Chapter Eighteen

****November 4th 2007****

For the first time since I had started working at Torchwood, I arrived for work late. Jack had given me the morning off so I could retrieve my graduation certificates. I had finished the last of my tests two weeks ago and got the results that morning.

"Ah, good you're here." Jack greeted me the moment I walked into the hub. Owen was glaring at Jack, and there were several camping bags around the group.

"Are you planning a road trip?" I asked curiously.

"Team bonding. Grab a bag." Jack ordered with a smile before leaving the hub. While Owen grumbled and complained under his breath, I rolled my eyes and helped Ianto and Tosh load up the SUV.

Jack was the one to drive the SUV out to the countryside, I was in the passenger seat, while Gwen, Tosh, Ianto and Owen squished in the back. From the moment they left the centre of Cardiff Owen started bitching. Ianto was sat silently in the back, while Tosh and Gwen were deflected Owen's whining.

Jack and I spent the majority of the journey conversing mentally. He had revealed that as humans advanced, they developed a greater mental capacity that allowed them to reach their minds out in a telepathic communication. During one of their more passionate moments, he learnt that my latent empathy made my mind more open to telepathic communication. Since then he had been taking strides to communicate with me in this way, so that they could build walls around my mind encase they came across any aliens that were also telepathic.

"I hate the countryside. It's dirty, it's unhygienic, and what is that smell?" Owen said.

"That would be grass." Gwen said blandly.

"It's disgusting." Owen said bitterly.

After nearly another thirty minutes they came to a stop at a burger van. I hadn't the faintest idea why he was this far out because there wasn't a lot of traffic and it was an hour from any kind of town.

"Seventeen disappearances within the last five months. The police are clueless." Jack briefed the group.

"Now there's a surprise. No offence, PC Cooper." Owen said, far more grumpy than normal.

"The last known whereabouts of each one is somewhere around here." Jack said opening a map and motioning to the mostly fielded area.

"All within a twenty-mile radius." Tosh noted.

"Anything else linking them?" Gwen enquired.

"None of the bodies have ever been found. These people just fell off the radar. No patterns in age, sex, race. One minute they're here, the next, pfff. Gone." Jack explained.

"The rift doesn't spread out this far. Does it?"

"We don't know that much about it to be certain. And it's increasing in activity all the time." Jack shrugged his shoulders, letting her know that he didn't know.

"Oh, come on. Aliens aren't gonna bother hanging around out here. Probably some sort of weird suicide club with people choosing the same spot to end it all. God knows, if I had to spend too long up here, I'd want to off myself." Owen said, adding his unhelpful opinion as he glared around at the empty fields.

"Owen, if it was suicide, their bodies would have been found, and the last victim was on the phone to her family when she dropped off the radar." I informed him sharply, fed up with his pointless whinging.

"Here you go. Careful, they're hot. Sure, you don't want anything, Tosh, Raven?" Ianto said, handing out the burgers.

"Living on the streets taught me a thing or two about street side food like that." I answered, not taking my eyes of the information Jack had collected.

"Really sure. A friend of mine caught hepatitis off a burger from one of these places." Tosh explained her reason for not accepting the burger in plainer terms. The others who had been about to take a bite out of their burgers dropped them in disgust. Everyone except Owen, who had already taken a bite, who spat it out.

"We'll start with the most recent victim, Ellie Johnson. We last have record of her making a phone call. She dropped out of signal mid-call. The coverage map has her placed somewhere about here. Looks as good a place as any to set up camp." Jack said, outlining the plan.

"Sorry, did you say camp?" Owen asked horrified. Jack smirked and started heading back to the SUV. The others grumbled but followed behind him anyway.

"What's the matter with a hotel?" Owen complained not that much later as they found a nice flat place to set up camp.

"People are going missing round here. Do you really wanna stay in a place run by strangers?" Jack questioned the logic of what Owen had just said.

"Oh, because sleeping outside is going to be a lot safer." Owen said sarcastically.

"If we have someone on look out, we have a greater chance of being aware of anyone approaching us." I proposed, getting an approving nod from Jack and an agreeing one from Ianto. Of the team, only the three of us had experiencing camping, and even then, Jack and I had the most experience with staying in dangerous places and staying (relatively) safe.

"No other race in the universe goes camping. Celebrate your own uniqueness." Jack said happily, trying to raise the spirits of the group.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" Owen demanded motioning to the green tarp he was meant to be putting up. Jack, Ianto and I were working on the largest one, while Gwen and Tosh were working on a second. Which was what left Owen with the remaining tent on his own. It was punishment for all his complaining since no one wanted to help him.

"Need a hand getting it up, Owen?" Tosh teased as she and Gwen finished and started setting up some of the more portable equipment they had brought along.

