AN- thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far! I know this story is in the bare bones stage but it is going to start progressing- in my AU, the end of Children of Earth where Jack leaves never happens! This chapter will be entirely from Jack's point of view so there will be no mental talking. This chapter is rated T! hopefully, the next chapter will be moving up to M if our boys behave!

Sorry this chapter is so late, but I'm hoping to have chapter 5 live tomorrow as long as University deadlines and work don't once again get it the way!

Chapter 4- The Progression

Jack was conflicted. On one hand, Ianto was alive and could potentially live as long as him. On the other, he was somehow back from the dead, which should be impossible. More than impossible. He had seen the cold pallor of his lips, felt the stillness of his heart. So how really was he alive?

"This healing… it brought you back from the dead?" He asked Ianto, who was standing uncomfortably in Jack's new kitchen, wearing Jack's own clothes like armour.

"From not quite death… my heart had slowed enough for my brain to start being deprived of oxygen, for me to not have a pulse. A normal human at that point would never come back. I did." Ianto shuffled uncomfortably towards the door, like he expected Jack to tell him to leave.

Jack thought for a second, and then crossed over to Ianto, pulling him into a tight hug. "Actually, I don't care. The Ke'anuri have always been an enigma, Torchwood only ever logged them as shape shifters. I met one, a long time ago, and he convinced me they're not a threat."

"We're not a threat." Ianto replied tersely. "And I know how Torchwood logged us, I was an archivist. I saw the record and decided against updating it… god knows what someone would do with information on genetic advanced healing amongst other things."

Jack blushed. "You were never just an archivist Yan, and Torchwood doesn't exist anymore." He poured out two tumblers of Pendryn whiskey. "And I agree, Torchwood should never have known about the extent of your people's power. They would have exploited it, or U.N.I.T. would have found out and exploited it." He handed Ianto one of the tumblers, and gently tugged him into the small sitting room of his recently acquired flat. They sat at opposite ends of the sofa, and Jack couldn't help but notice Ianto sneaking glances at him.

"Since when do you have James Bond in your collection?" Ianto suddenly asked, his voice cutting through the tangible tension in the air.

"Technically it's yours… I couldn't put all your stuff into storage Yan…" Jack looked away, embarrassed. Then he felt gentle hands taking the tumbler from him, before pulling his body towards the heat source of a warm Welshman's body.

"It's okay Jack." Ianto's words were soothing, as was the softness of his touch. "I'm here now and that's what matters." His eyes flashed a deep soulful blue before he buried his face into Jack's hair. "If you'll still have me that is?"

Jack turned his face up towards Ianto's and his eye's bore into the younger man's. "Of course I still want you Yan. When I thought you were dead I debated leaving, escaping all that I've done but there was so much clean up and Alice was so angry and with Gwen being pregnant I had to make sure her and Rhys would be safe…" Jack was babbling, but Ianto didn't care, silencing him with a fusion of their lips.

Jack froze for a second, before responding. His hands fused with Ianto's hair, pulling him closer to him. Their tongues battled for dominance, teeth grazing lips and emotions pouring against softly spoken words when they came up for air. Jack moved to straddle Ianto, but the younger man pushed him gently away.

"We can't Jack. Falling back into bed isn't what we need right now, no matter how much I want it." Ianto reasoned, pressing his forehead against Jack's. Jack felt like his blood was boiling, and he noted Ianto's beautiful blue eyes had shifted to the tell-tale swirling green and slitted irises of the Ke'anuri. Their draconian blood caused it, and usually it only appeared when they were in their dragonlike form, or using their powers. If Jack could guess, he'd say Ianto's emotional state was shaking his control to stay in human form. "I have to… go." Ianto shook violently and was gone out of Jack's flat before Jack could even blink.

TWTWTWTWTWTWTW

Hours of wandering and driving around Cardiff looking for anything that could be Ianto, Jack gave up. He was just about to re-ascend the stairs to his flat when the ghostly form of Danny shimmered into existence.

"I know where he is," the dead man commented offhandedly. "He tracked Siobhan down- she was running to Swansea to catch the good waves. I can show you the way, if you'd like?"

Jack could have hugged the dead man, but instead he simply lead the ghost to his car- the reclaimed SUV he'd found abandoned on the outskirts of Newport. Starting the engine silently, he drove up onto the M4 Westbound, weaving between the cars daring to travel the dark motorway in the wee hours of the morning.

Danny provided his instructions when needed, but for once didn't engage Jack in conversation, other than ideal chatter about things he recognised from his short life. As they turned onto a worn track along the shoreline, Danny told him to pull over. They left the modified Range Rover behind, moving out onto the soft sand, the only sounds the wind and the waves.

There were tracks near the waterline, large, claw like tracks that meandered in and out of the water. Jack looked down their trail, and there, curled up in the water was Ianto, his borrowed clothing soaked through. Jack ran towards him, and Ianto sat up, his blue eyes glinting in the darkness.

"Sorry about that… I couldn't control it." He blushed, before looking out to sea.

Bobbing around out there was a lone surfer, and from Danny's earlier comments he assumed it was Siobhan, waiting for a perfect wave. Jack wrapped his arms around Ianto's sodden shoulders, surprised at the heat of his body. Ianto curled in, his intrinsic Ke'anuri body heat bleeding into Jack as they sat in the waves together.

Finally, Siobhan found a wave she liked and rode it gracefully in, but before she made it to shore in the dawn light she shot a look up the beach. Jack followed her gaze and saw a lone figure, with a rather large gun.

Ianto sprang to his feet, the familiar shudders flowing through his body before he and Siobhan shot up the beach, wolf form once again towards this stranger, before Ianto stopped dead, sliding across the sand, his body rigid.

The gun went off, and Ianto recoiled before Jack could reach him, red blood staining his beautiful grey fur.

AN- so who do you think the shooter is, and how are they going to fit into the story? Leave me a review with your thoughts and I'll tell you if you're right?

Once again, thank you for reading, reviewing and recommending!

And not to forget, favouriting!

Vikki ;)~