Driving: London, England
Owen Harper checked the mirrors again. The car definitely followed them from school. It's driver made no effort to hide herself. She wanted to be seen. If she intended to abduct Misae or attack them, the school would have been a good location. Unless someone anticipated their actions, or overheard them despite the device, the woman was interested in Misae.
"Did anything happen today?"
"I got referred to the school counselor." She sounded amused.
Owen knew better. "Why?"
"Mrs. Waithe asked the class which of our parents we took after the most. I told her I was just like my dad."
Tosh covered her mouth with her hand and tried to keep from laughing.
"Aspiring to be a jaded arse is a bad life goal at thirteen."
Owen reminded himself the attitude was good. When they first brought her home three years earlier she wouldn't look him in the eyes. If he raised his voice or moved too fast, she flinched. One of the psychiatrists said she'd never recover. Adopting his attitude was much better than that.
"Misae."
"Nothing weird." She hesitated. "What's going on?"
"We don't know yet." Owen checked the mirrors again. "Call Gwen."
Tosh quickly found her mobile. "Could this have followed you from Cardiff?" She checked her contacts.
"Or the recent homicide investigation." By itself, Owen doubted it. The murders were somehow connected to everything else happening in Cardiff.
He stopped behind a queue of cars at a traffic light. With the exception of the strange law enforcement rejection of Three, Owen could think of nothing unexpected recently. Working for Torchwood, they saw everything from malfunctioning technology to lost alien tourists. Most of it was routine. Since he and Tosh relocated to London, they'd seen fewer crises and life-threatening situations. He could go weeks without seeing a possible death by alien misadventure. Last month he'd been loaned to Birmingham to identify mundane fire victims.
"Uh, dad," Misae said nervously from the backseat.
Owen turned in time to see a lorry speeding from a car park between two buildings. Directly at them. He threw the car into reverse and backed up onto the pavement, knocking over several trash bins. The lorry struck the bonnet with a crunch and kept going.
He released his safety belt and reached for Tosh. "Are your feet trapped?"
"No."
"Misae," he turned to look between the front seats.
She looked pale. "I'll live."
Hughes Flats; Cardiff, Wales
Gwen Cooper sat unsure of what to focus on. They had multiple situations, lots of possible information, and a growing list of questions. The attacks on Jack, the hub, and Owen and Tosh had no obvious connection. Jack needed to regenerate fully before he gave a coherent report. Owen and Tosh would provide details when they arrived. They still hadn't heard from the hub.
The computer chimed with a notification. She quickly checked the system. The lock-down ended. Most of the details went over her head, but it looked like someone overrode Jack's authority. She had no idea how that was possible and doubted Jack was in any condition to discuss it. Gwen grabbed her mobile and entered Anwen's number.
"Mum." Anwen sounded good.
"What happened?"
Rhys poked his head in. Gwen motioned to him. Then switched the mobile to speaker.
"Uncle Ianto and John are still trying to figure that out." Anwen explained the attack, the fake Cyberman tech, and why she overrode the lock-down. "I think someone should add narration to the raid footage. Like a Torchwood training video."
Gwen chuckled. She needed it.
"Are you safe?" Rhys asked.
"Yeah."
As much as Gwen wanted to keep talking to her daughter, they needed to know what was happening to resolve it. "I need to speak to Ianto."
"He's talking to the Sisters."
Gwen realized they did have a connection among all three situations. The same group was involved in all three situations. They were observing Anwen and Misae for some reason. All the missing women in Manchester would definitely get the attention of a women's group.
She reached for a tablet. An additional piece of information came to mind. There was one sizable city in England that didn't have missing women. "Are they connected to Birmingham?"
Torchwood Three
Ianto Jones stood, waiting in the fake tourist office. He was meeting with a woman that concerned John. He recommended that Gwen talk to her. Or possibly Anwen. For some reason, John thought a woman walked through a wall during the lock-down. And immediately instructed Anwen to override Jack's authority. Something they might not be able to fix. It made Ianto paranoid. But John looked spooked. Anwen knew more than she said, but Ianto needed to wait until she wasn't with John to ask.
The door opened and an oddly familiar woman stepped in. He couldn't place her, but he knew he'd seen her before. "I'm Eilene."
"Ianto." He gave it a moment. "We had a security breach."
Eilene nodded, indicating she already knew.
"One of the intruders claimed your organization was the target. Not Torchwood."
"Doubtful."
It didn't make sense to him either. "They were carrying weapons strong enough to target aliens. Except when faced with the sounds of one, they fled."
"Did they have anti-Rift energy weapons?"
"Yep." It was why they suspected the intruders were after Anwen.
Eilene looked confused. "Targeting Anwen is stupid. Her ability isn't obvious or widely known. But us?"
"It's possible they were mimicking the attack style of the abductors in Manchester. The technology description was similar."
"Do you know about the hit-and-run in London?" She must have concluded he didn't. "Ms. Sato and her family have minor injuries." Pause. "We learned of an abduction threat against Misae. Potentially related to work Dr. Harper did in Birmingham. While we didn't think someone would try it, observers were assigned."
Ianto wondered if someone wanted Torchwood working with the Sisters. If the London information was accurate it could tie to a well-planned, badly executed attack on the hub. "How did you meet Steven?"