Title: Eternity Waits

Series: Waiting

Rating: PG-13

Pairings/Characters: Jack/Ianto, Gwen/Rhys, Andy Davidson, Rhiannon Evans, Gray; OCs include new Torchwood team members. Mentions of Tosh and Owen.

Disclaimer: Definitely don't own Torchwood. It belongs to the BBC and Russell T. Davies. I'm fostering Jack and Ianto 'cause their owners don't know how to take care of them.

Warnings: past MPREG, some violence, past character deaths, original character death, major character death (not permanent).

Summary: Takes place after Wait For Me. Jack and Ianto are living together and have a two month old son. Aliens invade the Hub, causing destruction, including in the cryo-units. Things go from bad to worse when they discover the Rift Manipulator has also suffered damage. They have to pull together in hopes that they won't suffer anymore loss.

Beta by: milady_dragon

Notes: I have been asked many times to do this fic. I started it some time back originally for a big bang, but couldn't get it going. I ended up scrapping most of it to start again. Finally it's done. Lots and lots of hugs to milady_dragon, bookwrm89 and cyberdigi for the cheerleading and support. Without them, this would never have been finished. For those of you who wanted it, I hope this was worth the wait.

CHAPTER ONE

Ianto shifted the shelf unit that was blocking the doorway and peered into the dark corridor. He took his torch out of his jacket pocket and turned it on. Even if he had been expecting to find what he did, he still let out a string of curses. He glanced behind him, flashing his torch on the way he had come from deeper in the Archives. It was going to take a lot of cleaning, and he was thankful because it could have been worse. From the way he was initially knocked off his feet and he felt the rumble from the blast, Ianto was expecting much worse. The damage in the Archives was not extensive. The blasts that had rocked the Hub mostly knocked over shelving units. Thankfully the containment units did their job in protecting the more dangerous alien tech and kept it from going off; or if anything did, contained any damage. It was going to be quite the job checking everything.

Ianto had to remind himself that there was still the rest of the Hub which spread extensively underground. He was in the very lower levels and further from where the alien bombs set off.

At least he was assured that the central area of the Hub was in one piece…more or less. Thankfully his comm. unit still was working. He had managed to speak to their tech expert who was in the Central Hub when the explosives went off.

He had learned from Celine, their computer technician, that the bulk of the damage was down in the vaults and the tunnels that led from there before Daniel, their medic, had dragged her into the autopsy bay. Their new medical section was cut off from the central Hub because of damage and debris in the corridor leading to it. Gwen was currently trying to get out from near the vault area, assisted by Dwayne Moore, who had been a field agent for a year. They had gone down to investigate the intruder alert.

Ianto had been in the lower levels of the Archives when they'd gotten the intruder alert. The intruders arrived near the cells, which were not directly accessible from where Ianto had been. Gwen and Dwayne had headed immediately to the coordinates where the intruders were while Ianto informed them he would join them as soon as he could. Cameron, the newest field agent in training as well as handling support, rushed down from where he had been in the Tourist Office, and then went on to catch up with Gwen and Dwayne.

Ianto's way up to the main Hub was slowed down getting around fallen things and parts of masonry. He was able to get in touch with Celine again, who reported that Gwen and Dwayne were able to subdue the aliens as the intruders were making their way from the vaults up to the main Hub.

Ianto needed to get up to the main section of the Hub and then make his way up to the surface. They had limited communication in the Hub and the last Ianto had heard from Celine, they had no communication to the surface. Ianto had tried calling Jack from his mobile anyway, but he had no reception.

As he slowly made his way through the rubble in the next section, his mind was on Jack. His immortal partner had to be frantic. Ianto was certain the explosion had been felt at least in the bay area, maybe further. Being they lived in the area, over one area of disused sections of the Hub, if Jack didn't feel it, which Ianto thought very unlikely, he was certain Jack would have heard something had happened near the Hub by now.

