-1The computer set off the alarm first, picking up a major spike in rift activity several miles from the Hub. Tosh patched the message onto the rest of the team, who were out on the hunt for a rogue weevil. They had no such luck on the Weevil. Jack wanted to continue the search until Toshiko's voice came through his earpiece. "There was a major spike in Rift energy Jack, just about a mile south of where you are now."

"On it," he answered quickly, turning the SUV around. A spike in Rift activity was a rather vague description. Jack knew that from Tosh's position, stuck back at the Hub there was no way she could be more specific. They knew they had to be careful on this one, not that they weren't always careful. It was just easier when they knew what they were dealing with.

This time, like so many times before they were going in blind. Yet his team still trusted him, completely. That was the biggest shock he had since he got back. That the team still put their trust in him. Well, second biggest shock. John's words still echoed in Jack's mind. "I found Gray." It was impossible. Gray was gone. There was no way. Yet those words had him distracted for the last two months.

Jack shook the thoughts from his mind as he listened to Toshiko's directions. It brought them to the warehouse district. Of course, Jack thought to himself. It's always the dark areas with lots of places to hide. Toshiko insisted though that whatever came through the Rift was not actually in any of the ware houses. That made things easier, thought he pouring rain made their job a bit more difficult.

"Keep your eyes open," Jack told his team. The four split up in different directions, hoping they could close in surrounding whatever creature it was that came through the Rift. Each member took out their gun, ready to shoot if need be. Jack turned a corner slowly, Webley in hand, finger on the trigger, ready to bring the hammer back and shoot if the situation called for it.

The four closed in on the target, Toshiko told them it was right in front of them. All four stopped as they turned each corner, guns drawn, aimed at a single figure in the center. "Don't move," Jack called out. The team inched their way closer as lightning lit up the sky. Each strike provided just a pinch of light and Jack was able to make out that whatever it was it seemed human. "Put your hands up," he told it. The humanoid creature obeyed, raising thin, trembling arms into the air. Another strike of lightning and Ianto's voice came through Jack's earpiece.

"Jack… it's a girl. I saw her face, just a girl. She's staring at me. I think… I think we should put our guns down."

"Ianto!"

Ianto lowered his weapon and took a few small steps toward the girl, who flinched with each step he took. "IANTO!"

He did not listen though. Ianto slowly approached, and as he got closer he realized she was indeed just a woman. Drenched dark hair hung in her face. Ianto took a moment to look her over. Her clothes were tattered, dirty and wet and her feet were bare. He could tell that he clothes were different, from a time long passed. Ianto raised his hands slowly, to show that he was not going to hurt her. "I'm not going to hurt you. My name is Ianto Jones." Ianto stopped less than a foot from her. She was looking up at him with fear in her eyes.

He took her hands and lowered them, feeling them tremble as he held them. Then he took of his suit jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders. "What's your name?" She had no answer. Ianto looked her over again, the caught her eyes once more. "It's all right. What's your name?"

"E… Eva." Her voice was soft, hoarse, frightened.

Ianto pulled her wet hair out of her face, to find small scratches along her face. He smiled at her, hoping it would calm her fear. "Hello Eva," he whispered with a smile. "Ianto Jones."

Ianto looked up and noticed that Jack, Owen, and Gwen had lowered their weapons and approached the two of them. "Ianto," Jack asked.

"Her name's Eva," he answered. "That's all I've gotten from her." Ianto turned to face Jack, leaving Eva in the care of Torchwood's medic, Owen Harper and former P.C. Gwen Cooper. Jack and Ianto took a few steps off to the side. "Look at her Jack, look at her clothes."

"Another temporal shift, like the one before, with 1953?" Ianto nodded slowly. "Can't be sure until we get her back and Tosh gets a look though."

Ianto nodded before the two turned back to Gwen and Owen. Owen looked up at Jack. "Her breathing's shallow, she's soaked to the bone. We need to get her some place warm, dry. Back to the Hub."

Jack nodded and he turned the girl to face him. "Eva?" Her head shot towards Jack when he said her name. "My name's Jack, Jack Harkness. We're going to take care of you, but you have to come back with us all right?" He watched as the girl nodded slowly. Jack took off Ianto's suit jacket, which did very little to keep the girl warm or dry. He handed it back to Ianto and replaced it with his large greatcoat, which practically swallowed the girl whole.

