Author's Notes: Nope, this story hasn't been abandoned. I just got sidetracked by a few things (coughCaptainAmerica:TheWinterSoldiercough). That, and I couldn't figure out how I wanted to start this chapter. Oh yes, and I can't forget my summer hours at work. I love my job, have I mentioned that lately? I really do. Since we're in the summer months, we were given the option of flex hours … working nine hours on Monday through Thursday, and then working half a day on Friday. I'm taking advantage of that opportunity, and it's working out great. But enough of that … onto the story. In this chapter, Francine is reunited with half of her family; Jack and Alice begin working out the best way to deal with Thames House (including the potential civilian fatalities); while Ianto and Esther have some cuddle time. This chapter will be a bit shorter than usual … I wanted to pick up the next chapter when they reach London, so instead of adding a third section (and point of view), I decided to end it here.

Chapter Four

Spoken Promises

Cardiff, Wales

That Night

He slipped out of bed, letting Ianto and Esther sleep. They desperately needed it, and he … he needed to get back to work. Too much depended on what he did in the next few hours. Besides, he'd slept for almost six hours, and that was more than enough for him. His first order of business was to check on Francine, since he knew something was going on there. But as Jack Harkness opened the bedroom door and slipped into the main part of the safe house, the front door was opening and closing, and a very shaken Francine Jones was entering the house. They stared at each other for several moments … Francine staring at him as if she'd never seen him before, and Jack staring back, trying to figure out what happened to her. And then she rushed across the room, enveloping him in the fiercest hug he'd ever received from her. Jack's arms closed around her, holding her close and feeling her tremble against his body.

Slowly at first, she explained what happened, but the more she talked, the more the words spilled out of her … the texts from their mysterious opponent, realizing that her car was rigged, finding Andy Davidson to get as many of the businesses evacuated as possible, and the explosion that had her life flashing before her eyes. Jack closed his eyes, holding her tightly, as she whispered into his shirt, "They didn't care about the collateral damage, Jack. Not when they put that bomb inside you, and not when they blew up my car. They're monsters just like the 456, maybe even worse, and they have to be stopped."

He spoke for the first time, murmuring, "I'm guessing that means I can't talk you into going home to your family?" Jack muffled a yelp against Francine's hair as she swatted his butt, but grinned, adding softly, "Well, it was worth a shot." Francine's hand moved back up to his back, giving Jack the sense that if it were up to her, she'd never let go … and that it was as much for her own sake as for his. That was fine. In fact, it was more than fine. If it was up to him, he'd never let go, either. But it wasn't up to him.

"You foolish, foolish boy … when will you learn? You are family. You always will be, do you understand? You're my child in all the ways that matter, you're my son, and I love you," Francine whispered fiercely, fingers curling around his braces. Jack swallowed hard, because there wasn't much he could say to that, other than 'thank you' and 'I love you, too.' His own mother was long gone and not yet born. He wondered how Gray would feel about having a new adoptive mother, and as if Francine could suddenly hear his thoughts, she added, "And don't think I don't already consider baby Devin to by my grandson in all the ways that matter. I do."

"I don't deserve you," Jack told the woman softly, barely biting back another yelp as Francine swatted his butt yet again. It seemed she was taking this business about being his mother seriously. Then again, she always had, even when they were on the Valiant. Jack kissed the top of her head, asking softly, "Are you all right? Will you be all right?" Francine's arms once more tightened around his waist, and Jack had the sense that she was slowly regaining her composure and every time her embrace tightened, she was one step closer to reclaiming the formidable woman whom Jack knew and treasured.

"I will be. I will be. The others, are they asleep?" she asked and Jack hummed an assent. Francine continued, "Good. They need their rest. Worrying about someone you love takes a lot out of you. But you should still be resting … worrying takes a lot of energy, but you've been through a terrible ordeal today, Jack. I don't suppose you would listen if I told you that you should go back to bed and get some more rest?" Jack pulled back to look at his self-chosen mother and slowly shook his head. The woman sighed, before adding, "Very well. If I could stay up with you, I would, but I feel a bit unsteady."

"Then get some sleep, Francine … I can stay up with Dad, if you don't mind staying with Steven. I just checked on Ianto and Esther, Dad, and they're both still sound asleep. She's right about how worried they've been about you, how worried we've all been," Alice said softly. She stood in the doorway of her room, arms folded over her chest. Francine hugged Jack once more, kissing his cheek at the same time, before heading for the room from which Alice just emerged. As she passed Jack's daughter, she hugged her as well. Alice returned the hug, whispering something that made Francine smile. Then the door closed behind Francine, and Alice turned to face Jack, asking, "So? What's our first move?"

He could have reassured her, telling her that everything was fine and she should get more sleep. But Jack found that he wanted his daughter's company, the memories of that other reality so painfully fresh when it came to his relationship with Alice. And so, instead, he told her, "Our first move is to figure out what's going on in London. Gray and Tosh are coordinating from there, I know, but I'm more worried about what's going on in Thames House. I need to see if there have been any modifications to the building in the last few days. In my other set of memories, that was where the first confrontation with the 456 took place for Torchwood."

