A/N: I do apologize for he confusion after changing the title of this story. I know I originally wanted to make each "episode" into a different story but as I continue to write I think that the episodes are too connected to be in separate stories. Hence, all the episodes will remain in this story which is from this moment on called Torchwood: Consequences (Spirit of Water - this is temporary until this Friday, so that all of you connect this story to the original title, hope it helps). Again, huge apologies on my part, I'm terrible at organization. It will be the only change of this sort.

Here is the ending of Episode 1: The Spirit of Water hope you enjoy it :)

Andy was walking around looking at the aquarium every few seconds.

"So, that's your real form?" he asked looking at the alien.

Murro Lebiexantrov had six limbs: two hands and four octopus legs floating on the water, his head and body above.

"Yes," Murro said. "For swimming..." he added after a short pause.

Andy stopped.

"I'm sorry I don't know how to bring you back," he said. He became really familiar with his new friend since he was stuck with him for several hours the day before. Gwen came to check up on him in the evening but it seemed unnecessary. Aside from her helping him find a temporary home for Murro of course. He already felt more comfortable around the outer-space form of life. And Murro seemed really gentle. "As soon as we find anything I'll tell you," he added.

"Thank you," the alien said softly.

"And... Um... sorry for locking you in a cage like this. I really can't let you out. You know, if you might get... hungy again..."

Murro didn't answer but the silence wasn't awkward at all. It felt almost reassuring. Andy leaned on the glass cage and slid down.

"Gwen had to do this every day," he reminded himself once more.

o*o*o

Ianto arrived at the police station. He went to the reception desk. The woman behind it looked at him a bit annoyed. It was still early and she looked half awake. There was probably a coffee waiting for her to get back to it under the desk.

"Good morning," he greeted her.

The woman looked at him awaiting to hear his problem.

"I'd like to inquire about somebody," Ianto said. "His name is Captain Jack Harkness."

The woman looked at him. "I'm afraid I can't grant you any information."

"Is it because of who he is or because you can't give information away?" Ianto asked. The woman's look was enough of an answer. Ianto guessed she just wanted an easy way out of it. "But I really need that information. I need to know who he is!"

"If you have some sort of problem with him you should ask the police to handle it," the woman said.

"Ianto?" Andy appeared out of nowhere next to him. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, good morning, hi," Ianto greeted the PC not knowing how familiar he should be with him. "I'm just... trying to figure some things out. Gwen never cared to explain anything beyond the basics."

"I know, she does that," Andy said. "She wouldn't tell me anything about that Torchwood of hers. So I had to figure some things out myself," he looked at the receptionist and saw her growing impatient. "Right, please answer all his questions Maggie," he said to her and returned to look at Ianto. "Well, I got to go, so good luck," he said and continued towards the centre of the building.

Ianto returned his attention to the receptionist.

"There's no one by the name of Captain Jack Harkness in our records," the woman said.

"What about Torchwood?" Ianto didn't give up.

The woman checked once more. "Nope."

Ianto remembered their weird conversation in the police car. "The Doctor."

The woman laughed. "Well there are lots of those here: Doctor Reynolds, Doctor Smith..."

Ianto cut in. "No, theDoctor," he remembered Gwen emphasizing the 'the'.

"No, just normal doctors," the receptionist said. "Anything more?" the woman was clearly annoyed.

"Yes, just one more," Ianto took a deep breath. He knew he should've tried this one since the very beginning. "Ianto Jones."

The woman took a few seconds to type the name in. "There's no Ianto Jones in the database either," she said casually.

Ianto took a step back. This was impossible. He wasn't in any police records. And he knew he had been arrested when he was young for some very minor crimes like shop lifting. He really wasn't the model student everyone thought he was.

"I don't exist..." he whispered quietly.

"Anything more?" Maggie asked.

Ianto shook his head and took a step back. He stood quietly in the middle of the hall, people walked pass him without even noticing his existence.

Finally when he decided to return to Gwen's home a person walked up towards him.

He was young, a student maybe. He was of average hight, he had brown and green eyes and his hair was blond with a tinge of ginger. He was wearing jeans, trainers and a leather jacket but the neat, white collar of his buttoned up shirt hidden underneath the jacket suggested he was working. He had a computer bag over his left shoulder. When he spoke pure Irish accent escaped his lips.

"You looking for Torchwood?" he asked.

Ianto nodded still in shock.

"It's sort of a banned subject around here," the man said. "You might as well forget trying to get anything out of this lot. There's a notion going around that nothing good ever comes from Torchwood. They barge in and say they're taking over and you have no choice but to obey. They corrupt all the evidence and there's usually some sort of tragedy involved."

