AN: And this one's for the Peanut Gallery: Torchwood – don't own it, ain't making green off it. Summary: A package from home arrives for Eva – and Eva asks Ianto THE question….

Torchwood: Archangel

Chapter Six: Loved Angel

As soon as Ianto had thrown on cargo pants and trainers, he grabbed his flat keys and rushed to Eva's room. The light coming off of her had died down, but her skin and eyes still glowed. She was still in her nightgown – a full length royal blue satin one with spaghetti straps. Ianto had picked it out for her; he remembered Jack had made a comment about him always going for jewel tones as they checked on her one night. Fear suddenly clenched at Ianto's heart. What if this was some kind of summons? What if she was leaving? He realized he didn't want her to go. He wasn't going to lose her. He didn't know how, but he wasn't going to let her.

The glow of energy suddenly flared to life; she simply stepped into her leather slippers and grabbing her long black wrap, threw it over her shoulders. 'Ianto,' she whispered, turning to him and holding out her hand. 'Come with me.' He felt himself drawn to her – he took her outstretched hand and the light enveloped them both, leaving a dark, empty room in its wake.

~~TWTWTW~~

The one thought running through Jack Harkness's mind was a question:

Why does everything go to shit when I give everyone the night off?!

He had just shut off the proximity alert alarm and had a hand-held PDA scanning the – object – that had suddenly appeared in the far corner of the Hub. It was cylinder shaped, peach colored and the size of the Doctor's Police Box. His blood froze for a second.

Could it be another TARDIS? Could it be the Master's?!

At that thought Jack dropped the scanner and ran headlong for the armory. Once there, he pulled out every automatic weapon he could think of and prayed the others would just arrive. The cog door alarms went off and as it opened Gwen stood with her weapon drawn, Rhys following close behind armed with a cricket bat. Since Tosh and Owen's deaths, Rhys had been around a lot more then Jack would have liked, but help was needed and given with no questions asked.

Jack appeared from the armory with two machine guns, two bandoliers of ammunition and a belt of hand grenades and exchanged Gwen's handgun for a machine gun. He then handed the handgun to Rhys and threw the cricket bat to the floor. Just as Gwen was going to ask what the hell was going on, a small yellow light appeared on the crosswalk halfway between where Jack, Gwen and Rhys stood and where the cylinder was situated on the other side of the Hub. The light grew brighter and bigger until all three had to cover their eyes.

When the light vanished, they opened their eyes to see Ianto and Eva standing on the crosswalk. Ianto's arms were wrapped around Eva; Eva's were wrapped around his waist, her head pillowed on his chest. Ianto pulled back slightly and looked deeply into her still burning eyes. 'You got us to the Hub, Eva,' he said softly. 'Thank you.' He then looked up and realized the others were staring. 'The object,' Ianto said, unwrapping his arms from Eva as she did the same. They both looked to the other side of the Hub and Ianto gasped. 'It's for Eva,' he continued, looking back at the others. 'She said it's from her home.'

'Can you confirm that?' Jack asked, a little too harshly. Ianto knew it was because of the way Jack had seen Eva and he together.

'Signal signatures have been confirmed,' Eva said softly, walking towards the cylinder. 'It bears the crests of the Old King, of my Prince and his new title – King Keln Tovar of Nexain.' She breathed in sharply and moved to get closer to the object when a hand took hold of her arm and held her back.

Ianto held her fast, his eyes boring into hers. 'If…if it is a summons…to go home or to fight a battle elsewhere…will you go? And if you do, will you return?'

Smiling, she put her hand on his cheek and caressed it tenderly. 'Always, my Lord,' she whispered. As she turned again, another hand took hold of her arm.

This time, it was Jack. He looked to Ianto and at the way he was dressed: pants wrinkled and hastily thrown on, a tee-shirt he only wore to bed and Eva in the night gown that Ianto picked out for her, her hair wild and disarrayed. If it wasn't for the seriousness of the situation, he'd swear the pair had been shagging before this. He wasn't sure how he felt about that…

Eva looked from the cylinder, to Jack's hand, to Ianto and back to Jack's face with a look of total shock on her own. 'How could you THINK of such a thing NOW?!' she asked, slightly enraged.

