Stopping hesitantly at the door to Jack's office Owen felt as if he was a schoolboy, having been summoned to the headmaster's office.
"Come in and sit down." Looking up from the papers he'd been working on the immortal indicated at the chair in front of him.
Walking over to the chair Owen sat down, still wondering why Jack had asked him to come by.
"So..." he began "What have I done this time, Headmaster?"
A smile crept across Jack's face, revealing that he too had found the entire situation oddly similar to that of a wayward schoolboy being disciplined by the headmaster.
"You're right Owen. We do need to have a serious talk. Though what we need to talk about is a bit more grown-up stuff that what schoolboys usually get summoned to the headmaster's office for."
"What?" Of course he hadn't expected to be told off about that little prank he had pulled on Ianto the other day, especially seeing as he and the Welshman had been playing prank-war for the last few days, much to the amusement of their fellow co-workers.
"Tosh."
"No. I think you're right. It's not often that a schoolboy gets summoned because of Tosh. What's with Tosh?"
"She fancies you." The words came as matter-of-factly as if the older man had simply stating that it was raining, or something to that regard. Before Owen had a change of replying Jack quickly stopped him before continuing. "If this was just a case of her fancying you I'd be having this conversation with her. Probably telling her how you're a bit of a git and not really worth collecting for a nice girl like her. However, I'm not having this conversation with her. You know why, Own? Because I'm not blind, you might have been trying to deny it, most of all to yourself, but I can see it; you like her too."
Wishing more and more he'd never been summoned to Jack's office Owen tried, without success, to think of an excuse, some reason why Jack was mistaken about his feelings for Tosh."
"She deserves someone better than me." He said lamely, knowing very well how idiotic it made him sound. "Someone who'd give her gifts, take her out for a nice dinner, stuff like that. I'm not that kind of guy, Jack."
"You were once." Jack didn't elaborate, he didn't have to. There wasn't a day when Owen didn't think of the horrible events that had led to him joining Torchwood in the first place.
"I could never replace Katie." He protested, trying to stop the tears from rising in his eyes at the thought of his fiancée. "And it wouldn't be fair to Tosh either." He quickly added.
"Who said anything about 'replacing'?" He hadn't raised his tone, but the anger in Jack's voice was still unmistakable. "Listen, Owen." He added more softly. "You know I've had many lovers, both before and after I became immortal, and now..." his eyes wandering off for a second and Owen didn't have to turn his head to know where to. "Now I'm with Ianto. He's not replacing any of my former loves, he never could. One day, when he is gone." If the anger in Jack's voice had been unmistakable before then the heartbreak at the thought of losing the younger man was now. "I'll have new lovers, but they wouldn't be replacing him. Because nobody ever could. You see, Owen. That's what love is about; when you're with someone they are irreplaceable. If that love ends, and it doesn't have to be because of death, you might find someone else who is just as irreplaceable as the former."
Owen could feel how his emotions were spinning out of control. He understood, he finally understood and accepted that he would never again find someone as amazing as Katie had been. Not that he wanted to anymore. All those girls he'd hooked up were simply distractions, ways of not mending but ignoring his broken heart. His relationship with Gwen had been one of pure passion, a passion that had first revealed itself when they had been hiding from Ianto's cyber girlfriends, and later burst into full flames after the horrifying events revolving the cannibals of Brecon Beacons, deep within his heart Owen had always known that Gwen belonged with Rhys. Even his short relationship with Diane hadn't been perfect; he'd loved her more than he'd loved anyone since Katie, but it had been a dream, an impossible thing.
Leaving Jack's office Owen stopped for a moment and looked at the Japanese girl. Tosh was not the kind of easy girl you could bring to your bed, and then simply leave afterwards. Tosh was not someone you could have a relationship based on nothing but passion with. Tosh was certainly not some impossible dream. No, Tosh was very real and very beautiful. Owen stared at her, not realizing how he had never seen it before. She wasn't the kind of girl he would normally classify as 'beautiful', with her short stature; lack of curves and flat brown her. At first Owen couldn't decide what exactly it was that made her so beautiful, then he realized; it was her eyes. There was something amazingly honest about her eyes. Something amazingly loyal. Something amazing beautiful.
Catching her eyes, those amazing honest, loyal and beautiful eyes, he smiled at her, a true smile instead of his usual smirk. Slowly but surely her features changed and she gave him a smile in return. If the three others in the Hub were watching them they didn't care, but just continued smiling at each other.
Maybe, just maybe, things could work out between them. There was only one way to find out and that was giving it a change.