They descended on the invisible lift into the Hub, Gwen strategically positioning herself between the two men. Ianto passed her a grateful glance and she nodded to him in understanding, knowing how difficult this must be. Knowing Ianto as well as she did, she could imagine the thoughts rushing behind his professional mask right now. She and Ianto had spoken over and over again about his feelings for Jack, going back and forth on the decision not to contact him. Addressing their relationship, or whatever it had been or could be in the future, would have to wait. First they have to get past the secrets.
Jack looked around the Hub as the lift lowered, feeling the nostalgia immediately. It looked almost the same as he remembered it, the water tower still the prominent feature in the centre of the vast space. The grimy tile that had been lost in the explosion had been updated to muted chrome, reflecting the state-of-the-art technology adorning the six workstations set up around the room. The Torchwood logo loomed over a selection of comfortable looking sofas in the corner. There were frosted doors where the autopsy bay used to be, still the medical area judging by the symbols on the door. It was updated but still completely familiar, and Jack's chest tightened at the sight.
"Boardroom?" Gwen asked, and Ianto nodded, gesturing to a room off the main hub with a wall of glass, a sleek table with smart leather chairs around it. Jack followed them in and took a seat automatically at the head of the table, Gwen taking seats either side of him. His heart leapt at the familiarity of the scene, looking between the two of them who had matching small smiles of reminiscence. Jack stayed silent, waiting for them to begin their explanation.
"When I closed the rift at the house of the dead, I was fully expecting oblivion" Ianto began, "And for a while that was what I got. There was nothing but blackness, for what felt like forever. And then suddenly it was this flash of blinding light, unbelievable pain like being dragged over broken glass. And then nothing. Until I woke up to a pair of big brown eyes staring down at me" he finished with a grin, glancing at Gwen, "Maybe you can fill in the rest".
She nodded, "I'd barely started setting up this place again. The government rebuilt the underground structure in secret and then completely wiped their hands of it all again. All the stuff we'd managed to salvage from the old wreckage, I'd picked up and tried to channel everything Tosh had ever taught me to get it all working. One night it started beeping and registering Ianto's signature. I thought it must've been a glitch, but the signature was right on the Plass so I headed down there. Found him there, unconscious along with... anyway I got him down here and tried to figure out what the hell was going on. Obviously I didn't believe it could really be him at first, so I ran every single test I could think of. Blood, hair, skin, deep tissue scanning, all the kit we had. Everything came back as Ianto Jones, aged him to the same age he was when he died. And then he woke up, recognised me immediately and wanted answers to how the hell he was here"
"As did you" Ianto pointed out, "you were as in the dark as I was"
"Well yes, obviously" Gwen nodded, "But together we rebuilt the hub to its full potential and developed the technology from whatever we could find or what the rift threw us, tried to find all the information we could, and he is our Ianto. Not a parallel world one, or a clone or anything else you can think of, 100% the same Ianto Jones we know and lo... anyway, all the research we've done hasn't really given any more answers as to what happened. What we can establish is the link to the rift, that it altered his molecular structure somehow to restore him to life "
"So…. When did this happen? You look exactly the same as when you …"
Gwen looked to Ianto, who took a deep breath before nodding to her. She could see Jack's thinking, as Ianto hadn't aged a day since he'd come back. The rift was so unpredictable, after all, he could well have been transported through a matter of days ago. She looked down before answering, knowing this wasn't going to go down well,
"He arrived about two years after you left Earth"
"Two…. what?!" Jack exploded from his chair, slamming his hands on the desk, "So you're telling me you've been down here, alive, for 20 years?! And in all that time neither of you thought I deserved to know?!"
"it's more complicated than…." Ianto began, rising from his seat
"How?! How can it possibly be complicated?! You died Ianto! Do you have any idea at all what that did to me?!" Jack was pacing now, "I lost you, I thought forever and now…. and you're exactly the same how is that?!"
"If you'd just let him explain Jack" Gwen said, reaching out towards him in an attempt to calm him down, which clearly wasn't working as he was fast approaching a complete meltdown,
"twenty years Gwen! How can you think that's ok?! Do I mean that little to either of you, what possible reason could you have for keeping me in the dark? Didn't you want..."
"Its because of me" a voice from the doorway cried out.
Jack span around, ignoring the nervous looks from Gwen and Ianto. The woman he'd seen take down that hoix stood in the doorway breathlessly, obviously having heard the yelling.
"What do you….." Jack paused and looked properly at the young woman for the first time. The dark hair with soft waves framing her face, strong cheekbones and delicate lips giving her an elegant kind of beauty. Her face was familiar somehow, just looking at her gave him comfort. He met her eyes finally, the exact shade of blue that he had looked into over and over again, had memorised and dreamt about and missed desperately.
"Ianto" he gasped, not taking his gaze from her "she has your eyes"
Ianto came to his side, sighing, "this isn't how I wanted you to find out. Please believe me when I say that"
"So you… met someone? Had a family" Jack said quietly, the look on his face somewhere between disappointment and hope. He had loved this man so fiercely, he could only want the happiest of lives for him. He could only wish he could've been a part of it. He still had so many questions, not least how the man could be standing here having not aged a day. But now this young woman raised the biggest question of the past 20 years.
Ianto shook his head, "I told you it was complicated. Look at her again, what else do you see?"
Jack looked back at the woman, who had tears in her eyes but grinned at him through them. And in that look, he finally saw it. She was giving him that same charismatic look that could break hearts and save the world that he had given countless times across his long life. She had his own smile, looking back at him in anticipation,
"You're…." he couldn't form the words,
"My name is Evelyn Rose Harkness Jones" she finally said, "I'm your daughter".