Thatnkyou again for your comments and I'm sorry I didn't post last night! I was out at my friend's playing Little Big Planet (goregous game, can't wait to have a proper go!) and then the cinema, seeing Valkyrie (awesome film). I hope you like this chapter!!

Chapter 3

I hear the sound of the world where we played
And the far too simple beauty
Of the promises we made

"He looks so small…" A voice came through the darkness - a familiar, female voice, though he couldn't put a name to it. It was too hard to think, too tiring. He felt like there were bridges missing all over the place, there were things he knew and connections to be made, but he couldn't get to them, he couldn't find them. It was all far too tiring.

"All of this because of some maniac wanting to get to Jack." Another voice hissed, thick with tears and anger. He had the vague image of a small woman with large eyes and soft, brown skin. Japanese, maybe? He didn't know, all he could remember was that he seemed to like this woman. She was nice to him.

"The poor sod…" A third voice muttered sympathetically, a male voice that he got the impression was being uncharacteristically protective of him. He felt a smile try to emerge, but once again, it was too much effort and the emotion ebbed away. Instead, he just lay there and let the darkness close in on him again, pressing in on him on all sides comfortingly.

Just before he drifted away completely, he realised that there was a voice missing, there was someone not there… but he didn't have the energy to think about it further …

"What?" A strange voice yelped loudly in surprise.

Ianto found himself lying curled up on the floor of somewhere, on what seemed to be grating. He kept his eyes screwed closed and thought, if this is the afterlife, I want a refund. He heard loud, fast footsteps and was vaguely aware of someone standing by him.

"What?!"

He frowned at the incredulity in the man's voice and blinked his eyes open, groaning as he saw someone staring at him like he was some sort of specimen in a jar. He frowned and pushed himself up into a sitting position, rubbing his head as the beginnings of a migraine started to throb in his temples.

"Where's Jack?" He asked groggily, closing his eyes again and ducking his head between his knees as the strange surroundings started to spin.

"What?" The man said again, this time more alarmed than before and sounding completely confused.

"Will you please stop saying that?" Ianto snapped, looking up at him with a glare.

"Only if you tell me how you got on board my ship." He said stubbornly, crouching down next to Ianto and roughly pushing his head up, looking into his eyes. Ianto flinched away from the hands and frowned again.

"I'm supposed to be dead, why am I on a ship?" Ianto asked, suddenly feeling extremely vulnerable. He looked up and saw a large column running through the middle of the room, just like back at the Hub. This column, however, was see through with more tubes inside, glowing a light turquoise colour. It seemed to be humming in approval.

With a lurch of fear, he turned his face to the stranger imploringly. "Where am I?"

"I told you, you're on my ship." The man spoke carefully, as if worried about Ianto's mental state. The young man just stayed silent and looked down at his hands for a long time. The silence stretched out as Ianto tried to digest something that he couldn't begin to understand. He waited for his mind to stop spinning before bringing himself to speak again.

"Please, I want to go home…" He whispered, glancing up at the stranger.

"Sorry, I don't know where home is." The man said seriously, looking at him in concern, clasping his hands together and watching him over the top of his glasses.

"Cardiff, Wales… Shit… Cardiff, Wales on Earth." Ianto muttered, wide eyed as his memory sluggishly brought back memories of Jack telling him about the TARDIS. Why the hell was he on the TARDIS? "Twenty first century Cardiff. Please, can you take me back?"

The man he now recognised as the Doctor stood up and went to a console, glancing back at him sitting huddled on the floor every so often. He seemed to be running some sort of scan, but his frown was deepening every second and the humming from the machine changed pitch, as if in alarm or shock.

"I'm sorry, but you don't exist." The Doctor said matter-of-factly with another frown, turning to look at Ianto in curious speculation.

"How…?" Ianto frowned aw well, looking away. He could vaguely remember a loud shot and a pain rippling through his stomach, making him fall to the floor. Then Jack was there, next to him muttering something, picking him up. Now he was in the hospital, everything was black and full of pain and all he wanted was for Jack to hold his hand and tell him he'd be okay.

Then he'd heard their voices; Gwen, Tosh and Owen, but not Jack. Jack hadn't been there. Jack's voice wasn't in his head - why wasn't Jack there? He'd given up and let the darkness take him, but a different kind of darkness, like pulling him away for some trip, like he'd go back eventually, but he was going to go somewhere else first, do something new.

Then he'd woken up.

"Hey, it's alright… Just tell me your name, we'll try to sort this out." The Doctor was at his side again, smiling kindly with his hand squeezing Ianto's shoulder gently.

"Jones… Ianto Jones." He muttered, gritting his teeth against the slight burn of tears. What is it with me and Jack and other love interests? He thought with an exasperated sigh as he breathed out jaggedly. At least this one isn't intent on ripping us apart. Hopefully quiet the opposite, he managed to calm himself enough to rub his eyes hard and look back at the Doctor with a small smile.

"The infamous Mr. Jones… we meet at last." The Doctor grinned at him and laughed at the confusion on his face. "He didn't tell you? Oh that is so like him."

"Tell me what?" Ianto asked cautiously as the Doctor sat back and leaned against the console with a purr from the machine.

"He talked about you almost non-stop on our way home." The Doctor said with a smile. Ianto didn't return it though, just remembered the look on Jack's face when he first found out that he was with Tom. Ianto flinched and closed his eyes in guilt.

'…Up the pain medication… discomfort…' something whispered in his head. His eyes snapped open and he looked around wildly.

"Did you hear that?" Ianto asked urgently, the Doctor just frowned again.

"Hear what?" He asked cautiously.

'… Bruised … too pale… where's Jack?…' Ianto flinched again as he heard Owen's voice. His chest was tight with homesickness and he just wanted to open his eyes and have a good snark at them all, to show them he was okay.

He wanted to hear Jack laughing at him for being obsessive over his coffee machine, begging him not to put him on decaf for messing with the archives. He wanted to feel Jack's arms around him and to tell him it was all going to be okay and that it wasn't his fault because he knew Jack would be blaming himself. He wanted to tell him that he was going to stick to his promise, he wasn't going to leave, he wasn't going anywhere.

"Someone speaking - someone said something… Like they were speaking through water…" Ianto trailed off, suddenly feeling extremely stupid. In contrast, the Doctor's face lit up and he jumped up.

"Oh, yes! Genius." He said absently as he started fiddling on of his consoles, a manic grin on his face. Ianto ignored him after a moment and concentrated on trying to hear the person again.

'… Jack… We'll give you some room…' Ianto's heart picked up and he bit his lip as he felt a jolt in his right hand and the voices and sounds started to fade away again. '…Ianto? Oh God, open… eyes… sorry… so sorry…' and he was gone. The threatening tears managed to fall this time and his arms physically ached from the loneliness that overwhelmed him.

"You are something special, Mr. Jones." The Doctor said with a grin as he swung round the side of the console to smile at him.

"Do you know what's happened?" Ianto asked in concern, scrubbing at his eyes again.

"Yes, yes I do, and do you know why? Because I'm a genius, Mr. Jones!" He laughed and winked as Ianto opened his mouth to ask another question, cutting him off before he could speak. "And because I'm a genius, I can get you home."

"So what's happened to me?" Ianto asked quietly, hope blossoming weakly in his chest. It was all he had at the moment.