Title: The Heart of Everything
Author: Jedi Princess Clarrisani
Rating: M15+
Pairing(s): Tosh/Owen, John/Ianto, Gwen/Rhys, Jack/Ianto, referenced John/Jack
Series: Breathe Trilogy (Part Two)
Summary: It's been a year since Ianto left, and the team haven't been the same.
Disclaimer: Still don't own. I'm not allowed to play in that sandbox.
Warnings: Some Season Two spoilers, including Owen and Ianto's story from "Fragments", and some minor references to “Something Borrowed”. Also, some references to the Doctor Who Season Three episodes "Smith and Jones" and "Last of the Time Lords".
A/N: Sequel to "Leave You". Written for TWWC (Torchwood Australia Writing Challenge) #10. This story is AU as it is set after season two, but everyone is alive and healthy - in other words, I've tweaked the events of Season Two to my liking. For one, the Grey storyline has been completely dumped, and some events never occurred...

Owen let out a heavy sigh, swinging the door of his flat closed behind him and dropping back against it. He rested there for a moment, muttering obscenities to himself under his breath before peeling off his jacket and stepping further inside, tossing the jacket over the back of a chair. He walked straight into the kitchen, opening the door and retrieving a beer. Opening it, he downed half of it in one go.

"That bad a day, huh?"

He snorted, lowering the bottle and turning, making a tiny distance between his thumb and forefinger. "I was this close to shooting the pair of them."

"Now you know why I wanted some time off." Tosh stepped further into the room, towelling her hair dry and dropping onto the couch. "If they're not at each other's throats, they're making everyone else's life hell."

"Tell me about it." Owen dropped down beside her, and with a little shuffling was positioned with his head in her lap, Tosh smoothing his forehead with light brushes of her fingertips. "I'm getting really tempted to try and hunt him down you know."

"So am I." Tosh frowned, gazing into the distance. "Ianto always seemed to know exactly what sort of mood we were in and could defuse any problem before it even started."

"I knew I should have asked how he did it." He opened his eyes, looking up at her. "Surprised they didn't ring you today when they couldn't get the system going."

"Oh, they did. I just didn't answer." Tosh shrugged, tugging lightly at his hair. She sighed, shaking her head. "I don't know, Owen. I remember when it was just us, Jack and Suzie, and we never had problems like this."

"Yeah, well Suzie knew when to keep her nose out of everyone's business," Owen pointed out. "Gwen has to shove hers in where it's not wanted and right now that's in Jack's business. And as for that bastard, he seriously needs to get over it."

"I think that, aside from his Doctor, Jack's never been dumped before."

"That's the impression that I get, yeah." He smiled at her. "Well, this year hasn't been all bad." He reached up, pushing back a stubborn strand of her hair. "This is working out all right, isn't it?"

Tosh nodded, smiling when Owen pushed himself up to kiss her. They exchanged a couple more quick kisses before Owen's phone rang, Owen giving her an 'I'm going to kill them' look before pulling the phone from his pocket.

"You have reached Owen Harper. Unfortunately he is rather busy right now, so can't come to the phone. Please leave a message and he'll decide whether or not to be bothered getting back to you."

Tosh slapped a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing out loud.

"Very funny, Owen." He rolled his eyes toward Tosh at the sound of Gwen's voice. "I was wondering if you've seen Jack since we got back from the Castle."

"No, and I really don't care. He's probably on some rooftop somewhere wondering what sort of imprint he could make in the concrete if he jumped." Owen scowled. "God I hope he does."

"He'd just come back to life again," Tosh reminded him.

Owen rolled his eyes.

"I'm being serious, Owen," Gwen said, voice tight. "He's been so depressed lately, so I want to-"

"Oh, leave him alone, Cooper." Owen scowled. "Look, he'll get over it in his own time. Hell, he probably would have been over it months ago if you didn't keep bringing it up all the time. He knows it's his fault Ianto walked out; he just needs to deal with it. What he doesn't need is some bossy, up-her-arse former PC trying to stick her nose in where it is least wanted. Now go home."

"She'll probably yell at you now," Tosh said softly, all the while trying to keep from laughing.

"Owen Harper, just because you're an insensitive jerk doesn't mean we all are. I happen to care about making sure that Jack is okay. He took Ianto leaving very hard, and the last thing he needs is to be alone in this."

"He doesn't need you to shag him, if that's what you mean."

"How dare you-"

"Go home, Gwen." Owen rolled his eyes at Tosh. "Both Tosh and I have had Rhys on the phone bitching about the fact you're never there, so go be with him. He needs you more than Jack. Go. Home." He hung up again before she could answer, Owen switching the phone off. "Better turn yours off too."

"Mines been off since around 10:30 this morning," she replied. "Gwen rang wanting to organise some sort of cheering up party for Jack. Then Jack rang to ask me to try and get Gwen to drop it. In the end I just switched off."

"I wish we could bloody switch them off."

She laughed. "I know what you mean."

They shifted until Tosh was straddling him, her head resting on Owen's chest as she lay against him, his arms around her. She sighed, closing her eyes as he brought one hand up to gently smooth her still damp hair.

"I wonder where he is," Tosh said softly.

"A long way from here, probably," Owen answered. "Took some serious balls for him to leave and stay away so long."

"He was in love with Jack, you know."

"Yeah, I know." Owen watched her. "I'm starting to think Jack was in love with him."

"So am I."

They lay in the silence for a long while before Tosh tilted her head, spotting Owen watching her. He smiled, one she was all too happy to return before pushing herself up to hover over him. She planted a soft kiss on his lips, Owen kissing her back before they deepened it. Owen's fingers moved to undo the sash keeping her robe closed as she tugged at his shirt, dragging it over his head.

Somewhere in the room Owen's landline began to ring. No one moved to answer.

***

Jack sighed, gazing out over the Cardiff night. The cool wind tugged at his hair, and had he been standing it would have caught his coat and tried to drag him off the edge. As it was he was sitting on the edge, on leg dangling into nothingness while the other kept him grounded onto the roof's surface.

It was a clear night, with a cold wind blowing up off the Bay. The lights from the city clashed with the lights from above, the moon just a thin slit in the far distance. His eyes drifted from star to star, at the back of his mind naming them and for each one he'd visited remembering what it had been like.

His eyes wandered downward, gazing out across the horizon. Somewhere below Owen and Tosh were probably asleep. Rhys was no doubt sitting around waiting for Gwen to finally come home, the woman probably still scouring the streets of Cardiff for him. She really didn't know how to take a hint, did Gwen. He'd told her on many occasions that he didn't need her help, but as always she couldn't take no for an answer.

He'd once heard Owen mention offhand to Tosh that now Jack was available, Gwen would probably make a play for him. Sure enough it hadn't even been a week before Gwen had been hitting on him in full earnest, Jack ignoring her when he could. He'd had to stop sleeping at the Hub just to avoid her. For a while he'd stayed with Owen, but then Tosh and Owen had started dating, so Jack had found somewhere else.

It probably wasn't healthy for him to live at Ianto's old place, but it was there and unoccupied so why waste it. Add the fact that Gwen had never actually found out where Ianto lived, and it meant he finally had a sanctuary away from her constant questioning and persistent need to think she had to look after him.

She meant well. She always did. It was just in her nature to want everyone to be okay and to take care of them when she thought something was wrong. The only problem was she didn't know when to quit. Owen and Tosh had tried to drop hints, but she had ignored them and instead taken it as a sign that she needed to take even more care of him.

He'd started having to switch his phone off. He'd upgraded it so that any alert from the Hub would still come through, therefore maintaining a level of security. There was also an override number – both Tosh and Owen had these numbers too, in case of emergency. They hadn't given the number to Gwen.

Things had been even harder lately with Tosh finally starting to crack under the pressure of everything, so they had arranged for her to take a couple of weeks off. He had expected her to go on holiday, but instead she remained in Cardiff so she could be near Owen. He was slightly jealous of their relationship, even if it had taken them so long to wake up and realise what they had under their noses.

He smirked, resting his head back against a pylon. He remembered how, sick of Gwen's flirting, he, Tosh and Owen had decided to mess with Gwen's head. Before Gwen had found out that Tosh and Owen were dating, they'd set things up to make Gwen think Jack and Tosh had something going. And just to mess with her further, he and Tosh had kissed rather passionately while Gwen was watching. Owen had later reported that the look on Gwen's face had been priceless.

Nevertheless, they had ended the game when Gwen had started accusing Tosh of moving in on Jack while he was vulnerable. Jack had tried to point out that he was never vulnerable, but that had ended in a rather interesting fight. In the end Jack had sent them all home, and that had been the very last night he'd ever slept in the Hub.

The wind picked up, almost knocking him back onto the roof and bringing him back out of his thoughts. He checked his watch, noting the late hour and sighing. It had been a long twelve months, that was sure. The cleanup from the Zarybok incident had gone without incident. He'd checked the hospital records and found that the little girl, Anya, had been claimed by her grandparents while the step siblings Jodie and Colin had returned to live with their aunt. Seemed no one else wanted them. That had to be hard.

The man, Grant, had signed himself out and continued on his way. From what Jack could tell Ianto had also signed himself out and gone with him. After that the trail went cold. Ianto was gifted at covering things up; it had been his job after all, so it wouldn't have been hard for him to disappear. Especially if he had money stored in a second account they didn't know about. Jack certainly hadn't been able to find it, and that didn't surprise him.

Jack closed his eyes, sighing heavily. One year, two months and eleven days since he'd watched Ianto walk away. Not that he was counting or anything. Since then everything had gone to shit. The first thing had definitely been the lack of coffee. None of them knew how to use the coffee machine, and after two weeks of failed efforts they'd bought a tin of instant and that had been that.

Next had been the clutter. They really hadn't noticed it building up at first, but the moment they'd started tripping over empty pizza boxes and the bottom of their coffee mugs had started to look like it could support plant life they knew they had a problem. In the end they had set up a sort of roster system, each taking equal turns at cleaning. Didn't stop Owen from complaining, however.

The next problem had been a little embarrassing. In the middle of chasing a car filled with aliens, the SUV had run out of fuel. Jack had forgotten that Ianto had been the one to keep an eye on that side of things, and had since taken it upon himself to keep the SUV in working order, if only to give the PD one less thing to tease them about. God they had never let them live that one down.

The Tourist Information Centre had been a problem as well. They had all taken that role for granted, Jack having to shut the branch with a 'on leave' sign that was finally starting to fade. Whenever they needed to collect mail or parcels, Gwen usually found herself landed with the job. And they made her take the stairs, stating that the elevator was too loud. Sometimes he swore gullible was a word created just for her.

They really had started taking Ianto for granted. Jack remembered vividly the way Ianto had practically begged for the job, stating he could be anything from guard dog, to receptionist, to butler. In a way he had become all those things and more, even if his original motivation had been to store a cyber conversion unit complete with cyberwoman in the basement.

