I do not own torchwood and if I did things would be like this…

Owen, Tosh, Ianto, Jack and Gwen sat around the conference table contemplating the latest case they had come across. It was nothing serious but the rift seemed to be behaving itself lately and so alien hunting was slow. There were sheets scattered around the table aswell as pizza boxes. Every one was eating except Owen- he couldn't eat, drink or do anything which was 'fun' in his opinion. When Tosh had suggested reading a book, the look he had given her should have resulted in a pile of ashes where she had once stood.

The conversation was light and friendly not really related to work at all. The rest of the hub was sealed of through the big door which led out to the hallway. Ianto gave an uncharacteristic snort at a joke that Jack had told him and this resulted in the rest of the table joining in on the laughter.

A noise cut their laughter short; the door had been slammed open.

In the doorway stood a young woman, her hair was shoulder length and dirty blond, at least it would have been if there hadn't been dried blood and dirt crusted into it. She was skinny, almost too skinny and her clothes were also soaked with blood, the red cutting into the plain white t-shirt in a shocking contrast. Her black faded jeans were by no means clean but they were better than the rest of her appearance. Her face was the most shocking. Deep bruises circled her delicate features, and the areas of skin which were untouched by the blue and purple marks were deathly pale. Bags were under her eyes showing the tiredness which was only so obvious by the way she was propped up on the door frame. Her eyes were misted but still shone through with a beautiful blue hue. Silence greeted her appearance.

'Who are you?' Jack was the first to recover and he asked the question they were all dying to know.

'My name is Olivia, its nice to meet you' and with that the frail girl collapsed to the floor in a heap.

Owen was the closest and therefore was able to catch the mysterious visitor as she tumbled towards the wooden floor boards. He managed to get a tight hold on her shoulders and slowed her decent so that her head didn't smash down and break her fall.

Unsure of what to do he lowered her to the ground and did a primary search over her to check if she was alright. He then turned to talk to the rest of the team.

'She's unconscious but breathing, she probably needs medical help as she may have internal injuries aswell as the visible external ones, do you want me to carry her to the medical bay?' His question was directed at Jack but it was Gwen who answered.

'No, we should probably just take her to a hospital, leave her there. After all she really isn't of any importance to us' her tone was light and informative but there was a look of superiority in her eyes as she looked down her nose at the girl.

Jack shot Gwen one of his looks and then turned to reply to Owens question.

'Take her down there right away and see what you can do for her, she isn't looking too healthy at the moment. The minute she is conscious again call us and we will determine whether she is strong enough to answer a few questions. I want to know how she got in here without the alarms going of.'

With that he left the room calling Tosh with him to check the security alerts from the last ten minutes. Owen picked Olivia up and carried her from the room easily as she weighed so little. Ianto walked ahead opening the doors for the medic as he transported his patient to the medical area of the hub. Gwen followed next to Owen chatting to him about things he just wasn't paying attention to.

Upon reaching the medical bay, Dr Harper snapped into action performing all the necessary tests. Gwen stood by still talking, but this time Owen heard a bit of what she had said and realised she was complaining about Rhys being annoying and complaining about her hours at Torchwood. He really couldn't blame Rhys, that man was absolutely infatuated with Gwen for reasons unknown to Owen because he just found her whiny and annoying. But still Rhys was a good man and ever since he had found out about Torchwood he was worried about her safety, it was sweet but of course Gwen didn't know the meaning of sweet.

The inner rant in Owen's head had blocked out Gwen's incessant complaining, but as soon as it ended the sound of her petulant voice flooded over him and he found it hard to concentrate on the unconscious girl.

'Gwen would you shut up!' he finally snapped and he heard her huff and stomp off up the stairs. A minute passed before the doctor heard the sound of footsteps again but they were light and he doubted it was Gwen.

This thought was confirmed when he heard the lilting welsh accent that belonged to Ianto.

'Is she alright,' he sounded worried

'She is severely dehydrated, has food deficiency, sleep deficiency and external bruising from what I can see. I haven't done thorough visual check yet though, only blood tests.'

The medic reached forward to lift the hem of the unconscious girl's blood soaked t-shirt to find the source of the bleeding.

'Touch my shirt and I swear that I will kill you when I have gotten better!'

Both Owen and Ianto gasped and Owen jumped backwards smashing into his tray of surgical equipment in the process. With a large crash the tools went flying in all directions and Owen was left sprawled on the floor.

The sound of the scattered surgical tools alerted the whole hub to the fact that something had happened and they sprinted to the observation platform. They got there in time to see Ianto standing by the wall looking slightly shocked, Owen getting to his feet while avoiding the sharp metal blades of his tools. Olivia was propped up on her elbow looking down on him while she chuckled softly to herself. When he got to his feet Owen brushed himself down and turned to Jack looking slightly embarrassed but hiding it well.

'She's awake.'

'I can see that Owen, I can also see that you probably weren't expecting it.' Jack sniggered as Owen scowled but chose to ignore the comment.

'I think that she won't be strong enough to answer questions till she has had something to eat and drink, had a rest and perhaps a shower- no offense love.' He turned back to Olivia as he said the last bit, smirking at her.

'None taken Mr Harper, but I don't think I should have a shower until I have cleaned the wounds.'

'What wounds?' it was Tosh who had asked and so Olivia turned to face her as she answered. She pulled the top of her shirt to the side revealing five neat bullet holes in her shoulder. Owen whipped around to get some antiseptic and applied it to the holes. He apologised when she hissed in discomfort as the liquid touched her delicate skin. He noted that they had stopped bleeding and that they were already starting to heal. There was no sign of infection luckily.

The alarm went off suddenly and Jack and Gwen were called out because of a Weevil which had suddenly emerged but Owen was told to stay behind to look after Olivia.

After he had cleaned the wounds he sent her to have a rest on the couch in the main hub, she was reluctant but too exhausted to protest for long and soon she was fast asleep curled up under a soft blanket. Owen sat close by doing some paper work he hadn't done yet, but most of his attention was on the sleeping girl. She seemed familiar, but he didn't know why. Her sleep was peaceful except for a couple of murmured words which were lost into the pillow.

When she woke, Olivia was quickly herded into the small bathroom that was in the hub, and she got into the shower. Owen insisted that the door was left open in case she slipped or fell unconscious again. He heard her sigh contentedly as the warm water washed away the traces of blood that was plastered in her hair and on her skin. Owen felt a wave of jealousy creep over him but he pushed it away. He shouldn't feel resentful just because he was no longer able to feel the therapeutic droplets washing away the troubles of his life if only for a moment. He was brought out of his thoughts when he heard the water snap of. Seconds later he heard the hairdryer switch on and he lapsed back into thought.

The door opened, and once again the sudden action had startled the usually aware doctor. He wasn't sure what was leaving him so unobservant but he knew he had been deep in thought about the mysterious girl. All they knew about her was that she was called Olivia, something bad had happened to her (the bullet wounds and bruises showed that) and that she was human (Owen had put her through a scanner and it had detected no weapons or alien energy, she was 100% human).

He looked up to see Olivia come out of the humid bathroom. She was looking much better. Her hair was clean and floated around her shoulders; it was lighter blonde than he had originally thought with the blood in it. The bruises still showed but they made less impact on her face now the rest of her skin was slightly flushed. The bags under her eyes had become less defined and she had changed her clothes. Tosh had had some spare clothes at the hub and had graciously lent them to the petite girl who was about the same size. The clothes fit well. She wore black skinny jeans and a simple black vest with a blue button up shirt over the top which she had left unbuttoned. Overall she looked much healthier.

'How're you feeling?'

'Better thanks.' She replied smiling happily at Owen 'thank you for looking after me so well'

He nodded his acknowledgement and gestured for her to continue down the hallway, and when she did he followed. They went back up into the hub and found Tosh and Ianto discussing something through the communicators, which were linked with Gwen and Jack.

'… Oh they have just come up… yeah she looks better… see you in five.' Tosh clicked off the communication and turned to Olivia.

'Wow you look really pretty, the clothes suit you.' Olivia faintly blushed before asking

'Where did my clothes go?' It was Ianto that answered

'We're having them washed, I hope you don't mind. Frankly they smelt really bad infact Jack thought we should burn them but we thought you probably wouldn't appreciate that.' Olivia burst out laughing, holding her shoulder lightly as she giggled, everyone looked at her curiously but she shook her head as an answer and tried to compose herself.

