Ianto's birthday routine was quite set by now. He studiously ignored the date, went about his life as usual, and felt bitter only when his mind wasn't occupied with anything else. Thus, Ianto did his best to be occupied—filing, paperwork, tourists, aliens... anything that could fit the bill. The past few years had successfully overridden the hatred he'd held for birthdays in his younger years but he still felt decidedly off as the day approached and tried not to draw attention to himself.

So business as usual, then.

The day got off to a normal start: Jack greeted Ianto with a kiss when they met outside a cafe to get pastries for the team together, gave him another kiss upon sending him towards the coffee machine, and a final kiss when Ianto descended to the Archives.

Whether it was a birthday thing or just Jack feeling extra romantic, Ianto wasn't sure. But he wasn't complaining.

The day continued predictably: Owen and Tosh went out into the field and returned with a broken piece of tech, Gwen began another pet project, Jack frequently checked in with Ianto via comms—mostly in an attempt to initiate phone sex, but also to verify a restaurant reservation for the next week—and Ianto himself organized yet another shelf in the Hub's endless maze of archives.

It was only when Ianto put aside the artefacts and went upstairs that things went tits-up. And not in the fun way.

Maybe it's the Rift's way of saying "happy birthday," he thought vaguely as Jack thrust a giant gun into his hands and pushed him towards one of the backup SUVs. Because there was no way that the coordination of a Rift junk drop with a real invasion was an accident.

Soon, though, Ianto didn't have the time for such vague thoughts, fully tuned into Jack's orders, getting distracted only to take matters into his own hands when he got to the second site of the invasions' two-pronged attack. Between slapdash translation, junk pick-up, and coordination with UNIT's late-arrived and undermanned forces, Ianto hardly noticed the last dregs of the summer day drift into night.

It was the night—dark, starless, obscured by city lights and discolored by the spaceships' reflective surfaces and beacons—that the alien forces left into. It was hardly night anymore, sunrise only an hour off and the sky already tinted grey.

Useless, Ianto thought bitterly at the UNIT team as Jack ordered them all home, with firm instructions not to come in until the next Rift alert called them back. Knowing Jack, the next alert they would be called into would not be the first one the Rift would throw at them—Jack would take that one, risking himself to let them rest. Ianto resolved, even though the haze of spending too much time away, to hold on to Jack's arm when he would inevitably try to sneak out of bed to do so, to come with him if only to sit in the SUV and watch Jack do the work.

I know what you're thinking, Jack's look seemed to say when Ianto saw him several minutes later.

Ianto answered with a look of his own: Too bad.

Jack laughed and shook his head; later, Ianto would wake upon hearing Jack's wriststrap, would silently follow Jack out to the SUV, would be herded to stay in place and follow along on one of the built-in computers, would ride to the Hub with Jack to drop off the newest Weevil, and would take a quick run into the cafe for some breakfast pastries that would stay on the kitchen table as they finished their interrupted sleep.

Thank you so much for reading and let me know what you think! :D