IANTO

Ianto sat on his bed. He was no longer certain of the time of day or what day of the week it was, let alone what month. He was still stuck on Tuesday. That Tuesday. The one that had started out like any other Tuesday or Monday or Friday for that matter. That Tuesday, the day his friends burnt, the day his lover became a machine, the day his life stopped as if caught in Amber. Every day since that Tuesday had been all consumed by fear and worry and the constant need to look over his shoulders. The need to actually remember to try and ingest some sustenance at least once a day and the need to become like a ghost, haunting the corridors of his place of work with coffee and quiet efficiency. It was as if someone had pulled the plug on his existence. Some one had...Lisa...the Cybermen...The Doctor...Torchwood.

Ianto sat on his bed, the one hadn't slept in since moving into this sparse flat. The one he hadn't even bothered to buy sheets for. He couldn't bear the thought of unpacking the ones he had once shared with her. The boxes were still in the lounge surrounding the ratty couch he had never sat on.

Ianto sat on his bed, actually it wasn't his bed. It belonged to his Polish Landlord who only accepted cash in hand. The flat was cheap and dirty because Ianto hadn't been able to afford anything nice. He hadn't needed anything nice, not for...However long it was.

How long had he been sitting there?

He had half considered pulling out his stopwatch and setting it off. Was that slightly mad? Perhaps a little sick counting the minutes away where he would have to be alone with the ticking. Alone, that's all it amounted to now.

He sat there, still damp from when Lisa had thrown him aside like a doll. He stank of blood and sweat and he shivered with bone deep cold. There was no money to put in the electric metre ergo no heat to warm himself or run a hot bath.

He had no inclination to move. He had no inclination to anything but sit, his hands at his sides shaking against the mattress. There was a patch of damp on the papered wall in front of him, it was mottled and grey with black specs. There was enough light around him to see. Not night then...sometimes it was hard to tell with the street lamp straight outside the window, but Ianto had never slept here. The damp patch was...well what else was there to look at?

Jack cursed colourfully when he realised that he did not have a spare key to Ianto Jones' flat. It wasn't the nicest address in Cardiff and he searched through the SUV glove box for the skeleton keys, hoping that they weren't at the Hub. He'd been trying for two days to get Ianto answer his mobile and then his door, truth was Jack was fully expecting to find a corpse when he got into the flat. What he found was infinitely more disturbing.

He was reminded of one of those 'living statues' in the city centre, but what was worse was the obvious fact that Ianto hadn't moved since Jack had sat him on the edge of that bed two days previously. The boy was breathing so shallowly that Jack wondered if he was inhaling anything at all. His clothes stank of stale blood and damp and his skin was as cold and damp as his clothes. There was no colour in his smooth face save for the shadow of not having shaved his beautiful skin. It was beautiful, Jack knew full well. But this wraith like shadow before him was a terrifying sight to behold. More worrying still was the total lack of acknowledgement of his presence even when Jack rested the back of his hand to Ianto's cheek. Jack glanced around the tired looking dingy flat and touched the radiator it was cold too and then Jack tried the light switch. Ianto was certainly paid well enough in his job, had caring for Lisa really cost him this much? Jack then went into the kitchen and sighed when he discovered empty cupboards and fridge, not even any plates or cutlery.

He heaved out a guilty sigh. He really should have seen this. Striding back through the flat he went and sat at Ianto's side carefully taking his hand and engulfing it in both of his.

"Ianto." He whispered close to his ear hoping the sound and the feel of his warmer breath would rouse the young man from where ever he was.

"Ianto, please. It's Jack come back to me now." His lips brushed against his temple. Ianto shivered so faintly that Jack almost missed it.

"Sir?" It was a dry rasp rather than speech.

"Hey"

Jack got up and pulled off his great coat, warm with his own body heat he wrapped it over Ianto's narrow shoulders and he resumed his place.

"Ianto?"

A breath was shuddered in, eyes closed for a moment, then opened again, cold blue like the room and the life snuffed out of them.

"Mam?"

Jack hitched a breath.

"No, it's Jack."

"Where's Mam?"

"I don't know Ianto. Do you want me to contact her?"

A slight shake of the head. "She'll be so mad with me, look at the state of me. Tad made this suit specially. Rhia's going to be so cross...I made such mess." He trailed off into silence, lost in some happier memory Jack guessed. Jack just sat there and waited for a moment before speaking again.

"Ianto?"

"Yes Tad?"

"I'm not your Tad. It's Jack...I need you to come with me back to the Hub. It's cold here and you're gonna get sick if we don't sort you out."

Ianto looked at him, his first movement for... Jack wondered how long. Jack tried his best to offer up a smile and Ianto smiled back.

"I'm sorry Jack." He looked away again, back to the opposite wall.

"Sorry for what?" Jack wasn't ready for an apology.

"For surviving."

GWEN

Jack was gone. She was numb, having sat with him for all that time whilst he was 'dead', the heartless bastard had just upped and left. The emotions left in his wake were overwhelming. She felt betrayed in every sense of the word. Gwen had just assumed that Jack would always be there for her, would always love her and would always want her. Not only had she sat with him she had woken him up with a magical fairytale kiss and what did he do? He ran out on her, right after declaring his love for Ianto, right after pulling the terrified, fragile young man into his arms and pouring all of his love into a smouldering earth shattering meeting of lips. It had broken her, that moment of his rejection of her. It had broken Ianto when the realisation hit him that Jack had left them willingly and gone to another for more enigmatic man than he could ever be.

Gwen hated Jack right then, hated him for hurting them, hated herself for fantasising about him. He was a beautiful man, she had been drawn to him from the moment she had seen him, like a moth and he had burnt her, badly.

"Gwen love?" Rhy's soft tones filtered through. She looked down suddenly realising that he was on his knee at her feet, his face screwed up in agony.

"Oh, my God Rhys what is it?" She helped him awkwardly to the sofa and sat herself beside him unable to comprehend the look of disappointment on his face.

"Bloody back! Of all the times." He muttered trying to grin through his discomfort.

His face turned grey and Gwen started to panic. "Should I take you to hospital?"

Rhys shook his head. "In a minute love." He squirmed on the couch reaching for something out of his pocket. "I was tryin' to be romantic and all. Bugger, will you marry me Gwen?"

A small black box was plopped into her lap.

Gwen stared at it as her breath hitched in her throat. Rhys was grimacing. She picked up the box and opened it her eyes widening.

"Rhys!" She squealed, "Oh my God!" The ring was on her finger in an instant and her arms flung about his neck.

Time to grow up and be a real woman with a decent and faithful man at her side.

"Yes." She breathed into his ear.

Jack was gone, but she was determined not to set herself adrift. Torchwood needed her to be strong, to hold them together and she needed Rhys to hold her together. Time to let go and move on. She had known it would always be Rhys, deep down, it would always be him. Damn Jack Harkness and his pheromones and dangerously seductive life and damn him for breaking Ianto's heart because he sure as hell wasn't going to be allowed to break hers as well.