Distraction

by GwenOwenforever

When Gwen's relationship with Rhys starts to crumble, she's determined to fix it. But she can only do that with Owen out of the way so she decides to use Toshiko as a distraction for him. Does it work?

Disclaimer: I do not own Torchwood.

"Why do the smallest things cause full scale arguments?" Gwen wondered as she watched Rhys scream at her, her face blank.

All because she'd made a comment about there being no food in the house. Rhys had then gone into a rant about how she'd promised to go shopping some time in the week but forgot because there was an emergency at work. She'd asked why he couldn't have gone and he'd said he was busy at work too.

Now here he was, raging away, listing all the jobs she'd promised to do but never got round to, other things she'd promised but never followed through on.

These days when an argument started up, Gwen just switched off and let him shout his head off. God knows what the neighbours must think.

It was times like this when Gwen's mind started to wander. Wander to things they shouldn't.

A few stupid nights with Owen and that's all she could think of. Each time she said 'never again' but she always found herself back in Owen's bed. She craved his touch, his lips. Him. It wasn't just the sex, though she kept telling herself it was, it was the tingling sensation she got whenever he was around. A sensation she hadn't felt since she'd first met Rhys.

Rhys. She suddenly remembered he was in the room and was aware that he was stood, glaring at her. He was waiting for her to answer the question he'd asked but she had no idea what he'd said.

"Well?" He demanded.

"Well – I -" She stuttered. Her phone vibrated in her back pocket and she breathed a sigh of relief. One word lit up the screen. Torchwood. "I've got to go. We'll talk when I get back, I promise."

"Where the hell do you think you're going now?" He shouted. He snatched her phone from her hands and looked at the screen. "Torchwood? What's Torchwood?"

"It's work, codeword for an emergency." She told him as she grabbed her phone back off him. "I've got to go."

"You're not going anywhere. You're staying here and we are sorting this wreck of a relationship out. Now." He said.

"Rhys, I want to fix this just as much as you do. I love you sweetheart." She told him honestly. "But they need me. It's an emergency."

"Are you saying your work is more important than us?" He asked.

"No." She replied quickly. "Look...you wouldn't understand."

"No, I wouldn't would I?" He mumbled and stormed out of the room.

"Oh Rhys." She sighed. The bedroom door slammed and she closed her eyes, taking a deep breath. She went to stand outside the bedroom and called through the door. "Look, I'll see you later ok...I love you."

She waited a few minutes but there was no answer. Great. Another night on the sofa for her then.

She left the flat and headed to the Hub.

When she entered through the rolling door, she frowned as she saw everyone just sitting around as if nothing was wrong. Tosh was at her computer, filling in missing data on some files, Owen was doing a crossword on the little sofa and when she looked up towards the boardroom, she spotted Ianto cleaning out the coffee machine.

"Hey Gwen." Jack called from his office. "Nice to see you, what's up?"

"But...I got the message. You text me so...I thought something was up." She frowned as she stood in the doorway of his office.

"No...there's nothing wrong." Jack told her.

"Look, what's going on?" She demanded. She heard a chuckle from behind her and she turned to glare at Owen. "What?" He shook his head and laughed. "It was you wasn't it? You sent the text."

"Sorry, I was bored." Owen shrugged.

"Well thanks to you, you've just made things ten times worse between me and Rhys." She said. "We were having a fight and we could have worked things out but you just had to go and text me and make him think I think my job is more important than him."

"Gwen, go back home." Jack said gently. "Go talk to Rhys."

"No, there's no point." Gwen sighed. "He won't listen to me now. Not after I left him to come here. It's best I just give him some space."

"In the meantime, you can entertain me." Owen grinned. "Suppose me texting you worked out for the best. You and Rhys get some space and I won't be bored."

"Shut up Owen." Gwen spat.

"Owen, I'd leave her alone." Jack advised. "After the stunt you pulled, I won't hesitate to let her loose on you."

"Oh you're a little late for that." Owen smirked. "Isn't he Gwen?"

Gwen cleared her throat and went to sit at her computer. She turned her back on them all and pretended to have found something important to do.

She could feel Owen's eyes burning her back and when she risked a glance at him, she found him smirking at her. He wriggled his eyebrows and got up to walk over to her. Quickly turning back to her computer, she ignored him when he stood behind her. She thought he'd go away after a while but he persisted to stand there.

"What do you want Owen?" She mumbled.

"I was just watching you work." He answered innocently. "Look, you're doing this the long way. There's a quicker way of doing it. I'll show you."

Gwen sighed and went to move her hand from the mouse. Before she could, Owen's hand covered hers and she gasped as she felt that tingling sensation. She heard Owen's sharp intake of breath and wondered if he felt it too.

Toshiko glanced over at them and she spotted Owen's hand on Gwen's. She saw him give it a gentle squeeze and the two of them looked at each other.

Gwen caught Toshiko looking and the Japanese woman turned away quickly. Gwen faced her computer screen, her cheeks tinged pink. She snatched her hand from under Owen's and cleared her throat.

"So what's this quicker way?" She asked.

"There isn't one." He whispered in her ear. She closed her eyes as she felt his breath on her neck, raising goosebumps there. "I just made that up so I could ask you something."

"And...what is that?" She asked, her voice shaking.

He moved her hair from her neck, brushing her skin with his fingertips. She shivered and he smirked as he heard her take a deep, shaking breath.

"If you're not going home tonight, why don't you come to mine?" He suggested.

"I am going home tonight." She said feebly. "Thanks for the offer Owen but I don't think I'll be going back to yours any time soon."

She stood up quickly, shoving her chair into his stomach. He doubled over, clutching his stomach as he watched her walk up to Ianto at the coffee machine.

Jack was watching, an eyebrow raised and Owen shrugged quickly and laughed nervously.

"I did tell you to leave her alone." Jack pointed out.

"Yeah, alright Jack." He snapped. "Point taken."

He limped back over to his seat, still rubbing his stomach. He picked up his newspaper moodily and went back to his crossword.

Gwen appeared with a cup of coffee in her hand and shot Owen a smug smile. When she sat down with her back to him, Owen pulled a sheet out of his newspaper and screwed it into a ball. He threw it and cheered as it hit her on the back of the head. She snapped her head round to glare at him and picked up the ball of paper. She threw it back but he managed to catch it in one hand.

They started a game of 'who could throw it the hardest' and ended up laughing at each other.

Tosh found it hard to concentrate and sighed when the ball of paper landed on her desk. She threw it back to Gwen before picking up her things and heading up to the boardroom.

Gwen raised her eyebrows at Tosh's back and put the ball down. She glanced at Owen and burst into giggles.

"I think we should stop now." She told him.

"Yeah." Owen sighed and turned to his crossword.

Gwen watched him, admiring the little frown on his face as he concentrated. She caught herself thinking inappropriate thoughts and turned away quickly.

Grabbing her phone out of guilt, she dialled her home number hoping Rhys would pick up. It kept ringing and went to answer phone. She listened to the recorded message before leaving her own.

"Rhys...please pick up. I love you sweetheart and I am so sorry. We will talk, I promise. I don't want to lose you. Please just..." She sighed and closed her eyes. "Call me back when you get this ok. I love you."

She put the phone down and leant back in her chair. Hands grabbed her shoulders and she screamed as she whipped around. Owen stepped back, doubled over with laughter.

"Oh that was hilarious." He laughed.

"Shut it." She snapped.

"Touchy." He said. "What's got your knickers in a twist?"

"Just...leave me alone." She mumbled and went to sit at Suzie's old station.

"Sorry." Owen said sarcastically.

With Owen around, she couldn't focus on her relationship with Rhys – even when he wasn't around she couldn't concentrate. It was as if he'd implanted himself into her brain. Whenever they were alone or standing near each other, he'd give her sly touches or whisper things in her ear. Even if they were nowhere near each other, she was always aware of his presence and she couldn't focus on anything but him.

Maybe if she could distract him with something, he'd stop bothering her and she could patch things up with Rhys. But what would she use to distract him?

She glanced up at the boardroom. Tosh was looking out of the window from her seat at the table. Gwen looked in the direction of Tosh's gaze and saw that she'd been staring at Owen. Bingo.

But could Gwen use Toshiko like that? If Toshiko got hurt, it'd all be her fault and she couldn't do that to her. It was cruel to play with someone's feelings like that. But the only way Gwen could focus on Rhys was if Owen was distracted by something – or someone else.

She grabbed some files off her desk and headed up to the boardroom.

Tosh had gone back to her work by the time she'd entered.

"You don't mind if I work in here do you?" Gwen asked. "Owen's doing my head in."

"Oh...no it's fine." Tosh answered.

Gwen took a seat across from Tosh and pretended to get to work.

Neither of them spoke as they worked. Gwen watched Toshiko over the top of the piece of paper she was pretending to read.

After a while, she put the paper down and leant forward on the table.

"Tosh...I was wondering...do you still...have feelings for Owen?" She asked.

"What makes you think I like Owen?" Tosh laughed.

"Oh come on Tosh, you can tell me." Gwen smiled.

"Well...I suppose...yes I do." She nodded. "Why?"

"What would you say if I could get you a date with Owen?" She asked.

"Owen would never agree to that." Tosh told her. "I'm not his type."

"How do you know that? Has he told you?" Gwen shrugged.

"No...he just...hasn't looked twice at me since we met." She sighed.

"Well...he might. Listen, you two, have you ever spent time alone together outside of work?" Gwen enquired.

"Not exactly, no." Tosh answered.

"Well then, maybe if you two spend a few hours together he'll see the real you. Here, we're always working and on edge never knowing what's going to come through the rift next. But outside of work, you can both relax and get to know each other a bit better." Gwen suggested.

"I still don't think he'll go for it." She replied.

"He will." Gwen smiled. "So what do you say?"

"Well...ok then." Tosh shrugged.

"Great." She nodded. Scooping up her things, Gwen stood up and smiled at Tosh. "I'm done here now so I'll leave you in peace."

She left the room and made her way to her workstation. One down, one to go. Owen was going to be the hardest to convince but hopefully she'd manage it.

When she got back to her computer, Owen was sat at his playing solitaire on the computer. She put her things back on her desk and stood beside him.

"I thought you wanted me to leave you alone." Owen said without looking at her.

She ignored him and leant back against his desk, folding her arms over her chest.

"What are you doing Thursday night?" She asked.

Owen glanced at her and smirked before looking back at his computer.

"I'll have to check my diary but I'm pretty sure I'm free." He answered. "Why?"

"So...you're free to go for a few drinks?" She shrugged.

He smirked as he looked at her, giving her his full attention. He leant forward towards her, keeping his eyes locked on hers.

"Like...a date?" He asked.

"You could call it that." She nodded. Owen's eyes ran over her and she sighed, rolling her eyes. "Don't get any ideas. I'm not talking about you and me."

"Then who would I be going on this 'date' with?" He asked as he sat back in his chair, suddenly not as excited about the idea.

"Toshiko." Gwen answered.

Owen scoffed and shook his head.

"Me? Go on a date with Tosh? I don't think so." He laughed.

"Why not?" Gwen frowned. "She's gorgeous, smart, kind, you might learn a few things from her."

"She's a lovely girl but she's not my type." Owen told her.

"How do you know? When was the last time you spoke to Tosh – I mean outside work and about things other than work related? How much do you know about her?" Gwen asked.

"I know...enough." Owen shrugged. "She's just...not my type."

"Just give her a chance to show you who she really is, not who she is here, hidden behind her devices and paperwork." Gwen said.

"If you're asking me to sleep with her, I'm sorry but it's not going to happen." He told her.

"I'm not asking you to sleep with her." Gwen sighed. "Why is everything about sex with you? Don't answer that. Just...spend some time with her...I don't know – a couple of hours, Thursday night."

"Why are you so concerned about fixing me up with Tosh?" Owen asked suspiciously.

"I'm just...helping out my friends. I want you both to be happy." She answered.

"And you think me and Tosh will be happy together?" He asked.

"You could be." She shrugged. "Ask her out Thursday, give her a chance. Please Owen."

He watched her for a couple of seconds, noting the pleading look in her eyes and the fact that she sounded like she was practically begging.

Then he figured her out, worked out what she was trying to do and why she was doing it.

"Alright." He nodded. "I'll ask her."

"Good." She smiled. He turned back to his computer and she waited for him to leave. "Well? Aren't you going to ask her?"

"Yeah. In a bit." He laughed.

"No." She said quickly. "Go now. Before you forget."

When he saw she was serious, he shook his head and laughed.

"Fine, I'm going." He said.

She breathed a sigh of relief as he started to climb the stairs to the boardroom.

She waited as she watched Owen enter the room and speak to Tosh. Tosh's face seemed to light up as he said something to her and Gwen couldn't help but feel guilty. Owen would never have asked her out if Gwen hadn't pushed him into it and now Tosh was getting her hopes up. Who knew though? Maybe Owen would see Tosh in a different light. If something more came out of this, then that would just be brilliant...wouldn't it?

Gwen felt a pang of jealousy and she began to wonder whether she'd just made the right decision.

Later, Tosh and Gwen were alone in the main area of the Hub and Gwen couldn't help but notice the huge smile on Tosh's face.

"You look happy." Gwen commented.

"Yeah." Tosh nodded. "You'll never guess what happened, Owen asked me out on Thursday. I don't know what you said but thank you."

"I told you he'd go for it." Gwen said.

"Gwen...you seem to...know Owen better than I do and he seems to act more normal around you." Tosh commented. "Can I ask you for some advice?"

