Toshiko lay quietly in the hospital bed. Jack and Ianto stood beside her. One of them had arranged for some very effective analgesia and she was feeling very pleased with herself, and with life in general.

"Get well soon," Jack winked as he leaned over her. Captain Jack Harkness had a wicked sense of humor and was gleefully wearing a white doctor's coat and a stethoscope. Ianto had refused to 'play dress-up' and was wearing his usual vest and a light-colored leather jacket.

"Did my flu get worse?" she whispered. She had felt tired and sore for several weeks now. The past day was almost a forgettable blur.

"Yes. I think it was that box from the space debris. Something inside must have infected you." Jack looked at the beeping monitors beside the bed. Her temperature and blood pressure appeared high. "I'm sorry. I should have tested it more. I only wanted the photographic plates. It made me lax."

Tosh wanted to reach up and touch his face, to reassure him. But she could not move her limbs.

"That's alright," she replied quietly. "I did some tests on the box too. All the tests we could do. No-one could have known. But you're both okay?"

They both nodded and mumbled agreement.

"I've arranged for a U*N*I*T doctor to look after you," said Jack. "This whole room is for your convenience."

"I even fixed up a masking device on the door," interjected Ianto. "It's like a stealth ward. No-one will know you're here. Except for us, of course."

"Don't you think Owen would have been a better choice than a military doctor?" Tosh whispered. "He has had proper training after all."

"I know," said Jack quietly. "But he's a little busy right now. We need to give him some space." Jack could be very reassuring when he wanted to.

"Moping down by the marina, probably," sniffed Ianto. Jack threw him a disapproving look.

"And Gwen? Is she alright too?" Tosh's eyelids were feeling heavy, but the sparkling stars around the edge of her vision were entertaining her.

"Gwen is fine," said Ianto. "Rhys mentioned something on the phone about 'decorating'. It didn't sound pretty."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Yeah. The Coopers love to decorate. Rain, shine or space flu."

Ianto frowned at Jack. "You know Rhys doesn't like being called 'Mr. Cooper'. It makes him feel awkward."

Jack laughed and slapped Ianto on the chest. "I promise not to call him that to his face. Why don't we find a coffee somewhere? I'm sure Tosh needs her rest."

Tosh could see Ianto licking his lips nervously. Maybe he was still a little unsure of Jack's easy personality. Maybe he liked the attention. She nodded slowly and waved her hand heavily. "Yes. Go. Bring back snacks. But later."

"Your doctor will be in shortly. You'll know him. He'll be the only person that can get thru this door," said Ianto. He opened the otherwise ordinary door and rocked it backward and forward to prove its very ordinary capabilities.

"Don't wear it out," said Jack pushing Ianto out into the corridor. The door swung shut smoothly.

:::

Lt. Alain McGill (MBBS) had been a poor student and a poor doctor, but he had eventually found a niche in the regular Army and then latterly within the crazy hierarchy of the Unified Intelligence Taskforce.

His drive from Salisbury had been uneventful, but his navigation around Cardiff was useless and he arrived an hour late at the University Hospital thanks only to the advice of bemused mini-cab drivers.

"What's that for?" asked the security guard at the entrance to the private car park.

"It's my security pass. Don't you need it?" he replied, balancing a paper cup of coffee on the steering wheel.

"No point, sir. Anyone can walk in one of the side doors. It's a public place after all. If you intend to go somewhere like maternity or nuclear physics, you can show your pass to them." The guard tapped the brim of his cap.

After several further minutes trying to find a parking space, McGill was eventually able to park and enter on foot by one of the ornate side doors. With the help of passing staff, he found the basement and the special detention wards where the police and other agencies could have persons of great interest treated discreetly and securely.

"Can I see your credentials, please?" asked the nurse behind the reception desk. She keyed in his details and returned the card. "Room four-fifty," she smiled.

Halfway down a further, more gloomy corridor, tiled in late Victorian green, McGill stood at door 451. He then looked back to door 449. Although Jones had informed him of the deception, it was still remarkable. "Ingenious," he said aloud. The tiles continued seamlessly from one door to the next.

"Good afternoon, Miss Sato," he said as he entered the room. "Assuming that's your real name," he added.

Tosh looked up hazily. Ianto had never been good at cover stories, but she did not have to admit to anything. "We can but hope," she burbled. "Have you brought the stars?" she mumbled.

He raised his eyebrows and picked up the chart from the end of the bed. "My bag of sweet treats is back in the car. I'm not sure I've got what you want anyway. Are your friends still here?"

Tosh blinked and turned her head slightly. The pain was returning to her neck. "I thought they were still standing there. They might have been gone a minute. Or an hour. I don't really know."

McGill looked at her eyes and returned the chart. The pupils were still opening and closing randomly. In a non-medical situation, he might have thought of it as beautiful.

"Why don't you try some normal sleep, and we'll look at the analgesia in about an hour?" he asked with a smile.

Before she could answer there was a commotion in the corridor. McGill walked to the door raising a reassuring hand. "A little quiet," he whispered.

Even though he knew from his own observation that the door was invisible, McGill paused before parting two of the horizontal blinds to look thru the wired glass. Then he gasped in surprise.