"The warehouses themselves don't appear on CCTV, which is why we couldn't find them after…." Gwen had to force herself to stop for breath, she was shaking with excitement. "But I cross-referenced their movements with phone signals from yesterday and bingo, I found this." Gwen handed Jack a copy of a map which showed the points at which a mobile phone had sent signals from. Parts of the paper had been torn as Gwen had tugged it out of the printer in her impatience.

"Luna must have had her phone on her last night because I managed to track it all the way to the warehouses – I can't think of any other reasons her phone would be there unless that's where they're holding Ianto".

Jack's heart was pounding – it was too easy wasn't it? But they had used an amateur in Luna. She had clearly over-stepped the mark in drugging Ianto and was by no means a professional. Had she made a rookie error? Jack did not allow himself to believe that this was true, that they had found his Ianto – yet it seemed to fill him with a new dose of energy. Whilst he wouldn't consciously admit it – the fires of hope were lit deep in his guts.

"Have we been able to get them back on the monitor?" Jack bought himself more time to process him thoughts and emotions.

"No, still no response" Gwen looked at her boss in anticipation, waiting for his next move.

"these warehouses, are they big?"

Gwen nodded, "But the tracker can isolate the signal to within 50 squarer feet"

Jack's face broke into a massive grin."I bloody love you Gwen Cooper, you are brilliant" He gave her a quick kiss, causing her to blush slightly, before grabbing his coat and the keys to the SUV – come on!" He shouted back at her as she ran back for her phone, caught slightly off guard.

"Let's go get him".

Ianto choked, his throat was dry and the ground beneath him was cold, seeming harder and more uncomfortable with every second that passed. He had spent the last few hours dipping in and out of consciousness. They'd given him something to make him drowsy and he'd expelled all remaining energy he had left on trying to stay awake. 3-4 hours ago he'd given in and had let it overtake him. Ianto had no idea how long he had been here, time seemed to stop in this place. He'd used every waking hour trying to discern where in Cardiff they were keeping him – he assumed it was Cardiff. The journey itself, as far as he had been aware had only been 15-20 minutes, and Ianto was confident enough in his judgement of time to trust this. He must still be in Cardiff – he hoped more than anything he was right.

The room he was in gave very little away. However, Ianto could have sworn he'd smelt the ocean as they pulled him out of the car and through the building above him. Whilst he had been blindfolded, he had sensed the dampness in the air as he'd been brought downstairs, to what he only assumed was below ground. This considered, the room he was now in was bone dry. Ianto guessed he must be near the docks. The timing and what clues his senses had picked up on pointed to this. There were empty warehouses near the docks that Ianto knew very well; great places to end a weevil hunt with Jack; always best to end in a slightly more 'private' area; Ianto was always a little more concerned than Jack about prying eyes and socially acceptable wasn't quite in Jack's vocabulary. Yes, he was pretty confident in his rough location.

How careless, Ianto thought, to leave so many clues for me. But then his heart dropped; but I can't do anything with that – I can't contact Jack and, if they've been so careless to show me where they're based they're not expecting me to leave here alive. Whilst his heart plummeted, a glimmer of hope caused it to pause a moment; they clearly underestimated him – yes they might not be planning on him leaving but they still blindfolded him so he wouldn't know where they were. They still didn't want him to know where he was – which Ianto was now growing more confident he was right about. That, Ianto smiled a lonely and desperate smile in the darkness, he could use to his advantage.

Gwen flinched as Jack slammed the door of the SUV with such force she could have sworn she felt the large vehicle sway a little. Jack had found some new energy store deep inside him that seemed to have, if possible, increase his vigor.

"Jack" Gwen called to him as her bossed marched ahead, "Jack wait a minute"

But he did not seem to hear her. Groaning she jogged after him until she was able to grab his arm. This finally brought him to a halt. He looked at her silently and intensely, as if daring her to justify why she had stopped him.

"Just think about this for a second." She breathed heavily, trying to catch her breath – it really had been too long since she had visited the gym.

"What is there to think about?"

"what is…" Gwen frowned at him, "you can't just go blundering in, what if it's a trap?

"Don't underestimate the allure of a good trap." Jack winked, "I knew this guy once, awful teeth, but he did…"

"You're not thinking straight Jack" Gwen gave him her 'stop talking crap' look and Jack abandoned any attempts at humor.

"They've got Ianto" he stated blankly, as if that explained.

"What good are you to him dead?" Gwen pleaded with him.

"They won't kill us" Jack turned to continue towards the warehouse, more than a hint of irritation in his voice.

"How do you know?"

"Because if they wanted us dead they would have done it already." Jack forced himself into a more measured tone, deciding it was best not to alienate the only remaining member of his team. "so are you coming?" The last was said a little more aggressively than he meant it to but he turned on his heel anyway and continued.

Gwen paused for a moment, uncertain, she had never seen him like this before. Usually so calm and rational, Jack was not one to let emotions get the better of him; yet here he was breaking all his own rules. Cursing him under her breath she drew her gun and followed him tentatively into the warehouses.

