"You can't drive a car...?" Zoe asked with disbelief. They were driving on the bus trying to get to the building Zoe named.

"Well... I never had a need for a driver's license," Tobey explained. "And once this job came along I never found the time. So I can't drive a car, I've never sat behind a wheel. I only use the bike or go by bus. I'm trying to be eco-friendly."

"Does Jack know?" Zoe laughed. This was unexpected.

"I'm not sure but I don't think so. I wonder what would happen if he did know... Driving didn't really come with the job description but I guess it was an obvious thing."

"So what else don't you know?" Zoe asked.

Tobey blushed. "Why are you assuming I can't do things?"

"Well you don't seem like the action type. And you're not the fittest person on this planet."

Tobey became very red. Yes, he couldn't disagree. He was a bit of a wimp, with zero muscles whatsoever but nevertheless he was quite agile and he proved himself to be useful in a few "weevil situations". He did start training once he had joined Torchwood but he knew strength and speed didn't come immediately. But he guessed he could turn this situation into a nice joke. Plus, he wanted to get it off his chest.

"So, I've never fired a gun," he said. "Also, I know everybody accepts it as common place but all those weevils and everything make me so terrified I can barely move. Sometimes I feel like I don't really belong there."

"Well right now, you're here with me going blind into the unknown," Zoe said with a smile.

"Yeah, and disobeying Jack entirely," Tobey added with an already given up voice.

"I think this is exactly the reason why you belong there," Zoe said. "When this all finishes I'll tell you a secret and Jack won't be able to do anything to you."

"We're here," Zoe said, cutting his pondering short. They left at the bus station and walked a few blocks further conversing casually. Tobey noticed that his life was the main topic and whenever he asked Zoe something she answered in a very roundabout way, practically avoiding his question. But he wasn't especially worried. After all there was going to be a chance to meet her again, right? She wouldn't just disappear of the face of the Earth suddenly.

The building they were headed to was a tall office block. On the side were names of several companies out of which Tobey recognised only one: "Granollio", his cereal brand.

"Interested in muesli?" Tobey asked joking.

But Zoe was not in the mood for jokes. She was looking around cautiously; Tobey noticed her gaze was directed at the security cameras. He turned on his PDA but the building security network was not present. Obviously it wasn't a wireless one.

"Come on," Zoe guided him inside the building not caring about their looks obviously not fitting the "business" image of the place. Zoe's short skirt and blue hair and Tobey's brown tweed jacket were definitely not suited for this place. "Now, look confident and bored," Zoe whispered.

"Excuse me," the man behind the desk right by the door stopped them. "This building is off limit to visitors. May I ask if you have an appointment?"

"We're waiting for our dad," Zoe explained sweetly. "He's treating us to dinner today and we were supposed to meet him here today."

"If you want I can phone him, what floor does he work on?" the receptionist asked.

"Fifth floor I think, for "Morgan and co." but I don't want to bother him so we'll just wait here," Zoe started looking around obviously trying to communicate to the man that they wanted to sit somewhere.

"Oh, there's a waiting area over there, please take a seat," the man pointed at an area a few meters away by the huge windows.

Zoe smiled. "Thanks," she said kindly to the man. "Come," her voice changed to annoyed as she dragged Tobey towards the waiting area like an annoyed older sister would. Zoe sat closer to the reception desk obscuring the view for Tobey.

"We didn't really achieve much did we?" Tobey said. "Now we're stuck here waiting for our non-existent father?"

"We can always make him up. Can you hack into the system and phone him up posing as our father?" Zoe asked with a confident smile. "And you'd have to do it fast, I think any minute now that man might phone up security."

"I'll see what I can do," Tobey asked. So this was what she meant by breaking into a building. He couldn't tell whether he felt safer or more at risk in this situation.

His PDA was great, it was small and could always pose as a toy. But its functions were boundless. It had originally belonged to Toshiko Sato and oh, the wonders it could do. Tobey only copied the operating system and programs onto a smaller device with bigger memory which he found more comfortable to use. With the help of this device he could easily break into any network.

