Amazing Grace

Darkness. That was all he could see surrounding him. Ianto Jones was alone. And frightened. He wanted to go home. He wanted to see his sister, his amazing big sister who never let anything bad happy to him. He wanted to see Jack, even though bad things sometimes happened around Jack. No, not because of Jack. Because of Torchwood. That was when he remembered. He was dead. The 456 had poisoned the very air around him. He squinted. Or at least he thought he did. But maybe his mind was playing tricks – was that a small spot of light? He moved towards it, and suddenly the previously unfelt wind was pushing him, throwing him towards it.

"Ianto Jones – would you like a second chance at life?" Ianto stared at the woman, in the white robes. And then he nodded.

And that was how Ianto Jones became a Whitelighter.

Grace Williams-Cooper was walking along, minding her own business when she met her first alien. Funny that is was her first meeting, considering her mother's choice of career – not that she knew what her mother actually did for a living, until she was flat on her back, a creepy- ass thing with a screwed up face and wearing a boiler suit tried to have her for lunch. Then a black SUV braked to a halt and Grace panicked, raising her hands, her palms going from clenched to outstretched, and the thing exploded. Blood and guts everywhere, and a freaked out Uncle Jack just looking at her. That was the day her mother and father sat her down and told her about Torchwood, before taking her to the Hub to figure out how the hell she blew up a weevil. Though, that was not to say that the team wasn't impressed. But, hey, checking she wasn't an alien was simply a necessary precaution.

Ianto Jones had been training to be a Whitelighter for almost a year when he received his first charge, a young girl by the name of Josaline. She was barely twenty and so easily swayed to a demon's side. All agreed that it was a baptism of fire, and there was nothing Ianto could have done to stop her, and besides, that wasn't a Whitelighter's job. But still it weighed heavily on his mind.

His next charge was a young boy, a light witch, who kind of reminded Ianto of himself. The child, Timothy, was lonely and felt isolated in the children's home where he lived. Ironically he went on to fall in love with a Whitelighter, who popped in to see Ianto from time to time. It was decided that Adrienne was more than capable of watching over her husband. Of course, years ago the union would have been forbidden, if not for one of the infamous Charmed ones falling in love with her Whitelighter. At the time, Ianto had laughed. After all, they still were human at the most basic level – and what was the point in being practically an angel if you couldn't fall in love? Of course, the topic always brought Ianto back to the life he had left behind. His sister, and Jack especially. Every now and then he would become invisible and go to see them. Stopping Mica from falling out of a tree, tidying Jack's office every once in a while – all without the Elders knowing of course. To be in the lives of those that were left behind was strictly forbidden, except to say goodbye via dreams. But then, he'd smirk and smile – after all, how long would it be until they found out about Jack? Or until Jack found out about them? Or, in Ianto's wildest imaginings, how long until Jack found him? Yes, it was only a matter of time. That being said he was beginning to lose patience, it had been almost 16 years already. Hell, Gwen and Rhys had a child together! Not to mention Rhiannon was a grandmother three times over.

Sometimes he wondered what was wrong with him; after all, no other Whitelighter expressed the desire to go back to those they had once loved. None of them had any trouble in saying goodbye. Ianto guessed it was because he was one of the few who still had loved ones that were alive. He sipped his coffee and he heard the bells. His current charge was calling him. He chuckled, not sensing danger, only annoyance and anger. He orbed to the charge's home.

"What's up Chris?" He smiled indulgently, noticing how he and Piper were practically at a standoff. Since hitting adolescence it had become more and more frequent, and as an unrelated friend, Chris often called Ianto. It was Piper who answered.

"He's refusing to go to Magic School. We've just had warning that we're going to be attacked. I don't care how ready he thinks he is- it's a top level demon!" The last words were practically screamed, fire in the oldest Halliwell's eyes. Chris kept his mouth shut, and Ianto was proud. Screaming back at his mother was not a good strategy.

"How about this, Chris, why don't you come with me to my place, we can use the training room, and you can practise. I agree that you're not ready to face high level demons, but you and I can go find some lower-levels I'm sure." It was the soft smile that did it. Deep in his heart, Chris knew he wasn't ready, but he hated being treated like a kid – Wyatt had been permitted to join the fight for well over a year, because of his sheer amount of power and control. He clearly wasn't. But at least Ianto didn't treat him like a five year old. He went to Ianto, giving his mother a challenging glare. She flashed Ianto a grateful smile, and blew her son a kiss, all traces of anger gone. "Be careful Chris." Her words echoed around the room from his aunts as Ianto orbed them to his house on the outskirts of Cardiff. Of course, it probably wasn't the safest place to go, but Ianto had owned the house since he was alive and working for Torchwood 1, a safe house of sorts. But that said, it was incredibly basic, otherwise he would have brought Lisa here. And then you never would have met Jack. He shook his head slightly, as he watched Chris walk to the training room.

