Jack stood on the millennium centre roof, now classed as a historic building rather than modern architecture, watching the sun set over the city. He'd lost track of how long he'd been stood up there until the sky began to turn pink, casting a muted glow over the world below. Taking off running from the Hub without a word to any of them hadn't been his finest moment, he had to admit. But he couldn't even begin to process everything he'd discovered today. He heard the roof door open and close from the far side, and footsteps approached him. He didn't turn around, knowing there was only one person who'd think to look for him up here.

"Can I join you?" those Welsh vowels still gave him chills. Jack nodded, keeping his gaze on the view below rather than looking at the man.

"I should've known that you'd find me"

"You always were good on roofs"

"I apologise for running off the way I did" Jack began, "I just…. needed space"

"You have nothing to apologise for" Ianto shook his head, "Its me who needs to explain"

"Evelyn… I shouldn't have just run from her like that"

"Evie's ok, she's with Gwen"

"I just… I have so much in my head" Jack sighed, "I don't even know where to start"

"Shall I just start talking?"

Jack nodded, his eyes fixed on the city. He didn't trust himself to look at the Welshman, he needed to focus. There were so many questions that needed answers. Ianto took a deep breath before beginning,

"Gwen found Evelyn with me, she woke up around the same time I did. A tiny little baby, Gwen as you can imagine melted immediately, but we had no idea where she came from. And then she opened her eyes, and it was obvious we were…. linked somehow. More than that I just knew it, I felt like I knew her from the moment she looked at me. Gwen took us in for a while until we got settled and started trying to piece together where we came from. From what we can work out, closing the rift the way we did, do you remember, at the House of the Dead?"

"As if I could forget that, Ianto" Jack finally turned to look at him, "saying goodbye to you, losing you forever all over again… or at least so I thought…I mean"

"Yes… well we think closing the rift created some kind of reaction. I closed the rift, and you were the last living person in that space between worlds. Instead of that oblivion as the rift was closed there was a burst of power. My DNA and yours were linked somehow, the by-product being Evelyn, genetically 50% of each of us. Essentially, our daughter"

"That's impossible".

"You don't believe in the world impossible" said Ianto, a hint of irony in his eyes, "I admit it sounds pretty close to impossible. But we've been researching for a long time, trying to fathom exactly what happened. In the end it doesn't really matter how it happened, I guess"

"We're going to talk about this, believe me. But there's one thing I just can't not ask any longer"

"Ok"

"You say it's been twenty years" Jack began, "But you look exactly the same as when you… when I last saw you"

Ianto nodded, "You never wanted this for me, I know that. I didn't ask for it, and it wasn't in my control. It's another part of the story that is unexplained, and if I had any answers at all on how to reverse it I would've done everything in my power to do that for you"

"What are you saying?"

"I'm like you, Jack. I'm a fixed point, I haven't aged since I came back and I can't die. Or at least I don't stay dead. Coming back is agony, you were right about that"

Jack's eyes widened in shock "you're like me?"

"Yes" Ianto was trying not to let emotion get in the way, not meeting Jack's shocked gaze, "my blood has the same makeup as yours"

"I can't…believe this" Jack ran his hands through his hair chaotically, pacing around the roof, "I honestly can't, how can you have kept this from me for so long?! How can you have kept her from me?!"

"It was complicated! How could I have even got in contact with you? You left this world, you wanted nothing more to do with it"

"Because I lost everything Ianto!" Jack yelled, "I was no use to anybody without you! And now to find out you've been here all this time, living, breathing, raising a child, our child!"

"How could I have told you something like this? You have always said you're cursed, wrong. I couldn't just call you up and tell you that I'm wrong too. And you always swore you would hate to have any more children, after Melissa…Alice. I thought I was sparing you all of this pain"

"Oh, you stupid…" Jack threw his arms up in frustration, "You had no right to take that decision from me! I know pain, I have experienced more than my fair share of it. You have no idea what I can take"

"But I didn't want to be the cause of any of it" Ianto said quietly, "I thought you could just move on, forget me and Earth and then it would all be fine".

"Ianto I loved you! I haven't ever forgotten you, if I'd known you were alive I'd have been back in a heartbeat! And Evelyn, I've missed so much of her life. I mean, how can you possibly have thought this was alright?!"

"I really thought we were doing the best thing. Protecting her and protecting you"

"Ianto, I'm so angry right now I can't…" he paused, looking into Ianto's eyes. They stared at each other, Jack seething in rage and confusion and Ianto full of guilt. But beneath all of that, there was always going to be love.

Jack grabbed Ianto by his jacket lapels and slammed their lips together, as Ianto met him just as forcefully, his hands fisting in Jack's hair. The kiss was frantic, tongues entwining as their bodies crushed together. Jack's hands moved down to the other man's hips, fingertips digging almost painfully into the flesh there as if he was still trying to convince himself he was real. Ianto flicked his tongue over Jack's teeth in a move so familiar it made the other man's heart leap. They continued relentlessly until the need to breathe overwhelmed them, as they each dropped their arms from around the other, panting.

"you know this isn't solving anything, right?" Ianto gasped as they parted, beginning to step back in an attempt to clear his head,

"I know" Jack breathed, "but God I missed you"

He pulled Ianto back into his arms as their lips met just as passionately, the two men moving together as if no time at all had passed. The fact that they were on a rooftop in the middle of Cardiff escaped both of them as clothes were torn off and they explored each other all over again, their bodies melting together as one as they sank to the floor, Jack's coat spread beneath them. All thoughts of talking this through, of getting any more answers, was thrust from Jack's mind as he lost himself in Ianto, overwhelmed by the sheer joy of his heartbeat underneath his palm, his warm flushed skin against his own. Neither of them noticed as the sun dipped below the horizon, continuing into the evening where no words were needed.