"Owen, Gwen. Left into the alley," Tosh said over the comms. "Right, thirty meters."

"What is it? What can you see?" Gwen asked in reply, her breathing heavy, as she and Owen were running. The team had caught a signal, alien in some way, and were chasing it down. Of course, a boy had it and was running. Owen, Gwen, and Jack were running after it, while Ruby and Tosh were back at the base.

"We don't know," Ruby replied. "We only have the signal, which is definitely alien."

"Diagonal right. towards the castle," Tosh interrupted them, before glancing at her other screen, showing Jack's location. "Jack, sharp right, twenty meters."

Jack, who was still in the SUV, replied. "Can you get a visual?"

Tosh glanced at Ruby, who stayed silent, and was looking at Gwen and Owen's screen. Seeing that Ruby wouldn't answer him, Tosh did, "Still trying to get a visual."

It had only been a day since the case with Carys, and it was glaringly obvious to the team that Jack and Ruby were upset, angry at each other even.

-earlier that day-

Gwen took the coffee from Ianto, Owen and Tosh with them as well. "Have they been like this all day?" she asked him.

Ianto nodded. "Yeah, no idea why."

Tosh glanced at Ruby, who had headphones on and was working on a new project at her workbench. Jack, in comparison, was working in the office, door shut firmly as he typed away. "This isn't good."

"Are they like this often?" Gwen asked, glancing at the other three.

Owen shook his head. "No. Never.

"They fought once, I saw," Tosh replied in a whisper. "But it wasn't that bad. Just some yelling, then they went into their office and talked. Everything was fine an hour later."

"They haven't talked all day," Ianto informed them. "Not a peep."

Gwen sighed. "What do we do?"

Tosh shrugged. "...keep working?"

Owen groaned in response. "I'm gonna need a drink later."

-present-

"Fifteen seconds," Ruby stated, watching Gwen and Owen chase the figure on CCTV that Tosh was following. The woman was following the two, but trying her best to get ahead and get a visual on the person.

"No heroics!" Jack yelled over the comms. "We've got no idea what we're dealing with."

"Ten seconds," Ruby stated then, Tosh typing away.

"Got it!" Tosh cried seconds later. "Got a visual!"

Ruby leaned forward and said into the comms, "Suspect's male, wearing a hoodie, hat on, taller side."

The women watched on the cameras as Gwen pulled ahead of Owen, pushing herself after the male.

"Go, Gwen!" Tosh cried.

Tosh and Ruby watched as Gwen chased him, jumping over hurdles and pushing through people. Then, at the end of a tunnel, Gwen grabbed the man's jacket, and he slipped out.

Ruby instantly looked at the screen with the signal, seeing Gwen on top of it. "Damn!" the woman cried on screen.

"You did it!" Ruby replied, glancing at the screen with Gwen.

"Oh, I was that close," Gwen replied, catching her breath.

"No, Gwen," Tosh stated, seeing what Ruby was seeing. "You got it."

"I've lost him, Tosh, I've lost him," Gwen responded.

"I swear. Whatever it is, you're holding it," Tosh replied.

"Check the jacket," Ruby stated.

Gwen nodded slowly and did that, before pulling out an object from one of the pockets. Tosh, who was typing away and looking at another screen, didn't notice, while Ruby did. "Gwen!" Ruby yelled, just as the woman pressed something.

Not even a second passed, and Jack and Owen got to Gwen, who now had tears in her eyes. The three talked for a moment, Tosh and Ruby not hearing anything, as the comms weren't activated for them.

"What's going on?" Ruby called, getting their attention.

Jack gently took the object from Gwen, as Owen pressed his earpiece and replied, "Gwen says she saw a ghost."

Tosh and Ruby exchanged a glance as Jack said, "We're on our way back."

Ruby stepped away from Tosh's desk and moved towards her workstation. "You got the recordings, right?" Tosh instantly nodded, Ruby sighing. "Good. Start analyzing...I'm going to look into ghosts."

Tosh nodded and watched as Ruby moved to her desk, slowly starting to worry about her and Jack.

