Ianto
We locked the statue in the cell and Gwen reminded me of the pizza waiting for us upstairs.
"It'll go cold if you don't hurry up!" She smiled complacently.
"I'll just go and find Jack. He's probably warming up his office chair and computer," I left Gwen to set the table while I walked to Jack's office, "Jack, pizza's here," I called.
No answer.
"Jack?" I opened the office door with closed eyes, anticipating the inevitable order for me to get out.
Nothing.
Slowly I opened one eye, then the other.
He wasn't there.
His chair was cold, he hadn't been in here since we left, "Tell me he hasn't gone away again," I hastily ran back to Gwen, "He's gone," I said bluntly.
"It's the Doctor, Isn't it?" She stared at the ground.
"Probably," I knew I had to find him. I silently prayed he was still on this planet.
I ran out of the Tourist Information, desperate to halt Jack's plan.
"Hello there," A man said. I whipped around. He wore a tweed jacket, white shirt and red bow tie. His hair was massive and he was speaking to me, "You, you work here, don't you?"
"Wha-err-yes." I scanned the vicinity for that coat I knew and craved. Our eyes met.
"Hello, I'm the-" The man gave up trying to introduce himself when I sprinted away from him towards Jack.
I clung to him, "You were going to leave us again," I didn't ask Jack, I told him. I leant back and searched his eyes.
"No," He lied to my face.
Didn't he see the heartbreak I felt every time he lied to me?
"Yes you were," I said coldly, "Don't lie to me Jack," I glared accusingly.
"I was going to come back," He faltered almost imperceptively. Only I, the one person truly close to Jack, would have seen that; his defensive anger was a very well sewn mask to hide the deeply buried fear and guilt that I alone was allowed to see, "It's a time machine, Ianto!"
"That's not the point and you know it," I allowed him to see my expression soften just a little, "So where is the Doctor, then?" I had only seen the Time Lord a few months ago and he definitely wasn't here.
"I'm the Doctor!" The man in the bow tie grinned like he had said something clever.
"Seriously, where is he?" I wasn't in the mood for jokes.
"That's him," A redhead with a Scottish accent spoke. I hadn't noticed her before.
"It's true, Ianto," Jack smiled and I reluctantly allowed my heart to melt, "Time Lords have this thing which lets them cheat death. It's called regeneration."
"All the cells in my body dies and is replaced. I walk away alive with new looks and a new personality. All I keep is my memories," The Doctor explained.
A man in a body warmer approached, "So what's going on now?"
"Wait," The Doctor ignored the man, treating him like useless background noise. I empathised, "Wasn't there a girl with you as well?"
As if on cue Gwen charged over towards us, aiming for Jack.
"Hello," The Doctor held out his hand, "I'm the Doctor."
Gwen whipped around and lashed out with her open right hand. It struck the Doctor's cheek.
Doctor
Ouch! This girl was strong! She had a name, so I recalled. What was it? G...Gary? No. G...G...Gertrude? That wasn't it either. G...G...G...Gwen! She backed away from me and caught her breath.
"You!" She scowled.
Ianto placed a gentle hand on her upper back and guided her off, muttering words of pacification as he went. He sat her down on a bench nearby but out of earshot.
"I'll have to go and talk to them in a minute," Jack smiled a melancholy, guilty smile.
"What did I do to her?" I asked. I was not famed for my memory but I was pretty sure that the last time I had seen Gwen I had saved her whole planet from the Daleks.
"It's my fault, really," Jack spoke with a hint of graveness in his voice, "Whenever you show up I drop everything and go with you, no matter what. It scares them because they don't know where I am, when I am or whether I'm coming back."
"Ah," I hadn't thought of that.
"I'd better go calm them down," Jack's brow furrowed as he trudged towards his team.
"Jack, wait!" River appeared behind me, "We could always take them with us," She grinned and wound an arm around my waist.
Jack beamed gratefully and ran as fast as the wind to his team.
"River!" I hissed, "That wasn't in the plan!"
"Sweetie," She stroked my cheek, calming me somewhat, "Neither was Jack."
Ianto
"Calm down, it's alright," Ianto was guiding me to a bench.
Why? Because I had slapped the Doctor which, I thought, was completely just.
As I sat down I processed the fact that the Doctor looked completely different.
"He's an alien with a new face," I stated.
"Yep," Ianto was infuriatingly calm.
"Why aren't you angry?" I snapped.
"I am but I trust Jack. He came back for us before, he'll do it again. He wouldn't leave forever," Ianto sighed.
"Couldn't have put it better myself," Jack reached down and hugged Ianto from behind, "Guess what."
"What," I barked.
"The Doctor has invited you to come with us!" He grinned.
Ianto grabbed Jack's head and kissed him deeply while I frowned, secretly feeling ecstatic at the thought of travelling with the Doctor.
Ianto followed even closer to Jack than usual and I lagged behind them as we made our way back to the others.