Author's Notes: This is semi-AUish – takes place in the same Universe as the rest of Doctor Who and Torchwood, but pretty much everything else is upside down. I'll let you figure it out as you go as I don't have much time for long notes right now, but here are the major changes: Clara works for Torchwood, Ianto is a Time Lord, River is born on Gallifrey and everything is taking place during the Time War. I hope you enjoy it!
The constant soundtrack of people's screams seemed to be even louder today, Gwen thought as she made her way through the city. She kind of wished that the Empress would pick a side already. The Second Great and Bountiful Human Empire was anything but that right now, even with most of humanity spread among the Tri-Galactic and everyone was praying for Empress Helen to make her decision. Most of the human colonies had started fighting already – for their own survival rather because they were disobedient – and Earth had been neutral for far too long.
Gwen was pulled out of her thoughts when a man passed her. There were several significant things about him: first, he wasn't running away from the Daleks, he was running in their general direction, second, he was shouting something in a language she couldn't recognise as human and third, he fainted right at her feet.
"Oh my God!" she exclaimed, reaching down for him. It was one thing to ignore the screams around her and completely different to leave someone who so obviously needed help. "Are you okay?"
He stared at her with wide, panicked blue eyes and started talking in that unfamiliar language once more. Even though he completely resembled a human, his hands were colder than anything she'd felt.
"I'm sorry," Gwen said softly. "I don't understand your language. Do you speak English?"
Just as he nodded, a woman sank to her knees next to them. "It's taking a while for the translator to do its job, sorry," she said in a barely understandable accent. "Our ship is damaged, give it just a second."
"You came here with a spaceship?" Gwen asked. Part of her wanted to reach for her blaster, but she ignored the urge.
"Yes, we– Ianto, wake up!" The woman slapped the man's cheek gently and he looked at her, only managing to utter one word.
"River..."
"What is it? Do you need water?" Gwen asked and shook him gently, but the woman clicked her tongue.
"I'm River. You seem awfully calm, you know," she added, nodding in Gwen's direction. "You seem to know what you're doing. Are you with any of the local authorities?"
Gwen didn't think there'd be anything wrong with mentioning her workplace. After all, they were the go-to place when it came to aliens, right? Even when the aliens themselves needed somewhere to go?
"I'm with Torchwood," she confessed. The woman's eyes widened and she turned to the man (he'd somehow managed to sit up without Gwen noticing).
"Hear that, Ianto? We found Torchwood." His eyes were slipping closed. "Don't you die on me, Ianto Jones," she snapped. "We didn't cross half the Universe for this place only to have you giving up because a single Dalek shot at you."
"You're right," the man said with a small smile. "It wasn't even that good a shot, you know. It just stunned me."
"One of the modifications, then," the woman nodded and Gwen idly noted that she could perfectly understand both of them and the funny accent was gone. "Show us the way, please?"
"Be my guest," Gwen said in resignation. There'd be time for questions later. For now, it was better if they went back to the relative safety of the Hub.
o.O.o
"It's just the two of them, I think," Gwen said, leaning against the desk with the internal camera screens. "Male and female; answer to the names Ianto and River respectively. They've got a ship of their own and their skin is a lot colder than a human's. Their language was like nothing I've ever heard before, but they seem to be some sort of translator implanted in them because in no time, I could understand them perfectly."
"I have a very bad feeling about this," Jack said. He'd been scowling at the camera feed for a while now, even though it didn't show anything out of the ordinary. The newcomers had been directed at one of the prison cells – or what had been the prison cells before the War and was now mostly used for all the passers-by and the agents of UNIT and other Torchwood branches. They'd fussed around for a bit and then had sat on one of the two beds and had started talking. Jack reached for the remote control and increased the volume.
"...still can't get used to it," the man was saying. "Did it hurt?"
The woman shrugged. "Not really; not after I've done it once before. The first time was pretty bad, though." She seemed to notice the alarmed look he gave her. "But, you know, I was ten. It's to be expected."
