Ianto lounged in one of the very comfortable armchairs Gwen had at some point substituted for the ratty old couch he remembered, and watched the reunion going on a few feet away.  The team had scattered to their stations, doing whatever it was they did when they wanted to give Jack a little privacy. That left Ianto to watch his lover and the being that had, in some way, redeemed him.

            The Time Lord looked the same as he did the last time Ianto had seen him, right after the last encounter with the Daleks. Time lines being what they were, he had no way of knowing how much time passed for the Doctor; everything from a few months to a thousand years was possible. Ianto knew it had been a little over ten years for Jack. He wondered if the Time Lord could see the change in the Captain as clearly as Ianto did himself.

            “Coffee?” John appeared at his elbow, mugs in hand. “I’m told that, though never as good as yours, I make a creditable cup.”

            “Thanks.” He took a cautious sip, and then nodded. “Good.”

            “Don’t sound so shocked, Eye-Candy,” John teased. “I’ve been around here long enough to learn a few things.”

            Ianto smiled at John and settled for a good offense. “Did Gwen send you or was this your own idea?”

            John looked a little shamefaced. “Look, Ianto… Gwen is worried. This guy is a Torchwood albatross.”

            “Not this time,” Ianto said calmly. “Trust Jack on this one. I do.”

            John made a face, but nodded.  They sat in companionable silence, sipping their coffee and waiting. A few minutes later the doctor started prowling through the Hub like a bloodhound on the scent.

            “Doc? Doc!” Jack chased him down and held him in place by the shoulders. “Focus here. We don’t have much time.”

            “Oh, but we do, Jack. Whatever will happen can’t happen until tomorrow night.” He turned his twinkling eyes to Isabella. “Isn’t that so, Nethisireinorallavnthyadorai?”

            ‘Ah… Doc… that Isabella. Professor Branciforte.”

            “Of course she is,” the Doctor said, hands in pockets, rocking back on his heels. “But she’s also Nethisi, Jack. She has to be. I did a little research after Martha called. Nethisi was a genius, even by Time Lord standards. Some say she was the intellectual equal of Rassilon himself. She also had a paranoid streak as wide as the Vortex. When she set herself up in the godding business, she wanted a way to control her priests. Well, priest really, she only had one at a time. Easier to manage. Sooo, she figured out how to make The One an extension of herself.”

            “How, doctor?” Ianto whispered, sickened. “How?”

            “Shall I tell him, Nethisi?” The doctor asked playfully. “Or shall you?”

            Isabella smiled. She had been sitting at Gwen’s station, idly swinging the chair from side to side. Now she stood and walked over to the doctor and Jack. Without a word, she unbuttoned her shirt to reveal her chest and the slope of her breasts. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, slowly, a dull red glow began to pulsate under her skin. It intensified until everyone could clearly see a tear-shaped red-and-gold object beating steadily above her heart.

            “Duw,” whispered Andy.

            Ianto made a small retching sound. Isabella-Nethisi looked in his direction.

            “Whatever we shared, when we made love, it was… mostly my mortal part.”

            “Mostly?”

             She shrugged. “Once in a while I desire pleasure again. Be proud, Ianto. There aren’t many living mortals who can say they have loved a goddess.”

            “Or a Time Lord,” muttered John.

            “And you, captain?” Isabella-Nethisi asked. “Do you feel jealous? Your young lover achieved what you could not.”

            “Jealous of what, Nethisi?” Jack smiled. “You had to trick Ianto into your bed, using the body of your servant. He comes to my bed willing, Time Lord. What we do together we do of our own free will, as equals, and there’s a sweetness in our love that you have never experienced. Not even when you were alive.”

            The stone at Isabella’s breast flashed violently, and then went dark.

            “You like to live dangerously, Captain,” Isabella massaged her chest. “You made Her very angry.”

            “No more games, Isabella,” Jack said grimly. “What is Nethisi’s stake in this?”

