Archive of Our Own

Lois Habiba pulled her dark coat tighter around her body and shivered in the early morning air.  The city felt cold to her, much colder than London, even though she knew it couldn’t be that different really.  Maybe it was the feeling of the breeze coming in off the bay and whipping her hair around that made it feel colder.  Or perhaps the weak early morning light as the sun began to rise that seemed to send a chill through her bones.

Or maybe it was the knowledge of what had happened where she was standing.

Looking at the scaffolding surrounding the two strange lumps rising out of the roughly resurfaced Roald Dahl Plass, Lois caught sight of a small sign explaining what they were.  She was still early, too early for her appointment, so she wandered closer and looked at the artist’s sketches and description.  Two silver structure were drawn rising out of the ground, sparkling in the sunlight of the drawing, just like the original single tower had been.

“They’re not going to be twins, if that’s what you were thinking.”  

Lois jumped and spun round, a shaky but relieved laugh escaping her as she took in the dark suited figure of Ianto Jones striding across the Plass towards her. His long black coat was billowing in the breeze and his hands were tucked behind his back as he drew level with her.

“You made me jump, Sir.”  Lois said with a blush.  “I thought we were meeting at 8?”  

Nodding, Ianto reached out a hand to brush over the display panel, his fingers tracing the outline of the Water Towers; one identical to the original, and the new one being erected opposite it.  The design showed the newer one to be about half the size of its partner.

“We were.  I saw you coming and thought you might like to get out of the cold a bit earlier.”  Smiling politely at her, Ianto pointed to the sculptures.  “And the habit of playing tour guide is a hard one to kick.  Even when there’s nothing to actually see yet.”  

Lois moved closer and looked at the metal frames hidden beneath the scaffolding.  “So they’re building two towers this time?  Why is one smaller?”  Folding her arms across her chest she resisted the urge to blow on her cold fingers, instead contenting herself to tuck them under her arms.  The cold didn’t seem to be affecting her new boss but his face was pale in the early light, the small scar on his cheek standing out and almost shimmering against the rest of his face.

“To represent the children.  To remind us what we almost lost.”  He smiled sadly and looked at the picture, his imagination and the memory of the original tower letting him picture the two new towers standing face to face, the corridor between them providing an endless reflection.  “They’re not even built yet and people are already nicknaming them.”

“Like Big Ben?  Or the erotic gherkin?”  Lois regretted making the joke almost as soon as she said it and closed her eyes in a grimace.  She must be more nervous than she thought.  She knew better than to joke before she got the feel of a workplace.  Some people didn’t like it, especially from the temp... 

Ianto laughed softly, the sound seeming to coincide with a flare of sunlight as it began to creep over the top of the bridge across the Plass.  Smiling just a little, Lois opened her eyes and looked at him carefully, hoping he wasn’t offended.

“Not quite like that, no.”  Ianto said with a quick grin at her and pointed at the smaller of the two towers in the picture.  “They’re calling that one Steven.”

“Oh.”  Lois shivered in spite of herself and Ianto looked at her closely, taking in the way she was standing.

“Come on, let’s go get something to warm you up.  We’ve got a busy day ahead of us.”  Gesturing ahead of him, Ianto began to walk across the Plass and Lois hurried after him, matching his speed after a moment.

“I hope this doesn’t sound daft, I mean I already agreed to the job – it beats jail for sure and it’s not that I’m not grateful - but usually before I take a new position I get a job description, or a brief from my agency or...  Well, I was just wondering...”

Ianto glanced at her sideways and smiled to himself.  She reminded him so much of himself when he had first joined Torchwood, except that she already knew many of the things he had been taught there.  Yvonne’s training programme had been ruthless in assessing people’s strengths and streaming them into the correct career track. 

Administration had been his.  It was perhaps not the most glamorous course and one where he had found himself outnumbered by female colleagues – which even he would admit had not always been a bad thing.  It was where he had learned that a smart suit and a shy smile could bring many more opportunities than a big gun and attitude.  It was also where he had learned one simple truth that had served him well in all this time.  No matter how top secret the missions, no matter who did the fighting or who worked on the machines there was one simple truth in any organisation as to where the real power lies.

Because the administrators know everything.  

After the mess they had been left in here he needed someone with those skills to help him out.  There was just too much to do on his own any more – especially with the team he was trying to control.  

Ianto had never intended to be the boss, and knew Yvonne’s recruitment specialists would have baulked at the prospect of him being in charge of anything, but the position had become his and he had to handle it.  A part of his mind couldn’t help thinking that it was just temporary though, that he wouldn’t have to do it for long.

He was just keeping the desk warm for Jack.

“You want to know what on Earth a formerly Top Secret and now semi secret – and incidentally now with its own fan club - organisation could possibly need from a temp with a criminal record?”  Ianto guessed, catching the look of embarrassment on Lois’ face at the reminder of her sins.

“Well, yes.  I mean, I know nothing about aliens really, other than...”  She trailed off and Ianto stopped at the corner of the Plass, nearby the shops, and turned to her.

“The 456,” he said softly.  “I can’t imagine you ever wanted to see another alien as long as you lived after that.”  Lois nodded and Ianto gazed out over the bay, staring out over the water but lost in his own memory.  “It was Cybermen for me.  I had nightmares about them for years.  Still do occasionally.”  

Turning to her again he half grinned.  “Best way to stop the nightmares?  Work.”  Holding out his arm to her he tilted his head towards the small wooden door tucked away on the waters edge.  “Come on.  Let’s go meet the team.”

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

Lois watched as Ianto pushed through the stiff new door into the small room beyond.  The smell of damp and musty smoke still filled the small space and she couldn’t help wincing.  Catching the look on her face. Ianto smiled and shook his head sadly.  “The smell will fade eventually.  But don’t worry too much, you will be spending most of your time at our new site whilst we rebuild.  This old place is going to need a bit of work before we can move back in properly.  But it’s important you see what we are working towards.  And where we began.”

Pushing past the charred remains of a small desk, Ianto leaned against a fake wall.  As Lois watched, it slid open under his touch, the locking mechanism deactivated or destroyed in the blast like so much had been.  Beckoning her to follow, he slipped through and into the stone corridor beyond.

“When they built this place,” he continued as he walked ahead of her, “they’d only just started discovering aliens were real.  They had no real idea about biological weapons or space ships.  They didn’t know what to expect, so they went old school and decided to go for the classic fortified structure.  They could never have imagined something quite like this happening, but they managed to plan for it all the same.  Quite brilliant really.”  

Brushing his fingertips over the scorched stone surface as they walked, Ianto glanced at Lois, taking in her apprehensive stare at the fire damaged tunnel.  The explosion had sent a wall of flame channelling through this tunnel, burning or singeing everything in its path before emerging out onto the wooden walkway by the bay. 

Which was precisely what it had been designed to do.

Ianto knew the depths of the base and the lengths to which the designers had gone to protect their secrets.  The main chamber of the hub always appeared to be a vast expanse of dead space but had in fact been effectively a chimney, its purpose to direct any blast up to the weakest point, the roof.  He hadn’t realised until they had begun digging quite how uniquely designed their old home had been - or quite how many safety features the designers had put in place to deliberately collapse the roof in the event of a catastrophic attack. 

Annoying as it was, it was a line from a movie that stuck in his head when he tried to think about how the Hub had been designed.  It was an something about holding a small firework.  Hold it with your palm open, and the explosion will burn your fingers.  Close your hand around the firework and it will blow your hand off.  The Hub had been designed to collapse, allowing any explosion to be directed up into the sky, collapsing the roof and burying the base...

...whilst keeping the true heart of it safely concealed underground, hidden under the rubble until Torchwood could return to retrieve it.  Now that the roof was back on and the Plass complete they could work in secret again, safely concealed under the ground, and get on with digging out the rest of the complex again.  

Working with UNIT, and a small army of assorted security cleared workmen, they had already managed to clear a working space in the central chamber and were starting to make slow progress down to the lower tunnels; many of them had collapsed at specific, pre-weakened points to slow down any potential invaders but structurally they were mostly intact.  They were going to get the place up and running again.

Of course, right now, it was literally a building site.  Reaching the lift shaft Ianto lifted up the safety door on the rickety lift, watching as the simple mesh panel slid up above his head.  Using this lift always made him think of old black and white photos of miners, the way they would all be huddled in the dark on rough wooden platforms.  They had not been able to restore enough power or even safety to put the proper lifts back in but the rickety cage did its duty for now.  Even if it did make them all feel a little queasy.  

Lois slid into the lift beside him and he could see her apprehensive gaze taking in the lift.  It hardly screamed top secret, futuristic technology and Ianto took a perverse pleasure in having something so low tech involved in the base, even for a short time.  They had gotten too used to gadgets.  It would do them all good to go back to basics for a bit.

Fumbling with the bulky controls, Ianto closed the door and started their descent, the lift plunging them into lightless black as it slid lower.  He could hear Lois’ breath quicken in the darkness and resisted the urge to reach out and reassure her.  Chances were he would only make her jump even more.

The light slowly began to increase as they descended, sneaking around the edges of the bottom of the lift and showing the rush of the walls going past them, the dim glow making it appear that they were plummeting faster than they really were.  As they began to slow, Ianto discreetly held onto the rail and held out a hand in front of Lois, the bump as they stopped making her stagger a bit before his hand closed around her shoulder.  

“Thanks,” she breathed quietly, shivering slightly.  If anything it was colder down here than out by the bay and Ianto watched as she hunched down further into her thick coat.  Safely stopped, he lifted up the door again.  Holding it up as she stepped out, he waited until she was clear before he let it slide down again behind them then motioned her forwards.  The steps heading down were mostly intact, if a little chipped in places, and a rough circular hole in the wall loomed ahead of Lois as she cautiously made her was down the steps, the corridor opening out into...

Lois Habiba gasped as she stepped into the main chamber of what had once been the Hub.  The room resembled a giant shaft, the brick walls around the edge chipped and collapsed in places, a mess of red brick.  Although it may have been a trick of the light she was sure she could see a dragon’s head peering down at her for a moment.  Rubble was piled in front of every inch of wall and a flat island of wooden boarding made up the centre of the room, the gaps in the wood giving her glimpses of more debris buried underneath.

She could hear the hum of a generator somewhere, one that had to be powering the large halogen lights set up around the space.  It must also have been the power source for the computer that was set up in the corner, a flat scanner of some sort attached to it along with a camera on a tripod.  Packing cases, half cut pieces of plastozote foam and archive ribbon surrounded the desk, along with labels she didn’t quite understand and a wall chart that seemed to be listing various hazardous materials that she had never heard of before.  One thing she did recognise, that seemed oddly out of place, was a couple of flimsy blue dividers, the sort that were usually used in open plan offices, sectioning off one corner.

Turning slowly she could see various gaping holes in the walls of the chamber, leading all the way up to the sky, as well as a tumbling and tangled mass of green vegetation cascading down from the wall to her right.  There were also rough markings on the piles of rubble or the nearby walls in spray paint, labelling them things like “way to the cells was here” and “autopsy bay”.  The one that caught her eye was the one saying “Jack’s office” with a small star next to it.  It wasn’t the writing that attracted her attention though.  Someone had tied a small piece of yellow ribbon around a length of pipe protruding from the rubble, the purity of the colour somehow starkly bright against the muted and smoke stained room.  

Doing a complete circle Lois’ eyes finally found the hole she had come through and the giant metal disk propped up next to it.  Sharp gouges, probably of where cogs or some sort of fixings all around its rim had been, showed the signs of them having been sheared off in the blast.  However the bulk of it was intact, if almost completely blackened.  All except for one small patch which someone had taken the time to clean, a small disc that showed three words.

Made in Wales.

“You know, when you said you were bringing in an office girl I pictured stiletto heels, pencil skirt, tight little blouse, maybe even some of those glasses things you use in this century.  Oh and a notepad, I’ve always wanted to give someone some dictation.  There’s just something about the word.  Dictation.  Got a nice ring to it.”

Jumping again, Lois turned round and finally spotted the other two people in the room, emerging from behind the dividers.  A  man in a bizarre red jacket - and clothes that to Lois’ mind would not have seemed out of place in a Star Wars movie - was sauntering across the space.  As he swaggered towards her he was looking her up and down in a way that, had she been on an agency contract, would have had her ringing her agent within seconds.  Maybe faster if she had it on speed dial.

“I didn’t realise,” he continued lazily as he smirked at her warm clothes, “you were bringing an Eskimo instead.” 

“John, play nice.”  Ianto pointed a finger at the other man warningly and resisted the urge to grin at the challenging look he got back.  Closing his eyes for a moment Ianto took a deep breath, his polite smile sliding into place in an instant.  “Lois Habiba, may I introduce Captain John Hart.  He’s a...  freelancer.”

“Freelancer, honestly is that the best you can do?” John said, stepping closer and taking her hand in his before bringing it up to his lips.  “I prefer to think of myself as a specialist, an expert in my field.”  Kissing her hand lightly, he grinned along her fingers at her and raised his eyebrows suggestively.  “And all round service provider...”

“Except you go out of your way to not actually do anything at all useful whilst you’re here so I’m not sure exactly what service you had in mind, John.”  Raising an eyebrow challengingly, Ianto felt a rush of approval towards the new girl as she gave a polite smile before hastily pulling her hand back.

“Nice to meet you, Captain Hart.”  Lois looked past him to the woman who was waiting patiently behind John, watching with open amusement as he flirted.  “Ms Johnson.”  

Agent Johnson stepped forwards and nodded briefly to the younger woman and Lois couldn’t help feeling as though she being assessed by them all.  She was used to that, temping didn’t exactly give you a warm fuzzy make yourself at home feeling with most assignments, but this was somehow different.  She didn’t usually feel as though her new bosses would shoot her if she wasn’t up to scratch rather than simply getting another temp in...

“Ms Habiba.  I trust you had no problems with the debriefing?”  

Lois resisted the urge to shudder at the memory of the intensive questioning she had received once her original interrogators realised they only had twenty four hours left to get what they could out of her.  The knowledge that she was getting out had kept her strong though and, summoning up that courage one more time, Lois gave a broad smile and nodded happily.

“Piece of cake.”  A flash of a grin quirked across Johnson’s face and she nodded, dismissing Lois before she turned away and headed back behind the dividers.  It was only as she walked away that Lois spotted the latex gloves she had been wearing.

“Right, well that’s the introductions over with.”  Ianto said quickly before turning back to Lois.  “Why don’t I turn up the heaters so you can take that coat off and we’ll get started?”

“Oh Eye Candy, I thought you’d never ask.”  Shrugging off his jacket, Captain John Hart held his hands out and waggled his fingers, inviting them both to come closer.  “You know, I’ve always found that nothing says welcome to the team like a nice orgy...”

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

Lois took a deep breath as she shivered slightly in the cold air of the Hub, hurriedly trailing after Ianto as he began to show her around.

“Up here we have the cataloguing desk,” Ianto said, as he pointed over to the computer set up in the corner, “where we record any alien technology, or fragments of it anyway, that we find in the rubble of this chamber.  Sadly there was quite a lot in here when it exploded, but we’re salvaging what we can, tagging and packing it and transporting it to the new facility.”  

“Over there,” Ianto pointed to the blue screens, “we are searching through any biological material that we find.  We’re hoping none of the alien material will be hazardous, but there is a risk with the Pterodactyl nest having been incinerated that her waste will have been spread over the chamber-“

“Pterodactyl?”  Lois asked in astonishment.

“Myfanwy,” Ianto said matter of factly.  “She’s moved up to Snowdonia now, couldn’t really expect her to stay in the city any longer.  Which reminds me, one of your duties will be to coordinate deliveries of raw meat for her; we have contacts with the park authority who look after her for us but they can’t afford the food bills.”  Ianto paused for a moment and looked around the space thoughtfully.  “I’m not sure we can either to be honest, but she’s our responsibility.”

“A dinosaur?”  Lois hastily darted back over to her things and dug in the deep pockets of her coat, her battered reporters notebook emerging along with a chewed pencil.  Flicking to a blank page, she quickly began making notes, the strange hieroglyphics of her shorthand darting across the paper.  “Any special dietary requirements for that meat?”

“Preferably organic, I don’t want her ingesting any growth hormones; she’s enough of a handful as it is.  Oh and once a month she will need a delivery of dark chocolate, we have a deal with a local distributor.  I’ll give you the full details later.” 

Shaking her head slightly in disbelief, Lois looked at her page and grinned.  She wasn’t even sure how to spell, let alone translate, the word Pterodactyl into shorthand and had resorted to writing ‘dinosaur’ on the paper.  Ianto began to stride across the platform and she found herself hurrying to follow him, pen and paper at the ready and John watching with an amused smirk.

“With regards to the classification and storage, we are running low on supplies.  We will need more archival ribbon, acid free paper, boxes, plastozote, oh and scalpel blades for cutting the foam, for some reason...”  Ianto turned and shot John an amused glare.  “They keep vanishing.”

