For this story, it is December 1968 and the friends are gathering to celebrate Christmas. Some major references to at least two Torchwood episodes in later chapers.


Five Go Mad at Christmas

Chapter One: Meeting Old Friends

Three days to Christmas and Cambridge city centre was decked out in lights and festive glitz. Every street corner seemed to have a tree and carols bled out of every shop doorway. The people on the streets were laden with bulging bags but that didn't stop them continuing to shop. Most were in a good humour but some were frazzled and tetchy from the pressure of being ready in time.

Most years Toshiko Sato was out there with them, as excited as everyone else. She liked buying her main presents early but still went to the shops for small gifts to put on the tree or for special treats to eat before the fire with her family. Being out amongst the shoppers was part of the fun of the holidays. This year, like last, Toshiko could not get excited. She had made her preparations mechanically, buying everything in one morning last month and then forgotten about it. Work had been all consuming. In her final year at Girton College, she was head and shoulders ahead of her peers also studying electrical and mechanical engineering. She was often also ahead of her tutors who were confident she would get a double First. Her natural ability was the main reason but the long hours buried in her books and the lab over the past year and a half was another. With no other calls on her time, she had worked long into the night and at weekends. This Christmas, with her parents and brother in Japan for the holiday, she had stayed studying in College for an extra week after everyone else had left.

Trudging along the windy streets, case in hand, she kept her head down and concentrated on avoiding the crowds. It was time to leave the cocoon of Cambridge and venture into the world again. She didn't feel like it but Jack, Ianto and Gwen had been very supportive and she felt she ought to repay their kindness. Battling the wind and the other pedestrians, she wished the College was nearer the city centre. She had already had one bus ride but rather than wait for another, which was bound to be full, she set off for the railway station still some distance away. Her shoulder bag and case were growing heavier by the minute. An image flashed into her brain of a case with wheels on the bottom; that would be so much more practical. Working out the mechanics of how to design one to balance the weight of case and contents and yet be easy to push – or pull, perhaps – kept her distracted until she reached the station. The board showed a train leaving in fifteen minutes and she made her way to the platform, securing a seat in an empty compartment. There weren't many people travelling to London at midday on the Friday before Christmas.

By the time the train left she had been joined by a mother and her son, about ten years old, who took seats by the window. The mother had smiled at Toshiko but not spoken when it was clear she did not want to be disturbed. Toshiko got out her books and started working on some detailed propulsion calculations and did not even notice when the other passengers got off at Bishop's Stortford. When the train entered the London suburbs, she packed away her books and looked across the carriage and out of the window. She had made this journey so often she recognised each landmark. How many times had she travelled to visit her grandfather and aunts in London and as a necessary stop on the journey to her parents' home at Cardiff? Dozens. And there had been the trips to see Owen …

"Stop it," she said aloud, thumping a fist down hard on her thigh. There was no point dwelling on what was over. Owen Harper was no longer in her life and no amount of wishing would make it otherwise.

The train crept the last few yards and entered Liverpool Street Station. Glad to have arrived, she gathered her belongings and followed the other passengers onto the platform. At the barrier she was surprised to see a fresh-faced boy standing with a handwritten sign on which was written her name. He smiled as she emerged from the crowd.

"Hey, Tosh, great to see you!" He enveloped her in a hug. "Good trip?"

"I'm sorry …." She pulled back, straightening her cap. "Do I know you?"

He laughed uproariously, attracting many surprised but indulgent glances from the crowd. "Sure you do. I'm the love struck puppy who followed you around for years. Gray?"

She stood looking at the boy, mouth open in surprise. How could little Gray Harkness have grown into this handsome young man so quickly? He was fourteen, no fifteen she corrected, but looked older. Taller than her and with broad shoulders. He was still thin but as muscles developed he would fill out. A shock of dark hair cut on the short side for UK fashion framed an open face, sparkling eyes and a lopsided grin.

"Oh, Gray, it's wonderful to see you!" She opened her arms and hugged him fiercely. "But what are you doing here?"

"Come to meet you. It was Ianto's idea to have the sign, said you wouldn't recognise me." He bent down and picked up her case. "And he gave me cash for a taxi. They're this way." With great aplomb he took her arm and steered her through the crowd.

She laughed at the absurdity of this boy taking charge of her. A small corner of her mind wondered when she had last laughed from sheer pleasure. A long time ago, she decided. "What are you doing in London? Are you with your parents? Where's Jack? I thought he was coming to meet me. Not that I need anyone."

"Boy, you ask a lot of questions. Okay. Stopover on the way to Saudi. Yes. Working. That do?" He laughed again, delighted to have been entrusted with meeting her when Jack had been unable to get away and Ianto was still busy in the flat.

