Author's Note: Sorry about not putting up the new chapter yesterday! I was out of the house most of the day (from roughly 9am in the morning until 3am that night - looooong day!) So have a Bank Holiday present instead :) Hope you all have a very Happy Easter, and if you don't celebrate, have a great weekend. Kal x

A Chance in a Million

Chapter Four

"I like it," Ianto commented when Gwen showed him the new Torchwood office; a rented unit on the edge of a small row of shops near Cardiff Bay. It wasn't that much bigger than the Tourist Office in the old Hub.

"Shut it," Gwen said, catching the sarcasm in his voice, "it was the best I could do. After the 456 were dead, Jack vanished, appearing only to tell me he was leaving the planet, leaving me with no details on how I should do about rebuilding the Hub. I doubt I could just pick someone out of the yellow pages to do it."

"No, I do like it," Ianto tried to feign genuine excitement, "it's... cosy."

"There's a big dusty basement underneath," Gwen told him, "you'll feel right at home."

"I didn't spend that much time in the archives," Ianto sat on the edge of the desk when Gwen took up residence in the large leather office chair behind it.

"You did," Gwen stated, "so yeah, this is the desk. We have a phone line now too. It was kinda hard to stay out of the spotlight once the Hub blew up so we registered a phone line if people need to get in touch. We do get the odd prank now and again but most calls are genuine. Plus I managed to find this when Rhys and I went hunting through the debris after it was all over," she reached into a desk drawer and pulled out a black device. "It basically detects rift activity. We're still working on getting a similar system onto the computers but me and Rhys aren't that technologically minded."

"Maybe I could have a go," Ianto suggested, taking the device off her. He turned it over and peered at the buttons on it but didn't press anything.

Gwen shrugged, "I'm sure it wouldn't hurt," she took the device back from Ianto when he held it out and returned it to the drawer, "you always were better at the computer things than I was anyway."

"I suspect I still am," Ianto said, picking up on the past tense in Gwen's sentence. He raised an eyebrow at her when she looked embarrassed and decided to cut her some slack. "So, do I get a desk? Or am I confined to the basement?"

"We'll get you one," Gwen said, "today if you like. We can order one in. And if you hang around, you'll get to meet the new members of Torchwood."

Ianto tilted his head, quizzingly.

"Well I couldn't run it on my own could I?" Gwen defended herself, "It's not like I could run anywhere. And like Rhys would let me leave the office or the house unless it was vitally important anyway. I needed someone to catch aliens."

Ianto shrugged, "I suppose not."

"Right then, lets order you a desk and a computer."

* * * * *

The spaceship shook violently, throwing Jack from his bunk in surprise. It was late afternoon and he had slept all day after talking to Volta all night. She had been good for him, letting him talk without interruption and Jack had slept properly for the first time in months. He blinked at the rude wakeup call and brushed his hair out of his eyes in confusion. The floor was trembling and the handful of possessions he owned were busy rolling off the box he used as a bedside table. He stood up, reaching out a hand to steady himself against a wall. He reached for the door before pausing, deciding it wouldn't hurt to put on some clothes first.

Outside his room Jack found the hallway to be a hive of panicked people running back and forth, shouting commands at each other in a variety of languages, only a few of which Jack understood.

"Meester Harkness!" Came the call from a green alien with six arms and a tail. Jack was unsure of its name as its accent sometimes made it hard to understand its English, "Meester Harkness! You needed with Captain. He need your help!" Jack nodded in acknowledgement and ran towards the cab of the ship, where the main controls were and the Captain's quarters. He dodged several people on the way without breaking pace, ducking under a large pole someone was carrying without even questioning what on Earth they were doing with it. It took him mere minutes to break the length of the ship. He opened the door to the cab without knocking.

"Jack, thank you for coming," the calm tone in the Captain's voice didn't match the look of terror in his eyes, "we seem to be in a battle with another race. We've tried contacting them but they won't respond. The word is that you've got an almost unmatched knowledge of alien races. Can you help us?"

"I can try," Jack didn't make any promises but stepped forward to the console, taking the seat the assistant captain vacated for him. He looked at the other ship through the windows on the front of the cap. He frowned, recognising the unusual design but unable to place it in his memory. 100 plus years of living through different centuries and all over the universe provided quite a lot to shift through at short notice. The tension in the cap grew as Jack frantically tried to place the familiar vessel.