Jack's eyes cracked open, staring out over the horizon. There was one other thing about Ianto that had been taken for granted. Jack had just become used to having him there. Ianto had been many things to him, from someone who listened when he needed someone to talk to, a supportive shoulder to cry on, someone he could exchange wit with, to someone who wasn't afraid to stand up to him.

Jack also just generally missed Ianto's company. When they were alone in the Hub and Ianto was standing working on something on his computer, Jack had liked to move up behind him and wrap his arms around him. Ianto had never jumped, almost as if he had known Jack was coming, and would continue to work. Sometimes they would stay like that for a long time until Ianto finished whatever it was he was doing or Jack was called away by either the phone or some other work related thing.

He still kicked himself for never taking the time out to take Ianto out. They'd ended up having that dinner and a movie, and the night had been great. But they hadn't gone out since, instead going to either Ianto's place or generally just lounging around the Hub. It wasn't the same, and Jack knew that probably had something to do with Ianto's departure.

He'd been planning it for a while, leaving. Ianto had told him so that night out near Caldicot. Without Lisa to keep him there, Ianto had stayed out of his own free will. Jack knew that those months leading up to it all had been hard, and losing his two best friends had been the straw that broke the camels back.

Jack had never told the others the truth about that day. All they saw was him firing a weapon to destroy the alien threat, killing a group of innocent civilians in the process. What they didn't know was those civilians had been infected with a virus that would have slowly destroyed humanity, and the minute Jack had realised he'd fired off the shot. When everything was said and done he'd gone looking for the three that had managed to escape and seen to their 'accidents', thus destroying the virus.

It had been bad enough doing that without the reaction of the others. Gwen was on his side, but the others had been against him. Everything had gone down hill from there, and that very moment Ianto had punched him and left him face down in the water at the base of the fountain he knew that things had gone from bad to worse.

It had taken all that afternoon, driving out to Caldicot and defeating the Zarybok for Jack to slowly realise that things were about to change for good. What he hadn't expected was the inner strength Ianto displayed, continuing to walk away despite that last kiss giving away the fact that wasn't what he really wanted to do. That was what had made Jack finally confess his feelings.

I don't believe you.

Jack swallowed hard, closing his eyes. Never had words stung like those ones had. Jack hadn't felt so helpless and alone in over a century, not since he had run into the control room of the Gamestation just in time to see the TARDIS fading away, leaving him behind.

He'd relived those words, Ianto's final words, many times over the year. He had tried to work out what it was that stopped Ianto from believing him, but knew that the only way he would ever find out was to ask Ianto himself which wasn't likely to happen for a long time, if ever.

Jack sighed heavily, swinging himself up over back onto the roof, straightening his coat and heading for the stairs. Dwelling on the past was only going to continue dragging him down. Right now he needed to head back to his... Ianto's place and see about trying to get some sleep.

He paused, gazing out over the horizon one last time. He just wished he knew if Ianto was okay.

* * *

"Had a message from Rhys," Jack said as Owen climbed into the SUV, the rain pattering lightly on the roof. "Gwen didn't go home last night."

"Probably spent the night hanging around the Hub waiting for you," Owen replied. "Bitch kept trying to ring me."

Jack frowned, pulling them back out onto the road. "Turn your phone off."

"Did. She called the land line." Owen smirked. "First time I've ever seen Tosh threaten to shoot a phone."

"First time, eh? Should have seen her during her second week. She threatened to shut down the entire telephone network."

"Yeah?"

"Yeap. Took Suzie over an hour to calm her down, before Suzie went out and took care of the guy that kept calling her."

Owen frowned. "Stalker?"

"Basically. Alien stalker with a gift for reading telephone numbers. He just picked up a phone and 'ring ring', he had his prey."

"Creepy." Owen pulled a face, gazing out at the rain. "So, what's on the menu, Boss?"

"Mild yet unspecified alien technology readings," Jack replied. "My PDA went off an hour ago."

"You know, if you don't want Gwen to find you, you shouldn't take the SUV." Owen looked at him. "Former PC, remember?  She’s just gotta make one call to her cronies, and she'd have your location."

"Ianto's place has a garage."

"What the hell are you doing there, anyway?" Owen glared at him. "And don't start that 'it's empty' shit, Harkness. You're having enough trouble getting over him as it is."

"Because it's either there, or the Hub." Jack shot him a quick look. "And right now I'd take the painful memories over Gwen's mother henning any day."

Owen stared at him for another moment before turning forward. "Fair enough."

They fell into a silence, just watching the rain and windscreen wipers as they travelled through the city. The threat wasn't that bad, so Jack just moved them with the flow of the traffic.

"How's Tosh?" Jack asked.

"Not as cranky as she was," Owen replied. "She's talking of coming back to work in a couple of days."

"There's no rush while things are calm like they are."

"She knows." Owen shrugged. "I reckon she's bored. Yesterday she pulled my PS3 apart and put it back together. I'm not complaining any. She souped it up so it has double the memory and loading speed. Gives me an edge in multiplayer. Other guys never know what hit them."

Jack frowned. "Isn't that cheating?"

"No rule against it."

Jack's eyebrows rose as he took the next turn, taking them into downtown Cardiff. Checking his PDA quickly, Jack pulled them into a space beside a park. Without a word Jack and Owen climbed out, locking the SUV and heading in. Owen gestured to the figure sitting in the gazebo fiddling with something, and as they moved closer realisation began to dawn on them.

The other turned, grinning. "Ah, there you are. I was wondering when you were going to show up." John pointed to his wrist device. "Got something else I need your help with."

***

Sometimes Gwen just hated men. Stifling the yawn with the back of her hand, Gwen dropped into her desk chair and stared at the screen. Once again it would seem that Jack and Owen were off on a mission without her, and all she had was a message on her phone saying "Alien Technology Alert. Taking Owen."

This sort of thing had been happening a lot lately, and it was starting to concern her. Ever since Ianto had left Jack had been different, more withdrawn and closed about his feelings. It had been months since she had seen him flirt with anyone, save for that one time she'd walked in on him and Tosh kissing. She'd had a bit to say about that.

Tosh was dating Owen now, so that made things less complicated and meant she could focus more on keeping an eye on Jack. Tosh and Owen didn't seem to really care about their boss’s situation, neither helping her whenever Jack disappeared for extended periods of time, and his disappearances were happening more often these days. She knew he lived at the Hub, but lately he hadn't been sleeping there. She hated to think where he was.

Somehow Jack had also found a way to keep her from tracking either his phone or the SUV, and driving around she hadn't seen the vehicle parked anywhere. She was starting to wonder if it had a cloaking device that he hadn't told any of them about.

Gwen knew that Owen at least was aware of Jack's mood. Only a week ago she'd heard him comment that their boss was "more emo than the tea-boy ever was" under his breath. It was true, in a way. Ianto had frequently slipped into bouts of depression, especially after what had happened with Lisa and when Jack had disappeared. But he'd never taken it to the extremes that Jack was.

Gwen rubbed her eyes. She's spent the night looking for Jack, just wanting to make sure that he was okay. Tosh and Owen hadn't helped her, and Gwen had had to switch her phone off in order to ignore calls from Rhys. She knew he'd be angry.

He'd already accused her of caring more about Jack than him, and when she had said that she just needed to make sure Jack didn't do anything stupid Rhys had turned around and said Jack was sick of her following him around  and to leave it be, leading Gwen to believe Rhys had been in contact with the others. They'd ended up having a fight and she'd walked out. She'd call him later to apologise.

Gwen turned her chair, glaring down toward the empty workstation at the foot of the stairs that led up toward the greenhouse. She was really starting to hate Ianto for leaving. In many ways he was right, but at the same time he was breaking the team apart. She'd asked Tosh when he had joined at one point, and had been mildly surprised to learn that it had only been a few months before she had. Given how much he knew about everything, she'd thought he'd been there for a long time.

Then again, Ianto was smart. That was how he had managed to completely disappear. Gwen had tried to look for him, just to keep an eye on him and make sure he was okay, but there wasn't even the slightest paper trail to follow. It was like he had completely disappeared. They had all tried to find him at different points, she knew that, but even Tosh had had no luck.

It didn't surprise her, really. If Ianto wanted to be found, he would, but given the way things were when he had left he wanted nothing more to do with Torchwood. He had hurt her when he had left, and she had dwelt on his words many nights as she lay in bed beside Rhys, watching him sleep. Ianto had lost everyone in the course of working for Torchwood, and she had not. She had had a taste of what it would be like back during the Abaddon situation, when Billis had killed Rhys, but then things had been reversed and he had been brought back.

She tended to take Rhys for granted, and it was in some ways harder now that Rhys knew about Torchwood. When she had explained to him what had happened with Ianto, she had been surprised to find that Rhys took Ianto's side. He had just shrugged it off, said "I don't blame him", and then gone on to explain that in his shoes he would have done the same thing.

That had also ended in a fight. They had been fighting a lot lately. Rhys, it seemed, was siding with Owen, Tosh and Jack in regards to keeping an eye on Jack, Rhys trying to convince her to stay at home and leave Jack alone. Gwen was starting to think that Rhys was spending more time talking to them than he did her. It annoyed her to no end.

Shifting, Gwen hit a few buttons and scowled as she realised that the SUV tracker was on again. Of a night, once he left the Hub, Jack seemed to make a point of turning the tracker off, just like she could no longer track his mobile. She had already had a long debate with him over how safe that was given their jobs and what would happen if something did happen to him. He had simply reminded her that he was immortal, and that had been the end of that. At least for him.

She scowled, leaning back in her seat. Unless they decided to let her know what was going on, Gwen was going to be in the dark. For now, she could only sit and wait.

***

Jack scowled. "What do you want?"

"Well hello to you too." John stood, turning to meet Jack's eye and moving in. Jack took a step back, stopping John short. He pouted. "What? No hug?"

"Christ, I thought we got rid of you," Owen said, glaring at the other. "Take a hike."

"How rather rude." John pointed toward him. "I'd give that one a good slap, if I were you, Jack. Or do you reserve that for people you really like?"

Jack let out a steadying breath, narrowing his eyes. "Cut the crap, John. Why are you back?"

"Like I said: I need your help."

"Maybe we don't want to help you."

"No, you do." John raised a hand, cutting him off before he could reply. "It's an old friend of mine. Someone I was hunting for the Agency before they shut down. The girl tends to go from planet to planet, working her way in then destroying everything for the sheer pleasure of it. She tends to show up during a pivotal moment in time, and exploits it."

Owen frowned, looking at Jack. "You know what he's on about?"

"A Time Terrorist," Jack replied. "They're beings that take advantage of a planets weak point in time and then do some act of terrorism. Sometimes it's a cyber crime, sometimes its theft, sometimes its murder and destruction."

"Well this girl is destruction, and she's been on the planet for the last six months now." John gestured around them. "Been wandering around the United Kingdom, just living her life between schemes. Thought she was off the hook until I ran into her. Been after her since she got here."

Jack frowned. "Hang on, the Time Agency is gone. Why you still chasing this girl?"

