Just Imagine...

Summer Camp

"I never understood summer camps," Owen muttered as he, Tosh, Sam, and Gwen got out of the Torchwood SUV to survey the large, neatly mowed open field in front of the camp's main cabin, "send your kids off into the wilderness for a few weeks to stay with a bunch of strangers and they'll come back traumatized, but at least you had enough time to shag more often than usual."
"Owen!" Gwen exclaimed sternly, though the laughter in her voice betrayed her.
"D'you think that's why Jack sent us all the way up here?" Owen went on, "so he could have some alone time with Ianto?"
"God only knows." Sam chuckled.
"Owen, you're only complaining because you had a bad experience at summer camp." Tosh spoke up, taking readings of the surrounding area.
All eyes turned to her immediately, before Gwen and Sam looked at each other and then back at Owen.
"First of all, I don't have any bloody clue what you're talking about," Owen said, "second of all, how would you even know I went to summer camp?"
Tosh glanced at him, suddenly blushing.
"Because we went to camp together," she murmured quietly, "don't you remember?"
"Aww!" Sam cut in before Owen could answer, emerald eyes sparkling, "that's so cute!"
"No it's not," Owen growled at her, "and no we didn't, I still don't know what you mean."
"Sure you do!" Tosh insisted, "you were six, I was nine, and you really didn't want to be there."
"How do you remember this??"
"I just do. Plus I was older, so my memory was more developed than yours."
"Of course it was. Remind me, then."
"Fine."

...

Toshiko had been a little anxious to be spending the night away from her parents for the first time, but her Mum had assured her they were only a phone call away if she really needed them, and that was enough to put her mind at ease for the moment.
Besides, she had Teddy - her favourite stuffed animal - tucked away at the bottom of her bag in case anyone saw him or tried to take him, but she'd be able to snuggle with him at night like she always did.
Tosh had just dropped off her things in the girl's cabin and was following all the other girls the the gathering area at the centre of the camp, where everyone would meet for an introduction session that likely included games and snacks, when she noticed the sound of whimpering from inside one of the other cabins.
It was the boy's cabin, and technically Tosh wasn't supposed to go in there, but it sounded like somebody was crying and nobody else had seemed to notice.
Tosh carefully pushed the door open further and tiptoed inside to find the cabin empty, except for one little boy of about six or seven with curly dark brown hair and a skinned knee, curled in a ball on one of the lower bunks. He had his hands covering his face, but Tosh could tell he was crying.
Unsure what to do, Tosh stood in the doorway for a moment. Should she go get a grownup? But what if she got in trouble for being in the boy's cabin?
Slowly, cautiously, Tosh stepped closer to the little boy on the bed.
"Hey," she said softly, "are you okay?"
The little boy looked up at her with weepy dark brown eyes like her own, shook his head silently, then covered his face again, curling up more tightly than before.
Tosh bit her lip.
"I've never seen a boy cry before." She murmured.
"I'm not crying!" The little boy squeaked, even though that was an obvious lie. He was quiet for a moment longer, save for a little bit of sniffling, before he added, "I just miss Mummy and Daddy. But Mummy said I had to go. And I tripped and fell on my knee on the way to my bed!"
He started to cry again, huge sobs wracking his tiny body, and Tosh felt her heart shatter.
"Wait here," she said, "I'll be right back, I promise."
Tosh scurried back out the door and ran to the girl's cabin, crouching by the suitcase she and her mummy had packed and rummaging through it until she found the small package of pink bandaids with cartoon characters on them - specifically characters from The Super Six, Tosh's favourite show about six friends who hunted aliens together in space. As an after thought, Tosh dug Teddy out from her suitcase too before running back to the boy's cabin.
"Hold still," she said gently, taking a bandaid from the box, "and sorry if you don't like pink."
"I like pink," the little boy admitted shyly, wiping his runny nose on his sleeve, "it's my favourite color."
Tosh smiled brightly at him, carefully placing the bandaid over the red mark on his knee and leaning down to kiss it, like her mummy did for her skinned knees.
"You like The Super Six too??" The boy asked, perking up.
"Yeah!" Tosh said, "it's my favourite show! I really like Trisha, she's so smart and pretty."
"I like Oscar," the boy replied, "he's the coolest."
"Nuh-uh! Trisha's way cooler!" Tosh giggled, giving him a playful shove.
"No, Oscar is!"
They carried on like that for a few minutes, lightly pushing and shoving each other until they ended up in a giggling pile on the bed.
"I'm Toshiko, by the way." Tosh murmured.
"I'm Owen," the boy said, "can we be best friends?"
"Of course!"
"There you two are!"
Tosh and Owen looked up at the voice of a camp councillor at the door.
"We were getting worried about you," he said, "c'mon, you're missing out on the fun!"
Tosh and Owen both jumped off the bed and followed the camp councillor out the door, and Tosh handed Teddy to Owen on the way.
"Here," she murmured, "this is Teddy. He's mine, but, you can hold him until you feel better."
"Thanks, Tosh," Owen said, "you're really cool."
"Am I cooler than Oscar?"
"Maybe."

...

"I don't remember any of that," Owen said when Tosh had finished her story, "are you sure you didn't meet a different Owen? It's a fairly common name."
"No, I'm sure it was you." Tosh insisted.
"Really? Why?"
"Because you have a magic 8 ball pin on your lab coat."
"What's that got to do with anything?"
"I gave that pin to you that summer, to remember me."
"You're having me on."
"No I'm not!"
"Awww, you guys!" Sam cut in, wrapping her arms around both Tosh and Owen and pulling them into a hug, "that's the sweetest thing ever!"
"No it's not! Get off!" Owen hissed, struggling against Sam's hold even though he knew it was futile.
"I hate to interrupt, but we do have a Rift alert to investigate." Gwen cut in, though she was smirking.
"Y'know you don't have to play captain anymore, Jack's home." Owen muttered, finally squeezing out of Sam's embrace.
"I know, but he said I'm in charge, so ha." Gwen replied snidely.
"Tell me more about your summer camp adventures," Sam babbled excitedly to Tosh, "what was Owen like as a kid? Did you guys roast marshmallows together? Did you play in the woods?"
"What else is there to do at summer camp?" Owen demanded, rolling his eyes and ignoring whatever Sam's response was, then glaring at Gwen when she gave him a light punch on the shoulder
"What?" He demanded.
"Nothing," Gwen said, "you're cute."
"I am not."
"You're seriously gonna pretend you don't remember any of that?"
"I'm not pretending, I don't have any recollection of it at all."
That was a lie.
Deep down, Owen did remember, just faintly. He'd remembered the moment Jack had introduced him to Tosh on his first day at Torchwood, but he hadn't let on.
Tosh was just a girl he'd met at summer camp as a kid, the fact that they'd found each other again was a complete and utter coincidence, nothing more than that.
... Wasn't it?