Link to the Past (Tosh/Jack/Ianto)

[Toshiko Sato]

Tosh sat down on the curb across the street from the water tower, simply admiring it's beauty. She's missing four years of her life, can't remember anything from after her imprisonment until just a couple of months ago -- it was like her memory had been wiped clean, or like she hadn't existed for those four years. But she did know that she felt a connection, a pull to this place.

Why the water tower? She wasn't sure she would ever be able to explain it, but it almost felt like home -- she felt relaxed and comforted everytime she was in the vicinity of it. If you were looking for her and couldn't find her, she was probably sitting in this exact spot trying to connect the dots in her life.

Like that scar on her adbomen. How did it get there and why couldn't she remember what happened? It looked like it was painful, surely it was the reason why she couldn't remember anything, that didn't make sense.

And what about the dreams she'd been having? All the strange, strange creatures that invaded her mind on a nightly basis...she hated to sound down about herself, but there was no way she was that imaginitive. She worked with computers for crying out loud, that didn't exactly scream sci-fi nerd.

She sighed and changed her train of thought -- whenever she started to think about it too much, her head would start pounding and she would get lightheaded, unable to function for quite a while afterwards. No matter, she had errands to run right now, but she couldn't quite bring herself to leave just yet.

[Captain Jack Harkness]

Things had been quiet at the Hub. It had been a few weeks since the death of Owen and Tosh and no one was handling it well. Ianto had been staying at the Hub almost 24/7. It was like he was hovering about at ever turn to reassure that someone had made it out alive of this mess. Jack had only just managed to convince him to go out and run some errands. Gwen had gotten so distraught Jack had told her to take a few days off; to mourn, to breathe, to forget.

They all just needed to breathe.

A moment of silence for those they had lost. Correction. Those they had lost for no reason. Owen had come back to them. Sure they didn't know for how long but he had been back. Toshiko had been in perfect health until Gray's bullet.

Fresh air. That's what he needed. And there was only one place Jack liked to get his fresh air.

Standing on the roof Jack looked out over the city below. Everyone going about their business. None of them would ever know Owen or Toshiko. No one would know about all the times they'd saved everyone from the Rift.

Jack took a deep breath slowly. Inhale, exhale.

It shouldn't hurt this much, he thought. He was the only one that knew the truth and yet he was still on top of the roof mourning. He vaguely remembered someone once saying the truth hurts sometimes more than the lie.

Looking down, out over Cardiff, he wondered where Toshiko was now. He had no idea what she would be doing now that she wasn't at Torchwood. It struck him that in Torchwood you never really knew your co-workers as well as you thought. They'd learned that the hard way with Suzie.

Oh Suzie. Another death in Torchwood during his reign. She was hopefully going to stay buried however.

Taking one last look out over the city Jack turned and headed back inside. That was enough for one day. Who knew when Ianto would be back. He didn't want the other man to catch him on the roof. That would only lead to unpleasant conversations at this point.

[Toshiko Sato]

Errands. She knew she had to go and run her errands. Bills to pay, groceries to pick up. She felt as though she was losing herself in the routine of day to day life. From what she could remember, she was a routine kind of girl -- but now she couldn't help but to want to break the routine, bask in spontaneity for once in her life.

She sighed as she stood up from the curb, wiping stray tears from her cheeks. She had no idea that she had started crying, or even why she was crying, but she had to get moving and tear stained cheeks weren't a pretty site.

As she went to turn around and leave, something caught the corner of her eye. Was that a man standing on a roof? Something was pushing at her mind -- like something was trying to break through. She turned towards the building to see if she was possibly losing her mind, but all she saw was the swirl of a..something..maybe a coat, and then nothing but air.

Her interest peaked and, for some reason that she couldn't name, she sat back down on the curb even as her brain was telling her legs to move so she could do what she had to do.

[Captain Jack Harkness]

Clanking down the metal stairs, Jack walked by his teams desks. It was a lot cleaner around the Hub. He and Gwen had packed up all of Tosh's and Owen's things. Dropping his coat on a railing, he ran a hand over the top of what used to be Tosh's video screen. It was booted up to show the area outside the hub. The Roald Dahl Plass. The Water Tower was going steady and one or two people were walking around enjoying the Welsh sites.

