"There's more rift activity this morning, Jack." Tosh informed Jack as he entered the hub.
"Been a lot of it lately." he said as he stopped and looked over her shoulder. "But not much of anything coming through."
"Not a bad thing." she pointed out. "A few less weevils isn't something to be sad over."
"No, but we don't know what's causing it." he replied as he started moving around.
"Should we go have a look?" Ianto asked, handing each of them a cup of tea.
"How many have there been and where?" Jack asked Tosh as he took a sip.
"Twelve since 5 am." she tapped away at her keyboard. "Eight of them are here in Cardiff, two in Barry Island and two in Swansea."
"We can split up." Ianto suggested. "I can check out a few here in Cardiff, Owen can go to Barry..."
"I can go to Swansea." Gwen put in as she and Owen moved in and joined the group.
"Why do I get sent off to Barry?" Owen asked.
"It's not as though you're being sent off to the ends of the earth." Ianto pointed out. "It's a thirty minute drive, forty-five minutes at most."
"That's not the point." Owen grumbled, still feeling a bit tired and hungover from his night out the previous evening.
"The drive will do you good. Get some fresh air." Jack said with a smile. "Okay then, Owen to Barry Island. Gwen to Swansea and that leaves Ianto, Tosh and I to check things out here."
"Great." Owen groaned as he looked over Tosh's shoulder and got the coordinates before heading out.
"What's with him?" Jack asked, looking around.
"Not a clue." Gwen said as the others shrugged. "He's not often the chattiest person ever."
"Well, whatever it is, hopefully he's over it soon." Tosh said as she slipped her leather jacket on. "He's not a lot of fun to be around when he's like this."
The disheveled woman fumbled with the manhole cover and, with what felt like her last ounce of strength, it gave way and let in a flood of sunlight nearly knocking the weak woman down the ladder she was perched on and back into the sewers.
Gathering herself after letting her eyes adjust to the light, she poked her head out of the hole and looked around. She appeared to be in the car park of some shop. That's all she could tell. It didn't look at familiar to her. Nothing did. Dragging herself up and out of the hole, dragging the cover back after her, she forced herself to her feet and looked around again. Nothing. She recognized nothing around her.
Moving away from the car park, she started heading down the street, trying to find something, anything, that might tell her where she was.
People quickly made way for her as she stumbled along. She looked like hell. The blue jeans and t-shirt she wore were torn, wet and dirty. She herself was covered in mud and three different kinds of sludge and slime and wreaking of the sewers.
"Disgusting." one woman muttered as she crossed to the other side of the street, sneering at the staggering figure.
The woman walked along, hugging herself, oblivious to the gazes and comments as she wandered into a park. She quickly sat at the first park bench she came to and looked around once more. She was in an unfamiliar place, she was alone and worst of all, she had no idea who she was. Giving into the fear and dread she was feeling, she began to sob, her filthy face buried in her hands, long, dark hair matted with various bits of the sewer that she could not shake.
"Are you okay?" a woman asked.
"No." she sighed, wiping her face, smearing the sludge on her face. "I'm not."
"You can see me?" the woman asked, eyes large in surprise and a smile on her face. "You can hear me?"
"Yes." the tearful woman nodded. "Why wouldn't I be able to?"
"Oh, just because."
"Where am I?" she asked.
"Barry Island." the other woman replied, sitting down next to her. "Wales." she added helpfully. "I'm Annie, by the way." she held out her hand.
"I'm..." the woman faltered, reluctantly shaking Annie's hand. "I don't know who I am." she sobbed. "I don't know who I am, or how I got here."
"Oh dear." Annie said, stopping short of putting a comforting arm around the other woman, realizing just how malnourished she looked. "I live nearby, how about you come home with me and you can clean up a bit, and we'll try to find a way to help you."
"Thank you." the mystery woman said as she used her tattered sleeve to wipe her tears, smearing yet more of the sludge.
"Come along then." Annie said, getting to her feet. "You can take a nice hot bath...maybe two." she added as they walked along. "I'll find some clean clothes for you to wear. And something to eat."
"Thank you." the woman repeated.
"You're welcome." Annie said as they headed up the street to Honolulu Heights. She was determined to help this stranger. It felt good to help others. She just hoped her housemates wouldn't be too upset by her decision to help.