the Master and the Year That Never Was. His hearts broke when he heard what Jack had endured at the Master's hands. The daily torture and numerous deaths, degradation and mental torment. Along with his anguish over Jack's treatment, he found his rage toward his father escalating. His anger reached its boiling point when the Doctor started mourning the death of the Master.

 

"Think of it, Ianto.  Another Time Lord survived the Time War. We could've travelled the Universe together," the Doctor enthused.

 

"I can't believe you," Ianto raged.

 

"What?" the Doctor demanded, genuinely confused.

 

"After everything that sadistic madman did, you'd rather spend your time with him than a decent, good man like Jack." Ianto shook his head in disbelief. "Did you know that even after you abandoned him on the Game Station, Jack still tried to catch up with us? He waited over a hundred years for us to come back for him, because he didn't believe we'd just leave him behind."

 

"He spent that time working for Torchwood," the Doctor sneered. "Working for the very institution founded to capture me. The institution that killed Rose."

 

"Torchwood captured him because they found out he'd travelled with us! They tortured him, abused him and used him. Instead of letting them destroy his spirit, he changed them." Ianto looked the older Time Lord right in the eye. "When I showed up in Cardiff with Rose, Jack took us in and tried everything in his power to save her."

 

"Save her? Rose?" the Doctor questioned. "What are you talking about, Ianto? Rose died at Canary Wharf."

 

Ianto suppressed a laugh that sounded more like a sob. "No, she didn't. The Cybermen tried to convert her. They only did half the job, though, and rather than let you see what she'd become, I told you she died."

 

"They did…You lied to me?"

 

"I guess I'm more like you than I thought, Dad," Ianto mocked. "Yes, I lied to you about Rose. And when we realised there was nothing we could do to save her, and I had to end her suffering, I struck out at Jack. I ran off and left him, just like you did."

 

Ianto watched as fury and anguish suffused his father's face and tears fell from his eyes. He smiled sadly at the knowledge that the older Time Lord was finally feeling just a fraction of what he'd felt over Rose's conversion and death.

 

"We tried to save her for you, Dad," he said softly. "You repay Jack by putting him through hell for an entire year. You use him as cannon fodder once again and, if that wasn't enough, you blamed it all on him." Ianto shook his head ruefully, an icy calm descending over his expression. "You probably told him to his face that he was to blame; making him want to die again."

 

"That year wouldn't have happened if Jack wasn't the freak he is, Ianto," the Doctor stated cooly. "If the TARDIS hadn't been trying to get away from him, we would never have ended up at the end of the Universe and found the Master."

 

Ianto's fist slammed into his father's face. The Doctor fell backwards from the force of the blow, hitting the back of his head on the console as he dropped.

 

Looking down at the crumpled form of his father, Ianto felt the faint touch of the TARDIS in his mind. An image formed of Jack, beaten, covered in blood and filth, destroying the vile paradox machine that had imprisoned the ship for a year. Another image formed of the Doctor removing Jasyn's memories of the time spent with Ianto and he heard a faint echo of Jack's voice in his head, ‘Two years of my life. No idea what I did.'

 

"I understand, girl," Ianto murmured, caressing the console. He knelt down next to the unconscious Time Lord and touched his fingers to his father's temples. Closing his eyes, he sorted through the cascade of memories until he found the ones belonging to Jasyn Hastings.

 

Using his Time Lord telepathy, Ianto gathered all of Jasyn's memories and transferred them to his own mind. Standing back up, he turned his back on his father and started working the controls of the TARDIS.

 

"Just a couple of preparations to make, Jack," he murmured. "Then I'm coming back for you."

***

"So, what about it, minion? Can you do it? How good are you? How sharp is your aim? What if you kill her? What if I kill her first? Can you shoot before I do? Can you? Dare you? Would you? Won't you?"

 

A gunshot echoed through the room, startling everyone. The blowfish dropped to the floor as the Torchwood team all whipped their heads around to see who fired the shot.

 

Jack inclined his head, smile not quite reaching his eyes and his voice coated with irony. "Hey, kids! Did you miss me?"

 

**********

 

Jack watched as the team bustled around the Hub, dealing with the aftermath of the blowfish's little joyride. Owen was working on the corpse and Toshiko was entering information into the database while directing two new team members as to what they should be doing.

 

"You got pretty organised without me," he remarked. "Even hiring some new additions to the team."

