Ianto immersed in the lecture didn't notice the footfalls at first. But once they got louder he realized somebody was coming and hid the notebook behind his back. As he had expected the intruder was Jack.

"Archives are your new thing, I see," the leader joked.

"I'm trying to see if I recorded anything about the pterodactyl to help me search for it, sir," Ianto lied still attempting to hide the notebook.

"Let's stop with the lies Ianto, I can see you're acting weird. If you're trying to search for your past I can't stop you but I can tell you this: I went through the same thing myself and even faced with bits of information about the two years I had forgotten I didn't remember anything. And I don't think you will either."

"Two years may be fine but losing five years feels like losing an entire life," Ianto said firmly. "Now if you'll excuse me, sir, I have got duties..."

Ianto felt Jack's gaze as he moved past his superior. He couldn't help but walk in a stiff awkward fashion. He was too nervous. Jack seemed to have known everything there was to know about him, even when he lied. No, especially when he lied. At times the leader just went with the flow of the fiction, answered as if it were the truth but the coffee boy still realized that there was nothing he could hide.

"Ianto?" Jack called him from behind.

He stopped and turned around squeezing the notebook in his hand. "Sir?" he asked with his usual confidence.

"For both our sake, you better not pursue whatever you find in that notebook."

"I don't know what you're talking about, sir." Ianto smiled and headed to the upper level of the Hub. For a very long time he had thought of himself as the perfect lier. Now, he wasn't so sure he deserved the title anymore.

Once he returned to the main level of the Hub he found Tobey. The technician was fighting with the image reconstruction program and it was obvious that he was on the losing side.

"I need to take care of this Skippy business, could you keep an eye on the security, if anybody suspicious appears," Ianto asked casually.

"Yeah sure," Tobey's answer was habitual and it was obvious that the man didn't even think it through. It took him a few minutes to realize he just added himself a new pile of work. "Wait, what?" he asked trying to take it back but Ianto had already gone.

o*o*o

Lois knocked on the door probably for the first time in a while seeing a house without a doorbell. The man who opened it was probably in his late thirties, with unkempt dark hair and a bit of a beer belly sticking out from under his Portal 2 T-shirt. He looked like the scruffy version of the man in Gwen's witnesses' file: Tome Logemann.

"Hi, we're with the police and we would like to ask you a few questions concerning today's affairs," she said and Gwen showed him her old police badge.

The man's eyes widened in fear, "You don't mean that freak, do you?" he asked terrified. "That was the weirdest thing I've seen in my life!"

"We mean exactly that Mr Logemann," Lois said confidently. "We hope you would answer a few of our questions and we will do our best to protect you from this threat in the future."

"Well if this means that I won't have anything to do with it then come on in," the man said, a bit too eagerly, "I'll answer all of your questions."

Tome Logemann invited the two women inside. The living room was messy with dvd boxes lying near the TV set, a bag of crisps left open on the coffee table and crusts lying on and around the sofa. One cushion was lying in the corner instead of on the couch and the other was almost flat, obviously its sponginess lost after years of using. The TV was on showing the pause menu of an xbox shooting game.

"Sorry for the mess," the man said. "I didn't really expect anybody to turn up."

Mr Logemann quickly made the sofa, picked up the dvd boxes and other trinkets lying on the floor and took the chips and any other food to the kitchen. The living room suddenly looked quite presentable.

"If you don't mind I'll make the coffee while Lois asks the necessary questions," Gwen said kindly but firmly.

"No! Wait!" the man protested but immediately regretted it. It just showed he had something to hide. "I mean..."

Gwen caught onto what he was trying to say immediately. "Please do not worry," she said. "This is not a raid but witness interrogation. We have no interest in those things."

Mr Logemann still didn't look sure but Gwen wouldn't take no for an answer. She went to the kitchen and allowed Lois to take over asking the necessary questions.

