Chapter 13
Ianto groaned as he woke up bearing a slight hangover and not enough sleep.
Pulling himself out of bed he stumbled across the hallway and into the bathroom to shower and get ready for work.
He was just finishing his shower and stepping out to grab a towel when the bathroom door opened and Arabella poked her head through the gap.
Ianto jumped in fright having completely forgotten that she had spent the night in his spare room.
"Arabella what are you doing?!" Ianto demanded wrapping the towel tightly around his waist in embarrassment.
"I was gonna ask if you wanted breakfast?" Arabella replied with a shrug
"And that couldn't have waited until after I was out of the shower and dressed?" Ianto replied blushing
"What?" Arabella asked then she realised what his problem was and snorted. "Don't worry sweetheart you haven't got anything I haven't seen before. Now do you want breakfast or not?"
"No thanks I'll pick something up on the way to work," Ianto replied feeling his face get even redder
"Alright then suit yourself," Arabella replied before disappearing through the doorway leaving Ianto to finish getting ready in private.
Ianto groaned, God she was going to be the death of him
Reaching under the desk of the tourist office he hit the button that would allow him access to the hub.
It was time to take Diane, John and Emma to the shops and show them how to use their allowance as well as how the people of this time shopped, travelled and generally went about their days.
He was just about to go down and get them when Jack came flying through the door first.
"Hey," Jack smiled stepping up to Ianto and pulling him into a deep kiss.
"Hey back, I was just on my way down to get our guests, they're ready for their shopping trip," Ianto explained not quite sure how to take Jack's welcome,
"Yeah they are, thanks for taking them out, some how I just don't think the rest of us would do a very good job at teaching them." Jack said with a grin
"No I don't imagine you would be. I should get going, are you going to see Arabella?" Ianto asked extracting himself from the Captains grip
"Not today, with these three on my hands I don't know when I'll have time." Jack said feeling a stab of disapointment at the loss but covering it up with a cocky stance hands in his pockets, smirk on his face.
"May I suggest you find some before she comes marching into the hub and drags you off," Ianto said with a smirk before moving past Jack and down into the hub.
Ianto walked out of his office ready to go home.
It had been a few days since the three travellers who got lost in time turned up on their doorstep and now they were all finally on their way.
Gwen had sent him a message earlier letting him know that Emma was taking the job in London and was leaving on the bus in the morning.
Diane and Owen had gotten awfully close very fast, so he suspected she'd be around for a while yet.
It was John who was worrying him though.
He'd seemed so edgy when he'd been in here earlier looking for a bus timetable and he just wasn't settling in like the others.
Jack had noticed it too, he seemed to have a bit of a soft spot for the lost man, he'd spent most of the last few days with either John and he with Arabella so Ianto had barely seen Jack at all.
It bothered him a little that at a time like his he wasn't getting to spend any time with him.
It was Christmas tomorrow, he'd be with his sister and have spent no time with his lover.
Ianto paused in his thoughts as he realised his keys weren't where he left them.
Searching the entire desk he reached for his phone and dialled Jack's number.
His keys were missing and he had a bad feeling about where they'd gone.
Ianto sat up from where he'd been dozing on the coach in Jack's office waiting for his boss to return, as he heard someone enter the room.
So when Arabella walked through the office door instead of Jack he couldn't help but stare at her in confusion.
"How did you get in here?" Ianto finally asked as she sat down on the coach next to him.
"I've had the access codes for the hub for years and years, I don't use them very often but they've come in handy on the odd occasion." Arabella replied
"Ok what are you doing here?" Ianto asked sitting up properly as he tried to cover a yawn.
"I was supposed to be meeting Jack so we could spend some time together before I leave. I need to be back in London in time for Christmas morning with Peter. But Jack didn't show up so I came looking for him. What are you doing here?" Arabella asked
"I was going home but...(yawn)... John the guy who fell through the rift stole my car. Jack's gone after him but that was hours ago and since my car's gone and Jack took the SUV I've got no way of getting home until Jack comes back."
"Taxi?"
"It's Christmas eve, and very late, even if I could get a taxi I'd feel bad about it," Ianto sighed head dropping back onto the coach behind him.
"Here," Arabella said taking Ianto's hand and dropping a set of keys into it. "Take my bike, go home and sleep. You're with your family tomorrow, you shouldn't be tired," She said
"I can't…" Ianto began to protest only to have Arabella's hand clamped over his mouth.
"Take them, I'll drop your car back and pick up my bike when Jack returns don't worry, I'll let myself in you won't even know I've been there until you wake up and see your car."
Ianto was too tired to argue so he kissed Arabella on the cheek taking the keys and headed out the door.
Jack stumbled back into the hub exhausted from dying and coming back a few too many times in a row.
John was laid out on a stretcher covered in a sheet in the garage, he'd move him up into the morgue in a little while, right now he just needed to rest and find Ianto.
"Yan?" Jack called out though his voice was harsh and croaky from the monoxide poisoning.
A figure stepped out of his office and Jack frowned confused up at it, it looked wrong somehow he thought distantly before passing out on the stairs.
