Title: Old Friends
Author: Jigot
Rating: PG
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Summary: Sometimes, they remember.
Notes: Set sometime after Countrycide and before Captain Jack Harkness.

***

Jack pulled up outside a non-descript semi on the outskirts of Cardiff.  He turned to Ianto.  "You go and work your magic on Mom and Pop, and I'll nip round the back and check it out.  I'll give you a shout when I need you to help me move it."

They got out of the SUV and walked up the drive.  Jack went to the side of the house, heading for the back garden, and Ianto waited until he was out of site before ringing the bell.  A woman answered.  Ianto thought that she looked to be in her late fifties.  He also thought that she looked remarkably calm for someone who had a dead Weevil in her back garden.

"Mrs Andrews?  Hello.  I'm Mr Jones.  I think we spoke earlier on the phone?  About the animal in your garden?"

She smiled and opened the door wide.  "Of course.  Come on through to the kitchen.  I was just making some tea.  Would you like some?"

"Yes, thank you."  Ianto smiled, and followed her down the hall.  "My colleague has gone round to the garden.  I hope that's OK?  He was very keen to get to the animal straight away, just in case it is still alive.  He didn't want it to suffer any longer than necessary."

"That's quite OK.  But my husband has taken a good look and it and it's definitely dead I'm afraid."  She busied herself putting cups and saucers on a tea tray which already held a large tea pot and a jug of milk.

"Is your husband here now?"  Ianto kept his tone light.  It would make things much tidier if he could "˜work his magic' on them both at the same time.  Things might get a bit tricky if he had to come back later.

"He just popped next door to water the plants and feed the cats whilst the Osbournes are away.  He'll be back in a few minutes."  She added some biscuits to the tray.  "Now, shall we go through to the lounge?"

"This is very good of you Mrs Andrews.  May I?"  Ianto picked up the tray before she could answer.  She smiled and he followed her across the hall to the lounge.  Patio doors opened out into the long back garden and he could see Jack crouched over an unmoving form which lay close to some bushes a few metres from the house.

Ianto poured three cups of tea, surreptitiously slipping Retcon into two of them whilst Mrs Andrews moved a pile magazines to clear some more space on the coffee table.  He was sure that Jack would politely decline any offer of tea.  As he passed one of the cups to Mrs Andrews, he heard the front door open and shut, and a voice called out.

"Elisabeth?  That car outside - have they come about that poor animal?"

"Yes dear," his wife answered as he came into the lounge.  "Dan, this is Mr Jones and his colleague is in the garden."  She smiled at Ianto.  "I'm sorry, I didn't catch his name."

"Mr Harkness," said Ianto, offering a cup to Mr Andrews.  "Tea?"

"Not just yet, thanks.  I'll just go and give him a hand."  He walked out into the garden.

Jack was still crouched over the Weevil, which was indeed dead.  He looked up as he heard footsteps approaching.  The man stopped, a look of recognition spreading slowly over his face.

"Jack?"

Jack stood and turned to face him properly.  He smiled.  "Dan!  Long time no see."

Dan looked down at the ground, as if seeing the creature for the first time.  He spoke slowly.  "That animal.  I've seen ones like it before.  It's a Weevil isn't it?"

***

Dan walked slowly towards the Weevil, stopping a few feet from it.  "It is dead?"

"It is.  Looks like it was hit by something - a truck maybe."

"Or a train?  There's a train line across the field there."  Dan pointed vaguely towards the back of the garden, not taking his eyes from the fallen creature.

Jack nodded.  "Yeah, a train.  You could be right."

Dan turned to Jack.  "I know you.  No, that's not right.  I knew you, but I can't quite place where from.  It all seems such a long time ago."

Jack smiled warmly.  "It's been a while Dan, but sometimes it feels like yesterday."

Dan frowned and his eyes lost their focus.  Jack could almost sense the memories tumbling back into his friend's mind.  He hoped they were the good ones.  After a few moments, Dan looked back to Jack.

"Torchwood.  We were Torchwood."  His eyes gleamed, the frown replaced by a look of excitement.  "You, me, Liz, and ... and ..."  Dan fell silent as he tried to conjure up a name from the still dim and distant past.  But Jack stopped him.  He didn't want Dan to have to deal with that memory, not yet anyway.

"We were.  I still am.  It's changed a bit since your day though.  Would you like to come take a look?"

------------------------------------------------------------

Ianto was politely admiring photos of a smiling baby, the Andrews' first grandchild, whilst simultaneously trying to decipher the scene that was unfolding just out of ear shot in the garden.  Mrs Andrews was well on her way to believing that the Weevil lying dead on the lawn was in fact a large dog that had fallen victim to a passing car.  But her husband's Retcon-spiked tea was untouched.  He hoped Jack knew what he was doing.

