It had been Gwen's idea initially, another way to bring the human element back to Torchwood. She had insisted that they were all to do something, together, as a team, every time somebody's birthday came around.
And there was going to be no exceptions!
Jack
It had taken weeks- and a combination of Tosh, Ianto and an alien calendar Tosh had been making in her spare time to work out when his birthday actually was- to find out when to throw Jack's party. Gwen had been hours away from going and demanding Jack picked a day, any day, unable to stand not knowing any longer.
In the end, nobody could really remember much about Jack's party.
Most of the night was a fuzzy blur: this is what happens when you drink copious amounts of alcohol that have come through the rift.
Tosh was the first to wake up the morning after the party and the first thing she wanted to know was why she felt like there was a herd of angry Weevils running through her head. Then she wanted to know why she was still at the Hub. And why she seemed to have fallen asleep on top of her desk.
That was the last time she was drinking with Captain Jack Harkness.
She could only remember a few details from the party; she remembered giving Jack his present, a Vera Lynn record plus a new record player to play it on- neither Jack nor Ianto would say what had happened to Jack's old one.
Tosh also thought she may have been dancing with Owen at one point.
She stood up and went in search of Doctor Harper's miracle hangover cure, stepping over the unconscious medic as she went. Perhaps the rest of the team would have a better idea about what happened.
Gwen had also fallen asleep on her desk. Her phone was open in front of her, an empty bottle of wine still clutched in her right hand.
…It didn't look like her teammates were going to be much use in recollecting the events of the previous night.
She paused on her way to the autopsy room, to gaze at the last of her teammates.
Jack and Ianto were wrapped around each other so tightly it was hard to see where one started and one ended. She was, however, helped slightly by the fact that Jack seemed to have misplaced his shirt at some point last night.
The man always was a shameless hussy.
It seemed they had passed out on the sofa behind Owen's workstation. At least it was better than the floor where Owen himself was sleeping, or the desk Gwen was drooling on.
Ianto was waking up. She quickly moved away, not wanting to be caught staring no matter how cute they looked.
Owen's tablets obtained, Tosh made her way back to her workstation, Owen and Gwen both still out for the count. She could hear Owen muttering in his dreams, something about Jack stealing his action man and refusing to give it back.
Jack was still asleep on the sofa, but somebody, (she hoped it was Ianto, she wasn't in any fit state to deal with an escaped Weevil), had draped his RAF coat over him.
After a precautionary rift-activity check- all clear, not bad for a Monday morning- she accessed the CCTV footage of the night before, hoping to get a better idea of just what had happened the night before.
It seemed to have started out reasonably normal- they were just eating and drinking.
Then they were giving Jack his presents, with more drinking.
Then they started dancing, even more drinking.
Tosh groaned.
It couldn't be.
Oh, but it was.
Who the hell had brought a karaoke machine into the Hub?!
She was going to kill Gwen.
Some of the images of last night were coming back. No wonder they had all drank so much.
Jack had, unsurprisingly, been the first up, jumping around singing 'I'm Feeling Good', swigging his champagne straight from the bottle. Owen and Gwen had gotten up after that, singing a duet she recognized but couldn't name.
Ianto had gone next. She was too busy giggling at his rendition of 'All That Jazz' that she didn't hear him approaching her.
A very disheveled Ianto groaned, "I thought I had dreamt that. Remind me never to let Jack pick my karaoke songs." He placed her coffee on the desk next to her PC, "You're never going to let me live that down are you?" indicating the screen with his head, Tosh just grinned at him.
"I'm sure Jack and Owen will have a few things to say on the subject."
Ianto grimaced.
"Want to watch the rest? I'm sure there are some embarrassing clips of Jack and Owen," Ianto nodded madly, "Nothing embarrasses Jack, but there might be something with Owen."
Tosh pressed play, "Can we skip this bit though?"
Ianto flinched as the Ianto on screen resumed his singing, complete with jazz hands.
Two hours later, Tosh and Ianto had been joined by Jack, a still half naked Jack. Gwen, who was now wrapped up in one of Jack's old dressing gowns, also joined them, vowing never to drink whisky from the planet Zogg again.
Owen was still asleep on the floor. It sounded like Jack had returned his action man but had now stolen his Barbie doll.
The CCTV team was now really getting into the swing of things. Even Tosh had been persuaded to sing, thanks mostly to a bottle and a half of red wine.
They had relived the horror of the entire Torchwood team singing YMCA as well as The Time Warp. This explained where Jack had lost his shirt, though it still didn't explain why. Then again, this was Jack they were talking about.
Ianto walked off to make more coffee, unable to face the screen showing him and Jack singing 'You're The One That I Want' from Grease.
There was a reason he didn't like karaoke.
At least karaoke that was being filmed and he could relive the next day.
Once it was over he returned with coffee, toast and a packet of paracetamol for Gwen, Tosh having used the last of Owen's tablets. Who was sure to be overjoyed when he found out.
Gwen blushed at the next piece of footage: her singing down the phone to Rhys.
Ianto buried his head in Jacks shoulder; refusing to open his eyes until the footage of him serenading Jack had finished.
Jack made a mental note to get a copy of that footage.
The Captain had gone around serenading the entire team, who each rewarded him with a kiss – even Owen.
Tosh banged her head off her desk and started to swear in Japanese when it was her turn. Once she realized they had all decided it was a good idea to sing stupid love songs to each other, she had a nasty suspicion she knew what her footage would show.
Sure enough, a decidedly drunk Tosh was singing, though perhaps slurring was a better adjective, to Owen. She should never be allowed to drink again…and what on earth had possessed her to sing 'You're Still the One' by Shania Twain?
She didn't even like Shania Twain!
Finally it was Owen's turn.
They all stared at the monitor, each of them trying to process what they were seeing.
A huge rumble of laughter woke Owen with a start. Once the world had stopped spinning he moved towards the commotion.
Everybody was crouched over, laughing; tears were streaming down Gwen's face while Tosh was sprawled across her desk. Ianto looked as if all his Christmas' had come at once.
Owen realized this wasn't going to be good.
Jack pulled Ianto out of the way so that Owen could see what they were all laughing at. Owen saw himself on screen singing, horribly out of tune, too, 'I Want To Hold Your Hand'.
The team couldn't decide which was funnier: Owen murdering a Beatles classic or the look of complete confusion on the pterodactyl's face.
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