Previous part of Old Town New.

***

It was Christmas Eve and Jack sat back on the couch in Rhiannon's house and smiled. It had been a while since he'd had a real Christmas, the kind where he was with family, eating too much turkey, watching bad movies and generally having fun. This year he had it and he looked up as the man he had to thank for it came in to sit down next to him.

"Rhi wants to know if you're coming for Christmas dinner tomorrow," he said, handing Jack a glass of mulled wine.

"I don't want to intrude," Jack began. "Besides, I thought I'd spend it with John and Loz. Adrian is going to his parents' and Lizzie has invited Nicholas over since he hasn't any family in this time. The guys will be on their own at Torchwood."

Rhiannon came into the room then, carrying her own glass and one for her husband, and sat down on the chair opposite. The kids were at a Christmas Eve party with their friends so that left the adults to have some peace and quiet before the chaos that Christmas day with the kids would bring.

"Bring them along," she told him. "Two more won't hurt and it's not right to leave anyone on their own at Christmas."

Ianto nodded. "What she said. Come on, Jack, it would mean a lot to me if you were here."

"When you put it like that, how can I refuse?"

Rhiannon watched as her brother smiled at Jack, the brief moment passing between them as though they were the only ones in the room. When he had first told her about Jack, some five years earlier, she had never expected it to last. Seeing them together now, however, she was glad that her brother had found someone who made him happy, even if that someone wasn't quite what she had expected.

"So, these friends of yours, don't they have family nearby?" she asked.

Ianto shook his head. "They both work with us at Torchwood. I guess you could say that they're from out of town," he told her.

"How far ‘out of town'?"

Ianto's brother-in-law, Johnny, excused himself, going off in search of a snacks, leaving them to talk freely. Although Rhiannon knew all about Torchwood and the kinds of things that they investigated, the rest of the family didn't.

"John is human. He used to work with me in the Time Agency," Jack told her. "Loz is... well, he's a different story."

Ianto saw the look on her face and smiled. "He's from way out of town."

She nodded, not wanting to know more and looking somewhat relieved when the two men didn't volunteer any further information.

Two hours later, when they were watching ‘Bad Santa', Jack's phone rang. He smiled guiltily and left the room to answer it, coming rushing back in a few seconds later.

"Can you turn on channel 1?"

Rhiannon frowned but did as he asked and turned over the TV, questions shifting to astonishment when she saw what was on the news broadcast.

‘These incredible pictures were filmed less than ten minutes ago by a Cardiff resident. At present, it is unclear as to whether this is a hoax or indeed, who is behind it- the footage is being verified by experts...'

"Tell me I didn't just see a flying reindeer on the evening news?" Rhiannon asked her brother.

Ianto sighed and glanced at Jack. "Let me guess- we have to go to work, right?"

"I'll go; you stay here," Jack told him, but Ianto got up anyway and put his coat on.

----------

Gwen was already waiting for them at Torchwood when they arrived, tapping her foot impatiently.

"So?" she demanded as they sat down in the staff room, "any ideas?"

Jack looked over her white knitted jumper, a reindeer with a red pom-pom for a nose on the front, and smiled. "Early Christmas gift?"

"No, Rhys's mum made it for me last year," Gwen told him. "She's staying with us tonight."

"So you had to wear that to make her happy," Jack concluded. "Very fetching," he teased, still smirking.

Gwen glared at him, then turned the glare onto John as he and Loz walked in.

"Don't say a word," she warned, seeing John about to make a smart comment.

He dropped down onto the couch next to Ianto. "I'm hurt. I was just going to say that it looked very festive."

Gwen smiled pleasantly. "Maybe I should ask Rhys' mum to knit you one as well-"

"You wouldn't dare!"

Ianto couldn't help but laugh at the look of horror on John's face and the amusement on everyone else's.

"Before I forget," he told John, "you and Loz are expected at my sister's house for Christmas dinner tomorrow."

Loz looked intrigued. "Christmas dinner? With turkey and cranberries and brussel sprouts? And crackers and those little paper hats like on the television programme we were watching last night?"

Ianto nodded, smiling at his enthusiasm. It was going to be like having another kid around having Loz there on Christmas day.

"I've never seen someone get so excited about brussel sprouts," Gwen said, laughing.

----------

Half an hour later, their investigation into the sighting had hit a dead end. There had been no rift activity at all in the past twenty four hours. Jack had managed to sweet-talk the news station into letting them have access to the video footage but even with the more detailed- and specialist- analysis that they could give it, it still turned up nothing unusual. Well, nothing unusual outside of the fact that it showed a reindeer levitate off the ground and then fly away over the park.

"I don't understand," Gwen muttered, frustrated. "It has to have come through the rift but it hasn't left a trail."

"You know, there's one thing you're all overlooking," John pointed out. "Maybe it didn't come through the rift. Maybe it was here all along."

Jack, Ianto and Gwen turned to stare at him in disbelief and he scowled at them.

"I'm not crazy," he said defensively. "Think about it, through. Most of these Earth myths are based in reality; what if that creature wasn't a hoax or a rift interloper?"

Ianto glanced at Jack, seeing that he was considering it too. Before he had begun working for Torchwood back at Canary Wharfe, and then here in Cardiff, he would have laughed at the idea himself. Now, however...

"So what are we going to do?"

Gwen shrugged her shoulders. "There's nothing we can do. The creature- and I still refuse to call it a reindeer- is gone and we have no way to find it again," she said. "I think if it was going to attack or cause trouble then we would have had reports of it by now, right, Jack?"

"Right," he agreed.

"In that case, I'm going home," Gwen told them.

---------

At nine o'clock the following morning, Rhiannon opened the door to her brother and ushered him and the other three men inside the house. The minute he stepped through the door, Ianto was immediately dragged off by his niece to see the presents she'd unwrapped that morning leaving Jack to do the introductions. Rhiannon showed them through to the lounge where the rest of the family were, and Loz's eyes lit up at the sight of the heavily decorated Christmas tree in the corner. He grinned as he looked around at the rest of the decorations.

"You'll have to excuse him," Jack told Rhiannon, laughing. "It's his first Christmas."

She found them somewhere to sit and within no time they were being bombarded by questions from curious relatives and passed various dishes of festive snacks. Jack rescued Ianto from the kids and followed Rhiannon to the kitchen to help her get coffee and tea for everyone.

"So, are you going to tell me what you found when you rushed away yesterday?" she asked once they were out of earshot. "That thing on the news; what was it?"

Ianto leaned into Jack as he slipped an arm around his waist, and shrugged his shoulders.

"You're not going to tell me it really was a reindeer, are you?" She stared at them in disbelief.

Jack smiled. "Well, it is Christmas, after all."

***

Lizzie's fingers flew over the keyboard, tapping out seemingly random combinations as the messages on the screen flashed. Gwen and John watched, standing back after being told to ‘quit breathing down her neck' a short time ago.

 

"How's she doing?" Ianto enquired, wandering over to join them with a mug of coffee in hand.

 

John just shrugged his shoulders. "Can't tell; it looks like gibberish to me."

 

If Lizzie heard him, she didn't acknowledge it, her eyes firmly fixed on the screen.

 

"Give her time," Gwen told them. "She's good."

 

"Yes, but this is the bloody Ministry of Defence database she's trying to hack into," John pointed out. "They aren't going to let her just waltz in and have a look around."

 

Lizzie's fingers stilled and she turned to him with a flourish. "You were saying?" she asked, unable to keep the smile from her face.

 

On the screen, the MoD logo showed, the password box underneath now reading ‘Access Granted'. Gwen let out a cheer and hurried over, flashing John a ‘told you so' look on her way.

 

Gwen smiled broadly. "I told you, she's a genius," she said to John and Ianto, causing the young woman to blush.

 

Leaving her to continue, Gwen led the others away to another computer terminal where they could use the MoD database for the reason Lizzie had hacked it in the first place. Three days ago they had received reports of a UFO over Cardiff. Unfortunately, although the ship had been retrieved, the MoD had stalled them long enough that the occupant had vanished by the time they got there. As they were being unhelpful, Lizzie had offered to find out through less official channels. Reports had described a being, humanoid in shape with almost translucent skin and silver hair but as yet they had been unable to find a trail. It didn't take them long to plant the fake orders that the craft be handed over to Torchwood, but finding the alien was still proving difficult.   

 

Two hours later, Lizzie was still poking about in the MoD files. She hadn't found anything particularly useful and should really have just left again, but her inquisitive nature wouldn't let her just leave. There were so many interesting things in the files- more reported UFO encounters that she would have expected, even though they were merely filed and forgotten- and she couldn't tear herself away.

 

This was how she had found herself working for Torchwood in the first place. Before this, she had been the editor of an online conspiracy magazine, and that had brought her into contact with Torchwood. At that time, they had still been rebuilding after the 456, and trying to keep a low profile, but Lizzie was nothing if not persistent. It had taken her a while, but she had gathered up files of information about them, each thing making her mind up a little more firmly; this was what she wanted to be doing.

 

One afternoon, after hours at her computer, she had managed to hack into the Torchwood computer system. She had been so surprised to actually manage it that she had no real plan for when she did. So, taking a chance, she had left her CV as the wallpaper on the monitors along with her job application.

 

The following morning, Gwen and John turned up at her door.

 

"Elizabeth Parker? I think we need to have a little chat, don't you?"

 

From the questions- what had she seen in the files, who had she told, what did she intend to do with the information- Lizzie had thought that her plan had backfired. She had visions of spending the rest of her days in a jail cell, but Gwen and John had simply left without arresting her.

 

That night, Gwen had phoned and offered her a job.

 

----------

 

"Lizzie?"

