The fact that NG didn't come down for breakfast tipped Jack off that something wasn't right. The second clue was that the SUV was missing. Jack remembered that NG could hot-wire anything, even a vehicle that an alien organization used. He checked his wrist strap and thankfully NG hadn't removed his bracelet. Jack was pleased that a least NG didn't want to go rogue over this. But Jack had a feeling he knew exactly what NG was planning.

Now he just needed a way to get back to the camp. That was when his mobile rang.

"Hello?"

"Is my son still alive?" It was John. "If he met with some unforeseen accident because he was a pain in the ass, I will understand!" John laughed into the phone. "I'm calling because Mark thinks NG was in the room with us the other night. I told him he was dreaming and maybe it was because he was worried about his baby being on his first assignment. So anything we should know about?" John was joking, of course.

Jack said a silent "shit" before he answered. "NG went back to the camp, we have found out some interesting things, but nothing concrete. But we think it is alien." Jack's wrist strap started beeping. Something big was happening at the camp. His next "shit" wasn't silent.

"Is something up Jack, why are you beeping?" John seemed more concerned now.

"Nothing, just a signal for activity. NG is on it now." Not really a lie, just that NG may have caused it, Jack thought. "I should catch up with him. Sorry to rush you off the line but you know how it is. Talk to you later, John." He ended the call just as Dr. Sherman walked up.

Before the doctor could say good morning, Jack spoke. "Please tell me you have a car, NG maybe in trouble. I need to get to him!" He was frantic now.

"Sure, Professor, follow me. I'll just get my bag, in case." They went to the office then headed out to the campsite all the time Jack kept watch on his wrist strap to make sure NG was still all right.

"What is that thing? Is it a GPS unit?" The doctor asked when he noticed that Jack couldn't take his eyes off of it.

"Something like that. I'll level with you, Dr. Sherman; we aren't a student and a teacher. We work for Torchwood. The ghost isn't just a ghost; it is an imprint in time. Right now I have an over reactive agent that has taken it upon himself to investigate the phenomena. Please, just hurry to our campsite." Jack licked his lips in worry.

"Okay, sir, I'll get you there. This is government work now. For Crown and Country, I will succeed." Dr. Sherman put his foot to the gas pedal. With a roar of the engine they speeded towards NG. Jack just hoped when they got there that it wasn't too late.

"Damn the kid, he really is a pain. He just doesn't think, sometimes. What is it that is going through his head?" Jack was sure NG's new path was just as self-destructive as all the other paths the youth loved to take. He held his breath, hoping he wouldn't have to explain to his parents that he lost their son to a moment in time.

NG was just moving without thinking when he got to the spot in the clearing where he entered Doris' time the other night. So much so that he failed to see the hole he tripped on. He fell and hit his head on a rock. It didn't stop him from getting up and continuing.

He was thinking about how Jack was going to be angry with him for not telling him his plans. He was aware that Jack was letting bits of his pain go and NG didn't like the thought of his actions bringing Jack new pain. He wanted Jack to be free, but he also needed to do this on his own. Somehow the white light he saw in the vision was connected to him. He needed to know why. Jack would have to understand. That is, if NG returned from the past.

He took that leap of faith as he randomly stepped onto the spot the scanner said was a time displacement patch. The cold sense that the spot released was nothing compared to NG's fear right now of the unknown. "I could just step back, wait for Jack and tell him what I know. Something deep inside is telling me that if I don't go now there will never be another chance." He closed his eyes and envisioned Doris as he had found her the other night.

The warm air alerted NG to the fact that he wasn't in his time anymore. He smelled the flowers in bloom, heard birds singing and buzzing of spring's insects. He felt the sun's warmth caressing his cheeks. When he opened his eyes, he was in the same field as he had been the night before. Except for one difference; Doris wasn't alone. Hal was standing next to her.

As if alerted to the intruder he let out a scream that deafened NG. He involuntarily placed his hands over his ears, falling to the ground to make himself as small as possible. His breathing was rapid, he swore later when he thought about it that he was panting from panicking. He wished he could return, but he didn't know how. So he did the only thing he could do. He gathered his strength and stood tall.

The "Creature" was on him just as he stood up, staring with his alien eyes right into his human ones. "If you're scanning me in the hope of getting inside my mind," NG spoke directly to Hal. "You're out of luck. The moonstone similar to the one you are wearing took away any of those abilities and shut me off to intruders."

