The last in my series of stories where the team members reveal hidden talents. This is Jack's turn.

Hidden Talents 5

Ianto stood in the Hub alone. He was still holding the tray of coffees but now they would not be drunk. The rest of the team had stampeded past him on their way out of the cog door and now he was left wondering what had happened. Setting the tray down, he sat in Toshiko's chair and looked at her screen, sipping his own drink. Ah, now he understood. An alert in Splott. He sat back in the chair and wondered what to do while they were gone.

The SUV hurtled through the streets of Cardiff, barging through the traffic and creating confusion wherever it passed. Jack was driving, as usual, with Owen beside him and Gwen and Toshiko in the back.

"Anything, Tosh?" Jack asked, using a bus lane to get round a queue of cars waiting to turn right.

"Definitely Splott, around Habershon Street." Toshiko was using the built-in PC to trace the source of the alert.

"Should be there in five minutes, especially the way Jack's driving!" said Gwen, hanging onto the armrest as they swerved. "Any more on what it is?"

"Not precisely. Looks like an artefact, not an alien."

"Thank God for that," said Owen, braced against the dashboard and the back of his seat. "I think you winged that motorcyclist," he commented laconically to Jack.

"Good! Damned fool shouldn't have been there." Jack flashed him a grin.

"He did have right of way."

"Still shouldn't have been there."

They continued through the streets of the city and were soon in Splott. Jack slowed as they entered Habershon Road, giving Toshiko time to pinpoint the location of the alert.

"It's round here somewhere, within a couple of hundred metres but I can't tell where." Toshiko was frustrated. "The readings are confused, they keep shifting; changing frequency and direction. But I don't think the object itself is moving."

"That makes no sense, you know," pointed out Owen.

Gwen saw Toshiko's hurt look and spoke up. "If you think you could better, I'm sure Toshiko wouldn't mind!"

"Enough bickering, kids. I'll park here and we can check on foot. We'll be able to triangulate a position." Jack saw a parking spot not far from the library and pulled into the space.

"Good idea. I've sent the trace signal to your PDAs." Toshiko tapped at the keys furiously.

The team piled out. Owen and Tosh went up Eyre Street which set off at a right angle from Habershon Street before ending at Railway Street which was up against the railway cutting. Gwen and Jack took Habershon Street itself before looping back on the streets on the other side of it. The place was not too busy, just shoppers and a few truant kids with the usual through traffic.

The four of them continued the search for another ten minutes. Owen glanced at his PDA only occasionally, preferring to use his eyes to scan the surroundings. They were in Railway Street now. It had back to back terraced houses on one side which he assumed had been built for dock or railway workers. They each had small front gardens, barely a postage stamp, separated by waist-high walls. Some of the houses had been done up, painted bright colours, while others looked run down. The same could be said of the gardens. About half of the ones he passed were grassed with a few brave daffodils while the rest were either paved over or covered in gravel. He saw a couple of blokes further down the street unloading a wardrobe in front of one of the houses and smiled when they couldn't get it through the front door.

He was walking a pace or two behind Toshiko whose eyes were glued to the PDA. The signal was still veering all over the place and she couldn't fathom it out. She stopped and tapped in a query.

"What you got?" asked Owen, standing beside her.

"I'm checking the variations in the readings. It seems random but I'm wondering if it may be a cycle." She watched the display, pushing keys occasionally,

Owen scanned the street again. The blokes had finally got the wardrobe at the right angle and were carrying it inside. He foresaw more problems when they had to manoeuvre it up the staircase.

"It is a cycle!" exclaimed Toshiko. She punched more buttons, "Oh, this is starting to make sense now."

Over the comms came Gwen's voice. "Owen, Tosh you got anything? Our signal is getting weaker."

"Yes, it's a cycle," said Toshiko. "And it's definitely close to us here, somewhere within fifty metres of this spot."

"We're on our way," said Gwen.

"Any idea what we're looking for?" asked Owen, looking over a garden wall for anything that didn't belong.

"The cycle reminds me of something but I can't think what. I'm checking the records, seeing if it's something Torchwood has encountered before."

Owen walked up the street a little way. They were about three quarters of the way down the street and he could see nothing unusual. He crossed to looked through the link fence down into the cutting, nothing but rubbish and rail track. As he was walking back to join Toshiko, two things happened. First, he saw Gwen and Jack round the corner and walk towards them, PDAs out. Second, he heard Toshiko shout "That's it!"

Owen didn't see the brilliant white light that bathed the street up to and including him and Toshiko. He merely fell to the ground unconscious, as did Toshiko and the furniture delivery men.

"Oh my God," cried Gwen, moving forward. The light had not reached she and Jack, it stopped a bare metre away.

"No, Gwen!" yelled Jack, grabbing her arm and pulling her back.

"What is it?" she asked, not taking her eyes from her fallen colleagues.

"Mykillian stun grenade." He was working his wriststrap controls frantically. "Damn, I can't turn it off from here. It's over there, behind the lorry." He was looking round, trying to work out how to get to it.

"How long does it last? Can we wait until it stops?" She was shielding her eyes now, the light seemed to be more intense.

"Too long and no. The beam drains energy from everything it touches and feeds on it. If we don't get Owen and Tosh out soon they'll be dead." Jack spotted a way to get to the device and disable it and was shrugging of his greatcoat.

"You could go into the beam, it wouldn't kill you," pointed out Gwen, ashen faced at the thought of her friends dying.

Jack laughed grimly. "Quite right, it wouldn't. Instead it would have enough energy to keep going forever. I'd be an everlasting battery to that thing. It would grow to encompass all of Cardiff, there'd be no stopping it." He turned to her, "If this goes wrong and it gets hold of me, kill me."

"If what goes wrong?" said plaintively as he turned and ran back the way they had come, away from the beam.

She watched him get to the end of the street and then run at the gardens of the houses. Her mouth dropped open when he jumped the first wall then the next; he was hurdling over the garden walls! He sped past her, in a steady rhythm now; hurdle, three paces, hurdle. And then she understood. The beam was directed at a slight angle and the gardens were clear, the only way past it. He was still going and then he was clear; he'd reached the other side of the beam! She yelled in triumph as he disappeared from sight. Just moments later the beam disappeared and Gwen rushed to where Owen and Toshiko lay.

After checking the delivery men, Jack ran up to his team slowing when he saw Owen leaning against a wall and Toshiko sitting up on the kerb. They were all right. Gwen looked up as he came close.

"I'm putting you down for the 2012 Olympics!" she joked. "Where did you learn that?"

"Funny you should mention the Olympics," he replied, picking up his coat. "Who do you think trained Sally Gunnell back in 92?" He grinned, "Come on, let's get back to base, I need a coffee."

That's all folks! I've exhausted my supply of short stories so this will be the last of my Bits and Bobs series. I shall concentrate on completing a couple of longer stories for now. Thanks for readings these and for all the reviews.