jaquedark

Part Eleven

Karroe Praetor Meshtan Fief-Kane worked for the Shadow Proclamation however, despite working for them, he wasn't on their official pay role like the Judoon were. He had read all of their strictures and guidelines but didn't follow them as devoutly as they tried to preach them.

He was only three hundred and thirty five years old and for as long as he could remember he had worked for the 'outer space police' and they'd given him this ship to carry out their work and he'd completed a lot of missions for them. Usually he got in trouble for not following the strictures properly but Karroe always managed to get out of it by reminding the Chair Woman that he'd got the job done and he was Freelance.

The red planet slipped past and he was impressed at how beautiful it looked but then he saw the Sol 3 and that really did take his breathe away. Not many planets in the Universe were blue like that... he'd never been to this planet or even this part of space before and he wondered why?

“Maybe I should take a holiday here after I've returned you all?” he mumbled as he glanced back over his shoulder. His ship was only small, suited for three or four people at the moment but over the years of owning it he'd fixed it up with enough space junk to be a tow ship capable of pulling interstellar cruise liners like the QE7 or the SS Titanic. Right now he was pulling a cargo barge full of children from Sol 3.

Orders had come in about two months ago for him to lead a squadron of Judoon to visit the Macra home world after the Shadow Proclamation had received a report that they had stolen 10% of the children from Sol 3. Two percent out of that ten had already been lost but the Judoon managed to lay them to rest and he'd left them to deal with the rest of the offenders while he returned the eight percent to their planet.

He flicked autopilot on for a moment and unfastened his seat buckles allowing his body to float up, he'd been made fun of when he'd told fellow Free Lance pilots he'd made friends with that he enjoyed the feeling of gravity. He was mostly human and he loved the way his limbs felt as he moved through the weightlessness.

Karroe twisted in the air and tipped his head back to see the blue coming closer, he always enjoyed coming to planets like this. It made him feel at peace and for one brilliant moment it didn't matter that he couldn't remember who he was or where he'd come from all that mattered was he was doing good work and he felt content. Alarms interrupted his happy mood... the people from Sol 3 were trying to communicate with him

“Unregistered ship this is UNIT; United Nations Intelligence Taskforce. You are entering Earth atmosphere, state your intent. If you fail to declare your intent you will be considered Hostile and we will shoot you down” came a strong female voice over his radio

“UNIT, I am sending a Blue Alert under the Strictures and Guidelines of the Shadow Proclamation. Awaiting for co-ordinations for my designated landing strip”

*

The phone rang, she picked it up but it continued to ring when she realised that it was her mobile she pressed connect

“Hello?”

“Toshiko, it's Jack. I need you to come into the office. We have a serious situation”

“Did you cause it?”

“No.” he replied there was a pause before he corrected himself “Not this time. There's a spaceship coming to Earth, UNIT has already made contact and the pilot sent ahead Blue Alert but UNIT has no idea what that means!” she could practically see him rolling his eyes “I need you to get yourself here with that science team yesterday”

“I'm on my way” she hung up then groaned out of bed.

*

Jack had just got to the office; he'd been alerted by the secret taps he'd placed in UNIT not long after taking over Torchwood One. What with Rose and John going off into outer space he wanted to make sure he had a way of knowing when they'd come back or when they'd send a message. He knew what UNIT was like and there was a good chance that they'd intercept signals quicker than they would.

“God what I wouldn't give for a wrist strap right now” he groaned as he made his way up in the elevator. As soon as he got all this sorted out he was going to give Toshiko the plans for his strap so she could make him one; he felt a little naked without it.

Twenty minutes later his phone buzzed alerting him to Tosh's, and the science team's, arrival at the Tower. They were making their way up in the lift to his office.

The science team seemed quite groggy and annoyed that they were up here at this ungodly time of the morning but they said nothing as she ushered them into Jack's office. He was stood there with his hands placed flat on the desk leaning forward all excited

“Right, we've got a space ship coming in. UNIT declared it hostile...” he glanced at his watch before putting his hand down back on the table “Three minutes ago. Now this ship has sent down a Blue Alert which clearly states that it's not hostile according to the guidelines of the Shadow Proclamation”

“What's the Shadow Proclamation?” asked Mayhew sleepily trying to keep up with what he was being told

“Torchwood but for all of Space. Questions afterwards, please” he said before continuing with his speech “Now. We need to get in touch with that ship before UNIT blasts it out of the Sky. I've brought you in here because I need you to figure out what frequency it's communicating on, get in touch with the pilot and tell him to change to another frequency only we can intercept”

“Okay, let's go team” he began to lead them from the room but Jack wasn't finished

“Hold on. I'm not done! Tosh I need you to ask him what type of ship he's flying, let me know so I can tell you how big it is”

“You could have told me last night” she grumbled trying to turn it into a joke, he smirked liking her sense of humour despite the lateness of the night

“He'll need a place to land and I'm sending you and half the science time to the landing site. You'll need to check for hostile radiation and toxic chemicals before he's allowed to officially step on British soil”

“What will you be doing in the meantime?” she inquired, Mayhew seemed to gape at her outright demand of what their boss would be doing

“Keeping UNIT from doing something really stupid. Go!” he waved his hands and they moved out to do what he'd asked.

*

“Hello? Hello is this the Pilot of the alien space ship?”

“Who is this? Is this a representative of UNIT?” asked Karroe

“No I am a representative of Torchwood. I've been asked to tell you to change your frequency then re-contact me on that new frequency so we can co-ordinate your landing”

“Good” he replied “Because I sent a Blue Alert and UNIT declared me Hostile. Considering that I am an Agent of the Shadow Proclamation, albeit a Freelance Agent, that would have brought a whole lot of red tape not to mention the Judoon to your door. Who is giving your orders?” he asked as he switched frequencies

“Acting CEO Jack Harkness” replied the voice

“Tell him it is an honour to be greeted to Sol 3 and I am Pilot Karroe Praetor Meshtan Fief-Kane of the Shadow Proclamation. Do you have co-ordinates for me to land yet? I have been travelling for a while and I'm not sure my power reserves will hold out considering the ship I'm towing”

“You're towing another ship?”

“Yes. It's a Macra cargo ship with the reported eight percent stolen children of Earth” he explained, on the other end of the line Mayhew blinked before turning to another scientist. He told her to report this information to Jack straight away.

“We're working on your landing strip, before you can officially step on British soil you will have to be scanned for any toxins or biohazards”

“Understood. I'm just returning your children to you” he explained before flicking off. He headed towards the source of the frequency believing it would be better to be over Torchwood airspace as opposed to UNIT's.

Half an hour later he was given the green light to land the Macra cargo ship then land his ship. Karroe set the large cargo container down before landing down near it.

“Karroe, we're just scanning you and the cargo. It'll be a few minutes before it's complete but I'd like to say Welcome to Earth on behalf of Torchwood and the United Kingdom” Mayhew announced, Karroe rolled his eyes as he powered down his systems. The all clear was given and he was finally allowed to leave his ship.

He opened the hatch and jumped down the five foot drop to the ground, there was a man standing there with a team of scientists in the background and pretty Japanese woman standing next to him

“I'm Jack Harkness, acting CEO of Torchwood” said the man holding out his hand “You must be Karroe Praetor Meshtan Fief-Kane, nice to meet you... Meshtan Fief-Kane, you wouldn't be from the Horse-Head Nebula Fief-Kanes' would you?”

“No. I was given my name by the Chair Woman of the Shadow Proclamation, she named me because I was...” he trailed off unwilling to talk about his past. Jack took the hint then nodded to the large container “The missing eight percent of Children stolen from Earth by rogue Macra. I am told to give you my deepest condolences for not being in time to rescue all of them, by the time we'd received word by our mutual friend they had already... consumed 2%. The rest I was ordered to bring back to Earth and they're all in that container”

“All of them?”

“All we could rescue, yes”

“We'll need more people and we'll have to set up decontamination. This is going to be a paper work nightmare. Toshiko... I want you to find and get Owen Harper here and the medical term from Torchwood One. Owen is in charge and he's to be paid accordingly”

“Okay Jack” she pulled out her PDA and began to tap away at with it

“I think the rest of us should begin getting the names out of those kids. Maybe set up some sort of list so we aren't swamped later on?”

“Yes sir” Mayhew nodded, Jack and Karroe opened the container revealing several thousand scared children all huddled together in the dark

“Come on... it's okay. You can come out now” Jack whispered to them gently beckoning them to come out of the container “You're safe... I'd like all the boys to stand on the left and all the girls stand on the right”

The children slowly crept out of the container and did as they were told; they were still swamped ant it would take a while before they got anywhere.

It didn't help that suddenly several UNIT army trucks came tearing up towards the space ship and the container “Great, just what I need”

“What is happening?” Karroe inquired

“I'll handle this” explained Jack “I told UNIT to back off but unless they find out for themselves they're never happy and the only way they find things out is with guns!”

“They are going to shoot you and the children?” Karroe glanced back and forth but Jack just shook his head

“Who the hell is in charge of this ridiculous outfit?!” hissed the General as soon as he jumped down from the jeep that had been chasing the arm trucks

“That would be me” announced Jack, he could clearly see why the Doctor hated these sorts of outfit and with the man pretty much stomping towards him “And you are?”

“General Armand, I want to know what the hell you're doing cutting UNIT out of communication with the Hostile Alien Enemy!”

“He wasn't a hostile enemy, he was sending a Blue Alert ahead! That signifies peaceful contact! He was returning the children!” he waved his arm angrily to the thousands of children milling about in the large open space. Armand looked at the scene and scowled

“Where is this alien now? Do you have it in captivity?”

“Why would I have done that? He's not a threat!” he hissed angrily, his mind was beginning to feel unravelled... what he wouldn't give to have some coffee.

“We don't know that! I think it would be best if we quarantine the alien until further notice and I take over the investigation”

“Fine. He's over there” he pointed to the man standing near the all the children. The general nodded at his soldiers while Jack ushered Karroe and Toshiko quietly away to their car “Be quiet, don't draw attention to ourselves. Let's get out of here”

Karroe sat in the back of the primitive land mobile as Jack commanded it away from his landing strip. He couldn't help but smirk as he looked back to see the soldiers arresting Mayhew and taking control of the scene

“I hope I'll be able to come back to my ship when this all blows over” he chuckled “I'm quite fond of it. It is my home, after all”

“We'll hide out for a while until I can get this sorted with higher authority than that idiot back there” he explained, Tosh said nothing but thought it best to cancel the medical team Jack had suggested be brought in... she got the feeling that their people would just get in the way and it would be more of a nightmare

“I thought you were supposed to work together? As far as I know you're not at War with any countries” Karroe turned back to face the front of the SUV

“Working together and liking them are two different matters” Tosh commented with a small smile “I have a feeling they're going to give us hell because we took the alien”

“Alien?” Jack looked incredulous “I don't see any aliens here. I see three people riding home after a late night out... so what if only one of them was born on earth?”

“You're not from Earth? Heh, I was wondering how you knew about Blue Alerts. I sent that Alert on ahead just in case anyone here had by some miracle heard of the Shadow Proclamation... if they hadn't then I would have notified them and explained to Earth as best as I could who I was and why I was there before they shot me out of the sky. So where are you from?”

“Boe-Shane Peninsula” he told him, glancing over his shoulder to look at him before turning back to the road

“Oh, I've been there!” Karroe explained, excited then scowled “After the Teilaras Massacre in 51... You were there, weren't you?”

“I lost my father and my brother” he answered quietly “You were there too”

“I was only an assistant, I was in training and I was helping the Proclamation Sisterhood evacuate the survivors”

They were quiet for the remainder of the journey, they were all reflecting on their pasts. Tosh was wondering if there was any more tragedy that Jack had suffered, he'd been through so much and she was a bit scared for herself... did his existence in the universe destroy peoples lives? Should she run from him? Karroe was wishing there had been more that he could have done for Jack, he'd been on that tiny planet after the massacre... hell he'd even knew that the invasion was going to happen, everyone had known but they weren't allowed to do anything until it was too late and Jack, Jack was thinking of his father and brother Franklin and Gray Harkness who had been lost to him. It had been years since he'd seen his mother, he'd lost track of time... time meant nothing to him and he suddenly felt unbelievably homesick.

It was a small clinic... a few steps up from a GP's surgery or a Walk In Centre but not large enough to be classed as a hospital. Owen had been reamed for being late and when he tried to explain he'd gotten nothing but shouted abuse so he gave up trying and got to work. Tonight was busy, so busy in fact that since he'd walked through the door two hours ago he had been running on automatic.

So when the doors opened and that nutjob attempted suicide walked in with a pretty Japanese lady and a scruffy oddly dressed teenager all he could think about was if they had a serious injury, if not they would have to wait like all the others who had cuts or bruises or the flu

“I'm here to see Owen Harper” Jack flashed his badge

“He's busy at the moment” Rachel the receptionist explained but he ignored her and moved to go through the doors Owen chose that moment to come out before Rachel would call security

“What are you doing here?”

“I've got a very important friend who needs a place to stay” he nodded at Karroe, Owen grunted scowling at the scruffy kid

“So put him up in a hotel!” snapped the Londoner “I've got work to do!”

“Owen! It's important”

“Saving lives is important. That's what I do and if you don't mind I have to get back to it!” he turned his back to walk off

“He's become such a loser since Katie died” he sneered making the receptionist gasp in surprise and disgust at his cold tone

“I could just stay at a hotel... leave it Jack, I do not want you to fight with your friend. I brought the children back and now I'm on declared holiday until further notice, I want to experience Earth custom” Karroe explained but Jack wouldn't listen and neither would Owen who had been deeply upset by what the older man had just said. He turned back round and punched Jack hard knocking him down to the floor, Karroe pulled out his gun and aimed it at Owen effectively ending the fight before it even started.

“Get out!” he yelled to the three of them pointing to the door

“Not unless you promise to put him up for the night” Jack ordered as he rubbed his jaw and nodded at the young armed teenager

“Alright!” he yelled “Now, kid, will you put the gun away?”

“Heh it's been a while since anyone called me kid. I haven't been called that in seventy three years!” he chuckled, Tosh just blinked then shook her head why was she still being surprised by statements like that?

