Author's Notes: Thanks to the brilliant Prothrombintime for encouragement and feedback. And thanks again to everyone who so kindly supported my efforts throughout the year. Enjoy!


Chapter Forty-Nine

July 3rd, 2007 (continued)

Ianto lowered Lisa's lifeless body carefully to the floor, placing her in the corner of the stairwell, just beside the door to the forty-fourth floor. Gently, he closed her eyelids and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. "I'm sorry," he murmured, his voice catching. "I'm so sorry, Lisa. I tried my best to save you."

It was a blessing that she'd died quickly and with relatively little pain, instead of the unthinkable alternative of being butchered and turned into one of those metal monsters, but the realisation did little to shift the heavy weight of failure that threatened to overwhelm him. They might not have been right for each other in the end, but there had been a time when Lisa was everything to him. It should have been him now dead, not her, and once again he was filled with loathing for the organisation he'd committed himself to and the lives it destroyed in its wake. Like Tommy and countless others before, Lisa's life had been brutally and tragically cut short by her association with Torchwood. Cursing Yvonne Hartman, he wondered if there was any humanity of her left inside the metallic shell she now inhabited, and if she could feel any remorse as she aided in the devastation she'd unleashed.

He stared down at Lisa's beautiful features, torn with guilt for having to leave her body behind. He despised himself for not being able to show her the respect she deserved, but he knew he didn't have a choice. The Cybermen would be bearing down on them at any moment, and it was up to him to get Jackie Tyler to safety. He needed to ensure Lisa's death had meaning and that she didn't die for nothing. That meant saving himself, too.

Taking a deep shuddering breath, he rose to his feet and forced himself to look away, turning his gaze towards Jackie. "Right, we need to go."

Jackie looked at him sadly. "I'm so sorry. Was she your...?"

"My ex-girlfriend," he replied quickly. He drew another deep breath, pushing aside his thoughts of Lisa. If by some miracle he survived the next few hours, and the world wasn't overrun by Daleks and Cybermen, there would be time to grieve for Lisa later. "I'm Ianto... Ianto Jones," he added, realising belatedly that he hadn't introduced himself. "I'm a friend of Jack's."

Jackie frowned. "Who's Jack?"

"Sorry." Ianto realised the woman had probably never met the Captain. "Jack Harkness. He used to travel with the Doctor and Rose. He and Rose were good friends."

A look of recognition passed over Jackie's features. "Oh, that's right, I remember Rose mentioned someone called Jack once. Seemed quite taken with him." A confused frown returned to her forehead. "But she said he died."

"No, he's very much alive." Ianto barely suppressed a hysterical laugh and wondered if the stress of the last couple of hours was finally catching up with him. "It's, uh... complicated," he added weakly.

"It always is when it's anything to do with him." The derision in Jackie's voice and the emphasis on the final word left Ianto with no doubt that 'him' referred to the Doctor. "I'm Jackie Tyler. I'm Rose's mum."

"I know. I saw you earlier with the Doctor. I met Rose earlier too." Ianto nodded towards the downwards stairs. "Mrs. Tyler, we'd better go. Those things will be coming after us any moment."

"It's Jackie. None of this Mrs. Tyler nonsense." Jackie glanced down at Lisa, then looked back up at him again. "Thanks for rescuing me," she said in a tremulous voice. "If it hadn't been for you..."

"Best to try not to think about it," Ianto said firmly, the terrible sound of Yvonne Hartman's final anguished screams still fresh in his mind. He swallowed hard, his stomach convulsing violently.

The sickened look on Jackie's face suggested her thoughts were in a similar place. "I have to find Rose. She was in that room with the sphere, with those Dalek things." The fear in her eyes was unmistakeable. "Ianto, please... help me find my daughter," she pleaded.

"Yes... yes, of course. I'm worried about her too." Ianto tried to give her a reassuring smile, although he suspected it looked more like an uninspiring grimace. "Right, let's go."

Jackie nodded, looking somewhat relieved, and together they began hurrying down the stairs. Ianto didn't look back, knowing that if he did, he'd likely lose his grip on the tenuous threads of his self-control. Reminding himself that Jack was on the way, he set his jaw determinedly and focused on negotiating the stairs, listening for the echo of metal footsteps above or below.

They'd reached the twenty-eighth floor when Jackie's phone started to ring. "Doctor?" she shouted, putting the handset to her ear and sounding more than a little hysterical. "Oh, my God, where are you? They tried to download me but I got away. Ianto saved me. He's a friend of Jack's. Where's Rose? Is she all right?"

