The next chapter please review thank you and happy new year.
"So, tell me more about Jack." The lieutenant said as they sat down with their drinks.
"There's not much to say, we've never known much about him, Jacks not even his real name."
"Interesting."
"Lieutenant..."she cut him off,
"Call me Louise...that's my first name and my real name." He looked at her.
"So three months before we get your name."
"No before you get my first name." She smiled.
"Louise, it suits you we were speculating whether or not you had one!"
"You like working for Torchwood?"
"Yes I love it. It's the best job ever. The things you see, people you meet..." he trailed off.
"There are ups and downs to every job."
"Yes, downside to Torchwood, death and the fact you can never leave."
"At least you can't get fired!" he laughed.
"I nearly was once, nearly retconed out of my own life. Everything I ever was." she looked at him he was staring down into his pint.
"Jack would never fire you." She said astounded.
"It wasn't always like this, I mean me and him before there was nothing. I was different." He looked up at her. She was more than a little confused but she didn't push him for more.
"So you're seeing each other again?"
"It was like I was never gone; well you know what I mean. We're not together we just dabble." He smiled again.
"His dabbling is very good." She smiled cheekily at Ianto.
"Oh yes." They laughed together, Ianto eyes widening as he finished his drink.
"You want another?"
"No Thanks I'm alright at the moment." She lifted the glass and took a sip. He went back up to the bar. He came back and sat down.
"So, I bet you've see some amazing places!"
"Yes I suppose I have! Not all beauty is good though, I've seen more war and devastation. Earth is comparatively peaceful."
"It's very hard to imagine, Jack talks about the Boeshane peninsula all the time and other amazing places he's been and I try to imagine them and it's so hard." He looked at her, resting his head in his hand as if he had to hold his head on.
"Tell you what, I'll take you one day then you won't have to imagine you'll know what it's like." His eyes widened and he put his pint down in disbelief.
"You'll take me to space?" he gestured from her back to himself then at the ceiling as if indicating space. Louise laughed.
"Yes one trip anywhere you like, well if you want to that is. I won't take you anywhere near a war though and I can't take you to a parallel world other than the obvious reason of we can't have two Ianto Jones running round on one planet also the pathways are very narrow and most still closed up. Tell you where's great, the planet Barcelona always the perfect temperature for every individual and the dogs don't have noses! How cool is that! But we can go anywhere in space or time!" Ianto watched her talk animatedly, she took a sip of her drink once she'd finished.
"It's very impressive." Ianto felt slightly overwhelmed.
"Yes I suppose it is!" they both laughed.
"So why have you decided to stay on earth?"
"Where do I start?" she rolled her eyes Ianto knew she was trying to avoid the conversation, she drained her drink.
"At the beginning?" he proffered. She smiled knowing she was going to have answer.
"Well when the war ended on Gallifrey I was going to leave and find my bonded partner," Ianto looked a little confused. "Time Lords don't have much freewill; we have destinies and soul mates, when we find our soul mate that's it, we live out our lives with them." Ianto nodded. "It's really complicated." She shied away from telling him.
"I want to know, please I know it will be hard but I'd like to know."
"Well I was lucky I fell in love with The Doctor long before I came of age to find my bonded partner and it was him." Ianto watched her smile to herself. "Anyway he's always been over protective and when I found him we went travelling and he changed his mind, I understand why a little now it's because I'm not destined to be with him anymore, the way things are now aren't how they were 600 years ago. He's trying to protect me, so he fused my co-ordinates to Earth, to Torchwood, entrusting Jack to look after me. Unfortunately my TARDIS was damaged coming though your atmosphere it nearly burnt up."
"But you've fixed it now and you can leave but you've decided to stay instead?" Ianto didn't understand if she could leave why did she stay?
"The doctor fused my ship I can't go anywhere for the moment. It's apparently on a loop I can leave for as long as I like to one place then when I try to go somewhere else I'll automatically find myself back in the Torchwood Hub and I will be able to leave again in about a year, apparently I haven't tested it yet."
"Jack talks about the Doctor a lot, you both seem to know him well."
"We know him better than most."
"He seems very illusive from the way Jack talks about him." He drained his drink.
"I'm better get back to the Hub." She said standing up and starting to put her coat on.
"I'll walk you back." He stood up and shrugged into his jacket.
"No it's ok. I can get back safe on my own."
"I know you can, I want to walk you back." She smiled at him, such a gentleman.
"Alright then let's go." He offered her his arm, she took it and they stepped out into the cool Cardiff night, walking back along the bay.
"You know its nice having a new team member." Ianto mused.
"Thanks." She laughed, "The rest of you aren't bad either!"
"Thanks," he nodded, "I'll bare that in mind!" they laughed together it was only a short walk from the pub back to the Hub.
"I'll go through the tourist office entrance, its quieter it won't wake Jack up."
"You sneak out often then?" He enquired.
"Yes just for some fresh air. It gets awfully musty down there!" they walked past the water tower outside the millennium centre.
"Where do you go?"
"Anywhere most of the time I just sit on the benches or walk around for hours, I think Jack knows but he's never questioned it, I like to think he doesn't." Ianto looked at her, he'd enjoyed her company and she'd loosened up a little.
"You want to sit out for a bit it's a beautifully clear night." She nodded and he steered her to a bench near the edge of the bay. They sat down and she looked up at the sky wondering how long it would be till she had to shut herself away for the safety of the planet.