“Don’t look at me, I’m a two weapon man and you know it.  And I know for a fact she,” John glanced back at Johnson with a smirk, “has much better knives than that flimsy rubbish.”

“Oh and make sure you include labels,” Ianto carried on, ignoring John completely as Lois scribbled away.  “Someone resorted to just writing on the boxes last week and it’s not exactly a good way to start.”

“Standard archival quality supplies, no problem.”

Ianto grinned to himself as he watched her slip into her new role quickly, her confidence starting to show through as she returned to her comfort zone.  Yes, she was going to be just what he needed.  “We will also need to plan for future use of this space once it’s cleared, priority being power connections, internet-“  

Ianto paused as his phone rang and nodded his apologies to Lois before answering it.  “Yes?  Am I now, that’s rich coming from the one who’s supposed to be on maternity leave.”  Chuckling slightly, but without the smile reaching his eyes, he nodded and Lois missed the next part as he slipped into what she presumed to be Welsh, his eyes slipping onto Captain John as he spoke.  Judging by the grin on his face at the reply on the other end of the line, she doubted it was anything flattering that was being said.  “Really?  No problem, I’ll get someone on it.  And you go get your feet up!  You’re supposed to be blooming, or nesting, or something babyish by now.  Enjoy it.”

Lois couldn’t help wandering away as he carried on speaking, her curiosity leading her over towards the blue dividers, before John slipped in front of her, blocking her path.  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you, little miss PA.”  Lowering his voice to a hissed whisper, Captain John leaned close and grinned as he spoke.  “Don’t want you getting all upset now.  Stick to the archives, it’s safer.”

“I...  It can’t be worse than the 456.”  She tried to keep her voice strong as she spoke, but couldn’t help the slight tremble in it.

“You really think so?”  The Captain stepped aside and invited her to go ahead with a sweep of his arm.  “Then by all means, sweet cheeks, take a peek.”

Lois stepped forwards, approaching the edge of the divider.  There were two set up parallel to each other to form a blocked corridor, hiding what was within from view whilst also allowing access.  She took a deep breath, preparing to step around them and see what was beyond-

“Lois?” Ianto called out suddenly.  “Change of plan.  How’d you like to join a weevil hunt?” 

Lois spun round slightly guiltily and tucked her braids behind her ear with a nervous flick of her hand.  “Sure, why not.”  She paused.  “Um, what’s a weevil?”

“Alien.”  Lois jumped and spun round yet again, feeling like a bit of an idiot for being so easily startled but the whole place was giving her the creeps.  Johnson’s voice came from behind the screen, before the older woman stepped out, snapping the gloves off her fingers and tossing them out of sight behind her.  “Brutal.  Vicious.  Carnivorous sewer dweller that comes through the rift every now and then.  A natural killer and damned hard to kill.”

“And yet your boys still manage it.”  Ianto half snapped at Johnson.

“You wanted it contained, we contained it!”

“Contained it?” he replied sarcastically.  “You didn’t contain it, you killed it!  It was deceased, dead, it was an ex weevil!”  Ianto shook his head in despair and pointed at Johnson.  “Your boys are tracking another one over in Splott.  Tell you what,” a slight grin ghosted over his face as he calmed down.  “Why don’t you take Lois out and show her what is involved?  I’ll finish up a few things here, drop her off at the office when you’re done and I’ll meet you there.”  

“You want me to take a...”  Johnson glanced at Lois, eyeing her up and down with something faintly like distaste.  “A civilian on a hunt?  Are you serious?” 

“She can stay in the car,” Ianto said with a gentle push to Lois’ back, making her step forwards to meet Johnson.  “And we were all civilians once.  She has to start somewhere and as we don’t have any captive weevils so far thanks to someone’s gung ho attitude this is it!”  Stepping forward himself, his stern glare softened slightly as he looked at Johnson.  “Besides, I trust you to keep her safe.”

With a begrudging nod, Johnson strode off towards the door.  Lois looked confusedly around her for a moment before, with a nod from Ianto, she hastily gathered up her things and followed the other woman out.

The two men watched them go before with a smirk Captain John turned to face Ianto.  “Alone at last.  If I didn’t know better I’d say you were trying to get me all to yourself...”

“Thankfully you do know better.”  Ianto glanced past the Captain to the blue dividers, his gaze slightly fearful as he took them in, as though afraid of what lay within.  “How is...  it going?”  

Captain John glanced at the dividers and his gaze grew thoughtful.  “Nothing bigger than a digit so far.  But we’re transferring the nights finds to join the rest.”  Looking at Ianto carefully, John shook his head slightly.  “I’m gonna say it again, I don’t know what you hope to achieve here eye candy.  There’s no sign of any...  I mean not that I wouldn’t object to a his and his matching pair but I don’t think there’s any hope of the same thing happening to this-“

“I don’t want another Jack.”  Ianto spoke softly but clearly, his voice stern but slightly haunted as he kept his gaze fixed on the innocuous blue panels, knowing all too well what went on behind them.  “I’m not doing this to bring him back.  I just...”  His gaze finally left the screens and drifted over the rubble surrounding them.  “His... remains deserve to be treated with some respect.”

“Your call boss.”  John shrugged and fiddled with his wrist strap, checking the time.  “Workmen will be here soon.  Time for the day team to start.”  

Ianto nodded distractedly and found his gaze drifting towards where Jack’s office had been.  “Fine.”

Captain John Hart followed his gaze and shook his head slightly, not for the first time wondering whether he had saved one man by condemning another.  Sniffing in the cold air, he hooked his thumbs over his holster and strode back towards the entrance, pausing for a moment in the doorway.  “Same time tonight?”

Ianto turned and looked over his shoulder at the Captain and nodded once.  “Same time tonight.  Goodnight John.” 

Chuckling slightly to himself, Captain John Hart tossed off a lazy salute before leaving the younger man behind.  “Good morning, sir.”

Ianto tried not to react to the Sir but it felt so strange to be directed at him.  He felt like such a fraud trying to lead this lot.  Most of them were older than him.  Most were more experienced.  He felt like any moment now someone was going to see through him and take it all away, send him back to make them all coffee instead.

Coffee.  They had managed to find the crumpled remains of his coffee machine the other week.  It was weird how much it had upset him to find a shard of Tosh’s favourite mug among the rubble.  It was such a stupid thing but he had had to leave the Hub and walk along the bay to regain his composure, suddenly struck by the knowledge that it was really gone. Not just Tosh, or Owen or even Jack but the home they had shared in that dank dark hole was gone.  No amount of digging would bring it back.

Walking over to where Jack’s office had been, Ianto reached out and carefully untied the simple yellow ribbon from the pipe.  Wrapping it carefully into a loop he tucked it into his suit jacket, the same as he did every morning.  Nodding at the rubble, he stepped back and looked around the mess that was once home to him and his friends.

He couldn’t bring it back.

He had never thought he could think of anywhere as home again after the loss of Torchwood One but he had finally fit in here.  He still didn’t know how he would cope being back in this space without Jack.  But maybe it was better that it had been so wrecked.  There were fewer memories waiting in the stones to trip him up or surprise him, catching him unawares when he least expected it.  That home was gone.

But he was Ianto Jones.  He had started from scratch so many times before, he was practically an expert.  He would simply do so again.

After all, what were second chances for?

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

Captain John Hart took a moment in the shelter of the wall by the door to light a cigarette, wondering how it had become such a habit with him in such a short time.  Still, it did have a mildly soothing effect on him and as Ianto had assigned his main stress toy to babysitting duty it would have to do for now.  Grinning to himself he shrugged deeper into his jacket and strode off along the wooden walkway, enjoying the thud of his boots on the surface.  Of course that did mean he had a few hours to get ready for their next meeting.  And weevil hunts always made Johnson kindof feisty...

He was so lost in his fantasy he didn’t even notice the soft beam of blue light playing over his back or the shadowy figure hiding under the stairs who shone it at him.  With a small beep, the light shut off and the figure returned to the shadows.

Wrong target.  

But the figure was patient.  The right one would come soon.  And then it would be time for it to act....

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

Ianto Jones walked out of the old Tourist Information office into the morning sun and started to head towards the stairs before he spotted a small group of people lining the walkway.  The man who ran the boat tours was chatting to them, drawing their attention, and he spoke more loudly as he noticed Ianto emerge.  Catching the mans eye, Ianto nodded once in thanks before hastily turning round and heading up the ramp instead, jogging to get clear of the door before he was spotted.

Torchwood fan club.  That was the only down side of Martha’s broadcast, those who wanted to see Torchwood or join them – or even just follow the path of groupies since time began and be able to say they slept with one of them.  Whilst John was usually too happy to oblige Ianto was grateful for the other side effect of their new found fame.

The people of Cardiff had long known about Torchwood, and had even longer turned a blind eye to the rift and the strange events surrounding their city.  But when they went public, people had begun to talk to each other and share stories.  Nearly everyone in the city had either been affected by the events that happened there or knew someone who had.  

Everyone had been personally touched by Torchwood.

It was mostly unspoken but ever since going public, Ianto and his team had been helped and hidden by Cardiff.  From a free muffin at the local coffee shop to messages of support on internet message boards or the pages of the local papers the people of Cardiff had taken Torchwood to their hearts.  They would help them and protect them, just as they had always been protected.

Including keeping the groupies off their back – and away from their main entrance.  Glancing back over his shoulder, Ianto made sure he was clear of the fans before he slowed, blending into the early morning bustle of people moving around the bay.  Getting more entrances and exits to the Hub was definitely a high priority.

And maybe some bouncers wouldn’t go amiss either....,

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

The figure shifted in the shadows, watching as the potential target turned and went the other way, slipping out of its reach.  A human would have cursed at that point, thwarted whilst so close to completing the mission.

But the figure wasn’t human.

Folding its arms across its chest the figure stepped back into the shadows and appeared to melt into them.  By the time the morning sun reached that spot and chased the darkness away there was no sign of it left.

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

Lois Habiba glanced to the enormous man to her right, then to the one to her left, and felt like she was five years old again, on her way to some family reunion and jammed in the back seat between relatives.  The Land Rover was huge and the seats were comfortable enough but she still felt like a sardine between the two men.

And their guns.  That was unnerving her more than she cared to admit.

“So....”  Braving a smile she turned to the man on her right and nodded slightly.  “I’m Lois.  What’s you’re name?”

Turning to look at her, the soldier looked her up and down once before staring straight ahead.  “Bill.”

Nodding, she turned to her other side and smiled politely as the other soldier grinned at her.  “Ben,” he offered, a touch of sarcasm in his voice.  Pointing to their silent driver he chuckled slightly.  “And that’s Andy Pandy.”

“Nice.”  Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, Lois slipped her notebook out of her pocket and read back through her notes, a slight moment of smugness creeping onto her face as she caught ‘Bill’ squinting at the squiggles in confusion.  “So how did you all end up working for Torchwood?  Were you recruited too?”

The men laughed and Johnson twisted to look round from the passenger seat, the driver staring steadfastly ahead still.  “We volunteered.  Mostly.”

“Really?”  Lois nodded in surprise.  “I would have thought that the government would have tried to have you killed rather than risk losing you, I thought that was the sort of thing they did to your sor...  To um, operatives.”

“Who says they didn’t try to kill us?”  Johnson grinned wickedly, a flash of something new hidden in that grin, a pleasure at the prospect of the chase.  “That’s the thing about being black ops, we know where the skeletons are hidden.”  Twisting back to face the front, her next words were almost lost to Lois but she just about caught them.  “Quite literally as it happens.”

“But how can you afford all this?” Lois asked in confusion.  “Torchwood I mean.  I mean, I can’t see Whitehall being very pleased with you – us – after that press stunt.  We have nothing to blackmail them with so how come we still have money?”  

“That’s the thing your Mr Frobisher never explained to us in the first place when he engaged our services – or we would never have taken the job.  Torchwood was never funded by the government.”  Johnson looked back over her shoulder again, her face deadly serious now.  

“They were funded by royal charter,” Johnson continued, “and the Queen...  she was, if you will pardon the expression, royally pissed when she found out what your old boss had done.  Actually I’d always thought a Royal Pardon was just an expression but turns out it really does work, they can’t touch us now.  Well, unless we mess up.”  

Shrugging, Johnson placed one hand on the dashboard as the vehicle braked suddenly, skidding to a stop.  “Plus the young Mr Jones had some links with a few new sponsors who have offered to help us out.”

Lois glanced round as the doors began to open, the vehicle stationery at last, and could feel her mouth falling open in shock as the soldiers hastily jumped out.  “Oh!  We’re here?”  Looking around, Lois hunched a little lower in the seat to see out the windows.  “It’s an industrial estate...”

“No kidding.”  Johnson cocked her weapon and dug into her pocket, pulling out a slim tube and tossing it towards Lois.  The younger woman fumbled it, the cylinder dropping into her lap, before she hastily grabbed it.  

“What’s this?”

“Last defence.  Stay in the car.”  Johnson kicked open the door and turned back again, her face serious as Lois heard the shouts of the team of soldiers spreading out.  “If you get attacked, spray that at the Weevil.  It should keep it from tearing your throat out.”

“But...”  Lois looked up as Johnson slammed the door.  Hastily sliding across the seat she wound the window down to shout after her.  “How will I know if it’s a weevil?”

Laughing, Johnson turned back, her face slightly flushed with the thrill of the chase as her men ran off.  “Believe me, you’ll know.  Now shut that damn window and lock the door!  If you see it, beep the horn.”

Lois watched as the agent ran off and sat frozen in place for a good thirty seconds before her words sank in.  Rapidly winding up the window, she slid back into the centre, her arm reaching around the drivers seat to hover over the horn as she stared hard out the windows into the apparently deserted complex.  It looked empty but she knew for a fact there were four highly trained soldiers and one weevil out there somewhere.

She just wondered which she would spot first...

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

Dr Martha Jones sighed heavily as she walked up behind the woman sitting at the desk and placed her hands on the back rest.  “Great, now I’m going to have to examine myself for traces of hallucinogens.  Because I could have sworn there was this big party Friday night.  There were non alcoholic cocktails and sandwiches and sausage rolls, and lots of pink and blue balloons and presents, really little ones.”

Tapping on the back rest, Martha caught a slight grin reflected in the monitor in front of them both.  “But I must have been mistaken, because I thought that it was a leaving party, which would mean that someone left.”  Turning away slightly, she grinned at the few technicians dotted around the room and raised her voice.  “Anyone who can see someone sitting in this chair needs to report to my office for examination, we must all be hallucinating.”

“Oh give it a rest Martha.”  Looking up from her seat, Gwen Cooper patted her huge belly and shrugged lightly.  “I just wanted to see how Lois did on her first day, that’s all.”

“Which is a noble aim, I admit.”  Martha rested one hand on Gwen’s shoulder and smiled softly, her Doctor’s concern shining through.  “But there will always be something to come back for, some crisis or first day.  You are due in days, not weeks, now.”

“Well you would know, your lot have prodded and scanned me enough times to make Rhys jealous.”

“So we know best!”  Martha scolded cheerfully.  “It’s time you started thinking about your health and your baby.  We will be fine without you.”  Martha caught the slight wince on Gwen’s face and squeezed her shoulder lightly.  “You know you have to do this.”  

Sighing again, Martha glanced at her watch.  “Tell you what, why don’t we grab a cup of tea, do the morning calls and then when Lois arrives you can head home.  Johnson will be going off shift then anyway, she can drop you off on the way.”  As Gwen began to protest, Martha grew stern and shook her head.  “Doctor’s orders.”

“Fine!”  Folding her arms somewhat sulkily, Gwen stared forward again.  “I’ll stay until Lois gets here.  Ianto should be bringing her here soon.”

“Oh Johnson called me, slight change of plan.”  Martha grinned wickedly, her eyes wide almost challengingly.  “Ianto has them taking the new girl on her first Weevil hunt instead.”

Gwen nodded absentmindedly, before the words sunk in and she turned, open mouthed to gaze up at Martha.

“He WHAT?”

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

Lois slumped in the back seat of the Land Rover and watched, bored, as the soldiers continued to search the area.  She had been attentive at first but after an hour of watching them run around and sneak around corners she was going a little crazy.  Watching through the windscreen she saw one of the soldiers move out from one of the buildings, pulling the door closed behind him.

As he turned, she recognised him as ‘Ben’ and watched as he spoke into his headset, presumably reporting the building as clear.  Sweeping his gaze across the open area she was parked in he caught her looking and grinned, blowing her a kiss.

Lois replied with a less friendly gesture that made the soldier just laugh.

As he moved from one building to the next she watched without interest as he passed in front of a dark alleyway between the structures, her bored gaze watching the way he held his gun as he ran...

A small flash of blue light, so brief she thought for a moment she must have imagined it, shone from within the alleyway.  Squinting, Lois slowly leaned forward in the seat, slipping her body between the driver and passenger seats to get closer.  As she looked harder the alleyway almost seemed to become darker, as though the sun was sliding behind a cloud – even though the day was completely clear...

