"We can go back Doctor!" Jack insisted again, walking out of reach of the Time Lord.
"We can't Jack," the Doctor shook his head sadly. "Even if I wanted to, we can't."
"So you don't want to save the only other man I love?" Jack glared at him. "That's pretty selfish of you."
"Jack Harkness, do not start," the Doctor warned pointing a finger at him. "Do not bring your emotions into this. You know as well as I do that Ianto wouldn't live even if we saved him because the Reapers would come straight through the Rift and devour him."
Jack's gaze locked with the Doctor's and he broke down again, slipping to the floor, his back pressed against the console.
"I'm sorry," Jack sobbed.
"I know," the Doctor replied, sitting beside him. "So am I."
Hours later, Jack returned to the Hub. It was obvious that he had done nothing but cry but the team were polite and didn't mention it. They all looked to their leader however, for instruction.
"Where's Ianto's body?" He asked his voice hoarse.
More worried glances. Finally Owen stepped forward to speak again, not quite meeting Jack's gaze.
"We don't have it," he said.
"What?" Jack couldn't take this. Not only had he lost his lover, but he couldn't even bury him properly.
"We don't have it… it's…" Owen paused frowning as if he couldn't remember. "I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know?" Jack growled. "How did he die?"
"We…" Owen paused again, the familiar glazed look coming over his eyes. It was as though he wanted to remember, but he just couldn't access the thoughts. "We don't know."
"Why don't you know?" Jack ran a hand through his hair in frustration.
"It's all a bit of blur," Tosh said. "Like he was there one week and gone the next."
Jack looked at them all. They were all trying to remember and they all had this glazed over look. What was wrong with them? Did Ianto not matter enough to remember how he died? Or maybe they couldn't remember… a sudden thought struck him.
"Owen, I want you to run blood tests on everyone, get me Ianto's death certificate from the archives and find out everything he was doing in the week leading up to his death," Jack commanded, the team springing into action at once.
The Doctor hadn't left the Hub. He had left the TARDIS parked where it was. Jack had requested that he didn't leave until he had had a word with his team. The Doctor got the feeling that now Ianto was gone, Jack would want to continue travelling with him, which the Time Lord wouldn't have minded in the least, but he knew there were others Jack would be leaving behind too.
He sighed. As much as the Doctor cared for Jack and would happily take the ex-Time Agent away from all this pain, he also knew that running away wasn't always the best option. Still, it was Jack's choice and the Doctor would support him whatever he decided.
He phoned Martha and explained he would be a few more hours before picking her up from her shopping spree. Funnily enough Martha was more than happy to continue shopping, using god only knew how much money off the Doctor's credit card.
Of course the Doctor wasn't going to hang around too long. Not without going for a walk or something. It just wasn't in his nature to stay still for more than an hour at a time.
Owen bought the files, results of the blood tests and every move Ianto had made in the week leading up to his death. Jack noticed that Owen didn't quite meet his gaze as the doctor dropped the files on his desk and headed quickly for the door.
"Owen," he called just before the other man had made it out.
"What?" Still Owen did not look at him, evidently worried that his feelings would be used against him.
"I'm sorry," Jack sighed. "I know I'm a crap leader. I don't mean to be. It's just…"
He paused for a moment.
"I don't have an excuse, not one good enough for what I put you lot through," he finished.
"You're not a crap leader," Owen glanced up for a moment. "You just forget sometimes that the rest of us are human too."
Jack smiled slightly.
"You're a better team than I deserve," he replied.
Owen smiled then too.
"Yup, and we better be getting a pay rise after this," He quipped.
"One last thing," Jack said as Owen made to leave again. "Tell the others that I'm going away again for a bit. I'll be back, I promise. I just don't know how long I'm going to be. The friend I travel with isn't very good at keeping time."
Owen nodded and went to tell the others. Jack chuckled to himself slightly as he realised the irony of what he'd just said. A Time Lord that couldn't keep time? He turned back to the files and looked them over, his heart soaring as he flicked through the blood test results.
He'd been right. Judging by how much compound B67 they had in their blood, they'd all been RetConned at around the time Ianto 'died'. He put down the blood tests and picked up the death certificate. To the untrained eye, anyone glancing at it would assume that Owen had written it, but Jack knew better. Ianto was good at copying people's handwriting, but not good enough to fool his Captain.
Jack silently cheered. Ianto wasn't dead! He was just hiding. But why? And where? This was when he turned to the final folder. Everything Ianto had done in the week leading up to his 'death'.
Flicking through it briefly, Jack could tell the Welshman had been busy. He'd been planning it for a while. Closing it again, he carried the folder to the door and grabbed his coat.
Back in the TARDIS the Doctor looked up as Jack entered again. The American looked determined and the Doctor was afraid that Jack had come back for another go of persuasion.
"We can get him back," Jack said firmly.
"No, Jack we can't," the Doctor replied.
"No, no, listen," Jack continued earnestly. "He's not dead."
Jack explained everything he deduced and found out, showing the Doctor the file and told the Time Lord of his plan.
"So this means, we can go back and find out what he was doing," Jack finished.
"We're part of events here, Jack," the Doctor shook his head. "We can't get the Ianto of three months ago back here."
"I know," Jack nodded. "Which is why we're just going to follow him and keep following until I know where he is now."