There is so much noise now that Jack is sure someone's called the police. Never mind that they're out in the middle of nowhere, there's always people around places like this. Just see how full this house turned out to be.

There's running and shouting and for a moment he worries about his team, but then he shakes it off. He trusts them, with his life and theirs, and he knows they won't ever fail him. He is so proud of them it's almost obscene.

Lisa turns out to be easy to track. Hardly a game really, with her dripping his blood all over the place, he just follows the trail. He knows he's only got one shot, because she's fast and apparently she has little or no remorse. He'd rather not die any more tonight.

The trail leads back to the huge room, the one going through all floors. He follows it out on the catwalk, only to find it come to a sudden halt. He feels his gut sink, glancing over the edges, finding nothing. Only one explanation then.

"How thick you must feel, to fall for a trap like that!"

She is a dark silhouette against the lights from the corridors, her shadow melting into the darkness of the huge chamber. He dosen't turn to look at her, simply grips his gun slowly.

"Gotcha now, Harkness!"

"In your dreams!"

He turns, and he fires. Empties the gun against her dark shape. He can only hope he caught her by surprise.

She tumbles, falls and catches on to the rail with one hand. Then she curses and pulls herself up. He feels his heart sink. This might get difficult.

"You bastard…!"

He doesn't answer, just tries to think something out. He can't let her leave. He won't let her.

"More then I can say for you… Your dead."

Lisa simply pulls a bullet from the armour over her eyebrow, flicking it over the edge.

"Oh really? How do you figure that?"

He glares at her. He knows he's not really good at glaring and he sort of wishes the Doctor was here because his mean-face could scare a statue into crying. Still, Jack makes due.

"You hurt Ianto. You threatened Gwen. You're over and done, I'll never let you live this down!"

She snorts, her teeth gleaming white against her dark skin.

"You are ever so possessive about your harem, ain't you? To bad you're never seeing them again!"

"You can't kill me, remember?"

Lisa smiles, a wicked, cruel grin that sends chills down Jack's spine. She raises her arm, letting long, lethal blades slide out.

"Oh Jack, there are worse things in life then dying…"

He jumps, but she's faster then him. Before he can duck, one blade has cut him straight through the stomach, almost separating his legs from his body. Another one has cut the catwalk like a hot knife through butter, leaving him with nothing to stand on.

Falling through the dark, he tries to pass out because the impact with the ground won't kill him. He'll just wish it could.

Lisa watches him fall, her feelings of triumph almost blocking out the sound behind her. In the last possible moment, she ducks, raising her shield against the wave of flames crashing down on her. Rolling further out on the catwalk, she blocks blast after blast until finally, Gwen's out of breath.

They glare at each other from either side of the thin metal construction hanging a few good hundred feet in the air. Gwen holds on to the start of the rail with shaking hands. She knows Jack can heal most things but that looked serious and she's still not entirely sure he'll live. She's so close to loosing control, a control she was just barely grasping to begin with.

Lisa frowns and stands again, making sure she still has a pice of the cut path behind her. Then she smiles again. The little welsh girl is trembling, she's never seen this level of horror in real life. Lisa on the other hand, has not only seen it, but also caused her fair share of it. This battle is done, but not before she can break this nosy little tart completely.

"There you are. Your little boyfriend was looking for you. I told him I'd take care of you."

"What…?"

Gwen's voice breaks with fear. Rhys isn't here, he left, got out the fire escape.

"Oh, you didn't know he came back for you? Such a sweetheart he was… Didn't put up much of a fight though… Just begged for his life at the end, really."

She grins at the pale girl, watching her hold on to the rail like it's the only thing keeping her from total collapse. How easy humans are to break, given the right leverage.

"You… No… Rhys… he can't be…!"

"But he is!"

There is an odd squeak as Gwen grips the rail so tight her hand almost breaks. She drags herself up and the look in her eyes makes Lisa talk half a step back. She's playing with fire again, and fire is unpredictable.

"You're dead…"

She barks a short laugh at the long haired girl, letting the metal cover her completely.

"Gwenny… You forget. You can't burn metal!"

It's warm. She feels it now, the heat sucking the oxygen from the air. Pearls of sweat run down from her hair. Gwen pierces her with her eyes, and suddenly, Lisa is very afraid.

"Maybe not… But metal still melts…"

There is no scream from her, no movement. Just a wave of fire so hot is feels like being dipped in ice water. Lisa can't even gasp before her lungs are burned to crisp, her armour plates melting into what's left of the catwalk when she is forced down by the power. In a flash, she is gone.

