A/N: Sorry for the delay, guys. A lot has been going on in my life and I'm finishing my degree now, so in about a month and some days, I hope to finally be free and give this story the attention it deserves. I really am sorry for stringing you all along like this. I don't blame you if you've given up, but I'm extremely grateful if you're still interested in this story and keep checking the new parts, even when they're months apart. Thank you for leaving reviews and adding this story to the alerts/favorites. It means a lot to me. And I'm sorry about the cliffhanger, don't kill me!
She knocked on the door, suddenly nervous.
He opened the door and practically beamed at her, motioning for her to get inside.
As soon as he closed the door, she lunged herself at him, enveloping him in a tight hug.
"God, I haven't heard a thing from you in a long while. You should've called."
Roger shook his head, breaking the embrace.
"Couldn't let them find me. They found me the first time around. I didn't want it happening again. I couldn't risk it. I'm sorry."
"Yeah, I get it. The important part here is that you're alright. You got me worried. I mean, you left as soon as you heard Ianto Jones was in Cardiff. I feared you had tried something against him and you were the one who got killed in the process," she slapped his left arm and he winced. She frowned.
"It's okay. Torchwood Cardiff's leader tried to kill me. He managed to shoot me before he dropped dead in front of me," Roger explained.
She rubbed her face, sitting down on the couch in his living room.
"God, Roger. Why did you kill him? This is only going to get you in deeper trouble."
"I had to do it. He was going to kill me to save that bastard. I can't believe he managed to get someone like Jack Harkness to believe his words."
He sighed and sat down beside Michelle, putting his head in his hands.
"Maybe he's telling the truth…"
He quickly looked up; a disappointed and slightly angry look upon in face. He chuckled darkly.
"So you'll take his side too? You know where the door is."
He got up but she grabbed his arm, preventing him from going away.
"No. Of course not! I just wanted to be certain of what happened."
"I am certain. He's the reason she's dead, Michelle!"
She put her arms around him, hugging him.
"Okay, okay. If you're certain, then I'll believe you. I'll help in whatever you may need from me."
He pushed her back.
"It's too dangerous. I killed their leader and I don't even know if Jones is dead. You're a good friend and I want you to be safe."
She frowned.
"Well, you are also a very good friend and I don't want you to get hurt either, but seeing as you already have," she said, pointing at his left arm. "I say you let me help you so it won't happen again."
He smirked.
"What would I do without you, Michelle?"
She shrugged, with a smile on her face.
"Try and get killed again?"
Gwen entered the Hub with a huge smile on her face. Owen was the first to notice it.
"Happy today, I see. Tell me, did you finally get an evil cult to accept you after killing a sweet and furry kitty?"
She just shook her head and kept her beaming smile on her face.
"I'm getting married in a week. There's nothing you can say to ruin my happiness, Owen."
"We're all invited, right?" asked Toshiko from her workstation.
"Of course!"
"Can we bring someone with us?"
Owen raised an eyebrow.
"Pets can't go, Tosh. It'd be a nightmare."
She narrowed her eyes at him. He straightened himself.
"Who will you take, then?"
Gwen chuckled.
"Jealous much, Owen?"
"I won't even give you the satisfaction of getting an answer to that."
Gwen ignored him as he went back to his work, no longer interested in the current conversation.
"Of course you can bring someone, Tosh. So who will be the lucky guy?"
Toshiko blushed slightly.
"Actually, I wasn't thinking about bringing a date. I was thinking about inviting Ianto. If you don't mind, of course," she added quickly.
"Why would I? Sure, you can invite him. He seems to be a nice lad."
Toshiko smiled.
"Good. Thanks."
"I'm going to ask for your help on a few things, if you don't mind. After all, we're the only women in this team."
"Sure. Give me a call whenever you need help with something."
"You're a gem, Tosh. Better get back to work now or Jack will have my head."
Both women laughed.
"I should probably get back and find myself a nice hotel to stay. If I stay here much longer, it'll be way too late to check into a good hotel."