"Of course," the man agreed and absently reached for one stray curl of her wild blonde hair. "It's going to get some getting used to, but I like it. Did he see you like this already?"
The woman – River – suddenly grinned. "He did. I think he likes it too. I'm pretty sure I'm going to keep it. It's too pretty not to."
"What are they talking about?" Gwen asked, chancing a look at Jack. His expression was even grimmer than before.
"About her body," he said with a sigh, putting the feed on mute once more. "Apparently she's recently been through regeneration; they're discussing the way she looks now. From what I'm getting from this, he hasn't regenerated yet, and it's the second time for her, which means that they've got to be pretty young."
"Regeneration?" Gwen repeated. "But that would mean–"
Jack nodded. "It's just as I thought – they're Time Lords."
"You mustn't tell Alice," Gwen hissed, lowering her voice even more. "God knows what she's going to do to them."
Alice Guppy was by far the cruellest out of Torchwood Three's personnel. She always insisted on trying out their new weapons on aliens that had ended up here as refugees from the war and didn't fear punishment or even death while doing so. Even with Jack's orders, she was practically unstoppable if she had something in mind, and giving her Time Lords to play with would most likely end with a lot of blood and at least half of the participants dead.
"I'm not going to say anything," Jack assured her. "But I'm not letting them out either."
"Jack, they can help us!" Gwen couldn't believe it. They'd all heard so much about Time Lords, about the abilities they had and the ships they flew, about the way they led their part of the war.
"I'm not making deals with the devil, Gwen, no matter what happens," Jack said. His voice had gone colder than before, although she knew that it wasn't directed at her. Even in the forty-fifth century and with all the technology they had, Gwen preferred to deal with things coming from space while she was still on Earth, but Jack had seen his fair share of the Universe before coming to Cardiff and Torchwood. "They're not all like the Doctor. We're talking about a race that would sit and watch a planet burn if it means preserving the laws of time. Your friends here," he said with a nod to the screen, "are probably genetically created to fight anyway. There's no other way they'd be soldiers at such a young age."
"It doesn't matter," Gwen argued and ignored the pointed sigh she got in response. "They're living, breathing beings. They feel – both physically and mentally – just as much as we do. We can't keep them locked up like animals." Jack didn't say anything, but she could see that he was close to giving in. "They were talking on our way here; she said that they'd been looking for us. They might need help, Jack."
Jack closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Fine," he said at last. "Have it your way, but I'm going to give directions through every step of this, is that clear?" Gwen gave him a cheerful salute. "In that case, go sedate them – put it in their lunch or something – and help me get them into separate cells. I'm going to go through the standard interrogation procedures."
"Jack!"
"I don't want to hear one more word about this!"
Gwen knew how to pick her battles, so she gave it up. For now.
o.O.o
Jack watched with infinite patience while the man woke up gradually. He'd brought himself a chair and had placed it right in front of the glass door of the cell, reluctant to get inside. He wasn't sure how the Time Lord would react to the slight change he'd made to his cell.
He cleared his throat as the man sat up. "Hello," he greeted. "I'm Captain Jack Harkness, head of Torchwood Three."
"Hello, Captain," the man mumbled, trying to hide a yawn. "I'm Ianto. Well, sort of. My name's a bit longer, but you can call me Ianto."
"So I've heard," Jack said, still on edge as he waited for him to react.
It happened in an instant. The sleep-induced fog in those impossibly blue eyes cleared as Ianto looked around himself frantically and then narrowed when he focused them back on Jack. "Where is she?"
"She's fine," Jack said quickly. "I can give you my word that–"
"If you've hurt her," Ianto growled, pressing his whole body against the glass door so that Jack could hear him as clearly as possible, "I'm going to rip you to shreds."
"You can try, but I can't guarantee success," Jack quipped, trying to hide his surprise. Gwen had been right; they did seem to have the standard set of emotions. Not that he was surprised; after all, he'd travelled the Doctor for long enough to see the man go through everything he possibly could. "Your friend's safe and she'll stay that way. I just wanted us to talk."
