Previous part of Separate Ways.

***

"He hates me, Erin," Susan looked up at her friend with red, puffy eyes. "He'll probably never want to talk to me again. Ever."

"Oh come on, this isn't 'Tweener Angst Theater'! I would expect this from Lulu, but you? You've been through worse." Erin sat beside her friend, rubbing her back.

"I am an idiot," she stated simply, falling back into the pillow.

"Okay." Erin decided, pulling herself up from the bed. "Enough. Get out of bed and get in the shower. You ... of all people ... are not going to do this."

Susan looked up at her, shocked. She wasn't used to hearing Erin be forceful. She was torn between pride and confusion over the way the young woman had changed since they moved to Cardiff ... she was much more confident now. "You're right. I'll go get in the shower, take something for this horrible headache and go on ... just like always. Maybe get a little shopping done."

"You could go into work." Erin reminded her.

"Took a personal day," Susan corrected her. "I think I deserve it."

"Okay, but really ... no more of this. I don't care who he is, no man is worth this. Not even Jack." She meant every word as she said it. Erin herself wondered when she had changed ... she liked the new her an awful lot. "I'm going to work and you had better not be in here playing 'pity party' when I get home.

"Yes ma'am," Susan mock cowered, sitting up and swinging her legs over the side of the bed, letting them dangle.

Erin laughed as she left Susan's room to get ready for work.

Once her friend was out the door, she dragged her feet into the bathroom to take a shower. Her head was pounding from all the crying she had done the night before. She'd been stupid; she knew that. But she couldn't risk a repeat of her last relationship ... it had taken far too much out of her. And she couldn't put the kids through that either. Not again.

The hot water washed all of that away. She could feel her head getting clearer ... with the giant exception of the headache. But that was easy enough to take care of. Susan made up her mind to call Jack and apologize, maybe even go by and see him once she got dressed. It was, after all, really all her fault. He had overwhelmed her a little and it triggered something in her mind that made her want to get out. It wasn't that she really wanted out. Jack was so different than Keith had been. So very different in many ways. He deserved to know what she had been thinking though, and she was going to make sure that he did.

As she toweled off, she could hear Nicole playing with Joey. It sounded like she was trying to teach him how to play hide and seek, but she couldn't be sure. The only thing that was for certain was that it involved a lot of laughing and running for both of them, with the occasional squeal from what Susan hoped was Joey, but, honestly, could have been Nicole as well. The toddler had been having so much fun with her for the short time she was working for Susan that she and Jack had talked about asking her to move in. Jack had done a good job picking her and she was very grateful.

Jack again. She supposed she'd have to go to him instead of calling. Susan hoped that he would understand. After all that he had said the night before, she didn't see why he wouldn't. He had seen and done things that she would only imagine. This had to be something he had dealt with before.

She got dressed, thinking she would even wear jewelry ... dress up a bit. Pulling her favorite earrings out of her small jewelry box, one fell to the floor and rolled underneath the dresser. She dropped to her hands and knees to retrieve it and found the small envelope that had been in Jack's pocket. She peeked inside and saw the tiny right pill. Leave it to Jack to carry aspirin, she thought, putting it in her pocket for later. Her headache had let up for the time being, but she didn't want to take any chances.

Checking herself in the mirror one last time after putting the stray earring in, she blew herself a kiss. She had to go and fix this fiasco, Erin had been right.

"Nicole," she called as she stood at the door. "I'm going out ... try and track Jack down for lunch. If he calls, could you tell him that I am heading his way?"

"No problem," Nicole replied from somewhere in the kitchen.

"And Lulu should be home after school. If she calls and tries to talk you into anything else, don't be afraid to tell her no."

"Gotcha. Anything else?" She was in the doorway, drying her hands on a towel.

"Yeah ... no matter how many times that little charmer flashes his best smile, he only gets two cookies at snack time." She pointed at the blonde head peeking around the young woman's legs.

"Busted, little man," Nicole told the little boy before looking back at Susan. "It's hard to tell him no when he does that ... must have learned it from his dad." Nicole got a bit of a dreamy look as she thought of Jack.

"But he's not..." Susan started, but thought about what the nanny was saying to her. "Don't let him fool you or he'll be as bad as Jack when he gets older. Promise?"

"Sure thing." She bent to ruffle his hair. "He sure does look like Jack, though. It'll be tough."

"Tough," Joey agreed.

Susan laughed before setting out to fix the on thing that she was sure of in all of the world.

 ***

"So what was it?" Jack looked at Tosh for the answer.

"An odd bit of technology. Not dangerous at all." Tosh read her notes for anything remarkable.

"Go on, Tosh. Tell them how it turned water to wine." Owen tried to sound helpful.

"Now, Owen," Jack thought they may have been pulling his leg.

"No, he's right, Jack. It did. We were trying all sorts of things and figured pointing it at water was harmless enough. We laughed about it for a good ling time. Do you want a demonstration?"

Gwen slid her glass forward at the same time as Ianto. After a shared laugh, Toshiko pointed the device at the offered glasses. The clear liquid quickly turned dark red.

"Did you try drinking it?" Gwen asked, picking up the glass and examining it closely.

"Maybe a bit too much," Tosh blushed, putting her head down.

"It was good," Owen admitted.

"Jack, can we use this for the wedding?" Gwen seized on the idea after taking a tentative sip. "We'd save a small fortune on the open bar!"

For the first time that day, Jack smiled. "Only if we can use it for office parties as well."

"Maybe we should bottle a Torchwood Vintage Blend," Ianto deadpanned, trying not to laugh at the thought of a Weevil on the label.

"But taste it!" Gwen passed hers to the head of the table.

Jack had just raised it to his lips when something began to beep on Tosh's computer. He moved to put the glass aside, but she stopped him.

"No, go ahead ... I'll get it," Tosh stood and went to find out what the noise was about.

"This is good ... so would bottling it be ethical?" Jack sounded as if he were really considering it.

"If you want, I can look into marketing for you," Ianto rolled another mouthful around, thinking that it would indeed save a fortune on open bar.

