Life and consciousness return in one painful, ragged breath.

Heart pounding as he gulps in lungfuls of air, Jack sits up. Looking around, he recognises where he is as one of the seldom used recovery rooms just off the main area of the Hub. Rooms which had been added during the renovations that had happened in is absence, after Gwen had insisted that treating people on an autopsy table did little to reassure them that they weren't about to die.

Given how often team members tend to get injured, Jack wonders why nobody else every thought of it before; it just seems like common sense.

Getting out of bed, Jack can feel the lingering ache from where Hamilton's bullet had struck, and the residual fuzziness left by the drugs that haven't quite dissipated from his blood stream.

Standing with one hand braced against the wall, he feels unsteady of his feet. He stays there for a moment before deciding that he needs a little longer before he can confidently make his way through the Hub without falling over.

Sitting back down, he tries to take stock of the situation. He's aware that he's been stripped, washed and redressed in underwear and a t-shirt. All the physical evidence of the torture he'd suffered removed.

He's still sitting on the edge of the bed, trying to get some level of composure before going in search of some clothes, when Gwen comes in carrying his boots, a shirt and trousers.

"Thanks, you didn't have to," Jack says, suddenly feeling a little self-conscious, He doesn't usually have any hang-ups about people having seeing him naked – knows he's got a good body and he's not shy about it. But there's one hell of a difference between knowing a friend has seen you nude, and that same friend having had to clean and redress your naked corpse.

"It was Owen," Gwen says, seeing Jack's expression and trying to reassure him. "I was making sure our prisoner wasn't going anywhere."

It doesn't really help that it was Owen, because Jack has always seen him as friend first and a doctor second. He chooses to hide behind a smile though, and says, "Well you missed a chance there."

A slightly awkward moment follows as it's obvious that Gwen doesn't believe, or even particularly appreciate, his forced attempt at levity.

"How long was I out?" Jack asks, taking the clothes from her.

"About two hours." Gwen sits down on the bed next to him as he starts to get dressed.

Jack nods. It's about the length of time he'd expected. He knows that his team will have dealt with Hamilton's body, and have secured his two henchmen. And trusts that Owen was telling him the truth about Ianto back at the warehouse, but he knows all too well that alive and alright are two different things. Prompting the question, "How's Ianto?"

"He'll be okay." Gwen gives him a reassuring smile. "Owen knows what he's doing."

"I know he does. But that wasn't what I was asking." Jack pauses, shirt half buttoned.

Gwen picks at the edge of the covers on the bed, trying to distract herself. "He blames himself. He's thinks you must do too, you wouldn't have been taken if he hadn't persuaded you to go out for lunch."

"It's not his fault," Jack says wondering how Ianto can think he's to blame himself for any of this. Feeling exhausted with everything that has happened he rubs a hand across his face, and sighs. "It's my past that caused this, I'm the one to blame."

"I know it's not, I've told him that. But it's not your fault either, so don't you start," Gwen says irritably, giving him an exasperated look.

It's not the sort of reaction that he's come to expect from Gwen, but given everything that has happened today he can understand why she might be on edge; killing, Jack is sure, even when there isn't really another choice will never come easy to Gwen.

"You didn't have a choice, Hamilton would have shot you without a second thought. You made the right call." Jack starts to put an arm around Gwen's shoulders.

"It's not that." Gwen gets up, moving away from him.

"There's something though." Jack follows her.

"That's just it, Jack, there isn't." Gwen turns to face him. "I killed somebody a couple of hours ago and I don't feel a thing."

"Nobody gets that worked up over feeling nothing, believe me," Jack says, pushing for the truth. In the past he knows he wouldn't have done, he'd have let it go, but secrets like that had nearly torn his team apart in the past and he's not about to let that happen again if there is anything he can do about it.

"But I don't."

"Gwen."

"Fine, you want the truth. I'm glad I shot him." There's real anger in Gwen's eyes at being pushed to reveal this. "What he did to you, to Ianto, he deserved it."

"And you think you should feel something, that you should be horrified by this, right?"

"Yes."

"You still might." Jack looks at her feeling ancient. He wonders if the Doctor ever feels the same way about the people he travels with, if it only gets worse the older you get and the more you see. "It's only been a couple of hours, things like this they don't always hit you straight away."

Gwen nods, still looking troubled. "I just don't want to stop caring. I don't want to be like that."

"You won't. It's not you." Putting an arm around her shoulders he gives her a quick hug, then says, "Now come on, I want to go tell Tosh she's brilliant, Owen that he'd not going to have to buy his own drinks for a while, and Ianto that I could never hate him."

oxoxoxo

"Brilliant and beautiful," Jack says loudly as he walks over to Tosh who's working on a fast scrolling stream of data on her workstation monitor.