Jack had been home with Franklin. The immortal had been doing a lot of that since Franklin was born two months ago. Jack was having separation anxiety, but he had had a difficult pregnancy and had almost lost the baby. Jack did not want to be far from Franklin for long periods of time, but Ianto did not want the baby in the Hub anymore than in extreme emergencies. He had his own anxiety with their son, and worried about what could happen if they had him at work with them. It was not that he did not feel the Hub was a secure place; he worried more if some alien tech went off while the baby was in the Hub. They were working on a contained area to work with alien tech. Once it was complete, and Ianto was assured any reverberations of tech gone bad did not reach the central Hub, would he feel better about having Franklin in the Hub for more than a short period of time.

He was glad their son was not with them that day. He did not want to think what could have happened if they had. He pushed on, glad that as he got closer to the main area of the Hub, the damage seemed to be less. Ianto figured that the most damage was in the vaults and did not look forward to having to dig out the bodies entombed there, and having to find new places to inter them.

First things first. The first thing Ianto did upon reaching the main area was a head count. Celine was going to need a few days off but she would be fine after some rest. Daniel was fine. Gwen and Dwayne were still on their way up, along with the lone alien that had survived. To his dismay, they had a missing team member. Their newest recruit had not met up with Gwen and Dwayne when the explosion went off and had not been heard from since.

Ianto desperately wanted to go to the surface and get a call through to Jack, but he had to find Cameron first. Jack and Franklin were fine, even if Jack would be frantic.

OoOoOoO

Ianto was relieved that the Invisible Lift was still operational. He had to get out of the Hub for a while. Attempts at interrogating their prisoner led to no explanation why they had wanted to blow up the Hub. Even more curious was how they had managed to get inside the Hub. Thankfully they were not fully successful. He was looking at a week, at the least, of cleaning up, restacking shelves and repairing areas that had some structural damage. That wasn't the worse of it. Gwen and Dwayne had found Cameron; his body was in a collapsed part of a tunnel on their way to the central Hub with their prisoner the tunnel coming from the Hub. Ianto had not been in the Vaults yet to inspect the damage and add to his list of things to do. He would do that after he spoke to Jack.

OoOoOoO

Jack was frantic as he paced the lounge with two month old Franklin in one arm and mobile in his other. Gwen did not answer her phone again and he was trying Ianto for the fourth time. He had tried the others' mobiles, the direct link in his office and the tourist office with no luck. He had been trying ever since he'd felt the ground shake and worried that it had something to do with the Hub. His fears seem to be confirmed when he heard on the news reports of what appeared to be an explosion by the Plass, but there was no visible evidence of it. No one answering their phones at the Hub told Jack that it had happened in the Hub and that was bad.

He wanted to run to the Hub and see what happened, hoping to find his team alive, to find his husband alive, but he had Franklin to think about. He could not go charging down into the Hub with his infant son in tow. His first thought was to rush over to Rhiannon's to drop the baby off, but he feared she would ask questions he had no answers for and did not want to panic her. His next choice was to call Rhys and see if he would take the baby, but again he did not want him to be worried about Gwen. Besides, Gwen and Rhys lived further from the Hub while Ianto's sister had a townhouse in the same development.

His dilemma was taken out of his hands when the landline rang. With hope he rushed through the flat and pick up the handset. After a quick look at the caller ID, he let out a sigh of relief when he saw Ianto's name. "Ianto!" he almost shouted. Franklin started to grizzle and Jack started to bounce the baby to settling out of his hands when the phone rang. "What the hell happened?"

"I think you better get here, Jack," Ianto said over the phone. "Could you drop Frankie off with Rhiannon? We're going to need Rhys here too."

"That doesn't tell me what's going on," Jack stated impatiently. He placed the handset so he could hold it between his shoulder and ear and use his now freed hand to rub his infant son's back. Franklin was starting to fret more, and Jack realized his tone of voice was most likely adding to the infant's distress.

"We had intruders in the Hub," Ianto stated harshly, "and they set off several explosive devices which all went off at the same time. They also managed to knock out all communications." Jack heard Ianto take a deep breath. "Jack, Cam is dead."

"Oh God," Jack swore. "How?"

