The last chapter and there's a special visitor ...

Once Upon A Time …

Day Twelve: Christmas Day 2008

Waking up in Jack's bed had become commonplace to Ianto but waking up in his arms was new. Usually Jack was up and about long before Ianto but today, Christmas Day, he was still in the narrow bed below the office.

"Merry Christmas, Ianto," said Jack, kissing the other man's forehead.

"Nadloig Llawen, Jack."

"Ohhh, I love it when you talk dirty."

"It means 'Happy Christmas', fool." Ianto punched him on the arm before snuggling further into Jack's embrace. "This is nice."

"I can think of something nicer to do, now you're finally awake." He whispered in Ianto's ear and both men started laughing.

An hour and a half later they finally emerged from Jack's quarters. Ianto started clearing up after the previous day's party while Jack settled at the PC and checked the Rift monitor and other alerts; it may be Christmas Day but that did not mean a holiday for Torchwood. Pausing in his work, Ianto remembered something he wanted to ask.

"Jack, yesterday when John and Charlot told us how you'd met …" He stopped, not sure how to phrase what he wanted to say.

"What about it?" Jack had swung round in his chair and was facing the Welshman.

"I felt there was something you weren't telling us."

"You'd be right, no need to wreck two perfectly good marriages." He grinned. "I mean, what bride wants to be told her groom was being bedded by the poster-boy of the Time Agency!"

Ianto stared at him. "Both of them?"

"Uh huh. Not together, unfortunately." He turned back to the PC, idly humming Jingle Bells and eating a stale mince pie he had found on a plate.

"You're incorrigible."

"You wouldn't want me any other way!" He grinned over his shoulder then went on with his work.

Ianto thought about this as he made several trips to the kitchen with the plates, glasses and leftover food. He decided that Jack was right. Flirting and sexual 'adventures' were the very essence of Jack; take that away and he'd be a different, a lesser, man. With the work area back to rights, Ianto went to the cells and started the round of feeding. It was unusual to have so many humanoids – forty thieves and Robin Hood and his three Merry Men – as well as the resident Weevils and it took a long time to get round them all. He closed his ears to the abuse aimed his way and carried on stoically. Finally, he returned to the main levels and thought of making another mug of coffee.

"There you are. Good, I was just coming to find you." Jack was beaming at him. "Gwen and Rhys'll be here in half an hour."

"What? I thought you gave her the day off?"

"She won't want to miss this," grinned Jack. "And anyway, we need Rhys and his bus."

"Not more people!" groaned Ianto. "We're running out of room down there."

"Quite the opposite, my little Welsh snowflake." Jack was in a very good mood. "We're going to load up what we've got and hand them over to a friend of mine."

"Snowflake?" Ianto automatically queried, eyebrow raised. However, he was pleased to be getting rid of their guests so didn't pursue the point. "Is this a bounty hunter?"

"No, a friend who owes me a favour. He'll take them back to the relevant authorities. Oh don't worry," he added, correctly interpreting Ianto's look, "there's no capital punishment where they're going."

Twenty minutes later, a pissed off Gwen came through the garage door. "This better be good, Jack. It's Christmas Day, for fuck's sake! Do you know what hoops I had to go through so Rhys and I could spend it alone!?"

"You'll love this, Gwen, promise!" Jack grabbed her by the arms and swung her round in an impromptu dance. "Where's your other half?"

"In the minibus. Rhys has brought the bigger one though I'm still not sure how we're going to get them all in."

"We'll manage. Ah, here they come." He looked across at the archway to the vaults and the column of prisoners – handcuffed and linked together – who filed in supervised by Ianto. "This way, gentlemen, this way."

With surprising docility (Ianto didn't let on about the sedative he'd put in the prisoners' breakfasts) the forty thieves and the Sherwood Prime outlaws were loaded onto the minibus. It was a tight squeeze but with three small ones to a double seat and some on the floor they all fitted in. Just about.