'What?!' Jack and Ianto asked together. Ianto then looked to himself, to Eva and narrowed his eyes on Jack as the shoe dropped.

'Only you,' he growled.

I REALLY HAVE TO LEARN HOW TO SHUT DOWN THE PDT, Jack thought.

PERHAPS IF YOUR THOUGHTS WERE NOT SO…EARTHY. THE SNAKE IN EDEN COULD HAVE TAKEN NOTES, MY CAPTAIN, Eva thought back.

Gwen stepped up to Jack and the others. 'What the hell is going on? Why are you geared up like Rambo? And what the hell is that?' she said, pointing at the cylinder.

'It is for me,' Eva stated again. 'My King has sent me something. He has been trying to send me messages, but they were slightly out of phase. I received them only at night and could not understand them…but I could feel his sorrow; his grief. I…I had no idea I meant so much to him. It was part of my programming to feel for him; to care for the Family. But he…he loved me.' She sighed deeply. 'Oh, my poor King.' She moved to go the cylinder again, but Jack held onto her a second time.

She turned to him – and in her eyes and on her face he saw and felt her pain of separation and loss. For although Eva would follow Harkness, Ianto and Gwen to the Gates of Hell and faithfully stand at their sides while they hammered on them declaring war on all within, she belonged to the House of Tovar. They were her home.

AS ARE YOU, YOU EXSAPERATING KAI, she admonished. She then took his hand off her forearm and holding it in both her hands, kissed his knuckles tenderly before releasing it. 'YOU are my future, my Lord Captain Jack Harkness, my Lord Ianto Jones,' she said softly to them both. 'This,' she motioned towards the cylinder. 'It is my past. Once I am done with it, I am Ianto's, I am Gwen's, and I am yours. I am of Torchwood of Cardiff and I truly pity those who would dare stand against us.' She then looked from Jack, to Ianto, Gwen and Rhys, who now stood gathered next to Jack. 'This I swear, my Lords and Dearest Lady, until the end of time,' she said, putting her right fist to her left shoulder and holding her fist out to them all.

She then turned away from them all and began walking towards the cylinder. The energy within her flared to life once again, making the heavy wrap on her shoulders appear as grey gossamer silk. She raised her right hand towards the front of the cylinder where the seals were.

'WHAT IS YOUR DESIGNATION?' A booming male synthesized voice asked, startling everyone in the Hub, including Myfanwy, who screeched indignantly from her perch high above.

'I am Archangel Eva Tovar of the House of Tovar. I was Personal Bodyguard to Prince Keln Tovar and the Royal Family. My original designation was Charon: The Archangel of Death.' And suddenly, the energy within her winked out.

DESIGNATIONS RECOGNIZED. STAND BY FOR INCOMING MESSAGE, the voice continued. Lasers on top of the cylinder pointed down and coalesced into a 3D image of a man in his mid-50's, broad shouldered with shoulder length dark brown hair and crystal blue eyes. He wore armor and robes of ermine and royal purple and blue and sat on a dais of white sandstone. Beside him on a smaller dais sat a blonde woman of uncommon beauty and green eyes. She too wore robes of royal colors. At their sides stood four children ranging in age from six to sixteen; two boys, obviously twins and two girls. All bore semblances to the adults seated. Eva gasped and fell to her knees raising her hands above her head and bowing low to the ground.

'Well met, my dear Archangel,' the man said softly, looking down at her prone form. 'Rise, Last of the Archangel Detail, First and Only of your Kind.' Eva rose from the ground as the man then looked up to the others gathered. When he spotted Jack and Ianto, his features softened. 'Well met my Lord Captain Jack Harkness, my Lord Ianto Jones. You are the ones keeping my Dear One?' The men simply looked to Eva, then to the image and nodded. He then turned to Rhys and Gwen. 'My Lord and Lady Williams,' he said, bowing slightly in their direction. 'I am King Keln Tovar of the planet Nexain; this is my wife, Queen Isabella and our children, Princes Troy and Castor, Princesses Naiven…and Eva.'

Eva's head shot up at that, tears that she had not allowed to fall now flowing freely down her cheeks. 'My Lord King,' she whispered, her voice trembling. 'You would so honor me?'

