Author's Notes: I based this on the AU created in Rhianona's story Schism – so this is an AU to her AU. Did you guys get that?

The idea behind this story (which had been beating around my head forever) was simply this: What if Ianto Jones never went back to Torchwood after the Brecon Beacons? So, after emailing Rhianona and asking for her blessing, I give you….

Going Home

The flat was devoid of any personality as all of the occupant's possessions were in boxes gathered in the lounge. Ianto Jones stood in his bedroom, checking that nothing had been left behind. All of the electronics he had left on the bench of the eat-in kitchen area. He figured whoever took possession of the flat could use them – or dispose of them as they saw fit. It didn't matter to him – he couldn't use them where he was going.

As he healed from the disastrous outing to the Brecon Beacons, he realized that he was as far apart from the team now as he had been while hiding Lisa in Torchwood's basement. The Future Operations Committee had sent a missive while Ianto was on suspension, by owl, to his family home. He honestly was surprised by that. They implored him to return – and added that Captain Harkness had put in a good word for him. Ianto was intrigued…but after being beaten to a pulp by mere Muggles, Torchwood had lost its allure – and it was time to go home.

His House Elves were pleased that he had decided to return to the family home. His Major Domo, a willowy tall Woods Elf by the name of Doelevenia (Doe to her friends and Master), had made all the preparations, including sending a note via owl to Luna Lovegood that her Master was seriously considering Ms. Lovegood's offer of a job and would like to know the particulars at her earliest convenience. Luna was at his doorstep in Cardiff the next evening, wand tucked neatly behind her ear and a whisper of a smile Mona Lisa would have been proud of perched on her lips.

The next day Doe appeared in the office of the Head of the FOC and in no uncertain terms told him what would happen (to HIM personally) should his department hinder her Master's wishes at a clean break. She then handed the Department Head her Master's letter of immediate resignation – and asked that they tell Torchwood Three nothing. That was to be left to her Master's discretion. The terrified Muggle simply nodded, and in the swirl of an Indian summer breeze the elf was gone.

~~TWHPTW~~

So now Ianto stood in his flat – his temporary home, his almost refuge – and was ready to return to the land of his forefathers, his true home. Susan Bones was due to appear any second – she had promised to help him and Doe shrink his belongings. His suits, shirts, ties, socks and shoes were already packed with care and shrunk to fit inside his old Hogwarts trunk and Doe had already begun shrinking some of his vast collection of books to accommodate them nicely in an empty box. It was coming up on 8 o'clock Monday morning, two weeks after the Brecon Beacons – and Ianto wanted to be gone as soon as possible. Doe could sense something was wrong; her Master's pacing was too erratic.

'Have you told them, my Lord?' she asked softly. Ianto turned to her and smiled sheepishly.

'No,' he admitted.

'Will they look for you?'

'I don't know,' he answered truthfully. 'When they realize that I am not there to make the coffee, then they will try the mobile.' The 'mobile' was in pieces in the rubbish bin after it had rung and scared poor Doe into hitting it with a blast of magic that smashed it into the wall. 'Since you have…deactivated it, then they may try something else.'

'Susan Bones comes, my Lord,' Doe answered as a loud pop signaled an arrival by way of Apparition. 'You explain the situation to her. I will continue with this last bit of packing and then start on the walls.'

'Explain what?' Susan asked as she adjusted her robes. She then turned, looking appreciatively at Ianto. It had been a long time since she had seen him dressed as a wizard – his outer robes were of a fine wool cloth in shades of heather gray while the inner ones were in burgundy and black. 'Sirius always said red was your color, Ianto,' she said softly. 'He was right.'

He looked to his clothes and blushed slightly. Susan always loved that about him. He truly never gave himself a second look.

'Ah,' he said, searching for what to say. 'Thank you. Yes. I didn't inform my boss that I was quitting. The FOC know – and that was all that mattered. They can find another dog's body to take my place at Torchwood Three.'