Tobey accessed the personnel files and then found the landline to the building. He fetched his phone from his bag. There was one missed called from Jack. How did he miss that? He asked himself and got worried. He knew he was in trouble now for ignoring Jack's call. But before he could call back he had to take care of this. He dialled the reception line and waited.

"This is Robert Reichs," he tried using his mature old-man voice; it sounded fake but he counted on the connection being bad, "I just remembered my kids were supposed to meet me today for dinner. If they come by could you just let them up?"

"Oh, Mr Reichs, certainly, sir," the man immediately complied.

"You will recognize those two little rascals, they're going through their rebellious phase," Tobey continued.

"Of course, sir, I think they have already arrived," the man's voice was unconfident. Those "rascals" were two twenty-something siblings, probably college students. He imagined at this point it wasn't called "rebellious phase" anymore but more of a "bad attitude".

Tobey immediately cut the call and hid the phone. He returned to tinkering with the PDA, trying to make it look like a game console to underline his "bored" attitude. The receptionist left his post and headed towards the two.

"Mr Reichs will see you now, I apologize for the inconvenience," he said with a bit of fear and respect in his voice.

Zoe stood up and poked Tobey to follow him. Once they were behind the closed doors of the elevator they relaxed a bit.

"Do you always improvise like that?" Tobey asked. "That is the last time I'm doing that. What if he caught onto us? We don't exactly fit the image of businessman's children."

"Don't sweat it, if it didn't work we'd just improvise again. There was no other entrance we could use! Anyway, what was that voice? You're a terrible actor! It's a good thing it was a phone call and the connection wouldn't have been so good."

"If I knew I'd be needing to act as a company vice CEO then I would've prepared more."

"Vice CEO? That's who you picked?" Zoe seemed outraged.

"Well if I just picked any person they probably wouldn't let us in anyway."

"Fair point."

"So where do we go now?" Tobey asked. The elevator wasn't exactly moving.

Zoe pressed ten, the last button. "The eleventh floor, that's what I heard. We're going to have to take the stairs to get there though."

"Where did you get this information from, and what exactly do you want to show me?" Tobey asked. This was the last moment for questions. From the moment the door opened they would have to move as quietly as possible and not draw any attention.

"I overheard it," Zoe said. "I'm like you, I'm not supposed to be here. But I can't leave you alone to deal with what's coming either. This may be breaking the rules but it's also the only thing I can do to help." Zoe smiled sadly, "whatever happens in the future, remember, you're not alone!"

Tobey wanted to ask more but the door opened. Zoe suddenly let him onto something and now he couldn't ask anything anymore. He cursed the elevator for being so fast. But he knew that his irritation came from something else. He was scared. Scared of that seriousness in the girl's voice. He glanced at her and she urged him to follow her.

He took a look around the tenth floor. There was a long corridor before him that led to a staircase right at the end. There were two white five-foot-tall walls on either side of the corridor separating it from the cubicles where all the workers were occupied with answering phones or writing reports. The sounds of keyboards, staplers, machines and people talking filled the room.

Zoe made sure nobody was on the stealthily went out and sneaked through the corridor to the staircase on the other end. Tobey followed her lead looking around and leaning so that his hair wasn't visible above the cubicles. He managed to trip over a pot plant but thankfully didn't fall down and make a commotion.

"Can I help you?" Suddenly he heard a voice from behind him.

Tobey turned around feeling all the blood leave his head. The man was a tall skinny, stern-looking type who obviously took no pleasure in seeing Tobey's attempt at sneaking.

"I was looking for Mr Murro's office," he cursed himself for the name choice. Unfortunately the alien's unusual name was the first thing that entered his head. "I was told it was on the ninth floor?"

"This is the tenth floor, sir."

"Is it? I must've pressed the wrong button then," Tobey tried laughing but what came out of his lips was far too nervous to qualify as proper laughter.

"I don't believe anybody would be so stupid as to press the wrong button and not notice it beforehand. Furthermore, sir, there is no Murro working on the ninth floor."

