Author's Note: I don't own Torchwood. BBC does.
xxxx
"Ianto wanted war," said Jack. "He is going to get it.'
"The Doctor called the 456 a junkie," said Owen. "That means they'll kill everyone on the planet, if they don't get their fix. So-called normal people will do crazy things to get their drugs."
They made it to the front door. Several dead bodies were resting against it or close to it as if people died trying to leave. Panic. If they had enough time to get to the entrance, they could have got hazmat suits. There should have been several hazmat suits waiting in storage since a building this size would have more than one. At least, most of the people in the building had left before lock down. It could have been worse - a lot worse.
Jack said, "Owen, are you OK?"
"The janitor got a hazmat suit," said Owen. "In the time they ran to the door, they could have gotten protective equipment. A waste."
"I'm sorry." Jack put an arm around Owen.
"One survivor means they all could have made it," said Owen. "I could have saved them if I wasn't locked in that bloody room. UNIT better win this thing. I don't want to be trapped on this planet with only you for company."
"I feel the same way," Jack teased back.
"Back to Clem," said Owen. "How do we find another Clem? There must be one child on the planet that said, 'we are coming' on Monday then hit puberty. Someone the 456 doesn't want because of hormones."
"But how do we find that child?" said Jack. "They want the children tomorrow. We don't have time."
"Can it be any child? Or just a child on the cusp of puberty?" asked Owen, more thinking out loud then talking to Jack.
Jack said, "Frobisher's older daughter looks about the right age."
"I don't want to know how you know the ages of Frobisher's children," said Owen. Finally, they left the building and were in the fresh air, again. He couldn't take a breath, but he could smell the difference in air quality from inside to outside the building.
If things didn't go well, it would be just Jack, him, the naturally immune and people safe in sealed environments left on the planet. Earth would recover. The human race would recover. Since Diane was no longer in Flat Holm in an underground bunker breathing recycled air, she would die if they failed. They had to win for Diane. When they got to the MI5 building, the lady that had encased Jack in concrete was there with a bunch of other people holding guns.
Owen lifted up his shirt. "Been there, done that."
"What are you?" asked the lady.
"A waste product," said Owen. "Nothing."
The lady and the others put their guns down.
"Thank you. I rather not have another bullet hole to add to my collection," said Owen.
Gwen ran over to Jack and hugged him.
"Ianto?" asked Jack.
"He's safe," said Gwen. "And Rhys took the computer to a safe location."
A flying saucer, for lack of a better description, appeared overhead. The Doctor made good on his word.
"Clem?" asked Jack.
"He died," said Gwen. "We watched it happen."
"I may need to repeat his death with a child on the cusp of puberty." Jack wrapped an arm around Gwen. "I hope UNIT will give us a military victory and we won't have to sacrifice a child."
"It's a backup plan." Gwen leaned against Jack as they walked into the building. "Let's not worry about that for now."
"I need to take you three into custody," said the lady.
"As long as I get a cell near Miss Habiba," said Jack. "I would like to thank her in person."
xxxx
Gwen and Owen were put in the cell with Lois while Jack was told to back away by the armed men. The door of the cell slammed, locking them in. Lois hugged Gwen. "Where's your husband?"
"He has the data and is safe," said Gwen.
Lois stopped hugging Gwen. "That's good."
"Jack thanks you," said Gwen. "This is Owen. He also works for Torchwood."
Owen offered her his good hand. "Dr. Owen Harper."
"Lois Habiba." Lois shook his hand. "Cold hands, warm heart."
"I don't know about that." Owen put his hand to his side. "The fate of the whole planet was in my hands a few minutes ago and I was thinking about my girlfriend. I'm a selfish twit when push comes to shove."
"I told Jack I would rescue his daughter and grandson," said Gwen. "We're saving the world, so you can hug your girlfriend. So parents can hug their children. That doesn't make you selfish."
Owen sat on the floor. "You and Lois can share the bed."
"A gentleman, too," said Lois. "The floor can't be comfortable."
"I'm covered in a hard plastic shell," Owen deadpanned. "I won't scratch."
"He's joking," said Lois.
"You shook his hand," said Gwen. "You tell me."
"They put us together, so we would talk," said Owen. "Let's talk about your boyfriend, my girlfriend, Gwen and Rhys expecting their first. Bore the hell out of Johnson and her friends."
"You were the one that mentioned trying to save the world," said Lois.
"They know what I did in the past," said Owen. "It was all recorded, rewound and repeated. They can watch me fail at opening the tank with a fire extinguisher in slow motion all they like. Do you have anyone special?"
"Not really," said Lois.
"Gwen, since we have time to kill, do you want to know why I dress as a girl for work?" Owen asked, but he was going to talk either way. "Because I feel like Tammy Faye under all this make-up. I know no one can see it, but I know it is there. You happy now?"