 

"Yeah, well, we had to," Tosh replied absently. "Can't run this place with only two people. It was hard enough with just the three of us."

 

"Then you buggered off to fuck knows where," Owen growled.

 

Jack sighed, "I know, I'm sorry." Coming back was harder than he'd thought it would be. There was a tiny part of him that had hoped they'd be angry that he'd disappeared, hoped that they still cared just a little. That hope was extinguished in the face of Owen and Toshiko's indifference.

 

"Where were you?" Tosh asked, unconcernedly.

 

Smiling sadly, Jack replied, "I found my Doctor."

 

"Did he fix you?" Owen's tone expressed his contempt.

 

Determined not to let them see his distress over what had happened to him over the past year, Jack gave a false laugh and responded with his usual, brash attitude, "What's to fix?" He shrugged. "You don't mess with this level of perfection."

 

Owen rolled his eyes and brushed past him on his way back to the autopsy bay. An alarm sounded from Toshiko's computer.

 

"Rift activity," she stated, reading data from the screen.

 

The team barely looked at Jack as they rushed toward the door, not caring if he followed them or not.

 

Jack sighed, resigned to being persona non grata on his own team, and followed them to the SUV.

 

***********

 

"There's residual Rift energy all over up here," Toshiko said, taking readings from her hand-held monitor. "I'm also getting a strange power fluctuation from that direction."

 

Jack and Owen walked across the parking garage in the direction Tosh had indicated, sweeping their torches around, looking for anything that could be causing the power fluctuation.

 

"Owen," Jack murmured, pointing toward the dull glint of metal the beam from his torch was illuminating.

 

They moved closer to the small canister. A bright red light blinked steadily at them. Jack scanned the device with his wrist strap while Owen scanned it with his hand-held.

 

"Tosh, Dafydd, get over here and bring a containment box, would you?" Owen called.

 

"We don't really need a containment box, Owen," Jack asserted. "It's a homing device; not dangerous at all. They're used to help find the place you arrived at if you're not familiar with the area. Kind of like the ultimate insurance against forgetting where you parked your car."

 

Owen ignored the feeble attempt at humour and carefully placed the device into the containment box that Tosh had provided.

 

"Okay, let's get back and see what we can piece together," Toshiko directed.

 

The team walked back to the SUV. Just as Jack reached to open the door, his wrist strap beeped. Snatching his hand back, he flipped the cover open.

 

"Whoa, that never beeps," Toshiko said, finally looking directly at Jack.

 

"That's what I was thinking," Jack replied.

 

He looked down and pressed a button, accessing the stored message that had caused the alert. A hologram appeared in front of him, tinged in blue. It was a man Jack had never seen before. He was close to his own height, slender in build, and had dark hair with sideburns. The man was wearing denims and a t-shirt, with a light jacket slung over his shoulder. 

 

The man began to speak, "I can't believe I got your answering machine." His voice tugged lightly at Jack's memory, the Welsh vowels sending a frisson of pleasure down his spine. "Anyway, you probably traced the energy shift and found the homing beacon. All me! Sorry if I worried you."

 

Jack wracked his mind, trying to remember how he knew this man. Nothing jogged his memory, though, and he sighed in frustration.

 

"Now, drinks," the hologram continued, clapping his hands. "Retrolock the transmission coordinates; that's where I am. Hurry up.  Work to do."

 

Jack shook his head, wondering what kind of joke was being played on him. 

 

The figure in the hologram held up his hands, almost like he was inserting a disc into something. Then he said the words that made Jack's heart race. "Help me Obi-Wan Kenobe. You're my only hope."

 

The message ended and the team looked at Jack with various expressions of curiosity on their faces.

 

"Stay here," he commanded, struggling to keep a smile from breaking across his face. "Don't come after me."

 

He turned and opened the door of the SUV, climbing inside and starting the engine. He raced off, leaving the team standing angrily by the side of the road. Only one thought was at the forefront of his mind…

 

The right Time Lord had come back.

 

**********

 

Ianto Jones sat alone at the bar, nervously sipping the whiskey he'd poured for himself. He'd chosen this club because of the name - Reunion. Now he just hoped that Jack would show up.

 

Taking another sip of whiskey, he smiled to himself when he heard the familiar sound of booted footsteps approaching. He glanced toward the double-doors and threw back the rest of his drink before standing up and facing the entrance.

