Zafia nodded and closed the book, getting up from where she sat. "I'm going to go talk to Janet" she laid the book on the stool and headed up the stairs. "Owen" she paused, he turned to look at her, "the Niry travel in packs of 4 or 5" she said with a small smirk. "They have a hive mind and are vicious nasty things. That thing in your pan… that's its bladder. There's another one in there too, I'll leave you to figure out what it sprayed Jack and Gwen with". He could see she was barely keeping her amusement contained as she nearly bounced up the rest of the steps.
"I hate you!" he yelled after her.
"Owen!" he heard Tosh yell from the main part of the Hub. He pulled his gloves off and stomped up the stairs. He had goo splattered on his lab coat and mask. When Jack had asked him to fish the numbing agent out of the Niry they'd brought back he hadn't been expecting to find himself up to elbows in disgusting sticky snot fishing a pair of bladders out of the alien. Tosh was half way down the invisible platform and he could tell, even from the distance, that she was also covered in the gray sticky substance. "Jack and Ianto are taking the car to the garage. We got 3 more of those aliens that we need to bring in. Ianto said there were two gurneys down in the morgue we could use". Owen swore and went to the morgue not even waiting for Toshiko.
In the garage Ianto and Jack were waiting with the back of the SUV open, like Tosh they were also covered in slim. Ianto looked as pissed as Owen felt, "bloody hell" he said. In the back was a pile of aliens, they had to put the seats down to fit them all in. "This is a fucking mess".
"It's going to take months to clean out the car. I am just going to have burn it and get a new one" Ianto told Owen.
"Oh it isn't that bad" Jack started. Ianto put his hands on his hips turning to look at Jack.
"" he said through clenched teeth. "We're taking them straight to the incinerator" he turned back to Owen. "I don't give a shit what is about to come out of Jack's mouth. We are getting rid of them. Now." Owen wasn't about to argue with Ianto when he was this angry and truthfully, he was ready to be done with the mess of the alien upstairs.
Ignoring Jack, Owen and Ianto put two of the aliens on one gurney and one on the other when Tosh showed up and the three hauled them down to be destroyed. Tosh went to get cleaned up while Ianto and Owen cleaned up the mess in the autopsy bay and they stuffed everything in the incinerator. Before closing the door, Ianto stripped off his suit throwing it in and slamming the door shut, "burn it" he told Owen stalking off to go shower.
Everyone was gathering back in the main part of the Hub while Ianto made them coffee. The shower had helped him calm down and the task of making coffee helped clear his head. He took mugs to Tosh and Owen at their computers then went to fill a mug for himself and Jack and headed up to Jack's office.
Jack sat at his desk, also freshly showered. Ianto put the mug in front of him, "thanks" he said weakly. Ianto sat down across from him, "that was a disaster" he admitted.
"Yes. It was".
"I should have listened to you" Ianto nodded sipping his coffee. "Sorry", Jack had under estimated the intelligence and strength of the Niry. He had completely forgotten about their hive mind, which made it impossible for the team to sneak up on them and they ended up walking right into a trap.
"They're gone now and you owe me a suit".
"I will find you a gorgeous suit" he said leaning back in the chair. "So… you and Zafia".
"Yeah" he felt his cheeks blush a little. "It just sort of happened and … I don't know" he confessed.
"It's okay Ianto".
"No, Jack. I don't know if it is" he tipped his head back looking at the ceiling. "Why can't I have a nice normal relationship? Ever since Lisa I have been a relationship train wreck".
"I'm sorry for my part in that. I know we're sort of been …"
"We are what we are. Owen told Zafia she has about 8 months, I'd like to spend that time with her. I'm not even going to pretend you're going to stick around waiting for me, we just aren't -" he shrugged.
Jack got up and went around the desk sitting on the edge, "we are and we aren't a lot of things. I have all the time in the world to wait, if you want, but this is Torchwood, if we do one thing well, it is relationship train wrecks". He leaned over and pressed his lips to Ianto's forehead. "Take whatever time you need".
Ianto stood up, "thanks Jack", he leaned in and kissed him.
"Oi you two!" Owen yelled from the door, interrupting.
"What Owen? Did you sort out that Niry?" Jack asked.