It was a stroke of luck really, to be assigned Chris's Whitelighter. The Elders had no majorly experienced Whitelighters' that they felt were suitable in the difficult environment of the Halliwell family, and they had been impressed in the five years that he'd been Timothy's Whitelighter. Of course, by that time Chris was six years old himself, though it was decided that due to the Halliwell brothers incredible power that it would be best to assign them separate Whitelighters'. Paige was, of course, Wyatt's. And in the last ten years, it had worked. Ianto was practically another Uncle to Chris. Not so much Wyatt, but he figured Chris needed someone that was going to treat him like he was special, and in all fairness, if he wasn't compared to Wyatt (not intentionally of course) so often, then it would be realised that Chris was an exceptional young man in his own right. Very few Light witches were that powerful.

And so, he comforted him. When his family went out to fight demons at completely inconvenient times, like his tenth birthday, it was Ianto who helped him blow out the candles on his birthday cake. When Paige was in hospital and Chris had a Little League game, it was Ianto who cheered him on. And when it was time to learn how to defend himself, it was Ianto who helped him with his homework, and went with him to defeat demons and warlocks in controlled environments. And Chris recognised that. At sixteen, an age filled with difficulties and identity crises for most kids, Chris would have felt so alone if not for Ianto, and he was grateful.

They practised for a time, Chris using his telekinesis to throw dummies across the room. And then an alarm went off, and Ianto checked it, smiling. A perfect demon to challenge Chris, and if anything happened to go wrong, Ianto would be there every step of the way.

"Come on, kid" Chris smiled as he prepped up with potions and a set of three athames, each small, with a similar shape. But each had different coloured gems surrounding the pentagram. Red for demons, green for warlocks and blue for Darklighters. He was as ready as he ever would be and orbed to the location. And so the miniature battle began, Ianto not interfering unless necessary.

Back at the Hub, Gwen and Jack sat in his office.

"She blew up a goddamned weevil Gwen; of course it's damned necessary!" He hissed, so Grace wouldn't hear. Gwen, of course, hated the fact that Martha was taking so many blood samples. Jack then regretted his harsh words, seeing Gwen shake with barely contained fury, and another emotion he very rarely saw in her eyes: fear. She was terrified that she might have caused this to occur, that something she had done might have affected her daughter like that.

"Errr, guys, I think I have rift activity!" Jack automatically went into boss mode. He glanced at the blonde woman sitting at the computer. Esther Drummond was a technical genius he pinched from the CIA several years ago, shortly after her near-death experience in Buenos Aires, after the Miracle Day debacle.

"What do you mean you think its rift activity?" He demanded, looking at her screens. Esther didn't answer, just tapped a few more buttons until she got CCTV. A young lad, no more than fifteen or sixteen, waving his hands around- and what looked like a man with horns and a tail dangling around, snarling.

"What the..?" Jack started, never had he seen…no, what that boy was doing was incredibly similar to what Grace did, using his hands to create an effect, albeit different to Grace.

"Let's go." Martha and Rhys stayed behind with Grace as Gwen, Esther and Jack sprinted to the SUV.

Chris was lost in his concentration. The damned demon was squirming so much he was having trouble keeping it helpless in the air and reaching for a potion or an athame. He needed both hands. Sweat trickled down his forehead. He knew Ianto would help him if he asked, but pride wouldn't let him, not just yet. He felt the demon tire and realised it was a game of stamina. He resolved to hang on tight, waiting the demon out. He heard a gunshot, and he automatically put his shield up, the bullet banging into to it and falling to the ground, his concentration broken he lost his grip and the demon ran at him, hunger in its eyes, he drew his red athame and allowed the demon to run into it, exploding into tiny dark particles. Shield still up he turned to face the man with the gun. The man in the trench coat, flanked by two women, was yelling questions at him. But before he could answer, Ianto stepped out of the shadows, and directly between them.

"Hello Jack. Please put the gun down." Shock was evident on the man and the dark haired woman's face, as the man called Jack hesitated, and then made a choice.

BANG

He shot Ianto, and Ianto in true Whitelighter fashion simply put all of the blue orbs back together.

"Now Jack, is that-"

BANG

Jack shot again, repeating the process. Ianto stumbled back a bit.

"Ok, we're going now-" Jack, almost desperate, shot for a third time.

BANG

As Ianto put himself to rights he yelled "GUN" and Jack's gun orbed into Ianto's hand, as Ianto did something rather unexpected.

BANG

"You…you shot him!" Chris gasped.

"He'll get up again in a minute Chris, don't you worry about Captain Jack Harkness." Fury illuminated the Welshman's blue eyes; truly being ripped apart like that was annoying and disorientating enough. But three times in a row? That was just harsh. He grabbed Chris and orbed away, back to his house. He just knew he was going to get into a hell of a lot of trouble over this.

"Ianto Jones, what do you have to say for yourself?"