 

Jack stepped through the double doors, coat swirling around his legs. He paused, drinking in the sight of the man in front of him and cataloging the changes. He was taller than before with dark hair, and gorgeous blue eyes. Slender but well-built, he had broad shoulders.

 

Ianto took a hesitant step forward, nervously rubbing his hands on his thighs. He breathed a sigh of relief when Jack started to walk toward him, his thousand-watt smile lighting up his face.

 

They stopped in front of each other, eyes greedily taking in the sight of each other. Jack reached a shaky hand out to trace the contours of Ianto's face.

 

"It's really you?" he whispered wonderingly.

 

Ianto covered Jack's hand with his own. "It's really me, Jack," he assured his lover.

 

Jack moved his hand to the back of Ianto's head and pulled him closer, crushing the Time Lord's lips against his own. The kiss was hot, passionate, and sloppy. Lips, teeth and tongues clashed and battled for dominance.  Hands were everywhere, groping and caressing.

 

Suddenly, Jack pulled away and punched Ianto in the jaw.

 

"Ow! Fuck, Jack," Ianto exclaimed, hand rubbing over the tender spot. "I'm sorry I left you, more sorry than you can possibly know, but there was no need to do that."

 

"How could you just leave me like that?" Jack demanded. "Do you have any idea what I've been through since you've been gone?"

 

There was a sheen of tears in his blue eyes as Ianto replied, "Yes, I do know." He moved back to the bar and poured himself another whiskey, filling a glass for Jack as well. "My father found me and told me all about the Master and that year. I'm sorry."

 

Jack took a sip of his whiskey and shrugged. "I survived." He paused, looking uncertainly at his lover. "How are you, Ianto?"

 

"It's good to see you," Ianto murmured, staring into the crystal blue eyes that he loved. "It's never the same without you."

 

Leaning closer, Jack whispered huskily, "It's good to see you, too. I…"

 

Ianto was startled when Jack suddenly stood up, grabbed his gun from the bar and shot out the door glass and a glass wall at the other end of the club.

 

"All right, everybody out," Jack barked, having heard furtive movements outside the room. He rolled his eyes as Owen and Toshiko burst into the room, guns drawn. "What? You guys don't trust me?"

 

Owen lowered his gun slightly, snorting in disbelief. "Why should we? We don't know anything about you."

 

Ianto saw the faint trembling in Jack's frame and knew that the immortal was still feeling the aftereffects of his time in the Master's hands. Deciding to draw attention away from his shattered lover, he stepped forward. 

 

"Oh, you have a team!" he exclaimed. "How sweet." He eyed Tosh up and down. "Pretty little friend. No, ah, blonde though; you need a blonde." He winked at Jack, smiling slightly at the choked laughter his lover was struggling to contain.

 

"God, he's worse than Jack," Owen griped.

 

Ianto mentally rolled his eyes at Owen's comment, but continued with the charade he was enacting. "Oh, hey, do you have a team name? I love team names."

 

Shaking his head, Jack followed Ianto's lead, and replied, "Torchwood."

 

"Oh, not Excalibur? Blizzard? Bikini Cops?" Ianto teased. "Torchwood. Oh dear."

 

Jack rolled his eyes, smirking at the teasing. "Owen Harper, Toshiko Sato, meet…" he paused wondering how to ‘introduce' Ianto.

 

"Agent Jasyn Hastings," Ianto continued smoothly, feeling Jack's shocked gaze on his face as he gave the former Time Agent's real name.

 

"We go back," Jack said faintly.

 

"We more than ‘go back'," Ianto said, smirking playfully. He turned toward his former teammates. "We were partners."

 

"In what way?" Tosh asked, curious at what she thought was this look into Jack's past.

 

"In every way," Ianto said suggestively, winking at her. "It was like having a wife."

 

"Excuse me, you were the wife," Jack joked. He'd really missed bantering with Ianto.

 

"No, you were the wife," Ianto shot back.

 

Jack laughed and insisted, "You were definitely the wife."

 

"Oh, but I was a good wife," Ianto teased.

 

"I bet you were," Tosh replied.  The two men gave her a surprised look and Owen frowned her way. "What? Don't pretend you haven't noticed. He's cute."

 

Jack sighed, wishing his two teammates would just disappear. He wanted to talk to Ianto alone and ask him how he knew about Jasyn Hastings. He needed find out why the Time Lord had come back - and, more importantly, if he was staying.