“Do you need me anymore?” she asked Jack, he just shook his head “I'll be at William's then. If you need me...” she walked out in search of a taxi. Karroe put his gun away in the back of his black tight worn lenim pants before holding out his hand

“Thanks for letting me stay at yours, I'm Karroe Praetor Meshtan Fief-Kane” Owen glared at the offending hand when an ambulance team came through the doors with a trolley

“What have we got?” he took charge of the situation, Karroe followed him into the emergency room and scrubbed up “Kid, get out of here”

“I'm a trained first aider, I know my way in and out of all humanoid life forms” he replied as he pulled off his black lenim jacket and tossed it aside. He glared at the young kid before he began ordering him around and was surprised to find he knew what he was talking about.

Out in the waiting room Jack's phone went off. It was General Armand wanting to know what he'd done with the 'hostile' alien enemy. 

TBC...

Taren woke up to hear Addie crying, he went into her room and tried singing to calm her but she wasn't having any of it. It was still early and he knew that his mam and tad would get cross if he woke them up before seven but Addie needed tad so he hurried to his parents room and opened the door only to find his tad and Jack curled up in bed together

“Tad?” he called quietly before he got his nerve up; he tried to reason with himself... he did like Jack he just wasn't sure how much he liked him for it to be okay to sleep in bed with tad. Was this another sleepover? He didn't know, there was plenty of time to ask later, right now Addie needed him to wake tad “Tad! Addie's crying!”

Jack jerked awake hearing Taren's insistent voice while Ianto stayed fast asleep, he'd had a difficult couple of days and he was still exhausted from Lisa walking out and not sleeping... the amount of alcohol he consumed last night couldn't have helped, mused Jack

“What's wrong Taren?” he wanted to know as he sat up in bed

“Addie's crying, I tried singing but it wouldn't work”

“Okay kiddo let me just put some pants on and we'll go see what the problem is” he slid from the bed pulling on his slacks quickly before following Taren to Addie's room.

The new baby girl was wriggling and crying in her cot, she almost stopped when he picked her up and he could smell her stinky nappy “Awww there, there bay! I think we've found the problem. Pass me a diaper”

The little boy passed him the nappy as he laid her out on the changing mat and unfastened her baby grow, her sobs quietened as he cleaned her up and put the fresh nappy on her before buttoning up the snaps. Taren smiled as he lifted her up and cradled her against his naked shoulder where she began nuzzling him

“I think she's hungry”

“I think so too, let's go down and get some breakfast. It's still early and I think your tad needs his sleep”

“Why were you sleeping in tad's bed?” he inquired making Jack pause, he wasn't sure what to do or say about that because he didn't know what Ianto wanted his son to know

“You should ask him when he wakes up... it's complicated Taren...” he explained then sighed “Are you angry?”

“I just want my tad to be happy. Mam didn't make him happy... if you could then that would be okay with me” he smiled then ruffled the boys' hair with his free hand before all three of them went downstairs. He laid Addiena out in the little baby seat and put it on the kitchen counter while he was making breakfast.

Back upstairs Ianto woke up alone, the bed was cold and Jack was no where in sight... he felt his heart break

“He's gone” he gasped... he shouldn't have let Jack into his bed last night; first Lisa leaves him and now Jack's gone? Angrily yanking on his dressing gown he stomped towards Addie's room to find her gone, suddenly alert and eyes wide with panic he raced to Taren's room to find that empty. He barrelled down the stairs terrified that Lisa had come and taken them when the smell of a cooked breakfast and strong coffee came wafting out of the kitchen.

Taking a few steps into the kitchen he spotted Taren kneeling on a chair that had been placed against the counter near the lower cupboards feeding Addie a baby bottle while Jack was making breakfast in the pan. Lisa never cooked, she was always too busy with a report or a file that had to be done... it was nice for someone to be making breakfast for him for a change “Starting without me?”

“You were asleep, thought it best to let you get a few more hours. We changed Addie” he nodded at Taren who was carefully feeding Addie the bottle of milk Jack had warmed up

“And I'm giving her her bottle!” he smiled happily, he looked so proud that he was being the doting big brother. The Welshman bit his lip then shook off his doubts and went over to Jack wrapping his arms around his waist as he stood at the cooker resting his head against his lover's shoulder

“Thanks” he smiled. Jack glanced at Taren who just shrugged his shoulders and gave him a thumbs up before turning back to his little sister.

“I know we were going to the park today but I need to go home and get changed, I'll be back later... it's just I need clean clothes and a shower” he explained, Ianto shook his head

“Borrow some of mine and you're more than welcome to use the shower” he answered still hugging him from behind.

*

Several hours later Toshiko was walking along the high street her boss, the man she was living with, hadn't come home last night. He'd gone to Ianto's and she imagined that he was still there, she'd heard the rumours flying round the office and hoped the young man was okay. Honestly, she was also grateful that he'd been gone all night so William could stay over... it had been a very long time since she'd been with someone; she'd been in that UNIT prison cell for six months before Jack had rescued her and the way things were going between her and Spooner sooner or later she'd have to tell him about her past.

William had come up to her office at the end of the day yesterday and invited her out for a coffee, she happily accepted and then things led on from there. She was a bit embarrassed that she had gone all the way with him on the first date but they were connected by unusual circumstances, after spending two days together in a drunken binge and waking up pretty much naked going that little bit extra didn't seem all that bad. And Toshiko had certainly enjoyed herself last night.

Last night was the reason she was walking the high street this morning, she needed supplies if she was going be involved in a relationship. William had asked her out to see a film later that night and if things were to happen she couldn't take from Jack's stash of condoms again... Jack's bedside cabinet draw had been very scary, half of the things he had in there she didn't want to know what he used them for!

Tosh turned the corner and spotted Ianto out of the corner of her eye, he was sitting at a little café table, with his son, gently rocking a new shiny pram. She was about to wave when Jack came out of the café carrying a tray; he set it down on the table, leaned down kissing Ianto chastely on the mouth before finally sitting down to share out the drinks. She couldn't help think how right they looked together and it was good to see Jack smiling, hell she didn't know Ianto all that way but he looked like he was floating on cloud nine.

They spotted her as she made her way over to them. Jack pushed out the seat next to him and she happily sat down

“I didn't think I was going to see you here” she commented

“Likewise, Taren... you remember Toshiko from auntie Rose's party right?” asked Ianto re-introducing his son to the pretty Japanese lady. Taren nodded blushing as she smiled at him “And this is our daughter Addiena”

“She's beautiful” she grinned as she glanced at Jack; he'd noticed that Ianto had said 'our' instead of 'my' daughter.

“How was William?” Ianto smugly asked beating Jack to the punch of embarrassing her, she blushed bright red ducking her head nervously

“Whose William?” Taren demanded to know as he drank his milkshake, they'd been to the park and now Jack was taking them shopping to buy Taren some new toys or DVDs and some clothes for Addie

“William is my boyfriend” she explained still blushing

“Tad, will I get to meet Uncle William? He is my uncle right? Like uncle John because Rose was mam's friend so if you're my dad's friend does that make you my aunt?”

“Well, I don't really know your dad all that well” she explained Ianto suddenly got confused, his son used the Welsh version of dad... he'd never called him dad before

“Yes you do” he protested

“What are you talking about?” chuckled Ianto

“She's my aunty, right? Because he's my dad” he pointed squarely at Jack who blinked in shock and surprised, Ianto glared at him thinking this sudden mess was his fault

“What?”

“Mam left so you're going to live with tad from now on... you make him happy so you're going to live with us... right?” he glanced at his tad to Jack then back again hoping one of them would answer him

“Tarry... yes Jack did stay last night but it's difficult for grown-ups. He can't just come and live with us...”

“Why not? I like him! I like him more than mam and I want you to be my tad and I want him to be my dad!” he began to sob suddenly upset by the whole situation. Ianto lifted his son off the chair onto his knee

“I think it's best if we go” stated Jack gesturing for Tosh to join him “I'm sorry about all this”

“Don't be” he replied as he stroked his son's back to soothe his tears “Thanks for coming round...”

“Here's my number, and if you want I'll call you tonight?”

“I'd like that” he nodded, Jack cupped his cheek stroking a side burn before leaning down to kiss him softly

“Bye. Bye Taren” he bid farewell then he and Tosh linked arms and walked away.

She looked up at him as they walked down the street away from the café, she could see how hurt he looked that he was walking away

“You love him don't you?” she stated rhetorically, he glanced at her and nodded simply “Then go back!”

“I can't” he cried with a shake of his head “It's too soon since his wife left him, I want all the things Taren thought would happen but I don't want it just because he's using me to get over Lisa. I want him to want those things but I want him to want them from me not because I'll be a distraction”

“What are you going to do?”

“Give it time, it's all I can do. I didn't mean for Taren to think that I would be his dad from now on... the poor kid. All he wants is for his tad to be happy”

“Tad?”

“It's Welsh for dad. Ianto would be his tad and I'd be his dad... I'd like that. Taren's such a great kid and Addie is absolutely beautiful”

“I didn't realise you were a fan of kids” she commented as she steered him into the chemist she'd been looking for

“Only mine” he told her off-handedly not realising what he'd say, she blinked in surprise he stopped when he felt her staring at him “What?”

“I didn't know you were a father”

“I'm not” his eyes fell down “Not anymore” he continued walking but since she wasn't leading the way anymore he didn't know which aisle she had been aiming for

“What happened?”

“A long time ago I had a son and he was killed in the war... several years later I had a daughter called Alice and I... I...” he scowled, his eyes filled with tears. He stopped walking and turned to face Toshiko “She grew up and had a child of her own; a little boy called Steven and I... I killed him. I killed my grandson. I killed him right in front of her”

“Jack” the fear was evident in her tone, in her eyes and in her body language. She was terrified of him “Why?”

“To save everyone... I killed him to save everyone else” whispered Jack, so sad and so ashamed of what his done

“What do you mean everyone else? The world?” he turned around and continued walking, only glancing over his shoulder to ask her what she was looking for

“Condoms. I borrowed from your draw... sorry”

“Did you use the little pebbles?” he grinned trying to turn the situation into something completely different and once again he gave off the impression that he was harmless to her but now she knew better. Her boss was a murderer. “So you and William? Finally getting over Owen?”

“Owen?” the name made him stop and his shoulders sagged

“Never mind, forget I ever mentioned the name” he ordered her but she shook her head

“You told me that you came from another reality where your Ianto had died, was there another me in that reality? You talk to me like you've known me for years! You're trusting me with secrets... or at least things that should be secret! Did you know me in that reality?”

“Yes”

“How? How did you know me? What was I to you?”

“You were my friend, we worked together in Torchwood. In that reality I didn't work for Torchwood London but the Cardiff branch. I recruited you the same way I did here but in that reality you'd only spent six months in the UNIT prison not nine years. I had a team who worked for me at Torchwood Three; Gwen Cooper, Ianto Jones, Owen Harper and you”

“Past tense, Jack, what happened?”

“Only me and Gwen are left alive... and I'll never see her again. I left her to come through the void into this reality; I found you and I found Ianto. Here all of you are still alive” she breathed in deeply, shock filling her

“In your reality, I died” she told herself “How?”

“You were shot... look I don't think we should really be talking about this” he didn't want to go into details. He just wanted to go home and wind down, things had happened and he wasn't sure how he felt about it.

“You're right” she nodded then grabbed several boxes of condoms. Jack grinned, grabbed some himself and two bottles of lubricant before they headed to the counter to pay.

*

Toshiko had decided to get a bottle of wine so several hours later after their shopping trip they were sat in their pyjamas in the living room with a glass of red each

“So how is Ianto? You two did seem pretty cosy” commented Tosh making him smirk

“We made hot man o man love” he replied, she couldn't help but blush as her mind conjured up the thought of them two together unbidden “But I'm not sure what happens next. There isn't just the whole thing with Lisa... there's also his kids, if we do become a couple then I'd be Taren and Addie's step dad”

“Does it bother you? The thought of being a parent again? After what you did?” his face dropped and his eyes darkened

“I did what I had to. You think I enjoyed it? Killing Steven? He was my flesh and blood and I loved him! I did it because I had to and no one else would... I'd already lost you and Owen and Ianto by then, how could I just continue living my life knowing that I could have saved everyone but chose not to just because he was my grandson?”

“Sorry, I'm sorry Jack... I don't know what it means to make that kind of sacrifice. You're living with it, aren't you? Every day you live with it”

“Barely” he gasped then chugged his wine down

“What was I like? In your reality?” a change of subject was in order; things had gotten too dark for the both of them

“You were brilliant” it wasn't a compliment for her, he was talking like it was fact. In his opinion it was... she'd saved the world countless times and that last time she'd given her life “I've never met anyone with a mind as fast or smart as yours”

“Now you're just being mean”

“No” he shook his head, chugged his wine “I mean it”

“I'm going to go to bed” she announced finishing off her wine before rising to her feet

“Probably best, on Monday I want to re-evaluate every employee to see if they're doing there job. I don't like it when people try and lord it over others” she gave him a look to say that was what he was doing but he just shrugged his shoulders “Heh, it's my job and I am in charge. The reason why Torchwood One is what it is, is because of it's workers; I think it's time for an overhaul especially when they let the 456 walk all over us”

“456?”

“Something for you to look up tomorrow, I know you've missed a lot of time because of UNIT but I need you to get up to date. Have something strong on hand, you're not going to like the catch up” he explained, she just nodded then wandered into his bedroom.

He loaded up his computer and looked up what Gwen was doing, it didn't take him long to hack into her computer using the software his machine had; there were wedding pictures, baby pictures of her two kids, photos of awards she had won during her time in the police force. She was happy. He turned away from her and looked up Owen. He couldn't say the same for Owen, he'd lost it after Katie died but he got back on his feet two years after that... now he worked at a small clinic helping drug addicts and teen parents.

“Jack?” he almost jumped when he heard her speak behind him “Whose that?”

“That's Owen” he whispered, she nodded before glancing down at him

“Are you coming to bed?” he shook his head, yes, then powered down at the computer; after seeing her reaction to Owen Harper he wasn't sure he liked this reality.

