AN – Thank you to all my reviewers and all those that have put alerts on this story. I am very behind in my thank yous and it is remiss of me; really doesn't mean that they don't mean a lot to me though, so thank you.
Gwen didn't take her eyes off Carys as she pulled her phone out of her pocket and pressed one button.
"Jack. I need to see you. Now."
"Get him to meet us at the Hub."
Gwen stared at Carys. "There's nothing left."
"Trust me. Entrance to tunnel three."
Gwen gave her a quizzical look, then raised a hand as she listened to the phone before speaking.
"I'm with someone who has a lot of information about..." she hesitated over the name, it was still so hard to say; "Ianto. She says she can help us. I think you need to hear her out Jack."
There was a pause as the voice on the other end of the line spoke.
"Then trust me Jack. Please. She says to meet us at the Hub... I know, that's what I said."
"Entrance to tunnel three." Carys interjected again.
"Jack, please. She says entrance to tunnel three? That mean anything to you?...Really? Well if she knows that Jack then...Thank you."
She hung up the phone and leant forwards across the table, leaning in close to Carys. "If you do anything to hurt Jack I will kill you."
"I can't be killed, but I appreciate the sentiment. We'd better get going."
Carys stood and headed towards the door, leaving Gwen speechless for a second, before getting up and following her.
Carys didn't seem to want to talk as they walked to meet Jack, and Gwen was content to let the journey pass in silence. They were heading in the general direction of the Hub, but skirting around the outside. A lot about all of this troubled Gwen, but what really played on her mind was that this woman clearly knew more about Torchwood than she did. It made perfect sense if Carys knew everything Ianto had. She'd always known that Ianto knew more about the Hub than she did; known it and happily accepted it, but she didn't have to like it now.
And she didn't like that she was having to follow Carys to an entrance to the place that had been like home to her for years that she hadn't known about. But follow she did.
Carys led her down a small alley and stopped next to a nondescript wooden door. It was nondescript, but Gwen knew it let to the back of a nightclub. And a seedy one at that.
A small smile twitched at Carys' lips as she stood in front of the door. "Jack's already inside. He wants to see if I can get in."
Carys looked at Gwen, a smug smile on her face and pulled at the door handle. The door swung outwards to reveal a short, dingy hallway that led to the back rooms of the club. Carys closed it again then pushed on the opposite side of the door to the handle. This time the door swung inwards into a concrete lined corridor with a very surprised Jack standing on the other side.
"How...?" started Gwen.
"No idea. But it's cool isn't it?"
Carys sobered up again and looked at the man in front of her.
"Hello Jack. I'm Carys. And I'm going to help you get Ianto back."
"No. You can't. Nothing can bring him back." His voice was hard, but emotionless.
"Jack, are you familiar with the Abstracts?"
Jack didn't reply, but a faint twitch of his head showed that he was.
"I am an Abstract. Ianto was my Former."
Jack's eyes narrowed.
"Ianto gave you form?"
"Yes. Back at Torchwood One."
"Then you should be..." Jack couldn't finish the sentence, trying to get his head around what he was hearing.
"Exactly. There is a spark of his life force left somewhere." A broad smile stretched Carys' face. "And it's here, in the Hub. I can feel it."