'To your left Jack'

Tosh's voice in his ear was more distracting than usual as Jack skidded around a corner, nearly losing his balance on the wet Cardiff streets, 'whaat?'

'Left, Jack LEFT'

'Oh right, 'Jack hastily retraced his steps, moving cautiously as he entered the dark alleyway. He could just make out the shadowy figure slumped on the grimy pavement, he slowed and held his hands up, 'hey' he said in Galactic Common, 'relax, you are gonna be OK, I just need to get you off the streets to somewhere safer.'

Hesitantly, the shadowy figure spoke 'I do not understand how I got here...I am wounded...can you help me... please.'

In his head Jack cursed bloody Gwen Cooper with her "assume all aliens are evil, kill them before they kill decent Cardiff citizens" attitude. Now he was closer he could see that the creature he had been chasing was a Valerian, a gentle and peace loving peoples who had a reputation for being amazing and innovative gardeners. Many planets employed them to cultivate their public spaces and these planets were renowned for the beauty of their gardens and parks. Jack had heard it rumoured that their psi rating was so high that they could bond with the life force of a planet and work with it to help it flourish and that they were more that half plant themselves. A low moan of pain reminded him that he had more pressing problems to deal with right now.

Jack touched his ear piece, 'Owen I need you here, we have an injured riftugee needs patching up before we transfer him to the Hub'

Owen Harper came running into the alleyway at top speed almost cannoning into Jack, 'what have we got?' he panted, struggling out of the rucksack that contained his first aid kit.

Jack gestured to where the humanoid was struggling to stand, 'he's peaceful and scared and, thanks to Miss "shoot first, agonise about it later" Cooper, he's also been shot.'

Owen was rummaging through his backpack, 'sending her on that two month secondment to UNIT may have been a mistake, think they must have indoctrinated her into their way of thinking' he grunted as he hunted for the supplies he needed. 'Ah, Ok' he straightened up and approached the Valerian, holding up a roll of bandage, 'medic' he said slowly.

Jack repeated the word in Galactic Common, cautiously the Valerian pushed away from the wall upon which he had been leaning and staggered a couple of steps towards Owen before making a small keening sound of distress and collapsing towards the grubby tarmac.

Jack swore and, springing forward, caught the unconscious alien into his arms; behind him he could hear Owen yelling for Tosh to bring the SUV and he took a moment to look at young being. His hair was long and white and his skin had a vaguely greenish tinge, his thin six fingered hands were long and delicate, whilst his pointed ears gave him the look of a mythological creature; all in all he was quite the most beautiful thing Jack had seen for a very long time.

The squeal of the tyres of the SUV as Toshiko threw it around the corner bought Jack back to reality. Within seconds Owen had pulled the necessary supplies from the back of the vehicle, found a vein and was about to connect an I.V when Jack saw the label on the bag,

'Owen, No!'

Owen immediately stopped what he was doing, 'I have to get some fluid into him Jack or, alien or not, he's gonna crash.'

'He's more than half plant' explained Jack nodding at the bag of normal saline Owen was about to connect, 'salt won't do him a lot of good – use dextrose or sterile water.'

'OK' deftly Owen changed the bag and helped Jack place the Valerian in the back of the SUV, getting in with his patient as Jack moved round to the driver's door. Tosh had already scooted over to make room for him. Jack got in and reversed at speed out of the alleyway, taking ten years off the life of the bus driver he pulled out in front of and missed by inches.

After a few seconds, Tosh spoke up, 'Uh, Jack, this isn't the way to the Hub'

'I know' Jack was driving furiously the wrong way up a one way street, leaning on the horn as he did so, ' he's a Valerian, he has a lot of plant DNA; he needs to be grounded in the soil to get the strength to heal.' Tosh braced herself as Jack swung the vehicle over the pavement and into Cathays Park bringing them to a shuddering halt under a large oak tree. 'Owen! How's he doing?'

'Still out of it but holding in there' came from the back

'Good, let's get him out and on the grass,' said Jack

Complaining bitterly under his breath, Owen helped Jack manoeuvre the casualty out of the SUV and onto the scrubby grass under the tree. Tosh had bundled up her jacket and placed it under the injured being's head earning herself a grateful smile from Jack

'Now what?' asked Owen as he knelt beside his patient, holding the bag of dextrose that was still infusing.