Toshiko watched him sleep, he'd woken her up, she guessed it had been a while since he had done it; since the time he started at Torchwood? Since he rescued her from UNIT? Before he came through the void? It surprised her how quickly he could fall asleep and how tired he looked right before he did, like it was something terrible to be avoided. She knew that she shouldn't really be watching her boss sleeping, it was like an invasion of privacy, but he had insisted that the bed was big enough for both of them and he'd made it clear that he wasn't interested in her. No, that was reserved for Ianto, she was considered family and he didn't mess with family.

“Uhh” his heard jerked sharply in his sleep and it made her jump. What was he dreaming about? What was he seeing behind his eyes, what was haunting him? “Nuuuh”

“Jack?”

“Toshiko” he gasped rolling his head away from her, she heard him apologise in his sleep before his head rolled back to face her “Ianto... don't... not him” the desperation and sadness in his voice was breaking her heart

“Jack” she repeated trying to wake him from his sleep; he was lost in the nightmare waiting for it to end... suffering in those memories made dark by his guilt, by his pain... by all the things he'd lost and left behind unwillingly.

“No” he sobbed as tears glittered round his closed eyes “Ianto... please not him!”

“Jack!” she repeated one last time louder this time, he jerked awake sitting up on reflex reaching out for something that wasn't there. His shoulders sagged in defeat before he glanced over his shoulder at her, his eyes were shining softly with unshed tears and he lost it

“Toshiko” he sobbed, she sat up pulling him into her arms

“Shhh it's okay, it's going to be okay”

“I loved him, I really loved him... oh god I miss him so much! I miss them all so much! It hurts! It hurts more than death and more than the darkness!” she stroked his naked back trying to calm him down. His sobs eased off until he was hiccuping in her arms “I need to be up high” he decided pulling away from her to throw on his clothes “Go back to sleep. I'll be back in the morning”

“You can't go out alone!” she protested but it fell on deaf ears, he needed the cold and the wind and the dark. It comforted him more than anything else, especially when things were bleak, and it was what he needed now.

“Get some sleep” he told her before leaving. She sank back into the bed and tried to do what he asked, which meant she was awake for the rest of the night worrying if he would come back.

TBC...

She was back! She was back! He opened the door and it wasn't Lisa, he couldn't help feel his heart break and he started crying

“Ianto?” whispered Jack as he crumpled down against the wall with Addie in his arms

“I thought you were her”

“What happened?” the other man inquired as he crouched down, as soon as Jack saw him he knew that the Welshman hadn't slept for quite a while “Where's Lisa?”

“Gone” he sobbed as Addie started crying in his arms “She's gone and I... I don't know what to do”

“Well I think we need to get you and...”

“Addie”

“You and Addie up off the floor” he told him then pulled him to his feet and ushered him into the house.

Jack steered Ianto into the living room and set him down on the couch, the young man looked exhausted to breaking point, he couldn't help but feel his heart go out to him “What can I do to help?”

“I think she needs her nappy changing” he looked up at him with pleading eyes and Jack nodded taking Addie from Ianto

“I'll look after her... why don't you try and get some sleep?”

“I can't I have to be awake for when Lisa comes back. I shouldn't have told her to go”

“You told her to go?”

“She was leaving anyway” he started sobbing “I shouldn't have been so angry with her, should have tried to make her stay!”

“Ianto, Ianto! If she comes back she comes back... but Addie and... Taren, was it?” Ianto nodded “They need you now. What are they going to do if you pass out from exhaustion?”

“Okay” he nodded again before making himself comfortable on the couch.

Taren came down the stairs and into the living room to find that man from Aunty Rose's party holding Addie and his tad fast asleep on the couch

“Hey Taren” greeted Jack

“You were at my aunty Rose's house” he stated “Why are you here?”

“To help out your dad, he's having a much needed nap. Would you be able to show me where Addie's diapers are?”

“What are diapers?”

“Oh uhh what do they call them over here? Nappies. She needs changing”

“Upstairs, her room. Come on” he led the way and Jack carried Addie upstairs so he could change her.

“What do you do?”

“I look after Torchwood while your aunty Rose is away. I'm in charge”

“So you're my tad's boss? My mam's too?”

“Yeah I guess I am” he said more to himself than to the little boy. Jack fixed up the nappy then buttoned her baby grow closed

“Is my mam coming back?” his head whipped round to stare at the little boy who was looking up at him so desperately; what could he tell him?

“I don't know” answered Jack honestly, Taren scowled then shook his head

“I hope she doesn't. I hate her” he spat “All she does is shout at tad and say how bad he is at everything. Don't tell my tad but I know that I'm not his son... I heard them shouting. I know that tad isn't my tad and he isn't Addie's tad”

“I won't say... you shouldn't say you hate your mom”

“She lied to tad” he shrugged his shoulders “And to me. I hate her because my tad isn't mine... I wish he was my tad” the poor boy began to cry and Jack scooped him up into a hug

“Hey, hey, hey... don't cry” he soothed the young boy, Addie began to cry so he put down Taren and lifted her up into his arms “Why don't we see if we can get Addie to go down for a nap and then you can help me tidy up. Your tad likes everything tidy, right?”

“Yeah” Taren sniffed wiping his tears and snot with his sleeve “How did you know?”

“I knew someone who was exactly like your tad... he died” Jack began to rock Addie in his arms trying to get her to calm down “Do you know any songs?”

“She likes that song tad used to sing to me. Do you want me to sing it?” Jack nodded his head and Taren began to sing for his sister.

It took fifteen minutes to get her off to sleep, as soon as the former Time Agent recognised the song he started singing it too. He laid her down in the cot then switched on the baby monitor

“Are you hungry? I am, I skipped lunch... let's go make something to eat. Maybe tad is awake?” the two of them went downstairs but Ianto was still sleeping.

An hour later the two of them had eaten, done the dishes and tidied up the house putting away all of Taren's toys and DVDs that he'd left out when Ianto woke up. He woke slowly to find Taren curled up next to Jack and they were watching Spiderman.

Jack looked over at Ianto and smiled, the Welshman's hair was sticking up and he looked a bit better than he did before

“Ah, you're finally awake. It's just getting to the good bit” explained Jack; he tried not to linger looking at him but he couldn't help it. He looked so good when he woke up like that, it had been the best part of the day, waking up next to Ianto and seeing him all relaxed and messy

“How long have I been asleep?”

“Bout two hours. Tad I'm hungry” the baby monitor began humming with life as Addie woke up

“I'll go” said Jack as he rose to his feet, Ianto stopped him by grabbing his shoulder gently

“No let me. Why don't you make a start on dinner? You are staying for dinner, right? You don't have to go home to... Toshiko?”

“Nope, I can stay” nodded the elder man.

Ianto brought Addie down to the kitchen so he could make up a bottle for her; without Lisa here all he could do was make bottles from the formula he'd bought. Soon his son abandoned his film so he could sit at the kitchen table

“So what have you been up to the last few days?” Ianto inquired trying to make conversation as he gave Addie her bottle

“Had an accident at the office... me, Tosh and this soldier we were... well we were essential drunk for two days. There was a machine... stuff happened we stole a donkey and the next thing we know we're all at mine in bed together”

“Like a sleepover?” laughed Taren. Ianto wasn't sure if he wanted his son hearing about this man's sexual exploits

“Yeah it was exactly like a sleepover. I love Toshiko but she's more of a best friend, like a sister... I should check in, make sure everything's okay” he pulled out his phone and called home. Everyone would have left work by now and she should have got back to the apartment “Tosh! Are you okay... you sound out of breath... wait, whose that in the background? Is that William? Hahah! Way to go Toshiko! I'll leave you too it, I'll be back late. Was everything okay at work? Good, good! I'll call you later” he hung up then went back to stirring the vegetables in the frying pan.

They sat down to pan fried vegetables with crispy grilled chicken, it was the one thing that he knew how to cook to perfection

“Will you be here tomorrow, Jack?” asked Taren trying to sound innocent but failing miserable “Maybe you could take us to the park? Could... would I be able to have a ride on your donkey?”

“It's up to your tad and sorry kiddo, I had to take the donkey back” he stated, the little boy turned to stare hopefully at his tad who caved

“We can go to the park but only if you're good and you tidy up your room before we go” he told him firmly and he nodded his head excitedly. After that dinner was a quiet affair, the only thing that broke the silence was the two Joneses giving compliments to the chef for a good meal.

His little baby girl when back to sleep after she'd had her bottle, he held her safe in his arm while he ate his dinner then took her upstairs so he could change her then lay her down for the night.

Jack was doing the dishes when he came back down and his eldest child was laying on the floor in front of the TV snoozing

“Alright, little man” he picked Taren up “Time for bed. Go on upstairs and brush your teeth then I'll come and say goodnight” his son sleepily nodded as he left the room rubbing his eyes. The young man went into the kitchen resisting the urge to wrap his arms around Jack's waist from behind “You don't have to do that, you did cook dinner”

“I don't mind”

“Want a beer? I'm having one”

“Sure” he nodded as he put the last dish on the rack before drying his hands, he took the can of beer Ianto offered and opened it

“I'll just tuck Taren in then I'll be back down, okay?”

Jack watched him disappear off upstairs and suddenly he felt all nervous, what would he and Ianto talk about? Swigging the beer he wandered into the living room and flopped down on the couch and waited for the other man to come back down. He had to wait five minutes before he came back down and dropped himself down next to Jack “Thanks for everything today, I probably wouldn't have got through it if it hadn't been for you”

“Don't worry about it... you've got really good son and Addie really is beautiful” he downed more of his beer then dropped his head back

“Thanks” Ianto couldn't help but smile as he sat facing Jack with one leg resting up on the couch “You don't mind staying do you? I mean if you wanted to go home...”

“I don't mind, no, it'd be nice to stay. I think Toshiko and William have decided to have a sleepover, it's probably best that I'm not there”

“She's cheating on you?” he gasped surprised how nonchalant Jack was about it

“What? No! Me and Toshiko aren't together... it was too soon after... after Ianto died” he confessed “I really loved him” the tension grew thick so the younger man changed the subject

“I heard you mention you stole a donkey... what was that about?”

“Tuesday. I was going through the alien tech down in the vaults and I pressed something I shouldn't have done; it was a social inebriator which scanned everyone in the room for the most potent drink we'd ever drank and recreated that effect in us which was me, Toshiko and her soldier William Spooner. We woke up two days later with no memory of what we'd done... We managed to trace what we did and it jogged some memories... we stole the donkey from the petting zoo then took it to Crufts... Spooner won second place. Then we somehow found wellington boots and me and Spooner made Tosh our Oriental Princess”

“Hahah! You're kidding” he laughed, it felt so good to laugh and it felt like it'd been such a very long time since he'd done so. He downed more of his beer then got another two, handing one to Jack

“I shouldn't be drinking after loosing the two days. I still don't even remember how we got back or why I was wearing a traffic cone on my head” Ianto snorted his drink then spat it out almost choking on it making Jack laugh out loud

“Sorry” he apologised “It's just that was so easy to picture! You! With a traffic cone on your head!” he shook his head then pushed Jack's shoulder laughing once more. Ianto was feeling at ease and now Jack was no longer nervous, they watched the TV and talked well into the night as they moved onto more cans of beer until they were both very tipsy.

Ianto hadn't realised how close he'd inched towards Jack but Jack did, with the Welshman's arm around his shoulders telling him how he was such a good friend was too close and it was making him sober up. He could smell him and it smelt like his Ianto, the other man didn't seem to notice how nervous Jack was becoming and if he did he didn't show it

“I bet the other me must have been really lucky to have you” he blurted out in a drunken slur, his face was only inches from Jack's and they both fell silent staring at each other

“I should go home” Jack whispered; he'd promised that he would give up Ianto... he needed to let him go otherwise this would drive him mad. Ianto put his fourth half drunk can down on the coffee table before leaning back and cupping Jack's face

“I'm going to kiss you and you're going to stay” he ordered as he brushed his thumb across Jack's cheek making his eyes flutter

“Are you sure you want this” Jack asked still talking quietly like the spell would be broken if he didn't

“No I'm not sure... but I do know that ever since you kissed me in the lift I wanted to kiss you again” he admitted. Their eyes were locked together until his eyes looked down at Jack's mouth, he leaned forward pressing his mouth softly against the older man's upper lip before pulling back to see if it was okay. Jack just stared at him but his eyes drifted down as Ianto came in again more insistently this time crushing their lips together and sweeping his tongue begging for entrance.

He was almost fully sober but he felt light headed and dizzy as Ianto continued to kiss him passionately, their bodies slid backwards until the younger man was lying atop the former Time Agent. Fingertips slid up into his short brown hair tugging on it lightly as they made out on the couch until Ianto pulled away. He sat back, grabbed the remote turning off the TV, rose to his feet and held out his hand for Jack “Let's go to bed”

“Ianto...”

“I want it. Please... stay with me tonight”

“What about Lisa?”

“She isn't here. She made her choice to leave and I'm making my choice for you to stay... you will stay with me?” those silent moments felt like a stretched eternity while Jack thought about whether he should or not, whether this was a good idea. In the end he just nodded his head

“Yeah I'll stay” he took hold of his lover's hand and let him lead him from the room. They switched the lights off as they went and he led Jack up the stairs to his bedroom.

He kept the lights off as they undressed, he didn't know why but it felt more romantic with just the light from the street shining in through the window as he stripped Jack of his shirt and dropped his pants until they were both standing in their underwear then he lost his nerve and Jack had to take over “Lay down on the bed”

“Yes” he nodded following his lover's orders. He laid back on the bed and Jack crawled up over him until he was practically lying on top of him and they started to kiss wildly once more only this time their wandering hands wandered further than they had before when they were on the couch downstairs.

Ianto couldn't help but gasp when Jack's large hand wrapped around his growing erection, no man had ever touched him there before; only Lisa and a few fumbling girls when he'd lived in that little village. It felt so good in a bad, wrong sort of way... it was felt so taboo that made it feel good and he wanted more “More Jack more!”

“What do you want me to do?” he whispered softly, poor Jack felt like this was a fantastic dream that he didn't want to wake from, he was holding his breath afraid to do something wrong

“Just... uhh I don't know. I've never done this before... show me how I can make us both feel really good”

“You want to do it for me?” he couldn't help but be surprised, when Ianto had drunkenly invited him up to the bedroom he had expected it would be for his gratification only... he hadn't thought that Ianto would want him to get off too. The younger man nodded his head, it made Jack smile “Then please... touch me here”

Ianto's eyes rolled back in his head as he wrapped his hand around Jack's erection, his mind was screaming that this was wrong but no matter what his head thought his heart wanted it so he started stroking up and down matching the pace Jack had set on his own throbbing tool.

