Who are you? I really wanna know... [attn: Owen, TW3, open]

Lynne blushed a little and smiled back at him. She wondered if he'd stay again...or ask her to stay. Or - and she hoped not - maybe he'd had a rougher day than he was letting on and he'd just want to go home...alone. Lynne wasn't really sure how well she'd sleep without him, now that she thought about it. She hoped she wouldn't have to try.

Suddenly, Lynne realized that she and Owen had started to ignore his friends entirely. She looked over at Tosh and then noticed that Ianto's drink was empty. "Need a refill, chief?" she asked him. Damn, that was a nice suit...it seemed a little out of place in the trendy bar.

"So...you work in the office with Owen, then?" she asked, a little awkwardly, for lack of anything else to ask the man, but wanting to engage him as well as Owen. Tosh still hadn't said a word to Lynne and Lynne didn't plan on being the first to speak.

"Thanks." Ianto said, nodding and pushing the glass towards Lynne, smiling politely.

"So...you work in the office with Owen, then?"

"The office." Ianto repeated, looking at Owen, and then back at Lynne. "Yes, I...do...work at the office. With Owen." He eventually replied, looking straight at Lynne, this time with a forceful smile.

After she got her drink, Tosh sipped it, slowly. Lynne wouldn't look directly at her, which was a bit rude, but she didn't blame her. She looked over at Owen and they were in conversation and she looked over at Ianto. By the look on his face, she could sense it was awkward for him as well. Since when did Owen ever invite Ianto any place?

Tosh sighed. Ianto was probably there because she was and Owen didn't want to cause a scene. Figures she thought. She was always one to just have tag along and Ianto wasn't any less.

Lynne was talking to Ianto, commenting on his suit. Tosh sighed to herself. She didn't say anything to Lynne because she was afraid she might say the wrong thing. She didn't want to seem rude, she just didn't know to go about it.

Instead when she caught Lynne's eye she smiled. Maybe that would break the ice?

Tosh was almost ready to just go and take Ianto with her...

Lynne took Ianto's glass and smiled back. His awkward response and the sideways glance at Owen was not lost on her. As she turned, her eyes widened slightly as she mouthed, "okaaaaayyyy..." to herself.

She refilled Ianto's drink and turned back to him, setting the glass down on the bar in front of him. "You guys have the weirdest hours of any doctor's office I've ever heard of, I swear to God," she laughed. "Maybe it's just different here than in the States, though, I guess?"

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Tosh looking at her. Lynne looked back and when she caught Tosh's eye, Tosh smiled. Lynne smiled back.

...awkward... she thought. "Hey, Tosh," she said, finally, deciding to be the bigger person, if only for Owen's sake. The second meeting with Tosh had been less angry than the first, but not a lot less uncomfortable. Lynne somehow didn't see things changing anytime soon, however unfortunate that might be.

"You guys have the weirdest hours of any doctor's office I've ever heard of, I swear to God," she laughed. "Maybe it's just different here than in the States, though, I guess?

Shit. Owen took a sip of his drink.

'I never said I work in a doctor's office. I said I was a doctor, she just assumed. What should I do? What should I say? What the fuck do I do?'

The whole situation was becoming so awkward, Ianto couldn't do much more than down the whole drink in record time, once Lynne put it in front of him. "Thank you." He whispered in Lynne's direction, trying to catch up his breath.

"Yeah, we tend to pull all-nighters, sometimes." He said, regarding Lynne's comment on the office hours. "Lots of paperwork!" He added, with a grimace.

Ianto downed his drink nearly in one gulp. Lynne's eyes widened. "Easy killer, don't hurt yourself," she joked. "Need another?"

"Yeah, we tend to pull all-nighters, sometimes. Lots of paperwork!"

"Yeah? That sucks. Paperwork's the worst..." she sympathized.

"Easy killer, don't hurt yourself," she joked. "Need another?"

"Yes, please. Rum and coke this time, if you don't mind, Lynne." Ianto asked, unnecessarily fixing his tie.

"Hey, Tosh,"

It worked! "Good evening Lynne, how you doing?" Tosh sipped some more of her drink, daintily.

"You guys have the weirdest hours of any doctor's office I've ever heard of, I swear to God," she laughed. "Maybe it's just different here than in the States, though, I guess?

Tosh looked over at Owen, wanting to slap him across the back of the head.

Thankfully she wasn't the only one thinking that.

"Yeah, we tend to pull all-nighters, sometimes. Lots of paperwork!"

"Ianto's the one in the main office and Owen and I usually are the ones running about along with another person." Tosh added. "We're actually paramedics." Tosh covered for him.

Owen rubbed his forehead with his fingers. "Lynne, can I... can I talk to you for a minute? In private?"

"Good evening Lynne, how you doing?"

Lynne looked over at Tosh, a little surprised that Tosh was replying. "Oh, not too badly, I suppose. Yourself?" she asked.

"Yes, please. Rum and coke this time, if you don't mind, Lynne."

Lynne smiled. "Sure thing," she replied, taking his glass and discarding it into the sink beneath the bar, getting a fresh glass out and filling it slowly. "Should I go easy on the coke or...?" she joked, winking at him before finishing the mix and handing him the glass.

"Ianto's the one in the main office and Owen and I usually are the ones running about along with another person." Tosh added. "We're actually paramedics,"

Lynne looked over at Owen. "Well, God, if you'd just said you were a paramedic, I'd have totally understood the effed up hours and workload. You had me worried you were tellin' me stories because you had something to hide," she said, feeling suddenly relieved.

Dan, clothing warehouse; Owen, paramedic. And now she felt less ridiculous about secretly wishing she'd never told Owen she didn't want a title.

"Lynne, can I... can I talk to you for a minute? In private?"

