Dark glasses and wishful thinking led Gwen straight to Owen's desk. 'Please tell me you still have your magic hangover pills.'

'And good morning to you.'

'Oh shove it, I had a few too many glasses of wine didn't I.'

'Looks like it, however I'm fresh out. I've got a batch on the go so if you are still feeling like cold cheese on toast I might be able to fix you up after lunch. Probably.'

Gwen realised her glare would have achieved greater results if she, a, took the sunglasses off, and b, didn't have to squint. She did take the bottle of aspirin he handed her and stomped quietly back to her desk. Head in her hands she didn't even look up as a black coffee and a bottle of water appeared next to her.

Gwen finished the coffee and downed the water along with a handful of painkillers and waited until she began to feel mostly human. At which point she remembered the strange necklace she'd been given, pulling it out she tried to remember what Molly had told her about it. Or was it Mary. Putting it on she admired how nicely it rested between her breasts and decided to see if it really did let her read the minds of people around her. Her headache was receding and with only four team mates in the Hub she decided now was as good a time as any to give it a go.

Looking around she saw Owen staring at his skeleton and wondered what Tosh was thinking as she walked in. Never mind what she was wearing, jeans and boots, that was such a no it was almost funny. She resolved to take Tosh shopping and get her some proper clothes, that would be a nice team building sort of thing to do. Looking around for the other two she saw Jack in his office and the new kid, Johnny washing dishes. Pendent in place she braced herself for the onslaught of their inner thoughts. According to Mary it wasn't like reading a diary, you got all sorts of thoughts, some the person wasn't even aware of thinking so she figured this could be interesting.

It wasn't. Owen was obsessing about the hole in the chest of the skeleton and she was never going to understand the numbers rolling though Tosh's thoughts. John was humming some annoying song inside his head and Jack must have been too far away for her to pick anything up. She wasn't feeling like this made anything very level and was so deep in her disappointment she didn't hear Tosh at first.

'Oh, sorry pet, what was that?'

'I complimented you on your necklace, it's quite lovely. Did Rhys give it to you?'

'Oh, um, yes. Anniversary gift.'

She heard Owen snort to himself and his thoughts followed.

"Bloody women and their stupid anniversaries. Bet it was something daft like the first time they brought bog roll together."

She tried not to frown, that caused wrinkles and even though she could afford botox on her wages, getting the time to get something like that done was the tricky part. Tosh's thoughts made her smile as she heard the envy of her solid relationship in the Japanese woman's head. So far this necklace wasn't too bad.

Heavy thoughts began seeping into the gaps, stroking her ego about how pretty she was and how silky her long glossy black hair must be to touch. Turning she expected to see Jack but found Johnny mooning over Tosh. It didn't take much effort to nudge her coffee cup and send it diving to the ground. It did surprise her to see it seem to slow down and land safely, rather than smash on the cold stone floor. It must have been time to take more painkillers.

Ianto appeared and retrieved the cup. She'd forgotten about him.

'More coffee Gwen?'

'Oh, if you're offering pet.' Staring after him she barely got anything and wondered if the necklace was broken or if he just didn't actually think about much. Which she concluded was probably the case, after all, how exciting could it be, being the tea boy, even at Torchwood.

She focused her attention on him as he set a fresh coffee on her desk.

'Did you need something else Gwen?'

'Oh no.' Still nothing more than a faint buzz as she played with the necklace. Maybe it was her hangover stopping her from reading anything more.

'Nice pendent, new is it?'

She brightened. 'Yes, it was given to me last night.' There was something there she concentrated but was unable to latch onto anything.

'Are you feeling alright?'

'I'm fine Ianto, just a bit peaky, it was a late night.' She caught a glimpse of something on the monitor that allowed them to keep an eye on the CCTV footage of the Plass. 'You know what, I might pop out for some fresh air.' She grabbed her jacket and left.

Ianto watched her head out, proximity alarms blaring as the cog door rolled back. He made his way to his desk to look something up, a question for Jack forming on his lips and in his mind.

Gwen, having seen Mary on the screen headed across the Plass to where the petite blonde was lounging on a bench swinging her feet. Ever present cigarette in hand.