She listened for a moment then looked around frantically. "I don't know! Staircase." Then a moment later, she added, "Yes! A fire extinguisher!"

Ianto struggled to resist the urge to roll his eyes. Jackie looked at him pleadingly, and he pointed to a sign on the wall behind them that read 'N3'. "North corner, staircase three," he explained as she looked at him blankly.

Jackie repeated their location into her phone. She listened and then shouted, "No, don't leave us!"

Hissing in obvious frustration, she disconnected the call and shoved her phone back into the pocket of her jeans. "That bloody man. Fat lot of good he is."

"What did he say?" Ianto asked anxiously.

She snorted derisively. "Said to keep low... that he's doing his best."

"Guess we're on our own for the time being, then," Ianto said with a heavy sigh. He supposed they just had to hope that the Doctor had a plan.

Jackie looked up at him with a panicked expression. "What are we going to do?"

Ianto thought for a moment. Although his main priority had been to try to get Jackie to safety, he knew she wouldn't leave without Rose. But he was too much in the dark as to what was going on around them, and as much as he didn't want to consider the possibility, there was a very real chance that Rose was already dead. There were too many unknowns and he didn't like being forced to choose a course of action without knowing all the facts. "Our best bet is to head for the sphere room," he finally said. "See if Rose is still there."

He resumed his descent down the stairwell, gesturing for Jackie to follow. "Come on."

###

They were both breathing heavily by the time they'd eventually reached the first floor. They'd had several close calls, having to exit the stairwell when they'd heard Cybermen approaching from below, then resume their journey when the path was clear once more.

They were turning into the corridor leading to the sphere room when Jackie gave a startled yelp and Ianto found himself face-to-face with two Cybermen. "You will be upgraded," one of the cyborgs stated in the now familiar, but still terrifying, emotionless voice.

Jackie grabbed hold of Ianto's arm. "No, you can't! Please..." she pleaded, whimpering slightly.

Ianto put himself between Jackie and the two machines, pushing her back and trying to keep her shielded as best he could. "Leave her alone," he said fiercely, fear causing his heart to pound wildly in his chest.

He was just about to tell Jackie to make a run for it when the sound of an energy weapon being discharged filled the air, and the two Cybermen promptly collapsed to the floor, both dead. He was startled to see four people standing in front of them – the tall, lanky man he now knew was the infamous Doctor, Rose, the young dark-skinned man he'd seen in the sphere room earlier, and an older blond man around Jackie's age, holding a large weapon similar in design to Torchwood's particle guns.

"Mum! Are you all right?" Rose asked, dashing forward and pulling Jackie into a fierce hug. She smiled over Jackie's shoulder at Ianto, who nodded in reply.

"Yeah, I'm fine, sweetheart." As Rose pulled back, Jackie slowly stepped forward, her eyes wide and fixed on the blond man, a disbelieving, almost fearful, expression filling her features. "Pete?"

Ianto stepped back and watched as a reunion took place between Jackie and the older man, who was apparently Jackie's dead husband from an alternate universe. The other three looked on with reactions of fondness and amusement, and Ianto was somewhat surprised to see a very human reaction from the Doctor as he smiled affectionately at the reunited couple.

Jackie then launched into a rapid explanation of what had happened to her since she'd been parted from the Doctor, then turned towards Ianto and pulled him closer to the group. "And this lovely young fella is the one who saved me."

Suddenly everyone's attention was on Ianto, and he felt heat rising up his neck and colouring his cheeks. He'd never liked being the centre of attention, and being the sudden focus of such a formidable group of people caused him to shuffle his feet nervously. Rose embraced him in a firm hug, while the three men looked at him with curious expressions. He wondered if he'd imagined a flicker of recognition in the faces of Pete and the dark-skinned man.

"Sorry, who are you?" the Doctor asked, peering at him with inquisitive eyes that, just like Jack, seemed so much older and wiser than the youthful face surrounding them.

"This is Ianto," Rose answered for him. "He's a friend of Jack's." She paused and looked at the Doctor. "Oh, my God... I didn't tell you... Jack's alive. He's here on Earth... in Cardiff. Doctor, you said he was dead."

"Captain Cheesecake's here?" the dark-skinned man exclaimed, his eyes widening with surprise.

"Hmm, well, clearly I was mistaken," the Doctor muttered, glancing at Rose and looking vaguely uncomfortable. "It has been known to happen. Not often of course, but..."

Ianto was momentarily dumbstruck as he stared at the man who Jack had been waiting to see again for almost one-hundred and forty years. Regaining his composure, he stuck his hand out. "Ianto Jones."

