A/N - Huge apologies for how long this has taken to update. To those who have left reviews I will get back to you (hopefully shortly) and to those still reading, this story is now complete, 7 chapters (although two of those may be split up) and an epilogue to go! So hopefully will update this at least once or twice a week! Hope you enjoy the newest chapter :).

TWTW

Chapter 11

The Warehouse

TWTW

Ianto took a deep breath as he moved around the car, looking up at the warehouse that he hadn't seen in years, that he hadn't thought he'd see again, even if sometimes in his dreams he found himself back here.

He had no idea why he'd told Jack that Hart had asked him on a date, just knew that he couldn't listen to Jack anymore, part of him wanting to believe what the immortal was saying to him, but his heart refusing to open itself up again.

So he'd diverted attention away from his confused and conflicted thoughts, and said something that would have Jack focusing on that, instead of what he was trying to say, instead of on Ianto as he tried to make it look like he'd never been to the warehouse before.

"You said yes?" Jack asked, coming to stand in front of him, his eyes a blaze with something that Ianto almost thought could be jealousy.

"It's just a date, Jack," he replied. "It doesn't mean anything."

He should've expected it when Jack reached out and pulled him forward, their mouths crashing together, Ianto feeling the anger and possessiveness from Jack in the kiss, something in him responding to it, pulling the other man closer, their bodies tight against each other's, before he remembered what they were here for.

"Sir," he said, pulling his mouth away reluctantly.

"Sorry," Jack murmured, leaning his forehead against Ianto's, taking a deep breath, before pulling himself away.

Before they could say or do anything else, the SUV with the others pulled up, Ianto not missing the glare that Owen sent Jack, before purposefully moving between the two of them.

"So, Tea Boy, anything look familiar to you?" he asked, turning and looking at Ianto with a raised eyebrow.

"No," Ianto replied, mask falling into place, as he looked back at the warehouse.

"We'll split into two teams," Jack said, slipping back into the leader role he played so well.

"Owen, Gwen and John, you take that way," he continued, pointing to one side of the warehouse. "Ianto, Tosh and I will take the other. Once we've confirmed that the perimeters safe, we'll move in."

Slipping into the field agent he'd become in Jack's absence, Ianto pulled his gun out, hoping that the Sleeper Agents weren't here for what he thought they were, that someone from Torchwood had come and moved it, not just left something that important lying in a sub-basement in the warehouse.

They quickly searched the perimeter, Ianto not surprised when their search came up clean, nerves rolling around in his stomach when they moved into the warehouse.

It was a lot more dusty then it had been the last time he'd been here, but other than that it was almost identical. As they made their way through the building, he wasn't surprised when the team made it through all the tricks and into the main Archive.

"It's an Archive!" Gwen said, looking around with wide eyes at the drawers and shelves.

"It's bloody huge," Hart added, moving around the room.

"There's an elevator over here," Owen called to them, Ianto trying to act as normal as possible.

Jack and Tosh both moved into the elevator when it opened, Tosh looking at the computer console that was set up with a gleam of interest in her eyes.

"Oh, wow," she murmured, pulling her computer out of her bag. "It's a trick."

"What's a trick?" Jack asked.

"See, there's only three buttons for the floors below, but you can see that there should be at least one more, maybe two buttons," she answered, grinning as she typed away on her computer, pointing triumphantly when one of the buttons lit up.

"See!" she exclaimed, standing up.

"Alright," Jack said, nodding. "Tosh and Ianto with me. The rest of you keep looking."

Getting into the elevator, Ianto let out a little sigh of relief that only one of the buttons had lit up. Knowing that the most important thing wasn't on that floor, but the floor under it.

"Be alert," Jack said, pulling his gun out. "We don't know that they didn't find this floor too."

Preparing himself for anything, Ianto waited for the elevator to stop, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end when the doors opened. There was an almost oppressive silence when they moved out.

He knew what was housed here, and really shouldn't have been surprised that he was feeling that way, but he'd almost forgotten what it felt like to walk in these archives. He felt a sense of guilt that he'd almost forgotten this place, of all that it held. He really should've made sure Torchwood Three had taken over its care when he'd joined, should've realized that no one else would have.

But his mind hadn't been on anything back then except the need to get into Torchwood, to get into a place that could help him with Lisa, that could help him fix her.

"Well, this is cheery," Tosh said, as they moved slowly through the room, Ianto keeping an eye out for the agents.

He felt the blow a second before it connected, grunting when a body slammed into his, his gun sliding away from him, as he looked up into the face of the man who had hurt him all those months ago.

"Ianto," Jack yelled, Ianto seeing him moving out of the corner of his eye, the Captain stopped as another one of the agents popped up, taking his attention away.

"Where is it?" the man on top of him growled, pinning him to the ground, trying to get one of his hands around his throat.

Using all of his skill, he managed to twist, putting all of his force behind throwing the man off him, following it up with a kick to the abdomen.

"Guys, get down here," he rasped into his comm unit, as he tackled the man who'd attacked him, trusting that the others would be down here, trusting Jack and Tosh to hold their own against the others.

The two of them traded blows for blows, Ianto struggling at one point as the man's arm transformed into the blade like thing that Beth's had.

"Tell me where it is," he growled again, his eyes blazing, as he tried to strike Ianto through with his arm, Ianto only just managing to avoid it, jumping away, his breaths coming hard.

"She can make it work," he continued, tracking Ianto, moving closer. "If we can find it, she can make it work."

Any doubt Ianto had to what the aliens were after left. He knew that they were after the thing on the floor below, knew that they had somehow tracked it here. It explained why they had killed the other Torchwood One agents.

There had only been five of them, five of them that had been entrusted to study it, to move it here and archive it. He knew if he looked up the other two agents, they'd be missing or dead.

He was the last one left now, the last one that knew exactly where it was, how to get to it.

"It's gone," he replied, smirking when the man growled again. "Moved a long time ago."

"You're lying," the alien said, trying to stab him again.

"I'm not," he replied, chuckling, knowing it would incense the other being. "You're too late."

The chuckle died on his lips as he was grabbed around the neck, an arm crushing against his wind pipe. His hands pulled uselessly on the arm, his breaths coming in gasps, as he looked up with wide eyes at the man, wondering where the rest of the team were.

"Let's see if you're telling the truth," the man said, pulling his blade arm back, Ianto squeezing his eyes shut as he moved it forward to stab him.