Clem fired. Jack felt the bullet tear into his chest and welcomed it. Penance. He deserved it. He'd sent twelve children into hell. Maybe he wouldn't come back this time. He could only hope. At least that way he'd never have to see Ianto look at him like that again. The shock, the disbelief. And Gwen. Seeing her hero crumble before her eyes, finding her idol's feet of clay.

But of course he came back. And he wasn't alone. Ianto was holding him, in spite of everything. Had he forgiven him already? Or was it just compassion? Didn't matter. Ianto was holding him, steadying him while his lungs burned. Whatever it had done to him, to them, he still cared enough for that. Jack's arms locked around his in an awkward embrace, irrationally afraid that if he let go he'd never get him back.

But it was every bit as bad as he'd feared. Jack had faced firing squads, that hadn't shaken him as much as this – the disillusionment in their eyes. And Ianto, God it was unbearable. Why doesn't he yell? Throw a punch, anything, anything except this. Looking at me as if he doesn't even know me. Like I'm an alien artifact that he's trying to work out how to approach. And by the time Ianto did approach, they were both so wound up it ended in a slanging match.

Ianto watched Jack stalk away, stinging from the sarcasm in Jack's voice. Of course, this was just the right moment to tear strips off each other. Is that OK? You're the boss. And after all this time, this is the moment he chooses to tell me he's got a family?

Jack fled to the roof. Where else? He was slumped against a wall, toying idly with his phone, trying to dredge up the reserves to face them again. To face him.

I know he tried to understand, but his eyes,…I've hurt him – again. But he said, he said I'm not the Jack he knows. I've lost him. I've let him go. I've pushed him away.

Somehow, Ianto got back inside and dropped numbly onto the couch. "They've got his family," he announced to no one in particular.

Gwen's head snapped up. "Whose family?"

"Jack. He's got a daughter, a grandson. Frobisher has them hostage."

Silence. "Go after him, Ianto," Gwen ordered.

"He wants to be alone," Ianto answered stubbornly. There was a stinging slap on the side of his head. "Ouch, Gwen. What was that for?"

"He may want to be alone, but he needs you. Go."

"Gwen…"

"Go. After. Him. Now."

There were footsteps approaching across the roof. Footsteps he knew. The ones he'd recognize anywhere. They stopped.

"What now?" Jack asked tiredly.

"Gwen sent me," Ianto mumbled.

"Tell her I'll be down soon."

"Nope."

Jack looked up. "I said, tell her…"

"Shut up Jack." Ianto dropped down beside him. "You're not the boss at the moment."

"Really?" Jack tried to choke down the flutter of hope. "What I am then?"

"Not sure," said Ianto thoughtfully, "Considering your problem with labels. But I seem to remember you've been using the term boyfriend." And they were in each others arms again. Where they belonged.

"The coat's just about right, now," Ianto remarked, from somewhere inside it.

"I don't suppose you'd consider coming out where I can see you?" Jack asked, not really caring. He was content, whole again, with the missing piece of his soul beside him. Everything else could wait, just for these few precious moments.

"If I must," Ianto conceded, emerging from the depths, hair tousled. Jack's hand slid up, caressing his hair back into order. "So when can I meet your family?" Ianto demanded.

"After I've met yours," Jack countered. "Alice doesn't know about you yet."

"You're a shit, Jack Harkness. You've been giving me hell for keeping you away from Rhi, and all this time you've had a family hidden away."

"I wasn't hiding them," Jack explained. "They've been hiding me. A different thing altogether."

"I'll let it go for now," Ianto conceded. "But only because we've got the world to save."

His face turned serious suddenly. "You did try to tell me, didn't you? After that nightmare you had last week?"

Jack nodded. "And yesterday. I guess I didn't try hard enough."

"Tell me why, Jack. Please. I want to understand why you couldn't confide in me."

Jack closed his eyes. "That nightmare. I haven't been able to shake it."

"You were yelling 'come back' in your sleep," Ianto remembered suddenly. "You were calling those kids back, weren't you?"

Jack nodded, seeing them again behind his eyes.

"And 'forgive me'. You said that too."

"You said you would," Jack said, hopelessness back in his voice. "But I know it's too much to expect."

He felt Ianto's hands cup his face. "Look at me, Jack."

Jack dragged his eyes open.

"There's nothing to forgive," Ianto said firmly. "You made a mistake. A big one. But you won't let it happen again. That's what matters now."

"But you said … you said you didn't know me."

"No I didn't," Ianto said heatedly. "What I was trying to say – obviously not very clearly – is that I know you aren't the same person now that you were then. Because the you I know wouldn't have done that. The person you are now would have stood up to them. And you will."

Jack's eyes began to light. "I called Frobisher before. Told him he has to let me help. That it was too big to hide. Threatened him a bit."

"And that," Ianto said with satisfaction. "Is the Jack I know."

Jack smiled, and the muscles is his face ached. First smile this whole lifetime.

"Gonna come and help me kick some alien ass?"

Ianto smiled back. "Since you're asking."

"Couldn't do it without you," Jack said seriously.

"Can we take the car you stole? It'd make a great entrance."

"You're learning," Jack said approvingly. "But I'm driving."

Ianto sighed. "Guess you're the boss again, huh?"