Title: Another Chance
Rating: T
Pairing: Jack/ Gwen
Summary: Gwen and Rhys are over and she goes to Jack for comfort. She realises that maybe they could be more than friends. Set during and after the episode Combat. Everything after Combat will be different to the television series.
Status: Work in Progress
Warnings: Some violence, mild swearing and implied sex
Disclaimer: I do not own any Torchwood or Doctor Who characters, I just like borrowing them.
Chapter 1
"Do you need me to help?" Gwen asked Jack quickly, she did not want to go home. She knew that running after Jack in the middle of a meal with Rhys was not a good idea- but she didn't regret it; there was something about Jack that made her want to follow him anywhere. Rhys would be angry when she went back to the flat, and she knew it would end in an argument.
"No, its fine. You can go." He looked at her and smiled. She loved his smile.
"It's ok I-"
"Gwen," he interrupted her "Go home." Slightly disheartened she smiled at him.
"Bye then." She turned and left the building, she was unsure why he seemed keen for her to go back to Rhys each night, when she just wanted to stay at Torchwood. Since she found out he stayed there at night, and he didn't sleep, she realised how lonely he was- and how much she wanted to change that.
As she got in her car to get home she started to think about how much her life had been since she joined Torchwood. She found normal life was getting boring to her, and how hard it now was to keep two separate lives. The one she had with Rhys, and Torchwood. She needed to talk about what she saw in her job, the things that affect her and how hard it was. Only the people at work understood it, and she couldn't talk to all of them. She wasn't close to Ianto, she felt awkward around Owen since they'd had the affair and ended it, and she felt that Tosh had some resentment towards her and she wasn't completely sure why. That left Jack. The one person she could talk to. She realised that the one person she could talk to was not her boyfriend and that made her doubt her relationship with Rhys. It also made her realise why no one at Torchwood had anyone. The job took over- because they let it. They loved it, and she did too. She couldn't imagine not working at Torchwood. Not now. Not after everything.
She sighed as she put her key into the door of the flat, she wondered briefly how she had got home so quickly, and realised how she must have become lost in her thoughts. She closed the door behind her and saw Rhys sitting on the sofa, beer in hand, and he looked very angry.
"Hey." She said meekly.
"You came back then." He said bitterly.
"Yeah." She fiddled with the key in her hand as there was an awkward silence. "Look, I'm sorry about earlier. It's just it was a work thing." He got off the sofa quickly in anger, it made her jump.
"It's always about work these days!" He shouted at her, she backed up slightly- out of fear and surprise. "It's never about us."
"I'm sorry." She whispered
"You're always sorry. But you never do anything about it!" He'd had too much to drink. She could tell. He walked towards her; stumbling slightly.
"What do you mean?" She tried backing up again but her back hit the door. She'd never been afraid of him before. She didn't know why she was now.
"I've been thinking about it for a while," he slurred, "You have to choose; me or your job." He walked away to the kitchen area. He poured himself another drink.
"What? Are you kidding me?"
"No."
"No?" She scoffed, "That's it! I'm just meant to choose!"
"If you really love me it shouldn't be hard."
"That's not fair Rhys." She paused and looked at him, "I can't make that decision Rhys." She whispered.
"Why not?" He shouted. She motioned for him to quieten down with her hands.
"Rhys, be quiet! The neighbours!" She scorned.
"Oh that's right any excuse to not discuss this!"
"I don't need excuses- because I'm not discussing it anyway." She turned to leave, fed up with this. Him blaming her every time they had an argument; saying it was her jobs fault their relationship was collapsing around them. He was insensitive, he never asked her how her day had been; and he still wondered why she spent as much time as possible at work. He grabbed her arm and turned her around.
"So your job more important than me is it?" He was vicious. She'd never seen him like that.
"I didn't say that." She was panicked, "Let go of my arm." She tried to pull her arm free, she couldn't.
"Then quit."
"No." She pulled her arm free; in the process she had pushed him back by accident. The next thing she knew his hand had connected with the side of her nose. She reeled back in shock, and pain. She put her hand to her nose- blood came with her hand. She looked at him, shocked.
"Gwen..." He was shocked too, she ran out the door. He was calling after her but she didn't care. She got into her car, unaware of the tears running down her face. She went to the only place she would think of going; the only place where she felt safe. She drove to Torchwood and to Jack.
"So someone else knows about the Weevils. And we need to know who." Jack complained, "Not only do they know they exist- they are kidnapping them. I want to know who they are, and why they are kidnapping them." He looked at his team. He was bored now; they had been going over this for about 20 minutes now. It should be simpler than this. Tosh was working quickly working on what he wanted- she was checking CCTV cameras in the car park him and Gwen had seen the van appear and take the Weevil.
"I tried tracking the van," she said calmly, "But the CCTV cameras cut out. Obviously they don't want us to know who they are."
"That also means they know we know about them." Jack sighed. "Whatever happens they cannot stay one step ahead of us anymore."
Gwen was still on his mind. He hated sending her home every night, sending her home to that idiot she called a boyfriend. The way he treated her, the way he spoke to her drove Jack insane. If Jack was with Gwen he wouldn't treat her that way. He hoped she would see the light soon. That she would see what a prick Rhys really was. He heard the lift come down, and the door opening. He looked up and saw Gwen walking in, her head bent down, not looking at any of them. He knew something was wrong.
"Gwen?" He walked towards her. The others stopped working, Tosh stood up to see what was going on and Owen followed Jack's movement towards Gwen. She had stopped walking now. Jack was soon standing directly in front of her. "Gwen, sweetheart?" He tried again. He heard her sob, she looked up at him. His eyes widened at the sight of her, partly with shock but mostly with anger.
Her eyes were red and blotchy from the crying that she was still doing and her makeup was smudged down her face. There was blood under nose and all over her hands- where he assumed she'd been wiping the blood- there was also a large mark on the side of her nose spreading, onto part of her cheek, which was quickly turning into a bruise.
"Jack." She choked out between her sobs. He opened his arms out for her and she gladly accepted. He put his arms around her tightly, one hand on her back and the other in her hair. She wrapped her arms tightly around him, before moving her arms up so her hands were on his shoulders. She put her face in his chest and sobbed loudly, almost hysterically.
He whispered words of comfort in her ear, even though he knew they probably wouldn't help. Tosh looked at Owen. He was watching Gwen and Jack intently.
"Owen," she whispered. He didn't respond, so she threw a pen at him. He looked at her angrily and confused. "Let's go." She motioned at Gwen, knowing it was best if only Jack was here at that moment. He was going to argue about it, she knew he was, but then he thought better of it. They left quickly on the lift that led them to the pavement above.
Jack pushed Gwen away slightly; she tensed- not wanting to leave his embrace.
"I'm not going anywhere," he said softly "But we should go sit down." She nodded in agreement, still crying too much too much to talk properly. He led her to the sofa that was near the desks. They sat down and she automatically rested her head on his shoulder and he put his arms around her. They stayed like this for a few minutes. "Gwen. I'm going to need to know what happened." She lifted her head off his shoulder and looked at him. She grabbed his hands, needing some form of comfort.
"I went home," he voice wavered, still full of emotion, she cleared her throat so she could speak clearer. "I went home, Rhys was already there. He was angry, and drunk. We argued. Then he, he" she choked on a sob. Not wanting to say it. Not wanting to admit it. Jack guessed though.
"He hit you?" He gritted his teeth, anger licking at his insides. Gwen nodded, tears still sliding down her cheeks. If he wasn't looking after Gwen right now he would go and make it so Rhys was eating out of a straw for the rest of his life. But Gwen came first right now. Just like she always did. "Come on," he said tenderly- putting the anger aside- whilst wiping a tear from her face. "Let's get you cleaned up."
"Ok." She whispered. They walked down to the autopsy room- and he made her sit on the bed, whilst he got the things to clear her up with. As he turned to face her she looked at him intently. "I got blood on your shirt." He looked down; on the right hand side of his shirt there was a large area of blood on his shirt. "I'm sorry."
"It's an old shirt." He said softly. She smiled slightly at him. Her nose had stopped bleeding now, which he was happy about- although he would be happier if her nose hadn't been bleeding at all. He gently wiped the dried blood from under her nose, trying not to hurt her.
"I know it may be a bit much to ask Jack, but can I stay here for a while?" She smiled sadly at him, "I have nowhere else to go."
"It's not too much to ask. I wouldn't want anything different." He held her hand up and kissed her fingers. "Come on. I'll show you the bedroom." That must have been the first time he'd said that sentence in a long time without the promise of sex. Jack was changing, and it was because of Gwen. The weird thing was; he liked it. She stood up off the bed. He offered her his hand, and she took it.
They walked around a series of corridors that Gwen- towards the end- didn't recognise. They then came to a door which he quickly opened. She wasn't sure what she was expecting to see, but she didn't expect to see a normal bedroom. Something about Jack suggested it wouldn't be. There was a double bed- which she briefly wondered about seeing as even Jack didn't appear to use this room much- a wardrobe and an en-suite off to the right. He walked into the room, letting go of her hand, and she followed. He walked to the wardrobe and passed her a shirt. She looked at him with a confused look on her face- which in his opinion made her look insanely cute.
"Well you weren't planning on sleeping in your clothes were you?" he asked.
"Oh, no." She answered, feeling slightly stupid. She walked into the en-suite to get changed. She turned to face the mirror once she had changed into his shirt. She winced at her appearance; she almost started to cry again when she saw the bruise. She washed her face to get rid of the makeup, making sure she didn't press too hard on the bruise. She walked out the bathroom with her clothes in hand, feeling a little strange wearing only a shirt and her underwear around Jack. Thankfully it came about half way down her thighs. She noticed Jack had changed his shirt.
He looked at her and smiled. He thought how his shirt looked far better on Gwen.
"I'll be in my office if you need me. Goodnight." He went to hug her so she could get some sleep in peace.
"Wait." She said gently "I," she didn't know how to say it, "Could you stay, I'm not used to sleeping alone." He scalded himself; he really was an idiot sometimes.
"Sure." She climbed into the bed whilst he changed out of his clothes. Unsurprisingly to Gwen his nightwear consisted only of a pair of boxers. He then got into the bed too. She moved closer to him and put his arms around her. Stroking her arm gently he pulled her closer. "Thanks Jack." She said sleepily, she'd had a long day to say the least.
"No problem." He kissed the top of her head. "Night Gwen."
"Night Jack." She fell asleep quickly. And, for a change so did he. Jack could get used to Gwen sleeping in his bed very easily.
So... what do you think?
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