As promised, part 2. Enjoy:

"But why Cardiff?" Andy asked when they were already cramped in his uniform car. "It's not the perfect environment, he said so!"

"I believe it could be an accident," Gwen said. "It was probably sucked in through the rift."

"What rift?" asked Andy and Ianto simultaneously.

Gwen who was sitting on the passenger seat was thankful that none of the mirrors reflected Ianto. That would mean not only she could see his face she would also be seen by her former colleague. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, doubt entered her heart for the first time.

"You know about a Wart yet you have no idea about the rift?" she said. Ianto remained silent. Gwen knew he realized her suspicion. "OK, I want to make a little test. Answer me if you remember anything about these words and names," she ordered. "Weevil."

"I know them, they're-"

Gwen cut in.

"The Risen Mitten."

"Nothing."

"Sleep Regent."

"I know that one."

"Canary Wharf."

"That's the building in London. Why are you asking me about that?"

"Martha Jones." Gwen ignored the question.

"Nothing."

"Reset?"

"An experimental pill."

Gwen took a deep breath before asking the last four.

"Four-Five-Six."

"They're just numbers to me."

"Captain Jack Harkness."

Ianto didn't answer at first. He felt his heart beat hard against his chest. He remembered the darkness in the coffin. The lack of air and the one word he said in desperation: "Jack". But that was all. There was nothing in his head. He felt something should be there, his body even reacted: a skipped beat and red cheeks were proof of that. But there was only blackness where memories should be.

"Nothing," he whispered, sadness creeping into his voice. He knew that this person had to be important.

He heard Gwen exhale slowly, trying to be as quiet as possible.

"The Doctor," she said, her voice even more serious now. If there was one person in Torchwood who'd heard about the Doctor from Jack it was Ianto. She doubted that was possible but if there was even a small chance that he knew she was ready to take it. She thought that "the Doctor" could be a key to Jack's disappearance.

"If you don't mean any specific doctor than no, haven't heard about that one either."

Gwen's hands were shaking. Ianto seemed to know that their Ianto did. The things he knew were just information anyone could get their hands on if he knew how to hack. She held back the tears and tried to think straight. There was just one last name she could try.

"Lisa."

"I know her," Ianto said a bit too enthusiastically. He sounded like a boy who just had his first love. Gwen exhaled in relief. "I just met her, yesterday. I mean I met her the day before I forgot it all."

"Thanks Ianto, that's all I needed to know," Gwen said hiding her feelings using her professional voice.

"OK, never mind that confusing conversation," Andy said from behind the wheel. "Can you now explain what's the rift?"

"Sorry Andy," Gwen's eyes were searching the streets instead of looking at her colleague while she was saying that. "You'll just have to trust me on this one."

"Like I haven't heard that before…"

Andy swerved into an empty parking spot, stopped the engine, and pulled the hand break. "We're here," he said.

They left the car. Andy pushed the button on his car key to lock the vehicle. The lights flickered twice and a sound announced the door was locked now.

"Got your taser?" Andy asked Ianto. The man raised the hand where the weapon was. There were only two taser guns in the car and both Andy and Ianto agreed that it would be best if Gwen didn't take any unnecessary risks. She on the other hand felt leaving the job to Andy and the least field experienced person in Torchwood who also didn't remember anything was even more dangerous. Her only hope was that everything would go as planned.

They followed Andy up the street and left into a smaller street that led them to a small plaza with a fountain in the middle of it. There were lots of boutiques and cafes and more importantly: people.

"Right, it's still lunch time," Andy said. "So what do we do now? We can't just tell each of these people to take their gloves off."

"We can expose it," Gwen said. "They should be sensitive to dry air, right? And they like water. Do they use only hands to absorb it? We could maybe try and…" she didn't finish. She realized she was raising her voice, more excitement pouring in every second. She missed it. She missed Torchwood. She missed Jack. She missed Owen, Toshiko and Ianto. She wasn't sure if the Ianto she was working with right now was the same Ianto she knew. He seemed to be the same person, he had the same habits, the same way of moving, he even acted the same he would in some situations. Her heart believed it was Ianto but the time she spent in Torchwood made her doubt her instincts.

"I don't think we have to…" Ianto said. "It's already gone," he pointed at the fountain – now miraculously drained of water. There wasn't even a drop left.

