Jack watched Ianto walk away from him. He didn't call out or follow. Gwen had been right. Ianto had said something similar earlier, she was his friend too. But Jack had denied her the chance to see her best friend again. In all honesty, he had barely thought of her. He hadn't written another letter telling her what he had done, like the last time he ran away. It had been only when he reached the pub that he had wished that she had been here too. Gwen was always the best at people skills, far better than he was. Oh, he was good at manipulating people and intimidating them, but Gwen could get people to do what she wanted because she listened to them and could empathise with their situation. She could relate to anyone in a way that he couldn't despite all his charm and allure. She would've known how to stop the Séance without anyone getting hurt.

But that was beside the point. If his original plan had worked, he'd have been trapped in the void between the worlds, gone forever. He'd have disappeared without a trace.

How long would Gwen have waited for him? A few years? A few decades? The rest of her life? Would she have been on her deathbed, skin weathered and hair white, still clutching his Vortex Manipulator that she'd kept safely hidden for all those years? Would she have pressed it into the hands of her oldest child, now grown with children of their own, with a story of a man who never dies, a man she has been waiting for since before they were born, a man that will one day return? Would she have breathed her last breath believing that he would come back any minute now to say goodbye? Would her descendants have believed her tales or dismiss them as the ramblings of an old woman? Would they believe the great Captain Jack to be the hero she'd first thought him to be or the monster that he really was?

Or would Gwen have finally realised that he wasn't human, that he wasn't like her, his ability to resurrect making him far more alien than any of the monsters she had been taught to shoot on sight? Would she have cursed him for ruining her life, for dragging her into the strange world where the only certainty was death? Would she have lived forever on the run, hiding not just from those in power but from a man more dangerous than everyone else combined?

He scrubbed at his eyes with the cuff of his coat. He wouldn't cry. It was his fault.

Instead, he turned his attention back to his wrist strap, fastening it on his left wrist. The leather band was stiff and slightly rough against his skin. Rather like his new coat which Ianto had purchased back in September, it felt a little strange. His new coat was a little thinner due to it being made with slightly less quality wool than the ones Jack usually had custom made. It was also a bit too long and would tangle around his ankles when he ran. And although he could still cram quite a lot into his pockets, they weren't dimensionally transcendental, but then again, they weren't likely to be. In his long life, he'd only been gifted a greatcoat from the Tardis once; it hadn't taken him long to get used to the extra storage space, though.

Yet Jack cherished his new greatcoat because Ianto had gone out of his way to buy it for him specially on that week they were on the run. He'd supplied his captain with an army surplus special because he knew that Jack felt naked without his chosen uniform. The leather band would now forever remind him of Gwen, the woman who wore her heart on the sleeve of her leather jacket and whose gapped-toothed smile should never be mistaken for joy.

But still, he ran his fingers over it, trying to remember where each dimple and scratch had once been. Leather had been a material he'd always loved for it showed its story in its wear. His Vortex Manipulator had been presented to him on the day he graduated from the Academy, long ago, several thousands of years in the future. He'd worn it ever since. Each scuff and scrape, each nick and notch held a memory, a small part of history that was etched in the leather's grain forever. Those were all gone now.

If he were lucky, then Ianto might help him to replace some. But for now, Jack turned his attention back to the device inside. His Vortex Manipulator could hopefully pick up something that the Rift Detector couldn't.

Almost half an hour later, he gave in. His Vortex Manipulator couldn't tell him anything that the Rift Monitor hadn't told him already.

There was nothing.

Perhaps if he'd had his wrist strap before, or even the Rift Monitor, he would have something to work with. But he hadn't. He'd walked into the pub with no gun, no monitors, and no backup plan. All he had was the heart-wrenching desire to see Ianto again and a handmade bomb stuffed in his pocket.

He walked slowly back towards Gwen, Rhys and, Ianto. Rhys still had his arm around her, and she was holding Ianto's hand.

"I'm sorry," Jack said.

Gwen looked up at him.

"I am. You're right, I didn't think… I should have…" He sighed. "I'm sorry.

She nodded and he let out a sigh of relief. "You're not forgiven just yet, though," she added quietly.

"I know. I can't promise that I won't ever leave you again because I probably will. We both know that. I won't lie to you. But when that day comes, I'll tell you first if I can. If I can't, I promise I'll find some way to get word to you. And, if you'll still have me, I'd like to stay for now?"

"Good," she sniffed harshly and looked away.

"Ianto?" he asked softly.

He finally looked up at him and rolled his eyes. "Of course, I want you to stay," he tutted. "What would be the point if you didn't?"

Jack smiled. "Thank you. Both of you. Thank you."

"So," Gwen said, stretching out her legs and arching her back. "Did you find anything?"

"No," he sighed, sitting down heavily on the opposite bench. "You were right, there's absolutely nothing. Every scan on every setting and nada. No trace of energy anywhere."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Rhys asked, a furrow in his brow. "I mean, if there's no trace of the Rift thingy then that means it's closed, right? That you did it and sealed the Rift and there's nothing controlling Ianto."

Jack shook his head. "There should be some kind of trace here. The Rift's been open for at least a hundred and forty years that we know of, and Torchwood's been studying it since the turn of the millennium – the last millennium, that is. All that time, energy has been coming through from other times, other places, other worlds. We know that all of Wales is a giant battery of stored Rift energy. But now I can't find any trace of it anywhere. It's like it's suddenly disappeared, but that's not possible. Oh…" Jack looked up from his wrist strap and caught the twinkling eyes of Ianto. "Unless-"

"-Unless, of course, some idiot built a bomb in a cardboard box and hooked it up to detonate when one world collided with another, creating a whole lot of dust that they hoped would wipe out Syriath and seal the Rift forever," Ianto said with a pointed look. "At least a hundred and fifty years of stored energy suddenly released creating a massive implosion which would cause the Rift to snap shut-"

"-Taking all that energy with it," Jack finished.