'And what of the Captain? I…I thought he was…well. Wasn't he softening to you?'

Ianto shook his head ruefully. 'Doesn't matter,' he said finally, waving his hand over a few boxes in front of him and shrinking them as well. Doe picked these up and put them in a basket. 'Two of the team would not. One of them actually called the FOC. I know I did wrong, but I refuse to put my life in the hands of others that may get me killed because they feel I haven't been punished enough.' Susan nodded her head in understanding and tucked into the job of shrinking the final boxes and changing the color of the walls in the flat, removing the final traces of one Ianto Jones.

Twenty minutes later as Ianto and Susan prepared to Apparate from that location for the last time, a banging began at the front door followed by shouts from someone with an American accent. Ianto smiled, but it held no mirth. His Major Domo and Protector Doelevenia gathered her magic to her and turned to her Master. 'My Lord,' she said softly, her hands glowing with deadly magic. 'At your discretion.'

He nodded. 'Do nothing unless I command it. If I am incapacitated, then do what you must. Susan comes to no harm – and neither does the Japanese woman Toshiko Sato that will be with them. Is that understood?'

Doe bowed her head, the glow within her hands dying. 'Of course, my Lord. Have you the note for her?'

Ianto's hand went into the folds of his robes and removed a parchment scroll. 'Here,' he said, handing it to the Elf as the noise outside the door grew louder. 'Open the door for them before they knock it off its hinges,' he said, sighing deeply.

Doe bowed her head again and with a wave of her hand, the door swung quietly open. The four remaining members of Torchwood Three charged down the empty hallway, Jack and Owen in front, Tosh and Gwen bringing up the rear. They entered with weapons drawn into the lounge where they found Ianto standing with two women in the center of the room. The sight of Ianto Jones wearing robes brought all four of them up short. One woman Jack recognized as the one that ran to Ianto when he had dropped him off the night of the Beacons incident. The other, with her light brown hair, green eyes and willowy build, he wasn't sure was even human.

'What's going on, Ianto?' Jack asked conversationally while not lowering his gun.

'I am going home, Captain,' the Welshman replied softly. 'Your world holds nothing for me anymore. I am tired of monsters from the stars, or from our back gardens. It is just as painful to me now as my own was when I left it. I thought…I had hoped this world would be different, but in the end, I find no comfort here. I've run for too long from my people, my friends and my responsibilities. It is time to return.'

'Why?' Jack asked. Ianto snorted and looked to the others. Gwen and Owen had looks of 'good riddance' on their faces while Tosh looked like she was losing a kindred spirit.

'Look at them,' he said softly. 'The only one sorry to see me leave would be Tosh…and maybe you. You…you have nothing you can teach me. I know all about dying and yet never dying. My world was in the depths of a civil war; my parents were targeted by the ones we were fighting. I was tortured for months before I was found and rescued by friends. I had prayed for death. My whole family was murdered – my sister and I were the only ones left. My sister's mind was lost and it took my friends months to bring me back to some semblance of normalcy,' he turned to Susan and squeezed her hand warmly. 'When I fell this time, you all turned your backs on me – except for Toshiko. I went to visit my sister, and then…who knows? I may have done myself a harm had it not been for Susan here,' he squeezed her hand again. She returned the gesture. 'They saved me. They brought me back from the brink. I fell – and they were there to catch me and put me back together. Why would I not return to the only family and friends that I have ever known?' He then turned back to Jack, Gwen and Owen – and all of them except Tosh were taken aback by the level of hatred they saw in his eyes. 'When I needed help, even now after the Beacons, where were you?' he asked, his voice deep and accusing.

'My Lord,' Doe said softly. 'It is time. You can not explain to a sheep why it must be shorn; do not waste your breath on them. They are not worth it. Those worthy of you await your return,' she then put a silver baton in his hand. 'For you and Miss Bones, my Lord. The Port Key will take you directly into the Great Room at home. Miffy and Mitty will take care of the baskets once you arrive. You have one minute.'