"Part of the passage he was in collapsed on him. By the time Gwen and Dwayne found him, he was gone."

"Damn," Jack swore softly. He took a deep ragged breath, suddenly overcome with a combination of grief, relief and guilt. Grief that he had lost another member of his team, relief that it was not Ianto, and guilt for his relief. It was never okay to lose someone on his team, no matter who it was. "Okay," he finally said, realizing that he must have been projecting more. Franklin started to whine, and he knew if he did not get a better grip on his emotions, the baby will be full out crying soon enough. He was amazed that before Ianto called, that his son did not start already. The infant was proving to be very receptive to both his fathers' emotions. "I'll take Frankie to Rhi's and be there as soon as I can."

"I'm going to call Rhys in and give us a hand," Ianto said. "The Hub is a mess, unfortunately."

"Contact Andy and see if he could hold off the local authorities for us for now. I'll be there as fast as I can," Jack said.

"I'll let Rhi know you're on your way," Ianto said. "I'll see you soon."

Jack looked up when he heard banging on the front door, followed by the doorbell ringing, and a familiar voice demanding that "someone better open the bloody door now!" Franklin's crying increased and Jack cuddled him closer, trying to project some semblance of calm to the baby.

"Never mind," he said into the phone. "I think Rhiannon wants answers. I'm pretty sure I hear her voice with the banging going on." He started across the lounge to the hallway.

"She's there?" Ianto sounded amused. "I'm surprised it took her this long."

"She was at Mica's school this morning, cookie day or something. Remember?" Jack said. "She must have felt it on the way back or something. Anyway, I'll let you go and I'll be there as soon as she lets me go. Love you." Jack went to hang up but paused. "Ianto?"

"Yes Jack."

"I'm so glad that you're okay." Jack's voice trembled as he spoke.

"I'm fine, Jack. Could use a shower and change of clothes but I don't dare until we take care of the important stuff."

"It's going to be a long night. I'll pack for an overnight."

"Bye, Jack."

"See you soon."

Jack closed off the call and after shifting Franklin into a one-armed hold, he dropped the handset onto a table in the hall. He stood for a few more moments, ignoring the commotion at the door while cuddling Franklin, thankful that Ianto was okay, but upset that their newest member faced the consequences that all Torchwood members eventually face…except for him. He cuddled Franklin closer, allowing himself a moment to feel the pain of losing another team member; another one so young. Tears glistened in his eyes for Cameron, but as his thoughts turned to one day Torchwood finally taking Ianto from him, the tears really started to fall. He kissed Franklin's head. "I think it's time to once again attempt to convince your Tad to be a stay at home dad. Or maybe even opening a coffee shop. That way we'll both have him around for a longer time." He took another deep breath and kissed his son again before heading to the door to let a frantic Rhiannon Evans in. "Rhi," he greeted, "I was on the phone with Ianto. He's fine, yes there was an incident at the Hub, and I'll tell you more while I pack Frankie's overnight bag, because you'll have to take him until we get everything under control."

Rhiannon gaped for a moment before she pushed past Jack. "You better start talking," she demanded as she headed for the nursery.

Jack looked down at the still whimpering baby and shrugged, before closing the door and following his sister-in-law. She was in a mood, but Jack couldn't blame her. He just hoped she would let him go sooner than later.

OoOoOoO

Once he was released from Rhiannon's questioning and had packed a bag for Franklin as well as thrown a change of clothes for both him and Ianto in a rucksack, they left the townhouse he shared with Ianto. As he watched Ianto's sister walk in the direction of her townhouse with a now happy Franklin, Jack realized he had to get to Ianto as soon as possible, reaffirm that his husband was still with him. He had been that way long before their civil partnership, ever since alien tech had taken Ianto away. For three long days, Jack had started to think he would never see Ianto again until the missing man had suddenly appeared in the Hub. He had passed out almost immediately after his return. When Ianto woke up, he could not remember much about where he had gone, except that he had help in getting the device to work and take him back, although he could not remember his rescuers. That was a turning point in their relationship because during those days Jack had discovered just what Ianto meant to him.