As Ianto handed the last of the photos back to the doting grandmother, Jack and Dan came in from the garden.  Jack smiled at Mrs Andrews.

"Well, we're about done here.  We'll take the body back with us, if that's what you want?"

Mrs Andrews nodded, and Ianto smiled to himself.  She had probably believed that she was being offered a choice.  Jack seemed to find it easy to make people do what he wanted them too.  But then Mr Andrews spoke and suddenly Ianto wondered if Jack was in control after all.

"I'm going to give them a hand, love.  Mr Harkness was telling me about some interesting cases they have - I thought I'd go and take a look."

His wife smiled indulgently.  "Once a vet, always a vet!  You go ahead - just try not to be too late back."

Ianto looked at Jack, trying to read his expression.  But Jack was giving nothing away, and steadfastly refused to meet Ianto's gaze.

-----------------------------------------

Nearly an hour later, the SUV pulled up outside the Hub.  The journey back had been made in silence.  Neither Jack nor Dan had said anything and Ianto, not knowing quite what Dan knew, hadn't wanted to give anything away so he simply drove back to base, keeping his attention squarely on the road in front of him.

Owen was waiting for them when they got back.  He opened the back of the SUV and started to haul out the body bag.  Catching a glimpse of two figures walking towards the entrance to the Hub, he shouted after then.  "Is someone going to give me a hand with this then?"

Ianto appeared suddenly at his side, causing Owen to do a double-take towards the retreating figures.  "Hold on, who's that with Jack then?" 

"I have absolutely no idea.  Yet."  Ianto had his phone to his ear, waiting for someone to pick up.  "Tosh - I need a background check on Dan and Elisabeth Andrews.  Quick as you can.  Oh and Tosh?  Don't tell Jack."

***

Tosh looked up from her screen to see Jack walking into the Hub accompanied by a man she immediately recognised.  She turned off her screen as Jack approached.

"Tosh," Jack beamed, "I want you to meet an old friend of mine, Dan Andrews.  Dan, this is Toshiko Sato, our resident technical genius."

Tosh smiled and reached out to shake hands.  "Mr Andrews," she smiled.

The man shook her hand warmly.  "Please, call me Dan." 

"And this is the newest member of the team!"  Jack grinned at Gwen as she appeared at the top of the stairs that led to the lower levels of the Hub.

"Gwen - say hi to Dan.  Dan, this is Gwen Cooper, the human face of Torchwood."

Gwen quickly hid her surprise and smiled warmly as she too shook hands.

Jack was already moving away, heading towards his office.  "Come on Dan, we've got a lot of catching up to do.  I'm sure Tosh has pulled your records by now - she can tell the others enough to satisfy their curiosity for a while!"

Tosh blushed - had she been that obvious?

Dan followed Jack into his Office, and Gwen and Tosh watched as Jack closed the door behind them.  

Gwen could wait no longer.  "What's going on, Tosh?  Jack doesn't normally bring people into the Hub does he?  Who is that guy?"

--------------------------------

10 minutes later, Tosh and Gwen had moved to the Boardroom, where they were joined by Ianto and Owen.  The screen showed two pictures of Dan Andrews - one from the records that Tosh had found and one that she had taken from the CCTV in the garage.

Owen, slightly annoyed at having discovered that he was the only one who hadn't met their mysterious visitor, was impatient.  "Come on then Tosh, what have you got for us?"

Tosh skimmed through her notes.  "Not a lot.  Daniel Andrews, born 23rd August 1950 in Bristol.  Trained as a vet and set up practice here in Cardiff.  Recruited to Torchwood in 1977 after he single handedly captured 2 Weevils that had ventured rather further afield than most and been killing livestock on a farm a few miles out.  Acted as medic at the Hub and in field and seems to have had an exemplary record.  His appraisals are all excellent, what I could retrieve of them that is, but then in 1982 he left.

Gwen looked surpised.  "He left?  I didn't think anyone got to leave.  What happened?"

Tosh shrugged.  "I don't know.  The records are locked.  But he wasn't the only one to go.  Elisabeth Phillips, a technologist, left at around the same time.  Those records are locked too."

"His wife's name is Elisabeth," said Ianto.  "Do you have a picture?"

Tosh brought a picture of a woman, probably in her late twenties, up on the screen.

Ianto nodded.  "I could believe that was Elisabeth Andrews 25 years ago."

Owen banged the table in frustration.  "OK, so Dan Andrews and Elisabeth Phillips left Torchwood, got married and lived happily ever after.  So why are the records locked?  What are they trying to hide?  Can you break the locks Tosh?"

