"Jack? Did you hear something?" Ianto asked, walking into the library.
Jack looked up and cocked his head, listening. "Nope. Guessing you did, though."
"I thought I did," Ianto said. "Thought I heard the engines. There's nothing on the lawn though."
"Lorry?" Jack shrugged.
"Probably," Ianto agreed. There was a pause and then they both looked at one another at the sound of someone coming up the gravel drive. Ianto looked out the front window. "Alright, then. There's a smartly dressed gentleman, bit older, nice frock coat – old-fashioned yet modern at the same time – very tidy, really…."
Jack sat his book aside, remembering to take the marker from the back and not turn down the corner at the last moment. He joined Ianto at the window. "It's him."
Ianto squinted and tried to look closer before shaking his head, not seeing the slightest resemblance. Jack was already hurrying downstairs.
"Doctor!" Jack called. "When did you change?" he asked, hurrying up and wrapping the Doctor in a hug.
"Oh dear," the Doctor gasped stiffly.
"I mean, when did you regenerate?" Jack stopped. "Something must have happened. I'm sorry."
"It's quite alright… I think…. Ianto?"
Jack's eyes narrowed and his head tilted in that suspicious way.
"Ah… guessed wrong. Jack, then."
"Why was there any guessing involved?" Jack asked, crossing his arms.
"Sorry, there was, apparently, a bit of scrambling. Quite sorry. I had a note to myself telling me to visit now and then."
"What do you remember?" Jack asked, brow furrowed.
"Some. Faces are a bit new though."
Just then Ianto stepped out from the front door.
"Ah, that'll be Ianto, then."
"Last I checked. Doctor?"
"Yes, quite."
"Right, but… you didn't land over by the roses?"
"Oh, that. Well, the note, to myself reminding me to visit… it had coordinates, but when I checked them, I realized they'd land me only feet away from your house. Thought that seemed a bit rude and oblivious. So I landed a bit down the road and came up the front way."
Ianto smiled like he'd never heard of anything so kind in his life and wrapped the Doctor in a hug.
"Not again," the Doctor groaned.
Ianto quickly stepped back and got himself under control. "Sorry. I never do that sort of thing. It was just… so considerate. Please, come in. Coffee or tea?"
"Well, I suppose. Would like to catch up a bit."
"I could do some custard, if you like, but reasonably sure there aren't fish fingers. Jack and I don't really keep them in."
"Fish fingers? Wouldn't blame you. I imagine we'll do without the custard as well, really."
Jack followed Ianto and the Doctor inside, still giving the Doctor a suspicious look. "And when did you get all… Scottish?" Jack said dubiously.
"I like it," Ianto said on his way back to the kitchen.
Jack frowned. "Well, come on, we might as well sit down and catch up, if that's what we're going to do."
"I can't help noticing, Jack, you don't seem very glad to see me," the Doctor said, inviting himself to poke around Jack and Ianto's living room. "Was there some sort of… falling out, or offense?" he asked, picking up a framed photo of Jack and Ianto, smartly dressed and looking deliriously happy.
"No," Jack said carefully. "I just can't help being a little suspicious. See, the Doctor I know… knows everything. And you… well, you seem to have some gaps there."
"Oh, I see. I did apologize already, but this most recent regeneration…. Well, let's just say you aren't the only who seems a bit put off. How long has it been?"
"A few months I guess."
"No, I mean how long have we known one another?"
Jack laughed. "I quit counting. Of course, there was a space of about 150 years where we definitely didn't know each other."
"Oh. So you're a time-man too. No wonder you look so old."
Jack looked offended for a moment then closed his eyes and shook his head. "Some things haven't changed I see."
"But maybe more than the face?"
"Yeah, see, that's what's bothering me. I get the feeling we have met, but I'm sure I've never known you – Doctor – looking like that. And for some reason… I feel very defensive."
The Doctor suddenly turned and met Jack's eyes with a startling intensity. "Tell me about that feeling Jack."
"It's like you remind me of something bad. Really bad. The worst, most subtle, most dangerous thing. But you're not quite…."
"I remind you of human nature?"
"Opted for coffee," Ianto said, returning with a tray. "I seem to recall you preferring Jammie Dodgers as well. Though, if you've gone off the fish fingers…."
Jack looked up at Ianto as he took the mug Ianto handed him. Then he looked back to the Doctor and something clicked. Jack had to put the coffee down before he spilt it because his hand started shaking. "Frobisher," he bit out.
"Sorry?" the Doctor said, replacing Jack and Ianto's photograph on the mantle.
