Ianto was too shocked to do anything except stare into the large crater which stretched for several yards and centred on what used to be the little tourist office. Blue and white police tape lined its perimeter, gently flapping in the wind where it had broken free from its mooring. He turned his head sideways, unsurprised to find the immortal in much the same state as himself. Only John appeared unaffected by the recent turn of events.

"Have you still got your phone?" The former Time Agent asked.

"Huh?"

"Your phone, Jack. I'm assuming you want to get in touch with your team, find out what happened here."

"Oh yeah."

Jack pulled himself together and fished into his greatcoat. Taking out his mobile phone, he pressed a key then held it up to his ear, shaking his head in alarm when he couldn't get through. He repeated the action twice more, getting the same result both times. His face paled.

"There all unobtainable," he murmured.

Ianto grabbed hold of the sleeve of a passing pedestrian.

"Excuse me, sir," he asked politely, "can you tell us what happened here."

"Terrorist bomb," the man frowned, "I'm surprised you didn't hear about it, it was all over the news for months."

"Um, we've been out of the country," Ianto replied, "Was anyone hurt?" He tried to keep his voice steady.

"It's funny you should ask that," the man said, "There were some bodies found down there but no-one was reported missing. Not only that but some of the remains were identified from dental records as belonging to people who'd died years before. A bloke down the pub told me that his next door neighbour's sister was down there and she died years ago. What's really bugging my friend's neighbour is now he's left wondering what it was he buried all those years ago."

"Hmmm?" Ianto glanced at Jack.

"And to add to all the weirdness, there was a tourist office on this site before the bomb went off and she was delivering pizzas to that very tourist office on the night she was supposedly murdered....only the kid that worked there claimed she never arrived. My mate's neighbour always thought there was something odd about that guy though."

Ianto made a strangled squeaking noise, covering his mouth with his hand.

"Are you okay?" the man asked.

Ignoring him, Jack gently laid his arm around Ianto's shoulder and led him away, coming to a stop in front of a bench on the other side of the Plass.

"He's fine," John dismissed the man, before following.

"Hey," Jack sat down on the bench and pulled Ianto down to sit beside him, "You've nothing to worry about," he soothed, "no-one will believe it. They'll say it's a rumour or a conspiracy theory. The police will just dismiss it as Torchwood spookiness."

There were tears in the Welshman's eyes as he nodded.

"I know. It's just....everything I've been through, sometimes I think it's retribution."

"Ah Ianto, will you ever believe me when I tell you, you did nothing wrong. She was controlling you."

He pulled the younger man in and kissed his forehead. John sat on his other side and put his hand on his knee.

"You sure you're okay," Jack asked, "because we need to find out what's happened to the rest of the team. All their phones are out of service and I don't know what else to try."

"Martha," Ianto said, pulling away "have you tried Martha?"

"Of course," Jack beamed, "why didn't I think of that?"

He took out his phone again, breaking out into a grin when it started ringing. The grin widened after a few moments when it was answered.

"Ah, the voice of a nightingale," he beamed

He held the phone away from his ear and laughed as she screeched excitedly.

"Jack! Where are you?"

"On the Plass. Martha, what happened here and where is everyone."

"They're all fine, Jack. Stay where you are and I'll get one of them to come and meet you. Oh and Jack," she swallowed, "is...is Ianto with you."

"Yes, Yes he's here, we did it."

Jack grinned and handed the phone to him.

"She wants to speak to you."

"Hey Martha."

"Ianto, it's so good to hear your voice. We've missed you."

"You've missed my coffee," he chuckled.

"That too. The others are going to be made up you're back. I can't wait to see you."

"Martha, where are you?"

"I'm in Cardiff, Ianto," her tone turned serious, "look it's a long story," she sighed, "I'll tell you all about it when I see you."

After Ianto ended the call, they sat quietly for a few moments, the three men lost in their own thoughts, until Jack, spotting Gwen from across the Plass, jumped up and ran over to her, throwing his arms around her and laughing. They looked at each other like long lost lovers and Ianto rolled his eyes and snorted.

John discretely took his hand and gave it a squeeze.

"He does love you, ya know."

"Yeah?" he sniffed, "I doubt it."

"It's just his way."

"Maybe."

"Don't suppose you fancy a quick snog while they're not looking."

Ianto guffawed.

"You're worse than he is, Captain Hart. Come on, best go face the music."

Before he got half way across the Plass, Ianto found himself almost knocked off his feet by an over excited Gwen Cooper. She hugged him, jumping up and down and kissing him.

"Ianto, Ianto, Oh my god Ianto. I can't believe you're back."

"Gwen, stop," he laughed, turning a deep shade of red.

"Come on, the car's parked over here," she chuckled.

Ianto broke into a grin when he saw the familiar SUV parked by the side of the road, but the grin soon turned into a frown when he noticed it was a slightly newer model than the one he remembered.

"You bought a new SUV?"

"Long story," Gwen answered. "Look, let's get to Hub 2 and we'll fill you in."

"Hub 2," Jack queried.

"Like I said, Jack. Long story."

Jack climbed into the front passenger seat, cursing himself a moment later when he realised he'd left John and Ianto together in the back. He turned around and glared at John before slowly turning around to face the front.

"Are the others.....are they still..."

"They're fine, Jack," Gwen smiled, "We're all fine."

Jack and Gwen chatted happily for a while until Ianto suddenly let out a loud squeak. Jack's head shot around to glare at John angrily while Ianto cleared his throat and looked uncomfortable. Gwen wondered what the hell was going on with them.

After only a few minutes they pulled up outside a four story office building.

"You hid the new base under an office block," Jack frowned.

Gwen laughed as she got out of the car.

"Not exactly," she beamed, "The new base is the office block."

Jack did a double take, his mouth dropping open as he looked from the building to the Welshwoman.

"It's four stories high," Ianto exclaimed, "What did you do, take one floor each and one more for the archives."

"No, the archives are still in the basement. Let's just say we've expanded since you've been away."

"You took on new staff?" Jack asked.

"Not me personally," she replied, "but Torchwood did, yes."

She walked up to the door and took out a plastic card which she waved over a sensor. The three men followed her into a large reception area where a young girl in her early twenties with tight brown ringlets was sitting behind a desk.

"Afternoon, Miss Cooper," she bobbed her head.

"How many time, Lois. It's Gwen. Lois, this is Jack and Ianto, remember I told you about them."

"Hello, sirs," she smiled politely, "I've heard a lot about you."

"And this is John Hart," Gwen lowered her voice, "watch out for him," she whispered.

"Hey, I heard that."

Gwen chuckled as she walked over to the lift.

"Sometimes I really miss the days when it was just the five of us," she sighed wistfully, "but I have to say our work-life balance is so much better these days. We get proper time off and everything. Having more staff has been a big help since Tosh took her maternity leave."

"Since she took her what?!" Jack yelled, pulling up short.

"Maternity Leave?!" Ianto shrieked, bumping into him.