For the fourth time in ten minutes the green glow of the bedside clock drew Gwen's attention.

"12:43," she said in a whisper.

"What's Jack doing now?" she wondered to herself as she rolled onto her back.

"Probably Ianto," she replied. She couldn't suppress the smile that came to her lips as she remembered catching the two of them in Jack's office a few months back. Ianto was all embarrassment; Jack on the other hand asked her to join them.

"I wonder if he was serious?" This thought made her roll over again; restless. She looked at Rhys laying next to her; they'd made love only an hour before, yet thinking of Jack – thinking of Jack as he'd come out of his office that night – shirt unbuttoned, pants undone…she felt her pulse quicken, her true desire unfulfilled. She'd stored that mental image in detail; she hadn't had time to appreciate the sight when it occurred – she'd had the boy Jonah on her mind – but since then, that image had had a lot of air time. Most recently, she thought guiltily, about an hour ago...

She loved Rhys, there was no denying that; but the way Jack made her feel when he was around – when he wasn't around – she couldn't deny that either.

Sighing, Gwen got out of bed, pulled on track pants and a t-shirt and went to the kitchen thinking maybe some warm milk might help her sleep; as she looked down at the bench top, she saw her mobile there.

"Ring," she willed it. "Come on Jack, call! There must be some sort of emergency going on somewhere!"

The phone however stayed stubbornly silent.

"Fine," she thought. "Don't call!"

Then a thought occurred to her. "What if he's in trouble and he can't call?"

She didn't believe it for a second, but she needed to get out; the flat was stifling her tonight. She needed to be at the Hub.

Quickly getting changed, she wrote Rhys a note saying that an emergency had occurred and she'd had to go into work; she'd call him later. If she felt guilty about what she was doing, she didn't stop long enough to let it sink in.

Driving towards the Hub, she made a mental note to look for Ianto's car in the lot; she wasn't making that mistake twice.

A short while later she pulled into the car park; deserted, she noted with a smile.

Lights flashed and horns blared as the big Hub door rolled open for her.

"How could they not have heard that?" she said aloud as she walked into the main area; looking up at Jack's office as she did so.

"Lights are on," she thought as she wandered up the steps.

Pushing open his office door she looked around; no sign of Jack. She walked over to the hole in the floor that led down to Jack's small room and peered in – again no Jack.

She walked back out onto the landing. "Jack," she yelled, receiving no answer.

"Come out, come out wherever you are…" she sang softly. Maybe he was out she thought as she walked towards the monitors. Bringing up the garage though, she saw the SUV was in its spot.

She moved through the Hub using the CCTV looking for him.

"Hmm – morgue?"

"Nope!"

"Vaults?"

"Nope!"

"Cells!?"

"Nope!"

"Okay," she said out loud. "Somewhere that doesn't have cameras."

Gwen started mentally ticking off the places she hadn't yet checked that had no CCTV surveillance. There weren't many now – not since Ianto had hidden Lisa from them in an old storage room; Jack had ordered CCTV to be put practically everywhere besides his office, his bedroom and the showers.

"Huh! I wonder," she said as she moved towards the old shower rooms. "He always smells so good; I guess he has to shower somewhere." The thought made her stomach flip; reaching the door though she stopped short of pushing it open.

A bout of conscience caught her. "What if he is in there?" she reasoned. "Can I just barge in?"

Then she thought, "would he mind?" She smiled and rolled her eyes as the answer was a resounding, "No!"

Pushing open the door she entered the large room; walking past rows of lockers from a bygone age when Torchwood was a much larger concern. She walked towards the back of the room to where the showers were. As she got closer she thought she could hear the sound of running water; if she thought her stomach flipped before – now it was trying out for the Olympic Gymnastics team!

Gwen turned the last corner; and there he was.

"Oh…" The sound escaped her before she could stop it. He stood facing her, his eyes closed, hands on his head; the steaming water pounding over him. She wasn't sure if she was grateful for, or pissed off at, the waist height tiled wall that served to stop the water from the shower splashing all over the floor.

Bringing her eyes back to his face from where they'd been roaming over his toned torso she was mortified to see his eyes open – looking straight at her! What was worse – he had a huge grin on his face!

"Enjoying yourself over there?" he asked as he swivelled to turn the water off.

"Ah…I…" she spluttered as she looked at him. "Oh God!" she thought to herself. "Those eyes – the way the water droplets are hanging on his lashes."

"Earth to Gwen…" Jack yelled, his hands cupped around his mouth for emphasis.

Gwen shook her head slightly. "Yes?"

"I said, could you pass me that towel there?" Then he smiled even wider. "Unless you want me to come get it?"

Gwen's eyes widened, and he laughed. "No, no," she replied. "Stay there, I'll get it."

"Hurry up then – it's cold in here! Wouldn't want you to think less of me," he said suggestively as he moved to rest his hands on the low wall that separated them.

