Author's Note: Thank you so much to those of you who reviewed! Your answers were brilliant and I haven't stopped smiling. No stupid questions this time, I promise (no questions at all in fact). Just a promise that something is around the corner. Something which people have had hints of in review replies (hint hint). I'm very loquatious when you get me started.

Seriously though, hope you enjoy this one, and don't worry, it's not over at the end of this chapter.

Dedicated to the salad spinner that gave me this chapter. And I'm not jumping on the Star Trek bandwagon. I've not even seen it, I've just been saying that quote for years.

Owen opened Tosh's apartment door with a shoulder and hailed her loudly, dumping his work-bag beside the sofa as Gwen closed the door more gently behind them. Their host was clattering around the kitchen more loudly than usual, but she greeted them warmly, if distractedly. With Gwen's help, the table was soon set and bowls of stir-fry vegetables and chicken were steaming gently. Finally, Tosh, pulling apart a spring roll, told them what Ianto had told her.

Jack entered the code and stepped out onto the roof, hands deep in pockets, tears now cold on his cheeks. Gwen had tried talking to him about it towards the end of the day – apparently she found the archives as interesting as he did – so when Owen had suggested that they leave early, as it was a quiet day, he'd agreed quickly. Gwen was a carer, she did her best to look after people – but Jack secretly preferred Owen's bedside manner. Or... Ianto's. He sighed and sat down on the edge, swimming his legs slightly and wondering what had gone so wrong.

Gwen and Owen stared at Tosh in astonishment, a lone bean sprout dangling from Owen's chopsticks. He finally remembered to drop it and set his chopsticks down. "So you mean Jack..."

Tosh nodded, eyes wide, "That's what Ianto said. And, I mean, I think I believe him."

Gwen swallowed, "So Jack... And Ianto really?"

"Yeah, I mean... maybe after Canary Wharf, and losing Lisa, and then Jack taking off and coming back. Maybe this was just too much, too soon."

"Yeah, but it's Ianto. And, more to the point, it's Jack!" Owen shook his head, "I don't think I'll ever get my head around it."

"Apparently Ianto's the same."

Stupid. He was so stupid. He should have known, he should have seen this. How could he have been so blind, so foolish, so stupid? He'd just wanted... Security, a promise maybe. A future, he wanted something certain. And now, now what did he have?

Sod all.

"Well I never." Owen swirled a glass of wine and sank into an armchair, "I don't think I'll ever look at Ianto the same again."

"He's not coming back." Tosh announced quietly, "He really means it, it wasn't just the heat of the moment. He's fed up of the weirdness, the aliens, the death. God, he's only twenty six. He's had enough of Torchwood, of Jack, of the whole thing. He just wants... to take his chances at safety."

Ianto let himself onto the roof and smiled sadly when he saw the lone figure at the edge of the roof. His third guess had been right in the end, although it was the fifth or sixth place he'd checked. He hadn't wanted it to be this roof, this was Jack's worst roof. "I thought I might find you up here."

Jack jumped a bit, and with him that close to the edge it was a terrifying thing to watch; even after last night, and even knowing that Jack couldn't die. He held it though, and the reason Ianto had dreaded finding Jack here didn't come to pass – this time. "Didn't think I'd see you up here though," was Jack's only answer.

He hesitated before sitting down next to Jack, noting the way that Jack flinched, although he couldn't tell from the action that Jack was more worried about his safety than his presence. "I couldn't leave it like that."

Jack looked away, swinging his feet a little, "Looked like that was exactly what you wanted to do."

"Ah," Ianto watched him. "Yeah, I may have been a bit short in my letter."

"Don't blame you." Jack shrugged, so close that Ianto felt his shoulder brush his own, "You're still going?"

"Yes." There was no doubt in his voice or mind, "I couldn't, I can't stay. I can't do that to you, to us. To myself."

"Ianto, I understand." And the worse thing was that he clearly did, "What will you do?"

He smiled properly for the first time, looked up at the stars, "I'm twenty-six, Jack. I'm going to do what I should have been doing since I started at Torchwood; travel, see the world, shag random strangers in bars, get pissed knowing that I'm not going to have to get up until seven in the morning."

Jack squeezed his hand suddenly and Ianto looked down into too familiar, too worried eyes. "Ianto, promise me you'll be careful?"

"I'll use condoms." He shook his head and chuckled, "I'm working for the Prime Minister's office. They want someone to co-ordinate security, make sure protocols are in place and that they're observed. And, well..."

"They don't want a repeat of Saxon."

He sighed and nodded, "And Saxon wasn't the first alien PM, remember? They want someone who had the experience to tie it all together, and the training to handle it."

"You're the perfect choice." Jack was smiling, genuinely smiling, happy for him. "I'm sure you'll do a fantastic job of it too, but don't let them tie you down too much." He nudged Ianto's shoulder with his own and turned sad suddenly, looking out to sea again, "You're still so long, don't let it be just another all consuming life-eater."

"I won't." He promised.

"So you think?"

"I don't know what to think." Tosh answered honestly, waving her wine glass around, "It just seems so, I don't know, out of character for him."

