Short Drops and Sudden Stops - CLOSED.

Ianto retreated very slowly, lowering his gun as he did so, to the point of doing what he did best: going unnoticed. He stood there watching, anyway, because anyone falling through the Rift was still his and Torchwood's business.

In any case, none of them really looked that evil, so Ianto proceeded to let it be known to the rest of the Team. "It's okay, they're not going to kill me just yet." He said, and then stood there, quietly.

She couldn't help but giggle as her father happily babbled on, though she rather thought the sheer joy on his face when he looked at her again was worth any amount of redundancy. And of course the hugging was more than worth it; when he scooped her up again for another exuberant hug, it was even better than the running! "Dunno how I'm alive, but I am. And now I'm here, and you're here, Dad, and it's just brilliant!" She hugged him tight one more time before letting go when she heard Donna.

"Donna! You're here too, still traveling, oh this is fantastic, I'm so happy to see you!" Dad would understand her letting go to give Donna a huge hug, and anyway he could always hug them both together now. Or miss his chance, once Donna pulled away to give her a good looking-over. She took the chance to give Donna a looking-over of her own, and thought that they hadn't been separated that long after all, not really - a couple or three months, at most. But oh, she was ecstatic to see them again! So happy she'd be bouncing...if she wasn't quite certain that it would hurt to bounce.

She glanced over her shoulder at the cute fellow with the gun, and smiled brightly at him a moment before turning back to Donna and her dad. "I'm not sure who he is, really. He showed up a little while after I fell, and then you and Dad showed up, and here we are! Should we introduce ourselves to him, do you think?"

Donna narrowed her eyes at Jenny for a split second and turned her head ever so slightly. "Oh, my God, you've got a crush on the guy with the gun, haven't you?" she hissed. "Just like the young, pretty ones..." she muttered playfully.

And it was, wasn't it? As long as the bloke was good-looking - which Donna had to admit this man most definitely was - and within a general age range - which he very clearly wasn't although Jenny could fake it - then it didn't much seem to matter what sort of person they were. Even a man with a gun was worth a flirtatious smile, so it seemed, when there were young, pretty girls involved and if anyone was young and pretty, it was the Doctor's daughter.

Looking back at the unfamiliar man, she raised her eyebrows and took a few steps forward. "Right, then, who the hell are you?" she asked listlessly.

"Donna, what's a crush?" Jenny tilted her head inquisitively, and followed up with another question immediately. "And whatever a 'crush' is, why do you think I've got one on that cute guy with a gun over there?" Really, just because she found a cute guy and smiled at him, it didn't mean anything. Did it? He was awfully cute, and compassionate. And dutiful...and he was still watching them.

Donna turned her head to look back at Jenny. "What are you on about?" she asked. And then it dawned on her. Jenny might look like a twenty-something, but in reality, she couldn't be older than six months, if that. Closing her eyes in a slow blink, Donna let out a sigh. "Oh, right; yeah..." she said softly.

Jenny looking at her that way, eyes wide, bright, and inquisitive, suddenly made Donna feel a bit like a mum. That, well...considering Jenny was the Doctor's daughter, was at the very least, unacceptable.

All right, then, not a mum, Donna told herself. Older sister. Really older sister...

"Doctor, d'you think you could...?" she asked, nodding toward the man with the gun and taking Jenny's arm, pulling her very slowly back, never losing eye contact with the gunman as she did so. She didn't want him to think she was about to try something sneaky.

She lowered her voice for just the Doctor to hear. "It's just that I think it's about time Jenny had the talk and, you see, I really don't think you're the right one for the job," she said. "For once, I think I might actually be more useful at something than you are, Doctor," she added triumphantly, unable to stop the self-righteous grin from spreading over her lips.

As Donna took a few steps forward, The Doctor started to feel antsy for the first time since he'd reached the roof. After all, there was a strange man pointing a gun at the two people he cared most about (at least, in this time and place), one of whom he'd only just got back.

He blinked his eyes - he wasn't crying really, it was just windy up here - and cleared his throat to speak, but before he could heroically step in front of his companions, his thoughts were once again derailed... At least Donna was taking Jenny's arm and pulling her very slowly back out of harm's way.

