The Twelve Days of Christmas
4 January
The Rift, which had been relatively inactive over the holiday period, decided to open four times in quick succession overnight. Jack, on his own in the Hub as Zanthis had left and Ianto had declined an invitation to stay, caught the first opening. He combed Roath Park for over an hour before he found all the small creatures that had come through. Before he had a chance to get back to base, the Rift opened again just after midnight. This was a larger incursion in Grangetown and he called in Gwen to assist in dealing with locals whose sleep had been disturbed by the small spacecraft which had crashed into a back garden killing all on board. They had time to get the disabled craft strapped to the roof of the SUV before the next opening occurred. This was a simple pick-up - of something which resembled a pizza – so Gwen dealt with this one.
Jack returned to the base, hauled the spacecraft inside and put the creatures – in his pocket until then - in a box on his desk. He had just heard from Gwen that she had the 'pizza' when the Rift opened for the fourth time in less than seven hours. Both of them went to Riverside where more space junk had been deposited, this time on a school playing field. It was gone seven o'clock before they finished collecting the debris and wearily headed back to the Hub.
"I'm starved," said Gwen over the comms from her car which was following the SUV. "Let's stop for something to eat."
"Good idea. How about Mario's?"
"Fine. See you there."
Mario's was a popular hang-out for people in their way to work and parking was at a premium. Gwen found a space just big enough for her car but Jack had to park a couple of streets away: sometimes the SUV's bulk was a disadvantage. Inside the café was warm and welcoming and they settled at a table for two and ordered a full English breakfast with mugs of tea.
"You told Ianto where we are?" she asked, leaning back in the chair.
"Not had time. Why don't you do it?"
She sighed, reached for her mobile and made the call. She got voicemail – he was probably in the shower or driving into work – so she left a message and closed the phone. "What is it with you two? You never seem to get on for more than a couple of days at a time."
He shrugged. "Don't ask me. He's the one that got into a huff."
The food arrived at this time and Gwen waited until the waitress had left before continuing the conversation. As she poured ketchup, she said, "Well, you did make a pig's ear of things yesterday."
"Not my fault the hot guys got in amongst the pole dancers. I didn't make them." He cut into his sausage and stuffed a large piece in his mouth. "They did that all on their own," he mumbled.
"But you could, no, you should have sent them on their way before that."
"Huh! I remember you agreeing there was plenty of time." He glared at her.
"Because I assumed you'd done a decent job with the remote. Fancy forgetting to charge it!" She put a forkful of bacon and baked beans into her mouth and chewed.
"How was I to know it wasn't charged properly? Ianto's getting slapdash."
"And you wonder why he's mad at you?" She rolled her eyes, not wanting an answer. "Telling him that was not a good move, Jack."
"It's his job to keep the equipment ready for whenever we need it. It should have been charged."
"That is so unfair." She laid down her fork and glared at him. "He does more that we do to keep the place running, including cleaning up the mess after all those birds and itzuli. There are only so many hours in the day, and he works almost all of them. It's about time you appreciated him more." Jack refused to respond, keeping his head down and concentrating on his meal.
After a moment, Gwen shook her head and sighed heavily before starting to eat again. Both men were pig-headed and she was getting tired of their little spats. If she could, she'd lock them in a cell together until they worked out their differences once and for all but she couldn't, they were too small a team. And perhaps that added to the stresses on Jack and Ianto. With only three of them they got on one another's nerves more often. She had the luxury of being able to go home to Rhys and get away from it all, even if it was only for a few hours, while Jack and Ianto were together – mostly in the Hub – constantly. And, she admitted, they took more of the call-outs to give her some semblance of a private life. It was a mess she didn't see a way of resolving unless Jack recruited more people, and none of them were ready for that yet.
Elsewhere in Cardiff, Ianto listened to the message from Gwen after parking his car. He was surprised but grateful that Jack had not called him in to deal with the Rift openings; the full night's sleep had done him good. They all three of them worked such long hours that they were constantly tired, or at least Gwen and he were. Lack of sleep didn't seem to affect Jack so much. With a sigh, Ianto walked into the Hub and began his usual cleaning routine. As he worked he considered his relationship with his boss, wondering at the way it went from close and loving to hostile in a blink of an eye. It was all because they cared for one another too much, he decided; a single word of criticism hurt deeply. He wondered if they would ever find the kind of give-and-take that Gwen and Rhys had achieved. If we have time, maybe we will, he thought as he headed into the work area.
Gwen arrived at the Hub first and waited for Jack to catch up. They walked into the Hub carrying two boxes of space debris and the 'pizza'. "Put them here for now," said Jack, indicating the half-moon bench. "I'll go through them later then Ianto can archive them." He looked round and saw Ianto standing in the office doorway facing him. "Hey, Ianto, any chance of a coffee?"
The Welshman did not reply.
"Are you not talking to me now?" Jack went on, climbing the steps to the work area.
"Can't move," whispered Ianto, pulling a face.
"What?" Jack moved closer and noticed Ianto's suit was … moving. "Oh my," he said, smiling.
"What's going on?" asked Gwen, joining them. "Ugh, what are they!" she shrieked taking a step backwards.
"They're harmless. Hold still and I'll get them off you. Gwen, get a containment box. One with a lid. "
In a few minutes, the hundreds of small caterpillar-like creatures had been removed from Ianto who sagged with relief, right into Jack's arms. Gwen made sure the box was secure before going to her own desk; she expected her colleagues to disappear into the archives very soon, that's where they usually went to make up.
-ooOoo-
At eleven o'clock the three of them were on the Plass ready for the penultimate gift to arrive. Jack and Ianto were back on good terms and had ensured the PDA with the remote Rift control was working properly so they wouldn't have the same fiasco as yesterday when Jack had had to sprint into the Hub while all hell broke loose above him.
"Is it ready?" asked Ianto, stopwatch in hand.
"Uh-huh. And I'll use it soon as we've confirmed they're all in place." Jack tried his best to look contrite but it was hard for him.
"What's coming today?" Gwen was stood beside Ianto leaning back against the railing. "New, I mean."
"Eleven pipers," supplied Ianto. "They should be here … now!"
The air shimmered again and the panoply of gifts appeared around the water tower in an instant. Gwen's eyes went immediately to the leaping naked men, once again admiring their physiques. Jack watched them too, but was also drawn to the scantily-clad pole dancers. Then the distinctive, lilting sound of panpipes reached them all, played by eleven men and women clad in colourful ponchos and small black hats who were sitting cross-legged on the ground.
"Oh, is that it?" Jack was disappointed having expected bagpipes played by men in kilts.
"At least they're sitting down," commented Ianto dryly. "Come on, time to get rid of them before those leaping lords get up to their tricks."
"Okay, here goes." Jack entered the relevant code and suddenly the Plass was empty once more.
"Time for coffee." Ianto went to the invisible lift but his two colleagues paused before following, sorry the day's display had ended so soon.
Final chapter tomorrow ...