Lois screamed as something slammed hard against the side of the Land Rover and turned to see something truly hideous banging against the passenger door, trying to get into the vehicle.  Trying to get to her.  Scrambling away from it as fast as she could, Lois slid into the back seat, landing half in the footwell and she grabbed her bag, frantically looking for that tube Johnson had given her.  

The face trying to reach her was like something out of a horror film, the teeth crashing against the glass and the arms slamming against the vehicle, making it rock.  She couldn’t scream, could barely move as she fumbled through her bag, upending most of it out onto the seat as she tried to find the tube.  Where the hell were Johnson and her tough boys now?

This was a mistake, she should never have agreed to this job, she would never survive a while three years and wasn’t life in prison better than death at the hands of something like that and she didn’t know anything about fighting anyway and-

With a cry that made her hairs stand on end the creature stopped moving and slid down the window, its body scraping across the vehicle horribly.  As it dropped out of sight, Lois looked through the window to find a bemused Johnson staring down at her.  The agent opened the door and, hands on hips, grinned at the cowering administrator.

“Why didn’t you beep the horn?”

“Why...  Beep the horn?!  I was too busy trying to avoid being eaten by that... that... THAT...”

“Weevil.”  Shaking her head slightly, Johnson held out a hand and helped pull Lois back up into the seat properly.  Beckoning the younger woman out, Johnson stood back as her men dragged the creature upright, putting restraints on it for the journey.  

As Lois slid out of the car her eyes went wider still as she took in the full extent of the creature.  “That’s...  an alien?”

“Lois Habiba, meet Weevil number 53.  Weevil number 53, meet Lois Habiba.”  

The creature raised its head weakly as though it understood the words and stared at Lois.  Looking back into its eyes, she could almost feel the space of universes between them, such a feeling of difference that it sent a shiver through her soul and-

Hastily running around the Land Rover Lois threw up, the laughter of the rest of the team ringing in her ears over her own coughs.  She was never going to live this down for the rest of her three years at Torchwood.

Assuming she got the chance to live that long...

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

Ianto was stepping into the lift at their new offices when his phone rang.  Fumbling with the buttons and the phone, he sighed as the doors hissed closed and answered at last.  “I’m literally sixty seconds away, can you wait?”

“We’ve got a call coming in from the Smith’s.” Martha’s voice came through the speaker, bringing a reluctant smile to his face.  “Thought you might like to know.”  Raising an eyebrow, Ianto nodded and glanced at the lift numbers, willing them to rise higher.  That was the problem with taking the top floors of an office block – you had to go through all the other floors to get there.  At least they had managed to negotiate sole control of the freight elevator, essential for the equipment they were bringing in.

It was even more lucky they still had a few warehouses suitable for the aliens though.  That might have raised a few eyebrows with the insurance company two floors below them.  Although a bit of a weevil rampage through their own offices might have made them more understanding towards some of the more unusual insurance claims Cardiff citizens had had to make over the years...

“I’ll be right there.”  Hanging up he took a moment to straighten his tie in the reflection of the lift mirror.  The simple black and purple stripe was sombre without being too dark but he was looking forward to losing the coat.  The building was warm in comparison to the Hub and he felt like he would never adjust to working at a perfectly warm, dry and bright environment.  He was too used to operating in the dark and damp.

Shaking off the silly thought, Ianto slid the dark coat off his shoulders, folding it neatly over his arm.  His black suit was immaculate as always, the deep purple shirt peeking out above his waistcoat and around his tie.  His armour.  As he caught sight of the light scar on his cheek he brushed a fingertip over it slowly.  David liked to tease him that he was the new Harry Potter, saving the world from evil.  Johnny just said it made him look older and less like a soppy teenager.

Rhi just tried not to look at it, as though it reminded her too much of that day.

As the lift doors slid open, Ianto shook off all thoughts of his family as he made his way down the corridor, noticeboards on the walls containing the usual mix of health and safety signs and adverts of cars for sale, part of their cover as a normal business.  As he approached the doorway the security tag reader on the side was the first giveaway that something more may be underway here.  

It looked like any number of the cheap plastic readers for security swipe tags used at many businesses, but instead of passing a card over it Ianto pressed his fingertips against it, letting the ridges and whorls be read by the machine.  With a soft click, the double doors in front of him unlocked and he pushed through.  

A small chamber was just beyond the doors and he stood still as a soft whirr of equipment went into action around him.  Placing his hand on the scanner panel, Ianto waited until he was declared clear before the next door unlocked, letting him through at last.  Whilst it was most unlikely that anyone would be carrying a bomb in their belly again, they had agreed that a slightly higher level of security was perhaps wise.  

Especially after Johnson had listed the other dozen ideas her team had had for ways to kill them all even within the safety of the Hub...

As he walked through into the open space beyond, he could see the giant computer display screen again one wall showing the grinning face of the Smiths.  Hanging his coat up on the hat stand just inside the door, Ianto walked quickly through the room, nodding to the various technicians from UNIT and their new sponsor working on desks throughout the space, whilst heading straight for his favourite women.

“Good morning Gwen.”  Leaning over the seat in which an extremely pregnant Gwen was settled he kissed her cheek, her hands rising to rest over his on her shoulder.  “Good morning Doctor Jones.”  Turning to Martha he nodded and was rewarded with a bright grin.  Turning to the screen he nodded in greeting to the faces displayed there.  “Good morning Smiths.”

Three faces grinned back, the youngest waving eagerly before his mother poked him gently.  “There, you’ve said good morning, now get going, you’ll be late for class!”  

“See you later, Ianto!”  Ianto shared a fond grin with Sarah Jane Smith as she pushed her son out the room, shaking her head slightly in that way of mothers of teens everywhere.  

“Sorry about that.  He does like being here to say good morning!”  She explained, not for the first time.

“Unlike some of us who would rather stay in bed,” the dark skinned man beside her grumbled.  “For a secret organisation couldn’t you do something other than nine to five?”

“Morning ‘Samuel’,” Ianto replied with a teasing tone, “sorry to get you up so early.  You do look lovely in the morning though...”

“Enough of that,” complained ‘Samuel’ as he folded his arms across his chest.  “And it’s Mickey, as you well know.”

Mickey Smith, time traveller, former resident of a parallel universe and ex-boyfriend to one Rose Tyler, moved closer to Sarah Jane on the screen and wrapped an arm around her, making her shake her head slightly.

“And when you said us Smiths should stick together,” she said, “I didn’t realise that would mean you bringing me laundry and eating all my food!  It’s like having another teenager in the house when you visit.”  

“You love it really,” Mickey replied, grinning at her and getting a grin in return.

Ianto watched her complain, but caught the slightly motherly look in her eyes as Mickey kissed her head affectionately.  As much as she might deny it, she loved having Mickey around.  There was something about the former companions, they all shared something special, a bond, their love of the Doctor.  

Just like Jack had.

“How’s London this morning?”  Ianto asked at last, the display reminding him of what he was missing too much for comfort.  “Anything to report?”

“Pretty quiet at the moment,” Sarah Jane replied, slipping out of Mickey’s embrace and stepping closer.  “The usual political scandals as the elections are coming up.  On the plus side, screening has confirmed that all the candidates are human this time.  Although most people are wondering if that’s actually a bonus.”

“I can imagine.”  Gwen said quietly, wincing as she shifted on the chair.  “Mickey, any progress with our new vehicle yet?  Those Land Rovers of Johnson’s don’t exactly fit our image.  Not to mention my current physique!”

Mickey smith nodded, and a slightly dreamy look came over his face.  “Oh she’s a beauty, sleek lines, gorgeous upholstery, and an engine that purrs like-“

“Enough of the Clarkson impression Samuel,” Ianto interrupted, teasing the other man with his false name yet again.  “A date would be good though.”

“Some parts aren’t due in until next week, and you still need to send me over the specs for those additional upgrades you wanted, plus time to install...”  Mickey thought for a moment.  “Say one more month to be sure, allowing time for a test drive or three.”

“No hogging her just so you can have a play when she’s ready, okay?”  Ianto replied with a slight smile.  

“No problem.”

“Oh there was one thing,” Sarah Jane interrupted, as though it had just occurred to her.  “Mr Smith tracked a small craft skimming the atmosphere over the UK for a few minutes last night, but it left again straight afterwards.  Looks like just another tourist.”

“Right.”  Gwen nodded, stretching over the desk for her computer mouse.  “If you can send us through the details we can cross reference with UNIT.”  

Martha swatted Gwen’s hand away from the mouse playfully and mock scowled at the mother to be.  “I will cross reference with UNIT.  Gwen will be going home soon.  Which is where she should be right now.” 

“I’m pregnant, not sick, will you stop fussing over me-“

Ianto glanced at his watch and cleared his throat, cutting short yet another argument between Gwen and Martha before it could take hold.  Stepping forwards, he nodded briefly to Sarah Jane on the screen and placed a warning hand on Gwen’s shoulder.  “Sarah Jane, if there’s nothing urgent I’ll leave you in Martha’s capable hands. I’m expecting a call from...”  Ianto pointed upwards with his finger and glanced over his shoulder at the technicians working away behind them.  Sarah Jane nodded in understanding and folded her arms.

“Of course.  I promise not to keep the girls gossiping too long, although I can’t say the same for Mickey.”

“Oi!  I’m not that bad,” Mickey protested unconvincingly.

“Ianto, I’ll come with you-“  Gwen started to push herself up from the desk and Ianto pressed down on her shoulder, keeping her in place.

“Considering you left last Friday I think having you on the call might panic them unnecessarily.  Go home Gwen.”

“Oh don’t be daft, just one more call won’t hurt.”

“Don’t you trust me?”  Ianto’s voice was soft, controlled, but the way he looked at Gwen kept her in her chair far more effectively than her swollen belly.  

“Of course,” she whispered back.

“Then that’s sorted. Go home Gwen.”  As Ianto walked away he could hear Martha speaking up, trying to break the tension.

“Speaking of gossip, Mickey Smith, what’s this I hear about you in a Soho club with a stunningly beautiful young woman last weekend?”

“I knew Tish wouldn’t keep her big mouth shut...”

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

Closing the door behind him, Ianto leaned against it heavily.  Gwen had been fighting him for control for weeks, the closer it came to the time when she was supposed to leave the more attached to the job she became.  And the more she resisted letting him take any control, even over something as silly as a phone call.  He was starting to dread being in the same room as her, just waiting for the next row to start.  Instead he had taken to hiding in his sanctuary.  His office.

It was everything an office should be; well lit, a perfect twenty degrees, the chair was ergonomically designed and the desk was curved to give him maximum space.  The filing cabinets were neatly labelled, with cards such as “blueprints” and “budget” tucked neatly into the holders.  There was even a wall safe with direct access to a secure storage unit on the floor below, his very own vault.  

A similar locked panel hid his gun and emergency weapons kit.  There was even a bomb chute built into the seemingly innocent walls, just in case a device should turn out to be more dangerous than previously thought.

A gas mask hung on the back of the door, next to a bag containing weevil spray, a rift activity monitor and a bag of dinosaur nuts.  In short it was a perfectly prepared and efficient office, just like Torchwood One had been.

And he hated it.

Taking off his jacket, Ianto hung it neatly on a hanger beside the gas mask and turned to his desk.  It was a light beech or pine effect affair and all smooth edges and perfect slots for electrical cables and modern equipment.  As he strode round to his chair, he brushed his fingers over the perfectly formed imitation wood grain on the veneer and found himself lost in memory, comparing the artificial sensation to the real thing...

The wood had that slightly too smooth feel of a surface that has been polished and waxed for a long time, almost frictionless against his fingertips as he tried to brace himself against it, slipping over its smooth surface.  His face was flat against the wood, the smell of it filling his senses as he watched his ragged breaths mist then vanish on the dark polish.

A small part of him felt a moments annoyance that he would be the one cleaning the sides of the desk off later, wondering as he did so how many Torchwood employees had left their mark on it this way.  How many times Jack had been stood where he was now, his hands roaming over slick flesh, caressing, stroking, watching other hands slide over the desk, trying to hold on and stay in one place?  

Their shared joy and lust seemed to fill his senses, taking over the room, until Ianto was sure it would become a part of the wood as much as the polish had, layers of it absorbed into the wood, carried in its lines for as long as it stood...

Ianto was shaken out of his memory by the phone ringing.  His direct line.  Swallowing hard to push aside the thoughts, he picked up the receiver and smiled.  “Ianto Jones.  Good morning, sir.”  Laughing softly, he sat up straight, adjusting his lap slightly to relive the discomfort in his voice.  “After all you’ve done for us formality is the least I can do in return.”  

Ianto paused again, listening to the voice on the other end as his gaze fell on a photo with blackened edges propped up on his desk.  It was so out of place in the clean room but he loved it.  As Toshiko Sato smiled back at him, he nodded once, his tone and face turning professional as the pleasantries ended.  Work to do.

“Yes sir.  What can Torchwood do for you today?”

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

“So hang on,” Lois said as she followed Johnson into the warehouse, keeping clear of the Weevil as it was restrained by Bill and Ben.  “You are just going to...  Keep it?”

Johnson stopped and folded her arms across her chest, bored now the hunt was over.  The driver was following Bill and Ben, picking up what appeared to be a clipboard and camera as he went.  The warehouse was dimly lit and chilly, lined with what appeared to be glass and metal cages on one wall.  They were all empty so far but as she watched the men opened one of the cells up and pushed the weevil in.  As the door slammed shut “Andy” stepped forwards and began taking pictures of it and filling in a form on the clipboard, cataloguing it.

“We are just going to keep it.  For now anyway.  There are enough of them living beneath the city that we mostly just leave them be.  But when they come up and start causing trouble, or worse discover how tasty humans are, we have to deal with them.”  Her face took on a faint look of disgust as she pointed to Andy working.  

“The cataloguing is your Mr Jones’ idea.  He wants to see if its possible to identify different weevils or see a pattern between which ones come above ground, maybe a family thing or a sub species.”  She yawned pointedly and shrugged.  “Personally I think we should just treat them like rabid dogs and put them down.”

Lois watched, shivering slightly as the creature began to recover from its ordeal and moaned mournfully.  The sound seemed to cut right through to her soul and as much as she hated herself for it, she found herself agreeing with Johnson.  How many more hideous monsters were hiding in the darkness?

What had she signed up for?

“Hurry up boys, some of us have got homes to go to.”  The men sniggered and Lois caught a slightly wicked grin flash over Johnson’s features before she chuckled slightly, the noise surprising Lois slightly.  “You’re just jealous because you won’t find a hot blonde in your bed tonight.”

“The day is young...” Ben shot back quickly, and turned to leer at Lois.  “Besides, I prefer brunettes.”

“At ease gentlemen,” Johnson added warningly, shaking her head just slightly as she saw Lois wrap her coat tighter around herself.  “That’s enough hazing the newbie for one day.”  Cocking her head towards the door, Johnson strode away and Lois hurried after her, grateful for the chance to get away from the creatures pitiful cries.

“So what now?” Lois asked quietly.  “It just stays there?”

“For now.  We’re working on more permanent storage facilities.  Just like everything else, this is temporary.”  

“Sounds familiar,” Lois said under her breath, prompting another smile from Johnson.

“Well, as you are the office girl I should really get you back to the office.  I’m sure there’s some filing or something you could be doing rather than being a distraction for my men.”

“I don’t think they really even noticed me...”  Lois trailed off as Johnson strode towards the Land Rover, her eyes trying to focus on a dark shadow beside the building.  There was something about it...

“STOP!”  Lois shouted as a blue flash came from the shadow, the light passing over Johnson’s back as she turned around, staring in surprise as Lois.  The younger woman pointed at the shadow and began to run towards it, determined not to let it get away this time.  “There!  In the shadows!”  

Shaking her head in disbelief, Johnson quickly grabbed Lois’ arm and held her still, pulling open the car door and almost throwing the girl into the vehicle.  “Stay here.”

Shaking slightly, Lois did as she was told and watched breathlessly  as Johnson pulled her gun, tracking the shadow as she ran.  But even as she watched Lois could feel her eyes slipping off the darkness, the shadow seeming to grow darker.  With her gun in one hand, Johnson slipped a torch out of one of the pockets on her vest and brought it up to rest beneath her gun, the two handed grip shining light wherever she aimed. As Johnson ran closer, Lois gripped tight on to the dashboard as the light reached the shadow, chasing the darkness away and revealing...

Nothing.

After checking the area out, Johnson turned and frowned at Lois quizzically.  The temp sheepishly shook her head and looked round as the men came out from the warehouse, staring in confusion between Johnson and Lois.

Just when she thought her day couldn’t get any worse.  Opening the door, she slid out of the vehicle and ran towards Johnson.  “I swear, there was something there!  It was in the shadows and it shone this... this blue light thing, like a laser pointer, at your back!  And I saw it earlier at the industrial estate but I thought it was my imagination.”