Jack decided to run to the Hub, going along the waterside walkways from the development along the Britannia Quay to the Hub. He could have taken the underground passage from their townhouse that led to the vast complex of tunnels connected to the Hub, but he could not be sure anything was blocked from the explosions. He had to be at the Hub with no delay and taking the surface way was his best bet.

It took him less time to get to the Hub than it did to calm Rhiannon down so he could get Franklin's things together for her and get the baby in a better mood.

Jack arrived in the Hub via the Tourist Information Office, glad to see damage by the explosion deep within the Hub was minimal. Only some things were knocked over from the shaking he knew it had taken. The entire area had felt it, but no one knew what had caused it. He was certain that Andy had handled keeping any emergency response teams from attempting to locate the cause. Except for the one casualty in the Hub, no one was injured even if most of the people in the area were shaken, and some of the businesses had minor damage, like broken windows and items that had fallen. He heard sirens and from what he saw on his way over, he knew that some emergency teams would have to be called to assist in the clean-up. It was going to be a mess in the area for a while.

He made his way down into the Hub. As he cleared the cogwheel door, he saw that there was some damage from the explosion, but nothing that cleaning up wouldn't take care of. He looked around and saw Rhys sweeping the area, but no sign of the others.

"Hey Rhys," Jack called out, coming over to him. "Thanks for coming down so quickly." He realized that dealing with Rhiannon took longer than for Rhys to get to the Hub and start being productive.

"Hey Jack. It's no problem." Rhys glanced quickly around the Hub. "In case you're wondering, Celine is checking over the Secure Archives, Dwayne is with Ianto interrogating the prisoner and Gwen ran out to get coffee. The coffee machine took a beating again." Rhys fell silent for a moment, glancing down. As he looked up again, he added, "Daniel is in autopsy with Cam."

Jack nodded, swallowing thickly, forcing his emotions under control. "I heard," he said. "I'm going to look after the others."

"If any of you need anything, yell," Rhys said.

Jack patted Rhys on his shoulder. "Thanks, Rhys." He went on his way toward autopsy for his first stop.

Jack walked over to the autopsy bay and stared down. Sadly, he watched for a few minutes as Daniel prepared Cameron's body for burial until the medic looked up.

"I thought I felt someone staring at me," Daniel quipped. He tried a smile that did not reach his eyes. "I'm sorry, Captain. There was nothing I could do by the time they found him."

Jack continued to stare down at the body on the autopsy table, guilt and regret having a hold on him. "I'm sorry too." He let out a heavy sigh.

"Ianto said he would handle notifying his family. "

"Release the body to them," Jack stated.

This was the first death since they had lost Toshiko and Owen. Jack had released Toshiko's body to her family, for a proper burial. He'd made up his mind since then that if any deceased Torchwood member had a family, a story would be made up to cover up the cause of death and release the body to the family. There would be exceptions, but that would be on a case by case basis.

"Ianto said you would say that," Daniel said. "Despite what it says in those manuals he made us read when we first come aboard."

Jack snorted. "Yeah, they're slightly outdated in areas. I think once we get things back to normal here, I need to sit down with him and bring those manuals up to date." He shook his head slowly. "Not that I would be anxious to put any of the new procedures to use."

"Whatever you think is best," Daniel stated.

Daniel Townshed had been in his late 30's when they had recruited him the year before. The team had dealt with him several times before Jack decided the blond had what it took to come work for Torchwood. They had already had Celine for a few months when Daniel became a member of the team. And quickly fit in. It was good to have a doctor on the team again, but Jack's intention was for the new doctor to keep them alive, not have to prepare anyone from the team for burial.

Cameron Andrews had been 22 and had been with Torchwood for only a few months. He was still being trained as a field agent while doing general support, which would have been his main job. Once he was hired, it freed Ianto up completely to do all the things he had proven himself more qualified to do than sit in the TI office and pick up after them. It had become Cameron's job. Before Cameron, Rhys would help out at times, but it was still part of Ianto's duties.

