"You know that I'm not going to let her go to that underground lair of yours."

"The hub."

"The hub of aliens."

"Rhys..."

He shook his head once, as if it was final. "Who knows what Torchwood would do to her? Pick up some alien disease and turn her into a canary."

"A canary?"

"An alien then."

"Rhys, you're going to be working there now too, not just me," Gwen said putting her hand up in an 'its obvious' motion. "How can it be avoided?"

Rhys pursed his lips and looked down at the baby in Gwen's arms. He appeared to think about it for a moment, opening his mouth twice to speak then closing it again. Finally, he crossed his arms.

"She's not going in the hub."

Gwen just snorted.

Gwen's cell phone rang the same moment the alien sighting bell rang throughout the hub.

"Why did we install that bell?" Gwen complained, fumbling with her purse.

"Because it works best with the automated detection program," Andy said as he slid over to the computer, punching up the screen, "you know with your minimal staff here I can't be watching the screens all the time."

"Yes, well, it's very loud."

"You picked it!"

"God, why did I hire you," Gwen complained, finally getting her phone out of her bag.

"Because I'm more of a technical genius than you ever knew, of course."

"Hello?" Gwen said, finally clicking on her phone.

"Tot's got a fever," Rhys said, voice sounding panicked, "we've got to take her to the hospital."

"Nerys, will be fine, Rhys, just calm down."

"Did he call her 'Tot' again? He did, didn't he?" Andy turned to look at Gwen quickly, fingers still typing away.

"Shut up, Andy. It's a sweet nickname."

"Tiny tot? Really?"

"Gwen, I'm going to take her," Rhys insisted over the phone.

"No, Rhys, there is medicine in the cabinet. She just has a cold and you need to stop checking her temperature every five minutes. That's what is making her hot."

Andy nudged her shoulder. "It's a Faot; God, I hate them, so many teeth. Like football night at the pub… only sharper."

Gwen grabbed her gun off the desk beside her and put it in her jacket. "I've got to go Rhys, alien call."

"Gwen, what about-"

"Give Tot the medicine we have!"

"Come on then, Captain," Andy said, heading toward the lift.

Gwen jerked her head toward Andy as she closed her cell phone. "I'm not a Captain."

She clicked a key on the computer, turning off the alarm. Walking down the stairs, she came up next to Andy, stepping up onto the lift. Andy pushed the button and they began to rise.

"You are a Captain, Gwen," Andy said. "Captain of Torchwood five."

Gwen cleared her throat and looked away.

"Remind me why it's not Torchwood four again?"

"Torchwood four is MIA," Gwen said with an eyebrow raise.

"Five it is then." Andy nodded. "Off to the hunt!"

The new Torchwood Five looked very much like the last Torchwood of Cardiff before it blew up. Even after the explosion some of the lowest levels of the old Torchwood hub were still intact leaving them with some alien cells and storage rooms on which to build up again. It was underground, located near the bay, and decked out with high tech alien computers hooked into the hub network which clearly never died. They were even able to resurrect the invisible lift; apparently TARDIS power didn't fade with some little human made explosions.

With the rebuild, Gwen had been able to make the place look a bit less like the hole in the ground it was and more like a home. Of course, Gwen could only do so much.

"If it's a Bond villain hide out then we need to give it a name," Rhys said, as he paged through profiles on the computer terminal in the second floor lab.

"What about The Cove?" Andy offered.

"The hub is not a Bond villain hide out!" Gwen said, dropping her tweezers.

"Sounds like a beach bar anyway," Rhys replied.

"It looks like a cove in here, though!"

Rhys just gave Andy a look.

"What about The Underground?" Andy said, pointing with his pliers.

"If you haven't noticed," Rhys replied, "that one's taken."

"Oh my god," Gwen said, hand over her face.

Suddenly, Nerys squealed at Rhys' feet. He looked down to see her holding a blue ball. It appeared to be glowing faintly. Rhys turned slowly to look at Gwen and Andy standing on either side of the analysis table. Both had guilty faces.

"What is that?"

"Rhys, don't worry its nothing dangerous," Gwen replied, her hands up in a defensive position.

"It's a Borbar ball," Andy said at almost the same time. "Don't worry, it's meant for kids."

Rhys pointed at the computer screen, "On what planet then?"

"Rhys…"

"It supposed to help with intelligence," Andy continued, looking down at the mesh-like shape on the table in front of him. "Glows when she's thinking about something new and sort of…" he looked up again, "encourages."

"Encourages?"