 

"What are you doing here?" he asked, willing his lover - former lover? - to find a way to get rid of the others. Knowing Ianto, he already had a plan in place; Jack just had to play along.

 

Ianto studied the immortal closely, noting his exhaustion and his need to have some time for just the two of them to discuss things. He nodded and sent Jack a reassuring look. "I was wondering when you'd get to that." He looked down and opened the cover on the strap encircling his wrist.

 

"That's the same as yours, Jack," Tosh murmured.

 

Jack smirked, winking at Ianto. "It's a little smaller."

 

Ianto rolled his eyes and replied, "But lasts much longer." He pressed a series of buttons and a hologram appeared. It was a picture of a small metal canister. He began to explain, "I've been tracking this Blowfish since he stole two radiation cluster bombs from a factory in the fourty-third century. He time-jumped here through your Rift, but I lost his signal."

 

"I don't like the sound of that," Owen said. "We came across the Blowfish, and he's dead. Jack shot him. He didn't have any of those things on him when I examined him."

 

"The contents of these bombs are beyond toxic. I know he had them on him when he came here, so if he didn't have them when you caught him, we'll have to find where he stashed them," Ianto warned. "Left to their own devices, the radiation will break down the canisters and then infect your people - and planet. They need to be neutralised."

 

Jack was staring at the Time Lord in amazement. The planning and attention to detail that had gone into this little charade was extraordinary. Raising an eyebrow in challenge, he asked, "So, what do you need us for?"

 

"There's only one problem, I don't know where they are." Ianto looked to Tosh and Owen. "I'm hoping local knowledge might help?" 

 

"When we get back to the Hub, I can run a citywide scan," Toshiko replied earnestly. "Look for radiation surges and cross-reference that with the Rift activity during that time span."

 

"Ah, you must be the brains as well as the beauty," Ianto leered, trying to keep her off-balance. "Together it should be an easy job."

 

Jack stepped forward and smiled brightly. "Let's get to work then!"

 

**********

 

Both Ianto and Jack had been uncharacteristically silent on the drive to the office building; each lost in their own thoughts. Ianto was wondering how best to broach the subject of Jack's missing memories. Jack was wondering how to ask if Ianto was planning to stay.

 

They stepped off the lift and entered the top floor office space. Jack stopped and looked around, breathing deeply. "Oh yeah," he exclaimed, grasping at anything to break the silence. "Loving that office-y feel!" He grinned at Ianto. "I always get excited in these places. To me, they're exotic. Office romances…photocopying your butt…well, maybe not your butt, but since we're here, why don't we…?"

 

Ianto interrupted the other man's nervous rambling to ask softly, "How are you, Jack?"

 

"All the better for having you back, Ianto," Jack replied, just as softly. He haltingly continued, "Are you going to stay?"

 

"I can't, Jack," the Time Lord answered. "You said it yourself - the Doctor's son working for Torchwood?" Holding up a hand to keep Jack from interrupting, he continued, "I can't live my life as Jasyn Hastings, Jack. We both know that's not who I am. Also, I don't want to be anywhere that my father visits on a regular basis."

 

"How do you know the name Jasyn Hastings?" Jack asked curiously. "I never told you my name. Where were you, Ianto? I know that vortex manipulator belongs to John Hart."

 

Ianto sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Before he could begin explaining, Jack's comm unit chirped.

 

"What is it, Toshiko?" Jack demanded, frustrated with the interruption. "You found it? Good, take it back to the Hub. We'll be there as soon as we find…" he broke off when he noticed Ianto trying to get his attention. "Just a minute, Tosh." Jack muted the comm and turned to Ianto. "What?"

 

"Tell them to take it to the Hub and scan it with the hyperspectral scanner," Ianto instructed.

 

"I know it's not a radiation cluster bomb," Jack said. "But what exactly are these things?"

 

"Harmless medical tech from New New Earth," Ianto assured him. "Scanning the canister with the hyperspectral scanner will release a benign sleeping agent into the air. The Torchwood computer system will send the Hub into automatic lockdown; the team will get a nice long nap and leave us the hell alone."

 

Jack laughed, not really surprised at just how devious Ianto's mind really was. "You are a very scary person, Ianto Jones," he chuckled. Calming himself down, he reactivated his comm unit, "Toshiko? Take it back to the Hub and run it through the hyperspectral scanner. We'll be there as soon as we find our canister."

