Disclaimer: I do not own anything of Torchwood much to my annoyance.
Summary: Right. So basically I cried when they killed Owen (twice!) and I cried when they killed Tosh and I really, REALLY cried when the killed Ianto. And so this story was born. A correction of sorts to the real story. Obviously it's completely AU and is in fact set in the same universe as my story 'The Year That Never Was'. I'd even go so far as to say this is the sequel. Well, enough rambling. Enjoy!
Important Note - The beginning of Season Two did not happen in my AU world and I'll explain what did happen in the story.
SPOILERS! - Season Two of Torchwood, Season Four of Dr Who and Season Three of Torchwood.
Saving Our Future.
Prologue.
The weeks and months following Gwens wedding were unsurprisingly busy for the Torchwood Team. And it wasn't just their work that kept them busy; no it was their private lives as well.
A week after the horrible incident with the 'Night Travellers' Owen built up his courage and asked his lovers to move in with him. It was Jack who said yes first, sick of spending some nights away from his lovers when they went home and he stayed at the hub. And if he was honest he felt that he'd lived in the Hub for too long. Ianto took a little longer to decide. He hadn't lived with anyone since…since Lisa. But he really, really loved Owen and Jack. He loved them more than he had ever loved Lisa…And so he said yes and put his own flat up 'For Sale'.
As the incident with Gwen, Jonah Bevin and Flat Holm Island played out the three of the completely re-decorated what had once been Owens bachelor pad, turning it into a home for the three of them. Unfortunately Ianto's flat was sold remarkably quickly, before the flat was ready for to move into and so he'd put his things into storage and stayed in the hub with Jack. Bad idea. Gwen had caught them in a rather…compromising position, performing for a very lonely Owen via web cam in the hot house. He'd been so embarrassed.
The day the two had finally moved in was the day Tosh got a strange reading from an abandoned warehouse which turned out to be bombs, planted by one Captain John Hart. A man the whole team had since been trying to forget. The building had collapsed around them and even though it hurt him to die Jack knew he'd got off easy compared to his team. Poor Tosh had been trapped under a piece of the ceiling and had broken her arm. Ianto had been almost entirely buried by rubble, clawing his way out with his fingernails and Jack himself had had to re-locate his lovers dislocated shoulder. Owen had been pinned in place, sharp shards of glass falling down on him and cutting his face and arms. One had narrowly missed his neck as Gwen had helped him out. And even Gwen, who had arrived after the explosion somehow managed to hurt herself, cutting her arm as she helped Owen.
And then everything with Gray had happened. Jack could hardly believe it. His own brother…gone was the sweet boy he remembered, standing in his place was a monster he had created by…by letting go of his hand. He shouldn't have let go of his hand! All those years buried under ground the guilt had eaten away at him, making him hope never to be found…but then he'd think of Ianto and Owen and his determination to get out of there would be almost overwhelming.
As for the rest of the team whilst Jack was 'missing' they all had some far too close scrapes. Gwen had to basically take charge of a city that had just been bombed, was in total panic and weevils were running amok. Then she and Ianto (and Captain John but most of them were happy to ignore him) were locked in the cells with the weevils by Gray. Trapped. Owen had to somehow make it through the city to the Nuclear Plant and, with instructions from the ever-brilliant Tosh had had to stop a nuclear melt down. And he'd only just managed to get out before the plant automatically locked itself down. And then Tosh, poor, lovely Tosh was shot by the evil Gray. She almost died. It was only Owens timely return to the Hub that saved her.
Jack had woken up, saved the day and they had to pick up the pieces.
It had not been easy.
Jack often had terrible nightmares where he was not buried alone, where his lovers were buried alongside him and they stayed dead or that Owen had been trapped in the plant and had been vaporised or that the weevils had mauled Ianto to death or that the initial explosions had killed them…Each night he would wake with a horrified gasp, covered in sweat and sitting bolt upright in the giant bed the three of them now shared. Ianto, who slept in the middle with Owen curled up to his front and Jack spoon up against his back, would pull him back down into his arms while Owen would walked around the bed and slip back under the covers on Jack's other side.
A couple of months after the 'terrorist attack' Cardiff was finally back on it's feet, everything running smoothly and efficiently as the repairs to the damaged city continued…and then the Earth moved. Not a tiny bit, it moved in a violent minute to a completely unfamiliar part of the galaxy. Their computers could tell them nothing. Something had moved the Earth but there was no clue as to what.
Jack's reaction to the aliens scared them. They had never seen him panic before, never see him loose his confidence and they had never, never seen him give up. But as he pulled Ianto and Owen close to his sides, kissing their foreheads he did just that, mumbling in a trembling voice,
"I'm sorry, we're dead."
The team had discovered Jack's only fear.
The Daleks.
