I followed his gaze and spotted trouble. Gwen must have arrived while we were talking with Toshiko for I now saw her appear from the Medical Bay where, no doubt, Owen had filled her in on Jack's situation. She made straight for the office and barged in.

"Jack, Owen's just told me what happened." She stood, looking down at him. It was difficult to tell from her expression what she was thinking. "Oh my God, it's true."

I've always found Gwen hard to read. She can be tremendously loyal and supportive. She certainly was to me after Lisa, nothing was too much trouble and she included me back on the team without a word of censure. But she can also be over-protective and strangely insensitive which I had also experienced, when Jack had been with The Doctor. I looked at her now and had no idea which way she would go. I hoped for the former but feared it would be the latter.

"Gwen, sorry you got called in. Ianto got a bit panicky," he smiled across to me tightly. I took the hint and stayed quiet but resented the inference nonetheless. "There's really no problem."

"Jack, you're 10 years old. Of course there's a problem." She sat down, peering at him, a small smile dancing around her lips. "This is really weird. Have you found out how it happened?"

"Tosh is working on it. The CCTV is unclear and I'm hoping she'll be able to decipher it." Jack maintained his calm, frank attitude.

"Can I do anything?" I was relieved; she was being supportive. In truth, Jack could well need her. If the Rift became active we'd be stretched without her on board.

"That's good of you, Gwen," smiled Jack, genuinely thankful, "I know this is your day off. Why don't you check with Tosh and see where she's got and chase up anything that needs doing."

Gwen stood. "I'll do that. I was only going to clean the flat today so I didn't mind coming in. If you need anything, or if you want to talk, just say." She smiled and left.

I stepped forward and took the coffee mug from the desk and made to leave. I had duties of my own to get on with.

"Ianto." I stopped and looked back at Jack. "I had to say something."

I knew he was referring to the dismissive comment earlier. "Apology accepted," I smiled and carried on out of the office. I collected Owen's mug and then made coffees for Toshiko and Gwen. They were sitting together at Toshiko's workstation, going through the CCTV footage frame by frame talking quietly with frequent glances at Jack.

"How's he taking it?" asked Gwen softly, nodding towards Jack in his office.

"Calmly. And thanks to both of you for doing the same. As long as he gets back to normal soon, he'll be fine." I looked at the screen. "Found anything?"

"Not yet," said Toshiko, "but we've only just started." She hesitated and I wondered what was coming next. "He is very cute like that," she smiled.

"Sure is," agreed Gwen, both of them taking sidelong glances at his youthful profile. "Maybe we should keep him this way." They giggled.

I knew they were joking so smiled and left them to it. I went up to the Tourist Office where I usually spend an hour or so each morning. I use the time to go through e-mails and other post. It's surprising how much comes in every day. This morning I read through the CVs of care staff who'd applied to work at the installation on Flat Holm island. As Jack and I were the only ones who knew about it, I preferred to keep the paperwork out of the main Hub. Helen, the matron, and I were due to interview the three applicants later in the day and I wanted to make a few notes and prepare.

"Ianto." It was Gwen on the comms. "Can you come down for a meeting?"

"On my way." I bundled up the papers and locked them away. I secured the Office door and made my way down to the Hub and through the tunnels to the Conference Room. The others were all there. I sensed a slight tension in the air but nothing definite. Owen was slouched in a chair pushed back from the table; Toshiko was stood by the plasma screen; Gwen was sitting at the table to the left of Jack who was seated at its head. He looked very small sitting there and I smiled in reassurance as I sat between him and Owen.

Thought I'd gove you two chapters again, so go straight on to the meeting when more will be revealed.

Many thanks for the reviews so far.

Gwen enters the scene ...