"Huh, yeah, gimme a sec to grab someone to cover and I can take five. D'you smoke? Because...I do and I'm going to," she said, grinning slightly. "Be right back," she added before excusing herself with nods to Tosh and Ianto and heading to the kitchen to find another bartender to watch her section of the bar while she was gone.

Owen rubbed his forehead again and finished his drink, waiting for Lynne to return. He refused to look at either Tosh or Ianto.

Lynne re-emerged from the back with a shorter blonde girl. "Ok, Owen, let's roll," she said, coming out from behind the bar. She made a mental note to walk just slightly behind him and definitely not in front of him. Lynne was still feeling rather self-conscious.

Owen lead the way out of the bar.

"Listen," he said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously, "I... haven't been entirely truthful to you..."

Ianto kept the straw between his teeth, and he glanced at Tosh.

"Is she his girlfriend, by chance?" He asked, knowing well that if she wasn't, she'd soon be. Owen wouldn't have invited co-workers for a drink at her pub if she was just another woman, of the many he probably took home.

He supposed Owen was now probably trying to tell the truth, but not enough of it to put her in danger. She had to be something special to him.

As soon as they were outside, Lynne lit up a cigarette, having been unable to have one since leaving the salon. She took a deep drag and before she could so much inhale and enjoy the first rush of nicotine, Owen spoke.

"Listen," he said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously, "I... haven't been entirely truthful to you..."

Lynne exhaled heavily and leaned back against the building. Married. Dating. Engaged. Here comes the Atomic Flaw... she thought miserably. "Okay...?" she asked slowly.

"Is she his girlfriend, by chance?"

"Yeah, pretty sure," Tosh smiled. She saw at the bar, stirring her drink with her straw. There was nothing else really to say.

Owen sighed nervously. "Tosh," he paused, trying to collect his thoughts, "Tosh was trying to cover for me, when she said we're paramedics. We're not. We, uh... work for this... special operative sort of place. Like when the police need extra help." How did Gwen explain it to Rhys for a year? "Tosh is our computer specialist, Ianto is basic support, we have a police liaison and I'm the medical officer. I can't... really tell you any more than that... I'm sorry. I hope..." this doesn't affect things between us? Of course it would. He'd lied to her, about more than living nearby...

No he hadn't. He never told he worked at a doctor's office...

"Ouch." Ianto muttered under his breath, concentrating back on his drink. He'd picked up on Tosh's crush on Owen a few months ago. Hard not to notice, she was always pleasant and helpful, but adding a little extra when it came to Dr. Harper. He wondered how hard this whole evening was being for her. She definitely needed drinks.

He offered her a try for a smile, but he wholeheartedly failed at the smile, at all.

"Buy you a drink?" He asked instead, with a "better than nothing" frown.

"Tosh was trying to cover for me, when she said we're paramedics. We're not. We, uh... work for this... special operative sort of place. Like when the police need extra help."

Lynne's heart sank. Special Ops. That's exactly what The Asshole had said to her when she'd asked about UNIT. She hadn't believed him then and she was fairly sure she didn't believe Owen, now.

"Right, yeah, special operations," she said awkwardly before taking another drag from the cigarette and looking down at her feet. "Matthew said he was in special ops, too," she replied. "I can't decide if you're both full of crap or I just happen to be a magnet for guys with super secret jobs," she said, looking back up at him.

It hurt, honestly; Lynne really liked Owen, but the last thing she wanted was another Matthew in her life. She felt herself building the wall around her emotions just that much higher.

"Buy you a drink?"

Tosh was smiling and then her smile faded a bit. "No thanks, I'm still pretty full here." She tried to laugh. "It's really okay."

"You said Matthew worked for UNIT," Owen said, looking at the pavement, "They're much bigger than we are. We..." Owen sighed and rubbed the back of his neck again. He looked up at her. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to lie to you. I guess..." he sighed, "I guess I thought this could actually work, me and you. I'm sorry."

"You said Matthew worked for UNIT," Owen said, looking at the pavement, "They're much bigger than we are. We..."

Lynne perked up at that. Owen had heard of UNIT? So...it had been a real place...?

"I'm sorry. I didn't want to lie to you. I guess..." he sighed, "I guess I thought this could actually work, me and you. I'm sorry."

"Owen..." she whispered, dropping the practically ignored cigarette and snuffing it out with the toe of her shoe. She approached him and reached up to touch his face, hesitated, and pulled her hand back. Maybe he wouldn't want her to, now. "Please don't be sorry...because that means you don't want to try, anymore..." she whispered, tears prickling in her eyes. She refused to let them fall. She didn't want him to think she was weak. "Owen, I..." she paused.

How could she say it without sounding ridiculous or like she was backpedalling?

"Look, I'm gonna be honest with you. I haven't been as happy as I've been in the past couple of days in a really, really long time. You did that for me. I just...I mean..." she stopped.

"This is all my fault. I wanted to know too much too soon and what you didn't tell me, I filled in myself. I...I'm sorry," she said softly, looking down. "You're not him. I shouldn't treat you like you are. Old habits die hard..." she whispered, looking back up at him.

Tosh was obviously lying about being okay, but Ianto wasn't going to insist. He tried to find something else to talk about, and realized there wasn't much.

"So, Tosh, anything potentially embarrassing you found on the CCTV lately?" Like, an old man walking naked down the street, or someone picking on their nose and eating it, thinking nobody could see them, he thought. Anything was good.

Owen continued looking at the pavement for a while after Lynne had finished speaking. "I don't... want this to end, whatever it is. I just... don't want to hurt you, and I don't want to lie to you." He looked up to the sky briefly before looking back at Lynne. "What is this, anyway?"