The Torchwood Drabble Files

by badly-knitted

A collection of Torchwood drabbles that continues to grow. Thanks to everyone who's making this possible. You're greatly appreciated, so I'm reinstating an old game - the writer of every 100th review gets to request a drabble/ficlet of their choice. Still using a T rating to cover anything I might write, just to be safe.

2551. Cruel Illusion

Title: Cruel Illusion

Author: badly-knitted

Characters: Owen, Katie.

Rating: PG

Written For: Challenge 787: Illusion at torchwood100.

Spoilers: Fragments.

Summary: Sometimes, Owen thinks he sees Katie, alive and well.

Disclaimer: I don't own Torchwood, or the characters.

A/N: Double drabble.

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OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

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Sometimes, on a crowded street or in a bar, Owen would see a woman almost his height, with blonde hair and a trim figure, and just for an instant he'd think it was Katie. He'd start towards her, his heart pounding with joy, but then she'd turn, and he'd realise it wasn't her. There was only a passing resemblance to the woman he'd been planning to marry; it had been nothing but a momentary optical illusion.

The human mind could play cruel tricks, seeing something in another's face, the way they stood or walked, the way they tossed their hair back, that was similar enough to raise a person's hopes only to dash them again. Every time, it was like losing his fiancée all over again, and people wondered why he drank so much. What else could he do to blot out the pain and allow himself to sleep at night without spending hours tossing and turning, second-guessing everything he'd done from the moment she'd started to display symptoms?

And if some nights he went home with one of the almost lookalikes, if he accidentally called her by the wrong name while making love to her, who could blame him?

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The End