 

There was no response and so Ianto touched her shoulder lightly, making her jump.

 

"Sorry," he said, "But your date is here."

 

Lizzie's face flushed at Ianto's words, and she turned to see Nicholas Harrington standing in the doorway, looking around uneasily.

 

"I apologise, Elizabeth," he said. "I believe I am early; shall I return when you have finished?"

 

Lizzie shook her head. "I won't be long," she told him, "And would you please call me Lizzie? Only my father calls me Elizabeth."

 

Nicholas frowned. "But Lizzie is too... familiar." He saw the look on her face and reluctantly agreed. "As you wish. Lizzie."

 

She smiled to herself as he came over to see what she was doing. Damn, he's gorgeous, she thought to herself. He was the stereotypical tall, dark, handsome man; in fact, if not for the fact he was a werewolf, and from 1889, he would be the perfect man.

 

The more she thought about it, however, the werewolf aspect really didn't bother her as much as it probably should; working around aliens and immortals and the craziness of daily life at Torchwood had seen to that.  

 

Nicholas had adapted well to this new life, accepting their help to fit in. He looked every bit the modern man, with his stylish clothes and hair, but when he spoke it was easy to picture him in 1880's period costume. Some aspects of this time period still had not sunk in, however. He was still not comfortable in calling Lizzie anything but Elizabeth, saying that nicknames were too familiar, and it had taken him a while to get used to Jack and Ianto or John and Loz's relationships. Not that he was homophobic, but the fact that they were so open and public about it had caused him some surprise.

 

He had come in a week ago for the first full moon after his arrival, hesitant. For years, he had lived in fear, hating the wolf that he became as the full moon rose. Even now, he was afraid that he would hurt someone when the change overtook him but Lizzie had assured him that nothing could get out of their cells if they didn't want it to. So, Nicholas had spent the night in an adapted cell, one which was more comfortable than the others, spending the first and last twenty minutes as a human, and the rest as a huge black wolf.

 

"That is the first time since this curse began that I have been able to relax," he told them afterwards. "Usually I worry about what I have done, whether I hurt anyone whilst I was the wolf."

 

Lizzie shut down her computer and made sure to cover her tracks out of the MoD's system. She had just made it to the door, putting her coat on as she went, when Gwen's phone rang.

 

"Lizzie, wait. I'm afraid your plans are going to have to wait a little longer," she said. "That was DI Newsome; it sounds as though they've found our missing alien."

 

----------

 

Lizzie climbed out of the car, hurrying to catch up with Gwen, Jack and John. She didn't often accompany them out into the field, but from what the police had said, the more people here, the better. She felt a little guilty at having to abandon Nicholas, but he had assured her that he understood, waiting at Torchwood with Adrian for their return.

 

Following the police officer who was waiting for them in the car park, they made their way to the members' lounge of the exclusive golf club. The creature had been seen reported by one of the golfers as some ‘long-haired freak' who was stalking around the building. When the officer had caught a glimpse of the being, he had immediately called his superiors, who called Torchwood. There had been a time when Torchwood was barely more than a rumour, sweeping in and taking care of the problem under a veil of secrecy. Not any more. People had seen too much over the past few years and Torchwood had gained recognition whether it was wanted or not. Now it was the police who called them in, as they would a forensics team or any other specialist consultants.

 

"We're not sure what it is," the young officer was telling Gwen, "but we didn't want to get too close. David- PC Markham, I mean- tried and the thing did something. I don't know what it was; it was like it caused an electric shock. That's why we called you; it looked like something you lot would know what to do with."

 

"Gee, thanks," Gwen muttered.

 

They all made their way closer, John and Lizzie holding back whilst Jack and Gwen tried to get close enough to see what it was doing. It was hiding in the kitchens of the club's restaurant, the occasional crash from utensils hitting the floor letting them know that it was moving about. Eventually, after having got a look from the doorway, Gwen signalled them over.

 

"There's another door on the left side of the building, going out to the course," she told them. "Go there. I don't expect it will come that way but just in case, I want you waiting. And make sure you keep the people out of the way too. I can just imagine the lawsuit if one of them got injured."

 

Jack took a gun from the shoulder holster he wore under his coat, Gwen arming herself also, and looked the two of them over quickly. "Are you carrying, Lizzie?" When she shook her head, Jack took a small, odd-shaped handgun from his pocket and passed it to her. "Take it, just in case."

 

Lizzie eyed the gun with dismay. She had done the mandatory firearms training and had passed with flying colours, but that didn't mean she was comfortable with the gun in her hand. Nevertheless, she took it, checked the settings to make sure it was set to disarm only, and nodded.

 

They separated, the pair of them heading around the outside of the building to their post. Outside, a small gathering of onlookers waited, being held away by the police, most of them middle aged men in expensive clothes and smoking expensive cigars, grumbling about having been asked to leave their comfortable chairs and glasses of brandy.

 

It took them nearly half an hour to secure the creature, finally having to shoot it with a stun-shot from John's gun. The being had ignored any attempts to communicate, resorting to throwing some kind of energy bolts at them whenever they got close. With the exception of a few singed chairs in dining room, everyone had come away unscathed and they loaded the unconscious alien onto a stretcher and into the van.

 

"Elizabeth?"

 

Lizzie stopped dead, thinking she had heard wrong. It couldn't be...

 

"Daddy?"

 

John watched curiously as the Lizzie he knew morphed into the Elizabeth that her father knew. Gone was the happy smile and bright confidence, replaced by bristling anger, yet John saw the hope in her face.

 

Her father eyed her with evident disapproval, his gaze finally reaching the gun she held in her hand.

 

"Is this your doing? Causing all of this fuss and making us stand out here in the cold."

 

Lizzie frowned. "It was the police who made you leave, and it was for your own safety."

 

"Safety?" He let out a laugh. "What from? It's just some stupid, layabout kid messing about."

 

"The thing," she said, pointing to the stretcher being loaded into the van, "isn't some kid. It's dangerous."

 

Her father rolled his eyes. "'Thing', Elizabeth? Not this again. You always did have an imagination on you, girl, and now you've got those Torchwood people feeding you all that crap about aliens and whatnot. Yes, I know all about what they supposedly do; bunch of hooey if you ask me." He paused, considering her and then shaking his head. "First that ridiculous, so-called ‘magazine' and now this. When are you going to stop this foolishness and start acting properly? You were a bright girl; you could have been anything you wanted. A doctor, or a barrister like your cousin Jennifer. She's getting married next month, you know."

 

Lizzie had heard this so many times before, so why did she let him get to her each time? It wasn't so much the words as the tone he used, sounding as though she was the biggest disappointment in the world.

 

"You have no idea what you're talking about," she told him, letting her anger take over as it usually did whenever they had these little chats. "It isn't all rubbish, daddy. What we investigate is real, even if you'd rather stick your head in the sand and ignore that fact."

 

Her father's eyes narrowed. "I will not be spoken to like that, Elizabeth," he warned.

 

"Lizzie, we need to get moving," John pointed out softly from beside her, noticing that Gwen was ready to leave. Lizzie nodded.

 

"Elizabeth! I'm talking to you."

 

Lizzie turned her back on him. "Not now, daddy, please." She had barely gone two steps before she relented and looked back. "We're going out tonight, just for a few drinks. Maybe you'd like to join us?"

 

----------

 

Lizzie sat in the passenger seat of the car, staring silently out of the window as they drove back to Torchwood. Jack and Gwen had taken the van containing the alien, leaving John with the car. On any normal day, she would have argued about him driving, usually on the basis that John tended to ignore any general traffic rules- such as speed limits- that he didn't like, but today she said nothing.

 

"Are you alright?" he asked, as he took a corner on with a squeal of tyres and a flurry of horns honking from the other drivers around them.

 

She sighed. "I'm OK. I really don't know why I let him get to me. He's just so... so infuriating!"

 

"Just once, I would like him to say he was proud of me," she continued. "Mum never objected to whatever I wanted to do; she said she just wanted me to be happy. But daddy? He just couldn't understand that I wasn't cut out to be a lawyer. I went to law school, you know? I lasted for a whole year before I finally quit. God, I hated every minute of it. I think he saw the magazine as a rebellion, one he hoped I'd grow out of, but I love my job. I just wish he could understand that."

 

----------

 

Later that evening, when she had all but given up on the idea of her father turning up, John nudged her and indicated to the door. Lizzie waved him over to their table.

 

"I'm glad you came."

 

Her father didn't say anything, merely summoned a waitress over and ordered a scotch on the rocks.

 

"Daddy, these are my colleagues," she tried again. "This is Gwen, John, Loz, Adrian and Ianto."

 

There was an uncomfortable silence as neither father nor daughter really knew what to say to each other. Eventually, Gwen began telling him about the funny thing that Isabella had done earlier that day. He even joined in after a while, asking questions and even being polite to the others. Or at least he was until Jack arrived, Nicholas following behind. When Jack leaned down to press a hello-kiss to Ianto's lips, she saw her father's eyes narrow.

 

"Don't. Please," she said in a low voice.

 

Before he had a chance to say anything, however, Jack continued. "Look who I found waiting outside," he said to Lizzie, ushering Nicholas past him to sit down and then heading toward the bar for drinks.

 

Lizzie was surprised at how well the evening went. It was the first time that she and her father had actually managed to sit together and not rehash the same old arguments. He had actually listened when she talked about her job, believing her. He still wasn't happy about her chosen profession, not by a long shot, but there hadn't been any raised voices this time.

 

He did, however, take the time to take Nicholas aside as they all left. She was unable to hear what he said but, from the look on Nicholas's face, she could guess.

 

"Daddy, what did you say to him?"

