IX. Even though the future seems far away, it is actually beginning right now. ~Mattie Stepanek

The first thing Ianto did when he materialized in the 51st century was turn around, fold over, and vomit. Jack had not been exaggerating when he'd said that traveling thousands of years forward was completely different from jumping an hour or two back, though Ianto had no idea why. He felt like he had been ripped apart atom by atom, then haphazardly stitched back together by a drunken tailor with a broken needle. His skin prickled, his head ached, his heart was racing, and everything he'd had for dinner came right back up as his body tried to adjust to the indescribable sensation of traveling through time and space.

He was dimly aware of Tahlia chuckling behind him and wanted to begrudge her for it, but she had warned him, so he should have been expecting to lose both his dinner and his dignity. Still, it rankled that she was perfectly fine while he was pale and sweating as he stood to take in their surroundings.

They were standing in some sort of alcove, one of many along a short corridor that was crowded and dimly lit. The sight was overwhelming: dozens of aliens hurried back and forth, strange beings of all shapes, sizes, and colors, with any number of heads, eyes, arms, and legs. Ianto recognized a few from his work at Torchwood, though most looked like something from a bad science fiction serial. There were just as many humans as aliens, however. For some reason, that made Ianto more comfortable, to see that the human race had survived the next three thousand years and made it to the stars. He had heard much from Jack, of course, but now he was seeing it, living it. Knowing humanity persevered filled him with a small spark of hope, that Torchwood was doing the right thing when so many times it seemed to go wrong.

Well aware that he was staring, Ianto wiped his face with the sleeve of his shirt and closed his gaping mouth, trying to ignore the stale taste of vomit. He concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other even though his body did not feel anything like it had moments ago and was not cooperating with him particularly well.

"Take one of Owen's pills," said Tahlia, linking her arm with his and steadying him as they stepped out of the alcove and joined the crowd heading toward a large set of double doors at the end of the corridor. "Now that it won't come back up, it'll help with any residual nausea from the jump."

Ianto didn't trust himself to speak and nodded in response, digging the doctor's bag out of his pocket and popping one dry. By then they had joined the queue at the doors. There was sign above them in several languages, none of which Ianto recognized except, thankfully, his own. So English had moved out to the stars as well; another comforting thought.

Tahlia was silent until they came to the doors and were stopped by a large alien with a head that looked remarkably like a rhinoceros.

"The Judoon are bouncers too?" Ianto murmured, recognizing the interplanetary police from both Torchwood files and personal experience. Tahlia produced a small plastic card from her wrist strap, the Judoon scanned it, and they were allowed inside. Ianto wondered if it was some sort of intergalactic credit card. She said something about the Judoon, but whatever she said was lost as Ianto was struck speechless by the sight before him.

The Blue Moon was enormous. Easily the size of two rugby pitches, it was a perfect circle in shape. Everything was made from a deep, dark wood: the floors, the walls, the tables and chairs. The wall stopped about ten feet up, with a glowing blue rail providing ambient light throughout. After that, the wall became a completely clear dome that rose tens of feet above him, showcasing the vast realm of outer space in all its dark, infinite splendor.

If Ianto hadn't taken one of Owen's pills, he was fairly sure he would have retched again; he was grateful to the doctor for thinking of such a small but important detail.

It was stunning. It was terrifying. It was glorious. The black sky above them burned with thousands of stars, but it was not the tiny pinpricks of light that drew Ianto's wide-eyed gaze. On the horizon hung the crescent shape of a very large, very close, and very blue moon. Directly above him swirled the dizzying arms of a spiral galaxy. And to his right, far away yet seemingly so close, twisted the multicolored clouds of a nebula more spectacular than any photographs Ianto had ever seen on Earth.

Beside him, Tahlia let go of his arm and grasped his left hand, squeezing his fingers to catch his eye. He turned to find her watching him with a fond grin, and he wondered how many people had the same reaction, or if it was just a common, everyday sight in the 46th century, this wonder of deep space laid bare above him.

"Told you it was a good view," she said, pulling him toward the perimeter of the dome. The center was taken up by a circular bar, made of the same dark wood as the rest of the room, while the edges were dotted by doors interspersed with tables, chairs, and an occasional colorful sofa. The large open space in between was about half full, and they dodged the aliens wandering about the tables spread throughout, until Tahlia pressed him down onto a comfortable chair along the edge of the dome.

"It's spectacular," Ianto breathed, finding his voice and glancing up once more. "I…I don't even know what to say."

