OK, so I've got two disclaimers to make before I start this: the major one is I'm American, so any words I use that are unfamiliar in their meaning or usage I apologize for in advance, please feel free to let me know and I will correct them.

The other is that I want to explain that while my favorite character is Ianto, I knew I was going to like Tosh as well pretty much from minute one, but it wasn't until I saw "Greeks Bearing Gifts" that it exploded into, well, this.

This fic is an AU crossover between Torchwood and Stargate Atlantis with emphasis mostly on the Torchwood part. The AU part applies to Atlantis in that in this universe it was actually three years before Atlantis was able to reconnect with Earth via the Daedalus, so they spent a lot more time completely cut off from Earth with no way home. Also, this is AU because it assumes that Jack has not yet left with the doctor even though more time then in season 1 has passed.

Formal Disclaimer: I do not now nor ever have nor will own Torchwood, its characters, or any situations therein. This fanwork is not for profit. However, if Ianto and Jack ever want to use my place as a hotel room they should feel free.

Prologue: A Chance to Reflect

"Alright, Gwen, I need that profile report on my desk by tomorrow morning. Owen, has anything turned up on that chemical spill?" Jack paused at the base of the steps.

"Not yet, the lab results still aren't very conclusive." Owen muttered from across the Hub.

"Ok, and Ianto-" without missing a beat a full mug of coffee was handed to him from behind his shoulder. "-you're a God." Jack took a long swig of the coffee. "Have you finished that report on our little trip last week?"

"Just about, sir. It'll be ready within the hour."

"Good. I like a productive day. I'll be chatting with the Prime Minister if anyone needs me." He said in his usual casual, breezy way, before he started back up the steps to his office. He stopped just outside the door and leaned back over the railing. "If I'm not out of there in 10 make up an emergency."

"What should it be this time, Jack? An overflowing loo?" Gwen smiled up from her desk.

"I think that would be the one thing he hasn't tried yet." Ianto smirked "It might work."

"I don't care. We're Torchwood, just make up something with lots of big words!" Jack called over his shoulder before closing the door behind him.

WVVVVVVVVW

Owen was intentionally ignoring the banter between his boss and his other coworkers. This damn computer analysis system was supposed to be the best there was. So why was "best" also synonymous with "most bloody difficult"? There was a time when he would have thrown up his hands the second he hit a roadblock like "which is the default spectroscopy method here?" and would have sought out the tech support: Toshiko, but it had been fourteen bloody awful months of dealing with these damn problems on his own and it hadn't gotten any easier, in fact it was just getting harder all the time. Every few months there was some new program or tool Torchwood had available to them, all under the auspices of making their work easier, even though that was a joke. For the past few weeks Ianto, or occasionally Jack, had taken over the installation and integration of any new technology into the Hub, but as…competent as both of them were at it, they weren't computer specialists by nature, and they had other jobs besides. There were days he seriously considered quitting, as if that were possible, but while he never really meant it he would still never get used to how much…smaller this job felt, how much harder it was to be optimistic, without Tosh's help.

WVVVVVVVVW

Ianto set his mug down on the side of Toshiko's desk. It still was her desk no matter how long he had been using it, and he was firm in referring to it as hers as long as there was no one permanently stationed there. He was merely using it since it was a convenient surface on which to work down here. In this last year he had been given so much more responsibility at Torchwood, something he had once only dreamed of. In addition to the coffee and cleaning and filing he found himself out in the field with Jack, Gwen and Owen more often then not, and even handling some of the foreign objects they confiscated from the rift. Those were the more terrifying tasks, since even with all his past experience and current skill he still didn't feel like he was completely up to the task of safely deciphering alien technology they had no clue how to use. In reality none of them were, there was just so much out there they didn't know and they were really nothing more then kids playing with grown up toys in that regard. Tosh had always made this look so systematic and safe. Ianto had to wonder if she had really been as nervous as he was now. Sure, once he used to dream about being such an important part of the team here, but now, it was as much a nightmare as anything else. There had always been the uncertainty, the "did we do it right?" reflex they all had about their work. These days it seemed that reflex was stronger then ever and the guilt every time he felt he did it wrong ate at him.

Glancing at his watch Ianto noticed that eight minutes, approximately, had passed since Jack had closed himself up in his office to make his call to the Prime Minister. That meant it was time to check his list of long, complicated-sounding technical words (helpfully downloaded from the internet) and make up a new excuse that would rescue Jack from the terrifying voice of politics.

WVVVVVVVVW

Gwen drained the last of her coffee and set the empty mug on her desk as she waited for her email client to load. There would probably be a message from her mum and dad; they had begun to get suspicious about her work ever since she had ended up in the Cardiff General Hospital after being surprised by a weevil they had chased through the city for hours in the middle of a summer afternoon. Now, every week, there was some little note from them waiting in her email, and another on the answering machine in her flat: 'Just wanted to check in, see how you were doing, and are you free to stop by this weekend?' Gwen appreciated their concern but it wasn't helping her any to deal with stress from them on top of her daily working life.

