"All right," Gwen said as she settled at the top of the ladder Andy was holding steady. "Hand it up."

Andy passed up a small flat disc and watched as Gwen pressed it against the wall. In seconds the silvery plastic-like object shimmered, morphed into an opaque orange, then turned transparent, blending almost perfectly to the rough surface. Wouldn't notice it unless you knew it was there. He took a closer look. Even then, it's hard to detect.

"Last one up. How are we looking, Tosh?"

Andy jumped slightly as a distinctly female voice issued forth from the disc that had just been placed, as well as the others that had been set earlier. "Have Andy walk around to make sure we've got good coverage."

Gwen grinned at Andy's discomfort before saying, "You heard her. Walk around so we can be sure there's no blind spots."

He waited until Gwen was partway down the ladder before he started wandering around the warehouse floor, weaving around discarded cartons. "So those disc thingies are a sort of CCTV camera?"

"Something like that," answered the disembodied voice. "I'm Toshiko, by the way."

"Nice to meet, er, hear you." He continued to walk around the area, unconsciously adjusting the holster hidden under his jacket several times. Even though the actual weight of the gun was slight, it felt as if the burden was closer to five stones.

"Gwen," came Tosh's voice again. "The one by the main door, keep it at the same height but move it one meter to the left."

"On it." Gwen gave Andy a kindly smile when she spied him adjusting the holster again. While she repositioned the disc, she said, "You'll get used to it."

"I hope not." For all that he had envied Gwen moving to Special Ops, for all the sheer number of day dreams in which he imagined himself as a sort of James Bond with an unerring accuracy with any number of weapons (not to mention a gorgeous woman on each arm), he had not once considered the ramifications. Ramifications which were weighing him down as much as the imaginary burden of the gun was weighing him down.

When he had met Gwen that morning for his training session, he had been keen. Overly so, in fact. He had excelled when taught how to disassemble, clean, reassemble, and load the gun. The same was true when she lectured about safety and precaution. It was only when he entered the shooting range that the implications of what he was about to do hit him. He was training to injure, or worse, kill. It was no longer something to be envious of, nor to fantasize about. And even though he was shooting at paper outlines, he couldn't bring himself to take a kill shot. Most of the time, he could barely bring himself to aim at the target. In place of the outline of a silhouette, he pictured Mrs. Jenner, his elderly neighbor across the way. After that, he envisioned David from the pub he liked to go to on weekends. The more he tried to shoot, the more people he saw.

It had been a dismal failure with Gwen giving him that phony smile which indicated she was lying through her gap teeth. And when she told him in that fake, cheery tone, "Don't worry. You just need more practice," he had rolled his eyes and holstered the gun he no longer desired to carry.

"Okay, Tosh. It's repositioned. How do we look?" Gwen asked the open air once she had moved the disc.

"Hold on a moment, Gwen. Ianto's calling in." Tosh's voice murmured for less than a second before coming back more clearly, this time through the ear comms. "Go ahead, Ianto. You've got everyone."

There were a few moments of silence, broken only by the sound of muffled shuffling. When he finally spoke it was in a rushed whisper. "One of the women, Brenda, is acting strange. She just left the house we're staying in heading north. I'm going to follow her."

"No," Jack's voice broke in. "Don't break your cover until we know if this is related or not. Ianto stay put. Everyone else will focus on locating this Brenda."

"Fine." Ianto clearly did not sound happy. "I'll stay here for now."

"And I'll be maintaining my watch over you to make sure. Tosh, stay at the Hub. See if you can follow her on the CCTV network. Gwen, Andy, Owen, get here as quick as you can."

Gwen grabbed the ladder, had it stowed in the SUV's boot, and was buckling up before Andy managed to slide into the passenger seat. "Tosh, do we have a description?" she asked as they sped away from the warehouse.

"I'm working on it."

Andy, still not used to the comms system, spoke more loudly than necessary. "Caucasian, age between 40 - 45, average height and weight, blonde shoulder length hair. No obvious scars or tattoos. Might be wearing a pale blue parka."

At Gwen's look of surprise, he added, "I met her when I was tracking down people who knew Ianto's friend."

"Pale blue, yep," whispered Ianto. "And I think Steve's following her. He took off moments after, heading same direction."

"Soldier Steve or Young Steve?"

"Young. I have to go. Maggie and Bill are getting suspicious."

Andy thought a moment before saying, "Steve's description is Caucasian, age 20-25, average height, weight approximately 17 stone ..."

"So a porker," quipped Owen over the comm.

"As I was saying," he replied sarcastically, "17 stone, closely shaved brown hair. Had a shiner, left eye, last I saw him."

"Gwen, take the next left. Brenda will be about one and a half blocks up on the other side of the street. Owen, there's an accident blocking your route. Take the next right, then the fourth left to avoid the jam."

Gwen took the turn sharply and then pulled into the first available parking spot. "We'll go in on foot. Less chance of spooking her that way."

"Be careful, Gwen. Keep her in sight but do not approach," Jack ordered. "Do not get close enough for her to touch you! You too, Andy. Stay well back. Owen, you have the tranq gun with you?"

"Yep, and fully loaded. Be there in about another five minutes."

"There they are," Andy said, pointing out the couple to Gwen.

She nodded, scanning the crowded street. "You cross over here and head towards them. I'll go up and circle back. Come up from behind them. Follow them if they should start moving again but don't try to stop them. And whatever you do, don't let her touch you."

Andy grumbled as he crossed the busy thoroughfare. Everyone keeps telling me not to let anyone touch me but, as usual, bloody Torchwood won't say why. Wankers, the lot of 'em. He was about a block away from where Brenda and Steve were standing, giving off the impression of being in the middle of a heated argument. At first, he strolled towards them casually, doing everything he could to not bring any sort of attention to himself.

As he drew closer, his instincts flew into high gear. Something was wrong. Something was going to happen. He screamed out, "Gwen!" as he began pelting down the street.

Andy had nearly reached them when Steve glanced over his shoulder at the oncoming traffic. Quickly wrapping his arms around Brenda, he stepped back, pulling them both in front of a fast moving lorry.