Epilogue

Ianto woke up suddenly, his heart racing as visions of fire burned against his eyelids. He scrubbed at his face, wondering why he was dreaming of aliens and fire and death and someplace that looked like London. The nightmares from Canary Wharf were few now, old ghosts who only returned to haunt him on occasion, usually when he'd had a close call with death. But he had spent the week in Scotland and was back in his own bed with Jack. He had no reason for nightmares; life was good.

Turning over, Ianto put the strange column of fire from his mind and fell asleep with Jack by his side.

Owen was dead, shot through the chest, lying cold on the autopsy table in the medical bay. Ianto stared down at his friend and coworker, his mind numb. This wasn't supposed to happen, not so soon. Yes, they were all going to die one day, but Owen…why Owen? Why now?

And why did it seem so familiar, like he'd once dreamed it would happen?

Tosh was gone, and Owen too, lost to them forever. Ianto sat in bed, staring at the wall in the dark. He could picture it all—Tosh bleeding out on the floor, Owen screaming out his anger at the nuclear facility. It was like he'd dreamed it, the scene as real in his mind's eye as if he had actually been there. It made sense, dreaming of the dead once they had gone, but it felt like more than that. It felt like a memory, or a vision.

And with it came guilt, that he should have been able to stop it, should have been able to help them. But Tosh and Owen were dead, and Jack was broken, and Ianto didn't know what to do, how to go on.

When Jack told him that Archie had died in his sleep, Ianto was not surprised. The old man had said he wasn't long for Torchwood when Ianto had gone up there in the fall; it seemed he had been right. And Ianto had already seen Archie's coffin several times in his dreams.

They had his body sent down to Cardiff, where Ianto picked out the coffin he'd known Archie would lie in. They had a small service and said their goodbyes. Torchwood Two was shut down and Murray McDonald went to work with the science division of UNIT, taking the remainder of the artifacts in Glasgow with him. Jack struggled with yet another passing in a long life of losses.

And Ianto wondered when the fire would begin, now that so many of his other dreams had come to pass.

It happened on a clear fall day in September, on a roof in London. Ianto set aside his panic and willed himself to carry on without giving in to fear. Because he remembered now—he remembered everything. Torchwood Two. Object One. Seeing his future. Being Retconnned to forget. It was all happening as he had seen—Jack had been blown up, the government was keeping secrets, the children were in danger. He knew how this would end, and it was not good.

But then, hadn't he looked into the locket so he could change a future like this? Wasn't that the point? Archie had called it a self-fulfilling prophecy, but Ianto could change that. He had to change it—change what he'd seen, what would happen in Thames House. He couldn't die now, so soon. Young, yes. In Jack's arms, probably. But it had only been a year since he'd been in Glasgow and looked into the locket. A year since he'd realized that yes, he'd missed Jack. That he wanted to be with Jack. That he cared about Jack, a lot. Only a year and still they struggled to express their feelings.

But he knew now that he loved Jack, and he wasn't going to let some alien take over the world's children, poison Thames House, and ruin it all before he'd even had a chance to say it. He'd be prepared. When he faced the 456, he'd go in with everything he could think of—every weapon, every shield, every scrap of knowledge he could find. He'd survived too much already for it to end now. He would beat these things, and whatever connection Jack had to this, they would work through it together. Somehow, somewhere, someway. Together.

The 21st century was when everything changed, and Ianto Jones was ready.

Torchwood was dead, Jack was gone, Gwen was in hiding. Ianto wandered alone, wondering if it was worth it. He'd survived the end of the world, but at what cost? What was the point in changing the future he'd once seen? Because in the end he'd lost everything but his life.

He tried to move on while he waited for Jack to return, he really did. Because Jack had promised, and Ianto believed him. Still believed in him, but at the same time his own loss was consuming him and he couldn't wait forever. He was dead to the world, anathema to the government he'd once sacrificed everything for: no family, no friends, no job. Gwen was moving on to start a family, and Jack was exorcising his demons, apparently in Tibet. Ianto had nothing.

