Two.

Approaching the TARDIS, Jack and the Doctor were met by a very agitated Rory.

'Where's Ianto, is he inside?' Jack asked.

'We just turned away for a second and he was gone,' Rory blurted out.

'You mean gone back to the TARDIS?' Jack was momentarily confused.

'Gone from where?' the Doctor now asked.

'We were at the Roman Coliseum Casino.' Rory pointed in the general direction of the city. 'We only turned away for a second and he was gone.'

Jack staggered as the full implication hit him. 'You lost him, he's lost.'

'Where's Amy?' the Doctor asked.

'She's searching the casino.'

'You both left the entrance to go look?' Jack burst out.

'I came back here just in case he came back here and Amy went to see if she could find him.'

'What's the first rule when you lose someone?' Jack leaned forward, shouting at Rory.

Rory tried to take a step back but found his back to the wall of the TARDIS. 'Amy is searching the casino,' Rory said in his defence.

'You didn't stay by the entrance, so he could have left and he could be anywhere.' Jack span Rory around. 'Take me there now!' he demanded.

Landing feet first with a splash, Ianto staggered forward and took several steps to right himself. It was pitch dark but from the smell, which smelt just like the inside of a rubbish bin, it would appear he had been thrown down some sort of rubbish chute. It was so dark he couldn't see a thing and if he was right and this was a sewer there was not going to be a light switch.

Then he recalled his fanny pack. Opening it up, he pulled out the tiny torch. It should be excellent because the packing blurb had said it was perfek for all indoor and outdoor needs. And if there was ever a perfek need for a torch this was it.

Using the sharp beam, he examined the rounded tunnel he was in. He realised he was right, he was in some sort of sewer, not only was he standing in nasty water he could hear water splashing into the tunnel from nearby.

Another noise, a sort of slithering, caught his attention and his torch spotlighted what looked like a small wave heading towards him at great speed. Before he could even step back the hump attacked.

He could feel something was trying to eat his shoe.

'Gerrrrrrroooooooooff!' Ianto kicked the creature away. Instead of being put off it turned and attacked his other shoe.

'Leave me alone!' Ianto shouted down and kicked it away again.

To his surprise the creature froze, began to whimper, opened its mouth and howled a screech.

'I'm sorry. But you are trying to eat my shoe and shoes are for wearing not eating.'

The howling stopped and the creature went for his feet again. This time Ianto placed the torch in his mouth, bent down, and scooped it up. He held it up to get a better look as it thrashed about. It was about as long as his forearm and was made up of six segments, each grove was filled with wiry hair. The head and mouth was made up one-third of its entire body and was the strangest Ianto had ever seen. Two small, beady eyes blinked at him then the creature lurched, snapping at him. Placing the creature under one arm he took the torch out of his mouth.

The creature went for his fingers. 'No good trying that. I look after ferrets so I'm used to being bitten so you can stop that right now,' Ianto warned.

The creature seemed to calm and blinked up at him in surprise as if listening.

'There is only one reason why you want to eat shoes. You're hungry,' Ianto declared and shifted the creature under his arm for better control. 'Because anyone who was prepared to eat my shoes covered in whatever I was standing in must be ravenous.' Ianto felt very pleased with himself because he had been trying to find a way to use the word ravenous for some time. There never seemed to be a good time but now the time was perfek.

'It's stinky down here.' he sniffed the creature. 'And so are you really, really, stinky so that's what I'm going to call you. Stinky.' Ianto looked about. 'Now Stinky, how do we get out?'

The creature snuffled then sneezed. Ianto stroked it and it began make a low noise. Several long moments of calm followed but he still had no clue on how to get out. Up was not an option because the slide was too slippery and the angle too high. There was only one choice, Ianto decided, and that was to follow the flow of the water because like all flowing water it had to be going somewhere.

After walking through twists, turns, setbacks and roundabouts, eventually in the distance Ianto saw light. As they moved towards the bright light Stinky squealed in pain. Ianto placed his free hand over its eyes and it settled.

Moving closer, Ianto found a tall grill covered in rubbish. The grill was not obviously locked and as both his hands were full there was nothing for it but to use his feet and to his surprise it opened stiffly just enough for him to squeeze through.

Stepping out into the sunlight, Ianto saw they were into a gully. Following it for several meters he finally found a place he could scramble out using just his feet. Reaching the top, he could see the city in the distance. It looked a long way off. Squinting his eyes, Ianto could see what looked like to be some buildings in the distance, shimmering in the desert heat. Must be some sort of village, he reasoned, and with any luck there would be shops or a police station where he could ask for help.

