A/N: Sooooo, it's time for an update! But first…

THANK YOU, from the bottom of my heart, for your reviews and love for this story! My gosh. So many friends…! You can't even imagine how happy you've made me. (HUGS) I really hope that you'll enjoy what's to come as much!

Awkay, folks… It's showtime! I really hope that you'll enjoy the ride.

Life Finds a Way

Now, as a doctor Owen had been prepared to meet a lot of strange things. Even more so since he joined Torchwood. But this, a man walking around with a uterus inside him…

"So…", he started, his eyes on the newest bloodtest results. "Your blood values look pretty good. You're a bit anemic but that's not much of a surprise with the Torchwood diet."

"And the hormonal levels?"

"A little out of whack." Owen lifted his gaze from the computer screen to see Ianto looking right back at him. The younger man's expression was carefully in check but his eyes were a different story. It was impossible to tell which one of them was more uncomfortable with this weird little session. "The ovaries haven't developed at all, though. It's a miracle if they're functional. How's the spotting?"

Ianto seemed to find something extremely interesting from his squirming hands. "It's lessening." And that was definitely all he'd say about the matter.

Owen nodded slowly. "Right…" He took deep breath, trying not to fidget with discomfort. "So, it's been a little less than two weeks from the… incident. And other than the… extra parts there's nothing physically wrong with you. You can come back to work tomorrow."

That brought a spark of relief to Ianto's eyes. The man then looked away, which was a loud warning that something extremely unpleasant was up ahead. "And… What about the, er…?"

Owen couldn't fight back a wince or the groan, although he did manage to stop the swear words from flowing out. Oh no, hell no…! He did NOT want to have this conversation with a teammate. He didn't want to spare a single thought to the sex-life of Jack and Ianto. "Go for it", he stated, for once pleased that he had no gag reflex. "Just… Don't let him tear you apart any more than you have been, got it? I'm not going to stitch up… that kind of injuries. And use protection. I can't put you on pills since they probably wouldn't work but there's always…"

"I'm not thirteen, Owen, thank you." Ianto appeared slightly flushed and very, very eager to leave. This whole 'flowers and bees' discussion wasn't exactly pleasant for either of them. "So, uh… Next time in five weeks?"

Owen made a face. "Unfortunately, yes. Now get out of here before Jack walks his way through the floor of his office."

Ianto gave him a grateful look before fleeing faster than should've been humanly possible. Left alone, Owen groaned loudly and buried his face into his hands. Wishing dearly that he could still drink to wipe this from his mind…

The thing with fate is that sometimes it decides to play nasty little tricks. Despite all their excitement, especially after being banned from kinky activities for almost two weeks, Jack and Ianto did try to be careful. And they were. They actually succeeded in making the usage of protection a part of the fun.

It was the slightest of slips about a week and a half after Ianto's check up. A tiny lack of caution in the heat of the moment. And the tiniest of holes on rubber that neither of them noticed in the dim light. Not that a blindfolded Ianto even could've.

Sometimes it's the smallest of all things that become the biggest.

Before they knew it seven weeks had flown by from that bizarre day. Ianto had a look of intense concentration on his face while he lay on Jack's bed, one hand placed on his lower adbomen. As though he would've been able to feel the changes even through skin. As though the touch would've brought any more sense to it all.

After Owen's throughout examination that made both of them feel beyond uncomfortable he received news that there was a currently unidentified mass in his stomach. And as though that hadn't been enough bad news he came to learn that there was a tear that didn't belong there in his… well, southern region. Even further inspection taught him that the mass was, in fact, a uterus. All of a sudden the suspicious tear received a name as well. No wonder it fucking hurt when the device attacked him.

Ianto swallowed hard, still after seven weeks feeling an intense wave of nausea. What was he, now? What did that device do to him? Owen was fairly sure that despite the item's original purpose he couldn't become pregnant. That hardly erased the unease. There was something in his body that didn't belong there, that wasn't supposed to be there. What the hell, exactly, happened to him? Was he still a proper man, afterwards?

It was a small hint of comfort that the rest of the team seemed to prefer pretending that the whole thing never happened. It helped even more that Jack seemed far from averse to the changes, instead seemed to find them exciting. Still, as Ianto pressed his hand just a little tighter against what wasn't supposed to be there, he wished that all the 'spare parts', as Owen elegantly put it, would just disappear. His body didn't feel like his own anymore.

"You're not getting started without me, are you?"

Ianto couldn't help but chuckle at that. He snuggled just a little bit closer to the immortal, purposefully making sure that his hair tickled the other's chin. The tremor of pleasure his gesture coaxed was a lovely reward. "You really think I'd be up to that after last night?" Their eyes met. "I'm fairly sure that we broke a record."

Jack smirked, clearly very pleased with himself. "What can I say? I aim to please."

