'Owen!' Jack called out, head sticking out from the doorway of his office. 'You got a minute?' 

Owen sighed dropping the scalpel and stripping off his gloves and coat, before jogging up the steps and towards Jack's office. 

Jack looked up from where he was seated. 'Close the door.' 

Bollocks, Owen thought. What had he done this time? Usually Jack didn't bother with the niceties or such privacy as was being offered. Public dressing downs were much more his style, so Owen was immediately worried. 

He sat down in the chair, figuring it was easier to weather the tirade from a seated position than a standing one. He folded his arms and stared straight at Jack. 'What?' 

Jack looked almost uncomfortable. That wasn't a look Owen was accustomed to. 

'I need to ask a favour.' 

'You're the boss,' Owen replied. 'Don't you usually just order me what to do?' 

Jack smiled. 'It's a benevolent dictatorship,' he replied. 'But no, I'm not asking you for a favour as your boss. I'm asking you for a favour as a friend.' 

The admission caught Owen by surprise. What could Jack want from him that wasn't work related? 'I'm listening,' he said. 

Jack leaned forward on the desk. 'I want you to be my best man at the wedding.' 

Oh. Well that was... unexpected. 

'Me?' 

Jack raised his eyebrows. 'Problem?' he asked, sounding genuinely concerned. 

Owen dissembled with a couple of scoffs and hums. 'Well, I mean, no. Just... wasn't what I thought you were going with.' 

'I want everything to be perfect,' Jack replied. 

Owen wanted to laugh. A Torchwood wedding running smoothly? Fat chance. 

'Begs the question why you'd pick me, then,' he said. 

'You're a good friend Owen, and good friends are hard to come by.'

Well, today really was full of surprises, Owen thought. He didn't realise had hadn't answered the question when Jack said, 'So?' 

'I'd have to do a speech?' Owen asked. 'Say nasty things and make fun of you in front of everyone?' 

Jack cocked his head, coy smile on his face. 'It's tradition, isn't it?' 

Owen wanted to grin. It was mad. Jack was mad. But he was a good friend. After all the shit they'd been through, didn't they deserve just a little bit of happiness?

'Yeah, alright,' he said, and Jack gave him one of his million watt smiles. 

'Thank you. You don't know what a relief it is for you to say yes. It means the world.' 

'Yeah, yeah, don't go all soppy on me,' Owen said, pushing out from the chair before Jack could come around and start giving him hugs and kisses and God knew what else. 




Best man, he thought, as they were cruising across town in the SUV. He supposed it was kind of a big deal. It wasn't every day you got married, after all. 

'Owen?' Ianto said, flicking a glance across at him from the driver's seat whilst they were stopped at the lights. 

'Yeah,' he said, still checking the readings on his phone. 'Hasn't moved,' he said, reporting on the signal they'd been sent to investigate. 

'Er, no, actually I was going to ask you about something else.' The light turned green and he smoothly accelerated forward, affixing his eyes on the road again. 

'Uh huh,' Owen said, distracted as he was tapping out a few diagnostic programs while he waited for them to arrive. 

'Can I ask you something?' Ianto asked. 

'You just did.' 

Ianto hummed in amusement, his dry sense of humour having rubbed off. 'No, actually, it was about...' the rest of the sentence drifted off into nothingness. 

Owen groaned. Why couldn't he ever just spit it out? No one else around here worried about sensitivities and politics. 'This week, Ianto?' he said, trying to hurry him along. 

'Alright, I'm just going to come out and say it. Will you be my best man?' 

Oh hell. Had he been the one driving, he might have slammed on the brakes. As it was, the question threw him for a loop. Twice in one day. Bloody hell. 

'Owen?' Ianto said, sounding just as worried as Jack had hours before. 

'You don't want me as your best man, mate,' he said. 'I'd bugger the whole thing up.' 

'I'm sure it would be fine.' 

'Yeah... but... I mean, what would Jack say?'

Ianto seemed to pause for a moment, before flipping on the indicator, making a turn. 'I dunno. I haven't asked him. Should I?' 

'No,' Owen replied quickly. 'It's just a big thing, is all. You don't wanna spend some time thinking about this?' 

Ianto frowned. 'I thought I had. Do you need some time to think it over?'

'Yeah. My brain's just a bit all over the place what with everything that's been going on lately.'

'Okay, 'he said, trying not to sound disappointed. 'Just let me know, yeah?' 

'Yeah.' 

Fuck, Owen thought. Fuck, fuck, fuck. 




Tosh saw the dejected look on Owen's face from five yards distant, sat at his desk, mulling over something, but staring at the computer screen without actually doing anything. She came over and placed a light hand on his shoulder. 

'What's wrong?' 

He sighed loudly. 'I'm officially screwed.' 

'Why?' 

'Ianto asked me to be best man at the wedding.' 

Tosh frowned, trying to quell her own excitement at the news until she knew exactly what it was that was upsetting him. She'd learnt that it didn't pay to be too jolly when Owen was in one of his moods. 

'But that's wonderful. Isn't it?' 

Owen leaned back in the chair, running a hair through his hair. 'It might have been if I'd said yes.' 

'Owen!' she scolded. 'Why on earth would you say no?' 

'I didn't say no, not exactly. I just didn't say yes.' 