"If I did, I wouldn't ask you." Owen quipped. Tosh turned away, trying to hide the hurt from Owen's words but I caught sight of her face before she could turn completely.

"Some pieces are missing." Owen said sometime later. The tent was half up, none of the pegs had been put in and the poles had been arranged wrongly.

"No. I checked." Ianto responded, not even looking twice.

"Oh, come on. It's just a bit of fun. Who was the last person you snogged?" Gwen said. She had been trying to get everyone to join in her teenager-ish games. So far, no one had actually responded.

"You even sound like an eight-year-old. Who the hell says snog?" Owen grumbled, taking a seat around the fire where Jack and I were sat going over the police reports looking for clues.

"Mine was Rhys." Gwen said, joining them with Tosh. Ianto also quietly took a seat but he was ignored by most of the team. Only Jack and I took the time to acknowledge him, sine he had finished setting up the last of the equipment that wasn't under Tosh's supervision or remaining in the van for now.

"Yeah, well, there's a surprise." Owen muttered.

"Tosh, your go." Gwen nudged the beautiful Asian with her shoulder.

"It's easy for you." Tosh muttered, suppressing a blush. She was a very privet woman.

"Oh, come on. Spill the beans." Gwen tried to encourage.

"Owen." Tosh admitted.

"What?" Owen's head snapped up.

"Really?" Gwen asked astounded.

"Tosh, love, in your dreams." Owen denied.

"Three am, Christmas Eve, in front of the Millennium Centre, waiting for a cab. I had mistletoe." Tosh responded.

"Christmas. You've not had a snog since?" Owen asked astounded.

"No." she admitted.

"Wow. Lucky me, eh?" Owen said after a moment.

"So, who was yours?" Tosh said, trying to divert the topic.

"Gwen, actually." Owen said after a moment of staring at his co-worker.

"When was this?" Tosh asked, raising an eyebrow at Gwen and Owen. Jack and I exchanged a look, we both knew Tosh's feelings for Owen, and the pain Owen was holding close to his chest.

"It was complicated." Gwen tried brushing it off.

"Didn't take you long to get your feet under the table." Tosh muttered.

"What?" Gwen asked horrified.

"So was it just a kiss, or…" Tosh inquired.

"Tosh, leave it." Gwen said.

"Jack?" Owen redirected the conversation.

Jack raised an eyebrow at me and I nodded my head slightly. Instead of responding to Owen verbally, Jack cupped the back of my neck and pulled me into a deep kiss.

"Really Jack?" Owen asked sharply.

"Yep." Jack said smugly once he broke the kiss.

"She's eighteen! Young enough to be your daughter." Owen shook his head.

I lent my head on Jack's shoulder and spoke quiet enough that only he could hear me. "Everyone alive on earth is young enough to be your kid. Including, Tanabe."

"Isn't that the oldest man alive?" Jack asked, his voice just as quiet.

"Yes," I told him, looking up with a smile. Jack leaned down and captured my lips in another quick kiss.

"Okay, okay enough. I get it." Owen waved his hands through the air. "Just stop kissing in front of me."

"Why does it bother you?" Jack asked with a raised eyebrow.

"How long, have you two?" Tosh asked unsure if she was overstepping her bounds by asking.

"Couple of months." I responded. Although I had wanted to inform the team since it wasn't conductive to trust keeping secrets, I knew that they were going to react a bit hesitantly – especially Owen who was the only one who knew enough about my past to be worried for my emotional state.

"It's my turn, isn't it?" Ianto said, staring at his hands sadly. "It was Lisa."

"Ianto, I'm sorry." Gwen said.

"Sorry she's dead, or sorry you mentioned it?" Ianto asked. He had been getting annoyed at the pity and the avoidance he had been experiencing from the last two members of the team. Jack had told him he could handle it how he wished, but if he couldn't get them to interact with him normally then it would be Jack's turn – and he wouldn't be gentle about it.

"I just didn't think." Gwen stuttered out her excuse.

"You forgot." Ianto accused.

"We should get some firewood." Owen said, trying to escape the awkwardness.

"I'll give you a hand." Gwen said, jumping to her feet.

"I'm sorry Ianto. I never know what to do in these stations." Tosh apologised, looking at him.

"It's okay. I don't have a problem with you Tosh." Ianto sighed. "Your attitude hasn't been bothering me. You've tried reconnecting with me since… since Lisa. And you're one of my best friends. Gwen and Owen, however…" Ianto trailed off.

"I noticed." Tosh agreed.

Suddenly, Gwen and Owen came running back to the camp with their guns in their hands.

"What happened?" Jack demanded, drawing his own gun and standing.

"We saw something. Then we found a dead body." Owen reported sharply.

Owen and Gwen led the way back to the body. But even that was a light term. All that was left was blooded bones. There was no meat or organs left on the carcass.

