All Roads lead to Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom, Sol 3

---

Captain Jack Harkness felt light in his spirit. He'd faced the Daleks again, which had been his worst nightmare coming true, survived being killed by them again, helped saving the Earth and in the process no-one had died, despite Dalek Caan's dire predictions. Ianto and Gwen were safe in Cardiff. The Doctor would have Donna to travel with him, Rose would have a Doctor too (after a fashion) and Sarah Jane Smith would go back to her son Luke, as would Jackie to Pete and her son. This left him, Martha and Mickey. He and Martha had long ago chosen other men to give their heart to who needed and loved them the way they deserved, no more pining after The Doctor.

Jack had quietly marvelled at the change he'd seen in Mickey, but then he wasn't the same Jack either that Mickey had met in Cardiff so long ago. Mickey was not the 'Loser' he had called him then, but a man who knew how wield a gun, knew how to fight and stand up to an enemy in battle with courage. He'd been turned into a soldier, like everyone who'd travelled with the Doctor recently.

After Mickey had joined him and Martha walking through the sunny park, Jack turned to Mickey:

"I run Torchwood in this Universe. It's in Cardiff, policing that Rift we used to pull the Earth back into place. It is the one the Doctor used to fuel up the TARDIS in Cardiff many years ago, the one I blew up with that tribophysical waveform macro-kinetic extrapolator, remember?"

Mickey nodded: "Show off!"

"Would you like to join us? We'd be able to re-establish your identity as you officially died at Canary Wharf."

"Why?" Mickey was astonished. He had not expected this kind of offer from 'Captain Cheesecake', but then this was not same man he'd met a few years ago.

"You can fight, you are clever, you know me, you need a purpose, you want a new start, you need something to take your mind off Rose, it's not London, best coffee in the galaxy. Take your pick." Jack sounded more serious than Mickey had ever heard him.

Mickey thought about it, and then it dawned on him: the Jack that was standing before him was a leader, yes, that was it. And what was more, he felt no fear at following this man.

"Ok, I'll give it a try. But I'm not on the menu, I overheard your comment about the three Doctors."

Mickey smiled, he'd never been on the menu anyway, Jack had been too distracted by Rose and the Doctor in his leather jacket.

"No worries there," Jack replied, smiling in a way that could nearly be called soppy if you weren't talking to Captain Jack Harkness, intergalactic super hero.

"I don't want to end up on decaffeinated coffee for the rest of Ianto's life. And you are so not my type!" He grinned, enjoying the banter.

"What is your type?" Mickey wasn't really sure where this was going, but couldn't help himself.

"Available." Martha piped up, giggling. "He does kiss rather well though, you are missing out. And, according to Ianto, he is innovative and avant-garde."

Laughing she ran ahead and used her mobile to call her mother. They needed transport as the Doctor had dropped them in the middle of a sunny park in London on a Saturday afternoon. That of course was dandy for Sarah Jane and Martha, not so much for Jack who anticipated a long journey of more than the usual three hours in the car due to the chaos created by the Daleks, especially as the Doctor had once again disabled his teleport and time travel abilities.

"We are not far from mum's, we can go there and arrange for you to get to Cardiff, you can call Ianto and Gwen, make sure everything is ok yourself." Martha smiled. "Tish and Dad are also there, they are looking forward to seeing you again, Jack."

Then she turned to Mickey: "Come, you're invited as well. My family wants to see Jack again, it'll be warm, cup of tea and then we get you to Cardiff."

"How do you two know each other?" Mickey asked as he'd never met Martha, she must have joined the Doctor at another time.

"Martha travelled with the Doctor after Rose and you were lost at Canary Wharf. One day they came to Cardiff to refuel, I hitched a ride and she saved the world with a story while the Doctor, her family and I were stuck with a madman."

Jack gave a very sanitised version of the year that never was.

"End of the World Survivor's Club, that's us."

They celebrated as Jack waited for Ianto to drive up in the SUV to collect him from Francine's house, catching up with the people who'd suffered with him on the Valiant. But they didn't dwell on it, life had to go on. However, the mood was spoilt when a fight started between Tish and Mickey. Tish had taken exception to Mickey calling Jack 'Captain Cheesecake' again when retelling the story of how they met on the Crucible.

"He is not Captain Cheesecake, he's a hero. He has done and given more for this planet than you can ever imagine." Tish's voice held more ice than the arctic as well as total passion to defend the man she'd cared for. "He has prevented alien invasions, fought for longer than you can even imagine and died more often..."

Jack had not been quick enough to stop her blurting out his big secret. Not that it would have stayed one if Mickey came to Cardiff.

"What do you mean died, plural?" Mickey was not diverted by Jack's shocked look and neither was Tish.

"Jack can't die. He's been defending this planet for over a century. Don't look at me like that, Jack, I can use a computer and digging stuff up on you was not as difficult as I expected, plus we talked when we could. You've been around a long time and you have left traces, small ones admittedly, but it helped you were in every census, somewhere, you had army records, even paid taxes and owned a house."

Jack shook his head, he'd thought he'd become invisible. Tosh would... no, not Tosh, Ianto would have to deal with that.

"You can't die? Why?" Mickey was still aghast at this development.

"I die, but thanks to Rose and the Time Vortex I don't stay that way. I'm a fixed point in time. Trust me, doesn't go down well with a Time Lord, they're prejudiced."

Jack ground out the explanation, turned on his heel and walked out. Nobody followed, there was nothing else to say. The family had witnessed Jack's deaths too often and Mickey, well, he was just shocked.

Jack stood on the path outside the house, wondering what to do, where to go when it started to rain torrents. He wanted Ianto. Not an admission he made easily, but he needed the young man who had somehow become so important to him. Jack sighed when he heard the distinctive sound of the SUV burning round the corner. Ianto must have broken all the speed limits. Jack, Ianto and Mickey left shortly after, saying good bye to Martha's family and confirming that Martha would be in contact once she'd informed UNIT of her plans.

---

Ianto Jones should have been happy all things considered: The Earth was where it should be, he, Gwen, Rhys and their families had survived the one alien that seemed to even unman his Captain thanks to Tosh's genius and he'd actually enjoyed the drive to London, it had given him time to sort out his feelings. What he hadn't expected was Jack being despondent because there had been an argument just before Ianto arrived and Jack was sulking.

Ianto also had not expected him to bring along a new employee. He'd been introduced to Mickey Smith, who'd apparently fought for humanity on a parallel world and was reported dead on this, but that wouldn't be a problem. Tosh would... No, not Tosh, Ianto himself would have to resurrect him electronically, help find him a home, show him where to shop. It was a neat solution for everyone. They needed more people, Ianto knew that. But Mickey was different, he had a history with Jack which Ianto knew nothing about.

Jack had just mumbled to explain that he had also asked Martha to join them as a medic, replacing Owen. He really despised UNIT for what they thought was acceptable... the Osterhagen Key was just the tip of the iceberg. Ianto had shuddered when he'd found out what that was.

Thankfully they would now dismantle the 5 stations and disconnect the nuclear bombs. Despite her relative inexperience Martha Jones, ex-Companion to 'the impeccable source' had influence, and lots of it! And combined with the authority from Torchwood they would be able to make Earth safe. Martha had agreed in principle but it would take some time for her to be freed up.

Mickey was more immediate. He was homeless, jobless and Jack was his only friend on this planet. What Jack hadn't thought about was the fact that the enemy Mickey had been concentrating on had been Cybermen or that he had been at Canary Wharf.

Ianto winced when he remembered the car journey. Jack had snapped out introductions like orders:

"Mickey Smith, travelled with the Doctor, saved a parallel Earth, weapons expert, good at hunting aliens, has decided to join us. This is Ianto Jones, works for me, makes that fantastic coffee and brilliant field agent. Knows everything."

This had led to Ianto's first (and only) question. "What aliens did you hunt? Jack didn't say."

"Cybermen. We had factories of converted Cybermen, had to destroy them, they would have taken over the universe." Only when there was no response from either Jack or Ianto did Mickey wonder what he'd said.

"Oh, thanks Jack." The hurt in Ianto Jones voice was unmistakeable but Mickey had no clue as to why. But he could sense that asking anything right now would not help. They spent the next 3 hours in a silent car, although Ianto later, thankfully, bothered to switch the radio on. Jack silently considered the choices he had made, Ianto wondered why Jack hadn't warned them and Mickey, well Mickey was totally confused and hoped it would get better.

---

It had gotten better, eventually.

Ianto had called Gwen, dark haired girl if Mickey remembered rightly, to let her know about the extra passenger and asked her to arrange a hotel room on Mermaid Quay. Left alone Mickey had ordered room service, trying to take in the changes he'd made in the last 24 hours. He'd jumped universes, fought Daleks, flown the TARDIS and said goodbye to his mother substitute for good. He'd miss Jackie, but he knew that he had lost Rose to the Doctor on the day Henrik's exploded, even if it had taken a lot longer to accept that. She at last had gotten the man of her dreams (well, after a fashion) and Mickey found he didn't begrudge her that.

Gwen had taken Mickey to his hotel, leaving Jack and Ianto to sort out whatever needed sorting until Jack would pick him up the next morning. Turned out it was Gwen who picked him up, shyly trying to suss him out. Mickey kept his face calm, hiding his usual exuberance, trying not to give anything away. The last thing he needed was a second bad start to his new life.

"What do you know about Cardiff?" Gwen had thought hard about an innocent question.

"Nothing, where I come from there was no Rift and no Torchwood Cardiff, as far as I know. Torchwood London was all there was. I was here on a day trip once, though, years ago." Mickey tried to stay neutral. "Can I ask you something? When I told Ianto that I had been hunting Cybermen, the atmosphere..."

Mickey never got to finish the sentence when he heard Gwen gasp.

"Can't tell you much, it's their story to tell, but the short version is that Ianto worked at Canary Wharf during the invasion, his girlfriend Lisa got partly converted. Ianto tried to save Lisa, but we had to kill her after she tried to take over our base and convert us along with the rest of the planet."

"Oh, shit." Mickey was horrified. "Jack never said. That explains a lot."

Gwen couldn't believe Jack hadn't warned Mickey, or Ianto for that matter. Typical Captain Jack, didn't think, left others to deal with the mess. She'd give him a right earful. Had the man learned nothing? Obviously not.

On arrival in the Hub Gwen took control. "Mickey, I'll get the forms you'll need to complete for Ianto. Then he can do his thing and reinstate your accounts etc. Ianto, we'd love some coffees. I know you have more important things to do but..."

Ianto glared at her but only nodded and asked: "How do you drink yours, Mickey?"

"Strong, with a little bit of milk, thanks." Mickey adopted a polite tone that said: 'I have done nothing wrong, even if you think so, but I will be civil.'

When the two men were busy with Mickey's paperwork, Gwen went up the stairs to the Captain's office, closed the door and looked at him.

"Nice to have you back, glad you survived. However, if you pull a stunt like this again, I personally will... No idea what I would do, but it wouldn't be pleasant. You know how Ianto feels about Lisa and you don't warn him or Mickey that this could be a problematic topic when Mickey's arch enemies were Cybermen, something you apparently knew? You didn't think of anything but Torchwood and yourself, which may be good for our survival but is causing both of them problems. Instead of easing Mickey in, he's got to deal with Ianto's baggage as well as his own. You have to deal with this, Captain. "

When Gwen stopped her angry tirade for a breath, Jack looked at her and just said quietly: "I know, but I was distracted by bad memories I had to deal with."

"We all have those, you and Ianto more than most. I know that. The damage has been done, now try and make it up to them. I'm pretty sure that the coffee getting cold on your desk is not your usual, but instant decaf. Mickey knows what happened, he got a short version from me. You owe both of them an apology, so I will leave all three of you alone and you can talk to them. I'll walk round to see if any estate agents are open on a Sunday for Mickey and will be back in an hour. Use it."

Of course no estate agents would be open, but it gave her an excuse to leave and maybe find a nice pair of shoes...

Not giving Jack any chance to stop her, Gwen walked out, picked up her coat and bag and left without another word to anyone. Jack knew she was right, so he did what every self-respecting leader did: he found ways to procrastinate, such as making sure all the signatures were on the reports, which at least would make Ianto happy in the long run.

When there was nothing else to do Jack at last got up to apologise. Slowly and quietly walking down the stairs he heard:

"That's the last of the signatures. You should be back up and running by tomorrow afternoon when their computers have updated. I've already deleted your death certificate, the rest will be easier."

"I'm sorry Ianto, Jack never told me. Gwen filled me in this morning. Otherwise..." Mickey's voice was apologetic.

"No, it's not your fault. Jack should have said something when I asked you." Ianto had had time to calm down since yesterday. "And I definitely shouldn't have let it out on you. It was all rather unexpected but I behaved badly."

"He was rather upset, not how I've ever seen him at all. Tish, Martha's sister had just blurted out about him not being able to die, which I didn't know. It's been three years since I last saw Jack and Tish seemed to indicate that this had lasted much longer for him."

This time Mickey was more questioning. Before Ianto could answer, another voice spoke.

"I want to apologise to you both." Jack had arrived at the workstation, "And I shouldn't have let that stop me from talking to you both. Yes, I spent a year with Tish and her family, but nobody else remembers it as time was revered. It was not a good year, to say the least. My mind was still on that, it didn't even occur to me that you two didn't know each other or your histories. Not an excuse. But I usually decide who to tell about not dying and when; Tish blurting it out shocked me."

Jack looked at the men apologetically.

"Again, too late now, I know. But to cut a long story short, Mickey, I tried to land in Cardiff at a time after the TARDIS had left after that earthquake I caused. The Doctor had stranded me in the year 200100 as he couldn't cope with me becoming a fixed point in time, Rose never knew. My Vortex Manipulator gave up and I've been in and around Cardiff since Christmas 1869, I will be around forever by the looks of it. And people have been known to abuse the fact that I can't stay dead."

He exchanged a look with Ianto, remembering those who had exploited his curse, with Ianto understanding a bit more after Gray and the odd, short story about that missing year and a madman called the Master who'd enjoyed torturing him, killing him.

Mickey nodded. It was a lot to take in. Sounded as if Jack had been let down badly by the Doctor and yet he'd still come when he was needed. He was impressed, but before he could even formulate a reply, Jack continued.

"And Mickey, we try to remember Lisa as she was before Canary Wharf."

This time the look Jack got from Ianto was grateful. Next Jack adopted joviality. He really wasn't good at dealing with this emotional stuff.

"Ok, back to work, Mickey, I need you to show me what you can do. Ianto, we'll be in the firing range. Let us know when Gwen gets back."

Ianto grimaced and made sure the CCTV was working, he knew about Jack and the firing range from personal experience (good thing nobody could see his dopey grin this time). But surprisingly Jack did not flirt with Mickey once or vice versa. Mickey was really good though and Ianto thought he may just fit in, they needed more fire power.

The air cleared, life slowly became what could be termed 'normal' for Torchwood. Weevil hunting (and 'weevil hunting' for Jack and Ianto), Rift debris and paperwork, liaising with UNIT, the Welsh Assembly and other agencies kept them busy. Martha finished her time with UNIT after giving four weeks notice and moved to Cardiff, with Tom finding a spot at St Helen's Hospital, supporting her choice. Ianto and Mickey slowly became friends, Ianto actually enjoying the fact that he'd met the only other person not in total awe of or lust for their Captain and that Mickey wasn't a threat for Jack's affections, which Mickey had made very clear very early on. Jack had stayed on decaf coffee for another couple of days though, couldn't let the man think he'd gotten away with it that easily.

---

Donna Noble had had enough. Apparently she'd once again missed THE big event, asleep on her bed, in her clothes, like a child. She was old enough to know better. And to be honest, she couldn't stand the pitying looks her mother and granddad were throwing her at odd times when they thought she didn't notice.

So Donna Noble looked for a permanent job. Maybe it was time to stop being the temp and look for new horizons. At first her regular agency looked at her aghast, up until recently she'd been the most reliable person they'd had, and Donovan tried to convince her to stay (well, they earned very well off her assignments too!). But Donna had made her mind up ever since she'd seen the poster in the window of the travel agents, showing a large building with the words: "In these stones horizons sing". She took it as a sign, she was going to move there, away from her mother's nagging to 'make something of your life' and granddad's now nightly trips up the hill to look at the stars. She was going to stop waiting for life to come to her, she was going to live it.

The agency arranged some interviews and Donna travelled to Cardiff, Wales, visiting the bay and looking at that inspiring building for real. Wandering along the sunny quay she saw a closed Tourist Office with a sign sending her to one in the Cardiff Visitor Centre in The Hayes, Town Centre. Eating an ice cream, overlooking the bay, she noticed three people coming out of the closed Tourist Office. Donna let out a quiet 'phwoar' at the tall, dark and handsome man in a military style coat and sighed in jealousy at the dark haired, slim, stylish woman who was accompanied by another, dark skinned man, who looked vaguely familiar. Why couldn't she meet men like that?

Her curiosity piqued, Donna contemplated following them, but unfortunately she couldn't stay as the employment agency had even arranged for her to meet with some estate agents to find her a home to live in. She chose a flat close to the Welsh Assembly as they were the first ones to make her a job offer.

So Donna Noble, super temp, joined the Welsh Assembly, next to the Millennium Centre and overlooking Cardiff Bay. Well, the office she was sitting did not, she wasn't anywhere senior enough. The other secretaries, Pauline, Yvonne and Carol however were supportive, and with her experience of picking up new things she learned the terminology quickly and settled down to a life that included 30 days and 8 bank holidays annual leave, which would be enough to escape to the sun once a year and for regular 'duty' visits home.

In preparation for the new law introduced by the Welsh Assembly, which would require her to use Welsh in official documents, she found an evening class language lesson and started attending. It got Donna out of the house and helped make new friends to drink at the pub with and go clubbing. It turned out that most also worked at the Assembly, learning Welsh for the same reason Donna was. Unexpectedly it was the easiest course she'd ever done, acing all the tests and wrapping her tongue around the vowels like a native in no time.

So after a few weeks Donna settled down, started dating Lee whom she'd met at the pub and who, despite stammering, made her feel happy. She couldn't explain it but he felt as if she'd known him before and for the first time she considered the term 'soul mate', Lance long forgotten.

