Disclaimer: Torchwood not mine, yada yada yada, BBC, yada yada yada, boo hoo, yada yada yada.

Author's note: This is AU Torchwood because the idea of dead Owen depresses me when there's so much fun to be had with live Owen, especially with his confused relationship with Rory. Basically, I reworked the story that inspired An Excellent Boyfriend into something that I am more comfortable with.

Enjoy.

Chapter One

Cookie Time: The Calm Before The Storm

The team sits around the boardroom table at lunch time finishing the remains of a Chinese meal. Owen leans back in his chair and announces, "Okay, that's it. I'm stuffed."

"There's always room for fortune cookies," Jack says with his irrepressible grin. "It's cookie time!"

"Were not going to do the whole 'in bed' thing are we?" asks Tosh.

Jack tosses each member of the team a fortune cookie. "That's the whole point of cookie time!"

"Let's get this over with," Tosh mutters. She opens her cookie. "All is not lost." She shakes her head. "I can't say it."

"In bed!" Everyone else exclaims.

"There's hope for you yet, Tosh," Owen says. "The cookie says so."

Gwen reads hers. "You are most likely to give than give in... in bed."

"Gwen Cooper always completes a job to satisfaction," Owen jokes. Gwen punches him hard in the bicep.

"Sound like Rhys is a lucky man," Jack comments. "Ianto?"

The Welshman looks Jack in the eye and raises his eyebrow. "Magic time is created when an unconventional person comes... in bed."

Jack looks at Ianto as if he could devour him at that moment. "This is the reason cookie time was created."

"Should we leave the two of you alone?" Gwen asks.

Ianto and Jack both consider it. Jack responds, "I could always use some magic time."

Gwen cringes. "I was joking!"

Jack breaks open his cookie. "You have unusual equipment for success... in bed."

"Who writes these fortunes?" Tosh asks.

"I thought mine was accurate," Ianto replies. "I'm thinking of sending a fan letter."

"I haven't read my fortune yet!" Owen says. He opens his cookie and reads it aloud without looking it over first, "An alien of some sort will be appearing to you shortly..."

"Hey, team!" Rory says when she appears in the door. "I guess I'm a bit early for my check-up." Owen shoves the cookie in his mouth.

"We were just wrapping up lunch," Toshiko says. She's relieved that cookie time is over.

Rory looks around a the table. "Chinese food! I had that last night. I got a cookie that read, 'Life is not a struggle. It's a wiggle.' Isn't that hilarious?"

Owen gets up and heads for the door. "I'll get the exam room ready."

"Sometimes a bit of struggle isn't so bad," Ianto muses.

"What you and Jack do on your own time is your business," Gwen mumbles.

"Well, golly, what did I miss?" Rory asks.

"I'll tell you when you're older," Jack says as he kisses her on the top of her head.

"Imogene gave me the sex talk, Uncle Jack," Rory replies. "As I recall, she used a slide show with diagrams and statistics. She was clinical, but at least she was thorough."

"My father gave me a lengthy talking to about girls," Ianto says. "In retrospect, maybe he should have really warned me about boys."

"Am I that much trouble?" Jack asks.

Ianto winks at his Captain. "The best kind."

"That's enough, lads," Gwen scolds.

Tosh gets up from her seat. "Well, back to work."

"We still on for Saturday night?" Rory asks.

"Sure," the computer expert replies.

Jack smiles at them both. "What's Saturday night?"

"I'm being roped into a girl's night out," Tosh says.

Gwen immediately feels left out, "I didn't realize that the two of you have become such good friends."

Tosh feels guilty, "It's no big deal, really. We thought that you and Rhys had plans. Saturday night is date night, right?"

Gwen sulks, "You're right. It is date night. If you'll excuse me..." She leaves the room. Tosh follows her.

"How's the moving going?" Jack asks Rory.

"Still got loads of books to unpack and pictures to hang, but Ianto offered to help tonight if you can spare him."

"As long as you don't work him too hard."

Rory gives Jack a knowing look. "I know. That's your job. If you'll excuse me, I think Owen is waiting for me."

She leaves the room, leaving Jack and Ianto in the boardroom. As the Welshman cleans up the room, Jack sits at the head of the table, unable to get Ianto's fortune out of his head. A small smirk appears on the face of the younger man. "Once I'm done in here, I'm doing some filing in the archives."

"Do you need any help?"