"So we missed it…" Andy said. "Brilliant, just brilliant," he lifted his hands resigned.

"Maybe not," Gwen pointed at a man near the dried fountain. He had light cotton gloves soaking wet, water dropping from the fingertips. He had a black leather jacket and skinny jeans. On his feet he had huge wellingtons that ruined his fashion balance. He had long greasy hair and a cylinder on his head. So much for disguise.

She stepped back. The man looked right into her eyes. His pupils were light grey and eyes grayish blue. He looked like a blind person but Gwen could feel his gaze drilling into her mind.

Andy ran towards him, Ianto following right behind. "Police, hands in the air!" Andy shouted pointing the gun. The person tried to run but the policeman reached him first. He tried to hit the man with the taser gun but he hit nothing. The man's body shifted and a hole was made in his chest where Andy's fist should have hit. The policeman almost fell but the man grabbed his shoulder.

"You can help me," it whispered into his ear just before a bolt of electricity stole his consciousness away.

The man dropped on to Andy and the policeman could see Ianto standing in front of him with his hand stretched out, the taser gun squeezed tightly in his fingers. He looked shocked like he'd always look whenever he did something that involved non-office work.

A few people stopped to watch the scene. Andy quickly corrected his hand not to look too suspicious and draw too much attention to the huge hole in the man's chest.

"Move along! We're police, there's nothing wrong! Please return to what you were doing!" Gwen did a great job acting as a policewoman.

Andy started dragging the man towards the car. They realized they didn't really think what they would do after they caught the Wart.

"Wow, he really is water," Andy said, his hands and uniform were soaking.

"I'll get the car," Gwen said and Andy quickly gave her the key. She rushed to find the vehicle.

Ianto looked around and followed Andy. He hoped that the Wart wasn't dead because of him.

"He said he needed help," Andy said quietly. "It didn't seem vicious. Why would it kill all those people?"

"Survival," Ianto said and was surprised by the confidence in his own voice. He knew nothing about what he was saying but was sure that it was right. It was truly an awkward feeling. "A human body is made 70% out of water – that would give about forty to seventy litres per average person. People are common and murder doesn't cost anything. It could've looked for attention as well."

The police car entered the alley and exceeding the speed limit by at least ten miles per hour it rode towards them. Gwen stopped right before them, the breaks miraculously bearing the strain with a loud noise.

"Get in!" Gwen said through the open window.

Ianto opened the door to the back seat for Andy and the Wart and then sat on the passenger seat.

"I'm never doing this sort of thing again," Gwen said desperately trying to believe her own words.

o*o*o

"I haven't done that in ages!" Jack said when he, John and the alien girl were pushed into a small holding cell.

"Yes, they've got teleport detector," John explained. "Otherwise I'd be here long ago!"

"Why are we here anyways?" Jack asked. He then turned to the girl. "My appologies, I haven't introduced myself: Captain Jack Harkness, nice to meet you," he pulled out his hand.

"Zoe," the girl shook his hand. The blush on her face came back. She was still in shock partly because she was arrested and partly because she was sharing a cell with a man probably twice her age but very handsome.

"Sorry about all this," Jack said. "I didn't really think they'd take you, too."

"Captain John Hart," John said from the other side of the cell. His voice sounded like he was desperately trying to imitate an angry child yearning for attention.

"Oh, what are you sulking about again?" Jack asked turning towards his partner.

John turned to face him but couldn't say anything because two officers entered the room and stopped before the cell debating about them eagerly.

"So, you're saying they were fighting over a girl," one of them said.

"Yes, they wrecked the whole bar," John recognized one of the guards that caught them.

"Excuse me!" he said obviously outraged. "We were not fighting over some girl! I was fighting over him!" he pointed at Jack.

Jack smiled flattered.

"I'd never fight over a girl like that," John continued. "No offense, you're pretty but you're just not my type," he added to the girl. He turned back towards the officers. Towards the new one to be more precise. He was wearing a black officer coat but had two stripes on the arm instead of one like the guards coat. He was a bit taller than your average guy and with short black curly hair. "You on the other hand, I'd..."

Jack cut in.

"John!" it was unusual for him to be the one to interrupt like this. Most of the time it was him who was being banned from flirting.

"What? I was just saying!" John defended himself. "What's your name officer?" he asked.

"Don't mind him, just continue," Jack said to the guards.