"You can thank me later," she said with a wink. "I'm going to get us something to drink while we wait. It'll help you feel better."

"I feel…" Ianto paused, staring at the dome. "I feel small. Incredibly small."

Tahlia laughed. "I doubt you're that, Ianto Jones. I'll be right back. Don't get into trouble."

Ianto nodded, still entranced by the sights around him even though he knew he had to pull it together. They were there for a reason, not to gawp at the sights like a dumb tourist. Shaking himself back to reality in order to focus on what he was there for, Ianto closed his eyes and took several calming breaths. When he opened them, it was to find himself face to face with a tall humanoid figure that had strikingly blue skin dotted with what appeared to be large green freckles. It was crouching before him, close enough for their knees to touch, and Ianto felt a flare of panic as the alien leaned closer until they were nose to nose. He wasn't sure whether he was about to be kissed or killed.

"You are not from this time, human," said the alien, its voice dry and paper thin. Ianto was surprised to find he understood it; he had expected to be aurally assaulted by dozens of alien languages in the future.

"Not exactly," he started, but was saved when Tahlia returned with two large glasses of what he hoped was something strong, because he needed it. Then again, he needed his wits about him more than a shot of alien alcohol, so water would probably be best, although alien coffee could be interesting.

"He's with me, Illia," said Tahlia. Ianto wasn't sure whether his companion was amused or annoyed by the alien who had accosted him. The creature stood and inclined its head to Tahlia.

"My apologies, Time Agent. I should have realized. I will leave you." The blue-skinned creature bowed and left them, avoiding their eyes. Ianto watched it leave, curious now that the initial rush of panicked adrenaline had subsided.

"Would it have hurt me?" he asked. Tahlia shook her head as she sat down across from him and handed him a glass.

"No, she wouldn't have hurt you," said Tahlia. "Silts are just nosy. They're time sensitive and fancy themselves as some sort of temporal police."

"Like the Time Agency?" asked Ianto, watching warily as Tahlia sipped her glass. She rolled her eyes when she noticed his hesitation.

"It's just mineral water, Ianto. Go ahead and drink it. Stay hydrated."

"Right," he murmured. He sipped at the cool drink and found it was indeed water, but water with a kick, far more pungent and strong and clean tasting than any bottled water he had tried on Earth. "Wait, am I drinking water from another planet?"

"Of course you are," she replied with a laugh. "And to answer your other question, no the Silts are not like the Time Agency at all. They are relatively primitive and simple, they just want to be involved more than their ability allows for."

Ianto thought about asking more, but decided against it. Again, there were more important things to focus on than blue aliens.

"So when are we?" he asked. "Besides the obvious. How long until Hart arrives?"

Tahlia glanced at her wrist. "We're about thirty minutes early, by your time standards. We can sit and wait while you get your space legs under you, so to speak."

"We're not on a ship," Ianto pointed out.

"No, but have you even been off-planet before?" When he shook his head, Tahlia patted him on the leg. "You're taking it well, then. Drink up and ask me anything."

They talked about the bar and the various aliens surrounding them until they had both finished their drinks. "I'll get us another," she said, motioning at a large alien with feathers moving between the tables. "John should be here soon."

"Brilliant," murmured Ianto as Tahlia talked with the yellow bird. He leaned back and was startled by a sound beside him.

"Eye Candy!" drawled a cocky voice he'd recognize anywhere. "Imagine finding you here."

Ianto froze, then stood up as slowly and deliberately as he could. He schooled his features into an unreadable mask, earning a cocked eyebrow from Hart. "John Hart," he finally replied.

"That's Captain John Hart to you. Miss me so much you came to visit, then?"

Ianto answered with a wicked smirk that caused Hart to step back. "Not really," he said, and let loose his balled fist, right into John Hart's jaw.

"Bloody hell, Eye Candy, that hurt!" exclaimed Hart, hand to his jaw. Ianto felt a twinge of guilty pleasure as Hart spit blood onto the floor; it almost made up for the sore knuckles.

"Good," he said, nodding as Tahlia rolled her eyes from across the table. He did not apologize to either of them. "You deserve it."

"Oh, maybe I like it. You and Jack start to play rough yet?" asked John. He worked his jaw a bit and raised an arrogant eyebrow. "Because I could go for that kind of threesome."

Ianto had already had it; the man knew exactly how to quickly infuriate a person. He lunged forward, grabbed John around the neck of his dirty red jacket, and slammed him against the wall behind them as he rammed his gun into John's chin. "Could you really?" he asked, the anger he felt over this man's betrayal bursting to the surface. "Because I could go for something like this."

