2.

That morning Owen entered the main Hub without a to-go coffee from Starbucks. He knew that Ianto and Jack would arrive shortly and even though there were many things he didn't like about Ianto and even though he loved teasing him – his coffee was heavenly and definitely worth the wait.

Myfanwy was circling the water tower in the center of the room, suddenly diving down to catch a fish from the basin at the foot of the sculpture. Tosh and Gwen were already there. They were sitting at their desks, their chairs turned towards each other.

"So," Gwen said, "Jack, Owen and I got out of the car to have a look, right? Police everywhere because, well, apparently someone was bound to notice an alien ship crash-landing in Highstreet. And while Jack was starting to tell them about a meteor, there's suddenly that guy standing in my way, trying to show me pictures of UFOs."

Owen passed Tosh's desk and dropped into his chair. "Are you talking about the new love of your life?" he asked with a grin.

Gwen's amused smile froze and she avoided his eyes. Alright, she was still feeling guilty. Owen started to wonder why she even slept with him at all if she couldn't even look him in the eye afterward.

"He's not the love of my life."

"Please! Even I can see that he's madly in love with you." Owen raised his voice a few octaves and adapted a breathy, nervous tone, "Oh, sorry, I'm Eugene. Eugene Jones. Please listen to me for a second. I have to show you something." He went on with his normal voice. "Right, he wants to show you something you only get to see in his wet dreams."

Gwen crossed her arms and glared at him. "You're a jerk." She looked at Tosh who was listening attentively. "He's kinda adorable. Of course, really not my type, one of those Star Trek geeks, I bet, but those guys are really nice most of the time."

Owen snorted. "He's a loser. A total social failure."

"He's not the only one here," Gwen said, looking at him pointedly.

Owen raised his eyebrows. "What's that supposed to mean? Don't you like me anymore?"

She tucked her hair behind her ears nervously and turned away. Maybe she didn't want Tosh to see her blushing. "As if I ever did."

Owen turned to his computer with a grin. "I know better." He could feel Gwen's glare dig into his back.

Tosh asked, "How come?"

Owen saw that she was smiling carefully as if she couldn't believe she'd asked. And maybe that was even true. He knew that she had a crush on him. He wasn't interested in the least and even went as far as telling her about his shags, but he decided to draw a line here. "Doesn't matter," he answered. It would hurt Tosh deeply if she knew that he'd slept with Gwen. He still remembered her reaction to his affair with Suzie. One night stands seemed to be one thing, but affairs with their colleagues were more hurtful. Owen was a lot of things, but there was no reason for him to be cruel to Tosh. "Never mind. It's nothing."

Jack and Ianto's arrival saved him from more questions.

"Good morning, kids," Jack said with a grin. "Look who I brought with me." He made a big gesture in Ianto's direction as if he was a wizard presenting his assistant and Owen watched Ianto avoiding all their eyes, uncomfortable with the attention. "Be nice," Jack said with a smile. "He's still not quite healed."

Gwen smiled at Ianto and he gave her a nod before Tosh pulled him into a careful hug.

Jack put his hands on his hips. "Okay, large to do-list. Tosh, check the scanners and find out if the Rift's going to act up today and tomorrow. I have plans but we'll need a bit of free time on our hands. Everyone, we're having a meeting in the boardroom in half an hour. Gwen, how are things going with the police reports?"

"I'm not through yet but I don't think that there's anything of interest in it. Give me another fifteen minutes."

"Okay. Ianto, I need two things from the archives. Make some coffee and come into my office. I'll give our the file numbers. Owen, please feed the Weevils and Myfanwy."

Owen rolled his eyes. "Why me?"

Ianto shook his head. "I can-"

Jack interrupted him, "You want to climb up to Myfanwy's nest with your ribs? And I won't even let you get close to a Weevil until your reaction time isn't dampened by pain killers anymore." He looked at Owen. "No discussion. I'll do the evening rounds tonight so you can do it now."

Owen snorted. "As you wish, captain." He knew how hostile he might sound, but he didn't really care. He knew Jack's secret. Nobody knew that he'd found out about it, not even Gwen who'd told him in the first place that Jack couldn't die in St. Davids Hospital, pumped full of morphine while her gunshot wound had been properly treated. She didn't seem to remember her slip of the tongue and Owen was glad that the nurse who had been with him had blamed the story on Gwen's overactive, drugged imagination. But Owen knew that it was true. Maybe he'd always known. Jack, who couldn't die, sent them, mortal, into dangerous situations. Why not? It wasn't as if he had anything to lose.

Jack headed for his office and Ianto for the coffee machine. When the aroma of freshly brewed coffee penetrated the air of the main Hub, Owen relaxed a bit. At least some kind of normalcy could return now. The last few days had been hard. They had all been scared to death and Ianto's absence hadn't made work any easier on them. Of course, they still had had some practice from when Ianto had been suspended. Nevertheless, it would be great to have everything back to normal. Routine.

Ianto stopped next to Owen with a tray and put a mug on the desk. Owen nodded at him and took a healthy swallow. Routine tasted heavenly.

XXX

The condition of Jack's office was always a hint to how he was feeling. It had nothing to do with order, Jack wasn't a very orderly person and it was difficult to keep any sort of order on his desk that was hidden beneath paperwork, coral and other important and unimportant knick-knacks. It was the lighting: when he let the blinds down, he wanted to be alone. When the lights were dimmed, he was either angry or sad. When he drank scotch, too, he was desperate, but that almost never happened.

Now the blinds were up and the door was open, all the lights were on and Jack was sitting with his chin propped on one hand at his computer. Everything was just fine, apparently.

Tosh knocked on the door.

Jack looked up from his computer and smiled. "Tosh."

She was relieved to see that he was in a good mood. The last few days had been difficult for him. He'd been withdrawn and spent a lot of time in the endless corridors of the Hub.

She stepped up to his desk. "I don't think that the Rift will act up over the next 48 hours. A few minor spikes but they shouldn't be big enough to let anything come through."

He frowned. "The Rift has been suspiciously inactive the last few weeks."

"Yes. Could be that it's the calm before the storm."

"But not over the next couple of days?"

She shook her head. "We're free for 48 hours."

He grinned broadly. "Perfect. Thank you, Toshiko." Then he got up and came around his desk, his hands shoved deeply in the pockets of his trousers. "How are you doing?" he asked softly.

"I'm fine," she said.

"You sure?" he asked.

"Yes." She didn't need to mention that she had been unable to sleep the last few nights, that nightmares were keeping her awake. She was sure that Jack already knew that.

"You can call me anytime, you know that," he said.

"Yes. Thanks." After her imprisonment by UNIT, it had helped that Jack had been there for her at night, via phone or actually in her flat, but she was determined to face this trauma alone. At work, she was fine. It became difficult when she was at home where the memories came out to haunt her, but she knew that she would get over it eventually. One night with cannibals versus a few months of UNIT imprisonment … the cannibals were easier to get over.

He smiled – proudly, as if he'd read her thoughts – and headed for the boardroom. Tosh sighed deeply and turned to follow, noticing Ianto returning from the archives, carrying a box and a file.