6.

The bar was packed with the Saturday night crowd. People milling about and talking, laughing loudly, kissing in the quiet corners and ignoring Ianto completely. In his hoodie and old jeans, he didn't draw attention at all and that was exactly what he'd wanted to achieve. He looked around but couldn't see the stalker anywhere. He walked around the bar aimlessly, making sure to check every niche and room available to guests but he either wasn't here yet or he'd decided not to meet Ianto after all.

Or, a mean little voice whispered, he's just a delusion and delusions don't meet up with you in bars.

Ianto sat at the counter and ordered a beer, intending to wait for a bit. For what, he wasn't sure.

A man behind him ordered Tequila and then there suddenly was a weight pressing him up against the bar and an arm around his waist, holding him place. For any onlookers, it might have looked like an inappropriate come-on or maybe even a flirt. Ianto tensed and tried to push back but the man had him pinned. "Nice, nice," he purred and Ianto turned his head to see the stalker looking at him. Blue eyes in a roguish face showing a teasing grin. The sandy hair was slicked back with gel and he smelled of aftershave and the leather jacket he was wearing. "You really came, you clever boy."

"Who are you?" Ianto asked softly, scared that he might be heard talking to thin air if he was really imagining all this. But it didn't seem very likely. The body behind him was too solid, the scent too overpowering. Really, if his mind had come up with this guy then it had some weird taste in aftershave.

"The real question is: Who are you?" The man grinned and then leaned even closer, whispering, "If you kiss me, I might just give you some answers."

Ianto turned the chair around to face him. "Are you real?"

"Why don't you find out?" The man licked his lips in anticipation.

Mentally, Ianto pulled a face at the offer of a kiss from someone he didn't even know, but on the outside, he played along. There was a way to find out if this bloke was a mere hallucination. So he smiled … and kneed him in the groin. The man groaned, doubled over and then fell to his knees with a pained moan. A group of women started to laugh hysterically and some men sent the stalker sympathetic looks. Ianto's faked smile turned real, then a relived laugh bubbled out of him, catching him by surprise. The man existed! He really did!

Ianto pulled his mobile from his hoodie pocket and selected Finlay's number, but his thumb suddenly hovered over the call button. Something held him back from dialling.

The stalker got up and leant against the bar. The bartender set a shot of Tequila down and winked at the stalker when he slapped a five pound note on the surface. "This one's on me. For the pain."

The stalker rolled his eyes and downed the Tequila. Then he looked at Ianto and at the mobile in his hand, still waiting for the call button to be pushed. The stalker looked back in Ianto's eyes and something sparkled in his gaze: the knowledge that Ianto wouldn't push the button. "What are you waiting for? Call the cavalry," he teased.

Ianto tilted his head, then he tucked the mobile back into the pocket. "No. I want to hear your story first. And cut to the chase immediately."

The man smiled and leaned closer as to allow them some privacy in this public place. "In a hurry, are we? Fine." He became serious. "I'm looking for somebody. His name's Jack Harkness. You might not remember him-"

"I remember," Ianto said and swallowed. Jack Harkness. The prisoner down in the cells. "But I thought ..." He shook his head and turned away. "You're a hallucination."

"We already proved I'm not," the man answered.

Ianto stared down at the bar, trying to work through this.

"Look," the man said, "there are things that don't make sense to you right now, ain't that right?"

Ianto nodded numbly.

"I can shed some light."

"You haven't even told me your name."

"I shouldn't need to. You know me, Eye Candy." The man grinned. "I'm Captain John Hart. I'd say nice to meet you but we've already met."

Ianto frowned, the nickname 'Eye Candy' somehow ringing a bell, even though not in an entirely good way. "We haven't."

John laughed. "Oh yeah, we have. Everything was a bit different back then. Jack being you leader and such."

Ianto didn't raise his eyes from the bar. In the polished surface, John's face was a distorted mirror image. "Finlay has been our leader since I joined."

"No, he hasn't." John sighed. "Eye Candy, believe me. He hasn't."

Ianto swallowed, staring at John Hart with wide eyes. "I don't know you." But now, with the name in mind and the nickname said twice, the features were becoming more familiar.

John tilted his head. "You can say that all you want but I see that you don't believe yourself there, Eye Candy."

"Don't call me that." Ianto got up from the chair and left the bar. Everything was so confusing, too much, too fast. He tucked his hand back into his hoodie pocket, his fingers closing around the mobile. Rain blew into his face when he left the bar and he blindly headed across the street, down an alley that would lead him home.

