Title: Dead Men Can Jump Pairing: Tosh/Owen
Series: Torchwood, Series 2 Rating: 15 Type: Fanfiction, Angst
Summary: Owen has a life-changing epiphany... shame he's not actually alive...
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Torchwood characters or anything from the universe of Torchwood. I am just taking the characters and playing with them a while – promising to restore them whole and unblemished! Thanks to Russell T for creating these toys for me to enjoy. Please don't take any of my playing as having any bearing on the actual franchise. Enjoy.
()
"I'm here," she had told him, then folded herself into his side.
He couldn't feel it; couldn't feel her hands in his, couldn't feel her heat next to him, couldn't smell her scent on him.
He was dead. Owen Harpur; DOA.
But it was ok because he's spent the evening with a blonde girl and saved her life. It wasn't every day he could say that.
Perhaps it was time to save what was left of his life... or death...
And that's when he decided to term it 'existence'...
()
Tosh was beautiful in the streetlight. Owen didn't know how long he'd been walking before he had summoned the courage to stand at her door.
"Owen?" She asked, pushing midnight hair from her eyes, "It's three o'clock in the morning."
Really? "Can I come in?"
Tosh didn't look too happy, but stood aside to let him through the hall.
"Has something happened?" She asked, ushering him through to the kitchen. Her satin nightdress hung about her small frame a little too well.
Owen wished he could still feel something... other than frustration that it had taken him to this point to notice her, how attracted he was to her, and not be afraid of it.
Tosh glanced at him, "You're staring."
"Got something good to look at."
She smiled. And he felt warm... inside. Not physically.
"Do you mind if I get a drink?" She asked, with a small smile.
"Only if it's alcoholic."
Tosh turned to him, a bottle of larger in each hand. Owen smiled and shook his head.
"Dead men don't drink."
She looked down, "I wish you wouldn't say those things." She capped a bottle, "You need to stay positive Owen. You're here. And I'm glad."
Owen looked at her as she brought her chocolate eyes to his.
"I'm glad you're here with me tonight, Owen." She huffed, pursing her lips against the mouth of her bottle, "Though I would have preferred it a few hours earlier."
Owen watched Tosh drink from the bottle. His eyes hungrily absorbing the motion of her neck as the liquid passed down her throat.
"I'm glad I'm here too Tosh," he said, wishing that he had arrived earlier... a few months earlier. "I'm just sorry it took me to die before I found the time to visit."
She barely breathed his name in reproach, but Owen reached out a pale finger to her lips.
"Can't run from the truth," Owen smiled reaching out to her and gently tilting her face up to see. "No more. I have done that enough."
He ran a thumb across her cheek and tried to remember how that might feel.
"Owen," she whispered, trying to pull away.
"No, Tosh... wait."
She looked up at him, scared and hoping. He'd seen that look in her eyes before.
"I was just talking to a friend... and I realised... sometimes you have to jump."
And he did; moving forward and placing his lips on hers.
She looked a little perplexed when he withdrew.
"Say something," he urged.
Tosh backed away from his touch.
"What's wrong?" Owen asked.
"It took you this long..." she said, tears welling in her eyes, "because what other woman is there? You're dead. The only other options are Gwen and Martha... and both of them have someone else."
"Tosh..."
"No, Owen." She jerked away, stung and in pain, "I don't know why you chose come to me... and now, of all times. God knows you don't sleep," she couldn't help the tears falling.
Owen tried to move forward to reach her, but Tosh recoiled further.
"Please Tosh... I know I have been an idiot. And I know all I can say is I am sorry instead of I love you..."
She glanced at him briefly, eyes too full of tears to see what else there might have been.
He moved toward her, so was she pressed against the cabinets that there was nowhere else to go... reaching out to her was easy... feeling sensation was the hard part.
Tosh tried to avert her eyes when he moved his body close to hers and took her face in his hands.
"Look at me, Tosh," he pleaded, "We've always missed each other."
Her eyes met his; waiting. She always waited. Part of him hated that. The other part was grateful.
"You and me... I was an idiot." He laughed, thankfully, so did she, "I want to show you what I found tonight."
"With your friend."
Owen saw where this was headed, "I saw this girl..." Tosh looked crushed, "She was going to jump off a building. Kill herself because someone she loved died." He moved to his bag, quickly retrieving the alien probe. "I stopped her... because we both realised we had something worth living for."
"I'm glad," she lied, "I'm glad you found someone worth living for again."
