His phone call to Martha the next morning was sweet relief. Here was someone who wasn't afraid to talk to him, who answered his call with a cheerful voice and, 'God I've missed you.' Who didn't need asking twice about visiting Cardiff, who promised to drive down later that day.

"Was that Martha?" Gwen asked when he returned from his office. The only thing she'd said to him all day.

When Gwen and Ianto had arrived at the Hub that morning, the air had been tense and suffocating. Ianto had got there first, on time as ever, and sat at his desk staring holes into the computer screen. No 'good morning' for Jack, no happy smile, no 'how's your day so far?'. Nothing.

Gwen had arrived twenty agonising, silent minutes later all smiles and laughter. Which had, of course, subsided when she'd seen Jack. Replaced by a brief smile and a short nod before she hurried over to Ianto to discuss how they were going to tackle the Weevils.

"Yeah, she said she'll come down today."

Ianto's head shot up, "you called Martha down?" Was that directed to Jack or to Gwen?

Jack answered regardless, "yup. Thought we could do with a little pick-me-up since the atmosphere around here isn't exactly… peachy."

Ianto nodded slowly, eyes returning to the computer screen. "Right then. Better get on with the Weevils then hadn't we?" Dry. Monotonous. Heartbreaking.

Jack stared imploringly at Gwen, who seemed to understand his unspoken plea. "You'll come with us Jack?" She asked, "we could do with the extra hand. Well two hands. We don't know how many Weevils there's going to be."

Jack was a split second from answering when he caught sight of Ianto watching Gwen, Ianto shaking his head rapidly, Ianto mouthing 'no' to Gwen. Jack's heart was crushed beneath a mountainous boulder. Why wouldn't Ianto forgive him? Why was Gwen still wary of him? And why the hell wouldn't the two of them trust him, let him take the lead again? Why did he need asking by his own team to go on a hunt?

"I'll come with," Jack shrugged. Yeah, and if it comes to it - force Ianto to see.

Where were they? Jack craned his neck to see the top of the trees that glowered threateningly above him. They must've been twenty metres high and swaying gently in the breeze. Birds zipped in and out of the leaves, hell-bent on whatever it was birds did, cawing and trilling to each other: intruders! Humans! Torchwood! But where were the Weevils? Jack turned his gaze to the floor where Ianto was kneeling, pointing out large and clumsy footprints in the mud.

The drive there had been absolute torture. Ianto and Gwen had, in the month that Jack had been 'absent', come up with a strict driving routine: today was Ianto's turn. Gwen had sat in the passenger seat, reiterating directions from a mass of technology that she cupped in her hands. Jack silently accepted that he was expected to sit in the back seat.

Fifteen minutes later and they were either helplessly lost or on track in search of the Weevils, Jack couldn't tell. But if the latter was the case then the Weevils were hiding out in one of the most woebegone patches of woodland in all of South Wales.

Gwen nudged him in the ribs to shake him from his thoughts and shoved a gun into his hands. "Wake up!" She snapped in annoyance, "didn't you hear Ianto? Those tracks were Weevils, and they headed north over that hill just a couple of minutes ago. Ianto's gone after them now and we need to hurry up!" She wasted no time and pelted off through the woodland, deserting the path and clambering over fallen tree trunks and huge piles of rotting leaves. "Come on Jack!" She shouted over her shoulder.

That's right, Jack thought, wake up. He set off after Gwen but in seconds she was out of sight. And shouting distance, apparently, when he called her name five minutes later. He carried on pushing through the trees and tripping over twigs until he came to a large, clammy clearing.

Gun raised and ready, he circled around the clearing in search of Gwen, Ianto, the Weevils, anything.

"Ianto? Gwen?" The only answer to his voice was an angry bird and the rough rustling of leaves.

"Hellooo?" The word echoed ominously around him, rippling through the empty space. "Anyone? Torchwood, where are you?"