"They look so far away from here yet I can reach them in around 5 seconds." Ianto looked up at them, all the stars twinkling in the dark. She lent her head on his shoulder, she felt so lonely knowing that she may not be able to see this in a months' time, "I feel so alone Ianto, why do I feel so alone?" she knew the young man could never know the answer but felt comforted by him.
"You're stuck millions, if not billions of Miles away from home, without anyone not even the man you love, you feel lonely because you feel rejected." She took a deep breath in knowing he was right.
"I don't belong with him anymore, I'll always love him but I know I'll move on. He'd not my destiny anymore, I don't know what is I wonder if he knew what it's going to be and I'm trapped here not knowing what's going to happen." A single tear fell from her cheek onto Ianto's jacket he saw another one fall before she quickly wiped the rest away. He put his arm around her. He knew he could never understand how she felt but knew he could comfort her. He loved Jack but found he cared more and more for the lieutenant. He corrected himself, for Louise and found it bought a mix of feelings and memories of Lisa back to him.
"You're not alone," he said quietly, "you have us, Gwen, Jack and me we're your family now!" he said chirpily and she found she couldn't help but smile.
"Your right I do. Thank you Ianto." She put her right hand on his left and looked up at him, his eyes rolled back and she placed her hands on either side of his head, to anyone walking by they just looked like another couple. She carefully pushed into his mind, delving into his thoughts without him knowing, she wasn't sure how she was doing it. His body temperature was lower but she knew she was controlling it and knew she could bring him out of it without him even knowing he'd stopped. She ran her hand over his cheek, she felt bad for doing it but she found she needed to know more about Torchwood. Placing her hand back on his, he woke.
"It's quite alright; I can't imagine how hard it is for you."
"I'd better go in; Jack will wonder what I'm up to!"
"If he asks don't tell him it'll drive him mad!" Ianto said getting up. She laughed.
"I'll tell him you said that!" they walked over to the door and Ianto unlocked it letting her inside, closing the door behind them. "I'll see you in the morning." She said pressing the button that opened the door. She gave him a hug. He just stood there, he hadn't expected that!
"Thanks for tonight it was nice." She carefully lent in and kissed his cheek softly then slipped through the door as it closed.
He stood there a minute longer smiling to himself, slightly stunned. He turned on his heel and left locking the door behind him.
TWTWTW
She skipped down the steps through the large cog shaped door into the Hub.
"Good night?" Jack came out of his office.
"Yes thanks." She kept walking towards her TARDIS .
"Did Ianto enjoy himself?"
"I'd like to think so." She turned looking at Jack wondering where this was going.
"Or do you know so?"
"I'm sorry, what?"
"Oh come on, Louise, what else are you hiding from me? I just watched Ianto's body temperature drop at your touch and then you touch his temples and then his temperature return to normal. So I have a very funny feeling that you where responsible!"
"I just froze him momentarily, and you shouldn't spy on your staff either, you can't take the moral high ground here Jack."
"Ok no I can't but you froze him?"
"Yes, I'm not quite sure how it happened I just remember wishing I could look in his mind and then he was still."
"Why would you do that?"
"You don't tell me anything Jack so I have to try and find everything out for myself, I need to know who you are, what you don't want them to know."
"Have you done it to me?"
"No, else I wouldn't have wanted to do it to Ianto."
"Why didn't you just do it to me?"
"I didn't know I could and you're harder to catch!" she smiled slightly.
"What if Ianto didn't want you to look into his mind."
"I didn't look at his personal life just at Torchwood and...this evening." Jack walked down to the level she was on.
"They are personal to him, what else are you hiding?"
"I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know?" he almost yelled.
"I don't know what other powers I have yet Jack, I'm sort of stumbling upon them. It's rather disconcerting to find these things, these powers. One day I was normal the next thing I know I need to find my bonded partner so I don't destroy the universe."
"Yeh alright, I'm sorry just tell me when you find something else and don't go round freezing other people or going into Iantos mind again." He turned and started to walk away.
"Jack," he turned back to look at her. "May I look at your thoughts?"
"Can I look at yours?" she smiled.
"Yes, a door once opened can be moved through in either direction." he looked at her, she walked away and he practically jumped to follow her, she walked into the TARDIS and through into her bed chamber. Sitting on the bed cross legged Jack joined her.
"Right don't freeze me."
"I won't Jack what do you take me for?"
"A very beautiful yet cunning and sneaky person, now what do I have to do?"
"Just relax, I promise I won't freeze you. Once I've made the connection you will be able to walk around my mind" she paused she didn't know if she liked the idea of that, she carried on explaining, "If you don't want me to see something just imagine a door, I won't go through it and the same applies to you, you don't go through doors. You got it?"
"Yeh, I've got it, what do I do?"
"Nothing once I've established the link you'll feel it, you may feel some discomfort as I go through your memories it can reawaken old suppressed thoughts but it's only a short term revival they will go away again." She looked into jacks eyes. She shuffled a little closer towards him and Jack realised how child like she really was, he remembered how Alice as a teenager did the same, sat cross legged on the floor reading or when she was upset shuffling carefully closer to him for comfort but this was different it felt different he felt like the teenager.
Please review. Happy New Year xxx
