elmo-doodle: this is the first part of a fanfiction that i have posted up elsewhere on the net, and i decided that i should post it up here on as well! i'm definately going to finish it, and i've already got the second part started. it was only going to be a oneshot, but then i realised that it was 8,352 words long, and i wasn't even halfway through, lol. it will probably be a 3-part story, although it could end up being in two parts, depending on how much i want to write. i'm pretty new to the whole Torchwood fanfiction bit, but this story seemed popular on one of the other sites i have posted it on!
warnings: swearing. implied slash. romance. fluff.
disclaimer: if i owned Torchwood, then i would also own Doctor Who. sadly, i own neither, so all i have is my PLOT!!
spoilers?: im not so sure about this one myself lol. there are no immediate spoilers inside this. it does not take Reset in to account, nor Exit Wounds cries so, in short, Owen is not dead. YES!
summary: After a run-in with an unkown piece of machinery, two of the Torchwood team find themselves temporarialy changed into their younger days. The rest of the team tries to find a way to help them change back with some outside help, whilst the two temporarily transformed kids find themselves reconnecting with each other.
THOSE YOUNGER DAYS
PART ONE
Jack wondered how to even begin to explain what had happened on their investigation. An unusual spike in energy had sent Jack, Gwen, Tosh and Owen on a trip to a dodgy-looking neighbourhood and an equally dodgy-looking warehouse. They did the usual sneaking in, finding out what was happening and stop it. The last part of their routine didn't go so well. Yes, they had managed to stop it, but something happened which shouldn't have happened. This something had left two of Jack's team members in states of fury, and the other in uncontainable laughter. Jack would laugh later, for sure, but right now he had to act professional.
When they finally arrived back at the tourist centre, Jack received death-glares from two of the team, when asked if they needed some help getting inside. He obligingly let them handle it themselves, but he couldn't stop the ghost of a smirk appearing on his face. This earned him a kick in the shin.
"Sir!" Ianto called when they arrived in the hub. "Is everything all right? The energy readings went off the scale not too long ago, but then it disappeared. What happened?"
"We managed to stop the machine which was creating the readings from doing anymore damage," Jack told Ianto as the team walked towards them, "but the plan did backfire on us slightly."
Ianto frowned in questioning. "Sir?" All he got as a reply was Gwen's giggles. After a few seconds he noticed something. "Where are Tosh and Owen."
Jack couldn't help smirking again as Gwen started laughing. Jack moved aside to let Ianto see what had become of the other two team members. Ianto looked down at them in shock before letting out a small, "Ah."
There, behind where Jack had previously stood, were Tosh and Owen, but not in the same condition that they had left in before the mission. Instead, there were two children around the age of four and five; one little Japanese girl with hair that just came past her shoulders, smiling self-consciously up at Ianto; and one little boy, whose arms where folded and was giving a glare that would cut metal.
"As you can see," Jack said, contain his laughter, "something went wrong."
The little boy agreed with some colourful language.
--
"What happened?" Ianto asked when they were all seated in the meeting room.
"What do you think happened?!" toddler Owen asked, in a higher voice than Ianto was used to. "We go into the warehouse, find the machine, shut it down, and then it decides to zap me and Tosh, changing us into bloody children!"
"A boy your age shouldn't be using that kind of language," Gwen said teasingly. Owen responded with a rude gesture.
"Is there anything we can do?" Ianto asked Jack, who was watching all of this with amusement.
"I'm not sure," he replied honestly. Owen, unsatisfied with the answer, began to huff. "I've got a friend I can contact to help us sort this one out, but until I can reach him, we on our own."
"They appear to have their adult memories," Gwen said. "All that seems to be changed is their age."
"All that we know of," Jack corrected. "When my friends get here, we'll be able to learn more."
Ianto nodded. He glanced over at Tosh. "You've been very quiet," he said to her.
Little Toshiko smiled nervously and nodded.
"Toshiko can't speak English anymore," Jack told him. "She didn't learn English until she was about 13 and right now she seems to be about four."
"But if she has her adult memories, why can she not remember English?" Ianto asked.
Jack shrugged. "I'm not sure, but she can understand what we say. She just can't speak, read or write it, somehow."
Tosh sighed sadly, and Owen spared a pitying glance in her direction.
"So, what do we do now?" Owen asked.
Jack grinned in a way that Owen did not like.
--
"You're doing WHAT?!"
Jack tried not to laugh in Owen's face, but he was finding it increasingly difficult. "I'm leaving you and Toshiko here, in Ianto's flat, while the rest of us are at work. It's too risky to bring toddlers to Torchwood."
"But we have our memories!" Owen argued, stubbornly. "We're still the same just…smaller!"
"And being smaller will put you at risk," Jack said, firmly. "Owen, you'll hardly be able to beat up an attacker right now." When Owen didn't say anything, Jack continued: "I can't let the two of you work when you're in this condition." Tosh nodded in understanding, and Owen fumed silently. "You can watch TV and play the games that Ianto has left out. He said there's some milk in the fridge and some bananas and some bread, too." Jack rolled his eyes at the still steaming Owen, and gently ruffled the hair of Tosh. She giggled. "I'll be back before midnight." With that, Jack opened the door to Ianto's flat and closed it behind him as he left, locking it from the other side.
Owen sighed and looked at the clock, swearing when he saw that there were twelve hours to kill.
He turned around to face Tosh. "Well? What do you want to do?"
Tosh shrugged her shoulders and looked away.
Owen sighed and walked past her. "There's nothing stopping you from talking, you know?" he said as he walked in to the living room, Tosh following behind him. "So what if we can't understand you." Tosh just nodded. Owen rolled his eyes. "It's as if you don't want us to hear you speak Japanese!"
Owen grabbed the remote for the TV and tossed it up on to the sofa, which he clambered up on to. Once he got seated, he saw Tosh struggling to get up. They were only a year apart in age, but the transformation had made Tosh a bit smaller in height than Owen. Feeling sorry for her, Owen scooted across the sofa and gave her a hand up. When Tosh was finally settled, she muttered a soft "Arigato," and became quiet once more. Owen sighed and turned the TV on
It was going to be a long day.
--
"Are you sure it's okay to leave them alone?" Gwen asked as she followed Jack around to hub.
"They'll be fine," Jack assured her. "So long as they don't escape Ianto's apartment, they'll be safe." With a grin, he added: "Don't worry, they can't even reach the door handle."
Gwen rolled her eyes and followed Jack in to his office, where Ianto was carefully tidying the desk.
"What if something goes wrong when we're not there?" she asked.
This time, Jack turned around to face her. "Gwen, you're acting like an over-protective mother!"
Gwen frowned at him. "Well, somebody has to, Jack! Right now, they're just kids and for all we know, the longer they stay like that, the more-child-like they'll become."
"They'll be fine," Jack told her. "I've got an expert coming soon, so it won't be long until we get some answers." Jack moved towards his desk and started rummaging in the drawers, much to Ianto's annoyance.
"And who is this expert?" Gwen asked.
"Take a guess," Ianto said as he walked past her on his way out the door.
--
A few hours later, Owen was getting bored of watching the TV. He could tell Tosh was bored too, judging by how she was shifting around every now and then. Picking up the remote control, he switched the television off.
"Are you hungry?" Owen asked Tosh.
Tosh shook her head. At that moment her stomach decided to be noisy as it rumbled, and she blushed and looked away.
Owen smiled a little at her. "Come on," he said as he got off the sofa. "Let's see if we can find something to eat." He helped Tosh get off the sofa and began to walk towards the kitchen, with Tosh following close behind him.
When they got to the kitchen, Owen began looking around. "Maybe in the fridge," he said, and he made his way over to the appliance. Tugging it open, and after a bit of looking around, he triumphantly pulled out a carton of milk. After a little more rummaging he successfully brought out some bread and a banana. "Well, that's that. I wonder where he keeps the mugs?"
Tosh pointed up to a cabinet out of their reach. Through the glass door they could see some mugs, glasses and some plastic cups.
"No problem," Owen said, and he began to push one of the kitchen chairs towards the cabinet. Tosh nervously kept her distance and Owen clambered up on to the chair and stood on it, afraid that if she got too close he might fall off. He carefully opened the cabinet door and, standing up on his tip-toes, he successfully brought out two plastic cups. He closed the door and turned around on the chair. He hadn't noticed that he was standing on the very edge, so when he turned around he lost his footing and he went tumbling to the floor.
"Owen-chan!" Tosh gasped, and she ran around to the chair and kneeled down beside where Owen had fallen. "Daijoubide?"
Owen just grumbled and rubbed his arm as he sat up. "If that means 'are you okay?' then I'm fine," he told her. When he looked up at her, he saw that she had a look of genuine concern on her face. "Are you actually worried about me?" he asked, honestly surprised.
Tosh nodded and a light blush covered her cheeks as she responded: "Hai."
Owen looked confused at her. "…um…hi?" he said uncertainly.
Toshiko giggled at him. Owen smiled slightly at her and, pushing himself up off the floor, he retrieved the plastic cups that he had dropped. "Come on," he said, and he began to push two chairs towards the counter in the middle of the kitchen. "Let's make something to eat."
--
"You mean he's actually gotten in contact with this Doctor?" Gwen asked Ianto, astounded.
"Yes," Ianto said as he made some coffee. "It's his wrist-com. It must have some special button which allows him to reach the Doctor."
Gwen nodded and watched as Ianto began to stir the coffee. "Have you ever met the Doctor before?"
Ianto stopped stirring for a second. "I saw him at the battle of Canary Wharf."
Gwen immediately regretted asking. "I'm sorry," she said, touching his arm.
Ianto just nodded and continued making the coffee. "He's a mysterious man, and he used to be seen as a threat to Torchwood, since it was because of him that Queen Victoria set up Torchwood after an incident with a werewolf."
"Seriously?" Gwen asked. "A werewolf?"
Ianto smiled and turned around, carrying the tray of coffee with him. "I'm serious."
"Any other mythical creatures I should know about?" Gwen asked, following him out of the kitchen.
"Oh, a few," Ianto said, making his way to Jack's office. "Vampires, dragons, trolls, unicorns…and gremlins."
"Gremlins?" Gwen repeated, a little disbelievingly. "You're having me on."
"Oh, no," Ianto told her, teasingly. "The gremlins are the worst. Don't get them wet or feed them after midnight. If you do, you're in a lot of trouble. The last gremlin we encountered caused that massive black-out four years ago."
Gwen stopped walking and watched his retreating back. "You're not serious, are you?" she asked when she continued to after him, following the sound of his laughter.
--
"Right, let's see what we can make."
Owen and Tosh were standing on some chairs, which gave them easier access to the kitchen counter. Laid out before them were the cups, the milk, bread and bananas.
"It's not going to be that interesting, I suppose," Owen said as he observed what they had. "So, banana sandwich, then?" He made to begin preparing them, but he felt a tug at his shirt. He looked to see Tosh lightly tugging his shirt and biting her bottom lip. "What is it?" Tosh nodded towards the bananas. Owen understood. "Oh yeah…bananas make you sick. I can't believe I forgot that." Tosh nodded and let go of Owen. "Do you want to see if there's anything…" Owen's eyes suddenly went wide with surprise and horror.
Tosh looked up at him nervously. "Owen-chan?"
Owen's eyes snapped down to hers. "It's nothing," he said, a little weirdly. "Do you want to see if there's anything else besides bananas?"
Tosh shook her head.
Owen sighed. "You don't have to be so shy, you know," he told her, as he reached over to start pouring the cups of milk. "I know we haven't been that close over the past few years, but I've never known you to be shy around me." Once he'd set the milk down, Owen realised that he was missing something. "Crap, I forgot the butter- hang on."
Owen turned around on the chair and wavered dangerously close to the edge. Tosh automatically reached out to steady him, but she wasn't very well balanced herself. The two of them went tumbling down and fell to the floor in a laughing heap.
--
Jack was standing a little impatiently in the hub, with Gwen and Ianto on either side of him. It was coming up to about 6:00pm now, and Jack had said that his friend would be arriving at 5:00pm. There was a tray of empty coffee mugs sitting on a table near them, and Ianto had weighed down any stacks of paperwork that there was.
"They're a little late," Gwen pointed out, after another twenty minutes of waiting.
"I know," Jack said. "It's ironic, isn't it?"
Gwen was about to ask as to why it was ironic, but a strange grating noise had begun to fill the hub. She looked around for the source of the noise and saw that a flashing light had appeared in front of her and the others. She watched in amazement as the light became stronger and a large blue box began to fade in to existence. The noise and the light stopped with a resounding thump, and Gwen saw that she was looking at a very solid and a very real 1950s police box.
The door to the TARDIS was thrown open from the inside, and Gwen watched as a young, blonde woman ran out and threw herself in to Jack's open arms. Jack spun her around and laughed merrily with her, hugging her tight.
"Hey, Doc, where's my 'good-to-see-you' hug?" Jack said to someone else. Gwen spun around to see that another person had exited the box. This man was tall with wild brown hair, dark brown eyes and sporting a wide grin.
The man walked over to Jack and gave him what Gwen would describe as a man-hug. Gwen watched a s Jack smiled and laughed, and she realised that she had never seen Jack looking so happy before.
"Gwen, Ianto," Jack said to his team mates, "This is the Doctor, and this gorgeous young lady is Rose Tyler."
"Careful," the Doctor warned playfully, whilst taking hold of the girl's hand.
Jack held his hands up in defence. "I'm only being polite."
"To you, 'polite' is just foreplay," the Doctor said.
Gwen saw Ianto give a small smirk.
"So, this is Torchwood Three yeah?" Rose said, and Gwen instantly recognised her as a Londoner. "It's a bit…gloomy."
"Hey, it's a good place to get some top-secret work done," Jack said. "Just watch out for the pterodactyl."
"What?" Rose asked, disbelievingly.
"Can I get you anything?" Ianto asked the newcomers.
The Doctor seemed to consider this for a moment. "Some tea would be great, thanks."
"Anything for you, Miss Tyler?"
"Just coffee," Rose said.
"Right," Jack said, "everyone to the meeting room, and I'll explain what's going on."
Gwen nodded and began to show the way to the meeting room.
Rose watched Ianto walk away, and she said to the others, "I'll go help him with the drinks."
"Behave yourself!" Jack called after her. "Don't do anything to my tea-boy!"
--
It was quiet in Ianto's apartment. The fun and laughter from earlier on had died out, leaving a sleepy Owen watching over a sleeping Toshiko. She was curled up on the sofa, using one of the cushions as a pillow, and Owen was sitting further up the sofa from her head. It wasn't long after 6:00pm, and Owen felt like going to bed for the night- and odd occurrence since he didn't usually go to bed until 1 or 2 in the morning. He silently cursed to himself when he realised that since his body was only 5 years old again, and didn't have the stamina of his usual adult body.
He'd had a bit of a shock earlier when he remembered about Tosh's allergy. It was one of the many things that he used to be able to reel off about her, but over the past few years they'd become distant with each other.
Five years ago, when they had started working at Torchwood, Owen and Tosh had hit it off immediately. At the end of each night they would go out for a meal or a drink or just go out for a walk. Over the period of two years they had learnt everything about each other. Owen sighed to himself and wearily rubbed his eyes. He'd been so different back then…
"Tosh, Jack asks if you can send those weevil files to him now," said a 25-year old Owen to Toshiko. "He wants to do a double check on them before tomorrow."
"No problem," Tosh replied, pressing a few buttons at her computer. "There, done!"
"That was quick," Owen mused as he watched her shut off the computer and begin to gather up her bags.
"I had already created the email to send Jack before I left," Tosh said, turning around to face Owen. "You see, I think ahead like that," she teased him.
"Ahh, clever," he responded, playfully. "Maybe you could teach me that trick."
"The day you plan ahead will be the day that I admit my undying love for Janet the Weevil," Tosh said, and they began to exit the hub.
"That could happen," Owen said, smiling a little. "Janet's a very attractive alien."
"Stop it," Tosh said, hitting him lightly.
"Okay, okay." Owen took hold of Tosh's hand as they walked out of the tourist centre. "Right, let's see what we could do tonight."
"Not even going to attempt planning ahead?"
"Nope."
It was always the same routine; walk to Torchwood together, get the work done, leave together. It seemed monotonous, but to Owen and Tosh, it was a comfortable routine. Owen remembered now that every night he would walk her home, kiss her forehead and laugh as she would blush prettily. It never went any further than that. Even on the nights that they were particularly drunk, they managed to have their wits about them. Owen smirked when he remembered that he would ward off any guy who came near Tosh, and how she would be both annoyed and amused by it. They cared deeply for each other, and they knew that the other knew it.
But somewhere along the line, the playful air between them evaporated. Owen let out a groan when he recalled all the long-lost memories of him and Tosh, and the horrible memory of how their close friendship shattered:
It had been three years ago. One night, Owen found out that Tosh had agreed to go on a date with another man. He had discovered this during work time, and he decided to confront the matter after working hours were over. He had gone through the usual walking out of the hub and out in to the Millennium square before he mentioned it. Tosh had blushed in embarrassment and explained that it was only a friendly date. Owen hadn't bothered to hide the fact that he was hurt when he spoke, and it cut Tosh up inside to make him feel like that. But then she had gotten annoyed with him, saying that she didn't belong to him and that she had the right to date anyone she wanted to. Owen had begun asking what about all that they had done together, and if it meant nothing to her. Tosh shouted back if it meant anything to him, either. Owen remembered the way that tears were almost flowing down Tosh's face, and how he had said, 'I thought we were…you know...friends.' The instant he had said it, he knew it wasn't he had meant to say. Tosh didn't say anything and she turned around and walked away from him. Owen just wanted to follow her and explain, but he knew that their connection was broken. Shattered.
And Owen hated that. He remembered that that night, he had been stressing himself over the thought of Tosh being with someone else. So he did the only thing he could think of at that time: he went and hid himself behind various sex partners, and Tosh engrossed herself in computers and Torchwood.
Owen suddenly realised that he still hated it. He had never gotten any satisfaction out of the meaningless sex that he had. He had pushed all the important memories of Tosh out of his mind in order to protect himself, and he knew that Tosh had done the same.
Looking over at the little sleeping Tosh, he saw that she was frowning in her sleep. Could she be having a nightmare? Silently, Owen moved closer to her and as carefully as he could, he leaned over and kissed her lightly on her forehead. He watched as she relaxed a little and a small smile spread across her lips.
Owen yawned widely and, settling himself down, he allowed himself to fall asleep, too.
--
"So, Jack is convinced that the Doctor will be able to help Tosh and Owen?" Gwen asked as they climbed the stairs up to Ianto's apartment.
"Yes. The Doctor has had a lot of experience in different areas of technology, science and alien artefacts, so I'm positive that he'll be able to at least give us an idea of how to deal with Tosh and Owen," Ianto said.
They had spent about half an hour in the meeting room explaining to the Doctor and Rose what had happened to their team mates. The Doctor had looked amused at first but then he began planning out the different types of tests he could do. So, Ianto and Gwen had been told to take the SUV and bring the toddlers to Torchwood, where Ianto was sure the Doctor was playing about with Owen's medical equipment.
"Here we are," Ianto said as they reached his door. He took out his key and opened it. As he walked in he called out, "Hello?"
"Tosh? Owen?" Gwen called after there was no response. Ianto shrugged and began looking around his apartment. He didn't have to go far because as soon as he walked in to the living room he found them.
Gwen followed in after him and let out a small 'aw' at what she saw.
Owen was sitting back on the sofa, and Tosh had her head rested against Owen's chest. One of Owen's arms was draped a little protectively around her, and both of them were sound asleep.
"Oh, I wish I had a camera with me," Gwen said, cooing at the sight of them.
Ianto gave a little smile and removed a shiny digital camera from his jacket pocket. Gwen raised her eyebrows at him. "I've been looking for something to blackmail Owen with," Ianto explained.
--
"Do you have any idea how to fix it?" Jack asked the Doctor. They were currently in the TARDIS, and Jack was helping to carry some hi-tech equipment in to the hub, while Rose stood outside and kept a watch out for the others.
"I'm not sure," the Doctor admitted from under the grating floors. "The kind of process you've described usually involves using the same machine to reverse the effect. If I can get a hold of the main data-technology core from the machine, I could try reversing the polarity to turn them back to their normal age. Do you remember where the machine is?"
"It's in an old warehouse down an extremely dodgy street about 20 minutes away," Jack told him, helping to pick up a particularly heavy box. I'm not sure if we just turned the machine off or destroyed its circuits.
The Doctor appeared from beneath the TARDIS floor with some wires in his hand. "As long as you can get the data-tech core it should be okay." He pulled himself up to eye level with Jack. "If it can't be reversed, you going to have the job of a full-time carer," he joked.
"Ooh, I love your optimism," Jack responded.
At that moment Rose entered the TARDIS. "Gwen and Ianto are back with the kids," she said. "They're down in the medical area."
"Righto, let's get this started with," the Doctor said, picking up a few more bits of equipment and walking out the doors, Jack and Rose close behind him.
Down in the medical area Tosh was sitting alongside Owen on the medical table. Owen was currently muttering something about it being ridiculous that he's not allowed to touch his own medical equipment.
The Doctor set down the equipment that he was carrying and turned around to face the toddlers. His eyes immediately fell on Toshiko. "Dr Toshiko Sato!" he said happily, a big smile on his face. "It's been a long time."
Owen felt Tosh flinch slightly beside him and he repressed the urge to tell the man to shut up. Instead he just asked, "You've met?"
"It was a long time ago," the Doctor said, beginning to tinker with the equipment. "The day that Big Ben was hit and an alien spaceship crashed in to the river. I was there when she was studying the pig slave."
Tosh frowned uncertainly before saying, "Doctor?"
"Hello!" he replied, waving.
"But you look so different," Tosh said.
"Well…I changed my face- it's a long story," the Doctor said, now hooking the equipment up to a power source.
"Hang on a minute," Gwen said, studying Tosh. "You just spoke English."
"No I didn't," Tosh said, shaking her head.
"You just did it again," Owen told her.
"It's the TARDIS," Jack said to them.
"Yeah, it like, gets inside your head and translates human and alien languages for you," Rose agreed.
"Hm, interesting," Ianto said.
"It gets better," Jack assured him.
"I know," Ianto said to him. "Some nights, it's all you talk about."
"What, he talks about another man when he's in bed?" Gwen asked, astounded.
"And women."
"No way!"
"Yes, and one time he-"
Jack decided to clear his throat very loudly at the moment. Ianto and Gwen fell silent, and Rose was looking amusedly between Jack and Ianto.
"Right, all set!" the Doctor said, observing the layout of equipment before him. "Let's get this over with."
--
It was an hour or two later before the Doctor had performed all the tests he thought necessary and gathered up all his results. Everyone then went back to the meeting room and sat around the table waiting for the Doctor to explain what he had found.
"The transformation isn't permanent," the Doctor began, earning sighs of relief from the two toddlers. "Once the data-tech core is retrieved from the machine that caused this, and after a bit of fiddling about, of course, your condition can be reversed. Now, about your condition," the Doctor stopped and smiled at the temporary children.
"Is there something wrong with them?" Jack asked.
"Nothing at all," the Doctor said, amused. "It's just the way that the body of a child and the mind of an adult have been contrasted. They still retain all their memories, but since their brain is not as developed now, the memories keep getting jumbled around. It can bring up old memories that you forgot or pushed out of your mind, and it can also trigger certain ways that you behaved at that particular age. You've probably been acting a little more child-like than usual, with some personality traits that you never had, or ones that you used to have. Any of this sound familiar?"
"Yes," Owen said. Tosh just nodded, and Owen threw a worried glance at her.
"So when will you be able to retrieve this data core thing?" Rose asked.
The Doctor looked to Jack, who said: "Tomorrow. Right now, I think the kids need some sleep." Everyone looked to see little Tosh yawning widely and Owen just suppressing his own yawn.
"I'm not tired," Owen lied.
"You have the energy of a five-year old," the Doctor told him. "And it's way past your bed time."
Owen resolved to stick his tongue out at the Doctor.
Everybody got out of their chairs and made their way back in to the hub, where Gwen asked "Where will they stay tonight?"
"Owen can stay at my place," Ianto said.
"I can't bring Tosh to mine," Gwen said apologetically. "Rhys won't have it."
"Tosh could stay with me," Jack said.
Tosh, who had been standing next to Owen, suddenly clasped her little hand in his, terrified.
"There's plenty of room in the TARDIS," the Doctor said. "She could stay in one of the spare rooms we have."
Owen felt Tosh shift to stand behind him, still clasping his hand, and he suddenly realised what was wrong.
"She might be more comfortable staying with a girl," Gwen said. "I could phone Rhys and ask if it's okay-"
"STOP IT!" Owen shouted at them, and they all looked down at him. "You're scaring her!"
Everyone looked and saw that Tosh was hiding behind Owen, clasping his hand, with tears in her eyes.
"What's wrong?" Jack asked firmly.
"She's staying with me!" Owen said angrily. "You're not splitting us up. We're staying with each other." Owen knew he was being childishly stubborn, but hadn't the Doctor said that was part of the transformation?
"If you want to stay together," the Doctor began, carefully, "there's plenty of room in the TARDIS…"
"No! We're staying here!" Owen rounded on the Doctor. "She won't want to be in some strange, unknown place!"
"But Tosh would enjoy being in the TARDIS," Ianto said gently. "She loves technological stuff."
"NO!" Owen all but screamed. "We're staying here!"
"Owen," Jack said sternly. "What has gotten in to you?"
Owen didn't reply; he just glared at Jack.
"Right," Jack said, "My office, now." His tone showed that there was to be no arguing.
Owen looked uncertainly at Tosh, who nodded and let go of Owen's hand. She shuffled away a little and stood between Gwen and Rose, almost hiding again. Owen turned around and followed Jack up to his office.
Once inside, Jack locked the door and turned round to face Owen, who was pointedly looking away.
"Right, Owen," Jack began, his tone cold and harsh, "I didn't think it would get to the point where I had to talk down to you, but you're being childish and stubborn now. You will tell me what's wrong." Owen still didn't answer. "OWEN!"
Owen's eyes snapped up to make contact with Jack's, who had to withhold his shock at what he saw in those eyes: knowledge way behind his current state, frustration, anger and pain- something a five-year-old shouldn't have concealed.
Jack sighed and crouched down so that he was at Owen's height. "What is it?" he asked in a gentler tone.
"It's Tosh," Owen mumbled.
Jack nodded. "What about Toshiko?" he prompted, softly.
"Do you remember how we used to be really close?" Jack nodded again. "It's something that she confessed to me back then. She told me not to tell anyone…but she seems to want me to tell now." Owen sighed before he continued. "The Doctor said that this transformation has probably brought back memories and behaviour patterns that we had at this age, and… well… when Tosh was four years old… she was abused by her dad."
Jack started at that. He knew most things about the past of his co-workers, but learning that Toshiko had had a rough background came as a shock to him. No one would have thought that the sweet and kind Tosh would have gone through something like abuse.
"She said that he kept hitting her," Owen continued. "When something went wrong, she'd get hurt. He didn't do anything else, just beat her. It was a few months before her mum found out, and then she and Tosh left her dad. Tosh told me that she become nervous around all men, scared that they were going to hurt her like her dad had."
Jack's eyes widened as he understood. Since Tosh had been transformed to probably her most vulnerable age, the horrible memories must have come flooding back to her. All the hurt and pain and fear put upon her once more. It explained why she became so quiet, something that Jack had passed off as shyness but what he now realised was nervousness. Nervous at being around him because he was male. It explained how she was self-conscious when she saw Ianto after coming back from that damn investigation, and how she flinched every time the Doctor did some tests on her…and why she became scared when they were talking about where she could stay that night…
Jack had said that Tosh could stay with him.
The Doctor said that there was room for her on the TARDIS.
Gwen said that she could ask Rhys if it was okay for Tosh to stay with them…
…Regardless of how well Tosh knew the guys in her team, she was now scared of them because that was how it would have been when she was four. Scared of all males, except…
"She's not frightened of you," Jack pointed out.
Owen shrugged as if it didn't mean anything, but Jack saw past it. "She trusts me, s'all. She confided in me all those years ago… and I said I'd protect her…"
Jack smiled at Owen. "I knew you were a good person," he said, ruffling Owen's hair.
Owen scowled at Jack.
"Come on," Jack said to him, getting up off the floor. "Let's go back down to the others."
--
Toshiko sat silently as Rose and Gwen conversed with each other. The Doctor had gone off to see if he could find any clothes for Owen and Tosh to change in to for the night, and Ianto had gone away to make some more coffee.
Tosh was frequently glancing up at the glass window of Jack's office, but she failed in seeing anything. Sighing slightly, she pulled her knees up to her chin and wrapped her arms around her legs. She wasn't sure exactly how Owen was going to tell Jack…or if he was going to saw how Owen himself had found out…
Four Years Ago
It was about 11:30pm, and Owen was in Tosh's apartment, having a beer with her. It was raining outside and they hadn't felt like running around to find a pub, so they decided to go to Tosh's place instead since it was closer than Owen's.
Owen was laid back, listening as Tosh told him about her home in Japan and about her mother and her family. After a while and looking at the pictures of said family spread out across her living room, Owen began to wonder something.
"Tosh?" he asked, when she had stopped to sip some beer. "You've been talking about your mother and other relatives…what about your father."
Tosh froze and Owen immediately knew that he had unknowingly hit on a sensitive subject.
Tosh looked a little uncertain before she replied. "I…I haven't seen or spoke to my father since I was four."
Owen noted the choked up way Tosh had spoke and how she wasn't making eye contact. "Why?" he asked, gently.
Tosh shook her head. "It's… it's not important," she said, and Owen saw as Tosh began to shake a little. He moved across the sofa and carefully put an arm around her. "I've never talked to anyone about it…not even my mother."
Owen rubbed her shoulder soothingly. "Maybe it's about time you did," he told her. "I'm listening."
Tosh nodded and Owen could see the tears building up in her eyes. "It started when my mother was out shopping," she began. "My father had had a bad day at work, and in his frustration…he took it out on me. He was shouting and ranting, and I was so scared. That was when he struck me for the first time." A small sob escaped her lips. "He blamed for what had happened that day, and I had no idea what had happened to him. I just hoped that it wouldn't happen again…but it did.
"He began to hit me frequently, but always when my mother was out of the house. It was so painful…he didn't show any mercy, just kept blaming me for his mistakes. And he always threatened to me against not telling my mother." At this point, Tosh began to cry, and Owen pulled her into an embrace. "When she would come home, I'd smile and then run into a different part of the house so she wouldn't see me cry. He never did anything else other than beat me.
"Then one day, when he was out of the house, mother found me sitting hidden in my closest, crying. When she asked me what was wrong, I told her it was nothing. She managed to get me out of the closest but noticed that I winced with almost every movement I made. She quickly pushed up the long sleeves I had on and screamed when she saw the marks and bruises there." Owen began to rock her gently as her tears became heavier. "I couldn't do anything as she checked the other and found the same. Then she pushed back the fringe that had been covering my left eye and saw the bruise there, too. When…when she asked me who did it, I began to cry so hard because I knew that if I told her, then he would do something terrible to me. But she held me and tried to soothe me, and I eventually got the courage to tell her that it was him.
"She didn't need to hear it twice. Mother immediately began packing our bags, and within half an hour we had left the house. She left a note telling him that she knew what he had been doing, and to stay away from us."
Tosh began to sniffle, and Owen reached her a tissue. She took it, blew her nose and then continued again. "We moved far away from him. He never found us again. But I was terrified of men. I hadn't seen other men besides him in my first years, and I was scared that they were all going to hurt me too. I wouldn't let go of mother's hand whenever we were in public, and I would always stay as close to her as I possibly could. It took over a year with a lot of counselling to help me be less scared of all men. After that I engrossed myself in school studies to keep my mind off it. Mother and I never talked of what had happened."
"What about now?" Owen asked as he continued to cuddle her, rubbing her back lightly.
Tosh hiccoughed slightly. "Sometimes, I think he's going to find me and hurt me again," she admitted. "There are nightmares that never go away, and when I wake up I think that he's in the room, waiting to punish me…"
Owen nodded; understanding that traumatic events like that leaves memories in the sub-conscience. "The next time you get one of these nightmares," he told her, not letting her go, "I want you to call me. I don't care what time it is, okay? Don't sit here on your own, terrified."
Tosh nodded. "Thank you."
Owen smiled and kissed her forehead lightly. "It's what I'm here for. Don't worry; I'll protect you."
…Owen had told her that she had fallen asleep not long after that. He carried her into her room and tucked her into bed. That night, he had slept on the sofa, in case the nightmares chose to come after she confessed it all to him. Tosh smiled a little, remembering how supportive it was, just him being there with her, and how she had felt relieved to have talked it out with someone who she wasn't related to and she trusted.
She was broken out of her musings by the sound of footsteps on the stairs. She looked up and saw Jack and Owen descending down the stairs towards them. Tosh stood up and as Owen approached her, took her hand and smiled encouragingly.
Gwen looked up at Jack, as did Ianto and the Doctor, who had entered the room again whilst Tosh was thinking.
Jack looked at them all for a moment. "They stay here, together," he told them, and was glad to see the smile that graced Tosh's features. Jack carefully approached Tosh, and he saw her squeeze Owen's hand tighter. When Jack was down at eye level with her, he gently asked: "Is it okay if I tell everyone else?"
Tosh seemed startled for a while, but after a few seconds she nodded assuredly. Jack smiled at her and told everyone to go to the meeting room. The Doctor pointed out some nightclothes that he had brought back from the TARDIS for the two of them and Jack indicated that they should put them on whilst the others talked.
Tosh sighed as she watched the guys leave, and then became surprised as Owen pulled her in for hug. After a moment Tosh relaxed and hugged him back.
--
When the others came back out of the meeting room, they were met with the sight of Tosh and Owen dressed in the pyjamas that the Doctor had got for them. The girls 'aw-ed' at Tosh, who was wearing pink pyjamas with little white sheep on them. The men just rolled their eyes at them. Owen was wearing some plain black pyjamas.
Ianto and the Doctor were now keeping their distance from Tosh, now in the knowledge of how uncomfortable it made her. Tosh was grateful for it, but also guilty that she had to do this to them.
