"Yes, Jack?" I answered my mobile, just after locking up Owen's things.

"How's the stowing going?" he asked me, his voice gruffer than usual.

"I just finished," I told him.

"Are you all right?" he asked me.

"Yeah, fine," I lied. I'd just opened Tosh's car door and gotten another whiff of sandalwood, just realized that even that would soon be gone. So much loss...

"No, you're not. It was rough, wasn't it. I should have done it myself," he self-chastised.

"No, Jack, I was glad to do it," I told him sincerely. "How are you and Ianto holding up?"

"Trying to help out the police as much as we can at the moment. Gwen's coordinating. Actually, even Rhys is helping out today. We've got some of the roads unblocked. Ianto is about to leave for the Sato's. If you can get back here in 20 minutes or less you can ride with him up to London," he told me.

"That'd be great, Jack. Thank you," I sighed.

"Everything smells like her, doesn't it," Jack said.

"Yeah," I managed, voice constricted.

"I'll get you your own car, Sage. I'd have loaned you the SUV, but—"

"You needed it. Also, it draws attention and my fake driver's license is expired. I'll be there soon, Jack. Please have Ianto wait for me."

"Will do," he said. "And Sage... Thanks."

"It's the least I can do," I said. "See you soon, old friend."


"Tell me a story about you and Jack," Ianto asked of me as he was driving us up to London.

"What sort of story?" I asked. "Action-adventure? Comedy?"

"Both?" he ventured.

"Want to know how we ended up in that morgue locker?"

"Are you sure that's a comedy?" he inquired dubiously.

"It is. I swear. Do you want to know?"

"Do you have to ask? Those half-statements of his are so frustrating!"

I chuckled. "I know; he does it to me, too, but about you guys." I winced, feeling like an ass for referring to the team that had just been halved, but Ianto just stayed stoically silent.

"So, you and Jack, hiding in a morgue locker..." he prompted after a minute or so.

"Vampires," I told him.

"You're joking," he said disbelievingly.

"I swear," I began. "It was 1915. A group of black ops scientists called The Forge got their hands on a Vampire that had slipped through the Rift. Torchwood One had it in their custody at the time and handed it over to these people for a sort of experiment in bio-weaponry. They called it the Twilight Virus and were infecting humans with it to create super-soldiers for the war. 'For King and Country', they said. Jack and I set out to shut the project down. Vampires were originally released into this universe by the Time Lords, so it was my responsibility, but Jack wouldn't let me go on my own. He disobeyed direct orders to go with me, to protect me."

"He loves you," Ianto remarked, smiling.

"But can you imagine Jack as a Vampire? I mean, he's immortal already. Cross that with Vampirism and you get a potentially unstoppable, utterly deadly creature for all eternity. I should never have told him Vampires can kill Time Lords," I sighed.

"You mean permanently?" Ianto asked me, surprised.

"Yes. There a very few things that can, but a Vampire is one of them," I admitted. "Anyway, we arrived at the complex and all the test subjects had escaped. They'd slaughtered everyone and were sort of roosting in there. Stupid me, sneaking in there at night."

"But that's standard operating procedure," Ianto interjected. "Infiltrate when you're least likely to be noticed."

"Sure, that's SOP for humans. Not for Vampires, though. Jack and I snuck in, found this bloodbath, and then who shows up but my father!"

"Your father? But weren't you and Jack trying to find him?" Ianto asked confused.

"Timelines, Ianto. Jack could only meet an incarnation of my father after they'd originally met each other. That was Gen Nine. I could sense this was a Sixth Incarnation Time Lord, not a Ninth, Tenth, or later. So we backed into the mortuary so as not to be seen."

"Being with Jack is what's kept you from reuniting with your father, isn't it," Ianto intuited. I nodded. "I'd wondered what he meant when he said you'd kept him from running off to meet him and destroying the world in the process."

"Jack is my curse and my blessing," I told Ianto. "He saved me, protected me, and I did the same for him. But back to the morgue," I said. "Jack and I back into this mortuary and it's got corpses laid out, like for an autopsy. But they weren't corpses at all!"

