They always sat in Jack's room. Partially because no one came to throw them out while they were there, partially because he left it unlocked when he disappeared and this was divine punishment.
Mostly because they desperately hoped that one night he would throw open the door and ask them what the hell they were doing in there.
Tonight was no different. They sipped bottles of beer, laughed and joked and suddenly, Gwen was telling them about the night in the warehouse. Not the cyber-warehouse, they all remembered that, but the other one.
She told them about how she had seen Jack's coat (Ianto had smiled to himself, he thought he was discrete but they all knew by now) and how she had been unable to stop herself.
She told them about Suzie. It was hard, and she couldn't look any of them in the eye but she knew they wanted to hear it, so she told them everything.
When she was done, Ianto sipped his own beer and told them when he first met Jack. He told it in a way that made Gwen understand that the others hadn't heard this story either. He told it in a way that made all three of them realise how long, and how deeply Ianto loved the stupid American. Saddest part of the whole story, really.
When he grew silent, Gwen glanced at Tosh and Owen. She opened her mouth, but then she bit her lip, turning away.
"You can ask you know…"
She carefully looked up at Owen. He was looking right back, almost glaring. She couldn't think of anything to say and the seconds stretched out, long and awkward.
"I always had my gift."
Tosh sounded almost happy, like she always did when she came close to the origin of her powers. Now she smiled and leaned back, playing with the bottle.
"I had mine growing up, don't remember ever getting it, it was always there. My parents where thrilled, called me their little genius and let me help them out in their work."
"What did they do?"
Tosh looked up, still a huge honest smile all over her face.
"Oh, they where anti-government terrorists."
All Gwen managed to choke out around the big ball of shock in her throat was a tiny, questioning noise. Tosh crooked her head to the side in understanding and kept going.
"They always had me hacking into secret files and building dangerous things. I never thought that I did anything wrong, my parents always told me the government was evil and needed to be destroyed. I never really knew I was hurting people."
Gwen started to understand why the other girl was so firmly declining the position at the Pentagon. What she didn't understand was how Tosh could tell them this with a smile on her face.
"I was thirteen when we were captured. Mom and Dad were taken away, I haven't seen them since. I was kept at a base somewhere, I still don't know. Not where I was or how Torchwood found me but three years ago, the door to my cell opened, and there was Jack."
The asian scotched over a bit, taking another sip and kept talking out into the silent air.
"He was the first person I saw for almost a year… And I have to admit, that was not a bad first sight."
She winked at Ianto, who didn't even bother to hide his blush.
"He offered me a position at Torchwood and I figured it would be better than that hole in the concrete wall where I had just spent ten months… And here I am."
Gwen didn't know if she should, didn't know if she would break that pearly smile if she did, but somehow, not even that threat could stop her.
"What about your parents?"
Tosh looked at her, and for a moment the mask slipped, the smile dimming a bit. Then is was back with reinforcements.
"I send my mom postcards once a week."
Gwen didn't dare ask about her dad, even she had a limit.
It was quiet for a long time, Ianto getting them all another round from the box on the bed. Then Owen spoke, quietly, like his words were the frailest glass.
"I had a girlfriend."
It was like everyone in the room was holding their breaths. Owen was the one that never referred to anything before Torchwood. Before Cardiff in general, he just avoided the subject as much as he could. He never spoke of his family or his past. He wanted to keep it there, firmly buried behind him. He didn't even want to speak about the little thing he'd had with Gwen the first week.
"She died when I was fifteen."
It was so bloody obvious that he had never told this story before, that he was still contemplating whether he should or not, but he still kept going.
"She had cancer… A huge tumour right here."
He pointed at his skull with the expertise of a medical trainee, the suffering knowledge of someone left behind.
"It effected her memory… Some days where good! She was all smiles and joy and I really thought she was gonna make it. Then, there was the bad days…"
He choked, took a shaky breath and a large sip.
"Those days she couldn't remember my name…"
No one made a sound, not a single one, but the silence was so filled with sorrow that you could almost cut it.
"They tried operating, but there were complications. Bad complications. It was a shoot in the dark and it missed."