"And you are...?" Ianto interrupted him. For some unknown reason he felt both offended and amused by the strangers words.

"Oh, sorry," the man said. "I'm Tobey, Tobey Magpie, I keep the computers running properly," he explained.

"Ianto Jones," he shook Tobey's hand.

"Anyways, you'd better watch your guard around Torchwood," he said. "They also kept breaking into the police's computer system for a while. I'm not supposed to tell you that but you're not supposed to know about Torchwood. Anyways, that's how I found out about them. Even made themselves an account! Can you imagine that? So cocky! And when I came and asked about this user Torchwood nobody knew who it was!' Tobey was trying to act cool and relaxed but his voice was pitched just a tiny bit and he was obviously nervous. Ianto didn't knew if it was because he was a stranger to him or if it was because of the subject of the conversation. 'So I had to delete the account. But they kept breaking in so I did some snooping around. If you really want to know you could check that information desk at the bay. Somehow they're connected to it. I would suggest you just leave Torchwood alone but what do I know? I've been telling myself that for the past few months yet I still keep looking. Anyways, if you want to talk more just ask for me here. See you later!" he continued his pace towards the elevator.

Ianto listened carefully to each and every word. At least now he had some lead. Tobey didn't seem like he'd know a lot more than he had said. And from the way he spoke Ianto could easily deduce he was just a bystander. But then again, a bystander can sometimes notice a lot more than all those involved.

o*o*o

Tobey looked around to see Ianto was leaving the police station. He knew that name and face from somewhere – maybe that's why he entrusted that information to him. Plus, he seemed so desperate Tobey couldn't help pitying him a little. The technician followed his every step from behind the computer screen, sitting in the lobby and waiting to arrive last minute at his work office. He noticed him from the moment he passed the entrance. He was thankful for that habit of his of checking the logs. From that he knew that Ianto Jones was looking for Torchwood. And he seemed to know Andy, who was once associated – and probably still was – with Gwen Cooper, the newest member of Torchwood. He did his homework after Toshiko Sato, the Torchwood IT person with such ease drilled into his defense system. He was her number one fan amazed at her computer skills.

Tobey went into his office and greeted each and every one of his work mates. There was a coffee waiting for him on his desk. He searched the room to find his mate, Kurt. He made a thanks gesture and got a wide grin in return. Kurt was their office's good doer. Sometimes he wondered how he had survived his internship without a Kurt like that in the office.

Tobey sat behind his desk and plugged his laptop into the police network. He searched the database for Ianto Jones. Nothing was there. But then again nothing was found under Torchwood either. A password was needed to get that sort of information. That wasn't a problem. He had already stolen the chief of police' password a long time ago figuring it wasn't a good idea to break into the system every time he needed something checked. He felt a bit guilty about it but figured that he wasn't using it to steal information for the mafia or some crime syndicate so he wasn't really committing any crimes.

He looked through the file. Ianto was a member of Torchwood. Then why would he be asking about it in the first place? Birth, home town, sex, characteristics, he read everything carefully. There wasn't much, there just couldn't be since he was working for Torchwood. Tobey scrolled down, the biography window was far too big for the amount of information written inside. And then on the bottom he read a very disturbing message. It said Ianto Jones was deceased.

Tobey stood up. This made no sense. He packed his computer and as quickly as he could land eft the police headquarters even faster. He didn't even give a proper explanation to his work mates.

He wanted to meet Torchwood and Toshiko Sato ever since their first cyber encounter. Although the second one was now impossible – all news disappeared around nine months ago – there was still that glimmer of hope left. He even wanted to try meeting them earlier but the tourist information desk had already closed when he had found out about it. And now he finally had the chance and let it slip through his fingers unnoticed.

o*o*o

Ianto looked at the stairs by the bay where he came to consciousness the other day. The entrance to the old tourist desk was close by and he had little doubt that it was not just a coincidence. It was late morning and he could imagine that Gwen was already crazy with anger and fear that he disappeared. She had seemed to be genuinely worried about him earlier.

The door to the tourist information was locked. He looked to see if nobody was around and tried to open the door by force. It didn't budge. He walked away holding his hurting arm. He stopped a few meters away from the door. There was Gwen. She was on the other end of the pathway looking at him with what seemed like pity.

"Did you figure this out?" she asked. "Or did someone tell you."

Now Ianto could be 100% sure that this was the right place.

"An IT person at the police station," Ianto explained. "Are you going to show me what's inside?" he asked.

Gwen shook her head. "I already told you," she said.

