It had been another very, very long day. Once again, the Torchwood team was gathered in the boardroom to regroup and, once again, it was late at night. This case was emotionally draining. None of the fun the team tried to integrate into their work was present. Ianto didn't even bother with the empty glass that always went along with Miranda's soda. They just sat down and got to business.
Jack turned to Fish and said, "You want to start us off with what you found, Fish?"
Fish leaned forward and tapped the tablet in front of him. A few charts and graphs came up.
"I don't know if this is a break or just one more chip to add to the pile. We all have a lot of information that doesn't make any sense yet. I'll let Evie explain the gruesome details," Fish said with a grimace.
"I've been studying the green fingertips, hoping that they will provide some greater clue," Miranda said. She looked down at the boardroom table. "I severed the fingertips of Sandra and Sean Wilson between the distal and intermediate phalanges so that I could examine them more thoroughly. Within twenty four hours of their deaths, Sandra and Sean's bodies liquified as did the severed fingertips."
"Each one had been in its own jar - some with formalin, some without. They'd all turned to jelly," Fish said with revulsion. "I ran the non-formalin samples through our equipment - some of it's time current and some of it's the futuristic stuff that's fallen through the rift, trying to determine the source of the green colour. These are the reports."
Fish tapped the tablet. "Like Evie's already said, the green isn't just in the skin, it's all the way into the bone. What I found was a significant amount of copper in the tissues."
"Is it what killed them?" Gwen asked. "Metal poisoning? Like lead or mercury?"
Martha shook her head. "We need copper. It's an essential trace element required for health. Liver samples showed there wasn't a toxic amount of copper in their systems."
"Isn't there some sort of cooper disorder that's genetic?" Donovan asked. Everyone stared at him. "What? My ex-wife liked watching that medical show, House."
"What a ridiculous programme," Miranda said, rolling her eyes.
Martha said, "There is a genetic disorder that causes copper build up in tissues that is, oddly enough, called Wilson's disease."
A sarcastic ripple went around the table.
"It's not a possibility? It's killed the children," Fish pointed out.
"It's not likely the entire family would fall ill at the same time from a genetic illness," Martha pointed out. "The Wilson adults are in their mid-forties and would've shown signs previously. There are some cases of signs showing up later in life but all five of them falling ill at the same time isn't exactly betting odds."
Miranda chimed in, "Wilson's disease also causes copper to be deposited into the iris of the eye - causing a ring around the edge. It's similar to the dark ring around your own irises, Fish, but the ring is copper coloured. None of the Wilson family exhibited this sign."
"They could have the illness and not that symptom," Donovan said.
"You're forgetting that they've infected others," Martha interjected. "You pass a genetic illness to your children but you can't give it to a random stranger."
"Fish, Gwen, it's still good work. Every piece brings us a step closer," Jack said. He turned to Miranda and Martha. "Do you two have anything else?"
Martha twisted in her chair to face everyone else. "Again, I spent the day at hospital, reviewing the treatments. They are throwing every antibiotic, antiviral and antifungal medication at these people that they can stand and nothing. They're all still declining."
Miranda was about to open her mouth but her mobile began to ring. "Excuse me everyone. It's Doctor MacDonald."
She answered the call and stepped out of the room.
"Was that 'Call Me Maybe'?" Martha exclaimed in surprise.
Ianto rolled his eyes and said to Martha, "Don't ask. That woman has the music tastes of a teenager."
Miranda walked back into the room and looked at everyone. "Barbara and Brian Wilson are dead. They went into cardiac arrest and the staff were unsuccessful in resuscitating them."
Everyone at the table looked down into their laps. Jack spoke first. "We need those bodies. We've no new victims, right?"
"None as of now, Jack," Miranda said.
"Do you want me to bring in UNIT, Jack? Maybe the biologics department can help?" Martha offered.
Jack shook his head. "It's not spreading. The situation is contained right now and I don't want to risk anyone else accidentally infecting themselves. Ethan? Ianto? You want to let everyone know about our progress with the CCTV?"
"We've got facial recognition pulling up everything it can find on the Wilson family. Jack, Ethan and I have been taking a look at it, hoping to see where the infection point was but we've found nothing significant yet," Ianto said.
