Author's Note: Thanks to Rick, as usual, who informed me that the last chapter was written in an 'epistolic style'. Huge hugs to x-Athenea-x, Rainbow Stripes, cjh4ever, AlienStar05, ETMuse05, Caz_Malfoy, who I've actually met! And everyone else with whom I have been chatting since I last updated, I love you all.

Which reminds me, I haven't updated this since I saw Mr Barrowman live. Oh my God. If you get a chance, you MUST see him.

And I'm heading down to London on Friday to see the premiere of Children of Earth. Will be tweeting about it (this name) and putting a blog up somewhere (don't worry, no spoilers, just squee) - details will be on my Twitter.

Onwards

"Because I'm scared." He repeated in a whisper, turning away again and leaning his hip against the work surface, dropping his head forwards. "I think.... No, I know I love him, Tosh. I love him to distraction, and I know that loving him means hurting him. I just... It was better to hurt him and be around to make sure he's taken care of than die and know I'm leaving him behind."

Tosh watched him sadly and carried Tybalt across to him. "I don't know whether that's stupidly selfless, stupidly selfish or just stupidly stupid."

"You know, I thought it was reasonably sensible." He scratched Tybalt behind his ears and the kitten mewled happily. "See, Tybalt agrees with me."

"Of course he does, he's a cat, and he knows who feeds him." She folded her arms and looked up at him. "You should come back."

"No I shouldn't."

"No, you should." She picked Tybalt up and cuddled him to her chest. "This won't stop Jack getting hurt when you die, he'll just hurt more because he didn't have the chance to enjoy the time he had with you."

"I intend for him to forget about me, and I don't intend to die any time soon." He looked down at her and attempted a smile. "It's better this way, trust me." She opened her mouth to speak, but he cut her off. "Right, I assume you're staying over tonight? Seeing as it's too late for you to go back to Cardiff, so I'll make up the bed in the spare room for you."

She stared after him, then lifted Tybalt to her nose, frowning at him. "You know, Tybalt, you have a very stupid human. And I'm going to make sure he realises it."

Tosh groaned and dropped her arm down the side of the bed, hooking two fingers underneath the tiny body and lifting him up to join her on the bed. "Hush, Tybalt. You're very noisy for such a small creature." He went prowling off down the bed, attacking her feet through the duvet when he got there. "Why are you here? Where's Ianto? What time is it? Why am I asking a cat?" She buried her head under the duvet again and did her best to ignore him again.

A while later, she was sleepily aware of the door opening and the tiny weight lifting off her feet. She lifted the duvet a little and smiled as he tried to leave without waking her. He was already dressed in shirt and trousers, but he was only wearing, yes, he wasonly wearing one sock. "Ianto," she asked groggily, "where is your other sock?"

He looked down at her and put Tybalt back by her head, pulling the quilt down so he could see her better. "On my bed."

"Why is it not on your foot?"

"Because having two socks on one foot is silly." He stated calmly, prodding Tybalt under the covers with her with one gentle finger. "I've got to be at work in an hour and a half, are you OK looking after Tybalt whilst I'm out?"

She sat up slightly and dragged the tiny form back from his exploration down the bed. "As adorable as Tybalt is, it's you I came to see, Ianto."

"You want to come in with me?" He looked surprised.

"Yeah, I mean, if it won't get you into trouble."

Ianto beamed at her and nodded. "That would be great. We'll have to bring the little monster with us though."

"What a shame."

"I know. Gordon and Ally will be so annoyed." Tosh giggled and he smiled down at her, recapturing Tybalt from another exploration. "Right, I'm going to feed him and put breakfast on, then we'll have to get going sharpish."

Tosh groaned, Ianto laughed and Tybalt mewed and got a claw caught in his shirt. Tosh was giggling as she pulled on a summery dress, determined to enjoy the opportunity to dress up without the worry of it getting trashed by aliens. Within quarter of an hour, Ianto was in his usual impeccable suit (with a pair of shoes and a pair of socks) and was trying to encourage Tybalt to cling to his shoulder with one hand, whilst he ate a bacon butty with the other. They got some amused and confused looks on the Tube, and a gaggle of giggling teenage girls who spent three stops fussing over Tybalt and batting their eyelashes at Ianto. Tosh met his eyes with a grin and turned back to discuss social networking with the token guy with the girls.