He chuckled.
"You and your princess way of living. Where do you have your bags?"
"In the back of the car."
"You drove here?" he asked, incredulous.
"Yeah. I told my boss I finally decided to use that vacation time I've been keeping over the last few years."
"You must be really tired, then."
She nodded.
"I'm exhausted."
She got up from the couch.
"You don't need to go, though."
She frowned.
"I don't know Cardiff very well. I need to go find a place sooner rather than later. I fear I'll fall asleep during the drive," she said, laughing.
"You can stay here. In fact, I'd rather have you here than have you falling asleep on your car and get into an accident. I want you safe, remember?"
"But…" she started.
"I have a spare room, with a spare bed. You'll be fine. Let's get your bags upstairs so we can settle you in your new room."
She smiled when he walked to the door.
"Okay, but only because I really love my car and it would be a shame to have it wrecked because of some stupid accident."
A soft knock on his office door made him look up.
"Hey. Still working, I see," Tosh commented, sitting on a chair in front of his desk.
"Yeah. Paperwork still hasn't found a way to deal with itself, I'm afraid."
She smiled.
"Gwen's getting married next week."
"So I've heard," he said, nodding and not even looking up or stop writing on the reports.
"How do you feel about that?"
"I'm happy for her. It's nice to know that people that work for Torchwood can actually have a life outside of all of this."
Toshiko bit her lip. She knew he was avoiding the real issue in the question, so she decided on a more direct approach.
"Yes. That is good. But what about you two?"
The pen writing on the reports came to an abrupt stop mid-word. Jack leaned back in his chair, dropping the pen and looking directly at Toshiko.
"What we had was never right. It shouldn't have happened, ever. I'm glad it finally stopped and she's moving on with her life. I wouldn't forgive myself if they broke up because of me, because she wants and needs to be loved; she wants a house and kids. That's what will make her happy. And that's also what I could never give her, no matter what she thinks. I would end up breaking her heart. I wouldn't want to be responsible for that. The wedding… I'm actually feeling better now, like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. My conscious is clear. She'll have a steady life – apart from everything that comes with the job – so she won't rely on me like she used to anymore."
Toshiko nodded, glad that Jack had opened up to her like this.
"I'm going to invite Ianto to the wedding, as my plus one."
Jack frowned.
"What? Why?"
"I have four reasons, actually. One: I like him. Two: I want to be his friend. Three: I want him to be there with us," she said, counting with her fingers. She stopped. "Why do you ask? Did you want to invite him?"
He got defensive.
"Of course not. Why would I invite him?"
Toshiko shrugged and prepared to leave. Jack got up from his desk chair as Tosh was about to cross the threshold of the metallic door leading to the Hub.
"Wait! You said there were four reasons. You only mentioned three. What's the last one?"
"Oh. Mainly, I'm going to invite him because I know you want him there but you're too scared to ask him, afraid of what his answer would be."
"What? Tosh!" he yelled after her, but she was already gone.
"We shouldn't do anything for now," Michelle advised.
"What? And let him get away again?"
She took his hand. They were back in the living room after they went to pick her bags and put her things in the extra room.
"Roger, he's waiting for you to make your move. If you wait out a little while longer, he'll end up having his mind wrapped around something else and your plan will have a better chance of succeeding."
He nodded and tightened the hold on her hand.
"You're right. We can get to know his new friends a little bit better also." He turned to her and smiled happily. "I'm so glad you're here to make me put my feet on the ground and actually think things through. I'd probably screw up my chance to get him once and for all now."
He grabbed her face and kissed her like he had done many times in the past.
He pulled back slightly, not taking his eyes off of her lips. She felt slightly confused when, unlike those other times before, he dove in for another and more intense kiss.
Pulling back again, he frowned at her.
"Roger…" she started, but was soon interrupted by yet another kiss. As the kiss deepened, he started leading her back towards the spare bedroom.
She couldn't bring herself to interrupt him anymore, even if she was pretty sure she was going to regret it later.