Jack nodded in affirmation. If even just for the Torchwood employees, this would be a great idea. Tosh returned to the conference room in a rush.

"Jack ... that was Andy. He said he needs you to give him a call as soon as you can."

"Andy? Like Gwen's former co-worker?" Jack shot a look at Ianto that made the younger man nod. He would call him later and ask if he would interested in joining up. "Did he say what it was?" It was odd in the first place that he had called for Jack and not Gwen as he usually did, there had to be a real problem.

"No, just to call him." She looked around the table nervously.

"Right," he stood. "I'll be in my office." He moved to the door, where he turned and stood. "Let's keep an eye on the city ... it's been far too quiet lately. Even the Weevils have calmed down."

Once he had disappeared into his office, Gwen turned to Tosh. "Did he really say?"

She nodded demurely, gathering files from the table to take back to her desk. "They found an amnesia victim wandering in the Plass. Thought Jack should be the first to know."

"Why?" Ianto asked as he cleared the mugs.

"Because it's Susan."

***

"You can't be," The Doctor asserted. "Your kind don't travel from their home world."

"Well, duh, I did. Then again, I needed something." He was sure that her features were trying to change.

"I don't understand ... I can't help you. You would only regenerate if you took my life force. And that wouldn't last you very long..." He was still frowning.

"It's not you we want. It's your immortal friend." She smiled at him ... from a distance, they appeared to be having a normal conversation.

"Jack? But why...oh no, you could live forever!" Suddenly, all of the future events he was trying to fix made sense. "It was your kind that invaded the Boeshane Peninsula?"

"Sure was. And the beauty of it was that we used a different form. We were in our larval form them. They spent years running from a race that was not even in its correct, adult state." She laughed, a wrong, bubbling noise that sounded more like someone choking.

"You're monsters!" He was horrified. These creatures were after Jack in the worst way and for the worst reasons. And he was the one who had to stop them. He had to get to Taryn, who was now nowhere to be found, while keeping an eye on Marie. The Doctor thought and thought frantically, pushing his hands thorough his hair. He spotted Leila and inspiration hit him. "Leila!" he called to her.

The girl came over, a smile on her face. "Yes?"

"I wonder if you could help me?" He looked up at her, trying his best not to do 'desperate puppy dog' eyes.

Marie had gone back to reading her book, acting as if she were ignoring him, but was fully aware of what was going on.

"Maybe ... depends on what it is." She crossed her arms on her chest and looked down at him. It reminded him of someone, but he wasn't quite sure who it was.

"Can you sit here with Marie while I go and get my sister?" Her stance was bugging him, pushing at the edge of his memory.

"Sure." She moved her arms to her sides, letting them rest on her hips. It didn't help the thought that he had seen her somewhere before.

He smiled at her, a warm 'thank you' smile that made his face light up. There was still something so familiar about her to him, and it made him chuckle a little to compare her to the other Leela he knew. "Thanks ... I owe you."

"No you don't." She leaned against the wall and slid down to sit beside him. "We have a common interest."

"What do you mean?" Now he was really confused.

She placed her hand on his arm. "Doctor, I know why you're here. I sent the beacon." She half-smiled at him and, again, he struggled to think who she reminded him of. "Cobbly is very important to us too. Without the advances he made in science, an entire race would have been wiped out. More importantly, my grandmother Boemina would never have been born." She winked at him and he knew who it was that she reminded him of. "And let me go ahead and thank you for giving me such a great name, Honorary Uncle..."

It was his turn to be speechless, something that didn't happen too often. "That makes you..."

"One of The Children of Boe; Boekind. Thanks to Cobbly Duncan, we were given the chance to evolve. And, except for grand-dad, none of us turned out to be heads in a jar ... though it was touch-and-go with my brother for a while there." She laughed a little at her own joke.

"How did you find me?" He covered her hand with his and found it quite warm.

"Uncle, we're everywhere you are. We are human in appearance ... thanks to the wonders of DNA ... and can blend easily. I, myself, am a bit like...a Time Agent. Grand-dad and dad worked on it ... got it going so that our family could help the universe a bit better. Had a bit of help from Torchwood and one of my ancestors that also worked there ... her name was Andrea - not that that name will mean that much to you right now, but who knows?" He was watching her talk and putting together things that hadn't seemed to go together in the first place.

"Well, that explains how Boe was able to find me easily. Why didn't he ever say?" He looked over at Marie, to check she was still there, finding her looking too intently at the book she was holding.

Leila laughed. "You wouldn't have believed him. Besides, it's more fun this way. Now, go. You need to find your 'sister'."

"She isn't my sister," he corrected, tucking his legs under him as a precursor to standing.

"I know. Thought that was what you were calling your companions this year. Who am I to judge?" She arched her eyebrow.

"Stop that," he found himself muttering before he could stop. "So, you think you can handle her?" He inclined his head at the alien.

"Find Taryn. I may look clumsy, but I am related to Jack Harkness..." She took out what looked like a modified version of the sonic screwdriver. "Go."

"Where did you...?" He went to ask her, but it was clear that she wasn't going to tell him. He walked away, starting his search at the last place he had seen Taryn. "Have you seen my sister?"

"She was with Jim." A man sitting at the table told him.

"Right. And they went?" He started out the door and turned.

"On a tour...oh cripes! Susan!" She was suddenly there, all blonde hair and giggles.

"Yeah?" Her ponytails bobbed as she bounced in place.

"Can you show him where Jim took his sister?" He didn't look up from the comic book he was reading.

"Sure thing ... c'mon, Mr. Smith, was it?" She motioned for him to follow her.

"John," he corrected her. "It's John."

"Fine then, John, let's go find your sister." She smiled at him and it suddenly hit him how much this girl beside him affected the universe. She had no idea that in about twenty years she would meet an immortal ... an immortal that he considered to be one of his best friends in the whole of time. Or that one of that man's descendants was in that room right now and her best friend. It really put things into perspective for him. He had to find Taryn and get this fixed. Yesterday, if possible.

***

When Erin opened the door to the tourist office, Ianto was putting out new brochures.