It was pretty late at night now, so the Doctor and Rose retired to the TARDIS, hand-in-hand, and Gwen departed after giving Tosh a reassuring hug.
"Ianto, how about you stay here tonight?" Jack asked him, as the tea-boy began gathering up discarded coffee mugs from earlier on.
Ianto seemed hesitant in answering. "If it's not too much trouble, sir," he replied.
"It's no trouble at all," Jack told him, and then added in a lower tone as he walked past him, "And you can drop the 'sir' for later on."
Ianto smiled and blushed a little. Owen made a noised of disgust while Tosh just giggled. Jack walked in to his office and returned a moment later with some blankets.
"Come on," he said to Owen and Tosh. "You two can sleep in the lounge tonight."
They followed Jack further down in to the hub to the area where the team would usually take a nap if they had the time. There were two large sofas opposite each other there with lots of comfortable cushions piled onto each one. Jack threw a blanket on to each sofa.
"Right, get to bed," Jack told them, suddenly feeling like a parent. "Ianto and I will check in on you every now and then. If we come down and find you two up and about we'll put you in to different rooms."
"And if we hear strange noises coming from your room," Owen countered, "I'll be phoning ChildLine and complain that our guardian is having sex while infants are in the vicinity."
Tosh couldn't help the giggling that escaped her this time. Jack smiled a little at the sound and fixed Owen with playful glare. "Just get some sleep," he told them, before he exited the lounge.
As soon as Jack had left, Tosh let out a huge yawn which Owen immediately reacted too. "Jack's right, you need to get some sleep."
"I'm not the only one who's dead tired," Tosh said, the first real sentence that Owen had heard her speak since they were transformed. She clambered up on to one of the sofas while Owen climbed up on to the opposite one. He pulled the blanket over himself and turned to face Tosh, who did the same. "Do you think we'll get changed back?" she asked as she stifled another yawn.
Owen shrugged as well as he could whilst lying on his side. "I don't know," he said, "but the Doctor seems to think this can be reversed. I don't fancy going through puberty again, thanks. All those zits that I got…"
Tosh laughed at him and snuggled deeper down in to her blanket. "I hope we get changed back," she told him. "I miss working at my computer."
Owen snorted. "Of all the things to miss about being an adult…" He watched as Tosh laughed and then yawned again. "Will you be alright tonight?" he asked her.
Tosh nodded, a little uncertainly. "Why?"
"Well, you've remembered some stuff today that you would rather forget," Tosh nodded in understanding, "…and that can cause those memories to be pushed to the front of your mind. There might be a chance of you having that nightmare tonight." He saw Tosh's eyes go wide open as she froze with fear. "Shit," Owen muttered. He shimmed off the sofa and moved over to the one Tosh was on. He got up onto it and lay down beside her; because of their current size, there was plenty of room for them each. "I didn't mean to scare you," Owen told her, now much closer to her and he saw her blush lightly. "I just thought you should be warned…"
Tosh nodded again. Then she seemed to sigh, a little sadly.
"What's wrong?" Owen asked, frowning.
"I've missed this," Tosh replied honestly.
Owen knew that Tosh was talking about the times they had spent one-on-one with each other before the big fight. Suddenly, in that moment, Owen realised that he had missed all the late nights they had spent together, talking, sometimes ending up asleep on the sofa in either of their apartments. The nights out in the bars, restaurants, the walks they had taken in the late of night…
Owen smiled genuinely at Tosh. "Yeah," he replied to her, and he leaned forwards and kissed her lightly on her forehead, "me too."
Tosh blushed even more, and tears began to cloud her eyes at the familiar, yet at the same time, unfamiliar, gesture. "Will you stay here tonight?" she asked quietly.
"Yeah," Owen said, and he got underneath the blanket too. "I will, in case the nightmares come."
Tosh smiled gratefully and snuggled down in to the blanket again. "Thank you," she whispered as she started to nod off.
As Tosh began to fall asleep beside him, many thoughts started to run through Owen's head. This transformation has given him and Tosh the chance to reconnect as friends, awaking the dormant feelings that he had always held for Tosh but ones that he had tried to blank out over the past few years. He was almost completely sure that Tosh still felt the same way for him, going by the way she would look at him that would immediately make him feel guilty for his hurtful, arrogant actions. If he hadn't been such an ass that night when he picked a fight with her…maybe they would have been more than friends now. One thing was for sure though, Owen decided as Tosh sub-consciously snuggled into his chest, when their condition was fixed, he was definitely going to make things up to her.
Bloody hell, Owen thought as he put an arm around Tosh and closed his eyes, this transformation's made me go soft again.
And, honestly? Owen didn't mind.
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elmo-doodle: so, that's the first chapter of my first deep Torchwood fanfiction. im still amazed at how it turned out to be 8000+ words, when i can't even get my english literature coursework to stretch to 1700 words. hmmm, befuddlement.
anywho, reviews are literally what keeps a fanfiction author going, so every last comment really makes a difference to helping write the next chapter! all flames will be used to burn holes in my crummy english coursework.