"Then where is she?"
"Three cells away from us, being interrogated by another agent," Jack snapped. "You're each other's insurance right now, so if one of you tries something funny, you both go down. Understood?"
"What could we possibly want to do to you?" Ianto asked with an incredulous laugh. "We were here looking for help!"
Well, that was a bit unexpected. Gwen had mentioned something like that, but Jack couldn't be sure. "You were, weren't you? Well, you wouldn't mind a few extra questions before I let you out, would you?"
Ianto relaxed back on the bed, although the wary look didn't leave his eyes. "Go on."
"How old are you two?"
"I'm twenty-four, River's twenty-eight." The response wasn't too generously worded and Jack wondered just how long this would take, but his attention strayed to something else.
"Wait, you're not from the same... batch?"
"Batch?!" Ianto looked scandalised. "Do you know have any idea how looms actually work?"
"Not quite," Jack said delicately. "But still... I thought you were created to fight in the War."
"We are," Ianto nodded. "And we weren't the only ones. Many of Gallifrey's current occupants were born that way. The perfect soldiers, more or less, I suppose. We were genetically engineered, so our physical growth was quite quick."
"And yet, your friend has already regenerated twice," Jack pointed out.
"She had no choice. It's a war, Captain; you must know what it's like."
"Of course," Jack admitted. "But I've never fought in something like the Time War."
"You might not need to, if your Empress doesn't make up her mind," Ianto said. If Jack didn't know better, he'd say that there was a mocking edge to the words. "Figures it'd be humans who'd always be unable to pick a side."
"There's a difference between being unable to pick a side and wanting your race to survive this hell," Jack retorted testily. "And how come your names sound so human, by the way?"
"Mine is a coincidence," Ianto shrugged. "I didn't know it was a Welsh name until Gwen told me about it."
Gwen. He'd said it with such confidence, as if he already owned the place and knew the staff enough to be on first name basis with them. It was typical for a Time Lord, but Jack tried not to let his irritation show.
"What about River, then?"
"She was born on a human colony," Ianto said. "Her parents – as much as any of us has parents – decided to name her that because they liked the sound of it."
It seemed so... normal. Such a simple, human story and suddenly, Jack looked past the Time Lord and stared at the man against him. He was unusually beautiful; even in his wrinkled clothes he had a subtle elegance about him. His skin was almost sickly pale under the weak lamps in the dungeon, but it only made his features seem even sharper and his eyes all the bluer while his ridiculously red lips were resting in something that almost resembled a pout. His dark hair was carefully styled and Jack wondered if they were genetically engineered for that as well; if they were created to destroy their enemies with any means possible. Then he remembered that they were created to fight against the Daleks and discarded the thought – there was nothing that could distract a Dalek from its bloodthirst.
With a huff of resignation, Jack clicked a few buttons on his Vortex Manipulator and the door unlocked. "Come out of there," he said, irrationally angry over the Time Lord's behaviour. He hadn't done anything in particular to irritate him, but he felt as if he was being conspired against. "Gwen, let her go!" He shouted and Gwen gave him a look of relief as she set her own prisoner free.
"River, are you okay?" Ianto asked as soon as he was out of the door and enveloped her in his arms. "Did they do something to you?"
"You know I can take care of myself," she chided him gently, but allowed him to coddle her nevertheless. Jack couldn't figure out what sort of relationship the two of them actually had, but it didn't seem to be anything romantic. But then again, maybe it was different for them – they looked like humans so much and he had to remind himself firmly that they weren't.
"So what do you need us for?" Gwen asked, positioning herself in front of him. He knew that she wasn't trying to block him out of the conversation but rather give him a silent warning to be friendly towards their guests.
"Our ship crashed in the city above, like I already told you," River started. Jack got his first clear look at her – he'd been too busy carrying her to the other cell before the interrogation – and noticed the same unearthly air about her. Her kaleidoscopic eyes couldn't seem to decide on which colour they wanted to settle and she was bursting with energy even when she was just standing there. Jack remembered the conversation he'd overheard over the cameras upstairs and realised that they had to know very well what effect they were having – after all, it was clear from the discussion of River's new body that they had a fully formed concept of beauty. "We've heard that Torchwood takes in the ones who need help before sending them on their way and we thought we could seek a temporary home here."
