A/N: Back after a lengthy (ish) absence! Thank you all for your reviews, they mean a tonne to me and I'm really sorry for the slow update, I had some trouble getting started. The tone between Jack and Ianto changes, I'm afraid - you know me, I waited for 8 chapters to reunite them, now I've gotta make it hard for them again. (: There's a bit of everyone in this one, even a bit of the Doctor and Amy POV. Plus Cath and Learner get a little um...distracted. I hope you like it, and remember to review. Enjoy!

"We've gotta get out of here."

It was a pretty obvious statement, but Ianto still agreed. A lot of time had passed in which there had been no talking – Jack had clung to him for a solid while, and somehow (Ianto still wasn't sure how) he had then wormed away without him realizing. It was as if Jack had realized who had their arms around him, and surreptitiously moved himself away.

Still, Ianto thought. No use dwelling on it. I did torture him, after all.

"How?" he questioned, and then winced. It wasn't as if Jack would know. The Basement was foreign to him; it was Ianto who knew its secrets. Jack's expression made Ianto roll his eyes.

"Okay, sure, stupid question. I know how to get that door open; I just don't know how to do it without the alarms sounding."

Jack exhaled, the air whistling out of his mouth, "Well, I don't know how the alarm system works, and we've got no tools to work with, Ianto."

"Jack, with all due respect, my brain's been altered, as has my entire body. I'm one big tool."

Jack snorted, "Well…"

"Oh, grow up. Besides, Cath and Learner are probably sitting up in the live feed room, listening to everything we're saying. They'll know we're trying to escape…"

Some time earlier…

Learner was distracted.

Here he was, having to keep watch on the star-crossed lovers' relationship traumas, and Cath was happily seated on his lap, scratching her nails lightly across the back of his neck.

It wasn't that he wasn't enjoying it, because he was. More than he should, really. But the job at hand was monitoring Agent Ianto and the Captain, and waiting to see if Ianto came through for the Officials in the end.

But there was something irresistible about the glint in Cath's eyes and her weight on his body and the way those nails were raising goosebumps on his cold skin. He slammed his finger down on a button on the keyboard, closing the feeds. Cath looked up in feigned surprise.

"Learner? We have to keep watch, don't we?"

Ignoring the Rift's persistent presence in his psyche, Learner put up his mental shields and gritted his teeth, scooping Cath into his arms with a pained expression.

"Yes. Yes we do, Cath, but you're pushing all of my buttons today, aren't you?"

Cath smiled and scratched his neck again. Learner's spines bristled, and she smirked.

"You're always on about how I'm yours, Learner."

Glancing irritably at the blank screens where the camera feeds should've been, Learner glared at her, standing up with her still in his arms, "I'm not being romantic right now, Cath. Why are you doing this?"

"Well, it's been…about two months since we just fooled around, Learner. Before this whole Ianto Jones business, you were okay with being a bit human. Nowadays it's like you don't want to be anything but Umbreyta. I know, I know, the Umbreyta are naturally stoic and proper, but can't you cut loose for a while? Be a little human?"

Learner fumed silently. Cath stared up at him as he shifted into his human form, his hold on her never wavering.

"Fine, Cath. We'll go and have sex, you happy?"

"I didn't say I wanted your human skin."

Learner shifted back as he stomped away, unaware of the feeds flickering back on, and the coffee-boy-turned-Official staring up into the lense of one of the cameras…

"It's okay, actually. They're not watching us anymore." Ianto smiled, then blinked hard, shaking his head, "Okay, that hurts."

Jack frowned, "What did you do?"

"Psychic training. The injection boosts your natural proficiency then you get training to allow the Rift in. I haven't learned to block it fully yet, just ignore it. You'd know about that." Ianto gave him a pointed look.

He crossed his arms, "Get out of my head, Ianto. Me and the Rift are old-time buddies, it doesn't mind me ignoring it sometimes. Besides, Gwen and Martha are taking care of it. But what about psychic training did you just do?"

