Title: The Ant and the Chrysalis
Author: Clarity
Rating: NC-17
Pairing: Jack/Ianto, Jack/Ten
Series: 1) The Slave and the Lion
Note: Second in "The Aesop Fables Series". This is a bit weird... you have been warned!
Summary: Jack and the Doctor may have reversed a year, but some events are irreversible. Ianto finds his life suddenly changed more than he ever thought possible.

***

The blood which blossomed out of his stomach as he hit the ground was surprisingly dark and thick. Ianto looked at his hand, saw the stuff dribbling down his fingers and wrist, and frowned. The pain didn't hit for a moment or two but when it did, it was like being split in two all over again.

A horrid gurgling, choking sound that didn't seem to even belong to him erupted from his chest and he lost all his breath. Everything started to fade out and he heard other gunshots, shouting and Jack's voice somewhere nearby, but distant like it was on the other side of a tunnel. He wanted to reach out and hold onto it, hold onto life, but he knew he wasn't going to have any choice in the matter.

Ianto slipped away, quietly, before anybody made it to him.

He came to in a place made of fire, white light and mirrors. Standing before him was a creature made of the light with his face, like a distorted reflection but less solid. Tendrils of energy connected them together, forehead to forehead, chest to chest, hands to hands. Ianto found, every time he moved, the being seemed compelled to do the same.

Of course he knew who it was. There was no need for any introductions. Ianto felt an odd sense of completion he hadn't known for a while, not since he'd unwittingly been sliced in two by an irrevocable temporal paradox. The other him felt the same and, of course, he knew that immediately.

What do we want? vortex-Ianto asked. Life?

Ianto found himself nodding. The sum total of all his desires could be summed up with only one word: Jack.

Jack, the being repeated after him, exactly the same.

Never want to leave him alone.

They drifted closer to each other, near enough to touch, the vine-like ties of energy between them shortening, almost enough to mould them into one.

We never shall.

Can we really do that?

Our need runs deep. Time will bend.

Ianto nodded and his second self did the same. Just how much of a halflife he had been living of late, trying to ignore the tug in his chest and the desire to reach out to the other half of his soul, really hit home. He'd been trying so hard to be normal, to ignore the enormity of the change within him and to shut the connection down, he had been hurting them both. Ianto could see that now.

Do not deny us, we are one in two, the other Ianto told him. We are not one with either reality, or either world, here or there. We are only one with us.

I know. I know. I'm not completely human, you're not completely vortex. So what are we?

Wrong?

A jolt of humour passed between them.

Will I be able to return here if I go?

Always.

Okay. Send me back. Send us home. To him.

Ianto hated the feeling of the tethers between them stretching, his other self becoming more distant, but the rush of life coming back into him was phenomenal. Idly he wondered if it felt like this for Jack when he came back; so full, so strangely excited. He decided on that way that it was unlikely. It was one thing to come back from a void and another to return from the central hub of everything that ever was. When he returned to life, Jack always looked haunted. He didn't think he would.

As he opened his eyes and drew in his first new breath, Ianto couldn't help but smile as he exhaled and then laugh, softly. He was alive and it felt wonderful.

There was still gunfire in the air and he saw one of the aliens posing as Special Ops to abduct people drop. Then Jack came running over and skidded along the ground on his knees in a way which made Ianto wince, thinking about the inevitable grazing. He frantically started checking Ianto over, ripping his shirt, hands getting covered in his blood.

In barely a second Owen was pushing him out of the way, doing his own checks.

Ianto chuckled softly, the wound from the bullet was completely gone. 'Need a new suit,' he mused, idly, picking at the bloodied flaps of what used to be his clothing.

Jack gasped in hard and grabbed him in a hug nearly tight enough to kill him again, clearly almost breaking into tears and having to fight not to lose control. Then, just as suddenly, he pulled back and looked at him, questioningly, eyes growing a little hard.

'I was going to tell you. All of you,' Ianto told him, quietly.

'Oh Ianto,' Gwen sighed, looking more sympathetic than anything else. Toshiko looked utterly astonished, just like she had when she first saw Jack die and return to life. Owen was glaring at him and Jack was looking aside, seemingly unable to even look at him now.