"Ianto." Tahlia stood and placed a cautionary hand on his arm. Out of the corner of his eye, Ianto saw a Judoon start to move toward them. He shaking as he stared at John, so tempted to put a bullet in him. God, how he hated the man at that moment. Yet he forced himself to stand down, shoving Hart away before they caused a scene. Unfortunately they needed John Hart to find Parker Douglas. The irony burned, that they needed the help of the same man who had enabled it all to happen.

"Much better," murmured John, straightening his clothing with as much dignity as he could. "Not even sure what that was for, to be honest."

Ianto glared at him. "You sold him out," he snapped. "Jack might die because you gave up his secret."

Hart shrugged. "Jack can't die. I saw it myself. I tried it myself. He'll bounce back."

Ianto surged forward again, but Tahlia stopped him. "John, Parker Douglas found a way. I wasn't in time to warn Jack."

"He's dying," Ianto ground out. "And it's your fault."

"I didn't touch him—"

"We know," Tahlia interrupted his protest. "But we still need your help, John."

"With what?" Despite Hart's tone of indifference, Ianto could clearly see that the man was rattled. "I don't know anything more than when I saw you two hours ago. Not sure why I came back, actually."

She raised an eyebrow in challenge. "You had a cut on your temple when I last saw you, and it's healed. So you've been gone for more than two hours. You said you were going to try to stop Douglas, but obviously you didn't because he's shot Jack. That's why you came back."

John sighed as he glanced back and forth between them. Then he seemed to give in, pulling up the nearest chair and collapsing into it as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Fine, fine. Got anything to drink? I could use a stiff one right now—maybe ten or twelve."

Ianto snorted as Tahlia motioned to the feathered server moving between the tables. John ordered something that sounded absolutely horrendous, then fell silent. No one spoke until all three of their drinks appeared from a hole in the center of the table. Hart downed his in one shot before placing it back in the center and pressing a button that Ianto suspected meant 'refill.'

"You should know, Eye Candy," Hart finally began, "that I didn't mean to give up Jack's secret. At least, not if I'd known Douglas was going to go after him."

"You not only told him about Jack's immortality, you told him where to find us!" Ianto exclaimed. "How could you do that to him?"

"I was angry, all right?" said John, voice pitched defensively. "Don't know how long it's been for you lot, but I just left your dreary little city a few weeks ago. Or rather, you kicked me off what could have been a decent planet to shag my way around."

"Of course we kicked you off," said Ianto. "You killed Jack. You shot Owen, attacked Tosh, and poisoned Gwen."

Hart's eyes glanced into the distance, as if remembering. "Yeah, that was brilliant, if I do say so myself." Another glass appeared in the center of the table, and Hart downed a second shot of whatever he had ordered; it must have been foul, because Tahlia was staring at him with a look of disgust on her face. "Except for the bomb that attached itself to my chest, of course."

"That was brilliant, if I do say so myself," Ianto murmured.

"Still got that stopwatch?" asked John. He put down his glass and was about to request another when Ianto sat down across from him and grabbed the man's slim wrist.

"If I did," he said, his voice low and threatening, "I would time how long it takes you to tell us everything you know about Parker Douglas."

"All right, all right," said John, wrenching his wrist away and holding his hands up as if in surrender. "You are so intense, Eye Candy. Just like the first time we met."

"I have a name," said Ianto. "Use it."

"In bed, maybe," John replied with a dirty wink. "Or does Jack not share anymore? It was fairly obvious something was going on last I saw you, but how long has it been for you since you kicked me out?"

Ianto narrowed his eyes, taking his time to answer. "Eight months," he replied.

"You with Jack then?" asked John. "Or does he still not do long-term?" Ianto suspected the other man was trying to put on a casual air, but the tone of his voice gave it away; John Hart cared more than he was letting on. Ianto let a dangerous little smile creep over his face. He leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest.

"It's none of your business, but yes," said Ianto, leaving it at that. "And I don't share."

"Too bad," John murmured, eyeing him with a leer. "Because I could show you things Jack never dreamed of."

"Not interested," said Ianto. "I'm here to save Jack, not slag off with his psychotic ex-partner."

"I'm not psychotic," John started, but Ianto slammed his hand down on the table, gratified to see the other man jump in surprise.

"No, you're a bloody traitor!" he shouted, earning the annoyed looks of several nearby tables. He lowered his voice and leaned forward over the table into Hart's personal space. "You betrayed Jack to someone very dangerous, and now he's dying. Tell me what you said to Parker Douglas."