"Not really, but who cares. You're here and it really is great to see you. How long's it been? Three years?"

"Four. Have I changed much?" He had to lean in close to be heard over the station announcements and a Salvation Army choir singing carols.

"I didn't recognise you. You're not the cheeky little boy I remember."

"Hey, less of the cheeky! Ah, you bewitched me, Tosh, and you're even more beautiful than I remember." He meant it. Since meeting her five years ago, he had had the biggest crush on her, entranced by her exotic looks and her quick wit, and had followed her around like a puppy whenever she would let him. Looking at her now, he didn't see the sadness lurking behind her eyes nor the small lines around them from hours of reading.

She thumped his arm. "Stop it. I know I look a mess."

"You do not," he protested. They had reached the taxi rank and joined the queue.

She shook her head, unwilling to argue with him. "Tell me about you. What are doing in school?"

They chatted throughout the journey. He liked showing off as much as his brother and made the most of this chance to shine, detailing his studies, football and basketball prowess and all the advantages of living in Texas. When they arrived in Pepys Street near the Tower of London, he gallantly handed her out of the taxi and paid the driver. Using British money was new to him but he liked the sound of pounds, shillings and pence even if he couldn't recognise the notes and coins.

Jack Harkness, Gray's elder brother, and Ianto Jones shared a mansion flat in a purpose built block. It was on the first floor and Gray wrestled the case away from Toshiko before finding the key to open the outer door. Unlocking the door to the flat, he called Ianto's name but there was no answer. Toshiko followed him in. She had visited on a number of occasions and knew the layout. The hall was L-shaped and the front door was the top of the long side. On the left was the living room which ran the whole width of the flat and looked out onto the street. In front of her was the kitchen, a small room which caught the morning sun. The boys had squeezed a table and two stools into the corner under the window and ate breakfast there. Moving into the short side of the 'L', which ran to the right, next to the kitchen was the bathroom. In front of her was the larger of the two bedrooms. The other one was on the right and this was where she would be spending the night.

"He must have popped out, said he might. I'll put your case in the bedroom," said Gray, easing past her. "You're in his room." He was unaware of the true nature of Jack and Ianto's relationship, at the specific request of his parents. He would be told when he was a bit older.

"Thanks." Toshiko had put down her heavy shoulder bag preparatory to taking off her coat when the front door opened. "Ianto, hello."

Now twenty two Ianto was tall, dark and handsome. Most people took him for older than his years, an impression created by his liking for formal clothes and a reserved manner, but right now he could be mistaken for a teenager. He leant against the doorjamb, a bunch of flowers in one hand and a shopping bag in the other. In jeans and a Guernsey jumper he was obviously 'off duty'.

"Blow, I thought I'd beat you back!" he said, disappointed. "Needed some milk and was going to put these in your room." He held up the bronze chrysanthemums.

"They're lovely. Shall I take them?"

"May as well. Stick them in the kitchen for now." He shut the door. When she returned, they hugged briefly. "It's good to see you. Gray met you all right?"

"I sure did." The boy was back, grinning from ear to ear. "She didn't recognise me."

"You have changed a lot!" Toshiko smiled and finally removed her coat, handing it to Ianto.

He took it automatically, taking in her baggy jeans and shapeless sweater. With her hair scrunched to one side and wearing no makeup she looked nothing like the smart, confident young woman she had once been. She had seriously let herself go in the past eighteen months. It was such a shame. Ianto wanted to shake her, to tell her that life had a lot more to offer than his two-timing cousin, Owen Harper. Not that Owen could help falling in love with someone else, Ianto knew how that happened all too well. A Christmas card received that morning had reminded him of Lisa Hallett and the love they had once shared.

"Hang mine up too," said Gray, oblivious of his host's introspection. He held out his jacket. "Any chance of a coffee?"

"I'll make some in a minute. You two go and sit down. Unless you want to freshen up, Tosh."

"I'm all right for now." She went into the living room aware of everything Ianto was thinking about her. It was amazing he managed to keep his relationship with Jack secret, he was so easy to read.

-ooOoo-

When his boss came into the room, Jack was putting the final touches to his written report. He had been due to leave at midday but a last minute emergency had delayed him. Jack wouldn't normally have minded but he had made plans to meet Toshiko and to spend the evening with his parents. Containing a Hoix was exciting but he would never enjoy the consequent paperwork which had kept him at his desk for the past half an hour. He should have taken the whole day off like Ianto then he wouldn't still be here at four o'clock on 22 December.

