Argh! I was gonna put a new chapter up earlier, but I didn't have time so here it is now! Either way, I have easy access to the internet again so hopefully things will be updated much quicker next time.

Anyway, chapter three. Here it is!

Disclaimer: I do not own Torchwood. I should, but I don't.


Each member of the Torchwood team worked endlessly all day, searching for any unusual Rift readings, any sign of more vampire attacks, and anything else that could potentially save Ianto. But things weren't looking good.

Despite his efforts to help in any way he could, Ianto was beginning to look sicker and sicker. He wasn't moving around the Hub in the efficient way he usually did. He'd become slower in his actions, taking more breaks than normal to rest with his head in his hands.

Jack also noticed that Ianto had developed a tendency to watch Gwen or Jack himself while they were working with something akin to bloodlust in his eyes. This caused him to be ever more vigilant in keeping Ianto in his sights all day to prevent anymore disasters.

"It's no use!" Gwen finally cried, slamming her fists down on either side of her computer's keyboard. "There's nothing! No activity, no other remedies. There's nothing here!"

She looked over to where Ianto was sat, confined once more to a chair due to his worsening condition. Her heart went out to him. She'd never seen the poor man look as bad as she did now.

Sweat was dripping down his forehead and his breathing was heavy. His whole body looked so small and limp as he reclined back in his seat. As he looked up at her, she could see that he'd already given up.

"There has to be," Jack growled, refusing to stop.

He hadn't said a word all day as he dashed about in fierce concentration, determined not to take no for an answer.

"Jack," Ianto murmured.

Ianto had been silent all day too, although this wasn't that unusual for the generally private man. This was the first time he'd said anything since that morning. His voice was hoarse and as he sat up to address Jack he cringing in obvious pain.

"Jack, please just let it go," he said, waving a hand dismissively. "There's no hope for me. You won't find the head vampire in time."

"Don't talk like that," replied Jack, leaving his post by the computers to slowly approach Ianto. "We will find something. I made a promise to you."

"It doesn't matter…if you break your promise," Ianto gasping, finding it difficult to force the words through his dry throat. "I don't mind. Really, I don't. Just kill me now so I can't hurt anyone else. Please."

Both Jack and Gwen were shocked at their friend's words. They knew that was something they'd never willing do. Not if they still had some sliver of hope left.

"Please, Jack," Ianto continued, becoming tearful. "It hurts so much. The effort alone to not bite either of you is killing me anyway. Put me out of my misery."

"No," was Jack's firm answer.

Jumping up with a spurt of energy no one thought he was capable of in his state, Ianto lunged at Jack, grabbing onto the arms of the Captain for support. His eyes were gleaming red again and a look of hunger was clear on his face.

"Kill me, Jack!" he exclaimed, his face inches away from Jack's. "Kill me before I kill you!"

Jack, leaning forward so that his lips were right by Ianto's ear, simply repeated, "No."

Quivering with pent up rage that he'd been trying to subdue all day, Ianto pushed Jack away with enough force to send the older man crashing to the floor before he turned to Gwen. Without registering the pure fear radiating off of her, he grabbed for her neck with the same wild look the boy had given him last night.

Before he could even touch her, Jack was back on his feet and had pulled Ianto's arms behind his back. He didn't want to, it hurt him so much to do this, but with no other choice, he escorted a struggling Ianto away from Gwen and down to where the holding cells were.

"You can't lock me in here forever, Jack!" Ianto yelled, his back hitting the floor heavily as he was tossed into an empty cell.

Jack didn't reply. He closed and locked the cell door, watching the Welshman's every movement.

"I will get out, Jack!" Ianto snarled, crawling up the clear wall that separated the two men. "I will get out and I will kill you! I can't wait to taste your sweet, sweet blood as I suck the life out of you! And I'll make her watch! I'll make Gwen watch as I slowly kill you!"