'Fuck! What, is immortality now some kind of Employee of the Month prize in this team?' Owen growled. 'Bloody Harkness... you're contagious or something.'

'I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy,' Jack breathed in response.

Ianto sat himself up and put his hand over Jack's. 'Don't. I chose this.' He fought to get to his feet, and Owen gave him a hand up. Ianto then outstretched his hand to Jack and waited to see if he would take it.

A moment of silence passed as Jack deliberated on what to do. Slowly he turned and looked up to Ianto, seeming more than a little lost. Eventually, he took the offered hand and was helped to his feet.

They all stood there for a moment, in the alleyway, assaulted by the wind and the smell of blood. Nobody seemed to know what to do, but Ianto kept his eyes fixed on Jack, trying to gauge his thoughts, trying to reassure him, even though he knew from the expression he wore that Jack had been completely blindsided. Understandably really.

'Better get rid of these bodies,' he suggested, lightly.

That broke the spell and the others pulled together to get the aliens safely out of the way and slung into the back of the SUV. It was all done in near silence and the ride back to the Hub was awkward, to say the least.

Ianto didn't mind. He felt a strange sense of calm all the way which he supposed was a side effect of his unnatural resurrection, and not even Jack's mood or all of the studious attempts not to be seen looking at him could dissuade it. They would come around to the fact that he just wasn't who he used to be eventually. He had to allow them their surprise for now.

Quietly, the SUV was put to bed and Owen made Ianto submit to an extra examination before he was allowed to go. Nothing amiss was found. He was still just Ianto, since there wasn't a test in the world that could possibly reveal that a person was stretched across all of space and time, more or less stuck in two places at once.

Jack waited for him to get clean and find some clothes. Then he sent the others home for the evening and called Ianto his office.

'I don't like this.' Jack's words were out before Ianto had even taken a seat.

He felt a little hurt at that. 'You'd rather I died?'

'No! No... of course not. I just... I don't understand.'

'It's the link...'

'You said that was fading.'

'I...' Ianto winced. 'I tried to make it fade. It worked. I wasn't lying. But... I can't deny what we... what I am,' Ianto quickly corrected himself upon seeing Jack wince a little at the unintended pluralism. It wasn't something he could help; he just didn't feel accurate as an “I” anymore. He was two, living two realities at once, and there was just no way to describe the jointness of his decision making and duality of his perceptions. 'Look, I know why you're on edge about this. But I'm not like you. When I came back, it was by choice. I can decide. The day will come when I'll make the decision not to return, I know. But let me promise you one thing; I'll always choose this while you still have no choice.'

Jack studied him for a moment before, finally, the first signs of a smile appeared and crinkled the skin around his eyes. 'That could be a long time.'

'Time? Yes. It can seem so. Long, I mean.' Of course, it was a little different being made of time than having to endure it, but Ianto chose not to get into all of that. Besides, there just weren't words enough. 'It doesn't matter to me. I'll stay with you.'

For a few minutes, or at least what seemed like that, Jack leaned back in his chair, staring into the ether thinking it through. 'Maybe I don't want you to.'

Ianto felt his heart pang and droop a little. Perhaps had been a little presumptuous to think that Jack would even want him around. It had been based mostly on accumulated evidence, and Ianto knew full well that scattered evidence didn't always add up the way it was supposed to.

He closed his eyes for a moment, reaching out to his other self, needing the support. It was there, as always, like a cool and calming caress. Jack was saying something, something about what he meant, but he wasn't hearing it. Ianto had to fight his own inclination not to let go and return to himself fully in order to come back and even that wasn't entirely willing.

'It's alright, Sir,' he said, aware that he sounded somewhat weary. 'You don't need to explain anything to me.' Ianto cleared his throat and straightened his tie. 'If that's all, I need to start moving the bodies we picked up from the autopsy bay to the morgue.'

'Leave them until tomorrow. You look tired, Ianto.'

Ianto didn't feel all that tired but he conceded anyway. 'Very well. I'll be going then.' He didn't stop as Jack attempted to say something else, eager to get out before Jack asked him to stay the night, or, even worse, didn't.

