Jack was pacing up and down the barn holding his arm across his chest as Owen examined Ianto, Gwen stood by helplessly, grasping onto Tosh's arm as they waited.

Finally Owen stood up, pulling off his disposable gloves.

"He's alive but unconscious. Far as I can tell all his vitals are normal. I need to get him back to the Hub where I can monitor him properly."

"It's a long way Owen, will he be OK for that long a drive?" asked Gwen.

"I have to take the chance, we can't monitor him properly at the inn, come on, give us a hand to get him to the SUV."

Owen and Jack bent down to lift Ianto, Jack shifting his arms under his shoulders roused Ianto, he groaned and Jack supported him as he came round. "Ianto are you OK?" Ianto stared at Jack.

"Get it out of me! I can't control it – not for long. You have to get it out of me Jack, oh the smell – the blood sacrifice you have to put the body in the open – allow the furie to feed."

Ianto scrambled to his feet, heading for the dead man, he started to pull on his arms, heading for the barn door,

"You have to help me – the sacrifice has been made."

Gwen ran up to Ianto pulling on his arms and calling his name "Ianto, sweetheart, come with me, you'll be OK, we'll get it out of you."

Ianto turned and looked at her "Gwen - I know you – help me Gwen, Help me"

"Of course sweetheart, just put the body down…."

Ianto sideswiped Gwen, throwing her across the barn floor, heading towards the door again. There was a series of clicks as three guns were suddenly trained on him. He paused, then smiled.

"More sacrifice? I'll just change bodies again. More for the furie to feed on."

Ianto carried on pulling the body towards the light, he was part way through the door, the others following, keeping their guns trained on him. He pulled the body to the middle of the farmyard, laying it out flat on his back. He raised his arms to the sky and called, screaming into the air for the Furie. Out of nowhere a large bird of prey materialised, a few hundred feet above the farm, it fell into a steep dive, landing on the body, clawing at the chest area, tearing the bloodied T-shirt away and beginning to peck at the flesh beneath. Ianto fell to his knees, watching and smiling.

Suddenly his head snapped up, looking straight at Jack,

"If I take you, the furie will never be hungry again – you will be the ultimate sacrifice, but I can't can I? It would be wrong, but I don't understand why. I don't know why it would be wrong. How can it be wrong to feed the furie?"

Tears rolled down Ianto's cheeks, and he put his head in his hands. Jack and the others walked quietly up to him, the man allowed them to hand cuff him, and stand him up, walk him over to the SUV. They locked him in. Jack hoping that the blue stream would either remain inside Ianto or be contained by the security of the car. Ianto was leaning back in his seat, his face shocked and blank.

Tosh was running remote scans, whilst Gwen, Owen and Jack attempted to catch the furie. They were trying to approach it with a large net, now carried in the SUV since a certain pterodactyl incident, but each time they were within reach, the bird would flap its wings to full stretch and screech at them, hopping a few feet away, but always returning to feast on the dead man's liver. In the end they sat quietly by the man and tried waiting for the bird to return. It appeared unable to resist the lure of the liver, and eventually hopped over. They waited until its beak was deep inside the man, then threw the net over it. Jack held it around the neck, wrapping the beak with his hand, only to have it pop out of existence underneath him. Jack fell face first into the open wound, earning himself a face full of bloody liver and skin.

Ianto watched from the SUV. His head a whirl of conflicting emotions and thoughts. He was having difficulty separating his own self from that of the blue alien. It wasn't trying to dominate or take him over, it was trying to amalgamate with him, become a part of his personality. In which case he thought he ought to be able to control it, yet it was as though the blue's personality and memories, its reason for being, had always been a part of him, and its goals a necessary part of his life. Ianto tried to access the blue's memories, it stretched far back in time, and also forward. Ianto recognised Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, aliens he knew of and others he had never seen. The furie always fed the same way, and the blue was always inside the priest or priestess, only leaving when the furie was hurt or killed – they were two parts of the same creature. Ianto tried to retain his sense that killing the furie was the way to go. He had to find a way to bring it back, he had to talk to Jack. Jack who had just threatened to shoot him. He knew this was how it always was. Others were always jealous of the priest, wanted to be the priest, and the only way to do that was kill him, but Jack loved him! He would never hurt Ianto …… but hadn't he already held a gun to his head, been ready to kill him, just because Ianto tried to protect the woman he loved…. Jack was cruel, Jack was jealous………

Ianto started to think about ways to escape the SUV. His hands were cuffed behind his back, but they hadn't strapped him in. he wriggled across the seats, to the opposite side of the car. He twisted so that his back was to the door, bringing his hands painfully up he twisted his fingers into a position he had thought was impossible, and pulled the door handle. Owen, as usual hadn't been thorough. The doors were locked to prevent people getting in, but he hadn't put full security on. The door popped open and Ianto fell carefully through it, away from the action in the farmyard. Bending down he ran along the side of the barn, heading for the comfort of the forest.

Jack wiped his face across his sleeve –"Ianto was really gonna gripe about the dry cleaning" he thought, "Damn! Ianto!" he walked hurriedly across to the SUV in time to see Ianto sneak out the other side. He ran around the back of the large car, seeing Ianto heading down the side of the barn, Jack accelerated, and tackled him, pulling him to the ground with a whoomph, as he knocked the breath out of Ianto.

