So... over the past few months I have started several stories but haven't finished a single one of them. Unless you count that super-depressing death!drabble, which I don't.

Anyway, I'm going to post what I've got here. It's not too much.

I'd really appreciate your opinions here. Love it? Hate it? More importantly, do you think any of these are worth continuing? If yes, which one?

( No More Than Black And White | J2 AU )

( Try Not To Think, Darling | J2 )

( Bury All Your Secrets In My Skin | Eliot/John Winchester )

( Demons And Highschool. But Maybe That's The Same Thing | Sam/Dean )

So, this is it. Let me know what you think!

Hello writer's block, glad to see you're enjoying yourself, it's only been 7 months after all.

RPS, future!fic, character death, 203 words, sucky grammar. 

( I don't read death!fic but apparently I write it )

Title: Voice Mail
Author: Neyne
Rating: G
Pairing: Jensen/Jared
Summary: To change voice mail, press 2.
Disclaimer: Don't own them, never will. Sadface and all that.
Note: This probably doesn't even count as a real fanfic. Still, thanks to the lovely the9thdoctor for betaing.

"Press 1 for menu. To change your voice mail settings, press 2."

"Hi, this is Jared Padalecki." *Sound of someone being shoved in the background.* "And Jensen Ackles, who's too lazy to buy his own phone." *Unidentifiable noise, fainter.* "Hey, I heard that!" *More noise.* "We are not currently at home, please leave a message and we'll get back to you as soon as possible."

"To replay, press 3. To change voice mail, press 2. To return to the main menu, press 4."

"Hi, this is Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, who's too lazy to buy his own phone. We are not currently at home, please leave a message and we'll get back to you as soon as possible."

"To replay, press 3. To change voice mail, press 2. To return to the main menu, press 4."

"Hi, this is Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles, who's too lazy to buy his own phone. We are not currently at home, please leave a message and we'll get back to you as soon as possible."

"To replay, press 3. To change voice mail, press 2. To return to the main menu, press 4."

"To change your voice mail, please speak after the tone."

"Hi, this is Jared Padalecki. I am not currently at home, please leave a message and I'll get back to you as soon as possible."

Hi there! I kinda need your opinion on something. As the subject line says, it's a wincest fanfic and it takes place when Sam and Dean are in High-School. Now, my English isn't perfect and I know nothing about the 'typical' American High-School, so I'd need a beta, but I don't even know whether it's worth looking for one when I'm not sure whether I'll go on writing and actually finish the fic. So, what d'you say? Sounds interesting? y/n? Cause if it is, I guess I'll go on.

~*~

Sam is 15 when they move to Tennessee and he and Dean have a fresh start at a local High School.

They don't tell anyone they're brothers.

Sam thinks it's because it's way cooler to have an older friend who gets you out of trouble than having a big brother who keeps making sure his kid brother's alright.

Dean thinks it's because they both like the idea of having a big secret that doesn't involve demons, spirits or anything Supernatural.

John doesn't seem to notice.


The first day at High School isn't particularly interesting at first. They've done this plenty of times and it never changes. Except now they're not just the boring – yet stunningly handsome, as Dean likes to point out – new brothers who have moved here because their Dad's found a job in the 'big city'. Now they're the two guys who happen to have lived with each other for quite a while now, although they're not related. Paranoid as ever, John had decided to call them 'Miller' for the time being. As a result, one more fake name won't really make a difference if Dean goes by 'Parker', right? So, of course, there has to be a story behind this.

Sam snorts when they exit the principal's office. “Parker, huh? Very Spiderman.”

“Like you never read all those comics.”

“I didn't pretend I was Peter Parker.”

“Right. That's why I don't have your old Spiderman costume to prove it.”

“Fuck off.”

Two more minutes and a certain lack of orientation later, they finally find their lockers, shoving the new books inside.

Dean grimaces when he comes face to face with several pictures of a shirtless Leonardo DiCaprio.

“Why do I have the feeling that whoever had this before was either very female or very gay?” he mutters, more to himself than to anyone in particular as he quite unsuccessfully tries to rip the pictures off in one go.

The girl that's just walking past them suddenly stops in her tracks.

“That's Katie's old locker,” she says, big blue eyes focusing on Dean.

He grins in response. “Oh really? What happened to her?”

One day, Sam is going to find out how Dean always manages to fake interest. His previous attempts have all failed, but at some point he knows he just has to catch his brother off guard. Right now, it's making him slightly nauseous, for reasons he can't quite explain.

Shuffling her feet, the girl looks down for a moment, but then seems to catch herself and looks up again, fidgeting with her long, curly black hair.

“She died last month. Killed herself, they say. I don't know how she could do that...” And there they are, the inevitable tears filling her eyes. Dean winces slightly, but his expression is immediately filled with pity and he pats the girl absently on her back.

“So sorry,” he says, turning the patting more into a soothing caress. “I'm Dean, by the way.”

The girl gives him a teary smile, but takes his hand without hesitation. “Trisha.”

“Nice to meet you Trisha,” he grins, leer just barely audible.

Shouldering her expensive-looking bag, she gives him another smile before muttering something about class and disappearing around a corner.

Dean sighs. Looks like they can never go anywhere without any kinds of deaths following their every move – whether they're related to the 'job' or not. At least the girls are hot.

Sam leans back against his locker, bringing his brother back to reality.

“So, what are you going to tell them? You were raised by gorillas until we found and rescued you? If your eating habits are anything to go by, that's probably one of the more realistic ones,” he adds, smirking.

Dean shrugs. “We were really good friends when my parents died, and since I'm so irresistible, you and Dad just kinda adopted me.”

Dean can just see how Sam struggles not to roll his eyes, and can't help but chuckle when he fails. “You're so damn predictable.”

That earns him a only half-hearted punch in the arm and a glare from Sam. “Like you aren't.”

You have no idea..., Dean wants to reply, but he doesn't say it out loud.

~*~
By the way, yes, I'm aware that my writing sucks. I'm planning on editing the worst parts, so don't worry. Don't throw up.

You're welcome to throw tomatos, though, if it makes you feel better.

Howdy! So! I need your opinion on something. I just wrote this in, like, five minutes and it pretty much sucks and I'll probably rewrite the whole prologue, but! I got about 3 pages of the actual fic and I still don't know whether I should go on writing or not.
So, on a basic level, what do you say? It's Supernatural. With Wincest. Y/N?

---

The wooden floorboards creaked quietly when Dean entered the old warehouse, a crumpled piece of paper clasped in his hand. The message on it was short and simple -

Meet at the old Davidson's warehouse at 10pm. Come alone if you want Sammy to live.

-RM.

The message itself wasn't something that would have worried Dean that much. Of course, he'd be pretty freaked out that someone knew his little brother and obviously wanted to hurt him, but that was something they could handle. No, what made his hands shake as he crossed the long, dark hallway, looking for the door that led to the basement, was the signature. RM. Ronald Mueller, it couldn't be anyone else. And Dean would never forget that name.

The girl - Katie, he believed - started running, screaming her friend's name. Her friend, who was dead. He caught up with her within seconds and he knew his grip on her arms would leave bruises - not like that would matter, not anymore.

"Why are you doing this?" It came out more like a sob than a question.

Dean shook his head. "I'm sorry," he whispered and added something that sounded a lot like "I don't have a choice."

"Please," she sobbed, and Dean closed his eyes. "I'm sorry," he repeated, his hands coming up to her head, breaking her neck in one swift movement. "I'm so sorry."

The stairs were made of some cheap metal, looking like they could break any minute and his footsteps resounded in the room. They were loud, too loud, the only sound he could make out.

When he heard someone release their gun's safety catch, it was too late, cold steel pressing against the back of his head.

"Mueller," he growled, not turning around.

"Welcome back, Dean."

New Layout - same me!

Title: (Not quite) following the Sun
Author: Neyne
Rating: PG
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Spoilers: For 2x12 Fragments
Disclaimer: I do not own Torchwood or any of these characters. I just play with them.
Summary: After getting Myfanwy to the Hub, Jack runs into a certain Welshman.
Note: I didn't write anything for half a month, but I hope this isn't too bad... Also, a huge thank you to the9thdoctor for betaing!

Jack's heavy footsteps on the cold stone floor seemed to be the only sound that night. It was long past midnight, probably closer to the next morning than he preferred, but the adrenaline still surging through him kept Jack awake. Not that he needed sleep, anyway. It just helped to pass the time, because even as head of a secret, alien-catching organisation, the nights tended to get long, boring and most of all, lonely.

He had put the still unconscious pterodactyl in the Archives, sealing the doors with an alien artefact they had discovered four days ago. The space should be big enough for it to be able to fly around, and he couldn't risk it smashing their equipment in the Hub.

That had probably been the good part about not having an Archivist; he wouldn't be murdered for letting a dinosaur ruin their Archiving-System. Maybe he could convince Ianto that the mess had already been there before.

At least it would give the Welshman something to do. Jack still wasn't quite sure why he had hired Ianto. Former Archivist at Torchwood One, no exceptional skills or abilities...he had been good at catching the pterodactyl, Jack had to give him that, but that was pretty much it. Just a young, quite handsome man in a suit, seeming somehow lost and desperate, and looking for a job at an organisation that had killed his co-workers, his girlfriend and everything he'd known. And yet here he was, probably getting ready for his first day at work at the very moment.

Or not. Locking the Tourist Office behind him, Jack found himself staring at the slender, already familiar form of a young man leaning against the railing and looking over the deep, black water. Ianto jumped when he noticed someone standing beside him.

"What are you still doing here?" Jack asked, copying Ianto's posture as he looked straight ahead, at the point where the sun had been going down many hours ago.

"Thinking." Ianto shot him a side glance, but the Captain didn't seem to notice. And if he did, he didn't turn his head.

"About what?"

"About whether this is the right thing to do."

Jack pushed himself up in one fast movement, turning to face Ianto. "Are you telling me you don't want the job anymore? You were the one stalking me!"

"I want the job alright. It's not that." Ianto shook his head. He knew Harkness would want more answers, answers he couldn't give him, but he had gotten more and more used to lying over the past few years. The lies kept escaping him before he even realized it, and it worked. For how long, though?

Jack's expression softened a bit as he studied the Welshman's face. "Then what is it?"

"Doing this again. After Canary Wharf," he lied. "It's just a bit much right now."

Well, it was a nice half-truth. It was weird to go alien hunting again, like nothing had ever happened. Only that whenever he closed his eyes, he could see Lisa lying on the conversion unit, crying in her sleep because he had run out of sedatives. He could see himself looking down on her in some mixture of pity, fear, love and disgust.

"You won't have to work in the field, anyway. As you said, you're the Butler. And believe me, this is nothing like Torchwood London."

Ianto nodded absently. The cold metal of the railing was slowly pressing into his arms but he didn't move. He suddenly realized how close the Captain was, his arm brushing Ianto's slightly. Ianto found himself back at the warehouse, lying on top of the other man, faces only inches apart. Something had happened there, something that kept him awake and that made him come here, staring into space.

Jack's voice brought him back to reality.

"You know, if you ever want to tell me why you really want to work here, you know where to find me."

Ianto quickly pushed himself up, but didn't step back. No need to be too obvious, he told himself. People said that if you told yourself something long enough, you might even believe it. Ianto hoped that was true.

"Pardon me?"

Jack just grinned. "Never mind. I'll see you first thing in the morning. Well, in a couple of hours, anyway."

Before the Welshman knew what was happening, Jack pressed a quick kiss to his lips, and disappeared, great coat swaying behind him.

