When Ianto opened his eyes, he was cradled in Jack's arms. Gwen hovered nearby, looking almost as worried as Jack did. Ianto blinked at them.

"Are you okay?" asked Jack.

"I think so. What happened?"

"What's the last thing you remember?"

"Fighting Weevils, twisting my ankle. Dealing with another version of you," added Ianto as he suddenly remembered. "He grabbed me, took me to the future…but I don't know how I got back."

"He brought you back," said Jack. "Told us it had been five days and you wouldn't remember anything. He wouldn't give much in the way of details."

"I remember being stuck on your couch while you had sex with John Hart," said Ianto, and Jack raised an eyebrow. "But everything after that is gone."

"You must have caught up with Torchwood. I'm registering Retcon in your system," said Jack, glancing at his wrist strap. "I imagine there was a good reason for them to give it to you."

"Probably," agreed Ianto vaguely. "My ankle doesn't hurt."

"It's all better. Probably you got some medical attention in the future."

"5083," said Ianto. "Jakob said it was 5083." Gwen let out a noise.

"That would be about right," said Jack. "It was around then that I woke up with no memory of the previous two years." Gwen made another noise, and Ianto realized she hadn't known that. A small part of him felt superior. "I'm taking you home," continued Jack. "Gwen, keep an eye on him while I bring the SUV around."

"I'm perfectly capable of walking, Jack," protested Ianto, but his lover was already gone.

"I think he just wants a minute alone to recover. He's been beside himself since you disappeared," said Gwen. "Terrified that either he himself had done something to you—would do something to you? God, time travel is difficult to discuss—or that the Time Agency would. Against regulations to kidnap people out of time, he said."

"What did Jakob say?"

"That he looks good with a little bit of gray, which I take to mean you met up with another version of Jack, probably one who's thousands of years old. And he said that you were great, so you must have helped them with something. He looked quite impressed and was a little protective. Admonished Jack to 'cherish the time you have.'"

Ianto snorted. "So I'm going to die young. Wonderful."

"Hopefully no time soon," said Gwen, giving him a hug. "Where did you get those shoes?"

"One of mine got left in the Hub when he took me. Damn, I guess that means I left the other one in 5083, and I like those shoes." Gwen chuckled.

"Come on. Jack will have the SUV around any time. You go and enjoy what's left of your birthday."

"We missed our dinner reservations," Jack said as Ianto got into the SUV.

"Not sure I'm up for going out tonight," admitted Ianto. "Still feeling the effects of the Retcon. I reckon you'll just have to take me home and put me to bed." He smirked and Jack grinned.

"Whatever the birthday boy wants."

They didn't make it to bed the first time. Jack seemed almost desperate to make sure Ianto was really all right, running his hands over every inch of Ianto's body. It wasn't until much later, when they were curled up together in bed, that he voiced the question that had been plaguing him.

"Did he say anything about what happened to me?"

"Not much," said Jack softly. "He implied you'd gotten involved in something as he said you were pretty good in a fight. But he also suggested that the Retcon was your choice."

"He said that?"

"Not in so many words—if he had, I wouldn't have believed it. What he actually said was something about following your example by not remembering what is best forgotten."

"So I must have learned something, probably about my own future, and decided it was better to forget it."

"Presumably."

"Then I guess I should respect my own decision and not try to remember."

Ianto never broke the Retcon, even as he lay in Jack's arms on the floor of Thames House. But he did think of it. I must have known this was coming, so if I decided to do it anyway, I'm sure I had a good reason. If I have to die young, at least it's not in vain. Ianto Jones died at peace.

Jack, too grief-stricken to think clearly, didn't piece the obvious together until after Ianto saved him at the House of the Dead. It took him a very long time to forgive Ianto for choosing to die…but not as long as it took to forgive himself for letting it happen.

Jax presented himself to his supervisors in the Time Agency. He put up a fuss for show, but in the end he submitted to having two years of his memories wiped. Some of his supervisors were surprised by this; none were shocked when he ran afterwards.

And on August 19, 5084, Evelyn gave Dev and Merrick the day off and called in her great-grandfather. Then she, Jack, Lew, and Vanna celebrated the life of Ianto Jones.