'We both do, Archangel Tovar,' Queen Isabella answered. 'Were it not for you, my husband would not have survived the attack on his ship. All those that escaped the TimeLords' Master Solution would not have done so had they not followed your instructions and made planetfall on the far side of Nexain. Thousands survived – to go back to their families; to have children of their own. Your Prince never would have become King. My King never would have met me, we never would have married. My children would never have been born. This planet, we…I owe you so much. The Great Time War for you yourself may have been a few months ago, for your colleagues, many millennia ago, but for us it has been 2 decades. There is a celebration every year to commemorate the outcome and honor our dead…and missing. On this year we honored you by unveiling a statue of you before a great temple of learning built in your honor.'

Eva gave a strangled sob as she looked at her King and Queen. 'You would so to honor me, my Lord and Lady? But what I did was part of my programming; my Prince was now King. For Nexain to survive, he needed to be there. I would have laid my life down time and again to achieve that end.'

'And that is why we honor you, my dearest Eva. Even though we are sending this as a live transmission, when you receive it our civilization will have long since passed. But know that it lived well and prospered greatly all because of you,' the King continued. 'Within this vessel are items for you, dearest Eva. A bit of home, if you will. And it is a vessel, Eva. Not as advanced as others, but it yours, to do with as you see fit. There are other vessels within it as well. I believe you will be impressed with the selection. More importantly, your armor is stored within as well. I know that by now you must have died a few times in the presence of the Captain. He is like you, but not the one you have chosen, correct?'

Eva nodded, her cheeks suddenly reddening. 'As you have honored me, I will always honor you. I am Archangel Eva Tovar – I will keep your name. But I am now of Torchwood; of my Liege Captain Jack Harkness. I have chosen, but have yet to make the offer known…' her voice trailed off.

'No need to explain yourself to me, Eva,' Keln Tovar said, smiling sadly as he raised his right hand to her. 'You know your own heart and you will know when the time is right. This vessel is equipped to help when you are ready. Data pods contained within have all the information you will need.' He then looked up to Jack. 'My Lord Captain, my Lords and Lady; we give unto you our most precious of Gifts. I give unto you our Archangel, the only one of her kind. For like you, my Lord Captain, she can die but will always return until the Great One gives her leave to finally come Home. She has learned much from you and holds you all close and dear. Watch over her since we can not. Whatever dangers you face in the future, be not afraid. When she is needed, she will shine.' He looked back to Eva. 'Good Life, Little One,' he whispered, his right hand raised towards her again. Queen Isabella and the children did the same.

'Good Life to you all,' Eva answered, holding her right hand to them. 'My King, my Queen, my Princes and Princesses.' She then looked to Princess Eva. 'Good Life my namesake. My own Little Princess.' They all bowed their heads as the hologram began to flicker and then winked out.

'TRANSMISSION ENDS,' the booming male synthesized voice said. Eva stood staring at the empty area, her mainframe so full of information and emotion that she could not process it all and began to swoon. Ianto and Jack were at her sides in an instant, holding her up before she could fall.

'I am well,' she said automatically in a shaky voice.

'Bullshit,' Jack answered without venom. 'If I've told you once, I've told you thousand times Tovar. I'm not letting you fall.'

Eva looked up into his face, her eyes overflowing with tears as she took hold of his braces and pulled herself into his chest. He held her and Ianto rubbed her back comfortingly as she sobbed into Jack's shirt. Jack realized that this was the first time she had allowed herself to properly grieve for her losses since the night they found her. She never knew how much she was loved then…he hoped she knew that he, Ianto and Gwen loved her very much now. Gwen and Rhys were also rubbing her head and back in a show of support as she continued to grieve.

After a few minutes, Eva pulled back from Jack ready to offer an apology over her outburst. Instead Jack offered her a clean handkerchief and was rewarded with a teary-eyed smile. 'Thank you, my Captain,' she whispered, drying her face and eyes. She then turned to the others. 'All of you.' She then let out a shuddering breath and turned to the cylinder.