"Where we going then?" asked Rhys grumpily. This was not how he had planned spending his Christmas Day morning. He was also less than happy to see Gwen squeezed into the front passenger seat next to Jack – she was almost sitting on his lap!

"The Castle."

"Right, of course, why did I ask?" he said sarcastically.

With a sigh, he started the bus and drove out slowly taking care with the overloaded vehicle; he didn't want to be stopped by the police. There were quite a few cars on the road, people going to visit relations and friends or heading out of the city on this bright, sunny day for some exercise before the traditional large lunch. They arrived at the Castle safely and Rhys turned into the entrance which was, as he had expected, barred. Even this money spinner was closed on Christmas Day.

"I'll open up," said Jack, leaping from the vehicle and heading for the gates.

"How's he got a key?" Rhys asked his wife, seeing Jack unlocking the heavy padlock and bolts.

"No idea. Let's just get this over with then we can get on with our day," she soothed.

When Jack had the gates open, he waved Rhys forward and waited until the bus was through before pulling them closed again. He jogged over to join the three of them as they got out of the minibus, grinning happily. "No, Ianto, leave them on the bus. He won't be here for another five minutes."

"It's always going to be like this, isn't it?" sighed Rhys looking forlorn. "He's always going to drag us along on whatever mad scheme he's got going."

Gwen laughed. "Jack's a law unto himself, love, you should know that by now. And you could have said no."

He laughed shortly. "That'd be like trying to stop an avalanche with a toothpick! Who we waiting for anyway?"

"We're meeting a friend of Jack's," explained Ianto, looking over at his boss who was standing in the middle of the grass looking up at the sky and then at his wrist-strap and back again repeatedly. The three watchers huddled into their coats – it was sunny but there was a distinct nip in the air – and waited in various degrees of impatience.

"He's coming!" yelled Jack, bounding over to join them. He beamed at them all then turned his attention to the clear blue sky. The others followed his gaze.

"No," breathed Gwen, grasping Rhys' hand.

"I don't believe it," murmured Ianto.

"Bloody hell," added Rhys.

With a swoosh the sleigh skimmed over their heads before the reindeer turned and did a couple of circuits, the bells on their harness jingled as they lost altitude and came to rest on the grass. The eight reindeer came to a halt, snorting and pawing at the ground, as a large man in a red suit and with white hair and beard secured the reins and got out of the sleigh.

"Ho-ho-ho-how are you, Jack?" the man boomed and wrapped Jack in a bear hug.

"All the better for seeing you, San-Ta." Jack turned to his watching colleagues and noted their stunned expressions. "Everyone, meet San-Ta Claustatriposoll."

"Ca-ca-ca-call me San-Ta."

"But …" managed Gwen, the only one able to form even one word.

"I know, I know," grinned Jack, "it's San-Ta Claus. This is his time for Earth, has been for centuries."

"Wa-wa-wa-what is it you want me to do?" asked San-Ta.

"Take these guys back home, if you will. It's Robin the Hood, three of his men and the forty thieves of Arabia Nine. Quite a haul, and you can keep the rewards."

"I-I-I-I can't do that. The rewards should be yours."

"Nah, you can have them, San-Ta. Just take this lot off my hands."

"Th-th-th-thanks, I'll use the credits wisely."

With everyone helping, it took very little time to load the prisoners into a sealed compartment on the sleigh – it was bigger on the inside – and settle them in. They went quietly enough and Ianto was pleased to see the back of them. It had also occurred to him that he would now be free to enjoy the day with Jack, Rift permitting.

"Ca-ca-ca-can't leave without giving you something." San-Ta reached into a large sack on the back of the sleigh; it hung limply from his hand and looked empty. He looked hard at each of them. "Have you been good this year? And do you believe?"

"I have," said Gwen straightaway, "and I've always believed."

"You know I believe in you," started Jack slowly. "Not sure about being good though." He pulled a face doubtfully.

"He has been," said Ianto quickly and forcefully, taking Jack's hand. "He's saved the world again and again."