"And we're going to keep looking. Fish? Help us out now that you're done with the samples," Jack said. He looked at each person and said, "Gwen? Fish? Go home. Ianto? Ethan? Get some sleep. Martha? Will? You said we have twenty four hours before we lose these bodies?"
The two physicians nodded.
"Right, Will? You and I'll go to University Hospital now and bring them back here, toss them into the biohazard cold storage. Martha, I want you go to Gwen's and get a good eight hours of sleep."
"But Jack-"
"I mean it, Martha!" Jack snapped. "We're all exhausted. Tired people make mistakes and I don't want anyone getting infected by accident here. Got it? Good."
Recognising the end of the meeting, everyone began to disperse.
Donovan touched Miranda's arm. "Do you want me to wait up for you?"
She shook her head. "I may be a while. Go, get some sleep."
He gave her a weak smile and then leaned forward, kissing her cheek. Jack shot her a dirty look as he walked past and Miranda rolled her eyes at him. It didn't take the two of them long to collect the bodies and get them into the biohazard cold storage unit. What did take them a while was setting up the equipment around the bodies. A few scanners, probes and cameras were placed around them to watch the liquefaction process. Once it was all set up, Jack ordered Miranda to get a good night's sleep and, after shooting her another dirty look, he headed for the bunker.
Now that the Hub was quiet, Miranda decided to ignore Jack's order. She settled in to do some archival searching; searching she couldn't do with anyone else around. She knew a few hidden areas of the archive that Ianto knew nothing about. Ianto would never be happy about it but Jack had plenty of hidden rooms filled with files and artefacts that could never be destroyed nor could they ever see the light of day. According to the official archive, they didn't exist. It wasn't about Ianto not knowing about something dangerous, it was about shame. These rooms were full of demons and skeletons and they weren't just Jack's. Miranda walked those rooms now, a small twist in her stomach. She flipped through the files. Nothing… It had been a long shot anyway.
She went back upstairs but instead of climbing into bed next to Ethan Donovan, she decided to review some of the blood slides. Maybe she'd missed something. After a dozen slides or so, her eyes had begun to sting. She closed them for a brief moment. A hand on her shoulder startled her.
"Ifan!" she gasped, turning.
"Well now, that's twice in four years," he said with a chuckle.
"Twice?" she asked, rubbing at her eyes again.
"Twice I've been able to sneak up on you," Ianto said, laughing again. He was wearing a pair of pyjama bottoms and one of Jack's white t-shirts. "You always seem to know when I'm about."
Miranda gave him a weak smile. The young Welshman's latent immortality constantly alerted her to his presence, causing a slight pressure behind her eyes. Since she was so attuned to associating the sensation with danger, Ianto could rarely sneak up on the immortal woman. She must have dozed off.
"What time is it?" she asked.
"It's half three. I came up for a midnight snack. Ethan'll be wondering where you are," Ianto said, leaning against her desk. "I, erm, noticed he moved out of the staterooms."
"Don't read into that, Ifan. This is merely more… convenient," Miranda said, rolling her eyes. She rubbed at her eyes again. She leaned over the microscope, removing the slide. It slipped from her tired fingers and shattered on the tile. Miranda uttered and ancient curse and snapped, "Goddess below!"
"Let me," Ianto said, turning to fetch a broom.
"No, Ifan, are you daft?" Miranda said, shooing him away with her hands. "Jack would have my head if he knew I'd allowed you anywhere near this mess."
Miranda wet some paper towels and began sweeping up the glass. She dumped it and paper towels into the biohazard bin. She disinfected the floor, wiping it clean and felt a sting. She stood, lifting her finger, staring at the piece of glass imbedded in the skin.
Ianto saw blood well out of the cut when Miranda plucked the glass from her finger. She dropped it into the biohazard bin, sticking her finger in her mouth to wipe the blood away. She took it out, examining it.
"Already healed," she said, shrugging. "Suppose I should be off to bed."
"I doubt Ethan is still…. up," Ianto said, waggling his eyebrows at her. It was a distinctly Jack-like expression.
"You have been spending far too much time around Jack," Miranda teased as she went up the bay stairs. "I'll see you in the morning, Ifan."