Part 2 is up. Enjoy :-)
Gwen was exceeding the speed limit by at least fifty percent. She had driven past at least three red lights since leaving home. For some reason it was really quiet despite the constant monotone messages from the GPS navigator. It's soothing voice - although repeating alerting messages - made Gwen relax a bit, although not enough to make her slow down.
"Jack wouldn't do something like that," she said out loud. It was only then that she realized she was alone. There was nobody on the passenger seat to confirm her words. She had forced Ianto to stay at home and had literally had to use force in order to close the door right in front of his nose. Somebody had to take care of the baby and if the person robbing the bank was in fact Jack then that would be the worst reunion possible - Ianto didn't remember anything about his ex-boyfriend who had now slipped onto the criminal path and Jack... well... he seemed to be completely unpredictable.
The ringing phone felt very reassuring, for once. For the first time she felt happy about her choice of ring tone. That changed when she saw the caller's name on her mobile phone. It was Andy. She really didn't want to talk to him right now.
"Andy?" Gwen answered.
"Hi Gwen," Andy's voice was a bit uncertain. Gwen waited for him to continue. "Can you meet me... like... now?"
"I'm afraid I can't Andy," Gwen was aware that a little bit of her irritation was slipping into her voice.
"It's important!" Andy continued.
"How important, Andy?" Gwen took a rapid turn right, saving herself and her car from a head on crash only thanks to the driving experience she had gained in Torchwood.
"It's important Gwen," Andy said firmly.
Gwen weighed her choices. A grimace appeared on her face.
"I'm by the National Bank," Gwen said hanging up. She knew Andy well enough to tell that when he spoke like that he was serious. Serious and angry.
She was just meters away from the bank and the street was jammed with cars blocked by two black vans and a row of uniform cars. She cursed and turned left to park just half a meter further. Her Honda was now an addition to the blocking uniform cars. She burst out of the car and the continuous horning became significantly louder. She bore it and jogged towards the barrier.
"This area is off limits," the officer said from behind the white and red tape.
"I'm with Torchwood,"Gwen said confidently. One of the many things she had learnt in Torchwood was that if you showed no hesitation you could even show your driving license to these people and it wouldn't be a problem. And that was exactly what she did.
The guard flinched but said nothing and lifted the tape for her. Gwen approached the person who looked most likely to be in charge. He was a middle aged man with a few grey hairs.
"Can you fill me in on what is happening, officer?" she asked confidently. It wasn't as easy with him as it was with the lower ranking policeman.
"And you are...?" he asked, raising his eyebrow.
"Gwen Cooper, I'm with Torchwood," she introduced herself.
The man looked at her skeptically. She didn't even flinch and so survived the officer's deadly glare. The officer hesitated. He knew that asking what exactly Torchwood was doing here was futile. "The man is armed. He has taken the whole ground floor hostage. We know he has at least two accomplices. One of them is on one of the upper floors."
"And how do you know that?" Gwen interrupted, unsure whether, if the person inside the bank even was Jack, accomplices were even an option.
The man hesitated again. He quickly regained his cool knowing this wasn't the right place to show his indecisiveness. Especially in front of Torchwood representative. "Our team is trying to get inside," he showed five special force members in front of the glass door.
Two of them were working, trying to break through the lock down and the remaining three were covering them with guns raised and pointing at the only standing man inside the building. The people inside were crawled up in every free corner that they felt would slip Jack's attention. They hid under the desks or behind columns, everywhere they could to avoid being noticed. It was amazing that he was only one and he still managed to keep things under control.
Gwen came closer to the door and so did the culprit. He had obviously noticed Gwen – members of Torchwood stood out between normal uniforms – but the things he was doing at that moment seemed more important to him.
Standing a few meters behind the special forces troops Gwen took a good look at the person she thought was Jack.
He took a few steps back and seemed to have spoken something to the people. They all crouched even further inside the building. Then he turned around and looked at Gwen. His eyes pierced through her. She was now certain. She knew that face perfectly well, she could close her eyes and remember every single detail of her superior's features, but those blueeyes didn't belong to the Jack she knew. There was no recognition inside them. Not even a spark. His face looked younger and his hairdo was different; there was no doubt about it: the person Gwen was looking at was Jack, Jack from the past. And that just made her more aware of just how little she or anyone knew about Captain Jack Harkness.
Jack turned his head and Gwen followed his gaze. They both saw a girl coming. Gwen had never seen her face before. The girl had a very young and pretty face but that was spoilt by the forced maturity masking it.
Jack looked back and his eyes were again fixed at Gwen. He smiled confidently. His lips formed silent words. Gwen couldn't read them but she didn't have to. Instinctively, she knew what he was saying. Her eyes widened in fear. She watched as Jack raised his gun. She than glanced at the working special forces members.
