Hughes Flats; Cardiff, Wales

Spring 2037

Anwen Williams sensed John as he approached the building and smiled. She hadn't seen him in a year. After a brief panic over her appearance, she accepted she didn't have time to change. If he wanted to complain, he should have given her notice. With that in mind, she tried focusing on something other than her rumpled clothes. As he neared the door, she opened it.

He looked resigned.

"That bad?" She asked motioning him inside.

John waited until she closed the door behind him. "Another universe collapsed."

"That's three not counting Simon's? Has he figured out why?" Anwen wondered how they could help.

"No." John dropped on the sofa. "He thinks it might involve the ancients. They appear to be influencing certain time lines."

Anwen the other end of the sofa, folding her legs under herself to face him. "It's not another Time Agency?" It was hard to believe there was anything Oldaria couldn't figure out from Redemption. She understood alternate dimensions and incredibly advanced technology.

"No. The one from his universe appears to be an anomaly."

Puzzled, she asked, "Why are you here?"

"Simon said I needed to talk to you."

"About Torchwood London or the baby?"

"You're pregnant?"

Anwen shook her head slightly. "No." John was the only man she had any interest in. "My girlfriend wants a baby. What did Simon say about London?"

"That you're going to challenge Rex."

"Challenge sounds feudal. I'm going to London with Trefor and Michael. We're kicking his arse out of my office."

John rubbed his face. "Why?"

"Rex made several bad decisions lately. All involved choosing politics over Torchwood. He needs to go." She took a moment. "The Brussels office needs a new bureaucrat. It comes with a fancy house and more money. He'll have more than enough to care for his wife and kids."

"It's not that simple," John said. "Whitehall, the EU, and the US approve of Rex's leadership."

"Yeah. That's exactly the problem."

"What did Jack say?"

Anwen paused to compose herself. "When he fully regenerates from the explosion, that was Rex's fault, I'll ask him." She took a deep breath. "Ianto had second degree burns and required Nanogenes. He not only witnessed it, he pulled Jack out of the rubble." Even Michael wanted to hurt Rex.

"Taking over Torchwood is more than claiming your office."

"I know. I spent four years getting a tedious degree in political science." Anwen moved closer to John. "Do we have to argue?"

"What about your girlfriend?"

Anwen set her head on his shoulder for a moment and laughed. "Remember my birthday two or three years ago. You climbed into bed with both of us." She shifted herself around and sat on his lap.

"This is a bad idea."

She set her forehead against his neck. "We have this conversation every time. Simon knows about me. I know about him. My girlfriend doesn't care. She thinks Uncle Jack is hot and would love to meet Simon." Anwen paused. "Right now she's trying to find a sperm donor for a pregnancy that doesn't require a turkey baster. I told her to just pick a clinic and a description, we'd scan the sperm to make sure it's not modified and voila."

"That's…"

"Honest? Yeah. She wants a donor she knows. There are too many potential complications. Using the clinic means she doesn't have to worry about a knuckle-dragger wanting visitation rights or objecting to me."

"Bitter." John set a hand on her thigh.

"It's been a bad few months. Mum came out of retirement with Jack injured. I had to talk the general, Azrael and Other Keara out of dropping Rex in a hole. Even the Sarkisians agree, and they never agree on anything."

"Has anyone asked Rex for an explanation?"

Anwen ran the side of her hand down John's face. "It's Torchwood's zero tolerance policy on using alien technology to develop weapons. Countries argue they need to defend themselves against alien threats. Then they threaten or attack their neighbors. Or swan around the world knobbing each other and third world countries." She sighed. "Azrael's been kicking European and America corporations out of Africa for scavenging archaeological excavations for alien artifacts. They're worse than organized crime."

"Rex saw Miracle Day." John sounded as confused as she felt in the beginning.

"Yeah. He wants to play nice and negotiate. He thinks the weapons research is because Torchwood is heavy handed. We've blown up two intro biomech labs in the last six months. One of the countries tried to bring Torchwood up on war crimes at the International Criminal Court. It didn't end well for them."

Before John could respond, Anwen lifted her head and peppered his check with kisses to his ear. "Come to bed."

John was predictable and annoying, Anwen thought as she telekinetically tossed his pants across the room. It seemed to be a recurring theme in their sporadic relationship. As far as she could tell, it wasn't that John objected, but that he felt guilty afterward. She was twenty-one the first time they tumbled into bed. Their CN bond heightened the experience. For whatever reason, if she mentioned that, he felt guiltier.

"Why do you feel guilty? Is it the other version of me you loved?" She still wore his ring. He either proposed or intended to propose to another version of her in a time line that no longer existed. She'd taken the necklace to hold as a child and then refused to give it back to him.

John laid back on the bed. "It disrupts your life."

"How?"

"You're in a relationship."

Anwen nodded. "You could solve one of my relationship problems. She wants a donor she knows."

"Do we have normal conversations?"

Anwen smiled. "You're a time traveler that dated my uncle. You currently live outside of universal time/space at Redemption and are dating another version of my uncle from a universe that no longer exists. Define normal."

John hesitated. "Simon thinks I can talk you out of challenging Rex."

"Simon's an idiot." Anwen reached for John's hand. "It needs to be done."

"It will disrupt the time line. Simon needs to figure out what's destroying universes and agitating the ancients."

Anwen moved closer to John, setting her head on his shoulder. "My duty is to Earth." She reached across him and took his hand. "You've known three versions of me, John. Would any of them agree to what Simon wants?"

He hesitated. "No."

She gave it a few minutes. "Why do you feel guilty about us? The real reason."

"I was supposed to protect you."

"You did."

"No." John squeezed her hand. "I made you more like me."

"I was always like you."

"No. Not like this." He hesitated. "You're angry, entitled, callous."

"I disappointed you." Anwen shifted away.

John held on. "No. You deserve better than me." He waited until she shifted back. "You're in a solid, healthy relationship. You're going to be a parent." He closed his eyes. "You need to let me go."

"No."

An odd expression crossed his face. "Have you heard the whole story of my first time in Cardiff?"

"Probably not."

"I didn't come solely for the diamond. I wanted Jack. I couldn't let him go. I expected him to pack up and leave with me. Everything that happened with Gray was because I wanted Jack back. If I had thought it through, it would have been different."

"You think I'm obsessed?" Anwen stared at him.

"Determined to reach a future that can't happen. The other Anwens I knew didn't become the head of Torchwood by kicking out the previous leader. The first Anwen wasn't in a relationship when I met her. The other one didn't go in this direction." John opened his eyes and met her gaze.

"This is what happens when we don't tell each other everything." Anwen flipped open her wrist-strap. "You tell him."

The essence of the first Anwen John met appeared like a hologram. "Rex is making the same mistakes my predecessor made, John. The zero tolerance policies are the only chance to prevent the derived technology from getting out of hand."

"It could destabilize the Torchwood network."

"The attack that injured Jack is evidence of a Torchwood faction that was created by a rogue office. In my time, we suspected it was created by former US, British, and Russian military personnel. The problem in this time line is the group appears to have information they shouldn't have. We need to expand Torchwood's global defense early. Rex won't agree."