17

The elevator chimed, and Jack and Ianto hid on top of the contraption as Toshiko stepped off, looking bewildered as she wandered down the hallway. A pair of guards marched toward her, the expressions on their faces bland and unchanging.

However, when they were facing Toshiko, they both stopped and the one on the left said, "Who gave you permission to be on this floor? You're not authorized, and you'll have to come with us."

Ianto heard Toshiko's performance as she began to sniffle and sob. "I'm so sorry. I'm lost. My room is on one of the floors, but I can't remember which one."

She was in a full-on meltdown at this point, and even Ianto's heart tightened with her misery. "Calm down. It's okay, Miss. We'll get it straightened out. Just...stop crying."

"I caaaan't. I'm going to be arrested, and I don't know where my room is."

"We're not going to arrest you. We just need to confirm who you are, and we can get you returned to the correct room."

They spoke low to each other and Ianto couldn't quite hear what they were saying over Toshiko's wailing. From the sounds of things, she'd dropped to the ground at this point and was probably splayed in a starfish pattern, facedown, with her face in the crook of her elbow.

They'd practiced it just like that so that it would take both guards to carry her off the floor. "Listen, Luke here is going to help you back onto the elevator and he'll take you to the palace manager. She will be able to point out into exactly which room you were placed. It will all be taken care of in no time."

But Toshiko continued to behave inconsolable, and Ianto could imagine her arms and legs going limp each time the guards tried to help her up. It probably looked like a three-year-old who really, really wants to lick the floor being told no. Sure, it was illogical, but there was no sane way to end it. "We'll just have to carry her together. It won't be that long. She can't stay here."

"Maybe we should call for backup."

"Are you crazy? We'll be the laughingstock of the entire security force. Backup for a crying woman?"

A heavy sigh followed, and Ianto heard Toshiko's intense wailing beneath them as the guards carried her onto the elevator, most likely still splayed out with limbs stretched in every direction. The elevator started up and began to fall away, going down slowly and leaving Jack and Ianto behind, hanging onto the side of the elevator shaft.

They carefully made their way down until they were braced on a metal bar beneath the doors onto the floor. Jack held Ianto up carefully, steadying him on the ledge as he pried the doors open enough to slip through into the small opening.

Jack climbed over him as he used his seated body to keep the doors from shutting. Once inside, Jack held the doors until Ianto rolled free of them. He let them shut slowly and pulled Ianto to a standing position. Without wasting any more time, they ran for the room at the end of the hallway.

Once there, Ianto stood staring at the cream-colored door behind which was his father's sanctuary. It was a place he'd visited only three times in his life.

Once for his father to tell Ianto he was sending him to the Academy, once when he'd wanted answers, and once to prove he had risen above the killer he'd tried to turn him into.

Yet, now as he walked in for the fourth time, he knew so much was riding on this moment.

The door wasn't even locked as Ianto opened it and stepped inside the place that held so much influence over his life. He stepped inside and a scent of power and strength came to him. It was spicy with the hint of a forest after a rain.

It was his father.

He felt the tears threaten, but once more he suppressed the urge to cry. He didn't have time for pity. What if his father had pushed him to be something he was not? Soon he would get a chance to tell him the truth, and he would listen to him this time.

"Here! At the foot of the bed. This is where I want to be." Ianto stepped in place and pulled the book from his backpack. With a final look at Jack, he opened the book to the correct page.

"Wait! Are you certain this is the right thing to do? It said that you can never go back to the same time again. This will be your only chance to get it right."

Jack's question didn't offend him. He'd actually asked himself the same question many times. Always his answer had been yes. No alternative would work except to go back and make different choices this time. "It is my chance. This is what I need to do. I need to see who tried to kill my father so that I can stop the assassin in the act the first time. Whoever it is won't even get the chance to murder him in this current time because that person will be executed when I catch the one who tries."

"Wait!"

"What now?"

"Where's the broach your mother gave you?"

Ianto put his hand to his forehead with the realization of how close he'd come to messing everything up. Quickly, he unzipped his backpack and pulled out the tissue-wrapped broach. He carefully unfolded the paper and shook the broach free, placing it on the inside of his lapel.

It felt right and he understood why it would work to keep everything in balance. It reminded him why he was doing this… for his family.

Satisfied that he was ready, he pulled his curved dagger to be ready for any attacks that came his way. His gaze dropped to the book in his other hand. He laid it before him on the foot of the bed and began to chant the words.

His voice shook slightly at first but grew in strength as he spoke the powerful spell. As it began to work, he felt his body fading slowly. The room around him shifted as his vision blurred. The scene seemed to speed up as sunlight and moonlight traded shifts moving across the room in fast motion.

Often, he sensed others moving in and out of the room, going about their daily lives, but he continued to feel time in reverse. He reminded himself that he had ten minutes only to do everything that needed to be done.

Finally, the room came into focus once more, and he caught a glimpse of a shadow leaving out the balcony doors. He ran to catch the killer he was certain it must be, but as he glanced over the railing, he saw himself scaling down the palace wall.

It was surreal and creepy, but it was exactly how he planned it. With determination, he returned to the foot of his father's bed, and tears sprang to his eyes once again as he saw his peaceful form, breathing gently in his sleep.

His chest tightened as he realized it was the first time that he'd seen him alive in five years. he wanted to run around the side of the bed and wake him up with a hug, but he had a mission to complete and limited time to make it happen.

If he got lost in just holding onto what she'd wanted for so long, he might miss her opportunity to make it permanent.

"Father."

He scanned the room to see if any invaders had come in while he'd been distracted, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. He tried to wake him again, raising his voice as loud as he dared.

"Father, it's Ianto. Wake up."

He gave a small cry and sat up quickly. "Ianto? What are you doing here?"

"I've come to..."

He felt his body flicker as if his time were up here.

NO!

It was too soon.

He needed to tell him. He phased out as he cried "Someone is trying to…"

He phased back in "… kill you!"

The words flew out of his mouth, but he stared at his horrified face and realized what he'd heard.

In an instant, he was dragged forward in time, slamming into his body so much faster than when he'd left it. He sagged against Jack before straightening and looking him in his beautiful, sad eyes.

"Oh, no! I know what happened now. You must send me back. I know why my father believes I tried to kill him!"

"I can't send you back."

"I don't care about the rules. Send me ten minutes later. I just need to go back and tell him the truth. My father thinks I tried to assassinate him!"

Jack's nostrils flared as he tried to point to something with a nod of his head. As Ianto turned and looked, he understood why he'd been brought back so soon. Captain Narcus held the closed spell book in his hand. Ten guards or more had swords drawn and pointed at Jack and him.

"Guards, take them into custody."

As the guards grabbed them roughly, the Captain said, "Did you really think I'd fall for your little tricks? Those two idiot guards might have let that mouse Shifter fool them, but she couldn't fool me."

He turned on his heels and called over his shoulder, "That is King Ifan's assassin. Take them to the prison with the cats and Shifter, and feel free to be rough with them. They can all rot in there until the day of their execution."