Yet more thanks to my reviewers: Janto-rulz, Samiix3, Ravenja70, milady dragon, , jimmy-barnes-13, .way.42, Jooles34, L.A.H.H, thunderincrimson and Kelspook. You're all just amazing – you've made this week one long Christmas present for me!

I would also like to apologise to Owen on behalf of myself and the rest of the Torchwood team for all the grievances he has suffered in this Christmas run-up. We love you really!

Ice-skating

"Oh no." Owen moaned softly as he leant over Tosh's desk.

"What?"

"Look." Tosh followed Owen's gaze to where Gwen had just come in. "That's Gwen's 'I've had an idea' expression." The doctor's voice conveyed his anxiety and disgust.

"What's bad about that?"

"Her last idea caused Jack to drop a 15-foot pine tree into the Hub."

"Her last idea was the santa hats." Ianto corrected.

"Yeah, and they went brilliantly too."

Tosh protested mildly; "But she thought of the advent calendars and cards and putting up so many decorations…" Owen pulled a face at the last suggestion and was about to make another sarcastic comment when a beaming Gwen was on them.

"Hi everyone! Look, I've had …"

"- another absolutely amazing idea for a new kind of Christmas torture?"

Gwen eyed Owen for a second. "I take it you don't want to hear about it then?"

"No, I don't."

Gwen took in a deep breath – a warning sign the rest of the team had now learned to recognise, though not always to take heed of.

"And I suppose you have a better idea about what we can do for Christmas then? You may prefer to spend your life in loneliness and misery but that doesn't mean you have to stop everyone else having fun!"

Owen cut across Gwen's rising tirade; "Well what's your concept of fun then? 'cos it sure doesn't seem to be the same as anyone else's here!"

"Well, if nobody wants to know I won't bloody bother in the future!"

"Good!"

"Children, children." Jack had appeared to intervene. There was only so much of Gwen and Owen arguing he could take. "What's the argument now?"

Owen and Gwen both began to talk loudly at the same time. Jack raised his hands. "Be quiet, both of you. Tosh, what happened?"

"Gwen wanted to tell us her idea but Owen started being rude about it." Tosh received a look of gratitude from Gwen and a glare from Owen.

"I see. And what was this idea."

Gwen seized her chance. "I think we all ought to go ice skating."

A silence fell over the Hub. Finally, Owen repeated, in an incredulous voice, "Ice skating?"

"I like it." said Tosh, and blushed slightly as everyone's heads turned to look at her.

"But why go ice skating?" Owen asked Gwen.

"Team-bonding, enjoying ourselves at Christmas, taking a break from work… Anything you've ever considered there, Owen?"

"We normally just go to the pub for all that." Ianto informed her.

"Well, I thought that since Owen can't eat or drink any more going to the pub might be a bit inconsiderate." Gwen glared at Owen for a second. "But since he's an inconsiderate bastard anyway I don't see why we shouldn't."

Ianto shook his head. "Let's try ice skating. It'll be good to have a change." They'd managed to get Jack drunk at their last Christmas do, he remembered. That had not been a fun evening.

Gwen glanced at Owen. "And what about you then?"

Owen shrugged. "Yeah, why not?" He now felt slightly guilty that he'd jumped on Gwen the way he had when her idea had been for his sake. Not very guilty though.

That only left Jack. As he saw his team's expressions as they looked at him he decided to give in, even though he wasn't entirely happy with the plan.

"Fine."

***

And so it was that on Christmas Eve, with the Rift mercifully quiet, the team met up at the local ice rink where Ianto had booked them tickets for the evening.

Tosh was on the ice first. She'd brought her own skating boots and so didn't have to queue like the rest of them. Owen's jaw dropped as he watched her whirl around the ice. Loops, figures of eight, cross steps, gliding, skating backwards…

"I never realised Tosh could skate." Gwen whispered in awe as they all watched her spin round on one skate in the middle of the rink. She surveyed the others. "I don't suppose any of you are skating geniuses too, and forgot to mention it?"

Ianto shrugged modestly and Owen snorted. Gwen turned to Jack; "I bet you're good, right? You must have been skating for centuries." Jack nodded his head slightly and concentrated on his boots.

When Owen looked up again from trying to pull on his own skates Ianto was skating alongside Tosh; not quite as elegantly, but he was still a more-than-passable skater. Owen watched in disgust. "Anything you're not good at, Teaboy?" He shouted as Ianto zoomed over to see them.

"If there was, I wouldn't tell you. Are you coming or not?"

"Yes." Gwen replied, wobbling as she tried to stand up. Owen gave her a hand and together they tottered over to the edge of the ice.

"Are you coming, Jack?" Gwen called back to him.

"I'm just getting a different pair." He replied, holding up his skates by the laces. "These don't fit."

