Jack was sitting in his office with his head in his hands. He really wanted a glass of scotch to help him unwind but it was approaching 6am and even though alcohol didn't really affect him he didn't think it would be a good idea to start drinking at such an hour of the day when he was emotionally exhausted and had had no sleep.

The Hub was silent. Ianto was still sleeping down in the bunker and the Doctor was Donna had both retired to the TARDIS which was still parked in the middle of the Hub.

Jack sighed as he considered the Time Lord. His emotions concerning the Doctor had always been in a state of turmoil. He'd been attracted to him in the early days he couldn't deny that, but that spark of attraction had soon turned to fierce loyalty and a desire to make him proud; through the years he'd felt a range of other emotions when he'd thought about his friend: loneliness and abandonment; hurt; fear; pain; excitement; joy. But now he felt another emotion that he'd never before associated with the Doctor. He felt angry.

It had happened again hadn't it? The Oncoming Storm had swept into his life and turned everything upside down again and this time things might not be so easily fixed because this time it was Ianto. Ianto was his everything. He was the person that made all Jack's pain and all the sacrifices worth it. He was the only person that Jack had ever truly loved and now the Doctor had threatened that.

Of course Jack was grateful to the Doctor for saving Ianto's life as the regeneration process had started to go wrong but another part of him just felt so incredibly scared. If Ianto had died, Jack knew that he would have been broken beyond repair but in many ways this felt worse. If Ianto couldn't stand to be near him anymore, if he thought that he was wrong, it would be the worst pain imaginable. It would also be the Master's final triumph over him; the thing that would succeed in finally breaking him where the year of torture and death had failed; continuing on would be impossible.

Jack felt the beginnings of a headache behind his eyes. He wanted nothing more than to go down into his bunker and curl up beside Ianto and fall asleep listening to the beat of his heart – hearts, he corrected himself. Ianto had two now after all – like nothing had changed, but things had changed. It was impossible to deny that and it was only fair that Ianto should be allowed to decide for himself how things would be between them on his own terms. Jack didn't want to seem like he was trying to force his hand.

He stood up and left his office walking down the steps into the main Hub. He stopped in front of the TARDIS. How many years had he spent dreaming of the day that the TARDIS would appear like this and take him away from Cardiff; away from Earth? How much time with Ianto had he wasted because he'd been waiting for the Doctor?

Jack reached out and tried the TARDIS door, surprised when it yielded to his touch and swung open. Hesitantly he stepped forward and went inside. It looked exactly the same. He was almost expecting Rose to pop her head up and ask him if he wanted a cup of tea; but Rose was long gone. Sighing, he reached out and touched the central control console and he felt the familiar hum as the TARDIS responded to his touch.

'Hey there,' he said softly as he pressed his hand down onto the smooth surface. 'It's been a long time.'

'She's missed you,' a soft voice replied from the shadows.

Jack turned around and found himself face to face with the Doctor who was sitting by himself in the corner of the room.

'I thought you'd be asleep,' Jack said and the Doctor shrugged.

'I have a lot on my mind.'

'Yeah,' Jack replied. 'Tell me about it.'

'How's Ianto?' the Doctor asked.

'He's still sleeping.'

The Doctor nodded but didn't reply. After a few minutes of silence Jack turned and made to leave but the Doctor's voice stopped him.

'Has he been alright Jack?'

Jack turned to face the Time Lord once again. He could see the guilt and pain haunting the Doctor's eyes. He nodded.

'He hasn't had it easy,' he replied softly. 'But yeah, he's been alright.'

The Doctor nodded again. 'I never stopped looking for him you know. I tried everything – even UNIT. I don't understand how he can have just disappeared like that.'

Jack understood the guilt that the Doctor must be feeling only too well. He'd lived with it ever since he was a child and he'd let go of Grey's hand. He knew how it felt to replay the events in your head; always wondering if somehow you could have done things differently.

'It's not your fault Doctor,' Jack told him.

The Doctor didn't reply so Jack moved closer and sat down facing the Time Lord.

'Sometimes things just happen,' he said.

'Do they?' the Doctor replied. 'Sometimes I wonder. Maybe everything happens for a reason; maybe even the stuff that seems random and senseless has got a point but we just can't see it; like there's some greater power behind it all. Maybe everything is meant to be.'

Jack smiled wryly. 'Even the wrong stuff?'

'Yeah,' the Doctor replied. 'Maybe even the wrong stuff.'

'I am still wrong then. You still think that.'

'Jack…' the Doctor trailed off and Jack got the distinct impression that the Time Lord was studying him closely before he let out a sigh and began speaking again. 'I seem to have a habit of saying the wrong thing, or speaking without thinking first you know?'

'You think?' Jack said raising his eyebrows slightly.

The Doctor shook his head. 'I wish I could say that it was just this regeneration but I don't think it is. I think it's just me. I say the wrong things; I do the wrong things even though I'm only trying to help. I let people down. I let the people that I care about down.'

Jack had never heard the Doctor speaking candidly like this before and he didn't want to interrupt. He sensed that now he had started, the Doctor needed to keep talking.

'You have to understand Jack, sometimes I get so scared. Sometimes I see things that I just don't understand and it terrifies me and so I run away from them. All my life I've been running away from things that scare me, people; places – I even ran away from my own family Jack, did you know that? I stole the TARDIS and I ran away from home. I was just a kid…' The Doctor trailed off and Jack didn't press him for details. He knew there would be no point. The secrets that the Doctor kept would more than rival his own.

