Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the Who-verse. That honour belongs to RTD and the mighty and glorious BBC. The only thing I get out of this is a warm fuzzy feeling knowing I am trying to put right what once was wrong.

Author's Note: I can only apologise for the inordinately long time it's taken for me to post this chapter. I can only blame poorly husbands, poorly daughters and a expensive trip to the BBC Good food Show! This chapter is dedicated to MizScarlet for reasons that will be clear to her if no-one else. Also I make no apologies for moving the story on two years. I couldn't bear to dwell on Jack and Donna's grief - it made me way too miserable. Enjoy.

Chapter XXI

"Mum?" Donna could hear the wheedling tone in her daughter's voice which heralded some request that was going to give her pause for thought. She looked across at Siân whose face was a picture of wide-eyed innocence. Her colouring, and temper for that matter, might be from her, she thought affectionately, but her mannerisms and easy charm were all Jack. The thought of Jack caused her heart to contract. Two years. He had been gone two years, and she still missed him every day. But it was getting easier, the harsh pain in her chest every time she took a breath had gradually been replaced by a dull ache which caught her unawares at odd moments. Like now.

"Yes?" she replied warily, wondering what she was letting herself in for.

"Could I go to Auntie Gwen's this weekend. I haven't been for ages and Ianto says Tosh is walking now."

Donna couldn't help but smile. The birth of Gwen's daughter Toshiko Emily just over eleven months ago had been one of the few moments of happiness in the last two years, even though it had reminded her of what she had lost.

"And how do you propose to get to Cardiff, Tink?" she said, knowing that Siân wouldn't have asked unless she had a very detailed plan worked out.

"Well, Uncle Rhys has a delivery in London on Friday so he could take me across and Auntie Gwen has a meeting here on Monday so she can bring me back. Please?"

Donna shook her head in amazement at the obvious effort Siân had gone into to make sure there were no obstacles to her visit.

"And I'm guessing you've already cleared this with Gwen and Rhys," she chuckled, recognising a lost cause when she saw it.

"Well....yes..." Siân looked a little abashed. "...but they did say I had to check with you before they would agree."

"Alright then, as long as you get back here in good time on Sunday night. After all you've got school on Monday and you're absolutely useless when you're tired. Tell Gwen she can stay here on Sunday, I could use a catch up session."

Siân jumped down from the high stool she had been perched on and hugged Donna.

"You're the best! I'll ring Auntie Gwen now," she called behind her as she ran out of the kitchen.

In truth Donna did want to talk to Gwen but not just to catch up. For the last few days something had been playing on her mind and many of her worries were centred on what Gwen would say when she broached the subject. Although the pain of losing Jack was still very real she had realised that she didn't want to be alone for the rest of her life. Jack had made her promise that she would find someone else, and for a long time the mere thought of keeping that promise had filled her with a sick feeling. But the previous day she had met a man. He had cannoned into her on the pavement as she tried to open the door of her car with one hand whilst balancing a stack of exercise books in the other. Inevitably the books had gone crashing to the floor. The man had immediately stopped and leant down to help her retrieve them, a stream of apologies and curses issuing from his lips. As they had both straightened up and he had handed her his stack of books their eyes had met, his apologetic, hers amused and Donna had felt a flutter in her chest she hadn't felt in a long time. Not since Jack. With dark eyes, cropped blond hair and a slim rangy frame, he bore no resemblance to the man she had lost. Jack had been larger than life, full of smiles and easy charm. This man looked, it had to be said, brooding and dangerous. Nevertheless she had smiled somewhat nervously, and the man, introducing himself had asked her to meet him for a drink. Her first instinct had been to decline, to send the man packing with a withering retort about the dangers of strange men; and it had been on the tip of her tongue to do it. Then, for some reason, the promise she had made to Jack pushed its way into her mind and she found herself saying she would think about it, maybe call him later. The man had scribbled his mobile number on the back of one of the exercise books before Donna could stop him, then with a wide grin, which again triggered a flutter somewhere in her chest, he had bowed theatrically and sprinted off down the street leaving a confused Donna staring at the defaced book with what could only be described as a goofy grin on her face.

Almost immediately she had felt sickened by her actions, the interlude a betrayal of her love for Jack, and she had nearly ripped the back from the book to obliterate the evidence. But she hadn't. On reaching home she had carefully copied the number onto a post-it note which now stared at her accusingly from the door of the fridge. That morning she had handed the defaced book back to its indignant fourteen year old owner, feigning ignorance of how the number came to be there. Taking a deep breath Donna deliberately took the post-it note down and plucked her mobile out of her pocket. Then with a trembling hand she carefully dialled the number. It was answered on the first ring. Her voice was surprisingly steady as she spoke.

"Hello? John? This is Donna Harkness. We met in the street yesterday...Yes everything was fine. No damage done. Listen, I was just wondering whether the offer to meet for a drink was still open..."

"Jack?"

Lois poked her head round the door of Jack's office where he was partially hidden behind a huge alien artefact of indeterminate origin sitting on his desk. She heard a muttered curse as his head appeared around the edge of the angular structure.

