'Till Death Do Us Part

It's been a year since Owen started working at Torchwood.

Since then, Tosh knew all sorts of things about him. Of course, she didn't just blatantly stare at him, for Owen was naturally an open person. He wasn't afraid to speak his mind or disagree, which usually got him into trouble.

But that was the thing Tosh admired the most. It wasn't his wit or his knowledge, but the confidence she wished she had.

As Tosh did her usual activities of monitoring rift activities, she kept on glancing at the parcel on her desk, which held the Christmas present she planned on giving to Owen. She had planned on giving it to him earlier, but quickly changed her mind. She wasn't sure why.

“We're all going drinking tonight, right?” Jack grinned.

“Can't.” Ianto Jones, the newest member of Torchwood, replied. He was a generally a quiet and reserved man, who served as the factotum of the team. He had many different responsibilities, but he usually was posted at the front desk, disguised as a tourism office, where he guarded the front entrance to Torchwood. He also regularly brought everyone coffee at certain hours.

“Why not? It's Christmas Eve. You all have been working hard, so I'm making it my treat.”

“I promised my girlfriend - “

“Girlfriend?” Jack echoed. “Since when?”

“Since before I joined.”

“Are you sure you're not making her up, just so you don't have to hang out with us?”

“Yes sir.”

“Suit yourself. Give her my regards.”

“Yes sir.”

“Owen, you coming?”

“I've got nothing else to do.” He shrugged. “Sure.”

“Tosh?”

“I don't know. I've gotta finish up the paperwork.” Lie. That was a flat out lie and Jack knew it too, as he raised one eyebrow.

“Paperwork? You wanna work on Christmas Eve?” Owen cried in disbelief. “Besides, I don't want to look like I'm on a date with him.”

“Don't worry Owen. I wouldn't exactly 'shag' you. Except, I gotta admit you do have a fantastic - “

“Don't push your luck. I'm a straight man.”

“That never stopped me before.”

Jack gave Owen a wink and he quickly turned to Tosh. “I'm begging you.”

“C'mon Tosh. The poor guy is willing to go on his knees. You can do your imaginary paperwork another day.”

Tosh blushed, embarrassed, and murmured, “Alright.”

“Thanks Tosh.” Owen patted her shoulder and went back to his work area.

“I'm gonna go get some coffee.”

“That's my job Tosh.” Ianto spoke up. “I'll get it for you.”

“It's fine Ianto. It'll be a change for once.”

He gave her an unsure look and nodded. Tosh headed over to the coffee maker, located upstairs. It was an alien coffee maker, from a planet miles away. The coffee would brew quicker than usual. She measured out the coffee grounds and measured out the water in accordance. After pouring the water, the maker started brewing the coffee and she waited, leaning against the wall.

“Why didn't you wanna go? Wouldn't you be happy? Hanging out with Owen?” Ianto asked, walking up to her.

She stared at him with wide eyes before uttering, “E-Excuse me?”

“Don't try to hide it Tosh.”

“How did you...?”

“It's obvious. And I don't mean, staring. You don't stare at all. Jack and I...well, we can just tell.”

“Jack too!?”

“Don't worry, I haven't told Owen.” He heartened. “And he's oblivious to it.”

“Too oblivious.” She grumbled. “I just wish sometimes he would notice and make a move himself. I just want to know what he thinks of me, although I can probably guess. I'm just a weird, computer-geek.”

“Who knows, Tosh? Maybe your luck will change soon. Don't give up, alright?”

“Thanks Ianto.” She gave him a smile. “You know, you should speak a little more. Everyone can use your advice.”

“I would, but I've got nothing to say most of the time.” She cracked a small laugh and a ding rang the air. “Your coffee's done by the way.”

---

As Jack had promised, they were all sitting in a pub, gathered around a small table. Owen and Jack were gulping down their drinks, while Tosh took tiny sips of her's. After finishing his entire drink, Jack set the glass down and let out a huge sigh.

“That hit the spot.”

“You had no one else to spend Christmas Eve with, huh?” Owen said. “I thought you had females lining up at your door.”

“Heh. It seems that way does it?” Jack was staring at a man at a table all by himself. “Look at that ass.”

“Go for it tiger.” Tosh gave him a little nudge.

“You know what? I think I will.” Jack stood up, smoothed out his long trench coat, and strutted towards him.

After Jack had left, Owen leaned towards Tosh. “He's gay, isn't he?”

“I think he'll shag anything with a post code.”

“Has he hit on you yet?”

“No.”

“Well, that's something.” He snickered, taking a long sip of his drink before setting it down again. “So tell me Tosh, why did he recruit you?”

“I'm sorry?”

“He doesn't exactly go around handing out job applications, you know. Since we're dealing with aliens, he'd have to find some highly qualified and trusting people for the job. What's he done? Go and look up your files on some government website?”

“No, nothing like that.”

“Tell me, how did he ever find someone like you? You don't look like the type to stand out.”

Tosh closed her eyes and all of the memories suddenly started flooding her memory. She worked at Lodmoor Research Facility, run by the British Ministry of Defense.

Her mother was kidnapped, stolen away from her home one morning by a woman name Milton.

They gave her specific instructions. There was an archive at the facility, holding many secrets and many folders. The blueprints for a sonic modulator was one of them. Milton's intentions weren't revealed to her, but she knew she could exchange such a device for her mother.

So she stole it and throughout the night, she followed each direction, connecting piece by piece, screwing every correct bolt. Finally, it was completed and she held it in her arms in awe. She quickly ran over and handed it over, but they still wouldn't let her Okaasan go.

Instead, they asked Tosh to work for them. She didn't know intelligence could come with such a price.

Instantly she refused, only concentrated with the terrified eyes of her mother staring back at her. Everything after that happened so fast. She remembered Milton's grimace and that click of a button. A terrible noise ran through the air.