Eva followed the team back to the SUV. For a moment she was reluctant to get in, but Ianto stretched out his hand and she climbed into the back seat, sitting between Ianto and Gwen. "Hello," the dark-haired woman said to Eva. "I'm Gwen." She gave Eva a sweet smile and Eva nodded shyly.

Eva looked over at Ianto, who smiled at her. She slowly smiled back and wrapped Jack's coat around her. It was warm and relatively dry, given the rain, and it smelled different. A strangely comforting scent, something that she was sure was unique to Jack and only Jack. Eva's green eyes closed. She felt lost, overwhelmed. One minute she was running through the trees, rain pelting her pale skin. Her bare feet smacked against the ground and she could feel the mud between her toes. The moon and the stars lit her way, dimly through the clouds. In seconds that was gone. Suddenly she could not feel the soft saturated ground beneath her feet. Instead it was hard, solid, cold. The trees had vanished and bright lights blocked her view of the stars.

She was surrounded by tall buildings, everywhere she ran. She could not get out. Soon after she heard voices, yelling. Then they surrounded her. Eva had been terrified. They each held something in their hands. She had no idea what the objects were, but she was able to make out they were weapons, by the way the group was standing. Eva froze, terrified. A loud voice called from behind her, telling to put her hands in the air. She listened and raised her shaking hands. One moment and a strike of lightening later her eyes locked with the blue ones in front of her.

Ianto Jones looked over at the girl next to him. She sat in the SUV, wrapped up in Jack's coat and staring out the window in amazement. Where… when is she from? he thought. From the front, Ianto could hear Jack telling Toshiko what they found and to find something warm and dry for the girl to wear.

It did not take long to get back. Ianto helped Eva out of the SUV and led her through the tourist information shop, down into the hub. Jack lead the way, but glanced back at Eva. He noticed her falling behind and Jack slowed down, letting the team go ahead of him. Jack stopped in front of her and took her hand in his, lacing his fingers with hers. He flashed a smile and led her slowly into the hub. Jack noticed the innocence in her eyes, the wonder. Eva stood in the middle of the Hub as Jack gathered the team around him. "Give me a few minutes to talk to her, assess if she poses any kind of threat. Tosh, when I'm done can you take her to get changed and cleaned up?" Toshiko nodded and the group separated.

Jack approached the mysterious young woman, startling her slightly as he placed a hand on her shoulder. He led her into his office and motioned for her to have a seat. She sat down, still wrapped in Jack's long coat. "Ianto said your name was Eva." She nodded. "Eva, what's the last thing you remember before we found you?"

She did not have time to answer as Tosh poked her head in. "Just a minute," he whispered to her. Jack stood and stepped out of his office. "Yeah?"

"I was able to run some quick scans on her when she came in."

"And?"

"There were high levels of chronon energy attached to her, surrounding her. The reading indicates a temporal shift, instead of alien. The same kind of results we had before with the group from 1953."

"So we can definitely say she's human, but from a different time? The question is when."

"Judging by her clothes," Ianto chimed in. "I'd say that was a big shift. Those clothes look like they're from the 14th, maybe 15th century."

Jack's gaze moved to his office, where Eva sat. He rubbed his hand against the back of his neck and sighed. "No wonder she's terrified."

"Jack," Owen called from the autopsy room. He climbed the stairs and joined the group. "If Ianto's right, I want to run some tests. 14th century, back when the plague was big. I want to make sure she's not carrying anything."

Jack nodded and the group split. He hesitated for a moment before returning to his office. Jack made a note of the mess of papers scattered on his desk. Jack turned toward Eva, and leaned back against his desk. "Sorry." Captain Jack took a moment to study her. She was young, around Ianto's age by the look. For her though, in her time, she would have been nearing the end of her life. It would have been a feat to live to twenty-five.

Jack knelt down in front of her. He took her tiny fragile hands in his. "We're here to help you, Eva," Jack whispered. "What was the last thing you remember?"

"Running." She remembered the running so vividly. Eva's eyes lowered to her feet., mud still covered them.

"What were you running from?" Jack massaged the backs of her hands with his thumbs, hoping it would soothe her. He could still see her trembling.

"Mallum…," she whispered. "Diabolus."