“Keep doing that... uhhh Jack... more. I need more...” he gasped desperately “More!”

“Do you want me to... are you sure? Are you sure that's what you want?” demanded Jack, he knew that once this happened there would be no going back

“Yes. Jack it's what I want, I need you...” the unspoken words hung in the air; Ianto needed him and no one else.

“Condoms?” the other man wriggled out from under him and opened a draw pulling out a strip of three tearing one off and dropping the other two on the bed. As soon as the former Time Agent saw that there was protection he went back making out with his lover, while they kissed Jack's hands wandered down stroking further with an insistent pressure until the young man was writhing on the bed unsure whether to get him to stop or keep one making him feel like he never had before.

That decision was made from when Jack slid down and slid his mouth down his lover's painful erection while he was slipping in another finger

“Oh God Jack!” he cried aloud at how good it all felt; yeah he'd had blow jobs before but he'd never had one this good it was like Jack could read his mind and knew all the right spots to make him see stars. It made Jack smile hearing his name breathed in the throes of passion “Jack, Jack... ohhh Jack there! Right there... yes that feels so good cariad oh cariad so good” he mumbled loosing himself in his senses of feeling.

Finally finished preparing his young lover for the intrusion that was about to take place he decided that he needed Ianto to give him some attention

“Touch me again” he begged guiding his lover's hand down to his penis urging him to stroke it. Ianto did as he was told looking down for the first time seeing his partner's manhood; he'd not really looked before and now he wished he had. Jack was huge! He began to have doubts about letting himself be screwed with that monster! When he was ready he swatted Ianto's hands away and rolled the condom on, rising onto his knees to enter the other man

“Jack...” Ianto gasped suddenly terrified that he was going to get hurt

“Don't worry” he answered as he heard the scared tone in his voice “I'll look after you, I'm not going to hurt you and I'll go slow, I promise”

“Okay” he nodded finally then he slowly began to enter him. It was tight going since there was no lube apart from what was on the condom and it felt like something hot and eager filling him, the pressure was intense like a log being shoved up a hose, he was so focused on the painful burn he was feeling he completely missed that Jack was shoved so far up inside him that he could go no further

“I'm all the way” whispered the older man as he leaned over Ianto kissing and stroking his face softly “Are you okay? How does it feel?”

“Yeah...” he laughed out of breathe “It feels strange in a good sort of way... I think”

“What if I did this?” he asked moving his hips slightly making the man beneath him gasp out loudly in the dirtiest tone he'd ever heard from any lover.

Sweat broke out across Jack's forehead as he held himself back waiting for him to recover from that little roll of his hips, it took all his willpower not to pound the young man into the sheets

“More” he groaned aloud finally “Do that again” Jack was more than happily to oblige, he set out slow building the pace until he was rocking back and forth with momentum. The young Welshman was whimpering desperately when his lover slid his hands under his back pulling him up so their chests were pressed together, Ianto wrapped his arms around Jack's shoulders as he sank down even more on his lover's swollen penis. The new position didn't deter Jack's movements, he never missed a beat in his thrusting “Jack, I think I'm gonna cum... yeah oh God! Yeah... I'm gonna...”

It was the best thing he'd ever seen, his lover's face only mere inches from his with a slack expression of ultimate euphoric passion and he'd done that for him. Seeing his lover loose it completely he ended up loosing it himself and he came hard groaning into Ianto's sweat slick shoulder.

They collapsed back on the bed both breathing heavily in post coital bliss, Jack pulled the condom off getting rid of it before he recovered his shorts and handed Ianto his. Ianto grabbed hold of Jack and pulled him close curling up in his arms and felt safe and loved for the first time in a long time. Jack was more than happily to curl up holding Ianto and the two drifted off to peaceful sleep.

An hour later Jack woke up and saw that he was curled tightly to Ianto, his front pressed close to the other man's back. He sat up staring intently at him while he slept and it broke his heart, what the hell had he done?

“I love you” he whispered as tears brimmed his eyes “How the hell could I give you up?"

TBC...


TB

The soldier Private First Class William Spooner open the door for the two of them; the man was like an excited school boy and the woman was doing her best to share his enthusiasm. It wasn't every day orders from above came down to the team guarding the vaults, their new boss who had been hopping from one foot to the other in anticipation only moments early wanted or claimed that he wanted to see everything in the facility including the science team who had been analysing all that had been collected over the years since Torchwood was created.

“Ohhhh” he practically had an orgasm as soon as the doors were open “Now this is... this is...” the head scientist in charge of overlooking the research had assembled his team as soon as he'd received word that the new boss was coming down to observe and review them

“It's a pleasure to meet you finally, sir” he greeted him holding out his hand but the man ignored him as he looked around the vault, even the man's assistant was looking awestruck but despite that he pressed on with the introductions “I'm Doctor Steven Mayhew...”

“Jack. Jack Harkness and this is Toshiko Sato” he replied without taking his eyes off the room then without warning he darted forward and started picking stuff up from the crates with Mayhew trailing after him

“Sir, please! Don't touch that! It's dangerous! We don't know what it does!” he cried, Jack grinned at him his eyes laughing for the first time in days

“What? This thing?!” he held out the small box covered in glyphs “It's a music box that produces bubbles. See” he pressed a slot and it did just what he said it would, Jack set the box down and went for another crate “Oh God! Oh baby... look at you!” he pulled out what was clearly a large gun “I haven't seen one of these babies since I was with the Agency. Standard issue for combating rogue hoix, I could have used one of these when I was in Cardiff! I wonder if it has a setting for weevils too?”

“How do you know what it is?”

“I learned to fire with a gun like this. It's out of ammo and out of power, harmless” he tossed the gun to the doctor who caught it haphazardly making Private Spooner laugh under his breathe.

Jack opened another crate just as Mayhew was putting the gun carefully back in it's crate, it was a circular ball with a little blue button on top with black writing scrawled all over it “Can't make it out”

“Sir, please I must insist that you stop what you're doing and put it down! That technology is dangerous! We really don't know what it does” he begged, Jack just rolled his eyes before turning to the Private

“What's your name?”

“Private Spooner, sir” he answered him knowing full well the reaction his name was about to have the other man smirked but said nothing, which surprised Spooner because everyone who learned his name didn't pass up the chance to make fun of it

“Okay Private Spooner, will you get this windbag out of here and let the real experts do their job?” yeah I'm blowing hot air, Jack thought but these lab coats are cramping my style and you can't have any fun with people like that hanging around

“Sir... I must...” began Mayhew but Toshiko spoke up for the first time

“As chairman and acting CEO of the Torchwood Organisation my employer, and yours too, has expressed you and your team leave the room. I would recommend that you do so in a professional manner and leave him to continue naming and assessing any possible threats with this technology. Now, Private Spooner, please escort the team from the room”

Private Spooner did as he was told then returned to his station to keep guard, the new boss nor the PA had said that he had to leave, now did they? Outside Mayhew grumbled but led the team up to the canteen for a twenty minute coffee break.

“So, what do you think? Should I press it?” he asked Tosh, still holding the little orb

“Do you know what it does?” she replied glancing from the orb to him then back again, he shook his head

“Shall we find out?” he stated rhetorically then pressed the blue button there was a flash of warm soft light that filled the entire room shining over the three of them in the room before there was darkness. Absolute darkness.

Steady beeping penetrating his senses and he sleepily opened his eyes to see a world of neon orange, he lifted his hand up and was surprised to find it was a traffic cone! There was a traffic cone on his head!

“What...” he mumbled, Jack was surprised to find that he was in his bedroom. He was at home in his room, on his bed... and he wasn't alone. He was lying atop his bed with Toshiko and that guard who was called Spooner and a plastic keep left bollard, in the corner of the room tied up to the wardrobe was a donkey.

He was on one end of the bed while Spooner was on the other, cradling behind Tosh who had her fingers tightly wrapped around the end of a leash, the leash was attached to a dog collar round Spooner's neck “Toshiko, William... wake up”

Dropping the traffic cone to the side of the bed as he got up and saw what he was wearing; he was dressed only in his boxer shorts and for some reason wellington boots. In fact all three of them were wearing wellington boots dressed alike to him; the other two were in their underwear but for some reason Spooner's shorts were made out of black bin bags stapled together and he was wearing a sash that said London Petting Zoo with a badge stuck to it saying he'd come in second place finally his uniform beret topped his unusual lack of outfit. Tosh was wearing purple lacy underwear that clashed with her green boots and atop her messy hair was a plastic tiara supported by several hair rollers “Wake up!” he repeated much louder now to add injury to his throbbing headache.

The former Time Agent had the thick threaded after taste of Hyper Vodka in his mouth and the groggy after effects of a long binge, the sleeping two jerked awake when he kicked the bed. They looked at the other for a moment before jumping away from each other like they'd be burned. None of them could remember how they'd ended up here or why.

“What the hell is going on?” Spooner demanded

“I have no idea. I only woke up a few minutes ago” Jack confessed

“Oh God! I'm naked! Both of you turn around!” Tosh ordered making them turn around so she could wrap the blanket around her “Jack, what the hell is going on?!”

“I can't remember, can either of you?” inquired Jack, he peeked over his shoulder to see she was finally wrapped up in his quilt. Private Spooner shook his head and Toshiko copied him

“You don't think that we...” William began but trailed off the implication out in the air

“No I don't think so, I think we were just very, very drunk and had a really good time. Shame because a good time for me...”

“Jack!” Tosh snapped interrupting him, she wasn't in the mood for jokes

“Sorry”

“You! You pressed that button thing! I remember! You pressed it then there was that light and then we... we left Canary Wharf and went...” cried Spooner, he stopped talking when someone pressed the doorbell and pounded heavily on the door

“I'll go” announced Jack, he hurried out to the living room and opened the door revealing Bess Hallet “Bess”

“Now I've seen some parties gone awry, hell I was around when the 60s were kicking off but I've never seen anyone get so drunk they'd cross bikini contests with a nativity play!”

“What are you talking about?” asked William who'd heard her arrive and talking

“I saw you last night, the three of you! It's a miracle no one called the police! You were coming up the road with your Asian Princess riding that Donkey and you both drunk as skunks! Singing loud enough to wake the entire neighbourhood!”

“We did?” William gasped

“Bess, we weren't drunk... at least not in the conventional sense. There was an accident with some machinery where I work and we went... temporarily insane, I guess”

“You're always guessing, you should figure out what exactly happened... I think wherever you got the Donkey from, they're going to want it back” she said as she opened the door “And next time... let me be there when you go temporarily insane, it looked like fun! I haven't been on a Donkey since I was a little girl visiting the sea side! See you later!”

“Jack!” Toshiko shouted from the bedroom, she was now wearing one of Jack's shirts that covered her embarrassment. The two boys ran back into the bedroom to see her holding a mobile phone “We've lost two days. Whatever happened we've been like this for two days”

“So you're saying we've been drunk for two days?” William asked “What the hell did you do?”

“Shhh! I'm remembering something...” he cried shushing both of them “We stole the Donkey from the petting zoo and we went... went to... went to... Crufts?!”

“Oh my God” Tosh bowed her head in shame

“I think we need to get dressed and go to the office. There will be CCTV footage of whatever we did, we can trace the missing two days and maybe that will jog our memories”

The three of them took their turns getting dressed then headed out to catch a cab to Canary Wharf, once they knew what had happened they could deal with it. Jack would have to return to the donkey to the petting zoo with a big apology; he just hoped he hadn't taken any other animals and abandoned them over the course of the lost days.

*

Ianto looked down at his little girl, eight pounds three ounces of new born baby girl... she was beautiful. All the nurses thought so, the only one who didn't was Lisa who hadn't even laid eyes on her since Addiena was born. In fact she downright refused to her see new daughter which had left him being the only one cooing over her.

Today they'd been allowed to go home, his wife seemed very excited about it but still refused to hold or even look at their new daughter. So he was the one carrying her, he was the one playing the mom and he had happily bonded in a paternal way with the newest addition to the family. They got in and Lisa ran off upstairs hurriedly while he carefully balanced Addiena cradled in one arm while he checked the messages; Lisa's mother Sandy was going to be bringing Taren home this afternoon to see his new baby sister

“Lisa, cariad, you're mam's going to be coming round later” he called quietly up the stairs to avoid waking his daughter. He couldn't get over the fact that he had a daughter! “Why don't we put you down?” he cooed down at the little girl in his arms as he took her upstairs to the medium sized room that had been redecorated for her. The young Welshman had been so excited when he found out that they were going to have another baby; while he knew that Taren wasn't his, he still loved the boy regardless, he was sure that Addiena was and it had been even better news than the first time Lisa had told him. He'd bought two cots for her, one to go in this room and one for their room... he'd gone baby mad those first few months buying clothes, nappies, a Moses basket and an assortment of dummies and rattles. Thinking back he couldn't remember Lisa buying anything for Addiena, that should have been a clue.

He lay Addiena down then turned on the baby monitor putting it at the bottom of the cot then slipped the other one into the back pocket of his jeans before going to find his wife. He found her in their bedroom packing in a hurry

“What's going on? What are you doing?”

“I'm going to stay at a friends' for a few days” she replied without stopping dragging clothes out of draws and her wardrobe. Ianto marched over to her, grabbing her by the arms to get her to stop

“What the hell do you mean you're going to a 'friends' for a few days? You just had a baby! You should be here with her!”

“I can't Ianto. I never wanted her... or Taren” she confessed, he let her go so he could pace and she returned to packing

“So this is it then, you're walking out on all three of us?” he hissed turning to face her, he rubbed the back of his head roughly

“I can't be here. I'm just going to go...”

“What about them?!” he yelled, his temper was flaring angrily as he interrupted her “If you never wanted them then why the hell did you stay? Why did you get pregnant again?”

“It was an accident!” she yelled as she yanked out a draw sending clothes spilling everywhere. He scowled, his mouth turning downwards and he tried to control his breathing

“Tell me.” he demanded coldly “Tell me that he isn't Addiena's father” she didn't say anything just stopped still, her lack of action and words broke his heart

“No... not her too” he almost crumpled to the floor, she zipped up the suitcase just as the doorbell rang. His eyes went wide as the realisation that he might have come here to take Lisa away “Is that him? He knows where we live? Did you do it with him in our bed?!”

