Disclaimer: Don't own the characters

Disclaimer: Don't own the characters.

Warning(s): SLASH!! Oh and the characters may seem a little OOC. AU now that Season Two has started as it is NOT going to link into season two.

The Year That Never Was.

Chapter One.

"Well that was a waste of fucking time. Whose idea was it anyway to follow that ridiculous lead? Why would Jack be in the Himalayas?" Owen asked angrily as he dropping his back pack carelessly by his desk. Tosh, putting her bag down far more gently, turned on her computer as she answered,

"Yours Owen."

"What?" Owen turned to her, glaring his best.

"It was your idea to follow the report," Tosh continued calmly, typing in her password. Gwen couldn't help but giggle at the look that crossed over Owens face, a giggle shared by Tosh. Owen wasn't impressed.

"Ianto, I want coffee," the doctor amongst them ordered calmly. "Black, two sugars. Now." Ianto glanced at Owen, not one emotion on his face as ever and merely picked up both Owens and Tosh's bags before walking up the metal stairs towards the kitchenette, his own bag on his back. It was now actually that Gwen noticed that his bag was far bigger than rest, obviously containing the large tent they'd used and the poles. She was sure Owen had said he'd taken the poles.

"You can't boss him around like that Owen," Gwen said sharply, "He's not your slave." Owen said nothing, simply turning on his own computer. "I'll go help him un-pack our things, he can't do it all himself no matter what you think Ow-"

"What?!" Tosh all but screamed from her computer, her eyes wide as she double clicked on something frantically.

"Tosh?" Gwen asked worriedly.

"Mr Saxon, recently elected Prime Minister of Great Britain, is set to make first contact with a species known as the Toclofane as seen by the people of the world during the Prime Ministers first public address. The meeting is set to take place a 8:00am this morning on board the Air Craft Carrier Valiant and will be televised to the whole world." Tosh's voice was shaking as she read the report on her screen. The others hurried to her, including Ianto who had heard and all but flew down the stairs in his haste, "Who are the-the Toclofane?"

"We go on a little trip for a couple of days and we miss all this?" Owen asked angrily, slamming his hand down onto the desk, "How did we not know about this?!"

"What time is it?" Gwen asked, seemingly the only one thinking rationally at that moments in time. Ianto looked at his watch and answered quietly,

"It's 7:58."

"The broadcast," Gwen said, leaning over Tosh's back to take the mouse in her own hand, "We need to watch this broadcast." Somehow she managed to bring up the television broadcast on the screen, she'd never been all that good with computers but it seemed when she really needed to she could work just as well as Tosh.

/ "My fellow Americans, patriots, people of the world. I stand before you today as ambassador for humanity. A role I will undertake, with the utmost solemnity. Perhaps our Toclofane cousins can offer us much but what is important is not that we gain material benefits but that we learn to see ourselves anew. For as long as man has looked to the stars he has wondered what mysteries they hold, now we know we are not alone…\\

"What are these Toclofane this is all about?" Gwen asked.

"I don't know, there was no picture of them on the site," Tosh said softly, "It said that it was Saxon making first contact, why has it suddenly changed to President Winters? Do you think something happened to Saxon?"

"Nah, probably the American's got pissed that we were getting all the glory and they barged themselves in," Owen said boldly, sneering, "Bloody American's. God I need a coffee." Ianto made to go and make it but Gwen pulled away from the group quicker, pushing him back to his place.

"I'll do it Ianto."

"Oh, ok." As Gwen walked away the other three turned there attention back onto the screen where the President was still speaking.

/ "And I ask you now, I ask of the human race to join with me and welcome the Toclofane. \\

"Whoa," Someone, no one was really sure if it was one or all of them actually, said as the three metal spheres appeared around the President, a loud hum coming from each of them and they floated in the air.

/ "My name is Arthur Coleman Winters, President elect of the United States of America and designated representative of the United Nations. I welcome you to the planet earth and it's associated moon."

"You're not the Master."

"We like the Mister Master."

"We don't like you."

"I can be master if you so wish. I will accept mastery over you if that is God's will." \\

"Idiot, God's will…" Owen snorted but was hushed again as the spheres spoke once again, their metallic and childlike voices echoing around the hub as Tosh turned the sound on her computer up,

/ "Man is stupid. Master is our friend."

"Where's my Master, pretty please?"

