They sat on edge, drinking coffee most of the next day. The Torchwood team hated this part, biding their time. Tosh even began to snap; there was no information left to feed her. Darius didn't even know what the damn thing looked like or what planet it was from. All they could do was wait and hope the answer came when the time was right.

Gwen brought John a copy of the Count of Monte Cristo, one of his favorite books in college. He smiled another radiant smile, and went back to his cell to settle down into reading, when Ianto came down with coffee.

"You're going to make me too jittery to read, Ianto."

"Well, it's part of my job. Plus, I have to try and keep you away from Jack."

"Weak attempt at humor?"

Ianto sighed. "I'm afraid so."

"I don't blame you for being on edge. But I wouldn't worry about Jack. He loves you very much."

"I wish he'd tell me that more often."

"I wouldn't blame him for being afraid. There's so much you don't...never mind."

"What, John? What is it you saw?"

"Actually, it's what I see...and" John looked down and shook his head a little.

"Just tell him, you weakling."

"Who am I talking to?"

"I don't think we've met. I've had a devil of a time getting through. My name is Darius."

"You're the other one." Ianto gasped slightly, then regained his composure.

"I prefer to be called Darius."

"Yes, then, so what do you want?"

"To tell you the truth."

"Well, don't keep me in suspense."

Darius grinned wickedly, one of John's sharp teeth showing just above his lip. "When Jack first came back, he propositioned Gwen before he asked you out." Ianto's face paled in color. "I'm sure John didn't want to disrupt your happy little family, up there."

Ianto swallowed. "Well, yes, I'm sure some things are better off not being known. If there's anything you or John needs, please don't hesitate to call."

"Thanks sweetie." Darius stood and scratched the back of one leg with another while Ianto left and Darius could hear Janet backing into a corner of her cell.

"We're you ever planning on telling me I was your second choice?" Ianto burst through Jack's office door and interrupted while Jack was forming the first letters of greeting.

"What would ever make you think that?"

"He told me about what you said to Gwen during the Capt. Hart thing. Why couldn't you have told me?"

"It wasn't his story to tell."

"He felt he owed it to me, no matter how much loyalty, or hell, love, he owes you!"

"Ianto, come on, I've always been a flirt!"

"Shouldn't this be different then? Shouldn't this thing between us be different?"

"Why can't you ever call it what it is?"

"Because I don't know what it is, Jack! That's the whole point! Who's next in line, then? Tosh? Owen? Gonna try and snicker Rhys? Who Jack? How many are enough until the end of the world?"

"And what happens when you've gone then, Ianto?" Jack stood and his palms hit his desk as he looked up into Ianto's eyes with sincerity mingled in sadness. "Do you know how many times I've had to fall in love just to feel? How many times there have been heartbreaks so painful that your entire body is rent in two?"

"Isn't once enough?"

"It can't be. It's addictive, Ianto. Yes, I propositioned Gwen. But that is something that happened. Are you going to let this kid affect you so much, Ianto?"

"Isn't it funny that when it's someone else, you call him John. When it's you he can see, you call him kid." Ianto and Jack both left the office, the latter heading in the direction of the cells.

"Why did you tell him? You had no right."

"Give me your anger. Don't feed Darius more ammo for damage, Jack. Besides, Ianto had a right to know. We both know..."

"You could screw everything up. I give you everything, including my trust, and this is how you repay me?"

"You don't get it. I can see you in the future. I can see the joy and the pain searing both our lives across countless star systems. You and the Doctor. You and Hart. You and Ianto. Even You and I, just different from now. But I see it. This is his last chance Jack. He's dying."

"What?"

"He has four years left."

"Don't tell me..."

"They can't cure it here yet Jack."

"I can't listen."

"But you know, don't you? You had to do scans and files for his entire family history! You know all of this. Why not embrace it?"

"Because then every time I look at him, I will see it. I will see the tumor."

"What tumor?" Ianto's face turned pale, contrasting the door frame more than usual.

"Bloody hell."

Silence can be a deafening thing.