“Ianto...” she began but he raced out the room and down the stairs before she could say anymore. She hurried after him and got to the top of the stairs to see him flinging open the door to reveal her mother and Taren.

Sandy was surprised when she heard the thudding down the stairs then the door was flung open banging sharply against the wall, her son in law was standing there looking as if he'd been crying and shaking with anger

“Ianto? What's wrong? It's not Addiena is it?” she whispered as she stood there holding her grandson's hand

“Tad!” Taren smiled reaching up for his dad

“Come in Sandy, maybe you can talk some sense into her” he suggested as he carried his son up the stairs to his room. Taren wanted to see his new baby sister, his tad had hold him that she was beautiful when Grand Mam had let him call the hospital yesterday, he didn't know why his tad was putting him in his room “Taren, I need you to stay here for now okay. There's a lot of grown up stuff that we have to talk about. I promise you can see Addie later, you can even hold her if you're good”

“Okay” he sighed giving in, he decided to kill time by making a card for his new baby sister and try and block out the shouting that was coming from his parents room.

Sandy had gone up to see what the hell was going on only to find that Lisa was struggling with a case trying to zip it up

“What's going on? Where are you going?” she asked her daughter “Are you leaving Ianto?”

“Yes” replied Lisa “I can't stay here”

“Why not? Has he done something? Hurt you? Hurt the baby?”

Ianto came back into the room and returned to his pacing, Sandy stared at him for a moment before turning back to her eldest daughter “Lisa, what the hell is going on?”

“Tell her” he snarled, Lisa glared at him like he was the one who was in the wrong “Tell her! Tell her what you're doing! Where you're going”

“Ianto...” began Sandy trying to get him to calm down but he wouldn't listen

“What kind of mother walks out on her children!” he yelled loud enough for Taren to hear and for Addie to wake up. Her jaw dropped open and she turned to face her daughter

“What?” she gasped in disbelief, she didn't... wouldn't believe it!

“Dy mab a merch dy plant! Siwd tun dy gwneud hwy?” shouted Ianto in his native tongue, she couldn't understand him, he was angry at what she was doing.

Taren crept out of his room and across the hall to Addie's room were she was crying loudly, he knelt down near her cot and began to sing the song that his tad had sung to him when he was poorly or had a bad dream

“Stars shining bright above you night breezes seem to whisper I love you birds singing in the sycamore tree dream a little dream of me....” he had no idea that it was being picked up by the baby monitor and could be heard in the other room.

“This is just stress or depression right?” Sandy tried to suggest, why the hell was she doing this? Lisa pulled out a wad of paper from the back of a drawer then handed it to Ianto

“Sign it” she ordered him

“What the hell is this?”

“Custody. I'm giving them to you”

“Lisa! No! Don't do this! It's a mistake!” cried her mother. Ianto pulled out a pen and signed it before handing a copy back to his wife

“Go on then” he said; he was hurt but he could look after himself... what made him angry was his children. He'd have to explain to them why they didn't have a mam “Get out, go to your wonderful boyfriend and don't come back”

“Ianto! Lisa! Ianto... you can't let her do this”

“I don't think I can stop her and if she doesn't want to be here... then it's her loss” he stated finally then left the room and went to find his children. Taren was crying now even though he was still singing the song, Ianto came in scooped Addie up then sat down, he pulled his son close sitting him opposite his daughter. He and his sung the song until she went back off to sleep; he put her down then carried his Taren to his room where they could cry in peace.

After Lisa had left Sandy checked in on the boys and found them curled up on Taren's little bed crying themselves to sleep, the baby monitor sat on the chest of drawers alert and ready. She didn't say anything, just closed the door over and left to go tell her husband what had happened.

*

Friday was a tough day for all; the rumour mill was churning full steam when Jack got there that morning. The two hottest topics were him, Tosh and Spooner having been spotted, by someone working in the office, with the Donkey riding it home from Crufts in their underwear and the steamy affair that Tyler was apparently having with Lisa Jones of all people.

Jack wasn't sure what to make of his but the girl in the booth next to Tyler, Tish, had said that he'd left early yesterday to pick her up because she was leaving her husband and kids. Tosh still wasn't speaking to him from sheer embarrassment despite him promising to have the entire office and any witnesses retconned. He'd gone back to the vault to find out what that machine was and he finally figured it out was a social inebriator; he'd heard of them but never seen one. It's purpose was to get you as drunk as possible by scanning you for the most powerful drug or drink you'd had then recreating that effect on you and anyone else in the room. It had come from the Vegas Galaxies and was the ultimate toy for parties... usually though there had been someone who stayed sober to control the people having a good time.

By lunch time he couldn't shake the constant gossip or rumours that were going round his head; he kept thinking of Ianto and he hoped he was okay. He wasn't even getting work done because of this distraction. He jumped up from his chair, grabbed his jacket then left his office

“Tosh” she looked up and scowled at him; he was going to be sorry for a very long time “Could you hold the fort while I go out for a bit”

“Sure” she replied coldly before looking back down at her work, he stood there for a moment and she looked back up realising that

“I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have pressed it... what can I do to make it up to you?”

“Let me work with some of the catalogued technology moved to the archives” she replied seriously, he thought for a moment before nodding his head

“Done” he said, she smiled then he left the floor heading down in the elevator to find Ianto.

He was surprised to find that Ianto wasn't there, his booth was empty and his computer wasn't on. Jack looked round hoping to see him by a copier or getting some coffee but he was no where in sight

“Help you?” he turned to see a young blonde haired man standing there holding several files

“I'm looking for Ianto Jones”

“Oh, he called in this morning. Told Angie that he was on maternity leave, she wasn't too happy with that... gave him a right bollocking so he told her he quit” laughed the man

“I see” he began, the man stopped laughing when Jack wasn't laughing with him “Where is Angie? Is she in charge of his level?”

“Yeah... why?”

“I'm Jack Harkness, acting CEO for Torchwood London and Ianto happens to be a friend of a friend”

“Shit” the man blurted “You're him? The new boss?!”

“Yeah, that's me” he answered as he shoved his hands into his pockets, the man had gone pale “So you said Angie gave him a bollocking because he's taking time to look after his new baby?”

“I... I...” he stuttered

“Where's her office?” he asked, he pointed towards the far wall where all the 'better' offices were located then scurried off before he got in trouble too.

Jack walked over, found Angie's office then burst in without knocking. She was on the phone and looked very annoyed that he'd walked in without announcing himself, she held up a finger gesturing him to wait while she continued with her phone call. He waited patiently, it gave him time to look her over, she was smartly dressed but had a very cold demeanour with a pinched serious face and glasses that didn't suit her.

In the end he got tired of waiting then slammed his hand down on the disconnect on the phone, her eyes narrowed angrily at him and she put the receiver down with a clatter

“Why the hell did you do that?” she hissed

“I need to talk to you” he answered quickly in a clipped tone, she clasped her hands on the desk in front of her trying to exude authority

“Don't tell me? The new boy wants a raise?” she guessed, he shook his head

“This morning one of your employers called in saying that he was on maternity leave”

“Yes, Jones. I wasn't happy because we were short staffed and his wife has already taken leave, there was no reason for both of them to have it. I told him so and he said he quit”

“Maybe he needs to be with his family? Did you ever think of that?”

“It's none of my business” she curtly told him

“Yet you still pass judgement and give him a hard time for it...” she opened her mouth to speak but he shook his head “How much do you get paid?”

“That's none of your business!” she snapped

“Oh I think it is. This is what I want you to do, I want you to call up Ianto Jones and apologise to him and let him know that he will be on paid maternity leave for as long as he needs it and when he's ready to come back to work... what's your job title?”

“Office Manager” she told him

“When he's ready to come back to work he's promoted to Office Manager” she blinked in surprise then laughed

“I don't know who you are but if you think a Junior Researcher is going to take my job...”

“Yeah, that's right. I forgot to introduce myself... Jack Harkness acting CEO for Torchwood London” he held out his hand and she went pale realising just exactly who he was. After Rose had left and he'd started on the Monday a memo had gone round letting everyone know that he was in charge now

“I... I... I'm so sorry, sir...” rambled Angie but he wasn't having any of it

“When he's back your gone” he told her then left her office. He called up Tosh and asked her to find out where Ianto Jones lived and send it to his phone.

The SUV was waiting for him and his phone went off just as he got in, uploading the directions he sped off to find Ianto and make sure he was okay.

TBC...

Before Rose and John left they told some of their closest guests that they could stay the night so naturally Jack, and Toshiko of course, Ianto, Lisa and Taren were among the few who were staying over.

Jack and Tosh continued to drink after the happy couple left; Pete was driving them out to the warehouse their space ship was in. They were leaving the planet to travel space as unofficial diplomats of Earth; the ship was kept a secret from Torchwood and UNIT because they knew it would be well sought after technology used for either organisations ends.

Lisa put Taren to bed then came back down to find Ianto had joined the drunken pair; Jack was telling hilarious stories that had both the Welshman and the Japanese girl laughing

“So dey bring da four drinks, I have nodea why dey agreed to it!” he was laughing as his words slurred, she felt jealous and insecure that her husband was having such a good time in that man's company “It'sssall bit of a blurrr, after dat”

“Tell! Tell! Tell him about the time you were on Satellite 5” urged Tosh who'd been hearing some of his anecdotes as their sobriety slipped

“Oh, oh... I'm. I was! I wass on da show, dey were tryin to give me a makeova! Before I knew it, dey had me naked! So I'm standin there naked in front of da cameras!” all three of them laughed more at their drunken state than picturing him naked, although it was giving Ianto a hard time because he could picture it.

“Ianto!” snapped Lisa, all three of them turned to see her standing there with her arms crossed

“Oops, it's the Missus” he announced sending the other two into fits of giggles

“What the hell are you playing at, cariad?” she hissed angrily as he stumbled to his feet coming over to her, she lowered her voice to tell him off “I thought you said you'd stay away from him!”

Even though she lowered her voice, Jack still heard her and he couldn't help but scowl. Tosh put her head down on the table to rest her eyes for a moment and he rose to his feet stomping moodily over to Lisa

“I don't know what your problem is” he began, her eyes glowered angrily

“My problem is you!” she interrupted him, her husband held up his hands gesturing for them to not fight but neither of them paid any attention

“I don't know why” he continued sulkily “You have a claim to him, I don't... you should be happy”

“I won't be happy until you leave us alone”

“I have” he whispered “My boyfriend died and I decided to let him go, it's been over six months since he died and I have to move on. So you have nothing to worry about...”

She looked at her husband who was now openly crying as he looked at Jack, he looked distraught that he'd said that he'd let him go

“Don't I?” spat Lisa rhetorically then stormed off. Ianto was torn he didn't know if wanted to make Jack take back his words or go after his wife

“Go after her” ordered Jack so he did leaving the older man alone. He watched them go and felt himself sober up, he turned back to Toshiko to find her asleep on the table; it made him smile as he scooped her up into his arms and carried her into the house.

Tosh woke up when he laid her down on the bed, she tried to sit up but he gently held her down and told her to go back to sleep. He slipped off her shoes before climbing into the large king sized bed next to her.

*

Usually he liked Mondays but not today, Rose had left a mountain of paperwork for him... there was so much red tape to sort out before he could even get to his work load and on top of that he was hungover and he had an equally hung over personal assistant to show the ropes. He and Tosh had travelled into work together; he was grateful for her being there.

Dropping half the files Rose had left him on her desk outside his new office he politely asked her to type it all up while he did the other half. Thirty minutes later the staff who worked on that floor slowly began to trickle in, they were surprised to find Tosh sitting at Lisa's desk already hard at work.

The gossips of the office congregated around the coffee pot guessing what their new boss was going to be like now that Rose was gone; they were already trying to figure out the Japanese girl and how she had gotten the job so quickly. Their gossiping came to a head when Lisa Jones walked in and was surprised to find the Japanese girl who had been hanging on his arm last night at the Tyler Mansion

“What the hell are you doing sitting at my desk?” she demanded calmly, her tone betraying her emotion. Tosh took off her glasses in surprise, slowly rising to her feet

“Oh I... Jack told me that this was my desk”

“Well it isn't!” she snarled slamming her bag down on the desk, the shorter girl began collecting up the files she'd been given with every intention of moving when the main offices' door opened

“Stay where you are, Tosh, that is your desk” he announced with his arms crossed, this was the first time the rest of the staff had seen him properly... they all watched the scene with interest “Lisa, you're on paid maternity leave”

“Since when?”

“Since today. If you don't like then you can go look for another job” he was serious, calm and didn't look at all like he'd drunk his weight in alcohol only several hours earlier

“You have no right! You think you can just come in and start telling me what to do?”

“I am the boss” he pointed out and her jaw dropped “Oh, you didn't know? Rose left me in charge of Torchwood Tower”

“She... she wouldn't!”

“Why not? I have more experience with this organisation than she does, I was a good candidate for the job. Now, Mrs Jones, I think it's best you go home and enjoy your leave”

“This is because you want my husband isn't it!” she waved her finger at him accusatory, he shook his head “Replacing me with... with your Chinese Bimbo!”

“No, it's not. I don't want him, he's not the man I lost and he never will be and I'm not replacing you. You're on maternity leave and when you come back Tosh will be moved to other projects as my personal assistant and field agent” stated Jack still with his arms wrapped around himself “Oh, and she's Japanese. Not Chinese. Now go home”

She left in an over emotional huff, Jack saw them all watching him; he glanced at Tosh before telling everyone that they had work to do.

Tosh took the time to get up and knock on Jack's door, her actions weren't missed by the gossip mongers of the office who wouldn't pass up the chance to spread the rumour that the new girl was sleeping with the new boss

“Jack?” she opened the door peeking round it to see him sat at his desk leaning back looking very withdrawn “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, that was a bit difficult though” he scoffed then gestured for her to come in “How are you handling the workload?”

“Honestly? I'm loving it... I think after being in Prison with nothing to do on a daily basis has changed my outlook. I have such a need to keep busy, even more so than I ever was before”

“Good because from now on you're my right hand woman... that is if you're up to the task”

“What would that mean?”