Jack was experienced, eager and talented. Ianto was resourceful and eager to explore. There was a reason why most of their dabblings took place in the privacy of the Hub rather than at Ianto's apartment. Not to even mention all the possibilities the place had to offer…

Ianto's groan cut Jack's thoughts. It was soon followed by a husky chuckle. "You're kidding me, right? Two minutes from being fast asleep to…" The hand brushing the so called problem certainly didn't shrink it.

Jack shrugged, unashamed by his preparedness. "Can't help it." He placed a long, savouring kiss to his lover's lips and received a equally enthusiastic response. He licked his lips, ending up licking Ianto's as well. "So… What do you say if I'd tell the others to…"

Whatever Jack had been about to suggest became interrupted by the sound of a Rift alert. Jack groaned. Then swore loudly, in every language he knew.

Ianto's eyebrow arched in question. "What was that language?"

"Oh, it's from this tiny place pretty far away from here." Jack grinned, just a little bit, at the memories. "Exotic creatures, those people."

Ianto rolled his eyes, then smiled fondly and placed a kiss that held a promise to his lips. "Now move it, Captain." In the next moment the Welshman was already getting dressed. How did he find his clothes so quickly? And how could they be completely unwrinkled after the previous night's activities? "The world could be ending."

Jack shook his head. "The end of the world won't come on Wednesday", he declared. If his hand lingered on Ianto's behind a little longer than necessary neither was bothered.

They were lucky if the others wouldn't notice that they were both walking funnily.

A pair of bloody blowfish, high as kites. That was their grand, world threatening problem today. Bloody Torchwood!

Jack most definitely wasn't amused as they followed a trail of grocery store thefts, stolen cars and general chaos towards some of the less appealing parts of the city. Those two had made quite a spectacle of themselves. Wonderful. Cleaning up the mess wouldn't be a small task.

After five hours of chasing, confronting hysterical people and shop owners ready to beat someone to a pulp, they found their new friends from the basement floor of a apartment building that should've been demolished ages ago. The encounter wasn't a warm and fuzzy one. It ended as those meetings often did.

Watching the corpses of two previously uncooperative blowfish Jack took a moment to steady his breathing. He then looked at his team. "Everyone alright?"

Gwen, who'd just been propositioned to participate a highly unpleasant threesome, appeared pissed off more than anything else. Owen, who was apparently eager to empty another clip of his gun, only nodded sharply. Tosh nodded slowly, dusting her clothes. "Yeah, I'm alright."

Ianto only stared at the corpses, his face alarmingly pale. Was it the blood or the appalling stench? Or something else entirely? Before Jack had the chance to make any further questions the archivist bolted.

"Seriously?" Owen scoffed. "After everything we've seen this…!"

Jack didn't waste time on listening further. Instead he ran, alarm bells going off loudly in his head. Ianto wasn't one prone to having a weak stomach. So what set this off?

Jack found Ianto outside, throwing up everything there was in the Welshman's stomach. Which wasn't much, considering that they'd skipped breakfast for this hunt and hadn't had the mind to eat before heading to bed. He frowned, worry twisting and forming a large, solid ball into his stomach. "Ianto?" His hand was incredibly gentle while it rubbed soothing circles on the younger man's back.

It seemed to take ages before the retching and the dry heaving that followed finally ended. Ianto wiped his lips with a trembling hand, a look of disgust on his face. "Sorry. I… don't know what happened. The smell just…"

"Hey, it's okay. Happens to the best of us." Jack wrapped his arms around his lover and pulled the man close, as though trying to shield him. He placed a kiss to the forehead that held a sheen of cold sweat. "Feeling any better?"

Ianto's arms held him back, a little weaker but determined. The man sighed. "Getting there." Was that a tremor? "I… just need… a lil' breath…" And with no further warning the Welshman's knees buckled, sending him slumping limply against Jack.

Jack was almost sure that his heart forgot a couple of valuable beats. "Ianto?" The limp heap in his arms provided no reaction. Jack's pulse sped up to a unhealthy high. "OWEN!"

Ianto woke up to a pair of arms holding firmly and a pair of hands poking him. He groaned, trying to swat them away. All he wanted was to sleep! Instead he seemed to encourage the invasion.

"Now would be a really fucking good time to open your eyes", Owen suggested. The doctor's voice sounded odd, nearly static to his ears. "I don't want to experience Jack dying of a heart attack."

Ianto wrinkled his nose and moaned a protest. "… 'ut up… Got a headache…"

"No wonder. You're dehydrated and your blood sugar is too low." Owen didn't sound impressed. The man's voice was curiously tight. "Lack of sleep and food… Are you two trying to shag each other to death or what the hell is this?"

This time it was Jack who growled. Very, very dangerously. "Do not tempt me!" The voice rumbled uncomfortably close to Ianto's head and he fought back a wince at the hammer of pain it caused.

