Title: Difficulty
Rating: T
Pairing: Jack/ Gwen
Summary: Gwen makes a shocking discovery that will change her life forever. Set after Meat but before Something borrowed. AU
Status: One-Shot Complete
Warnings: Mild swearing, references to sex
Disclaimer: I do not own Torchwood...if I did do you really think that Rhys would still be alive?
Gwen had no idea what to do. She thought about everything that had brought her to this moment. About six months ago Jack had died again. It had been horrible, and violent. She had seen him attacked by a Weevil- it sounded simple compared to some of the other ways that he had died. But the Weevil had pretty much pulled him apart. She had stayed with him until he woke up. They were probably the scariest hours of her life. She knew he would come back- it was still terrifying to see him like that. When he gasped as the life flooded back into him he had grabbed her hand. She had been the only one left at the Hub at that point; the others had come back not long after. To find the two of them hugging; and Gwen crying. The five of them had gone out for a drink that night; Gwen had stayed with Jack the entire time- every now and again grabbing his hand, almost to make sure that he was really there. That night he had sent the rest of them home; which had upset Ianto who must have been expecting a night with Jack. She had followed Jack back to the Hub anyway.
He hadn't been angry, and surprisingly hadn't tried to send her home to spend time with her fiancé. They had stood there staring at each other for a while, not saying anything. Tears had welled in her eyes and he had pulled her into a hug. Gwen had whispered that she thought she had lost him. He had said she would never lose him. She had pulled away from him slightly and once again they had stared at each other. She couldn't say which one of them had started the kiss, but it had lead to another, and another. He had then led her to the small bed in his office. She would be lying if she said it wasn't the best sex she'd ever had, Rhys didn't even compare. Since then they had not stopped. For six months they had been sleeping together. The others knew, quite obviously- all of them making comments but none of them telling Rhys. She knew it made Ianto angry. Since her and Jack had started having sex it was clear to her that anything Jack had with Ianto had finished. A few times she had stayed overnight, telling Rhys it was something to do with work. She had woken up to find Jack just holding her as she slept. It had scared her slightly. That was not what Jack did, or it wasn't what she expected him to do.
That feeling was nothing compared to how she felt now.
"Shit." She exclaimed to herself. She wouldn't believe it. She couldn't be pregnant. She looked at the white stick again. It was positive and the third test she had taken. So after everything that had happened over the last half a year she was sitting in the female toilets at the hub- pregnant. She heard the door open.
"Gwen?" Tosh called out. Gwen involuntarily sobbed; unaware that she had been crying before. "Gwen open the door." Tosh was standing outside of the stall she was in. Gwen stood up and opened the door. "What's wrong?" Gwen sobbed again before hugging Tosh, in need of comfort- even though she didn't deserve it. Tosh hugged her back.
"I'm pregnant." She admitted, choking out the words. "And it's Jacks."She pulled away and wiped her eyes. Tosh looked unsure what to say.
"Well are you sure?" She tried to reason with Gwen. "It could be Rhys's."
"It can't be. I haven't had sex with Rhys since I started to with Jack."
"You have to tell them."
"I can't!" She cried. "Rhys will leave me which is what I deserve, and Jack will abandon me. He's not built to be a father."
"Gwen- you have to tell them." Tosh repeated, with more resolve. She grabbed her friends' hand, trying to comfort her slightly.
"Ok." She paused. "But who do I tell first?
"Jack?" She walked into his office, everyone else had gone. Tosh had offered to buy them drinks- so Jack and Gwen could be alone- Owen and Ianto had never moved so fast. Nervous didn't describe how she felt. It felt as if she was going to be sick. He looked up at her from his work. He smiled and abandoned his desk. He walked over to her and kissed her, she didn't respond, and she felt more tears falling down her cheeks. He noticed and pulled away.
"What's wrong?" he asked his voice full of concern. She shook her head.
"I..." She stopped and looked at him. "Why do I always have to ruin everything Jack?" She pulled away from him. "I almost ruined everything between me and Rhys when I had an affair with Owen. Do I learn my lesson? No! Then I have one with you!" She pointed her finger accusingly at him. He went to say something but she carried on. "But it's not just sex with you Jack is it? It never could be!" She was angry with herself rather than with him.
"What do you mean?" He asked.
"I think I love you." She whispered. "But that's ruined too isn't it? Because you could never feel the same." Tears streamed down her face. He walked over to her, she backed away. "But even if there is the slightest chance you feel the same, it's not going to happen." Jack finally managed to interrupt her.
"How do you know that?" He asked angrily. "I am capable of more than. just screwing people Gwen! How do you know it won't happen?"
"Because I'm pregnant Jack!" She shouted. It went silent and he just stared at her. This wasn't how she had planned telling him- but shouting it at him. But her emotions had got in the way. "I'm pregnant." She said calmer this time. "And it's yours." He stormed past her. "Jack." She sighed. Gwen followed him. "Don't walk away from me." She ran down the stairs after him. He carried on walking, ignoring her. "JACK!" She shouted. He left the Hub, she wiped the tears from her face. "One down." She said bitterly, before leaving for her flat.
Gwen entered her flat; Rhys was sitting down watching one of his mindless television shows.
"Hi love." He called, not turning from the television.
"Hi." She whispered. "Rhys I need to talk to you."
"Can't it wait?" He asked.
"Not really."
"Ok." He groaned, turning off the television. She sat on the sofa next to him. "What is it?"