The hardest thing about this job was not being able to just talk to anyone about it. Sure, she did still tell Owen more then she would tell anyone else, and Ianto was someone she felt she could trust, even though she would rather not tell him any of the really personal stuff. Even Jack could be a good listener, but there were times she thought he carried enough of a burden around as it was, she shouldn't be adding to it. Even with all three of them, though, there was still the inescapable fact that her only possible confidants were all, well, male. Sometimes she really wished she had another woman to talk to. There were days when Owen, or Jack, or even Ianto would say something so immature and classically male. In the old days when that happened she and Toshiko would glance at each other and roll their eyes. It was harder now that she was the only girl in a group, however small, of men.

God, did she miss Tosh. She had cried for her in the days following her disappearance when they realized they weren't going to find her. They had really no idea what had happened to her, just that there had been that glowing blue energy field, that Tosh had tried to stop Dr. Richmond from diving into it, and instead she had been knocked into it herself before the field died as Jack cut the power supply.

More than a year later and they still had no idea where the rift had taken her, or when. They had searched all historical records and the surrounding areas for any signs of Toshiko in history and had turned up nothing. Jack still said that wasn't a bad sign; he maintained that there was a pretty good chance Tosh was alive somewhere and somewhen. It didn't help that much, though; Gwen still mourned her friend.

WVVVVVVVVW

"Of course, Madam Prime Minister…yup…I'll do that……that's right…absolutely, you're right, but if you'll excuse me I'll have to hang up, I think my staff needs me…" As always the new Prime Minister wouldn't take a subtle hint to let him off the hook. Some days even not-so-subtle ones didn't work. Ianto strolled into the office, and damned if he wasn't taking his time to close the door and straighten his jacket and fold his hands behind his back while Jack held onto his phone with every ounce of patience he possessed. The slight smirk fighting its way onto Ianto's face confirmed it. If Jack had been wondering if Ianto's higher responsibilities and authorities in Torchwood Three lately were giving him ideas above his station this confirmed it. The bastard was deliberately stringing this along! Jack briefly entertained the idea of raising Ianto's station enough to give him the responsibility of dealing with the Prime Minister every time they had difference of authority issues. Of course Jack would never actually do that, of everyone in Torchwood Ianto was the last one Jack wanted to have to watch his back for. After what had happened the last time Jack had pissed Ianto off he had since learned his lesson about staying on the Welshman's good side.

"Sir," Ianto finally said, loudly enough to be heard over the line, "Sir, you're needed in the lab. There's a problem with the actuator on the Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor and the matrix is becoming unstable."

"I'm sorry…yes, that's one of my staff…yes, yes, I'm sure we will. Thank you Madame Prime Minister. Good day, to you too. Goodbye." Click.

"Thank you, Ianto." Jack straightened his collar and took another long gulp from his coffee, emptying the mug. "But the next time I say 10 minutes, make it seven."

"Of course, sir." By now Ianto wasn't even attempting to hide his smirk. "Shall I get you another coffee? With a good dose of Bailey's, perhaps?" Jack grinned, thinking that maybe slight insubordination was worth it for the rewards that came later. "That would be nice."

While Ianto left to mix up the coffee Jack sifted through the paperwork on his desk. There was, as always, at least four different kinds of bureaucratic red tape going on that he needed to wrap up. If this was what working outside of the mainstream of British government was he was thoroughly grateful he had never listened when his dad had told him that with his charm he ought to be a politician. Working for the time agency had been far better then that, and even working here, though it had been more of a way to mark time until he found his way back to the doctor and Rose, or to the time agency, was better then any life he could have had back home. He may have taken on this job just to pass time and put himself in a good position to find a way back to his old life, but in the years since then he had honestly come to believe in what he did here, most of the time at least, and he imagined that when the time came he might have second thoughts about leaving this job behind him.

Especially now; things hadn't been the same for his team since Doctor Richmond constructed and activated a rift manipulator of his own fourteen months ago. Losing Tosh had been hard on all of them. In the weeks following her disappearance he had been forced to admit to himself, and convince them as well, that Tosh was well and truly gone. Even if they reopened the rift they would have no way of knowing where or when she had gone. While the realistic part of Jack knew that, likely as not, Tosh was dead by now for one reason or another; he tried his best to ignore that part.

His team was fragile now. Smaller then it had once been and weaker because of it. Work, and life, still continued even though a friend was gone, but the bad luck they'd had in trying to replace Tosh had only weakened the team further. He had been lucky with Gwen, he realized now. His decision to hire her had been off the cuff, even though he already knew she possessed qualities they needed in Torchwood, like dedication and empathy. A lot of things could have gone wrong, pulling her into their world without a chance to observe her in more situations then that one disaster with Suzie, but they got lucky. Apparently that luck hadn't been meant to last. Doing things spontaneously had usually worked out for the best for him, but now he knew that he would have to wait, to be absolutely sure, before he next tried to fill Toshiko Sato's place in Torchwood.

Ianto reappeared in his doorway, crossing the room to set his coffee and the finalized incident report for last week on his desk.

"All set, sir." Ianto said simply. Grabbing a pen from the side of his desk Jack opened the report to the last page to sign off on it. There wasn't time to be reminiscing right now; they still had a job to do, after all.

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