They were pinned down and that was far from good. Illya darted up, let off a shot and ducked back down behind the protection of the crates as dust from a THRUSH bullet rained down over his head.

"How much more ammunition do you have?" Napoleon snapped up for his own shot and dropped back down.

"About a clip and a half, far too little to help us," Illya muttered, his eyes upon their assailants. For their part, the THRUSH agents were taking their time. They had the advantage and were using it, making Napoleon and Illya eat away at their meager supplies.

Illya became aware of movement behind the enemy agents and groaned. Just what THRUSH needed -reinforcements.

"Hey, guys, what about me?" The THRUSH agents turned and, almost as one, opened fire on the stranger. The man's body shook with the impact of the bullets. He crumpled where he stood.

"Now," Napoleon ordered and within seconds the four THRUSH agents joined their victim in the sweet afterlife.

"What would possess a man to do that, Napoleon?" Illya eased his way from behind his refuge, just in case another THRUSH agent suddenly popped up.

"No idea." Napoleon tucked his weapon back into its holster and jogged up to the fallen man. He felt for a pulse and shook his head. "He's gone. Recognize him?"

Illya squatted to study the face of their dark-haired rescuer and shook his head slowly. "Never saw him before in my life." He holstered his own Walther and walked to the fallen enemy agents. "We'd better get a clean-up squad out here. This will be sure to have attracted attention."

Napoleon nodded his agreement and pulled out his communicator. Illya retrieved the guns, then he knelt again by the body of the fallen stranger and reached for the man's arm. There was a bracelet of some sort on it. "Napoleon, look at..." He broke off and jumped back as the man suddenly gasped for breath and sat up.

"What the hell...?" Napoleon started, his weapon out again.

The man rubbed his chest and took several deep breaths. "I never get used to that, never..." He smiled over at the pair as they trained their Walther P-38s on him. "You two okay, then?"

"You were dead!" Napoleon said, glancing quickly at Illya. "We saw you die."

"Yeah, that happens a lot around me." He rose and brushed off his great coat. "Who are your friends?"

"Who... no, what are you?" Illya asked, his gun rock steady.

"Oh, Captain Jack Harkness." He offered his hand, but neither man moved to take it. "C'mon, guys, I just saved your lives. Why would I do that if I was any threat to you?"

"Captain," Napoleon said, nodding. The sound of sirens cut him off.

"Listen, is there some place we can talk that's not quite so public?" Jack glanced towards the crowd that was gathering. "I promise I will explain everything and I won't attack you. If I do, you can shoot me again. It won't do you any good, but there you have it."

"Illya?"

"Well, I'm game if you are. I wouldn't mind a bit of privacy myself."

Jack looked around the apartment appreciatively. "Nice place you have here, Solo."

"You know me?"

"Both of you actually. I work for a little organization called Torchwood."

"Never heard of it."

"I'd be really surprised if you had. We are... um... specialists, you might say. We deal with situations that normal every day agencies like yours would find impossible to handle."

"I see." Illya pulled out his communicator. "Open Channel D please. "

"Channel D is open."

"Research please."

"Putting you through."

"Research."

"Kuryakin here, give me everything you have on Torchwood and a Captain Jack Harkness. Call me when you're done. Thank you. Kuryakin out."

"They won't find anything, you know." Jack walked to the window and looked out.

"And why's that, Mr. Harkness?" Napoleon's voice was tight, in control of the situation.

"Jack, please... and it's because I don't exist...well, not in your sense of the word at least... and not yet." He laughed and turned back. "What would you say if I told you I'm from the future?"

"I'd show you the door," Napoleon said.

"If you want, but I did just save your hide. Surely that counts for something. At least hear me out."

"He's right, Napoleon, and better here where we know his whereabouts than roaming unknown in the City."

"All right, Jack, start talking, but I warn you, I'm not a patient man."

"Ah, but that's where you're wrong, Mr. Solo." Jack turned back to the window. "You are very patient. You've been waiting for a long time... waiting and watching... and hoping."

Napoleon glanced over at Illya, who hunched his shoulders, asking, "Meaning?"

"Like I said, from the future, I know things. There are a multitude of timelines, what is and what can't be and what must be." Jack turned back and approached them. "Now, I'm not up on all the mumbo jumbo, that's the Doctor's job, not mine, but there are some things that need to be in place for other things to happen. It's like a line of dominos; you need that one catalyst to get everything going."

"And what is that?" Napoleon gave him a half smile.

"You two crazy kids." Jack started to beam. "And your feelings for each other."

"What?"