The cog door rolled open and Gwen and Jack stepped in, they were looking ragged and had scratches all over themselves.

'Hey, you guys look worse than me now.' Jack looked up at Olivia and chuckled while Gwen just looked disgusted at the comment.

'I guess we do. Anyway you look a lot better now, do you think that maybe we could ask you a few questions?' Olivia knew that the captain wasn't really asking but she decided to make it easier by agreeing.

Tosh turned around to retrieve something off of her desk; it looked like a complicated piece of alien equipment. Part of it was dome shaped and Tosh placed it on Olivia's head and she felt it tighten naturally around her.

'I always did suit hats,' she muttered and saw four smiles appear, but Gwen continued to scowl.

'It's a lie detector, but it is alien tech and so is highly effective, no one can lie to this beauty.' Tosh said as she lovingly stroked the machine. She flicked a switch and it buzzed to life.

'Shall we begin?' Again it was one of Jack's rhetorical questions and Olivia didn't answer.

'Your name?'

'Olivia Daniels' the light flashed green

'How did you get into Torchwood?'

'I don't know.' Again the light flashed green. The whole team looked confused and worried.

'How can you not know?' It wasn't really a question but Olivia answered anyway.

'I was unconscious.' There was more confused silence, as the green light didn't flicker.

'Ok we aren't getting anywhere here; you obviously don't know anything so why are we wasting out time?' It was Gwen who spoke, she strode towards the lie detector and switched it of. There was a yell of pain from Olivia as the switch was pressed and Tosh dove forward to switch it back.

'What happened?' Ianto queried looking puzzled at the yelp of hurt that had come from the girl.

'It needs time to warm down, it is connected to the brain and if you remove it too fast it can result in brain damage.'

'Oh I feel much safer now.'

'Don't worry it hadn't been fully removed and so your brain is still intact.'

'Yay' the green light flashed and everyone laughed.

Jack resumed his place sitting in the chair opposite Olivia.

'Why don't you tell us what has happened that has led you here to Torchwood.'

'Ok, well I have been looking for Torchwood 3 for 4 months and 12 days. Ever since I met a mysterious man, who gave me the 'mission'.' She shushed away the questions that Jack was about to ask. 'Please let me explain and you can ask questions at the end.' Jack pouted but fell quiet. 'Thank you. Anyway it took me a long time to find out where you were located in Cardiff and I may have gotten slightly distracted on the way' she added sheepishly.

'Anyway 7 days ago I was walking down the street intending to go to the wolf bar but I was sidetracked by someone shouting in pain and an animalistic growl. I went to help out the person who screamed and found a woman being attacked by what I think you called a, um, weevil?' After Jack nodded at the name Olivia continued.

'I helped the woman knock the beast out cold and then turned to talk to her. We had a nice chat about this and that, and I happened to mention my mission and what it involved because I knew she could help me. Next thing I know I've been shot in the shoulder 5 times and am drifting unconscious. The last thing I remembered was the woman leaning over me and removing the thing I was supposed to be delivering to you. I woke up that evening, I think, and that then led me here 7 days later.'

Everyone had notices that the green light was still on. They looked up at Olivia expectantly but she had stopped talking.

'That still doesn't explain how you got in here.'

'Oh I forgot to mention, when I woke up I was locked in the Torchwood basement. I'm only 7 days late because it took me a while to escape' The stunned silence that followed made Olivia want to laugh but she just allowed herself a small smile.

'H-how?'

'Because that bitch is the one who shot me.' She was pointing at Gwen who was looking furious and worried at the stares she was getting.

'Why are you looking at me like that, of course she's lying to you!'

'Gwen,' said Jack very quietly 'she is hooked up to a lie detector how would she lie?'

Gwen stood there all the colour draining from her face as the truth sunk into her companions. There was something that still bothered Ianto though.

'Who sent you to find us, and why?' his question reminded the others that they still didn't have all the answers. They turned back to face the younger girl who was still sitting patiently in the chair strapped up to the machine.

