Title: Rollerskating
Author: Ofelia (unshakespearean)
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: [Jack, Gwen] [Owen, Tosh] Ianto
Rated: T
Warnings: Language

"Let's go rollerskating." Everyone looked at Jack, their faces clearly saying What?! "I mean it. Let's go rollerskating. Why the hell not?"

Ianto laughed. "We should, if only to tap the CCTV footage when we get back and watch people's faces when they see the five of us go in and look like idiots." The girls and Owen rolled their eyes. "Come on!"

"Drinks on me afterward?" Jack suggested, knowing that this would sway them. And, indeed, within three minutes they were all headed for the car.

Jack watched in amusement as his team tried to rollerskate. Tosh and Ianto were predictably great at it. Owen and Gwen… not so much. Gwen had told them she had never done this before. Owen had, but, seeing that he was a klutzy idiot, his experience didn't really help him.

"You're not too bad." Jack nearly fell as he turned in shock to see Ianto, half-smirking. "I mean, you should be able to keep going even when I sneak up on you, but you'll get there."

"Fuck you," Jack muttered.

"Oh, we both know you don't really mean that," Ianto grinned, and he zipped off to do another loop around the floor.

He was right, of course. It was he who had managed to get Jack to realize exactly how much he cared for Gwen.

There wasn't a thing about her that he didn't love. He loved her silky dark hair and bright eyes and smile. He loved her eagerness and energy, her drivenness and determination, her fearlessness and gutsiness. He loved the way she cared for everyone. He loved how she had no problem challenging him or the others when they were being assholes. And, admittedly, he loved her devotion and loyalty to Rhys. As much as he envied the man for Gwen's affections, it didn't change the fact that it was one of the best things about her. Perhaps the best thing about her.

"You're going to crash into the wall any minute if you keep on daydreaming like that," Ianto pointed out as he approached him again.

"I'm more likely to crash if you keep sneaking up on me," Jack retorted. Ianto shrugged. Asshole. Anyway. Back to skating.

A very loud "Fuck!" rang out through the entire area, much to the shock and annoyance of the at least 10 families present. Jack turned to see that Owen had landed really quite ungracefully on his ass and was having a hell of a time trying to get up.

"Owen, there are kids here," Tosh chastised as she skated by.

"You could help me up," Owen whined.

"Yes, I could, but you have to serve your punishment for swearing in front of at least three six-year-olds and their mothers." She rolled over to the mothers in question. "I'm really quite sorry about that," she said apologetically. "My friend's a bit of an idiot. I promise you I'll slap him in the face if he swears again."

"That would be great, thanks," one of the slightly more good-humored ones replied. "I couldn't do it myself with a clean conscience."

"I've been told I don't have one, so…" Tosh then zoomed off, leaving the ladies just a bit confused.

"Well done," Gwen muttered as she approached, looking a bit like a zombie as she had no idea what she was doing. "And you really don't have a conscience. None of you do."

"At least I don't swear in front of six-year-olds," Tosh pointed out.

"Ten quid you would if one broke your computer," Gwen retorted. Tosh scowled and skated away, effectively ending the conversation.

Jack had to stifle laughter as he listened in on this exchange. Gwen was right, after all.

Speaking of Gwen, she looked like she was about to fall. Jack came closer to her, and, just in time, managed to catch her as her knees buckled.

"Hey," he grinned as he helped her back up. "Having fun?"

"I guess," she replied, a little breathless from the shock of nearly falling - and of having Jack catch her. "But I really have no idea what I'm doing." Jack said nothing, instead taking her hands and skating backwards, taking her with him. "Hey! Jack!"

"You're fine," he said casually, letting her go at the exact right moment to loop around her and come behind, taking her left hand in his right and pulling gently. "See? Fine?"

"I feel like I'm about to fall on my a-on my face," she corrected, just in time.

"I've got you," Jack said with an encouraging smile. "I won't let you fall, I promise." He gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

"Okay…"

"Come on, relax!" Jack laughed as he moved just a bit faster. Gwen squealed. "Shhhhh…"

"Jack! You're scaring the shi-the heck out of me!"

"Aw, come on. This is fun!" And then Jack decided to be extra mean, taking the arm Gwen was clutching and swinging it in a wide circle around him. Her eyes widened in shock and fear, but she managed to stay upright until the very last few moments, when her legs began to slip out from under her, and before she could even realize she was about to fall, Jack had caught her again.

"I hate you," she whispered. "I bloody hate you."

"Don't say that," Jack whispered back. Gwen couldn't help but shiver slightly as his breath tickled her ear. She wasn't quite sure she had a crush on Jack per se, but there most definitely was something between them. "If you hated me, you would've let go of my hand about three loops ago."

"Yeah…" She felt dizzy, and it was now becoming quite clear to her that this was just as much because of the fact Jack had spun her around without warning as it was that Jack had spun her around without warning.

"You alright?" Jack turned around so he could look at her properly. "You look like you're about to pass out."

"I'm fine," she muttered. "Think I should sit down for a minute."

"Yeah, sure," he grinned, and he led her over to a bench to the side. "Sending you flying probably wasn't the nicest thing to do, was it?"

"No, it really wasn't." Gwen tried to glare at him, but she just couldn't, not when he was giving her that look, a mix of sorry and not-sorry that got her to smile each time it lit up his impossibly gorgeous face. She sighed, resting her elbows on her knees and her cheeks in her palms, feeling both utterly defeated and overwhelmingly victorious as she faced the truth.

"What's going on?" Jack asked, giving Gwen's arm a playful nudge.

"Nothing," she replied quickly. "I'm fine."

"What is it, Gwen?" he asked gently. She looked up to see that his sorry-not-sorry face had been replaced by one full of care and concern. There was a fluttering in her stomach as she realized that she had never been looked at quite like that before. Sure, Rhys looked at her in some sort of similar fashion, but never quite like this.

I must be seeing things, she thought. No way in hell he could be looking at me like that. Just… no. No. Come on, Gwen, snap out of it. Won't do you any good to be delusional.

Jack watched Gwen with curiosity, wondering what she could be thinking about. It was clear she was frustrated, although what or whom at, he couldn't tell. He worried that perhaps he had done more damage by scaring her than he'd originally thought… But this was Gwen. She was the closest thing to fearless he had ever seen, and that included the Doctor and Rose and Martha… He looked over at Ianto and received nothing but a shrug. Shit, he thought. If Ianto has nothing, I'm screwed.

"I want to go again," she said suddenly. "Come with me?"

"Gladly," he grinned, and he helped her up. "I won't spin you again, I promise."

"You'd better not, or else I'll… okay, scratch that."

"Oh, Gwen, you poor thing, working for an immortal asshole," Jack teased. "Come on, let's skate."

Three hours later…

"How was work today?" Rhys asked as Gwen walked through the door.

"Great," Gwen grinned. "One of the best days I've had."

"Really? Why?"

"I dunno, it was just… good…" Gwen was hoping beyond hope she wasn't blushing, because when she did, it was glaringly obvious.

"You're never going to tell me what you do at that crazy place, are you?" Rhys sighed. "Sometimes, I don't think I want to know."

Gwen laughed. "You really don't."

Hey guys! I had a lot of fun writing this one. Hope you guys liked!

Read, review, favorite, and follow!

Ofelia