Disclaimer: I do not own Torchwood or Doctor Who
Beta: The amazing royalladyemma
Written for the Long Live Ianto Big Bang Round 1
Not for Gwen fans
Chapter 3
Rhys Williams stared down at the boxes piled around his feet; they were all that was left of his life with Gwen. He couldn't believe this day had actually come, he was moving out and leaving behind the woman he had, at one time, been so sure was his soul mate.
His hands trembled as he bent down to pick up the first box and he vainly fought back the tears that welled up in his eyes. 'I never ever dreamed I would be leaving Gwen; I honestly was ready to spend my life with her. I was even looking for wedding rings!' Rhys knew he would have married Gwen in a heartbeat, but that all changed when she joined Torchwood.
Gwen had become distant and she's started hiding secrets from him and in truth, he had been fine with that, but then she began putting her job before them. Rhys was sure he could have learned to accept that; he certainly loved Gwen enough to try. And Rhys did try until his best friend, Banana, informed him of something that would rock his life off its axis.
Rhys was worried when Banana remained quiet throughout the game; the man couldn't be quiet for very long if his life depended on it. Rhys waited until the game was over before turning his attention to his best mate. "Alright, what's up? You're never that quiet during a Rugby match, especially not when we win. So tell me what's wrong?" he asked, turning to face his friend.
"I have something to tell you, I just don't know how to tell you." Banana didn't want to hurt his friend but he knew that he had no choice; he had to tell Rhys, the man was considering marriage.
Rhys smiled and nudged Banana with his shoulder. "You know you can tell me anything."
"Gwen's cheating on you." Banana blurted out the words; what can he say, tactic was never one of his strong suits.
Rhys froze in place, his lager mere inches from his mouth, and just stared at his friend. Surely he hadn't heard him right. "My Gwennie? Cheating on me? Are you sure?" Rhys didn't want to believe what Banana was saying, it just couldn't be true, but Banana had never lied to him before. Rhys knows, or at least he thinks he knows, that Banana would never lie to him, not about something like this, not about something this important.
Banana truly looked sorry for the fact he was about to break his best friend's heart. "I saw Gwen about a week ago coming out of a bar and playing tonsil hockey with some skinny guy. They were all over each other, mate, and from what I overheard they know each other pretty well and this has happened quite a few times before. I'm so sorry, Rhys, really I am."
Rhys couldn't respond; his whole world had just crashed around his feet.
A single tear fell from Rhys' eye and rolled slowly down his cheek and onto the box in his arms. He took one last glance at the flat that had been his home and his life with the woman he loved so deeply and with his heart breaking, he walked out the door for the last time.
Gwen glanced at the time on her computer and fought back a choked sob; she knew that when she went home tonight Rhys and his stuff would be gone. 'Why couldn't that stupid oaf, Banana, just keep his mouth shut? There was no need for Rhys to find out about my fling with Owen! They don't understand I just needed someone who understands the horror I face with Torchwood.'
It wasn't like she hadn't tried to explain things, she really had tried to talk things out with Rhys, but the man was so stubborn and he just wouldn't listen to reason. 'I need to talk to Rhys again, really make him listen to me this time; maybe if I hurry, I can still catch him. Yes, it's quiet, and I know that Jack will let me go home early and I will make Rhys see that he's being a fool and that this can still work between us.' Once she had a plan firmly in place, she was so sure that Jack would have no problem in letting her leave early that she immediately shut down her computer and shoved her unfinished paperwork in her desk drawer. There was no way Jack would refuse her; after all, he's the one always telling her not to let it drift.
Tosh and Suzie exchanged looks as Gwen pranced up to Jack's office like she owned the place. Suzie aimed a dark glare at her back; she did not like how easily Jack gave into Gwen's demands. Suzie was bitter about Gwen's near-traitorous actions when dealing with the cannibals. In an idiotic attempt to save her own skin, the woman had revealed Tosh's location to the cannibal's leader, and her cowardly actions had nearly got her girlfriend killed! That was not something Suzie could forgive easily.
Suzie kept her eyes on Gwen; 'I cannot wait for the day when Jack finally puts Gwen into her place!'