Instead of answering she said 'Where is it?' Everyone noticed that she was talking to Gwen. When the welsh woman didn't answer Olivia's voice went really quiet and threatening. 'Tell me where it is Gwen Cooper,' she growled and Gwen reluctantly moved over to her desk and removing a small glass bottle. Owen, who had been following Gwen to make sure she didn't attempt to escape, took the bottle and tossed it to Olivia who caught it neatly. She then began the story.

'4 months and 12 days ago something happened which you al know about but probably don't know I know about. Owen died.' There was a group noise of shock which made Olivia want to laugh again, she always wanted to laugh at the wrong time. 'Anyway what you don't know is that on the same day, at the same exact moment in time two other beings died, I say beings because one of them wasn't human.'

'But that's not possible; people can't die at the same time.'

'I beg to differ captain and as I said no interruptions.' She said looking put out. 'One of the other beings was me, and the other a lord of time.' Jack gasped at the revelation and this time the laugh couldn't be contained, the look on the Torchwood team's faces was too much.

'So yes as Jack had rightly guessed the Doctor died/ regenerated at the same point. The Doctor is always in his tardis when he regenerates and this is because when he regenerates he travels to death and back. There is a place you go before you die, just for a split second, and normally you are there alone. You breathe your last breath and then travel on to where ever you go next.

'We, however, were all there together and when we let out our last breath it went into the tardis instead of where it was meant to go. This meant that we couldn't travel on to the next stage because we were technically still alive and so we were dumped back here half living half dead.

'The Doctor however worked out what had happened and managed to isolate our 'spirits' of sorts, then he set out to find us. He found me first and restored me to my living glory, but he was being tracked by some sort of creature who could smell the life energy and wanted it. He gave me Owen's 'spirit' and left to lead the creature away. That is why I came to find Torchwood, I just stumbled across the wrong member.'

The look of fury in the eyes of each member was knee buckling. Gwen was shaking her head and making puppy-dog eyes at her team.

'The machine must be broken it's not true, any of it. Who are you going to believe some dumb blonde or your best member of Torchwood?' The team turned around to look at Olivia and Gwen went to stand with them looking triumphant in her deceiving. Owen walked forward and reached for the bottle. It was passed to him gently, his unfeeling hands were shaking slightly.

'How do I do it?' he asked and Gwen's smile faltered slightly.

'Just inhale.' He uncorked the lid and inhaled, the room froze. Then Owen started gasping and choking, doubling over.

'Breathe Owen breathe, you need oxygen in your body!' The choking quietened as the young doctor remembered the fundamental act of breathing. He straightened up grinning widely around the room. His eyes fell on Gwen.

'Why Gwen? Why did you shoot her? Why did you keep me in this miserable life when you had the power to do something about it?' Gwen stayed silent

'I can answer that,' Olivia was standing right behind Owen, Tosh had slowly warmed down the lie detector and taken it off. 'Even in spirit form a basic version of communication and strong emotions can be felt. Gwen knew you didn't want her and so she kept your spirit so no one else could have you either.'

'Selfish BITCH,' Owen roared at the welsh girl and everyone turned on her, advancing menacingly. But Owen stumbled and came to a stop everyone looked at him.

'His memories when he was in spirit form are probably coming in right about no. Sometimes there is a bit of a delay.' All the Torchwood 3 team including Olivia and excluding Gwen, who was looking for a way to escape, watched Owen straightened up. His eyes were wide and joyous, scanning the room till they landed on the blonde girl next to him. He grinned like the Cheshire Cat, a smile that no one had seen the grumpy, young doctor smile before in his eyes.

'Strong emotions can be felt?' Olivia nodded hope in her eyes as she wondered what was going through Owen's mind. She didn't have to wait long though as he spun towards her, bringing his hands to her face and crashing his lips to hers. The kiss was passionate but loving and both participants poured the same amount of emotion into it.

They barely looked up as they heard Gwen attempt to run towards the door, she didn't make it far as Jack and Ianto both sprung into action, Ianto blocking the door and Jack rugby tackling Gwen to the floor. Together they dragged Gwen kicking and screaming to the cells as Owen and Olivia kissed again.

I hope you enjoyed this one shot, I love Owen and hate Gwen its as simple as that, but everyone is entitled to their own views so tell me yours by reviewing.