“Still sounds like your imagination to me,” Bill sneered.  “Less than three hours on the job and the secretary’s already jumping at shadows.  Told you she wouldn’t last a day,” he said over his shoulder to Ben, “you owe me fifty quid.”

“I did not imagine it!” Lois shouted, running up to him and standing eye to...  well, chest, with him as she raised herself up as much as she could and poked his chest with her finger.  “And she has a name.  One you really should take the time to learn, as I am not going anywhere and odds are I will be the one in charge of making sure you get paid on time, and get to go on holiday occasionally or get the equipment you need, so it might be worth being nice to me soldier.”

Calming down, she turned to Johnson again.  “I know what I saw.  Now do whatever it is you guys do to see if I’m crazy or right.”  Stomping back to the car she opened the back door and looked back at Bill again.  “And don’t call me a secretary.  I’m a PA.”  Sliding into the middle of the seat she slammed the door after her.

“Oooooo scary,” Bill mocked, but Johnson could see the begrudging traces on respect on his face.

“Enough.  Andy, grab the rift activity monitor, check where she says she saw it and then check me.  If anything has done ANYTHING to me I want to know.  Ben, sweep the area, make sure we are clear.  Bill, see if the Weevil is playing up, Ianto said they sometimes sense other aliens, he reckons they’re telepathic.”  At their hesitation she shook her head slightly and grinned.  “You heard the PA, now move it ladies!”

Watching them snap into action, Johnson glanced at the slightly stunned looking young woman in the car and nodded to her just once.  Odds were it was just her imagination, but there was no harm in checking it out.  After some of the stories Captain John Hart had told her she didn’t take anything for granted any more, not even shadows.

As she thought of the Captain she glanced at her watch and sighed.  She was due to finish in an hours time and hopefully would be able to grab a shower, some food and sleep for a few hours before starting all over again.

Unless of course she got a better offer....

Shaking off the thought, Johnson turned so she could be scanned and got back to the matter at hand.  Business first, pleasure later.  

Hopefully not too much later though...

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

Lois Habiba kept her head down as Johnson brought her up in the lift in silence.  This had not been a good day.  She had panicked, thrown up, overreacted and to top it all off they though she had started imagining things.  

On the whole though, even she had to admit she had had worse first days.  At least no one had died yet.

She followed Johnson through into the offices, wincing slightly at the scanner and then her mouth fell wide open as she saw the office space.  Oh this was much more like familiar territory.  Although...  as they walked past the small clusters of desks, manned by people who barely looked up as she passed, she couldn’t help feeling that what they were working on wasn’t exactly in keeping with the usual office feel.  

Various types of, well what she could only describe as slime, were being dripped into beakers, with all sorts of equipment presumably measuring how fast they squelched through the small openings or something similar.  Another technician was holding what appeared to be mercury in his gloved palm, his eyes squinting in concentration as the mass began to rise up, slowly taking the shape of a daisy.  Another man was working on what looked to her like some sort of a bizarre engine, small puffs of purple and orange smoke issuing from it.

This whole day felt like she had stumbled through the wardrobe, then fallen down a rabbit hole, then been caught up in a tornado and finally, for good measure, found out she was a witch and off to Hogwarts.  Everything was starting to take on a dream like feel and she wondered if she was going to wake up soon.

“Lois!”  Looking round, Lois smiled in relief as she spotted Gwen Cooper getting up from a chair.  The young doctor who had done Lois’ physical a few weeks ago had her hand slapped away as it was offered to help to her pregnant colleague up.  “You made it then?  Hope the weevil didn’t cause you too much trouble.  Sorry about that, he shouldn’t really have sent you out with them-“

“She was fine.”  Johnson interrupted smoothly, drawing Gwen’s gaze away just as Lois’ surprise became all too obvious on her face.  “A natural.”  

Quickly straightening her face, Lois smiled politely, going along with it.  Whether Johnson was lying to protect her, or to protect Ianto for sending her out there – or simply to annoy Gwen – she didn’t know but she knew when to keep her mouth shut.

“Really?  That’s great,” Gwen said with a big smile.  “Looks like I’ll have even more competition for my job soon.”

Lois laughed softly and stepped forwards, shaking Gwen’s hand.  “Believe me, I’m happy to stick to the office work, honest.”

“That’s what they all say...”  

“Hello again Lois.”  Doctor Martha Jones stepped forwards and shook hands with Lois, grinning slightly as her eyes took in the slight flush to Lois’ face. “Right, well now you’re here I need to take a few baseline scans and add you into the system.  And Johnson, can you take Gwen home please?”

Lois wasn’t sure which one of them, Gwen or Johnson, looked less thrilled at that prospect.

“I will go when I’m good and ready,” Gwen snapped, turning to face Martha, “so don’t start ordering me around Mrs Milligan-“

“Maybe I will stop ordering you around when you start listening to your doctor’s advice, Mrs Williams-“

“I’m sorry Martha, I don’t recall asking you to be my doctor.”

“As acting medical officer I am everyone’s doctor,” Martha shot back, “no matter how annoying they may be-“

“Ladies!”  Everyone looked round as Ianto Jones came out of his office, a steaming mug of coffee clutched in his hand.  “Keep it down, you’re upsetting the blobs.”  

Following his gaze Lois turned and saw to her surprise that the strange collection of slime she had seen earlier had all changed colour, a deep mauve shimmering through all of them as they seemed to quiver in their containers

“Well?”  Ianto asked softly.  “What appears to be the problem?”

Johnson spoke up first, her arms folded across her chest as answered.  “No problem sir, I was just going off shift and Martha suggested I give Gwen a lift home-“

“Suggested?”  Gwen sniffed, gearing up for another argument.

Ianto put his mug down an hurried forwards, his left leg catching slightly on the carpet as though it was not quite under his control, before he recovered.  “Sounds like a fabulous idea.  Lois can get settled in with Martha and Johnson can get some well-“  Ianto paused and looked at Johnson questioningly.  “The weevil?”

“Contained.  As in living, breathing, drooling, snarling and locked up,” she clarified.

“Good.  Then Johnson can get some well earned rest.”  Placing his hand over Gwen’s arm, he looked into her eyes and switched to Welsh for a moment.  Lois couldn’t understand what he said, but she could see in his eyes he was asking something of her.

Gwen’s gaze softened and she reached up to wrap her arms around his neck, dragging him into an awkward hug around her bump.  “Come here you.”  Gwen held him tight and the other women looked away as the pair, the last two Torchwood agents to have ever worked in the Cardiff Hub, embraced.  “You call me, you hear?” Gwen ordered sternly as she pulled back, wiping her eyes quickly.  “I want to be kept up to date.”

“I’ll come see you at the weekend,” Ianto promised softly, “Rhys has already invited me round for lunch on Sunday.  He wants some extra help in keeping you under control.”

“Oi!”  Gwen swatted his arm, slightly too hard.  “I’m not that bad.”

She missed Martha and Johnson exchanging ‘yeah right’ looks behind her back.

“Just teasing.”  Ianto placed a hand on her belly gently.  “You take good care of that godson-“

“Or goddaughter,” Gwen corrected.

“-Of mine, won’t you?”

Gwen grimaced and nodded, her good mood seeing to disappear as quickly as it had arrived.  “Right.”  Slipping past Ianto, she grabbed her bag and coat from the rack beside the office door.  “Come on then, home Johnson.”

Lois watched as Johnson closed her eyes and took a deep breath before turning and following Gwen to the door.  “See you tomorrow Pukeahontas,” Johnson called back to Lois.  “Have a good shift.”  Waving as she walked away, Johnson pulled the office door closed behind her, an audible clunk sounding the final departure of Gwen Cooper.

“You’re sure the scans say it was a normal pregnancy?” Ianto remarked to Martha, deadpan.  “I swear she’s been getting worse with each month.  Please tell me she will be normal again after she gives birth?”

Doctor Martha Jones snorted, but her smile was more sympathetic than before as she gazed at the door after Gwen.  “No alien influence there as far as I can tell, all the scans are perfectly normal.”  Shrugging, she folded her arms lightly.  “Just the regular hormones, grief, incredible job stress, possibly undiagnosed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, fixated on the idea that Jack will magically appear in time for her to go into labour and refusing to talk to the UNIT shrink because she’s pregnant not sick, and to top it all off one of the worst cases of caffeine withdrawal I have ever witnessed in my life.”

Martha grinned and looked up at Ianto with a wink.  “If I wasn’t so addicted to the stuff myself I’d consider getting your coffee classified as a Class A drug.”  Clapping Ianto on the back, she chuckled quietly.  “Trust me Ianto, I’d say we got off lightly.”  Gesturing round the room, she bowed slightly.  “The place is all yours, sir.  Lois?”  Martha turned to the other woman and held out her hand, grinning wickedly.  “As for you, come on, lots to do still: forget Weevils, fancy cars and big guns, you’re in my territory now.”

“Play nice,” Ianto warned, frowning at Martha.

“I’m always nice!” Martha shot back with a wink.  Walking away, Lois trailed uncertainly after her then stopped as Martha paused.  “Hang on, just to check...”  She looked at Ianto questioningly.  “Even though you’re officially in charge, that doesn’t mean you’re going to stop making coffee does it?”

Chuckling softly, Ianto shook his head and waved her away.  “I’ll have it ready when you get out.”

“Thank God for that,” Martha called back as she gently pushed Lois through her office door.  “A girl needs her fix and no one does that coffee magic quite like you do.”  

Coffee magic.  For a second, Ianto could see Jack before him, hands palm to palm in front of him, begging for coffee.  It was so real, for a moment he closed his eyes, able to hear Tosh’s voice tracking something alien, he could feel his heart pounding at the thought of being discovered, of being revealed as the fraud he was....

Some things never changed.  

Turning to go back to his office, Ianto grabbed his mug again and was surprised to see ripples in the surface.  His hand was shaking.  With an effort he stilled the tremor, and took a deep breath.  Time to get back to work.  Thinking of lunch with the Williams, Ianto smiled quietly and wondered whether Rhys would cope with Gwen any better than they had. 

He had no idea that in less than an hour he would be finding out for himself...

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

Johnson resisted the urge to open the door and throw her passenger out onto the road, telling herself it was only a little further to go and then it would all be over.  For months.  Maybe even forever.  

Just a little further.

“I have just as much right to be there as anyone,” Gwen stated angrily.  “I’ve been leading that team for months, and to be cast off like this is just wrong.”  Johnson stared straight ahead, a slight grin on her face as she began to mouth Gwen’s next words in unison with her.  “I’m pregnant, not sick.”

Gwen didn’t even notice, staring out the window and fiddling with the side of the car as she spoke her gaze drifting over the people going about their daily lives in Cardiff.  “He’s the one who got shot, not me, but everyone treats me like a bloody invalid.  I hate it.”

Johnson was counting down the seconds until she got Gwen home.  It wasn’t that they didn’t like Gwen; normally she was absolutely fine and they had been a good team.  But now pregnancy hormones were making her alternately cross and weepy.  It was the way she fought to deny it though, snapping whenever they showed concern, or tried to make allowances for her condition, rather than giving in gracefully that was starting to get to them all.

A few months break would do them all good.

“It’s the next right.”  

Johnson bit back a sarcastic reply at the directions, having had to drive Gwen home many times over the past couple of weeks since her bump wouldn’t fit comfortably behind the steering wheel.  She was fed up with this. She had signed up to catch aliens, not worry about office politics.  Avoiding the power struggles at the office had been the main reason she had signed up to run the night shift.

And how she had ended up spending so much time with Captain John.

She grinned slightly to herself as she thought of the morning she had offered to drive him home and he had directed her back to her place, telling her he was going to stay with her.  Normally she would shoot a guy for being so presumptuous, for breaking military discipline.  But she wasn’t in the military any more.  And she had already heard enough stories about past indiscretions to know that fraternising with colleagues was practically standard operating procedure for this lot.  So instead she had simply insisted that her place, her rules, and let him in.

And he had been all too keen to explore all possible meanings of the term “her rules”.

Drawing her attention back to the road Johnson took a moment to glance at the time.  John would be ‘home’ by now.  She was already an hour late getting off shift so he would have plenty of time to wait and anticipate her arrival.  It was a good thing she had a standing order that he was not to start without her-

“Oh Rhys is home!”

Johnson pulled the Land Rover into the small drive behind the sensible estate car she recognised as belonging to Rhys Williams.  She quite liked Rhys, even though he still hadn’t forgiven her for trying to kill his wife and unborn child.  Some people were just so touchy...

“Right, well I suppose this is goodbye.”  Gwen looked round as Johnson nodded, remaining silent.  “Take care of them all, won’t you?”

“Of course.  Enjoy motherhood.”  Johnson caught the slight wince that passed over Gwen’s face at the word and resisted the urge to mention twenty four hour labours, defecating in a room full of strangers, tearing, stitches and all those other joys that lay ahead.  

“Thanks.”  Gwen slid clumsily from the vehicle and pushed the door closed behind her, walking slightly waddle like up the path.  Rhys appeared at the door, his face both concerned and angry as he realised where his wife had been.  Johnson tried not to look but she had been tasked with making sure Gwen got home safely and she was going to see her right inside the building.  

Watching as Gwen reached Rhys, she studied how Gwen touched his arm to calm him down, the way she stood non threateningly and stayed quiet before him.  She really was good with people, something Johnson envied at times.  She had to admit, having a pregnant woman on the team had had its advantages at times when they needed to use persuasion rather than force.  Gwen Cooper could be very charming when she wanted to be.

It was the flash of blue as a light cast over Gwen’s hip that made Johnson reach for her gun.  But when the light changed to red and was already opening the door, jumping from the vehicle and running, her gun aiming at the shadow cast by the houses porch.  A dark clad hand seemed to be growing out of the darkness, holding something and reaching towards Gwen...

“GET IN THE HOUSE!”  Johnson bellowed as she ran down the path, shock making Rhys simply stand still even as Gwen reacted instantly, her instincts honed to react and not question the threat.  Bodily pushing  Rhys back into the house, Gwen pushed the door over behind him but was ready to open it for Johnson.  The agent could just make out a dark figure blending almost seamlessly with the house except for a small cylinder held in its hands and a pair of dark eyes glinting for a moment.  It was already starting to fade as she ran, taking just fractions of a second to slip away from her but Johnson kept focused on it, trying to get as much detail as possible...

It was gone.  Johnson grabbed her torch and shone it into the shadow, looking around the house at other possible hiding places.  She was sure she could see eyes shining back at her from each dark patch within the garden and she hastily pushed through the door into the house, locking it behind her.

This was not good.

And the worst part was, she was going to have to apologise to the new girl after all....

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

“Okay, we’re all done!

Lois looked up in surprise from the medical bed, the lights shifting from dim back up to full strength again.  The small lab was beyond the smart, but relatively bare, office belonging to Martha Jones and it was clear at a glance where she spent most of her time.  Personal photos, abandoned items of clothing, small containers of goodness knows what and a stack of strange equipment littered the large work surface in the medical room.  

Lois sat up slowly and reached for her shoes as Martha handed them to her, slipping them back on.  “That’s it?  Shouldn’t I, I don’t know, go pee in a cup or say ahhh or something?” 

Martha pulled a face and waved her hand dismissively.  “Nah.  We did all that stuff whilst getting your release paperwork completed.  This was for the extra scanning.  We lost most of the really cool medical equipment in the blast, but UNIT had a few pieces that, as a well respected medical officer, I was able to persuade them to part with...”  

She stepped aside, and Lois could see a small rotating image of herself on the display screen half lost under sticky notes in the mess that was Martha’s desk.  Bones and muscles slid in and out of view as the model switched from skin through to bone and back again.

“Pretty cool huh?  Just a few more steps and you will officially be a Torchwood employee.”  Martha paused and looked at Lois carefully.  “You can still change your mind you know.”

“I...”  Lois looked thoughtful, unsure for a moment whether Martha knew of the terms of her recruitment – or would have approved for that matter.  Smiling as reassuringly as she could, Lois nodded.  “I think I’m gonna be okay.  But um...  ask me again tomorrow?”

Martha laughed and closed her medical bag, an antique looking thing with battered leather and a sturdy metal clasp.  “No problem.”  She fiddled with the clasp for a moment before casually continuing.  “How are things with your family?”

Lois shrugged.  “I vanished for months, turn up with a large sum of money in my pocket and a mysterious job in Wales.”  She grinned slightly.  “They thought I’d gone on the game.  But, I think-“

Both women looked round in surprise at an urgent banging on the door to the room before Ianto’s welsh tones came drifting through the wood.  “You decent?”

“Yes, come in!”  Martha called back, instinctively heading for her coat and bag.

Ianto Jones looked round the door, his gaze quickly finding Martha.  “That coffee’s gonna have to wait, there’s trouble at Gwen’s.  Something about a blue light shining alien?”

“Oh my god!”  Lois exclaimed quickly, before her hand rose to her mouth as they both glanced at her.

