PART FIVE

Jack strode across the expanse of concrete towards the row of lock up garages that nestled under the shadows of a half dozen tower blocks. A couple of kids shot past on their push bikes doing double takes at his flapping coat as they went by.

"Puffter!"

Jack ignored the comment his attention suddenly drawn by shouting above his head. He glanced, eyes widening in horror as two bodies dropped like stones and landed with a sickening crunch. Jack ran, recognising Ianto's neat attire and he suddenly heard Gwen screaming down her coms.

"Jack! Jack Ianto's down. I nee......"

"I see Gwen. Get the SUV now!"

He practically skidded to a stop the second body had landed half over Ianto and Jack shoved it aside noting it was O'Rourke, who was plainly dead. He knelt over Ianto and gently lifted his head. The skull at the back was smashed in and blood leaked through hair and bone over Jack's hand.

"Shit, Ianto.... come on."

Carefully Jack hauled Ianto's broken dead body into his arms cradling him with gentle caution and unaware of the people that had started to gather around them. Jack was oblivious looking into Ianto's white face, shocking blue empty eyes turned heavenward.

"Come on Ianto, come back to me." Jack kissed his cheek and petted him, stroking a shaking hand over Ianto's chest. He could feel the energy there, the healing kicking in, like an electrical charge. "Come on Yan, please, you can do this."

There was a screech of brakes and suddenly Gwen was there, waving her police ID and pushing people back, she kept glancing over her shoulder at the tableau there, Jack with Ianto in his arms and a dead O'Rouke lying in a crooked heap to the side.

Jack's eyes briefly met Gwen's and she hitched a brief smile on seeing the tears on his cheeks. Jack looked back to Ianto lowering his face so his lips were against Ianto's.

"Come on Ianto, come on. I'm here it's Jack. Please wake up now."

Ianto jerked, hauled in a breath his eyes blinking furiously. A second breath was dragged in and Jack quickly checked the back of his head, which was now intact. With relief he kissed Ianto, and suddenly Ianto was struggling and pushing him away, abject disgust in his fierce gaze.

"Gerroff me ya fucking queer bastard!"

Horrified Jack let go as Ianto staggered to his feet and gawped at him. "You sick fuck you.... oh fuck fuck.... What the fuck is going on?!" He was staring at the other body and Jack got to his feet outstretching his hands towards Ianto.

"It's ok Ianto, it's ok."

Ianto looked panicked. "I'm not Ianto I'm John and that's me there, what the fuck?" His eyes rolled back into his head and he fainted right at Jack's feet. It took a moment for Jack to collect himself. There were too many people around them and now he could hear sirens as well. Just great. He knelt down at Ianto's side and checked his pulse, still alive then. Jack sighed worriedly wondering if his day could get any worse.

The Bristol constabulary were very helpful in the end. They took some convincing but a couple of well placed phone calls had them falling over themselves to be of assistance, primarily to get rid of them Jack realised. Gwen was a God send, she handled them with extreme skill and once again Jack was entirely grateful to her policing background.

That evening saw Ianto Jones sitting in the interrogation cell his hands cuffed to the table after an earlier fist swing that left Owen with a split lip. The team were watching through the monitors. It had been a struggle getting him into the cell, the man was clearly panicked and had no idea where he was and who people were. Owen had thought it was some elaborate joke until he registered the worry on his boss' face

"Every bit of equipment we have is telling me that that is Ianto Jones." Owen was cross. "What the fuck did you do to him Harkness?"

Gwen huffed out a sigh. "Jack didn't do anything. Ianto died, he fell from the balcony with the other bloke, they both died Owen and now Ianto has woken up like this."

Jack was looking thoughtfully at the man sitting there looking frantically around the confines of the brick cell, he was yelling into the security camera.

"I've got right's you know. That bloke assaulted me I could 'ave him up for attempted rape...... fucking let me out of here." Came over the speakers until Tosh turned them off. She continued to work her keyboard for a few moments a puzzled frown on her face.

"Jack I think you should see this."

Jack wandered over, but Owen and Gwen remained where they were.

"What have you got for me?"

Tosh pointed at her monitor. "Our....well Ianto's body is emitting very low levels of energy that I'd come to associate with you healing. I'm thinking perhaps that Ianto is still healing, that whatever happened to Ianto's consciousness is still being dealt with by his healing process. Do you mind if I throw out a theory to you?"

Jack smiled at her. "You've never felt the need to ask before, don't let me stop you now."

"It's a little far fetched."

Jack gently squeezed her shoulder. "And this is Torchwood, go on Tosh."

She tapped a few more keys, pulling up the CCTV footage of both Ianto and O'Rourke falling from the balcony.

"They died within moments of one another, their bodies were touching, what if somehow instead of dying O'Rourke's..... well his soul, for want of a better word. What if his soul leapt across to Ianto? What if in that split second moment during death. I mean perhaps Ianto is vulnerable in that time? I don't know Jack, but these readings indicate the presence of a 'ghost' in the cell with Ianto."

"So where's Ianto?"

Tosh shrugged. "Maybe he's in there and he's just weaker, or maybe he's where ever it is you go when you die before you come back or......."

"Or maybe he's properly gone." Jack straightened up. "Shit." He really didn't like the sound of that at all. He turned away from her trying to recall any of his own resurrections where he'd had trouble coming back but he could not remember any and wasn't even aware of the passage of time when he was 'dead'.

"Shit, we should talk to him."

Tosh nodded. "Let Gwen, she's got practice. I think you'll just frighten him."

Jack agreed. "Keep monitoring the cell."

Jack rejoined the other two of his colleagues.

"Gwen, I'd like you to go in there and try to establish who it is we are talking to, if it's not Ianto we have to find a way to get him back."

Owen and Gwen were both eying Jack with doubtful expressions on their faces.

"How the hell do you propose to do that?"

Jack had no idea. "I'll think of something. In the meantime Owen do a second set of tests, anything you can think of. Lets get as much information as we can."

"And what are you going to do?" Gwen demanded.

"I'm going to contact the other Jack and find out if anything like this has happened before. That is clearly Ianto's body in the cell, Tosh has speculated that O'Rourke is in there, which begs the question of where Ianto is. So snap to it, we need answers fast."