The rustling intensified around him, until it was joined by hurried, loud footsteps marching towards him. Ianto, he sighed. Or Gwen. Either one would do.

What approached him from the trees, however, was neither of his Welsh team mates. Nor was it a Weevil. It stared at him in incomprehension with large, wide green eyes that were deep and sunken in its round, pale skull. It was at least eight feet tall and had jaws consisting of three rows of magnificently shiny, sharp yellow teeth. Its bulk was wide and muscular to the degree that Jack knew he would never be able to take it alone.

Not that he had any intentions to. The incomprehension dissipated from its glaring eyes and was replace by anger, hunger and madness reminiscent of a charging bull. And charge it did, directly towards Jack who was suspended in a state of shock.

"Oh," he whispered blankly. The first alien he'd encountered in a month was right in front of him, and it was dead set on killing him. Great. Not exactly the comeback he'd imagined.

He rose the gun higher. "I don't want to shoot you, but believe me I will if you don't back away!" It merely blinked at him stupidly for a second or two, before returning to charge-and-wipe-out mode. Even better. "Not a big talker, eh? No problemo." He fired a warning shot into the air; the birds scattered like tiny ants above him in a flurry of squawking and jittering. Again the unknown alien stopped, blinked dumbly for a moment and then scurried forwards towards Jack. "Don't give up do you?" He began to consider alternate means of communication. Shooting the thing would accomplish nothing except its death, which Jack wanted to avoid at all costs. The stun gun in his pocket meant for the Weevils suddenly seemed insignificant, like a little child's toy.

Before he had much chance to react in any way other than to stare at the alien, a Weevil spilled out into the clearing clumsily and staggered in between Jack and the… whatever it was. The Weevil seemed small in comparison, harmless even, and stared up at the other alien with a cat-got-the-cream expression. The other alien stopped charging for Jack and reached towards the Weevil instead, swinging its lumbering arms to grasp the Weevil's fat neck and bite deep into it.

"No!" Jack bellowed and ran forwards before grinding to a halt. What good could he do anyway? That thing would stop him before he had a chance to save the Weevil.

The alien met Jack's eyes, blood covering its face and dripping off onto the floor. He could almost hear its brain ticking away, considering whether to charge for Jack or not. Before it made a decision Jack heard a gunshot in the distance and, as quick as it had appeared, the alien ran back into the trees leaving the Weevil crumpled on the floor, unmoving.

"Shit!" Jack yelled. He clicked on the headset in his ear, "team?" Nothing, just meaningless crackles and white noise.

Icy fear rippled up and down his spine. What if that thing had gotten hold of Ianto or Gwen? After watching it kill the Weevil with such ease, Jack doubted that two humans could survive an onslaught from it, he also doubted the effectiveness of their small handguns against its thick hide.

He heard another gunshot, this one much closer, and a series of frantic, laboured breaths. A bird whistled. Ghostly trees shivered. Not too far away in the woodland someone gasped and choked.

"Gwen?" Jack shouted as he ran towards the sound, "Ianto?" Another choking sound sent him running a little to his left, where he saw a dark shape lying on the floor. Close by was a discarded handgun. Gwen's.

"Gwen!" He fell down onto the soil beside her body. She was covered in blood that glistened grotesquely in the dim light. As he peeled back her jacket he was hardly aware that he was praying for the blood to come from a surface wound, a scratch, anything so long as it wasn't deep and life threatening. As he searched for the source of the blood, Gwen did not stir, but her chest continued to heave with staggering breaths. She was alive, he sighed, but unconscious.

Her nose was bloodied but not broken, and was the cause of the majority of the blood on her face. There was another cut on her arm that Jack knew instantly was caused by the alien's claws. Small scratches and bite marks littered her stomach until Jack found the main source of blood: a long gash running the length of her left lower leg, where the alien had locked its teeth into her as she attempted to run from it.

Jack swore and tore strips from his shirt to bandage her leg. The white material was soaked and reddened in seconds. He used more of his shirt to wipe away the blood from her face and to stem the blood flow from the cut on her arm.