“Looks like you were right after all.”  Ianto spared her a quick grin before returning to being all business.  “Johnson’s men are already off shift and have had a few drinks, I’ve called in the others but they are still on their way back from Swansea.  So...”  Clapping his hands together, Ianto looked at them slightly mischievously.  “Time for you to get to work.”

“Oh no you don’t!”  Martha said firmly, stepping forwards.  “You are still not signed off as fit for duty yet!”

“By UNIT standards.  We do things a little differently round here Doctor Jones.”

“By MY standards Mister Jones, if your leg goes again-“

“I’m going and that’s final Martha, so either shut up and stay here or shut up and join me but either way, I’m going.”  He paused, his breath heavy and a slight blush creeping over his cheeks.  “She’s all I have left.  I will not let her down.”

Martha paused, looking at him curiously before nodding.  “For the record, I still object.”

“Noted,” he confirmed with a faint grin.

“Then let’s get going Sir.”

Ianto nodded to her sharply as she hurriedly began grabbing her gear.  “Lois,” Ianto turned to the bemused new girl.  “Johnson said you saw this alien earlier, tell us everything you know on the way.  I’ll drive.”  He looked at her incredulously as she stayed sat on the bench.  

With a slight shrug, Ianto slipped deeper into his Welsh accent as a sudden wave of nostalgia crashed over him and he saw a memory of a very different new girl standing before him, carrying pizza of all things.  “Well come on then, best not keep her waiting.”

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

“Will one of you tell me what the bloody hell is going on here?”  Rhys Williams stared down his wife, as her colleague came off the phone, her gun still drawn as she watched Gwen bolt the door.  “Gwen?”  As his wife stayed silent, focusing on the task at hand Johnson spoke up.

“Lois reported seeing something flashing a blue light at me and my men earlier today, as though scanning us, but when we checked the shadows it had come from there was nothing there.  I just saw something blue flash over Gwen, then it turned red and there was definitely a hand reaching for her-“

“Oh that’s just bloody brilliant!”  Rhys shouted at Johnson, before turning to Gwen.  “Eight months, eight whole months you’ve been risking our baby’s life hanging round at Torchwood still, but I kept my mouth shut, trusting them to keep you safe, but finally, finally you leave and I can relax.”  Rhys was furious, his face turning red as he shouted at Gwen and Johnson hastily retreated to watch out the window, leaving them to it.  

“I actually slept like a baby last night, knowing you were safe at last,” he admitted, “and what do I find when I get up?  You’re gone, not even a note, then you get dropped off by GI Jane here and you’ve brought an alien stalker home with you!”  He pointed towards the doorway and shook his head angrily.  

“I hope whatever you did this morning was of Earth saving importance, Gwen, cause right now I’ve had enough of it!  You’ve spent more time arguing over the colour of the new cars for Torchwood lately than you have deciding on the colour scheme of our baby’s room.  So tell me Gwen, when does it stop?  When are you going to focus on our family for a change?”

“Oh don’t be so melodramatic Rhys,” Gwen spat back, “I was perfectly safe, I just popped-“

“You just popped in?  Are you ever going to stop popping in?  What, are you going to take the baby into work with you, get them to open a little day care centre all for you?  Torchwood and babies don’t mix, Gwen.  Everyone else around you can see it but have been keeping quiet, so when are you gonna wake up and see what’s going on?”

“This is my job Rhys,” Gwen’s accent grew stronger as she shouted back, pushing Rhys slightly, her hands flat against his chest as she emphasised her point.  “It’s what I do, it’s who I am!”

“It’s not a job Gwen, it’s an obsession!  But I guess being my wife, or our baby’s mother just isn’t enough for you, what's shaping one life compared to saving the world!” he added sarcastically.  “How could I possibly understand what you do or how you feel, I just drive lorries?”

“Exactly.”  As soon as she said the words, Gwen’s hand flew up to her mouth, wishing she could take them back.  Her face paled as she realised that she may have finally crossed the line, have pushed Rhys too far this time.  “I didn’t...”

“You did.”  His voice was soft now but still harsh, the blustery anger gone from him and replaced with a cold rage.  “You said exactly what you meant.  Fuck it Gwen.  You know what, everyone’s been holding back and making excuses for you cause you’re pregnant, but you’ve been driving us all crazy.  You’re not helping anyone by carrying on like this, in fact I’ll bet good money you’re making things worse.  Like Johnson here...”

The Agent glanced round before quickly returning her attention to the garden.  No way was she getting involved in this.  Fighting aliens, any time, any place.  Fighting couples?  That had her running for the hills.

“I know she’s night shift, which means she should have gone home hours ago, but instead she’s driving you home.  You’re stopping your friends even getting enough sleep, that’s not to mention them having to protect you or think twice about things because you’re-“

“That’s right, I’m pregnant Rhys,” Gwen shot back, her anger rising again and combining with the cold guilt she was feeling, making her defensive.  “That doesn’t mean I can’t still do things, I’m not sick, I’ve not changed-”

“But everything’s changed Gwen!”  Rhys shouted angrily before calming again, something close to despair on his face as he regarded her.  “You seem to be the only one who can’t see that.  Jack’s gone, he’s not coming back, Torchwood is moving on, Ianto is in charge now and you have to let go of all that.”

“But how can I Rhys?”  Gwen could feel tears starting to form as she looked up at him, almost begging him now as she gently rested her hands against his chest.  “How can I go back to a normal life after the things I’ve seen?  How can I raise a child knowing that-  How can I be a good...  What if I have to...”  

Turning away so he couldn’t see her, Gwen could feel tears starting to fall down her cheeks and hated herself for it.  She was better than this, she had faced down alien threats, Daleks, Cybermen, Weevils, why was one little baby reducing her to a nervous wreck?

She was scared.  Terrified.  Afraid that she wouldn’t be any good as a mother, afraid because when she felt it kick she didn’t get that surge of maternal love but instead felt annoyance that her life was being messed up.  Afraid that she would always resent it for taking her away from Torchwood, afraid that if she stayed at Torchwood the child would resent her for it.  Afraid that she would one day have to make a choice like Ianto had, afraid that she would never feel again in her life how she had felt as part of that team.  Afraid that once the baby was born it too could be taken from her like Tosh and Owen and Jack....

And she couldn’t find the words to tell anyone how she felt.  Not even Rhys.

Warm arms wrapped around her from behind, pulling her back into an embrace that felt strong and soothing, as though his arms alone could protect her from the world outside.

“You daft thing.”  He kissed the side of her neck softly and she began to cry in earnest, not wanting his sympathy, feeling as though she didn’t deserve it, didn’t deserve him.  “You are going to be a great mum.  It’s normal to have doubts though.  I mean, fighting aliens, either you win or you don’t, it’s over.  A baby...”  His hands slid down her body to rest gently on her bump, hugging his whole family in one go.  “This is for the rest of our lives.”  Dropping his voice to a whisper he leaned close to her ear.  “Facing down the whole British government was scary.  But this...  I’m more bloody terrified than I’ve been in my life.  Well, except for when I first met your mum.”

Gwen laughed in spite of her tears and wrapped her arms over his, holding on tight, suddenly reminded of why she loved this man so very much.  Turning in his embrace she shifted, hugging him in the slightly awkward side on position she had taken to adopting to get round the bump, her head resting on his shoulder.

“I love you,” she whispered back, holding on tight to her husband, her rock.  It cost her so much to admit how much she needed anyone but she knew deep down how devastated she would be if she lost him.  Because she could remember how it felt.

“Yeah, well, I love you more,” he growled back mock angrily as he stroked her hair.  “What am I going to do with you?”

The couple looked up as Johnson pulled back from the window, beckoning them over.  “Ianto’s here.”

“Oh great,” Rhys called back, “the boy wonder’s here.  What took him so long, trouble getting his tights on?”  

Gwen elbowed him and slipped free of his embrace, stepping forwards to join Johnson.  “Shut up Rhys.  Ianto knows what he’s doing.” Johnson looked round and slipped her hand into her pocket, pulling out a spare earpiece even as she adjusted her own.  She offered it to Gwen who slipped it on, but didn’t turn on the microphone.

“Don’t you want to talk to him?”  Johnson asked in surprise.  Gwen shook her head slowly and smiled, her hands wrapping over her stomach slowly.  

“He knows what he’s doing.  I trust him.”  Gwen peeked through the window and could see the team getting out of the Land Rover, and the grim set to Ianto’s face.  She knew that look, that determination.  It was time for her to let go, to let him take the lead at last.  Torchwood was his baby now.  She had her own to take care of and she was not a part of that world any more.

Well, at least until the little one started playgroup...

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

Ianto knew by Martha’s white fingered grip on the Land Rovers door that he was speeding but really didn’t care.  He had to get to Gwen.  It was strange how just an hour or so ago he had been so glad to see her go but was now wracked with guilt at the though of anything happening to her.  He would never forgive himself if another child...

He slammed on the brakes and beeped loudly as a student hastily jumped back from the road, the headphones covering the guys ears also blocking the sound of the vehicle approaching.  Lois’ fingers were spread wide against the back of his seat to support herself and Martha pushed back from the dash board, glaring at him.

“How is us all having whiplash gonna help Gwen exactly?” she asked sarcastically.

Ignoring her, Ianto got the vehicle moving again, ignoring the gesture from the shocked student and tried not to smile.  He had missed this.  The driving at speed, the adrenaline, the gun by his side and even the banter, he had missed all this.  Some part of him wondered cruelly for a moment if it was the action he missed more than he missed Jack but he pushed it away.  That was different.  

He had felt hopeless for so long, his leg holding him back and the physiotherapy he had been through driving him crazy.  Having to watch Johnson go out on missions, when all he wanted was an excuse to go with them, to fight something, do anything.  To be able to feel like he contributed to something other than deciding what sort of chairs they had in the office.

He knew exactly why Gwen was holding on so hard to this life and he had been unable to talk to her about it because he felt it too.  It was still too close to the surface, too mixed up with memories of Jack and Tosh and Owen for either of them to really talk about it.  He had talked about their past adventures with Martha more than Gwen over the past few months.  And Martha in return had shared things he had never known about Jack.  

Things Jack had never been fully able to share with him because his jealousy of the Doctor had made it too painful a topic.  For a moment Ianto felt regret that he had let his feelings get in the way of him learning about the one part of Jack’s past life that he had felt ready to share.  One thing he knew for sure, having actually heard the stories he understood Jack a little better.  He also felt a strength inside, knowing that Jack had given all that up for them.  For him.  It gave him the courage to believe that Jack would come back to them again.

Someday.

Ianto shook off his melancholy thoughts as they turned into Gwen’s road, the suburban street lined with cars, people taking advantage of the wide road to park there all day.  Johnson’s Land Rover was easily visible, taller than most of the vehicles and not quite sleek enough to be mistaken for a “yummy mummy” type car.  Ianto couldn’t help thinking Johnson would probably shoot anyone if they ever dared to call her that.

As he felt a slight throb in his leg from his old injury a cruel part of him hoped it would be John who got shot.  

There wasn’t enough room on the street to park but Ianto pulled up half on the drive and half over the pavement, not caring about anything other than getting to Gwen.  He couldn’t bear the thought of losing anyone else.

Martha was grim faced beside him in the passenger seat as she stared out at Gwen’s house, studying the shadows.

“Just to recap,” Ianto asked with a slight edge of sarcasm in his voice, “we have no idea what this is?”

Martha shrugged.  “Flashing blue light, flashing red light, possibly a handheld device...  off the top of my head I’m thinking sonic screwdriver, laser screwdriver, Judoon scanner, teleport device, holographic display, Dalek eye stalk, a perception filter hiding something bigger-“

“Why are all the lights blue in future technology, why can’t it be like in the movies where everyone has different coloured lasers so you know who fired what?” Ianto complained as he cocked his gun, sliding a small torch into his grip alongside it.

Martha laughed humourlessly as she placed a hand on the door handle, a strong torch and her doctor’s kit her only weapons.  “Maybe blue is the new black?  My money is still on it being some kind of scan, they found something in Gwen that they were looking for and that’s why they didn’t just fade away again.”

“The baby?”  Lois ventured quietly, watching nervously from the back seat, the deactivated ear piece hooked onto her head half lost in her braids.

“You said the baby was normal,” Ianto stated quickly but his tone was questioning.  He kept his gaze on the shadows but couldn’t help flicking a glance at Martha to see her reaction.  She was hesitating for some reason.

“I said the baby was human...” Martha said carefully.

Ianto smiled slightly in understanding and caught an apologetic look on her face for bringing the subject up.  Shaking his head just a fraction he looked her in the eye.  “Even if there was another...” he glanced at Lois quickly, unwilling to give her the idea that Rhys could even possibly not be the father.  “Biological factor involved, we both know immortality isn’t genetic and is not caused by the rift.  That baby is simply another normal human.”

“Don’t let Gwen hear you say that though,” Martha joked quietly, pulling a face as she slipped her ear piece on.  “Some days I’d swear she would prefer it was alien so she would have an excuse to stay at work rather than actually raise the thing.”

“Heaven forbid.”  Nodding to her, Ianto tapped his earpiece, catching sight of Johnson at the window.  “We’re ready.”  Turning to Lois, he reached out and turned her ear piece on for her, her eyes closing for a moment as she adjusted to hearing him both live and in her ear.  “Watch our backs.  If you see anything, yell.”

Lois nodded quickly, her hand rising to her ear and gently touching the device to make sure it was secure.  She looked a little pale but her expression was strong, determined to do her part.  Ianto spared her a soft smile before turning back to Martha.  “Ready?”

“Ready.”

With a flick of his fingers, Ianto turned on the headlights of the vehicle, their beams cutting through the space in front of the vehicle and chasing away the shadows.  The sun was starting to rise over head, further reducing the possible hiding places around the house.  But there were still an awful lot of possible places to hide.

Sliding from the vehicle, Ianto and Martha pressed their backs against the side of the Land Rover, their torches sweeping methodically through the garden, searching every shadow for any trace of the mysterious creature.  He couldn’t see it, couldn’t see anything, but some instinct making the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end let him know it was there.  Watching them.

It was the soft gasp from Martha, coinciding with his own startled exclamation as a soft blue light shone over his chest, that made him realise they had made a serious mistake in thinking of the creature as an it or that it might just be after Gwen.

Because there was more than one.

As the light turned red his blood turned a little colder as he realised it wasn’t just Gwen they were after.  They wanted him too.

And he had nowhere to go.

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

The sound of the wind rustling through the trees seemed to grow, a soft hiss coming from the shadows, even though there was no breeze.  It was a dry, rattling sound, that seemed to be coming from all around them, surrounding them.  Ianto pressed back against the vehicle, Lois’ scared gasps coming through the ear piece loudly.  He could hear Johnson in the house, saying something about a figure in the shadows.  He just hoped she meant outside; he hated to think that those in the house were in danger too.

The hissing grew louder, almost like snakes or the sound of an old fashioned broom being dragged across a stone floor.  Then it began to speak, the sound sending shivers up his spine as it sounded like several different creatures were speaking at once, merging into one sound.

“Gweyanmarentotharcoojohnjohnperessess.”

“Ianto?”  Martha called out, her voice scared but strong.  “Tell me you are hearing that too?”

“Creepy voice that comes straight from a nightmare talking gibberish?  Yep.  You got the translation software going?”

“It can’t make head or tail of it yet.”

“Gweyanmarentotharcoojohnjohnperessess.”

“Johnson, can you hear this?”  Ianto glanced at the window but the agent was no longer there.  “Johnson?”

He jumped as gunshots sounded from inside the house and felt his finger twitch on the trigger.  What the hell was going on?

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

“Put that bloody thing away before you hurt somebody!”  Rhys stood in front of Gwen, shielding her with his body as he shouted at Johnson, looking at the hole she had blown in the wall.  

“There was something there,” she shouted back angrily, “it’s in the house!  Gwen, get down!”

Obeying instantly – or as instantly as any heavily pregnant woman can – Gwen dropped to her knees and with a firm hand on Rhys’ waistband yanked him down after her.  “For God’s sake Rhys, just let her do her job!”

“But she’s blowing holes in our house!  I told you, no guns in our home, no more!  I will not have it!”  

“Just hush will you?”  Wincing as she shifted up against the wall, Gwen placed her hands over her stomach.  “Oh great, the little ones decided now is a good time to use my bladder as a football.”  

“He’s kicking?  Where?”  The grin on Rhys’ face made Gwen laugh out loud and, quickly catching Johnson start tracking yet another shadow in the house, hastily pulled Rhys close, pressing his hand against her side.

“There.  Just like her dad, kicking off at just the wrong moment.”  They both winced and clutched each other closer as another shot rang out, Johnson dashing past them into the living room.  “Oh God, you don’t really think it’s in the house?”

“I don’t know love, but it’s not taking you away from me, I-“

“Gweyanmarentotharcoojohnjohnperessess.”

“Oh shit.”

