Two
21st Century. Present Day

Mackenzie Foster grinned as the curvy blonde let him feel her up as they both leant against the bar. Tonight was going to be the night! He could sense it, he really could. And it wouldn't be like the last time when the brunette had gone to the toilet and had him done for harassment when he'd followed her. She'd been giving him all the winks and nods, so, as any teenager pumped up on five larger's would, he'd gone after her, a Johnny tucked happily in his back pocket. Five minutes later he'd returned with a blackening eye and his pants around his ankles in an attempt to scarper away.

Slipping his hand along her thigh he gave her neck a sloppy kiss, grinning as she grabbed his hand. This was it, his first bit of action! Instead of granting her access up her skirt though, blonde Rosie Harwin shoved it abruptly away and slapped his face.

'What d'ya think you're bloody playing at!' she snapped, 'I've no idea what you think you're doing, pal, but I thought you'd get the idea I wasn't interested and piss off, alright?'

As she stared at him with pitying blue eyes, Mackenzie grinned when they grew wider, more shocked. Maybe she'd fallen for his dashingly good looks after all. But instead she was shifting back from him, reaching behind to grab her friend's wrist. Confused Mackenzie swung around on his chair to see a dark haired man stood in the centre of the room, chin tinged with stubble, suited and booted in black Armani. Besides him stood a tall blonde woman, curls down to her shoulders, dressed up in army boots and tight jeans; she looked like an image every boy wanted to find in their cheap porn magazines. Craning his neck Mackenzie tried his best to sneak a look at her perk backside but instantly sat erect when he saw a pistol sticking out from beneath the stranger's jacket. He wasn't drunk enough to start hallucinating yet, and almost choking on his own spit the Welsh teenager shot out of the restaurant with his dick limp between his legs.

'Leaving the party so soon?' The stranger pouted for a few seconds before spotting Rosie. The young girl was almost on the edge of her seat, unsure if she wanted to run away from the scene or towards him. 51st Century musk, worked like a charm. Giving her a quick wink he outstretched a hand, pulling her instantly to his chest as she accepted - how could she not? 'How about we have some fun?' pressing his hand into the small of her back, he arched her body against him with a growl of satisfaction. Unable to help herself Rosie burst into a fit of giggles, her cheeks reddening.

'Sir?' a meek voice behind him coughed, trying to be heard. Attempting to be listened to, a tentative hand reached out to touch the back of the Armani jacket but recoiled instantly. 'Sir, if you could please leave…' In a flash, the jacket spun around and as the waiter choked on his words, a pistol was pointed towards his sweaty forehead.

'Is there a problem? No one here is complaining.' Gasping for words, ('you're scaring the customers,' was barely whispered) the waiter went down with one shot, blood instantly seeping through his crisp, white shirt. Alice dropped onto her knees with a groan of distress.

'You didn't say you were going to shoot anyone! You could have killed him!' Taking the handkerchief out of the man's top pocket, she pressed it against the wound, wincing as the blood seeped out faster, covering her hands.

'Oh, didn't I? My mistake.' Firing the pistol again the bullet shattered against the man's temple, sending a spray of blood across Alice's face. Screaming in shock, she fell back onto her haunches, staring at her blooded hands in disbelief, wiping at her face with her palms. Everyone in the restaurant had backed away, sprinting out of the glass doors as he shot another round of bullets off, smashing bottles and splitting holes in the floral upholstery of the armchairs. 'No one's any fun anymore!' he yelled, throwing his arms up into the air before turning back around to stare at Alice. Pushing her hair away from her face, she'd streaked blood through her yellow curls, big eyes staring up at him in terror.

'What are you doing?' she whispered, eyes flaring as he backed closer towards the door. 'Nathaniel? We need to get him to a hospital!'

'I've got to go, darling, but remember our plan.' With an air kiss he was stood in the doorway, one of the glass doors swinging back and forth in the wind.

In one of the corners a table had been upturned by the sudden surge of people and the small, vanilla scented candles had slipped, igniting the table cloth instantly, spreading like a wild fire across the room. With one last shot Narthaniel smashed one of the vodka bottles behind the bar which instantly washed over the counter, promptly doubling the fire as it licked hungrily at the alcohol.

Toshiko Sato watched the screens that surrounded her desk, magnifying the sudden spike that had jolted against the formerly calm rift monitor. First of all she'd thought it to be some kind of blip; things had been quiet for so long now that it didn't seem worth tearing everyone from their other business just to inspect something so insignificant. The spike was continuous, had been for the last twenty minutes, coming from a restaurant on the Bay. Across from her, at his work station, Owen Harper was hammering away on some computer game he'd found, twisting and firing with a foreign remote. She smiled weakly in his direction, instantly looking away as he noticed the attention.