God he hated guns. And then he took in what Donna was saying... what they were talking about...

He blushed, an uncomfortable grimace quickly masked by a raised eyebrow and a less than convincing look of annoyance. Ignoring the girly talk, he concentrated instead on the man with the gun. He seemed to have retreated back further into the building, lowering his gun, perhaps at least no longer perceiving them as a threat... or else just feeling a little out-numbered.

"Ah, hi there," he began, giving the man a small friendly wave. "I believe we've started off on the wrong foot here, somehow. We're harmless really, nothing to worry about. I'm The Doctor and behind me there -" He waved a hand over his shoulder, "-that's my daughter, Jenny, and a... friend, Donna. And you might be?"

As the Doctor began to talk to the gunman, Donna took a deep breath and let it out slowly. What was the best way to go about this conversation? It would've been one thing if Jenny had looked more like a teenager, but she looked like she ought to already know better, all the while her true age and innocence shown in her bright blue eyes as she looked back at Donna.

"All right, then..." she sighed. "Ah, well, a crush is...when you fancy a bloke. Y'know, when they're good-looking or charming..." Donna paused and smirked a little. "Or both."

She cast a glance over the Doctor's shoulder at the man with the gun and then looked slowly back at Jenny. "Your kind...the generated anomalies," she said slowly, "do you ever--" She stopped suddenly.

"Remember when we were locked in the cell and you snogged that soldier? It's like that, only real. Not pretending just to get what you want. Actually wanting to snog the bloke," she said, changing her original train of thought.

Jenny frowned, digging in her heels a little as Donna tugged her back. She did not want to leave her father facing danger alone, but she also wanted to get the answers to her questions. Torn, she sighed and looked at Donna, keeping an ear out for any trouble from the cute gunman. "So...you think I've got a crush on that man because I think he's cute and considerate?"

She grinned at the next question. "Oh I remember that. It was nice." She took a few minutes to run the ramifications of wanting to snog someone just to snog him; did she actually want to snog the gunman, or did she just think he was cute? Oooh, that was a tough one. And the answer made her a little nervous - she did want to snog him. Bother. "So...Donna. I'm sure it's not as easy as just walking up and grabbing him by the tie...how do you get a man to want to snog?"

Donna smiled, practically able to see the cogs turning in Jenny's head. Ah, youth, she thought to herself, missing her own once again.

"So...Donna. I'm sure it's not as easy as just walking up and grabbing him by the tie...how do you get a man to want to snog?"

Laughing a little, Donna paused to consider her answer. Jenny was asking entirely the wrong woman that question, because Donna was -- Oh, God... she thought with an inward frown -- forty and still living at home. She'd been married, once; widowed the same day; but Lance hadn't ever really loved her.

The thought of it, quite honestly, made Donna a little lonely and sad. But it wasn't like her to show it and she didn't intend to change that fact now. She smirked at Jenny, instead. "Well, when you look like you, I imagine it might actually be just that easy, Jenny..." she said with a wink.

"It can't be that easy, really. Can it?" This was so confusing - why couldn't everything be simple, like it was on Messaline? The only good thing to come of this so far was that she knew that a particular feeling meant that she wanted to snog someone. She would probably have to learn a lot more about this particular culture before she could follow that desire, though. It was within the realms of possibility that a kiss equaled a marriage proposal, and she was nowhere near ready to do anything like that! And then there was the problem of the present situation; the man she wanted to snog had a gun, and her dad was talking to him too. Which meant dad was in rather a bit of danger, and she wanted to protect him...

"I'm just so confused, Donna. I want to snog him...and at the same time I want to threaten him to not even think about hurting my dad. And tell dad not to scare him, too."

Jenny looked so adorably confused that Donna couldn't help letting out a giggle which she quickly stifled, masquerading it as a cough. She smiled back at the girl. "Sometimes, Jenny, it really can be," she said.

And then Jenny's face changed and Donna could practically see her thinking again. She wondered what sort of things were going through Jenny's mind. A kiss was just a kiss, after all; it wasn't a very big deal. Save for the part that the guy was holding a gun, it seemed pretty natural to Donna that a girl looking like Jenny would have no problem snagging the interest of the guy with the gun.