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

“My name is Ianto Jones, Torchwood.  Identify yourself.”

“Gwe-yanmaren-totharcoo-johnjohnper-essess.”

“My name is Martha Jones and by the terms of the Shadow Proclamation I demand that you identify yourself!”

“Gweyan-marento-tharcoojohn-johnperess-ess.”

Ianto glanced round then whispered softly into his microphone.  “Shadow Proclamation?  Sounds like an eighties new romantic rock band, very threatening.  What next, stop in the name of Duran Duran?”

“It’s something I heard a friend use once,” Martha hissed back quickly.  “Worked for him...”

“Ianto?”  Lois whispered quietly, her voice interrupting them as she stared thoughtfully at her notepad.  Shorthand covered the page as she recorded the sounds.  “The voices-“

“Gwe-yan-mar-en-to-thar-coo-john-john-per-ess-ess.”

“Anything on the translator?” Ianto whispered to Martha, his aim swinging through the shadows that seemed to be growing thicker around them with every syllable of the strange voice.  “Maybe something like, we come in peace, please have the secret of eternal youth?”

“Sir,” Lois said again insistently in his ear, “the voice-”

“Nothing yet,” Martha hissed back, the Land Rover rocking just slightly as she slammed back against it, a dark arm seeming to coalesce out of the shadows as she watched but always seeming to be in the corner of her eye.  “I really hope you’ve got a plan!”

Another gunshot from the house made Ianto shake his head quickly and a wry grin quirked over his face.  “Nope.  Kindof hoped that Johnson had imagined it all to be honest.”

“Gwe-yan-mar-Ja-en-to-thar-ker-coo-john-john-hark-per-ess-ess-ness.”

“Oh great!” Martha called back angrily.  “Did you learn being completely reckless from Jack or John, cause I know for damn sure it wasn’t me!”

“Oh this from the woman who was growing a Denusian mould colony in her lab-“

“SIR!”  Lois’ shout made them both turn as the younger woman jumped from the car, her notepad in her hand.  The hissing increased in volume in response, a blue light shining onto her chest and making her jump back against the vehicle with a squeak.  The light stayed blue before flicking off, leaving her alone and she stepped forwards again to Ianto, emboldened by its departure, knowing she was right.  “I know what they’re saying!”

“The translator couldn’t make out anything!”  Martha shouted from the other side of the car.

“That’s because it’s not another language!”  Lois shook her head quickly as she responded, holding the pad out to Ianto, the sounds circled and arrows scribble to where they were rewritten underneath in plain English in at least three distinct patterns.

Gwe-en-coo-per.  Yan-to-john-ess.  Mar-thar-john-ess.

And one more, one that she had hastily scribbled on last, circled hastily, the pencil marks deep in the paper in her haste, almost ripping through it.

Ja-ker-hark-ness.

“They’re names,” she said quietly.  “Your names.”

At the sight of the words Ianto went pale, staring into the shadow as it began to creep closer.  Taking a deep breath, he did something incredibly reckless.

Dropping his gun, he stepped forward into the dark.

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

The sound faded almost instantly, the hissing stopping as completely as if he had gone deaf. But then a voice came, slightly hesitant. “Yan-too-john-ess?”

“My name is Ianto Jones. I...” Ianto hesitated and breathed deeply, feeling the darkness start to lift then return around him, almost as though it was breathing too. “I think you’ve been looking for me.”

The blue light shone over him once more and a dark hand appeared, barely visible in the inky black, reaching for his wrist. Holding his hand out, Ianto tried not to flinch as the dark fingers wrapped over his pale skin and turned his hand palm up. The blue light played over his fingers once more before turning red.

“Yan-toe-john-ess. Yanto-Joeness." The voice hesitated then became stronger, almost as though it was in his head, the hissing fading away as it adapted to him. "Ianto Jones?”

“Correct.” Ianto stared as hard as he could into the darkness but it was like trying to see stars at night; the more he tried to focus on them the harder it became to see them, whilst the corner of his eyes were screaming information at him. He suddenly wished Toshiko was here; she had always done better with languages and negotiations. He had no idea what to say, what to ask, so went for the obvious. “And you are?"

There was no response. He waited for what felt like eternity, so long that he wondered if this was it, if he had actually died when he stepped into the darkness. If maybe this was the darkness Owen had spoke of. If he was now dead like they were. 

Ianto closed his eyes as, just for a moment, he could see them both so clearly. Toshiko was laughing with him as they teased Owen about his "posh phone" voice, putting their own accents on as thickly as they could. He could almost see the purple of her dress as she fell off the sofa from laughing too hard, her trousers underneath protecting her dignity but the grin on her face refusing to fade as Owen helped her up, her smile slightly too meaningful as she looked up at him gratefully...

The image faded and the shadows seemed to pause, as though thinking for a moment, before they suddenly vanished, light and sound flooding back into his senses, everything screaming back to life suddenly in a way that made him gasp just as Jack used to, the suddenness of it too much. Instead of darkness, in front of him was a figure he hadn’t seen in a very long time but someone he missed so very much.

“Earth English assimilated.” The somewhat ghostly figure of Toshiko Sato stood before him, dressed in the purple dress he had always thought looked lovely on her. Her voice sounded slightly different though, almost stereotypical Japanese tones coming through instead of her own, exactly as she had been speaking in his memory. “Hello Ianto.”

From the gasps beside him, he could tell that the others could see her too and was grateful he wasn't finally losing his mind. Glancing over his shoulder, he saw Martha’s panicked movements as the shadows came closer to her. “Martha, don't fight it, it’s okay!” He paused, staring at the figure before him, taken straight from his memory and hesitated. “I think.”

“Apologies for the confusion. We thought you were familiar with Wraitheen.” ‘Toshiko’ stepped back and the shadow approaching Martha pulled back too. “We are messengers.”

“What sort of message?” Martha asked nervously, sidling round the car to join the others, her shadow staying put as she moved away from it. "The 'we've been entered in the intergalactic Readers Digest prize draw' or 'DHS have a sale on' type message? Or the 'we've come to take over your planet, you're all doomed type message'?"

“A message from a friend," the Wraitheen explained. "He paid us to deliver it. Apologies again for the confusion, corporeal messengers are banned from contacting pre space faring species.” She looked so serene and even though he knew it wasn’t her, knew that they had somehow pulled her image from his mind as someone he would trust, he wanted to believe her. 

Another gunshot from the house interrupted them and Ianto hastily pulled his hand up to his ear. “Johnson, stop firing!”

Her tinny voice replied, calm but he could hear the edge of excitement in her voice. She really did get off on this stuff. “But I’ve got it on the run!”

“No, it’s... Oh just stop firing, that’s an order!” He could hear her grumbling but the shooting mercifully stopped.

“It is alright,” the Toshiko figure said quietly, regarding him somewhat blankly. “We cannot be harmed. However, it would be best if you did not break the gift. He would be most upset; he paid extra for us to bring it. The import paperwork was very lengthy.”

“Gift?” Ianto asked in confusion before holding up his hands in defeat. “Look, we just need to know...” He trailed off, looking at her curiously. “He. You said he sent you, he paid you. He has a gift." Ianto didn't dare to ask but had known, the instant he saw that name on the pad, exactly who was behind this. But he needed to hear her say it, needed to know it wasn't just wishful thinking.

“Mister Ja-ker-hark-ness," she said with a slight hiss, unsure of the pronunciation. "He was most insistent that we deliver only to the intended recipients, but your species all look so alike to us we had to compare biological readings to find you.” She did not change expression, still staring at him serenely. 

“Jack,” Martha stated simply. “Jack sent you.”

“Correct.”

“And told you to stalk us so you were sure you had the right people?” she added, a touch of anger creeping into her voice.

“Correct.”

“And scaring us to death, was that his idea too?!” Martha threw her doctor’s bag onto the bonnet of the vehicle and swore loudly. “Oh it is a good thing he’s off planet - and immortal - because I swear, I am going to kill him!”

“Martha.” Ianto held his hand out to motion her back against the vehicle. “Save it for later.” Stepping forwards he nodded to the figure. “What is this message?”

“Personal.” Toshiko said quietly, holding out a small grey box, about the size of a matchbox. “Compatible with 21st century audio equipment. Except the iPod, most sorry.” 

Ianto thought his head was going to explode. Taking Toshiko’s form was odd enough but knowing about iPods? “This plays the message?”

Toshiko nodded and looked at Martha carefully. The other shadow slid around to stand beside Tosh and she reached into it, pulling out another box which she offered to Martha. “For you. Three for the price of two deal this lunar cycle.”

“Thanks...” Martha said quietly. “Three for... Oh dammit, Gwen!” Turning away, she quickly ran up the drive to bang on the front door, calling out to Gwen as Ianto and Lois stared at the shadow figure. 

“Why Tosh?” Ianto asked hoarsely at last, staring at the figure before him. “Why her form?”

The figure smiled and tilted it’s head slightly glancing at the house at though hearing something. “Why not?” The figure held out the scanner again and pressed it to his forehead gently. “Delivery complete. Thank you for your custom.”

With a soft whisper of the trees, the figure of Toshiko Sato melted back into shadow, the dark patch sliding back across the garden to the base of a tall tree. The other shadow joined it and a third seemed to slide through the open door of the house. Dancing across the blades of grass like a time delayed film it joined the other two before they faded as one into the shade of the tree.

Then vanished.

Ianto didn’t move as the others came out of the house, walking cautiously across the garden to join him and following his gaze to stare at the tree. No one spoke, Rhys’ arms wrapped protectively around Gwen and her hands over his as she stared at the shadow, a small grey box and a large, flat, curved green panel with what looked like alien markings in her hand. Her gift. 

It was Lois that finally broke the silence.

“So that was the intergalactic equivalent of Fed Ex?”

“Looks like it.” Gwen said quietly, looking at the objects in her hands carefully. “Whatever happened to just sign here and have a nice day?”

“Where’s the fun in that?” Ianto said thoughtfully, turning the box over in his hand. Jack. A message from Jack. Months with nothing and now... A part of him wanted to listen to it as soon as possible, to rush into Gwen’s house, find something to listen to it with and lock her out until he was done. Another part of him wanted to savour it, to keep the potential of it safe, afraid that it held something he didn’t want to hear.

Afraid it was a goodbye.

Slipping it into his inside pocket, he glanced left and right at his team, old and new, and took a deep breath. “Welcome to Torchwood, Lois.” Grinning genuinely, he looked down at the notepad in her hands and the flushed smile on her face. “Not quite what you’re used to huh?”

Shrugging, the temp slipped her pad back into her pocket and looked round the garden thoughtfully. “Dealing with a difficult client, induction medical, office politics and signing for a courier delivery." Looking up at him, she shrugged. "Seems like a typical first day so far.” Her smile grew broader as she grinned like a kid. "But I can't wait to see what the rest of the week is like!”

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

Johnson pushed the flat door closed behind her and leaned against it heavily, her body moving by memory to drop the keys on the small kitchen counter and kick her boots off behind the sofa.  The flat was tiny, a kitchen/living room with barely enough room for the sofa and a small TV in the corner but she didn’t care.  She was rarely home anyway.

She stepped into the small hallway and pulled open a cupboard door, shrugging off her vest and hooking it up before she went into the small bathroom opposite.  It took her barely five minutes to strip, shower and be out again, wrapped in a simple cotton dressing gown.  Her wet hair was hanging down her back as she patted it with a towel and finally headed into her bedroom.

Stopping in the doorway she sighed as she saw the naked form of John Hart sprawled on her bed, his mouth open and a soft snore escaping from his throat.  She was tired, her mind exhausted from the night shift yet her body was still wound up from the chase, still needing something to help it wind down.

Looked like she had just the thing.

Dropping the towel onto John’s lap she grinned as he stirred, the cold, wet fabric bringing him back to consciousness with a groan.  The first time he had broken into her flat and she had found him in her bed she had been furious.  Now, she was just relieved they didn’t have to waste time with any small talk or attempts at seduction.  They both knew why he was here.  And if she ever didn’t want to return the favour, he was just as happy on the sofa.

Stretching lazily, Hart looked up at her and grinned, the towel twitching slightly as he shifted on the bed.  “You’re late,” he said with a yawn.

“Then I guess you’d better work fast.”  Johnson grinned back as she undid her robe, whipping the towel off him again and throwing it across the room.  Climbing onto the bed, she straddled his thighs and looked down at him expectantly.  “Well come on then, I haven’t got all day.”

“Yes ma’am.”

That was the thing Johnson was starting to love most about Torchwood.  Same old work but everything had that little bit more passion to it, more soul, more fire.  Including her.  She really had a job she loved at last.

Looking down at Captain John Hart as she leaned over him, her wet hair dripping onto his shoulders, she grinned contentedly.  The job was great....

...and the perks were pretty good too....

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

Rhys Williams couldn’t help looking cautiously around the garden as he came home again, tired from having to catch up on missed work and phone calls.  For the most part his drivers had quite happily sorted themselves out but that didn’t mean they weren’t a little late out, having stopped for one more cup of tea before they hit the road.

He could have used something a bit stronger after his morning wake up call.  That was not how he liked to start the day – and the holes in his wall were going to need some serious work.  Luckily Ianto had promised to pay for it; he had no idea what the insurance company would have made of it.  Opening the door, he looked around for Gwen, hanging his keys up and making sure the door was bolted behind him.

“Gwen?  I’m home!”  

The silence worried him, and Rhys glanced around, looking for something to use as a weapon as he made his way towards the stairs.  “Gwen?”  Padding up them quietly, he became aware of a soft voice coming from the nursery, a voice he recognised straight away from the accent.  Harkness.

Rhys slowed, listening to the voice and trying to listen to what it was saying for all that he had insisted Gwen listen alone, that he wasn’t jealous.  That he wasn’t afraid she was just settling for him and waiting for someone better to come along and take her away from all this.

He was lying, of course.  He wasn’t an idiot.  For a while he had been sure Gwen had been sleeping with someone else at work.  It was the way she had been avoiding his gaze and using a different perfume, the way she alternated between pushing him away and practically jumping him when he got home, as though desperate to prove something.  

That was before he knew what she was actually doing though, and after she had come home with a great big bandage across her chest.  She had tried to hide it from him, then pass it off as just a brawl injury but she had been hurt, really hurt.  And she couldn’t tell him what had really happened, she had kept it all in.

It wasn’t the secrets that had bothered him in the end, so much as the knowledge that it wasn’t always that she couldn’t tell him what was going on, but that she didn’t think he would understand.  

Just like now.  He was terrified of the thought of her going back to Torchwood, knowing how dangerous it was.  He was terrified of her leaving him alone with a kid to raise, or worse, maybe one day deciding that someone else could understand better than he could, could protect her and the child better than he could...

Losing her would destroy him, whether it was in a sudden blaze of glory or a slow ebbing away of their love leaving nothing but memories behind.  The big question was, was she ready to talk about their future – or was it already too late?

He couldn’t make out the words, but he could hear the tone of Jack’s voice.  It wasn’t seductive, it was aching.  Rhys paused outside their bedroom, expecting the voice to become clearer then looking round as he realised it was the wrong room.

She was in the spare room.  The one he had been trying to think of as a nursery for the past few months only to have her keep calling it the spare room and changing the topic when he tried to bring it up.  Hesitantly, Rhys pushed open the door and looked inside, instantly spotting his wife in the small room.

Gwen Williams jumped as she looked round and guiltily turned off the recording, but not before Rhys realised Jack hadn’t been whispering sweet nothings in his wife's ear.  It had been what sounded like a nursery rhyme.  “Gwen?”

Rhys stared in amazement as he took in the bright yellow walls and the brightly coloured border going around the room, some childrens TV character grinning back at him as his wife, the mother of his unborn child, smiled back at him.  There was splashes of paint in her hair and what looked like wallpaper paste congealing on her decorating jeans – which were gaping open across her bump, the ends tied together with an old tie of his – and a hammer in her hand.

“Hi.”  

“You decorated!”  Rhys looked round in astonishment then looked at her suspiciously.  “You got the boys round didn’t you?”

“Nope.”

“Alien decorating tech?”

Gwen laughed out loud and placed the hammer on top of a sheet covered chest of drawers, shaking her head quickly.  “I wish.  Nothing that useful ever seems to come through the rift.  You’d think they’d still have decorators in the future.”

Wrapping his arms around his wife, Rhys ignored the paint stains and muck that were even now embedding themselves on his clothes.  “It’s gorgeous.”

“It’s got a long way to go.”  Gwen hesitated slightly, and Rhys knew she wasn’t just talking about the nursery.  “There’s still work to do.  But it’s a good start.”  She looked up at him carefully and he could see the caution on her face, treading carefully to make sure they didn’t slip into another row.  “I’m sorry it took me so long to get round to it.”

“Oh love...”  Rhys hugged her tight and looked around the room.  “Don’t be.”

“I mean it.”  Gwen pushed back and looked up at him and he was surprised to see she was close to tears.  “I... I’m ready to do this properly.  The whole mother and wife bit.  I can do this.”