Tobey smiled crookedly. Obviously this person didn't share his "amusement". He looked around nervously. There was nothing he could use to get out of this situation. "Wait a second, I've got a pass," Tobey lied trying to buy time to think. But there was nothing to think about. There was only one thing he could do.

Tobey ran down the corridor with speed he never expected himself of reaching. He crashed with the door to the staircase behind which he knew Zoe was waiting for him.

"Quick, run!" he said after running into her arms. They made their way up the stairs and onto the eleventh floor. The corridor there was empty. Unlike earlier everything was hidden behind doors. There was no time to think about where they should go. They rushed into the first room.

"What are we doing here?" Tobey asked. "This is the ladies!" He was eyeing Zoe who obviously cared much less than he did.

"Shsh!" she shushed him and they both listened to the sounds coming from behind the door.

There seemed to be nothing yet. But they both knew they had little time before security guards would start searching every floor, even this one. Plus, Tobey was sure they had been caught on at least one security camera on the way here.

"So what do we do now?" Tobey asked.

"They will kill us if they find us," Zoe said. "Were we normal trespassers we'd just get caught but we obviously know about something here, on this floor which puts us in a troublesome position."

"You really know how to comfort people," Tobey said with a bit too much irony hinting inside his voice.

The girl who dragged him here now seemed almost as clueless as he was. They both didn't know what they should do now. He looked around for something that could help them. There was nothing and he was almost sure that someone was quickly approaching. He knew that a big part of the sensation was his paranoia - security wouldn't be so quick to reach this floor but reason told him they have barely a few minutes.

The room was a spacious with five lavatories and several cabins. He didn't notice any rooms to hide in and obviously occupying one of the cabin was out of the question. That's what he thought at least but when Zoe rushed him into one. He had to squeeze inside and stand on the toilet so that his legs wouldn't be visible.

"Torchwood, eh?" Tobey whispered annoyed. This was definitely not in the job description. He hadn't done this sort of thing since ditching lessons in high school. He looked for Zoe. She was not with him. "Zoe?" he asked quietly.

"Shshsh!" he heard from a cabin next to him.

"But-" he couldn't finish.

The door to the ladies opened and he heard voices. "Do you really think they would hide here?" one of them said.

"Doesn't hurt to check," the second voice and they proceeded to check the cabins one at a time.

Tobey's heart started beating faster. It seemed like both forever and a tiny moment before they opened the door next to him. He heard Zoe's scream. He thought fast. He regretted the doors opened only to the inside. He could've hit them with the impact. Instead he had to fight.

This was Tobey's first proper fight. His previous fighting experiences could only be called "beatings" and he had always took the role of the bullied. He stormed out of the cabin and run into one of the security guards. The man let go of Zoe but instead caught the technician. Tobey desperately kicked him in the shawl and punched him with his free hand in the stomach. He was surprised he didn't miss. This gave him freedom and a few moments to think about what he should be doing next. He freed Zoe from the arms of the second guard and they both ran out onto the corridor.

There wasn't much time to think about where they should hide so they picked a door at random. It was somebody's office and they found themselves faced with a surprised man in his forties staring at the intruders.

"You're not supposed to be here," he said with a bit of hesitation.

"Believe me, this is the one place we should be," Zoe's desperation was visible in her voice. They heard the security guards opening one of the doors outside. Thankfully, they didn't notice into which room Zoe and Tobey had gone. "Quick we need to hide!"

The man looked around the office but saw no place fit for them to go. Tobey was much quicker. He pushed the man to the side along with his office chair and took Zoe with him under the desk. Only seconds later just as the man returned to his former place behind the desk the security guards opened the door.

"Did a pair come inside here?" one of them asked. "A girl with blue hair and an average looking boy?"

Tobey decided to ignore the remark about him looking plain. There was too little time in their situation to think about it.

There was a moment of silence. The man behind the desk glanced down and saw Zoe's large eyes begging him to lie. He shook his head.

"I think... I think I heard something next door, though," he lied unsurely.

Once they were alone Zoe and Tobey crawled from under the desk. They were panting loudly, both from the fight and running and the stress.

"Thanks," Zoe's voice was full of relief.