'Hello Gwen.'

'Of course you know where I work.'

Mary laughed, keeping her disdain deeply hidden. 'Ask anyone where Torchwood is and they point here.'

'I guess.'

'You have questions don't you.'

'Well, yes. Is there anyone this wont work on?' Holding the pendent.

Mary shrugged. 'Some people have stronger psychic barriers or their secrets are so big they've developed the ability to shield them. Who doesn't it work on.'

'My boss and the butler guy.'

'Ah, the impeccable Ianto Jones.' She smiled a coquettish smile pulling on her bodies remembered life as a whore to tease the scowling woman. 'His ability to dress well is matched only by the secrets he holds. Of course you can't tell me what you know, I know how it is.' She leaned forward. 'You know Jack's secrets so of course you know everyone else's.'

'Well, yeah.'

'Anyway, I should get going.' She rose to her feet, hand on Gwen's arm with fluttered eyelashes of her own. 'Will I see you later than?'

'I suppose.'

Mary smiled as Gwen walked away, she didn't need a pendent to know she'd given the woman more than enough to think about. Rolling her eyes as the woman reached the tourist office and vanished beneath the streets of Cardiff. Toshiko Sato would have been so much easier. She just hopped she'd given enough of a prod to get her ride home before Torchwood destroyed her chance by dismantling her transporter or locking it away in their vaults.

Gwen thought about what Mary said, about Ianto having secrets. She liked secrets as much as the next person when she knew what they were. It was the idea someone might be keeping something from her that she didn't like. And Jack gave him far too much credit, making him second in command over her. He was the butler, not a field agent. A glorified secretary fetching things and making coffee. What did he know about running a secret organisation like Torchwood. And he clearly wasn't any good at his job if he had to hire someone to help him. That was something she'd be changing once she got her chance. Now it was time to see if she could get this necklace to work on Jack. Maybe she'd suggest they do some weapons training, just the two of them. Only this time she wasn't going to play hard to get.

She found Jack tinkering with his giant stapler from the construction site. At least he was alone. Tucking her hair behind her ears she waited for him to notice her. Concentrating on picking up his thoughts her fingertips subconsciously stroking the pendent between her breasts. There was a faint hint of words but they weren't English and as she tried to push them they vanished.

Jack's head snapped up, his cool blue eyes finally noticing her.

'Gwen?'

'I ah, was wondering how your alien stapler was going.'

He shrugged. 'It's going.'

She leaned forward. 'And do you know what it is?'

'Oh I've got an idea or two.'

'It's not really a stapler though, is it.'

Jack chuckled. 'What do you want Gwen? Paperwork all up to date is it?'

She shook her head and laughed. 'I was thinking we could work on my firearms, Jack. Just you. And me. In the shooting range.'

'Can't.' He reached across the table for a screwdriver.

'Why not?'

'Ianto's running Jimmy though basic weapons handling. Don't know why he wouldn't let me do it.' He pouted. 'There's nothing wrong with how I handle a weapon, Ianto knows that. Anyway, you should get back to your paperwork or Ianto'll be on your case.' He put the screwdriver down. 'Come to think of it, he left some on my desk I should probably look at.' Standing up he shoved his hands in his pockets and started whistling. Giving her a grin he headed to his office.

Ianto had worked out a thoroughly devious way, in Jack's opinion, to encourage him to complete his paperwork by putting random post it notes into the daily pile. Not just any old ordinary post it notes though, these ones had a spell on them. Mostly so if anyone else picked them up or more accurately, he tried to cheat and skip to the end, they were mundane paperwork related rubbish. However, as he worked though the pile and reached each one in turn they revealed his rewards for finishing the paperwork. And it worked, speeding the paperwork up significantly and he enjoyed not getting as many phone calls from Unit or the Queen's private secretary asking for paperwork. Of course, it was Ianto's rewards he enjoyed even more.

In the back of Jack's mind was the knowledge someone, probably Gwen, had tried to read his mind. Not an ability he believed she had. The first post it note however left him with very different thoughts to consider instead. So he did. Until he decided it was time to find Ianto and cash in one or two of his rewards.

