Stepping away from the TARDIS for chips was his big mistake. It was just that he'd been away from Earth for a while and other planets just couldn't get the right kind of oil or the right kind of root vegetable to make really good chips. The TARDIS only needed twenty seconds in Cardiff to recharge, but the Doctor thought he could spare ten minutes to run out for some chips. He played it safe, though, sneaking a peek at the Torchwood computers to see where Jack and his crew were. The computer said they'd left just a minute before, heading out of town at a fast clip, probably chasing some random beastie who'd slipped through the Rift. That was for the best. No chance he'd run into Jack or his staff. Nothing could go wrong in ten minutes, right?

The Doctor realized how mistaken he was when he got back to the alley where he'd parked the TARDIS. Leaning against the blue wood walls of the police box/spaceship, his long legs stretched out and his arms crossed, was a very handsome young man. He was impeccably dressed in a suit, dress shirt, tie, and waistcoat. As the Doctor walked towards the TARDIS, holding his two fragrant bags of oily, salty goodness, the young man looked up, blue eyes serious behind long, dark lashes. "Hello Doctor." The Welsh accent rippled softly out of him.

"Hello!" The Doctor grinned. "You're leaning against my box."

"Your TARDIS," the man corrected.

The Doctor's face grew serious briefly. "My TARDIS," he agreed. Mercurially switching back to cheerful (it always seemed to work best for him in uncertain situations), he chimed, "Well you obviously know who I am. Who might I be having the pleasure of speaking with?"

"Ianto Jones." The man paused briefly before adding, "Torchwood."

"Of course." The Doctor said blandly. "Did Jack send you?"

"No." Ianto's eyes were fixed on the Doctor. "He and the rest are on their way out of town, looking into a report of a herd of Weevils a few towns over."

The Doctor considered his unexpected visitor for a few moments, reading something in his face and his body language. "Your doing, I suppose."

Ianto nodded. "Yes. I wanted to speak with you in private, so I rigged up a program to alert me to the sound of the TARDIS on the CCTV cameras. Then I faked a report to get Jack," he moved his head once in a very small abortive gesture, "to get the others out of Cardiff. I'll delete the alert program once I get back to the Hub. I just need it the one time." He stared at the Doctor, waiting for his response.

"Very well," the Doctor said, "you wanted to speak to me. Well, here I am. What do you want to talk to me about?" He held out one of the bags in his hand, "Fancy a chip?"

Ianto shook his head, either turning down the chip or clearing his thoughts, and said, "I want you to stay away from Jack. Forever." The man suddenly looked achingly young. The Doctor was forcefully reminded of how Rose had looked when they'd first met. So very young. Ianto continued, "He's back now and he doesn't need you coming around and giving him ideas. Lord knows, Jack has enough ideas all on his own."

"You're in love with him," the Doctor said. It was not a question.

"Yes. I am." Ianto replied, "And he is in love with you."

The Doctor blinked once, but did not disagree. "So you're here to fight for your boyfriend?" A hint of sarcasm colored his statement. "Do you want to slap me? The mothers always want to slap me."

The young Welshman did not rise to the bait. "No, I'm not here to fight for him. We cannot help who we fall in love with." His voice was more tired than it should be for one still in his twenties. "No, I'm asking you to leave him alone for his own good. He cannot protect himself from you, so I need you to protect him." Ianto's eyes bored into the Doctor.

The Doctor sighed. "Jack is a thing that should not be, that should not exist."

At that Ianto's voice became deep and harsh. "He is not a thing! He is a person, a man." His face tightened in anger and he pushed off the TARDIS to stand, tensed, in front of the Doctor.

The Doctor admired Ianto's rough grumble. It was a voice for sin, a commanding voice that would make lovers do whatever it asked. Oh, no wonder Jack had to have this delightful creature in his bed! The Captain never could resist a pretty face and a sharp mind and Ianto seemed to have both. The Doctor waved a chip bag in a placating gesture. "What I mean is, you and he, you won't be together forever. There is no way for that to happen. You will age and die and he…will only age."

Ianto shook his head, laughing harshly and without humor. "Doctor, I work for Torchwood. I'll be damn lucky to see thirty. Hell, I've been damn lucky to see twenty-four." He looked back at the Doctor, eyes deep and dark and much older than a mere quarter century. "I was at Canary Wharf. My girlfriend…" his voice trailed off.

The Doctor understood. "I'm sorry."

