Jack had finished his hundredth cup of coffee as he walked through the hub towards Tosh. Gwen and Owen were dozing on the sofa nearby leaving Tosh to crunch numbers.
"Anything?" Jack asked.
"Not sure. I have a few frequency peaks that appear to be same. These 3..."She said indicating some strange graphs and figures on the screen. "Are similar to the energy spikes from John's first travel here."
"Is there a way to trace it back to its origin?" Jack asked.
"If I knew what to look for, maybe. There is something beyond it. But I can't tell if its a planet, a place on earth or whatever it could be." Tosh said.
"But it could be where John came from, like his home?" Jack asked her.
"Without any experience or knowledge of other worlds, its hard to tell." Tosh said.
"But if it was, is there any way we can follow the rift back without being fried or sent to some random planet?" Jack looked at her.
"I just don't know. Time travel, travelling between worlds is not something I have done. We really need someone who has."
"Like me." A voice said from behind them. Jack and Tosh turned around to see the famillar and handsome looking man in front of them. The man known as The Doctor. Jack stepped forward and offered a hand to the young man.
"Doctor." He said. Behind them Gwen and Owen had woken from their short sleep and stood beside Tosh and Jack. The man shook Jack's hand.
"Um Jack." Owen said from behind them.
"Oh sorry, Owen Harper, Gwen Cooper and Toshiko Sato, meet The Doctor." Jack said. The Doctor nodded to them all. "What are you doing here Doctor?" Jack asked him.
"I received this." He said handing Jack an envelope. Jack opened it and pulled out some more photographs. Once again Jack could see photographs of Ianto taken without his knowledge. Another one, Jack was in the shot. Amongst the photographs was a small piece of plastic, almost the size of a camera's SD card.
"Who sent you this?" Jack asked him. The Doctor put his hands in his pockets and looked at Jack.
"Not sure, you could say I found it in my post box. Was going to ignore it at first, figuring you were playing some sort of trick. Then I found out what that is." He pointed to the card in Jack's hand. Jack handed it to Tosh. "Touch the small grey button." He instructed. Tosh did so and a famillar hologram materialised in front of them.
"So Doctor is it...well if you are looking for something to do, I suggest you look up your old friend Jack Harkness. I have a feeling he is going to need your expertise. The life of his dear Tea Boy depends on you. But hear this, if you have plans on accompanying him then think again. This is between me and him." The figure of John disappeared and Te Doctor glared at Jack.
"What exactly is going on Jack?" He asked him.
"John has kidnapped Ianto and dragged him off to some far away world. And we have no idea where." Jack explained.
"Why does John think the Doctor can help?" Gwen asked.
"Tosh has narrowed down a possible location from the spikes. We are just not sure what lays beyond it." Jack described. He looked at the Doctor. "You know time travel, have been through more worm holes and rifts then we can imagine. Will you help me?"
"Like you need to ask Jack." The young man replied. "Show me what you have." He walked over to Tosh's screen.
"I have analyzed the frequencies from John's firs appearances on Earth and compared them with recent activity and the rift that opened in the hub, where he took Ianto back through. They are almost identical. But I have no idea where they track back too. I have some sort of co-ordinates but that's all I know."
"Well I happen to know a fair bit about the locations of many distant worlds, planets and the like. That to me looks like that is in the region of the Gamma Nebula. A few worlds around there, some nice some not so."
"So maybe John has taken Ianto to a world around there." Gwen wondered.
"Its possible, The Gamma Nebula is home of planets like Heuron, Couron, Kezna. These at least are liveable ones. Been to Kezna myself, full of rather raunchy ladies I must say. Seems sexual encounters are like water to these people."
"Give me directions." Owen smiled. Gwen smacked him on the arm.
"So there is a chance John has travelled to one of these planets?" Jack asked him.
"From the readings on here, that is more then likely." The Doctor replied.
"So which one?" Tosh asked.
"Is there anything here that would indicate which planet?" Jack asked him. "We can't waste time searching each one." The Doctor looked back to the screen, squinting as he focused on the screen. He started to mutter to himself, pressing buttons on the console and making notes on a nearby pad. The others stood by and watched in wonder.
"Is he alright?" Owen asked.
"Oh yeah, this is how the Doctor thinks." Jack replied, watching the man pace backwards and forwards, rubbing his head and muttering away. All of a sudden he stopped and looked back to Jack.
"What...what is it?" Jack asked him.
"If my calculations and memory are correct, these readings could indicate Couron. Its a basic planet, not as advanced as most. Quiet and normally a place vagabonds and criminals would hide out."
"That has to be it. John is the king of Vagabonds." Jack said. "Tosh can you fix a point on that planet?"
"Maybe, just never done it before." She admitted. The Doctor put a hand on her shaking hand as she tapped away at the keyboard.
"I can help you pretty lady."
Ianto wanted to close his eyes and fall asleep, but the hardness of the floor was proving to be a barrier. His energy was almost drained and he wanted to just lay down and sleep for days. Each time he managed to close his eyes he saw images of Jack, distressed and crying. Upset that Ianto was missing. Ianto silently prayed that Jack would find a way to him soon. He could take care of himself, and Jack knew that. But Ianto also knew that there was no way Jack would sit around and wait. He would want to find the nearest thing to hit, if it meant getting him closer to Ianto. That side of Jack was one of the main reasons Ianto loved him so. His courage, his resilience, his manly nature. It made Ianto go weak at the knees.
"Yeah, thats a good trait to have." John spoke up from where he had laid, a cigarette in hand.
"Will you stop reading my mind." Ianto said. "Its kind of intrusive."
"Like I care." John said. He stood up and walked over to Ianto. "And like I said. It is a good trait to have. It works well on Jack."
"What is your obsession with him? Why do all this?" Ianto asked him. John started to pace in front of Ianto.
"Jack is the type of person you love and hate at the same time. Makes me want him more."
"And you think taking me will make him fall into your arms? You have a twisted view of showing love."
"It is love and revenge sweet Ianto. No one gets away with rejecting and banishing me, even if he does have a hot ass."
"So if you want Jack to come to you, why drag me off to some far off planet?"
"Didn't you ever play hide and seek with your brothers?"
"I have a sister, and sometimes we did." Ianto answered.
"Its fun, so much planning and it drives the seeker crazy when they can't find where you are hiding. I live to drive Jack crazy."
"And you felt like you had to drag me into your school yard games?"
"Jack is like a puppet. He needs strings to make him do what you want. I am just pulling on them strings." He stepped closer to Ianto. "And if I pull hard enough...I can make him dance."
"We are not toys in your twisted play John." Ianto said. John knelt beside him once more. Ianto started to feel uneasy as John's hand laid on his leg, brushing slowly up the leg. Ianto squirmed, his heart beating faster then it should. He tried to back away but once again the wall behind was preventing him from doing so. He tried to bat John's arm away but John pulled his gun out and dug it in Ianto's ribs.
"Don't fight it." John said.
"I will fight you as long as I am able too." He said. John cocked the gun and duck it further into Ianto's side.
"I wouldn't try to move much Eye Candy, I may just loose my grip on this gun, and we wouldn't want that would we?" Ianto wanted to reply but the pain in his ribs was clouding his mind. He turned his head away from John, closing his eyes. He resigned himself to letting John do whatever he was planning, he knew fighting would be bad. He closed his eyes as John's hand moved slowly from his leg and around his man patch. He cringed as the hand moved, but all of a sudden it stopped and he heard John stand up. He opened his eyes and turned to look at John. He breathed a sigh of relief and silently thanked the lords that were looking down on him.
"No need to thank them." John said. "I am saving you for later."