 

Her father shook his head dismissively. "Just a little man to man chat, that's all. If he wishes to date my daughter..."

 

"I can't believe this! You promised that you wouldn't do that again," she reminded him. "And who said anything about us dating?"

 

He sighed. "Please, Elizabeth. We may not see eye to eye but I know you, and I saw the way you looked at him."

 

"You can't keep trying to run my life for me. I like my life here and who I choose to date is none-"

 

"Elizabeth, if you would allow me to finish," he interjected, looking slightly offended. "I was going to say that he seems like a nice young man. Very respectful."

 

I wonder what you'd say if you knew he was a werewolf, she thought, wisely keeping that part unspoken. They had actually been getting along and she had no wish to cause a fight now.

 

"He is," she told her father. "I'm really glad you came here tonight."

 

Her father looked around at the others, gathered nearby; just far enough away to give them privacy yet close enough to listen in discreetly.

 

"I cannot say that I approve of you working there, but I can see that I am not going to change your mind." He climbed into the taxi that was waiting at the kerb, leaning back out to add, "Your mother is expecting you to be at dinner on Sunday. Don't be late."

 

As the taxi drove away, Lizzie smiled. He may not approve, but at least he was acknowledging that she was part of the family again; she guessed that Torchwood was a step up from the magazine in his eyes. He was never going to stop badgering her about it, but they had managed to talk today without resorting to yelling. It was a start.

 

Not that it would make any difference, however, as she loved her job. Today, she had had hacked into the MoD and helped capture an alien.

 

She wondered if cousin Jennifer-the-barrister could beat that.

 

"Not a chance," she murmured, going back to join her friends.

***

"Roses are red

And ready for plucking

It's Valentines day

So let's get..."

 

Ianto stopped reading the verse on the card, his cheeks turning pink as he glared at Jack.

 

Gwen choked on the mouthful of coffee she had just taken, having to put her mug down before she spilled it. The look on Ianto's face was priceless. Beside her, Nicholas looked almost as embarrassed as Ianto. Poor guy, she thought; this time period was a huge culture-shock for him. Modern views on modesty and etiquette- especially Jack and John's- still tended to give him that wide-eyed, I-can't-believe-you-just-said-that look.

 

"What?" Jack asked innocently.

 

Ianto sighed. "Don't get that look; you know exactly what."

 

Jack smiled and sauntered over, stooping to brush a kiss over Ianto's lips. "You know, you're cute when you're embarrassed," he murmured. "I also made us reservations at Bella's for tonight. Happy Valentines day."

 

Ianto's embarrassment dimmed at that. Bella's was his favourite Italian restaurant, and it was damn near impossible to get a reservation there, especially at this time of year.

 

"Thank you." Now if only he could get Jack to stop embarrassing him, just because he thought it was cute, he'd be perfect.

 

Half an hour later, as Ianto finished the last of the reports on his desk, the internal alarm system began a low bleeping sound. He frowned, checking the computer in front of him. In his time here, he had never heard that particular alarm sound, except for testing; it meant that the internal sensors had detected a security breech of non-earthly origin.

 

Jack and Lizzie were out at present, talking to a witness who had called them regarding a creature he claimed to have seen in his back garden. They weren't convinced he had seen anything out of the ordinary but, as it was a slow day so far, they went to check it out anyway. Gwen was somewhere in the building- she would likely be calling him soon to find out what was happening- and so he logged into the security system in order to do a full sweep of the building.

 

By the time John came into the room, he had already finished the scan, and called Gwen to let her know that he was going to look into it.

 

"What's going on? Is there an intruder?"

 

Ianto shook his head. "I have no idea. The sensors are picking something up but it's so faint that I can't get a proper reading." He checked the screen again. "According to this, it's on this floor, near to the staffroom. I was just about to go check it out."

 

John headed for the safe set into the wall and collected his pulse-gun, tossing one to Ianto as he quickly checked the safety catch and made sure it was charged.

 

"Let's go find out, shall we?"

 

They made their way along the corridors, alert for any sign of the threat, but there was nothing.

 

"I don't get it," Ianto said to non one in particular. "Where the bloody hell is it?"

 

John looked around again at the empty corridor. "Are you sure this was where it was detected?"

 

"I do know how to read a computer screen!"

 

"No need to get testy, eye-candy. Just asking."

 

Ianto rounded on John. "How many more times do I have to tell you, space-boy? Stop. Calling. Me. Eye-candy!"

 

----------

 

From the shadows, she watched the two men argue. They shouldn't be so angry at each other, she thought. She smiled to herself; she could fix that.

 

----------

 

"Geez, it's a compliment!"

 

Ianto flinched and rubbed idly at the back of his neck, the pricking feeling vanishing almost immediately. Why the hell had he been mad at John?

 

Obviously thinking the same thing, John shrugged his shoulders and, in the same move, advanced on Ianto. Clenching his fists in the lapels of Ianto's suit jacket he dragged him close, their mouths meeting in a bruising kiss. Ianto shifted, turning them without parting their lips, and backed John against the wall. He slipped his hands under John's jacket, pulling their bodies closer as he deepened the kiss.

 

Adrian rounded the corner just in time to see John's deft fingers removing Ianto's belt, his jacket already abandoned on the floor beside them. The pair were so caught up in their tryst that they never even looked his way. For a second, all he could do was to stare, but then the panic set in.

 

What the hell was he meant to do about this? Jack was going to be devastated. So was Loz. Bastards! How dare they? And right here in Torchwood, in the open, where anyone could see them.

 

And now he knew. Why did they have to put him in the middle of this? But now that he knew, he had to tell Jack and Loz, didn't he?

 

----------

 

Adrian felt the odd tingling sensation at the back of his neck and rubbed the area thoughtfully. What had he been doing? He had the feeling that there was something he should be doing but for the life of him, he couldn't remember what it was.

 

"Adrian? You OK?"

 

Adrian turned at the sound of the voice and smiled. "I am now that you're here," he purred, reaching out to trail an index finger down Jack's chest as he moved closer.

 

Jack backed up with each step closer that Adrian took, frowning. "What are you doing?"

 

"Guess," Adrian teased, smiling as Jack finally ran out of places to back away into, his back coming into contact with the door. "Stop playing hard to get, Jack," he said, and closed the remaining few centimetres between them. One hand on the nape of Jack's neck, Adrian pulled him close and kissed him.

 

There was a moment where Jack forgot that he was meant to be objecting to this, losing himself in the kiss, before reality hit him once again. Since he couldn't back away, he put both hands to Adrian's chest and pushed him off.

 

"Oh, so you want to play, do you Jack?"

 

Jack managed to get out of his grip and sidestepped his next attempt to pull Jack into his arms, holding him at bay.

 

"Adrian, stop it! Look, I don't know what the hell you're playing at," he said, "but this isn't you. Since when have you been interested in men?"

 

"But..."

 

Jack pushed him away again. "Enough." He turned and walked away to go and let Ianto know he was back but he hadn't gone two steps before he heard footsteps behind him.

 

He sighed. After spending a morning talking to a lonely old man who mistook the neighbours' cat for an alien creature and then wouldn't let them leave until they'd heard his entire life story and drunk endless cups of tea, he really didn't need this. All he wanted was to have some lunch and a bit of quiet time with Ianto but, instead, he walked into weirdness-central.

 

The third time that Adrian accidentally-on-purpose walked into him, managing to grab Jack's backside as he did so, Jack stopped.

 

"Stop following me. If I have to handcuff you to a railing to make you stay put, I will."

 

Adrian grinned cheekily. "Handcuffs?"

 

Jack just sighed. It wasn't as though Adrian wasn't attractive- if he was being honest, the man was hot- but he was also completely and utterly heterosexual. Which was why Jack was finding it just a little weird that the man was suddenly all over him.

 

"Have you seen Ianto anywhere?"

 

Adrian let out a disbelieving ‘hmph' sound. "Why? He doesn't deserve you, screwing about with Hart like that."

 

Jack turned on him, frowning. "What are you talking about?"

 

"'Saw them before."

 

Seeing the direction in which Adrian's gaze flicked as he spoke, Jack told him to ‘stay' and set off again.

 

Five minutes later, he wished he hadn't gone looking. He found Ianto sprawled, half-dressed, on the couch in the staffroom, John kneeling before him, head down and bobbing enthusiastically in time to Ianto's happy groans.

 

Beside him, Adrian looked up at him with huge, sad eyes. "You still want him, don't you? Even after he did this. I would never betray you..."

 

Jack barged into the room and hauled John up by his hair, ignoring the protests from both men, and shoved him aside.

 

"Ianto? Him," Jack cast a disgusted look at John, "I expect it from but I thought we... Oh, fuck it!"

 

Gwen appeared in the doorway just in time to see Jack throw John aside. Before she could make any sense of the scene before her, Jack stopped in mid-shout. He rubbed his neck idly as though trying to brush away an invisible irritation as his eyes settled on John.

 

The other man flinched, expecting to be hit again, but Jack dragged him to his feet and into tight embrace as he kissed him as though their lives depended on it. From the couch, Ianto watched for a while.

 

"Hey."

 

At his words, both Jack and John went back to join him, taking him into their tryst.

 

Adrian just stood in the doorway, looking miserable as he stared at Jack.

 

----------

 

From her hiding place, she watched. This was wrong, she thought, studying Adrian. He wasn't happy. Humans were supposed to be happy when they were in love, and he was. She had made him be in love but he was still miserable.

 

She had to try and fix it...

 

----------

 

"What do you think you're doing?" Gwen snapped, her eyes taking in Ianto and John's state of undress as they sank back into a deep kiss on the couch, Jack along with them.