"I just extended my reach. Learner and Cath are um…" The Welshman blushed, "Well, they're attempting to give us a run for our money. In the innovation department."

Jack allowed a slow smile to creep to his lips, then a grin, "And failing, I hope?"

He tapped on the iron door and listened to the dull thud it made, "Yeesh, Ianto, you really think you can disable this? Pretty damn solid-sounding." He watched as the younger man gritted his teeth and rolled up his sleeves, squaring up to the door.

"Maybe not disable the door. The deadlock, sure."

He hammered on the door and listened attentively. Jack waited and watched.

Suddenly, Ianto had a satisfied expression on his face, "Oh, right. It's a double cylinder. That'll be a bit more difficult."

He grabbed onto the bars acting as locks and bent them backwards, out of the way, then focused on the small lock Jack could just see. He'd never seen Ianto this strong, and it frightened him. While he was glad Ianto could take care of himself extra well now, there was something about him that screamed alien.

There was a strange crunching sound, and Jack blinked. Somehow within that blink, the lock had disappeared, leaving a ragged hole in the metal. Jack held out his hand.

Sheepishly, Ianto placed the whole – intact – lock into Jack's hand. Jack whistled, impressed, "Well, I can't fault a method that gets results. Let's go."

Ianto wrenched the door open, and they set off at a run. Jack followed Ianto closely – his lover seemed to know the Basement like the back of his hand. Mmm, Ianto's hands. Shaking his head to clear it of those thoughts, Jack kept running. Ianto smiled as the alarms began to sound, the corridors flashing blood-red in time to the sirens, "Are those thoughts really appropriate when we're running for our lives, Jack?"

"Damn. I forgot the psychic thing. Would you rather I acted on them when we're running for our lives?"

"Careful. That's harassment, sir."

Jack laughed freely, then broke off as Ianto skidded to a halt as they ran past an oh-so-familiar room. Despite the name plaque missing from the door, Jack knew what lay behind it. It was the TARDIS landing room, and he could just hear the familiar strains of the TARDIS…well, landing.

"Talk about good timing," Jack breathed, and opened the door as the TARDIS faded into view.

"What…is that thing?" Ianto said, frowning.

"That, my dear Ianto, is freedom."

The door to the TARDIS opened, and Amy Pond popped her head out, looking around frantically. Spotting the pair, she cried, "Come on! Your Officials are coming as we speak!"

Jack grabbed Ianto's hand, and tried not to openly wince at the raised temperature of Ianto's body as he dragged him into the TARDIS, Amy slamming the door shut right behind them. He looked up and saw the new Doctor, and smiled tightly, "Right time, Doctor?"

The Doctor looked up and gave a brief, equally tight smile, "Always, Captain."

And with that, the TARDIS faded into nothingness

just as

Cath (and Learner, behind)

THUDDED

into the doorway.

Some time earlier…

Cath lay next to Learner in absolute contentment. Learner had left her with a faint buzzing coldness settling into her bones, and she laughed giddily, not bothering to pull the covers over herself to stop the chill.

"See. Not so bad being human sometimes, is it?"

She trailed a long-nailed hand down his arm, scratching lightly. Learner hissed, exposing his forked tongue.

"No. I suppose not. Can you go another round?"

Cath looked over at him in surprise to see a wicked grin on his face as he stared at her, leaning on one elbow. She smiled, "I suppose it couldn't hurt."

They leant into each other, and the alarm began. "Oh, fuck" was the shared exclamation of both parties as they scrambled into their clothes, and ran into the live feed room. Cath hammered her fist onto the on button until the images flickered back into life and they were face to screen with an empty cell and one busted door.

The pair raced out of the room, Learner shouting, "They'll be escaping – oh, fuck, the Doctor's due today! This is what happens when you make me shut the Rift out and 'be human'!"