Gwen grabbed the towel and started walking towards him, keeping her eyes trained on his face. She realised as she got closer that when she actually reached the wall, the only thing to stop her seeing Jack in his full glory was her willpower not to look down. She concentrated all her energy on this.

As Jack watched Gwen walk towards him the smile left his face; there was no humour in this situation for him. This was Gwen – the woman he'd wanted since she first walked into Torchwood holding pizza - American feast – large – if he remembered correctly. "Oh there's got to be some sort of irony there," he thought to himself. Now – here she was – walking towards him as he stood wet and naked in a shower cubicle and they were totally alone; would be totally alone for at least the next five hours. "Oh God!" he thought to himself as he could feel himself hardening at the thought. "Don't look down!"

Gwen reached the wall. "Don't look down!" she thought, unknowingly echoing Jack.

She reached out and handed him the towel, but Jack didn't take it. She moved closer til she was standing against the wall, noticing that Jack had moved away from it as she did so. He looked stricken all of a sudden, his eyes widening slightly, then he looked down.

"Shit!" they thought in unison.

Gwen's eyes now were automatically drawn to follow his – she couldn't help it.

"Oh…" she breathed as she saw his growing erection.

"Ah…sorry…" Jack smiled. "Perhaps I should take that towel now."

"Well, it's a bit late now!" Gwen stated. "I've seen the lot now!"

"Well," Jack started, then thinking better of it stopped.

Gwen looked back to his face. "Well what?" she asked.

Taking the towel from her, but not doing anything with it he replied, "nothing."

"Come on Jack," she smiled cheekily. "You look like you're in a sharing mood right now."

Jack smiled. "Okay...I was going to say, that you haven't exactly seen the lot..."

Looking back down Gwen could see what he meant; she was feeling adventurous and a little more than caught up in the moment. She looked back to Jack to see him watching her – the look on his face made her heart beat faster, her breathing stop and her pulse pound low in her stomach all at once. She'd dreamed for years of being with this man – and now here he was – naked and ready in front of her. "Oh boy was he ready," she thought to herself as she felt the heat creep up her neck.

Clearing her throat she finally answered him. "And you expect me to just take your word for that do you Captain?"

"You don't believe me? How do you propose we resolve the issue then?" Jack asked, voice low. He loved it when she called him Captain.

"Prove it," she continued breathlessly. "I can't believe I'm doing this!" she thought.

"Oh…I can do that," he replied as he stepped around the barrier between them, the towel forgotten on the floor.

"Oh…ahh…okay…" Gwen replied as she stepped back slightly.

Jack stopped, a little confused. "Gwen...what is it you want here? Because if you're not sure…"

"I…" replied Gwen, definitely unsure now. The phrase, 'Be careful what you wish for' flying through her head.

Jack turned and picked up the towel, wrapping it around his waist; this did little to conceal his still obvious desire – after all he couldn't just turn it off, but at least it restored his modesty a little.

"I think we need to talk," he said softly as he looked at her intently.

Gwen nodded as she turned away from him.

He walked to her and put his hands on her shoulders, pulling her back against him lightly.

"Why don't you go and wait for me in my office," he whispered in her ear. "I'll be up in a minute."

Gwen's eyes were closed, her breathing laboured as she felt him hard against her; reminding her of their shooting lesson not long after she joined Torchwood. She nodded in reply to his suggestion and left the room.

Jack watched her go; a storm of feelings raging inside him. He wanted her more than he could put into words; but not if she wasn't sure. The last thing he wanted was her hating him if something happened that she didn't really want.

He took his time dressing; he kept most of his clothes down here in a large locker. There was not much point keeping them upstairs and there was more room down here. He wanted to give Gwen time to think. He hoped she would be waiting for him upstairs – they really did finally need to talk about this thing between them.

As he ascended the steps to his office, he couldn't keep the images from his mind; Gwen wet and naked under the water with him – pressed up against the low wall, moaning his name, his hands on her white skin…so lost was he in these thoughts he walked into the glass door of his office. Coming to his senses, he pushed the door open and looked around for Gwen.

"Shit," he said aloud. She wasn't in the room; she'd realised her mistake – she didn't really want this after all, she'd left him and gone home to the man she really loved – the man she married. Jack circled his desk and dropped into his chair; putting his head in his hands he let out a frustrated sigh.

"Jack…"

Jack's head shot up – had he really just heard that? He listened for a moment – nothing.

"I'm going nuts," he said out loud.

"Could be from lack of sex," came the voice again.

"Now I definitely heard that!" he said as he rose from his chair. "Gwen?"

"Yes?"

He looked around and then he smiled. Walking to the opening he looked down.

"Took you long enough Captain," said Gwen as she smiled up at him from where she sat on his bed.

Jack dropped down in to his room, sitting next to her on his bed; they sat across the bed, their backs against the wall, their bodies touching from thigh to shoulder. Jack reached down and picked up her right hand and held it in his left.

"Why did you come here tonight?" Jack asked, breaking the silence.