"GET DOWN!" she shouted but it was already too late.
Jack fired. The bullet hit the bomb attached to the glass door. The glass shattered. It was bullet proof but it was definitely not bomb-proof. But that wasn't the end. As the pieces flew scraping the people working on getting in, Jack fired five bullets; each of them hit one of the special forces members. Gwen swallowed. They were executioner shots. Jack had always been a perfect shot.
She was even more afraid of Jack now. Of the parts of Jack she knew nothing about. She was so struck by it she didn't move and just watched as Jack and the girl escaped to the back of the building. The rest of the team rushed after them and a few stayed to take care of the hostages.
But it was a lost case for the police. Knowing Jack he would be gone before they even got close. Gwen waited around for the police work to be done. She didn't want to get involved but she knew she would have to.
In the aftermath, it turned out that only one object had been stolen. The surprising thing was the lack no signs of breaking in the volts. There were no deaths amongst the hostages. Only the five special forces members had been killed.
And just when she thought it couldn't get any worse, Andy appeared. He was walking unnoticed besides the working policemen, doing a great job blending in. He raised his hands and looked at Gwen questioning.
"What the hell happened here?" he asked. "Are we still in Cardiff?"
"Long story, Andy," Gwen said. "Can we please put this off?"
"No, Gwen!" Andy raised his voice. Gwen moaned a quiet "you know..." and tried to explain herself but Andy cut in. "I just want to say one thing: if you don't want me to get involved with Torchwood and all that alien bollocks - just say it! I won't bother you about it but I don't want you going to such drastic measures as erasing my memory!" he whispered the last words quietly. "I'm on your side Gwen!"
Gwen took a deep breath. She had no idea how she was even staying calm at the moment. She could feel that she was moments away from crying.
"Andy, listen to me," she said quietly. "I really can't talk about all this right now, so please, lets just continue this some other time." Her breathing was irregular. She felt she was loosing not just one friend right now, but three: Andy obviously knew she had erased his memory and his trust in her was fading; Ianto didn't know her at all anymore and the only thing keeping them together was the fact that she was the only key to his memories he had; and lastly Jack, whom she just realized she knew even less than she thought she did.
Andy opened his lips to say something but the strain he saw on Gwen's face silenced him. And then, just a fraction of a second later she embraced him in the final act of desperation. Andy was shocked. He froze and just stayed still as Gwen hid her face and sniffed a few times trying her best not to cry. He put his hands gently on her back feeling very awkward about the situation.
"I'm sorry," Gwen pulled away. She wiped the tears she had somehow managed to keep in her eyes.
"Tell me if I can do anything," Andy said. "I'm here if you need help."
"I'll see you later," Gwen smiled and left him.
o*o*o
Gary Newcastle was the only person in the building who hadn't the slightest idea that the bank was under attack. When Jack and Aoife closed down the building he was riding the elevator to the eleventh floor where he had spent at least three whole years of his life. Accounts was not what he wanted to do for the rest of his life but it certainly brought money into his pockets. And in this world that was all that mattered.
The elevator stopped when he was in the middle of thinking about his future holiday trip to Italy. He had planned it for late spring before the season starts. He would see Rome and then maybe travel north. He wanted to see both the Vatican and the Colosseum but also didn't want to miss Venice.
First, he heard a sound that made him nervous. A low thump from somewhere above the elevator. Then the elevator stopped and he had to hold the rail to prevent falling. At first he wasn't especially nervous. Annoyed, maybe, but there was no need to panic. He would just call up to security or maintenance and ask them what was going on. They would probably clear everything up quickly.
The lights went off at the exact moment he pushed the button. Now he was panicking. He had never had claustrophobia but in the dark, silent elevator he felt like the walls were really closing in on him. For a few moments he was holding the rail and not letting go, afraid that he might slip as the elevator changed its center of gravity, or it might catch fire or, what he thought was the most probable at the moment, the elevator would be detached and he would fall with it when the lines that were holding it broke.
None of that happen for the first minute. And because the first minute felt like a whole lifetime he decided it was either not dangerous or that what was happened was even more dangerous than anything he had imagined.
Gary never had the habit of talking to himself but he started doing it now. He kept saying everything was going to be OK, even though he was the only person in the elevator and he himself didn't believe that.
The ringing phone startled him. The screen showed the name "Megan". He answered it and tried his best to remain calm when saying "hello". It worked better than he thought it would. Maybe he should have became an actor?, the thought passed his mind just for a few seconds.
"Oh, thank God you're alive," his wife said just before the connection broke. Three beeps preceded his mobile's shut down. The battery was dead.
