(private college); Cardiff, Wales

The sun was setting as General Trefor Williams walked into the school library. The call surprised him. Watching them prep her sister for transport had been more than Nessa could handle. She said she needed time. The sparkle in her eyes was replaced by haunted.

Finding her was easy enough. Nessa sat at a table near the front door reading a novel. She looked younger and tired.

"Hey." He sat across from her.

"I told you I could protect myself. Then I call to be rescued." She handed over her phone with a picture. "That woman's following me. There is something not right about her."

"Can you send it to me? I need to send it in for facial rec."

Nessa nodded. "How's Jeannette?"

"Sedated." Trefor's phone beeped. He checked the phone before sending it. "When the drug is out of her system, we'll wake her."

"I couldn't deal with it." She hesitated. "Is your dad still mad about me?"

"No." He held out his hand palm up on the table.

She set her hand on his. "I went overboard getting your attention. Maybe it was the idea that we had so much in common. I was twelve when I realized I was different." A beat. "Psychiatrists, health teachers, a school nurse and friends have all told me I'm screwed up."

Lightly, he brushed her hand with his thumb. "My sister told me repeatedly that I was who I was meant to be. We gave our lives to defend the world. The world had no right to demand anything else."

"Was she like us?"

"No. She did share my awful taste in men."

Nessa laughed softly. The light came back to her eyes briefly. "What do you look for in a man?"

"Rugby players. Its been a bad joke since I was a teenager." He smiled. "Big, strong, powerful men. No frills. No excuses."

"Were you an athlete?"

"No."

"Let me guess, you weren't manly because you didn't play sports. So to prove to yourself that you're a man, you seek to dominant manly men."

"Maybe."

"Bimbos. You date bimbos. No one who could possibly keep up with you."

"I've been told that."

"No wonder you looked like a deer-caught-in-the-headlights when I was sitting on your lap giving you orders."

"I wasn't that bad."

"Rugby players. That could be fun."

Trefor shook his head. "I need to get back to the office. Come with me. I want to know you're safe."

"Won't that piss off your father?"

"A bonus."

While Anwen's Rift ability was occasionally discussed, his never was. Few people mentioned it. Miriam would discuss it in context with her own psychic ability. Their friendship was something that puzzled people outside the family. The younger version didn't know yet. Sensing an enemy reminded of both what he was and the secrets he kept. The woman was definitely a disguised alien. The Rift energy, chronons and just general wrongness, gave her away.

Two things occurred to him as he walked toward Ianto's car gripping her hand. His bad judgement over younger Miriam was a need to connect with someone who could understand him. And Nessa was about to find out what he was capable of.

"What's wrong?" Nessa asked.

"Last night, I said I knew two people with Rift abilities. A leader and a soldier."

"Yeah."

"I'm the soldier. Your stalker is an alien. Probably with bad intentions, given how strong the sensation is."

"Search-and-destroy." A beat. "What did you mean?"

"I knew how to take down your sister because I can do something similar."

The woman/alien approached in the car park. A broad daylight attack was bold. His appearance must have disrupted whatever they intended. Perhaps the alien expected Nessa to lead her to something or someone. Which probably meant he was recognized as Torchwood. The advantage to being outside his time was that his ability wasn't known about. She was unprepared.

"Get behind me. Close your eyes. You don't want to see this."

The alien drew a weapon as he targeted her. Full of chronons, she traveled a long way. He didn't have to recognize the weapon, to sense the intent. It was like pulling the trigger and watching everything unfold in the slow motion. Time stretched as his manifestation built. Before she could aim her weapon, she exploded, spraying alien goo over a really nice Mercedes.

He tapped his ear piece. "Jack." When no one said anything, he waited for someone to connect.

"What happened?" his father asked.

"Nessa's stalker caused a hazmat situation." He gave his location. "From the color and smell, I would guess its the same type of creature that was working for Moss-Probert and calling herself Liberty. We don't know much about them."

"Is it dead?"

"Yeah. Its a goo clean up."