 

Removing his comm unit, Jack turned to face Ianto. He leant against one of the desks and crossed his arms, waiting patiently for Ianto to begin.

 

"I used the TARDIS to make myself human and went to Rivelus Prime in the year 5094." Ianto saw Jack's start of surprise and told him about meeting John Hart, regenerating, and then meeting Jasyn Hastings. "We were happy, Jack. For two years we lived together. I knew I was treading dangerous ground regarding the timelines, but it was worth it. We were together, and it was worth it," he said fiercely.

 

"What happened?" Jack asked, quietly digesting the information he'd just been given.

 

"My father happened," Ianto spat angrily. "He showed up and took your memory of the time we were together, then he told me all about the Master and the year of torture you endured at that madman's hands. I hit him. He fell and hit his head against the console of the TARDIS, knocking himself unconscious. I took your memories from him while he was unconscious." Ianto looked into Jack's stunned blue eyes. "I can give them back to you, Jack. Afterwards, well, it's up to you."

 

Jack's face was pale, whether from shock or anger, Ianto wasn't sure. Jack took a hesitant step forward, then paused in confusion. "What do you mean it's up to me? What's up to me?"

 

"Come with me, Jack," Ianto urged. "There're thousands of worlds out there, sparkling with wonder. I saw the way Owen and Toshiko acted toward you.  Is there really anything to keep you here? Think of it - you and me travelling the galaxy together, just the two of us."

 

Jack had moved closer while Ianto was talking, until, finally, their bodies were touching. Reaching out, he placed his hand on the back of Ianto's neck and drew the Time Lord in close. Resting his forehead against Ianto's, he stared into the blue eyes looking back at him hopefully.

 

"Yes," he whispered, eyes shining with happiness. "Yes, that's what I want, too. Let's go, Ianto. Let's travel the Universe together, you and me."

 

Ianto couldn't help the wide grin that crossed his face at Jack's words. Cupping his lover's jaw in his hand, he closed the remaining distance between their lips. A sudden thought made him draw back and look around the office.

 

"Jack, I can give you your memories back right now if you want, but you may be unconscious for awhile afterward," Ianto began to explain.

 

Jack rested a finger against the Time Lord's mouth, and replied, "The past can wait. Right now I want my future."

 

Capturing his lover's lips with his own, Ianto Jones wrapped his arms around Jack Harkness, flipped open his Vortex Manipulator and pressed a series of buttons. A few moments later they vanished in a flash of light.

***

Epilogue

They were still kissing when the Time Vortex deposited them in the house on Rivelus Prime. Jack stumbled as they landed, knocking Ianto off-balance and sending them both crashing to the floor.

 

Laughing, Jack braced his hands on the floor next to Ianto's head and rubbed suggestively against the Time Lord's body. "Well, this is convenient," he smirked, brushing their lips together lightly.

 

"It's certainly familiar," Ianto murmured, rolling them over so that Jack was beneath him.

 

A wistful look crossed Jack's face. "I wish we could've brought Myfanwy with us. She's been missing you."

 

"Just Myfanwy?" Ianto teased, pushing away like he was going to stand up.

 

Jack quickly pulled the Time Lord back into his arms, murmuring, "You know better than that, Ianto."

 

Ianto grinned, leaning down to capture Jack's lips in a passionate kiss. The other man responded, but Ianto could sense his lover's distraction and pulled away again.

 

"Jack?" he asked, frowning.

 

"Sorry, it's just…" Jack glanced around the room. "Where exactly are we? And when?"

 

Ianto started laughing before he rolled off of Jack and onto his back on the floor. Rubbing his hands down his face, he sat up, leaning against the sofa and draping an arm over one raised knee.

 

"I'm sorry, Jack," he chuckled. "I was so damn happy when you said yes to coming with me that I didn't even think about the fact you wouldn't recognise this house. This is our place. Yours and mine. We lived here together for a year and a half."

 

"Our place," Jack mused quietly. "Our home - together. Ianto, I want to remember our life together here." He paused, smiling softly. "I left my home in Boeshane a long time ago and, other than my time with you on the TARDIS, I've never known where I really belong.  Show me that I belong here.  With you."

 

Ianto reached out, running his fingers gently over his lover's face. He smiled when Jack closed his eyes and rubbed his cheek against his palm.

