Characters/Pairings: Jack/ Ianto; Face of Boe/ Ianto; Gwen, Tosh, Owen
Rating: PG
Spoilers: All of Torchwood to be safe.
Warnings: None
Summary: This takes place somewhere during series 2. It was written after series 2 finished but before Children of Earth was broadcast so there are slight discrepancies with canon. I hope you enjoy it. Reviews are welcome.

'Report!' Jack yelled as he raced down the stairs from his office. The walls of the Hub were shaking.

'Massive rift activity,' Tosh called as she hurriedly brought the data up on her screen. 'Huge spikes – I don't know what's causing it.'

'Is something coming through?' Jack demanded.

'Yes – and whatever it is – it's big.'

'Ianto, Owen, Gwen – you're with me.' Jack commanded his team. 'Where is it coming through, Tosh?'

'It's outside, Jack; right outside the Hub.'

Ianto helped Jack on with his coat and Jack led the team out onto the Plass to meet this new threat.

It was a giant head; specifically it was a giant head in a jar.

'What is it, Jack?' Gwen asked.

'I have no idea.'

'Do you think its hurt?' Ianto asked moving closer towards the head.

'It looks like it's asleep.' Owen responded.

Suddenly the giant head opened its eyes. The four members of the team jumped back in surprise. The giant head was staring at them, unblinking. Slowly, Jack began to approach.

'Hello,' he said raising his hand in a sign of greeting.

The giant head stared at him.

Jack tried again.

'Hello, I'm Captain Jack Harkness. This is my team.' He gestured to the others who raised their hands in greeting, equally unsure of what to do.

The giant head's eyes suddenly fell upon Ianto.

'Ianto Jones,' he breathed. Everyone suddenly turned to look at Ianto.

'How do you know my name?' Ianto asked.

'I shouldn't be here,' the giant head said by way of response. 'This is all wrong – how did I get here?'

'You fell through the rift.' Jack explained he could tell the creature was starting to panic. He reached out his hand to try and touch it, comfort it.

'Don't touch me!'

Jack pulled his hand back as though he'd been shot.

'Sorry, I'm sorry. I meant no offence.'

'I shouldn't be here.' The head repeated.

'What is your name?' Ianto asked softly.

The creature seemed to ponder for moment before answering.

'They call me Boe,' he said. 'The Face of Boe.'

'The Face of Boe?' Jack said. 'The Doctor's friend?'

Boe nodded.

'Where do you come from?' asked Gwen.

'I am from the year 5 billion – I must get home. There is work to be done. I am so close to the end now.'

'Woah, woah.' Jack interrupted. 'I'm sorry but you're a long way from home at the moment. You're in...'

'Cardiff, Wales, Earth. The first decade of the 21st century – when everything changes; I have to get home.'

'How do you know that? Are you psychic?'

Jack was trained to sense someone trying to read his mind but this was a creature he'd never encountered before. Maybe he had powers that he didn't know about.

'No – I am not psychic; not exactly. I have lived for many years, Captain Harkness and seen many things.'

'So you've been here before? Is that what you're saying?'

'Do not ask me any questions, Captain Harkness. I cannot give you the answers you seek. Trust that I mean you no harm. But I must go home. I am so close to the end.'

Jack and Ianto were in his office. They had moved the Face of Boe into the main hub while they tried to formulate a plan of action. Jack was trying to reach the Doctor but he was seemingly unavailable.

Owen was running scans on Boe but he seemed to be in perfect health as far as he could tell; and seemingly unaffected by the rift.

'I wonder how he knew my name?' Ianto asked.

'I don't know,' Jack replied. 'But I don't like being kept in the dark. He knows things he's not telling us.'

'He said he can't give you answers.'

'I know and that just makes me all the more determined to find out what's going on. He seemed to like you, Yan. Will you try and talk to him?'

'I don't know Jack – I don't see why he'd talk to me.'

'Please try Yan. If he won't tell you anything then he won't but please just try?'

Ianto sighed.

'Ok – but only because I love you.'

Jack just smiled in response.

