Hello! Okay, I meant to have this finished mid afternoon yesterday, but since the transcripts of episodes I use are all online, I ended up with this slight problem. I did not have internet access until almost nine at night, a little over three hours ago. Also, I'm thinking it'll be easiest on me to just officially change my update day from Fridays to Saturdays. This will give me time to finish writing the chapters without stressing out about trying to fit finishing up the chapter around work. (Oh, the joys of full-time work...)

Regardless, I'm sorry this is almost an hour late to be called a 'Saturday' update (at least from my time zone). I honestly meant for it to be done sooner.

In case anyone missed my note last week, I will not be covering "Adam" in my story. I'm not sure I can do it justice and I honestly hate that episode, so there you go.

This chapter deals with "Reset." So if you can't tell, there will be spoilers for that episode.

Chapter 20, Friendly Faces

"Ianto Jones!" a familiar voice called. Ianto started and turned to smile as Sarah Jane Smith approached him with a smile of her own. "You look wonderful! How is everything going at work?"

Considering they were in public, Ianto couldn't fault her for being vague. Ianto chuckled. "Well enough. I'm not sure how much information you get, but we're expanding. Things have been busy as a result." He chuckled. "We're finally going to be large enough that we're not constantly running on coffee alone."

Sarah Jane laughed. "I'd imagine that would be an improvement! And Alistair did mention something about Torchwood getting bigger. I take it you're excited about this change?"

"Other than the paperwork that goes with it, it'll be good for everyone. We don't want to be too much like UNIT is now, but perhaps a bit like it used to be back when the Doctor was on staff on a more regular basis," Ianto explained. "We're even setting up our original work space to be the new research and development location."

"It sounds exciting! What about your friend, Jack? Is he back?" Sarah Jane asked curiously.

"Are you talking about me?" The two turned to see Jack stride up to them, a bemused smile on his face. "Hello!" he greeted, smiling at Sarah Jane. "Captain Jack Harkness and who are you?"

"Well!" Sarah Jane said. "He certainly does flirt with everyone, doesn't he?" she asked Ianto, smiling at his equally bemused expression. "Sarah Jane Smith." She took Jack's offered hand. "I used to travel with the Doctor."

Jack's face lit up at that. "Oh! Yan's mentioned you. The brilliant investigator with a protective streak a mile wide! He said you were beautiful, too!"

Ianto felt his cheeks heating up as Sarah Jane looked at him. "Well, it seems you're full of compliments," she told Ianto with a smile. "Ianto's told me quite about you as well, Jack. How was your trip with the Doctor?"

"It made me glad to come home," Jack answered dismissively. "We were just about to go have dinner…" he glanced at Ianto, who gave an imperceptible nod. "Why don't you join us? My treat!"

"I wouldn't be interrupting anything, would I?" she asked, looking between the two.

"Not at all," Ianto reassured her. "It would be wonderful to catch up. And perhaps afterwards we can retire to our flat and discuss matters best left away from prying ears."

"Did you say 'our' flat?" Sarah Jane asked, a smile lighting up her face as she looked between the two.

Jack grinned and threw his arm around Ianto's shoulders. "Yup, our flat," he confirmed happily. "I'm still not sure when it went from me staying the night to our flat," he added with a fond smile aimed at Ianto. Ianto couldn't help but chuckle at that.

"I'm not sure it matters, Jack," he said quietly as Jack's arm dropped gently from his shoulders.

"Well! I'm happy for the two of you!" Sarah Jane smiled fondly at Ianto. "And if you two are sure you don't mind me interrupting your evening…"

"We don't," Jack and Ianto said simultaneously.

Sarah Jane chuckled. "Then I'll take you up on that offer. I'd certainly like a chance to get to know you, Jack!"

"I'd love a chance to get to know you, Sarah Jane," Jack responded, a familiar gleam entering his eyes. Ianto had to stifle a chuckle as Sarah Jane rolled her eyes.

"Brigadier Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart is a good friend of mine," she remarked casually.

"I like him, too. He's the only one in UNIT worth listening to, especially lately," Jack responded cheerfully. There was a hint of darkness at the last two words, but it vanished as quickly as it appeared. Ianto had a good idea he knew where that came from. "It's funny. He never mentioned you."