"She's unfinished business, and you know how much I hate that." John shrugged, dropping back into his seat and watching as Jack, then Owen, followed him. "I've been after the girl for three years, but the bitch keeps avoiding me."

Jack raised a brow. "That still doesn't explain why you're here."

"That's easy. She is here." John gestured around him. "I almost had her cornered in Ealing, but she jumped on train and headed to Cardiff."

"So, what?" Owen said, speaking up. "You've been hunting this girl on your own all this time?"

"Ah, no." John shrugged. "Had some help. Just recently this journalist in Ealing gave me a hand. And then there’s Eye Candy-"

"Ianto?" Jack's eyes widened as he leaned forward, grabbing John's arm. "You saw Ianto?"

"Maybe." John smirked, patting the back of Jack's hand. "You sure know how to piss people off, don't you."

Owen watched him cautiously. "How is he?"

"Bill of health," John answered. "Mind you, the Plasmavore almost sucked him dry so he's a bit pissed at her, but he's otherwise fine."

"Plasmavore?" Owen looked at Jack.

"Shape-shifting, blood-sucking humanoid alien," Jack answered without missing a beat, still staring at John. "How'd he get mixed up in all this?"

"He got himself mixed up in all this." John shrugged. "He told me what happened. He tried to stay out of it for a while, but got bored. That and he somehow keeps getting himself caught up in these things. Spent a bit of time together, me and him, hunting this bitch."

"Where is he now?" Owen asked, noting the look on Jack's face.

"He stayed in London." John was also watching Jack. He leaned back, resting his elbows on the back of the seat and stretching his feet out in front of him. "You honestly think he'd just come back to Cardiff after everything?" He waved it off. "Besides, he's still helping that reporter Smith clean up the mess the Plasmavore left in Ealing."

Owen let out a soft breath of relief that Jack didn't notice, although John gave him a mild look of amusement.

"So," John said, leaning toward Jack and giving him his best puppy dog impression. "You want to help me? Or should I just tear Cardiff apart looking for her?"

Jack sighed, closing his eyes before opening them again and glaring at John. He stood. "Come on. We might be able to pick it up using our equipment at the Hub."

Owen paused as he moved to follow, watching as John practically skipped along behind Jack like the puppy he had been pretending to be. Love sick puppy, more like it, Owen thought to himself, frowning as he felt the back of his neck prickle. He turned, scanning their surroundings, spotting nothing but the misty rain. Shrugging it off, he headed for the SUV.

***

Gwen's hand unconsciously went for her gun the moment John stepped into the Hub. Jack waved her down before demanding John hand over his own weapons, the younger former Time Agent rolling his eyes and offloading his walking arsenal.

"Gwen, we need to track someone down," Jack said, moving over to stop behind her at her workstation. "She would have arrived during the last couple of days."

"What's he doing here?" Gwen hissed, pointing at John.

"Never mind that, just open the locator program."

"She bought the ticket under the name Ella Simpson," John said as he and Owen joined them. "At the time she was a dark haired beauty with chocolate skin and legs that went on for miles, but she's probably changed her appearance since then."

"You mean dyed her hair," Gwen said.

"A little more extreme than that," John said, looking at Jack. "What? You people never come across shape shifters before?"

"Once," Jack replied. "It was more about breeding than drinking blood, though."

Gwen's hand unconsciously went to her stomach. The program loaded, Gwen calling up the train booking records and beginning to search through them for the woman.

"So why was the Agency after this Plasmavore, anyway?" Jack asked. "They usually don't bother with Time Terrorists."

"Well, got to remember that Time Lords aren't exactly around to keep things in order," John pointed out.

"Still one around," Jack said with a smirk.

"Yeah?" John looked at him. "I thought they all got wiped out with the Dalek's."

"One survived." Jack shrugged. "He's a friend of mine. He can't be everywhere at once, though."

John gave him a knowing look. "You shagged him?"

"Heh. I wish." He gestured toward the computer. "So the Agency began taking an interest in this one."

"For starters, she drank the boss’s daughter dry," John began ticking them off his fingers. "Then she took out Masfore. Right after drinking the royal family, of course. Then she took out an Agent and stole her wristband."

"So she can travel in time," Jack said.

"Which puts her under the jurisdiction of the Agency. Besides, she'd already made it personal." John frowned. "She had a friend that ended up being taken out by the Judoon not too long ago, so she kinda holds Earth responsible for that which is why she came here."

"Hospital on the moon," Jack said.

John blinked. "You heard about that?"

"Kinda hard to miss when it's all over the news." Jack looked at him. "I know a couple of people who were caught up in that. One of them was that Time Lord I mentioned."

"Explains how they caught her, then." John's gaze returned to the screen, noting that Gwen had opened some CCTV from London. "I'm not sure what carriage she got on. I didn't arrive at the station until just after the train was pulling out, but I do know she picked up her ticket and boarded."

"You hacked into the rail system?" Gwen asked.

"No, Eye Candy did actually. That man is brilliant." He shot Jack a look. "I can see why you like him."

Gwen turned, frowning. "Eye Candy? Isn't that–?"

"Ianto," Owen finished. "He's still in London, apparently."

"There she is!" John said, pointing to the screen and causing the others to turn. "Second last carriage."

"So she definitely boarded the train," Gwen said, calling up the Cardiff station CCTV footage and keying in the train arrival time. "Let's see if she gets off."

They watched until the last person had exited the train, the four exchanging quick looks before Gwen hit replay. They concentrated on each face, even watching the other carriages, but their woman never left the train. Gwen played the footage one more time with the basic version of the facial recognition program running, but when even that failed to pick her up, John growled.

"I knew it. She's changed her appearance again. Means she's probably changed her name too." He scowled. "She does it every time she changes location. You have to wait until the bodies start showing up before you can really begin looking."

Owen frowned. "Isn't there some other way of finding her?"

"Well, she has got a couple of pets." He pointed to the footage. "You won't see them there, though. They make their own way, so they should be here within the next couple of days. She doesn't start killing until her pets arrive." He looked at Gwen. "Can you set something up to pick up any reports on unusually large dog sightings?"

"Sure I can,' Gwen replied.

"Large dogs," Owen said, staring at John. "That's all?"

"Not actually dogs. Just look like them." He cast a look toward Jack, meeting the other mans eye. "We know them by the name of Carshy, but you people tend to call them Hell Hounds. You've heard of them, right?"

Owen's eyes narrowed. "Large dogs, black fur, glowing red eyes, kill people."

"You got it." He nodded toward the picture of the Plasmavore. "She has two of the little beasts. She used to have three, but Jones shot one up in Glasgow that was trying to eat me." He paused. "Although I've got to wonder who he was actually aiming for."

"Whoever was closer, probably," Owen replied. "He does that."

"I noticed."

Gwen sighed, leaning back in her seat. "Okay, I've set up a tracker for any reports on the dogs. I'll also set up an advanced scan to go through the train passengers and see who doesn’t get off that got on in London."

"Got to remember the stations along the way," Owen pointed out. "She might have got off at one of those."

"No, she's in Cardiff." John spotted their looks. "Easier to kill and get away with it in largely populated areas."

"True," Owen conceded.

"Anyways, I might go do some scouting around. Didn't get to know the area last time I was here." John straightened, looking at Jack. "I got myself a mobile phone since that's the way these primitives contact each other. I'll give you the number."

"Do you have somewhere to stay?" Jack asked

"Hotel not too far from here," John replied. "Why? You offering a bed? Stay with you, maybe?"

"Hardly."

John slapped him on the rear and headed toward the door, pausing when he got there. "Any chance I could grab my weapons?"

"I'll hang onto them for tonight," Jack said. "Be a good boy and I might give them back in the morning."

"I like it when you take charge," John threw him a wink, grinning at the look Gwen and Owen gave each other as Jack levelled a glare on him. "See you in the morning then."

* * *

John scowled as he slammed the door behind him. He really didn't know what Jack saw in this planet. He'd gone out and had a good look around the area, spending all day and most of the night taking in Cardiff and getting to know it. It was part of his training as a Time Agent to know the terrain in case of a battle or chase, if only to know the hiding places and short cuts.

Cardiff was very much like every other place he'd seen during his six months on Earth. Cold, wet, and altogether rather dull. There was no real excitement. Excitement to these people was getting a letter in the mail with their name on it that wasn't a bill. Hell, for some of these people excitement was finding their name on the internet.

The sex was good, though. Maybe not as innovative as some planets he had been on, but humans weren't exactly equipped with multiple tentacles that could do wicked things in places he'd never dreamed anything could ever go. Speaking of which, he needed to visit Yaxcudor again.

He yanked open the bar fridge, gazing inside and scowling as he realised it was all weak shots. What he wouldn't give for a hyper vodka. It'd been over a year since he'd tasted that sweet nectar. Jack probably had some stored somewhere; Jack could make hyper vodka out of anything. Then again, that bastard was pulling the sobriety act.

Slamming the door closed on the fridge, he straightened, rubbing the back of his neck. He scowled. He hated that first little bit before he had the trail. This Plasmavore was driving him nuts. It was like every time he finally had her cornered, she slipt through his fingers. She was the only hunt he'd never actually found. The one blemish to his otherwise perfect record. There had to be some sort of pattern, some way to find her before she killed again.

"Keep thinking that hard and you might hurt yourself."

He yelped, spinning and staring into the dark. He scowled as his eyes found the other sitting cross-legged on the end of the bed watching him. "Bloody hell. I thought I told you to stop doing that."

"I thought you'd be used to it by now."

John glared at him, leaning back against the bar fridge. "I thought you were staying in London."

"The Carshy's left soon after you did, and Sarah-Jane said she could handle the rest. I figured you'd need my help."

"I can handle this just fine."

"Which, of course, is why you switched on your radio knowing that it would read as alien tech on the Torchwood scanners and bring Jack and the others running."

"You know, Eye Candy, sometimes you can be really annoying."

Ianto smirked, slipping off the bed and stepping further into the light and leaning against the wall, hands sliding into his pockets. "Find anything out yet?"

"She changed her appearance on the train."

"Nothing unusual there." Ianto frowned, resting his head back against the wall. "The Carshy's should be here within the next two days."

"Or less, depending on whether or not they stop to eat." John watched him. "You know, I was expecting you to ask about Jack."

"Jack's fine."

John raised an eyebrow.

Ianto turned his head slightly to look at him. "Jack's immortal. He's always fine."

"Fair point." John stared absently toward the bed. "Saw two of your old colleagues. The medic and that dark haired woman. No sign on the Asian beauty."

"Toshiko," Ianto frowned. "I'm sure she's around somewhere. Unless she's died during the year."

"No, don't think so. Her desk was still set up. Had pictures up on it." John smirked. "Quite a few of you, actually."

"Tosh and I were good friends."

"Only?" John pushed himself up off the fridge, moving to stand in front of the other man. "From what I've seen you can be quite the player, Mr Jones."

Ianto didn't even blink. "I haven't really been single since before I met Lisa. I guess I just wanted to remember what that life was like."

