Arabella was pounding on the door, her silver eyes flashing in anger. What the hell were they thinking! They're going to get themselves killed! Tobias knelt beside her, a small portable computer in his hand, plugged into the wall as he tried to get the door open again. Others were standing around staring on, various emotions flitting through the crowd. Arabella was relieved that she was the only one truly close to the boys there the rest of the main team had been through so much since Saxon started this hell, dreading the deaths of their leaders was not something they needed to experience.

She prayed the boys were going to be ok, but she wasn't silly, she's seen what the Toclafane had done since they'd taken over and she knew Sophia's wicked heart better than anyone. At the same time she hated that she was the only one, hated the knowledge that she'd have to tell the others what had happened. She would have to tell them all that the two men they cared for were dead if they didn't make it through this.

She needed Dexter, he'd know what to do but she didn't even know if he was ok.


Dexter and Charles slipped into an old warehouse, or what was left of it, the building's frame creaked and groaned above threatening to fall if they bumped into the wrong wall. Most of the metal from the building had been scavenged to use on the rockets as well so only the older rusty metal was left and even that had been damaged by the Toclafane's games. Outside the Toclafane danced around, not involved in the attack on the hub but enjoying the fun of it anyway.

Dexter carefully lifted a cement block tucked in one corner of the warehouse, too heavy for a human in move without help and not recognizable as anything other than a piece of the building's floor it was the perfect trapdoor to the hub. Built as an emergency exit, there was a mechanical device to open it from the inside but outside only the Pirask were able to access this particular route. That made it the most secure entrance; the Toclafane wouldn't have followed anyone to this door.

Once it was open enough, Charles silently slipped through, quickly followed by Dexter who replaced the slab quietly behind them. Once they were underground there was no need to be quiet and the men took off in the direction of the Hub as fast as they could.


Gwen stared through the window as Owen, Charles and Taffy worked on her husband. Angela said there was almost no sign of injury when they found him. No physical signs, other than a little swelling, that there was anything more serious than being knocked out and bruises that would form in the next few days.

The scans proved them wrong. Rhys was bleeding internally, his spleen had ruptured and something else that Gwen just couldn't remember, she was too numb. Rhys' life was in Owen and Tom's hands, she trusted them, they were both brilliant doctors but neither of them could guarantee that he would be alright.

Gwen watched them work on Rhys through the small one way window on the operating room. It used to be an interrogation room back before Jack took over; a room once used for torture was now used to heal. Owen found the one way window a godsend; he hated being watched while he worked, especially by distraught family members.

Gwen couldn't see much from the window, her view obscured by Tom's back as he worked and the triage nurse bustling around them. She kept staring blankly not really seeing what was in front of her anyway of her until a blood soaked swab fell to the floor breaking her from her daze.

She sunk to her knees underneath the window and turned so her back was against the wall, hugging her knees to her chest. She couldn't do it; she couldn't stand there and watch them juggle the life of the man she loved as they fought to save him.

From her position on the floor she was only a few feet from the operating room door, she could hear the beep of the heart monitors that Rhys was attached to and would be on her feet in an instant if the machine inside changed their tone. She couldn't bear to watch but she'd never leave him, not even if her life depended on it.


Andy lent on the desk beside Leoni as she typed away at her newly reconstructed work station in the lower levels of the hub. She wasn't as good as Tobias and was a far cry from Tosh's natural skill but she had been the best Tech in the police department before Saxon and had always been willing to help Andy out with any problems in the past. Andy jumped with slightly guilty surprise as someone bumped into his shoulder as they leaned into to see what he had Leoni doing.

Glancing to his side revealed Taffy, her red eyes telling Andy all he needed to know; she knew Ianto and Jack were trapped in hub above them. Wrapping an arm around her he pulled her into his side offering silent comfort as he eyes stayed on Leoni's screen, looking for any sign on her brother as various CCTV images flickered past.

"Why are you here Taffy, I thought you'd be helping Owen and Tomas work on Rhys?" Andy said trying to distract Taffy a little.

"I'm a Ward Nurse not Triage. I've been helping Owen and learning but what they're doing, trying to save Rhys, is complicated, they need someone who knows what they're doing and isn't too distracted to work," Taffy explained looking up and giving Andy a watery half smile.

The pair stood in silence watching Leoni work until finally Taffy couldn't take it anymore. "Can you find out what's happening?"

"I'm trying but none of the CCTV cameras in the hub are accessible without the mainframe," Leoni explained glancing over her shoulder to give Taffy an apologetic look.

"What about outside?" Andy asked noticing Taffy sag at the news.

"The system is up and running but they cameras have all been physically damaged so there's no feed, the Toclafane made sure of that just before they broke through,"

"Is there any way to find out if my brother's okay?" Taffy asked looking desperately between the two of them. Leoni stared at the screen lost in thought for a moment before clicking her tongue, obviously pleased with something she began typing away at her computer.

"What is it?" Andy asked curiously.

"The com units. All of you in the main team carry your com units with you at all times so we can find you if something comes up. I should be able to trace their com units to find out whether they're still in the hub or not," Leoni explained as she worked. They all knew that the coms were small and secure, they didn't just fall out and they were run on human body heat, which meant they were a pretty good indication that the owner was okay.

Andy and Taffy watched silently, neither wanting to say anything that might jinx them.