Owen grinned, "It took me long enough to figure it out. As soon as I had everything straight in my head, I had to come and tell you..."
"Right," Tosh gulped at her drink, "What are friends for?"
"Well, I want a little more than friendship, Tosh..."
She looked wretched and didn't meet his gaze. Huffing, she tried a smile that failed, "So, who is she?"
"Who is who?"
"This woman."
"What woman?"
"The woman you met tonight."
Not really understanding why Tosh wanted to know, Owen explained, "It doesn't matter. What matters is that she gave me what I needed."
Without a word, Tosh capped the second bottle and drank down half of it before Owen could speak. "You had better slow down, Tosh..."
"I'm fine." She asserted. "Go on. When will you see her again?"
"Who?"
"The woman?" Tosh was becoming agitated.
Oh, Owen, you bloody idiot. "Tosh... I don't feel anything for this woman... that's not what I came here to tell you."
She finally looked up to him.
"God, I know I am a selfish bastard at times, but waking you up to tell you... here..."
Pulling the alien pulse out from behind his back, he pressed it to Tosh, who accepted, taking it and holding it with him.
Tosh gasped as the probe throbbed, "Jack let you keep that?"
"Once I realised something," he took her hand. "It couldn't keep someone alive... but it's energy can be transformed..." it pulsed again and Owen could suddenly feel her skin on his... her blood rushing through her veins, her heart pound and lungs rasp for air...
"I felt you," Tosh whispered. "You were... hot..."
"That's what I'm trying to say," he wiggled his eyebrows.
She reprimanded him with a look.
No sooner had she fired his mind than the probe pulsed and Owen took her in his arms and kissed her.
God, she tasted good, warm and sweet beneath him. He pressed his tongue between her lips and felt the heat of her mouth accept him as his hands pushed up beneath her nightgown.
Before he knew it, she was spread up against the counter, dress about her thighs as his hands niggled at her thong.
She was not all that innocent as her nimble fingers made light work of his jeans. They were around his ankles as his pants came under her attack.
The pulse ended and the pair broke apart, Tosh, for air, Owen, for consideration.
"That was..." she began, subconsciously smoothing her nightdress back down to its proper place. "That was amazing."
"I'd like to think it was all me..." Owen grinned, but the feeling was fading. "I think it works off sensing emotion and thought pattern. I mean, the stronger you feel something, the more energy is produced... its' how it seems to transmit..."
"Like this..." Tosh leaned forward and gently ran her tongue over Owens lips. The touch tingled like electricity as the pulse enveloped the room.
Owen breathed, his lungs filling with air and sensation. He tried to control himself, "Yeah... think you have the basics down."
"So," Tosh went on, playfully, "What if I do something like this?" She ran her hands up his back and pulled his body flush to hers.
The pulse reverberated and Owen felt everything; his senses fired and body reacted.
"I'd say that works too," he admitted, mirroring her actions and feeling the tender flesh at his fingertips, "maybe if we both..."
And they kissed, emotion crashing together in a wave of sensation.
Owen knew he had no power to fuel the machine. This was all coming from Tosh. It was powerful. All those feeling she had saved for him... Why hadn't he realised it before?
Or maybe he was scared... too scared to feel them before...
The pulse issued again, bathing their skin in rose light as he tore at Tosh's fine dress. The material feathered to the floor and was soon beneath his feet as Tosh brought his shirt around his arms and bound them to his side.
Owen saw a sparkle in her chocolate eyes as she forced him back against her fridge.
She ran her tongue the length of his chest, ripping a jagged gasp of delight from his lungs.
Owen marvelled at how filled with life he became at Tosh's mere touch, at her strength of feeling… How could he have denied himself this? Her touch, her lifeforce... all of her, pressed against him; filling him with sense and being.
"Tosh..." He breathed, dead lungs filling with air. It was euphoric, oxygen rushed through his system, bringing every centimetre to life, "You're amazing Tosh."
"I have tried to tell you this before," she smiled, moving her mouth to his.
He could sense every inch of her against his skin.
Owen forced his mind into focus, reminding himself of the woman and love that brought him here. He pushed back, bringing Tosh against the counter. "Wanna move this elsewhere?" He asked, breathless for the first time in months.
Tosh, flushed and without clarity, nodded... grabbing the Pulse and Owen by the shirt.
Owen had never seen Tosh's bedroom before. It was neat and warm and just like Tosh. He was surprised at how comforting and seductive the thought was as she flung the Pulse onto an easy chair and toppled Owen onto the firm, fresh satin bed.