"We'll get someone to arrange you rooms," Jack said. It was time he assumed his position as the leader; there was no one else who could take this kind of decisions. "How long are we talking?"
"Until we fix our ship or our help arrives," Ianto put in. "Whichever happens first, actually."
"So it's settled, then?" Gwen asked with a questioning look at Jack.
"Of course." He gave everyone a generous smile and clapped his hands together. "Gwen, could you show River the ladies's rooms?"
"Gladly," Gwen said with a smile – she loved new people in the Hub – and took off before Jack could even give her his usual warnings.
Ianto cleared his throat softly. "And what should I do, Captain?"
"You're coming with me," Jack said. "I'll give you the grand tour and introduce you to everyone, and then I'll show you where the male part of our team spends their nights. And please," he added with a charming smile over his shoulder, "call me Jack."
o.O.o
"We're six people in total here," Gwen was saying as they headed for the main Hub. "That over there is Tosh's desk, although she's not here now – she's home with a flu – and that there is Alice's. She's currently in the showers, but trust me: don't speak to her, don't approach her and, for God's sake, don't touch her."
River threw her a curious look. "Why not?"
"She's... enthusiastic when it comes to experiments on aliens. If she learns that we've got a Time Lord on site, the world will end. Jack's got an office of his own, so he doesn't have a workstation," she continued, pointing at the glass walls of the room upstairs. "This is mine," she said, pointing at the desk nearest to them, covered with paper and various photos from all sorts of cases, "and this is Clara's. Clara, meet River."
"Hello, River," Clara greeted, turning in her chair to face them. She was undeniably good with technology, but preferred field action any day, so her position in the team depended on the day and the case they had. "You're the Time Lady, aren't you?"
"Why yes," River said, a small smile curling her lips, "I am."
"And how, if I may ask, did you get that information?" Gwen asked, crossing her arms, only to have Clara look at her with all the innocence she could muster.
"Well, you made a lot of noise when you brought them in. You can't blame me for eavesdropping."
"It's okay," River assured her and turned her attention back to Gwen's colleague. "It's nice to meet you, Clara."
"The pleasure is all mine," Clara insisted and Gwen saw a familiar spark in her eye.
"Moving on," she said, raising her voice just a bit to break off the upcoming flirting, "down in the medical bay is my boyfriend, Owen."
"Inter-work relationships," River nodded. "Can't have an office without them."
Apparently some things never changed, regardless of planet. "I suppose," Gwen said as she led her down the stairs. "Owen, this is River. River, meet Owen Harper."
"Oh! Clara said–"
"Yes, that's the Time Lady," Gwen cut him off. She could feel the tension of the day finally leaving her and kissed Owen briefly. "And I'm going to show her where her room is and go to bed, okay?"
"Okay," Owen nodded. "I'll be around in an hour or so."
"Don't you have homes?" River asked as Gwen led her down the long corridor to the girls's rooms.
"Not really. It's far easier – and safer – if we just stay here instead of going out, especially at night as we're usually in 'till late. I suppose this is like one big home for all of us," she added with a smile. "And for now, for the two of you as well."
-.-
"So," Jack started, trying with increasing desperation to start a conversation. Ianto was about as talkative as he had been in the prison cell. "Who's supposed to come and help you?"
"Huh?" Ianto's expression gave away just how deep in thought he'd been until now. "Oh, River's husband. You can never know when he's going to come on time, though."
"She's married?" Jack asked. Time Lords were something he wasn't entirely unfamiliar with, but it was beyond him why someone would decide to get married in the middle of a war. "I kind of thought that the two of you were–"
Much to his astonishment, Ianto laughed. He hadn't done it until now and Jack enjoyed hearing it greatly – the sound was rich with amusement and completely heartfelt. "It's nothing like that. I love River – I haven't met anyone who knows her and doesn't love her – but I'm not in love with her."
