Taking A Walk In Your Shoes

Taking A Walk In Your Shoes


Tosh buried her head further under the pillows, trying to drown out the sound of the alarm. She did not want to get up. She’d had a rotten night, especially after what happened between her and Owen at work the day before.

She sighed wearily into the pillow. She froze when she was hit with a familiar scent, a scent she only remembered smelling on one person, that person being Owen. So why the hell did her pillow smell like him.

She frowned, as she removed her head from underneath the pillow. She squinted, as she sat up in the bed. She took in her surroundings and froze in disbelief. This was not her bedroom, that she was one hundred percent sure of.

So where was she, as she knew she had not gone home with anyone the night before? It wasn’t in her nature to just pick up some random person off of the streets or at a bar, and then take them home to her bed. She left that to Owen

No she had come straight home from the hub, and had drowned her heartache in wine and mint choc chip ice cream. And of course she barely slept, as she was constantly plagued with reminders of hers and Owen’s fight.

She looked around the room, hopping to find clues as to where she was. She looked down at herself, and flushed when she realised her chest was bare. ‘Wait a minute’ she thought. She looked down again, and did a double take.

Her eyes widened, and she scrambled out of the bed with a yelp. She nearly tripped over her feet in shock when she heard her voice, or rather a very familiar sounding voice.

She bolted out of the bedroom and down the hall, hopping to find a bathroom. She was oblivious to the fact she was only wearing a pair of black boxer briefs.

She soon found the bathroom, and skids to a halt in front of the cabinet mirror on the wall above the sink. She let out a scream of horror, as she saw not her reflection staring back at her in the mirror, but Owen’s instead.

Suddenly she felt incredibly dizzy, before she clutched her head and let out a pained gasp, before falling to her knees on the cold tiles of the bathroom floor.

She clutched her head, as she was hit with memories and emotions. She soon realised these weren’t her memories or emotions. She quickly realised that they belonged to Owen.

She felt tears come to her eyes, as she watched Owen with who she instantly knew to be Katie. Watched and felt all of Owen’s emotions, memory after memory.

She witnessed and felt every thing Owen felt, as he was meeting and falling in love with Katie. She saw how Owen proposed to Katie, before planning for their wedding. She saw the point when Katie started to show the typical signs of Alzheimer's

Watched with a deep sense of sadness and pity, as felt Owen’s pain and worry, as well as his fear and frustration, as Katie continued to worsen. She felt his relief whenever Katie was granted a good day, when she would act like the Katie he knew and loved.

Tears streamed unknowingly down her cheeks, as she was shown memories and experienced the emotions Owen felt, when Katie would forget his name or what he was to her, or forget who she was, or what time of day or night it was, or what year.

She felt his terror, confusion and grief when he saw the alien moving around inside of Katie’s exposed brain. Felt his anger and disbelief as Jack informed him that an alien had killed Katie, that there was nothing that could be done. She felt how sick he felt, as Jack revealed he would be taking Katie’s brain away with him.

She felt his rage and frustration as he woke up in the hospital bed, after Jack had knocked him out with Chloroform. Felt his helplessness, as he tried to search for Jack, and find out what had truly happened to his fiancée.

But he never had any luck, other Doctor’s thought he was having a nervous break down and was imagining everything that had happened. Jack had covered his tracks perfectly. He had scrubbed the security cameras of all of the footage of the whole incident.

She watched as Owen looking all grief stricken, and dressed all in black, kneeled at the bouquet covered fresh grave of his now departed love and fiancée.

She felt an overwhelming rage and hatred over take him, as he had spotted Jack standing underneath a tree. She watched as he bolted towards Jack, before jumping and knocking him to the floor, where he proceeded to beat Jack. Screaming, raging and sobbing brokenly, that Jack could have and should have saved Katie.

She finally saw memories with her, Jack and Suzy in them. She finally understood why Owen slept with Suzy and half of Cardiff’s female population, and then finally Gwen.

At first it had been pain and anger management. But eventually he continued to do it because he could. It became second nature, and he began to enjoy it. He became accustomed to no strings attached. He couldn't get his heart broken again if he never got involved too deeply.

She finally knew why he never made a move on her. He believed her to be too good for him. Believed she deserved better then the likes of him. He didn’t see her as his type, he found her too shy and meek. He wanted wild and experienced. He was also uncomfortable by her obvious crush on him.