"You ready?" she asked him, picking up one of the ones on the sites of Cardiff to send to her mother.

"Yeah, we'll just lock up for a bit." Ianto came from behind her to give her a kiss.

"Where's Jack?" She put her arms around his neck.

"Wait a minute," he teased. "I'm kissing you and you're asking about Jack."

"Jealous?" she smirked at him.

He pulled her close to him. Arms around her waist. "Of you or Jack?"

"Hey!" She kissed him again. "But really, is something wrong?"

"Why?" Ianto tried to cover, but found he couldn't lie to her.

"There was a weird call on my cell. It sounded like Susan, and it came from her phone, but the message was, well ... wrong." She rooted around in her bag for the phone. "Here. Listen."

She played the message for him. "Who is this? Can you tell me how you know me? Who am I?" There was a frustrated sigh and then she hung up.

"See?" She looked from her phone to Ianto and it was clear he knew something. "What is it?"

"Erin, don't worry. Jack has it under control, I'm sure."

"Have you heard from him?" Her voice took a frantic tone.

"Not yet, but that means there was nothing wrong." he rubbed her arm to soothe her.

"What happened though?"

"Susan was found wandering the Plass. She had no idea who she was or what she was doing. Jack has been with her since this morning."

"Then they must have gotten to her right after she called me. She was on her way to apologize to Jack for whatever it was that had happened between them. Let's go see her." Erin had decided and Ianto knew that he wouldn't be able to talk her out of it.

"If you want to. Let me just phone Jack," he stepped away and used his cell. Jack answered almost immediately.

"Harness," his vice was full of worry.

"Jones," Ianto identified himself, trying to lighten the mood a bit.

"Hey, Ianto," Jack sighed into the comm.

"What do you know?"

"Well, Owen came and took blood samples. He's running them now. The lab here is having kittens."

"Okay if Erin and I come by?" Erin was looking at him expectantly.

Ianto could all but hear him run his hand through his hair. " Yeah, that might help."

"Do you need anything?"

"A cup of coffee would be grand."

"You got it."

"Thanks, Yan." Jack turned off his comm just as Ianto heard Susan's voice in the background.

"How is she?" Erin asked as soon as Ianto closed his phone.

"Well, Owen did some tests. We should know soon enough what caused it. Let me make Jack some coffee and we can head out," he took her hand.

"Better yet," she suggested, "I have to go and let them know that I'm going to take the rest of the day off. We can pick some up there. Don't look at me like that. Bring a thermos ... he'll never know..."

He feigned hurt and shock. "Are you saying that my coffee is no better than coffehouse coffee?"

"Not at all," she bumped into him a bit. "I'm saying Jack's palate is simple."

"As long as that's it, then," he smiled at her. "Are you ready to go?"

"Let me get my jacket," he disappeared behind the beaded curtain.

Switching the 'Open' sign to 'Closed', he put his hand on her back to guide her out.

"Seriously, Mr. Jones, you make me look severely underdressed."

"Do you want my jacket?" He looked over at her out of the corners of his eyes.

"Oh yes, please. It would look so great with this blue apron." She indicated what she was wearing with a sweep of her hand.

"I think it would," Ianto agreed, smiling at her.

"Stop being horrible." Erin pushed on him a bit as they walked toward the bookstore where she worked.

***

"How are you?" Erin came cautiously through the door to see her roommate propped up in her bed, smiling.

"Good, I think." Susan frowned a bit. "I would like it more if I could remember evrything I am supposed to."

"Jack, a word?" Ianto called the man over to him, leaving the women to talk.

"Yeah, Yan?" he kept one eye on Susan as he spoke to him.

"What happened?"

"Best Owen can tell is that it's Retcon. But it's acting oddly." Jack crossed his arms on his chest.

"How do you mean?" Ianto unconsciously mimicked him.

"Well, it didn't just take out the usual two days. It took out a full day and parts of her memory that should have been concrete."

"Like?" His eyebrows knit together.

"Well, her name, for starters. And - she remembers that she has kids, but not their correct ages."

"Does Owen know why?" Jack was right, in all of the archives there had never been an instance of this happening.

"Not the first clue. He's still running tests. Might have to do a brain scan later today." He looked genuinely worried.

"Jack," Ianto placed his hand on his friend's shoulder. "It will be fine. Did she know who you were?"

He looked at the floor for a moment before lifting his eyes to answer. "That's the odd thing. She did. She clung to me and didn't want to let go. But she remembered something from the future, Yan. Something that hadn't happened yet."

The Welshman arched an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Ianto, she keeps telling us about things that happen in the future ... and I can confirm some of them." His voice dropped to barely audible.

"Jack, that's..."

"Jack! I know what's going on!" Owen burst through the door, ignoring everyone else in the room and going to where Ianto and Jack stood.

"What is it?" He asked the medic, turning to him.

"Well, as you know from the first tests that it was Retcon." Owen recapped for Ianto's benefit.

"Right," he nodded slowly.

"What we didn't know until this point was has Retcon reacts with other drugs." He shook the pages he was holding.

"Susan's on drugs?!" Jack whispered fiercely, gripping Ianto's shoulder for stability.

Owen shook his head with a slight smile. "No, Jack ... at least not anything unusual for a woman her age."

"Not following you." He frowned.

Ianto understood Owen and returned the doctor's smile. "Are you kidding me? How did we not know this?"

"You keep the archives, Teaboy. The real question is how did you not know?"

"Hello," Jack interrupted. "Am I missing something?"

The two other men turned to him. Owen loved that he knew something more than Jack.

"Jack, it's simple. It seems that our blend of Retcon doesn't seem to work too well when it combines with certain brands of birth control pills. It seems Susan is in a study group for a new experimental drug trial. Hers, we have found, are not the placebos."

"You're kidding," Jack breathed a sigh of relief. "What now? Is there a way to get her memory back?"

"Well," Owen suggested, "Gwen was strong enough to break through with the slightest of triggers. Seems to me that we should be able to do the same thing for Susan."