 

"Let's get you somewhere comfortable before we do this.  When my father took your memories, you were unconscious for quite awhile. I don't know what will happen when I give them back to you," Ianto explained. "You should be someplace you can lie down if needed."

 

Jack gave a sideways look at the sofa and shrugged. Getting to his feet, he held out a hand to help Ianto up off the floor.  Giving his lover a quick kiss on the lips, he gestured expansively and said, "Lead the way. I'll just follow along behind and admire the view."

 

Rolling his eyes, Ianto laughed and grabbed Jack's hand, leading him down the short hallway to the large bedroom at the back of the house. He stopped short when Jack tugged on his hand halfway down the hall.

 

"We went to Carnival in Rio De Janiero?" Jack exclaimed, staring at a photograph on the wall. "When did we do that?"

 

"If you keep moving, you'll be able to remember it for yourself," Ianto replied, slightly exasperated at the delay. Never having given someone their memories back, he was just a bit nervous about the process.

 

Jack sensed his anxiety and gave the hand he was holding a reassuring squeeze. "You're right; I'd rather remember it myself than have you tell me about it."  

 

Ianto nodded sharply and led Jack into the bedroom. He settled on the edge of the bed and turned to Jack, who sat next to him. Lifting his hands to Jack's face, he brushed his lover's hair back from his forehead.

 

"Are you ready?" he asked softly. He drew in a nervous breath and smiled weakly. "I'm not sure how long this will take. It only took a couple of minutes for my father to take them from you, but I'm not sure if it's different when giving them back. I've never…"

 

Jack captured Ianto's hand in his own and rubbed his cheek against the palm again. "Shh, you're babbling. It'll be just fine. Now, let's do this so I can remember our life together."

 

Ianto nodded and placed his fingers on Jack's temples. Closing his eyes, he pushed tentatively against the immortal's mind. He could feel Jack relaxing and opening his memories to him. Awed at the trust the other man was showing, he began to search for where the missing memories should go.

 

Scenes of Jack's life started to flash across Ianto's consciousness…

 

…Tired. So tired of the unrelenting pain. The strain of being chained up twenty-four hours a day, with no hope of an end in sight. Just the continuous view of the boiler room that was his prison…

 

Ianto could feel Jack moving restlessly next to him and forced himself to go further back…

 

The smell of cordite filled his nostrils as a gunshot sounded loudly, echoing through the deserted lanes of the small village. Gwen reared back from the doorway with a gasp, small circles of red blossoming across her stomach…

 

No. No, no, no, no, no…why, Estelle? Why didn't you stay inside like I told you to? One more person I couldn't save…

 

Laughter rang through the empty office, as a noodle went splat across his face. "I warned you not to make fun of the way I use chop-sticks, Jack," Ianto's voice was filled with affectionate indignation…

 

Taking a deep breath, Ianto sank further into Jack's mind, skipping through the memories like he was searching for something on microfilm. At last, the memory of waking up in the doorway of an empty factory appeared, with an area of nothingness before it.

 

Ianto fed Jack's stolen memories into the blank area and opened his eyes with a sigh of relief. 

 

Jack's eyelids fluttered open and focused on Ianto's face. "Ian," he whispered. "I thought I'd lost you." His eyes rolled back in his head and his body went limp in Ianto's arms.

 

Ianto gently laid him back on the pillows, straightening out his legs and removing his outer clothing in an effort to make him comfortable. 

 

Standing up on shaky legs, Ianto realised he'd been sweating heavily from the effort of sustaining their mental connection for so long. He made his way into the small en-suite and took off his clothes until he was only wearing his boxers.  Wetting a flannel under the faucet, he wiped down his body, too tired to take a shower.

 

He walked back into the bedroom, eyes automatically going to the figure on the bed. Jack had rolled onto his side, with his back to Ianto and had curled around a pillow. Smiling at the familiar sight, Ianto slipped into the bed, covering them both with the duvet. His arm curled around Jack, pulling the other man back against his body. 

 

"Welcome home, Jasyn," he murmured, pressing a kiss to the back of his lover's neck. A wave of exhaustion swept over him and he allowed himself to be pulled into the peaceful darkness of sleep.

 

**********

 

Ianto woke to the sensation of wet heat engulfing his cock. He gasped at the barely there sensation of teeth scraping against his sensitive flesh.

 

"Jasyn," he murmured sleepily. "That feels so good, please don't stop."