"Excuse me?"

The voices over-lapped and Jack laughed at their expressions. "Oh, I love it when this happens. You don't even know yet, do you? Neither of you have even begun to examine those feelings with each other. Age of free love, my ass, you two definitely need a nudge." He took a step closer to Illya and the Russian retreated one. "I'm not going to hurt you. And I'm not lying."

"Who are you?" Napoleon demanded, closing ranks with his partner.

"A friend and someone who cares. You two, you need to do this and soon."

"Do what?"

"Each other."

"Excuse me?" Napoleon's voice was hard edged now. "I don't know what you're playing at, Jack. Illya is my partner, not my lover."

"Not yet, and not at all if you don't get a move on. " Jack slid his jacket sleeve back and checked his wrist band. "We need to get a move on, kids. Things are just starting to happen."

"But I don't..." Napoleon started and Jack shook his head.

"You do, you both do, but neither of you realize that... yet. And you won't if certain elements have it their way." Jack stopped and shook his head. "I've seen the world that results if you don't and let's just say it's not a fun place to be."

"Please tell me I am asleep and poised to wake up," Illya muttered.

"Oh, you're going to wake up, just not in the way you intend."

Illya's communicator beeped and Jack stared at it as Illya manipulated it open. "Kuryakin."

"Mr. Kuryakin, we've been through our files. There were a couple of references to Torchwood, but nothing concrete. No reference to Jack Harkness back to before the turn of the century, should we try to go back further?"

Told you, Jack mouthed and grinned.

"No, that will be fine, thank you." Illya capped the pen and regarded Jack coolly. "And you're here again to do what?"

"Get you two crazy kids together."

"I do not very much care for the way you keep saying that." Illya returned the communicator to his jacket pocket. "Why?"

"I just told you. In order..."

"No." Illya's voice had dropped, taking on a hard, no nonsense tone. "I do not, I will not believe that the fate of the universe depends upon my having sex with Napoleon. I am a scientist."

"In five minutes, there is going to be a massive power outage along the whole of the New England seaboard. The official story is going to be that a power plant took a hit and went down and that cascaded into a massive failure."

"How do you know this?"

Jack held up his arm with the bracelet on it. "Future, remember?"

Napoleon smirked. "Or the person who planted the explosives."

"A bird flew into a generator at precisely 8:17, five minutes ago. By 8:30, everything is down."

"Again, how does this have an effect upon us?"

"It goes one of two ways. You two have sex and thirteen hours later, the power comes back on and all is well. You don't and the lights never come back on. A reactor out on Three Mile Island overheats and implodes, say good-bye to the East Coast and the West Coast thinks it's the Soviets and fires on them. They retaliate... and the world goes out." He snapped his fingers. "Just like that."

"Why?" Illya repeated.

"We don't know. It's something you did or didn't do because you were busy doing each other." Jack sighed and glanced at his watch. "We extrapolated the events a dozen times in a hundred scenarios and it all comes back to you two together, doing what comes naturally..."

"If it's so natural, then why interfere?" Napoleon had eased himself down onto the arm of a sofa.

"With him as your partner, you need to ask that?" Jack shook his head. "And three, two..." he pointed at a light that flickered and went dark. "Go take a look at your City That Never Sleeps now."

Illya moved cautiously to the window. "It's... it's dark. Napoleon, the entire city is dark."

Napoleon joined him at the window. "That's incredible. But there are people trapped. We could help."

Jack appeared behind them, a hand on each of the shoulders, easily pushing them even closer to each other. "So, help..." he murmured. "How many times have you had sex with someone who didn't mean a thing to you?"

"More times than I want to think about," Napoleon answered, his eyes softening.

"So, how is that more right than showing the one person you really care about how you really feel...?" Jack lifted Napoleon's hand to Illya's face, but the minute he released the hand, it drifted away. Jack shook his head. "I didn't want to have to do this..." He suddenly twisted Illya around and, startled, Illya began to protest, but Jack planted a firm, no nonsense kiss on his mouth.

Napoleon's eyes widened as Illya relaxed into the kiss, apparently not hating what this madman was doing.

Jack pulled away, breathing a little heavier, a grin on his face. "Okay, so I lied, I really did want to do that. Your partner tastes great, Solo, you should him for a spin."

Napoleon hesitated and Illya reached out, grabbing his tie and pulling him in, bringing their lips together and kissing his partner with ferocity.