The first indication Donna had that she lived in an unusual place was when late one night she saw a man, dressed like a Napoleonic soldier of all things and wearing a samurai sword on his side, press some buttons on his wrist and vanish in an orange light. Of course by then she'd had a few drinks and Lee hadn't noticed him but Donna was sure she'd seen that. And she noticed the gorgeous man who looked on and, when he saw her, waved and, when she didn't respond (who waves at strangers late on a Saturday night?), swanned off in what looked like a huff, coat swinging around his ankles.

Saturday

Captain Jack Harkness was surprised to see Donna Noble in Cardiff, holding on to a strange man, after he had sent Captain John Hart, once again, back to where he'd come from. Why wasn't she with the Doctor and why had she not been round to say hello, surely she remembered that it had been Torchwood Cardiff had helped tow the Earth back to where it belonged? Did this mean the Doctor was in Cardiff? Jack had made quick work of returning to the Plass, hoping to see the Police Box he missed and was rather disappointed that it wasn't there.

He ran to the flagstone, stepped onto the invisible lift and went downstairs, now ambling over to the autopsy area where his team were assembled around a corpse. Nothing unusual there, but the look of horror he could see on both Ianto's and Mickey's face was terrifying.

"What have we got?" Jack asked whilst still in the main Hub, dreading the answer he would be given.

"A fully converted..." Martha didn't even finish the sentence when Ianto turned round and ran off towards the toilets. Nobody followed, knowing Ianto would not want them to see him retch. Jack held on tightly to the railing, looking at Mickey for an explanation.

"It was walking, plain as day, in an alley around from where we dropped you and John off. We had to follow it, which is why we left so suddenly. It didn't react to us at all, we weren't important enough to be converted, which is very unusual to say the least. Well, it walked away from us, towards your alley. There was nobody else there, so I disabled it. I rebuilt my trusty weapon after I joined, using some of the weapons in the store. We are currently trying to read it's computer data chips. We need to know where the others are and what they want."

Jack nodded, "Good job. Mickey, continue please, Martha check the archives, computers, anything to get more background information. Mickey, all your experience counts, don't discount anything. I want to know why it's here! Gwen, I thought I just saw Donna Noble, but there's no TARDIS refuelling, could you check it out, she didn't seem to recognise me, then help Martha? If there are more Cybermen, we may need the Doctor."

Not waiting for affirmative replies, Jack went to find Ianto, who was still in the toilets.

"Ianto Jones, come out. You can do this. I've just let Gwen and Martha loose in your archives... do you really want them left alone for long?" The sobs coming from the locked cubicle were heartbreaking but Jack knew this wasn't about the Cyberman in their autopsy room, this was about what could have been.

"Ianto, you need to come out. It didn't happen then and it won't happen now." Jack sounded firm and confident, when all he wanted to do was comfort the young man, but he knew that Ianto wouldn't like that. "That Cyberman is dead. It is not a threat. But there may be others and we all have to work together. You are strong enough to do this." No reaction from inside, although the crying was now a lot quieter.

"Please..." Jack had run out of words. He wasn't good at this, supporting people in pain, especially not Ianto who hid behind suits and quips and heated kisses. Jack was therefore surprised to hear the lock turn and Ianto come out, wiping his face with tissue.

"You have let Martha and Gwen into my archives?" Ianto grabbed the lifeline he'd been offered.

"Yeah, I know, I'm going to be on decaf now, aren't I?" Jack joined in, this was a topic he could cope with.

"Nah, not this time, I take your good intentions into account, but if I end up having to work late nights to tidy it up, I want recompense..." Ianto looked at Jack with a wobbly smile and winked.

"Oh, that can be arranged." Jack smiled back, knowing that, at least for now, Ianto would be totally professional and the rest of the team would ignore the redness of his eyes. Jack pressed a quick kiss on Ianto's lips and together they walked to rejoin the others where Mickey was bouncing up and down.

"I found something. Jack, this is totally out of character. Normally a Cyberman has a very narrow focus: converting or deleting. This was a Cybercontroller, more autonomous. He had one imperative only - take Donna Noble. I found her picture. No order to convert or delete, just to take her. I found a transmat facility on him. Looking at this there are no other Cybermen on the planet. The transmat goes way out into space."

"Curiouser, curiouser." Jack murmured and was about to give an instruction when Gwen squealed:

"Donna lives in Cardiff. She works at the Welsh Assembly, has for about six weeks. It appears she contacted her old employment agency a week after the Earth was returned. Shortly after that she upped sticks and came here. Apparently she said something about new horizons after missing large chunks of memory from the past year."

Jack tried to fit the pieces together. Donna had been so eager to hug him when they'd met on the TARDIS, but when she'd seen him in that alley there had been no recognition. And why was a lone Cyberman after Donna? He hated having all these questions. Jack turned to Martha.

"Has he still got your phone? He may have some answers." Martha nodded and quickly dialled. All turned to Jack when his coat pocket started ringing.

"I didn't put it there!" Indignant Jack fished around in a pocket and found the phone indicating the Hub number and a banana.

"More to the point, how has it survived you and the dry cleaner more than once? Why didn't I notice it?" Ever practical Ianto went to the heart of the question.

"Side pocket, sealed, Time Lord technology." Jack ground out, another secret out in the open, this was becoming a very uncomfortable habit.

Mickey and Martha looked at each other: "Bigger on the inside."

"Yep, had it done when I first travelled with him, the TARDIS helped me. But I didn't know he knew about it." Jack sounded put out.

"OK, we have no way of contacting him, but know that Donna doesn't seem to remember. Somehow I feel the two are connected." Martha said thoughtfully. "He left the phone, that means he wants to be alone, so I think Donna's amnesia may not be by choice. Didn't you say he regenerated after taking the Time Vortex out of Rose because it would have killed her? Donna had been given a Time Lord mind... maybe he had to take it out again. I mean a human brain with a Time Lord mind, he's always knocked our intelligence and ability to cope with his knowledge."

"One step further, what if remembering would be even worse for her? What if remembering would kill her? Would be devastating, to both of them. The Doctor does not play with the minds of his companions." Mickey had some faith in him, not a lot, but this much he knew, he remembered the grief after meeting Madam de Pompadour.

"That's what Dalek Caan meant, a Companion has died forever. She's lost all of it. The 'becoming bigger on the inside' he's given all of us."

Jack looked sad for a moment, hating the loss she'd suffered. She'd been the DoctorDonna, most important woman in the universe. And she still was important and therefore he became determined.

"But if that is the case, then we must protect her. Ianto, set up surveillance, I want to know what she is doing before she does. Mickey, I need to know how they've come back to our universe. Martha, autopsy the Cyberman, feed the information to Mickey. Gwen, get together everything you know on Donna. And yes, I know it's late on a Saturday night, sorry. But if Donna's in danger...Ianto, your coffee magic first, please."

Everyone nodded, Gwen and Martha quickly grabbing mobile phones to let Tom and Rhys know that Torchwood had stolen them again. Admittedly this would bother Rhys more as Tom was doing the night shift.

---

Jack looked at his monitor, surveying the information fed to him. All good, Donna Noble couldn't escape them: They knew where she worked, had access to her computer and phones and her usual routes, favourite pubs and clubs. Ianto had used the usual programme as he'd done with Gwen and once again thanked his lucky stars that she still hadn't figured out it had been him who'd deleted her ramblings when she'd first met Torchwood – but he didn't feel that guilty, he'd not featured in said note and that had smarted – he just didn't want to deal with her sad puppy eyes and upset ranting.

Martha dissected the Cyberman, after putting up screens to spare Ianto, only to find that the only thing fleshy was indeed the brain. Well, what was left of it, the emotion centres had been taken out and it was in truth nothing more than a processor. He really hoped that Ianto wouldn't read this report, but knew it would be a false hope. The only thing she was able to find out was that some of the metal had not been invented yet.

Looking at the clock, it was nearing three am, Jack stretched and decided that the others deserved some sleep. Stomping down the steps he gathered them around and said: "Go home, you've done well. Donna is in bed, and the rest can wait until later. Only come in when you are fully rested. Today is Sunday after all."

Everyone nodded gratefully and piled out, Mickey ensuring that both Martha and Gwen were escorted to their cars before making his own way home. In their haste they didn't notice Ianto hanging back. Jack however did notice and when everyone had gone, led him to the sofa, pulling him close.

"You don't have to stay here. Go home. I'll keep watch. You've been amazing." Jack spoke quietly.

"Excuse me, Sir, you let those girls loose in my archives!" Ianto's voice was mockingly stern. "I want my recompense." His hand snaked up Jack's trousers. Jack looked at him, saw the determination to forget and knew that this was the one thing he was really good at. He grabbed Ianto's hand, pulled him up and then guided him down to his quarters.

Sunday

The cog door opened at around 9.10 am to let Mickey in, who quickly fired up his computer, only to be jumping up when he read the news item scrolling across the second screen, permanently set to a 24 hour news channel. It read:

'Breaking news...BBC Wales evacuated...'

Turning up the sound Mickey found out that BBC Wales, located of course in Cardiff, had been evacuated. No further comments or reasons could be given, however pictures showed people being led docilely out with blankets over their heads.

He shouted: "Jack! Jack?" and smiled when both Jack and Ianto, who was in the same suit as the day before, ran out of Jack's office.

"Have you seen this? Do we need to act?" Mickey wondered out loud.

"Pull up anything, coverage from earlier if there is any." Jack ordered. "Any hint?"

Just then Gwen walked in, talking on the phone. "No Andy, we hadn't heard, but thanks. Yes, I'm sure we'll be there soon. Can they talk? Sorry, yeah, no mouth!"

She turned to Jack and the others: "This may be a case for us. Apparently all the broadcasting staff have lost their faces! They can walk slowly and follow instructions, but their faces are blank. They've taken them to a holding facility."

Jack looked shocked, he remembered reading the reports about Mr Magpie falling off the tower at Alexandra Palace and the 'King of Belgium' after sneaking into the archives. Everyone had thought the guard had lost it but Jack had known. He'd only escaped feeding the alien his immense life force because he had actually been guarding Her Majesty on the day. Jack had retrieved some of the affected TVs and they were now in his office. The ahead of its time VHS recorder he'd found in the deserted workshop had been his only hint that he'd missed HIM again.

Turning round he glanced in his office and saw suddenly saw her on his screens, voice contained: "This is BBC Wales. We are now changing our broadcast to something completely different. I need to feed. You will feed me, Captain. You smell delicious, so much life, I want it."

She looked beautiful and ice cold, her hunger uncontained. At any other time he'd have loved to destroy that type of composure in bed, make her come undone.

"Ianto, shut down the TV networks, all of them. Now! I don't care how. Get to it!" Jack belted out his instructions when he saw the violet light come out of a screen downstairs, aiming for Gwen. Martha pulled her back, just in time and next thing everyone knew the Hub was in lockdown!

Shaking everyone looked at Jack who'd pulled the plug (or more accurately turned the lever) on them.

"Did you do it? Did you shut her down?" Jack sounded anxious.

"I think so, it was all so fast. Who was that?" Ianto gasped. Rejoining his team Jack started talking:

"She's The Wire. Lives in electronic transmissions, last encountered in 1953, nearly ate all the population watching the Coronation. She pulled life force from those watching it on TV, leaving them without a face, like the people at the BBC. The Doctor stopped her, returning the faces, downloaded her on a VHS tape and kept her stored in the TARDIS. He managed to restore everyone. The TVs in my office are from that incident. She shouldn't have gotten out."

Mickey suddenly remembered: "Yeah, according to Rose he was going to tape over her."

Jack shook his head, the Doctor would not have been so careless. Then he winced at the memory that the TARDIS had been the Master's play thing / paradox machine for a very long time. Any prisoners may have been let out to spite the Doctor and gathering their strength in the meantime.

"Ok guys, we need to get out of here and make sure. Ianto, the Bekaran Scanner is on my desk, it opens all the doors, get us out of here. We'll go via the Tourist Office. Get some guns first."

Whilst the others were getting armed, Gwen grabbed her mobile, linked it to the water tower as Ianto had left the line established after Suzie's lockdown, and called PC Andy:

"Hi, yeah, sorry, look we think we've contained it. Can you be a love and check? BBC Wales News studio, don't let anyone in. Make sure the technicians keep BBC Wales off the network. We'll be there. Soon. Thanks Andy, we owe you one. Yeah, ok, more than one."

Following the others to the cog door she said: "Everyone's back to normal but it would appear that all the monitors at BBC Wales are still showing a screaming woman."

"Good, let's go. Mickey, can you isolate one of the PDAs, so it can suck her in and keep her there?" On Mickey's nod, Jack carried on: "Ok, here's the plan. We need to connect that PDA to the consoles at the studios, drag and lock her in. What we can't have is a Wi-Fi field, anything that lets her escape. She wants me, so I'll go in. She wants life force, kill me if she gets me, that should stop her."

Jack sounded matter of fact even though everyone knew it was not, none of them ever wanted to kill him, see him dead. But obediently they all nodded, knowing too that Jack would want them to, that he would sacrifice himself out of love for them and this planet.

They made it to the studios in record time. Jack went in, followed closely by Ianto, Gwen, Mickey and Martha. Jack held the PDA out in front him and looked at the woman in big screen behind the news readers' red sofa.

"Don't worry children, normal service will be resumed and then you can all Listen with Mother. I am the Wire and I am HUNGRY." The last word was nearly shouted, if a lady did shout. However Jack wasn't having any of it.

"Oh, no, we won't. Dinner time is over and you know what happens then. Test Cards. At least you look better than girl with the clown."

"You will feed me. DoctorDonna will be mine. I will not lose her." The Wire was still unbowed and Jack jumped back when the violet stream reached out to him. He held the PDA into the stream and held on tight. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Mickey touch buttons on the console in the corner and then it was quiet. Throwing the PDA to Mickey to deal with the Wire completely, Jack turned into the hugs from Ianto and Gwen.

"What is this DoctorDonna?" Gwen asked.

"When Donna had started the metacrisis she took in the mind of Doctor. She became the DoctorDonna. If I remember rightly, there was a legend from the Ood about being liberated in the 42nd Century by the DoctorDonna. It's a beautiful song of freedom and the DoctorDonna is central to a circle being broken. I never made the connection, it was just another of the many legends they fed us at the Agency in about three hours."

"Ood? Rose mentioned them, slave race. Psychic." Mickey scratched his head. He'd listened for hours to Rose mourning her Doctor and had heard all the stories.

"No slaves anymore, thanks to DoctorDonna. Ok, let's get back to the Hub, lock this one up in the secure archives."

---

After the PDA had been secured under lock and key, with a big silver 'Not for Use' seal and explanations as to why enclosed, the team sat down. It was early afternoon and Jack planned for them to have a quick information collection session before sending them home. It was Sunday after all.

"Ok, quick recap before you all go home: Donna Noble lives in Cardiff, cannot, and very likely must not, remember the Doctor and their travels together. So far we've had The Wire and a Cybercontroller after her. Our job, should we decide to accept it, and there's no doubt about that, is to protect her from anyone else, whilst she cannot remember, ever! All ok so far?"

Jack looked proudly at his team when they all nodded their affirmative. He gave some instructions:

"Tomorrow we get even deeper into Donna Noble's current life. Background checks on everyone – a Slitheen can disguise themselves as human. Ianto, any way we could make contact with her unobtrusively? Check her background, anything."

Before Ianto could say anything Gwen asked: "What's a Slitheen? And they can disguise themselves? How?"

"They are big, green, have long claws, are calcium based and can be beaten by vinegar – they like hunting." Mickey looked at Jack who carried on where he left off.

"Remember Mayor Margaret Blaine? She was a Slitheen hidden in skin suit. Blaidd Drwg nuclear power station was designed to melt Earth down to be sold as scrap metal."

"And Torchwood didn't do anything?" Gwen remembered the Mayor and that scheme vaguely, she'd been too busy being a new police officer.

"Well, I knew how it would end, it was my younger self who'd caused that earthquake and helped take her back to her planet." Jack blushed. "So I 'accidentally' triggered a lockdown on the night. Owen was majorly pissed off, I can tell you, he'd had a date arranged."

"Oh my God! That was my first major incident, I'd just qualified! I remember when they came to repair it that the Plas was normal again." Gwen squealed.

Jack decided that now was a good time to get back to business.

"Ianto, you were going to say?"

"Donna Noble worked at HC Clements eighteen months ago as a long term temp. It's where she met Lance, her fiancé. They got engaged, were supposed to be married Christmas Eve but to all accounts that never happened. It was that Christmas with the star that Saxon shot down. HC Clements had been owned by Torchwood. So the name shouldn't trigger anything. She knows it from before. I could claim to be from HC Clements...death benefits from Lance."

Ianto looked deep in thought and Jack brought the meeting to an end.

"Ok, boys and girls, go home. Tomorrow we start fresh. If I need you, I'll call."

---

On the way out Martha turned to Mickey: "Do you want to come round, Tom's at home? If you want that is. I think we've still got lasagne from last night."

Mickey nodded, the alternative was another take out and the telly alone. He liked Tom even if they didn't have anything in common. Most likely they'd all end up sitting in silence, watching inane TV together, mocking the celebrities searching for their ancestors or the people trying to change their life by winning a cooking competition. Maybe, just maybe, they'd decide to watch a film together but Mickey knew he'd be gone after the antiques show, leaving the two lovers on their own, wishing he'd have someone too.

Martha's scream was the first hint that tonight would not go to plan. "Tish, oh my god, what are you doing here?"

"I had a few days between assignments, starting next week. Wanted to see you, Tom said you'd like the surprise. What is he doing here?"

Mickey was about to silently dash off when Martha turned round to him with an: "Oh, no, mister! Good try, but you stay."

Looking at Tish she said: "He's here to have lasagne. He was invited, so play nice."

Inwardly Martha grimaced. Tish and Mickey had avoided each other since Mickey had called Jack 'Captain Cheesecake' and Tish had inadvertently revealed Jack's deepest secrets. Outwardly she put on her best hostess smile and led everyone into the living room.

"Can I offer you a drink? Mickey, we've got beer and Tish, do you want your usual, wine?"

"Thanks, can I have water? If J.., we get called I want a clear head." Mickey avoided saying Jack's name as if not mentioning him would get rid of the elephant in the room.

