Author's Note: Gods it's miserable weather here today! If you're too suffering from rainy-ness, have another chapter to cheer you up :) And if you're not, well, have a chapter anyway! Thanks for the comments on the last chapter - I love reading them. It brightens my day. Hope you enjoy. Love, Kal x

A Chance in a Million

Chapter Ten

"I'm sorry, Jack," said the Captain, turning on his chair to fix his gaze on the immortal traveller. "We've got a schedule to keep. I can't just go off course at a moment's notice. Certainly not as far off course as you're asking."

Jack kept the disappointment off his face, placing a smile there instead. "It's okay. I thought it would be a long shot but hey, it costs nothing to ask."

"It doesn't," the Captain agreed.

"I don't suppose you can scan for any nearby ships I could transport to them?" Jack pressed on with his next question.

"What's so important on Earth that you suddenly want to go back?" The Captain asked, curiously. "You were so eager to leave when you joined us."

"Thing's have changed," Jack said. The Captain waited, clearly expecting more information but Jack wasn't willing to say any more. Eventually the Captain shrugged and turned to his complicated looking console. He pushed a few buttons and looked at the picture on a small monitor. Almost instantly it picked up a nearby ship, easily within transferring range. The Captain pointed to the blip on the screen.

"You could hail them and see if they're heading in that direction," he suggested. "You can use our communication device."

Jack thanked the man and stepped up to the communication system which was built into the console. The Captain move his chair out of the way so Jack could easily access the controls. Most communication systems, no matter what planet or time period they were from, operated in more or less the same fashion. You connected to the other person or ship or planet and dialled out. They answered and the call would disconnect when either one or both parties chose. He connected to the other ship and waited. It connected and an alien language echoed from the speaker. Jack swore silently.

"Hello, I'm sorry but I don't speak your language." Jack said in an apologetic voice.

"Hallo," came the speaker in accented English. "This better?"

"Yes, thank you," Jack felt relieved.

"What do?" The faceless speaker came again, which Jack took for asking what they could do for him.

Jack explained his situation in as simple terms as he could, avoiding complicated sentence structures and long words. English was clearly not widely spoken on this other ship and was probably learnt by a handful of people for business reasons only. He didn't take long and waited for a reply.

"Yah, you come. You go half there." Jack couldn't stop a grin from lighting up his face. Half way to Earth was certainly better than nothing at all! If he got lucky, maybe they would come across a third ship who could take him the rest of the way. He asked if now was a convenient time to transport aboard and the speaker on the other end of the communication device confirmed that that would be fine as they wouldn't be in the vicinity of Jack's ship much longer. Jack disconnected the line and turned to face the Captain.

"So you're leaving us, Jack?" The Captain confirmed, almost sadly. He stood, matching Jack in height and reached out his hand. Jack gripped it.

"It was good of you to take be on board, Captain," Jack said, "and I hope I've been of service to you during my time, short as it's been."

"You've been more than that," the Captain said, referring to Jack's help during the Fryre attack. "You're welcome back any time."

"I'll bid you goodbye then," Jack released the handshake and nodded to both the Captain and his vice. He turned and left the room, the door sliding shut behind him. He was on his way to the teleport station when a thought occurred to him and he changed direction slightly, turning off the corridor to the right instead of the left. There was one more person he needed to see first.

Volta looked up at Jack entered the room. She was an electrician and she lifted a hand to stop Jack from walking any nearer. She was in the middle of fixing a faulty cable and there were tools and wires strewn across the floor. She had no intention of Jack's great stomping boots breaking anything. Volta removed her mask, tossing it to the floor and made her way to where Jack was waiting for her, she opened her mouth with the intent on telling him off for hiding away again when she saw his expression and the fact he was wearing his coat. He never wore his coat.

"Jack?" She questioned, tilting her head to meet his eyes.

"I'm leaving, Volta," Jack said, reaching out to stroke her soft cheek.

Volta was going to ask why but the answers were in Jack's eyes. He was following his heart.

"He's alive, Volta," Jack whispered, a smile lighting up his face. "I heard his voice. He's alive."

Volta brought up her own hand and covered Jack's, leaning into his touch slightly, "then you have to go to him." She told him firmly.

"You've been a good friend to me," Jack continued, bringing up her hand to kiss it. "And I'll miss you."

"You're soft," she sniffed before enveloping him in a hug far stronger than he would have excepted from her lithe body. He returned it fully.

"Goodbye," he said, pulling back. He raised his hand in a wave and left the room.

