A/N: Apologies but the next few chapters will be establishing the new universe that Jack and Ianto have found themselves in, so they won't be all that exciting. It'll be more scene-setting and characterisation. It will begin to pick up once that's out of the way, I promise. Well, I hope!

Chapter One

The first thing Jack was aware of was that he felt fine.

The second thing was that he was lying on something soft and firmly yielding, with a layer of cloth over part of his body. A bed?

The third – after an experimental movement – was that he was mostly naked.

The fourth was that he wasn't alone in bed.

Feeling a rush of hope, Jack opened his eyes and confirmed his suspicions that he was lying in a bed. The room was filled with what seemed like late afternoon light and he was lying on his side looking straight into the sleeping face of Ianto. It took a couple of seconds for him to realise that things weren't quite what he expected them to be and he pushed himself up onto his forearm, staring down at a Ianto Jones who was considerably younger than the one he was used to.

This Ianto looked to be no more than eighteen, his face smooth and open with sleep, although Jack could see signs that he was beginning to wake up. Jack could only stare down in bewilderment. Had he gone back in time? The woman had indicated that that wouldn't be happening and Jack shuddered to think of the consequences of his crossing Ianto's path so early in his timeline. Was this a Ianto from the alternate timeline? Jack's heart clenched in a second of blind panic as he wondered if his Ianto had died back in the other reality and this reality's Ianto had been substituted. He didn't want another Ianto. He wanted his own, bolshy, stubborn and somewhat twisted Ianto.

Ianto's eyes fluttered open and he yawned before focusing on Jack. There was a smile on his face for all of ten seconds before complete shock took over and he was galvanised into action, pushing himself away from Jack so violently that he wound up very nearly falling out of bed. He flailed about a little before freezing and giving Jack a deer-in-the-headlights look.

"J-jack? What- where-?" His eyes widened and he brought a hand up to his throat, looking confused as he realised that his voice was subtly different.

Jack glanced down at himself, wondering what had caused that reaction, then paused when he caught sight of his hand. It was a lot more slender and less calloused than he remembered. "Ianto, do I look… younger.. to you?"

After a moment, Ianto nodded. He glanced around them and saw that there was a full-length mirror on the door of one of the wardrobes. He slid out of bed and padded across to it, closely followed by Jack. They both gazed at their reflections in stunned silence. Ianto watched as Jack took a step closer and wrapped an arm around him to run his hand across Ianto's smooth chest.

"I didn't develop the chest hair until I was about twenty," Ianto admitted, trying to suppress the instinctive reaction to Jack touching him.

His last conscious thought had been that he was dying and that he would be forever parted from Jack. Now he was fine, apparently in another reality and physically regressed to eighteen. He bit back a groan as his body continued to react to Jack and he remembered that he had been very responsive back in those days. Jack certainly seemed to approve, judging from the way he moved closer and his other hand slid around Ianto's waist and then moved lower.

Jack was revelling in something he had thought he would never be able to do again. He dropped an open-mouthed kiss on Ianto's shoulder and then bit down gently. He saw as well as heard and felt Ianto's shiver and pulled him closer for a moment before he turned the other man in his arms and kissed him properly. Ianto kissed him back with equal fervour and then he was pushing Jack back towards the bed, a plan that Jack was perfectly happy with. They ended up in a tangle of limbs on the bed, frantically needing to reaffirm that they were alive and together.

"Mark me!" Jack gasped after a moment.

Ianto paused and lifted up to look at him, his eyes gradually losing their sheen of lust. "What?"

"Mark me," Jack repeated. "She said I would be mortal. That means that if you mark me, it'll stick."

He knew that Ianto understood what he meant. Jack's immortality had also meant that he healed abnormally quickly. The cut lip that Ianto had given him during the fight over Lisa had been gone by the following day. When he broke his arm or leg he was back to normal within a week. Whenever he and Ianto made love, it didn't matter how much Ianto marked him; he would wake up the following morning with unblemished skin. It became an obsession even though he knew that there was nothing he could do about it. The idea that any mark Ianto made on his skin would now remain, a sign for all to see that he was Ianto's every bit as much as Ianto was his.