            “We were approached by Mrs. Saxon’s representative. She offered Nethisi a chance for a new body if Nethisi helped her regenerate her husband.”

            “That’s why two girls at the same time,’ John said. “They need to create two bodies.”

            “Her husband cannot be regenerated!” The Doctor burst out. “I burned the body myself.”

            “Did you destroy his ring? It’s a chameleon arch, doctor. The one who calls himself the Master had prepared for you. As he lay dying, he sent his consciousness into it.”

            “Impossible. Chameleon arches don’t work that way.”

            “Not in your time. But in Nethisi’s time, regeneration was uncertain. The rings were developed as a failsafe. If the regeneration process went wrong, the Time Lord’s consciousness would go into the ring until a new body could be grown or… obtained.” Isabella laughed at the Doctor’s expression. “There are things in your people’s past that do not bear close examination, Doctor.”

            “Why? Why would he do that? If he had chosen to live I would have helped him, protected him somehow.”

            Ianto saw the shadow fall across Jack’s face as his partner turned away from the Doctor. He could see Martha’s eyes, full of unshed tears. Sudden rage boiled over, and he stepped up to face the Time Lord.

            “And to think,” he said quietly, “that I spent years fearing you.”

            “Fearing me?” the Doctor yelped. “Whatever did I do to you?”

            “I knew how important you were to Jack. He loved you so much, he admired you so much, he believed in you so much that he lived in hell for a year to help buy you time. And all the thanks he got was to watch you weep over the body of his torturer. And still, when you needed him again, off he went.”

            “But he…”

            “For the first time in your long life, be quiet and listen.” Ianto’s voice became even gentler. “You are one of the most brilliant beings to ever live. You are the protector of the weak, the only hope of the helpless, the oncoming storm. But when it comes to those who love you, you are as thick as two short planks. Look at them, Doctor. You attract all these seemingly ordinary people and they transform themselves into heroes for love of you. Love transformed a two-bit con man into a guardian for this planet. Love transformed a sweet middle-class trainee doctor into a warrior that saved the world. You whine about being alone, and yet you abandon your best creations without a backward glance. You’d rather have a mass murderer that reminds you of the past than these brilliant children that could be your future.”

            He turned away from the stunned Time Lord and walked up to Jack, who stood stock still, face white with shock. “Don’t ask me to…”

            The rest of the sentence went unspoken, as Jack pulled him into his arms and kissed him, heedless of anyone watching. It was thank you and I love you and I will not abandon you and it’s forever, all conveyed by the firm pressure of lips, and the soft stroking of tongues, and the gentle brush of fingers against his neck.

            “Jack…” The usually chipper voice was suddenly old and tired. “Martha…”

            Ianto caressed Jack’s cheek. “Go to him. I think he’s finally figured out that he needs you.”

            He closed his eyes for a moment, taking a few deep breaths. When he opened them again he found John standing close, holding out his coffee mug.

            “I am going to make it my own special project,” the former time agent murmured, “never ever, ever to piss you off. Now, watch this.”

            John swaggered to the center of the Hub.

            “Well, now that we have the domestic out of the way” he said cheekily, “we need to get down to brass bolts. This regeneration party… where will it happen, and why not until tomorrow?”

            ‘The why I can tell you,” the Doctor said, releasing Martha’s hand. “TARDIS use Rift energy as fuel. The Eye has to recharge and it doesn’t have the ability to do it very well in its current state. It won’t be ready until tomorrow.”

            “And the where?” Andy said. ‘They can’t go back to the warehouse, and besides, Isa… she said it was all wrong.”

            “Mrs. Saxon’s not very free with information.” Isabella said. “The representative did say there was a very powerful place here. A place where a demon was defeated and an immortal hero died.”

             Ianto and Gwen spoke at the same time.  “Abaddon.”

            “Wasn’t that place reclaimed by the developers a while ago?” Andy asked. “It’s probably all fancy flats and shops where you pay a hundred quid for a Cymru t-shirt.”