"So, let me get this clear, you picked me out of all the worlds you looked at, because I had the least to lose," Ianto asks, careful to keep his tone neutral.

"Yeees," Gwen hesitates, "but it wasn't like that, really. We were just trying to do the least damage to other lives. We didn't want to..." She falters, noting the grimace as he fights for control of his feelings.

"We were able to get a computer link through the rift, using this new piece of alien tech Jack brought back with him," she is gabbling now, and knows it, but needs to justify her actions. "We checked government records, found out who you were living with and where. What job you did. Whether you even existed, that sort of thing."

"And what other versions of me had lives worth living, then?" he demands, this time unable to disguise the resentment he feels.

Gwen decides it best to tell him everything. She begins in a quiet, steady voice: "In seven of the worlds you were dead. Killed in the battle of Canary Wharf. Or shortly after." She glances down at the exposed skin of Ianto's left wrist where the scar begins. "Or a long time after, the same way you died here. In another four you were living with Lisa. We found one where she'd left Torchwood and you had married and had a baby on the-"

"And we even found one where you were in a civil partnership with a very attractive young Spaniard named Carlos" interrupts Jack with a wink, striding into the boardroom. The lascivious leer fades as he meets Ianto's hostile glare.

"So, you finally got lucky when you found me," Ianto spits out, "There was no one to miss me. I may as well not have existed."

"It wasn't like that, Ianto," Gwen soothes, radiating concern as she takes his hand. "Your world was so bleak that Jack thought, we thought, we could offer you something better. You've got family, here, people who love you, people who..." her voice trails off again as she takes in the pain in Ianto's eyes.

"But they're not my family, are they? They're his. And how could I go and introduce myself now? How could I explain, when to them I've been dead for a year?" he demands, voice raw and husky with emotion.

Gwen shoots Jack a desperate look, not knowing how to answer this. They hadn't had any time to discuss the implications yesterday, because as soon as they had found this Ianto, Jack had set about the preparations for his rescue mission like a man possessed. He is no help now, either; leaning back against the door frame and staring intently at the floor. To anyone who didn't know him well it would seem a casual pose, but Gwen recognises his distress in the set of his jaw.

Heedless of her predicament, Ianto breaks the awkward moment with another question: "Are they all okay? The kids, I mean? Mica. David. They weren't taken, were they? They weren't part of the ten percent?"

"It's alright, Ianto, they're all fine. That didn't happen here, thanks in no small part to you. I mean..." she corrects herself after receiving a glare from the man in front of her, "I mean, the other version of you. Our Ianto," she adds, softly. This must be so painful for Jack, Gwen thinks, looking over at the silent figure in the doorway.

She is relieved when Ianto changes focus.

"So what else did you find out about me? Did you check my work appraisals? My medical records? What if there was something wrong with me?"

Something in his tone alerts Gwen. This is significant, she thinks. What did we miss in our haste to bring him back here?

"No, nothing like that. We didn't have time, and anyway, that would have been prying into confidential information," but even to her, the excuse sounds hollow. She ponders how to draw out more from Ianto, to find out what exactly is troubling him. Beyond being kidnapped and brought to a science fiction style lair filled with oddballs, of course.

Her musings are interrupted by a loud voice and footsteps pounding up the metal stairs outside.

"I don't believe it, Gwen, he's only gone and filled another one! It bloody honks! And this is definitely your turn to change him." Rhys appears at the door with a rather annoyed looking Aeris in his arms, struggling to hold him in a way that won't squash the contents of his nappy out the sides.

Ianto rises, muttering: "I'd better get back to reception."

Jack steps around Rhys and makes a hasty retreat to his office.

Gwen sighs, as she is handed one cute, but very smelly baby.

*****

8pm, but it could be anytime in this windowless dungeon, Ianto thinks, rolling his head to relieve the tension caused by hours hunched at the keyboard. He has finally got his medical records forged and uploaded to the NHS database, helped by the rather clever Hub software. Letting out a sigh of relief, he pushes his chair away from the screen and rises. He can make an appointment with his new GP first thing. He'll find an excuse to get away for half an hour.

On his way back to his room, he hears a strange, rushing noise. Spins round, but it sounds the same. Inside his head. Must be.

Then the first shock hits him, a sharp, electrical pulse through his brain. Astoundingly painful. Ianto puts his hand out to the wall for support, concentrating on breathing steadily. It wouldn't do to panic right now. If he can just make it through the night, he'll be back on the medication in the morning. Focusing on that, trying to stay positive against the rising tide of terror, he stumbles along the corridor, fumbles with the lock and finally collapses on his bed.