Book Two of Torchwood: After the Fall

The End is Where We Start From (continued from PART TWO)

NOTES!!!! Much more light hearted than before. I promise. There is some drama, and a surprise guest at the end, but this is the last part of Book Two and I wanted to show how the team is now slowly starting to accept everything and move on with their lives. Enjoy!!

~_~_~

"How do you feel about day-long massages and sandy beaches where the oceans are teeming with life and the nights are as warm as the days?"

"Sounds lovely. Can we go now?"

"Take a nap first; you're going to need it once I get us booked. You know, the sea water on Ffrana has aphrodisiac properties…"

Ianto was all ready asleep. Jack smiled and held him closer. Tomorrow they would go on holiday. Then they would settle things with Gwen. Tomorrow. For now, he would sleep.

~_~_~

PART THREE

Gwen was mad. No, scratch that; Gwen was furious.

"You what?" she demanded. Her clenched fists were pressed against her narrow hips as she faced the immortal Captain with a dark glare on her face.

Jack raised an eyebrow at her tone as he took in her expression and stance. He regarded her with an air of annoyance. He did not see any reason for her to be angry with him. He had done nothing wrong.

"I don't know why you're so upset, Gwen. We're here now aren't we?"

"Yes, but that's not the point!"

"Then what is the point?"

"You left! You left again!"

"And?"

"Dammit Jack, I didn't think you'd just up and leave -- abandon me again! But you did!"

Jack sighed and closed his eyes. He forced himself to count to ten (first in English followed by a couple of alien languages) as he took a deep, calming breath. He opened his eyes and looked at her angry face.

"Gwen, I told you before that I would be taking Ianto to explore the universe from time to time.

It's not as if Torchwood, Earth or you own us. Do not presume to tell me what to do with my life. If I want to take my partner for a much needed holiday away from everything for a bit then I will."

"But Jack," Gwen protested. "You said that you were gone for a year. A year!"

"Yes, we were. It was a year for Ianto and I, but for you it's the morning after Ianto was ripped apart by an alien because of our bickering."

She frowned at him. "You were too, remember?"

The sight of the two of them torn to pieces and scattered in twin pools of blood had kept her up all night. It was the worst of Jack's deaths she had seen (she was very grateful that she had not seen the pieces that the Hub's destruction had left him in five years previous) and the resulting resurrection had shaken all of them deeply. Alice had not left her father's side while he slowly healed, his body stitching itself back together bit by severed bit. The older woman had only left the room after Jack had been checked over by Martha and insisted that Ianto would not be pleased to wake up and see everyone there hovering over him.

"Gwen, yes, I remember being torn apart. I remember every single death I've experienced. Thankfully I've only been torn up like that twice. Yes, I felt it, all of it. But for me the worst of it was feeling what Ianto was going through."

"You could feel that?"

"We're linked, remember? The bond we share -- that I forced onto him -- means that his pains have truly become my own. If you were to pinch me now, he would feel it."

Gwen turned away from him and looked at the picture of her daughter that sat on her desk.

"But a whole year…" Her voice was soft. She picked up the picture and tried to imagine what it would be like if she had done that; what all might she have missed if she ran away for a year?

"Like I said, it was for us. Me and him. Not for you."

"But what if you'd miscalculated? What if instead of popping back in a few hours after, you didn't return until Stephanie was an old woman?"

Jack gaped at her in shock. "Gwen, I…"

"Every day that you're gone for so long, while it's a brief time for me, might make you forget us here."

She turned back to look at him. "Jack, I know that one day you and Ianto will have no one left here to make you want to stay on earth. True, Ianto's family will most likely still be here generations from now but eventually, one day you'll both leave. One day Captain Harkness will whisk his immortal lover away from this little planet and never look back. I can live with that. What I can't live with is that one day Gwen Cooper will fade from your memories, both of yours', like I never existed." She tried to not let the tears show but it wasn't to be.

"That won't happen." He sounded so sure of that.

"It could." As did she.

