Title: and then we watch things disappear

Author: finkpishnets

Fandom: Torchwood

Rating: R

Characters/Pairing: Ianto/Owen

Spoilers: All of Series 1 & 2

Challenge: 1sentence

Theme set: Epsilon

A/N: This took me a lot longer than I expected it to. Some are entirely AU and don't follow canon in the slightest (alright, make that most of them) but hopefully they work anyway. Oh, and grammar? Yeah, gone out the window - thank goodness for semicolons and hyphens!

#1 Motion

He has this smile that's little more than a quirk of his lips, but it's enough to send Owen's heart racing at a speed that's not at all natural (every time it happens he wonders briefly if he's having a heart attack); in fact, every one of Ianto's gestures and motions are all so slight that he easily fades into the background, except Owen sort of thinks that's what makes him so damn attractive, and finds himself watching Ianto even more closely as a result.

#2 Cool

The sweltering summer heat (which Owen's sure is not particularly Welsh but probably a bit more Rift) is having its effect on the team as they all sit lazily at their work stations, unable to do anything but fan themselves with random files and hope to God that no aliens try to take over the world today because none of them can be arsed to move; only Ianto seems to be missing, and Owen wonders briefly where the hell he is when he appears with a tray of ice tea to cool them all down, wearing jeans and a t-shirt, and looking so insanely Not Ianto that Owen can feel a blush spreading up his neck and all he can think is thank fuck for the weather!

#3 Young

It's never really occurred to Owen (or the rest of the team) to find out how old Ianto is, and so when the other man receives a large balloon bouquet with accompanying card from his mum saying Happy 26th Birthday! on the front in big glittery letters, they're all sort of shocked because, under his immaculate suits and dry, witty demeanour, they'd never guessed he was so young (it also makes Owen feel ever so slightly pervy though he's not sure why, and he doesn't mention it as he gives Ianto a celebratory hug).

#4 Last

It was supposed to be a onetime thing, a way of releasing all the pent up anger and frustration that had been consuming them both for way too long; Owen was hurting more than ever over the loss of Diane, and Ianto was feeling used and ignored by Jack who was, once again, making googly eyes at Gwen, and so they'd turned to each other, ending up back at Owen's flat, tumbling onto his bed and having utterly fantastically mind-blowing sex that left them both feeling a hell of a lot better (and much, much more confused) – except, that was three months ago and they were still at it, and Owen was starting to think that maybe this was something that might actually be sort of there to last.

#5 Wrong

With Gwen it always felt forbidden which he thinks was part of the charm, and even with Diane it felt as though he was taking something that didn't really belong to him; Owen thinks it's supposed to be like that with Ianto too, after all, the man's been shagging their boss for the better part of a year, and he really rather sort of hates him, but it doesn't; in fact, it feels sort of not wrong, which worries Owen a lot more than if it felt like cheating.

#6 Gentle

Ianto's hurt – it's not deadly serious, but it's enough to warrant medical attention, and Owen's trying to be as careful as he can because, despite how much he may sometimes (alright, mostly) hate the other man, he's a doctor and this, this is what he does best (and he doesn't exactly mind how Ianto's fingers are digging into his shoulder as he sits flushed and looking down through half closed eyelids, which Owen thinks should maybe worry him accept it really, really doesn't).

#7 One

Ianto has a habit of believing all his partners to be 'the one' even when he knows without a doubt that they're probably not; Debbie Connolly was 'the one', Mattie Herald was 'the one', Lisa was 'the one', even Jack, to some degree, was 'the one', but now he's kissing Owen in the back of the SUV whilst they wait for the others to return covered in alien goo and toting heavy weaponry, and he's gripped with the unerring sense that Owen is most certainly not 'the one' (but that he'll do for right now anyway).

#8 Thousand

Ianto has always known without asking exactly how the team likes their coffee, and which pastry they prefer from the bakery on his early morning journey to the Hub; of course, because it's his job, nobody thinks to ask how Ianto likes his coffee (strong, just a little milk, half a teaspoon of sugar) or which pastry is his favourite, and so, after being knocked unconscious by a rather disgusting seven foot rodent, he's rather (pleasantly) surprised to wake up and find a white-iced donut covered in hundreds and thousands and a note from Owen telling him to 'Get well soon, Gwen's been trying to make the coffee and we're all bloody dying!' on his bedside table.

