Evan wasn't sure what to think of the reviews of his first solo show in Europe and the second one he'd gotten as a result. The praise had been heavy for his work and his talent, but he was being tagged as "gay artist" in most of the articles. It annoyed him. It made it seem like it was just some schtick, some gimmick to promote his work. They couldn't just say "talented up and coming artist". No. They had to throw "gay" in there, too.

Jack pulled him into his lap on the sofa. "Hey, at least they're acknowledging you're talented. That's a start."

Evan sighed against Jack's neck. "I know. Moody artist crap…."

"Well, drink your coffee." He kissed his nose. "We've got the first full day off together we've had in months. I'm not wasting it. We are just spending the day wandering, shopping, whatever the hell we feel like doing." It was middle of the week, so a good time for that kind of thing.

Since Evan loved to walk, they did, going from place to place aimlessly as was his habit when given no set schedule. It did both of them good just tossing aside structure for a while. They just enjoyed doing things together, being silly, whatever they felt like doing. In short, they relaxed, something they got precious little chance to do. There were reasons it was said Torchwood shortened your lifespan. If the monsters didn't get you, sometimes the workload did. They were just so grateful to be having a normal day together that they didn't notice they were trailed throughout it.

They would have needed to be utterly paranoid to catch it, really. They were smart about it, switching off frequently and never looking the same. They waited until they were in a less busy area. The first shot was to Evan since he was considered the most dangerous of the pair due to unpredictability. The dart was a direct hit to the lower back, right above a kidney.

"Ah! What the…?" He immediately felt his world slip sideways. "Jack?"

Cross smiled as the driver pulled the van around and, seeing no witnesses, his team poured out, pumping rounds into Harkness as he turned to try and catch his staggering lover. Blood sprayed both of them and Evan tried to support Jack as he stumbled. Both of them tumbled into the mouth of the alley they'd been crossing. Evan tried to call the star to the surface and nothing happened. He tried to snag the minds of their attackers. Nothing. His head was spinning and he felt like he was going to puke. It felt a little like someone had hung him by his ankles and started spinning him over a vast pit of nothing. His heart felt like it was trying to crawl out of him and he could barely breathe. He knew Jack had a gun in a shoulder holster. He always did. But his arms and legs were wobbly and not cooperative. His eyes wouldn't focus properly. Everything was distorting sickeningly. There was no way he could get things functioning well enough together to get to the weapon.

"Run, Evan…." Jack managed to pant out. He was riddled with holes.

"I can't…." Then two of the men grabbed him and started dragging him toward the van. Panic took hold of him and he started struggling. "Jack!"

Cross cursed. "Hit him with another dart! It's not putting him out!"

He was kicking, now, the fear pushing down what he now realized were drugs in his system. Two more darts put an end to that. For a moment all he could do was howl in a mixture of fear and rage. Then one of them got tired of it and just cracked him over the head with the butt of their firearm.

"Idiot!" Cross reached back and popped the one who'd hit him with a meaty fist. "You damage the merchandise, we don't get paid!"

"What about Harkness? Do we want him?"

"Nah. They said leave him as a lesson. Just pull him behind that dumpster there, quick. We've got a limited window to get the hell out of here before our loop plays out and their little hacker can track us on the CCTV."

They did as they were told, doing one last check to make sure no one was watching. Clear, they closed up the van and were gone. Shot through as he was, it took a while for Jack's body to jerk him back into consciousness. He arched up from the ground with a gasping scream, looking about him.

"EVAN!" He got to his feet and found Evan's phone on the ground, case cracked as it had been flung from his pocket during the struggle. He scooped it up as he ran past it. He pulled his Torchwood earpiece from his pocket and snapped it on. "Torchwood, we are code red, repeat code red! Evan and I were attacked and they've taken him! It was a dark blue van, first three of the license xray delta niner."

Dani's voice came over the channel in a moment. "Stand still so I can lock on you, Jack! I'll pull you into the bay!"

Jack slid to a halt, mind balking at standing there while Evan was being dragged further away. Hurry… hurry. Not again. I'm not doing this again…. "Chris?! You have that van yet?! They can't be that far away!"

"Fuck!" Chris growled. "I'm sorry, Jack, they've hacked through the CCTV system and locked me out. I'm trying to break through…."