"Well..." John placed his hands on either side of Ianto's head, leaning in and grinning. "What's it like?"

"I suppose it has its advantages." Ianto shrugged, unaffected by John's closeness. "No worries about broken promises, no trust issues, no risk of being abandoned or heart broken."

"No commitment," John brought one hand around to trail his fingertip along Ianto's jaw line, Ianto holding his gaze. "How can you not like that life?"

"Because it isn't me." Ianto frowned. "You're from the 51st Century. It's in your genetics. It's not in mine."

"Oh, I don't know. You've been doing okay so far."

Ianto snorted. "You wouldn't know what commitment was."

John raised an eyebrow. "Spent five years with Jack, didn't I?"

"Trapped in a time paradox. It doesn't count."

"Ooo. Ouch." John clutched his heart. "You wound me, Mr Jones."

"Nothing wounds you," Ianto dismissed. "Well, perhaps being shot down by Jack."

"Oh, low blow." John grinned, hooking his finger into the belt of Ianto's jeans. "You play dirty."

Ianto smirked. "You like it."

John chuckled and shrugged, leaning in and kissing Ianto hard. Ianto returned it, the kiss slowly becoming more heated. Ianto's hands fell from his pockets to grip John's arms, eventually sliding in toward his waist. John grinned against Ianto's lips, pressing in close and subconsciously aware Ianto's hand was moving again.

He realised where it was going a mere second before the pain tore through him, John jerking back with a cry. Ianto held his grip for a moment longer before releasing him, John staggering back and clutching his side glaring at him.

"Still hasn't healed then," Ianto commented.

"What do you think," John commented, dropping to sit back on the bed, hissing through his teeth. "You're a sadistic bastard, you know that?"

Ianto raised a brow. "You were the one boasting about how quickly you can heal."

"From normal wounds. Cuts, scratches, that sort of thing." John stared him down. "You shot me."

"You asked for it." Ianto reached for a bag near the door, removing a bottle and retrieving two glasses, pouring John one. "So, how is Jack?"

"Fine, from what I can see," John said, cautiously taking the offered glass and downing a long drink from it. "He was very interested in my story once I dropped your name in."

"Referring to me as 'Eye Candy'?"

"Oh, always." John watched Ianto as the man moved to gaze out the window. "Don't you still have a place around here?"

"Mm." Ianto let the curtain drop back. "Just came from there. It would appear Jack's been living there."

"Okay, that man is more messed up than he lets on." John gestured with his glass. "You know, he once said something was wrong with me for keeping an ex's ring."

"Nothing wrong with that."

"Her finger was still in it."

Ianto pulled a face.

John smiled over the glass. "Exactly."

"You are twisted."

"As opposed to..."

Ianto rolled his eyes.

"I think he misses you," John said after a long silence. "And I think the others are aware of it. The dark haired woman... Cooper, wasn't it? She seems concerned about him."

"Probably why he's sleeping at my place," Ianto guessed, taking another sip from his glass.

"The other guy? Harper, I think his name was." He saw Ianto nod his confirmation. "Well, he seemed relieved to hear you hadn't come to Cardiff."

"Owen was always on my side," Ianto said, finally moving from his place by the window to join John on the bed. "At least in terms of what happened."

"Cooper took Jack's side, right? She has a thing for him if I recall."

"That she does."

"I don't think they're shagging," John frowned, downing the lasts of his drink and setting down on the floor. "That's the impression I got, what little I saw of them."

"Oh, I doubt that."

"I can read Jack," John pointed out. "I'm a con man. So's he. And one of the talents of a con man is to be able to read people." He watched Ianto finish his own drink. "You should know. You're one too after all."

Ianto looked at him as he set his glass down. "I'm not a con man."

"Like hell you are." John prodded him in the chest. "You manipulate people to get what you want, twisting the truth if you have too. You falsify records to cover things up, you move from place to place while leaving no way to be tracked. You set up accounts in false names, create false IDs..."

"That was necessary."

"That was a con." John dropped back onto the bed and kicked off his boots, watching him. "Tell me, have you always been able to know what people want before they know it?"

Ianto frowned. "Most of the time."

"Can you read what people are thinking just by looking at them?"

"Yes."

"All the traits of a con man." John spread his arms out wide. "Nothing to be ashamed of. Welcome to the club."

Ianto scowled, stretching out beside him. "I can't read Jack."

"No, you can. You just don't want to." John rolled onto his side, fingers tugging at the buttons on Ianto's shirt. "That day you left. When he told you he loved you. What did you read from him then?"

"Desperation," Ianto answered. "He was trying to stop me from leaving."

John nodded. "Why?"

Ianto's frown deepened. "I don't know. Probably because no one else can make good coffee."

"You do make good coffee, but that's not it." John casually flicked open the top few button's of Ianto's shirt, leaning in to kiss his neck. "There's where your weakness lays, Ianto Jones. There's no room for denial."

"Denial of what?"

John simply grinned, kissing him hard and tugging Ianto's jacket back off his shoulders. Ianto kissed him back for a while, John's words still playing through his mind even as he pulled John's shirt over his head, and breaking another kiss he frowned.

"John, denial of what?"

John shrugged and kissed him again, Ianto realising that was all he was going to get out of the other man for now. Deciding to interrogate him later, he reached for John's belt.

***

Rhys pulled the car into an empty space, switching it off and sighing. It really shouldn't have to come to this. He got out, closing and locking the car behind him as he headed down toward the Bay. He entered a door at the bottom, unlocking it with a key and ignoring the 'closed' sign. He closed and locked the door behind him, reaching underneath the desk on the other side and hitting the button.

He entered the secret door, still slightly impressed by how sophisticated the set up was. He moved down toward the lift, hitting the button and waiting for it to go down. He glanced around as he went down, thinking about how the elevator lacked music. He should suggest that to Jack – music for the elevator. He liked elevator music.

Getting out at the bottom, he made his way along the corridor toward the large round door that rolled to the side automatically, the bars of the cage following suit. He glanced up, spotting Gwen at her desk and making his way around to the stairs.

Gwen glanced up quickly, doing a double take as she saw him, eyes wide. "Rhys! How did you get in here?"

He dangled the key from the end of his finger. "The guys thought I might need access since I hardly see you anymore. Figured I'd come see if you were all right."

Gwen swung to her feet. "You shouldn't be here."

"What? No hello? No 'I've missed you'?" Rhys stopped, frowning. "It's been three days, Gwen."

She shook her head. "It hasn't been that long."

"Yes, it has." Rhys looked toward her screens. "Can't be all that bad. No reports about any mysterious deaths or bright lights."

Gwen straightened her top, glancing at her screen again then back at him. "Look, it's complicated."

"I know that. It's been complicated since Ianto left." Rhys saw the look on her face. "Look, Gwen, I know you want to help Jack and all that, but you need to take a break. When was the last time you ate a proper meal or had a good night sleep, eh?"

"I could say the same about him," Gwen muttered.

"He's been sleeping just fine apparently." Rhys gestured behind him. "Besides, I had dinner with him the other night. He's eating fine too. Apparently the only thing wrong is he's worried that you're going to burn out. Now come on Gwen. Come home and we'll have a big meal and you can shower and have a rest."

"No, Rhys, you don't understand." Gwen moved back to the computer, looking at the readouts. "I need to finish this."

Rhys moved up behind her and looked at the information. "Looks automated if you ask me."

"It is."

"Then let it run." He reached up, setting a hand on the small of her back and giving her a concerned look. "You're as tense as anything."

"It's been a hard day."

"Well then, forget the shower. I'll run you a bath with those oils that you like. I'll even give you a massage."

Gwen winced. "Remember the last time?"

"I've done some reading since then. I think I should be right now." He sighed, looping an arm around her waist and kissing her gently on the forehead, glancing at the screen. "You're always telling me off for staring at the status bar thing on the antivirus."

"Well if you stopped downloading all those free smilie programs we wouldn't have to run it all the time." Gwen sighed, leaning against him and tucking her head in under his chin. "Okay, I'll come home. But I'm going to set my PDA so that when this finishes I'll know."

"Fine. I just want to see you take care of yourself." He pulled her gently away from the computer, glancing around. "Do you have to lock this place down or anything? Feed Myfanwy?"

"No, Owen fed Myfanwy earlier, and the Hub shuts itself down. I just have to switch off the lights." She cast one look back toward Jack's office. "I just wish I knew where he was. He lives here, you know."

"Who does?"

"Jack."

"He's fine, Gwen. At least from what I can see of him." Rhys gave her a quick look. "You know, I think I see more of him than I do you these days. Same goes for the other two."

"I know, and I'm sorry." She paused by the door. "Look, you go out and I'll switch off all the lights. Can't have you tripping over in the dark."

He nodded and headed out along the corridor once the door had rolled back. Gwen hit the light panel, the Hub's main lights reducing to leave the faint glow of the screens and emergency lights. She cast one last look at the empty office, and frowning she turned and left the Hub.

***

Jack gasped as he jerked awake, groaning and draping an arm over his eyes. Dammit. It had been a while since he had had a nightmare. That had been the real reason he avoided sleep, to escape them, but it had been almost two years since his last one.

He'd stopped having them and started allowing himself to sleep not long after he and Ianto had gotten back together again. It had taken a little while to win back Ianto's trust after leaving him behind like that, but after that date and a couple of nights of just sitting and talking everything out they'd ended up here, making passionate love almost all night until they had collapsed.

Jack had spent a good part of the remainder of that night lying awake, just watching Ianto sleep. He was beautiful, there was no denying that. He always had been. There was an unassuming grace to everything about him that drew Jack in, and a strong will and sound mind that made him so perfect.

Jack had soon grown accustomed to sleeping, waking to find either Ianto in his arms, or himself in Ianto's. It had been strange to wake up alone to a cold bed again. It still felt strange.

He sighed, sitting up and running a hand through his hair, casting his gaze around the dark room. The place still smelt of Ianto, even after all this time. Jack knew that in that in the wardrobe still hung those suits he liked so much, and out in the living room photographs of Ianto's family and friends still sat around.

This place was still Ianto's, even thought Jack had pretty much moved in before Ianto had even left. They had never really discussed it; just that piece by piece Jack's things had made their way here. When Ianto had left, Jack had left them in hope Ianto would come back, only he never had. He hadn't even called, and Jack had pretty much given up hope. Ianto really did want nothing to do with the old life.

Sliding from the bed, Jack brushed back the curtains and gazed out across the small yet practical garden. Of course Ianto grew his own vegetables, and Jack had to smile as he remembered teasing Ianto about being a little old lady tending the garden and that all he needed was a cat. Ianto had thrown a clump of dirt at him.

Gazing up toward the gathering clouds, he took in the way the orange light of the city reflected off them. Ianto lived just far enough out of Cardiff city centre not to have the endless noise of the traffic, but still close enough that it didn't take him long to get to work during an emergency.

Jack sighed heavily, resting his head against the window pane. It most definitely was not healthy for him to be living here, that was for sure. He was so often overcome with the memories, that by the time he left for the Hub he felt so down and hated himself for what happened that he knew Gwen picked up on it the moment he walked in the door.

