Ianto and Jack rested naked, tangled in each others' arms on Ianto's bed. Jack was slowly stroking Ianto's chest and placing soft kisses to his shoulder. Jack could not remember the last time he had slept in his bunker. He loved spending his nights in Ianto's bed and found himself able to sleep more than he had in decades. The young man was kind, loyal, and surprisingly funny.

Quietly almost at a whisper Ianto spoke, "I haven't seen my family since before I was taken."

"You have family?"

"Yeah, a sister, she's married and has two kids. We hardly talk. I'm thinking about getting back in touch with her."

"That's a good idea."

"Would you come with me?" Ianto whispered this almost inaudibly. Jack looked at his face and the young man looked incredibly meek and scared.

Jack wrapped his arms around him and pressed a kiss to the side of his head, "Of course." They were both silent then and soon drifted back to sleep.

Shortly after, the rift spat out a small plane bringing with it three people displaced in time. Owen became enamored with the sultry pilot, Diane. Gwen became a big sister to a young teenage girl. Jack saw himself mirrored in the older gentleman, John. He was lost and couldn't find a role for himself in a strange time. When John committed suicide using exhaust fumes, Jack joined him. When Jack resurrected, he took John's body back to the Hub and placed it in the morgue.

Jack then took a long shower trying to get the smell of exhaust fumes and death out of his hair and skin. When he finally emerged and dressed, he went to Ianto's bedroom hoping to find some comfort after such a horrible couple days. However, Ianto was nowhere to be found. His coat and crutches were gone leaving Jack struggling to think of why Ianto would leave the Hub alone. He then groaned as he remembered that this was the day they were supposed to visit his sister. Jack remembered the scared look on Ianto's face as he had asked him and supposed Ianto thought that Jack didn't want to go. Jack couldn't decide if that was worse than the truth that he just plain forgot.

Jack tore out of the Hub but as he sped the SUV toward the neighborhood Ianto mentioned his sister living in, he realized he didn't know the exact address. He didn't even know his sister's last name. He parked on a side street and called Ianto's mobile not knowing exactly what he was going to say. The phone rang several times and went to voicemail. Jack was immediately uneasy. He called Tosh hoping that she wouldn't question why he needed this information. Luckily she was not prying and found Rhiannon's address and phone number.

Jack pulled up outside their building but decided to call before pounding on the door. Rhiannon was irritated that Ianto had never showed up and yelled at Jack for not taking better care of him. Jack wondered just what she knew about their relationship. Jack's fear for Ianto was growing by the second. He then decided he had to trace the GPS on Ianto's mobile and just hope it led to him.

The signal indicated that the phone was only a few blocks away. When Jack reached the spot the signal was originating from, Ianto was not there. Instead there were several sketchy looking young men loitering around. Jack stepped out of the vehicle and approached them while he called Ianto's phone again.

He could hear it ringing and one of the punks spat out, "That pufter's mobile is ringing again. Just fuckin' turn it off."

Jack didn't need to hear anymore. Overcome with rage he ran up to the boy with the phone and punched him so hard the kid flew onto the ground. The others started yelling until Jack pulled out his gun and shouted, "Where is he?"

The ugly one that Jack punched held his bloody nose and shouted back, "Are you daft? I'm callin' the cops."

Jack smacked him over the face with the pistol and yelled again, "Where is he?"

The youngest looking one finally broke and nervously said, "We left him in an alley, a few blocks over." He then shakily handed over Ianto's wallet.

"Is he alive?" Jack growled.

The boys all looked at each other and one answered, "Yeah, probably."

Jack grabbed him by the hair and dragged him in the direction they had pointed, "He better be."

As Jack dragged the boy with the gun pointed in his face, his mates took off running.

Ianto had been waiting for Jack all day. He hated being alone at Christmas but couldn't bring himself to be angry with Jack. He had pushed a relationship and he shouldn't be surprised that Jack wanted nothing to do with his family. Ianto was nervous but he decided he had to do this. He called a taxi, put on his winter coat, and hobbled his way out of the Hub. As he waited for the cab, he pulled his coat closer trying to stop his shivering. Once he was inside the taxi, he could barely make eye contact with the driver and stammered while giving directions.