Ianto looked down at the baton, then turned to Susan Bones. 'She is right. It is time.' Doe then handed them both the baskets filled with the miniaturized boxes of Ianto's belongings. 'You will handle the rest?'

Doe smiled warmly at her lord. 'Of course, Master Jones. Miffy and Mitty have set up a wonderful repast for you and your guests, my Lord. I will be with you shortly.'

'Guests?' Owen asked, finally finding his voice. 'Where the hell is Teaboy going anyway?'

Ignoring Owen, Ianto then turned to Tosh. 'Goodbye, Tosh. If it ever gets to be too much – call my name. I will know…and I will come for you.' Nodding to Doe, she handed him the scroll. He, in turn, put it in Tosh's hands. 'Thank you – for being my friend. I am sorry I am leaving you behind.' He then turned to Susan and they both took hold of the baton and began counting down. 'Five…four…three…two…one.'

'In answer to you question, Doctor Harper,' Doe said as Susan Bones and Ianto Jones winked out in a flash of light and a roar of wind. 'They go to a place none of you can follow,' she smiled as the Muggles, the one named Harkness in particular, yelled as Ianto vanished.

'Where is he?!' Jack growled, turning his Webley on the Elf. Doe snorted and waved her hand at all of them. The four lifted off the ground and stuck to the four walls of the lounge. They tried moving their hands and legs but it was no use. They were stuck. Doe, smiling up at them, noticed that Toshiko did not fight as much as the others. She nodded to the Elf in understanding. Doe then went into the other rooms, giving them all a final once over. She then collected the keys to give to the real estate agent who was due in a few minutes.

Finally, she looked up at the Captain – and floated up to Jack's prone form on the wall. She stared into his eyes – and then spoke. 'He is home – and is no longer your concern, Captain,' she answered softly. 'The FOC will give you no more information…simply because you are not authorized to know more than what you already do. He is the one that got away from you, Captain. The one that saw you for the predator that you are and escaped with his sanity and his body relatively intact. He will marry dear Susan – and they will have many children. He will think about you – and what may have been – from time to time. But on the whole, he will never regret his decision to leave you and your world behind. You only see science, cold numbers and precise calculations… Can I make this happen? Can I get that to work? Can I make him want to shag me? How much longer must I wait for…HIM?' Doe tapped his head and she floated closer. 'Your mind is an open book to me. Given time, my Lord would have fallen in love with you. But you would have injured my Lord; you would have made him feel less than worthy. And one day, your Torchwood would have murdered my Lord. We are creatures of Magic, of a world of beauty and horror beyond measure and imagination. We are Timeless, Ethereal and of Old Tales and Legends. While you Muggles, even you, Captain, are as fleeting as sand within an hourglass.' She then looked at Jack through narrowed eyes. 'The one you wait for comes soon enough…and in the end, you will get nothing from him – for he has nothing to give you.'

She sighed then and with a wave of her hand, they all fell hard to the floor except for Toshiko – she floated gently to the ground. Tosh looked at the Elf as she joined them on the floor.

'Why?' she asked.

'You know what I am, do you not?' Doe asked. Tosh sighed, and then nodded. 'We hear the song within you, my Lady. The fox spirits and sprites of old have looked for you within their valleys. For them, you have been gone far too long. I know your lineage…it is ancient blood – and when you are ready, they will be waiting for you.' Doe then took Tosh's hands in hers tenderly.

'When my Lord needed comfort, you provided it to him. You understood; for you had been put in a like situation once. You were there for him when we could not be. He had ordered us away from him, like his father before. If we had been there the night they were attacked, things would have been so different.' She sighed then. 'In a way I should be thankful for the way he was treated this last outing. It wasn't until he returned home after the disaster in the countryside and removed the bindings he placed upon us that we were able to breach this world and help him return home. Thank you, Toshiko Sato,' she said as her robes morphed into a brown pinstripe pencil skirt suit with a claret silk shirt and black heels. Her hair arranged itself into a smart French Twist as she waved her hand before her and a set of square rimmed black glasses settled onto her face. She then looked to the others and sighed. 'You have to go now. The estate agent will be here soon enough. You will find no record of Ianto Jones in your world anymore. He no longer exists in your computer systems or in your records. Do not try to find him,' she whispered, and with a snap of her fingers they were –

In the Hub. Jack, Gwen and Owen got up from the floor and stared at the surroundings.