Inside the air was damp, the smell clung to their nostrils, sweet and sickly. Gwen focused most of her efforts on breathing as shallowly as possibly as to not inhale too much of it. She glanced sideways at Jack who was also brandishing a firearm, she had never known him like this before – irrational, erratic and so full of anger. They proceeded in silence, each step seemed to echo on the stone floor, everything else was painfully still.

Beside her Jack was desperately trying to calm the emotional battle inside him. The anger he had felt towards himself for letting Ianto be taken had evolved into an anger at feeling this way. He had allowed himself to get so completely attached to another human being. He was in love, that made him vulnerable, and Jack didn't like to be vulnerable. What's worse was that it was someone within the team; how stupid could he have been? And now that stupidity was coming back to bite him. "you should never regret loving" the Doctor had told him once, "it's what makes you human". Indeed, Jack had seen the power and strength there was in love, and he'd felt love towards others, the Doctor, Gwen, Rose. But this was different. Every moment he was with Ianto he felt calm, almost like a normal person again; mortal and ready to commit to a lifetime with him. Yet when they were apart every fibre of his being was waiting for them to be reunited, like a piece of himself was missing. And now he faced the prospect of never feeling that wholeness again. Ianto was being dangled over him, if Jack had believed in Gods he would have pictured them laughing at their cruel joke, their revenge for how he'd cheated death so many times.

Jack tried desperately to concentrate on his surroundings but Ianto's face kept swimming before his eyes, it was no use. Instead he let Gwen take the lead. Every step that could potentially lead Jack to Ianto now filled him with dread – every step closer to Ianto, meant potentially another step closer to having to choose. These people weren't stupid, they knew that Jack would attempt a rescue, they knew. They knew how much Ianto meant to Jack and they were banking on him meaning more than the entire human race. Did he? Could Jack bear to sacrifice him? Jack wasn't even sure himself – and that's what scared him most.

After a few moments Jack spoke, his voice was such a break to the silence it made Gwen jump.

"it's empty isn't it?"

This wasn't really a question. Gwen turned to face him. "I'm so sorry Jack"

He hung his head, "it's not your fault; it was a long-shot anyway"

"Jack…"

"I know, this day was always going to come, it always does, I..."

"No Jack, look" Gwen was staring about 10ft beyond Jack, he spun around.

"What," he squinted, searching for what Gwen had seen until his eyes rested upon something small and black, lying on the floor, his eyes widened. "Luna's phone" he picked it up. The phone felt cold in his hand and added another lump in his throat. They must have found the phone, got rid of it and taken Ianto somewhere else. A tear filled his eyes.

"He's gone Gwen." His throat felt dry and his hand loosened, letting the mobile crash to the floor. "He's gone" his voice was now so hoarse it came out as little more than a whisper. In that moment he knew, he hated himself for it but he knew. He could not let a whole world die for one man, no matter who the man was. At this moment he wished he was a more selfish man; perhaps he would have been once, but the doctor had changed that, and so had Ianto. Jack knew Ianto would never forgive him for sacrificing the Earth – whilst Jack would save his life he would lose him.

Gwen watched Jack in shock as the life seemed to drain from him and he slumbered towards the exit. This wasn't the Jack Harkness she knew.

"where you going?" she called after him to no avail. "what, are you just going to give up? Just like that?" Jack failed to respond, a confused rush of feelings bubbled to the surface in Gwen and her voice grew stern "You are many thing Jack Harkness but I never had you down as a quitter".

"he's gone Gwen, don't you get it"

"What happened to 'there's always hope' or 'with such a dashing hero on the trail how could we fail'..?" She stared at him aghast. Jack simply continued to walk away, head down, utterly defeated.

Gwen was felt a surge of anger, after everything that had happened in the last year Jack was just going to give up? Let them lose Ianto too? He'd never failed to find the will before, he'd carried on after Tosh and Owen, even after his brother, to give up now when they needed him most.

"JACK HARKNESS YOU STOP RIGHT THERE" her words came out so severely that she made herself jump. They did the trick however, Jack swerved on the spot, taken aback. She marched towards him. "If you think I'm going to let you just walk aw... ow!"

Paying no attention to where she was going Gwen suddenly slipped and disappeared under a pile of rotting wood.

"Gwen," Jack sprinted to where she'd fallen to find her lying embarrassed, with her foot stuck under a piece of wood.

"you ok?" he asked.

"Fine," she mumbled, "just get me unstuck"

With some considerable effort Jack heaved the wood aside, un-trapping Gwen's foot, miraculously it wasn't injured.

"Phew that was close" Gwen sighed. But Jack was paying little attention, instead his eyes were fixated on the patch of ground that he'd just cleared. A glint returned to his eyes as his face broke into a massive grin. On the ground where the wood had been was a heart-lifting sight. Gwen pulled herself to her feet.

"Jack…"

But Jack simply pulled her into a massive hug. "What would I do without you Gwen Cooper?"

She grinned, tears, filling her eyes, for beneath their feet now lay a wooden trapdoor.