"But it won't."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because although my sole purpose for so long was to find Ianto again I kept my memories of you, and Owen and Tosh, alive. Not only did those memories of you all contain bits of him but you help keep me sane."

"Yes, but you have him back now. There's no need to remember us millions of years in the future."

"Do you think that Ianto Jones, the man of total recall, would allow me to forget any of you?" Jack smiled gently at her. "No, Gwen Cooper-Williams, you're all too important. Yes, one day, long after you're gone, he and I will leave this planet for good. But we'll tell the tale of Torchwood and its' faithful soldiers led by you. No, we won't ever be able to forget you, Gwen."

He reached out and pulled her in for a hug. They stood silent for several moments.

"So," Jack said finally. "Want me to tell you about Ianto running naked through a crowd of alien paparazzi?"

~_~_~

Lois smiled as she took the coffee that was offered to her. She had to admit that no one could make coffee like Ianto Jones. His brew was at just the right temperature and just the right strength. It was as if he knew coffee; the perfect formula to create the perfect cup of heaven.

"Mmm… Oh this is divine," she murmured after the first sip.

"Thank you," came Ianto's gentle voice.

"Yeah, it's fantastic!" Mickey said between dreamy sips.

"No doubt enhanced by alien technology."

Ianto was at least glad that he was not the only one to spit out his drink. The three of them turned to look at Samantha Johnson with identical looks of shock coupled with disbelief at her calmly spoken statement.

Samantha was leaning against the wall in her typical black field uniform, her arms folded across her chest. Her dark brown hair was pulled into a tight, efficient braid and she wore almost no makeup. It was not in her to fully care about her appearance. She had been bred and trained to be a soldier, not a fashion plate. Her pretty face was blank as she looked at them.

"Tell me that you're joking," Mickey said as he looked down at the cup in his hand.

"She is," Ianto said firmly. He had picked up a napkin was sopping up the coffee he had spat onto himself.

"How can you tell?" Andy asked as he joined them, automatically reaching for a cup. He had been a fan of Ianto's coffee before he had joined Torchwood. There had been several instances, mainly after Owen and Tosh died, where he had helped them solve a case or at the least had told them about it and Ianto had served him coffee. The case he remembered best, the one that stuck out in his memory the most was the night of the zombies. He had adored watching zombie movies before that night; now he cringed whenever he even heard the word 'zombie.'

"Because her left eyebrow waggles a bit when she's kidding around."

Samantha and Ianto gazed at each other. Neither was blinking; it had become a staring contest. Everyone stared at the two of them curious as to who would blink first, who would cave and surrender to the other.

"Oh now this is going to be good. No one can go so long without blinking like Ianto can," Jack said with a mischievous grin.

"Don't be so sure," Gwen said. "Samantha has stared down aliens and politicians. She even made one politician cry."

Martha, Rhys and Alice came into the library and saw the rest of the team standing by the coffee station watching Ianto and Samantha stare each other down. Naturally they were intrigued (and curiously amused) so they quietly made their way over to the group.

The twin gazes remained locked for what felt like an eternity. Everyone waited with bated breath to see who would win. Finally, a pair of eyes closed so briefly it was almost missed. Almost.

"Ianto Jones, if I didn't know better, I'd swear you were an alien yourself." Samantha's tone was flat but her lips were quirked into a half smile. The game was over, she had lost. She was a graceful loser.

"You wouldn't be the first to think that," Ianto said with a small smile of his own. He leaned back into Jack as the other man came up behind him and grabbed his belt loops. He loved the way that Jack was always warm; he himself had always been a little bit colder. He also loved how what could have become a tense argument ("Alien technology to make coffee? How dare you!" "I dare!") had been instead a few moments of frivolity.

Perhaps working together wasn't going to be so difficult after all. Ianto had been worried that he would resent the woman's presence. He had felt rage upon seeing her that first day because he remembered Jack being shot and the bomb placed inside his stomach. He remembered the way he had felt as he watched her pack up the body parts and take Jack away. The sound of Jack's painful screams as his body grew itself again had made sleep impossible that night. He had barely managed to keep his emotions in check as he'd watched the cement truck trap his lover in a cell. That was the reason he had chosen to go with Jack to the Thames House. It was not just to be with his lover as they faced the threat. He had feared that if he saw Samantha Johnson up close he would not have hesitated to kill her in revenge for what she had done.

