"Gwen snap out of it!" Jack yelled at her, shaking her shoulders. Owen went jogging over to them to check her vitals. As he was doing that, Jack tossed his jacket over the box, presumably so no one else would be tempted to pick it up.

When Gwen finally stopped screaming, she sank down to the ground and put her head in her hands, she was crying. "There was- there was- blood everywhere," she gasped.

"I know," Owen said, probably trying to comfort her, "now calm down and tell us what you saw. Tosh come over here and record this," she went over.

I felt sorry for Gwen. What I had seen had seemed so real. I could reach out and touch Jack, I could feel the warmness of the blood on my hands. I shuddered as I recalled it. It seemed like a memory, not a vision. And the way the Doctor had looked at me, with that sadness in his eyes. I would never forget that look, even if it wasn't real.

"It was Rhys," Gwen managed to get out, she was clutching Owen's arm, staring at nothing in particular. "He was just there, lying in the bath tub, his wrists slit, knife still in hand. He left a note, it said-" she choked on a sob, "it said 'Gwen, I love you, but I know," she glanced at Owen, "I can't deal with the lies anymore, this is all your fault.' He killed himself because of me. There was so much blood, his blood, everywhere." She put her head back down on her knees, "what is that thing?" Everyone glanced at Jack.

Jack put his hands up defensively, "Hell if I know. That's what we're here for. Toshiko, any guesses or responses from the scans?"

"Well Lucy's and Gwen's visions both seem to contain the same basic theme, fear. It's hard to tell without further analysis, but it looks like the device shows the user their fears. As for why, or how, I'll have to do an analysis at the Hub."

"So these are visions, right?" Gwen asked, a hint of panic in her voice.

"It would seem to be that way. When Gwen picked it up, there was another huge energy spike coming from the device. The sooner we can get it back to the Hub and run scans, the better. This thing is just emminating bad vibes." Toshiko finished.

"Well it's no wonder we haven't seen anyone yet tonight. The device is probably driving them all subconsciously away. If I had a choice, I wouldn't have driven this way tonight. Ianto should be here any minute now. Let's hope he hurries up. What is with you Welsh and this rain? I feel like I'm never going to see the sun again. At this point I'd take even a glimpse of the moon," Jack looked up at the sky.

I agreed with him. This rain was cold, I much preferred the snow, at least it was pretty and wouldn't clog the gutters with leaves and trash like it was doing here. I wrapped my arms around myself to try to conserve some body heat. Don't get me wrong, I loved the cold, but I didn't enjoy getting pneumonia and being soaking wet.

Everyone was busy doing their own thing while waiting for Ianto. Toshiko was huddled under a tree, tapping at the scanner she had in her hand. Owen was still talking with Gwen, in hushed whispers. Jack was on the phone, probably telling Ianto to hurry up. The box may have been out of site, under Jack's coat, but that didn't make the menacing feeling go away, if anything in felt like it was getting slightly stronger. The more I stood here, the more it felt like it was creeping its way into my bones, slithering around me until I'd be trapped in it's darkness forever.

I wished I could give the box a nice, solid kick. That's really what it deserved. It was still hard to believe, that that tiny, little non-descript box could be causing all of this. Why would an alien civilization even want to make something like this?

Jack was off the phone, so I went up to talk to him, "So why would an alien civilization make this thing? Is it supposed to be some kind of game or something?"

"Dunno. Could be. You humans have haunted houses around halloween and scary movies. You're always inventing new ways to scare yourselves, to get that adrenaline rush, why should aliens be any different?" He crossed his arms, "Or it could be a war device. Amplify those emotions a thousand times, and you could bring a whole army to its knees, drive them mad. Or it could be a torture device, who knows? We won't know any more about it til Tosh get's a chance to scan it back at the Hub. Man will I be glad when it's put away. We haven't even been around it that long and I'm already sick of it. Do you see anything with your thermal vision?"

"To be honest, I haven't tried." I had been too exhausted to try using it on my own. Like the jumping, I didn't even know where to start. Well, no time like the present. I closed my eyes and just tried to think about seeing the heat signatures of everything.

When I reopened my eyes, everything was brightly colored, like back in the warehouse. The members of my team showed up bright red due to their body heat. The surrounding environment was mostly blue on top, the rain leeching away their heat, fading away to a yellow color. The streets and sidewalks were all blue. The houses that lined the road were a warm orange color. I could see people moving about within them. Most were sleeping, a few were doing, well, each other. Some late night insomniacs were up and moving about. I could see where the windows and the doors were on the houses, the poor insulation leaking the warmth to the outside.

