The little boy was lost. He was lost in a never ending maze of corridors and he couldn't find his way out. He looked all around him trying to remember which path was the right path but he couldn't work it out. All the doors, all the corridors looked identical. There was nobody there, nobody to help him.

The little boy was scared. He just wanted to go home. He began to cry.

'Ianto!'

The little boy looked up and through his tears he saw a man, a man in the long coat. The little boy continued to cry but now they were tears of relief, not of fear.

'What have I told you about wandering off?' a voice chided but at the same time it also sounded very, very relieved.

Ianto found himself being picked up and cuddled tightly as he cried against the man's shoulder, breathing in the scent that he knew had always comforted him.

'I'm sorry,' Ianto replied. 'I only wanted to look at the lights but then I got lost.'

'Shh,' the man whispered softly. 'It's alright. You're safe now. But Ianto, please don't wander off again. What if next time I can't find you?'

Ianto tuned his head and tried to look in to the man's face...

'Ianto,' Jack was calling his name and shaking him gently. 'Ianto wake up.'

'Huh...' Ianto gasped as he opened his eyes and looked around confused. He was in his own bedroom, in his own flat and Jack was sitting up beside him in bed watching him with a concerned expression.

'You were crying,' Jack said softly.

Ianto touched his face and found that his cheeks were indeed wet with tears.

'I was – I was dreaming.' Ianto replied as he wiped his eyes coming back to himself again.

Jack wrapped his arms around Ianto and pulled him close so that Ianto's head was resting on his shoulder.

'Was it the same dream again?'

'Yes – well sort of but it was different this time.'

'Do you want to tell me?' Jack asked, as he traced patterns across the skin of Ianto's back in an attempt to sooth him.

Ianto nodded.

'It started out like always... I was – about four years old I suppose, stuck in the middle of a never-ending maze of corridors. I couldn't find my way back to wherever it was I was supposed to be... but there was someone else there this time.'

'Who was it?'

'I don't know. He was a grown up though and I know I was relieved to see him, like he was going to make everything alright.'

'Can you remember what he looked like?'

'No,' Ianto shook his head. 'I couldn't see his face. He was wearing a long coat though – a bit like yours actually.'

'Really?' Jack raised his eyebrows. 'Maybe it was your subconscious putting me in there so that you felt safe?'

'Yeah,' Ianto replied. 'Maybe.'

'You don't think so?' Jack asked.

'He didn't smell like you,' Ianto replied. 'He didn't sound like you either his accent was different.'

Jack kissed Ianto's forehead softly.

'Jack... do you think Martha's right? Do you think it's a repressed memory?'

'I don't know, Yan,' Jack replied. 'I really don't know... but it's been the same dream every night for the past three weeks...'

'I know,' Ianto replied. 'Jack – the man – do you think he might be my father?'

'Maybe,' Jack replied. 'I suppose it's possible.'

They fell silent and Jack began to run his fingers through Ianto's hair. When Ianto spoke again it was barely more than a whisper.

'Why'd they leave me Jack?'

Ianto's voice was thick with emotion and Jack held his lover even more tightly. He knew that when Ianto started thinking about his parents – his birth parents – he needed to be held close; he needed to feel safe, secure and most importantly, he needed to feel loved.

'I don't know why sweetheart. I wish I did.'

Jack felt a twinge of guilt because this was the one thing that he couldn't help Ianto with no matter how hard he tried.

When Ianto had first told him the story of his childhood – how he'd been abandoned by his parents at the age of five; how he'd been found wandering the streets of Cardiff by an old lady named Mrs Wilks who had taken him to the police station; how all he could remember about his life before that point was his first name; how he had lived in Children's home for almost two years before being adopted by the Jones family – Jack had used all of his Torchwood connections to try and trace Ianto's birth parents but he had drawn a complete blank. It was as though they'd simply vanished into thin air.

'What if I am remembering?' Ianto said quietly. 'I'm scared Jack. What if something really awful happened? I don't know if I want to remember.'

'It'll be alright Yan, I promise.' Jack hoped he sounded reassuring. 'I'm not going to let anything bad happen to you ever. We'll ask Martha to check you over in the morning just to be on the safe side okay?'

'Hmm,' Ianto agreed and he snuggled closer into Jack. 'I love you.'

'I love you too,' Jack said softly. 'Try and go back to sleep. I'll watch over you.'

'Kay,' Ianto replied closing his eyes.

Jack cuddled him protectively and eventually he heard Ianto's breathing change, signifying that the younger man had fallen asleep again. Jack looked down into the beautiful face of his lover and wished that he could get rid of this feeling of foreboding that had been with him for the last three weeks, ever since Ianto's dreams had started.

Part of him wanted Ianto to remember, he knew that he needed answers about his life before; about why he couldn't remember. Jack knew how it felt to have memories missing after all. But another part of him was terrified, because he knew that Ianto was right. If he had repressed the memories of his early childhood then it would most likely have been due to some trauma and if Ianto started to remember there was no telling the damage that it might do.