Jack had made his way to the Bay and was overjoyed to see the water tower still standing proudly in the middle of the Plass, glistening in the summer sun. Using the tourist entrance seemed the most appropriate option, and of course he did love to make a scene as he arrived, even if he'd originally decided to keep his distance. He stepped towards where the perception filter used to sit, or he supposed it always had and the stones had been rebuilt around it, but before he could step on he heard someone call his name. He turned, his face breaking into a smile as the woman walked towards him up the Plass.
"How you be in that bloody big coat in this weather, Jack Harkness?" Gwen laughed lovingly,
"Gwen Cooper" he beamed, scooping her into a hug with a chuckle, lifting her off her feet and spinning her around.
"Hey, it's Williams, remember?" she giggled, resting her hands around his shoulders as he lowered her back to the ground.
"Ah you'll always be Gwen Cooper to me" he grinned cheekily, "Its so good to see you"
"You too, Jack. Its been so long, and you haven't changed a bit you bastard"
Jack laughed, "I don't know about that. You look… happy. I love that"
Gwen nodded, "we've been lucky. I have a lot to be thankful for"
"Couldn't leave it behind completely then?" he asked almost sadly, gesturing up at the tower. Gwen followed his gaze, smiling softly,
"No. I did slow down a bit, I promise! Raised kids, kept that whole work life balance thing going"
"Well that's something. I assume you haven't been doing it all alone?"
"I… no, I haven't been alone" she said carefully, wishing they hadn't got to this conversation quite so quickly. She had left Evie down in the hub after filling the others in, managing to beat Jack to the hub with enough time to brace the team on his return to Earth. The young woman was trying to process what was happening, and when Gwen had left to intercept Jack she had been caught up in an argument about how best to handle the situation.
"So tell me about the team"
"Well there's 6 of us permanently, a few others who come and go when we need them – Anwen joined us recently" Gwen smiled lovingly, letting Jack know that it was ok,
"Oh I bet Rhys loves that" Jack grinned, "I cant wait to meet her, to meet all of them. That young woman I saw earlier was such a badass"
"Jack I don't know if it's a good idea for you to be getting involved" she said quickly, eyes shifting away from Jacks gaze uncomfortably,
"What do you mean?" he asked, hurt despite himself. After all this time away its not like he expected everything to be exactly the same, but he would've expected a slightly warmer welcome.
"Its… complicated. There's a lot you don't know"
"Then fill me in"
"It's not my place"
"What do you mean? Who's place would it be if not yours?" Jack looked at her confused, not even noticing the invisible lift come up behind them until a voice broke the tension.
"Its ok Gwen, I'll take it from here"
Jack stiffened. He'd recognise those Welsh vowels anywhere. He span round rapidly to look into the achingly familiar blue eyes, his own widening in shock. Ianto Jones stood before him, exactly as he remembered him from 22 years ago. From the soft brown hair, adorable button nose, impeccable suit down to his dress shoes, he was completely unchanged. The fact that Gwen hadn't reacted to him gave Jack faith that she knew what was going on, down in the tiny part of his brain that still had logical thought while the rest tried to process the man stood before him,
"How?" he breathed, stepping towards the man tentatively, "are you real?"
Ianto nodded, "The how is a bit of a complicated one, but yes I'm real"
"You can't be. I saw you die" Jack winced at the memory, "I held you as you died"
"It's him, Jack" Gwen murmured from behind him, "we ran every single test we could. He's our Ianto"
"I don't…. understand" Jack was in shock. Ianto could not be standing in front of him. He'd seen him die, seen him disappear forever into the rift. He'd loved him more than he'd ever admitted to himself, and losing him was one of the biggest reasons he'd left Earth behind for so long. And yet here he apparently was, on Earth, alive and looking as young as he always had. No, that wasn't quite true. His eyes, always older than their years, looked older and wiser still, only adding to Jack's confusion as he studied every inch of the man.
"Jack, I promise you, its me".
He reached out slowly towards Ianto, uncertain in his movements. Ianto reached to meet him, and as soon as their hands touched it was instant. Jack gripped the familiar hand and pulled the man towards him, crushing him to his body. Ianto's arms went around him automatically, gripping the back of his coat for dear life. Jack inhaled the distinct smell of Ianto, coffee and mint and something unique that he'd never quite identified but could never be replicated. He had no plausible explanation for it, but from the moment he had him in his arms he knew beyond any doubt that this man was his Ianto.
"Its you" Jack whispered into his hair, tears spilling from his eyes as he tried to comprehend what was happening.
"I have so much to tell you" Ianto murmured, and there was an edge of guilt in his voice. He pulled back and dropped his gaze, ignoring the longing on Jack's face to not let the man go ever again, knowing that he needed to keep some distance between them for his own sake. There was a lot they needed to talk about, a lot of which could easily result in Jack hating him forever, and he had to protect himself from that pain somehow. After all this time, all that had happened, they couldn't just go back to how things were.
"Seriously, how has this happened? When? I need to know!" Jack was still staring at Ianto as if he couldn't quite believe he existed, as Gwen stepped to his side and gripped his hand in comfort.
Ianto took a deep breath, "Shall we go down to the hub? This is going to be a long story".