This begins at Canry Wharf on the day of the Battle. This fic is basically an accumulation of all the little ideas for fics I have had that seemed to just come together!

"Oh what a tangled web we weave,
When first we practise to deceive!"

Pretty much, for me, sums up Ianto in this fic, because the secrets he keeps, or divulges, secrets he doesn't even realise he knows, arethis massive part of who he is and why he does what he does. Will eventually be Janto, cause it is the best darn pairing ever!

..--..--..--..

Jeffrey almost had a spring in his step, almost, as he swiped his ID card along the machine and moved through the metal detector. Twenty-four Krispy Kreme donuts were tucked under his arm. Original glazed for himself, pink icing for Lisa, chocolate for Ianto, apple filled for Sarai and cream for Elle.

Oh God, Elle!

She had looked so beautiful in that brown dress; uncharacteristically dressed up for their date. And his palms had been sweating. Sweating for Christ's sake! He kept having to wipe them on the tablecloth, discretely leaving dark stains on the fabric. Then he had nodded to the waiter, and the song had come on. Their song. And he could see in her eyes the hope and love, which confirmed she knew exactly what he was going to do next.

And he had.

One knee and everything.

So now he had a suppressed spring in his step (because he was at work now). Still, he was getting some odd looks due to the enormous grin he wasn't able to control. It felt like it was about to split his face wide open. But he didn't care, because he was going to marry Elle Stevens and that was all that mattered.

"She said 'yes' then?" he heard the familiar voice as he plopped himself down at his desk. A wheelie chair immerged gracefully from the cubicle next to him, being pushed with lazy feet by his colleague and best friend Ianto Jones. "That's a shocker."

"Keep wheeling yourself off the side of the building Jones." Jeff shot back, though the witty effect was lost by his telltale smile.

"Now, now Jeffrey. Don't be mean to poor lickle Ianto. His feet only just reach the ground in that chair." That was Sarai, who had walked into their conversation with a hands full of Starbucks coffee cups, which they gratefully took.

"Just because you are approaching the retirement home, it doesn't mean you get to take it out on the whippersnappers." Ianto grinned.

Sarai was only in her late thirties, but was still a lot older than the others in their strange friendship group. She only came around to their area when there was nothing for her to do, which was really quite often. At first Jeff hadn't really understood why they wanted to bother hiring someone like Sarai; she was scatty and received a ridiculously large salary for what seemed like no work, if her constant presence in their research office was anything got go by. However, as one of his main duties at Torchwood was to run background checks while recruiting new workers, Jeffrey had been privy to all the sordid details of each of their backgrounds involving aliens.

And fuck, if she hadn't just been hiding a pretty incredible secret in her grubby lab coat!

She had been working at a busy hospital in London, when a man had rushed in, carrying a body in his arms, yelling that the woman had been attacked. It was an emergency, they had cleared a space for surgery, Sarai had been leading the operation, and she had opened the woman up.

And found an alien anatomy.

A dying alien anatomy.

And without any prior knowledge of non-human life forms' body workings, Sarai

Woodlin had saved her life.

She was only bought in by Torchwood for the health of test subjects and autopsies and the occasional medical disaster.

But damn was she good.

..--..--..--..

Ianto undid the top button of his shirt as he stepped outside and moved towards the river, where a smartly dressed figure was leaning over the water.

He rested against the wall next to her, staring away from the Thames and towards a café, where someone had just split their coffee, and a strange form of real life mime was playing out.

The woman breathed out a sigh of contentment and offered Ianto her cigarette packet. He shook his head.

"I promised Lisa I'd quit," he explained. She snorted, then smiled serenely.

"Yeah, I told Jeff the same thing. But I'm still here." She waved the small, glowing stick vaguely.

"He's waiting for you in the office you know."

"I know."

"So why don't you-"

"I'm terrified. It seems like a dream."

"A good dream?"

"Of course. I mean, I'm terrified it will all have been a mistake."

