Disclaimer: I do not own Torchwood, or Doctor who. If i did, i would not be on this site, i would be off playing with Ianto ;p

Ok, this is just a random little fic i wrote when i was watching old Doctor Who episodes trying to overcome a slight case of writer's block. the idea came to me and wouldnt go away, so i thought i'd write it! Hope you like!


"But know this, Time Lord. You Are Not Alone"

With a final breath, the Face of Boe closed his eyes for the final time, opening them again to be greeted by the familiar darkness. Not that he'd been here for a while, since they put him in that jar he hadn't died once. Instinctively, however, he knew that this was the final time he would die, that this time he would not wake up. He didn't fear the darkness, not anymore, not like he used to back in the old days, when he was still known as Jack Harkness. No, he'd been here too many times for it to hold any fear for him.

He felt bad, of course. Giving the Doctor that message, giving him hope when he knew that it would only make him suffer when he finally found the Master. Still, Jack knew it had to be that way. The Doctor had told him about what had been said to him, and Jack knew better than to mess with time.

He looked around, considering his new home. Then he realised that he could look around and glanced down at himself. Arms! Legs! He was humanoid again then? Jack reached up and touched his face, marvelling at how familiar, yet how totally alien it was to him. He was still surprised at how much he had forgotten, he hadn't remembered Martha at all at first. And now he was alone…

"Jack..."

The voice made him spin round, shocked, eyes straining to see something through the impenetrable darkness. There was not supposed to be anyone. He was supposed to be alone…

"Jack…" Nearer now; and strangely familiar…Jack spun around trying to locate the voice. And then a figure stepped from the blackness causing him to fall back in fright. He stood up, staring at the man before him. It was a man he knew, a man he had not seen for nearly five billion years, yet somehow he had still remembered.

"Ianto?!"

He had never forgotten him; not really, he'd never stopped loving him. He was never really sure; however, if any of his memories of the man were real. Not after the first few hundred years without him. The last time Jack had seen Ianto, he was about 40, covered in blood and begging for Jack to save him as an alien creature sucked the life out of him. That image had haunted Jack for centuries. Torchwood had gone downhill for him at that moment; he'd only managed to stay another five years before he had to disappear. It had held too many bad memories. "I'm so sorry, Ianto. I couldn't save you…"

"Jack, it's fine. You couldn't have, not really. By the time you and Mickey found me I was already dead, even if I didn't know it yet."

Jack swallowed. "You-You're too young." He stammered, marvelling inwardly at how his American accent had come back. He'd missed it. "How old are you?" The man in front of him couldn't have been older than 30.

"I'm the age I was when I was happiest, 29. That was my age when we got married. Remember, Jack?"

"I remember." Jack swallowed. "But…how are you here? In the darkness?"

"Well, I'm dead. So are you…"

"Ianto, I'm over five billion years old, I've lost count how many times I've died. This is all there is. Alone. In The Darkness."

"No, Jack." Ianto smiled at him. "The darkness is for those not ready for death, those who are taken before their time. They are forced to wait here until they accept it. You have never been here long enough to do so." He grinned, and Jack gasped. He had forgotten how beautiful the young man was.

"So…you go on?"

"Yes, Jack. I'm here to take you, show you the way. There are so many people waiting there, Jack. Toshiko, Owen, Gwen, Estelle. It's beautiful. It's Heaven."

At this moment a light shone to Jack's right. It was strange, he could see it yet it did nothing to illuminate the darkness around him. Just sat there, glowing at him.

"Is that it?"

"Yes."

"So…what's it like?"

"Oh, it's different for everyone. It'll be the place you were happiest in life." Ianto smiled, offered his hand which Jack took. He noticed he once again wore the gold wedding band on his finger, which had long ago been worn down into nothingness. Rings, he supposed, were not meant to be worn non-stop for millions of years. Ianto noticed the ring and grinned, showing Jack his own.

"You're wearing you're ring. I guess I should be seriously flattered that after five billion years of life, you were happiest when you were with me!"

"You have no idea." Jack said. He was still drinking in the sight of his partner, memories of him flooding back. "Ianto, I've got so much I want to say to you…"

"We've got forever, Jack." Ianto told him, squeezing his hand.

And together, they walked towards the light and into a new life.