"Everything alright?" Owen asked tenderly. I glanced over his shoulder at the Doctor, Rose, and their TARDIS, feeling sweat pooling in my palms. I rubbed them on my shirt to dry them off, but they kept sweating. I could feel my face getting hot, and sweat forming on my brow. "I - I'm fine." I lied. Owen wasn't fooled. "What? You think I was born fucking yesterday?" he snapped. Almost as soon as he said it, he seemed to regret it. "Sorry, Rookie."

A nickname he'd given me when I first arrived.

"D'you wanna go back into the Hub?"

I swallowed bile in my throat and quickly nodded. Owen put his hand on my back, between my shoulder blades, and hurriedly, secretly ushered me into the Tourist Centre, from which we disappeared into the Hub. He took me to the med bay, where we often talked while he worked, and he sat at his stool as I sat on the cold, metal table. "What's a'matter?"

"It's just… they're back. They're back for me, aren't they?"

"Can't know unless you ask them."

"This - this is bollocks. I can't do that again."

Flashbacks surged through me of the awful times I had with the Doctor and his lover. Owen said he thought I might have PTSD from my experiences. "I know." he said comfortingly. He swore under his breath. "We've gotta find a way to get you outta here."

"Can't I just hide in the Hub until they're gone?"

"They're good friends of Jack's. They go way fucking back. He'll want to give them the grand tour of the Hub. We can go out the 'scenic route', okay?"

I nodded. He lead the way to the Hub's 'tourist entrance'. "Owen?" I whispered. "Yeah?" He asked.

"You wanna know something weird?"

"Okay."

"Some parts of me don't want that again... makes me sweat at the thought of it. But another part makes me want to go on those adventures again. I don't know why. Do you have any ideas?" I asked.

Owen looked like he was in deep thought for a moment. But before he could answer, I heard a voice that I didn't recognize: Sometimes you need to face your fear in order to heal.

"Did you hear that?" I asked Owen. "Hear the hell what?" He asked. "Guess you didn't." I said.

"What the fuck did you hear?" he demanded. I told him. "Don't Goddamn pay any attention! You may have PTSD, and as a doctor, I'm advising you to not fucking do it!"

I rolled my eyes and sighed. "I get it, I get it. It wasn't the Master, though."

"And how do you know that, Miss Smartass?"

"It wasn't the Master's voice. I know what his voice sounds like, and that wasn't him."

"The Master's a Time Lord."

"Yeah. And?"

"He can regenerate, correct?"

"Oh." I looked down at my shoes as the lift continued upward. Just as we stepped off, the cog wheel door in Torchwood below started cranking open. I heard the Doctor's voice echoing up from below me like a deep pit into Hell, and I shuddered visibly. Owen put a hand on my shoulder. "You alright?" he wondered softly. I nodded and smiled weakly up at him. "Yeah. I'll be fine. What say we go get some chips?"

"I was thinking a film. 'Aven't been to one of those in a while."

"A movie sounds good."

Owen took my hand as a fatherly gesture and we walked through the Roald Dahl Plass to get a taxi and head to the nearest theater.

The cog door cranked open and the Doctor, Rose, and most of the Torchwood team stepped inside the Hub. The Doctor looked around with his hands in his pockets and an impressed look on his face before turning to Jack. "This is nice. Brilliant! Molto bene! Erm, how long've you been here?" he wondered. Jack puffed out his chest with pride. "Oh, about a hundred years, give or take a few." he chuckled. The rest of the team dispersed and Rose clung to the Doctor's hand.

"This is great, really brilliant technology." the Doctor commented.

"I know. We salvaged most of it from the Rift, some of it from the aliens that came through the Rift."

The Doctor meandered around, fiddling with some equipment and examining others, before he finally came to the Rift machine. "What's this, then?" he wondered. Jack grinned up at it. "A Rift machine. From this, we can control the Rift. Sort of. We can kinda turn it off and on."

"Oh. That's interesting, innit?"

"Well, yeah."

The Doctor chuckled to himself and whipped out his screwdriver, examining the interior of the Rift machine. "Now this. This is beautiful!" he exclaimed, shoving on his spectacles. Jack allowed himself a small smile as the Doctor examined the machine. But then, the machine started to spit sparks. Fortunately, the Doctor was able to get out of the way of the machine. "Jack? What's going on?" he yelled over the loud noises of the machine dying and roaring back to life. "I dunno!" Jack yelled. But then, the machine stopped sparking and just sat there, smoke steaming off it. The Doctor looked at it carefully, then took out his sonic screwdriver and started to scan the thing. "Oh." he said quietly. Jack looked between him and the machine. "What? What is it?"

"I seem to have done something… wrong to your Rift machine."

"Doctor!"