The relief he had heard in his lover's voice, however true and deep, didn't bring any relief to him. In fact it just made him even more anxious about what was happening. What could have been happening that was so bad that his wife would hear about it? He had never heard of elevators stopping, it was too trivial for a news report. He considered the possibilities. Maybe he had been stuck in the elevator for a few days already and nobody could get him out. That would make his girlfriend worried, and call the attention of reporters. On the other hand, he heard no news from anybody since the blackout, and there were obviously no attempts at saving him.
Gary tried to call for help but there was no reply. After all, who'd hear him shouting from the empty space between the fifth and the sixth floor?
The lights flickered a few times but the control panel was still unavailable. Gary gradually lost both his confidence and the leftovers of his cool. He felt like he was suffocating although he had plenty of air.
He was crouching on the floor when the elevator finally moved. It was at least half an hour since it had stopped and Gary had already started imagining what his funeral would look like. He had wondered if anyone really missed him and realized there was little that would make him special to anybody.
The door opened revealing two police officers, surprised by their found. They hadn't even a moment to think over what they were going to say because Gary burst out of the elevator and into one of the officer's arms.
"Oh, thank God!" he said, and his relief had never been more genuine than now. "I thought I was going to die, I didn't know what was going on, the elevator stopped working all of a sudden."
"Calm down, sir," the one with free hands said, putting an end to Gary's laments. "The situation is now under control and you are in no danger. You can go back home if you like."
Gary looked at them and blinked a few times. Something had happened whilst he had been stuck in the elevator. It wasn't just that they had heard his calls for help or knew about his futile pressing of the help button in the elevator.
Another policeman ran up to them his eyes wide in shock.
"The wall..." he huffed trying to catch his breath. "It just disappeared!" he said. "They shot at the wall and then it disappeared and after they left it came back again." The policeman sounded like he himself didn't believe his own words and he was gesticulating madly trying to explain what he saw. "How is that even possible?" he concluded.
Gary regained his calm just a little bit and looked around. The bank looked like a battlefield. Shreds of glass were lying everywhere, people were still crying and hiding under every desk, in every place it was possible. Most of them were already being attended to by the policemen, but some were still in too much shock to feel safe enough to go outside. In front of the doors there were five special forces members being packed in bags and taken away. Dead.
He saw the children, the mothers, the women, the workers and even the grown men, all too frightened to do anything.
"And it was just two people." he heard one of the policemen say.
The gravity of the situation struck Gary. He fell to his knees unable to utter one single word. Two people and this much destruction and fear? If two were all it took than how safe the world really was? The police, even SWAT seemed to have been defeated so easily. And there he was. A small, small person holding no value to anyone. He felt so insignificant compared to all that was happening.
There he was. Kneeling between the scattered glass, knees bleeding. He, Gary Newcastle, saved by the miracle of an elevator malfunction.
o*o*o
Jack and Aoife ran as fast as they could until they reached a fairly crowded street. Now it was all about blending in. And with a metal ball called Fluffy levitating above her shoulder it was hard for Aoife. People looked at them awkwardly but suspected absolutely nothing. They probably thought things like: "a movie is being shot", "geeks" or in the case of some children: "I want that toy, mama!". Jack shared these thoughts with Aoife.
"That's what I love about humans," he concluded, feeling very good about himself. "But you really should hide him," he added.
The pet gave out a series of cracks that were supposed to convey dissatisfaction. It's light glimmered and faded away for a second.
Aoife didn't answer but she did put out her hand for Fluffy to land there. The robot obeyed her without any opposition.
Jack smirked at its immediate reaction. He was wondering why Aoife was so eager to rescue the little AI. She always did what she was told but she seemed to be more attached to this mission than to any other he had been on with her. And the fact that Fluffy knew her this well and listened to her revealed the truth. It was pretty obvious now.
"You fancy him, don't you," he said, as always satisfied after uncovering another secret from somebody.
The blush gave it all away. It was a shock for Jack. Although he had worked with Aoife for so long he had never ever seen her face become red from embarrassment. Nor from anything else. He had never thought she would be so sensitive about her love life.
Aoife hid Fluffy in her pocket and tried to act calm and pretend that her face wasn't giving away her feelings. "I don't know what you're talking about," she said and immediately regretted it. How could she say such a cheap and halfhearted line?
"I was right, wasn't I?" Jack smiled. "You and Nathan, who would've thought!" Jack whistled.
"You're going to do the second mission alone," Aoife unnaturally returned to the subject she was most comfortable in: work. "I need to go back."
"But you said that the vortex manipulators need charging!" Jack protested. "We're both stuck here for another week, aren't we?"
"You are," Aoife corrected. "I managed to connect it to the power source while I was breaking into the bank computer. It wasn't much but it's enough for one trip back."
"What about me?" Jack was outraged. "Can't you do the same for me?"
"You have to finish the mission. I have to get back. Orders. You will be sent more details later today."