It was the color and texture of a column that supported the first Great House of Tovar. Eva knew it well; the Old King took great pride in showing her all of the advancements in construction when she was newly appointed as the Prince's Personal Guard. It broke a part of her programming when she saw the Daleks destroy the House. But she knew the Nexainians, or more importantly, the new King, would rebuild again. She crossed her right hand over her chest, then held it out to the crests on the cylinder. A red laser scanned her hand. When the scan completed, the laser color went from red to green and winked out as the front plate of the cylinder broke apart, opening like two pocket doors into its circular frame. A bright light shone from within, temporarily blinding the others. Eva, however, looked into the light – and suddenly ran inside. Jack and the others quickly followed – and stopped short once they passed the threshold.

'Oh my God,' Jack breathed. 'It's like the TARDIS!'

'Guess she doesn't have to worry about flat hunting now,' Gwen muttered.

The room inside was easily double the size of the Hub. Sunlight streamed in from skylights twenty feet above their heads while the corridors above were lined with side bookshelves filled with books. The area they stood in was a massive atrium made of the same peach textured marble-like substance as the cylinder outside. Depicted on sections inset on the walls were holographic scenes of everyday life on Nexain. Farming, commerce, celebrations, space travel, the arrival of Omega of Gallifrey and forms and holidays of worship. One relief made Eva stop; Jack stood next to her and took her hand as he read the plaque underneath. The Castle of the Tovars.

'I do not remember this,' she said softly, pointing at the hologram.

'I do,' Jack said. 'Field trip to the digs on Nexain when I was a new recruit to the Time Agency. It was the Castle of King Keln Tovar. He built it on the ruins of his father's.'

Eva turned from him, loosening her hand from his caress. She closed her eyes, trying to stop the tears that threatened to fall anew. 'I remember this place. It was where I was educated. I absorbed information faster than any creature before – or after, I would assume. They brought books from all over the planet, then from the libraries of other planets – no worries, no Vashta Nerada here. I neutralized them before they became a threat. It was quite a shock to them when I didn't die. I simply downloaded all the information to my mainframe and burned the infected books. The Prince was laughing so hard I thought the King was going to harm him. They asked for digital copies only after that.' She looked around again, touching the tables and plush chairs dotting the area. 'This place was also destroyed during the Great War. My King must have had artisans reproduce it.'

'To give to you,' Jack finished as Ianto, Gwen and Rhys gathered closer. 'It was said his daughter, Queen Eva, took special interest in your history, since she was your namesake. She was a force to be reckoned with on the Intergalactic diplomatic scene.' He then looked at Eva softly. 'Is this like the vessels of the Time Lords? Can it travel in space and time?'

Eva tilted her head to a side for a moment, then righted herself. 'It feels like it could. Do you feel it? There is a - .'

'Hum,' Ianto said, finishing her sentence. 'Like…like electricity. But something more…something alive.'

'I wonder,' Eva said softly. She then looked up to the ceiling of the great room. 'You can come down now,' she said out loud. 'I have need of assistance.'

A circular pendant hanging from the ceiling opened and a golden sphere the size of a cricket ball descended towards them. It reminded Jack of the Toclafaine and before he knew it the machine gun strapped to his back was in his hands with the safety off and ready to fire.

'HARKNESS!' Eva yelled, her hand pushing the barrel down towards the ground. Ianto, Gwen and Rhys were also looking at him with bewildered expressions on their faces. 'What were you – the Toclafaine?!' Eva exclaimed. 'But they were a Gallifreyan fairy tale…did they ever exist?!'

Jack put the safety back on and let the weapon drop to side, looking at her rather sheepishly. 'Sorry about that; bad memories,' he mumbled.

YOU AND I WILL HAVE TO TALK, she said softly into his mind. She then turned to the golden sphere that bobbed in the air in front of her and raised her right hand to it. 'Show me,' she said. A diode snapped out off its' side and it injected itself into her hand. Jack and the others watched as she glowed again, a slight blue color. They watched as the color flashed through the entire room, lighting fires in the fireplaces that sat in a few walls, starting up the screens and holo-imagers on the tables, showing all the facility had to offer. The light then went out of Eva and the probe removed itself from her hand and locked back into the sphere. 'Download and activation complete,' a computerized voice said from the sphere. 'Is anything else required?'

