Gwen was glad this school did not have gym-class. If it did, all the students would be dead tired.

Instead of gym, they had power-exercise, or in this case, catch the slimy Dalek-infiltrator before he had a chance to contact his allies.

She and Ianto where the ones cornering him, knowing every backstreet and ally-way for miles. Tosh and Owen just hung half a step behind them, waiting for their turn.

The boy was the skinny, rat like sort. Shady eyes and hair in that colour that you couldn't really put name on. People might call it dark blond, but that was just flattering to the point of lying. And he was fast. Three blocks and they just couldn't gain an inch on him.

"Take left!"

She had no idea what Ianto was planing but she had blindly jumped of a cliff into the dark at his advice before and she was not going to stop trusting him now. She took left and Owen followed.

Part of her loved this. The rush, the adrenaline, the hunt. She was signing up for the police force. By the time she was done at Torchwood she would go straight to the academy. She would do this forever. Damn that was a happy feeling.

Suddenly, the Dalek boy rounded the corner in front of her, looking a bit more then startled when he saw her. Turning around, he found Ianto and Tosh coming from the other end.

In panic he looked around, finding a small gap between two houses and with a grin he tossed himself in.

"Ianto! He's still getting away!"

"No he's not!"

They pressed into the gap, Gwen first, followed by the still mumbling Owen. It was just wide enough for them to pass and it was littered with trash.

Out on the other side there was a streetlight, and for a moment it's hard yellow light blinded Gwen. Before she could get herself together, a surprisingly strong hand grabbed her arm and she was pulled stumbling away.

"I'll kill her! I swear to god I'll put a bullet in her head if you don't back off!"

Gwen cursed under her breath, feeling the cold pipe against her jaw. They had cornered him. The only way out of the backyard where they had ended up seemed to be locked doors. Part from the one light, it was mostly dark, shadows hooping in every corner.

The others stopped, but they didn't back off, just fanned out to present less of a target.

"I'm warning you!"

"Oh come on…!"

Gwen glared at Owen, trying to get him to shut up. He was not what she wanted in the ways of a negotiator.

"You might be a traitor and a skumbag, but you're no killer…!"

He seemed to be the only one completely convinced of that.

"That's the beauty of it mate."

They boy was shaking, but not from fear. He was feeling the adrenaline too, trembling with excitement.

"I kill one of you freaks, and it's like putting down a rabid dog! It's fucking community service!"

They all glared at him but even if it hurt, they knew he was telling the truth. Not much had changed, even with Harriet Jones as Prime Minister. Laws could be re-written but so far the rest of the government had yet to budge. She had lowered the taxes though, that was something.

"So back off freaks… You're gonna let me go!"

"Not a chance in hell! Take him down!"

"Shut up bitch!"

Gwen did bite her tongue, but only because they needed him alive. In any other case, she would have fried him by now. That, and even a dork like him couldn't miss at this range.

"Now, just calm down… Put the gun down and we'll let you pass…"

"What?"

"No way Ianto!"

"We're not risking Gwens life over this!"

"I ain't dropping the only thing keeping you freaks off me!"

"Don't let him go!"

"Shut up Gwen!"

"Back away now!"

The situation had gotten out of hand. Whatever chance they'd ever had of saving it was gone now. It was chaos and people shouting and Gwen felt the panic rise in her gut as the hand on her arm clamped down harder.

"I'LL BLOW HER BRAINS OUT! YOU HEAR ME? I'LL KILL HER!"

The shot echoed between the walls and for a heartbeat, everyone was frozen in fear. Then the ratty guy swore and fell to his side, blood squirting out from a wound on his leg.

"Wow! Talk about timing ey?"

They still slightly shocked irregulars turned around to the figure walking out of the shadows, smoking gun still aimed at the Dalek.

"I'm guessing the reason Gwen didn't barbeque him is because we want him alive?"

Same stupid grin, same stupid haircut, same stupid coat. Ianto had to bite the inside of his cheek hard not to fling himself at him.

"So…"

Shrugging in his usual manor, Jack grinned at them and asked like he had been away just for five minutes.

"Did you guys miss me?"

Nobody really blamed Gwen for breaking his nose.

"It was really uncalled for…"

They sank down in one of the booths at the Rift. Friday night and the place was full, but there was always a quiet corner where you could hide in a place like this.

"You left us Jack…! You abandoned us!"

"No I didn't!"

Gwen glared and gulped down half her beer in a way that shouldn't seem threatening but it still did. Tosh handed Jack another paper napkin, since the one he had pressed to his nose now was more red then white.

"You did. We didn't hear from you for months, we didn't even know where you were, if you were even alive."

"The Doctor needed my help! What was I supposed to do?"

"Call!"

"Send a post card!"

"Say good-bye."

There was that little thing that Ianto had started doing over the past year. He'd say something, very quiet and calm and everyone would just stop shouting. Jack twisted in his seat, crumbling up the napkin and looking everywhere but at his team mates.

"I was… A bit tied up…"

"For an entire year?"

All he did was shrug. He didn't want to tell them about what he had been through on the Valiant. He didn't want to tell them how cruel and horrible the world really was. He could stand being a dickhead in their eyes as long as they didn't have to know what monsters humans could be.

"Are you going back to him? When he leaves will you leave with him?"

There was something in Ianto's voice that Jack didn't know if he loved or hated. It was a hurt, possessive tone that could mean Jack was a shit piece of friend or it could be something else. Jack hoped for something else.

"I came back for you!"

They looked each other in the eye, for the first time for months and it felt like when Ianto used his powers, like he was stripped naked, nothing to hide. Jack looked away.

"For all of you…!"

It wasn't a lie, he did come back for his friends. Just a little bit more for one than the others. They didn't need to know that though.

Everyone sighed and leaned back. Jack did look tired, he did look like he had been dragged back and forth through hell and he had run out into the night to find them instead of just waiting back at the institute. He had come home, even if he was an ass for leaving in the first place.

Gwen downed the rest of her drink and stood. Jack gently took her wrist and started getting up too.

"I'll get the next round Gwen, least I can do…"

"Oh, I'm leaving."

"Come on, you can't be that mad!"

"Yes Jack, I can! And even if I wasn't, I'd still leave!"

"Why?"

"'Cause Rhys is waiting, now let go!"

Jack sat down again, mild shock on his face.

"You got back together?"

Gwen grinned and held out her left hand to him. The others snickered at Jacks face when he saw the size of the stone. He took her fingers, like he had to feel it to believe it.

"Oh Gwen that's amazing!"

"I know!"

She squished his fingers back before letting go.

"Ok, You have a nice evening then! See you tomorrow!"

"Don't count on it!"

Then she was gone, crossing the packed floor like a queen through a ballroom.

"How did they manage that?"

Tosh raised her eyebrows and looked at Owen, who shrugged and looked at Ianto who looked away and sipped his beer.

"Ok? Ianto?"

The welshman put down his glass and turned it back and forth on the wooden table, looking just a little bit like a boy who had been caught with his hand in a cookie jar.

"I had to try…"

[The lack of reviews has given me writers-block. You only get this chapter because I wrote it beforehand. No IAW either. *pouts*]