"Gwen?" Jack called out as he entered the control room. A sudden yell told him he'd located his friend. Whipping into sight, she launched herself at him, alternating punching and hugging the grinning captain. Carefully disengaging himself, he kissed her cheek, then stepped back.

"Been traveling with the Doctor, Gwen. He gave me a gift. Thought I'd come share it with you." As Gwen's expression changed to confusion, he grinned at the doorway and Ianto entered the room.

Gwen shrieked, "Ianto!" before heedlessly dashing straight into his arms. She supposed she should have been worried about how exactly he could be alive, or alien tech, or something. But at that moment, all Gwen could do was pull both her dear boys to her as tightly as she could, their alternating heartbeats comforting proof that they were, indeed, alive and here with her. Ianto felt a familiar rush of affection for the woman he had once regarded rather less warmly because of her interest in Jack. At the same time, he couldn't help missing the woman he'd just left. As much as he had come to see Gwen as family, he'd grown to love Rose just as much, and, to be honest, he missed her. Finally, the three of them separated, Gwen actually brushing away tears.

"You two have a lot of explaining to do."


Gwen collapsed into a chair, thoroughly stunned by the story Jack and Ianto had just told her, which apparently involved a parallel universe, a vortex creating immortality, and of course, that Doctor. Jack sat right next to her, anxiously watching her expression. A familiar scent jolted her out of her thoughts. She looked up to see Ianto approaching, holding out a cup of tea for her, then bringing cups for himself and Jack before sitting on her other side. The familiarity of this simple gesture brought a smile to her face and returned a bit of normality to their world.

"What are you thinking?" Jack asked, in a surprisingly gentle tone. Gwen managed another smile at her friends.

"Besides that you two are gonna be even more annoyingly in sync in a few centuries?" Ianto looked a bit abashed, while Jack just smirked. "Out of all of us, I'm the only one who's never died. And I'm just glad at least you two came out of it. And that you won't be lost again, like-" She cut off, as the mood shifted to somber memory.

"I still miss them too. Well, of course I miss her- she was my best friend. But, you know, I even miss him, even his insults. Never thought I'd say that," Ianto said in a low voice.

"I know. Me too." Jack agreed, while Gwen only managed to nod her assent.

A sudden noise made them all jump to their feet, drawing guns in precise unison as they always had towards the source.

"Well, that's very good to hear. Or this would be awfully awkward." The speaker, a young man, stepped forward, with a second person at his side. The shock nearly made the three agents drop their guns.

Owen Harper and Toshiko Sato stood before them, very much alive.

"Well, this is turning out to be one hell of a day," Jack commented.