He had ignored her when he had first been brought back. Now though, now he could see himself counting her amongst his colleagues without difficulty.

"Okay you lot," Gwen clapped her hands. "Since we're all here, we'll just have our meeting now. Grab a coffee; not made with alien technology or alien beans. Get yourselves comfortable as we might be here a while."

~_~_~

In the end Gwen was left in charge of the bulk of things. Jack had become a pseudo second in command. He would also be the one in charge whenever there was an alien threat he knew and they had not encountered before. Jack had also agreed (after much glowering and prodding from Ianto) that because of their inability to stay dead he and Ianto would split up on the most dangerous assignments. This was for everyone's benefit, not to punish.

Ianto had taken over the archives once again but he was more than a little grateful to have Alice and Lois help him. They had made an admirable attempt to organize the storage rooms but agreed readily to a complete overhaul. It wouldn't take too long, a week or two, to sort out the various artefacts. This was mainly due to the fact that most of the artefacts housed in Torchwood III were from the past five years as well as a few that had been sent from Torchwood II and UNIT.

Samantha was insistent that everyone brush up on their weapons and combat skills, something that Gwen and Jack agreed to. Each day, Rift providing, they would spend a couple of hours on the firing range honing their skills. After all, Gwen reasoned, a wise man once told her that the 21st century was when everything was going to change and they had to be ready.

Jack had smirked at that little comment. Now he was sitting on a couch with a report in his hands. He looked up at the sound of footsteps.

"Dad?"

"Hey." He smiled and set the report down.

Alice sat down across from him and bit her lip before speaking. "I was wondering if you and Ianto would like to come to dinner later this week?"

That was unexpected. In fact, all though she had said that they were okay, he hadn't expected such an invitation so soon. Seeing him dead again must have affected her more than they'd thought.

"We'd love to, but we can't. Not this week."

"Oh." The disappointment was evident on her face.

"It's just that Ianto's sister invited us to her house this week for dinner. He wants to see her family again, his niece and nephew. Considering how unstable the Rift is and with him having staged a nonhostile takeover of the archives," he smiled at her smile. "I doubt we'd have the time this week. But next week, most definitely. The end of the world couldn't keep us away. Especially if you're doing the cooking. Ianto can't cook worth a damn."

"Dad!"

"I heard that!"

They looked up to see Ianto come into the room with a box in his hands. He joined Jack on the couch and set the box down on the table. He smiled at Alice as he leaned back against the cushions.

"So why are you insulting my culinary skills?"

"You mean lack of," Jack said with a smirk. "I remember one time you tried to make Shepard's pie and ended up with pureed meat and vegetable mush."

"Shut up." Ianto swatted him lightly on the arm and looked at Alice. "Try to ignore him. I may not be the best cook, but at least I know to preheat the oven. Don't even get me started on the various times he's tried to make biscuits and failed."

Alice chuckled and shook her head. "Oh, I could tell you tales of Jack Harkness' futile attempts in the kitchen."

"I'll swap you story for story, if you like. Complete with pictures."

"Oy!" Jack protested good-naturedly. This was better and more than he could have ever hoped for. His daughter and his lover getting along was worth any suffering he had to endure.

Ianto chuckled and stood to go make a fresh pot of coffee. "So what were you two conspiring about before I stepped in and ruined your dastardly plans?"

"Alice invited us to dinner at her house." Jack gauged his lover's reaction. It was one thing to joke around with each other at the Hub, but dinner with the in-laws (such as it was) was an entirely different matter.

"Oh, that sounds nice. Take-away is getting boring. And conversation with you always leads to sex. Not that I'm complaing, but we do need to get out more." Ianto turned and leaned against the coffee making station as he waited for the coffee to brew. "Which reminds me -- Rhiannon said that tomorrow evening would be great for us to stop by. The kids both got grounded for the weekend and so can't go out anyway."