Gwen wanted to hit something. Paperwork set her teeth on edge. She was a woman of action not paperwork and what was the point of being above the government if they had to fill in reams of bloody paperwork. The conversation she'd had with her former sergeant hadn't put her in a better mood leaving her wondering how hard it might be to get a weevil into his bathroom. Looking into Ianto's background rather than her paperwork left her glaring at an uncooperative computer screen. What was the point in having access to all these databases if she couldn't find anything on one person. Not having access to the Torchwood One server wasn't helping. She hadn't deleted anything on purpose, it had been an accident. The way Ianto Jones had reacted you would have think she'd poured acid on him or run his dog over.

Deep in the archives Ianto turned to Jack. 'Any idea what she's doing because that is not what she is supposed to be working on.'

'Other than a background on you and trying to read our minds?' He shrugged. 'Not a clue. And should I be asking why you have a key stroke logger on her computer.'

'I don't like to think of myself as paranoid but we are watching her conducting an extensive database search on me.' His smile was cold. 'Although, I prefer to think of it as self preservation, paranoid sounds so, tacky.'

Leaning against the desk Jack rubbed a hand over his face. 'And she thought she was my second.'

Ianto snorted. 'She thought I was the bloody butler and Jimmy's name was Johnny.'

'Have you been reading her mind?'

He shrugged with a smile. 'Just returning the favour. I think it's the necklace myself, it has to be. The woman hasn't a psychic bone in her body and no magical ability what so ever.'

'You checked of course, didn't you.'

'Of course I checked. I also found those files you asked for.' Handing Jack a folder he pulled a digital file up. 'We don't have more than a mention really.'

'I knew it was a transporter.'

'Yes Sir, your reward will follow shortly. It is of course, a hell of a coincidence that we find this and suddenly Gwen's psychic.'

'Yeah, I get nervous when someone starts acting out of character, did I ever tell you about Vincent?'

'Is she though, acting out of character.'

'Other than the mind reading?'

'Other than that, obviously.' Ianto conceded.

'It's no coincidence, and I'll bet dinner and a movie someone out there wants to go home.'

'Dinner and a movie Sir?' Ianto raised an eyebrow. 'Is that you asking me out, on a date?'

'We can't all go flying brooms Ianto, but yes.'

'So the question becomes, who is trying to go home.'

'Not what I thought you were going to ask, and how do we find out without tipping Gwen off.'

Ianto rolled his eyes and opened a new search tab.

'What, no masterful wand waving?'

'If you behave at dinner I might let you wave my wand.'

Jack hmmed in response as CCTV footage of Gwen began filling the screen. 'Don't forget, she went outside before lunch.'

Ianto added more search parameters and began to watch images stacking into neat tiles.

Jack grew exciting pointing at the screen. 'There, on that seat, she headed straight for her.'

Searching the footage Ianto tried to find a clear image for the facial recognition software. 'She's bloody good at avoiding the cameras.'

'Or it's a perception filter, no one's that good at avoiding the thousands of CCTV cameras spread across Cardiff.'

'Unless she's magical.'

Jack shook his head. 'I hardly think so unless you count being an alien. I just don't remember enough to tell you what she is. I'd throw in popcorn if I knew that.'

'You mean I'm buying my own popcorn?'

Jack shrugged. 'We could expense it.'

Ianto snorted. 'I'll let you explain that to Her Majesty next time she checks the books.'

Jack suppressed a shudder. 'On second thoughts, maybe not.' The Queen just looked like someone's sweet little grandmother, but she gave new meaning to the old adage of an iron fist in a velvet glove.

'Wise decision Sir.' Ianto had a great deal of respect for the woman and continued to scan the CCTV footage.

Jack frowned. 'Bring that one back.'

'The construction site?'

'Yeah, but go back further. Our blonde must have been watching for a while, maybe we'll catch her before the magic filter kicked in.'

Ianto scanned the data and pulled a number of stills together, each one only a partial shot of the woman's face.

'Can't you make a composite of the bits we do have, to you know, get the face.'