The sound waves were stabbing away at her eardrums as Tosh and her mother fell to the floor. Immediately, they both clamped their hands on their eyes. She could still hear that terrible noise, no matter how hard her hands were like magnets against her ears. From the corner of her eye, she saw blood trickling down her trembling hands. After what seemed to be the longest second of her life, the noise stopped. Tosh felt so light-headed and nauseated, that her vision faded to black. When she woke up, the Unified Intelligence Task force had arrested her and imprisoned her in a lonely dark cell, for stealing those blueprints.

She was not allowed to contact her mother, after begging over and over again. So Tosh sat in the dark cell, day after day, watching only sunlight seeping through the window and having paranoid thoughts of her mother. After what seemed to be a while, the cell doors open and there he stood.

Captain Jack Harkness.

“And then?” Owen sat up, listening attentively at the engrossing tale.

“He told me, I was brilliant.” She whispered. “The blueprints for the sonic modulator were faulty. He told me I had altered the design for it to work. He said I was a pure technological genius.”

“I can believe that, but you spending days and nights in a jail cell? That was a shock.” He looked over at Tosh, who was staring blankly at her drink. “What about your mum?”

She shrugged. “I don't know. Jack told me I can send postcards, so I can assume she's alive. But...I haven't heard from her myself. No phone call. No email.” Her eyes were brimming with tears . “And what if something like that happens to her again? What if she becomes the target of others, all because of me?”

“Tosh, it's not your fault.” Owen placed a hand on her shoulder, giving it a reassuring squeeze. “Don't beat yourself up over it, alright? And I'm sure your mum is alive and well.”

“Thanks Owen.”

“So, Jack, he uh, helped you escape?”

“He told me he could get me out of prison if I work for him for five years, as an alternative It's been four years since then and I absolutely love this job. I saw things I never thought I would see and I'm very grateful for it.” She looked over at Owen and saw his eyes were now fixed on a couple outside, walking in the snow. The two were huddled together and holding hands as they walked, one scarf wrapped around both necks. They both had smiles on their faces as if they didn't mind the snow falling on their raw cheeks.

“Cute couple.” He mumbled to himself, taking another sip.

“Do you have a girlfriend?”

“If I did had one, do you think I'd be wasting my time here?” He replied in a sour tone. “Besides, I'm not interested in a relationship, much less a serious one. We got aliens taking up most of our time anyway.”

“Maybe you should date someone who knows what you do.” She said hopefully.

“Tosh, only we know what we do.” Her face fell and there was a brief awkward moment of silence.

And how about you Owen? You told me nothing about yourself yet.”

“What do you wanna know?”

“How you got recruited.”

“Heh. There's always a story, isn't there?” He drowned down the rest of his glass. “But, I'm not in the mood to tell it.”

“Wait, what?” Owen was already standing and reaching for his coat.

“I've had too much to drink, I'm heading home.”

“What about Jack!?” She looked over and saw Jack snogging the fella with the cute ass. “I guess not then.”

Tosh quickly grabbed her coat and hurriedly followed Owen out the pub. It was 3 A.M, according to her watch. She headed towards the brightly lit lights of the Millennium Centre and stood alone in the snow. Owen stopped next to her as she rubbed her hands together for warmth.

“You gonna wait for a cab?” He asked.

“My car's in the shop unfortunately.”

“Mine too.”

“The weevil accident?”

“Weevil accident.” He repeated, giving her a small smile. “They fucked up my car pretty badly. Claw marks and everything. The front door even fell down.”

“You got the worst of it.” Tosh chuckled. Her eyes wandered to the parcel she was still holding tightly in one arm. “Um, Owen? This is for you. It's um, uh, a Christmas present.” She looked away and she handed over the present.

He blinked in bewilderment and took the parcel from her. “You didn't have to.”

“I wanted to.”

“Did you give everyone else a present?”

“Yeah...” Tosh scratched her head, remembering the Christmas mugs she had given to both Jack and Ianto. Owen eyed her skeptically before opening the parcel. He reached inside the package and six mini decorative buttons, all in different colors with different sayings. “I know how you said the white lab coat is bland., so I bought them to make them stand out.”

“Thanks Tosh, but I don't have anything for you.”

“It's alright.”

Owen noticed part of a green leaf sticking out of her purse and looked up at her. “Is that a mistletoe?”

“Huh? Oh. Yeah I'm gonna use it to decorate my house. It's definitely not for snogging or anything.” Tosh took the mistletoe from out her purse and caressed it in her hands. The snowflakes gently falling and resting on the leaves had made the mistletoe more exotic and exquisite. She looked up at Owen again and sucked all her breath in. Owen was leaning so close to her, his lips just a few inches away from hers. Her eyes were dilated, looking from his lips to his eyes, to his lips again. Before she could open her mouth to speak, he pressed her lips against hers. He cupped his hands around her cheeks as his lips moved again and again, while she stood frozen. Tosh, baffled, finally gave in and kissed him back, their lips dancing together in sync. His tongue grazed her bottom lip asking for an entrance and she let him. Owen let go for her cheeks and put his hands on her waist, pulling her closer, her breasts pressing tightly against his chest. Their tongues twisted in each others mouth, mixing hot breaths and barely gasping for air. The feel of the snow was barely visible anymore.

Then Owen suddenly pulled away, leaving Tosh out of breath and wanting more.

“Consider that a gift.” He gave her a smirk.“It's the best gift anyone could ever receive.” Her face was glowing even brighter than the Millennium’s lights.

“Merry Christmas Tosh!” Owen waved, strolling. “That was a really hot snog; by the way.”

“M-Merry Christmas Owen.” She whispered, long after he had gone.