"Late birthday present," Jack told me as he strapped my VM back on my arm. "Everything works now."

"You didn't!" I cried out.

"She's cute," he added. "Nice kid. Definitely the Doctor's daughter. One hundred percent your sister."

"Two hundred," I corrected him with tears in my eyes. "Did she fix yours?" I asked him.

"Didn't tell her it was broken," he shrugged. "I think it's too dangerous for anomalies like me to move through time too casually. Well, Jenny said something to that effect about herself. She said there was plenty of Universe to see in her own Time Zone anyway."

"She talks like a Time Lord," I remarked, smiling.

"She says her father told her that being a Time Lord comes from long-standing traditions and it was a legacy she hadn't inherited, being pre-programmed for war. She also said she knew he'd loved her, and for her that was enough. I don't think she expects to see him again," Jack told me.

"I will, someday," I murmured, "but I'm meant to wait. I don't know about Jenny. Maybe someday he'll find her, too. The problem is, in both cases, that he isn't looking."

"You let Martha keep believing she's dead," he pointed out.

"Safer that way," I shrugged. "It's not time yet. He's not meant to know, and Martha loves him too much. If he hasn't found Jenny again by the time he comes for me, I suppose I'll tell him."

"Anything new about Rose?" he asked me softly.

"No, Jack, I'm sorry. She wasn't bound to the paradox. Every time I try to focus on her, my head swims. It's like she's drifting," I told him sincerely.

"I don't think she should try to find her, Jack," Ianto finally spoke up beside me. "She fainted again. She was out a full ten minutes. Then I spilled some tea and it snapped her out of it. Weird, that."

"Tea?" Jack inquired, quite a bit more amused than concerned.

"Tea," Ianto assured him. "Don't tell John; I'll never hear the end of it."

"I think my dad mentioned something about tea once, actually," I put in. "Free radicals, anti-oxidants, tannin... He also said something about celery, though. I'd always assumed he meant celery tea," I admitted.

"Well, you were just a kid; it's forgivable," Jack said.

"Most Gallifreyans learn quantum mechanics in infant school," I scoffed. "I was a complete embarrassment."

"You're amazing," Jack protested. "She was a fortune teller for a while," he told Ianto. "Has she told you about that?"

"She told me about the trapeze and working as a contortionist," he replied, then got a wistful, far-away look in his eyes, biting his bottom lip.

"Down, boy," Jack teased, but there was little fun in his voice. "This was before that. Long before, when she was still small. There was a girl who read Tarot; everyone said she was amazingly accurate; and Torchwood wanted to investigate. She was a friend of mine, so I fabricated a few false testimonies about her being a fraud to keep her safe. Torchwood had asked too many questions, though; they weren't very careful back in 1902; and someone started kidnapping little girls that met her description. Brunette, age 8 to 10, thin, long hair. One of the girls meeting that description was an orphan named Miranda Small."

"What did they want her for?" Ianto asked, brow furrowed with worry.

"To see the future," I told him. "To know their fate. And to make a profit. How long did they have me, Jack? That entire episode is a bit of a blur to me now."

"Three months, give or take," he said. "They travelled a lot, and Torchwood kept sending me on errands in the opposite direction. Finally they heard about another strange little girl, this one a palm-reader, and sent me the right way. I found her in Brighton."

"Did they hurt you, Sage?" Ianto inquired, his eyes full of concern.

"A bit. I told them I knew their fate, but I refused to tell them what it was. I made sure I was useful enough to be kept alive," I told him.

"What was their fate?"

"Jack was," I said simply. "Torchwood had never gotten my name. They just called me The Seer. Jack told them I'd been killed; shot in the head; that my brain was useless for study. Peter and Leighton Wolfe met an early end; death by Torchwood. I had to stay hidden for a few years until I grew up a bit. I read too much, didn't I, Jack."

"You always did," he said with a nostalgic smile.

"Where are my books, Jack?" I ventured.

"Storage locker 219, next to Alex Hopkins's things. Sorry I forgot to get them for you," he apologized.

"Not like they fit here," I put in.

"They fit at my place," Ianto supplied. "At least, they should. I've got a whole extra room I've never used. The tenant before me was a professor of literature."

"Are you saying you have a study, Ianto?" I asked him, excited. "A real study? With bookshelves?"

"And a desk," he told me. "If I'd known you were a bibliophile, I'd have mentioned it sooner. You look like you've just won the lottery."

"Oh, wow, I have!" I exclaimed.

"Nasty mess, that thing with the Wolfe Brothers," Ianto remarked suddenly, going back to the previous subject. "I read the file. Said they'd dismembered the little girl. I always thought Jack had been right to rid the world of them. Turns out the little girl lived and grew up to be you," he murmured.

"Still think I was right?" Jack asked him.

"More than ever," Ianto admitted. "No one should ever hurt a child in any way, or use them to turn a profit. Especially not a gifted child."

"I'm not gifted enough," I berated myself. "It's a curse."

"You're a blessing," Jack told me, kissing my temple. "And a damn good shot, too. That's why she's been packing iron since she was ten. Too many men out to take advantage of a girl on her own, and I couldn't always be there. I could almost never be there," he admitted.

"I've never killed anyone, though," I said.

"But you've winged a few," Jack remarked. "Many a man has been lucky you're such a good shot." After a moment, he added, "I see your hand's healed."

"Shouldn't have taken this long," I pointed out what he already knew.

"Allergy, maybe?" he ventured.

"Or stress," Ianto put in. "I mean, you had two heart attacks. That's bound to wreak havoc on your immune system no matter what planet you're from."

"What do you think, Doctor Jones?" Jack quipped. "Prescribed bed rest?"

"Definitely," Ianto agreed without missing a beat, "though I doubt there'll be much rest involved."

I chuckled. "And what? Leave John in charge of Hub security?"

"Who said I was going with you? Patients generally only need one doctor," Jack told me softly, kissing me on the forehead.

"Jack..."

"Go on," he said. "I'll keep Vera out of trouble."

"Vera?" I inquired.

"Don't ask," Ianto told me.

"Vera was John's pet viper," I told him. "When did he—"

"Wow," Jack blurted. "His what? I thought he was just being cute."

"That thing ate three rats per day," I put in. "Huge."

"And I thought Myfanawy was an odd choice for a pet," Ianto remarked.

"I think he and I are overdue for a chat," Jack decided, turning to leave.

"Just don't let him get on the subject of trouser snakes," Ianto called after him, to which Jack just raised a hand, but I stared. "What?"

I burst out laughing. For Ianto, it was terrible gutter talk, so I guessed it must have been a phrase he learned from Jack. But that was the thing about Ianto. He could surprise you.