"Yeah, water is fine for me too." Tish didn't plan to be at a disadvantage.

In the kitchen Martha picked up her mobile and rang Tom: "Yeah, come home now, we've got Tish AND Mickey visiting. Why didn't you tell me? Oh, surprise, well, it was. I need you, not sure I can referee this, you are the only one who's not biased about him who mustn't be mentioned."

Running the cold tap Martha filled two glasses and slowly walked into the living room. The picture facing her was not what she had expected. They were laughing, Mickey finishing: "So, apparently he nearly blew up Cardiff and he called me a loser!"

"He was great, flirted with anyone, didn't mean it but he kept morale going." Tish smiled at the memory.

Martha put the glasses down and quietly left. She didn't want to think of that year again. But it was nice to see Mickey and Tish getting on at last. She went into the bedroom and got changed. Taking her time she enjoyed a moment's rest. When she returned to the living room the atmosphere was more sombre but the tension was gone.

"I only knew Captain Jack of the innuendo squad, he's changed a lot. He's giving so much. They've just lost two colleagues, friends and one day we will also leave him behind." Mickey mused. "Oh, he still flirts, not with me, he knows better than that."

"Made my days, he smiled despite everything. Kept us all going, was an inspiration. I don't think he ever knew. While Martha wandered the Earth, Jack distracted HIM whenever he could. His story went to Earth with some supply ships and I think it helped. We'll never know." Tish looked sad.

"It did and Jack knows. He became a legend, the man who would not bow down to the Master. He was a link to the Doctor, made my stories easier to tell. The inspiration and the redemption, I missed them but I heard stories, at least about Jack's defiance."

Martha smiled and then her face turned to a grin when she heard the key in the front door. She dashed off, leaving two bemused people behind.

Tom was pleasantly surprised when Martha ran up to him, hugged him and just said: "They've made up." Kissing her he knew who she meant. Together they went into the living room where Tom and Martha joined Tish and Mickey, before Martha went off to reheat the lasagne.

Pottering about she thought about Tom and how loving him was a very crazy thing. She loved aspects of him he knew nothing about: Tom the peripatetic doctor who'd helped the Master's slaves, had been part of the resistance and who had then, after only knowing her one night, died for her in a dirty street in Bexley Heath. And then there was the man he was now, caring paediatrician, aid worker in Africa, fiancé who felt as if he should know her. Sometimes Martha wished she could explain but how did you do that? Instead she'd told him about UNIT and Torchwood, how she hunted aliens and amazingly he'd accepted that. Now he was her anchor, like Rhys was for Gwen.

Dinner conversation at first revolved around the illustrious Captain, with Martha finally feeling free to talk about him. Stories were swapped of Jack hanging on to the outside of the TARDIS to the end of the Universe, of Jack dying to save the Earth and of Jack changing so much from when Mickey first met him. He summed it up: "When I met him he had no care in the world, now he's the last line of defence."

"Do you want some good news?" Tom decided he had to share this. He'd have to keep the patient's identity confidential, but it was Torchwood related.

"Torchwood saved another life. I've been looking after J. since I moved down. Leukaemia, he had relapsed and he'd given up, not speaking to anyone apparently, playing computer games and listening to music on headphones. Then he rallied for no apparent reason. He was positive, fighting again, hanging in there, taking the strongest meds there are, anything to live. All he said was that he'd seen Death defeated, swallowed up by a doctor.

Now, as you can imagine psychiatry thought he'd had a breakdown and kept him under observation, but as it was a positive turn around nobody really challenged him. Three weeks later he was able to get a transplant, out of nowhere. There hadn't been any stem cell matches on the system. They don't tell you who the match is but it didn't come from any hospital and from what I can see they look manufactured. All signed off by a Dr. Harper, Torchwood. I was able to send him home today, in total remission."

Martha gasped, she'd remembered the report on Jamie's encounter with Tosh and Owen.

"He had a heart of gold, hidden under layers of snark." She grinned, it was nice to have a good memory of the medic she'd replaced. Martha also promised herself a snoop through the good doctor's archive as she suspected alien tech involvement, matching stem cells didn't just magically appear.

Mickey and Tish just smiled politely, they'd never met this Dr. Harper and whilst it was nice to hear good news, the boy didn't mean anything to them. Feeling left out they finished their dinners and then Mickey made his apologies. He had the latest James Bond film waiting, as recommended by Ianto.

Mickey ambled home, it wasn't raining for a change and he took some time to look at the buildings, the trees and the stars in the sky. Walking through Bute Park Mickey looked at the new statues that had been put up. They looked like angels, which actually were better suited to the cemetery nearby. Ah, well, there was no accounting for taste. Had that one been there? Nah, he was imagining that.

The rest of the evening was quiet and Mickey enjoyed the film. He understood the recommendation a bit more when Daniel Craig walked out of that surf. Not that he understood Ianto's taste in men, but he quite enjoyed looking at 'Vesper Lynn', so it wasn't a total loss.

Monday

On Monday morning the team trundled in. Ianto worked on their cover story to enable him to meet Donna without triggering memories. Gwen and Martha investigated everyone they knew was in contact with Donna: her mother Sylvia, Granddad Wilf, Veena (who apparently liked 2for1 Zambuccas), Lee McAvoy (normal, boring, fellow city council employee) who had once worked with Idris Hopper (still in Berlin), and her colleagues: Pauline, Yvonne and Carol.

At lunchtime they convened in the meeting room and Gwen started:

"Here's a bit more: Sylvia and Wilf still live in London, although it would appear that Wilf is now at his allotment at every night, which is a change apparently. Sylvia is growling about it in an e-mail to Donna. Her friend Veena is temping with Donna's old agency, likes clubbing and is single. Donna attends Welsh language lessons as it is becoming compulsory to use it on all Assembly documentation. Apparently she's good, acing all her tests, Jack."

"Yeah, well, I've survived so far without speaking Welsh." Jack winked at her "Come one, get on with it."

"She's met Lee there, also working for the Council as a Senior Administrator. Previously he was attached to the Mayor's office but moved on when Margaret Blaine vanished. Donna's colleagues have all been at the Assembly since its inception. Ianto is still checking their accounts but so far nothing exciting on anyone. Essentially we need to find out more about any other contacts: any bars or clubs she goes to or anyone else. Who is attending that course with her? We need to know her better than she does as Jack said yesterday."

Gwen stopped to take a breath and a sip of Ianto's wonderful coffee. Just then the Rift alert made everyone jump. Martha and Ianto ran down to their workstations, followed by Gwen, Jack and Mickey.

"That was a big spike near Splott, just by the river. Gwen, get the police to cordon the area off, Torchwood are on the case." Jack's voice didn't brook any opposition. "Ianto, Mickey, stay here, we need you to carry on with looking into Donna and co-ordinate our response".

---

They arrived at the site within minutes and found that the police had done their job. Gwen thanked the female police officer standing there in the pouring rain, for a moment remembering her first encounter with Torchwood. The police had erected a tent over the silver box found by a teenager who thought he'd get a quick buck out of it. Instead he was now going to be another statistic (either gun or knife violence – they'd decide that later) as nobody could know he'd come across a time capsule (Time Agency weapon, not the romantic Earth version) and had ended up looking aged after calling a friend for help, who had been unfortunate enough to find him.

When they had entered the tent Martha went to the body, but could see that she was too late. Mickey neared the box and found himself pulled back.

"Don't touch it. If you do you end up like him. Pulled through time, your body aging at a rate it can't sustain and sent straight back to where you came from as a warning to others." Jack sounded grim. "It's Time Agency issue, only top agents ever got one and only one each, ever, using this meant you'd exhausted all other avenues. And that your service was over, it was also indicating you couldn't cope anymore. It was used for suicide."

Jack pressed a sequence on his wrist strap and Mickey gasped when the silver box changed shape and colour. It was now looking cylindrical, had a violet sheen and had some writing on it. Jack leant down, looked at the writing and paled.

"Don't touch it!" This time Mickey shouted and then glanced at Jack who looked as desolate as he'd ever seen him. He picked it up.

"It's mine. I left it behind, never used it. Why is it here?" Jack was confused.

"Mo Ho. Ko Flo No Po Klo Jo." They turned round at the deep voice, with Martha stepping in front of Mickey, calmly subjecting herself to the scan.

"Designation Human, Earth English." The rhino headed alien towered over her.

"Guns down, everyone. Judoon are not allowed on Earth, Shadow Proclamation says so." Martha was determined to get everyone out alive.

"We followed the Rift. We must find and punish Franklinson. He is here and this is his weapon. It is targeted at him, he must be here." The Rhino leader was adamant.

Martha signalled Jack to stay back and asked: "If punishment is meted out, will his whole record be wiped clean? Now and in the future?"

"Yes." The Judoon agreed.

"Can I have that confirmed? That Franklinson has been punished according to Judoon justice and cannot be punished again, ever?"

"Why? Punishment is death." Now the Judoon captain was confused, this was after all a very unusual request.

"I want this reassurance, I do not want to be blamed for his death. The Humans on this planet can be tricky. If I have proof that this was authorised by the Shadow Proclamation, I will tell you where Franklinson is. Then they cannot blame me." Martha held her ground and added deference to her voice.

The Judoon picked up his scanner, pressed a few buttons and said: "I will punish him with this, DNA will be encoded and you will have a token to prove that punishment has been served."

"Good, add names of Face of Boe and Captain Jack Harkness to it, he is known by these names also." Martha was quite proud of herself and hoped that Jack and Mickey had gotten the plan. If Jack really was going to live for another 5 billion years, at least he would be able to do it without looking over his shoulder at the law. She couldn't deal with everything he'd done, but this she could do for him.

When the Judoon had pressed a few more buttons, Martha turned round and said: "That is Franklinson, the man in the long coat. Scan him if you need to. It's him." She hoped that his immortality would not show up, that they would not notice.

Mickey held on to Jack, he'd sussed but saw that all Jack could see right now was betrayal.

"That's him!" Mickey told the Judoon Captain, pretending to be frightened as well. "Franklinson, apparently also known as Captain Jack Harkness. He just admitted to us that this horrible weapon was his. It killed an innocent. And I don't want to die."

He closed his eyes, not wanting to see his friend face the rhino headed alien.

"Franklinson, you have been convicted to death for crimes against the Time Agency."

Without any further warning the Judoon pointed his weapon at Jack's forehead and pressed a button. Jack collapsed, dead. The Captain pulled out a round token from his weapon and gave it to a shaking Martha.

"We need help with attacks on this planet against Donna Noble." Martha was holding herself together, barely, but these tenacious policemen could punish aliens they couldn't.

"Who? Human affairs do not concern Judoon. Remember the Shadow Proclamation you just invoked?" Not the answer Martha had hoped for. "We had special permission to deal with Franklinson on Sol3."

"Donna Noble, saved the universe by stopping the Daleks' reality bomb, you must remember. She even went to the Shadow Proclamation, in person. Three months ago, travelled with the Doctor. She is under attack on Earth by aliens from other planets." Martha tried to explain.

"Nothing we can do. Earth is protected under Shadow Proclamation. Get the attacker to attack on another planet." The Captain turned around and left, using a transmat, as quietly as he had arrived.

Martha and Mickey looked at each other and ran to Jack, who was still lying dead next to his old weapon under the tent. Whilst Martha checked on Jack, Mickey went outside to talk to the police in case anyone needed retconning. But it appeared that they hadn't noticed the aliens under their noses.

"Good, I hate retcon." Mickey mumbled to himself.

"Argh! Get away from me!" Jack gasped back to life and looked at Martha with disgust.

"Stop it, you are fine." Mickey had come back in, facing the man on the floor. "She did you a favour, I know it didn't look like it, but you now have a cleared record, Franklinson or Face of Boe or whatever, Captain."

Mickey's voice brought Jack back to reason. He was handed a small, round disk with a hole in it.

"Attach it to your wrist strap or somewhere you can't lose it. It's your proof that you have been punished by the Judoon and all records are wiped. It's DNA encoded." Martha stayed businesslike, hiding the pain at being mistrusted.

"I'm sorry." Jack looked at her, he'd been so lost in memories of being betrayed by his team before that he'd never quite picked up on what she'd done for him. He'd never have to be afraid of a big chunk of his past again in the long future ahead. That would need getting used to.

"I'm so sorry. I should have known better."

Mickey looked at them and took charge. "Ok, let's collect Jack's weapon, lock it up and send everyone home. Crisis over, for now."

The rest of the day was consumed by Jack's inability to stay calm and disrupting everyone else while they tried to do their jobs, such as collecting information on Donna, archiving Jack's weapon and getting ready for the week ahead.

Eventually Ianto sent everyone home (quietly) and dragged Jack down to his quarters where he convinced him that he didn't mind about Jack's past, that, as Jack had once said, it counted who he was here and now.

Tuesday

Donna Noble had more questions than answers. There seemed to be an inordinate amount of gas and radiation leaks, blocked roads and quite often a parked black SUV with the word Torchwood on it. On Tuesday at work, she turned to the girls in her office, trying to get some answers:

"What's Torchwood? I've seen their SUV but when I tried to google it, it came up with nothing, just some vague history of a stately home in Scotland and that they owned HC Clements. I worked for them once."

"Oh, they're special ops," said Pauline, "always mucking things up for the police, I get the complaints on my desk on a regular basis with the topic line 'Bloody Torchwood'. But when the ministers complain all they get is: 'They're in charge, leave it'. They are untouchable."

"Yeah, don't mess with them, they report to no-one, it seems. Even UNIT don't have that much freedom."

Now Donna was confused: "What's UNIT?"

What had she missed this time? She promised herself more 'research' on the internet.

"Oh, United Nations Intelligence Task Force, apparently they hunt aliens. As if!"

Yvonne scoffed loudly and then the talk turned to last night's Belonging, they'd all been watching to improve their language skills as part of their homework. Then they went back to work, the time to clocking off would be going quicker if they stayed busy.

Tuesday was also quiet at Torchwood with everyone concentrating on evidence gathering and Jack still lost in his past.

Gwen made a list of all the contacts they knew of:

Lee McAvoy

Sylvia Noble

Wilfried Mott

Pauline Morecock

Yvonne Jones

Carol Zeta Lloyd

Welsh Teacher – Hywel Jones, assisted by Idris Hopper from the Assembly

Fellow Pupils – Peter Williams, Cathy Salt, Sandra Hayes, Jeanette Bird, James Broadsword, Owen Harper

All withstood the tests Ianto threw at them, none stood out. Well, some did for various reasons: Idris Hopper as everyone had thought he was still posted in Berlin and would be fluent in Welsh (with his name) and Cathy as she was a reporter and the only parent on the course, James for his surname which was based in ancient mythology but apparently could also trace his family back for generations.

Ianto had swallowed hard at the last name. Owen Harper..., despite everything he missed the man and his snark. But this Owen Harper was tall, dark, blonde and gorgeous, despite the name he was not their missed colleague or even remotely related.

Jack had looked at the list when shared in the lunch time meeting and asked rather innocently: "Morecock? Can I have some of that?"

Ianto's laconic: "Later, if you behave," had everyone snort into their meals and Gwen even blushed.

"OK, back to business." Jack tried to bring order to the meeting.

"Ah, yes, now he's behaving." Mickey grinned. It was actually nice to see Jack carefree again, if only for a moment. He and Martha had profusely apologised for their behaviour when the Judoon had killed him. And although Jack had reassured them that he understood, it was only now confirmed, seeing that unguarded moment with Ianto, that Mickey actually believed it.

"As I said, back to business. Ianto, please double check everything, I want to make sure we've not forgotten anything. Gwen, help him please. Mickey, check our weapons, all of them, see what's useful against what and if you can 'improve' any as you did before. Martha, with me."

"Can't we at least finish our lunch?" Gwen's plaintive request wasn't the expected response of "Yes Sir" but Jack just nodded.

Later, in Jack's office, with the door closed, Jack turned to Martha, looking serious.

"It occurred to me that whilst the TARDIS was on the Valiant, the Doctor's captives may have been let out. That would explain The Wire. I wasn't on her long, do you know if he carried other prisoners?"

Martha could see that Jack dreaded the answer and unfortunately could not give him good news.

"I know of two. Carrionites, they are trapped in a globe. They tried to use Shakespeare's genius with words, you would have loved him."

"Did." Quiet, laconic response and Martha's eyebrow shot up.

"Ah, explains his flirting with the Doctor and me, you'd warmed him up. When? He had a wife you know? Not that he seemed to care."

"Yes, just after some hullabaloo in the Globe, he'd lost a whole play somehow? Love's Labour's Won? I'd been looking forward to that. So I think you actually warmed him up for me. He mentioned a blackamoor lady several times, very impressed he seemed to be. Now I'm guessing that's you? Freedonia, honestly." Jack smiled, for a second lost in the memory.

"Oi! More importantly The Doctor had that globe and also a mirror with a trapped girl. Family of Blood, ruthless, 1913, boarding school." This time Martha remembered and shivered. "So many boys died just after."

Jack nodded, he'd been there too, fighting in the trenches. The memories were tough, he'd loved and lost so many friends, seen lives and minds destroyed. Only for the survivors to then fall prey to the Spanish Flu.

"Ok, reminiscing over." Jack became Captain Jack Harkness. He had another war to fight, this time a cause he actually believed in. "What do you mean, locked a girl in a mirror?"

"Family of Blood, he turned human as they wanted his life span...that's how I knew about the Master's fob watch. It had been the same. Chameleon arch, turns a Time Lord human, like Yana had been. He fell in love." Martha's bitterness was still evident.

"Anyway, they found us, attacked the school and he had to turn back to being The Doctor. He defeated them and locked them up so that they live forever as they wished, but they were all alone. He trapped the daughter in the mirror, her father chained up in unbreakable chains, the mother tricked into the event horizon of a collapsing galaxy and the son became suspended in time, a scarecrow protecting the fields of England. He was ruthless, he made them live forever, just as they'd wanted. The Oncoming Storm in full blast." Martha shivered.

"So, if that family ever find me..." Jack mused.

"They won't! They can't get out. He made sure of that." Martha was certain. "Then there were the Carrionites, witches who used the Globe and Shakespeare's words to try and take over. Will improvised and locked them up. The little globe was stored away forever."

"Will is it?"

