Before I start the next chapter there are some things I should tell you.
Gwen did marry Rhys. Although she doesn't love him and knows in her heart she made a mistake.
Jack and Ianto Finished there relationship as Ianto decided he needed to be with someone who could offer him a life outside of work.
Chapter Three
They all arrived back at the hub where they proceeded to find out any helpful information they could on the hand. They had no luck. So Jack took the hand of caution and allowed Owen to run tests on it.
Jack, Gwen, the Doctor and Rose sat upstairs in the conference room.
'I don't understand it though' Gwen said 'Why would a single hand fall through the rift?'
'I don't know. It could just be nothing' Jack told her
'You may be right there Jack' the Doctor added 'Things fall through the rift all the time. That hand may have just been severed during a war hundreds of years ago and happened to fall into the rift'
'Yeah but still, a severed hand. That's just creepy' Rose said whilst making a disgusted look with her face.
'Guys' Tosh walked into the room, followed by Ianto who had made coffee 'I've been running tests on the rift from when the hand fell through and it seems it came from 1869'
'What does tell us?' Rose asked
'Well during 1869 Cardiff was mostly peaceful; there are no known records of anyone loosing their hand. I've hospital records, public and private. Also there were no wars happening in Cardiff during 1869. Also during 1869, the park where we found the hand was the location of an old funeral home' Tosh told them.
'That'll be the funeral home where Gwyneth worked. Wouldn't it?' Rose asked the Doctor.
'Most likely' the doctor replied
'See like I said. It's nothing' Jack said
'I wouldn't count on that' Owen said as he walked through the door 'This hand belonged to a female who was approximately 26 years old and it was severed post mortem'.
Jack just looked at him as if to say 'And?'
'Also it's expelling mass amounts of radiation' Owen added
'That's interesting' Jack said
'I know this isn't the job where we jump to conclusions but considering where we found the hand being the place where a funeral home once stood and that the hand was severed while this person was already dead is there any chance it was cut of as a result of the body being cut up before it was cremated?' Tosh asked
'Possibly' Jack replied 'But how do we explain the mass amounts of radiation emerging from it.'
'That may just be a side effect of travelling through the rift' Tosh explained.
'Owen. Is there any way of finding out whose hand that is?' Gwen asked
'Well…Well…Well I' Owen stuttered
'Owen spit it out' Jack told him
'I may already know whose hand it is' Owen said 'See there's a couple of distinctive marks on it that I recognise' he said as he turned to face Gwen.
Gwen started to feel sick. She had a feeling that the hand had something to do with her. Jack saw the nervousness in her eyes and gripped her hand under the table and squeezed it for support. Gwen smiled at him.
'As everyone can see it's the right hand. Theres a small freckle between the thumb and for finger. There is also a scar on the back of the hand that looks like a burn mark and there are two calcium spots on the top knuckle of the middle finger' Owen told them.
Gwen pulled her right hand from under the table and examined it.
'Oh my god' she Gasped. Everyone turned to look at her
'I'm sorry Gwen' Owen said
Jack pulled her hand towards him and stared at it. Gwen's hand had all the same marks as the mysterious hand from the rift.
'That can't be right' Jack protested.
'Jack you can look yourself. Gwen has all the same marks' Owen told him
'Wait. Doctor does this mean that this hand could be Gwyneth's?' Rose asked
'Possibly' the doctor replied
Gwen couldn't speak, she couldn't move and she could think. So she just sat there and let every one talk around her.
'That can't be right' Ianto said. 'it just cant be'
'This is unbelievable' Owen said with an excited look on his face. Tosh saw this and smacked him on the arm.
'Gwen. Gwen look at me' Jack told her as he took her hands into his 'We will figure this out. This hand doesn't mean anything' she smiled at him. She loved the way he tried to calm everyone down and make it seem as though there isn't a problem.
'Actually' Rose cut in 'Jack there maybe a problem. If that hand belongs to Gwyneth then that means history is changing' she looked to the doctor for clarification. The doctor simply nodded his head and signalled for her to carry on. So she did. 'You see, Gwyneth died in an explosion, there wasn't a hand left to fall through the rift'
'Also. That hand was cut of. Post mortem'. Owen added.
Gwen and Rose both winced at this.
'There defiantly wouldn't be a body left to cut the hand from. Not after an explosion like that' the doctor told them.
'So history is being re-written. What does that mean?' Ianto asked
'That means that everything that happened day (back in 1869) may be changing. Which means the Gelth may have actually succeeded in coming through the rift' Rose told him.
'What do we do?' Tosh asked
'Nothing' Jack said still holding onto Gwen's hands. 'We have no information about this hand apart from what Owen has told us. If what Owen has told us is in fact true then we deal with the consequences when we have more information. But for now there isn't enough for us to even put together the outline for a case'
'It may not even be Gwyneth's hand' Rose added 'I never once spotted a scar on the back of her hand. And a scar like that' she pointed to the hand 'is a distinctive scar. It's not something you easily miss'
'It could have happened in the explosion' the Doctor told her.
'STOP!' Gwen shouted 'Just stop all of you! Doctor you said that For the hand to come through the rift as it is that there couldn't have been an explosion because it wouldn't have survived intact' the doctor looked at her puzzled as did everyone else 'How can it have a scar from an explosion that never happened? And if there was an explosion and it did cause that scar how the bloody hell wasn't the hand blown up as well. And also that hand was severed after the woman was dead which means that there was also a body that hadn't been blown up so there couldn't have been an explosion'
'Right' said the Doctor 'Wait! What?' he asked
'I don't know' Gwen said leaning back in her chair 'I've just confused the hell out of myself'
'Yep' said the doctor.
All of a sudden Gwen started laughing.
'What's funny?' Jack asked
'All of this. Its just ridiculous' she told him 'it's a bloody hand we know next to nothing about it and were acting like it's the end of the world'.
'You bounce back fast' Rose said grinning.
'Yeah well you've got to in this job' she told Rose 'anyone up for a pint?' Everyone looked at her in disbelief. She really did bounce back fast. All the same everyone nodded and collected their belongings.
'Don't you have to back Rhys?' Jack asked. Jack hated himself for letting Gwen marry Rhys. He also hated Rhys because he had gotten to Gwen first.
'I think Rhys can cope without me' she told him. Truth be told she didn't want to go back to Rhys. She didn't want him kissing her, she didn't want to climb into bed with him and she didn't want Rhys to touch her. It felt wrong. Not because it made her feel sick but because she knew that she didn't deserve Rhys, he deserved someone who loves him, someone who can offer him a comfortable relationship and home. It was in that split second that she decided she couldn't carry on living a lie.
'Actually can I meet you in the pub in about an hour please?' Gwen asked 'there's something I've got to take care of'
'Sure' jack said and everyone else nodded.
'Ianto. Can you put that hand in sealed jar please? That radiation may be dangerous'. Jack told him as they were about to leave.
'Sure thing boss' Ianto replied. Ianto ran of and everyone waited for him to return before they exited the hub.
As everyone else left the hub and made their way to the pub, Gwen made her way back to the flat she shared with Rhys.
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