Chapter 7: Talks with the Boss

Gwen found herself being hugged within seconds of stepping back into the Hub. When Tosh released her, she looked at her.

"Are you all right?" Tosh asked her, but didn't look convinced when Gwen muttered a yes. Biting her lip, Tosh pulled Gwen to the couch and made her sit down.

"Jack's worried about you, you know." She said needlessly. Then fidgeted with her glasses for a moment, before blurting out,

"Who, Gwen? Please tell me. 'It's his' doesn't exactly say much." Gwen looked at Tosh seriously for a minute. Then she stood up, walked to her desk and retrieved the paper. She mutely returned to the couch, sat down and handed it to Tosh. Uncertainly, Tosh read through the data on the page.

'97.83 negative possibility of Specimen A matching DNA quotient of Specimen B.'

"This doesn't make any sense to me." Tosh told her. Gwen looked down at the page, then whispered,

"He ran the baby's DNA patterns with his own. They don't match, so the baby belongs to Rhys."

Tosh placed a hand on Gwen's in her attempt to comfort. Gwen looked a little sad at the news, and Tosh wondered again if she had been hoping the baby would be Owen's. But then they heard the alert go off, and Tosh grimaced as she went back to her station.

Jack came up from the basement, and stood over her shoulder as Tosh brought up the information.

"It's a standard 24-24-B." Tosh reported, and Gwen walked over to join them.

"24-24-B?" She questioned. Jack and Tosh smiled at one another.

"Tourists," they said in unison. Gwen smiled at that, and caught Jack's eye.

"Gwen, can I talk to you for a moment?" Jack asked, and she nodded as he led the way up to his office.

Carefully closing the door behind her, Jack offered her a seat. Since he'd never been this formal about anything before, Gwen wondered if he had talked to Owen about her results. She sat, careful to not let him out of her sight. He made it easy for her. He leaned against the desk in front of her, and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Gwen, I'm not going to beat around the bush. Owen told me about your test."

"I see," She looked down at her hands in her lap, unsure of what he wanted her to say.

"Would you like help in telling Rhys?" He offered, his tone subdued, his voice quiet. It had not been what Gwen expected, and her head shot up at that.

"Oh, no…Thank you Jack, but I think I'm going to need to tell him on my own." Jack leaned toward her slightly.

"Do you think he's going to be upset?"

"I'm not sure. I don't think so." She smiled weakly, "At least he'll take the news better than Owen did." Jack frowned.

"He didn't take it well?" At this, Gwen laughed humourlessly.

"I have no idea. He barely said anything, and when he did it was to reel off scientific doctor babble about odds and processes. He never said one word one way or another."

Jack could see the tears spring into her eyes, and thought back to his conversation with Owen. He had seemed upset, almost as if he had half-hoped that the baby would be his. This description of Owen from Gwen though, it troubled Jack. If Owen had truly wanted the baby, wouldn't he have made it known to the baby's mother? Jack looked at the woman in front of him again. She was obviously trying to compose herself, and he took the opportunity to sit down next to her.

"Gwen," he said, taking up her hand, "This came as a surprise to Owen. You know how he deals with surprises."

"You mean by that, of course, that he doesn't deal well?" She laughed, sniffing back tears. Jack smiled. There was the Gwen Cooper he knew and loved.

"Exactly. Owen is only human, give him a couple days to process the information, and then go to him and talk it out. Then you'll know where you stand with one another. But give him a few days to get his thick skull around the idea of you becoming a mother." Jack thought for a second, then amended, "Maybe you'd better give him a week. Owen's got a pretty thick skull."

Gwen laughed again, wiping her eyes with her sleeve, and turning to Jack.

"Thanks." She said simply. He gave into his impulse and kissed her forehead.

"No problem." Then he let her walk out of the office.

Ianto appeared in the doorway a few minutes later to find Jack silently brooding. He had his eyes closed, and his head leaned heavily on his hands atop the desk. Concerned for his boss, Ianto walked in and stood next to Jack, looking down at him.

"Can I help you with something?" Jack asked softly. Ianto licked his lips, then put a reassuring hand on Jack's shoulder. The contact made Jack look up. Ianto gave him his patented half-smile.

"Pick me up at 7." He said quietly, and turned to go. Jack moved faster than he did, and was on his feet in an instant. He grabbed Ianto's wrist before he could make a clean getaway.

"7 it is then." Jack murmured before letting his lips descend momentarily onto Ianto's. Ianto could feel the well-concealed passion behind Jack's kiss, and shivered slightly. Then he pulled away and looked up into the Captain's bright blue eyes.

"It's only our first date, sir." Jack blinked, and smiled at Ianto's term.

"Yeah, so it is." Ianto walked to the door, and turned his head to the side to tell Jack,

"I don't put out on the first date sir. I'm not that kind of guy." He left to Jack's laughter ringing through the office behind him.