Thanks as always to the delightful riftintime.

Chapter 21

Ianto met up with Jack twenty minutes later carrying a thermos of hot coffee. He was ecstatic to be doing something for Jack and Torchwood again. He had wanted to wear one of his suits; however, heeding Jack's warning about dressing warmly, he had put on jeans, a long sleeve T-shirt, a black jumper, and a wool coat instead.

Ianto pulled up in a taxi next to the SUV, paid the driver and climbed in beside Jack. He had bought a car during his suspension, but had decided to leave it at home. "Thanks for coming, Ianto. Can I have a cup?" Jack asked, indicating the thermos in Ianto's hands.

Ianto smiled, poured coffee into the thermos lid that doubled as a mug, and handed it to Jack. Jack took an appreciative sip. "Mmmmm." He downed the cup in a couple of swallows and handed it back to Ianto. "When are you coming back to the Hub, again?"

"Two days, Sir."

"Finally!"

Jack grinned at him, and Ianto smiled back. Jack's expression turned serious. "There's something I have to tell you. The rest of the team doesn't know about this, and I need it to stay that way."

"I'm good at secrets, Sir."

"Yes… yes you are. That's part of the reason why I chose you. Also, I thought your personality would be best suited to deal with this. Owen would go crazy trying to fix all of them, Tosh isn't really a people person, neither was Susie for that matter, and Gwen… I don't even want to think about how Gwen would react."

"React to what, Sir?"

Jack sighed. "The Rift not only delivers things to Cardiff, it also takes things away."

"The negative Rift spikes," Ianto said, nodding.

Jack looked at him in surprise. "Whenever a first body exerts a force F on a second body, the second body exerts a force −F on the first body. F and −F are equal in magnitude and opposite in direction," Ianto quoted.

Jack just looked at him blankly. "Newton's Third Law. Commonly paraphrased as: To every action there is an equal and opposite reaction," Ianto continued.

"I dated Newton for a while. Smart guy. He did this amazing thing with his tongue…"

Ianto rolled his eyes. "My point is, Sir, it makes sense that the Rift would go both ways. Once I conceded that, I took a closer look at the Rift readings and noticed the negative spikes. I figured that was a signal of the Rift going the opposite direction."

"You really are brilliant, Ianto. You know that? Some other time we'll have to have a conversation about going both ways," Jack said lasciviously.

Ianto rolled his eyes again. Jack will always be Jack, he thought.

"Yes, Ianto. The Rift giveth, and the Rift taketh away," Jack quipped. "Only sometimes the Rift returns the things, or the people it has taken," Jack said in a much more serious voice.

"Oh God," Ianto said, fully realizing the point of their conversation. "Where does it take them to, Jack?" Ianto asked in a whisper.

"All sorts of places and times. Many of them… most of them come back… damaged."

Ianto understood at once. The Rift could take people anywhere in space and time. Who knows where they went or for how long. Who knows what had happened to them there. "I understand, Sir," was all Ianto said.

"When I took over Torchwood Three, I found two Rift survivors in the vaults."

Jack took in Ianto's horrified expression. He continued, "When I took over command, I swore to change Torchwood for the better, at least my Torchwood. I couldn't stand to see them locked up like dangerous aliens, but I knew that they were too damaged to assimilate back into society. I built a facility for them on Flat Holm Island in the Bristol Channel. I used my own money, because I didn't want the Torchwood Institute involved. I was afraid of what they would do to these people if they found out. I hired a few kind souls to take care of them. The caretakers think they're the victims of failed government science experiments."

Ianto looked hard at Jack. He suddenly saw the side of Jack that Gwen always saw – the hero. He put his hand around Jack's neck and pulled him forward, kissing him passionately. Jack responded and they kissed for a minute before Ianto pulled away and looked Jack in the eyes. "What was that for?" Jack asked, a bemused expression on his face.

"For being you," Ianto said and touched Jack's cheek with his hand. Okay, Ianto Jones, work to be done. He didn't call you out here to snog in the car like teenagers, though I wouldn't put it past him, Ianto thought as he sat up straight again. "I take it that there has been another Rift victim, Sir."

Jack looked at Ianto with an unreadable expression on his face. Then he said, "I have the Rift monitor set to alert my wrist strap with that particular reading. I'm the only one who is notified. I got a signal a couple of hours ago. It took me a while to track him down. I hate to do this, but I think we're going to have to sedate him."

"Is the med kit stocked? You know how lax Owen can be."

"Luckily, I made him do it after the Cetacean incident."

"The what?"

"The Loch Ness Monster. I'll have to fill you in on that later. Ianto, I want you to be prepared for what you're going to see both with this man we're picking up and on Flat Holm. Some of these people are in really bad shape, both physically and emotionally."

"I understand, Sir." Ianto had already been mentally preparing himself for this.

"You're going to have to close your mind. I don't want you to be overwhelmed."

"Yes, Sir." He had already done so.

"Okay. Let's go get him," Jack said as he put the SUV into gear.