Ianto stood outside the door for at least ten minutes.

He was still not sure he should do this, but Gwen had been lying in bed since Jack left last week and it was only through joined powers they had gotten her down the stairs today.

Ianto didn't really feel ready to face the world either, but he had spent a month of his life locked in his room before and he knew better than most that you need to face your fears to make them go away.

He took a deep breath, lifted his hand, and gently tapped the door. There was no way anyone heard that lame knock and he sighed. This was so damn hard.

The thing was, reading memories was something he did naturally, but what he was going to do now was very much against his nature.

He was going to force someone else into his own position.

Well, not force, not completely, but it was a close call and it was enough to turn his insides around.

Lisa was still a big open wound on his heart, and the fact that Jack had been gone for days didn't help. Under normal circumstances he wouldn't even attempt to try this in his current emotional state, but the fresher the memories, the clearer. And he needed to be clear now.

He knocked, four times and stepped back, waiting.

"Yeah?"

"Rhys Williams? I'm Ianto Jones."

"You're Torchwood…"

He blinked at being exposed so easily. Not that he had been planning to hide it but still, this guy was obviously no idiot.

"Yes, I am."

"What do you want?"

Now here came the hard part. Still, Ianto had half expected to have the door slammed in his face by now, so it might be positive. He steeled himself and held out his hand.

"I've come to show you something."

"Show me?"

"Well, show might not be the word. You won't so much see it as feel it."

"Feel it? Will it hurt?"

Ianto looked at Gwen's ex. He was scared, his knuckles on the door where white and he looked between his hand and his face like he wondered which one would bite him. Still, he was not closing the door and he kept asking, maybe this wasn't a lost case.

"Yes, Mr. Williams, it will hurt. All the pain she's been through, it's all here in this handshake."

Rhys looked at him, and there was something else than fear in his eyes now. There was something that Ianto couldn't help but to recognise.

Loss.

Rhys missed Gwen just as much as Ianto missed Jack. Still, Ianto was not going to let him see her unless he understood what he had done. He couldn't.

In his favour though, Rhys only hesitated for a heartbeat before taking the hand.

It tore him apart. It burned and his skin cracked and fell off. His hair turned to dust and the blood in his veins dried out. His eyes shrivelled and turned to raisins in his skull.

Through it all, there was a scream. A wordless, soulfilled scream. It broke whatever was left of his heart and ripped his mind to shreds.

It hurt beyond imagination and through it all, Rhys could feel Gwen cry his name through the inferno.

He pushed Ianto back, tore his hand from his. He stumbled backwards into the apartment, almost tearing down all the coats as he fell against the wall. The scream was still in his head and rubbing his face he found tears. Tears that weren't even his.

"Oh my god… What have I done…?"

Ianto pushed down the nausea. Making the information flow in the other direction was like trying to make your heart beat backwards.

"You left her… You where the only person she thought would be with her always and you left her. It was the thought of seeing you again that unlocked her powers and saved her life. If she hadn't been one of us, she would be dead."

Rhys stood up, still shaking. Still, Ianto wasn't done.

"I'm sorry, but you have to understand…"

He held out his hand, slowly. There was a limit to how much he could force another human being. Rhys didn't move away.

"You're the one on her mind. Her fire, it burns because of you."

He let it flow, out into Rhyses mind. The same things he had found when he held on to Gwen's arm in the inferno on the catwalk. The moments when she believed Rhys was dead and everything in her life was pointless.

This time, Ianto broke the contact. He watched the older man breathe, holding himself up against the doorway.

"Oh my god… Gwen… My Gwen…"

That was good, right?

Suddenly, Rhys stood up, wiped his face and grabbed his jacket, pushing past Ianto and ran down the stairs.

Ianto looked after him for a few confused seconds, then he sighed, took the keys hanging by the door, locked and went downstairs to the car.

He caught up with Rhys a block away, slowing down to let the slightly embarrassed man in. They drove in silence, both too shaky and focused to talk about anything.

Ianto pointed out the door, quietly thanking the heavens that Gwen had English Literature in the morning. Any other teacher might not have been so understanding.

