So… here we are, the last chapter, and finally all your questions about how much they remember are answered! Well, maybe not all your questions, but certainly a few.

So, a final round of thanks to: thedeejay, milady dragon, gernumblies, Quiet Time, TV-a-holic, L.A.H.H., Marian Locksley, NikkieSheepie, Little Sweet Pea and gurugirl! Thank you so much for staying with the story and for bothering to leave feedback on it. I tried to listen where possible!

I Was a Rat?

"We were rats." Owen repeated, dubiously.

"For the last three days." Tosh elaborated. "We have video footage to prove it."

They were sat in the conference room, all five of them, just the same as they had been doing for the last few days only that this time there were five mugs of coffee.

"Right." Said Owen, clearly still not fully believing them.

"And you don't remember anything?" Jack asked.

Gwen shook her head groggily. The shock of switching bodies still hadn't completely worn off either of them. Ianto had had to help Gwen upstairs and Owen seemed to be having problems adjusting his vision.

"Are you sure?" Tosh asked. "I mean, you did seem slightly… you-ish still. I took you home. Do you remember that?" She looked at Owen and was profoundly relieved when he shook his head. If he could recall what she'd said last night… But maybe he was pretending. Was he? He wouldn't confess if he knew, she knew that.

Jack looked between the pair of them, wondering the same thing.

"I just remember vague things." Gwen mused, thinking about it. "Not clearly. Just being hungry and wanting to sleep – general things like that. Ratty things."

"Chocolate biscuits?" Ianto asked her. "Do you remember those? I used to feed you them. You loved them."

Gwen shook her head. "Thanks anyway." She said kindly.

"Pasta?" Tosh tried the food tactic too, looking at Owen again. "You ate my pasta at mine."

Owen grinned at the idea, but shook his head.

Jack sighed. "All those hours we spent cuddling you and stroking you and fussing over you…"

Owen frowned. "You didn't, did you? Ugh."

"Well, more Gwen than you actually. She was a bit more friendly." Jack glanced at her. She looked slightly amused by the idea. Did she remember? "Are you sure you don't-?"

"Jack, we told you. No."

Tosh was looking uncomfortable still. Very uncomfortable. They couldn't prove it, they couldn't…

Jack noticed her discomfort, and knew Ianto was probably in a similar state of mind, though he wouldn't let it show. They had all at some point or another forgotten that they were dealing with transformed co-workers who might be able to remember their experiences. And Owen and Gwen were good at lying. He had trained them personally.

And then he had an idea.

"Stopwatches." He said simply, looking Gwen full in the eyes.

Gwen just gave him a look of utter incomprehension which he knew even she wouldn't be able to fake.

"They don't remember." He announced. Tosh looked relieved, but Ianto just looked annoyed at him.

"Sorry?" Gwen asked. "What have stopwatches got to do with all this?"

"Yeah, Harkness, what do you mean?" Owen took up. "What were you doing with us?" He sounded genuinely worried.

"Ask Tosh." Jack replied with a grin. She froze as Owen turned to her.

"I… I offered to look after you both for the night. Jack wouldn't because he was afraid of rats still."

Owen nodded. Unlike with them, with Tosh you rarely needed a thorough interrogation to know when she wasn't telling you the full truth. And since no examination could be as thorough as the one she was currently giving her fingernails, Owen reckoned there were certain things Tosh wasn't telling them. He also knew that he wasn't likely to ever find out. Not from her.

"Remember!" He hissed at Gwen as they all made their way out.

Giving him a confused look, she made a pretence of stumbling again so that she could hang back and talk to him. "Why do you expect me to remember?"

"You've got past retcon before, haven't you? I know we were rats but we must have some memories about what was going on! They're not telling us something, and I want to know what!"

Gwen nodded. "I'll try." For herself, she was desperate to find out what had gone on between Tosh and Owen, as well as what the hell Jack meant. Stopwatches? Had Ianto been timing them or something?

They looked down at where the other three were clustered around Tosh's screens. "I feel abused." Owen muttered. "They've got sick minds, Gwen – they could have done anything to us. Anything!"

Jack looked up at them, and grinned as though he'd guessed exactly what they were saying.

The cold light of 2am watched Gwen turn over yet again, callously mocking her insomnia. Owen had warned her that their sleeping and eating patterns might remain a bit weird, but Gwen knew that her inability to sleep was less to do with comparative mammalian biorhythms and more to do with her unrelentless wrestling with her scattered memories.

Beside her Rhys snored, happily ignorant of his wife's rodent problems.

Gwen sighed. Much as she hated to let it go even just for a few hours, Jack would her expect her back at work the next day just as normal. After all, what she had just had could be classed in some ways as a 'holiday' – by Torchwood standards at least. She curled up in resignation and pulled the sheets over her head.

Fabric… blue cotton… over my head… hiding, trying to sleep… Oh shit.

That stopwatch.

Not entirely sure where the whole stopwatch thing came from, only that I hit writer's block and that that got me out of it. And it struck me as vaguely amusing.