Time to bring the team back together I think, well, mostly... Hope you enjoy this next bit... This part of the story just seems to be writing itself, so I'm not sure how long it's going to be...

Anja

Forgotten 2

Rhys opened the door to their apartment and lead Gwen in. He switched the light on, illuminating their home. He lead her over to the couch and sat her down, "Are you sure you're ok?" He asked. Again.

"I'm fine Rhys... Really."

In a lot of ways, Rhys couldn't believe this was happening again. Last time she'd lost her memory, she'd forgotten him. Now, she'd forgotten Torchwood. The things this job did to them, "Ok."

"I think I'm going to go to bed. A good night's rest and I'll be right as rain," She said.

Rhys nodded, "Ok, I'll be right there."

Gwen nodded and walked towards their bedroom. He heard the door close behind her. When he was sure she was busy, he grabbed his cell phone and found Astra's number. She picked up on the first ring.

"Astra here," She said.

"Astra, it's Rhys."

"Oh, hey, how are things with Gwen?"

He sighed, "I'm not sure. She's going to bed. You think she'll remember in the morning?"

"You can't rush these things Rhys," He could here the sound of a door being closed in the background and several female voices greeting Astra. She called a greeting back to them, "Sorry, I just got home myself. Look, we made good progress tonight. She recognised Janet, Owen and Tosh," He could here her mournful voice at the mention of the two deceased Torchwood members, "She even recognised Myfawny. I think let her sleep. Most importantly, let her dream. Without a doubt her dreams will be full of Torchwood cases."

Rhys nodded to himself, "Ok... So, what's this about you and a book?"

She laughed, "It's all true actually. I have another sketch book with pictures specially for that."

"Wow... You're good by the way."

"Well, thank you. Rhys, go be with her, if her first few months were anything like mine, she'll need you. Be warned though, you may hear things you really don't want to hear."

"Ok, well, thanks. I'll talk to you later."

"Night."

They hung up and Rhys made his way to the bedroom. Gwen was already laying in bed. She smiled up at him, "Hey."

"Hey," He said. He pulled his pants off, then his shirt. He looked around the room and found his night clothes, he pulled them on and slid in next to her. She snuggled up to him. He reached out to turn the lamps off. He stroked her hair and held her close to him.

They'd both fallen asleep and the clock beside the bed glowed it's time, two am. Gwen was staring at the roof now. She didn't want to wake Rhys, but her thoughts were running a hundred miles a second. Images kept flashing before her eyes. The sketch's that she'd seen seemed to come to life before her. Owen, making some snide remark, Toshiko, typing away at her computer, Jack training her to use a gun. Ianto delivering his coffee. She could even smell it. Myfawny flying overhead in the hub. Janet the Weevil in her cell in the vault. Taye, in his white coat, his military hair cut growing unruly as he let it grow. And Astra at Southerndown Beach, crying over Jack being shot by Toshiko. Slowly, more thoughts, more images, more memories.

Rhys stirred beside her and opened his eyes. He stared at her. The look on his face told him all he needed to know. She remembered. She knew all about Torchwood again, "Gwen?" He said quietly.

She looked at him, "Yeah?"

"Do you remember?"

She nodded, "Everything... Well, not everything, things are a little sketchy, but it's coming back to me... How... How could I have forgotten that?"

"Astra says you were Retconned."

Gwen nodded, "Sounds right. I can't remember that last day in the Hub..."

"She does... Mostly, you can ask her."

Gwen nodded again, "In the morning..."

Rhys wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. She snuggled up to him and they fell asleep again.

-T-O-R-C-H-W-O-O-D-

The new morning promised to be a far better day then the last. Gwen hurried down the stairs behind the tourist office, Rhys behind her. He'd insisted on coming, since he was already part of it. The cog door opened to reveal the hub. Astra was already at her desk. She was still going through the security footage from the day they'd been retconned. Taye was looking over Ianto's Torchwood file, looking for something, anything that they could use to attract his attention and make him remember.