'How the FUCK did she do that?!' Owen screeched.

'She is a Woods Elf,' Tosh said softly. 'They are ancient creatures. The Fairies are terrified of them, if lore serves me right. Ianto isn't from this world, he is of the World of Magic…I should have known,' she said as she walked to her station and sat heavily down in her chair. Tosh knew something was wrong when Ianto was not at the coffee machine making his heavenly liquid gold for them as she walked in that morning.

After the Beacons, she knew he was injured; she had spoken to him several times while he nursed his wounds during his two week convalescence. She had thought that perhaps Owen had visited him, but Ianto himself told her he had friends come round that knew more of medicine that Owen could only hope for. He told her in confidence that he was going home – and she would know when. She always knew there was something more to him. She felt an answering hum within herself to…whatever it was within him. Her Grandfather had told her stories as a child…but she always leaned towards computers and science, trying to get away from the terrible, tragic and magical world his stories painted. She wanted a world you could mould, understand…command. But, like Ianto, she realized the world and chaos were the best of bed fellows against people who believed like herself. Now…she wasn't so sure. She realized the others were looking to her, so she turned to their stunned faces, Jack's in particular. 'He always had the look of another world to him.' She sighed heavily and began tapping on her computer's keyboard.

Gwen looked to Jack – his face held a look of disbelief and shock. He couldn't believe Ianto was gone. He wanted…to apologize to him. To get him back somehow…but he knew he had a better chance of getting the Fairies back before he'd see Ianto Jones darken his door again.

Owen and Gwen simply looked at each other. Owen knew part of what happened was his fault. If he had paid more attention to Ianto, especially after the Cannibal Incident, maybe he would have stayed. If he had stopped Gwen from calling the FOC, then none of this ever would have happened. After the Beacons, they had been shagging each other into practical blindness – but he knew that was coming to an end. He always found new and inventive ways of breaking up sticky situations – and this one was not going to have a happy ending.

Gwen realized Jack was going to go ballistic once the shock wore off. It all started with the Cyberwoman – but it was made worse by her contacting the FOC. But, with Ianto out of the way…maybe there would be a place for her in his heart? She looked to his face again and shook her head. She would be lucky if in a fit of pique he didn't Retcon her to infancy.

Tosh stood up from her terminal and grabbed her purse, oblivious to the internal musings of the others. 'I'm going to get some coffee from Costas. Anyone interested?'

~~TWHPTW~~

After giving the Estate Agent the key and thanking him for his time and offer of a lift, Doe waved the little gentleman off. As soon as his car was around the corner, Doe vanished….

And appeared on the front staircase of her Master's ancestral home. She smiled as she climbed the stairs to the front door, dressed in the festive robes of her people. It was the beginning of fall, so her robes took on the colors of green, yellow, burgundy, brown and rust. Sounds of a rollicking party could be heard within the manor – Sirius' raucous laugh, Remus' gentle chuckle, Harry and Hermione laughing as they tried to tell a story to Ianto all at once. From the window of the Great Room she could see others, including Blaise, Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood standing near the fireplace, looking on as Miffy and Mitty passed on food and drink. As she opened the doors she knew that her Master was now safe in the arms of those who cared for and loved him.

~~TWHPTW~~

After the incident with the alien Mary, a few weeks after Ianto left them, Tosh snapped. That night she cried out Ianto's name in her deepest despair as she wallowed in pain, shame and self pity. And, like an Angel of Darkness, the wizard Ianto Jones appeared to her in robes of black, silver and crimson, showed her the possibility of another life and asked her to make a choice.