She pressed a few buttons on her arm and Jack watched her disappear in the middle of the street. She glanced at him one last time and he saw her lips curved in a sad, sad smile. Jack never saw that expression on her face. It was usually emotionless or angry. Now during the last few minutes he saw her both embarrassed and sad. There was clearly something going on.
"Hey, what is-" he didn't finish. Aoife disappeared in the middle of a crowded street leaving Jack all alone.
He could feel his heart beating slightly faster and maybe even aching a bit. He couldn't figure out that sad look on Aoife's face. And he usually could deduct what other people were thinking just by looking at them.
"What did she mean?" he asked unconscious he was speaking out loud.
o*o*o
Gwen wasn't at all happy to see Ianto dressed in a suit when she came back home. It meant only one thing. He was going out. On the one the hand it was better for her as she didn't have to explain to him who the person on the TV was but on the other hand he would be searching for his past. And with Jack in town there was no telling what he could find. He had told her several times that he had gone job hunting and she knew that in part it was true. But she was afraid that a lot of that "job hunting" involved hunting for information about his former occupation. But she had no way of stopping him.
"Alex is in his room, and he will probably be hungry any time soon," Ianto said without any greeting. He was in a hurry and a conversation with Gwen would most likely involve her asking about how his job searching goes. The few available positions he did find would scarcely make up for a conversation. He didn't want to lie so most of the time he just said nothing. He also knew that by staying he would only fight with his urge to ask Gwen about the man from the TV. And there was not a chance in the world that she would explain anything to him. "So, I'm off," he said and passed her by the door.
Ianto knew he was acting very rude but he couldn't just let go of his past. There was something driving him towards finding out the truth. He was sure of one thing about his past: something very important had happened. Something he would never have wanted to forget but he did. And his old self would do anything to remember it.
Gwen tried calling out to Ianto but her voice was stuck in her throat. And she had her baby to attend to. She couldn't curse the world more for all these events taking place at the same time and just when her life had finally become right too. She was only trying to enjoy a normal life with a normal husband and a normal son. For once she wanted to be normally happy, like people her age were, but Torchwood's grip was stronger than she had expected it to be. First it was the alien. Then Ianto came back. And now the Jack from his own past was invading Cardiff! But there was also one more problem present from the very beginning: her own unconscious striving towards life in Torchwood.
Gwen knew that Jack could put on a villain's mask to do the right thing but now he wasn't just acting. He was the villain. And she had absolutely no idea what she should do in a situation like this. It felt like she was the only one bearing the burden of keeping everything right. But was what she was doing really right? She had doubted herself so many times that guilt was making it almost impossible for her to lead a normal life. When she had worked in Torchwood Jack had always been there to correct her mistakes and give her advice her on what to do. And now instead of the problem-solver, Jack was the problem itself.
She came into Alex's room and saw the impersonation of all that was important to her. She knew she would turn the world upside down just to make him happy and safe. She smiled at the anchor of her normality. He and Rhys were so important.
She came up close to Alex. He was already awake but wasn't crying. Instead he was smiling at her so innocently. She couldn't help but smile back.
"We're going out, love," she said finally. "Let's find uncle Ianto."
o*o*o
Jack stared at John intensely. He tried to see that glimmer in the eye, that raising of the corner of his lip, anything that would convince him that John was lying. He found nothing. Not even a small clue that would give him doubts about the truthfulness of what John had said.
"Gwen's baby is not human?" he repeated just to ensure himself he had heard correctly. It wasn't that impossible, he thought. After all they were dealing with all kinds of extra-terrestrial beings and her work in Torchwood affecting her pregnancy was quite probable.
"Well, not entirely..." John corrected. "He's called Alexander," he teased knowing perfectly that Jack wouldn't be happy about John being better informed than himself.
"Fine," Jack said. "Take me to the Hub," he said.
John smirked and let out a quiet murmur of content. He smiled broadly, content that all his plans were coming together so well. But Jack wasn't looking at him at that moment. For those few seconds he had his eyes closed pondering about all the problems he was unwillingly facing.
o*o*o
John looked around the almost empty Hub in amazement. "A make-over, huh?" he commented.
"So what exactly is wrong with Gwen's baby?" Jack asked, crossing his arms and leaning against the table, half sitting on it. He knew that John wouldn't tell him anything unless he listened to what he wanted to say first.
"Absolutely nothing," John said calmly.
Jack raised his eyebrows. "Nothing?"
"Yes, it's absolutely fine," John was overly casual when saying tat.
"Then why did you bring me here?" Jack asked both confused and wary. Again he couldn't spot any lies on John's face.
"See, that's exactly what went wrong between us - you never listen to me!" John said casually, "I said it already, I want to join Torchwood." This time it was there. That flicker across the eyes that only Jack could notice. John was lying.
"As if..." He wasn't going to act convinced. If there was one thing he knew it was that whatever John was hiding was either dangerous or embarrassing. And there was never any way to tell which one it was.
