4.

Peralta took some of Ianto's skin cells and swabbed the inside of his mouth. He waited until he had a needle inside Ianto's arm, drawing blood, before he said, "Things at Torchwood are quite different."

Ianto raised his eyebrows questioningly, not wanting to seem rude. "How so?"

"Well, relationships in the working place are not allowed at UNIT. Gay relationships are frowned upon." Peralta rolled his eyes. "Too many military minds." He chuckled and exchanged one vial for another. "Torchwood seems to be much more liberal."

Ianto didn't know what to say to that, so he remained silent.

"Well, as long as your relationship isn't affecting work-"

"It isn't," Ianto interrupted him. "He's my captain. Our captain. He's always that first and in a relationship with me second."

"Of course," Peralta said and started to fill a third vial. "You must be very close, though, making a relationship work that extends to the working place."

"We manage." Ianto wished that Peralta would hurry up, but he seemed to be taking his own sweet time, obviously knowing he had Ianto trapped.

"Oh, you do," Peralta replied. "And I'm confident that you will continue to do so." With that, he removed the needle. "There," he said, pressing a ball of cotton against the wound. "I've got all I need."

xxx

"This is a waste of time," Gwen said, passing the scanner around Humphries's kitchen once more. "Whatever killed Liam, they didn't leave anything behind."

Jack was standing a few steps away, staring darkly at the place where the body had lain, his arms crossed. "Since we aren't picking up Rift activity or chronon particles, I'd say the killer was from around here but Owen says they weren't human."

Gwen raised her dark eyebrows at him. "But you're the one who always tells me that there are several aliens living in Cardiff."

"Most of them in disguise," Jack said with a nod. "But those I know of ..." He shook his head. "They wouldn't do this. Not even one of the Blowfish."

"I don't know," Gwen replied and switched off the scanner. She put one hand on her hip. "I don't trust the Blowfish as far as I can throw them. They're conmen and criminals. We should check them out either way."

"You want to walk into their colony asking questions about a killing?" Jack asked. "Be my guest, but leave me a list of possible replacements before you go."

"I thought they had to abide by our rules."

"Outside of their colony yes, but I made a deal with them: they abide by our rules and I don't come and bother them. I'd need proof. They would hand over to me whoever did this if I had solid proof. Without anything at all ..." He shrugged. "They'd see it as an attack."

"But we would just be asking some questions," Gwen said, exasperated.

"You always forget that their society is different from ours. Showing even the slightest doubt in a member of their colony without solid proof is asking for trouble." Jack sighed. "Besides, they didn't do this. They're smugglers, drug dealers, they kill, but not like this."

His comm link crackled and then Ianto's voice filtered through. "Jack," he said, sounding earnest.

Jack knew that bad news were coming. "What is it?"

"We've got another body. In Newport this time. The same message: Torchwood – this is your fault."

Jack looked at Gwen. She was pale, listening in on their conversation with her comm link. Jack swallowed. "Well, we've got nothing here. So tell Owen that we'll pick him up in ten minutes to check out the new killing with us."

"Yes, sir."

"How's the CCTV coming along?"

Ianto sighed. "Tosh hasn't got anything, yet. She's focussing on the CCTV near the Newport killing now."

"Good. Keep me posted."

xxx

The second victim was a woman living in Newport's city centre in a tiny, spartan flat devoid of personality. Her body was lying on the floor in the living room, the skull crushed in and blood surrounding her head like a halo. Gwen grimaced while Owen just sighed and settled down to examine the woman.

The DI responsible for the crime scene told them that her name was Samantha Tapping, 87 years old, before asking them gruffly what a special task force from Cardiff could do better than the police in Newport.

Jack, his hands deep in his coat pockets, answered, "Can't tell." His voice was neutral as always when dealing with officials he didn't want to deal with.

"Typical," the DI huffed. "I get a phone call from my boss' boss telling me to back off and let Torchwood handle this. Is that how things go in Cardiff?"

"Yes," Jack answered, then he turned away from the man who took it as his dismissal. Muttering about 'nut-head special units in fancy clothes', he turned away and left. Jack looked at the body thoughtfully. "Whoever our guy is he has the opportunity to move towns." He activated his headset. "Tosh, it's just a guess but keep an eye out for similar vehicles on the CCTV footage."

"Got ya," she answered.

