A/N: Hey folks, on the off-chance anyone's still interested I thought I'd update while I have a chance. So whether you're new to the story or long-suffering, enjoy!

My crush on Eve Myles becomes readily apparent in this chapter.

Ianto had gone quite happily back to thinking of all the things he was going to do once this day was over when an unpleasant thought struck him; he was on his way to see Gwen. The last time he'd seen her he'd ended up using a kettle as an assault weapon. Admittedly it hadn't actually been her who attacked him and the culprit in question was safely restrained, but how did they know there weren't more of them out there?

A vision of an army of Gwen's flashed through his mind strong enough to make him consider turning around and going back to the bar. He knew it was irrational, but in the vision all the Gwen's wore crisp white wedding dresses.

He was startled out of this unnerving image just before turning into the corridor outside of Gwen's room, an older woman he'd bet good money was Rhys' mother was fuming to a similarly aged man with an exasperated demeanour.

'Typical Americans! Think they control everything!'

The look on the mans face suggested this was hypocritical coming from the woman Ianto assumed was his wife. Having been in the same position mere hours ago he wondered if he should warn them that Gwen could probably hear every word.

'–wasn't how police officers behave, I don't know who she's mixed up with nowadays.'

'Neither do I dear, but seeing as I don't think they're a deaf society she can probably hear you.'

Smart man.

It was strange to think of Rhys having these two people for parents, of the arguments they had over the holidays and the pets they kept. It was strange to think of Rhys as a person with his own life and family when they only ever knew him as Gwen's fiancé. That was the joke of weddings, to bring together all the different worlds you were a part of and watch them collide. Keeping the alien threat under control meant Rhys was an obstacle to be worked around right now, but Ianto guessed Rhys viewed Torchwood in the same way.

The mother continued. 'She knows I think the world of her, but that doesn't mean I have to trust the characters she works with. If I get my hands on that man!'

Ianto winced; Jack had managed to offend both the mother of the bride and the mother of the groom in one cavalier swoop. Seeing how their mothers reacted to stress, Rhys and Gwen's fiery arguments made a lot of sense.

Rhys' parents began to walk towards the corridor Ianto stood in and he backed closer against the wall to hide himself. At this point the well-wishers were all across the street and it would look suspicious if anyone but family was seen with Gwen. He watched as they walked past, mother still ranting, and slipped behind them towards Gwen's room, eyes on the retreating couple.

Backing into the room he closed the door in front of him and released a breath. 'Mothers on the warpath,' he muttered.

'Ianto?'

'Ahhh!' He span around at the sound of his name to see Gwen frowning at him.

She was stood in front of a full-length mirror wearing a quizzical expression that was at odds with her appearance. Her dress was simple, her hair pulled back loosely, effortlessly framing her face. She didn't need any more adornment than that. She was beautiful.

Ianto voiced as much without thinking. She really was.

Gwen sounded suspicious. 'Thank you. What do you want?'

So much for breaking it to her gently.

'Well', he said matter-of-factly, 'status report: threat is contained, guests have been fed a cover story and I would seriously consider saying goodbye to your reception deposit before the day's over.'

'Cover story?'

'Yes. They're across the street now.'

He waited for the anger but Gwen just nodded, totally unphased by the series of disasters befalling her. Ianto thought maybe she'd just had one too many fights today to get worked up any more, but she didn't even call him on his obvious attempt to avoid telling her the cover story which she'd probably need to know for later. It was like she just wasn't interested.

She turned back to the mirror with a glazed expression, reminding Ianto so forcefully of the shapeshifter when it read him that he had to repeat to himself that it was restrained. This was definitely their Gwen, but she seemed smaller somehow. Defeated.

He was wondering if he'd be out of line to ask her what was wrong given how many possible answers there were when she spoke first.

'Do you think I'm being selfish?'

Ianto had been in enough fights with Lisa to know that kind of question had no safe answer.

Gwen turned to him. 'Marrying Rhys, I mean. With this job.'