"Not that brilliant, it took me hours to find you," Tosh says, looking down at her keyboard. "I should have been able to compensate for the signal dampening field that they were using faster.

"But you did find us." Jack turns her seat round. "You didn't give up, and you know what? That means a lot to me." Knowing that Tosh will be more comfortable talking about technology Jack asks, "So do you think you'll be able to get the tracker fitted in all our phones?"

"Now that I know how to compensate for signal scrambling and dampening device I should be able to design a better one."

"If I bring Rhys' phone in, could you put it in that too?" Gwen asks, looking hopeful. "It's not that I don't trust him, it's just since him got shot I worry what could happen to him."

"I should be able to," Tosh reassures her. "What type of phone has he got?"

Leaving Gwen talking to Tosh, Jack goes to find Owen and Ianto.

Standing at the top of the steps down to the autopsy bay, Jack watches Owen and Ianto for a moment, trying to gauge how Ianto really is before he tries to tell him he's fine.

Ianto is sat on the edge of the table, while Owen finishes taping his fingers.

"Are you sure that's tight enough, you can still move them," Ianto asks as Owen carefully moves his numbed fingers.

Owen gives him an irritated look. "Yes it's tight enough. They were dislocated not broken. So you don't want to keep them complete immobile or they'll lock up, and it'll be harder to get them working again."

Ianto doesn't look convinced. "If they drop off I'm blaming you."

Leaning against the railing, Jack sighs. He can see the beginnings of a bruise on Ianto's cheek, and marks around his wrists where he'd been tied to the chair standing out lividly against his pale skin where the sleeves of his shirt are rolled up.

It's not many weeks since there'd been similar makes left from the ropes Ianto been bound with by the men keeping the space whale captive. It had been an experience that Jack knows shook Ianto more than he's ever likely to admit.

Ianto looks round at the noise, his expression becoming guarded, before he hangs his head. "Jack. I'm sorry."

"Hey, this it's not you fault," Jack says, hurrying down the steps to stop in front of him. Lifting Ianto's chin, Jack look him in the eye. "None of it. I mean it."

"But-"

Jack curls a hand carefully around the back of Ianto's neck, then kisses him. Pulling back slightly, Jack says, "Now, no more blaming yourself."

Ianto nods, looking a little bit stunned that Jack has kissed him in front of Owen.

Jack knows that they, mostly at Ianto's insistence, have agreed to keep as much of their relationship as they can separate from work. Today is a special case though, and from the small, slightly dopey smile that's now on Ianto's face, Jack is pretty sure that he agrees.

The smile disappears as Ianto yawns, eyes closing for a moment.

"You want me to drive you home so you can get some rest?" Jack asks, knowing that between what had happened with Hamilton and the painkillers Owen will have given him to realign his fingers, Ianto must be exhausted.

"He's not going home on his own, and he's not climbing down into that pit of bedroom of yours," Owen says firmly, sounding like he's decided that they are both being idiots about this. "He is staying here for the night. He use the room we put you in earlier. And you aren't driving anywhere until I know we're not going to get a repeat of what happened with the SUV."

Ianto doesn't look happy, but says, "Anywhere with a bed will do, I would have preferred it to be mine though."

"I know." Jack puts a hand on Ianto's shoulder. "I prefer your bed-"

"Jack!" Gwen calls down from the doorway to the autopsy bay. "I'm going to see if I can get more information out of Hamilton's guard. Are you coming?"

"Not yet," Jack says quickly. Although he wants some answers, Ianto is more important right now. Hamilton's henchman can sit and worry about what's going to happen to him for a few more hours for all Jack cares.

"You should go," Ianto says quietly, shrugging Jack's hand off his shoulder.

"I'll talk to him later, he can wait."

"No, you need to do this," Ianto says sounding a little shaky as he gets off the table. "You need this to be over."

And so do you, Jack thinks, as he realises that Ianto isn't trying to be selfless about this. "Okay, but don't think you're getting rid of me that easily."

"I'm not trying to get rid of you," Ianto says wearily, moving towards the steps up to the main part of the Hub. "I can get to bed by myself. It's my hands that are hurt, not my legs."

Jack is about to point out that unless he's worked out how to unbutton his shirt with his feet he'll need some help, when Tosh, who's now standing next to Gwen at the top of the stairs, says, "Do you mind if I walk with you? I can tell you what I'm going to do to our phones."