"A terrible, good, dream-like mistake?" he smirked.

"Something like that," She replied, laughing just a little. "I'm being ridiculous aren't I?"

"He loves you. Smoking and all. He bought cream filled donuts and everything."

"Wedding dress be damned?"

"We can always take the cream out."

They stood in silence, listening to the lull of traffic from across the river and the muddle of music from the open doorways.

A huddle of ghosts wandered past. It seemed strange how quickly they had gotten used to them, hardly paying them any attention. But of course, working for Torchwood exposed them to all manner of unbelievable things.

Ghosts were positively normal.

..--..--..--..

July. Midday. The sun was remarkably unblemished by clouds or rain, or, as it so often happened in London, both. Ianto un-tucked his shirt and fanned himself with one hand, while Lisa held the other, swinging it back and forth in a practiced rhythm.

They walked with a purpose; they already knew exactly where they were going. It was almost automatic that every Friday on their lunch break they would go to Borough Market for lunch. Lisa pointed out, in a sort of easy tradition, the numerous unfortunate joggers sweating past.

"Girl jogger, dun dun dun duh dun. Girl jogger," she hummed to herself and Ianto laughed. The jogger in question gave them a dirty look.

They passed by the usual sights, crowded with over-excited tourists; the Tate, the Globe and the Golden Hind. Places they had always intended to visit, but which faded into the background of unsurpassable normality.

Borough Market was one of Lisa's favourite places in London. It was so busy and organic, with stalls and shops, buying and selling. Smells of delicious food mingled together in the air; chocolate, soup, cheese, fish, fruit and vegetables all mixed up with the sound of shouting and people.

Edging around the market, between the back of the stalls and Southwark Cathedral, they made their way to the small path where their favourite food shop was. Sure enough Sam was outside, with a colossal vat of home-made paella.

"Same as usual?" he asked, already dishing up two steaming cartons of the delicious rice dish, not even waiting for a reply.

"We are so predicable!" Lisa groaned.

"Nah, we just have good taste, right Sam?"

"Damn straight!"

..--..--..--..

Half an hour (and a bowl of paella) later, Lisa and Ianto walked back into Canary Wharf and proceeded up the lift to the offices.

Usually, at half twelve, most of the office would be at lunch, and the rest were working quietly, rushing to finish for a deadline. The scene they returned to, however, was one of busy excitement. Jeff pushed his way through the crowd.

"He's here!"

Lisa looked confused, "Who?"

"The Doctor, of course! They have him; Yvonne is talking to him right now!"

Ianto drew in a breath and Lisa beamed at him. "Now you can talk to him in person, Yan."

"Is she-?" Ianto began, before Jeff interrupted.

"We don't know, but she has to be doesn't she? How surprised will she be that you work at Torchwood?!"

Ianto's phone buzzed in his pocket.

"Who is it?" Lisa asked eagerly.

"Shh," Ianto pressed a finger to his lips, "I know, I'm at work. I know- that is my work. I told you didn't I? Okay… what? Jac-where are you? Okay get out before you lose sight of where you are. Oh, I don't know use a lab coat or something. Stay out of trouble. Love you too. Oh hang on wait-"

"Who was that?" Jeff asked, already knowing the answer.

"Who do you think?"

"And?"

"Where the Doctor is, so is disaster. But you are safer the nearer you are to him. I'm staying here til then."

"So says the resident Doctor expert. I'm going to nip into Elle's office downstairs and see if they know anything."

"Where's Sarai?"

"Sarai- she's been called to examine the Doctor."

When Jeff was gone, Lisa put a hand on Ianto's shoulder, "Did she cut out at the end?"

"Yeah- I was just going to tell her about Sam, so she doesn't get too big of a surprise when she finds out."

"What do you think the Doctor is here for?"

"I'd assume it is because of these ghosts- he hasn't been back to this world since they appeared. That, and the giant ball of nothing in the basement."