 

"Good question," a male voice added from behind her.

 

Gwen turned to Loz, standing with Nicholas and Elizabeth in the doorway. His gaze was fixed on John, betrayal clear in his eyes.

 

"Right, that's it," Gwen said, getting annoyed. "Jack, hands off; come over here. You two, get dressed and get out here. Now!"

 

Seeing Adrian beside her, she followed his line of sight and raised an eyebrow. Jack? She recognised that look, but it was one she would never have expected to see him directing at Jack.

 

Suddenly, the internal alarms began wailing again. Gwen let out a frustrated sound.

 

"Oh, give me a break! As if we don't have enough problems, what with my bloody medic behaving like a love-struck teenager." Ianto and John had finally reached the door, clothing mostly in tact, and she glared at them. "Don't even get me started on you three! First, fighting and then- This is a workplace! What the bloody hell were you thinking? Or maybe that was the point- you weren't thinking! Or at least not with any part of your anatomy that's capable of making sensible decisions."

 

"I do not think that it was within their control to make such decisions."

 

Gwen whirled around to see a young woman standing across the corridor from them. Well, she used the word woman in a rather loose sense. The being across from them had the appearance of a being who knew what a human was meant to look like, and had tried to copy it. Unfortunately, the result was a little unsettling. She was too perfect, looking more like an airbrushed photograph in a magazine than a real person.

 

"What do you mean?" Gwen asked. "And who are you?"

 

The woman didn't answer straight away, turning to look around the empty corridor until her gaze fixed on a particular spot. Gwen followed her gaze but there was nothing there.

 

"I know that you are here," the woman said, and the air shimmered. Gwen stared as a girl appeared, a younger version of the woman before them, appearing to be no more than fourteen or fifteen years old.

 

"Aysa, is this your doing?"

 

The girl pouted, then turned her huge blue eyes on the older woman. "I was curious, and they were arguing so I thought I could help. Then they got upset. Aliette, I don't understand."

 

The woman sighed, casting the girl, Aysa, a look that promised that their conversation was not yet over.

 

"She is inexperienced," Aliette told Gwen.

 

"I apologise for the trouble she has caused. Please, tell me what we can do to make amends with you."

 

Gwen noticed movement out of the corner of her eye and glanced across to see John back Ianto to the wall and kiss him again. She reached out an arm and smacked John hard on the back of the head, making him yelp and release Ianto, before glaring at Jack.

 

"For goodness' sake, Jack, I can see you! Get your hand out of John's pants."

 

She turned to the Aliette. "What you can do is tell me who you are and what you did. But first, you can reverse whatever you did to them."

 

----------

 

"Cupids? Like in the stories?" Gwen asked in disbelief. "You've got to be kidding me."

 

The woman shook her head. She was keeping a tight hold on the younger one's hand at present. "I have heard of those stories but, as you can see, they are extremely misguided." She looked over at the four men, now standing obediently behind Gwen, their hands in their pockets. They didn't look happy, but Gwen had threatened to shoot the next person who moved.

 

"I can reverse the spells; it will render them unconscious temporarily," the woman told them. "When they awaken, they will be back to normal."

 

Aysa glanced up at her. "I was only trying to make them happy; they were quarrelling and-"

 

"They always quarrel," Gwen informed her. "It's how they are, but it doesn't mean that they're unhappy."

 

The men were returned to their rooms, Adrian being put to bed in one of the guest rooms, before Aliette reversed the spell that Aysa had placed on them.

 

----------

 

Ianto awoke to the sound of an alarm clock bleeping irritatingly. Leaning over Jack, he shut it off and flopped back down into the bed, half-tempted to simply drag the covers back over his head and go back to sleep. His head felt fuzzy, like the aftermath of a hangover but with no headache. Then he remembered the dreams. Oh, God, he'd never be able to look John in the eye again. Or Jack. Jack would think it was hilarious that he had been having erotic dreams about John, and him, together. He'd never hear the end of it.

 

Giving Jack a nudge to wake him up, Ianto got out of bed.

 

An hour later, they were ready to make their way downstairs. As they left their room, the door opposite opened. Ianto stopped, not meeting John's eyes. Not because of the dream, but because it suddenly hit him that it hadn't been one.

 

"That was real?" he whispered to Jack, the other man nodding.

 

Loz came out of the room, almost walking into John since he wasn't paying attention to where he was going and hadn't noticed that the man had stopped.

 

John smiled at them. "Morning Jack, Eye-candy- sorry, Ianto."

 

"You know, that doesn't bother me quite as much as it did," Ianto told him.

 

The unease that Ianto had expected, especially Loz's, never happened. Instead, they sauntered down toward Torchwood together.

 

"If you ever decide you want a repeat," John began, a teasing smile on his face, "you know where to find me."

 

Ianto laughed, but as he caught Jack's eye, he could see that they were sharing the same thought. He was tempted. Jack let them get a little way ahead and turned to Ianto.

 

"No strings," he said. "And nothing comes between us."

 

Ianto nodded, then called out, "Hey, space-boy?"

 

John turned.

 

"'You two got plans for tonight?"

 

There was a silent conferral between John and Loz, before John grinned. "We do now."

***

"What the hell did you do?"

 

John looked around at where the car park had been only moments earlier before glaring at Jack.

 

Jack glared back. "I didn't do anything." He glanced around on the ground for the artefact he had dropped when the world had shifted around them. "Where is the damn thing?"

 

Unfortunately, the little round metallic disc that they had found was nowhere to be seen. Just like the rest of Cardiff, despite the fact they were standing slap-bang in the middle of it.

 

"I don't understand- it was inactive. It can't have done this," he said, checking his wristband. Luckily, that was still working.

 

It should have been a simple retrieval; just collect the alien whatever-it-was that Gwen had detected as it dropped through the rift. That was why she called them. Jack, John, Loz, Ianto and Adrian were having a boys' night out at a pub close to where the rift had spat out its latest piece of flotsam. What shouldn't have happened was this, whatever this was.

 

The object had been right where Gwen said it would be and Jack had picked it up to put it in plastic zipper-top bag when...

 

Ianto still wasn't sure what had happened. One moment they were chatting as they collected it and the next, there was a rumble, like thunder when it was right overhead, and the static charge in the air had made the hairs on his arms stand on end.

 

He looked around at the wide grassy field they were standing in, to the woodlands that were to the edge. In the valley below, he could see evidence of a primitive settlement, nothing more than wood huts. In the distance, a larger estate could be seen, the house, much larger and grander than those nearby.

 

Next to him, Jack looked out over it, his expression blank.

 

"Jack, any ideas?"

 

Jack turned and forced a smile, even though Ianto could see straight through it.

 

"Well, Dorothy, I think it's safe to say we're not in Kansas any more."

 

John checked his own wristband, staring at it before giving it a gentle smack and then reading it again. When he looked up, his eyes were wide.

 

"According to this, we're still in Cardiff," he said, "Or at least, where Cardiff is going to be in a couple of thousand years' time."

 

"What?" Adrian was shaking his head as though denying it could undo it. "That can't be right. Check again."

 

Jack shrugged his shoulders. "Mine says the same; it's right. Question is, what now?"

 

"We find that doohickey and we reverse whatever it did, that's what we do now," Adrian said.

 

"Or maybe we should head for the trees," Loz suggested. When everyone turned to him, he pointed to the horizon. "Those horsemen appear to be heading our way and they do not look like a welcoming committee."

 

Ianto had to agree; there were four riders coming toward them, the horses' hooves pounding across the field. They would be here in no time.

 

"Now would be a good time," Loz urged, setting off at a run and dragging John along by the hand. Everyone else was seconds behind them.

 

They reached the tree line only moments before the horsemen, heading for the thickest undergrowth where, hopefully, the riders wouldn't be able to follow. Everyone crouched in the bushes, silently trying to will the men away.

 

Ten minutes later, after a quick scan of the area, they decided it was safe to move once more.

 

"What was that?" Adrian demanded. "Who were they and what was their problem?"

 

"I think a better question is ‘who are they?'," Jack said quietly, his body tensing and his eyes fixed on something just behind Loz and John.

 

Loz began to turn to see what he was watching when he felt cold steel against his throat, an arm going around his chest to hold him still. More people stepped out of the shadows, from hiding places behind tree trunks. All of them were armed with the same vicious-looking broadswords or daggers, their clothing roughly made from animal hides and furs.

 

"Oh, give us a bloody break!"

 

Jack kicked Adrian as subtly as he could in order to shut him up. There wasn't any point in antagonising these people any more than they had already, and having Adrian launch into one of his rants would likely do that.

 

The man holding Loz pressed the blade a little harder against his skin, enough to draw a spot of red blood on his throat.

 

"Would you please refrain from doing that," John asked him calmly. "Because if you hurt him again, I'm going to have to kick your arse."

 

The men looked at each other and any doubts that Ianto had regarding a language barrier evaporated as they laughed.

 

"What the hell are you laughing at?" John asked, eyes narrowing as he glared around at them all.

 

"Your threats are empty, little man; you are not worthy of challenging me."

 

John smiled, making Ianto feel suddenly nervous. That smile only ever led to trouble.

 

"Oh, really?"

 

John nodded to Loz, and he kicked back into his captor's knee at the same time as John wrenched his wrist away, sword and all, and twisted it. The sword clattered to the floor as the man clutched his wrist to him. John dropped low to the ground and, with a round kick, swept the man's feet out from under him. As Loz picked up the fallen sword, using it to keep the others back, John crouched down until he could look the man in the eyes.

 

"Not worthy, eh?" he laughed derisively, stood, and walked away. "Egotistical prick." Looking around at the other strangers, suddenly not seeming quite as sure of themselves, he smiled pleasantly. "Anyone else want to try?"