Curious, Jack took his other hand out of his pocket and began to play with the camera angle. A little site seeing never hurt anyone. The camera turned and he could see the step that was the invisible lift. The calm serene expression Jack had taken on since his trip to the rooftop vanished as he looked at the screen. His brow furrowed and he zoomed in.

"Toshiko Sato," he said, a small amount of shock mixed in with admiration. "You smart girl."

Out on the steps sat the former Torchwood employee. Though she had no recollection of the past four years she still found herself drawn to the Hub. He didn't know whether to be happy or saddened by this. The whole reason he'd reconned her was so she could get away from here …and yet there she was.

A hand reached out and grabbed his coat and before he knew it Jack was making his way to the lift.

The ride up seemed to take forever. Hands jammed in his pockets he fidgeted, looking down at his shoes and then up at the ceiling. He wouldn't say anything to her he kept telling himself. He was simply going to watch her from a closer perspective; to make sure she was doing alright. It's not as if he was going to just grab her and take her into the Hub. He wasn't going to show her Mmfanwy.

When the platform stopped Jack turned to face the woman sitting on a nearby step. Taking in a silent breath he lifted his jaw slightly. A sad smile twitched in the corner of his mouth.

[Toshiko Sato]

"Get it together, Sato," she muttered to herself as she turned to stare at the water tower again. "You've been here at least once a day for the past two weeks..think, woman. Why are you so drawn to this place?"

Okay, so any passer-by would think she was crazy -- she was talking to herself after all -- but she was determined to figure this out. And that's when it happened, again. Her nightly dreams flashed in her mind's eye for the second time that day. The creatures, the people whose faces she could never remember once she was awake. But why? What did a suddenly overactive imagination have to do with anything?

She groaned, hitting her forehead a couple of times. What was it? It was right out of her reach, but she had to figure it out. She knew that whatever it was had to be the key to unlocking the past four years. She ignored the dull thudding in her head as she continued to try to put the pieces together, but it was a futile attempt.

The pain increased the longer she thought about it. Was this what amnesia was really like? She'd never heard of splitting headaches being a side affect of trying to remember. Then again, she was just a computer tech, what did she know?

Suddenly, she got the feeling that someone was watching her. You know the one. The one where the hairs on the back of your neck stand on end and that creepy feeling crawls up and down your back. She whipped around to face the water tower again, but there was no one there. Hmm, curious.

"You're getting paranoid, Tosh," she muttered, her hand still grasping her head. "Ignore the pain, you know you have to make yourself remember. Why are you drawn here? This place is obviously important to you, but why?"

[Captain Jack Harkness]

Jack watched silently as Tosh began to talk to herself. Though it had been a short time since he had last heard her voice. Though the last time her voice hadn't exactly been the best what with it getting weaker as she died and all.

"Get it together, Sato," she muttered to herself as she turned to stare at the water tower again. Jack turned to look at it as well. "You've been here at least once a day for the past two weeks. think, woman. Why are you so drawn to this place?"

Probably because you practically lived at it for the past few years, he thought to himself, a ghost of a smile coming to his face as he watched her. When she suddenly looked right at him he crossed his arms and frowned. Looking straight back at her he looked behind himself to his left then to his right before looking at her. He was about to point at himself as if asking who she was staring at when he remembered she couldn't see him.

"You're getting paranoid, Tosh."

She wasn't the only one.

"Ignore the pain, you know you have to make yourself remember. Why are you drawn here? This place is obviously important to you, but why?"

Giving a silent sigh Jack rested a hand on his hair. 'It's not important anymore,' he wanted to say. 'Move on,' he wanted to say.

[Toshiko Sato]

"Damn it all to hell," Tosh muttered under her breath and slammed an angry fist against the curb, immediately pulling it back to cradle it to her chest. Okay, so maybe that wasn't the brightest idea ever, but she temporarily let her anger at herself get the better of her.

She wouldn't deny that her lack of memory upset her -- even if it upset her more than she'd like to admit. But come on, anyone who lost that amount of time would be upset, too. She sighed and ran her uninjured hand through her already tousled hair and let her head fall back, gazing into the cloudy sky.

Looks like rain, she thought vaguely, though the thought did nothing to motivate her to get a move on and finish what she had to before she went home.