Jack wondered once again if he should hire Rhys on full-time. He was good at taking care of those things, but not with the detail Ianto had. Cameron hadn't either, Jack thought, but it had freed Ianto up. However, now after this and losing Cameron, he doubted Gwen would go for it, and Jack would not blame her. He would love it if Ianto decided to leave Torchwood. It would give them more years together.

Then again, whenever they called Rhys in, he always ended up assisting them in the field, and most times Gwen did not have too much trouble with it. Rhys had even been trained for the field when it became evident that he was a standby to assist them when Gwen was pregnant for the first time. Ianto and Jack figured Gwen was fine with it as long as he didn't do it all the time for a living, and kept his job with Harwood's. Ianto had wondered once if they should still bring in Rhys as another field agent, and find someone else for the general duties. Ianto was of the opinion of adding numbers to the team. He knew he could get the funding for salaries from the Queen. His argument was they wouldn't be so stretched, and therefore might increase their chances of a longer life while working for Torchwood. Jack was against it, and while he never gave any solid reasons, Ianto had suspected that it was because Jack preferred the smaller, more intimate team. When Ianto had confronted Jack on his suspicions, Jack admitted was because he was wary of building up the team, fearing of one day it would resemble Torchwood One. Ianto doubted it would go that far, but even if it did, Jack's Torchwood would never be Torchwood One. Ianto spent some time making sure Jack knew it.

Right now Jack had to ask Rhys to lend a hand while they found a replacement for Cameron because as much as Jack preferred for Ianto to stay back in the Hub, he could not expect his partner to take on duties that were technically a demotion. Ianto had already been beyond just general support even before they had lost Toshiko and Owen

He gazed down at Cameron again, fighting back the pain of losing another team member, one who in his short time with them had become a good friend. The young man had also taken to Franklin well; Cam would gladly look after the baby whenever they had to bring him into the Hub.

Jack and Ianto really did not like bringing their son in, which was why Jack ended up staying home unless he was needed. Between separation anxiety and not wanting to have Franklin in the Hub all the time, at least until they both felt the Hub was baby-proofed as much as possible; he was more or less working part-time until he was able to leave the baby with Ianto's sister for a full day. Still he knew the wrong one was working part-time. It should be Ianto, not him, putting him in less a chance of getting killed on the job. He did not want to lose Ianto, ever, but he knowing that was impossible, he would settle for at least ten years if not more, as long as Ianto remained with Torchwood. He found it hard to believe they could be so lucky, however. He also did not want their son to have to grow up not having his two fathers.

He took Cam's cold hand in his. "I'm sorry," he said quietly, as if speaking too loud would wake the dead man. "I'm so sorry, Cam. I thought you had at least a few years before ending up here."

A hand clamped onto Jack's shoulder. "It's not your fault, Jack," Ianto said from behind him. "You weren't even here when it happened."

"Maybe if I was," Jack started.

"Don't," Ianto warned him. "We hardly had a chance. If they managed to get past our detectors, I don't know how you being here would have made a difference. They were in before we could do anything. They already had the explosives set by the time Gwen and Dwayne got there. There was nothing more anyone else could do."

Jack nodded. "I know you're right, but I can't help thinking it."

Ianto slipped his arm around Jack's waist and started to lead Jack. "I need to check in with Andy. He's doing damage control with the authorities. I'm afraid we had another gas leak." He shrugged. "I'll meet you in your office."

"Okay. Then I want a team meeting."

"Of course. I figured it was on the agenda. I also figured it was going to be a long night, so I managed to convince Gwen that we needed lunch, while I question our prisoner."

Jack snorted. "I'm surprised she didn't insist on helping you."

Ianto grinned. "She didn't have a choice. It was either going to get food or picking up while Rhys goes."

Jack let out a chuckle.

Ianto indicated toward Daniel. "Once Dan is done with Cam, he's going to start autopsies on our prisoners."

"Good," Jack said and then frowned. "Are we sure they won't try another attempt?"

Ianto squeezed Jack's shoulder. "We'll talk in your office."

Jack glanced down at Daniel and turned to go into his office.