And yet even though it was what he feared the most, the aliens that had killed him that first time before he became immortal he still went when he was needed, still rushed to help the Doctor.
"He'll be ok," Owen mumbled reassuringly as he held Ianto after Jack had used his recently fixed Vortex Manipulator to teleport out of the hub. "It's Jack. He'll be ok. And he's coming back. He promised."
"I know. I'm still frightened for him," Ianto mumbled.
"Don't be frightened for him, be frightened for us," Gwen had said just as the hub shook once more and an alarm had sounded. Tosh was busy at her station, typing faster than any of them had ever seen her type before (thankfully her cast had come off last week) and mumbling to herself,
"Just a second more, just a second, I just need a second, nearly there…"
Gwen was the one who rushed to the armoury and grabbed three G36-C model machine guns from the armoury. (A/N Thanks go to my brother who knew what type of guns they were just from looking at a picture.) And it was Ianto who pointed out that they didn't work against Daleks, it said so in every file about them and he'd seen how un-effective they were during the battle of Torchwood One.
"Honey, I'm home," Owen muttered under his breath as the cog door rolled open and the evil Dalek moved into the hub, it's little gun searching for them along with it's strange looking eye.
The three of them opened fire before the Dalek even had a chance, none of them noticing Tosh's scream until they had emptied the magazines and looked in confusion at the wall of frozen bullets between them and the Dalek.
"What the fuck?" Owen asked loudly.
"It's a time lock," Tosh said breathlessly from her station, sounding incredibly relieved, "The idea came to me years ago and I've been working on it for the last few months, since Jack and I were stuck in 1941 actually when the time-travelling reminded me about my idea. But I only just managed to get it activated in time."
"How does it work?" Gwen asked, unable to resist poking one of the bullets, watching the air seem to ripple around it.
"The hub is now locked in time. Nothing can get in and nothing can get out until the intruder is destroyed," Tosh explained softly.
"Well that's great. How are we going to destroy it when we can't get to it?" Owen asked, a little angrily. Ianto punched him lightly in the shoulder as Tosh's happy look fell a little.
"We don't have to," he announced loudly, "That's what we have Jack for."
"Jack," everyone had murmured.
And then they had to wait. Wait and wait and wait. They waited so long with no news that Ianto nearly had a nervous break down, resorted to cleaning the coffee machine and making out with Owen. The first one the girls were fine with, the second one Gwen was not fine with but Tosh was used to it.
All of them jumped like mad when the Dalek exploded all of a sudden, releasing the time lock on the hub. The bullets having lost all of their momentum fell to the ground like metal raindrops, singing around the echoing room. For a moment they all looked around in silence.
"Jack…" Ianto finally murmured what everyone was thinking.
They helped Jack and the Doctor when they were asked to, all four of them rushing around like the mad people they were to create the…well the towing cable that the Doctor needed.
"This is insane. It can't possibly work," Gwen breathed when they were done.
"Gwen, you do realise that we make out living on 'insane'," Tosh pointed out.
That was when the world had begun to shake again, even more violently this time. Ianto, holding onto the railings with his incredibly strong prosthetic hand slid his other arm around Owen as he clung to the railings beside him. Tosh had crumpled to the floor and was hugging one of the table legs tightly whilst Gwen was holding onto one of the other railings opposite everyone else. Cabinets that had been put back into their proper places by a very bored and worried Ianto were thrown about once more, things flew off of shelves and desks, piles of paper flew threw the air as an unnatural wind whirled around the room.
And threw all of it the four of them couldn't help but laugh, laugh because the truly mad idea was working perfectly, their instruments told them so.
They were going home.
"I vote that we leave the tidying up until tomorrow," Owen said loudly once the Earth had stopped shaking and the wind had died down.
"Good idea," Tosh said as she pulled herself up from the floor, rescued her keyboard and typed away quickly, "He did it. The Earth is back in its normal orbit of the sun. Even the moon's orbit is fine."
"You two should head home," Ianto said to the two women as he let go of the railings and stepped away, Owen following him so that the arm about his waist didn't go away. His own arm was around Ianto's waist. "I'm sure Rhys and George are going to be worried about you."
"Rhys…yeah…he'll be…worried," Gwen mumbled, sounding distracted, "Shouldn't we wait though, for Ja…"
"We'll wait for Jack," Ianto interrupted firmly. He was sick and tired of her obsession with Jack. She was married for crying out loud and Jack was well and truly taken with his two male lovers. Her schoolgirl crush was completely ridiculous! "We'll see you both tomorrow."
Gwen glared at him for a few moments before walking over to her desk, grabbing her coat and her handbag and leaving with a muttered goodbye. Tosh lingered for a little longer, saving her computer files and saying goodbye to the two men with a tight hug for each of them. Her phone began to ring, just as she was leaving via the cog door.