"Quite simple really," Ianto said with a shrug. "Any idiot could have worked that out."

"Hang on, you knew that already?" Gwen protested. "You mean I've been out here freezing my tits off, looking for something we were never going to find, and you already knew why? Ianto!"

He smiled at her sweetly despite her attempt to shove him off the bench. "Yeah, but you did say that you were enjoying the view."

Jack laughed loudly as Gwen started swatting him repeatedly on the arm, protesting that she'd meant that the countryside was nice, not the view of Jack's arse and that he fully well knew that, mister.

"I've missed you both," Jack sighed quietly when their bickering died down.

"And so you should have," Gwen scowled.

"I know," he said softly. "I know."

"So," Rhys said, clapping his hands together, "what's next?"

Jack shook his head.

"We're not going to like this, are we?" Ianto said, huffing out a frustrated breath. Gwen sat up straighter and Jack saw her clutch Ianto's hand tighter as if she feared he was going to take him away, despite his earlier promise to stay.

"No, probably not," he admitted.

"What is it this time?" Rhys groaned.

"I need to go back to Torchwood, back to the Hub."

"No. No way," was Rhys's immediate reaction. "You're not taking Gwen back there."

Gwen snapped her head toward her husband. "Oi! I'm a grown woman. You don't get to talk for me, especially not when I'm sat right next to you."

"So, if you think it's safe there, then why are we staying in that crappy bedsit then?" Rhys snapped back. Jack opened his mouth to interrupt but Rhys was on full rant mode; there was no stopping him now. He stood up, shaking off Gwen's hand. "Why have we been moving every fucking week, never staying in one place long enough to unpack? Why haven't we bought our own place with a nursery and nice sized back garden?" he challenged.

"You bloody well know why, Rhys!"

"Yeah, because it's not safe. Torchwood's not safe!"

"Torchwood was what was keeping us safe!"

"Yeah, and what happened to it? It's gone, that's what. They all died, Gwen. They all died!"

A dark look crossed Gwen's face. Rhys took a step back. Ianto put his arm around her, but the look on his face was one of utter grief as if he too had the crushing weight of a million souls on his shoulders. Jack knew what that felt like and no doubt his own face was a mirror. Jack had outlived thousands of people he couldn't save. Ianto had survived the massacre of Torchwood One.

"That's a low blow, Rhys Williams," she said with a low and level voice, deadly calm. "Don't you ever – ever – bring them into this. Jack's died so, so many times, long before even our grandparents were born, to keep Cardiff, to keep the Earth safe. He's died over and over again to protect people like you and me. He doesn't have to, nobody forced him to, but he does because, despite everything, he's a good man."

Jack's vision misted over. He swallowed down the bitter lump in his throat.

Gwen continued, her voice never once breaking. "Without Tosh and Owen, the nuclear plant at Turnmill would have gone into meltdown. The city was cut off, we'd never have been able to evacuate everyone in time. Thousands would have died. Thousands. But they saved us. They died saving us. And Ianto…" She turned to him. "My best friend survived the fall of Canary Wharf. You survived Cybermen and Daleks and god knows what else while working in London. And then you came here, to us. You should have left, started a coffee shop or something, but you didn't. You chose Torchwood, even though we didn't deserve it. You chose Jack. You saved us all so many times. Saved my life more than once, saved Rhys's too. And you died saving the world."

"Did I?" he asked quietly.

"You did, sweetheart. You saved all of us." She squeezed his hands tight.

Ianto looked over at Jack, his face fuzzy around the edges due to the moisture in his eyes. Jack was refusing to let them fall. Instead, he forced himself to smile – not that it took much effort. Gwen was right, Ianto Jones had died saving the world, but now he was alive once more.

Jack cleared his throat. "But Rhys is right," he said, but his voice was still scratchy. "It's not safe in Cardiff right now."

"You said you're not leaving again," Gwen said quietly.

"I'm not," he hastily explained. "At least, not far. Only to London. I've got some contacts there that might be able to help. It won't take long, less than a week, I hope."

"And you want me to stay here," Gwen said. She didn't phrase it as a question.

He nodded. "With Ianto."

"What?!"

"You'll be safer here," he reassured him. "Hopefully, nobody knows of your return yet. If they do, then you'll be in even more danger than Gwen. I need to keep you safe."

"I assume you know about this 'Department' then?" Gwen asked. "You can make them stop hunting us?"

He shook his head sadly. "No. If I could, I'd have done so already. I can't do anything to compromise them as they're part of recorded history. Not a nice part, I'll admit, and no, I didn't think they existed until much later this century. But I know some people who might be able to get us back into the Hub unrecorded."

"Okay," Gwen sighed. "Do what you have to do."

"Thank you."

Authors Note:

And with that, we've finished our first arch! Ianto's back and Jack closed the Rift - yay! But you probably still have some questions, or just a general sense of uneasiness, as some of you have commented. Fear not, all will be revealed soon. Although sadly not quite as soon as you may like :( Life's been pretty difficult lately and let's just say I completely underestimated how long it takes to edit chapters so they're ready to post. So, instead of accidentally leaving you hanging off the edge of yet another cliff, I'm going to take a few weeks off posting to edit some more chapters.

But before I go, I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who leaves a Kudos and send an extra bucket full of love for those who take time out of their day to write a comment; the response has honestly been so overwhelming and completely unexpected! In the meantime, you might be able to find me on Tumblr death-by-torchwood (or on my main, eat-pizza-and-save-the-universe), unless, of course, the Tumblr gremlins decide to eat more messages than washing machines eat socks :)

Until then,
All my love, Lexi x