The kitchen was an even bigger mess than the living room. There were greasy dishes lying next to the sink waiting for the wash that probably would never come. There was obviously no woman in Tome Logemann's life. Otherwise the house would look even a bit more presentable. Gwen noticed ready-meal boxes in the rubbish bin and a spices shelf which obviously didn't hold any spices. Gwen would have liked to start guessing what each of the little jars held. The names Rush or Speed most certainly didn't identify anything legal. There was even an actual ceramic pot containing pot. Gwen couldn't believe that a grown man was still living like a college student. If she didn't have the files Tobey retrieved from the city council server she wouldn't have believed that this man was thirty six years old.

The tea was fortunately on the countertop and Gwen wasn't forced to search the shelves. She couldn't help fearing what she might find in the recesses of the cupboard. She also found three clean mugs fairly easily. All that was left was boiling the water.

While waiting she overheard the conversation between Lois and Mr Loegmann. Her new coworker proved to be very capable in interrogating. This was the third cup of tea Gwen would make this afternoon and most likely the last one. They had been to three other witnesses already and this was the fourth person who saw the bloody events of the morning. It was also the man who took the video and sent it to the police. The previous three witnesses helped in identifying how the mutation took place: a weird dark blue substance engulfed the girl starting with her hands. Apparently she was scared and started screaming. This description, although not detailed helped to determine that the alien was in fact a parasite. However, further identification of the girl proved futile. None of the witnesses remembered her clearly enough to reconstruct her face or body.

"Can I describe that girl, you ask?" the man said loudly, stopping Gwen's analysis. "Of course I can bloody describe her! I know who she is! It's that bloody chav who always hangs out on the corner with her chavy friends! I hear her laughing at everybody who passes by and she makes me sick!"

"Do you know her name?" Lois asked. From her voice it sounded like she was a bit taken aback by the man's directness and liveliness when it came to this case.

"Her name? Of course I bloody know her name! That's why I took that video hoping that the cops would finally do a bit of good for the society and took care of brats like her."

"Well you didn't include the name in your email and with the quality of your video it is hard to determine the identity of that girl," Lois said.

"OK, well I can give you every bit of information you'd like. I once went to their house to tell her parents how they should raise a girl like that properly, teach her that disrespecting elders is a bad thing and all that."

The water finished boiling and Gwen poured it into the three cups. To the third one she added a tiny white pill. She took the cups and brought them to the living room. The man was still telling the story of his fight with the girl's parents when Gwen passed him a cup.

"Please, we just need the girl's name and address," she said bringing an end to the story.

"It's Kate Wingard and she lives on Newton Road," the man said obviously intimidated by the more experienced woman. "I don't know the exact house number but they should have a name plate so you could find the place without a problem."

Gwen smiled as Mr Logemann took a sip of his tea. Now they just needed to wait for the drugs to kick in. A casual conversation seemed like the best thing to do while waiting. "So, Mr Logemann, was it exactly that you do?"

o*o*o

Ianto was sitting in front of his cup of coffee and files by the table just outside the cafe "Poppy". It was quiet, the lunch break already over. The notebook he had recovered earlier was lying in front of him just next to the blend. He was still considering what Jack had told him. Curiosity and his desire to know his past fought with the fear of going against Jack's orders. Normally that wouldn't pose a problem but he felt as though opening this notebook would make him hate Jack and that was the one thing he wanted to avoid. He had already seen the note on the first page: The Diary of Jack's deaths. He thought it sounded like a good book title at first but after seeing a grave with Jack Harkness' name on it he wondered what if it was really true? They dealt with the unordinary and supernatural but it still felt so awkward knowing that one of them might themselves be in fact one of the wonders of the universe. The thought made him shiver, not with fear but excitement.

"Mind if I join you?" Ianto looked up and saw a young woman in her late twenties standing over him with a cup of coffee of her own.

Ianto looked at all the other empty tables. "Yes, please," he pointed at the table in front of him. There was no way he could just refuse her.

The girl sat down and stared at Ianto for a while. He awkwardly cleaned all the documents and put them aside. Then he started drinking his coffee unsure of what he was supposed to do in a situation like this.

"Haven't seen you here in a while," the woman said.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" Ianto asked ready to explain his entire situation again. Thankfully there was no need.