And it did come later, when he got up, picked his discarded clothes from the floor and went back to sleep in his own room without uttering a single word to her, leaving her alone, naked and wrapped around the soft sheets of her new temporary bed.
The single tear making her way down her cheek and the soft sob that escaped her body were the only proof of the whole turmoil that was going on inside her head.
Three days before Gwen's wedding, Toshiko entered Jack's office again.
"Jack, can you give me Ianto's cell phone number?"
His eyebrow rose, but he tried to maintain the mask of indifference.
"Why? Can't you find it using your tech skills?"
"I could, but I was already leaving and I'd prefer not to waste 10 or 15 minutes to go through the trouble of turning everything on again just to find a number you can give me within the next 5 seconds."
He shook his head but pulled out his mobile phone, going through his contact list, pretending he didn't already know the number by heart. He wrote it down in a piece of paper and handed it to her.
"Thanks," she said, taking the paper and already dialling the number.
"Wait, are you going to call him now?"
Her face reflected the purest of innocence, even if she was anything but.
"Sure. Why not?"
"You're enjoying this way too much."
He smirked, getting back to his paperwork, trying to get himself distracted from the conversation he was about to hear. Well, part of it.
"Ianto! This is Toshiko. Hi! Is this a good time? Because I can call you later if you want."
Jack silently asked for an answer from the other side of the line that would end this phone call now. His luck wasn't working that day, though.
"Good. Well, I wanted to call you sooner, but with Torchwood business getting in the way, I ended up forgetting it. Gwen's wedding is in three days and I wanted you to accompany me to it."
He looked up slightly to see her biting her lip right before a smile blossomed in her lips.
"If that's you want to call it." She chuckled. "Not exactly. Yeah, she said she didn't mind. Said that you're welcomed to come. Yes. Maybe."
She looked at Jack and he sent her a questioning gaze, which she deliberately ignored.
"I think so. Can't really say for sure, then. Yeah, take your time. You can call this number later. Sure. Bye!"
She hung up and slid her cell phone into her jeans pocket.
Jack leaned back in his chair, tapping his pen against his desk.
"So what did he say?"
"Why would I tell you that?"
His eyebrows rose.
"I gave you his number."
"Like I wouldn't have gotten it if you hadn't," she observer, shrugging and putting her mobile phone back in her pocket.
He chuckled and shook his head.
"Why are you being like this with me?"
"Because you're stubborn and too lazy to do things on your own. I better get going now. See you later!"
She waved and left Jack with his paperwork.
The morning came and Michelle felt even worse. A wave of nausea hit her and she ran into the bathroom to empty her stomach.
She felt dirty. She had admitted to herself a while back that she had feelings for Roger. Nothing too big, but there was something and she knew she couldn't deny it.
Yet, having him treat her like this, using her and discarding her like a worthless object made her feel unloved and uncared for. She knew he loved her as a friend, but never as something more.
The young woman knew she shouldn't have let it happen, but she was so infatuated with him, she couldn't let him stop making her dreams come true, even if just for a few hours in the night.
She brushed her teeth and looked at her reflection in the mirror. She looked as bad as she felt. She took her time practising a mask of perfection, as if her soul wasn't shattered into little pieces. Not wanting him to see her like this, to see the true damage he'd done for being so passionate with her, before leaving her like she didn't deserve more than a one night stand, like she wasn't worth sharing the same bed when sleep came.
Rummaging through her bags, she picked something to wear, something not too uptight.
She went to the kitchen to find Roger preparing them some breakfast.
"Hey! I don't know how you like your coffee, so I think I'm gonna let you take care of it. I made some pancakes, though!"
His voice sounded too chirpy to her. In a way, it sounded too cold and detached.
"Sure, thanks." She forced a smile to appear on her face and he smiled back.
"Did you sleep well last night?"
"Yeah. I think your spare bed is actually more comfortable than my bed, back at home."
He chuckled has he set down a plate with pancakes in front of her.