"Maybe." Ianto says, raising an eyebrow. "Shall I expect you?"

"Oh, I'm coming."

"Of course you are, sir."

xxxx

Owen looks over the results of Rory's latest medical check-up on the computer screen as she sits on the examination bed in the hub. It's been a month since their make-out session in the hotel room, and they have not been alone in the same room since, nor have they spoken about what happened, or rather what did not happen.

"So what's the verdict?" she asks.

"Your brain function has been getting stronger. It looks as if you have been growing brand new connections since the last check-up we did. Any problems with energy leaks?"

She shakes her head enthusiastically. "Nope." Then, she thinks about the question for a while. "Well..."

"Well what?"

"I'm not sure if this is actually a medical problem, but..."

"I'm your doctor. You should feel comfortable telling me anything."

"Does the whole patient/doctor confidentiality thing apply in this situation? I don't want Jack reading this on my file."

"He is my boss."

"Yeah, but I don't think he's going to want to know this. Just promise me that this is just between us."

Owen mutes the volume to the CCTV microphone. "All right, but why the secrecy?"

Rory hops off the bed and looks up at the stairs to check for prying eyes. Although she doesn't see anyone, she leans into Owen's ear anyway, "When I have an orgasm, I light up like a casino in Vegas."

Owen drops the medical chart, spilling the contents of Rory's file everywhere. He scrambles on the floor to pick up the sheets of paper, knowing full well that there is no way to play this off.

Rory continues. "You can see why I don't want Jack to know about this. It's a bit embarrassing."

Owen's voice raises an octave. "And how..." He clears his throat and asks in a normal voice, "And how do yo know this?"

Rory turns beet red. "I was curious, and on my own one night. Well, you can imagine the rest."

Owen coughs. He's unable to look her in the eye. "Um, yeah. I, uh...I get the picture."

"This isn't weird for you?"

"No...I'm a professional." If it were any other person, any other alien, he might have made a dirty joke by now – several dirty jokes actually. However, he reminds himself that this is the boss's niece, whom he respects and should never get involved with.

The alien nods in an exaggerated manner. "Right. Of course. Absolutely."

"Have you tried with the watch on?"

"Yes, of course. The energy control feature on the watch was sort of the variable in my, um, experimentation. With it, it's like a human experience, but the pay-off is not as... intense."

"Yeah, that seems to fit your, er, medical profile. It's probably just normal, nothing to worry about."

When Tosh runs into the room, Owen sits in his rolling chair and pushes himself as far away from Rory as possible.

"Owen," the computer expert says. "There's something that you should know."

xxxx

After making love during work hours, Jack enjoys fixing the younger man's tie. It's a ritual that they have adopted signaling that play time is over, and it is time to get back to work. Yet the intimacy of the ritual gives Jack an enormous amount of pleasure. They never speak to each other at this time. There is never any need for words. In fact, words would only spoil the moment. Ianto always places his hands on Jack's hips and gazes into the Captain's eyes as he works the knot into its proper place. When Jack is done, Ianto always rewards him with a soft, lingering kiss. Jack sometimes tries to steal another kiss, but Ianto will deny him, leaving the older man with an exquisite hunger for the next encounter. Then, it's Ianto's turn to fix Jack's braces, and he enjoys running his fingers along the length of them, feeling Jack's chest underneath. Jack places the young man's hand over his heart, and they both smile at each other. After this exchange, they are ready to go back to their roles as boss and employee. Ianto clears his throat and adjusts his cuffs as he follows Jack into the main room of the hub.

Upon entering, Jack notices that Owen is sitting on the sofa of the R&R area. The doctor looks shaken and has gone pale which has caught Rory's attention and curiosity.

Gwen walks to Jack and says, "The Sky Gypsy is back. The plane is about to touch down at the airfield."

"Can I come along?" Rory asks. She turns to Owen, "If that's all right with you. I wouldn't mind taking a look at what's under the hood."

"Is the pilot alone?" Jacks asks. Gwen nods her head. "What do you say, Owen?"

"Fine with me," he mumbles. "If you'll excuse me, I've got a report to write." He goes back into the medical room.

"All right, Rory. You can come along. We've dealt with the pilot before. We know she's not violent."

"But she can do a lot of damage," Tosh mutters to herself.

Footnote: The cookie fortunes are real. I read them on a website called Weird Fortune Cookies.