Ianto looks like he's going to object for a moment then says, "Alright,"

Once Ianto as slowly started up the steps, Jack gives Tosh a relieved smile, grateful that she knows how to deal with Ianto when he'd being unrealistically about what he can do.

Jack listens for a moment, waiting for Ianto and Tosh to leave, before turning back to Owen, asking, "How is he?"

"Few bumps and bruises. Fingers aren't as bad as it could have been," Owen says as he starts to tidy away the kit he's used to treat Ianto's fingers. "One broken, three dislocated. He'll be sore for a while, but they went back in place okay. Telling him he should start moving them as soon as he can so they don't lock up. He'll listen to you. Probably should be grateful that the bastard pulled his fingers back rather than smashed than with a hammer."

Jack swallows hard, feeling sick, bile bitter in his throat at the thought of what Hamilton could have done, what he could have been forced to watch.

"You should probably take it easy for a while as well." Owen blocks Jack's way. "You wouldn't have had time to metabolise all the stuff the Hamilton gave you before he shot you."

"I'll live." Jack puts his hand on Owen's shoulder, grateful for all that Owen has done for him and Ianto since the all of this began.

0x0x0x0x0

"Do we know anything about him?" Jack asks, as he and Gwen walk down to the cells.

"Only what he said when we caught him, that his name is Kovan, and he's a mercenary hired by Hamilton to provide backup and do the fetching and carrying."

As they enter the cells Kovan gets up from the low stone bench, and then kneels in front of the perspex door, his hands on his head.

"Get up," Jack says tersely. "I'm not here to kill you."

Kovan doesn't move, staring at Jack, his expression wary.

"I want some answers, or I might just change my mind."

"What is there to say? It was a job. I got caught," Kovan answers, sounding resigned to his fate.

"Is that all you've got to say for yourself?"

"What else is there? I'm a mercenary and this seemed like easy money." He looks steadily at Jack. "Safe money. And when your family is counting on you coming home with enough cash to keep a roof over their heads and food on the table then it's all that counts. I played the odds and I lost."

"You've got a family?" Gwen looks at him surprised.

"A little sister, and my partner." There's a look of loss and regret in Kovan's eyes as he looks at Gwen. "You think we're all monsters, don't you? Just because we aren't human."

Kovan looks human, although Jack knows that he's not, Sto or one of it's colony planets would be his best guess, as to the man's origins.

"No," Gwen replies, offended that he could think that. "I think anybody who's happy to torture for money is a monster."

The conviction in Gwen's voice makes Jack feel uncomfortable, knowing that in the past he'd been no better than Kovan, that given the right circumstances he could be like that again. He's not sure whether the fact that Gwen would probably forgive him for it if she ever found out makes him more uncomfortable or less.

Not wanting the conversation to end up about relative moral values, especially when he knows that he hasn't the high ground on the subject, Jack asks, "What would you have done if my team hadn't arrived?"

"Your friend would have been dropped off where we took you from, then we'd have weighted your body with rocks and then dumped it in the sea," Kovan says honestly.

Jack shudders. He knows that it shouldn't shock him; he's done far worse than that in the past himself, but the thought of reviving only to drown over and over again with no means of escape is terrifying.

Keeping his tone neutral Jack asks, "And Hamilton?"

"He'd have teleported us back to the ship that he'd left in orbit, then we'd have gone to drop of the intel and get paid. After that we'd have gone our separate ways. Job done."

Jack thinks for a moment. Hamilton had been fairly insistent that his employers were desperate for this information. Not wanting to risk the possibility that they might send somebody to check up on Hamilton or complete his mission Jack asks, "If you deliver the intel and collect the bounty in Hamilton's place will that mean nobody come after me and my team?"

"Should do." Kovan stands up. "I can tell them you're dead if you want. It's all the same to me."

"You do that." Jack opens the door to the cell, and motions to Kovan to leave. "Keep your hands where I can see them."

Placing his hands on his head Kovan walks out of the cell.

"Are you really going to just let him go? After what he did," Gwen asks as they leave the cells.

"Yeah. I want him gone," Jack says flatly, determined that there will be no argument about this.

Gwen doesn't look entirely happy or convinced by Jack's decision, but she doesn't say anything.

As they reach the main area of the Hub, Kovan asks, "I'll need the interrogation footage. That won't be a problem, will it?"

"What footage?" Jack snaps, grabbing hold of Kovan's shoulder, spinning him round, and pinning him to the wall.

"Hamilton always filmed his interrogations. Proof for his clients." There's fear in Kovan's voice that hadn't been present in the cell as Jack rests an arm against his throat. "He filmed everything, said it was the best training tool. I just want it for proof to collect the bounty, please it's not my fault."