For the first time since he'd joined Torchwood One, Ianto was well and truly done with the organization, bitter and angry and done. All that was left of it was the Rift. There were rumblings of creating some sort of new UNIT task force to manage it, but Ianto decided to end it. He would close it for good, and maybe then he could truly move on from the life he'd had in Cardiff.

He hadn't expected to meet anyone at the House of the Dead; the one person he loved more than any other couldn't die, after all. But Lisa was there, and it was hard, leaving her behind and watching her die again as he destroyed the most haunted pub in Wales with the stones of its very foundations. The Rift closed, a burden released from weary shoulders, and Ianto could finally leave Cardiff. He gathered his meager belongings, watched his niece and nephew from afar one more time, and booked a one-way ticket to Melbourne. Only when he went to say goodbye to Gwen on a dark hill one night, Jack was there. He'd come back at last. For Ianto.

They not only left Cardiff, but the planet, on a cruiser bound for the stars. Together.

"We've got to get you out of here," Jack said, pressing shaking hands against Ianto's abdomen, which was currently spilling his intestines into a pool of rapidly expanding blood on the floor. "I can survive anything, but we don't know if you can." He'd been hit as well, almost certainly a fatal blow to his femoral artery.

"Too late," Ianto gasped. "I don't think it's working." He had no idea what to expect from a mortal injury now, but the pain and darkness did not bode well for the quick healing he'd hoped for.

"There's got to be something!" Jack exclaimed. "It should work, the chip is bonded to you!"

"I'm sorry," Ianto said, grimacing from the effort of breathing. "I wanted it to work."

"No! No, no, no, no, no." Jack was clearly in pain as well, his thigh a mangled mess of bone and muscle, his blood mingling with Ianto's. "No, Ianto. It's all my fault. "

"No, it's not." Of course it wasn't, it never was, though even after a decade together Jack continued to blame himself for everything. Ianto had chosen, though: chosen to love Jack, to leave Earth with Jack, to stay with Jack forever. And to follow him time and time again into danger.

"We shouldn't have used it, shouldn't have hoped. River said it might not work."

"I wanted to use it," Ianto replied, closing his eyes. He hoped he didn't die first, because he didn't want Jack to have to watch. "I want to stay."

"Don't speak," Jack said. He gently pulled Ianto onto his good leg and cradled him close. "Save your breath."

"I love you," Ianto murmured. It was hard to breathe, and his voice was faint, but he wanted his last words to mean something.

"Don't. Ianto?" Ianto tried to answer, but couldn't. "Ianto. Ianto, stay with me. Ianto, stay with me, please. Stay with me. Why isn't it working?"

"Hey," said Ianto, opening his eyes to glance at Jack one last time. "It's all right. It was good, yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Don't forget me."

"Never could."

"A thousand years' time you won't remember me." Ianto couldn't help but tease; Jack's easy distraction had always been a source of amusement and occasional frustration. His eyes closed again; he was fading fast, with no more strength to hang on. He was disappointed to be leaving Jack and desperately worried about his lover, but at the same time…they'd had ten amazing years together, and Ianto had always known he would die in Jack's arms.

"Yes, I will. I promise. I will. Ianto. Ianto?" Ianto did not respond. "Don't go," Jack whispered. "Don't leave me, please. Please don't. I love you."

But there was no answer.

Jack leaned forward to kiss him, anger and anguish waring within him. It wasn't fair. The Mire repair kit should have worked. They were supposed to have more time together—forever. Ianto Jones was the one man he could have spent eternity with, the man he should be spending eternity with. He didn't want to come back to a world without Ianto Jones.

His own life was fading, but Jack held on, hoping for one small sign that he'd wake up from his own resurrection to find Ianto whole and alive beside him. But he couldn't hold on, and fell beside his lover, knowing he would wake broken-hearted.

Alone in the dark on an alien world, he didn't see the faint glow that surrounded them both, as time and technology fused as one and Ianto Jones woke with a gasp.

