Chapter 1 – Lots of things you can do with a stopwatch
Extreme shout-out to Ljmakin88, whose amazing fan video (TW - Ianto's Return - Jack/Ianto - What about Now) was the inspiration for this fanfic. I would seriously recommend watching it. (warning, video may leave you in heartbreaking sobs)
Jack woke up from another nightmare, cheeks wet with tears. He turned over, half expecting to see Ianto laying there, sleeping peacefully. But there was nobody there. Then Jack remembered. Ianto was gone. He'd been murdered by the 456.
Jack figured he had extremely little chance of getting back to sleep, so he decided he might as well start the day down in the archives. In the week since Ianto had been gone, they'd fallen into complete and utter disarray. Besides the fact that it really did help to have some form of filing system down there, the archives had always been Ianto's favorite place. It seemed completely wrong to leave them in such a state of chaos. Ianto never would have allowed it, and Jack intended to fix it.
As he was clearing off and reorganizing some of the shelves, Jack noticed a pocket watch sitting on a corner of the shelf above it. As he pulled it down to get a closer look, Jack's breath caught in his throat.
It was Ianto's trusty stopwatch, the one that never left his side. Jack remembered a particular conversation with Ianto a while back.
You know, I've still got that stopwatch. Lots of things you can do with a stopwatch.
Then an oh-so-familiar voice echoed from the back of Jack's mind, reviving that slight ghost of hope that had long since died out.
If something can be remembered, it can be brought back.
Jack opened the stopwatch, hoping, praying to every deity he knew of that there was even a chance, the slightest hope that this might work. As the watch clicked open, a familiar golden glow streamed out, and memories flooded Jack's mind. Memories of Ianto, thoughts and images he'd been repressing since Ianto's death pressing to the forefront of his mind. For a moment, just the briefest moment, he felt a connection he hadn't felt in what seemed like years. And somehow, some way Jack just knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that Ianto Jones was back.
Gwen cooper awoke to pounding on her door. And shouting. She looked at the clock. It was 1:30 in the morning. Too bloody early for shouting.
"Gwen, wake up! Come on, Gwen, it's important!"
Wait a minute. That sounded like Jack.
Shit.
"Alright, alright, I'm coming!"
Gwen opened her door to the sight of Jack Harkness looking like he drank a whole bloody gallon of coffee. He was practically vibrating with excitement and impatience.
"Jack, why the bloody hell didn't you just phone me?"
"Because your car's in the Torchwood parking lot. Come on, I'll give you a ride over there."
"Why?"
Jack started on an explanation that Gwen could tell would take a while, and she decided to deal with explanations later.
"Alright, give me the short version. I mean two to ten words short."
"Ianto's back."
"What? How?"
"Long story, just help me figure out where he is."
"Right."
By the time they pulled into the Torchwood parking lot two minutes later, they'd already formulated a plan. Gwen would take the north side of the city, ranging out from the Hub in a standard search pattern. Jack would thoroughly search the Hub, then do the same on the south side of the city. Gwen came inside very quickly to grab a commlink, and then headed out.
Jack made a split-second decision to search the archives first. That had always been Ianto's safe haven, his escape from the rest of the world. Whenever Owen was getting unbearable, or they'd just come back from a very weird mission, or he simply needed some peace and quiet, Ianto would come down to the archives for a few hours. This was Ianto's world, his home away from home. If he were to come back anywhere, Jack would be willing to bet it would be here.
Hold on, Ianto. I'll find you. I'll search this whole damn city if I have to, but so help me, I will find you.
Ianto gasped and sat up, confused and afraid. What the hell was going on? He'd died, hadn't he? How the hell was he sitting in the archives? Why was he in the archives at any rate? He distinctly remembered standing in front of the cage at Thames House with Jack.
Jack.
Where was Jack? If he'd found some way to save Ianto, wouldn't he be here?
"Jack? Jack, where are you?! Jack!"
No answer.
