Title: Bodies in Motion (Waiting)
By: sqyd
Characters/Pairings: Ianto/Owen
Rating: NC17
Warnings: some smut, some angst
Spoilers: None
Word count: 2200
Disclaimers: I don't own Torchwood or any of the characters. If I did, I'd take better care of them.
Summary: Set between S1 and S2. Owen is troubled.
Beta: Rootesie - appropriately, since it's her fault
Notes: I actually don't ship this pairing, but well... things happen. Certain people (ahem) are into Ianto/Owen, and while I'm not really, it's been bugging me how Owen is usually portrayed in fan fiction as a complete a-hole. Certainly he is bitter and sarcastic, but I see it as a defense mechanism. Underneath it, he is just as damaged and vulnerable as the rest of them. I also believe that he actually deeply cares about the whole team, and is just too much of a blockhead ever to admit it.
I'm also bugged by how it's assumed that Owen keeps calling Ianto tea-boy and he lets him. It's a derogative term Owen used on the show in an emotionally charged moment. I just don't see him using it again, and Ianto not breaking his nose if he did. In my humble opinion, there is an understated camaraderie between the two men in season two.

********************

The World doesn't stop just because someone leaves, whether they die or just take off with or without a farewell. You find yourself off-kilter, disrupted, but you go on, you adjust, fill the holes, get on with your life. Alas, some holes refuse to be filled. So, you adjust your path around them. You don't look, but you always see them from the corner of your eye. It's like orbiting around a black hole. Doctor Owen Harper knows these things perfectly well. However, his concern is with the people who are still here.

It's funny how the exchange of a few bullets - and Owen fully counts the three he sent into their boss - changes a co-worker relationship. Owen isn't the kind of person who'd willingly own up to sissy feelings like guilt, but his conscience has the habit of kicking him in the rear, without him admitting it. So he has been watching Ianto like an eagle from behind a practiced facade of ill-tempered disinterest. He is closely acquainted with the way personal loss can mess with one's mind and judgement. It's been the second such loss for Ianto within a relatively short time, and Owen has been watching for any signs of him cracking up. He is the team doctor after all, and it is his responsibility, regardless of his own culpability for this turn of events - so he tells himself.

Ianto, however, isn't showing any signs of cracking, or at least isn't any more barmy than he's always been - if anything, less so. He is far more involved and active as far as work is concerned. He does demonstrate possessive and territorial behavior about the office of their absent boss, but that's practically a minor quirk in their fucked-up world. After the first week they all give up trying to enter the office, and just ask Ianto if they need something from there.

Unlike Captain Bloody Harkness, who at the moment is probably shagging some transexual tentacle alien somewhere, Owen Harper likes labels just fine. 'Heterosexual' is one he can live with, thankyouverymuch. He is not too much of a stickler about it though; if the bird he's picked up in the pub turns out to have a jealous boyfriend, Owen sprays on some more of that alien pheromone and takes them both home - to shag or be shagged by. It's just a means to an end, he tells himself. Or he used to. That's all old history now, thanks to Suzie who got them all burned about taking home alien tech. Now it's all locked up in the secure archives.

First he hoped that he could get to it again, since Captain Wanker had left them without a word, but Ianto is the only one who knows the code and isn't giving it out to anyone, not even Gwen. Yeah, Gwen... Technically Tosh should be the acting leader, she has the most seniority, but she has outright refused the post. There was a brief power struggle between him and Gwen, but once Tosh and Ianto backed her, it was over. It's all for the better anyway. In reality, they all have more to do, more responsibilities now. Gwen is in many ways better at numerous aspects of leadership than Harkness ever was. For one thing, she is less likely to go off half-cocked. Being a mere mortal makes one more prudent.

Everything is a bit different now, all of them too. Except maybe good old Tosh, who just works even harder than before. The Rift prediction program is getting more and more reliable every day. Gwen is bossy, but that was rather expected. He and Ianto had been sort of cagey around each other at first, but when you fight shoulder to shoulder with someone day after day, you just learn to depend on each other. He does not call Ianto teaboy ever again though - he's not that stupid.