"Damn, it still stings," Ianto ground out as his ankle bones slowly fused back together. "You'd think I'd be used to it by now."

"Yeah, a few hundred years should've done it," Jack teased, letting Ianto squeeze his hand. "But I'm not sure the human mind was designed to cope with our unique abilities."

Ianto barked out a laugh. He watched as his foot healed itself, still grotesquely fascinated even after so many years. When the pain subsided into tingling, he gave it a tentative stretch. As muscles and tendons remembered how to move and blood began to flow back into his toes, he felt only a dull ache; nothing a few pills couldn't help.

"That should do it," he said. He grinned up at Jack. "Back to being chased?" he asked. Jack grinned back.

"We've got to get out of this somehow, so we might as well run. Race you to the ship!"

It wasn't a fair race, as Ianto had just broken and regenerated his ankle, but they did escape the chain gang trying to press them into mining service. Ianto shook his head as they left the planet, wondering how in the word Jack kept managing to get them into such scrapes. One day it wouldn't work out as well, but until then…Ianto was with Jack, and he wouldn't give up that adventure for the world.

"An asteroid?" Ianto asked, looking at the parchment Jack had slid in front of him. "Really, Jack? You bought a big space rock?"

"Not any space rock," Jack protested. "A nice, quiet one. Way out there, away from the hustle and bustle of the galaxy. It even has its own space station."

"Oh good, so we can visit the big space rock and have things like oxygen and gravity." Ianto let the sarcasm fall heavily, but did refrain from rolling his eyes.

"Considering it's going to be the new Torchwood base, things like oxygen and gravity will be important for day to day functions," Jack replied, faking casual in that way he did so well. Ianto almost dropped the old and irreplaceable paper book he was reading.

"Torchwood?" he asked. Jack grinned. "What are you talking about? I haven't heard the name Torchwood in years…decades…centuries!" Ianto stared at Jack, wondering if he'd finally lost his mind.

"Millennia, even," Jack offered. "Which is why it's past time to bring it back."

"What?" Ianto felt ridiculously inarticulate in his astonishment. That Jack could shock and surprise him so thoroughly after so long never failed to amaze him. "Why in the world would you want to bring back Torchwood?"

"Besides the fact that it's what brought us together?" Jack replied with a wink. "Because we need it. We've been locking away these things we keep finding…that old plasma canon, those Zygon pods, the Red Key…and we need more space to store them all. Keep them safe, maybe even study them."

"We've been locking them away because they're dangerous," Ianto pointed out. "Dumping them all in one location seems incredibly short-sighted in terms of keeping them safe."

"We might think about a secondary location," Jack agreed. "And there are some things we should probably destroy. But there's enough that I think we need to consider restarting the institute."

"Jack." Ianto carefully set down his book and took a deep breath. "Torchwood was chartered to protect Great Britain from alien threats. Look around you. We're not in Great Britain, we're not even on Earth! And there are no alien threats," he added. "What with the Galactic Federation, universal harmony, and all that."

"We can rewrite the mission statement," Jack said. "Give it more of a universal historical focus—discovery, preservation, that sort of thing. You have to admit, this area in particular could use an Alexandria of its own."

Ianto's eyebrow rose. He was intrigued by Jack's ancient reference, but still felt the need to play the other side to see how much Jack had thought this through. "There are already several archives and libraries scattered around the cluster. You've taken me to several of them."

"This one will focus on technology," Jack said. "Like a great big databank. Say some archaeologist comes across a Hath blaster from the 28th century. Only they have no idea what it is, so they come to us and look it up, study it. We can collect old tech, store dangerous tech, help study it to create new tech."

Ianto shook his head. "I don't think we should get into that last, Jack. Creating new technology is asking for trouble. The road to hell and all that. But a museum and database…that I could do." He nodded this time. "Oh yes, that sounds very interesting indeed."

"See?" Jack said. "And you were so worried!"

"I still am," Ianto replied. "How did you come up with this idea?"

Jack shrugged. "We're running out of places to stash the things we keep coming across, and they're scattered across half a dozen planets. And it occurred to me that maybe we keep coming across them for a reason: to watch over them."