"Bingo!" Leoni cheered pointing to her screen when a series of dots appeared on what looked like a map of the hub, though none of them knew all the things they were looking at, there were still many areas of the hub that were out of bounds unless you were one of the Torchwood team. Leoni pointed to three dots away from the rest of them "This must be the Operating room. That's Owen, Gwen and Tom's com signals,"

"What about Rhys? He had a com didn't he?" Andy asked confused.

"They would have removed it before they started his surgery," Taffy explained and Leoni nodded in agreement obviously coming to the same conclusion.

"These two dots here are you two," Leoni pointed to another pair before moving to the more concentrate group of dots, "This is Arabella, Angela, Tobias and it looks like Dexter and Charles have made it back safely."

"So those two?" Taffy asked, though she already knew the answer as she pointed to the two remaining dots on the screen.

"That's Jack and Ianto. They're still in the main area of the hub."


Angela turned around when the sounds of footsteps indicated someone was coming and coming fast, relief flooding through her as her father and Dexter appeared pushing their way through the gathered crowd as they got nearer.

Dexter instantly went to Arabella's side pulling her into his arms, whispering softly to her to try and calm her as he examined her bloodied hand from where she'd been pounding on the metal door.

Charles pulled Angela into his arms, holding her tight and she let everything she'd been holding in go, sobbing into his arms. She barely knew these people apart from the stories Arabella had told her over the phone before Saxon's reign and yet she didn't want any of them to get hurt. The short time she'd known them had only proved to her that Arabella's stories were true, they weren't like the Torchwood members she'd had confrontations with in the past, they were good people and could become good friends in the future.

"What's happening?" Dexter asked, tone serious, as he took command of the situation. Not that he needed to, all the humans with them knew who he was and they would listen to him anyway.

"The Toclafane attacked, Jack and Ianto got us all underground and they were working on shutting down and securing the computer mainframe before they broke into the hub. They didn't finish in time and the Toclafane began to break through. Before we knew what they were doing Jack sealed the door. I think Jack did something to the controls, there's no way to help them; they're trapped in the hub with those monsters. I've been trying to get the door open but it won't budge."

"Don't," Dexter said simply placing his hand over the screen of Tobias' handheld computer.

"What?" Tobias asked, his question echoed softly by others around him.

"Jack and Ianto know what they're doing. If they did this it's the only way. We need to trust them, trust they know what they're doing and trust that they'll do everything they can to get back to us safely," Dexter said, eyes drifting to the solid door between him and his friends.

"But, how...they've saved us so many times and how do we just let them face this on their own?" Dexter turned to find Andy's mum, Ruth, standing amongst the crowd and he could only assume she'd been in her vegetable greenhouse when they'd been evacuated.

"We don't have a choice, they saw to that too keep us safe."


Leoni jumped a little as an emergency beacon signaled across her computer screen, telling them that Saxon was broadcasting to 'his people'.

"What is it?" Andy asked as the monitors flicked over to see what Saxon was broadcasting.

"Oh my god," Taffy gasped, hand going to cover her mouth as she stared at the destruction on the screen in front of her.

"Can you trace the com units further out than Cardiff?" Andy asked voice sounding hollow.

"I'm working on it and I'm letting the others know as well," Leoni replied working furiously on her computer.


Tobias' handheld computer let out a frantic beeping, making everyone start and stare at him in confusion.

"What the hell is that?" Dexter asked annoyed, he'd been trying to hear anything on the other side of the door and the beeping had been extremely uncomfortable on his oversensitive ears.

"Leoni's sending me information from where she's working," Tobias explained.

"What's so important that she can't just come and tell you?" Angela asked, she'd helped Leoni set up her computer before returning back to the door so she knew the young Tech girl wasn't that far away.

"...Tobias?" Dexter prompted when there was no immediate answer.

"Saxon's attacked Japan, the islands are burning; he's completely destroyed it; they don't think anyone's survived the attack."

"Tosh and Andre were going to Japan after they'd seen Martha, Tosh wanted to check on her family," Arabella whispered, voice shaking in fear, "Jack was right, we've got a traitor. It's the only way he could know how to attack all of us at exactly the same time. He knew exactly where we would be."

"Once we're through this, I swear Ari, we'll find whoever it is," Dexter said pulling his distraught Mate into his arms.

"Leoni's using one of MI5's remaining satellites to send a ping out for all of our com unit's across the planet... All of ours here except for Rhys' are receiving, which means Jack and Ianto still okay," Tobias explained and a collective sigh came from the civilians, the others knew that just because they were alive enough to keep their com units active, didn't mean they were okay.

The groups was silent, listening as Tobias listed the coms from their units in the UK that were still activated, finally the international coms began to scroll across his screen as the ping spread further, these ones were a lot fewer as they tried to keep everyone as close to home as possible.

"Martha, Zenia and Ifan have all registered," Tobias announced voice proud for their wandering heroes.

"The com Andre left with Francine has registered over Japan... The bastard's watching the country burn," Tobias swore staring at the screen waiting for Tosh and Andre's coms to register.

Before they could an explosion from the main level of the hub knocked everyone off their feet. Whatever was happening on the other side of the door was getting worse, the Toclafane were definitely in there now. As everyone picked themselves back up, staring at the door in shock, worry and fear the final message scrolled across Tobias' screen.

Tobias stared at the message almost unable to say the words that would hurt them all just as much as hearing that explosion. Swallowing hard Tobias waved his hand to get their attention before reading the information out to the others.

"Ping complete, no other signals located."