The sound of a child crying brought Ianto, Gwen and Tosh running over to where Jack was standing. Owen grabbed the jump kit from the car and followed them. "Bloody Hell," he said, though everyone was thinking it.

"Shhhh, not in front of the child," Gwen said without thought.

"Well that child is, or was John Hart," Ianto said. "Not sure what he is now, though. Jack?"

"I've never seen anything like this. Owen, we're going to need to make some tests."

The child started crying again, looking up at them with wide blue eyes. "Aw, poor thing," Gwen said, kneeling down to be closer to him. "Come here, love." She reached for the little boy but he pulled backwards, crying even harder and trying to say something.

"What's he saying? Do you know what the language is?" Ianto asked Jack. The language sounded like it should be familiar or something, but the young archivist couldn't wrap his head round it. Jack knelt down and held out his arms a little awkwardly, speaking softly in something like the same language. The boy tried to move to him but fell over the clothes still clinging to his tiny body. Jack grabbed him before he could hit the ground and pulled him up into his arms, addressing him in the same language or something close to it.

"It isn't exactly one language and it's all garbled," Jack said. Now that he had the child free of the clothes, he started to put him back down absently but the boy clung to him. "Owen, can you do a quick scan now, and take a look at his arm. I think he burned it when the vortex manipulator overloaded, at least I think it overloaded. Tosh, did you get readings on whatever it was that John did?"

"It'll take me time but once we get back to the hub I can start the analysis."

"Ok, Owen, he's all yours," Jack said, trying to hand the child over.

"No way, mate," he said. The former John Hart squirmed as well, and the dead man backed away. "You hold, I'll examine." He reached for the toddler but he pushed his face into Jack's coat and tried to get as far away as he could. "See?"

Jack took the boy's head in his hand and turned his face towards him. He said something to him, and then listened to the response and replied. "John is confused. He isn't exactly speaking a language, more like bits and pieces of several so it's hard to understand. He says his head hurts, and his arm."

"Is he slurring his words, having any dizziness, blurry vision?" Owen asked. Jack turned to the child and said something.

"No, nothing like that, at least from what he can tell me. Take a look at his arm and then we will get him back to the hub for a full examination." He turned to the child, and after a few words, John held his arm out reluctantly.

"Ok, Ianto, Gwen, get everything packed up, Tosh, take whatever readings you need, and let's get back. I would really like to get this figured out and soon." They nodded. Ianto had already picked up the clothes with a look of distaste and was stowing them away in a bag, while Gwen secured the scene and picked up some odd bits of machinery that had been leftover from the explosion.

"Jack, what do you want to do with this then?" Ianto said, holding up the blackened leather strap so similar to his lovers.

"Best give it here, I'm not sure what went wrong and whether or not it is functional." He took the strap which Ianto had wrapped carefully in his handkerchief to keep the soot off his hands. Jack tucked it carefully in his pocket. Owen finished his examination, sprayed the wound which caused the boy to let out a string of something that sounded a lot like curses. Jack reprimanded him absently, as he tried to figure out what to do next.

With some difficulty, they managed to get everyone and everything stowed in the SUV. There was no child seat and he wouldn't let go of Jack to allow him to drive so the leader of Torchwood Three was reduced to sitting in the back seat with a safety belt around the two of them. Ianto and Owen had argued about who was driving until Ianto reminded him that his driving license was invalidated by his death and now was really not the time to get stopped. Tosh was in the middle seat, between Gwen who kept looking at John with a cross between shock and broody.

At the hub, Jack finally convinced John to let go as long as he didn't leave the room so that Owen could give him a proper examination. Except for Tosh, who had immediately headed for her computer and the analysis of exactly what had happened, the rest of the team leaned on the chain barricade above autopsy.

"Ok," Owen began as he looked at the last of the printouts. "According to all my equipment he is a more or less a perfect toddler. He is two years, six months and seven days old; temperature is a little lower than normal for a human but perfectly within range for him. I compared his blood work, blood gases and scans with what I have on file for him and they are all within exceptable norms."

"So why is he a toddler?" Jack asked. The child that was John Hart was sitting on the autopsy table, with his arm bandaged, wrapped in a blanket Ianto had brought up from their room. He thought Jack's scent might keep him comfortable and he had been right. So far the child had been relatively subdued.

"I haven't a clue, but at least he is a healthy toddler. I can find nothing anatomically wrong with him. I am going to run some brain wave scans but I want to wait. For the moment, I prescribe rest, something to eat, oh, and a bath, he's filthy."

"Yeah, aren't we all?" Ianto said, looking down at his suit with distaste.

"Ok, Ianto, can you order some food for everyone before you go clean up?" the younger man nodded. "Gwen, can you go and sort out some things for John? You know the kind of thing, something to sleep in, shoes, whatever else we will need for him for a day or so until we get him back to normal?"

"I think Mothercare is closed, but I'll run out to the Asada and see what I can find. Should do well enough at least for tonight. If necessary, we can do more tomorrow."

"Thanks, Gwen. Tosh…you keep doing what your doing," he called out over his shoulder. The tech looked up at him, nodded and then returned to her work.

"Owen, you…"

"I know, I know, keep looking," the medic said, before turning back to the results on his work station.

"Jack, what about John?" Ianto reminded him, nodding to the boy wrapped in the blanket. Jack followed his look, then went down and opened his arms to the child that had once been his partner and lover. The little boy scrambled eagerly into his arms. The younger man watched, having no idea what must be going through Jack's mind, and what he could do to help.