AN: Hello all! Here is the first chappie in the next episode of this series. Thanks again to everyone who follows this little series. Hopefully the title gives you some hope for the explanations you are after…

This starts about two months after the end of Agents of Mercy.

The two men strolled unhurriedly across the Plass, heading towards the water tower, enjoying extra moments in the Cardiff sun. One man had a bag of sandwiches clutched under an arm, the other carried a baker's box.

Their free arms hung loosely at their sides between them. Most other people in their position would have used the moment to have walked hand in hand. But that wasn't their style. They were content to walk, arms swinging lazily, the backs of their hands occasionally brushing against each other.

The older man said something that caused the younger man to laugh. It was a free, easy, natural laugh they both shared; that opened and lifted both their faces.

A photograph taken at that moment would have given a snap-shot of the pure happiness that exists between to people in…

…The air cracked behind them, startling both Jack and Ianto, making them both spin around. Their hands lowered instinctively to hover over their weapons.

There was a flash that briefly stung their eyes, but as their vision cleared the smiles returned to their faces. Their postures relaxing again as they both recognised the woman in the red leather coat who stood in front of them.

Jay Hunter didn't return the smile, and Jack and Ianto belatedly noticed that she had a gun on each hand.

"Jay?" Jack said slowly, cocking his head slightly.

Expressionless, and without a word, Jay squeezed the trigger of one gun. A pulse of electricity hit Ianto in the chest. His arms threw themselves wide, the bag of sandwiches arcing in to the air. His body jerked uncontrollably before he fell to the ground.

Quickly recovering his shock and disbelief, Jack pulled his gun, spinning away from the sight of Ianto's fallen body.

But he was too slow. Jay pulled the trigger on the second gun and a bullet shot out, tearing through the muscle of Jack's heart. He was dead before he hit the ground.

Jay moved forwards briskly. She allowed herself one moment to stare unapologetically into Jack's unseeing eyes before kneeling down next to Ianto. She checked his pulse and, satisfied, slipped her hands under his arms and hauled him into a half sitting position against her. His head lolled loosely back against her shoulder, the lax muscles giving his face a peculiar look of innocence and youth.

But Jay ignored his face. Tightening her arms around his body, she wrapped one of his hands around her vortex manipulator. Pressing a button, she created another flash in the sky, another crack in the air and she vanished, taking Ianto with her; away from Cardiff, away from Torchwood, away from Jack.

An alarm rang through the Hub.

"Gwen!" called Kathleen, "energy spike detected. It's showing right above our heads."

"Pull up the CCTV," Gwen instructed, moving to stand behind the girl at her terminal. They flicked quickly through the images being streamed from the various cameras around the Plass. They scrolled through until one image hovered in the screen that made Gwen's heart sink to her stomach. Ianto lay still on the ground and she watched the image for the fraction of a second it took for Jack's body to jerk with impact before hitting the ground. Gwen stared at the figure in front of them holding two weapons.

Gwen's gun was in her hand and she had the controls to the invisible lift activated before the alarms had had the chance to signal the second energy spike.

Jack felt the familiar tug on his body and soul. Blood rang in his ears and his body screamed silently, still without breath, as it was brought back towards life.

His body jerked as he gasped his way back to consciousness. He shook his head, trying to clear the pounding in his ears and cut through the lingering fog as he tried to work out where he was and how he had died this time.

But the pounding wouldn't stop. It took another second for him to realise that it wasn't his ears; it was footsteps, running footsteps pounding towards him. Jack looked up to see Gwen, gun in hand, running at him from the water tower.

It all flooded back to him in a second and in one movement he stood and spun to the place where Ianto had fallen. But he wasn't there. Jack turned on the spot, looking around him wildly, but knowing it was fruitless.

"Jack," Gwen cried, catching up to him.

"She's taken him; she's taken him!"

Jack set off at a run back towards the invisible lift. Gwen took a final look around before following him, leaving the team's lunch and source of jollity just moments before abandoned on the Plass.

Jack was barking orders before the lift had come to a stop, his team looking expectantly up at him having now seen the whole incident play out on the CCTV.

"Kathleen, chase that energy shift now. Track it and find the coordinates she jumped to. Find him. David, weapons store. We don't know what we're up against. Get us prepared for anything."

Gwen lay a hand on Jack's shoulder, "We'll find him Jack, we'll get him back."

"Jack, I…I…" Kathleen's voice was quiet. Gwen moved to her side and looked through the information on the screen.

"No, no, no!" She pushed Kathleen out of the way and hammered at the keyboard, but the readout remained the same. She gave another cry of frustration and shoved the keyboard away from her. "The readings make no sense; it's scrambled somehow. Jay's done something. There's just no trail to follow."

Jack moved over to see for himself. "No!" he roared. His hand reached blindly for the first thing that he could find and he threw it against the wall. Silence descended on the Hub as all eyes fell on the shattered remains of Ianto's mug.