Owen said, "The killer has something against old people." He was crouching next to the victim, eyeing the ugly remains of what once was a woman enjoying her retirement. Only the dress gave the corpse away as being female. The face was completely destroyed. Gwen looked around and, seeing that the DI had taken his officers with him, started scanning the walls and the floor for any chronon particles. Owen looked up at Jack. "The first victim was 71, the second 87 … I wonder how they managed to piss somebody off."

Jack's earpiece crackled and Ianto said, "Samantha Tapping, retired school teacher, no family. Her file adds up what apparently was a pretty uneventful life."

Gwen looked at Jack. "I just bet she didn't have friends or close contact with her neighbours."

Jack sighed, "The same victim profile. But why? Why these people?" He looked at the message scrawled on the wall above the couch. "And why us?"

xxx

It was already late and after Jack had decided that it wouldn't make much sense for the team to stay since there was nothing they could do at the moment, he sent them home. Gwen and Owen didn't wait and immediately started packing up. The Hub was slowly calming down, Jack working in his office, Ianto walking around to gather up the last trash and Tosh programming her computer to let several searches run throughout the night.

To Owen's annoyance, Gwen was filling up the silence with another wedding problem she and Rhys were facing. Since the engagement, she seemed to have loads of those. "So, the only way to avoid mine and Rhys's parents killing each other during our wedding is to invite only his or only mine. But since we can't do that, I thought we could just invite none of them. I could do without my mom. My dad on the other hand-"

"Here's a question," Owen interrupted her. "Are we invited at all?"

Gwen seemed stumped. "What?"

"Cause we didn't get invitations." Owen wasn't really interested in going, but he was tired of her wedding preparation stories. Jack always seemed delighted to get regular updates and Owen knew that Ianto had offered advice on Gwen's dress and the music for the party and Tosh was all over it because … well, Owen knew that she wanted it to be her own wedding.

"Of course," Gwen said. "Rhys is inviting his colleagues. I didn't think invitations were necessary." Her face brightened. "But I'll give you invitations. Oh, and you're all allowed to bring a plus one."

"Splendid idea!" Owen said sourly. "Because we sure all have plus ones." With that he slung his backpack over his shoulder and turned towards the cogwheel door to leave.

"Everyone, wait!" Tosh called. "I've got something!"

Owen cursed. "Seriously? I was heading off, Tosh. Six Feet Under's waiting. Pretend you didn't see whatever it is."

Jack left his office. "It's not as if you need sleep, Owen. And DVDs can wait."

They all gathered around Tosh's work station. She pointed at a grainy footage of a camera. "This camera is close to Ms. Tapping's flat. Two blocks away." It was a street in central Newport, cars parked on both sides. The time stamp told them that the footage had been recorded this morning at 5am. For a moment, Owen didn't see anything unusual, but then the entrance to the sewers opened and a slim, tall figure squeezed itself out through it. It had a humanoid shape, but was a lot skinnier.

Owen couldn't quite make out its features on the grainy picture. "Jesus," he muttered. "What is that?"

"It seems humanoid," Tosh said, "but it's clearly not human."

Gwen said, "It looks like one of those fighting machines in Star Wars."

Owen gifted her with an incredulous look.

"What?" she asked, irritated. "It does."

"Indeed", Ianto said with a nod.

Tosh said, "The best bit comes now." The being closed the entrance again and then slowly walked towards a van parked in the shadows between two streetlamps. It opened the backdoors and got in. The van drove away.

Jack put a hand on Tosh's shoulder. "Plates?" he asked.

Tosh shook her head. "I didn't find any CCTV in Ms. Tapping's street but I assume that this … thing used the sewers to get close to her flat without it or the van being seen by witnesses."

Owen frowned. "Yeah? That's why the van parked in front of a CCTV camera?"

"Maybe they didn't see it. Killers make mistakes."

Ianto replied, "Yes, they saw it."

Gwen looked at him quizzically. "How do you know?"

Ianto rewound the footage back to the point where the humanoid being closed the sewers. He let it play and then hit pause. "See this?" he asked, pointing at the screen.

Owen squinted. "What? The tiny, pixely thing on top of the big, pixely thing?"

"It taped something on the underside of the sewer entrance."

Jack leaned in close. "You're right."

"A message. Maybe."

"Call Newport Police. Tell them to get it and mail the text immediately. They're to send the whole thing via courier first thing tomorrow."