"Morning!" Gwen called.

Astra looked up from the tapes. A smile spread across her face as she jumped up and went to hug Gwen, "You remember?"

Gwen hugged her back, "I do."

"Great!" Astra said, "Taye and I are already doing things, he's trying to find a way to make Ianto remember and I'm trying to figure out what happened. Perhaps you and Rhys, if he's staying to help, can start going through Jack's stuff. Try and figure out where he went? We'll all meet in the board room, in say... An hour?" She said the last part load enough for Taye to hear.

Gwen nodded, "Ok, sounds good," She grabbed Rhys and pulled him towards Jack's office.

Gwen went straight for Jack's Great Coat. He never went anywhere without it. She searched through his pockets. His phone was there, some gum. Lint. Lots of Lint. Ianto's stopwatch. His vortex manipulator. Why on earth would that be in his pocket she wondered. She put each of the items on Jack's desk. She glanced at Rhys, he was looking through files which were probably classified. Gwen knew he meant no harm and was only trying to find some clue as to where Jack might be, but Jack would have a fit when he returned, if he found out. She had hope, he'd returned last time. She needed Ianto. She needed his support to keep the team running. Ok, Astra and Taye had done well so far, but out of them, she was the most senior Torchwood Officer. It was a scary thought.

An hour later, they were sitting in the board room. Though there was no Ianto to hand out coffee. Gwen looked towards Taye, "Any luck finding a way to get Ianto's attention?" She asked.

Taye frowned, "Well, we could try using things from Torchwood One, but I think he remembers that. According to his file, Jack and Ianto caught Myfawny together, but we can't very well take her out of here."

"Hang on a second," Astra said, "Ianto already worked for Torchwood. What we need to do is recruit him!"

"What do you mean?" Gwen asked.

"He already knows about aliens and god only knows what else we do. Let's recruit him again, bring him to the hub, try and jog his memory that way."

"It could work," Gwen said.

"Not me..." Taye said, "I don't think this Ianto likes me."

"Fine, Astra and I will go to Ianto's."

Rhys had been sitting quietly, watching them. The dynamic had changed so much from the last time he was there, "What do you want me to do?"

"Let me tell you what I've found and then I'll tell you what you can do," Astra said with a smile, "I was looking through the Security footage from the other day, before the meeting. Jack was hovering around the hub as if scared of something. I rewound till earlier and he had received a message from the Vortex Manipulator."

"John?" Gwen asked.

Astra shook her head, "No... Though I think John might know who the person is. Anyway it was after that, that Jack started acting weird and whoever deleted the security footage from after we left was really good. I've only just got some of it back, but I haven't had a chance to go through it yet," She looked at Rhys, "Perhaps you could watch through the rest, see what happens?"

Rhys nodded, "Yeah, yeah... Sure..."

"Ok, well, we found some interesting things in Jack's office," Gwen started, "In Jack's pockets were his phone."

Taye nodded, "Figured, could hear his ring tone when I called him."

Gwen nodded and continued, "But when was the last time you saw Jack take this off?" She asked, holding up his Vortex Manipulator, "In the three years I've been here, never."

"Why on earth would Jack leave behind all means of contacting the hub?" Astra asked.

"I don't know..." Gwen replied.

Rhys sat up straight, "I found something on Jack's desk that didn't match any of the reports and what not," He held a letter out to Astra, "It's addressed to you."

She took the letter from his hand and opened it. It wasn't actually a letter, but in Jack's old fashioned handwriting she found a list of instructions. Reading through them, she determined they were instructions on how to activate his Vortex Manipulator. Further down were instructions on how to use her own to travel to a set of coordinates that he'd left.

The others stared at her expectantly, when she finally looked up, she held her hand out to Gwen, "Can I have Jack's Vortex Manipulator?" She asked. Gwen nodded and handed the wristband to her. Astra looked back at the paper then at the wristband, she pressed various buttons till eventually a holographic message popped up.