 

One man stepped forward but before he had taken more than a couple of paces, a voice stopped him.

 

"Leave him."

 

John looked around as the man he had dropped to the ground began to get up, dusting himself off. Coming over to John, he nodded.

 

"Not bad." He clapped John on the back, almost knocking him over, a surprised grin on his face.

 

The other men kept their blades raised, however, still keeping an eye on Jack and the others.

 

"What are you doing here?" one demanded. "If you intend to take us back to your masters, you will not succeed. We would die first."

 

Ianto edged a little further away from the blade as the man waved it angrily. "We aren't here to take you anywhere," he said.

 

"But you led them to the wood!"

 

Now Ianto realised what he meant. "Ah, no, we didn't. I think you'll find that those men on the horses were chasing us. Who were they anyway?"

 

It took some time before the strangers accepted that they really didn't know who the riders were; in fact, they seemed shocked that anyone didn't know who they were. Two hours later, Jack sat with Ianto in a roughly disguised lean-to. The camp they were in was spread among the trees, using branches and leaves to blend the huts and shelters into the undergrowth. Surrounded on two sides by high foliage, the other sides were blocked by stick-built fences. It was a good disguise; until they had been led in through the narrow gap in the fences, Ianto hadn't even realised that the camp was here.

 

"What are we supposed to do, Jack?" he asked. "Just sit here and hope that whatever happened will spontaneously undo itself?"

 

Jack shrugged his shoulders. "I honestly don't know." At Ianto's look of dismay, he put an arm around his shoulders and pulled him in closer, pressing a kiss to his temple. He didn't know what else to say; he had no clue as to how they were meant to fix this. "Look on the bright side; you and me'll still be young and pretty, even if we have to wait until we get back to our time."

 

Ianto sighed. "I suppose, but I don't fancy sitting around and waiting for a couple of thousand years."

 

"Neither do I, and we won't have to. We'll sort this somehow." Jack glanced up to where their hosts were gathered around the cooking pot in the centre of the camp. John, Loz and Adrian had already sat themselves down had been given a metal bowl each. "Come on, it looks like dinner is served."

 

Over dinner- stewed wild rabbit as far as Ianto could guess, not that he was willing to look too closely- they learned who the riders were who had been pursuing them earlier. In accordance to the way their luck was going so far, they had arrived in the middle of a war or sorts. Their Celtic hosts had been forced into hiding here in the woodlands by the landowners, though that wasn't exactly how the Celts had described them. Invaders, murderers, thieves; and they were some of the politer descriptions. The invaders had arrived to settle what they saw as an uncivilised land, slowly forcing out the occupants or enslaving them.

 

Eoghan and his small band of hold-outs had escaped into the woodlands and had been fighting back ever since. There were others, they said, other groups who were trying to reclaim their lands and freedoms whilst evading capture.

 

Jack could see the expressions on the others' faces and expected that they matched his own. Now not only did they have to find a way back but they were going to be hunted every step of the way. By associating themselves with the Celts, they had inherited their enemies too.

 

----------

 

It had been three days since anyone had seen the boys. Gwen had even tried calling Ianto's sister in the hope that he had contacted her. Had she worked anywhere else but Torchwood, she would have found it completely unbelievable that five men could vanish without a trace, but this was her life. Weird stuff happened all of the time, which was why she was getting worried.

 

"I has to have something to do with that thingumy-jigg," Rhys said. "The one you sent them to collect."

 

"I know, but I don't know what. Jack would probably know, or John or Loz..." She sighed. "Then again, when we actually find the bloody thing we might have a better chance of figuring out what it is!"

 

Lizzie and Nicholas had already gone back to the spot where the rift had dropped the debris, Gwen was on her way to join them as soon as she had taken Isabella to school. She had spent most of the past three days looking for the rest of her team but she was determined that Isabella's routine would not be interrupted. Her daughter seemed to know that something was wrong and had begun asking where Uncle John, Uncle Ianto and Uncle Jack were.

 

As soon as she had seen Isabella safely into the building, she went to join Lizzie and Nicholas. They didn't even know what they were looking for but Gwen's gut told her that they had to find it. Goodness only knew what was happening to the boys or where they were, and Gwen felt responsible for them. After all, she was the one who had sent them to collect the rift debris.

 

-----------------------

 

Ianto felt a bit ridiculous in the leather ‘armour' that they had given him to wear. He wanted his suit back, but that hadn't been entirely practical, and it certainly wouldn't protect him from blades should they run into the enemy. Their idea of keeping a low profile had fallen by the wayside almost straight away; if they were going to stay in the camp, then they had to help. That meant food raids, since there wasn't enough in the camp for the original occupants as well as the five extra people. Most of the Celts' food came from the nearby village- all enemy territory- stolen along with anything else they could find that would both help them and hinder their enemy.

 

"I look like an extra from Xena," he complained.

 

Jack smirked and reached over to run his hand over Ianto's arse, now encased in leather. "I like it. It's sexy; you have no idea how much I want to drag you inside and rip it off you again."

 

Ianto laughed. "Is there anything that doesn't turn you on?"

 

Jack's smirk grew wider. "'Haven't found it yet," he replied happily. With a quick glance to make sure that they were alone, he gripped the front of Ianto's trouser waistband and hauled him close before kissing the breath out of him.

 

"Hey, hands off- I'm armed, remember?"

 

"I know. Very macho," Jack teased, not looking in the slightest bit unsettled by the half-sword that Ianto had strapped in the scabbard at his waist. He pulled Ianto nearer, close enough that Ianto could feel just how turned on he was by seeing his lover in this gear. Seeing Ianto in armour and leather, with the sword, was like a fantasy come true; he wondered if he could persuade Ianto to dress like this back home once in a while...

 

"Put him down, Harkness," John ordered, sounding amused. He passed them by on his way to the group of warriors who were preparing to leave. "You can play with him later."

 

Jack sighed and took a reluctant step back, taking Ianto's hand and joining the others.

 

It was only as they were leaving the village with their spoils that trouble erupted. They had managed to stay undetected until that point but as they left, one of the guards spotted them and raised the alarm. They had no option but to fight. It was more difficult than he had ever thought to fight with a sword, even the half-sword that Ianto had been given, and he was lucky that Caradec was there when the guard attacked him. Ianto was no match for these people- and he was selfishly relieved to see that the others were all doing as badly as him. All except Loz, that was. The man moved like Errol Flynn in the old movies, all fluidic grace and fancy moves.

 

Caradec delivered a hacking blow to the armour-clad man just as he attacked Ianto again, dropping him to the ground.

 

"Thank you."

 

Caradec shrugged his shoulders as though to say, ‘it was nothing'. He urged Ianto to run, indicating to where the others had already begun to flee, but as he glanced back, Ianto saw Jack crumple to the ground.

 

"I've got to go back!" he yelled to Caradec, seeing the other man follow him back into the village.

 

Ianto didn't hesitate this time, swinging the sword in a wide arc and taking out Jack's attacker in one slice.

 

"Jack, come on, we've got to get you out of here."

 

Ianto hauled Jack to his feet and slung the semi-conscious man's arm around his neck as Caradec did the same at his other side. Together, they got Jack back to the safety of the woods and back to camp. Meilyr, the nearest thing the Celts had to a physician, looked at his companions and shook his head minutely before going to Ianto and crouching beside him where he sat with Jack.

 

"He is gravely wounded, Ianto."

 

Ianto ignored him. Jack wasn't dead, he knew that because he was still breathing. Had Jack actually died, Ianto would have too thanks to their shared lifeline. He didn't even feel woozy, as he tended to if Jack was injured and close to death. No, he just needed time to recover. He saw the men standing around him, looking on with expressions of pity as they expected the worst, and heard Adrian trying to explain.

 

"He'll be fine, trust me. Jack and Ianto aren't exactly the same as us-"

 

The words had barely left his mouth when Jack suddenly sat up, his eyes wide as he ripped open the leather tunic and inspected the place under the blood-stained hole in his clothing. There was nothing to be seen. Ianto grinned and threw his arms around Jack; no matter how many times this happened and how he knew that Jack would heal, he never stopped worrying.

 

Around him, the Celts stepped back as one, staring at Jack as though he were some kind of demon.

 

"What are you?" Meilyr asked.

***

Ianto looked around at the mixture of fear and horror at the amazing speed of Jack's recovery and felt his heart sink.

 

"I guess this is where they get out the pitchforks and flaming torches and run us out of town," he said to Jack, aiming for humour but failing miserably. The truth was that he rather liked these people. Sure, his first impression of them hadn't been entirely favourable but if they had to be stuck in the past, he was coming around to the idea that it wouldn't be too bad if it was here.

 

Jack got to his feet, still slightly uncomfortable from the healing wound, and reached out to help Ianto up too.

 

"I'm not a demon, or a god or whatever else you might think," Jack told them. "I'm human." Ianto was close enough to hear the muttered, ‘mostly', on the end of that statement.

 

"But the wound was grave," Meilyr continued, determined not to let this go. "I saw it with my own eyes, just as I saw that it had gone. No man can heal that way."

 

"I can," Jack told him, "As can Ianto."

 

John smiled disarmingly and edged closer to the two men, facing the Celts. "They speak the truth," he said. "I know how disturbing that is to see for the first time, and I knew about it in advance." He could see that they weren't going to accept it, and now they were eyeing him, Adrian and Loz with the same suspicion.

 

"Fine," he told them. "If you don't believe it, then that's up to you. I know how it must look; we appeared out of nowhere, dressed oddly and then Jack healed himself. Maybe we are different, but you need to know that whatever we are, we did not come here to hurt you."