"Me? You're the one who wanted to 'go another round'!"

They raced down corridors until they could just barely see the forms of Jack and Ianto in the distance, running and then…skidding to a stop. Right outside the TARDIS' room.

"Again, I believe the sentiment is 'oh, fuck'."

They reached the doorway just as the TARDIS left. Cath turned to Learner with a sheepish smile.

"That second round still up for grabs?"

"Oh, grow up."

"I suppose you two will have to stay here for a while. Until the right time, that is. It's still wrong, now…" The Doctor muttered to himself as he piloted the TARDIS. Ianto stood silently with Jack, watching the exchange.

"Funny, Doctor, how will we know it's the right time? You're the only one who seems to be able to distinguish, cause to me, that saving our asses back there totally happened at the right time!" Jack exclaimed, arms folded, hands hidden away. His whole posture screamed discomfort at Ianto's presence, but the coffee-boy didn't budge, choosing to simply stare at him.

I wonder if he can feel me reading his thoughts, Ianto thought briefly. This is a pretty big invasion of privacy.

"Yes, it is!" Jack was staring at Ianto in exasperation. Ianto met his gaze evenly, and questioned, "Can you blame me?"

The American's eyes softened a tad, "I guess not. Doctor, do you still have my room on board?" He was awarded a curt nod from the Doctor, "Ah, okay. Ianto, if you go through that door, it's –"

"– the one after the Doctor's wardrobe. Got it, sir."

Ianto, truth be told, couldn't wait to get out of there. With the Doctor and Jack in the same room, the stench was overwhelming. The Doctor smelt, predictably, of time – the dusty, aged smell that Jack still had an undertone of – and the sweet, cloying smell of space that had clung to Jack when he'd returned from his last jaunt with the Dcotor, the smell that had confused and frightened him more than he'd admit.

He walked straight past the Doctor's wardrobe, holding his breath. He knew that the smell emanating from that room could knock him out if he breathed it in, and wondered how Jack could handle it. And possibly whether he could have handled it, if he wasn't so different now.

Ianto Jones knew he wasn't the same as before. He could feel every change in his body easily, and found himself simultaneously repulsed and amazed by it. He'd always thought he'd appreciate not having such a flabby stomach, but now that it was gone, he felt…bare. And when Jack looked at him with so much confusion in his eyes, he felt even worse.

He hadn't expected to still want Jack the way he had when he was just mortal. He'd expected everything to be different, and for the bloodlust to be the only thing he felt for the Captain. But as he turned into Jack's room, and smelt those 51st century pheromones lingering on everything, he felt the familiar tingle of attraction in the pit of his stomach.

It was love, for certain. Not love like Lisa – he's not the man he was when he loved her, not so loose with his emotions. He liked to think he held things back, back then, but in hindsight, he'd been passionate about her, obsessive about her, and held things back because of her. Holding the passion back meant more time for him to cure her, more time to make her better again. More time at Torchwood, using their resources while the others were out on field missions.

He thinks he must hate Jack, even just a little. It used to be for Lisa's death – murder, he absently corrects, but with no feeling behind it – but that was an old grudge, and Jack had long been forgiven. Then it was his secrecy, and his detachment, and his lack of solid proof of any actual feelings towards Ianto – now it was the strange way he was eying him, as if he was an alien.

Ianto lay down on Jack's bed, breathing in the smell and marveling at the tingles that crept across his skin. He didn't think he was alien, not completely. He loved Jack so fully and completely that he could only be human.

He lay still in the dark, and waited.

"Are you still repulsed by my very presence, then?" Jack smiled bitterly, moving to stand in front of the Doctor.

"Jack. I like you as a person – if you technically are a person – but your existence is wrong. You're just wrong."

"I'm what Rose made me, Doctor."

The Doctor blanched, "Don't pull her into this. That doesn't change anything."

Jack grimaced apologetically, "No, it doesn't. It doesn't change the fact that it hurts you just to be near me, or that to you I stink."