John ran after him, sticking to his side. "You know it's true. There's an impersonator in your Hub and he's leading the team."

Ianto walked faster, his fingers tightening their grip. "Finlay's my best friend. He has been for a long time."

"Eye Candy … Ianto!" John grabbed his arm and whirled him around to face him.

And suddenly, a gun was pointing at Ianto's head.

He startled and stepped back, slamming into the wall behind him. John looked at him coldly. "Your friends are bleeding and dying." He grinned. "Going down? Yes, please." He stepped closer and whispered, "Run, Ianto Jones."

Ianto stared at him, breathing heavily. He felt dizzy and there was a noise, a high 'bing', like from an elevator that was closing its doors. He shook his head. "No." He stumbled, his knees not able to hold him up anymore and sunk to the ground. Images were hammering into his mind.

John in the Hub's boardroom, John grinning at him while elevator doors closed, John looking up at the team in surprise and there … Jack Harkness. Grinning triumphantly, looking at John with a mixture of disgust and sadness.

"He's a reminder of my past. I want him gone."

Jack Harkness laughing, flirting, touching Ianto, kissing him … sleeping with him. Jack.

"What are you doing to me?" Ianto sobbed and cradled his head in his hands. It was painful and nauseating and … indescribable.

"I'm sorry," John said and tucked the gun away. "I tried a few key words to jog your memory. Apparently, it worked."

Ianto stared up at him. "It can't be a lie."

"You know that it is, Ianto." John crouched before him. "I came to see Jack, I saw something was wrong and that you were the only one struggling with what the imposter changed … so I ..."

"You picked me to stalk," Ianto whispered.

"I knocked you out to take a blood sample, sorry about that by the way, and didn't find a thing. So … no drugs. Probably some kind of psychic manipulation."

"Why couldn't we see you on the CCTV?" Ianto asked. John pulled his sleeve up and showed Ianto a leather wristband. Vortex Manipulator, his mind supplied and he touched it tentatively. It was frighteningly familiar against his fingertips.

John grinned. "Time Agent gear."

Jack putting an arm around his waist, using the Vortex Manipulator to activate the invisible lift. "Let's go, then."

Something occurred to him and he pressed a hand to his lips. "Oh God!"

Jack cooking dinner in Ianto's flat, them watching the telly, having sex on the couch …

Ianto thought he might get sick. "Samuel ..."

"Your lover?" John asked.

Ianto looked at him, swallowing the bile rising in his throat. "Is he real?"

"He's as real as you and I, but if you're asking if he's really your lover … he's probably just as trapped in this game as we are."

Ianto shook his head, not understanding. "Why?"

"Maybe to keep you quiet."

Ianto wiped his face and tried to pull himself together. It was hard, though. His life was falling apart at the seams and he didn't understand what was real and what wasn't … and even though everything in him screamed that he had no reason to trust this man who called himself John Hart, part of him seemed to be sure that he could. "It's about Jack Harkness."

"What?" John asked with a frown.

"I just know that all this is about him. Something he said-"

John's eyes widened. "You saw him?"

"Yes, in a dream. Which maybe wasn't a dream but a memory. I'm not sure … because … he's gone now, probably not in the Hub anymore. And they think I'm going crazy."

"Because you discovered the truth," John replied. "It makes sense to mark you as insane when the imposter can't keep you under control."

"I have all these memories. How can they be wrong?"

John sighed. "There's technology that allows you to do that or it might something biological. There are alien species who can tamper with your memories and feelings, feeding off fear. There's rumoured to be a bug that can make you think you're living a different life just by forcing you to make one simple decision. It feeds off the energy the alternate timeline evolving in your head gives off. Alright ..." He sighed. "We have to find Jack. If he's not in the Hub, where could he be?"

Ianto shook his head, leaning back against the wall. "I don't know."

"Ianto," John said firmly and took his arms. "You have to help me out now. I know it's hard."

"You have no idea how hard it is."

"I do," John replied earnestly. "Believe me, I saw it happen before. Someone who realized their life was a lie … I saw it happen. But you can beat this, you just have to trust me."

There were so many things speaking against the very notion of trusting this man but … it was the image of Jack Harkness in that cell that convinced Ianto, the sight of someone he didn't know and who seemed so close to his heart at the same time. He took a deep breath and made a decision. "Warehouses."

"What?"

"Torchwood owns warehouses all over the country. Maybe ..."

"You think he could be there."

"We need to go home to my flat. I can access the Torchwood system from there."

"Okay," John said, pulling Ianto along back towards his flat. "Let's do that."