 

Ianto glanced around; the Celts seemed happier in thinking that they were magical- he heard one of the men murmur the name Tylwyth Teg, meaning the Celtic fair-folk or fairies of the legends his grandmother used to tell him. He supposed that in their place, he too would be glad to have some kind of familiar explanation to pin to the odd events of the past few hours. Deciding to play along, he smiled.

 

"We do not wish to be treated differently," he told the band of warriors. "Here we are just men, nothing more."

 

Eoin frowned then the Celts moved back a little, whispering among themselves before he and Eoghan turned back to face them.

 

"You are welcome in our camp," he said, a little more formally than he had when they had first arrived. "We are honoured by your presence."

 

Jack shook his head. "Just like you, remember? If anything, we should be thanking you for your kindness in allowing us shelter here."

 

"How about we just go back to how it was yesterday?" John suggested. "Treat us as you did then."

 

Eoghan looked unsure, torn between his belief that the Tylwyth Teg were powerful creatures who deserved to be treated with reverence and the wishes of said Tylwyth Teg currently standing before him. Eventually, he nodded.

 

"We shall try."

 

Adrian smiled. "Good. Now that's sorted, what are we having for dinner?"

 

Leaving them to their meal, Ianto took Jack's hand and silently led him away from the camp. They walked along some of the beaten-down animal tracks through the woods until they reached the clearing that Caradec had shown them to the previous day. A little way away, a narrow stream bubbled along- the source of fresh water for the camp- making pleasant, calming sounds. At present, however, Ianto was feeling anything but calm. He smacked Jack on the shoulder, making him yelp in surprise.

 

"Ouch! What was that for?"

 

"That was for being stupid enough to get yourself stabbed," he said, "And this is for recovering."

 

Ianto backed Jack against the nearest tree trunk and kissed him passionately, all of the worry and then joy he had felt over the past few hours coming out in that kiss. Jack grinned as they parted, turning them so that Ianto was now pinned against the rough bark.

 

"I have been waiting to get my hands on you all day," Jack murmured, in between nips and kisses to Ianto's throat. "Do you have any idea how bloody distracting it is, watching you strut around in those tight little trousers, that delectable arse tempting me?"

 

His hand on Jack's waist, pulling him closer, Ianto felt the hard press of Jack's arousal against his. Thrusting his hips up, he drew a groan from Jack. Apparently that was all it took to encourage Jack, whose fingers began to frantically unlace Ianto's trousers, stripping the tight leather from him and dropping to his knees.

 

Ianto groaned loudly as Jack took his cock in deep into his throat, his fingers gripping Ianto's hips. His head fell back against the tree trunk, eyes closing as Jack's talented mouth sucked and licked, bringing him close to coming in an embarrassingly short time.

 

"Jack."

 

Jack drew back, releasing Ianto's cock and looking up at him. "You close, baby?"

 

Ianto nodded a little desperately. "Don't want to come until you're in me."

 

Ianto found himself flat on his back in the cool grass a few moments later, buck naked, with an equally naked Jack wrapped around him. It always amazed him just how fast Jack could shed his clothes; maybe he'd been a stripper in a past life, Ianto wondered. Then the thought was chased from his mind as a saliva-slicked finger breeched his body. Just that was almost enough, and Ianto clamped a hand around the base of his cock to stave off the orgasm he felt building when Jack slipped in a second digit.

 

Ianto pulled his knees up to his sides as Jack eased into him, filling him, closing his mouth over Ianto's in order to stifle his moans.

 

"Move, Jack! Can't..."

 

Jack took his command to heart, fucking him hard, one hand wrapping around Ianto's cock, moving to the same pace he thrust into Ianto with. It didn't take long before Ianto was shouting out his orgasm, hot come covering his stomach and Jack's hand, moments before Jack joined him.

 

"I gotta get stabbed more often if you're going to drag me off into the woods like this every time," Jack joked, breathing hard as he collapsed next to Ianto.

 

Ianto half-heartedly slapped him across the chest. "How's about this?" he suggested. "You manage not to get yourself injured next time and I'll fuck you so hard you won't be sitting down for a week."

 

Jack grinned and pounced on Ianto again, rolling them over in the grass. "Do I get a preview?"

 

"Behave," Ianto reprimanded, smiling. "Besides, someone is going to come looking for us soon."

 

"I think they already know what we're doing; you do get kinda loud-"

 

The sound of the slap that Ianto issued to Jack's arse for that comment echoed through the woods.

 

By the time they got back to camp, most of the men were already asleep in their shelters. Adrian was sprawled on his back, snoring gently, with Loz and John curled up together next to him. Ianto laughed softly and nudged Jack to look as Adrian rolled over in his sleep and snuggled himself in against Loz without waking.

 

Silently, Jack and Ianto crept back into the shelter, to their makeshift bed, and settled down to get some sleep. If the past few days were anything to go by, they would need all the rest they could get before tomorrow.

 

----------

 

It was Nicholas who found the artefact, though he wasn't sure what he'd found to begin with.

 

"Lizzie, there's something not right about that," he said, pointing to a small silver metal disc on the ground. It was down by the kerb, as though it had rolled off and landed in among the leaves and dirt.

 

"What do you mean?"

 

His cheeks flushed slightly. "It feels wrong," he told her. "When it gets close to the full moon, my senses are like the wolf's. I don't know how to explain it, but that thing doesn't belong."

 

Lizzie crouched to pick it up.

 

"Don't touch it!"

 

Lizzie snatched her fingers away quickly and looked to Gwen in alarm.

 

"We don't know if that was what caused Jack and the others to vanish, or how it did it," Gwen reminded her. "I'd rather find out what we're dealing with before anyone touches that thing."

 

She took out a pair of gloves from her bag and put one on before very carefully lifting the disc out of the gutter by its edges.

 

"Right, we need to get this back to Torchwood." She only wished that the men were here; Loz, John or Jack especially, since they were most likely to know what the hell this was. Let's just hope that there's something in the database for it, she thought. Maybe someone at one of the other Torchwood bases would have some information about it.

 

----------

 

John was sitting by the campfire with the Celts and Jack and Ianto when Adrian finally opened his eyes. Everyone turned to see what John was looking at.

 

"Comfy, Doc?" he asked, grinning.

 

For a moment, still only half awake, Adrian frowned, looking confused until he figured it out. His cheeks pinked as he tried to disentangle himself from Loz's arms, the movement waking the other man too. He and Loz were curled up together, arms and legs entwined, Adrian ending up sleeping with his face pressed into the crook of Loz's neck. Loz glanced up at John and said good morning, completely unapologetic.

 

John sniggered and turned back to his breakfast. "I never took the good doctor for a snuggler," he said to Ianto. "Now Loz, on the other hand..."

 

Ianto remembered; John and Loz spent the occasional night with him and Jack, and Loz did tend to cuddle up to whoever was sleeping next to him.

 

Over breakfast, the warriors planned for the day. They had heard a rumour from one of their sources- a man in the ‘employ' of one of the landowners- that his master was expecting an important shipment tonight. They had no idea what it was, but chances where that if it was important to their enemy, it would cause a big problem if they hijacked it. And that was what they were about; if they couldn't get rid of the invaders, then they certainly weren't going to let them have an easy life. 

 

Caradec looked surprised when John immediately volunteered to help.

 

"What do you say, Jack? It's been ages since we got to do something fun," he said. "We used to do stuff like this- remember Praxiz 4, with that transport ship?"

 

Jack grinned. "We only got into that because of that guy in the bar- what was his name?"

 

John thought for a moment before they both said, "Devvin!" at the same time. Jack glanced at Ianto. "Devvin was hot, and I mean smokin' hot."

 

"He was a big guy; blonde, blue eyes, huge..." He paused, glancing at the Celts and realising that rather than looking completely scandalized as he had expected, more than a few of them were genuinely curious, listening whilst the others pretended not to.

 

"Praxian's are known for their stamina," he continued. "That guy fucked like the energizer bunny. It was, what? Six days we were there?"

 

Jack nodded, smiling at the memory. "We spent the rest of the week with him and these other two guys..."

 

"...Then took a week to recover when we got back," John finished. He shifted slightly in his seat; just remembering that week was making him hard. He wasn't the only one, he realised after seeing Jack slide a little closer to Ianto so that he could grope his arse unseen. He glanced at Loz, wondering just how shocked their hosts would be if he dragged his lover away right this minute and fucked his brains out. Not very, he decided, or maybe he just didn't care. Whatever, he excused himself and took Loz's plate from him, setting it on the ground and pulling the man to his feet.

 

"We're just going to go and, um, reconnoitre. Yeah, that's what we're going to do..."

 

After a brief whispered discussion between Jack and Ianto, Jack asked, "You want us to come and help with that reconnaissance?" When John nodded, Jack glanced at Adrian. "You'll be fine here for a while, won't you? You can come along if you want but I didn't think you'd want to."

 

Adrian rolled his eyes. "I'll be fine here."

 

Caradec was watching them with open intrigue, and the look in his eyes suggested that he had been following the real conversation.

 

"I would like to go with you," he began hesitantly. "If you permit me, of course..."

 

Jack nodded his head in the direction that John, Loz and Ianto were heading and grinned at the man. "Come on."

 

The remaining warriors looked to Adrian, some looking a little confused, others smirking knowingly. Not really sure what to say to them, he just smiled pleasantly and went back to his breakfast.

 

----------

 

It took them another day before Gwen finally got word back from her contact in one of the other Torchwoods about the artefact and, more importantly, what it had done to the men.

 

"It's a teleportation device," she said. "Angelo said they caught the alien who had left it there and get this, it was a practical joke. He left them with the intention of some unsuspecting person picking it up and accidentally transporting themselves goodness-knows-where."

