This is it, the last chapter!

Quick Note: I realize that in Journey's End, Gwen is still using Cooper, but since I started writing her as 'Williams', I'm going to chose continuity over cannon... although I have to admit, I like the sound of Gwen Cooper better.

And as always THANK YOU for the wonderful reviews!

Chapter Sixteen: Torchwood

……………………………………………..

Cardiff, Wales (UK):

Alison took a deep breath and let it out again before opening the door and stepping into the bowling alley. She looked around, but it wasn't hard to find the loudest group in the place.

She'd been thinking all day about what she wanted to say to Robert. Now all she had to do was say it… And find a chance to say it, she thought, looking over the group assembled around him. They seemed to be hovering – almost protectively – making her wonder just what he'd told them about their breakup.

Forcing a smile, Alison walked over, "Hi," she managed to get the word out without her voice cracking.

Robert didn't come up immediately like she'd expected him to. Instead a dark haired man with blue eyes and an odd sense of fashion stood up, putting himself between her and the rest of the group.

"Alison Cameron," he greeted her by name.

"You're American," she was startled by his accent.

His flashed a wry smirk, "So I've been told. Captain Jack Harkness," he held out his hand. "I understand you caused quite a stir with the police this morning," he added. His tone was friendly, but something in his eyes made her pause before answering.

"You're a hard man to find," she said at last, accepting his hand. It was calloused, but he kept his grip light. She glanced from him to Robert and back again. Robert was just as hard to find as this guy was and she wanted to know why.

"I prefer it that way," Jack responded to her comment.

Alison couldn't help feeling nervous under the gaze of those intense blue eyes, but she still felt as if she needed to say something to fill up the growing gap in the conversation. "So… what is Torchwood?" she asked.

"You're looking at it," his tone was brusque.

"Oh enough, Jack," said a woman of fifty something with greying auburn hair. She stepped up to the front of the group, "I'm Liz Shaw," she introduced herself with a warm smile. "And by the way, I am not Torchwood." She gave Jack a scornful look that Alison didn't recognize to be playful.

He returned it, folding his arms across his chest. He stepped aside just enough for Alison to slip past him and join the rest of the group, who were gathered around a pair of tables.

"It's a pleasure to meet you… all of you…" She hesitated, glancing back up at Jack Harkness again. He seemed to fill up the room in a way House only wished he could.

The brunette with too much eyeliner stood up and held out her hand, "Gwen Williams." Her tone was friendly, just like her smile. "And this is my husband Rhys," she nodded towards the big, loud man Alison had heard across the bowling alley when she first came in.

"Resident Torchwood Widow," Rhys scoffed with a good natured smile, shaking her hand. "Nice to meet you."

"Ianto Jones, Ma'am," said the sweet faced young man in a black T-shirt and jeans. "And this is Wendy Shutten," he introduced the dark skinned woman who looked like as if she'd raided Stevie Nicks' wardrobe.

Alison took her to be his girlfriend, given the way he'd been sitting with his arm around her.

"It's nice to meet you." Wendy's smile was shy, but her grip was firm.

The seven of them seemed as different as night and day from one another, but she couldn't help noticing how comfortable they seemed together – even the man who had described himself as the Torchwood Widow. It made Alison feel awkward and out of place.

"Well," Ianto seemed to notice the uncomfortable moment as well, "can I get you something from the bar?" he offered to Alison.

"I… erm… Whatever everyone else is drinking is fine, thank you." Alison put down her purse and tried to force a smile.

She was aware that they were all watching her every move. It was even worse than the police station had been this morning.

Ianto gave an inquisitive look around to the rest of them; most nodded to him, as if they knew he already knew what they drank.

"You know what I'm drinking, mate," Rhys spoke aloud, holding up his half finished beer.

Ianto nodded and turned to Jack. "Your usual?" he asked.

"You know what I like and how I like it." The Captain flashed a lascivious grin that made Alison blush on the young man's behalf.

"I'd better give you a hand," Gwen offered to Ianto. "The rest of you decide teams while we're gone, eh? And make it fair this time," she added in Jack's direction.

"What are you trying to say?" he asked, a mischievous look playing across his face.

"You know exactly what I'm saying," Gwen told him, poking at his chest with her index finger.

Jack's attempt at innocence didn't fool anyone. He shrugged. "So do you want to draw straws or something?"

"He cheats," Ianto reminded them.