John's eyes flickered from Ianto to Tahlia and back. Once again he sighed. "Look, Eye Candy, I didn't mean to betray him. You make it sound like some sort of epic tragedy when you put it that way. I didn't even realize his little trick was such a big secret."

"You think he goes around advertising the fact that he can't die?" Ianto asked, a note of incredulous skepticism in his voice.

John shrugged. "Don't see why not."

Ianto felt like he was dealing with a complete imbecile. He took a deep breath to remain calm. Could Hart really be that ignorant and stupid? How could he not see that Jack's secret put Jack in danger–not from death, but from people who would exploit his inability to die? "I'm not even going to bother explaining it. Tell me what you told Parker Douglas, and everything else you know about him."

"Right." John studied him for a long time. "What if I only told you in bed? Take me up on it?"

Ianto casually reached in the pocket of his waistcoat and pulled out the small blade he had hidden there. Offering John another small smile, he unexpectedly leaned over and grabbed him by the chin with one hand, bringing the knife up to John's throat with the other.

"Stop trying to get into my pants and tell me what I need to know, or I will cut it out of you. Slowly."

John slapped the knife away and twisted his head, and Ianto let him, because he had seen the look of surprised defeat in John's eyes. He settled down and watched.

"You're something else, Eye Candy. Fine. I'll tell you what you want to know. But I don't know how it will help you save Jack."

"Then you'll help us figure something out," said Ianto.

"Not sure why I should when you keep threatening me with bodily harm without any bodily reward," said John, sounding petulant. Ianto swore, put his hand to his gun, and was just about the shoot the man in the kneecap when Tahlia finally stepped in.

"Stop it, both you you," she snapped. "This isn't helping Jack at all, this ridiculous pissing contest. John, I know you, and I know you want to help Jack. Otherwise you wouldn't have gone after Parker Douglas last time I saw you. Just talk to us. For Jack."

John glared at Ianto, who glared right back. "For Jack, because yes, I screwed up. I ran into Parker Douglas a few hours ago here at the bar, a few days ago now for me. He'd been out of prison for a month or so, I think, and said he was looking for information on what he'd missed while he was freezing his balls off on Volag-Noc."

John clasped his hands in front of him, his voice turning more serious. "He wouldn't tell me how he'd acquired a manipulator, which should have been a give away, but I was already half drunk and sniffing shimmerdust, so the thought that maybe he'd gone crazy and killed someone for it barely came and went. He bought some more drinks, we got a private room and did another hit of dust, and we talked." John shrugged. "There was a lot to fill him in on, twenty-five years in hell leaves a lot to catch up with. He wanted to know about all sorts of things—the Time Agency, the general political climate, science, history, me, and of course, Jack."

"And it didn't occur to you that he might be asking about Jack for the wrong reasons?" asked Ianto. To his surprise, John shook his head.

"It didn't. He honestly seemed stable enough. I might have said something about my former partner being a self-righteous prick, but he defended Jack, said Jack was just doing his job. He played me. Because that's when he asked about finding Jack, hoping to talk to him. He said he wanted to put his demons to rest. I believed him, he sounded like he truly regretted what he had done and wanted to forgive Jack. I didn't realize he wanted to kill Jack and put his demons to rest permanently."

"You really are a bloody moron, aren't you?" murmured Ianto. "So that's when you let slip about Jack's immortality?"

"Yeah, told him how I'd just left Jack and his perfect little team back on Earth in the early 21st century. Might have ranted a bit about your pretentious base, your stupid car, that bloody coat." John pretended to shudder. "God, that coat. Awful waste of a great arse."

"If you knew Jack, you'd know the coat suits him perfectly," Ianto snapped. "But you don't know him, and you sold him out. Did Douglas say anything about what he was going to do to Jack?"

"Not until the end, no," said John. He glanced at Tahlia before continuing. "He must have slipped me some sort of knock-out drug, because he sat with me, spinning more lies, until I started to fade. When he stood to leave, he whispered in my ear, thanking me for the information because now he could have his revenge. And then he slammed my head into the table."

"That's what clued you in, then? After it was too late?" Ianto asked, dripping sarcasm.

"Bit of a dead give away, yeah," said John. "You know, usually I admire a man who goes all out for a bit of revenge. I realized quick enough that Jack might actually be in danger, only I was practically unconscious at that point and couldn't do anything about it. When I came to, I ran into Tahlia almost immediately and sent her back to warn Jack."