"Alright, alright, sorry!" Owen didn't sound sorry. "See what you're doing to Jack? Would you please open your eyes so he'd stop glaring at me."

"C'mon, Ianto", Jack coaxed. "Just let me see those beautiful eyes. Then we'll get you out of here."

Well, getting back to the Hub did sound like a tempting idea. Ianto's eyes finally agreed to open, at least a little, giving him a view of two men looking down at him, worried looks on their faces. He gave Jack's hand a brief, apologetic squeeze, then began to push himself to a sitting position. "I'm fine", he announced, pleased to discover that his voice sounded strong and even. He rubbed his face with the hand that wasn't in Jack's iron hold. "Just another dizzy spell."

"Another?" Owen's eyebrow arched and something unnerving appeared to the doctor's face. "How long have you been having them?"

Ianto tensed up and he felt Jack do the same. Slowly yet surely his head was catching on and he didn't like it. "About… a week."

"And the nausea?"

"It's been there for a few days. This is the first time I threw up, though." Ianto's brain finally slammed to a obvious conclusion. The nausea began about a couple of weeks after the last of the spotting disappeared. He'd been supposed to report that to Owen during their new meeting today. His hold on Jack's hand tightened and the captain's did the same.

"What are you saying?" Jack barked, pulling Ianto closer.

Owen's face seemed entirely too solemn. The doctor sighed, loudly. "What I'm saying is that as soon as we get to the Hub tea-boy here is going to pee on a stick."

Gwen and Tosh certainly weren't happy to be left behind, especially when the three men left with brief, cryptic explanations. But they did agree that Ianto should be taken away from the scene and that the whole mess had to be dealt with properly. So they relented, after making them swear to phone or text them a report as soon as possible.

Jack was able to deliver the commands and seem like he was holding it together. But it was a very different story inside him. In the car he swallowed loudly, pulling Ianto close.

Of course Ianto couldn't be pregnant, right? The device had done its job only halfway. And they'd been careful. Hadn't they? But what if they hadn't been careful enough? What if Ianto really was…?

All of a sudden Jack found it hard to resist the temptation to lay a hand of the younger man's flat stomach.

The drive was relatively quiet, with Jack and Ianto deep in thought and Owen doing his best to avoid thinking about the situation at all. Pretty much as soon as they reached the Hub Owen began to rummage through a drawer. "Since the bloodtest results haven't arrived yet and I assume that you want some answers immediately…" The doctor offered three different pregnancy tests towards Ianto. "Get busy."

Jack's eyebrow arched. "Just out of curiosity… Why do you have a pregnancy test here?"

Owen shrugged. There wasn't a hint of embarrassment on his face. "Gotta be ready for anything."

Neither of the couple appeared convinced. "I see", Ianto conceded at last. "But three…?"

Owen rolled his eyes. "May I remind you that you are the one who probably managed to get knocked up while you were supposed to be extra careful? So spare me and just pee on those sticks. The faster we get this done the better."

Jack and Ianto had very little objections to that.

The endlessly long minutes of waiting were pure torture. Jack paced like a caged tiger, Owen sat on his chair muttering darkly under his breath and Ianto remained on the seat he'd slumped on when he was done, his posture painfully stiff. None of them felt able to start a conversation so they settled for the heavy silence that lingered like a blanket. Until the sound of a cell phone's alarm.

Instantly Jack was at Ianto's side, hands on both of the Welshman's shoulders. Ianto's eyes widened while he tried his best to keep his expression neutral. Slowly, slowly, unsure if he really wanted to know, Owen peered towards the tests.

"I'm not pregnant", Ianto reasoned, talking mostly to himself. The man's expression, however, wasn't quite as confident. "I can't be. The process… It wasn't complete." He looked towards Jack, obviously looking for an ally. "I don't feel pregnant."

Jack's jaw tightened, just a little bit, while he searched his lover's eyes. Seeming to look for something that wasn't there. "Would it be so horrible if you were?"

Ianto stared back at Jack. Disbelief, rage, betrayal and sheer terror were loudly present in the man's eyes. The Welshman's mouth opened twice but nothing came out.

That was when Owen decided to interject. "Uh… I'm sorry to interrupt but…" The doctor's eyes were slightly widened as he showed them the pregnancy tests. Positive, all three of them. "It's like they say in 'Jurassic Park'. Life finds a way."

TBC

A/N: Ooooooooooooh boy! So those two made a teenager style mistake… (winces) So what's going to happen next? How will the surprise parents AND the team react?

PLEASE, do leave a note to let me know your thoughts! Good, bad, luke warm…? The word's all yours.

Until next time, ya all! I really hope that you'll all stop by then.

Take care!

Guest: I'm thrilled to hear that you liked the startout! Hopefully what's to come will please you as much.

Massive thank yous for the review!