A few of the eagle-eyed among you may notice I've borrowed a field location from Series One for this next chapter. I found the idea of the place fascinating, so I thought I'd play about with it. Much love to all of you who are reading. xxGhostfishxx

Ianto sat forlornly on one of the rocks in Roundstone Wood, eyes trained on the figure before him. He hadn't slept, despite his promise. He'd sat up with Lisa all night, sometimes talking, sometimes silently. She'd told him everything he needed to know and he had made his decision.

So now here he was, had been for about an hour as the sun came up over Cardiff. Ianto knew that he was cold, could see the goosebumps on his bare arms beneath his rumpled t-shirt but couldn't actually feel the chill air in the small forest clearing. He'd not been here for a very long time before today, not since he and Lisa had stumbled across the place on an autumn afternoon while out for a walk. They'd been on a rare holiday together from Torchwood One visiting Ianto's family when they'd decided to kill an afternoon by mucking about in the woods, laughing and chasing each other through the trees. They'd stumbled over hidden branches, pulled each other up again, hidden behind fallen trunks, even splashed through a small brook.

They were out of breath and giggling like children when they'd come across the rough circle of stone. Ianto had known something of the legends about the place and had told Lisa, who had listened in fascination while perched on one of the rocks, wringing water from her jeans.

This rock in fact, the one he sat on now. Ianto felt his heart clench at the memory of how happy he'd been. Content. The memory of her smile as she'd set up her camera to time a picture of them both in the circle, holding his arm and twitching away from him as he tickled her and the camera clicked.

Now all that was left, it seemed, was the shimmering image of Lisa that stood before him without disturbing the crunchy carpet of fallen leaves beneath them. She smiled that familiar smile as he looked at her, unaware of the tears that ran down his face.

The four of them almost tore the flat apart looking for something, some shred of help when Tosh finally stumbled upon the photo. It had been so obviously placed that she mentally kicked herself for not noticing it before, the only touch of sentiment in the small bedroom.

It was on the bedside table in a worn silver frame. It looked like it had been discarded after being looked at many times, lying haphazard on the battered surface of the table. A simple six-by-four shot that Tosh grabbed with both hands and a squeak of triumph.

Jack, Gwen and Owen left their rummaging immediately to join her.

'What? What did you find?' Jack demanded.

Holding up the photo, Tosh swallowed heavily. 'Look familiar?'

They each stared at the photo, the memory still sharp in their minds. It was a snapshot of Ianto and a girl they recognized as a pre-conversion Lisa, both of them standing within a very familiar circle of stones. Ianto looked like he was tickling his then-girlfriend, a grin on his face like they'd never seen as the laughing girl tried half-heartedly to hold him away. The pair were clearly in fits of laughter, a camera on timer capturing the moment in sharp relief.

'Roundstone Wood,' Owen murmured.

Gwen looked at Jack. 'You don't think...not the Faeries again...?'

Jack shook his head, certain. 'No. No, they have what they want for the time being. This has to be something different.'

'Hell of a coincidence though,' Owen pointed out.

'Do you think he's there now?' Tosh asked, staring at the picture.

'But why?' Tosh asked nobody in particular. 'What would he go there for? I know he's been down recently, but this photo is very old now. Look at his hair, it's not been like that for ages. Not since-'

'Not since he was happy?' Gwen finished for her.

The team looked guiltily at each other, all acknowledging the fact that they had known the Welshman wasn't quite himself, but none of them had asked.

'And he's not happy, is he?' Tosh said, biting her bottom lip. 'I should have said something.'

'Well, we can do the guilt trips later,' Jack interrupted, masking his own remorse. 'Right now it's priority one that we find him.' Grabbing the photo and examining it one last time, there was a brief flash of...something on his face. Gwen couldn't quite read it, it was gone so quickly. Then they were hurrying back to the SUV, Tosh already bringing up directions to Roundstone Wood. Only a couple of miles from the flat, they were there in minutes thanks to the usual reckless driving style of the Captain.

You don't have to do this Ianto, it's up to you.

Ianto blinked at the apparition in front of him. 'What do you want?'

You know the answer to that. You always knew.

The sobs that had been threatening came forth, causing Ianto to choke out a gasp, hands lying limp in his lap. Roundstone Wood was quiet at this time of day, his voice the only definite sound as the morning sun filtered through the trees and playing lightly across the pattern of fallen leaves. Lisa didn't disturb them at all as she moved closer, kneeling down in front of Ianto.

I want you, Ianto Jones. I want to be with you again. You can join us today, now. Join me again. Be happy again.

'Will it take long?' Ianto asked quietly. He knew what he had to do, had talked about it through the night, the logistics, different ways. It was Lisa herself who had suggested the eroding stone circle as the place to do it. The connection between here and the other side was stronger than in most places, she said, would make it easier. As easy as death could be, anyway.

The thought of it was not as unappealing as he'd imagined it would be. What did he have to stay for after all? What did he have left in the world now? Lisa was gone. Torchwood would most likely barely notice he was gone. After all, they didn't notice when he actually was there. So what else remained for him now?

With a sigh, Ianto dropped his head into his numb hands. Question was, could he do it? He'd done an awful lot of things he never thought he'd be capable of doing. Crawling through the fires of the burning Torchwood One building, keeping Lisa alive. Endangering the lives of those he worked with to keep Lisa with him. Throwing himself headfirst at an insane man intent on killing him for no reason other than his own pleasure. Was this any worse? Lisa and the others looked happy enough, and they wanted to be near him so much that they had come all the way back from whatever lay beyond this life just to see him. Would death really provide him with the peace he so desperately craved?

The hard metal shape of his gun tucked into the back of his jeans was suddenly all he could think about. That, and the thought of being with Lisa again. If what she said was true he could finally leave it all behind, everything that he despised about this empty life, everything that had hurt him.

God, how it hurt. He'd never felt a pain like it when he'd seen Lisa lying dead on the cold floor of the Hub, still and covered in blood. It had been as if everything inside him that he'd kept going merely through hope over the months leading up to that day had gone into shutdown. He had no emotions left that weren't ragged and overused. Even punching Jack square in the mouth hadn't helped for more than a second, for venting his anger did not change anything. Ianto was still alone.

There'd been Jack after that, of course. A man he hated, but one who could still fascinate Ianto on a level he couldn't quite understand. He'd sort of enjoyed the innuendo, the flirting. And when Jack had come back from the dead after Abbadon, that kiss had meant everything to Ianto. He was so close, so close to feeling like he was wanted again.

That had lasted all of ten minutes before Jack had gone, demonstrating exactly how little they meant to him, all of them. That had been the turning point, convincing Ianto that trusting people was utterly pointless. They all left. Everyone left and Ianto was alone. Again.

You don't have to be alone now, Ianto, Lisa said. Ianto had gotten quite used to her seemingly reading his mind, no longer questioned it, and when he looked up at her she was still smiling gently at him.

Ianto looked up again, the tears now stopping but his face still we. They were all here now. Suzie was standing a few feet away, looking more content than he'd ever seen her in life. She'd seemed more at peace whenever he talked to her, never discussing wherever it was that she inhabited now but still seemingly contented. Eugene. Grinning at Ianto, hands in pockets. His brother Euan standing by Eugene. The pair turned to each other and smiled, the first time Ianto had seen an acknowledgment by the ghosts of each others' presence.

You think you're not wanted, Ianto, but you are. Maybe not here but we're waiting for you, Suzie said.

Swallowing thickly, Ianto nodded, pulling the gun from his waistband.