Jack was only half paying attention to what he could hear over the headset. He could hear Ianto and Gwen breathing, and Lauren having a conversation with whatever it was she'd found. It was the conversation he was paying attention to - he could only really hear her side of it, but he wasn't going to let anything happen to another member of his team. He heard a faint beeping noise and looked around him. That's when he realised that it was coming from the headset.

'Shit.' That worried him.

"Lauren? What is it?"

'We've got a bomb, Jack.' Lauren's voice came over his headset.

Shit is right. He thought. If this goes wrong we've got no chance - how do you cover up the Millennium Centre getting blown up? "Hold on, we'll be there in two minutes. Keep him talking." He told her, starting to run back in the direction he'd come.

He could tell Gwen and Ianto were doing the same from the fact that their breathing had sped up. Lauren was trying to negotiate with the potential bomber, and it sounded like she was doing well. He heard the beeping get faster, and her breath catch in her throat.

"Keep going, Lauren, we're close." He promised as he met Gwen and Ianto back where they'd started. They didn't need headsets to hear the gun go off. The sound echoed down the corridors.

"Jack, this is bad." Gwen glanced across at him.

"Yeah, I know, Gwen." He gritted his teeth. "But that was her gun. Means we can get there and disable the bomb before it goes off." There was a loud bang, and an orange light flared up in front of them. "Lot smaller than I anticipated . . ." There was a crackling sound in their ears.

"She's been disconnected." Ianto grimaced. "Never good. Never, ever good." Less than thirty seconds later they saw her standing in the corridor, with a man stood next to her. Beyond the two figures was the remains of the end of the corridor, burning.

"Lauren, are you -" Gwen stopped. Because in the light of the burning corridor she could see the features of the man stood next to Torchwood's newest recruit. "Oh, my God."

Lauren looked up at the man who'd saved her. Brown hair, brown eyes, average height . He was looking down at her, an expectant look on his face. She remembered that he'd actually asked her a question.

"I am. Thanks to you." He stood up, and held out a hand to help her to her feet. "Thank you."

"So what's your name, love?" He held her eye contact as he spoke.

"Lauren. Lauren Valentine." She told him.

"Pretty name for a pretty girl." He laughed quietly. "I'm -" Before he could finish his sentence, Jack and the others came running.

"Lauren are you -" She saw her three new colleagues stop in their tracks. "Oh my God."

"You replaced me with a girl." Her rescuer turned to face them, glaring. "A girl."

"You're Owen." Lauren realised, eyes wide. He glanced back at her.

"You've heard of me?"

"Owen." Gwen looked like she was about to start crying. "But you . . . How?" Jack and Ianto stared, as close to open-mouthed as the two of them were likely to get.

"The Rift. It pulled me out just before the radiation . . . Yeah. I never believed it was gonna do something good eventually." He waited for them to register that, then his expression softened and he held his arms out. "C'mere, darlin'." Gwen ran and hugged him.

"This is unbelievable." She muttered.

"Tell me about it."

"And it took you three months to get out of there?" Jack asked him.

"Yes. Well, more or less. I've been back here for maybe a week, now."

"Why didn't you find us or . . . Or something?" Gwen hit him on the shoulder.

"What can I say? I'm a twat. I wasn't sure what to say, to be honest. 'Hi guys, I'm not dead! Can I get back to work now?' doesn't really have the best ring to it." As soon as Gwen let go of Owen, Jack engulfed him in a bear hug. "Oi, watch it!"

"You're an idiot. But you're our idiot." The Captain let him go. Owen looked over at Ianto.

"You too, Coffee Boy." They hugged, slightly more awkwardly than the other two had. "So," He looked at the three of them expectantly. "Where's my favourite computer genius?"

Lauren watched their expressions change. Gwen's eyes filled with tears, and she looked away from Owen. Ianto bowed his head, avoiding his eyes, and Jack's eyes took on a look of reluctance. They were all silent for what must have been at least a minute, and Owen narrowed his eyes warily.

"Oh, God." Gwen whispered.

"Jack?" He was the only one still meeting Owen's eyes. "What's going on? What happened?"

"You were talking to her, on the comm," The Captain hesitated. "Before the radiation hit, didn't you? You know she was . . . Hurt?"

"Yeah, but . . . But it was just her arm, wasn't it?" No one answered him. He wasn't sure he wanted them to - wasn't sure he wanted to hear it.

"When we found her . . ."

"No." The doctor shook his head, definitely sure that he didn't want to hear it.

"Grey. He shot her in the stomach. When we found her she . . . She'd lost a lot of blood, Owen." Jack told him gently.

It was evident from the look on his face that he hadn't wanted to have to tell this story again. Especially not to Owen.