Alice's mouth formed a grim line, but she said, "All right, we'll start there. And Dad? We won't let it end the same way. There's no way I'm losing you or Steve. It's just not going to happen." Jack could only smile sadly at his beautiful daughter as they settled at the table in front of the laptop. Alice put her hand on his cheek, drawing his attention, as she repeated forcefully, "It won't happen, I won't let it. We went through hell to find each other again, there is no way a group of government flunkies or alien drug dealers will take either of you from me. Got it?"

Stated that way, Jack couldn't argue with his daughter and could only say, "Got it. We've got a lot of work to do, then." With those words, he began checking the sites which Rhys gave him. The husband of his second-in-command briefed him on what to look for, with regards to the haulage business, and there would be significant haulage involved with the kind of construction/additions to Thames House that would be going on. He smiled to himself, remembering his conversation with Rhys when he was given that information … specifically, when he thanked Rhys for the information in question. The other man's ears reddened as he replied, 'bloody hell, Jack … that's what you do for family.' When Jack questioned that, Rhys glowered at him, adding, 'you know damn good and well that you're family. If you hadn't already been giving Suzie away, you would have been … well, not best man, but somethin' important at our wedding!' All right then.

TWTWTWTWTWTWTWTW

He only thought they were still asleep … and Ianto let him think that. He could sense how restless Jack was getting and knew that the immortal member of their triad needed to be up and working and figuring out how he was going to get them out of this. What he hadn't known (which was funny, because he claimed more than once to know everything) was that the female member of their threesome was also awake. That was even more mortifying, because the shift in her breathing should have alerted him to that. It didn't. Instead, her soft voice did as she whispered, "He's making sure that you don't accompany him to Thames House, isn't he?"

Ianto twitched, ever so slightly, and Esther added with barely hidden amusement, "Didn't know I was awake, hm? Don't worry, I won't tell anyone that you don't really know everything." She squeaked as Ianto reached down and pinched her in retaliation. Of course, that didn't stop her from adding cheekily, "Pinch away, sweetie … all you're doing is convincing me that I should tell Owen or Suzie. Or maybe Gray." Ianto's eyes narrowed. Oooh, now she was playing dirty! Didn't she know by now that he could always play dirtier than her? Maybe it was time he reminded her. With a wicked grin, Ianto rolled to one side, taking Esther with him. Fortunately, she bit back another squeak … and then she didn't have to, because Ianto was kissing her.

It was a move Jack taught him once when Ianto wouldn't talk to him, just turned away from him. It was bad enough, looking back, that he was behaving like a pouting child … no, things were infinitely worse when he actually told Jack what was bothering him, he realized that he completely misrepresented Jack's words. There was a flash of hurt in the beautiful eyes, one that Jack was unable to completely hide. Or maybe Ianto was just getting better at paying attention to the immortal captain's expressions.

And now, that move was being utilized not to 'encourage conversation,' but to allow Ianto to pin Esther to the bed. As her body became pliant under his, and as she returned his kisses, Ianto struck … he knew by now where her most sensitive spots, fingers dancing across the skin he knew to be the most ticklish. Esther squirmed under him, her kisses becoming more frantic as she tried to move away from his fingers. But Ianto was relentless, and when she breathed, 'uncle' against his mouth, the tickling turned to caresses.

They lay there together in silence, Ianto now feathering kisses along Esther's hair, and she said softly, repeating her words from a few minutes ago, "He's working out ways to keep us out of Thames House, isn't he? Even if he goes in there alone, where the other monsters can get him if he dies, he's going to do this alone." There was a quiet resignation in Esther's voice that hurt Ianto's heart to hear. She hated watching Jack die, just as he did, but where Ianto feared that one day he would run out of juice, something else troubled Esther … something she wouldn't share with him or with Jack.

"Not even promising that I would stay with you helped," Ianto confirmed as he slid back to Esther's side, resting his hand against their child, who was still no bigger than a peanut. Maybe a little bigger. Esther sighed and nestled closer to him, and Ianto murmured, "I wish I knew what happened, knew why he saw so many things that were real, and so many things that were distorted." Esther hummed under her breath and rested her own hand over his. He continued, curling his body around hers protectively, "I'm not sure it actually matters. At the very least, we get a warning of what's to come, and Owen is still looking at possible ways to destroy the 456 without using any children."

"He still has the tests he ran when I was turned into a toddler … do you think that will help?" Esther inquired. In truth, Ianto thought that would be the most likely source of a solution. But there was always the possibility that wouldn't work, which was why Ianto started looking at other possibilities. He shied away from using those possibilities, but he wasn't the one who had to make the final decision. Not for the first time, Ianto was beyond grateful that it wasn't him to make those decisions. He saw what giving Jasmine to the fairies did to Jack … not just the backlash from Tosh, Owen and Alice, but the toll it took on his captain.

