Owen sat at his desk, a black ball point pen lodged between his teeth, legs up on the desk and keyboard on his lap as he typed up the results of the autopsy of one Lisa Hallet and Annie...something.

He'd let Gwen fill in that detail as he would rather not get too involved in the whole thing. The cause of death for both was pretty obvious. Lisa removed her own brain, put it in Annie's head, then that body was shot. Several times. Open, close case. Jack wanted the formalities abided by though, so Owen had to perform full autopsies for both, including an extensive tox screen of Lisa. According to the results, Ianto had given her enough morphine to kill at least half of the population of Cardiff, if not more, it was a wonder she was still able to function. However, also in the blood was a frightening level of cybertech things... (Tosh knew what it was, that was enough for him), something which Tosh believes negated the effect of the drug and furthered the failed conversion process. He thought back to his discussion with Tosh about the Judas within their ranks.

--

"I just can't believe it." Tosh had commented while she assisted Owen in the autopsies. "He always seemed so... normal. Well, as normal as a Torchwood employee can be."

"No one is normal, Tosh. There isn't a set definition of what normal is. But yeah, I guess he was far from normal."

"What do you think will happen to him now? Torchwood rules state that those who betray the institute, depending on the severity of their actions, should be retconned or shot."

Owen looked at her and raised an eyebrow as if to ask, 'did you just read that out of the handbook and recite it at me', before he looked back at his work and replied.

"Hiding a cyberwoman is quite severe, wouldn't you say?" Owen snorted as he removed the metal additions to Lisa Hallet's body, placing them in a big, black box at his side. When finished, Owen plans to melt down the metal and destroy all evidence of it.

"Yeah, but, it's not like he was trying to convert everyone, right? He was trying to save her. His actions were completely noble. Jack wouldn't kill him for that. Surely?"

"Tosh. Whatever happens to Ianto is up to Jack. And, seeing as none of us can see into the future or read our gallant leader's mind, I'd say that we have to wait and see. Pfft, Jack is likely to keep him around just to fuck him."

"Owen!"

"What? You have noticed those looks from Jack, the comments... it's obvious."

"Still. I hardly think that that'll be the only reason." Tosh said, scowling slightly at the implications of such an idea.

--

Owen could really believe that Jack would keep Ianto around purely to get laid, at least as one of the main reasons that he would. It wasn't as if they knew a lot about him, so how could they predict what he'd decide? Based on all they saw of him, it was a given idea. Maybe they should know more about him... seeing as what happened with Ianto, it seems prudent not to have secrets. Then again, Owen thought, no one other than Jack knew the circumstances of his employment to Torchwood. He never told anyone of Katie and what happened... was he really ready to tell people? He glanced over at Tosh working at her desk and asked himself if he was really ready to accept her sympathy for what happened.

"Owen." Jack's voice from next to him pulled him from his thoughts.

"Yep, that's me."

"I want you to go and check on Ianto. Make sure he's not showing early signs of PTSD, or would that be late signs... Anyway, yeah. Need you to give him a full physical and all that."

"So, we're keeping him?" Owen asked sceptically, turning to face Jack.

"No. He isn't a pet, Owen."

"Fine then. You're going to let him back into this building to work... even though he nearly killed us and the rest of Cardiff if not the whole country/world."

"Yes."

"Any reason why a traitor like that is going to be let back into the ranks? Protocol says that serious breaches of security like what he did should be met with execution for treason. Instead you're what, going to give him a holiday and let him come back to work?"

Tosh turned and watched the men, wondering if it was her place to say something when Jack replied.

"Since when have I followed protocol? I'm the boss, I make the rules. If I say he's going to stay, he's going to stay. I have my reasons that do not need concern you." Jack made to walk away but Owen pulled him back.

"Seeing as he nearly killed me I say those reasons do concern me. They concern all of us."

Just then, Gwen walked into the hub, eyeing the scene carefully. Avoiding eye contact with Owen as much as she could, she asked them both if everything was okay as she placed her jacket and bag on her desk.

"Oh yeah, everything is all peaches and cream. My work's nearly finished, the sun is shining, oh, and Jack here is going to let Ianto back to work." Owen sneered, his tone dripping with resentment.

"Oh."

"As I said, I'm the boss, what I say goes."

"Why, Jack? I mean," Gwen asked, stepping forward to stand next to him. "The consequences of his actions ... if this wasn't a Torchwood thing, he'd be convicted of manslaughter because of what happened to that poor girl and that scientist."

Owen nodded agreeably as if to say 'yeah, exactly!'.

"Yes, thank you for that, PC Cooper, but this is a Torchwood "thing" so no charges will be pressed."

"Do you really expect us to just forgive him, tell him that everything's okay and act like nothing happened?" Owen asked.

"No. I know that nothing is going to be the same again. But, Owen, he made a mistake. He's only human. And think of the loyalty he showed her. Imagine that loyalty directed at Torchwood, that passion and drive. I'm not about to give up on him because he made a little mistake."

"Little?" Owen snorted, standing up. "A 'little' mistake. Did you miss the part with the murders and the infiltration of this base? A little mistake would be putting salt in my coffee, a little mistake would be to file a folder in the wrong place or the bin bag splitting open. Hiding a cyberwoman in this base is hardly little!"

"Owen, calm down." Tosh said clearly, still watching.

"He tried to save the woman he loved, Owen. You can understand that. Ianto would have done anything to get her back, even if it meant lying to us and risking all our lives." Jack added, folding his arms across his chest.

"That doesn't make it right, Jack." Gwen whispered. "Just because he loved her -"

"I know it doesn't. I know that. But you can relate. If it was Rhys, what would you do? If it was someone you loved Owen, what would you do." Katie's name filled the silence between the two men. "I'm not saying that what he did is excused by the motives, because we all know it's not, but what he did do is so understandable."

A silence stretched between the team, each of them thinking about what they would have done.

"He deserves a second chance, but that's not meaning we forgive him, we just help him move forward. Us punishing him is not going to do much considering what he'll put himself through." Tosh reasoned finally, pulling her glasses straight and turning to continue working, the tapping of keys filling the space.

"Just check on him Owen, that's an order."