And finally she saw the fear he felt, when he realised he was feelings things for Diane, feelings he had not had since Katie. She felt his loss, pain and heart break when Diane had left him.

She could feel his depression and desperation to end it when he had been inside of the cage with the Weevil. Felt his anger and hatred as Jack saved him when he hadn’t wanted to be saved.

The last set of memories and emotions were from the day before. She felt his anger and frustration. And finally she sensed his anguish, guilt and deep crippling regret over what he had said to her. she could sense how genuinely desperate he was to take back what he had said, and beg for her forgiveness.

Soon all of the memories ceased, and the emotions settled down to a mere haziness in the back of her mind. She lay there for a while on the bathroom floor. The cool tiles were soothing to her headache.

She came to the conclusion that she was in Owen’s apartment, and trapped inside of his body, which was why she had been able to smell him. She wondered how it had happened. Had it happened in their sleep over night? And what had caused the switch, and how could they reverse it?

She was startled out of her musings, when she heard the familiar sound of the ring tone on Owen’s cell phone ringing. She quickly scrambled to her feet, and quickly followed the direction in which the ringing was coming from.

She soon found it in the living room, coming from one of the pockets of Owen’s favourite black leather jacket. She grabbed it with shaking hands, and checked the caller ID. It was her number, which only confirmed what she had already known. Owen was in her apartment, and trapped inside of her body.

She quickly pressed the button to accept the call. She quickly began to speak in a panicked voice. She was more then a little disconcerted to hear her own voice on the other end of the line, telling her in a tone of voice with authority only Owen could muster at a time like this.

“Oh my god, Owen, I woke up in your apartment trapped in your body. I presume you’re in my apartment trapped in my body. Oh my god, what are we going to do, how are we going to reverse it. I can’t stay trapped in your body?”

she was on the verge of hyperventilating, and she knew it. She tried to calm down by slowly breathing in and out deeply, as Owen had instructed her to do. She soon managed it.

She said, “I’m ok now, or as ok as it is possible to be in a situation like this. It isn’t every day I find myself trapped in someone else’s body, at least of all a man's.”

She listened as he asked her if she was hit with memories and emotions not belonging to her, but to him. She told him “Yes, Owen, I have been. Were you?”

She swallowed, when he confirmed he had been. She cringed and scrubbed a hand across her face, well Owen’s, as she could feel the morning stubble on his cheeks and chin.

She told him about everything she saw and felt. “I saw how you met Katie, and fell in love with her. I even got to witness how you asked her to marry you.”

She added “I saw how sick she had become before she had that operation that revealed that alien that killed her. I’m so sorry Owen. I knew you had lost someone dear to you when you first came to Torchwood after Jack had recruited you. I just never knew how bad or deeply that pain, grief and rage ran.”

She added “I now finally understand why you are the way you are. Why you shag any female who is willing. You at first did it for anger and pain management. You didn’t want to have to feel or remember.”

She added “Eventually you did it because you could, and you started to enjoy it. And of course you’re afraid of getting your heart broken. I guess you were reminded of the reason why you never got involved in serious relationships, after Diane left you. I’m sorry Owen.”

She nodded and said she would come straight over to her place, and they could discuss what they were going to do. It wasn’t until she had gotten off of the phone with him, that she realised he had mentioned her having a shower when she arrived.

She blushed brightly, when she realised the implications. She hoped he hadn’t showered or removed her nightwear yet. She did not want him to see her naked. She didn’t want him to be disgusted by what he would see.

She quickly bolted back to Owen’s bedroom. She put on the clothes from the day before, which had been thrown on the floor by Owen. She then did as she was told; she grabbed some fresh clothing of Owen’s.

She then ran to the living room again. She put on his shoes and leather jacket. She placed his cell back in his pocket. She checked the other pocket for his car keys, and was relieved to find them there.

She pulled them out, before running to the door. She opened it and quickly left out of it. She closed it behind her. she barely remembered to lock it behind her, but somehow remembered. Figuring Owen wouldn’t be too thrilled or forgiving if she allowed his apartment to get burgled.

She ran to Owen’s car. Once inside, she started the engine. Soon she was pulling out of his parking space, and was driving away from his apartment.