Ianto was more thirsty than he could ever remember when they came close to a group of very rickety buildings seemingly made up of loads of different bits. Against many of the buildings were several large square green dumpsters on wheels.

They had just reached the dumpsters when the creature in his arms seemed to come alive. It wiggled so strongly it got away and within seconds it had seemingly sprung itself like a spring into only dumpster with an open lid.

'Naughty Stinky,' Ianto said, climbing in after him. After a serious tussle, he got hold of the creature. Ianto pulled out a plastic bag it was trying to swallow. 'Plastic bag not food,' Ianto said then began to point out everything not organic and Stinky blinked its tiny eyes, appearing to pay attention.

Then Stinky wiggled down and began to eat as fast as it could, avoiding everything Ianto had pointed out.

After several long moments of mayhem, the bin became empty of anything edible, and Stinky began to howl with distress. Figuring Stinky was still hungry Ianto picked it up and climbed out. He was about to put him into the next dumpster when Stinky threw himself head-first into a bucket filled with some horrible green substance. It looked disgusting but from the sounds Stinky was making it was ambrosia. Seconds later the bucket was empty so Ianto placed Stinky into the next. At the bottom of the fourth emptied bucket Stinky went completely still. Ianto picked up and it gave out a huge mustard yellow and green-tinged belch.

'You need your teeth cleaned. If you have teeth that is.' Before Ianto could say anything more the creature went completely limp. At first Ianto thought it might be dead from all the rubbish it had eaten but after a few shakes he realised Stinky had fallen asleep.

Arriving at the casino, Jack, the Doctor and Rory saw Amy waiting for them. From the worried look on Amy's face Jack didn't need for her to tell him that Ianto was still missing.

Jack, not wanting to speak to any of his companions, opened his wallet and took out a photograph and began moving between each person and moving on quickly when he received a shake of the head to his question

He was several meters inside and had reached the far right wall when he saw a large being wearing what looked like a giant green sparkly mumu who appeared to be trying to make his way out the casino without being noticed as if that were possible considering its attire and bulk.

'No, I haven't seen this person,' the being answered after a quick glance

Jack's eyes narrowed. He didn't need a lie detector to know this being was lying. 'You know something? Tell me now!'

'No, no I don't know anything,' the being stuttered, trying slide along the wall.

'Tell me or…or I'll make sure everyone here knows you're here.' Jack took a deep breath as if he was going to shout out.

'Please no don't, please I'll tell you,' the being whimpered.

'Then tell me,' Jack menaced.

'There was trouble,' the being looked about wildly, clearly in fear of being discovered.

'What sort of trouble?'

'An honest misunderstanding, I was only trying to help your friend with his winnings.'

'You had better explain everything,' Jack demanded.

'He won the daily jackpot on the slots and I was helping him experience the delights of the gaming. He bought me a fine lunch then we wandered around and he played a few tables but then he settled at the Blackjack table and it was there when things went wrong.'

'Wrong?' Jack found his heart begin to beat even more wildly.

'He would appear to have not understood the rules and there was a misunderstanding with 'Them'.' The being looked wildly about again. 'And then they marched him away,' the being said in a low whisper.

'Took him where…' The being shuddered at Jack's question and used his bulk to suddenly break free. He took off and, despite his bulk and attire, became lost in the crowd.

Narrowing his eyes, Jack looked around, trying to figure out the clue the green sparkly one had given him. A misunderstanding in a casino meant that somehow Ianto had clearly played some game, won a great deal but had not understood the rules. Which was not surprising as he had never been to a place like this before. And if he understood all of this it equalled an issue with the only 'THEM' there could be in a place like this.

Marching up to first casino employee he came across, Jack pulled himself up to his fullest and set himself to level defcon five bluster. Flashing his psychic paper, he declared, 'Take me to your boss.'

The employee's eyes widened as she read the paper. 'Follow me, Sir,' she said.

After having been taken via ever increasing levels of management Jack finally found himself before 'The Boss', who was now looking at Jack's psychic paper.

'You're from the Intergalactic Gambling Licensing Agency?' the Boss asked not sure he believed what he was reading.

'Hospitality Division,' Jack stated. 'We set up a sting and you failed. We set up a someone who acted like a rube to see how you act and keep within the guidelines of Intergalactic Gambling Licensing Laws and you failed.' Jack placed his hands on the desk and leaned forward. 'Now what did you do with him?'

'Regulation?' The Boss shuddered. No one messed with the Intergalactic Gambling Licensing Agency.