About twenty minutes later, the team was going over the footage, Gwen having explained what she saw.

"This is the feed from the station camera," Tosh said, Jack watching for a moment before grabbing the alien device and walking towards Gwen. "Gwen grabs the kid...she's got his jacket and he just slips out."

"You okay with this?" Jack asked, glancing at Gwen. She and Owen were watching on a larger projection, Ruby by Tosh still.

Gwen nodded and glanced back at Tosh. "And then?"

"Jack and Owen arrive, then...nothing." Tosh looked back at Gwen. "Sorry."

"No. It, it was as real as this is," Gwen responded. "More real. I didn't just see that little boy. I could hear what he was thinking. I could feel it. Like I was lost."

Ruby furrowed her eyebrows and muttered softly, "Hear what he was thinking…" Tosh, who was the only one who heard her, glanced at Ruby but didn't reply.

Owen, who was down in the medical wing, glanced at Gwen. "Intense emotion can be part of a neurological event. Hallucinations, dementia…"

Jack, looked at the device, moved to the middle of the space as Gwen snapped, "I wasn't hallucinating, Owen. And I'm not bloody senile."

"You pushed this button, and that caused this apparition moment?" Jack asked, not noticing Ruby watch.

Gwen turned to Jack, Ianto now near Tosh and Ruby, a tray of mugs in his hands, as everyone watched Jack. "Yeah," she replied.

Jack ran his hands over the button, and Gwen and tosh instantly both yelled for him not to, Jack reacting by pulling his hand away. "As if," he stated.

Ruby stepped forward and grabbed the device, moving away from Jack without meeting his eyes. Jack watched her go, before sliding his hands in his pockets.

"But that's how it felt," Gwen explained, glancing at Ruby as well. "Like an apparition. A ghost."

At this statement, Ruby muttered softly, "Wouldn't be the first ghost…"

Gwen opened her mouth to ask more, but Jack interrupted, moving to tosh and saying, "Toshiko, where do we start?"

Ruby, who didn't fully care about their plan, moved to her workbench with the device, studying it closely as she zoned out everything else. They'd come up with a plan, and while they did, Ruby would start working on the device itself.

Gwen and Owen had left for the boy, who was now an old man, that Gwen had seen, planning on seeing if it was really him. Tosh, meanwhile, was working at her desk, Jack locked up in his office, while Ruby kept working at her workbench, the device in hand.

Ianto moved over to her, setting down a mug of tea as he asked, "You alright?"

Ruby looked up and sighed, pausing what she was doing. "...don't know really."

Ruby had been the one to first warm up to Ianto, liking him and opening up to him. Granted, she liked everyone on the team, everyone that had ever been at Torchwood, but Ianto was...special. He treated her like a normal person, not like an alien expert. Of course, Jack usually did the same, but…

Ever since Ruby and Ianto had really gotten close, he knew her fairly well. Knew what tea she wanted when, when she was tense, when she was upset, and now, she knew he could probably see that she was upset. That was one thing Ruby had always been bad at, hiding her emotions from those that really knew her.

"Do you need to talk about it?" he questioned softly.

Ruby shook her head. "No. I think...we just need a little space. Both just…"

"Clear your heads?" he provided.

She nodded. "Yeah...yeah."

"Well, I'll have another cup of tea ready for when you need it," he said, changing the subject.

Ruby smiled up at him. "Thanks."

Ianto winked in response, before moving back to his own office, his mind wandering to just how he could get Jack and Ruby to talk again.

The team was gathered in Jack's office, all focusing on different things. Owen was, of course, playing the arcade game in the corner, while Ianto handed out food, the rest of the team working on the case.

Tosh and Gwen were going over the facts, while Jack was at a computer away from his desk, looking into the boy that had had the device on him. He was away from his desk though because Ruby was at it currently, scanning the alien device.

"Our friend with the alien machine in his pocket is one Sean Harris aka Bernie," Jack stated, leaning back against the wall.

