Jack watched Ianto demolish his fifth scone.  His usually fastidious partner was wolfing down everything in sight with the abandon of a six-year-old. Ianto had come out of his faint clear-headed but starved to the point of shaking.  Davies had requested Mrs. Bolton to provide some food as fast as possible; the housekeeper had rolled in a packed tea trolley in less than ten minutes.

            “I was keeping myself busy with a bit of baking, you see,” she said, waving away Jack and Ianto’s thanks, “so it was just heating up water for tea.  Just ring if you need anything else.”

            Jack was not happy with the turn of events.  Ianto had returned to Cardiff but not to Torchwood.  He socialized with the team and had been recruited by Rhys and Tom into their not-so-ironically named Torchwood Spouses Mutual Aid Society and Rugby Association.  He had become the go-to uncle for all their kids, especially Martha’s oldest, Addy, who wanted to be an artist.  But Ianto’s present life had nothing to do with weevils, Rift blowouts, or Time Lords. Except that Time Lord business may have come looking for him. Dammit.

            “This is more than just an Egyptian relic, isn’t it? “ Davies sat back with an unhappy sight.  “Are you going to confiscate it?”

            “Alex!” Isabella all but screamed. “You’re just going to give it up?”

            “Bella, my dear, we’ve landed in the middle of Torchwood business.  Captain Harkness can pretty much do anything he wants.”

            Bella glared at Jack. “So you have the right to steal it?”

            “Bella, stop it!” snapped Ianto.

            Jack touched Ianto’s wrist in reassurance then turned to face the other two. “Right now I’m going to do nothing. Ianto and I are both affected by it. Mr. Davies isn’t, so we will leave it with him while we return to Cardiff and pick up some equipment. I’m assuming this room is secure.”

            “Like a fortress.” Davies said. “I have a number of very valuable items other than the Eye.”

            “Good. I’ll ask Inspector Beckwith to leave a guard on the grounds until we get back.”

            “I’ll stay with Alex,” Bella said.

            “No, you won’t,” Jack said flatly. “We'll need to pick your brains for more information. Besides, you seem to be as much a target as Mr. Davies. Putting the two of you and the Eye in one place is asking for trouble.” He turned to Davies. "What can you tell us about the seller?”

            “Nothing much. I don’t know why he picked me. There are others more receptive to illegal offers, but he seemed to know of me. Very young and slender, a boy really, with red hair and green eyes. Wore a crossed-arrows earring, left ear. Seemed very scared.”

            Bella gasped.  All three men looked at her.

            “Do you know him?” Jack asked.

            “What? No! No.  I was just… thinking.”

            Jack traded a look with Ianto, who shook his head imperceptibly. “All right.  We’ll go to Cardiff, get some people working on research, and get back here with something that can neutralize this thing.” He extended a hand to Ianto. “OK?”

            Ianto took Jack’s hand and heaved himself up. “Yep.”

            “OK. Let’s go talk to Beckwith.”

            They arranged for a police guard -- Beckwith grumbled and blustered but gave in once Jack pointed out that pissing off Torchwood was one thing, but pissing off one of Cardiff’s wealthiest citizens was another -- then started back to the city.  Jack insisted in driving, and Ianto didn’t argue, which told Jack he hadn’t fully recovered.

            Jack tapped his earbud. ‘Gwen, we have a developing situation.  Get Martha and Andy back to the Hub, the Gaien can wait…get a couple of containment field generators ready. Tell John to do some research on an Egyptian relic called the Eye of Neith, N-E-I-T-H.  Fine. See you in thirty.”

            “Fasten your seat belt,” Ianto advised Isabella. “When Jack says thirty, he means it.”

            They raced back to Cardiff in silence.  Jack drove directly into the underground parking lot’s lowest level and stopped in front of a blank wall with a small door almost hidden behind a pillar.

            “Ianto.  Do you trust Isabella?”

            Ianto paused for a long second. “I used to think so.”

            “Ianto!”

            “I don’t know who you are! You know more about that thing than you’re telling us.  You used me to get to Jack and his resources… no, please don’t lie.”

            “Ianto…”

            “Don’t.  I made a mistake once, Bella, and I damn near set off a war for civilization itself.  I am not going to do anything so stupid again!”

            “Ianto… It wasn’t… all right, I’ll tell you. The whole truth, this time.”

            “All right,” Jack said, tapping the release sequence on the remote control. The wall slid aside silently, revealing the Torchwood garage beyond it. Jack drove through and parked. “Welcome to Torchwood, Professor Branciforte.”

            They walked down the short access corridor to the cog door. Jack swiped his hand across the security plate. He watched Isabella as the door rolled open, the claxons went off… and they were faced with four stony-eyed armed people.

            “Stand down, everyone. The professor is here by invitation.” He ushered her in with a bow. “Professor Branciforte, may I introduce Gwen Cooper-Williams, second in command, Martha Jones-Milligan, medical officer, John Hart, computer expert, and Andy Davidson, all around guy and police liaison.”