In one quick movement, Jack had drawn his gun and held it pointed directly at Ianto's head despite the divide between them. His hands shook as he tried miserably to stare down the man in front of him, bringing a sick grin to Ianto's lips.

"Shut up," Jack said, his voice quivering.

"Do it, Jack. Kill me if you can!"

A manic laugh filled the cells as Ianto pressed his back against the cold, damp wall of his prison and watched Jack lower his weapon. With the gun still held tightly in his grip, the Torchwood captain bent down and placed his free hand against the tight plastic wall.

"What's happening to you, Ianto? I know you're changing into something different, something terrible, but where's the Ianto who wouldn't give up until I gave him a job? Where's the Ianto who did everything he could to save the woman he loved? Why have you given up so easily?"

Ianto's head flopped against the wall as if he didn't even have the will to hold it up any longer. All the anger that he'd shown before had vanished.

"I'm so weak. And I'm so tired. The hunger is consuming me, Jack. I can't…I can't keep fighting it any longer."

"Then try harder! Don't give up! You're gonna get through this."

When Ianto didn't respond, Jack got back to his feet and started towards the door. He willed himself not to look back at Ianto's broken form, knowing that if he did he wouldn't be able to leave the Welshman's side again.

"Jack?" Gwen asked, her voice sounding clearly through his ear piece. "I've just had a call from the police station. Someone's been attacked at a farm just outside the city, another bite victim. Only, there have been reports of giant bats in that area as well. I think we've found them, Jack."

Sighing with immense relief, Jack told Gwen he'd be up in a moment. He peered over his shoulder so he could just see Ianto's body slumped on the floor. His breath caught in his throat, but he managed a small smile as he asked, "You hear that, Ianto? We're gonna go destroy the creature that did this to you, and then we'll be right back. Okay?"

Once again, Ianto made no noise to show if he'd heard Jack or not, but his body seemed to relax a little. He shoulders weren't as tense as they were before and Jack was almost sure that he'd heard a quiet sob, hopefully out of happiness.

Jack raced up the stairs back into the Hub's control room, the bottom of his coat sweeping the floor as he did. He took Gwen's hand, who was excitedly bouncing on the balls of her feet as she waited for him, and together they sped through the main door in a blur of lights and sirens.

???

Tears followed freely down Ianto's face, his face screwed up in pain. Clutching at his chest, he frantically gasped for breath. He took one last gurgling lungful of air before he collapsed on the ground, his eyes rolling up into his head. A lingering smile remained as he slipping into unconsciousness, finally looking at peace.

???

A bright red glow of a glorious sunset filled the sky over head as Jack and Gwen arrived at the farm in the Torchwood SUV. They hadn't realised how late it was until they'd sped away from the Hub and found Cardiff bathed in the light of evening. Jumping out of the large vehicle, they practically ran to where the group of policemen were standing, their usual decorum when near a crime scene forgotten.

"Gwen, check the body, then cuff him," Jack ordered, loud enough for her to hear, but not the policemen. "Make sure he can't escape should he decide to wake up. I'll go check out the area."

Nodding without objection, Gwen headed to the taped off area in the farm yard while Jack pulled out a torch and his gun before wandering into the darkness.

His whole body was on high alert, waiting for any sign of movement or any noise that may lead him to where the vampire-like aliens were hiding. The beam of light from his torch illuminated the large field around him, revealing a dense forest to his right and an old fashioned barn house not far ahead. Thinking that the barn would be a pretty cosy home for any hiding creature, human or alien, that was the first place he searched.

The barn door opened with a long, high pitched squeal, its hinges desperately needing a bit of oil. Jack winced at the noise, hoping it wouldn't disturb anything that might be inhabiting the old, wooden structure. He edged inside, pulling his gun out for protection, and scanned the interior.

Most of the barn was bathed in darkness except for a single sliver of light coming from Jack's torch and the glow of moon that shone through the open door. A few rats scampered out of sight when caught in the torch's bright beam, but other than that there was no sign of movement in amongst the farm tools, tractors and stacks of hay. The place looked like any normal barn.

