One more Ianto chapter after this one and then we're off to Jack's running. Thank you for wonderful reviews, it's nice to receive them. Here is some angst ahead.

Spoiler alert: Adrift

Beta-ed: TattoedLibrarian

In the station one look was enough to be sure Jonah Bevan should go with him to Flat Holm. It was the way he looked, the same thing that others residents of Flat Holm had, he looked alien, displaced and utterly lost while his mouth produced that unearthly sound.

"Yes" sighed Ianto "I'll take him, he is one of our... patients. I will have to sedate him to transport him to our facility, I'll need a trolley."

"We don't..." older officer started to talk but Ianto looked him with confusion on his face and the other man stopped himself "we'll get some sir." Ianto entered in the cell amused with that `sir` it was provoked by his position and secrecy of Torchwood, but it wasn't all that, part of it was the suit, without it they wouldn't respect him at all, he would just seem too young.

Jonah didn't even react when Ianto took a needle out; his eyes weren't looking at this moment in time and space. Ianto stung him in his forearm but even then there was no reaction. It took a few seconds and Ianto began to wonder if the medicine would have an effect on him, but then Jonah stopped screaming, looked at Ianto's face and slumped down on the bench. Ianto stood there looking at the unconscious body wondering how it looked when they'd found others, how did Jack feel looking at them all broken down. After few minutes the officer returned with a trolley, he had to warn Ianto to his presence as he was so lost in thought.

"Just roll it in" he said and with their help put Jonah on it; while he pushed Jonah towards his car Ianto thought that at least this time he's transporting live casualty, not just a body.

When he loaded Jonah in Ianto's car officer required his signature on the release form.

"No" said Ianto with certainty that Jack would never leave that kind of trail behind him "no records, just delete the incident like drunk man that sobered up, we don't need to follow up on this one, and next time, don't be so careless and call around, you were one step from alarming that kid's mother, that wouldn't be very nice to raise her hopes like that."

"We wouldn't do that." The man stepped back.

"No, you've just wanted to get rid of screaming man, I understand" he deadpanned and climbed in the car.

"Tosh" Ianto called in when he had parked on the docks "I've been to the station, nothing alarming, just some mental patient; they've found where he belongs."

"Thank you" she replied "we have to run."

Ianto stared at the water for awhile, he wasn't in a hurry; he didn't think, he just stood there. Marianne jumped from a boat and immediately leaned to examine Jonah. They loaded him on the boat and Ianto went with them across the water. In the middle of the bay Jonah wake up and continued his scream. Ianto and Marianne weren't disturbed by it; it was more than a normal thing to do after everything he'd been through.

Ianto stood and watched while they examined him and made his personal file. When he was in his room Marianne wrote with a chalk his name on the door and closed it.

"We'll let you know when he starts to talk." She said to Ianto.

"Of course" Ianto winced "do you need anything more?"

"The supplies you sent are fine, only Jack hasn't been coming over, is everything ok?"

"Oh, Jack is otherwise engaged at the moment" Ianto didn't have the heart to tell her he was off and left them behind "I'll be dropping in instead, how often he visited you?"

"Well one or two times a week, of course it was the most unusual time, in the middle of the night." She smiled and he smiled back at her.

"Of course he did, I will be coming in evenings after work hours."

"See you then." She handed him Jonah's file and he took it without commenting that he had no idea where to put it. It wasn't in his file archives so it must have been somewhere in Jack's office. Luckily there was signature on the cover so it shouldn't too hard to find it.

When he was back on the shore it was already dark and time to get back to the Hub. He picked up a pair of his suits from drycleaners just in case somebody was still at the Hub. They wouldn't look too hard at his bags.

Gwen was there and jumped up when he entered. She looked at him like she wanted to ask something but wasn't sure about it. He smiled at her.

"Just let me put these away" he said and went to Jack's office. He was thorough in all of his cover stories so he opened up Jack's man hole and went down. There was a smell of Jack still there; he would have to let the air in from time to time. He hung his suits in the closet and went up.

"Ianto you believe he'll come back, don't you?" Gwen asked when he entered the kitchen to brew some coffee. Ianto frowned and made his hands busy with coffee making. His hands knew the routine, this new coffee machine was good, but he still had missed the old one that had broken in the earthquake.

"Ianto?" she asked again with uncertainty in her voice when he didn't replay.

He turned to her looked her face before turning back to the machine. Maybe he should be honest with her and share his thoughts about the subject, she did care about Jack after all and it would be better for her if she stopped waiting.

"I do believe he will return, but not in our lifetimes" he answered with flat voice pouring coffee into a travel mug.

"What? How do you mean?" Gwen was bewildered.

Ianto turned towards her with a cup in his hand.

"Well he can't die, he is old, so he could pop up later on, and his things are still here." He pointed towards Jack's office, Ianto had half expected those things to have disappeared with the blue box when nobody was looking, but they were still there, nothing had been moved.

"Things Ianto? What about us, he can't just leave us like that" she was stunned, Ianto looked at her under his eyebrows thinking to himself `really`.

"Well for start, we did kill him, it seems like fair enough complaint" he smiled softly looking unfazed while Gwen looked more and more furious.

"He can't die, so that doesn't count" she argued.

"I bet it hurts anyway, it didn't look pretty" he shrugged his shoulders.

"He's used to it, that wasn't a big deal, he does that all the time" she paced around.

"I wouldn't know" said Ianto and handed her full cup, she took it and stopped.

"Oh, sorry Ianto, I didn't think..." he smiled remembering how often she apologizes.

"It's ok, but I think it did change some things for Jack, all of us knowing about him" he tried to explain it to her.

"No it's irresponsible to leave us with all this junk, we're lost with everything, that thing almost got you and Owen, what would happen to us then? He can't just abandon us like this" she yelled now and Ianto realized she couldn't see things his way.

"Speaking of junk, did anyone water the plants" asked Ianto pointing towards the Greenhouse.

Gwen looked up confused by changing the topic.

"No, I don't think so" she said carefully "I can go and..."

"No" Ianto cut her off with determination "you should go, I'll put it on my list of chores so there won't be any danger in overwatering them. I've made the coffee less strong just to keep you awake while you're driving, but not to keep you up all night."

She looked at her mug and Ianto turned to pick up watering can.

"Thank you Ianto, you're sweetheart" he smiled at her.

"I do my best."

She nodded and left.

Ianto paused after the Cog door rolled and closed. Should he react like that and be mad at Jack? Maybe that's what normal people do; they are not like him to wait for everyone to leave sooner or later. He shrugged it off and went to water the plants.

Just to say that this bit left me feeling sad.