The next morning Jack, Owen and Gwen broke into Tosh's flat – and found the place empty except for Doe, the Woods Elf, in robes of bronze, gold, red and brown. She handed Jack a letter in Tosh's handwriting, then bowed to the three of them and was about to leave when Jack stopped her.

'Is Tosh okay?' he asked softly. 'Is…is he happy?'

Doe nodded, smiling softly. 'He is engaged to be married now, to the lovely Healer Susan Bones – it will be a Winter Solstice wedding. Toshiko has gone to the Magic Valleys of the Yamato Islands. That is where her ancestors hail from. Her people know Old Magic. Of Monks, Demons and Fox Spirits and House Sprites – and it burns brightly within her. Her Grandfather's family were of a line of great wizards and witches before they came to this world. But, like my Lord, this world has only shown her brief glimpses of happiness – and in the end, the pain that filled all of the other spaces was too much. Her own people need her. It was time their Princess was returned to them.' She then turned to Owen.

'Like the Captain, you took for granted that which was in front of your eyes everyday, rather then accepting it as the gift it was and worshipping it until world's end. She would have remained for you, but the end you proved to be so unworthy.' She looked distastefully at Gwen with that, then stepped away from them and raising her hands, began to slowly fade from their view. 'In time, Toshiko will forget the pain this world caused her. She will find one worthy of her heart – and will bestow upon him all the love she has to offer.' She looked up to Jack.

'My Lord wishes you well, Captain,' her eyes glistened to silver as they faded to transparency. 'Perhaps one day in a few hundred years he will visit you. But for now, things are best left as they are. Good life to you all.' And with that, she was gone.

~~TWHPTW~~

As the three remaining members of Torchwood Three walked into the Hub, Jack could not believe the losses his team had suffered. Two of his most injured yet loyal members were gone…to better lives, so it would seem.

He had called Tosh's mother while they were in transit from her flat to the Hub. She had told the Captain that she knew where her daughter was – and that neither he nor UNIT or anyone else within this realm could touch her now. Tosh's grandfather then got on the phone and thanked the Captain for protecting Toshiko for as long as he did, but now it was time to let her go as they had. And then the gentleman promptly hung up.

As he entered his office and closed the door, he looked at the letter of Toshiko's that he had pulled out of his greatcoat pocket. He then hung his coat up, almost wishing Ianto was there to hang it up for him and offer him a cup of industrial strength coffee. Closing his eyes, he hit his desk with a fist in frustration. He should have stayed with Tosh longer! It was stupid of him to leave her alone in her time of pain and suffering. So, in her time of need, she called on the one person who would truly understand and protect her. Her true friend; one Ianto Jones.

He sighed as he opened the letter – it was simply Tosh apologizing, but telling him not to mourn her loss, he would find another to replace her – and she gave him a list of possible replacements. The handwriting then changed – it was Ianto's. He also apologized to the Captain since Tosh had told him that things were subdued since he had left; he wished the Captain well and told him not to worry about Toshiko because she was in good hands – and answering her true calling. It was time for Tosh to try something else, he wrote.

Gwen then called up to Jack, telling him that all of Tosh's personal information was wiped from the computer's data records. It was as if she never existed.

'Sound familiar?' he asked ruefully as he looked up at Myfanwy flying overhead cawing mournfully. She had seemed a tad depressed since Ianto left, he wondered if Tosh had said something because Ianto had written in the letter to buy her dark chocolate; it would improve her mood greatly, he had assured him.

He sighed again as he thought of his two lost members…friends that he had treated badly in the end. He looked to a file of possible replacements that he had requested from UNIT a few days earlier. Now he would have to look over the recommendations Tosh left him. 'Good life to you both,' he whispered. Coffee first, replacements second, he thought as he gathered his greatcoat from its coat tree. 'Going on a chocolate and coffee run – any orders?' he called out.

FINIS