Author's Note: Love to everyone! I updated before midnight! Yay *runs after pumpkin*

"Tybalt!" Ianto cried happily, bending down to scoop him up and cradling him in his arms like a baby. "Did you miss me?"

"He certainly did," Ally told him from her desk. "He's stayed here most nights, Gordon took him."

"I bet he enjoyed that," Ianto grinned, setting Tybalt back on the floor so that he could remove his coat.

"Who?" Ally looked down at her work. "The cat, or the Prime Minister?"

Ianto paused, then hung his coat up carefully and picked Tybalt up again. "We should get Gordon a cat."

"He already has one," she told him without looking up. "Yours."

"Tyb won't be around forever," Ianto pointed out as he dropped into his chair and started sorting through the paperwork that had built up for him over the week. "You seem to have kept on top of this stuff."

"Yeah, there's just the reports that you need for today, a few that came up on your flags on the system and some letters and emails you need to reply to personally," she brought across the day's schedule for him to check and scratched Tybalt behind the ear. "he's only a kitten, Ianto, he'll be around for a long time yet."

"Not what I meant," he smiled up at her and took the schedule, running his eyes down it to check that everyone who needed to be on there was on there. "Gordon first then," he stood up again and tucked Tybalt under his arm. "Can you add me a chicken club baguette to the lunch order if Carole comes around whilst I'm gone?"

"Sure," she agreed, sitting back at her desk and reached for the phone. "Oh, by the way," she smiled a truly genuine, happy smile at him when he paused in the doorway. "Congratulations, to both of you."

Ianto was still smiling as he walked the now familiar corridors, greeting people he knew and trying absentmindedly to control the squirming animal under his arm. By the time he reached Gordon's office, Tybalt was following behind him, mewing plaintively to be picked up again. Anthony glared at him with the expression of an allergic cat hater, and showed Ianto into the anteroom. "The Prime Minister will be with you shortly, Mr Jones, he is just finishing off an important phone call at the moment."

Ianto nodded his understanding and took a seat, patting his leg twice to encourage Tybalt into his lap. "Thank you, I'm sure I can... amuse myself."

Anthony shook his head and settled back behind the desk, wrinkling his nose. One imagined that his pristine suit had never seen a cat hair, until now. There were plenty on Ianto's waistcoat for it to study. They played the game of frosty politeness for about five minutes before the inner door opened and Gordon emerged, all warm smiles which melted the tense atmosphere, and squeezed Ianto's hand, clapping him on the shoulder as he did so. "Congratulations, Ianto. I'm so happy for the pair of you."

"Thank you," he couldn't even be embarrassed, not even with Anthony glaring at him. "Word seems to have spread fast," he rolled his eyes. "Ah, Jacs."

"Indeed," Gordon smirked gently and watched Tybalt, who had wiggled loose again, make his way into the office. "Tybalt, I think, has the right idea, Ianto. Shall we take this indoors?"

Ianto beamed and nodded his assent, following Gordon into the room with Anthony behind him. Gordon sat down at his desk and beckoned Tybalt into his lap, gesturing to the other chair for Ianto. "How was Cardiff?"

"Cold and wet," Ianto told him, "but it certainly had its advantages." he wanted a cup of coffee to smirk over the rim of. "We got a lot of work done, made leaps in our understanding of the team dynamics..."

"And got engaged."

"And got engaged," he agreed. "I got quite a lot done on my list."

Gordon chuckled and accepted a coffee cup from Anthony, waiting until he'd given one to Ianto and left. "So what recommendations have you brought back with you?"

Ianto sipped at the coffee and turned the thoughts over in his mind. "I have an ambitious proposal."

"Another?"

He smirked. "I intend to reform Torchwood London," Gordon's eyebrows shot up. "A team of twelve, divided into the four archivists already here, four technicians cum field agents and four dedicated field agents. I would propose Analyn, after a period of field training with either Torchwood Cardiff or UNIT, as the Director."

"And you would..." Gordon clearly already knew.

"My husband-to-be is in Cardiff," he grinned. "And, more seriously, Cardiff needs me."

"Jack needs you," he agreed. "Well, I wish you the best of luck, Mr Jones, but there is work to be done first."

"True," he agreed, stretching one long leg out to trip Tybalt. "I have a selection of proposals..."

Gordon sighed and pulled his glasses out, putting them on to read the files Ianto handed him. "I must be seen to make some effort at keeping you here, you understand?" he nodded. "But anyone in a position to question will know you, and will therefore know that there is no chance of my succeeding," he didn't look up. "I shall read and digest this, and then I think our charming assistants should pencil us in for a lunch meeting."

"An excellent suggestion," Ianto smiled and stood up, going to retrieve Tybalt from the drinks cabinet. "And now, I think, I have to go and be talked at by Colonel Mace for a while."

