The large scaly thing ran, dragging one leg as it went. A trail of bluish blood let Jack know where it was heading. Ianto had been able to just graze the thing as it ran for the sewers. They'd been worried about weevils, but as of yet, they had been lucky. None to be seen which worried Jack as he slowed his pace, hearing the thing panting and groaning in pain.
He looked around the corner and saw the thing staring at a wall. Great, he thought, he had it at a dead end.
"Jack?" Gwen's voice crackled. "Where are you?"
"I'm in the northeast corner." he whispered back. "I've got it cornered. Be quiet if any of you head this way."
Ianto and Tosh slowly made their way to the northeast corner, trying to be quiet per Jack's orders. The sludge on the ground in spots made that a bit difficult, especially when Tosh nearly slipped in the muck. Luckily for her, Ianto had been able to throw out an arm to keep her from falling.
"I'm going to finish him off." Jack informed the others.
"Wait until we're all up there." Owen said.
"Don't do anything stupid." Ianto warned.
"Would I ever?" Jack replied with a laugh.
"Jack." Ianto said in a tone of voice that Jack knew all too well. Don't be stupid, and be careful was its translation.
Jack stepped out from his hiding spot just as the wall in front of the thing seemed to open up into a swirling void.
"Stay back!" Jack ordered the others.
"What's going on?" Gwen asked.
"Just stay back." he repeated.
"We're up in the same corner." Tosh said. "If you need help..."
"Stay back." he repeated yet again.
The thing turned around and looked at Jack, it smiled showing multiple rows of sharp teeth, drool dripping from the corners of its hideous mouth. Jack fired, knocking the thing back a bit. He took a firm stance, getting ready to fire again when the void seemed to start spinning, creating a near vacuum effect in the small area.
"Jack?" Ianto's panicked voice called out.
"Stay!" Jack replied, yelling over the growing whir of the increasingly faster spinning of the void.
"Jack!" all of them cried out at once as they rushed towards the sound.
Jack fell to the ground as the force become stronger. His fingers tried in a futile attempt to dig into the slimy ground, but it was no use. The void was pulling him in after the thing he had just been hunting.
"Oh my God!" Gwen cried as she and the others rounded the corner.
"Stay there!" Jack called out as he tried to dig his fingers in, his nails breaking and becoming bloody as he did so.
"Jack!" Ianto called, moving to try to help him.
"Ianto, no!" Owen said, grabbing the other man and holding him back.
"I'm going to try to find something to throw to him." Tosh said, desperate for a way to help. She couldn't stand the idea of just watching as Jack inched closer and closer to the whirling void.
Ianto's stomach was flopping all over the place as he watched helplessly. Jack was only inches from being dragged in and Gwen and Owen were holding him back, not letting go to help him.
"Tosh?" Gwen called.
"I can't find anything." she called back as she wiped the tears from her face. She felt helpless and she hated that feeling. All of them did.
Ianto struggled against the arms restraining him and finally broke free, sending Gwen tumbling to the ground as he raced towards Jack, Owen right behind him.
"Jack!" Ianto called, throwing his hands out in an attempt to reach him.
Jack stretched out as much as he could, just barely reaching both Ianto and Owen's outstretched hands and holding on as tight as he could given the limited contact he had with both men's hands. He clutched to their fingers as tightly as he could, but it was no use. With one final struggle to hold onto them, his hands, covered in sludge as they were, became to slick coupled with the sweat that began to cover him in his fight. With one last look to Ianto, his hands slipped from theirs and he was sucked into the void.
"No!" Ianto cried as he got to his feet, running to the void that was disappearing just as quickly as it had appeared.
"Ianto." Gwen said, tears streaming down her face as she walked up behind him, watching the void shrink down to a pin prick as they all sat panting and crying.
"No." Ianto shook his head. "We need to figure out a way to get him out of there."
"We don't know what it is." Owen pointed out. "We don't know where it goes."
"Then we'll find out!" he bellowed. "Let's get back to the hub."
They all watced in surprise he left them all with only one quick glance over his shoulder at the wall were he'd seen Jack disappear.
"We're going to get him back." he said before leaving them all to hurry after him.
Faith sat in one of the office chairs and spun around in total boredom. Jack had asked her to come by to try to speak to an alien they had captured, and he was apparently running late.
"Finally." she said as she got up when she heard the door open. "If you tell someone to meet you at a certain time, the least you could do is..." her voiced trailed off when she saw the group walk in, covered in sweat and slime and wreaking of the sewers. Jack was not with them. "What happened?"
"Tosh, get on the computer, see if you can find any rift activity." Ianto said in an authoritative tone.
Faith watched as he barked out orders to Gwen and Owen as well before turning to her. He didn't say a word. He just looked at her for a minute and then turned and headed to Jack's office.
"What happened?" Faith asked again.
"There was some sort of void." Owen said. "Jack was sucked in."
"Oh no." she whispered. "What can I do?"
"I can't think of anything." he answered. "Can't think of anything any of us cn do. We don't know anything about that damned thing."
"I'll go see if Ianto has anything for me." she said, turning and heading for the stairs.
She walked up the stairs and looked down at the others. Each of them worked in silence, none of them wanting to really talk about what happened. None of them wanting to believe Jack was truly gone. She stopped and knocked on the door but got no response. She thought a moment, and then slowly opened the door to find Ianto sitting behind Jack's desk, holding Jack's greatcoat.
"He can't be really gone." he said as she shut the door behind her.
"Ianto, do you have any idea how to find him?" she asked as she moved around and knelt next to the chair, holding his free hand.
"No, but I will figure it out." he said, looking at her with bloodshot eyes.
"What can I do to help?" she asked, taking a tissue from her pocket and handing it to him.
"You think we can find him?" he asked, hope evident in his voice.
"We can at least try." she said, smiling reassuringly. "Just tell me what you need and I'll do my best."
"Thank you." he said as he put the coat down. "I know how you feel about him."
"I maybe a bit jealous of him at times, yes." she nodded. "But, I love you and you want to find him."
He gave Faith a description of the thing and asked if it sounded familiar at all.
"Vaguely." she said. "I'm trying to think of any aliens that travel by void."
"You know of some that might?" he asked.
"I know there are a few, but I can't remember which right now, or what they look like."
"Think, Faith, think." he urged.
"I have a book at home." she said, standing up.
"A book?" he asked skeptically.
"More of a journal." she explained. "When I get bored or can't sleep I write about the different kinds. Odd, but I do it."
"Go home, look, if you find anything at all, let me know." he said, getting to his feet.
"I will." she said, giving him a comforting hug. "Don't be too hard on them." she said. "They're just as freaked out by this." she reminded him.
"I know." he said softly.
"I'll be back as soon as I can." she said as she headed to the door.
"Please, hurry." he responded as he watched her go.
He picked up the coat again, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and headed back downstairs.