"I'm upper officer Corobel if you must know," the officer said standing still but obviously disturbed by John's behaviour. "You are being sent to penalty service for three years for disturbing public peace. That's all."

They left.

"What does 'penalty service' mean?" Jack asked seeing how the girls face had lost its former glow. She was pale with fear. She didn't answer. "Well then I guess if it's that bad then we'll just have to escape."

John pushed a sequence of buttons on his wrist strap and the door to the cell opened.

"That's more like it!" John said. They left the cell and headed towards the exit.

"You're not coming?" Jack asked Zoe who was still standing in the cell speechless.

John opened the next door. The alarm turned on.

"John!" Jack turned towards his partner with an annoyed expression on his face.

"Sorry about that," John quickly turned the alarm off.

"They're going to kill me," Zoe whispered quietly.

"They certainly will now," Jack glanced at John. "We're getting out of here!" he pulled the girls wrist and ran after John into the corridor.

The lights like everywhere else were installed in the floor in the white plastic tiles. They hadn't much time to contemplate their surroundings. They heard people moving in one of the branches of the corridor.

"In here!" John opened one of the doors to the right. It was a small closet and the three of them barely squeezed in. "They certainly tightened up the security since I was last here," John commented.

"You've been here before?" Jack asked. "What else are you keeping from me?"

"Don't worry Jack, whatever it is I can guarantee I don't have any secret boyfriend," John whispered avoiding the answer.

He quickly shushed Jack when the footsteps started approaching. They waited for the guards to pass the door and got out. They waited a few moments by the door just to be sure that no one else was coming and moved on.

"So why are the lights in the floor?" Jack asked after a few minutes of walking. "And more importantly, what are we looking for?" this question was directed at John.

"This place is in the middle of four major space trade paths," John explained. "They intercept loads of space junk and frankly speaking most of it just stays in the storage room covered in dust. I just want to borrow one little thing... and maybe a few more if I came all the way here" John saw Jack wanting to ask another question. He quickly continued. "As for the lights, you can ask her."

"It's because lights shouldn't be above," the girl said.

"Basically, these idiots think that their two suns radiate massive amounts of radiation and they don't want the lights to remind them of the sun," John explained seeing how the girl wasn't able to do it well. "But it's all just a big propaganda!" he added.

"No, it's not!" Zoe protested.

"I think I would know better," John said. Jack knew that tone. It was the same one he would use with little annoying kids every time he was too ashamed to admit he's having fun being around them. But he was too transparent and even Zoe saw his attempts futile.

"You never change," Jack said smiling.

"Says the man who doesn't age," John riposted.

Jack glanced at the girl. Her colours were back and she looked like she had been enjoying herself.

"You do these sorts of things often?" she asked. "Break into police headquarters and steal things?"

"No, it's just this once," Jack said. "For me. He on the other hand..." He pointed at his former partner.

"Like you're the innocent one, Jack!" John protested.

"Where are you from?" Zoe asked.

"All over the place," Jack said.

"Cardiff, Wales, Great Britain, Earth," John corrected him.

For the first time Jack couldn't read him. Why did he say that to her? His eyes told him.

"You travel a lot?" Zoe continued the questioning. "What's it like? You know... out there," She didn't even wait for the answer before asking another question.

"You'll see for yourself soon enough," John said cutting her question short. "Finally!" John stopped before a double door labelled storage.

"You seem to know your way around this place," Jack noticed. "It took us just a few minutes to get here."

"Like I said, I've been here before," John said.

"What did you take then?"

"Just a little something, it would hold no value to you."

"Well then try me!"

"Just some guns," John said fighting with the door's double deadlock.

It opened. A guard was standing on the other side. Zoe screamed quietly, covering her lips with her hands.

"Right, didn't expect that..." John said and pulled out his revolver. He pointed at the guards head. The poor officer couldn't even reach for his own weapon. They stood for a few seconds without motion.

"Jack, go inside," the former time agent commanded. "You too Bluebird," he was obviously talking about the blue-haired girl. "You," he said to the guard when the two had obeyed him, "you will come here."

The two of them exchanged places slowly, John watching the guard's every move.

"Jack!" he shouted when they were all inside the storage room.

"Working on it!" Jack said pressing a sequence of buttons on his wrist strap. "Got it!"

John couldn't take that chance. Or maybe he just didn't want to. He shot the guard just before Jack got the code right.

