Title: Children of Earth: Amendum.

Author: SoLeo

Pairing: Jack/Ianto duh.

Spoilers: YES! for COE, so read at your own risk.

Notes: Unbeta'd and dedicated to adribetty394! This is my way of denying what happened and how things could have been.

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Jack continued to sit there holding Gwen as she cried. He didn't know if he'd be able to cry ever again. He felt so numb, like his death had sapped him of all his emotions not just the good ones. He stared at Ianto's face and felt himself dying all over again. The grief felt like a physical blow to his body.

Gwen turned and faced him. "Is something like this going to happen to me too, Jack?" Her eyes were red-rimmed with tears but the fear she felt showed easily. "One day it'll be me that's lying like this. Owen, and Tosh, Ianto. I'm scared of being next Jack."

He pulled her head back to his shoulder. He couldn't look her in the eyes, not while it held that fear but also the hope that Jack would or could still protect her. "Shh Gwen. Don't think like that." She buried her eyes in the scratchy wool, still sobbing, and tried to pull her self together.

"Come on Gwen. We have to find out what's happening." He let her stand and wipe away at the tears on her face before he made to stand. He pulled that red sheet back over Ianto's face first. He could bear it, the stillness of the features a horrible reminder of how he had failed him. They went out into the hallway and found some chairs in a relatively out of the way spot. Gwen was still crying, but wiping away the tears as fast as they arrived.

"I need to get some air." He stood and walked away quickly. He didn't want Gwen to follow, not while she still had that look in her eyes. As if he could save them all. He couldn't even save one, not even the most important one.

The soldier at the door let him out, but reminded him not to take to long or go to far. As if Jack was running away from them. Well he was, sort of. He just couldn't stay in there with the body. Knowing Ianto had died so needlessly, and for him. He walked from one end of the block and turned around, coming back towards the building and past it. The streets were so empty, having been evacuated by the military in case the virus was let out of the building. Jack let his eyes wander the empty streets and all the parked cars littering the street.

His eyes fell on something he never expected to see again. 'It couldn't be.' He thought to himself. He walked up to the familiar black SUV and his eyes lit up. "Hello beautiful." His breath came up short. "Do you still have any secrets to tell?"

He walked around the abandoned vehicle and looked inside. Half of the equipment was missing. Probably, whoever had stolen the vehicle was selling off the insides first before planning on scrapping it. "Please, still be here." He opened the back and pulled at a panel that seemed, at first, firmly attached. The hidden compartment hadn't been raided yet, and there was an alien gun, which Jack knew the power cell had been drained, and a canister.

He grabbed the small, silver canister. If fit easily into the palm of his hand. He kissed it, looking as if he had just won the lottery. Then he ran back to the doorway where the soldier had been keeping an eye out for him. Jack was so excited he could have kissed him too, but decided against it and ran inside as the door was held open for him.

He ran full speed past Gwen. She looked up startled at the drastic change in Jack's demeanor. She called out to him, but he ignored it and ran back into the room with the bodies laid out. He made his way quickly to one, the only one that mattered. He knelt and pulled the sheet off, confirming it was Ianto's body, even though he already knew.

He opened the small canister, and poured the contents into his mouth. He needed to active them before they'd be able to do their job. Gwen came up beside him.

"What happened? What are you doing?" She seemed a little out of breath, since she had run after him.

He didn't say anything, just looked down at the too still face with the cut on the cheek. He could feel the little things in his mouth moving about. It tingled actually. They were still functioning and gathering information. He leaned down and pulled Ianto's head up to him. He locked his lips to the icy ones and ignored the pang of guilt. He pushed the contents of his mouth into Ianto, remembering a time when the little things had done the unthinkable. He waited until he could tell that all of them were inside Ianto before releasing his hold.

Gwen looked on, shocked. "Jack, what did you do? He's glowing."

"They're called nanogenes. I had some stored in a safe place, but never thought I'd actually use them." He looked up at her, with Ianto's head in his lap, and looked happy. "The first time I encountered my Doctor here in London, during the Blitz, they were out of control. I had caused something bad to happen, but I hadn't even known." His eyes stung with unshed tears. "They're little miracle workers." Ianto's body was still glowing, the unnatural light too bright for the solemn room.

Gwen had to shield her eyes from the blinding light, but it soon faded way. She looked down at the two. Ianto was no longer glowing, and he no longer had that deathly pallor. His skin looked normal. Alive. She noticed he no longer had the cut on his cheek as well. He seemed to be sleeping, and not the eternal kind. His chest rose in the steady rhythm of breathing. She looked at Jack. She couldn't see his eyes, but saw the line of tears running down his cheek dropping unnoticed by him onto his pants.

"Jack, what did you do? What happened?" Gwen couldn't believe her eyes. It wasn't possible. She had seen him. The stillness, the cold face. Yes, she was happy he was alive, but it didn't make any sense to her.

"The nanogenes are so smart, and to them, life is so easy to manipulate." Jack sounded so happy. Like the last few hours hadn't happened. Like the world wasn't still in danger. "You see, I couldn't lose him. I just couldn't. Not him." He finally wiped away the tears. "Not ever."

Ianto shifted on Jack's legs. "Mmm. Uncomfy." He opened his eyes and look up at Jack. The blue eyes were shining with life. "Jack?" Ianto didn't seem to remember yet why his Jack would be crying. "What happened?" He moved to get up but Jack's arms held him too close to move.

Gwen joined in and knelt with them, crying her own tear of joy. Jack had done it. He'd made the impossible possible, and he'd saved him.

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I'm pretty sure I'm going to be continuing this. I want to finish out COE at least. So expect another chapter, hopefully soon.