Near Hughes Flats; Cardiff, Wales

Steven Carter set groceries on the kitchen counter. Anwen used to joke that grocery shopping and running errands in Cardiff was dangerous. Whenever someone targeted tad-cu he was at Asda or picking up Jack's dry cleaning. He was once stabbed in a toy store buying presents for his nieces and nephews.

"Problem?" John walked toward the coffeemaker.

"I was followed by two women with contemporary tech." Steven started unpacking groceries. "They kept following me knowing they'd been seen. One waved."

"Hot?"

Steven hesitated a moment. "Seriously?"

John shrugged. "Government? Corporation?"

"I don't know." Steven had an idea. He hoped it was paranoia.

"Who?" John poured coffee in a mustang mug.

"The Sisters."

"Say they were. Why?"

Steven wondered that himself. "The obvious? They're already watching Anwen."

"They could have noticed the Rift activity." John stared at the counter while he thought. "Or we've missed something."

"The intel has been shit."

"The Sisters stayed under Torchwood radar until they revealed themselves to Anwen." John sipped his coffee. "They worship the Rift. They would operate in Cardiff."

Steven wondered if it was that simple. "They could have psychics like The Refuge."

"Or Moss-Probert caught there attention. Charon doesn't show up unless a situation is bad."

What did that leave? Steven wondered. "We have Rift energy and chronons. We caught their attention."

John grabbed a chocolate bar Steven just unpacked. "Were they hot?"

"Obsessive, anti-male, homicidal."

"And?" John shrugged. He carried his mug over to the table. "You need to get laid."

Steven shook his head slightly and hoped John wasn't serious. It was hard to tell at times. Particularly when he offered advice that was too personal. With all the stress, it had been too long. Once they had a handle on the situation, Steven needed to find someone. Who didn't ask too many questions. He didn't look forward to that. What was the point of a relationship built on lies?

"The Mirage sounds interesting. Local club."

"You've been looking up clubs?"

"Yeah." John sounded amused. "We've been here long enough you're looking good."

Steven closed his eyes. He needed time to unwind soon.


Torchwood Three

At some point, Jack Harkness knew he needed to sit down with Anwen and explain how wrist-straps worked. If he had any doubts about why it couldn't be removed, finding out she could access the hub resolved them. He would have taken it and placed it in a containment unit for storage. Even she thought it was too dangerous for a kid to have.

"I get a different layout than Ianto showed me." Anwen handed him a tablet.

Jack accepted the tablet and it immediately signed Anwen out. Unless John was behind it somehow, there had to be a valid reason for the security procedures. Or the changes were made by an unstable control freak. Jack handled the computer back.

"Access it again."

Anwen quickly signed back in and found the alternative facility map again. She held it up, gripping the tablet too tightly. "Doesn't this make me a target?"

"Only if you tell someone," Jack said, distracted by trying to memorize the map. Instruct Anwen to move the image so he could see more than would fit on the screen added to the frustration. "Select the room with the Global icon."

Anwen turned the tablet and tapped the screen. "It must not be like Ianto's map."

"I need to check the room."

Finding it was simple enough. Even without Anwen's map, he would have questioned the reinforced door. A wrist-strap scan showed it was shielded. Previously, he could open every door and access every system. With what he knew and suspected of the changes, that had been transferred to Anwen. Even if a future version of her made the changes, that didn't make sense. Why would the head of Torchwood give that type of authority to a nine year old? Even factoring in the ego and arrogance needed for the job, she had to know how dangerous that was. He was missing something.

"Can you open the door?" Jack asked.

Anwen flipped open her wrist-strap, and reached for the door handle. The lock disengaged with a click. She then tugged the door. Jack grabbed it, pulling it back far enough to move in front of it and prop it open. Then he scanned the room.

"What is it?" Anwen asked, flipping her strap closed.

An impressive mainframe computer. He couldn't access it, but the system hardware was incredible. From Anwen's description of the icon, he wondered if it was a copy of a future Torchwood database. That could be incredibly useful, if they could access it.

"A future computer." Jack closed the door.

"What's going on?" Anwen crossed her arms. The stress was getting to her even if she wasn't admitting it. "This isn't a stupid movie for kids."

"You weren't expected to access the system." It was the best explanation Jack had and it didn't work.


Using his new office, Ianto Jones checked the computer presets. The so-called upgrades disrupted the entire system. Part of the changes worked; part of them didn't. It appeared random, increasing Ianto's suspicion. Best case scenario, it forced him to review everything manually. Twenty minutes into the tedious project, he was glad he took the time. Two problems stood out.

The government altered it's software recently without notifying them. He had to reestablish the hub's access. Then check PD. It looked good. Suspecting it would be next, he set-up notifications if they lost access to any of the databases.

That left John. Ianto had no idea why anyone would give John remote access to the hub. Ianto clearly remembered John pointing a gun at his head and taunting him. After Miracle Day, it wasn't a worry anymore, but he remembered the fear of dying. And the desperate drive to get to the others in time. Gray or no Gray, John brought nothing but death and destruction. Cutting off his access took effort, and creativity, but it would keep him out of the system.

Then the computer chimed. Ianto tapped the notification icon. "Feed me, Seymour." He groaned. Someone gave the computer a disturbed sense of humor. A quick scan of the garden showed the carnivorous plants were hungry. And Audry shorted out the energy barrier again.

Ianto eyed the work bench as he walked passed it. Maybe the new agent, whoever he or she was, would know how to prevent the plant from disabling the garden security system. Or could at least help him feed John to it, Ianto thought as he walked into the hall.