"Ianto, everything alright?" Jack's worried voice came instantly over the comm, having heard the sound of the shattered mug.

Drawing in some ragged breaths, Ianto tried to control his shaking hands again and lowered the gun.

"Yes, everything's fine, I was just startled and dropped a mug."

"You sure?"

"Yes, Jack, I'm fine. Concentrate on the road."

Cursing himself for being so jumpy, Ianto knelt down to pick up the shattered pieces of his mug. He threw the remains in the bin and wiped the coffee from the floor and his clothes before attempting to pour himself another cup of coffee.

This time succeeding, he headed back to Tosh's station, shooting an accusing look at the file that had slipped from the desk to the floor and had been the cause of his coffee bath.

--oooOOooo--

I just walk back into the monitoring room when I see the boy crawling under the desk of the Japanese woman's station. My heart skips a beat, how did he find my transmitter?

A moment later, I release the breath I wasn't aware of holding, he had only picked up a file, his gaze still on the monitors above him.

That was close.

I sit down heavily on my chair. It's time to act, I just need the right opportunity. I look at my calendar and smile at the big red cross that marks the weekend.

Then my attention is drawn back to the monitors, where are the rest of them? Rewinding the footage, I watch them leave after some sort of alarm sounded, almost getting sick by the sight of Harkness and his boy. So they are finally out on missions again, leaving the boy behind.

Taking a sip of my coffee I almost choke when I watch the boy freak out over the noise of some falling paper. He hadn't forgotten.

I smile.

Very good.

--oooOOooo--

"Ianto, any change in the readings?" Jack knew Ianto would tell them if there was a change, but he needed to hear his lover's voice, needed to know he was still safe.

"Nope, readings are still the same. It's probably just an inanimate object."

"We will know in a second."

Jack steered the SUV around the last corner and hit the brakes instantly.

"What the hell is that?" Gwen's voice clearly showed the disgust, she was feeling.

"What is it?" Staring at the monitors in front of him, like they would finally show what the team was dealing with, Ianto waited impatiently of an update.

"It's… err… yuck… what's that smell?" Jack covered his mouth and nose with his hand and looked out of the front window.

"I think we can safely say it's dead if the smell is anything to go by," Owen grunted from the backseat.

"Yeah, but what was it?" Tosh tried her best to ignore the stench and peered over Jack's shoulder to get a good look at what could only be described as big green and brown blobs.

"Are you trying to make me curious on purpose?" Ianto finally asked over the comm.

"Believe me, Yan, you don't want to be here, it's just disgusting. It looks like a swarm of weird space fish had come through the rift, only that their bodies seemed to be everted. Their internal organs are on the outside." Jack had found his voice again and looked over the mess on the field in front of them.

"Uhm… beautiful." Ianto swallowed hard, the mere description was enough to turn his stomach. And again he was glad he could sit out on this mission.

"Perhaps we should just let them decompose…" Jack opted, but his hopes were crushed by Tosh a second later.

"Sorry, but they emit a low level of radiation. We need to contain them, otherwise their remains could contaminate the whole area."

"Brilliant," Owen muttered, opening his door, reluctantly followed by the others.

The team needed the next two days for the clean up. Jack even ordered Ianto to help them as there was no immediate danger other than the disgusting smell. Although Ianto felt up for it, Jack only diverted the smaller tasks to his lover, still treating him with care.

At the evening of the second day they were all knackered and just wanted a shower and a bed. Rhys was waiting for Gwen at the tourist office, they were going to visit Gwen's parents, which both were not really looking forward to, but they had postponed the visit for too many times and ran out of excuses.

Owen just pushed Tosh into his car and they drove off without so much as a goodbye, leaving Jack and Ianto to lock down the Hub. They shared the job of looking after Myfanwy and Janet, checking that they were all settled before climbing into the SUV and driving to Ianto's flat.

It had been almost two weeks now until the last time they had some quality time together, but all they managed was a quick shower with some kissing before they hit the sheets being completely exhausted. It took only minutes for both men to drift off to sleep, Ianto curled around Jack's body, his head on the older men's chest.

They were still in that position when Ianto awoke the next morning. Slowly opening one eye, he glanced at the alarm clock and groaned. He had hoped to be able to turn around again and get back to sleep, but the red digits showed mercilessly that it was time to get up.