#9 King

Jack's been in a childish mood all morning, and has even gone so far as to make Ianto a crown out of newspaper and sellotape when the younger man brings him a cup of perfect black coffee; Ianto wears it to humour his boss, gracefully ignoring Gwen and Tosh's bouts of laughter, and not noticing how Owen can only stare, wondering what he'd look like wearing the crown and nothing else.

#10 Learn

It's nothing more than a concentrated dose of retcon tipped accidentally into his morning coffee but, by lunch time, Ianto seems to be having trouble remembering how to work the drinks machine, pushing and pulling but not achieving any results (at least not any that the team are willing to try); Owen takes a look at him, going into 'doctor' mode, and decides that he should be alright by tomorrow, he's not actually forgotten, per se, it's just been pushed to the back of his mind, easy enough to find so he doesn't have to learn all over again (the whole team lets out a synchronised sigh of relief, because working at Torchwood is one thing, but working at Torchwood without Ianto's coffee is a whole other kind of evil).

#11 Blur

The lines of their relationship are so blurred that Owen's no longer sure whether they're mortal enemies or best friends; he knows that, now he's dead, fighting with Ianto is the only thing that makes him feel alive, and he's pretty sure that Ianto's aware of the effect he has on him, in fact, he'd be willing to bet that Ianto does it on purpose just to get under his skins – that's sort of what makes him so wonderful.

#12 Wait

Ianto doesn't kiss him back, not the first time, or the second, or even the third, and Owen's really beginning to think that perhaps he's got completely the wrong end of the stick because he was pretty sure Ianto wanted him too, at least from all the sideways glances and 'accidental' touches, but now, even though his pulse is most definitely racing and his breathing is coming out in small, ragged gasps, Ianto isn't participating; it's not until he notices where Ianto's gaze is directed and turns around to see Jack watching them blandly from his office that Owen gets it, and is overwhelmed with the determination to wait it out.

#13 Change

Ianto watches the transition with a strange sense of detachment; he watches as the team, Jack's team, all trickle away, on to new lives or families or places, each replaced one after the other with someone who the bosses claim are 'just as good', until nobody's left except Ianto himself because, really, no one can make coffee like he can so it would be pretty stupid to replace him – still, he watches this New Team (he knows all their names, obviously, but they barely speak to him so he simply returns the favour) and he can't help but see them as impostors, none of them match up to the skill and camaraderie and straight instinctual talent that his team had; Jack with his ability to Know Everything, Gwen who honestly cared about everyone, everything they ever met, Tosh with her unbeatable technological skill, and Owen with his brash, rude exterior covering up for the incredible doctor he was underneath...and he misses them, he misses them so much that he knows it won't be long until he too ends up replaced by someone else and, whilst he's held on as long as he can, he thinks that maybe it's time and maybe that's alright.

#14 Command

With Jack gone, it's inevitable that the team are going to fight over who'll (temporarily) replace him in command; Owen, of course, thinks it should be him, whilst Gwen thinks she's more qualified, and Tosh isn't sure whose side to be on because, honestly, she thinks Gwen will do a better job but she's in love with Owen and doesn't want him to be mad at her – she eventually decides, the sensible woman that she is, that skill is more important, and Owen is outvoted; of course, nobody asks Ianto, which he thinks is probably a good thing because he wouldn't have voted for Gwen and that would have raised a whole other set of questions.

#15 Hold

'Hold still, would you?' Owen hisses, trying to keep Ianto's arm from hitting him as he removes a huge bug sting (the alien type) from his chest; Ianto's spitting a rather imaginative range of curse words under his breath, and Owen's got to admit that he's impressed – he didn't know the usually polite and proper young man even knew half of what he was currently grumbling – and just a little turned on; there's something about watching well-mannered Ianto looking dishevelled, his hair sticking up at odd angles and his tie loose and crooked over his ripped shirt, that's more than a little appealing.