"Owen, we all have insecurities." Gwen patted the bed.
"You and Rhys. That's wonderful news." Owen sat on the bed beside Gwen and took her hand.
"Are you upset it isn't yours?" teased Gwen.
"No, you and Rhys would have raised it as yours," said Owen. "According to some statistic I read, 1 out of 5 children born to married mothers in England (or was it the UK?) have a blood type that indicates that their mother's current husband isn't their father. And that is based on blood type alone."
"You two?" said Lois.
"What of it?" asked Owen.
"He's very different from your husband," said Lois.
"That was the point," said Gwen. "Rhys and I weren't married back then, but it was still wrong. I had to live with my guilt. I wanted to tell Rhys, but that would have only hurt him."
"This affair is over?" asked Lois.
"Yes, I couldn't take my guilt anymore and broke it off. The sex was great. Sex with my husband is also good." Gwen smiled that gap-tooth smile of hers.
Owen said nothing no matter how much he wanted to comment because he could no longer sleep, drink or have sex, so commenting on Gwen stumbling over her words was pointless.
Lois said, "You still want him."
"I don't," said Gwen. "Rhys and I are expecting a baby."
"You do," said Lois.
"A little." Gwen smiled.
"Owen wanted us to bore the people listening to us," said Lois. "And you are giving them an earful."
"Have you ever had sex with someone that you knew was wrong, but the sex was so good that you didn't care?" asked Gwen.
Lois said, "Once or twice."
"Do tell," said Owen.
"You just want to get out of the spotlight," said Lois.
"I'm with Diane now. I'm in a committed relationship and..." Owen stood up and walked as far away from Gwen as he could get in the small cell. He looked at his shoes. "Tell the dead man he was good in bed because that will really make his day. We can't talk about the 456 no matter how much it is on our minds because that's what they want. 456 can't kill me because I'm already dead, so my worries are bit different than yours."
Lois asked, "How did you die?"
"I got between a friend and a bullet," said Owen. "I would do it, again. A totally ordinary death. Mundane - no breath-sucking travelers or flesh-eating shapeshifters. Both went yuck - dead bloke."
"Why the plastic?" Lois asked.
"Makeup smears," said Owen. "The plastic has the added benefit of keeping me dry and clean."
"What about your head?" asked Lois.
"I usually wear a wig when I leave the house. So my hair and scalp also stay clean." Owen didn't want to tell the people listening that he didn't heal. Let them think that he could be blasted and keep going after them like the zombies in films.
"You have it down to a science," said Lois. "How did you end up undead?"
"I'm dead." Owen returned to sitting on the floor. "One word: Jack."
"You can't leave it there," Lois said, sitting on the bed near Gwen.
Owen told Lois about the Resurrected Gloves, including all the boring details about Suzie, which included his brief affair with Suzie. An hour or so later, the door opened. Johnson said, "Loverboy, you get your own cell."
Owen let her lead him to another cell. The handcuffs were scratching the plastic. It would need to be reapplied when he got home and tissue underneath the plastic could be bruised.
When she removed the cuffs, she said, "Zombie, your skin is flaking off."
"That's plastic and makeup," said Owen. It would have to be the wrist of his good hand. "I use a specially designed polymer. But outside wood sealant would do in a pinch."
After he was locked in for the night, Johnson said, "I'll see what I can do."
xxxx
The following morning, Owen was let out. "No cuffs this time."
"The British prisons are designed for people with heartbeats. If you promise not to commit treason, again, you're free to go. We still have your pregnant girlfriend behind bars."
"She isn't carrying my baby," said Owen.
"Your emotions betray you," said Johnson.
"Rewind the tape," said Owen. "She talked about jumping me. I said nothing about jumping her."
"You care, so you won't do anything foolish."
Owen was led outside. "Don't I get a bus ticket?"
"You can call your current girlfriend." Johnson handed him her mobile phone. "I don't get it. You aren't that much. Then teenagers dig vampire films. Dead must be sexy. The phone call is on me."
Owen reached Diane and gave her directions to meet him at a bookstore. He had no money and couldn't eat, so a coffee shop was out. He wouldn't look too odd browsing in a bookstore, so it worked. Johnson escorted him to said bookstore then left him there to wait.
xxxx
Diane hugged him when she arrived then lead him to the car. "You OK?"
"I wanted to get you something special," said Owen. "How about we stop for bananas?"
"You buying me bananas with my money isn't a present," said Diane.
"The world could be ending today," said Owen. "So let's not fight."
Diane looked at his wrist after she parked the car in the car-park. "You can't go to work with that."
"After I have Barbara fix it," said Owen, "it will be as good as new."