There are all sorts of new lessons they learn - like, 'don't pet the cute little fuzzy alien' (It bites), or  'even though it looks innocuous, it can still explode'. Another lesson is: If you don't know what it is, ask Ianto first. It would appear that the little wanker didn't spend all his time in the archives shagging Jack. Owen won't admit to himself, but he misses that stupid twat too. They all do, though they don't talk about it. Ianto, of course, is as buttoned up as ever, but they all know he stays in Jack's room several nights a week.

********************

It's Friday night, and Tosh has predicted a quiet Rift for the next twenty-four hours, so they are all in the pub. As a doctor, he realizes that the tequila shooters are probably a terrible idea, but as Owen Harper, professional lush, he approves. The girls have been giggling over some joke only the two of them get, for the last fifteen minutes. Owen is eyeing a blond bird at the bar, but is only getting disgusted looks in return. Oh, what wouldn't he give for a drop of alien pheromones! He gives a calculating look at Ianto, sitting across from him with a dopey look on his face. When Gwen and Tosh head to the loo together (why do birds travel together?) he knows it's his moment, but before he can open his mouth, he is shut down.

"No, Owen, not gonna happen."

"You don't even know..."

"I won't give you the code for the secure archives."

Well, there goes nothing. It would be Ianto to be so perfectly stubborn even when fairly sauced. Owen doesn't bother arguing.

"You think he'll come back?" He asks instead.

"I have no bloody idea." Ianto shrugs and stares at Owen somewhat unfocused.

"But you keep waiting for him?"

"Who said I was? Anyway, shagging Jack spoils you."

"C'mon, he can't be that great."

"You have no idea. There is this thing he does with his tongue..."

"Oi! I don't have to know that!"

"You started it." Ianto looks at him with a wicked little grin. Bloody hell, the little bugger purses his lips like he was taunting him. Owen turns away to search for the uppity bird at the bar. Ianto's voice makes him turn back.

"You know Owen, It wasn't your fault."

"What?"

"He didn't leave because that Rift fuck-up. He really forgave us. He's good at forgiving. Just look at me." At that Ianto stares into his pint with an unreadable expression.

"You're drunk, mate."

"He was always going to leave. He's been waiting for something the whole time. It was just bad timing. It had nothing to do with what we did."

Intensely blue eyes glare at Owen from behind a haze of alcohol, and he is aware of the deliberate use of 'we' instead of 'you', but he knows perfectly well that it was he who started that particular mess by opening the Rift for the first time. The girls come back, still giggling, and it's back to Friday night team bonding.

********************

It's chocolate hobnobs he is looking for in Tosh's desk drawer, but instead he finds a dvd jewel case with 'Janto' written on it. He pops it into his computer and his jaw drops. It consists of a lovingly edited footage of Jack and Ianto shagging all over the Hub. It's all grainy and bluish, and of course there is no sound, but it's also mesmerizing. They are really going at it like rabbits. He knows he'll be having flashbacks for months. He wants to turn it off, but he can't. When it's over, he carefully puts it back to Tosh's drawer, and stiffly walks to the showers.

********************

It's Owen's turn to stay in the Hub for the night to watch the Rift. He tries to get some shut-eye on the cot they set up in a quiet corner, but sleep escapes him. The hell with it, he'll make some tea. With all his fumbling with kettle and tea bags, he doesn't hear the other person come up behind him. He nearly gets a heart attack when he hears the voice.

"You should try chamomile if you can't sleep. Earl Grey has caffeine in it."

"Bloody hell Ianto, don't sneak up on me like that! What the hell are you doing here anyway?" He looks over the younger man, barefoot, shirt unbuttoned.

"It was too late to go home, so I'm sleeping in Jack's bunk." He steps closer, taking the tea out of his hand, and grabs the box of chamomile from the cabinet. That's when he notices that the shirt Ianto is wearing is blue, and a little too big for him - it's Jack's. Maybe Ianto notices him staring, because he turns. When Ianto smooths a hand over Owen's chest it's so unexpected that he forgets to breathe.

