It had taken them a while to recover from the unusual ending of their rescue mission. Tosh was the first to snap out of it and gently ushered Owen to help her transport the dead bodies back to the SUV. They left Ianto with Jack, the young man already cradling his Captain in his arms again.

Ianto had buried his face in Jack's hair, not caring for the blood and dirt that got smeared across his skin. He was repeating a quiet mantra while rocking the already stiff body.

"Wake up, please wake up. Jack wake up."

He didn't wake up.

They drove back to the Hub and dealt with Lynn's deceased men and the men still in the police morgue. They wrote the necessary reports, checked on Gwen and cleared everything away. Ianto never left Jack's side. He had gently cleaned the older man, washed the blood and dirt away and dressed him in scrubs, but the skin was still cold to the touch and there was no heartbeat, no breathing…no life.

---oooOOooo---

It took Jack almost a day to come back. Flailing his arms when he gasped his way into existence, Jack's eyes darted around wildly, expecting to see Lynn's face smiling humourlessly at him, but instead he found himself safely engulfed in Ianto's arms. His eyes widened in shock and he jerked back forcefully as if the hands touching his chest were on fire. What was this now for a cruel game? Did Lynn place him in the arms of his dead lover?

Images suddenly started to flood back into his mind, memories of searing pain, Lynn ready to plunge the knife into his chest, gunshots, sudden gentle touches, fear and the lost fight against the darkness. Jack blinked and tried to make sense of the feelings and pictures, but he felt utterly confused. Opening his eyes, he looked at the still form lying next to him. Ianto's chest was rising and falling steadily, indicating that there was still life in the slim body. But it couldn't be. Lynn had executed his lover, just like she had killed the rest of his team.

Reaching out carefully, Jack put his hand on Ianto's chest. When a strong heartbeat gave his fingertips a tingly feeling Jack pulled his hand back in shock. He must be hallucinating! Looking around again, he expected Lynn to step out of the shadows with a mean laugh on her lips. But instead of the clearing in the woods or the dirty room of the hut, he found himself in a familiar bedroom. The blinds were closed and let only a small streak of light into the room, but it was enough to make out the well known layout of the room: the neatly arranged furniture, the always slightly open door to the bathroom, even the suit jacket already placed on a hanger at the wardrobe. This was Ianto's flat. But it couldn't be.

Jack scrambled out of the bed and staggered backwards until his back hit the wall. Panting heavily he waited for the other shoe to drop. This felt too real to be a dream, but it was the only explanation he could come up with. Stifling a sob, when he found a set of his clothes laid out on a chair, he stripped out of the scrubs he was wearing, but couldn't for the life of him figure out why he was wearing them. Slipping his clothes on, tears started to run down his face. The clothes even smelled like the detergent Ianto was always using.

If this was some kind of illusion, he wouldn't fight it. He would use the time he had in this quiet, peaceful fantasy before Lynn would drag him back into the cruel world, a world where Ianto would not sleep in his bed anymore but lay in his own blood on a dirty floor somewhere.

Jack didn't dare to touch the sleeping form again in fear that it would destroy the bubble he was currently living in; instead he ran out of the flat into the cold early morning air. His mind was a mess. Producing this fantasy was the worst thing that could have happened; it felt so real and therefore it would be only more devastating when it ended. He had lost his team and no fantasy in the world could bring them back to him.

Jack's feet carried him on autopilot through the city and not after long he found himself on the roof of his favourite building, staring out into the distance while the city beneath him slowly started coming to life again after the night. He wondered how long this illusion would keep his mind occupied; it felt so damn real, he could lose himself in it.

"I thought I would find you here."

Wincing, Jack squeezed his eyes shut. His fantasy Ianto had followed him; how was he supposed to stay sane if the souls of his dead friends and lovers kept haunting his mind?

"Please step back from the edge, Jack."

The voice sounded tired and so convincingly real, Jack felt the tears well up in his eyes again, but he didn't move. If he turned around he would destroy the illusion, he just knew it would take him back to Lynn and the pain.

Gentle hands placed a familiar woollen fabric on his shoulders and Jack started to tremble.