"No offense, but you're with Torchwood. He's not all that likely to be telling you much, particularly since the Doctor was the target of Torchwood for so long," Sarah Jane pointed out logically.

Jack chuckled. "Yan told me how you were so suspicious of him when you realized he worked for Torchwood. I suppose that's a reasonable explanation," he agreed cheerfully. "You know, he told me that he originally wanted to smack the Doctor when the first time he met him. And when he did, it was before the Doctor had met me, so he couldn't well smack him!"

"And then I started to like the fellow," Ianto spoke up for himself. He couldn't help but be amused at the conversation, though. "And when I finally saw him at the right point in time, he had just brought Jack home." He smiled at his lover. "I prioritized my reactions, and then it just seemed pointless."

"I'm guessing it has to do with the way the Doctor left you behind?" Jack looked surprised at Sarah Jane's astute assessment, but nodded cautiously. "He seems to have a habit of that. You know, he dropped me off at 'home' in South Croydon when he left me. Only it was Aberdeen instead!"

Jack chuckled. "I've always said he's a lousy pilot! There was this time we were supposed to be going to Clarixian 4, and we ended up on Hallia instead!" He shook his head. "It took me ages to get the slime out of my hair!" he added mournfully.

Ianto regarded his lover for a moment. "You know, I'm not sure I want to know," he remarked dryly. "We could spend dinner discussing the Doctor's bad driving, couldn't we? Between the two of you…" he shook his head, fighting the urge to grin.

"Don't worry - we'll make sure you don't feel left out," Jack reassured him, a grin spreading across his face.

"Of that I have no doubt." Still, Ianto couldn't help the fond smile that spread across his face. "He's very good at carrying a conversation - even if he's the only one talking!"

Sarah Jane chuckled. "It'll be a challenge, then, to see if he actually lets us do any of the talking!"

"I'm not that bad!" Jack protested, pouting a little.

"I never said it was a bad thing, Jack," Ianto felt compelled to point out. "Sometimes listening to you talk is better than having silence."

Jack smiled as if he knew exactly what Ianto wasn't saying. Not that Ianto didn't expect Jack to take guesses there, particularly given his last statement. Jack squeezed Ianto's shoulder gently.

Not everything had to be said aloud.

X X X - TORCHWOOD - X X X

Martha had to smile as the young woman at the desk looked up. "Hello! Can I help you?" she asked cheerfully. Martha held out her UNIT ID, causing her eyes to widen. "Oh! I'll let them know you're here - oh, and Jack's decided to surprise everyone with your visit, so the only ones expecting you are the bosses."

Martha chuckled. "Thanks for the warning," she said honestly before she headed down to the main area of Torchwood. She had a good feeling that it was something that Jack would normally do, so she couldn't really fault him for his actions. Besides, it wasn't like her showing up was necessarily a bad thing.

She heard Jack speaking as the door opened with a loud clang, although he was clearly in the middle of a sentence. "…underground mortuary, on a wet night in Cardiff, I hear the song of a nightingale."

She can't help but smile up at him. He returned the smile with his own grin and a wink. She let out a laugh and ran the rest of the way up the steps, ignoring the perplexed looks on most of the faces of Jack's team as she set down her things and hugged the man. "Oh, it's good to see you, Jack!" she exclaimed cheerfully.

Jack laughed himself before he turned to his team. "Everyone, this is Martha. Martha, we have Noah, Theo, Trent, Logan, Owen, Gwen, Tosh, Lyn, Liam, and Chloe," he introduced. "And you've already met the gorgeous Ianto." He winked at the Welshman, who smiled knowingly.

"That I have," she agreed cheerfully.

"Um… just a casual visit or…?" Owen began to ask as Martha picked up her things and headed towards where she thought the autopsy was.

"I'm here to complete your post mortem," she informed him, doing her best not to laugh.

"Dr. Jones is from UNIT," Jack informed the group cheerfully as he followed her.

"Our body appears to fit a pattern Martha has noticed growing over the past few weeks," Ianto added calmly.