John kept silent, looking Jack straight in the eyes. But that trick wouldn't work on him. John had always looked into somebody's eyes when he tried to convince them. But Jack knew each and every one of his tricks, which was one of the reasons why he could control him. But there always seemed to be that one thing which he couldn't figure out about John.
Irritation curved John's face. Jack sighed with relief. That look made it certain that John had in his mind only Jack's return.
"What is it then?" he asked. "Why would you do all that?"
What John said was the last thing Jack would expect from an egoist like him.
"You looked pathetic Jack," he said. "Sitting at that bar, passive and lifeless - you looked really, really pathetic, Jack."
Jack shifted. He followed John's face carefully, but he found no con.
"Do you really think you can isolate yourself like that?" John continued. There was anger in his voice which Jack absolutely didn't expect. "Running away like that won't help you at all!'
Jack gritted his teeth. For a moment they stayed silent. Jack fought with his anger. He didn't mind John messing with his life. He had gotten more than used to it during the years he spent with him. It was the fact that John knew all that had happened to him angered him the most.
"What else do you propose then?" Jack burst out. "Everyone seems to know better than me what I should do or feel! Try living in my shoes for a change! Maybe then you would understand me even a little!"
"Oh, like you're so special, Jack! You think you can talk just because you can't die! That's you're so different! Well you're not! You're not the only one who suffers, Jack!" John opposed. "You think you're saving the world, when in fact you are an egocentric! You think you can repay everyone the wrongs you did, that you can somehow erase your past. If you think that way then the balance will never be zero."
"Like you can talk," Jack smirked, not one bit amused. "You said it yourself: rehab didn't help you."
"Oh don't bring my rehabs into this!" John said.
"Why shouldn't I? You don't even care whether you kill somebody or not! Your morals are twisted!"
"Jack," John's words were almost a whisper. He wanted to retaliate but he couldn't find the words. He wanted to say that Jack was wrong but there was a seed of truth that he couldn't deny in his words. He took a few shallow breaths but it didn't help him turn his thoughts into words. "I really do love you," he said, giving up on trying to talk him into righteousness. After all he really wasn't the one who should be teaching philosophy and ethics.
"Last time you said that, you shot me with a machine guns," Jack said. "And electrocuted me, and then buried me alive. What makes you think I'll believe you now?"
He couldn't help a tiny smirk appearing on his face.
"Oh, like we hadn't had fights before," John said. He knew there was no chance of persuading Jack from his thoughts. There was an awkward silence after he said that but the tension and anger was gone.
"I'm going to see Gwen," Jack said, although he thought it better to keep low for now. But as much as he wanted to believe John lied he couldn't be sure. There was rarely any logic where John was concerned.
"Jack," the former Time Agent stopped him for just one more second. Jack turned around, his face still irritated but also showing a lot of worry. Should he tell him? He thought better of it. "No, it's nothing."
John looked after Jack as he left the Hub through the huge cog wheel(cog wheel) entrance. He smiled. He knew that his methods may not have been the best but his objective was really pure.
"Can't you see Jack... I'm trying to save you!" he whispered quietly.
The light flickered. He checked his vortex manipulator once more. "Oh, shit..." he whispered seeing that it was a week later than he had planned they would travel to.
o*o*o
Ianto stood in front of the big statue with water flowing from the top, placed in front of the millennium center. He spent a lot of time just looking at the water thinking and trying to remember. It never worked. He usually walked around the bay staying close to the tourist information center.
Jack couldn't believe his eyes when he saw his dead lover looking upon the statue. He stood shocked on the steps for a few moments making sure his eyes hadn't mistaken him. But they didn't. The person presented Ianto's everything. He even wore his suit the same way. And more importantly: he looked great in that suit .
He run towards him and called out his name. Ianto turned around and looked at him. Jack almost stopped. The reaction he expected was different.
Ianto's face looked confused. He seemed to be both happy and angry at the same time. But the thing that struck Jack the most was the way he looked at him. He didn't recognize him at all. There wasn't even a sparkle of that emotion he saw in Ianto's eyes whenever they met. Nothing. Ianto Jones didn't know him at all.
"Ianto?" Jack asked with some doubt in his voice.
Ianto smiled politely, the way he did when Jack still hadn't let him into Torchwood. "I reckon you must be-"
"Captain Jack Harkness," Jack said putting on one of his flirtatious smiles. After living for over two thousand years and travelling the universe for a good proportion of his life it wasn't really hard to figure out more or less what had happened.
"Ianto Jones, nice to meet you, sir," Ianto said, reaching his hand out towards Jack.
Jack shook it hesitantly. He held it for just a few seconds too long. But how could he let go? He was so happy and at the same time so sad. He felt like there was no justice in the world. He promised Ianto he would remember him and now it was his lover who had came back to life and forgotten him.