He shut down the base, methodically, and drove home on autopilot. The torn up and bloodstained clothes he had been wearing when he was shot were folded in a bag on his backseat, in the hopes that the suit at least could be rescued. If there was one thing he had learned from working at Torchwood, it was how to get rid of bloodstains. Usually, that wasn't such a good thing. Tonight it was the best thing that had happened to him.

After putting the suit and tie into soak with some chemicals, he scratched around the cupboards to find a bite to eat. Unsurprisingly, there wasn't much to be found. He just didn't spend enough time at home to really shop much. Ianto ate some crackers and had a shot or two of whiskey; enough to loosen him up a little. Then he went to bed.

Sleep actually came easily to him, as it always seemed to now. His other self was a calming presence, like a lullaby, or a dreamcatcher, helping him drift away and apparently keeping any nightmares away. And that was another reason he could no longer deny the connection; it was too exhausting not having that safety net.

At some point, in the early hours of the morning, he awoke with a start, his heart pounding and his mouth dry.

Something was calling him. Something familiar.

At first he thought that somehow the Torchwood Three TARDIS had woken up and was reaching out to him again, but then he realised that the voice was different somehow. It was less demanding, less insistent and needy. He realised with a jolt that this one wasn't actually calling out to him per se, but just calling out, for anyone to listen who could hear it.

Ianto checked his clock and groaned when he saw that it wasn't even six in the morning yet. There was no way he was going to be able to go back to sleep though, not with that din spreading through his mind like alarm bells. At least this time he was able to hold it back and compartmentalise it in his brain more. The need to help wasn't going to take him over this time.

He got dressed in a hurry but still managed to look impeccable as he left his house and sped back to the epicentre of the cry; the Hub. The moment he parked up, he knew what it was.

Under the dawn shadow of the watertower, right on top of their perception filter, a blue box was parked. Even if he hadn't have seen it several times before, he could sense immediately that it was another TARDIS. Now he was so close, he could hear it crying so loudly it made his teeth itch. But it seemed to quieten a little as he listened, apparently becoming aware of him.

Slowly he trod the pavement towards it, unable to take his eyes away. She, in turn, seemed to be looking right back at him, assessing him, trying to figure him out. Ianto gently placed a hand on the side of the box and she purred approvingly in response. At the moment he wasn't able to decipher anything of what it was saying, since she wasn't intentionally reaching out to him, as the other TARDIS had, but he knew it was only a matter of time before he grew to understand. Then, perhaps, he would be able to fix whatever was wrong.

'Hey!' A voice startled him and a man in a brown suit ran over towards him.

Ianto frowned at him, recognising him immediately as the Doctor. He saw Jack standing further along, under a tree, obviously having been speaking with him. Thankfully, he stayed where he was and didn't approach either of them. Ianto could sense the TARDIS he was still connecting to was very on edge about him, willing him to stay away.

But that wasn't why she was upset, though. No, it was something else. Something he was on the verge of grasping, if he just had more time to let his other self shine through and guide him.

'Hey!' The Doctor repeated. 'What do you think you're doing?'

Because he couldn't resist, Ianto raised an eyebrow and him and smirked. 'Sorry, Sir,' he said, insincerely. 'The Doctor, I presume?'

The man mirrored his raised eyebrow and stuffed his hands in his pockets. 'That's me. And you are?'

'Ianto Jones. I work for Jack, in Torchwood Three.'

The distain which filled the Doctor's eyes at that wasn't even concealed. He felt vaguely insect-like under that cold stare. Obviously that had been the wrong thing to say, big time.

'Are you in need of assistance?' Ianto asked, just to see if the Doctor would own up to his troubles with his ship. Time Lords were a stubborn sort, rarely acknowledging their own limitations, or at least that was what his vortex self thought.

'No, just visiting,' the Doctor said, the far more benign expression overtaking his face not quite reaching his eyes. 'Let me see now, Ianto... are you his doctor or are you the receptionist?'

'Receptionist,' he said, smarting a little even if that was technically accurate.

'Ah right. Jack didn't give much of a description.'

And suddenly Ianto realised he was being sized up, not in a purely superior manner, but as a rival. There was actually a note of jealousy there, he knew it. 'Nor of you actually.'

