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III. Problematic Exs
B. Rhys Williams
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October, 2026

It was just one of those days where everything went well. Blue sky, no unexpected visitors, no psychotic breakdowns in the weevil population down in the cells. Owen was just waiting for the other shoe to drop, which made him all the jumpier when Jack appeared behind him. "Owen!"

Owen minimized his eighteenth game of Solitaire and hoped it wasn't the source of Jack's sudden interest. "Yes, Oh Fearless Leader?"

Jack leaned against the railing, arms crossed. "It's dead as a doornail. Go home, remind your daughter that you exist. If I'm feeling generous, I'll send Gwen home when she gets back, too."

--...--...--

Owen absently hummed a bit of whatever had been playing on the radio as he unlocked the deadbolt on his front door. As he got the door open, his mobile went off. He answered as he stepped into the entry way, rolling his eyes at the music he could hear blaring from Erin's room. Shaking his head, he closed to door and leaned back against it. He already knew what Gwen was going to say, but he'd learned a long time ago not to ignore the calls regardless.

"I hope you're phoning to tell me the good news."

"Owen, love, I'm sorry. Things have gotten complicated, won't be home until half-seven at the earliest."

He sighed, no happier for his accurate prediction. "Take your time, Gwen. We'll be fine. I think I can handle my daughter for a few hours."

"You'd never have guessed it when she was a baby."

"Oi! I wasn't that bad!"

"Oh yes you were, Owen." She laughed, and he found himself smiling in return.

"Take care, love. We'll be here when you get home, maybe order pizza."

"Whoa! Wait, stop, go back! Over there! Owen, I've got to run. Ta!"

He shook his head, clearing the screen on his mobile before putting it back into his pocket. Same old Torchwood. He shrugged out of his back pack, setting it down in the lounge before heading to Erin's room to share the good news.

--...--...--

Owen cleared his throat meaningfully as he leaned against the door jam of his daughter's room. He wasn't terribly surprised when he received no reply, given the volume of her stereo and the fact that she appeared rather involved with what he could only assume was her study partner. He cleared his throat again, and when that failed, he reached over and flicked off the switch which controlled the outlet she plugged her stereo into (something which had become necessary in the months following her twelfth birthday, and had proved incredibly handy over the years), as well as flicking on the overhead light. That got a reaction, and he suppressed a smirk as the two scrambled to opposite ends of the bed.

"D-Da?" Erin was blinking at him with wide eyes, and her friend didn't appear to be faring much better. "What are you- I mean, I can-"

"You can explain? I look forward to it." Owen grinned, unable to help himself, before taking pity on the girls. "Look, before we get into the obligatory shite, I'm bloody starving. How do you fancy a pizza?"

"I, um-"

"What about your friend?" He turned his attention to the other girl, who was sitting on the far side of the bed and attempting to blend into the woodwork. "What's your name?"

"Molly, sir."

"Molly, right. Any problems with pizza? No? Brilliant." He pushed off from the doorway, uncrossing his arms as he did so. "When I get off the phone, I want you two in the lounge." He shook his head as he started down the hallway, muttering under his breath. "And maybe by the time I get off the phone, I'll have an idea of what the bloody hell to do with you."

--...--...--

Owen took his time placing the order for pizza, putting away his backpack and jacket before making the call. All of which was to buy himself more time as he considered how to handle a situation that he had fully intended to foist off on Gwen. They had an agreement, and he'd been more than willing to concede that she could be scarier if it meant that she'd handle the awkward puberty and sex discussions. Not that he couldn't give the talks, mind, but some things were better handled woman-to-woman. And Gwen could be fucking scary when she wanted to be, which covered his concerns when it came to potential boyfriends.

He hadn't really stopped to consider the potential girlfriend who was now sitting in his lounge.

--...--...--

Two pizzas and three episodes of CSI: Miami later, Owen looked up gratefully from Erin's explanation of the attractiveness of Adam Rodriguez when he felt the tell-tale hum that meant Gwen was nearby. She was exhausted, and he left the girls to their conversation to meet her in the entryway as she slipped her shoes off.

He caught her about the waist, pulling her off balance so that she fell against his chest in a comfortable sprawl. It was a testament to how tired she was that the action didn't prompt its usual 'You bastard!'

"It's a bit past half-seven, love."

She nodded, leaving her head were it lay against his shoulder. "Long day. Warren's going to get himself killed one of these days."

He pressed a gentle kiss against her forehead. "That bad, eh?"

"Worse." She sighed theatrically, a behaviour she'd picked up from Erin in recent years. "I can't believe Jack lets the boy have the keys to the SUV."

"Mmm." He nodded in sympathy, resting a hand comfortingly on her back.

"I hate tourists."

"I know, love." He rubbed his hand in slow circles, feeling her relax further, and almost felt guilty for what he was about to do. Almost. "Erin's got a girlfriend."