"How long will this last?" Tosh asked between kissing and biting his lips.
Owen closed his eyes against the sensation of warming flesh and tightening skin... "Tosh, you've been in my thoughts for so long..." he felt dizzy as oxygen flooded his system. "I can't think of a time when you weren't on my mind."
The confession had an unexpected effect.
The Pulse ended.
Owen was aware that Tosh had frozen in place and he began to feel ice flow through his blood.
She wasn't moving. Wasn't breathing.
"Tosh?" He asked, suddenly concerned about what was happening. Damn. Why hadn't he thought that this may have some sort of affect on her? "Speak to me, babe..."
Her eyes met his. But the smile was gone.
"What's wrong Tosh?" He asked.
"You never..." she faltered. "Owen. Are you lying to me?"
"Lying?" He breathed, quickly feeling the sensation dwindle. "Tosh... I have been so fucking scared..." He traced her cheek with his hand. "I have died and was brought back... and I won't lose you again."
Tosh seemed on the very edge... what else could he say to convince her?
"I'm dead Tosh. I'm sorry. But if I can do this... maybe you'll believe me..."
With the last of the power he wished might be inside him, he kissed her.
The pulse hummed. It wasn't powerful, but it was there.
And the best part... Tosh responded. The pulse issued, warm purple light enveloping the lovers as clothes were shed and flesh finally met flesh.
Tosh pressed her slender body against Owen as the nerve endings fired and he felt the whole of her tight against him.
His body warmed and pulsed with thoughts and echoes of what it was to feel such love and move a body in such a fashion...
He remembered and quickly sought out all the tender places which made Tosh groan and writhe beneath him...
The device hummed, filling him with such delight, he only wanted to experience more... and more...
Tosh thrummed beneath him and came to rest as her blush rose from her toes to her finger tips. But Owen was far from over, still moving and focussing all his being on the woman he owed this little segment of life to...
She reacted again, drawing him deeper...
His long-inactive lungs filled with air. The rush of oxygen in his bloodstream made his vision blur as he swam in fired sensation.
She directed him to her, eager to make the connection complete.
"Owen." She gasped as he found her centre. "Owen, I love you."
And those words exploded around them in light and heat. Never had he encountered such passion.
How stupid he was. In all the years of working with her, what had he been afraid of? Loosing the friendship they had? Not being worthy of how she felt for him? It was madness.
Here and now, he felt the depths of their love, breaking though the barriers of life and death as he moved within her and felt ever millimetre of himself within and without this woman.
"Hush." He sighed. "Let me make love to you."
And he did, in every meaning of the word.
()
Night was soon day... Tosh slept at his side. The pulse tingled on his skin until the sensation became a background hum. Owen couldn't sleep. Not that he hadn't tried. He contented himself with watching the play of emotions that chased over Tosh's features as she slept.
She awoke to him whispering how beautiful she was. Her smile lit every corner of his heart.
"Will you ever forgive me?" He asked.
She frowned. "There is nothing to forgive." She smiled, concealing her blush by ducking beneath the covers. "That was wonderful."
"Wish I could take the credit." Owen indicated to the Pulse, which still hummed in the corner of the room.
Her fingers tickled across his chest. "I think it was more about me and you, than it was about that thing."
"Well," he granted, bending to kiss her precious lips, "I think that that thing helped somewhat." He sighed, some of the sensation losing it's edge. "I was hoping you'd forgive me for being so thick."
She frowned.
"So stupid to think this thing between us couldn't work out." He explained. "Having to die in order to be brave enough to engage this..." he flicked his finger between their naked bodies.
Tosh blushed, drawing the covers around herself more tightly. "I think I'll get over it." She grinned. "I'm just glad you're here with me now."
She craned to kiss him and rolled onto his cooling body.
The pulse issued forth, enveloping them in warm light.
"Now. Don't you think it wise we check that last night wasn't some anomaly and that this thing actually has some form of lasting effect?"
Owen smiled, bringing his arms around the woman lying on top of him. "A scientist to the last?"
"I'm just being thorough." Tosh shrugged. "And we have all weekend."
Owens eyebrows shot up. "Well then... I believe we have extensive research to conduct."
"I concur, Doctor Harpur." She agreed, spreading her heated skin over his quickly warming flesh.
"Then let's not waste time." He rushed the words, eager to feel her lips on his.
They were finally together. Nothing would separate them again.