'You have recorded all present?'

'Affirmative.'

'Then nothing else is required for the moment. You may go now.' The sphere then flew back up into the pendant. Eva looked back to Jack. 'I needed to know the configuration of this vessel. It is a vessel, my Captain. I am sorry but it is configured to my cell structure. It will only fly for me.'

'What was that thing Jack almost shot?' Gwen asked.

'Information orbs,' Eva answered. 'Sort of like floating computers. They know everything about this ship, the mainframe here and more. You can use them outside in the Hub, if you wish.'

Gwen smiled, then turned to Jack, who shook his head. 'Not yet,' he said absently clutching his Wembley. 'Still having problems with flying metal balls.'

Eva looked at him a little closer, walking over to him. 'Show me, my Lord,' she whispered, giving him her hand. 'Please.'

It was the 'please' that undid him as he put his hand in Eva's. At the contact, his PDT synched up with hers and 'The Year That Never Was' played into her mind. The Toclafaine in all their corrupted, sad glory and the madness of the Master; his daily torture of Jack. She felt him hold her hand tightly, she reciprocated with equal fervor.

LIKE IANTO AND HIS NIGHTMARES, I MAKE THE SAME PLEDGE TO YOU, MY CAPTAIN. I WASN'T THERE WHEN YOU NEEDED ME MOST, BUT I AM HERE NOW. AND WOE UNTO THEM THAT MAKE WAR AGAINST THE LORD OF AN ARCHANGEL, she whispered into his mind.

HAVE YOU TOLD HIM EVERYTHING? She asked.

Jack knew who she was talking about. NO, he said evenly.

YOU SHOULD. IT MAY HELP.

OR IT MAY BURDEN HIM WITH MORE THAN HE NEEDS TO CARRY, Jack said quickly.

Eva chuckled. TRUE, BUT HE HAS FEARS OF HIS OWN THAT HE DOES NOT TELL YOU OF BECAUSE HE DOESN'T WANT TO BECOME A BURDEN TO YOU. PERHAPS IF YOU SHARE YOURS WITH HIM, HE MAY WANT TO SHARE HIS WITH YOU.

Jack looked down into her eyes, dark brown now with swirls of green dancing in them. 'When did you become so wise?' he asked softly out loud.

She smiled softly as she looked to the others. 'Honestly, I do not know,' she answered. She then looked to a main corridor off the great room. 'Let's explore. There are quite a few rooms in here,' Eva said, holding out her hands to Ianto and Jack. They took them without question. 'I must see the armory and this 'armor' King Tovar spoke of.'

'Why?' asked Ianto as Gwen and Rhys followed them down the corridor.

'Because I was told of it. I had armor before this – but this intrigues me.'

At the third door on the right, Eva stopped and taking hold of the knob, unlocked the door and pushed it open. She, Jack and Ianto gasped. Rhys and Gwen practically screamed. 'I remember this,' Eva whispered. 'But, oh…so much more has been added.'

Inside, the room was split in two sections. One side had swords of every form from short dirks to long jousting blades to Japanese style katanas on shelves and peg walls. The other had firearms similar to Jack's Wembley to Mickey's double laser pulse cannon and beyond. But it was the objects on the wall in the center between the two sides that took everyone's attention.

'I do not remember that,' Eva breathed as she walked towards it. The armor was a glistening black on the arms and legs that morphed into a deep blood red near the heart on the breastplate. The headpiece was almost like a motorcycle helmet with a black faceplate. Eva stroked the metal tenderly. 'By the Great One,' she whispered. 'Durilium. It is Durilium, the strongest metal in the universe. It is tempered by processing it in the center of a temporal vortex. Oh my King…what else have you done?' She then looked to Jack. 'This is an updated version of what I wore during my first mission. I have never seen the original since. It was said the Old King had it destroyed.' She then looked at the breastplate as an insignia emblazoned itself on its surface. 'Oh my,' she said pointing at the insignia. Jack smiled broadly at it as the others simply stared. Ianto began smiling as well. It was a series of octagonal shapes in the form of a capital 'T'.