#16 Need

He's pinned up against the Hub wall, one hand in Ianto's hair and the other gripping his tie forcefully before either of them have exchanged so much as a greeting; there are tongues and teeth and Ianto's biting on his bottom lip, and Owen's not entirely sure where all this is coming from but, to be honest, he doesn't particularly care, especially when Ianto's grinding their hips together like that, and whispering 'archives, now' in his ear with a desperation that matches his own, and all Owen can think is 'Hell yes' as he lets himself be dragged away.

#17 Vision

To be fair, they should all know better because it was simple Torchwood policy that you Should Not Play With The Alien Artefacts, especially considering the amount of times that had gone abysmally wrong in the past, but however it happens (Ianto blames Owen who blames Gwen who blames Jack who wants no part of it and would rather sit around being amused and All Knowing), Ianto ends up trapped in some sort of big pink bubble thing that swallows him whole and proceeds to tell him his future...in song...and Ianto's really not sure which part's the most disturbing, the 'vision' or the tiny little orange blobs serenading him, but when the others ask him what happened (between bouts of raucous laughter) he refuses to answer and is also no longer able to look Owen in the eye.

#18 Attention

Since he could clean the hub with his eyes closed and knew all of Cardiff's take away numbers by heart, Ianto Jones spent his time watching his colleagues and quickly learnt how to read every tell the other team members showed to the world – Owen would scratch the back of his neck when his mind wasn't really on his work, and his eyes would often wander over to Gwen's work station almost subconsciously, Toshiko rarely took her eyes off her equipment and so when she did you knew something wasn't right, and Gwen was as easy to read as a restaurant menu, never able to keep her emotions off of her face; the only thing she didn't easily give away was her relationship with Owen, 

but even then the slight choke in her throat and the minimal change of pitch in her voice said everything anyone needed to know, and it was even easier to tell the way she felt about Jack, how she never took her eyes off him when he entered a room, how she would always try and be the last one to leave at night and even then would rush back at a moment's notice if needs be and often if they didn't – she was in love with Rhys, shagging Owen but wanting Jack and it was clear as day to anyone that should care to notice, and Ianto was jealous as hell because, whilst he had Lisa (sort of, not really), he didn't think it was fair that everything should be so easy for Gwen, especially when she didn't even realise what she did have.

#19 Soul

They never spoke about personal things, mainly because they didn't really have lives outside of Torchwood, but also because there were something's you just didn't want getting out – Ianto sat at Tosh's desk, banging his head repeatedly against the hard, metal surface and planning how he could a) knock himself unconscious, or b) retcon every single one of his colleagues, who, upon hearing that his father was a pastor and, yes, he'd grown up in a small parish house, had begun singing a loud, fucking harmonised, version of 'Son of a Preacher Man' led by an enthusiastic Jack (who would break out into song with little to no prompting) and a surprisingly eager Owen who seemed to find the situation hilarious; of course, Gwen and Tosh had begun giggling madly and joining in and now Ianto was seriously holding himself back from murdering the whole damn lot of them because not only had they been mocking him for the last twenty minutes with no foreseeable end, but because they were massacring Dusty Springfield and should therefore not be allowed to live.

#20 Picture

There's a picture on Ianto's desk of himself and Lisa at the beach, wearing smiles and swim suits and looking like they don't have a care in the world; it remains there long after Lisa's death, but none of the team say anything because, though they don't talk about it, they all understand – one day, a few weeks after Owen and Ianto have begun spending more and more time with one another, going for drinks and eating take-out in front of the television, Owen arrives late to work and realises that something feels out of place; looking around the tourist office, he realises that the picture's not there, and he also realises that he's smiling like an idiot.

#21 Fool

'You were right about me,' he says, leaning against the metal banister and staring downwards, eyes not quite meeting Owen's as the doctor looks up and he's not sure what he expected but it certainly wasn't that; he and Ianto haven't spoken in days except for minor passive comments ('Here's your coffee' 'Pass me that file, would you?'), not since Jack walked back into their lives as though he hasn't been MIA for months, and Owen's not entirely sure why Ianto's chosen now to rehash old memories, but all he can say is 'About what exactly?' before Ianto's down there kissing him and muttering something about Jack and Gwen and being nothing but a convenient shag, and all Owen can do is kiss him back and think about what a bloody fool Harkness is for not realising what he had.

