Just a silly piece of Christmas fluff. Hope you enjoy it.

Jack leaned against the railing, a gentle smile softening his face as he watched the young Welshman circling the Hub with his rubbish bag. He made his way unhurriedly down the stairs as the low roar of the dishwasher announced that Ianto had finally finished cleaning up after Christmas Eve drinks.

Ianto couldn't help groaning as strong hands seized his shoulders and started working out the knots. He was just glad Owen wasn't around to hear it.

"Why you insist on playing waiter at these things is beyond me," Jack grumbled, digging his thumbs into a particularly stubborn knot of muscle. "Let them get their own drinks, maybe yours as well."

"Didn't see you serving yourself," Ianto countered. "Bit more to the right, please."

"I'm different," Jack said airily, his hands stilling as the knot finally dissolved beneath his fingers.

Ianto turned in his arms. "Unique," he agreed. "The one and only."

"And all yours," Jack concluded.

"Sap," Ianto accused, just before his mouth became to busy to talk.

"I should get on my way," Ianto said eventually. "Christmas Eve traffic, it'll take me twice as long as usual." It used to sadden him that Jack never wanted to spend Christmas Eve together, but by now accepted it. And in return, Jack accepted the continuing absence of an invitation to Christmas dinner with the Jones family.

"I'll call you when I get back from Rhi's tomorrow, yeah?" Ianto added, reaching behind him to unclasp the hands locked around his waist.

Jack only tightened his hold. "Don't go," he said softly. "Stay here tonight."

Typical Jack, that was. Just when he thought he had a handle on the mysterious entity they both carefully avoided calling 'us', Jack had to go and do something like this. Ianto warned the sentimental place inside him to stop thawing right now and pulled away just far enough to see Jack's face.

"What about the annual lockdown test?" Ianto asked suspiciously. "You always order the Hub cleared in case it doesn't lift in time. And I shudder to think what Rhiannon will do to me if I miss lunch."

Jack smiled broadly. "You won't miss lunch, I promise."

Ianto blinked as he put it together. "There's no lockdown, is there?" he demanded.

"You and Tosh aren't the only ones who can create a convincing cover story," Jack answered smugly. He laughed at the avid curiosity in his lover's face, a particularly joyous, open laugh no one except Ianto ever heard. "And you'll see something no-one ever gets to see," he added, trying for mysterious but failing miserably.

"I've heard that before," Ianto teased, but he allowed himself to be led to the shabby couch, anyway.

-XXX-

Jack's wrist-band shrilled. Ianto glanced at his watch, purely out of habit, ready to log the time of the alert. Half-past eleven already, and he was mildly surprised to find that, not only were they still in the main Hub, but also fully dressed. Something strange was definitely happening in the Hub tonight.

Jack gently untangled himself from Ianto's arms. "Time to let Myfanwy out," he announced. He rose and extended a hand, eyes dancing with mischief. "C'mon."

"What are you up to?" Ianto demanded, allowing himself to be pulled to his feet.

"Surprise," Jack answered, tugging impatiently on Ianto's hand. "Come on, Ianto, or you'll miss the most amazing Christmas you've ever had."

Ianto bowed to the inevitable and followed where he was led, even though he doubted he'd ever made the trip up to Myfanwy's lair quite so quickly before. But there was no point resisting. Jack was generally irresistible anyway, so what chance did he have against a Jack who was behaving like – well, like a kid at Christmas.

Myfanwy squawked as she saw the bar of chocolate Ianto had grabbed on their way up. Ianto fed it to her while Jack cranked the massive skylight open. They stepped back and watched the leathery avian hop awkwardly onto the edge of the skylight, then launch herself gracefully towards the moon.

"Now what?" Ianto asked.

Jack tapped his nose. "Patience."

Ianto sneezed. Jack laughed and seized Ianto's hand again, tugging him into place beneath the skylight.

"Watch the sky," he said softly. "Over there, above the Rift. And listen."

Ianto watched Jack instead. He was totally keyed up, tension in every line of his body, yet his whole being radiated peace so strongly Ianto could feel it wrapping him within its folds as well.

"I've never seen you like this before," Ianto murmured, torn between wonder and unease.

Jack smiled softly, eyes glowing. "That's because you've only ever seen me with the crap the Rift spits out. Tonight, the good stuff comes through."

There was a flare in the sky above. An errant firework, most people would say, but Ianto recognized it as the Rift splitting. A tiny, controlled opening. The same type, he thought uneasily, that John Hart made when he arrived. Surely Jack wouldn't be this happy at the return of his former partner? And even if he was, he wouldn't be tacky enough to expect Ianto to….watch?...join in? Ianto shuddered. No, he only meant that little to Jack in his nightmares.

Jack squeezed Ianto's hand. "It's OK," he said reassuringly. "It's more than OK. You're going to love this, Ianto."

The moonlight poured through the skylight, mixed with the Riftlight, and bathed their faces in gold and silver. Ianto thought he'd never seen anything quite so lovely. If this was why they were here, it was enough.

"Listen," Jack repeated, beautifully breathless, and Ianto knew that whatever was making its way through the lift, it was far more wondrous than a troublesome ex-lover. "Watch," Jack breathed. His hand clenched around Ianto's tightly enough to hurt. "I've seen this a hundred times, Ianto, and I never get sick of it. Never."

The air above them rang with the sound of bells, and a multicolored something burst through the Rift. Red and brown and red and white and gold and red again. And Ianto laughed with the sheer wonder and disbelief of it all as a story he'd dismissed at the age of eight landed on the roof.

A booming laugh sounded across the roof. Boots made the rafters creak.

"Hello Jack," the voice called. The best voice in the universe.

"Merry Christmas, Nick," Jack answered.

Santa Claus climbed through the skylight. "I'd never get this done without the Rift," he announced.

There's a second part in progress. Up soon. Merry Christmas to all. If you don't celebrate it, Peace and Goodwill still works.