Ianto was brought back to consciousness by the sound of his alarm going off. He didn't even remember setting it, and he blearily swatted at the snooze button before collapsing back onto the bed.

Sunlight filtered through the drapes and he closed his eyes, not wanting to acknowledge the fact that morning had arrived. Stretching, he decided he felt rather good this morning, thanks to Jack. It didn't look like Jack had stayed last night, not that he had expected him to – it was just nice that Jack was there when he got home last night. He got up and sat on the edge of the bed. He had about an hour before he had to be at the coffee shop.

Groaning, he shut the alarm off and staggered off to the bathroom to go through his morning ritual. He debated not shaving but decided that he couldn't go out looking scraggly, so gave in and shaved. Dressing casually again, he padded off to the kitchen to make some coffee. He made a cup of espresso for himself and stood at the counter, savoring the smell. He thought about making breakfast, but inertia won the battle and he settled for some toast instead.

Turning towards the table with his cup and plate, he noticed a box waiting for him. He made his way over and sat down. Drinking, he picked up the note and opened it.

"Ianto, I don't like the idea of you in there all on your own, so I dug up another pair of those contacts we used with Martha. Please consider using them so we can keep in touch with you and know what's going on. I'll drop by the shop so I can get a lay of the land, but I want you to be careful.

"I trust your instincts on this, so if you feel that something isn't right, it probably isn't. Tread carefully!

Jack"

Ianto put down his mug and opened the box. Inside was a pair of the electronic eyes they used with Martha at the Pharm. He considered them for a moment before nibbling on his toast. It probably made sense to use them, if he thought he could get into the basement where he could see something. He decided to pocket them so he'd have them if he decided they were necessary. Otherwise, it would be a waste to use them on the shop floor.

Finishing his breakfast, he washed up. He glanced critically about, but didn't see any sign of Jack's cooking from the night before. Impressed, Ianto opened the fridge and saw that there were still some leftovers tucked away, so last night wasn't just part of his imagination. He was beginning to wonder.

Once everything was put away, he decided to head to the store early. Maybe he could catch Mrs. Trundle off guard by getting there before he was expected. He left his flat and nodded to his neighbor, an elderly woman named Mrs. Swanson. She tended to know everyone's business, so he was careful just to share hellos and the weather. Less for her to gossip about. Heading outside, he found that the weather had turned a little colder than it had been the day before. Pulling his collar up on his jacket, he stuck his hands in his pockets and made his way off to the shopping area.

It wasn't a long walk, so he arrived at his destination within a matter of minutes. Peering through the window as he went past the shop, he didn't see anyone moving about inside. He checked his watch. It was just past seven. Good. Maybe he could catch something interesting going on.

He walked down the street and headed towards the back entrance. Several shopkeepers were starting their day; the tobacconist was putting his trash out and nodded to Ianto as he walked past. The florist was hosing down the area in back of her shop and Ianto smiled at her as he passed her. He would dearly love to take a fire hose to the back of the coffee shop. It desperately needed a cleaning.

In short order he found himself at the back entrance of the coffee shop and he tapped lightly on the door before seeing if it was opened. The door swung noisily on its hinges as he opened it. Wincing, he stepped through and closed the door, making a mental note to get some oil for the hinges. He paused in the dimly lit storage room and listened intently.

He heard a shuffling noise coming from the basement. Making the assumption it was Mrs. Trundle, he did the prep work in the main store, getting supplies from the stock room and replenishing supplies for the morning opening. He cleaned all the machines thoroughly before starting the coffee brewing. Best to start out the day right, he thought to himself. Checking his watch he saw that only fifteen minutes had passed. Since there was nothing else he could do, he decided to go with the goal of cleaning out the roaster and prepping it for doing the work he had been asked to do.

He opened the door to the basement and listened intently. The sounds seemed to have stopped, and he was almost disappointed by it. He was hoping to find something interesting going on, but knew it to be difficult to accomplish on the second day working there. So he made his way down to the basement, not trying to mask the sounds of him coming down the stairs.

Turning the light on, it looked the same as it had the evening before. He looked towards the shadowed area that was off bounds and peered at it to see if it looked any different. He couldn't see anything in particular, but that didn't mean anything. Turning towards the other end of the room, Ianto headed over to the roaster. He was going to have to bring parts of it upstairs to clean before he got started on roasting anything in there. He surveyed the machine and sighed.

It was a Turkish machine known as a Toper, and it was in a sorry state. Even in the dim light, it was decidedly looking worse for wear. He started to dismantle it, pulling the hopper and drum apart so that he could clean them. This was going to be awkward going up and down the stairs, but he didn't seem to have much of a choice. Sighing, he carried the equipment up the stairs and out into the backroom.

"Oh my god!" A voice cried and he paused. "Who are you?" Ianto peered around the stuff in his arms and saw a tiny pixie of a woman standing in front of him. Obviously he had startled her badly.

"Hello," he said and gave her a reassuring smile. "I'm new here. My name is Ianto."

"Hi," she squeaked, and then tried to calm herself. She didn't look to be more than twenty, and wore what looked to be a leotard and dance skirt. She had long blonde hair with green eyes almost as large as Gwen's. "I'm Ticia. When did you start?"

"Last night," Ianto said. He waited for her to move so he could get to the sink. Belatedly, she realized that he needed to get past her and jumped out of the way, knocking several items off the shelf nearby as she did so. "Sorry," he said, squeezing past her and going to the sink. He washed the hopper and dried it carefully. Opening the drum, he cleaned that out as well, grimacing at the poor condition of the machinery.

"What are you doing?" Ticia asked, moving to where he was working. She watched as he scraped layers of caked debris from the drum and dumped it into the trash.

"Cleaning out the roasting machine. I used to work at the Roastery in London. Mrs. Trundle asked me to roast some coffee this morning, but I already got some made out of the beans we already have for the first customers." He glanced out of the corner of his eye to watch Ticia as he worked. She stared in fascination at him. At least she showed a lot more animation than Terry had the day before.

"Oh, so was that you who cleaned everything?" She asked with surprise. He nodded. Grabbing a towel, he dried off the hopper and drum before turning to carry them downstairs.

"Yes, they were in pretty sad shape," he said with a smile. "I'll be right back." He headed back to the basement again.

"You're actually going down there?" Ticia asked him skeptically and he stopped and turned in surprise.

"Well, yes, that's where the roaster is. Why do you ask?" He looked at her curiously.

"I wouldn't go down there, not for all the money in the world. It's way too creepy down there," she shuddered. "I'll wait up here, thanks."