 

"Do they know where this one is programmed to send people?" Lizzie asked in horror.

 

Gwen shook her head. "No; they were all randomly programmed and Angelo thought they'd got all of them. He says that their joker must have released some more, and one got caught up in the rift here." She eyed the harmless-looking little object on the desk. "The good news is that he told me how to reverse the effects."

 

Lizzie watched as Gwen put her gloves back on and picked up the disc. There were two separate rings interlaid on a flat base, with faint markings on the outer and inner rings. Gwen carefully moved them, aligning certain symbols and then dropped it into a plastic bag and put it in her pocket.

 

"Right, we're meant to activate it once we're in the same spot where Jack and the others vanished from," she announced, picking up her car keys.

 

Twenty minutes later they stood in the car park, near to the place where Nicholas had found the disc. Gwen took off her glove; apparently, the artefact would only trigger if touched by skin, not the leather of her glove.

 

"Are you sure this isn't going to send us wherever they went?" Lizzie asked, looking worried. "And what if it does work and they aren't together, wherever they are? It might leave some of them behind."

 

Gwen had been thinking much the same for a while now, but she couldn't let Lizzie or Nicholas see that. It had always impressed her how much in control Jack had always been, so calm and sure of himself, but after taking charge of Torchwood, she had realised that it was just an illusion. She had to look as though she was certain of each decision, or the others wouldn't follow her orders. Half of being in charge was in reassuring everyone else.

 

Pasting a smile on her face, she nodded. "Of course it will work. I've set it just as Angelo said, to reverse the teleport."

 

Lizzie took Nicholas' hand. "OK. Well, fingers crossed, eh?"

 

"Yes, fingers crossed," Gwen echoed, and pressed the centre of the disc.

 

----------

 

Their mission had been a success. The carriage they had set out to ambush had actually been transporting funds and weaponry to the landowners, presumably to be used in the fight against the Celt rebels. The warriors had taken everything, enough to rearm themselves and send some on to their counterparts in other areas. No one from their band had been hurt except for a few bruises and minor cuts from the fight with the guards. All in all, it had been a very good day and they were celebrating with a feast.

 

Or they were until Jack, Ianto, John, Loz and Adrian suddenly vanished.

 

Ianto drew the short-sword still strapped at his waist and moving to a defensive stance, seeing the others arming themselves also as the world shifted around them.

 

"Ianto! It's us; don't hurt us!"

 

At the sound of Lizzie's panicked voice, Ianto lowered his weapon as he finally took a moment to look at their new surroundings, seeing the office buildings and apartment blocks. He caught Lizzie as she threw her arms around him, hugging them all in turn as Gwen and Nicholas welcomed them back also.

 

"You know what I really want, right now?" Jack said as they headed for the vehicles to take them back to Torchwood. "A shower, some coffee and a bed. In that order."

 

Ianto nodded, climbing into the car beside Jack. That sounded good, he thought. He saw Jack watching him, a little smile on his face as he leaned closer and whispered,

 

"And the best thing? We get to keep that sexy leather gear you're wearing."

 

Ianto laughed, making Gwen glance their way curiously.

 

Ianto discreetly gave Jack's wandering hand a slap before Gwen noticed.

 

"Behave, and I'll let you share my shower," he whispered back, another laugh escaping his lips as Jack sat back in his seat, hands folded in his lap; it was amazing how good Jack could be with a little motivation.

 

Sitting back, Ianto watched the familiar buildings of Cardiff pass them by and smiled. It was good to be home.

***

"Now remember, we'll be back in three days. You know mine and Rhys' mobile numbers and I've left the number of the hotel for you as well, just in case. Don't let her stay up too late. And make sure she eats her vegetables- you know she doesn't really like them-"

 

Jack sighed. "Gwen, I was a parent, remember? I can take care of Isabella."

 

At the mention of her name the little girl looked up at him from where she stood, holding Ianto's hand, next to him.

 

"Don't worry; everything will be fine," Ianto reassured Gwen and Rhys. "Go and enjoy yourselves. You deserve a break."

 

There had been no rift activity for the past two months, no rampaging weevils, nothing odd at all, and so Jack had encouraged Gwen to take some time off. John and Loz had gone off to the coast for a few days, taking advantage of the lull in activity also. It had been Ianto's suggestion that Isabella stay with them so that Gwen and Rhys could have a little time alone. Initially, Gwen had been enthusiastic but the closer they got to leaving, the more fretting she did.

 

"And you two keep you hands off each other," Gwen was saying. "I know what you're like. If you corrupt my daughter in any way..."

 

Rhys bundled his wife into the waiting taxi, waving goodbye as he assured her that their daughter was in good hands, as Ianto picked Isabella up so she could wave back.

 

Still thinking on Gwen's words, Jack frowned. "Why was she looking at me just then?" he grumbled, sounding offended. "What does she think I am? I'm not some uncontrollable sex-maniac."

 

Isabella turned in Ianto's arms, her arms around his neck as she looked into his eyes.

 

"Uncle Ianto? What's a sex-maniac?"

 

Ianto sighed as he said, "Nothing, sweetheart. Now, let's get to school, shall we?"

 

Setting her back on the ground, he watched as she ran inside excitedly to get her coat. With her suitably distracted, Ianto rolled his eyes at Jack. "Nice going."

 

"What?"

 

"Just watch what you're saying."

 

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

 

That afternoon, Jack and Ianto stood outside the school gates with the other parents, waiting for Isabella. Jack had noticed a few of the other mums casting interested glances at Ianto as they waited and smiled. Ianto, however, seemed oblivious. He chatted with three young mums, charming them without even trying. They all knew that he was taken, as he and Jack had collected Isabella often enough that they knew most of the other parents and teachers from Isabella's class. According to Gwen, the women called them ‘those two lovely young men'; the fact that they were in a relationship was less of a concern than the fact that half of them were jealous that Ianto was taken. Whenever he told Ianto that, however, the younger man just blushed and told him to stop being daft.

 

The doors opened and three teachers escorted the kids out, making sure that the younger ones were met by their parents and that no one left the grounds without an adult.

 

Isabella came racing toward them with a huge smile on her face and a Spongebob Squarepants lunchbox clutched tightly in one hand. The other hand held a crayon drawing that she thrust out toward Jack as she got close enough.

 

"That's lovely! What a great picture." Jack studied it for a moment; he though it looked like a llama, if you actually got blue llamas, but he couldn't be sure.

 

"It's a horse," the little girl pointed out helpfully and Jack smiled. Of course; why hadn't he guessed horse?

 

"Can we go play on the swings before we go home?" she asked.

 

Gwen usually took her to the park on a Friday, as the younger kids' school ended earlier on a Friday, and so Jack nodded. They set off down the footpath with Isabella between them, every so often lifting her feet and letting them swing her. 

 

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

 

Nicholas watched as Lizzie pressed the button which locked the specially adapted cell.

 

"Another five minutes until sundown," Lizzie told him, sitting in the chair she had placed in front of the large plexiglass cell-front.

 

He nodded. "I know. I can feel it getting closer." He looked around his cell and then back to Lizzie. "Could you please put the curtain up?"

 

"Honey, I've seen it all before," she teased. She and Nicholas had been dating for the past few months but he was ever the polite gentleman. Born and raised with morals and codes of conduct that were a century old meant that he was still uneasy with Lizzie's rather more forthright attitudes. She had finally got him to accept that kissing her in public would not cause a stir, or that he could actually stay at her house unchaperoned, even though they weren't married, without besmirching her reputation; he still wasn't comfortable with nakedness. Especially when he was about to transform. Okay, so that she hadn't seen before.

 

"I do not wish for you to witness my curse," Nicholas explained. He had removed his boots and jacket but refused to do any more until she put up the cover over the window.

 

Lizzie hung the cloth over the glass. Five minutes later, she heard the tell-tale sound of claws clicking on the cell floor and tugged the curtain down again. Sure enough, instead of Nicholas she found herself staring at a huge black wolf. It pacing around the cell, agitated, going to the door and back again in search of a way out.

 

When the wolf saw her crouch down in front of the glass, up close, it stopped pacing. Lizzie smiled.

 

"That's right, I'm here." The wolf cocked its head to the side at the sound of her voice. She didn't know how much Nicholas understood as the wolf, but his memory afterwards was sketchy. He did seem calmer when someone sat with him, though. Maybe he just liked the company.

 

"Now then, what shall we read?" she continued, picking up the pile of magazines and novels she had with her. "I don't think you're much of a Computer Weekly guy so how about another chapter of The Time Machine?"

 

As Lizzie began to read aloud, the wolf settled down on the bed of blankets in the corner.

 

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

 

Two floors above the cells, Jack found himself wearing a pink feather boa and a sparkly tiara. He was sitting on the floor in the lounge of his and Ianto's quarters, cross legged, with a cup and saucer in front of him. Isabella had worn them out at the park earlier. Both he and Ianto had been run ragged with her demands that they play on the slide with her, push her on the swings, chase her, play on the roundabout. When they came home, looking forward to a sit down, she decided that they were having a tea party. With cookies. Unfortunately, the only way they were going to get a cookie, even Ianto who had supplied them, was to play dress-up as well. Jack had drawn the short straw with the feathers and tiara.

 

"Why do I have to wear this?" Jack asked, flicking at the end of the feather boa as Isabella put it around his neck.

 

She just smiled. "So you'll look pretty," she told him in the same tone her mother used when someone asked her a stupid question. Glancing at Ianto, he tried rephrasing the question.

 

"Ianto only got a hat. Why doesn't he have to wear feathers?"