No…. This can't be happening. He was grateful when he felt the pull of the transport beam. Dani fell into step with him as he bolted out of the ship and up toward main control.

"What the hell happened, Jack?"

"They darted him and shot me. I came to and they were gone."

"Professionals, sounds like. And someone who knows drugs don't work so well on you."

Jack saved his breath for running. He rushed into the main deck. "Anything, Chris?"

He was frantically trying to find the van. The plates were listed as stolen, so they wouldn't yield any useful clues. For all they know, they'd ditched the van already.

Jack's cell phone rang. It was an unknown number. He answered it, patching it through so the whole team could hear. "Harkness."

"You want your little boy toy to stay safe and sound, Harkness, you best tell your geek to back off and quit looking." Cross's voice was almost a rumbling purr. Grabbing the kid had been way too easy. So much for the mighty Captain Jack Harkness. He was underwhelmed.

"What do you want?"

"Oh, just to get out of this piece of shit country. So, if you want the joy of knowing Evan stays alive ever after, stay the hell out of our way. Understand?"

Jack glanced at Chris who was making more and more angry faces as his fingers flew over the console. Jack could see he was trying to get stealth access to certain civic systems they weren't usually forced to use. Dani, meantime was trying to triangulate the call location on the cell towers.

Gwen mouthed the word "American" and Jack nodded. Jules had come up with kit in hand. It was her week for being in the field.

"What's this about?"

"Not about you, Captain. Well, other than an abject lesson in the fact that you really need to tighten up your security. Have fun with that." The line went dead and Jack slammed a fist into the desk in frustration as Dani shook his head.

"Sorry, Jack."

"Sorry doesn't…."

"Shut up!" Chris cursed under his breath as he pulled up his remote control programs and launched three of the quad drones he and Jules had spent a night planting in different areas as an emergency surveillance system. "I need quiet to do all this at once."

Keri got on the next console over. "Give me # 3, that'll free you up a little."

"Give me # 2," Dani said.

He did it and went right back to trying to find them a stealthy way to access cameras without being traced. But, by the time they got the cameras back, there was no sign.


They'd swapped to a different van they'd stashed. The two in the back kept guns on Evan. Their employer had noted this young man as a possible alien entity whose abilities were largely unknown, though they did know he had telepathy from some scant records they'd recovered. When Evan groaned, they looked to Cross.

"How many darts did you put in him?"

"Three."

"He shouldn't be waking already. Hell, that much should be bordering on toxic." He rubbed a hand over his bald head in irritation.

"Jack…." The name came in a hiss. The star was roiling inside him, angry but unable to do anything. It couldn't even speak to him through whatever they had pumped into him.

"Tag him again!" Two more darts put him out again.

Jameson cursed. "I hope we have enough to keep him out until we get him loaded, Cross."

"We do. There's a whole case of them back there and more on the plane."


Chris grumbled. "Might as well dock the drones. They'll be out of their range by now. They said 'get out of the country' and they're American. That means plane or boat. I doubt some American kidnappers are going to go running deeper into Europe."

Dani smirked. "Never underestimate the human stupid factor. Watch the trains anyway."

Chris nodded, but was focusing on the airports and ships. He had a gut feeling. "I'm thinking mercs or military. That means they're probably not flying coach. They most likely have a private jet or military transport. It's not like you can exactly take a kidnap victim through the regular routes."


At the airport they were in a hangar and trying to get Evan out of the van as he was coming awake yet again and starting to struggle. Cross was definitely starting to get testy. "Fries! I thought you said this shit would keep him out!"

The team medic rushed over with a scanner provided to them by their employers. "What the hell?! His metabolism is burning the dart doses out so fast it's not as effective as it should be. Dart him again so I can get an IV on him. It goes along with our cover story anyway." He shrugged. "He'll look all pathetic and sick and off to good old America for the star treatment." He smirked.

Jameson seemed to be taking great joy in shooting the boy again as he struggled. Cross gave him a warning look as Fries rushed to get the IV in him. "Get him on board before Harkness has a chance to figure out which way we went."

Travis stuck his head out of the jet. "I'll give them this much, they don't waste their cash on slackers. Their tech head's good, just not good enough." He grinned. "Our clearance is put in as an emergency medical transport and ready to launch on your word, sir."