He embraced Ianto tightly before the man could even react. He stood like that for a few seconds unable to release his lover. And the thing that hurt him the most was that Ianto didn't do anything. He let himself be hugged but couldn't bring himself to hug Jack back.
Jack looked up from above Ianto's shoulder and saw Gwen running up towards them. He felt relieved seeing that she was still the same person he knew without any loops in memory. He turned his attention back to Ianto. He held his head gently and placed his lips upon his forehead. Ianto blushed but seeing how Gwen was already next to them and she didn't react to it at all he decided to just ignore it to as big an extent he could.
But it was not the sudden hug or kiss that surprised him most. One moment he was in an impossible situation meeting a stranger who knew him, the next he was in an even more impossible situation where Gwen was pointing a gun at Captain Jack Harkness.
"What did you come back for Jack?" she asked. "To complicate our lives even more? Or maybe to finally show your true colours?"
Jack looked at her blankly. "I don't know what you're talking about," he said.
Gwen let a sigh of relief. She knew it from the start but working with the police and Torchwood for so long she had to make sure if it was really him. The fact that he didn't even react to the gun and looked genuinely confused was enough for her.
"Thank God," she said lowering the gun. "I'm sorry Jack. I had to make sure it was really you."
Jack hugged Gwen with a broad smile on his face.
"It's so nice to see you Jack," Gwen said after a short moment when Jack had released her. "You've got so much explaining to do," she added more seriously. But she just couldn't be angry with Jack, not after he had come back, not even if he had told her that he was the worst of people before joining Torchwood. She smiled, relieved. She was finally free of some of the burden of keeping everything in place and Torchwood sealed away. Now Jack could take care of everything, and everything would end peacefully.
"Well I think I'm not the one who should do the explaining," Jack said glancing at Ianto and then at her gun. "What exactly happened?"
Gwen sighed. She really thought that if Jack would come back their reunion would be different. Firstly, she would want to have a chance to talk to Jack and explain the situation before he met Ianto.
"Let's discuss this over a cup of coffee, shall we?" she said. "And I'll just take Alex from the car. Alex is my treasure," she added, her motherly instincts kicking in again. "He's the most beautiful baby you've ever seen," she said proudly.
After the five minutes alone with Jack that had been the most awkward five minutes in Ianto's life, the three and a half of them were sitting at "The Poppy" with a cup of coffee in their hands.
"So let me get this straight, you don't know what happened?" Jack asked. "You don't remember a single thing?"
"Well I know everything I learnt in... Torchwood, but I can't recall absolutely anything about you, anyone in Torchwood, about Torchwood as well and I have no idea what happened in the past five years except for the things I have learnt now," Ianto explained. "It's as if I went to school and afterwards forgot everything about my mates and teachers but remembered the material. Something like that at least. The memories are only triggered after I see or hear something not by themselves. And not all of them as well."
Jack glanced at Gwen. "And she told you... what exactly?" he asked carefully.
"Not much. I just know the basics," he lowered his voice, "that we worked with aliens and that we were all close. Like a family." His expression saddened again.
Jack laughed but nobody reacted. He inhaled feeling awkward in the sudden silence. A thought crossed his mind and he frowned. "A family?" he said more to himself than to Gwen and Ianto. "That... would make me the father and Ianto would be..."
"Jack drop it!" Gwen said, seeing a suggestive smile appearing on his face.
"What? I'm just saying!" Jack took on an innocent look. "That's a very good analogy by the way," he added not able to drop the subject so quickly.
"I didn't mean it in terms of relationships but more of a family feeling and ... closeness," Gwen explained herself. Well it was only a feeling anyway, she added in her mind remembering this afternoon, after all we knew nothing about each other...
"Closeness..." Jack repeated, trying hard to hide his amusement.
"Jack!"
"... Re-relationships?" Ianto's whisper brought the fighting two's attention back to him.
"Oh don't worry your head over this, Ianto," Gwen said. "It's just the way he is. He even tried kissing me on my wedding day," she added with a smirk.
"Excuse me!" Jack was outraged by the wrong accusation. "That was not me. It was the alien. He was just looking like me. I would never have done something like that."
"Actually I find that more improbable than all those aliens and weevils and stuff," Gwen said. "I bet you did make a few ladies stray from the right path before their wedding days."
Jack grinned, "I don't think I can deny that. I once made both the bride and the groom deny their true and everlasting love for each other. But that's a different story. They weren't really made for each other."
Ianto smiled. It was impossible not to feel comfortable around Jack even if he didn't know what the conversation was about. Even if he felt sad about forgetting everything he was a step closer towards his past than just a few minutes before. And even if that meant being hugged and kissed by a guy he had never seen before he didn't mind. Well, he didn't mind the hugging part. He wasn't too keen on the kissing though. Especially by a total stranger.
