A/N: This is part of a larger AU I have been working on, although I don't currently have the time to write. Basically the key points to know are that Ianto is a wizard who briefly worked at Torchwood One before Yvonne transferred him to Cardiff a year before the battle of Canary Wharf. Wizards have been working at Torchwood, undercover since its creation to keep the Ministry of Magic in the loop with Britain's interactions with no human life forms, as many of what muggles think to be aliens may in fact just be magical creatures.

After the destruction of Torchwood London, the team found out about Ianto's magic and have accepted it has it turns out it can be quite useful on missions. Jack and Ianto's relationship is a bit further ahead than in canon as they have known each other for longer, and in this AU the whole cyberman in the basement debacle never happened.

Chapter One - The Blowfish Incident

"Gwen, go left. Tosh, go right. Ianto, take centre." Owen shouted as he started attending to the shot man. Ianto came to a stop taking in the scene, the blowfish had the teenager, gun against her temple.

"Detecting massive levels of adrenaline and three grams of cocaine. This fish is wired." Tosh trailed off as she looked up from her screen, and adjusted her gun to better aim at the blowfish.

"So this is Team Torchwood. The teachers pets, but teacher's gone, hasn't he? Leaving the kiddie-kids all alone. And look at you, trying so hard to be all grown-up. The doctor with his hands full of blood. The carer, with her oh-so-beating heart. The technician, with her cold devices. Which leaves me with the office boy. Promoted beyond his measure, are you really so scared that you won't even raise your weapon?" The blowfish chided as he took in Ianto's lack of gun. Ianto resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he let his wand slip from his sleeve. The blowfish continued on his drug induced monologue. "How good are you? How sharp is.." Ianto quickly raised his wand hitting the blowfish dead on with a stunning spell.

The woman who had been clutching Gwen rushed to her daughter as the blowfish fell, the rest of the team freezing momentarily.

"I still can't get use to that.." Tosh muttered.

"He's not dead. We need to get him back to the hub and in a cell before he wakes up." Ianto said mattarfactly, walking over to the double check his stunner had done its job. He had learnt early on that some aliens responded rather unexpectedly, he didn't need a repeat of the time he'd tried to take down a weevil and it had exploded.

"We need to, you know… Help them recover…" Gwen nodded meaningfully towards the family.

"Don't worry I've got it. Help Tosh get the blowfish into the SUV." He replied, "Owen how's he doing?"

"He'll live, good job that blowfish had terrible aim. I've patched him up but we should get him to a hospital, just to be safe."

"OK, you drop him of at A&E on your way, tell them you found him after a mugging." Ianto pulled out his wand again as he crouched down next to the man. "Obliviate." He whispered, wiping the man's memory of how he got shot and planting the vague idea of getting cornered by a couple of men as he was walking home. "That should do it, Owen?"

"Right," Owen says, stripping of his gloves, "I guess I'll see you in a bit." He finished, as Ianto helps him pick up the now dozing man.

"Where are you taking him?" The woman says from the corner, releasing her daughter as she made to follow Owen.

Ianto stepped between them, "He's just taking him to the hospital. Now why don't you and your daughter sit down and I'll explain everything." As soon as they had both settled, Ianto took aim and quickly obliviated them both, letting them both fall unconscious before he turned to survey the room. Not too bad, at least he didn't have to deal with fish brains, he turned to the smeared blood on the floor. He banished it with a flick of his wand before going to collect the Owen's used supplies to see what needed to be replaced.

"Guess I missed all the fun huh?" Ianto froze, heart hammering. He turned slowly, not quite believing it. There he was, Jack Harkness, smirk firmly in place. "I mean, I'd hoped get to make a bit more of an entrance, perhaps save the day at the last minute." He was cut off as Ianto rushed over and embraced him, tightly.

"I'm so sorry Jack." Ianto muttered into his shoulder, "So, so sorry."

"Hey, what have you got to be sorry for..? I left…"

"That I couldn't save you from him."

"How?" Jack asked eyes going wide, as his mind flew back his time on the Valient, to seeing Ianto killed before him. "That's time locked, that never happened."

"I guess if you're good enough of an Occlumens your memories stay protected." Ianto replied as he lets Jack go.

"Do the others know?"

"No, although I suspect there are few other wizards that do. Not that they did anything to fucking help." He said with a bitter tone to his voice.

"Good, it's better that they don't."

"I, I never thought I'd see you again. When you left I assumed you'd found the Doctor, that you'd want to stay with him after everything." Ianto admitted, seeming to deflate as he looked down.

"I came back for you." Jack assured, "The team, this planet, us… It's become my home and I couldn't give that up. Even for the Doctor." He bent down to meet Ianto's eyes, "You've got to know that."

Ianto looked at Jack taken aback by the declaration. While he had hoped that Jack would return, he also knew how much the Doctor meant to him. He knew that Jack had loved the Doctor long before he'd even met Ianto. He swallowed trying to find a reply. As he was thinking his comm beeped, "Ianto where are you?" It was Tosh, "I've detected rift activity near the city centre, we're heading there now."

Deciding to deal with Jack's admission later, he slid back into the role of commander he'd taken on since Jack had left. "Send me the coordinates and I'll meet you there. Oh and I've got a surprise for you." With that he grabbed Jack's hand and led him outside.