'Torchwood,' Ianto breathed. 'No mistaking who you stand for with that on.'

Eva turned to Jack again. 'Do you approve, my Captain?' she asked.

Jack looked at her, pride burning in his eyes. 'Hell yes.'

She then held her right hand up to it and in a flash of white light, the armor was on her. The black color of it melding with the crimson red; and the Torchwood emblem on its' chest…she was a vision. In her hands she held a broadsword and the visor of the helmet was down. To Ianto, she was ready for battle. She appeared as Saint George, ready to fight the dragons of the world, the universe.

Eva raised the sword to her visor and lightly tapped the metal to her head. 'As I said before, I say again. I am the Archangel Eva Tovar – OF TORCHWOOD,' her voice rang clearly even through the helmet. She raised her left hand and the armor vanished, resting back in its place of honor on the wall. Next to it mounted on the wall was an opaque rectangular box. Within it another suit of armor could just be made out.

'What is that?' Gwen and Rhys suddenly asked together. They both turned to each other and laughed. Jack and Ianto both smiled in turn until they saw a cloud pass over Eva's features as she looked at the box.

'It… it is the armor of another,' she said sadly. 'One that may never be.' She then turned away and walked out of the room. The others followed her to the main corridor, where she led them to the other rooms within. A kitchen, a workout room and a closet room that had Jack laughing until there were tears in his eyes.

'Oh God,' he breathed. 'The Doctor would have a cow over this! His closet is only HALF the size of this!'

It was filled with ball gowns and demin, the finest of silks and cotton. Furs and cloaks and coats of all kinds. She even noticed a few gabardine patterns and smart skirt suits that would have made Ianto proud. There were shoes, boots and sandals to satisfy the cravings of any shoe fetishist. Eva then turned to Ianto, a small sad smile on her lips. 'I believe this means you no longer have to take me shopping.' Ianto smiled back and slipped his hand into hers.

'We can always window shop,' he answered softly.

Moving on they found four rooms the plans designated as 'sleeping quarters'. Gwen mooned over every room they opened, commenting on the color and décor of each. The last room of the corridor was simply titled 'Eva's Room' in the plans. It had double doors of the finest woods the planet of Nexain had to offer. The artistry of the carpentry work done to them was exquisite. Eva took hold of the door handles and let go suddenly, gasping.

'What?' Jack asked, suddenly at her side.

'The handles; they are solid gold. Solid Andorran gold – a rare precious metal of the Kingdom,' she breathed, taking hold of the knobs and pushing open the doors.

The appointments of the rooms were beyond measure. The room was cut into three areas: bedroom, lounging area and bathroom. Silks hung from windows, brocaded linens covered the bed, settees, chaise lounges and chairs. Furs of the highest quality were laid on the peach marble floors and draped across furniture made by the finest and most gifted of artisans.

A great fireplace was set against one wall of the lounging area that could be seen from the signature piece of the entire suite: the bed. It was made of carved rosewood from Nexain. It was a giant four poster bed with curtains made of gossamer silks in colors of browns, burnt oranges and mint greens to blend with the peach of the marble. The headboard was engraved with Eva's own insignia and it was large enough to accommodate all five of them and then some – as Jack gleefully proved by grabbing Ianto, Eva, Gwen and then Rhys and tossing each on the bed. He then threw himself on between Ianto and Eva.

They were all laughing and adjusting the plush, silk covered pillows around them. Then Jack noticed the bed curtains – and gasped. They were encrusted with diamonds and jewels sewn in intricate patterns on the curtains. But it was the diamonds that caught his attention.

'What is it?' Ianto asked. Jack brought the curtains on to the bed and pointed at the diamonds.

'Arcadian diamonds. The rarest gems of the Damaceen Cluster,' Jack answered. Gwen and Ianto both looked to Jack, the curtains, then back to each other – and laughed long and loud.

'They weren't in my time,' Eva said softly. 'I…always had a soft spot for them. My Lord the Prince would always give them to me, either as whole gems or fashioned into jewelry. I wore them only when I was in the presence of the Royal Highnesses alone. The stones were considered too common to be worn in public – and they would have interfered in the event of emergency combat. The Queen was also fond of the gems; the Old King gave me her trinkets of them when she passed.'