Ianto waited until everyone else had left the Hub before Ianto approached the Face of Boe. In all honesty, Ianto felt a little scared of him. He came from 5 billion years in the future and Ianto couldn't imagine what his life there must be like. Cardiff in the 21st century must have seemed like the Stone Age to Boe.

Boe seemed to sense he was there before he spoke.

'What is on your mind, Ianto Jones?'

Ianto wondered once again how Boe knew his name. Did he know anything else about him?

'Er – I was just wondering – are you comfortable enough Sir? Is there anything you need?'

At the word 'Sir' Ianto noticed the Face of Boe seemed to gasp. Ianto wasn't sure what to make of it.

'Thank you, Ianto. But you have all been very kind to me.'

'We're just doing our jobs, Sir.'

'I think your Captain Harkness wants you to talk to me.'

Ianto looked surprised. The Face of Boe smiled knowingly.

'How do you do that?' Ianto asked.

'Call it intuition – Ianto Jones.'

'He doesn't mean any offence – he's just curious about you.'

'I know – I understand him. I know what drives him. He craves knowledge but I can't give him the answers he needs.'

'Time lines?'

'Yes – all that timey wimey stuff.' Boe smiled.

Ianto looked at him. There was something strangely familiar about that smile; it made him feel safe and relaxed.

'He loves you, you know – Ianto Jones.'

Ianto blushed.

'I don't know about that.'

'You don't know?' Boe's tone was strange. 'You don't know that he loves you?'

'He's never said – I mean I tell him all the time but he doesn't say it back – it's ok though. I've never expected anything like that from him.'

Ianto tried to smile but Boe's expression filled him with sadness.

'Believe me, Ianto – to that man up there you are the most important thing in his life. He's a fool for not letting you know.'

'How do you know that?' Ianto asked.

'I cannot answer that question.'

Ianto just shook his head.

'I want to believe that he loves me – I really do. But sometimes, I see the way he looks at Gwen...'

'Gwen Cooper?'

'Yes.'

'He has no feelings for Gwen Cooper – he admires and respects her but that's where it ends. Ianto – he would never choose her over you.'

'Well, I'd like to believe that but with all due respect sir – you don't see the way they look at each other.'

Ianto let out a sigh.

'And she's not the only one – there are others. John Hart; The Doctor – he'll leave me for him again one day; I'm sure of it.'

Suddenly Ianto realised that his eyes had filled with tears. He quickly wiped them away.

'I'm sorry; I don't know why I'm telling you this.'

Boe smiled at him.

'It is no trouble Ianto Jones – I'm glad to listen.'

'Well – I'm going to turn in for the night – Jack and I stay here so if you need anything just shout.'

'Thank you, Ianto Jones. I'm forever in your debt.'

Boe watched Ianto as he made his way up the staircase to Jack's office. After all these long years he was worried that he might have forgotten the exact colour of his eyes or the way he smelled. But Boe was relieved to find that he had remembered Ianto Jones exactly. Hearing his soft voice again made Boe's heart soar. He had always known that Ianto Jones was his one true love; and now he realised that Ianto Jones was totally oblivious to the fact.

Boe remembered the first time he had experienced this night; when he had been Jack. He knew as Ianto disappeared from sight that the Captain was waiting for him in that tiny bunker underneath the office – that bunker was just not good enough for Ianto. He deserved better than what was basically a glorified on- call room. Jack should have gotten them a proper house; he should have given Ianto a proper home.

Boe also knew that Jack and Ianto were going to have sex. As he remembered it had been incredible; mind blowing sex. Boe couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy. He knew it was ridiculous to be jealous of himself but over the long millennia that he had had to miss Ianto it was the feeling of intimacy with someone he truly loved that he missed the most.

He felt a stab of guilt at his heart. Ianto didn't know. He probably thought that Jack was thinking about somebody else when they were making love; hell, Ianto probably didn't even realise that Jack thought of it as making love. He probably thought he was just a shag. Had his Ianto really died thinking that Jack didn't love him?

Suddenly Boe stopped caring about time lines. He needed to get through to his thick headed younger self. He needed to make Ianto understand that he was loved.