Here I am, held so close against him, his lips warm and soft on my own, his hand caressing the side of my face. I pull him closer to me, our bodies moulded against one another.

I don't want this kiss to end, because when it does he will be going out to face what's coming, that nameless horror that has had him starting at shadows for days.

I know deep down that when he leaves he will never be coming back, that this kiss is goodbye. He doesn't expect to live through this, whatever he says.

Tears are stinging my eyes, rolling down to run over both our faces and into our mouths.

Jack pulls back from the kiss as he tastes them.

"Ianto." His voice is sad as he brushes away the tears with his thumb.

All it does is make the tears flow harder than before. I don't think I can survive going through this again, the emptiness, the grief and the loss. I feel broken inside already and he isn't even gone yet.

"Don't cry." He moves to hold my face in his hands.

"I can't lose you. I can't bury…" My voice fails me and I think that I may just fall down if he doesn't keep holding me.

"You won't." He's kissing away my tears. "I'm not leaving you." He breaks the stream of kisses to give me one of his amazing smiles, but all I can think is how dark my life will be when I shall never to see that smile again.

"What Jack Harkness wants Jack Harkness gets, and right now what he wants is an incredibly hot young Welshman called Ianto Jones, and nothing, not even the Rift is going to stop him."

I want to believe him, to believe in the impossible, but if life has taught me anything it's that good things never last and that fate seems to have decided that I don't get a chance at happiness.

I know that I have started to shake and I can see the concern in Jack's eyes as he almost has to carry me over to the small sofa, helping me sit before I fall down.

Crouching in front of me he covers my hands with his own, "This is not goodbye." He sounds so certain and I wish that I could believe him.

An alarm sounds from somewhere deep in the Hub, loud and shrill telling us that our time together is over. He gives my hands a final reassuring squeeze and then he is gone, coat flapping behind him as he runs down the steps and out of my life.

I can't speak, my throat too choked with tears. I know that could follow him, but there is nothing that I can do and I can't bear to watch another lover die.