DISCLAIMER: Don't own, highly doubt I ever will – the characters. Except the ones based on the peeps I know. It should be clear who those are – but, just in case, you'll need to know that I don't work for Torchwood. At least not Torchwood Three.

"You're here early." Gwen came into the conference room to talk to Jack.

"Yeah." He looked up from the report he was reading only long enough to answer, and then returned to his reading material.

"How are the kids?" She took her usual seat, noticing there was a folder there.

"Wouldn't know." His answers were staccato and he didn't even bother looking up this time.

"What? Why?"

"Gwen, butt out."

Taken aback, the Welshwoman looked very much like a fish. She sat quietly, knowing she had struck quite a nerve with her boss.

Ianto was the next to arrive in the room. He was smiling from ear to ear. Dropping a box of donuts on the table, he turned to smile at Gwen. "How are you?"

"Good – and judging from you expression. I'd say that you are too..." She smiled her warm, inviting smile.

He sighed contentedly. "To say the least."

Jack grumbled behind his folder before closing it and stalking out of the room.

"What was that about? Is there trouble in paradise?" Gwen asked, hearing Jack stomp up the steps to his office.

"How should I know?" Ianto fished a donut from the box.

"Didn't you stay with Erin last night?" Gwen went after her own donut.

"Jack wasn't there. In fact, by the time we got there, Susan had cried herself all red-faced and puffy." He took a bite for emphasis.

"Susan? That's not good."

"You know how Jack can be. Probably said something stupid. Anyway, Erin was sleeping when I brought her in. After I had tucked her into bed, I went back to the kitchen, but Susan wasn't in the mood to talk about it." He shrugged.

"You need earlier nights, Ianto Jones. You're gonna wear that poor girl out dragging her all over Cardiff giving her fake tours." Gwen half-heartedly punched his arm.

Ianto looked around to make sure Jack wasn't returning before giving her an answer. "Can you keep a secret?"

"Yes," she leaned closer.

"So can I," he leaned back in his chair and smirked.

Gwen glared at him with such a look that Ianto thought for a moment about hiding under the table for the next few days. "Not funny. Spill."

"I asked Erin to marry me last night." His voice broke as he announced it to his co-worker.

Gwen jumped up and hugged him. "How wonderful!" It was her turn to check for outside ears. "You heard about Tosh and Owen, right?"

"No." It hurt him a bit that Tosh had news he didn't know about. They had once been so close. "What is it?" He asked, trying to hide his obvious disappointment.

She sat on the table in front of him. "Well, you know that close call they had last year – what with Owen getting almost killed and then the incident with Gray..." She pushed her hair from her eyes.

Ianto nodded. It was a sore spot with all of the members of Torchwood and they tried not to talk about it if they didn't have to.

"Well, it seems that shortly after that something was going on between them. Tosh reckons it was because they had such close calls and were forced to rely on each other, but if you ask Owen, he says it was really only a matter of time before she realized how good looking he was..."

"No kidding?" He was suitably impressed that they had kept it out of the office. Thinking back though, there were a couple of times when he could have seen that there was something, but it wasn't big and obvious. He had to hand it to them, they knew how to do discrete.

"No kidding." She waggled her eyebrows at him and finished off her donut.

"Good for them. How is that going?" He wondered if Jack knew, but, based on his behavior, he highly doubted it.

"I didn't tell you any of this, okay, Ianto?" her voice was a conspiratorial stage whisper. "But let's just say that you and I aren't the only Torchwood employees with impending nuptials."

"What?! When did you find out?" He swallowed a bit of his donut wrong and began to sputter in an attempt to catch his breath.

"We went out last night – nothing else going on – which kind of bothers me. But that's another story isn't it? Anyway – I may be the first one they told after telling one another. So, when they do get around to telling you, act surprised."

"Well, that goes without saying. Does Jack know?"

"Does Jack know what?" Gwen's lips were moving but Jack's voice was coming out, a trick Ianto found quite impressive. Then it sank in.

"Jack!" Ianto gasped.

"Does Jack know what?" He repeated, looking down at them with his hands set on his hips.

Gwen thought quickly. "That Rhys was going to ask you to stand with him."

"Yes, Yan, I know that." Jack fell back in his chair. "Anyone know where Tosh and Owen are?"

As if on cue, they came through the conference room door, arguing and laughing.

"Not even, Owen!" Tosh finished the conversation they had been having before taking her seat. "Oooo – crème-filleds!"

Ianto stood and went to fix the daily morning coffees, but not before seeing Owen putting up a good fight for the last creme-filled donut. His phone tang as he walked into the place where the coffee pot lived – his domain for the most part.

"Erin," Ianto kept his voice low. "How are things going there?"

A sigh came from her end. "I can't get her out of bed. She even called into work today. It must have been some fight..."

"Must have – Jack is pouting and stomping around like an obstinate child. Has she given you any clue as to what happened?" He tucked the phone on his shoulder so he could set up the coffee pot.

"Every time I try to ask her questions, she starts crying again – these big fat sobs that render speech useless. But the Nicole showed up about an hour ago – bless her heart for that – so Joey is being taken care of. I swear, I have never seen her like this. Not even over her kid's dads. Jack must have really screwed up." He could hear the sound of crinkly paper rustling.

"What are your plans for the day?" He poured the water in.

"I'm going to work in a bit – are we still meeting for lunch?" She popped the candy she had unwrapped into her mouth.

"Wouldn't dream if missing it." He smiled. "I'll see you then."

"It's a date. Maybe you could take me on that walk you promised me last night before I got so tired?" She had forgotten, Ianto sighed inwardly. He had erased the Hub tapes already to cover his tracks. There was no need for it to be brought up again.

"I love you, Erin."

"I love you, too."

He hung up and waited for the pot to finish perking before joining everyone back in the conference room for the morning's briefing.

Sneaky Torchwood! I swear! I didn't mean for this to happen, but it only seems right now. I couldn't let Owen and Tosh die. I just couldn't. So I altered it a bit. And I have to let ya'll know that I have a few answers about who and what took Gray coming up. Came to me as I sat in Border's coffee shop drinking the good stuff – iced coffee add hazelnut. Sheer brilliance fueled by caffeine! LOLZ