Gwen walked over and picked up Nerys from the floor, ball still clutched in the baby's hands. Rhys drummed his fingers on the arms of the chair, staring Gwen down.

"Oh, Rhys, come on. When we're here it's good for her to have something to play with, why not something educational as well?"

"That's what we call it, educational? More like an alien probe in her brain!"

Andy burst out laughing. Gwen just sighed. Nerys, however, laughed and held up the ball. They all stopped and looked at her, the ball glowing even brighter.

"See," Gwen said smiling at her daughter, "new thoughts."

Rhys pursed his lips, stared a bit longer at the two women then turned back to the screen in front of him.

"If she gets brain cancer it's on you then."

Gwen kissed Rhys' check and gingerly placed Nerys into his arms. He looked over at her with a half smile, arms hooked around the baby.

"Love you too; now find us a doctor, would you?" Gwen said with a grin, pointing at the computer screen.

"Ah ha!" Andy cried suddenly and they both started, turning to stare at him. Andy grinned widely and held up his hand. "Let's call it The Torchwood Bay Burrow!"

"Veto," Rhys and Gwen replied together.

Gwen, Rhys, Tiny Tot, Andy, and the brand new, week on the job, Dr. Preeya Bhamra were, if one was to steal movie lines, not in Cardiff anymore.

"You said aliens but I didn't really believe you," Preeya said as she hid in the corner. "Studying organic finds from Mars maybe or how human beings might survive in an alien environment. Anything closer to sane but not this, not… real aliens or real alien ships."

"What did you think the 456 were?" Rhys asked as he and Andy worked on the door lock. "Weekend hoildayers?"

"Oh, like you sounded any different when I first told you," Gwen snapped.

"It was hypnotism what happened to the children," Preeya insisted, "mind control or government experiment."

"It was aliens. Oh fuck...." Andy said, as a spark lept out of the control pad next to the door.

"I mean I'd heard about the things that happened in London but London's always been a bit of a daft place, hasn't it? I mean, it is England. But then we were here and you shot that one," Preeya pointed to the still body of the insect-like alien slumped against the far wall, "and really it's aliens! I mean real live green and scary, I'll-zap-your-brain aliens!"

"When did we say they zap your brain?" Gwen snapped again, standing up straight from where she had been hunched by the alien and looked over at Preeya.

"You shot that one!" Preeya squeaked.

"Well, there is this one file-"

"Shut up, Andy!" Gwen and Rhys both cut him off.

"All right! Don't snap at me when she's the one who pressed the button," Andy shot back, pointing at Preeya.

"I didn't know!" Preeya shouted. "How was I supposed to know it was a high tech alien transport device? It looked like a coffee pot."

"She has a point," Rhys said, leaving Andy alone with the door to search the room for another possible escape.

"I just can't believe it took us somewhere," Andy said, pulling out a wire from the pad. "How long has that thing been at Torchwood anyhow? Could have sent us into empty space."

"Oh my god," Preeya cried, putting her hands over her face.

"Andy, would you get that bloody door open so we can find a way off this ship?" Rhys shouted.

"Where is Nerys?" Gwen said suddenly.

Everyone stopped moving and looked at Gwen standing motionless in the middle of the dimly lit room. There was no baby in sight. Everyone looked around from where they stood, metal walls and unmarked metal containers surrounding them but no apparent baby. Then, as if on cue, they heard a high giggle from somewhere behind Preeya. She turned and pushed aside one of the crates. Sitting on the floor was Nerys with what looked like a red coffee pot in her hands.

"Oh," Andy said, "I didn't think of that."

Gwen edged closer, Andy and Rhys right behind her. "Hey sweetie, give mommy the alien transporter."

"Wait... will that take us back?" Preeya said, blinking in shock.

Suddenly, the door behind them made a hissing noise.

"The door is opening to a bunch of angry aliens, isn't it?" Rhys said without turning around.

"Oh yeah," Andy replied.

A strange clicking noise like cicadas came from behind them and Nerys giggled, pointing a finger over their shoulders in glee. Gwen lunged forward, scooped up the one year old, and took the red device from her hand.

"Come on!" she barked.

The other three lept toward her as the ship's owners surged into the room and Gwen pressed the button, pulling them away with a snapping noise.

"Why did I decide to come into Torchwood with you again? What kind of a job is this? I had a fine one before!"

"Enough Rhys, just keep running! We can't let it get away."

"He just went round the corner," Rhys said, practically slamming his back against the wall.

"I saw," Gwen replied, cocking her gun.

"You think there's another weevil down there too?"