"Oh, sorry, I haven't introduced myself," the woman said. "I'm Shannon Wilkins, I used to come here and you were usually sitting somewhere close by so I started noticing you."

"Ianto Jones, sorry I can't say I recognise you," this was a lie. Upon hearing her name Ianto did remember knowing about this person. Doctor Shannon Wilkins, twenty-nine years old, graduated from Cardiff University at twenty-six, now working as a pediatrician. She was always present at the Poppy at this hour on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. He knew she had taken notice of him at one point and adjusted her visit times to when Ianto was present.

"So where were you these past few months?" Shannon asked.

Ianto took a deep breath. "Just here and there, you know. I wasn't really going out at that time. You could say I was under a cloud." Ianto smiled. Maybe the cloud part was a lie but the under part definitely not.

"Glad to see you back with the living!"

Ianto smiled awkwardly. She had no idea how accurate that was.

"So do you have a hidden agenda? You are drinking with a stranger, you know?"

The girl laughed. "You're not really a stranger are you?"

Ianto noticed her behaviour was really flirtatious. She was leaning over the table a little as if wanting to get closer to Ianto. He on the other hand sat straightly and a bit stiffly in his chair not really knowing how to behave. He wasn't used to being hit on. Not that he remembered at least.

"To tell you a secret," the girl leaned forward, "I knew your name before," she whispered. "Actually, I asked the cashier once if she knew your name and she told me. Ianto. That's unusal..."

"So is asking for stranger's names," Ianto remarked.

"Tall handsome stranger in a suit sitting alone in a cafe? What girl could resist..."

Ianto blushed. He hadn't known how to behave at first. But then he figured he might use her, at least slightly. "You sound a bit like a stalker," he laughed but for a second was scared that Shannon would take offense. She didn't.

"I wouldn't go that far but my detective skills are well above average," Shannon said.

"So how much do you exactly know about me?" Ianto asked.

"I know that you're a spy," they both laughed at what Shannon thought was a joke, "and I know that you're not married," Shannon glanced at Ianto's hands. "But when I last saw you you were seeing somebody. That doesn't seem to be the case right now."

Ianto raised his brow. "How can you tell?"

"You used to shine whenever you received a phone call from that one person. Generally you were different, more confident. Now you seem a bit confused."

Ianto laughed. "You seem to have a people talent, Shannon. You see there is something bugging me right now. Maybe you could help me. You see, I have this," Ianto paused looking for the right word, "friend who keeps a lot of secrets. And one of those secrets is here," Ianto showed her his notebook. "That friend told me not to delve into what's inside but I don't want secrets between us. The problem is I fear that whatever is inside might make me hate that... friend."

"Whatever it is it seems to be important," Shannon said. "If I were you I wouldn't invade her privacy without her consent. I believe that you should get her to tell you what's inside or at least try to. It seems that your relationship with her is too fragile for such behaviour."

Ianto looked at her intensely. Only now did he notice how pretty she actually was. She had curly blond hair cascading down her shoulders and a pair of glasses covering a pair of green eyes. Her brown buttoned-up blouse was professional but still casual enough for her not to look too serious. A humble smile and a set of freckles made her seem easy-going and not conceited. He had no idea why she was referring to "his friend" as "she" but he didn't mind going with it.

"So that's what I know from observation, how about you tell me something about yourself?" Shannon asked.

Ianto smiled sadly. "Rules and regulations," he said.

"What does that mean?"

"It means I can't tell you anything. I'm a spy remember?"

Shannon giggled. "How about your favorite colour then? I know you can tell me that! It won't really blow your cover will it?"

Violet, Ianto thought. "Green," he said.

Shannon looked at him. "You don't look like a green person," she said.

"What does a green person look like?" Ianto asked with a poker face. What was happening with him? Why didn't his lies work anymore? Did he lose his touch? Or was it something else that he had lost?

"They're nice. And you're nice too but you're too mysterious to be a green person. You seem more like a violet to me."

Ianto smiled. "I need to get to work."

The man stood up and took all his files as well as the diary and the empty paper coffee cup.

"Will I see you again?" Shannon asked her flirtatious smile not disappearing.

