A/N: Chapter four is here! Rejoice, my loyal readers. Considering this is my first attempt at a fanfic, the positive feedback has been overwhelming. A total of 9 reviews, my heart sings with pride!

paranoid and picky: Thanks for the fun fact. As it transpires, that's the same colour scheme OUR parliament uses! Perhaps you used an Australian decorator, or vice versa? BTW, I find that I'm constan'ly misusin' ap'ostroph'es (sorry, couldn't resist) so if you see any, point them out so I can fix them! I also know of the sleep-deprived giddyness of which you speak,though in my case, it stems from staying up past midnight to write this! Also,I just remembered that my 8th Grade Math/Science teacher was Canadian. She was so awesome...GO CANADA.

coffeemagic: Crying with laughter? Nobody has cried with laughter at anything I've said/done/wrote before! EVER! I'm glad you liked my disclaimer, hope the story didn't pale in comparison.

DISCLAIMER

Roses are red

Violets are blue

'I don't own Torchwood'

Now you can't sue!

Read on!

FOUR: THE ESCAPE

The giant, cog-shaped door rolled back and Gwen strolled into the hub, pulling off her gloves and shaking the snow from her hair. The nonchalance she displayed was a far cry from the indescribable awe she had felt on her first day. She stomped up to the conference table, where the others were all seated, watching the live CCTV feed from the cells. She reflected, somewhat bitterly, that none of the team had showed even half as much interest in Carys.

"Is he playing the mirror game with the weevil again?" She asked, coming to sit between Owen and Toshiko.

"No, he's playing with a tennis ball." Toshiko replied, eyes following the path of the ball as it left Alex's hand, hit the floor, bounced up to the wall between the two cells and curved in a perfect arc, back to Alex's hand. The weevil was scrabbling to catch the ball, oblivious to the glass that prevented it.

"Who gave him that anyway?" Jack asked, glancing at Owen.

"Wasn't me." Owen defended "I'm still not over that 'rat-face' remark."

"I did." Ianto admitted "Last night. I thought he might be bored."

"Right," Owen sneered "and the possibility of gettin' a teenager to go down on you never once crossed your mind?"

"That sort of offer is difficult to forget," Ianto's face was stony and expressionless "but I have no intention of taking him up on it."

"Whereas you, Owen" Toshiko added "would have your pants around your ankles before the boy could blink."

"Shouldn't someone give him some breakfast?" Gwen interrupted, looking at her watch, in an obvious attempt to defuse the situation before Toshiko and Owen started a full-blown row. Ianto moved as if to stand up, only to have Jack push him back down.

"I'll do it," Jack insisted, wagging a warning finger at Ianto "I don't think you can be trusted."

Gwen suppressed a sudden snort of laughter, having the decency to at least pretend to be ashamed when Jack shot her a scathing glare.

"Who would put out for a tennis ball anyway?" Ianto asked, perplexed.


Alex leaned back against the wall, grinning not-so-innocently as he watched 'Janet' as Ianto referred to her fail to catch the ball for the two-hundredth time. His guilt at tormenting the beast was overridden by the pure absurdity of the spectacle. He was feeling confident. The fall, combined with the sedative and the 'aspirin' (Alex had deduced the truth some time ago) though not having the desired effect, had certainly scrambled his mind. Now, however, he seemed to have regained all his faculties. It seemed only fair, considering the circumstances, to give Jack one more chance…

As if on cue, the door swung open with a drawn-out squeak. Alex looked up, hoping to see Ianto. His face fell when the silhouette coalesced into the no less appealing, but still unwelcome figure of Captain Jack.

"Oh, it's you." Alex made no effort to conceal his disappointment.

"Hey, I'll have you know that most people would be lucky to see me two days in a row." Jack declared indignantly "I'm usually gone before they wake up."

Alex stood, glaring at Jack defiantly; the fire in his eyes had been replaced by lightning. Later, Jack would swear he'd seen sparks.

"Last chance Jack, let me out of here."

"And what if I don't?" Jack asked, passing Alex a tray with a glass of milk and two pieces of buttered toast.

"Then I'll escape," Alex prophesied, taking the tray in one hand "and you, my captivating captor, will look pretty stupid."