Ianto tugged her off at embankment and they walked the short distance to the back entrance to Downing Street. He put his arm around Tosh's waist to steer her into Number 10, nodding a greeting to the policeman and a couple of the journalists outside. Her steps faltered as she stepped into the grand, echoing entrance hall and she was struck by where she was. "Oh my God. I'm in Downing Street." She looked around and giggled, "They rebuilt it well."

He smiled at her, and was about to say something when a voice carried down the stairs, "Ah, Ianto, Tybalt with you this morning?" Gordon Albion approached them with an almost regal grace, extending his hand and a warm smile to Tosh. "And, may I ask, who is this charming young lady, Mr. Jones?"

"Prime Minister, allow me to introduce Toshiko Sato, Torchwood's technological expert."

"Miss Sato," he kissed her hand and continued to smile down at her when she blushed, "it is a pleasure to meet you at last. Ianto speaks extremely highly of you."

"Likewise," she gathered herself, "he seems to have settled in well here."

Now it was Ianto's turn to blush, and Gordon turned the wave of benevolence on him. "I'm sure Ianto could settle in well at the North Pole, and I am sure he would make friends with the polar bears." He chuckled and gestured up the stairs, taking a squirming Tybalt from Tosh. "Good morning, young Sir. No penguins at the North Pole, of course, so it would have to be Polar Bears. Although it may be too cold even for them at the Pole."

"I think it likely, Prime Minister." Ianto concurred, "The North Pole is noted for its inhospitable conditions."

Gordon raised an eyebrow. "I'm tempted to call that cheek, Mr. Jones." Ianto smirked. "I believe you are expecting a lot of phone calls today?"

"Yes, sir. UNIT are due to call me at half past eleven, then Torchwood Two at one o'clock and Torchwood Three at half past one." Tosh's mouth formed a perfect circle and he cut her off, "Can I ask you to find somewhere else to be whilst I do that, Tosh?"

She smiled and nodded at him. "Of course."

"Miss Sato, could I pencil you in for a spot of lunch at half past one?" Gordon offered.

"Thank you. I'd like that."

He offered her his hand again. "I look forwards to it. Until then Miss Sato."

"Toshiko, please."

"Only if you call me Gordon."

"Deal."

He laughed, "Splendid. Until lunch, Toshiko."

Ianto opened his office door and showed her in, pulling off his jacket and hanging it on the coat rack as soon as he got through the door. Tosh smiled shyly at the girl behind the desk as Ianto set to making the coffee. "You must be Ally?"

"And you must be Toshiko." Ally grinned at her and offered a hand across the desk, dropping a wad of paperwork as she leaned forwards. "Erm, whoops."

"Ally, Ally, Ally." Ianto set the mugs on his desk and helped Ally to clear the pile up. "What am I going to do with you?"

She giggled at him and extended her hand to Tosh again. "Sorry, hi, I'm Ally."

"Tosh," she smiled. "Ianto tell me you're quite the Mornington Crescent player."

"Native Londoner," she explained, "I grew up playing Mornington Crescent on the Tube. We'd spend hours going from station to station without surfacing."

"Most kids settle for football, Ally plays obscure games without any comprehensible rules."

"How did you know I played cricket?" She grinned when he rolled his eyes and set the files down in a neat pile. "No Tybalt this morning, Ianto?"

"Erm... Tosh, where's Tybalt?"

She frowned. "Ianto..."

He'd realised. "Tosh, did the Prime Minister just steal my kitten?" She nodded. "Again?"

"Again?" Tosh raised her eyebrows and shook her head. "Never mind, I don't think I really want to know. Can I take a look at your system?"

Ally looked to Ianto for confirmation, then set up her desk for Tosh. "I'm assuming that the incursions last night from Cardiff were you."

"Both of them, yes. Sorry, Ianto, I needed to be sure you were OK."

Ally paused as she settled at Ianto's desk to take the dictation of the first phone call. "There were three incursions."

Gwen found the file in the bottom drawer of the cabinet and stood up, brushing her knees down and looking up towards Jack's office, characteristically silent. She sighed and headed up the stairs, calling loudly, "Jack, I've got that file for you."

He was clearly present when she got into his office, which was something of a relief, and held his hand out for the file. "Thanks, Gwen. Look, you can Owen can get off if you like. There's not much we can do with just the three of us."

"Jack." She plonked herself on the edge of his desk. "I'm not leaving you to make that phone call alone."