"And you went after Parker," said Tahlia, joining the conversation once again.

"I tried to. I worked the room, tried to get as much intel as I could, followed a lead or two." John made a grand gesture around the bar and then put down his hands. "That's where I am right now, following up on something I heard. I came back for three days, tracking down every lead I could, but I found nothing."

"So you don't know where Douglas is or what he was planning to do?" asked Ianto.

"Not a clue, Eye Candy. That's all I know." Hart gave an Ianto a shrewd look. "But maybe if you tell me what's happened in the past, I can still help."

Ianto exchanged a glance with Tahlia. He wasn't sure whether to trust John Hart with that sort of information and sensed she might know better. She nodded, apparently confident that it was the right thing to do, so Ianto sighed and told Hart everything that had happened in Cardiff.

John gave a low whistle when Ianto had finished. "Hell of a story. Could be a vortex gun, but those won't be invented for a few hundred years. Which means your man probably went into the future to get what he needed, just like you." John leaned back, fingers laced behind his head and a thoughtful look on his face.

Ianto rubbed his hand at the back of his neck as he swore. He'd hoped for answers, but had nothing except more questions. They needed Parker Douglas, but he could be anywhere in space and time. It was lucky enough that they had found John; without a stronger connection to Parker Douglas, there seemed to be no way to find him in the future.

John was watching the doorway, eyes narrowed, when he grinned and stood up to leave. Ianto followed suit, unwilling to let the man out of their sight before he'd proven useful, but Hart held up a hand and stopped him.

"Relax, Eye Candy. I'm not bailing on you. I need to talk to someone who just walked in. I'll be back in a few minutes."

He sauntered across the room toward the door, where a rather large and colorful man had some sort of feline humanoid draped across his arm. John linked elbows with the man's other arm and guided him to a table, ignoring the mewled protests of the feline. Ianto watched them, his nerves on edge.

"Can we trust him?" he asked Tahlia, who was also following John closely. She shrugged.

"Sometimes," she replied. "Depends on the day, depends on the drink." She offered Ianto a wan smile. "I think he'll help us as best as he can, though. He was quite close to Jack when they were partners."

"So I've heard," Ianto murmured, still watching John Hart closely.

"I think John wanted more than Jack," she said, her eyes now on Ianto instead. "And don't forget, Jack has had over a hundred years to get over John; for John, it's been far less time since Jack left the Time Agency and struck out on his own."

"I know," said Ianto, nodding but not looking her in the face. "Jack's told me. Still doesn't mean Hart is trustworthy."

Tahlia patted his leg again. "Not if he's trying to sell you something, no." Ianto snorted and was about to say more, but at that moment John stood and came sauntering back. He grabbed a drink from a nearby server, who squawked in annoyance, and then sat down next to Ianto, throwing his arm around Ianto's shoulder.

"Piece of cake," he announced. "As long as you're in the right place at the right time, know the right people, and ask the right questions."

"What did you find out?" asked Tahlia. Ianto extricated himself from John's arm.

"Douglas was here a month from now…or he will be. Damn, years with the Time Agency and I still can't get my temporal vocabulary straight." He slammed down the rest of his drink. "Our friend over there is addicted to time-jumping. Yesterday he saw Douglas a month from now, said he looked smug the minute he walked in. He went into a private room and didn't come out."

"What do you mean, didn't come out?" Ianto asked, his voice sharp.

Hart shrugged. "Don't know. Either our friend missed it—could have been pissed—or Douglas didn't come out alive."

"Couldn't he just transport out?" asked Ianto.

"It's not allowed in the main areas of the bar," Tahlia replied. "They've got shields up to prevent it. It's their attempt to curb some of the more…questionable activities around here."

Hart snorted. "Questionable doesn't even begin to describe it, gorgeous. And there are always ways around that sort of thing. Anyway, Douglas will be here a month from now, so we just need to go then and wait for him."

He stood up and grinned. "Coming, Eye Candy? You can ride with me this time."

Ianto let his eyes flutter closed as he suppressed a groan. It looked like they were traveling even further into the future. He wasn't looking forward to another jump, but they needed Parker Douglas, and Ianto would do whatever he needed to do to save Jack.

Even work with John Hart.


Author's Note

Many, many thanks to Tamaar for polishing this chapter and listening to me go on and on about this story. She's helped me iron out so many details I wouldn't have made it this far without her! I'd be stuck wrestling with the complexities of time travel and temporal vocabulary. Hope it was worth the wait. John Hart is a bastard but he is quite fun to write!