"I wouldn't say he acted any differently than he does with everyone else." She lied. "But...I'll help if I can."

"Ok...what...what do I do when I go on this date? How should I act?" Tosh asked.

"Just be yourself." Gwen said honestly. "You want Owen to like you for who you are, not some fake Tosh."

"Right." She nodded. "Thanks."

Gwen smiled and went to walk away before remembering something.

"Oh...there's a little thing you need to watch out for." She said. "If he starts playing with his drink, it means he's lost interest and he's not listening. Just flash him a bit of leg or if you're wearing something low cut, lean forward and you'll grab his attention again – but that's only to be used in extreme circumstances. Just be yourself and I'm sure you won't have to use it."

"Sounds like you've been out with him yourself." Tosh joked. Gwen cleared her throat and shifted uncomfortably but the other woman didn't seem to notice. "Anyway, thanks for the tips."

"Not a problem." Gwen smiled. "I hope you enjoy your date."

When Gwen got home that night, she found a pile of bedding on the floor by the bedroom door waiting for her. As she scooped them up, she heard footsteps on the other side of the door. They paused and Gwen held her breath, waiting for something to happen. The door suddenly opened and she came face to face with Rhys.

"You're back then." He said. "Don't get any ideas, I was just making sure it was you coming in."

"Rhys -" She said but he slammed the door shut in her face. "Please Rhys, just hear me out ok. Look, I know I'm always working and breaking promises but...that's going to stop now. I swear. Sweetheart, please..."

The door opened again and she gave him a small smile.

"You've said all this before but nothing ever changes." He told her.

"It will this time." She said sincerely. "I promise you. I'll come home earlier, I'll...go shopping when I say I will – we'll go out to dinner, we'll -"

Rhys laughed and held her shoulders.

"Gwen...it's ok. All I ask is that you don't let this job come between us." He said.

"I won't darling." She said reassuringly. "Please say you forgive me."

He leant in and kissed her gently on the lips.

"I forgive you." He whispered.

"Good." She smiled. "So...do I have to sleep on the sofa tonight?"

"No." He laughed and looked over his shoulder at their bed. He raised an eyebrow and looked back at her. "I suppose you can stay here tonight – if I get a full apology."

Gwen giggled and dropped the sheets as she kissed Rhys again.

"I love you." She sighed happily.

"I love you more." Rhys smiled.

Over the next couple of days, she tried to do what she'd promised him but it was hard.

She left the Hub earlier but she was always on edge, wondering if they were going to call her back in. Jack had promised her he wouldn't call but what if they needed her? What if something big had happened and they'd been injured or worse?

Rhys grew more and more annoyed each night when every five minutes, she'd check her phone and put it down with a sigh when she found nothing.

As promised, they went out for a meal but she'd constantly be looking out the window of the restaurant, looking for Weevils or a man in a long coat running down the street. Twice she thought she'd seen the SUV speeding off somewhere but it only turned out to be someone else's car.

Owen was no help either. He seemed to be intent on messing with her head more than usual. He'd catch her with his hand as he walked past, supposedly by accident but his hand lingered longer each time.

Thursday evening soon came and Gwen smiled as Toshiko walked around the Hub, an extra spring in her step.

"Good luck Tosh." Gwen smiled as they left that night. Tosh grinned and climbed into her car. As Gwen watched her go, Owen brushed past her, his hand ghosting over her hip. She closed her eyes at the contact, the heat from his hand burning through her clothes to her skin. "E-enjoy your night." She called to him.

"Yeah, right." Owen nodded unenthusiastically as he climbed into his car.

As she sat at home watching TV with Rhys, she couldn't stop her mind from wandering. Were Owen and Tosh having a good time? What if something more came out of it? Owen would leave her alone like she wanted but the more she thought about it, the more she realised she didn't want him to.

"No, Gwen this is good." She told herself. "You want this to happen. This way you can sort things out with Rhys and everything can go back to how it was before."

"Gwen? Hello...you there?" Rhys laughed.

She turned her head to look at him and blinked.

"Sorry, zoned out." She sighed.

"You always do that these days." Rhys said. "I try and talk to you but you're...just not...there."

"I'm just tired." She lied. "You seen my phone?"

"It's in your hand." He frowned.

"Oh...yeah." Gwen mumbled and shook her head. She checked her messages and missed calls but both were empty. Rhys was watching her, his annoyance clear on his face now. "I'm sorry Rhys, you were saying?"

"You know, ever since you started coming home early, you haven't been able to let go of that phone." He snapped.

"Sorry?" She frowned.

"Don't tell me, it's work. You're waiting for them to call you so you can run off to your Special Ops job doing all this secret stuff." He shouted.

He stood up and stormed into the kitchen, banging glasses around as he poured himself a drink.

"I'm sorry." She sighed. "But there's a lot on at the minute and -"

"I don't want to hear it." He interrupted. "You promised we'd spend some time together but you spend more time looking at that phone than you do me. I'm sick of it. From now on, when we're together, you turn that thing off."

"I can't." She argued. "They might need me, there could be an emergency. I'm on call, that's my job."

"I understand that you're on call and you could be called in at any time – that I can live with. But when you sit there staring at it like you want it to ring, like you'd rather be there than at home – that's what pisses me off." He told her.

"No, that's not what..." She held her palms to her forehead and sighed in frustration. "You just...don't understand."

"Stop saying that." Rhys shouted. "That's all you ever tell me these days. What? Do you think I'm thick?"

"No." She answered. "Look, why don't we just start again. I promised we'd have more time together so...let's do it."

"No, I'm sick of you promising things and never following through." He said and grabbed his jacket.

"Where are you going?" Gwen asked.

"For a drink with the lads." He answered. "Don't wait up, I'll stay at one of theirs tonight."

He slammed the door shut behind him and she let out another frustrated sigh.

"You know what, I don't care." She shrugged to herself. "I have had enough."

She plonked herself down on the sofa and held her face in her hands, taking deep calming breaths. She wasn't going to think about Rhys tonight, she really couldn't be bothered any more.

Right now, she felt nothing...no, not nothing. She felt...hungry. She fancied chips, lots of chips and maybe a big greasy kebab.

Grabbing her jacket, she left the flat and headed to her nearest chip shop.

Tosh and Owen sat silently across from each other in the pub. They'd run out of things to say to each other fifteen minutes into the date.

Tosh watched him dejectedly as his hand swilled his drink around in his glass. He was staring at it, looking rather bored. Every time a brunette passed, for some reason he'd jump, then sink back down in his chair in disappointment.

"I figured out what that device was." She said, hoping to start a conversation. He nodded once without even looking at her. "Turns out it was from Earth, a memory pen would you believe it."

He nodded again and she sighed. Gwen had been right, he wasn't listening to her at all.

She really didn't want to have to do what Gwen had said to get his attention, she wasn't that kind of person and hadn't Gwen said to be herself. But Gwen had also said only to use it under extreme circumstances and this seemed like one of those to Tosh.

She was wearing a knee length dress with a v-neck that came quite low – well low for her. She crossed one leg over the other as gracefully as she could so it stuck out the side of the table. Owen glanced at it then went back to watching his drink swish around his glass. Clearing her throat, she placed her hands under her chin and leant forward creating a nice cleavage. He looked up and his glass stilled in his hand. She smiled, thinking she had him until he started turning the glass in his hands again.

She sighed and sat back in her chair. This was not going well.

Owen downed the last of his pint and sat forward.

"Well, this has been great." He lied. "We should probably get going now, it's getting late."

"It's only nine." Tosh said.

"Oh...right." He sighed. "I'm pretty tired though so..." He growled inwardly at the look of disappointment on Tosh's face. "But we could stay for another drink."

"I haven't finished this one yet." She laughed nervously. Owen started to tap his knees as he looked around at the others in the pub. She couldn't bare another half hour of silence so she started a conversation on the only thing she knew they had in common. "So...Torchwood. How mad is our job?"

"Yeah, it is pretty mental." He laughed. "The things we see...sometimes I find it hard to believe myself."

"I know how you feel." She nodded. "Some things can be...so beautiful and others just absolutely terrifying. But I love it so much, you know."

"Yeah." He nodded.

She thought she'd found something they could talk about but she was wrong. They couldn't think of anything else to say to the other and an uncomfortable silence fell between them.

Owen's eyes drifted to his empty glass and he started moving the place mat it was on around the table.

"So...what part of Torchwood do you love the most?" Tosh asked.

"Honestly...I just love knowing that what we do, ninety-nine percent of the time, saves so many lives." He answered. "And I love being able to put my skills as a doctor to better uses than I did at the hospital. But I guess...what I love most is – Gwen!"

He sat up straight in his chair and Tosh frowned at him.

"Gwen?" She asked.

Then she noticed Owen was looking over her shoulder out the window. She turned in time to see Gwen disappearing into the chip shop across the road.

"Come on." He said, jumping out of his chair. She grabbed her bag and ran after him as he left the pub and went into the chip shop. "Hey stranger."

Gwen whipped round and smiled.

"Hey. What are you doing here? I thought you were -" She stopped when she spotted Toshiko behind him. "Hey Tosh. So...how's it going?"

"Great." Owen answered and waved it off. The young lad behind the counter took Gwen's order and Owen frowned. "Meal for one?"

"Yeah." Gwen sighed. "I had another fight with Rhys and he stormed out. Looks like another night alone."

"Well, I can get us a large bag of chips or a pizza or whatever and you could come to mine for a bit if you like." Owen suggested.

"Oh, I couldn't. I don't want to spoil your date." Gwen protested, looking behind Owen at Toshiko.

"No, it's fine." Owen told her. "Tosh doesn't mind do you? We can all go back to my place and have a few beers."

"Yeah...that's fine." Tosh nodded, though her face didn't say the same.

"No, really. I'm fine. I'd just get in the way." Gwen argued.

Tosh saw the disappointment in Owen's face and sighed.

"Gwen, come." Tosh said. "It'll be fun."

Gwen watched her for a few seconds before nodding slightly.

"Alright." She said.

"Great." Owen smiled and stepped up to the counter. "Good sir, cancel that order and could we please have one of your finest large meat feast pizzas?"

The pizza box lay empty bar a few pizza crusts, in the middle of the table in Owen's flat as the three of them sat around it.

Gwen and Owen were sat on the sofa, laughing and messing around, while Tosh sat on a chair, holding a beer bottle between her hands and staring into space. They'd been there for an hour and they'd hardly said a word to her.

She shifted a little, catching Gwen's attention. Gwen instantly felt guilty and stood up.

"I've intruded enough, I should be going." She said quickly. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"No, don't go yet." Owen protested.

"It's late." She told him.

"Yeah, I'd better be going too." Tosh said and stood up.

"Alright." Owen nodded. "I'll...call you both cabs." He grabbed his phone and dialled the local taxi firms number. He ordered Toshiko's cab first and ended the call when the girls weren't looking. Keeping the phone to his ear, he disappeared into the kitchen and pretended to carry on the conversation. The girls would hear him requesting a cab to Gwen's but he was actually talking to a dead line. He reappeared into the living room and smiled. "Right well, both your cabs are on the way."

"Thanks Owen." Tosh replied.

"Yeah cheers." Gwen nodded.

"No problem." He shrugged.

Owen sat down and hid his smirk behind his bottle of beer.

Tosh's cab arrived and they said goodnight.

As soon as she was gone, Gwen felt her heart start to pound as she was left alone with Owen. A situation that always ended with her waking up in his bed. She kept telling herself that her cab would be here soon and nothing was going to happen.

It wasn't long before she forgot her nerves and they slipped into easy conversation.

An hour later, both were sat giggling on the sofa, both finishing another bottle of beer.

"Oh God, where's my cab got to?" Gwen asked as she noticed the time. "I should call and make sure it's coming."

As she reached for her phone, Owen grabbed her arm and stopped her.

"No." He said quickly. "Let me do it."

"Ok..." She frowned. Owen picked up his phone and hid the screen from her as he pretended to dial the number. "Alright well, while you do that, I'll tidy up a bit here."

"Leave it, it's fine." He told her.

"No, it's not fair to leave you with all this mess." She said and held up her hand when he started to protest. "Don't argue Owen."

He smiled as he watched her carry the pizza box to his kitchen, remembering in time that he was meant to be calling for a taxi.

"Erm – yeah – this is Owen Harper from Dragon House, Panama Quay. I ordered a cab about an hour ago to go to Pentre Road but it hasn't turned up. I was just wondering where it was." He said and waited for a few seconds as if listening to a reply. "Right well, that's bollocks if you ask me. Don't think I'll be using this company again." He threw his phone onto the sofa and sighed. "Sorry Gwen, it's not coming. They haven't got any more cars available tonight, some strike or something."

"Bastard." Gwen sighed. "I'll just have to walk."

"No, you can't walk home on your own at this time of night. It's too late." Owen argued.

"Well...what am I meant to do?" She demanded.

"I would give you a lift but I've had a drink and I don't want to risk getting pulled." He said. He looked around as if thinking of a solution, though he already had one in his head. "I guess...you'll just have to stay here."

"Stay...here?" Gwen asked, her eyes widening. "I – I – can't."

"I don't see any other option." He shrugged.

She tried to think of other possibilities but came up with none.

"Alright well...thanks...Owen." She said.

He smiled and picked up a few of the empty bottles from the table, forgetting to mention that he planned to have her stay with him in his bed.

Placing the empty bottles in the bin, he heard Gwen step up behind him with the rest of them.

"Take a shower if you want, help yourself to food and drink." He told her as he turned to face her. A small smirk crept across his face. "I trust you remember where everything is."

