A/N Hey there, long time no see I know, but I think this will be the last chapter of this fic, mainly because I can't give it the time it deserves so I'm going to just write everything into this one chapter to finish, maybe with a short epilogue type thing in the future. Of course if any of you want to use the idea behind the story feel free to, I'd love to read it! Thank you all so much for reading this, it's my first ever Fanfiction and it feels amazing to finish it. Thank you all again ~S

Characters: Cpt.Jack, Ianto, Gwen, Doctor, Rose, Rhys, OC

Pairing: Jack/Ianto, Doctor/Rose, Gwen/Rhys

Setting: After children of Earth

Previously: Gwen yawned and then pointed at the two of us, glaring sharply. "You two had better be in work tomorrow because I will come here and drag you if I have to and you know it" Jack nodded as he opened the door "Yeah yeah, calm down Gwen we'll be there or I'm not a captain." We all laughed at that and he closed the door.

Two weeks later

Cursing slightly to myself I ran down the darkened corridor, gun clasped in my hands. "Ianto can you hear me? Where are you?" Jack's voice came over the Comms, the sound of his footfalls echoing through the tunnel. "I hear you Jack, I'm in the East wing, in pursuit of two of the men. Where are you?" I asked, sprinting along and turning sharply trying to reach the pair of thieves that had disappeared around the corner. It was getting increasingly dark the further in I went and something in my gut told me that this was going to be bad. "North tower, ground level. I'm going to try get to the other building through the car park. Remind me to take the transport beams when we go, can't believe those Damn things caught me out again!" I chuckled lightly at his tone, the pout so obvious in his voice I could picture it. I knew why he was really angry. He'd been by my side ever since I got back, everything the rift threw at us he was at my side, but now we were separated and he was, on some level, afraid of what would happen. "Duly noted sir" I smirked to no one and thanked myself for all the hours of cardio I had put in that allowed me to sprint with such stamina. I finally reached a dead end, only one door to go through there. For some reason, I tucked my gun into the waistband of my trousers rather than the holster at my hip. Get a gun the Doctor had said, and I felt in that moment that this was what he'd meant for me to be armed for. "I'm going in Jack. Jack?" There was a buzz of static on the line and I sighed, pressing the record visual button and steeling myself before opening the door.

Jack stepped out of the tower into blinding light. "Ianto can you see this? It's brighter than the sun out here! Ianto? Ianto! Dammit. No connection. Please let him have turned on that visual recorder." Jack muttered to himself as he stumbled about, attempting to find the door. As soon as he felt a handle he pulled and stepped, blinking inside. As his vision cleared he recognized the two figures standing waiting for him. "No way." he gasped. "Yes way" The Doctor replied and Rose squealed, pulling Jack to her. "Doctor what's going on?" Jack asked after he'd broken away from Rose. The Doctor shuffled a bit on the spot. "Erm... Something that has to happen? We need you, there's a bit of a problem actually." and so the Doctor, aided occasionally by Rose, outlined an elaborate plan to allow Mickey passage back from the parallel universe, and destroy the cybermen for good. At the end of it Jack sighed. "Why do I get the feeling that there is a very important detail that you're leaving out?" he looked searchingly at the timelord and saw his eyes flick to the Comms in his ear. Ianto! Jack pulled it out and pressed the button, expanding it so there was a small screen in his palm. It was dark, but the view was clear enough. Ianto's Comms was on the floor, showing the man himself bloodied and battered, tied up with his hands behind his back as the two men he'd been chasing played with the alien tech they'd taken. Jack looked up. "You're kidding. I have to help him! Rose, you're not seriously asking me to leave him, again?! I mean Mickey mouse and I are great friends but this is Ianto." He was frowning and staring incredulously at the two people who stood before him looking sheepish. "This is important Jack. For Ianto and Mickey both. He'll be fine, trust me. Right now we need to go save the universe from being unravelled. Are you in?" The doctor asked, rocking forward on his converse. "You promise me that he will be fine?" The doctor nodded "Promise. Now, Allonsy!" Jack hesitated slightly and then nodded, a small grin etching it's way onto his face. "One quick stop first."