When he had finished she was battered and pitiful, but at least the bleeding was under control. Now all he had to do was find some way of getting her out of there before finding Ianto. At that thought he felt sick to the stomach: what if Ianto was out there, somewhere, as badly hurt as Gwen but with no way of signalling to Jack?

The situation went downhill rapidly when Gwen woke up, groggy at first and struggling to focus, but when she realised that she was covered in her own blood and in immense pain she began to scream and sob.

"Gwen!" Jack clamped a hand over her mouth, "Gwen shut up. You have to listen to me, stop screaming. You're fine, the bleeding's under control. But if you make a sound it'll bring that monster back to us." She nodded and fell silent, inspecting the extent of her wounds and whimpering in pain.

"Where's Ianto?" Her voice was strained with pain.

"I don't know…" Jack admitted, and it hurt him to even consider what might be happening to Ianto.

"Jesus Jack, that thing came out of nowhere. I didn't even have time to react, it just came at me. And when I tried to run away it whacked me in my nose. I fell over and that's when it bit my leg. I swear it drank my blood! Then a Weevil came towards it and - God Jack! - it killed the Weevil. Then there was gunshot, Ianto I guess, and it ran off. I couldn't walk so I just lay there, got my gun and fired into the air, hoping someone might find me. I haven't got a clue where Ianto went."

"Can you walk?"

"I can try." She pulled herself up using a tree and swayed dangerously on her feet. "I'm fine." She took a step forwards and, as soon as she'd put pressure on her injured left leg, she fell towards the ground.

"Okay, you can't walk," Jack caught her and slung her arm around his neck, "never mind, we'll find Ianto like this."

They began to walk through the woodland, their speed decreased significantly by Gwen's limp and her need to stop every two minutes to tighten the makeshift bandages. It was during one of these breaks that Jack's phone rang shrilly.

"Who the hell is that?" Jack demanded quietly, though his heart thundered with deafening volume: Ianto!

"Ianto?!" He bellowed into the headset, desperation for Ianto's voice seeping down the line.

But the answering voice was a woman's, angry at his hasty greeting, but nonetheless he was pleased to hear her. "Well hello to you too Captain Polite."

"Martha!" He gasped, relief warming his cold heart, "Martha am I glad to hear your voice!"

"Well that's good, maybe you could tell me where the hell you are. I'm at the Hub: it's deserted. Remember, you told me to visit, the least you could do is let me in."

"What?" He frowned, "no. No, no, no."

"No? What do you m-"

"No Martha listen! We need your help. We're stuck in the middle of nowhere, there's a great, ugly alien on the loose that we have no way of stopping. Our weapons are useless. The thing's mauled Gwen half to death and I haven't got a clue where Ianto is." It shocked him to realise how close to tears he actually was. On his right Gwen sank down onto a fallen tree trunk, closing her eyes to blot out the pain. Experience had taught Jack that she was slipping back into unconsciousness, she didn't have time to waste. "Martha! Can you come out here and help us?"

"I'll do my best," her voice was determined though she was obviously struggling to understand. "Just tell me where you are."

Now there was a question Jack couldn't answer. "Gwen!" He barked at her, "Gwen, where are we? I need to give Martha directions."

She opened her eyes halfway and stared glassily at him. "Martha? Martha's here?"

"No, just tell me where we are Gwen."

"I don't… I don't know."

"Yes you do," he bent down in front of her and clicked his fingers in her face, "come on Gwen Cooper, wake up. I need you. You directed us out here, you must know."

"R-right. Yeah. What? Um… We're in Park's Wood. Pike's Wood. Thirteen miles north of Butetown. No - sixteen miles."

"Pike's Wood? Sixteen miles?"

She nodded hazily before slumping on to her side, unconscious.

"Shit! Martha - It's Pike's Wood, sixteen miles north of Butetown. Got that?"

