Jealousy

First in the Seven Deadly Sins Series

Jealousy has driven him mad!

- Moulin Rouge

Owen—

Owen is not sure what he wants exactly. Or where he's going. Or what he'll do once he gets there. Or even if he'll make it there. Lately he has just tried to live each day of this crappy life, occasionally enjoying the temporary company of a female (or male) companion.

But no one lasted long. He didn't expect to ever get married or—shudder—have children. The only thing he did expect was that like many before him, he would live and die as part of Torchwood. And therein lay the problem.

No, the problem wasn't his job, exactly. He enjoyed the whole catching aliens thing. Really he did. Doing autopsies on creatures that Spielberg would have killed to look at. Being left, without any clothes, handcuffed inside a cell by an alien more sex crazed than him

No, it was the people Owen worked with, you see, that were the problem. There was just too much underlining sexual tension amongst them. Maybe it was because they worked together and were really the only ones who knew the true purpose of the special ops team Torchwood.

Currently, Owen was sitting at his desk. It was a Friday afternoon, and the rift was being decidedly annoying by not giving them any aliens to chase after. Tosh sat at her desk, supposedly watching her monitors for any sign of rift activity, but Owen knew that behind her glasses her eyes were glazing over. Gwen had fallen asleep on the couch, the hand bearing her engagement ring thrown over her head. She had fallen asleep with her shoes on and everything.

Jack had finished every scrap of paperwork he could find, and eventually had to abandon his office for the company of his team. He sat in a chair near Tosh, rifling through a magazine. Owen would have found it much more convincing if the magazine had been turned right side up

Even Ianto had had to accept the fact that there was absolutely nothing else that needed cleaning; no coffee needed by anyone, or any stacks that needed straightening.

During this decidedly boring afternoon, Owen had begun to ponder his past, present, and future. No matter how he struggled, the thoughts just kept creeping into his mind.

He was still not fully over the loss of Diane, but he didn't think of her as often now. His battle scars still twinged a bit sometimes, but hardly at all anymore.

Frankly Owen was getting fed up with the emotions in his head. He was pissed at Jack, pissed at Ianto, really pissed at Toshiko, and about to murder Gwen.

But most of all, he was jealous as hell.

He was jealous that Gwen had Rhys to go home to every night; that she would marry him in a few months time. He was jealous that Rhys still got to see Gwen naked. (Admittedly he had gotten over his attraction to her, but the mind still wanders…)

He was jealous that while Gwen had a life outside of Torchwood, she also held favorable with Jack. Yes, Owen knew that while Jack and Gwen may not have been, nor might never be lovers, but they still had a connection. And that pissed Owen off to no end.

He was pissed at Jack mostly because he was bored and it sounded like a good idea. Jack may have given Owen one of the greatest one-night-stands ever (long, longggg story), but that didn't mean Jack could think of himself as God's gift to women, men, and aliens alike.

But behind the furious piss, lay the jealousy. Jack, while getting every gorgeous organism he wanted, was still sort of happy—with the office boy.

He was jealous of Ianto for much the same reason. For having a semi-happy life while Owen (although he would never admit it) was miserable.

Finally, he was currently pissed at Tosh because she made him feel insecure. No he wasn't deaf or blind. He knew she had tried—was trying so hard to let him know how she felt for him. He just didn't like that nagging thought in the back of his head which spoke up every time Tosh made a comment, what if…

He was jealous of Tosh for having control over her emotions while he was in turmoil. So he turned her down, every time, just because he liked someone else to be miserable for once.

Gwen—

Gwen Cooper was fuming. Well, she was fuming, and dreaming at the same time.

If her mum called her one more time about wedding plans, she just might jump off the roof of the Millennium Centre.

To top of the everyday stress from her job, and the added stress from the upcoming nuptials, she was dealing with a feeling she could have done without.

Jealousy.

She wasn't really concerned about Tosh, or Owen, or even Ianto. No, she was currently jealous of Jack.

He was a man with everything, and yet nothing. He had Ianto, not to mention every gorgeous living thing in the universe if he wanted them. He had a calm way of pretending that he was Mr. Cool in a trench coat. And Gwen was bloody colored green with jealousy that after everything the team had been through; Jack had kept that same suave look at life.

Not to mention the lingering attraction she felt for him. Jealous that he could go on like it was nothing.

Damn Jack Bloody Harkness to hell. He was costing her precious sleep with her troubled thoughts.

Toshiko—

Why doesn't he say something? I'm sitting right here. All he has to do is lean over, so I can smell that cologne he wears, and say—

But her thoughts were interrupted as Jack threw his magazine onto her desk. She sat up with a bolt. She had been about to have a lovely dream too, involving Owen…

But, alas, she went back to gazing at her monitors hopelessly, knowing it was stupid to be hoping for Owen to say something. But the dullness of the day seemed to be tearing at her thoughts and drawing every mixed emotion to the surface.

She could just kill Owen Harper. With that so-sure attitude and the way he swaggered into the hub in the mornings.

Lately, she had begun to envy Gwen's life with Rhys. Gwen had someone special. Someone outside of Torchwood who she could really talk to. And share her thoughts with.

Meanwhile Toshiko went home to a cold flat, and an even colder bed. Even her dreams, which used to be so comforting, now fell flat.

Toshiko had to admit it. She was in a rut. Her life was going nowhere. She would live and die with Torchwood. With little in between.

Wait. That was giving up a bit too easily. Recently, Owen had been a bit friendlier, or at least cordial to her. This strengthened her resolve a bit. But that didn't mean she couldn't hate Gwen's perfect life. If only a little bit. Resolved in her thinking, she allowed her eyes to glaze over once more.

Maybe he'll offer to get a coffee or something this weekend. I'm free and…

Jack—

Unlike the rest of Torchwood, Jack Harkness was feeling very little resentment or envy for his employees. In fact, he was enjoying the peaceful quite they so rarely got.

He was currently very busy, tracing the lining of Ianto's jaw with his eyes, and wondering what Ianto was thinking behind his steely gaze.

Alas, all he could do was wonder- and of course count the seconds until everyone else left to go home…

Ianto—

Jack may be surprised to know, but Ianto was actually thinking dirtier thoughts than Jack himself. Instead of tracing Jack's seamless jaw, he was instead tracing every crease in Jack's trousers, imagining what lay beneath and…

Well, you get the idea. As far as envy goes, Ianto only felt jealous of one person, and that was-well-Jack.

Mostly because he was sitting there so calmly while Ianto had to keep himself from jumping Jack's bones right then and there.

The silence was interrupted by a loud beeping being emitted by Tosh's rift tracker program, indicating alien debris.

Finally. And that, if you wanted to know, was a thought that every one of them shared as they rushed to get ready to head out.

Disclaimer: Torchwood is the property of Russell T. Davies.