"I do not!" Jack's indignation sounded real to Alison, but the others just laughed at him. "Fine," Jack glared, although anyone who knew him would have known that he was having difficult time not laughing, too. "You kids divide up on your own however you want. Alison, do you need to rent shoes?" He asked, glancing down at the heels she'd shown up in.

"I don't really play…."

"Oh come on," Rhys said to her. "You can be on our team. Us civilians gotta stick together here."

"I… well…" She looked around at the rest of them. "All right, I guess, but I'm not very good."

"That's all right," Gwen assured her. "Neither is Rhys."

He glared at her; Gwen just grinned while several of the others chuckled softly.

As Gwen and Ianto headed for the bar, Jack stood up and held out his hand to Alison to escort her up to the reception counter where she could get shoes.

Bobby shot him a look; the Captain returned it innocently.

"Contrary to popular belief, I don't bite," Jack gave the rest of his team a look before returning his gaze to the blond woman. "Unless of course you're into that sort of thing," he winked at her.

She blushed bright pink.

"Jack," Bobby's tone was one of warning.

"It's fine," Alison told him, placing her hand into the other man's. He hauled her easily to her feet and crooked his arm. His current behaviour seemed at odds with his initial chilly attitude towards her, but she accepted. "So…?" she asked as they neared the shoe rental.

"So…?" Jack asked right back.

"Why are you so hard to find?"

"Like I said, I prefer it that way. What size shoe do you wear?"

"Eight…"

He gave her a look, then glanced around. Spying who he needed, he hollered Ianto's name across the bowling alley.

The young man jogged over, leaving an unhappy looking Gwen to manage their drinks alone.

"You bellowed, Sir," he said, deadpan.

"Shoe size," the Captain replied simply, nodding at Alison.

The younger man gave him an exasperated look. "This goes a bit beyond the call of duty, don't you think?"

"I thought last night went beyond the call of duty," Jack retorted with another one of those lascivious grins that made Alison blush even though it wasn't directed at her.

"What size do you wear?" Ianto asked her.

"An eight…"

"Right." He paused a moment then leant across the counter, "Can I see a ladies' five and a half, please?" he said to the young woman working the shoe rental.

"Five and a half?" Alison gave him an incredulous look.

"Trust me," said Ianto. He took the shoes from the girl behind the counter and passed them over to Alison.

Jack paid for her to join their game while Ianto went back to the bar where Gwen was waiting for him. She wasn't about to try carrying five bottles of beer and two glasses of wine and Jack's water all by herself.

Alison didn't miss the way the Captain watched the other man walk away.

Noticing her watching him stare after his Welshman, Jack shot another one of the grins that he knew would make her blush. "You should see him in a suit," he said, raising his eyebrows suggestively.

……………………………………………….…..

"So which team am I playing for tonight?" Jack asked with a wink as he and Alison returned to the others. He'd helped her pick out a ball on their way back.

Ianto handed him his water. "As long as you've no objections, you're with me tonight." A playful smile teased at the corners of his mouth.

Jack grinned right back, raising his eyebrows a little in the Welshman's direction. "I think I can handle playing with you… as long as you think you're up for it." No one missed the expression on his face as he said that. "Who's playing with us?"

Wendy and Liz both nodded, confirming that they were also on Jack and Ianto's team.

"Ooh, this could be fun!" The Captain slid his arms around their shoulders. "And you said I'd never get you," he added to Liz, giving her cheek a quick peck.

"You are truly incorrigible, Jack," she replied.

Still feeling awkward, Alison took a seat near Bobby, Gwen and Rhys. "Guess I'm with you guys." She didn't quite look at any of them.

Even divided up into two groups, there was still a sense of wholeness about them, a kind of closeness she had never experienced back in New Jersey. She glanced over at Jack, wondering what kind of person he was to inspire the close-knit feeling she got from the others. The only thing House had ever inspired on his team was distrust and back stabbing.

Gwen seemed to pick up on her uneasiness, even if she couldn't know the cause of it. "Don't worry, Alison. Wendy doesn't play much, either," she assured the American woman with a friendly smile. "And we're just playing for fun."

"Says you," Rhys scoffed. "Losing team picks up the bar tab." He took a swig of his beer.

Gwen gave his arm a smack with the back of her hand, "It's really just for fun," she promised Alison. "Jack usually pays the tab."

He shot her a look, "Not after the way you guys have been treating me tonight."

Ianto rolled his eyes at the Captain. "Bobby and I already flipped a coin to see who goes first. We're up."

Alison blinked over at Robert when the Welshman called him 'Bobby'.

He just shrugged. She slid closer to him, nervously fidgeting with her bottle.