"Oh, um, sorry, sorry, I get a bit confused. Which one's UNIT?" Gwen asked.

"Intelligence, military, cute red caps - the acceptable face of intelligence-gathering on aliens. We're more ad hoc," Jack explained patiently as he leaned against the railing as Martha, Owen, and Chloe set up around the body. He bent forward just a little more to say to Martha, "But better looking!"

"As Ianto said, I identified a pattern from UNIT's data on sudden deaths. Toxic shock. Nothing to link the victims. Different ages, sexes, ethnic origins, occupations. But there was a statistically significant concentration in South Wales," Martha explained.

"Come on, Martha, be honest," Jack chided with a smile still on his face. "You came all this way to see me."

"Still struggling to conquer your shyness, Jack?" Martha teased back, smiling herself as Jack laughed.

"So what about this pattern, then, Dr. Jones," Owen said, obviously trying to redirect the conversation onto more serious matters.

"They were being written off as suicides or accidents," Martha explained. She checked the right eye of the man lying before her. "Look. Puncture mark. Hypodermic needle. You'll find his bloodstream was pumped full of ammonium hydroxide."

"It wouldn't surprise me if you were right," Chloe mused. "We were just starting when you arrived," she explained. "I'd just pulled some blood to do the usual tests, to be completely accurate."

"And I was trying to look up his information," Owen pitched in, clearly determined to not be overrun by the other doctor. "But the data was irretrievable. I couldn't get anything beyond his name and date of birth."

"A computer crash shouldn't delete data so cleanly," Tosh said with a frown. "I know there's been a major crash, but there's no way that all the data is irretrievable. Let me look into it, it's probably deliberate."

"Good idea, but not tonight. From the looks of things, we're going to be busy, so we may as well come in fresh tomorrow morning. Skeleton crew, you've got the night. Chloe, finish the autopsy and see if Martha's supposition is correct," Jack ordered.

"Logan, Lyn, while you're here, look up the other victims. I think we might want to interview the victims' families and friends. They may have some medical background that we need to help us solve the case," Ianto added. "I think that's all for the night."

"Got it," Lyn said before she headed over to her desk.

"I'll give you the guided tour in the morning, Martha," Jack promised. "Now, how about we get you set up in your accommodations?" His eyes were twinkling as he held out his arm.

Martha couldn't help but laugh, since it was clear that he wasn't letting his team in on the fact that she was staying in Ianto and Jack's spare bedroom at their flat. And wasn't that a pleasant surprise! She'd hoped, after seeing Jack dash out of the TARDIS, that he'd get together with the young Welshman he said he loved. From what little she had seen of Ianto Jones, she knew that he was a good man.

Even if she was a little sad she had no chance with Jack or Ianto, it was still wonderful to see. Her family and Jack had formed a bond over that year, and although she hadn't been there, she could tell that they felt like he was a part of the family. She'd told him that her parents expected him and Ianto for Christmas sometime.

She remembered the conversation she'd had with Tish not long after going home. She'd mentioned that she had met Ianto Jones and that Jack was in love with him, and Tish had started asking questions about the Welshman. It wasn't until half-way through answering what questions that she could did Martha figure out that Tish knew exactly who she was talking about.

Guiltily, Tish had confirmed she sort of knew who Ianto was. Everyone on the Valiant had known about him, since he had been tortured for almost three months there in an attempt to break Jack. It was remarkable, Martha thought as she followed Ianto and Jack out of the Torchwood Hub, to realize to the amount of trust Ianto had in Jack. Once word had spread through the rest of her family that she had met Ianto Jones and that he and Jack were probably together, they'd all wanted the two to come up for a visit.

Still, Martha had managed to convince them to let Ianto and Jack have some distance before coming to up for something. Christmastime would be perfect for her family to see the two together, and from what she could see, there would be nothing but approval. Besides, his coffee remained spectacular.

"So I'm a surprise, huh?" she asked once she was sitting at the dinner table nursing her first cup of Ianto's delicious coffee. "Thanks for the warning."

"I saw Jen give you a warning," Ianto remarked calmly. "I told you she would," he added to Jack.

