Jealous Guy

Every time Owen caught even a glimpse of Jack and Ianto sneaking off together, an argument started running on a loop through his head. Always the same thing, the same words. You shouldn't be watching two of your coworkers, who also happen to be your friends, snog or shag in a corner of the office. It's just not right, even if you do wish that you were up there with him instead of your boss. No matter how many times he told himself this, it never quite seemed to stick.

Inevitably, he'd end up perching himself on one of the chairs clustered around Tosh's desk, letting her drone on about something she was working on while he sat there looking up at Jack's office. Who knew that their computer specialist, the one person who was least likely to be interested in either of the men involved, had a perfect view of the "action"? Of course, there would probably come a time when Owen would be asked a question pertaining to something Tosh had been rambling about and then he'd have to confess the real reason he'd become so "interested" in her work. And if that ever happened, he would just have to deal with it then and hope the consequences weren't too bad.

'There she goes again', he thought, the faintest of smiles creeping onto his lips when he noticed Gwen heading up toward that same office, blissfully ignorant of what was going on inside. 'You'd think she would have learned her lesson by now, wouldn't you? Probably wants to see if she can drag Jack off for a quick fuck.' Owen's lip curled slightly at the thought. While she did have her moments when she wasn't being a completely idiotic bitch, it didn't seem as though Gwen would ever manage to work at the same standard as the rest of the team.

Sighing heavily, Owen leaned back in his chair and tried to focus on what Tosh had been saying. Something about a mathematical formula that, as far as he could tell, made no sense whatsoever. Okay, maybe that wasn't going to work. Numbers wouldn't be enough to distract anyone from seeing a perfectly rounded ass peeking out from under the edge of Ianto's shirt as he was pressed against the wall of Jack's office.

"Owen. Are you even listening to a word I'm saying?"

Owen shook his head as he looked up at Tosh, who had somehow managed to get right in his face without him even noticing. "Uh, no, sorry, Tosh. I was just watching..... something." Even as he spoke, he could feel the heat of a blush as it crept over his face and throat.

In the entire time she had been working with the man, Tosh couldn't remember Owen ever blushing -- well, unless she counted the time Gwen found him handcuffed and naked in one of the cells in the vaults. "Alright, what's going on? I don't think I've ever seen you acting like this before. Unless.... " She turned to follow the direction she had seen Owen staring in moments before, her eyes widening when they landed on a very naked Ianto Jones. Not that she was exactly shocked by the sight. No, what shocked her was that Owen had been watching them as if he wanted to be up there himself. "Well, I ..... that was unexpected."

"Jack might have said he's bisexual, but I honestly don't think he is. That man is Iantosexual. And he treats Ianto as if this.... relationship, or whatever it is, is part of his job description." Owen sighed and crossed his arms, glaring up at the office when he realized that both men had disappeared. "Ianto deserves better than that. Someone who's not going to take advantage of the fact that he's still hurting over what happened to Lisa. Both times it happened."

Tosh looked away from Owen for a moment, a little pang of hurt welling up in her chest at those words. It didn't take a genius to realize the meaning behind what Owen was saying. "So that's why you always watch the two of them, because you want to be in Jack's place. Not just because you don't want to see one of your friends get hurt," she whispered, dropping back down into the chair at her desk. If Owen's last comment hadn't firmly stuck her into the "friend-slash-coworker only" category, nothing would.

"That's exactly it. Just imagine what his reaction would be if I ever said anything, though. I'm the one who snuck a bottle of an alien pheromone spray out of the Hub so I could be sure to get laid that night."

"If you don't pull your head out of your arse and start using that head of yours for more than just storing medical knowledge, I will smack you," Tosh saod, as she picked a newspaper out of the nearest trash bin and rolled it up.

Almost instinctively, Owen ducked his head as he wheeled his chair backwards out of Tosh's reach. "What have I done this time? Aside from making the mistake of talking to you about what I've been staring at all this time. And not paying attention to a damn thing you were saying to me about .... whatever it was."

Even though she knew it was virtually impossible to sneak up on anyone in the Hub -- not with the metal flooring in this main room, at least -- Tosh couldn't help looking over her shoulder once before she responded. "You're looking at everything that could go wrong. You. What happened to the tough guy I met when you were recruited? Just get Ianto alone and tell him what you were just telling me about him. Even if he did push you away, it would be better than sitting around and watching him with another man constantly. Or ..... with another woman."

Owen frowned at the tone of Tosh's last words, but he pushed it aside as nothing. She did have a point about why he should go ahead and say something to Ianto, or even figure out a way of showing him. Both of them were fairly visual people, so why not? Perhaps he could put his voyeuristic streak to good use for once and use it to attract someone rather than push them away.