"Got it!" he said.

The doors closed locking the three in the room.

"I changed the password earlier," John said hoisting his gun. "They should take a few minutes before getting in."

"At this point we might've as well used the teleport," Jack commented. "They already know where we are and since you killed the guard..."

"Oh, come on Jack! You don't think that, do you?" John obviously enjoyed his little mission with Jack. He threw a sack to his friend. "Take all you want," he said.

"Didn't you just want one thing?" Jack asked.

"Might as well take everything while we're here," John said. "You too, Bluebird," he threw another sack to Zoe.

"But I–," the girl protested.

"You're going to be wanted anyways," John said. "You might as well do something wrong!"

John disappeared between the many shelves of the storage room. He didn't have to search long for it. He was prepared and had already broken into the police computer earlier. The thing he was looking for was behind a glass cabinet like all the intercepted objects labeled "most dangerous". He opened the glass with his time agent wrist strap. It took him just a few seconds to do that.

"Aren't you a beauty!" he said taking the small gadget into his hand. "Fifty first century voice message device," he said turning it around in his fingers. It was a round disk with a name of the owner engraved in the middle. He couldn't read it but he knew who it belonged to. The disc was made into an amulet; the letters seemed exotic. "And it's a necklace." He hanged it on his neck and hid it under his shirt.

"You found it already?" Jack asked standing behind him.

John jumped startled. He quickly picked up a laser gun that laid next to the now gone amulet. "Yup! Got it here!" he showed the weapon to Jack. "Isn't she beautiful!" he was thankful that the gun was truly a piece of art. It was made to look like an eighteen century revolver and had lots of flowery motifs. Only the metal – the alloy wasn't of Earth's origins – betrayed it's true nature.

"You and your hobbies!" Jack wasn't happy that he was involved in John's gun-hunting.

"They're coming!" Zoe appeared on the other side of the alley of shelves and ran towards them.

"Jack, we'll meet outside," John reacted immediately. "Take the girl, coordinates-"

Jack cut in. "My teleport doesn't work!" he said desperately. He took Zoe hand and grabbed John's wrist strap just before they disappeared.

They appeared on the streets of the city. It was empty and still dark but the plastic tiles on the pavement gave out a red light.

"When did that happen?" John asked finally freeing his hand.

"Long story," Jack said. "It happened when I tried to teleport to the twenty first century but somehow I ended up in the eighteenth. I couldn't get it to work ever since. I had to wait three centuries! I had to hitchhike to get here!"

"Arthur Dent and Douglas Adams are now your gurus?" John commented. He turned to Zoe. "And how are you doing, Bluebird?" he asked. The girl didn't answer. She was staring at the lights on the pavement; the bag in her hand half full. "Wow, you really took me seriously, I'm impressed. Now you really have no choice but leave the planet for a few years, maybe travel the universe? I bet you could make a little money with what you got in that bag."

The girl ignored him. The lights on the pavement were now flashing red.

"It's dawn!" Zoe said. Her voice was filled with fear and the two time agents could see her trembling, terrified.

"Come on, Bluebird, I already told you: it's all a big hoax! There's no radiation."

"Is that why there's no windows?" Jack asked looking around. The walls were empty. There wasn't a single window on any of the buildings.

"Yeah, these people live mostly at night and when the sun is up nobody is allowed to go out," John explained. "But it's really beautiful..." he added. "The day, I mean."

"But it's toxic!" Zoe protested.

"Oh, shut up! Look there, Bluebird!" John pointed at the end of the street. The first sun was already coming out from the horizon. "Can something this pretty really be deadly?" he asked but decided not to answer himself for he knew that he could find a few places and people that were both beautiful and dangerous.

The girl looked at the rising sun. It painted the sky pink, violet and orange – the same orange her skin was coloured. She was mesmerized, almost hypnotized by the sight. Jack also couldn't take his eyes away from the sunrise. The buildings, normally white looked like rainbows in the light.

"Wow," Jack said. "I wouldn't miss this for the world," he said. The second sun now followed the first's example and came up painting the world its colour: blue – so light that it was almost white but with a hint of yellow in it.