Jack chuckled. "She seems to warn everyone about the biggest shocks when they enter Torchwood. I'm not sure how to feel about that." He pouted. "It's a little sad not to see the raw reactions when people first seem Myfanwy."

"The first time they see her, they're still awestruck, Jack." Ianto chuckled. "It's one thing to learn about the rift we have here in Cardiff, but another to see Myfanwy, who is living proof of it!"

"I'd imagine!" Martha said with a chuckle. "I haven't seen her yet, but I'm sure I'll be just as surprised to see her myself! You don't get to see many live pterodactyls, even with traveling with the Doctor!"

"So how's the family?" Jack asked, his voice softer than before.

"Getting better. They send their love," she replied honestly.

"Give them mine." Jack smiled a bit. "So… End of the World Survivors Club."

"God, I am so glad to see you, Jack!" she burst out, finally feeling like she was somewhere where she could unload without too much of a problem. Ianto might not remember that period of time, but it was clear that he knew a little about it.

"See, you did come all this way just to see me," Jack teased. "It's the jaw line. Once seen, always yearned for." The three of them laughed at that.

"Actually, I came for Ianto's coffee," she joked. "I missed the delicious taste!"

"See, Jack, it's as I said before. I'm irresistible," Ianto deadpanned. "And I have my secret weapons. Coffee and," he took something from a drawer, "chocolate, preferably dark." He offered the chocolate bar to Martha, who took it with a laugh.

"You sure know how to be irresistible, Ianto," she told him with a smile. "I'll admit, I'm happy to know you two are together. It's nice that you have someone, Jack," she added warmly. Especially considering how hard that Year was on you…

"Believe me, Martha, I'm happy to have him, too," Jack replied, smiling warmly at Ianto as he took his hand. "Hey, do you think you can get one of those red caps for personal use? I'm thinking Ianto might look good in it."

Martha laughed. "I'll think about it," she promised. "So you're team is bigger than you mentioned back during that Year," she said, decided a change in topic was necessary.

"That's in part my doing," Ianto explained. "I added Liam and Lyn to the team before Jack returned."

"And then we decided to expand a bit. As much as I didn't really want to, I've got to admit it's been a good idea. No one is exhausted all the time anymore, and if someone is too tired, we can always send them home for rest and just have them man the Hub overnight." Jack chuckled. "Ianto's idea to look into hiring former police, navy, or military personnel was a good idea. Not that everyone has that in their backgrounds, but field personnel definitely should have some idea of what they're doing."

"I'm glad to see everything's working out for you. I heard that you were expanding a bit," Martha confessed.

"We were too small before," Jack admitted with a sigh. "I just… didn't want a big team, since I wanted to know who I was hiring beforehand. Still, it seems to be working out fairly well. So. Do you miss him?"

"No, I made my choice," she said firmly. Jack gave her a doubtful look. "Maybe sometimes," she amended.

"Ah!" Jack said, raising a finger.

"Tiny bit. Tiny, tiny. Then I come to my senses again," she explained. "Anyway, I've got plenty to occupy me."

"Oh, yes, Miss Highfalutin'. What is it, medical officer?"

"Oh, yes," she confirmed, a smile spreading across her face. She'd never imagined she'd have such a good position so quickly.

"So do I have to call you ma'am?" he asked, clearly jesting.

Martha bit back the urge to laugh, and told him, "No. Just follow my orders to the letter."

"You should have called me if you were looking for a job," Jack said softly, the teasing tone from his voice gone.

"I wasn't," Martha responded instantly. "This woman from UNIT rang out of the blue, said I was just what they needed, that I'd come highly recommended from an impeccable source."

Jack's face showed his surprise as he pointed upwards. "You mean…?"

"Well, who else would have done it?" Martha replied.

"He must have thought he owed you a favor. Guess we all do," Jack remarked slowly. "Well, if you ever get bored with UNIT, let me know."

"I'll keep that in mind," Martha promised with a laugh. "So how have you been, Jack? You look better."

"I feel great," Jack replied as he smiled at Ianto. "And it's all thanks to this gorgeous man here!"

Martha laughed. "Well, I'm glad to hear that! My family will, too, especially Tish." She smiled a little. "She's really fond of you, you know."