"Well, it's not Ellie Johnson, that's for sure. This is a male, late forties, fifties. Wasn't killed here. No blood spatter or signs of a struggle. Must have been brought here after he died." Owen said, examining the body and being careful not to touch it and contaminate what's left of the evidence.

"Why do that? It's not like they've tried to bury him here." Gwen asked, trying to swallow the puke in her throat. She had seen dead bodies before, but she was still trying to get used to the gruesomeness of Torchwood.

"Maybe you disturbed them and they ran away." Tosh suggested.

"Maybe it's a warning. Whoever's responsible marking out their territory?" Ianto suggested, looking around the area to avoid looking at the corpse.

"Cause of death?" Jack asked.

"Impossible to say. The body's been stripped of the flesh and bodily organs so what is left is carcase." Owen responded, turning from the corpse to look at everyone.

"Can you identify any trauma to the bones?" I asked curiously.

"Not without cleaning them and having a better look." Owen answered bluntly.

"Could the Weevil's have come out this far?" Tosh asked curiously, she wasn't getting any readings suggested that the body had been stripped with technology nor had she seen anything like it before.

"No, Weevils don't finish off their victims like this." Jack shot that theory down quickly.

"Is that the SUV?" I questioned as I caught the sound of a car's ignition starting on the wind.

"Yeah." Jack answered as we all started running back to the camp site in time to see the SUV knock down the last of the tents and drive off.

"Argh!" Jack shouted coming to a stop.

"All right. I've said I'm sorry." Owen complained as everyone looked through the ruins of the camp for anything that could be salvaged.

"Basic security protocols, Owen." Tosh snapped, the most annoyed out of everyone since it was her equipment that had suffered the most damage.

"Oh, get off your high horse, Tosh. I was carrying that stupid gear."

"What, the whole time?" Tosh said sarcastically.

"And then I was trying to put that bloody tent up. And then. Well, yeah, I sort of forgot that I'd left them in there. But I'm sorry. I'm human. I ballsed up." Owen defended himself.

"Looks like that body wasn't a warning. More of a decoy." Jack sighed annoyed. He hated being tricked, especially now his whole team was stranded in the middle of nowhere. At least everyone was still armed.

"That would mean we've been watched since we've arrived." Gwen said in worry.

"And they're more than one, they're intelligent and they know how to drive." I piped up, adding a list of things about the thing they were hunting. It if was indeed what had stolen the SUV – which the body suggested it was.

"Tosh, can you get a tracking signal?" Jack asked.

"Already done. I took the liberty. It's currently three point four miles west from here." Ianto said, holding up the device he had found by his tent intact.

"Gunning at ninety, no doubt. You steal a piece of equipment like that, you drive straight on till morning." Owen predicted.

"Actually, no. It's been stationary for the past four minutes. I'd go so far as to say it was parked." Ianto responded, holding up the deviance to show everyone the stationary dot.

"There's a small village in that area. Other than that, nothing for thirty miles." I told them, pulling the map from my pocket to check.

"You were keeping the map in your pocket?" Owen demanded.

"Yes, I've gone camping before Owen. Always keep the map and compass on your person." I responded, with a roll of my eyes.

"Call me suspicious, but this has all the hallmarks of a trap." Tosh said, giving up trying to see if any of her things had survived. If they found the SUV then she would have access to the computers in the back, but the tracking equipment, air monitors and such were all down for the count.

"Yeah, I was just thinking the same thing. Anyone fancy a walk?" Jack asked brightly.

"Let me see if I can salvage any food and such, encase we end up staying longer then we intended." I said before going towards where mine and Jack's ruined tent was. We had the food, blankets, field medic kits and such all stored there before the tent was hit.

It took them nearly an hour and a half to walk through the valley to the little village. Even calling it a village was being generous. There was a row of six terrace houses, with one or two farm houses dotted a little further back.

"Why would anyone want to live out here?" Owen asked in disgust.

"Has the SUV moved?" Jack questioned.

"Not for an hour now." Ianto informed him, checking the device and his ever present stop watch.

"Tosh, Raven, Ianto. Follow the signal, find the SUV. Owen, Gwen. Let's see if there's any room at the inn." Jack gave his orders as we arrived in front of the Tap House.

"Keep your head on a swivel." I warned Jack, handing over the pack of food and water. It made sense for him to look after it since he wasn't continuing the trek. Owen was already carrying the medical supplies that I had been able to salvage. I kept shooting nervous looks around at the building and trees, the feeling from this place was horrible. It felt of death and fear.

Tosh took the tracker back from Ianto and they began to trek around the village towards one of the farms.

"The sun will be setting soon." I informed the other two quietly as I looked to the sun's position in the sky.

"It's just half a mile up here." Ianto comforted.

"At least we've still got this. The rest of my stuff was in the vehicle." Tosh sighed.