Ianto must have stood there several minutes, before he finally readjusted his jaw and turned to leave. He wouldn't get any sleep, but it wasn't particularly warm either, and he had to change into a new suit.

Soon, the spot in front of the Tourist Office was vacated, the water in the bay forming a black surface, waiting for the sun to crack it open again.

When Ianto entered Jack's office a few hours later, the Captain barely looked up as he automatically took the offered mug.

"We could use your help in the Archives, we've had a slight..disturbance there a while ago, maybe you could sort that out," he said, and went back to the mission report he was reading.

When he didn't say anything else, Ianto nodded quietly and headed for the Archives, glad that he had gotten the chance to take a look at the blueprints before bringing Jack his coffee.

He slowly opened the doors and stepped inside, feeling for the light switch. He was greeted by long, grey rows of dusty shelves; the huge, however spotless Archive of Torchwood Three. The pterodactyl lying on the floor beside the entrance made a sound similar to a yawn as it slowly woke up, stretching its wings and flying away into the...well, darkness of the Archives, Ianto mused. But unlike the cheesy sunset-phrase, this wasn't the end of anything, this was a new start. Somehow. Whatever it was, he'd figure it out. Once he had found a way to get Myfanwy back again.

---

Comments are always appreciated.
Also, if you want a sequel of sorts, shout, cause I'm just considering writing one.

Title: The Sun Shines Anyway
Author: Neyne
Rating: PG
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Disclaimer: I do not own Torchwood or any of these characters. I just play with them.
Summary: Summer afternoons never really change. People do.
Note: For the horizonssing challenge.

"Summer afternoon - summer afternoon;
to me those have always been the two most
beautiful words in the English language."

-Henry James

The sun was shining. Kids chased each other across the Plass, fighting with water pistols and more than once managing to hit an unlucky, and soon very wet passer-by. A young couple stood nearby, holding hands and talking quietly. Another family passed them, arguing about where to go next while – unsuccessfully – trying to keep an eye on their children. It seemed like the hot summer weather lured everyone out of their homes.

Amongst them stood a tall, handsome man. Despite the heat he was wearing his usual greatcoat, leaning against the railing and overlooking the bay. He held a small, black device in his hands.

Jack used to like coming here, a long time ago. Not much seemed to have changed – the people were still their usual, annoying selves; only that they weren't the same people anymore. They were different, new; and sometimes, Jack hated them for it. Sighing, he pressed the tiny button on top of the device. The world blurred around him.

~*~

Ianto laughed, snatching Jack's hand as they walked along the bay.

“You're kidding!”

“No! He's probably still down there looking for his mobile.”

“He could always ask Tosh to trace it,” Ianto pointed out.

Jack shook his head. “You know Owen, he'd rather spend a night in a Weevil cell than ask Tosh for help.”

“Too bad for him.” They were silent for a moment before bursting out laughing.

Jack only stopped when he spotted something at the far end of the road. “Ice Cream!,” he yelled. Before Ianto even realized what was going on, he was already being dragged towards a small ice cream parlour.

They stopped short though, only a few meters away. The parlour was packed with tourists, a large queue in front of it. Apparently they were not the only ones enjoying the summer afternoon.

“Awesome,” Jack muttered, looking disappointed.

“We can always go somewhere else,” Ianto suggested.

“Or we can do this.” Again, Ianto had no time to react as Jack pulled out his Torchwood ID and entered the parlour. It took less than a minute for him to reappear, holding two plastic bowls with chocolate ice cream.

“There you go,” he said triumphantly.

“You do know you're abusing your authority.”

Jack grinned. “But it's so worth it.”

~*~

Jack blinked, looking down at the device. A green light appeared a few more times, before going out as well, taking the remains of the memory with it. A single tear rolled down his cheek, but no-one was there to notice, he was, once again, alone.

Furiously rubbing his eyes, he glanced down at his watch. He was late.

The woman at the reception looked up when someone entered, smiling as she recognized Jack.

“You know where to find him.”

Jack nodded. He didn't even pay attention to where he was going – he'd been here so many times, that the way was more than familiar. Down the corridor next to the reception, two turns left, and there it was. The simple, white door with a small sign next to it: Ianto Jones.

He knocked twice before entering, getting no response. The man in the bed was asleep, his face seeming even more old and pale than usual as bright sunlight filled the room. He woke up when Jack sat down beside him and took his hand.

“Good afternoon,” Jack smiled.

“Uhm..hello.” Ianto rubbed his eyes, slightly frowning at him. “I'm sorry, may I ask who you are?”

Jack bit his lip. It surely wasn't the first time this happened, but it hurt nonetheless. “It's Jack, remember?”

“Jack...” His expression remained neutral for a moment, then suddenly lightened up. “Jack! God, I'm so sorry, I should have recognized you.”

Jack shook his head. “It's okay. Really.”

“But it isn't,” Ianto sighed, letting himself fall back against the pillows. He couldn't look at Jack, so he looked out of the window instead.

“It's summer,” he muttered sadly. “I wish I could go outside.”

“Me too.”

“And you should. It's not worth it, spending a summer afternoon in here.”

“Ianto...”

“I mean it. I don't want you staying here all the time, you have your own life.”

“And you are part of it.”

“I was part of it,” Ianto corrected him, turning around to look at his former boss. “But that's over now. You have to let go, please.”

“What if I can't.”

“You don't have much of a choice, Jack. I'm sorry. Please, just...go.”

Jack looked like he had been slapped. Slowly, he stood up. With a few, rapid strides he was across the room, not looking back at Ianto, or the small, black device he had placed on his bedside table. The door slammed shut behind him.

The sun was still shining when he exited the building, blinding him as he let his tears fall. He didn't understand how the sun could be shining like nothing had happened, like nothing ever happened. And yet it did. Jack used to love summer afternoons. He wasn't sure whether he still could.

Title: Home
Author: Neyne
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Disclaimer: I do not own Torchwood or any of these characters. I just play with them.
Summary: Jack and Ianto spend an evening at home.
Note: I basically wrote that to cheer myself up, so it's just some random fluff. Also, a huge thank you to the lovely the9thdoctor for betaing!

The golden light of the setting sun filled the room as Ianto shut the door behind him. He could hear someone rummaging in the kitchen cupboards and one of Jack's favourite Glenn Miller CDs was playing in the background.

'Looks like a scene from some cheesy film,' he thought and chuckled. He had been more than surprised to find out that HIS Captain Jack Harkness actually liked these films, and he wasn't quite sure whether curling up on the couch with Jack was worth watching 'Pride and Prejudice' for what seemed like the 100th time.

Jack didn't appear to have heard him entering, so Ianto tried to be as quiet as possible while taking his coat and shoes off and walking towards the kitchen.

"Hello there," he murmured as he slid his arms around Jack's waist, resting his head on his lover's shoulder. Jack tensed for a moment before quickly relaxing in the embrace, only turning his head a little to capture Ianto's lips with his own.

They hardly moved for a while, until Jack eventually stepped out of the embrace, returning to his former task: preparing dinner.

"You know, you'll never get to eat anything if you keep distracting me like that," he explained.

Ianto smiled. If anyone, just a few months ago, had told him that one day Jack would be at their flat, making dinner for him, he'd have politely asked them to take the next day off and get a good night's sleep; sleep deprivation tended to mess with people's heads.

And yet here he was, sitting down at the simple, wooden kitchen table and watching Jack. Most of the things in their flat were unused, the bed and shower being the only exceptions. They didn't really have much time to spend more than a few, rare evenings or early mornings here, so it wasn't worth getting expensive furniture for. Still, this was his and Jack's own little realm, a glimpse of a life outside Torchwood. It was home.

"Penny for your thoughts," Jack said, sitting down next to him. Ianto realized that he must've been staring into space while Jack had made dinner.

"It's just...beautiful," he replied softly. "This. Thank you." He barely finished his sentence as Jack leant in, kissing him passionately. Ianto moaned, pulling him closer, inwardly debating whether they should just skip dinner, or if it would ruin what Jack had obviously put so much effort in; he knew that the Captain didn't really like cooking and always complained about their 'old fashioned' cooking methods. Jack, however, ended the silent debate.

"What do you say, we warm it up later?"

Ianto grinned, slowly pulling away and standing up. "Sounds good," he said, holding out a hand for Jack and leading him to their bedroom.

They ended up eating their dinner for breakfast, hurrying to get to the Hub in time for the regular video conference with the Prime Minister. They knew that it would be a while until they'd have enough time on their hands to spend another evening outside the Hub, but they were both looking forward to it, to come back home.

---

I know this isn't particularly good, but I thought I'd post it anyway. Comments are always appreciated.

Title: Tea
Author: Neyne
Rating: PG
Spoilers: Last of the Time Lords (DW 3x13), Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (TW 2x01)
Disclaimer: I do not own Torchwood/Doctor Who or any of these characters. I just play with them.
Summary: Jack didn't drink tea.
Note: Prompts can save lives. Or creativity. Maybe both. Actually, this isn't even a real prompt, but it worked anyway. Also, a huge thank you to the9thdoctor for betaing!

Jack didn't drink tea.

Inhaling the nearly spicy aroma of his coffee, Jack leant back in his chair. He could hear Owen clattering away in the autopsy bay. Tosh was sitting at her workstation, absorbed in the new translation program she was working at. He could see Gwen talking to Ianto, probably asking him for what seemed like the hundredth time whether the wedding dress she had picked would be as good as she hoped. The Welshman nodded politely, before turning around and hurrying towards the Archives. Jack couldn't blame him, Gwen had gotten quite annoying over the last weeks. Of course, she wanted her wedding to be the perfect day, but this was just a little exaggerated. Women, he mused, closing his eyes as he took a sip from the dark liquid.

Ianto's coffee was always perfect.

He sometimes joked that Ianto's coffee had been the reason why he had employed him in the first place. And, although the coffee alone hadn't persuaded him back then, it had definitely been a great bonus. Especially since no-one else on the team seemed to be able to make a decent cup of coffee. However, Ianto did so much more for them than that. He kept the Hub running, a fact they hadn't known until the Welshman had been on a four weeks long suspension last year. Ianto had nearly had a heart attack when he had come back in only to be confronted with the giant mess they had made in such a short time. By now, it had become a bit of a hobby of Jack's to find out what Ianto hid behind the utter professionalism he showed whenever he was at work or around the others. It was enough to distract Jack from the growing pile of paper work on his desk, and from the world that lay outside the planet, no matter how attractive it sometimes seemed.

This was what he had come back for.

Jack remembered the night they had spent avoiding themselves, after Hart had disappeared in the Rift, reversing time to the moment when he had come through. He had left with Ianto that night, and now he was very glad he had. He had still been pretty traumatised from what had happened during the Year That Never Was. Even though the others hadn't noticed it, Ianto had, taking care of Jack. He had made sure that Jack didn't fall asleep in the bath tub, before disappearing in the kitchen to make him a cup of tea. 'No caffeine, you need to get some sleep,' he had explained when he had returned to the bathroom. Jack had thanked him, but ignored the cup. It had reminded him too much of the Doctor.

Jack didn't drink tea.

The Doctor always drank tea. It was a constant companion when you travelled with him: the TARDIS, lots of running, and tea. But travelling with the Doctor had lead to so many bad things, that Jack wondered what he still liked about the man. Thanks to the Doctor, he was immortal, which was a far worse curse than anyone could ever imagine. Thanks to the Doctor, he had spent a whole year being chained up and tortured, simply for the entertainment of some psychopath, and unlike the Doctor, Jack was more than happy that he was dead, Time Lord or not. Jack had left the moment he knew it was finally over. He didn't regret it, he wasn't planning on ever going back there, back to the Doctor.