"Ah, Harkness, glad I caught you." Harold Messiter, Head of Section Four, was ex-military and always bustling around finding work for his operatives. He didn't like to see anyone twiddling their thumbs. "Am I right in thinking you're off to Cardiff for the holiday?"

"Yes, sir." If I ever get away from here, he thought. He got on reasonably well with Messiter but had soon realised the man had no life outside Torchwood and didn't think others should either. Jack didn't want to work twenty four hours a day, seven days a week. However much he liked his job it had to take second place to the rest of his life.

"Good. Drop this in to the boys in Cardiff for me. Rather not trust it to the delivery service." He held out a metal container, roughly the size of a shoebox.

"Sure. Do I need to know what's in it?" Torchwood dealt with all sorts and the container could hold a harmless artefact, a bomb or an alien lifeform.

"No. Just an artefact to be returned but a valuable one. Keep it safe. When are you back in?"

"The second." Christmas Day fell on Monday this year and Jack was using up leave to make a long break. He would not be back until after the New Year. Luckily Torchwood London was fully staffed and no one else wanted the time; one advantage of not having people with families working there.

"Make the most of it, it'll be all go next year now the new Director is in place. Merry Christmas."

"Thanks. Merry Christmas to you too." Jack smiled until Messiter left the room then groaned.

"Don't worry, Jack, he's just trying tae look good for the new boss." Stuart 'Mac' McGregor had been an operative for three years and partnered Jack on his field missions. A Scot, he was working over Christmas and returning home for New Year and the Hogmanay celebrations in his native Edinburgh. "Noo' get off with you, before he comes back wi' something else for you tae do."

"Good advice, as always. Hope it's quiet for you." He grabbed his greatcoat and a leather briefcase for the container; he didn't want to be seen with it. "See you next year. Merry Christmas."

"Och, I'll no' be bothering wi' that! Have fun wi' the Welshies. I wanna a full report on this Hub of theirs. If they let you in."

"Yes, sir." Jack mock-saluted then headed for the door.

The Torchwood base in London was, like its Cardiff counterpart, situated in the Docks. No one knew why, even Ianto hadn't found anything in the archives, but it did provide good cover. Men and women coming and going from the anonymous brick building could be office workers or customers and the three floors underground were undetectable. Normally Jack and Ianto walked from Pepys Street but today, as he had expected to be picking up Toshiko, Jack had brought the car. Throwing the briefcase on the passenger seat, he started the engine and drove out of the car park. He still loved driving and wished he could do more, but not around the city. The Triumph 2000 performed best on long journeys and was big enough to take all the stuff Ianto considered necessary when leaving the flat, which included the kitchen sink. Jack smiled at the thought of his partner. They had over a week together, with no work. Among people who – mostly - accepted them as a couple, there would be no need to pretend for a while.

Traffic was fairly light. Most of the City workers had already taken off for the holiday and it was too early for the people heading in for shows or to see the lights in Oxford Street. Jack listened to the radio as he drove, singing along to The Beatles' Hello, Goodbye which had been in the charts last year. He pulled up in front of the rented garage as Long John Baldry started singing Let the Heartaches Begin which he thought particularly appropriate for Toshiko. He hoped she had moved on from Owen; she'd been a mess last time he saw her. Briefcase in hand, he locked the garage behind him and hummed the song as he walked round to the front of the building and took the stairs two at a time.

"Hi, y'all," he said, standing in the living room doorway.

The room was long with three windows on one side. A dining table and chairs and a wall unit were at one end near a side wall covered in photographs taken during Ianto and Jack's three year stay at Harvard and on holidays since. It was a colourful display which currently vied for attention with the Christmas cards strung up around the room. At the opposite end of the room, clustered round the gas fire, Ianto sat in a chair facing Toshiko and Gray on the couch. All the furniture had been donated by family members or bought second-hand, a mix of styles that merged together to create a look that suited the two men and which they hadn't changed when money became more plentiful. A huge painting of the New York skyline over the fireplace normally dominated the space but at the moment the large Christmas tree in the corner with its flashing lights drew all eyes; even though they were going away, Jack had insisted on the tree and the other decorations.

"Finally. I thought you were going to miss your parents." Ianto's gaze was checking his partner for injuries; operations were dangerous.

"Nope. Tosh, super to see you." Jack bent and hugged her. "What do you think of Gray?"

"He's grown. But I wish you'd told me about your parents being here. I could have gone straight to Cardiff."

"Was last minute. Right, Midget?" Jack sat on the arm of Ianto's chair, an arm resting casually around the Welshman's shoulders. He made no overt loving gestures. When he had come out to his parents they had accepted it well but asked the pair of them not to be too obvious around Gray.

"Yeah." He pulled a face. "I'm missing all the parties."