Tosh shook her head.  "I might be able to, but the last time I unlocked some files for Jack they were automatically erased and we lost them."

Owen looked at her in surprise.  "What files were you unlocking?  Actually, don't answer that.  I probably don't want to know.  So what do we do now?"

After a few moment of silence, Gwen spoke up.  "Why don't we just ask Jack?"

"You know", said Owen, "that's not such a bad idea.  Ianto, I think it's time you made some coffee for our esteemed leader and his guest."

Ianto was already heading out of the door.

***

"So, how much do you remember?"

Dan had been staring out into the Hub, slowly piecing together the fragments of memory that were steadily re-emerging from a long lost part of his mind.  He brought his gaze back to Jack, who was pleased to see the light in his eyes.

"Bits and pieces.  I remember you - somehow you don't seem to look a day older!  And I remember this place, the Hub, but your computers are rather more start of the art than they were in my day.  And I'm pretty sure we didn't have a pteradactyl flying around the rafters."

Jack grinned.  "Oh, so you noticed her then?"

"She's kind of hard to miss!" Dan spluttered.

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As Ianto approached Jack's office, he could see the two men talking and laughing.  Jack saw him at the door and beckoned him in.

"Yes Ianto - what can I do for you?"

"I wondered if you and Mr Andrews might like some coffee, sir?"

Jack laughed.  "You mean the others volunteered you to come and find out what we're talking about!"

Ianto tried his best to look innocent, but a small smile played on his lips.  "I'm sure I don't know what you mean, Captain."

"Well Ianto, coffee would be great, but I'm starving.  Let's go grab some lunch.  The kids'll be fine for a couple of hours."  Jack was already heading out of his office.  Dan and Ianto followed him.  As he reached the exit, Jack turned and looked up towards the Boardroom.  "We're going out.  Try not to break anything whilst we're gone and remember to phone me if the world looks like it's going to end!"

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Ianto toyed with his desert.  For the past hour, Jack and Dan had been regaling him with tales of Dan's years working for Torchwood.  They had both delighted in telling him of encounters with ever more unbelievable aliens.  At first, Jack had done most of the talking but Dan had gradually remembered more and more of his past and soon he was the one jogging Jack's memory.  But suddenly, the atmosphere had changed.  In the middle of describing an attempt to subdue a pair of particularly angry weevils, Dan had stopped mid-sentence.

Now Jack and Ianto watched as his expression changed from animated excitement to a look of complete desolation.  He stared at Jack and seemed to struggle to find the words he wanted.

"He... he died, didn't he?"

"Who died, Dan?"  Jack's voice was gentle, and he spoke as if to a frightened child.

"Huw.  The weevils.  One of them went for Liz and Huw pushed her out of the way.  It killed him.  I couldn't stop it.  I tried, but I couldn't stop it."  Tears were streaming down his face as he put his head in his hands and sobbed silently.

Ianto looked away.  It didn't seem right for him to be a witness to Dan's grief, especially when it was clearly so raw.  The encounter with the weevils might have been 25 years ago but, to Dan, it could have been yesterday.  Ianto looked instead to Jack.  For a fleeting moment, he thought he saw relief in Jack's eyes, but then it was gone, replaced by sorrow.

Jack reached and gently touched Dan's arm.  "It's OK Dan.  Just take you time."

After a few minutes, the sobs subsided and Dan raised his head to look at Jack.  "That's why we left, isn't it?  Liz and I, I mean."

Jack nodded.

"And you gave us... you gave us... Retcon.  You gave us Retcon to make us forget."

Jack shook his head fiercely.  "Not to make you forget, to allow you to forget.  You asked me to let you forget so that you and Liz could make a fresh start."

"Oh no.  Liz.  What am I going to tell her?  I can't tell her about Huw, not now.  Not after all this time."  Dan appeared to be on the verge of tears again.

Jack smiled gently.  "It's OK, you don't have to tell her anything.  Finish your coffee, and Ianto will drive you home."  Jack pushed the cup towards him.

Dan looked down at his coffee, and then back to Jack as he realised what Jack had done.  "Thank you," he whispered.

As they stood to leave a few minutes later, Jack spoke quietly to Ianto.  "Drive him around for a bit to give the Retcon time to do it's stuff.  Tell him about the large dog in his garden, and  thank him for all his help today.  Nothing too specific - something about a large lizard should do it.  And thank Liz for letting us borrow him.  I'll go back to the Hub and tell the others enough to satisfy their curiosity.  OK?"

Ianto nodded and hung back to allow Jack and Dan to say their goodbyes.  They shook hands warmly, and then Jack pulled Dan into a strong embrace.  When they moved apart, Jack headed quickly for the door.  Ianto knew that both men had tears in their eyes.