It was Jack. He stood there staring at them, "If you're hearing this message, then the Time Agency has found me back. I never thought they'd go back to such a time. The Twenty-first Century isn't good enough for them. They have most likely arrested me for something I did a long time ago. Well, I didn't actually do anything. I heard something that I shouldn't of and they've wanted me dead for quite sometime. As you know killing me, is no small feat, so they'll probably settle for locking me up for an eternity. Which is where you all come in. Astra has her own Vortex Manipulator, you can come for me. This isn't like the other times. I won't be going back in time. I'll be going forward. I can't come back on my own. I've left her instructions on her desk. I hope everything is Ok. I'm sorry for retconning you. All of you. I knew Astra would remember after some time and I let Rhys remember to help get Gwen back. Don't let Taye eat the muffin in his desk. It's retconned. As for Ianto, you're a creative lot, try the stopwatch. I'm counting on you," The image of Jack moved to press a button on the wristband, then stopped, "You might need John. Maybe. He's broken me out of prison before. Mind you he did have help... Good Luck and I'm sorry."

They sat back back in their chairs, "Ok..." Taye started, "I'm lost..."

Gwen, Rhys and Astra glanced at each other. Even Rhys knew more about some aspects of Torchwood then Taye did. But in the area of Jack's past and the time agency, Astra knew more then anyone. She frowned slightly, but Rhys spoke up first, "Jack mentioned that Time Agency at the warehouse..."

Gwen nodded, "He did. Jack and John were members or something."

"They are. There used to be four in Jack's team, him, John, another man and a girl who apparently died some time ago. The Time Agency are, from what I understand are a group that go through time fixing up the time line. Making sure that what is supposed to happen, happens. Of course, if they don't like what's supposed to happen, they occasionally change it. Jack overheard a plot to change a significant time line and they tried to stop it. Jack and John disappeared after the girl died apparently. He was very vague when talking about it," Astra said, "If he wants us to come get him though... We're talking bout something that perhaps no Torchwood member has ever done, besides maybe Jack. Torchwood was made to protect and learn, not to explore."

Taye and Gwen nodded slightly. Rhys looked stunned. They sat in silence for a few moments till Gwen spoke, "Astra and I will go pick up Ianto. Rhys will look at the Security Footage. Taye, find a way to contact John."

Everyone nodded and pushed back their seats. As they filed out of the board room, Rhys grabbed Gwen's arm to hold her back. He stared into her eyes and she smile reassuringly at him, "It'll be Ok," She said.

"Will it?" He asked.

She could see how nervous he was by the events unfolding around them, "It'll be an adventure," She flashed him another smile, "I need to go get Ianto."

He nodded and headed out of the board room to Astra's desk. She pulled her chair out for him and after he'd sat down, she explained what to do. How to fast forward, to pause, to enlarge, save. Once she was certain he could handle it, she stood up straight, stretched slightly. She wished him luck and told him to let Taye know when he found something of interest. With that, she grabbed her jacket and joined Gwen.

"Shall we?" She asked.

Gwen nodded and lead the way to the garage where the SUV was. She climbed into the driver's seat while Astra got into the passenger side. They drove through the midday Cardiff traffic towards Ianto's apartment. Gwen had her eyes on the road and Astra was idly watching the cars go by, beside her. Something didn't add up. Something about Ianto, she turned to looked at Gwen, "Gwen?"

Gwen looked briefly at her, "Yeah?" then back at the road.

"Ianto's girlfriend, she died in the hub didn't she?"

Gwen nodded, but didn't turn to look again, "Yes, she did... Why?"

"Well, it's just, when Taye called Ianto yesterday, he said he hadn't had a job since his girlfriend died, and if Lisa didn't actually die in London..."

"Then something went wrong with the retcon..." Gwen finished.

"Well, not necessarily, isn't part of the retcon to rearrange events and what not?"