#22 Mad

'Owen Harper, if you don't clean up this mess right now then I am going to kick your fucking arse,' Ianto Jones shouted, causing Tosh to spill her lukewarm coffee all over her new shirt, and Gwen to drop the techno-thingy she was holding in surprise; Owen just gulped loudly, eyes widening comically and searching for a quick escape route because, really, he did not want to face a seriously pissed off tea boy who also happened to know every hiding place in the Hub – as Ianto came into view, cheeks flushed and eyes narrowed dangerously, Owen let out a rather humiliating 'eep' before taking off at a run, Ianto hot on his heels – Gwen and Tosh rolled their eyes, preparing themselves for another long afternoon.

#23 Child

Gwen's been moping around the Hub for the past three weeks, literally crying over spilt milk and stomping her feet irrationally when someone asks her if she's feeling alright; Owen, of course, worked it out immediately, taking into account her rising hormonal levels and her new found love of a) pickled onions and chocolate sauce, and b) vomiting at least three times a day, but he's pretty certain that neither she nor Rhys have any idea and he's not sure whether to find it all incredibly entertaining, or to be terrified because in about eight months there's going to be a baby Cooper-Williams running around the Hub – of course, that means that Ianto's going to end up babysitting which is a hilarious prospect all on its own; he can just imagine the perfectly put together young man playing with rattles and cleaning spit off his pristine suits – the rest of the team look at him strangely when he bursts out laughing; ah well, they'd get it soon enough.

#24 Now

'So, now you know,' Ianto finished weakly, his hands hanging uselessly by his side and his eyes looking anywhere but at a fixed point – Owen sitting and staring, face expressionless causing blood to rush to Ianto's cheeks, biting his lower lip nervously – he knew that this...declaration...was probably the last thing the doctor had been expecting, but it had been keeping Ianto up at night and he needed to get it off of his chest, even if it meant ruining the delicate camaraderie that the two had built over recent months – when Owen spoke it was slow and deliberate, his tone threaded with amusement, 'so what you're saying is that it was you who stole my last bottle of Jack Daniels?'

#25 Shadow

Since his death, Owen's become a shadow of his former self; sure, he still grins cockily and cracks stupid jokes that make the others roll their eyes, but there's a sadness about him that was never there before – Ianto doesn't like it; he's always sort of hated Owen in an 'I find you really bloody annoying and completely fucking arrogant' kind of way, but now that he's not so much he doesn't know how to feel, and finds himself strangely wishing that he'd just go back to being his usual infuriating self – he's decided to make that his mission, especially if it means coming up with new and shiny ways to annoy the older man.

#26 Goodbye

Owen doesn't want to say goodbye and it's not like Ianto's going to remember it tomorrow anyway, but after the others have hugged him farewell, all of them understanding exactly why he needs to Just Get Out but none of them brave enough to do it themselves, Owen corners him and proceeds to grab him around the shoulders in a way that's somewhat manly but mostly pathetic and a lot desperate, muttering something that he thinks might be 'I'll miss you' and leaving a suspicious damp patch on Ianto's neatly pressed white shirt.

#27 Hide

He blamed Jack entirely for this; if their boss hadn't had some kind of bizarre kink concerning three armed aliens and electrode devices then he and Ianto wouldn't currently be crouched behind a stack of crates, fighting for space and trying desperately not to get caught before Gwen and Tosh were able to disengage the power supply...and if Ianto didn't get his elbow out of Owen's ribcage in the next five seconds then Owen couldn't be held responsible for his actions, like pushing the younger man into the aliens' path and making a dash for it whilst they were preoccupied, and that, too, would be Jack's fault really, so no one could blame Owen for the sudden lack of a (exceedingly good, he grudgingly admitted) tea boy.