I grunted as the wind was knocked out of my lungs by a pointy elbow and suddenly I was thrown to the ground. Well this was just great. I'd only just gotten this suit back from the cleaners, and if I was this disheveled Jack's coat would be nightmarishly filthy. We're probably responsible for the lucrative dry cleaning trade in Cardiff with all the business we afford them. Slow trickles of liquid dribbled from my hairline as it became abundantly apparent that the darkness was an experience only I was cursed with, our perps had night vision of some sort, or maybe the dark only affected the people of their choosing. Clearly this alien tech was meant for warfare but that would only make sense if- my train of thought was crushed into dust by a new thought. Pain. Electrical shocks flew from flesh to bone and back, originating from what felt like a blade resting darkly on my neck. My body was locked in place, even if I wanted to I couldn't open my mouth to scream. Almost as soon as it had begun the pain stopped, my captors muttering angrily because they couldn't see the fact that it was working. The blade was gone and that was my shot. For people who had the skills necessary to figure out a piece of other world technology, they were rather inept at tying knots.

Quickly, I pulled the gun from my waist and fired two quick rounds, not needing light to know where my targets were. They crumpled with a yell and I sunk to the floor beside them, prising the knife from their hands. I was glad I had decided rubber bullets were the best option, because I didn't want any death on my hands, not after I'd been there and back. The retcon I slipped them would ensure that they didn't remember the last week or so, and a quick call to Gwen made sure that someone would pick them up. With the threat of any danger gone, I wanted to know where Jack was. My comms was still not transmitting or receiving sound and that was disconcerting to say the least, you get used to the constant stream of voices and orders. Silence is never good. Where the hell was Jack? I ran, out of the pitch black room, noticing that with the knife in my grasp it was possible to traverse the room without really knowing where I was going, and out into the corridor, looking into room after room, but there was no sign of life, and no sign of Jack. Outside, wincing against the glare of blinding white light, I stumbled across the courtyard, studiously avoiding the teleporter Jack had mentioned, and searched through the towers with a sense of dread settling low in my stomach. Eventually, having made it to the top of the only towering structure left, it was clear that Jack was gone.

With nothing left to do but hope that he was at the Hub or maybe at the apartment, I rang Gwen a second time. "Gwen?" "Ianto? What's up love, is something wrong?" I sighed and made my way back to the car, I'd almost forgotten that I was a bit battered except for the pain that was just dull enough to still be in my focus when I sank into the drivers seat of the SUV. "It's Jack" I explained, sighing "He's gone." Gwen cursed and I could hear her bustling about her kitchen with some difficulty. "Look, Ianto... I don't want to be the one to say it but is it possible that he's off with his doctor?" I felt my heart flutter in my chest. I hadn't considered that, him leaving never seemed like an option after the year that never was. He had said that he wasn't going to leave again, but now he was gone and there was a distinct possibility that he wasn't coming back. "You're right. I'll drop this knife off at the Hub and then just see if he's at home." the unspoken 'even though I know he isn't' was not lost on either of them. "If you need me Ianto..." I sighed. "No, you rest up and bring your son into the world." Her due date had come and gone and she was set to burst at any moment, it was probably better for me to learn to deal with things alone, although the rift would be a tricky thing to deal with by myself I was from Torchwood, I would make it work.

The Hub was just as empty as I expected it to be, and even through my futile search of it I knew for certain that Jack was gone, and even though he was still alive, I think I realised how my death must have felt for him. Being alone again after having him was like drowning, and I couldn't understand why he would just go, but there was nothing I could do and that was ok. I tracked across Whales to London, I travelled through time and space and saved lives, I saved myself from those idiots, I could do this. With that resolve in mind, I set about tidying up, tagging, testing and cataloguing the blade before archiving it, fed Mfanway and all the other creatures that we had amassed over the years and didn't even notice the time go by. Night had fallen when I finally left the Hub and drove home, ignoring the blatantly empty seat next to me. When I reached the apartment I didn't even bother turning on the lights, I just rolled into our bedroom and flopped onto the still unmade bed. Stripping while horizontal was a skill I had mastered a while back and I even had a chair by the bed specifically for me to drape my suits over when this situation arose. Turning to do so, my breath caught in my throat. There, on the back of the chair, rested a long, navy, army issue coat and I knew that Jack would be back.