"They have been traveling in pairs lately," Gwen said, walking forward slowly and waving Rhys to the other side of the alley opening.

"Weevil mating, a new nature documentary from the BBC."

Gwen laughed quietly and pulled some weevil spray from her jacket pocket, tossing it to Rhys. He caught the can and poked his head around the edge of the alley. Looking across at Gwen, he nodded with a grin and held up two fingers. Then his face changed and a worried expression came over it.

"What?" Gwen asked, glancing behind herself quickly.

"Did you call a sitter for Nerys?" Rhys asked.

Gwen blinked. "Bugger."

"You have got to be fucking kidding me," Gwen said, putting a hand over her face.

Andy looked at the monitor then back to Gwen, clearly confused. "What? He's human."

"If you can call it that," Rhys said.

"Can I see? Can I see?" Nerys said, trying to jump up high enough to see the monitor as well.

Rhys laughed and looked down at her. "Only if you promise to remain a nun for life."

"She's two!" Andy squeaked.

"Is he going to stand on the lift all day staring up at us?" Gwen asked.

"You would know best," Rhys replied.

"What's going on?" Preeya said coming up behind them and picking up Nerys. "Who is that you're staring at?"

"Captain John Hart," Gwen and Rhys chorused.

Andy and Preeya stared at the two of them. Nerys clapped and pointed at the screen.

"He can see us!"

"Are we going to let him in?" Preeya asked.

Rhys and Gwen turned to each other then looked back to the screen. The small figure of John on the monitor crossed his arms and even from the high vantage point of the camera they could tell he was leering up at them.

"Fine then," Gwen said.

"Well, hello pretty Torchwood team! A few changes I see," John said waving a hand at Rhys, Andy, and Preeya. "Also love the new job you've done on the hub. Trying to be more organized and pretty are you?" John said indicting the three tiered levels of the new hub, each one a bit smaller as they rose up, connected by spiral stairs. "Are you the one in charge of decorating Ms. Cooper?"

John dropped his sword and guns onto the cement block, putting his hands up quickly in a 'it's safe now' manner. "Did you miss me?"

Andy just blinked and turned to stare at Gwen and Rhys in shock. Preeya let out a surprised high-pitched giggle and sat down heavily in her chair. Rhys and Gwen just stared back at him. John grinned undeterred, stepping off the cement block to stand in front of Gwen.

"Well? Miss me?" he asked again.

"Not especially," Gwen replied, staying where she was.

"Ah well, I haven't been gone that long anyway." Then he stepped around Gwen and grinned at the other three team members. "Glad to meet you all, I'm Captain John Hart."

"We know," they all said at once.

He snorted and unabashedly eyed each of them up and down in turn. Rhys sighed and only shook his head while both Andy and Preeya looked vaguely uncomfortable.

"You told me he was a worse version of Jack but I suppose I didn't believe it was possible," Rhys said walking around John to stand beside Gwen near the lift.

"What do you want?" Gwen asked, staring at John as though he might at any moment lunge at one of them which really wasn't an unfounded paranoia.

"What?" John said turning around with his arms spread wide. "I can't come to visit my favorite Earth bound alien fighting team of the 21st century?"

"If you're looking for Jack he's not here," Gwen replied.

John's smile faltered a fraction. Rhys snorted and grinned like it was a victory.

"He's one of that Captain Harkness' blokes then?" Andy said, eyebrows flying up and pointing at the 'captain.'

John turned toward Andy. "Ah, heard all about me, have you?"

Andy's eyes went wide and he opened his mouth but didn't seem to be able to come up with something to say. Stepping forward once, John trailed a finger down Andy's cheek and waggled his eyebrows suggestively. Then he turned away again leaving Andy looking like he might faint. Gwen grabbed John by the arm and pulled him back toward the lift.

"If you're not going to behave I'm sending you right back out again. I don't care what you're doing here as long as you're not going to blow the city up again."

"Wait, he was involved with that?" Preeya said, her voice cracking an octave.

"Hey!" John said holding up his hands. "That was definitely not my fault."

"Might as well have been," Rhys said, crossing his arms. "Enabler, weren't you?"

"Your man here does not seem to like me," John said with a filthy grin in the said man's direction.

"Please stop leering at my husband."

"So, what did happen to eye candy and Jack then? Off on a little vacation?"

A muscle in Gwen's jaw flexed and it looked like she might punch John again. However, Gwen just breathed in swiftly and didn't answer. For a moment John looked vaguely concerned but it passed just as quickly. The hub fell silent as Gwen and John stared at each other facing off.

