Hey guys, sorry this is a bit late, I've kinda lost touch with the internet =O But anyway, cookies for my loyal readers :D Read on for the saddest chapter yet . ...

That October afternoon was blustery, even by Cardiff's standards. Winds beat at the wreaths of flowers carried by the mourners and spilt the petals on the ground, dancing, racing petals of red and white. Rain, slick and icy, dropped mournfully downwards, heavy and unforgiving, crumpling the hymn-sheets within seconds as the lines of Welsh relatives and friends filed into the small Chapel, clutching coats around them, teeth chattering with the cold.

Last to enter was Jack, his RAF coat loose around his brilliant black suit, with Gwen clutching at his hand, her black dress whipping around her legs. His shoes had been polished to within an inch of their life, Gwen had painstakingly straightened her hair despite the relentless winds - indeed, everything hadto be perfect for Ianto Jones's funeral.

Jack remembered the last time he had attended a memorial service, it was all too clear in his mind. Gwen had insisted that Tosh and Owen received what she called a 'proper send-off'. They had driven the SUV to each flat and boxed up two entire lives in the space of two hours. Distraught, Gwen had enforced the idea of burying the boxes instead of locking them in storage - a right which Jack had not dared deny her of.

Her resolution had scared him then, and it frightened him today. She clung to his hand like a child in a busy supermarket, in absolute silence, her eyes wide as she focused on every person that respectfully filed into the Chapel.

"Shall we go in then?" He peered down at her, worried that even now she would refuse to speak. She had not spoken since 9 o' clock the previous evening, when he had told her the date of Ianto's funeral. A week after his death, and Gwen had still refused to return home to Rhys. She'd called him, had various arguments over the phone with him, and had grudgingly told him that she was staying in a hotel in Aberystwyth for a few weeks. He was angry, and rightly so, but Gwen refused to see him. Her grief, Jack knew, was killing her marriage and any hope for her life outside Torchwood.

"Yes," it was a relief to hear her voice, however strained and faint it sounded.

Together they entered the 18th Century Chapel, their steps echoing around the cavernous stone walls as they drifted towards their designated seats at the back. Jack, with all his 51st Century splendour, received a few looks, and Gwen's distraught appearance earned her a few worried glances. Their appearance confused the mourners, and rightly so, for Jack doubted that Ianto had ever mentioned his real job to any of them. Standing at the front however, was Ianto's sister, who nodded in acknowledgement to Jack and raised a trembling sheet of paper in front of her face.

"Ahem!" She began pointedly, "thank you all for coming today. I know this can't be easy… 'specially not when my brother's concerned, eh?" This earned her a few uncertain laughs, and Gwen tensed at Jack's side. "Anyway, I know none of us expected this, gosh it came as such a shock, I know. But, I made him a promise when he was eighteen and he moved to London, and I promised that if anything happened to him, I'd do my bit to make sure he was remembered for who he is - was."

"An alien hunter?" Gwen muttered beneath her breath. Jack glared at her anxiously as a nearby elderly woman raised a suspicious eyebrow.

"And who was he? Well he was probably the kindest man I ever knew," Ianto's sister carried on, "And I know I'm supposed to say that, but he really was. He was great with the kids. He was so protective of me when we were little, I used to say to him, 'Ianto, you best join the Army because you're great at teamwork'. But he never did, eh? Office work, that's what my brother loved. When I was seven, mam got me this massive stationary set - and we all laughed when Ianto took the whole thing and organised it into sections. Anyway… what I'm trying to say is, he was a great man. The best brother, the perfect uncle, he was brilliant. I only wish h-he hadn't d-d-died so young. I used to tell him 'when will you find yourself a lovely girl?' but I guess he never took much notice of anything I said. He used to say it was his job to protect me… b-but who was there to protect him?"

"He never told them about you," Gwen whispered.

"He never had the chance," Jack replied defensively.

At the front, his sister was struggling to contain her tears, and her husband had rested a plump arm around her shoulders, saying, "Yeah, Ianto was a top bloke. We're all gonna miss him."