"Why?!?!?!?" the question burst suddenly from her lips before she completely broke down in tears, her hand throbbing mercilessly.

[Ianto Jones]

Ianto walked into the Hub through the Tourist Center, grocery bag in hand. Jack had sent him out earlier to tie up a few loose ends on the recent flux in rift activity and, because of it, the elevated Weevil attacks. While he was out, he stopped at the store to pick up some more coffee and tea bags.

The Hub was eerily silent as he made the familiar trek from the entrance to his makeshift kitchen, but he was steadily growing used to that quiet.

He was just passing Tosh's sta...the computer area, when something on the CCTV caught his attention. He could have swore -- no, it couldn't be. She had died...right? Jack wouldn't lie to he and Gwen like that, would he?

He quickly did an about face and walked back over to the monitor where someone, presumably Jack, had switched it to the view in front of the Water Tower. And there, before his disbelieving eyes, sat one Toshiko Sato. He felt his eyes widen slightly. He had to be seeing things, possibly an old feed, but those thoughts were quickly swept away as the woman slammed her fist into the curb.

He couldn't remember a time when Tosh had injured her hand, especially on purpose, so this had to be a look alike. Or so he hoped anyway, he would hate to think that his lover would lie about the death of a co-worker and friend.

[Captain Jack Harkness]

She wasn't the only one.

"Ignore the pain, you know you have to make yourself remember. Why are you drawn here? This place is obviously important to you, but why?"

Giving a silent sigh Jack rested a hand on his hair. 'It's not important anymore,' he wanted to say. 'Move on,' he wanted to say.

"Damn it all to hell," the woman said before slamming an angry fist against the curb. Jack paused as he watched her. His hand fell from his hair to hang beside him as he saw her cradle her now injured hand. Why did people always do that? It wasn't like it did anything besides bother you later and make you feel worse. He'd rather just go down to the basement shooting range and set off a few rounds. His own hands jammed into his pockets as she looked up at the sky.

Considering he had spent his last hour or so on the roof looking out at the city and sky it didn't surprise him to see the storm clouds. A storm would be nice. Wash everything away and start anew.

"Why?!?!?!?"

Jack's head snapped to look down at Tosh. "Oh now don't do that," he said, sounding just like a man stuck with a crying woman. They never knew what to say to make things better. Considering she couldn't hear him however it did no good to plead with her not to cry. "It's for the best," he said. Sighing Jack moved to sit down on the step.

"You not knowing and all." His knees pulled up in front of him, Jack rested his forearms on them. His gaze moved from her to their practically empty surroundings. The constant churning of the water was going steadily in the background. It was almost calming to listen to. Right now Jack liked calm. "No more aliens trying to kill you everyday. Or seduce you," he added after a moment, thinking of Mary. "No more doomed from the start relationships." Mary and Tommy…Owen. Thinking on it she really had gotten the short end of the stick with relationships.

He sat quietly for a moment staring at the water before letting his gaze drift back to her. "You know, I thought you'd be happier now that you've gotten a chance to be normal. I thought you'd…I thought you'd go out and embrace it. Sure you're stuck in a boring routine but at least you can relax when out to dinner or at a bar and not have to worry about a random weevil attack." Leaning back slightly he looked at the sky.

"God you're like a child!" he shouted, his hands flying to his hair. "You get to go back to being happily oblivious! Isn't that what everyone wants?! To get away! To escape?"

It was like a giant puzzle to him. Why did she keep coming back? Why couldn't she just leave it be? Taking in a calming breath his voice grew soft again. He lowered his hands and rested his fore head on them for a moment before looking at her.

"Go home Toshiko," he said. "Just…Go home."

[Toshiko Sato]

"Oh, come off it, already. It's not like you're some super important person or anything," she sighed. "You're just someone who has a 9 to 5 job and is lonely as hell -- just the way it's always been," she muttered, raising her good hand to wipe away the tears. "Better get to a doctor, I bet the damn thing's broken."

She stood up, intent on finally leaving, when she swore she saw someone out of the corner of her eye. However, when she looked there was no one there. I'm not crazy, there was someone there, she thought. "I saw you," she called out loud, "I know you're there. Show yourself!" She waited a beat and nothing happened. Rolling her eyes, she stepped forward on the sidewalk, trying to get at a better angel to the base of the water tower, hoping it would give her a better view. Better view? Who was she kidding? There was nothing obstructing her view in the first place. "Dammit, I know you're there!"

