This was originally going to be a one-shot, but I got bored writing and thought my juju might come back if people read the first half and reviewed!

Disclaimer: Not mine, I just like to play with it…


"What is it?"

Jack rolled his eyes. "If I knew that, Owen, it wouldn't be lying on the autopsy table being examined, would it?"

"I know that." Owen snapped. "What I mean is; why is it here? It's not a dead alien, so why the hell is it on my table?"

"Because this is the safest place for it."

Owen opened his mouth to respond, then decided not to bother. He knew once Jack got an idea into his head there was no changing his mind.

"I'm getting nothing." Toshiko reported in frustration, standing up straight and examining the tiny screen on her hand held computer. "no heat signature, no life signs, no words to translate. As far as I can tell this is just a solid lump of metal." she looked at Jack. "Um…could it just be a solid lump of metal?"

"What, one that's perfectly spherical with carvings?"

"Well…it could be an ornament or something."

"Maybe…" Jack looked unconvinced. At that moment, Gwen and Ianto walked in carrying 5 Starbucks coffees. The machine was broken, much to Ianto's chagrin.

"Ianto, I love you." Owen said, taking the paper cup and having a drink.

"Easy there, Owen." Jack said. "I might start getting jealous."

"Don't worry Jack, I'll never take Owen from you." Ianto said with a straight face, handing Jack his drink. Jack mimed slapping him round the head and Ianto grinned. "What the hell is that thing?" he asked, noticing the metal orb for the first time.

"Not a fucking clue." Owen said sourly.

Jack sighed. "Much as I hate to admit it, I don't think there's much else we can do. And it's…" he checked his watch, "21:30! Bloody hell, Yan, why'd you let me drink coffee? You know I wont be able to sleep for hours now…" Ianto looked at him with one eyebrow raised, and Jack smirked. "Oh, I see. Well, seeing as I wont be asleep any time soon we could always try…"

"Don't want to hear all the gory details, thank you!" Gwen cut across. She reached out a hand to the object, then paused. "This thing safe to touch?"

"Don't know. No-one's tried yet without gloves."

"I'll pass." she said, pulling back her hand.

Jack raised his voice slightly. "Ok, Ianto could you take that thing down to the archives, don't forget gloves, and the rest of you can go home!"

Ianto pulled on a pair of thick gloves and picked up the orb. It was surprisingly light for it's size, which he hadn't been expecting.

Everyone was halfway out of the autopsy bay when they heard a loud clang and Ianto yell out "bloody hell!"

Jack turned to see the orb lying on the floor and Ianto clutching his hand.

"Yan? You ok, did you drop it?"

"The bloody thing's got spikes!"

At this, Toshiko and Owen both turned and hurried back in.

"It doesn't have spikes!" Toshiko insisted, "I'd have noticed!"

"Well something bloody stuck me!" Ianto said, pulling off the glove to reveal a deep, bleeding puncture wound in his finger.

"Shit." breathed Owen, hurrying forwards. Jack grabbed him and held him back.

"Ianto? Do you feel ok?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I think I…" he blinked as the room suddenly swam and multiplied before his eyes. "Although there appear to be three of you." he commented, before collapsing to the floor in a dead faint.


Ianto groaned as the alarm clock next to his bed began chattering at him. He wondered briefly how he'd got there, then realised Jack must have taken him home. His head was killing him and his stomach was in knots like he hadn't eaten for days. Maybe he should call Jack and tell him he was sick?

"Come on, Ianto, get up!" he blinked, confused, as a middle aged woman bustled into his room and opened the curtains.

"Mam? What're you doing here?" he looked round and realised with a jolt he was in his old bedroom, at his mother's house. "What am I doing here?!"

"I'm here because you're not getting up." She gave him a gentle smack round the head, "And you're here because you're a lazy sod. Come on, get up, it's your turn to cook breakfast."

"But…mam, I don't live here! I live in Cardiff!"

She sighed and sat on the edge of his bed. "Ianto, love, I know you didn't want to move. Neither of us did. But we didn't have any choice, your father leaving us with the debts that he did. Not that I blame him, God rest his soul, he tried so hard to keep this family afloat. But we couldn't keep the Cardiff house, pet, you know we couldn't." she stood up. "Come on, Yan. Out you pop." She started to leave.

