Chapter Two

Author's Note:

This story arc will contain only Angels that kill by letting people live themselves to death.

Sincere thank you for all the feedback. It motivates and inspires.

Standard Disclaimer:

This is a fan written story arc involving characters created and owned by Russel T. Davies and the BBC. The following story is fictional and does not portray and real person or event, any reference to any real person or event is strictly coincidental.

No animals were harmed in the making of this fic.

"Six messages waiting from the authorities regarding rapid disappearances over the last two nights." Jack regarded the team around the conference table, motioning to a map of the city hung on the far wall, red dots scattered down varying streets. "These are their last known locations, but there hasn't been any notable rift activity. No down spikes, nothing. People are just vanishing into thin air."

"They're all centered around the bay..." Gwen noted, silently counting how many there were.

"Which is why they've called us. They'd like to know if we've had something to do with it, and if not, if we can please figure out what is going on." Jack pursed his lips together, folding his arms over his chest. "It will be a long day. Owen and Tosh, I need you both looking into any CCTV footage during the times of the disappearances. Gwen, cross reference the reports and see if you can find any commonality between the victims. We'll need significant amounts of coffee for this."

He paused, tilting his head. "Where's Ianto?"

"Said something about visiting his sister the other day, must have made plans and forgot to mention it." Owen offered, shrugging his shoulders as he pushed back his chair to follow Tosh to the monitors.

Jack nodded, the suggested explanation settling heavily within his stomach, flipping it about a bit. It was plausible, but unlikely that Ianto Jones, ever fastidious and punctual, would forget to mention that he was taking a vacation.

Following after the others, Jack took a moment to side step and grab his coat, slipping it on his shoulders as the team got to work with a well practiced efficiency. He let his hand rest within the thick pocket of the heavy jacket, absentmindedly turning his cell phone over and over with the tips of his fingers as he debated with himself about calling Ianto.

There was a potential crisis occurring, and it was unnerving that the whole team wasn't there to work through the problem. It would also help to have Ianto's vast knowledge just in case something turned up that none of them were able to puzzle through. The young man was good at puzzles, Jack delighted in seeing him working them out silently in his mind.

He paced a bit, glancing at the screens as Tosh keyed up several different still frames of the victims just moments before they vanished. Upon playing the images forward, it seemed like one moment they were there and the next; gone. There wasn't any change to the surrounding area, no flares of light, no shadows beneath their feet. The recorded video showed them, completely alone, alive and well one moment and the next, it was just empty scenery.

"Tosh back up the video to see if they were being followed. Start with the last ten minutes and go back from there if you don't find anything." Jack paused, turned and continued to pace along the floor, his shoes clicking neatly against the metal and his fingers curling around the cold plastic of his cell.

"People don't just disappear."

Carefully watching the images as the screens played them in reverse, forward and slow motion, the three agents fell into an eerie silence as if they all expected to see some terrible beast appear within a single frame and snatch away those that had gone missing.

"There!" Jack exclaimed louder than he intended, causing both Tosh and Owen to startle a bit. "Play it back a little." He waggled his finger at one of the images, squinting slightly at a vague blur in the corner of the screen. "There is something there. It vanishes right before the girl does."

"It's a blob. Probably just a bit of static." Owen looked back over his shoulder, his voice a pitch higher than normal as if trying to convince himself against the spooks hiding in the shadows. Jack cocked a brow at him, vaguely shaking his head.

"I want images of all the victims, just before they disappear." He let go of the phone in his pocket to fold his arms across his chest, tapping a single finger against his bicep in anticipation. Something felt off, but he had that nagging feeling that they were on the right track to discovering what had happened. "Look, do you see? There it is, something gray just out of focus. It's there, and there, and here.."

He pointed at each of the images, drawing their attention to the figure otherwise easily missed at a glance. "Clean up the images, find out what that is. If we can identify it as something that has the ability to blink someone out of existence, then we can work on saving these people."

Turning quickly enough to swish about the bottom of his coat, Jack reached for his cell phone and flipped it open; fingers dashing over the buttons as he keyed in a well remembered number.

"Jack?" Gwen peered around the monitors on her own desk, confusion on her face. "Where are you going?"

"Ianto doesn't take vacations, and he's never late for work." He glanced back at her, heading for the cog door as he pressed the phone to his ear and listened to it ring. His steps slowed as it continued to do so, unanswered. "He also doesn't screen my calls."

The team fell silent as the possibility that something could have happened to Ianto weighed down on them all. Jack, clicking off the phone, pressed a single button to redial the number. It rang, and in the distance, echoing down the stairs, they could hear Ianto's cell phone responding from the desk of the tourist office.

The captain turned and made rapid strides up the stone steps towards the sound, Gwen following shortly behind him as that air of unease started to permeate and make them all a bit nervous. The phone continued to ring as Jack let his own drift away from his ear and hang at his side, following the tone until the top left most drawer was tossed open and the calling phone clicked off and slid back within the heavy pocket.

"Maybe he left it here because he didn't want to be bothered?" Gwen offered hesitantly, leaning slightly to see within the desk. Jack grabbed and held up Ianto's gun, something they were all instructed very carefully to never leave behind under any circumstances because they all knew the dangers they could face at any moment. "Jack.."

The older man's face was a mix of emotions, all becoming a steeled mask as he ran over a thousand possibilities as to what had caused Ianto to leave all form of protection and communication at the Hub and then disappear. Gwen lightly placed a hand on his arm, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Jack, what's going on? What happened to Ianto?"

TBC

Next Time, On Torchwood;

Ianto Jones discovers what happens when you're killed by the touch of an angel.

1940's Cardiff has none of the familiarity of his own time; except a man claiming to be Captain Jack Harkness.