"Yeah, and stop it. It's not as if you can talk." Martha grinned

Jack stood up, walked to the door and shouted into the main Hub: "Ianto, we need to raid the archives. Everything we have on The Doctor. I don't care how obscure or what era. Everything."

"Why?" a chorus answered him, curiosity shining out of every eye.

"I've got a theory. It looks as if old enemies are after Donna for an, as yet, unknown reason." Jack sounded serious.

"I know," Mickey suddenly slapped his head.

"Before the Earth was taken by the Daleks, all time lines converged on Donna. That's why Rose had to cross over first, to make sure she made the right choice, that she met the Doctor and helped defeat the Racnoss and save his life. Someone had tricked her into making one change and she never met him. In the alternative time line the Doctor died killing the Queen of the Racnoss but didn't regenerate. Martha, sorry, and Sarah Jane died on the moon with the Judoon. Gwen and Ianto died saving the Earth from the Sontarans and Jack, you ended up on their world. Only when Donna changed her direction and met him, only then was she able to come back here and become the DoctorDonna. So, there may be residual energy as all time lines converged on her."

"Ok, highest priority, find out everything you know about the Doctor's enemies... Ianto, archives, Martha, Mickey and me will send you each a report of our encounters... Gwen, keep going with investigating Donna! I'll get on the phone with UNIT. Ianto, who likes me?"

Ianto kept quiet, not wanting to dent his ego (he could hardly tell Jack that they liked him, not the Captain), just saying: "I'll connect you. Just go to your office."

The rest of the day was spent collating information, setting up databases and making sure they knew all there was to know.

At 8 pm Jack sent them home. They'd done enough and he didn't really want to analyse how this all felt. Ianto stayed again, sensing that this was an emotional roller coaster Jack didn't really want to be on.

Wednesday

Wednesday morning started like any other morning for Donna Noble. Her alarm went off at 5.58 am, she groaned and after listening to the news slowly dragged herself out of bed and into the shower. Her hair looked a mess and despite the fact that it took ages to dry, even with a hairdryer, she had to wash it. Hence the early wake up call.

Getting dressed in sensible black trousers, black shoes with low heels as this was for work and a red blouse with black jacket, Donna looked every inch the professional secretary, applying make up to fit the image she presented.

She scoffed her breakfast, muesli for the figure, prepared sandwiches as she wasn't spending extortionate amounts of money in the cafe and made sure her handbag contained everything she needed: swipe card, keys, purse, rape alarm, mobile phone, i-player, yep, all there. Donna locked her front door and started walking.

Close to her house was a park and for a moment it looked different. Then she registered the statues, angels at that. Who had come up with that one? They looked as if they should be on a cemetery, not a park.

Donna ambled on, listening to the latest by Lady Gaga, not noticing the two men following her at a discrete distance or that the angel statues seemed to move. She was therefore surprised when the dark skinned man grabbed her bag and pushed her to the ground. She was amazed when she noticed the angel next to her that had not been there a second ago and what's more... the man with her handbag had vanished.

"Run, call Torchwood." Another man ran up, shouting at her, "Tell them Mickey's been taken by the Weeping Angels. Run!"

Donna was amazed to see the other man vanish in front of her eyes too when he touched the statue. So she did the only thing sensible – she ran! Donna screamed when she ran into a man.

"Shh, ma'am, calm down. Can I help you?" The voice was soothing and Donna looked at him.

"Oi, do I look like a ma'am? And who are you?" Donna was still out of breath.

"Police. PC Andy Davidson, I heard your shouts. Can I help you?" Donna looked at him and saw a blond man, dressed in police uniform and yellow high visibility jacket.

"Yes, Torchwood, I'm supposed to call Torchwood." Andy looked at her, sighed and grabbed his mobile, dialling automatically.

"Gwen, I've got a woman here, sorry love, what's your name, Donna Noble, yes that's what I said. She needs to call Torchwood. No, hasn't said yet, but I.... Yes I know you are a secret organisation, but people do know about you! She was running away from something and your SUV is parked on double yellows, I should be issuing you a ticket... Donna, why did we need to contact Torchwood? Say that again. Ok, Gwen, she said that the Weeping Angels have Mickey and another man. What do you mean Jack? Great coat? She's nodding. Ok, we'll stay here, at the SUV. What do you mean, don't blink? Is this another of your spooky dos? Ok, we won't blink, keeping an eye on the statues. Argh, Donna, run! Yes, the SUV. We're in, they never locked it. What do you mean, remote? I don't care what Tosh did, yes please get Ianto to start the car. Yes, we'll meet you at the Plas. You so owe me a good explanation."

Not waiting for a reply, Andy put the SUV into gear and drove off. They were met on the Plas by Ianto Jones, Gwen and introduced to Dr. Martha Jones. Ianto held a thermos cup and handed it to Donna.

"Miss Noble, you may not remember me." Ianto evaded the attempted kicks from Gwen.

"Do I look like a miss? What is it with that? I've got a boyfriend you know." When in doubt, go on attack and Donna was very confused.

"Sorry, no, I met you about three years ago at HC Clements, just a quick introduction at the time, I worked for short period with Lance... Torchwood owned HC Clements at the time. He had your picture on his desk." Ianto lied gracefully, hiding his worry about Jack.

"Would you please tell us what happened?" the dark haired woman, Gwen, asked.

"It was over very quick. I was walking to work, oh, need to phone them...and then was attacked by this, Mickey? He grabbed my bag and pushed me to the floor. Then the other man ran up to me and gave me the message I told you about. It had my mobile in and everything."

"As I said, we are Torchwood, Special Ops." Gwen smiled wide, exposing a gap. Andy recognised it as her 'the world is going to end but you won't know that if I can help it' smile (last seen when they'd dealt with that Roman at the police station) and got even more worried.

"Can you give us a description of the bag and the contents?" Whilst Gwen distracted Donna, Martha suddenly had an idea. Mobile. The Doctor had upgraded Donna's phone when they had been stuck on Messaline. If she hadn't changed it, maybe there was a chance.

"Have you recently changed your phone?" Martha interrupted the other women.

"No, have had this forever, I was going to upgrade but didn't want to change my number." Donna rambled on whilst Martha walked off.

Out of sight she ran to the tourist office, down the stairs and grabbed her phone, the Doctor's phone... and dialled.... running back to the group on the Plas.

---

Mickey looked round and saw the he'd somehow ended up in what looked like a courtyard. It was dark but the paths looked vaguely familiar. He nearly jumped out of his skin and pulled his gun when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"It's only me, Jack." Mickey relaxed, slightly and then tensed up when he saw Jack press buttons on his wrist strap.

"Ok...any idea where we are?" Mickey added nausea to the stress when he saw the look of pain on Jack's face.

"Do you want the bad news or the bad news?" Jack's attempt at humour was flat.

"Well, bad news, seeing as you give me such a great choice." Mickey grimaced.

"Ok, we are in Cardiff, the castle it looks like, but it's 1941... 5 February 1941, early morning. They are burying him later today, here." Jack smiled sadly at Mickey. "Next week I'll find his records and take his name." Jack stopped. Why had the angel sent them to this date? Why not 1969 as he'd expected / hoped for.

"They are burying who? More importantly, how do we get home?" Mickey concentrated on the one thing that made sense, he was in 1941. Jack stiffened up.

"They bury Captain Jack Harkness and we can't – last time we opened the Rift it splintered, past and future converging on the Earth. We got diseases, displaced people, space ships, everything. The only option I can think of is getting you cryo-frozen at Torchwood. I'll just have to avoid myself." Jack babbled, he never babbled.

"Who? They are burying who? And why can't we freeze you as well?" It seemed an obvious solution.

"It's his name, I took his name. And because I am already frozen in the vaults. Let's say something changes and we get defrosted or I open the wrong drawer. I can't meet myself. It's complicated." Jack hated this admission and Mickey hadn't heard so much desolation.

"Yeah, I figured that one out all by myself." Mickey took a deep breath, trying to concentrate on something else other than the fact that he was in 1941. Second World War. The Blitz.

"Let me get this straight. Captain Jack Harkness, the original one, gets buried today. You took his name." Mickey looked questioningly for confirmation.

"Yes, took his name, his honour. Then I met Rose and the Doctor in London and we left 1941. Travelled to the space station, I became immortal and bounced to 1869. Lived through 1941, fighting the war and met... anyway. Lived to 2009, got taken back in time, way back in time and finally frozen by Torchwood in 1901 as I didn't want to meet myself. Don't ask. So I'm currently in London and with XIII corps in the desert, Tobruk. How I explain to Henrietta that I'm here and that you need freezing without you getting experimented on... " Jack knew he was rambling but it felt good to talk, he would blame it on shock later.

Mickey gasped. He'd forgotten Torchwood's motto: "If it's alien, it's ours."

"But first, let's get there. That's going to be dangerous enough." Jack sounded determined. Together they walked off, finding the exit to the street, so different to the main road Mickey had driven on not two days ago.

They were so focussed on not getting noticed on the long walk to the bay that it took a few calls of "Captain Harper, Captain Harper!" and a hand on Jack's shoulder before they noticed that they are surrounded by a group of soldiers in uniform.

"George. So sorry." Jack dissembled. This was not good. Last time he'd seen George he'd been punched by him and then had kissed his superior in front of everyone before running into a white light with Toshiko. Not the best way to make friends with soldiers in 1941.

Tim stood to the side and asked quietly: "Where's Toshiko?"

"Decoding at Bletchley, doing a damn fine job of it too. This is Mickey Smith, my new batman." Jack recovered and hoped this would keep them quiet, black men were not dime a dozen in this time. A servant role was one they understood and he could only hope Mickey didn't mind.

"I'm sorry to tell you Sir, Captain Harkness did not return from the training flight after we met that night. He will be buried today, are you able to attend?" The question threw Jack. He knew all this but this is also raw and unexpected.

Mickey, still trying to assimilate all this, stuttered: "When and where?" thinking, why did I ask that, now they think we'll want to come.

"Twelve noon at St Mary's." Tim, shyly, gave the information.

"I will check Captain Har...per's plans for the day, sorry, and then we will let you know." Mickey had watched enough WW2 films to see what was going on here and what Jack was doing. Well, hopefully, but Jack had been to this time before.

Mickey felt the handbag vibrate. Handbag? Oh yeah, he was still carrying Donna's handbag. Why did it vibrate?

Turning away from the men still talking, Mickey opened the bag, found the mobile and looked at the display.

'Doctor'

Mickey answered and just whispered: "Can't talk right now, we're in 1941 and have company. Get us out of here. I don't know how, you're the ones with the Hub." He clicked it shut, amazed that no-one was even questioning the fact that he was holding a woman's red handbag. But then they were grieving, so maybe a bit distracted.

Mickey turned back to the men talking and rejoined them just to overhear Jack say: "We'll be there, definitely. He was a good man."

He pulled Jack away and whispered urgently: "What did you just do? We need to get back. The Hub just phoned, they know where we are."

"What do you mean the Hub phoned?" Jack was stunned, in about an hour he'd gone from being in a park in Cardiff 2009 to being lost in Cardiff 1941 again, hearing about the funeral of the man whose name he'd taken, agreed to attend it and now they'd been phoned? He should be able handle this better!

"Donna's phone had been upgraded by the Doctor to work anywhere, anytime with unlimited credit, I think. So the Hub called, I told them where we are and they will phone back to let us know how we can get back. So what was this about going to the funeral?" Mickey felt as if he'd aged and suddenly become the adult.

He turned off the main road into an alley and returned the call. Whispering to Martha he updated her:

"Apparently it's 5 February 1941 and Jack met some old mates. They knew Toshiko? He's now planning to attend the funeral of Captain Jack Harkness at twelve noon today, St Marys. Yes, the original one. Apparently they met. Tell Ianto, I don't know why they don't remember a kiss. Yes, even I know it's illegal and I won't kiss him, ever. Sorry, bit tense here. Yeah, let me know what the plan is. And it looks as if Captain Harper here and me are going to a funeral. Then he plans to get me frozen by Torchwood and hide for the next 60 years. Yeah, I'm not too keen on the plan myself."

Mickey ended the call and turned to Jack. "They are still working on a plan, so we're waiting for them to call us before we go with yours."

---

Martha returned to the others. "Do we have any options? Jack apparently wants to freeze Mickey here and waltz back in 60 years older."

Ianto exchanged a glance with Gwen and said: "Much as we'd like to, we can't use the Rift Manipulator, the last time we did that – end of the world. Rift splintered, illnesses like the black death, aliens from the future. When we opened it to return everyone, we released Abaddon, destroyer of everything. Jack defeated him, just before he went off with the Doctor." Ianto's voice was filled with despair.

"The pit stop, the Doctor said the Rift had been active..." Martha tried to gather her timelines...gave up and decided to concentrate on the future.

"This still leaves us with no options." Ianto was trying to stay stoic, but found it hard.

Suddenly a shout bellowed across the Hub.

"Get on your knees, now, Hart! Hands behind your head! Any sudden moves and you are dead!" Gwen's voice held ice. The man who had suddenly appeared complied. The rest of the team whipped round to see a man dressed in a red Hussar's jacket, hands behind his head, kneeling obediently.

"And again, what is it with you lot? I only came to help." John looked at them pleadingly.

"What is going on here? You can't just point a gun at him. And would someone please explain that orange cloud?"

They'd forgotten about Donna standing to one side, still talking to PC Andy, giving him her details.

"Captain John Hart, I'd shake your hand, but, you know, gun at my head. And I'd like to think I'm unforgettable." John introduced himself, leering slightly.

"What do you mean, you came to help?" Gwen asked, ice lacing her voice.

"Well, my Vortex Manipulator tells me Jack is not here. We are linked, partners in every way. How do think I found him the first time? Jack wouldn't leave Eye-Candy here, so something's wrong when he's suddenly in the past."

Ianto growled but Gwen motioned her gun, letting John stand up.

"Ok, assuming we believe your Vortex Manipulator can do that, why should we trust you? Not so long ago you blew up Cardiff." Gwen gave no quarter.

"I had no choice, remember." John tried to justify himself.

"There's always a choice." Ianto replied quietly and convinced.

"Oh, you sound like him. But in this case you have no choice. You can't get them back with your Rift thingy. But I can get him back. My Vortex Manipulator can transport more than one person." John sounded persuasive.

"Well, that much, at least, is true." Martha spoke this time, remembering the journeys back from Malcassairo and to the Valiant.

"What do you want in exchange? You don't do things for charity." Ianto again, not trusting the man one iota.

"You know me too well. You can help me, a bit like last time. I'll get paid very well, just need to find and deliver my cargo, it came through the Rift." John knew that he was giving a lot away, but hey, you needed a little truth to let the scam work.

"Well, Jack can decide that, when you get him here." Ianto couldn't believe he'd just said that. He was trusting John? "But I want insurance. How many can travel on it?"

"As many as touch it and each other, isn't that right?" Martha went out on a limb. They had been three that travelled on Jack's Vortex Manipulator, if one of them supervised it would make four for the journey back.

"Yes." John grimaced, they knew too much, he hated that. How were you supposed to get away with stuff if that was the case?

"Ok, then I travel with you." Ianto's voice brooked no argument. Approaching John he pulled out a set of handcuffs and cuffed himself to John's other arm. "I am not taking any chances with you."

John nodded, for the time being he had to play along. He'd get Jack back and then they would be in his debt, which sounded good to him. Maybe this time Jack would want to be with him.

"Oh, get you Eye Candy, didn't I tell you I was irresistible? Handcuffs, Jack will be happy."

Ignoring the astonished looking Donna, PC Andy and Gwen, he pressed some buttons. "Put your hand on the wrist band."

They vanished into thin air.

"Would someone please explain this to me? Now would be good." Donna was not letting her astonishment get the better of her tongue.

"Well, Cardiff has a Rift in time and space. John's from the future, means he can travel in time and get the rest of our team back, who are in the past, having been sent there by the Weeping Angels, the statutes in the park." Gwen thought basic info might help.

"Oooh-kaay. Where's the hidden camera? Time and space. Next you'll tell me aliens are real."

Andy touched her arm and said: "No camera, all real."

"You are in on it. You'd tell me anything to get the joke on camera." Donna was not going to believe rubbish like this.

"In on it? Hah." The bitterness in Andy's voice was clear and Donna didn't miss it. "Trust me, there are aliens, I've seen them. They moved the Earth, remember?"

"No, cannot say that I do. Had the mother of all hangovers. Woke up dressed in my bed. Dressed, I tell you, like a child." Donna was indignant.

"Andy, would you take Donna to the police station, take down all her details and let her work know that her purse has been stolen, she won't be in. We'll be in contact when we have her purse back." Gwen regrouped and issued orders. "The rest of us will be back in... our office."

---

Mickey and Jack had made their way slowly to St Mary's church. Mickey was still amazed he was doing this, but it meant he wouldn't be frozen straightaway, that had to be a good thing. He had no-one to shout: 'I love you' at him or to reply to with a dry 'I know' whilst being frozen. That came from re-watching 'The Empire strikes back', made you maudlin.

Jack and Mickey sat alone in the back row, out of view of the mourners. Jack was still worried that they would remember the dance and kiss he'd shared with the Captain and knew that would sully the memory of the man in their eyes. Jack didn't know why they didn't remember, maybe it had something to do with the Rift or Bilis Manger's machinations that day. Either way, conventions being as they were, Jack was grateful.

Mickey looked at the picture of the good looking man next to the flag draped coffin. The stars and stripes. A man a long way from home, Mickey sympathised.

"We have come here today to celebrate the life of a hero. Captain Jack Harkness had been a volunteer. He had not been forced to fight our fight. Captain Jack Harkness never lost a man. He killed 26 of the enemy alone in the Battle of Britain and another three in his last battle. He fought for us, trained our men and gave his life. All his men returned. He was engaged to one of our own. Let's stand to sing the first hymn."

When Jack and Mickey stood they felt themselves being pushed towards the middle of the bench. Jack's heart nearly stopped when he saw who it was who pushed them. Ianto put a finger on his mouth, stopping him from exclaiming. Then Ianto made him aware of the handcuffs.

Jack didn't know what to think. Here he was trying to honour the man who he worshipped as a hero and whose reputation he would never live up to however many years he lived. At the same time at the back of his mind was the ridiculous idea that it should be him that was handcuffed to Ianto (who should be naked in that scene) and that having his ex and his current lover handcuffed to each other was not a good thing.

