A/N: Thought I might as well upload the next chapter right away - so here it is. A little longer than the previous one. It might not be entirely correct what with Jack's complicated past and all, but bare with me. Enjoy and please review.

"Here you are, Tosh," Ianto put a cup of coffee on Toshiko's desk and watched her working hard on something, slightly curious as to what it might be.

"Thanks," She replied absentmindedly. He was just about to leave her to check on some paperwork Jack had left when he disappeared – three weeks ago - when she put her good hand on his arm, stopping him.

"I think I found something," she said and resumed typing. Having only one hand to type with didn´t seem to hinder her at all. "There´s been a rift spike. On the roof of the Millennium Centre."

"The roof?" Ianto asked and looked with more concentration on her screen. "Do you think..." he needed not finish his sentence. Toshiko knew exactly what he was going to say.

"I do, actually. The data says it´s a person. Who else would it be?" They shared a look, worry and reassurance being passed between them silently. Simultaneously they moved away from the desk, grabbing things they would need and going to tell Owen and Gwen.

-TW-

"Eh, you´re not going anywhere," Owen said after receiving the knowledge of the rift spike on the roof.

"What do you mean?" Ianto looked puzzled, standing just on the inside of the open cog door.

"I mean, no field work. And that goes for you as well, Tosh," he turned around waiving a finger at Tosh, mimicking the way one would normally reprehend a child.

"But it´s only Jack," she said and walked up to Ianto. "Could you... help me?" she mumbled discretely to him referring to her coat. He complied without question as Owen continued.

"We don´t know that," he said. "It´s better we go," he gestured towards Gwen who was sitting by her station, seemingly oblivious to the exchange. Of course, they all knew she was working on one of her pet projects again, unable to tear away.

"She´s got other things on her mind," Ianto argued. "Look, Owen..."

"Ianto."

"We´re going," he said firmly. He was not going to let Jack disappear again. "Right now," he turned around and marched out the door. "You´re welcome to join us," they heard him say through the comms.

-TW-

The wind blew harshly against Jack's skin as he said goodbye to Sheela.

"Will you be alright?" he asked her sadly.

"Look, Jack," she began in her London accent, "I know you have responsibilities here..."

He stopped her with the raising of his arm. "It´s not..."

"Responsibilities you don´t necessarily want to leave," she persisted, and seemed to have made Jack's interruption redundant.

He reached for her hand, saying, "You know I care about you. I just can´t..." he glanced at the water tower, longing to see the people he knew were working beneath it. It had been months since he´d seen them. Since he´d seen Ianto. And even though it had only been three weeks for them, he knew they would be worried. Sheela was an incredibly strong woman, and she had so many others to care for. She also had family to care for her in return. The Torchwood team was Jack's family, and as little as he would like to admit it, he needed them. Sheela and Jack used to meet up on a regular basis a few decades ago, but he had lost contact with her many years back. It was only by chance that the rift had picked him up one day, and brought him to her, in the 1970s'. There she was 35 years old, and she hadn´t seen Jack for four years. He thought it had been a good opportunity to give her some closure to their on-again off-again relationship.

It was a sort of closure for him too, he thought. He really didn´t have any desire to be with anyone other than Ianto anymore. He could look, absolutely. And he would flirt. But for once in this lifetime, he wanted to be exclusive. And he knew he had the right person to be with.

"I know, Jack," Sheela smiled, continuing her futile attempts to get her wild black hair from blowing into her eyes. "We had a good time. I have many years ahead of me, I will find someone to share them with."

"Oh, I know you will," Jack said with his trademark smile. "Who could resist a stunning woman like you?" after a moment they both grew silent, tension building up between them, until Jack leaned forward and caressed her cheek before kissing her gently. "Bye, Sheela," he breathed and backed away. He checked his vortex manipulator and realized the rift activity they had been waiting for was near. Sheela held up a device, designed to harvest rift energy and in the manner of a surfboard, ride that energy back or forth in time until arriving in the desired year. "Here it comes," he said and pushed a few buttons. The last thing he saw of Sheela was her jade tinged eyes as she disappeared in a ray of light.

-TW-

"Jack," said a very familiar voice from behind him. Oh no, he thought and turned around slowly. Ianto stood before him, looking as good as ever in one of his immaculate suits, sheltered from the chilly wind by a fairly long, black coat. Next to him stood Tosh, biting her lip and looking guilty.

"Hey, Ianto..." Jack greeted him, but made no move towards his lover. "Tosh," he smiled carefully. "What have you done to your arm?" he forgot about Ianto for a second as he noticed his technician was injured.

"Oh, it´s nothing..." she said dismissively and stroke her injured arm gently. "It was just a hoix."

"Just? Tosh, they are dangerous. You could have gotten yourself killed!"

"You should thank Ianto then," she said smiling carefully, "without him I would have."

Jack's penetrating gaze turned towards the fidgeting Welshman in front of him. "Is that true? How are you?"

"Physically or mentally?" Ianto said, sarcasm clear in his voice, as well as in the expressions on his face.

"Ianto..."

"He´s gonna' be alright," Tosh provided and shot a stern look in Ianto's direction. "It was pretty close, but we managed. We´ll go through the details later," she paused and watched the men stare at each other with varying expressions flitting across their faces. "But it´s time we get off this roof," she stated, though with little result. "Right now!"

The two men finally snapped to attention and did as they were told, following Toshiko down the hidden hatch door beneath them.