"Oh alright then, it's me. Tada!" \\

The three stared at the screen in shock as Saxon ran up and faced the camera, an insane grin on his face. None of them could speak however, could only listen and watch in shock,

/ "Sorry, sorry, I have this affect. People just get obsessed. Is it the smile? Is it the aftershave? Is it the capacity to laugh at myself? I don't know! It's crazy!"

"Saxon what are you talking about?"

"I'm taking control, Uncle Sam. Starting with you. Kill him." \\

"Shit!" Owen shouted as they watched the President zapped into dust, his death cry echoing around the metallic hub along with the Master's manic laughter. On the screen the guards had drawn weapons and were keeping control of the various people in the room as the Toclofane floated around the Master as he gazed down.

"What's going on?" Gwen rushed down the stairs from where she'd been making the coffee, a job Ianto usually did but she'd tried to take some responsibility of lately so he wasn't treated quite to much like a butler.

"The aliens just killed the President of America," Owen answered.

"What?!"

/ "Now then, peoples of the Earth please attend carefully. Stop him!" \\

"Is that the Doctor?" Gwen asked, "The one Jack always talks about?"

"That's not the photo on the archives," Owen said with a frown.

"Yes it is," Ianto said quietly, "That's the Doctor from Canary Warf, the one that saved the world."

/ "We meet at last Doctor. Ha Ho! I love saying that!"

"Stop this, stop it now!"

"You think the perception filters going to work on me? And look, it's the girly and the freak. Although I'm not sure which one's which." \\

Even though the four knew he couldn't die they still jumped when Jack tried to attack the Master and was shot in the chest by the insane Time Lord. Gwen wished she was there instead of the other woman, holding Jack's body as his body worked on bringing him back to life.

/ "Laser screwdriver, who'd have sonic? And the good thing is, he's not dead for long. I get to kill him again!" \\

"He's mad," Tosh breathed.

"Poor Jack," Gwen said softly, "If he doesn't get out of there…"

/ "Master, just calm down. Just look at what you're doing. Just stop! If you could see yourself…" \\

"I don't think talking to him is going to work mate," Owen said sadly as the Master turned to the camera, his insane grin still on his face.

/ "Oh do excuse me, little bit of personal business. Back in a minute. \\

"He sounds so calm…" Gwen breathed fearfully.

/ Let him go."

"It's that sound, the sound in your head. What if I could help?"

"Oh how to shut him up. I know, memory lane! Professor Lazarus, remember him? And his genetic manipulation device. What did you think little Tish got that job merely by coincidence? I've been laying traps for you all this time. And if I can concentrate all that Lazarus technology into one little screwdriver. But…oooh…if only I had the Doctor's genetic code. Oh, wait a minute. clicks his fingers I do! I've got his hand! And if Lazarus made himself younger, what if I reverse it? Another hundred years?" \\

"Oh my God…" Tosh gasped, her hand covering her mouth as they watched the Doctor writhe and scream in pain, watched the Master laugh and enjoy himself until finally he stopped his torture and looked down at what he'd caused.

"Jacks awake," Ianto pointed out as the woman rushed to the now very elderly looking Doctor, holding him in her arms gently.

/ "Doctor, I've got you."

"Aw, she's a would be Doctor. But tonight, Martha Jones we've flown 'em in, all the way from prison! \\

"Does he think this is a game?" Gwen asked angrily as three prisoners were brought into the room, the camera following them closely.

/ "Mum…"

"I'm sorry…" \\

"That poor mother," Ianto said in compassion. And still, even in his weakened and elderly state the Doctor spoke again,

/ "The Toclofane, what are they? Who are they?"

"Doctor, if I told you the truth your hearts would break."

"Is it time? Is it ready?"

"Is the machine singing?"

"Two minutes past." \\

"What machine? What is he planning?" Owen asked angrily.

"Whatever it is, it can't be good," Tosh pointed out.

/ "So, Earthlings. Basically, um…end of the world. Hear come the drums!" \\

"Fuck…" Owen breathed as the camera man shot what was happening outside the air ship, the millions of Toclofane flying down out of the crack in the sky.

"He's playing music?" Gwen asked, listening to the upbeat music in fear, "At his 'end of the world' he's playing music?" Suddenly it was switched off.

/ "Down you go kids!" \\

"What do you think they're talking about?" Tosh asked fearfully as the Master and his pretty wife talked in the corner of the screen.

"Whatever it is I doubt it's good for us," Owen said calmly.

