Just Imagine...

The Morning After

Sam couldn't believe how good it felt to finally get the whole business with Adam off her chest. She'd been holding the secret for so long in fear that telling the others would bring him back, but yesterday she'd finally told the others about everything that happened, and Adam hadn't come back, and everything was okay. Sam was so relieved she could cry.
Walking into the hub and being met by the cheerful, grateful smiles of her family made Sam's eyes water and she averted her gaze, wiping away her tears before they saw.
"It's okay, Sam," Ianto murmured, putting his hand on her shoulder and offering her a vanilla cappuccino - her favourite coffee, "you've been through a lot."
"You've done so much to take care of us," Tosh added, "let us take care of you."
"Guys," Sam laughed tearfully, "stop! You're gonna make me ugly cry!"
"You're our hero." Jack said seriously, wrapping his arms around her in a giant hug.
"We're proud of you." Gwen added.
Sam laughed again, letting a few tears fall down her cheeks.
"Okay, seriously," she croaked, "no more. I can't."
"Oh please," Owen laughed from across the room, "you're dying to tell us all about the funny parts of the whole ordeal. So go ahead, tell us."
Sam narrowed her eyes at him, then smirked.
"Okay," she said, taking a long sip of her coffee and savouring the warm, sweet taste as she strode over to Owen, "I got a great story for yas. Remember those mysterious flowers that appeared on Toshiko's desk when you all woke up from your retcon sleep? And how Tosh read the cards on those flowers and saw that they were from none other than you, darling Owen?" She poked Owen on the end of his nose as she said it.
"What about them?" Owen asked warily.
"I know who they were from, I saw them putting them on the desk." Sam answered.
"Who were they from?" Tosh said, looking eager.
"What it said on the card," Sam replied, snickering, "Owen."
All eyes turned to Owen as Sam continued chuckling, then laughing, unable to stop herself.
"What?" Owen demanded, "they definitely weren't from me!" 
"I saw you put them there with my own eyes!" Sam exclaimed, "I even saved the CCTV footage of it! And knowing me and tech, that was hard to do without Tosh."
"But why would I do that?" Owen said.
"Simple, Adam manipulated your mind and your personality so your true desires and your caring nature came through. You were following Tosh around with your tongue on the floor, pal!"
Sam could hardly speak for laughter by now, falling back into the couch behind her.
Owen's face was starting to turn red, and Jack, Ianto, and Gwen were all struggling to keep from smiling. Tosh just looked stunned, a pretty blush creeping across her cheeks and her warm brown eyes glimmering softly.
"The look on your face when you told Tosh you didn't do it!" Sam gasped, "you looked so certain! I almost died, Owen! You really made my day after all the shit I had to go through with Adam!"
Jack apparently couldn't take it anymore and started to laugh as well, trying and failing to keep his giggles quiet. That set Gwen off, who covered her mouth to conceal her grin, although her shaking shoulders were a dead giveaway.
Ianto, with Gwen and Jack in stitches on either side of him, bit his lip in a desperate attempt to hold back the laughter tickling inside him, but it was fruitless. He gave in, slouching over and surrendering to giggles.
Owen clenched his jaws, turning redder both from anger and embarrassment.
"It's. Not. Funny." He growled, although the others could hardly hear him as they were roaring with laughter now. Ianto couldn't help but let out a snort, slapping a hand over his mouth and leaning into Jack.
"I dunno, Owen," Sam said, wiping tears of mirth from her eyes, "anything that can make Ianto laugh so hard he snorts must be pretty damn funny!"
Owen just clenched his fists as the laughter around him increased in volume, feeling his anger rising with it. That is, until a soft kiss was pressed to his cheek and he turned to see Tosh looking at him with a radiant smile.
"Don't listen to them," she giggled, "they're only teasing you. Besides, I think what you did was really sweet, whether it was the real you or not."
Owen finally smiled.
"Don't tell anybody I said this, but it was... probably the real me." He admitted shyly.
Tosh grinned, shooting a glance at the others - who were still too busy in hysterics to notice as she stepped closer to Owen and kissed him again, this time on the lips.
If the others had seen it, they might've been stunned by how much Owen blushed. But they didn't see it. And there was a part of Owen that was relieved.