"Vampires."

"Exactly. And they were stirring. So the only safe place to go where we wouldn't be seen was into a locker. Jack didn't even think. He just grabbed me, pushed me in, jumped in on top of me, and closed the door."

"When do we get to the 'comedy' part, Sage? This is morbid," Ianto pointed out.

"Right now, actually. See, he dove in feet first, so he sat on me! It's a damn good thing Time Lords can withstand suffocation. Picture all six feet of dashing Jack pressed back-first onto all five-three of me! And he complained about me getting heavy! Anyway, it took some shifting to re-arrange ourselves, especially without being heard. But we could hear my dad! It was the weirdest thing. He was with a girl, as usual." I rolled my eyes. "And he was monologuing at the Vampires. Jack says to me, 'Why doesn't he kill them already? Stake through the heart or something?' So I'm reminding him my dad's a pacifist, talk first, kill only if absolutely necessary—"

"As opposed to Jack, who tends to shoot first and ask questions later," Ianto added.

"Right. And I said to him, 'Jack... is that a stake in your pants?'" Ianto burst out laughing, but he didn't understand the full irony yet. "I wasn't sure what was switching on the tent pole, though. The close quarters or the Doctor worship. I was about to ask him when the girl with my dad said, frustrated, 'Spare me from cryptic old men!' (1) Good thing Jack chose that moment to kiss me, or we'd have been found for sure. I laughed right into his mouth."

"I can guess what happened next," Ianto said morosely.

"What? No, no room for that. And anyway, I'd just turned twenty-three. Jack still thought of me as a kid sister for the most part. We did use up most of our oxygen with the heavy breathing, though, I passed out, and the next morning I had to wiggle out head-first and kicked Jack right in the face. Then I had to yank him out of there because I'd made his limbs go numb, and I dislocated my shoulder pulling," I explained.

"Oof," Ianto remarked.

"Jack popped my shoulder back in after he'd recovered some movement, but he's never let me live that down. Or the kick in the face," I told him.

"I'd tease him right back about that hard-on," Ianto told me with a malicious glint in his eye. "So how long before he stopped deluding himself and finally gave in to what he felt for you?"

"Eighty years, all told," I admitted.

"So that New Year's Day you mentioned..."

"Yeah, that was my first time. An 88-year-old virgin; isn't that pitiful?" I said.

"Why did he wait so long?" Ianto asked me, shocked.

"Eighty years isn't as long to him and me as it is to you, sweet Ianto," I reminded him, "but mostly I think it was because of how we met, and what we were to each other. Do you remember what he called me, aside from his friend?"

"'My sister, my daughter'," he echoed. "How did you find each other? You didn't come through the Rift, did you?"

"No, but I think it may have had something to do with why my Vortex Manipulator was drawn to Earth. I landed in Brynblaidd. Hill of the Wolf, right?" Ianto had gone deathly pale and was gripping the steering wheel very tightly. "Ianto, what is it? What's wrong?"

"The Harvest. They're cannibals, the villagers of Brynblaidd. How did you get out?"

"I walked. I saw no one, Ianto, I just walked. Torchwood had detected my arrival, of course. Brecon Beacons is far enough out and I was such a small blip that they didn't really bother with me, though. It was New Year's Day of 1900. No one wanted to go all the way out there, so they sent Jack. He found me walking toward Cardiff. A very dirty little girl carrying a very small suitcase. I had a broken arm, moderate dehydration, and a stick through my gut. Rough landing. He saw my wrist strap right away, picked me up off my feet and asked me my name. I told him it was Sage. He kept pressing me for a surname, still thinking I was either a very young Time Agent recruit or the daughter of one, and I kept saying my name was Sage. So he asked me what my parents' names were, and I said 'My father is called the Doctor.' He pressed his ear to my chest, heard two heartbeats, and that was that. He knew who I was. He took me home and hid me. Told Torchwood it had been some sort of meteorite that had passed through a short-lived rift storm and been vaporized on impact. He fabricated a witness testimony and they left it at that."