Again the Doctor looked right down at him, sort of smiling and frowning at the same time. 'Well I was bound to stop by for a visit sooner or later, so there was probably no point,' he said, bouncing on his heels a little. 'Might not even have been in your lifetime, after all.'

Ianto resisted the urge to point out that the Doctor wasn't actually there by choice, so that was a moot point, but that would have given the game away. The thing was, he would have been perfectly happy to have helped his stricken TARDIS, and was going to try and do just that before he'd come over, but Ianto didn't like the way he was being looked down on. Although it wasn't being explicitly said, he could tell the Doctor was subtly attempting to mark his territory with Jack, drawing attention to the fact that Ianto had neither the lifespan or the heroic job title to make him a viable long term companion for the Captain.

That was a joke. He wasn't the one who saw Jack as a freakish mistake. He wasn't prejudiced in his understanding of the universe and of time. He would never judge Jack for being different.

Remembering Jack was standing over by the tree, and knowing that he had to be getting anxious over them chatting like that, apart from him, Ianto stepped away from the blue box and walked over to him. The Doctor followed behind him and, even then, Ianto could feel his eyes burning holes into his back.

There were definitely some unresolved issues there. Ianto knew full well that the Doctor wasn't the most stable character and he got the sense that the Time Lord was nursing a serious case of “if I can't have him, nobody can” syndrome, probably without even knowing it.

Jack made some introductions, apparently not noticing the frostiness between the two men, and began to strike up some excited chatter, clearly overjoyed to have the Doctor there. All trace of the drama that had unfolded between himself and Ianto the previous evening seemed to have left his mind for the enthusiasm. Ianto wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not but decided not to complain.

Sure enough, the Doctor was quick to dismiss him with a request for tea and Ianto went down into the base by himself, guessing they would be following behind and getting comfortable, since he knew the Doctor was going to be grounded there for a while without his help. Of course he kept the link in his mind to the TARDIS open, not wishing to hear her suffer, still seeking to reassure her that as soon as he was able to understand what was wrong properly he would tell the Doctor what it was she wasn't able to communicate to him. He wasn't cruel enough to block her out completely. But it would have been easier with concentration and some time alone with her to let his vortex self come and do the talking. That would have to wait now.

He made the Doctor's tea and Jack's coffee with his usual precision, not about to let on that there's anything remiss at all. Ianto served it, politely, and decided to spend some time down in the archives. There wasn't a power in the universe which could have compelled him to hang around watching Jack make starry eyes at a man who didn't even seem to see the need for any particular civility towards a person he deemed unnatural, despite the fact that Ianto had seen what Jack had gone through for him; seen him being used like some sort of human shield, sent to die over and over again for him with no shred of consideration or even thanks. At the end of the universe, on earth, or up in the skies above, it had always been the same, and no amount of rolling back time erased the truth.

Once truly alone, Ianto was able to put aside his irritation and anger at the Doctor, and the indecipherable buzz in his mind grew clearer. He could meditate and focus more clearly in the quiet solitude, touching the vortex and the TARDIS' heart through it. The answer, when it came, was clear as a bell. Ianto knew exactly why she was so distressed.

In his mind, he saw how the Doctor had been struggling to control her movements, wondering what on earth was happening, and how she had clawed her way through time and space to get back to Cardiff. A lot of secrets were open to him but Ianto chose not to see too much. Just enough to understand. The TARDIS had gone into freefall and the Doctor had been powerless to stop her. Now he wasn't listening. He never listened.

Frustration welled up inside him and he knew he was going to have to distance himself before he got too muddled and intertwined with all the emotions and memories that were not his own. It was hard however, now that the TARDIS was actively trying to hold onto him, a million little tendrils clutching onto him.

All of her desires came down to a single request which made his spine judder.

Wake her.

That was what it was all about. The TARDIS remembered just as well as he what happened during the year. She remembered the other TARDIS that had, once, been set free, before Jack had reversed time.

She remembered not being the last of her kind.