He had left that behind. Smiling at Ianto who was now leaning at the doorframe of Jack's office, he didn't feel sorry at all.

Title: How did I get here with you
Author: Neyne
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood or any of the characters. I just play with them.

Summary: Ianto's back in Cardiff, but what about Jack?
Note: This is a sequel to Rooftops, Rifts and Random Acts, so you'd probably have to read it to understand this.
Again, a huge thank you to the9thdoctor for betaing!


"What the hell did you put in these?" Jack complained, as he carried yet another packing case upstairs. After an hour of getting Ianto's things to the new flat and carrying boxes around, he wasn't so sure about having agreed to come over and help anymore. Then again, he wouldn't want to miss an opportunity to stick around at Ianto's for more than a few hours. Because nowadays they talked, they actually talked. In fact they seemed to have talked more in the last two weeks than they had during the whole year before Jack had run off with the Doctor. They mostly talked about random things, happily avoiding the topic they should talk about. Which was long overdue. Jack felt like as long as he didn't talk about it, he could pretend it didn't exist, and he bet that Ianto's excuse was similar. Still, he knew they had to at some point.

"You could just look at the sign on the box." Ianto replied from the bottom of the staircase.

"It's hard enough to get upstairs when I'm able to see where I'm going, thank you very much."

Putting the box, that, as he found out, contained books and DVDs, down in Ianto's still empty living room, Jack looked around. The flat wasn't particularly big, but there was enough space to have lots of room for yourself, or even a second occupant, and it was very different from his former apartment. Jack hadn't been there very often. Only a few times during Ianto's suspension after what happened with Lisa, and another time after the Cannibals, but from what he remembered, it had always been a quite dark, depressing place. It hadn't existed for him to actually live in it. He had mainly kept his things there and maybe once a week slept in his scarcely used bed, but nothing else. This one was different. The rooms were filled with sunlight that shone through large windows and the walls were painted in a light yellow tone, making it look warm and comfortable. It seemed like a place where someone would actually want to stay. Which was good, Jack decided. He wouldn't want Ianto to spend so much time at the Hub if he came back. Another part of him however hoped that this was not a sign that Ianto didn't want to come back at all. That he wanted to live a normal life and therefore furnished his flat properly.

He frowned, then shrugged the thought off and exited the flat again, leaning over the railing and watching Ianto as he moved more boxes to the bottom of the stairs where he'd let Jack carry them upstairs, before he went downstairs himself.

Jack had just reached the ground floor, when a door next to them opened and a young woman stepped outside. She couldn't be older than 20, probably a student; squeezed between the large staircase and several storerooms, the flat had to be tiny, dark and therefore pretty cheap.

Her look followed Jack as he descended from the stairs, then fixed on Ianto.

"You're the one moving in?" she asked, finally.

"That's me. Ianto Jones."

"Tracy." She turned to Jack. "And you are?"

Jack smiled. "Captain Jack Harkness." he said, shaking her hand and winking at her.

"Stop it!"

For a moment, Jack just stared at Ianto, then burst out laughing.

"What?"

"Private joke." Jack explained, trying to stifle his laughter, and failing hopelessly.

Ianto shook his head in mock despair. "Always the same..."

Tracy looked at them with a bemused smile on her face, soon to be replaced by a big grin. "So, are you..." she asked, the expression on her face completing the question.

Ianto blushed and cleared his throat. "We should really get these boxes inside, it's supposed to start raining again..." His voice trailed off, and so did he, heading for the front door, which closed behind him.

Jack stopped laughing. "Excuse me." He gave Tracy an apologetic smile and followed the Welshman outside.

He found Ianto by the SUV, fiddling with the rope that had kept everything in place.

"You didn't say no."

Ianto didn't turn around. "Would it have made a difference?" He grabbed another box.

Jack looked at him for what seemed like several minutes, then dropped his gaze to the floor. "Probably not." he shrugged and watched Ianto as he walked back to the house.

Fighting his instinct, he stayed where he was. Looked like now was a good time to stop pretending.

~*~

Except for two homicidal Weevils, the Rift stayed silent the next day, which gave Jack the opportunity to invite Ianto for a drink. As expected, Ianto said yes and they met up at a small pub in the centre of Cardiff.

Before Abbadon, Jack could have never imagined sitting in a bar with Ianto wearing casual clothes, and just talking, no matter whether it was about something serious or just a chance to relax and get away from the Hub for a while. And yet, here he was; sipping at his water and staring into space.

Ianto was sat opposite him, finding a great interest in watching his hands. They had done this before, going to a bar, that is, but they both knew what this was about.

Jack decided to approach the topic carefully.

"So... what did you actually do while you were gone? You never said."

Ianto looked up for a moment, then went back to inspecting his hands.

"I worked with some kind of special-ops team. Lead them, actually. It was quite similar to Torchwood, only without the anti-alien attitude."

He held up a hand when Jack opened his mouth to argue. "I know it has changed since you took over Torchwood Three, but originally, that's what Torchwood was for. Protect Earth from aliens, or rather get rid of anything that might be the slightest threat. I've read all the case files, you know."

"I know. That's why I didn't really want to join when they first offered me the job. But are you serious, you lead a team?"

The surprised tone in Jack's voice made Ianto smirk. "Yup. It was quite interesting, being in charge. But it's not really my thing, even though it does have its advantages."

Jack raised an eyebrow at that. "Oh really?"

"Definitely. You wouldn't believe how many people try to seduce you when you're in such a position. Not that I'm complaining." He grinned. "Don't look at me like that, I'm joking. Just because New Earth is so different I don't have to have changed. I'm still the same person. Still have the same opinions, the same thoughts about this place...and these people." For the first time that day, he looked Jack straight in the eye. However, he didn't say anything else.

Running a hand through his hair, Jack examined Ianto's expression, like he hoped to find an answer to his unspoken questions. But even though the Welshman now showed more emotions than he had before New Earth, Ianto was still capable of not letting too much sip through.

"Where does that leave us?" Jack asked. In all honesty, he was pretty scared of the answer. Because he had no idea what Ianto's response would be. He cared for Ianto, more than he'd like to, because he knew what the consequences were: he'd loose him eventually, but he couldn't help himself. He'd realized that when he had seen him in the Houses of Parliament where he had just wanted to wrap his arms around Ianto and make up for whatever had happened to him, to them. But it hadn't worked out like he had planned and now he simply didn't know what to make of this. Something was going on with Ianto, but he couldn't tell whether it was good or bad. And that was driving him insane.

"I don't really know. Sometimes I just want to give it all up because it's not worth it, but then I think about it and I realize that I..."

Whatever he realized, Ianto didn't get the chance to say it as Jack's mobile started beeping, much to the annoyance of the people around them.

Ianto paused when he saw the Captain frown.

"What is it?"

"I gave the others the evening off and set the Rift alarm to my mobile in case there's an emergency... and looks like we got one. Sorry." He actually looked like he regretted it, a fact that made Ianto smile to himself.

"That's okay. Where?"

Jack checked his mobile again.

"Just around the corner. I parked the SUV right next to the building, so it might not even take very long. Do you think you can wait a bit?" he asked, standing up and grabbing his coat that he'd thrown over the back of his chair.

Ianto stood up as well. "I'm coming with you."

Jack paused. "No you're not."

"I am. I spent the last couple of months hunting aliens on my own, I think I'm quite capable of holding a gun. Now come on, there are a lot of people running around in this area, that'll just complicate things. Even if you can manage whatever came through on your own, you might want to have someone around to distribute retcon."

With that, Ianto walked past Jack and headed for the SUV, knowing that the team kept various guns in the back. Jack just stared at him for a while, before he realized what he was supposed to be doing, and followed the Welshman.

"But you're not taking any risks. If it's just one, leave it to me."

"As long as you're not planning to kill yourself again," Ianto replied while loading his gun and locking the SUV up.

"That wasn't on my to-do list for today."

"Good."

Using Jack's mobile to trace the rift energy, they disappeared into the street at the back of the building. Luckily, there didn't seem to be anyone else around and Jack could only hope that it would stay that way. One of the first things you learned when you worked at Torchwood was that being in the wrong place at the wrong time could be deadly.

He was yet again scanning the gaps between houses when a faintly glowing, orange light caught his attention. Silently, he directed Ianto to follow him at a distance. Pressed against the cold stone wall, Jack crept towards the light, gun pointed at whatever was waiting for him. The light flickered, and for a moment it went completely dark. Since he couldn't be sure that the creature didn't have an especially good night vision, Jack stayed where he was. Better safe than sorry, a saying he'd never really payed attention to, but now Ianto was with him. And he'd promised not to let himself get killed. So he didn't move, until the light came back on. It was then, that Jack managed to see what it really looked like and he stopped short. It was just that, a light. A damaged lamp at the back door of some old house. But that couldn't be right. Checking his mobile again, the creature was supposed to be right on top of him. Jack was still frowning at his mobile when he heard something growl behind him, and Ianto's shout to watch out. Oh.

Jack turned around, finding himself face to face with a particularly big Weevil, and he could see several others moving behind it. He didn't even blink, but shot the Weevil in the stomach. It kept coming towards him.

"Shit!" he swore as he backed off. Apparently he was really bad at keeping his promises.

Suddenly, there was a loud noise and before he could even take in what was going on the Weevil stopped dead, quite literally, and collapsed on top of him. The weight pressed him down and within seconds, Jacks knees gave away, and he fell to the floor, hitting his head on the cold stone. Unable to move his legs, Jack turned his head. There were five other Weevils lying on the floor, their blood forming a big puddle in the middle of the street.

And above all was Ianto, dropping his gun and hurrying towards him.

"Jack! Are you okay?"

Jack groaned when Ianto pushed the creature off him. "Define okay."

"Not mortally wounded?"

"Dunno."

Ianto's expression could only be described as angry. "You're so not doing that again." He began moving his hands over Jack's body, searching for broken bones. He didn't find anything, but if any internal organs were damaged... hell, this couldn't be happening again.

"It's not that bad." With a bit of help from Ianto, Jack sat up, resting his head on Ianto's shoulder.

"Nice shot though, Yan. Six Weevils at a time, even Owen didn't manage that yet, and he's supposed to be best at it."

Ianto looked relieved. "Well, I had some practice." He paused when he felt Jack burying his face in his shoulder.

"You should go to a hospital."

"I'm fine."

"You were nearly ripped apart by a Weevil, I don't think that counts as fine."

"I'm okay! Look, I can even stand..." Jack let go of Ianto and got up. He was standing for about two seconds before his legs gave away again and he had to cling to Ianto to stop himself from falling down completely, his nails digging into the fabric of Ianto's dark red shirt.

"Or not."

"I just have to rest for a while."

Ianto couldn't argue with that. He knew that Jack healed quicker than others, but it felt kind of wrong to do nothing when he was so obviously injured. However if Jack just needed to rest, he could do that. Ignoring the smell of blood around them, Ianto held him close.

They sat there in silence, none of them knowing for how long, surrounded by blood and Weevil corpses, clinging to each other because that was all that mattered.

~*~

It was hard to tell how long they had been sitting there. Judging from how cold he was, even with Jack being so close, Ianto assumed it must have been much longer than it should have been. He wrinkled his nose. And the Weevils began to smell.

Slowly, he untangled himself from Jack. The older man didn't respond.

"Jack?"

He lifted his head a little, before yawning loudly. "Huh?"