"Or you could just do that." Jack pushed their bodies even closer, using their distraction to nuzzle Napoleon's neck and caress Illya's back, letting his hands roam where they would. Then he nearly yelped as Napoleon grabbed him and kissed him, his tongue seeking Jack's. Jack readily opened his mouth to allow Napoleon entrance as he could feel hands slip his suspenders off his shoulders and begin to work the buttons on his shirt.

He followed suit, working buttons, tearing fabric, he didn't much care at this point. Illya insinuated himself between Jack and Napoleon, rubbing his hands over whatever he could reach.

"This would be more fun on the bed, boys," Jack suggested, groaning as a hand worked its way into his trousers to cup his genitals. He rocked into the hand and grabbed a handful of blond hair to pull Illya down again to his mouth.

They tumbled onto the bed, a tangle of arms and legs, bodies writhing against any available surface. Jack pulled back slightly, watching as Illya enthusiastically worked his mouth over Napoleon's neck and then Jack reached for Napoleon's hand, guiding it to Illya's penis. The Russian arched into the embrace, gasping, and Jack couldn't help it. He leaned in, using just the tip of his tongue to trace the corona of Illya's penis. The reaction was immediate and very vocal. Napoleon's eyes widened and he followed suit. The sensation of two tongues working his penis had a devastating effect on Illya and he thrashed, fingers digging into the sheets beneath him.

Jack pulled back just slightly, kissing Napoleon briefly, then watched as Napoleon slid his mouth over Illya's penis. He caressed the back of Napoleon's head and Jack sucked two of his fingers into his mouth as Napoleon took in as much of Illya as he could without choking.

Illya was trembling with an obvious effort to control himself and Jack grinned. They couldn't have that. Pulling his saliva-slick fingers from his mouth, he moved quickly, slipping one of his finger up the crack of Illya's ass and in.

Illya let out a cry, arching back against Jack's finger. Jack's hand tightened, holding Napoleon in place as Illya ejaculated into his mouth. Jack gave the man credit, Napoleon didn't struggle, he just took what his partner offered, swallowing, nursing, his hand stroking Illya's belly as it quaked with the after effects of his climax.

Jack took the opportunity to add another finger to the mix. "Something slick, Napoleon," he whispered into the agent's ear. "You are going to need something slick."

He could tell Napoleon was nearly gone with his own need, but the hazel eyes blinked and the dark head nodded just once. He slipped off the bed and Jack took his place, keeping the Russian amply entertained until Napoleon returned, a bottle of cooking oil in hand.

"Excellent, if a little messy. I keep forgetting you two don't have lube yet." Jack fumbled the lid off and Napoleon spilled some into his hand. Jack slid his hand over Napoleon's straining erection and squeezed. "Let's put that to some use, shall we?" He eased his fingers from Illya, rolling the Russian onto his side as he did, and grinned at the whimper. "He's ready, Napoleon; take what's yours."

And Napoleon didn't need any more encouragement than that. Jack stretched out belly to belly with Illya and began to nurse Illya's penis again as Napoleon slid against Illya's back and pushed in. Survival instinct took over and Illya tried to retreat, but there was nowhere to go. He was solidly trapped between two bodies.

"Just relax, it'll only hurt for a minute," Jack murmured, working his tongue over the suddenly flaccid penis, coaxing it back to life. Napoleon paused, obviously relishing the sensation of being buried up to his hilt in Illya's ass. After a moment, Illya began to move and Jack grinned. "That's my boy." The grin widened as the moist heat Illya's mouth enveloped Jack's own penis. This was something he hadn't counted on, but Jack was a man who never looked a gift horse in the... mouth.

For just a moment, they simply moved in cadence with each other, relishing the sensory overload. It didn't surprise Jack that Illya was the first to succumb, not with the double stimulation. Napoleon was right behind him, beginning his ejaculation just as the Russian was backing down from his.

Then Jack groaned as fingers clenched his ass and he let go, releasing himself to the need. And he was impressed. The first time Ianto had given him a blow job, the poor man nearly choked, but Illya took it in stride, sucking, swallowing, silently asking for more as his fingers clutched and relaxed again and again.

And as nice as it would have been to join these two in their post-coital drowsiness, Jack was a man on a time table. He gently extracted himself from the tangle of sheets and bodies and quietly dressed. Pulling on his jacket, he checked his wrist band and nodded. Solo was starting to move again and Jack grinned. That bed was going to see even more action before this power outage was over.

He touched his forefinger to his temple in a salute and started to walk, wondering if Ianto was still awake and... up. Moreover, he wondered if there was any pizza left. For some reason, he'd worked up an appetite. And with two more steps, he blinked out of existence, destined for home.