'Section 593 of paragraph 1036 states clearly anyone found cheating should be arrested and held and handed over to the proper authorities,' Jack stated then pointed to himself. 'In this case…me. If you hurt him I'm going to shut you down so fast,' Jack warned when he was met with stark silence. From the glances between the Boss and the two heavies they were try to come up with an answer that would save them from themselves.

'You are really trying my patience,' Jack said through his teeth.

The Boss leaned forward. 'We figured he was harmless so we sent him on his way.'

'So, he's here in the casino?'

'Not exactly,' the Boss said as he exchanged looks with the heavies again.

'We threw him down the rubbish chute into the sewers,' one of the heavies spoke up, not able to handle the tension any longer.

'You threw a duly sworn-in Officer of the Intergalactic Gambling Licensing Agency into the sewers?' Jack said in outrage.

'We didn't know, we thought he was an idiot,' the heavy with the lisp spoke up.

'You better pray nothing has happened to him,' Jack warned as he was led towards the kitchen.

'Put out the word and do everything you can to find him, then bring him here,' the Boss demanded to the remaining heavy as the door to his office slammed shut.

'I ain't going down no sewer,' the heavy said.

'Have you seen what the Intergalactic Gambling Licensing Agency does to rule breakers?' the boss asked

'You mean rule breakers that are caught?'

'Yeah, they demand even a bigger cut!'

'And that's worse than a sewer?'

'Especially when you are cut into small pieces. Now get out and find him.' The Boss pointed toward the door. 'I have a few calls I have to make.'

Sucking as much water as he could from the dripping tap he had found, Ianto's stomach now reminded him it had been hours since he had eaten. 'Hours of dealing with Stinky and miles of walking,' he told himself and felt the delight in being able to use his best word again. In truth, he was as ravenous as when Stinky had thrown himself into the dumpster.

From the sickly smells, someone was cooking something. Walking around the front he saw a sign in some kind of strange language and what looked like a menu. He couldn't read the writing but he did understand what a full plate and knife and fork meant along with pictures of dishes. The only problem was he had no money.

Suddenly, he remembered something he had completely forgotten and began to rifle through his fanny pack using one hand as best as he could until found the psychic paper. A thought came to him; if had and shown the paper to the casino boss he wouldn't have been thrown down the sewers and maybe been able kept his winnings. Too late now, he thought, and he peered through the window at the gathered customers. The paper was blank but hopefully if he told the shop people his predicament and then show them the psychic paper maybe they would give him some water and food.

Making sure he kept a good hold on Stinky just in case he woke up because the last thing he needed was a rampaging ravenous Stinky, he headed inside and joined the back of the queue of customers.

'Could you help me I'm very hungry,' Ianto said when he reached the counter. 'I can't pay now but I will later.'

The sever looked him up and down then pointed to the door. 'We don't serve beggars.'

'I'm not a beggar I can pay later.' Ianto held up the magic thought paper.

The server's eyes widened and then she raced towards back. Moments later she came out with a round tall being.

The round being took the paper with his pudgy fingers and checked it over then looked at Ianto and bowed. 'Please forgive me, Sir. We are honoured that you would venture into our humble eatery.'

Ianto took the paper back from the man and looked at the message. Nice man, very hungry and thirsty. Please feed.'

Maybe that meant something different in their language because Ianto found himself being treated like royalty. Seconds later he was led towards a grubby room with a single table covered in well-worn red plastic tablecloth.

'Thank you. I will be back later to pay,' Ianto told them as he sat down.

'Please Sir, this is on the house,' the owner bowed.

'That would be too hard to reach unless you had a ladder so I would appreciate I could eat here on the table if that's alright,' Ianto checked.

'It means it's free.' The man bowed deeply again.

'I can pay. I will come back later and I will sit at the table.' Ianto sat down not sure what on the house and free had anything to do with the situation.

'Certainly, anywhere you will be the most comfortable.' The owner took another deep bow then walked backwards out of the door.

The smells of cooking were driving him crazy as he emptied the large glass of water provided and asked for a second. He couldn't recall the last time he was this thirsty; the few drips he had managed to suck out the tap had done nothing but wet his mouth.

As he finished the second glass a dish was placed in front of him. The plate was filled was something he had never seen before but it was deep fried so he dug in. It was de-lish-ous.

Next plate had some kind of purple feathery somethings and was slightly off-putting but after the first bite he realised that the tastes made the first taste even better… As he chewed he pondered on how different something tasted when the look of it was so odd. The following plate looked far more familiar and he was right, it was crunchy fried ball somethings.

Seeing his enjoyment, dishes were piled three deep on the table until he couldn't see the tabletop. 'Now that's what Icall a good meal. So many dishes the table disappeared.' He licked his fork clean.