Hal moved back as Doris ran over to him. "He's the one, the one I told you I saw here last spring." She watched NG through her blue eyes smiling. "You just left in such a hurry. I was worried about you. You seemed faint." She was so innocent, caring and very human.

Hal cocked his head to one side while scrutinizing NG. "You are familiar to me. No, you cannot be. But yet I know you." Hal went to touch NG with a gentle hand. NG let it happen. "Will know, I will know you."

NG started to shiver as Hal's mind was led slowly into his thoughts, trying to touch NG's mind. Somewhere, something snapped and an image of a child that looked half like his father and half of one of them appeared and disappeared in a flash. "What was that?" NG didn't like this intrusion and gathered up his energy to force Hal away. "Don't touch me again!" He yelled as he moved away from the couple.

"You know not what is hidden from you. Somehow you have to find out. But what is it that brought you here?"

"The child, I don't know, it was something with the child. I can't explain, but what you have, the moonstone, can it fix my broken mind?" He was letting tears fall down his face. This was not making sense. What didn't his parents tell him that he needed to know right now?

"Shouldn't he know, even if he can't see Ramanh? He should know about his brother, John." NG watched his parents from inside his crib. Their voices alerted the baby to their presence but just as he was going to cry out, he chose to listen for a bit.

"Since he is going with you, he won't have the Twins to upset him with the past. He can't follow them to see his brother, anyway. It will make him feel more alone than he will already be. We know that in time, he may be able to do what we do. Lovely, I won't lie and say everything will be okay for him. When in Paris, if you want to work with him, fine. I will drill it into the Twins that NG will only be upset if he knows they can do something he can't. I will also make it a point that no one tells him about your past or about Ramanh when you come home. But we can't protect him from the battle fought in Cardiff. Some things like the moonstone, he will hear about. He should know if he asks, that is why he is different from Leon and Jolein." He grabbed for Mark before adding a plea. "You will come home?"

Mark sighed, falling easily into John's strong arms. "When I find what I need and you work through your lust." Mark pulled away.

John was visibly shaken by Mark's words. Feeling the rejection, he spoke quietly. "I won't lie."

"I know. You have him all over you. Now, I'm going. Come on NG, say good-bye to Daddy."

The vision ended with NG falling to his knees in exhaustion. He saw the moonstone around Hal's neck glowing. "The moonstone just did something. I have a half brother like your child." He looked at Doris.

"She is beautiful and now with her Father's kind. That was some time ago." Doris said as NG took in the new scene before him. Both Creature and human stood hand in hand overlooking a land unfamiliar in appearance to NG. His mind opened to the purple flowers in a field under a golden sky slightly turning green. "She and your brother have a purpose," Doris said with a laugh.

"What purpose?" NG felt lightheaded, the figures in the field started to vanish with the darkening light.

"Someday you will know, but for now we close this door, so as to open another. You will know it all, NG, you will know it all."

He awoke in the tent once again with Dr. Sherman taking his pulse. He groaned, feeling as if weight landed on his head. "There is no place like home," he mumbled softly and laughed, coughing a little and bringing on a white sharp pain that split his head in two.

"Easy NG, you have had a bit of a head trauma, there. We found you with a bruise the size of a tennis ball on the front of your head, lying in the field. You need to take it slow. Do you know who I am?" The doctor flashed an annoying light into NG's eyes.

"Yes, Doctor Sherman." Sleep claimed him before he could say anymore.

Jack was outside, going over the equipment for any sign of what might have happened. "Come on, show me what he saw, what he did. I want to know." Jack kicked the monitor before cranking it up again. Dr. Sherman saw Jack's frustration from the tent as he went to join him.

"He was awake briefly, then he went back to sleep mumbling something about home. Jack, he seemed confused. Do you still think he was back in the past?" Dr. Sherman got a cup a coffee and sat down at the table watching Jack, who was watching the field.

"What I think is that he is going to be in a lot of trouble for disobeying his boss's orders. I have a strict policy rule that none of my employees seem to be able to follow. First one is you do what I say. That one seems to be crossed out and filed under the 'Don't remember' list. He signed the damn papers. Then they all did, doesn't mean they ever listen. He reminds me more like a certain policewoman and number one rule breaker, Gwen Williams. She is just lucky I thought she was cute as a button, or she would have been tossed a long time ago!" He kicked the monitor again, making it die. "Shit!"

Doctor Sherman giggled at the leader of Torchwood. "I'm glad you told me the truth, Jack. I feel privileged. Are your coworkers going to be here soon?"