Maybe one day, when this was all over and he'd finally managed to move on, he'd thank her for being there, for always looking out for him. She always made sure he'd eaten, checking in on his wellbeing, generally making sure he wasn't doing anything to hurt himself. Those were the markings of a true friend, at least.

It was the flirting that bothered him. He'd used to enjoy it, flirting right back and leading her on, but these days he just couldn't be bothered with it. For starters, Gwen was married to Rhys and Jack was rather fond of Rhys. They'd become rather good friends over these last few months, and Jack didn't want Rhys to get hurt. The man didn't deserve it.

Sure Jack was attracted to Gwen – he always had been. But right now he really didn't think he could do anything. His mind was so distracted that the last thing he needed to add to his list of problems was lack of performance. It had happened once before, not long after he'd been abandoned by the Doctor, and it was an experience he didn't care to repeat.

He frowned as he felt a niggling at the back of his mind, causing him to look up and out over the city. He blinked as it tried to attract his attention, and closing his eyes he focussed his limited amount of psychic ability onto that feeling. He grasped for it, catching hold and letting the meaning sweep over him.

He gasped, eyes flying open as he straightened.

"Ianto?"

He was here. Jack was sure of it. He let his gaze sweep out over the darkened garden, then upward toward the sky. Somewhere out there, nearby, was Ianto.

Ianto was in Cardiff.

***

Up in the hotel window, Ianto frowned and stepped back, allowing the curtain to fall closed once again.

"Oh you have got to be joking."

"Hm?" Owen pushed himself up on an elbow, rubbing his eyes as the sheets slid down around his waist. He frowned as he spotted Tosh sitting beside him fully dressed, a laptop on her lap hooked up to her PDA. "What is it?"

"I thought I'd check and see how the computer systems are running back at the Hub," she began, hitting a few buttons. "And what do I find? Someone has left them running during the night without the firewall switched on."

"Have to be Gwen." Owen stifled a yawn, flopping back down and folding his arms behind his head. "Jack sleeps at Ianto's place, so there'd be no need for him to go back there."

"Anyway," Tosh continued, fingers flying over the keys. "While they were down UNIT tried to hack in."

"And?"

"They broke through four of our security levels, which means they were able to access all our files on our latest acquisitions, which would include that fact we raided a UNIT warehouse a month ago."

"Which would mean Jack's in for a rather nasty phone call," Owen said. "Nothing new there."

"I've told Gwen to log off the system properly. And I've lost count how many times I've shown her to set up the firewalls."

"We all forget sometimes."

"She forgets most of the time."

"My, somebody got up on the wrong side of the bed." Owen pushed himself back up, leaning over to look at the screen. "What you up to now?"

"She left something running on her computer," Tosh said, hitting a few keys. "Search programs. One was the advanced facial recognition system trying to single out a woman who got on in London. Apparently she never left the train."

"Interesting," Owen said. "We'll have to let Jack and that bloody Captain John know that."

Tosh didn't even blink. "The other was a tracker on the local media, police, and animal welfare sites for anything on large black dogs."

"That turn up anything?"

Tosh hit a few keys, frowning and tapping the screen. "Apparently there has been a sighting of two large black dogs running at a considerable speed alongside the rail line."

"Really?" Owen tried to get a better look. "When was that?"

"Well, according to this it was less than an hour ago just outside of Newport."

"Right."

Owen swung out of bed, Tosh looking up sharply. "Where are you going?"

"To check out this sighting." He scooped his pants up off the floor, pulling them on. He turned to look at her. "According to John, this bloody-sucking human thing only starts hunting when she has her pets, so the sooner we can locate them the sooner we can locate her."

"Ring Jack at least," Tosh said. "Let him know where you're going."

"You can do that, sweetheart." Owen picked his gun up off the bedside table, checking to make sure it was loaded. "Not like you have anything better to do with your time."

Tosh shot him a look.

***

The problem was, despite having been with Ianto for over a year, he still knew next to nothing about the other man. He knew the basics, like what school Ianto went too, where he grew up and where he bought his suits, but other little things like where he hung out when he wasn't working Jack didn't have a clue about. He knew one or two places simply because Ianto had pointed them out while they were Weevil hunting.

In fact, with every passing day since Ianto had left, Jack had realised more and more how much they had kept from each other. Jack had never told Ianto about his past, his interests, or the exact nature of his relationship with the Doctor. And he had no idea about Ianto's hobbies, who his friends were, or even if Ianto had any family left out there.

If anything, it was making it hard for Jack to try and track him down. A feeling inside him told him Ianto was here somewhere in Cardiff, it was just a matter of trying to work out exactly where he was.

Hearing his phone ring, he scowled, pulling it out and expecting to see 'Gwen' on the caller id, but slightly surprised to see an unknown number. Blinking, he hit receive.

"Hello?"

"So you answer me on this primitive piece of technology, but if I call you on the wrist strap you put me straight onto voicemail."

Jack frowned. "How did you get this number?"

"Three guesses." He heard John sigh. "Look, I know what you're up too, so don't even bother. You're not going to find him."

Jack stopped in his tracks, ignoring those around him as he turned and made his way toward a secluded area of the main shopping strip. "Find who?"

"Don't play coy, you know who. Look, take it from me, if he doesn’t' want to be found he won't be. He pissed off on me about a month ago and didn't show up again until he was good and ready. Mind, I used every trick I knew to try and hunt him down, but he's too clever for that."

Jack narrowed his eyes. "Do you know where he is now?"

"I do, but I'm not telling you."

"John-"

"Look, let’s stop this and talk in person. Turn around." Jack frowned, turning and spotting John leaning against a wall just down the block, John raising his phoneless hand and giving a brief wave. "Hello."

Jack scowled, snapping his phone closed and heading back down the street to where John was sliding his own phone into his pocket. Reaching the other, Jack grabbed a fistful of John's shirt and threw him against the wall. "Where is he?"

"Threatening me is going to do nothing but get me turned on. You know I like it rough." John smirked as Jack loosened his hold. "If he wants to see you, he'll make himself known. Right now he has other things on his mind."

"Like?"

"Hunting our Plasmavore." John levelled his gaze on Jack. "He knows you're looking for him, you know."

"How can he know that?"

"Gut instinct, he says." John frowned. "He says he always knows when you're looking for him. Has he had psychic training or something?"

"Limited training with Torchwood One. It was part of their induction program to try and minimise the risk of brainwashing or control." Jack narrowed his eyes. "So you were lying when you told me he was in London. I should have expected that."

"No actually, I was telling the truth. I thought he was in London too." John shrugged, brushing Jack's hands from his shirt and smoothing it down. "I don't think he actually arrived til sometime late yesterday afternoon. All I know is the bastard snuck up on me again."

Jack watched him. "Snuck up on you."

"For some reason he likes scaring the crap out of me." John turned to face him straight on. "What, he never did that too you?"

"If you mean the 'one minute he's not there, next minute he is' thing, he does it to everyone. We just got used to not jumping when he does it." Jack smirked. "Why? Do you hit the roof when he does it, do you?"

"Oh drop it." John sighed, shaking his head and rubbing the back of his neck. He let his gaze drift around the people rushing off to work around them. "So, any news on our little hunted friend?"

"Tosh called. She took a look at the readouts from home. That woman never got off the train."

"Figured as much."

Jack nodded. "Tosh has adjusted the program to look for anyone who got off who didn't get on."

"Yeah, about that." John pulled a face. "Remember she's a Plasmavore, Jack. She doesn't just drink the blood of her victims, she can assimilate them. Become them."

Jack swore, rubbing his eyes. "I forgot about that little detail."

"Thought you might have. You've been out of the game too long." John started walking toward the Bay area, Jack falling into step beside him. "Ella Simpson was originally a receptionist for a taxation agency who we thought had gotten caught up in it all. She hit on us, which is nothing new there, and we thought she was just an innocent caught up in it all... until she tried to kill Eye Candy, anyway."

"You've mentioned that before," Jack said. "Was he all right?"

"Oh, fine. He was out of the game for almost a week and rather pissed off about it all, but fine." John shrugged it off. "Not like it didn't happen to me. Our paths first crossed when I was about to be sucked dry myself and he scared her off. Guess it makes us even."

Jack looked around, taking in the faces in the crowd and sighing heavily. "So our Plasmavore could be absolutely anyone."

"Yeap. So keep an eye on your little team."

***

As he drove out of Cardiff toward Newport, Owen silently wished he'd asked John for a better description of these Carshy. Firstly, that way he'd know what the hell to look out for, and secondly, he might know how to deal with them. Then again, if Ianto could take one down, then Owen himself should have no problem whatsoever. He'd always been better in the field than Ianto.

He gazed out along the road beside him, scowling as he hit another bump. It would have been so much easier to travel the M4, but unfortunately for him these creatures were running along the train line, and Jack still had the SUV. It was like life was working against him right now. Then again, as Tosh said, it could just be him and he needed to get over it.

Spotting something, he slowed and pulled onto the side of the road. Climbing out of the car, he snagged his binoculars from the seat beside him and gazed into the distance. That was them. It had to be them. They were in a field just up ahead and appeared to have stopped to kill a cow. There wasn't much left of the animal now, the two beasts just picking at the carcass.

He lowered his binoculars and frowned. They were the stuff of folklore that was for sure. Two great beasts that, if he were standing beside them, had to come up to just above his waist. From here their eyes did look like they were glowing, their fur pitch black and their teeth currently dripping with blood. They were on their way to accompany Death in the shape of the Plasma thingy John was hunting.

Narrowing his eyes, Owen slid back into his car and pulled out his gun, setting it in front of him on the dash before putting the car into gear and pulling out. He drummed his fingers on the wheel, wondering how close he could get before they would notice him. He considered his options, deciding to take out at least one of them before gunning it out of there. The other one could lead them back to this woman, and they'd only have to contend with one of the Carshy then.

Once he was within range, he pulled over onto the side of the road and switched off his car, picking up his gun and getting out. He looked up, stopping when he realised that in the brief moment he'd looked down to grab his gun, they'd gone. He frowned, casting his gaze around and pausing when he heard the soft rumble of a growl behind him.

He turned slowly, bringing his gun up only to let out a cry as a heavy weight hit him on the side. He stumbled, finding himself involuntarily moving away from the safety of the car but somehow managing to remain upright. He tightened his grip on his weapon, glad that he hadn't dropped it and swinging it in the direction of the attack, again only to find that again there was nothing there.

He swore, slowly moving back toward the safety of his vehicle only to stop at the sound of a nearby howling. He let out a steadying breath, swallowing a lump in his throat before beginning to move again. It would have been safer to stay in the car while there was no one to cover his back. Coming out here alone wasn't his brightest idea, that was for sure.

Something hit him in the centre of the back, sending him forward onto his knees. He swore again as his gun fell from his grip and slid along the uneven ground to stop just out of reach. He made a dive for it, only to stop as a large, padded foot fell into his line of sight. His eyes widened as he looked up to discover himself staring into the glowing red eyes of a Carshy.