They approached a building that had mostly been boarded up. There was a large red barn to the side and the doors were all locked. Behind them, the bark of a fox sounded.

"What was that?" Tosh asked jumping slightly. She was a city girl, not used to all the noises of the country.

"It was a fox. Female I think." I told them softly, hoping to calm Tosh down.

"I'll check round the back." Ianto offered.

"I'll take the other side." Tosh agreed.

"I'll check the windows on this side then meet you on the other side of the house." I nodded my assent, as we all broke up. It didn't take me long to discover that there was no movement through the windows and they were locked. I could get in, but I wanted to meet back up with the others before making that decision. Moving slowly and carefully, with my gun drawn, I went around the back.

I arrived at the slops around the back of the house in time to see a person in a hood knock Ianto down. There was another person there with Tosh on their shoulders and at least four other men.

"Got another one." One of the men called out with a smirk.

I didn't hesitate to fire at the closest man, hitting him in the gut and sending him to the ground. The others roared in anger and ran at me. I made off two more shots, before I was forced into hand to hand combat with three of the men. They were faster than I had anticipated and there must have been at least one more man behind me because I soon found myself surrounded. Although I got a couple of hits in, and brought one of the men down, one of them hit me sharp enough across the head to send me to the floor before they kicked me into unconsciousness.

Jack was getting very concerned. They had found bodies, stripped of all their flesh and meat in all of the houses and the pub in the small village. Owen was examining the first body they found in the pub, while he and Gwen were checking the housing for any sign of life. He hoped that the other members of his team weren't having such bad luck.

"Locked?" Jack questioned Gwen as they approached the last house.

"Locked." Gwen confirmed. After a few moments she was able to pull the door open, but in doing so she forgot all her training and stood directly in front of the door as it opened. The moment the door was half open, a gun shot went off and Gwen was thrown back.

"Put the gun on the floor! Put the gun down on the floor!" Jack ordered the teen who was stood on the stairs of the house holding a shot gun.

"I thought you were them. I thought they'd come back for me." The teen whimpered, doing as Jack ordered and dropping the gun.

"Thought who'd come back for you? Who?!" Jack demanded to know as he heard Owen's voice call out for Gwen.

"Gwen. Gwen! Gwen, what's happened?" Jack left the house and approached his fallen team member who Owen was knelt next to. The kid was far too scared and shocked to answer his questions.

"A kid hit her with a shotgun." Jack responded, grabbing her arm so he could lift her up. "Help her up." Jack told Owen, who grabbed her other arm and put an arm around her waist. "I got you, I got you. Got to check her out. Move, move. Get in."

Once they got in the house Jack released Gwen and cleared the table to allow Owen to put her on the table. "Okay, I'll check upstairs." Jack said since there was nothing that he could do to help Owen. It didn't take Jack long to clear the rest of the house, Owen was still removing some of the pellets from Gwen when he got back.

"What's taking Tosh, Raven and Ianto so long?" Jack asked, looking down at his watch and realising that it had been nearly an hour since they had split up. It shouldn't have taken them more than thirty minutes to find and return with the SUV if their tracking system had been accurate. Raven had been concerned when they had separated. And the sun was starting to set.

"Jack, give them a chance. The SUV might be locked up or under guard." Owen cautioned, as he applied a bandage to Gwen's stomach to keep the pressure on.

"Or they could be dead." The kid said. When Owen and Jack glared at him he raised his hands defensible. "Well, everyone else is."

"Sit down." Jack motioned to the stairs. "Tell us what happened here."

"It's not human. Look, my mum won't know what's happened. They're only expecting me back for the weekend." The kid panicked.

"Look, we'll get you home, okay?" Jack promised, trying to calm the kid down and get information. He was starting to regret sending Raven with Tosh and Ianto, with Gwen down with the bullet wound she was the only other person on the team who could get through to panicking people.

"What are you going to do? You can't fight them, they're too strong. The only thing we can do is barricade the door." The kid said, shaking his head.

"No! We'll make base at the pub." Jack determined, remembering the layout of the houses. Although the pub still had several points of entry, it also had the best possible layout for a defence. And, in a pinch, the alcohol could be turned into a weapon.

"What about Tosh, Raven and Ianto? Should we go after them?" Owen questioned.

"Not till we know what we're dealing with." Jack shook his head.

"But what if it's too late?" Owen demanded, showing why Jack had never promoted him to second in command. Sometimes he didn't think through the situation in a way that would allow everyone to have the best possible chance of survival. If they went after the others, and they were in trouble, then there was a chance that they would all end up captured.

"They're not children. They know what to do. Let's go." Jack snapped frustrated. Jack stepped forward to help Gwen but Owen put his arm out to stop him.

"It's all right. I've got her." Owen said, angry with the way Jack was acting so emotionless with everything that was going on. Hell, his girlfriend might be in danger and he wasn't even thinking about going to find her!