'But why?' Owen wasn't making sense, which annoyed her. 

'Because I'd already said yes to being best man for Jack.' 

'Oh,' she said, slumping into the chair beside him. That was a bit of a dilemma. 

'Yeah, oh, exactly. Now I don't know what to do.' 

Tosh didn't know either. Part of her wanted him to just admit what had happened, but she wasn't sure how that might go down. People always got so stressed and uptight when it came to wedding preparations. Things that wouldn't otherwise upset them could blow up into major arguments. 

'Tosh!' Jack's voice bellowed from within his office. 

She wanted to stay, at least until she and Owen had a chance to solve the problem, but Jack yelled out again. 

'Tosh! The screen's gone blue again!' 

Instead she patted his knee. 'You'll figure it out. Gotta go.' 



Tosh had forgotten all about Owen's dilemma when she slipped into bed next to him at the ungodly hour of 2am. Jack's blue screen of death had been just that, killing him twice before Tosh had finally written a counter virus to combat the entity trying to take over their computer system. 




When Ianto placed the mug on the step by Owen's head, knee deep in alien autopsy, he paused, leaning over the rail. 

'Any thoughts on my proposal?' he asked. 

'Uh, yeah,' Owen said. 

'Oh good,' Ianto beamed. 'I'm so glad.' 

Owen froze. 'No, wait, I meant yeah I've thought about it, not yeah, I'll do it.' 

Ianto's face fell. 'Oh.' 

'I'm sorry,' Owen apologised rather awkwardly. 'I just can't.' 

'Right,' Ianto said slowly. 'So you'll come to the wedding, eat our food, drink our booze, and pretend you won't dance with Tosh even though we know you really do want to, but you won't be best man?'

It was the way Ianto said it, in that schoolteacher style, stern, disappointed way, that made Owen feel awful. 

'I'm sorry, alright?' 

'Sorry for what?' Gwen said, leaning over the rail to join them, clasping her mug. 

'That Owen's too precious to be best man on the most important day of our lives.' 

'Owen!' Gwen scolded, in much the same way Tosh had done yesterday. 

'Look, it's not my fault!' Owen retorted, feeling the need to suddenly defend himself. 

'Then whose fault is it?' Gwen said, going in to bat for Ianto. 'I can't believe you'd be so selfish.' 

'I'm not being selfish! I only said no because Jack asked first!' he blurted out. 'Alright?' 

The two of them stared at him, stunned expressions on their faces. 

'Jack...' Ianto said. 'Jack asked you to be best man?' 

'Oi,' Owen complained, crossing his arms over, 'you don't need to make it sound like I was everybody's last choice' he said, feeling affronted at the insinuation. 

Ianto rolled his eyes and shook his head. 'Why didn't you just say so yesterday?' 

'I didn't expect it, is all. I thought you'd go for Rhys, or Johnny or that bloke down the street that sells you coffee.'

'All admirable choices,' Ianto agreed. Except maybe Johnny. He wasn't sure just how much faith he had in Johnny's ability to turn up on time, and to remember the all important rings. 

'Owen, you're my best friend. Well, I mean, after Jack that is. And Tosh. Oh,' he said, putting a finger thoughtfully to his lips, 'and maybe Gwen...'

'Oi!'

'Kidding!' Ianto said, holding his hands up in defense. 'But you are one of my best and closest friends.'

'One of your only friends,' Owen joked. 

'Be that as it may,' he said, accepting that was probably true, 'if you've already agreed to be Jack's best man then I won't hold that against you. In fact, I'm surprised that Jack is even that organised. He usually leaves everything to the very last minute.'

'I do not,' Jack said, pouting and coming up behind them. 'What have I done wrong this time?' he said, wrapping his arms around Ianto's waist and cuddling him from behind, looking over his shoulder and down at Owen. 

'You mean apart from eavesdropping?' Ianto quipped. 

'We're just trying to figure out who Owen should be best man to at your wedding,' Gwen replied, grinning over the top of her mug as she sipped. 

'Who... but, wait, I've already asked him to be... Wait,' he said, pulling Ianto around to face him. 'You didn't?'

'I did. Turns out I've been left alone at the altar for another man,' he teased. 

'Oops,' Jack said. 'I didn't think you'd ask Owen.' 

'Oi! Owen had feelings too, you know,' Owen complained. 

'So, we have two best men and only one Owen,' Jack mused. 

'Probably a good thing,' Ianto said. 'I don't think I could cope with two Owen's.' 

'Me either,' Jack agreed, grinning as Owen gave him the finger. 

'The solutions is obvious, isn't it?' Gwen said. 'I mean, you can only really ever have one best man at a wedding, so Owen can be both. That's hardly breaking from tradition.'

'Not that's there's anything traditional about two blokes getting hitched,' Owen added. 

'Hey,' Jack said. 'It happens.'

'Ours will just have less glitter and no pink flamingos,' Ianto replied. 

'More's the pity,' Jack sulked, giving him another playful squeeze. 'It just won't be like a proper Vegas Galaxy wedding without the flamingos.' 

Gwen, Ianto and Owen all rolled their eyes, just picturing the ridiculous spectacle. 

'Well, at least I can promise you one thing,' Owen said. 

'What's that?' Jack asked. 

'This is going to be the best bloody stag do that's ever been.'