The pull was so strong now she was irrevocably taking hold of him, even stronger than that of the other, weaker TARDIS that had partly taken hold of his mind while he had been in a vulnerable, confused state. But her demands were filled with emotion more than malice. They were tinged with desperation and an ambiguity that told him that she knew it would be a bad idea to have the other brought back to consciousness. It was unstable; a malign presence that had been buried in the earth for a reason. All she wanted was the loneliness of being the last to be gone and grief was a remorseless motivator.

Ianto held fast against her, doing everything he could to convince her that it could never be. He promised again, as he had before, to help. If anybody could help assuage what she was feeling it was him. Or rather, both hims.

So he gritted his teeth and went back up to the Hub, knowing he was going to have to put aside his inclination to punish the Doctor for his cruel treatment of Jack in order to do the right thing.

Owen, Gwen and Toshiko had come into work by this time and he found himself interrupting a merry band being entertained by dazzling stories from the Doctor, like children sitting around a teacher. Even Jack, mighty Jack, was utterly captivated.

He had no intention of interrupting them but Jack grabbed him by the hand and pulled him into the seat beside him, jovially. The Doctor didn't skip a beat with his storytelling but the glint in his eye became noticeably sharper. Only Ianto noticed it.

'You know, I rather like it here,' the Doctor concluded his lively chatter. 'Might stay a little while.' He gave Jack a beaming smile which was returned in kind.

Finally, Ianto could stand it no longer. 'That would be a given with your ship being so uncooperative, whether you really want to or not,' ' he muttered and all eyes fell upon him.

Jack leaned back to look at him, appearing somewhat horrified. His assessing him quickly became a look of realisation. 'Don't tell me you can hear that one too?' he asked, almost at a whisper.

'It's different,' he told him, quickly, knowing now how frightening it had been for Jack to watch him go through that the last time. 'I promise.'

The Doctor scrutinised him for a long while before leaning back in his chair, his arms folded. 'You know what's wrong with the TARDIS,' he said, matter-of-factly.

Ianto considered his options before deciding he couldn't hide it any longer. He gave the Doctor a small nod and felt the anger welling up in him again as that superior, scrutinising gaze turned onto him, just as it had before when he'd first introduced himself.

'How?' the Doctor hissed.

'It doesn't matter.'

'I think it does.'

'Well, you're wrong,' Ianto shot back, and then chuckled to himself as he realised what he'd said. 'Oh sorry, no, that's Jack isn't it? He's the wrong one.'

'Ianto...' Jack said, gently, putting a hand on his knee to silently tell him to back down.

'Or maybe I am,' he said, shrugging Jack off and getting to his feet, moving towards the Time Lord in small, slow steps. 'Neither of us fit into your narrow categories of what should and shouldn't be.'

The Doctor got to his feet as well and squared up defensively, his glare now tinged with incomprehension.

'What are you doing...?' Tosh began to ask, but was shushed with a sharp wave of the hand by Ianto, made in the air without once taking his eyes off the alien man in his sights.

'What's wrong with my TARDIS?'

'What do you see when you look at Jack?' Ianto asked, deflecting the question. 'What exactly do you see?'

Piercing eyes flittered across to Jack and back again, narrowing with suspicion. 'It's not about what I see, it's about what I feel.'

'Correct. Feelings are not fact, Doctor. He is no more wrong than you or any of us are. He's simply outside your comprehension. You shouldn't fear him.'

'I don't...' he began, but lowered his eyes momentarily, unable to say it. The Doctor looked back up at him like he was seeing Ianto for the first time. 'Who are you?'

'That's not important. I just want you to see that your vision is too small to be able to judge Jack's place in the universe and in time. Your feelings are irrelevant. I want to help you see him for who he really is. Not what you sense he is.' Ianto turned to Jack, his eyes immediately softening, giving him a small smile as he looked on, perplexed. Even if Jack didn't want him, he could at least help him get who he really did want, by pushing the Doctor - and his TARDIS too - to overcome their prejudices and accept him. He turned back to the Doctor with a clear purpose in his manner. 'Come with me to your ship and I'll show you what's wrong with her.'

The Doctor hesitated and looked around at the other members of the Torchwood team, questioning them with his eyes. None of them had any answers; all just as surprised by Ianto's outburst.

