Nessa Dove's flat; Cardiff, Wales

Tuesday, February 26, 2020

General Trefor Williams wondered what he had gotten himself into. Dinner at a restaurant turned into takeaway. They barely ate anything before they were kissing. Clothes and stress disappeared. Hours later, they cooled off in her bed. She was half laying on him. He had no idea which one of them opted for the sheet. Modesty was definitely not an issue.

"Seriously," Nessa murmured. "You should be sleeping."

He laughed, rubbing her back.

"Do you ever stop worrying?"

"No. My life is usually one disaster, rampaging alien or family drama after another."

"Career military?"

"Torchwood. A tangled mess of secrets." Something occurred to him. "My older sister would have liked you. She'd get on my case, saying I shagged bimbos who chased me as a promotion strategy."

"She died?"

"Yeah. It hasn't been a year yet."

"What happened?"

"One of the myriad secrets I can't share. She sacrificed herself to save a lot of lives."

"Sounds like an impressive sister."

"Yeah. She was ten years older and more mom than sister. Its convoluted."

"Families always are." She hesitated.

"What?"

"This has been intense and incredible…"

"Odd timing to tell me to get out."

"No." Nessa snuggled against him. "Guys who don't grab their pants and take off the first chance they get are complicated."

"Did you expect me to?"

"No."

"Trying to tell me you don't do commitments or relationships?"

Nessa laughed. "More like trying to figure out what to say. I like you. You're definitely fun. But no matter how open-minded a guy claims to be, I have yet to meet one who could separate sex from emotion."

"I'm not possessive or jealous. I can be protective. I see bruises and someone is getting hurt."

"How open-minded are you? I never dated a guy I could pick-up men with."

Trefor closed his eyes. "I have never met anyone like you."

His mobile rang, and he reached for it with his free hand. "Yeah."

"Are you with Nessa Dove?" Jack asked.

"Why?"

"Jeannette Dove blew up part of her family's house an hour ago. A similar fireball killed Eddie Cattrel."

"Ballistic shield, modified destabilizer for range. Is John still at Four?"

"You didn't answer my question."

"Yes, I'm with Nessa."

"Ianto will send you the location." Jack hesitated. "Are you sure Nessa isn't dangerous?"

"Not like that. Do you have destabilizers? Do you know how to modify them?"

"Yeah."

"I am bringing her with me. Nessa may be able to talk her sister down."

"Are you thinking clearly?"

"Yes. I will explain later." He ended the call.

"Talk my sister down?"

Trefor explained what he knew.

"What does a destabilizer do?"

It was going to be a long day.

Evacuated Area

General Trefor Williams parked behind the Torchwood van. He could justify the situation all he wanted. He'd been sent to do a welfare check on a woman whose family was involved in a case. More than one case. A significantly younger woman.

Nessa unfastened her seatbelt before he released his.

"Stay here."

"No."

He reached out and took her hand. "We don't know what the situation is."

"So much for not being a Neanderthal."

"Nessa, there is a lot more to it." He kissed her forehead. "Please, stay in the car."

He opted for a hat and his sunglasses. It was ridiculous at night, but it might keep people from noticing how much he look like Jack.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Jack demanded as he passed the van on the sidewalk.

"Just one more thing I have in common with my father." He couldn't help it. The emotions were already swirling.

Jack growled. "Have you dealt with a situation like this before?"

"CN and Rift ability, yeah. Teenage girls throwing fireballs, no."

"Nessa didn't mention a problem?"

"Assholes parents, not fireballs."

Nessa walked up behind him, without him noticing. Her touched calmed him.

"Where is my sister?"

"Go back to the car." Jack motioned toward it.

Nessa reached for Jack's hand. Trefor grabbed her hand.

"As much as it would amuse me to see what that would do, Gwen is around here somewhere and she will shoot you."

Jack backed up. "What is she doing to you?"

"Keep me from exhibiting your emotions." Trefor sighed. "The outburst in the conference room was bizarre. I don't act like that."

