Option A
It had been two weeks since Jack found out about Gwen's engagement. And something was wrong.
At first, he had thought that she was mad at him for leaving. Which she had every right to be. The others had been too. But they were all over it by now. Even Ianto, although he had taken a little longer than Tosh and Owen. But it was only by a few days. Which led Jack to conclude that either A. Gwen cared about him more than he had originally thought, or B. there was something else going on. And, as amazing as it would be if Option A were true, it couldn't be because of that goddamn ring on her left hand. So it had to be B. And the fact that Jack had no idea what was going on killed him more and more by the day.
There was an idea that he had been turning over in his head for the past day and a half, a way that he could maybe figure out what was going on. But it would require Ianto's help, and even though they'd split a week ago… well, they'd split a week ago.
Earlier that day, he and Tosh had gone on a Weevil chase together, and he had asked her whether or not he should try his idea.
If it weren't for the fact that it's completely nuts, I would help you instead, Tosh had said. I can't stop you from trying, although I don't see how you could without Ianto's or my help, but it's only asking for trouble.
How is it asking for trouble? he had asked.
Jack, she's my best friend. We've talked. And while she's never said it outright, I think your "Option A" is totally feasible. And before you say but she's engaged, I'll remind you that Option A applies to you as well. You're living proof that you can be taken but in love with someone else.
Okay, so…
So going through with this will just make things worse. Jack, I strongly advise against it. And I won't help you. If you can get Ianto to help you, and he's not going to because it's crazy and he's still raw from the breakup, I can't stop you. But I'd say your best course of action is to accept the fact that it's "Option A" and hope that she'll come around. Honestly, I think that she will.
But what if knowing that I-
Like she'd ever find out. He's not the brightest of men, but I'm almost positive that the only reason he even dared to ask was that you were gone and not coming back. If he were to find out that there's a shadow of a chance of your still being in the picture, he'd keep that quiet for sure.
She had a point there. If she was right and it was Option A, his plan would only mess things up. But what if Tosh were wrong?
He looked over to see Gwen at her computer, her head in her hands. What the hell could be making her like this? She usually was so energetic and excited and ready to jump into action. Now she seemed… beaten. Downtrodden.
Miserable.
Ignoring the little Tosh-voice in his head saying don't, don't, don't, don't, he walked over to Gwen and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, what's going on?" he asked.
She looked up at him and it was clear she had been crying. "I'm fine," she replied, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Just… tired."
"Are you sure?" he pressed gently.
"Yeah, I'm sure…" But her voice seemed to tell a different story.
Leave it, mini-Tosh told him, and he decided that if he didn't listen to mini-Tosh, the full scale version would reprimand him later, which was not something he needed.
"Do you want to go home early?" he asked. "You've been working extra hours every night since I came back. Rhys must miss you."
She tensed at the name of her fiance, a look of… nervousness? in her eyes. "It's fine," she said quickly. "I… I don't need to go home."
"Your phone seems to be saying otherwise," Jack said playfully, sliding her phone across the table. "Three messages from Rhys."
He could've sworn he heard her say "Shit!" under her breath. "I'd rather stay here," she said emphatically. "I'm going to go call him." And with that she walked very quickly out the cog door and outside, her hands shaking. She said "shit" once more as she left.
As soon as she was gone, Jack looked over at Tosh, who had a furious look on her face. "That was a bad sign, wasn't it…"
"Very bad," Tosh replied. "Very, very bad. Oh, shit. No… no, it can't be… Oh, shit."
"Toshiko, honest answer: should I have seen this ages ago?"
Tosh sighed and replied, "There's a slight possibility that we're jumping to conclusions here. But if we're right, then… yeah. But I should've caught it, too. It's on both of us for sure."
"Okay. Tosh, keep an eye on her. See if you can hear what she's saying."
"If we're right, I'll get nothing out of it. She knows full well we're watching her."
"Okay, then that's a telltale sign. Ianto, trace that phone call."
Tosh shook her head violently. "Jack, you absolutely cannot. If we're right and he thinks you're onto him, he's going to blame her."
"I want the number anyway. For blackmail."
"Jack…"
"Ianto. Trace the call."
"On it." Ianto turned to look at Jack. "I don't care that it's only been a week; I'm hardly jealous, seeing as I knew all along because, unlike you and Owen, I'm not an idiot." This received a protest from Owen, which Ianto ignored as he continued, "And even if I were, she's still my friend and my teammate and I swear to God I will kill the man. Unless you want to."