"Jack?" Ventured the Captain when he didn't say anything. His fear was clear in his voice. He had never been attacked so viciously or without reason before and had little idea how to get out of it.

"You have to stop the ship," Jack said his memory finally serving him, "these are the Fryre race. They are incapable of seeing a moving object. Have the ship freeze in position and they'll think you've just vanished."

"You're mad!" The Captain gasped, "if we stop we'll be blown apart!"

"Trust me!" Jack span in the chair and gripped the Captain's forearms. He didn't sat anything more but the sincerity and desperation in his eyes was all the Captain needed to trust the ex-Time Agent.

"Alright," he reached out to the ships ignition and disengaged the engine. There was a low humming, following by a second of silence, before the noise of the ship's crew running about filled in the gaps. The two men sat side by side and waited, both praying that Jack was right.

* * * * *

Ianto hit the ground with a groan. It was evening and the rift detector Gwen had saved had gone off. She'd handed it to Ianto, showing him how to use it to narrow down the problem area. It was hardly a sat nav but it was better than nothing at all! He was now out with ex-PC Andy and someone he'd never met until today called Jamie, a young 20-something university dropout. She had had enough of following the path her parents expected her too and decided to do something else. Gwen had advertised for new members in the paper and Jamie had been the perfect candidate. She was young and inexperienced but willing to learn, try new things and not ask questions unless they were needed. She was also pretty damn good at kickboxing.

A brown creature, which could only be described as a rabid squirrel which had been out in the rain too long, had arrived in Cardiff through the Rift. From what they could initially tell, it was on it's own. Something they were all happy about. It didn't appear to have any form of understandable languages, unless its kind communicated in snarls and saliva.

Ianto rolled over onto his hands and knees and coughed. Why he thought it was a good idea to come out fighting barely a week after waking up from a coma he didn't know. He was already starting to feel the ache in his muscles. With a deep breath he forced himself to his feet and turned back to face the fight. Jamie was keeping the creature busy with a series of well aimed kicks and punches whilst Andy danced around the pair with a gun, trying to get into a position where he could comfortably shoot the creature and not his co-worker.

Suddenly the alien got a grip on Jamie's arm, twisted it viciously behind her back and threw into Andy, causing both of them to stumble to the ground. It then turned and began its advance on Ianto. The Welshman swore under his breath and looked around for something, anything, he could use as a weapon. Why did the alien have to appear in the middle of a bloody field? Suddenly he saw something glint in the grass and ran to it. A lead pipe. He picked it up and turned back to face the alien only to see the alien leap at him. In his suddenly panic, he dropped the pipe and ducked, falling when a wet fist struck him in his back.

Rolling onto his back and coughing, Ianto closed his eyes as he saw the alien aim a swipe at his head. Jack he pleaded silently. I need you.

* * * * *

In the spaceship, everyone had stopped moving. It was almost as if a telekinetic wave had passed through the vehicle, telling everyone to stay still and silent. The firing outside stopped and the ship became motionless. Jack bit his lip as his heart began to slow. He hadn't admitted this to the Captain but he was unsure if it was the Fryre who couldn't detect movement or whether he'd mixed them up with something else. It looked like he had been right, something that calmed his frazzled nerves. The Fryre weren't known for being a friendly group. Large rodent type creature with small pointy ears, bushy tails and looked like they'd been swimming in mud. They had a vicious temper for anyone who wasn't from their home planet and weren't afraid to take on even full sized space ships like the one he was travelling in. Not a good race to come across.

I need you.

Jack nearly jumped out his seat when he heard Ianto's voice echo through his mind. He cautiously looked around the room but saw no one except the Captain and Assistant Captain. A tremble ran through his body. Ianto was dead. He had watched him die with his own eyes, felt the still of his heartbeat with his own hands, captured his last breath with his own lips. He was hearing things, which was not a good sign. Jack closed his eyes and stayed in his seat. He knew he couldn't move until they were sure the Fryre were gone. He waited to see if he would hear anything else, but the only sound was the steady thud, thud, thud of his aching heart.