Jack's eyes flickered up to the mirror and he saw a black not-at-all-suspicious-looking-police-surveillance- van driving behind him. He coughed at Rose, waking her from daydream. She shrugged at him, clearly not understanding his intent and then he told her to fetch the laptop from the back. Rose turned around and stretched out her hand, but out of the corner of her eye, she saw the van. She quickly pulled herself back into her seat, the computer resting in her lap.

She bit her lip, wrestling with her anger. Finally she stated the obvious. "They're following us."

"Yep."

"Alec sent them to watch us."

"Yep."

"Did you plan this?"

"Yep."

"Arsehole!" Then hastily added "Not you, Jack. I expect you to play games, but come on, he's such an arsehole."

Jack chuckled; it was a rare thing to hear Rose Tyler swear. More often than not, it was him. There was even a swear jar in his office, and 90% of the donations were from him, but it all went to a good cause – the Christmas party.

"Shame we don't have your mother to set on them." Jack commented, grinning ear to ear.

"I know. They'd never know what hit them." she giggled.

Then the best idea suddenly struck her. She had special access, access that Alec hated. Why not use it against him? A devious smile cracked on her face as she poked her tongue between her teeth, beaming at her boss. He hadn't seen her smile like that since John died. Her hand lingered over the laptop, her nails scraping the surface. Jack watched her movements, and then shook his head.

"That is only for emergencies, Miss Tyler." He informed her, trying not to be intrigued by her idea. It was a little tempting, only a bit though.

"Personally, I think this qualifies." She said, drumming her fingers against the dashboard.

"They probably already know where we are based." Jack pointed out.

"All the more reason to hurry things along." Rose remarked.

She smiled at him again.

"That doesn't work on me." he stated. That bloody smile, he thought. Gets her in and out of all sorts of trouble.

After a couple of minutes, he caved and gave Rose the password. Torchwood had acquired a system years ago that allowed them to control the traffic lights wherever they were. Rose cackled as the lights suddenly changed to red, trapping the police van. They couldn't go through them; it would give the game away.

Jack was always good at losing people; he used to make a habit of losing one night stands when they couldn't get the message, whether they be female, male or just curious. With some good driving skills and back roads, they were heading back in the direction of the cottage.

Jack couldn't decide if Hardy was desperate or just thick. He sent a black van after them. A black van! How stupid could he be? Apparently very stupid, he fell right into his trap. Jack knew his little comment would rattle Hardy's cage and predicted he would sent someone else, but at least make it a little less obvious. But this was good news, if Hardy was struggling; it meant he didn't know who the killers were, so wasn't in danger… as long as it stayed that way.

Their next aim was to find the nest. Rose's comment about no mercy still worried him but after leaving the house he could tell she was distracted, and it wasn't the case.

"Rose, you would be honest with me, wouldn't you?"

The blonde half of the dynamic duo stared at her partner-in-crime and raised an eyebrow at him. "Depends on what you are asking." she said, turning her gaze away from him.

Jack smirked. "You know what I mean."

"No, I don't."

"Oh, please."

"Jack, I'm not in the mood." She groaned.

"You fancy Hardy, don't ya?"

Rose scoffed but her voice suddenly became high as she squeaked. "What?! No. Is… Is that a joke? He's annoying, arrogant… and completely and utterly…" She pointed her finger in no particular direction, trying to think of the words. "And… and scruffy." She could feel her cheeks getting redder by the second.

Jack gaped at her. "Rose, I was joking."

Rose took a moment to compose herself, remembering her dream and the night before, sharing chips. Jack listened to her slow breathing, and from the corner of his eye, saw her fidgeting. "It's not that I like him… but…" She sighed and pulled herself upright. "Sometimes he reminds me of John, being so closed off and grumpy, it's how he was before I met him. And then last night there was… a… a spark, it was just something I haven't felt for a while."

He didn't expect that confession. Rose was too good for a man like Hardy. She sniffed and avoided his eyes. Jack knew he had overstepped the mark, but knowing that Hardy had nearly admitted taking a shine to her and the way they had acted around in each other in the house, pointed to one conclusion. Hardy wasn't alone in his feelings, which explained the return of Rose's signature smile.

"Rose," His voice lowered, becoming serious. "You don't have to feel guilty for having feelings for someone else. It's perfectly normal. He would want you to happy."

"Yeah, but we'll never know." She said, quietly.

The duo stayed silent until they reached the cottage. Rose unlocked the door and walked straight inside, while Jack went to the boot to get the gear. As he entered the room carrying the heavy box, he was met by a speechless Rose, gaping at their destroyed rental cottage. They exchanged bewildered looks. Jack dropped the box with a loud thud and reached for his gun.

With his heart beating wildly, he wandered through the rest of the home. Rose gasped, the place was in tatters. Furniture destroyed, clothes ripped, equipment broken lying in pieces on the floor. Rose dashed to her room and discovered her bed was slashed down the middle. On the floor was a smashed picture frame and a photo of her and John when they first met. The corners of the picture were soaked in a red liquid, Rose's eyes drifted around the room until she found the source. She glanced up and fought the urge to scream.

"Jack!" Her voice was shaking as much as her hand when she picked up the photo. Her friend rushed to her side and his eyes widened as Rose pointed to the wall.