"What? It's hardly my fault, I didn't know it wasn't advanced enough to be able to handle a little sonicking." the Doctor said, looking affronted. Jack sighed gruffly and put his hands on his hips. "How the hell are we supposed to be able to control the Rift?" he demanded, throwing his arms in the air. The Doctor puffed out air through his cheeks and ran some fingers through his hair. "Well, I suppose I could rebuild and upgrade it for better performance."

"And how long will that take?"

"Oh, maybe two hours? At most two hours."

"Alright, go ahead." Jack sighed. Rose looked around questioningly before turning back to Jack. "Where's Blue?" she wondered. Jack shrugged and gestured vaguely in the direction of the med bay. "Her and Owen might be in the med bay gossiping or who-knows-what they do in there."

Rose turned on her heel and strode toward the med bay, only to find it empty. "Jack?" she called back. "Where else would they be?"

"I dunno! Check Owen's desk!"

She did as much, but no one was there. This time when she called, Jack came to her and put his hands on his hips thoughtfully. "There's no one here." Rose stated. Jack nodded and combed through the Hub for any trace of the two, but found none. "D'you know where they might be?" Rose demanded anxiously when he'd returned to her. He shook his head, and then his eyes widened like he'd just had an idea. He sprinted through the Hub and into his office, Rose close behind, and checked the CCTV for the past hour. There it was - Owen and Blue climbing onto the lift and rising up. He switched the view to scan the Plass, and watched them stride across, toward the city of Cardiff. He scanned their profile pictures through his security database and came up with a few results. Blue and Owen had gone into a movie theater just a taxi ride away from Torchwood. "Dammit, Owen!" Jack exclaimed suddenly, making Rose jump. He looked at her apologetically and then put his face in his hands. When he put them down, Rose was still standing there nervously. "What? Where've they gone?" she wondered quietly. Jack stood and slung his coat over his shoulders. "A movie theater."

"Where're you going?"

"I'm going to get them."

"Why?"

"Because ever since you guys got here, Blue's been acting strange and she needs to see you guys."

"You can wait until the film is over, Jack."

"No, they're avoiding you, and I've got to yell at Owen for taking Blue without my permission or informing me first." he growled, storming out of the office. "You and the Doctor can stay here. Ianto might be able to use your help in the archives."

Rose turned on her heel and made her way to the archives, where she found Ianto flipping through some files and filing others alphabetically. "Hey." she said. He gently closed the file he was looking as and turned to her with a short smile. "Hello."

Rose worked up the nerve to come closer, trying to stop herself from blushing too majorly. Ianto was indeed a handsome man, and Rose couldn't stop herself from being a little bit attracted to him, at least. As well as the suit he wore. She wondered if he wore suits every day, and why. "What're you doing?" she wondered, peeking over his arm to peer at the file in his hands. He quickly put the thing away and straightened his tie, then he cleared his throat and regarded her politely. "Just going through some files. Double-checking our information. You know, the routine stuff."

"Really? Not very exciting, hm?"

"Oh, this job can be very exciting. We do some of the things you and the Doctor do."

"How's that, then?"

"Well, we hunt down aliens and either eliminate or take them to their respective places. Sometimes we have to put them in the vaults."

"You lot deal with aliens still? You know I met the founder of Torchwood. Queen Victoria knighted me and the Doctor personally. Saved her from a werewolf. Well, it wasn't actually a werewolf. Well, it sorta was. And then it bit her and the royal family are werewolves. At least, that's what the Doctor and I think."

"That's interesting, then."

"Yeah. And then she banished us. Didn't think everything we did was 'her world'."

"Oh."

"Maybe I could help you identify some aliens?"

Ianto smiled. "That would certainly be helpful." he said, leading the way out of the archives and to the vaults, where all of their aliens were kept. He pointed to a cell containing a creature with a large, ovular head and pale, yellowish skin. Pinkish tentacles hung from the bottom of its face, and its eyes were slanted and were lined up with small ears on the side of its head. Rose quickly and cautiously examined its eyes and then grinned widely. "That's an Ood." she said matter-of-factly. Ianto regarded the Ood with curiosity and then picked up a clipboard he had tucked between his arm and his side and scribbled something down. "What can you tell me about this… Ood?" he wondered, not taking his eyes off of the creature. Rose sighed and stuck her thumbs in her pockets. "Well, they communicate telepathically and have two brains. One in their head. The other comes out of those tentacle things when it's born."

"Why doesn't this one have a second brain?" Ianto wondered, gesturing at the white orb that hung from a pocket on his shirt. Rose frowned at it. A white cord connected the orb to underneath its tentacles. "Well, that one is enslaved. Or, was, before it fell through the Rift. And it hasn't spoken to you?"

"No. I dunno if it can speak. Can it?"