"What did she tell them?" Jack asked. It would be helpful to know ahead of time so that they didn't let anything slip out in conversation.

"Just that I was in an accident that resulted in a coma and rehabilitation to recover. Johnny knows the truth but we thought it best that David and Mica believe I was hurt. Besides, cover ups are all the rage." He poured them each a coffee and came back over to the couch.

"That's probably a good idea," Alice said. "Kids don't always think before they speak. It was hard for me knowing that my father couldn't die. I lost track of how many lectures I received on the importance of secrecy. I was afraid to even write about it in my diary because I thought Mom would get angry and punish me."

"Hmm. Yes, well, David could probably deal with not telling his friends. He's always been a bright boy. But Mica's still at that age where she doesn't quite grasp what a secret is. I do intend on being in their lives for a while, so one day we'll have to broach the subject again. One day they're going to notice that Uncle Ianto isn't getting any older."

Alice remembered her father saying something very similar once. It was the day that all of the horror had begun, the first day the children had spoken in unison across the world. She had seen the longing in his eyes as he looked at Steven. She only wished that the longing had not been overshadowed by the need to run tests on a child. Her maternal instincts had kicked in at the thought of her father experimenting on her son.

"It's because you're dangerous!"

Yes, her father was a dangerous man indeed. Heaven help anyone who crossed him. She had watched him as she grew up, seen the way he used all of his intellect to intimidate those around him. A calculated look with narrowed eyes, a casual stance and cold smile…. His tone, low and calm, had been the final piece that would undo the strongest of men.

She had been as much afraid of her adoration of the man as she had the man himself. It had also been a wake up call for her after her son's funeral. Her father had gone and she had only then realized just how much he meant to her, what he had been forced to do and what he had lost. She also knew that she was partly to blame for what happened to Steven. If she had let her father take him to Torchwood to run his tests they would have discovered the 456 sooner and been able to plan. She had known that her father would never have intentionally hurt her son but she had still been upset over her mother. She had known that her father loved her mother but that he was also not exclusive. Alice knew that it was her resentment that had played a part in the death of her little boy.

She looked at Ianto. It was so painfully clear that this young man loved her father more than anything. She didn't have to know that he was cheerfully bearing the burden of changing Time in order to see his devotion. The love and affection was there in his eyes, plain for all to see.

"How about early next week, say Tuesday, then?" she asked.

Ianto and Jack smiled at her.

"That would be lovely, Ms.," Ianto said raising his cup to her.

"Call me Alice," she insisted. "If you can put up with this sod for even a day, let alone eternity, then you're definitely family."

Jack's smile turned into a grin. "I just got a great idea!"

"Oh no," Ianto groaned. "The last time you said that I ended up naked and locked in a cell with Rhys." At Alice's shocked look he added, "Trust me, you don't want to know." He glared at Jack. "What exactly is this 'great idea' of yours'?"

"Well, I was thinking, after we have dinner with your sister and with Alice that maybe we should have a big family dinner. And when I say family, I mean a Torchwood family dinner. Ooh, or maybe a picnic! We still have some summer left before it gets too cold. We could go to that little wooded area where I first met you. There's a lake near by and all, no one would get too bored."

Ianto and Alice exchanged a surprised look.

"That's actually a good idea. And I have to agree with Ianto that most of your ideas aren't."

"All right then," Jack said with a grin. "We'll talk to the others to set up a date and decide who'll bring what. I'll make some biscuits."

"No!" Ianto and Alice both shouted, laughing at the mock-hurt look on Jack's face.

Jack couldn't keep the façade for long though before his face practically split in two with a broad, happy smile. His family, his dear family, was on the road to healing. Life was great!

~_~_~

"Are you okay, Uncle Ianto?" Mica asked with a worried look on her face.