"You know, there is a much better way to deal with insomnia." The offer is made plain when Ianto's hand rubs Owen's nipple through his shirt.

"No mate, I'll pass." He croaks.

"Suit yourself." Ianto steps back and turns to leave, but stops for a beat. "You remember that thing I told you that Jack does with his tongue? I'm a quick learner."

Then he is gone, and Owen stares after him dumbstruck. He makes the tea, and of course chamomile tastes like piss, so he adds more sugar, and that won't help with sleeping. Oh, fuck it! A minute later he is standing in the tiny room that Jack Harkness used to call home (if he ever did). He stares at the figure curled up under the blanket for a minute. Ianto turns over and grins at him. The little bastard - thinks Owen, as he undresses and slips under the blanket.

Ianto is warm and slightly hairy, and kisses great. For a while they are just necking and frotting, and generally getting jumbled up in each others limbs. Owen has to admit, Ianto is pretty good at this. Then Ianto goes down on him, and he really does some amazing things with his tongue. Owen tries to imagine it's some bird licking his cock in an excruciatingly pleasurable way, but it's not working. For one thing, the hands around his thighs are too muscular. Mainly though there is more purpose and confidence in it than in any blow job he ever had - and yeah, definitely self-indulgence. He figures blokes who are in the habit of blowing other blokes must have a clear advantage over birds in this area. He ponders these things to keep himself from coming embarrassingly soon, so it takes him completely by surprise when he is deep-throated. He instinctively jerks his hip, but Ianto's hands hold him down firmly. He could swear Ianto is inwardly laughing at him. When the younger man finally comes up for air, he has that smug look that Owen has learnt to associate with Jack Harkness. He can't help but ask.

"How long have you been shagging him?"

"Since my first week. Day five to be exact."

"So before..."

"Yep."

Shit, he had no idea. Both Jack and Ianto are more warped than he realized. As he ponders this, he almost misses being flipped over onto his stomach. He is about to protest, but a warm and very wet tongue presses between his cheeks, and holy shit! He knew about rim jobs before, of course, but nobody ever did it to him, and he always thought it sounded gross, but it feels fucking unbelievable. That tongue laving his hole, pushing inside, making his hips twitch for more. That's probably the point Owen stops fretting and lets whatever will happen happen. He is not exactly on foreign territory, and unlike some alien-hormone-addled random bloke, Ianto knows what he is doing - even such minute, albeit important details, as the importance of condoms (lubricated). As Ianto is pistoning him Owen's brain finally shuts up, gives the reins to his body - there is no more fucking guilt and anxiety, not even the low grade irritation he is so used to, just pure, unadulterated physical pleasure. When he comes he whites out for a moment. He is too spent to pay attention, but evidently Ianto followes him shortly, because they lie in a panting, sweaty heap.

********************

The bed is really far too small for two grown men to stretch out comfortably. No wonder those two were shagging all over the Hub, although he is pretty sure they spent nights in here too. He didn't figure Jack Harkness for a snuggler.

"What would Jack think of this?" He wonders out loud.

"Knowing him, he'd be amused. Certainly he'd expect to be invited." Ianto says, and he actually smiles at the thought.

"You are probably right about the randy bastard. Listen, I'd appreciate if..."

"No, of course, nobody has to know. You are welcome again, if you want - at least till Jack comes back."

"If he comes back."

"Yeah."

Owen goes back to his own camp bed, because cuddling with another bloke would be just a bit too much. He closes his eyes and has no problem falling asleep. The next day they act the same as always. If they understand each other a little bit better - and he doesn't just mean physically - that's nobody else's business. He gripes as usual, and Ianto rolls his eyes at him as usual, but when they out in the field, and their lives are on the line, they both know they can count on each other. Hopefully they can keep each other alive long enough, until that ungrateful tosser, Jack Harknes returns.


Fin.