"I'm fond of her, too. She helped keep me going during that year," Jack confessed. Martha watched Ianto's hand grip Jack's just a tiny bit tighter.

"So how much does everyone know about you? So I don't slip up or anything," she explained.

"Ianto knows as much as I've been able to talk about," Jack said, sending a beautiful smile in his direction. "Everyone on the team knows about my immortality, but not much beyond that."

"Other than being a 51st century ex-Time Agent," Ianto reminded him. "So that's safe to mention, not that I think you'll find the need."

Martha chuckled. "Well, I'm glad you can talk to someone about that Year, Jack," she told him honestly. "It's good to not bottle it up."

"If you need to talk to someone, and don't feel like you can't talk to your family, you can always talk to me, Martha," Jack said softly.

"Thanks, Jack, I appreciate the offer," she replied warmly. "Now, I'm knackered. I'll see you both in the morning?"

"Absolutely," Jack confirmed as he smiled at her before turning his megawatt gaze unto Ianto.

X X X - TORCHWOOD - X X X

Jack grumbled as he flailed out his hand for the phone. He grabbed it just as he spotted the clock. 2:23 AM. "This had better be good," he grumbled into it as he looked at Ianto, who was sleepily looking at him. The expression on Ianto's face was almost too much for him, but he controlled himself.

"Sorry, but there's been another attack. Assault with a hypodermic. Only this time, the victim survived," Logan explained. "We though you ought to know right away, just in case the nutcase going around attacking people decides to try again. Woman, aged 27. She's in the hospital and you'll never guess what happened to her medical records."

"Wiped clean," Jack growled as he ran a hand through his hair. "Okay, I'm on my way - I'll see if Martha wants to join, but I'm taking Chloe."

"I'll let her know. Shall we have her pick you and whoever else up at Ambrosia?" Logan inquired.

"Yeah, that's perfect. Give us about five to ten minutes, and we'll meet her out front," Jack said before he hung up.

"What's the matter?" Ianto asked sleepily, although he was clearly trying to wake up.

Jack bent forward and kissed his forehead. "Go back to sleep. There's another victim, only this one is alive. We're going to see what we can find out from her," he explained softly.

"Jack, I should -" Ianto began.

"No, Ianto, you can get some more sleep," Jack said firmly. "I'll have one, possibly two medics with me for this interview. You'll be able to process things better if you're not running on a couple of hours of sleep."

"But -"

"Sleep, Yan," Jack ordered softly as he stood up. "Really, it's fine." He dressed as quickly as he could and went down the hall to knock on the door to the guest room. "Martha," he called in, "we have a live victim. Want to join us?"

"Jack," Ianto's voice came from the side. He'd taken the time to pull on a pair of sweatpants. "If our newest victim's medical records are wiped clean, have them do an intake. Tell them that it's a vital part of the investigation, since they're not the first victim, and anything can help. Anything that might be a link would be beneficial to the investigation."

Jack nodded, seeing the logic of what he was saying. "Good idea. Martha, you coming?" he called through the door again.

"Give me a minute!" he heard her muffled voice. "You said a live victim?" she added as she opened the door a moment later.

"Yup. Chloe should be arrive soon to pick you and I up. Ianto here," he mock-glared at his lover, "is about to go back to bed."

"Honestly, Jack. There's no need to coddle me," Ianto grumbled. "I'd be fine to go, too, if you weren't so stubborn."

"Says my stubborn Welshman," Jack teased. "Look, we don't all need to run out for this. And we'll be fine. Trust me."

Ianto let out a huff of air, shook his head, and sighed. "Fine. Just… make sure you do a medical intake. After having all the medical records wiped, it could prove invaluable."

"That's a good point," Martha agreed. "Come on, Jack, let's go greet Chloe and see what we can find out."

X X X - TORCHWOOD - X X X

Chloe watched as Martha took a vial of blood from the surviving victim, Marie. "Yeah, but the doctors said they'd finished with me," Marie said, sounding put out about having a vial of blood drawn from her.

"We're a bit different," Martha offered.

"We're investigating a series of murders that look like suicides or accidents at first glance," Jack told her kindly. "We're not with the police, either, so anything you can tell us will be helpful."