The Doctor abruptly stopped babbling and looked mildly surprised, but he grasped Ianto's hand and shook it firmly. "Nice to meet you, Mr. Jones. Thanks for taking care of Jackie here. She can be quite a handful."

"Oi!" Jackie narrowed her eyes and glared at him darkly, while Pete and the other man smirked.

Ianto quickly glanced up and down the corridor. As far as he could tell, they seemed to be relatively safe for the moment. "Can I have a word, Doctor?" he asked quietly, glancing at Rose, who was now looking at them with a vaguely suspicious frown. "It's important."

The Doctor looked like he was about to refuse, but finally nodded. "Back in a minute," he said brightly to the others. "Just need to have a quick chat with Mr. Jones here."

He strode briskly down the corridor, with Ianto following closely behind. They came to a stop just around the nearest corner, out of earshot of the others.

Ianto squared his shoulders as he faced the Time Lord. "Jack's on his way from Cardiff," he began, keeping his voice low. "He should be here soon. He needs answers, Doctor... he needs your help to undo what happened to him." He held the Doctor's gaze and looked at him challengingly. "I assume you know what I'm talking about? Rose thought Jack was dead, but you didn't, did you? You knew the truth all along."

The Doctor scrubbed his hand over his face, his features taking on a pained expression. "Yes, I knew what had happened to Jack. But there's nothing I can do for him. Jack's wrong... he's a mistake... an impossible thing. " He shook his head. "I'm sorry."

Ianto felt a surge of hot anger rise up inside him. "He isn't wrong," he said fiercely, scowling at the other man. "Don't you dare say that! Do you have any idea how long he's been waiting to find you? Almost one-hundred and forty years! Jack's been stuck here since 1869. Since you abandoned him on that satellite. The only thing that's kept him going all this time is the hope of finding you again... hoping you'll be able to remove this curse he's been burdened with."

The Doctor's eyes widened slightly. "Jack's important to you, isn't he?"

"He means the world to me," Ianto replied, without hesitation. "What happened to him, Doctor? Did you do this to him?"

The Doctor shook his head again, his features taking on an expression of profound sadness. "It was Rose. She opened the heart of the TARDIS and absorbed the Time Vortex. She used it to destroy the Daleks. Jack was dead and she brought him back to life. But she couldn't control it... no human can... not even a Time Lord is meant to have that power. She brought Jack back forever." Pausing, he exhaled a heavy sigh. "Jack's an anomaly... a fixed point in space and time. As long as the universe continues to exist, so will he."

Ianto was staring open-mouthed at the Doctor, his mind reeling with the terrible confirmation that Jack would exist until the end of time itself. "And Rose doesn't know what she did?"

"No, she doesn't have any idea, and it needs to stay that way." The Doctor was looking at him earnestly. "It would destroy her if she knew what she'd done to Jack, and I know Jack wouldn't want that. It wasn't Rose's fault... it was an accident... she didn't know what she was doing. It was better for her to think he was dead."

"And was it better for Jack?" Ianto asked, the bitterness heavy in his voice. It seemed to him that the Doctor had taken the easy way out, running away from consequences of his actions instead of facing up to them. "All this time... you left him wondering why he was left behind... wondering what happened to him to make him the way he is." He shook his head in disbelief. "He doesn't know, Doctor. He doesn't know anything."

"I'm sorry," the Doctor repeated. "But I had other things to deal with at the time."

Rendered momentarily speechless by the other man's casual dismissal, it was with great difficulty that Ianto resisted the urge to punch the other man in the face.

"So this is how you treat all of your companions, is it?" he demanded angrily, incensed by the Doctor's apparent indifference and utter lack of compassion. He took a step closer, glaring at him contemptuously. "Toss them aside when they become inconvenient to you. How can you be so cold and heartless?"

The Doctor looked dumbstruck, and Ianto wondered if it was a unique experience for the alien to be taken to task over his actions by a lowly twenty-first century human. "Ianto, you don't understand. It's my instinct to get away from what Jack is... he's a fixed point... that's never meant to happen. Even the TARDIS needed to get away from him."

Unable to hear any more of the man's excuses, and appalled by the Time Lord's callous disregard for Jack's well-being, Ianto stepped backwards, shaking his head. "You don't deserve their loyalty." He didn't even try to hide the derision from his voice. "When Jack arrives, you need to tell him everything. And assuming we survive this nightmare, you need to find a way to make this right. I don't care what it takes. You owe him that much."