Tosh frowned at the persistent knocking on the front door, setting her laptop aside and straightening her shirt when she stood up she made her way toward it. Herself and Owen weren't officially living together as yet, often switching between whose place it was that they stayed in. It usually depended on who had the most food and who lived closer, but while she had had time off she'd been at Owen's to make it easier for him since he was still working.

The neighbours all knew her now, so she no longer felt awkward answering the door to a place that wasn't hers. Already she'd had one or two neighbours call by over the last week or so, most to see if they were having the heating issue too (they were), but hearing the knock now she knew it wasn't a neighbour.

Opening the door, she wasn't the least bit surprised to see Gwen.

"We need to talk," Gwen said, stepping into the flat before Tosh could even say anything.

"Shouldn't you be at work," Tosh replied, closing and locking the door behind her.

"I just came from there," Gwen said, spinning to look at her. "I discovered someone had been on my computer."

"Well that's entirely impossible, because Owen hasn't been in and Jack doesn't usually touch our things without good reason."

"Yeah, I know that." Gwen looked pointedly at Tosh's laptop. "Which is why I guessed remote access."

Tosh had to fight to keep from rolling her eyes. "I'm the system administrator," she reminded her. "I logged on the check that all the systems were functioning properly while I've been away, and discovered you'd left the firewalls down again."

Gwen shook her head. "No, I definitely turned them on."

"Well you mustn't have," Tosh picked up her laptop, turning it so Gwen could see. "I've spent the last hour trying to find out exactly what UNIT stole from us."

Gwen was silent for a moment before looking at her. "Perhaps UNIT turned the firewall off themselves."

"Impossible." Tosh hit a couple of keys, looking at the readouts. "Like I said: impossible. From what I can see, no aggressive attack was made on our system. They simply slipped in without any resistance, meaning that the firewalls were off and had been switched off from the inside. I'm guessing you left them off so that the search program could continue to run, or you were distracted in the process of turning them on."

"Well..." A sheepish looked flickered across Gwen's face, followed quickly by a frown. "Do you know how Rhys ended up with a key to the Hub?"

"Owen gave it to him," Tosh answered, scrutinising a readout and sitting at the table, setting the laptop in front of her. "Why would UNIT want our personnel files?"

"But why would he do that? Why would Owen give him a key?"

"Because Rhys was worried about you." Tosh began a back hack on UNIT, nodding to herself. "Well, they didn't seem to get them. Good."

"I still don't understand, Tosh." Gwen shook her head, pacing and rubbing the back of her neck. "It's dangerous. If Rhys came in during an attack..."

"The Hub is the safest place in Cardiff," Tosh reminded her. "In all of Wales too, probably."

"But still, Jack won't be happy about it."

"Jack gave Owen permission to do it when he asked." Tosh leaned back in her seat, eyes flying over the data scrolling up her screen. "Well, it would appear they did manage to get their hands on a detailed list of all the weapons we've collected, and are currently putting together a request to the Prime Minister to have them taken off our hands."

Gwen frowned, moving to stand behind her and look at the screen. "Why would they want to do that?"

"For their own testing and use, probably." Tosh looked up at her. "I wouldn't worry too much about Rhys. From what I can see he's a good man, and I doubt he'll do anything really stupid."

Gwen looked at her sharply. "Are you implying he'll do something stupid?"

"Don't we all?"

Gwen considered this and had to concede the point to her. She sighed, glancing at her watch and scowling. "You know, I haven't heard from either Owen or Jack since last night?"

"Owen's gone to check out a sighting of those large dogs you're running a search on. To see if he can confirm if they are the right ones." Tosh looked up at her. "I'm sure Jack's making his own enquiries regarding the Plasmavore."

"You haven't been into the Hub for over two weeks and you still know what's going on."

Tosh smiled. "It's my job."

Gwen sighed, moving toward the door. "I'm going to go look for Jack. I'm sure between us we'll be able to find out more than he can on his own."

"Just remember Jack's been doing this a lot longer than us," Tosh reminded her. "Before he left Ianto showed me a record that indicated that Jack has been working on and off with Torchwood for over a century. I think he can handle it."

"I'm sure he can." Gwen unlocked the door, pausing to look back at her. "Still, four eyes are better than two. Good to see you, by the way."

"You too."

As Gwen disappeared out the door, Tosh rolled her eyes. Sometimes Gwen seemed to forget that Tosh had been doing this a lot longer than her too. Shrugging it off, Tosh went back to work.

***

"Nice doggy," Owen slowly backed away, fully aware that the other one could be close by. "Who's a good boy then? Good dog."

The Carshy growled, lips pulling back in a snarl to reveal a line of sharp, shining teeth, still stained with the blood from its last meal. Owen's eyes darted down toward his gun, then back up as the Carshy took a step toward him, its fur bristling as it lay its ears back.

Owen let out a quick breath, wishing he'd packed his spare gun. He glance backward toward his car, eyes widening as he finally spotted the second Carshy. He was, in all manners of speaking, trapped. If anything, these creatures were far from stupid. They knew how to hunt and capture.

Hearing another snarl, Owen gasped as he realised that the first Carshy was almost right against him, Owen feeling its hot breath against his skin. He was partly glad that it was daylight, as it meant that he could see what he was up against, and damned if he ever wanted to be caught with these two during a dark night.

Owen took a long step back and to the side, trying to put himself in a position so he could see both creatures, but they were too clever for that. The one by the car came forward, keeping itself between him and his means of escape, while the first shifted around to keep Owen between them.

"Why couldn't you be stupid," Owen muttered, only to let out a small cry as he was hit hard by a swipe that sent him spinning to the ground, pain blazing through him. He scrambled back to his feet, only to have them knocked out from under him. He scowled, glaring at the creatures. "Didn't your mother ever tell you not to play with your food?"

The first beast moved in on him, snapping at the air. Owen closed his eyes, knowing it was hopeless. He jumped at the sound of the gunshot, eyes flying open at the yelp of the creature. They spun around, snarling at the figure standing near Owen's car.

The empty rifle cartridge dropped smoking to the ground, the other reloading the barrel with a click and raising it, firing off another shot at the feet of the creatures. They backed up, snarling and snapping before turning, taking off at a fast clip toward Cardiff.

"They won't continue the attack without orders. You okay?"

Owen could only stare at the other, who rested the rifle against Owen's Honda and approached. He held out a hand, Owen accepting it and allowing himself to be pulled up, using the momentum to catch the other in a tight hug. Right now he couldn't care less that the other hated hugs, especially from him.

"I am so glad to see you." Owen stepped back, slapping him on the shoulder. "Christ, Ianto, you've had us worried."

"I am able to take care of myself," Ianto reminded him, beginning to move back in the direction of the car. "I'm also not the one who works directly over a Rift."

"Where’ve you been?" Owen asked, then stopped dead as he spotted what Ianto was driving. "And where the bloody hell did you get a Bentley?"

"It's John's," Ianto replied, casting his gaze over toward the car. "Nice ride, actually. It gets rather interesting taking corners when you have the traction control off while doing 100 miles an hour."

Owen just stared at him.

Ianto smirked, picking up the rifle again. "It turns out he's been to the planet before and stored some money away. It collected interest over time and he's sitting on a rather healthy sum. More than enough to buy and maintain a Bentley with enough change that he could buy himself a Veyron if he wanted too."

"Don't see the point. Couldn't drive it on these streets anyway. Too many turns and curves." Owen glanced around. "So, they gone?"

"Yeap. Probably won't stop until they hit Cardiff now." Ianto looked after the Carshy. "Have you located her yet?"

"Not when I left. Tosh was still looking into it." Owen moved to retrieve his own gun, inspecting it for damage before flipping the safety back on. "So... how'd you find me? You follow me or something?"

Ianto raised a brow. "The Hub firewalls were down so I was able to hack in easily without triggering the alerts. I thought Gwen would know better by now."

"Yeah. Tell me about it." Owen tossed the gun onto his passenger seat, leaning against the car. "So... want to visit Tosh?"

Ianto smiled faintly. "It would be nice to see her again."

"Great. Let's go." Owen moved to get into his car, stopping and turning, calling Ianto's attention back to him from where the other man was on his way to his own car. "You might not want to mention the firewall thing."

"I haven't been gone that long," Ianto opened his door, meeting Owen's eye. "I won't say a word."

***

"Okay, so let me get this straight," Jack said, looking at where John was sipping his coffee on the other side of the cafe table. "Six months ago you picked up traces of the Plasmavore and came to Earth to hunt it, and while you were hunting it you ran into Ianto and since then the two of you have been working together?"

"That's it," John said, watching him. "You’re finding it that hard to believe?"

"Ianto left Torchwood to get away from this life," Jack said, remembering Ianto's words that night outside Caldicot. "There was too much death. He wanted to get away from it."

"He wanted to get away from you." John set his mug down, meeting Jack's eye. "He told me everything, Jack. It took some prying, but I got it out of him. And honestly, I don't blame him. You do have a tendency to kill those around you, whether you mean to or not."

"Didn't kill you," Jack pointed out.

"You damn well tried." John leaned back in his seat. "What about your partner before me?"

"That was complicated."

"You shot him," John said, shrugging. "Not that complicated."

"He was trying to kill me," Jack reminded him.

"You slept with his girlfriend," John said. "Oh, and his sister. And his mother. And brother." John frowned. "If I recall you also slept with his grandmother. Now, I'm not one to judge, but that's taking it a bit too far–"

"John." Jack shot him a firm glare, ignoring the smirk on the other’s lips. "I'm not proud of my past, I admit it, but I've changed since then."

"Not really." John gestured around them. "How many people have you sacrificed, Jack? How many people have died while you were trying to 'protect' them? How many families have been destroyed because you had no other choice?"

"That's not fair."

"Life isn't fair." John leaned forward. "Case and point, me and you. We worked so well together. We had something. But you don't do relationships, do you. You can't handle commitment. And by the sounds of it, you still can't. You haven't changed as much as you think you have."

Jack glared at him, raking his mind for a reply. Evidently Ianto had told John about the 'date' thing, or rather, the lack of dates. Setting his jaw, Jack picked up his own coffee and took a long drink, wishing it was laced with brandy or something stronger. It certainly didn't help that Jack had a nagging feeling that John and Ianto were a little more acquainted than just talking.

"Jack!"

Jack sighed heavily, closing his eyes and setting himself before looking up and meeting the furious gaze of Gwen as she strolled toward him. "Shouldn't you be at the Hub going over the search data?"

"Turns out Tosh is doing that at home," Gwen said, stopping to glare down at him. "Shouldn't you be out looking for the Plasmavore?"

"John was just telling me everything he knows about her," Jack said, leaning back and taking in her annoyed posture. "Until we can actually identify her, we won't be able to hunt her down."

"You were probably interrogating him about Ianto," Gwen retorted.

"Well, I am working with him, so he had to come up," John said, grinning and winking at Jack when the other man picked up on the play on words and shot him a glare.

