Red Dragon Centre; Cardiff, Wales

Bree Nelson agreed to meet with DCI Lacene Harpham. She'd heard comments about the London investigator. She specialized in violent serial offenders. It was a running joke that she made people nervous. Bree wondered if Lacene knew Jodi. That was a conversation she didn't want to have.

That stayed with her as she left the tourist office and walked along the pier heading for the plaza above the hub. No one seemed to notice the earlier drama with Jack. He would have been identified by his clothes. Given his reputation, she doubted she wanted to know what the visitors wandering around Roald Dahl Plass thought. Whatever hit social media was guaranteed to annoy Ianto and make John laugh.

Bree walked past the lift. It would have been faster, but it made her nervous. After the car accident, Jack modified it with a railing and to hold a new modified stretcher if they ever needed to bring someone in the back door again. It still made her nervous. The only time Jack brought her down the lift, the pterodactyl flew over their heads. Avoiding the guard dog gave her another excuse.

Everyone at the hub, and Jodi, told her it would become normal. After everything, she still felt out of place most of the time. Even crossing Bute Place and heading for the coffee shop felt odd. It had to be the case Lacene was helping them investigate. It wasn't the fake bones. Working with survivors of various traumas, she'd heard a lot of stories of governments making people disappear, although it was the first involving the British government. A building that previously burned and returned without explanation made her uneasy. Magic trees, cats, flowers and anything involving the ancients made her think of Alice in Wonderland. She'd fallen down the rabbit hole wide awake and there was no escape.

Lacene waved from the corner, motioning at a second cup of coffee, as Bree stepped into the coffee shop. She made her way through the tables. Whatever she expected from the meeting, it wasn't attraction. The guilt was perfectly normal, she reminded herself claiming the chair opposite Lacene.

"Is everything all right?"

"Yeah." Bree nodded. "Jack's not feeling well."

Lacene gave it a moment. "Icelus and his brothers are worried. There is something wrong with Jack."

Bree shrugged, doubting that Lacene believed her.

"What's your job at Torchwood?"

"Community liaison." Or that's what it was when Jack hired her. Bree wasn't sure anymore. She quit before Jodi died. During the investigation, she'd been sent to Nigeria. Then she returned to help with the children exposed to the bioweapon. Since then, she didn't really have duties. Without a word, she was returned to the payroll and was given a flat. Everyone seemed to forget she quit.

"Matheson does that from London," Lacene observed.

She'd thought about transferring. Jodi's death would haunt her in both Cardiff and London. "I do whatever is needed."

Lacene nodded. "Do you investigate?"

"No."

"This meeting was to discuss the case."

"We have nothing new. Except a military officer tried to convince Mr. Matheson the case needs to be handed over to the RMP investigator. The Army has concerns about Lieutenant Towler's safety."

Lacene smiled a less than pleasant expression. "I bet."

"Did you find anything?"

"Yeah. The attack on Towler's pub was paid for by someone from London. No one involved is talking. From the sounds of it, Towler's friend on the police force is propping up her reputation in an attempt to protect her from the locals." Lacene paused. "I don't think anyone local would risk it."

From what Bree knew of Connie Ryan and Sal, she doubted anyone familiar with them would. Ryan's stalker might not have killed Beddoe, but he brutally murdered a different man that had threatened Ryan in a judge's garage as some type of message. "Any progress on the stalker?"

"No. I've taken the opportunity to investigate that also. Officially, it's my current case."

Bree sipped her coffee, wondering if there was anything left to ask or say.

Lacene held up her empty cup. "I've been inside to long. Walk with me?"

Rhymney River and Rover Way

Gwen Cooper stood on the road looking at a small area of land that had the river on one side and the Bristol Channel on the other. Under other circumstances, she barely would have noticed it existed driving to or from Tesco Extra. The police cruisers, and morgue vehicle made it stand out. From a distance, it looked like someone blew up flowers.