"My sympathies, Ianto," Gordon chuckled. "Tell that man of yours that I send my best wishes. I dare say that we shall need him to join the discussions before very long anyway," he opened the door and stood back to let Ianto out. "Ah, Anthony, could you arrange a meeting for me and Ianto on Monday morning, please? We will discuss your proposals and then you can present them at the UNIT conference next month."

"Just what I was going to suggest," he agreed. "Should I mention it to Colonel Mace?"

"Yes, I think so. It needs to go on the agenda at least. Hopefully the full conference in December can be used as recruitment for you, unless you would rather find them elsewhere?"

"I prefer my own recruitment techniques," Ianto told him.

"Indeed," Gordon checked the clock and Anthony opened the other door. "Well, I will see you on Monday then, Ianto."

"Yes, Prime Minister," Ianto set Tybalt down as soon as the door closed and followed him through the corridors back to their office. He sank down behind his desk and opened the first file on the pile. "You should get a message from Anthony, Ally. I need you to arrange a meeting with the Prime Minister on Monday."

"What time?" her fingers rattled across the keys.

"Lunchtime," he read through the letter and opened Word to compose a reply. "Ally," they both stopped what they were doing. "How do you feel about field work?"

"Well..." she hesitated. "I need more training," he nodded in encouragement. "But, I mean, theoretically..."

"Yes?"

"I guess, I'm open to the idea," she shrugged. "It's all a bit Lara Croft."

"What about leadership?"

"Well, I..." she frowned and leaned forwards as he went back to his typing. "You're leaving."

He answered her, "Yup," even though it hadn't been a question, and tapped the fingers of his left hand against the desk. "I don't think I ever believed that coming here was a permanent fix. Except for in those moments when I thought I was about to die."

She watched him working for a while, then smiled and looked back to his schedule, arranging the meeting for him. "Good," she caught a glimpse of his smile behind his monitor. "You'll not be properly happy until you get back there."

"No," he agreed with a sigh. "Jack has that effect."

Their phones rang simultaneously and Ally managed to get it first, smirking at him across the room. "Good morning, this is the Prime Minister's Office, how may I help you... Yes, Colonel, he's here. I'll put you through," she covered the mouthpiece and pressed te button to put the call through to Ianto's phone instead. "It's Colonel Mace."

"I'd never have guessed," he rolled his eyes as he picked the phone up and pulled Mace's report across, and the day began in earnest.

It was nearly seven o'clock by the time Ianto finally pushed the door of his apartment open and let Tybalt out of his carry-box. Judging by the way he disappeared extremely fast, he wasn't pleased about having to travel in it, but Ianto had been too tired to face the tube and no taxi driver would carry an unsecured cat. He sighed and opened a pouch, assuming that Tybalt would reappear and eat once he was out of sight, and flopped onto the sofa, too tired to think about eating himself. A quick flick through the TV channels revealed that he had a choice of 'talent' shows or repeats of Mock the Week on Dave, which wasn't a very hard decision. He set it to Dave Ja Vue, and kicked his shoes off, removing his waistcoat at the same time and reaching for the phone. It rang a couple of times before Jack answered, "Jack Harkness speaking."

"Hey, Jack," he tucked the phone between his ear and his shoulder and fumbled down the side of the sofa for the bottle of wine and the glass that should have been there but, inexplicably weren't, then realise that he hadn't been there for a week and stood up to fetch them from the kitchen. "How was work?"

Jack chuckled, "Oh, you know, tolerable. Spent an hour chatting to this really officious civil servant in London."

"I'm not a civil servant," he objected absently, looking through the freezer for something to eat and finding a pizza. "Nothing much happen then?"

"Not really, with the others out, Jacs and Martin and I just spent some time in the shooting range, ran some scans and stuff..."

"The Rift was quiet then?" he asked, closing the oven and pouring himself a glass of wine.

"Yeah, just a couple of minor fluctuations," Jack told him. "What are you doing?"

"Drinking," Ianto answered, wandering back into the living room and sinking onto the sofa. "And watching Mock the Week."

"Bliss," Jack sighed, as noise in the background indicated that he was putting the TV on too. "Hang on, just going to switch to earpiece."

"Good idea," Ianto opened the drawer under the coffee table and pulled out the earpiece he kept in there in case of emergencies, leaving the gun behind, and fitted it, putting the phone back down on the table. "That's better."

"Yeah," they both roared with laughter at the same time and Ianto reached for his glass again. "I love a night in in front of the telly," he said.

"Only we could manage it only when we're not even in the same country," Ianto pointed out.

Jack sighed, then choked on his laughter as Frankie Boyle stepped up to the plate for Scotland. "I love this one."

"Shhhh," Ianto sniggered, "it reminds me of Archie."

