Ianto didn't mention to Jack what he'd found out about Ollie. Just because his ex-best-friend was working for his mother didn't mean that he wasn't the same competent worker he was before.

After their conversation Ianto disappeared into the back room, feeding Charlie and wandering around with the child in his arms. He wasn't upset. He wasn't angry. He felt strangely calm. The same way he felt when he cut himself, only he hadn't created any new scars this time. He was determined to make things work. He was going to give Charlie the best life possible and he certainly wasn't going to make the same mistake his parents had.

Ianto jumped when he heard Jack's voice behind him. He hadn't realised how long he'd been down there.

"You alright?" Jack asked, looking concerned.

"Yeah," Ianto said, smiling the first proper smile he had in months. "Never been better."

Jack looked slightly bemused.

"Ok," he said taking a few steps forward. "You seem…"

"Happy?" Ianto suggested.

"Yeah," Jack nodded looking slightly guilty.

"Mm, well," Ianto cuddled Charlie closer. "Just felt it was time to snap out of it."

Jack raised an eyebrow.

"You don't have to 'snap out of it'," Jack said. "What happened… any person would be expected to be down."

"Yeah, and I've been depressed before," Ianto smiled wryly. "I just didn't want to go down that road again."

"Fair enough," Jack grinned back, reaching over to take Charlie.

"Did you sort out the Weevil?" Ianto asked brushing himself down.

"Yeah, just a normal one, fortunately," Jack replied. "Locked up in the basement next to Janet."

"What are the others up to?" Ianto began tidying Charlie's things away.

"Just…" Jack paused frowning. "Damn, I didn't give them anything to do. They'll be lazing around."

"You're leadership skills are diminishing," Ianto laughed. "They'll think all their Christmases have come at once."

"Suppose they could do with some time off," Jack said finally, mulling it over.

"Yes, and then you can complain some more when you forget and no one turns up for work!"

"Hey! That happened once! And I was drunk when I said it, the hangover was terrible," Jack chuckled slightly.

A few minutes later Jack emerged from the backroom and ordered the rest of the team home. Tosh, Gwen and Owen were more than willing to go, but Ollie hung back. Jack watched them and then turned to the Welshman.

"Something wrong?" He asked, suspecting that Ollie might've said something to provoke Ianto's sudden change of heart.

"No… I…" Ollie trailed off. "Is Ianto ok?"

"Yes, he's fine," Jack replied. He might believe that Ollie was a perfectly reasonable person, but he wasn't going to keep him up to date with Ianto's mood. Ollie wasn't 'part-of-the-family' enough to let him know everything. "Why?"

"He just…" Ollie shrugged. "Just seemed a bit out of it."

"Oh he was probably just thinking," Jack pulled his hands out of his pockets and crossed his arms. "He tends to zone out when he's thinking hard."

Ollie nodded deciding now was the time to leave. He wandered towards the cog door, leaving the Hub and managed to get halfway across the Plass before his phone went off.

"Not again…" Ollie muttered to himself as he answered. "Hello?"

Ianto was coming out of Jack's office just as Ollie left. The Welshman was intending on making his partner a cup of coffee. When he caught sight of the look on Jack's face though, he paused.

"Ollie seemed under the impression that you were upset earlier," Jack said carefully. "He sounded like he might've been the cause of said upset."

"We talked," Ianto said firmly. "I just got a bit… we were talking about what happened… I wasn't upset with him, just upset in general."

Jack looked like he didn't believe a word that Ianto was saying. But neither did he say any more on the matter. Ianto bit hi lip. The silence made him want to say more which is exactly the reason Jack remained quiet.

"He's working for my mother," he blurted out before he could stop himself.

"Yes, he is," a voice came from the doorway.

Jack turned and found a woman in a green Mac stood by the cog door, Ollie by her side. Her hair was dark, almost black, but the bright blue eyes were the same as Ianto's. There was no question about it, this must be his mother.

"Hello Ifan," the woman said nodding at her son.

Jack glanced behind him at Ianto and saw his look change from one of surprise to one of dark anger.

"Get out," Ianto growled. "Get out now."

"I haven't seen you for nearly ten years," the woman took a few steps forward, Ollie following.

"And you wouldn't have seen me at all if it weren't for that bastard!" Ianto shouted, pointing at Ollie.

"I did it for you!" Ollie shouted back.