Owen pulled his features back, arranged his cool, aloof facade and Gwen knew this was the last time they would ever see his real face.
"She died just hours afterwards, she just stopped breathing. I was there, by her bedside… I don't remember what happened after that. Next thing I know I'm waking up to find Jack staring down at me… It's morning and I'm in a hospital bed. He tells me I'm the only patient for the moment, since everyone in the whole damn building, even the ones with no hope at all, just jumped out of bed feeling better than ever."
Owen takes another sip, sliding down a bit against the bedside.
"Everyone, in the whole damn building, except for her."
Gwen closes her eyes, hard, biting her lip as two tears slowly run down her cheeks.
"Then, the stupid git gets me into Torchwood, London department and then just a few months after, it blows sky high. End of story…"
Gwen wants to object that that's hardly the end but the Battle for Canary Wharf is still close and hurtful for the two boys and she lets it go.
Ianto sighs and picks up the empty bottles in the middle.
"He's the one that brought us all here, and now he's disappeared. It hardly seems fair…"
The last word stings, because it's dipped in salty tears and heartbreak, so much that Owen doesn't even call him on it, just downs the last sip and stands up.
They help Ianto clean up, take the box of now empty bottles and leave the welsh boy to straighten out the carpet and the bed, like he always does. They close the door and they know it will be a long while before he comes out, but they don't know what else to do.
Owen throws his clothes in a pile on the floor, curling up in a corner of his bed, trying not to remember.
Tosh blinks to make her lights go out. She has several, a whole christmas trees worth and she blinks once for every one. By the time she's done, her tears have run out.
Gwen texts Rhys, telling him she loves him and that they are still on for a date after school tomorrow, then she lies awake for hours, staring at the time passing before her eyes.
Ianto closes Jack's door, then goes into his own room next to it. He hangs up his clothes, drinks a glass of water and crosses another day off in his calendar. It's almost a full year now, and it still hurts. Not so much that he's gone, as the fact that he's not called, or sent a postcard or even a single greeting in the reports that he knows the Doctor sends the school.
Ianto sighs, runs his thumb over the picture frame on his desk, the one with the group photo, and then he turns out his lights and goes to sleep, dreaming of a warm hand holding his.
Jack is pretty sure he should be dead. His lungs hurts like crazy and his body is so tired, but there is a mad joy in him when he feels oxygen returning to his brain, the cold, rough concrete under his hands.
Hands, strong, familiar, bony hands grip him and pull him from the cold water, presses him up against a heaving chest and the wet fabric of a suit. Jack tries to breathe normally, tries not to laugh because if he does, he'll faint. He leans against the Doctor who leans against the wall, watching the noble Valiant sink into the dark water, flames licking the dark, starry sky.
They're alive, both of them, and that's more than they thought just an hour ago. Jack snickers into the brown stripes, pressing his ear up against the thumping heart. There's a hand stroking his neck, just where the hairline ends. He is six years old again, and every day is an adventure.
"I do love you, Jack. I really do."
He almost sits up, almost looks up at the ancient eyes above him.
"… Just not the way you want me too…"
Jack smiles. He knows now, what he should have figured out years ago. The Doctor will always love him, just like he loves everyone else. True, some people are special, one in a thousand, are really special. Not that it makes much of a difference, he remembers everyone. Every last person he has ever met, he loved and remembered. Jack knows that.
He has also recently (and horribly late to boot) figured out why he's been feeling like he's a complete idiot for months now.
"Dad…"
He feels the other man stiffen, feels his surprise and he can barely keep himself from laughing.
"I need to go home."
The hand on his neck slides down to his shoulder, gripping it tight. Jack pushes himself up a bit, resting his cheek against his fathers shoulder. He smiles at the Doctors slightly baffled face and tries not to sound like a teenage girl when he says.
"There is someone I need to see…"
Of course he fails because the Doctor gives him a knowing smirk, chuckling softly.
"Alright, I get it. Next stop, Cardiff."
[AN; I kidd... But reviews are still nice and I am a bit at a loss of what to fill the rest of the story with. It has plot, but it needs fluff! Favorite canon moments?]