Ianto muttered something under his breath, before pulling Jack up. He could tell that Jack was cold as well, if the slight shaking was anything to go by.

"You need to get somewhere warm," he stated, guiding Jack down the street and towards the SUV. This had really not been a good idea. Even Ianto, although he hadn't been hurt at all, felt worse after sitting there for so long. He couldn't imagine that it had helped his Captain at all.

"I can walk by myself."

"Are you sure you want to test that out?"

Jack didn't seem to be too happy with Ianto's decision, but he didn't object as the Welshman made him sit down on the passenger seat, and picked up some of the body bags in the back. It wasn't long until Ianto was back, closing the door behind him.

"Where are we going? I guess you won't take the Weevils to a hospital?"

Ianto smiled. "Not quite. We're going to the Hub. With any luck, Owen might not be completely pissed and he can make sure you'll be fine."

"Alright," Jack muttered, which seemed to be more worrying than anything else he could have said. Ianto started the SUV. They'd better get there soon.

During the drive, Jack stayed silent, looking out of the window. Either thinking about something, or just too tired to start a conversation. Yellow and orange lights zipped by, and eventually, they reached the Hub's garage. It was tiny, with just enough space for the SUV, a fact that annoyed Ianto every time he thought about it. It was only logical, though. Anything else would have cause too much attention, or at least some rumors, they were supposed to be working at a Tourist Office after all. And there were enough stories about Torchwood out there, as it was.

They were already halfway through the hidden passage when Jack stopped.

"What about the Weevils?"

"They're unlikely to attack anyone now, we can leave them in the SUV until later." He'd make sure to deal with them as soon as he knew that Jack would be alright. Until then, the Weevils would have to wait.

Softly pushing Jack forward, they continued their way towards the med bay. It had been two weeks since Ianto had last been here, but it didn't look any different. Well, maybe except for some additional pizza boxes, but most had already been there when they had come back from London.

As Jack had said, the others had long gone home or, more likely, to a pub, leaving the dark, empty Hub behind. Only Toshiko's computer was still on, running some translation program. Ianto wondered what Jack had done if he hadn't met up with Ianto. Probably no paperwork, Ianto decided. He realized that he'd rather not think about it. Jack must have been spending most nights alone in the Hub, waiting for the others to come in in the morning. Before, Ianto had always been there, but now... he shook his head, trying to get rid of his thoughts in return. It didn't really work.

The stretcher was cold, but Jack sat down, anyway. He was feeling a bit dizzy by now, looked like he'd hit his head pretty badly. Sometimes the whole immortality thing could come in quite handy, he had to admit. Under normal circumstances, it might have even be deadly, or at least enough to cause permanent damage unless he'd been really lucky. Still, if he had the chance, he'd kill himself the second he knew he wouldn't wake up again. Well, he might wait a while, if I could. He'd like to say goodbye and not just disappear like he had done before. After having seen what had happened last time, he wasn't too keen to experience that again.

"Owen's not answering his phone." Ianto had returned from the main Hub, walking down the stairs towards Jack.

"Looks like you get to play doctor after all."

Ianto raised an eyebrow at that and Jack grinned.

Picking up a penlight, Ianto walked over to Jack.

"Pupils are okay," he stated, his face only inches away from Jack's. He took hold of the older man's wrist. "Pulse is fine. And according to the scanner..." His words were cut off by Jack closing the short distance between them and kissing him deeply, his hands coming around Ianto's waist. Although he was startled at first, Ianto responded, pulling Jack towards him, kissing back eagerly. A part of him was quite surprised that he didn't find this wrong at all, more the contrary. He remembered their last kiss all too well, and it hadn't been anything like this. This felt...right. They were both panting madly when they finally broke apart, resting their foreheads against each other.

Ianto noticed that Jack struggled to get his breathing under control.

"You should rest."

"I know," Jack replied, slipping off the stretcher.

Jack's quarters were cold, and they seemed smaller than Ianto remembered. A small light bulb came to life as they entered, bathing the room in a warm light. It wasn't too comfortable, it never had been, but at the same time there were few places he felt more relaxed at. It wasn't much unlike Jack himself.

Jack's shirt landed on the floor, soon to be followed by the rest of his clothes until he was only wearing his boxers, studying the other man's face. Ianto hadn't moved at all, but watched Jack, uncertainty taking over again. He surely knew what he wanted to do. And he was pretty sure that he knew what Jack wanted, too. Stringing both together seemed to be something entirely different, though...or did it?

He barely noticed that Jack had stepped forward until the older man put his hands on his shoulders. They were, yet again, so close he could feel Jack's breath on his face.

"Stay?"

He paused for a moment.

"Alright."

And Ianto stayed.

-fin-

Title: Rooftops, Rifts and Random Acts (Part 11/11)
Author: Neyne
Rating: PG-13-ish
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood or any of the characters. I just play with them.
Spoilers: Reference to the events of 'Adrift'. This is an End of Days AU though.
Summary: Something happens when Jack is away, and neither Torchwood, nor Ianto are the same afterwards.
A/N: A huge thank you to the9thdoctor for betaing!

Part One || Part Two || Part Three || Part Four || Part Five || Part Six || Part Seven || Part Eight || Part Nine || Part Ten

The sound of people chatting away filled the Hub: Ianto had come back with them. Whether he'd stay or not, they had all missed each other and were eager to catch up on what had happened since he had disappeared. Shanks seemed a bit uncomfortable around Ianto, he didn't know him after all, even though he'd always heard good things about him. But he'd surely come around.

Jack stood a bit further away, grinning as he watched his team. He remembered doing this before, when he had come back from his travels with the Doctor, and now, finally, it seemed like the pieces fell back into place. It seemed right.

Still grinning, Jack raised his mug and took another sip, closing his eyes to completely enjoy the sensation. He had missed Ianto's coffee. There simply was nothing to replace it, a fact that worked quite well for the man himself. Someone chuckled next to him.

Opening his eyes, the Captain realized that Ianto was standing beside him.

"Like the coffee?"

Jack leaned back against the wall, eyes fixed on the Welshman. "Do you even have to ask?"

"I guess not." Ianto followed Jack's example, steadying himself at the wall, hands in his pockets. He was still wearing casuals, and god, he looked gorgeous in them. Jack loved his suits, but these jeans really suited Ianto. He couldn't wait to peel them off him. However, by the looks of it, he'd have to wait a little longer.

Ianto seemed to able to read his thoughts.

"We both know this doesn't solve everything." he stated.

"It doesn't. But it's a start, don't you think?"

Ianto smiled. "That it is."

Jack grinned in response, standing upright again. "Need help getting your old apartment back? Or are you looking for a new one?"

"Not sure yet. I do have a flat around here, but it isn't really that great, so I'll probably move. Maybe somewhere closer to the Hub." he added. "Though, of course, that depends on whether I'm staying or not."

Jack nodded, looking over to the rest of his team. Gwen was talking to Oliver, from time to time gesturing in Jack and Ianto's direction. Tosh had settled on the couch and Owen sat next to her, presumably talking about nothing in particular.

"I'd appreciate the help though, if you don't mind." Ianto said, which had Jack turning around again.

I'd love to."

Click for the Sequel!

Title: 5 Times Ianto Came In Late
Author: Neyne
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Warnings: Spoilers for more or less all of Season 2
Summary: The title is self-explaining, I think.
Disclaimer: I do not own Torchwood, or any of these characters. I just play with them.
A/N: I know, I should be learning how to program this java stuff, but who'd want to learn for a test when they can write Jack/Ianto?!


The first time Ianto came in late, Jack was waiting for him.

“You're late.”

The usual calm, professional expression fixed on his face, the Welshman looked up. Jack was standing on the stairs to his office, leaning against the railing. He looked dishevelled, his hair ruffled and Ianto thought he could make out some dirt- and bloodstains on his shirt. Probably the result of an early Weevil-hunt. Ianto cleared his throat.

“Traffic, sir. I'm sorry, it won't happen again.”

The truth was, that even if there had been the biggest traffic jam in the history of Cardiff, it wouldn't have made a difference. Ianto was living only a few minutes away from the Tourist Office, and he never missed an opportunity to walk there. But obviously, Jack didn't know that. The Captain didn't seem to be interested in anything outside the little, ugly world of Torchwood Three – and that included his employee's private life.

No, Ianto had been getting new supplies for Lisa. He could hardly order them in – even Jack may have noticed that after a while. Therefore he had no alternative to picking up all necessary items himself. Of course, he preferred it when that didn't collide with his work, but sometimes it was beyond his control. It was hard enough to get the supplies without anyone noticing anyway, he couldn't make demands there. And if he had to decide between a slightly angry Jack and a dying Lisa, he'd happily chose the first option.

“Well, next time warn us, will you? We could have needed you to watch our backs.” Jack's gaze left Ianto, and he looked to the floor, not before glancing in the direction of the medical bay for a second. The Welshman might not have cared much about the team at that moment, but he was quite capable of noticing that something was wrong.

“What happened?”

Jack shook his head. “Nothing too bad. We just didn't expect another Weevil, didn't see it coming. But Owen says Tosh will make it through, so...”

“Tosh was hurt?”

“Yes, but she'll be fine.”

Ianto looked away. Tosh was hurt. Tosh, who sometimes even seemed to care about her co-workers. The small, but courageous Japanese. And she was hurt because of him. Because he had forgotten about them, too absorbed with his worries about Lisa to realize that he still had some duties there. It was his fault.

“Then I'll better make coffee, sir.” He said, his voice barely more than a whisper and turned around, heading for the small kitchenette.

Jack looked up, his gaze following the younger man as he made his way through the Hub. Instinctively, Jack hurried after him.

Ianto was standing in front of the coffee machine, his head rested against the cold metal and his eyes closed. Jack wished he could see his face properly, but he knew that if he made Ianto aware of his presence, the Welshman's expression would be blank, emotionless.

So the Captain said nothing, walking away to check on Toshiko.

~*~

The second time, nobody was around. It started to rain when Ianto opened up the Tourist Office, pulling his coat tighter around him. He nonetheless flinched when a sudden wind gust revived the pain in his throat, burning through the still healing wound.

Ianto took his time getting everything in order. He sorted the unimportant mail out, checked his e-mails and decided to take a look at the CCTV, just to make sure everything was okay.

Owen was sitting at his workstation, looking bored. He couldn't see Tosh, but she was probably around somewhere, a half finished program and a Starbucks paper cup on her screen. Jack was in his office, and no sign of Gwen. No surprise there. She would come back to work once she felt better about what had happened.

Frowning at an e-mail from a pretty unhappy PM, Ianto started working.

“I thought I'd told you not to come in today.”

He didn't need to look up to know who it was.

“I preferred going back here, sir.”

Jack stepped closer, hands in his pockets.

“Nightmares?”

Ianto shrugged. “Just didn't feel like staying at an empty apartment, I suppose”, he replied, not looking away from the screen.

“Can't argue with that. But you deserve to have some time off. Or rest, at least”, he added. He knew Ianto well enough to know that he wouldn't agree with Jack, but he wasn't having anything of it.

“Owen will kill me if you pass out from exhaustion just because you think you're completely okay again. 'Cause you quite obviously aren't.”

Ianto sighed, but nodded.

“As long as I can stay here.” It sounded almost like a plea.

“Of course.”

~*~

The third time Ianto didn't arrive on time, the team broke in his flat.

The Archivist groaned, burying his head in his pillow. It seemed like every morning was just getting worse. What was he still getting up for, anyway?

“Ianto? Ianto, are you okay?”