/ "Remove one tenth of the population!" \\

"Shit!" Gwen screamed as the world seemed to rock around them, the spheres that had descended from the sky had begun attacking the earth. Owen pulled her to him, holding her close as the screen of the laptop turned to snow as the connection was broken. The ground rocked again causing Tosh to scream loudly. An alarm blared suddenly and Ianto went to Owens computer station, logging on as quickly as he could he checked the hubs security status.

"They're targeting the Hub," he said quietly.

"What? How? How do they know about the Hub?" Gwen asked, her grip on Owens arms tightening in fear. "It's a secret…"

"Saxon. He'll have been briefed about Torchwood," Ianto answered, going to Tosh and pulling her up firmly as the woman all but dissolved into frightened tears reminding him of their time in the countryside. "We need to get out of here." A loud explosion came from above them and the lights flickered briefly.

"How?" Gwen and Tosh asked together.

"The garage, it has a separate alarm. They' haven't attacked it yet," Ianto said, rushing back up to the bags he emptied them onto the floor carelessly and then started filling them with food from the kitchen.

"I'll get some medical supplies," Owen said, grabbing Gwen's bag which had never made it's way upstairs he hurried into his own space, followed quickly by the frightened Gwen. Tosh stood lost.

"Tosh! Get you gear packed up, we'll need it," Ianto ordered. His sudden leadership skills were not questioned by anyone. The women obeyed, whimpering every time there was an explosion, when the lights would flicker and the walls would shake. The fountain, which had always been dripping water since the Hub had been built around it, had stopped.

"Where are we going to go?" Gwen asked as she and Owen returned, Owen wearing the now very full bag. Both had also put their coasts back on. Tosh seeing so copied them and them put her lap top bag on so it crossed over her chest. Ianto ran down the steps, handing one of the bags he'd filled with all the food and others things in the kitchen to her which soon went on.

"The only place Saxon won't expect us to," the young Welshman said rushing into Jack's office, "The cannibals village."

"What?!" the other three screamed. Ianto silently asked himself how they could be more scared of an empty village than the spheres they had just seen murder a man in cold blood and were now after them.

"It's been empty since they were arrested, the council had plans to destroy it. Saxon wont expect us to go somewhere something that terrible happened to us. There's shelter already waiting for us so no need to bring the tent and it's out of the way," Ianto explained reasonably, packing a few of Jack's things into the bag including a photo of the team, his coffee mug and Jack's favourite book. Just little things to remind Ianto of their lost leader. Lost, until then Ianto had always thought of his Boss and lover as missing but now, with the world ending around them, Jack seemed truly lost. "We can take the SUV most of the way and then dump it."

"I-" Gwen began.

"Let's do it, it's our only plan," Owen said quickly as a crash sound above and a louder alarm blared. "Wha-"

"They're in!" Ianto shouted, "We need to go!" He pulled Tosh by the arm and led the way up to the entrance to the Garage, followed by Owen who pulled the still stunned Gwen along with him. The ex-PC seemed to be falling to pieces as she faced the end of the world without Jack. For some reason the American's presence last time they had been so close to destruction had given her confidence.

"Gwen wake up!" Owen ordered as they reached the dark garage. Ianto didn't flick the lights on, just unlocked the SUV and pushed Tosh inside. She didn't obey him and he had to forcefully put her inside before he could climb inside himself, helping Tosh to pile their bags between the women on the backseat as Ianto started the powerful engine.

"Put your seat belts on, this could get…interesting," Ianto ordered, pressing the button on the SUV's panel that opened the garage doors.

"Define interesting," said Owen, "Sphere!" Ianto put his foot down at the thing Owen had pointed out fired at them and they narrowly missed the shot, hitting the sphere itself as they burst out onto the road.

"There's another following us!" Tosh screamed. Owen pulled his gun out of it's holster, opened his window and leant out, looking for his target. Gwen began to scream hysterically as Owen opened fire as did the sphere.

"I'm turning right!" Ianto shouted his warning before pulling the sharp manoeuvre. Tosh tried to calm Gwen in the back seat but the other woman continued to scream in fear, her own evident fear scaring the others almost as much as the spheres…almost. The sphere fired again and abruptly Gwen's screams stopped, the sound of the wind rushing past them grew louder and the SUV swerved.

"Gwen?" Owen asked worriedly, his head still out the window. Ianto veered to avoid people running in the road and looked in the mirror, worried by both the women's silence. Tosh was unconscious, a cut on her forehead, the wind blowing her hair around her relaxed face and Gwen…

"Oh God…" Ianto breathed.