He abruptly turned away and returned to the group, keeping his gaze averted from the four pairs of questioning eyes, and leaving a speechless Time Lord in his wake.

###

Ianto followed silently at the rear of the group as they made their way back to the warehouse, the Doctor in the lead. The corridors were littered with the bodies of fallen Torchwood personnel and Cybermen. Some of the faces he recognised, and as he numbly negotiated his way around the carnage, he tried to force himself not to think about Lisa or Jack.

The Doctor's revelations about Jack had left him feeling sick and broken. It was taking all of his strength not to curl up in a dark corner and weep in despair for the man he loved. All this time, he'd been clinging to the hope that Jack's condition could be reversed, that once Jack found the Doctor, the immortal man's torment would finally be at an end. The thought that Jack was condemned to suffer for all of eternity seemed unbearable.

Finally, they reached the main doors to the warehouse, the Doctor muttering about needing the pair of large Magna-clamps he'd seen earlier when Yvonne Hartman had been giving him the grand tour.

The Doctor cautiously pushed the door open several inches, and they huddled around, peering inside. Ianto was shocked to see a war-zone, the air sizzling with the discharge of energy weapons as the Daleks and Cybermen battled for supremacy, a terrible cacophony of the robotic cries of "Exterminate!" and "Delete!" reverberating throughout the space. Caught in the midst of the intense fire-fight, the dwindling ranks of Torchwood's soldiers attempted to repel both groups of invaders.

Moving through the warehouse as they maintained a tight, protective formation around the device they called the Genesis Ark, the four Daleks were steadily cutting a path through the dozens of Cybermen, their weapons and shielding clearly superior. As he peered over the Doctor's shoulder, Ianto spotted a small group of unarmed non-military personnel cowering in a distant corner of the enormous space, trapped not far from the Doctor's TARDIS.

"There's no way we can get inside," Rose whispered. "We won't last five seconds in there."

"We need a diversion," the Doctor agreed.

"Er... excuse me," Ianto said, pushing his way forward. As loath as he was to admit it, the Doctor was there best and only hope. He knew what Jack would do in this situation, and regardless of anything else, he was still Jack's second and he wanted to make Jack proud, even if he'd never know. "I'll go."

"Ianto, you can't..." Rose protested.

Ianto gave her a grim smile. "I'll be fine."

He turned his gaze to the Doctor, who was looking up at him intently. "Stay low and good luck," he finally said, and Ianto nodded tersely in reply.

With his heartbeat pounding in his ears, Ianto slipped through the door and sprinted across the open area, keeping low as he weaved his way determinedly towards the nearest storage crate. He just managed to duck behind it as a beam of energy shot past his shoulder, the heat prickling uncomfortably close to his face.

The body of a dead soldier was sprawled on the floor several feet away, and Ianto crawled over to him, grabbing the nearby particle gun. Checking the charge, he took aim at the nearest Cyberman and watched with grim satisfaction as it collapsed to the ground.

Drawing a deep breath, and praying his luck would hold out, he darted forward again, continuing his perilous journey. Seeking cover wherever he could, he finally reached the crate containing the large black, hexagon-shaped Magna-clamps. He slung his weapon over his shoulder, then grabbed hold of the handles on the devices, one in each hand. Using the devices to shield himself, he retraced his path as quickly as he could.

He stumbled over the body of a dead Cyberman, almost losing his balance, but finally he reached the door and was pulled to safety by the Doctor and Rose. Breathing hard, he slumped against the wall beside the door as Pete and the younger man Ianto had since learnt was known as Mickey Smith took the clamps from him.

"Nice one, mate," Mickey said, grinning at him.

"Thanks," Ianto muttered, managing a small smile in reply.

"Oh, my God," Jackie exclaimed, pushing past Mickey and peering at Ianto with worried eyes. "I thought you were done for in there. Are you all right?"

Ianto nodded, smiling at her gratefully. "Yeah... yeah, I'm fine."

They turned their attention back to the room, where the Doctor and Rose were once more watching intently. Inexplicably, the Doctor was wearing a pair of common 3D glasses, one lens blue, the other red. The roof of the warehouse began to slowly open and one of the Daleks elevated into the air with the Genesis Ark, continuing upwards and through the now open ceiling, disappearing from their view as it reached the outside air.

"What're they doing?" Rose asked. "Why do they need to get outside?"

"Time Lord science... what Time Lord science?" the Doctor muttered, taking off the glasses and closing the door. "What is it?"