#28 Fortune

'Please,' Owen had scoffed when the others had suggested going into the fortune teller's tent at the fairground; now he was standing outside, dazed and confused and not at all sure how one second the old bat had been telling him that his future was uncertain (blah, blah, blah) and the next that there was 'someone solid and guiding' in his life that would 'be there through it all, someone you will come to respect and eventually love' – he'd been a bit shocked but still prepared to roll his eyes and tell the hag that she was a fraud, until she'd blurted, 'John...I think...no...a translation of...Iaon perhaps...no...Ianto!' and his jaw had physically dropped; now he was standing outside, completely unaware of the little kids running around him with candyfloss, and thinking about how his life was certainly never dull.

#29 Safe

It was a dangerous life working for Torchwood, knowing what was out there and that, however much they might try, there was nothing they could do to stop more than a small percentage of it; there had been Weevils and cannibals and endless amounts of creatures that would put the rest of the world into therapy for a lifetime, and Ianto knew how scary it could be, he felt it every night when he closed his eyes and wondered whether he would survive the next day – except something had changed; suddenly he wasn't preparing himself for the tomorrow to be his last, and he wasn't keeping everyone at a distance – lying next to him, arm flung across Ianto's chest and nose buried in the warm gap between his neck and shoulder, Owen was sleeping soundly, snoring lightly, and Ianto couldn't place the reason why he suddenly felt safe for the first time in as long as he could remember.

#30 Ghost

Owen has dark circles under his eyes and it's clear he hasn't been sleeping; Ianto notices and pays extra attention to the other man, bringing him lots of strong, black coffee, and generally worrying about him in a way that only Ianto ever seems to accomplish – Owen's grateful, more grateful than Ianto will ever know, because this way he sees the younger man at least a dozen times a day and can make sure that yes, he's alright, and no, his nightmares haven't come to pass because Ianto's very much alive, and not, as Owen's taken to fearing, another ghost to add to the list of lost loved ones that haunt his every waking (and sleeping) hour.

#31 Book

'Okay, we're being hunted by twenty foot, three headed aliens with razor sharp, poisonous teeth who want to make mincemeat out of humanity, and you think the answer to stopping them is in a book?!' Owen hissed, looking nervously out of the window whilst Ianto searched the shelves, pulling out one volume after the other in search of something, though Owen didn't have the foggiest what – as soon as they'd lost the things hunting them for more than five minutes, Ianto had taken off for his flat, and Owen had followed, unsure what the hell was going on, but not wanting to be separated until they were able to get to the others – apparently it had paid off; after ten minutes, Ianto let out a sound of triumph, his eyes flickering fervently over a particular page before slamming it shut and taking off again, leaving Owen to follow, murmuring 'I will never understand you,' as he tried to keep up.

#32 Eye

As a kid, Ianto had always had a bit of an obsession with detective novels; he loved Chandler and Mosley and Hammett because their 'heroes' were always dark and bitter and desperate and real – when he started working for Torchwood, he felt a bit like a Private Eye, especially once he'd moved to Cardiff; there was something thrilling about keeping secrets and solving mysteries and being trusted with a gun...of course, he didn't think that Owen fit into the role of the femme fatale, although maybe he'd mention it just to see the doctor's face go red with indignation.

#33 Never

Jack was crazy – no, that was too kind; Jack was fucking insane, and if he didn't Stop Talking in the next twenty seconds then Owen's gun was going to be short a few rounds, whether it would have any lasting effect or not, because this was the sort of conversation that should never happen – Owen wasn't sure where Jack got the idea that he could interfere in their personal lives (just because Gwen bloody Cooper thought they should socialise more) but it was extremely embarrassing and, if Tosh and Ianto's reactions were anything to go by, he wasn't the only one to think so; it wasn't as if Jack really did Know Everything...well, alright, maybe he knew Almost Everything, but if this conversation was anything to go by then he didn't know, as Owen had recently found out, that Tosh had begun seeing a computer technician that she'd met at the local PC supply store (where she'd corrected him on the proper wiring of something or other), and that...well, Ianto and Owen's sex lives weren't quite as non-existent as Jack and Gwen seemed to believe – and Owen thought that it was about time someone told them that...and at least it shut them up!

