A.N: Sorry it has taken me such a long time to get round to updating this! I hope there is still some interest here … you might be pleased to know that I have finally written the outline for the rest of this story, so it's no longer just stabs in the dark. Unfortunately, however, there is one bit that might make you a little sad … or maybe a few bits ... but I will stop writing about that now and go back to where we were before. Thanks again for all encouragement/criticism/praise – it means so much!

(This requires a *little* knowledge about Torchwood)

Chapter 6

"And then he said to me, if I couldn't come to his Aunt Jude's silver wedding anniversary, he'd know that I really didn't…"

Ianto Jones sat on a swivel chair at the table of the conference room, twisting aimlessly and staring into the distance, lost in his own thoughts. Gwen had been going on for the past quarter of an hour about Rhys and his "outrageous" demands on her and her work for Torchwood, and how unfair she found all of this. If it was really so unfair, why did she stay with him? Or, preferably, if she cared that much about him, why couldn't she just take an amnesia pill and bugger of back to the police force and leave those who could separate their personal and professional lives to do the real work … No, Ianto wasn't bitter; just Gwen could get on his nerves, that was all. And since Tosh and Owen had died … well, him and Owen had obviously had their differences. But that didn't mean he didn't miss him – and Tosh. She'd been such a good friend, the only one who'd really understood how he felt when he lost Lisa, the only one who'd experienced love like that and had to give it up in the name of the noble cause … Since then, he'd been feeling the pinch of loss.

Since everything that had happened on board the Crucible, things had been different. Ianto had finally set eyes on this elusive Doctor that Jack had been going on about so much … Jack maintained that his "love" for this man was purely platonic, but Ianto had still felt threatened – he was much better looking than he'd imagined and seemed such a … hero. Even so, from what he'd seen on the web cam, this brown coated, skinny saviour had been paying far more attention to the striking blonde girl than Jack. He remembered how those two had laughed over their recognition of Gwen … There was so much he didn't know about this other life of Jack's, so much he wanted to ask. But things had been different. They hadn't slept together once and to be perfectly honest, Ianto was glad. Since everything that had happened with Grey and John, Ianto had been terrified and in awe of Jack. Terrified because of how much his brother had hated him, how much power he seemed to have over people's emotions. And in awe because, well – he was Jack. He'd spent almost two thousand years buried alive and still seemed the same. But in a way that scared him even more; what kind of person could go through all that and come out unscathed and unchanged? But he had changed; he'd stopped showing so much affection (or whatever the hell you want to call it) towards Ianto, amongst other things, including his insane temper. And they were both lonely, again.

So, here they were waiting. All four of them; Ianto, Gwen, Martha and Mickey. Jack had told them he had something "urgent" he needed to discuss with them, and, as usual, they'd gathered in the conference room for whatever minor incident had taken his interest. As always.

It had been one week and one day since Jack had received the letter and today was Martha's first day back since her departure for UNIT. He'd managed to put off having to explain the 'Donna Situation' to the rest of the team until her return, but now he really had no excuses – the longer he kept this to himself, the longer a woman's life was in danger. He hadn't really found time to act on things yet; he felt he needed the guidance of a friend (namely Martha, in this place – a friend who knew what life with the Doctor was like; there was Mickey, but he had been more of a part-time companion much like himself), in order to decide upon a plan of action. Nevertheless, Jack's main problem had been resisting the temptation of looking at the other letter … he knew that the results of giving in to such urges would be cataclysmic, but when faced with such an irresistibly disobedient option, Jack found behaving himself a task in itself. Besides, the first letter had hardly quenched his thirst for knowledge about the whole thing, and he really didn't know how to begin.

He strode into the conference room, where sat the four members of his team. He marched to the head of the table.

"Uh ... right," he began. Lately, he'd been realising he wasn't necessarily the great leader he once had been … he was nearing his two thousand three hundredth year – he wasn't quite sure, time seemed to go so fast for him – and the majority of that he'd spent cooped up in what was hell on Earth, buried beneath a city. And it had knocked his confidence, which was more than an understatement.

"Well, I'm sure all of you remember Donna Noble."

"With the Doctor?" Mickey perked up. He felt a little superior in this field … being one of only three Torchwood members to have travelled with him; he had the edge against Gwen and Ianto. How smug he felt!

"Yes. I ran into her today."

"Oh yeah? How was she?" Martha had such a vested interest, having spent all that time with Donna. But where was the Doctor in all of this?

"Different. She didn't know who I was."

"Uh-oh, there's trouble. Maybe you're not so unforgettable!" Gwen's jest was greeted with a dark, warning glare from Jack.

"It's not like that. She's lost her memory – she doesn't remember any of us, anything that happened …"

"But how?"

"I'm not entirely sure. I got a letter today. Not sure who from. The jist was … y'know the whole Time-Lord-Metacrisis ordeal? Well, to prevent her from dying as a result of it, he had to wipe her memory. All of it, right from the first day they met. And, I was told to protect her – she's moved to Cardiff, so the likelihood of her bumping into extra-terrestrial life is so much greater."

Everyone stared blankly, slightly shocked.

"Anyway, obviously we don't want that to happen. And we'll need to sort out how we can protect her from … things that might happen. We're the only ones who know about the Doctor; about her and the Doctor. So it's our duty to make sure nothing harms her."

"But she's just one person – how are we supposed to help her?"

"I don't know."

---

After he'd finished talking to the group, Jack took Martha aside.

"This is madness," she said. "Poor Donna – can you imagine that? All of those things she did, all those lives she saved! And she can never know. It breaks your heart, doesn't it?"

Jack stared grimly at her. "You know you can't help, don't you?" Martha nodded, forlornly. "You spent too much time with her – all those things you told me the three of you did together – you'd make her remember him."

"I know. But why isn't it the same for you?"

"I only met her the once; and last week, when I saw her – well, she didn't die, did she? I must be okay."

"It's so hard to comprehend."

"Tell me about it."

He hadn't shown them the letter. There was something intimate about it, like it wasn't meant for sharing with the group. But he knew he had to follow it, as uncomfortable as it made him. If he only knew how.

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