When he was halfway through the fourth plate Stinky started to wiggle, indicating he was awake and hungry again.

Ianto called to one of the beings who passed by the doorframe. 'Have you got any nasty food waste in buckets cause Stinky is hungry again.' He indicated the creature. He was struggling to hold him back from the food on the table.

The being bowed, disappeared, then reappeared with a bucket of slimy brown stuff. Stinky fell in head-first and within moments the bucket was licked clean only to be replaced with another.

Belching, Ianto had to fight off even more offers of food. Full to bursting he pushed away from the table and retrieved Stinky, who let out another disgusting belch.

'We are so honoured.' The owner handed him a grubby card. 'For all and any catering needs. And any time your worm needs to sup on our waste fat he is also most welcome. If you knew the cost I cannot tell you how much saved for its disposal.'

'Thank you, you are most welcome,' Ianto said hitching up Stinky who had gone limp again. Following as he was taken to the front of the shop Ianto wondered if he should ask for help. Before he had found this place he was so hungry and thirsty he would have done almost anything for a drink of water and some grub. But an adventure wouldn't be an adventure if he couldn't figure this out himself. It was part of the puzzle to figure how to get back to the TARDIS.

He had a worried thought about how the Doctor had once left Jack behind but he was now very sorry so he was sure the TARDIS would be exactly where it has been left. Trouble was when he had left he had such sulk coming on and he couldn't exactly recall where that was.

Never mind, he was sure he would figure it out.

Stepping outside he could see the sun was now casting long shadows. He could see another line of buildings further along the road. There was no option but to shift Stinky under his arm and put one foot in front of the other.

Jack examined the opened hatch Ianto was thrown down. He figured if Ianto could fit so could he. But before he could launch himself strong hands pulled him back.

Furious, he was about to fight back when he saw it was the Doctor.

'No Jack, that's not the way.'

'I have to find him.'

'Rory has an idea,' the Doctor said.

'The last person I want to hear from is Rory.'

'It's a good one.'

'Like leaving the entrance?' Jack roared and Rory took a step back.

'No, a better one.'

'Better than neglecting his most important task to keep Ianto safe?' Jack pointed at Rory. 'All you had to do was keep him occupied.'

'I think we can track him,' the Doctor added quickly.

'How?'

'Ianto was given a small device as a way to hide his bag,' the Doctor explained.

'What the hell are you talking about?' Jack creased his forehead, confused and not sure what they were talking about because he couldn't recall Ianto carrying any bag.

'His bag. His fanny pack, his bum bag,' Rory spoke up.

'And?' Jack said.

'I think we can track it,' the Doctor said.

'Think or know?'

'I calibrated my sonic screwdriver to see if it could detect the field. It was faint but it was there. We can use the TARDIS…'

'What are you waiting for?' Jack said racing through the kitchen.

'Not much running,' Ianto thought as he made his way along the road. Walking was so tiring he wasn't sure he could run even he wanted to. Stinky seemed a lot heavier than when he first picked him up. If he was a him, could be a her, whatever gender Stinky was, was weighing down his arm. Not surprising, the creature was full of one dumpster full of rubbish and gallons of the most disgusting stuff Ianto had ever seen.

He shifted Stinky from one arm to the other. He was pleased Stinky was asleep because there had been no convenient dumpsters to ravage. Oh, another good word, he thought.

The walk towards the next set of buildings was long and hot. There was no path so he had to walk along the rubbish-littered edge. Worse, the dust and rubbish swirled around him every time a vehicle passed. He had always hated littering on the island, it was just the odd chip packet; here, rubbish was everywhere.

Several more vehicles passed and the dust made him cough and made his mouth so dry he regretted not asking for a bottle of water. But he could only carry so much and Stinky could not look after itself. It was in the sewers for who knew how long and he had been so hungry.

He stopped as he had a thought… what if Stinky was part of the adventure? What if he was always meant to find Stinky…who ever set this up must have known he was a sucker for long creatures with beady eyes, who had loads of teeth.

On the other hand, Stinky did seem very desperate because he had tried to eat his shoes covered in horrible nasty stuff worse than the rubbish he had eaten so far. Maybe it had been thrown down the sewer like some sort of pet no one found himself getting angry. Just how could anyone throw something so cute down into that horrible place? True, he couldn't stop eating and when it wasn't eating Stinky was sleeping. But Stinky had listened when Ianto had told him what not to eat and apart from snapping at his fingers when he had first picked it up Stinky had been very well behaved.

Another bus-type vehicle passed, swirling up dust. On cue, Stinky snuffled then sneezed. 'I agree,' Ianto said. 'I think it's time for us to stop and find somewhere to have a rest.'