CHAPTER ONE

Hostage

One gunshot among the many that echoed through the warehouse did not stand out at all. Yet it was that one bullet that changed the outcome of this chase. Jack knew that they were outnumbered and outgunned, but he had thought that they could outsmart these terrorists. Obviously he had been wrong.

It was all Tosh could manage not to scream in pain. The bullet had hit her in the thigh, but she was lucky enough that Owen could contain the blood flow for now. Walking was hard but manageable, running however was out of the question. Tosh shot an apologetic look Jack's way and he nodded reassuringly.

He was far from reassured. Tosh and Owen sat well hidden between two huge crates that ironically enough were marked as explosives. Jack himself stood behind a pillar in the middle of an aisle, watching the silhouettes of their followers from afar. He could see Ianto crouching behind a crate closer to the terrorists and from Ianto's looking beside him Jack knew that Gwen was there too. They were all safe, but only for the moment. The terrorists were moving towards them, searching every dark corner with guns at the ready. It was just a matter of time before they spotted Gwen and Ianto.

Jack saw movement in the corner of his right eye and turned to see a terrorist looking through the maze of crates. Seconds now, no more. Jack looked to his left and saw that Owen had already lifted the injured Tosh in his arms, awaiting Jack's orders to run. Jack tried to signal to Ianto and he was already nodding his understanding. They had one chance.

Jack made sure the man on his right was looking the other way before he ran out from where he was hiding and aimed his gun.

"Over there!" another man called out. "And two more!"

Owen made a run for it with Tosh as gunshots blew past them. Then came Gwen close behind them. As soon as he saw Ianto was out of the way, Jack fired his gun into an open crate of explosives, hoping that the blast would give them enough of a diversion to get away safely. However he was nowhere near that lucky as his shot did not trigger an explosion at all, but barely two or three colorful fireworks that quickly caused chaos in the warehouse. However the diversion was short-lived and the terrorists were soon back on the team's trail.

The fireworks had given Jack a few important seconds' head start and now he sprinted through the maze of crates and containers. He caught up to Gwen and pulled her with him through an open door and out onto the vast parking lot. There he saw the black SUV come to a stop with squealing tires. Tosh opened the back door and called for Gwen and Jack to run. Just as they made it to the car and Gwen jumped in next to Tosh, a gunshot hit the car just inches from Gwen's head.

Jack thought Gwen was the last of the team as he was about to shove the door shut behind her, but then he remembered Ianto. He must have fallen behind somehow and was now running for all his worth towards the car with gun shots flying past him and the terrorists close behind him. They were catching up.

"Come on, Ianto, run!" Gwen called from inside the SUV.

A shot hit the ground just where Ianto had just stepped. Mid-run, he swung his arm around and fired his gun towards his followers. That was his mistake.

The movement put Ianto in the line of fire and two bullets hit him one after the other. The first hit him in the calf, sending him sprawling to the ground, and the second went straight through his shoulder as he fell. Jack watched helplessly as Ianto hit his head on the asphalt and remained immobile on the ground. The terrorists caught up to him and pulled him to his knees by the collar of his suit.

"No!" Jack roared and fired at the one man who was still running towards the SUV. The terrorist fell dead to the ground with a hole through his brain and Jack aimed at the man holding Ianto.

"Don't shoot!" the man shouted, waving his gun at Ianto's head. "I'll kill him!"

He wasn't bluffing, Jack knew as much and it tore at his heart. The terrorists were fifteen, maybe twenty yards away. Only four of them had made it out of the warehouse. 'Why didn't I run?' Jack asked himself. 'I could've made it to Ianto and shot the men down, then fight off whoever came close enough'. As the scene played out in Jack's head, Gwen and Owen stepped out of the car, guns in their hands but awaiting orders. Tosh watched silently, still in the SUV nursing her injured leg.

A pool of blood was growing underneath Ianto and his white dress shirt quickly turned crimson. The terrorist's grip on his collar was all that held him up as his head spun from the blow and the steady blood loss. His gaze was unfocused and tired.

Jack saw how Ianto was losing against his injuries. He put his hands up and took but a step towards the enemy. "Let him go. Let him go and we'll let you go." He spoke calmly, trying not to sound intimidating as to allay the terrorists.

The three other terrorists looked to Ianto's captor for directions, giving away his leader role. The man stared at Jack for a moment, then down on his dying hostage and back up. Through the holes in the black mask two icy blue eyes tried to spy a weakness in the dark-haired captain. When Jack interrupted their stare-down and glanced down at Ianto for a split second, the terrorist knew.

"No, I'll keep him," he said so monotonously and emotionlessly that it sounded like a Dalek in Jack's ears. "In case you decide to try and stop us again. If you do..."

Pang! The terrorist put a bullet in Ianto's already blasted leg. A scream like nothing Jack had ever heard erupted from Ianto's throat before he succumbed to the pain and lost consciousness. Jack was holding back Gwen who had made to attack the terrorists and Owen was but a twitch of a finger from firing his gun.

A car speeded onto the yard behind the terrorists, their red van with the giant headlights. It drove up to them and the side door flew open, two more men jumping out with guns at the ready. The leader waved at them to carry Ianto into the car. Jack was about to run at them himself out of pure rage as he watched them mercilessly drag their unconscious captive over to the van and hurl him onto the floor.

The Torchwood team could not see the terrorist leader's scornful smirk underneath the mask, but his eyes gave it away. He took a menacing step towards them, his gun still pointing in Ianto's direction.

"Follow us and he dies."

One last cold-hearted stare at Jack and then he was gone. He jumped in the passenger seat of the van and as soon as his door slammed shut the driver hit the pedal and drove off the way he'd come. All they left behind was the stench of burned rubber and diesel, four despairing Torchwood members and Ianto's blood trail on the ground.

Thank you for reading and please leave a review to let me know what you think! My very first Torchwood fanfic and I've already started torturing my favorite character - next chapter will be up very soon...