Owen stood behind Tosh as she accessed Cardiff's CCTV archives while a live feed of the Plass above them ran on another of her many computer screens. He rubbed his hands together with a glee filled expression on his face. 'He's been picking the coffee up every day since the new bloke took over the Coffee Shack.'
'Your laziness knows no bounds.' Suzie muttered from her perch on the edge on an empty desk.
'Ah, and don't forget I'm cheep.' He agreed while Tosh gave him a look over her shoulder and suppressed the urge to sigh. Suzie was however not bound by any such sense of decorum as she harrumphed their team mate with an exasperated sigh of her own.

'What? And you ladies aren't also enjoying the improved Captain?'
'Yes but it doesn't mean you have to be a prat about it.' Suzie retorted before turning to Tosh. 'And we are spying on our Captain because?'
'Because it shuts me up.' Owen smiled at her, frowning when Tosh nodded.
'That and I am trying to get a clean image of our new favourite coffee vendor to run though my facial recognition programme. But he's awfully good at avoiding cameras.'
'How good?' Suzie slid to her feet and crossed the short distance to Tosh's work station, shoving Owen aside.
'Too good.'
'Well now I'm curious.'

Tosh pulled up the public records for the sale of the Coffee Shack and gestured to his name. 'It doesn't help that his name is the Welsh equivalent of John Smith.'
'Are you suggesting.' Owen drawled, not wanting to be left out of the conversation. 'That he's on the run or in witness protection or something.'
She shrugged. 'It's probably nothing but most criminals don't manage to avoid the cameras this well so why is this man doing exactly that.'
'And are we looking with the permission of our lord and master?' Owen asked, watching as Tosh nodded.
Suzie scoffed. 'Dear god don't let himself catch you calling him that or we'll never hear the end of it.'

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Ianto smiled as his favourite customer strutted into the Coffee Shack. 'Captain Harkness.'
'Ianto Jones you look good enough to eat.'
He smirked at the predatory grin all perfect white teeth and dimpled chin. 'That's harassment that is.'
Jack grinned as his eyes roamed the six feet of pure perfection smiling back at him. From the black jeans to the brilliant emerald shirt and waistcoat he wore and up to the blue eyes that held such a fascination for him. They mirrored a little something he'd seen in his own a time or two and it intrigued him more than the younger man's classic good looks and maddeningly sexy accent. 'Oh, you have no idea.'
Ianto rolled his eyes as the older man purred at him while fixing him with a hopeful leer. 'Your usual then?'
He leaned on the counter. 'With a side order of your phone number.' And winked. 'I'd really like to have you for supper.'
Handing over the first coffee Ianto smiled. 'You certainly are persistent.'
'I can be a very patient man.' He frowned at the rich laughter his comment gained.
'I'll buy persistent but not patient.'
Jack shrugged. 'I always thought virtue was overrated anyway.'
Ianto's laugh filled the tiny coffee shop as he started making the rest of Jack's order.

Jack walked away with four cups of coffee and a spring in his step. He may not have gotten Ianto's number today but tomorrow was only another cataclysmic alien event away. He could wait. The rarely listened to whisper of his conscience, the one that had only grown since his life changing meeting with a certain time travelling enigma in a blue box, suggested he could try playing hard to get. His team looked up as he descended into his underground lair trying not to drop the coffees as he laughed. As if that was ever going to happen.

Owen was waiting for him with his give-me hands opening and closing while he did a curious little dance.
'Do I need to drug test you? I know I'm a bit lax as your superior officer but.' Jack tilted his head slightly as he watched Owen try to stand still. 'Have you been at the Jaxian jumping beans again.'
'That was a one time error in judgement when I was incredibly shitfaced. If you hadn't called me in at three in the morning for a false alarm it would never have happened. Now give me my coffee.'
He handed the cup over and stepped around his doctor. 'Ladies.'
Suzie looked up from the spare work station beside Tosh and smiled. 'That coffee smells amazing.'
'He's trying a new blend with the principal beans from Indonesia.'
She snorted. 'Like I care.' Taking the coffee she tried a sip. 'This is however his best blend yet.'
Handing Tosh her coffee he sipped his while nodding. 'I may have said as much at the time. Are we any closer on finding out who he is?'