"Yes." She mumbled, looking away uncomfortably.

"Gwen...I'm sorry. I didn't mean it to come out like that." He apologised. "I just -"

"Owen, forget it." She interrupted. "It's fine."

She gave him a reassuring smile as she handed him the empty bottles to put in the bin. His hand covered hers and they both froze, looking up at each other in shock. It felt like an electric current was jolting through them both, burning through their veins. Gwen's heart began to race once again and she swallowed back the gasp she felt was about to escape. She pulled her hand from under his and quickly went back into the living room.

"So..." Owen said quickly. "That taxi place, rubbish or what?"

"I know." Gwen replied. "Why didn't they tell you when you called the first time? Or why didn't they just say to go in Tosh's car?"

"Because that would've made sense." Owen told her. "They were Welsh, what do you expect?"

"Hey." She grinned. "Watch what you're saying. I'm Welsh and proud of it."

"Don't I know it." Owen smiled as he came back into the living room. "No, what Torchwood needs is it's own taxi company."

"Torchwood cabs?" Gwen laughed. "Hey, that's catchy."

"Yeah. We could have a car each – black obviously with tinted windows, kitted out with all our high tech gear."

"We already have a car like that." She pointed out. "It's called the SUV."

"Yeah I know but there's only one of those." He said.

"So are you saying we should all have our own SUV?" She asked.

"Something like that." Owen nodded. "But we'd have personal drivers. Tosh could build robots so we wouldn't have to worry about retconning our drivers and getting new ones each week."

"Yes or even better, personal teleports. It'd save a fortune on fuel and would be better for the environment." She joked.

"Hey, you taking the piss out of me?" He pouted.

"Just a little." She nodded. He gave her shoulder a gentle shove and she stepped back, tripping over the carpet. As she started to fall back, she grabbed onto the nearest thing, which turned out to be Owen, to try and right herself again. It was too late and she ended up pulling him down with her. She landed on the sofa, Owen on top of her, and she giggled into his shoulder. "Sorry, I didn't mean to bring you down with me."

He laughed as he propped himself up on his elbows and looked down at her. Both fell silent as they looked into each other's eyes. Slowly, Owen closed the gap between their lips and kissed her gently. She started to respond before coming to her senses and sitting up as she pushed him away.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"I can't do this." She told him. "I can't do this to Tosh and Rhys – oh my God Rhys. Look, Owen I have to go." He grabbed her hand as she stood up and she sighed. "Owen, please don't."

He got to his feet and stood in front of her. She closed her eyes as he brushed a hair behind her ear.

"Why not?" He whispered and kissed her again, wrapping an arm around her waist.

She wound her arms around his neck, responding eagerly.

"No." She said and pulled away. "I can't...Tosh is my friend and Rhys, I lo – I care about him too much."

Why couldn't she bring herself to say she loved Rhys in front of Owen?

"No offence, but if you really cared about them, you wouldn't be standing here still." He told her. She shook her head and glared at him. As she pulled her arms from around him, she tried to walk away but he held onto her hips too tight. "Don't go. I'm sorry. Please." He ran his nose along her jaw and he heard her sharp intake of breath. "Forgive me."

Pressing his lips against her pulse point, he felt her arms snake around his neck once again.

She tried to keep her thoughts on Toshiko and Rhys and telling herself this was wrong but it was too hard with him touching her like this.

"We can't let Tosh find out." She breathed as he brushed his lips against hers.

"We've been keeping it from her for a long time now." He said.

"I'm being serious Owen." She said firmly. "Promise me you won't say anything."

"I promise." He whispered.

She ran her fingers through his hair, pulling his face down to hers and crushing her lips against his. He guided her backwards into his room, his lips never leaving hers.

When Owen lay beside her an hour later, she jumped out of bed and started to get dressed. A huge sense of guilt churned in her stomach and she couldn't look at Owen without thinking of Tosh and Rhys.

"Where are you going?" He asked.

"Home." She answered. "I have to go. This should never have happened. This shouldn't have even started."

"Gwen, how are you going to get home?" He asked.

"I'll walk." She told him.

"No." He said and quickly got out of the bed, grabbing the rest of her clothes. "It's late, it's dark and there's Weevils and pissed up guys and who knows what out there. It's too dangerous, I can't let you leave."

"I can look after myself." She argued.

"I know but what if you get into trouble? I couldn't live with myself if you got hurt." He replied.

"I didn't know you cared." She said sarcastically.

"Well I do ok." He replied. "I care...about you." Gwen stared at him, shocked and all she wanted to do was walk over to him and kiss with all of what she realised now, was love. "Please stay."

She could see the pleading in his eyes and she couldn't say no.

"Ok..." She nodded. "I'll stay." He let out a sigh of relief and dropped her clothes back on the floor. As they climbed back into bed, a thought came to Gwen. "You never really ordered that cab for me did you?"

"You caught me out." He smiled.

"Why not?" She asked. "Did you have all this planned out? A plot to get me into bed with you?"

"Sort of." He admitted. "But it wasn't just about...getting you to sleep with me. It's more than that, it's...complicated."

"I've got all night." She pointed out.

He laughed and looked away before taking a deep breath and turning back to her. Lifting a hand to cup her face, he ran his thumb across her cheek and leant in to place a gentle kiss on her lips. She was surprised at the tenderness and warmth of it, it was so unlike any kisses they'd shared before. As she responded, she moved in closer and put her hand over his. When they broke away, he looked into her eyes and smiled gently.

She turned over onto her side, facing away from him, and pulled his arm around her. He trailed kisses along her shoulder and up her neck. Her eyes closed of their own accord as she felt the warmth of his chest pressed against her back, his soft lips leaving trails of fire. She held the hand of the arm wrapped around her and tightened her grip slightly.

All this felt so right but she knew it was wrong. She knew this could never happen. Tosh was her best friend and she couldn't betray her like that. Rhys...ok, so things weren't working in that relationship any more, she knew that now and she'd have to end it for both their sakes. But was sleeping with another man before she'd even had chance to speak to him the way to do that? She couldn't do this any more. Too many people would get hurt if they ever found out about this and she didn't want to hurt anyone. This had to end and it had to end now, even if she hurt herself in the process.

She felt Owen shift behind her, snapping her out of her thoughts. He was leaning over her, brushing her cheek with his nose.

"Goodnight Gwen." He whispered.

"Night Owen." She replied.

He lay back down again, his warm breath blowing on the back of her neck.

She waited until she was sure he'd fallen asleep before sliding out from under him and out of the bed. Dressing as quietly as she could, she watched him sleeping. His features were softened by the moonlight shining through the window and he looked so peaceful.

After she'd finished dressing, she leant over him and kissed his cheek.

"I'm sorry." She whispered.

She left the flat silently, clicking the door shut behind her before walking back to her flat.

When she reached her door, she realised it was open meaning Rhys was home. She took a deep breath and let herself in.

"Where the hell have you been?" Rhys demanded as he came out of the living room.

"I was...out. Look, Rhys I think we need to talk." She told him.

"Oh, now you want to talk." He laughed sarcastically. "I think it's a bit late for talking don't you? This relationship's gone to shit and we both know it."

"It has and I'm sorry. I think it's best if..." She said.

Rhys' expression changed from anger to shock as the reality of the situation hit him.

"Don't say we should end this." He said quickly. "We can fix it, can't we Gwen?" She looked at him, her eyes filling with tears. "Gwen, say it's going to be ok."

She shook her head and tried to swallow back her tears so she could speak.

"We keep saying we'll fix it and we keep trying but...it doesn't work. We're not happy Rhys. Look at us, we can't last two days without having a massive fight. I just think it's best if we end this." She explained.

"But...I love you." He told her.

"You did once." She nodded. "Just like I used to love you, so much. But I think we've changed so much since we met, we're not those people any more. We've just become so comfortable with each other, it's not love any more, it's more like friendship. We're too scared to let the other one go because we're afraid we won't find that spark with someone else."

She saw that Rhys understood what she meant and she knew he was thinking it too but he wasn't going to admit it.

"But...like you said, we're comfortable..." He protested.

"I don't want comfortable Rhys, I want real love and so do you." She argued.

Rhys sighed and nodded.

"Right, well...I'll see if I can find somewhere to stay for the night." He mumbled.

"Don't be stupid, where are you going to go at this time of night?" She asked. "Stay here. I'll sleep on the sofa."

"No, I'll do that. You take the bed." He offered.

"No." She said, almost shouting. She couldn't bring herself to sleep in the bed she and Rhys had shared for so many years after what she'd just done. It just didn't feel right. "You take the bed. It's the least I can do, trust me."

He frowned as she walked past and into the living room, a waft of alcohol drifting from her.

"Have you been drinking?" He asked, following her in.

She was in the little kitchen area pouring herself a glass of water, her back to him. He watched as she slowly turned to face him and nodded.

"I needed space to clear my head so I went out with a couple of the girls." She lied. "I've just come back from Diane's."

"Oh ok." Rhys shrugged and walked over to pour himself a glass too. He could smell something else too as she stood next to him. "Is that aftershave?"

Gwen was just putting her glass on the top when he asked. She put it down a little too heavily and splashed water over the side. She jumped out of the way before it splashed her and grabbed some kitchen roll to wipe it up.

"Erm...probably. This lad...he was getting a bit over-friendly and well...I managed to shove him off and he'll have a lovely black eye when he wakes up." She lied again, keeping her head turned away from him as she mopped up the water.

When she turned to look at him, he was still watching her suspiciously, his eyes wandering up to her messy hair. She cursed herself for not running a brush through it, though where she'd have found a brush in time she didn't know.

After a while, he shrugged and sipped his water.

"Well...goodnight Gwen." He said.

"Night and I'm really sorry." She told him, not just thinking of breaking up with him.

He gave her a sad smile and nodded.

As she watched him leave the room, she wondered how the hell she'd gotten away with that one. Had she gotten that good at lying to him or was he just too trusting for his own good? Either way it wasn't good and just proved to Gwen that the best decision was to let him go.

Grabbing a spare duvet and pillow from the airing cupboard, she made up a bed on the sofa.

Rhys had disappeared into the bathroom so she could pop into the bedroom and grab something to change into.

When he came out, she went in to change. As Gwen pulled her t-shirt over her head, she breathed in Owen's scent mixed with hers.

After changing, she slipped under the duvet on the sofa and placed her t-shirt by her head. Wrapping her arms around herself, she closed her eyes and drifted to sleep pretending they were Owen's arms around her.

The next day, Jack, Ianto and Tosh were waiting in the boardroom as Gwen gathered some files from her desk to take to the meeting. The Hub door rolled open and Owen walked through. Both stood still as they looked at each other.

"Everyone's in the meeting room." She told him.

"Right." He nodded. "Why did you -"

"We should probably get up there now." She interrupted and walked away.

Owen followed behind her and into the meeting room.

"Gwen, we're going to talk about this." He told her as he sat down.

Gwen looked away uncomfortably as the rest of the team looked between them in confusion.

"Would you care to share this with us?" Jack asked.

"No, it's nothing. Just...personal stuff." Gwen told him. "Anyway, are we going to start this meeting?"

She took a seat next to Tosh and her eyes met Owen's for half a second. She looked away as Jack stood up and took his place at the head of the table.

"Right, so two weeks ago, we started getting huge rift fluctuations – bigger than usual. Tosh and Gwen have been doing some research. Tosh, you first." Jack said, nodding to Toshiko.

He sat down again as Tosh stood up and took his place.

"Yes, like Jack said, the rift fluctuations we've been getting have been bigger than normal. They've also become more frequent and lasted longer than usual." She picked up her PDA and pressed some buttons. The monitor changed from it's usual blue display to the rift monitor readings. "These are the usual readings we get." Each spike was around the same height and width as the next one and in a more or less regular pattern. "But over the past couple of weeks, this is what we've been getting." She pressed another button and another part of the rift monitor readings came on the screen. At various intervals, larger and wider spikes appeared. There was no recognisable pattern at all. "And each time there's a spike, something comes through – something big."

"So we've got some really big creatures on the loose." Owen said. "Wonderful."

"Yes and whatever it is, it's scaring the Weevils. Every time a spike occurs, the Weevils run off back to the sewers." Tosh told them. She brought up CCTV footage from a few nights ago. "This is a camera we have placed near one entrance to the sewers to monitor the Weevils. The footage was taken at eight pm on the third, the same time as the largest rift spike."

She moved away and Jack sat forward in interest as the footage played.

A group of four Weevils ran with great speed towards the entrance. All four tried to get in at once, causing a pile up. They growled and grabbed at each other, throwing each other out of their way to get in. One Weevil snapped at another, baring it's teeth viciously.

"I thought Weevils didn't attack their own kind." Owen frowned.

"They don't usually." Jack said, watching as the last Weevil disappeared into the sewers. "But whatever's come through has got them spooked. Spooked bad. They're more like us than we thought. Something terrifying comes along...and it's every man for himself...or every Weevil for itself in this case."

Gwen watched as Jack seemed to drift off into one of his reflective trances.

"Something that scares a Weevil has got to be bad." Owen commented. "But is it dangerous? I mean, they could just be intimidated because it's bigger than them."

"That's where Gwen comes in." Tosh said and handed over the spotlight to the Welshwoman.

Gwen avoided his gaze as she handed them each pieces of paper.

"Police and hospital reports of people supposedly being attacked in the streets of Cardiff." Gwen explained. "Now, I've cross-referenced the times of the attacks with the times Tosh's scanner recorded the spikes. Around five minutes after each spike and around the same place each spike is located, the police receive reports of people lying injured in the streets, screaming in pain, presumably they'd just been attacked. The victims were all taken to hospital and within a few minutes, the victims died. During autopsies, doctors found one small hole in the side of each person's neck. They said the holes were no bigger than that of a small needle but police found no murder weapons. They tested each victim's blood to see if something had been injected, drugs, toxins, but nothing recognisable was found in the blood stream."

"So what killed them?" Owen asked.

"I said nothing recognisable was found in the blood stream, I didn't say they didn't find anything." She answered. "An unknown substance was found in each victim. They sent the blood to labs all over the city but no one can identify it."

"So it could be alien." Jack said. Gwen nodded and hugged the files she was holding to her chest. "Owen, you need to get a sample and test it. See if we can match it with anything we've come across before."

"How am I going to get that?" Owen asked.

Gwen cleared her throat loudly and they all turned back to face her. She was smilingly smugly and Jack raised an eyebrow at her.

"Actually, I got Andy to get me a sample. If Owen checks the fridge in the autopsy room, he'll find the sample ready and waiting." She smiled.

"Good work." Jack grinned, impressed.

"Thank you." She replied.

"Smart arse." Owen muttered.

She looked him in the eye for the first time since the meeting had started. His eyes dropped to her arse and a small smirk appeared on his lips. She slammed the papers down on the table and he quickly looked away.

"So Jack, what's our next plan of action?" Tosh asked.

"Next time we get a spike, we head on down there and check it out." He shrugged. "I can't think of anything else we can do. Owen, examine that sample and find out what it is. Try and come up with an antidote. If we can prevent any more people dying, let's do it. Gwen, keep an eye on police and hospital reports for any more attacks. Tosh, monitor the rift and Ianto?"

"Yep." Ianto answered.

"Keep the SUV keys handy and a fresh pot of coffee on the go. Who knows how long this could take." He said. "Let's go people."

Jack clapped his hands and they all stood up, the meeting over.

Gwen stepped forward to walk out of the room but Owen held his arm out and stopped her.

"I said we were going to talk." He told her.

"Fine." She sighed and waited for the others to leave.

They listened until the footsteps of their team mates had disappeared completely.

"Why did you leave last night?" He asked quietly.

"Because I realised it was a mistake. What happened shouldn't have happened and it won't again." She told him.

"A mistake? So what happened last night, it meant nothing to you?" He demanded.

"Nothing happened last night." She said, looking straight ahead.

"Yes it did." He argued, grabbing her hand. She looked down at their hands and tried to keep her expression neutral. She tried to ignore the way her heart fluttered as he brushed his thumb over the back of her hand. "When we kissed, I felt so warm and happy and...I never wanted it to end. I have never held someone in my arms like I did you and felt so...complete. I never stop thinking about you. Look me in the eye and tell me that what I've just told you means nothing."

Her eyes met his but she didn't think she could say it.

He stepped closer and used his free hand to cup her face. She couldn't let him kiss her, no matter how much she wanted it. If she did she knew she'd give in but she had to stay strong for Tosh's sake.

Summoning the courage from somewhere, Gwen pulled away and stepped back. She looked straight into his eyes, her face set in a determined expression.

"It means nothing." She said.

"You're lying." He said simply. "Why can't you just admit it?"

"Because I can't -" She stopped, knowing she'd just given herself away. "Look, I interrupted your date with Tosh last night, why don't you go ask her out again, no interruptions this time."

"Listen, I know why you asked me to ask her out." He told her. "It's not going to work. I know what I want, I know who I want. You."

"You don't know that for sure." She replied. "You didn't get the chance to get to know Tosh better."

"Stop with the games Gwen." He said. "Me going on a date with Tosh is never going to change the way I feel about you and you'll still feel the same way about me. Just because I'm 'out of the way', it's not going to make things easier when you try and patch things up with Rhys. You can't be happy with him, you argue all the time."

"I ended it with Rhys last night." She mumbled.

"Then why are you still denying everything?" He asked.

"I don't want Tosh getting hurt." She replied quietly.

"And you think having me lead her on is going to hurt her any less?" He asked sarcastically. "When she finds out all this is a lie, that I was never interested in the first place, she's not going to be crushed?"

Gwen couldn't think of a come back. She knew he was right. Instead, she walked out of the room and went to sit at her workstation.

Things Owen had said played in her mind as she fiddled with a pen in her hands. She was staring into space, slowly turning her chair from side to side.

Tosh was typing away at her own workstation when Gwen looked over.

"Tosh I...I'm sorry about last night." She said. "I didn't mean to barge in on your date."

"Don't worry about it." Tosh sighed. "It wasn't as if it was going brilliantly anyway." Owen passed behind the two women on his way to the autopsy room and Tosh looked sadly over her shoulder at him. "Plus, I got the idea that he was into someone else."

"Why – why would you think that?" Gwen asked.

"It's obvious Gwen." Tosh said.

"Really?" Gwen replied. "Who?"

Tosh looked at her, amazed that she didn't know.

"Just...someone we know. He probably thinks I didn't notice but every time someone walked past that looked like y – them, he'd just jump up in his chair. You should've seen the disappointment on his face when it turned out it wasn't them." She told her.

"Oh..." Was all Gwen could say.

She turned to her computer, not able to hear any more. The only thing she knew now was that she was going to stop pushing Owen to take her out. She didn't want to hurt her friend any more.

Jack was getting anxious waiting for news of the mysterious creatures. He hated sitting around and doing nothing when so many lives were at stake.

"Tosh, you got anything?" He asked, coming out of his office to stand behind her.

"Not yet." She answered.

"Gwen, any reports from the hospital?" He enquired.

"Nope." Gwen sighed.

"I hate this sitting around stuff." Jack growled. "Gwen, go see if Owen's come up with anything."

She sighed as she stood up and headed over to the autopsy bay.

Owen was looking through his microscope and looked as if he was concentrating. She didn't want to disturb him so she sat down quietly on the steps leading further into the room to watch.

He turned to grab something and looked up in surprise when he saw her.

"Couldn't keep away?" He asked as he turned back to his work.

"Jack wants to know if you've found anything." She told him, ignoring his comment.

"The toxins in the blood are poisonous so I'd say it was the cause of death of each victim. It's not something we have in the databases but there are a lot of similar ones. I'm working on an antidote that I think will work but I need to test it out on a live patient, which I really don't want to do but it's the only way I'll know for sure if it works." He explained.

"Right." Gwen nodded. "I'll let Jack know."

She left the bay and joined Jack and Toshiko once again.

"What's he got?" Jack asked.

"There was poison in the blood but nothing we have on our databases and Owen thinks he has an antidote." She explained. "He just...needs someone to test it on."

At that moment, Ianto and Owen joined them and they all looked at each other.

"I'm the boss, I'll take one for the team." Jack decided.

"There's not much good in that. You'd survive anyway." Gwen pointed out.

"That's a good point." He sighed. "So who's going to be our guinea pig?"

"I'll do it." Gwen said.

"No." Owen said quickly. "I'm not testing this on you."

"Why not?" Jack demanded. "We don't have time to be picky here Owen."

"Fine." He replied. "The tests are ready so...if you want to..." The team followed him and watched from the balcony as he and Gwen continued down into the room. "Just...sit in the chair." He turned and picked up one of the two needles he had on a tray beside the chair. "I've extracted some of the poison from the blood so I can do the experiment. I'll have to inject it into Gwen in the area the victims were injected so we can replicate the attack as best we can. Then I'll administer the antidote a minute later." He hesitated as he brushed Gwen's hair out of the way. Her eyes closed as his fingers brushed her skin. "Please don't make me do this." He whispered quietly so only she could hear.

She opened her eyes and looked straight into his.

"Just do it." She told him.

Their eyes stayed locked for a few seconds before Gwen looked straight ahead.

"Alright, here we go." He mumbled, taking a deep breath as he pierced Gwen's skin with the needle. "Ianto, stopwatch?"

The Welshman pulled the watch out of his pocket and held it up.

"Always at the ready." He said.

Gwen winced as Owen pushed down on the plunger and injected the poison.

As soon as Owen emptied the needle, he put it down and picked up the antidote and nodded to Ianto to start the stopwatch.

She closed her eyes, waiting nervously for something to happen. Her veins started to burn and she cried out in pain. Her hands clenched around the arms of the chair as she screamed and writhed in pain.

Owen watched, swallowing back tears as he watched her. A minute seemed to last forever as they watched Gwen convulsing. He just wanted to give her the antidote then but he knew he had to wait. They wouldn't be able to administer it to any other victims straight away.

Gwen suddenly fell silent and slumped forward in the chair.

"Ianto, time." Owen demanded.

"Five...four...three...two...one...ok now." Ianto said.

Owen injected her with the antidote and threw the needle aside. He pulled her back into a sitting position and checked for her pulse. It was weak and he could tell her heart was struggling.

"Come on Gwen." He whispered. "Please..." The team waited with bated breath, the whole room filled with silence and tension. Owen kept his fingers pressed to her pulse point, waiting for it to return to normal. It fluttered then nothing. His eyes widened and he shook his head. "No." With his free hand, he grabbed hers and shook it gently. Suddenly, he felt a steady beat under his fingertips and breathed a sigh of relief. Gwen's eyes snapped open and she looked around the room in a panic. "Hey, hey take it easy." She grabbed onto him and he wrapped his arms around her as he waited for her to stop shaking. "It's alright."

She shook her head quickly and let go of him, clamping a hand over her mouth. He grabbed a bowl and shoved it into her free hand. The team looked away and cringed as she threw up into the bowl.

"Disgusting." Gwen said.

"How are you feeling?" Jack asked.

"Like shit." She mumbled. "That was the worst thing I've ever had to do for this bloody job." Owen took the bowl from her and she sat back in the chair, taking deep breaths as she closed her eyes. Her skin was pale and clammy. "I need to clean my teeth, it's disgusting."

She tried to stand up but her body was still weak from the affects of the poison. Owen supported her under the arms and pulled her up.

"Come on, you can recuperate in one of the medical rooms." He told her. "Ianto, can you get her some water?" He looked at her pale face and laughed. "And maybe a bowl...just in case."

"At least we know the antidote works." Jack said as they left the autopsy bay. "How long do you think we can leave it before the antidote doesn't work?"

"Minutes." Owen called over his shoulder as he half supported, half carried Gwen to the medical bay. He helped her onto a bed and brushed her hair out of her face. "Don't ever make me do that again."

He still had hold of one of her hands and he felt her grip tighten as she looked up into his eyes.

As he slowly leant in towards her, she felt her body lifting itself up to meet him.

Just before their lips met, Ianto walked into the room carrying a jug of ice cold water, a glass, a bowl, a spare toothbrush, toothpaste and a flannel on a tray. She quickly lay down again as Owen stepped back.

"Thought you might want to brush your teeth too." Ianto said. "To get rid of the..."

"Thanks Ianto." She smiled weakly.

"Owen, Jack wants you to make more of that antidote. As much of it as you can." Ianto told him.

"Alright Ianto, I'm on my way." He replied, not taking his eyes off Gwen. Ianto left the room and Owen carried out a few tests, testing her reactions and making sure there were no other side effects from the poison. He picked up the flannel and dabbed at her face, wiping away the thin sheet of sweat that had formed when she was writhing in pain. He poured her a glass of water and handed it to her once she'd hoisted herself into a sitting position and leant against the headrest. "Sip it, don't gulp it down. Don't want you being sick again."

"Stop fussing over me Owen." She mumbled.

"I almost killed you, I'm allowed to fuss over you." He told her.

"I'm fine." She insisted. "Go and do your job before more people die."

"Is this just another excuse to keep me away from you?" He laughed. He held his hands up as she glared at him. "I know, you were being serious, I was just joking. Before I go though...I will make you admit your feelings for me. I'm not letting this go."

He left her and went back to work before Jack could lecture him.

"How's Gwen?" Tosh asked as she followed him down to the autopsy room.

"She's fine." Owen replied. "Recovering well. My guess is she'll be back up in a few minutes saying she's feeling fine but really she still feels like shit. But that's just Gwen, bloody stubborn."

"It was difficult for you wasn't it? Doing that experiment on her." Tosh said.

"Of course it was. She's a valuable member of this team and I could have killed her." He answered.

Tosh nodded and left the room.

As Owen had predicted, Gwen appeared from the medical bay a few minutes later. She smiled at Tosh but it was clear she still wasn't feeling too good. Each step she took was slow and shaky and she was gripping the railing tightly for support. Her skin was still a ghostly shade of white but she wasn't about to admit defeat.

"You should be resting." Jack said as she sat down at her computer.

"No, I should be working. You need me up here Jack and I'm not letting my team down at a time like this." She replied.

"Owen, you're the doctor, you tell her she needs to go back to the medical bay and rest. She won't listen to me." Jack called.

"And what makes you think she'll listen to me?" He shouted back up. "She never bloody listens to me."

"He's right." Gwen nodded.

Jack rolled his eyes and shook his head as he went back into his office.

Owen finished mixing up a large batch of the antidote and set it aside, ready to go if they needed it.

He sat at his desk and started to watch Gwen as she scanned hospital records and police reports for anything connected to their case.

She felt him watching and kept glancing at him out of the corner of her eye. Her cheeks slowly turned pink and he let out a quiet chuckle.

Just as she was about to say something to him, Tosh's computer beeped dementedly.

"Jack, we've got one." Tosh shouted. "Not too far either, just out in the Bay."

"Alright people, let's go." He called, running out of his office.

Gwen got up and grabbed her gun. Owen's hand grabbed her arm and she looked up at him.

"Are you sure you're up to this?" He asked.

"I'm coming Owen, whether you like it or not." She told him, not really answering his question.

She pulled her arm out of his grip and ran after Jack. Owen sighed as he followed her, grabbing the bag with the antidote in on his way.

Jack drove the SUV at top speed to the location Tosh was directing him to from the back seat. Gwen sat in front with Jack and Owen saw her take slow deep breaths every now and then. He was sat in the back, Ianto to his right and Tosh on his left.

Gwen held her own PDA in her shaking hands.

"Turn left here." Tosh said to Jack.

The SUV swerved to the left, throwing them all to the opposite side of the car.

"No reports of attacks yet." Gwen reported.

"And there won't be any soon." Jack told them determinedly.

"Stop the car." Tosh shouted a few metres down the road. "It's here somewhere."

The brakes squealed in protest as Jack slammed his foot on the peddle causing the team to be thrown forwards in their seats.

"And that's why you should always wear a seatbelt." Ianto muttered.

Jack jumped out, the others following closely behind.

"Ianto stay with the SUV, keep the engine running. We might need you." Jack ordered. "Everyone comms on now. Spread out and keep on high alert. Remember, we don't know what this thing is. If in doubt, shoot first."

They spread out, each taking a different part of the Bay.

Gwen and Tosh met up one end, their guns pointed ahead of them.

"Any signs?" Gwen asked.

"None." Tosh told her. "You?"

"No." Gwen replied.

She swayed slightly on her feet, clasping a hand to her head.

"Gwen, are you ok?" Tosh asked.

"Yeah..." She nodded. "Still a little...woozy from the poison..."

Tosh heard a scuttling sound from somewhere nearby and quickly swung her gun in the direction it came from. It seemed Gwen hadn't heard it as she coughed and retched.

"Gwen! Over there!" Tosh shouted.

The other woman straightened up and pointed her gun in the same direction as Tosh. From behind a pile of crates, a huge, black creature had emerged. Gwen's eyes widened as she came face to face with what looked like a giant scorpion. It was clicking it's claws menacingly and it's sting was pointed straight at them. The sunlight glinted off it's armour-like shell.

"I guess we know how the victims were injected with the poison." Gwen whispered to Tosh as she eyed the huge sting. She pressed a button on her comms, slowly so she didn't alarm the creature. "Jack, I'm with Tosh, we've found the creature. I think you'd better come and see this."

"Alright Gwen, we're on our way." Jack's voice replied.

"Gwen, it's getting closer." Tosh said.

The giant scorpion was slowly crawling forward towards them, it's legs clicking as they moved. Gwen and Tosh backed away, their guns still pointed at it. It pulled it's sting back lazily until it was almost laid out straight behind it. The length of the creature when it positioned itself like this, was almost the length of two buses and the height of one. The tail was twice the length of the body. As quick as lightning, the giant scorpion whipped it's tail back over it's body and fired it's sting towards them.

Tosh felt a hand shove her down behind some crates. She fell face forward but managed to put her arms out and stop herself from hitting the ground, dropping her gun in the process. When she looked around, she saw that it was Owen who had pushed her out of the way. The sting landed exactly where she'd been standing, stabbing into the ground like a knife through butter. Looking back at the scorpion, Tosh noticed another sting growing back.

Gwen tried firing bullets at the scorpion but they bounced off it's surface with little sparks. It whipped it's tail once again in Gwen and Owen's direction. Owen grabbed Gwen around the waist and shoved her down behind another pile of crates. Gwen's head hit the floor with a crack and she hissed in pain. Multicoloured dots appeared in front of her eyes, temporarily blinding her. She felt the back of her head with her hand and felt something warm and wet covering her hair and now her hand.

"Oh shit." Owen gasped as he saw the blood covering her hand when she moved it away. "I'm sorry."

"Just – kill it. Do something before it kills someone." Gwen yelled, wincing as her head started to pound.

Owen looked over the crates and saw Jack running towards them from behind the creature. He pushed a button on his comms and ducked down again.

"Jack, what do we do? Gwen just emptied her gun on that thing and they didn't even scratch the surface. It's sting grows back almost immediately so it's got an unlimited weapons supply." Owen told him.

"Just stay calm. Is everyone ok?" Jack demanded.

"I think Tosh is ok." He answered, peering behind him towards Toshiko. "But Gwen's down. She hit her head on the ground when I pushed her out of the way. She's conscious which is a good sign."

"Ok, Owen I need you to take a look at that thing and tell me if you can see anywhere that might be a weak spot." Jack told him.

"Alright, I'm going in." He said. He looked back down at Gwen, clutching her head and whimpering. It wasn't until she looked up at him that she realised he still had his arms around her. She shoved him off and crawled away to sit with her back against the crates. He didn't have time to think about why she'd done it or ask her about it, he had a job to do. "Stay here ok. We're going to sort this thing and then I'll come back and take a look at that head of yours."

He jumped out from behind the crates in front of the creature. It reared up off it's front legs and let out a screeching sound. Owen managed to get a good look underneath it before it slammed itself back on the ground. The vibrations almost knocked him off his feet and he had to fight to stay up.

"Owen, look out." Tosh shouted.

Owen dived out of the way just in time, the sting brushing past him.

"There's none of that armour stuff underneath. I'm guessing a couple of rounds into there will take it down." Owen said to his earpiece.

"I'll distract it, you and Tosh fire." Jack's voice said from behind him.

"Whoah." Owen said, whipping around. "How the hell did you get there?"

"No time." Jack replied, shaking his head. "Tosh, ready?" He called. She nodded and took the safety catch off her gun. "Owen, ready?"

"Yep." Owen replied.

"Good. Now." Jack shouted.

Jack jumped in front of the scorpion and once again, it reared up. Tosh and Owen jumped out from either side and fired round after round into it. It staggered back slightly, the screeching noise getting louder and more aggressive. It's claws waved in the air as it tried to fight back. The two team members soon ran out of bullets but the creature was going down.

No longer needing to be a distraction, Jack whipped out his Webley and fired a single shot. The creature fell silent but continued to stagger back before slamming down onto the ground and bouncing slightly.

Jack held up his hand signalling the others to wait as he checked the coast was clear. He slowly inched forward and kicked the scorpion's claw. When it didn't move, he gave the all clear and contacted Ianto to bring the SUV to them.

"Whoah, impressive." Ianto said as he climbed out of the vehicle. "Just one problem, how do we get it back to the Hub? Even with none of us in the SUV, it still won't fit."

"We'll have to find a way." Jack said, rather cheerily. "Tosh, Ianto help me with this – watch out for it's sting. It might be dead but that thing's still packing a whole load of poison. Watch out for the stings already...in the ground?"

Jack frowned as he looked around at the floor but found no trace of the stings the scorpion had fired at them.

"I guess now we know why the police never found a murder weapon." Tosh said as she bent down and examined the tiny pinholes in the ground. "They've just...disappeared."

"Interesting." Jack nodded. "Well anyway, help me get this thing in the SUV. Owen, check on Gwen."

The younger man didn't need to be told twice. He ran back to where he'd left Gwen and knelt beside her.

"Alright Gwen, I need you to lean forward slightly so I can take a look." He told her. Gwen mumbled something but didn't respond. She was still clutching her head but her eyes were almost shut and her head kept drooping. He gently leant her forward and took a look at the wound. He had to prise her hand away so he could see. It was bleeding a lot less now, just a slow trickle. Her hair was sticky and matted with blood making it look worse than it actually was. "Ok, nothing a few stitches shouldn't fix." He sat her back against the crate. As he used his thumb to open her eye to see if her pupils had dilated, she frowned and grumbled at him. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

He held three fingers up and she tried to focus on them.

"Hold your hand still." She mumbled. She looked up at him and groaned. "Oh no, there's three of you."

"You know that wouldn't be a bad thing." He smirked. "Anyway, can you tell me your middle name?"

"E...Eliza...beth..." She answered.

"Why did I think it was Mary?" He frowned.

"Mary's my mum's name." She replied.

"Well, it looks like you've only got mild concussion." Owen told her.

"Owen, I'm tired." She whispered.

"That would be the concussion." He nodded. "You've got two choices, stay awake and talk to me for the next couple of hours – just to make sure you're ok, or you can go to sleep and I wake you up every now and then and stay by your bedside."

"I don't know which is worse." She smiled weakly. "Having to look at you or knowing you're watching me."

"You know neither of them would bother you." He whispered. "I have watched you sleep so many times before and you've never even known."

"Owen, stop it." She warned. "Just...get me back to the Hub and...get this sorted. I need painkillers...strong ones...I've got a banging headache." He helped her up for the second time that day and wrapped his arm around her waist. "Owen...why is the ground getting closer?"

He frowned and looked down, it wasn't moving. Then he suddenly felt all of Gwen's weight starting to pull him down. Luckily he managed to keep them both upright and when he moved her hair out of her face, he saw she'd passed out.

"Gwen?" He asked, gently shaking her. "Hello?" When she didn't respond, he lifted her into his arms. He looked down at her face, blood smeared across it but still so beautiful. "Now you decide you want to sleep in my arms."

With a sigh, he carried her back to the SUV.

When he got there, Jack, Ianto and Tosh were all pushing the back door shut. He could see the giant scorpion squashed up inside.

"There...we...go." Jack said through gritted teeth as it clicked shut. They stepped back, panting heavily. Jack brushed himself off and straightened out his coat. "Told you we'd find a way. How's the patient?"

"She'll be ok." Owen told him as he gently put her on the back seat. "Concussion and a wound to the back of the head that needs stitches. It's really not her day today is it? Anyway, how did you get that thing in the back?"

"We erm...we rolled it up." Ianto answered as he stepped up beside Jack.

"You rolled it up?" Owen repeated.

"Nice thing about scorpions, they're flexible." Jack grinned. "You don't want to know how I found that one out." He winked and stepped up to the front passenger side door. "Ianto, you're driving."

Ianto and Owen exchanged glances before climbing into the vehicle.

Owen sat in the middle, his eyes trained on Gwen. Tosh climbed in on the other side of him, watching him sadly before looking out of the window.

Her head was thumping and she felt so groggy. She wanted to sleep but her mouth felt so dry. Where was she anyway? When she opened her eyes, where would she be? Somewhere with a bed, she figured as she felt a soft surface beneath her and when she turned her head, she felt a soft pillow against her cheek.

Someone else was in the room with her, she'd heard the urgent shuffling of someone getting out of a chair and the footsteps approaching her. Warm fingers touched the side of her neck and disappeared then a hand felt her forehead. A warm, skilled hand belonging to someone who knew exactly what to look for. So she was in the medical bay – again – with Owen Harper by her side.

Slowly things started coming back to her as her eyes opened a crack. She blinked and opened them fully.

"Gwen, are you ok?" He asked.

His voice sounded funny, like she was under water.

"You fussing over me again?" She whispered.

"I take that as a yes." He laughed. "And yes I am. You've just had a nasty bang to the head – which by the way has been neatly stitched, if I do say so myself."

"Thanks." She mumbled. "Couldn't get us a glass of water while you're here, could you?"

As he went to pour her a glass, she pulled herself up, wincing at the pain in her head.

"Whoah, take it easy." Owen warned.

"What happened...to that thing? Did you kill it? Are there any more?" Gwen demanded.

"You mean you missed my big heroic scene?" Owen pouted.

"Little preoccupied to be honest." She answered, rubbing the back of her head.

"Well you should have seen me. I jumped out in front of that thing and I gave it hell. You would have swooned at my feet if you'd have seen me." He said. Gwen snorted into her glass and raised her eyebrows at him. "Anyway, it's dead, Jack made me do an autopsy on it. Weirdest autopsy I've ever had to do. I drained some of it's poison, could be useful some day."

"But...are there any more out there?" Gwen asked.

"Tosh is keeping her eye on the rift monitor but things seemed to have calmed down. Still, you never know." He told her. He looked into her eyes as he took her empty glass from her. "You never know something might happen..."

"Owen for God's sake stop it." She shouted and regretted it almost straight away. She screwed her eyes shut and clenched her teeth until the pain dimmed a little. Taking a deep breath, she opened her eyes and looked at him. "Stop acting like you can say one word and things will magically change to how you want it. It's not going to happen Owen."

"I've saved your life twice today and you can't even do one tiny thing for me." He laughed.

"What you're asking from me is not tiny." She replied. "And I can't understand why you can't get it into that head of yours, that nothing is ever going to happen."

Owen's expression hardened as she looked away and glared at a spot on the wall opposite her.

"You know what...you're right." He said. She looked back at him, frowning slightly. "I never gave Toshiko a chance."

"What?" She asked in confusion.

"I think I should take her out again, give her another chance. I've got a good feeling about it this time." He told her and left the room.

She stared after him, really not understanding what just happened.

Owen made his way to the workstations where he knew Tosh would be doing paperwork or taking another alien device to pieces to see how it worked. Whatever, he didn't really care.

She smiled up at him as he stood beside her desk.

"How's Gwen?" She asked.

"She's just woken up." Owen told her. "Look, do you want to go for a few drinks tonight?"

"You mean...all of us or just...you and me?" She replied, pretending to look at something on her screen.

"Just you and me." Owen answered.

"Oh...yeah sure." She nodded with an eager smile.

"Great, well I'll pick you up at eight." He said. Owen rolled his eyes as he turned away, thinking to himself. "This had better work."