It was a bit like the ending scene from a chick-flick, Rhys storming in, interrupting Donna in the middle of a sentence.

Gwen standing up so fast that the desk tipped over, papers pouring out over the floor like a tidal wave. He didn't even have time to open his mouth before she had tackled him to the ground, kissing every inch of his face.

Donna was almost about to start ranting at them but she caught Ianto in the doorway, shaking his head, so she shrugged and let them be, at least for a minute.

Gwen and Rhys talked the whole afternoon. The others didn't spy on them (since Martha had caught them trying and threatened with detention for life) so they hung out in the lounge, waiting. Of course, when the couple came back they all did a fantastic job of looking incredibly occupied. Gwen didn't buy it for a second.

Rhys was still freaked out, but honestly it just showed how much he loved her. When Gwen asked why he came by every day even when he was so scared he said it was because he wasn't comfortable with leaving her alone in a house filled with so many handsomw young men. Owen coughed something similar to poof and Gwen neatly set fire to his trousers.

Jack didn't see Gwen again until Monday morning, when she came up the stairs with dark circles under her eyes and a huge smile all over her face.

"You look like you had an interesting weekend!"

"Let my dump my bag and I'll tell you all about it…!"

He laughed and took the rucksack while she unlocked her door.

"Sure you're up for class?"

"Oh I'm fine! I'm planing on sleeping through the afternoon one."

"You guys haven't been slacking off just because I haven't been around, now have you?"

Gwen tossed the bag on her bed, along with her jacket and came back out into the hallway.

"Actually, we've all improved beyond expectation, so there!"

"Marvellous!"

"So now all that's left for you is to sort out your own business!"

"What business?"

Gwen grinned at him, leaning against the door.

"The real reason you came back. Come on Jack, we're not that daft!"

"I came back because I missed you!"

"Mh, yeah! All of us! I wonder why you felt like you had to point out it was all of us?"

He looked at her grin and part of him was so damn proud of her for seeing through him, while the other one wanted to throttle her from embarrassment. Though before he had a chance, Gwen stood up straight and waved down the hall.

"Morning Ianto!"

Jack tried not to flinch, tried not to glow bright red and by the time the steady footsteps came up to them, he felt like he had enough control to turn around.

"Morning gorgeous! Breakfast?"

Ianto rolled his eyes and looked questioningly at the arm Jack was holding out to him.

"Does that mean you've started eating in the morning?"

Jack's smile almost broke his face when Ianto gracefully put his hand on his arm. In the last second, he remembered to hold out his other arm to Gwen.

"It means I have learned never to pass down a meal again! You will not believe how many times I've gone hungry over the last year!"

"So playing with the Doctor is not just fun and games then?"

He led his friends down the stairs, enjoying having company with people he cared about again. No, his adventure had been far from a game.

"Don't you ever wonder why he's so skinny? It's all running and no time for snacks…"

"You poor thing."

"And I have so missed your coffee magic!"

"I'll give you a cup now then."

"Thank you, my dear!"

Ianto did manage not to blush, though he couldn't stop sneaking glances at Jack's profile. He had grown, he was half an inch taller then Ianto now, and his face had become sharper, more angled, less childish.

Jack had done some major growing up. It made Ianto wonder how else his physics had changed over the year. Great, now he was defiantly blushing.

Entering the dinning hall, they found their usual table inhabited by a surprising visitor. Ianto didn't know what it meant that Jack let his arm slip from Gwen's but held on to his own as they passed between the chairs to get over to where the Doctor was discussing something with Tosh. Still made him happy though.

"So I hold it like this…?"

"Yes and then you…!"

"Oh, and it shows here?"

"Yes, and then if you press here…!"

"I see! Now that is extraordinary!"

Jack actually put Ianto in his chair before sitting down between him and the Doctor, as if to make sure he didn't wander off. Ianto tried not to think to much about it (Jack was a possessive weirdo, he had known that for years) and started to mix up a cup of coffee for his friend.

"So what is that? Is it your secret project Tosh?"

"It wasn't secret, you just didn't get it when I explained it!"

"Brilliant really! Nobody could get those plans to work, but you did it in what, thirteen months? Pure brilliant!"

