Things didn't get better for Ethan Donovan the next day or even the day after that. In fact, for a whole week, he continued to completely cock things up. Jack regularly out shot him on the range and Miranda regularly kicked his arse six ways to Sunday in the gym. Every night, Donovan collapsed into his bed, exhausted. He slept like a log, when he did manage to sleep. He hadn't had a full night of sleep since he'd gotten to Cardiff. Rift alerts continued to interrupt his nights, and every time he did go out into the field, he had managed to royally screw something up. He was shocked that Jack still allowed him to so much as set foot outside of the Hub.

After the munitions box, he'd accidentally caused something called a Fuligo pod explode. He'd asked Gwen if it was safe to touch and after Gwen had told him yes, he'd reached for it before she'd had a chance to tell him to grasp it by the sides. Intrigued by the wispy looking flower on top, he'd touched it first. It had doused him and Gwen in some sort of gloppy pulp. The former PC had been quite surly with him for hours. After that, a Weevil had escaped him and Ianto after he'd slipped and fallen on some wet pavement. He'd been out of commission for the rest of the day, nursing a twisted ankle. Ianto had had to practically carry him back to the Hub. When the rift alert had gone off in the middle of the night. The spike was very large so Jack, Ianto and Miranda had seen to it together with Donovan coordinating back at the Hub. Without Fish to help him, he'd mis-read the screen and sent them on a wild goose chase through the northern end of Bute Park when the actual rift alert had been more towards Cardiff Castle. They had had to call Fish into work to help.

The disasters continued throughout the week. Just yesterday, Ianto had sent him up to feed Myfanwy. Donovan had been thrilled. Dinosaurs had been a childhood fascination of him but his excitement was short lived. The pterodactyl did not like him at all. He had tossed the mutton into her trough and when Myfanwy had poked at his arm in what he interpreted as an affectionate manner, Donovan went to pet her beak. The dinosaur had tried to attack him. It had taken Ianto over half an hour to calm her down with copious amounts of chocolate and today, the pterodactyl's digestion was off. His feeding of Janet had gone even worse and he now had several stitches in his forearm.

He'd woken this morning absolutely dreading his workday - a complete first for him. As he walked upstairs towards the Hub kitchen in search of breakfast, he worried that Jack and Miranda would send him away. His time with Torchwood had been nothing but spectacular cock up after spectacular cock up. Everyone had been so understanding and patient with him but it hadn't taken long to see why Torchwood had such a high mortality rate. The work was perilous. It was only a matter of time before he got himself or one of the other team members killed. The worst part was that Donovan knew exactly how many times he owed his life to Miranda and Jack. Ten. Thankfully, neither of them had died yet and Ethan Donovan was not looking forward to a time when that happened.

He may be a disaster in the field but he was getting the hang of the rest of the place. He no longer got lost and knew where everything was in the Hub kitchen. He was able to fetch most of the take away without any problems and he was finally cleaning the Hub to Ianto's satisfaction.

The whole experience, thus far, had been extremely humbling. There were many who felt that someone needed to take Jack Harkness down a notch and knock Torchwood off its high horse. Since he'd started working here, Donovan had had the wool removed from his eyes. Torchwood was all that stood between humanity and the rift and what fell through it. When MiB requested an alien artefact from the Torchwood archive and Captain Harkness said it was too dangerous, it wasn't arrogance that the great Captain Jack Harkness of the almighty Torchwood knew better. The plain and simple fact was that humanity wasn't ready for most of what fell through the rift… and that the great Captain Jack Harkness and the almighty Torchwood did know better. Donovan had had no idea how ignorant and naive he was until now.

Torchwood was also ridiculously understaffed. Donovan couldn't understand why Jack only had a handful of operatives. The five of them appeared to be working themselves to the bone. The addition of two or three more people would ease the workload a great deal. In fact, Donovan wanted to shut down half of his organisation and send them all to Jack. He had no idea how they managed but they did. Most of the evening and night work fell to Jack, Ianto and Miranda as the three of them lived in the Hub. Donovan found himself feeling sorry for them as they were always drawing the short stick, in particular Miranda. While Jack and Ianto had each other, the immortal woman lived a completely solitary existence. Her smile and good humour always seemed forced. Donovan tried not to pity her. He knew the last thing Miranda Ryan would want from anyone was pity.