John stood behind them. He turned around. The sky behind them was still dark and lacked everything the day was bringing in. "They have all this and they're living on selling booze," he commented quietly so that the two wouldn't hear them. He took Jack's hand – the other didn't seem to mind. He even squeezed it gently. Then he closed his eyes to keep the sight on his eyelids for just a little longer. With his free hand he pressed a sequence of buttons on his wrist strapped. They disappeared leaving Zoe with the beautiful sunrise, a bag of stolen machinery and a guarantee that wanted posters with her face would be hanging all over the town the next day.

o*o*o

Andy was sitting opposite the suspect by the metal desk in the interrogation room. He felt weird. It was his first time in homicide and he was already interrogating someone. An alien and in secret, yes, but interrogating. They all agreed it would be best if they kept it a secret, like Torchwood always did.

"So..." he started. He didn't really know what to ask. The man in front of him had handcuffs but Andy knew perfectly well that that wasn't going to stop him if he tried to escape. And the fact that he still hadn't tried ensured Andy that the alien really was looking for help. "Maybe... what's your name? You seem to know English."

"Murro Lebiexantrov" the Wart said.

"Right, that sounds just a little bit Russian..." Andy could feel his whole body sweating. He was probably more wet than the alien. "Gwen dealt with this sort of things daily," he whispered to himself. "Can I call you Mr. Murro? I don't have to try to know I won't be able to say your surname properly."

"Just Murro is fine," the aliens voice was so low it almost felt like a whisper. Like water, Andy thought.

"OK... what is your purpose in coming to Earth?" Andy cursed his voice for wavering.

"It was an accident," Murro explained. "I was taken here by the light. It appeared out of nowhere and then I was... well here. Wherever this is. But I want to get back home. I feel bad here."

"Right... This is Earth if you've ever heard about this planet," Andy tried to continue questioning but the alien continued speaking.

"Can you help me? I can barely breath here, it's so dry," it drank the whole glass of water in one go.

"You killed numerous humans," Andy said using the occasion that Murro stopped and was drinking.

"I apologize for that," Murro was awfully calm. "It was only when I was desperate and couldn't find any other source of water. Help me go back to my own planet and I will leave yours alone."

"Right... I don't know how," Andy said. "I think I can arrange for water but you will have to wait until we find a way to get you back. You won't kill me, right?" Andy gulped.

The Wart laughed quietly. He pointed his finger at the three six-packs of water lying next to the table. "As long as this doesn't shrink to zero, You're fine."

o*o*o

Gwen's heart was beating fast. She was more nervous than ever. She just left Andy with a possibly hostile alien, alone, and was now riding with Ianto who was just about to ask questions about his past. She knew he realized that she had lied to him earlier and now she didn't have any clue what she would tell him. The only thing that she wished for at the moment was that Jack was in the car to help her deal with Ianto, the alien and Andy. They were already driving for a few minutes and he was probably getting ready to ask questions.

"So... Torchwood, eh?" Ianto started. "What did we do exactly?" he asked.

Gwen bit her lips. She found it really hard to concentrate on the driving.

"I know about aliens, I've just apprehended one and I seem to have been dead for some time – according to that policeman, Andy," Ianto continued. "Pretty crazy, that sales office." He laughed but he didn't sound to too cheerful.

"What do you want me to say, Ianto?" Gwen bursted.

"I want the truth! I have lost five years of my life and I want to know what happened! Because from what I can tell I probably died in the process too. I forgot everything!"

"Some of us aren't that lucky!" Gwen was shouting, desperately trying to look at the road instead of Ianto. "You have no idea what Torchwood does to people. You have a chance to start a new life, a normal life! I've seen so many people die and all that because of Torchwood! Because we either caused it or couldn't stop it! I've seen my colleges die and then come to life again just too die an even worse death. Because that's what Torchwood does to all of us! It isolates us from the world and either kills us or makes us suffer! Or both! And you know what was the worst?" Gwen wiped her tears. "Seeing my boyfriend dead! And holding him, holding his still warm but cooling body! Thinking I will never ever see him again! And I don't want to see you die again. Because to be honest, you look the same as when I've last seen you. You look like a ghost and you're as cold as a deadman."

"I'm alive!" Ianto protested. "I have a heartbeat! It's faint and slow, but it's there!"

"That's good, Ianto, that's very good..." Gwen could feel tears flowing down her face. "Then don't lose it again," she said. She took a deep breath. She knew what Ianto was going to say now.

"I deserve to know," Ianto said. He was more calm now, his voice more quiet, probably not expecting to get too much information from Gwen.