"Well, take good advantage of it because it'll be your bed for as long as you stay here. Then it'll be back to your own bed at home, back in London."
The implication in that statement tore at her heart, but she hid her pain by taking a bite off the pancake and pretending she hadn't just read the true meaning between the lines.
"How do I look?"
"For the hundredth time, you look extremely gorgeous. We definitely got you the best wedding dress in the store."
The bride sat on the chair and sighed before eyeing her friend and colleague nervously.
"What if Rhys doesn't like it?"
Toshiko frowned.
"Why wouldn't he? The dress is perfect. I'm sure he'll love it."
She rounded the bed in the middle of the room to reach Gwen and finish helping her with her hair.
"So, is Owen bringing someone with him?"
Gwen shrugged.
"Not that I know of." She looked at Toshiko through the mirror. "Why do you ask? I mean, don't you already have your date?"
"We both know he's not my date. Besides, I don't know if he'll be my 'date' today."
It was Gwen's turn to frown.
"Why? He didn't confirm he'd come?"
"That's not it. We'll talk about it later. Now we need to focus and get your hair as perfect as everything else already is."
They smiled and proceeded into talking about wedding related things.
The reception was held at a nice restaurant with a wide green park and a river running by.
Owen was sipping on a glass of champagne when he spotted Toshiko. He drank what was left of the champagne and made his way towards her.
"Where's your date?"
"Why do you care?" she answered in the same cold tone he used.
"He must be one hell of a date to leave you alone this soon into the party," he said and sniggered.
She turned fully to him.
"Actually, it was me who left him and told him to be away for a while. Does that make me the bad date?"
He scratched the back of his head.
"I... Well, if you left him, then he must have been boring you or something. Still a bad date in my books."
"Yes, Owen. He would be a bad date if that was the case, but it isn't. Anyway, he's not my date; he's just a friend."
Owen's eyebrows rose.
"Really? So... Uh... Do you want to hang out for a bit? I don't know any of these people and I'm starting to feel really weird at this thing."
She chuckled, but concealed.
"Okay. Have you tried any of these things?"
He shook his head and smirked, moving closer to her.
"I'm still trying to decide which ones look less poisoned."
Jack Harkness was growing tired of greeting so many people he didn't know. It's not that he wasn't sociable or anything like that. Quite the opposite, actually. The problem was that after meeting so many new faces, he was getting frustrated for not finding the one familiar face he was looking for.
When he spotted Toshiko at the reception, he almost ran towards her, before rationalizing that that probably wasn't the wisest idea. Besides, he would be proving her right and his ego couldn't take any more blows that day.
He walked calmly towards her, eyeing the place, looking for her company.
"Looking for someone, Jack?" she asked as he approached her.
"You look lovely tonight," he attempted to change the subject.
"Thanks, but we both know you were looking for someone else."
She smiled wickedly at him, rubbing in his face that she knew a secret he so desperately wanted to know.
He tried to keep his resolve and not fall into her attempts to prove that he was deeply interested, but failed miserably.
"Okay, okay. I'll bite. Did he come?"
A big grin formed in her face.
"Now, we have an agreement. He knows you're here and he knows you'll probably want to talk to him, but he's not sure if that's a good idea. Therefore, I told him that if you found him, by chance, then he couldn't run away from it. He agreed, but I'm sure he won't be making it easy for you. I'll tell you this, however, the last time I saw him he was alone, away from all the commotion. If you find him, he'll let you talk."
He looked at her, still trying to figure out what she had just told him.
"Go find him!" she said, pushing him outside the building and away from all the random faces.
He looked around him. They were in the middle of a huge park near the river. On his left was the parking lot and he doubted he would find Ianto there. That left him with three other options and a lot of ground to cover.
He turned to his right and walked in the direction of the river.
Some minutes later, and as he moved through the grass and tall trees, he spotted a tall figure leaning against one of the trees, throwing small pebbles into the water and watching them sink, leaving little circular waves spreading across the water.
He approached him silently, but the other man froze upon sensing another presence.