"How did you survive?

"The stick missed everything important, and I heal pretty quickly. Also, he kissed me," I told him, smiling at the memory.

"He kissed you?"

"Never noticed how quickly you heal after he kisses you? It's something rather special he can do. Energy transfer, I guess you could say. More like he gives you a bit of his life force. It's not much, and he has to do it consciously, but it's an amazing gift. A remnant of what Rose did to bring him back to life, I suppose. And I saw my father in his mind, felt what he felt for him. The love, the admiration, the resentment at being left behind. We were kindred, you see."

"Yes. I see. When did your love for him change, Sage?" Ianto asked me. "You waited for him."

"In 1908. I was sixteen. He was away, and I missed him. I realized I didn't miss him in the same way I usually did. I was really mad at myself for it, too."

"Was there ever anyone else?" he asked me gently.

"Oh, a few boys tried, but I kept to myself a lot. I had to. I was using the name Miranda Small already, but my birth records said 1892; that's why you couldn't find me. Anyway, I never loved anyone the way I love Jack," I sighed.

"Why did you sleep with Owen?" Ianto ventured cautiously.

"Well, I was only human," I teased him. Then I sighed and told him the truth. "I was lonely, Ianto, and he was nice to me. No clichés, no bullshit, no lies. He didn't care that I was broken. He was broken, too."

"Did you know he knew Jack?"

"I found out later. Smelled him on Jack's hands. I thought it was very funny at the time. Not so funny now. If I'd known he was Torchwood, I'd have backed away, same as I've done to every other man before and since," I admitted. "Hurting Jack was never part of the equation. I was just... hollow."

"I know," Ianto said, his voice constrained. "After Lisa died, that's exactly how I felt. Empty. Purposeless. Jack gave me a purpose. He forgave my betrayal. I think I'd always been drawn to him, but that's when I really began to love him."

"I was never in love with Owen," I said softly, "but he made me feel so alive. He saved me from myself, and he never knew. I..."

"You were going to kill yourself," Ianto guessed. I nodded. "Why?"

"Because loving Jack hurt too much. Because not being loved was living death in and of itself. There were times Jack disappeared and I thought he'd forgotten me. I was too frail as a human. I was giving up again when you came along," I murmured.

"Me? What hope did I give you? You knew what I was to him. I came to you and told you you didn't exist."

"You cared," I said simply. "You love him so much... It gave me hope that maybe someday someone like you would love me, too."

"Someone like me?" he echoed.

"Loyal. Steadfast. Brave... And sweet. You're a wonder, Ianto Jones. I didn't know people like you existed. That's why meeting you gave me hope."

"I think you're over-selling me, Sage," he remarked, blushing.

"No," I said, patting him on the thigh. "I'm not." Then I sang to him softly, "You would be/ so easy to love/ So easy to idolize/ all others above..."

"Cole Porter," Ianto remarked. "Jack likes that one."

"Cole was his kind of man. Come to think of it, Jack's Cole's kind of man," I mused, rather amused. "Night and day, you are the one/ Only you beneath the moon and under the sun," I sang.

"His favourite is 'Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye'," Ianto told me. "It's beautiful, but very sad..."

"It used to be 'Anything Goes'," I told him, "but he's changed so very much... He always asked for 'Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye' when he'd come 'round the pub early enough to catch me performing. Gareth, my boss, always got annoyed over that. It cleared the pub out, that one. Too depressing... Anyway, I've always loved 'Night and Day' the most."

"Did Jack ever meet Cole Porter?" Ianto asked suddenly.

"You're not supposed to meet your heroes, Ianto," I said evasively.

"I only ask because I heard once he'd written 'Night and Day' with a man called Jack in mind. (2) A performer, supposedly, but... Have you ever heard Jack sing? He's rather amazing."

"It's possible, Ianto," I conceded with a chuckle. "And yeah, Jack's voice is enviable. He never sings for anyone, though, except me... and now you. So, I wonder what that means... I suppose he really meant it, about loving us both."