"Well, not stink. Just…well, yes, stink. But it's a harsh word," the Doctor winced, not realizing that Jack was just marveling at hearing so many words come from the quiet man's mouth.

"You don't talk as much as you used to, Doctor," Jack smiled sadly.

The Doctor nodded, turning back to the TARDIS controls, and muttered to himself, "Maybe that's a good thing…"

Jack idly twiddled his thumbs, leaning against a column, then frowned, "Doctor…Ianto's different. They changed him and that frightens me a whole lot."

The Doctor nodded to himself, listening as he worked. He'd known this was coming, of course. He already knew how these events would unfold – how, of course, was a story for another day. He noted that Amy had made herself scarce, and held back a dry chuckle.

"Jack, I did tell you you'd get him back. Do you remember the other thing I told you?"

"You mean the part where you said he wouldn't be the same? Yeah, and man, you're not kidding. Have you felt his skin? It's boiling."

Rolling back the sleeves of his black velvet blazer (with dark blue shirt and claret bow-tie), the Doctor shook his head, and replied in his quiet voice, "No, I don't tend to take the temperature of people as they enter, Jack."

"Seriously. They juiced him up with alien bits and now I don't know how to identify with him anymore."

With a sigh, the Doctor shifted away from the control panels, and folded his arms, staring Jack down. The journey isn't over yet, Jack, he mused. You'll learn in time.

"He's still Ianto, Jack. Even if you don't feel like he is, you will soon."

Amy was always curious, which was perhaps why she had ended up with the Doctor. So when Ianto Jones had left for Jack's room, Amy quietly followed.

The rescue had gone as smoothly as they could've hoped – perhaps they could've stood to land a little quicker, but the TARDIS was unpredictable at best, and the Doctor was hardly talkative about how things should go.

She ducked into the Doctor's wardrobe to check her appearance in the long mirror. She brushed down her baggy purple jumper and pulled at the ragged hem of her skirt to try and make it even. She knew Ianto was notoriously tidy and wanted to make a fairly good impression, even while she was being just plain nosy.

Not nosy, she smiled. Just curious.

She walked out then leaned against the doorframe of Jack's – and possibly now Ianto's – room. With a smile, she watched Ianto lying still in the dark among Jack's ruffled blankets, then snorted. Ianto's eyes shot open.

"Stressed?"

The Welshman nodded tiredly, "Only always. Come in, I guess."

"I know the feeling. Assistants unite and all."

Amy sat down at the foot of the bed, so as not to force Ianto to get up. He did anyways, and sat next to her, asking, "You ever want to bang your head against a very solid wall?"

"Only always. Although I guess it's easier for me. I'm not in love with the Doctor, after all." She smiled as Ianto coughed awkwardly, then regained his composure, "Well, and here I was hoping it wasn't so obvious."

"Oh, no, it's not. But the way Jack was moping around before we picked him up, I kind of presumed there might be some degree of mutual affection. Does he love you?"

"Apparently so."

"Despite having a funny way of showing it?"

"That's just cause he thinks I'm different. I don't know what to say to change his mind."

Amy thought. Hard. Before the Doctor, she'd not really put a lot of serious thought into things – she supposed he had a philosophical influence on people. Now, however, looking at Ianto Jones' face, and noticing the sadness behind his eyes, she really did.

Finally.

"You don't need to change his mind. Deep down, he knows you're the same. He just needs you to reassure his mind that it's right."

She looped her arm through Ianto's, "He'll see soon. I promise."

Ianto smiled, and squeezed her hand lightly, "…this may sound strange, but do you want some coffee?"

"Sure. Let me show you to the coffee machine."

Amy smiled widely. Coffee, the universal language, she mused, getting up and leaving the room, with Ianto following. She liked Ianto Jones. It was nice to have another normal person around.

Well, normal compared to an immortal and a Time Lord.