#34 Sing

Ianto sings in the shower; the first time he hears it Owen can't help but let out a snort or laughter because there's something incredibly amusing about the usually organised and put together man belting out a tune – however, the more nights Owen ends up staying round Ianto's flat, the more he gets the full experience, and he's bloody surprised to find that Ianto's got one hell of a voice – top of the charts quality – and before long it becomes part of Owen's morning routing, to lie amongst rumpled sheets, still sated from the previous evening and listen to Ianto sing the classics with a gorgeous Welsh lilt that soothes his aching muscles and leaves him relaxed for the day ahead.

#35 Sudden

'He's just such a bastard,' Ianto snapped, ignoring Jack's look of mild surprise at the sudden outburst and pacing back and forth in front of his desk, 'he thinks he knows everything, but really he's just an egotistical, arrogant prick with no sense of decency and no consideration for other people's feelings'; Jack interrupted him, raising an eyebrow, 'Okay, Owen's always been those things; what's interesting is why you suddenly care' which caused Ianto to start stuttering madly, turn bright red, and then gave Jack one hell of a glare before storming out of the office muttering about 'conceited tossers' and bosses asking too many questions.

#36 Stop

'Tell me to stop,' Owen whispered, his voice close to begging because he shouldn't be doing this, not with Ianto, not after everything, especially not now they were sort of, kind of, friends, and friends didn't pull other friends behind the archive stacks and start groping them on a random whim (well, not most of the time) – he was angry and frustrated and he needed someone, but he could have gone to Tosh or Gwen or even Jack who would all give him what he needed in one sense or another but it wouldn't quite be enough, not like it was with Ianto, not like it was when their mouths were fighting for dominance and their hips aligning in a way that was too delicious for words – 'Tell me to stop,' Owen asked again; Ianto doesn't.

#37 Time

This wasn't the moment, wasn't the time – they were covered in alien intestines and standing in the middle of the Hub, cold, wet, tired, with the rest of the team not metres away going about their daily routine – it wasn't right, wasn't nice or sweet or romantic (but then, Ianto thought, they'd never been any of those things) and it was so bloody clichéd that they would feel the need to express their latest epiphany after a life threatening situation (not that they knew any other kind of situation, working for Torchwood) but here they were standing only a few feet apart, looking like they hadn't slept in days or washed in longer, and they needed to do something, anything to break the strain that had been building slowly since God knows when because there was unresolved sexual tension and then there was this, whatever 'this' was, and if they didn't break out of what was slowly becoming a very predictable rut then Ianto was pretty certain that he'd either explode or Jack would lock them both in a cell with a Weevil, neither of which seemed like great options – and then Owen's taken the two steps between them and is kissing him in a way that awkward and uncomfortable and right in a way that isn't at all, and everything suddenly starts making sense again.

#38 Wash

It's washed up through the Rift, something old and delicate and obviously meaningful because Jack takes one look at it, snatched it up and stalks off to his office to drink copious amounts of whisky and leave the cleanup for Ianto to do in the morning – after an hour, Gwen gives up trying to pretend that she doesn't desperately want to go up and interfere and do her usual 'it helps to talk about it' routine that has Ianto discreetly rolling his eyes, but Jack seems to lap it up so he doesn't do anything to stop her – Tosh makes her excuses, leaving with a hushed goodbye, and it's just Ianto and Owen listening to faint chatter and the swell of nineteen forties music crackling above them; Owen's not said anything, no scathing remarks about Jack or Gwen or even a childish 'tea boy' comment and Ianto's impressed because clearly he's not the only one that knows when to just let things be (even if he does do it with slightly more decorum and less juvenile whining).

#39 Torn

Something's changed between them since Jack's return; over the past few months they've started to become friends, going out drinking until kicking out time when they'd stumble back to one flat or the other, giggling madly in a way that wasn't at all appropriate for two adult men but not particularly caring because whatever it was they were laughing about was obviously funny – they watch DVD's on Ianto's worn sofa, the younger man hitting Owen's arm whenever he tries to prop his feet on the coffee table, and the doctor retaliating by throwing them over Ianto's legs instead, both feeling strangely domestic considering that two months ago they weren't even on civil terms ('you shot me' 'I did warn you') and it's sort of comfortable but mainly just the closest thing to normal either of them have in their lives right now – but now Jack's back, all charming smiles and 'Man of Mystery' and something snapped, something's torn, and it's not the same anymore, and perhaps that's a good thing (but maybe it's not).