"Right ... but what about the 'future glimpses' she reported?" Ianto asked, handing the thermos he had been holding to Jack.

"Another reaction of the combination she has going. Should wear off." Owen shrugged. He saw that the doctor that had been assigned to her was back in the room. Crossing to her with his best know-it-all swagger, he spoke. "Listen, we have this under control. Go ahead and get the discharge papres ready, doll."

The doctor shot daggers at him and went to speak before she spotted Jack looking at her. She had been dealing with him for the past few hours and would be glad to be rid of him. "Give me ten minutes." She left the room muttering something derogatory about Torchwood.

"Susan," Owen now turned to the woman in the bed. "How much do you remember?"

"You know," she frowned, turning from Erin to speak to him, "I know who I am not, at least. And I know that ... Jack was it? - is not to be trusted..." She winked at him.

Owen smiled back at her. "Sounds fine to me. Now, what were you saying about seeing the future?"

She shrugged him off, feeling silly she had even said anything at all. "It's nothing. I was just talking."

Jack opened the thermos and poured himself a cup. "Thanks, Ianto, I need this." He took a big draw and, looking over the small metal cup that served as the lid, frowned a bit. "But this is not your coffee, is it?"

"Told you!" Ianto called out to Erin.

"Amazing," she muttered, joining them. "You can tell that's not Ianto's?"

"It's not ... but it's almost as good. Did you make it?" Jack felt proud that he had figured them out.

"Yeah ... well, in a way." Erin admitted, letting Ianto take her hand.

"Don't get me wrong. It's good, just not what I am used to." He swallowed another mouthful. "However, I do have to say that between the two of you, you should open a shop. You'd make a fortune!"

They laughed together as the doctor returned and Owen and Jack went to talk with her and Susan, leaving Ianto and Erin by themselves.

"I told you," Ianto arched his eyebrow at her. "He just knows."

"Impressive ... really." She smiled back at him. "But, Ianto, I have to ask you ... who is that doctor running the tests on Susan?"

"That's Owen ... he's...a close personal friend." He tried to reach for the right way to explain without giving away too much.

"Is there something you aren't telling me?" She looked into his eyes, knowing he'd never be able to lie to her.

"Erin, it's...I..." he sighed, not knowing what to say next. "Wait, I have a question for you."

"What?" She frowned at his attempt to change the subject.

"Owen said that Susan was involved in a study ... is that the one that you guys signed up for?" He remembered back to when she had told him that all of the woman had signed up for a study to make a little extra money ... but never said what it was for.

"Yeah, why?" Erin looked at him confused.

Ianto remembered that he had given Erin Retcon, but she had only lost the few hours that followed dinner. "Do you keep having flashes of odd Deja Vu?"

"Nothing like that ... why? Is there something wrong?" Worry tinted her voice.

"No, no, nothing like that." His voice became soothing, realizing he was scaring her. "Just trying to figure out if her symptoms were common."

"How could that be common?"

"It isn't."

They looked at one another. It was clear that each of them was keeping something from the other, but neither was willing to give in.

Erin made up her mind to find out the truth about Ianto. There was something pushing on the back of her mind, trying to get out whenever she hugged him and smelled that distinctive musty smell that didn't come from the tourist office. She had been there enough and never caught a whiff of it. She made a mental note to ask Susan once all of this had been fixed. She would know what was going on.

Ianto stood, looking at Erin, knowing that she was trying to figure him out as much as he was her. He now knew something about her that she didn't. The study that she was involved in had been giving her the placebo dose ... otherwise, that Retcon would have knocked her out the same way ... Owen had told them that much. He thought about telling her, but then kept quiet. If he did tell her, she'd want to know how he knew. He closed his eyes and shook his head. He was going to have to tell her about Torchwood, he just didn't know how he was going to do it.

***

"Taryn!" The Doctor saw her talking to someone in the corner, a young man about as tall as her with dark hair. He was wearing a discarded army jacket with a biohazard sticker on the back. They were laughing, but Taryn looked quite uncomfortable. She looked up when she heard her name called, glad for the distraction.

"John!" She called back, noticing that he had Susan in tow. "I was just talking to Keith here...he runs a Dungeons and Dragons game on Saturdays and needs players."

"Really?" Susan stepped in. "I could do that."

Keith turned to her. "Yeah, you wanna roll up a character right now?"

She shrugged, smiling. "Sure."

"Then, I'll see you later maybe, Taryn?" He looked back at the taller woman.

"Yeah, maybe." She was trying to hold the smile on her face, but wanted nothing more than to grab him by the hair and bounce his face off the brick wall for what he had done to her friend. The thought made he smile a bit more and he thought it was directed at him.

They left the room and Taryn turned to the Timelord. "What's wrong?"

He set his jaw and looked at her with his best serious face. "I know what is going on. Someone called us here. Someone who is a direct descendant of Boe. And the very entity who is causing it is here as well."

"Where? Who?" She looked around.

"Listen, she's in there right now with Leila. We need to get her out of there and to the judgement planet of Marzon. She'll stand a fair trial there."

"Okay, good plan, but are there others out to do the same thing?" She challenged the alien in front of her.

"The whole race. Fortunately, once we turn her in, her people will be put under planetary arrest until the trial." He explained it the best he could.

"Sounds like we're done here then ... I just introduced Susan to Keith. We can leave." She started for the door, but felt his hand on her shoulder.

"You what?" His eyes went a bit wild.

"I introduced Susan and Keith ... you said I had to!" Suddenly, her chest felt a bit tight.

He made a panicked face for a moment. "I forgot to tell you that you didn't need to."

"You what?! Doctor! You just made me ruin my best friend's life!" Her heart broke even as she realized it.

"Well, if it's any comfort, she would have met him in two days time." He started for the door this time, but was stopped by Taryn.

"Dammit! How can you just play with people's lives like this?" Her eyes were intense, almost scaring the Timelord. "Don't you know what she's going to go through, or do you even care?!"

"Taryn, I..." he opened and closed his mouth, not knowing what to say to make it better ... not knowing if there was anything.