"Yes. Do you have any idea what that stuff is you got sprayed with last night and that you wanted me to dig out of that alien?" he folded his arms across his chest.
"Enlighten me".
"Urine".
"And I just kissed you? I am going to brush my teeth with bleach" Ianto said appalled.
"I pulled the bladders out and they are sitting down in the lab. I'll run some tests on them in a bit" he leaned on the doorway, "but while you were out I had an interesting conversation with Zafia". The guilty look on Ianto's face didn't go unnoticed, but Owen let it slid for the moment. "She said you two have been getting pains in your hearts since she arrived and I am sure there is a really good reason why I am just hearing about this now, so overlooking that minor detail, I want both of you in the lab for tests". Owen turned and headed back downstairs.
"He's probably right" Jack said "is it still happening?" Ianto nodded.
"It like she's bursting with happiness in one minute and the next I thought I was having a heart attack. She said she gets phases of complete breakdowns and that's when it hurts the most. But mostly it's like she's just sort of there" Jack squeezed Ianto's shoulder.
"You should have said something. I haven't noticed it as much, but you've spent more time with her. Go down and see Owen," he pointed to the camera monitor, "Zafia's with Janet again, so I'll go get her and meet you there".
Jack could feel Zafia in his chest before he even made it to the bottom of the steps. It had been several weeks since he had felt this level of pain from her and thought that it must have been what Ianto had spoken of. At the bottom of the steps, he saw Zafia sitting outside of Janet's cell where she often spent time. One hand pressed to the glass and he saw she had iridescent tears streaming down her face when she turned to look at him. Jack stopped several feet from her, making sure to stay out of sight of Janet. Despite the Weevil having calmed down since Zafia's arrival, she still got very agitated when he would appear. He crouched down so they were eye level, "Zafia, what's wrong?"
"We have to let her go" she gasped looking back at the creature in the cell. Jack heard Janet moan pitifully. "Jack, we can't keep them here".
"Zafia, what is she telling you?" Zafia shook her head as if trying to clear it. "Is it about the Dark?" Zafia nodded. Since she had said that the Weevils came from the Dark, he had occasionally wondered what she had meant, but until she could get a better understanding of them, he could only assume they had lived underground as most of them did on Earth.
"They were experiments".
"Experiments?" he repeated and she nodded again.
"The ones that went wrong", Jack winced at the word 'wrong'. He certainly knew how that felt.
"What kind of experiments Zafia?"
"She doesn't know. The good ones were collected and the wrong ones were locked in the Dark. Then the Rift opened. They forced them all into the Rift to destroy them".
"But some of them came out here?"
"Yes. She was looking for her family when you caught her. The people, they attacked her" Zafia shook her head, "she just wants to be back with her family". Zafia looked at Jack, "please let her go".
Jack sighed, they had caught Janet twice already on the surface. The second time she had tried attacking a pair of teenagers, who certainly had the fright of their life. Torchwood ended up Retconning the teens and bringing Janet back, where she had been since. He studied Zafia wondering if what Janet told her was true or if she was just playing into Zafia's sympathy. Even after all the time Owen had studied the Weevil's they still didn't know if they could lie. Until now, he didn't know they were aware of family units. "Ask Janet if we help her find her family, if she will stay below ground? We can't have them running all over Cardiff attacking people".
Zafia turned back to Janet making a low growl in her chest, Janet in return let out a much louder growl and a snarl, "she doesn't believe you".
"But she believes you. If you can get her to agree to stay underground, we will release her. But if we catch her again, she won't be sitting in this cell. It's important she understand that". Jack watched her with some intrigue as she communicated in a series of growls, grunts and snarls with the Weevil. He hoped this was one Tosh was including in her translation program. After what seemed like a long conversation Zafia looked back at Jack.
"She says she will stay underground if you find her family".
"We'll do our best to find them. Tell her that we will take her out tonight. When you are finished, Owen wants to see you in the lab", he stood up and headed back upstairs.
When Zafia made her way up to the main level of the Hub, Jack, Owen and Ianto were down in the autopsy bay. "You got the Niry cleaned up" she said coming down the stairs. She tried not to stare at Ianto, who had his shirt off and his chest had electrodes stuck to it. Jack didn't bother to hide his blatant gazing.