Andy Davidson walked over with Addien Floyd following close behind. Trainee or babysitter, she was getting an introduction to Andy's odd duties. He looked somewhere between tired and exasperated. From the brief phone call, the case caused another conflict between Dr. Guinevere Floyd and someone assigning cases.

She briefly wondered if the young constable and the ME were related, but it was a common last name.

"Gwen," Andy greeted. "I was barred for speculating on cause of death."

"That bad?"

He took a moment. "The scene needs an independent assessment."

Gwen smiled. "You have a case supervisor that doesn't believe in Torchwood?"

"Three constables, including me, and Dr. Floyd have been referred to the department psychiatrist."

She barely kept herself from laughing. "Over there?" Gwen motioned toward the flowers.

"Watch the ground, ma'am," Addien Floyd said. "Don't step on anything that moves."

"Thanks." Gwen walked toward the blocked off area.

It made her think of the flowers in Jack and Ianto's flat and at the hospital. There were shredded pedals, dirt, and plant matter all over the ground. As she walked, she noticed debris moving. Plants were growing through the debris. It wasn't the strangest thing she'd ever seen, but it was different.

A uniform in his forties stood next to a white tent. "Don't enter." He parted the fabric to show a visibly growing bed of flowers. She could barely make out a body in the center. What looked like a tree sprouted in the chest area as she watched.

"Everyone needs to get out of here now."

Gwen tapped her ear com as she walked back to Andy and the road. "We have a containment situation." She provided the location. "I think it's related to other unexplained flowers." As if in response, a flower suddenly sprouted in the ground in front of her. "Drones, sensors and ballistic shields. I don't think we can scorch it." It would be a bad idea to try.

Roald Dahl Plass

Bree Nelson walked with Lacene to the railing overlooking the Bristol Channel. Birds swooped over head. A trio of children chased each other. Tourists snapped pictures. A picture perfect day in Cardiff, Wales. Yet, it made her uneasy.

She couldn't help but remember when Andy Davidson arrived with the news Jodi had been shot and killed. A homicide that hadn't been explained nevertheless solved. There was the possibility it had something to do with her. Either her connection to Torchwood or what happened to her parents may have gotten Jodi killed. She understood the grieving process as a psychiatrist and from personal experience. But it didn't change the situation. Jodi moved to Cardiff so they could be together. Bree could only blame herself.

"Tell your demons to take the day off," Lacene commented.

"What?"

"Let go of whatever nightmare is playing in your head like a late night rerun."

Bree knew Lacene had some type of ability, but not what kind. "My girlfriend was murdered last fall."

"Jodi Hsiung." Lacene nodded. "Blaming yourself won't bring her back."

"Did you know Jodi?"

"In passing. We had some of the same friends. But I made her nervous."

"I'm told you have that effect on people." Bree then wondered why she said that aloud.

Lacene reached over slowly and lightly grasped Bree's hand. "What would Jodi tell you to do?"

Bree could picture that. "Get on with my life. Living in the past slowly destroys a person."

"I make you nervous for a different reason than most."

"I'm an open book." Bree sighed.

"No. I'm good at reading people." Lacene took a moment. "The attraction is understandable. We both use psychology to wade through evil. While different, we both help people. We've seen things most couldn't witness and stay sane."

"It's been less than a year."

"Will a few more months magically make it hurt less?"

"No."

Lacene reached out and lightly touched Bree's face. "It's something to think about…" She trailed off as her mobile rang. Reluctantly, she withdrew her hand and found her phone. "Harpham." Confusion crossed her face. "Repeat that." She listened. "Get everyone out of there now. Text me the address."

After the call, she returned her mobile to her pocket. "Feel up to a crime scene? One of the constables is an idiot. He'd rather dismiss multiple witness statements than to consider the possibility there is something out there that defies his understanding of reality."

"Torchwood case?" Bree followed Lacene as she head back across the plaza.

"Yeah."