"Don't. Let's just finish up here and you can take me back home. I don't want anything else to do with this ... or you. You think you're a hero, but you aren't." Her hands opened and closed, her jaw clenching. "You are no better that the monsters you claim you are chasing!" She spun on her heels and stomped out.

The Doctor stood there for a moment, knowing she was right and wondering what he could do to change it. He knew that Susan was a fixed point due to the fact that she was so closely connected to the Face of Boe. Everything that happened to her in her life had to happen in order to make her who she was. He walked out of the door to go and get Marie to take her back to the TARDIS.

When he got to the room, he found Taryn standing over the alien, still clenching and unclenching her fists. By now, she was all but panting. As he neared, he heard her began to snarl at the girl. "You have ruined someone that I care about. You are going to quietly get up now and come with me."

Marie smiled up at her cruelly. "I don't think so. You'll need an army."

"I'll help." Leila offered, standing to join Taryn. "I'll be part of your army."

The Doctor hung back, watching. They were doing a good job at intimidating her without causing a scene. He'd step in if he had to.

Marie just laughed. "There will be more. You can't stop us. We know about this mission from birth. If not me, one of my many brothers and sisters will step in."

"I wouldn't count on that." Leila was the one to speak now. "I think you should get up and come with us." She produced the object The Doctor had thought to be a sonic screwdriver and pointed it at her.

He saw the alien's features ripple for sure that time. Her defenses were getting weaker and he would need to find a way to put her in suspension to guarantee that she would get a trial. He out his hand in his pocket for his own screwdriver, but found he wouldn't need it.

"I won't." She set her chin in defiance.

"Fine." Leila shrugged and pointed the metal tube at her. Marie smiled for a moment and slumped, quite limp, against the wall. "Have it your way."

"What did you just do to her?" Taryn looked at the tall girl with confusion.

"Simple ... put her 'on hold'. She asked for it." Her tone was matter-of-fact. She returned the device to her pocket and looked simply over at The Doctor. "You can come over here now and help us ... you don't have to hide."

Taryn stifled a giggle as she looked over to see his face. He was visibly shocked, mouth hung open in surprise. He thought for a moment how this other girl was living up the name he had given her and, for a brief moment, felt the loss of a past regeneration's companion in this body ... some thing that hadn't happened before.

"Well?" Leila snapped him out of his thoughts. "Don't just stand there, you great big lump!"

He smiled at them and went to help the threat to her feet and get her out to the TARDIS.

***

After dropping Susan off at her house, Jack drove back to the Hub in silence. He toyed with his bottom lip as he thought about what had happened. He couldn't understand where she had gotten the Retcon in the first place. And then he remembered the night before. He patted his coat pocket and found that the envelope wasn't there.

"Shit," he muttered, knowing the answer to his question. He parked the Range Rover and went in via the Tourist Office.

"Jack," Owen rushed him the second the cog door rolled back. "I need to talk to you."

"Yeah, Ianto," Jack was distracted as he waved the man off. "Come up to my office in a bit, I need to talk to Owen first."

"Sure." Ianto turned away from him as he headed to the medical bay.

"Owen!" Jack called, taking the stairs two at a time.

The man looked up from the slide he was scrutinizing, "Jack ... I was hoping you'd show up."

"You found something then?" He joined his side.

"Yeah, well, I think that all you need to do is let this work out of her system. She's going to be fine." He shrugged him off.

"Then what is it?" Jack was visibly confused.

"I wanted to talk to you about something I did find." He walked away from the table and sat on a rolling stool, motioning for Jack to join him.

"What's that?" Jack didn't know how to prepare himself; Owen was being deliberately vague.

"Well, there are some other compounds that I found in her blood that baffle me. I suspect that if I checked Ianto's blood now, they would be in there as well."

Jack knit his eyebrows at the man. "What does that mean exactly?"

"It means, Jack ,that you are infecting certain people with incredible antibodies. I would wager that is the reason that our Teaboy no longer gets sick."

"I'm still not sure I understand."

"Look, Harkness, I know you can't be that thick. Whatever it is that you have in you that keeps you from dying is doing this ... you are giving some kind of superhuman immunity to them."

"Oh ... do you think that it could be the nanogenes?" Jack asked the man as if it was a completely normal question to ask.

"What nanogenes?" Owen was more than a little peeved that he hadn't heard about this yet.

"The nanogenes that the Time Agency implanted. Duh!" Jack finished that thought with one that maybe he shouldn't listen to the current slang that Lulu was using.

Owen rolled his eyes and slapped himself on the forehead. "Of course. What was I thinking? So, you knew about these?"

"I didn't know they were contagious, if that's what you're asking." He defended.

Owen shook his head. "Nevermind. It's not a bad thing ... just thought you would like to know that you'd done it. Actually, I'd be interested to know if Erin has them now as well."

"Are we done here?" Jack fidgeted on his seat.

"Yes, Jack, we're done." Owen sighed ... he wanted to talk to Jack and tell him what was going on with him and Tosh, but the man was determined to push him away.

Jack stood, thinking about Susan. Sure, she'd be fine, but what about until then? Would she remember what they had talked about two nights ago, or would he have to try all over again? Or, more importantly, would he want to still?

Ianto saw the man heading to his office and poured him a cup of coffee to meet him shortly after he got settled in.

"What's going on, Yan?" Jack could sense that the man had something important to talk about, thinking that Ianto was going to try to quit again.

"Jack, you know how Susan got a dose of Retcon and she lost more than she should have?" He sat in the chair opposite his boss.

"Yeah ... what about it?" Jack was interested now ... if anyone had anything new to add to the information they had, it would be Ianto.

"Well, I went looking in the archives to see if that had happened before, and nothing. This is completely new ... which is good, considering the amount of women we have given it without even the first thought."

"But Owen said it had to do with birth control that they are just doing trials for. He'll use that information to synthesize some new formula that we can use on woman exclusively. No big deal."

"But Erin is undergoing that study too."

"Right ... but she doesn't need to be Retconned, so you should be fine until that formula is changed." Jack watched Ianto's eyes flicker to the floor for a brief moment. He inclined his head in question to the man.