Tosh groaned, not something that left Jack feeling very encouraged.
'He's like a ghost. This is beyond even MI6 level stuff.'
Owen finished inhaling his coffee and tossed the empty cup in a bin as he looked up from his desk. 'Are you implying James Bond has retired and brought a crappy coffee kiosk in Cardiff?'
'I didn't have you pegged as a poet Owen.'
'I'm not Jack.' He leaned back in his chair and swung his feet onto the desk. 'But it does have a certain rhyme to it.'
An alarm sounded putting an end to the current round of speculation, Jack flicked the cover on his wrist strap back and pushed a few buttons. 'Play times over kiddies.'

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Ianto knew he was being watched. It was a fact of life except this time there was no tingle at the back of his skull to suggest it was another player of the great game watching him. This was a predator of a different kind albeit one no less dangerous. But it was a challenge and now he could count a dashing Captain of uncertain origins among his spectators.

He, like his brethren, was a man hewn in battle and born of death. Frozen in time at the age of twenty five he had long stopped counting how many candles truly belonged on his birthday cake. Born when Victoria was Queen he had lived and died many deaths but it was the first that haunted him still.

And of all those an immortal can expect to have observing him, his sanctioned watcher was not well skilled at remaining unseen. There had been times of temptation to slip a score card into his pocket. He didn't because there was always the doubt that perhaps there was another watcher watching his watcher and wasn't that a trip. But for now at least there were no other immortals to worry about. Cardiff had enough of a reputation that most of their kind seemed to avoid it. Not that anyone ever had a good reason for this, it was just simply one of those spots that was left well alone. And yet it would do for the present.

He had slowly settled into the city and was looking at warehouses later in the day. He needed to purchase a space big enough to practice his skills. The sort place where a man welding a katana wasn't going to be interrupted by neighbours trying to borrow sugar. He might not be an active participant in the game but that was no excuse to let his standards slip. That was the sort of thinking that cost heads and he hadn't finished using his yet.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Ianto frowned at the listing as he circled the dilapidated offering and shook his head at the perky blonde estate agent. 'I'm sorry but this wont do either. I'm looking to establish a storage facility not an underground rave. Do you have a building with a roof and a door that locks?'
She smiled while checking the next listing and nodded. 'We could try this one Mr Jones.'
He followed the clacking of her precarious heels and considered a building he'd noticed earlier with newly inspired favour when faced with yet another crappy, abandoned warehouse that even the kids didn't want to squat in. He was about to call her back when she screamed and teetered past faster than he'd have thought wise on six inch heels.

Torn between following her and seeing what the problem was he found himself slipping into the warehouse. He hoped it was the right one, with the for sale sign in the window and the door ajar. Shrugging he realised that when faced with a hysterical woman or an unknown terror there wasn't much that would induce him to willingly approach a crying woman. Apparently it was not as difficult a choice to make as he'd first thought it should be. Once he had located the cause of the estate agent's terror he grinned. 'Cool.'
An American voice slid in beside him.
'It is rather, do I want to know why you are here Mr Jones?'
He shrugged. 'Looking at buildings, you?'
'Her, clearly.' Jack pointed at the swooping prehistoric creature. 'I don't suppose you could be persuaded into stepping outside so my team and I can handle this.'
'With what? Your dinosaur catching kit?'
'Oh and I suppose you have one in your car.'
'Of course I do. Quality kit and all.'