"Murders?" Marie said, her eyes wide as she took that in. "Oh my God, so that guy did this before?"

"It's more than likely," Jack confirmed. "Did you recognize him?"

"No, I've never seen him before."

"Did he say anything in the course of the attack?" Chloe asked.

"No."

"Open wide," Martha said before she took a swab sample from Marie's mouth.

"Look, he just… he just came towards me with a great big bloody needle, didn't he? You know, my dog bit him and then I kicked him in the nuts!" Marie explained.

Jack laughed. "Respect!"

Chloe rolled her eyes. "Marie, we'd also like to go over your medical history. We're not sure why, but someone wiped all of them off the NHS database," she explained as she held up a pad of paper. "Anything can help, since all of the other victims also had their medical files wiped."

"Oh, God," Marie muttered. "Let me just… what do all the other murders look like at first glance?"

"That's classified," Martha offered apologetically.

"Easiest explanation, without giving away details, is overdose," Jack offered carefully. "Why? Got any ideas what this guy might be doing?"

"Wiping medical records - oh my god, Jack!" Chloe suddenly realized. "They're not just killing these people, they're destroy all the evidence they can! Marie, have you taken anything or been prescribed anything that might remain in your blood?"

Marie appeared to debate something before she looked around. "I'm not supposed to tell anyone, since it's in the contract and we're supposed to keep quiet. They paid me a lot of money for this medical trial I was a part of," she explained. "But… why would anyone kill me over a drug that I took once?"

"You were part of a medical trial," Martha said, looking significantly at Jack.

"Yeah, at the PHARM," Marie confirmed.

"The farm? What farm?" Martha asked, frowning.

"No, P-H-A-R-M, the PHARM," Marie corrected.

"So what did they give you?" Chloe asked as she scribbled this information down.

"Something they called Reset," Marie offered.

"Any idea of a chemical name?" Martha asked, causing Marie to laugh at that. "Right. Any idea what it's supposed to do, then?"

"It cured my HIV."

The three of them looked at each other. "That's not medically possible," Martha said as she looked back at Marie. "You're perfectly clear of antibodies."

"That's the Reset. It's too good to be true, isn't it?" Marie asked bitterly.

Jack let out a sigh. "I hate to say yes, but it's looking that way," he told her softly. "We'll take a look at what's in your blood and see if we can find out what's going on. Hopefully it won't cause problems for you. For now, keep quiet about this. We don't need to send the public into a panic just yet."

"Jack, I hate to suggest it, but until we know what's going on, I think we ought to have Marie put in quarantine," Chloe admitted as she frowned down at her notes. "I'd hate for whatever Reset does to cause health problems for other people."

"That's not fair!" Marie burst out.

"Chloe's right, it's best for public safety," Martha overrode her. "We don't know what Reset it or what it actually does. The cure for HIV might be a side effect, and something worse could be happening. Until we know what is actually going on, it would be best to keep you away from the general public."

"It's too suspicious that this drug isn't well known," Jack remarked darkly. "Think about it for a moment. They give you this miracle cure, then tell you to keep quiet about it. If it was true, wouldn't it be more widely known?"

"Too good to be true," Marie said bitterly. "All right, I get the point."

"Good," Chloe remarked, relieved. "We'll get right on figuring out what's going on and if we can keep anything bad from happening, okay?"

"At the moment, that's the best I've got," Marie replied. "Please, don't let whatever it was I took kill me!"

"We'll do our best," Jack promised.

X X X - TORCHWOOD - X X X

Ianto put his mobile back into his pocket and took a deep breath. Emily Brown, their liaison with the hospital, had just called with news he didn't like to hear. However, it turned out that the quarantine that Chloe, Jack, and Martha had requested Marie be put in had been for the best. After her death, little bug-like creatures had come flying out of her mouth and attempted to find someone else. Had any of the staff been in the room without something covering their own mouths, they could have been infected themselves.

As he arrived in the main area, he looked around. "Jack, we need someone to go over to the hospital as soon as possible," he called as he headed over to where Jack was. Everyone turned to look at him. "Marie just died, and little bugs came out of her mouth. Emily has the staff who were trying to save Marie's life waiting for us to make sure it's safe for them to come out without a problem."