"And the 2000th anniversary of Torchwood's founding didn't have anything to do with this coming up now?"

"Has it been that long?" Jack asked innocently. Ianto laughed.

"I had no idea you were so sentimental!" he said. "But I'm glad you are. I'm in. When can we see your new space rock?"

Jack punched a few buttons on the control panel of their ship. "Course plotted in!"

"Is this where I'm supposed to say 'engage?" Ianto asked dryly.

"You can engage with me anytime." Jack winked, hit the last button, and pulled Ianto up out of his chair. "Like right now. Let's celebrate."

Ianto laughed again as he followed Jack back to their cabin to celebrate—and then start planning the new Torchwood Archive.

"Well, I'm glad we backed it all up," Ianto said, watching sadly as the Torchwood Archive went up in flames. Jack nodded slowly, also staring at the destruction, and held up a data stick.

"This is now the most important piece of tech we own."

"And quite possibly the most important data stick in the entire galaxy," Ianto added with a sigh. That meant it would soon become a highly-desired commodity on the black market, if not a legendary treasure men would fight over. Which was probably why Jack perked up.

"Probably," he agreed. "We'll have to keep a close eye on it."

"And back up the back-up," Ianto said. "Because you know once word gets out—"

"Lots of people are going to be looking for this," Jack finished. He grinned. "Sounds like fun."

"Jack," Ianto said, leaning back in his chair; at least their ship had escaped unharmed. "We worked hard on that archive—I worked hard on it. Hundreds of years of work, gone just like that! Please don't make light of its destruction."

"Sorry," Jack said. He reached over and gripped Ianto's hand and squeezed tight. "I understand, I do. And I know you liked settling down. But, as much as I hate to say it, I think it was necessary."

"Jack, every Torchwood branch I've ever worked at has gone tits up," Ianto sad. "It's not necessary, it's some sort of eternal damnation or something."

"You're not being punished," Jack soothed him. "And it doesn't have anything to do with you. They came for the Red Key, and they took it. Maybe they were meant to."

"Bloody Norton Folgate," Ianto muttered. He'd gone up against the time-traveling, hologram-loving, flaming arse of a Torchwood agent too many times over the years. When would it end? Ianto was living almost three thousand years after Torchwood's original founding on the other side of the galaxy from Great Britain, and Norton Folgate shows up with some spindly spaceman lover to steal something from his archive? It was almost intolerable.

"I know," Jack replied. "And for good reason," he added, perhaps agreeing with Ianto's unspoken assessment of his one-time lover. Not for the first time Ianto wondered how the hell Jack had ever hooked up with Norton Folgate and marveled at how epically wrong it had gone. He tried to picture himself as Jack's eternal enemy and failed; what had driven Norton to such things?

"So they've got it back, now what?" Ianto asked. "When does this bloody end?" Sometimes he wondered if Folgate himself wasn't the Red Key, the bad penny that kept popping up through history to wreak havoc on Torchwood.

Jack shrugged. "Don't know. Either they use it to start over in this time, or they take it back to the past. Personally, I wonder if they're about to both start and end a time loop."

Ianto turned to him in surprise. "Time loop? What are you talking about?"

"It's possible," Jack said, as if thinking out loud, "that they're the ones who brought the Redy Key to the Committee in the first place, because they knew the Committee would use it to sew chaos in Torchwood."

"I don't follow," Ianto stated flatly. Jack shrugged again.

"I'm not saying it's true, only that it's possible. The first time the Red Key showed up on Earth was in Russia in the 19th century. The Tsar then gave it to Queen Victoria, who gave it to me, and eventually I threw it in the Rift. Only it kept showing up. We don't know where Committee got it, though—or how they kept getting it back. Maybe Norton is taking it back to the 19th century so they can pass it on to the Tsar. Maybe he's the one who keeps tracking it down every time it's lost."

Ianto stared at him. "That's completely mad."