Jack allowed himself a cocky grin, turning around to saunter back up the stairs. A dull clanking sound caused him to whirl around. On the floor of the now empty cage, a forlorn tennis ball rocked from side to side. The lights flickered off and the door swung shut, plunging him into darkness.


Alex munched greedily on a piece of toast, placing the tray gently on a nearby desk so as not to attract the attention of the others. Risking a brief glance upwards, he saw that they were all staring at a large monitor in some confusion. It was probably the cell's camera, and they were trying to figure out why the screen went dark. Looking to his left, he saw the money they had taken from him lying on a workstation. He crept over to it, counted it, and slipped the cash into his back pocket.

He scouted the lower levels for an exit, winding his way through the complicated machinery. Where was that lift they said he'd fallen through? He spotted a cog-shaped door. That looked promising. Now he just had to get all the way across the floor, without being seen or making a single noise…yep…that's all. Easy.

Just then, on the cusp of hearing, he heard muffled swearing, and a thump. The door to the cells swung backwards, striking the wall with a deafening clang, revealing a positively livid Captain Jack.

"Fuck it." Alex took to his heels, tearing across the floor, colliding with Owen who had dashed down the stairs to grab him. After a brief tussle, Alex was on the floor arms pinned to his sides. Owen blinked, and found himself restraining vacant floor space before a boot between his shoulder blades sent him sprawling to the floor. Alex veered to the left, only to find himself facing Gwen, who had a gun trained on him.

"Fr-" she began before finding herself hurled across the Hub by incredible force, colliding with the railing that ringed the medical bay. Jack pulled out his own gun, only to have it fly out of his grasp, into Alex's. The boy stared at the gun for a moment, as if unsure what purpose it served. His eyes sparked and the weapon began to twist and writhe in his hand, as if in pain, before falling to the ground as a shapeless mass.

Toshiko ran towards Alex, only to find she was unable to get within three feet of him before striking an invisible wall.

Ianto could only watch, stunned by the carnage below. Toshiko fell to the floor with a dull thump, and suddenly Alex was beside Ianto. Before he could move, or even call out, he was pulled by his tie into a deep kiss, before being released, gasping for breath. Alex ducked out of view as Owen sailed past them with a strangled battle-cry; he leapt to his feet and was instantly floored by an uppercut from Jack, only to fall back on his hands, lashing out with his legs, and scything Jack's out from under him, before springing back up like a yoyo. Another blink and Alex was at the door, which was rolling back of its own volition to allow him passage. Before ducking out of sight, the boy fixed Ianto with a heated gaze.

"Next time," he called "I'm slipping the tongue in!" With that, he ducked out of view. Jack picked himself up from the floor, literally foaming at the mouth.

"After him." Jack growled, low and threatening.


After dashing down the corridor and a tension filled ride in the elevator, during which Ianto had received pointed glares from his bruised teammates, they finally spilled out into the tourist info desk, sunlight spilling in through the open doorway. They charged out into the Roald Dahl Plass, which, apart from the occasional passerby and the light layer of early morning snow, already turning to slush, was completely empty.

"Spread out and find him." Jack ordered "It shouldn't be too hard, his clothes are pretty distinctive."

"Um, Jack?" Gwen approached him timidly, holding a navy-blue jacket and a tie-dyed shirt. Owen added frayed and faded jeans to the pile, along with a pair of boxer briefs. Ianto and Toshiko each bore a sock.

"Okay…" Jack was struggling to remain enthusiastic "is he wearing anything at all?"

"We couldn't find his shoes." Toshiko supplied.

"Shoes!" Jack rubbed his hands eagerly "Perfect! Who remembers what they looked like?"

Silence.

"Say what you like about the little fucker," Owen smiled grimly "but you can't deny he has guts."

A/N: Hope you liked it. This is the first chapter I've actually managed to post BEFORE one am. Just so you know, I'm setting the story in early December, to suit the festive mood. (Christmas and Summer, all at once, I bet you North Hemispherians are green with envy) I'm gonna go the whole hog and see if I can't get chapter five posted this evening. I haven't even written it yet, so cross your fingers!