'Eva,' Ianto said, pointing to a dressing table to the right of the bed. Eva crawled off the bed, Ianto following her. On the table were several jewelry boxes. Eva's hand immediately went to her mouth. She opened the first and inside was jewelry…Arcadian diamond jewelry.

Ianto pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her. 'Oh Eva,' he whispered, his Welsh accent deep with emotion. 'They loved you…so much.'

TWTWTWTWTWTW

Since the arrival of the cylinder ruined everyone's sleep, Eva offered the rooms up to everyone to catch up on that lost sleep. Gwen and Rhys immediately took one of the first rooms they saw. It had a grand bathtub and a wonderful bed, Gwen had noted. Eva told them not to worry about tidying up after themselves; the vessel was equipped with cleanbots that would handle any messes.

She then put the vessel in sleep mode and all of the lighting within dimmed. Eva walked back into her room and bypassed the bed, going to the balcony in the lounging area. The balcony was set as if it were open to the desert world of Nexain. Eva gathered the thick wrap she still had on closer to her as she stepped out onto the balcony, admiring the holo-generated view.

After a few minutes of enjoying the desert's evening breezes, she felt the presence of Ianto behind her.

'Yes, Ianto Jones?' she asked politely.

'I checked on the Hub, just to make sure everything was okay,' he said, stepping next to her and admiring the view.

'Where is the Captain?' she asked.

'Enjoying that island of a bed,' Ianto said, smirking. 'I don't think he'll ever want to sleep on my measly King bed again.' Both he and Eva shared a chuckle over that, then turned back out to admire the view.

'Eva,' he said softly.

'Yes?' she answered.

'Who does that other set of armor belong to?'

'No one,' she answered quickly. 'Not as of yet.'

Ianto turned from the view to her. 'Eva,' he began. 'The King asked if you had made a choice. What did he mean?'

Eva sighed deeply, then turned to sit on a plush settee on the balcony. She patted the cushion next to her. 'Sit with me, please? I have much to say – and a question to pose to you.'

Ianto raised an eyebrow to her request, but sat immediately. Eva was sometimes like Jack in that she didn't always offer information. She sighed again and looked to Ianto with something akin to fear in her gaze. Ianto took her hand in his. 'Don't be afraid, Eva. I won't bite.'

Eva chuckled and studied the hand in hers as she began.

'You know that I am like the Captain. I will not stay dead. Even without the nano genes helping, I am touched by the same power that keeps bringing him back to life.' Ianto nodded.

'When I was created and my creators and the Old King realized what a mistake they had made, the Old King sent a query throughout the planet for scholar and charlatan alike to answer: he asked if one was able to live forever, what would make their long existence bearable? The answer was unanimous – if one lives forever, they need a mate that can do the same to ease their collective loneliness. So…I was given the ability to choose one Kai as my mate…and ask him or her to walk through eternity with me.' She still had not looked into his face, instead was tracing the lifelines in the palm of his hand. She then looked into his face, her eyes swirling toffee and emerald pools.

'Ianto Jones…I have found none other worthy of the Gift granted to me. I wish to grant it to you. I wish….I want…for you to become like me, like Jack, but more. I wish for you to become an Archangel. Your designation would be The Metatron: The Voice of the Great One.' Eva then stopped and looked down again.

Ianto simply stared at her; his silence her only answer.

'I am sorry if I offended-,' she began.

'Would Jack be with us?' he asked suddenly, holding Eva's hand tightly as he cut her off.

Eva nodded. 'Of course, we would be Torchwood's Archangels. Woe unto them that would stand against those that we protect.'

Ianto smiled softly, then leaned in and kissed Eva tenderly on her lips. He then brought his mouth to the side of her neck.

'Archangel Eva Tovar of Torchwood, my answer is yes,' he whispered softly against her ear.

AN: Good grief – I feel like I just read 'The Stand' all over again! Well, B & G's, thanks for sticking around – hope this was a proper build-up, sorry this kind of fluffed up a bit – but I finally got the train back on the rails! So, if you like, hate, don't really know, please review…Plot Bunnies need to be fed and made happy; that way I can create a little more….