Title: Evolution (9/?)
Author: Emma
Characters: Jack Harkness, Ianto Jones, Rhys Williams, others
Rating: Starts PG, but hey, it’s got Jack and Ianto in it!
Disclaimer: Oh, please. If I owned them, would I let some of those idiots write the scripts? And if I were making any money off them, would I be where they could find me?
Summary: Rhys Williams has his own monsters to fight, but why can't he remember?
Author’s Note: This story takes place in a totally different AU from Homecoming. In this one, Gwen and Owen died at the end of TW2.
Author's Note: Sorry it's taken so long. I've had my every-five-years run with the dentist and I'm due for a root canal and a lot of other work. Part of the process is taking antibiotics which really make me miserable, so I've been reading everyone else's fiction instead!

Prologue is here; Part one is here; Part two is here ; Part three is here ; Part four is here ; Part five is here ; Part six is here ; Part seven is here ; Part eight is here

            The cog door rolled back and I could see into the Hub. I felt a superstitious shiver run up my spine. If I went in, I was back in Torchwood. Not that I had ever been an official member, but I had been drawn in so often I probably qualified for a pension. This time, it wouldn’t be just helping out the wife; I would be choosing to become part of it, and no matter what Jack had said to Thomas there would be no going back to my old existence.

 

            In the end the choice was made for me by a beautiful whirlwind in skyscraper heels who threw her arms around my neck, pushing me off balance. I fetched up with my back against the wall, hugging her for all she was worth.

 

            “Let the man breathe, Tosh,” Andy quipped. “I think Jack needs him alive for now. You can kill him later.”

 

            She stuck her tongue out at him. I was struck by the change in her. The shy, closed-up woman I used to know had blossomed. This Tosh was all open laughter and quick movement, not a shy bone in her whole body.

 

            “Listen, Tosh,” Andy said, sounding a little nervous, “I’ll go and pick up…ah…”

 

            “They didn’t tell him, did they?”

 

            “Nope. Hey, don’t look at me like that, it wasn’t my idea.” He headed back out the garage door. “Back soon.”

 

            I waited until Tosh looked at me again. She seemed a bit nervous. “Tosh?”

 

            “Let’s go sit down, all right? Jack and Ianto are stopping to pick up some lunch and Martha is going over the things you brought back from the farm.”

 

            Before starting for Cardiff, Andy and Martha had ransacked Ollie’s and Mike’s rooms, taking anything and everything they could use as evidence. In the meantime, Jack, Ianto and Euan had set in motion a nation-wide search for Mike. I had been sent off to pack a small bag – just for a few days, Jack said to Thomas – and then bundled into the lorry with Andy and Martha.

 

            Toshiko led the way to the sitting area. I noticed there had been a few changes – new furniture, and the desks were arranged differently – but the place was basically the same. The whispery shwoosh of water falling into the basin served as background for the beeps and whines of equipment most of which I couldn’t recognize. I could still see the greenhouse where Gwen had once caught Jack and Ianto… well, let’s just say when Gwen told me about it she was bright red with embarrassment but couldn’t stop laughing. The archway to the right of the couches led down to the medical area, where she had bled to death but not before managing to kill Jack’s brother.

 

            And Jack bloody Harkness was messing with my head again. Nice to know some things never changed.

 

            “Rhys…” Tosh touch on my wrist brought me back. “I don’t think Jack was trying to…”

 

            “You read minds now, Tosh?”

 

            She laughed. “No need. You looked up at his office and got that Gwen look in your eyes. Let’s just get on with it, all right? It’s not… pleasant for me to talk about it.”

 

            “Then don’t.”

 

            “It’ll be better out in the open.” She took a deep breath. “When Owen died, I went a little crazy. Jack and Ianto had each other, but I felt... abandoned, somehow. It didn’t help that the bastard pretty much told me he loved me as he died. Jack tried to rein me in, but…" Her hands fluttered upwards, palms up. “They settled for keeping me safe. Eight months later I found out I was pregnant.”

 

            I managed to keep a straight face only by biting down on my cheek until I saw stars. Whatever she saw when she looked at me must have reassured her, because she gave me a shy little smile – the old sweet, uncertain Tosh smile I remembered.

 

            “At first I was over the moon. Everything was going to be fine, you see. I would have my own family and everything would be fine.” She rubbed her temples. “Of course, it wasn’t. As the pregnancy progressed I got worse and worse. By the time I gave birth I just wanted her as far away from me as possible. I didn’t care if she lived or died. I just wanted it never to have happened. I was borderline psychotic, I think. Jack and Ianto were at the end of their rope, so Jack did the only thing he could think of.”

 

            “He called the Doctor?”

 

            She laughed until she was gasping for breath. “Oh, you know him so well. Exactly. The man in the blue box swept in and took me away. I think it was a blessing for everyone.”

 

            “How long were you away?”

 

            “Five years. Two of them in New Earth, under the care of… that’s a story for another day, I think.” She laughed at my confused expression. “Timey-wimey stuff. The TARDIS travels in space and time. I was away for five years and came back in a year. You see…”

 

            She stopped at my upraised hand. “Don’t try to explain that, please. I’m still recovering from getting shot and you don’t want a relapse.”

 

            She laughed again. “Fair enough.”

 

            “What happened to the baby?”

 

            “Ianto and Jack adopted her.” Her smile nearly wobbled off her face. “It’s funny. By the time I got back they were all settled in as a family. Jack had even insisted on a civil partnership so that everything was taken care of, from insurance to inheritance. Or so he says, but the rest of us suspect he just wanted to tie Ianto down while he had the chance. They’re beautiful together,” she said, her voice full of small regrets. “I’m auntie Tosh and that’s how it should be.”

 

            I squeezed her hands. “So, this other niece of mine, what’s her name?”

 

            “Ah…”

 

            Suddenly I knew what was coming. When I said I would do the same for all my nieces and nephews, Jack had said we’ll hold you to that. Of course they would have.

 

            “Ianto wanted to remember them. He named her Gwenhwyfar Eugenie. So of course we call her Gwen.”