A/N: It's been a year since I updated this. I feel so guilty. I'll do better next time. I swear.

Dedication: EvanAngelsCrySometimes. You made me get on with this.

Word count: 1178

More Than a Tea Boy

Chapter 3

The Hub was near silent as Ianto wandered around, fingers drifting lazily across keyboards and desktops. He could feel the gentle background hum of the rift manipulator and the sound of the gentle drip drip of his trusty old coffee machine. Obviously not the original, but it was near identical and Ianto had attacked it with a screwdriver till it had the same annoying quirks as its predecessor. Ianto loved this place.

He'd rebuilt the Hub to be nearly the same as before the bomb. A bit of extra office space here, less mould there. Nobody would mind. It still felt like home and that was enough. The lower levels had been virtually undamaged and Cardiff Council had been more than willing to keep out the public for the month that it had taken to get the surface work done when he'd mentioned that, of course, all repairs would be paid for out of the Torchwood budget. He had considered just moving but it seemed pointless to waste what remained intact.

He'd been unwilling to admit it to anyone but he'd restored Jack's office perfectly, exact to the last detail, including the underground bunker and the uncomfortable chair in the corner. It stood empty, unused and gathering dust. It was officially the boss's office but Ianto didn't use it, quite happy at his desk in the tourist office.

By Tristan's fifth birthday Torchwood was completely restored, running better than it ever had. Ianto was proud of his achievements but couldn't shake the feeling of loneliness that followed him wherever he went. He had hoped that Jack would have still been around but it seemed that the captain had never cared that much for him and had fled to the stars rather than stay and remember him. He knew he was being selfish. Gwen had long ago filled him in on what had happened after he died and knew that Jack left for more reasons than just him but he couldn't fight the ache of abandonment that ate at his heart whenever he thought of the captain.

Ianto sighed and settled himself in a chair, fully focussed on going through the last of that week's reports. It had been a busy week and he'd been unable to stay as on top of the paperwork as he'd have liked to. He was slipping in his old age. He chuckled to himself before opening Alice's report on the greank attack, settling himself deeper into his chair and pulling out his red-pen-of-doom.

OOOOOO

Jack Harkness clenched his eyes shut and pressed the button. The feeling of squeezing through space and time made him feel like he would be sick but it was reassuring in its familiarity. He didn't stumble, just stood stock still, allowing himself to take in the sounds and smells of 21st century Cardiff.

It had been so long since he'd been here and yet everything felt the same. Well really it should, given the circumstances. If the Doctor knew what he was doing he'd probably kill him. He took a steadying breath and opened in his eyes.

The memories of the last time he had been here ripped through him, the pain reminiscent of the bomb that had blown him apart. He pushed the pain aside and set off determinately in the direction of the tourist office secreted away in the corner of the docks. It looked pretty much the same as last time he'd been here. Perhaps a bit newer, but that was to be expected. He'd been aiming for 2008 but that was no guarantee he was even in the 21st century. For moving him through space his vortex manipulator had always been pretty reliable but the whole time travel part was still a little iffy.

Jack humphed to himself and stepped into the tourist office. What did it matter when he'd exactly ended up? He needed to see his Welshman and he needed to see him now. The Hub was practically in darkness, lit only by a solitary desk lamp and full of shadows. Jack spared the lack of alarm as the cog door rolled open little thought, instead striding forward into the gloom.

OOOOOO

Ianto didn't remember dropping off but when he woke up he was draped over his desk and had papers stuck to his face, no doubt leaving an interesting pattern across his cheek and forehead. That was the third time this week that he's fallen asleep working and he knew he couldn't get away with it before his workmates started noticing. The alarm tucked into his pocket beeped again and he realised what had woken him.

Cog door flashed at him.

A shadow moved in the corner of his eye and he dropped his hand to his hand back into his pocket, easing his gun out and taking off the safety. He stood as quietly as he could and circled round the water tower behind the intruder and took aim.

"Hands in the air where I can see them."

The intruder pivoted and Ianto gasped in shock.

"Ianto?"

Ianto was ashamed to say that he fired. When Jack sputtered back to life a few minutes later he blamed firing the gun on shock and his training for the bullet meeting its target but he knew both of them knew that it would have been quite possible for him not to have fired at all.

"What the bloody hell was that about, Yan?"

"… Don't you Yan me! What the bloody fuck do you think you're doing? Strolling in here like you've done nothing wrong? Like nothing's changed?"

"Have I… what have I done?"

Ianto took a long steadying breath, reaching out to hold on to the desk.

"Twenty years. I died Jack and came back just for you, only for you, and you were gone. And then you have the nerve to stroll in here like everything's the same as it used to be. You are so arrogant. I know you knew I was back. Why else would you come here?"

Jack stumbled to his feet, shaking his head and frowning.

"Twenty years? I don't understand. Ianto… when am I?"

"2031, like you didn't know."

OOOOOO

Jack reeled, head spinning. 2031? Then how was Ianto here? How was he alive?

"What the-"

"Ianto? You in here? I'm taking you out for dinner right now."

Jack was cut off as the cog door rolled open revealing a skinny, dark hair man who bounded into the room and over to Ianto's side.

"Oh… who's this?" he asked.

"Nobody important. Let's go. I'm starving," Ianto slipped an arm round the man's waist and steered him back towards the day

Jack was unsurprised by the wave of jealousy that slammed though him. That's how it had always been with Ianto.

"You can show yourself out, right?"

Ianto didn't look back, leading his companion out of the hug, not looking back once. Jack watched them leave. The cog door rolled shut and moments later the lights flickered and went out, leaving Jack alone in the dark, confused and in pain.

OOOOOO

A/N: Ta da! Review?