After Owen and Gwen had wobbled around the edge of the rink once, intermittently clinging to the edge, they arrived back to find that Jack hadn't yet reappeared. Once they had been round a few more times they became a lot more confident and it wasn't long before Ianto and Tosh swept up on either side of Gwen and started towing her along.

"I have done this before, you know." Gwen protested as she nearly lost her balance. "Where's Jack anyway?"

Owen pointed over to the side and slipped as he lost control of his skates. He grabbed Tosh to try and right himself and the pair collapsed in a pile on the ice. As Ianto bent over to try and help them up Gwen skated over to where Jack was sat watching and giggled loudly as she crashed into the barrier.

"Why aren't you skating?"

"Oh, I just don't really feel like it, that's all." Jack looked at her as if to say that that was the end of the matter.

"Come on, Jack! It's fun!"

The rest of the team arrived panting at the barrier. Tosh and Owen had a light dusting of snow.

"Come on sir, everyone else is doing it. We promise we won't laugh if you fall over." Ianto tried not to smile at the thought.

"Why don't you want to anyway?" Tosh asked.

Jack looked down at his feet and then decided to come clean. "I can't skate." He said quietly.

"What?"

"I. Can't. Skate."

"We'll teach you then!" Tosh replied brightly. "It's easy once you get going."

Jack sighed and allowed himself to be bullied to the edge of the ice, where he stopped and looked uneasily at it. "We're not supposed to go on ice."

"Oh, come on." said Gwen impatiently. "We could have gone three times round by now."

Tosh shushed her and taking Jack's hand made him move slowly onto the ice. He quickly grabbed the side and clung to it. Owen laughed in amusement. He left Tosh and Ianto attempting to persuade Jack to try moving his feet and skated once round the outside of the rink, passing Jack whilst moving as fast as he could.

Tosh and Ianto proceeded to the stage where they were inching slowly round the edge of the barriers, with Jack clinging to the rail with one hand and Ianto's hand with the other. "It's easier when you go faster." Ianto told him.

"Once we've got round once." Jack replied through gritted teeth. When they reached the exit they both refused to let Jack give up and instead forced him to go round again, this time forcing him to go slightly faster. After a few more painful circuits they had got to the point where Jack had worked out how to move his feet properly and had just started to let go of the barrier when Gwen crashed into it just in front of them and they had to stop.

"Sorry! I just can't work out how to slow down!"

Tosh took Gwen to one side to teach her how as Ianto finally prised Jack away from the barrier.

"One circuit, no clinging to the sides."

Jack was just about to protest when Owen came up on his other side. "I'll hold your other hand shall I, Harkness?"

The three men skated around slowly, avoiding the other skaters.

"Well done sir." Ianto praised his boss as they made it back to their starting point.

Jack grinned. "Can we do it again? But faster this time?"

Meanwhile Tosh was having less success trying to teach Gwen how to skate backwards. Jack, Owen and Ianto were on their third lap when Gwen crashed straight into them.

"Look where you're going!" snarled Owen angrily as he pulled himself up off the floor and back onto his feet. But he started laughing when he saw a surprised Gwen on the floor with her hair and scarf all askew and the snowy heap that was Jack and Ianto. He laughed even harder when Tosh, zooming over to help, tripped on the end of Gwen's scarf and ended up on top of the pile too. That started the others off , and when they had finally disentangled themselves Owen found himself being chased round and round the rink until finally he ended up sprawled on the floor as well.

***

It was several hours later when they finally collapsed on firm, non-slippy ground again, all of them with bright red faces and sick from laughing.

"Now that was the best Christmas idea ever." Jack declared, and the others nodded, too out of breath to talk. Gwen grinned happily.

"Merry Christmas, Jack!"

There followed the predictable five minutes of warm Christmas exchanges before they all started to go off on in their separate directions into the night. Well, not quite separately. Gwen walked off in the direction of her flat, presumably off to spend Christmas day with Rhys, but Owen and Tosh definitely seemed to be heading off in the same direction, towards Owen's car.

"And where will you be going sir?" Ianto enquired as he watched them leave.

"Back to the Hub, of course. Torchwood is always ready, even at Christmas. Aliens have no sense of timing: We always have an invasion at Christmas, no matter what. Normally it's London that gets it, but we'll be ready all the same."

"You'll be needing a hand then." Ianto said knowingly. "Just in case."

"Is that an offer to help out, Ianto Jones?"

"Well, I don't seem to have anything else to do…" He'd begged his way out of the family gathering this year; said that Cardiff tourist office was always busy at Christmas. His family hadn't quite realised exactly what type of visitor he was referring to though.

Jack grinned broadly, and fervently hoped that the Doctor would be able to sort out whatever alien problem came up, because he certainly wasn't going to be available…

For anyone who's interested, I can skate, but not very well. Last time I went with my friends I was badly shown up by a girl who's as good as, if not better than, Tosh at it. But I do enjoy it.

If you all review I'll give you an extra chapter on Jack's advent calendar, as requested. But only if I'm feeling particularly generous.