They still hadn't told Esther about that, and he knew if Jack had his way, they never would. It wasn't a matter of not trusting Esther. Rather, it was the immortal's view that it was over, it was done, and everyone involved learned something. Ianto wasn't sure if he wanted to know what Jack learned. He had the uneasy sensation that it would break his heart. Regardless, Ianto respected Jack's request to leave the past in the past. God knew the man should be able to leave one thing in the past, given the way his past turned up every so often. Not just Gray, who was now here pretty much permanently, but Aaron, John Hart, the Doctor … well. Suffice it to say, Jack had a great deal of past to come back.

He said softly, once he realized that Esther was still waiting to hear his answer, "I hope so. I truly hope so. If we could use that to blow the 456 back to the Stone Age, rather than use any child, I'll be the first in line to do what had to be done. If not …" None of them wanted to think about that. They were all agreed … Jack would not be put in a position where he had to sacrifice Steven, and his relationship with Alice. The trouble was, if Owen wasn't able to synthesize the brain chemistry to an age appropriate level, a child would still die.

And Esther completed his thought, murmuring, "If not, a child will die. Suzie is combing the hospitals for children who are brain dead. Seems so easy … but could we really do that to a parent? Take away all hope of their child ever waking up? Doctors don't know everything, after all. I'm not strong enough to make a choice like that. I know I'm not. I couldn't agree to it, if it were Alys or Melanie, or our baby. Maybe I'm not fit to be in Torchwood." It was the first time she'd said something like that, and while Ianto knew where she was coming from, he also had to make sure she understood something.

"Knowing that doesn't make you unfit for Torchwood, cariad. Now, if you knew you couldn't make that decision, and you lashed out at Jack because he could, because he did … that would be something else entirely. You're a neophyte field agent, Esther, it isn't your job to make those decisions. Just … just remember that when he's made a decision that you don't agree with, it probably hurt him even more than it hurt you," Ianto answered. He pointedly tried not to think of a night filled with fire and blood and pain, of a terrible promise made … one of the few promises he had no intention of keeping. Ever.

Esther was silent for several moments as she processed this, before asking very softly, "We're not talking about the children any more, are we?" Ianto shook his head. They never spoke of Lisa, he and Esther. There was another long silence, and then Esther asked softly, "Will you tell me about her, Ianto? About your Lisa?" He could have teased her, told her that she didn't need to specify Lisa Hallett, since she was the only one they were talking about. But he didn't.

Instead, he began to talk about … well, silly things. He told her about the face Lisa would make, first thing in the morning … about the habits and mannerisms that made her so very and uniquely Lisa. And then he did something he hadn't done since he returned from suspension, so many years ago. He told her about the moment he realized that the thing encased in metal was no longer his Lisa, was in fact the thing that killed her. That, he admitted, was the beginning. It was when he began to forgive Jack. It was a long road for them both.

"But now, it's worth it?" Esther asked softly when he finally fell silent once more. Ianto smiled into the darkness, against her hair, even as soft footfall alerted him to the fact that they were no longer in the room. It was an odd question for her to ask, even though he knew that she didn't mean the death of Lisa and the loss of so many people at Torchwood One. But to him, it was all rolled up in one thing. However, she added a moment later, "The hurt that you and Jack went through … it was all worth it, right?"

"One hundred percent worth it, sweet girl," Jack said softly, sitting at the edge of the bed. Esther kicked at him half-heartedly, which led to the capture of her foot (probably what she was aiming for. Their Esther was sneaky at times) … as well as Ianto's calf. All three were silent for several moments, as Jack was content to cradle Esther's foot in one hand, and rub his thumb up and down Ianto's calf. But Ianto held his breath, knowing that more was to come.

He was right. After several moments, Jack went on, "Alice is back in her room … we don't have a plan, but we have the pieces of one. We just need a little more information from Tosh and Gray. I also need to talk to Suzie, see how she feels about Rhys helping us to evacuate as many people from Thames House as possible when things go south." Jack still hadn't told Ianto how he died in his Other memories, but given what Jack said about evacuating, Ianto could make a pretty good guess.

Esther said softly, "I don't imagine Suzie will have an issue with it … in fact, it wouldn't surprise me if Rhys volunteered to do just that." Jack smiled at her, and Esther continued, "But that can wait until morning. We've already worked out the transportation schedule, so not everyone leaves at the same time. Rhys is confirming the food supply at our safe house in London. You need to rest more." Jack started to speak, but Esther said quietly, "Our daughter needs all three of us right now, and you need to rest. I know that you're back and whole, but being blown up is still rough on your system. Lay down with us, Jack. We work better when it's the three of us together." Jack made no more protests. Gently placing Esther's foot back on the bed and giving Ianto's calf one final rub, he lay down beside them both, so that he and Ianto held Esther between them, sheltering her and their unborn child.

TBC