Gwen came storming into his bedroom, only coming to a halt a few inches away from his bed, staring at him with an expression of shock and relief. Ianto frowned, until he noticed that he, apparently, wasn't quite what people called fully-dressed. More the opposite, really. He groaned, pulling the covers over his head.

“I'm fine. Or I was, until you woke me up.”

He shouldn't be very surprised by it. Judging from the bright sunlight coming through his windows, it had to be around 10am, but he couldn't bring himself to care. Getting up for work didn't seem so important anymore. And why would it?

“Oh, alright. You better rest then, it's not much going on anyway”

Ianto opened one eye, glancing towards the bedroom door. Tosh and a rather annoyed Owen had appeared behind Gwen.

“Thanks”, me muttered, once again disappearing under the covers. He could hear several pairs of feet moving towards the exit, and the front door opening. He sighed in relief. The last thing he wanted to deal with was Gwen who would probably never stop fussing over him, or Owen who'd only shrug and moan a bit about the extra work they would be doing from now on.

He was just on his best way to go back to sleep when he felt the bed dip beside him. It was Tosh.

“Tired?”

Quite obviously?

“Yes. I must have overslept.”

“You don't look like you got much sleep though.”

“It's been a long couple of days.”

The technician chuckled. “You can say that again.”

She hesitated for a moment. “You know, if you want to talk about it-”

“Then I'll go straight to you.”

Tosh nodded, then waited, like she expected him to say more. Eventually, she patted the mattress next to her, rather than Ianto.

“Well, I'll better let you sleep then.”

Ianto didn't reply.

“Right. See you.”

He could hear her high heels scratching over the wooden floor. She stopped, shortly before she reached the exit.

“By the way, I'm writing a program that will alert us when Jack comes back.”

The door closed behind her.

“If he comes back”, Ianto mumbled, before closing his eyes; praying for dreamless sleep that would never come.

~*~

Gwen checked her watch impatiently. It was ten past nine and still no sign of Jack – or Ianto, for that matter. This was not what she had come in early for. Jack had promised her some more fire arm training, even though they both knew it wasn't necessary, and guess who wasn't at work now?

Bored, the former PC went to the Medical Bay, watching Owen for a while. He was doing the autopsy of a Weevil with very weird injuries. They had found it – dead – in the sewers. Tosh had said something about traces of rift energy, but they still weren't sure whether it had come through the rift injured, or whether it had been hurt here. Whatever the reason was, this looked rather disgusting. Gwen couldn't understand how someone could do this voluntarily .. she would never be able to do this longer than a few minutes without having to throw up. Deciding, that she'd better distract herself, she spoke up.

“Owen, do you know where Jack is?”

The doctor looked up from the corpse, then shrugged.

“No clue. But if you see tea-boy, tell him I want my coffee – this is hell without caffeine!”

“Will do”, Gwen said before turning around to go looking for Tosh. This was weird. Ianto was always the first one in the Hub. Well, and Jack but he hardly counted, he lived here anyway.

She had just reached Tosh's workstation when she heard the cog door roll open.

“Finally!”, she muttered and was already on her way through the Hub, when she looked at them for the first time, and stopped in her tracks.

Jack, a huge grin on his face, wasn't wearing his greatcoat. He never went anywhere without his greatcoat, no matter how hot it was or how much he got noticed with it. In fact, looking closer, Gwen realized that he was wearing none of his usual clothes. Captain Jack Harkness, immortal Jack, who seemed to fit so much better in the 2nd World War than the 21st century was wearing jeans and a black shirt. Gwen blinked, but the image didn't go away.

“What...”

Then she noticed Ianto standing behind him. The Welshman was wearing one of his usual suits, a black three-piece with a dark red shirt and a black tie, his hair still damp. However, he too, seemed to be in a much better mood than normal. He went past Jack and walked over to Gwen.

“Sorry we're late, there was an, uhm, emergency, we had an alert and went Weevil hunting before you came in, and it took a bit longer than planned.”

For some reason, Jack laughed out loud, patting Ianto's shoulder. “Exactly. Weevil Hunting.”

~*~

The fifth time Ianto was late, he wasn't quite sure whether there still was a job he could be late for.

Propping his head up, Ianto watched his lover sleep. Jack didn't sleep very often. Usually, it was after he had died several times in one day, or when something so bad had happened that only the mental exhaustion was enough to make him drift off to sleep within minutes. This time it seemed to be a bit of both.

Ianto didn't want to think about it. He'd had to, later on, but right now, all he wanted to do was being with Jack and enjoying the feeling of being safe, even though he knew it was not the truth. His own little imaginary world when he was with Jack. And maybe, as long as he was here, he was safe. But once he stepped outside, it would all come back, pain and fear revolving around him, surrounding him. And he couldn't hide here forever.

He closed his eyes, snuggling up to the Captain, trying to forget. Just for a while.

The next thing he saw was bright sunlight flooding in the room. A look at his alarm clock confirmed that they were more than late, but he didn't get the chance to consider getting up, when Jack stirred beside him.

“Morning sleepyhead”, Ianto murmured, even though he hadn't been up much longer than Jack.

The Captain smiled, not opening his eyes, but kissing Ianto on his lips. “Morning”

Ianto yawned. “We should go to work.”

“Why? It's not like anyone will be waiting for us.” The Welshman flinched when he saw the haunted look returning to Jack's eyes.

“Gwen will”, he explained, placing another kiss on Jack's lips. “And we shouldn't leave her alone in there.”

“I guess you're right. Get in the shower, then. I'll make breakfast.”

Ianto hesitated, but was pushed towards the edge of the bed. “Come on, as you said, we don't want her being on her own for too long.”

They left Ianto's flat half an hour later, holding hands and trying to avoid the results of the explosions from two days ago. They would have to help rebuilding the city. They wanted to. Anything, that could make things a bit better. Normally, that kind of thing was Ianto's job, since everyone else had always been busy hunting aliens.

Now he was glad that he had Jack by his side.

Title: Rooftops, Rifts and Random Acts (Part 10/11)
Author: Neyne
Rating: PG-13-ish
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood or any of the characters. I just play with them.
Spoilers: Reference to the events of 'Adrift'. This is an End of Days AU though.
Summary: Something happens when Jack is away, and neither Torchwood, nor Ianto are the same afterwards.
A/N: A huge thank you to the9thdoctor for betaing!

Part One || Part Two || Part Three || Part Four || Part Five || Part Six || Part Seven || Part Eight || Part Nine



When, Jack came to life in the back of the SUV, Ianto was sitting next to him. The others had gone back inside a couple of minutes ago to explain what had happened, so he was the only one around.

He still wasn't so sure what to make of this. Ianto had thought that Jack didn't care about him anymore, if he ever had, but now Jack had died for him. He'd also thought he didn't care about Jack, but that wasn't quite true either now, was it?

On the other hand, all of this didn't explain what he'd seen and it definitely didn't make up for Jack leaving, and later hiring Shanks while Ianto was away.

Jack coughed, unconsciously clinging to Ianto's arm.

"Yan?"

"I'm here." Ianto assured him quietly.

Jack seemed to be relieved by that and let himself fall back against the folded blanket that had served as a pillow. He had to have woken up completely now, Ianto figured, but Jack didn't let go of his arm, as if he'd loose Ianto again when he did. For a moment, the Welshman considered moving Jack's hand away, but then he couldn't bring himself to do it. Jack had just saved his life and the least he could do was be a bit grateful. And he was, he just didn't know what to make of it.

"Where are the others?" Jack asked after a while.

"Briefing the Prime Minister." Ianto replied, nodding his head towards the building.

"Did they see you?"

"Yup. I think Gwen may have bruised some ribs when she hugged me..." he added, grinning. He could feel the skin stretch around his lips and wondered how long it had been since he'd last smiled. He couldn't remember.

Jack laughed softly, then looked up at Ianto. "So you're staying?"

Ianto sighed. "I don't know." he said, honestly.

"But why? Why haven't you told us you were back in the first place? It's not just because I disappeared with the Doctor, is it?"

Ianto shrugged, but didn't say anything.

"Ianto."

The Welshman shook his head. He wanted to tell Jack, but right now he felt more embarrassed than anything else. How childish would it sound if he said that he was angry because Jack had hired someone else? Suddenly, his reasons seemed a bit ridiculous. Not ridiculous enough not to count, but definitely ridiculous enough to sound stupid. He remained silent.

"Telling me can't possibly make it worse!"

"No"

"Then tell me."

Ianto turned around to face Jack, his frown replaced by anger.

"And what would it change? You've given up on me already, what difference would it make?"

Now it was Jack's turn to get angry.

"I lost you. I knew I couldn't do anything to find you, because I thought you were gone for good or that you wouldn't be the same if you came back. Because that's what happens when the Rift takes someone away. I've seen it happen! I lost you, and I couldn't do anything about it."

"Well, then you know how I felt when you ran off."

Jack sighed. "That was different. I was going to be okay...to be honest it didn't quite work out how I wanted it to, but I can't die! How bad can it get?"

"Right, and we were supposed to know all that. Where did you go anyway?"

"I found the Doctor. I told you before, I needed answers. I hoped he could fix me, or at least tell me what happened back then, but in the end he couldn't do anything. Wasn't worth it...but I didn't know."

"You could have left us a message."

"There was no time."

"So you say."

For a moment, Jack looked like he was going to burst into tears. He had just died, the Prime Minister was probably not going to give them a quiet moment for at least the next ten years and now Ianto. What the hell had happened to him?

"So you managed to get back."

"Yes."

"But you didn't tell us. Why?"

"You know, maybe you'll want to consider the consequences next time you run off. I don't owe you an answer."

"Tell me, Ianto. Please."

Ianto rolled his eyes.

"This is the reason."

"What?"

"This. You never say please. Never. Only when you really want to have something, and then you don't even mean it. You take it all as given, and when it's not there anymore you get someone else to do all that shit for you!"

Jack opened his mouth but was cut off by Ianto.

"You replaced me. Do you have any idea how it feels when you finally come back after two years and you have to find out that everyone else has moved on, including the one person you came back for? To see that you found yet another Tea Boy, like I never meant anything at all? I would have forgiven you for disappearing like that, but turns out it wouldn't even matter whether I did or not!"

"Whoa, hold on!"

"What?" Ianto snapped.

"You were gone for... two years?"

"Apparently."

Of course, Jack should have expected something like that. Timelines changed when you got taken by the Rift. You could be gone for two minutes and come back three years after you'd left. And you could grow old, while only a few months had passed on earth. Or you couldn't come back at all. It seemed like Ianto had been lucky, then. But still, two years? It was a long time. And quite obviously a very long time to get absorbed in your anger and disappointment.

"Where did the Rift take you?" Some part of Jack didn't even want to know. However, Ianto seemed to be okay - under the given circumstances, obviously - so maybe, maybe he'd been lucky. Jack mentally crossed his fingers.

"New Earth. You've probably heard of it."

Jack's face lightened up at that. "I have indeed! Do they still make those brilliant cocktails, what were they called..."

Ianto's glare shut him up.

"Ianto." His accent curled around the familiar word. "What happened to you there?"

Sometimes, Jack really hated himself for not knowing the Welshman better. He could have used that knowledge now, because Ianto's face was yet again a mask. He'd been angry, just a few minutes before, but now his expression was blank.

"I learned what life without you was. And guess what, I liked it, or I would have if I hadn't always tried to get back home. Get back to you. And I managed to find a way, after two years, only to realize that you didn't care anymore. I disappointed people who really cared about me by leaving, just like you did to us when you tried to find your Doctor. I tried to find you, I left them behind. The Doctor couldn't fix you, and you don't even want to fix me. But unlike you, I don't have anybody else to go back to!"