"You forgot your coat." Ianto squeezed Jack's shoulders with both hands before he pulled the older man away from the edge of the building. He had been terrified when he had woken up and found Jack gone. He could only guess what the Captain had had to endure while in Lynn's hands and nothing of it was good. Ianto had seen this before, Jack didn't know what was real after he woke up from the dead and he was struggling to get a hold back on reality. Turning his lover around with some force, Ianto sighed, when Jack averted his eyes and looked to the ground. "You're safe now, cariad."

Jack was shaking, he felt Ianto's hands on his body, but it couldn't be. How could he feel the gentle touch if this was a fantasy, if Ianto was a ghost?

"Please, go away." Jack barely managed to croak the words out and he was clinging to the hope that he would be allowed to stay in this illusion if he'd send Ianto away.

It broke Ianto's heart to see his strong Captain like this, but he was determined to show Jack that he was safe again. Cupping Jack's face with his hands, he forced it up, but Jack squeezed his eyes shut as if looking at him would send everything into chaos again. "Jack, please look at me."

"I can't." Openly sobbing now, Jack felt his legs quiver.

"Yes you can. You're alive and safe and so am I. Please just open you eyes and see for yourself. This is real." Ianto watched the emotions flooding over Jack's face; it was rare that the Captain was showing his feelings so unguarded and it told Ianto what he had feared. Jack was broken.

When Jack finally opened his eyes they were so full of despair and fear, Ianto's gut clenched but he kept his hands on Jack's face, knowing that every move would scare Jack away again.

"Ianto?" It was barely a whisper, but the hope was practically pouring out of Jack's voice.

"Yes, I'm here." Nodding, Ianto started to stroke Jack's cheeks with his thumbs and smiled openly. "I'm really here."

"But she shot you. She shot all of you." Jack tried not to cling to the hope, but Ianto's presence in front of him was so real, so convincing that it was hard not to believe it.

Ianto could have sobbed at hearing Jack's feebly whimpered confession. The hatred for Lynn flared up again. She had told Jack that his team was dead, that she had shot them. Ianto could only imagine the agony Jack had been in, forced to relive the Year That Never Was, being told that he had lost his team again.

"She lied." Tilting his head so he could lock their eyes, Ianto tightened the grip on Jack's face a bit, just enough to prove his existence. "She lied to you Jack. She wanted to hurt you and she lied to you. Do you remember the warehouse?" When Jack nodded slightly, Ianto smiled. "Remember how we stormed in there? I managed to get Owen, Toshiko and Gwen out, but you were caught. We were all safe and Lynn didn't shoot us. And now you're safe as well. Lynn is gone."

"You're real? This... this is real?" Jack's voice broke into sobs when he saw Ianto smile and nod. His legs finally gave away and he sagged to the ground, finding himself engulfed in Ianto's arms. Clasping his lover's shirt, Jack allowed himself to break down. His tears were soaking the young man's shirt, while sobs racked his body. But the feared slip into reality never happened; Lynn didn't suddenly appear out of the shadows and put a bullet into Ianto's head. Only the sun was rising and beaming her warm light over the city, chasing the shadows and the darkness away.

Ianto didn't know how long they were sitting on the roof before Jack's sobs slowly subsided and he didn't care. Jack was alive and safe in his arms and they had survived yet another catastrophe. It would take some time to put Jack back together, but they would make it through this. He looked down when he heard a sniffle and felt Jack's head move away from his chest. Red rimmed eyes stared up at him and Ianto lifted a hand to brush the last tears from Jack's cheek.

"Are you really real?"

Ianto smiled and nodded again. "Yes, I'm real." Bending down, he pressed a tender kiss to Jack's lips, feeling the older man stiffen in his arms at first but then eagerly responding. A hand found its way into his hair and pulled him even further down as the kiss became more desperate and about reminding each other that they were still alive. When they parted, they were both panting. Jack carded his hand gently through Ianto's short strands, enjoying the feel of it, enjoying the fact that he could still do it.

"Take me home and show me what it means to be alive?" He whispered and pulled Ianto's forehead to rest against his own.

"Willingly."

Yes, he would show Jack that they were still alive. He would take the time to put his Captain back together before the next apocalypse came down on them and he would keep Jack from wallowing in the belief that this was his entire fault. Ianto knew that Jack would start asking questions and he would need to know the answers, but not today. Today was about them celebrating their survival.

This would only make them stronger.

FIN*

A/N: Thanks to all of you who stayed with me through this ride! I hope you enjoyed it! And I love and adore everyone who commented! *hugs you all*