"Gwen!?" Owen screamed from outside still trying to hit the sphere, "Shit there's another one! What's happened to Gwen?" Ianto bit his lip hard enough to make it bleed and then lied,

"She's fainted, keep shooting those bloody things Owen!" Ianto was amazed his voice didn't shake as he took another screeching turn and then looked in the mirror again. Gwen had not fainted as he had just said. The woman sat in the seat behind him was dead, her eyes open in shock and fear, her face and clothes bloody where parts of the door had sliced into her deeply. It was the door that had taken the hit from the sphere mainly but the blast had done so much more than damage the SUV. It had taken her life.

"I hit one!" Owen reported loudly as Ianto turn again and again.

"Good! We're almost out of the city!" Ianto felt awful for lying to Owen but they needed the other man to defend them, he couldn't do that if he was distraught over Gwen. Ianto knew he'd probably get punched for lying to him later.

"I got it! We're clear!" Owen screamed a couple of minutes later, a couple of minutes of Ianto's frantic driving, of ignoring the screaming people in the streets. He sat back into his seat, re-loading his gun just in case he then turned around…and gave a shout, "Gwen!" A single tear fell from Ianto's eye but he kept driving even as Owen tried to throw himself into the backseat to go to the woman he had sort of loved. "GWEN!!"

"You lied to me," Owens voice was dangerously low as he and Ianto helped the very dazed and barely conscious Tosh out of the SUV, "You lied to me."

"I had to," Ianto answered quietly, "You needed to be focused on your job. If you hadn't gotten those things we wouldn't have gotten this far. We'd all be dead!" He lowered Tosh to the ground gently leaving Owen standing alone for a few moments before he rose.

"I could have helped her."

"She died instantly Owen, can't you see that?" Ianto asked, going to the open door he pulled the bags out and threw them to the ground by Tosh. In the distance Cardiff burned and he lost himself for a moment staring at it.

"I could have helped her!" Owen all but screamed, pulling Ianto round and punching him in the jaw, "I could have helped her!!" He kicked Ianto in the ribs making the Welshman groan but Ianto did nothing else. "I-I could have-I could have…" Owen began to sob pathetically, like he had done in private when Diane had left and Ianto got to his feet.

"Sit down with Tosh. I'll sort the SUV out," Ianto ordered quietly.

"What do you mean?" Tosh asked.

"I'll do what I do best, cover up our escape and make it look like we're dead," Ianto answered with a shrug, "Then we can start walking, we'll get there by nightfall if we keep a good pace."

"How can you be so calm, so composed after all that's happened?" Owen demanded, "Cardiff is burning! The human race is dying! Gwen is dead! How can you be so…uncaring?"

"I care Owen, I just know that one of us must focus on the task at hand and get us to safety so that we can do something about fixing all this," Ianto was now leaning into the SUV, searching for something.

"Fix it?" Owen asked, his voice rising again, "How can we…?"

"We aren't the only survivors Owen, you heard Saxon on the broadcast, he's only killed a tenth so far. The rest will need help, help that we'll be able to give as long as we stay in a fit state to give it," Ianto said, "Found it."

"He has a point," Tosh said quietly.

"You've found what?" Owen asked at length, the fact that he didn't challenge what Ianto had said showing his agreement better than words.

"The SUV's self destruct, it we blow it up it will look like we died with it…especially if they find the remains of one of us," Ianto said quietly.

"No! You can't blow Gwen up!" Owen cried out shocked. Ianto pushed a button grimly and then rushed away, tackling Owen to the ground. Only then did Owen realise that Ianto had made him take Tosh a fare distance from the SUV to begin with, far enough away to be out of the blast range of the vehicle when it exploded. Debris landed around them, something sharp hitting Ianto's shoulder but other than that the three were unharmed. The SUV and Gwen were no more. "I hate you. I fucking hate you!"

"Let's get moving," Ianto said emotionlessly, helping Tosh to her feet once more. The young woman smiled sadly at him and carefully put on her bag, grateful that he had somehow become the leader and not her or Owen, she didn't have a clue what to do really and Owen…well his emotions were too high to really think of anything. "Owen, pick up your bag and move. Now." Slowly Owen did so, leading the way angrily, trying to hide his tears. Tosh followed in silence and Ianto brought up the rear, carrying the last and as it turned out heaviest bag.

"I hate you…"

"I know Owen, I know…"