"Well, with those ball things it can speak, but it looks like it's broken, especially if it hasn't spoken to you."

"What d'you mean, 'enslaved'?"

"Well, most Ood are slaves. Some people say they like it, and they don't really mind. I don't exactly know what to think about them. They're great, they really are."

Ianto scribbled down more notes. "Anything else?"

"Their eyes turn bright red when connected to a hive mind - which is like a bunch of Ood, all speaking telepathically with each other. And they sing. They sing songs, y'know, in their heads." Rose smiled dreamily, biting her bottom lip. Ianto scrawled more notes. He lead her through the vaults, pointing out several different creatures, a few of which Rose had never seen, but the majority of which she had seen. She had to admit that she was liking helping out.

"Thanks for the movie, Owen." I said as we walked out into the lobby, where the sun was shining so brightly, I had to cover my eyes. He smiled and said, "No problem, Rookie." I was holding onto what was left of my popcorn, which I had gotten refilled because of its size. We were just about to leave when Owen stopped dead and grumbled, "Fuck," which could've covered a huge amount of things, but I looked outside and found myself mumbling the same thing. Jack had found us. He stormed into the theater and immediately zeroed in on us. He walked over to us, and I was about to say something when he started shouting at Owen. I silently cursed to myself and didn't really listen to what he was saying, but before I could react Jack had a tight grip on my uninjured arm and he was dragging me out of the theater, earning some strange looks from civilians and curses from Owen. All three of us climbed into the car Jack had brought and he silently drove us home - but not the pleasant kind of silence. The thick, tangible, angry silence. I could practically feel his anger hitting me in the face. We screeched to a halt and climbed out of the car. Jack violently took my arm again and yanked me into the Hub, pulling me up into his office. We passed the Doctor on the way, and I began to sweat anxiously. He'd taken off his jacket and tossed it on Gwen's desk, and his spectacles were on his face. His sonic screwdriver was in his mouth as he meddled with the Rift machine. As we passed, he looked up, raising his eyebrows curiously. I could feel his brown eyes piercing into my back as I tried desperately to not look at him. I glanced over my shoulder and he looked away, took the sonic out of his mouth, and did something to the machine that made sparks fly and made him jump about excitedly, yelling "No, no, oh, no you don't!" and twiddling with the machine. I looked away and we passed Rose and Ianto, laughing and categorizing species. Rose's eye caught mine, and I quickly looked away. Her smile faded and she stared at me as Jack, Owen and I disappeared into Jack's office. He slammed the door behind us and glared, crossing his arms angrily. Just as he was about to start yelling, there was three soft knocks on the door and Ianto opened it, poking his head inside curiously. "Jack? Is there something wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, Ianto. Go back to work."

Ianto disappeared and closed the door behind him, and I tensed up. "Jack, I'm really sorry. I am. I swear, we won't do it again." He glowered at me, and I knew I was going to get chewed out more than I ever had been. "What the hell is going on here?" He yelled, louder than he ever had. Owen opened his mouth, probably to start yelling back, but I snapped, "It's my fault, okay? I was scared... so fucking scared...and I..." I broke off as tears involuntarily clouded my eyes and sobs started up in my throat.

"What do you mean, 'so scared'?'" Jack snarled. "I thought you'd be happy to see them again!"

"Some of me is happy to see them again... I'm being honest! But another part makes me feel like they're gonna drag me out onto another adventure. I dunno if I'm ready. Some days I feel like I'm ready, and others... like today, I'm scared." I whispered, rubbing my eyes.

Owen looked up at Jack. "I think she may have PTSD." He said quietly.

Jack glared at him. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Owen said, "Because if you thought she had fucking Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder you wouldn't let her do anything useful or anything that she'd want to fucking do!" he shouted. Jack fumed silently for a moment before turning to me. "What makes you think you've got this?"

"Well, it was pretty traumatic."

"Cut the cute stuff, sweetheart."

"Sorry. Well, I keep getting flashbacks of everything that happened, and when I saw the Doctor and Rose… I panicked. I - I don't want to do that again. It may be all well for you and them, but it's not for me." I said, wiping the tears from my eyes and mopping them off of my face. Before Jack could reply, I began sobbing again, for no other reason than that everything here was full of bullshit. Jack suddenly came toward me and wrapped me in his big man arms. He was so warm and I felt so safe, curled up and crying in his arms. Jack quietly dismissed Owen and the man cussed at him and then opened the door to slip outside. He left the door ajar behind him and Jack's breath caught in his chest. I could hear his heartbeat increasing. I squirmed in his grip enough to see what he was staring at and my face drained of color. Peering in the door with idiotic grins on their faces were the Doctor and Rose. "Hallo!" the Doctor said, wiggling his fingers with a wave. Rose was beaming at me as well, and I found it impossible to breathe or even think. "Been a while, hasn't it?" she said softly.