Five days later

Buzzing. I awoke to the sound of buzzing against my ear and groggily looked at the time before answering my phone. 3 am was never a good time to be woken. "Mr. Ianto Jones?" a soft voice that I didn't recognise asked. "Yes?" I sat up straighter, not knowing what to expect. "I'm calling on behalf the Williams family. There's been an accident." "No. Not now, Oh God" I was in shock, the weight of the words I already knew were coming rested on my shoulders. "I'm afraid I must inform you that Gwen and Rhys have passed away in a collision, they were DOA. However that isn't the only reason I'm calling." I shivered, the faces of two of my only living friends contorted in agony and then pale and glassy eyed running wild through my mind. "Oh?" I said, not knowing what to expect now, after all my world had pretty much crashed and burned around me in the past week. "We managed to save their son, and they listed you as their preffered guardian should anything happen to them. I know this is a lot to take in but... We're in the Cardiff General with him right now and he's in perfect health, should you decide to keep him-" I cut her off "I'm on my way, of course I'm keeping him." The baby was a small, wrinkled ball of pink wrapped in a little blue blanket and I could have sworn that I'd had shoes that were heavier. His tufty brown hair was soft and I couldn't help put stroke it gently while he lay cradled in my arms as I was taken through the relevant paper work. "ok the last thing is that you'll have to name him." I looked down at the bundle in my arms and, as if he knew \i was watching, he opened his eyes, a blue so striking I could only think of one name. "Jack. Jack Rhys Jones-Williams" adding my own last name in felt right, he was my son now, and there should never be any doubt as to the fact that we were family. Somehow, I could let any grief I had about my friends go, because their little boy needed me, and I was all he had. He was all I had too.

6 months later

"Tosh? I know I'm sorry but is there any chance you could take over my shift? Junior isn't feeling very well this morning and I don't think you would appreciate it if I brought him in and he got sick on your equipment. Tell Owen that you're in charge" I laughed as she gave a long list of remedies for various illnesses down the phone to me and laughed even harder when I heard her yell to Owen that she was in charge. I had missed them when they'd been away, a year long honeymoon seems extravagant to most, but it was an accumulation of only half the holiday time they had combined to trek around the world, visiting Tosh's home and then a variety of destinations across the world. They were the only reason the world hadn't ended literally in the past few months, thanks to them there was always someone to watch the rift, and to watch junior too. Wishing her luck, I picked him up and rocked him gently against me. He'd grown so much in the short while I'd had him and these days I struggled to imagine a life that didn't include this adorable baby. "Morning love, it's okay we don't have work today so we've got lots of time to make you feel better, now how about some milk?" Often I saw a little of Jack in him, the bright twinkle in his eyes that signified only mischief, the flick at the front of his hair... I told him stories of Jack a lot, because they calmed him when nothing else would. We had a special place where these stories were told, a small wooden chair with a big woolen coat draped over the back. It connected us, and even if they never met I wanted Junior to know who his name came from, that somewhere out there in the cosmos was someone else who I knew would love him just as much as I did.

