Ianto shook his head...he couldn't be losing it, not now? Perhaps he was more tired than he thought. He put the paperwork down and moved over to the small cot that had been provided for him.
He closed his eyes and was asleep in seconds, only to find he was in a place that he didn't want to be.
The corridor was full of smoke and the sounds of battle filled the air. He looked around in confusion...as dreams go this was different.
Then he heard it, that cry that would curdle the blood of even the bravest man.
"Exterminate! Find the Emperor!"
He backed into what he hoped was a safe corner just as three metallic shapes of certain death loomed out of the smoke. They halted, heads swivelling, looking for fresh kill.
Another shape loomed out of the smoke, another Dalek but this one was different. It was a striking red with gold bobbles and if Ianto wasn't seeing things, the other Daleks showed deference to it.
"You will locate the chamber! Find the Emperor!" it shrieked.
The trio of death glided away into the smoke, but the red Dalek did not move.
Ianto froze as it seemed to look in his direction and for a brief second he thought he was Dalek dust.
A noise from the red Daleks left caused it to turn away and it moved off into the smoke and seconds later there was the all too familiar cry of "Exterminate!" and the scream of a person cut short by the sound of a Dalek rake.
Ianto closed his eyes sickened by the fact that he was happy it wasn't himself that had been exterminated. He opened his eyes when he thought he heard familiar voices in the distance.
He knew he should really be running in the opposite direction...even if this was only a nightmare. But he didn't...he was drawn towards the voices.
The smoke began to clear as he moved along the corridor and he found himself in front of an open door.
Then he heard the voices again, and this time he recognised them...it was Jack and the Doctor.
"Do you think you can destroy me?" the Doctor's voice rang out, slightly muffled by the smoke.
Ianto frowned, although it was the Doctor's voice, it didn't sound right...it sounded. He paled, he knew who it was and it wasn't the Doctor.
"The Light will not accept you as a host. It will destroy you," the voice continued.
"Fine, but at least you'll go with it. All that power in one place. Be pretty explosive and fatal."
That was Jack's voice, he sounded strained and very unhappy.
"Perhaps, shall we see," the Doctor's voice replied. The words were followed by an inarticulate snarl and the sounds of bodies meeting.
Ianto felt it in his feet first, something was rumbling underfoot. Then he saw it, the smoke was becoming filled with light.
He had to turn away as the light became too bright and he felt like his skin was burning. Then his world became white hot and he felt himself burn.
The light flashed even brighter and he expected to find himself in the afterlife, but instead he found himself back in his room...except he wasn't alone.
He blinked, why was there a ghost of an old man standing in front of him?
He moved as far back as he could when the figure reached for him. It stopped a few inches from him and spoke.
"Do not be afraid of me Ianto Jones. The vision you have just seen has yet to happen...the future is not yet set. You must come to my temple...you must accept the Light. You must come, Ianto Jones!"
With that the figure reached out and touched Ianto's head with a ghostly finger and once again burning light filled him and he collapsed into a deep sleep once again.
The ghostly figure started to fade. "You must come, Ianto Jones. You must accept the light and destroy the Darkness."
Jack and Gwen stepped out of the TARDIS and back into the busy encampment that was the rebel headquarters.
Jack could not risk taking the TARDIS any further, even thought it rumbled in protest.
"I can't old girl. If by some miracle I get him back, he'll never forgive me if I lose you."
The TARDIS rumbled again, a distinct displeased tone to it.
"Don't take that tone with me. You know I'm right. If I can't save him, then you need to be as far away from him as possible. The Darkness will do worse to you than the Master did and he wouldn't want that. So I'm sorry that I have to do what I have to do now," Jack said.
He gestured to someone just out of sight.
A few seconds later Jack felt the static build in the air and suddenly a blue circle of light wrapped itself around the TARDIS.
"I'm sorry, but I can't have you taking off after him and I'm sorry if it hurts."
The TARDIS filled his head with anger and then shut herself off from him in what could only be disgust.
Jack hung his head and turned away.
"You had to do it Jack," Gwen said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Come on Jack, Lissar says he has a surprise for us."
Jack allowed Gwen to lead him away from the unhappy wooden box...would she ever forgive him?
But that was all forgotten when he spied a familiar figure in the distance and his spirits raised.
Ianto found himself with an armful of one happy captain and bore the embrace with what seemed quiet dignity. However, inside he was a turmoil of confusion and if he admitted it...fear.
The nightmare had seemed so real, as had the figure that had appeared in his room. But what disturbed him most was the fact that he had the urge to take one of the fighters and head to...he wasn't sure where but he knew it was somewhere. Why couldn't he see where?
Another hearty slap from Jack shattered his train of thought and he was brought back to reality.
But when they were no longer in the public but were back in his room, the mood changed.
Jack was looking him directly in the eyes, a serious expression on his face. "Did he hurt you?"
"Only my body Jack, not my mind. So don't think about revenge, you'll only hurt the Doctor, not the thing that using his body. But what happened to me isn't important, what's happened since is. The Darkness still has him, doesn't he?"
Jack shook his head. "Yes and no...things have happened Ianto...bad things."
Ianto could see Jack was fighting back unshed tears. "Tell me Jack, tell me everything."
The Dalek fleet coasted to a stop just outside the planetary system that was home to the rebel base.
The Darkness stood looking out at the inky blackness, his head full of questions. Why had Captain Harkness returned here? Why hadn't he gone straight to next location?
This was something he hadn't expected and that worried him. He thought he knew everything about on Jack Harkness, thought he'd dragged every memory from the Time lord. He could still feel the barrier that stopped him from plundering the darkest secrets of the Time Lord's mind.
But for now his main concern was how long he could keep control of the Dalek forces. He'd seen many things when he'd gained their collective memories.
He'd seen that they would soon depose if they thought he was weak or not of the same mind as them. He knew he could be living on borrowed time...but no matter.
Once he'd destroyed his ancient enemy, he would be all powerful and not even these Daleks would stop him.
He felt the presence of the Supreme Dalek before it even entered the room. It glided up to him and stood beside him.
"I await you orders!" it barked.
"Yes, it seems the good captain is being tardy. Perhaps a little encouragement is needed. Prepare my personal battle cruiser. Let's give the captain a not so gentle reminder."
"I obey!" the Supreme Dalek replied.
The Darkness looked out into the inky blackness once again. He was about to turn away when he felt something...something he hadn't felt for so long.
He smiled to himself...the ancient enemy was stirring; soon the final battle would begin.
Jack and Gwen stood outside the sleek craft that was going to be their ride.
"Are you sure you two don't want to come?" Jack said to Ianto and Martha, who were standing opposite them.
Ianto shook his head. "I'm not fit enough yet," he said, knowing it was a lie.
"I'm needed here," Martha said.
Jack nodded. "Sure, we'd better get going. I don't know how long a led we have on the Darkness and the Daleks."
With another hug and a not quite tearful farewell they started climbing the ramp...well they were until hell suddenly broke loose.
A deep rumbling filled the air and something appeared through the clouds. All four of them paled, they recognised a Dalek cruiser when they saw it.
"No please, Jack breathed as small but more deadly shapes appeared from within the cruiser and that too familiar shriek filled the air.
"Exterminate! Exterminate!"