Suddenly the tension was broken by a quiet giggle and the sound of something falling. They all turned to see Nerys peeking out from behind Preeya's chair.

"Oh dear, not children," John said.

"Nerys, go back upstairs to the lab," Gwen said.

Nerys, however, did the exact opposite and came across the walk way from the computer terminals, past her parents to stop right in from of Captain John Hart. She held out her hand to him.

"Welcome to Torchwood!" she said.

John blinked at her.

"Um… Nerys…" Andy said quietly.

John did not respond but seemed to be transfixed looking down at the child. Gwen hesitated feeling as though she should do something but nothing was happening. Then John spoke still staring at the child.

"She has perfect eyes!"

Gwen burst out laughing and Rhys began sputtering with indignation. Andy clapped his hands once looking around at everyone.

"I told you she would be a charmer, didn't I?"

"When exactly are you leaving again?" Rhys snapped.

The last blue skinned alien fell to the ground, black blood pooling around its midsection. Rhys and Gwen were still standing back to back, guns held out. Stillness fell over the ruined area around them. A building to their left continued to burn but firemen began to move in now having gotten past the fact that blue aliens were trying to rip out their lungs to power their ships. Bodies littered the ground and a crashed alien ship could be seen poking out of the bay in the distance. The battle was over, the day won.

"Are you okay?" Rhys finally managed to say though he didn't move from his defensive stance.

"Yeah, you?" Gwen said, also remaining where she was, eyes flicking around the area to be certain the aliens were done.

"Rhys, Gwen, it worked!" Andy's voice shouted in their ears. "The last ship has phoned to tell us they are kicking out of this solar system."

"Are you both all right?" Preeya's voice came as well.

"Yes," they said together.

"Enemy dispatched? City saved?" Andy asked, voice full of a certain amount of pride.

"For now," Gwen replied, finally lowering her gun and turning to face Rhys.

Rhys shook his head looking at the bodies of aliens and human alike littered throughout the street. People were running around, some fleeing still afraid, while others were trying to help the police and firemen working to clean up the wreckage.

"Lungs? Really? Our lungs? What right aliens go about looking for human organs? Sounds like some teenager's conspiracy theory."

Gwen laughed without humor. "Stranger things that were dreamt in our philosophies."

"That quote's not right."

"Whatever," Gwen said waving a hand and sucking in a deep breath. "Its over now and we both still have two lungs a piece."

"Thank God."

Gwen sighed, hands on her hips. Pursing her lips she glanced around at the mess of the city then looked back to Rhys.

"So, we saved the world again."

Rhys nodded. "Yea."

"Chinese tonight, then?" Gwen asked.

"And some James Bond I think."

Gwen smiled. "It's a plan."

"No, you can't."

Nerys bounced on her heels, eyes as big as sauce pans. "Please, mum, please."

"Your mother said, no and that's it."

Undeterred the young girl held up the small purplish blob with its one big green eye for closer inspection to her parents. Both shook their heads at once, no meant no. Nerys dropped her hands back down and brought the small gooey creature close to her chest. She pouted.

"I'd take good care of it."

"Aliens are not pets!" Gwen said, hands on hips.

Nerys pouted more.

"I'm sorry, Tot," Rhys said in softer tones. "You can't keep it."

"I already named it though."

Rhys raised an eyebrow turning to the woman beside him.

"What's its name?" Gwen asked.

"Owen!"

Her face fell.

Beside her Rhys watched her closely and when she failed to respond turned back to the child. Holding out a hand, Rhys took the small creature from Nerys. He hesitated then crouched down to her level.

"How about a deal then?"

Nerys gasped in anticipation, grin spreading over her face.

"You can keep him," Rhys continued, "but he has to stay here in the hub."

"Yes, yes!" Nerys cried, her voice high, jumping up and down.

"Mum?" Rhys said looking back up at Gwen.

Gwen smiled down at the two of them, moisture at the corner of her eyes. "That sounds perfect."

Preeya and Andy both placed their hands on Rhys, one on each shoulder, as he pressed the red button. The world around them seemed to swirl and before they could even think about how strange it looked their feet slammed against the ground as if they'd just jumped up in the air. All three swayed forward then righted themselves.

"That was it, right?" Andy asked. "It worked?"

The street certainly did look different. Rhys held up the square device with all its triangular dials and looked at the readout screen. A long string of numbers flashed at him in gold.

"The number has jumped back by about 200," Rhys said, "which should put us in the 1890s I hope."

"1894," Preeya said.