Then, before her eyes, a man appeared out of thin air. No. No, that wasn't right. It was more like a veil had been lifted. "Wha...what? Who? Wait! You! I - I - I've dreamed about you!" she said, a slight blush raising in her cheeks.

"B-but, you c-can't be real. If you're real, then all of those other things..." she trailed off, taking a deep breath and trying in vain to put together all of the puzzle pieces, the pounding in her head, and hand, becoming more incessant and painful.

"It's not possible...there's absolutely no way...but there could be...pfft, no way...but..." as she continued mumbling incoherently, her broken hand had started to twitch and she screamed out in pain, pulling it gently away from her chest to stare at it.

"What? Bloody hell, what's wrong with me?" she asked painfully through gritted teeth as the twitching picked up in speed until her hand was a blur.

"Help," she managed to get out before passing out from the pain, her hand at her side, the twitching slowing down and finally stopping, revealing a completely healed hand.

[Captain Jack Harkness]

"Finally," Jack breathed as Tosh began to leave. "Go home," he said quietly. "Go live in peace."

Turning Jack faced the water tower. He was about to hit the button on his watch to decend back to the Hub when a voice cut into the quiet.

"I saw you," she called out loud, "I know you're there. Show yourself!"

Spinning around Jack looked at her with shock plain on his face. Had she worked out the perception filter?

"Dammit, I know you're there!"

He relaxed slightly when he realized she couldn't see him completely. Most likely it was still working but she'd seen him in the corner of her eye.

"Goodbye Tosh," he said with a slight sad smile as he reached for his watch again.

It was like watching a lightbulb go off in someone's mind. The slow but sure look as something finally registered.

"Wha...what? Who? Wait! You! I - I - I've dreamed about you!"

If it had been a less serious situtation Jack would have had quiet a few interesting comments in response to that. At the moment however he was more concerned with ruining Toshiko's life again.

"B-but, you c-can't be real. If you're real, then all of those other things..." she trailed off, taking a deep breath.

Jack watched her, hands stuffed in his pockets. A frown covered his face as he looked at her. This was it.

"I'm sorry do I know you," he said, looking at her like anyone would to a stranger.

He watched her continued to ramble and shook his head. "I'm sorry miss but I think you have the wrong ma-" he started to say before she was suddenly screaming.

"What? Bloody hell, what's wrong with me?" she asked painfully through gritted teeth as her hand twitched, picking up in speed until her hand was a blur.

Jack's already frowning face increased and deep concern washed over him as he walked off the step and towards her. Normally the one with all the answers, Jack felt lost at what to do. What was happening to her?

"Help," she managed to get out before passing out. Rushing forward Jack grabbed her before she did any more damage to herself by crashing to the ground.

Silence reigned.

It seemed as if everything came to a standstill as Jack held her. The shock finally wearing off, Jack picked up her hand gingerly. Examining (at least as best he could considering he was no doctor) he frowned. That was definitely a healed hand.

"Wonderful," he breathed out to no one in particular. "Like I didn't already have enough going on in my never-ending torture of a life."

Sighing he looked down at her. "Well...let's get you home."

[Toshiko Sato]

She was moving. It would almost feel as if she were floating if it weren't for the strong...something...holding her up.

Her head pounded and her hand tingled and she wondered why. But it only took her a moment for the events of the day to catch up to her. Groaning, she slowly opened her eyes, squinting against the bright light. Looking around, she immediately noticed the stranger from the Roald Dahl Plass was carrying her somewhere.

"Oi! What the bloody hell do you think you're doing? Where are you taking me, Captain?"

She paused her would be screaming monologue, a look of shock crossing her face. Captain? Where had that come from? Why had she called him that? She didn't know this guy...did she? Granted she vaguely recognized him from her dreams, but that could just be because she had passed him on the street or maybe interacted with him at the market at some point in time.

The pounding in her head was getting worse the longer she thought about this and, whether or not that was a good thing, it was about as pleasant getting shot -- if she knew what that felt like.

Closing her eyes, hoping to relieve the pressure in her head just a little, she said, "Well, are you gonna answer me or what?"