"Well, you seem trustworthy and yes. My chief technical engineer will be heading up here with his wife; she is one of my best agents." He kicked the monitor off its stand as he stood. "I hope they can fix this now." He started to laugh as he looked at the field. "Somewhere out there is an answer. And NG knows it."

NG was well awake by the time Dan and Sally arrived at the camp. His hearing picked up on the different sound of their vehicle made versus the peaceful sound of the wilderness around them. He was sure Jack must have called in the troops when he figured out that the monitors weren't working. Somehow NG knew the moonstone had played a part in that. The past's door of Doris and Hal's story was closed; it would never be opened again. More importantly, NG was aware that the whole occurrence happened because he was born and some how meant to see it.

His mind was plagued with these thoughts that he knew he could never share. Somewhere in his vision for lack of a better term, was an answer, a key to parts of who he really would become. NG struggled to sit up. He needed to be away from this place. He wanted to go home. His Papa would help; somehow because of his Papa's actions NG was paying the price. His feet were unsteady but he managed to walk out of the tent.

Jack was the first to see him. Dan and Sally were facing the direction of the field with more equipment than Jack and he had brought. NG smiled at Jack as he walked past him heading unsteadily towards the husband and wife team.

Jack turned and followed NG. "You won't find anything there," he told them. "Whatever it was, it is effectively closed now. The time displacement won't be happening again." His words showed a sense of conviction forcing Dan to turn towards NG.

"NG, if it is true, we need to make sure of that. You shouldn't worry about it." Dan smiled, handing Sally a hand scanner.

"Hello to you as well, NG!" She laughed, tilting back her head slightly. Dan admired how age never seemed to touch Sally. "Stop that, you! There is work to do. NG, what did you do to open the portal?" In between calibrating the scanner she glanced up at him. "How did you get the bump on your head?"

He reached for the spot on his head that itched. He remembered falling sometime before the portal was open. "I think when I first got here."

"What happened?" It was Jack from behind him that asked.

NG winced a little at Jack's voice. Something in Jack right now was making him nervous. Whatever it was that happened to him made him sensitive to Jack's place in time. But why now did that matter? Did the moonstone have something to do with this sudden awareness? There was too much to process, too many answers needed. His balance gave a little, making him weave back and forth.

"Easy, I've got you." Jack was at his side. "Dr. Sherman, could you come here, please, and bring one of the folding chairs? NG, it's okay, you can tell us." To Sally and Dan, Jack seemed a little more frightened than concerned.

"It's okay Jack, you can let go. I won't fall over. Nothing happened, really. I talked to Doris and Hal and the door was shut. There wasn't much else." He lied.

Dr. Sherman showed up with the chair and a bottle of water for NG. "Hey sit, you need to bring your fluids up. Let me have a look at your eyes." The doctor glanced into NG's eyes. "Well your pupils are handling the light fine, so I think you are just going to have a headache for a bit. Here, take these and it will help the pain."

When NG was done swallowing the pills, Dan had finished setting up the equipment. He checked out the monitor a bit before turning to Jack. "Here is the reading from Mark the day he used the moonstone in The Cardiff Battle. Here is a similar reading from the woods in the spring of 1944 and this line here is from a few minutes before you found NG. NG, are you still going to say nothing happened?" Dan glared at NG.

"Dan, he may not be aware if a moonstone was used or not." They were all aware that at some point NG might have known that his Papa had used the moonstone it was in the histories. But what that meant to NG was something yet to be known.

NG blinked, staring at the two of them. Jack moved from next to NG to gauge the young man's mood. NG was withdrawn from them more than normal. He was also lying to them. Jack could only guess what the young man was holding back. If NG had found out about the creature and human hybrids, did NG find out something about Mark's part in the experiment as well?

Before NG answered, Sally's scanner was beeping; telling her that left over moonstone energy was near by. The source was NG. She made a face as she moved closer to him. Dr. Sherman moved back for what he hoped was a safer distance. "A noise like that can't be anything good." He half grinned, hoping his joke wasn't insensitive.

"NG, don't move." Sally asked as she walked around him with the scanner. Jack watched NG for any abnormal reaction. NG at best was never one to talk about things, but the NG from last night was frantic with trying to understand what was happening with these time displacement patches and a possible connection to Doris and the "creatures." This NG was clamped down tighter than a clenched fist of dead man. He didn't move as asked. To Jack, it seemed that he didn't react at all.

Jack had a bad feeling about this. What if somehow this wasn't NG? What if whatever NG went through in the past changed him for the worse?

