TITLE: Family Matters 6/7
AUTHOR: Erin Giles
RATING: PG (for swearing)
SUMMARY: Ianto asks for a personal day, which in itself is an oddity. Jack's curiosity gets the better of him and before he knows it he finds himself in the middle of Ianto's family. Set from Jack's POV.
PAIRING: Jack/Ianto
DISCLAIMER: Not mine, and never will be sadly.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Well It's been a month... and a long month at that. I have had this written for quite a while (sort of) it was getting it onto the computer that was my problem. But today I've pretty much barricaded myself in my room to finish this. One more chapter to go, then it's all over I'm afraid. Another chapter I'm unsure about, but it gets across what I wanted to... everything is not wrapped up in a bow just yet though.

Jack was busy staring at paperwork, pretending to care about some stupid budget cut that UNIT were putting into practice next year when he was really thinking about Ianto. He had left him in bed that morning clinging onto Alf with vehemence and refusing to move out from under the safe confines of his duvet.

"Jack!"

He looked up at the sound of his name, startled and more than a little worried to find Gwen stood in the doorway with Finn in her arms. Jack could see Finn had been crying and watched as he grappled to get out of Gwen's arms. Jack took the small boy, looking questioningly at Gwen, it was Finn that was forthcoming though.

"Uncy Yan's mad at me." Finn sobbed into Jack's shoulder. "I kept asking about Granny and he got really sad before he got really mad, then he said we were going to visit you," Finn hiccoughed, "Then he left me with the strange lady."

Jack tried to hide his worry before the panic set in.

"He's not gone to the same place as Granny has he?"

Jack's heart got caught in his throat for a moment, threatening to strangle him.

"No, don't worry Finn, he hasn't." Jack said as reassuringly as possible, "Now this lady's name is Gwen."

Gwen gave a little wave and a smile.

"Hello." She said as cheerily as she could. Finn returned her wave shyly, half hiding in Jack's shoulder.

"Is it ok if I leave you with her while I go find your Uncle Ianto?" Jack watched as Finn nodded bashfully before he lowered him to the ground. Gwen held out her hand to him.

"Come on, let's see if your Uncle keeps hot chocolate in his cupboard of goodies."

That seemed to ingratiate Gwen to Finn who grasped her hand happily and was cheeky enough to ask if he could have marshmallows.

Jack followed them out his office and watched them almost skip towards the kitchenette, it didn't stop him noticing Gwen's concerned look though.

"Jack, what was that about?" Tosh was looking at him expectantly from her station.

"I need you to do a trace on Ianto's cell phone, or his car, or anything else you can do to trace him. Now would be a good time to tell me we put a lojack on him after the Lisa incident."

Tosh looked at him inquisitively.

"You could try phoning him first though."

Jack tried not to glare at Tosh as he fished his own mobile out his pocket and she started tapping away at her keyboard just as the cog door rolled back. Jack and Tosh looked up expectantly to see a confused looking Owen.

"Did I just see Tea-boy with a Welsh rugby shirt on?"

Jack was almost sick with worry as he circled round the jetties one last time. The sun was on it's way out of the sky now and there was a tranquil afternoon glow around the bay. There had been a red sky that morning when Jack had driven back to the hub as the sun rose. He was struggling with the concept that they might actually have to call in the authorities and start dredging the bay for Ianto when his phone beeped at him. In a flurry of panic it was out, the text message symbol flashing up at him. It was Tosh.

'I've found him Jack. Tosh x'

Jack hit the call button. It went to her voicemail which just made the momentary lapse of worry return tenfold. He tried Ianto's phone, it was still switched off. He was just redialling Tosh's number when his phone beeped again, another message.

'Up by Norwegian Church. I'll bring him back to the hub. Don't worry. Tosh x'

Jack looked across the bay to the big wheel that was lit up there before he set off towards it, that feeling of unease still sitting at the bottom of his stomach.

He spotted them as he walked from the pier head towards the church, they were perched on the front steps together, knees brushing. Tosh's hand was holding Ianto's in her lap and they were conversing, heads bent together almost conspiratorially. He circled round to the back on the church and stood just out of sight, but within earshot.

"It's not just my Mam Tosh, it's…" The Welsh vowels trailed off and Jack heard a sigh.

"You know I've still got that number if you want it Ianto, if you want someone to talk to that isn't family or Jack or me."

"It's hard just to talk though," Ianto sighed again, "My English teacher always said I had a flair with words, said I could have been a writer, but when I need them most them seem to be failing me."

He could hear someone sniffing and he chanced a glance round the corner. Tosh was holding Ianto in a half hug, as silent tears rolled down both their cheeks, matching wistful looks as their stared out into the bay.

Jack turned on his heel and headed back to the hub. He had been privy to too many conversations where the silence spoke louder than words recently.

"What the bloody hell were you thinking Ianto? You can't just go off and leave Finley with strangers, he's just a kid!" Rhiannon was trying hard not to scream and Jack stood uncomfortably by the door, trying not to intrude but wanting desperately to intervene.

"It's alright though Rhiannon, he's fine isn't he, didn't come to harm, and they're hardly strangers."

"That's not the fucking point Ianto Kieran Jones!" Rhiannon screamed. She was pacing the room now, looking almost frantic. Jack glanced out the living room window and caught sight of Chris and Finn in the car happily playing pat-o-cake.

"Look, I'm sorry Ria, I am, but I'm not coping with Mam's death as well as you think I am, or you seem to be. I can't go to Da's and act like fucking happy families! I couldn't do it when Mam was alive so what makes you think I could do it now?" Ianto sank onto the sofa and Ria deflated slightly, moving towards her brother.