Ianto smiled mysteriously, "maybe..." he said. His mind was telling him no but his heart was curious and excited. This woman was dangerous. She could see through him as well as... well, as well as Jack. He knew he should never show up in front of her again but he also knew that he wouldn't be able to listen to his voice of reason. His curiosity was already sparked. It was too late to turn back.

o*o*o

Tobey turned around to see the whole Hub empty. Jack and Martha had gone to search for the girl and Ianto had left to apprehend the pterodactyl. He himself was busy searching for the video of the girl but thankfully there was none so far. From what he had heard Gwen and Lois had already deleted the original from the Tome Logemann's disc and cell phone. Once the two had phoned in to give him the identity of the girl Tobey was relieved of the duty of finding that identity himself. He had only needed to print out all the details for Jack and Martha and they were gone searching for the girl. Now he was alone in the Hub with little to do. He only needed to be available on the comm.

He remembered Ianto's request to keep an eye out for the shop and decided to take his work upstairs. He transferred all the files to his laptop and took it to the tourist information centre.

Only a few minutes later he found himself faced wit a very unusual visitor.

The door suddenly opened and a girl only a few years younger than him came in. She was probably in her early twenties. She was neither tall nor short but her confident stature seemed to give a few inches to her height. Not to mention the spiky blue hair. She was quite pretty, with a straight small nose and a long oval face. She was dressed in a short black skirt, black tights and a black and white striped long-sleeved blouse.

"I'm looking for Jack," she said looking around. "I'm quite sure I got the right place."

Tobey, who at the time of the girls entrance was sitting with his feet on the desk and a laptop on his legs, almost dropped the device when putting his feet down.

"Hi," he said still quite in shock. Nobody ever came to the information office, that's what Ianto usually said, why was this girl here? All the thoughts were rushing in his head and one which appeared most often was "Oh god... she's hot!". Once his head cooled down he considered her question. "Jack's not here right now but I can take a message if you want. I'm not sure he'll be back any time soon."

"Really? That would be genius!" the girl seemed really happy.

Tobey put the computer down and took a pen and a notepad from the desk. "So?" he asked.

The girl looked at him confused. Only after a moment of silence did she realize what he had meant. "Oh... You thought I wanted to tell him something... No, no, no. I want to show him something. Since he's not here I thought I'd show it to you."

Tobey raised his brow. This girl was confusing. She didn't seem accustomed to normal life style. She gave of a feeling of newness. Her tone of voice was somewhere between polite and kind and despite her weird behavior Tobey felt he really liked her.

"I'm Zoe Bluebird," the girl approached him with a smile.

"Tobey Magpie."

"We're two birds, how cool!"

Tobey smiled at this. Despite her appearance she seemed to act like a kid sometimes. He found this behavior quite refreshing. Torchwood wasn't exactly the cradle of maturity but it still required everyone to be professional when the time came.

"So where is this thing you want to show me?" he asked and immediately condemned himself for asking. He didn't want Zoe to leave so quickly.

"I think you should get your coat, Tobey. That and maybe something to pick locks."

"Wait, you want me to break in somewhere?" the technician asked shocked.

"Oh, come on, like Jack doesn't do that all the time!" "I am so gonna get scolded for this," Tobey said knowing that sight-seeing and breaking into buildings didn't qualify as 'being available for information'. "My salary is so going down..."

He considered his last sentence. He had already gotten his first paycheck and thought that even if he had a cut he would surely be able to live on it.

"Just let me get my stuff," he said and disappeared behind the door to the Hub. After taking the elevator down he went past the cog wheel door and headed towards his workplace.

"So this is Torchwood," he heard from behind his back and jumped.

"You are not supposed to be here!" he said seeing Zoe casually sight-seeing the most secretive place in all of Cardiff.

"What does this do?" the girl asked picking up a flat oval-shaped object with weird spikes going away from each of the four sides.

"Wait! Don't touch that!" Tobey panicked. "It's actually a-"

He didn't finish as the girl already pressed a button and a white flame appeared on the surface of the object.