"It is," Jack agreed. "Or maybe they'll stick around, we'll run into them again in a few years, and all have another go at each other. I don't see the point of reviving the Committee in this time, though, so I think it's more likely Norton and Jeremiah have gone back in time. Trapped in the loop."

"What about us?" Ianto asked, hardly daring to hope. "If they take it back, does that mean we can move forward?"

"I'd say so," Jack replied. "We can go back to being Torchwood's number one power couple."

Ianto's eyebrows about flew off his face. "Torchwood's number one power couple? As if those two ever had a chance!"

"They did blow up our Archive and steal a dangerous artifact."

Ianto smirked. "And they may rot forever in the past whilst we move on."

"To the bedroom?" Jack asked, sounding hopeful.

"Most definitely to the bedroom," Ianto laughed. "And then what?"

Jack cocked his head. "Not sure. Something new. The end is where we start from, right?"

"I hate it when you say that."

"I know, but it's true." Jack took his hand and lead him toward their cabin. "And for us, endings are usually new beginnings."

"Last time Torchwood ended you whisked me off the planet," Ianto pointed out. "I've seen most of the known galaxy now, so that's going to be hard to top."

Jack smirked, but did not make the expected top joke Ianto had left open for him. Instead he had a far-off look on his face. "You know, I think I have an idea."

"I hate it when you say that, too," Ianto muttered.

"No, you don't," Jack replied, completely nonplussed. "Well, maybe sometimes, but most of my ideas aren't so bad."

"So, what's your new idea?" Ianto asked with trepidation. He wasn't that nervous, not really. Jack was right, that his ideas weren't always bad. Yes, they'd both died some gruesome deaths on some of Jack's more challenging adventures, but Ianto had also seen and done things he'd never dreamed of with Jack. He'd certainly never imagined that when he'd joined Torchwood he would live to see it's end as well as it's rebirth. He'd assumed he'd live out his life on Earth studying aliens, not traveling the galaxies meeting them. And he'd thought he'd die in Jack's arms, until a simple chip had granted him the ability to be with Jack forever.

They reached their cabin, but Jack pulled him to a stop and gazed at him fondly. "I love you, you know. I'm sorry about the Archive."

"You're only saying that so I'll go along with your latest scheme," Ianto replied, but Jack shook his head.

"Not this time," he said softly. "I mean it."

"Well, then," Ianto replied, still able to feel flustered after so long when Jack turned intense and sincere. "I love you too. Now where are we going, besides the bedroom?"

Jack kissed him, a quick and light kiss that promised more soon. "I think it's time for us to explore an alternate universe," he said. "Turn left, explore the road not taken and all that."

Ianto kissed him back, surprised at the small thrill of excitement he felt at the prospect of visiting another dimension with Jack. Despite the ruin of many lifetimes' work in the archives, Ianto felt more sure and happy in that moment than he had for a long time. He still had what he always wanted: to be with Jack, for as long as he could.

Forever, in any universe.

Author's Note:

The End! I hope that came together well. It was one of those things that occurred to me as I was writing: if Ianto looks into the locket and sees the future, how could I pass up the opportunity for him to change it? It just took him a while to remember. And while the repair kit is by no means an original idea, I've wanted to use it since Twelve started handing them out like candy (okay, I'm exaggerating, but I bet every Torchwood fan out there thought of Jack and Ianto that season!) So I did, and had blast reworking Day Four with a better ending. Fun fact: I had originally planned to introduce a Mire repair kit at the end of A Different Life only Jack went all mortal on me instead! I think it worked better here.

Norton Folgate is not mine, but one of the Big Finish characters who appears in several audio stories, including The Torchwood Archive. In case you haven't picked up on it from a few other stories, my headcanon is that Jack and Ianto set up the Torchwood Archive in the future themselves. How else did their holograms and even their dog end up there? Finally - yes, the end is some very tongue-in-cheek meta that tickled me as I typed so I hope you enjoyed that. Now that this story is done I can add the "CoE Fix-it" and "Immortal Ianto" tags! Thank you so much for reading!