"Are we sure he wasn't under alien influence." Owen asked, scowling when Gwen giggled at him, "No, I mean seriously. Can you see him doing that of his own volition. Maybe he's still being controlled."

"No." Tosh leant forwards, eyes wide and shocked. "Although, he's working for the Government."

"Seriously?" Gwen studied her slightly unsteadily, "What's he doing then?"

"Prime Ministerial Defence." Tosh announced proudly. "Co-ordinating all alien defence information sources for the Prime Minister's office and monitoring the worldwide situation, as well as protecting the PM from alien attacks and the Earth from alien PMs." They laughed at that, so she wagged a finger at them, "We have to take it seriously, we've had two alien Prime Ministers in the last few years."

"And I'm not so sure about this one." Owen grabbed a newspaper and waved the front page photo, "Always been a bit unsure about him actually."

"We should get Ianto to run a full diagnostic scan, just in case." Tosh suggested as Gwen's mobile vibrated its way across the table, "I think you'd better get that Gwen. And, maybe get Rhys to pick you up?"

Gwen giggled as she scooped the phone off the floor and fumbled it to her ear. "Hey Rhys, what's up?" She frowned, "Yeah, yeah, although I'm not in a condition to drive. And I don't have my car." A pause, and they heard Rhy's voice raise in volume, "I'm at Tosh's, one of the team, Ianto, he's leaving. We're having a sort of farewell bash for him." She rolled her eyes and pushed her hair off her face, "Well I say for him, he's not here. We were, reminiscing, and trying to figure out why he's leaving." She smiled, "Rhys, I don't deserve you. I'd save you some cake, if we'd had cake." She sighed and flipped her phone shut, her head falling back against Tosh's sofa. "I'm drunk, aren't I?"

"Yeah." Owen nodded and studied their glasses. Topping them up, he raised his own, "To Ianto Jones, the most surprising and to be the most missed member of the Torchwood team. The best of luck in all he does."

"Yeah," Gwen raised her head and picked up her own glass, "to Ianto. Long may he prosper."

"Live long and prosper." Tosh giggled, "here's to hope."

"Hope for all of us." Owen agreed. He turned to her, "Tosh..."

She smiled, "You alright sleeping on the sofa?"

"You're a star Tosh." He grinned at her, "Don't think I could move tonight."

Ianto didn't let go of Jack's hand, but fished in his pocket before placing what he found there in Jack's palm and closing his fingers over it. "This is yours, keep it for someone who'll deserve it."

Jack's face finally fell, and the smile he'd been clinging to all evening vanished. Tears clouded in his eyes and he shook his head, catching Ianto's hand and putting the ring back in it, holding his hand closed with both of his own. "Keep it, it was yours from the moment I bought it. Keep it, please, and... think of me?"

As the door closed behind Gwen and Rhys, Owen joined Tosh by the window to watch them leave, wrapping a friendly arm around her shoulders. She leaned into it and sighed. "I just can't believe he's leaving."

"What I can't believe is that Jack Casanova Harkness proposed. Didn't see him as the settling down type." He huffed out a laugh and rubbed Tosh's shoulder when she nodded agreement, "And Ianto..."

"Jack must have thought they were more serious than Ianto did." She mused, "He wouldn't want to hurt Jack by sticking around and having Jack hold on to a... a folorn hope."

"So instead he leaves? Bloody madman, I've said it all along."

"What, you mean you would have married Jack?"

She had chuckled, but Owen's face was serious, watching her reflection, "If anyone looked at me the way Jack looked at Ianto, yeah I'd marry them. How didn't we see it?"

"He didn't let us see it, I suppose." She looked at him and sighed, slapping his arm lightly. "Come on, we've got a lot of making up to do to Jack in the morning."

"Yeah. You know he tried to forget it, nearly killed himself." He shrugged at her shocked look, "Retcon doesn't agree with him. He just wanted to forget that Ianto had rejected him and left him. Must have thought that it coming out of the blue would be less painful than the build-up and having his hopes dashed."

"But he can't forget." Tosh was standing in the doorway now, watching him across the darkened living room.

"Neither can Ianto. The dose required to remove Torchwood would kill him. They're stuck with their memories of each other, for better or worse." He shook his head and fell down onto the sofa, "Ironic, isn't it? You know, Tosh, I am coming to the conclusion that love and Torchwood just don't mix."

She hesitated a moment, then smiled tightly and turned away. "Maybe you're right, Owen. Good night."

An internal war raged, then Ianto tightened his hand around the ring and lifted it slightly, bringing Jack's hands with it. He leaned forwards to brush a kiss on the back of Jack's hand, then an equally chaste one on his cheek. "I'll never forget you, Jack. I'm sure our paths will cross again. And," he looked away from Jack's eyes, "You'll still be named as my next-of-kin. There's still no one I'd rather have by my side when I'd need a next-of-kin."

It was a plea, and Jack couldn't have wanted to deny him. "I'll be there. You call and I'll be there."

They held each other's gazes for an infinite moment longer, then Ianto stood and left Jack behind.