"Oh," Jack said. He didn't want to push it, but decided to try his luck anyway. "And what about you, then? Is there a girl waiting home for you?" Ianto gave him a look of disbelief. "A boy, then?" he ventured.
"That's not the point," Ianto said, shaking his head. "It doesn't matter who it is; I just don't have time for that kind of stuff."
"River and her husband found time," Jack pointed out and Ianto smiled.
"They're different. It's a long story and I'm not sure even I understand all of it. He doesn't even take part in the War – not yet, anyway. He doesn't approve of it."
"Let me get this straight," Jack said evenly. "A pacifist married a woman born to fight?"
Another one of those laughs. "I guess you could say that. You can't believe it until you see it, but they actually balance each other fairly well."
"It's good to hear that at least someone is happy," Jack said gloomily. It wasn't far from the truth, although even in his team, there was light at the end of the tunnel. Owen and Gwen had met when the War and Torchwood had brought them together and seeing how happy they were together gave him hope. If love could be born in the middle of a nightmare, he thought, then the fighting was worth it.
o.O.o
Three weeks later
The fourth time Ianto took the wrong tool out of the box and nearly blew them both up, the well of River's patience ran dry.
"Seriously, what's up with you today?" she snapped and Ianto looked down as he felt the blood rushing to his cheeks. River sighed. "Look, just– do something. Go to him and get it out of your system, because I can't work like this."
"I don't need to get anyone of my system," Ianto informed her crossly. "I'm fine. I'm just– thinking."
"Well, I'm trying to have a conversation," River said bluntly and took all the tools he was holding away from him to drop them back on the floor. "What's bothering you so much? I know it's Jack," she interrupted before he could deny it again, "but why don't you just talk to him? I'm pretty sure that whatever you're feeling is mutual."
"River, we're not on a holiday," Ianto said. He hated how tired his voice sounded all of a sudden. "I can't have a summer fling while we're at war. We're only here because we're stranded and once the Doctor is here, we'll go back to fighting and I can never see him again, so what's the point?"
"We've been here for three weeks," River said softly and Ianto couldn't help but answer to the smile playing on her lips. "I'm sure we've got a bit more before my idiot husband decides to show up. And plus, once the War is over, you can come and find him. What's stopping you?"
"That's just the thing, River," Ianto said, almost choking over the words. "I don't think it'll ever be over."
And this time, much to his surprise, it was River who looked away first.
o.O.o
"Do you think we'll ever get out of this?" River asked. Her bed was too small for two people, but they managed just fine, probably mostly because of her bedmate's size.
"Get out of what?" A pair of warm brown eyes looked up at her.
"The War," River clarified, a hand brushing her own hair out of her eyes. "Ianto thinks it won't ever end."
"Ianto needs to bloody cheer up."
River looked down in surprise and saw Clara's smile from where she was resting her head on her chest. "That he does," she admitted.
"Of course we'll get out of this. No war lasts forever, what makes you think that this one will?"
"The whole Universe takes part of it, that's what," River said absently, trailing a finger along Clara's jawline. "I don't know how we're supposed to stop it." Feeling herself falling into that bottomless pit that usually took her when things got bad, River tried to distract herself. Usually there was the Doctor to draw comfort from, but now that he wasn't here, she'd found someone equally optimistic, if not more. "What did you do before the War started?"
"I travelled around the galaxy," Clara said. "The Alaska starships, you know? I loved my job, and now..." She shook her head. "But never mind. Like I said, we'll fix it somehow. What about you?"
River could feel her smile turning bitter. "There's no 'before the war' for me. It's all I've got." She saw Clara's confused expression and went on. "I was born to die, Clara. There was a time when I was fine with that, but now the stakes are too high. I'll leave too many people behind, and I'm not sure what to think anymore."
