Burning Cosmos {A Torchwood Story Three} [COMPLETED]

24. Something Borrowed

Owen's POV

"Owen, come on! We don't want her to turn into Bridezilla," Jack calls to me, and at my desk I slump over the keyboard. As if it wasn't enough that I have to dissect that alien werewolf from last night without Evy making jokes, now Gwen wants us to come over cuz she's had this overnight transformation or something. Yeah, into a hungover bride - why would you get hammered the night before your wedding? You'll just be hungover for the event.

I groan and push myself out of my chair, passing the coatrack on the way out and slinging my leather jacket over my shoulder. I make a mental effort not to use my left hand after I sliced it open and broke the pinkie, and when I use it to lean on the cog door I wince. Jack looks back at me from the lift and frowns; in return, I roll my eyes.
"Why are you extra grouchy today?" my boss asks. I just look at him witheringly. It takes him a moment or two, no doubt riffling through the piles of memories he's accumulated, but finally he gets there.

"You got the equipment?" he asks after a sigh, as close as I'll get to him apologising, and I nod.
"Right," he says, clapping his hands together and nodding at Ianto as we leave 'reception,' "Ianto will be on call for any admin, Tosh is scanning the records for any information on the species already logged before you can get back to dissect it, and-"

"And what's my job?" a voice asks nonchalantly from the top of the wooden stairs to the shops.

We both halt in our tracks, look at each other, and spin to look up.

Evelina Cosmo Firestone stands with one hand on her hip and the other bearing the time travel device she'd built a little over a month ago. Her brown hair blows over her face in the cold wind, and her expression bears the cheeky grin I know all too well.
Despite her leaving so unceremoniously, I smile from the side of my mouth in admiration.

Evy tilts her head and asks the Captain, who is staring at her in utter shock, "What, you thought I was gonna miss my friend's big day?" Her grin grows bigger. "I'm back, boys."

Evelina's POV

I join the boys to Gwen's house, gatecrashing, and eat half the stuff in her fridge while I'm waiting for my orders. Give him credit, Jack didn't even know I was on this planet til a half hour ago.

I'm glad I made it on time. After that near-run-in with the Doctor and Donna in Pompeii and my time travel device glitched, I thought I'd die before it got fixed. I'm still waiting on my Time Lord memory to remember how they taught us to make time travel technology in the Academy.

Thankfully it got working again, no Sibylline what-nows and TARDISes in sight from my cubbyhole high up, and as soon as the volcano started erupting I bonked that bad boy until I ended up in Cardiff. In truth I had no idea when I was - I'm lucky I didn't meet an earlier version of Jack with a beard or a T-shirt with a dad joke on it.

Gwen storms in, followed by Owen and Jack, and once again I blink at her enormous stomach. How long was I gone?
She barges past me to get to the fridge and pours herself some water. Jack continues talking, much like he does, not realising the wrath of pissy Welsh women: "It passed the eggs on in the bite. Some species do that. A kind of sneaky way of keeping the bloodline going. Boy, would Darwin have a field day if he'd made it to space."

"Sorry, I've missed something here," I weigh in. "You're saying Gwen is pregnant, but not by her fiance, by an alien?"
Gwen replies with a huff and goes to the fridge again. She bumps into me on her way and I put my hands up in surrender - whatever's in her, it's making her even worse in the mornings than she was.
"Listen, Gwen, you are going to be fine, I promise, okay," Owen tells her. "If there was any biological incompatibility you would be dead. Now, according to this scan, you are carrying a non-sentient blastopheric mass."