Drawn in blood were the words "LEAVE IN TWENTY FOUR HOURS OR DIE LIKE THE OTHERS. NOTHING WILL STOP THE RISE." Underneath the lettering was the dead corpse of a sheep, gutted and skinned, it's blood in a pool staining the carpet. Rose gaged at the smell, dropping the photo to the carpet.

"You said they'd know." she mumbled.

"I said the police would know, not them." he corrected her.

"'Nothing will stop the rise'?" Rose read the words carefully. "Is that a warning?" She trudged closer, carefully avoiding the mangled body.

No response.

She spun around to find herself talking to thin air. Eventually, she found Jack in the remains of the living room, dialling their teammates. After a couple of minutes of trying, Jack threw his phone against the broken sofa and grunted in frustration.

"No answer." he shouted. "Where are they?"

"Gwen could still be out and Ianto is probably knee-deep in research so might not have heard the phone?"

Jack scowled at her, and she mentally cringed at her lame excuse for their whereabouts. The walls were crumbling around them, the ground was shrinking, just like she said it would.

The sun was beginning to set in Broadchurch, the bright light bouncing off the waves. The orange skies looked beautiful, no matter how much dread filled the town.

Ellie Miller knew she should have been the one to drive back to the station. Her boss asked for the keys in quiet voice she had never heard him use before. She gladly handed them over, but now she was regretting it. She had no idea what was running through that grim mind of his.

His actions were so peculiar, and her detective skills told her that something was because of a certain blonde girl from London. Alec's mood has changed so much since they met on the cliffs, he seemed almost cheerful at times. Of course it was against the laws of psychics and could make the world explode in confusion, but Ellie was curious to see where this new relationship would go. Alec might be difficult at times but deep, very deep down, he was a good man. A good friend who had helped her through Joe's case and starting afresh. She was even his emergency contact when he had the surgery done on his heart. If this Rose Tyler girl could make him happy and kick some sense into him along the way, who was she to say no?

Ellie felt her phone vibrate in her pocket and she quickly answered it. She kept her face neutral as the surveillance team told her the bad news. Ellie ended the call and turned to Alec, his eyes focused on the road ahead.

"Sir,"

"What is it, Miller?"

"Surveillance lost Torchwood."

She held her breath, waiting for him to shout and scream at their incompetence. Ellie watched her boss shrug and asked how that came to be in a surprisingly calm voice.

"Erm, they lost them in traffic, the lights changed at the wrong moment and well…" her voice trailed off, he knew what she meant.

"We have their address." he stated, turning the wheel to head to the cottage. "Maybe we should visit them for a change."

Ellie nodded and didn't disagree with him. She was always told not to argue with the designated driver. Even if he was a grouch.

"Most of the equipment we needed was in the car with us, so that's a plus." Rose said, trying to lift the mood, but failing.

Behind her Jack was fishing through the broken living room to see if anything could be saved, hoping to distract himself. Anything to stop him thinking the worse, all those possibilities that could be happening right now in Cardiff. Where could Ianto be?

Rose saw his cold expression and sighed. She wanted to give him a hug and tell him it would be alright, like he did earlier that day, but it would only do so much. Once Jack had an idea in his head, it wasn't going to budge any time soon. However the sound of a car pulling up outside alerted them both. Rose stepped towards the window and saw Ellie and DI Grumpy in the car.

"Oh, shit."

"What?" he asked.

"Trouble." she said, rolling her eyes.

There was a knock at the door, and Rose couldn't help but think she had done this not too long ago. She opened to it to discover Alec Hardy standing there wearing a grim expression, but thankfully Ellie was next to him.

"Miss Tyler, could we have a word?" Alec said. Back to formal names it was. Well, she started it, he reasoned.

"For what reason?" Rose inquired, ignoring Alec and looked to Ellie for an answer.

Ellie smiled, "Just to have a chat."

"And we can't chat out here?" Rose said, coldly.

Ellie looked shocked at the sudden attitude change, wondering what had caused it. Alec thinned his lips, about to jump into the situation when an annoying Captain appeared in the doorway, chipper as ever.

"Is there a problem?" he asked.

"We're meant to be working together, remember?." Ellie pointed out.

"So, why send someone to watch us?" Rose demanded.

"That was my order." Alec told her. The blonde glared at him, the Bad Wolf rising again. She's had enough of this. How dare he? But why was this getting to her so much? The police in Cardiff had stuck their noses in their business before and she never took any notice but this was becoming personal. Business and pleasure never mix, she reminded herself. Let it go.

"Can we talk inside, please?" Alec asked her.

"Look, you can't just come around whenever you feel like and think that it's okay." Rose said, angrily, forgetting her own advice, the rage boiling through her system.

A loud ringing broke the awkward tension and Jack dashed inside to grab his phone, delighted when he saw Ianto's name light up.

"What was that about?" Ellie asked.

"Does it matter?" Rose retorted.

Alec stepped in, taking control. Rose was pissed at him, not Ellie.

"Miss Tyler, we need to catch these killers before anything else happens. It's bad enough that we let Helen down. Do you really want to add to that list?" he asked her.

Rose opened her mouth to respond, but knew he was right. They had let her down. No mercy, she thought.

The Bad Wolf was about to agree when a loud shriek tore through the air. A young teenage girl ran across the road, coming from the direction the noisy pub. She shouted the one word that Rose had dreaded hearing, "Monster!"