Quite a shortish chapter but it sets up the thoughts of the characters. Next chapter will have a more interesting twist, much to the dismay of Gwen.

If Martha had been told this morning that she would be elbow deep in the remains of an alien bounty hunter, whilst all the time trying to ignore the Ianto look alike staring at her from the corner with dead eyes, she may have decided to just stay in bed. Fun though her more alive guests were, they had now left her to her work whilst they busied themselves with other mindless tasks that would prevent them from sharing company with the dead. Martha couldn't blame them, not when her mind conjured the image of Toshiko lying bloodied on the same floor, slowly dying in the arms of her Captain whilst her remaining colleagues spilled tears over her death. Who would really want to come back into the space where their world had been turned on its head?

'Coffee?' The voice from above her snapped Martha away from the nightmare thoughts circulating her brain as she turned to look up at Ianto, who was attempting a smile which came across more like a pained and troubled smirk. She had to smile at the sight in front of her; Gwen's small form trying desperately to prevent the tray of hot drinks from crashing onto the stone steps below.

'You read my mind,' the young medic replied as she watched Ianto manoeuvre slowly down the winding stairs towards her. Reaching out like a small child for her mother, she grasped the mug she had been designated when she had first come to Torchwood and removed it from the tray. Taking a moment just to savour the aroma rising from the cup, she finally brought the liquid to her lips and hummed in pleasure as the coffee hit every taste bud on her tongue. God, how she had missed this. 'Still got the touch,' she smiled as she looked up, only for it to fade as she watched Ianto, his eyes fixed on the body lying on the floor which had been removed from its body bag.

'It's not that much of a likeness, if you ask me.' Martha tried to sound reassuring, hoping that the young man could straighten up, turn away and give her one of his sarcastic witty comments he was famous for.

'Whatever it was, it was after me. He's dead because he looks like me.' Ianto's voice was such a whisper that Martha had difficulty in hearing him clearly. 'He's dead because of me.' Martha heard that too clearly and she felt the sting of tears building behind her eyes, accompanied by the rising bile which was building up in the pit of her stomach. How could he think that? This man's death was unfortunate, that was indeed true, but Ianto's comments were nothing more than guilt. Another person dying because of Torchwood, that was what Martha hoped Ianto was really trying to say.

'Ianto,' Martha started, hoping to focus the young man's eyes away from the body and onto her. 'You can't blame yourself for this. Whatever attacked him, we will find and stop it, I promise. His death won't be in vain.' She smiled as Ianto turned to look at her, the mugs on the tray clinking as he shook slightly. Martha placed her own mug down and reached out to relieve Ianto of his load.

'So, anything revealing about this one?' Ianto had now shifted his focus to the body lying on the autopsy table, grimacing slightly at the incisions Martha had made across the body. It wasn't that he was squeamish over autopsy scenes; he had seen worse during his time with Torchwood One. Their archives had spread as far as the eye could see and Ianto's perusal of the medical files had provided many a restless night for the junior researcher. There were things Ianto hoped he would never see again, but working with Torchwood, hopes were always there to be shattered.

'Well, apart from the obvious,' Martha started as she pointed towards the multicoloured organs now spooling out of the body. 'I did find one interesting thing.' Removing a tape measure from her pocket, she opened the mouth of the alien and took the measurement of its sharp pointed teeth in front of Ianto. Manoeuvring around the young man, she then placed the tape measure against the wounds on the victim's neck. 'An exact match.'

'So this thing killed him before we found it last night?' Ianto looked up to Martha, quietly playing the scenes of the night before in his mind. He was surprised when the young woman shook her head and headed back to the alien corpse.

'No, it couldn't be.' Martha took a quick sip of coffee before continuing. 'You said you and Jack brought the body in around 11pm, right?' Ianto nodded and Martha took a long breath before continuing. 'If I'm correct, than this young man was killed later than that. If I were to guess, I would say around five or six in the morning.'

'Are you saying there might be more than just one of these?' Ianto joined Martha by the body as she took a few more sips from her cooling coffee.

'Did you see anyone else when you caught this one?' Martha looked up to Ianto as she saw the crease of concentration crossing his face.

'Not that I remember. Jack and I were chasing a Rift spike across the town, when it finally locked onto a back alley. We jumped out of the SUV and headed down to the area. Next thing I knew, I was being thrown against a wall and then things get a little hazy after that. Couldn't tell you if there was anyone else.'

'There wasn't.' The sound of Jack's voice reverberated around the small room as Martha and Ianto turned to look up at the looming figure, standing tall and proud in his military coat. 'If there was another one, it would have come to the rescue of the one we killed.'

'Still, those marks on that body definitely come from teeth with that shape and size.' Ianto turned to face the Jack and Martha. 'I don't think we should rule out the possibility that these things hunt in pairs, maybe even larger groups than that.'

Excerpt from the next chapter:

Gwen felt violently sick as the tears leaked from her eyes. How could they do that? Had they not heard her enter the room? Sure, she had seen them that way before, but this was different. Captain Jack Harkness was kissing her body, slipping his arms around her small waist and Gwen wasn't the one in the driving seat. All Gwen Cooper could do was fall apart.