I personally love this chapter... Dunno why, but I really, really like it! I think I spent he first half of the story kinda forcing it, but at about this point, I was hit by a sudden surge of inspiration and I wrote the rest of the fic for an afternoon solidly.... after several days of slogging through the firstpart of the story.

Anyway, I hope you notice the difference in the way the story flows a little better! This is for everyone who may have had a crap day like me.

Chapter 9

We are in a mess, a danger zone
What will happen next, you never know

Jack was trudging through a construction site on the edge of the city, John a few steps in front of him. He was cold and annoyed and he wanted to get back to the Hub and to Ianto. He'd deliberated for a while about waking him up, but it seemed to be the best option to just leave him sleeping.

"Any sign of it yet?" He asked John, watching the other man picking his way through to the back of a half demolished room.

"I think it's headed here. They like the dark, I seem to remember." John gestured to the large footprints that showed slightly on the dusty floor. He sighed heavily and spun on his heel to face Jack. "Do we really have to do this?"

"That's a bit of a dumb question there." Jack said with a laugh. "You let them out, you round them up. I see no reason to get my team any more involved than they need to be."

John sighed again and headed through the door at the back of the ruined building, finding himself in a staircase. He grinned briefly to himself as an idea sprung to mind before he started to climb, calling out, "I think it went this way."

Jack stepped through the door and looked up dubiously, watching John pick his way up the dusty, debris-ridden staircase. He glanced down the long room, into the shaded, hidden area on the other side and hesitated for a moment. There was no way that the creature would've climbed the stairs instead of hiding in the dark, basement reaches of the building. That species wasn't built for heights, that much he was certain of.

What the hell have I got myself into? Jack thought with a silent groan of annoyance. Why the hell didn't I just stay in bed with Ianto? God, I wish I was back with him… With a sigh, he pushed all thoughts of Ianto out of his head for the moment and looked back up towards the top of the staircase. He shook his head and lowered his eyes and he gritted his teeth.

Wearily, he pulled out his Webley and gripped it in his hand before he slowly followed John up the staircase. This seemed like a classic thing he would do and Jack was on his guard, his senses honed to the point of flinching as a pebble fell through the centre of the winding stairs, kicked off by John, several flights above him.

He tried to keep an eye on John, but the bright winter sun meant that the visibility was almost non existent, the dust motes in the golden stream of light clogging up his vision like he was squinting through a particularly thick fog.

When he emerged on the half demolished roof of the tower, perhaps seven stories up, Jack saw John standing on the edge of the building, gazing out at the city below. Jack glanced at his watch and found that they'd been trailing around all morning and well into the afternoon, without so much as a call in to the Hub to check up on the team. He grimaced slightly and made a mental note that Ianto was entitled to be as pissed off as he wanted.

Jack bit back a sigh and took a step away from the staircase, watching John intently. He was keen to find out just what he was up to now, John having lead him on a wild goose chase for almost twelve hours. Silently, he was fuming at having been tricked like that.

"I would appreciate an explanation." Jack said icily, watching John with a deadpan face as he turned around, hands in pockets, and watched him speculatively. "What do you want?"

"What I want, is for you to come to your senses. Join me, Jack. Back in the old routine. We'd be emperors. How can you stay tied to one planet when there's thousands of worlds, sparkling with wonder?" John exclaimed, throwing his hands up, almost in defeat, his tone exasperated. "We should be up there, among the stars, claiming them for our own. Just like before."

"I can't." Jack said, looking away. He didn't want to get into this conversation, it would only end badly. John stepped back across the roof a few paces, his eyes fixed on Jack's face.

"Why not? What the hell is there to keep you here?" John growled, walking up to Jack and standing right in front of him. "Come on… The glitter of the galaxy, the mischief we could make!"

Jack turned to look back at him, studying his expression, the look in his eyes. He was struck by the fact that John obviously believed everything he was saying. He almost laughed in his face, but something told him that would be incredibly unwise.

"You know, you never really mastered that temptation spiel." Jack said with a smirk as he walked past him and headed towards the edge of the roof, looking out over the familiar buildings of Cardiff, though from a completely new angle.

"It's not a spiel. It's fact." John said acidly, his teeth grinding together a little. Jack looked over his shoulder, saw the glower on John's face and turned back round to look at him once more.

"Move on." He hissed, the annoyance and anger starting to emerge a little, despite himself. "Here I am, in a new life and you're still churning out the same old tunes. And sorry, but they don't play as well, now you're looking a little older… And what are they, wrinkles around your eyes?"

"Laugh lines!" John snarled in reply, fist clenched and his body hunched as if preparing to lunge forward in an attack.

"Oh, hell of a good joke!" Jack laughed, goding John and winding him up, all tact and wisdom thrown away in a bid to rile the other man up as much as possible.

"It's you I'm laughing at." He yelled, no trace of amusement in his voice at all as he stepped forwards slowly. "This pretty little world seems to have dulled senses, Jack. It's like you're comatose and settling for this when you could have so much more. I pity you, Jack, I really do."

"Well that's odd, because I'm feeling pretty sorry for you as well." Jack snapped back in return. He barely had time to brace himself as John lunged at him with a snarl of anger, pinning him back on the ground, his head and shoulders sticking out of the edge. Whilst it was an unpleasant sensation, Jack wasn't unduly worried, something which John didn't seem to pick up on.

"I gave you so many chances, Jack. I was so patient with you. Now, once again, I have your life in my hands." He hissed, their faces only an inch or so apart. He wound his fingers into the lapels of Jack's coat and pushed him a little further over the edge. "One wrong move and you could be splayed out on the ground, every bone in your body broken and your insides bleeding."

There was a click from behind John and he froze in place, his eyes focused on Jack's, his expression a mixture of fear and annoyance.