Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood or its characters

A/N: Again I took some liberties with dates but I am trying to make educated guesses with them

Chapter 8

Ianto gasped as he sat trying to catch his breath. He felt cold hands on his chest.

"Easy Ianto you're in the Hub" Owen said.

Ianto felt his heart rate slow down and took deep slow breaths. "What happened?"

"You fell asleep on the sofa so we left you to rest. You started crying out and flailing, almost like you were having a seizure. I take it you were having a nightmare?"

Ianto nodded. "Canary Wharf."

Owen winced and patted his leg. "Say no more. How's the head?"

"A bit better now" Ianto said.

Owen nodded. "Good. I'm going to keep the cannula in your hand for a little bit longer just in case, but as your head is better and you've definitely got more colour on your cheeks I'll look at taking it out in a few hours if you are still ok."

Ianto nodded. "Thanks Owen." He stood up. "Need the loo."

Owen stepped out of the way and let Ianto past.

As Ianto stood in the bathroom he tried to calm his racing thoughts. He hadn't had a Canary Wharf dream for months. Why would he have one now? And why could he swear he'd caught a glimpse of Jack there?

10th October 2008

Jack landed face first onto a flat of grass. He immediately got onto his hands and knees and gulped in deep breaths of fresh air, desperate to disperse the smells from Canary Wharf. He took deep breaths, willing himself to not vomit. He could still hear the screams. He shook his head, trying to shake it. He shuddered as he now had a glimpse of what Ianto went through. He was there for less than half an hour and it had shaken him to his core. No wonder Ianto still had nightmares about it. He had renewed admiration for Ianto's strength during and in the immediate aftermath.

He wobbled as he stood up. He looked around and realised he was in Bute Park. Back in Wales then. He looked round and spotted Ianto sitting on a bench. He had a quick glimpse at a newspaper someone was reading as he walked past. 10th October 2008. He was now in the not too distant future. This was worrying. He had jumped past his time. Is he going to keep jumping further and further until the end of time? Or the end of Ianto's time. He shuddered.

He moved behind a tree as he saw his future self approach and sit next to Ianto. They moved close together and he watched as he put his arm round Ianto, who leaned into it and put his head on Jack's shoulders. He couldn't get close enough to hear anything, but what surprised him was their expressions. They both looked so sad. Grief stricken. Something bad has happened, but what? Had one of the team died? Had Owen's energy run out? He had to get closer.

He was suddenly gripped again by the pain again and felt himself falling before landing with a crash onto concrete. He winced as he stood up and realised he was in the vaults of the Hub. His heart leapt. He was back! As he started running up the stairs he stopped as he heard a voice that made his blood run cold. One of the few creatures in the universe he feared.

"Torchwood detected! Exterminate Torchwood!"

"Have you finished yet Owen?" Ianto asked impatiently.

Owen shone a light in his eyes. "Nearly. How is the head?"

"Aches but a lot better" he said. He held up his hand. "Can we please take this cannula out now? It's driving me mad!"

"Ok ok keep your suit on!" Owen grumbled. He gently took it out and checked Ianto's hand. When he was happy he motioned for Ianto to jump down off the table. "If your head starts feeling bad again you need to tell me so I can give you something for it."

Ianto nodded and left to go check on Tosh. She was tapping away at her keyboard whilst Gwen was looking over stills from the CCTV on the sofa. They looked up as Ianto entered the Hub area.

"How are you feeling?" Tosh asked.

"Head aches but feeling a lot better. Any luck on the Jack front?"

Tosh shook her head. "I'm still going over the readings. Gwen's looking over the stills. They are second by second."

"I could with an extra pair of eyes if you feel up to it" Gwen called.

Ianto nodded. "Sure."

As he sat next to Gwen something occurred to him. "Tosh. We think he's been falling through my timeline because of my changing memories right? But what if he goes past this date? What if he is now going through my future? Would we be able to get him back?"

Tosh swung round to look at him. "Honestly Ianto I don't know. Without a location, date and time we'd be flying blind when opening the rift. And then it would be how far in the future would we look? How far down your timeline do we try and look?" She suddenly stopped.

"You mean do we go to my death, whenever that is. Which let's be honest, with this job, is not going to be too far in the future."

"Ianto don't say that!" Gwen admonished him.

Ianto looked at her sadly. "Gwen, Torchwood doesn't have a pension plan. Surely even you know why."

Gwen looked at the floor. He took her hand and squeezed it. "I'm sorry" he said quietly.

"Ianto I'm not going to give up. I'm going to figure this out" Tosh said.

Ianto nodded and picked up the images and started to look through them.

Jack's heart was in his mouth. Why were there Daleks on Earth? How had they discovered Torchwood? He felt sick. He snuck up to the main area and ducked into the shadows as Gwen ran to the armoury. He looked around and saw only Ianto, waiting by the cog wheel door. Where were Tosh and Owen? And where the hell was he? Gwen raced back past carrying two guns. She saw her give one to Ianto and both of them load up. As the cog wheel door opened he saw the Dalek at the entrance and watched as Ianto and Gwen opened fire. The pain took over him and he was gone again in a flash.

He hit the floor hard and felt his nose crack. He groaned as he sat up. He straightened his nose and felt the bones knitting together. Once it had finished he stood up and looked around. He was in some sort of corridor. The lights were off and the emergency red lights were flashing. It was quiet and he couldn't see anyone. He walked along until he came to a room with some computers. The screens were flashing "Thames House Lockdown"

What was he doing in Thames House?