"Yeah, right as rain, Mica. Oww…"

"I'm so sorry Ianto, Jack!" Rhiannon pressed a bag of frozen peas gently against Ianto's jaw. "If I'd have known he was going to be that mad I wouldn't have left the room."

"It's okay," Jack assured her as he attempted a smile for Mica, who was pressing a bag of frozen corn to his jaw. "Not the first time I've have a run in with a fist, won't be the last either."

"No doubt," Ianto muttered.

They were all at the kitchen table at the Davies' house. David had drug his father outside for a walk to try to get him to cool down. Rhiannon was mortified that her husband had punched her brother's lover in the first place.

"He's the reason we have to suffer, to grieve for five years, Rhi! And you just let him in without tell' him off!"

She winced. She had told Johnny everything that Gwen and more recently Ianto had told her about the 456 and Ianto's 'condition.' She had been so sure that her husband, the daft sod, had understood but considering the large angry purple bruises marring the faces of the two men at her table, it appeared she was wrong.

"Uncle Ianto, are you an alien?"

They all looked at Mica with identical looks of surprise.

"Why would you think that, Sweetheart?" Ianto asked.

"Daddy hit Uncle Jack but you got a bruise too. Either you're a wizard or an alien. And since Bobby O'Riley says that wizards aren't real then you must be an alien," she said in that tone of reason and logic that only young children could master.

Ianto couldn't help but smile (damn, that hurt!) at his niece and then glanced at Jack. Seeing the matching smile he turned back to the little, precocious child.

"I'm not an alien or a wizard but it's sorta like magic."

"Like how?" Ah, the curiosity of youth!

"Well, Uncle Jack and I care deeply for each other…"

"You mean you love him and he loves you."

"That's right." Ianto blushed as Jack took hold of his hand. "But Jack is really, really special. Because we love each other his special powers to heal quickly, like magic, have been shared with me. But that means that if he gets hurt so will I."

"Hmm. How did Uncle Jack get like that?"

Now Jack spoke up. "One day, a long time ago," he said in a tone that made Mica smile and Ianto and Rhiannon recall childhoods filled with story times. "A really magical Doctor and a pretty girl named Rose--"

"Like a flower?"

"Yep! And she was just like a flower. Well, the Doctor and Rose met the handsome Jack and together they traveled all over the universe. They were together for a long time. Then they found this really cool space station and were having fun when these bad guys showed up and tried to take over. The Doctor and Rose were able to escape while Jack fought the bad guys for them and then Jack got hurt. Rose used a special power of her own to save Jack but he was separated from her and the Doctor. Jack came here, to earth to wait for his Doctor. But while he was here, he discovered that he could heal real fast, like magic. After waiting and waiting for years for the Doctor and Rose to find him, he met the quiet, mysterious, gorgeous Ianto. Now, Ianto at first just wanted to work for Jack but eventually he fell hopelessly in love with Jack. The two of them now share the same healing magic because Jack fell in love too."

"And they got to live happily ever after?" Mica asked excitedly. She was still young enough to appreciate faerytales.

"Yep. The end." Jack ruffled her hair and smiled.

"I like that story! You should make a book and I could draw pictures!" She leaned close and whispered in Jack's ear. "I won't tell anybody that you and Uncle Ianto are magic aliens."

Ianto and Rhiannon smiled at each other.

"Oy, you lot! We got ice cream!" Johnny shouted as he and David came back in.

Once the kids were in the basement watching the telly, the adults moved out to the backyard patio. Ianto was pleased that his sister and her family had moved into this bigger house with a proper yard for the kids to play in. It was just a few miles from where they had lived before but it was a nicer neighborhood.

He leaned back and closed his eyes. His jaw was nearly healed now though it still throbbed a bit.

"Look, I'm sorry that I hit you but not sorry for why."

Ianto opened his eyes and looked at his brother in-law. Johnny and Jack were sitting across from each other, Johnny with an angry look on his face while Jack's face was blank.

"I'm not going to apologize anymore for what happened," Jack said. "Yes, Ianto's dying was my fault. Completely my fault. He should never have been withy me that day. Hell, in all fairness, I never should have given in and hired him seven years ago. But I'm through apologizing."