"Excellent. Move your asses, gentlemen. I'm sick of all the damned bland European food. The sooner I'm back Stateside, the happier I'll be."

Evan was vaguely aware of what was going on around him. He could hear the voices as if they were filtering down to him through a long, watery tunnel. He knew they were taking him back to the States. He knew for certain these people in no way had his welfare in mind. Whatever they wanted, he had a notion they wouldn't spare any atrocity to get it. The drugs were causing him pain. Right now it was like a dull ache. But it got a little worse the more they put into him. The energies that lived in him were twisting in the tendrils of chemicals like an alligator death rolling in a snare, violent and more desperate the more tangled they became. Alligators in snares eventually drowned because they couldn't get air to breathe. He feared that might be the fate for both parts of his consciousness if they continued to keep drugging him for long.

Oh, Jack, he thought. You have to get me out of here. His hands clenched as he was strapped to a gurney and a whimper escaped him. Please, stop twisting… stop twisting…. He couldn't even pass out properly to avoid the agony of it. He was stuck in this restless limbo. It would have been less cruel to wrap him head to toe in duct tape and then peel off a small bit at a time in painfully slow tugs for the next hundred years.

They got him secured on the plane, loaded the last of their gear and started their taxi sequence. Cross kicked back and smiled. Soon enough he'd be back home, having a nice rare steak, and drinking a beer that didn't taste like motor oil.


"I've got 5 private jets departing Cardiff. One is marked as an emergency medical transport. That's a handy cover for having someone tied down and drugged, don't you think?" Chris smirked. "Sloppy."

"Get their details and track them, Chris."

Jack's face had a look Dani recognized quite easily. It was the face he wore when he was at his most dangerous. That expression said get in his way at just the wrong time and you'd not live to regret it. That face told Dani that Evan had what he'd wanted back in the day: Jack's love. At least he's got one worth fighting for now. Dani smirked. John sure as shark shit hadn't been.

He pushed himself upright from the console. "You know, boss, with a little rule breaking I can beat them to wherever they're slotted to go."

Chris considered. "I could probably keep him from being deported for it."

Jack looked at them. "Gwen…."

"I'll look after things, Jack." She gave him a solemn nod.

Jules stood straight. "I'm field medic, so you're not leaving me."

Keri rolled her shoulders. "If squiddy goes, so do I. Not letting him have all the fun."

"And that's the limit once we account for gear and bringing back another passenger. Tava's not a troop ship. She's an armed racer, all a bounty hunter needs. You just make sure I don't lose her for this, spiky." He gave Chris a pointed look, wagging a finger at him. He looked at Jack as Alex thumped down a couple of crates of weapons and started helping them gear up. "Anything happens to either of my babies and you'll owe me big, Jack, oh-so big."

"None of you have to do this…."

"Oh, shut your gobbering goop. Of course we do." Dani rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Damn fool…."

"Evan is family, Jack." Jules checked her clips and snapped them onto her belt. And this time, she vowed, I'm not hesitating to pull the trigger.

He took a deep breath. He was putting his whole team in danger for one person, someone he should be going on his own to rescue. They weren't even sure who they were facing. But not a single one of them judged him for it. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. He tightened the thigh straps on his holsters, settled the weapons into them and straightened the coat. "Let's go." Dani gave him the quick, complex set of hand bumps that had once been their good luck charm before going out on runs as he strode past, checking his own weapons on the move. Keri slung the remaining pack of spares over her shoulder.

Chris shot the coordinates he'd gotten from the plane's flight plan down to Dani's ship. "Enjoy South Dakota…."

"Oh, goodie," muttered Dani. "It'll be snow up to our balls this time of year. That means me in a suit and stuck in one form." He made a face. "Not my favorite way to fight. I much prefer being able to play it fast and dirty."

"We'll manage," Jack assured as they strode up the ramp side by side looking rather like a pair of Wild West gunslingers in their long coats.

"Manage? Like hell. We'll do like we've always done: outshine and outfox." He snorted as he went into the control module and stroked the control panels of his ship. "Well, looks like my baby's not done flying just yet, hey? I just hope those stupid 'Mericains don't still shoot first and ask questions later."