'We wait' said Jack 'and we watch'

Silently the three Torchwood operatives stood staring at the Valerian until Jack drew a small breath, 'it's starting' he whispered. Tosh gave a soft gasp and Owen swore gently. Like a time lapse video of plants growing, the long hair of the Valerian was writhing and moving across the grass, embedding itself into the soil and wrapping itself around small twigs and bits of leaf which it seemed to absorb into itself. With a soft gasp, the Valerian dug his fingers into the grass and eyes the colour of wet leaves opened.

Jack knelt next to the confused alien and placed a comforting hand upon his forehead, vivid green eyes locked onto bright blue and a small smile appeared on the Valerian's face, mirroring the one on Jack's.

'Jack, what the hell is happening' gasped Owen as he knelt on the other side of the injured man and gently pulled apart the tunic he was wearing to get a better look at the wound. The wound which not fifteen minutes earlier had looked as if it would require surgery was already knitting itself together with what seemed to be a network of fibrous roots.

'He's using planetary life force to accelerate his healing processes' murmured Jack without removing his gaze from the young alien's face. Suddenly, in a manner reminiscent of Jack when he returned to life, the Valerian let out a pained gasp and jerked upright to be caught and held close by The Captain.

'Hey, hey' whispered Jack, 'you're OK. I have you. You are safe.'

The Valerian relaxed against Jack, 'Thank you' he said in perfect English'

'Whoa' exclaimed Owen, 'he can speak English now?'

'High psi rating' aid Jack, 'now he is healing he has the strength to learn.' He tenderly stroked the young man's hair back from his forehead

'Who are you?'

'Captain Jack Harkness. And you are?'

'Gilanthianmaxiferouskolecthniarthus of the planetary system Valeria' he gave a weak chuckle at the look on Jack's face, 'most beings call me Gil'

'I can understand why' replied Jack and the two men smiled at each other.

Tosh and Owen exchanged glances; they had never seen Jack so obviously smitten with someone on such short acquaintance. Owen cleared his throat, 'I hate to interrupt this mutual admiration society but we need to get Gil back to the Hub before he draws a crowd' he gestured to where a little girl of about five or six, clutching a ragdoll dressed like a fairy with gauzy wings, was standing observing them with fascination.

She pointed at Gil, 'is he an elf?' she lisped.

Jack nodded.

'Why is he lying down? Is he sick?

'A little bit' said Jack solemnly

The little girl looked carefully at the way Jack was holding the stricken man, 'When I'm sick, mummy cuddles me better, is that what you are doing?'

Jack smiled, 'yeah but you can't tell anyone, OK?'

The little girl smiled back and nodded solemnly,' a secret?' she asked.

'That's right sweetie.'

'Mica, Mica' a tall handsome young man was running across the grass towards the group, concern evident in every line of his body

'I gotta go' said Mica, 'bye bye mister elf man. I hope you feel better soon.' Turning she ran towards the young man, 'Uncle Ianto I wanna ice-cream.'

Jack watched the cute young man sweep the little girl into his arms and swing her high into the air making her squeal with delight before settling her onto his shoulders and heading off towards the nearby ice-cream van speaking to her urgently, clearly telling her about the importance of not talking to strangers. Jack's eyes lingered on the long legs and tight arse of the young man as he walked away, he moved with a restrained grace that Jack found highly appealing. Two beautiful men in one day he mused, what are the odds? Gil moved slightly and gave a small whimper of pain which drew Jack's attention away from the home grown vision of loveliness back to the gorgeous being cradled in his arms. 'C'mon' said Jack, 'can you stand?'

Gil nodded, 'I think so'

Jack helped the shaken Valerian to his feet and, holding him close to his side, escorted him to the SUV. Tosh and Owen followed slowly

'What the hell is going on?' whispered Tosh, 'he's looking at Gil as if he wants to eat him

'Maybe he's horny' offered Owen with a snort. Tosh looked sceptical. 'When is Jack ever NOT horny?' Owen said defensively.

Tosh shook her head, 'It's more than that' she said softly, 'if I didn't know better I would say that Jack has just fallen in love at first sight.'