Ianto started towards the Hub entrance, walking along like he was on autopilot. He didn't react even as Jack called after him and just kept going until he was all the way out of the base and walking back along the Plass towards the TARDIS.

She was quieter now she knew he was going to tell the Doctor what to do; calmer. That made him feel a little better for making her wait.

It wasn't long before the Doctor came along, hands in his pockets, looking extremely dubious about the whole thing. 'I asked Jack about you,' he said as he approached. 'He tied himself in knots and none of it made any sense. None of them know what to make of you, and they're supposed to be your colleagues. So before we do this, I'd like for you to tell me exactly who you are.'

He couldn't help the smirk which curled the corner of his lips. 'I do believe I already introduced myself. My name is Ianto Jones, just as I said. I work for Jack at Torchwood Three.'

'But you're not human.'

'No, I am.' Mostly. Kind of. 'This is a lesson I think you'd do well to take away with you, Time Lord,' he said, channelling the other Ianto yet more. 'You expect that because I'm just a human, one of however billion there are on this planet at this moment in time, I can't possibly be anything more than you were expecting to find.'

'Okay, I get it. Assumptions aren't good.'

'Always look past the chrysalis and look for the butterfly. I believe you knew to do that once. You seem to have forgotten over time.' Ianto put a hand on the front panel of the TARDIS and she immediately unlocked and opened her door to them.

The Doctor looked completely confused again that he was able to do that, and then a bit miffed as he was invited into his own ship.

Inside, the ship seemed to be pulsing and heaving, her internal lights dimming in and out in dizzy distress. 'I thought I must have fixed her wrong after...' he winced and elected not to continue. Ianto sensed the answer anyway; after she was cannibalised into a paradox machine. 'What am I missing?'

'You're missing her heart.'

'Hm?' the Doctor grunted and frowned, deeply.

'Metaphorically.' Ianto sighed, heavily, and over walked to the central power well, thinking for a moment how there was a small resemblance between this place and the Torchwood Three Hub, with the water tower and this TARDIS' power console both spiked down the middle. He placed a hand on it and the TARDIS purred, the lights around them growing bolder somehow.

Ianto looked back to him and realised, from the look on the Doctor's face, that the vortex flowing into and through him must be showing somehow, maybe in his eyes, maybe even through his skin. He held out his hand and waited for the Time Lord to contemplate the offering and then walk up to him and accept it.

The moment the connection to him was established on both sides, Ianto was able to link the Doctor and the TARDIS together as well. Flashes of memories from the year that was reversed appeared and, piece by piece, the TARDIS showed them both exactly why she was so distraught. She didn't want to be the last. And as Ianto watched, he saw the Doctor holding onto another of his kind — Harold Saxon, or rather, the Master — begging with him to stay with him, all wrongs forgiven if only for the chance to no longer bear the burden of a near eternity alone. It was paralleled with the TARDIS pleading through the ether after time had reversed for the one other of her kind left in the universe, which she had been able to reach out to and sense in that year, to come back.

It revolved around like a spinning top, between them; all the emotions and desires and needs and fears, jumbling and sharpening the memories being shared. Ianto added his own to the mix, showing the Doctor and the TARDIS how he came to be what he was, why the other TARDIS could not be woken, and why Jack wasn't and never could be wrong.

Gradually they came to themselves again and Ianto found himself on the floor, cradling the Time Lord as he wept for the Master once more, listening to the TARDIS as she withdrew and mourned in private. Finally, she understood. Ianto knew she would be able to go on now she had seen it all unfold through his eyes because she really did understand why he could not wake the other up again for her. Unexpectedly, he realised that she was not the one who really needed healing; the Doctor was.

He thought that perhaps he'd been too quick to judge him and wrong not to consider why he was the way he was. Why he was possessive towards Jack yet determined to push him away; it was his desperation not to be alone anymore warring with the experience of losing everybody sooner or later. Why he looked down on others; it was because nobody could reach inside him like one of his kind, and no matter how many times he saved this race and that race from destruction, it would never bring the Gallifreyans back.