"Really? Well if this is your idea of a 'nice surprise' then don't bother in future!"

"Ifan I just want to talk," Ianto's mother stepped closer. She was almost within arms reach of Jack who was in between her and her son.

"That's what you said ever time," Ianto glared at his mother. "Every single time.'We need to talk', 'don't tell anyone about our secret game', 'you'll be taken away if anyone finds out'."

"I just want to explain why-"

"You can't explain," Ianto said firmly. "However you spin it, it's still abuse. You can't have loved me at all to be able to do that to me."

"But I did love-"

"No. You didn't," Ianto shoved past Jack so he was barely inches from his mother. "What you did was unforgivable. And the fact that it's taken you ten years, two hundred fifty miles and a job that makes me practically untraceable for you to come and find me proves that you never cared for me. You only cared for yourself. If you couldn't have me then no one could."

Ianto paused for breath, panting slightly.

"I just wanted to apologise," his mother reached a hand up to touch Ianto, but he flinched away before her fingers could even ghost over his skin.

"Go. Now. I do not want to see you again," Ianto said walking away. "And if you try, I will go to the police."

His mother's face dropped. But Ianto didn't see. He'd already turned away and headed back up towards Jack's office. Jack, who hadn't said anything or moved during the entire meeting, glanced at Ianto's mother.

"I think you'd better go," he said finally, pulling a pill out of his pocket and palming it to Ollie as he hissed at him. "You created this mess, make sure she takes this."

Ollie nodded glumly, and then frowned slightly as he found two pills in his hand.

"But she only needs one," he said quietly, watching Ianto's mother head towards the cog door. Jack raised his eyebrows as if to say 'do you really need to ask what the second one is for?'.

"Tell Ianto I'm sorry," Ollie said finally. "I only did it to try and get him some closure."

"That's not the only reason," Jack replied. "And it's the other reason that got you fired."

Ollie looked him straight in the eye and nodded.

"It was nice whilst it lasted," he sighed. "Thanks Jack. See you around."

"I might see you," Jack shook his head. "But you won't see me."

Gwen, Tosh and Owen wandered into work together, half an hour earlier than normal. There was no reason for their early arrival; it was just something that happened now. Things at the Hub had changed over the last month. Ianto was back to his old self, Ollie hadn't returned since they'd been given the afternoon off and Charlie was growing bigger and bigger.

In fact, bar the small infant who could often be heard giggling, the Hub was back to normality. Or at least… as normal as you could get in the secret HQ of an alien catching/fighting organisation.

The experience with the Costello's was not mentioned again. Reports were written, filed and archived but never did the words pass any of the member's lips. Jack refused to comment on Ollie's disappearance, so the team had to assume he had done something to warrant a RetCon and had been dismissed. Jack didn't mention the return of Ianto's mother to the team either, nor did he say anything to or ask Ianto about the meeting, for which the Welshman was thankful.

Charlie seemed completely oblivious to everything. The Hub, Myfanwy, the Weevils; nothing about Torchwood bothered him. Even when he moved out of the back room to Ianto's flat, that Jack had also taken up residence in, he didn't complain.

The thing that made Jack happiest though, was not the return to normality, it wasn't even the fact that Ianto had asked him to move in (though that did fair quite high on the euphoric scale) it was the fact that the scars on Ianto's arms were fading, and weren't being replaced by new ones. Ok, so they never completely disappeared and occasionally a small scratch would turn up, but Jack couldn't expect it to ever go entirely. It would always be part of Ianto, but the fact that he felt he was in a place were he didn't have to rely on it so heavily made Jack happy and in turn reflected off Ianto.

One morning Ianto bought a cup of coffee into their bedroom, wafting the smell towards Jack as he placed it down on the bedside table.

"Is that a gorgeous Welshman I smell?" He asked smiling, without opening his eyes.

"Actually, it's the gorgeous Welshman's coffee," Ianto replied, sliding back into bed beside his partner.

"Ahhh, near enough," Jack's grin widened. "What would I do without you?"

"Wither away and die I expect!" Ianto joked. "My coffee is the only thing that keeps you going!"

"Well," Jack pretended to consider. "Not the only thing."

"Charmer," Ianto smiled slightly.

Jack leant over and kissed him.

"So what shall we do today?" He asked.

"Anything. I don't mind," Ianto shrugged. "As long as we don't have to think about the past… or the present. Just the future."

"Just the future," Jack agreed.