"There's an old warehouse around here that was used by T1. We can make base there. Not the most comfortable accommodations, but it'll do," Ianto said, navigating through the streets of London.

It took Jack a few seconds to respond. All of his responses were delayed and Ianto didn't like it, even if he did understand.

"No," Jack said eventually. "Go toward the Embankment."

"Do you think it's the best idea to walk right in to Whitehall? I think we need to do some background work first. And, no, I'm not just delaying the inevitable. We need to be prepared -"

"I'm not talking about Whitehall. The Embankment. Specifically, Savoy Place."

"Savoy Place? Don't tell me you want afternoon tea -"

"That's where we're staying. I'm… I'm not having you spend your last days in a warehouse."

"Warehouse is a little less traceable," Ianto said quietly.

"They're not gonna trace me, I know a lot of tricks. You should probably ditch your phone, and don't use any chip-and-pin."

"Jack…," Ianto sighed. Jack looked over at him with such a look of regret that Ianto couldn't stand it. Ianto reached over to hold Jack's hand and just said, "I love you, Jack."


"Whoa. That is seriously creepy. You seeing this, Gwen?"

"Yep. Really, really creepy. Even for school kids."

"Is it some kind of…. It looks like it's everywhere. And all at once – look at this – coming in from Europe, Africa, west Asia, China…. This must be what Jack meant about them 'talking.' This is where we're going to need to lock it down, fast. It's public now. Damnit. I was hoping we were a little more ahead of it."

"Ok, Ianto, I need some direction, here. What comes next? You… uh, other-you, and Jack will have gotten to London by now."

"Yeah, give them a ring and see if they've heard about the talking. This will be new to Jack because the aliens didn't communicate through the kids last time he went through this. And, Gwen?"

"Yeah, I know, you're not here, speak in singular first-person…."

"Not what I was going to say, but no, I'm not here. I was going to say do not give him shit about what he had to do last time. It's been eating him for 40 years, carrying that around. He doesn't need grief from us."

"I wouldn't do that," Gwen protested.

Ianto just gave her 'the look' and went back to the computer. "I'm checking for any kind of anomaly or inconsistency in the talking. So far it looks all identical. Not even regional differences, which makes sense if these aliens have only had contact with us here and not, say, Russia."

"Well, there's one less thing to worry about."

"Yeah… somehow I don't think so. But if there's just something, some little difference, we can exploit that."

"How about a big difference?" Gwen said. "Look at this."

"Ok. That's definitely not a child. Get me whatever info you can on him before ringing Jack. Don't bother with my mobile, Jack's clever enough to have ditched it so they can't be tracked. Maybe this guy went through it last time this happened and survived somehow?"

"He's at a mental hospital… maybe he's never developed beyond childhood?"

"I don't think that's how this works," Ianto said tightly.

"Well, he's in Sussex. About an hour from Jack and… other-Ianto. Name's Timothy White," Gwen said, sending the information to Ianto's screens.

"Nope, it's not. Or wasn't. Try Clement McDonald – and he was from right where Jack said he'd be: Harbour Heights. That's it, that's the link. They need him, as quickly as possible. He'll be the key to this. Get Jack, now. Give him this information and tell him they need to collect him from the hospital."


"Guess if I've got to go, this makes up for it," Ianto said, looking around the impossibly posh riverfront suite.

"Not to me," Jack mumbled and went to stand behind Ianto at the window overlooking the Thames. "I told them we just got married," he said, wrapping his arms around Ianto. "I thought… at least while we're not arguing with Whitehall and trying to get rid of an alien… we could just… pretend to be remotely normal."

Ianto turned around in Jack's arms and held him. "Gotta make the most of it," he said from Jack's shoulder.

Jack had just pulled him into a needy kiss when Jack's mobile rang and someone knocked at the suite's front door.

Ianto sighed, shaking his head and stepping toward the door.

"Wait! You take the phone, it'll be Gwen. I'll get the door."

Jack came back a moment later with a bottle of champagne in an ice-urn and a huge bouquet of roses. "Honeymoon package," Jack grinned, though his eyes were suspiciously watery.

"Keep it on ice for the moment. Apparently, Gwen's found a major link. One of the kids from '65 got away. He's sectioned now, though, at a hospital in Sussex. We need to pick him up. About an hour each way."

Jack nodded, setting the champagne and roses on a table and picking up the keys to the SUV.

Ianto hesitated when Jack stepped to the door. "Jack… what if we had the hospital do the transport? It'll be faster getting him here, and… that's time we could have. Alone."

"I'm all for that. What do we tell them, though?"

Ianto thought for a minute. "We'll need Gwen to ring the hospital and have this guy released from care." Ianto sighed, running a hand through his hair. "I could falsify the papers much better…. Perhaps I should do it here and send them over myself," he said, opening the laptop they'd brought. "May be able to get into his records at this place and make it a lot easier on us. Anyway, release into police care – Gwen can sort that, probably through Davidson. Send him up to… say, Camden, and it'll be an easy pick-up."

"Yeah. Let's go with that," Jack said, though Ianto was obviously going with it already. "Just make sure Gwen gets us updates so we know when he'll be here. And… maybe we can work in dinner?"

"We have to eat, don't we?"

Jack swiveled Ianto's chair away from the laptop. "A nice dinner. You and me. No laptop."

"I promise, Jack. This shouldn't take any more than half an hour once I'm into their system."

Jack sighed and let Ianto get back to what he was doing. He knew it was important, but at the moment he didn't care about the guy in the hospital. He wanted to be with Ianto on a pretend honeymoon, trying to forget they'd never have a real one.

Jack sat sulking in the sitting room of the ridiculously plush suite for the best part of an hour. The desk staff had been sure he was joking about wanting a suite with no reservations – until he pulled a psychic paper out of his coat pocket, then it was all, "Yes, sir! Straight away, sir!" He half-wondered what that Time Agent's old standby told them, not that it mattered.

He almost jumped when Ianto came over and put his hand on Jack's shoulder.

"I'm free for the rest of the day, Captain."

Jack looked up to see Ianto wearing nothing but his greatcoat.

"And, to be honest, I've always been under the impression that there's only one thing a honeymoon is for – and it doesn't involve hacking records or fighting aliens."

"You're right," Jack said hoarsely, his mouth suddenly gone dry.

"And I still think this looks better on you," Ianto said, slipping out of the coat and leaving it on the arm of the sofa as he walked back toward the bedroom.