"I'm not askin' for an apology. I hit you because I was rememberin' how upset my wife was, how afraid we all were -- not because I hate you. I was at the funeral service too. I saw how sad you were. And I also know that you refused to leave the burial site when it as time to put the casket in the ground. You stayed there the entire time watching them and telling them to be careful, that Ianto didn't like the dark."

Ianto looked at his lover in surprise. "I didn't know that!"

"Because no one told you," Jack said. 'Look, I can't take back what happened. All I can do is promise to do my best to protect him and all of you."

Johnny studied him for a moment. He nodded. "See to it that you take good care of him then. I've known him since he was just a whiny little brat, you see. Didn't want me dating his sister. When I proposed he stole the ring and tried to run away. Thought it'd make me give up."

"Oy!" Ianto blushed at the memory. "I was ten!"

"Cheeky bastard, you were!" Rhiannon said fondly. She remembered Johnny running out the door after her brother and coming back into the house with him over his shoulder, the ring still clutched in his little fist. "At the wedding," she said to Jack. "He was the ring bearer and he's got the most adorable pout on his face in all of the pictures. He even went so far as to sneak up behind us when we were cutting the cake and smashed a piece into Johnny's face!"

"He didn't!" Jack laughed at the image of his collected, cool, calm lover being a normal kid.

"He did! Oh, Mum was so mad! Dad just laughed and held the camera. I was so embarrassed!" She giggled and looked at her brother. "Oh, look at you! Pouting like a baby!"

"Am not!" came the indignant reply. Ianto was slouched down in his seat with his arms folded and a scowl (and a pout) on his face. As they all laughed at his plight he turned on the full Ianto Jones Death Glare (patent pending) at them. "Gits. Every last one of you."

"Oh, Tiger Pants! You know you love it!" Jack said with an affectionate grin at his lover.

Rhiannon smiled when she heard that. She was suddenly taken back to the last time her brother had been in her home, the day her children and every other child had spoken those terrifying words.

"He is really handsome."

"No!"

"Now stop it."

Her brother had always been very private. Every since he was little he had been so quiet and reserved. The only things that had broken through that persona were anything that upset his little ideal world. Whenever she had dated Ianto had gotten sullen and acted out. It had gotten worse when Johnny came into her life. He had been jealous of the man who he saw as taking away his sister. Then later when their mother's illness began to affect her everyday life poor Ianto had been devastated. He had positively adored his mother and couldn't understand what was going on. When he had been about fourteen they'd had no choice but to send her away. Ianto had become withdrawn and angry, taking it out on their father. At least they had managed a reconciliation of sorts before the heart attack took their father from them too.

For Ianto to not tell her about Jack was not really that far of a stretch. He had only ever told her things that would not get tongues wagging and the gossip spinning.

"It's not men. It's just…him. It's only him. And I'm not even sure what it is, so no broadcasting it."

The look in his eyes, their mother's eyes, had told her more than those few sentences ever could. She had wanted to press him more but then Johnny had come in and let it out that yes, she had indeed been part of the gossip train.

"It's only him."

That alone had made her want to cry. Ianto had always been so careful to not share himself with others. Even Lisa (poor thing) had not been able to do more than put a dent in the shield Ianto had erected around his heart. But Jack Harkness had gone beyond denting. He had smashed through the damned thing and completely stolen her brother's heart. If her brother thought that Jack was worth dying for again and again then who was she to not approve?

"So, are you going to make an honest man outta him anytime soon or what?"

"Johnny!"

~_~_~

"Thank you for tonight, Jack," Ianto said as they drove back home. It was just after 9 p.m. and the sky was clear; it looked like a very lovely night.

"No problem. I enjoyed hearing about you as a kid. We'll definitely have to go back."

"Well, I'm sorry about Johnny. For hitting you and that whole 'honest man' bit."

"Don't bit. Especially about that last bit." Jack reached over and squeezed his hand. "It's certainly not an unpleasant thought."