He yawned as he reached the Hub kitchen, disappointed there was no coffee yet. Donovan had no idea how he'd survive without Ianto's coffee once he returned home. He opened the cupboard and took out some breakfast cereal. He began fixing his breakfast. He checked his watch. Surely Ianto would be up soon?

Blissfully, the rift predictor was quiet for the next few days. Donovan was looking forward to getting a decent night of sleep tonight and maybe doing some sightseeing. Hell, he'd be satisfied with just sitting down watching a ballgame and having a beer but the only television was in Miranda's room. Probably no baseball in this country anyway… he thought with a sigh as he poured milk over his cereal.

"Morning, Ethan," Ianto said with a smile. He was wearing a pair of pyjama bottoms and a white t-shirt.

"Ianto…" Donovan said, stifling another yawn. He averted his eyes. He didn't think he'd ever get used to seeing Ianto Jones wearing anything but a suit. "Where is everyone today?"

"Monday is Fish's day off. Gwen's day off is Saturday but she's off today because she's at her in-laws," Ianto said as he fixed the coffee. "Fish was in last Monday because it was your first day."

"Don't you, Jack and Miranda get days off?" Donovan asked, stirring his cereal.

"We get the odd day off," Ianto said with a smile. "We make time where we can."

"Jack really should hire more people," Donovan said, shaking his head. He started to eat his cereal, leaning against the counter. He'd gotten quite used to eating his meals standing up as quickly as he could.

"Finding agents is difficult. It's a tough fit," Ianto informed him. "Jack likes to keep Torchwood small."

Miranda stepped into the Hub kitchen and Donovan's spoon clattered against his bowl. She was wearing a tight black skirt and tall boots. Her blouse was slightly sheer. Donovan could see the tight camisole underneath.

"Good morning, gentlemen," she said brightly.

"Breakfast, Mandy?" Ianto asked.

"I've eaten already," she said, reaching for the coffee. "We've had a flag at University Hospital."

"A flag?" Donovan asked, still munching his cereal. He kept his eyes firmly on Miranda's arse as she reached up for her coffee mug.

"Suspicious circumstances," Ianto supplied.

"I can't believe you guys get so much local cooperation," Donovan said, shaking his head. He switched his gaze when Miranda turned around.

She stirred her coffee. "This one was picked up by our system."

"Ah," Donovan said, scraping the last of his cereal into his mouth.

Fish had explained the complex system to him on his very first day. The vast network of computer viruses created by Toshiko Sato sifted through, well, everything - local texts and Internet traffic, medical records, police databases - looking for keywords and key phrases Torchwood designated. Most of the time, these programs returned nothing but, once in a while, when they returned a hit, Torchwood investigated. Something must have come through this morning.

"University Hospital has had something of an anomaly," Miranda said with a sigh.

"Is it that flu outbreak on the news?" Ianto asked, reaching for the coffee pot. He poured out coffee for the three of them.

"Thanks, Ianto," Donovan said accepting the mug.

"That might be what the hospital thinks it is, but the computer system has been sifting through the medical records themselves. The first patients admitted to hospital have fallen into comas," Miranda said, fixing her own coffee.

"That's one hell of a flu," Donovan said, his eyes wide.

"It's not the flu. Influenza kills but usually only the young, the old and the infirm," Miranda said. She sipped her coffee. "All five members of a single family fell into comas within hours of each other."

Donovan's spoon stopped halfway to his mouth. "Now that's fucked up."

"It is indeed and possibly a job for Torchwood. I know it's your day off, Ethan but would you like to accompany me? It is just a cursory visit to see if this warrants further investigation."

"Sure," Donovan said. He started to eat faster.

"I'll meet you in the garage when you're done eating, no rush," Miranda said with a nod.

Donovan couldn't help but follow her with his eyes as she left. Ianto stood back, rolling his own eyes a bit. He'd watched as the American had eyed his friend for the past week, casting appreciative glances in Miranda's direction. The bit of flirting going on hadn't been lost on him either. So far, Donovan hadn't attempted at anything more and Ianto couldn't help but feel a bit badly for him. The man had tried to step up his game but Ianto found him to be nothing more than a bureaucrat, a boring and mundane office worker. Sure, Donovan was a nice enough bloke and a good hearted soul but Miranda Ryan was completely out of his league.