"Gwen," Ianto's voice was trembling. "I was not listed in the police database. I'm not anywhere! I should be. But I look like a ghost, feel faint all the time and I barely have any vital signs. And it's not just that. I feel dead. This whole thing, it feels like, if Torchwood isn't real then I'm not either. You said it yourself, it was my whole life!"

"Believe me, Ianto, Torchwood was real, you are a real person, Ianto," Gwen said closing in.

"Then prove it!" Ianto begged.

"You saw that alien yesterday, you remember aliens!" Gwen said.

"What if it's all a hoax?" Ianto was convinced not to lose to Gwen this time. "The thing about my memories, Gwen, is they don't have any value. To me it's all like something I learnt once and then just remembered. They're not dear to me! They're like multiplying: I know how, I use it and that's it!"

"Ianto, please don't do this," Gwen said, her defenses melting. She knew what it meant to show truth to wrong people. How she could ruin somebody's life just by saying one word too much, by showing them one image too much. She knew it was cowardly of her but she preferred somebody else take responsibility this time.

"I need to know," Ianto said gazing at her with such intensity that she just couldn't bear it.

"I'm just going to open the door, OK? Nothing more," she said approaching the door. She took a key from her pocket and unlocked the door.

She went inside first and turned on the lights. She approached the desk and turned on the main power for the hub downstairs. Then she pressed the hidden red button and showed Ianto Torchwood.

Ianto looked around the Hub unable to utter a single word. And there, next to his amazement the thought appeared: why couldn't he remember it? Why, even now when he was standing in this unimaginable place his brain still cut off the memories of a place he spent at least a couple of years in.

Gwen on the other hand had completely different thoughts. She looked at the Hub with sadness in her eyes. The Hub was reconstructed but now it was just a huge storage room without any of the former equipment except for the Rift manipulator. Even the lights were different: the Hub was red from the backup lights shining from the walls. The halogens were shut dow and unless she turned the entire power on they would remain off probably for ever. The 'Torchwood' sign that looked like an underground station name remained but the tiles were new and covered in dust - it just didn't fit the Torchwood character. And the empty furniture – not only new but also without left over pizza on the couches or coats waiting for Ianto to pick them up and put away - just made the Hub look really distant and unfamiliar. It was quiet - silent. Gwen wanted to do only one thing: cry.

o*o*o

John let go of Jack's hand the moment he was sure that they teleported correctly. He didn't want Jack to think he was too pushy. Well with what he just wanted to do he was really pushy but it was the thought that counted.

They were back in the bar where they had their reunion. It was cleaned up already. All the bottles of alcohol were standing neatly on the shelves behind a counter. Too neatly. John jumped above the counter, took a bottle of blue liquid and threw it at Jack who caught it without any sweat. He then sat on the counter and after a solid gulp of his drink he started talking.

"Since when is your teleport broken?" he asked.

"Some time," Jack answered like it was some minor glitch.

"That certainly makes things easier," John murmured to himself. "Anyways, I have a request," he said. Jack lifted his eyebrows from behind his bottle. This was never a good thing. "I want you to return to Earth." Jack didn't respond. "And I want to join Torchwood..."

This made Jack almost spill his whole drink. "You what?" he asked although the question didn't need repeating.

"I want to join Torchwood."

Jack laughed.

"I'm serious!" John insisted.

"And why would you want to join Torchwood?" Jack asked.

"Oh, don't tell me you don't know! I'm jealous that's all! You run off, make your little team, find yourself a pretty boyfriend and I'm left behind! It's just boring! And you Torchwood lot looked like you were having fun!"

"No," Jack answered quickly and confidently.

"Oh, come on! It'll be fun!"

"I know what your 'fun' means and I'm saying 'no'!" Jack insisted.

"And there's that other thing..." John said.

Jack who was just lifting a bottle to his mouth stopped half way. "What other thing?"

"You see, the last time I was in Cardiff, I sort of made a mess of things, not in a bad way, of course," John explained. "I was trying to do a good deed once in a while. But then I thought that if I do it then I'll be the victim again. So I complicated some things," John's story seemed like total gibberish.

"John, what did you do?" Jack asked his voice now serious and demanding.

John ignored him and continued. "And then there's just one other thing..." he said. "I wanted to check up on Gwen, you know just meet, us being old friend and all, maybe see how she's doing, and I found out she had a baby. Except there was this one tiny problem... It's not entirely human, that baby boy..."

So, this is the ending of this episode. Hope you liked it. Episode 2 will be published this Friday and hopefully will answer some questions but possibly it will create some new ones as well :)