Diabolus? Latin? Jack stared wide-eyed. Very few, outside of the church, actually spoke Latin, especially not women. Even the kinds lacked knowledge of the language. "Where did you learn that? Latin, where'd you learn it?"

"Domus… abutor… carcer… abyssus." There was anger in her voice, bitterness.

Of course, now that's all she's gonna speak. Jack rolled his eyes and stood. He ran to the door and poked his head out. "Ianto!"

The young Welshman had been brewing coffee, it was going to be a long night. He looked up when he heard his name. Jack beckoned him and Ianto abandoned the coffee to join Jack in his office. "Yes?"

"You know Latin?"

"To an extent, yes. Why?" Jack pointed to Eva. "What'd she say?"

"She said she was running. When I asked what she was running from she answered in Latin."

"She shouldn't-"

"I know… I was able to get that she was apparently running from the devil. I asked her where she learned it. I got home, but she said something else.

"What?"

"Abutor carcer abyssus, which by the way, none of that sounds good."

"Well, abutor… that's misusing a word, meaning to say something else. Carcer that's uhh," Ianto paused for a moment, "that's prison, cell."

"So she said home, but she meant prison."

"And abyssus, that's… abyss… hell."

Jack sighed and turned his attention to Eva. "So," Jack began, looking at the girl but speaking to Ianto, "we have a stranger girl that came through the Rift from at least five centuries ago. She speaks Latin and none of us know why, and apparently she was running from Hell."

"Looks like."

"Great." Jack knelt down in front of Eva again, resting his hands on her knees. "We're going to have our doctor, Owen, take a look at you all right? Make sure you're all right." Jack helped her to her feet and Ianto led her out of Jack's office. Jack removed his coat from her shoulders as Owen approached her. He had her sit down in a chair in the autopsy room.

"Hello." The first time he spoke to her. The first time he took more than just a glance at her. The situation, though very different because of the time involved, reminded Owen far too much of Diane.

"Hello," she answered softly.

Owen smiled and took her arm gently. "Doctor Owen Harper."

She smiled back. A real smile, not a frightened response. "That's a mouth full," she told him softly.

Owen laughed and nodded in agreement. "I guess. Owen."

"Eva."

She watched as Owen took out a needle, drawing her blood slowly. Owen expected fear in her eyes. What he saw instead was a childlike wonder. "Do you understand at all what's happened to you?"

She over heard some of what Jack had said to the team, but for the most part she was uninformed. "He said that I came from a different time." Owen nodded as he wrapped something around Eva's arm. She felt it begin to tighten and looked down, somewhat shocked.

"Its okay. I know what I'm doing." His words seemed to calm her and she relaxed a little. Owen looked her over, his fingertips running lightly over the cuts that littered her arms. He did not want to be the bearer of bad news, but he wanted the girl to know the truth. "Jack hasn't told you has he. That we… we can't send you back."

Her eyes locked with his and for the second time her reaction was the opposite of what he expected. "What d'ya mean? I have to stay here, in this place, this… this time?"

Owen nodded. "We're still not entirely sure how the Rift works." He pointed to the base of the water tower and the rift manipulator. "You can't go back." She said nothing, but there seemed to be relief in her eyes. "So," Owen said quickly, trying to steer the conversation onto something less depressing. "Tell me about yourself Eva."

She looked away from him, down at the floor and brought her knees up to her chest as he wandered around the room, pressing different buttons and all sorts of things that Eva could not even begin to understand. She had no response for him though. Owen was now across the room. He looked over at her and sighed when she did not answer.

Luckily he was spared the awkward silence as Tosh appeared in the doorway. She led Eva out of the autopsy room and away so Eva could change into some dry clothes. The only clothes Toshiko could find at the time belonged to Ianto. Everyone knew that Ianto had been spending more time at the Hub, however when Toshiko found a pair of cotton pajama pants there she realized just how much time. She grabbed the pants for Eva and a white t-shirt.

When she returned to the center of the Hub, Gwen had gone home and only Jack, Ianto, Owen and Toshiko remained. Eva stood, her hair still wet and hanging in her face, and looked around. Everyone was staring at her. For the first time in her life she felt truly self conscious.

"Those are mine," Ianto commented.

"Yeah… sorry." Tosh smiled and Ianto chuckled.

Owen grabbed his black leather jacket and said goodbye to everyone before leaving. "I told everyone to call it a night. You can go home now if you want Tosh." She smiled and thanked Jack, then grabbed her coat and left.