Rhys laughed out loud and shook his head happily, grinning at the woman he had loved for so long.  He had known all along exactly what he was getting with Gwen Cooper.  That passion, that fire, it needed an outlet or she would burn up.  He knew that.  

“Don’t be daft.  Besides...”  He pulled her close again and shrugged lightly.  “I quite like the idea of being a house husband.  I can take him to football practice-“

“Or her.”

“-maybe even coach the team, hey I can be one of those cool dads who gets chatted up in the playground by all the single mums, and you can go out and work all day and I’ll have dinner ready when you get home-“

He stopped as Gwen punched him lightly, a soft grin on her face.  “You’d go crazy within a week.”

“As would you.”  Rhys shrugged and brushed the paint stained hair back from Gwen’s face.  “How about we worry about getting the little fella into the world first then work it out from there.  I’m sure we can come up with something between the two.”

“You sure?  But what if I decided to go back?  To Torchwood?”

Rhys took a deep breath and looked into her eyes.  “Then I guess I would be proud of you for doing what has to be done to keep us safe.”  He placed his hand on her stomach and swallowed hard.  “Just as I am now.  But I expect us to come first from time to time.”

“You will.”  Pulling him close, Gwen kissed her husband gently, thinking on what Jack had said to her in his message and taking his advice to heart at last.  Seizing the moment, this one simple, precious moment of peace before their two became three, Gwen kissed her husband and slid her hand into his, leading him out of the nursery and back to their bedroom.  She was ready to focus on herself and her family.

Besides, maternity leave was only a year.  She could manage without Torchwood and action and all that alien tech for a year.

Well, everything except the alien device Jack had sent her, although his assurances that it was what he had personally used had left her a bit bemused.  Still, anything that was “100% guaranteed” to make labour pain free was something she was not going to give up any time soon...

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

Lois fought back a yawn as she worked her way through the files, catching up on the history of Torchwood, the Doctor, UNIT, and the past few months that she had missed whilst in custody.  It was fascinating reading and she didn‘t want to stop, but her body was starting to betray her.  The sun that had streamed through the windows of the office through the day was starting to set, her desk lamp on to let her continue reading, and each turn of the page seemed to be accompanied by a yawn.

She barely even registered the mug as it slid its way along the work surface, but when the smell started to reach her she smiled and looked up, surprised to see Ianto standing beside her desk.

“You looked like you could use some caffeine,” he said quietly.  Ianto perched on the edge of her desk, his fingers wrapped around his own mug as he watched her.

“Thanks.”  Taking a sip, she sat back in the chair and raised her eyebrows in surprise.  “Wow.”

Ianto grinned softly, looking into the distance for a moment as he sipped his own.  “Good to know I haven’t lost my touch.  How’s the reading?”

“Good!”  Lois nodded happily as she flicked through the report to the page featuring photos of the Adipose.  “I love this one; I knew I hadn’t imagined those fat things.  I was on my way home from a few drinks after work and my bus nearly ran them over!”

Ianto looked at the upside down photo and smiled, tapping his finger on the image.  “We had a lady visiting Cardiff for a hen party who was on the Adipose plan.  Started popping out fat creatures in the middle of chip alley.”  Shaking his head, he chuckled softly.  “Nobody even noticed at first, they just thought they’d had too much to drink or it was some hen party prank.  We had to go try to round them up, poor little things were trying to walk to London, but then-“

He broke off as Martha’s door opened and she came out, her eyes showing signs of her having been crying but a smile on her face.  “Excuse me,” Ianto said quietly, putting his mug down and heading over to wrap his arms around her, hugging her tight.

Lois watched in silence and sipped at her coffee to hide her interest, feeling as though she was intruding on something private.  She had worked in many places but had never had quite as interesting a first day as this.  Her head was filled with sights and sounds that were going to take a while to sink in.  But for the first time since the 456 she was sure they wouldn’t give her nightmares.  

She watched as they whispered to each other, Martha nodding quickly and wiping her eyes as she hugged Ianto tight.  The way they held each other, to an outsider it would almost appear that they were too close, that there was something more in the way she looked at him.  But having seen them today, and Gwen, having been a part of this team even for such a short time she knew that sometimes sex had nothing to do with it.

Martha pulled back and nodded again, smiling at him before she turned to Lois.  Striding over to the desk, Martha closed the folder in front of Lois with a satisfying thud and looked at the half finished cup of coffee.

“Right, come on you, drink up then we’re off.  I think that’s quite enough aliens for your first day.”

“I’m fine, honest, I can work a little later-“  

“No,” Ianto interrupted calmly.  Lois looked up at Ianto and caught the faintest trace of worry on his face before he hid it behind a polite smile, a politicians mask. 

“There’s one thing you need to learn about Torchwood Lois,” he continued.  “Never, ever, pass up a chance to get some rest.  You never know when you may need the energy.”  Pulling the file back across the desk away from her, he tucked it under his arm and made a shooing gesture with his hand.  “Come on, I expect you back here at nine tomorrow, whatever hour you leave tonight, so you may as well run whilst you can.”

He stared through the tinted window at the sunset and looked lost in his thoughts for a moment.  “It will be dark soon.  Looks like it should be a clear night.”

Martha nodded to Lois discreetly behind Ianto’s back and Lois began to tidy up her things, hastily sipping at her coffee as she went.  “You’re right, don’t want to overdo it on the first day.  Got to pace myself.”  Grabbing her bag she looked round the office, finally noticing the time and that the technicians had left long ago; only the three of them remained.  “I didn’t realise it was so late!”

“Yep, this job will do that to you,” Martha said with a sigh and wrapped an arm around the younger woman, steering her towards the door.  “Now come on, I need a seriously large drink after this morning.  I’m getting too old for this nonsense.”  She glanced back at Ianto and grew serious again as she let Lois get her coat on.  “Have a good evening Ianto.  Call me if you need me, okay?”

Nodding silently, Ianto watched as they waved goodbye and leaned back against the desk, looking round the empty offices.  Time to go home.  It took him just a few minutes to go around and turn off the lights, the technicians and other staff having made their experiments safe before they left.  Stroking a fingertip across the lids of the reinforced glass jars containing the blobs he felt his expression soften as they changed colour in response, a streak of deep blue shining across the surface as though he had trailed paint over them with his touch.  

All too soon it was time to go.  Checking for the hundredth time that the message from Jack was safe in his pocket, Ianto switched off the lights and watched the soft blue glow of the computers play across the room.  As he clicked the security systems on and pulled the door closed behind him, Ianto took a deep breath and waited for the soft hum of the lockdown to confirm everything was safe.  There was only one thing left to do now.

Go home.

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

Captain John Hart yawned as he strolled through the wreckage of the Hub, assessing how far the workmen had got during the day.  They were still digging through the rubble but slower now.  The end of their working day was almost here whereas his was only just beginning.  Working day.  He actually had a rota and hours and a salary.  Hell, they had even joked about setting him up for the pension scheme.

He must be getting old.  

He nodded as he was handed yet another piece of brick that was covered in blood and a small plastic bag containing an unidentified piece of flesh.  For one man Jack sure had left a lot of traces in this place.  “Is that the last of it?”  The builder nodded and pulled off his gloves, throwing them into the biohazard bin.

“For today anyway.  Keep coming across bits of him everywhere.  You know this would go a lot faster if we didn’t have to stop every time we found a piece.”

“Preaching to the choir mate.”  John took the pieces and slid behind the screens, adding them to the growing pile ready for him and Johnson to sort through later.  He knew Ianto considered it appropriate for Johnson to do this task, as she made the mess in the first place.  As for himself...

Well, he was here for the cash.  Body bits duty earned him hazard pay, especially as no one else would do it, and he had spent enough time on battlefields to be quite good at identifying human remains.  But more than that, he couldn’t help thinking Ianto took comfort from the idea that someone who cared about Jack was dealing with his remains.  Which was daft of course, John was only here for the money.

At least that was what he kept telling himself.

Holding the bag up the light, John flicked his fingers against the plastic and wondered which part of Captain Jack Harkness he was looking at.  It didn’t look hairy enough to be anything that interesting.  Tossing the bag onto the table with the pile to be sorted, John poked at another bag with something decidedly squishy in and shook his head.   This was a stupid task.  They should just sterilise the place and get it over with.

He re emerged from behind the screens as he heard the last of the workmen leaving, saying goodnight to someone as they left.  As he suspected, as it had been every night since Jack had left, Ianto Jones was walking across the Hub, his hand going into his pocket for that same piece of ribbon.  John watched in silence as the younger man, his boss, found a suitable piece of rubble as close to where Jack’s office had been as possible and tied the ribbon on.

“You really think that will make a difference?”

Ianto didn’t jump at the voice, merely finished arranging the ribbon and stepped back, regarding the progress the workmen had made for one day.  Turning around he stared at John and shrugged, his hands going into his coat pockets in the chilly room.

“It doesn’t do any harm,” he replied softly. 

John strode towards him, his eyes sliding up and down the slender body with a slight leer before turning serious again.  “You really think just because you’re pining away and keeping yourself for him he will do the same for you?”  He reached out and stoked a finger down Ianto’s cheek and along his jaw, smiling slightly at the way the kid didn’t pull back any more, the way he almost seemed to welcome the touch.  “He’s immortal.  We’re not.  You should embrace life, make the most of the time you have.”

John leaned closer, letting his whole hand gently cup Ianto’s face as his voice dropped to a whisper.  “The time we have.  Think about it eye candy.  I know all the moves he had, and then some.”  His eyes roamed over Ianto’s face hungrily, taking in every line on his face, skating over his scar, before flicking back up to stare into those blue eyes.  

“I’ll even let you punish me, take his running away and leaving you behind out on me, hurt me.”  John leaned in closer, his lips hovering above Ianto’s now and he could hear the slight hitch in Ianto’s breathing, knew how hard the younger man was trying not to react to the touch, to the offer.  “You need to let go.  To find some release...”

It had been two months since Jack had left the planet, nearly eight since the pair of them had last been together.  John knew that Ianto would crack soon, would give in to the need to be held, to feel again.

He just hoped he would be the one to take advantage of it when he did.

Captain John Hart leaned in closer, the faintest brush of his lips running over Ianto’s...

Ianto Jones stepped back, pulling free easily and regarded John curiously before rolling his eyes.  “Is that the best you can do?  Jack’s doing half the known universe so I should do you?  If that’s your seduction technique how the hell did you get Johnson into bed, drug her?”

“Actually it was less a seduction and more a mutual arrangement, sir.” 

Both men spun round as Johnson walked in, her gaze showing neither concern nor amusement at their conversation or anything else she might have seen.  Walking towards the screens, she didn’t give them a second glance as she headed behind them, calling back to John as she did so.  “I’ll get started on the remains, then we can move on to the artefacts later assuming it all stays quiet tonight.”

Ianto shifted slightly guiltily and shifted his hands in his pockets, forcing a smile onto his face. “Right, yes.  I should um...”  Pulling his hand out he pointed vaguely at the door, hurrying forwards.  “I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Goodnight sir!” Johnson called back but John stepped forwards and grabbed his arm gently, stopping him for a moment.

“You know where I am,” the ex time agent whispered softly, “should you change your mind.”  

Picking John’s hand off his arm, Ianto shook his head and smiled sarcastically as he regarded him.  “I’ll keep it in mind.”  His face softened as he reached out and held John’s face softly.  “Same time tomorrow?”  

Pulling back, Ianto strode out of the Hub without a backwards glance and John watched him go.  He folded his arms across his chest as he regarded the long coat flapping behind Ianto’s legs as he hurried away.

The captain grinned to himself, enjoying being able to tease the kid so much even now.  Part of him knew that the day Ianto gave in would be the day he gave up on all this and, as much as he would enjoy the tumble, John wondered if it would really be worth it.  But the teasing, the flirting, that was always fun, and a good way to keep a track on Ianto Jones.  

As much as he hated to admit it, he had helped save the kids life and that left a bond between them, no matter how much they both would hate the idea.  John felt, for the first time in his life, a sense of responsibility for someone else.  He wanted to see how the story played out for young Mr Jones and his team.  He wanted to know if Jack would ever come back or whether Gwen’s baby would drive her insane or turn her into one of those mummies who could only talk about poop and milk.  He wanted to see who they hired to replace Martha and how the new kid would work out.  He wanted to know what was going to happen next.

He really was getting old.

“You really think he will give in one day?”  Johnson strode up beside him and looked at him curiously, no jealousy or concern in her face, just interest.

“A guy can dream can’t he?”  Grinning broadly, he turned to face her and raised his eyebrows challengingly.  “Why, worried about a little competition.”

“Oh please,” she said scornfully, “I was just hoping I might have my own bed back for a bit.  Speaking of which, should he ever agree, I have one order.”

John stood face to face with her, his hands on his hips as he stared her down playfully.  He loved it when she gave him orders.  “And what would that be ma’am?”

Poking a finger against his chest, she grinned back wickedly.  “His place, not mine.”  Turning away, she returned behind the screens.  “Right, come on, we’ve got work to do.”

“Yes ma’am.”  Mock saluting, John sauntered behind the screens with her and pulled on his gloves, enjoying the feel of the latex around his fingers and letting his mind wander onto much more pleasant uses for such things.  He had already stolen four boxes whilst working here and was still running low.  

Not to mention he needed more scalpels...

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

Ianto Jones crept slowly forwards across the gentle curve of the roof of the Millennium Centre, the last rays of sun setting turning the bronze into a glorious blaze of fire.  He tried not to look too closely at the curve, or the edge of the building, knowing in his head that he was safe there, the small patch of roof a spot that was a favourite of Jack’s.  

He stood very still, adjusting to the height, before carefully shifting to sit on the cold roof, his legs hanging down over the slim crack in the roof where the hatch was.  The air was cool around him and he pulled his coat tighter as he leaned back on the surface, resting on his elbows as he stared up at the sky.

He did this every clear night, when the city was safe and no emergency pulled him away.  He watched the sky begin to turn black and the first stars appear, wondering which one Jack was nearest to.  It was the time of day when he tried to switch off from the worries about the Hub, the team, the struggles to simply keep them going let alone making progress towards a lasting future.  If it hadn’t been for Martha and UNIT’s help in the immediate aftermath of the 456’s departure none of them may even have made it this far.

Bringing Sarah Jane and Mickey Smith on their side had been easy once they had been able to find them but their new sponsor, that had been a stroke of genius on the part of the boy, Luke.  Even the muscle, Johnson’s boys, had simply come with her rather than being anything he had done to convince them.   

Some days he felt like everyone around him was simply humouring him as he tried to rebuild the structure of Torchwood, nodding as he talked about the need for proper back ups and resources, then going off and doing their own thing.  He could see it in their eyes, they thought he was just filling in, he was the real temp, just waiting for Jack to come back and take over again.

The truth was, he couldn’t blame them.  Because he felt it too.

Ianto slipped the small MP3 player he had picked up that afternoon out of his pocket and slipped the earphones on, the soft hum of the city and the waves of the bay disappearing.  He wasn’t sure if he was ready for this, or if he ever would be.  Placing the player on the roof beside him, he held the grey box over it and felt it grow warm under his touch, a soft panel of buttons rising out of the device to match the ones on the player.  Just as the Wraitheen had chosen a form to suit him, so the device mimicked the controls on the player so he could control it easily.

It was time.

Placing his fingertips over the buttons, Ianto Jones took a deep breath and pressed play.

“Ianto.  I hope the courier didn’t scare you too much, I kindof didn’t have many options in getting this to you and I couldn’t remember if I’d ever told you about that species.  Not many firms will deliver to Earth, and they charge a hell of a premium for it when they do.  Plus I...  I wasn’t sure whether I should send this at all.  You probably don’t want to hear from me and I wouldn’t blame you.”

“I’m afraid you can’t reply.  The courier only does deliveries and besides, I don’t know where I will be by the time they get back.  I don’t tend to stay still for long at the moment.  I’ve been visiting a few tourist attractions, just catching the sights.  There’s this list of places you should go before you d-  Well, top one hundred sights to see and I realised I’ve never seen more than ten of them.  So I’ve been working my way through the list.”

“The travelling’s not too bad, I can usually trade my skills for a ride, and failing that there’s always a good old fashioned con.  Like last month I was a bodyguard for these two Minarian sisters and boy were they a handful, I almost got killed trying to keep them from-“

“You probably don’t want to hear about that though.  I keep...  I keep seeing things and wanting to share them with you.  I went back to Women Wept, it’s this planet that’s a real tourist attraction, I went there a long time ago with...  With friends.  I guess I was doing it on purpose, going somewhere I’d been before and just trying to remember how it felt.  How it felt to really be alive.  Hell, it feels like it was so long ago.  Which it was really...”