"A torch..." Tobey finished glad that the girl didn't get hurt. "I think that it reveals a surface that in contact with one of the compounds in the air releases- Don't just take it with you!" he protested seeing how the girl had already pressed the second button deactivating the fire and put the torch into the pocket of her skirt.

"It might prove useful," the girl explained herself.

"What exactly do you want to do with me?" Tobey asked starting to feel discomfort.

The girl smiled. "You'll see..."

Tobey grabbed his PDA from the desk as well as his bag and guided the girl out. "I can give you a proper tour when we get back if you want," he said hoping that when it came to it Jack would already be here and he wouldn't feel so guilty about letting an outsider in.

Zoe smiled but Tobey was sure that it wasn't the carefree smile he saw before. It seemed as though she was genuinely sad for a moment. "Sure," she said.

o*o*o

Kate was half way to Diana's house where they would all prepare for the party. Her handbag hid a make-up kit and a bottle of wine she stole from her parents' stash which she knew wasn't enough but she couldn't afford to bring any more. She heard that her mother had taken notice of the missing bottles. Kate always took the cheapest ones which they could afford to lose and would not risk her theft being noticed. Not that she liked alcohol. But if she didn't drink that pint of beer or glass of wine she would become a laughing stock among her friends.

Diana was waiting for her in front of the Polish grocery store and they both exchanged greetings.

"What happened today?" Diana asked still bearing a grudge at Kate skipping school alone.

"I told you, I wasn't feeling especially well so I went home," the girl explained herself.

"Well you do look a bit pale. Keep an eye out for Maria though, she's still touchy about you getting to miss English Literature today. It was sooo boring!"

"Look who the cat dragged in," Maria said coming out of the shop. "Where were you today? Beardy was going on and on about Byrot or somebody."

"I think it's Byron," Kate remarked nonchalantly.

"Whatever... Not like I'm ever picking him up."

"Of course you're not..." Kate's whisper was so quiet nobody took notice of it.

"You got the beer?" Diana asked. "We're already running late."

"Yeah, let's go," Maria shifted forward with Diana by her side leaving Kate to follow closely behind.

The girl hesitated. She had heard millions of times that she was hanging out with the wrong crowd and maybe she was. Sometimes she couldn't help but agree. Just because she read a few books and studied a bit she was sometimes considered an outsider. She was certain that whenever she was away those two were talking behind her back. Well, Maria was probably the one doing most of the talking. If it wasn't for Diana Kate wouldn't even hang out with the half-polish girl.

"Oi, guys, wait for me!" she said wondering if what she was doing was the right choice considering what had happened to her that morning.

o*o*o

Martha had been in a car with Jack driving several times before. She had never liked the feeling. Traveling on the Tardis was bumpier than riding with the Torchwood leader but somehow less dangerous. Jack constantly changed the lanes, accelerated, decelerated and somehow managed to avoid so much as a scratch. But this reckless driving seemed only proof of Jack not fearing death. Well, he was immortal so she could consider that an excuse.

Right now the speedometer was way over the speed limit and Jack passed the crossroad not even bothering to slow down. They barely made it on the orange light.

"Are you trying to kill us?" Martha asked finally.

"I thought we needed to hurry," Jack said casually.

"We're not even sure Kate Wingard will be there. Gwen and Lois said she wasn't at home and since nobody answered the phone Tobey found they can't figure out where she is. Even if we reach the school there's no guarantee we'll find her. Gwen and Lois have the house monitored. At some point she'll be returning there. Until then we can try and avoid a car crash don't you think?" Martha said.

Jack obediently slowed down. He knew what his colleague was trying to say. If Kate Wingard was to escape them she would've done so already. And if she was at school there was small chance of her leaving even if they got there a few minutes later.

They arrived at Lland Secondary School parking lot within minutes. The building where Kate Wingard attended was a concrete block with a colourful graffiti of the name of the school in the front. There were a few tags and drawings overlaid on the sign but "Lland Secondary School" bravely stayed readable and catching all attention.

"Martha, ask around for this girl, I need to contact the Hub first," Jack ordered and put on his ear-piece. Once Martha left he tried contacting Tobey but the technician was not answering.