"Oh Ianto pet," there were tears in Ria's eyes as she sank onto the sofa beside her brother, a hand going to his cheek, "I keep telling you to stop acting like you're the big brother. You're my baby brother, you were Mam's little boy who always got his own way, you're the nerdy kid who's older sister's beat up the bullies," Ria let out a short laugh and Ianto smiled, tears sparkling in his eyes, "You don't have to pretend to be the man in the suit who takes everything in his stride, and you can talk to me, or Jack," Ria glanced in Jack's direction and Jack shifted slightly, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. He smiled before backing out the room. He could still hear Ria talking though.

"You'll always be the kid in his postman pat PJ's to me Yan."

Jack glanced over his shoulder as he entered the kitchen to see brother and sister embraced in a hug. He heard Ianto sniff loudly as he put the kettle on.

It was long after Rhiannon had left when Jack was doing the dishes again, something that had become far too familiar to him these past few days. He heard the answer machine beep out in the hall and glanced over his shoulder to see Ianto stood beside it.

"Ianto, it's Megan." There was a hiss on the line that suggested at the distance of the call and Jack went back to scrubbing at the coffee mugs.

"I got your message about Mam. Sorry I couldn't come back. I was on my honeymoon, got married again." There was an awkward pause. "You'd like him, New Zealander, rugby player, you still playing?"

Jack had seen an old battered pair of rugby boots at the back of the under stairs cupboard when he was putting the Hoover away the other day. He doubted they'd been used in years.

"I see you've moved back to Wales again, couldn't stay away from the family then?" There was a short sharp laugh and the distant sound of someone shouting. "Anyway Ianto, I best be going. Give my best to Bryn and Rhiannon." There was another pause in which Jack thought Megan had hung up, but her Welsh voice tinged with a hint of Australian came through the speaker again. "Might pop over this summer if I get some time off work, be nice to see you again, all grown up now. Anyway, I'll catch you later." There was another beep and the answering machine clicked off.

Jack glanced back over his shoulder to find Ianto gone from the hall. He was finishing off the last mug when the front door opened and slammed shut.

"Ianto?" By the time Jack got to the front door Ianto's car was no where in sight and his next door neighbour was eyeing Jack up as he dripped soap suds all over the front doorstep.

"Ianto?" Jack's arms came round him slowly, bringing a coat with them. Not that it'll make much difference now, he's already soaked to the skin, and Jack dreads to think how long he's been stood out here, "Are you trying to catch pneumonia?" Jack starts rubbing Ianto's arms now to try and warm him. He's shivering uncontrollably, freezing fingers cradling his precious cargo. He doesn't answer, just continues to stare out at the waves breaking on the horizon beyond Cardiff Bay.

"I'm not ready to let go Jack." Ianto's voice is barely above a whisper and Jack has to turn his head slightly to hear him above the wind. He leans into him, holding Ianto close so he's talking into his ear.

"You don't have to do this today Ianto, but you do need to let go sometime." Jack pauses as the wind whips over the railings, bringing with it the taste of salt. "It'll be hard whenever you do it though. She was your Mom, nothing is ever going to change that or what she means to you." Jack reached out a hand to the urn Ianto was cradling like a new born baby, "That isn't her Ianto, not anymore, and though she's gone, she'll never be dead, not really, not while you remember her." Jack was unsurprised to find tears running down Ianto's cheeks. What he was surprised to find was that he could taste his own salty tears on his lips.

Ianto sniffed loudly, moving away from Jack. Jack watched as he tried to pry the lid of the urn off with numb fingers, mumbling under his breath as he moved towards the railing. The only words that whispered back to Jack on the breeze were, 'I'll miss you.' before Jack watched as ash was picked up by the wind, tumbling and turning like a kite free from it's tether.

Ianto stood for a moment by the railings as the wind whipped at his face, a thoughtful look on his features before without second thought he dropped the urn into the bay.

Jack took the sneeze that issued from Ianto as his cue to step forward and bundle warm arms around him and lead him towards the hub. He wasn't surprised to find Ianto taking wobbly, unsure steps like a new born lamb.

Jack was lain awake, Ianto curled up in his arms. Ianto had all but crawled into Jack's lap when they had sat on the bed together, Ianto wrapped up in a blanket to warm him. He looked so fragile, his face a picture of childlike innocence as he'd sighed contentedly, burying his face in Jack's shoulder as they'd settled back into the pillows. Jack could feel Ianto's breath tickling the nape of his neck now, mumbled words of a sleep fraught with dreams of remembering.

"Don't go…" Ianto's breathy whisper caught Jack unawares and he started slightly, looking down at Ianto's fluttering eyelids as numb fingers crumpled the front of Jack's shirt, clinging on for dear life.

Jack was reminded again of Ianto's nephew Finn and how young Ianto was, not just compared to Jack, but the rest of the team as well.

'It's not just my Mam Tosh, it's…'

Everything else. Ianto had survived Canary Wharf, had seen his girlfriend killed, lost his mother and from what Jack had seen lost a large part of his childhood, no matter how much Ria had fought to keep Ianto as Mummy's little boy. Ianto was no longer Mummy's little boy, had been hiding that part of him for so long that Jack never even knew it existed and Ianto had apparently forgotten he had even been that way once upon a time.

Jack had seen a side to Ianto this past week that he hoped to see more of. He had been scared that there was no longer anything beyond the suit and the mask that were so carefully worn everyday, seen without thought or concern by the world at large. For once he was glad he was wrong.

"Got lost…" Jack felt the hand on his shirt tighten and he reached up a hand to run it through Ianto's hair that was flat against his forehead. His lips brushed Ianto's forehead and Ianto responded by turning into Jack's touch.

"Sorry Mam…"