 

There was a pause before the talented mouth continued its mission of reducing him to a quivering heap of boneless satisfaction. He reached down and curled his fingers through the soft strands of his lover's hair. He arched off the bed, mumbling incoherently, "Jasyn…please…more." He moaned in protest when the warm mouth released his aching cock.

 

"Do you have any idea how it makes me feel to hear my name…my real name in those gorgeous Welsh vowels of yours?" Jack asked. "I remember the first time I met Ian Jackson; your accent sounded so exotic. Now it makes me think of home. It's been so long, but I am finally home."

 

Ianto drew his lover up into his arms and kissed him soundly, shifting their positions until he was lying partially across the other man. Breaking the kiss, he pulled back and looked down into the bluest blue eyes he'd ever seen; eyes he never wanted to lose sight of again. His fingers trailed down the bare expanse of skin, coming to rest on Jack's upper thigh.

 

"You are home, Jasyn." Ianto kissed him softly. "We both are."

 

Jack leant up and captured Ianto's lips with his own. "I want you, Ianto," he breathed against the Time Lord's lips, arching his body in invitation.

 

"How do you want me?" Ianto murmured, moving against his lover suggestively.

 

"Ride me," Jack gasped. "I want to be buried inside you and watch you fall apart above me. Please, Ianto."

 

Ianto closed his eyes, a shiver running across his entire body. "God, yes." He reached out and grabbed the lube from the drawer beside the bed and poured some onto Jack's fingers. "Prepare me?"

 

"With pleasure," Jack growled, suiting his actions to his words and quickly preparing the Time Lord to receive him.

 

Straddling his lover's hips, Ianto lowered himself slowly onto Jack's waiting cock. He paused, relishing the feeling of Jack filling him.

 

Jack's hands caressed the smooth skin over Ianto's hip bones. He slid his hands across the taut stomach and up, tangling his fingers in the soft curls covering his lover's chest.

 

"I missed you so much, Ianto," Jack gasped as Ianto started to move. "It feels so good to be inside of you.  To touch you again."

 

Ianto's answer was to lean down and meld their lips together. Their tongues tangled, sliding together in a heated dance that mimicked the thrusting of their hips.

 

Sitting back up, Ianto gripped Jack's hands and used them for leverage as he raised and lowered himself in a steady rhythm.

 

Jack bucked up to meet Ianto's downward thrusts. "Touch yourself, Ianto. I want to see you come. I want you to come on me."

 

"I'm not going to last, Jasyn," Ianto exclaimed breathlessly, working his hand over his cock rapidly. "Come with me. I want to feel you come inside me. Please."

 

Groaning loudly at the sensations rushing through his body, Jack thrust up into Ianto's welcoming heat, striking his lover's prostate over and over. He could feel the tensing of Ianto's muscles that signalled his impending orgasm and began to thrust harder.

 

"So close, Ianto," he gasped. "I need to come. Please."

 

"Jasyn," Ianto panted. "Come with me, love. Now. I'm…" His climax washed over him as he released his essence in pearly ropes across his lover's abdomen and chest. His pleasure was prolonged as Jack continued thrusting into his body through his orgasm.

 

The tremors of Ianto's orgasm pushed Jack over the edge and he came hard. He continued to thrust, wringing every last bit of pleasure from both of them.

 

Shaking, Ianto collapsed across his chest, both of them attempting to bring their breathing back under control. Raising his head, Ianto initiated a kiss, relishing the solid warmth beneath him.

 

Eventually, Jack's softened cock slipped out of Ianto and they both moaned at the loss of connection. Ianto shifted off of Jack and they drifted off to sleep, satisfied in the knowledge that they were where they wanted to be.

 

Later, Ianto was in that state of not quite asleep but not quite awake either.   Jack's head was resting on his chest, listening to the familiar dual heartbeats, fingers idly playing in the hair on his chest. Ianto lazily traced patterns on Jack's naked back, content to just doze with his lover in his arms.

 

"Ianto?" Jack's voice vibrated against Ianto's chest.

 

"Hmmm?" Ianto replied sleepily.

 

"Have I…" Jack paused before finishing quickly. "Ummm…have I mentioned that I can get pregnant?"

 

 

Fin

***

Next story in series - It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like...

• Main Torchwood slash page
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• Amazon.com - Torchwood: Children of Earth
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• Amazon.ca link - Torchwood - The Complete First Season (7DVD)