Disclaimer: If Torchwood was mine there'd be way more Jack/Ianto onscreen, Gwen/Owen would never have stopped, and Owen would still be alive. Properly.

"I had a feeling we hadn't seen the last of this place," Jack sighed, noting the letters that were slowly peeling off the painted sign. Ianto 'hmm'ed in agreement, staring without really seeing at the red brick building that lay at the end of the gravel driveway. He had been pretty much silent ever since the call was received, only speaking up every now and again to offer directions to Owen, who had clearly decided that the role of glorified chauffeur and occasional field agent trumped being a glorified teaboy and occasional field agent. No matter how often Ianto had insisted there was no competition between the two of them, the medic was still convinced he had something to prove.

"Are you sure this is the right place?" Toshiko asked tentatively, glancing down at the monitor she held in her hands. "I'm not picking up any abnormal activity."

"Ianto?" Jack turned to the younger man, who nodded his head absent mindedly before walking slowly towards the large house. "Okay - Gwen, Tosh, check out the grounds. Let me know if you find anything. Ianto and I will look inside. Owen -"

"Stay here," Owen supplied, a dark look on his face. "Jack, I'm a grown man, remember? I can take care of myself."

"I thought we discussed this - until we know exactly what we're up against, you stay out of the danger zone. We can't risk it."

"No readings mean no danger," the doctor stated, taking a step towards the group.

"Or a danger so far advanced we can't identify it," Jack said, an air of finality in his voice. "You're on the comms, if we need you, we'll let you know."

The captain started after Ianto, his coat billowing behind him as he strode purposefully down the drive. Tosh looked back apologetically, with a shrug that seemed to say 'what can we do?', before she and Gwen took off down a small pathway that led along the outside of the land.

"What am I supposed to do until then?" Owen shouted exasperatedly.

"There's a bucket and sponge in the back," came the faraway reply. "I want to see my face shining in it when I get back."

"Vain bastard," Owen muttered mutinously, aiming a swift kick at the front tyre as he climbed into the driver's seat of the SUV, rummaging in the glove compartment for the book he had stashed away the last time they had gone on one of these missions. Being the living undead wasn't quite the exhilarating experience he had once thought it would be.

"You okay?" Jack questioned when he finally caught up with Ianto. "You seem a little...distant."

"I'm fine, sir," Ianto replied, forcing a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes. "A bit tired is all."

Jack narrowed his eyes slightly at the return to the formal moniker, but decided against pressing the matter. The pair walked together silently until they reached the main entrance of the building, taking the steps leading up to the large oak door two at a time before pausing for a moment on the porch area created by a small roof supported by two stone pillars. Jack tapped his earpiece before speaking again, this time not directed towards Ianto. "Toshiko, anything to report?"

"Not yet," Tosh's voice replied. "All levels still at normal."

"Thanks, Tosh."

Jack turned back to Ianto, who was now staring at the door in front of them. Something was bothering his normally unflappable companion, and, one way or another, Jack was going to discover what. Now, however, was neither the time nor place for anything non-work related. "Ready to go in?"

"That can't be right," Tosh muttered, tapping her stylus on the screen.

"What is it?" Gwen asked, noticing her slow to a halt. "Tosh?"

"I thought..." Tosh shook her head slightly. "Nothing. Just a blip on the system. Let's keep going. Sooner we find nothing, the sooner we can get back to the hub."

"Back to a certain doctor of ours, you mean," Gwen corrected with a grin. "Be honest now."

Tosh glared at the other woman before giving her a playful shove, and the two began walking again, arms linked and laughing together. It had been difficult to judge just how much land they would have to cover whilst stood outside the main gates, but they had been pleased to find that they weren't faced with acres of lawns - or even worse, wooded areas. Outside space had obviously been low on the list of priorities when the building was first constructed and later converted for its present purpose.

"Owen," Tosh spoke into her earpiece, ignoring the wink Gwen gave her. "Anything interesting where you are?"

"Elizabeth's just refused Darcy apparently."

"Is that some kind of code?"

"Yes. For 'tell Gwen to stop switching my Stephen King for Jane sodding Austen'," Owen grumbled. "Look, Tosh, not that I don't appreciate the distraction, but do you actually need me for anything?"

"Not really. Just wanted to -"

"- see how I was holding up. I'm fine, okay? I was fine when you were all tracking down Weevils last week. I was fine when that...thing, broke into the hub the week before that. Sensing any kind of pattern here?"

"Sorry."

"Later, Tosh."

Owen's voice turned to silence as he hung up, and Tosh focused once more on the monitor she was holding. Thankfully, upon seeing the dejected look on her friend's face, Gwen bit back any additional comments she might have felt inclined to make.

This pedestal act was going to get real old, real quick, Owen surmised after the call had ended. Glancing momentarily upwards from the book in his hands, he stared out of the windscreen in confusion. The sky was a clear blue, the occasional cloud floating past as if to remind people that Wales was not the place for perfect weather. Along the road, trees stood strong, their leaves calm in the still air. Every now and again another car would pull up and somebody would get out, more often than not accompanied by somebody wheelchair bound. Patients, he gathered, from the way they were being helped by their companions.

But they weren't the object of Owen's unease. Instead, his gaze was fixed upon the place where Jack had been standing. Where it had previously hung unmoving, the Providence Park sign swung violently on its chains, moved by a wind that just wasn't there.