His thoughts got interrupted when the hymn ended and he was pulled down to sit on the hard wooden bench. In a few years this would be a Weevil den and he'd sneak in to resurrect Owen. Jack really wanted to concentrate but as the preacher was talking to a god Jack didn't believe in his mind drifted. For Jack two years (including one no-one remembered and two thousand buried alive) had gone by, not three weeks. He'd grieved Jack Harkness then, toasted his life with Toshiko in his office. He'd let him go.

And he was sitting here next to Ianto, the man he was with now. There was someone, not how it had been then. He wasn't lonely anymore. Jack's vision swam when he imagined the picture on the coffin to be Ianto's as he knew it would be one day.

Mechanically he stood up for the next song, words passing him by. He listened to Nancy's tearstained memories of meeting a dashing Captain, getting to know him and falling for him, all in the space of a few weeks. She remembered his last evening with the men, of getting a final good bye and being able to tell him that she loved him at least.

They sang a final song and then his men, including George and Tim, carried the coffin to the graveyard outside for Captain Jack Harkness to be buried in Welsh soil. Jack, Mickey, Ianto and John remained in the church.

"Time to go home. Hold on tight." John pulled Mickey's and Jack's hands towards his Vortex Manipulator and Ianto held on too.

---

Back in the Hub, surrounded by Gwen, Martha and the other returnees Jack was in shock. John and Ianto coming to the rescue had been unexpected to say the least. Having them there when they honoured the hero Jack would never be felt wrong. So Jack went in the offensive.

"What is he doing here? And why are you handcuffed to him?" Both questions were fired at Ianto.

"He's kinky." John couldn't resist baiting Jack.

"I don't trust him but he came to help. Better than you living 60 years avoiding yourself or Mickey getting frozen, Captain!"

Ianto was not taking this lying down. Unlocking himself from John he moved up to Jack and stared him in the eyes, trying to convey what words couldn't. 'You are back and short of opening the Rift I pay any price for that.' It wasn't said but Jack got the message

"John, of course, wants some help. Apparently he needs to retrieve something that came through the Rift...he's getting paid for it." Ianto didn't hide his disgust and Jack flinched. At one time he'd been the man to do unpalatable things to get currency.

Gwen decided that someone needed to take charge and it had to be her again.

"Martha, lock John up until we can deal with him. I'll take the purse to the police station and meet up with Donna. Boys, you have the rest of the day off. You've had an ordeal and I want to talk to Donna before we re-start planning."

Mickey was grateful for the respite and ran out, not looking back. Martha took John to the cells, removed his wrist strap, gave him cold pizza (and did not rise to his flirting, much to his chagrin... why didn't his pheromones work on these people?) and left him for the night.

Gwen went to the police station and had lunch with Donna, interrogating her gently, before sending her home with a forceful admonishment that Torchwood had to be kept quiet or, well Donna would not want to find out. She hugged Rhys when he came home and fed him lasagne.

Ianto pulled Jack out of the Hub, totally ignoring the other man's complaints. "You're in shock, Captain, I'm in charge."

"John said you were kinky." It sounded as if Jack was following a script, trying to pretend everything was normal.

"Yeah, you'd know all about that." Ianto didn't rise to the bait. He took Jack home, fed him whiskey and got him to talk. He then proved how kinky he could be, after all, he'd learned from the best.

Thursday

Thursday morning started like any other morning for Donna Noble. Her alarm went off at 5.58 am, she groaned and after listening to the news slowly dragged herself out of bed and into the shower. She shouldn't have had that bottle of wine with Lee.

Getting dressed in sensible black trousers, black shoes with low heels as this was for work and a white blouse with black jacket, Donna looked every inch the professional secretary, applying make up to fit the image she presented.

She scoffed her breakfast, muesli for the figure, prepared sandwiches as she wasn't spending extortionate amounts of money in the cafe and made sure her handbag contained everything she needed: swipe card, keys, purse, rape alarm, mobile phone, i-player, yep, all there. Donna locked her front door and started walking.

The world should be looking different. She'd learned about Cardiff being on a Rift in time and space and that aliens apparently existed. The man she'd seen walk through that weird orange mist was from the future? Now she was supposed to believe in time travel too?

She'd hated that she hadn't been able to tell Lee anything but Gwen had been totally clear about that. No mention of Torchwood, aliens, time travel or the like. On the other hand, who'd believe her without sending her to the nearest mental hospital?

Donna arrived at work without problems and sat down.

"Are you ok? Did they steal anything? Did you get injured? Did they find the guy who did it?" Donna was surrounded by her work colleagues, fussing over her.

"I'm fine. No, I got everything back. No, no injuries, but my outfit, I looked a fine mess! He just pushed me to the ground." She tried to reassure them. Even her boss came round in person, reassuring himself of her safety.

Pauline then moaned when her boss got her to call the street cleaning services. Apparently some vandals had destroyed stone statues and Torchwood wanted the mess removed, pronto. Why they were interested in statues was never explained.

"Torchwood never explain. Just barge in and order everyone around, usually away. Leave us with the cleanup. What do they actually do? Nobody seems to know exactly." Pauline was on a roll.

Donna really had to bite her tongue at this one. It was exciting to know something they didn't and yet, she hated secrets. To distract herself she put in her earphones and started typing out the report her manager had dictated. Not that it worked, but at least the work got done and she couldn't talk.

---

Captain John Hart had woken up in better places. A cell, lit up brightly, in Cardiff 2009 wasn't his ideal. Mind you, he'd woken up in worse places too. Now he just had to figure out how to convince Captain Straight-laced and Eye-Candy that he could be trusted.

Eventually Mickey came and picked him up, taking John to the boardroom where he was presented with coffee and some breakfast. As it had been eighteen hours since the cold pizza he tucked in.

"Thanks, to what do I owe the pleasure?" John turned to the rest of the team who were looking at him.

"Well, we'd like to know what you think you got out of helping us. You're not that selfless, Vera." Gwen reminded him.

"As I said all I'm trying to do is retrieve an artefact that got dropped here a few weeks ago. Shouldn't affect you at all. Well, I could do with some help finding it, but, after last time I don't think so somehow."

"You think right." Gwen again. "And what do you really get out of it?"

"Enough cash to keep me happy for a very long time in a galaxy far far away, well on Midnight anyway." John decided to give another bit of honesty.

"Yeah, can't really see him as Han Solo." Ianto's dry wit was countered by Mickey.

"Nope, more Darth Vader, if you ask me."

"And back to the real aliens..." Jack took control of the meeting. "So, spill Captain, what's the real deal?"

"Didn't you listen? I told you, I'm getting paid to come here and retrieve a Frellian tiara." John sounded impatient.

"We listened, but we've not missed anything, no Frellian tiara, there is nothing to retrieve." Mickey was self-assured.

"Yeah, that explains Earth being moved on your watch. Not missed a thing."

That went too far.

"That was Daleks, and we defeated them." Ice laced Mickey's voice.

"Daleks?" John looked questioningly and shocked at Jack. "I thought they were only myths."

"No myth, defeated by us, with some help from a Time Lord." Mickey gloated, this man was rubbing him up the wrong way in a fashion he couldn't explain.

"Time Lords don't exist. They taught us that at the Agency, first lesson on myths and legends!" John sneered.

"They were wrong." Jack replied quietly, glaring at John, brooking no argument. "So, what are you really looking for?"

"Ok, it's more a bounty hunting job. You remember? Catch it, deliver it, collect payment, spend it. Some chick. Good money, didn't think a planet of 6 billion people would miss one. And it's good money, if you're not working."

"Oh, we would miss one woman." Gwen looked at him sternly. "And you can forget us helping you find her."

John just looked at her with puppy eyes and continued to furiously work out ways to get out of this hole in the ground as well as getting his Vortex Manipulator back and computer access to find his prey. At that precise moment an alarm rang on Ianto's watch and the man scrambled away. Jack spoke:

"Martha, take John back to his cell, I'm going to deal with him later. Something more important has cropped up."

The knife went in and was twisted, John knew the barb was aimed at him. Jack was putting him in his place. But for now all he could do was growl (and swipe his Vortex Manipulator from the table they'd stupidly let it lie on). John wanted to know what was going on, but he was led back to his cell. At least he had the beginnings of the means to get out.

---

Gwen tidied up the boardroom, miffed that she was the one left with the task as Mickey and Jack had just left her to it.

She got even angrier when Ianto returned with a very young man, looking maybe aged 20, dressed in Blue Jeans and a Blue Gillespie t-shirt, looking as if he'd just fallen out of bed. He reeked of geek, Gwen hated geeks, she felt so ordinary and useless next to them. Jack performed introductions:

"Team, this is Brandon Sawyers. He's going to be our new computer wizard, trust me he knows the system. Brandon these are the team: Gwen Cooper-Williams, second in command. Mickey Smith, resident weapons expert. Dr. Martha Jones, saviour of the world and medic. You've met Ianto of course, he's butler, general backup, archivist and he looks good..."

"Not again, Sir." Ianto's voice was teasing when it interrupted, "I don't want to have to complain about sexual harassment to my boss, again. Causes way too much paperwork."

"I only harass you. Anyway, Brandon here agreed to join us after hacking into our systems, meaning he's already got a great knowledge of them. His first job will be to eliminate the loopholes he exploited when hacking in. Great catch by the way, Mickey."

Mickey grimaced. It had been luck more than judgement, but if it meant that he now could stop trying to figure out the alien system, that could only be a good thing.

"Brandon, that's your new desk, Ianto will sort out the log in procedure. Mickey, we'll set up a work station near the armoury for you."

Everyone nodded, trying to get over the changes to their new team. Ianto decided to go for his panacea of all ills.

"Anyone for coffee?" got nods from everyone but Brandon.

"Actually, do you have tea?" he asked, trying to figure out why everyone was staring at him. He's English, of course he drinks tea.

"No worries, we've got tea, Jack occasionally drinks it." Ianto aimed to reassure the young man and mask his private outrage at Brandon assuming a lack in his hosting skills.

"Yeah, tea is good, I've heard that from an impeccable source. And even Jack can make tea, it's better than his coffee." Martha made a joke nobody but her and Jack got and tried to hide her smile, remembering the tea Jack brewed just before the Master blew up her flat.

"Talking of our esteemed friend, I had an idea last night. I scanned John's Vortex Manipulator and stored the information on the system. Maybe we can repair yours to make it function normally again?"

"Nightingale, you are brilliant. Brandon, forget what I said, first another job for you. Sit down with Martha and do it. If we can get this working again it would be very helpful. Would you need to look at John's as well?"

Brandon just nodded mutely. He had no idea what a Vortex Manipulator was, or which vortex for that matter, but seeing that he was now working for Torchwood, who hunted aliens, he'd find out soon enough. Maybe time travel did exist. You never knew. He was going to be handed his first piece of alien technology, on his first day. Pity he could never tell anyone. He did not fancy waking up with missing years or be locked up forever in a cell, the only other options presented when he'd been found out.

"But first, Brandon, you need a quick tour of the Hub. Follow me. At the moment we are in the nerve centre, down there is the autopsy area, Martha's domain. Come on, don't dawdle. Cells. This is Janet. She's a Weevil, well, that's what we call them. Came through the Rift."

"Where's she from?" Brandon looked at the alien in the cell and appreciated the glass barrier, those teeth looked vicious.

"No idea. They don't communicate well. We know they come through the rift, live the sewers and usually we leave them alone. But they sometimes attack and those we have to deal with."

"Oi, don't forget about me." John piped up from the next cell. "I'm as human as they come."

"You may be human, but you are also the second sneakiest person I know." Jack answered laconically.

"Dare I ask who's the sneakiest?" Brandon smiled.

"Well, me of course. So, can I have your little wrist strap back please, John?" Jack smiled to himself. Internal CCTV was a beautiful thing.

"Well, I could just press some buttons and skedaddle." John kept up a brave face.

"Well, you would have if you could. We've got good shielding. You're not the first guest down here." Jack looked at his old partner. "So, give it back."

Handing his Vortex Manipulator to Jack, John tried to project his pheromones and hid a smile when the young guy flinched uncomfortably. Good looking he was, jail bait on some planets for sure, but yeah, better than a poodle.

"Come on Brandon, let's go. Work to do. Morgue to see." Jack smiled.

---

Arriving back upstairs, Brandon's retina was scanned and Ianto logged him into the system. With Martha's help he accessed the scan of John's Vortex Manipulator and scanned Jack's, who fidgeted the whole time it was off his wrist. He only calmed down when it was back where it belonged.

Comparing the scans it became clear that it wasn't the hardest job, especially with Jack already knowing the base code for the teleport and the fact that it was still working. After inputting that and scaring the wits out of Ianto in the archives (Jack soothed him with a kiss before teleporting away again), it became clear that all that was still disabled was the ability to travel in time. Hunting through the blue prints they found out what they needed.

Everyone breathed a huge sigh of relief when Ianto was actually able to procure the necessary items from the hidden depths of the archives. It may have taken a few hours, but Jack would soon be able to travel in time again.

"Space hopper it may be, but it's mine. He can keep his sports car." This time it was Jack who made the joke only Martha would get. She grinned.

"No worry, I'll blog, he can find out all about it later." The others still felt left out of the intimate smiles shared between the two.

Before Jack had the opportunity to test out his ability to time travel, the alarms went off. Looking at his assembled team he issued orders:

"Brandon, Mickey, you stay here. Ianto, Gwen, Martha – you are with me. Mickey, tell us where we have to go, Brandon, you sit and learn."

---

Donna Noble had finished her work for the day and attended her Welsh language lesson without any problems. Well, if she said she had no problems, that wasn't quite true, Peter Horne was not leaving her alone. He'd been dogging her every step. Flattering, yes, but he smelled badly, as if hadn't washed in ages or been covered in rancid eggs.

"I'm in love with you. Please, hear me out, come for a coffee." Peter was repeating himself, over and over again.

"Oi, mate, I've got a boyfriend. Why don't you get the message?"

Donna was getting angry and scared. It was late evening after all and apparently statistics bore out that you were more likely to be raped by an acquaintance. She started walking faster and searched for her mobile in her bag to dial 999 if it was necessary.

Inside her front door Donna sighed in relief. Then she called the police anyway.

"Hello, I'd like report a stalker. He's followed me from a course we both attend. He stands outside my front door. Yes, he's still out there, knocking on the door. I live at..." Donna reeled off her address.

"No worries, ma'am, a car will be with you shortly." The voice on the other line reassured her.

Then she called Lee, telling him what had happened and that she would see him tomorrow. Before he could stammer out his agreement, Donna heard a police siren outside. She relaxed. The pervert would be dealt with.

Donna screamed when green claws demolished her front door instead. Suddenly there was a monster, a large green monster, with bulky eyes and claws, reaching out to her.

"I can smell you, I can smell your fear. This is going to be a short hunt!" The Slitheen roared and came closer. Donna scrambled along the wall and fell through an open door into her bedroom.

"Nowhere to go, you're mine." He leered, reaching his claws to her.

Donna cowered in a corner, knowing that the police would be too late, they'd only find her mangled corpse. Closing her eyes Donna apologised silently to her mum for leaving her too and regretted not spending her life with Lee, not telling him she loved him.

Donna opened her eyes in disbelief when the roaring stopped and she was covered in exploding green slime. Her bedroom smelled, no stank, of vinegar. Looking up she saw Mickey standing in her bedroom door, holding a beaker.

"Slitheen, calcium based, just a bit of acetic acid, all done." Mickey sounded proud of himself.

"And who, exactly, is going to clean up this mess?" Donna and Ianto asked simultaneously, Ianto already suspecting the answer.

"I am not staying here." Donna sounded determined, pulling herself up and some goo out of her hair.

"Is there anywhere you can go?" Jack asked, not looking at Ianto, knowing that if Donna left, there would only be one outcome.

"Lee, my boyfriend, maybe?" Donna was a bit hesitant. "And how did you find me so quickly? I only just called the police."

"We intercepted the call." Jack answered, "Come on, call Lee."

"You intercepted the call? Next you tell me you listened to my phone calls as well." The silence said it all.

"You listened to my phone calls? Who do you think you are? This is an invasion of my privacy." Donna started ranting.

Gwen went over to her, putting a reassuring arm around Donna's shoulder "Donna, we are Torchwood and we did it to protect you. It worked, didn't it? Come on, we'll get you out of here. Call Lee, we will deal with this."

Jack turned to the team: "You heard her. Gwen, take Donna to Lee's house and then go home to Rhys. Mickey, collect the neck brace, we will examine it back at the Hub in the morning. Ianto..."

Jack avoided Ianto's eyes. Ianto just nodded and walked off, talking on the comms and updating Martha. He came back with a bucket, shovel and some cleaning materials and started cleaning up the sticky mess. Mickey concentrated on the neck brace and scanned it with his hand held PDA.

"Appears to be destroyed, switched off, maybe it's connected to their DNA. There's a name, Tosh's translator system claims it is Bran Kel Klock Day-Passameer Slitheen."

Mickey and Jack exchanged a glance as that was close to home. Family Slitheen, the same who had planned to melt earth to slag and sell it.

"Ok, that's another one who is after Donna dealt with, but his family may well be on their way. They are very low level telepathic, can sense each other." Jack sounded more and more aggravated.

"Calm down Jack, we've protected her so far, we'll manage it." Ianto tried to placate his Captain. "All done here, let's get this place closed up and home."

After a final spot check of the flat, they left, Jack trying to contact Martha on the comms system to let her know to go home. When he didn't get a reply he turned to the other two men with him in the SUV. Speeding up he said, worry lacing his voice:

"I can't reach Martha or Brandon. Hold on tight."

---

Brandon and Martha had been able to disconnect when Ianto had informed them that the attacker had been dealt with but it was a cleanup job and that Donna was now on her way to Lee's. Martha changed the CCTV feed, showing Brandon how to do that and they saw Donna being dropped off by Gwen.

Contacting Gwen, Martha confirmed that everything was under control and they would just wait for the others to come back before leaving themselves.

"Enjoy yourself." Martha smiled, turning to Brandon to explain: "She's got a husband. Rhys, he knows about Torchwood."

