It took Miranda no time at all to pack the bowl away into a containment box with her coat for cushioning. She started back towards Cardiff and called ahead to the team to let them know that she may have the item they'd all been searching for.

The others were already in the Hub by the time she'd gotten back. The four of them descended on the boardroom. Miranda put the glass bowl down in the middle of the table.

"Fish I need you to perform a full analysis on this bowl. I want everything you can give me without damaging it. Ianto? Gwen? I need you two to take a look at the cube. See if you can find a way to activate it so we can contact the Nepanthians."

"Why bother with analysis, Evie? We should just contact the Nepanthians and tell them we have what they wanted and be done with it."

"Because we need to approach this from all angles, Fish. If this is what the Nepanthians are looking for, spectacular. Bob's your uncle, Fanny's your aunt, let's hand it over to them and get Jack back. If it isn't, I want us to continue searching Max's house for any other alien artefacts. I don't know how he managed it but he had one artefact. It stands to reason there may be another one."

Fish carefully moved the bowl over to his workstation and began scanning it with a number of pieces of equipment. Miranda knew that she'd handicapped him by telling him he couldn't damage the bowl. The best way for Fish to analyse something was to take a sample. Gwen and Ianto stayed in the board room, taking turns with the cube trying to figure out some way to activate it.

It nearly six in the evening when Miranda herded everyone back into the boardroom for an update.

"Your original analysis of the bowl is correct, Evie. It is made of a crystal structure. It's mostly carbon, like a diamond but it's laboratory created in some way. The molecules are aligned in a unique way. It's why the bowl isn't bending light the way you'd expect it to."

"Are you saying that's a giant diamond bowl?" Gwen gasped.

"Not really. It's not pure carbon, it's some sort of small carbon molecule but I can't tell anymore without a sample."

"No damaging that thing, Fish."

"Don't worry about it, Evie. I couldn't get a sample off of that bowl if I tried. You could probably drop it from Myfanwy's nest and it wouldn't get a scratch on it. That material could have enormous industrial applications," Fish said. It was one of his constant frustrations. Many of the alien items they found could dramatically and drastically improve or streamline human society but everything needed to be kept secret. Fish often wondered how long it would be before a cure for cancer fell through the rift and they were all forced to keep it locked away in the archives.

"Gwen? Ianto? No luck with that cube?"

"Gwen and I tried absolutely everything we could think of to get it to activate. We were unsuccessful, Ma'am."

An awkward silence fell over the entire boardroom at Ianto's use of the honorific. Gwen and Fish gaped at Ianto and then turned their gaze to Miranda.

"Don't call me that again, Ifan," Miranda said firmly. "Ever."

"We may just have to wait for them to contact us," Fish said.

"Ifan? How long before the Nepanthians make contact?"

"Just over thirty hours," Ianto said, "Around midnight, tomorrow."

"Okay, we wait."

"Mandy-"

"We can't activate the cube, Ifan. We have no choice but to wait for the next scheduled communication." Miranda took her fob watch out of her trouser pocket and clicked it open. "Gwen? Fish? For now, I want you two to head home. Get a good night's rest and then I want both of you to head straight out to Max's first thing tomorrow. Keep packing things up and scanning. Ifan and I will stay here in case the cube activates ahead of schedule."

Gwen put her hand on Ianto's shoulder as she left. A few minutes later, Miranda heard the proximity alarms go off as Gwen left through the dog wheel door.

"I'd like to keep trying this cube, Evie," Fish said, turning the cube over in his hands.

"No, Fish. Go home and get some sleep. You can take a look at it in the morning if you like but I need you out at Max's no later than ten," Miranda said firmly.

Fish could tell there was no arguing with her so after he too laid a comforting hand on Ianto's shoulder, he walked out of the boardroom and a few minutes later, like Gwen, left through the cog wheel door.

Once Miranda was alone in the boardroom with Ianto. She stood up and said, "You live here so I can't stop you from doing whatever you want after hours. If you want to keep mucking about with that cube, I won't stop you."

To her surprise, Ianto left the cube in the middle of the boardroom table. His voice stoic and level. "I'm going to put the Hub into night mode. I'll see you tomorrow, Mandy."

Miranda knew that Ianto was trying to put up a brave face and not let the others see how much he missed Jack and how worried he was. She decided to leave him be and let him keep up his appearances for now. After a few attempts trying to get the cube to activate, she locked it away in a containment box and then went to see if Ianto wanted some dinner.

The Hub was in night mode so she assumed the young Welshman would be in the bunker the two men shared. She walked up to Jack's office and when she pushed the door open, her heart broke at the sight in front of her.

Ianto Jones was asleep on the sofa beneath Jack's greatcoat. He hadn't even changed out of his suit.

She sighed and knelt next to her friend. She pressed a kiss to his forehead and Ianto muttered Jack's name in his sleep and then fell silent again. She decided to leave him be but when she rose to leave, Ianto stirred.

"Mandy?"

"I'm sorry, Ifan, I didn't mean to wake you," she said, crouching back down next to him and brushing her fingers through his hair. "I came to check on you."

"What time is it?" Ianto said, looking around bleary eyed.

"Barely eight. How long have you been asleep?"

"Just a few minutes," he said, standing up and hanging the coat up with great care.

"Would you like to come to mine for dinner? I have some of that chicken cassoulet left over that you love."

"I'm not really hungry, Mandy," Ianto said, flicking a piece of dust off the coat's sleeve.

She stood up and walked over to her friend and leaned against Jack's desk

"You need to eat something," she said gently. "Why don't you get your things and come stay with me tonight?"

"No, I'll be fine. I should tidy up the bunker while I don't have Jack making a mess," Ianto said as he crossed the office to the ladder. He was about to climb onto it when he stopped, staring down into the hatch. He swallowed convulsively, as he thought of climbing into bed, their bed, alone. He took a step back from the hatch.

"Actually, I think I'd like that," he said softly.

Miranda pushed herself off Jack's desk and took hold of Ianto's hand. "Do you want me to go down and get your things?"

He shook his head. "No, I just need a minute. I'll meet you downstairs."