I looked over to where the box was. Jack's coat still held some of its body heat, quickly being leeched away by the rain. The box underneath also seemed to be trying to reach a state of equillibrium with it. The box was an orange color, but even that seemed wrong, like it had a brown tinge to it, like the warmth was rotting away. It looked like it was trying to seep into Jack's coat.

I glanced up at the streets surrounding us,not wanting to look at the box anymore, it made me ill, they were deserted, save for one car zooming towards us. "Looks like Ianto is here," I announced.

Jack was looking at me, "What does the box show?" Before when my thermal vision had been activated, Jack mentioned my eyes were red, I could only assume that's what was happening.

"I don't really know how to describe it, even the thermal signature looks wrong. Like the houses around us are a nice warm orange color, but this, just isn't the same. It's warm, but off somehow. It's got kind of a brown tinge to it. Sorry Jack, I just don't know enough about this vision yet to know what that could mean. Everything else looks normal. I would have your jacket dry cleaned after this though, It looks like the box is trying to ooze it's nastiness into it." I turned the vision off, it was disorientating, it would take some getting used to.

"Oh great, just what I need that nightmare box oozing it's nastiness all over my favorite coat," he shrugged, "I guess it could always be worse." Jack went to go snatch his jacket up as Ianto carried over what looked like a steel enforced glass container.

"Sorry, hit a bit of traffic on my way back. Also had to fight that nagging urge to just turn around and run. Everything alright, sir?"

Jack was frozen, one hand still on the jacket, halfway to picking it up off the ground. I switched my thermal vision back on. Oh no, oh no, no,no. groaned and ran my hands through my hair. Owen was walking around Jack by now, afraid to touch him since Jack had no obvious connection to the box, he was snapping his fingers in front of Jack's glazed over eyes. Gwen, however, had her gaze locked on me. It seemed she had noticed I turn my vision back on.

"What is it Lucy, what's happened?" she asked.

"I don't know for certain, but it look like whatever that box is, it's transferred it's properties over to Jack's coat. Hold on." I crouched down next to his coat. "Owen, do you think you could lift his jacket up a bit with your foot?" Just as I suspected. "The box is gone, whatever it is, morphed itself completely onto Jack's coat."

This wasn't good. If this nightmare box, as Jack called it, could transfer itself from one object to another, how could we stop it? What was stopping the box from transferring into the road, or even another person?

Ianto started tugging at the jacket to get it out of Jack's grip; he was wearing thick leather gloves, "Come on now Jack, I it's a nice jacket, but you have to let go." Jack seemed to have a death grip on the coat with his hand. His knuckles were white and he was still staring straight ahead, mouth slightly open like he was about to say something.

The rain was falling harder now, soaking everything through, everyone just wanted to get out of here, especially me. It had been a very long day and I was shivering. Owen walked up to me and crossed his arms. "Cold? You could always use Jack's coat to warm up," he nodded towards it, "What do you say we end things quickly?" I nodded and Owen smiled. Suddenly, Jack pulled out his Webley, pointing it at nothing in particular. "Alright Jack, it's time for a nap, " Owen had pulled a needle out of his bag. "Ianto, help me catch him," he shoved the needle in Jack's neck. All of Jack's muscles looked like they went taught, his eyes went wide and then he fell forward, his grip on his coat relinquished.

"Gwen, be a dear and shove his coat into that containment chamber Ianto brought," Owen told Gwen. Toshiko looked as though she was still doing scan on her device. Gwen just rolled her eyes, she looked like she was holding back a snarky remark. "Oh and be careful not to touch it again. Your scream probably woke up all the people in the cemetary we passed on the way here."

"Shove it Owen." She had take her coat and used it as make-shift gloves to put it into the box Ianto had brought over. When the lid clicked shut, it was like all the tension in the air had snapped. A huge lift had been taken off our shoulders, everyone [except Jack, obviously] breathed a sign of relief. "Now unless you need me for any more ridiculously hard tasks, I will see you all in the morning. I believe I have a nice hot shower waiting for me at home." Gwen smiled and walked back to her car. Owen mumbled something under his breath, Toshiko just looked at him and raised an eyebrow.

Ianto and Owen carried Jack back to the car and shoved him in the back seat. Toshiko and I carried the containment chamber back to the trunk of the car, neither of us wanted to be this close to it, but sharing the load seemed to take away a bit of its meanacing aura, not that we could really feel it anymore. It was like looking at a picture of a particularly nasty spider, the spider wasn't in the room with you, but you could still almost feel it's legs crawling all over your body.