"Neither do I."

"Its Captain Harkness?" Nessa said. "Its an energy connection. I don't know what kind or how someone winds up sharing emotions with a parent. You're more emotionally expressive and he can't handle the overload."

"Its a Rift ability?"

"I doubt it. She can't identify chronons."

"The same problem with Anwen and John."

"CN, Rift energy and chronons." He tapped his wrist-com through his sleeve. "You OD'd a second time in less than a month."

"Does this translate?" Nessa asked.

Trefor just a had really bad idea. "Uh, does Jeannette view dating like you do?"

"No." Nessa hesitated. "Oh shit. She liked Eddie. A lot."

Jack tapped his ear com. "Gwen, is Bree with you?"

"Yeah."

"Ask her if Jeannette's social media could indicate a bad introduction to sex or rape."

Trefor gripped Nessa's hand and tapped his ear com.

Minutes passed before his mother replied. "She says it could explain the rage. Jeannette is seeing a school counselor like Malcolm was. There aren't any files in the system." A beat. "Shit. Luc said the clone version of CN was less dangerous than X."

"Please contact Luc and ask if it could be used as a date rape drug," Trefor said.

"My sister's a healer." Tears welled in Nessa's eyes. "How could Eddie do that to his best friend's sister?"

"Jack," Gwen said, "If Eddie took advantage or raped her, she's going to lash out at men. I need to take her down."

Gwen Cooper met with Jack and the Torchwood van after a police report gave them a better idea where Jeannette Dove was. Jack explained how the balistic shield worked while Trefor modified distabilizers.

"If its a Rift ability, she will need time to generate the fireball before she can throw it. The destabilizers will disrupt both the energy causing the ability and the manifestation. Its less effective over a distance. We don't have a grenade form we could launch with an RPG. A project for John."

"She will listen to me."

"No, she won't, Nessa. Her rage is manifesting as fireballs. A Rift ability should reflect her personality. A healer wouldn't kill people. She's having an extreme reaction to the CN."

"What do you mean?"

"CN is a hallucinogen. We've seen two extreme CN reactions recently. One person overdoses and he flirts with imaginary aliens. The other sees monsters and tries to kill them. If your sister is enraged and ashamed, she's throwing fireballs at the source of her shame."

Nessa shook her head. "Why did she blow up the house?"

"Women who have been sexually assaulted can blame themselves for what happened," Gwen said. "She may have tried to commit suicide."

"I'm sorry."

Gwen tried to focus on the balistic shield. It wasn't something that was discussed. She hadn't been raped. Her and Jack had been drugged; the decision had been taken from both of them. Coping with it had been similar. Although she would never be ashamed of her son.

"Are you all right?" Jack asked quietly.

"Yeah."

"I should do this."

"Considering what the Rift device in Southeast Asia did to Aman, Jack, she might be able to hurt you."

"She can hurt you."

Ianto said over the ear com, "CCTV cameras are going down near a suspected drug house."

"I will do this."

The general handed her a destabilizer. "She will most likely shimmer when she's targeting."

Gwen recognized the girl from a photograph. She was standing on the curb staring across the street. After a deep breath, she activated the shield. Jeanette must have heard something because she turned to Gwen. The hairs stood up on her arms and energy danced over her skin.

"I'm Gwen Cooper from Torchwood." The destabilizer's targeting settings were taking longer than expected.

The light on the weapon turned green.

"Leave me alone." A wave of energy struck the shield.

Gwen aimed the weapon. "Nessa is waiting with my team. She's worried about you."

"Leave her out of this."

The first destabilizer pulse disrupted an energy blast. The second only seemed to stun Jeannette. Another energy wave hit the shield, and an alarm sounded; the shield was failing. Unsure what else to try, Gwen aimed for the ground at the girl's feet. It knocked her over. Another shot and the girl wasn't moving. Gwen scanned her, approaching slowly. Jeannette was unconscious. She quickly sedated the girl.

"Secured."