"Does that make you Linda Porter?" he asked me.

"In what sense?"

"You've accepted everything about him. You're willing to share his love," Ianto pointed out.

"With you, Ianto? Of course. You're very good for him. I can be... well; you pointed it out already; pretty morbid."

"I thought you were a laugh. Running around the Hub, talking to your coffee," he remarked, smiling. "You're very much like Jack. Sometimes you're excitable and no one can keep up with you. Other times you're very grave. The difference is you give straight answers most of the time."

"Most of the time?"

"You have a tell," he informed me.

"I do?"

"Yes. Your pupils dilate. Just for a second. It's very strange to see."

"My pupils? I'll have to lie with my eyes closed!" I joked.

"Don't worry. Your secret's safe with me. And with Jack, I suppose. After a century, I'm sure he's noticed," he said.

"What else can you tell me that I've not said, then, my observant Mr Jones?" I prompted.

"You don't like Gwen very much. You think she's a silly child," he told me.

"Oh... well, that's a bit unfair. I just think she's too much of a girl... I mean, I cry. I like to dress prettily—"

"Very prettily," Ianto complimented.

"Thank you... But Gwen is full of all of this 'Do you fancy me?' and 'Oh, I'll just never tell Rhys about Owen.' and 'Sage's eyes are prettier than mine. That's not fair.' So much senseless babble in her head. She only focuses when she needs to, apparently. Jack said she was organising the recovery?"

"She's amazing when she takes charge. You ought to see that side of her," Ianto remarked. "She can be dead intimidating."

"I'll keep that in mind," I conceded. "What else do you know about me, then?"

"You like me more than you're saying," he ventured.

"I've told you—"

"Yes, but you slipped up. You were musing aloud and said 'I don't know if I can share you with Jack' when what I was expecting was 'share Jack with you'," Ianto informed me, blushing once again.

"I said that out loud? Oh, that's embarrassing. I'm sorry. Did it make you uncomfortable?"

"No, it was a nice thing to hear. I'm just wondering what's behind it."

"You're gorgeous," I pointed out. "Oh, but I do love the way you love, Ianto. I know I said that."

"Are you saying you're jealous of Jack?"

"Am I being foolish, Ianto? Am I being a girl about it?" I asked him. "Wait, what are you doing?" I asked, although I could see very well that he was pulling off the road. "Ianto?" I said tentatively. He took off his seatbelt and leaned over, kissing me tenderly on the lips, rendering me breathless. "Oh," I sighed.

"I like you," he murmured. "You're not demanding. You don't play games. You've been watching me and complimenting me and you never expected anything in return. Loving Jack is fun and freeing, but all-consuming and terrifying. Loving you... I get the sense that you give far more than you take."

"Like you," I pointed out. He nodded. "What do you think Jack will say?"

"'The more the merrier'," he quipped.

"Sure, but how do you think he'll feel about it?"

"Like Christmas comes more than once a year," he murmured. "Well, that's how I felt about it when I realized..."

"Should we tell him right away, or should we wait until things have quieted down?" I asked him.

"Things are never quiet at Torchwood," he pointed out. "Aside from which, he'll probably know the moment we return. You've got a glow about you, Sage. It wasn't there before."

"I was so worried... And the timing is awful," I groaned.

"No, it's not. He needs some happy news. We all do," Ianto said.

"What will Gwen say?"

"'Congratulations', I hope."

"But what will she think?"

"She'll think we're crazy and that it'll never work," he said.

"Do you think it will?"

Ianto kissed me again, more firmly this time, then smiled. "You're easy to love."


1) This is not the vampire story in which the Doctor's companion actually said that, but it was witty, so I borrowed it. Sage's tale loosely references Project: Twilight (Sixth Doctor and Evelyn). The quote is from Death Comes to Time (Eighth Doctor and Ace).

2) Probably not historically accurate. Just trust me and watch the movie De-Lovely. Then you'll get the joke. ;)