Torchwood Three; Cardiff, Wales

Wednesday, February 5, 2020

Gwen Cooper woke in the infirmary with an incredible hangover. The lights were bright and something buzzed in her ears. She could hear someone to one side.

"What happened?" Her words slurred, and she was having trouble remembering what happened.

"Drug overdose." Luc approached, his foot steps amplified. "The mushrooms weren't sporing, but the ground and grass were contaminated."

Gwen pressed her hand to her head. "How long was I out?"

"Less than two days."

"Jack?" She pushed herself up, making the pain in her head worse.

"He's doing better. He spent more than twenty-four hours flirting with imaginary people, aliens or singing."

Gwen laughed which hurt.

"The nanogenes repaired the physical damage. The hallucinogenic affect is somehow connected to Rift energy or some other type of energy."

"Is it out of my system?"

"We don't know." Luc hesitated. "Anwen can identify some part of the drug. She might be able to tell you."

Gwen groaned.

"She knows what happened."

A thought occurred to her. "If Ianto is babysitting Jack, whose watching my kids?"

"Group effort. Rhys picked them up at school. Ianto dropped them off."

Gwen swung her legs over the edge. "With me and Jack down, is Torchwood down?"

"No. Aman, Kailen and Eryn rode in with me this morning. Ianto has been running things from Jack's office with Eryn. Aman is helping Dr. Nelson with research. Kailen has been trying to figure out John's computer customization." A beat. "I explained to Ms. Chahine that you were injured. The situation at Fairy Forest, which is what the media is calling the farm, made the news. Dr. Nelson distributed the press releases."

"How are the kids at the hospital?"

"Dove was transferred to Ireland. Jack was lucid enough to tell Ianto who to call last night. Dove's the only suspect. No one has any explanation for the illness. It's not a drug side effect as far as I can tell." Luc sighed. "Seven out of fifteen died. The remaining seven have been checked into a local rehab facility for detox and psychological evaluation. They have varying degrees of potentially permanent side effects."

Gwen moved to stand.

"Not a good idea." Luc took her by the shoulder.

Reluctantly, she sat back down. "How long?"

"I don't know. We need a doctor."

"You said you had a list? If Jack's back in charge, remind him."

"I will. The new bracelet is a medical device that will monitor your health and location. It's best if you stay in here." Luc picked up a tablet from a counter. "This is set-up allowing you to read media and other sites on-line. No email or messenger or outside contact." Luc hesitated.

Gwen smiled. "In case I start hallucinating again."

"Yeah." A beat. "The counter has an intercom, if you need something. The hub computer accepts voice commands for emergency assistance."

It felt strange walking into his office and finding Ianto at his desk. Stranger that he didn't move.

"Do I get my desk back?" Jack was amused.

"That depends," Ianto said. "How many people are in this room?"

Jack laughed. "Three."

"I took notes." Ianto stood holding up a yellow legal pad. "Kailen reported a device of John's has been making strange noises since this morning. It sounded like a fax machine trying to send on a dial-up account at lunch."

"Your opinion or his?"

"Mine. He didn't know what I meant."

Jack held out his arm when Ianto tried to walk past him. "What's wrong?"

"A lot. The short version is that Cory Lynch is the only person I've talked to since Monday who knew who I was. He called with information, and is worried." A beat. "I started telling people I was your secretary."

"Gwen's done that before."

Ianto's reaction said it had something to do with her.

"What did I do?"

"If you were lucid enough to not flirt with the furniture, you asked about Gwen. Only Gwen." Ianto was angry. "Yeah, my PTSD flared. I have reminded myself I wake up with nightmares I don't remember so out of my head I have punched you." He took a moment to calm himself. "I know you were drugged." Ianto left.

"Captain Harkness." Eryn sounded nervous. "You were worried you killed Mrs. Williams." She hurried out after Ianto.