Jack Harkness was alone, and always would be. He had never been good at forming meaningful relationships, but now, now that anyone and everyone he ever loved would die before he did, it was even harder. For a while, he'd held on to the hope that he would find someone else like himself, that he would be able to love someone, and be with them forever. But it would never be. He wouldn't find anyone like himself, he wouldn't be able to have a soulmate 'til death do us part', he would never have a proper family. It was, as the Doctor so charmingly put it, all because he was 'wrong'. Jack couldn't die, but, as he continually asked himself, was not dying the same as living? Could you live without loving?

Luke Smith was afraid. No one, not even his mum or Maria, had noticed yet, but he wasn't getting any older. He had been created a year ago now, and he was exactly the same as he had been when he was 'born'. Sarah-Jane had only adopted him because he was human, that's why she kept him, but Luke knew, he knew that he was different. Scientific journals stated that his body was supposed to be changing, his voice getting lower, more body hair, getting taller, even. Stuff that Luke had watched Clyde struggling to deal with over the year. Luke wasn't doing any of that. He was developing emotionally and mentally, but his physical body seemed to be stuck. Would he be human enough for his mum? For Maria? For Clyde?

A Year Earlier

"Jack!" Toshiko called through her earpiece. Jack himself was retrieving a piece of space junk that had fallen through the rift. The scanners had indicated it to be harmless, what Jack had found was a child's doll from Poosh. "Captain! I know it's out of our usual territory, but there are some very unusual reading cropping up around Ealing, in London?"

"Report."

"Well, there's a new company, it's called BubbleShock, I believe, and it has gotten approval on it's drink in under six weeks. Along with that, the sensors are picking up some unusual readings. No rift activity, but there are signs of some sort of alien tech in their facility."

Jack pulled up the advert on his computer, wincing at the obnoxious tune. Two words stuck out at him. 'Contains Bane.' "Tosh, tell me it didn't say 'contains Bane', please tell me it didn't."

"Sorry sir," Tosh replied, bemused, "it definitely says 'contains Bane'. That was another curious thing. I can't find any ingredient called 'Bane' anywhere…"

"That's because it isn't an ingredient," Jack interrupted, "it's an alien, Bane is a species of alien."

"They put alien parts into their drinks? That's disgusting." Tosh exclaimed. "Are we going then? Should I collect the team?"

"Yeah, tell everyone that we're going on a little road trip."

Of course, Owen had an alien to autopsy, and Gwen was still grounded from the sex-alien debacle. Three would be enough for a reconnaissance mission, though, if they needed backup they could call in Gwen and Owen later.

"So," Jack began suggestively, "what do you two kids want to do on the ride over?" Ianto sighed.

"Well," Tosh replied mildly, "I figured I would pull up the schematics of the BubbleShock factory, any extra information on the company, and anything we might have on the Bane, in order to put together a plan of action. As you are driving, I thought Ianto could help me."

"Of course," Ianto agreed quickly, "I would be pleased to assist in any way possible."

Jack pouted. "You're no fun."

"No," Tosh agreed, "we're not 'fun', not in the way you mean it."

It was a fairly simple mission. Ianto attempted to get in touch with the people in charge, Tosh got a sample of the drink and tested it, while Jack went on one of their guided tours to see what he could find out from the inside. He had been a bit wary about going through the scanner, but everything his scanners told him, said that it was only a scanner. It didn't even register his alien tech. There had been an emergency part way through the tour, and they were all ushered out, but Jack didn't get back on the bus, two girls were missing, he needed to see if they would be alright, plus, he wanted to see if he could figure out what the emergency was. However, about fifteen minutes later, he saw a boy, one of the missing girls, and a woman he knew as Sarah Jane Smith exit the building. He left quietly, going beck to the SUV.

"So?" Tosh asked, "Did you find anything?"

"Yes," Jack replied shortly, "the situation is under control. It's not our problem anymore, this falls under someone else's jurisdiction." Jack saw the question on their faces, and quickly cut them off. "Need to know only. Let's head back to the hub."

Jack didn't know that his information had been downloaded into the boy who would become Luke Smith. He didn't know that parts of his physiology from the 51st century were a part of Luke Smith. Because, as Ms Wormwood said, every strength, every weakness was a part of Luke. And what was stronger then the ability to come back from the dead?