He wasn't here. This must be heaven or hell or… what was the other one? Purgatory? That was why he couldn't find Jack. Jack couldn't die. Ianto was alone. Probably forever. He couldn't take it, he just couldn't stand it. His brain shut down all but the most basic of functions, and Ianto simply collapsed against a stairwell, unable to think, unwilling to move, just sitting there. Because what was the point of Heaven without Jack, what was the point of Hell with Jack, and what was the point of Purgatory with anybody?
What was the point of anything now?
"Jack? Jack, where are you?! Jack!"
Ianto's voice. Shaky and full of fear, but definitely Ianto. Jack would recognize that gorgeous Welsh accent anywhere. The archives tended to echo a bit, but the voice had sounded like it came from the other stairwell, the one that led down to the lower levels of cells.
Jack raced through the archives at breakneck speed, probably smashing a couple of alien artifacts along the way, but he couldn't bring himself to care. He turned a corner and saw Ianto, collapsed against a stair railing. He saw the exact moment that Ianto noticed him, watched as recognition dawned in his eyes.
"Jack?"
Ianto was crying. He looked like he couldn't possibly believe any of this could be real. Jack knew the feeling. The first time he'd died, on Satellite 5, he'd woken up the only survivor on a ship full of corpses. He'd been absolutely convinced he was in some kind of hell, and he was a devout Atheist, never believed in any religion much after the Agency. He could only imagine what it must be like for Ianto, who had studied so many different religions, to wake up alone, in a familiar place that looked completely wrong.
Jack helped Ianto to his feet, still not sure that Ianto's brain was capable of comprehending much at the moment.
"It's okay, Ianto. It's me. I'm here."
"There was… nothing, Jack. Just nothing."
Jack pulled Ianto close, speaking in soothing tones. He decided that maybe he should stay with Ianto in the Hub tonight; let him recover a bit before having to talk to anyone. Luckily, Jack's quarters weren't that far from the archives, and he could make some coffee for Ianto, calm him down a little. Ianto seemed basically functional, so Jack figured he could at least get him to a couch. Then he could call Gwen and get started on that coffee.
Ianto calmed down a bit more as Jack gently helped him through the familiar maze of the archives, even correcting Jack once when they almost took a wrong turn. By the time they got to the main control center, Ianto could at least carry on a basic conversation, even though his voice was still very shaky. He sat down on the first couch they came to, and seemed to be starting to think things over.
"Hey, Yan, I'm gonna go make some coffee real quick. You want a cup?"
"Yeah, coffee sounds wonderful, Jack. Thank you."
"No problem."
About five minutes later, the coffee was done, Jack had let Gwen know that he'd found Ianto and she could go home, and Ianto seemed to be dealing with the whole thing pretty well, considering. Jack brought the mugs over and set one in front of Ianto. He looked up and smiled at Jack, but when he picked up the mug his hands were shaking so hard he nearly dropped it. Maybe not coping as well as Jack had thought. He took one sip of the coffee and made a face.
"Jack, no offense, but this is terrible."
Jack smiled. At least he was coping well enough to be coherent.
"Oh, come on, it can't be that bad."
Jack took a sip from his own mug and nearly retched.
"Okay, maybe it is that bad."
Ianto grinned a bit at that.
"Probably dust in the filters. It hasn't been used in a while."
"Or you can't make a proper cup of coffee."
Jack laughed. Normally he would take that as a challenge, but he was too relieved that Ianto was calm enough to tease him to tease back right now.
"Or that. I still think the filters are more likely."
Well, he couldn't stop teasing Ianto completely.
"Well, as you can't be bothered to check the filters, I'll go make some coffee for both of us, alright?"
"Ianto Jones, I don't know how we ever survived without you."
Ianto grinned, but Jack noticed a slight tremor in his hands still. Ianto was far from okay, but Jack had the feeling that if he pushed it right now, Ianto would break. He still needed time to process all of this on his own, let alone talk about it with someone else. All Jack could do right now was be there for him.
And he'd be damned if he wasn't going to help Ianto any way he could.