"Bugs came out of her mouth?" Theo asked, sounding appalled.

"According to what Emily has told me, it seemed like they were trying to find a new host body before they died. If Marie hadn't been in quarantine, there's a good chance someone may have ended up with some of those bugs inside of them," Ianto explained.

"Fuck," Owen muttered.

Jack nodded as if he agreed. "Right. Owen, Martha, take Theo and take care of it. Gather up the bugs, requisition Marie's body, and retcon the staff who saw the bugs. Once that's done with, we can figure out what to do."

"Make sure there's coffee when we get back!" Owen ordered Ianto before he headed off.

Ianto had to chuckle. "He's always so demanding," he remarked dryly. "Jack, if the so-called drug that these people were given is in actuality alien larvae… They're putting the public in danger."

"Ever since Marie mentioned being paid, I investigated her claim. There was some money transferred from an account that is not directly linked to the PHARM. I took the liberty to check the other victims, and all of them also received money from this account. I'm sure if Martha had thought about it, she would have checked bank accounts herself and discovered this connection. Officially, this account is a personal one for someone who doesn't actually exist, but if I invest a little further, I discovered that the money put into the account can be linked directly to Aaron Copley, the director of the PHARM," Tosh offered.

"So arguably, Aaron Copley is at the very least connected somehow to each of our victims," Jack said darkly.

"Given what I'm seeing, he'll probably deny ever having seen our victims," Ianto remarked dryly as he looked over Tosh's shoulder. "However, this connection confirms Marie's story that she was treated at the PHARM. We're still too small a team to go in ourselves, Jack," he added as he looked at the man. "We should have Martha call in UNIT to forcibly shut down the PHARM. I'll get on the phone to the government officials supporting the PHARM and tell them about the public health risks that their clinical trials appear to have. That suspicion should cut off his support."

"Politicians," Jack muttered in disgust.

"I know you hate them, but I'm thinking that this might be our best way to get in and shut them down without putting too much risk out there," Ianto explained softly. "And I'll deal with the politicians, all right?"

"I think we can handle this ourselves," Jack replied, squaring his shoulders.

"We probably could, but it would be better to practice caution," Ianto replied. He looked at Jack, contemplating his next words. "If anything were to happen, particularly to Martha, you'd never forgive yourself."

Jack let out a growl before he sighed. "I hate it when you make a reasonable argument," he said plaintively. "Do we have enough evidence for UNIT to agree with our observations?"

"Between the statement Marie made, the medical information we've been gathering, and Tosh's data concerning the money trail, we should have enough information," Trent remarked as he considered the question. "Arguably, what Copley and his PHARM are doing could be considered terrorist activities. Yes, they're studying whatever this Reset is, but it looks to be deadly to those who have it and possibly the general public."

"Suspected terrorist activities," Jack mused aloud. "I like it." He looked contemplative for a few moments before he looked at Ianto. "All right. Once Martha gets back, we'll let her call UNIT and let them deal with the stopping the PHARM and Copley. Ianto, get on making those phone calls. The sooner they lose their support, the better."

"Understood. I'll get right on that," Ianto promised, feeling relieved. He didn't like the idea of their still relatively small team taking on a company the size that the PHARM appeared to be. UNIT might not be quite as trustworthy as their team, but they were bigger and better equipped to taking down the PHARM than they were.

X X X - TORCHWOOD - X X X

Martha sank onto the couch in Ianto's living room. "What a day!" she said with a sigh. "At least we finally got to the bottom of my mystery."

Jack let out a grunt, showing how upset he was. She glanced at him. He was clearly brooding by staring out the window. She wasn't sure she could blame him.

Once UNIT had gotten the call to go out to the PHARM, they'd shut down the entire facility. In the process, they'd discovered many aliens trapped, tested, and experimented on at one of the out buildings. Although UNIT wasn't currently run like Torchwood, even UNIT command were disturbed by the experiments being performed.