"George? Yeah, I'm on my way home now. Yeah, I'll be there in ten minutes…" she gave one last wave back at the two men before stepping around the remains of the Dalek and leaving the messy room.
"Ianto, no cleaning," Owen ordered as Ianto bent down to pick something up from the floor by Owens desk.
"What? Not even so I can make you a cup of coffee?" Ianto asked, rising from the floor with Owens (amazingly intact) coffee mug. It was however very dirty and in need of a serious clean before it should be drunk from.
"Oh. Well…that's fine," Owen mumbled, causing Ianto to laugh. Of course making coffee was fine, Owen practically lived off Ianto's coffee. He was getting to be as bad as Jack! This time Owen even 'helped' to make the coffee, or rather he helped to clean the cups whilst Ianto fiddled with coffee machine. Generally Owen stayed away from that evil machine. The team knew from past experiences that Owen + Coffee Machine = Big Disaster.
The two were snuggling on the sofa, drinking their delicious coffees when the lift clanked loudly and began to descend, three people standing on it. In the middle was Jack, holding the only female in the trio around the waist as she gasped in shock at what she saw around her. The guy with Jack laughed.
"You live in a sty, Captain Flash," he snorted loudly.
"It's not usually this messy," Jack explained with a laugh of his own, "And for your information I do not live here, Mickey the Idiot. Not any more." He turned his head to the woman he was holding. "So? What do you think?"
"It's…big," she murmured.
"This is just main room, wait until you see - Ianto! Owen!" Jack had seen his lovers and let go of the young woman, jumping down off the lift even before it had stopped moving. They stood up just in time to be pulled into a strong hug by Jack, all three of them exchanging kisses as the two visitors looked on…stunned.
"Um…Jack?" the woman finally asked and he released his partners, turning around and standing between them, his arms around their waists and keeping them close to him. "Care to introduce us?"
"These are my lovers, Dr Owen Harper and Ianto Jones," Jack smiled across at the visitors and both his lovers nodded when their name was mentioned. "And this is Mickey Smith, recently returned to us from a parallel universe." Owen raised his eyebrows in disbelief. "No really, he did. And this lovely lady is the person who I got my phone call earlier from, Martha Jones with the voice of a nightingale."
"M-Martha Jones?" Ianto stuttered, shocked.
"Yes. Do I know you?" Martha asked with a frown, looking between the two men on either side of Jack. She didn't recognise either of them…
"No," Owen shook his head, "No, you don't know us but we know you."
"Martha Jones…the woman who walked the Earth," Ianto spoke softly. Martha's shocked gaze snapped to him as he continued to speak, "the woman who told a story. The woman who defied a madman and saved the world."
"You…remember?" she finally gasped.
"Yes," Owen and Ianto said together, nodding their heads gently.
"Oh, fucking hell!" Martha gasped. Jack snorted. He couldn't remember having ever heard her swear before and it felt like…well like when a kid hears it's mum swear. Sort of wrong. "Did you know about this?" she gasped, rounding on him.
"Kinda," he admitted slowly. Mickey, sensing the change in the mood took a step back and kept quiet. Martha's expression turned angry very quickly and everyone could see she was about to explode…
"And you didn't think I should know?!?" she practically screamed at him, turning her angry gaze on him alone, "Why didn't you tell me Jack?!"
"It might have escaped your notice but we were kinda busy up until now. You know…saving the world! Again!" Jack defended himself, stepping away from his lovers, holding his hands out to the angry woman in a placating manor.
"You could have told me before today, Captain Jack Harkness, and you know it! It's been nearly a year since…since…a year Jack! That's a years worth of opportunities to tell me!" Martha shouted at him. Jack couldn't seem to stop smiling even though everyone else was slightly…frightened of the angry woman before them. Ianto and Owen shared another look as they remembered the last time they had seen the woman in action, calmly (almost happily) telling the Master about her secret 'weapon'. She'd been just as amazing then.
"I…I…" Jack stuttered before giving in and laughing loudly, "Ok so I might have forgotten to tell you. I did mean to tell you about everything. Come to think of it I meant to tell the Doctor as well. Oops."
"He doesn't know?" Martha asked in surprise.
"Er…no," Jack laughed once more.
"Jack!" Martha shouted. Ianto and Owen grinned as Jack tried to look apologetic…tried. The big grin on his face did not help. "Ok. I'm calmer now," Martha muttered to herself before moving around Jack to face his lovers, "So you two remember…everything?"
"We do," Ianto answered softly.
"Is there anyone else who remembers?" Martha asked hesitantly.
"Only Tosh. Gwen doesn't remember," Owen answered.
"Who are Tosh and Gwen?" Martha asked.