As if NG picked up on Jack's thoughts he looked up and right into the Immortal's eyes. "It is me, Jack, I swear to that. Just I'm a really tired me." He softly smiled at the Captain before changing his gaze to Sally. "Hal had a moonstone, he used it to close the door. I think I got exposed to it. Can I go home now, to my parents house, please?" The latter part was spoken softly, almost like a plea.

Jack softened a bit at NG's gentle plea but he didn't let his guard down until Sally confirmed he was still NG. She looked at her boss and husband and nodded her head. Jack breathed out as he responded to NG. "We can go anywhere you want, just tell me where. I'll take you." It didn't slide past Jack that NG had read his mind. Jack came to the conclusion that it would be best to take him back to Cardiff. Mark would be able to deal with this awakening NG more then they could.

To Sally and Dan it seemed that more was going on than a boss and employee relationship. But both dismissed it as Jack's concern for his godson. "He was exposed but it isn't a threat to him. NG there is good news to this, I don't know if it is permanent but your telepathic levels have increased. I'm going to set you up for a few tests when we get back. Then we can monitor you to see your development. I bet that will make you happy." She smiled, leaning in to kiss him on the cheek. "Congratulations."

"Thank you." He surprisingly smiled. He stood up with a glance back towards field one last time before he went back into the tent. Dr. Sherman followed him, mouthing to Jack that he would "see to him."

When both men were out of earshot, Jack asked Sally a question. "How bad was the exposure?"

"I won't lie; it is playing havoc with his body. When he was exposed the first time, Mark's body absorbed most of the energy. This was more direct. I have to check up more on this. Jack, I'm really blind on all this. But he may be more time sensitive from just going through the portal but doubled with the moonstone he may not quite be here in this time."

With the news hitting home, since he didn't trust standing, he took the seat NG had left vacant to finish listening to Sally.

"Wait, Jack, there is some good news with this; it may not be long term. NG's readings changed while he sat here. The energy from the moonstone was dissipating. I didn't want to alarm him just yet. But we can keep an eye on him. Now, do you tell his parents or do I?" She thought Jack looked like he did when Ianto was taken. He was blaming himself again.

"I think that is why he wants to go home. NG will tell Mark. I know that for a fact. I'll tell John, or we all can when we know more. I'd best get him home. Can you kids finish up here for me?" He sighed out frowning at the ground as his thoughts were heading in directions he didn't want to go again. He was falling for NG; the kid was filling in holes that Ianto's death left open. But if he was going to lose NG to some unforeseen future was it worth getting involved?

As he stood to head up to the tent, Dan spoke. "Jack, don't blame yourself. We don't know if it is even a problem yet. NG is different, we have been aware of that for a long time. Right now we are starting to see just how different. If you have feelings for him, don't hide it. Sometimes it is better to take that step than to never know what it is like. Ianto wouldn't want you to be alone forever." He rested his hand on Jack's shoulder letting his boss, friend and brother know that all of them were here for him as long as they were alive.

"Understood." His voice was soft. "We'll see you back in Cardiff. I'll be awaiting your findings." He didn't look back as he headed for the tent.

One quick stop that was all NG wanted. He had to see Doris's house. There was something asking him go there. She had this joy that she shared with him briefly of the garden. It was something that he felt before the door closed to her forever somewhere in time.

Jack walked around the remains of the house watching NG out of the corner of his eyes. He was trying to give the brat a little space. He was surprised how NG seemed happy that they were heading home. He smiled brightly when Jack said it was okay to see Doris's house.

The sun came out for a brief moment from behind threatening rain cloud as NG caught something out of the corner of his eye. It was a shining something in the dirt coming from under a piece of fence wood that had fallen into the flowerbed from neglect. He bent down to retrieve it. It hit him then, that feeling. It was a speck of its original size, but it was most definitely a piece of Hal's moonstone.

Jack saw NG reaching for something but turned his head up at the sound of a hawk flying overhead. When he turned back to him, NG was heading back to him.

"I want a garden and a place like this one day. Maybe not in the country this far out of the city, but somewhere near Cardiff." He warmly smiled at Jack.

"I'm sure you will get it someday. Now, are you ready to go home?" NG nodded as he headed off to the car. The raincloud covered the sun as Jack looked up again when the hawk cry out as it circled once more. He felt the rain hit his forehead, telling him it was time to leave. As he turned for a split moment he thought he saw Doris standing with Hal at the edge of the garden. He shook his head, assuming it was just a trick of the light.

End Chapter 9

TBC