As she climbed the stairs to Jack's office Gwen could feel the hateful gaze of Suzie on her back and she fought down the shiver that wanted to come; she just could not understand why Suzie hated her so much. She'd done nothing but try to look the other way when Tosh and Suzie got 'cuddly' she'd smile at the two women whenever they laughed about something she found ridiculous; all in all, Gwen thought she'd been quite friendly since she'd started working for Torchwood.
Pushing Suzie' irrational behaviour to the back of her mind, she opened Jack's office door. It never occurred to her to knock; she wasn't like the others on the team who needed that kind of permission to enter. She and Jack were just too good of friends to allow such formality between them. "Jack, we need to talk."
Jack wasn't able to suppress a groan so he disguised it as a cough. He was already getting a splitting headache from having to deal with all this paperwork, and he really didn't want to have to deal with a Gwen-tantrum as well. Carefully placing his pen down he gave Gwen his attention; if he didn't, he'd never get her out of his office.
"Gwen, how nice of you to just barge right into my office once again without knocking and without waiting for permission. Did it ever occur to you that there is a very good reason for my office door being closed? This is very sensitive and for-my-eyes-only paperwork." Jack could hear the sharp edge to his voice, but he was in no mood to put up with her actions. 'I know it's my fault for letting her get away with so much in my attempt to let her keep her normal life.' "What can I do for you?"
Gwen flushed lightly at the reprimand as she closed the door behind her. "I want the rest of the day off. I need to talk Rhys out of this crazy idea that he should move out and end our relationship." Gwen let her lower lip wobble and her eyes fill with tears. She was certain that Jack would grant her request; after all; he'd fallen for her act before.
Jack was well aware that Rhys and Gwen's relationship was ending. 'After all,I'm the lucky fool that Gwen came crying to him over Rhys' leaving,' the immortal grimaced slightly. One minute she'd been boo-hooing about Rhys not loving her anymore, and then the very next moment she'd been trying to seduce Jack into her bed. Jack may not have always thought too fondly of Rhys but the man was loyal to a fault and he really did love Gwen, faults and all.
Jack had immediately refused Gwen's advances because even though he may have flirted with Gwen that didn't mean he would ever let it go any further than that. He considered Rhys a friend, and he refused to be the one who hurt the man any more than he already was. Jack did have to give Rhys credit though, he was glad to see that the man had enough self-respect to end things with Gwen and move out.
Making a point to cover up the confidential papers on his desk, Jack sucked in a deep breath and began. "Gwen, maybe Rhys moving out is for the best. It will give you two a clean break and a chance to think things over and decided what is best for the two of you. If it's meant to be, then Rhys will forgive you for cheating on him, but it's going to take time and you should give him the space he asked for."
Jack figured it was a very real possibility that Rhys, once he got over his hurt feelings and the heartbreak of being betrayed by the woman he loves, he just might, and admittedly it was a very big might take Gwen back. However, knowing from personal experience that it's never wise to force the injured party into something they ready for, Jack was pretty sure that Rhys was not over Gwen and her betrayal.
"But, Jack, it's because of Torchwood that my relationship with Rhys is on the verge of ending." Gwen stomped her foot and her wail filled the air; she could not believe that Jack was taking Rhys side! He was supposed to be her friend, which meant that he was on her side.
With his head now positively throbbing, Jack had finally had enough of Gwen's hypocrisy and he snapped. "No, Gwen, your relationship with Rhys failed the moment you chose to seek comfort in Owen's bed instead of Rhys' arms after the incident with the cannibals."
Gwen stared at Jack in disbelief for a moment, her eyes going wide before they narrowed into angry slits. "Torchwood is a secret and I'm not allowed to share that with Rhys, so of course after something like the cannibals I'm going to turn to someone who knows what we go through!" Her voice came out a vicious hiss. "I thought you of all people would understand that."
Jack had to admit that she did have a point, expect for two things. "First of all, Gwen, there was nothing alien about the cannibals so you could have told Rhys. The one time in this job you could have been open and honest with your boyfriend, but instead you chose to seek comfort in another man's bed. That was your choice and it had nothing to do with Torchwood.
"I'm sorry that your relationship with Rhys is ending but you cannot leave early; you're behind on several of your reports and they need to be done. You can go once you finish." Jack thought that was fair enough, but given the way Gwen's eyes narrowed even further and the way her feet pounded on the floor as she stalked out of his office, she clearly didn't think so.