"That's who you look like," Jack said, an edge in his voice that hadn't crept in for years. "The man who tried to kill me, who tried to kill Ianto, and Gwen. The man who stood aside and facilitated… the man who basically engineered the worst moments of my life since the day I lost my father and brother!"
"Jack…," Ianto said calmly.
"No. I want answers," Jack said, jumping up from the couch. "You are the Doctor?"
"Yes," the Doctor replied quietly.
"Were you also Frobisher?"
"Jack, I'm sorry, that name means nothing to me, I don't know what you're saying…."
"Convenient slips of memory there, Doc."
"Jack," Ianto said more firmly. "He is not Frobisher. That's over. It was over years ago, and the Doctor had nothing to do with it."
"Yeah, and that's another thing. If you aren't Frobisher, then why the hell didn't you have anything to do with it? Why did you let it all happen? Where the hell were you when my husband lie dying in my arms? Why didn't you turn up when I was forced to sacrifice…. Maybe you were off on holiday to Metebelis III or enjoying the frozen waves with your latest 'companion?' Off tending your banana grove?"
"Ah, well. Believe my question has been answered. Thank you. I shan't trouble you -"
"Hold it," Ianto ordered. "You're not going yet. Have a seat, please, Doctor."
The Doctor complied without hesitation. He didn't fancy crossing Ianto, though he wasn't quite sure why.
"First of all," Ianto started, "I wouldn't be here now if it weren't for the Doctor. Neither would you, as it happens, Jack. I daresay none of us would. Second, at no time during that invasion did anyone, to my knowledge, call for him. And given that he's got the whole of space and time to deal with, I'm sure those few days on a tiny little, relatively backward planet spinning away obscurely in an arm of one of gazillions of galaxies – difficult as it was for us – just might have gone unnoticed by all the rest of space and time. We aren't the center of anything except our own egos. So don't blame him for not rushing in to stop everything. We managed it, in the end. And we're getting on with it now. Let the past lie, Jack."
"But he's… just… wrong, Ianto. I wonder how that feels," Jack said sharply, glaring at the Doctor.
"He's the Doctor, Jack. He's always going to be 'wrong.' He was 'wrong' to me before, though I'm rather preferring this one, I think."
"In what way?" the Doctor asked. "Was I wrong, to you, that is?"
Ianto looked at him with a small smile. "You rather annoyed me, to be honest. There was a lot of whittering… babbling, bit of banter. Then landing precariously close to the roses I've been working on since we moved here. Generally, quite manic. I don't do well around manic."
"Yes. I don't blame you." The Doctor looked at Ianto with eyes full of apology and sympathy for quite a lot more than his awkward-babbly-bow-tie stage.
"And then, of course, previous to that, you snatched Jack away from me… us… just when we needed him most, and apparently ended up getting him tortured by a mad man for a solid year."
The Doctor winced.
"That wasn't his fault," Jack said quickly.
"Well neither was the 456."
"Gentlemen," the Doctor said, standing up. "I hadn't intended for my visit to cause such rancor. I truly hope I will be forgiven, for this and for whatever I've done poorly in the past… or future, whichever. I rather think the two of you will be instrumental in my… getting a hold of myself. And I should like to visit again. This is very good coffee."
"Thank you," Ianto said. "And I think you visiting again would be good, for all of us."
"I'm sorry, Jack. It seems that I've failed you, not just once. Hopefully, as I sort things out – it was a rough one, I can tell you – I'll recall why I was so adamant about remembering to stay in touch with you particularly. Whatever bond we have must be important."
The Doctor reached out his hand to Jack. Jack looked up at him for a long moment and Ianto only just managed not to snicker at Jack's pout. Finally, Jack stood up and accepted the Doctor's hand.
"You've never meant to hurt anybody," Jack conceded. "I know that, admire it more than you'll know. Hope you'll visit again soon. Maybe we could have dinner or something."
The Doctor nodded, then paused. "Jelly babies… I think I like those. I don't actually know what they are though. Are they as horrific as they sound?"
"More so. And not dinner," Ianto said. "Leave the meal planning to us, yeah?"
"Very good," the Doctor said. "I'll just be going then. Will phone about dinner," he said, heading toward the door.
"He needs you, Jack," Ianto said quietly, picking up Jack's mug and pressing it into his hands again. "You understand him in ways no one else can. When you were shouting at him, he looked like he'd just lost his last friend and didn't even know what he'd done."
"I think I felt that way for a minute, too. He looks so old, Yan. I've never seen him like that. I think it just… scared me. I sort of felt," Jack shook his head, "I don't know. Weirdly alone."
Ianto understood what Jack wasn't saying. He just took Jack's hand and sat with him on the couch, kissing his forehead and holding him close.