"Owen! Get over here! He yelled as Ianto thrashed beneath him, attempting to unseat Jack.

"Ya know, under different circumstances this would be kinda fun, BUT, I really think you want to lay quiet now."

"So three times he's threatened us …"Ianto thought. "No, Jack loves me, you're wrong. Its you he wants."

Owen and Gwen escorted Ianto from the SUV into the inn. They locked him in his room, secured to a chair. One of them on guard. Jamey had watched, shocked by the turn of events. How had this man gone from friend to prisoner in two hours?

Jack looked as though he was carved from granite, his features so still and hard, mouth a grim set line. He had stalked into the inn in front of his team. Tosh ignored Jamey, and was now working relentlessly at her computer. Gwen was hanging around Jack, but he was resolutely ignoring her.

Jamey served coffee, hoping it would help to lighten the atmosphere. He only got a distracted thanks from Gwen. Jamey took the final two cups up to Ianto's room. He had barely exchanged three words with Owen up till now, but he gathered up his courage,

"what happened? Why is Ianto a prisoner?"

Owen barely glanced up to take his cup. "None of your business is it? Run along". Jamey glanced at Ianto, who looked blankly through him. " Can he have a coffee?"

"If you can get it down him, he can have it. Go on then. I'm gonna take a slash." Owen strutted into the bathroom, careful to leave the door open.

Jamey approached Ianto with the coffee. To his surprise Ianto smiled at him, winking, he whispered, "They've got it wrong Jamey, got the wrong man, can you help me?" Jamey's eyes opened wide, he nodded. "I'll come back later I'll help."

After a rather silent meal Jack and Gwen were in the lounge.

"Talk to me Jack" Gwen had seldom seen Jack so closed off, so rigid. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes, and sighed deciding to speak.

"I would have shot Ianto, - I've realised that it doesn't matter how much someone means to me, if they're a threat to others I will kill them." His voice was cold, hard, yet there was desperation also, in his eyes, his posture.

Gwen stood shocked, "but you didn't do it Jack. Ianto is still alive."

"Only because he told us he would just shift to another body. If I thought it would have worked I would have done it. I would have shot the man I love Gwen. Do you know Ianto once called me a monster?"

Gwen took a step towards Jack, "No Jack, you are not a monster. You do what has to be done, because that is how you save the world."

Jack gave a short laugh "I save the world the way Torchwood taught me. There must be another way." Jack rubbed his hands over his face, then looked at them, trembling.

Gwen stepped up to him, held his arms tight.

"Look at me Jack Harkness! Look. At. Me."

When she thought she had his full attention she continued. "You are one of the best people I have ever met. You do an amazingly difficult job, you save not only the world but us. All the time. You saved Ianto once, you can do it again. We will save Ianto, and get rid of this thing. Do you hear me?"

Jack nodded, and pulled Gwen into a hug. "Thank you" he whispered against her hair.

Owen was fast asleep, "I slipped my dad's Zopiclone in his coffee" Jamey explained as he undid the rope holding Ianto to the chair. Ianto told him how to deal with the handcuffs. Jamey walked down the stairs in front of Ianto, making sure the coast was clear. Ianto saw Jack hugging Gwen, but didn't see Jack's eyes on him as he walked past to the front door.

Once out in the car park Ianto raised his face to the sky and called, screaming into the wind for the furie. Jamey turned shocked at the primeval noise coming from Ianto's mouth. He stood stock still, turning his head at the last minute in fear as he was knocked off his feet by a huge bird of prey. A shot rang out, blood exploded over his chest, spattering his face, making his eyes water. He waited for the pain but none came and he realised that the bird was lying heavy across his chest, unmoving. At the edge of his hearing was a soft keening sound that grew in volume and pitch until his ears ached with the intensity of it.

Jack had put Gwen to one side with a finger across her lips as Ianto passed from view. He drew his gun and walked quickly across to the front door in time to see Ianto start calling for the bird. It seemingly flew in from nowhere, knocking Jamey off his feet, and on instinct Jack raised his gun and shot it. At that point the keening noise began, Ianto had fallen to his knees, face to the skies, and the blue streamed from his mouth, the noise hurt Jack's ears, but he realised that as the pitch increased the blue stream dissipated into the air until the noise stopped, and Ianto fell to the ground unconscious.

Gwen and Tosh ran over to help lift the dead bird from Jamey, helping him up and escorting him back into the inn. His father, predictably yelling at them as they went through the door.

Jack walked over to Ianto, turning him onto his back. Ianto groaned, and blinked up at Jack, "Did it work? Is the bird dead?" he said hoarsely. Jack nodded. Ianto laid back, eyes closed.

"You were going to shoot me" he whispered, Jack paused before answering. "Yes. At that point it seemed the best way to stop any more killing. If it helps I was aiming to injure not kill."

Ianto's eyes shot open, a look of fury on his face, "Don't lie to me Jack, you always shoot to kill."

"Innocent people were being killed Ianto. Three people had already died. What would you have me do?"

"It didn't lure Jamie out here. It was my idea." Ianto almost whispered.

"Your Idea?"

"Yes. Had to get you to kill the bird, knew it was the only way to stop this. I used an innocent boy to manipulate you." He paused, arm across his eyes." What have we become Jack, that we will shoot our lovers and use innocent people?"

"Torchwood."