Arabella stared down at the unconscious form on her Ex on the stairs and sighed.
"What the hell have you done to yourself this time?" she muttered stepped down, eyes turning silver as she prepared to lift his weight.
With a small grunt of effort, due to the odd angle she was picking him up from, not his weight she managed to manoeuvre the unconscious captain down to his quarters and onto the bed.
"Damn you stink. I dread to think of what Ianto's car looks like," Arabella said stripping him down to his boxers and tossing a blanket over him, knowing if he'd revived enough times to have him pass out he'd be asleep for a while.
Making her way down to the garage she covered her nose coughing as the smell hit her.
There was no way she was giving Ianto his car back it needed to go, but first she had a lot of cleaning up to do.
Jack groan as he stirred away, a headache already beginning to pound away just behind his eyes.
"Here," a soft voice said as he felt a glass pushed into his hand.
Sitting up and muttering a thankyou to Arabella who was perched on the side of his bed he drank greedily from the glass only pausing long enough to swallow the painkillers she handed him.
"How long were you in that car for Jack?" Arabella asked and Jack knew straight away from her tone that he was in deep shit.
"A few hours. I couldn't talk him out of it and I didn't want him to die alone." Jack sighed placing the glass on his bedside table.
"And you figured Ianto's car was the best place to do it?" Arabella snorted
"No…I," Jack began only to be cut off
"The car's ruined Jack. I rang around and conned a dealer to come in earlier so I could run down and I took Ianto a new car this morning, which by the way you paid for, but there is no way in hell I'm explaining it to him. And let me tell you he's not real impressed." Arabella scowled
"The car was ruined before I got there. John was almost dead when I first got there and pulled him out. I'll make it up to Ianto somehow, where is he?" Jack asked knowing that Arabella being made at him had to do with a lot more than wrecking Ianto's car he just wasn't sure what.
"I sent him home last night. Waiting around a cold dank Hub to clean up your shit when you get back was no way for someone his age to be spending his Christmas Eve,"
"Christmas Eve?" Jack asked honesty surprised he'd completely lost track of time over the last few days.
"Yes, today is Christmas, many happy returns. Have you spent anytime with your boyfriend in the past few days for Christmas? I seen him nearly everyday, we've been shopping, to lunch, to dinner, the movies, hell I even taught him how to ride my motorbike. What the hell have you done!" Arabella fumed standing up and pacing.
"I'm trying to protect him!" Jack snapped back begining to loose his patience
"What?!" Arabella yelled spinning around to face him.
"I'm just trying to protect him. I've been distancing myself from Ianto for a while now. It's the only way to protect him from what's coming." Jack replied sitting up and swinging his legs round so he was perched on the side of the bed,
"What do you mean distancing," Arabella demanded and Jack could hear the warning lacing her voice.
"Getting out of bed early so he wakes up alone, nothing to romantic… so he thinks it's more of a friends with benefits thing, distanced from me. If he knows how I really feel he'll be to close when it happens and he'll be hurt," Jack muttered, saying it out loud just made he realise how lame it sounded,
"When what happens?" Arabella asked hands on hips staring down at him.
"I don't know something's coming. Something big. Something Bad. I can't loose him," Jack said head dropping into his hands.
"You love him?" Arabella asked, though it was more of a statement than a question.
"I'm well on my way," Jack confirmed before something hard slammed into the back of his head.
"Oww What the fuck?!" he yelped head snapping up to find Arabella standing over him with a rolled up newspaper in her hand, "Did you just..."
"Jack you dumbass! What the hell were you thinking?!"
"Damn it Ari I'm trying to protect him!"
"He's a Pirask, not some fragile human! He'll survive everything but being blown to smithereens! Are you really going to risk loosing who could be your life mate just to stop him getting a scratch that with a decent drink will heal within an hour or two!"
Jack stared at Arabella with his mouth open as what she said began to sink in.
"Life Mate?" he asked stunned
Was Ianto really his life mate… he was Pirask he'd heal and it was possible he'd live as long as him in the right conditions. He'd never be alone. But even if Ianto was human and he was his life mate he'd still want to be with him as long as they had. And he'd almost thrown it all away
"What do I do?" Jack asked looking up at Arabella
She rolled her eyes in exasperation at him "Get off your ass and go and fix it!"
"I don't know where he is," Jack said heading towards his wardrobe
"It's Christmas, he's with his family, which is where I'm supposed to be. Peter's pissed at you by the way, I blamed you for me not being home." Ari shrugged at the annoyed look Jack tossed his way "Well it is your fault,"
"I don't suppose you know where his family is?" Jack sighed pulling an outfit from his wardrobe.
"I looked up the address and left it on your desk. Now if you'll excuse me I have a bike to push to it's limit to get home to my husband," Arabella said stepping towards the ladder
"Have you got your bike or one of the amped up Pirask bikes?" Jack asked tossing the clothes on his bed and stepping up to her
"An Amped up," Arabella smirked
"Then you'll be home in no time," Jack said hugging her tightly "Thankyou," he said kissing her gently
"Go to him,"
"I will,"