Gwen also picked the reference, giving John a hard look before pulling up a third seat and sitting down. "What do we know?"

"Only that it's going to be hard to find her because she will be wearing the face of someone who got on the train," Jack said.

"Okay, so that rules out using the facial recognition system," Gwen said, thinking. "Is she able to copy a humans mind?"

"No," John said, watching her curiously. "Why?"

"Well, she can't exactly step into their lives if she can't." Gwen seemed to notice they still hadn't caught on. "We can run a search on missing persons, or see if there are any reports of people acting strangely. You know, check peoples work email and such."

"Not bad," John said, gesturing toward her. "I see why you hired her."

Jack nodded, picking up his mug and downing the last of his coffee and standing, John hurrying to follow suit. "Okay, let’s go back to the Hub and start running those checks."

"I can't believe she said that."

"And that's not all she said." Rhys leaned back against the table, resting his beer down as he looked at Tosh. "Apparently I'm asking to get myself killed if I keep hanging around the Hub, so if I do I deserve it."

"The Hub is one of the safest places in Cardiff," Tosh huffed, scowling. "If there's ever any trouble in there, it's because one of us brought it in."

"That's what I said. But did she listen to me?" Rhys sighed, taking a quick drink before continuing. "And then first thing this morning she gets up and leaves without so much as an explanation as to where she was going. No doubt off to look for Jack, despite her promising me last night she was finally going to let it go."

"She made the same promise to Owen and I a month ago," Tosh said. She sighed, moving toward where the kettle had finally finished boiling and gathering things to make coffee. "Well, at least you tried."

"And I'll keep trying," he said. "If she keeps this up she's going to burn out. I'd hate to see what she's like at work."

"She's been rather frustrating," Tosh laughed to herself. "That's why I had to take time off. I was afraid I'd shoot her."

"At the moment I wouldn't mind taking a pot shot myself," he admitted, looking up as the door opened and spotting Owen. "Haven't seen Gwen by any chance?"

"Sorry mate," Owen nodded his greeting, then grinned and pointed over his shoulder. "Take a look at who I did find."

Tosh gave a short cry, rushing across the space and throwing her arms around Ianto. He laughed, returning the embrace as Owen closed the door. Ianto threw an amused look at Owen. "I'm beginning to get the impression that I've been missed."

"Mate, things went to shit when you left." Owen shook his head, wandering over the fridge and retrieving his own beer. "I never really paid attention to how much you actually did until there was no one there to do it."

"We'll have to fill you in," Tosh said, finally stepping back and tugging him further into the room.

"Even I noticed," Rhys said, extending a hand that Ianto accepted. "Good to see you're all right."

"I'm a little surprised to see you here," Ianto admitted.

"Rhys is almost one of us these days," Owen said, tossing the bottle top in the direction of the bin. "Save for being on the Torchwood pay roll, of course."

"Given what you lot do, I think I'll stick to lorries," Rhys said.

Ianto smiled. "Wise decision."

"Want a beer?" Owen asked, gesturing into the interior of the fridge.

Ianto nodded, catching the one Owen tossed his way before the four moved into the living room. They sat around, Rhys and Ianto sitting on one couch while Tosh and Owen curled up on the other, Ianto raising a questioning eyebrow when he spotted it.

"We've been together a few months now," Tosh explained.

"I was wondering if you two would ever get together," Ianto said, stretching his legs out in front of him. He took a sip from his beer, glancing toward Tosh's computer. He spotted Owen's warning look and gave him a reassuring smile. "So how come you're not at the Hub, Tosh?"

"Taking some time off," she said. "I haven't had a holiday since I joined six years ago, so I thought 'why not'."

"But you stayed in Cardiff?"

"Well, I didn't want to leave Owen." She smiled at the man in question, who returned it, threading his fingers through hers. She looked back over at Ianto. "How have things been for you?"

"Rather busy, actually." Ianto frowned. "I only managed about a month-and-a-half before I ended up being caught up in it all again. Been doing a bit of freelance work, which, of course, includes hunting the Plasmavore."

"Yes, that." Owen narrowed his eyes. "You're working with John?"

"I am."

"Why?"

"Our paths crossed, and we realised that in order to defeat it we needed to work together." Ianto shrugged. "We formed a truce of sorts. He's not that bad a guy once you get to know him."

"Yes, but..." Owen pulled a face. "Doesn't he drive you mad?"

"No more than Jack ever did." Ianto paused, considering that. "Okay, slightly more than Jack did. But I think I have John on something of a leash now. He knows where the line is."

"Who's John?" Rhys asked.

"Old flame of Jack's," Tosh replied. "From long ago. Back before Jack joined Torchwood in fact. He came to Earth a while ago and betrayed us. Apparently now he's on our side."

"Well, I wouldn't say our side exactly," Ianto said, trailing his thumb over the lip of the bottle. "We have a common enemy. Once the Plasmavore has been dealt with I wouldn't be altogether surprised if he turns on you."

"But not on you." Owen stared at him. "What, you shagging him?"

Ianto didn't speak, levelling his gaze on Owen.

"Oh my god, you are," Tosh said, straightening. "But Jack–"

"Is no longer my problem," Ianto finished, grip tightening around his drink.

"Ianto," Tosh lips formed a tight thin line as she looked at him. "Jack hasn't had anyone since you."

"Admittedly, Gwen's tried," Owen said, meeting Rhys' eye and not seeing any real surprise, just acceptance. "Jack keeps turning her down. Turns everyone down, actually."

"Like I said, not my problem." Ianto raised his beer to his lips. "Jack had his chance. He blew it."

"You're still in love with him though," Tosh said.

Ianto looked at her sharply.

"I think he's in love with you too, mate," Owen said softly. "I think it took losing you for him to realise it."

"He never stopped trying to find you," Tosh continued.

"They're right," Rhys said, watching the younger man beside him. "He took it hard. I mean, he's even living at your place now. He says it's because he's avoiding Gwen, but I reckon he's waiting for you to come home."

Ianto set his jaw, lowering the bottle, knuckles white as he glared at the spot in front of him. "I came here to find the Plasmavore."

"Yeah. We know." Owen gave him a sympathetic look before clearing his throat, patting the back of Tosh's hand. "Okay, so what do we have?"

***

"So did you have anything to do with the design of this place?" John asked, gesturing toward the fountain.

"No," Jack looked at him. "Why?"

"Oh, I don't know." John raised his eyebrows. "Big vertical fountain strutting up directly above the base. Looks like someone’s compensating for something."

Jack scoffed. "You know I've got no need to compensate for anything."

"Oh, I know." John smirked. "Bit cold here, though. Cardiff. Might cause some permanent shrinkage if you hang around long enough."

Gwen had to fight back the laughter as Jack glared at John, taking a swipe at him. John laughed, ducking away and hooking his thumbs through his belt as they continued across the Plass toward the elevator entrance to the Hub. They were almost there when John slowed, frowning.

Gwen turned to look at him, noting that he was staring across the Plass. "What is it?"

"Just thought I saw something," John replied, shaking it off. "You have camera feeds down in your base, right?"

"Access to all of Cardiff's CCTV coverage," Jack confirmed. "Why?"

"Just need to check something. I'm so sure I saw..."

"What?"

"Never mind. Let's just check the footage."

They didn't speak as they headed down, John glancing toward where he was sure he'd spotted something until they were below street level. Jack frowned, watching him as they stepped off at the base, John following Gwen over to her desk.

"You're very sure you saw something," Jack observed.

"When you've been hunting this thing as long as I have, you tend to get a little jumpy," John replied. "Especially considering how she has a tendency to sneak up on you and bite you in the neck."

Gwen turned to look at him. "Like a vampire?"

"Where the stories come from, Sweetheart," John scowled. "Only this one uses a straw."

"Sounds like another Plasmavore I've heard of," Jack muttered.

"Friends, remember?" John said.

"True."

"Right then." Gwen called up the CCTV footage. "Where do you think you saw something?"

"Under the bridge," John replied. "In the shadows there."

Gwen hit a few keys, bringing up that footage and rewinding it back to when they had been moving across the Plass. Jack frowned, leaning forward. "Gwen, can you zoom that in?"

"I see it." Gwen hit a couple more keys, centring the image onto the movement, bringing it up closer. "That's a...."

"A Carshy," John confirmed, pointing. "The second one is just behind it. They got here quicker than I thought they would."

"Someone’s with them," Jack said. "Gwen?"

"I'm working on it."

They watched as the image zoomed in on the half hidden form, the pixilation smoothing out before zooming in further. Gwen hit a couple more buttons, isolating the face and raising the light, giving form to the image. John grinned as the face came into view, knowing they had their woman.

"Can you identify her?" John asked, taking out his phone and taking a picture of the image.

"Hang on." Gwen ran the image through the facial recognition program, a name and details popping up on the screen. "Got it. Her name is Christina Ryder. She's from Newport, but commutes to Cardiff twice a week to work as a nurse in the Outpatients ward at the hospital." Gwen called up another window, fingers flying across the keyboard as the information scrolled across the screen. "She didn't check into work this morning."

"That's our girl then." John glanced at his phone as he got a message back to answer his picture message. Reading it, he looked at Gwen. "Any chance of printing out the details?"

"Sure."

Gwen hit print, John picking up the documents and moving away as he hit a speed dial button on his phone. "You'll excuse me."

He felt Jack's eyes on his back as he moved down into an isolated area of the Hub, knowing that Gwen and Jack were watching him and wishing he could take a picture of the look on Jack's face. Hearing an answer on the other end of the line, John set his jaw.

"It's me. I got those detail's you wanted."

***

"Well?" Ianto leaned against the wall, hearing Tosh, Owen and Rhys chatting behind him as they debated something on the tv. "What do you know?"

"Christina Ryder. 28-year-old nurse from Newport, in Cardiff to work at the hospital for the next couple of days. She has a local address in an apartment complex near the Bay. No car to speak of since she apparently lost he license a month ago after trying to run her ex-boyfriend down. Sounds like my type of girl."

Ianto rolled his eyes. "Any family in Cardiff?"

"No... not that I can see. She's from Hastings, originally, but came to Wales to do her university course and never left. Not much money, and it seems she's been paying off a credit card debt. Ooo, shoplifting conviction a couple of years back. You two have something in common."

"Need I remind you that she's a Plasmavore," Ianto said, scowling. "And what happened last time you tried to set me up with someone I had something in common with."

"I'm starting to think she targets the ones that would catch our eye," John said. "First me, then you, now one that would interest both of us. If it wasn't for the fact she'd try and suck us dry in a bad way in our sleep, I'd be going for a threesome."

"Yes, you would." Ianto let out a long sigh. "So what's your plan?"

"She was just above the Hub a few minutes ago, so I'm going to try and track her. You?"

"I'll see if I can find where's she's set up base," Ianto glanced back toward the others, noticing Owen watching him. "We can rule out Christina's apartment, but I'm sure there are warehouses and storage facilities nearby that she would be able to keep the Carshy in."

