Jack came back to his senses to find Angelus holding him tightly and murmuring soothing words. He sucked in a breath and twisted around , wrapping his arms around his lover, pressing his face into his neck, drawing comfort from his scent and their bond.

"Better dear heart?" Angelus's voice rumbled against his ear.

"Yes," he sighed, not wanting to move from the embrace, but a nagging feeling was demanding his attention.

Shifting so he could look into his blood-bounds eyes, he asked, "where did the boy go?"

Angelus ran a soothing hand up and down his back.

"He took Val for a walk. I am sorry love, I did not know you would see him as a threat."

Jack shook it off, concentrating on the faint pull on his blood, "it doesn't matter now, there is something wrong."

Angelus tensed under him, "wrong?"

"Yes, he still had some of my blood in him, from the healing, but... something is wrong. How long has he been gone?"

Angelus was already surging to his feet, taking Jack with him.

"At least twenty minutes, " he pulled Jack into a tight hug, "are you okay to go running after him? You could stay here." It was said with such fear laced reluctance that it twisted right through Jack and he gasped.

"No! Never again, I won't be parted from you again!"

"Good," Angelus growled, "which way?"

Jack took a deep breath, drawing on Angelus's presence to centre him, then reached out for the faint pull on his blood.

"Down there," he pointed at the gravelled path and Angelus took his hand, the pair of them setting off at a steady jog, while Jack followed the uncomfortable tug on his essence.

The pull was direct, but he tried to stay on the paths winding in the right direction, rather than diving through the thick bush, the wind gusting a taste of lake weed and wet dog as they ran.

"Val," Jack gasped at Angelus, struggling to concentrate on his footing and the faint blood-pull at the same time.

Angelus grunted in acknowledgement and shifted his grip to Jacks upper arm so he could steady Jack as they continued to pelt down the paths, the feeling of dangerous urgency pushing Jack faster. The trees parted as the path wound towards the gleam of water, the coppery smell of blood and the reek of wrongness pushing Jack into a full sprint, Angelus loping at his side.

They rounded the trees and took in the scene, the ground scuffed from a struggle, and Val, prone on the ground, as if flung by a great force, gouge marks in the grass indicating how far the huge dog had slid. Of the boy there was no sign, though drag marks and broken shrubbery indicated he'd been taken off towards the carpark.

Jack dropped to his knees in front of Val, sinking his magic into the hound to hurry the healing, Angelus's hands on his shoulders lending him strength and focus. Val boofed quietly, his tail thumping the damp grass, and almost apologetic look on his face.

"Not your fault old friend," Angelus voice rumbled over Jack's head.

Valiant struggled to his feet before Jack was even half finished, grumbling a low impatient growl, trying to move in the direction Jack assumed the boy had been taken. Jack placed a restraining hand on him as he sent a last surge of magic through the beast, finishing the healing as best he could in such a short time. Surging to his feet he felt for the blood pull, but it was so faint now all he could get was a vague reassurance that the boy was still alive.

"He's been taken too far away for me to track now," he felt his shoulders bow under the weight of guilt, he had no real affection for the boy, but Val and Angelus clearly did, and he trusted their judgement. If he hadn't reacted so badly to the news of what the boy actually was, none of this would have happened.

"I'm sorry love," he turned and pressed a hand against Angelus's chest, feeling the slow steady thud of his heart under his palm.

"Not your fault dear heart," Angelus pressed his own hand over Jack's, "let us see what we have to work with before we give up hope. Gretchen is tough and smart."

They followed the clear path of the carnage through the underbrush and out to the gravelled carpark. The loose metal was churned up with wheel marks and a conspicuous trail of some greasy substance made it obvious which direction the vehicle had gone. Jack felt his hackles rise, the instincts that had saved him so many times before screaming for attention.

"It's a trap, they took the boy as bait to lead us into a trap."

Beside him Angelus knelt down and rubbed some of the greasy substance between his fingers before sniffing it.

"Clean unused motor oil, I agree love, they took Gretchen to lure us in."

"Who? Why?" Jack paced, looking at the ground for any hint to who was behind this, searching for the un-obvious signs they might have accidentally left behind.

Angelus was frowning, "could Ira have found us this quickly?"

It was Jacks turn to frown as he thought about the time he'd spent in Ira's mansion, "I don't think he would move so quickly, he likes to plan things out months in advance."

Angelus nodded, "he was always very methodical, this does not feel like his work."

Jack kicked a stone and watched it skitter across the carpark, "besides, the magic here tasted different, wrong, twisted in a way Ira isn't... it reminds me of something but I can't pin it down."

"I agree, it does not taste like Ira, or anyone I know," Angelus stood up and pointed at the only car left in the carpark, "I am willing to bet the keys are still in it."

Jack felt a shiver of foreboding run down his spine and he shook himself trying to cast it off. Licking his lips nervously he stalked towards the car, examining it for any clues as to who left it. As expected it was unlocked and the keys were hanging from the ignition.

"Very sure of themselves aren't they?" he mused.

Angelus reached past him and opened the door, almost bowled over by Valiant surging past them and into the vehicle.

"Well, he is sure this is a good idea," Angelus moved to get in the drivers seat.

Jack stopped him with a hand on his shoulder, "I still remember that time you insisted on driving the coach, you get the passenger seat!"

Angelus made an amused sound and circled the car to settle himself in the passenger seat, leaving Jack to adjust the drivers seat forward and tilt the rear vision mirror. Whoever last drove the car was large, taller even than Angelus. The car smelt of the same strange wrongness and Jack felt his lip curl in disgust as he turned the engine over and pulled out of the carpark, following the oil trail into the unknown, towards the obvious trap.