Ianto gave him a blinding smile and lowered his head to nuzzle against his throat. Jack lifted his chin, exposing the full length of his throat and gave a shuddering gasp as he felt Ianto's teeth nip and then worry against his skin, sucking and biting until the skin tingled and throbbed. Jack ran his hands down along the length of Ianto's back and grabbed at one buttock, squeezing and pulling Ianto even closer, wanting the friction of their two cocks rubbing together.

They rid themselves of their boxers with practised ease, neither wanting to let go of the other for any longer than was absolutely necessary. Jack held Ianto still long enough to claim a frantic, almost bruising kiss and then they were moving and grinding against one another as their need and hunger grew ever stronger. It didn't take long for the both of them to shudder to a physical climax and then they settled sleepily together, ever more glad than usual to be alive.

"I suppose," Ianto said around another huge yawn, "that we should be grateful she didn't decide to give us a new life from the infant stage."

Jack fell asleep in mid-laugh.

OOO

When Jack woke up again it was to find the room flooded with the bright cold light of morning. He blinked in surprise since he rarely slept an entire night except after he had been killed. Hard on the heels of that thought was another and he threw back the sheet he and Ianto had been entangled in, heading for the mirror. He was vaguely aware of Ianto's sleepy grumble but he was too busy focusing on the large hickey on his neck. One of several, he was pleased to see, turning his body this way and that to study them. There were faint marks where Ianto's blunt nails had scored across his skin and Jack hummed happily as he fingered them like precious relics.

Ianto chuckled as he followed him out of bed and came to stand just behind him. "Never thought I'd see the day when Jack Harkness got so excited about a love-bite!"

Jack whirled and grabbed him by his arms. "Don't you realise what this means, Ianto? She was telling the truth! I'm mortal! I can die!"

Ianto winced. "Well, there's no need to sound so bloody delighted about that, Jack-"

He was shut up very effectively by Jack kissing him. Since Ianto never objected to Jack kissing him – unless it was in the middle of Tesco's – he was more than happy to be silenced in that way. He moaned his approval when the initial ferocity of the kiss swiftly morphed into something more gentle and lingering but he felt a stab go through him when he saw the tears glittering in Jack's eyes when he eventually pulled away again. Even though he had come to use black humour as a shield against the pain the world had inflicted on him, it wasn't fair of him to belittle Jack's joy at being free of his curse.

"I love you," Jack blurted out.

Ianto blinked, then blinked again, his mouth opening and closing as he tried to process the words. Jack reddened and looked more worried and nervous as Ianto continued to stare at him in silence.

"I should have said that back at Thames House, but I didn't want to say it when it was too late to have any real meaning. I should have said it before then, when you weren't dying, but I was so scared that if I said it I would curse what we had." He laughed bitterly. "I should have realised that it wouldn't have made any difference. Unless you're cursed with immortality, Torchwood kills sooner rather than later."

He might have said more but Ianto put out a hand and placed it over his mouth, effectively silencing him. "It's all right, Jack, I understand. I only said it myself because I needed to hear myself say it out loud. I didn't want it to be secret and silent any more. I had nothing left to lose and I wanted you to know." He gave a small shrug. "I was never all that good with talking about my emotions. I sometimes wondered if you knew how much I cared about you."

Jack gave him a rueful grin. "Oh, I knew. It used to scare me shitless and make me want to dance with delight. Lots of people like to have sex with me but not many want to stick around in the cold light of day. Not when they learn some of the truth about me."

Ianto smiled again and ran a thumb across Jack's lips before he cupped his jaw in his hand and leaned forward for another kiss. "Never a problem with seeing you in the cold light of day, Jack," he murmured.

They stood holding one another for a little longer before coming to a mutual decision and stepping apart. Ianto glanced down at himself and wrinkled his nose.

"I think a shower is in order."

They looked around the room with more attention, taking in what was a very well-appointed bedroom. The wall opposite the bed was a built-in wardrobe and dresser in what looked like light oak. There were doors in both the left and right hand walls and when Ianto went to open the left hand one he found it opened onto a bathroom, with a large bath that could hold two people easily and an equally large shower. He smirked at the sight of that, remembering that his own shower in his flat had been too small to accommodate them comfortably, which had always annoyed Jack.