"Of course you're not," Clara said, her voice firmer than it had been before, as if she was trying to convince River as much as herself. "No one's born to die, River. Certainly not you and it certainly won't happen. Do you hear me?" she asked, straddling River's hips and looking down at her. "This war is not going to be the end of you."
And because she didn't want to lie but also didn't want to hope, River just nodded and closed her eyes; her arms tightly wrapped around Clara as they both fell asleep.
o.O.o
Jack waited patiently as Ianto fussed in front of the coffee machine. He'd got kind of addicted to the beverage and had ended up surprisingly good at making it, but the Captain knew that what was happening here wasn't about coffee at all.
During the last three weeks, he'd done everything in his power to show Ianto that he was interested in – well, whatever Ianto wanted from him, really – but there'd been no response whatsoever. It wasn't that Ianto didn't reciprocate the feeling; he just had far too many self-imposed barriers to do anything about it.
"You wanted to talk?" He prompted and Ianto nodded briskly. He left his coffee cup by the machine and finally looked at Jack. There was something tortured in his eyes that made Jack want to take him in, comfort him, tell him that everything would be okay. It was just a part of the spell Ianto had cast on him and he couldn't help himself.
"I did," Ianto started. "It's something I've been thinking about, really. And I told River about it today – what's the point of throwing all your efforts into something that can't last more than a month or so? But here's the thing, Jack – I realised that that's it. That's the point. For one reason or another, there's something about you that makes me feel more real than I've ever been. When you talk to me and when we're together, I feel like there's more to life than living and dying for the people that created him and the guilt is eating me up, because that's not what my purpose is." Jack could detect the hysterical note in Ianto's voice, but didn't stop him. "My purpose is not to fall in love with a human on a far away planet and lose all faith in the War. I'm supposed to be fighting every breathing moment, because I was born and bred for it, but– when I'm with you, Jack, I just– I can't."
"Can't what?" Jack asked, trying to be as gentle as possible. He'd expected to feel joy when Ianto finally made that step and he did – he was so happy that he hardly had the words to express it, but the thing he hadn't expected was the pity. Ianto had been brainwashed with the best intentions in mind – in the name of the greater good he'd been left with no choice and no life of his own. It suddenly hit him why Ianto practically worshiped the ground River walked on – she'd got out of that. She'd found her husband (whom Jack hadn't the pleasure to meet yet and whom he thanked for the chance to get to know Ianto better) and, given that said husband wasn't part of the War, she'd seen what was outside of it. She'd seen the world and fought out of duty rather than necessity, and Ianto admired her for it.
"I can't keep doing this," Ianto whispered, and he sounded utterly lost. "It's been three weeks and it's ridiculous to think that I've fallen in love or something like that, but I can't keep it out of my head, and it's driving me insane, Jack. It's breaking my hearts. And there's nothing I can do about it."
"Yes, there is," Jack said urgently, pulling him in his arms. Ianto went willingly, burying his head in Jack's shoulder. "Ianto, I'm sorry for what's been done to you, but you can do something. You can get out. You can love your planet and fight for it, but it doesn't have to be your life, understand?" There was a small nod, even though Ianto didn't look up. "It doesn't make you wrong or evil or whatever else that beautiful mind of yours is coming up with. Because you know what?" Jack pulled him away enough so that they could look each other in the eye. "Feeling so many things all at once is what makes you alive. If you didn't feel it, then what would be the difference between you and a Dalek?"
"Don't say that," Ianto snapped.
"But I'm right, don't you think?" Jack coaxed. "When you and River first came here, Gwen had to convince me to get you out of that cell. She told me that you felt the same things that we did, but I think she was wrong." He noticed the alarm in Ianto's eyes and smiled, tracing the Time Lord's cheekbone with his thumb. "You feel so much more."
It was then that he saw something shift and change in Ianto's eyes; something he couldn't quite place but could definitely feel. Before he could say anything, Ianto had given him a decisive look and pressed their lips together.