"She was allowed to tell him? Jack was very specific about that when he talked to me." Brandon was a bit confused.

"Long story, but he got involved by accident. Ok, let's close this place down for the night. Did Jack show you where the food for Myfanwy and the Weevils was?"

When Brandon nodded, Martha said:

"Ok, you feed them, I'll lock up here and then we can go." Martha decided.

Martha got worried when after half an hour she still hadn't seen Brandon come back up. Evening feed was usually very quick, pre-bought, cheap, meat sandwiches for the Weevils and fish for Myfanwy.

Checking the internal security cameras Martha gasped at what she saw. John's cell was empty, however before she could press the button on her ear piece she heard:

"Stop, or the new boy here gets it." Looking up Martha gasped again. Brandon was in a headlock so tight that his neck was close to snapping.

"Ok, ok." Martha tried to think hard but couldn't come up with a way of overpowering John without risking Brandon, so she backed off.

"Where's my...oh, thanks, nice." Pulling Brandon with him, John picked up his Vortex Manipulator that was still lying on the desk along with a large screwdriver which he pressed against Brandon's neck. The Manipulator went on his wrist and he pressed a few buttons.

"You will tell me where she is, sweetie, or else." John's voice was menacing.

"Who?" Martha tried to play for time, hoping the others would be back soon.

"My target, of course, my money in the bank. Her name's Noble, Donna Noble." John glanced at Brandon who'd not been able stop himself reacting to the name, looking up at the CCTV screen. "Ah, this was easy."

John pulled him to the computer, retrieved the information whilst still threatening Brandon and after pressing a few more buttons vanished, saying:

"Thanks, it was my pleasure, Angel Eyes."

---

Martha pressed her comms and this time was connected with Jack.

"It's John, he's escaped, he's after Donna and he knows where she is." Martha heard tyres scream as the SUV changed direction.

Brandon grimaced. This was his fault. His first day and he'd let out a dangerous prisoner. Jack would be well within his rights to do as he'd threatened: retcon him back to childhood.

"I'm so sorry." Brandon tried to figure out what exactly had happened. He'd fed Myfanwy and the prisoners, Janet had growled at him, but he'd managed to deliver the food without getting attacked. Then he'd heard that voice, smooth as silk:

"What about me? Aren't you going to feed me?" John Hart: second sneakiest man in the universe, apparently. And boy, had he lived up to his name. When Brandon had walked to the plexiglass division, he'd seen the other man sit on his bench, showing his handcuffed wrists. Brandon had been torn. He couldn't let the man go hungry, could he? And he was handcuffed, how dangerous could he be?

So he'd opened the door and taken in a tray of sandwiches and water. The next thing he remembered was being overwhelmed by a spicy smell and then a kiss which led to him being head locked and unceremoniously pulled back upstairs. Touching his lips Brandon remembered that kiss. It had easily been the best one he'd ever received, not that he had that much to compare.

And now, this madman was on the loose and it was his fault.

"I'm so sorry." Brandon repeated himself when he didn't receive a reply.

"You'll survive. My first day wasn't a great success either. And Jack, I'm turning round as well, Rhys will have to wait." Gwen's' voice was first reassuring and then business like.

"Jack, I'll sort this." Brandon was determined.

"How? He's got her." Jack's voice was flat.

Friday

It was just after midnight and Lee was trying to figure out what had happened on Thursday night. First he'd had a telephone call telling him that Donna had been attacked and, although fine, wasn't ready to stay at home alone. Then Donna had arrived and had been ranting about how she wasn't safe, how she should have stayed in London.

"Would you believe it? Stalker, I had a stalker. Met him at those Welsh lessons, Peter, you remember him? To...The police dealt with him. Didn't take no for an answer, even though I told him about you." Donna rambled on, trying to get rid of the feeling of uneasiness that she couldn't tell him what had really happened.

Next a man had just appeared in front of them, threatening him with some kind of weapon. If he didn't know better, he'd have said it was futuristic, like something out of Star Trek.

"You will come with me, no shouting, nothing, or lover boy there gets it."

Their attacker's voice had been so serious that Donna had mindlessly complied, which was very unusual for his spirited woman. She'd looked at her abductor with contempt but had gone with him. It was only afterwards that Lee had noticed that she'd always stood between him and their assailant, preventing injury to him.

Calling 999 Lee had been shocked to find four people outside his door before he'd even finished dialling.

"Where's Donna?" A man in 1940s garb barged in, pushing Lee against the wall, whilst the dark haired woman, Gwen, who'd dropped off Donna, moved deeper into the flat. She was followed by a man in a suit and a darker man who both had pulled guns.

"Sh.. Sh...Sh...Sh...Sh...She's been taken." Lee had stammered, barely able to comprehend his night.

"Describe him." No preliminaries there then.

"R..R..R..R..Red jacket, gun, just v...v...v...vanished." Lee replied, terrified.

"John, he's got her. Mickey and Brandon, trace him, I want to know where they are. Ianto, I'll have to go, have to follow them, sorry. I have to get her back. Gwen, make Lee a special cup of tea if necessary."

"Wh..Wh..Wh...Who are you?" Lee had to ask.

"We are Torchwood. And we'll find her for you." Gwen went into mothering hen mode. She'd nodded at Jack, who pressed some buttons on his wrist strap and vanished after being entering co-ordinates given to him by Mickey over the comms.

Lee had just sat down, shaking his head.

---

"Oi, you, what do you think you are doing?" Donna found her voice again once Lee was out of danger. "And where are we going, time man? You can't just waltz in, threaten me and expect me to take this lying down."

"Don't give me ideas, Red." John pulled on the handcuffs he'd fastened on Donna.

"Where are we?" Donna looked around. The sky looked a greenish colour, the sun in the sky was more red than she was used to and trees, all in a row, with what looked like claw marks. It was hot, hotter than she'd ever been and bright.

"Krillia." As if that meant anything to her.

"And that is where, exactly, Greece?" Donna wasn't going to shut up.

"You don't need to know that, Miss Noble." The voice was smooth. When Donna turned round she saw a man, dressed in a pinstripe suit, looking her up and down. "You won't be around long enough." Unlike Donna and John, he'd kept himself out of the hot sun, staying in the shadow.

"Payment first, please." John looked at the projected image, he wasn't fooled. And he wanted to be gone before they killed her or whatever they wanted her for. Not that he minded death, but the first rule of bounty hunting was: pick up, deliver, get paid, skedaddle.

"Oh, yes, I forgot, you wanted 100,000 credits." The alien threw a small square metal disk. John caught it, checked it out and then turned round to leave.

"Wait a moment, you think you can just kidnap me, get some money for me and leave?" Donna was not impressed. "Just who do you think you are?"

"Captain John Hart, ex-Time Agent and bounty hunter, at your service." John pressed some buttons on his wrist strap, when he felt his hand stayed.

"And an escapee." Jack's voice interrupted the introduction.

"Also, she's not for sale." Jack continued, looking at John, ignoring the bat like creature. "And he's not even authorised to sell her. She's mine." Jack pulled Donna close, entreating her with his eyes to play along.

"I'm not selling her. Brother Nassor here has set a bounty price on her. I've earned it, and he's paid, so she's his." John was adamant, he was not going to lose out here.

"Oh no, you will give the money back to him, you know that I will not let you get away with it." Jack wondered what he was doing, John would never return that money, he was too mercenary for that.

"Well, moot point that, he's dead." Donna's tremulous voice interrupted their shouting match. Turning round Jack and John saw that she was right, all that was left over was a skeleton lying under the tree and not a human one either.

"What?" Jack looked around, there was nothing. Only the sun shining on the trees, creating shadows. Inching towards the corpse Jack kept his eyes open, but there was nothing to see. John pocketed his money disk and walked towards Donna, not wanting to lose his prize. He should really be leaving, but he'd liked the Krillitane who'd paid him, well as much as John liked anyone who paid him.

Donna suddenly spoke up again. "How many suns does this planet have?"

"One, why?" John responded, wondering why this was important.

"Ok, why then does Jack have two shadows?" Donna wondered

"Run, Jack, run." John twigged quickly, pulled Donna away from the trees, towards open ground. Looking back they saw that it was too late. Jack was lying motionless, his flesh gone. John pressed some buttons on his wrist strap and they vanished, leaving a skeleton behind.

---

Jack groaned. Death by having all your flesh eaten must beat all of them. One minute he'd been standing over a corpse, appreciating that he was out of the hot sun, the next he'd been dead, fleshless. It must have taken him a long time to come back from this, the sun had moved and he was now getting the full force of it. He groaned again, hardly daring to look at his skin in case he'd come back to life half formed. But the heat beat on all of it.

Slowly he sat up and looked around. He was still lying next to the skeleton of Brother Nassor. John had obviously left him behind. Jack gently pressed a few buttons on his wrist strap and found himself on yet another alien planet. John also obviously had not returned Donna.

Looking round Jack smelt apples. But as there were no trees and he stood on grass, here was apple grass. Jack ignored the skyline and the floating cars, all he was interested in was following John and Donna, who, it appeared were in a big building with a green crescent moon – a hospital. Jack looked at his wrist strap and gasped. They were in the future, 5 billion and 25. On the positive side, it was a hospital, so maybe they'd be able to help him get his strength back after he'd found John, this death had really taken it out of him. For all he knew he'd been lunch more than once.

Walking slowly Jack arrived at the front door, it swung open gently for him and he walked in. His wrist strap told him that John was on the top floor, so Jack entered the lift. The disinfectant and cold water came as a shock, but revived him more than expected as did the hot air that dried him.

Once he was upstairs he didn't have to follow his wrist strap, the loud voices across the corridor were enough to guide him.

"You left him there, dead. " Donna's voice was unbelieving. "And where exactly are we?"

"We, Red, are in the far far future and we will meet my other money here. You are a wanted woman, Red." John wanted her quiet. "Now shut up or..."

"What do you mean, far in the future? Where are we?" Donna was not letting go.

"You really want to know? We are on New Earth, year 5 billion and 25." John couldn't believe he'd told her, who was in control here?

"5 billion and 25? Someone from the year 5 billion and 25 is interested in me? I'm a secretary from Cardiff."

"Actually, the super temp from Chiswick, Red, and now shut it." John was getting irate, this woman never shut up.

"Or, what? You won't kill me, I'm more valuable to you alive. But you will tell me why we are here." Donna was still insistent.

"Simple, not only did Brother Nassor want you, there's a whole list of people. Here, some nuns. I have dealt with nuns. Trust me, not my idea of fun." John shuddered, no therapy would ever work for that one.

"Nuns? You are telling me that some nuns, from 5 billion years in the future, are after me. You must have taken one heck of a hit on the head." Donna kept going, because if she didn't she'd cry and there was no way she'd cry in front of this madman.

"What can I say, Red, I go where the money is. Can I help it that you travelled with..."

"A tour company to Egypt and accidentally picked up a rare pendant in a tourist shop for no money at all." Jack interrupted. "And now, they all want it back." He only hoped she'd believe him.

"That thing? They are after that? But I'm not even wearing it." Donna was exasperated. "Hey, wait a minute, didn't you die? I saw you dead."

"Oh, great, now we have another source for healing." Donna turned to the woman and after seeing the whiskers, turned round and clouted John on the head.

"This is all your fault. First you kidnap me, kill him, then you kidnap me again and now I'm looking at a Cat, a cat that walks and talks. This has to be a nightmare!" Donna didn't shut up, shouting at the world around her.

"Hey, as I said, nothing personal." John managed to say the wrong thing again.

"Nothing personal? You think that it is ok to take a woman from her life and sell her? All for a pendant?" Donna kicked him in the shin, hard.

Jack, in the meantime, had kept his eye on the Cat nun. His mind boggled, not at her being a walking, talking cat, but that a nun wanted Donna. What had had the Doctor done this time?

"Oh, not a pendant, we want you. You are the key." Matron Dane interrupted. "We only want you."

"Well, you are not having me." Donna moved behind John, taking her handcuffed arms up and around his neck, so that the cuffs dug into his neck.

"Key? I'm not a key, I'm a human being. And you, Time Agent, you will take me back to my time, safe and in one piece. If you don't..." Donna ran out of steam, threatening to kill was not in her nature.

"You will do no such thing." The Cat nun hissed, her hands having transformed to claws, approaching Donna. "You both will come with me."

Matron Dane looked shocked when John pressed a few buttons on his wrist strap and they vanished in an instant. Turning to Jack she hissed again: "Don't you dare!"

"Don't I dare what?" Jack just pressed a few buttons and followed John, leaving the Matron hissing powerless, but they would find ways to have respect from New New York again. She rushed to the laboratory and hassled the novices working on the emotion patches. Sleep was a good one and they were working on Forget and Happy.

---

Jack looked around, there was a funny smell in the air. Glancing up Jack noticed that he was under a dome and that the palm trees surrounding him were fake.

"Welcome to the Leisure Palace, how can we help you?" The voice was grating, as if it was by rote and not really meant.

"Oh, I'm looking for friends, we got separated. I'll find them, but thanks." Jack's voice was dismissive and that had an effect on the servant, a human like robot, dressed in a blue tracksuit. If not for the smooth face he could have been a Weevil.

Running off he found John and Donna, surrounded by Judoon. Donna was cowering in a corner, but she still had her wrists around John's neck.

"Respect, Donna Noble." Jack smiled. "You are surrounded by aliens, on a different planet, in a different time and you are still in control."

"Well, they aren't getting me. I've got a life to live. A man to marry, I will not be Miss Noble forever. I am in a good place in my life and I've got an even better future planned. And no one will stop me. Certainly not some overdressed moron." Donna was determined.

"I wouldn't dare." Jack knew, if Donna had something to fight for, to hang on to, then she may not remember the Doctor, keep her distracted. This was nerve wracking.

"Scanned them, have warrant on Wilkinsson. He will be executed for kidnapping Flem Klem from Clavadoe." The Judoon lifted his stick.

"What do you mean executed? That's a bit of an easy punishment, isn't it?" Donna looked at the rhino-headed policeman.

"Standard punishment for kidnapping." The Judoon was not swayed.

"Well, he's also kidnapped me and I don't want his blood on my hands." Donna stared back. "And death is an easy punishment. He's made me suffer. I've seen things I can't even describe. Can't you lock him up?"

"I have a suggestion." Jack spoke up and was immediately subjected to scanning.

"You also have warrant." The scan continued.

"Not any more, I've been punished. Here's the disk to prove it." He silently thanked Martha for her foresight and pulled it out from his wrist strap. The Judoon looked, for want of a better word, confused. Usually nobody who had been punished ever spoke again.

"Franklinson has indeed been punished. Explain." The Judoon took a look at the man in front of him.

"I have been punished, my record has been purged, Judoon cannot punish me again, that is all you need to know."

Jack was really not in the mood to explain his inability to stay dead and his voice did not leave any room for further questions.

"Give Wilkinsson to me instead. I run Torchwood, protecting Sol3 and I want him, indentured for ten years. Put a tracker on him, so that if he runs off, you can kill him. Not many people survive Torchwood for more than five years and he'll do something useful."

Jack surprised himself with this suggestion, but he was with Donna on this, John dying did not help anyone and if his time with the Doctor had taught him anything it was that you gave a chance.

"He's a compulsive liar, kidnapper and killer." The Judoon didn't understand and Jack couldn't understand either but he tried anyway.

"I know that but being stuck on one planet, having to take orders, and taking them from me, that will be a punishment like no other for him. And I have been taught by a Time Lord that everyone deserves a second chance."

"This is beyond a second chance." The Judoon looked at the rap sheet.

"Last chance." Jack's voice was serious. "But he believed in redemption and now so do I. John, you've got two options. Die now or work for Torchwood."

"I could press some buttons and leave." John was defiant.

"'Again, you've tried that. Didn't work, did it?" Donna was scathing, but also glad that there was an alternative to his death.

"You're not the first Time Agent we've dealt with." The Judoon expressed equal distaste. "Choose!"

John's survival instinct was stronger than anything and so he said the only thing he could.

"I'm choosing to live." It came out in a defeated voice that suddenly had Donna feel sorry for him, even though he didn't deserve it.

The Judoon stepped towards John, took off his wrist strap and pressed his baton against the wrist. John jerked when he felt something slide under his skin.

"He has been marked. We will escort you to Sol3. If he leaves the planet before the ten years are over, he will die. He is locked in both time and space." No opposition would be tolerated, that much was clear.

The Judoon handed Jack the baton with a terse: "Keep track of him. He disobeys, you can execute him under order."

Jack nodded and before anything else could be said they found themselves back in Cardiff, on Roahl Dahl Plass, in front of the building that had started Donna's journey.

The Judoon had not come with them and in no time at all they were surrounded by the team.

"What is he doing here? And you were gone over 24 hours." Gwen accused him, hiding her worry.

"I'll explain inside." Jack ushered them all to the Hub.

Saturday

Back in the Hub Ianto made tea and coffee for the people assembled around the boardroom table. It was a full tray: coffee for Jack, Gwen, Martha, Mickey, himself and Captain John. Donna and Brandon got tea. Donna's had not been spiked with Retcon, but he had some available should this be requested by Jack.

Jack started the debrief when everyone had their drinks and sat down.

"A lot has happened in the last few hours. But the good news is that Donna is now safe. The bounty hunter has been apprehended. John will not hunt her or anyone anymore. He will join Torchwood instead."

Jack waited for the expected protests:

"He's a killer, he blew up Cardiff, killed Tosh and Owen." – Gwen

"I'm not working with him, he tricked me." – Brandon

"He's dangerous Jack." – Martha

"You are kidding." – Mickey

Ianto just looked at John, handcuffed and without his wrist strap, sipping his coffee, looking actually quite downcast and chastened, yes, that was the word. He wasn't happy with this but waited for Jack to explain further. Jack did not need him to butt in as well.

"I know all that. However, John was arrested by the Judoon and Donna, despite everything he did to her, did not want his blood spilled. John will therefore work for Torchwood as punishment. He cannot leave the planet or this time, if he does, he dies."

Martha and Mickey, having met the Judoon and knowing their attitude to punishment, looked at Donna.

"Look, I know what he did. But killing him? I do not want to live with that. I've seen places I could never imagine in the last few hours."

Donna missed the pitying looks given to her by the others, carrying on.