Ianto reached out a hand to stop his mother leaving, then froze staring at it. That was not his hand. He'd read somewhere that about 95 percent of people couldn't recognise their own hand in a photograph, but he'd always been certain he was in the 5 percent that could. He just noticed stuff like that. And that was definitely not his hand, it was too thin. And too pale, it was practically transparent. He jumped out of bed and hurried over to the mirror, then almost fainted at what he saw.

Himself.

Only, it wasn't himself, or at least not the version he usually saw in the mirror.

It was him as a teenager. Maybe 16.

Oh my God, what the hell is going on here?! Ianto never usually panicked, but he felt this was a justified situation. How the hell am I 16 again?! He began to hyperventilate, and had to grab a paper bag and breathe into it, all the while staring at his reflection as if hoping it might morph into his more familiar 24 year old self.

It didn't.

As he felt his breathing begin to slow, a more rational part of Ianto's brain kicked in. he needed to find someone to help him. But who? His first instinct was to go to Jack, but he couldn't…

…wait, Jack could help him! This was obviously caused by some sort of alien tech, therefore Jack could help! All he needed to do was get to him!

Easier said than done though. He was in London, and Jack was in Cardiff. How was he going to get all the way to Cardiff at this short notice?

"Ianto!" he heard his mother call up the stairs. "Get a move on or you'll miss the bus!"

"Bus?"

"Honestly, Yan! The bus for school! I'm not driving you if you miss it!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ianto set off nervously down the street. he didn't know what he was going to do, only that he couldn't go to school. He needed to get to Jack.

The obvious thing to do would be to go to Torchwood London for help, but the idea of seeing Yvonne again made his stomach flip slightly. No, he needed Jack. Jack could fix it…

"Ianto! Ianto, wait up!"

A pretty blond girl ran up to him and flung her arms around his neck, kissing him lightly on the lips. Ianto blinked in surprise, staring at her, until his brain caught up.

"Oh! Hey Steph."

Stephanie Taylor. His girlfriend for three weeks, until he caught her making out with his best friend. Well, at least that helped narrow down the time scale slightly…

"Steph, do you know what day it is?"

"It's…Wednesday."

"No, I mean the date."

"Oh. 17th October."

Ianto frowned. He had the strangest feeling that date should mean something to him…

"Ianto?"

He suddenly realised they'd reached the bus stop. "Steph, I cant come to school today."

"Why not?"

"I'm…I'm not well."

"You seem fine." She said suspiciously.

"Steph, please. I'll explain as soon as I can, but I have to go. Cover for me."

"Ok…" she still sounded doubtful, so Ianto turned and ran before she could change her mind.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Ianto ran into the train station, reaching into his pocket to find his credit card. It was only then that he remembered he didn't have one yet. "Fuck." he muttered, looking around. How the hell was he supposed to get to Cardiff without money? With a sinking feeling, he realised he was going to have to try and hitch hike. Ianto had heard a lot of horror stories growing up about people hitch hiking and winding up raped or dead; and as a result it was something he'd never wanted to do himself. He'd done it once when he was 19 with a group of six friends, and even though they seriously out-numbered the driver, Ianto had sat so tense and still the entire journey it was as if he'd be struck with rigor mortis.

An hour and a half later, he found himself standing beside a main road just outside London. He'd gotten a lift from the station from an old lady, but she wasn't going anywhere near as far as Cardiff. He stuck out his hand holding a sign saying 'Cardiff' (he'd scribbled it on the back of one of his school books), but so far no-one had stopped.

Just as he was thinking this, a red lorry pulled over about five meters in front of him. Ianto walked slowly towards it, not wanting to hurry in case the guy pulled away before he got there and he ended up making a twat of himself. As he reached the vehicle, the passenger door was pushed open to reveal a slightly overweight man in his early 40s. "Alright mate, where you headed?"

"I need to get to the Roald Dahl Plass. In Cardiff."

The man sniffed. "I can get you there. Got a delivery to make. Hop in."

Ianto hesitated, thinking that the last thing in the world that he wanted to do was 'hop in', but the desire to see Jack and get this sorted won out, and he climbed inside, closing the door behind him.


Like i said, reviews are adored and rewarded with fresh chocolate brownies and Ianto's coffee! xx