Much to the team's relieve, Ianto had found them a small inn not so far away. They all had hot baths, got changed to warm, dry clothes and were now sitting round a large wooden table close to the fireplace while gulping hot chocolate and eating a large plate of stew with freshly baked rolls.
"Ah, this is life" Owen sighed once he finished his plate; he leaned back in his chair and rubbed his belly. "I don't think I can ever be more grateful"
"I didn't know you could even be grateful" Gwen muttered.
"Where are Tosh and Ianto?" Owen asked looking at the two empty seats. "Reckon they gone for a shag?"
"I doubt it, not all of us are horny 24/7 like you" Gwen said as she wiped her mouth with her napkin.
"Ianto better not touch Tosh" Owen grumbled.
"Are you feeling jealous Owen?" Gwen asked raising an eyebrow.
"No, just Tosh is my friend, right? Friends look out for one another" Owen said quickly. "Sides...i feel guilty as it is not being there to protect her from that Mary bird"
"I don't believe it, Owen Harper actually has a soft side" Gwen said teasingly. Owen glared at her and Gwen laughed. "Don't worry, they've gone to find communication and get us out of this bog hole. I never thought I would say this but I miss Cardiff"
"Not the only one" Owen mumbled. "Scary isn't it?"
"Very"
Ianto and Tosh came in looking shocked, scared and a tinged of annoyance. "Would you like the bad news, the even more bad news, the worst news or the good news first?" Ianto asked.
Owen looked thoughtful. "Hmm...I think it might be good if you just let me down gently, go on say it, we're stuck here for a month or so aren't we?"
"No, not even close" Ianto said rolling his eyes. "The bad news we almost got invaded by aliens. The even more bad news is that the President of the United States and our Prime Minister is dead"
"And the worst news?" Gwen asked dreading the answer.
"George Bush and Tony Blair are running to be our leaders again"
"Fuck" Owen muttered. "Not voting for that wanker, so have you got any good news for us or is this where you're going to tell me my pet goldfish died?"
"Owen you don't have a pet goldfish" Tosh said frowning. "We flushed it down the loo three years ago when it died"
"We did?" Owen asked bewildered. "Then what the hell is floating in my fish bowl?"
Ianto looked disgusted, Tosh wrinkled her nose in disgust and Gwen choked on her spit and ended up in a coughing fit. Ianto patted Gwen's back; once she calmed down she glared at Owen.
"You really are disgusting" she informed him, Owen shrugged unbothered by the statement. "So then, what is the good news?"
"I got through to the airport booked us tickets to England and a car will come and pick us up tomorrow morning" Ianto said happily.
"Hallelujah!" Owen said. "Ianto, I love you"
"Sorry Owen, not interested in twats" Ianto shot back causing Gwen and Tosh to laugh while Owen looked unimpressed.
TWTWTWTWTWTWTWTW
They landed in London late afternoon, again after a few short phone calls and Ianto's polite nature and excellent connections the four of them got a train back to Cardiff. The UNIT officer that was overseeing everything sighed in relief and hugged Ianto tightly.
"That pterodactyl was driving me mad! And the Weevil thing and I kept waking up to some beeping or another. Never again am I filling in for you lot!"
The UNIT officer then ran off really fast.
"Ever get the feeling that people find us odd?" Owen asked innocently.
Ianto went off to feed Janet and Mwyfanny while Tosh checked out rift readings and Gwen went through the phone messages. Owen sat down at his work unit and got out his precious Gameboy that his missed dreadfully.
Gwen sighed loudly. "I got reports of alien sight-seeing, a call from Torchwood Two asking for a weevil to experiment on, Ianto's sister called several times and so did the pizza place nearby wondering why we haven't ordered anything yet but nothing from Jack"
"Didn't expect anything from that smarmy bastard" Owen said unbothered. "It's been what, almost two weeks? He's only just getting bored of his latest shag, I bet in another week's time he'll come crawling back in here"
Ianto looked down at his tray of coffee with a gloomy expression; he left the tray on Gwen's work unit and trailed back to the reception desk. Gwen and Tosh glared at Owen.
"What?"
"Honestly Owen, you're so insensitive sometimes!" Tosh snapped turning back to her computer.
"I don't know why we haven't fed you to Mwyfanny yet" Gwen said storming back to Jack's office.
Owen starred at the stuffed toy Gwen had on her desk. "Seriously, what have I done this time?" he asked the stuffed toy.
Strangely enough the toy had no answer.
TWTWTWTWTWTWTW
It was late when Owen and Tosh left to go home. Gwen was still working on a report and Ianto went missing two hours ago. Gwen paused to yawn when she heard it, a quiet muffled sobbing. She frowned. Either Mwyfanny or Janet was ill or Torchwood was haunted. It wouldn't surprise her if it was the latter.
Gwen got up and followed the sobbing sound down in to the achieves, it got louder and louder as she followed it through the maze of shelves. She stopped and stared for a moment.
There sat curled up Ianto as he cried into one of Jack's uniform blue shirts.
Without saying a word Gwen sat down next to him and pulled him into a hug.
They sat there in almost complete silence as Ianto continued to cry into her shoulder.
"I...i...miss him...so much"
"I know sweetheart, I know" Gwen cooed as she stroked Ianto's hair. "We all miss him, even Owen though he likes to hide it"
"I love him!"
"I know...so did I" Gwen admitted, she then slipped her hand into her pocket and pulled out the handkerchief that he had given her. She used it to wipe Ianto's tears and then held it up to his nose to blow. He did. "I'm always here for you when you need a good cry"
Ianto smiled weakly. "I might take you up on that offer"
