Rhys' face lit up with a smile when he heard the sound of the key turning in the lock and the creaking of the door.
"You're home early, love!" Rhys called from the kitchen.
His smile faded slightly when he realised there were two sets of footsteps. He looked up from the carrots that he was peeling.
"Thank you, Andy," Gwen was saying. Andy murmured something about getting some rest.
Ducking around the corner, Rhys was just in time to catch Andy before he left. He glanced at Gwen briefly - she seemed to be rather distracted, as if she was trying to figure out a maths problem in her head.
"Oh good, you're home, Rhys," Andy said. "Look after her, will you?"
"Of course," Rhys replied, frowning. "What happened? Thanks for bringing her back."
"She hurt her head breaking up a bar fight," Andy explained.
Just as Rhys began to turn to Gwen and start fussing over her, Gwen seemed to come out of her reverie to forestall his concern, "I'm all right, Rhys. They patched me up at the hospital."
"I'd better get back," Andy said, his hand already on the door handle.
Rhys nodded his thanks again, and guided Gwen to the couch. She sounded sure enough when she said she was fine, but her face was paler than usual and her hands shook a little as she handed him her bag and keys to put away. That far-off look in her eyes was returning.
"May I see?" Rhys asked gently.
"I'm fine, Rhys," Gwen said, sounding as though she was putting all her energy into being patient. "But if it makes you feel better..."
She turned so that she had her back to him.
Sitting down next to Gwen, Rhys gently parted her hair to examine the wound. The doctor seemed to have used some sort of biocompatible glue to close the wound. It was clean, with only slight traces of blood. Rhys quietly thanked the competent doctor who had treated Gwen.
"It looks like the doctor did a good job," Rhys said with a note of approval in his voice.
Gwen turned back to him, looking up at him. "Of course," she said. She kissed him briefly. "I'm fine. Promise."
After a pause, Rhys sighed. "I'll go finish the pasta. Then we'll eat and you can get some rest. Okay?"
"Okay. Thank you."
As Rhys turned back to his carrots, Gwen left the room to take a shower. Her head was still reeling with images of a man in a porter's uniform, blood spilling out from his neck and that vicious creature with incredibly sharp teeth. Then there were those people. Special Ops, Torchwood, Andy had said. They had disappeared. Gwen knew what she had seen and she wasn't hallucinating.
The hot water from the shower revived her, and she knew that she would have to find out what was going on. Even if the knowledge would change everything she had known and loved.