Ianto freed himself from Jack's hand and got up. Jack remained silent. So much for the 'can't possibly get worse' part of the conversation. Shaking his head in disbelief, Ianto went around the SUV and headed for his own car, when he, finally, heard Jack's voice behind him.

"You idiot."

Ianto spun around. Jack was following him, or at least trying, he didn't seem to have recovered that much yet. He had a serious expression on his face, although Ianto didn't miss the amusement sparkling in his eyes.

He ignored Jack and walked on, until the inevitable hand reached for his shoulder and turned him around so that he was only centimeters away from Jack's face.

"You stupid idiot."

He should have expected it, and he should have been prepared for it, but then Jack kissed him and Ianto momentarily forgot about his plans to never cross paths with his former boss again. Jack pushed him not-so-discreetly against the side of the SUV, and Ianto responded, pulling Jack closer; holding on to him for dear life and kissing him passionately. They remained like that for a moment. However, his mind soon caught up with Ianto and he snapped out of it, shoving Jack away from him.

"Jack."

"You really don't get it, do you?"

He just stared at him.

"I didn't replace you."

Ianto laughed hollowly. "Yeah right. Shanks is just here for a visit, then?"

Jack shook his head, looking rather sad, which just added to the huge amount of confusion that was currently surging through Ianto. "He's working here, but he never replaced you. He was there before I came back, but he was, unlike you, not a full member of the team. Gwen told me what you lot were doing while I was gone." he added at Ianto's questioning look. "I didn't know what to do when I realized you were gone. So I didn't do anything. I was wrong, and I'm sorry but I never replaced you and I never gave up on you, no matter how much it might have looked like it."

Jack sighed. "I came back for you."

On to the next part!

Title: Rooftops, Rifts and Random Acts (Part 9/11)
Author: Neyne
Rating: PG-13-ish
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood or any of the characters. I just play with them.
Spoilers: Reference to the events of 'Adrift'. This is an End of Days AU though.
Summary: Something happens when Jack is away, and neither Torchwood, nor Ianto are the same afterwards.
A/N: A huge thank you to the9thdoctor for betaing!

Part One || Part Two || Part Three || Part Four || Part Five || Part Six || Part Seven || Part Eight

Jack wasn't quite sure whether he should laugh or cry and whether he should run away or go and hug his long lost friend. He settled for doing nothing, although that didn't stop his mind from bungee-jumping while he tried to wrap it around the situation. Ianto was here. Ianto. But how? And for how long? And why the hell didn't he tell them he was back?

"How..." he began, but soon realized that he had no idea what to ask so he shut up.

Ianto shrugged. "Like you care." It had been one and a half long months, too long maybe, since he had come back. He had preferred not to think about the team at all because it made him feel awful. He was sad when he remembered how life at the Hub and life with Jack had been, especially compared to the life he now had. He was angry that Jack had replaced him. Although he'd always deny it, even to himself, he felt a little disappointed that they hadn't found him. He had been hiding in plain sight but they had never noticed him, which probably meant that they didn't care enough to keep looking for him, he had decided. So even now he couldn't bring himself to care about Jack's feelings when he answered.

"Excuse me?!" Jack's voice was higher than usual, which didn't tend to happen unless he was really frightened. Right now he was terrified because he had absolutely no clue what was going on, and that didn't come in very handy when there was an alien invasion happening just an inch away.

The alien invasion... Jack grabbed his gun. He had nearly forgotten about their 'guests'. The leader of the Judoon had turned his attention back to Colonel Mace.

"Sentence: Execution." it said and raised its weapon.

"Run!" Ianto shouted. Mace ducked and avoided the laser beam. The guard behind him wasn't quite as lucky.

The rest of the team appeared behind Jack and helped the others get out through their door, while Jack fought the Judoon off long enough to make sure the last UNIT soldier was safe before he ran after Ianto and the members of the Parliament that were following him. He could hear the heavy footsteps of the Judoon behind him.

They turned around several corners, entering and exiting various doors, Jack locking each of them as soon as they were all through. Their path led them deeper and deeper in the building. Jack couldn't help but smile at the reason behind it, and the fact that it was Ianto who had thought of it: they couldn't let the Judoon get outside. For all they knew, they might as well go out there and kill everyone in their way. Hiding here was the best they could do until they got backup.

Jack slammed the last door shut behind them. They were in a large, but empty, storeroom that was lit by only a single, glaring light. The others were standing in a corner, staring at the door as if it might explode. Jack hoped it wouldn't. Ianto had turned his back to Jack, talking to the four security guards that had come with them. Jack made a step towards him, but then stopped again. There was no time. Whatever was going on, and no matter how much he needed to know, they would have to figure it out later. They had to save these people, not to mention themselves, from being killed by an army of Judoon first.

As if they had read his thoughts, there was the sound of metal against metal coming from the door, followed by a loud bang: the Judoon had reached them. There was another moment of silence, and then the lock started to glow bright red and melted. They were burning their way through. A second later, the aliens came through the door, all of them aiming at Jack.

"Whoa, guys, hold on!" Jack shouted and raised his arms.

Ianto was beside him in an instant. "What are you doing?"

Jack sighed, and lowered his voice, keeping an eye on the Judoon in front of him. "If I say I'm in charge they will kill me, but leave the others alone. Maybe this is how we can get out of this."

"You can't do that!"

"Why not?" Jack turned to look at Ianto. It still felt strange to do so. It felt a bit like Ianto wasn't really there. However, it definitely was Ianto. His Ianto. It even smelled like him. "It's not like I'm staying dead."

"Still doesn't make me feel better about it." Ianto muttered, before realizing what he had just said.

Jack's expression softened. "I thought I'd lost you. And right now this is the only thing I can do to make sure it doesn't happen again." And with that, he freed himself from the Welshman's grip and went over to the next Judoon.

"I'm in charge." he said.

There was no answer, only the bright red beam of a laser weapon, and Jack fell to the ground, dead.

The Judoon stepped back. "Case Closed." one of them stated and before anybody could even blink they retreated and were gone, leaving a group of terrified people, a dead Jack and a pale Ianto behind.

Slowly, he crouched down next to Jack

This wasn't supposed to happen.

He wasn't supposed to meet the team here. He wasn't supposed to put everyone in danger, including Jack. Jack wasn't supposed to die. And Ianto wasn't supposed to care that he did.

But he cared. Ianto had lost Jack before. After coming back, nothing had seemed to be the same again and he wasn't particularly happy with his former boss, but him being dead hadn't been his intention. It hurt to see Jack like this. The always strong, impressive and grinning man had been replaced by a lifeless figure that was nothing like him. Vulnerable, weak and that desperate look on his face. He was like this because of Ianto. He had died for Ianto.

He let out a choked sob, covering Jack up in his arms.

This wasn't supposed to happen.

On to Part Ten

Title: Rooftops, Rifts and Random Acts (Part 8/11)
Author: Neyne
Rating: PG-13-ish
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood or any of the characters. I just play with them.
Spoilers: Reference to the events of 'Adrift'. This is an End of Days AU though.
Summary: Something happens when Jack is away, and neither Torchwood, nor Ianto are the same afterwards.
A/N: A huge thank you to the9thdoctor for betaing!

Part One || Part Two || Part Three || Part Four || Part Five || Part Six || Part Seven

It took another four weeks for the world to end again.

Ianto had just fallen asleep on the couch in his new apartment, when his alien tech locator beeped. He groaned and reached blindly for the device. Yawning and rubbing his eyes, he scanned the data. There were two Judoon ships in orbit and they were coming closer every second. Their destination: London.

He let out a sigh. So much for his night off... Although there were lots of UNIT guys running around in London, they had never dealt with Judoon before. Torchwood Three had.

Ianto remembered the day all too well. It had started out as a normal mission. Another alien had come through the rift, they had put it in the cells and were just deciding what to do with it, when the Judoon appeared, storming in and creating a giant mess. And guess who had to clean up afterwards. According to Jack the Judoon weren't dangerous, at least they wouldn't hurt the team, they were some kind of intergalactic police. And apparently their 'visitor' had been in prison before falling through the rift. Jack had told them to just let the Judoon do their job and to stay out of the way and they wouldn't have any problems.

Except Jack didn't have an exactly clear record. Ianto had had to hide him in one of the lower sections of the Archives, trying very hard to ignore Jack hitting on him. It hadn't worked out.

Well, in the end the Judoon had disappeared - of course not before blowing a hole into the cell door. However he somehow doubted that the team had believed that he and Jack got lost in the Archives on their way back, as they explained it two hours later.

Smiling distantly at the memory, he got up. He had stopped wearing suits a while ago, so he put a pair of black jeans, a black shirt and his leather jacket on and was out of the door within 15 minutes. The drive to London would take a while and he'd probably not be there when the Judoon arrived, but knowing UNIT, he had to get there before they totally screwed things up. And they tended to do that a lot nowadays.


"Rift alarm!" Toshiko shouted in the direction of Jack's office. A minute later, the Captain hurried towards her, while Gwen and Owen appeared from the medical bay. Oliver soon followed.

"What is it?"

Tosh frowned at the screen. "Judoon."

Half an hour later, the SUV was restocked and ready to go.

Meanwhile in London, UNIT prepared an attack. It took a bit longer than usual, they had no more Torchwood after all. However, a few hours later, the weapons were loaded and the technicians only waiting for further instructions.

"Well let's see what they want." Colonel Mace said through gritted teeth.

~*~

The habitants of London had seen a lot of weird things during the last few years. That spaceship, crashing into Big Ben and what turned out to be a fake alien. Another spaceship hovering over London, before leaving again, apparently without causing them any harm. Then the ghosts and metal creatures who were just everywhere - not just in London, but the whole world. Although everybody knew it had started in England's Capital City. It had all ended with that battle in the Canary Wharf Tower. What exactly happened in there wasn't more than a rumor, but many had lost relatives and friends, with no idea how and why. And nobody in the government ever told them what was going on. At some point, they just got used to it. Of course, nobody was very happy when the Christmas Star arrived or the hospital disappeared. But it became part of their every-day life. Only few actually believed that the Titanic had been flying over the city, but even if they did, it wouldn't make a difference. Some said these were mass-hallucinations, others explained that London was haunted, but most simply accepted it. As a result, many didn't even bat an eyelid when five Judoon ships appeared in the sky and landed in the center of London.

They began to panic a few minutes later, though, when the aliens abandoned their ships, only to head for the Houses of Parliament. The people inside started to feel a little uncomfortable.

"30 more minutes if we don't end up in a traffic jam." Oliver stated.

Owen rolled his eyes. "Don't we have emergency lights?"

"Yes, but they're at the Hub."

"Great."

A silver car zipped past them. Jack only saw the driver from the corner of his eye, but he could have sworn that he had seen him before. He groaned in frustration and turned his attention back to the road, avoiding a small red car in front of them. Maybe Gwen was right, and he really started imagining things.

"What is it now, Harkness?"

"Nothing."

35 minutes later, the SUV reached its destination. They were greeted by a single security guard. According to him, everyone else was inside: the Judoon had arrived shortly before the team. They were currently talking to Colonel Mace, he explained. Apparently someone here had committed a crime against intergalactic law two years ago and would now have to bear the consequences.

Jack swore under his breath. "This isn't going to end well." he said, before entering the building and running towards the nearest staircase to find Colonel Mace. The team just stood there for a moment, before hurrying after their Captain.