"To be honest with you, I have no idea how it works," Gwen replied, "I hate to do it, but Lisa's death may have to be something we exploit to get Ianto back."

"I really don't think that's such a good idea Gwen..." Astra said, a touch of concern in her voice, "Jack said use the stopwatch. Let's use that first."

They rode in silence the rest of the way. Both thinking about the events of the past few days. Both trying to figure out what had happened to their Captain. Jack Harkness wasn't an easily spooked man, but this had spooked him. Gwen pulled up outside Ianto's apartment building. Both climbed out of the SUV and made their way to the building. Gwen frowned when they reached the door. They needed to be buzzed in. She looked at the names by the buzzers, none but Ianto's stood out.

"Ok... Now what?" Astra asked.

"Can you pick locks?" Gwen asked. Astra shook her head, "Ok... I think I can... Depends how good the lock is though." Gwen flipped out a Swiss army knife and slipped a thin blade into the lock. Astra watched as she jiggled it around a little. The door didn't give.

Astra looked at the names again and pressed the top one, "Yeah?"

"Excuse me sir," She said, "I'm staying with my uncle and I forgot my key and he's at work now, I was wondering if you could buzz me in?"

There was a pause on the other side. They heard the door click and the voice returned, "There you go little lady."

"Thank you sir," She turned to smile at Gwen, "Shall we?"

Gwen shook her head, but was smiling. She opened the door for Astra and followed her in. They climbed the stairs to the second floor then walked down the hall to Ianto's apartment. Gwen knocked on the door. Her best Police rap. They could hear shuffling from the other side, then a voice, "Go away!" It was Ianto's sweet welsh voice, but something was wrong. He sounded drunk.

"Ianto Jones, open this door right now!" Gwen commanded.

"I said go away!"

"Open the door, or I'll break it down." The door opened, revealing a man that couldn't have possibly been Ianto. Well, not the Ianto they knew. He wasn't wearing his regular suit, instead he was wearing old sweat pants and a t-shirt that had once been white. Neither had thought that Ianto could own anything like that. Gwen held out her Torchwood ID, "Gwen Cooper," She motioned towards Astra, "Astra Lifrey. Torchwood."

It looked as if Ianto groaned at the sound of the name, Torchwood, "I don't work for Torchwood anymore. What they did was wrong!"

Gwen nodded, "I know. We're not from Torchwood One. We're from Torchwood Three. Here in Cardiff," The watched Ianto's face, something like recognition crossed it, but disappeared as fast as it had appeared.

"I don't want anything to do with Torchwood!" Ianto insisted.

"Ok," Astra said, speaking for the first time, "I think you forgot something though." She held out the stopwatch to him.

He shook his head, "I didn't forget it... I gave it to..." He paused, "Who did I give it to?"

"You gave it to Jack Harkness," Astra said, she looked at Gwen, "Come on. He doesn't want anything to with Torchwood."

Gwen nodded, "Ok, sorry to disturb you."

They turned to walk away, but Astra turned back to face him, "Myfawny misses you... I don't know where to get the chocolate she likes." With that, she turned and left with Gwen.

They didn't turn back to see him standing in the hall, staring at them as they walked away.

-T-O-R-C-H-W-O-O-D-

Myfawny screeched overhead as they entered the hub. The girls spotted Taye and Rhys talking animatedly about something by Astra's desk. They both turned as the cog door opened, "Any luck?" Taye called.

"Ianto still hates Torchwood. But there was some recognition about things we mentioned," Gwen explained, "What about you?"