It was like nothing Jack had ever felt before. It was warm and cold and wet and all of that at once and Jack kissed him back eagerly, one hand reaching up to rest on Ianto's shoulder. Ianto gasped softly into the kiss, as if the action itself was endlessly fascinating to him and pressed them closer together until they ran out of air.
"Oh, Ianto," Jack whispered, their lips a breath apart and their bodies touching at almost every point imaginable. "You're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."
Ianto looked away bashfully, but this time Jack didn't let him. He tilted his head so that they could look at each other again and didn't allow Ianto to avoid his eyes. "I want you to understand this," he continued. "I want you to feel it; how much I want you."
"I certainly can feel it," Ianto said, a smile finally gracing his lips. "You humans are like little furnaces, you know. You're always burning."
"And doesn't it feel magnificent?" Jack asked and Ianto nodded frantically, his lips seeking Jack's once more, and Jack knew that he was lost forever.
o.O.o
They all felt it when it happened.
There was something like an earthquake on the surface – they could never be sure with the Hub's sturdy foundations and the mere fact that it was underground – and then everything stopped. All the signals, tens of thousands of signals piling up onto the system and hundreds of pleas for help from all corners of the Human Empire just ceased and left silence behind.
"What's going on?" Jack asked. He was sitting next to Ianto in his bed and the Time Lord shook his head, eyes closed tightly as if he was trying to concentrate.
"I can't really tell," he said. "There's something happening to time. Something with the War, as if... No!"
"As if what?" Jack shouted after him, but it was too late. Ianto had climbed up the ladder and practically ran out of the office and down the stairs. "Ianto, what's going on?" He was just about to catch up with him when he heard a familiar sound; the air around them trembling as the sound groaned in and out of existence. "Wait, is that..."
"Do you remember River's husband?" Ianto asked with a tight, tense smile. Jack nodded. "Well, there he is."
"River is married to the Doctor?" Jack asked but soon gave up trying to shout over the materialising TARDIS.
"What the hell is going on?" Gwen groaned and Jack realised that everyone had come out of their room and was now trying to blink sleep away from their eyes.
"I don't know," River put in, "but I feel– strange."
"I know," Ianto nodded. "I'm feeling it too."
"But the Doctor's here, right?" Clara asked, her eyes drifting between them and studying their anxious expressions. "That's good news, isn't it?"
"Generally, yes," River said evasively. "But we need to– Doctor!"
The man who hurried out of the TARDIS was completely unfamiliar to Jack and yet he could recognise the Doctor in the tall, lanky man who gathered River in his arms and buried his nose in her hair. Only when he lifted his head did it become clear that he'd been crying; his green eyes rimmed with red just slightly. "I'm sorry," he uttered. "I'm sorry, but there wasn't another way."
"What have you done?" Ianto demanded to know, but the Doctor's expression got even more miserable and all of a sudden, Jack realised that neither of them probably wanted to know what had happened.
o.O.o
"So it's just the three of us," Ianto stated. His voice was empty and his expression was blank. "Just the three of us in the entire Universe."
"Just the three of us and the entire Universe," the Doctor corrected. "You have to understand that there wasn't another way!"
"They understand, Doctor," Jack said under his breath, making sure that only he could hear him. "It doesn't mean they have to like it."
"There was nothing I could do," the Doctor said yet again. He'd been repeating that like a mantra for the last three hours, but it didn't seem to make him feel better. "I just froze them all because they were going to destroy one another otherwise, and I'm sorry, but–"
His voice died and this time no one said a thing. Everyone understood why he'd had to do what he'd done, but it was just as clear that nothing would ever be the same again.
Jack looked around their little group. Everyone was still in their sleepwear: Gwen and Clara in pyjamas, him, Ianto and Owen in their underwear and River in a black nightgown so thin that she'd wrapped the Doctor's tweed jacket around herself to keep warm, and there was the Doctor himself, sitting in the middle of the circle they'd formed on the floor. He took them all in; breathing and healthy and with what looked like years to come ahead of them. He looked at Ianto who was subconsciously drawn closer to him and found it in himself to smile.
Maybe nothing would be the same again, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing.