It had amazed Jack for decades how the Rift seemed to viscerally know when it could cause maximum disruption. It was one of those things that, no matter how many times he saw it, it still came as a surprise. Christmas… it was always Christmas. More specifically, the entire month of December. If nothing else, he was at least near enough to just accepting it for what it was.

This year, though, there was more to it. Being in love in December was awful, as far as Jack was concerned. Especially when you were Jack Harkness and had no chance of ever admitting that love.

This man, this "Jones, Ianto Jones," who had quite literally chanced in on his life one night and stayed…. Jack wondered how he'd done it, just showed up and made Jack fall head-over-heels in a matter of days. Not that he could ever, would ever say as much, but since it was December, well, he kinda had to offer some kind of… token of gratitude. But he had to get it just right. Too grand and it would send the reserved young man running, Jack was sure. Too petty and it might come across as indifferent. Too personal and it could look like a case of that workplace harassment Ianto was always teasing about. Too impersonal and it might make Ianto feel cheap.

Now, how was a man charged with defending the world, or at least South Wales, from aliens meant to figure that one out when the Rift kept him running upwards of 16 hours a day?

Jack sighed. What a stupid holiday, anyway. No wonder he kept his list so short. Alice and Stephen? A bigger check and whatever the latest thing for young lads was that year. His 'boss'? A simple bottle of Dubonnet and some treats for the Corgis. Never a question about it.

But an employee he was impossibly in love with? Yeah, right. The codebreaker hadn't been invented that could simplify that one.

Jack watched from his office as said employee tidied up around the Hub after everyone else, as he always did in the evenings (or whenever they'd all gone). Even in a three-piece suit, Ianto seemed chilled by the perpetual dampness of their subterranean base of operations, tugging at his shift cuffs and shifting his collar a little higher. Jack made a mental note to do something about the two boilers that hadn't worked properly since sometime around Torchwood's platinum jubilee.

Dropping his head back, Jack sighed. A warmer Hub would definitely be considered a 'grand gesture' if offered as a Christmas present.

A barely audible tap at his office door pulled Jack from his ruminations. Ianto stood there in a dark grey top coat and black leather gloves. "Just running out to the shops, sir. Any requests?"

'You, naked and on my desk,' Jack thought, judiciously deciding against vocalizing that particular request for the moment. "Uh, not especially. Maybe some extra Jaffa Cakes?"

"Right. Will do. Won't be long," Ianto promised, then all but disappeared like an efficiently regimented wisp of fog in the morning sun.

Jack sighed again and shook his head. Of course he'd fallen in love. What else could he have done?