1 year, 6 months and 26 days later

"Daddy!" Junior called from his spot on the floor of the archives "Can we go visit Flappy?" We all chuckled at the name he had bestowed upon our resident Pterodactyl. There had been no debate when I started to bring Junior to work with me, only a few weeks after he was born. It only seemed right that he grew up in this environment, a place where his parents had worked and he would always be safe. "Of course little man, but try not to eat the chocolate this time" I smiled down at him and handed him the bar, feeling pride well up in my chest as he stood and reached out his hand for me to hold, desperate to go do something that should have been terrifying, and way too dangerous for a two year old, but to the surprise of everyone, Mfanway had taken an instant liking to Junior when he crawled to meet her in her enclosure without anyone realising (Owen had gotten an earful for that slip up). They had become friends and the old girl would never dream of hurting him. We fed her and, at Tosh's behest, I wrapped Junior up in the coat she had bought for his birthday - a miniature replica of Jack's - and brought him home for the day. He was curious about everything, always wanted to know more, hear every detail about anything that went on around him. His speech and comprehension skills were far advanced what they should have been and Tosh swore she was the same as a child and predicted that he would be very clever in the future, a 'next generation Torchwood techie' she said. Still, even with all the requests for new information, Junior's favourite topic for a bedtime story was Jack. He had stories that he liked best, how we met, how we got Mfanway, but his comfort story was the year that never was. I asked him about it once, not really sure why he would want to hear a story filled with so much fear and hiding and darkness, but he simply answered "Because dad comes back in the end, and I think if you tell it enough times he might come back again." I had clutched him so tight to me after that, I'd only ever referred to Jack as Jack and yet here was a little boy, just barely able to talk, telling me that he equated the name with another father figure, that he could tell that I loved him and that he would be loved by him.

"Tell it again Daddy, I have a good feeling about tonight" I laughed and sat him on the couch while I went to get his pyjamas. The story unfolded in a familiar way, I didn't see the point in lying to my son, so I didn't edit it, there was only truth to the stories I told, and while that made the terror in them so very real, it also helped to make us both appreciate the fact that we kept on getting happy endings. "Of course we didn't know that at the time Jack was right over our heads on the-" There was a knock at the door, and we exchanged puzzled looks. I rose and pulled it open. "I think you were telling it wrong Ianto, I was over London and you were in Tibet, who else is here?" Jack leaned casually against the door frame. I was frozen for all of a minute before I crushed him to me, and he responded in kind, losing himself in the joy of being home. "God I missed you" he breathed into my mouth and I gave him a watery smile. A small cough made me jump back and Jack looked over my shoulder to find Junior sitting on the couch. "Ianto?" he looked so confused that I almost burst into laughter. "Gwen and Rhys... were in an accident and they left him to..." I didn't know what to say. Technically they left him to me, but I wanted it to be us, it should have been us all along. Jack looked tearily back from Junior to me before walking over and crouching in front of him on the couch. "What's your name huh?" he asked flashing him a smile. "Really it's Jack, just like you, but everyone calls me Junior" Junior giggled at the shocked look on Jack's face. "Daddy I think I might have broken him... are you ok dad?" Jack spluttered and his eyes filled with tears once more. "Ianto?" I made a noise, half sob, half laugh and shrugged helplessly from the doorway "I told him all about you, ever since he was a baby he seemed to be calmed by the stories about you so I kept telling him all about you... he called you that himself. I know it's a bit much and I'm sure you'd like to discuss er, everything, us in general -" A soft, insistent mouth pressed against mine stopped whatever I was saying in it's tracks. "He's ours?" Jack asked breathlessly when we broke apart. "If you want...?" Jack scooped Junior up into his arms and beamed at him. "Oh I definitely do. It's been a long time since I've had a family, about high time I had a real one again."

With Junior cradled happily in Jack's arms, whispering softly to each other as they whirled around the kitchen, I knew why I had been given this second chance. Our lives - Mine, Jack's, Tosh's, Owen's, Gwen and Rhy's, they're all filled with such grief and danger that we often miss out on all the best parts of life before it's yanked out from under us. Sometimes all you need is a little reminder of how easy it is to lose everything to make you appreciate it for how miraculous it truly is. I had to die before I realised how lucky I was to find Jack, and Gwen and Rhys died for a reason, to give me the family I never knew I wanted. Although I have to say, death was a rather extreme lesson, but when you work with Torchwood, can you really expect anything else?