Actually, Donna absently found herself hoping that Jenny would manage it. At least perhaps then Donna could live vicariously. She would willingly admit she found the bloke rather attractive, albeit awfully young, herself.

"I'm just so confused, Donna. I want to snog him...and at the same time I want to threaten him to not even think about hurting my dad. And tell dad not to scare him, too."

Donna smiled a little. "Welcome to adulthood, Jenny, my dear. Full of unpleasant and unsolicited twists and turns."

She looked away from Jenny and eyed the man with the gun. Donna, herself, wasn't above threatening him not to hurt the Doctor. In fact, it was probably her turn, seeing as how Jenny had died doing it once already. Idly, Donna thought that the Doctor would probably be much more heartbroken losing his daughter twice than he would be losing Donna once, if push came to shove.

"I suppose I'll just have to wait and see what happens between him and Dad then." She sighed and smiled a wan little smile. "Still, it won't be too bad I guess. Unless he gets reinforcements, in which case we should just grab Dad and run off. Shouldn't be too hard, that, unless the cutie has a lot of bullets."

Jenny raised an eyebrow at Donna, torn between an indignant response and a sulky one. She wasn't a child after all, just...inexperienced. And to keep from sounding like one, what she needed was a distraction. "I don't suppose you've other advice to share, in the mysterious field of attracting men?" That should do it; keep her from fussing about annoying adult issues she'd never come across before, and distract Donna as well, since she was looking a bit fidgety.

Donna looked back over at Jenny. "Sorry, what?" she asked, distracted. Then, as Jenny opened her mouth, likely to repeat herself, Donna realized what had been said. "Oh, sweetheart, I wish I could offer you more advice, but for all the bark, I'm really not much bite," she admitted, frowning slightly.

"Let's just wait, for now...I think one step at a time. As new as you are to the information, I am to giving it, you see. Haven't got kids of my own," she went on. "Not that you're a child, but...you understand me, yeah?" she added hastily.

After all, she didn't want Jenny to think her patronizing in any way. Not after Jenny had protected them back in the tunnels and died for the Doctor. Most certainly not after Jenny had managed to come back to live in whatever way she'd done it only to end up here again. Donna had no idea what Jenny had been up to in the mean time, but she figured if the situation was anything similar to 'like father, like daughter,' Jenny had probably had some decently epic adventures of her own.

When he had gotten Ianto's messages, Jack had been halfway across Cardiff, and had figured-- hoped, anyway-- that the others would help out from the Hub until he could get there. The fire escape had proven to be the most efficient route to the rooftop where Ianto was, not to mention a slightly better entrance than forcing his way into the building (offices? again?) and trying the lift. (Which, really, was a minor consideration.)

"Ianto, what--" And Jack froze mid-sentence as he caught sight of what had brought him there. Ianto, a woman, a girl, and... the Doctor.

That wasn't what he had been expecting. Not even remotely.

The Doctor spun around at the clatter of approaching footsteps and then a surprised, yet familiar, voice.

"Ianto, what--" Jack stopped mid-sentence, apparently stunned into silence, but at least he seemed to know the guy with the gun.

Things were definitely looking up!

"Jack!" he greeted, a huge grin once again finding its way onto his face. "This is becoming quite the gathering place."

Jack couldn't help the small smile that the Doctor's words brought. "Yeah, I'm starting to see that," he commented, possibly more lightly than he felt, but that was unavoidable. It was probably normal. Ish. "What happened up here?" He asked conversationally, as if hoping he could puzzle out what the Rift anomaly had been within moments and then be done with it.

Not done with it so that he could leave, necessarily, just done with it so this could be a little less business. Because at the moment it had to be.

To be honest, The Doctor would have expected a slightly warmer reception, but since Jack was all business, he figured he'd try to explain.

"Well," he started, getting his thoughts in order, "it would seem my daughter... Have you met Jenny?--" He gestured towards her. "Anyway, well it seems she sort of arrived, or maybe fell is a better way to describe it, really. Or well, maybe Jenny can explain better. It was all a bit of a surprise really, but here we all are."