"Oh God, yes. I remember last time I went up there, he took me on a tour of Glasgow's distilleries."

"And you remember it?" Ianto asked with a grin. "You weren't trying hard enough."

"I said that I remember that it happened," Jack pointed out, "not that I remember the details."

"How many distilleries does Glasgow have?" Ianto asked, only half listening.

"Enough," Jack's attention was clearly elsewhere too and they settled down to watch the TV, laughing and commenting spasmodically. Eventually the fox went looking for beer and Ianto remembered the pizza and stretched.

"Beer, good idea," he turned the TV off. "Want one?"

Jack chuckled. "Love one, you going to post it?"

"Don't mock the afflicted," he sighed, reaching the fridge and meaning his forehead against it.

"What are you afflicted with?"

"Missing you, it could easily prove fatal."

He heard Jack choke, and his voice was thick when he replied, "That's one of the most schmaltzy, romantic things you've ever said to me."

"I know," he grabbed a Golden Glory and opened it against the countertop. "Just did your favourite trick too."

"The beer on the counter?"

"Yep," he flopped onto the sofa again. "What's on now?"

"Don't know, I turned it off," Jack told him. "I can check?"

"No, I've turned it off too," he took a sip of the beer and leaned back against the arm of the sofa, trying to imagine that it was Jack behind him. "I'm looking forwards to the new series of QI," he commented.

"Yeah, and Top Gear," Jack agreed. "It'll be weird not watching it with you..."

"Yep," he agreed. "Although..."

"Yeah?"

"I could do it, I guess, get back to Cardiff for Sunday evenings for Top Gear, at least," Ianto ran his finger around the top of the bottle and tapped it. "You could meet my mother..."

"Your..."

"I do have a mother, Jack," Ianto chuckled dryly. "And you've still got to meet my sister, preferably before they turn up at the wedding and discover that you're a man."

Jack laughed and Ianto could imagine his nod. "Okay, I would love to meet your family. We should invite them around for Sunday lunch, and then the team around for Top Gear and curry."

"On the same day?"

"Maybe not," he agreed. "You can cook, you're much better than I am."

"Thanks," Jack laughed. "What do you think we should do?"

"Elope, or, alternatively, gammon. I crave gammon now. Pizza!" he uncurled quickly and hurried to the over. "Oh, shit."

"Burnt?"

"Slightly..." he poked it and decided that he was hungry enough. "It'll do."

"Are you about to give yourself food poisoning," Jack paused. "Again?"

He slid the pizza out onto a plate, yelped and shook his hand rapidly. "Hot hot hot!" On the other end of the line, Jack laughed and he pulled a knife from the block. "Still hot, ow, pizza..." He finally pulled a slice out and bit into it, blowing around the mouthful. "Yes, very hot but still edible."

"No food poisoning?" Jack asked.

"No food poisoning," Ianto agreed, taking the plate back through to the living room. "I should just have called a takeaway."

"I really, really want pizza now..." Jack sighed. "But I can't be bothered."

"Twit," Ianto chuckled affectionately. "You've eaten, yeah?"

"Yeah, we had steak," Jack's warm smile was audible. "Steak and chips."

"Om nom nom indeed, and no, I have no shame," Ianto chuckled and bit off a mouthful of pizza. "You see, when I got in I was exhausted and couldn't be bothered to do anything beyond falling onto the sofa and, hello Tybalt."

"Is 'hello Tybalt' a euphemism, or should I greet your cat?"

"Cat, I just wanted to sleep. But now... I won't lie, I need to sleep. Don't want to, but I need to."

"Okay," Jack's tone gentled and Ianto ran his fingers through Tybalt's fur, cuddling him. "You going to bed?"

"Yeah," he stood up and held Tybalt against his chest. "Keep talking though?"

"Sure," but he paused a moment. "I miss you already."

"Me too," he put Tybalt on his pillow and unbuttoned his cuffs, realising belatedly that he'd left his waistcoat and shoes in the living room. Sunday tomorrow, he could deal with it then, he thought as he dropped his shirt on the floor and took his trousers and boxers off, sitting down to pull his socks off and sliding into bed with the earpiece against the pillow and Tybalt pawing at his nose. "Want you to meet Tybalt."

"I've met him, when the plane went missing," Jack told him seriously. "He's kinda adorable."

"Yeah, he is."

"You're about to fall asleep, aren't you?"

"Yeah," he agreed. "Wish you were here."

"I wish I were there too. Ianto?"

"Yeah?"

"We're having a long honeymoon, okay?"

"Yeah, okay," he agreed. "Good night, Jack."

"'Night sweetheart."

"Sweetheart?"

"Yeah, sweetheart. Love you."

"Yeah," he smiled and tucked Tybalt under the covers with him, lifting his head to get at the earpiece. "Love you too."