"Owen, I want to do it on my own." Gwen complained weekly as she was helped off the table. Owen raised an eyebrow and allowed her to pull back slightly, but she wavered and nearly fell immediately so Owen pulled her close again.

"Look, I'm sorry about your friends." The kid said weakly.

It took a couple of moments for me to come too properly. I had been beaten in to unconsciousness enough times to know that sudden movement was a bad idea. So, as I became aware of the cold, damp concrete I was resting on I took stock of my physical condition.

The good news, I wasn't tied up. The bad news, I had what felt like a broken rib, a possible concussion and severe bruising to my face, back and legs. I would be lucky if I could support my own weight without help.

With careful movements, I straightened from the ball I had been lying in and looked around the room. Ianto was sat in the middle of the room, holding a crow bar while Tosh was coming too. The room they were in was dark, very little light filtering in, damp, cold, the walls made of some kind of brick and it smelt like a larder. With this assessment, I guessed we were in a basement of some kind.

"You know, I never liked camping. Don't bother. They took the guns." Ianto said, speaking to Tosh who had made a sudden movement for her gun. Tosh reached lower, into her boot where she pulled a flash light.

"Charming place they've got." Tosh commented, looking around.

"Judging by the sound reverberations and the air quality, pretty deep underground. Chances of rescue?" Ianto asked, the fear coming through in his voice. This was most likely the first time he had been in a situation like this before. Yet he had kept his head enough to identify were they were being kept using his knowledge and experience of Torchwood archives.

"My God, Raven are you okay?" Tosh said, rushing to my side as her torch light landed on my form.

"I'll be okay." I waved her off, pushing myself up into a sitting position and leaning back against the wall. "I probably have a concussion and a broken rib, but I've had worse."

"Can you stand?" Tosh asked concerned.

I sighed. I knew that if we were to make an escape than all of us would need to be able to run, but the chances of me being able to run and sustain any kind of speed were slim.

"Yeah. You try and figure a way out; I'll work on binding my ribs so I can run." I waved her off.

"Right." Tosh nodded her agreement and got up.

"We won't need rescuing." Tosh turned to Ianto and answered his earlier question. "I haven't met a cell yet I couldn't get out of."

"What were they?" Ianto asked, and I winced slightly. The Torchwood team were used to dealing with aliens, not this. This would scar them mentally. Sighing I carefully removed the leather jacket I always wore.

"I don't know. It happened too quickly. What about you, Raven?"

"Killed at least one. Wounded three." I responded, carefully tearing my shirt into strips to use as bandages.

"Could you identify them? How many were there?" Tosh asked sharply.

"I don't think…" I shook my head, not willing to be the one to break it to Tosh and Ianto. "Don't trust anyone who comes through that door." I warned instead. Tosh nodded her understanding as she turned back to investigating the room.

"Are you worried?" Tosh asked Ianto, flicking her torch light back to his pale face so that he knew who she was addressing.

"A little. That body we saw in the forest…"

I had finally ripped enough of my shirt that it fell off and I ripped the sleeves in half. Biting my lip to prevent the scream of pain, and using the wall as support I started wrapping my torso tightly with the make shift bandages, binding the top of my left arm in place at the same time. Owen was going to have a field day with me when we made it back to the hub.

"Don't think about it. See if you can get that light to work, huh?" Tosh asked Ianto, motioning to the bulb that was hanging from the ceiling in an attempt at distracting him.

"You're used to this, aren't you?" Ianto asked as he set about doing as he was asked. "That facial expression you all share when things get a bit out of control, like you enjoy it. Like you get a high from the danger."

"You want me to apologise for that?" Tosh snapped annoyed as she followed a trial of blood.

"Don't you ever wonder how long you can survive before you go mad, or get killed, or lose a loved one?" Ianto questioned.

"It's worth the risk to protect people." Tosh responded, shaking her head.

"And who protects us?" Ianto questioned darkly.

"Jack." I muttered, drawing the other two's attention as I used the wall to get to my feet and pull my leather jacket back on. It hung loose over my left shoulder but the basement was far too cold, especially now I didn't have a shirt. "Jack protects us. He will do everything he can to protect the people he cares about, and that includes his team."

"God, I'm hungry." Tosh complained into the silence that I had caused with my statement.

"You should have had that cheeseburger." Ianto quipped with a smile, pleased at the break in tension.

"Not that hungry." Tosh responded, also smiling slightly in thanks before her face hardened. "What's that?"

"You've found something?" Ianto asked concerned, abandoning the light.

"It's just a shoe. Wait, there's another. There's dozens of them." Tosh said, her eyes widening as her torch light landed on the piles of shoes that were stacked against the wall.

"Oh, my God." Ianto breathed in horror.

