Tosh and Ianto walked up to the door of a run –down house on the corner of the street. There was rubbish in the front garden and rusty metal tools propped against the wall. It didn't exactly seem child-friendly though Ianto dismally.
They knocked on the door and after quite a while a woman came to open it. She was wearing only a night-dress and looked half asleep, her dark hair tousled and knotted. She blinked at them.
'Can I help you?' she asked impatiently.
Ianto and Tosh exchanged a look. 'Yes, we're from the Torchwood institute, it's-' began Tosh, showing her ID.
'Why?' the woman cut her off.
'It's about your son. Jace.' She said tentatively.
The woman seemed unmoved.
'We've got him in our custody' said Ianto.
The woman just looked at them. They couldn't help feeling that something was slightly…off about her.
'You are Miss Connors aren't you?' Tosh asked.
'Yeah' she said, 'Jace's mine'
Ianto noticed that her pupils were dilated and they seemed to swim out of focus. She was also incredibly thin and there were dark shadows under her eyes.
'Miss Connors, would you mind if we came in?' Ianto said.
She said nothing but waved them inside.
Compared to the inside of the house, the garden may as well have been a playground. There was rubbish lying around in heaps; old food packaging, cigarettes and tissues strewn across the floor. Everything was coated in grime or dust and the air was powdery and thick with tobacco smoke. Tosh saw Ianto looking around wide-eyed at the mess; it was his idea of hell.
They followed Miss Connors into the back room, all of them remained standing.
'What d'you want then?' she said.
Ianto and Tosh looked at each other, confused.
'Miss Connors, we have reason to believe that your son may have a medical problem.' Tosh said slowly.
Miss Connors did not respond.
'We're trying to find out what this is and how we can best help him.' She continued, looking meaningfully at Ianto for support.
'Yes, we need to know if you'd noticed anything wrong recently.' Ianto said. He couldn't understand why this woman wasn't more concerned for her son.
Miss Connors gave them a dark look. 'What has he been saying?' She almost growled. Tosh and Ianto exchanged another look.
'That he's been having fits, sort of hallucinations' Tosh replied. Miss Connors did not seem particularly stable; she began to pace erratically around the room.
'I told him…I told them before. It's fine. There's nothing wrong. Why won't you leave us alone? I told him. He's fine!' her voice was rising and she began to clutch her hair as though she couldn't believe what was happening.
Ianto tried to calm her down, 'Miss Connors it's alright we're looking after him'
She didn't appear to be listening.
'Why don't you have some water' suggested Tosh. At this, she nodded and walked off to the kitchen.
'What is going on here?' Tosh said to Ianto when Jace's mother was out of earshot.
'I don't know.' He frowned, 'but we should let Jack and Owen know. She's having some sort of break down. She's…not stable.'
They were both quiet for a moment considering that this woman had supposedly been bringing up a child on her own.
Suddenly Tosh screamed, 'Ianto!' as Miss Connors lunged towards him from the doorway with a syringe. She plunged it into his neck before he could move.