It didn't take long until Jack got some security guard to tell him where exactly the Judoon had gone off to, and was led through the maze of corridors towards one of the main conference rooms. He knew how the Judoon dealt with problems, no matter if it was the theft of something unimportant and banal or mass-murder: execution. And they weren't afraid to execute everyone who had something to do with the crime when they couldn't find the person in charge. He was not going to let that happen.

Voices came floating towards him from a room at the far end of the corridor. The doors were closed, but he could hear the unmistakable voice of a Judoon, probably the leader.

"...shall be executed for the destruction of a Sycorax ship. Who is in charge of this facility?"

Jack sped up. He couldn't hear anything else from the room, but it was sound proof after all. Still, this being Colonel Mace, who knew what they were up to. If they denied to have anything to do with the destruction... he didn't want to find out what consequences that would have. And they did have something to do with the destruction. Well, kind of. It might have been Torchwood One who had destroyed the Sycorax on Christmas Eve, but Harriet Jones had ordered to fire. However, she wasn't in charge any more. Which left them with the current Prime Minister and the Parliament. And nothing Mace said would convince them otherwise.

"If there is no-one in charge, you are all guilty." the Judoon said as Jack reached the door. He pulled it open and stormed into the room.

He opened his mouth to tell them to stop, but stopped dead when the door on the other side of the room came crashing down and a very familiar person stepped through, gun drawn and not looking particularly happy.

He closed his mouth and stared. Even the Judoon paused, and looked where the noise had come from. For a moment, there was complete silence. Then, recovering the ability to speak, Jack took another step towards the figure, not quite believing what he saw.

"Ianto?"

"Jack?"

On to Part Nine

Yet again, thanks to cowboyhd for the icon!

Title: Rooftops, Rifts and Random Acts (Part 7/11)
Author: Neyne
Rating: PG-13-ish
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood or any of the characters. I just play with them.
Spoilers: Reference to the events of 'Adrift'. This is an End of Days AU though.
Summary: Something happens when Jack is away, and neither Torchwood, nor Ianto are the same afterwards.
A/N: A huge thank you to the9thdoctor for betaing!

Part One || Part Two || Part Three || Part Four || Part Five || Part Six

Mr Turner was just walking around the corner of the factory he was working in when he heard a weird noise. It seemed to come from a few meters to his left, but nothing was there.

He shrugged and walked on. Then the noise was there again. It sounded a bit like a wounded animal, maybe a dog? Being the curious type, Turner crept forwards. It was beginning to get dark, but he could make out a large garbage container. There was a shuffling sound.
He had nearly reached the container, when he felt someone grip his shoulder. Turning around he realized that there was a man, dressed in a black three-piece suit, standing right behind him. He winced, but before he could even say a word, the man's hand moved to cover his mouth.

"Don't make a sound." he whispered, puncturing every single syllable. Then he just looked at him. Turner started. The man had, for the lack of a better word, the strangest blue eyes he had ever seen. There was an expression of pure determination in them; and Turner just knew that whatever was behind those eyes, it was nothing good, but it wasn't as dangerous as the man in front of him. People say the eyes are the windows to one's soul. Turner was by no means a specialist, but there seemed to be so much more about this man than you could ever guess if you saw him walk down the street, or even if you met him a few times, because even though the most obvious seemed to seep through, the blinds behind those windows were firmly closed.

At some point he realized that the other man probably wanted a reply. He nodded slowly, tearing his eyes away from the stranger who appeared to have only waited for his response. Before he could even blink, he had pulled out a gun from out of nowhere, let go of him and disappeared behind the garbage container.

Taken aback, Turner moved backwards until he hit the wall. A cry came from behind the container. Then another shot, and another scream, but he didn't dare to check on the other man.

Suddenly something appeared in the direction of the main street. At first he thought it was another man, but then he saw the face. Or what should have been a face, but here in the dark it was hard to make anything out. Still, it couldn't be human. It looked in fact like some wild animal, stuffed in leather clothes and walking upright. It came towards him.

Slowly, Turner backed up, keeping an eye on the creature. Not his best decision of the day. He had been walking towards the garbage container and a groan behind him made him aware of yet another creature going in his direction. There was a wall to his left, the first creature in front of him, the second behind him and although there was an entrance to the factory to his right, he knew it wouldn't help much. He had locked it up only 15 minutes ago, and he wasn't going to have the time to unlock it again before the creatures reached him. Whatever they were - they might even be very friendly, backfired genetic experiments or something and might not hurt him at all, but he didn't exactly feel like testing that out.

"Fuck."

He was just calculating the risk of actually attacking the creatures, when a loud bang made him duck instinctively. The creature behind him fell to the floor, dead. Turner spun around. The suit-man was back, quite obviously annoyed. He could spot several bodies on the floor behind him, before he was thrust against the metal container, the taste of blood in his mouth. His sight blurred for a moment.

Next thing he knew was that the man was standing in front of him again, the prior fury and determination replaced by a look of concern.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

Turner closed his eyes for a second, hoping that the world would stop spinning. It did, eventually, and he nodded. "I think so." Leaning back against the cold metal, he surveyed the other man's clothes. He frowned at the dark red blood stains on the man's shirt.

"You're bleeding." he pointed out.

The suit-man just shook his head. "I'm fine. Not so sure about you though. You may be concussed. If you want some advice, go to a doctor and have this looked at. Could be bad."

Turner wanted to protest, and had already opened his mouth, however the screeching of car tyres stopped him. A black SUV drove around the corner, came to a sudden halt and several people got out.

The other man cursed under his breath.

"Who are they then?"

When Turner got no response, he turned to face the man, only to realize that he was gone.

On to Part Eight

thanks to cowboyhd for the icon!

Title: Six people and a car
Author: Neyne
Rating: PG
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood or any of these characters. I just play with them.
Warnings: Spoilers for Fragments & Exit Wounds. Crack.
A/N: That's what happens when you watch things like this while trying to write a serious fanfic...

( How DID they fit in that car? )

Title: Rooftops, Rifts and Random Acts (Part 6/11)
Author: Neyne
Rating: PG-13-ish
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood or any of the characters. I just play with them.
Spoilers: Reference to the events of 'Adrift'. This is an End of Days AU though.
Summary: Something happens when Jack is away, and neither Torchwood, nor Ianto are the same afterwards.
A/N: A huge thank you to the9thdoctor for betaing!

Part One || Part Two || Part Three || Part Four || Part Five

Not my favorite part of this series, but (if i may say so) it'll get better again *ducks and hides behind fic*


Ianto was woken by someone shouting at him. It took a while before his eyes adjusted to the bright sunlight. Finally, he could make out the form of a small, but furious woman. The Welshman groaned. Okay, maybe breaking down and sleeping in a backyard wasn't such a good idea after all.

Muttering an apology, Ianto turned his back to her. The woman didn't stop yelling at him, but Ianto was already on his way out of the yard and down the street before she could start threatening to call the police.

Wandering through the streets of Cardiff, Ianto wasn't so sure what to do. He hadn't yet had the time to really think about what had happened. But as long as he didn't, he could hardly make any decisions as to what would happen next.

Yesterday had been...unexpected, to say the least. All of it. He hadn't expected to see his fears confirmed. But here he was. Back home, only that this wasn't home anymore, not how he had left it. He had been replaced, and they had given up on him. Scared to loose Shanks while Ianto was back and they hadn't even noticed.

At some point, Ianto ended up at one of the gravel beaches, overlooking the sea. He wasn't that far from the tourist office. Some part of him hoped that Jack would come around the corner and spot him here; but Jack didn't. Nobody did, in fact. It was, yet again, chucking it down and even though everyone here was used to that amount of rain, going to the beach didn't seem to be on anyone's to-do list.

Drowning in grey tears, Cardiff looked like the Undercity of New New York on one of its worse days. But who cared about what it looked like? Ianto had come back for the people here. For Jack, Gwen, Tosh and even for Owen. For the pizza delivery girl that was often so soaked that he had offered her to drive her home; for his next-door neighbor, a middle-aged woman who had invited him to dinner God knew how many times because he had helped her with her shopping. He'd never actually taken her up on that offer - working for Torchwood made that impossible and, to be honest, in this case he was quite grateful for it, but that was not the point. People needed him, even those that didn't know him, but who he had saved from aliens and those he could save from aliens if he just got the chance.

And he needed them just as much. He had learned that after Jack's departure. You can't just hold on to one person, because if they leave you, you're all alone. That hadn't stopped him from drawing back from the others back then, but spending two years in a whole new world had taught him a few lessons.

People needed him, Jack needed him. Ianto had believed in that. Now that he had seen Oliver, he wasn't so sure. Of course, it hadn't been so difficult to see that Jack had some kind of kink for young, welsh, suit-wearing men. However he had always thought that he had been at least a bit special. Now it looked like he was wrong. Apparently he was in fact so average that Jack had had no problem finding a proper replacement for him, and who was he to argue with that, Oliver was a good man. He was probably alright, and a good addition to the team. Maybe he could give Jack a reason to stay, something that Ianto hadn't been able to do.

Torchwood didn't need Ianto Jones. However, Ianto Jones didn't need Torchwood either.

Ianto had always wanted to be independent from people. It hadn't worked out quite as well as he'd hoped. It had been okay until Canary Wharf, but then there had been Lisa. Afterwards he'd had to gain the team's trust, and later it had been Jack. Even on New Earth, there had been Marc.

Although Marc was different. Ianto didn't have to clean up after him and make sure he was alright. It had been more the other way around actually. Marc had cared, or was going to care, about him, but they hadn't been dependent on each other. At least he hoped so. Suddenly, Ianto felt guilty about leaving Marc just like that. The man had deserved more. But Ianto, selfish as ever, had had to run away, back to other selfish people who had moved on. Well, if they had, Ianto could as well.

Because Ianto had come back for the people here, even if he wasn't with Torchwood anymore, he was going to protect them. He had more experience than anyone in Torchwood by now - except Jack, of course. He could board a space ship that was quite obviously a trap and come out without a scratch. He could calm an 8-year old down and get the right information on the monster that had killed his parents and he could look after himself, didn't have to look out for anyone else.

He could save these people on his own.

~*~

Owen was just putting his things away, when Jack came into the medical bay.

"How is he?"

The doctor didn't turn around as he went to his laptop and opened Oliver's file. "He'll live."

"Did he wake up?" Jack asked, frowning at his unconscious employee.

"Just for a minute. He was pretty confused though. Looks like he got a bump to the head, he kept saying that someone rescued him. Poor sod. But he'll get around."

Jack's frown deepened. "You mean there was someone with him?"

"No. We were there, Jack. Just us and that thing. Plus, Tosh ran a check when he said that someone else had been there. The creature was killed by a bullet from Olivers gun. No mix-ups there."

Owen turned around and patted Jacks shoulder. "Make sure you give him another sedative when he wakes up, will you? I'm off."

Jack nodded, though he wasn't really paying attention. Somehow, he couldn't get the image of the street out of his head. Oliver lying in a puddle of his own blood, the creature beside him; and a shadow, moving away. He had looked so much like him. Then again, it wouldn't be the first time that he imagined seeing him. It was ridiculous.

"Are you alright?"

Gwen was leaning over the railing.

"Sure. It's just that Oliver says there was someone else in the alley. And I think I saw something, too. But it's impossible."

"Why?"

"I think I saw Ianto."

Gwen sighed. Sometimes she really wasn't sure what to do with Jack. He had changed since he'd gone away, and somehow it didn't seem to be because of something that had happened while he was traveling with the Doctor. Now he tended to be distant, lost in thought - sometimes so much that he saw things that weren't really there. Only out of the corner of his eyes, and even he didn't know whether he'd seen it or not, but it didn't stop.