Ianto rolled his eyes, bemused that the supposedly great and powerful Doctor could be so dense. "They're calling it an Ark. That TARDIS of yours, it's bigger on the inside, yeah?"

The Doctor stared at Ianto for a long moment, his eyes growing almost comically wide. "It's a Time Lord prison ship."

"How many Daleks are inside?" Rose asked in a tremulous voice, all of them looking at the Doctor with the same fearful expression.

"Probably millions," the Doctor replied in barely a whisper.

Ianto's felt his stomach sink as he imagined the world overrun by millions of those hateful, metal abominations.

But before any of them could respond, the Doctor had grabbed the Magna-clamps and was running down the corridor. "We've gotta go back up! Come on, all of you! Top floor!"

"That's forty-five floors up!" Jackie protested as they set off after him, glancing at Ianto, who just gave her a resigned shrug. "Believe me, we've done them all."

Ianto raced ahead and reached for the Doctor's arm. "You could always take the lift," he said, gesturing to the nearby lift doors as the Doctor turned to face him.

The Doctor stopped, beamed at him, then ran to the lift and hit the call button. "Come on... come on... hurry up," he muttered as they gathered around, their weapons drawn just in case.

Ianto looked at the Time Lord dubiously. "You've got a plan to fix this, right?"

"Oh, yes," the Doctor replied, grinning manically. "The Daleks and Cybermen are part of the problem, and that makes them part of the solution."

He started prattling on about a place called the Void and alternate dimensions, explaining that the Cybermen had come from an alternate reality he and Rose had visited before – the same reality Pete and Mickey had come from – and crossed over the Void into Ianto's reality. Hartman's efforts to open up the breach, thereby allowing the sphere to pass through, which the Doctor called a 'Void Ship', had caused the barriers between dimensions to weaken, giving the Cybermen the means to make the journey.

"Sorry... what's the Void?" Mickey asked, pre-empting Ianto asking the same question as he struggled to process everything the Doctor had just told them.

"Dead space... the space in-between dimensions," the Doctor replied. "Contains absolutely nothing. Some people call it Hell."

Ianto shivered involuntarily, the description not sounding dissimilar to the place Jack had described going when he died.

The lift doors opened, the interior thankfully empty, and the Doctor began bustling them all inside. "Hurry up! In you all go. Come on, Mr. Jones, you too."

Ianto shook his head and stepped back. "No, I'm staying here. There are still people alive that need help. I can't abandon them." He gave them a tight, grim smile. "Go on... send these metal bastards back to whatever hell they came from. Good luck."

"Ianto, are you sure?" Rose asked, looking at him worriedly. "You'll be safer with us."

"I'll be fine," Ianto assured her. "Anyway, Jack'll be here soon." After all the danger and heartache he endured over the last couple of hours, he realised how desperate he was to see the Captain, regardless of their issues.

Jackie surged forward, pulling him into a hug and then giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Be careful, sweetheart, all right?"

Ianto nudged her gently back into the lift. "I will, Jackie. You too."

He nodded to Mickey and Pete, then shifted his attention back to the Doctor. Their eyes met and Ianto continued to stare at him as the lift doors slid closed. To the man's credit, he didn't avoid Ianto's challengingly gaze.

Sprinting back to the warehouse, Ianto made his way inside again and took cover, joining in the battle as he tried to make his way to the group of trapped people.

The three remaining Daleks elevated into the air, rising up through the open ceiling, the remaining Cybermen turning their attention upwards. Using the distraction, Ianto got to the group of people and began ushering them towards the door, the soldier he recognised as Sebastian joining him in providing cover.

"Go!" Ianto shouted at the terrified group. "Head for the basement. Get as far away from the building as you can."

He'd just managed to get the last man from the group through the doorway when the entire room trembled. Looking up, he saw that the three Daleks were reigning weapons fire down upon the building, and he realised their objective with a sickening sense of despair. They were going to neutralise the Cybermen threat by bringing Torchwood Tower to the ground.

Without thinking, he dashed forward to where the remaining handful of soldiers were standing together. "We need to get out of here!" he shouted at them, as pieces of the concrete ceiling began to fall down around them and the building shuddered again.

There was an explosion at the other side of the warehouse, and within moments, the Jathar Sunglider was engulfed in flames. Ianto started to run, but he'd barely covered several feet when the ship exploded with a deafening boom and the shock wave threw him forward, slamming him into one of the larger storage crates.

Pain tore through his left arm and something heavy impacted against him, producing a blinding stab of pain at the base of his back. Ianto's vision blurred, and he slumped to the floor as the world went dark.