A/N: Well, it's ALMOST too late for a Christmas fic but I just couldn't help myself. And so… (smirks sheepishly)

WARNINGS: SLASH, mild language, mentions of death…

DISCLAIMER: Me, own?! Naaaaaaaah, no way. But it's sort of cool to borrow the characters every once in a while.

Awkay, because I have a feeling that you'd like to get on with the story… Let's go! I really hope that you'll enjoy the ride.

The Christmas Present of Captain Harkness

Jack Harkness was fairly certain that it wasn't exactly healthy that he was too drunk to remember the name of the bar he currently occupied. He also couldn't quite remember the name he was supposed to be using. He had a very bitter, very strong drink before him and for the time being that was more than enough. Or well, almost.

He took a generous sip and quite enjoyed the feel of the drink swirling on his tongue.

"Well…", a female voice he'd never heard before chuckled. There was an accent he couldn't quite place. "Aren't you the picture of Christmas spirit."

A part of him was instantly curious and he peered to the side. There, sitting almost right beside him, was a young woman in her late twenties. Dressed in a long, black coat and boots of the same color that nearly reached her knees. A pair of suspiciously sober brown eyes peered at him from behind eyeglasses. Her long, dark hair that had blonde stripes shifted slightly when a pair of drunken men passed by.

Jack frowned. Why did she seem familiar…? "I should remember if we've met before", he murmured, sounding quite a bit more drunk than he would've liked.

She chuckled again, heartily. "Well aren't you a charmer. I was warned of as much."

That certainly sobered Jack quickly. He frowned. "Who told you about me? What are you doing here?" His frown deepened. "Who are you?"

She shrugged innocently. "I'm only here to deliver you a Christmas present. As for who I am…" She looked at him with a great deal of amusement. "I'm sorry, but you don't exactly strike to me as a man who cares much about names."

Jack's eyebrow bounced high up. All caution was long forgotten. "A Christmas present?"

The mystery woman replied with placing something right beside his by then empty glass. Jack looked down, all alcohol seemingly gone from his system. His heart forgot several beats.

It was a entirely too family stopwatch.

"I'm aware that you've seen this before." Her words barely registered. "But I highly doubt that you'd know about this."

She took the watch, just before his fingertips would've reached it, and dropped it to the floor. Jack could only stare with stunned, outraged eyes how it went down, producing a far from healthy 'crack'. Damaged.

"You should see the look on your face!" the woman laughed. "I didn't actually break it, you know? So stop looking like you're about to pass out or tear my head off." She picked up the item and held it out for him to see. "I'm only planning on showing you something that you probably haven't known of yet."

Jack peered down with a unhealthy amount of curiosity. Two halves of the stopwatch had come apart, revealing an interior that he indeed had never laid his eyes on before. There was a small, red button. And a tiny note that'd been written in a handwriting he still knew better than well. He felt his eyes widen ever so slightly before he could restrain himself.

'A one more thing to do with a stopwatch, if you're still interested.'

Jack swallowed, hard. It took longer than it should've before he managed to look up at the woman. "How…?"

She tutted. "Now that would be telling." She gave him a moment. "So, here are the rules. You press that button and you'll have twenty-four more hours with him. Nothing more, nothing less."

Jack plunged the button down without a hint of hesitation. There was an inferno in his eyes. "If this really takes me back to him… there's no way in hell I'm coming back." There was nothing left to lose anymore. Nothing left to fight for, except now him.

The woman sighed and rolled her eyes. "You don't listen very well, do you? Twenty-four hours. No more. And even that's the kind of cheating fate that you shouldn't be allowed. Then time will catch up with you and pull you back. You may be clever but not enough to escape fate."

Jack smirked with as much flirt as anyone ready to tear open someone's throat possibly could. He leaned closer, until their noses almost touched. "Watch me."

She smirked back and winked. Either knowing that she had the upper hand or oblivious. Did she just grope his…? "I will." She then leaned to his ear and whispered, as though trusting him with the universe's biggest secret. "Carpe diem, Captain."

Jack's eyes flew open and he unleashed a loud, heavy burst of air that sounded almost like a scream. Just like he very often did upon coming back to life. Only this time… This time he couldn't remember dying. He simply went to sleep and…

"Jack?" That voice, that Welsh accent sleep had thickened… A body shifted beside him and a firm, protective arm wrapped around him. The familiar, comforting scent was almost too much. "'s wrong? A nightmare?"

Jack knew that he should've questioned it. Shouldn't have dived right into the illusion. But how was he supposed to resist the temptation? Before he could fully process it he wrapped his arms firmly around Ianto Jones and pulled the highly likely imaginary Welshman as close as humanly possible. He buried his face into the soft hair and inhaled, his rapidly tearing up eyes squeezed tightly closed.

"Yeah…", he managed. "A nightmare." Just a bad dream. A cruel, horrible joke.

They'd both faced their share of one another's nightmares. And so Ianto nodded, running a soothing hand through his hair. "Okay", the archivist murmured, the sound rumbling pleasantly in the ribcage crushed against Jack's. No questions. No expectations.

Jack didn't know how long they just lay there. Ianto, real or not, offering calm and comfort, Jack doing his best to get himself under control. Finally, after a brief eternity, he was able to trust his voice again. "What time is it?" He'd been promised a day. He needed to know how long he had left to fight that grim prediction.

Ianto chuckled briefly. "You'll have to… loosen your hold, a little, if you want me to take a look", the younger man pointed out gently. After a very reluctant compliance the Welshman shifted slightly, not moving any further from Jack than he had to. "I… have no idea. The clock's stopped to five minutes past midnight."

Jack's eyes flew wide open at that and he found himself gazing right into Ianto's incredibly blue eyes. They stared at one another and Jack felt oddly like he was seeing the other for the very first time. In that impossible moment he believed in miracles for the first time in decades.

Ianto smiled, really, truly honestly smiled. It was one of those rare ones only reserved for him. "Hey, Jack? Merry Christmas."

Self control was tossed into the wind, there. Jack attacked Ianto's lips with such passion that it took both their breath away. Oxygen didn't matter. All that succeeded in being important was Ianto's taste, filling absolutely everything in him. That and Ianto's warm body, pressed so tightly against him that they were dangerously close to melting together.

This could all be a dream. Or perhaps a drug induced hallucination. A nasty trick. Maybe he was finally really dead. It didn't matter.

The last time Jack declared that he'd fight it cost him Ianto's life and now, now he'd do absolutely everything there was in his power to fix that mistake.

"Merry Christmas", Jack breathed out. He didn't bother to look at the malfunctioning clock. If it'd start to count down their time together once more… Well, they'd fight it together. Instead he captured Ianto's lips into another soul searing kiss, trying to squeeze everything there was in his heart to that single gesture.

The immortal would never let go of his impossible Welshman again.

End.

A/N: Awww… Now that was sort of sweet. Those two would seriously deserve a second chance! (grins)

Soooo… Any good, at all? There's a box down below to cast your vote.

I'm afraid that I have to dash, now. Thank you, so much, for reading! Maybe I'll be seeing you again one day.

Take care!