Holidays

Decorations were a necessity in the Tourist Office. Even if it was only manned a few hours a week, Torchwood needed to maintain its official front. Or, at least that was what Ianto convinced himself as he dug out the box of decorations that had to be at least as old as him. He'd found them completely by accident during his first weeks, stuffed between out-of-date brochures and some old display racks. They'd needed a lot of dusting and more than a few of them had to be thrown out, but Ianto had decided to try and be a bit festive in the Tourist Office.

"You've got some tinsel snagged on a button."

Glancing down at his left wrist, Ianto tugged off the piece of green tinsel that was hanging off his button. "Thanks, Gwen. What are you doing here this early?"

"Rhys is gone to visit his parents for the week. The bed was a bit too big this morning," Gwen said as she handed a Starbucks coffee. "Where'd all those decorations come from? They look like they're from the 19th century."

"I wouldn't be surprised if they were," Ianto mused, lifting up a tin Santa Claus ornament that had most of its paint missing. "Since Jack refuses to let me modernize the Tourist Office these decorations seem to fit. And, no, we're not putting up a tree this year."

Gwen's expression turned mournful and she immediately opened her mouth to protest. It was always the same thing. Gwen would pout and bemoan the fact that the Hub didn't feel "Christmasy" enough. Then Jack and Tosh would get in on it and he'd eventually relent just to stop their overdone sighs. Owen's contribution to Christmas was rumballs that would intoxicate at twenty paces. Then, when it was all over, Ianto was the one left cleaning up the whole mess.

"I promise I'll be in charge of the decorations inside the Hub," Gwen pleaded. "I'll put them up and take them down."

"That's what you said last year.... And the year before."

Gwen scowled briefly, but there was no heat behind it. Then her eyes lit up and she scrambled for the pad of paper that Ianto kept next to the phone. She wrote quickly, not looking up once until she signed her signature at the bottom.

"Here."

I, Gwen Elizabeth Williams, promise to clean up any and all Christmas decorations that are put up in the Hub. I swear that I will not complain when it comes time to take them down and won't try and get Ianto to do it. If I even so much as suggest someone else doing it, I'll drink nothing but decaf instant coffee until Valentine's Day.

Ianto smirked then added his own signature to the bottom of the note. Folding it neatly, he stuck it into the breast pocket of his jacket.

"Do your worst."

When Ianto walked down to the Hub to make the second round of coffee, he didn't expect to walk into Christmas Town. Lights and tinsel, fluffy mounds of fake snow and strings of garlands covering every surface it was possible to reach without a ladder. It made the Hub surprisingly cheerful despite the fact that the decorations covered only a fraction of the cavernous space.

Even the coffee machine was decked for Christmas, tinsel wrapped around the lever and a bow on the spout.

It made Ianto's own decorating in the Tourist Office seem minor in comparison. Ianto couldn't begrudge Gwen her insistence because that Christmas they all needed cheering up. There would be no lethal rumballs that year and none of Tosh's soft singing when she thought no one was listening. Martha and Mickey had both integrated themselves into the team, but it wouldn't be the same. They'd figure out new traditions (official or not) and come the beginning of January he'd be the one cleaning up the Hub, contract with Gwen or not.

"I didn't go overboard, did I?"

Glancing over his shoulder at Gwen, Ianto smiled reassuringly. "No, you didn't go overboard. Thanks for not putting up any mistletoe."

"Jack's dangerous enough without it. You never know when you're gonna be groped or kissed around here," Gwen giggled as she began to wash out the mugs that were sitting in the sink. "You more than me."

"So I've noticed," Ianto smirked, measuring out the coffee beans.

Turning away, Gwen looked out into the main area of the Hub, craning her neck to see towards Jack's office. "Where is Jack, anyway?"

"Right now he's in the middle of a meeting with the head of UNIT," Ianto said, not bothering to look up. Jack wasn't due back before 3pm.

"You let him go on his own?"

Try as he might, Ianto couldn't keep the corners of his lips from turning up slightly. "He's under orders to behave himself."

"You'll withhold sex?" Gwen guessed.

"Something like that."

In truth, there was no real threat that he was holding over Jack. Gwen just often found it difficult to believe that Jack was capable of being professional when it was necessary. Ianto knew that she saw him as little more than an immortal flirt, and while Jack was certainly less rigid than most bosses, he was far from unprofessional. A person didn't get to be Jack's age without gaining some kind of maturity.

"Anyone care to tell me why there's a lop-sided snowman sitting on top of my computer?" Mickey shouted from the main area of the Hub.

With a wide grin on her face, Gwen hurried out to Mickey's station.

The day was rather uneventful all things considered. With Jack gone and the Rift being quiet, they were all more or less left to their own devices. With the exception of Myfanwy's occasional cry and the music Mickey had playing over the speakers, the employees of Torchwood Three were experiencing one of their odd quiet days.

Ianto himself spent most of the day down in the Archives, organizing the artefacts that had been sent to them by Torchwood Two. It was peaceful down in the Archives, allowing Ianto to concentrate on what he was doing. He wanted to have all of it finished before the holidays so that it wouldn't he hanging over him while he was celebrating with his family.

And Jack.

Ianto had been surprised the year before at how well Jack had fit in with his family. His mother had absolutely doted on him, amusing Ianto to no end. It'd been fun to watch as Jack was swarmed by all the women in his family. Later on that night, as he and Jack had lain in the small twin bed in his old room, Ianto couldn't help but wonder how long it'd been since Jack had had a proper family. He'd been a boy when his father and brother had been killed (the monster who destroyed Cardiff, buried Jack under the city, and killed Tosh and Owen wasn't Jack's brother, no matter what Jack said) and from what he knew of the years before Jack had met the Doctor, his lover had been more of a rogue and a playboy than anything else. He knew that Jack had been married once, but it hadn't last long. Jack had spent so much time alone, so much time—

"I don't see why you insisted that Martha come today instead of you."