A quick rummage through the wardrobes found that some of his clothing had been sent across the dimensional void with him (and wasn't that a peculiar thought to be having!). Three of his favourite suits, about half of his ties and most of his shirts were in the wardrobe. All of his casual wear was there as well. Jack confirmed that he was finding the same thing. Deciding to go along with the flow for now, Ianto grabbed some underwear from the drawers, a pair of slacks and one of his favourite t-shirts before heading for the bathroom.

Jack soon joined him and for a moment they revelled in what was a very up-market shower. The walls of the cubicle were black granite flecked with quartz, the fixings gleaming chrome. It had all the bells and whistles that anyone could hope for and under any other circumstances Jack would have been in the mood to play with all the gadgets. Right now, however, he was still revelling in that fact that Ianto had not died and Jack had apparently been handed his deepest desire. He barely waited for Ianto to start the shower before he was crowding him back up against the tiled wall, kissing him passionately.

"I'm sure I mentioned something about getting clean," Ianto said in amusement before responding to Jack with a kiss of his own that was every bit as passionate.

They eventually switched their attention to getting clean and managed to get finished just as the water started to run tepid. There were large fluffy towels of a deep red and they dried off and then got dressed. A curious poke through the bathroom cabinets revealed what looked like the contents of those in Ianto's bathroom back on Earth. Jack nodded thoughtfully.

"I guess she wanted to ease us into things so it makes sense to have some familiar things around us."

Ianto shook his head a little helplessly and sank down to sit on the toilet seat. "This is just so weird," he confessed. "I keep forgetting and then it suddenly slaps me in the face that just a few hours ago I was dying on the floor of Thames House and now I'm in another reality and on some alien world." He grinned up at Jack ruefully. "You must be used to this kind of thing."

Jack shrugged. "A bit," he agreed, "but every time it happened before I was in the same universe. This place will be as alien to me as it is to you."

"I'm not sure if that's reassuring or terrifying," Ianto mused. He paused and in the silence the sound of his stomach growling could clearly be heard. Jack laughed and Ianto flicked a towel at him in mock-annoyance. "Hush, you. Well, I suppose we'd better start exploring and seeing where we are."

They left the bedroom via the other door and walked down a short corridor which opened out onto a large open plan living room. Ianto gasped and heard Jack give a soft whistle of appreciation as he took in the space and the floor-to-ceiling windows that took up most of the external wall space. They could only see open sky from where they were standing so it was certain they were fairly high up. There was a free-standing fireplace at one end with a comfortable looking seating arrangement around it. On the other side of the huge room was a dining table and chairs. There were other pieces of furniture placed around the room and Ianto's eyes widened when he saw pieces he had owned.

They were drawn to the windows and were treated to a view that took their breath away. The building they were in was on the waterfront and the view from the windows was over a bay which extended out into the distance, where a headland curved around to block their view of the horizon. After a moment, Ianto started to frown.

"Jack-"

"It's Cardiff Bay," Jack said, pre-empting Ianto's suspicions. "That's Penarth, over there."

"The church is missing," Ianto observed. "It could be a coincidence. I mean, one headland can look very like another-"

"I've looked out over this view for a hundred years, Ianto," Jack said quietly. "The buildings are different but the landscape is the same."

Ianto nodded, accepting what Jack said. "So we're in an alternate Cardiff?" he asked tentatively.

"Looks like it.," Jack agreed. "But that can wait for the moment. You're not the only one who's hungry!"

They discovered the kitchen on the opposite end of the room. It was a nice balance of modern and traditional, all warm wood and cool tile, with dark slate flooring. It had a utility room off the main room but Jack and Ianto were more interested in locating some food. The fridge was one of those big American models that contained enough food to feed most of Cardiff and the cupboards next to it contained basic foodstuffs.

"It seems our friend is a bit of a health nut," Ianto observed with mild discontent when he realised that the place was stocked with healthy food options.

Jack gave a snort of laughter as he pulled out some fruit and a glass bottle of milk. "You'll have to put aside your principles and eat something healthy for a change," he observed as he also snagged the box of muesli and deposited them on the breakfast bar before going to look for a couple of bowls.

"There's nothing wrong with cold pizza or curry for breakfast," Ianto said with affronted dignity, then grinned in spite of himself at the raspberry that earned him from Jack.

They eventually sat down to a larger and more leisurely breakfast than Ianto was used to, the fruit-topped muesli followed by thick-sliced toast – wholemeal, Ianto noted with annoyance – slathered with butter and marmalade. To both their delight, there was freshly ground coffee and a cafetiere, which made their breakfast complete.

