193 - Compliance, Distance, Guiltyeasons, Torchwood

[guiltyreasons.livejournal.com]

Title: Distance
Rating: G
Fandom: Torchwood
Summary: It's hard always being on the outside looking in.

Tosh glanced up from her keyboard as the team rushed in. She had just finished erasing the last bit of CCTV footage of their last mission and gave them all a smile.

“How’s the night air out there?” Tosh asked and Jack chuckled.

“Good, you might want to go get some sometimes,” Jack teased and Tosh rolled her eyes.

“My boss keeps me locked to a desk,” Tosh replied and Jack only smiled wider.

“I bet he’s a bastard,” Jack said than Ianto came over and Jack was instantly distracted. Gwen was talking to Owen rather loudly though.

“Did you see that bastard? Fucking bigger than a house,” Owen said enthusiastically.

“You’re not kidding,” Gwen said and sat back against the couch.

Tosh tilted her eyes down. It was always sort of odd. She had been with them. In their ears, seeing through their eyes, but it wasn’t the same and she knew it. The fear out there was intense and she understood, but sometimes she felt like they ignored the pressures of being on the inside. Of trying to keep everything up to date an by passing any technology they went past. If she failed, they didn’t have a chance. She might as well have killed them herself. Not that anyone really thought about that too much.

“But I’m always there to save you. Ya know that right?” Owen asked casually and leaned into Gwen’s personal space. Gwen backed up. She’d stopped cheating on Rhys ages ago, but that didn’t mean that Owen had given up on trying. It was almost painful to watch them, so Tosh listened instead, not that it was any better.

“Or Jack or Ianto,” Gwen said and Tosh saw her getting up and going over to them. They both went quiet and Gwen started talking for the three of them. Owen watched her with a leer in his eye, but his interest still clear. He turned his head to her though and gave her a look of ‘what?’. She gave him a little smile and just went back to typing up some nonsense.  He gave her a little raise of the brow than an different shrug. His attention already back on Gwen like Tosh wasn’t there.

It must have been a bad day. She normally wasn’t this easily upset about little things. Maybe it was just the amount of finger work she had done on this mission. The amount of forethought she hadn’t to put into every move to make things work. Exactly how much cover up she’d had to actually accomplish to get them out of there without getting Torchwood uncovered.

“Drinks,” Owen said getting up, “On me. Jack? Ianto? Gwen? Tosh? You in?”

“No thanks. Got Rhys waiting for me back home,” Gwen said firmly.

“Rhys can come,” Owen said offering an olive branch.

“That could work,” Gwen said with a little smile and he smiled back.

“I could use a drink right now and coffee isn’t going to cut it,” Ianto said.

“Nah thanks. Another time maybe,” Jack said never the type to go out unless he had too.

“No thanks,” Tosh said distantly, “Got work.” The threesome went off towards the Hub door talking again and Tosh turned back on her babies. A pretense at least would help in this situation. Jack came up her way as if he was going to pass her but paused instead. Once the door was closed again he put a hand on her shoulder.

“You did good today. I don’t know how we could have gotten that done without you,” he told her and she looked up at him with a little smile on her face.

“Just doing my job,” she told him.

“A job only you can do. Remember that,” Jack said patting her shoulder before making his way up towards his office. Tosh found herself smiling even as he left. She got up suddenly and grabbed her coat. After securing the computers she made her way towards the entrance. Drinks sounded good after all.

Comments

[juliet316]

Awwwwwwwwwww........ Poor Tosh.