"I'm not sure how to tell you." She said looking down; she was still upset about Jack's reaction to it. He had run away, quite literally. She looked up at him. Rhys looked concerned for her, which made her feel guiltier than she did before. She was an idiot. Sitting in front of her was a man who loved her, enough to want to marry her. She had destroyed it, it was worse than it was with Owen. Because she loved Jack, and that made it worse- it preventing her from stopping when she realised what she was doing was wrong. When she was with Jack she could pretend he loved her back.
"I've been..." She paused, and looked at him. "I've been sleeping with Jack." She waited for the reaction. He shot up realising what she had said.
"What?" He shouted, she started to sob. "No don't you dare cry! You don't have the right to cry. I've been sitting here thinking that it's ok that you are late again because you're probably fighting an alien or something. But oh on, you've just been shagging your bloody boss!" He ran his hand through his hair in anger, he looked at her. "Next thing you're going to tell me is that you're pregnant." She faltered, and couldn't speak. "Oh my God you are?" He yelled.
"Yeah." She nodded.
"Is it his?" She nodded again. "Get out." He whispered.
"Rhys?" She tried to talk again.
"NO! Pack your bags and get out." He said through gritted teeth. She stood up and before she went into the bedroom she took off her engagement ring and put it on the table. She quickly packed her things into two large trunks and carried them out. Rhys was standing in the kitchen area, avoiding her gaze. She faltered.
"I know it's not enough." She started; her voice broke as she tried to force the tears away. "But I never meant for it to be like this. And I'm sorry." As she expected he didn't say anything. "Bye." She left the flat.
She walked out onto the street.
"Now where do I go?" She asked herself. She contemplated calling her mum- but it would be so hard to explain to her.
"Well I don't think that a woman in your condition should be carrying those heavy things." Jacks voice made her jump.
"Well it's not like you care anyway." She turned away from him, deciding to walk somewhere, anywhere away from Jack. He was the one person who could probably help her with this- the one person who wouldn't be angry with her for what she had done. Unfortunately he was the one person who probably would not help.
"Now that's just not fair." He said in his usual joking manner. She turned around and looked at him in astonishment.
"Not fair? Jack when I told you that I was having your baby you ran away." For what seemed like the hundredth time that evening tears started falling down her face, this time she just let it happen. "You wouldn't listen to me when I was shouting after you." She cried, she was choking out the words.
"I just didn't know what to do; I had to think it over."
"Had to think it over? Jack I have had no chance to think this over. This evening I had to tell my fiancé that I was pregnant with your baby." She put down the cases, either side of her, because they seemed to be getting heavier. "Well ex-fiancé now." She looked at him again; he was standing in front of her, seemingly not wanting to move any closer. "I never thought that I'd meet anyone like you Jack. Not only did I meet you but you have completely changed my life." She sighed.
"So what are we going to do?"
"We?"She asked hesitantly.
"Of course." They stood opposite each other, smiling slightly.
"First off I need a place to stay."She offered.
"Well that's sorted." He walked up in front of her and picked up her suitcases. "The SUV is parked around the corner."
They sat in awkward silence in the Hub.
"So what's going to happen then?" He asked her.
"Some people would have had it aborted you know. Without ever telling either of you." She looked at her hands. "I couldn't do that." She looked back at him, and held one of his hands in between hers. "I'm going to keep it Jack. If you're involved or not it's up to you."
"Oh I will be."
"Why did you change your mind so quickly? I mean a few hours ago you were running for your life." He pulled her closer to him, with her back to his chest.
"I was thinking, I know it wasn't the best way to go about it. Especially with the hormones." He laughed.
"Hey!" She hit him playfully on the arm.
"It would take a while but I think we can make it work." He rested his head on top of hers.
"It will be hard." She said, thinking out loud.
"I know."
"I mean tell my mother. Terrifying woman." Jack laughed at her comment. "You laugh now, but wait until you meet her."
She smiled sadly, if anyone was watching them it would seem as if they were a normal couple- which they were anything but, she didn't even know if she could call them a couple. She knew some things though- quite rightly Rhys would never forgive her, she didn't know if she would forgive herself. She knew her parents wouldn't. Especially her mum- she really liked Rhys and had been so excited when she found out that he had proposed. Gwen guessed that Jack would not be her mum's favourite person in the world. Gwen fell asleep thinking about all these things. Jack didn't.
He held Gwen as she slept, knowing that the break-up with Rhys had affected her more than she was letting on- and that the emotions would come out soon enough. The strangest thing with this whole situation was that he wasn't as against it as he initially was. They were right; it was going to be very hard. Babies and Torchwood don't mix for a start; they couldn't live in the Hub because it was not a good place for a pregnant woman to be. On top of that he had no idea how to be a father. They'd find a way. They could never be a conventional family- for a start he couldn't die, and would have to come to terms with the fact he would have to watch Gwen and the baby die. As hard as it was to get his head around it he knew that if he sent Gwen away he would regret it, and even though the years they would have together would be nothing compared to all the years he lived, he knew the memories would be better than nothing.
She shifted in her sleep. He moved his hand to her stomach. He smiled to him. He never thought he'd get this. He always thought that what he had with Gwen was all he'd ever have with her, just sex- which is all he normally had in relationships. In no way was he acting like Jack Harkness and it scared him. But was he happy? Undeniably so.
Ok so its a cheesy ending... and slightly strange.
If the characters are slightly out of sync with the show I'm sorry- it's for the purposes of the story.
I will do a sequal if you guys are interested! And I will update Another Chance.
Please Review
xx
P.S I am majorly annoyed because I go on a school trip to India THE DAY that the last episode is on TV. INFACT I will be in the airport. Isn't that just so wonderful? (sarcasm) because I will have to wait another 2 weeks to find out what happens! Not fair!