"Jack…" Ianto said in a warning tone.

"Well, maybe not right now," Jack conceded. Marriage was a touchy subject, obviously. He would have to do some digging to find out why. To be honest, he had been considering proposing ever since he had gotten Ianto back. It wasn't necessary, but it was something he wouldn't object to.

"Right now I just want to enjoy our life together and work for Torchwood. Oh, and explore the universe some too." Ianto sighed. "We just need to make sure to give Gwen warning before we take off just in case we don't get back when we say we will. Sorry she went off on you like that."

"Bit my head off! Thankfully, it grew back. You Welsh and your tempers!" he teased lightly.

"Uh huh… I think someone wants to sleep on the -- Jack, look out!"

At Ianto's shout Jack slammed his foot down on the brakes and the car screeched to a halt. Jack shook himself and looked at his lover.

"You all right?"

"Other than I think my stomach has taken a leave of absence, yeah." Ianto's voice was shaky. He looked out at the dark road. "I saw someone… In the road."

Jack unbuckled his seatbelt and climbed out of the car. He didn't bother telling Ianto to keep back; just like that day when they had gone to the zoo and the Brakkanee had attacked the people there, Ianto was right behind him. Stubborn, lovable bastard.

Jack saw a figure lying on the road. Probably a drunk or a vagrant but he pulled his gun out just in case. He strode quickly to the figure and knelt. He started to reach for the man (that much he could tell) to turn him over when the voice (a too-familiar voice) reached his ears.

"Oh, I have the worst headache…"

Ianto's eyes widened in abject terror. He had faced off Cybermen and Daleks and taken on zombies and haunted houses had even survived the terror of being a woman (small bladders, pantyhose and *shudder* bras) but nothing terrified the life of him as much as this… this man.

"No! Nononono! No!"

He staggered back and collapsed, his knees giving out. His face was more pale than usual and his body shook violently.

This couldn't be happening. Not when things were finally starting to come together! No, why him, why now?

"Eye Candy! What a surprise to see you again!"

John Bloody Hart. Bloody hell!

~_~_~

End Book Two of Torchwood: After the Fall

~_~_~

NOTES!!!!!

See, more fun and less angst! It wouldn't be Torchwood without a little drama. I wante dto include more with the team but I felt that the reconcilliations with their families was more important for Jack and Ianto. Poor Alice is slowly healing and I wanted to show more of what she's going through. Book Two is now complete (Though I'm sure you obviously realize that, since it's obvious you can read… * bangs head on desk *) and Book Three is slowly coming together. Other than telling you that Captain John Hart will indeed be hanging around causing mischief and mayhem I can't say any of what's going to happen. Expect more drama and fun for the whole gang. Book Three will finish "After the Fall" but that doesn't mean that this particular TW universe is over and done. We'll have to see where my muses take me.

For now, please read my other stories and let me know what you think. I have a few more series I'm working on ("Torchwood America" as well as a Gwen series, not ready to see the light of day) and I have a few one-shots that I am posting to help keep you all placated until the next part of "After the Fall" is ready fro posting.

Oh!! 'Tiger Pants' comes from the novel Trace Memory, it's an interesting TW read. I loved it and plan to reference it a lot. Ianto's lamenting the trials of being female is from Almost Perfect, which I like but find a bit more confusing. And the date to the zoo/ Brakkanee reference is from the TW novel Pack Animals. Quite easily one of my favorite TW novels to date. Not only do Jack and Ianto have a lot of scenes together, but Tosh and Owen are just too cute and Rhys and Gwen are well, Rhys and Gwen (wedding stuff, couple stuff, being cute and silly). The whole story is a fun read. If you haven't read it, then go now, I command you! And in case you have read it, who else here did not notice at firs that one of the cards Gwen is holding on the cover is a card of Toshiko? I was like, huh? I think it would have been funny if all the cards she had were of the TW gang… hehehe… If I missed any books/fiction/etc, let me know!

Thank you so much for reading this! If anything confused you, let me know!