"I've been trying to open this bloody thing for three hours. So far nothing." Jack stood up so he could see Lois properly, the frustration plain on his face.

"What is it anyway? Is it safe to open?" To be fair Lois didn't know why she was asking the question. If there was any chance of the artefact being dangerous he wouldn't be trying to open it in his office. The only reason he was bothering with the object at all was because he was confined to the Hub, as Siân was in town and he couldn't risk been seen. Over the last two years everyone at Torchwood, apart from Gwen, had come to dread the times when Donna and Siân visited the city. Jack would become sullen and withdrawn, hiding in his office, only emerging to bark orders down from the gantry. Lois knew that during those visits Jack would access the city's CCTV cameras so he could catch a glimpse of them as they visited the shops or went to the park to play. She never shared her knowledge with her colleagues. It wasn't her place, and if she were Jack she would probably do the same thing. Even after two years his grief at losing them was still palpable. Lois didn't know how he could stand it; watching them from afar, knowing he could never be part of their lives again.

"It's a MIP, a Metvixien Information Pod." Jack explained, snapping her back to attention. "Not dangerous, but it could have some interesting stuff inside. We can use the data it contains to extend the archives of some of the lesser known species. The problem is they are renowned for being difficult to access. The Metvixien race have a degree of psychokinetic ability and thirteen fingers on each hand – makes for some really interesting locking mechanisms." He fiddled with the MIP's housing for a few seconds more and then gave a huff of frustration. "I give up!" He violently pushed the object away from him in disgust and it rolled of the table onto the floor with a hollow thud. Almost immediately there was a hiss and the pod separated into two halves, the interior surface covered with data crystals. They reminded Lois of the ones in the Superman movies which had led to so much teasing as a child.

"Bloody typical!" Jack snorted. "So what can I do for you Lois, shouldn't you be long gone, cosying up with Mickey in some wine bar?"

Lois looked taken aback, she hadn't realised her relationship with Mickey was common knowledge. They had tried to be discrete.

Jack saw her face and chuckled. "Er...head of Torchwood. There isn't much that gets past me. Don't worry I don't think anyone else has worked it out."

Lois smiled weakly. "Er...fine...good. And you're OK with it?"

"Go for it. I'm the last one to lecture about relationships at work." A shadow passed over Jack's face. Lois saw it and hurried on.

"Just to let you know. I'm not sure, but I think we might have had a security breach. I think someone has hacked our files."

Jack immediately looked concerned. "What do you mean you're not sure?"

"It's very subtle and just a few files. There are a couple of date-time stamps that are off, only by a few seconds, but it looks as if they have been accessed. There is no record of them being accessed by anyone here though. It might just be a glitch in the system."

"Which files are affected?" Jack asked, not noticeably reassured by this assessment.

"Personnel files. Your's, Gwen's, and Ianto's."

"Given all the data Torchwood has, they seem a weird choice to hack into." Jack mused out loud.

"That's what I thought. There isn't anything particularly sensitive apart from your immortality and the manner of Ianto's death. Even then..."

"It's a lot of trouble to go for such small stuff when there are some bits of information here that would bring down the government," Jack finished for her. "Look leave it with me and go home. It will give me something to do this weekend."

Lois nodded. "'Night then," she replied. Jack nodded, but she could tell his mind was already busy with trying to work out who could have accessed the files and why.

The following day he was still no closer to an answer. The rift was quiet and there was no reason for anyone to come in. In fact he had told them all to take a well-earned weekend off. He had worked late into the night trying to trace the source of the security breach but to no avail. Whoever had hacked into the files was immensely clever and talented, using every conceivable method to avoid detection. He made a mental note to try and recruit them to Torchwood if he ever discovered their identity. He had just given up for the night and was considering ordering in pizza when he was startled by a knock on the office door. Absorbed in his enquiries he hadn't seen the warning lights which accompanied the opening of the Hub door. Since no alarm had gone off he knew it had to be one of the team. He looked up with interest to see Gwen standing in the doorway looking apprehensive.

"What are you doing here?" Jack asked with a grin, getting to his feet. "Has the effort of looking after Ianto, Tosh and Siân overwhelmed you? Are you hiding out?"

Gwen shook her head hesitantly. "Not exactly," she said nervously. "Jack, I think you might need to sit back down."

Jack looked at her incredulously. What could possibly be so disturbing that he would need to sit? He shook his head and with a tiny shrug of resignation Gwen stepped to one side, out of the doorway and into the office. Jack felt his knees give way and with a gasp he stumbled into the chair which was thankfully behind him. Replacing Gwen in the doorway was Siân, smiling broadly.

"Hello Dad."

Later Jack didn't remember clambering to his feet or leaping over his desk, crossing the room in two seconds flat, although Gwen assured him that he did. All he remembered was that one moment he was looking at Siân's smiling face, and the next he had enveloped her in a fierce hug and they were both crying and trying to talk at the same time. He had questions, millions of them, but for the moment all that was important was that he make up for two years of lost hugs and goodnight kisses.