"Uh, Jack..." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I did give her Retcon."

He sat on the edge of his seat. "When?"

"The night I..." he stopped himself from giving the news away before Erin could be there with him. "A few nights ago. We went out to dinner and I brought her back here."

"Ianto." Jack warned, knowing that it was too late for that. "What happened after that?"

"I retconned her."

"You mentioned that." His voice was flat. "But there is something else, isn't there?"

He looked at the ground, afraid to meet Jack's eyes. "Jack, Erin is part of that study." He said it slower that time, hoping that Jack would understand.

"Yes? And?" Jack was starting to get flustered at him.

"Jack, when I gave Erin Retcon, nothing happened ... she only lost a few hours ... even far less than I expected her to." There was genuine concern laced in his voice.

"Ianto..." He suddenly understood.

"When she saw me that next day, she apologized for falling asleep and asked if we could have the tour I promised her. There was only the space of an hour and a half lost."

"Maybe that's how the Retcon reacted with her dose, Yan." He was trying to soothe his friend.

"Yeah, and maybe she's getting the placebo. I'm having Tosh check now to see if she can get into the study's records."

"Good idea, let me know what you find out."

"I plan to." Ianto stood and walked out the door, leaving Jack to his own thoughts.

***

Sunday rolled around and Susan's memory had almost returned to normal. However, she was still having flashes into the future that concerned both her and Jack.

"Don't go into work tonight, Jack," she begged him. "I feel like something is going to happen."

"Don't be silly," he shrugged his coat on, trying to push the thought that she may be right out of his mind. "It's only to go and check on a few things ... I'll be right back." He drew her as close as he could while she was washing dishes and kissed her on the cheek.

"Jack, really," she turned from the sink, her hands dripping. "Please ... do you have to go in?"

He half expected her to throw herself at his feet. "I'll be fine."

"Jack..."

"Susan!" He snapped at her more than he meant to.

"Just go then," she turned back to the sink, her mood now heavy and sullen. She was more than a little angry that he couldn't just give into her this one time. Over the past few days, her flashes had more than proven themselves to be true. Of course, those were silly little predictions like knowing he was going to burn the bacon yesterday, but still ... this one was big.

"I'll be back, honest." Jack made a promise to her back.

Walking out the door, Jack ran into Ianto, who was just showing up for dinner. "Where are you going?" The younger man asked.

Jack stopped, turned to him. "The Hub ... I need to check on Janet and Myfanwy."

Ianto called his bluff. "No you don't. That lie might work on Susan, but not me. I fed them this morning. What's really going on?"

Jack shifted his weight to both feet and smirked. "Yan, I'm going to try again."

"Not sure I'm following you."

"Yan, the night before Susan lost her memory, I asked her to marry me ... well, I was going to ask her, but she practically kicked me out. Tonight I am going to fix that."

"Interesting," Ianto remarked. "But that still doesn't explain why you are going back to the Hub."

"I'm going back to the Hub because I forgot the ring ... what did you think, I was going after Retcon?"

Jack tried to laugh the remark off.

Ianto chuckled a bit himself. "You know, the girls invited Tosh, Owen, Gwen, and Rhys over."

Jack smiled. He had remembered, which is what made this the perfect time to do this. "Yan, I won't be gone too long, I promise. I wouldn't want to miss that."

"I'm holding you to that, Harkness," Ianto went to the door.

"Seriously. An hour tops." It shouldn't even take him that long.

"Hurry back ... too many girls in there for me." He knocked on the door as Jack walked away, swearing he could hear the older man giggling.

"You're here!" Erin yanked the door open and pulled her boyfriend inside.

Ianto shook his head for a moment. "Why wouldn't I be?" She was already tugging at his suit jacket.

"Did you come from work?" She asked, looking at what he was wearing. "Or are you trying to show me up in my own home?"

"Would you rather I wear jeans?" Ianto pulled her in for a hug. "I can go change ... I think I left a pair here."

"Yes ... you need to ... you feel too formal." She was backing his towards the stairs.

"I can't wait to meet everyone!" Nicole came into the room, carrying one wiggling Joey. "I hear Jack talk about them, but now I can put a face to the name."

"I know how you feel," Susan agreed, handing the nanny a stack of plates. "We're going to be packed in tighter than sardines at the table, but it should be fun. Which reminds me, we need to put the leaf in." She went down the hall to the closet to get it.

"Do you need some help, Nikki?" Lulu asked, leaning against the counter. "I could get the silverware."

"That would be grand," Nicole agreed. "There's going to be twelve sitting at the table ... and your little brother."

"Wow. I don't think we've ever had that many people around the table," Lulu said, rummaging through the drawer for what she'd need.

"Got it!" Susan returned to the kitchen with the extra part of the table as the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it!" Erin bounded back up the stairs. She threw the door open to find the first of their guests, Gwen Cooper and her fiancée Rhys Williams.

"We're here ... hope we aren't too early," Gwen said, handing her coat to Erin.

"No, no," Susan fluttered out of the kitchen to greet them. "You can help ... I still have to mash the potatoes."

Gwen smiled warmly back at the woman. "I can do that."

"Oh, this must be Rhys," Susan gave him a hug before he could react differently. "You can turn on the television if you want."

"Thanks," he sat on the couch and flipped it on, changing the channel to find sports. When he had at last found something, he settled back, only to have Joey crawl into his lap. "Hey there, little guy," he greeted. "I haven't seen you in a while. You been good?"

"Good," Joey agreed, poking at him with a finger.

Rhys laughed and settled back with the toddler, explaining the finer points of the sport they were watching to him.

"I'm sorry about that." Susan told Gwen, seeing her watching the scene on the couch.

The Welshwoman tore her eyes from them. "No, no, really. Rhys loves the attention ... it's someone who will listen to his endless explanations of what is going on. It's good for him."

"Joey seems to like him," Susan remarked.

"Jack brought him by the other day. Ever since then, Rhys has been wanting him to come by again." Gwen followed her into the kitchen to help.