"It's like the holocaust. All they had left to identify so many victims was their shoes." I breathed out, blinking back tears. They had only had the report of three missing people in this area, and then there were the villages – six families – but there couldn't have been any more than twenty odd people there. There were at least fifty shoes stacked against the wall.

"How many people have been down here?" Tosh asked horrified.

"And what happened to them?" Ianto added.

"Is that a fridge?" Tosh asked, noting the item stood against the wall. She walked over and opened it, but immediately slammed it shut and turned to face us with a pale face.

"Tosh, what is it, what's in there? Tell me." Ianto demanded, not liking the look of absolute horror on Tosh's face.

"Ianto, don't." Tosh warned as Ianto approached the fridge. I stayed back, not wanting to know. I had already guessed at what was happening, the carcasses were stripped of meat in the same way a cow or pig would have been.

"I want to know." Ianto responded as he opened the fridge.

"That's why there was nothing left on the body. They need to eat. We're food." Tosh explained.

"So, if we barricade ourselves in, what happens to Tosh, Raven and Ianto?" Owen questioned Jack as they finished barricading up the pub. The lights had been turned on so they could see, the kid was curled up on one of the pub chairs and Gwen was writing on a black board that was used – at one time – for the dart board scores.

"Why are we still talking about this? Tosh, Raven and Ianto can look after themselves." Jack snapped back, annoyed with the way the day had gone. This was meant to be a team building excursion, not a fight to stay alive and get back together. "The kid is our first priority. Now, they've already been for him once. They're not going to give up that easily."

"So, have we ever heard of a species who strip human bodies of flesh and organs?" Gwen questioned, turning to Jack who knew the most about aliens.

"What are you doing? You need to rest." Owen asked, moving over to Gwen.

"I'm compiling what we've got. Seeing if it helps." Gwen responded softly.

"We have to assume the others who disappeared have been killed too." Jack said bluntly.

"So, you think there've been seventeen deaths?" Gwen questioned horrified.

"At least. These aren't casual killers." Jack nodded his assent.

"Okay. So, all this means is the Rift is spreading and its dumping aliens and psychos wherever it fancies." Owen said darkly.

"Looks like that." Jack agreed, but there was a part of him that said this wasn't right. He was missing something important.

"Great. This conversation has cheered me up no end." Owen said snidely.

"Did you see that?" Gwen asked sharply looking out one of the windows.

"Something outside?" Jack asked, turning his gun raised to the window Gwen was looking out off.

"Was that the same one or different?" Owen asked as a shadow passed in front of one of the other windows and the sound of braking glass was heard.

"He said they'd come back." Gwen said quietly, looking to where the kid was lying.

"Let's not jump to conclusions. We don't know who they are or what their intentions are." Jack said, trying to calm his team down. However, in that moment the lights went out.

"I'm thinking that's not a good sign." Owen muttered.

"They've come back." The kid said panicking. There was the sound of rattling at the door.

"Kieran, listen to my voice, okay? Just come back. Kieran!" Gwen shouted as the kid moved away from her. Jack suddenly moved so he was leaning against the door behind the bar which had stared to open.

"Okay, so we didn't check the cellar." Jack said, almost casually given the situation they were facing. Surrounded, possible outnumbered by an unknown enemy and with a defenceless kid to protect.

"You can't let them in." the kid shouted, but he was stood close to the door in his fright, unsure where to look and where to run.

"Come back from the door." Gwen said, holding her hand out for Kieran to take.

"Don't let them in." Kieran was panicking too much to listen to what Gwen was saying, and Jack couldn't help since he was still struggling with the door.

"Sit down. We've got this under control." Owen said, also trying to reason with Kieran who was too close to the cellar door for his liking.

"You don't understand. You don't know what they're like." Kieran shouted.

"Kieran!" Gwen called just as Jack lost hold of the cellar door.

The next few moments were pandemonium as they fired into the cellar, but they also came under fire and they were forced to duck as a lot of bottles were hit. In the chaos, something grabbed Kieran and dragged him off.

"No, please, please, no, not me." Kieran shouted, kicking at whatever had a hold of him as it dragged him outside.

"Kieran!" Gwen shouted, trying to go after him but Jack got in her way.

"It is pitch black. You don't have any tracking devices. You want to get yourself killed?" Jack demanded to know.

He was annoyed at the loss of the kid, but right now what was left of the team needed to stay together. It had been too long since he last had com. communications from the others, for him to not assume that the others had been taken. If they had taken Kieran alive then they had probably taken the others. They needed information and then he would come up with a plan to rescue the rest of his team, and the kid, and return to Cardiff alive and relatively uninjured. Charging in blindly was more likely to lead to them being killed.

"Get out of my way!" Gwen demanded.