Eager women always put him off. It was all just too easy. He preferred women like Gwen who put up a fight, that feeling of victory when he had them lying completely spent in his bed. But with Gwen it wasn't about that feeling of victory. He loved her and he knew she loved him, she was just too stubborn to admit it...at the moment. He was working on that.

Toshiko watched him go down into the autopsy room before running down to the medical bay to Gwen's room.

Gwen was lying back on the bed, her eyes closed as Tosh entered.

"Gwen?" She asked quietly. Gwen smiled as she turned her head towards Tosh and opened her eyes. "I'm not disturbing you am I?"

"No, no just...trying to get rid of this bloody headache." Gwen sighed.

"Didn't Owen give you any painkillers?" Tosh frowned.

"No he didn't." She replied. "And I'd rather not – sorry, was there something you wanted?"

"I was just wondering...did you speak to Owen?" Tosh asked.

"I wouldn't call it speaking." She mumbled. "About anything in particular?"

"Yes." She nodded. "Did you talk him into asking me out again?"

"No I didn't say anything." Gwen told her.

"Are you sure?" Tosh asked.

"I promise." Gwen nodded. "Why?"

"Well...he just asked me out for drinks tonight." Tosh smiled.

"Really? He asked you out?" Gwen asked, sitting up on the bed.

"I know it's surprising..." Tosh admitted.

"No, I didn't mean it to sound like that." Gwen said quickly. "I just -"

"I know." Tosh reassured her. "It's funny, I always thought after the other night, he'd ask you out."

"Really?" Gwen laughed with a fake smile. "Tosh...I don't want to be rude but – I'm really tired..."

She pointed behind her at the bed and went to lie down again.

"Oh right – yes." Tosh nodded quickly. "Sorry, I didn't mean to keep you. Is there anything I can get you?"

"No...erm...actually, can you ask Ianto to give me a lift home?" Gwen asked.

"Sure." She smiled.

"Thanks Tosh and...enjoy your date." She replied.

Tosh smiled and left the room.

Ianto was handing a cup of coffee to Owen at his workstation when she reappeared.

"Ianto, Gwen said could you give her a lift home?" Tosh told him.

"Of course." Ianto nodded. "I'll get my car keys."

"No wait." Owen said. "I'll take her. I've got nothing else to do here and I want to make sure she's ok to go first."

"If you're sure." Ianto shrugged as Owen pulled his jacket on.

"I'm sure." He said, his back to them as he smirked. "I'll see you later Tosh."

Gwen groaned when she saw Owen entering her room again. He picked up her jacket and brought it over to her.

"Where's Ianto?" She asked as she sat up and took it from him.

"He's busy so I got roped into taking you home." Owen told her.

"Wonderful." Gwen sighed.

"Hey, it's not like I volunteered myself." He snapped.

"You sure about that?" She asked. "You know what, I don't care. Just get me home."

"Sorry Gwen, time was I'd take you up on that offer but now...I don't think so." He said.

"You know I didn't mean it like that." She replied. "Shut up and drive me home before I drive myself. Actually, forget it I can go myself."

"And what if you pass out again?" Owen argued. "Look, we'll both just...not speak to each other until we get to your place."

"Fine by me." She nodded and stormed out of the room.

She was waiting impatiently by his car, arms folded and her foot tapping on the ground, by the time he'd caught up with her. He slowed down, taking his time and earning a glare from her.

"Alright, hold your horses." He said.

She rolled her eyes and waited for him to unlock the car.

The drive to her flat seemed to last forever as a chilling silence fell between them. Gwen glanced at him out of the corner of her eye then looked back out of the window.

Outside her flat, just before she got out of the car, she turned to him.

"What are you up to?" She asked.

"I'm not up to anything." He lied.

"Look, whatever game you're playing, it's not going to work so I suggest you give up now." She warned.

"I'm not playing games." He told her. "Could you please hurry up and leave, I'm picking Tosh up in an hour."

"I'll say it again, it's not going to work." She replied. "And I swear to God, if you hurt Tosh..."

Owen laughed as she slammed the car door shut behind her and disappeared into the building.

"Oh Gwen..." He sighed. "It's working perfectly."

There was a note on the kitchen counter from Rhys when she got in. It said he'd gone to stay at Banana's and had taken some of his things but he'd have to come back to get the rest.

Gwen looked around and sighed. When had it all become so complicated? The minute she met Owen bloody Harper, that's when.

Grabbing some painkillers and a glass of water, she headed to the bathroom to wash off the blood she could still feel clumping her hair together. Why did Owen have to play the hero and sweep her off her feet? Quite literally in this case. He was just showing off, hoping she'd be impressed and say 'of course she loved him' and then ride off into the sunset with him. And what was he playing at now? Did he only ask Tosh out to make her jealous? Because it was working.

"For God's sake Gwen." She hissed to herself as she looked into the bathroom mirror.

She swallowed the two tablets and slammed the glass down on the side.

Owen tried hard, he really did, but he just couldn't help but glaze over as Tosh gabbled on. He made sure to hide his boredom, to avoid doing things that gave him away. He knew Gwen had known the signs, even though he didn't zone out as often as he did when he first met her, and she'd more than likely passed her words of wisdom onto Toshiko the first time they'd come out. Tosh had tried to get his attention, do the things that usually caught his eye, but it just didn't work. Gwen had probably told her those tricks too. Sometimes he'd pretend to be bored with Gwen, just to get a flash but she soon figured that out too. Damn that woman knew him too well.

He looked at Tosh, nodding and smiling in all the right places but not really hearing her. If someone had suggested this years ago...maybe he'd have taken an interest. Now when he looked at her, he just kept thinking 'she's not Gwen'.

He suddenly realised there was a gap in the conversation that he was meant to fill. He had no idea what she'd been saying so he said the first thing that came into his head.

"I'm sorry Tosh but I have to say this..." He told her. "You really are looking beautiful tonight."

"Oh...thanks Owen." She giggled.

He leant forward and covered her hand with his.

"I'm really glad I asked you out." He said.

Tosh blushed and smiled shyly.

"That's sweet of you to say." She replied.

It was starting to get easier as the night went on. All he had to do was look like he was listening intently and stroke the back of her hand with his thumb and she would smile.

He drove her home later that night and turned to her as they parked up outside.

"We should do this again some time." He said. "This evening has been...wonderful." He leant over and kissed her cheek. "Night Tosh."

"Goodnight Owen." She smiled and climbed out of the car.

He waved as she let herself in, then pulled away.

"I'm going to hell." He said to himself.

At the Hub the next morning, Gwen watched as Toshiko skipped around her workstation.

"Did the date go well last night then?" Gwen asked.

"It was amazing." Tosh sighed dreamily. "I never thought Owen would...but I guess I was wrong. He was so sweet last night."

The Hub door rolled open and Owen walked through, his hands stuffed in his pockets as usual. He glanced at Gwen and smirked before smiling at Tosh.

"Morning Tosh, looking good today." He commented.

Tosh giggled into her hand and looked away shyly. As Owen walked away, Gwen caught the roll of his eyes and her heart went out to her friend. He'd lectured her for getting Tosh's hopes up and yet here he was doing exactly the same. What the hell was he playing at?

Gwen only grew more and more suspicious as the weeks went on. Owen had taken Tosh out on more dates and he'd said they should make their relationship official. It seemed he'd wait for Gwen to be around before he pulled Toshiko into a hug or kissed her. She tried to ignore them but the jealousy just burned through her veins and she couldn't help but watch. Yet whenever Owen left or Toshiko looked away, she'd always catch Owen cringe slightly or give her a pained look. More than once, Gwen had caught Owen staring at her whenever Toshiko wasn't around.

One night, she'd had enough. After pacing her flat and debating with herself, she jumped into her car and drove to Owen's.

As she reached the bottom of his road, she saw Toshiko's car leaving and prayed Tosh hadn't seen her.

She banged on Owen's door, waiting impatiently for him to answer. When the door opened, Owen looked at her in surprise.

"This has gone far enough Owen." She said as she entered the flat. "Tell me now, what the hell are you doing?"

"Well...I was just about to throw some rubbish in the bin." He answered. "But then you -"

"You know what I mean." Gwen interrupted. "With Tosh. What are you doing?"

"That's not exactly any of your business to be honest." Owen frowned.

"Why are you leading her on?" Gwen demanded.

"I'm not leading her on. I happen to think Toshiko is a smart, sensitive, wonderful woman." He replied innocently.

"Oh come on Owen, we both know you wouldn't look at her twice." She said.

"That's a great thing to say about your friend." He said sarcastically.

"I'm here to protect my friend's feelings and to stop her from getting hurt, which is exactly what's going to happen when she finds out all this is a lie." Gwen shouted. She clenched her fists and held them up to her mouth as she took deep breaths. "Just tell me...have you slept with her?"

"That's a rather personal question." He answered.

"Answer me." She snapped.

"No, as matter of fact, I haven't." He told her. "How is that any of your business?"

"I don't want her to feel used." Gwen replied.

"Come on, tell the truth." Owen said.

"Why should I?" Gwen laughed. "You're not being truthful."

Owen sighed and looked away.

"Alright, I'll admit it. I don't see Tosh in that way. This whole thing was a set up to try and make you jealous." He said truthfully, for the first time in weeks. "Did it work?" It was Gwen's turn to look away as she cleared her throat. "Come on, I told you the truth, now it's your turn."

"Alright." Gwen snapped. "You want to know the truth...yes. Yes I was jealous. Seeing you and Tosh together it just...I wanted that...I still want that."

Owen stood in front of her and lightly ran his finger over her jaw line.

"And why did it make you jealous?" He whispered. "Tell me and this thing...it ends. I'll let Tosh down in the nicest way possible and she won't get hurt. So tell me...why did seeing me and Tosh together make you jealous?"

"Because I love you." She answered. "I hate seeing you kiss her the way you should be kissing me."

"It's your fault I'm not." He pointed out.

"I know." She nodded. "But I'm not going to make that mistake again."

A huge smile spread across his face as he pulled her into a hug. He buried his face in her hair and held her tightly. Her arms wrapped around him and she clung onto him just as tight.

"I love you Gwen." Owen said into her shoulder.

"I love you too, I really do." She replied. "I love you."

He kissed his way from her neck to her lips, earning little gasps and contented sighs. The kiss took them back to that night they shared a similar kiss in his bed. There was something more to this kiss though, something special.

Gwen broke away first, a smile on her face as she looked into his chocolate eyes. They both suddenly seemed shy of each other and took a step back. Owen laughed as they looked at each other, smiling nervously.

"I haven't...done this for a long time." Owen admitted. "You know...been in a...proper relationship with anyone – if that's what you want."

"I'd like that." She nodded with a smile.

He stepped back in front of her again and pecked her on the lips. They giggled, their foreheads resting against each other. He kissed her again, for longer this time, and he pulled her closer by her hips. She threw her arms around his neck as he lifted her off her feet. He tried to make his way to his room with her in his arms without breaking the kiss. It was hard and he almost tripped over three times. He got there in the end though and gently lowered them both onto the bed.

Later that night, Gwen lay with her eyes closed and a contented smile on her face. Owen had left the room to use the bathroom and when he came back, she turned to look at him. He climbed in beside her and draped an arm across her stomach.

"So do I have to tie you to the bed to get you to stay?" He asked.

"No, I'll stay." She smiled. "But you can if you like."

Owen laughed as he leant in to kiss her. Her fingers tangled in his hair as she deepened the kiss and hooked a leg around his waist.

He felt the warmth of the sun on his face as he slowly woke up the next morning. Memories of the night before played over in his head and he smiled. He sat up suddenly, praying he wouldn't find the bed empty next to him once again.

When he looked down and saw Gwen lying on her front still asleep, he breathed a sigh of relief and lay back down beside her. Her head was turned to face him and her hair was dishevelled, hiding her beautiful features from him. Well, he couldn't have that.

He propped himself up on his elbow and brushed her hair from her face. He ran his finger over her full, pink lips and they parted slightly with a gentle sigh. Dropping his hand to the pillow beside her face, he watched her sleep. Though he'd seen them only a few hours ago, he missed those green eyes, currently concealed underneath her eyelids with their thick, long lashes. He leant in and kissed the spot just below her ear and felt her shiver beneath his lips. As he repeated the action, he ran his hand down her back to where the sheets were resting at her waist. He felt her stirring and he pulled back to watch her eyelids flutter open.

"There they are." He smiled.

"There what are?" She mumbled.

"Those gorgeous eyes of yours." He replied.

"Was that all you woke me up for? You'd better have a better reason than that or those gorgeous eyes of yours will have lovely black bruises around them." She warned.

"I'm sorry." He pouted and kissed her lips. "Please forgive me."

He kissed her again and moved his hand under the sheet to squeeze her arse. She giggled and hit his chest playfully.

"Alright, I forgive you." She sighed. He lay on his back and pulled her so she lay across his chest. Placing her arms either side of his head, she lifted herself up slightly. He ran his hands up and down her sides. "Owen...you need to tell Tosh but...try not to be too...brutal about it."

"I won't, I promise. Don't worry, I've had to let a lot of women down before. I'm practically an expert at it." He told her.

"I'm sure you are." She said, rolling her eyes. "Seriously though, try not to upset her too much. Also...I think it's better if we don't tell anyone about us, at least for a few weeks. So I don't think we should...you know, be together in public." Owen's hands stilled on her hips and he sighed. He shook his head and looked away. "Please Owen, I don't want to make this any harder on Tosh."