"And what he's doing with an alien machine is anyone's guess," Gwen muttered, before supplying, "Nineteen years old. String of convictions. Burglary, shoplifting, credit cards…"

"Do warn me if he's dropping in," Ianto commented, handing Jack a danish.

Tosh spoke up then. "The theft conviction: he was stealing tires off a car when the owner turns up, gives him so much grief, he apologizes, starts putting them back on again, which is when the police show up. And here. Shoplifting conviction. Bottle of vodka and three Pot Noodles."

Owen scoffed. "A criminal mastermind." He glanced up from the game to Ruby, who was typing away. "Got anywhere with that mystery object?"

Jack glanced at Ruby as she spoke, but the woman stayed focused on the screen in front of her. "Alien, of course. Nanotechnology that makes anything on earth look like a child's toy."

Owen sighed. "You've really narrowed things down, haven't you?"

Ruby glared at him, Owen dying at just the exact moment she glared, replying, "Better than what you've got."

Owen glared back, while Gwen looked at the device, which was lighting up and making soft noises. "At the station is was doing this," she said, and made a motion to pick it up, Ruby grabbing her wrist and stopping her. Ruby shook her head, Gwen nodded and retracting her hand, continuing her thought. "When I held it, it lit up and went mad."

"It's not doing it now, is it?" Owen asked.

Gwen just shook her head. "No."

"Be grateful," Ruby replied, glancing at the device before looking at the screen.

Tosh looked from Ruby to Jack then, commenting, "So...what next?"

Jack, mouth full, replied, "This kid, Bernie, where does he live?"

Tosh glanced at the paperwork in front of her, before replying, "Splott."

"Splott?" Owen repeated.

"I believe estate agents pronounce it 'splow'," Ianto commented, making Ruby crack a smile.

The next day, the team scouted Splott, looking and asking for Bernie. Owen had gone solo, Gwen and Tosh had gone together, and to everyone else's surprise, Jack and Ruby had gone together.

They had asked around and been out for about an hour now. The whole time had been tense, but they had talked about Bernie, and talking about something was better than talking about nothing. Ruby looked around as they left a bar, sighing and rubbing her forehead.

"Nothing," she stated.

"Nothing at all," Jack agreed, the two turning down the street. After a moment, Jack paused, making Ruby stop and turn back to him.

"What is it?" she asked.

Jack met her eyes for a moment, before asking, "What the hell did I do, Red?"

Ruby sighed and looked away. "Can we not do this now?"

"No, I want to," Jack stated, stepped closer. "We haven't really talked in two days. What was so wrong about me saving Carys that you won't talk to me?"

Ruby looked up and met Jack's eyes then, and Jack swore there was a sadness in them, one he hadn't seen before. "I...part of it is because you don't see it, Jack."

"Well how can I get better or ask forgiveness when I don't know what I did?!" he cried, throwing up his hands. "When we argued about his last time I didn't understand, and I still don't!"

"Fine!" Ruby yelled. "Fine. I'm angry because you're so...selfish."

"Selfish?" He repeated, furrowing his eyebrows. "I'm selfish because I saved a girl?!"

"No! God!" Ruby turned around, running her hands through her dark chocolate brown hair. "...you're selfish because you didn't...you didn't think how it would affect you! And how it would affect us."

Jack stared at Ruby, still confused. "What?"

Ruby clenched her jaw, shaking her head as she fought back the tears growing in her eyes. "I...you saved her, but at what cost?"

"Does that matter?" Jack pushed. "I'm fine now. I'm here. What cost is there?"

"I…" Ruby met his bright blue eyes and studied them for a moment. She could see the confusion in his eyes, but at the same time, she saw the ignorance. He really didn't know how much that had scared her, and how much she...couldn't be without him. "...nevermind." Ruby looked away, taking a deep breath.

"No, don't you dare do that," Jack responded, stepping forward. But Ruby just took a step back, wrapping her arms around herself. "Ruby…"

"I need space right now, Jack," she replied. "...I...we can talk later."

"I don't want later, I want now!" he cried.