'Oi, you two. Stop flirting so we can catch Fido and head home yeah.'
'That's Owen.' Jack waved at the scowling man in his leather jacket.
'Doctor Owen Harper, thank you. And he is still here because?'
'It was that or deal with the crying woman outside.'
'You mean Betty.' Owen grinned. 'She's joining me for a drink later so I'd like to hurry this along if you don't mind.'
Another voice stepped out of the shadows. 'You have no standards do you.' A tall woman with curly hair sighed with practised exasperation.
'Not really Suzie. But how exactly are we supposed to catch that?' Owen pointed at the flying reptile circling them.
'What are you going to do once you have captured it.' Ianto asked as he noticed all three of them were carrying weapons. Not that he didn't have one or two concealed about his person but he wasn't here to play show and tell.

'I've got somewhere she can live.' Jack replied.
'In the bloody Hub?' Owen cried.
Jack shrugged. 'We've got the space and we could use a watchdog.'
'Whatever, doesn't answer the how part of all this.'
'Um, weevil sedative?'
'Oh. Okay.' Owen popped his kit open and withdrew a large syringe.
Ianto frowned. 'How big are the weevils around here?'
Owen grinned, handing the syringe to Jack. 'You have no idea.'

Suzie rolled her eyes before addressing Jack. 'What's the plan?' Eyeing the syringe in his hand dubiously.
'One or all of you is the distraction and when she's not looking I'll jab her with this.'
'Sounds like Owen on a date.' She muttered, not at all convinced this wasn't another of Jack's cocked up ideas with equally predictable results.
Ianto patted his jacket pocket and smiled. His prize was a chocolate bar. 'Or we could try this.'
'Chocolate?' Owen asked.
'Yeap.'
'Why?'
'It's good for serotonin levels.'
'I know that, but do dinosaurs even have serotonin?' He looked at his team mates. 'What? I might be a doctor but I am no Doctor bleeding Dolittle am I.'

With a faint smirk Ianto broke a piece of chocolate off and tossed it up, watching as the circling pterodactyl caught the treat in mid air.
Jack barked a short laugh. 'She likes it.'
'She?' Ianto asked.
'Yeah, what, you can't tell?'
'I may have friends who are almost as old as the dinosaurs but I can't remember when gender identification ever came up in passing.'
'Pity, you're missing out.'
'It's clearly a gap in my education.' Ianto began stalking the pterodactyl while tossing her small pieces of chocolate.
'I could help you with that you know.' Jack watched his quarry lure the pterodactyl into landing with more chocolate.
'Perhaps after we rescue Myfanwy from this warehouse.'
'Myfanwy?' Jack asked as he reached around to jab the needle in.
'It's better than Fido.'

Suzie turned to Owen. 'Why are we here?'
'Duno but he's right handy this one.'
'You may want to loose the heart eyes. Jack's all but pissed on him to mark his claim.'
'He's not that good looking.'
Suzie stood there, arms folded across her chest as she raised an eyebrow and said nothing.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

With the ancient reptile safely stowed in the back of the SUV Jack, hands shoved in pockets and a whistled tune for company strode over to lean against Ianto's audi.
'You know.' He smiled. 'You never did say what you were doing out here.'
'Yes I did, I was looking at the building, you?'
'Catching dinosaurs of course.'
'Didn't realise Cardiff had much call for that sort of thing.'
'Niche market. I could tell you about it over dinner.'
'If it's such a niche market I wouldn't think there was enough to carry the conversation.'
'Only one way to find out.'
Ianto nodded. 'You're right.' Amazed as he watched Jack's grin grow even bigger. 'I tell you what. I'll be at the Red Dragon at seven this evening for my supper. If you don't get any more dinosaur call outs you could always join me there.'
With a twinkle in his eyes Jack nodded. 'I'm looking forward to it Mr Jones.' Spinning on his heel he waved a quick goodbye, knowing Owen was going to start complaining about their passenger if he waited much longer. 'Until then.' With a wink he was climbing behind the wheel of the imposing black SUV and heading for his secret base.

Shaking his head Ianto wondered what had come over him and if Jack was even going to make it as he watched Torchwood driving away.