Jack rubbed his temples as Gwen slammed the door to his office behind her, his headache only growing worse as the sound reverberated through his head. It was days like today that Jack had to remember why he hired Gwen in the first place.
Very carefully he shook his head; he honestly did not know what to do about Gwen anymore. She blamed him, she blamed Torchwood, she blamed everyone else for her crumbling relationship with Rhys, anybody but herself. Jack knew Rhys had been bending over backwards, doing everything he could to try and to make things work with Gwen. But that all ended when he learned about her affair with Owen.
It wasn't something he liked to think about, but Jack had been in Rhys' shoes, once, a long time ago, well, actually, far in the future, but in his past. He'd been so young and so idealistic, and so very much in love, at least until the day he came home and found his lover in their bed with a total stranger. Jack had been devastated by the betrayal, and like Rhys, finding out that his lover had cheated had been the final blow to their relationship. He, too, had moved out and he'd never looked back.
Hoping to ease the pain in his head, Jack turned off his desk lamp and leaned back in his chair. As he closed his eyes, he remembered the day he hired Cardiff Police Constable Gwen Cooper. It was just after Suzie had gotten over her addiction to the alien glove; the team had barely saved her from heading down a dangerous path. In the aftermath, Jack had sat back and studied the people he worked with. He realised that his fear of his team losing their link with their humanity was coming true and he despaired of a way to change that.
Then he met the stubborn PC; Gwen wore her heart on her sleeve and it didn't take very long at all before Jack had known that she was just what his team needed to remind them of what they were fighting for. She was just so human that Jack had hired her right away believing that she would bring something to the team, that she could remind them of what it meant to be human. When he'd introduced her to everyone, he had called Gwen their heart, their humanity, something that hadn't gone over well with the others.
It didn't help her relationship with her new team-mates that Gwen's own brash attitude and her 'I'm always right and will never admit I was wrong' way of seeing things kept her apart from the others. Even worse than her attitude was the fact that Gwen never missed an opportunity to remind those around her that she was the only person who had someone on the outside.
It made no difference to her that Suzie and Tosh were very happy together, or that Owen was still mourning the loss of his fiancée, Katie, and he didn't seek anything other than a warm body.
It was only a matter of days before they all made it pretty clear to Jack that while they weren't all bleeding hearts like Gwen Cooper they had a different type of humanity, one born of loss and pain. They fought the good fight against aliens and the like so that others would never have to experience what they have.
Suzie made no effort to hide her hatred for the ex-PC when Gwen made it clear to Jack and the rest of the team that she thought she would make a better second-in-command than Suzie. She tried to convince Jack that with her police constable training she was far better prepared to deal with whatever the Rift threw at Torchwood. Gwen even went on a campaign to get the other members of the team to agree with her, thereby forcing Jack to replace Suzie with her.
Tosh, had tried to be friends with Gwen but when the other woman had revealed her true colours, she'd made it clear that her loyalties were to Suzie. She also made sure that Gwen knew that she fully respected Jack's leadership decision to leave Suzie in as his second-in-command.
Owen hadn't cared one way or another about the problems of the others, and he and Gwen quickly fell into bed with one another. It had been easy once Jack made it clear to Gwen that he wasn't interested. Owen had overheard Jack say that he may flirt and boast a lot, but he had one rule he always stuck by; he never slept with people in a committed relationship. Even in his own time, the same thing applied; you could have as many lovers as you wanted but once you found your bond mate you were committed to them and them alone.
Unable to focus on his work and with his head still pounding, Jack climbed to his feet to once again watch his team. His eyes strayed once again to Suzie and Tosh, and he smiled to see that Tosh was leaning into Suzie's gentle touch. As he watched Suzie and Tosh, Jack felt just a little bit lonely, something he will never admit out loud. For such a very long time he had wanted to find his bond mate; in fact part of him still did, but given his little gift he was painfully aware that he could never bond his soul to anyone. He was cursed to outlive everyone he would ever love and care for, and he knew that to out live his bond mate was just too cruel of a fate. No, fate had decreed that he was destined to be alone, forever.
TBC…
