Title: Loss
Summary: 'She had never dreamt she'd be pregnant again. Had never expected that once again Rhys wouldn't be the father.'
Disclaimer: Don't own Torchwood, or anything related to the show.
Rating: PG-13 (Mature themes)
A/N: General references for season 1 and spoilers for episode 9 or series 2. Gwen/Rhys Gwen/Owen. When I was writing this I had the italics in chronological order, but decided it worked better the other way.
Eyes closed Gwen let her hand trail over her inflated stomach. The silk of the wedding dress felt cool and calming against her skin. She had never dreamt she'd be pregnant again. Had never expected that once again Rhys wouldn't be the father. Sighing she forced back unshed tears.
"It's Over." She couldn't look him in the eye as she told him everything. "This thing, it can't happen, not anymore." He didn't look away from his computer as she told him, trying to keep his tears from falling. He nods, dismissing her with his silence. She turned away from him, walking towards her desk and away from everything they had had. Holding her stomach she stifled a sob that threatened to escape.
She never heard the door open, nor the near silent footsteps as he padded across the thick carpet of the bridal suite. Her breathing hitched as she felt another hand on top of hers, colder than the silk. She kept her eyes closed, unable to face him. Not like that.
He held her on to her as she gasped for air and the hole in the back of her skull began to disappear. He clung to her as tightly as he could, afraid that letting go of her would mean she'd slip away from him, back in to the void. Back in to the eternal darkness. Their hearts began to beat in unison, pressed up against one another. Only one was missing.
The room was silent and the air heavy. He didn't need to breath and Gwen felt like she couldn't. Now he was the onewho had returned from the darkness, only the part of him that made him who he was had been left there. She wanted him to hold her and tell her everything was going to be alright, but he wouldn't; couldn't.
Gwen fell to pier, unable to keep going. She was dying as every agonizing second passed and Suzie grew stronger. She clutched her stomach, her tears falling fast. She was going to die. They were going to die.
"I'm never going to get the chance to have kids." His voice was hoarse and cracked. She would offer him some water, but it would do no good. "Do you ever wonder, if, maybe things could have been different? If…well if we'd…"
"Settled down? Got a house, bought a dog?" Gwen smiled weakly as he took his hand away. "You'd have been bored to death." Standing she kissed his cheek, her bump pressed between them. Clinging to him as he'd clung to her the day she'd died she managed to choke out, "I think about it everyday. Whether we would have had a girl or a boy, what we would have called…" Her voice wavered just as the door handle began to rattle.
Moments later Rhys entered to find Owen checking on Gwen's bite.
"It's not infected." He mumbled absently, his fingers lingering for a heartbeat too long on her pale flesh. "Congratulations by the way." Turning to face Rhys he smiled. "You're a lucky man." Rhys had no idea.
"I can be a father to this baby Gwen!" Owen's face was flustered and his intense dark eyes were boring in to her. "Just give me a chance!" She wanted to say yes, she wanted to have Owen's child and stop lying to Rhys. Needed, wanted, to be with the father of her child. So she said yes.