"Do you want something else?" Bobby asked her quietly.

"No. No this is fine." She forced a smile and glanced over at the other team, especially Jack. On the surface he was flirtatious to the point of being lecherous, but she got the feeling there must be more to him than that.

He was confident, that much was obvious. He was certainly protective of his team and despite his unusual nature, they all seemed to like him.

Gwen leant across the table then and told her that in her absence, they'd decided that the least experienced players should go first. Alison nodded and watched Ianto walk with Wendy up to the lane.

"Remember to relax," he told her in patient tone. "Just throw the ball like I showed you earlier." He positioned himself behind her, one hand on her waist and the other guiding her arm.

"Hey, Ianto," Jack called, "think you can give me a refresher course when it's my turn?"

The younger man grinned over his shoulder at him, "I think that can be arranged."

Jack returned the grin and drank his water, clearly admiring the view.

Alison leant in closer to Bobby. "So… Those two…?" she asked softly.

"Hmm?" he looked up from his beer.

"Are they…?"

He glanced up towards the lane. "Jack and Ianto?" he asked. "You mean it isn't obvious?"

Alison blinked. She'd been asking about Ianto and Wendy, wondering why either of them would put up with Ianto's boss hitting on him like that. "Oh... Yeah... I guess." She watched as Wendy threw a gutter ball.

"Sorry, guys," Wendy apologized to her team.

"No worries," Ianto assured her.

"I guess that means I'm up, huh?" Alison asked nervously, glancing at Bobby and the other two people at her table.

"I'm sure you'll be fantastic," Gwen said in an encouraging tone.

Alison grimaced and got to her feet.

"Need some help?" Bobby offered.

She wished she could interpret his expression, but it was like it had been this morning, clouded over and reserved. She accepted his offer anyway. At least she wouldn't be standing up there alone when she made a complete idiot of herself.

"Just relax," he told her as they walked up to the lane. "Remember, it's all in the wrist." He shot Jack a look as if daring the older man to make a comment.

"What?" the Captain retorted with a look of innocence that no one who knew him would ever believe.

"Just keep it to yourself, Jack."

Ianto snickered and Jack glared at him. "Remember who signs your pay checks, Mister."

The younger man drank his beer with a shrug of his shoulders, still laughing.

Alison turned to the Bobby, lowering her voice. "So… 'Bobby'?" she asked him. "What prompted that?"

He just shrugged like he had before and showed her again how to hold the ball. "All you have to do is release it nice and easy. Pull back and let go." He stepped back as she threw the ball. It went straight into the gutter.

"That's oh and oh," Ianto said needlessly. "Nice try, though," he added in Alison's direction. "I'm sure you'll catch on by the end of the game."

"Sorry," Alison apologized to her teammates anyway.

"Don't worry about it," Rhys grinned over at her. "Wait 'til you see how bad Harkness over there throws it. We've got this game in the bag."

"Maybe you'd like to give me that refresher," Jack suggested with a toothy grin, raising his eyebrows suggestively at the other man.

Both Gwen and Ianto laughed a little too loudly for their respective partners' tastes; Alison continued to blush. Bobby just shook his head and drank more beer. It was going to be a long night.

Liz and Gwen were next up, followed by Jack who was accompanied by Ianto. Ianto placed his hand around the older man's waist, moving in very close, erasing any doubts Alison may have been had who Ianto was really with. Both men were clearly enjoying themselves a little too much.

"Oi, sometime this century!" Rhys hollered, grinning. "Some of us don't have forever you know."

"I'm feeling out of practice here," Jack shot back with a merry grin.

Ianto just flashed a sly smile and stepped in closer, whispering something in Jack's ear before moving out of the way so the older man could throw the ball. Jack knocked over four out of ten pins, which was hardly a personal best.

"You're supposed to say things like that to me after I throw the ball," the Captain told him in a sharp tone.

Ianto just smirked.

………………………..…………………………….

Jack paid the tab like usual, although he kept threatening to take it out of Ianto's pay for the way the younger man kept distracting him.

When he got back from the bar, Ianto helped him with his coat; he slid his arm around the younger man's waist and looked around at the others. "See you kids in the morning. Don't do anything we wouldn't do," he added with a wry grin.

"Is there anything you wouldn't do?" Rhys asked him.

Jack seemed to ponder the thought for a long, long moment while the others giggled and exchanged glances. "Right. Ianto. Let's go home," he winked at the younger man. "I think we need to 'field test' that question."