"If you value your life, I suggest you not mention those aliens in front of Ianto" Owen advised her.
"Ah, you caught the rest then?" she asked.
"You know about them?" Jack asked her. Zafia shrugged and hopped on the table sitting next to Ianto.
"I've never seen one until this morning, but I know about them. Disgusting violent things", she was studying one of the electrode tabs, making Ianto uncomfortable. She reached over to poke one and Owen smacked her hand.
"You'll upset the readings. Anyway I have some for you too, so shirt off".
"You just love to say that" she jabbed at Owen as she unbuttoned her shirt.
"One of the few things I love about my job. These are going to monitor your heart" he told her sticking them to her skin. "When I get enough data I can compare it to his. I've never heard of anything like this, so try to take it easy until I can figure it out", He handed her a black device. "All of the readings will go to this, so keep it with you. That goes for you too" he handed another to Ianto. "You can get dressed and a coffee would be brilliant", Ianto rolled his eyes as he slid off the table and headed up the stairs buttoning his shirt with Zafia following.
"Any guesses what's causing it?" Jack asked Owen who was studying the preliminary scans he'd taken of Ianto.
"Right off, no, I'm not seeing anything".
"Could it be psychological?" Owen looked up at Jack.
"Are you thinking she's an empath?"
Jack shook his head "not necessarily. I don't think they were when I was on Zy'oe, but I think it's been a few generations since I was there".
"She mentioned it that sometimes when one Zy'oe loses their mate others can feel their pain".
"I've heard of it. But I don't know why it happens".
"It has to do with them only having half a heart?" he guessed.
"Yes. I think it's like when you have two hearts each beating to their own beat, and you put them near each other and they change their rhythm to beat in synch. After their bonding two Zy'oe hearts always beat in synch".
"And you think that's what hers is trying to do?"
"Not sure. It's one possibility".
"Shouldn't that affect all of us then?" Jack nodded.
"I'd think so. But if she's a passive empath, she could be sending the mental pain of it and we're just feeling it in our hearts. Since Ianto is spending the most time with her, he could be getting the brunt of it. Plus, her having low levels of empathic abilities could explain why she's able to talk to Janet".
"If the Weevils have some telepathic abilities, could they tap into her?"
"It's possible".
"I'll see what this test shows us, if nothing comes up we might want to consider a brain scan, either way, I doubt I will be able to stop it and if it's legitimately affecting Ianto's heart, we'll have to keep them apart so she doesn't give him a heart attack", Jack let out a deep sigh hoping it didn't come to that. He could imagine that would only speed up Zafia's death. Owen must have noticed the look on his face. "Is there something I should know about?"
"Hmm?" Jack looked up at their doctor, "no, no. Have you tagged Janet?" he asked changing the subject.
"Yeah why? She was tagged after we caught her the first time".
"We're letting her go. Tonight".
"We what?" Jack relayed to Owen the conversation he'd had with Zafia regarding their resident Weevil about where they had come from. Over the years they had speculated, but this new information would give them a better understanding of them and would enable Torchwood to better protect the Weevils and humans from each other.
"For the record, I think this is a bad idea" Owen told him.
"Well… I am going for a record today". Jack headed upstairs to talk to Tosh to see if she could find the Weevils they had tagged in relation to where they had caught Janet the last time in hopes they could release her near them.
That night Zafia coaxed Janet out of her cell. The Weevil acted nervous around the humans and Zafia did her best to keep herself between them. There was a bit of an argument between the aliens when it came to the SUV Ianto had spent the day cleaning but Zafia finally got her in the back. Only Jack, Zafia and Owen would be going and they drove in silence except from the occasional noise from Janet and Zafia trying to calm her.
Jack parked the car outside of the abandoned warehouse where Tosh had found a large group of Weevils and Zafia let Janet out of the back, "okay, be good" she told the Weevil "stay away from the people". In a surprise gesture Janet held her hand up and Zafia put her palm against it just as they had through the wall of the cell, "I hope you find your family", she said quietly. With a low moan the Weevil turned and loped off and they watched her disappear into the dark. Jack put an arm around Zafia's shoulders pulling her close.
"She'll be okay. Weevil's are tough" Zafia half nodded, "let's get you home".