"Well that was all I could do but you can't hide here until they go away. And you can't go outside. What are you going to do?"

Tobey knew exactly what they should do. But there were questions to be asked first. And he felt like this man could have the answers to them. "What is going on here?" he asked. "Why is this floor 'secret'?"

The man looked at him sternly. "I'm not authorised to give that kind of information to anybody," he said. Tobey saw a change in him. For some reason he was sure that this wasn't the same person he was talking to just a few moments earlier, the distressed and confused worker incapable of dealing with stress situations. No, this was somebody else, a man desperate to protect the information he had.

The man opened his shelf and procured a handgun. Now, he was desperate to kill them.

Tobey gulped. He was never faced with a gun before. Yes, he worked for the police and yes, he worked with Torchwood but he had never been in a situation where he could die of a single shot. He cursed himself for not bringing anything with him. He didn't have a gun or any weapon that would somehow protect him. That's what he thought at least. He did have one thing that would protect him. He had Zoe with him.

"Now, now," she said calmly. "There's no need for that..."

Tobey glanced at her with panic in his eyes. What was she doing? Was she ever before in a situation like this? He didn't find it hard to imagine. Otherwise how could she be so calm?

Zoe took a step forward. "Put the gun away and we won't have to resolve to violence."

The man didn't budge. He held the gun stiffly in his hand, desperate to show his will-power. His confidence seemed overwhelming.

It was at that moment when Tobey realised why he didn't feel befitting Torchwood. It was the worst moment possible for a realisation like that but as he thought it would be his last he didn't mind it. He didn't have the self-confidence everyone in Torchwood had. Even Ianto who had lost his memories and was probably more confused about the situation he had found himself in than Tobey was seemed more sure of himself than the technician. If I come out of this alive, the technician thought, I will have to change that.

He noticed Zoe take another step, the man pointed the gun at Zoe.

Step, the man's grip on the gun tightened.

Step, the finger gently squeezed the trigger.

Step, the man closed his eyes.

Tobey's eyes widened. Zoe was defenceless. Unless he did something she would die.

Step...

Tobey grabbed the first thing he had close to him and smashed it against their oppressor's head. He never knew a stapler held such power. The man lay unconscious on the chair with the gun sliding of his hand.

"What was that?" Tobey asked still whispering.

Zoe smiled at him. "I knew you wouldn't fail me. You wouldn't leave a girl in distress to her fate, would you?"

Tobey didn't know what to say. He didn't imagine he could ever be used like that. But now was not the time for to think about that. "I know I'm asking this for the hundredth time but... what do we do now?"

o*o*o

Gwen and Lois waited in the car, both of their eyes fixed on the girl's house, occasionally wandering down the road to see if she wasn't approaching. It was a very boring part of the job and Gwen would've gladly exchanged it for an afternoon at home with Rhys and Alex but that was impossible. She was now in Torchwood so she didn't get maternity leave. And although she knew that Jack would've gladly given it to her it was her own decision not to mix her personal life with work and avoid favours. She felt compelled to be there. She felt that Torchwood wouldn't do so well without her. It wasn't because she didn't trust the new recruits' skills but more because she found herself hoping she could guide them and teach them about the ways of the extraterrestrial. Or something like that. And of course Ianto. She couldn't leave him alone with Jack for both their sake. Both seemed unable to properly cope with the situation between them although they kept putting on a front that they were fine.

Gwen stopped thinking and focused on what she was really supposed to be doing. She glanced at the house - nothing. The street - nothing. In front of the car – nothing. She took another look around when something caught her eye. There was a man standing right in front of Kate Wingard's house, barely a few meters away from their car. He was staring at it with a sort of twisted amusement which Gwen couldn't understand. What struck her the most was that she remembered him being there, he had been there ever since they arrived. But for some reason s?he hadn't registered him. Only now he had moved and caught her attention.

He had a long black coat on and a violet neckerchief wrapped around his neck. He had a mane of pure black hair. He didn't fit into the neighbourhood at all yet Gwen hadn't noticed him before at all. She knew this feeling from somewhere. It was the same as with the invisible lift. For some reason that person wore a perception filter or something that had the same effect.