“You help me over see everything. Anything new that comes through or needs catalogue you'll help me cover it”

“Alien tech?” she whispered, he nodded

“Would you be okay with that?” he inquired as he steepled his hands watching her think about it for a moment before she shook her head positively

“Good” Jack leaned forward resting his elbows on the desk “Because once we've got all this red tape out of the way, which should be by the end of the day, we'll go down to the vaults. We'll get to play with the toys down there”

She couldn't help but blush at what he said, it wasn't even rude or even remotely with innuendo but it sounded very flirty and naughty; she thought about what it would like to be in a relationship with Jack... she even remembered what he was like the night before making sure she was tucked up in bed and taking her shoes off. Toshiko mentally shook her head, regardless of his kind nature towards her and his obvious flirty attitude she knew that it wasn't something she wanted. But it wouldn't hurt to have a good friend

“I'd like that” she told him then went back to work.

*

Taren was in the living room when he got home, he'd almost lost it when he went to the school to pick up his son and found him gone. Ever since the 456 had come and the world had lost 10% of their children from every nation he'd been more over protective of his child; he'd been lucky that Taren had been sick with chicken pox when they called for the ten percent and he was staying with his grandmother out in the countryside

To say he was relieved was an understatement; he had almost had a heart attack when the teacher told him that Taren had already left. Ianto had had terrified thoughts of aliens taking his little boy from the school to do weird experiments on him

“Tad!” Taren cried, the young Jones absolutely loved his father because he was always around and gave him a lot of attention. It wasn't that Lisa was a bad mother, it was just she was more committed to her job than her family; which was somewhat hypocritical with her attitude towards Jack Harkness

“I was worried sick!”

“Mam got me from school” he explained quietly, he ducked his head lowering his brown eyes solemnly “She was cross”

“Great” he muttered under his breath as he picked up his son “Let's go see what we've done wrong now”

Lisa was in the kitchen hot faced and pressing ice to her forehead and the back of her neck in an attempt to keep cool “What happened?”

“That stupid homo isn't only my new boss! He made me go on early maternity leave!”

“I hardly think it's early, Lisa, you passed your due date last week” he pointed out causing her to narrow her eyes and glare at him

“Don't take his side!”

“I'm not taking anyone's side. Maybe it's for the best you're on maternity leave? It gives you more time to spend with Taren and to rest, you have been working too hard and it can't be good for the baby”

“I don't want to stay at home! As soon as Taren's off to school I'll have nothing to do!” she snapped, Taren snuggled closer into his dah's arms, it upset him and even at a young age he could hear the underlining message. She didn't want to spend time with him!

“Taren, cariad, why don't you go play upstairs for now and I'll come and get you when teas ready” he told him as he put his son down and gently pushed him out the door into the hall. The boy didn't need any further encouragement because he raced up the stairs as fast as his legs could carry him and he slammed his bedroom door “How can you be such a bitch to your own child?”

“Excuse me?!” she yelled angrily

“We could have lost him when the 456 took all those children and did you bat an eyelid? No! You didn't! All you were concerned with was your precious job! When was the last time you made time for him? Took him across the road to the park? Hell, even went into his room to say goodnight?”

“Don't you dare try and suggest I'm a bad mother! If it's anything it's because you're a bad husband!” she scooted round his accusations trying to pin the blame on him. He scowled stepping closer to her and lowered his voice

“You cheated on me with that guy from computer maintenance, I know that Taren isn't my real son but I don't care. I stood by you when that guy wouldn't! I could have walked away but no! As soon you mentioned the word pregnant I pretty much dropped down on one knee to give you some stability! I know how your parents would have reacted to you being a single mom so don't give me this bullshit about me being a bad husband. I haven't done anything wrong, I haven't cheated on you and I'm still here. God only knows why when you're such a bitch to me! You know I did, I did love you... I really did and you destroyed me”

“I-I'm sorry” she spoke softly as tears filled her eyes before they widened “Ianto, Ianto... ahh. I think my water just broke"

TBC...

He realised how ordinary life was going to be when the alarm clock woke him up and he went through his morning routine of getting dressed and making coffee. Today he was going to the UNIT holding facility to get them to release Toshiko Sato, he'd need a secretary and if she was alive then there was no one he trusted more.

Jack looked out the window to the quiet empty street below his flat as he sipped his coffee, he felt like that he was starting all over and no matter how many times he hated starting over from scratch it didn't half feel good. The promise of new opportunities, of new decisions made him feel alive and considering how often he died... well considering how often he felt like he was dead that was quite an achievement.

As he looked out he realised that he was afraid too, afraid of being in charge of Torchwood again; afraid of any more threats to come out of the sky. This reality was ahead of the one he had been born into and who knew what dangers lurked out there in space? Could he stand up to more threat? He shook his head, he honestly didn't know.

The long RAF standard issue coat he'd worn for so long hung from a coat-hanger on his bedroom door, he was dubious about wearing it still so he pulled on a light brown waterproof jack similar to one he'd worn when he was travelling with the Doctor and went outside.

Jack didn't get very far because as soon as he opened the main door to the building he spotted the Torchwood SUV, his breath caught in his throat and he had to remember to breathe... he hadn't been prepared in seeing it again so soon. Someone must have delivered it for him, most likely under Rose's orders.

“Is that your car?” came a strong elderly voice, he turned to see a small white haired woman scowling at him, he couldn't help but smirk because she was dressed in biker leather and looked like she was older than he was!

“Yeah, I guess it is”

“You guess? Well why don't you guess it somewhere else? That space is reserved for residents only” she didn't seem like the type of woman to be a nasty neighbour; he just put it down that she didn't know he lived here now

“Sorry” he apologised then held out his hand “I've not long moved in, I'm Jack... Jack Harkness. I'll move my car if it's in the way, they must have delivered it last night”

“Elizabeth Hallet... but everyone calls me Bess. I'm sorry I was so rude... you get all sorts thinking they can park their cars wherever they like! It's so hard to find a space for my bike” she nodded to her red and black Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14 parked behind the SUV

“That is one gorgeous bike” he couldn't help but be impressed by her taste in motorcycles

“Do you like it? My grand daughter bought it for her boyfriend before he ran off with another woman. Chose a woman over that bike!”

“A bike like that? She wouldn't have stood a chance!” he joked with her and it made her smile

“Oh you are a charmer...” smiled Bess “So I asked her if I could have it; drove my son and daughter in law mad”

“I can imagine, I have to get to work but if it's okay would we be able to continue this conversation later? I don't really know anyone in London apart from my two friends who are leaving to go travelling tomorrow...”

“Of course you can. I'm in 5C, I'll see you later, Jack” she said finally then pulled on a helmet and sped off on the bike. He had to chuckle when he saw the back of her biker jacket; it read 'Granny's Angels'.

Her hair was longer, still black but a dirty black not the shiny black he remembered seeing all those times when he looked out of his office window to the work stations below. She didn't say anything, she looked broken and so without hope

“Are you okay?” she turned her brown eyes at him and glared

“Who are you? Are you a lawyer?”

“Do I look like a lawyer?” he shot back “No, I'm here on official business, calling in a favour. You see I need a secretary... no a Personal Assistant... one who knows unusual technology and isn't afraid to catalogue it”

“Are you asking me?”

“Well it's that or stay here for the rest of your life. You can stay with me until you find a place of your own”

“Why are you helping me?”

“I have my reasons. So, do you want to come work for me?”

“Yes” she nodded her head, he took out the keys and unlocked Toshiko's handcuffs then tossed the cuffs on the table

“Let's get out of here then” she was processed, given back her clothes she'd been wearing those nine long years ago when she'd been arrested by UNIT. They smelt musty but she was glad to have them she was sick of orange and would be more than happy if she never saw them again.

Toshiko looked out the window enjoying the view, it had been a very long time since she'd seen a real view.

“I don't even know your name or where I'm going to be working”

“My name's Jack Harkness and where your going to work doesn't matter for now. We're going to focus on getting you re-settled. I thought it'd be best if we get some new clothes for you and then you can freshen up when we get home. We'll sort the whole work thing out on Monday when the weekday starts”

“Home?” she turned away from the window to look at him “This isn't some... I'm not expected to... you know...”

“No. I never thought I'd say this, Tosh, but you're not my type” she blushed and felt a little embarrassed she thought he was keeping her as a kept woman “There's no one for me”

“I'm sorry, sir”

“Stop with the sir” he grinned “Call me Jack... or Captain” she couldn't help but smile at that then turned back to the window

“I think I'll stick with Jack” she told him. Their shopping trip was long and exciting, a lot more fun that his previous trip with Ben, there was running and happy squeals at new fashion. It had been a very long time since Tosh had been in the world let alone had money to spend on clothes this expensive! “Oh that dress is beautiful” he leaned close

“You should buy it”

“I can't... it's too much” she said holding out the price tag, she was about to put it back when he grabbed the hanger

“Then I'll buy it, think it'd look better on you than me but either way it's coming home with us”

“I couldn't possibly...”

“What? Wear it? Fine, use it as a dish rag then” he slipped it into the basket despite her protest “There's a party tomorrow, two of my closest friends are leaving and there's a farewell. Rose is leaving me in charge of the company and since you'll be working for me I thought it would be good I take you”

“But sir...”

“I told you, stop with the sir. Now, I'm dragging you regardless... will you do me the honour of wearing this to it?”

“Okay” she gave in as she fingered the material. He smiled happy to have got her to given in and then continued shopping, she'd never see anyone so uncaring with money “Do you have enough money for all this?”

“Call it business expense” he replied as he pulled out several shirts and added them to the overflowing basket “Torchwood pays well”

“And what is Torchwood?”

“An organisation run by the Crown, funded by it too... so we have a lot of money to blow. It's not every day you get released from a UNIT Prison Centre” he told her, she stopped staring at him then smiled

“No, it's not” agreed Toshiko then she turned round and got several tops and clothes off the racks and added them to the basket “I think that's enough for now. Can we get something to eat?”

“Sure” he nodded with his trademark smile. They paid for the clothes then went to a very high class Japanese restaurant serving sushi, sashimi and a variety of noodle and rice dishes; Jack ordered sake and they toasted Toshiko's freedom and both their new jobs.

*

“Are you ready?” Lisa asked as she held the small purse made of white PVC that was the closest match to what she was wearing, Taren was tearing round the place in a sulk because she'd made him wear his best clothes... his Sunday clothes.

“Yeah” he stood up and brushed down his jacket, he was ready and dressed nicely but he was in the same frame of mind as his son. Ianto wore suits every day of the week and the weekend was the one time he could relax in his own clothes; he would have been wearing casual jeans and a shirt if he'd had his way but since Lisa had been invited to the Tyler Mansion he had to be dressed like he was at work! Because it was Rose Tyler, Lisa's boss, and miss Rose Tyler was so much richer and better than they were! And of course they had to make an impression!

“Good, Taren! Stop running around! You'll scuff your shoes! Come on! Out to the car” she ushered the two of them out to the car so they could head off to Rose and John's farewell party

“But mom! I don't want to go to this stupid party! I'm going to be the only one there”

“Tough! We couldn't get a babysitter at such short notice!” she replied as he buckled himself into the back of his car. He drove because Lisa was in no condition what with being pregnant to their unborn girl and it gave him a chance to be distracted by her incessant talking, the road... grey and worn, line after line pushing him further and further towards something and... away. He was drifting away and as he thought about it, that was okay, at least to him.

The Tyler Mansion was impressive, there were many cars lining the driveway up the house and there were balloons hung on the door. Lisa had known Rose Tyler and John Smith ever since she went to work at Canary Wharf; she'd even met Ianto there all those years ago.

“Lisa! Hi, come in!” smiled Rose, Taren shoved passed them disappearing off into the house. John was standing in the large garden talking to a young Japanese woman when the couple got out there. The lawn was filled with people he hardly recognised and he felt so out of his depth then he spotted Jack talking to Ben who was hovering around the barbecue trying to take it over from the organised caterers.

He watched John walk over and put his hand on Jack's forearm; they were close, Ianto thought as he observed them interact, they'd been friends for a long time. Rose walked over looking happier and more at ease than he'd ever seen her, she pulled Jack into a hug then three of them laughed over some old joke.

“What is he doing here?” scowled Lisa, the Japanese lady wearing a really nice dark purple knee length dress with navy flowers sown into the hem overheard her

“Apparently they go way back, they're all friends” she explained “Jack told me that they travelled together years ago” Lisa looked over the woman offering information

“You are...”

“Toshiko Sato, nice to meet you” she smiled shaking hands with his wife before shaking hands with him. Before she could ask anything else Jack came over sweeping her away; he refused to look at Ianto. His Ianto was dead and now he all he wanted to focus on was giving Toshiko the time of her life

“Come and dance” he practically demanded as he ushered her into a marquee set up with a sound system and DJ. Heaven started to drift out of the marquee, Ianto watched them dancing so close and he felt his heart turn green

“Didn't take him long” muttered Lisa moodily before she went over to talk to Rose leaving him alone watching them. Jack looked just up as he slowly spun round during the slow dance and met his eyes.

John saw Jack staring at Ianto and when he looked he saw that the Welshman was doing the same, he scowled and left his girlfriend with her assistant and best friend and went to talk to Jack

“Rose told me you gave him up, quit the staring” he snapped making Toshiko gasp at his bluntness, Jack scowled

“I have given him up, I don't need you of all people tell me to get over some I lost!” he hissed angrily “What can I do Doctor? Tell me how I should feel...” Toshiko followed his gaze and spotted Ianto staring at them

“Jack, let's go get a drink” she suggested, he tore away from Ianto and nodded. The two of them went off and sat down at a table with a couple of beers while Ianto was left to float around the lawn.

“What happened?” inquired Tosh

“I was in love with someone and he died” he began then swigged down some of his beer, he wished it was stronger... wished it was hyper vodka that way he could let everything blur away and he'd end up doing all the things he was used to doing that made him feel secure “I know it might be hard to believe but you know that there's technology that doesn't come from this planet...”