The men turned to look at Preeya in her large green bustle skirt. She was holding what looked like a newspaper streaked with dampness from the snow around them. Rhys grinned and pulled absently at his cravat.

"Perfect!" Andy said putting his top hat on his head. "Let's find the missing ladies."

"Try not to talk to anyone," Rhys said with a stern look at Andy.

He scoffed and walked over to Preeya, holding out his arm to her. "My lady."

Preeya sighed but put her hand on his arm regardless. "My girlfriend is going to kill me."

"Best not to tell her then," Andy replied with a grin.

"If you're all done playing Back to the Future shall we find my wife and daughter?"

The other two cleared their throats, chastised, and nodded. Together they hurried down the sleet slick alley heading toward the main streets of old downtown Cardiff. As they neared the city center they heard the distinct sounds of a crowd. A man ran past them, nearly knocking over Preeya in his hurry.

"Watch it!" Andy shouted.

"Run!" another man cried at them as he passed. "Just run! His eyes, it's not human!"

"Looks like we're heading in the right direction," Rhys said breaking into a run.

Reaching the end of the alley which opened out onto a main road, they saw a crowd of people and heard shouting. The three Torchwood members ran toward the fray.

"Preeya, check to see if anyone is hurt and needs help," Rhys said pointing her off in one direction. "Andy, go around that way and look for Gwen. She's bound to be here."

"Wow, look at you taking charge," Andy said sounding genuinely impressed.

"Just because you were the PC doesn't mean I can't wrap my head around a plan," Rhys said indignantly then shoved Andy by his shoulder. "Now go look for Gwen."

Pushing through the long skirts and falling top hats, Rhys reached the center of the commotion and saw a man lying on the ground spitting in rage. His eyes where bright red. A woman pinned him to the ground with her heeled boot against his chest and a musket in her hand.

"Gwen!" Rhys shouted in surprise.

Gwen turned her head, hair falling beautifully in her eyes where it escaped from her purple bonnet. She smiled happily at him, musket still trained on her captive.

"Hello, love!"

"Da!"

Suddenly, a bright bundle of pink fabric and brown hair jumped up into Rhys' arms. Holding her out at arms length, Rhys looked back and forth between the two women. Both were grinning as though they were having the time of their lives and hadn't been surprisingly transported 200 some years back in time two days ago.

"Uh, all right then?"

Gwen pulled off her bonnet and tossed her hair. "Fine." The man under her foot growled and she pushed her boot down harder making him squeal. "Just fine."

"We caught a scary man," Nerys said pointing behind her.

Rhys grinned. "I see. Ready to head home then?"

"Where is the scanning stick?"

Rhys poked his head out from under the desk, wires still in his hands. "The what?"

"The scanning stick."

He stared at her blankly.

"The red rod which we use to do x-rays on stuff and is kind of like a Star Trek tricorder," Preeya shouted from the autopsy room.

"Oh, that," Rhys said, standing up. "Haven't seen it."

"It was on my desk," Gwen said pointing to a pile of papers beside her keyboard. "You don't have it, do you, Preeya?"

"If I had it wouldn't I have said so when you were asking Rhys?"

Gwen sighed.

"Wait, the red rod thing?" Andy said coming down the stairs from the lab. "You mean the one Nerys had?"

"What?" Gwen and Rhys said with equal tones of dread.

Andy bit his lip and crossed his arms. "She said something about show and tell yesterday when she was looking at it."

Rhys put a hand over his eyes and Gwen whipped out her cellphone.

"I knew I should never have let her down here," Rhys grumbled.

"Oh, shut up," Gwen replied.

"Don't worry about it," Andy said putting a hand on Gwen's shoulder. "I think she knows well enough not to turn it on at school at least."

"Her teachers will think its a toy anyhow," Preeya added.

Gwen pursed her lips, thumb hovering over the send button on her phone. She glanced over at her husband, her face suddenly upset.

"Are we terrible parents?"

Rhys laughed. "Yeah." Gwen's face fell more. "But we're great ones too."

Gwen sighed and closed her phone. "Maybe."

"Hey, for all I said before about her not going here its gone pretty well in the end hasn't it? Best education a girl could get, right?" Rhys put his hands on Gwen's arms, squeezing lightly. Her eyes looked a little damp. "Plus she's going to be able to kick a lot of ass like her mother.

Gwen laughed finally. "Definitely."

Rhys nodded firmly.

"But now we really do need to go get that alien technology back from our six year old before she exposes Torchwood or scans one of her classmates."

"Never ends, does it?" Rhys replied, picking up his coat.

Gwen smiled brightly. "I'd never want it to."