"Jack," she began, then paused for a second to think. "I know you miss him. But he's gone. For all we know he could be dead. And even if he is alive somewhere, how would he get back? I know it's hard to accept, but you have to let him go."

"I know." Jack said, before disappearing in his office.

Gwen shook her head. "Knowing doesn't make you do it." she muttered.

On to Part Seven

Title: Rooftops, Rifts and Random Acts (Part 5/11)
Author: Neyne
Rating: PG-13-ish
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood or any of the characters. I just play with them.
Spoilers: Reference to the events of 'Adrift'. This is an End of Days AU though.
Summary: Something happens when Jack is away, and neither Torchwood, nor Ianto are the same afterwards.
A/N: A huge thank you to the9thdoctor for betaing!

Part One || Part Two || Part Three || Part Four

The silence was disrupted when a black SUV drove around the corner of Black Avenue, a street located at the far end of Cardiff, away from the public eye. Apparently the best place to hide, at least in the alien's point of view. Too bad for them then, that Torchwood didn't just have a rift predictor, but a means to trace rift energy in general. Only few aliens escaped them, although they quite frequently managed to injure the team before being caught.

The SUV pulled up at the far end of the road and the team got out. It wasn't too hard to recognize Jack since he was wearing his greatcoat. Gwen and Owen followed him, the latter talking to someone, probably Tosh, over his comm.

He was already halfway out of his hiding place when someone else got out of the car. It was too dark to see his face, but he unmistakably belonged to the team, hurrying to catch up with his coworkers.

After checking that there wasn't anyone else around, Ianto leapt out of his hideout and followed them.

The team split up after a while, Jack and Gwen went to the left, Owen to the right and the stranger stayed on the main road. He seemed to be confident, his eyes searching the front gardens, the shadows between houses and, strangely, the sky. Ianto paused for a moment.
He wanted to see Jack again, after all he was the main reason why Ianto had come back. It had been hard enough not to run towards him when he'd first realized that his Captain was back, but he had to stop himself from coming closer just for now. According to a newspaper, Ianto had been gone for three months - which was nothing compared to the two years he had spent on another planet, further away from home than he'd ever want to be again. But still, three months weren't nothing. He couldn't just walk into the Hub and hope that everything would come back to normal within a day, or a week. No, he had to find out how the team was doing before that. Ianto couldn't really explain it. After all, he had wanted to come back so badly, and now he wasn't sure what to do. At least it seemed like everyone was alright. Gwen and Owen were okay, arguing as always. Jack looked exactly like the last time he had seen him, though that wasn't much of a surprise. Tosh seemed to be fine as well, he had seen her going to Starbucks yesterday.

However there was that one thing he hadn't been prepared for. Somehow he had never expected Jack to hire someone in Ianto's absence. Of course, it must have been harder to keep the Hub running without him, but he knew Jack. The Captain did everything to hold on to his team. He didn't let them go. That was why he had forgiven them after Abbadon. So why would he hire someone else?

Well, now was the best time to find it out, Ianto decided, he could see Jack afterwards. In fact, he'd probably reveal himself after this. Ianto followed the blond man down the street, keeping to the shadows. He was good at this, and the other man didn't seem to notice him as he observed his surroundings.

Suddenly a high-pitched scream came from above and before he knew what was happening a huge, bat-like creature appeared out of thin air, launching into the young man and throwing him to the ground. The blond yelled in surprise and dropped his gun. Not a good idea.

Before he could get up, the creature attacked again and this time it wasn't so interested in pushing him around. Ianto didn't have to hear his scream to know he had been hurt. The pavement turned a dark shade of red.

Without knowing what he was doing, Ianto ran towards the blond. Which was really stupid, since he was unarmed. The only things he had with him were in fact his rift predictor, the key to an apartment that didn't even exist yet and his wallet.

That didn't stop the Welshman though. He knelt beside the injured man. The flapping of wings announced another attack. Ianto grabbed the gun, quickly checked on the other man and stopped dead.

The blond's eyes were half-closed, a painful expression on his face and he was terrified. He looked so much like the last time Ianto had seen him that he felt like he was back in London. Back at the Battle of Canary Wharf. Cybermen all around, screams, blood. Ianto, who desperately tried to find Lisa. And then there was Oliver, lying on the cold stone floor, scared to death, probably dying for real. Ianto hadn't really known him, he'd only seen him a few times. There were quite a few people working at Canary Wharf after all. But he had saved Olivers life that day.

And here it was again. The horror and the smell of blood and Ianto nearly lost it there. The sharp pain in his shoulder reminded him of the danger he was still in, though. He rolled over, just in time to avoid the creature as it darted towards them. His eyes were closed, but he shot anyway. Three, four, five times. It went quiet.

Slowly, Ianto opened his eyes again. The black heap next to him indicated that he had actually hit the creature. Usually, Ianto would have been proud of himself, you didn't get this lucky everyday, but he was too busy trying not break down to think about anything but how to breathe properly. The memories of Canary Wharf were too overwhelming. Of course, it had got much better over the last years, but he never really got over it. And who could? He was lucky that he hadn't ended up in a psychiatry ward like so many others.

A muffled sound next to him brought Ianto back to reality. Shanks was still bleeding, dying maybe, and Ianto had nearly forgotten about him.

"Hold on there." he murmured. A few precise and well-trained movements later, and it looked like Oliver would make it through. He had a bad flesh wound, but it would stop bleeding soon. Not to mention that the rest of the team was still around. They'd help.

The team... Ianto studied the other man's face again. So this was who they had replaced him with. Another Canary Wharf survivor. A welsh Canary Wharf survivor. Wearing a well-fitted suit and, judging from his earlier reaction, not so experienced in the field. The new Tea Boy. And he was so much like the Ianto Jones Jack remembered.

Ianto stepped back. Oliver was slowly drifting into unconsciousness, but he could hardly stop that now. The others would find him and get him safely back to the Hub.

They were not going to find Ianto.

The Welshman turned around when he heard shouts from behind. Realizing that they must have finally noticed that something was wrong, he got up and once again disappeared in the shadows.

He could only hear the desperate tone in Jack's voice as he yelled Olivers name, before he fled the scene, running away into the night and eventually coming to a halt in a corner, sobbing quietly while the memories of Canary Wharf and something else washed over him.

On to Part 6

Title: Holding on to You
Author: Neyne
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Warnings: Major Spoilers for 2.11 Adrift!
Disclaimer: I do not own Torchwood or any of these characters – I just play with them.
Summary: Helen soon realized, that Jack couldn't do this on his own, not anymore.
A/N: I got the idea of this yesterday evening, so I wrote it down within a couple of hours, although I should've probably learned for that math test...oh well.

Helen Forster had been working on Flat Holm for many years now. Most people might not even understand why she still did this. The victims of the rift could usually not be cured, their lives had become a living hell. It hurt to see them like this, broken and without hope. Because there was no hope. Only one of 40 patients ever managed to lead something resembling a normal life afterwards. And there was no way to predict when it would happen again. They only knew that it would, over and over again, destroying people's lives and there was nothing they could do about it, but take care of those that came back, as best as they could.

Someone who always managed to keep Helen and the rest of the staff going was Captain Jack Harkness. He'd help the latest victims on their way to the island, and support the staff with just about everything he could do. They were doing this for him, after all. He had once told Helen how this had all started: Jack had been working for Torchwood for a very long time, although he didn't answer when Helen asked for how long exactly, and every now and then people had disappeared, coming back months or even years later, changed and traumatized. Nobody had done anything about it, until Jack had set up this 'hospital' on Flat Holm, trying to take care of the survivors. There wasn't much he could do, but it had made him feel better about it, Jack had explained. Helen could only agree. And the victims could use every bit of help and affection they could get, something the staff was just too willing to give. When he had the chance, Jack even spent time with some of the patients himself, especially when they were kids.

There had once been a young girl in the facility, maybe 7 or 8 years old . Jack had never been on the island quite as often as he had been back then, because she really grew on you quite quickly – much more than the others. She was beautiful, with shoulder-long brown hair and big brown eyes, filled with despair. Something that should never be in a child's eyes. She had been missing for two years, although nobody could say for sure how long she'd actually been gone, because she wouldn't speak. She never said a word. She also never cried. There hadn't been too many other kids around at that time, but Helen had never known one that didn't cry, if it was in their sleep or when the had to face the fact that there was yet another thing in the world they couldn't do anymore, or when they didn't even realize what was wrong, but felt so awful that they would just lie there, sobbing and screaming. Jen seemed to be the only exception.

She did react to others, though. She smiled, when Jack started telling yet another story, even when she didn't understand what was supposed to be going on in his tales. She held onto him when she fell asleep, and when she started shaking in desperation, unable to shed tears, he would hug her, whispering soothing words in her ear, until she stopped and only clung to him for a little longer.

And then it happened, the day that Helen would probably not forget until she died: Jen started crying. One day, just like that. She wouldn't stop. And she screamed. Nothing Helen did would make a difference, and since Jack had always been the closest to her, they had called him. It didn't take long until he arrived, running to Jen's room, which was quite centric, only a few meters away from the lounge. He had tried everything, everything he had ever heard of, but nothing had worked in the end. It had only been a few hours, but Jack and Helen both knew that it was too late for Jen. She died in Jack's arms, trails of dried tears on her cheeks.

Jack had left, turning around shortly before he reached the exit.

“What are we doing this for?” he had asked.

Helen hadn't known an answer. In fact, over the next few weeks, she was never really sure what to say to the Captain. It was obvious how much Jen's death had affected him, but Helen had never known what to do to comfort him. Maybe it was because there just were no words. None to explain why they were doing this, or what this was, or what to do next. There were no words, no hope, and certainly none of it in Jack Harkness. All Helen could do was handing him another cup of tea, while they talked about what may have caused another patient's current state. Jack always smiled in response, but it never quite reached his eyes. Deep blue eyes that were far too old, and now filled with the same desperation that had been in Jen's eyes, searching restlessly for some way out, only that there was none. That day, Helen had told him to let this settle down for a while, they would be fine on their own. And they would call if they needed him, but what he needed, right now, was a break.

When he came back a month later, Jack wasn't alone. Someone walked beside him, a young, handsome man who was introduced as Ianto Jones, a co-worker of Jacks. Helen noticed how close Jack stayed to Ianto, although she wasn't quite sure whether it was to protect him from the shock that everyone felt when they came here for the first time, or whether he himself wanted to be save, Ianto being his protection. And maybe, she thought, it was both, protecting each other from the horrors that lay behind these doors.

Helen liked Ianto straight away. He brought several thermos flasks with coffee every time he was there, and he seemed to strangely understand how the staff felt. Taking care of something, or someone, although they deep down knew that they couldn't fix it. She often wondered what had happened to the Welshman, but she never asked. Another thing that made Ianto grow on her was that he brought some of the warmth back into Jack's eyes. Even after they had been there more often they tended to stay close together. There was something reassuring about the young man, but it seemed to have an even bigger impact on Jack, judging from the way he immediately relaxed when Ianto came back from a trip to the kitchen or a talk with some member of the staff.

And sometimes, when it all became a bit too much she'd find them sitting in a corner, arms around each other and talking quietly, or simply resting their heads on the other man's shoulder, eyes closed, just breathing and letting everything else fade away for a moment. It was what kept them sane, what allowed them to help these people. They needed each other to do this. Jack didn't have to came in alone again for a very long time.