Ianto Jones had not had an easy life. He suffered from his father's disapproval and eventual death, the Canary Wharf tragedy, the loss of his girlfriend, the brief disappearance of his following boyfriend and his mother's death. However in the end it was work that made him crack.
Ianto sighed as he sifted through the archives. It was Christmas for god's sake! He knew he was supposed to be relaxing and on the phone to his sister apologising again for being unable to see her. But no. The apocalypse had decided to strike on Christmas eve.
Ianto took another sip of his coffee and ignored the complaining growl of his stomach. The others would arrive soon. He could afford to eat later. Besides, he knew how cranky Owen got without his fix of caffeine in the morning.
Ianto walked over to the coffee machine and prepared everyone's drinks. One thing was for sure, the end of the world meant a lot of paperwork. He hoped the others had been able to capture the rogue, galactic Santa. It was cheesy but it was the truth. It was an alien con-man's experiment gone wrong. This particular alien had amazingly bad timing.
It was at this point Ianto snapped. It was barely noticeable to the onlooker but he'd had practise at masking his true feelings for so long that they were even hidden to himself sometimes.
The others trooped into the base as a group. For once Jack hadn't slept the night at work.
"Good morning!" he chirped. Ianto nodded and held out the tray of drinks. Owen clearly had a hangover and it appeared he was not alone. Jack glanced at the others with a grin. "We should do that every year!"
"It's alright for you!" Gwen snapped. "You heal yourself pretty much instantly."
They all took a mug and Ianto went back to his filing. Jack was the first to taste the coffee.
"So what did you get for Christmas?" asked Tosh in an attempt to strike up a conversation.
Jack spat the coffee half way across the room.
"Nice record but what exactly are you trying to achieve?" said Owen.
Gwen and Tosh eyed the stain both thinking the same thing: gross! Jack seemed to agree judging by the face he was pulling.
"Do not drink your coffee."
"Why not?"
"Because it's disgusting."
Tosh, Owen and Jack exchanged glances before the Captain continued with orders.
"Tosh, check up on the CCTV from the last forty eight hours."
The group gathered around her desk.
"So Ianto made a bad batch of coffee, what's the big deal?" said Gwen.
Owen turned to her.
"Listen newbie, in all the time we've worked here Ianto has never made a bad batch."
Gwen glared at the term 'newbie'. She'd been part of Torchwood for a good few weeks now and had shared her first apocalypse with the team only yesterday.
"Well why can't we just ask him what's wrong instead of spying on him?"
"He's too good at hiding things." said Jack simply. "Trust me I've tried. There are some things he just won't talk about."
"Got it!" announced Tosh.
They all turned to face the computer screen.
"Can you fast forward through the footage?"
"Sure."
With a click of her mouse Tosh started to whiz through the previous two days.
"Oh my god." Gwen muttered. "Did he even go home?"
By the end of the video it was obvious that Ianto had not slept in forty eight hours.
"Please tell me he ate something!" said Jack.
"As far as I can tell it's been ha diet of coffee." Tosh replied.
Jack groaned along with Owen. You didn't have to be a doctor to know that was unhealthy – but it helped.
"Where is he now?"
"Archives." said Tosh glancing at the more recent footage. Jack rushed downstairs and Gwen mad to follow him but Tosh placed a hand on her shoulder. "Leave it to him."
Reluctantly Gwen stayed put. The group stared at Ianto through the CCTV camera. He looked so tired.
When Jack found him he did not seem very awake.
"Ianto." No reply. "Ianto!"
"Yes sir?"
"Come upstairs and get some sleep."
Jack walked over to him.
"I just need to finish this." Ianto protested.
"No you don't." Jack said firmly. "You're exhausted."
Ianto put his head in his hands.
"I'm sorry."
"Don't apologise for working hard."
"It was the coffee wasn't it?"
Jack laughed.
"Of course not." he lied. "Come on."
Despite how tired the Welshman was he still seemed to be on the ball. Jack hoped that he'd be able to switch that off long enough to get a straight answer out of him.
Ianto stood up slowly and jack led him upstairs. Owen opened his mouth to make a sarcastic remark about the awful coffee but Jack's glare stopped him in his tracks. None of the group bothered to ask if Ianto was alright. It was blindingly obvious when he collapsed onto the sofa what the answer was. Jack pulled up a chair.
"Would you like to tell me what you've been up to for the last forty eight hours?" he questioned.
"Thank god I buy Christmas presents in advance."
"Answer the question."
"Mainly paperwork, filing and coffee."
"Why didn't you go home!" exclaimed Jack.
"Because I didn't want to ruin everyone's Christmas."
"How would you have managed that?" asked Gwen incredulously.
"If I don't do the urgent paperwork and phone calls to smooth everything out someone else will be dragged in to finish it off on Christmas day. I'd rather it be me." The team stared at him in surprise. "I believe I came here to sleep instead of be interrogated?"
Jack nodded with a smile.
"Don't let the sofa bugs bite." Ianto curled up and was asleep within seconds. Jack turned to the rest of the team. It seemed that being so tired made Ianto more open and they all looked shocked by his reasoning. "Anyone else up for pizza?" The group nodded. "We can exchange presents after breakfast."
The team dispersed but Jack stayed by Ianto's side watching him. There were dark circles under his eyes and he looked far thinner than was healthy. Jack sighed.
"You idiot. What do you want on your pizza?"