"Yeah, Joey can be quite the charmer." She handed the pot of potatoes to Gwen.

"Reminds me of someone else we both know." It was an under-breath remark that sent Susan into peals of laughter. She was joined by Gwen.

"You two are having too much fun in here," Erin said, coming in to get the goblets they would be drinking out of.

"I'm Gwen." She introduced herself, offering a hand.

"I remember you from the day you came into the tourist office with your friend Tosh." She shook her hand warmly.

"That's right. Tosh works there now." Gwen thought she'd cover tracks just in case Jack had not thought to.

"Oh good, she was nice." Erin went back to what she had been doing.

There was another knock at the door and Ianto, who was walking by, went to answer. On the other side were Tosh and Owen, looking as though they had been caught up to something. "Come on in, he greeted, ushering them into the living room."

Rhys waved from the sofa and Owen went to join him. He looked briefly at Joey, who smiled up at the man as if he remembered him. Owen ruffled his hair before settling back on the couch.

"Anything I can help with?" Tosh called into the kitchen as she walked that direction.

Susan poked her head around the corner. "I think we have it under control. If you want, you can start pouring water."

"Okay." She smiled at Gwen, who was now mashing potatoes and got a smile back.

"Lu!" Susan called to the dark-haired girl who was placing silverware at each seat. "Can you get the pitcher for Tosh?"

"Yeah ... no prob, mama," she answered in a uniquely southern accent.

"Okay, so we got the table put longer, and the plates and silverware are placed." Nicole counted on her fingers. "Tosh ... that's right? - is filling the water glasses. Anything else?"

"We'll start putting the food on," Erin volunteered herself and Ianto.

"Oh, better," Susan put in. "Ianto, can you call Jack? Let him know we're just about ready to eat and he needs to come back now."

"Sure," Ianto shrugged at Erin and went into the living room where Owen and Rhys were now teaching Joey the words he should say if he didn't agree with the verdict of the game ... whether they knew that or not. He dialed Jack's cell and waited. Before long, there was an answer.

"Yes?" He sounded peeved.

"Jack, Susan says we are ready to eat ... everyone is here already." Ianto informed him.

"Oh, right, sorry about that ... tell her I'm on my way now." His tone changed. "I was busy trying to convince Myfanwy that she didn't need anything else. She's been buzzing around here for the past few minutes."

"Oh, about that - I think Owen has been sneaking her chocolate. She gets that way if she has had too much. Just ignore her." Ianto laughed at the mental image of the pterodactyl trying to convince Jack to play with it.

"Okay, noted. I'll be there in a bit," he snapped the phone shut.

"He's on his way," Ianto announced to the kitchen before having a seat in the armchair in the living room with the other males in the house.

"Thank you!" Came Susan's voice.

The woman fitted about and talked until they heard the front door open and Jack's voice call out loudly, "Did you miss me?"

Joey jumped down from Rhys' lap to run up to the man. Jack bent to pick him up, smiling at the amount of people in the room.

"Oh, good, now we can eat!" Susan pretended to be angry as she gave him a hug and took his coat.

"I told you I was only going to be gone for a bit. Everyone here?" He walked over to where the other men were. "How's it going?" He nodded to them as a group.

"Starving," Owen answered truthfully. "We were waiting for you."

"Then come on," Jack called, striding to the table.

Once the seating was figured out, and Joey tucked into his high chair, Susan finished putting the food on the table. Jack looked around and found himself oddly pleased that he was surrounded by the people he considered himself closest to. There were Gwen and Rhys, who were flirting with one another over the potatoes that Gwen had helped make. Ianto and Erin were shamelessly making eyes at one another. He was sure that he saw Tosh slip a look Owen's way, but he couldn't be sure. Nicole, who was sitting between Ianto and Lulu, looked to be having a grand time. He made up his mind to tell Susan that her decision to ask Nicole to become a live-in nanny was a good one. Lulu was on her best behavior, another thing that Jack mentally made a note of to commend her on. The only person missing in this dynamic was Taryn. He looked to where she usually sat and found that Susan was looking there as well. He reached for the hand she had sitting on the table and gave it a squeeze. She smiled back at him the best she could, but he knew that she missed her friend.

When everyone was just about stuffed and no one had started any food fights ... much to his relief ... Susan and Erin and Lulu go to clear the table. Tosh and Nicole immediately jumped up to help and, in a short while, they had cleaned up the mess and gotten the dishes into the dishwasher.

"Is anyone ready for dessert?" Erin asked, leaning on the table. "Or coffee?"

There was general agreement and a steady stream of cake came from the kitchen.

"What's the occasion?" Owen asked, taking a forkful of the confection.

"Good friends," Lulu answered, setting a piece in front of Jack.

Once everyone had a plate in front of them with a coffee mug at the edge, the chatter turned light.

"So," Ianto started. "I have to tell you all something."

"What is it?" Susan asked, mid-bite.

"We're engaged!" Erin squealed, making Susan drop her fork and join the girl in a dance around the table.

Jack watched the scene with a grin. It was going to be quite the night. He went to talk when Tosh cleared her throat.

"So are we," she indicated herself and Owen shyly, wondering what the reaction would be.

There was silence for a moment before the cloud of squeal moved her way and enveloped her for another lap around the table.

Jack was sure that he hadn't seen that coming. Tosh and Owen, he figured, would never get around to figuring it out ... he was pleased that they had. Again, he went to talk, but, this time, was trumped by Gwen.

"I guess since we're all telling secrets that you guys should be the first to know," she cast a quick glance at Rhys, who nodded slightly. "We're going to have a baby!"

This time, the cloud swept around to the other side of the table and took in Gwen. Rhys flinched in the hopes that he would not be knocked from his chair. He sighed, catching Owen's eyes in agreement when he realized he would not.

The stakes were now considerably higher and Jack mental recapped what had gone on thus far ... Erin and Ianto were engaged, as were Tosh and Owen. Gwen and Rhys were expecting and he still needed to ask Susan to marry him. All of this was going to be a tough act to follow. One more time, he drew in a deep breath, only to hear Susan's voice.