"Got that Captain."

"Be as quick as you can. I'll need you to take Gwen while I go after Ianto. Hurry!"

"I'll do my best Jack, but it's still quite a way."

"If anyone can do it it's you Martha Jones. You saved the whole world."

"Yeah, there was that."

"Quick!"

"Will do." She hung up.

Jack lifted Gwen into his arms and clambered through the dense woodland. He had to find the path, otherwise Martha would have no chance of finding them. Gwen swooned in his arms, mumbling incoherent things. She wanted Rhys, she wanted Ianto and she wanted water. She asked for a doctor, for chicken soup, she asked for Tosh. She wanted to speak to Owen, to Jack and to her mother. The pain and blood loss had sent her delirious.

The day was just getting better and better. And he still was no closer to finding Ianto, if anything he was walking further away from him.

A terrifying half an hour later Jack knelt on the ground, cradling his head in his hands, calling Ianto's name over and over until it rang in his ears. On the muddy ground in front of him lay Gwen. She was less than half alive now, her breathing had slowed, her muttering had stopped and the bleeding had increased.

What had begun as a routine Weevil hunt had been blown into nightmarish proportions. Jack rocked back and forth on the path, his mind pulsating with panic for Ianto and for Gwen, his hands drenched in fresh blood. Where was Martha?

Jack wanted nothing more than to be reunited with Ianto, to prove that he had not left him. That he was still there for his team. But he could not bear to leave Gwen alone, so close to death. Where was Martha?

"Jack… Jack?" Her voice floated down to him as if it belonged to a heavenly angel and, when he looked up to find her bending down over Gwen, checking for a pulse, it seemed to him as if she was his celestial saviour.

"Martha, thank god!" He exclaimed, jumping to his feet with sudden energy.

"What the hell happened Jack?" She demanded, tilting Gwen's head back.

"Is she alright?"

"No." That single word sent more panic through Jack's mind than he'd felt all day. "She needs more than a doctor Jack, she needs a hospital! She's lost too much blood, way too much blood."

"Shiiiit!" He yelled, kicking the ground. "It's all my fault. They ran off Martha, Gwen and Ianto. I tried to follow them but…" He gestured helplessly to Gwen's lifeless form.

"You did your best," she reassured him. But had he? He couldn't help but wonder… would things have been different if there hadn't been a great divide in his team? If the three of them had communicated better? If they'd both been willing to trust him more? And through all of his doubts he found himself pleading that when - not if - he found Ianto he would be in better condition than Gwen.

"Help me get her into my car," Martha instructed bravely, her UNIT training shining through as she took instant control of the situation.

Jack once again lifted Gwen up and was relieved to feel her heart fluttering weakly, albeit slowed and dangerously close to stopping altogether. Martha's car, he was more than relieved to see, was parked very close to where they had been talking, and he lay Gwen on the back seat. He arranged her arms neatly over her chest and felt suddenly as if he was saying his final farewell to her. Tears prickled behind his eyes and his voice caught in his throat. What would he say? Nothing… he kissed her pale cheek and stepped back to embrace Martha.

"I'll look after her now," Martha nodded gently, "I'll get her to a hospital, I think I passed one on the way. She'll be fine, don't worry." But he would, of course he would. "I'll come back as soon as I can in case…." She didn't need to finish the sentence, the end of it hung at the forefront of their minds: in case Ianto is as bad… or worse.

"Go." Jack ordered her, "I'll call you if anything else happens. If…" There it was again. Ianto. "Just go, please Martha, hurry." She nodded, crying Jack's tears for him. She scrambled into the driver's seat, checked Gwen's pulse one last time and reversed back down the path. In twenty seconds she had disappeared from view.

A single tear fell from Jack's eyes. Gwen would be fine, he lied. Another tear raced down his cheek. And what about Ianto? Another tear, and another, until his face was shining with them as he ran back into the woodland.

Ianto. He had to find Ianto.