Archive of Our Own

Of course Owen was going to complain about it. They'd found a nice little shack, had been there for several days as close to the location they'd been given as possible. It was like they were in the middle of no where. They  were  in the middle of no where, the nearest town  at least  five hundred kilometres away, if not more. It was ridiculous! Top off the snow, the bloody snow... Well, at least they had enough logs to last quite some time, the kitchen of the small shack filled with them. It was about seven in the morning and no one was really happy to be up, but they had to pay keen attention.

But that anger for being in the wilderness was filled with a desperation to get home when these... Things showed up and tried to kill the lot of them. Small things, spherical in shape. They called themselves the Toclafane, said that they were there to do the Mister Master's bidding.

"Oh?! What biddin' is that?!"

"Kill Torchwood."

Owen was just relieved when he told Gwen to bring the convenient four pulse guns they'd found back with Suzie. They got out of their shelter before they were killed but barely, Owen and Ianto breaking through the windows, Tosh and Gwen booking it for either door after the pulse guns were acquired.

It was then that Owen was also relieved they were in the wilderness. Even with scanners, what could technology do when it came to analysing life when it was hidden in something with just as much life? The team had hidden away and they found out that not only did the blades the Toclafane have get caught in the trees, but Tosh in particular found out that the pulse gun only worked for a grand total of forty five minutes in their seemingly endless attempt to escape. Oh, there were always pros and cons...

For a little bit, the four spheres had the group separated, hunting them individually. By the time they met back up, they each had knicks and cuts on them from barely being able to dodge the swinging blades, but they were for the most part safe. Ianto had a couple of thin gashes on his right cheek, his forehead, Gwen one on her left side. They clipped off a good little nick in Owen's ear. Tosh was the lucky one in that she didn't get anything.

It was Ianto who hatched their brilliant plan plan of escape. After Tosh relayed that they remained stunned for at least half an hour, he started thinking. They could shoot them down and run. When the four were safely hidden, in a low whisper, the Welshman began to show off a side that none of them had seen before, an absolutely brilliant side, albeit positively bonkers. 

"The recovery time should give us enough time to get far enough away. I mean, we're all still properly geared up for bein' out here. We'll be fine. But if we want this to work to our best advantage, it has to be when they're far enough away... It means we have a better chance of getting away."

Then they were found. A childish, mechanical voice called out "Found you!" and giggled before a long blade came and swept at them all. Quickly, Owen shoved Ianto back and braced himself  after getting back a bit himself. There was a nice, thick gash down Owen's left palm and along his arms, on Gwen's shoulder and Tosh's back while the damage Ianto got was Owen shoving him back into a tree to earn a slight stun. That was the one chance they had though.

"NOW!" Owen and Ianto both screamed and each of them took aim to one of the four Toclafane as the spheres prepared their lasers. The cold seemed to slow them at least slightly, hinges not wanting to work all that well and it was that advantage that got the team able to stun them down before taking off as they fell back to the Earth. They twisted and turned as they tried to head back to Cardiff, but they knew that was going to be one hell of a trip.

As long as they stayed in unpopulated areas, they should be fine right? They felt they'd definitely gone far enough as it grew darker and even if there was risk to it, Owen suggested they find a cave or a den so they had some shelter so they could warm up and he could look at the damage done to himself and the girls. They only had so much time to wrap themselves up and honestly, he was surprised they didn't pass out in the snow from exhaustion.

So they found somewhere. It was fairly small, definitely uninhabited. A nice little cave hidden away by trees. They hid back from the entrance just to be safe, so they could light their fire and be warm at peace. After stitching the girls with the suture kit he'd packed away, he gave them some pain killers and advised them to rest up before turning to Ianto and giving him the suture kit.

"You know how t' sew, right?" He had that teasing little smirk Ianto had started to appreciate before he nodded and Owen rolled up the sleeve of his thermal. Ianto took the rubbing alcohol and carefully dabbed at the wound with a piece of torn cloth. They sat in long silence as Ianto cleaned and got Owen ready. After the initial prick was made, Owen swallowed thickly to keep himself from making any noises of pain.

"Who's this 'Mistah Mastah'?" Owen asked out loud after a couple of minutes.

"I don't know... I wish I did though," Ianto murmured as he looked to the cave entrance, briefly pausing in his work. Silently, even if he was upset Jack disappeared, he hoped the immortal wasn't in severe trouble. More silence before Ianto finished one arm and gestured to give him the other. 

"Why did you do that earlier?" His voice was soft as he asked and he quickly got to work cleaning the other arm as he waited for Owen's response.

"Because that wouldn't've been very captainly of me otherwise," Owen remarked with a chuckle before looking up to seeing a look of 'seriously' on Ianto's face. He laughed a little more before sighing, "because even when I was an ass, I still cared 'bout'cha... I would've done it regardless of tryin' t' be friends 'r not. In th' end, yer still part've th' team."

After a few minutes of silence, Ianto smiled a little. "Thank you..." Owen shrugged slightly, wincing as he felt the needle pierce skin. "Are you still going to be able to use your arms?"

"Yea... Th' damage isn't too extensive. Jus' a lot of blood." He chuckled bitterly, but he was relieved that he still had his arms. Hell, he was surprised he still had at least one of them.

They were in a comfortable silence after that. The fire crackling, the girls sound asleep. They just sat and enjoyed one another's presence, glad they weren't alone. Owen had gotten to thinking. What if he was going to die? His eyes flitted over to Ianto, who was studying his hands in the light. What if they were going to die? He looked to the girls and his heart tightened a little. No. They couldn't die like this.

He also wondered what Ianto was thinking about. Maybe Lisa? Jack? They'd moved so they were leaned up against the wall, sleeping bags unzipped and wrapped around them for additional warmth. Owen fell asleep beside Ianto propped up against the wall, but sometime in the night he slid a little and his head wound up on the Welshman's shoulder.

They woke to soft giggling and Owen realised there was something soft and poofy under his head. His eyes shot open and he sat up quickly as Ianto opened his eyes to the sudden movement before discussing their plans. Ianto came equipped with a map and a compass, directing that they would have have to head west for the most part. It was after they ate a little bit of the food they had packed away that they went on their way to try to get home and figure this out...