"I-I-I-I understand," nodded San-Ta sagely. "And you, Ianto Jones?"

"I try to be good but … but I didn't believe in you."

"Hey, with his goodness and my belief we surely earned a present." Jack looked hopefully at his friend, squeezing Ianto's hand.

"Per-per-per-perhaps," smiled San-Ta.

"I believe in you and I've been good," assured Rhys, his fingers crossed behind his back.

"Ummm." San-Ta shook his head obviously not convinced. "Oh well." He reached into his sack and pulled out parcels wrapped in an iridescent red paper. "Merry Christmas." He handed them round before getting back in the sleigh. "Go-go-go-got to go, I'm running late."

Gwen, who had been patting one of the reindeer, moved back with the others to a safe distance and watched as the sleigh was pulled along until it had sufficient speed to lift off and sail up into the sky again. San-Ta circled once and then was off, becoming smaller and smaller as he moved across the sky before disappearing in a small flash of blue light.

"What just happened here?" asked Ianto still not quite believing what he had witnessed.

"We just met San-Ta." Jack was still grinning at them, delighted to have amazed them once more. "He made his fortune mining gresqpe chips in the Taswiee Cluster and started sharing his wealth. Now he visits different worlds giving out presents."

"He visits the whole universe in one day? Christmas Day?" Ianto found it hard enough to believe he could get round Earth; the whole universe was definitely impossible.

"No, he spends all year at it. Turns up on different days wherever people still believe in him. Good job you three convinced him you still believe."

"He's not some power-crazed alien trying over the world then?" asked Rhys.

"Did he look like he was!?" Jack shook his head. "He comes to give presents to people, like I said. No more, no less. He'd already done his rounds for this year here, I was lucky to catch him."

"Come here," beamed Gwen, grabbing Jack and kissing him soundly. "You've destroyed so many fairy tales for me these past few days but at least I can still believe in Santa!"

"Santa Claus, a real-life intergalactic philanthropist," mused Ianto, a smile playing on his lips. "Tosh would have loved that."

"Yeah, she would," agreed Gwen with an answering smile. She was back beside Rhys, with his arm round her waist. "And Owen would have had a field day making fun."

The three Torchwood team members were silent for a moment and Rhys recognised that the loss of their two colleagues still pained them. He decided it would get maudlin if they continued to dwell on their losses so looked round for a diversion. "Do we get to open our presents now?" he asked, feeling the one he had been given.

"Absolutely," agreed Jack. He ripped the paper off his and revealed a bottle of hyper-vodka. "Fantastic," he beamed.

Rhys had torn open his present too. "Socks," he said sourly; he got enough of those from his family.

"But not normal ones," explained Jack, looking them over. "These will keep your feet warm in winter and cool in summer and they'll never get dirty or smell so will never need washing."

"They're still socks," murmured Rhys only slightly placated.

"Jack, what's this?" asked Gwen. Her present was a dull crystal egg, at least that's what she thought it was.

"Ohh, very special. You open it by twisting this," he demonstrated. "Smell."

Gwen did as she was told and smelt the exotic fragrance of … she wasn't sure what but it was beautiful. "It's perfume."

"Yep. What have you got, Ianto?"

He was puzzled and held it up for the others to see. "A watch but it's not got numbers on it, see."

"Brilliant, a weather-watch. It tells the weather not the time," grinned Jack.

"How?" asked a puzzled Rhys.

"Don't ask," said Gwen, her hand on his arm, "Jack'll only confuse you."

"But now, time for a drink, kids." Jack asked, rubbing his hands together. "Pubs are open and it's Christmas."

The four of them went to the pub where they enjoyed a drink together before Gwen and Rhys returned home for their leisurely day. Jack and Ianto walked back to the Hub, hand in hand and singing carols at the tops of their voices. All of them had A VERY HAPPY CHRISTMAS.

I hope your day is as happy as theirs. Merry Christmas and thanks for reading - Jay