“I’m not making any sense of this am I?  You know, I had this whole plan in my head, what I would say, how I’d tell you...  And now I can’t seem to remember any of it.  I know I wanted to tell you a story I’d heard but I’ve forgotten who told me, and where, and it doesn’t make sense if you don’t know what a Tygal is anyway.  But it’s all just silly stuff.  And you deserve more than that.”

“You deserve so much more than that.”

“I...  I miss you.  But I’m not... I can’t come back yet.  It’s too soon, every time I see a human child, doesn’t matter what colony or planet, each and every child, I see him.  I can’t...”

“I will come back.  I promise.”

“But I...  I don’t expect you to wait for me.  I want you to...  To sit under the apple tree.  You deserve to have a full life, to go out, meet someone new, have some fun, maybe even...  Gwen’s not the only one who can have the happy ending you know, it’s not just a girl thing.”

“You deserve better.  So don’t be afraid to seize those moments and just live, Ianto Jones.  I...  I want you to be happy.  You deserve to be happy.”

“I just wish I could be the one to make you happy.”

“I’d better go.  My ship will be departing soon and I need to fill in the paperwork for the courier – seriously, triplicated forms and a hefty service charge, this guy could put Whitehall to shame.”

“I’ll see you later.  Take care.  Oh and if you find any of my stuff watch out for the grey box with the yellow characters on, it’s got a practical joke inside that should be non lethal but I don’t know if they go out of date or if it will even work on humans.  And if you find the coral from my desk please take care of her for me.  She will need a lot of TLC if she even survived that.”

“Say hi to Gwen for me.  And Ianto, I...”

“Thank you.  For... everything.  Thank you.” 

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

Ianto opened his eyes slowly, staring up at the stars as he removed the earphones, letting them rest on his chest.  He was cold, his body starting to ache from it and he had no idea how many times he had listened to the message now.  He could feel the slight sting at the edge of his eyes where the tears he had unashamedly let flow had cooled in the night air.  

His dad had called him weak when he cried as a kid, calling him pathetic.  Jack had simply held him.

Jack.  Ianto could feel a surge of strength inside him at the thought that Jack was coming back to him.  But the waiting, not knowing when it would be...  He couldn’t help the unfair anger welling up inside him at the message, at the way Jack had offered him this hope then not said more, angry that he couldn’t reply, couldn’t tell him how he felt too.

Or could he?

Lying still, Ianto picked a star at random and focused on it, keeping his eyes fixed on it as he began to speak.

“I know you can’t hear me, Jack, but I guess I need to talk to you anyway.  It’s the only way I can get the words out of my head and stop them driving me crazy.”  He paused, chuckling quietly in the darkness.  “I would put them in my diary but that’s long gone and besides, rereading what I’ve written would be too...  Sometimes it’s easier to say the words out loud and just forget them.  I know you will never hear them and maybe that’s easier.  Means I don’t have to worry about how you’d react and I can just say what I want.”

“I come up here whenever I can, just to see the stars.  I stare at them, trying to see each and every one, trying to guess where you might be, which one you might be near to.  I keep trying to see ships in orbit with my bare eyes, hoping that one day I’ll see that flash of you coming home.”

“I miss you.  Every day.  I keep busy, working hard and joking and laughing and trying to pull this lot together, but I keep expecting you to walk in and make some stupid remark or try and pinch my bum or just give me one of those looks...  I never thought I would miss your stupid innuendos as much as I do.  You used to drive me crazy with them, but now I’d give anything to hear some whispered suggestion about what we can do when Gwen goes home, or what you’ve got hidden in your coat pocket for me to find when we go Weevil hunting...”

“God I miss the sex.  I miss the way you could make me feel, as though nothing else in the world mattered except us, right there, right in that moment.”

“John keeps offering to help me pass the time and get some release, as he puts it.  Sometimes I’ve even been tempted, just a little.  But it’s not what I want, not really.  I told Rhi once, when she found out about us, that it wasn’t men, it was just you.  I guess what I really meant was that I could never imagine another man ever making me feel the way you do, so why would I ever be interested in anyone else?”  

“But every now and then, just for a moment, I’m tempted.  I want to feel, I want it to hurt and be rough and thoughtless and completely casual and just be something real, something I can feel, that I can hold on to, some sign that I’m still alive.  But I...  I won’t sit under the Apple tree.  Not until you come home to me Jack.  I don’t care what you do, I know you’re hurting and it doesn’t really mean anything.  I hope it doesn’t mean anything.”

“It’s strange, after Lisa it hurt so much, but right now I can’t feel anything really.  I don’t know if that’s a good thing or not.  I don’t know if when I do finally feel again it will just overwhelm me and I won’t be able to cope.”

“I dream of you sometimes.  Sometimes I dream of you coming into the Hub and taking over again, making the decisions, letting me rest and just step back and...  I don’t know how you used to do it.  How did you decide who was worth taking a chance on and who was a bad idea?  How did you send us into fights not knowing who would come back or...”

“I don’t know if I can do this Jack.  I’m not ready.  We’re not ready.  I don’t think we ever will be sometimes.  There’s just so much to do.  We barely even have a base yet.  We have an office, and a warehouse, and some cars but...  Some days I think of everything we still need and it terrifies me.  But I guess we will just do what we can and hope that it’s enough.”  

“I’m glad we don’t have to rely on any government money any more though.  The thought of even speaking to anyone at Whitehall turns my stomach.  I must admit, when we released the videos my phone didn’t stop ringing, and we sent Rhi and the kids and Gwen and Rhys’ families on a long vacation to keep them safe.  The bastards in the government even threatened to have me killed – again - until they realised that they were being thrown out of power so fast they didn’t even have the authority to do that any more!”

“UNIT was pretty good to us though.  Martha pulled some strings and got us somewhere safe to hide out until it all blew over.  And we got some new funding, you remember that sub wave network of Harriet Jones’ – and seriously, I know I have a common surname but even I am starting to think there are too many Smiths and Joneses in the alien fighting business.  It gets very confusing on the personnel records.”

“Anyway, she said it was part of the Mr Copper foundation and when we told them what had been going on they pretty much cut us a cheque!  Just like that.  They do ask the occasional favour but nothing that seems that bad so far.  I’ll keep an eye on it though.”  

“We’re also stashing money away for emergencies.  You should see us, we have six safe houses, twenty fake bank accounts with credit cards stashed around the city, no stealing on the street for us if the worst happens again.  I think you’d be proud of us.  I hope you’d be proud of us.”

“I hope you’d be proud of me.  I may not be doing things your way exactly – I certainly haven’t tried to seduce the new girl or been caught naked and misusing the equipment in the medical lab.  I did have a phase of wearing a hospital gown whilst they fixed up my leg but that’s not the same.”

“It’s less fun without you here.  I miss your jokes, I miss your laugh, I miss your touch, the way you used to hold me...”

Ianto shifted at last, his muscles complaining stiffly of the cold as a shiver ran through him.  Thoughts of his body had brought him back to reality all too abruptly and he winced as a spasm ran through his leg.  Martha would kill him if she knew what he was doing.   Sighing he looked up at the stars again.

“It’s late.  I should really head home.  Lois will need more training tomorrow, although she’s taking to it very well.  Gwen has finally gone on leave and hopefully she will stay there this time.  As for Martha’s replacement, there’s a doctor at a London hospital that Sarah Jane thinks can be trusted.  And the workers should break through to the autopsy room soon and...”

Shaking his head, Ianto sat up slowly, ignoring the aches in his body as he shifted.  “Enough.  I really do need to go.  But I’ll see you tomorrow Jack.  And the night after that.  And after that.  Until you come home.”

“Goodnight, Jack.  Come home soon.”

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

Doctor Martha Jones sat back at her desk and watched across the office as Ianto went through some more training with Lois, studying his face for signs of his mood and general health. He was a complicated man, hiding himself from everyone, but she had to do her best to get through to the real Ianto Jones, to gain his trust and get him to open up to her. She knew how important it was to have someone to share the hard times with. She knew how it felt to feel so alone.

It had been so hard getting them to accept her. It hadn’t helped that Jack had kept the truth of their past a secret from the others in the first place; when Ianto had put two and two together about the Valiant and her and Jack she had expected anger or shock. Not curiosity and a simple need to know what had happened there. She was almost grateful she didn’t know the full extent of what had gone on, just the pieces her family had told her. Just enough to let Ianto know Jack hadn't been alone. Just like he wasn't now.

It had taken time, but with slow progress she had become part of their group. 

She had been the one who, upon seeing the ragged team again as they sought sanctuary with UNIT, had dragged Ianto straight into hospital. She had helped save him from potentially life threatening complications caused by the shoddy treatment of his leg. 

She had been the one who had carried out Gwen’s first scan and watched closely for any traces of outside influence in the baby, and for any hint of Gwen’s true reaction to her impending motherhood. 

She had been the one who had to tell the world what had happened, who had slipped unnoticed through the busy newspaper offices to leave the disc behind. 

She was a part of their world now.

And it was eating her apart inside to be holding back from them.

Because she was also the one who had been lying to them from the start. 

Martha leaned back in her chair and fought off the guilt as best she could, but couldn’t help feeling a twinge of anger at the man who had put her in this position, who had her lying to her friends, his friends, because he couldn’t face them.

Jack.

How she longed to be able to tell Ianto everything. To admit that she had seen Jack during those six months he had been travelling and taking care of what remained of his family. To admit that she was still taking care of Alice, that the woman was starting to rebuild her life but would never forgive what had happened to her son. Would never forgive Ianto for taking him away from her. 

To admit that she and Jack were both worried that he wasn’t taking enough control, wasn’t strong enough to lead a team like this. That she was watching every move he made, pushing him, hoping to make him push back and slap her down. To admit that under Jack’s guidance, she was pressing all of Ianto’s buttons as subtly as possible, trying to make sure he was still alive, still feeling under all that armour.

To admit that as Ianto lay in hospital undergoing more surgery and physiotherapy, alone and grieving and wracked with guilt, Jack had been watching over him still, through her. To admit that she had kept him in the dark, had helped him through his worst days whilst keeping an impossibly huge secret from him, that she could have helped reassure him at any point but instead had kept silent.

To admit that even now she still knew exactly where the immortal was and what he was doing. 

To admit that her message from him had been a request for her to not just keep Jack’s secret, but to actively start spying on her friends, to report back to him on what they were doing, how they felt, how they reacted to his messages. To reassure him that they were alright, even as they had no idea what he was doing or when he would be back or how he was.

Martha found herself playing with the phone tucked into her pocket, her fingers running over the edges of it as she considered calling Jack to ‘thank’ him personally for his surprise messages. He could at least have warned her he was going to do that. Last time they had spoken he had been visiting the Singing Towers of Darillium and he hadn’t mentioned anything about a courier. 

He never mentioned much at all, always letting her talk, merely asking questions every now and then, about the team, about Gwen, about Alice. But most of all about Ianto. He wasn’t ready to come back, but she could hear it in his voice. He missed them. Just as they missed him. She just wished there was more she could do to bring this strange family back together again. 

But spying on them and reporting their secrets back to Jack? She already told him so much but he always wanted to know more, details that she felt uncomfortable sharing. 

If she didn’t tell him, would he cut contact with her? If she did, would it make him want to come back?

As for watching over them, that was something she did naturally. Watch and learn, the perfect companion.

Martha looked up as Ianto laughed at some joke and leaned closer to Lois, revealing something new in him. The way he moved wasn’t predatory or flirting, nor was it the brotherly way he acted around her and Gwen; it was almost paternal, affectionate, as though he was taking on a young pupil or apprentice. She knew he saw a lot of himself in Lois and hoped that the younger woman wouldn’t get the wrong idea. She would have to keep an eye on that.

But there was something more in the way he moved today, he seemed freer, lighter somehow. He smiled more easily, laughed more often and for the first time in months the smile really reached his eyes. Jack’s message to him had obviously done something right. He looked... hopeful.

Martha grinned as he caught her looking and hastily turned back to her reports. He was still, technically, her boss and she felt like a naughty school kid caught bunking off. She could see out of the corner of her eye the moment when he left Lois to it and strode over to her, her sharp eyes making out the slight limp he still had when he was tired or his body had had a workout. He must have had a busy night.

Ianto perched on the edge of her desk, a habit he had picked up to let his leg rest whenever possible whilst it had been healing. Folding his arms lightly, he glanced back at Lois before focusing on Martha. “She seems to be taking to it well,” he said softly.

“She does. After yesterday I wouldn’t have blamed her if she never came back. Actually I wouldn’t have blamed any of us.”

Ianto regarded her carefully for a moment and for a second Martha felt a slight panic in the way he looked at her, as though those blue eyes could see right into her soul, could see her lies. After all, he was the best liar here; she had barely managed to keep the Doctor a secret from her mother for a day. Ianto had kept his cyber girlfriend a secret for months. He knew all the signs, all the tells, he had to know, he did know, he...

“About yesterday,” he whispered softly and the moment passed, the panic fading. “I know you were just trying to do your job, and explore all the options, but about Gwen. And Jack.” He glanced around them quickly to make sure no one could hear then leaned closer, a dark look on his face that made her want to shy away from him, a look that somehow reminded her of the Doctor in his most terrible moments or Jack when Owen had died. 

“I never,” he hissed quietly but with real power, “ever want to hear you suggesting that Gwen is anything other than faithful to Rhys ever again, understood? I don’t care if you’ve just walked in to find her flat on her back being probed by a Talfasian Missionary-“

“Are they the ones with the tentacles?” she interrupted, trying to lighten the mood with humour.

“Yes, and they don't mind where they stick them, believe me," he said quickly, flashing her a quick smile before growing serious again in an instant. “But with Gwen, I don’t care if you’ve actually seen it with your own eyes you do not say it. Especially not in front of the staff.” Ianto leaned closer still and she could almost feel the protectiveness in him, and a subtle power he seemed to have gained overnight, a confidence and strength that surprised her. “Understood?”

“Yes sir,” Martha replied earnestly, without a trace of her usual sarcasm, and nodded. “I’m sorry.”

Ianto leaned back and his anger faded, a small smile returning to his face. “No harm done. As long as we understand each other.” Pushing off her desk, he made his way back over to Lois and sat down beside her, leaving Martha slightly shaken. In an instant he had gone from avenging angel back to tutor again and she took a deep breath to steady herself, a small smile wanting to creep onto her face in spite of her fright.

He was taking control, really taking control, at last. She'd found the line and he had pushed back. 

He was going to do just fine.

As for Jack, well, he had proved he was capable of getting in touch with his team directly again. Maybe it was time that he was the one who had a little pushing. Perhaps it was time she stopped making it easy on him and made him make his mind up where he wanted to be. Perhaps not knowing what was going on would be enough to make him want to find out for himself. 

To make him come home.

Martha slipped her phone out of her pocket and pulled up a number, entered as "Milliways, before quickly typing a simple three letter text and pressing send.

D.I.Y.

She jumped as her phone rang and nearly dropped it, wondering how Jack had replied before the message had even really gone, before rolling her eyes at her silliness as she recognised the number. It was just one of her technicians who was overseeing the workmen at the Hub. Answering the call she sat back, anticipating yet another question about whether the green goo was toxic and did they really have to bag every single piece of body they found.

As a result it took her a few moments to take in what they were saying and she could feel the shock on her face as she realised the implications. Almost stammering her answer, she hung up, sitting frozen for almost a minute. Shaking it off at last, she pushed her chair back from the desk, ready to move.

“Ianto,” she called out across the room, getting his attention instantly. “We have a situation. The Hub, it’s.... They’ve broken through into the autopsy room.”

“And...?” Ianto rose smoothly and leaned on the desk, staring at her.

“They... It still has power.”

“But that’s impossible.” He frowned, shifting round the desk, his hands going to his hips as he stood up straighter. “There is no external power going into the place, we checked. Triple checked. The amount of times I've argued with the electric company to try and get some power down there I'd know if there was so much as a light bulb's worth of electricity getting in. It can't be.”

“Well then something down there must have its own power source because the lights are well and truly on and someone is home. It's the alien cryogenics. Turns out we didn't need to worry about Blowfish pieces in the Bay after all. They’re, it looks like they’re all still frozen.”

She watched as Ianto took the news in, his face showing the same shock she had on hers before he nodded sharply. “Then I guess we have work to do.” He started for the door, reaching for his jacket as he went. "Lois, grab the file on the alien cryogenics system and get reading it on the way. Martha, grab the medical scanner and records in case we need to get any of the live ones out of there in a hurry and alert UNIT for some extra muscle and biohazard equipment. I'm driving."

"Yes sir." The two women spoke in unison as they shifted into action, hurrying as they followed his instructions without a second thought. 

Martha grinned to herself as she found herself obeying without hesitation, trusting him implicitly to know what to do. He was definitely getting the hang of it. Grabbing her things, she hurried out of the office after them, the heavy doors locking shut behind them with a soft thud as they hurried off to their next task. They may not be quite all together yet but they would get there. They had to.

Because the twenty-first century is when it all changes. 

And Torchwood - and Ianto Jones - will be ready.