Natalie sat beside Toshiko in front of the computer bank in Torchwood's base. Tosh was teaching her how to play Soduko, something Natalie had never been able to understand, not be very good with numbers. There had not been much to do other than every so often glance at the one screen dedicated to monitoring the portal. Gwen was taking her turn watching the steady stream of numbers and unchanging lines on the scale.

For the first eight hours or so they had taken Jack quite seriously and had been diligently watching several screens for any signs of shifts or cracks in the portal. The only change there had been was when the Doctor had gone through. Since then there had not been so much as a flicker of movement at all. Owen had gone home, Ianto was playing solitaire on his laptop and Gwen was playing with a piece of sting doing cat's cradle over and over.

"What news from above?" Jack voice came from the Doctor's blocky communicator lying on the desk beside Gwen. She picked it up, string still dangling from her thumb.

"Nothing, Jack. Nothing at all. How long are we going to keep this up?"

"Is that a serious question?" Jack said with a tone that said 'you know better'.

"No, Jack. Did the Doctor say how long he was going to be?"

"Yet another silly question, Gwen. But you're right, this getting somewhat tedious. Tell you what. Start taking shifts. I don't need all of you up there. Tell Owen he can go first. I know he was here late last night."

"Owen already left." Gwen said, lowering her voice. "He hasn't been himself in quite a while. It's like he doesn't want to be here anymore."

"I've noticed. Just give him a few hours and then give him a call. Make sure he comes back. In the mean time someone else can go home too, not Natalie, but make sure you all stay in touch in case there is a change."

Gwen thanked him and hung up the phone, communicator, thing. She turned to the others and told them what Jack had said.

"I really wouldn't mind a nap. If I can take the first off duty I'll make it short, three hours tops." Ianto said. Gwen and Tosh both said that was fine and he left, giving them his usual sad and somewhat distant smile.

When he was gone Gwen rolled her chair back towards the other two women, letting it spin and bump into their chairs.

"Your turn there, Natalie. I've had enough of that stupid blue screen with it's red squiggly lines. If the numbers go above 4465 or the line gets within about an inch of so of the white dashes then give us a shout."

Natalie left her Soduko puzzle and wheeled over to her place in front of the computer. Gwen picked up the puzzle where Natalie had left off. She and Tosh didn't talk very often. Gwen was very open and Tosh very secretive which didn't make it terribly easy for them to do much more than small talk and that was besides the standing issues between them.

"How's Rhys doing?" Tosh asked quietly.

"Oh, he's lovely. Getting used to me being here so much I think."

Even this gentle talk hit a sore spot. Not long ago Gwen had an affair with Owen. Though it had ended, and Gwen and Rhys were still together, that hadn't change Tosh's feelings of jealousy and betrayal as she had been infatuated with Owen for quite some time. Owen had kissed her once but other than that he never looked at her twice.

"Did you give him that recipe that I brought? I'd like to know how he managed his first go at Japanese cuisine." Tosh was trying.

"No, not yet. He wants to save that for some night when I'm actually there."

The silence sat uncomfortably between them and Gwen was relieved when Natalie called them to the computer.

"Might be a false alarm but I noticed this little bit down here and you didn't tell me what it's normal levels are so I'm not sure if it's supposed to be doing that." Natalie pointed to a small box in the bottom left corner. Inside it was a line that was zigzagging in the middle like the sound levels of an audio recording. She moved her chair out of the way as Tosh bent down to study the box.

"That's very strange." As she spoke the Doctor's device binged beside the keyboard and Jack's voice echoed from within.

"I've got some weird readings down here. The Doctor gives me more credits than I'm due sometimes cause I am a little lost down here. The TARDIS is pouring out information too fast for me to make out."

"Jack, it looks like someone is probing the portal. My best guess is that they are just looking for it because the activity is random and weak. I think someone is hoping to get through." She passed the device to Gwen as she continued to punch keys and bring up different graphs and charts.

"Jack, couldn't it just be the Doctor trying to come back?" Gwen asked.

"No. The Doctor knows what he's doing. He wouldn't try to come through unless he knew he was doing it right. Plus, the Scarlet Swan is watching for him. If he were there, she would let him through."

"So, who is it then?" Gwen asked.

Jack didn't answer the rhetorical question but a frightening thought passed through his mind. What if all of this had been an elaborate trap? Was he ready to close the portal if it was?