The pain was too much, but Katherine couldn't give up. Nick was right behind her, and only Torchwood could save her. She was close to the Hub, running as fast as she could, but she knew Nick was closing in on her.

Fear and panic filled her mind. She had trusted him, maybe even loved him. Was any of it real? Or was it all part of a plan?

She looked at her arm. It was gold, and her hand was silver. The colors were fluctuating, changing from Dalek colors to her own skin tone. What had he done to her?

She saw the door leading to Torchwood's tourist office. She flung it open, ran inside, and locked the door. She tried to catch her breath when movement behind her made her jump. She turned, but it was only Ianto. He looked worriedly at her. "Are you alright, Katherine?"

"He's following me. Jack was right. He did something to me."

"Who? Jack?"

"No. Nick, my...it doesn't matter. Please, I need to see Jack." Her eyes closed as the pain grew and began to overwhelm her. "Oh God! Help me!" And then her world went black.

Ianto caught her as she fell. He checked her pulse. It was rapid, but still there. She had simply fainted. He locked the door, lifted Katherine into his arms, and ran to the lift. He set her in the lift, then called Jack on the com. "Jack, Katherine's in the lift. She's unconscious. Get Owen to check, something's happened. Her skin was changing."

"Where are you?"

"Waiting for the one chasing her. I don't know, she was out of breath and scared and not really making sense." By now, he had his gun drawn, pointed at the door, ready to take down whoever came through.

"I think I know who's chasing her. Be careful, Ianto. He may seem human, but I doubt he really is."

"Always careful, sir." He hit the earpiece, shutting it off. He heard something trying to open the door, and then the door broke open. A man walked through, but something was wrong. His left hand was a claw, large with four talons, and his smile was jagged. Ianto shot the creature five times in a row at point blank. The man fell backwards, and Ianto let out a sigh of relief. But it got up again, quickly. "You think that could stop me?" The claw came down on Ianto's head, and he fell to the floor.

"Always careful, sir." That was the last thing Jack heard before the lift opened. Jack ran to it, and lifted her into his arms. "Owen!" he shouted as he ran to the medical table. Jack set her down as the rest of the team came over. Owen was next to Jack in an instant, checking her pulse. "She's all right, just unconscious."

"But her skin…" It had stopped changing, and settled on the Dalek colors.

"I think it's just part of the transformation. Maybe."

"He's right," came a voice none of them had heard before. Tosh and Gwen drew their guns and turned toward the voice. It was a man, but he wasn't human. His left arm was a claw, and his face had become scaly. He reminded Jack of a giant crocodile. "So you're the ones ruining my plans."

"Not them. Just me." Jack came up the stairs, hands in his pockets. "You must be Nick."

"She's mine," he growled.

"I don't think so." He drew his gun as Nick lifted his claws, for now his other hand had changed.

"Put the wea-pons down," came another new voice. But this one had some familiarity to it. Jack turned, gun still pointed at Nick, and saw Katherine. But it wasn't really her, it was her Dalek alter-ego. "I have de-cid-ded. I will join you." She was looking at Nick, who was becoming more alien than human by the minute.

He smiled. "Wonderful."

"No," Jack said, fully turning toward her. "You can't."

"We must." She hugged him, and returned the gesture. "We will find you soon." She let go of him, and walked to Nick. "We are read-dy." He took her hand, and they disappeared.

"Owen, go check on Ianto. The rest of you, get ready. I don't think we've seen the last of them yet."