"No, I can't do now," she stated, stepping back again.

"No, Ruby, no," he responded, holding out his hand. "We can talk this through, right here, right now."

There was one thing that bugged Jack about Ruby- she didn't like confronting her emotions. Whenever they argued, disagreed, or anything similar, she would walk away or shut down. Granted, she was getting better, and they talked a lot, about everything really. But for Ruby to be backing out twice now, this had to be big, and Jack didn't want her to keep backing away.

"Maybe I don't want to," she replied.

"'Well I do," Jack insisted.

"Well, it's not always about you!" Ruby snapped.

Jack held up his hands and stepped back at the sudden harness in her words, shocked. "..fine, I guess we won't talk then," Jack replied, sliding his hands in his pockets. "I'll...I'll just go."

"Jack, wait-" But as Ruby spoke, Jack turned around and walked away, leaving Ruby alone on the street as he turned a corner, moving towards the meeting destination the team had agreed on. Ruby sighed softly, muttering to herself, "Great...you went and did it again…"

Turning the opposite direction, she walked slowly, allowing herself time to think, allowing time to herself.

Jack stormed towards the meeting point, upset and angry. Not at Ruby….well okay, partly at Ruby, but mostly at himself. He had known her for years, and he thought he knew her more than enough. But apparently not. If he didn't know and couldn't tell what was making her so upset now...did he really know her?

And well, the thought of not knowing who Ruby really was, not knowing as much as possible about her...upset him more than he liked to admit.

Walking down an alley, he spotted Tosh, Owen and Gwen, all with glum looks on their faces. That meant no leads.

Hearing his footsteps, they all turned, and he could see they immediately noticed the lack of Ruby by his side, as well as the expression on his face. "Where's Ruby?" Tosh asked, glancing behind him.

Jack's jaw tensed, and he ignored the question, instead responding, "Anything?"

The three shook their heads, making Jack sigh and turn, walking back to the SUV. He could hear the three rush to stand and follow him, the path leading under a bride.

"What's he gonna tell us?" Owen asked. "Got it off an alien down the market?"

Gwen, changing the subject slightly, asked, "Where are we going?"

"Back to the railway station," Jack stated. "Controlled experiment- we replicate the original events as far as possible. Then observe and analyze the results."

"I have to do that again?" Gwen asked, slightly uncomfortable with the plan.

"Someone does," Jack replied, an edge to his voice as he turned and asked the group, "Any volunteers?" Without any warning, he threw the device at Owen, who caught it with a grunt.

"We don't know what it is, what it does…" Gwen stepped closer to Jack, Owen still at the tail end of the group.

"Nope," Jack replied.

"Jack, this could be dangerous," Gwen stated.

Jack glanced at the woman. "Yeah."

"Uhh...I don't mean to be picky," Owen piped up. "But I think I can spot some flaws in this plan…"

"I'm sorry, I thought you were the guys who gave up looking for a 19-year-old kid this morning?" Jack snapped, the anger in him only growing from the mixture of the argument with Ruby, the lack of anything for the case, and the lack of ideas from his team. "I figured maybe you were after something more exciting. A bit of a challenge."

Jack spun back around and continued under the bridge, just wanting to get back to the base. God, he needed a drink.

Jack, with Tosh and Gwen behind him, heard Owen mutter something, but Tosh just called his name out, encouraging him to follow. But as Owen yelled "Wait!" they spun around, Gwen rushing towards him as the device flashed familiar lights.

Jack sighed as Gwen calmed Owen down and took the device, knowing the man had just seen something. "Guess we don't need that test," he muttered.

A/N: I am so sorry for the late update! Life has been insane, but I school is out for the summer, so hopefully, updates will be faster!

What do you guys think of this chapter? Rough start to a new case for sure. How do you think Jack and Ruby will make up? When? Let me know what you think!

Now...notes on reviews!

TimeAgent- "Its been so hard for me to find a jackxOC this is great so far! Im really liking it" I'm so glad you're loving it and found this story! There is more coming soon, (hopefully), so look out for that! ;)