"Gwen." He put his feet up on the desk next to her. "If you don't leave, I will take the phone call onto a rooftop so that I can have it in private. Don't worry," he added, "we're both adults."

"Jack..."

"Gwen..." He stared her down, letting her know silently that he wasn't going to give in on this one, and finally she stood up and walked to the door. "Thank you."

"Call me, if you need me, OK?" He nodded and she left, collecting Owen and her coat on the way out, leaving the Hub to put itself on standby.

Jack looked up at the clock, quarter of an hour left to prepare himself. He gathered his notes from the week and put them in order, willing the time to go more slowly.

There was a knock at the door before it was pushed open and Gordon Albion crossed to where Toshiko sat at Ally's desk and set a small black and white fluffball down on it – Tybalt immediately jumped down and begged Ianto to be lifted up into his in-tray. Gordon chuckled at the small animal's antics and greeted them all warmly, taking and kissing both Ally and Tosh's hands. His formal manners, controlled carriage and the air of quiet, serious mischief he exuded reminded her so much of Ianto that she couldn't have kept back her smile, even if she had wanted to. "Prime Minister." He fixed her with an admonishing glare and she could practically feel Ianto's poorly-hidden smirk. "Sorry, Gordon."

He smiled broadly and beamed at Ianto and Ally. "I hope your first contacts have gone smoothly this morning?"

"Exceedingly so." Ianto confirmed. "They were most obliging, and Toshiko has secured our system so that it will be less easy for her to check up on me in the future."

They all turned to look at her and she blushed, packing a few items away into her handbag. "Really, Ianto," she chided, "surely you know me better than that?"

"Ah, of course, there's a back entrance?" He sighed. "Try not to let Jack know about it this time, please?"

She smiled at him, slightly embarrassed, and turned to the Prime Minister. He offered her his arm. "Miss Sato, what say we remove ourselves from this elegant yet severe office and find somewhere lighter and airier to enjoy the sunshine, and leave these good people to their work."

She giggled and slipped her arm through his. "Prime Minster Albion, that sounds like a wonderful idea."

He bowed his head to Ianto and steered Toshiko towards the door. "Ianto, Analyn, Tybalt. I shall return Toshiko before you leave, I promise."

Ianto chuckled as he finished straightening up his notes from the last phone call with Torchwood's minute office in India - a last remnant of Victoria's empire and watched Ally adding data to the world map on the wall. "Ally." She hummed as she coloured India in in blue (low activity) to show she was listening. "Will you do me a favour?"

"Yeah?"

He hesitated, then looked down at his work again. "Get off home once you've finished that."

"We've got one more call to come in, from Cardiff, though."

"Yes, that's why I'm asking you it as a favour. I think... I think it would be a bad idea if you were in the room for this one." He didn't look up as she came to sit on the desk, presumably watching him moving pieces of paper around his desk.

"Ianto, what... You and Captain Harkness. I know, look, when you fired Henry, and then when he came after you, he said it was about Captain Harkness. And when you knew it was him who'd got through our security, and you want Miss Sato to make sure he doesn't get through again. He wasn't just your boss, was he?"

He stilled and sighed, setting his papers aside and resting his chin on clasped hands. "No, he was my..." He waved a hand. "I don't know how to explain it."

"Were you in love?"

He shook his head and looked up at her seriously. "No, I loved him, and he loved me. But I wasn't in love. I think he might have been though."

"Did you leave him to take this job?" She asked gently.

"Other way around. I took this job to leave him."

"And now you wish you hadn't?"

Was Ally perceptive, or was he really that obviously miserable? "I wish I hadn't had to. But I couldn't stay around and hurt him."

Her fingers splayed on his forearm. "I'm sorry. Do you miss him?"

"Desperately. I didn't think I would, but I do. I want him back more than anything, but I can't do that to him, it would hurt him so badly. He deserves so much better." He sighed heavily again and rubbed at his eyes, dislodging her hand from his arm and brushing away the conversation. "Anyway, what's past is past. I just need to get through this conversation with him."

"Of course." She patted his arm and smiled at him, suddenly revealing herself to be the sensible twenty-something she actually was, rather than the teenager she liked to pretend to be. "I'll take these files through to the other office. Bellow if you need me."

Ianto's smile dropped as soon as she left the room and he set his files aside, fisting his hands and resting his forehead on them, staring down at the phone positioned between his elbows, waiting for it to ring.