Fffc Bingo Card - Dearly departed

[m_findlow]

Title: Dearly departed 
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Owen, Ianto, Jack
Author: m_findlow
Rating: M (language)
Length: 1,000 words
Content notes: none 
Author notes: Written for Bingo Card Prompt 1 - Despair at fffc
Summary: Events have ruined Christmas for Owen. 

Ianto looked totally confused as Owen came trudging through the cogwheel door. 

‘Owen. What are you doing here? I thought you were spending Christmas with Dianne?’ 

Owen shoved past him, unsure if Ianto was genuinely curious or just being smart. Either way he didn't really care at this point. ‘Where is he? Where's Jack?’ 

Ianto frowned and thumbed over his shoulder. ‘In his office, but-’

Owen didn't wait for Ianto's qualification, pushing past him on the warpath as he strode towards the door hanging loosely open. He didn't have to go any further because Jack was stepping out. Owen did what his instincts told him to, grabbing two fistfuls of Jack's shirt and slamming him back against the doorframe. ‘You did this!’ 

Jack's face immediately contorted into rage. ‘Owen, what the hell? Get off me!’ 

‘Owen..’. came a low threatening voice behind him. 

‘Stay of out it, Teaboy,’ Owen growled, distracted just enough that Jack was able to push back hard, releasing Owen's grip on him. 

‘What's gotten into you?’ Jack demanded, his eyes afire with anger. 

‘It was you,’ Owen accused him, still bristling with anger. ‘She wouldn't have even considered it, but I'll bet you filled her head with all kinds of ideas, didn't you?’ 

‘Owen, would you stop talking like a crazy person and tell me what you're on about?’ 

‘Dianne asked you about how the rift worked, didn't she?’ 

Jack's stalwart gaze didn't deny it. ‘She asked questions, I answered them. She's a smart lady. I wasn't going to lie to her. If anything, I had more questions for her. How often do we get someone who can tell us exactly how it feels to travel through the rift? Someone who is totally attuned to the precise feel of the air around them? Her experience is invaluable knowledge for us in understanding what happens inside the rift and in close proximity.’ 

Owen backed away from Jack, unable to look at him. ‘And now she thinks it's safe. That she can just hop right back in that plane and take off again back where she came from, or somewhere else.’ 

Jack shook his head. ‘We both know that's not how it works, Owen. You told her that, right?’ 

‘Of course I told her. Not that she believed me.’ 

‘Then let me speak to her,’ he implored. ‘Maybe if she hears it from me…’ 

Owen tugged Dianne's white scarf out from where he'd stuffed it inside his jacket and tossed it at Jack's feet. ‘You're too late! She's already gone! She took off this morning and left!’ 

‘Owen, calm down. She hasn't gone anywhere. They'll be able to pick up her plane on radar. She's not going to get very far. They'll pick her up the first time she goes to use her new passport.’ 

Owen had his hands on his hips as he glared back at Jack. ‘Don't you get it, Harkness? She's not flying off for Gibraltar, she thinks she's going to go flying back through the rift. She’s fucking hell bent on thinking this is all just some adventure.’

‘The chances of that are astronomical,’ Jack assured him. 

‘She said the weather conditions today are the same as the day they came through. She's flying straight into it.’ 

Jack shook his head. ‘It doesn't work like that. You can't just fly through it. It's not a doorway you can just open and slip through.’

‘Ahem.’ Ianto cleared his throat so subtly that neither of them almost noticed. ‘I wasn't going to say anything earlier, since it's Christmas and all, but we did get some minor rift activity this morning.’ 

Jack's head spun violently in the young man's direction. ‘What?’ 

Ianto was taken aback by Jack's temper. ‘It was only upper atmosphere interference. Our systems didn't indicate anything coming through.’ 

‘Enough to let something pass through the other way though, I'll bet,’ Owen sneered. ‘Your fancy computers didn't bother to register that, did they?’ 

Jack reluctantly nodded. ‘It's a definite possibility. Ianto, why didn't you say something?’ 

Their general support officer looked suddenly sheepish under the scrutiny. ‘I was going to mention it tomorrow. Didn't want to ruin Christmas.’ 

‘You already fucking have,’ Owen said, storming back out of the hub. 

Jack heaved out a long breath and reached down to pick up the scarf, absently folding it over on itself, before setting it gently down on Owen's desk. A waft of Dianne's perfume hung in the air, like one last tender kiss goodbye. 

‘He was in love with her,’ Ianto said, breaking the silence. 

‘Falling,’ Jack replied. ‘Which in a lot of ways is actually worse. Stuck in that initial fantasy that everything will be perfect and wonderful.’ 

‘But she didn't love him back?’ 

‘Or loved him enough to know that she couldn't ever change who she was. Some people can't ever stay in one place their whole lives, no matter how deeply they love.’ Jack noticed the way Ianto chewed the inside of his lip at the comment, realising they were no longer talking about Dianne. 

‘Will he be okay?’ 

Jack ran a hand through his hair. He'd seen what Owen had been like after he'd lost Katie. This surely couldn't be worse than that, but Owen was prone to his emotions far more than he realised. On Christmas of all days. ‘You've been in love. I think you know the answer to that one.’ 

Ianto looked apologetic. ‘I'll go check in with the local airports and border control and monitor it throughout the day. Maybe they can give us some good news.’ 

‘Maybe,’ Jack agreed, but he didn't think so. Dianne had gotten a sixth sense for the rift. She knew it better than anyone. She'd known exactly what she was doing, including leaving Owen behind. There were just some things that even love couldn't change. If they did manage to find her, Jack still didn't think he could bring himself to tell Owen. Dianne's first and last love would always be flying.