He opened and closed his mouth a few times, unsure of what to say. She was looking for reassurance and all he could think was how far down he stood in the list of people she should be having this conversation with. He suddenly felt quite ridiculous as he looked at his colleague; they'd been through countless traumas together, seen each other at their absolute worst, and now that they were outside of a life-or-death situation he had no idea what to say to her.

Gwen didn't seem to notice, staring back at her own reflection as she spoke in a distant, almost ethereal tone. 'Sometimes I think I'm being selfish. That I should just let him go, 'cos at least then he'd be safe from all this. He's not safe with me.'

Ianto moved towards her and she turned to face him, beautiful and mournful. 'No one's safe in Torchwood.'

'Gwen–'

'But then I can't protect him either.'

She gritted her teeth, voice thick with emotion.

'Either way, I lose him.'

Tears welled up in her eyes and Ianto abandoned his discomfort to cross over to her, knowing it was the right thing to do. He pulled her into a tight hug as she began to cry in earnest, kissing her hair and swaying her slightly as he closed his eyes. She sank into him and pulled him to the floor where they sat rocking back and forth with her white dress fanned out around them. They sat like that, with the dust in the air falling slowly through shafts of coloured sunlight that streamed in through the stained glass window, until finally her sobs subsided.

'Ianto?' Her voice was muffled by his shirt, making her sound very young. 'What should I do?'

'That's a good question,' he replied just as softly, causing her to chuckle slightly, spluttering through her tears. She pulled back and looked at him, massive eyes searching his waiting for an answer, making him painfully aware of how important his next few words would be.

'You love him.' She nodded earnestly even though it wasn't a question, 'I do. I love him so much', tears were threatening to spill over again so Ianto quickly reached out for her hand, and spoke carefully as she grasped it.

'Then Torchwood has nothing to do with it. You can't always protect the people you love,' he swallowed thickly, suddenly finding it hard to talk, 'but you can be with them. While there's still time.'

Gwen looked down and squeezed his hand as a long moment passed around them.

Ianto tried to concentrate on anything but the incredibly personal nature of what he'd just said, and just when he started to become aware of how hard the floor felt beneath him she looked straight into his eyes with the slight frown she got when she was being sincere.

'Thank you.'

He smiled weakly. 'Of course.'

Before they could get lost in the moment again he gestured to her dress. 'Come on, we don't want you creasing that lovely dress, Rhys' mother will take you out next.' She laughed again and let him help her up as she brushed herself down. It was awkward for a second, both unsure of how to slip back into their normal roles after being so open with each other, then Gwen took him by surprise and threw her arms around him, happily this time. She smiled into his chest, breathing in the comfort of his large frame, her head barely reaching his chin.

'See I knew you were good for a chat, I always say you should come to the pub with us.'

He sighed easily. 'Actually I'm banned from our local.'

'You? Nooo, why?!'

'That I think, is a story for another time.'

'What happened, were there cops involved? Ooo I bet I could–'

'Gwen? Are you in there?' Her mother's voice interrupted them through the door and Ianto moved to let her in, standing aside as Gwen turned from questioning him to face her mother who was asking if she was okay. Gwen just smiled beautifully and pulled her into a hug, and Ianto backed out of the room this time, seeing his presence was no longer needed.

In reality he'd only been in there for a few minutes but he felt as if he'd left the room a different person than had entered. He'd been thinking of today as a mini-mission in itself rather than the event it was. Gwen did represent a kind of hope the rest of the Torchwood team had lost somewhere, and it made him want to do everything in his power to see that hope succeed.

Further down the corridor he heard Rhys' voice approaching. It did not sound happy. Ianto turned quickly in the other direction. He was rooting for the couple, but he knew his job well enough to know it probably wasn't going to be that easy.

A/N: I think that adequately covers the, 'angst', portion of our story. Thank you for taking the time to read, if you feel like sparing a few extra seconds for feedback that would be great too.