The silence hung over them all as Toshiko finished her story. Her eyes had stayed firmly on the floor the whole time, her hands gripping her coffee mug tightly to stop them shaking. Owen placed his hand on her shoulder, an attempt to reassure her.

Ianto looked over at Jack, who was staring past Tosh into nothing. "What now Jack? You ever heard of anything like this happening before?" His quiet voice gently broke the silence around them, bringing Jack back into the present. He took a deep breath

"No, I've never seen anything like this before. Never."

"Do we have any idea what this thing even is?" Tosh asked, finally looking up

"All we know is that it seems to be able to get into your heads. Show you things, do something to you. And it can either change what it looks like...or there's more than one of them."

"Oh great!" Owen said, flinging his hands up, "So we have no clue what, when, where or who this thing is, or even if there are a million of them running around Cardiff hunting people down!"

Jack stood up suddenly. "Has anyone heard from Gwen? Anyone seen her since she left?" The others looked at each other, shaking their heads as worry crept across their faces. "Right" His voice took on his leader tone, "our first move is to make sure her and Rhys are ok, see if they know any more than we do. Tosh, Owen, check the records; see if there are any reports of anything like this ever happening before. Even vaguely related things, I want them checked and rechecked. Ianto, check the camera footage of around the outside, this thing may have been caught coming in or leaving again"

"What about you?" Ianto asked him, watching his boss's face.

"I'm gonna try ring Gwen, see if she's ok, get her and Rhys here as soon as possible. Whatever that thing is, it could go after them at any minute!"

Gwen took a last mouthful of the home made chocolate pudding and carefully placed her spoon back on the plate, licking her lips and grinning across the table at Rhys. He smiled back at her.

"I guess you're not going to collapse on me from food poisoning then?"

"Where did you learn to make that Rhys Williams? That was the nicest meal I've ever had!"

Rhys laughed "Well it's nice to be appreciated sometimes isn't it! As for where I got it from, that's a secret" he grinned, tapping the side of his nose which he knew infuriated her. "I've got to have some surprises up my sleeve for later dates" He stood up, taking her plate from in front of her and stacking it on his own.

Gwen rolled her eyes but grinned and, standing up, followed her fiancé into the kitchen. She put her arms around his neck after he had put the plates down and looked deep into his eyes. His arms wound around her waist and they kissed gently.

A huge crash resounded through the flat and the two of them sprung apart as if they had been electrocuted. Gwen's hand instantly went to her side, and she swore under her breath as she realised her weapon wasn't there. A horrible thought came to her mind, the words spoken by that strange girl only a few hours earlier.

"Rhys, I want you to stay in here, don't let anything in, you understand?" Her voice took on her commanding voice she had gained from her time in the police, though her nerves still slipped through.

"Why? What is it out there?" Rhys asked, taking a step back away from her, keeping his back to a wall, something he had learnt from her since finding out about torchwood

"If I'm honest, I have no idea. But if it's what I think it is, then I know it's not good."

Gwen crept forwards slowly, her eyes darting about the empty living room. Her jacket with her weapon hidden underneath it lay discarded on the couch against the opposite wall. With one final good check around, she stepped out into the room and hurried across to it. Her hand closed around the cold metal of the handle, and she felt strangely comforted by it.

A sharp bang behind her made her whirl around. The door to the kitchen, which had been wide open just a moment ago was now firmly shut. Fear started to rise up in her throat and she ran back across to it, grabbing the handle and twisting, pushing against the door. Nothing

"Rhys? Rhys are you ok? Open the door it's me!" she hammered against the wood desperately.

There was a crash from inside, then a yell.

"Rhys!"