"Well, I've found something on the Security Footage," Rhys said. They girls went over to where he was sitting and motioned for him to show them. He played the footage. It was time stamped four hours after the meeting in the board room. They watched as Jack hid various personal items from each of them in a lock box which was now under his desk. He took his phone and wristband, and put them in the pockets of his Great Coat. He also put something in Taye's desk. Rhys fast forwarded and hour. Jack was sitting at his desk, writing. Most likely the letter he'd left to Astra. Two men appeared in the hub in a flash of light. Jack slid the letter under the stack of papers that the letter had been found under. He'd meant to leave it on her desk. He got up and stood in the doorway of his office. They approached him. He tried to fight, but they subdued him with some sort of weapon that none of them had seen before. One of the men grabbed Jack and they disappeared. The other, made his way over to the very terminal that they were all huddled around now. He was presumably deleting the security footage. After he was done, he too disappeared.

"Jack wasn't kidding, they really were after him..." Gwen said.

The sound of footsteps approaching caused them all to turn. Captain John Hart stood just behind them. Gwen sighed, Astra glared and Myfawny screeched. John seemed to shy away from the sound of a Pterodactyl. He smiled at them, "I was asked to come?"

"Thanks for coming John," Gwen said, stepping forward, "You already know Astra-"

"Yeah... Don't let that girl anywhere near Barbecue Sauce..." John commented.

Astra's glare turn to a smirk, "That was fun," She said.

Gwen ignored them both, "John, this is Taye, Taye, John," She glanced towards Rhys, she really didn't want to introduce John Hart to Rhys, but she was left with no choice, "And this is Rhys."

"Ahh, the boyfriend!" John said.

"Husband actually," Rhys said.

Gwen squeezed her eyes shut and pinched the bridge of her nose. No one was able to say anything because Astra intercepted, "Ok, well, this isn't a social call. Jack was taken by the Time Agency. Apparently you know what that means."

John's eyes went wide, "They found him?" Astra motioned to Rhys to replay the footage. He did so. John watched as the two men appeared in the hub. He shook his head, "This is bad... I broke him out of jail last time, but I had help."

"So Jack said in his message to us," Taye said.

John paced next to them, "She was a technical genius. Far beyond our time even. The things that woman could do with technology and all she needed was a bloody Sonic Screwdriver. It was her favorite tool."

"Who?" Gwen asked.

"Romi Lundar. God that woman was amazing. The mastermind behind breaking Jack out last time they caught him."

While they were talking, Astra was silent. A sonic screwdriver? Where had she heard that term before? Then again, with Torchwood, she could have read it somewhere, but no. That didn't seem right.

Taye noticed her silence, "You Ok kiddo?" He asked.

Astra snapped out of her daze and glanced at him, "Umm, yeah..." She looked towards John, "Ok, so your friend isn't here... Which means the best you've got is me."

He nodded, "Ok... We're talking fifty-first century here. What have you got in archive?"

They looked at each other and shrugged, "Only Jack and Ianto know..." Gwen finally said.

"Which means we won't know anything till Ianto shows up..." Taye concluded.

"How'd you break him out last time?" Astra asked, "Run me through it."

John sat down with Astra while the others went off, "Well, we had to get in first. Romi was on one of the council committees. She could get in... The three of us snooped around to the prison area. Her wristband had a map of the council hall. Anyway, I held off a female guard with my amazing charm while she used her screwdriver thingy to break him out."

Astra nodded, "Sounds like you relied on her a lot... Jack said that you could help."

"I have a copy of those maps!"

She shrugged, "That's a start I guess." The turned to her computer and started searching the Torchwood files, "A Sonic Screwdriver was confiscated by Torchwood One just before the battle of Canary Wharf... No good... Jack mentions in a log how he'd love to get one for Tosh..." She was certain that the Torchwood files were not where she'd heard the term. She leaned back in her chair, "Ok, we don't have your friend's ID and we don't have a Sonic Screwdriver. We need a new plan."

Both sat in silence as they thought. John looked at her, there was a sadness in his eyes that she hadn't believed he was capable of, "I always thought the Council killed her..." Astra looked at him, confused, "For breaking him out... They weren't beyond doing that sort of thing. Jack was so desperate to blame someone that he blamed Rhiley and I couldn't bring myself to tell him that I thought it was his fault."