Ianto decided to step back a little and let his vortex self shine through, wrapping the Doctor with memories of a time when there were many other Time Lords, all connected to each other, so strong it would feel like he wasn't alone at all, at least for a little while. The Doctor could hear them in his mind and sense them completely as Ianto poured the sensation into all of the ragged cracks that had appeared in him over time. He wanted to make it unforgettable, so that if ever he felt alone again, the Doctor would always remember that feeling and find the strength to go on.

Eventually the Doctor seemed to lose consciousness, so Ianto reasserted himself through the power that had been flowing through him and used his last remaining strength to lay him out on the floor, making him as comfortable as possible. Then he made for the TARDIS' door, wanting nothing more than to find somewhere private to fall down and sleep, his head completely pounding. He made it outside, but slid down the side of the police box and hit the concrete slab that normally constituted Torchwood Three's emergency lift. At least he wouldn't be seen by any passersby there, he thought, as his vision started gathering sparks.

Ianto felt utterly drained, but that was understandable. Humans weren't supposed to act as communication conduits between wayward time beings, and although he knew the other Ianto would always hold him together, he was doomed to feel the aftershocks. He was still mere flesh and blood.

He was woken, not long later it seemed, by Owen kicking him lightly in the thigh. Ianto groaned out his pain.

'Not dead then,' Owen pronounced.

'That medical degree was well worth it then, was it?' Ianto huffed and struggled to sit himself up. Gwen and Tosh got either side of him and somehow managed to hoist him to his feet. Ianto peered out and caught sight of Jack waiting agitatedly at a distance. He waved him over a few times but Jack wouldn't come.

'Tosh, would you please go tell Jack that he's fine to approach the TARDIS. Nothing will happen. Trust me.'

She nodded and went to relay the message. Jack clearly looked torn but eventually came back with her. He eyed the blue box all the way and looked relieved when nothing happened when he came near.

'What happened?' he asked, putting one hand on Ianto's shoulder and the other on his cheek to lift his chin. 'You look like crap.'

'Flattery, Sir.' Ianto rolled his eyes and then looked him in the eye, having to force himself to smile. 'Go inside. The Doctor needs you.'

Jack didn't need to be told twice. He went straight for the door and Ianto couldn't help the sigh which escaped him. Gwen squeezed his shoulder a little and he turned his placid smile to her. Between the three of them, the rest of the Torchwood team were able to help Ianto back to the Tourist Centre and back down into the Hub. They helped him onto the couch, Owen even managing to produce a blanket and pillow for him (even if the glare that came with it warned him never to repeat that he'd ever fetched them and tucked him in), and he fell asleep almost as soon as his head touched down.

Of course, by the time he had woken up, Jack was gone. So was the TARDIS and the Doctor.

The team told him Jack had waited but he'd taken so long, past a day, to wake up, he'd had to go. He didn't want to miss his chance to travel with the Doctor at last. Ianto closed his eyes and nodded, not saying a word about it, even if they all seemed to be waiting for him to say something.

He reached out to his other self, seeking word, even though he knew he shouldn't ask, on whether he'd ever see Jack again. The answer was that not even the vortex knew. It could trace the path of every atom and molecule through every stage of its existence. But Jack? Nothing. He was just an empty space and neither his path, or the altered courses of all those he encountered, could ever be properly predicted now.

That was why he naturally felt so wrong to any being relying on those paths to navigate time and the universe. Destabilising factors always did.

It didn't matter now though, not really. Ianto had given Jack what he'd always wanted and that felt good. He'd helped the Doctor too, and his TARDIS. He'd done good things.

So he told the team not to worry and relaxed back down. Gwen shrieked in his ears as blood starting rolling out of him and Owen tore his shirt away to find a hole in his stomach. It was a bulletwound.

Ianto wanted to tell them that he was just restoring time to the way it should have been, and dying as he was supposed to because he had given Jack what he wanted another way. He wasn't going to be alone so now he could go. But he had no strength to speak.

He smiled though; smiled at them all in turn, and reached out to hold Toshiko's trembling hand too for as long as he could. Then he allowed himself to wither away into a far deeper sleep, going to a place where he could hold onto the one remaining soul he knew he'd never be parted from; himself.

There, Ianto stayed.

***

Next story in series - The Dog and the Bone.