Gwen's brain is in overload. She has reached the point where she hurt so much she can't take it anymore. She is in a vacuum, an empty space where she can't feel anything at all. For a few precious, burning seconds, it's wonderful.

Then she feels the crushing grip on her arm, hear her name called over the raging inferno around her. She turns to find someone beside her, someone screaming her name and shaking her arm to bring her back from the deepest part of her soul.

"Ianto?"

And just like that, the fire's gone.

Without the power to hold her up, Gwen simply falls into the other boys arms. She is a bit confused over the fact that he's not hurt, since everything else in range is burnt and bent beyond recognition. Still, she is to tired to ask.

"Gwen? Are you alright? Can you hear me Gwen?"

She nods, tries to breathe but she's not sure she remembers how.

Suddenly there is the loud noise of running in the doorway behind them and Ianto panics cause Gwen is practically catatonic and his powers are pretty useless in a fight. He sighs in relief when he sees Tosh rounding the corner, swiftly followed by Owen. He briefly wonders where Jack is, but then Owen is kneeling by his side, taking Gwen's pulse.

"Shit… She's in shock! Gwen! Look at me sweetheart!"

Ianto feels Tosh's small, surprisingly strong hands on his shoulders and he allows himself to breathe a bit. He manoeuvres Gwen's body so Owen can check her breathing when she jerks. She grabs Owens arm and chokes out.

"Jack! He fell… It looked bad…!"

"He'll be fine Gwen just…"

"No! Please make sure he's not…!"

"Ok! I'll check up on him just calm down!"

Ianto can't help but worry too. Jack has such a neck for getting in trouble. He would be dead a thousand times over if not for his powers. It's always such a relief to see him come back because Ianto still fears that one day the idiots luck will run out.

"Holy fucking shit…!"

The panic's rising again because Owen never lets anyone know he worries about Jack. That he cares at all in fact, so him cursing now must mean it's bad.

"I… I should get down there! I mean, he's been trough worse but that don't look to good! Stay with Gwen, make sure she doesn't start hyperventilating… I'll just… Shit!"

Then he's off and Ianto really wants to look over the rail but then again he's very relived that he has Gwen in his arms because that's the perfect excuse not too. Tosh sits down next to him, taking a bit of the other girls weight off him.

"How are you Ianto?"

He can't stop himself. He glances over at the burnt, twisted, still smoking form at the end of the catwalk and something in his throat swells until he can't breathe.

"Not sure… Right now…"

She follows his eyes, realises what has happened and she makes a noise somewhere between choking and sobbing. She quickly turns away and starts to pull Gwen away, towards the wall. He follows her example, thankful she's there or he might have broken down by now.

Owen slides down on his knees, trying not to look to closely at the gaping hole in his friends side where half his guts are threatening to spill out. He tears off his glove even though the fingers are cut off. It works better with his palm anyway and Jacks eyes are so big and empty and when Owen leans in he realises the back of his skull is crushed into the pavement. He shudders and places his hand against Jack's neck, waiting.

He knows by experience that the worse Jack's injured, the warmer his body gets when he's healing. First he goes cold, like all other corpses, then there is a burst of heat before he jerks back to life. Owen presses his palm down, waiting for what seems like an eternity, fearing this might be it, the end of this infuriating git. Then, there is a pulse, and the pale skin gets so hot Owen almost pulls his hand back and then he remembers the skull and just before Jack jumpstarts again, he grabs the Americans head and holds it still.

Jack gasps, filling his lungs desperately as his brain craves new oxygen. He twists, trying to take in his surroundings but Owen holds his head down.

"Jack! Don't move! You cracked your skull like an egg and if you move you'll die all over again! I'll help you fix it but you have to stay still, ok?"

There is always a hint of panic in Jacks eyes when he comes back, and Owen can't blame him. Death must be scary, no matter how many times you try it.

"Don't worry, everyone's fine! Ianto and Tosh are taking care of Gwen, you're the only one injured, and I think that noise is our troops breaking down the door to snuff out this little cyber-gathering for good. So just stay put and try to relax!"

Jack can hear it too now, the loud voices ringing every bell in his mind. His eyes aren't working, but with the back of his head the state of scrambled eggs, it's not really a surprise. He tries to make his mouth work and with a bit of willpower, he gets the words out.

"Owen… Please…"

His friend looks down at him, understands and gently searches his neck for the right pressure point, the one that makes Jacks eyes roll back and gives him twenty minutes of unconsciousness so he doesn't have to suffer the pain of being dead twice over. Then he sits back, letting his power mend the torn body on the floor, waiting for the cavalry to arrive.

[You all think we'r closing this show down but we'r not even half way done yet! Trust me, it gets worse!]