"Mmhmm." It took a moment for the words to sink in, but when they did, he wasn't disappointed. "Wait, what?" She pulled away far enough to look him in the eye. "That's not funny."

"She's fifteen, Gwen. Had to happen eventually. I'm just glad she can't get pregnant."

"But I...fuck." She looked away, emotions progressing from shock to resignation more quickly than he'd anticipated. "It's Molly, isn't it?"

He blinked in surprise. "You knew?"

Gwen shook her head. "Not as such. Erin's stopped off at her house a few times, and she came over a few weeks ago for some school project. I didn't think anything of it at the time, but looking back..."

He nodded. "She seems nice enough. I was going to have you take her home, but I don't want you driving again until you've had some sleep."

She opened her mouth to argue, but he placed a finger on her lips, silencing her. "I'm saying that as your doctor, Gwen, not just your husband. It's been long shifts all week, especially for the field teams. You stay here, have a chat with Erin. I gave her the basic ground rules, but it's not exactly my area of speciality. I reckon she can visit Tosh next time she's got a holiday, yeah?"

--...--...--

A few minutes later, Owen and Molly were on their way to her house, which turned out to be only a few blocks from James' old place. Gwen hadn't been kidding when she'd said it was the same neighbourhood. He considered his options as Molly fiddled with the radio, and eventually gave them all up as being far too cliché.

"Have you had sex before?"

He could see Molly's jaw drop in his peripheral vision, and realized he could have been a bit more tactful. Not that it had ever been his strong point, but it was always worth a try.

"Am I to take that as a 'no' ?"

She crossed her arms and stared out the window. "It's none of your bloody business, that's what it is."

"Right, that's a no." He paused a moment, concentrating on the road as he took a left through the roundabout. "You're sixteen, yeah?"

"Wait a minute, are you trying to hit on me?"

"What?" It took a moment for the question to register, and another before he could figure out how she'd come to such a bizarre conclusion. It had been so long since he'd even considered sleeping with anyone besides Gwen, coming up on 20 years, that he hadn't even considered that perspective. He shook his head roughly in response to her question, and shivered as he remembered the one and only time he'd tried to have sex with someone else. "Even if you were my type, I'm not that kind of bastard."

Molly nodded warily. "Then what's with the questions?"

"Erin's young, Molly. She talks a good game, but that doesn't mean she's got the experience. I wanted to know where you stood, how much experience you've got. I- fuck!" He struck the steering wheel with the palm of his hand. "I'm going about this the wrong way, aren't I?"

He let his head fall back, leaning it against the headrest as he navigated the evening traffic. After a long moment, he tried again. "Look, I'm rubbish at the whole good intentions speech. That's Gwen's department. I just want to be sure that when all of this is over, you'll treat Erin like a human being. If this goes anywhere, or even if it doesn't, at the very least you'll be decent to her." He stopped at a red light and turned to face her. "Can you promise me that much?"

She nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Good. That's good. Because if I find out you haven't, believe me when I say that I will be the least of your problems."

She swallowed hard, any response she intended to make cut off as they turned onto her street.

"532, right?"

"Yes, it's on the left."

He pulled into an open spot and turned off the engine. "Right, then. Here we are." He looked her over, frowning at the uneasiness lurking in her eyes. "Don't go getting all worked up over what I said before; I told you I'm rubbish at this kind of thing." He reached over, placing a gentle hand on Molly's shoulder. "You seem like a nice girl, and I don't think you'll do wrong by Erin in any sense of the word. I just needed to make sure that you understand what will happen if you do." He pulled away, opening his door and stepping out onto the damp pavement. "Are you coming?"

She scrambled out of the car, pulling her backpack from the back seat before following. "You know, you really don't need to talk to my parents."

Owen shrugged, and kept walking toward the front door. "Bit late now." He pressed the bell, and watched with barely contained amusement as Molly fidgeted next to him. The amusement vanished when the inside door swung open. "You?"

He didn't even have time to place a name to the face before the man's punch landed. Owen staggered back, only to have his assailant grab him by the collar and drag him into the house, lodging him against the nearest vertical surface. "Molly, go up to your room."

"But Da-"

"Now!"

Owen coughed, eyes going wide as he finally recognized the man pinning him to the wall and coming dangerously close to strangling him. "Rhys?"

"What, the fuck, are you doing with my daughter?"

Owen was saved from answering by the sound of footsteps and a woman's voice he could only presume belonged to Mrs. Williams. "Rhys, is that Molly? Mrs. Harper called and said that her husband was... What on Earth is going on here?"

"This man is no good, Kay. I don't want him in my house, and I don't want him near my daughter."

"Rhys, for goodness sake."

"I'm serious, Kay. He's bad news."

She entered Owen's line of sight, placing a hand on Rhys' arm. "Rhys, let him up." Rhys released him slowly, keeping himself between Owen and Kay.

