(Untitled)

[ffyddlon]

Gwen’s not having a good day. In fact, as far as days have gone, this is probably the worst she’s had in a long while. She’s in the middle of a three day row with her husband over babies (What, exactly is she supposed to do? Drop them off at the nursery with the least sign of trouble Torchwood-way? Hardly.) and she’s in the middle of a bigger

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[coffee_sir]

It wasn't as if he hadn't known this might happen. People came and went on the island; that was the only constant. For Christ's sake, Ianto had had to live through two separate runs of Owen on the island. If that wasn't enough to firmly establish the kind of pain the island was willing to inflict in a person's mind, nothing would

[ffyddlon]

Gwen was told that Ianto was here but it's still a shock to hear his voice and see him in this foreign place. She can't help but let her face crack in a wide grin, laughing and almost crying both at relief that he's here and disbelief that she's apparently been here before.

She's met his wife and his baby girl, seen Jack and now there's Ianto looking like he might be brewing some coffee any second. It's all she can do to keep from hugging him.

"I thought this time you'd be able to see through that trick, you see, so I didn't want to try the same thing twice. Always thinking, that's me."

[coffee_sir]

"You were always surprisingly clever," he allowed with a wry, teasing curve of his lips. He caught himself a moment after, shutting his eyes and shaking his head briefly at his own stupid mistake. "Are, sorry."

He took a deep breath and arched his eyebrows as he looked at her. "So the last thing I remember from home is Suzie dying the second time and I've heard tell enough to know what happened up to Jack disappearing," he said, glossing over the point that he had learned that not from their fellows coming from the future but from a reel on the bookshelf. "So you'll have to tell me if I've done something recently that would deny me a hug."

God, what was he now? Practically asking for a hug. But four and a half years was a long time and two and a half without Gwen felt like longer.

[ffyddlon]

"Nothing," Gwen says, pushing herself forward to hug him proper. It feels good to see Ianto again, even if she just saw him back home, and it's nice to know that even in this place that makes no sense she still has her anchors from home. No Owen, as far as she knows, and no Tosh, but Jack and Ianto are good enough. More than good enough.

"Last I saw you, you and Jack were..."

Gwen pauses, unsure if she should share it. She shakes her head and decides to go for it. What's the worst that could come of it?

"Romantic entanglement?"

[coffee_sir]

He wrapped his arms around her gratefully and held on, savoring having his friend back in his arms again. He needed to beat back the thought that a lot had probably changed -- that was the nature of Torchwood, of their lives -- and she could disappear tomorrow even, but Ianto Jones could live in the moment occasionally. If it was worth it.

Her comment shook a breathy, weak chuckle from somewhere in his chest. "Right, yes. Not so much here," he explained. Recounting their dalliances in the early years might only confuse her and bore no real affect on the current state of things, so Ianto didn't bother mentioning them. "I've been here four and a half years. Jack's from before Torchwood and us. Wasn't meant to be, so I had to find myself another American. She's nearly as much trouble but far less dashing sadly."

[ffyddlon]

"Nobody's as dashing as Jack," Gwen says, laughing along with him. She's married, yes, and she loves Rhys, but there's not a person alive that knows Jack Harkness and doesn't fall a little bit in love with him, at least in Gwen's opinion. She keeps those feelings buried deep, though, because she knows even if she had him for a moment it wouldn't satisfy her.

"I think I met your wife, actually. Charlie, isn't it?"

[coffee_sir]

"Yes," Ianto confirmed. The proud smile that came with mention of Charlie's name only grew in shades as he continued. "I take it you met Cadi then, too? Charlie's had her most of the day."

The more difficult subject of Nate could be addressed later, if at all by Ianto. He would support Gwen with it, no matter how she ended up feeling, but he wasn't sure if it was his place to bring it up.

[ffyddlon]

"I did," Gwen says, beaming a little. "She's lovely, Ianto. I mean, all babies are lovely but she's especially lovely. Favors you both, now that I've seen her. How long have you been married? You and Charlie?"

[coffee_sir]

"Two years," Ianto replied. It never felt so long as when he said it out loud; nothing about his time here on the island felt long until he said it. "Well, as of tomorrow, that is," he said. "Maybe you were on time, after all. Odd anniversary gift you are, but I'll take it."

[ffyddlon]

Gwen beams at that, pleased that Ianto's found some happiness after so much unhappy that can and has happened as a part of Torchwood.

"I can accept being an anniversary gift. What job duties does that give me, then? Do I need to go pick flowers?"

[coffee_sir]

"I think you're a pretty enough gift as it is, but if you want to, flowers wouldn't go amiss. Just tell me if someone's given you the rundown on all the island quirks and oddities before you go wandering off into dinosaur territory," he said, grinning despite his words. Torchwood had done him some small service in preparing him for the strange and dangerous here. "There's a lot to cover."

[ffyddlon]

Gwen nods. "Oh yes. People disappear, you can't leave, dinosaurs," she says, ticking off the list. "I won't be going to get myself turned into dinner any time soon. It's not high on my list of priorities."

[coffee_sir]

"You have to watch out for the people too," Ianto warned, but his words were mild, not at all the kind of serious warning those words would have been back home. "People come from all places, all times, all dimensions. Jane Lipton nee Bennet wants her children and mine to be friends and Harry Potter's been walking around. They probably don't want to talk about Austen or Rowling, but that wouldn't be a problem for you, I don't think. Something to be aware of though. Most people here, they get a literal blank slate. No judgment on your past crimes or mistakes. All second chances."

Ianto smiled faintly as he spoke, but it was without a great deal of warmth. The policy worked well enough, especially for people like Jack and even Ianto, but Torchwood taught one not to assume that which looked harmless truly was.

[ffyddlon]

"So I could have murdered and cheated and stolen and nobody would ever prosecute me for it?" Gwen asks pointedly. Ianto wouldn't lie to her, she doesn't think, at least not about something that directly affects her.

"That's got good and bad in it."

[coffee_sir]

"It does," he agreed simply. "For the most part, it's worked out. A few bad apples, but the casualties were minimal." It pained him somewhat to say it like that, to brush off the death of a woman so casually. But hers was the only death from violence on the island. That was remarkable in Ianto's book.

"I assume if you've seen Jack and Charlie at least, then they would have told you that you were here before," he continued. "A version of you, anyway. Not sure myself how it all works together, but after suffering through two versions of Owen, I got used to it."

[ffyddlon]

"Two versions of Owen? That had to be unpleasant," Gwen teases, but it's half-hearted. She would be glad to see Owen, she thinks, just as glad as she was to see Jack and Ianto. "Maybe there's hope Rhys will show then, yes? If people come and go constantly?"