Disentangling himself from Jack's embrace and the duvet, he winced slightly when his ribs protested the movement. He had guessed he would regret overdoing it the day before when Jack wasn't looking, but he couldn't bring it over himself to watch the rest of the team work so hard while he was only doing the easy stuff.

Rolling from the bed he smiled when he looked at Jack, who was still dead to the world. Ianto slipped on one of his worn out t-shirts and padded to the kitchen, starting his morning routine.

He just hoped the rift would show some pity and stay quiet. After all they were one team member short for the weekend.

--oooOOooo--

I've watched with delight the last two days how team Torchwood had worked themselves to death. This would make my job so much easier.

And it was just after Harkness and the boy made their way into their base that I knew today was my day.

The doctor and the Japanese lady were already there, slumped in their chairs, the police woman was on the road with her boyfriend and Harkness announced he would be in a conference call the whole morning.

As soon as he disappeared into his office I called Frank.

Now I watch how the boy is preparing coffee again, while the Japanese lady is hacking half-heartedly on her keyboard and the doctor is doing some weird stuff in his mortuary.

A glance at my watch makes me smile, I start to count down, 3 – 2 – 1. Staring at the monitors I wait. Harkness is still in his office, for some reason he is in a video conference with the Prime Minister. It seems our government is aware of Torchwood and supporting it. I voted for that bastard!

But my anger at our traitorous government soon gets pushed away when I see the Japanese girl straighten up after an alarm alerts her to a message on her screen. I watch her face fall and know it's the message I have been waiting for.

I watch until the doctor and the boy join her at her station, I can see their annoyed expressions and smile. And then just as I'd predicted it, the Japanese lady and the doctor grab their weapons and head out of their base.

Switching the monitors off, I make my way to my bedroom to dress in my military outfit again. No need for them to find out who I am yet.

Knowing my men will handle their task without a problem, I lock my house and drive to our training base, an old abandoned warehouse.

--oooOOooo--

"Are you sure you should go alone?" Ianto wasn't the least bit comfortable with Tosh and Owen heading out on their own.

"It's just a Weevil, Ianto. I think we can handle it." Tosh patted him on the arm and grabbed her gun.

"I'm just saying we should at least tell Jack…"

"Jack is in a video conference with the PM, do you really want to barge in just because of a Weevil sighting?" Owen pushed his gun in the back of his pants and grabbed the keys for the SUV. "We can deal with it."

"I should go with you." Ianto was turning to get his gun as well, but a hand on his arm stopped him.

"Sorry, mate, but you're not up for a one on one with a Weevil. I wasn't really comfortable with letting you help us the last two days. You had a bad concussion and your rib won't heal if you put constant strain on it. You're much better help if you monitor from here."

Ianto sighed, he knew the doctor was correct, his body had sent a clear message this morning about being overused the days before. But he hated being so useless and he couldn't shake the bad feeling about Tosh and Owen heading out alone.

Watching his team mates walking out of the Hub and climbing in the SUV, Ianto flicked the monitor to the CCTV network to be able to follow their every step.

The sighting had been on the other side of the city, a very unusual place for Weevils, a fact that didn't help to settle his bad feelings. He watched Owen park the SUV and then climb out, Tosh hot on his heels.

"Be careful," Ianto reminded them over the comm.

"Will do, now shut up, we need to concentrate."

Ianto watched Owen lifting his weapon and looking around. The doctor nodded at Toshiko and the woman stepped next to him, her gun at the ready. Suddenly Owen's head shot around and he ran into a small alley, Tosh right behind him.

Flipping through the CCTV images from that area, Ianto got more anxious by the minute when he couldn't find a camera that showed the image of that alley.

"Owen, Tosh." Listening intently for a response he felt the panic rising. The only thing he could hear over the comm was white noise. With trembling fingers, he flicked through the CCTV cameras once more, but there was nothing out of the ordinary, it seemed like they just disappeared from the face of the world.

"Owen, damn it, answer me!" Ianto was sweating, he had known something would go wrong, they should have told Jack. He should have never let them go on their own.

"Tosh, please, say something."

Again, only random noise was answering him.

The minutes were ticking away and he had still not gotten a response or found them on the CCTV, he knew he had to tell Jack, but he started one last attempt to call them.

This time he received an answer that froze the blood in his veins.

"Hey, boy, did you miss me?"