Owen reached up, wiping away the trickle of blood which had resulted from the first blow. He made an effort to stay calm, both for Molly's sake, because she seemed a nice enough girl and Erin liked her, and for Gwen's, because she'd had a shit day and didn't need the extra stress. "I'd say 'sorry to cause a fuss,' but then it wasn't really my fuss, yeah?"

He shook his head, backing toward the door. "Look, I didn't come here for a fight. I came to drop off Molly, explain why she's back late, that's it." He nodded to Kay, pointedly ignoring Rhys. "Mrs. Williams - can I call you Kay?"

"Of course."

"Right, then. Kay. The girls lost track of time, and Gwen asked me to give Molly a ride home." He reached back and opened the door. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be sure to keep my business out of your house. After all, that's where such...unpleasantness belongs, yeah?"

He didn't stick around to hear Rhys' reply.

--...--...--

Gwen was still awake when he got home, but he could feel the effort involved in the struggle to stay that way. He popped his head into Erin's room briefly to say 'good night' and remind her that she had school in the morning, which meant getting up at six, which meant bed sooner rather than later. Erin had simply rolled her eyes at him, a common enough occurrence, but there was an underlying anxiety to it that caught his attention. At first he'd thought it was the black eye, but he knew she was used to seeing unexplained injuries, and she hadn't glanced twice at it, so it must be something else. He leaned against the door jam as he'd done earlier in the evening, studying her.

"Everything all right, sweetheart?"

She looked up, obviously surprised that he was still there. "I'm fine, Da."

He crossed his arms and shifted to a more comfortable bracing point. "Bullocks."

"What?"

"I said bullocks. What happened, your mum put you through the ringer after I left?"

Erin frowned at him. "That's just it. She didn't. You didn't. If you're going to nuke out on me, I just want it over with."

Owen shook his head, sitting down on her bed so as to be at eye level. "I'm not going to 'nuke out' on you, Erin. Your mum and I, we just want you to be happy. Now, if you tell me that you and Molly have decided to run off and join the circus, then things might be a touch different." He paused, making a show of studying her expression for honesty. "You're not planning to run off and join the circus, are you?"

Erin laughed, and he was relieved at the lightness of the sound. "No, Da. Not until we finish school, at least."

He grinned, reaching out to gently cup her chin and hold her still as he pressed a kiss to her forehead. "That's my girl. Always thinking ahead." He stood, making his way back to the door. He paused in the doorway, turning back to face her again. "If I'm being honest, love? It's a bit of a relief."

She blinked. "Really?"

He nodded. "Now, I don't have to worry about becoming a grandfather for a while. It'd give me grey hairs, and the last thing I need is more of those." He leaned over and pulled the door almost closed. "Night, Erin."

"Night, Da."

--...--...--

As he slid into bed behind Gwen, she sleepily rolled over to face him. He could feel her shaking off the lethargy as she reached up to trace the bruising around his left eye.

"What happened?"

He shrugged, looking away. "Bit of a disagreement with Molly's father. Nothing to worry about, we sorted it out."

Gwen frowned. "What happened?"

"I told you, nothing to worry about."

"Owen..."

He braced himself up on one elbow. "Have you ever met Molly's family, Gwen?"

She nodded slowly. "I met her mother last year at parents' night; she seemed nice enough."

"Well you missed the interesting part, then." He reached up with his free hand, gently probing the damaged tissue on his upper cheek. "Rhys is her dad."

"That's not funny, Owen."

He chuckled humourlessly. "No, it's really not." She opened her mouth to retort, but he cut her off. "You see, here I was, thinking I'm doing a good thing introducing myself to the chit's parents, and what do I get for my trouble? A punch in the eye, is what. And what I'm damn lucky isn't turning out to be a concussion." He shook his head. "You sure knew how to pick 'em, love. Bastard accused me of having designs on his daughter, of all things."

She looked down, studying the pillow that lay between them and refusing to meet his eyes. "I-I'm sorry, Owen. I'm so sorry. I had no idea."

He didn't need the bond to know that she was telling the truth; it would likely have been worse, not better, if she'd been the one to encounter her old lover. She returned her attention to his face, tracing the bruising with her eyes, if not her fingers. "I know, love."

He shifted so that he was lying on his back, and a moment later she settled against his chest. Her breathing evened, growing nearer to the familiar pattern of sleep. She was close enough to the threshold that he startled when she spoke. "I was thinking."

"Hmm?"

"Before you got home, I was thinking. About Erin. About why we did what we did, how much we've missed. Was it worth it, Owen?"

"Don't be daft, Gwen. We gave her a choice, the chance to do whatever she wants with her life. Of course it was worth it." He played absently with the hair which trailed down her back from a loose ponytail. "Bit late to change things now, anyway. Just have to make the best of it."

She smiled, eyes closed as she enjoyed the simple touch. "Isn't that what we've been doing all along?"

He chuckled softly, shifting his focus to the tension in her neck, working with light, sure touches to smooth it away. "It is at that."

Finis