Owen looked up from the file he was reading when a noise caught his attention. "Gwen? Ianto?" He called out from his own little notch in Torchwood, the autopsy-bay. With a sigh, he pushed himself away from his desk, Gwen had managed to get him a new one, and move out of autopsy and into the central area of the hub. "Did you hear something a minute ago, Tosh?" He asked the only other occupant at the moment.
Tosh looked away from her computer screen and focused on the man she was head over heels in love with. "Heard what?"
"If I knew that I wouldn't be asking you, now would I?" Owen said as he rolled his eyes. Tosh may have been a genius but boy did she act thick somethings or maybe it wasn't asking, he didn't really know. "It sounded like a...eh...thump?" He elaborated when his teammate sent him a withering look.
"You heard a thump?" Tosh asked, skeptically. It wasn't uncommon for Owen to hear things, especially now that he was technically dead. "You know where it came from?"
Owen shrugged and leaned his hip against the corner of her desk. "Out here somewhere, I'd imagine." He motioned around the empty hub with his hand. "You sure you didn't hear anything?"
Tosh gave him a sympathetic look before shaking her head. "Sorry." She really did sound sorry that she hadn't heard whatever it was he had. "Maybe it's your mind playing tricks on you?" She suggested.
"Yeah, maybe." Owen agreed, absentmindedly, as he heard the same sound again. "Don't suppose you heard that either?"
Just as she was about to turn back to her work she heard what sounded like a thump coming from Gwen's office. "That's strange." Tosh tried to pull up the feed from the office but all she got was snow. "I know it isn't Gwen or Ianto, they called to say they were running late and would be in as soon as they could."
Owen frowned. "Maybe we got ghosties, aye? Other than me, that is." The alarms didn't go off so he knew they didn't have an intruder so what was making then noise? "Suppose one of us should go have a look?" He waited a moment then motioned towards the office with his head. "Go on then."
Tosh rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. "Me? Why does it have to be me? You go."
"I don't want to go." Owen held his ground, secretly enjoying the banter playing out between them. He couldn't help but notice the changes in Tosh, she was flourishing under Gwen's leadership, they all were actually. Gone was the shy, easily fluttered, girl and in her place was a self confidant woman. "Fine, I'll go but if I get my head ate off, you have to be the one to explain to Gwen why her Doctor is not only the living dead but the headless dead as well." With a huff he headed towards the office.
"Owen!" Tosh waited until he turned before tossing him her weapon. "Try not to lose your head, I'd hate to be the one to have to clean it up." She then returned her eyes to her computer screen.
Owen easily caught the flying weapon. "Funny, Tosh, very funny. Remind me to laugh later, alright?" He crept closer to the office and taking a deep breath, something he really didn't need to do since he was dead, he flung himself inside, gun aimed to shot whatever was nosing around. "It's worse than I expected." He mumbled and lowered the gun, slightly, when he came face to face with his former leader, Captain Jack Harkness. Staring for a moment, he turned and called down the stairs. "We have an infestation, Tosh, can you get me a really big can of bug spray?"
Tosh didn't even bother to stop what she was doing as she called back. "You have two legs, get it yourself!"
Turning back around, Owen eyed Jack. "Hello Jack, long time no see." He crossed his arms over his chest, weapon hanging loosely in his hand just in case he wanted to use it for shits and giggles. "What brings you by? Forget something when up and disappeared four years ago? Toothbrush? Comb? Saying goodbye to your team?"
"Hello to you too, Owen." Jack said with his trademark rakish grin. "Yes, it is good to be back, thanks for asking." He turned away from Owen and continued to rummage through the desk drawers, pulling each one out with a thump.
Owen watched him for a moment before speaking again. "Gwen is going to be pissed that you're going through her drawers. She likes things neat and tidy."
Jack looked up with an unreadable expression on his face. "You'd know all about what Gwen likes, wouldn't you?" He pushed the last drawer closed, not finding what he was looking for. "So Gwen's in charge? Thought you'd take up my overly large mantle."
"Nawh, didn't need the stress." Owen tucked the weapon into his belt and sauntered over to the desk where he perched on the corner. He then chuckled at the irony. "So I'll ask again, what brings you by our lowly corner of the universe, hm?"
"It was my time to come back." Jack answered, dismissively, as he sat down in hi...Gwen's...chair. "And I missed you guys." He looked around the office and wondered how he missed the subtle changes when he first arrived. Gone was his clutter and in it's place was organized chaos. His eyes were drawn to a desk in the corner that was just as tidy as the one he was sitting behind. "Gwen hire an assistant?" He asked, cheekily.
Owen followed his eyes and left them linger for a moment or two. "That's Ianto's desk. Gwen got us all new desks and in Ianto's case, a desk period." A secretive smile turned the corner of his lips up. "She just can't tell him no and I know the same goes for him." He reached down and picked up a small soft football that was laying on the desk.
Jack watched Owen then raised an eyebrow when he picked up a football. "You guys get a pet while I was gone?" He looked around the floor for any signs of an animal but found none. All that stood out, really, was a colorful chest that said behind Ianto's desk.
"Don't know if they'd enjoy you calling him a pet but you never know. I say go for it! All Gwen can do is shoot you." Owen tossed the ball in the air and caught it. The secretive smile was back again.