"I won't tell you," the policewoman said. "It's dangerous."

"If Torchwood caused so much pain, why join it?" Ianto asked the question which was on his mind since the beginning.

Gwen sighed. What could she say? The thrill, excitement were part of the joy but then came the satisfaction. Every successful mission, every new wonder and most importantly: every live saved, all that made Torchwood bearable, it made her and every other member of the team love it.

"Because it was wonderful..." she said longingly.

Ianto remained silent for a few long moments.

"Can you take me to my sister?" Ianto asked calmly. "She lives..."

Gwen's voice was confident: "No," she said.

Ianto was surprised. He didn't expect Gwen's denial in this case. He tried saying something but all that came out were mumblings.

"At least not now," Gwen explained. "I'm sorry, I'm really sorry but I just don't want your sister to have hope. After all you're not exactly..."

"Alive? Me?" Ianto finished for Gwen. But he didn't protest. He understood perfectly well what she was trying to convey.

"You can stay with us – me and Rhys and Alex – for now," Gwen said, her voice now more gentle.

"Won't I cause trouble?" Ianto asked sincerely concerned about that matter.

"Oh come on!" Gwen said. "If you just make that miracle coffee of yours for us, that'll be all the help we need!"

Ianto smiled. He caught another hint of his previous life. He wanted to ask about it but the atmosphere would become grave again and he didn't want to cause that again. If Gwen wasn't going to tell him he promised he would find out himself what happened to him. And the quicker he would tell that to his new landlady, the better.

The rest of the ride passed on Gwen telling about Alex's short life with all the details and then clumsily explaining what changed throughout the past five years. Ianto also asked about his sister but Gwen refused to tell him anything except that they were doing fine.

"I don't really know much about your family," she explained. "And I last saw her a few months ago." On your funeral, she added in her head.

Gwen pulled up by the gate of their suburban house. Ianto could see from the look on her face that she was truly happy that she was finally coming home. Her smile faded when she realized she would have to explain everything to Rhys.

The door opened before they even approached it.

Rhys had seen many unusual things in his life including aliens, aliens and more aliens but he had never seen a dead man walk again. He stood there in shock for a few seconds, unable to say anything. Before Gwen could explain anything he passed her, greeting her quickly with a peck on the cheek. "It's so good to see you, Ianto!" he said hugging him.

"Right, nice to..." he uttered desperately trying to say anything meaningful. But the thought of a strange man who knew him well – or so it seemed – hugging him made him feel awkward. He was stiff, unsure if he should return the hug or not. Thankfully Gwen was there.

"Rhys," she started, "Ianto doesn't really remember," she said. "He doesn't remember the past five years of his life and Torchwood."

Rhys let go of Ianto. "Right, sorry, I'm Rhys Williams," he introduced himself. He felt a bit awkward about the situation but didn't let it stay in his head for too long.

"Ianto Jones, but I presume everybody knows that already," Ianto shook Rhys' hand.

"I'll show you around the house," Gwen said taking his hand and leading him towards the door.

They went inside. Everything was new and renovated. "This is the kitchen, the bathroom, the living room," Gwen added a short comment wherever they went. She went with him around the house showing each accommodation. They didn't go into Alex's room because the boy was sleeping – there was a sign on the door left by Rhys that said so. The last room she showed her was the guest room back downstairs. "This is where you'll sleep," she said. "I'll bring you some of your clothes later. You can take a nap if you want. Rhys will be preparing dinner later."

She wanted to leave Ianto in the room but the man stopped her. "You know where my things are?" he asked. "I kept a diary, didn't I? Can I at least see it? I know I kept one and if I could see it then maybe..."

Gwen looked at him. "There's not much left of it..." she said. "I'll bring it with the clothes," she was very hesitant when she said that.

And then Ianto was left in the room alone. He really felt tired. He knew his body wasn't working properly.

The room was quite small. There was an unfolding couch, a bookshelf and a closet. Ianto walked around nervously putting his hands up and down unable to express himself. He felt tears welling in his eyes. The gravity of all that had happened that day finally reached him. He had lost five years of his life in a blink of an eye. From what he could deduce, five extraordinary years of his life. And all that he had left from them were facts. Bits of information that wouldn't help him in anything. They were inhumane, irrelevant to a normal person.

After a short while filled with these kinds of thoughts he sat down. He checked his heartbeat. He smiled.