"Look, whatever's in that cellar took three bullets. I heard it fall. Once we know what it is, then we'll know how to deal with it." Jack said, trying to reason with the most stubborn member of his team after Raven who was at least a sensible stubborn person (if such an oxymoron could exist inside a person).

"You do that. We'll go after Kieran and the others." Gwen responded.

"You are wounded." Jack reminded her.

"Do you think that's gonna stop me?" Gwen demanded as Owen came up behind her.

Jack looked between the two before sighing in defeat. He didn't have the time to continue arguing with them, especially since they would defy him in the end. At least they would be sticking together. "Be careful. Go."

"Got to be three steel bolts. Top, middle and bottom." Tosh said, assessing the door that was keeping them from the outside world. Ianto had managed to get the light to work, allowing a small yellow glow to light the room. I half wish he hadn't fixed it, since now I could see the blood and shoes that were dotted around the entire room.

"How are you at calculating target stress points? Find the weakest point, bit of brute force?" Ianto questioned hopefully.

"Nice thought, but it's reinforced." Tosh said, shaking her head in the negative

Ianto ignored her and kicked at the door for a few moments before a small panel slide back. Ianto and Tosh immediately stepped to the side while I stepped away from the wall I had been leaning on, holding my coat closed around my body with my bound arm. I wasn't going to show any weaknesses to these monsters. A woman entered the room, and Ianto immediately grabbed her.

"Get off. Look at me, you idiot. I'm not gonna hurt you." The women threw Ianto off and pointed a shot gun at him to hold him back.

"You've got a gun." Tosh pointed out.

"I promise, I promise." The women said, she looked terrified. But she didn't feel it. She was too calm to be another prisoner; she had been sent to stop us from fighting back until we could no longer fight back.

"Okay, okay. Give her some space." Tosh agreed motioning to Ianto who moved so he was stood beside her.

"Thank you. Were you injured when they took you? Can I see? I'm a nurse." Ianto flinched back from the women before she could look at the cut he had to his eyebrow. "Okay. Okay, okay. Does anyone else know you're here? Have you managed to call for help?"

"We don't need any help. There's three more of us in the village." Tosh responded tightly as I moved next to her.

"I can't help you. I'm sorry." The women whimpered.

"What d'you mean?" Ianto demanded.

"I've been sent to collect you. I've got to take you to them." she responded.

"Then tell us what's going on. We can help." Tosh said, trying to calm the women down and get information.

"No one's safe. Every ten years it takes us again." The women said shiftily and I stiffened. They had been doing this, every ten years? How had no one noticed the string of missing people around the same time every year? How long had this been going on for?

"What takes you? What is it?"

"The Harvest. No, please, you have to come with me," the women said, pointing her shot gun at Tosh who nodded hesitantly. Together the three of us left the cellar.

The women led them up some steps, towards an area that had been section off by tattered plastic.

"In there, please." The women said, opening a piece of the plastic.

"If you help us, we can stop all this. Please." Tosh said, still trying to reason with the women.

"I'm sorry. Get back." The women apologised.

"Oh, God, that stench." Tosh whimpered as she looked around at all the bodies hanging from meat hooks. In our line of work we were used to seeing and dealing with dead bodies, but to be in an enclosed space with bodies which had been bled (and quite possible skinned), meant that the smell was very intense and stuck in the one place. I refused to look directly at them while trying to take in as much of my surroundings as I could and think of a way out.

"Tell us what these creatures are. Do they look like us?" Tosh questioned just as a man entered the butchering area.

"How else are we gonna look?" he questioned before pulling the women in for a kiss.

Ianto tried to escape, but got a rifle in the stomach for his troubles. Not wanting to deal with containing us again, the main swiftly had the three of us handcuffed. With my hands handcuffed awkwardly behind me, my coat fell open revealing the fact that I was only covered by a sports bar and makeshift bandages.

"There are three more out there." the women reported.

"Not a problem. How are they?" the man questioned, eyeing the three of us like a piece of meat.

"They're in a good state. I think they're the best we've ever had." The women replied smiling happily.

"Yeah? Oh, I forgot to tell you, we caught the boy. Finally. Come on. Come on." He waved at the back were another man entered, dragging a struggling boy with them.

"I won't tell anyone." The kid shouted in a panic.

"Who is he?" Tosh questioned.

"He's meat. I'm afraid we're all just meat." The man responded, while the other laughed as he threw the kid to the floor.

"Get ready to run." Ianto breathed softly to Tosh.

"What're you going to do, put us on meat hooks?" Tosh demanded, nodding slightly to Ianto to let him know she had heard. The first man fetched a baseball bat as he approached.

"No, not yet. You see, meat has to be tenderised first. Good. Ready?" he ran the baseball bat down between my breast and I smiled grimly. When the man turned to face Ianto, I acted, kicking out at the man's legs and sending him to the floor.