Instead he called Ianto who picked up within seconds of the call going through.

"Ianto, just the man I wanted to hear!" Jack greeted him.

"Well, you called me, sir, how can I help?" the coffeeboy asked.

"How's your investigation into Skippy's whereabouts going?"

"Well, I'm driving around the neighborhood trying to find a place where it's possible he might hide. I searched for sightings of him and all of them were in the area where the attack took place so this is where I'm hoping to find him."

"Great, also, if you happen to contact Tobey tell him next time he doesn't answer he's out of this job."

"Right... I haven't contacted him but if I do I will tell him. Sir..."

"Yes?"

"When this is over I need to seriously talk to you about something..."

Jack disconnected. What could he say? I don't want to talk to you? That would never work. Right now he could only stall the conversation. He left the car looking for Martha.

She was talking to a girl not too far away, with the photo of Kate Wingard in her hand.

"I haven't seen her today, she probably ditched school again," the blond haired student said. "But I can't tell you where she is now. Did she do something wrong?" the questioin was judgmental rather than of concern.

"We believe she might be in danger," Jack explained. "That's why it's crucial we find her as quick as possible."

"Are you the police?" the girl asked curious.

"Not exactly but quite close," Jack said now completely taking over the questioning.

"Well I guess you could try at the principal office, they should give you her address," the girl said unsure.

"We already had an agent checking there and she wasn't present at her home. Do you have any idea where she might be?"

The girl hesitated. "I heard there's an outdoor party today. You know the type, elite only. She might be there but I can't say I'm entirely sure she will be. You can try. It's down by the old railway bridge, there's usually nobody there so parties are often organized there. But I don't know myself. They're not exactly the kind of crowd I hang out with. It should be starting around seven, maybe eight. Until then, I can't say I know where she might be. And the people she usually hangs out with had already left so... Can I go now?" the girl seemed worried about her current situation.

"Yes, of course," Martha said and the girl walked on forward, quite stiffly and anxiously.

"So that's all we got?" Jack asked.

"I asked a few other kids but they didn't know anything," Martha answered hiding the photo. "Listen, I think it would be better to go back to the Hub, I could finish the analyses on that substance we found and we would be able to keep updated if another incident occurs. Gwen will keep us updated if anybody appears by the house."

"Yeah, I guess we could do that..." Jack wasn't glad about riding all the way to this school only to return to the Hub with no results. "We're leaving in the evening. Until then I want to know all there is to know about this alien. And it better not attack again..."

Martha could see the frustration growing inside Jack. She didn't know what exactly caused it but she was sure it had something to do with Ianto but most likely not only him. Even the driving seemed more reckless than usual.

Once they were back in the car she couldn't help but ask.

"Jack, is something wrong? I know you're the type to bottle everything up but you can tell me if something is happening..." Martha said. She knew she was right. Gwen might have been with him longer but it didn't change the fact that Martha shared something with him that none of the Torchwood members did. Traveling with the Doctor created a special bond between people.

"Ianto is asking questions," Jack said quietly. "Not to mention this whole incident. It's quiet, no rift activity and all of a sudden this thing appears. Five deaths within less than twenty-four hours. Something tells me this is not a coincident. I can't help the feeling that I'm being toyed with..."

Martha smiled. "Whoever is responsible we'll get them, Jack. You know we will... And Ianto will be alright so don't worry about him. He can take care of himself. Maybe it's better if you told him everything? Including your relationship with him."

"Telling him is a huge mistake."

"So is letting him find out on his own."

Jack didn't answer. It was already too late. If he was to explain to Ianto his entire past Ianto would hate him. He knew that. But if Ianto found out by himself then Jack felt it would be even worse. All he could do is hope that this would remain a secret.

"I'll think about it," he said.

"Jack, let it all play out... We've been to the end of the world and back, do you think a little parasite alien will harm us?"

"I don't fear the alien, it's just a pawn. What I fear is who is behind all this," Jack said quietly. He remembered the letter he got from Zoe. He couldn't help feeling that this was part of what she had warned him about.

Hope you enjoyed it! Yes, I liked Zoe too much to just let her go like that :