The Doctor slipped his coat on and tucked his screwdriver and his spectacles in his pocket, meandering over to Rose, who was examining some of the equipment. He laced his fingers with hers and leaned in to whisper in her ear. Her blonde hair tickling his face nearly distracted him, but he kept what he had to say in mind and tried to avoid looking at her lips. "You see that?" he murmured. She looked at him and nodded, and he continued. "You think we should go say hello?"

She nodded excitedly and they worked their way up to Jack's office, but the door was closed. They heard Jack yelling, and Owen yelling back, and Blue saying something softly, but they couldn't make out what she was saying. Finally, there was silence and then Owen opened the door and stormed out, red-eared and huffing. He left the door open in his wake and they peered into the room, where Blue was having some sort of emotional breakdown and Jack was holding her. He looked at them strangely, and then Blue turned and it looked like she'd stopped breathing altogether. Her face was pale as a sheet and her eyes as wide as tea saucers. "Hallo!" the Doctor said, putting on a nice smile and wiggling his fingers in the air. Rose smiled and greeted her as well, and Jack pushed Blue behind him protectively. The Doctor and Rose stood straight, confused. "Jack? Is everything alright?" the Doctor wondered.

"Yeah, Doctor. I just need you two to leave."

"What?"

"You heard me, Doctor. You know I want you here more than anything, but it's not just about me. I would do anything for my team and these people, and that includes asking you to leave. Not forever, just so that Blue can recover."

"It's been three years, Jack, I think she's recovered."

"Owen thinks she has Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder."

"What? That's not right."

"She's not like you, or me, or Rosie. That was really hard for her, Doctor, and you can't expect her to just say hello and go swanning off around the Universe with you!" he ended in a bit of a yell. The Doctor glared at him for a moment before stuffing his hands in his trouser pockets and shrugging, puffing out his lips. "I suppose you're right. Sorry, Blue. We assumed you'd be okay, and I know you're not now." he apologized sincerely. Blue came out from behind Jack and smiled weakly. "I'm.. I'm sorry. Some days I'm okay, but not today. I dunno when I'm gonna be okay." she said quietly. He nodded, and Rose patted her on her hurt shoulder. Blue winced and cried out, and then the Doctor and Jack exchanged severe glances. "What's happened?" the Doctor demanded. Jack stuttered in trying to tell him, and the Doctor gingerly worked Blue's shirt off of her shoulder and inspected the bandage. It was speckled with red spots where the blood had seeped through. Rose winced at the sight. "What's this?" the Doctor growled at Jack, a dark look in his usually bright eyes. Jack found himself stammering, something he usually never did. Blue looked up at him. "A Weevil got me. But it's not bad!" She said quickly. Rose glanced between the Doctor and Jack, but the Doctor had his teeth gritted and heaving breath was hissing between them. He stood up at his tallest - which was considerably tall - and glared at Jack. "I let her come here so you could protect her, not throw her at creatures!" he yelled. Rose put a hand on his arm to calm him down, but he didn't seem to notice. "Doctor - " Jack stuttered, but the Doctor cut him off. "How can I trust you if I give you one little child to look after and you can't even do that!"

"I'm not a child!"

"If you can't take care of her properly then I'll have to take her back and give her to someone that can!"

Blue stood up to the Doctor, fuming. "I'm not a child, and I'm not just someone you can pass around to whomever you like! I'm staying with Jack, and Ianto, and Tosh, and Owen, and Gwen! You can't make me come with you!"

The Doctor glared at her dangerously. "Is that right!"

Blue kept her resolve and said, "Yes, that's right, you fucking cunt!"

He snatched her arm and began to drag her out of the office, throwing off Rose and Blue screamed for Jack or Owen or someone that could stop the Doctor. Jack fumbled in his belt for his gun before he realized it was in his coat, which was hanging by the door. He began to sprint after Blue and the Doctor until everyone heard an impossibly loud click. Ianto was standing his ground in front of the Doctor, pointing his gun directly between the Doctor's eyes. The look on his face was severe and a clear warning. "Let her go, Doctor." he said quietly. The Doctor released Blue and held his hands up. "Now get in your TARDIS and fly away. Rose can go with you if you like, but you're not coming back here until you get it. Blue doesn't want to come with you. She's had enough of your bollocks, alright?"

The Doctor nodded and glanced at Rose - an unspoken question was asked. I'm sorry. Do you still want to come with me?

Rose glanced between him, Ianto, Blue, and Jack just as the rest of the team got to the scene. "Jack? What's goin' on?" Gwen shouted. No one answered her as Rose took the Doctor's outstretched hand and they quietly walked to the door. The Doctor looked over his shoulder at Blue. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." he said before leaving.