"Now what do we do?" Ianto asked once they had cleared up after themselves.

"Keep exploring, I guess," Jack decided.

The apartment turned out to be the penthouse and contained another bedroom and en-suite bathroom, a library and a room set up as a shared office. Jack glanced around at the two desks and then paused as he saw that there was a large leather file on each desk. A closer look revealed that the name Jack Harkness had been embossed in silver on the dark blue leather of one while Ianto Jones was inscribed in gold on the deep red one. He called Ianto back and went over to pick up the one with his name on it. As soon as he opened it and saw what was inside, he smiled in appreciation.

"She's thorough," he commented, as he looked down at what was obviously a birth certificate. "I think this is the information we need to start our new life."

He saw that he had apparently been born on the 27th November, 2403 in Glasgow. He raised his eyebrows at that, wondering if it was a coincidence that it was the place that had housed Torchwood Two. He flicked quickly through the rest of the file and saw that it had things like family background, academic history, financial statements… His eyes widened when he saw the total in his bank account. Unless this version of Wales was suffering from galloping inflation, he was more than comfortably well off. He glanced across at Ianto, who was looking just as intrigued. "You okay?"

Ianto nodded. "She's kept my birthday as 28th August but the year is 2403."

"Same as me," Jack observed happily. He looked across at the desk and saw a calendar. "It's 7th May, 2422. We are eighteen. She meant it when she said we'd get a new life."

"Such a strange feeling," Ianto murmured. "I can hardly remember what it felt like when I was eighteen."

"And you don't have to," Jack pointed out. "This is a new start. We don't need to hold on to the past unless we want to."

They both paused when they heard what sounded like a doorbell. Exchanging tense looks, they backtracked through the apartment until they got to the entrance. As they hesitated, the doorbell went again. Taking a deep breath, Jack went to answer it, pausing briefly when he saw that there was a post-it at eye-level.

Her name is Dana. Her father's name is Sam. He suffers from allergies at this time of year.

Opening the door, Jack found himself facing a young woman who was holding what looked like some letters. "Hi, Dana," he said.

She gave him a cheerful grin. "Hiya, Jack. Hope I'm not too early. I know the two of you got in late last night but I figured you'd want your post since it has the letters from the University!"

He took his cue from her excitement as he accepted the small sheaf of letters. "Great, we've been waiting for those. How are your Dad's allergies?"

She pulled a face. "Playing up like hell. I think I've just about persuaded him to go and get tested for the new treatment but we'll have to see. I'd better get the rest of the post distributed. Take care!"

She bounced off towards a lift and Jack closed the door, looking down at the letters thoughtfully. Two were a deep rich cream and in the top left hand corner was a coat of arms and the delicate calligraphy reading Cardiff University of Cymru. There was one apiece. "I have a feeling we're going to be going to university," he said.

Ianto had been studying the post-it but he gave Jack a wide-eyed look of surprise at that and grabbed the letter Jack handed him. He opened it quickly, and much more sloppily than he would have normally and quickly scanned the letter inside. "I'll be damned," he said in wonder. "It's confirmation that I've been accepted to study Information and Communications Technology and Archival Systems. That's going to be interesting."

"I'm down for Engineering," Jack said in amusement. "Actually, that makes a lot of sense. Engineering is engineering whether you're in the past, the present or the future. I'll be able to adapt pretty fast."

"It'll feel weird going to university," Ianto said.

"If you think it's weird for you, then imagine how I'm going to feel!" Jack said in amusement. He folded the letter back up and put it back inside the envelope. "Come on, let's go out and explore. I want to see how this Cardiff differs from the one we knew."

They found coats hanging up next to the entrance. To Ianto's annoyance, there was no sign of Jack's coat but Jack just shrugged and put on the leather jacket that held a wallet with cards bearing his name along with a respectable amount of money.

"It might be difficult to explain why I'm wearing a coat with the insignia and rank markings from the Royal Air Force if that doesn't exist," he pointed out.

"I suppose so," Ianto said, although there was still a discontented note in his voice. He reached for the denim jacket and found that it had his wallet in one of the pockets. "Shall we go?"

Jack confirmed that the keys he and Ianto were carrying were for the front door and he nodded. "Let's go exploring."

OOO