Miranda gasped and jerked, her whole body aflame. Every inch of her felt raw, like she'd been raked over hot broken glass, her breath coming in gulps. The circumstances of her death fresh in her memory, she started to panic and flail against the arms holding her in spite of the pain.

"Mandy! Stop! It's Ianto! You're safe!"

"Ifan?" she asked as the face in front of hers came into focus, the pain receding. She lifted her head, looking around. She was in her bedroom, on the floor wrapped in a sheet, relief so profound washed over her, she felt tears prickling her eyes. She pushed herself up into a sitting position, her clothing stiff from the dried blood. "How long?"

"Two hours, forty nine minutes," he said succinctly.

"Where's Jack?" she said, slightly panicked that maybe Jack had gone after Terfel.

"On the roof."

Holding the sheet around her, she stood up, squashing the wave of dizziness. She took a step towards the bathroom and stumbled as the room swam around her.

"Maybe you should lay down," Ianto said, stepping forward to steady her.

She leaned on him, heavily. "I'm just a little dizzy. Help me into the bathroom."

He put his arm around her, guiding her towards the bathroom and sitting her down on the toilet. He stood up and turned on the shower for her.

"I'll be right back," he said and headed for the kitchen. He grabbed a bin liner from under the sink and went back into the bathroom. Miranda was already in the shower, steam billowing out from the stall's door. He tossed her ruined clothing into the bin liner. He left the bathroom and added the sheet. He tossed it outside of the main door, he would take it all down to the incinerator later. He sent a quick text to Jack letting him know that Miranda was awake and that he would be looking after her.

By the time he got back to the bedroom, Miranda was stepping out of the bathroom. She was wearing her pink silk dressing gown and running a comb through her wet hair. He turned down the bed for her, politely averting his eyes as she slipped out of the dressing gown and into the bed. He leaned down, kissed her forehead and went to leave but she grabbed his hand.

"Stay for a bit?" she asked softly.

He nodded and toed off his shoes, laying down next to her on top of the blankets. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders, drawing her close.

"Are you all right?" he asked gently, kissing the top of her head.

"I'm fine, Ifan. I just need rest," she said.

"That wasn't what I meant, Mandy," he said. "That was Adaf Terfel wasn't it?"

"Yes, it was," she said.

"Kiernan said there was bad blood between you two," he said hesitantly, remembering how she'd reacted the last time he'd brought up that subject.

"The Game is about survival - kill or be killed, nothing more."

"But it's more than that this time isn't it?"

"Yes, it's more than that this time," she said softly. She took a deep breath before continuing. "Joseph Cook nearly bankrupted himself to fund a sea voyage to the East. His ship, The Bristol, reached China in 1533. I was working in an herbalist's shop. The local magistrate had a gout attack in the night. The herbalist sent me to deliver his medicines. I was on my way back when I was jumped by half a dozen men and knocked unconscious."

She paused, tightening her arms around him.

"Cook's ship sailed to the South China Sea with a cargo hold full of silk and twenty young women and girls abducted from the city. I woke up bound below deck. Adaf Terfel was the first mate. He was masquerading as an English sailor named Thomas Avery. I only saw him when-" she broke off as her voice cracked.

"Mandy, stop. You don't have to say anymore," he said, tightening his arm around her.

Throughout history, rape was a fact of life for both sexes and Miranda was no stranger to it. She had experienced plenty of cruelty at the hands of men. Thanks to the greater strength and agility provided by her immortal existence, such violation hadn't been a part of her life in a long time. With the ship at sea, there had been no escape from the Bristol's crew. Miranda had had to endure.

She shook her head. She'd only spoken of the voyage once before and now she found it wrong that she'd remained silent for so long. The women who had endured the voyage with her deserved to have their story told. Miranda felt a wave of sadness that she couldn't remember their names. She continued, "The voyage lasted two years. The girls who survived were knifed and tossed overboard. I washed up on the beaches of Dover."

"Jesus, Mandy… what did you do?" Ianto couldn't imagine how it would have been for her, a stranger in a land thousands of miles away from anything she knew.

"I survived," she said simply.

Despite what Terfel had done, when Kiernan had warned her about Terfel three years ago, Miranda had made the decision not to pursue him. For the last two thousand years of her life, she had been a mostly passive player of the Game, only fighting to defend herself. She preferred to avoid challenges where ever possible. It was a strategy that had served her well in the past. Now she wondered if she should have gone after him as Ianto and Methos had suggested. Her encounter with Terfel tonight had been nothing short of disastrous. She'd been sloppy and it was a miracle she was still alive. Terfel could easily have had her head if the man hadn't been so motivated by his cock. Or obeyed the rules...

Ianto tightened his arms around her shoulders. "Do you want me to stay tonight?"

"I'm fine," Miranda said with a shake of her head. "Go collect Jack off the rooftop."

Ianto couldn't help but chuckle as he stood up and slipped his feet back into his shoes. "If you need anything, you know where we'll be."

"Thank you, Ifan."

"Any time, Mandy," he said as he walked out of the bedroom.

After Miranda heard the main door swing shut, she closed her eyes knowing that sleep would never come.