 

"Because he's the daddy and you're the mummy."

 

Ianto tried and failed to hold back his laughter. "Look at it this way, Jack, it could have been worse. She could have made you wear a dress." He lowered his voice and leaned in, grinning, to whisper in Jack's ear. "Wouldn't be the first time, though, would it?"

 

Isabella didn't notice Jack's cheeks turning pink as he blushed, remembering, just continued fussing with her teddy bear. It was sitting next to Jack, a cup and saucer in front of it and one of Jack's ties around its neck. When it fell over for the second time, she looked at Jack with the puppy-dog eyes that usually got her whatever she wanted, and he sighed. Picking up the bear, he sat it on his lap instead. Isabella beamed at him and handed them each a plate with a cookie on it.

 

She picked up the pink plastic teapot in front of her and poured them both a teacup full of milk- Ianto refused to let her have anything hot in the teapot and so it was either milk or orange juice- and then picked up her cookie. After chewing thoughtfully on it for a few minutes, she turned her curious gaze back to the two of them.

 

"Are you and Uncle Jack married?" she asked. "Mummy and Daddy are but Mummy has a pretty ring. She let me try it on once. It's gold and shiny. Do you have one, Uncle Ianto?"

 

Ianto sighed; it was going to be one of those nights.

 

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

 

Lizzie sat in the cell with Nicholas. He had begun pacing again a while ago and so she went in to sit with him. She had no fear that he would attack her in his werewolf form; even if he didn't understand much as the wolf, he had never so much as growled at her. She sat on the floor with her back to the wall and he came to lay beside her, his head resting on her leg.

 

Running her fingers through the thick pelt, she turned over the last page of her magazine with her other hand. Nicholas had fallen asleep, seemingly content to snooze away his time as the wolf. Setting Computer Weekly aside, Lizzie looked for her bag, only to see that it was still outside on the chair. Sliding out from under the wolf's head and easing him to the blankets, she went to get another magazine.

 

Lizzie got a bottle of water and this month's Film Review and went back to the cell.

 

"Oh shit!"

 

The door was ajar, the cell empty.

 

Not good, she told herself, not good at all. Dumping her things on the ground next to the cell she ran back to her bag to get her mobile phone. Jack would know what to do.

 

"Bugger!"

 

No mobile; she could see it quite clearly in her mind's eye, next to her laptop in her office, where she had been working. What she couldn't remember was picking it up again.

 

"Okay, think," she told herself. "Just find Nicholas and everything will be fine. Now, if I was a werewolf, where would I go?"

 

The thought caused her to stop and laugh. Before coming to work at Torchwood, questions like that wouldn't have seemed so normal to her. Lizzie set off toward the kitchen, thinking that he might be hungry. With the wolf's sense of smell, he would be able to smell the food there.

 

Unfortunately, he wasn't there. Plan B, she thought, trying not to panic as she headed for the Batcave, the control room of Torchwood. From there she could check all of the CCTV feeds and track him that way. It would be a lot quicker than a physical search.

 

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

 

They were trying to get Isabella to go to bed. So far, the best they had managed was to get her into her pyjamas but then she decided that she wanted a story from Jack. And then another, but this time Ianto had to read it. Then she was thirsty. It went on for about half a hour before Jack finally gave in and let her sit on the sofa with Ianto and watch TV for a little while. He left them watching an old black and white Western whilst he went to get her a glass of warm milk from the kitchen. He knew she would be asleep in no time and he was right. He hadn't even had the chance to sit down again with her milk when her eyes began to close and her head fell to rest on Ianto's arm, Ianto got up to put her to bed. Suddenly, Isabella looked at something behind Ianto, near to the door, looking wide awake again. Her face broke into a wide smile and she climbed down off the sofa.

 

"Doggy!" She pointed, getting to her feet. "Can I play with it?"

 

Ianto and Jack turned quickly. Sharing a look, Ianto grabbed Isabella's hand before she could take another step closer.

 

"That's not a doggy, sweetie," Jack told her.

 

"How the hell did he get out?" Ianto asked Jack urgently, keeping his voice low and his eye on the wolf. "He was locked in for the night."

 

"Lizzie was meant to be watching him," Jack pointed out. "He must have followed me back here when I went down to the kitchen."

 

"Well I'm sure he didn't open the door on his own," Ianto said with a pointed glare.

 

Though he really wanted to react to Ianto's snarky tone, Jack didn't. It was him who hadn't closed the door properly but in his defence, they were in a highly secure building and there wasn't really a need for locking doors. In fact, the only time they did bother was when they didn't want interrupting. Still, he should have at least closed it fully.

 

Glancing to his side, Jack saw that their only escape route was too far away should Nicholas decide to attack. He couldn't reach his mobile phone as that was on the table by far window, as was his wristband and Ianto's phone.

 

The wolf took another step toward them and they backed up again, matching it pace for pace and trying to move slowly enough that it wouldn't perceive them as a threat. Ianto had Isabella by the hand, making sure that he could put himself between her and the wolf if need be. Each time he stooped to try and pick her up, the wolf gave a small growl and so he had to urge her to back up with him. She looked confused, but did it anyway as she watched the ‘doggy'.

 

"What now?" Ianto whispered urgently as his back hit the wall. There was nowhere else to retreat to and still the wolf approached. Jack began to edge along the wall toward his mobile. The wolf seemed focussed on Ianto and Isabella, barely noticing him.

 

That was, until his phone rang and the wolf's eyes turned his way.

 

"This had better be a matter of life or death," he told the caller.

 

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

 

Lizzie ran from the Batcave at speeds that would put an Olympic sprinter to shame. She had managed to track Nicholas's wanderings with the cameras. At first, he just looked around, sniffing at the strange (to the wolf) surroundings but then she saw him reach Jack and Ianto's living quarters. She had seen Jack walking back there a short time earlier, Nicholas tracking him later, his nose to the ground. The door was open a tiny crack and he paused, ears pricking as though listening to something before nosing the door open enough to slip inside. There were no cameras inside as it was Jack and Ianto's personal space- she would have given anything for a camera in there but Gwen kept vetoing the request- but she knew they were there. With Isabella, too.

 

On her way past her office she had grabbed her phone and now dialled Jack's number. He answered on the third ring.

 

"Jack! It's Nicholas; he got out and I saw him go into your quarters-"

 

"I know. He's standing right in front- Isabella, no!"

 

The line went dead as the phone hit the floor and Lizzie ran that little bit faster.

 

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

 

The wolf paused right in front of them and Isabella reached out a hand, completely unafraid, to pet it. Jack yelled and Ianto pulled her away at the same instant, scaring her and startling the wolf.

 

Strangely, the wolf still didn't attack as Jack expected it to. There must be more of Nicholas left inside it than they thought. It tilted its head to one side, as though puzzling something out in its mind, before leaning closer to sniff at Isabella.

 

The little girl moved to hide behind Ianto's legs, remembering how her Uncles had shouted and knowing now that she shouldn't get too near to the dog.

 

"Nicholas?" Ianto spoke softly to the wolf, hoping that their colleague could understand. The wolf's ears pricked up at the name. "You're scaring her. Back off."

 

Again the wolf studied them with a tilt of its head. It didn't back away, but it did sit down on its haunches. Ianto reached out a hand to Nicholas, in front of him where he could see it just as he had been taught by his mum, when approaching any animal. He felt his heart pounding as he waited for the feeling of teeth in his hand or the snarling of an angry wolf, but neither came. He touched his hand to the top of the wolf's head, feeling the thick fur under his fingers. If anything, the wolf seemed to enjoy it.

 

"Its okay, Isabella. He's friends, see?"

 

This time, encouraged by Ianto, no one shouted at her when she reached out to pet the doggy. She smiled and stroked his head, just between his ears.

 

Moments later, they all heard the sound of laboured breathing and footsteps approaching. Lizzie came to a skidding halt in the doorway, staring at the sight of Isabella petting Nicholas. She looked to Jack.

 

"Is anyone hurt?"

 

Jack shook his head. "No, we're fine. It seems that Isabella has adopted Nicholas as a pet, though."

 

x~x~x~x~x~x~x~x

 

When Gwen and Rhys arrived home two days later, Isabella racing over to be swept up into a hug, the others shared a look of solidarity. They had all agreed that mentioning Nicholas's wanderings and Isabella's involvement would only cause Gwen upset that she didn't need. After all, no harm had been done and it was all sorted now.

 

"Thank you," she asked Jack and Ianto. "Did you have any problems whilst I was gone?"

 

Jack shook his head. "Not really. She did make me wear a tiara, but I won't hold that against her."

 

Gwen just frowned and then shook off the mental image. Lifting her daughter into her arms, she asked, "Did you have fun with Uncle Ianto and Uncle Jack?"

 

Isabella nodded furiously, a wide smile on her face. "We went to the park and I went really really fast on the swings and we had ice cream and we watched Scooby Doo." She paused for a breath. "I played with the doggy, and-"

 

Gwen raised her eyebrow at the two men before asking the little girl, "What doggy, sweetie?"

 

Oblivious to the other three people's frantic motions for her to stop, Isabella continued. "Auntie Lizzie's. The big fluffy black one."

 

It took Gwen all of ten seconds to read between the lines and her eyes narrowed on the three of them. "Rhys? Could you please take Isabella for a moment. I have to strangle three employees and I'd rather she didn't see." She noticed Jack heading stealthily toward the door. "You three, stay right where you are."

 

As soon as Rhys and Isabella were out of the room, she turned to them with her hands on her hips, one foot tapping impatiently.

 

"Well?"

 

"It's not as bad as you're imagining..." Jack began.

 

 

x~x

End.

***

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