Never Let You Down
"Have I ever let you down?"
She can't stay still. She can't stand for fear of her legs collapsing under her, she can't sit for the urge to be on her feet, pacing.
She does an awful lot of pacing. She does a lot of sleeping, too – down in that cold morgue. But she doesn't know what else to do; she's not giving up on him yet.
The days come and go, as do the rest of the team. Tosh, Ianto and even Owen seem to take it in turns to wait with her. Ianto brings her coffee- he waits with her longer than the other two- and she can't help but feel guilty as he tries to hide his pain from her and the rest of the world. Owen brings her uncomfortable silences; he stands at the entrance to the room, opening and closing his mouth now and then. He tries several times to say something, but every time he thinks better of it and slinks back upstairs. Tosh brings her news; papers and reports and reminds her every time of how long she has been down here. She tries to convince her to let go, and every time Gwen says no.
Because Gwen Cooper believes in Captain Jack Harkness.
And she knows he has never let her down. If there's just one thing she knows about him, that is it. She doesn't know who he is, where he's come from, why he's there or even what his real name is. But she knows he won't disappoint her, and so she clings to that.
Once, she overhears the others talking about her.
"How long is she gonna keep this up?"
As long as it takes, she answers quietly to herself.
But one day she remembers something else he said to her, right at the beginning, all those months and months ago.
"Go home, Gwen Cooper. Eat lasagne, kiss your boyfriend, be normal – for me."
And so she grasps his cold hand, leans over his pale white face and kisses him goodbye.
She will follow the Captain's orders – she won't let him down. She walks from his side for the last time and has almost reached the door when she hears him.
"Thank you."
She is back beside him before she ever realises she has turned around. She kisses him again, tears of joy trickling down her face as she pulls away.
"You've never let me down." She tells him happily.
"I know." He says, grinning back at her. "And neither have you."