The Lover After You
Chapter One: Remembering You
Jack sat in the bar on the alien planet far from Earth. He thought about what had happened to his team, to Ianto. He felt bad for leaving Gwen, and Rhys especially with Gwen expecting. He had run and left them to sort everything out, to clean up the damage the 456 had caused.
Those lives lost, his love, his grandson, all those innocent people dead and he couldn't help but think he was to blame. He should have destroyed that thing long ago when he had a chance, but he panicked, he didn't know how to stop it without causing damage to humanity. He didn't even know what it was. 456 was just the frequency it operated on, it didn't give them a proper species name. Maybe it didn't know what it was.
Maybe it had been created without a purpose or a name and that was why it wanted the children.
All species know that the children of Earth are brilliant and have such a wonderful and amazing imagination. Perhaps that's why the 456 wanted them, wanted them to help give it a purpose that it desperately longed for.
But that was no excuse. It killed his love and because of it he killed his grandson. How could his daughter ever forgive him? How could Gwen forgive him for killing Ianto, and for leaving her behind to clean up?
Ianto, oh poor innocent, Ianto. He never should have let him come with him into that building. He should have trusted his instincts above his heart. He had met the 456 once before, he should have been prepared.
He loved Ianto almost as much as his late wife Alison. He wished that he had been able to tell him but when Ianto said 'I love you' he knew he meant 'goodbye'. He hadn't had the courage to tell him how much he loved him because he knew it would only hurt more when he awoke and Ianto didn't.
He should have but he thought he could stop it without anyone getting hurt or killed. There had always been something about Ianto, something that caught Jack's eye and made him smile in a way that he hadn't in a long time.
He stood there just watching him, Jack could feel him and as he looked up he met the gaze of the sad, lonely stranger.
For all his youth, his age and all the pain made him look old and broken. And from his sad gaze, Jack could tell that this would be the last time his eyes, his smile, would graze those features again. His Doctor was changing again, a new man, another stranger. It was goodbye to this wonderful, magical man. And hello to someone new.
The Doctor gave a slight nod sadly indicating the man sitting next to him. Jack gave him a salute, not his usual one but one of sadness and goodbye then looked at the piece of paper he had been given.
"Alonso." Jack smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes.