The Life Effect
She had become increasingly aware of her impending death lately, the realization of something so much bigger than you did that, she figured. It was almost like she could split her life into two separate Gwen's. The one before she had seen the Torchwood crew that night, and the one after she had been officially accepted as a member. The area in between was more of a grey space, the time when she could describe herself as unanchored.
In all reality the feeling of being lost had never left her, she still found herself unsure of what parts of her had changed, and what feelings remained. When she felt like this she often found herself a distraction, the most recent being Owen, Torchwood's resident doctor, though mostly he worked with the cadavers, he had a fierce spark in him that drew women to him, Gwen thought.
She would go home in the evenings and feel guilty. She couldn't talk to Rhys, she would leave the house each morning right before he could ask her anything with a quipped "Sorry, but I have to go," and she arrived home late, after he was too tired to ask questions.
And so they disconnected.
On her better days, Rhys found himself wondering about her pastimes. He knew that she worked, but he could see the pattern in her mood, from stressed to sad to a brilliant exuberance he knew wasn't caused by him.
"Who made you happy, last night?" he asked the door as it closed behind her, a sad melody in his voice he had never heard before.