Toshiko and I crammed in the back of the SUV with Jack. We had been driving for about ten minutes when Jack began to stir. "Oh man, I haven't felt like this since spending the night in the Azure belt pounding back suicide vodkas with a Raxacoricofallapatorian," he was rubbing his forehead with both hand, "What happened?"

"We were hoping you could tell us what happened to you. You just froze and then pulled out your gun after a few minutes."

"Sorry, everything is blank. It's like I went to pick up my coat and everything went black. Where is my coat by the way?" Someone must have pointed him to the container in the back, "Oh no," he groaned, "don't tell me..." It was at this point I realized I had leaned my head against the window with my eyes closed, exhaustion was quickly washing over me.

"Lucy figures it's taken on the properties of the box, " Toshiko explained, "she said the heat signature looked like it had been transferred from the box to your coat. When we lifted your coat up, the box had disappeared as well."

"Great, now I have the coat from hell, that'll be a great pick up line at bars. Looks like the day has tired her out." I could hear him smirk.

"It's been a long first day for her. Weevils and now this, that's enough to tire anyone out. Gwen drove home already in her car, she said she'll be with us in the morning," It was Owen that had come to my defense.

"Well, technically, she isn't a member yet. She hasn't agreed to join us." Jack countered.

"I wouldn't be so certain she won't join us. I saw that spark in her, the eagerness to solve know what that box was. Probably the same you saw in us when we were recruited. And plus, who could resist this face?" I could assume he was pulling some kind of ridiculous face. I smiled.

"I'm still awake, you know, and I still haven't decided. I've seen more in the past day than I even knew existed. I've been kidnapped, tied down, operated on and had needles shoved in most parts of my body. I don't know if this is the kind of life I want to lead. I don't know how you guys came to join Torchwood, but from what Gwen's told me, it isn't always the ideal career choice. How could I give up my old life, my family, my friends? Just up and leave their lives without warning. This choice doesn't just effect me, it effects everyone I know and love. Sorry for being so melodramatic, but it is kind of a big decision, probably the biggest I'll ever have to make in my life." It was probably the longest speech I've given to anyone in this team thus far, they all just looked at me.

"I wouldn't count on that just yet. Despite all that, could you really go back to your old life knowing what's out there now? I can give you all the amnesia pills in the world and it still wouldn't change the fact you've got an alien device on your back that's not coming off any time soon. You would never be able to go back to your old life, plain and simple." Those were the kind of thoughts I had been avoiding that Jack now brought up. Could I really go back to just being a student, knowing now that there's so much more out there? Could I sit behind a computer all day without my mind constantly wandering off to what could have been? Probably not I told myself. Realistically, it would always nag at me until I'm old and bitter.

I just looked out the window and chose not to respond. We were almost back at headquarters. I wasn't looking forwards to spending the night in the same place as that box, even if it was contained. I could feel it testing the borders of the containment chamber, looking for any weaknesses, any chance of escape, to come corrupt more things in this world. Toshiko seemed to read my mind.

"I don't envy you, Lucy, sleeping in the Hub with that thing tonight. Even being in that containment chamber, it's like I can feel it staring at me," she shivered a bit, Ianto agreed with her.

"Well why don't you just stay at my place tonight, you can sleep on the couch, " Owen volunteered sheepishly, knowing what remarks were going to come next.

Jack snorted, "Moving in on the new members before they're even members now are you, Owen? I think this has to be a record, even for you. It's up to Lucy though, if she feels like she'd be more comfortable..."

It would be nice to sleep somewhere where the doors didn't lock on the outside for a change, especially when that thing was in the Hub. "Sure, to be honest, I was going to request a room that locked from the inside anyway tonight. I'd really rather be as far away from that as possible. I don't feel like having alien induced nightmares tonight. And if he tries anything, " I nodded towards Owen, " I can always use the oppertunity to get back at him for sticking all those needles in me."

"Uh-oh, sounds like we've got some pent up rage already." Jack laughed, "Try not to hit him too hard, he's got a fragile face and we don't want Torchwood's poster boy to be sporting a black eye. Sleep in a bit in the morning everyone, it's been a long day. I'll call you if anything changes."

We had pulled up outside the tourist office by this point. Toshiko said her goodbyes and I went back in the hub to grab a change of clothes. A set of scrubs [I really would have to go shopping soon] to sleep in and another hoodie and some jeans Gwen had pulled out for me with the dress. I really didn't want to go adventuring in a dress and dress shoes again if I had to.