“The Sonic Modulator was from another planet?” she whispered and he nodded

“I used a device and I came here from another reality. In that reality his name was Ianto Jones, he worked for me and well we fell in love but I never told him that I loved him back before he died. I thought that if I came to this reality with Rose and the Doctor in it then I might be able to find the people I lost. I just never expected him to be a married man” he put his hand over hers

“I'm sorry” apologised Tosh

“So am I... I thought that we could be together but I told Rose I'd let him go. That man isn't the man I fell for, even though he might look like him and I should honour Ianto's memory”

“Why don't we get absolutely hammered and take over the marquee?” she suggested finally with a smile and he had to agree. They finished their drinks and went in search of more before heading over to the dance marquee to dance.

Lisa found Ianto nursing a warm beer as he sat off by himself at a shaded garden table near the house

“Rose and John are getting ready to leave”

“Okay” he rose to his feet and followed her to the large crowd, everyone was either giving them cards or presents.

John was stood with his arm around Rose's shoulder and was smiling warmly as everyone was saying goodbye. Pete would drive them and say his goodbyes later on so he was stood off to the side watching everything and trying not to look sad.

Everyone watched a tipsy Jack and Toshiko stagger up supporting each other, holding the other up until they got to the front of the crowd

“Captain” John smiled knowing that his old friend was certainly enjoying the party, he'd heard from Rose how broken he'd been and was glad to see things looking up

“Doctor” he slurred happily then pulled out a strange looking pen device and held it out “Had a friend whip it up, she's good with things sonic... so if you have a long night with lots of cabinets to put up...”

“Jack, it's brilliant! Thank you! Look Rose!” he was bouncing with excitement at having a sonic screwdriver again. She smiled, it was like he was the Doctor again instead of John Smith

“It's just like your old one” commented Rose “Thanks Jack”

“We're always saying goodbye” he pulled away from Tosh and she nearly fell and stumbled but someone kindly held her up. The crowd of Rose and John's friends were surprised to see Jack cup Rose's face and kiss her full on the mouth; Lisa's eyes nearly bugged out of her head. She glanced at John to see how he reacted to this man kissing his girlfriend but he just had a small tight smile on his face, Jack pulled away then cupped John's face “Thank you for not sending me back” he kissed John full on the mouth before stepping back taking Tosh from the kind person who held her up.

“Bye everyone” called Rose as Pete led the two of them out to the car and the guests followed to bid their final goodbyes and leave themselves.

TBC...

Title: The Fix
Author: BlaiddJD
Disclaimer: I own nothing, Torchwood belongs to the Beeb and RTD
Rating: PG-13 for swearings and naughties.
Summary: Jack tries to fix things. He tries everything to have what he had... he succeeds in finding Ianto again but what if the man you loved loved someone else?

He woke up in the same room only this time it was empty and he was cuffed to the bed with soft medical restraints, with a sigh he sank back on the bed. Jack had to get out of there otherwise he'd be stuck on the bad end of Torchwood and that was something he certainly didn't want.

Sucking in a sharp breathe he braced himself for what he was about to do, he twisted so his shoulder popped out and he was able to lean down wrapping his mouth around the restraints to undo them, it hadn't been the first time he'd been stuck bound somewhere... usually it had been for fun. After he got one undone he reached down to loosen the other one then he got out of bed.

Jack had to cover his scream with a pillow when he popped his shoulder back into his socket then he went in search of some clothes. Ten minutes later he was wandering down the hall dressed in scrubs, if anyone noticed his bare feet then they didn't say anything.

“Computer, computer” he said to himself quietly, if he found a computer then he'd be able to find Steven and Alice and Ianto. He turned a corner and ran smack bang into Rose Tyler

“Jack!” she gasped surprised to see him then shook her head “I was on my way to see you. I guess you better come up to my office, there's a lot I need to tell you”

She walked off, leading the way, and he paused debating whether to go with her or not. He reasoned that she was a big shot here and must have been the cause behind his restraints, how could he trust her? On the other hand she was offering answers and it would be rude not to take them; he did have a lot of questions, in the end he followed her through the corridors to her office.

The penthouse office of the Torchwood Tower was still being straightened out since his arrival, made of the poster board walls on the booths needed to be replaced so apart from several maintenance people and a few hard working agents it was pretty much empty

“Where is everyone?” he inquired as she opened the door for him

“I sent them home, after the excitement it would take some time to clear everything up. You certainly did know how to make an entrance”

“Heh, that's me” he replied with a trademark smirk, she moved behind her desk and gestured for him to sit down in the chair facing her

“There's a lot I have to tell you” began Rose as she once more kicked off her shoes under the desk “You know when I first came here there wasn't a Rose Tyler, my parents were here but I wasn't. I did some checking and you weren't here either”

“So there wasn't a Jack in this reality?” he asked rhetorically trying to figure out where she was going with this

“You were for a while. You were here in 1945 but you disappeared, there were a few witness statements saying there was a bomb and you took it away. Since I didn't exist in this line the Doctor never met me and he never ended up meeting you. You must have took that bomb away and let it detonate in space”

“So what does that mean? What about my daughter and grandson? Alice and Steven Carter?”

“They don't exist because you here. They never were born” she explained, his shoulders slumped and he nodded

“What about Ianto?”

“I... we haven't been able to find him” she was going to tell him one thing but changed her mind, it was clear that she was lying to him “We found you a place to stay and we've given you an allowance so you can buy some clothes... after that we'll try and figure out what you're going to do next”

“I worked for Torchwood in our reality, would I be able to work here?”

“I don't think that's such a good idea” she told him then leaned over her phone and pressed a button “Tyler can you escort Captain Harkness down to the VIP Guest Car please”

“What the hell happened to you, Rose...” he mumbled “When did you become...”

“Don't. Jack. Just don't! I know what I've become, I have to live with it”

“Seems like that's what we have to do” he commented as Tyler came in, Jack rose to his feet and followed the young but competent man out of the room.

The car was big, shiny, expensive looking and there was a driver waiting for him dressed smartly and wearing a cap

“Good afternoon, sir. Where are we going?” he inquired warmly, the man was in his fifties and seemed genuinely pleased to be driving him around. Before Jack could speak up Tyler butted in relaying the instructions Rose had given him

“He's under Miss Tyler's instructions, he's to go shopping to buy new clothes; here is his the card with his allowance on it then he's to be taken to this address” he handed the driver a credit card and a piece of paper with the address of his new home.

“Very good” he replied as he shoved the card and paper into his pocket, Tyler left for the elevator and the driver held open the door. Jack sighed but got in, he'd have to go with the flow for the time being... well it wasn't like he was given much choice.

Streets passed, reflected in the windows and he couldn't help but stare out and think of all the things he'd done to get here. There was no Alice, no Steven... was there a Ianto? Did Rose know? Was she just avoiding the hurt he'd feel if he found out Ianto Jones didn't exist here either? He couldn't bear it if he'd come all this way, travelling through the cold and the dark of the void to find another world without them in it!

“Is everything alright, sir?” he looked up, meeting the driver's eyes in the rear view mirror, he was surprised to find that he was crying

“I... oh...” he shook his head feeling like he was being torn in two “I lost my family”

“I'm sorry” the driver told him, genuine sympathy reflected in his eyes “What happened? If you don't mind me asking?”

“My... my boyfriend died from gas poisoning... and I killed my grandson in front of my daughter's eyes” he whispered, he was shamed to speak it aloud. The driver fell silent unsure of what to say to that “I know I'm a monster and I know what I did was wrong... 3 people or the world... only a inhumane monster could could make that choice! I sacrificed the three people I loved more than anything so humanity would be saved”

“That doesn't make you a monster... it makes you a hero” the driver explained as they reached the large department store “From the sounds of it, you did something incredible... I wouldn't have been able to do that”

“I wish I hadn't” he confessed “What's your name?”

“Ben, what's yours, sir?” he asked before getting out, coming round to open the car door for him. They'd parked up and Ben was going to take him round the shop

“Jack. Jack Harkness” he answered, Ben clapped him on the shoulder then shut the car door

“Come on, let's get you some clothes” he finally spoke then the two of them headed into the building.

*

The apartment was nicely decorated and modern, there was a large kitchen with black marble counter tops and silver appliances, the living room was just as big as the kitchen with a faux white marble fireplace two black leather couches and a large flat screen TV. The bedroom was decorated with red and cream and the bathroom looked like it was designed for ten people, at least.

He and Ben dropped the packages of clothes down on the coffee table and one of the leather couches. The driver clapped him on the shoulder then looked at his watch

“I have to be getting back to the Tower to pick up Miss Rose and Mr Smith, will you be okay?”

“I'll manage” he replied, Ben handed him a card

“If you need to talk then... you'll always be welcome. I'll talk to the wife and we'll invite you round for dinner, if you'd like that? I'm sure Miss Rose has got the kitchen fully stocked”

“That's all... thank you” Jack stated, he was grateful Ben's help but now he wanted him to go away so he could be alone.

Ben nodded then left shutting the door behind him and finally Jack was alone, as soon as the door shut with an audible click he could feel everything rushing against him. All the things he'd done wrong and all the hurt and the pain, all he wanted to do was break down screaming and crying in the corner but instead he swallowed sharply trying to fend off the tears that were filling his eyes and began to unpack his clothes.

He was still wearing the green scrubs he'd stolen from the medical floor in the Torchwood Tower, he sorted everything in to piles; t-shirts, then pants then underwear... he stopped when he came to the last parcel. It was a floor length coat... he didn't know why the hell he'd bought it, no that wasn't true he knew why he'd bought it. He bought it because Ianto said he liked it, somehow though he couldn't bring himself to wear it.

Jack put everything away in the draws in his bedroom then sat down on the bed unsure of what to do next, he was scared to sleep. He knew that no dreams would come, they hadn't since he'd travelled through the void; only darkness reached him and now it seemed fitting. He could still feeling the creatures who lived in the nothing and the emptiness reaching for him, he could feel time stop and start rushing past him and it was enough to drive him mad.

With a jolt he jumped up and began to pace the light hardwood floor rubbing his hands, he needed to know if Ianto was here. If not then... then he would travel through the void into the next reality, he had a lot of time to kill and it wasn't like it would kill him. Maybe in that one Alice and Steven would be alive? He sighed and shook his head, he needed something to fill his time

“Walk, I could go for a walk” he mumbled to himself, he moved to the door then stopped and looked down at what he was wearing. He turned round and got changed before heading out into the living room.

Ben had left the credit card along with the number for it on the table with his contact card and as soon as he spotted it, he picked it up and shoved it in his pocket, grabbed the keys and left.

*

The area was nice, very green and leafy... the perfect little suburban community if you wanted to get married, have kids, raise a family... that sort of thing. There was a park across the road from his building but it was void of kids; he thought back to what Rose had told him. They'd given the 456 the children in this time line... this was a world of mourning and somehow it seemed fitting that he was in it.

Despite being suburban it was still London and still extremely busy, people were coming out of work and bars were opening. It seemed like a lot of people who came out of the offices automatically went straight to the bars in search of alcohol; he could understand it. They'd lost their children and they were still moving forward... the poor fools needed all the help they could get, even if it came from a bottle...

Jack would have probably joined the sorry masses if the bars served strong alien liquid, stuff that could knock you sideways with one shot but they didn't so he steered clear of them. He walked all the way back toward the Torchwood Tower at Canary Wharf, no matter where he was... which reality... Torchwood was still home to him. It was always be his home and he felt comfortable there more than any other place.

It was dark now and the street lights had come on illuminating his path toward the building, he went in and saw a well manned security station with several uniformed men armed with standard issue stun guns

“Evening, help you?” asked one guard, he had large hands and a bustling beard

“Yeah I'm here to see Ianto Jones. Would you be able to tell me which floor he's on?” he asked, it couldn't hurt to try, if Ianto was in this reality then he'd work here like he did in the other one. The guard typed something in

“Seventh floor, booth three” said the guard handing him a visitor's pass. Jack nodded his thanks then headed to the elevator; Ianto was here! He was alive! The doors pinged open on the seventh floor to an empty office suite, there were rows and rows of booths and it didn't take him long to find the seventh one. It was laid out all nice and tidy... very like Ianto, he thought to himself; there was a small filing cabinet and several photos of him and Lisa around the desk, there was a small soft cuddly toy sat next to the screen that surprised him.

Jack sat down in the computer chair and leaned back; he thought about what Rose had told him about not being able to find the welsh man... a simple search would have found him especially since he worked for Torchwood. Then why hadn't she told him? What reason did she have for lying to him? He leaned forward and made a note of the booth's telephone number then decided to go home, Ianto had gone home already and there was no point sticking around... he could always come back tomorrow.

He walked slowly as he went back to the lift and pressed the button, he'd have to get some money out and get a cab home... he didn't have a car. Jack shook his head at his menial thoughts, is this what life's going to be like from now on, he wondered. He needed a gun, needed a job, needed Torchwood. The elevator doors opened, he moved to step inside and stopped staring at the person standing opposite him waiting for him to move aside so he could get out.

Ianto had forgotten the little toy he'd got as a surprise so he'd come back to work to pick it up, he didn't think it would take long but Laurence the security guard had told him that he'd had a visitor. Presumably this man staring at him, almost crying, was his visitor... he'd never seen this man in front of him before in his life.

“Ianto...” the man whispered then stepped sharply forward invading his space, the elevator doors shut behind him and before he knew it the man was kissing him. Ianto was surprised at first, shocked that some strange man was kissing him and then he registered that smell that made him a little dizzy.

When he finally came to his senses he realised that he was kissing the man back, what the hell was he doing? He had no clue what was going on but it felt good, he tasted good and if felt right. He spun the man so his back was against the wall of the elevator and continued to make out with him

“Who the hell are you?” he demanded when he broke for air, he felt weak and aroused

“It's me. Jack...” Jack told him like that was meant to be significant. He didn't know anyone called Jack and he didn't know this man! “I can't believe I found you...”

“I have no clue who you are” he continued, coming to his senses again to move back against the opposite wall

“I can explain everything” explained Jack holding out his hand ready to invade Ianto's space again “I'm just glad I found you and we can be together now”

As soon as he finished speaking Ianto panicked pushing Jack's hand away with his left, he shook his head then pressed a button to open the door and darted out into the hall Jack hurried after him but the other man knew the layout better than he did and he ended up loosing him “Fuck” he mouthed then went down in the elevator.