And the instant they managed to hack into the PHARM's database, it was clear that they were experimenting with the bug-like aliens, dubbed Mayflies, to understand their lifecycle. That detail infuriated UNIT command, since they were experimenting using human beings as expendable resources. The PHARM even had its own assassin on staff, something that definitely put Copley and his PHARM into the terrorist category.

Martha looked up as Ianto entered the area with a tray with three mugs of coffee. He offered a mug to Martha, who took it with a smile. He set the tray down and brought a blue striped mug up to Jack. He put a hand on Jack's shoulder, causing the immortal to turn and look at Ianto. A ghost of a smile appeared on his face as he silently took the offered coffee.

"This day could've gone better," Jack said before he took a sip of coffee.

"And it could have gone worse as well," Martha remarked quietly. "There were no other casualties, we tracked down their assassin before he could strike again, and Copley's going to where he belongs."

Jack let out a sigh before he came over and sat down on the couch next to Martha. Ianto sat down next to him on the other side. "That sick bastard," Jack said venomously. "His experiments were horrible!"

"And we now have the evidence we needed to prove that," Ianto remarked quietly. "UNIT is putting Copley and everyone else who was directly involved into their prisons. He's not getting away with what he's done, Jack."

Jack rubbed a hand over his face. Martha hated seeing him so down. She was pretty upset herself, considering the images they got of the aliens that were being mistreated there. But then, she reflected, she hadn't gone through a year of torture, either. She couldn't relate to the poor aliens the way Jack could.

"Tish wants to come up for a visit," Martha blurted out. Both Ianto and Jack looked at her. She smiled apologetically, knowing she was completely changing the subject. "She really wants to see you sooner than Christmas, Jack," she offered in explanation.

Jack chuckled softly, looking a little better now that his mind was on a different subject. "It'd be great to see Tish again, but I wouldn't want her to be put out for the trip. Has she found a job yet?"

"No, and she's now a little nervous about the whole thing," Martha confessed. "All things considered, I can't blame her for being nervous about finding a new job. You know what her last one was like, and who she worked for." Jack nodded tightly. "And before that, it was Professor Lazarus, who turned into a giant scorpion-like creature and tried to eat her. She's having a bit of a run of bad luck when it comes to jobs."

Ianto blinked. "You know, Kyle was just telling me that he needed to hire a few new cashiers. If your sister doesn't mind moving to Cardiff and working for someone who also works for Torchwood, I could arrange for her to work for me at Ambrosia," he offered.

Martha started before she smiled. "I'll let her know," she promised. "How is running Ambrosia and Torchwood going for you, anyway?"

"It keeps me busy," Ianto answered. "I take a day off every week from Torchwood to go to Ambrosia and go over paperwork and payroll. Maybe, if I'm lucky, I can make coffee as well."

"Although I've promised the team that Yan and I are going to take a few days off sometime soon," Jack put in. "And that means no working at Ambrosia for you, Mr. Jones." There was a playful glint in Jack's eyes at that.

Ianto laughed. "All right, as long as it's you and me together. I still have to introduce you to Rhiannon," he said as if he suddenly realized that detail. "I, uh, mentioned you when I saw her last."

"When was this?" Jack asked, suddenly curious.

Ianto rolled his eyes. "During your absence," he replied. "Tosh, Lyn, and Owen teamed up to tell me to take a day off. I decided to go visit Rhiannon."

"And you talked about me." It was nice to see Jack perk up at the idea. "What'd you say?"

"There wasn't much to say at that point, Jack," Ianto said as he blushed. "All I really told her was that we were friends and I was attracted to you."

"Rhiannon's your sister, right?" Martha guessed. Ianto nodded.

"And he mentioned me," Jack said, sounding happy. He bent over and kissed Ianto. "You know, maybe today isn't such a bad day after all."

Notes:

Yes, I brought Sarah Jane back. She is possibly my favorite Classic Who companion, and I adore her so much. Rest in peace, Elizabeth Sladen. But she probably won't be showing up again. Probably.

Well, I hope everyone enjoyed the changes I've made to canon for this story. I've had problems with "Reset" in how the whole thing was executed. It never made much sense to me, considering how unethical those trials were. That right there would get them shut down without Torchwood's help.

~Star~