"But you had Thanksgiving," pointed out Ianto. "That's more important."

"Suppose. I could always stay with you …"

"Oh no you can't!" Jack protested. "You're going to Saudi with Mom and Pop. No arguments."

"You're no fun."

"It's only for a week. You'll be back in Galveston before you know it," said Ianto. He turned to Toshiko. "Franklin's going to be looking for new oil deposits in Saudi Arabia next year. This a quick introduction to the team he'll be working with and to check out the living arrangements."

"Are you going to be living out there?" she asked Gray.

"Nope. Mom and me'll stay in Texas. Pop's only contracted for four months anyway."

"They decided to break their journey here so we could catch up," added Jack. "They're coming round for a meal."

"Which I'd better be thinking about." Ianto stood up. "Want to help, Tosh?"

"Umm. What are we having?"

"Spag bol. I can't do much else, not in bulk anyway."

The two of them went into the kitchen. Ianto made a lot of noise getting pots and pans out of the cupboard without saying a word. Toshiko watched him warily. Normally he was very controlled and even-tempered but now he was out of sorts. "You okay?" she asked.

He put the package of spaghetti on the top and sighed. After a quick glance to the living room to check the door was closed – it usually was to keep the heat in – he said, "Jack was shunted off to boarding schools for most of his schooling and yet Gray's never been away from Eleanor. It's not fair."

"They did have a lot of problems before Gray came along." She had been told of the miscarriages and babies who had died young.

"Which should have made them value both sons, not just Gray." He smiled wryly. "Ignore me, Tosh. It's just one of my hobbyhorses. I'll get off my soapbox now."

They had the mince and sauce simmering when Franklin and Eleanor Harkness arrived. After a flurry of greetings, Toshiko helped Ianto serve the food and they all gathered round the table for a lively meal. With a couple of bottles of good red wine supplied by Mr Harkness, the evening went with a swing. Later, Toshiko sat on the floor by the fire watching as small gifts were exchanged. None of them had expected to meet so their main presents had already been sent by post. Those today were extras. Ianto was delighted with the pepper mill and Jack had to be pried away from his copy of Philip Dick's Do Android Dream of Electric Sheep? Books went to Mr and Mrs Harkness too, with Gray receiving a cap with a Union Jack design. Toshiko was surprised when Gray produced a paper bag and offered it to her.

"Got this on the station for you," he said, colouring slightly. "Happy Christmas."

"Thanks, Gray. You shouldn't have. Oh, it's lovely." She pinned the snowman brooch on her jumper. She leant over to where he was sitting on the other side of the fire and kissed his cheek. He coloured some more.

Shortly before ten, the Harknesses prepared to leave. They were flying out of Heathrow early the next morning and wanted a good night's sleep. After more hugs and kisses they departed, Jack and Ianto walking down to the street to say their final goodbyes. Toshiko went into the kitchen and began washing up the stacked dirty dishes. She was smiling; the unexpected extra guests had taken her out of herself for a few hours, made her think of something other than work and her lonely personal life, though seeing the elegant Eleanor had made her feel frumpy.

"Hey, you're useful," joked Jack, "you can stay." He reached for a tea towel. "No, Ianto, there's no room in here. Go and put the living room straight."

"Banished from my own kitchen." Ianto smiled and went off.

"Sorry we didn't get the chance for a proper chat tonight," said Jack, drying a glass. "The folks only got the stopover at the last minute."

"We'll have plenty of time to talk. A whole week." She glanced at him. "I'm grateful you and Ianto are coming down. It would have been lonely without you."

"I think your whole life's pretty lonely right now." He went on drying the glasses, hoping she might open up. After the shock of Owen's defection to Katie Russell she had drawn in on herself and retreated to Cambridge and work.

"I'm missing the family, that's all," she retorted. Her parents, brother, grandfather and aunts had all returned to Japan for three months to visit ancestral sites. Toshiko had not been able to go with them because of her studies. She was surprised how much she missed them, especially her little brother.

"Sure. I know about that." He paused, wondering what to say next. "I'm glad we're staying with you anyway. Still have to use separate bedrooms when we stay with Ianto's mom!"

"About time you told her." She felt on firmer ground now they were talking about his relationship and not hers, or her lack thereof.

"I would, it's Ianto who won't. Still, he knows her better than I do."

"Gwen seems pleased we'll be around for the holiday even though she is working some of it."

"You know why she is, don't you? Got her out of going to stay with Rhys's parents." He grinned. "He insisted on going home and she did not want to go with him." They laughed, Gwen and Rhys's relationship was always a source of amusement for the friends.


And so the scene is set. More coming soon ...