#40 History

None of the team knows that Ianto and Owen have a history, not even Jack who knows everything – it was back in London; Ianto had just started at Torchwood One and Owen was working in the ER and they'd both happened, by pure coincidence, to be in the same bar at the same time looking for the same temporary thrill of a one-night stand; it had been quick and furious and very memorable and that had been it – when Ianto walked through the doors of Torchwood Three a year later and Jack announced him as the newest member of the team, Owen vowed never to say anything (but to not rule out the possibility of a second chance).

#41 Power

'I fucking love power cuts,' Owen murmured against Ianto's mouth, his hands drifting up underneath the younger man's shirt, their legs entangled as they lay together on the Hub's couch, making the most of the darkness the temporary shutdown provided them before Tosh was able to kick start the system again; in all fairness, the others were still around somewhere, each trying to pass the time until the lights came back up and they could get back to work, but Owen was willing to bet that none of them had come up with as good a pastime as he and Ianto who were currently using all their self control not to shag one another senseless in the very public arena, 'I really fucking love power cuts.'

#42 Bother

Jack loves his office because a) it gives him some sort of perverted psychological pleasure to 'lord over his kingdom' and b) it allows him to watch the goings on of his team without resorting to CCTV – right now it's amusing the hell out of him because Owen, moaning dramatically about dying of boredom (which, Jack would love to point out to him, is actually possible), has taken to stalking Ianto around the Hub, talking the younger man's ear off about sports and television and medical procedures all intertwined with a series of predictable insults; Ianto, to his credit, is doing a wonderful job of ignoring the doctor, gritting his teeth and going about his work as if he doesn't desperately want to turn round and hit Owen very hard with a sharp object – Jack watches them for several hours until it looks like Ianto really is about to break before intervening and telling Owen to either get to it and ask Ianto out or stop being such a bother – it's even more entertaining when Owen turns an unnatural shade of red, sputters out a series of nonsensical noises, and then disappears into the lab for the rest of the day.

#43 God

Owen Harper had never believed in God, but as he watched Ianto Jones being ushered into the back of the ambulance on a stretcher, the paramedics working at top speed just to keep him alive, he prayed; he prayed that Gwen would be alright, wherever she was, and that Jack would find her in time, he prayed that Tosh, with her shattered view of the world would learn that, yes, everything sucked a lot of the time, but not always, he prayed that Ianto would survive all of his injuries, but most of all he prayed that he'd get the chance to tell him just how much he loved him, and that he was sorry it took the end of the world (their world) to make him realise it.

#44 Wall

There's an invisible wall down the middle of the Hub with Jack and Gwen on one side and Ianto and Owen on the other, with poor Tosh sitting on top, not quite sure who's side she's supposed to take or if she even wants to take a side at all – it's such a stupid argument, after all – because, to be honest, she really doesn't care where they go for dinner; Jack and Gwen want pizza whilst Ianto and Owen want Indian (which is the first thing the two of them have agreed on in weeks and Tosh is inclined to go with Indian purely because of that) but neither is willing to give in – if Tosh is honest, she herself would rather order in Chinese and get working on that beautiful little metal object currently sitting in a box by her elbow, but she doesn't want to start up yet another argument – eventually she snaps (because, really, she thought they'd grown beyond throwing staplers at each other's heads before ducking for cover, Owen) and sends Gwen and Jack off for Italian and the two boy's off to the Cinnamon Tree before picking up the phone and settling in for what should now be a nice, relaxing evening – it's not until she's tucking into her duck and pancakes that she realises that maybe it wasn't the best of ideas, but at least work would be interesting tomorrow.