Before Jack could ask anymore questions the lights and sirens at the hub door went off signaling the arrival of someone.
Owen was on his feet and out the door within seconds, the football discarded on the desk once again. "Did you have fun today?" He said in way of a greeting as he descended the stairs.
"We had a blast, didn't we Ianto?" Gwen's smile was reflected on Ianto's face.
"That we did, fair lady." Ianto's smile reached his eyes causing them to sparkle like diamonds.
"Did you bring us anything?" Tosh asked, looking up from her computer.
Gwen slipped out of her coat which was promptly taken by by Ianto to hang up along with his own. "Course we did." She bent down and picked up the bag she dropped when removing her coat. "Fish and chips for Tosh and a girlie magazine for the dead man." She said fondly as she handed the bag to Owen.
"This months issue?" Owen asked as he opened the bag and pulled out his prize. He then handed the bag to Tosh, oh how he wished he could still eat. "You'll tell me how it was?" He asked her.
Tosh smiled and took the bag. "Of course." She opened it and dug into her dinner.
Nobody noticed the figure lingering up the stairs, no one except Owen.
Owen knelt down. "And did you have fun today, little O?"
It just so happened that little O was the nickname of one Owen William Jones, three year old son of Gwen and Ianto.
"Fun!" Little Owen said with as much enthusiasm as a three year old could muster. "Fun ducks!" He wrapped his little arms around his Uncles neck. "Up!"
"You got to feed the ducks, did you?" Owen stood up with the boy in his arms and motioned with his head towards the office.
Getting the message, Gwen followed Owen up the stairs. "What do you need to talk about?" She stopped dead, just inside the door, when her eyes landed on Jack. She was silent for a moment before speaking "You're back." It was flat statement said without any emotion behind it. Gathering her wits about her, she frowned. "You back for good or just visiting?"
"For good." Jack answered, his eyes glued to the toddler in Owen's arms. "You have a son?"
"I do." Gwen nodded once as she took the boy from Owen and sat him on the floor. "Go play while the grown ups talk, okay love?"
Little Owen nodded his head once before heading straight to his colorful toy box that sat beside his fathers desk. He got to work selecting which toys he wanted to play with and which ones would be the easiest to put away once he was through with them.
Jack was floored. He expected things to be different but not this different. "Rhys allows you to bring him here?"
Owen snorted then excused himself under the guise of telling Tosh and Ianto the good news.
"Did I say something funny?" Jack questioned once Owen was gone.
Gwen motioned for him to sit in one of the guest chairs as she moved around the desk and took her place behind it. "Rhys has nothing to say about my son. Well, actually, he has a lot to say about him, he just doesn't have a say in how I raise him or where I take him." She paused. "Owen isn't Rhys' child."
Jack blinked. "Owen? You named your son, Owen? Is that junior or..." Now he was confused. If Rhys wasn't the father then who was? The boy sure didn't act as though Owen was his father.
"No, he isn't a bloody junior. He isn't Owen's either. Little Owen was named after the man that delivered him, nothing more." Gwen explained.
"O...okay. If Rhys isn't the father and Owen isn't the father, then who is the father?" Jack wanted to know.
Ianto, having been filled in by Owen, stepped into the office just in time to hear Jack's question. "I am."
"Daddy play?" Little Owen looked up at hearing his fathers voice.
Jack blinked and rubbed his temples. Okay, so the two people he loved now had a child together. When had that happened? How? "So you two are...together?"
Gwen looked up at Ianto and smiled. "It was awkward at first. I mean...Owen wasn't exactly conceived through traditional means. We were abducted by a group of aliens, as cliche as that sounds, and they performed all sorts of tests and experiments on us before Owen and Tosh found us. It wasn't until three weeks later that I found out that I was pregnant. You can be certain that I was freaked. I thought I was carrying another bloody alien baby as did Rhys when I told him. He went completely ballistic and demanded that I quit Torchwood. He gave me a choice, either Torchwood or our marriage. I had no idea what to do. I loved him but how could I give up Torchwood after everything I had seen? Things got worse after Owen determined that the child was fully human and belonged to me and Ianto. How could I stay with Rhys after I found out I was carrying another mans child? So I made my choice. I picked Torchwood and I thank the stars every night that I did. Anyways, like I said, it was awkward at first but as the months wore on, we grew closer until one day he flat out asked me out." She gave Ianto a soft smile.
"In a few moments, little O." Ianto answered his sons question before focusing on the conversation at hand. "I told her that since she was already carrying my child, the least I could do was take her to dinner. She conceded and we've been together ever since. We married two weeks before our son was born, I was adamant that he not be born a bastard. She took my name and intern gave it to our child. She made me the happiest man on this planet." He smiled at his wife then moved to play with their child.
"A lot has changed, hasn't it?" Jack asked, feeling saddened that he had missed so much.
"Yes, it has." Gwen acknowledged. "But at the same time, a lot has stayed the same." She motioned out the door with her hand. "We're still Torchwood and we still hunt aliens. And we've missed you, Captain Jack Harkness. If you ever leave again, I'll hunt you down and feed you to Janet, understood?"
Jack smiled. "Aye, aye, ma'am!" He saluted her and smiled. Maybe things would be okay after all. He may have lost Gwen and Ianto but at least they were together and happy. He couldn't ask more for his one time lovers.