"Ow..." I groaned as my head hit the cement. "I think I just got permanent brain damage." I blinked my eyes open to be staring right at the warehouse ceiling, this time it was dark. "Mel, Mel, what day is it?"
Mel rolled over and dug around in her jeans for her cell phone. I smiled when I saw that both her and my rings were still on our fingers.
"It's June 12th, 2006." Mel smiled as she helped me stand up. "We've been gone for two and a half months." She dusted herself off and looked around the warehouse. "If I know Jack, and I know him fairly well, he'll be here in a matter of minutes after the size of that rift spike." I nodded and looked at the floor. Everything that had happened was floating around my brain, foggy like waking up from a dream. I bit my lip and sighed quietly.
"Guys, there's someone in here." I heard a muffled voice say. My stomach felt all warm as I placed the voice. It was Tosh. Mel and I slowly walked towards the opening door. "Hello?"
"TOSH!" I laughed, a spring in my step. Tosh froze in the door, her mouth hanging open. I laughed. "Tosh, I've miss you so much!" I pulled her into a hug and smiled. Tosh stood still, then wrapped her arms around me tightly.
"Charlotte, I am so glad to see you. We were worried you guys had died or something. All of a sudden, you were just...gone." She pulled away and bit her lip. "I'll be right back. I have to go do something." She ran out of the warehouse. Mel and I stepped out into the cloudy day and looked around. The SUV was parked about 100 yards away. Jack and Owen were walking over, Jack a few feet behind Owen. As they got closer, Owen ran the rest of the way over to Mel.
"Mel!" He hesitated for a moment before wrapping his arms tightly around her and pulling her into a hug. "You're safe." He said relieved. I smiled at the two of them. Mel bit her lip and stood on her tiptoes to kiss him. Owen pulled away slightly, but then kissed her back. I laughed to myself as Jack stared at the two of them. When Mel pulled away, Owen looked bewildered.
"What was that for?" He laughed. Mel blushed and looked at the floor.
"Just because." She laughed. Jack looked at her and then at me, knowingly. "Is Ianto here?" Mel laughed, looking at me before looking at Jack. Jack shook his head.
"Ianto, well, Ianto hasn't come into work for a while." Jack said with a straight face. My stomach twisted into knots and I felt light-headed.
"Is...he's alright, isn't he?" Mel came over and put a comforting hand on my shoulder in hopes of calming me down. I just stood there, imagining the worst. Scared that my future that I longed to return to would not happen. Jack nodded.
"He's better then he used to be. If you want, I'll drop you off at his apartment after Owen makes sure you're okay." Jack smiled at me and patted me on the back. "Let's get you back to the hub."
It was stony silent the entire ride home. Mel and I were exhausted and were drifting in and out of sleep the entire time. I smiled when Mel fell asleep on Owen's shoulder, but the majority of the ride, my mind was far away. My mind was on Ianto. I wanted to make sure he was okay, to hold him close to me, to kiss him. I wanted to see him.
"Charlotte?" Jack was standing with the door open. I snapped out of my thought and got out of the car. Jack rested his hand on my shoulder and led me to the hub.
I sat on the exam table, staring at the floor. Owen was running some tests on my blood. Mel was sitting on the counter across from me.
"Charlie, are you okay?" Owen looked at me, swirling around a solution. I looked up and nodded quietly. "You're done for right now, so if you want to tell Jack you're finished, I'm sure he'd bring you over to Ianto's." Owen gave me a smile and helped me off the table.
"Thanks." I said quietly. Owen nodded. I gave one last look at a smiling Mel before walking into Jack's office.