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Later that evening, when Owen, Tosh and Gwen had gone for the night, Ianto sat on the sofa in Jack's office, nursing the remains of a mug of coffee.  Jack was at his desk, making a futile attempt to work through a mound of paperwork.  Somehow, none of it seemed important

"Jack?".  Ianto wasn't sure that he wanted to know the answer to the question that had been gnawing away at the back of his mind all afternoon, but he asked it anyway.

"The fight with the weevils.  It wasn't entirely true, was it?".

Jack stared at the papers in front of him for a few moments before meeting Ianto's gaze.  "Which part?"

"Huw's death.  It didn't happen quite how Dan said, did it?"

Jack sighed, and then smiled.  "Can't hide anything from you, can I?"

Ianto shuffled nervously in his seat, unsure whether to press Jack further.  Just as he was deciding that it wasn't such a good idea, Jack sat back in his chair and spoke again.

"Do you want to know what really happened?"

"If you want to tell me."

"Huh!  You should set yourself up as a therapist, Ianto."  Jack paused again, but Ianto said nothing.  After a few moments, Jack continued.

"Huw and Liz had cornered the two weevils in an alley.  Dan had taken a different route so that he'd be able to head them off if they got past them, so he was a few minutes away.  By the time he arrived, Liz had subdued one of them.  She'd got a couple of cuts and was bleeding a bit, but she was fine.  Huw wasn't having as much luck - his was still putting up a fight.  Dan should have helped Huw, but he went straight to Liz instead.  Huw took his eye of the ball to check that Liz was OK.  It can only have been for a second, but that was long enough.  The weevil lashed out and pretty much tore his throat out."

"So Dan blamed himself for Huw's death?"

"He did, and he was right.  He was devasted.  So was Liz.  They came to me the next day and said that they both wanted to resign."

"And you let them?"  Ianto tried to keep the incredulity from his voice, but he didn't entirely succeed.  Even though he knew that Dan and Liz had indeed left Torchwood, he still found it hard to believe that anyone was actually allowed to resign.

"Well what else was I supposed to do?"  Jack's eyes flashed with anger.

Ianto blanched.  "I'm sorry!  It's just..."

Jack sighed, anger replaced by sorrow.  "Yeah, I know.  No one gets to leave Torchwood.  But they'd been so happy.  They were planning their wedding.  Huw was going to be their best man.  But now we were a man down.  I couldn't let them go as well, not straightaway - I needed them to carry on until I found replacements."

Ianto realised what Jack had done.  "So you Retconned them.  You told them a different version of Huw's death - the one that Dan remembered today."

Jack nodded.  "I kinda hoped they wouldn't want to leave anymore, but that didn't change.  They stayed for a couple of months.  I arranged for two transfers from Torchwood One and Dan and Liz helped to train them up.  And we talked about what they wanted to do with their new lives.  Then when everything was set I let them go."

"Had you seen them again before today?"

Jack looked slightly guilty.  "A few times.  I should have stayed well away - I just wanted to know that they were happy.  But I never let them see me."

"So what changed?  Why did you allow yourself to get so close today?"

"I guess when the call came in, I should have sent one of the others, but it was too good an opportunity to miss.  And I didn't think they would remember, not after all this time..." Jack was staring at his hands, avoiding Ianto's gaze.

Ianto spoke softly.  "You miss them, don't you?"

Jack looked up and nodded slightly.  "Yeah.  Yeah, I do."

Ianto reached out his hand and Jack rose from his seat, walked over to the sofa and allowed himself to be pulled down to sit beside Ianto, leaning into his warm embrace.  Ianto held him as he allowed his mind to wander, remembering so many old friends, too many of them long since dead.

They sat in silence for a while.  It was Ianto who finally broke it, giving voice to another question that he could no longer push to the back of his mind.

"Those files - the ones that you got Tosh to try to recover for you."

Jack squirmed slightly.  "You know you're far too good at this".

Ianto smiled to himself.  "That was just to make sure Tosh couldn't break the file locks, wasn't it?  There was nothing in the files was there?"

Jack sat up, grinning slightly.  "Well, I wouldn't say nothing.  Just some bits of CCTV footage that I'd been keeping for posterity."

Jack smirked, and Ianto stared at him as he processed what he had just heard.  "You didn't!"

"I did!"

"But what if Tosh had retrieved the files?"

"She didn't."  Jack was still smirking.

"But she might have!"

"But she didn't!"

Ianto sighed.  He knew he wasn't going to win this arguement.  After a few moments, he looked shyly at Jack.  "So does that mean you've lost the footage?"

"So it would seem."

"We could always make some more."

Jack stared at Ianto and then laughed

"Ianto Jones, you are incorrigible!"


THE END

***