What raging fire shall flood the soul?
What rich desire unlocks its door?
What sweet seduction lies before us . . .?


Past the point of no return,
the final threshold -
the bridge is crossed,
so stand and watch it burn;
We've passed the point of no return . . .

Christine and the Phantom
The Point Of No Return, Phantom of the Opera

All was silent in the Hub, save for the shallow breaths of its occupants.

Ianto and Molly had, after (a little more than) a few awkward moments, started to tentatively trade stories and various facts about themselves. Jack, having a penchant for not being able to sleep more than ten minutes at a time (to save himself from the nightmares, he was loathe to admit), was sitting still as stone in his chair, eyes closed, listening to them talk. He was (blast it!) still locked into the conference room, and despite his and the team's many valiant attempts, they had not been able to blast or ram the door down. Picking the lock hadn't even done them any good.

Molly and Ianto were now sitting close together (really close, Jack had thought sourly), her head upon his shoulder and his head upon hers. They had momentarily lapsed into a comfortable silence, as evidently both were tired from the events of the day.

The monitor in the conference room began to crackle and buzz ominously, and Jack's left eye cracked open a fraction.

The screen went black.

"What?!" Jack yelped. Groaning, he face-palmed.

"Aw, come on!"

Molly was feeling considerably cheered. Ianto was holding her after she had (quite feebly) complained of the cold, and she felt a little less sad from being away from her boys. Beside her, Ianto nudged her shoulder a little and nuzzled his cheek discreetly into her hair.

"Is this what it always feels like?" he questioned softly.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean this." He indicated their position, and she could feel him smile. "It feels... nice." She chuckled.

"Yeah," she whispered. "It is nice. Sometimes it's even nicer, to that point where I can't even begin to describe the feeling anymore." She sighed and tried to worm her way deeper into his arms. "But this is good all the same."

It was his turn to chuckle.

Meanwhile...

At Jack's sudden outburst after the calm and quiet, Tosh, Owen, and Gwen had rather hastily awoken from their slumber, hands instantly going to their holsters.

Upon seeing nothing out of the ordinary, they prepared to fall back asleep.

Ianto shifted slightly, and waited for Molly to rest again on his shoulder.

"Um, Molly, you know before, when you told me all those things that would happen if we let you - the past you - join us?"

She m'hmmed as confirmation.

"What happens if we... don't let you in?" Molly froze. In the future, her Ianto had told her that this was what would happen, but she still couldn't bear telling him. In the end, it had worked wonderfully in fully convincing him, but it had terrified him all the same that it would come to be regardless - time, as they had all discovered, had a funny way of being tied to fate, and both were very fickle at best.

The show must go on, she thought briefly before letting her body react, her shoulders stiffening and her mouth pulling down at the corners in a frown.

"Change the subject," she bit out. She could almost see the expression his face; the worry mixed with that insufferable indignation. Ianto Jones may be a teaboy, but he was not a pushover.

"Why? Why don't you tell me?"

"Because I don't want to. Can't you just trust me? Leave. It. Alone."

"No. I need to know. This is my team just as much as Jack's, and I'll not have you thinking I'm going to let you come in here all high and mighty and telling us what to do." Ah, that whip smart tongue - she supposed it was a little inappropriate to be more than slightly turned on by his tone of voice. Focus, you bloody perv!

Ianto now placed his hands upon her shoulders and looked her in the eye, rather imploringly.

Well, then.

She shrugged him off and stalked back to her corner.

"Just tell me!"

"Fine!" She just about exploded, and her open palms slammed against the walls. The stinging pain cleared her head and real tears sprang from her eyes, from the pain or of what she had to do, she didn't know.

"You die." A great shuddering breath clawed its way out of her.

"You all die."

A/N: ... Guh. You don't even know how hard it was to write that. Not really. But it was! I had to end it there... more to come, and hopefully at an earlier date. Thanks to mah supporters; every time I see a review reply in my email, I squee and flail wildly like the fangirl that I am. Like serious epic flaily JOY. lol

Thanks again!

Much love, Chewy