*

Ianto opened the door then quickly shut it behind him and locked it like it would keep that man out and away from him; he was terrified of what had happened and worse, how he felt when it happened.

“Ianto?” came the soothing silky voice from the living room. Oh God, what have I done? He thought to himself then moved towards that voice

“I...” his voice broke and he shook his head as he stood in the doorway, leaning against the frame “It was a long day at work, I'm not feeling too good. I'm just going to bed... are you okay?”

“I'm fine, cariad... are you okay? You look a bit pale”

“Nothing some sleep will cure” he answered then leaned down kissing her cheek then headed upstairs.

He passed Taren's room on the way to his and guilt of the whole thing back at the Tower just made him feel even worse, he shook his head with a heavy-hearted sigh and went to bed.

TBC...

Title: The Fix
Author: BlaiddJD
Disclaimer: I own nothing, Torchwood belongs to the Beeb and RTD
Rating: PG-13 for swearings and naughties.
Summary: Jack tries to fix things. He tries everything to have what he had... he succeeds in finding Ianto again but what if the man you loved loved someone else?

Part Three 

Part Two

She shut her front door behind her and the first thought on her way to work was to get coffee, Ben was waiting with the car in front of the mansion

“Morning, Ben”

"Good morning Miss Rose” he greeted her as he opened the door for her, she got in and they were off to Gloria Jean's before heading to Torchwood Tower. Ever since she'd come back to this reality she'd gone back to her old routine of working for Torchwood, she was a valuable person in terms of knowledge and technology thanks to the Doctor and it didn't hurt that her dad was extremely rich and had a lot of government contracts “So when are we going on that date?”

“When John and your wife let us” she replied with a cheeky grin, she liked Old Ben joking with her when he drove her anywhere. She was still getting used to being spoilt like that but if her parents hadn't insisted on it then Torchwood have done

“How is John?”

“He's okay... he's still getting used to things around the mansion” she answered as he pulled up in the private parking space reserved for her.

“Well you give him my best” he said as she climbed out of the car holding her coffee in one hand and her briefcase in the other

“I will do, see you later, Ben”

The building was busy and full of activity as she walked through the lobby, as soon as she was past the guard's station her assistant popped out of nowhere and began walking next to her

“Good God! You scared me! How can you get around so quietly?” she asked the other girl who was heavily pregnant

“Practice, my boyfriend tends to get all fussy when I try do anything so I've started tiptoeing around our house. He hasn't figured it out yet, God help me when he does” she commented as the two girls moved to the elevator. Rose took out her key, inserted it into the slot and the elevator went up to the topmost floor

“You're due soon, are you sure you should be working?”

“Not you too!” she protested with a smile “In a few weeks, I can't wait to have another baby”

“How is Taren?” Rose inquired of her assistant's first son

“He's as bad as his dad, keeps asking when is the baby coming?” she rolled her eyes as the elevator reached the main floor where it was filled with office booths and a large main office that belonged to Rose Tyler.

“Morning, miss Tyler” several people greeted her as she made her way to her office. She smiled politely until she was behind her door and she could kick off her heels and sink into the smooth, comfy black leather chair and enjoy her coffee. She missed all the excitement and rush she had with the Doctor... yes she had John now but it wasn't the same... she missed running and seeing new things, she missed the excitement of new places. It was all paperwork and red tape now and she hated it!

“Maybe I should take a break” she suggested to herself then leaned back, as soon as she was reclining a loud alarm went off throughout the building. Rose leapt up out of her chair and into the main office to see several bolts of electricity coming from the far wall.

The force of the energy was knocking over the booths and sending papers flying, she reacted on instinct and set the fire alarm off

“Everyone out!” she yelled, she grabbed a young man in passing “Terry, I need you to do something very important”

“What?”

“Help my assistant down the stairs. She's pregnant and you are not to leave her under any circumstances”

“Yes, Miss Tyler” he moved to the desk outside her door and helped her assistant up and out of the room towards the stairs. Once every Torchwood agent was out she went back into her office and got her gun that was hanging up on the wall as a 'souvenir', no one knew that it was actually fully loaded.

There was more energy now and the wall was rippling, she took off her suit jacket and put the strap over her shoulder holding the gun with both hands and pumped the barrel; whatever was coming through she was ready for it. There was a bright blue flash of swirls and a man was superimposed on it before the blue light disappeared and he fell to the floor... she took a step towards him.

She was interrupted when several of the building's SWAT team came rushing in, taking position and aiming their guns at the new visitor

“Men, stand down” she said as she crouched down in front of the naked man who was struggling for breath on the floor, she helped him turn over then her eyes went wide “Someone get a medic!”

“Rose”

“Hang on, Jack, hang on!” she cried but his world faded into darkness and he lost consciousness.

*

He jerked awake with a loud yelp sucking the air in desperately like he couldn't breathe, he leaned forward meeting familiar arms

“Easy, easy there Jack” Rose told him as she helped him lay back down, he gripped her arm tightly holding her so she was close enough to hear him

“I made it” he whispered before he passed out again, the doors opened and John was standing there. Rose wasn't at all surprised to see her boyfriend in the room, in fact she was a little surprised that he wasn't here sooner

“He's really here” he scowled as he took a step forward towards the bed “I can't believe it! We should send him back through!”

“We can't” Rose explained “After he came through the wall sealed itself back up again. Wherever he came from the way back is closed”

“Yes, but he got through! So we should be able to send him back!” he protested but she shook her head

“No” she stated firmly “For now he's in no fit state to go back through the void. We don't know if that would make things worse”

John sighed before coming over to put his hand on her shoulder, she put her hand over his and smiled up at him thankful for the comfort

“Has he woken up at all?” he changed the subject slightly, neither of them could believe that Jack was here in this reality

“Once, he said he made it then went back to sleep” she told him, he just nodded

“I'll wait with you” said John finally as he pulled up a chair on the opposite of the bed and sat down in it, he resisted the urge to put his feet up on the bed.

It didn't take long for Jack to wake up again, he sat up looking round to find himself in hospital wearing a thin gown with Rose and the Doctor staring at him... no, not the Doctor... it was his hand clone.

“I made it! I made it!” he cried as tears filled his eyes, relieved and happy. The two of them watching couldn't help but smile at his joy

“Why are you here, Jack?” asked John leaning forward, eager to know the answer why Jack would travel through the void. His happy joyous expression vanished replaced with a sad, sombre scowl

“I did something” he confessed “Something came to Earth... it killed people and it was going to take 10% of the world's children. I had to stop it”

“Jack” Rose coaxed as she glanced at her boyfriend before looking back at their friend “What did you do?”

“I killed my grandson to stop it” he explained “I killed a child to stop the 456. I came here because there was a chance that they'd be alive here”

“The 456” gasped Rose, she looked at John who nodded seriously. The 456 had come several months ago and the government had given them that 10%, after the 456 had gone they blamed the alien saying that they took the children. There was still riots over that loss and a lot of government buildings had been destroyed by angry parents.

“You said 'they' who did you mean by that? Your grandson... who else?” asked Rose

“My boyfriend, Ianto Jones. He worked for Torchwood One in my reality before he came to work for me so I was hoping that maybe he was here too. I know he's not my Ianto but I... I miss him, he died and there was no reason behind it! Just that monster's sick amusement!” he shouted angrily letting his emotions come to the surface

“Oh Jack” John spoke softly, they both knew Ianto Jones and if Jack hoped for them to be together he was going to end up with a broken heart all over again

“What? What? You know him, don't you” he cried, he looked back and forth between them expecting them to tell him but Rose stood up

“You should get some sleep” she told him as John took her hand “Rest and we'll come see you tomorrow”

“No! I want to see Ianto! He's here isn't he! I want to see him!” he was tossing back the covers and trying to get out of bed. John moved forward to stop him, they wrestled while Rose called for the doctors and nurses. They managed to get Jack back on the bed and sedated him, he went limp while he was still struggling and they put him back into bed

“He might hurt himself” explained Rose to the doctor in charge of Jack “I think it's best he be restrained until further notice” then they left him alone.

TBC...

It had been a long couple of days and he still felt nauseous because of travelling through the void, he still couldn't believe he'd made it through to this universe. He'd tried everything in those six months after Steven and Ianto died to undo his mistakes, he'd searched for the Doctor but had failed to find the Time Lord. After six months of looking into every possible fix for his lover and grandson he'd failed.

So Jack did the one thing he knew how to do... he said goodbye to Gwen and Rhys and left Earth, if he couldn't find a fix on that planet then he would look out in Space...

Part One

The space station was a vibrant home of colour as millions of beings and creatures passed through it on a daily basis, despite it's literal colour it was a seedy hangout for the Universe's rejects. It was a place you came to either barter for something really valuable or to fade into the crowd because of past sins.

John sat at the bar on the limbus deck and downed another Verna, it had been his fourth one since he'd got here and it was now beginning to take effect sapping his vision into one big blur. He'd come here because he received a message from Jack in his wrist strap but when he turned up Jack was no where in sight... so he waited. Then started drinking.

Unaware to John Hart, Jack was sat across the room watching his former partner get drunker and drunker. He couldn't help but feel relieved because in his drunken state the other Time Agent would be easier to deal with.

“Fucking selfish bastard” John mumbled to himself as he slid off his chair annoyed that he'd been stood up and moved to leave. Jack scowled not happy that John wasn't more drunk but if he let him leave now then his plan would be ruined so he stepped out of the shadows in front of the inebriated man

“John” he greeted him, instantly John's bad mood improved

“Jack!” he couldn't help but grin “Didn't think you were coming”

“I'm here now, let's have a drink” he suggested stepping back towards the bar but John stopped him by putting his hand on his chest

“What about your little band? Where's Eye Candy?” he inquired

“They're dead” he whispered tightly “All of them except Gwen”

John could see how upset Jack was so he decided to tread lightly on the situation, he sighed then nodded back at the bar

“I'm sorry”

“Not as sorry as I am” Jack replied then shook his head “Drink”

“Two Vernas” John ordered holding up two fingers to the Luxon behind the counter, how a big warrior ended up working as a barman was beyond him. As soon as the glass was put in front of him Jack knocked it back

“Right now... I just want to forget that I was even on that planet” he lied and hoped it sounded convincing

“You never were a good liar, Jack, I know how much they meant to you. You wouldn't be here if they didn't matter, I'm not angry that you're here. I know why you're here” “You do?” he whispered afraid that his plan was doomed but John just nodded his head

“For the drink and the sex... anything to forget the pain of loosing the people you love” he stated, Jack sighed with relief and nodded

“Help me forget, John” he begged the other man, John pulled his friend into his arms and kissed him passionately. The smaller man was so lost in the kiss he didn't notice Jack taking off his wrist strap, once he had it he pushed John off him then wiping his mouth with the back of his sleeve

“Jack?” he questioned from the floor, he couldn't help but scowl when he noticed his strap was missing “What the hell are you doing?”

“I needed a working Vortex Manipulator” he answered honestly, then grinned “Remember the first lesson when we were in the Time Agency?”

“Uhh... don't... no... it was... never use the Vortex Manipulator in the Medusa Cascade... you're not going to do that are you? You'll be ripped to shreds!”

“I can't die... I'll be able to make it through the void” he told the man on the floor then pulled out his gun “And you're not going to stop me. Here, you can have my wrist strap... fair trade”

“Jack... you'll kill yourself!” protested John, the Luxon barman decided to step into the argument as soon as he noticed the gun

“No weapons!” he snarled angrily, Jack held it up in surrender then pocketed it

“He's breaking his rehab codes....” he told the alien as he pointed at John, the Luxon snarled at him... there were two rules in that bar; no weapons and no breaking rehab codes. Jack walked out leaving John at the mercy of the Luxon barmen and headed for his ship that was docked in the lower deck.

He put John's wrist strap on where his had been and checked it was working, for six months he'd tried to find anyone who could fix it... if it was fixed then he could get a ship and go to the Medusa Cascade. When he had been unable to find anyone who could repair it he started looking for other time agents, since the agency was shut down it was a hard thing to do so in the end he looked for his former partner. John Hart was easy to find because of the destruction he'd left in his wake.

“Onwards” he said to himself softly and he programmed the course for the Medusa Cascade; yes it was true that it had been sealed years ago but with all that energy of the planets being moved and with his vortex manipulator he was sure he could wedge it open enough to slip through. Well he was only a little bit sure... maybe it would work.

He shook his head ignoring his doubts and fears about going through the void, if anyone could make it then it was him. He had nothing to loose, he'd lost everything... if he failed and he did die then... well no one would miss him.

*

It was quiet flying as he piloted his ship towards the colourful patch of space; he noted the irony of something so beautiful being a doorway to something so cold and dark.

“I'm almost there” he whispered as tears came to his eyes, he didn't know what was going to happen... he didn't even know if he would make it or what that other alternate universe would be like. All he knew was that if he made it then he'd have to find Rose, she'd be able to help him get on his feet and maybe, just maybe, Ianto in that universe would still be at Torchwood.

An urgent beeping filled his small ship and he scowled when he realised that another ship had followed him and was close behind, almost in teleport range. He flicked a switch opening the comm frequency between their ships

“Jack, I can't let you do this” it was John Hart; persistent bastard thought Jack as he flicked the comm switch

“You're not going to stop me. I need to do this”

“It's suicide!” he protested. John was sat in his own ship, much larger ship, and trying to override the locked teleport controls Jack had set up on his ship. As soon as he got an open wave he teleported onto Jack's ship

“Get out of here, John” he ordered without looking up from the steering and controls

“Not without you... they aren't worth this” he yelled waving his arm at the screen showing the Cascade. Jack shot up out of his chair, invading his friend's face

“Don't you dare tell me that they aren't worth it!” he roared loudly poking him hard in the chest “If you knew them then you'd know that this wouldn't be enough!”

“And what? You're going to kill yourself for them?”

“I can't die, I just want to see my friends and family again...” his voice went quiet but John knew that was when he was the most serious. The control panel beeped again two times signalling that the ship was at it's destination; the two men shared a look and Captain John Hart pulled out his gun

“I can't let you do this Jack” he said, Jack pulled out his gun and aimed it at the other man

“So shoot me... or I'll shoot you. Either way I'm still going” he pointed out, John scowled scrunching his mouth up and sticking his jaw out before dropping the gun

“You better come back” he demanded finally