Jack took a deep breath, knowing there was only one place that a group of vampires would hide if indeed they were here, and turned his torch upwards along with his gun. He froze as the stream of light revealed four humanoid figures, hanging upside down from the barn's rafters. None of them moved. Their eyes were closed in sleep and their bodies were hidden behind thick, dark cloaks that looked, from where Jack was standing, like giant wings.

Moving as quietly as possible, Jack crept across the dirt covered floor until he stood beneath the sleeping creatures. He quickly scoped each of the creatures out, trying to determine which one could possibly be the head vampire. The young boy they'd found the previous day was there as well as the other two that had been found earlier that week. Using the process of elimination, Jack determined that the fourth vampire had to be the one who'd started all this. He aimed his gun up at the sleeping creature and prepared to fire.

"Jack?"

A soft voice caused him to turn suddenly and he saw Gwen peer around the barn door. A rustling from above told him that he wasn't the only one who'd heard the Welshwoman. There was a clearly annoyed cry and a swooping noise before silence descended once more. Pointing his gun and torch upwards again, Jack took a nervous step towards the door and Gwen when he saw that the vampires had vanished from their perch.

"Gwen, get out of here. Go back to the SUV and wait for me there," he urgently whispered as he tried to vain to catch a glimpse of the creatures hiding in the darkness.

"I'm not leaving you here…" Gwen started, but she was swiftly interrupted.

"There is no way I'm letting them attack another of my team, Gwen. They can't hurt me, so go!"

For a moment it looked like Gwen wasn't going to move. Her face was set in a determined glare, but the desperation in Jack's voice made her nod, albeit reluctantly, and she disappeared behind the door.

Trying to keep himself calm against the tension that was building all around him, Jack waited in the centre of the barn until Gwen had closed the heavy wooden door. His only source of light was now the pitiful torch that did nothing to penetrate the suffocating darkness.

"Come out, come out, where ever you are," he taunted, trying to lure the creatures of the night out of their hiding places. "Let's see you make a meal out of me."

A screech from his left made him spin around in shock. The dead boy from the previous night lunged towards him from behind a tractor. Jack backed away quickly, his gun pointed at the boy's chest, aiming for his heart, but he had to duck to one side as another vampire appeared suddenly to his right.

In moments, three of the vampires had formed a small half-circle around Jack who suddenly found himself trapped against the barn wall. He tried to keep each of them all in his sights, his gun aimed at the one in the centre, but he knew he was badly outnumbered.

There was a hiss behind him and Jack didn't have to turn to know that the fourth vampire, the head vampire, had appeared out of the shadows at his side. He cringed as a pair of freezing cold hands gripped his shoulders.

'Now or never,' he thought to himself, waiting for the attack.

Sure enough, he felt the vampire's grip tighten and then there was a blinding pain in his neck like two burning needles puncturing his skin. Not wanting to waste a second, he pulled the trigger of his gun rapidly and three bullets pierced the hearts of the vampires surrounding him. They slumped ungracefully to the floor as he turned, pushing the distracted head vampire away.

"This one's for Ianto," he declared, staring down the clearly outraged vampire in front of him before shooting again.

With one final wail, the head vampire also crumpled to the ground, blood erupting from his chest. In moments, each of the vampires had turned to dust, their bodies crumbling until nothing was left.

Gasping, Jack tucked his gun away and checked the wound on his neck. Crimson blood stuck to his fingers, but he could already feel the bite marks healing on their own accord.

"Ianto!" he suddenly cried.

The image of the poor man slumped on the cell floor rushed back into his mind. He quickly heaved the barn door open and ran off into the oncoming night, hoping that he wasn't too late.


Will Ianto be alright? Has Jack killed the head vampire? All will be revealed in chapter four!

Also, the ending I have in mind has changed slightly so prepare yourself for an extra chapter after the next one, a wrapping up chapter of sorts. Read and review please!