"It's faster," he whispered. Just a tiny bit but it was faster, he was sure of it.

Sounds coming from the kitchen disturbed him. He could hear Gwen and Rhys discussing something. It took him mere seconds to realize that the conversation's subject was him.

"You didn't tell him?" said Rhys surprised it was even possible. Ianto couldn't hear Gwen. "You said it yourself, you didn't even know he had a life outside Torchwood and now that he has forgotten everything about it you won't even tell him what he used to do."

"What if he wants to go back?" Gwen explained herself.

"He won't!" Rhys seemed to be really confident. "As long as Jack is gone Torchwood is never coming back."

"Today we arrested an alien," Gwen said. "Torchwood isn't the only way of fighting against aliens!"

"But Ianto wasn't connected to any of them!" Rhys continued. "He wouldn't work for UNIT or any other organization. You know that his loyalty lay with Jack and only him.

Gwen didn't answer. Ianto knew she didn't say anything.

"You think it's that memory pill?" Rhys asked.

"Retcon? No. No, no, no, no... That's not it. If it were Retcon then he'd already remembered something. Something about me or Jack or Torchwood. He's seen me and he's seen an alien. Plus, he didn't react to any of the names I told him about. If it were Retcon he would've at least had some memory of Torchwood by now. No, this, whatever it is, seems to work differently," Gwen said. "Anyways, I should get going, I have to pick up his clothes."

"His clothes are still in Torchwood?" Rhys asked surprised.

"Most of his belongings are stored in a warehouse. Standard procedure," Gwen explained.

Ianto waited a few moments before he heard the door shut. He was tired. He wanted to fall asleep for a few hours but he found himself remembering the coffin. He couldn't close his eyes not to feel the darkness surrounding him. He fought with his fatigue till his mind closed off and he fell asleep.

o*o*o

Gwen arrived at the isolated garages in her blue Honda. She had to take a few deep breaths before stepping out of the car. "Here we go," she said to herself and opened the door. This place held so many memories. She headed towards one of the garages. The one that had all of Ianto's belongings stored in it. Or at least all that was left of them. She pushed a combination of buttons on the automatic lock right next to the door. In reality she wanted to forget it but she just couldn't get herself to do so.

The door opened and revealed an spacious but almost empty storage room. Her footsteps echoed as she stepped inside. There were barely three big boxes of Ianto's things. She went towards the first one. She could feel tears flowing down her face.

The box had four sets of suits and ties that Ianto always wore to work. The ones with the violet and red vests were his favorites. She then went on to the next box. She smiled through her tears. It was the broken coffee machine. Next to it lay the only cup that miraculously survived the explosion: Jack's blue and white striped tesco mug – chipped on the ear, she heard from Owen that it was the only survival of their original set. All the others disappeared without a trace when nobody was around. Toshiko had suspected that Ianto was not always so good with his coffee machine. She turned it over. Jack's signature was barely visible after so much using and washing but the faint sign made with a marker remained. She left everything inside. She couldn't help wondering if the machine could ever be repaired. The last box, a lot smaller than the rest had what Ianto wanted. His diaries. All six of them covered in neat handwriting were now black, covered in smudge. Some words were visible but no phrase or sentence was readable. The edges were all burnt.

Gwen put the diaries in the box with the suits, took it and left the storage room as quickly as possible. She wiped her tears once more when putting the box in her trunk. She thought if the diaries weren't burnt would she bring them to Ianto.

She sat back behind the wheel. Her phone rang before she could even start the engine. It was Andy.

"Hi Gwen," he said. "I just spoke to Murro, I mean the alien. Can we arrange for an aquarium?"

o*o*o

Rhys was a better cook than Ianto expected. He made vegetarian pasta done from probably an Italian recipe judging by the spices added.

"This is delicious!" Ianto said having already finished half his plate.

"Thanks," Rhys wasn't used to anyone praising his dishes. He swallowed another mouthpiece. "So Ianto," he started. "What exactly do you remember... If you don't mind me asking."

Ianto put down his fork. "No, of course not," he said. "The last thing I remember is Lisa, a girl I met just once. She was really pretty, but I... I forgot to ask her number," Ianto smiled sadly. "I reckon I'd never see her again. I was working part time at a cafe and she was my customer and we sort of clicked. I lost my chance though... The rest of the day passed normally and then nothing, I don't remember a thing," he hesitated. He remembered the coffin. Was it really true what happened then? Or was it just a dream? He decided to keep that experience to himself. "I woke up near the bay and half an hour later Gwen finds me! And she told you what happened afterwards. I guess I was quite lucky."