            “I also keep this lot in coffee and takeaway,” Andy said with a smile. “The meeting room is ready, Jack.”

            “Let’s go, then. The lady has a story to tell us and we don’t have much time.”

            As the group assembled, Isabella stood by the plate-glass window, looking down at the main floor.  “You don’t deal with terrorists or international drug barons, do you?”

            “Not unless we have to.”  Jack motioned her to a chair. “Enough stalling, Isabella.”

            She sat down, accepting a cup of coffee from Andy. “Thank you.” She took a deep breath. “What I told you about the Eye is true.  What I have…avoided telling you is that my family has been the guardians of the Eye since before the days of the Pharaohs.”

            Ianto sat up as if he had been jabbed with a hot needle. “You said…”

            “I know what I said. We both kept secrets, didn’t we?” Her hand swept out to encompass everything about her. “We have kept our secrets since before Menes united the Two Kingdoms. I had a responsibility to my family as you had one to yours.”

            “How did you get your hands on it?” Jack asked.

            “Family history says that a great chariot fell from the sky near the town we lived in. We found a man, injured, and we nursed him back to health. He told us he was the priest of the goddess Neith and that she had sent him to find us.  He had magical weapons and tools. He crafted the Eye from the silvery metal and a great red stone he was carrying on the ship… Oh God, I thought it was just a story.  I’ve spent half my professional life looking for the real history of the Eye. It was just a story… but it wasn’t, was it?”

            “Nope.” Jack said, not without some sympathy. “How did you come to lose it, Isabella?”

            “A woman showed up at… our secret place. She told the guardians on duty that she was Neith come for her Eye. Those who tried to stop her, died. She entered the Sanctuary and touched the Eye. It woke up.” She looked at them, wild-eyed. “It woke up! Since the days of Thutmose III it had been dormant! She took the Eye and left.”

            “Damn.” Jack swore. “Andy, get a hold of Beckwith. Tell him to lock Davies in the study with the Eye and make sure there are enough cops on the ground to at least slow her down.”

            Andy left the room at a gallop.

            “You must have some security in your place,” Gwen said. “Anything we could use?”

            “No. We don’t do security all that well; who would come looking for an Egyptian legend in the middle of the Veneto? All I have is a very bad description from the one survivor. She was dressed in the ancient style, sheath, shawl, and wig. And the Deshret, the Red Crown, as she should have. She was rather otherworldly. Distant. Spoke only when absolutely necessary.”

            “Could be anyone.” Jack sat back, fingers steepled under his chin.  “Anything else?”

            “The boy who sold the Eye to Alex might be my nephew. He disappeared two days after the theft. I think he picked Alex because he heard about him from me.”

            “All right,” Jack said. “Here’s another piece of the puzzle. The Eye is made of proto-validium.”

            “Shit!” John straightened up with a jerk.

            “Exactly. Supposedly validium was created by the Time Lords. Real validium is sentient and rather nasty.  Proto-validium is not as potent, but it’s still self-aware enough to influence the minds of those it can reach. Scientists assume it was the result of a botched experiment, but now…”

            “That’s why you didn’t want to bring it with us!”

            Jack nodded to Ianto. “Exactly. You were severely affected by something in that thing.” He sat back. “I don’t even know what the red stones are but you simply brushed your fingers over one and got kicked back on your arse. Can you tell us what happened?”

            “Visions… past, future, maybe? Do you know a planet with two suns, silvery trees, big snow-covered mountains, where the evening sky turns orange?” The shocked looks he got from Jack, Martha, and John stopped him cold. “What?”

            “That really and truly does fucking tear it,” said John. He slid the folder in front of him to Jack. “Here’s what you asked for, but don’t bother. Let me tell you a story instead, the creation story of a very primitive people, whose sky is dominated by a massive star forever collapsing into itself, but forever in balance. They tell of a deity named A’Nethisi, Mother Death, who sailed the stars with a companion, The One, seeding life and death as she passed. She traveled in a living red-gold ship and was served by living metal. A’Nethisi was pursued by a rogue-god who wanted her power. They fought on the event horizon of the star.  When she realized she would be defeated, she sailed her ship into the star, where they were compressed into a red diamond the size of a man’s head. The One retrieved the diamond and fled to the ends of the Universe.  Believers are still waiting for A’Nethisi’s return.”

            “Damn. Damn. Damn.’ Jack jumped up. “John, hack every database you can think of; you have free rein. Just try not to get us outlawed, ok? Martha, fire up your magic phone and get a hold of our friend. I don’t care where he is and what he is doing. I want to know everything there is to know about this A’Nethisi. Gwen, I need you here to co-ordinate. I have a feeling this is going to get really, really worse before it gets better. Isabella, you will stay here. You are our one and only expert on this thing, so you’re in security lockdown. Ianto…”

            “I’m going with you, Jack. I know we had agreed… but it seems I’m involved whether I want to or not.”

            “Fair enough.”

            “Jack.” The hint of panic in Andy’s voice had everyone jumping around. “I can’t raise Beckwith. In fact I can’t raise anyone. All the police phones in Cardiff are dead.”