Astra nodded, "She and Jack were close?"

John gave a small, half-hearted laugh, "He was in love with her, but then Rhiley came along."

Astra nodded in understanding, then something occurred to her. Something that she hadn't thought about since joining Torchwood. The book she'd mentioned the day before with Gwen and Rhys. She hadn't worked on it in ages. In fact, she hadn't even had the dreams that used to inspire it. It was as if Torchwood had put a stop to it somehow.

She stood up, "I'll be back in an hour. I have an idea!"

On the other side of the hub, Taye, Gwen and Rhys were discussing a plan of events. They'd come to this conclusion: Rhys wasn't coming.

"But what about Astra and John?" Taye asked.

Gwen shrugged, "I think Astra needs to come. She has a wristband."

"John knows the era, right?" Rhys asked.

Gwen nodded, "You have a point, we may just need to ask him to come."

-T-O-R-C-H-W-O-O-D-

Ianto Jones dressed in a black suit, blue shirt, and dark blue tie. He combed his hair back and checked his appearance in the mirror. He looked presentable. Far better then he had for the past few years... No... Days. It had only been days. He glanced around his now tidy apartment, then headed out the door.

He walked down Roald Dahl pass and looked around. Sure it was familiar. This was Cardiff, but it was as if he knew a secret about this spot. After the visit from the Torchwood women, Ianto had slowly been recovering various memories, such as catching Myfawny with Jack. He smiled at the thought. Jack. He was walking idly in the direction of the Information Center when a figure emerged from the door, motorcycle helmet in hand. She was heading out. He recognised her from earlier that morning at his apartment. He sped up to intercept her.

"Excuse me?"

She turned to look at him and smiled, "Ianto."

"It's Astra, right?"

She nodded, her smile faded, "What can I do for you?" She asked. It was obvious that he couldn't quite remember, just yet.

"Some things don't quite make sense..." He started, "They did this morning, but not now."

"Like?"

"Myfawny... Jack... Lisa..."

Astra pulled him towards a bench, "What do you remember?"

"Jack killed Lisa... Not the Cybermen..." Astra nodded. She'd heard the stories. She motioned for him to continue, "He needed to... I know that now..." Astra reached over to him and took his hand. He looked up at her sadly, "It wasn't just Jack thought... It was all of them... Owen, Gwen, Tosh... But I also remember the good things. Life isn't defined by the bad times, it's by the good and we've had a hell of a lot of good times..."

Astra nodded, "Yes you have."

He laughed softly, "Yes, Pizza girl!"

Astra laughed, "Not anymore mister!"

"I need Jack."

"We need to find him then."

Ianto followed Astra towards the Tourist Center . He nodded in recognition as she pressed the button, hidden behind the desk and the door opened revealing the stairway down to the hub.

"Come on," She said.

Ianto followed her down the stairs and waited beside her as the cog door opened to reveal the hub. Gwen and Taye looked up from where they were. He could see the smile spread across Gwen's face when she saw him. Taye looked pleased to. He looked around slowly, naming area's of the hub. Gwen's desk, Jack's office, Owen's... No, Taye's med bay and desk, Toshiko's desk with the mass of computers, but he looked at the girl beside him and realized that it wasn't Tosh's desk anymore, it was Astra's. Looking around, he noticed John Hart with them and Rhys.

"What are they doing here?" He asked.

"Rhys helped us get Gwen back. Jack retconned you all," Taye said.

Gwen hugged him, "It's good to have you back."

"Hey there Eye Candy!" John said, with a wink.

Ianto frowned at him, "Ok, Rhys I get, why him?"

"Jack said he could help," Astra said, "And no we haven't actually spoken to him, he left us instructions and Gwen can show you, because I had an idea as to how to save Jack, I just hope I can find what I need!" She turned to leave, but quickly gave Ianto a kiss on the cheek, "It's really good to have you back. Be back soon!"