I awkwardly followed Owen to his car. I was never fond of sleeping in someone else's place. I always felt like I was intruding. I had never spent the night over a guy's house. Now don't get me wrong, I've dated in the past and had my share of "intimate" moments, but my partner was always gone before I went to bed.

He drove a dark blue, two-seater sports car. I didn't know the make or model, I wasn't very good at identifying that type of thing. It was a very fitting for him, he didn't seem like the kind of guy who would own a more "family-friendly" vehicle.

"Won't your girlfriend get mad at you for bringing another girl home?" I asked. I always thought it was better to assume that someone was taken. It gave the other person a boost in their confidence if they weren't taken, and they would correct me if the information was otherwise.

"Don't have a girlfriend. We don't have much time for that kind of thing with this job. Gwen is the only one of us who is dating someone and that's only because they had been together before she joined Torchwood. And plus, why would anyone want to date with this job anyway? Things get to complicated, too many secrets." Owen sped through the streets in his sports car, uncaring of the rain that poured onto the streets.

Owen's place was on the fifth floor of an apartment complex. It was a studio apartment and looked like a typical bachelor pad; modern furniture, queen size bed, a few beer cans on the table, leather sofa. It seemed very nice, I told him so.

"It's nothing much really. I don't spend a whole lot of time anyway. This job requires a lot of running around, but when I do have downtime, it allows us to at least be able to afford some comforts. If you want to go get changed, the bathroom is through that door. I'd imagine you're pretty tired, I'll get the sofa set up for you while you're in there."

That was good at least, that we'd be going right to bed, or at least I would. It had been a long day, I was looking forwards to closing my eyes for the night, well morning now. I just hoped I wouldn't have any nightmares. I changed into the scrubs and folded the dress up and put my shoes on top of it, I would shower in the morning.

I looked around the bathroom. There were an awful lot of facial products in here for a guy. Did all guys have this much? Besides that, all that was on the sink was a bottle of multivitamins and a shaving razor. I guess I had been expecting more alien stuff. He did work for an alien organization afterall. Did they ever bring stuff home? I guess they wouldn't want normal pepole seeing it if they came over.

I bruushed my hair out with my fingers, it was still damp from standing out in the rain. My hair was very plain, brown and a bit past my shoulders with a slight wave in it. I didn't have any bangs, I didn't really have the time to do my hair every morning, so I kept it simple. I sighed, I was so normal, I didn't look like someone who should be tangled up in this kind of thing, but here I was. The past day had made me realize that there would be no escaping this. I would never be able to live a normal life again. Anyway, I had something to offer to the team, didn't I? Jack said it himself, there were times he could've used me. I could save people. What could be a more fulfilling career choice than that?

I walked out of the bathroom and Owen had put some sheets, blanket and pillow on the sofa. "You know, for someone who doesn't have a girlfriend, you have an awful lot of beauty products."

He laughed, but somehow, it sounded sad, "The last girl I dated said the same thing when she first came here," he paused, his eyes seemed far away for a second, "Well, anyway, you know where the bathroom is, I'm going to bed now, it's been a long day as I'm sure you know." He turned out all the lights as I climbed into my makeshift bed. I heard him throw some clothes on the floor. I really hoped he didn't sleep naked, that could make things very awkward.

"What happened to her, the last girl you dated?" I asked into the darkness, "I thought you said you didn't have time for relationships with Torchwood."

"She left. She had come through the rift on an airplane and left the same way. She wasn't one to settle down I suppose. It wasn't that long ago actually. We weren't together very long, but it was the first time since I joined Torchwood that I actually felt something other than lust for another woman. She was amazing."

I thought about that for a few minutes, I wasn't sure I wanted to ask more questions about it. It seemed like a painful story, something hollywood would make that made you cry unneccessary tears at the end. "Owen, why did you join Torchwood?"

"Well I had originally set out to be a doctor, I wanted to save people, but something happened. An alien parasite killed my fiance. That was when Jack found me and helped me pick up the pieces..." Owen's life sounded very sad from what I had heard so far. Two broken hearts, ripped apart by the supernatural. It gave me a new perspective on his womanizing attitude. I could see now why he wouldn't want to get attached.

"I'm sorry, Owen. I didn't realize... You don't have very good luck with that kind of thing, do you?"

"No, I suppose I don't, now if you don't mind, I'm going to sleep now."

Oh great, I had probably offended him now. "Goodnight, and thanks Owen," he just grunted and rolled over in his bed.