"So what have you been up to Jack?" Gwen asked harshly. She knew she wouldn't be able to squeeze anything out of Jack but she could still wish it were possible and try.
"Oh this and that," Jack said ignoring her tone. "And what about you... And Alex?" he ricochetted.
"I saw you robbing a bank just this afternoon Jack," Gwen said not letting him go.
Jack raised his eyebrow. "I just got here," he said.
"Right, he did look like you," Ianto noted, remembering the CCTV image from the news. There was no clear picture of Jack taken by the cameras but for somebody who knew him it wasn't hard to recognize him; even the slight change in appearance wasn't big enough to confuse Gwen or Ianto. "You were robbing a bank?" he added with disbelief in his voice.
"I already said I didn't!" Jack repeated himself.
"But it was you Jack," Gwen said. "I saw it with my own eyes: it was you from the past, I'm sure of it!"
"But I don't remember..." Jack looked up, his mind somewhere far away. "That's impossible! Out of all places, it had to be here!"
"What is it Jack?" Gwen asked.
Jack looked at her. "When I was with the Time Agency I had two years taken away from my life. This must be the me from that time, I don't see any other option," he said.
"What is the Time Agency?" Gwen asked, knowing that was the last bit of information she would squeeze from Jack now.
Of course, it didn't work.
Jack stood up. "Go home Gwen," he changed the subject. "I'm not going to make you do anything. Spend some time with Alex and decide if you want to come back to Torchwood or not. It's not a decision you can make on the spot."
"What about me?" Ianto asked.
"You come with me," Jack said.
Normally Gwen would protest but this time she couldn't. After all Jack was right. At this moment Alex was the most important thing for her. Him, not Torchwood. And if she would ever return to Torchwood, she knew that it would be for her son's safety and not for herself.
"Well, good luck," she said with a hint of nostalgia in her voice. She once again stopped the two before they got off their seats. "And one more thing Jack, I think you should know. We're holding an alien Ianto calls a Wart in the city aquarium."
Jack smiled. "I see you weren't messing around while I was gone," he said.
"And Andy got involved again," Gwen added.
"Did you deal with it?" Jack asked casually.
"I did but something triggered the memories. I don't think we'll get him off our heads for some time..."
"Don't worry your head over it, I'll talk to him," Jack said, feeling that Gwen was already at her limits unable to cope with everything on her own. Being a team leader was so much more stressing than simply following orders or disobeying them.
Ianto couldn't wait until they were alone. "What did you mean by "deal with it"?" he asked suspiciously once they passed the door.
"There's a drug called Retcon," Jack explained. "It makes people forget things. We use it on people who were not supposed to see... them."
Ianto's brow furrowed. This didn't sound right. But at the same time he couldn't help but feel relieved that Jack was actually explaining things to him.
"Who gives you the right to do that?" he asked.
Jack stopped. "Ianto, were you involved in that Wart case Gwen just told me about?" he asked.
Ianto nodded surprised by the sudden digression.
"Tell me all about it," Jack asked moving on.
Ianto followed quickly. "It started with several murders. Andy was assigned to the team that was working on the case and he asked Gwen for help. I was somehow caught in the cross-fire."
"OK," Jack interrupted him. "Returning to the beginning: it killed people, right?" he said. "People and families got hurt. The things we dealt with in Torchwood were dangerous. What do you think would happen if everybody just started getting involved? If everyone knew that there was a whole universe of creatures and wonders both good and bad and that there was a door, here in Cardiff that let all that leak into this world. It wouldn't be only humans that got hurt."
Ianto didn't answer. Jack certainly did have a point in what he was saying.
"So... have I been... retconned?" he asked hesitantly.
"I don't think so," Jack said. "I think you would've already remembered everything by now if it were just retcon."
Ianto noticed they were going away from the Hub. His gaze steered from the quay to Jack and back again a few times.
"Shouldn't we be going back to the Hub?" he asked.
"Gwen told you about the Hub?" Jack looked surprised. He could deduce that she didn't tell him much and probably didn't want to give him Retcon. She maybe wanted him to remember just as much as he wanted it himself. And they weren't the only ones. Jack also had his selfish wish of Ianto remembering everything.
"Well I sort of got there on my own. But it was the last thing she would tell me about Torchwood. I don't understand why she's keeping everything from me!"
"I reckon you had already found out that just a few months ago: Ianto Jones, you died," Jack said. "You died during one of our missions. Now think about it, Ianto Jones, think about what would you do in her place!"
Ianto was dumbstruck. He could understand what Jack was saying perfectly well but at the same time he wanted, no, he needed to remember his past.
"Then what are you going to do now, sir?" he asked with his voice full of accusations.