The Doctor rubbed at his neck, grinning with a sort of goofy pride, before moving a little closer to Jenny, close enough to bump shoulders. He blinked innocently at Jack.

Jack registered a lot of things before he stopped altogether. For one thing, he registered that the younger blonde girl had fallen through the Rift, and that her name was Jenny. "So she fell through the Rift.." And then he paused, because the last thing registered and then his brain stopped registering further things. "You have a daughter?" A little dumbfounded, because... well, for one thing, he'd never mentioned that before.

Okay, that was a little abrupt, but was there any other way to react to that?

"Yeah, I do understand, Donna. And I think you're perfectly wonderful for trying to help me anyway." She grinned and gave Donna a quick hug before turning around to look at the new arrival. She hadn't bothered before, because her dad was dealing with it. But now they both seem to need to talk to her, and she'd best oblige.

She grinned and bumped her dad back before smiling at...what was his name? Oh right, Dad had said 'Jack'. And Jack had said 'Ianto' earlier, she vaguely remembered, which meant now she knew the cute one's name! But right now is not for talking about cute guys, now is for explaining what happened. "Yes, that's pretty much it. I was running, apparently ran through a different rift, and fell through this one." She giggled, because as cute as Jack might be, he was definitely dumbfounded right now. "Yep. That's me, his daughter."

Jack nodded to the girl's words. "Right -- that's the Rift for you." He was still confused on the point (the Doctor, a daughter? What?), but he moved past that just for the moment. Moved on to step number two of meeting new people fallen through the Rift. "I'm Captain Jack Harkness," he introduced himself, his tone as easy as he could get it. "Nice to meet you-- Jenny, is it?"

The Doctor frowned briefly as Jack's confusion seemed to pass and his natural charisma kicked back in. He gave Jack a look that clearly said hands off.

"Jack!" he warned.

Jack held up both hands in the universal gesture of surrender and innocence. "I was just introducing myself," he told the Doctor, though the familiarity of the situation made him grin.

Ianto sighed in relief, now that Jack had arrived, and he seemed to know these people. The man had introduced himself as the Doctor, and Ianto could only wonder if he was the same Doctor Jack kept talking about meeting again up until when he disappeared... I need to find my doctor,Wait until I find my doctor... Ianto looked from Jack to the man who called himself Doctor, not without eyeing the pretty blonde once in a while - and she seemed to be smiling back at him. She had the prettiest smile.

"Took you long enough!" Ianto whispered to Jack, not as annoyed as he should have been, probably because he really wasn't in trouble this time.

He looked at everyone else and decided it would be very rude of him not to introduce himself after all that time. He walked towards Donna and Jenny, and held out his hand (his gun was safely back into the holder by then), smiling pleasantly. "Ianto Jones, at your service." He said to both of them.

A giggle burst from Jenny as her dad jumped on Jack; apparently that charm of his was dangerous, and not just oozing from every pore. Or at least her dad thought so, and that was just too funny. "Daa-aad, he was just saying hello!" And with that bit of independence reasserted, she giggled again and nodded at Jack. "That's me, Jenny. Nice to meet you, Captain Jack."

Her smile was perhaps a bit shyer than it had been earlier, but that was the only way one could possibly tell she had a crush. On Ianto, who had just introduced himself in a much more peacable matter than earlier. Of course that wasn't much of an introduction, him erupting from the stairwell and holding her at gunpoint, was it? Nope. So this was much, much better.

"I'm Jenny, and I'm glad to finally know your name, Ianto. I never did thank you for being kind and offering me medical attention, did I?" She even offered Ianto her hand to shake, suddenly nervous as anything but determined not to show it.

Ianto smiled shyly in turn, lowering his head as Jenny thanked him.

"It's no problem, I'm required do ask that. Are you still quite sure you'll be fine without any help?" Ianto asked again, afraid she was playing tough but had a more serious injury that was being put down by the rush of encountering her own father - apparently, long lost. "And I am sorry if I gave you the wrong impression earlier by showing up and holding you at gunpoint. I am also required to do that." He said, motioning his head to Jack as he did.

Then, he smiled at her again. Ianto had this urge to smile at her a lot, but he didn't know why. All he knew was that her face seemed full of light, and the sun always helped him with his mood.