Releasing Kovan, Jack says angrily, "You can have it."

"You can make a copy if you want, or watch it before I go, if you want." Kovan rubs his throat, still looking wary. "Make sure that there's nothing on it that you don't want me taking back."

The idea of watching it, reliving his and Ianto's torture sickens him, and Jack closes his eyes. Objectively, he knows he probably should, just in case Hamilton had managed to get any useful information about his missing memories from him.

Opening his eyes, Jack shakes his head. "I think this is one time where I'm probably better of not knowing."

"For what it's worth," Kovan says, as they start moving again. "I was pretty sure you had no idea of about any of the stuff Hamilton was asking you. People break, or make mistakes with their story, and you weren't, even when you should have been."

Jack doesn't reply, he knows enough about torture to know that Hamilton knew all this too. The only reason that Hamilton would have continued as long as he had was either that it was for show, to impress him employers or, more likely, Jack thinks, that he was just a sadistic bastard.

"Gwen, fetch the recording device, I don't want him here any long than I have to."

"You're lucky he's in charge," Gwen says to Kovan, before going over to Jack's office.

Stopping next to Tosh's workstation Jack keeps his gun pointed at Kovan as he says, "Toshiko, our not so welcome guest here says there's a ship in orbit, is he telling the truth?"

"Yes." Scrolling through several displays very quickly, Tosh enlarges the section of space on the screen to display a small ship in geosynchronous orbit. "It's pretending to be an inoperative satellite, but if you know what to look for you can tell the energy signature is wrong."

"Looks like it's your lucky day," Jack says to Kovan with fake cheerfulness, as Gwen returns with the recording device.

Taking it from Gwen with a smile, Jack shoves the device down the front of Kovan's jumpsuit. "What else do you need to go?"

"Just my teleport. I've got the ships coordinated logged on it." Kovan keeps his hands on his head, not even attempting to

Picking up the teleport device from where it's been left on Tosh's workstation, Jack feel a pang of regret that he's having to let it go; it would have been nice to have a teleport that worked for a change. He hopes that the one that had the crack in the temporal shielding can be repaired or that Hamilton had one that works.

Clipping the device back onto Kovan's jumpsuit, Jack nods in the direction of the invisible lift. "Come on."

Gun still drawn and pointed at Kovan, Jack walks a couple of steps behind him until he gets on the lift.

"Track his ship, I want to know he's gone," Jack calls back to Tosh as the lift starts to rise.

"I'll be glad to see the back of this place," Kovan says, looking round at the Millennium Centre, as the lift stops on the Plas.

"If I ever see you in Cardiff again," Jack says, his voice low and dangerous, "and it'll be a very short visit. Now go."

Kovan nods slowly, before carefully lowering one of his hands and activating the teleport.

There is the familiar blueish shimmer of light and then Kovan is gone.

Taking one last look around the Plas, the evening sunlight reflecting gold off the rain soaked sandstone of the paving, Jack lets out a slow breath, trying to reassure himself that he's done the right thing.

"Is he on board?" Jack calls down once the lift has started to descend.

"There was an energy fluctuation on the ship," Tosh confirms. "The ship is breaking orbit. He's leaving."

"It's over." Jack smiles tightly, knowing that this is as much convincing himself that it really is over as it's about giving his team some much needed down time. "You've done good work today. Now go home. Talk to friends, family. Remember why we do this."

Owen and Tosh exchange glances, but don't question him; they've seen Jack do this too often to do otherwise.

It doesn't taken them long to finish up what they are doing and leave. Gwen following them a few minutes later.

"Jack." Gwen turns back as she reaches the cog door. "Remember to take your own advice on this, don't be alone tonight, go and to talk to Ianto."

0x0x0x0x0x0

In his office, Jack finds his greatcoat neatly folded on his desk, his vortex manipulator, watch and Webley placed neatly on top of it.

Picking up the vortex manipulator, Jack runs his fingers along the worn leather almost reverently.

He can feel his fingers shaking as he buckles the familiar strap about his wrist. Too many bad things have happened to him when he's not been wearing it for him to feel comfortable without it.

Hanging his greatcoat on the stand in the corner of his office, Jack is tempted to put the Webley back on his belt, knowing that the weight of it, and the protection that it represents, will help reassure him that everything is back as it should be.

He doesn't though, that would be too much like admitting that he still doesn't feel safe yet, not completely. He knows it might take him a little longer this way, but he's sure that not relying on it is for the best, and Jack places the guns and it's holster in his desk drawer.