#45 Naked

It's not exactly the way that Owen Harper would have liked to see Ianto Jones naked for the first time (well, second...alright, third but nobody needed to know about that), both of them shoved painfully into a crate the size of a Tesco's trolley, with legs and arms and elbows all pointy and awkward and not at all arranged in a way for Anything Good to happen, and Owen thinks that's more frustrating than them being captured by aliens (again) because, hell, if they were going to be stuck here for days waiting for their possible impending doom, the least that karma could provide them with was the opportunity for a satisfying bit of naughty fun, but, of course, they're Torchwood and karma, it seems, may possibly have been amongst those previously pissed off by the organisation and therefore isn't going to be helping them anytime soon, and, besides, Owen's not too sure that his 'We're going to die so we might as well have sex' routine is going to work anymore on Ianto now than it has the past six times he's tried it.

#46 Drive

'Drive, drive, DRIVE,' Ianto shouts, jumping into the passenger seat just as Owen finally manages to get the keys in the ignition and slam his foot onto the accelerator, taking them flying down the deserted Cardiff street at a speed that is in no way at all legal, and not able to do much more than garble incoherently as the building behind them explodes with a deafening BOOM that shakes the ground and sends the SUV spinning wildly before Owen's able to get back control and takes it skidding on two wheels around the next corner, his voice a little too high as he screams 'What the hell was that?!' at Ianto who just raises an eyebrow looking calm and collected and not as though he's quite possibly just a) had someone try to kill him by blowing up a building, or b) blown up a building, and instead shrugs his shoulders and just says 'It didn't go quite to plan'.

#47 Harm

Owen doubts Ianto even realises he's doing it, but that doesn't help numb the jolting pain he feels when Ianto smiles at Jack (forgiving him, loving him), brushing a hand over his arm in a way that's too personal, too private to be anything but foreplay, and it kills Owen to leave the Hub at night knowing that Ianto won't be, and he's never hated anything more than he hates him own imagination for torturing him with images that he can never quite shake the next day – he responds by spitting old insults ('tea boy' 'part time shag') even though they mean less than nothing now, and he always despises himself when Ianto's face drops ever so slightly because he's still holding on to the insecurities that come with the territory, and all he really wants to do is grab his shoulders and whisper fierce reassurances into his skin ('perfect' 'love you') but he never will because it would only do more harm than good.

#48 Precious

'You've still got them up,' Owen said – a statement, not a question – as he eyed the row of photographs on Ianto's mantle; there was of collection of he and his family, all smiling widely as they stood outside a beautiful run down farm house, a few of Uni friends, arms around shoulders and captured laughter, and then a set of a beautiful dark skinned girl and a slightly younger Ianto, looking happier than Owen had ever seen him, the sort of happy he was before – 'They're precious to me,' Ianto replied, setting two mugs of coffee on the counter and watching Owen carefully from behind hooded eyes, 'they remind me that life's not as shit as it sometimes seems,' when Owen looked up, he moved the two steps between them until he was standing directly in front of him, their chests barely touching before continuing carefully, 'and they help me remember that it's alright to move on.'

#49 Hunger

When the wire finally breaks and they find themselves pressed roughly up against Owen's front door, barely managing to get inside before clothes are torn off and mouths are fighting for dominance, it's fast and furious and it's not fucking or shagging or making love, it's something else entirely, something primal and full of moans and teeth and muscles so tense they might snap, and it's like nothing either of them have ever experienced, ever wanted before but now that they have it, now they know just how desperately they've both needed it, they're clinging on, even if it drives them to oblivion.

#50 Believe

Owen has to believe that he's doing the right thing or else his mind will vanish into that Dark Place which is reserved for bitter memories of a past life when everything made sense even when it didn't; he looks around him, watching as the team die inside more each day, betrayal and desperation and shagging because it's all they have and for a moment it lets them feel alive, it's not much of anything but it's something and that's what they need – he won't go out with Tosh because he refuses to do that to her, she deserves something so much more than he's got left to give, and Gwen's still playing the high and mighty role of someone that thinks they understand and yet, if it were anywhere but Torchwood, she'd be labelled the office slut (although, really, Jack's more deserving of that title) and Owen's been there and done that and he knows she's as unaffected by it as he is – and then there's Ianto, and it seems like a good idea when he's drunk and lonely and desperately horny, and he knows he shouldn't go there either because if there's anyone more broken and jaded than him, it's Ianto, but they're both so alone in a way that defies everything, and so it happens, and Owen has to believe that it's not going to be what finally destroys them both.