It had been three years since Jack had left Earth. It was just too hard, after Ianto's death, for him to stay. So he'd left Gwen and traveled to distant galaxies and planets. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop thinking about Ianto. He had promised that he'd never forget him, but it was too painful for him to remember constantly. Which was what he was doing. The way he smiled, the sound of his laugh, how his skin felt, and the feel of his lips against his throat.
Jack sighted, a single tear making it's way down his face, as he looked up at the sky. The current planet he was resting on had three moons and all it's stars were so very bright. It was beautiful. Jack sighed again, and this time his thoughts turned to the one surviving member of his Torchwood team. He wondered how Gwen, Rhys, and their child were.
"I should go see them. And maybe put some flowers on his grave." Jack spoke aloud, though there was no one there to hear him. Then he stood, brushed dust off, and in the blink of an eye, he was gone.
He stepped out of the rift and onto a roof over looking the city. Cardiff. His heart squeezed, and he was surprised at how much he'd missed this place. He was about to start walking, when a familiar, black van came roaring up. It skidded to a stop, not far from him, and the doors swung open. Gwen, Rhys, John, and another woman, with black hair and green eyes, leapt out of the van, pointed guns at him, and froze in place.
"You're back." Gwen managed to squeak out after a few minutes of silence. Rhys and the woman stared at him, and John was the one to finally do something.
"Glad you're back friend. We've been trying to contact you for a while now." He said, walking up and giving Jack a hug, but no kiss. Jack hugged back and when he was released, Gwen took a hug, and Rhys shook his hand. The woman then stepped forward.
"I'm Mellisa Drone, John's girlfriend. It's a pleasure to meet you Captain." She said, shaking his hand.
"You too. I'm glad John's got someone. I was planning on calling, after I put some flowers on Ianto's grave." He said, his voice breaking a little when he said Ianto's name. The team traded strange looks with one another.
"Then you've not got my messages?" John asked.
"No. My receiver go broke in a struggle on Theta 7. Why?" Jack asked, looking from one person to another.
"It'd be better if you saw first and got an explanation later. I've a feelin you'd like that better." Rhys said, motioning towards the car. Jack looked at Gwen and John before climbing into the passenger seat. Gwen got in the driver side, the others piled in the back, and they were off.
"So, Torchwood still running?" He asked.
"Yeah. For a while it was just Rhys and me, but then John and Mell came. About seven months later……" Gwen let the sentence drift off and Jack looked at her.
"What?" Gwen shook her head.
"The explanation will be better if you hear it from someone else. Even John doesn't fully understand it."
"John never understands much anyway." Rhys said, which earned him a playful slap upside the head.
"OY!" John yelled.
"Now children, settle down." Mell said, as she was the one sitting in between them. Jack laughed as the car came to a halt outside the old entrance.
"You fixed the old Hub?" Jack asked, stepping out of the car.
"Still a work in progress, but it's up and running. That's how we knew about the rift activity." Mell said, coming to stand on his left. He smiled at her and started towards the door, but Johns hand on his arm stopped him.
"We want you to remember something before you go in."
"Ok. What?"
"We tried to contact you as soon as it happened. We really did." John said, squeezing Jack's arm to the point it hurt. Jack knew then that something big was waiting inside the Hub.
"I believe you. Let's go in now." He said, and John released his arm. They entered the building together. Jack smiled at the familiarity of everything. It all looked as it had before the explosion.
"Alright, first things first. About six months after you left, The Doctor showed up," Gwen said and Jack's face twisted into a look of pure anger, "And when he saw the film I made during the '456' invasion, he wanted to do something to make it up to us."
"WHAT COULD HE POSSIBALLY DO!!" Jack roared, and Gwen's eyes left his, looking over his shoulder.
"He made me like you." A familiar voice spoke from behind Jack. He paled and slowly turned around. He was standing there, not ten feet away, looking every bit the same. The same spiky brown hair, wonderful eyes, pale skin, and full lips. Jack took a tentative step forward.
"Are you real?" He whispered, afraid that, if it was a dream, he would wake if he spoke too loud. The other simply smiled and opened his arms to Jack, who rushed in, wrapping his arms around the other man's neck and taking in the smell that was purely him and nothing else.
"Ianto." Jack whispered, the tears falling freely now. He leaned back, keeping his arms around Ianto's neck, and looked at his one true love. Ianto raised a hand to wipe the tears away, loving the feel of Ianto's skin.
"I don't care how it happened, I'm just so happy to have you in my arms again." Jack said, and pulled Ianto's lips to his. The kiss was so sweet that the others left the room, leaving the two lovers to reunite.
Jack pulled back and frames Ianto's face with his hands. Ianto turns his head and kisses the psalm of Jacks hand.
"I love you." Jack says, hugging Ianto close again.
"I love you too." Ianto responds, holding Jack close as possible, kissing Jack again and again.
And from that day on they never were parted.