"But you know what, it showed me what I wanted from my life. I want to stay with Lee, travel, hoping he wants to be with me, be happy here. It's dangerous out there and knowing you fight for us is amazing. But it's not for me. I love my home, my job, love Lee, I want kids. But what I don't want is remembering a man killed in front of me because of me."

Jack nodded knowing she'd deliberately pushed his death by the Vashta Nerada aside, humans did that, ignored what was unpalatable to them and he wasn't dead anymore, so it probably didn't count as a death to her. But it was also a good thing, because it meant that she'd not made the connection with her travels with the Doctor and so was still safe.

John still just looked into his coffee. He felt uncomfortable, nobody had really ever stood up for him. Ok, she was doing it for herself, but still, it meant that he got to live. It would be a boring life, no more being one of the kings of the galaxy, seeing the splendour of the stars. But he got to live. Raising his head for the first time since he'd sat down John looked up and straight into Brandon's blue eyes. Their gazes locked and for a moment staying here didn't sound as bad as he'd thought.

Brandon averted his gaze quickly. He'd been attracted to John from the first, but what he'd heard about the man did not appeal. How could he fancy a man like that?

"Ok, this is how this will be. Donna will return to her life. And Donna, we can make you and Lee forget the last few hours, you will never have met us, if you want." Jack made the offer quietly.

"No, oh no, I've missed out on some big events in the last year, slept through the Earth being moved apparently. I'll not forget anything else. There are aliens out there, my grandpa was always convinced. Now I can tell him that he was right and that there are people protecting us and not to worry." Donna was animated and glowed.

"You can be our mascot." Ianto wasn't entirely joking.

"Hah, I don't think so." Donna rejected the idea. "As I said, I just want to live my life. I can't do that if I wonder about being kidnapped or what Torchwood is up to. I'll hear about it at work, the way you take over Cardiff when necessary. But I don't want to be involved. It feels as if I've stopped waiting for something and found it with Lee. I know it doesn't sound exciting, work and sleep, telly and rent and tax, takeaway dinners, birthdays and Christmases, two weeks holiday a year. But being out there was not all it is cracked up to be."

She stopped, Donna did not normally pour her heart out to strangers (or her kidnapper) for that matter.

Gwen nodded, she'd heard something similar and said: "Rhys said something like that, that Torchwood is there to protect real life, that it's about giving people the choice to do what they want. To have children or not. So you go and live your life, because that is what we are all about. But I want an invite to the wedding."

"Donna, you make a very good point. So, yes, we'll let you remember your adventure." Jack smiled indulgently.

Gwen got up, "I'll take you home. If it's ok, I'll check in on you and Lee tonight, make sure you are fine. Tell him what you need to, but if he cannot agree to keep this a secret, you will have to have another memory gap."

Donna nodded, she got up and the women left the Hub. Jack turned to Brandon and Ianto: "I want all their communications monitored for the next three months, telephone, e-mail etc. Ianto knows the drill."

After that silence reigned for the 45 minutes Gwen was gone. Nobody knew what to say. Glaring at alternatively Jack and John it was a very uncomfortable time, which not even the second drink Ianto made without prompting could improve.

Gwen walked back in and grimaced, the atmosphere was thick with unease, hate and unasked questions. She looked at Jack with a fierce look that conveyed: 'This is of your making, you sort it.'

"I know it's a shock, a big shock, that John is joining us. But there will be rules. He will be closely supervised. I will keep his wrist strap, but that is only extra insurance from me. As I've said, the Judoon have locked John in time and space. He tries to escape, he dies. And this way he can do some good. There will be conditions. But you will treat John as part of the team. He is equal to you when it comes to being in danger and being kept safe. Now go, take some time to digest this, I need to talk to John alone."

They left, whispering amongst themselves: Brandon first, glad he'd not been chewed out yet for letting John get away; Mickey and Martha trying to take it all in, they'd heard stories. Gwen frowning and trying to stay back, but was pushed out gently by Ianto, who closed the door behind her. He was not leaving Jack alone with John, whatever he said. Jack ignored him and turned to John, quietly glad that Ianto had stayed.

"Ok, John, here's what is going to happen. You will start by staying in a cell overnight. When you've earned it we will let you find your own home. You've got skills and knowledge and you will share them, you are the most up to date as I've been here quite a few years and out of the loop. You will have to earn the trust of the others. It will be tough, Gwen has not forgotten Tosh and Owen yet. Neither have we, but Ianto and I will help you. This is not going to be easy, Wilkinsson, but you chose to live. Eventually this will be more than just survival."

The last sentences were spoken quietly and encouragingly. Jack understood what it was like to be stuck in a time you didn't fit into, having to do things you didn't want to.

"Look, you can do this, you are strong. But there is one thing you need to remember: you and I will never happen again. I will be fair, this is a new start. I will not single you out, either for good or bad. You will obey all instructions and Torchwood is pretty much 24/7, so you will need to be available at all times. But there will be down time and whilst you are not here, you are free to do what you want, within 21st Century limits. Ianto will draw up a list if necessary. Torchwood will not come to the rescue if you break any local laws. Secondly, Torchwood is not a shoot first and ask questions later kind of organisation. We kill as a last resort only."

Ianto stood in the corner, quietly supportive and making lists in his head. Two new starters within 24 hours would mean a lot of work for all of them. Well, mainly him as the rest of the team would not want to come near John for some time. Neither did he for that matter, but as the first part of his job description, at least for him, was to be a support to Jack, he would step up.

"For now we'll have to get you into a more fitting outfit, so Ianto and you will go shopping, after he's given you his spare track suit to wear." Jack looked pleadingly at Ianto, who just nodded.

"You just want to see me strip." John's leering was more by rote than from actual desire. This all took a lot of getting used to. A few hours ago he'd been footloose and fancy free, now he was tied to a planet and time and worse, he had to be around Jack who had rejected him. More than once and that smarted.

"Not really, but I need to make sure you don't carry any further weapons. And I know all the hiding places." He smiled grimly, remembering defabricators and a compact laser deluxe. "And that uniform does not really fit into 21st Century Cardiff."

"You can talk." Ianto quipped, unable to hold that back.

"Says the man in the suit. Anyway, John, we will sort out papers for you and in return you will be issued with a Torchwood weapon. You remember that we can check what you carry."

"Yes, I know all that." John was despondent. Just because he had no choice, didn't mean he had to like it.

"Ok, that's all for now. Ianto will collect your weaponry and then the two of you go shopping before the inevitable paperwork." Jack went to the screen, pressed a few buttons.

"CCTV is off, strip." The voice brooked no opposition.

---

In the main office Brandon had been sitting at his desk, starting on plugging the loopholes he'd previously exploited to hack into Torchwood (not that there were many, his predecessor, a Toshiko Sato, had been amazingly good), avoiding talking to Mickey, Martha and Gwen who'd congregated in the autopsy bay.

He'd been absently monitoring the boardroom CCTV that was still on and when it switched off by itself nearly shouted out to the others. Instead he pressed a few buttons and overrode the instructions (yes, he was that good), making sure that Ianto and Jack were fine before alerting them needlessly. He got rather more than expected when the screen flickered to life and he saw a naked John standing in front of Ianto being scanned, before a small gun appeared from...no, not thinking about that. Brandon knew he should be switching this off, but the man was buff with muscles that were toned, legs that looked strong and an organ that would make most men weep.

Brandon heard the others move up the stairs and switched the CCTV back off.

"What are you doing?" Mickey had obviously noticed his hasty movements.

"Nothing." Worst line ever, Brandon thought.

"Anything on the Rift monitor?" Mickey let it lie, although he was determined to check it out later, just in case.

"No, all quiet." Brandon was grateful he'd gotten away with it.

"Ok, team, Ianto and John will go shopping, the rest of you write your reports, I'll be in my office if you need me." Jack sounded cheerful.

Ianto and a subdued John followed Jack and left through the big cog door, after Ianto had deposited the gun retrieved from John in the weaponry and taken a bag of clothes to Jack's office for later storage.

Jack, as expected, had visitors to his office within 30 seconds of the cog door closing. They came together, as if ganging up on him would make any difference.

"How can you do that to us? He's nothing but trouble. He will destroy everything you've built. And what do you think Ianto feels?" Gwen let rip.

"Don't you think I don't know all that? But tell me what I should have done? Let them kill him, when Donna was so against it? When the one thing our Doctor taught us is to grow inside, that there is hope of redemption. I was a con man once, I was like John. Don't you see, I had no choice."

"There's always a choice." Gwen repeated Ianto's earlier mantra.

"No Gwen, there's not. We do not always get the luxury of choice. I didn't choose to live forever, to be left behind by people I love. Ianto did not choose to lose Lisa to the Cybermen, I didn't choose to be leader of Torchwood, but I am. And I have to make choices that are hard, because I've chosen to protect this planet. We all face times when there is no choice."

Mickey, Brandon and Martha stood at the door, listened to Jack nearly shouting. They'd never seen Jack like this.

"In this case John chose to live and I chose to let him join Torchwood because he can bring things. I know he'll bring trouble, but also has knowledge that we need. I'm missing years and more to the point, he's been travelling while I've been here on Earth. He can help, he can fight and we know what he's capable of. Yes, we also know the bad stuff he's capable of, but we can deal with that."

"But..." Gwen was not happy.

"Look, John's going to stay. He's on his last chance. I know what that's like. I was him, many years ago, that was me! Meeting the Doctor changed me, made me better. Bigger on the inside, he does it to everyone he meets. You are the one who always wants to fix things. So help me fix this. Make this work. It's going to be tough, I know that."

Martha felt it was time to speak.

"Ok Jack, you are right. We will help you. But please understand, we do it for you, not for him. And also understand, he has to work for it and all eyes will be on him. We will support you because you are the one who makes the tough decisions and you've made one now."

Martha then walked up to Gwen and pulled her out of the office. Martha was the one who took Ianto aside and told him about the conversation in Jack's office when he and John returned from their shopping trip.

The rest of the day there was a very subdued atmosphere in the Hub. Brandon went back to the computers, strengthening the loopholes he'd discovered earlier, knowing he'd have to face Jack sooner or later. Mickey moved his stuff to his new desk, next to the entrance to the armoury.

Jack was cloistered away in his office, meeting with everyone separately, this time prepared.

First he met with Martha, thanking her for her support, asking what he could do.

"Jack, I don't need anything, I'm here to support you. This is going to be hard, but we can do it. We've survived the Master, the end of the world and more."

Puzzled Jack turned to Martha: "What do you mean more?"

"Look, I can't tell you that, but there was a reason why your disk has the name Face of Boe. Do I really have to tell you about time lines? Trust me, I know you and I've promised you my support. You have that. The rest is up to him."

She hugged him and held him for a moment before whispering: "Don't be afraid to accept our help. Oh, and I've got another UNIT cap for Ianto!" She winked and left.

Next Jack summoned Brandon. Standing behind his desk and not allowing Brandon to sit down, he adopted his most stern voice.

"I told you that he was sneaky. Lesson one of Torchwood, the humans can be worse than the aliens. Lesson two, listen to what I tell you and you may just make it. We all make mistakes, but the main thing is to learn from them. So, you will obey instructions. You listen and you learn. Tomorrow you will get weapons training. For now, go home, absorb today and no alcohol. It never works and you will be tested by Martha tomorrow, she needs your blood anyway. Now go."

Brandon did, picking up his things and left, thankful to have gotten away so lightly. He followed instructions, but his dreams that night were full of John anyway. John naked. When he woke up Brandon determined to himself to ignore the handsome man who smelled so good.

Jack let Gwen rant when she came up to see him. She didn't say anything she hadn't said before and eventually Jack was able to say his piece.

"Gwen, I know all this, but it doesn't change anything. I had no choice and now I need you to support me. I need you to stand by my side, hard as that may be and give me your backing. You want humanity, well, here it is. A man who has no choice but to deal with the mess his life has turned out to be. So, go home, have dinner with Rhys, remind yourself why we do this. You told Donna herself that this is about life."

Jack looked at Gwen and saw his words sinking in.

"Ok, but please don't expect me to like it. I don't trust John."

"I'm not expecting you to, I need you to trust me." Jack was firm. "Go home, we start fresh tomorrow."

Gwen nodded and left.

Mickey was another easy person for Jack to deal with. He'd seen the transformation in Jack and understood. But he'd not experienced John at full force and Jack warned him accordingly.

"John will fight this, maybe not today or tomorrow, but he will. Keep the weapons store securely locked. You have the least history with him, you are the most impartial and you are not tempted by him. I want you to keep him under close supervision. John does not fight fairly. He will try and hit on you."

Mickey nodded. "No worries, he's really not my type. I've made up with Tish." He smiled slyly, anticipating the future.

"Oh, you better treat her good, she's like a little sister to me, never mind what Martha can do with a syringe."

Jack was not kidding.

"I know." Mickey slowly made his way to the door.

"Are you ok to stay the night, keep an eye out? Give him dinner? Ianto will order. He's going to be in the medical wing, locked up later. I need you here."

Jack changed the topic. He knew he'd been understood loud and clear about Tish. When Mickey nodded, he continued: "Thanks, can you send John in, please?"

John came in, dressed in Jeans and a shirt that wouldn't have looked out of place on a lumberjack.

"Sit down. How was the shopping? Goddess, how civilised. That is so not us." Jack looked at John.

"I just want to let you know, again, that I know this will be tough. Hey, I know you. You will feel confined and hate it. But you chose to live and we will help you with that. This is going to be the biggest challenge you have ever faced. But if I know something, you are up to it. And you can make it more than just survival."

Jack looked at John, who he could see was a lot more perked up than a few hours ago. Tonight would be interesting, John was already gearing up for a fight. Jack decided to give him one less thing to fight against.

"I've asked Ianto to get a room ready for you. We have a medical wing, so you'll have access to a toilet and showers. You will still not be able to leave, but it's better than a cell."

"Oh, don't pretend. You hate this as much as I do. It's not as if you had a choice." John lashed out.

"Oh, I don't hate it or you. I hate that you didn't have a choice. But I'd rather you live." Jack kept calm. "So you find something to hold on to. For me it was finding my Doctor, now it's Ianto. Hate is easy, but it won't help. I've lived long enough to know that."

"Eye-Candy, what does he give you that I don't?" the disdain and total lack of understanding in John's voice was clearly audible.

"None of your concern. Mickey is going to be around tonight, keeping an eye on the Hub."

"Keeping an eye on me, you mean." John spat the words out.

"Yes, and you sound as if he needs to, Wilkinsson." Jack sounded sad but it would take John until later to detect that. "Now go, get logged on, Ianto will do that and then I need to speak to him."

John was dismissed and left, slamming the door behind him.

I was only then that Jack let his head drop. The last four days had been an emotional roller coaster and he was tired. Not only would he have to deal with Brandon and John and despite not saying anything he knew that Ianto was not happy with having John here. Who would like the ex to join the family? Never mind an ex who responsible for the deaths of two members of said family in the past? And Brandon was so inexperienced, great with computers, but still so naive. Gwen, who would not let this go and badger him on and on. Mickey and Martha, there for him but who would still need to be convinced about John, not that he blamed them. This was all so messy.

Sometimes Jack wished he could just run away, hide and forget being the leader of Torchwood. Instead he'd have to deal with the fallout from everything that had happened this week, no respite, no rest. At times like this he would usually hide on a roof or in Ianto. Neither option was possible tonight. He'd still have to face Ianto. Ianto, who'd so far kept quiet, not said anything. Jack wondered if that meant bad news for him.

Jack was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't hear the door open and only the smell of coffee alerted him to the fact that he wasn't alone.

"How are you?" Ianto's question came quietly.

"I should be asking you that." Jack's reply was equally quiet. He looked up and saw Ianto sitting on his desk, holding the familiar coffee cup.

"Goddess, this is a mess. Do you think we can do this?" Jack sighed and took the coffee of Ianto.

"Honestly, yes." Ianto sounded sure. He felt secure in Jack's affections and that was giving him confidence. "I know you had no choice and are as trapped in this situation as he is. But I also know you chose me over travelling the Universe with the Doctor and that is all that counts. I sometimes wonder what we would do if life was easy. I've made a plan, if that helps."

Jack looked up again.

"Plan?"

"Well, it's in two parts really. You get tonight off, Mickey told me he's here babysitting, and tomorrow, when you are rested, we will formulate a training plan for Brandon and John, hunt Weevils and generally tackle this all head on."

Grabbing Jack's hand, he pulled him off his chair and dragged him to the hole in the ground that was Jack's bedroom.

Sunday

Sunday morning dawned on the Torchwood team (well, those who had windows).

Gwen groaned when she looked at the clock, it was earlier than she wanted it to be, but, after kissing Rhys (and nicking his toast), she left with the words: "I have to go in, they need me, someone has to keep an eye on them."

Rhys grunted "They're grownups, they can look after themselves.", but this was duly ignored.

Brandon's head was hammering, the bottle of whisky last night had not been the best idea, he should have listened to Jack. However, as he'd been warned it was 24/7 at Torchwood and after his disastrous first day, he dressed, again in tight jeans and a t-shirt bearing another band's logo and, eschewing breakfast, went to work, where he winced at the:

"Good morning, Angel Eyes, you look gorgeous." from John.

"Stop it." Jack's voice boomed, making Brandon wince again.

"You are no fun. Who else can I flirt with?" John sounded despondent. "Let me see: Martha is engaged and apparently, like Gwen who is married, off limits in this backwater of a time. Mickey isn't interested, I tried; neither are Ianto and you, although that offer of the orgy still stands. Brandon is the only one left."

Brandon knew that he really should say that he wasn't interested either, but the lie just did not want to pass his lips. He just turned to Ianto with a pleading look and said: "So, what are my orders for today?"

Mickey had woken up on the sofa in the Hub, groaning when he looked at the clock. Way too early for a Sunday, but as no alarms had gone off he was at least sure that John had not tried to escape. He checked the CCTV and, after a quick splash of cold water on his face, went to wake up the ex-Time Agent to get breakfast. Might as well give the man some fresh air and introduce him to the delights of Cardiff. He smirked when he saw Ianto and Jack leave Jack's office together and, although he'd changed his shirt, Ianto was wearing the same suit. That explained the lack of alarms as well.