It took a full twenty minutes before either of them were calm enough to speak clearly. Finally they sat on the sofa, Siân sitting across Jack's lap as if she were still the little girl of six he'd left behind rather than the grown up young lady of eight she now was. Gwen sat beside them, quiet, not wanting to interfere in their reunion.

"How?" Jack asked finally, although at this moment he didn't care how she had found him only that she had.

Siân didn't speak but just hugged Jack tighter. Gwen decided she should start the ball rolling.

"Siân arrived last night with Rhys just as we'd arranged," Gwen began, not entirely sure how to continue. She paused and then launched in, "Today while we were out shopping for clothes she just turned round, in the middle of Gap would you believe, and said she knew I wasn't her real Auntie, that I worked for Torchwood and that you couldn't be dead because you were immortal." Gwen leaned back into the sofa with a relieved sigh. "How the hell, I mean, how on earth can she know that Jack? I haven't said anything, you have to believe me.."

"Siân?" Jack said looking at his daughter who was now sheepishly trying to avoid his eyes. "How did you find me?" His tone was stern, although Gwen could tell it was all just for show.

Siân gave a huge exaggerated sigh.

"Please don't be mad. It was Grandad Wilf. He was teaching me the stars last week, up on the allotment. I was talking about heaven and I asked him if he thought you were in heaven. He said you had to be dead to go to heaven. At first I thought he was just confused, because he gets that way sometimes now," Siân's smile faltered and her voice was sad. "Talking about the past and someone called the Doctor."

"Does he ever talk about these thing's in front of your mum?" Jack said, a shiver of fear running through him.

"No. I don't think so. Only with me. It's our game. Inventing stories about impossible things. But this time when I reminded him that you were dead he shook his head and just said 'Torchwood'. So I started to look into Torchwood and...well..."

"To cut a long story short you ended up hacking into our files where you found me and Auntie Gwen." Jack finished for her.

"Yeeesss," her reply was long and drawn out. There was clearly more. "Did you love Ianto?"

Jack opened his mouth stunned. He looked at her unsure of what to say. How did she know about Ianto? Then he remembered the third file that had been accessed.

"Very much," he said finally, opting for the truth. "Did your mum tell you about him?"

"Not his name," Siân confessed. "She said you'd been married to someone before her, that it had been a man you had worked with and he died. She said he was very special and he was looking after you now. When I saw Ianto Jones on one of the files I wondered if that was who she had been talking about. Did you love him more than her?"

Jack shook his head, "Not more, or less, just different. Believe me Siân I didn't want to leave you or your mum..." Jack couldn't believe that Siân was not more upset with him, after all he'd lied to her for two years. Abandoned her. She should be screaming at him.

Siân looked at him in bemusement. "I know that. Grandad said."

"What?" It was Jack's turn to look confused. In the last two years Jack had periodically contacted Wilf to check that Donna and Siân were managing. He had to say he had never seen any sign of Wilf losing his faculties. With a blinding flash of realisation he knew that all of Wilf's stories and slips had been intentional. He cursed himself for being so stupid. Wilf had recognised what Siân was, knew that she would be able to handle the truth and be trusted to keep the secret in spite of her young age. As soon as he had seen that she was mature enough to handle the consequences of what the knowledge of Jack's immortality and Donna's buried memories meant, he had given her the clues confident she would make the discovery on her own. And of course she had. She had applied that dizzying intellect to the search for her father just as she applied it to everything else in her life.

"After I found the files I went back to see Grandad," Siân explained. "He told me all the stories were real, about the Doctor and aliens and stuff. He told me that you and mum had travelled with him for a while but that mum couldn't be allowed to remember, ever. He said that was why you'd had to leave. Because if you had stayed mum would have eventually remembered. But you didn't want to and you were missing us like crazy. That's when I came up with the plan to come over here and see you. Aren't you glad I did?" Despite her apparent confidence, Jack could see Siân was seeking reassurance that she had done the right thing.

He smiled and hugged her until she grunted in protest.

"You will never know how glad I am," he said, his eyes once more filling with tears. "Or just how much I have missed you Tink. I can see a lot more trips to Cardiff in your future." With a happy nod Siân wrapped her arms around her father's neck and squeezed hard.

Later that night Jack closed the door to his bedroom. He could still hardly believe that Siân was here in the Hub and that he had just read her a story and tucked her into bed as if the last two years had never happened. She didn't blame him for leaving; she understood why he'd had to leave, why she could never tell her mother that her father was alive and living in Cardiff. There had been no recriminations, only tears of joy that they had been reunited. For the first time in two years there was happiness in his life again. But there was also fear. Fear of what Donna might find out, and fear that with what he believed was the final piece of the puzzle in place, Siân's knowledge of the Doctor and Torchwood, that the Doctor would keep his promise and return. The only question was how long would it take. As he descended into the main cavernous expanse of the Hub he realised the time was already here; as he watched, the TARDIS materialised before him.

Just two chapters left to go...