Volta waved as his coat disappeared round the corner. She sighed to herself a smile on her face. She hoped Jack found his way back home. Ianto Jones must be a very special man. "And a lucky one," she murmured before resuming her work.

"Damnit!" Ianto snarled at the computer screen slamming his hands on the keyboard and causing the computer to protest in a series of beeps. He swore at it in Welsh and Gwen and Andy exchanged glances. Neither of them said a word as they watched Ianto slowly sink back into his chair and prop his chin up on his hands. He gazed at the screen in determined thought. When Gwen spoke his name, he ignored her, lost in a world of possibilities and discarded answers to the problem which was confronting him.

The phone rung. Gwen sighed and wheeled her chair back across to her desk where she picked it up. For a moment she longed for headsets again. But it wasn't something she had gotten around to getting. Being pregnant was scattering her brain. The conversation didn't last very long.

"What is it?" Andy recognised the look on her face.

"Fancy going after another rabid flying dog?"

Andy swore. "I'll need help." He looked at Ianto who was emersed in taping in new commands onto the computer screen in front of it. "Ianto." Andy said, a little more sharply than he intended.

"Ask Jamie," Ianto said, absently.

"Jamie's resting up after nearly having her arm ripped off yesterday," Andy stood in front of Ianto's desk. "Because you weren't there to help us out. I can't go after this thing on my own. I'm sorry Jack's gone, mate. I am. Really. But you have responsibilities here. You can't spend your time chasing after a man who basically makes a name for himself by vanishing into the night." Andy paused when Ianto's hand's stopped tapping on the keyboard. Ianto sighed.

"I'll come with you to catch the dog," Ianto said, quietly. "But I'm not giving up on Jack." He looked up and locked gazes with Andy. The ex-policeman was a little surprised at the fierce determination in his fellow Welshman's eyes.

There was a few seconds of silence. Gwen's eyes darted between the two men as though she was watching a tennis match.

"Then let's go," Andy said.

Twenty minutes later the two Welshman, one dressed in jeans and a polo shirt and the other in a suit, stalked through the now empty halls of Cardiff's Queen's Arcade shopping centre, their shoes making horribly loud squeaking noises on the polished floors. They both carried guns in their hands. They weren't even going to bother with Ianto's more sophisticated alien tranquiliser gun. It wasn't worth the risk.

"Why does it always appear in places with empty, echo-y halls," muttered Andy.

"I would call two appearances 'always'," Ianto replied, wondering if the animal had vanished into one of the shops which hadn't bothered to put their shutters down when everyone was evacuated and how they would know if it was.

"It's got a 100% record. Which makes it 'always'."

Ianto was about to reply when a horrific growl came from in front of them. They froze. Somehow the creature had managed to get directly in front of them and was set back on its haunches, its head low to the ground. It snarled ferociously, saliva dripping from it's black lips onto the floor. It hissed when it made contact. It muscles tensed and time slowed down. Ianto felt his heart thud with every second that passed. The creature lowered itself further to the floor before springing up, its front legs reaching forward, it's wings opening out to their full expanse. As it's hind legs pushed it up and it's wings took the first beat Ianto felt his finger curl around the trigger. It's eyes glowed as it launched itself toward the two Torchwood employees.

"Now," Andy said and simultaneously, they both fired. Two red splatters appeared on it's chest. It jerked with the impact and it's flight was stuttered. Ianto followed it with his eyes not registering that it was falling on him until it was too late.

"IANTO!" Andy yelled, firing off another shot at the alien dog as its body thudded onto his colleague. "Ianto!"

Seconds ticked by. The dog didn't twitch and Andy couldn't see it moving. He held his gun in front of him in case it felt like taking a breath. Then he heard a muffled noise. "Ianto?"

"I said, 'ow'." The voice came clearer and Andy saw the alien creature's body lift an inch. He dropped his gun, letting it clatter to the floor.

"Fuck," he said, in relief. He dropped to his knees and slid his hands under the bleeding body. Christ it was heavy. The muscles in his arms strained as he pushed the body off. Ianto's hands helped from underneath and before long they had rolled it on its side and Ianto was staring up at Andy, his suit soaked in blood, his face pale and his hair stuck to his head from sweat. "Alright?" Andy said, holding out a hand to pull Ianto into a sitting position.

"I knew I should've continued trying to get hold of Jack." Ianto said. "How do you plan on getting this thing out of the shopping centre?"

Andy leaned back on his heels and stared at the creature. "I haven't a bloody clue, mate."