Jack glanced at him and then looked around. His eyes laid on one of the ATM machines just a few meters away. "I'm continuing what Gwen started."
Ianto followed Jack as he approached the machine and placed a small device just by the screen. "And what is that?" he asked continuing the conversation.
At least twenty bills came out of the cash dispenser, all with the nomination of a hundred pounds. Jack took them without any scruples and casually gave them to Ianto. "I'm giving you a normal life," he said, with his other hand reaching for his little device.
"By stealing from an ATM machine?" Ianto's voice was full of doubts.
Jack smiled. "Exactly," he said. "This is 3 and a half thousand pounds. Rent yourself a nice cozy flat and start your life anew. Best if you move somewhere outside Cardiff but I can't make you do that. I can deal with the legal issues, passport, documents, those sort of things."
Ianto's face represented utter shock and disbelief. "You expect me to just take the money and go?"
"Yes," Jack's voice was unusually harsh.
"Well, I won't," Ianto opposed, his hand still stretched out and trying to give the money back. "I can't just act like nothing happened, can I?"
"You can, Ianto," Jack said, going down the street. "You can have a normal life, a normal girlfriend and live to meet your grandchildren or even great grandchildren!"
"What does that mean?" Ianto asked not sure whether Jack was making an allusion to something or not.
"Do you know what the difference between being retconned and what happened to you is?" Jack stopped and faced Ianto. The man shook his head. "When you are retconned the drug erases your memories and your brain fills the blanks with new memories so that the person never knows what happened to him. There's a chance that he will remember, and if there are certain stimulants he will remember, but that happens to a very small percentage of people. You can be either happy that you know you don't remember or depressed because you don't remember anything. Either way it's better than being retconned don't you think? So either you listen to me and forget you ever had contact with any of this or I'll drug you and leave you on the first train heading for Manchester. By the time you get there I'm sure you're brain will have created a decent explanation for your little trip. This life is dangerous, Ianto Jones! You of all people should know that. Especially after coming back alive like that!"
Ianto swallowed. He had never expected Jack to burst like that. His reassuring smile disappeared and left a grimace of anger and sadness on his face. But thankfully it changed back after a few moments.
And although everyone was telling him to do so, Ianto had no intention of just letting it go. He understood what Jack was trying to say but just couldn't abandon his past like that.
"Do you have any idea what it's like to just lose your memories like this?" he ricochetted. "I can't just choose to forget that I don't remember! It's even worse because I have these bits and pieces in my head that just don't make any sense!"
"Well I too have had my memories stolen and I ain't happy about it but I'm not pursuing them anymore, I came to terms with it," he said, realizing that he once again was sharing some of his secrets with Ianto. He wasn't completely honest about not pursuing his past but he didn't want Ianto to get any ideas.
They walked in silence. Ianto wasn't sure what other arguments he could use and Jack was unable to force himself to get Ianto to leave. Although he knew Ianto would be much safer away from the dangers that Torchwood brought them near to, he in fact wanted to work together with him. And the aquarium was still some time away. He couldn't use the SUV as it was hidden away in one of the garages. But he didn't mind the walking. He could at least enjoy Ianto's company for some time.
Ianto on the other hand was forming a new plan in his head. If persuasion didn't work then maybe if he just asked he had bigger chances of joining Torchwood and learning about his past. And he did feel bad about imposing on Jack like that. He could feel that it wasn't easy for him to just reject him like that.
They arrived at the aquarium. The parking was nearly empty. Jack stopped in the middle of it. The rain had started falling a few minutes earlier, and was now tapping on the rooftops of the cars. There was no delaying it.
"Ianto," Jack turned around. "You should go."
The words he used were simple, yet they conveyed so much. There was worry in his voice, worry and regret. But not only that. Jack had a brute realization that it was something that had to be done.
"I can do whatever you want," Ianto said.
"Ianto..." Jack couldn't say anything more.
"I can make coffee," Ianto was stammering and trying his best to smile as most naturally as he could.
Jack's eyes were fixed on Ianto, facing the accusation in his eyes. He faced it without turning his gaze, as he always did. Never making excuses, never failing to face his accusers, never running away from the pain.
Jack turned around and walked away. Ianto clenched his fists and looked at the grey military coat covering Jack's back. The distance between them, between Ianto and his past, grew but he didn't move an inch. But he didn't walk away either. He waited for Jack to disappear inside the building and slowly followed him towards the aquarium. He hid from the rain, under the roof and waited patiently for Jack to return. He was far too close. Far too close to give up now.
A/N: I love this bit. Ianto and Jack's reunion. I remember having this bit planned out before I even started writing the whole fanfiction. It was all for this moment. And for bringing Ianto back to life. More for the second bit actually but I loved writing the reunion as well...
Also, love having John in the story. You never know when he's serious and when he's not. And of course the famous rehabs :-D