Jack Harkness sat at the bar of a tiny pub in Cardiff. The air smelled of piss and smoke and stale beer. Jack grimaced as he felt something warm slosh onto his lap from the overzealous man next to him, waving his pint and slurring through a horrendously out of sync set of rounds.

Jack waved down the bartender.

"Excuse me! Napkin?"

She threw him a stack of paper napkins. Jack dabbed at the large wet spot on his jeans.

He heard laughter behind him.

He swivelled on his chair around to see a young woman smiling at him, her arms crossed loosely in front of her.

"Can I help you?"

She nodded.

"Are you Captain Harkness?" Her Welsh Accent was thick and dripped with false civility.

Jack sighed.

"Let me guess. I slept with your boyfriend, girlfriend, brother, uncle, husband or something?"

The woman smiled tightly.

"My father, actually. But that's not why I'm here."

Jack inhaled sharply.

"Father huh? Damn I'm getting old."

Jack spun back around to the bar and downed the rest of his whiskey.

"So why are you here?" He let the exhaustion he felt ooze into his voice. He didn't have the energy to be charming.

The woman leaned against the bar and waved a twenty at the bartender.

"Two whiskeys. Neat."

The bartender nodded.

"I'm here, sir, to offer you work."

Jack rubbed the bridge of his nose.

" Are you with UNIT?"

The woman laughed. It was bitter, and it caught Jack's attention.

"God no. Do I look like UNIT?"

Jack looked her over. Her loose fitting black coat, white shirt, and tight jeans screamed forced casual, but the way her dark curly hair sat in a messy bun on her head, and the relaxed manner she approached him was the polar opposite of what he was used to from a UNIT officer.

"No. You don't look like a civilian either."

"Good catch."

The bartender sat the two glasses on her bar in front of the woman. She slid one over to Jack and downed the other one in one go.

"Not a casual drinker either." Jack chuckled.

She winked at Jack.

"I learned from the best. "

That was unsettling. Jack got the feeling that she knew him. Not just as a story or name in a folder, but as a person.

"So what is this work."

The woman bristled, but kept her smile firmly in place.

"Straight to business then? No introductions. No awkward attempts at flirting. Where is that Harkness Charm I've heard so much about?"

Jack sipped his whiskey.

"I'm afraid you caught me on a bad day. Try again later, I'm sure I'll be more charming." Jack stood, slamming a wad of bills on the counter before storming the door.

The woman followed him out.

"Captain Harkness."

No response.

"Captain Harkness!"

Jack's pace quickened. The woman struggled to keep up with him.

"Jack!"

Jack stopped abruptly, the woman nearly running into him. He spun around.

"Can't you take a hint?"

The woman sighed.

"Jack. This job. It's not something we can ignore."

Jack scoffed.

"Really? Because I can say from many years experience that if you ignore something, it'll go away eventually." He tried to turn away.

She grabbed his arm tightly.

"Jack. I wasn't sent here to get no for an answer. "

Jack stepped back, drawing back his coat and placing a hand on the gun strapped to his hip.

"Are you threatening me?"

The woman rolled her eyes and held up her hands in mock surrender.

"I'm not threatening you. But I am warning you. If you don't work with me, there is a good chance that this-" She gestured to the quiet night streets of Cardiff. "could very well be the last good night on Earth."

Jack's hand flexed on the gun in its holster. A group of drunks poured out of a pub, laughing and falling against each other. Jack quickly concealed his gun with his coat.

"Who are you? Who are you with? What do you want?" He fervently whispered.

"My names is Tanwyn Jones. I was sent here by Torchwood -"

Jack laughed.

"No way in hell. I disbanded Torchwood years ago. If this is some sort of -"

"Hey!" A shout from behind them.

Tanwyn spun around. A pair of cops were sprinting toward them. The bartender stood in the distance.

"That's them!."

Tanwyn grimaced.

She grabbed Jacks hand and took off sprinting down the street, the late night roads providing little cover or distraction. The shrill whistles and shouts from the officers behind them were constant.

Tanwyn pulled up her sleeve.

Jack glanced over to see her punching code into a fresh Vortex manipulator.

"Where the fuck did you get that?"

She ignored him.

"Here!"

She grabbed his arm and yanked him into a side alley. She dove into the white portal and pulled Jack behind her.