"Why do you always have to get him started?" Ianto asked Rhys in an exasperated tone. His eyes, however, betrayed nothing but good humour.

Jack turned to Liz before they made their exit, "Can we give you a lift back to your hotel?" he asked.

"Thank you," she accepted with a warm smile.

The three of them exchanged last good nights with everyone and headed out. Alison would have sworn she heard Jack saying something to Liz about how there always room for one more in naked hide and seek… But Liz had to be at least twenty years older than Jack.

I must've heard wrong, Alison convinced herself. Jack was probably just one of those flirty gay guys who thought it was cute to hit on older women. She still couldn't figure out what about him inspired these people, but clearly there was something she was missing, there had to be. Otherwise someone would have sued him for sexual harassment by now…

"Anybody interested in a pizza?" Rhys' voice drew her out of her thoughts.

"Oooh, I'm starved," Gwen agreed, shooting an inquisitive look towards the others.

"Sounds good," said Wendy. "Bobby?"

He glanced at Alison, "I think… we've still got some stuff to talk about. Next time."

Gwen nodded, "All right… looks like it's just the three of us, then. Bobby, see you in the morning. Alison," she added with an amiable smile in the American's direction.

"Good night. Thanks," Alison returned the smile; she liked Gwen.

Rhys seemed all right, too. He was big and loud and friendly, not the kind of man she would ever go out with, but he and Gwen seemed happy together. Alison envied that in a way she'd never envied a couple before.

She waited until they were alone in the parking lot to look up at Robert. "So… ?"

"So…?" He echoed.

"You're right about us needing to talk. There some things I need to say to you."

"Alison…"

"No, let me finish. I found the ring," she told him, knowing that if she didn't say it now, she would lose her nerve. "I know I shouldn't have been going through your drawers, but I was worried about you. I'm sorry."

He shook his head, "It doesn't matter. The ring was a mistake."

She closed her eyes trying not to react to how much those words stung. "It wasn't a mistake." She couldn't keep the hurt out of her voice. "I just wish you would have told me before you left."

"Alison, listen to me." He placed his hands gently on her shoulders, "It was a mistake and I'm sorry. I should never have expected you to just drop your whole life and follow me here."

She swallowed, trying to clear the lump from her throat. "I'm the one who made the mistake. What I said… I love you. I just… I didn't want to be the reason you didn't come here."

"I know."

She blinked at him in surprise.

"All right, I didn't know, but I guessed that might be it. You made the right choice, Al."

"How can you say that?"

"I thought I knew what I was getting into when I took this job. I should never have asked you to come with me, though."

"Why?"

"Alison, most of my patients are dead by the time they get to me. I spent my afternoon clearing out a backlog of autopsies. You care about people too much. Even if the job were still open, you'd hate it."

"I'm sure I could find something else. There are plenty of hospitals in Cardiff and it can't be that difficult to get my license over here. I could even go into private practice."

"You can't stay here," he told her, even as the knives in his gut twisted in harder.

"Robert… All I'm asking for is a chance to make this work. I made a mistake. I'm sorry. I was wrong. I don't know how else to say it. Just give me six months – give us six months – and then if it isn't working, I'll go back to New Jersey."

He looked away for a long moment. "I can't keep doing this with you. I'm sorry," his voice was ragged.

"Doing what?"

"This. Us." He shifted his gaze back to her face, her eyes. "Alison, you and I… we've done this before. You broke it off with me because I said I liked you. Because I said I had feelings for you… "

"But we got back together," she reminded him.

"Yeah we did. And then you broke up with me again."

"Robert…"

"If you had asked me to stay in New Jersey, I would have," he told her. "And maybe you had the best of intentions when you… When you told me you didn't love me," saying the words hurt, even though he believed her that it had been a lie. "But some things can't be taken back. Even though I still love you," he admitted. "I can't keep going back and forth like this. If you really wanted to be with me, we wouldn't be standing here having this conversation. If you really wanted to be with me, I wouldn't have had to chase you down in the first place. I don't know what you want, but I hope you find it."

He reached out and wiped the tears from her cheeks. "Go back home. Get on with your life. Let me get on with mine. I'll always love you. We'll always be friends. But there never really was an 'us', there was just me chasing after you and you letting me."

Her breath caught in her throat and she spent several long moments not knowing what to say. Finally, "You're really serious," was all she could make come out.

"Yeah. I am."

"I love you…" she said hopefully.

"I know."

Alison blinked up at him, still not believing that he wanted her to leave. "I… I guess this is goodbye."

"I guess it is."