"Doesn't matter anymore." Ianto took in a deep breath. "But if I die," he paused and then looked back up at the Doctor solemnly, "when I die, I want to go knowing that Jack will be safe from you." As if hearing how cruel his words were, he continued on in a rush, "I know you don't mean to, I know it is nothing you try to do, but they fall in love with you, they all fall in love with you. I've read the reports. I've listened to Jack. He talks sometimes in his sleep." He ran a hand over his face roughly. "People say that you are this dangerous alien because wherever you go, destruction soon follows, but I think it is worse than that. Just because you show up when destruction happens doesn't make the destruction your fault. But the broken hearts you leave behind…those you should have prevented. You should have been able to see what was happening and stop it or end it or something. But you just continue on being charming and wonderful and, and they can't help it!" He stopped, breathing harshly. A single tear rolled down one cheek. "And what's worse is…I see Jack becoming like that. He snaps his fingers and they all," he briefly closed his eyes in pain, "we all just fall for him, like dominos. I am terrified that he will die alone with the memories of love affairs, but without anyone whom he can actually love."

"That will not happen," the Doctor promised. "I will do all in my power to keep that from happening."

"Then will you take him away again? Will you love him the way he loves you?" Ianto's face was a twisted battle between pain and hope.

"No," the Doctor said simply, "because I do not think that is what he wants any longer."

Ianto began to look confused. "What do you…" He broke off as a sound drifted down the alley. The Doctor watched as the young man struggled to decipher it. When the noise finally became clear, Ianto made a soft sound, his face bleaching white.

Captain Jack Harkness stepped into the entrance of the alley, the final notes of his cry of "Ianto" flowing in along with him. He stopped and took in the scene, his eyes looking briefly at the Doctor before locking on his young lover. "Hello Doctor. I see you met Ianto," Jack said calmly. He began walking towards them.

"Hello Jack. Thought you were handling a Weevil infestation."

"Yes, well that turned out to be a false alarm. Luckily Tosh spotted the false program in the computers before we'd gotten too far out of town. "

"Sir, I…" Ianto started, but stopped when Jack brushed past the Doctor to stand in front of him.

"So I had time to come looking for something I was afraid I'd lost." Ianto blinked at Jack's words, blushing slightly. "Ianto," Jack breathed out his name as he reached up and took Ianto's face in his hands. He rested his forehead on Ianto's as he whispered, "I thought you were leaving us. Me. I thought you were making the same mistake I did." His voice got louder briefly. "No offense Doctor."

"Oh, none taken!" The Doctor smiled cheerfully. "Ianto and I were just having a nice chat. I'm glad you found what you were looking for."

"Me, too." Jack agreed, brushing his lips across Ianto's.

The Doctor could see where this was headed and decided he'd leave them to it. "Ah, well, I probably should get going…" he hinted, beginning to move towards his ship. "Chips to eat. Universe to explore. Stuff like that."

Jack stepped back from Ianto, grabbing tight to one of his hands as if he was afraid that he would disappear. "Of course. It's good to see you Doctor."

The Doctor opened the door to the TARDIS and looked back. "It's good to see you too, Jack." He glanced over at Ianto. "It was very nice meeting you, Ianto Jones. Very nice indeed. I will take your advice under consideration, okay?"

Ianto nodded. "Thank you, sir. It was…" he seemed to look for the right word, "nice to meet you as well." His gaze steadied on the Doctor, serious.

As the door to the TARDIS closed, the Doctor saw Jack turn and start tugging Ianto down the alley, one arm wrapping around him possessively. As they walked off, Ianto's arm slowly raised and wrapped around Jack's waist, almost as if its owner wasn't certain that his companion was really there.

"Well it's about time you got back! My chips better not be cold!" The Doctor turned, handing a second bag of chips to Donna, who was sitting in front of the screen. As she dug into her treat, she asked, "So, who were the hot guys?" She had obviously having watched the whole proceedings with interest. "Did you used to date the one in the long coat?"

The Doctor laughed. "No, no. He's just a friend."

"Huh. Well they make a cute couple." She was looking at the screen again. Jack and Ianto had stopped at the entrance to the alley. Jack had pushed Ianto up against the wall and was kissing him fiercely. Ianto, for his part, was giving as good as he got, one hand tangled in Jack's hair, the other disappearing beneath his coat.

The Doctor smiled, "Yes. Yes, they do." He turned back to Donna and beamed at her. "Now, where do you want to go next?"