"Fine." He mumbled. "But it only applies to work or whenever Tosh is around. I still want to see you outside work."

She nodded and smiled, leaning in to give him a peck on the lips.

"Thank you." She said.

"You're welcome." He replied. "But you'd better make this up to me. How about a quickie and a shower before work?"

She grinned and scrabbled off the bed. He followed quickly and chased her into the bathroom.

Just as he'd grabbed her around the waist and pulled her against his chest, someone knocked on the door. Owen growled and dug his fingers into her hips.

"You'd better go and see who that is." She told him.

He let her go with a sigh of frustration and went to leave. When he reached the doorway, he turned back and pointed at her.

"You turn the shower on and get in." He said. "I'll get rid of whoever it is quick."

"God, you're sexy when you're all...angry." She smirked.

He looked back at her hungrily, his pointed finger curling up into his fist. Reluctantly, he turned and left, closing the door behind him.

As he grabbed something to put on, he heard the shower turn on and he groaned as he thought of Gwen under the hot spray. Whoever this was, they'd better have a good reason for being here.

They knocked again just as he left his bedroom, now with a pair of tracksuit bottoms on.

"Alright, I'm coming." He shouted. When he opened the door, his eyes widened and he froze. "Tosh. What are you – what brings you here this morning?"

She smiled and leant up on her tip-toes to kiss him. He turned his face away, walking away quickly and she frowned as she followed him in.

"Well...I left my comb here last night." She answered. "It's in your bathroom, I'll just go and grab it. I can give you a lift to work if you like."

"Tosh wait." Owen said quickly as she stood outside the bathroom door, her hand hovering inches from the door handle. "I'll get it for you."

He let himself into the bathroom, careful not to open the door too wide for her to see in, and closed the door behind him. Gwen smiled seductively at him as she stepped out of the shower, dripping wet.

"Did you get rid of them?" She asked as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

He was finding it hard to concentrate with her wet body pressed against him. Closing his eyes, he swallowed audibly and pulled out of her arms.

"N-n-not exactly." He stammered, trying to look away. "S-she's still here – Tosh – is out there. She – she forgot her comb."

Gwen's hand flew to her mouth as her eyes widened.

"Oh my God." She gasped. "Tosh...is out there right now? Oh shit. She's going to kill me, she's seriously going to murder me."

"Don't worry, all I have to do is get her her comb and then get rid of her." He told her. "I promise she won't find out you're here."

"You'd better make sure because if she kills me, I'll haunt you and make your life hell Owen Harper." She warned.

He looked around the bathroom and spotted the comb. He grabbed it and left.

Gwen pressed her ear to the door but she couldn't make out anything they were saying over the noise of the shower.

"Erm...here it is." He said to Tosh.

"Oh thanks." She replied. "Sorry, were you about to shower? I can wait if you like and I'll take you to work."

"No thanks, it's ok. Actually, Tosh...we need to talk." He told her.

"Uh-oh, I don't like the sound of that." She sighed.

"Look, these past couple of weeks have been...great." He took a deep breath as a sad look took over Tosh's face. She knew what he was doing and he felt guilty for once in his life. "I just...don't see us...going any further. It's not your fault, I swear. I thinks it's better if we just stayed friends."

"Well...I can't say I wasn't expecting this." She nodded. "But I'm really disappointed it didn't work out. Are you sure we can't work it out?"

"I'm sorry Tosh but...I think I'm in love with someone else." He admitted.

"Oh..." She replied quietly. "I should...I should go."

"I really am sorry." He told her. "This won't affect our friendship will it?"

"No, of course not." She smiled sadly. She went to leave but turned in the doorway. "Oh, was that Gwen's car I saw outside?"

"Erm – ah – yeah, it was." Owen answered. "She's – erm – come to see me – personal matter. You know, I'm a doctor and she...erm...needed a friend too."

"There's nothing seriously wrong is there?" Tosh asked in concern. "Where is she? Is she ok?"

"She's fine, she's just popped out to the chemist and for a bit of fresh air." He lied. "I was going to take a shower before she got back."

"What did she need to go to the chemist for?" Tosh enquired.

"Pregnancy test." Owen blurted out and regretted it straight after. "She thinks she might be pregnant and she wants a professional opinion. She's a bit upset about it all and she's not telling anyone yet so I wouldn't say anything if I were you."

"Why should she be upset?" Tosh frowned.

"Well...she's not with Rhys any more and she's worried if a baby's going to complicate their relationship." He told her. "She thinks Rhys will want to get back together but...she doesn't want that."

"Oh, right." Tosh replied. "Well, I won't say anything I promise."

"Thanks Tosh and...again, I'm sorry." He said.

She gave him a sad smile and left. Owen sighed with relief as he shut the door behind her. Now to tell Gwen she might be pregnant.

She jumped back from the door when he opened it.

"So...what happened?" She asked.

"Well, I ended it with her and she seemed ok." He answered. "And erm...she saw your car outside."

"Oh God. What did you tell her?" Gwen demanded.

"I said you needed a doctor's advice." He answered. "You coming back in the shower?"

"What do I need a doctor's advice for?" She asked suspiciously. He walked towards the shower and mumbled something. "Owen, what did you tell her?"

"I told her you might be pregnant." He shrugged.

"Pregnant?" She shouted. "What did you say that for?"

"I didn't know what else to say, I was put on the spot." He argued. "What, would you rather me tell her the truth? 'Yes Tosh, that is Gwen's car. She came over last night, we said we loved each other and slept together. Yeah, she's in the bathroom now, completely naked if you want to say hello'."

"Alright you made your point." She mumbled. "I guess that's not the worst thing in the world to have said. When I see her later at the Hub, I'll just tell her I'm not pregnant."

"So I take it...I'm not in trouble?" He asked hopefully.

"I guess not." She smiled and pushed him towards the shower. "Now get in."

He grabbed her by the hips and pulled her with him, pressing her up against the tiled wall.

"Now, where did we get to earlier?" He smirked.

After their shower, they wrapped up in Owen's towels as he made breakfast for them both, though it was pretty hard to do when they couldn't keep their lips away from each other's.

"God, I feel like a love-struck teenager again." Gwen giggled.

"Hmmm...Gwen Cooper...at school...tight blouse, short skirt..." Owen said, his imagination running away with him. "Oh yeah."

"We'll see." She smirked. Owen dropped the knife he was holding, butter splattering everywhere, as he swallowed. She laughed and shook her head. "Come on, we should eat before we're both late. Which reminds me...I think we should arrive separately."

"But Tosh knows you're here so it's ok." He told her.

"I know but...I still don't think we should." She shrugged. "Not yet."

Owen nodded and started to clean up the mess he'd just made.

Gwen went to leave first. As she was about to open the door, Owen grabbed her arm and spun her around, crushing his lips onto hers.

"I love you." He told her. "See you at work."

"Love you too." She smiled.

Owen let her go and watched her leave, a soft smile on his lips.

When she reached the Hub, Gwen took a deep breath before she let herself through the hidden door in the tourist office. She remembered that she needed to act as though she'd been through a rough morning. She ran her hands through her hair, making it look like she'd been doing it all morning due to stress. She even kept her eyes wide open without blinking so her eyes watered and turned red, looking as though she'd maybe even cried a little. Taking one last deep breath, she hit the button behind the desk and walked through the door.

Tosh was at her workstation, staring sadly into space and Gwen instantly felt terrible.

As she walked over to her own station, she sighed a little before sitting down. Tosh looked over and looked at her in concern.

"Gwen, are you ok?" She asked.

"I'm fine. Just...bad morning that's all." Gwen shrugged. "Tosh, I hope you don't mind but...I went over to Owen's earlier. I just needed to ask him something, as a doctor, you know?"

"I know." Tosh nodded. "And...it's fine, honestly. Owen...don't be mad, but Owen told me you thought you were...you know."

"Pregnant." Gwen replied. "Yes...but, good news, I'm not. Which means I don't have to worry about Rhys and work and...everything else." Tosh gave her a sad smile and looked away. "Are you ok?"

"Actually no." Tosh sighed. "Owen broke up with me this morning."

"Oh no." She said, trying to sound as sympathetic as she could. "God, I'm so sorry. Did he tell you why?"

"He said he's in love with someone else." She answered. "But...I should count myself lucky that we even lasted a few weeks. Still, I hope this girl's worth it, I don't want to see him get hurt. He seems to really like her."

Gwen looked away guiltily and logged onto her computer.

When Owen arrived, she tried to ignore him like she used to but she couldn't help but give him a quick smile which he returned. They looked away quickly before anyone noticed and pretended as though nothing had happened.

Jack called a meeting to discuss any recent news on the giant scorpion creature.

"So Tosh, still no more abnormal rift fluctuations?" Jack asked.

"No. The rift's stayed quiet ever since we caught that one." Tosh told him.

"Good." Jack nodded. "Gwen, any news?"

"Nope. No police or hospital reports on anyone dying due to an unidentified toxin in the blood." Gwen replied.

"And Owen, what did you do with the antidote?" Jack enquired.

"I've kept a load of it, just in case, along with the poison I collected from the sting. I made sure to label them, of course, and keep them as far away from each other as possible. Really don't want to mix those up." Owen replied. "I did try finding something to preserve the actual sting but like the others it just...disintegrated."

"Well, at least we know what to do if one ever comes through the rift again." Jack said. "Alright guys, I think that's it."

Gwen and Owen glanced at each other across the table, glad the meeting was over. They were starting to find it hard to concentrate when their legs brushed under the table and they were always aware of the other one staring at them.

Owen leant forward as the others started to leave.

"Erm...Gwen, could you just stay a minute? I need you to describe exactly how it felt after I gave you the antidote so I can try and reduce the side-affects." He lied.

"Yeah sure." Gwen nodded.

Owen winked as Ianto, the last person in the room, left and they both stood up casually.

As soon as they were sure they were alone, they were across the room pressed tightly against each other. Gwen wrapped her arms around his neck tightly as their tongues battled for dominance. He dragged her bottom lip through his teeth earning a hiss from her, then soothed it over with his tongue. As quick as they were together, they pulled apart and turned away. Gwen straightened herself out and cleared her throat.

"Right...well, very informative." Owen nodded. "Thanks."

"Glad I could help." She replied.

They both walked away heading their separate ways.

It had been two weeks since they'd started their relationship and they'd shared many secret kisses at work with many close calls at being caught. Their excuses were starting to get feeble and it was a mystery as to how no one had figured out what was really going on.

They were currently at Gwen's after a hard day at work. Dinner plates soaked in the sink while they were sat on the sofa watching television. Owen was sat at one end with Gwen laying across him, her head in his lap.

"Gwen...we need to talk." He said.

She sat up quickly and looked at him in shock.

"You're not breaking up with me are you?" She asked.

"No, no of course not. I'm never letting you go." He told her, pulling her into a hug against his chest. "Never."

He kissed the top of her head and let her go. She lay back down with a sigh of relief.

"So what do you want to talk about?" Gwen asked.

"It's been two weeks and I'm already sick of hiding our relationship at work. I want to be able to hug you whenever I want and not have to steal a few seconds just to give you a hug." He told her.

"But...I like what we have, it's exciting." She said.

"Yeah it is exciting and...arousing at times but I know you hate it too." He argued. "You're only doing this because you're scared of what Tosh is going to think. It's been two weeks, I'm sure she'll be fine."

"But – I – we -" She protested.

"What's worse? Your best friend telling you she's dating the guy you fancy or walking in and finding them making out against a wall and then learning they've been doing it behind your back for a while?" He asked. She tried to argue but she didn't know what to say, leaving her speechless and her mouth hanging open. "Exactly. So whether you like it or not, tomorrow we're coming out."

She babbled and lifted herself slightly before admitting defeat and dropping herself back down.

"Ok." She mumbled. "But we tell her...and then run away to Mexico." Owen laughed and shook his head. The phone on the wall buzzed and she got up to answer it. "Hello?"

"Gwen, it's Tosh. You told me to come over tonight." Tosh's voice replied.

"Oh yes, to come up with the cover-up story for the death of the scorpion victims." Gwen sighed. "I completely forgot." She covered the mouthpiece with her hand and turned to Owen. "It's Tosh." She whispered. "What do I do?"

"Tell her to come up." Owen shrugged. "We did say we were going to tell her."

"Yes, tomorrow." Gwen reminded him.

"Tonight, tomorrow, what's the difference?" He asked.

"I wanted to tell her...alone, not throw her into the deep end." She replied.

"Gwen?" Tosh's voice called from the phone. "Gwen? You still there?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm still here." Gwen said.

"We can leave it if tonight's going to be a problem." Tosh suggested.

"Actually, it might be..." She let her voice trail off as Owen shook his head at her and gave her a firm look. "No, it's fine. Come on up." She put the phone down and pressed the button to let Tosh in downstairs. When Tosh knocked on her door, Owen stood up and went to answer it. "No, Owen don't -"

It was too late. Owen rolled his eyes at her and opened the door. Tosh looked at him, stunned.

"Owen...hi." She said. "I wasn't expecting..." Gwen came to stand beside him, smiling guiltily at her. "Oh. When you said you were in love with someone else, you were talking about Gwen."

"Yeah..." He nodded.

"Oh." She said again. "And when Gwen was there the other week...you weren't there for advice were you?"

"Not exactly." Gwen mumbled.

"And you wouldn't let me in the bathroom because..." Tosh let her voice trail off.

Gwen closed her eyes and nodded. She stepped forward and took Tosh's hand.