"Yes, she always seems to be in the right place" Rhys looked at Gwen. His eyes were drilling into her mind obviously trying to convey something.

"Well all right," Gwen said giving up. "But I'm not saying much. Ianto, I won't tell you everything about your past life, Jack would kill me if I did, but I can tell you this: I only knew you from work. We were all working in Torchwood: me, you, Jack, Owen and Tosh. But then again, Torchwood absorbed most of our lives, especially yours and Jack's. You may find this impossible to believe in but we... we fought aliens."

"Oh, after today it's not really that hard," Ianto commented.

"I guess so... Well, Owen and Toshiko are... well they," Gwen found it very hard to say those words.

"I understand," Ianto interrupted. For some reason he knew about what had happened without really knowing any of the details.

"Yes, we continued working. Us and Jack. Jack was our boss. And about nine months ago they came. The 456. Aliens. The worst aliens we've ever encountered. They wanted to take the children. 10% of worlds children. You can imagine the panic. We eventually stopped them, but... the Hub, our headquarters, was destroyed and you, well, died. Jack eventually wandered off into the universe. It wasn't the first time he's done that but it sure felt like the last. We were all bonded in Torchwood, somehow. Like a family but then not like a family at all," Gwen finished obviously finding her memories very fond. She quickly regained her former self. "Anyways, that's all I'm saying. Nothing more! You won't make me!"

Gwen stood up. She went out of the kitchen and came back with four small notebooks. She passed them to Ianto.

"They won't help you much," she said. "Sorry."

"Thank you," Ianto said looking at his diaries. He didn't open them. "For these, and for the food," he ensured himself that everyone finished eating and stood up. "I seem to be really tired, if you'll excuse me," he left the room squeezing all his diaries in both his hands.

He shut himself in his room. There was no way he would give up on his past. However dangerous it might have been. He searched the room for any empty paper and something he could write with. He took the first diary. He tried desperately to find anything, any lead on his previous life, anything that could maybe help him get his memories back. He stared at the black pages. The words that survived made no sense. Mostly they were just phrases that without any context were impossible to understand. Sometimes they were adjectives or nouns. There was one name that appeared particularly often. Jack. His boss and apparently friend as well. And he didn't even know what he looked like.

And then there was that one word. One word that made him truly understand the gravity of his situation. It was love. He understood. He felt tears flowing down his face. It wasn't just about him. It was about everyone he knew, everyone he met. It was about the late Toshiko and Owen. He couldn't remember them. There was nothing: no voices, no faces… It was all blank. And what about all the rest? The ones only he remembered? The ones only he knew? What of them? It would be as if they never existed in the first place. And it only brought pain, for him and for everybody else.

He noticed something about the memories he still had. The ones about the Wart and the Weevils and all those other aliens he seemed to know of. He felt nothing towards them. No fear, no hatred, no compassion, nothing. On the other hand, everything he felt was dear to him was gone.

He wiped his tears but they didn't stop. He hid his face in the small notebook. He stayed like that for some time until he had finally calmed down. He lifted his head. With the corner of his eye he noticed a photograph that had fell from between the pages. Half of it was burnt. The part which survived had a man and a woman on it. And what looked like Gwen's shoulder as well. The man looked as if he wasn't too pleased with having his photograph taken. The woman on the other hand, seemed to be the one making him stand there for the photo. She was pulling his hand and trying to pose with him.

"Toshiko and Owen," he knew instinctively. He put the photograph back in between the pages. He glanced at the clock standing on one of the shelves. It was twenty past midnight. Futile deciphering of his diary took him quite a long time. He closed his eyes for a moment. Then looked back up again. It was almost six hours later. Still dark.

He slipped out of the room and into the bathroom. He looked at his face in the mirror. He wasn't as pale as yesterday. He didn't look as dead as he looked the last time he had seen himself. He measured his pulse. It was faster than yesterday. Only slightly but he was almost sure that it was quicker. It seemed that he was getting more alive. The mere fought made him laugh with irony.

He made himself coffee and left the house.

Part 3 tomorrow. Thanks for reading :)