Whatever Remains - Torchwood

Amanda had tried everything to stop Jack: cajoling, begging, even shooting him, but in the end she had stood in the corridor holding his daughter tight so she wouldn't try to stop him from killing his own grandchild.

Amanda knew that they had no choice but to sacrifice the one for the many, as galling as that might have been. She didn't like how that made her feel.

She was awash with conflicting emotions; joy and relief that the 456 were gone, horror and disgust at what Jack had done, bitterness that he had thrown away something she could never have, but also admiration because he was able to sacrifice so much to save everyone else's children.

She walked into the room and over to where Jack stood looking utterly bereft. She raised her hand to his cheek but he pulled away, his eyes filling with tears.

"Don't," he said; his voice so hoarse with grief that it came out barely a whisper.

"He'll forgive you," she replied.

"Really? Because I won't."

*-*

It was all over, and Jack would be coming home. Somehow they had survived and defeated the 456. Gwen smiled and rubbed a hand over her stomach, it wasn't much yet, just a little speck, but it was hers and Rhys' and thanks to whatever Jack had done it would grow up safe from the 456.

She was still waiting for an explanation from Ianto. Coming back from the dead wasn't exactly a new concept for her to digest, in fact it was becoming almost commonplace. Whatever the explanation, he was still Ianto Jones, her friend, and that was all that mattered. She could forgive the lies, she could even understand them. What that said about the person she'd become, about what Torchwood did to people, was something she'd rather not contemplate.

There was a lot to do before things could get back to any semblance of normal. It would take time; but they could rebuild the Hub and in the meantime they could work out of another building. They were bruised and battered but they had survived; Torchwood had survived.

*-*

Jack wasn't sure he could return to Cardiff, wasn't sure he could ever look into Ianto or Gwen's eyes ever again. He was worried he'd see disgust there, and the worst part of it was that he'd deserve it. Ianto had said that he wasn't all surface and he'd been right because Jack had tapped a darkness inside which even he hadn't suspected could exist.

He kept telling himself that he had done it for the right reasons, kept reminding himself that it was what the Doctor would have done. But a small voice at the back of his head kept asking "Was it?" and he knew deep down that the Doctor would never sacrifice anyone but himself.

But Jack couldn't do that; he could only give everything else he had. Destroy everything else he had that was good.

But there was still Ianto. If he didn't have him, Jack thought he would leave this world behind forever.

*-*

Ianto had stayed with Rhi and the kids until he was certain they were safe. Then he'd returned with Gwen and Rhys to their house. UNIT could clear up their own damn mess, and with the Hub destroyed they were uncertain of where else to go.

Amanda had called to tell them that they were heading back to Cardiff but she wouldn't give him any details of what had happened with the 456 and something twisted in Ianto's gut, telling him that it was bad.

He tried to think of how to tell Gwen about his Immortality while he waited for Jack and Amanda to return, but he didn't know whether Amanda would appreciate having her Immortality revealed, and he didn't want to say too much in front of Rhys. Much as he cared for Gwen's husband and was grateful for all he'd done over the last few days Ianto didn't feel comfortable about that. Thankfully he was spared any interrogation because Gwen and Rhys both fell asleep on the sofa soon after Amanda's call.

A couple of hours later he heard a vehicle pull up and went outside to greet them. Amanda pecked him on the cheek and went inside, but Jack remained in the car, sat stock still behind the wheel. The knot in Ianto's stomach tightened further as he slipped in beside Jack and they drove off in silence.

Jack found a deserted car park and pulled in, killing the engine. They sat there in silence for ten minutes until finally Jack told him how he had driven off the 456 by killing Steven. Jack was strangely detached and clinical as he spoke, and Ianto knew that one wrong word and he would break.

"It was the only way, Jack," Ianto said finally, his mind still reeling from Jack's revelations. He couldn't really process the information, didn't know what he thought or felt. But he could see that Jack needed him so he was here for him.

"It was monstrous!"

Apparently he had given the wrong answer. Jack was obviously hating himself, as anyone who called themselves human rightly should in these circumstances, but Ianto remained calm and the voice of reason.

"It would have been monstrous to ask someone else to do something you could not."

Jack looked him in the eyes and Ianto's heart broke in two. If he was angry with Jack, it didn't matter right now. Taking the older man's face between his hands, Ianto pulled him in for a kiss.

Everything that had happened in the last five days would take a long time to recover from. Gwen still needed an explanation for his resurrection, and the government might also want answers about that. The Hub was completely destroyed, along with who knew how much of the sub-levels. They would never be the same again, but they were all Torchwood, and Torchwood survives.