Once he finally arrived outside Rhiannon's house, he was shaking even worse. The driver put his hand on his shoulder, "You alright, mate?"

Ianto jerked at the sudden contact and just barely answered with a meek, "Yeah."

The driver shook his head and piled back into the cab and drove away. Ianto tried to walk up to the house but couldn't move. He finally turned around and walked for a few blocks trying to gather his thoughts. However, words kept flashing through his mind; words like prolonged strangulation, electrocution, forced penetration, and multiple lacerations. Ianto noticed there was someone following him. He tried moving faster but he could only go so far with his crutches. The figure behind was catching up.

Ianto turned into an alley but his head was swimming and his chest pounding. His vision seemed to narrow and he couldn't focus on anything around him. He heard some voices near him and some loud rustling. There was a flash of movement and Ianto felt a sharp pain in his head as he lost consciousness.

The man Jack was dragging by the hair was now shaking and begging for mercy. Jack growled and pulled harder. Once they turned into the alley, Jack gasped as he saw Ianto's crutches lying on the ground. He looked desperately for Ianto and finally spotted the young man crumbled on the ground motionless. Jack immediately let go of the mugger and rushed to Ianto's side. There was a bleeding wound on his head but he was breathing. Jack called an ambulance and turned to look for the bastard he dragged there but he was long gone.

Jack cradled Ianto's prone figure and rambled tearfully, "I'm so sorry 'Yan. Don't leave me now. I need you."

On the way to the hospital, Jack tried calling Owen but couldn't get through. He left several angry voicemails condemning the doctor for abandoning Ianto. He was sure he'd end up apologizing to the doctor later, but at the moment all he cared about was his young lover.

Ianto woke with another massive headache. He groaned and looked up into Jack's devastated face.

"How long have I been out?"

"A few hours. You have a concussion but the doctors say nothing too serious."

"Who did it?"

"Just some punks. I beat a couple of them up and got back your wallet and phone."

"I was so scared. I realized that it was the first time I had been out of the Hub by myself since I was taken. I couldn't stop thinking about everything that was done to me and I was terrified it would happen again." Ianto was crying slightly and shaking.

Jack grasped Ianto's hand and brought it to his lips, "I should have been there with you. I wish I had some decent excuse but-"

"You don't have to explain. I pushed you into this and I need to learn to be on my own."

"No, Ianto, I do have to explain. It was nothing you did; I just got caught up with my own feelings and forgot. Please understand that I wanted to be there. You're the most important person in my life." Jack cupped Ianto face and kissed him while Ianto, still crying, wrapped his arms around Jack's back.

Owen entered the Hub, hung over and miserable. Not wanting to prolong his torture, he went straight to Jack's office. Jack was seated at his desk reading over some paperwork. He said nothing as Owen entered. Owen shifted his weight and coughed awkwardly.

Finally he just blurted out, "Look, I'm sorry I had my phone off. Do whatever you have to do, but I was caught up in something."

Without looking up from his work, Jack answered, "I understand."

"You do?"

"More than you know. Now go downstairs and take a look at Ianto's head. I don't trust local doctors."

Owen approached Ianto as he was on his knees scrubbing the floor of the med bay. Owen blanched remembering the spilled iodine he was too drunk to clean up.

"How are you feeling?"

Ianto sat back on his heels and smiled at Owen, "Much better. It's just a bump on the head, nothing to worry about."

Owen could tell immediately that Ianto was lying but he just didn't have the energy to pursue it. Ianto looked carefully at the doctor and saw in his eyes deep sorrow and regret. He knew that look well. Ianto stood and put his hand on Owen's shoulder, "What happened with Diane?"

"She left. She wanted to go back so she flew off hoping to go through the rift."

Ianto leaned in and placed a small kiss on Owen's cheek, "I'm so sorry."

"So am I." Owen leant his head against Ianto's shoulder and sighed.