Ianto looked at Mickey questioningly when the proximity alarm went off.

"We're getting breakfast, any special requests?"

"It's Sunday, nothing's open yet." Gwen interrupted.

"How long have you lived here? There's a cafe just off the Plass, they do take out, open mornings seven days a week. So, what do you want?" Mickey felt smug, well he hated cooking and had found all the 'important' places inside a week of being in Cardiff. He'd grabbed a piece of paper and took orders. Bacon batches all round.

"Come on John, you can help me carry." John grimaced, but it would mean fresh air. They left.

Jack assembled the rest of his team in the Hub:

"This is the plan, after breakfast I'll assess gun proficiency with Brandon and John. Feels redundant for John, but it's routine. Then we will go through some of the protocols for lockdown, make sure everyone knows what's required. Ianto will assess what else we need to buy for John and take him out to do it. Mickey will tag along, Ianto will let him know. Martha, I want blood tests and medicals on both John and Brandon. Gwen, we need to establish full documentation for John, use the name John Wilkinsson Hart. Ianto will have set up Mickey, use that as template. Ok, let's go."

Jack looked at Ianto who nodded imperceptively. "Ok, get ready. Martha, I need a word. John's tests are more important but if you include Brandon it doesn't look too obvious. I'll scan John's blood with my Vortex Manipulator for any more unusual illnesses."

"Oh, the future kind. I understand. I want these tests for my lab afterwards by the way."

Jack nodded, it made sense. When Mickey and John returned with the breakfasts the team accepted them gratefully and Jack updated John and Mickey on the plan for the day.

Jack took John and Brandon to the shooting range, where John indeed proved that he wouldn't need any training. He hung around though to observe Brandon, who, despite prodding from Jack and being pulled close for demonstration, never quite relaxed. It was only when Jack left him standing alone that any bullets hit the target.

"Well done, Angel Eyes. You'll do it."

On these words the shots went again wide and both Jack and Brandon glared at John.

"Oh, come on, he has to get used to distractions. I show you." John walked towards the slighter man, took the gun off him, checked and loaded it.

"Come on, make me miss."

The challenge was squarely aimed at Brandon and Jack stood back to observe. He could smell John's pheromones and surprisingly felt totally unaffected. But he quite enjoyed Brandon's reaction. Jack hadn't planned this but if his two 'reluctant' team members found something outside of hating him for binding them to Torchwood, it could only be a good thing. He'd have to warn them about the fall out if they broke up, actually Gwen would be good, she had experience in breaking up with a work colleague and how that affected the team. He smiled sadly at the memory of Owen, missing him.

Looking back at Brandon and John he saw that whilst John was aiming the pistol casually, Brandon was standing next to him, shouting distractions. John hit the target easily.

When Jack's comms suddenly beeped, he stepped outside, answering the call.

"Jack, we need you." Gwen's voice was urgent.

"What, now?" Exasperation laced his voice.

"We need to go, there's a swarm of bees coming through the Rift! At St Mary's church, upsetting the locals."

"Call the council, bees are animal control!" Jack snapped.

"Don't you think we know that? These bees are not exactly from Earth! It looks as if they are a different species. And you remember who lives at St Mary's?" The exasperation Jack had expressed was fed back to him.

"Well, there was that stuff on the internet about bees disappearing, great conspiracy theory, right next to speculation about Titanic nearly hitting the palace. I told them that if that had really happened, wouldn't someone post pictures? They did, I removed them." Ianto updated him. "Anyway, I'd ignored the bees but looks as if they got that one right. What if the bees sensed about Earth being moved and left in advance?"

"And now they are coming back. Ok, welcoming committee." Jack ran back to the shooting range.

"Guys, I've got to go, you keep on practising, John you teach Brandon, I want him to hit the target all the time when I come back."

Jack didn't wait for a reply. It was only in the SUV, when they were racing through the streets of Cardiff that Gwen suddenly turned to him.

"You did what? You left John and Brandon, alone, in the Hub, with weapons? What were you thinking?"

"Let's deal with the bees and the locals. And Martha is still in the Hub." Jack was terse and even a small touch from Ianto on the arm didn't help calm him down.

"Oh good, she can autopsy Brandon then when John's finished with him." Gwen was bitter.

"Ah, you may just be wrong there." Ianto, quietly, calm, smirking.

"What?" Gwen was puzzled.

"You didn't feel the electricity? John's pheromones were working overtime." Jack explained.

"You what?" Gwen was still puzzled.

"Ah, you will see." Ianto was smug, pulled out his gun and got ready to jump out the SUV when it arrived at the desolated church. Ianto ran around to the back of the car and fetched nets.

"Always prepared." He turned to Jack and the others: "Dinosaur net." This got a small laugh from Jack and a puzzled look from everyone else.

They caught the bees, running around whilst swinging nets. Jack pressed a few buttons on his Vortex Manipulator and suddenly they complied. This made it easier for the rest of the team that kept the Weevils at bay. Ianto thought he'd heard Jack mutter under his breath something about missing running. He stopped for a second when he heard Martha reply: "Not that much." God, he hated it when they reminisced about the Doctor, even if only unthinkingly. You'd think he'd more secure about Jack by now, but no. Ianto realised that he possibly never would feel secure when it came to the Doctor, despite his bravado from last night.

After speaking to Martha they identified a farm at the outskirts of Cardiff where bees were being bred and honey produced. The farmer was happy to gain another hive, the extra income would be helpful, especially as they were the same species that had left him unexplained a few months ago. They didn't have the heart to tell him that they were aliens and only negotiated a supply of honey for the 'Tourist Office'. Telling Martha it would take about 2 hours until they came back, Martha decided to check on John and Brandon. It had been very quiet, actually too quiet. She started jogging when she couldn't hear any gun fire from the firing range.

---

Brandon was standing close to John, shouting at him. Nothing distracted the man. So they switched and again, having John close to him totally distracted Brandon. Closing his eyes didn't work, he could still smell the man. The abuse shouted at him he began to be able to block out, but it still caused him to miss.

So John once again demonstrated to Brandon: "You need to stay calm, you are in control. You have the weapon and you are faster. Confidence, that's what you need."

Brandon stayed silent, confident was not high on his list of ways to describe himself. Fearful, terrified, geeky: yes, confident and fast: no. Standing next to John he felt intimidated. This man had kidnapped and killed and felt no remorse. All Brandon had ever done was sit at a computer, press buttons and get caught doing it.

Now he was expected to learn to handle a gun? Kill people? Lost in thought Brandon came to the conclusion that this must still be better than being in a cell forever or having no memory of what he'd been doing for a few years.

Confidence, John wanted confidence? Suddenly the challenge was too big to resist. Brandon leant forward and instead of shouting, which so obviously hadn't worked, remembered a scene from Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves (and no, he'd never admit to loving the theme song) and kissed John on the cheek. The shot went into the ceiling.

"What was that for?" John turned to Brandon. "Well, what?"

"It worked, didn't it?" Brandon whispered, all confidence vanishing in front of the angry man. He moved backwards but had to stop when his legs hit the table. Looking into John's eyes all Brandon could do was try and not quiver. These eyes were pools he could lose himself in. The kiss was full of anger but oh, so good. Brandon let himself enjoy the feeling of the other man. For the first time in days he didn't worry, although he knew he should. He mewled when John pulled away and handed him a gun.

"Now you shoot, and hit those targets. For crying out loud, you'd think you've never handled a gun before."

"Well, I haven't. So, help me. We are supposed to be on the same team, aren't we?" Brandon fished blindly for reasons to hold on to John.

"This is not by choice Angel Eyes, I'm only here because I didn't want to die. Don't expect me to enjoy this or risk my life for you or anyone else for that matter." John spat out viciously.

"Yes, I know the feeling, I swapped spending the rest of my life in a 9 x 9 cell to face aliens and risk death. So you better help me survive, because I don't like the idea of dying either." Brandon hit back.

"What do you mean?" John was surprised as he'd thought everyone else was here of their free will.

"I broke into the Torchwood computers and I got caught. Jack gave me a choice: join Torchwood and die fighting aliens or get locked up forever in solitary confinement. So don't tell me I don't get it, I do. You at least know what you are doing, handling that gun, you've travelled in time and space. I've never done anything like this. I'm frightened. I deal with computers, I don't fight. So, cut me some slack and help me."

The desperation in Brandon's voice shook John and all he could do was lean forward and kiss him, gently, reassuring. John knew this was so not like him, reassuring people, being gentle. But when he'd looked into this boy's eyes, for the first time in a long time, he felt for someone that wasn't himself. With Gray, he'd been only focussed on himself and that had eventually lead to killing people and any love Jack had ever felt for him. For the first time in a very long time John focussed on the person in his arms. It felt surprisingly good, Jack might just have point.

Brandon leaned in, taking the comfort offered. In no time at all, the kiss became passionate, Brandon not submitting easily to the taller man, yet finding comfort in him. Neither man wanted to stop the kiss and soon hands were roaming along chests and backs, exploring each other. They only stopped, reluctantly, but not pulling very far apart, when Martha cleared her throat.

"You call this practising?" Martha grinned.

"Call it team bonding." John leered but was quickly chastised both a quelling look and an elbow in the ribs. It surprised him how he didn't want to upset the young man. Just 24 hours in this time and he was getting soppy!

"Anyway, time for medicals, I need to check you over and take bloods." Martha still grinned when they left the shooting range, this was quite a turn up for the books. She'd loved the look of confusion on John's face when Brandon had not let him get away with leering.

It was even harder to keep a straight face when John turned to her, growling: "Don't you dare drug me, I need whatever you've done to me already out of my system."

"We've done nothing." Martha reassured him.

"So, why do I, goddess I can't believe I'm saying this, feel soft. I am not soft. And I've only been on this blasted planet for three days. So what is going on?" John was upset.

"John, you're not soft. What do you mean?" Martha was getting concerned.

"I just kissed Brandon and suddenly he's the only one I want to kiss. Hell, I don't even want to flirt. And what is it with me pouring my heart out to you?" John was sounding slightly frantic.

"Well, let me reassure you that you've not been exposed to any gases, poisons or alien devices. Honestly, in my medical opinion, I think you've just experienced love at first sight. It happens." Martha made sure she stood well back when her words sank in.

"Love, I don't do love! I did not come to this godforsaken planet to be mocked. Isn't being stuck here with you lot punishment enough?" John sounded angry, moving towards Martha who slowly walked up the stairs backwards. Looking up John saw Brandon at the top, eyes desolate but determined.

"Well, if that's how you feel, Captain John Hart, be alone. It's not as if I had a chance to look beyond that facade of yours."

Brandon ran off, back down to the firing range. He grabbed a gun and shot at the nearest target, imagining it to be John. He never missed, never wavered, always imagining he was shooting the smug bastard. Even when he heard John enter the firing range he didn't stop. Reloading his gun, he ignored the man and started again, this time at the moving targets.

"Ok, so you can shoot. Well done. At least Jack will be impressed by my teaching skills." John complimented Brandon, after a fashion.

"Oh, sod off." Brandon pointed the gun at John.

"Angel Eyes, I'm gonna say something I don't say often. Ask Jack. But I'm sorry. I didn't mean what I said."

Brandon looked at John and was shocked to see the cocky man really look sincere and downcast.

"Then why say it?"

"Because I don't know how to handle this!" John slid down on the floor, head bowed. "Do you have any idea how much I'm used to fighting, to lashing out? It's all I know. I'm used to being free, roaming the stars. Suddenly I'm in a hole underground, can't travel, will die for this planet that I don't even come from. Falling for you was the last thing I expected."

"And you think I expected this? A few days ago you kidnapped a woman! You have killed people. Apparently went to sex, drugs, drinks and murder rehab, unsuccessfully I might add. There are so many reasons why I should not fall for you. But somehow I can't stop myself."

Brandon sat down next to John. Their hands met, fingers laced.

"So, what now?" Brandon voiced what they both thought.

"Can we start again?" John's voice was so quiet that Brandon had to strain to hear him.

"Yeah."

They kissed and only stopped when they were interrupted by Gwen who'd raced down to the firing range, followed by Ianto and Jack.

"Sorry, so sorry. Ianto, how did you know?"

"When will people believe I know everything?!" Ianto feigned exasperation.

"Does he hit the targets?" Jack became businesslike, it didn't take for the leader of Torchwood Three to smile at young love, although this may just have taken care of a few problems for him.

"Make him imagine it's me and he hits every time." John grinned.

Happy Ever After?

Donna Noble got married and became Donna McAvoy, making a life in the Cardiff suburbs. This time she made it down the aisle without any hiccups, mind you she chose a very small church. The vows were short and for once Lee didn't stammer despite being nervous. She got her happy ever after, children (a boy Lee John Junior and a girl Evaline Agatha) and grandchildren, holidays abroad and a secret kick out of knowing that there were aliens out there. Her grandpa Wilf and mum Sylvie had looked shocked when she told them of her 'adventure'. When they calmed down, Wilf bought her a telescope to celebrate.

Donna got an ever bigger kick out of knowing that she's been to another planet, even if only for a short time and that she'd met people from the future. Her horizons had expanded and though she'd enjoyed the view, her heart was singing a song of love and happiness, peace and joy. A song that was rooted in the knowledge that there were others allowing her to live this life and she was grateful.

---

Torchwood also flourished and grew. Oh, death stalked them, but it didn't win every battle.

Captain Jack Harkness lived and survived. He knew that he would outlive everyone in what was becoming his family but seeing Donna Noble live her life, ordinary and happy, real life, gave him an impetus to live beyond survival. It helped to be surrounded by couples who chose life and love in the face of death.

Rhys kept reminding Gwen daily that there was more to life than Torchwood and eventually convinced her to have that child they wanted. To avoid Gwen being incapacitated by pregnancy for nine months they had decided to adopt an older child and found two brothers who had lost their parents when the Daleks had stolen the Earth and tried out the reality cannon. Once Ben and Samuel been convinced that their new parents knew how to fight aliens successfully and fought to prevent attacks like that, they adjusted to living in Cardiff, leaving the memories of London behind. Gwen even took them to meet Tom Erasmus Flanagan to hear a familiar accent as his grandchildren were of a similar age. Both joined Torchwood against their parent's advice and kept the fight going. Jack protected them to the best of his ability.

Mickey and Tish eventually got together as well. It took some matchmaking on Martha's part (meals at her place for Mickey when she knew Tish would be there) but eventually Tish joined Torchwood, releasing some of the pressure on Ianto with her secretarial skills. After seeing the damage weapons could do during the year that never was, she'd refused to ever fire one, but she was brilliant at keeping the Tourist Office cover going whilst completing all their paperwork on time. They never had children, mainly because Mickey died in the line of duty before they even had a chance to talk about it.

Brandon and John, to everyone's surprise, adjusted to their new status as a couple (ok, it took some broken china and fights along the way), but when Torchwood let John find his own home after six months, he moved in with Brandon, never looking for that elusive freedom he'd been hankering for his whole life. John had told Brandon about his history with Jack and their time loop, his rehabs and betrayals. He'd blossomed in the unexplained but unconditional acceptance of the younger man, in Brandon's expectation that he could become better.

John died in his eighth year of punishment when he stepped through the Rift, saving Gwen and Brandon. He knew that leaving this time would mean his warrant, and therefore him, would be executed by the Judoon. His last words were: "Bigger on the inside. Tell Jack thanks. And Brandon, I'll be waiting for you."

Brandon somehow kept going, hiding more and more behind the computer, shrinking into himself. Only Jack's admonishment that a moping Brandon was not what John would want him to be, got through eventually with Brandon repaying the favour a few months later when Ianto also suffered Death by Torchwood.

Captain Jack outlived everyone, mourning his losses, but he kept Torchwood going through the 21st Century and its changes. When the Time Agency became established in Cardiff, he left, recognising his own wisdom, once shared with Gwen: "If you know the future, you want to change it." So he became a nomad, never staying anywhere for long, the only aim to leave something better behind, whatever that turned out to be. He helped ship the Ood home when the call came to the stars, hearing the song of the DoctorDonna resonate around his heart, smiling at the memories.

When he once again lived under his old nickname he embraced the unexpected pregnancy and it was announced on the news, it would be a girl, Boemina. He got his family to vote for Lynda with a Y, ensuring she'd be able to meet his much younger self and smiled at the memory of her.

Eventually his journeys took him the Observation Platform 1, organising the gathering to honour the passing of the planet that had been home to him and his family. Here he mourned the destruction of Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom, Sol 3 and the final disintegration of his old home and the bodies stored under the Cobalt Pyramid. He giggled quietly at memories of dancing in the TARDIS, sending her a thanks and I missed you and keeping in the background whilst his Doctor and Rose defeated Cassandra.

New New York Hospital was the best medical facility available and so the Face of Boe had travelled there from his base in New Cardiff on New Earth. His call to the Doctor across the stars had been heard and his 'old friend' had come to see him. But the time for the message was not yet. It was not Martha with him. Martha, who'd been happy with her Tom and kept his family alive for much longer with her skills, Martha who'd heard the last words of the Face of Boe. He'd missed her wisdom and teasing when she'd returned to UNIT to lead the medical corps, giving moral leadership to an organisation that needed it when they had looked at reinstating the Osterhagen Key.

Boe had stayed in New New York, never managing to travel back to New Cardiff and was looked after by Novice Hame as her punishment. He was grateful that by lucky coincidence he'd been able to keep the undercity alive, mourning the millions on the planet dying in the pursuit of Bliss. He'd never been tempted by fake bliss, not after Ianto and his team had taught him that only the real thing was worth it. He'd told Hame all about Ianto Jones, his coffee, his stopwatch, his loyalty to a person he loved. He told her about the lessons he'd learned about humanity with his band of intrepid fighters, the unconditional love he'd had to fight for, contradictory as that sounded. But it had been worth it, even the pain when Torchwood took Ianto away from him. Jack had had to move on, find other loves and lovers, but he'd learned one thing through Ianto: love never fails.

He knew his end was coming when the Doctor opened the sky for the cars, giving New Earth a new start. He delivered the message that would resonate to the end of the universe itself to the Doctor, who despite changing in face and body, he would always love as the one who'd taught him and countless others one thing, to be bigger on the inside. And they had been, all of them in the end. And you couldn't find a better legacy than that.

FIN