Chapter 1

Jack rode the pavement elevator to ground level. His mind was wandering a little; a walk would do the trick. He turned in the direction of the bay and stepped off the curb.

A sudden, whooshing sound drew is eyes skyward so quickly it took a moment for them to focus. He reacted instinctively, positioned himself directly under the falling object, arms outstretched leaning slightly back.

The force winded him, and then a second winding as he fell back against the pavement, but he'd survive, he always did. He breathed through the pain for several minutes before struggling to his knees and looking down at his catch.

His sharp intake of breath could have been audible in the hub below as he gazed into the face of the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. He heaved himself and the woman up to a standing position and didn't think twice as he reactivated the pavement elevator and descended.

As he entered the hub he yelled to no one in particular and all of them at once, "It seems to be raining gorgeous women outside…I've got me one, so the rest of you better be quick."

That was a statement the rest of the team just couldn't ignore, so as Jack hurried to the autopsy room, Gwen, Tosh, Ianto and especially Owen followed quickly on his heels and crowded around the table as he laid out the stunning creature.

"Do your thing, Owen" barked Jack as he stood out of the way so the Doctor could shed a little light on his discovery but never once took his eyes off the woman. She was slim but tall. Her legs filled a pair of black leather jeans in all the right places. A white tank top didn't leave much to the imagination but with the perfection of her figure you didn't need to rely on imagination anyway.

Her face was sweet and oval but strong as well with full cherry coloured lips, high cheekbones and even though she wore no makeup her skin was smooth and flawless. A thick and glorious mane of chestnut and blonde waves framed the picture. The important scans over, Jack turned his eyes and mind to the injuries and looked enquiringly at Owen.

"Definitely human," answered Owen to the unspoken question, " multiple Lacerations to the right arm nothing fatal that I can see, maybe a bit of a blow to the head at the back here. She should come too at some stage."

Jack flashed his trademark crooked, flirty grin and to no one in particular said, " That is good news."

Owen announced sometime later that their guest was starting to regain consciousness. He had cleaned and dressed her wounds and monitored her vitals but there wasn't a great deal he could do with the concussion at this stage except watch her. It was a good sign that she was now trying to sit up with her eyes open.

They hazily swept the room, which to any eyes would have seemed a little frightening and you could see a trace of fear cross hers as the cold, stark room came into full focus. The fear was quickly and almost instinctively replaced by defiance when her eyes reached Owen's. It crossed his mind that this defiance was a practiced look, as if she had faced similar situations many times before. The others swept into the room before he had a chance to muse further on this.

In their usual fashion the team lined the back wall of the autopsy room and allowed their leader the room to interrogate any newcomer to the hub. The woman's eyes appraised each of them slowly and calmly until they came to rest on Jack. Her pupils shrunk in hostility, she alternated between staring and squinting as if she couldn't quite believe she was seeing him.

Jack started to chatter in his usual manner about her fall and his catch, trying to put her at ease, keep the atmosphere light and decidedly un-interrogation like.

Her hostility seemed to increase with every word that came out of his mouth, until finally his words tapered off into silence. She broke the silence with a single anguished word.

"YOU"

She leapt from the table seemingly oblivious to the injuries she had sustained and rounded on him. Jack still wasn't taking this as seriously as he should have been however he still started to back away. She took the distraction of his movement to act with lightning swift efficiency, disarmed Gwen who was moving in closer to the woman and held Gwen's gun level with jacks fore head.

" I should have done this years ago, " she almost spat at him.

It all seemed to happen in a matter of seconds. Owen leapt and tackled the woman. She squeezed the trigger of Gwen's weapon hitting Jack in the stomach instead of the intended head. Ianto drew his weapon and held ready…..The woman started to get the better of Owen…Ianto leaned in for the shot…..Jack screamed from the floor where he lay slumped and bloody, "Don't kill her…" Ianto's shot rang out and the bullet instead of being fatal hit the woman in the shoulder.

The sheer exertion and pain must have overcome her then and she collapsed unconscious on the floor not far from where Jack lay. He managed to grumble one last word before he lost consciousness as well.

"Cells".

The woman sat up again, this time safely behind unbreakable perspex of the Torchwood holding cells. Gwen stood with her back to the wall of the corridor, weapon holstered but mind alert. Jack sat reverse on a chair right in front of the cell, leaning his chin thoughtfully on his hands. He waited for the look of shock to pass when she realized he was alive and unhurt sitting before her. Then he began.

"Who are you and why did you shoot me?"

"Why aren't you dead?" she shot back glaringly

"I'm just not and I'm asking the questions. Why did you shoot me?"

She stared at him long and hard, and answered thoughtfully rather than angrily.

"Because you deserve to be shot."

"Can you be more specific, because I have pissed off a lot of people but I do tend to remember them, how can you be so sure it's me that deserved shooting"

"I'm sure"

"Why?"

The woman smiled almost wistfully, which Gwen thought was a little odd and Jack found highly disconcerting. As long as it was, he could not place this woman in his history. He would never forget someone this beautiful…or angry.

" There's only one of you Captain." She paused for effect at addressing him correctly then spitefully continued. " Time Agent, Con man, traveling Companion to the Doctor and Hero of the Game Station…does that sound like you."

For once Jack was speechless. Gwen was practically agog. The stranger saw this and directed her next statement to the other woman. "Surely you must know Captain Jack Harkness is the name of a dead man….." She looked back at Jack, "I know your true name……"

Without taking his eyes from the woman's he ordered Gwen from the room. She protested but when he turned his face to hers and she saw he was imploring rather than ordering she obliged and headed back up to the hub.

She ran at top speed to the CCTV screens, brought up the footage of Jack and the woman in the cells. The rest of the team crowded in around her. They all stared holding their breath hoping for some answers about this man that none of them really knew. They watched as Jack reached his hand up to the leather band he wore on his wrist and suddenly the screens turned to static. The picture and the sound gone.

Jack turned his attention back to the woman. "Since you know me so well perhaps you will return the favour and tell me who the hell you are."She started laughing; Jack's patience was wearing very thin with this game. " Name!" he barked.

"Frienze,….Time Agent Frienze Baltha.

Jack looked like he was going to be sick.