Ianto stayed silent – don't get him wrong, he was grateful to the Elders, but at the same time they all needed to remove those sticks from their arses. And coming from him that was quite a way to put it. The Elders looked from one to the other.

"Well then. I think it's time for our judgement. You are hereby stripped-"

"Elder there's a problem!" A young Whitelighter burst in, followed by another.

"I can't do it! I physically cannot deal with demons and aliens! It is completely beyond my capability – not only that, but the child refuses to believe she's a witch!" The Elders reluctantly conferred once more and gave Ianto a withered look. One that said Special Permission. Ianto couldn't resist the smirk on his face.

"I want to find out who that son of a bit-"

"Jack SHUT UP!" Gwen yelled back, aware that her daughter was still in the hub, Grace sighed, thumbing through her magazine, having just woken up from her nap. She'd been under pretty much constant surveillance since her little incident, almost a week ago. Her darling big sister, Anwen, was simply pissing herself over this whole mess. Well she would, wouldn't she? All tucked up and cosy at university. In New York. And still they hadn't found anything out about the mysterious bloke they called 'Ianto'. Grace chuckled. She'd never seen Uncle Jack quite so…flustered.

Gwen rubbed her temples. It was barely ten in the morning and she was having one hell of a day already. Perhaps when things quietened down a bit she could go visit Anwen for a weekend, see the sights. Check in on Rex and his immortality issue. The usual.

Grace on the other hand, turned back to her magazine as Gwen and Jack continued to scream at each other. Perhaps when things quietened down a bit she could go visit Anwen for a weekend, see the sights. Check in on Uncle Rex and his immortality issue. The usual.

"So, what are they yelling about?" Grace screamed and fell off the sofa, looked at the dark haired man leaning casually on it, then scrambled to her mother, who moved instinctively in front of her. Both Jack and Gwen turned and drew their weapons, looking at their former colleague in shock.

"Oh come on- haven't we gotten past this? My name is Ianto Ifan Jones, born August 19th 1983, died…well. My body is technically still in that giant fridge, Jack shags anything that moves-" Grace chuckled. "Gwen was pregnant with an alien baby on her wedding day, Tosh and Owen were amazing people…And my last words were essentially 'Don't forget me'- Oh the irony, considering I'm probably going to be around for a long while. Gun." Jack's gun, which he almost shot again immediately came into Ianto's hand. He threw it to the side. It was a shame that as a Whitelighter he no longer had any interest in weapons.

"Now, can I explain?" A heartbeat passed. And then another. And then Jack tackled Ianto to the ground, bringing the sofa down with them and winding them both. Everyone else in the room winced. In less than a minute Ianto had Jack handcuffed to a conveniently placed pole.

"Just like old times, eh Jack?" He winked and stood up and away from Jack's legs.

"Let me out of here you ass-" Ianto took off his tie and wrapped it round Jack's head, effectively gagging him.

"Now that Jack is in a position to listen, shall I explain what's going on? Oh for God's sake, sit down people!" Everyone, including poor Esther who had no idea what was going on, sat down.

"Ok, right, so I died. That's a given. Then all of a sudden, I wake up on the floor of a great hall, kind of like bloody Hogwarts, but white. Anyway so I became what witches, yes witches, call a Whitelighter. A protector of good witches and future Whitelighters alike. Which is where you come in Grace." The child looked away.

"The dreams." She whispered quietly. Ianto looked at her in surprise.

"Dreams? They tried to tell you that you're a witch in your dreams?" He shook his head and laughed at the sheer stupidity. Who the hell actually puts any faith in dreams anymore?

"A witch?" Gwen and Rhys yelped together.

"Ok, here we go. In the word there is science, we all know that, but there is also magic, an extreme chemical reaction that takes place within a human's body that allows them to do incredible wonderful things- the next stage of evolution if you like. Of course, there are those who use those abilities to help people, and those who use them to harm them. A witch, probably better termed a Wiccan, can be either light or dark. Light witches essentially take a vow that they will always aid any innocents that are threatened by evil, and that they will not use their magic selfishly, or risk the consequences. Dark witches are power hungry, they don't care who they hurt to gain more power and care little for consequences. Any questions so far?" They all looked a little dumbfounded so Ianto merely smiled and turned to face Jack.

Jack, in turn, glared at Ianto, and as soon as Ianto removed the tie he opened his mouth, presumably to speak, though was interrupted by the onslaught of Ianto's own lips.

For his part Ianto felt time slow, and the world spin as Jack, coming out of his shock, returned the kiss. Aware that Jack, at least, sort of needed to breathe Ianto reluctantly pulled away and looked into the bright blue eyes that he still loved more than anything else in the world.

"Yan?" Jack croaked, the hope evident in his voice. Ianto smiled and whispered

"Yes, Sir." He took the key from his pocket and undid the handcuffs, and then Jack was kissing him again, and Ianto just knew everything was going to be ok, well. For now at least.

As if I could resist a fix it!

Insanity xxx