Deciding that the reports and paperwork can wait until tomorrow, Jack checks and then double checks all the Hub's monitoring systems, before he eventually switches them all to automatic for the night. Anything short of a full blown alien invasion is going to have to wait until morning – and even then he knows that he'd be tempted to call up UNIT and tell them to deal with for a change.

After picking up a couple of bottles of water, and the painkillers Owen has left out for Ianto, Jack goes to find Ianto.

It's both a relief and a disappointment that Ianto is asleep when Jack finds him, because while he knows that Ianto needs to rest, he really doesn't want to be alone with his thoughts right now.

Weary from everything that has happened, the anger and adrenaline that he's been running on fading now that it's over, Jack sits down in the chair by Ianto's bed.

Deciding that he'll stay for a few minutes to see if Ianto wakes up and wants anything, Jack leans back on the chair and closes his eyes.

He's running, boots loud on polished quartzite floors. The alien child in his arms is crying, while the heavy laser rifle that is slung over his shoulder hits the backs of his legs as he hurries down the steps leading out of the building.

The air outside the royal compound is scorched, thick with the scent of ozone from the laser bombardment, the shielding over complex long since overloaded and shot away.

A blast hits a column near the door and a chip of stone slices passed his leg. He stumbles, but keeps going, knowing that the shuttle is just the other side of the trees.

A woman, her blue feathers tinged with soot, is waiting at the shuttle, and the child stops crying and smiles as he hands him to her.

The ground shakes as a bomb blast rocks the compound, and he falls.

"Jack?"

Opening his eyes, Jack looks up from where he's fallen off the chair to see Ianto staring down at him, a concerned expression on his face.

"Sorry." Jack gets to his feet, feeling shaken. He really hadn't expected to get any more flashes of memory. "I didn't mean to wake you. I should let you sleep."

"Stay, please." There's a hint of vulnerability in Ianto's voice for the first time since what happened with Hamilton. "I don't think either of us want to be alone right now."

Jack nods, then sits down on the edge of Ianto's bed, trying to gather his thoughts. Compared to the previous flashes of memory that he's had this one had been almost pleasant. It's significance is so much more though, it's the first memory that he knows with absolutely certainty is from his missing years. Memories that for more than century and a half he's been convinced were lost to him forever.

That these particular memories, ones that Hamilton had been willing to torture him to death for, have chosen to resurface now that it doesn't matter seem bitterly ironic. It feels like the story of his life. A noise somewhere between a laugh and a sob escape him, and Jack wraps his arms about himself as he starts of shake. Tears that he's not permitted himself since this whole nightmare begun start to fall unchecked.

Carefully, trying to avoid jarring his fingers, Ianto puts his arms around Jack, letting him lean against his shoulder.

"Really failing the whole dashing hero thing today, aren't I?" Jack says, sounding a little shaky.

"Not to me." Ianto's voice is hoarse, and when Jack looks he can see unshed tears bright in Ianto's eyes. "Not for this."

"It's over. It's okay." Jack puts his arm around Ianto, giving the same comfort that he'd provided, holding close him when his tears start to fall. "It's really over."

"Any better?" Jack asks once Ianto's shoulders have stopped shaking.

"A little." Ianto tries to wipe his eyes, but stops with a small hiss of pain as the movement jars his fingers.

"It's a start," Jack says, knowing that it's going to be hard for Ianto to begin putting it behind him while he's still in pain.

Cupping Ianto's face in his hands, Jack brushes away the tears with his thumbs, before leaning forward and kissing him.

Leaning his forehead against Ianto's Jack says, "You should get some more sleep."

"I'd sleep better with company," Ianto says, sounding a little uncertain as to whether he should be asking Jack to stay with him.

"Now that's my kind of idea," Jack says with a laugh. He knows that they won't be doing anything other than sleeping tonight, and it'll probably be like that for quite a few nights to come.

Grateful that the bed is big enough for them both to sleep in, Jack strips down to just t-shirt and underwear before getting in beside Ianto.

"What happened with the guard?" Ianto asks once Jack has got comfortable.

"Gone."

"Good." Ianto settles back against Jack's arm, head resting on his shoulder.

"No questions?"

"None that matter tonight," Ianto says with a small smile. "Not if you're staying."

"I'm staying."

Ianto makes a contented noise and closes his eyes.

Jack smiles. He knows that there are never any nice, neat endings, and that tomorrow life will continue with all its major and minor triumphs and loses. For now though the danger is over, and they can enjoy a moment of peace together.

Thank you to everybody who's be reading and/or commenting on this fic, and sorry that it has taken so long to finally finish.