"I'm really sorry Tosh. I should have told you before but I just...please forgive me." She begged.

"It's...it's ok." Tosh nodded. "Well...I should come back another day."

"Don't let me being here stop you from doing your job." Owen told her. "I know Jack wants this done so..."

"Alright." Tosh shrugged.

Gwen glanced at Owen as she let Tosh go past her into the flat. Tosh took the chair and tried to ignore Owen as he sat down on the sofa and put his arm over the back of it. Gwen made drinks for them all and brought them over to them.

"So...we need to come up with a fake investigation to go back to the police with." Gwen said as she sat down next to Owen. "What exactly could we say happened?"

"We can tell them that they were testing a new type of medicine for a new medical company opening up soon. We can create a fake business, a fake businessman, say that all the victims went as volunteers to test out the drug. The drug ends up killing them, the man in charge finds out what's happening and flees the country." Tosh suggested.

"I like it." Gwen nodded.

"But why would Torchwood get involved in a case like that?" Owen asked.

"Because...the guy running the company...was involved in a previous Torchwood case?" Gwen shrugged. "Look, whatever. It doesn't have to be that good a story. I can tell Andy anything and he'll make up his own conclusions. Within a few hours, his version of it will be around the station. I suggest we just stick to what Tosh said."

"Right." Tosh smiled and leant over to pick up her tea.

She noticed Owen rest his hand on Gwen's knee as the Welshwoman sat back on the sofa. Gwen glanced down at it then quickly at Toshiko and removed his hand, placing it on the sofa. Owen tutted quietly and folded his arms. She shot him a glare before looking back at Toshiko.

"So, we tell Jack what you've come up with and start on the fake company." Gwen said. She turned back to Owen. "And since you're here and you're a doctor, you can come up with an idea of what new drug they were testing."

"Can I come up with anything?" Owen smirked.

"No you can't. I know what you're thinking so stop it." She warned, pointing her finger at him.

Owen grabbed it and she giggled as she tried to pull it out of his grasp. Tosh watched awkwardly as they seemed to have forgotten she was there. Again. She looked into her cup, ignoring the squeals coming from Gwen caused by Owen tickling her. Gwen turned and looked at Tosh. She fell quiet and pushed Owen away, clearing her throat loudly. Owen sighed and stood up.

"I'll be right back." He said, disappearing into the bathroom.

When he closed the door behind him, Gwen looked up guiltily at Tosh.

"Sorry about that." She said. "I didn't mean to -"

"Don't worry about it." Tosh replied. She drank the rest of her drink and stood up. "I should be going anyway."

Owen came back out of the bathroom as she was leaving.

"Leaving already?" He asked.

"Yeah, it's getting late." She answered.

Gwen pulled her into a hug.

"I'm sorry." She whispered.

Tosh gave her a reassuring smile as they broke apart.

"I'll see you both tomorrow." Tosh said.

"See you tomorrow." Gwen smiled.

When she shut the door, she turned and glared at Owen, folding her arms across her chest.

"What?" He asked innocently.

"You know what." She said as she walked back into the living room to clear away the cups. "You just had to do that in front of Tosh. She's only just found out for God's sake, you could have given her a break."

"Well she's got to get used to seeing us together so why not start now?" He argued. "Why are girls so sensitive about each other's feelings?"

"That's just something you'll never understand because you're a typical man." Gwen told him.

"Your typical man." He replied.

"Yes, my typical man who will behave or there will be consequences." She warned, pointing at him before she turned to wash the dishes.

"Alright, alright, I'll behave." He said. He walked up behind her and placed his hands on her hips as he kissed her neck. "Like I said, I'm just sick of not being able to show any affection towards you at work. I love you and I want people to know that."

"Aaw Owen, look at you saying those sweet things." Gwen smiled. "What are you after?"

"Nothing, I'm being serious." He told her.

"I know, I was only messing." She replied and grabbed a towel to dry her hands. She turned in his arms and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I love you too and I'll admit I'm getting a little tired of hiding it too. We've got enough to hide with bloody Torchwood. Still, just be little more sensitive around Tosh ok?"

"Alright." He nodded.

"Thank you." She smiled and kissed him.

"Hey, she took the news about you being in my bathroom pretty well." Owen said.

Gwen glared up at him and he instantly wished he could take it back.

"Owen, I'd keep my mouth shut if I were you." She advised.

"Yeah, I think that'd be best." He nodded.

"Mmhmm." She nodded back.

"Can I just say, I'm really sorry and that I love you. Would it help if I said those things I said before?" He asked.

Gwen couldn't help but smile and she shook her head at him.

"Come on, let's have an early night." She said.

Owen grinned as she pulled out of his arms and headed towards her room. He followed with a spring in his step.

"Can we try that thing I was talking to you about?" He asked.

"Owen, I said no before. After tonight, do you really think I'm going to change my mind?" She called over her shoulder.

"You never know." He shrugged.

"Oh shut up and get in here." She sighed.

The next day, Gwen took a deep breath as she and Owen entered the tourist office together. Tosh seemed to have taken the news well but Gwen knew she could hide her feelings well. Would she be pushed over the edge seeing them together at work too?

Owen took her hand and squeezed it gently. He pulled her closer and gave her a gentle to kiss to calm her nerves.

Ianto appeared from his little office and looked at them in surprise.

"Oh. Good morning. You're just in time, I've just made a fresh pot of coffee. I'll get you...both, a cup." He said.

"Thanks Ianto." Owen replied. Ianto pressed the button behind the desk to let them in and disappeared into his office. Owen shrugged as he turned to look at Gwen. "Well, that's it now. We're official."

"I guess we are." She giggled. She took another deep breath and tugged him towards the Hub entrance. "Come on, work to do."

"Yes." Owen sighed.

Tosh looked at them as they entered. Owen's arm was wrapped around her waist and she had both of her hands over his resting on her hip. They entered together before Owen kissed her cheek and headed up to Ianto, who was now at the coffee machine.

"Morning Tosh." Gwen smiled nervously.

"Hey Gwen." She replied. "Are you ok?"

"I was just going to ask you that." Gwen answered.

"I'm fine." Tosh told her.

"Tosh, you know what I meant." She said.

"Honestly...it's ok. I should actually count myself lucky that Owen even chose to ask me out again, even if it was just to make you jealous." Tosh laughed.

"What makes you think that?" Gwen asked.

"I knew all along really, I just wanted to pretend it was real for however long it lasted. I knew there was something between you two, even when you didn't want to admit it yourself." She explained.

"But I am sorry Tosh. I'm sorry you had to go through that." Gwen told her.

"I know." Tosh nodded.

"So...we're ok?" She asked.

"We're fine Gwen." She laughed.

"So, I just heard Ianto and Owen talking about something very interesting." Jack called as he came down the steps from the meeting room. "I hear there's a new couple on the block. Will I be hearing wedding bells? A Torchwood wedding, that would be interesting, a Weevil could give you away. Or how about the pitter patter of tiny little feet?"

"Shut up Jack." Gwen smiled. "There'll be none of that any time soon."

"That's not what someone else seems to think." Jack said and walked off into his office.

"Owen? Weddings? Babies?" Gwen laughed. "I don't think so. I mean – this is Owen we're talking about – he doesn't – really? Do you think?"

She turned to look up at where Owen and Ianto were still talking by the coffee machine. Owen was still talking but he seemed to be looking down at her. Jack couldn't be serious about what he'd said. It was odd Owen being in a relationship that lasted longer than one night never mind being tied down by marriage or kids. He just wasn't that type of person. But Gwen had seen a totally different side to him. If anyone in the past had said the word relationship to him, he'd have run a mile, yet he was the one that said he wanted to be in a relationship with her. If he'd changed his mind about that, what else had he changed his mind about?

Gwen shook her head out of her thoughts. It was way, way too early to think about things like that anyway. If Owen did want those things then tough, she just wasn't ready for that kind of commitment.

She watched as Owen came down the stairs towards her, two mugs in his hands.

"Ianto sends this down. He's had to dash, he's got customers." He told her as he passed her one of the cups. His eyes narrowed as she stared back at him wide-eyed. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, yeah. I was just...talking to Jack." She nodded.

"About what? You look terrified." Owen laughed.

"Oh, the future. Seems like it's being planned for me." She told him.

"What?" He frowned.

"Nothing, it doesn't matter. Thanks for the coffee." She said and sat down, her eyes still wide and unblinking.

Owen stood in the doorway of Jack's office and pointed at him.

"What have you been saying to Gwen?" He asked suspiciously.

"Oh, I just asked her a few questions about the future, got her thinking." Jack shrugged.

"What kind of questions?" Owen demanded.

"Normal stuff couples think about. Kids, marriage." He answered.

"God, no wonder she looks traumatised. We've only been together two or three weeks." Owen argued.

"Says the one who was planning it all out with Ianto." Jack smirked.

"I wasn't planning anything." Owen replied. "Ianto asked me how me and Gwen got together and I told him. I said I couldn't believe my luck because I thought Gwen and Rhys would settle down, you know, get married and have kids. Then I might have asked if he saw us doing that – but I wasn't actually planning anything."

"Oops, you might want to tell Gwen that." Jack said.

Owen sighed as he went and sat by Gwen at her workstation. She was staring into space, her cup clutched in both of her hands. He glanced at Tosh and she smiled sympathetically.

"She hasn't moved since she sat down." She told him.

"I'm going to kill Jack Harkness." Owen muttered. He put his hand on Gwen's arm and she didn't even acknowledge him. "Gwen, listen -"

"Babies, Owen." Gwen suddenly blurted out, her head snapping to look at him. "Seriously? Weddings and – and babies? What – why would you -"

"Gwen, calm down." Owen said, interrupting her babbling. "I wasn't planning anything with Ianto, ok? I never said anything about us having kids or getting married."

"But Jack said he heard you." Gwen told him.

"Jack misheard." Owen replied. "Trust me, I don't want to think about that kind of thing for a long time yet."

"Really?" She asked.

"Really." He nodded and leant in to give her a reassuring kiss. "Just ignore Jack ok?"

"Yeah." She smiled.

Jack came out of his office and leant against the door frame. Owen and Gwen turned to glare at him and he held his hands up in surrender.

"Sorry, I misheard and I got excited." He said defensively.

"Well save your excitement for another couple of years." Owen told him.

"So you are thinking about this stuff for the future?" Jack said.

"Well..." He replied. "I'm not saying – I wouldn't mind..." Ianto had now joined them and was watching the scene. Gwen put her cup down and folded her arms across her chest. He swallowed at her raised eyebrow. "I love you Gwen and...maybe..."

"Oh my God." Jack smiled.

"I suppose...some time in the future – in the very distant future, I'd like to talk about it." He shrugged. "I've never been with someone for only two weeks and felt so...complete. I'm not saying I want to get married and have kids now...I'm just saying, I see the possibility for us. For now though, let's just forget that and concentrate on whether we can last for the next week."

Gwen was now looking at him with a slight smile on her lips. She'd dropped her arms into her lap and had sat back in her chair.

"Oh we're going to last." She whispered and pounced out of her chair and into his lap. The chair started to spin and almost tipped over, Owen just managing to keep it up. As they laughed, her arms went around his neck and she pressed her lips against his. "I love you."

Ianto stepped up behind Toshiko and put his hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him and gave him a sad smile.

"Are you ok?" He asked quietly so as not to ruin Gwen and Owen's moment.

"Yeah." She nodded. "I just...didn't realise they were so serious...they do look so happy though, don't they?"

Ianto looked over at the couple. Gwen was giggling as Owen spun them around on his chair.

"Stop it, I'm getting dizzy." She laughed.

"They do look happy." Ianto admitted. "You'll find that one day Tosh. You'll see."

Tosh sighed and turned back to her work.

Gwen saw her out of the corner of her eye and got up quickly.

"Owen, get me a fresh coffee will you? This one's gone cold." Gwen said, holding her cup out to him.

"Ask Ianto, he's the coffee man." Owen replied.

"Owen." Gwen said sharply. He stood up quickly, something inside him telling him to do everything she said. "Please, just get me a coffee."

"Sure." He nodded.

He took the cup from her and went off to get her a fresh one. Ianto followed him and smirked.

"She's trained you well." He muttered.

"Shut up, Ianto." Owen mumbled. "I'm doing this because I want to, not because she told me to."

Ianto chuckled and Owen shot him a glare.

Gwen stood beside Toshiko uncomfortably.

"I did it again." Gwen said quietly. "I'm sorry, I just got carried away when Owen said that stuff."

"It's fine honestly." Tosh reassured her. "Look, you don't have to act any differently around me. It's not fair on you and it shouldn't matter what I think."

"But...are you sure?" Gwen asked.

"Yes." Tosh insisted. She glanced sideways at Gwen and smiled. "Besides, I should get used to it if we're going to be hearing wedding bells soon."

Gwen giggled and shook her head.

Owen appeared beside them and presented her with a steaming cup of coffee.

"Your coffee my lady." He said.

She took it from him with a smile.

"Thank you." She replied.

Gwen glanced at Tosh who rolled her eyes.

"Kiss him for goodness sake." She sighed.

Owen raised his eyebrows as he looked between them and waited for an explanation. Gwen shrugged and turned back to him, placing a gentle kiss on his lips. When they pulled apart, Owen was even more confused as his eyes looked from one woman to the other.

"I'm not even going to ask." He said eventually and disappeared down into the autopsy bay.

Gwen and Toshiko looked at each other and giggled.

A/N: Well, hope you enjoyed it! My next fic is a challenge given to me by Madbean. =P