'This isn't CSI Cardiff Jack, I can't Hollywood something together like that.'

'Well I don't know.'

Ianto gave him a soft smile instead of rolling his eyes. 'It does tell us one thing.'

'Yes?'

'Blondie has been hanging out around that work site for a while but she stopped once we showed up.'

'And removed her golden ticket home.'

'Exactly. So what next? Do we let her take it or go for a more traditional Torchwood approach.'

'Depends on how harmless she is. What I remember of the culture the stapler is from, they were mostly poets and philosophers, I think.'

Ianto was about to say something when Owen's voice sounded over Jack's comms.

'Jack can you come to autopsy, I think I found something.'

Jack turned to Ianto and snapped his fingers. 'Darn, not how I planned to spend the next twenty minutes.'

'Only twenty?' Ianto locked his computer and began walking away, almost talking to himself. 'First I have to buy my own popcorn now I'm only worth twenty minutes. Who said romance was dead in Cardiff.'

'In my defence.' Jack called out as he hurried to catch the departing Welshman. 'I did suggest we expense the popcorn.'

They found Owen sighing and Gwen hummed from the viewing platform above the autopsy area.

'Can I shoot her, the humming is really getting on my tits.'

'Come on kids, you know how I feel about corporal punishment.'

Owen snorted. 'No but I bet tea boy does.' He gulped at the shared look on Jack and Ianto's faces. 'Anyway I wanted to tell you what I've found.' He pulled the file up on his computer screen. 'Turns out she's a he. A very girly man.' He looked pointedly at a giggling Gwen. 'And he died from unidentified chest trauma.'

'So no gunshot then.' Jack stated.

'Ah no.' Owen admitted. 'My initial findings out in the field where wrong.'

'This couldn't have been noted in your report.' Jack pointed out.

'Well, yeah, it could have but other than the tea boy does anyone read them? Anyway, I did some digging and this type of injury has happened more recently too.' He moved back to the keyboard and typed "Operation Lowry" into Mainframe's search engine. 'It was something Tosh said actually. She was totally wrong but it got me thinking.'

Tosh nodded. 'I thought it was a bit like that movie with Sigourney Weaver and those alien creatures that burst out of people's chests.'

'Yeah, we need to review your movie choices. But this file lists victim after victim, going back one a year although the records get a bit sketchy if you go back further than the seventies. Each reads "cause of death, hole punched though the rib cage, heart gone". I wouldn't be surprised if our John Doe here was the first victim.' Owen turned back to his audience. 'It's dead creepy you ask me.'

'Hmm.' Jack considered Owen's findings. 'So something either came though the rift or via the giant stapler. 190 something years ago and it's snack of choice seems to be human hearts.'

'The stapler was buried 196 years and eleven or so months ago.' Tosh pointed out.

'Thank you Tosh.'

'Like I said.' Owen muttered. 'Dead creepy.'

Jack looked at Ianto and nodded. 'I guess that answers that question then.'

'Yes Sir, I rather think it does.'

Tosh pushed her glasses back. 'Do we know what we're looking for?'

Jack considered how to answer her question. He could come right out and say yes and tell Gwen to bring her new friend in. He played it out in his head and decided he didn't want to deal with the woman shrieking about how he'd known and being all defensive anyway. So he went with plan B and decided to drop enough crumbs and hope she figured it out on her own. Truth be told, stubborn Welsh pride was one of the main reasons he had hired so many of his team from England.

'Has anyone been approached since the building site? Someone who knew just a little too much about Torchwood perhaps.' He looked at Gwen who shrugged.

'Everyone knows about Torchwood and I imagine there's loads on the internet if people know where to look.' Eyes wide as she smiled.

Tosh snorted. 'Not bloody likely. I've got data mines and Mainframe searching so the only thing you'll find is what we want people to find.'

Gwen pouted. 'But.'

'Yes Gwen?' Jack asked.

'Oh nothing, it isn't important.'

'Well if any one does start asking questions let me know. Someone must want to go home and looks can be deceiving.'

'I think we all know that.' Gwen agreed, looking at Ianto.