Jack had typed in the lockdown codes and reopened the Hub. He raced down to the armoury and grabbed the nearest weapons, taking as many as he could carry, before hurtling back upstairs and into the spare car they had in case the SUV was… well taken.

He knew he didn't have long. Whoever was after Torchwood had a half hour head start on the rest of them. Praying that they hadn't killed Ianto, he set the car so that upcoming traffic lights would automatically set themselves to green.

Gwen put the phone down, shakily. Tosh had just informed her that she and Owen were coming to get her to head back to the Hub. Someone was intending to kill them all, so it was vital that they all met up. Gwen wondered how exactly that would make the situation better, but didn't question Jack's judgement.

She pushed her mobile into her pocket and sat on the edge of the sofa, hoping that Rhys didn't come home before her would-be killer, or worse, after her would-be killer had been.

Tosh and Owen checked the surrounding area on Tosh's PDA. There were a few life signs inside the houses and the block of flats they had just come out of, but no one 'hiding' anywhere.

Tosh handed the PDA to Owen and checked the car over before they got in.

"What were you doing?" Owen asked as he started the engine.

"Checking it hadn't been tampered with," Tosh replied. "Jack said to be overly cautious."

"Well if Jack said it, we'd better worry," Owen pulled out and began to drive carefully towards Gwen's.

Jack was tracking Tosh and Owen's progress on the computer programmed into the Torchwood car's dashboard. It was a handy little invention that Ianto and Tosh had been building together over the past few months. It was similar to the one in the SUV, but was designed for 'undercover' missions. Not that Torchwood did 'undercover' much.

Jack's heart ached again, not just for Ianto now, but the whole team. This was his fault. He'd been responsible for too many deaths; he wasn't going to have another four on his soul. He sped up and swerved round several cars, not caring that he might kill himself on the way to save his team.

Gwen heard a knock on the door and looked up sharply. Tosh and Owen said they'd ring when they were outside the flat. Keeping as quiet as she could, Gwen stood up and pressed herself flat against the wall beside the door to the hallway.

Peering round, she could see three figures at the door. She put a hand over her mouth, trying to silence her heaving breathing and fast beating heart, sure that someone must be able to hear them.

There was another knock, this time more frantic. What was she supposed to do? If they thought she was out hen they'd storm in. On the other hand if they'd been able to track their movement before, then they'd already know she was here.

Gwen looked round desperately for another way out. There was a fire escape over by the window on the other side of the lounge. She ran over and tried frantically to open the window. It had always been stiff and Gwen often made jokes with Rhys that, if there ever was a fire, it would be the death of them.

She managed to pull it up a little. The gap was too small for her to squeeze out, but she could get a shoulder under there and tried to lever it further. Just as the figures began to kick the door in.

Tosh and Owen pulled up outside the block of flats where Gwen lived and carefully, checking that no one was around, went up the stairs. They froze when they reached the top and found Gwen's door, bent in, and splintered where it had been kicked down.

They didn't have weapons on them, so they armed themselves, with strips of wood that had flown off the door. Walking slowly down the hallway and into the lounge the sight that greeted them was not a pleasant one.

The window was open, causing the curtains to fly out in the wind, blowing paper that was littered round the flat. The whole place had been trashed. It looked like nothing more than a simple burglary, but in the middle of the lounge area, whoever had been there had moved the sofa and table off the carpet and written a message. Using blood.

We warned you didn't we? Now you must all pay the price. There is no escape, you will all die. We will destroy you, Torchwood.

"Is it Gwen's?" Tosh sounded muffled because she'd put a hand over her mouth.

Owen bent down and pulled a swab inside a tube, collecting some of the still wet blood.

"I dunno, I'll have to test it back at the Hub," he said, pocketing the sample.

Just as Owen straightened up, Jack came through the door, or what was left of it, and swore loudly when he saw the state of the flat.

"No sign of Gwen?" He asked the other two. They shook their heads. "Shit."

"We better clear this lot up, we don't want Rhys suspecting anything," Tosh pointed out.

"Right, operation cover up we'll have to do ourselves and make sure you get rid of that message," Jack nodded. "Tosh can you forge a note from Gwen saying that she's on a training camp or something and she'll be back soon?"

Tosh nodded and the three of them got to work on the flat.

The men hadn't returned to Ianto. He didn't know how long he'd been there. He was starting to go insane with worry and no concept of time. To keep himself busy, he'd pulled all his clothes on, though they were tattered a torn, and found the light switch, turning it on so he could look at the things in the room.

There wasn't much. Nothing he could use for a weapon or to help him escape anyway. A couple of crates sat in the corner and he managed to find a thick blanket that he pulled round himself, trying to keep warm.

He didn't hurt, but that was probably because he was so numb. He was covered in dried blood and some wounds were still wet. He huddled into a small bundle in one corner and sobbed, shaking and crying, wishing Jack would hurry up and get him out of this place.