I didn't sleep very well that night. Whether that was due to sleeping on the couch or the events occurring the day before, I couldn't say. I woke up to Owen calling my name. I hadn't slept nearly long enough at this point, it was hard to pull myself out of my dreamless slumber.

I could immediately tell something was wrong, not because the windows showed that the sun had barely risen and Owen was waking me up, but because of the feeling in the air. It was the same as the night before, when we had gotten close to the nightmare box.

"Owen, what's going on? Why does it feel like..." I trailed off, he knew what I meant. He was already rushing around the apartment, grabbing things to get ready.

"Jack called, apparently that thing managed to find its way out of the containment chamber and latched itself onto the water tower and is using that to broadcast some kind of signal."

So much for my morning shower. I hopped off the couch and grabbed the change of clothes I had brought. I used his hair brush to bring my hair into some order and scrubbed my teeth using my finger and some of Owen's toothpaste. I glanced at myself in the mirror. There were bags and dark circles under my eyes from lack of sleep. My hair was a frizzy mess from the rain and tossing and turning in my sleep last night. I'm normally not one for makeup, but my appearance right now definitely left me wanting. I sighed and moved back out to the living area.

Owen was waiting for me, some type of pastry in hand. "What is this?" I inquired.

"A type of breakfast. Eat on your way down, we need to get going."

I bit into the pastry. I had a flaky outside and was filled with potatoes and ham on the inside, "It's like a Hot Pocket!" I exclaimed.

"A what?"

"A piece of bread with things shoved on the inside. You shove it in the microwave and eat it. Of course, I've never had one with potatoes before." We were at his car by now. He just looked at me, his face saying he was clearly too tired for this. I didn't blame him. I felt like I was running on some kind of hysteria. If the ominous feeling had traveled this far out, how bad was it back at the Hub?

My question was answered steadily as we neared the Hub. I couldn't sit still, I could only imagine how Owen felt. If I were in the driver's seat, we'd be going 80 mph in the opposite direction. "You sure you don't want to take a sick day today?"

He half smiled. "If only... If we got sick days, today would definitely be a day to use them. I'm pretty sure if I skipped out of work today, Jack would be pounding on my door and hauling my ass back to the Hub."

We parked and started the walk towards the city center. We were taking the stone slab entrance straight down to the center of the Hub. No one was walking about. I didn't blame them. The old people probably felt like they were having heart attacks and the younger ones probably felt like they were having panic attacks. I could imagine the screaming babies and barking dogs somewhere.

The closer we got to the tower, the feeling got exponentially worse. I felt like I was trudging through waist deep mud to get there. The tension in the air was palpable. Every muscle in my body was screaming at me to turn the other way, the device on my back actually felt like it was pulling me in the opposite direction. By the time we reached the slab, my body was in full fight or flight mode. I looked at Owen, he was clenching and unclenching his fists, his jaw moving as he grinded his teeth. I'm sure if I felt his pulse, it would be skyrocketing.

We descended into the Hub in silence. As we got to the bottom, Ianto approached us, tray in hand. "On today's menu in a nice chamomile tea. I figured the calming effect might help clear your heads."

"Thank you Ianto," I took a cup and saucer. I wondered if this would really have any affect. Owen just walked past him and straight to Toshiko's desk, where she sat, brows drawn together.

Jack was standing on the catwalk leading to his office. I could see the vein pulsing in his forehead from here. It was obvious he was struggling with this as well. "Nice of you two to join us. Tosh, we're meeting in the board room, five minutes," his voice was taught, like he was holding back a scream, "Lucy, I want to see you in my office."

I brought my cup and saucer up to his office with me, making as wide a berth as possible around the tower that came underground into the Hub. I felt like I was the same side of a magnet, repelling against the tower. When I got to Jack's office, he was standing in the center, his arms crossed. All his muscles looked as tense as mine felt. "Let me cut to the chase, I don't think anyone wants to beat around the bush today, this thing has got us about to jump out of our skins. Torchwood, are you in or out? I can't have you working on this case if you're out. It's official business, and if you know more than you need, it's just going to make things more complicated down the road."

I was taken aback, I wasn't expecting this question so early. I had figured we would talk about what had happened with the nightmare box first. "I-" I started, but couldn't find my voice. This was too much, the tension, the choice. I felt my life stretching out in two directions in front of me. One way was with Torchwood, the other without. Both were dark, I couldn't see what lie ahead.

"Choose wisely," his voice was mocking, one eyebrow raised expectantly. I couldn't avoid the question anymore. I had given my terms and my time was up.

"I- I'm going to join Torchwood." Just then, the tension snapped and the Hub went dark.