"Oh, well, as long as we are sharing the love, tonight ... Nikki, Jack and I have been talking and want to know if you want to become a live-in nanny. You're so good with Joey and it would make your commute much easier." Susan smiled at her.

"You bet!" Nicole did not hesitate in her answer. Too keep with continuity, they jumped and squealed.

Thinking that this was well and truly all that could be said before Jack could finally ask Susan what he needed to, he looked at Tallulah and waited for her to speak.

"I got nothin'," she laughed, tucking her hands together on the table.

"Okay then, now," Jack adopted his 'serious captain' face and addressed the table, whose participants were now settling back down, albeit with huge smile on their faces. "To this point we have two engagements, one baby, and a new living arrangement. Anything else? An 'A' on a quiz, Lulu?"

"There was that," she said, but noticed the women were starting to stand,"but we can talk about that later..."

Jack grinned. She was a smart girl. He continued, holding the attention of the table once again. "Now, the real reason I wanted all of you here..."

His voice was drowned out by a familiar sound that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. He stood, only to be met with the front door being flung open.

"Oh My God!" The female voice rang out across the room and invaded every square inch of the dwelling. "I am soooo glad to be back here!"

Susan's head snapped up and Joey began to clap his hands excitedly. Lulu got up and ran to where the voice originated.

"TAYRN!" The girl yelled, grabbing her around the waist and almost knocking her into The Doctor. "You came back!"

"How could I stay away from you and that little brother of yours?" She winked, returning the hug.

"Come on, Jack was about to tell us something," She dragged the woman behind her, ignoring the man standing in the doorway.

"Jack?" he sputtered, "He's here?"

Lulu rolled her eyes. "He lives here."

"Come on, then, Doctor, " Taryn took his hand.

Jack wasn't sure he was seeing what he thought he was. He knew that it was The Doctor who had taken Taryn, but he hadn't expected to see them together. He had assumed that she would just be dropped off and make her way back here.

"Doc!" he stood to hug the man and got a hug in return. "What brings you here?"

"You ... you are a fixed point, Jack Harkness. And though I once said you were an impossible thing, I think you are the most possible thing there is in the universe." There was a certain tone to his voice that Jack hadn't heard before.

"So you know then?" He was blocking out everyone else in the room, even though they could hear every word.

The Doctor laughed. "I know more than even you do, my friend. But I wasn't going to miss this for the whole of eternity. I wanted to say that I was here."

There were confused faces around the table as Jack went to Susan's side and dropped to one knee. "Okay, let's get this right."

Susan's hands went in shock to her mouth. It was clear to Jack that she had not remembered telling him no a few days ago. He had that in his favor.

"Susan, marry me." He slipped the ring on her finger. It was simple, but it served the purpose well enough.

"Yes, of course, Jack!" The rest of whatever she might have been saying was blotted out by the earlier blur, this time added to by both Tallulah and Taryn. The men, Joey included, looked at one another in utter confusion.

Once that was done, and everyone had found their way back to their seats, Taryn and the Doctor scooted into the seating. Taryn had gotten them cake and there was a general din that arose as conversation went from topic to topic.

Finally, talk wound down and enough coffee was consumed to keep all of Cardiff awake for weeks. Tallulah had her head down on the table and Susan idly rubbed her daughter's back. Joey had giving up about an hour before, only to be cuddled into Gwen's lap, much to her happiness ... and his. Ianto and Erin were still giving each other puppy dog eyes and Jack observed the easy way that Owen and Tosh interacted ... the occasional brush of hands, the way he had pushed her hair from her face when they were talking ... it was all too perfect for them. He looked over at The Doctor to see him talking excitedly still to those who would listen ... this being Taryn and Susan, with Taryn doing more disbelieving than listening. Susan caught his eye and winked, giving him a small smile as she did so. He returned it in kind.

"Well, I hate to break this up, but, I have two very sleepy babies," Susan said.

"Don't forget to count Joey," Gwen teased, smiling in her charming way.

Jack acted as if her were hurt by that, but found it only made him laugh.

"I'll take him," Susan stood to do it, but was waved away by the woman.

"Going to need to practice," she smiled at Rhys.

"His room is just down the hall to the left. And thanks." She tugged on Lulu's arm to get her moving.

Once she had the older child moving and Gwen and Rhys had disappeared down the hall, she turned to the others. "I'll be right back."

"We should get going," Tosh patted Owen's arm. "Early morning tomorrow and all ... and the boss knows where we are..." She smiled over at Jack as she stood.

"And we're heading over to Ianto's," Erin told them, joining Tosh in standing.

"Wait, Susan," Taryn called before she could walk away. "I just want to say that I am so sorry for anything you went through with Keith."

Susan frowned. "It wasn't your fault."

"But it was." She argued with her roommate.

Susan smiled at her friend, locking eyes. "But it wasn't." It was clear to Taryn that she was being forgiven. "You weren't there."

With that one sentence, Taryn made up her mind. "Susan, I want to thank you for letting me live here."

"What do you mean?" She was confused.

"Let me take Lu to bed," Jack offered, taking the girl's shoulders to guide her so that Taryn and Susan could talk. He motioned for The Doctor to follow him.

"Sue, The Doctor asked if I wanted to go with him." She found it hard to say this.

"And?" She couldn't tell what her friend intended.

"And I think I'm going to do it. I mean, you have Jack and Erin has Ianto. What's there for me?" Her voice was a bit sad. "Besides, this way, I'll have fantastic material!"

"If it's what you want..." She tried to keep the disappointment from her own voice.

Taryn smiled genuinely for the first time in a long time, that Susan had seen. "It is."

Jack and The Doctor returned to find the women hugging. "Be safe ... and happy." Susan instructed.

"I will," Taryn promised. "And, Susan, I am so very sorry..."

"Go on, don't miss your chance." Susan put her arms around Jack and held tight, trying to keep one constant in her life from changing.

No more was said as the front door opened and closed, a stream of people exiting to leave Jack and Susan alone. They looked at one another and around the empty room before turning to go down the hall.

THE END

***