"Sounds like a plan to me. Just don't get yourself killed."

"You're the one going after her."

"True, but that wouldn't stop her from doubling back like she did two months ago in Aberdeen."

"I can't wait to be rid of her." Ianto sighed, glancing at his watch. "We'll meet up at eight."

"It's a date."

"Who were you calling?" Gwen asked as they headed across the Plass toward where they had seen the Plasmavore.

"My partner," John replied simply. "Didn't think I was in this alone, did you?"

"And exactly what did Ianto have to say?" Jack asked, noting Gwen's sharp look.

"Wait, I thought Ianto was in London," Gwen said.

"Nope. He's currently out looking for her little base. He usually finds it, too." John shrugged it off. "He's just got a sixth sense for these things."

"What makes him so good at Weevil hunting," Jack said. "How we first met, actually."

"So he told me." John glanced at him. "You told him to bugger off."

"Hey, hot guy in tight jeans shows up and knows about Weevils, I'm entitled to be cautious." Jack shot him a look. "I wanted to find out who he was."

"Yeap, and you still told him to bugger off. Although how you could resist that coffee..." John gave Jack the once over. "Still can't see why he likes the coat, though. Doesn't really suit you."

"I think it does," Gwen said.

John glanced at her. "You've obviously never seen him in tight leather pants and an equally tight open necked shirt. That coat is hiding some of his best assets."

Jack smirked, chuckling to himself as he saw Gwen's eyes drift toward one of those hidden assets and noting John's amused look when he caught it too. "Okay, focus people. We've got a Plasmavore to find, remember? So eyes off my arse."

"As fine an arse as it is," John commented. "You ever let Eye Candy–"

Jack shot him a warning look, John halting mid sentence and grinning, throwing Jack a wink.

"I'll take that as a yes. God, you really do like him, don't you. You're very choosey over who you let do that." John ignored the growing heat in that look. "Not that I blame you. He's got quite a few talents."

Gwen stopped dead, staring at him. "You did not."

John's grin widened as he turned toward them, noticing that Jack has stopped in his tracks as well and was staring at him. John gave a dismissive wave. "Plasmavore, remember? We leave it too long and the trail will get the cold."

Gwen reached out, fingers touching Jack's arm lightly as he glared at John. Jack narrowed his eyes, setting his jaw before he looked toward the bridge. "She probably headed toward the Bay."

"That'd be my guess." John hooked his thumbs into his belt, setting off. They continued on, Gwen eventually leaving Jack's side to try and determine which direction she took. John moved to stand beside Jack, watching her. "There was nothing in it, Jack. From either of us."

"I don't care." Jack watched as Gwen showed the picture of Christina to a young man.

"But you do care," John looked at him, studying his expression. "You've spent too much time in the 21st Century, Jack. You've picked up some of their values and beliefs."

"I never tie myself down, and I don't do domestic."

"Yeah. Right."

Gwen came back toward them, pointing down toward the Bay side. "Apparently she headed out that way. They didn't say anything about dogs, though."

"Might have sent the Carshy out for a meal," John observed.

Gwen looked at him sharply. "What do you mean?"

"He means we might want to keep an eye out for any reports on unexplained deaths in the area," Jack said.

"Oh god..."

John stared into the far distance, scowling as a breeze kicked up off the bay and the sound of other people faded behind them. "Honestly, what do you see in this place? When it's not raining it's still cold, and of a night everything freezes."

"It has a certain charm. Besides," Jack shot Gwen a small smile. "I love the accents."

"Okay, I'll give you that." John also gave Gwen a smile, noting her faint blush. He frowned at the sound of a distant howl, slowing. "That isn't good."

"It's just a dog," Gwen said, glancing at him. "Anyway, I think there's a housing estate not far from here. Should place us around the area that Christina lived."

Jack reached up, hooking a hand behind John's neck and trailing his thumb over the skin, at the same time pushing lightly and encouraging John forward. "Since when did you get so easily spooked?"

"This hunt has been the worst one I've ever been on," John said, frowning and sliding closing the Jack, not one to waste an opportunity. "It's taken me closer to death more times than I'll be happy to admit to."

"I thought you liked living on the edge."

"This stopped being fun a long time ago." John stared into the distance, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck prickle. "This got personal."

Gwen watched them, noting that Jack had now slid an arm around John's shoulders, but surprisingly she didn't feel the usual flare of jealousy. It was almost as if Jack was comforting John. "How much are you getting paid for this?"

"I'm not," John admitted. "I've been paid for the occasional hunt in between, but not this. I would have been paid by the Time Agency, but they were shut down a couple of years ago. Well... a couple of my years ago."

The howl came closer, this time Jack slowing. "That's not a normal dog, is it?"

"Like I said: you've been out of the game too long." John reached for one of his guns, arming it. "That's definitely a Carshy."

Gwen looked around, frowning as she turned and reached for her own gun. "We're upwind to it."

"It's definitely got the scent of something," Jack agreed as the howl came again.

"Me, probably." John narrowed his eyes, scanning their surroundings. "Once a Carshy has your scent, it has it for life. I could leave the country, but if the Plasmavore told it to find and kill me, it would. Best hunting beasts in the galaxy."

"Also the hardest to train," Jack pointed out.

"Believe me, these ones are trained." John spun as a howl came from behind them. "Trained to kill."

***

"What exactly are we looking for again?"

Ianto looked back at Owen. "A deserted warehouse, unused storage facility, or even an abandoned house," he looked forward again, watching the houses as they passed them. "Somewhere just enough out of the way not to be noticed, but large enough for her to keep her Carshy."

"I believe there's an old shop down one of the side streets," Tosh said as she took the next corner, watching the afternoon traffic as she navigated her way through the streets of Cardiff. "It's down toward the bay area, but far enough away that it isn't of interest to real estate agents and developers."

Owen glanced up. "How do you know that?"

"I ran a search on the area before we left."

"Always efficient," Ianto observed with a faint smile.

"Had to become more so when you left." Tosh returned the smile. "I had to do all the research on my own."

"Oi." Owen frowned. "I helped."

"Yes, you did." Tosh chuckled, glancing at Ianto. "We normally had to help him navigate his way out of the archives and Vault. He still gets lost down there."

"There's a trick to it," Ianto admitted. "I suppose having a good sense of direction helps."

Owen glared at him. "You saying I have no sense of direction?"

"You got lost on the way to Gwen's wedding," Ianto reminded him, causing Tosh to laugh.

"Yeah, well, she had it out in the bloody countryside, didn't she." Owen scowled, glaring out the window. "I hate the countryside."

"Yes, Owen, we know." Tosh turned onto a side street, the quality of the housing a striking contrast to those on the main street, indicating they had entered a poorer area of the city.

"This looks promising," Ianto said, gesturing to the run down homes. "Food supply."

"That's a cheery thought." Owen shot him a look. "You haven't changed that much."

Tosh pulled the car over in front of a shopfront, the three taking in the boarded up windows and peeling paint. "So?" She said, looking at Ianto. "Think this might be the place?"

"Only one way to find out," he pointed out, reaching inside his jacket and pulling out a gun.

"Where the hell did you get that?" Owen asked, leaning between the seats.

Ianto looked at him. "Need you ask?"

"John," Tosh said, faint distain in her voice.

Ianto nodded, opening the car door. "Let's go then."

***

"Maybe we should run," Gwen said, her grip tightening on her weapon as the howling moved ever closer. "Get back to the Hub."

"That would mean going through a crowded area,” Jack pointed out. "More people would get hurt. We can't risk it."

"Besides," John glanced behind him as another howl came, sending a chill down his spine. "Once they have your scent they won't stop until they're called off."

"So we're stuck then," Gwen said.

"Yeap."

"If she kills us now she'll be exposing herself, won't she?" Jack looked at John. "She can't have had enough time to organise everything."

"You'd be surprised." John half raised his weapon at a movement, lowering it again as he realised it was just the wind catching a piece of paper. "By the time Ianto and I had worked out who she was, she'd already rigged the London Eye with explosives and managed to make Big Ben run backwards."

"That's who did that," Jack observed.

"That was on the news," Gwen frowned. "But the media said it was a broken spring."

"Told you, Jones is brilliant." John smiled. "Had the media practically eating the story out of his hand. Put together a report and delivered it under the guise of a maintainer of the clock. Had them 100% convinced. Plus, it helped we had a reporter on side. Smith is just as good. What Ianto didn't do, Sarah-Jane did. I'm going to make a point of never crossing them."

"You should never cross Ianto anyway," Jack said.

John shot him a look. "And yet you did."

"Now's not really the time," Gwen said, raising her gun as she spotting the glowing red eyes a second before the Carshy appeared. "We have a problem."

"Where's the other one," John said, glancing behind them. "I'm sure I heard it."

"It might have been an echo," Gwen said.

Jack watched as the Carshy came to a stop, sitting back on its haunches and glaring at them, teeth glittering in the light as it snarled. "It’s not attacking."

"The hell?" John stared at it, shaking his head. "Something's not right here. They never just sit there."

"Maybe it just wants to scare us," Gwen observed.

"It's bloody well done that," John replied.

Jack shot him a look, noting the way a bead of sweat was trickling down John's forehead. "You're terrified."

"I have issues with these things," John said, taking a step back in the direction they had come. "Nearly got my heart torn out by one a few months ago. If Jones hadn't shown up I'd be dead."

Jack stared at him a moment longer before looking back at the Carshy. "Okay, I think we can assume it doesn't want us going this way, so let's go back."

"What about the other one?" Gwen asked.

"I think it's gone. Or it could just be an echo, like you said." Jack continued backing away slowly, keeping his eye on the Carshy that made no move to follow them. "See, no reaction. It just wants us to go."

The sound of the low growl was the only warning he got before he found himself pinned to the ground, staring up into glowing red eyes. He heard Gwen and John cry out, then a blaze of pain and darkness.

***

Despite Owen's more than willingness to kick the door in to gain entry, Ianto and Tosh had managed to persuade him otherwise by pointing out that they didn't want the Plasmavore finding out about them if this was indeed her base. Ianto picked the lock, allowing Owen to enter first before following, Tosh drawing her own weapon and coming in behind.

Dust clung to the air, causing the three to fight the need the cough. The interior was dark, shafts of daylight sliding in between the planks of wood that boarded the windows. Owen pointed to the floor, the Tosh and Ianto noticing like he had that the dust there had been disturbed.

They split up, searching the shopfront and adjoining office and living quarters upstairs. They soon came to realise that no one was home, Ianto sighing as he found Tosh standing in the shop's back office, a frown on her face as she nodded.

"Okay, we'll be right there." She looked up as she spotted him. "Owen found something upstairs."

Ianto nodded, following her to an open door to the side, the two climbing the stairs and wincing slightly as the wood creaked beneath each step. They found Owen in the main living area, leaning against a table as he flicked through papers spread out across it.

"I think I found out what she's up too," he said, pointing down at the paperwork. "She's going after the nuclear plant."

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