"When the time comes, I'll flip you for it," Jack decided.
"Fair enough; also, I've got the number."
"Great. Write it down for me."
"Still think this is a dumb idea," Tosh muttered. "Also, she just hung up. Absolutely nothing, just as we predicted. The likelihood that we're right is rising by the nanosecond."
"Fuck," Jack muttered. "Well, now what?" He started pacing around the room. "You're right, calling will make things that much worse. But we have no proof."
Owen had a thought. "Wait a minute. There might be some value in Jack's calling."
"Owen, stop being an idiot," Tosh snapped. "There's absolutely no-
"-When I was ten, my teacher called my house because she was worried about me."
"What?!" Tosh spun her chair to look right at him.
"And you know what they did?"
"Owen, you never told-"
"They said that the next day, I had to go to my teacher and say that everything was fine, or else… well, you can guess. Now, I don't know if that's how Rhys will react if Jack calls. But there's a damn good chance, and while I wasn't brave enough to tell my teacher the truth, Gwen sure as hell might."
Jack nodded. "So what you're saying is, if I call, he'd make Gwen call back-"
"-and all you have to do is ask her if he made her call, yes or no. And even if she says no, if she's lying, her voice will tell all."
"Owen," Tosh said sadly. "Owen, I had no idea, I'm sorry…"
"Time and place, Toshiko," Jack interrupted. "Ianto, what do you think?"
"I think it's worth a try," Ianto replied. "The only way it would make things worse is if he doesn't try to prove his innocence. Which, frankly, I think he will. But if you're going to do it, you have to do it now, before she gets home."
"She's twenty minutes away," Tosh piped up. "Tracking her on CCTV right now."
"Perfect. Ianto, give me that number."
Gwen walked in the door to see a very furious Rhys. "You'll never guess who I just got off the phone with," he snarled. She stared at him blankly. "Jack. Jack Harkness called because he's worried about you." He spat the last three words. "Why's he worried about you, eh?" He shoved her against the wall, hard. Tears formed in her eyes. "What makes him think there's a problem?"
"I didn't tell him anything!" Gwen sobbed. "I swear, Rhys, I didn't say anything, he has no idea, I swear he doesn't, and if he does, it's not my fault…"
"Well, why else would he be calling? Moreover, why's he so concerned with you? Thought he had a boyfriend."
"They split, but it doesn't matter, he's my boss and he's my friend-"
"-Oh, really?" The slap didn't hurt. They hadn't for quite some time. "What have you been doing?" he asked in that soft voice that always scared her shitless.
"Nothing, I promise," she whispered, the fear obvious in her voice.
"I don't believe you," he growled. "But I'll tell you what you're going to do: You're going to call him and tell him that you're fine and that there isn't a problem. And if you aren't convincing…" He raised a threatening fist and Gwen flinched. "Make the fucking call!" he shouted.
"Okay," she whispered quite meekly, and she picked up her phone and dialed Jack.
Jack was sitting right next to the phone when it rang. "Owen, you're a fucking genius," he said as he picked it up. "Hello?"
"Hi, Jack!" Gwen's voice was overly bubbly and happy. He put the phone on speaker so the others could hear.
"Hey," he replied, faking cheerfulness, "what's up?"
"Rhys told me you called," she replied. "What's going on?"
"I'd ask you the same thing, Gwen… you've seemed sort of off recently."
"I'm fine, though," she replied. Her voice lost a bit of that happy note. "Nothing… nothing's wrong, everything's… fine…"
"Really?" Jack pressed.
"Yeah! Everything's great," she replied emphatically. Jack looked at the others, and their faces told him exactly what to do.
"Gwen, I'm going to ask you a question and I just want you to answer yes or no, okay?"
"Um… okay…"
"Did Rhys tell you to call me?"
She gulped. There was a pause for a few moments, and then she sobbed, "Jack, help me!" There was a scream - hers - and the line went dead.
Jack's eyes filled with fire. "Alright! Owen, Tosh, you two are coming with me to get her out of there. Ianto, go next door and get us a pizza; none of us have eaten yet." Ianto saluted and ran out the cog door as Jack led Owen and Tosh to the lift.
"Doesn't that mean that you automatically get to kill Rhys?" Owen asked. "Hardly fair to Ianto…" Jack and Tosh each shot him a death glare. "Right, sorry…"
Five hundred quid worth of speeding tickets later, they were at Gwen's door, guns at the ready. "Okay, who's getting the door?" Jack whispered.
"You do the honors," Tosh replied, stepping inside. "On my mark… now!"
Jack shoved himself into the door and it swung open, allowing the trio to burst into the room just as Rhys threw Gwen against the wall and she fell to the ground unconscious. And before they could do anything, Rhys shot Jack square in the chest and he too fell to the ground.
Tosh and Owen neatly stepped over Jack's body as though nothing had happened.
"What the-"
"Oh, shut up," Tosh muttered, and she pointed a gun at him. Instantly his hands went in the air. "Owen, monitor Gwen."
"You're not Jack," Owen argued as he walked over.
"Obviously not; we just stepped over his body. Gwen. Now."
"You could take over for him," he muttered. "She's alive. Probably concussed; we can take care of her back at base."
"What do you mean, back at base?" Rhys asked. "What're you going to do, kidnap her?"
"Well, I was thinking we could talk first," Owen said with a casual, easy tone in his voice. "I have a proposition for you, but first, put the gun down."
"So you can point one at me?" Rhys retorted.
"Don't have a gun," Owen replied.
"Mind if I check?" Rhys asked, trying to sound "tough."
"Oh, I insist." He rolled his eyes as Rhys "checked" him, clearly clueless as to what he was doing, but let him for about ten, twenty seconds. And then he sprayed something in his face, causing him to collapse on the ground. "Moron."
"Owen. How many times do I have to tell you, alien tech stays on base?" They turned to see Jack standing up, the wound in his chest gone.
"It lasts thirty seconds. Moreover, how about, 'thanks for buying me some time so I could resurrect?' Or 'thanks for knocking Rhys out so we can take back Gwen's gun?' Honestly, I receive no gratitude."
"The gun was Gwen's?" Jack asked. Owen tossed him the gun and he caught it easily. "That's hers, alright. Bastard."
The bastard in question was just beginning to come to. He sat up to see Jack, two guns in hand. "What the-You were dead!"
"Yes, and now I'm not. Do try to keep up." Jack rolled his eyes. "Anyway, now that we're all armed and you're not, we can talk." Everyone pointed their guns at Rhys.
"This hardly seems fair," Rhys muttered.
"Too bad. The only person on my team who's ever given a shit about fair is Gwen, and she's on the ground unconscious, no thanks to you. Now. Owen, you said something about a proposition; do you actually have one or was that part of your admittedly clever scheme to buy time?"
"I actually do have one," Owen replied. "Our team has the power to make your life a living hell. Special ops, remember? We can do basically anything. And, because you're an asshole, we're perfectly willing to do just that. Here's the deal: You let us take Gwen back to base, we leave you alone. Put up any sort of a fight, the deal's off."
"What, so you're just going to take her away from me?"
"In our defense, you were abusing her," Tosh pointed out. "And, from what I can gather, you have been for quite some time."
Rhys scowled. "Whatever. Take her. I don't care. Fucking worthless, she is. Worthless bitch."
That was it. Jack punched Rhys in the face, hard. "Don't you ever talk about Gwen like that in front of me."
"What's it to you?" he asked snarkily.
"She's my best friend, my teammate…" He bent down and scooped Gwen up off of the ground and into his arms. "And I'm in love with her!" There was a slight pause as the admission rang through the air. "Owen, get the door." And he walked out without another word.
Gwen opened her eyes and at first wasn't sure where she was. She certainly wasn't in the living room of her house anymore, which is where she was last she checked.
"Gwen?" She turned her head a bit to see Jack, a look of concern on his face. "Oh, thank God," he said with a sigh of relief. And then she realized that she was in the autopsy bay, in the Hub, and she couldn't help but start crying; she was so relieved and happy that Jack had come for her and that she was safe. "Gwen, what is it?" he asked gently, taking her hand. His expression became if possible even gentler, kinder, more caring, maybe even loving, and the thought of that made her cry even more.
"Jack…" was all she could make out, "Jack…"
"Shhhh," he murmured. He brushed a strand of hair from her face, sending a shiver down her spine the minute he touched her.
Suddenly, she began hearing things. A gunshot. Conversation. Her name a few times. And then… she couldn't have heard that. She was imagining things.
She wiped a few tears from her eyes and looked right up at Jack, his eyes still so caring and… no, it couldn't be loving, it couldn't… but could it? and asked, "Jack, what happened? I'm remembering things… I don't know if they're true… Someone got shot-Oh my God!"
"Shhhh," he said again. "Nobody's hurt. I got shot."
"He shot you…" she whispered, fresh tears in her eyes. "You came in and he shot you."
"And you know that it doesn't matter," he replied, brushing another bit of hair from her face.
"But he didn't," she argued. "He doesn't know that you can't die, and he shot you anyway… Oh, God, Jack, what am I thinking, I'm an idiot-"
He cut her off by pressing a finger to her lips. "You're not an idiot, Gwen," he said softly. "Come on. There's pizza in the main room with your name on it.
"Oh, God, I'm starving," Gwen replied with a smile, and she allowed Jack to help her up.
She could smell the pizza as soon as they started walking up the stairs. "Tosh decided that tonight would be a good night to test some heat table thing she came up with. Hence the pizza that's still hot after an hour."
"I've been out an hour?" Gwen looked shocked. "God…"
"Well, you're awake now and you're okay, right? Relatively."
"Relatively," Gwen agreed. "Oh my God, it smells amazing in here!"
"She's alive!" Owen shouted dramatically.
"Yes, she is," Jack chuckled. "Thank God."
"Hey," Gwen smiled weakly, and she walked over to the table next to Tosh. "Owen, what did you take off base?"
"You heard that?" Owen's eyes widened.
"Jack talks loudly; I heard… most of what he said." Her heart raced as she remembered what she thought she had heard. "So what did you take off base?" she continued quickly, hoping beyond hope that she wasn't blushing.
Owen pulled the little aerosol spray can out of his pocket. "Knocked him out for, what, thirty seconds? And Jack still got mad at me, even though I only did it to give Jack a little extra time to resurrect. No gratitude," he muttered.
"He didn't need the extra time," Gwen explained. "On average, Jack takes twenty-one seconds to come back if he's been shot. Less traumatic or violent deaths take shorter, more violent ones take longer. If parts of his body have been separated, it takes longer yet."
"You've been keeping track?" Jack looked at her curiously. "I'm touched, actually." And he was.
She flushed slightly. "It's important to be aware of your teammates' strengths and weaknesses," she said quickly. "You all should know that, actually. In case it's just you and Jack on a mission and he gets killed, you know how long you have without someone to cover you."
"Sometimes I forget that you were a police officer before you joined the team," Jack grinned. "You must've been really good, thinking like that."
"Got a few recognitions," Gwen shrugged. "Hung them in my bedroom after I started here, bit of a reminder of my old life…" Her face fell. "Oh, God, what's going to happen next?"
"Not right now," Jack said gently, laying a hand on top of hers. She tried to ignore the fact that her stomach was flopping like a fish out of water. "We're going to work all that out tomorrow. For now, you can stay here. This place has a bunch of extra bedrooms, in case for some reason we have to go into a lockdown for multiple days. Or keep a teammate from her evil significant other."
"Evil ex-significant other," Gwen corrected him. "No way in hell I'm going back to that." This received a short burst of applause from the others. "Quick question: can Myfanwy eat metal rings, or would she choke?"
"I have no idea, but I love her too much to allow you to do that," Jack chuckled. "I promise we'll find an equally entertaining method of getting rid of that thing."
"Besides, if we feed it to Myfanwy, we couldn't show aforementioned… EESO," Ianto added, hesitating a bit when coming up with the acronym. "Last thing we need is a picture of a living breathing pterodactyl running around Cardiff."
"EESO," Tosh mused. "I like that. That can be what we call him, from now on. In the interests of avoiding the dredging up of bad memories."
"I think it sounds a bit too cool for the asshole in question," Owen argued. "But I'd say it's up to Gwen. Gwen, does EESO work for you?"
"EESO works for me," Gwen grinned. "Especially since the hope is that we won't have to referto EESO too frequently."
"Can't argue with that logic," Owen said with a nod. "EESO he is and EESO he remains."
"Ianto, put that on record as part of the official Torchwood Three vernacular." Jack's tone was rather formal, but then everyone burst out laughing. "And then remind me why the hell we're using this much energy for something as ridiculously stupid as this."
"It's good," Gwen replied. "Lightens the mood a bit."
"Well, if it works for you, that's what matters." He gave her hand a gentle squeeze, and her stomach flopped even more, as though the fish had been brought to the Sahara.
Gwen picked up a piece of pizza and took a huge bite. "All this talk and I've eaten nothing," she said, telling manners to go to hell. Maybe that'll help with my stomach, she thought. But it didn't.
As soon as Ianto, Owen, and Tosh left the Hub, Gwen felt a great big rush of emotions flow over her. Sadness, and fear, and anger, but also relief and joy, and it was too much for her to handle. She waited until Jack was in his office and not able to see her, and then she ran to the couch and buried her head in her hands, tears streaming down her face.
Jack came out of his office to see Gwen on the couch, head in her hands. "Gwen?" he asked. She looked up at him, and the expression of misery in her eyes was more than enough to melt, no, break his heart. It took all he had to not burst into tears himself. Unable to hold back when she was in this much pain, he ran to her side and pulled her close to him, wrapping his arms tightly around her.
Gwen felt Jack's arms around her and without thinking locked her arms around his waist. He laid a hand on the back of her head, pulling it gently against his chest, and she could hear his heart beating in her ear, quiet, soothing, and it reminded her of another emotion: confusion. Everything Jack was doing made her heart race. She knew already that she liked him, maybe even loved him, and had for a long time. There were times in the beginning that she thought he might feel the same way. But then there was Ianto, and then he left, and besides, she still loved Rhys although that was decreasing by the day what with how he was treating her, but then Jack came back and there was that look in his eyes when he saw her ring, and then he and Ianto split, and now this. She was sure she had heard him say it back when they were at Rhys's, oh, right, EESO's, but of course she could've been imagining things, hoping that that was his reason for saving her… Ah, well, she thought, only one way to find out.
"Jack?" she asked hesitantly. "Jack… why did you call… why…" She wasn't sure how to ask the question without saying outright what she'd heard. "I don't know if I'm imagining things, but I think he asked you, too…"
"He did," Jack nodded.
"What did you say?" Please let me be right, please let me be right…
"I said… 'She's my best friend, and my teammate…'" He tilted her chin up so he could meet her eyes. "'And I'm in love with her.'"
Tears filled her eyes and Jack inwardly cringed. You never tell a girl you like her, he thought bitterly, it makes you look like an idiot. And he could hear mini-Tosh yelling in his ear, and he knew that full-sized Tosh would too, when he told her, and-
"Kiss me," she whispered, reaching a hand up to touch his cheek.
He was at first shocked but of course couldn't hold back. Gently lifting her and moving her into an easier position, he pressed his lips to hers.
Gwen felt Jack's lips against hers and immediately felt all of her sadness fading away as Jack kissed her with more love and tenderness than any kiss she had ever experienced. She could hear his voice in her head, whispering I love you, over and over again as one of his hands stroked her cheek and the other her hair, and like magic, the pain wasn't there, Jack's kiss and touch making it disappear.
"Jack," she whispered as he pulled away. "Jack Harkness, I… I…" She wanted so desperately to say it back, to tell him she loved him, but she couldn't get the words out. "Jack…"
"Shhhh," he murmured, pressing his fingers to her lips. "It doesn't need saying… my love." He grinned at the words as he played his fingers along her lips, brushing a hand across her cheek, teasing her with his bright blue eyes. He wanted to draw out the moment before the moment, because as good as kissing feels, nothing feels as good as the anticipation of it. She smiled, a smile that could end wars and cure cancer, and he couldn't hold himself back any longer. Their lips crashed together in the most passionate and incredible kiss Jack had ever had, in his long life and scores of lovers. He had never loved anyone the way he did Gwen, and this kiss reflected that so perfectly.
Five minutes later, they reluctantly pulled away for air, and Gwen asked breathlessly, "Exactly how long does the staying-here offer last?"
"Forever, but only if you stay with me," Jack replied with a cheeky grin.
"I think I can do that," she replied.
"Well then, Gwen Cooper…" Jack tucked a piece of hair behind her ear, letting his hand linger on her cheek. "Welcome home."
Hey y'alls! Here's "Option A!" God, I love me a Rhysbasher.
There are many references in this piece. PM me with any you catch!
I might write a Towen sequel in which I expand on Owen's past a bit, but that won't be for a while as I've neglected my other TW piece, "Tales from the Hub." Do read that and review; I love getting new readers.
And, speaking of new readers, it is my pleasure to announce a new Lone Shipper, Rachel, aka Rachowls! Yay! (For those of you who don't know, The Lone Shippers is a club for anyone who ships Harcooper)
As always, love and ducks to the Lone Shippers (Rachel, Jubilee, Emma, Seraphina, Mary, and Rachel), hugs to supporters, thanks to Eleonora, Noe, and Kizzie, and cookies for all!
Love,
Ofelia xxx