Inspired by the song Christmas In Prison by Emmy the Great and Lightspeed Champion
I was listening to it and the bunny pounced and would not leave till I wrote this!
Have an awesome Christmas people! =) x
The Captain lounged back on the lumpy mattress, grinning at his cellmate. "Your first Christmas inside huh?"
"Yep" The Fish replied shortly, fidgeting, "Do you, y'know, even acknowledge it here?" It was Christmas Eve and he had yet to see any indication to state they did.
The Captain chuckled lightly, "See you've got a lot to learn young Fish. Generally we don't acknowledge the festival that often for a lotta reasons mostly 'cause it's damned depressing being stuck in here with the rest of them ugly sons of bitches instead of with family. So yeah, sometimes some of us get together but communally it's a no go. Tell you what it is good for though, findin' out which guards got families"
"How come?"
"Well say you got a family, wife, kids whatever, are you seriously gonna take the Christmas shift? Nuh uh, not if you wanna keep 'em" The Captain grinned, seemingly pleased with his little wisdom-giving.
Fish stayed quiet, drinking it in. So this would be Christmas, probably stuck with his boisterous cellmate-come-bodyguard.
Christmas in prison.
Christmas probably locked in this bloody room like they had been for the past hour. Who honestly stages an attack on Christmas Eve? Especially knowing they'd all be locked in their cells for the night at least!
As hour three approached, the Captain decided he was bored of sleeping, and wanted to re-acknowledge the fledgling Fish. He wandered over to the window of their cell, staring out over the courtyard outside. The searchlights swung past lazily as always, taunting anyone dreaming of escape. Unsure of where it came from, maybe because it was nearly Christmas and he was beginning to feel it, maybe because the silence was too much, maybe even because god help him he was starting to trust the Fish. Either way the Captain started talking;
"I have a daughter out there somewhere, little thing. Melissa. 'Course her mother probably changed that by now, I think it was Alice the last I heard. But she's still my daughter, still my little girl" he sighed
"Tell me about her?"
The Captain turned to give him a long, unreadable look, before turning back to the window.
"She's… perfect. She's everything. It's like, the feeling when I think of her, my daughter, like all the things I love rolled into one. She's the sweetest little thing; I swear her hearts as big as this whole goddamned jail! Sometimes she's all I can think about. I dream about her, it's like her names always on my tongue. She's my blood, we have the same blood coursing through out streams and I can't even talk to her, tell her how much I love her"
"Call her"
"What?" The Captain span around to glare at his cellmate, who was still perched on the bunk, but was now staring intently at him.
"Call her tomorrow. You must have a number, or at least a way of getting one, call her and wish her a happy Christmas. It doesn't matter what her mother says, you're still her daddy and she needs to hear from you at Christmas" The piercing gaze softened "And you need to hear from her. You'll probably get homesick, if it weren't for this goddamned lockdown I'd say go now, tell her you love her and wish her goodnight. It's what I would do"
The Captain sighed heavily, moved by the Fish's suggestion but knowing it would be impossible "Can't, no phone privileges"
"Use mine" Fish shrugged
"You can't just give out your phone privileges Fish, you'll need 'em"
"Why? I have no one to call so why not let you use them huh? It'd be easy, I'd just go along, bring you so you can 'protect' me and they don't need to know you'll be the one doing the ringing"
The Captain was left speechless. It wasn't long ago he regarded the Fish as just another melancholy inmate with a whole lotta baggage to spare. Now though, now he was something else.
"Thank you Ianto" he grinned, striding back to the bunks and enveloping him in a hug.
Taken aback by the use of his given name, along with the sudden embrace he was slow to reply. Eventually he seemed to break from his stupor and hug his cellmate back.
"You're welcome Jack, take it as your Christmas present"
He felt rather than heard Jack's deep chuckle, "We don't give Christmas presents in here"
"Well I do" he grouched, one step away from pouting petulantly.
Jack chuckled again, flopping back down on the bunk, next to his cellmate.
A while later found the two cellmates looking out the same window, staring out into the yard. The searchlight wheeled around, highlighting the falling snow like dust motes on a sunny day.
"It's gonna be a white Christmas"
"Looks that way" Jack sighed "And we don't even get to enjoy it."
"What would you have done?"
"Dunno, taken Melissa sledging, built a snowman, warm up by the fire with hot chocolate. All the things I won't ever get to do" He smiled as he felt Ianto slip an arm around his waist as a silent support. He slung his arm lazily across his shoulders in return, turning to him "What about you?"
"What's the point, I have nothing outside of here now" he sighed, instantly regretting asking in the first place.
"No c'mon fairs fair, what would you be doing if you weren't in here?"
Ianto though for a few minutes before replying slowly, "Well I would visit my parents' graves, then go home and curl up with a whole ton of Christmas movies"
"Sound nice-"
"Sound lonely Jack, you can say it"
"All if our Christmases are lonely in here" he grouched
"Maybe not" Ianto smiled, his gaze still firmly on the breathtakingly beautiful dance the snowflakes performed in the spotlights beam.
"Merry Christmas Jack"
Jack smiled sadly but with warmth, tightening the arm around his cellmate and turning to him, his gaze softening. He pressed a kiss to his hair and, with a breathy chuckle, turned back to the falling snow.
"Merry Christmas Ianto"