Ianto's sister wavered on the spot, evidently wanting to say more but not sure she could hold the tears back, "And it was such a shock to lose him so young - and in such a horrible way. Like I said, he was the best, that's all there really is. He was always the best at anything he did, he always tried so hard, especially when it was for his family and friends. There wasn't anything he wouldn't do for the people he loved, so I suppose we're all blessed. We're lucky to have known him, and I'll miss him so much. Every night, I think it can't be true, but it is a-and…" She eventually crumpled into her husband's arms and two small children ran to comfort their mother.

"They didn't know him at all," Gwen muttered cynically, clapping along with the rest of the mourners.

"They just knew a different side to him, that's all."

"No," she insisted, "they didn't know him. They don't know how he saved the world every week, how he kept us all safe, how he made sure the entire Torchwood organisation ran smoothly. Without him, the whole thing would have gone to crap years ago. They don't know how he wrestled Weevils down to the cells, how he tracked aliens in the SUV, how he literally picked up all our slack. They didn't know him, they're his family and they didn't know a single thing about who he really was."

Slowly, the coffin bearers rose to hoist the thin box that contained Ianto onto their shoulders. His brother-in-law headed the group, and their faces were grim as they marched past the various mourners to the sounds of Handel's 'Largo'.

Sobbing, Gwen pointed towards the coffin, "you should be up there Jack, that should be you."

Gradually the mourners joined the procession out into the Cemetery, Jack and Gwen unsurprisingly at the back, and Ianto's family began to recite Psalm 23.

"He wasn't even religious," Gwen hissed bitterly, loud enough for a frail-looking uncle to hear.

"Gwen, stop it," Jack squeezed her hand tighter in warning.

At the designated site, the coffin bearers fixed ropes around the wooden box and gently lowered Ianto into the neatly dug hole, while the priest gave his universal speech and various family members succumbed to tears.

One by one, each of the mourners stepped forwards to drop a single white rose onto the wooden box, still reciting Psalms whilst the priest continued.

Gwen shuddered against the cold, "he hated roses. Said they gave him itchy eyes." Without another word to Jack, she walked forwards, clutching a silver device in her trembling hands. Kneeling down by the graveside, she whispered, 'goodnight cariad,' and, as she placed it carefully on the coffin, Jack saw that it was Ianto's comms headset. Smiling, he wrapped his arms around her thankfully, letting her cry out her misery into his coat.

The mourners looked on, confused and ashamed at Gwen's obvious show of grief, and slowly dispersed to the wake under the guidance of Ianto's weeping sister. When the sun set, and fresh earth was piled on top of the grave, only Jack and Gwen remained, crouching on the dew-speckled grass.

"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust," Jack sighed, "all human life succumbs. And for that I'm sorry Ianto, truly sorry. But I know it would make you feel safer and at peace to know that we'll carry on, in your memory, in your name, because of you."

"We will," Gwen agreed, "But you have to promise to say 'hello' to Tosh and Owen. Tell them we love them, tell them we miss them, tell them we're sorry. We love you too Ianto. Thank you, for being there." Her cries echoed on the wind, sounding like a ghoulish moan floating over the moors, and Jack shivered involuntarily. Almost instantly, his arms were around her shoulders, his sobs joined hers until he managed to convince her to stand.

"I don't want to leave him here," she protested weakly.

"He'll be okay; he's got Torchwood protecting him."

By the defeated slump of her body, Gwen understood what he meant. If Ianto had gone where Tosh and Owen had gone, then she knew he must be safe.

"Where are we going?"

He led her away, pulling at her struggling hands. "Home. Back to the Hub. There's something we have to do, before we can get back to work. There's just one last thing I have to do before I can carry on." His eyes were lowered, his face was grim and white. He knew what was coming would be hard, heartbreaking even, but it was for the best… it was all he could do in the circumstances. He literally had no other choice and, he kept telling himself as he hugged her to him, it was for Gwen's own good.

=O

Yes, a cliffhanger! Haha!

Next one is reading and waiting, assuming I don't disconnect from the internet completely... =P