'Everything alright, Tosh?' he asked, pushing the remote aside with a grunt of frustration.

Lost, again. Good thing he was better in the real world, he thought with a grimace, or Cardiff really would be in shit. OK, so he wasn't a pro at computer games, but he could tell a dead body from a live one – and not any body either; aliens. He was getting pretty good at Weevils, knew more about them than anyone else at the Hub. Then again, everyone else had their own things to be dealing with, which made Owen wonder if he had too much free time after all. Gwen had a life with Rhys, and Jack and Ianto were always engrossed in one another, with their little innuendoes and flirtatious winks. Toshiko was married to her numbers; mathematics held more safety, security and certainty than any man ever could. Maybe he could take her out for a drink sometime, loosen her up.

Making his way around his workstation, Owen lent against Toshiko's desk, squinting at the screen and all the squiggly lines.

'There's been some activity over at The Ocean, I've been observing it for the last twenty minutes, and it's stayed constant. No climax – no fluctuation at all. Whatever it is, it's just… there.'

'So, something's come through the rift and stopped off for a quick meal?' chuckling to himself, Owen looked up to see Jack walking along the overhead railings, hands stuffed in his pockets.

Toshiko shook her head, ignoring his joke and tapping on her screen to get more readings. A CCTV image flashed up and as Jack came to stand behind the both of them, they watched the footage play out.

'Where's this from, Tosh?' Jack asked.

Turning up the volume on the side, Toshiko let the images pan out across all three screens above their heads. 'The Ocean restaurant on the Bay. Rift activities peaking, so I hacked into the CCTV database to see if anything unusual was happening.' The sound of a fire engine filled the Hub, startling Owen who glanced behind him as though the vehicle would come barging into the room. 'Seems there's been a fire…' slowly, she reduced the speed at which the video played, zooming in and rotating the camera to try and get a better look. Everything was clouded by smoke, the back wall of beer pumps smashing and hissing, adding to the explosion.

'Some sort of fire creature?' Jack suggested, leaning back and glancing at Owen who seemed none the wiser.

'Jack?' Toshiko's voice wavered and he turned his gaze back to the screen. A tall, dark haired man came into view, piercing russet eyes staring directly at where Jack stood. The image gave Toshiko goosebumps and she rubbed her arm involuntarily.

'Captain Jack Harkness.' The image on the screen spoke. A voice so deep and strong, intimidation and threat hit them like a slap in the face. 'That is what they're calling you now, isn't it? You're a very hard man to keep track of-' The vision blurred and fizzed before focusing again. 'I've no doubt you'll see this message before anyone else does, so I've just one thing to say to you.' There was a pause and Jack reached over, about to tap that screen, worried it had frozen. It couldn't be him… the image started to move again. 'Run.' He sneered. 'Run! For her life, Jack, not yours.' As the man moved out of view all three of them leaned in closer, trying to understand who he could be on about. Jack was pretty sure he'd stopped breathing.

'Who?' Owen asked, but he was shushed as the CCTV changed angle, and they could just make out the shape of a woman lying unconscious on the ground, blonde hair spilling around her head. Then the footage cut out, and for a moment no one said anything. They were all waiting for Jack to speak, but his eyes were still transfixed on the screen, disbelieving.

'Jack?'

'I've got to go-'

'We've got to go.' Owen corrected him, nodding towards Tosh who stood from her desk. She was usually the one to stay back at the Hub or sitting in SUV, directing everyone with her PDA. With Gwen at home and Ianto out, she felt only obliged to go along. This wasn't some alien parasite, but a human's life at stake and it set something in her stomach into a fit of fear. The way that man's eyes had pierced through the screen still scarred the back of her eyelids.

'Who was he?' she found herself asking, the same question Owen had been waiting to solve.

Jack was no good at talking about his past, and for all they knew, he might as well not have one at all. It was like he'd just been placed on this earth in that worn greatcoat and that suave smile. No one asked. Supposedly it didn't matter where he had come from, if he really was Captain Jack and what was so special about The Doctor. All that mattered was that he cared for them – he had saved them all from something at some point, and they too had returned the favour, doing as he asked, when he asked, without being told why or what would repercussion because of the act. Captain Jack Harkness was their boss and they trusted him, but sometimes the not knowing got too much. He knew all about them - everything! As if his head held files and files of information on them, some futuristic police computer system. He was a worn soldier, and even if he wouldn't always admit it, he needed them; Gwen, Ianto, Toshiko and petulant Owen.

All three of them headed to the SUV without a word, Jack jumping in the driver's seat, Toshiko in the back with all her technical equipment and Owen in the front, grappling for the seatbelt as Jack swung out of the underground car park.

dumdeeeeeee, not sure if i liked it. hope you did, feedback is appreciated so much!