"The other members of my team," Jack answered from beside her, smiling proudly as he thought of the two beautiful and brave women, "Who should be here…where are they?"
"We sent them home," Owen answered with a shrug.
"Their men will be worried," Ianto explained further, "Especially Rhys. That man really is a worrier." Jack nodded in understanding and agreement.
"Is there a reason one remembers and the other doesn't?" Martha asked.
"Gwen was killed. You can't remember a time when you were dead can you?" Owen asked, trying to act careless, like her death hadn't affected him the way it would, "Nearly gave me a bloody heart attack when she walked in all fine and perfect after time had fixed itself."
"Oh," Martha mumbled softly.
"Yeah. So we'd just like to say…thank you for saving the world," Ianto said, "And for saving us. And for giving us back our Jack." Owen and Jack moved together to take the now slightly emotional Welshman in their arms. "Sorry. Memories."
"Don't apologise Ianto," Jack said softly, kissing his hair gently as he held him close. Martha and Mickey were both a bit stunned at how tender Jack was being, at how loving and…well committed. They both knew him as a player, the man who flirted with everyone be they male, female or alien. This relationship he had with the two handsome young men was a bit of a surprise.
"So," Ianto coughed, pulling away from his lovers and smiling at their guests, "Would anyone like a coffee?" Mickey and Martha frowned slightly at the sudden randomness of the question but Owen and Jack merely laughed.
"I'd love one," Martha finally answered with a smile.
"Sure," Mickey shrugged.
"Milk? Sugar?" Ianto asked as he moved away from the group, over to the coffee machine that was his domain.
"Black is fine," Mickey answered.
"White with one sugar," Martha answered. Ianto nodded and got to work.
"Hey! Don't I get one?" Jack asked as Owen picked up his still warm coffee and took a sip. Now Jack was the only one without a cup of the delicious drink, or at least without one on the way.
"I don't need to ask if you want a cup Jack, I know you too well," Ianto answered with a laugh, holding up Jack's coffee mug that had been resting next to the machine. He then took two more mugs down from the rack for their guests.
"Oh. Ok then," Jack was all smiles again.
The coffee was made (and praised) and the five of them managed to squash together on the sofa, Ianto sitting on Jack's lap, and they talked until the early hours of the morning. In fact they talked for so long that Ianto fell asleep, curled up in Jack's arms, using Jack's shoulder as a pillow.
"I think we need to head home, Jack," Owen said softly, kissing Ianto's forehead gently. Ianto mumbled in his sleep, rubbing his cheek against Jack's shoulder but remaining asleep. "It's been a tough day…for all of us."
"Yeah," Jack agreed, shifting Ianto in his arms so that when he stood he held the sleeping Welshman bridal style. "You two got somewhere to stay?" he asked their guests who looked just as tired as the rest of them.
"I had planned on getting a room in hotel before returning to London," Martha admitted softly. Mickey nodded in agreement; he'd been planning on doing the same.
"Oh no, I won't have that," Jack said firmly, shaking his head. "The saviours of the world staying in a hotel? I think not."
"Well where else do you suggest, Jumping Jack Flash?" Mickey asked.
"We've got a spare room and a fold-out couch," Jack announced proudly, grinning at the sound of the old nickname he hadn't heard in a while. If he were truly honest he'd say he had missed it. "You can stay with us!" Mickey looked unimpressed knowing that if they accepted the offer he would be the one of the sofa bed but Martha smiled thankfully. Hotels were expensive…"You don't mind do you Owen?" Jack asked his conscious partner who stood and, being careful of the sleeping Ianto, kissed Jack on the lips softly.
"It's your flat too now Jack, of course your friends can stay the night," he said softly with a smile, reaching out with his hand to stroke the immortals smooth cheek.
"Great" Jack cried happily, making everyone (bar Ianto, obviously) laugh, he sounded like a little kid that had been told they could have chocolate. "Let's go then."
The travelled in the SUV because Owens car was not going to fit all five of them in, it was just typical that the three chose to start car sharing that day and had left Ianto's larger car back at the flat.
In the end Martha and Mickey stayed for two days with them, recovering from everything that had happened. At fist Mickey had complained, as he'd suspected he was the one of the sofa bed. But Ianto's excellent coffee and the excellent cooking, surprisingly by Owen, soon won him over. Martha spent most of her time sleeping or watching random TV or calling her fiancé on the flats phone, after all the phone bill was paid by the Crown like all of Torchwood's expenses. Jack even managed to speak to her fiancé once and announced afterwards that he liked the guy and that she had his approval to marry him.
After their guests had returned to London things calmed down…for all of two weeks. Then, as was becoming a sort of routine for them, the world went to Hell.
A/N There we go. 'Day One' is on the way. Let me know if you like it so far.