It was that time again, Jack thought. Time to turn over a new leaf and have a clean slate. He did a lot of these times now. Every three years was average, six months had been the shortest and five years the longest. It was always him that had to help people through the pain and sometimes it all became too much. The people around him knew how much he had failed and didn't even try anymore. Then, it was that time of year.
Owen and Tosh were dead so he didn't have to worry about them. Ianto was easy, with no friends or family, no one to care. Gwen was hard though, because of the number of people who knew her, but also because Jack cared about her. He wanted to be able to come into work every day and see her but it wasn't to be. Everyone had to go. No one could return to work after what had happened. Jack knew that their resolve wouldn't be strong enough. That time of the year again.
The Ret-con time.