"Actually, I had it done the week after you were last here."

Jack tried not to giggle at the Doctors baffled face.

"I told you she was extraordinary!"

"Indeed!"

Tosh squirmed in her seat, her cheeks dark and eyes sparkling. Owen smiled and patted her back, making her embarrassed to the point of twirling a lock of her hair.

"It was nothing really! Very interesting, and fun, but not particularly hard! All it took was a bit of patience!"

"And a stroke of genius! What a remarkable gift you have!"

"Dad, stop it, you're actually turning Tosh into a teenage girl!"

Ianto almost choked. Jack never called the Doctor dad, he hadn't for years. None of the others noticed though. The Doctor smiled and made a show of apologising that set the table into a laughing frenzy. Soon after, he stood up and bid his farewell.

"You take care of yourself Jack!"

"I will!"

His foster father looked at him for a few seconds, hand still on his shoulder, and for a moment he looked very reluctant to let his boy go, then he grinned at the others around the table.

"Actually, you lot take care of him! That way I know he won't get into trouble!"

"Hey!"

"We will sir!"

"You can count on us!"

Then he was gone, like a leaf on the wind, blown off in a storm.

They where quiet for almost a minute, almost like his very presence had sucked the air right out of them. He did leave quite the impression, the Doctor. Then, Tosh cleared her throat and turned to Jack who was slowly sipping his coffee.

"So, what have you two been up too? Come on, tell us!"

Jack looked up and Ianto could have sworn he looked scared there for a second, but then he grinned and leaned back, putting his foot up on the empty chair beside him.

"Nothing that matters now, let's just leave it at that!"

"Oh come on Jack!"

Gwen took another bite of her toast before continuing.

"Just tell us! You were gone forever!"

Jack sighed, deep and nervously.

"Look, I don't want to talk about it…"

"Why not? You where so eager to run off and leave us and now you can't tell us why?"

"If I had known what was gonna happen I would never have left!"

"So what did happen?"

"I don't want to talk about it!"

"Jack!"

"NO!"

He slammed down his hand so hard everything on the table jumped. The others looked absolutely stunned as Jack moulded his features into something slightly apologetic. He took a deep breath and looked down.

"Look, the first three months where amazing and one day I'll tell you guys all about it! We went halfway across America and it was wonderful… But after that, these last nine months, all I wanted was to go home. All I wished was to come back here and see you guys again and now I have. So please, can we not talk about it yet? Please?"

It must have been horrible. That was the one thought they all shared around the table when Jack went quiet. It must have been truly horrible.

"So… What have I missed?"

Still he smiled at them, big grin with white teeth and because of his powers they would never find a scratch or a scar on him, never any indication to what had happened to him. Before he could think about it, Ianto had placed a comforting hand over Jack's, sqeeshing it hard.

Jack looked at him and smiled, sqeeshing back. It sent shivers down Iantos spine. He had come back to them. Jack had come home.

"Well, Gwen and Rhys have gotten engaged, but you know that… That boy Eugene blew up the chemistry lab! And doctor Jones is now doctor Jones-Smith! And…!"

Jack turned to Tosh as she kept ranting, slowly sipping his coffe,e still holding on to Ianto's hand.

He was still holding it as they walked out into the hallway, trying to move with the buzz of the rest of the student body on their way to class.

Suddenly though, Jack dropped Ianto's hand and stared into the mass of students.

"What the…?"

In the next heartbeat, his team observed in shock how a blond boy with pointy cheekbones and a drummers jacket flung himself at Jack, grabbed his face and kissed him breathless. Jack actually gripped the boys shoulders for support and when they finally separated he had to take a deep breath before he managed to speak.

"John Heart…!"

"Hi darling! Did you miss me?"

Ianto fisted his hands, cursing everything he could think of. Focusing real hard, to the point where his jaw almost cracked from the pressure, he managed not to walk over and break the strangers face with his fist.

Damn it.

[AN; You didn't think it was going to be THAT easy, did you? I'm sorry though, chapters will be slow now. Real life demands my attention (as I have no home, no job and no money...) and writing might come in second place to fixing that. Now, do I really have to threaten to kill myself to get reviews?]