Now it was just Eva, standing by Toshiko's work station staring at Jack and Ianto. Have they forgotten about me? Eva watched, but she could not hear anything the two men were saying. Ianto stood in front of Jack, only an inch or so away. Jack finished speaking and smiled, giving the younger man a hug. Eva's eyes flew open wide when she saw Ianto lean away from the hug, only to be pulled closer and she watched as Jack's lips pressed against Ianto's. Ianto's hands rested on Jack's shoulders as Jack's fingers laced into Ianto's hair. Slowly Ianto's hands slid over Jack's neck and found a home laced in Jack's hair. An embrace that Eva was sure was never going to end.

She had no explanation for it. The display fascinated her. Though, not on the sole reason that they were both men. All her life Eva had been sheltered. She had never seen an embrace like this one. Such passion, caring… she was tempted to say love, involved. She had never witnessed that before. Finally, the two broke apart and Ianto turned to leave Jack's office, his hand lingering for a moment with Jack's, fingers laced together. He smiled at Eva as he walked passed her and left the hub. She stared towards the cog door that Ianto exited through. "One of a kind," Jack told her. His voice startled her and she jumped before she looked up at him. "Ianto Jones." An almost, smitten smile formed on Jack's face.

He clapped his hands together and turned his attention towards Eva. "Gwen left these here for you," Jack told her, pointing to a pair of shoes that sat on Tosh's chair. "Put them on. You and I, we're going for a walk."

"Its raining," she answered as she slipped the shoes onto her feet. Eva looked down, feeling slightly uncomfortable in the clothes she was wearing. She had never worn pants before, or any sort of men's clothes for that matter. The pants were big on her. When she first put them on they did not stay up. Luckily they tied and she was able to tighten them. They were still quite long on her and the t-shirt was rather baggy.

"Not anymore," Jack answered. He took her hand and she followed Jack onto the small platform. He took the scenic route through the Hub and appeared in front of the water sculpture. Eva looked around outside, the sky was clear and Eva could see the moon and more of the stars. It looked different though. Five hundred plus years of rotation. The night sky looked slightly different now. Eva's eyes traveled the skyline and eventually returned to meet Jack's. "Welcome to Cardiff in the year 2008, Eva."

2008. That was impossible. Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. "That's right. The 21st Century." Jack tucked her hair behind her ears. "You've come a long way." He smiled and led her down towards the bay, closer to the water.

Eva stopped and closed her eyes, she could feel the wind blowing through her hair. Jack stood next to her, hand still holding hers. When she opened her eyes she looked over at him. "You're not from here."

Jack sighed and turned to face her. He shook his head. "No, I'm not. Not from Cardiff, not from Wales. Not from Earth, not from this time." He saw so much of his experience in her at the moment. He knew what it was like not just to be stuck in a different time, but centuries away from your home. "This is my home now though, my city. Been here for a long time."

"Owen said I could not go back."

"Do you want to? Tell me something, Eva. Do you even know what the year was where you're from."

"Last time I saw, it wasn't too long before… Last time I saw, it was 1347."

"When did you see the date? You… you can read?"

"Latin, French, and Greek… fluently," she answered.

"How?"

"I'm different," she answered softly. "Donum caelitus. That's what they called me."

"Who?"

"Diabolus, devils, demons." There was fear in her eyes at the mention of it. "Monks. I lived… I lived in a monastery. The only life I knew. The monks there… they…" Eva laughed but it was bitter, cold. "They called me donum caelitus. A gift from Heaven. As if God would ever give them anything."

"A monastery? I thought they didn't allow women."

"Not supposed to. I was the only one there. Their gift. Donum caelitus. I'm no gift from God. The Devil maybe, but surely not God." Eva looked up into Jack's blue eyes. "No. I don't want to go back. Go back to that place, that prison. Listen to the sound of the people in the village dying, slowly." She shook her head, tears falling from her emerald eyes. "I don't want to go back. I just want to know that they will never find me."

Jack wrapped his arms around her. He noticed then, that he had not put on his coat before he left. While it did not matter to him, he thought it a bit strange that he forgot it. Jack held Eva close to him. She closed her eyes and rested her head against his chest, letting his arms enclose around her small frame. She felt safe there. For the first time in her life she felt safe. No. She did not want to go back.