'What I'm trying to say, in a very roundabout way Jack, is that I'm sorry. When I said you were wrong – what I meant is – a Time Lord sees the universe; the whole of time and space and everything in it is in a state of flux. I look at anyone and I can see the whole of their history and all the endless possibilities, everything that they could be; should be; must never be. But when I look at you, you don't fit Jack. You don't fit in with the way that things are supposed to be and that really scared me but it's not your fault and it doesn't mean that you don't belong or that you shouldn't exist.'

'It's hard for you to look at me though,' Jack said. It wasn't a question.

'Yeah,' the Doctor replied honestly. 'But after a while I get used to it.'

If the words were supposed to offer comfort to Jack, then they failed miserably.

Ianto woke up and found himself alone in Jack's bed. He couldn't remember how he'd got there but given that someone had removed his clothes he assumed that Jack had to have been involved. He sat up slowly, wiping the sleep from his eyes before glancing at the bedside alarm clock; it was almost two in the afternoon. He'd been asleep for hours.

The last thing that he remembered was the Doctor opening his pocket watch – the Chameleon Arch, he corrected himself. So it was done. He was a Time Lord again.

He looked down at himself, checking his arms and legs. They still looked the same. They still worked; so far so good. He ran his fingers through his hair; that felt the same as it always had, better and better.

Then Ianto felt a strange sensation in his chest.

'Two hearts,' he said under his breath. 'That's going to take some getting used to.'

Looking around the familiar room, he noticed that things looked slightly different now. The interior of the room was exactly the same but Ianto was aware of subtle shifts and changes in its structural make up. The time vortex, he supposed. He was becoming aware of it again. That would definitely take some getting used to.

Carefully, he climbed out of the bed and he saw that someone – probably Jack had laid out some clean clothes for him on the chair. He showered quickly in the en-suite bathroom and then dressed before making his way up the step ladder.

Jack's office was empty and so Ianto made his way down the metal staircase into the main Hub which was equally deserted. Ianto surmised that the team must have been called out to deal with a rift alert.

Ianto stared at the TARDIS for a moment. The Doctor was still here then. True to his word he hadn't just disappeared again. Ianto considered knocking on the door to see if anyone was inside but then he swallowed hard and decided against it for now. He needed a few moments to collect his thoughts.

'Coffee,' he said to himself. He needed coffee. Coffee always made him feel better. He walked over to the kitchen and turned on the coffee maker as he did so he heard footsteps coming up the stairs from the medical bay. He turned around.

'Ianto,' Martha greeted him sounding surprised. 'I was just coming to check on you. How are you feeling?'

Ianto stared at Martha and blinked a few times feeling a wave of nausea wash over him. She seemed to be surrounded by strands of light, all of them twisting and turning around her; her time lines; endless and infinite possibilities; everything that Martha ever had the potential to become. Ianto suddenly felt dizzy.

He was vaguely aware of Martha asking if he was alright but he couldn't concentrate on forming a response. He was trying to focus on following one of the strands of time that surrounded Martha but every time he singled one out it would dart off at an unexpected angle and he'd lose it again.

Ianto stumbled and Martha reached out and put a hand on his arm to steady him.

'Come and sit down Ianto,' she said gently, leading him over to the sofa.

As soon as he sat down, the proximity alarms sounded and the cog door opened allowing Jack, Gwen, the Doctor and Donna entry to the Hub

'… complete waste of time,' Jack was saying. 'I should've stayed here …' he trailed off as his eyes fell on the scene in front of him.

'Ianto!' he exclaimed automatically rushing towards his lover and taking his hand in his. 'What's wrong sweetheart?'

Ianto closed his eyes and looked down at the floor. 'Sick,' he managed to say.

'He was fine,' Martha told Jack, 'and then he just came over like this.'

The Doctor knelt down on the floor beside Ianto. 'It's time sickness,' he said by way of explanation and then, in response to the puzzled looks from the others he continued. 'It's just like sea sickness only caused by seeing the fluctuations in the time vortex. He's been human for such a long time it'll take his brain a while to settle down. Don't worry he'll be fine in an hour or so.'

Ianto looked at the group that was surrounding him. They were all the same. They were surrounded by confusion. There was no order here; everything was in chaos. There was no logic; no sense; none of the things that he craved. How could he ever hope to make sense of what he was seeing? All his life Ianto had needed to feel in control; he needed certainty, consistency and now he felt as though all that had been taken away from him and replaced by madness. How could he live in a universe like this?

And then he looked at Jack.

'You aren't like them,' he said.

Jack swallowed hard. So this was it. Ianto felt that he was different from the others; that he was wrong. He tried not to let the hurt show on his face. He had to maintain his composure even as he felt his world crashing down around him.

'No,' Jack replied. 'I know I'm not.'

'You're different.'

'I'm wrong.'

Ianto looked at Jack, studying him closely. Jack was so different from the others. He wasn't surrounded by lights and timelines and chaos. Jack was just there. He was – like the Doctor had told him – a fixed point in time and space and now for the first time Ianto appreciated fully what those words meant.

He stood up and moved towards Jack, pulling him into his arms. 'No Cariad,' he whispered. 'You aren't wrong, don't ever think that. You're the only thing that's certain. You're my constant. Oh Jack I love so much.'

As Jack heard Ianto's words he couldn't hold back the sob of relief that escaped his throat. Ianto still loved him. He didn't think that he was wrong.

'I love you Yan,' Jack murmured into Ianto's neck. 'I really love you.'

Maybe, just maybe everything was going to be alright.

TBC.