"Go. Get the others." Ianto and I shouted to Tosh who bolted for the door and the man got up again to stop her.

The women swiftly knocked Ianto out with the butt of her gun, while I was faced with the second man and the other three that had entered through the plastic.

I didn't last long in a confined space, injured and handcuffed but I got a couple of solid kicks in before I was hit sharply around the back of the head.

The blow wasn't enough to knock me out completely but I was dazed. The men took that moment to kick at my prone body, one of them laughing that they were starting the tenderising process a little bit early. Eventually, they stopped and placed a bag over my head before dragging me across the floor. I could hear the quick, panicked breathing and quiet whimpers from the kid, who had probably been tied up as well and the slightly deeper breathing from Ianto who was probably still unconscious otherwise he would be panicking after his moment of bravery in trying to buy Tosh some time to get the others.

It was maybe ten minutes later, and Ianto had woken up, when I heard Tosh's voice as she was forced back into the slaughterhouse.

"Who are these people?" she demanded to know. I wasn't sure who she was talking about, but I would assume the rest of the men who had taken us captive.

"This is our village." The first women responded.

"The villagers are dead." Gwen's voiced sounded. She was hurt, I noted. The anger she would normally be expressing being subdued slightly by that fact.

"They're all involved. They've all been doing it." Tosh said, sounding sick.

"This is our Harvest." The first man said. It seemed as though him and his women were the leaders of the group.

"Only in the bloody countryside. You sick fuckers." Owen voice spat in disgust.

"Help me, help me." the kid was whimpering, and I heard hurried footsteps as what sounded like Gwen went to comfort him.

"Where's Ianto and Raven? What have you done with them?" Tosh demanded to know.

One of the men walked up to me and pulled me to my knees, dragging me slightly to the side before pulling the sack from over my head allowing me to see the room. Gwen was hugging the kid, blood plastering her side, Owen was stood with Tosh off to one side, away from the cannibals and Ianto was thrown at their feet by another man. Tosh reached down and helped him stand while the group looked at me with eyes wide. I imaged I didn't look a pretty sight, what with the two beatings I had sustained and the knife I could feel pressing against my throat.

"Time to be bled, like veal. It takes a long time, but it definitely makes the meat taste better." The man holding me, the leader, said before leaning down and running his tongue along my cheek.

The knife pressed lightly against the soft flesh of my neck, cutting it slightly before the glassware started rattling and the man removed the knife from my throat as he looked around in confusion.

"What now? What the fuck?" he demanded frustrated.

Suddenly a tractor smashed through the front door and Jack leaped out of the driver's seat, firing a shot gun as he went. There were five cannibals still alive in the room, and he hit each of them in non-fatal spots but enough to put them out of action. When the one holding me was hit, I fell on my side with a quiet whimper of pain. The cannibal dressed as a PC tried reaching for his gun.

"Oh, really?" Jack demanded, shooting his hand using his hand gun since his shot gun had run out of ammo. He turned to the leader, and held him against the wall with his gun pointed at his head.

"Jack." I breathed. "We don't kill unless… unless there is no other choice."

Jack breathed out sharply, before throwing the man to the floor and handcuffing him.

"Tosh, phone the police. Owen control the bleeding. Gwen sit down before you collapse. Kid, calm down your heading home." Jack said turning to his team before freeing first Ianto and then me. When my arms were free of the handcuffs, I wrapped them around Jack's neck and rested my head on his chest.

"Thank you." I breathed softly.

"Jack, I need to check on her." Owen appeared after a long while. I'm not sure how long I had been clinging to Jack, but it must have been at least half an hour if Owen had been able to control all the bleeding.

"Raven, you need to let me go." Jack said softly when he tried to pull back but I tightened my grip on him. "I need to see the police, and tell them what happened. You can hold me all you like when we get back to base." Jack promised.

"Don't let Gwen talk with them. She won't understand." I breathed softly, before slowly unwinding my arms and allowing Jack to gently lye me back on the floor.

Instead of seeing to me on the floor, Owen picked me up, making sure my coat was wrapped around me before taking me out to the SUV which someone (most likely Tosh) had brought around to the house. Ianto was stood with Tosh leaning against the side of the van, talking softly. Ianto had a cut above his eyebrow with stiches and a blackened eye, while Tosh looked mostly fine, dirty and a bit shaken up, but physically fine.

"Right, let's get a proper look at you." Owen sighed once we were both inside the SUV with the doors closed. He had turned all the lights in the back on, and had his on the go medical kit open.

It took Owen about twenty minutes to properly bind my ribs since I had most likely broken another three but he wanted to do a scan when we got back to the hub. He said I was lucky that they were clean brakes and the initial binding stopped any serious internal damage. He also had to stitch up my neck, shoulder and back of my head. Then he gave me one of the spare shirts from Ianto's pack which had been the only one left in the van.