How To Scar Dr. Owen Harper For Life

Disclaimer: No owning here. I just play.

Summary: Owen stumbles upon the TARDIS and is quite surprised by what he finds. Ianto/Jack. Part of the "Immortal Janto" series.

Yep, you've guessed it. This is a companion piece to "Toshiko's Sato's Rainy Day Encounter." Set early series 2 (before Owen dies and becomes zombie Owen).

He was having a bad day and, by bad day, it was the kind of day that made Owen seriously question why he did what he was did on a daily basis. Torchwood was great and he loved the work he was doing, but he didn't necessarily the long hours and the sleepless nights. That seriously cramped his nightlife style.

To make matters worse, there was a damn blue police box sitting on the curb, right in front of the main door to his flat.

No one seemed to mind it as they were walking by, but Owen, being the good member of Torchwood that he was, was good at noticing things that were out of the ordinary. Hell, that's part of the reason why he got his job in the first place. That, and Jack had said that he needed a crazy kind of doctor, but that's besides the point.

Owen growled a little bit.

Who leaves a police box in the middle of a street in Cardiff?

Even as he finished that thought, Owen started laughing, earning more than a few confused looks from the average pedestrian. Of course, it all made sense now. Jack had only just come back from his travels and they had heard all about the Doctor.

And the Doctor's blue police box – or the TARDIS.

Wait? Was the Doctor here to take Jack away again? Owen knew that the team might not be able to handle another abandonment, despite what Jack had promised.

Ianto wouldn't be able to handle Jack ditching them again. The young Welshman had barely stood it when Jack had just gone running out of their lives. Owen had seen the daily battle that Ianto had fought against his emotions and the doctor had sent his heart out to his friend. Ianto didn't deserve that kind of pain, especially from Jack, a fact that had never been helped by the constant harping of Gwen.

Still, Owen steeled himself, strode up to the blue police box, and knocked loudly on the door.

A moment later, it opened . . . only to reveal Ianto Jones, resident Torchwood teaboy, archivist, and the guy that everyone knew had Jack wrapped around his little finger.

Only, Owen knew that this wasn't the same Ianto he had seen at work today.

This Ianto had an aura of confidence about him that threw Owen for a loop, mixed with a look of experience that betrayed his youthful exterior – well, save the gray in Ianto's otherwise dark hair. That gave the doctor reason to pause. There had to be a story there. And the deep blue waistcoat Ianto wore was made of a high-quality silk that even Owen was jealous of.

"Owen!" Ianto sounded genuinely surprised and genuinely happy to see him. The Welshman was shaking his head as Owen pulled himself out of his stupor at seeing his co-working inside the strange police box, when Owen knew (for a fact!) that Ianto was back at his flat (with Jack). "I should have known that the old girl would have us run into each other sooner or later. You best come inside."
It was totally surreal when Ianto pulled him inside. The logical part of Owen's mind was having a complete field day trying to process what he was seeing.

This ship really was bigger on the inside. Jack wasn't kidding about that!

Owen turned, his face contorted in a look of disbelief and shock as he took it all in. From the large console that dominated the room, to the doors that had to lead somewhere else, to the tall, skinny bloke (the Doctor, that had to be the Doctor) next to the pretty red-head with the children, and finally to the couch that seemed very out of place, given the theme of the rest of the room.

"Holy shit!" he exclaimed, reflexively jerking back at the sight of a heavily pregnant Jack, sitting on the couch. "What the hell?"

Jack rolled his eyes. "No swearing in front of the kids. It's bad for their health." Owen raised an eyebrow at that before glancing to the two children, who were giggling at his outburst, obviously to the chagrin of the Doctor and the redhead. "And you act like you've never seen someone pregnant before, Owen."

The Londoner shuddered. "I've seen people pregnant, but they've all been women, unless you got a sex change without telling me first."

Jack grinned at that comment.

"Don't ask how it happened," Ianto piped up. Owen looked back to him. "You'll get confused and the human mind isn't equipped to handle a lengthy explanation of the medical miracles that the TARDIS can provide."

"Oi! I'm not that bad!" the Doctor said, as he leaned against the railing, looking at Owen. "Plus I let you met another one of your strays, Jack and Ianto."

"Dad," the boy at his side cut in, tilting his head to the side, "you said that Uncle Ianto and Uncle Jack missed their old friends and that the TARDIS liked them."

The Doctor looked to the boy, his son, and grinned a bit. "You have your mother's mind, Geoff."

The red-head slapped his shoulder. "Oh stop it, Doctor, let them have their reunion."

"Right," the Doctor agreed, "we'll be off then. Dinner time for the kids."

With that, the Doctor and the redhead ushered the two children – both clearly not wanting to leave – out of the room, leaving Owen, Ianto, and Jack to their own time and own conversations.

Ianto moved to the couch, where he arranged himself next to Jack, mindful of the pregnant man's stomach. Owen cautiously approached the pair, the wheels in his head turning as he processed what he was experiencing. Briefly, he saw rings flash in the light of the room.

This had to be a future version of Jack and Ianto, he concluded. It was the only explanation.

"So, how far into the future are you?" he asked, tentatively.

Both men grinned at him. "See, that's why I liked Owen," Jack replied, victoriously. "And, to answer your question, we're from about six or seven years down the road, Earth time."

Owen's eyes flicked to Ianto's hair. Ianto must have seen that because he sighed knowingly.

"Before you ask, the streak came from a nasty encounter with radiation. It was not a pretty death, that one." Owen processed. Ianto had died? He saw Jack wrap an arm tightly around Ianto's shoulder, as the Welshman continued, "Let's just say, immortality bites sometimes."

"Do I even want to know how you're immortal, Ianto?"

The two men shared a look and jointly answered, "No!"

"Okay, won't ask then." He studied them again. "So, is the baby a girl or a boy?"

Here, both men smiled. "A girl," Jack said proudly, practically glowing. "We're having a little baby girl."

Owen smiled at that. They were so obviously excited about this. Ianto was happier than Owen ever remembered seeing him.

"Have a name picked out yet?"

"Yes," Ianto said, "and we'll tell you, if you promise never to tell anyone."

There was only one answer to that. Owen nodded in the affirmative.

Twelve hours later, when he woke up in his flat, to the sound of his cell phone going off ("Bringing Sexy Back," as customized by one Jack Harkness), he knew that everything was right in the universe.

Ooooh, a bit of a tease, eh? You won't find out the baby's full name until she's actually born (though you can probably guess her first name, based on previous stories). Well, you know what to do. Please review!