Now he was talking on the phone and Gwen rolled the window down slightly to hear the conversation.

Everything's in place then?" he asked the person on the other end. "I see. I'll head back to the office."

He disconnected without a word of good bye.

Gwen glanced at Lois. She hadn't noticed him.

"Lois, can you stay here and wait for Kate to come back?" she asked, seeing the man get into a black car. "There is something I need to do and I believe it's important. If anything happens make sure to call me and Jack, OK?"

"OK, tell me if you find something on your end," Lois said. She had also noticed the man and was following him with her gaze. She left the car and let Gwen follow the black car slowly.

Before long Lois' waiting had also paid of. Standing on the other side of the road, opposite of Kate Wingard's home, she noticed the door opening. Her breath quickened but the person who came out was neither the girl nor her parents. It was a little boy, probably eleven years old, dressed in a far too big coat. He had a long face with a mass of black locks on the top.

Lois approached him quickly. "Hi," she said leaning over to match his height.

The boy looked at her scared. "My sister told me I shouldn't talk to strangers," he said although it was obvious that he only used that rule when it was convenient. The spark in his eye told Lois that he was much more mischievous than he let people on.

"I want to find your sister," Lois said trying to sound caring. "Me and my work mates believe that she might be in danger and we want to help. We are sort of like police," she added seeing that the boy didn't believe her.

"If you're police then where's your badge?" the boy was much smarter than Lois had expected.

"I just started working today so I haven't got one yet," the Torchwood newest member said. "But you have to believe me when I say that your sister might be in danger," Lois voice changed from child-friendly to desperate.

The boy's face changed. His piercing blue eyes showed hesitation. It was obvious he was considering telling Lois something.

"I'm going to look for her myself," he said. "She said she was going to a party which I think I know where it is. If you want to help my sister then I'm going with you."

Lois smiled sadly. "I'm sorry but I can't allow that. What if something happened to you?"

"I don't care! I won't tell you unless you take me along! Even if you tell me to stay I will go!"

Lois considered this option. She needed this information. And if he was going to go anyway then she might as well protect him.

"OK, but will you answer some of my questions?" Lois asked standing up. "Lead the way..." she hesitated. She didn't know his name.

"I'm Travis," the boy said. "And as for the questions... It depends on what you ask me."

"Ok then, Travis, I'm Lois Habiba. Now first tell me where we are going."

o*o*o

Gwen saw the black car drive onto a parking lot under one of the office buildings in the centre of Cardiff. She followed it and managed to catch a glance of the man as he was coming out of the car. She took out her mobile and took a quick photo of him for future reference.

He was unusually tall and his mane of hair was pure black with no signs of grey hair. His facial features were sharp, he had a straight and pointy nose as well as distinct, thin eyebrows right above his small eyes. His cheek bones were slightly visible and combined with his long pale face and pointy chin made him look very menacing. Gwen couldn't see much more from the distance and in the dim parking lot lights but she was sure that the man was young.

There was an older man meeting him. They moved quite fast and in between the cars it was hard to catch a glimpse of them. She only managed to see a bold patch on his head where grey hair should be.

Finally the two disappeared near the elevators. Gwen considered her options. She couldn't really follow or interrogate them based solely on her instinct. And she didn't want to risk catching him on her own. She decided to wait and perhaps she could find a chance to ask him several questions when he would be coming back.

She parked her car close to the entrance and turned on the music. She might as well enjoy the waiting. And it wouldn't hurt to call Rhys... And then maybe Jack...

o*o*o

Ianto's search had proven useless so far. He had spent the entire afternoon searching and it was now beginning to get dark. All the places where a large flying dinosaur could hide proved to be empty with no signs of animal occupation. There was only one place left and he didn't find it quite probable. It was an abandoned warehouse right by the sea with a collapsed rooftop. From the Torchwood database he found out that it was also a home to Cardiff's many weevil "mobs".

Ianto couldn't say he was prepared for a meeting with a weevil, not to mention tens of weevils. He had his handgun in his holster and a sedative for the pterodactyl. He also hid a bar of chocolate in his jacket pocket in case the note about Skippy liking dark chocolate was true. He sincerely doubted it but he preferred to be ready for everything.