Smirking, Ianto turned, leaning his hip against the table he was working at. "You mean besides the fact that she used to work for UNIT?"

Jack rolled his eyes as he walked towards Ianto. "Spoilsport."

Ianto stayed where he was, the smirk becoming a fond grin as Jack came into his personal space. Ianto leaned in close, his cheek brushing against Jack's as he whispered into the captain's ear.

"I trust that you behaved yourself this afternoon," Ianto murmured, his lips ghosting over the shell of Jack's ear. "I would hate to have to revoke your Christmas present."

"And what Christmas present would that be?" Jack asked, the amusement audible in his voice. "Is it one that comes in a box or....?"

Ianto gave Jack's hips a brief squeeze the slid his body out from between the table and Jack. "You'll have to wait till the twenty-fifth to find out."

Jack remained down in the Archives for a few more minutes, trying to coax a hint out of Ianto while he finished his work. Ianto purposely gave him the vaguest hints he could think of.... that had nothing to do with Jack's actual present. Ianto had actually gotten Jack two presents, the latter merely being a back-up in case events didn't allow him to grant Jack the main one.

Ianto really hoped that he would be able to give Jack his intended present.

"So I assume it was Gwen's idea was it to turn the Hub into Christmas Town," Jack guessed as they slowly made their way up from the bowels of the Hub.

"I have to clean up enough as it is without dealing with bits of tinsel," Ianto chuckled, bumping against Jack briefly as they started up the stairs. Jack, being Jack, bumped back, using it as an excuse to slip his arm around Ianto's waist.

When they reached the main level, Mickey was hurriedly tracking a Rift spike and it was business as usual once again.

xxxxxxxxxx

Ianto spent most of the twenty-fourth on the telephone with the closest UNIT branch, trading information with them about the state of affairs in London. After three years in a row of near catastrophic events on Christmas, Torchwood and UNIT were combining their forces to ensure that they didn't miss anything. Everything was as coordinated as could be to ensure that the world, and London in particular, were safe as could be over the holidays.

He also confirmed that he'd be able to give Jack his intended gift.

So while Jack and Mickey were out on a Weevil retrieval, Ianto made the final preparations. Gwen gushed about how sweet and romantic what he was doing was while Martha merely smiled fondly.

"He's gonna love it," Gwen sighed as Ianto handed her a printout of the planned operations by UNIT to ensure that nothing happened involving aliens the following day. Her smile then turned a bit melancholy. "He deserves a bit of spoiling after the year he's had."

Ianto pulled his lips in over his teeth, nodding his head tightly. He opened his mouth to respond, but at that moment Jack and Martha appeared in the central Hub, dragging a hooded Weevil with them. It was business as usual at Torchwood even if the rest of Cardiff was preparing for the coming holiday.

It was nearly seven when Jack finally announced that it was time to put the Hub on holiday standby. Each of them were handed Rift activity monitors and told to keep their cell phones on at all times. A few hugs and holiday good wishes and the Torchwood team went their separate ways for the next two and a half days. Jack always bemoaned the fact that he couldn't give the team more than Christmas and Boxing Day off, but the Rift didn't acknowledge holiday breaks. Nor did most of the alien species that visited. There was a family group of Telforians from the 43rd century who Jack insisted had been regular Christmas visitors in Cardiff for nearly half a century. A harmless group who were more interested in drinking vast amounts of eggnog than causing any trouble.

Jack followed Ianto to his car, hands stuffed into his pockets as he waited for Ianto to unlock the doors. "You never said, are we going to your parents tonight or tomorrow."

"Neither," Ianto said as he opened the door and slid into the vehicle. When Jack's door didn't immediately open, Ianto twisted about to try and see Jack's face through the slightly fogged passenger window. "Jack? Are you getting in?"

Still, Jack didn't open the door. So Ianto climbed back out of the car, turning so that he could see Jack over the roof of the car. The older man was staring forlornly down at the top of the car, shifting restlessly.

"Jack, will you get in the car," Ianto said, placing his gloved hands on the roof. "We're going to be late if we don't leave soon."

Jack's head shot up, his brows slightly furrowed. "But you said—"

"iWe/i aren't going to my parents, Jack," Ianto clarified, grinning softly. "Neither of us. I already talked to my mom and she knows not to expect us. What we are going to do is go back to the apartment and pick up the two suitcases I packed the other day when you stayed late at the Hub. After that, we're driving out to the cabin I rented in Snowdonia."

Jack was smiling, but he still looked a bit confused. "Seems like a lot of effort for a two day trip."

"We won't be back till the second of January." When Jack immediately opened his mouth to protest, Ianto cut him off. "It's all arranged. Gwen's in charge until we get back and if they run into any trouble they can't handle alone, UNIT agreed to back them up. Plus, we do still have our cell phones. Gwen knows she can get in touch with us, but only in an absolute emergency." Ianto paused briefly, grinning. "Merry Christmas, Jack."

Jack's smile was wide, his eyes crinkling at the corners. "Merry Christmas, Ianto."

Ianto shivered slightly as a sudden gust of cold wind blew over him. "Can we go now? It's cold and we have a long drive ahead of us."

"This is your show," Jack said as he opened the door. "We do whatever you say."

Ianto slipped into the car, smirking in Jack's direction. "I'll hold you to that, Jack."

"I look forward to it."

Chuckling quietly, Ianto started up his car and put it into drive.