"Yes, sir." Ianto hurried to the phone in Jack's office.

"They wanted us to see that." Jack straightened and crossed his arms.

Gwen looked up at him. "Somebody's helping that thing. Somebody human?"

"Seems that way. It couldn't have driven that van by itself." He sighed. "We have to find them. And fast. Because to me it seems as if they're just getting started."

xxx

Ianto knocked on Jack's office door politely and entered. Jack looked up from the copy of the message the police in Newport had found taped to the sewer entrance. Again: Torchwood – this is your fault.

Jack gifted Ianto with a hesitant smile. He didn't quite know where they were standing at the moment and … damn, this was supposed to be so easy. Starting out as an office fling, a hot affair, upgrading to the occasional date thrown in here and there and something deeper, more meaningful, when they'd started spending days together just going shopping or looking at antiques. Nevertheless, it was never supposed to become this complicated, this meaningful … Jack was used to them being easy and understanding each other without many words being said.

Ianto cleared his throat and Jack realized that he seemed just as uncomfortable. "I'll be leaving now or do you need anything?"

Despite the progress they'd made in the case, Jack had realized that they didn't have any leads to follow, so he'd sent the team home to get some sleep. Seeing Ianto in his coat and with the professional mask firmly on his face made Jack's heart ache. He wanted him to stay. "Come here." Ianto obeyed, if a bit hesitantly. Jack came around the desk and met him half-way. He leaned in and kissed Ianto gently, sliding his fingers through his short hair and wrapping an arm around his back. "Stay here," he whispered against Ianto's lips.

Ianto's fingers wrapped around Jack's braces. "I'm tired of feeling convenient."

Jack placed a kiss in Ianto's hair. "You're not. How can you think that?"

"We don't make any progress, Jack. We don't evolve. But relationships do. They have to."

"You're labelling what we have?"

Ianto's eyes narrowed. "Because I want to. I want to put a label on you, Jack. You resent them. I get that. But you're living in a world that thrives on them and that needs them. You can't just … ignore them. Well, not all of them at least. Trying them out in my head, I realized that you're not my shag, my friend or my lover … you're my partner and it feels awkward not being allowed to say that, just because you're scared you can't be what it says on the tin."

Jack turned away. "What brought on this sudden urge for evolving? You were happy with what we are." He crossed his arms. "Weren't you?"

"Sure," Ianto hastened to assure him. "It's just ..." He bit his lip. "I heard you talking to Gwen the other day."

Jack squinted at him. "Is this about me and Gwen then? I thought we had settled that."

Ianto being insecure about Jack's relationship with Gwen was an old scar. One that should have faded by now. Jack wasn't afraid to admit that he felt something for Gwen. He didn't see any reason in denying it even to Ianto, because he wouldn't lie about his feelings for somebody else to someone he slept with. After some initial problems shortly after Jack's return from the year that never was, though, Ianto had seemed to accept that Jack would never act on his feelings for Gwen because he didn't want to risk what he had with Ianto or what she had with Rhys.

Ianto avoided his eyes and his hands tightened around Jack's braces, his frustration evident. Jack sighed and brushed a hand through Ianto's hair. "Alright. You heard me and Gwen talk?"

"About the wedding," Ianto said. "She was nervous, remember? Kind of getting cold feet?"

"I remember."

"And you told her that there's no need to because, after all you've seen and all you've experienced even with the Doctor, you couldn't imagine anything more beautiful than two souls deciding to spend their life together." Ianto looked at him earnestly. "You said that it's always worth the risk."

Jack took a step back, dislodging Ianto's hands. "So, what? Because I won't move in with you, you think I don't invest anything in this? That you're convenient?"

"You believe in love and monogamy and spending your life with someone, but you say no when I ask you to take the next step towards that goal for us, so how am I supposed to feel?"

Jack heaved a frustrated sigh. "It's different for me."

"Different?"

"I can't exactly spend my life with someone, right?" He ducked his head. "I've had partners. Families. I thought, 'Well, maybe I can do this after all', but I can't."

"You lost them." Ianto took his hand. "I know."

Jack pulled his hand away. "I lost some of them. Others turned against me, unable to handle … it, me, my life."

"I'm able to handle it."

"You say that now."

Ianto pulled up his shoulders. "So, what? We should just end it then?" he asked.

The silence stretched for a long time while Jack thought about what to say.

"I don't know," he finally answered.