Ianto parked the car in front of the warehouse and headed to the side entrance which he hoped wouldn't make the weevils notice him as he went in. He preferred a quick quiet entrance and exit rather than being followed by a number of weevils and possibly not coming out of the meeting alive.

The stench reminded him of weevils: rotten flesh mixed with blood. He put his one hand on the door handle and with the other reached for his gun. He turned the handle and gently pushed the door open.

There was an overwhelming screech and Ianto found himself standing face to face with a giant, millions of years ahead of its time pterodactyl. Skippy, he thought. Whoever gave him that name definitely didn't give him a closer look.

The giant flying reptile noticed Ianto upon the moment when the man entered the warehouse.

I'll be heading back then," Ianto said going back outside and closing the door behind him. He only heard the giant beak hit the metal door behind him.

This is mental, this was the only thought going through Ianto's head. There was no way he could do this alone. He turned on his com and contacted the Hub.

What have you got?" he heard Jack's voice.

"This thing wants to kill me!" he shouted. "Where are you?"

"I'm with Martha and we're looking for the girl. We got a confirmation from Lois of her possible whereabouts. We might get her this time."

"So, you won't help me then," Ianto didn't hide the annoyance in his voice.

"If you find Tobey then you can get him to help you but everybody's busy. Lois is heading towards where the girl is and Gwen has got a lead on something suspicious."

Ianto closed his eyes. "Great... And I bet this case can't wait, can it?"

"Top priority, Ianto," there was hesitation in Jack's voice. Ianto could hear the worry for him mixed with concern about what would happen if they left the animal unattended.

Ianto readied the syringe and opened the door once again. He found himself staring into the dinosaur's fiery green eyes. His first instinct was to faint but when he didn't he found himself wondering what he had been doing in Torchwood that he wouldn't lose consciousness in a situation like that. With a series of click and clacks the animal slowly reached out its head towards Ianto.

The man was sure that any moment "Skippy" was going to kill him, break him in half and eat him while he was still screaming. But it didn't. It just stared at him expectantly. Moving its gaze between his eyes and his chest. But Ianto did nothing and the animal soon ran out of patience. It screeched once more, spitting saliva at the terrified man. It poked Ianto's chest with its beak several times. Until Ianto finally understood.

"The chocolate?" he said unable to believe his own words. "You want the chocolate?"

He took the candy out and unwrapped the bar slowly. He couldn't even throw the chocolate towards the animal for it took it out of his hand by itself before he could even notice. Soon the animal moved back several meters away to properly feast on its sweet catch.

He knew this was his chance. He took out the syringe and slowly approached the dinosaur at the same time looking around and making sure that nothing else was coming at him. Weevils were gone and he was sure that a few of the corpses lying next to the rumble at the other end of the warehouse belonged to those savage aliens. The dinosaur made its nest in the middle of the warehouse on a pile of rubble next to the giant hole in the ceiling which obviously served as the front door now. There was orange sunset light coming through the giant windows right under the ceiling as well as the gap made from the collapse.

He took a few steps forward towards the pterodactyl which occasionally looked around and hissed at shadows as if they were creatures ready to steal its prey.

Ianto was almost there, ready to inject the syringe with the sedative into the animal when the dinosaur shrieked. The man took a step backwards surprised. Before he could even notice if there was anything the pterodactyl might've reacted to Skippy flapped its wing and took off making a turn behind Ianto. The man was already convinced that the case was lost when he suddenly found himself five meters above the earth and still rising.

At first he closed his eyes. He felt Skippy's claw wrapped around him quite gently. He was surprised at this as he was surprised at the fact that he hadn't yet found himself dead. He opened his eyes. The view quickly passing before his eyes of the sea and the city of Cardiff overwhelmed him. He knew he was the first person seeing all this from a pterodactyl's view.

Another part done! The next one concluding Friends and Foes should be up on Saturday! Thank you all for reading and thanks to Ash-Varnei for betareading :)