The door buzzed, and Ianto hurried across, bouncing Micah on his hip, to let Rhiannon back in. She brushed snow out of her hair and struggled out of her thick coat, with help from Micah's tiny hands grabbing onto it. "Thanks, Ianto. Oh, Micah I can manage on my own, thank you. Why don't you let Uncle Ianto put you down so you can do some drawings or something?"

She shook her head firmly and rested it on Ianto's shoulder. "Staying here," she mumbled, grabbing on firmly to prove her point.

Rhiannon opened her mouth to protest but Ianto cut her off. "It's fine, really Rhi. She weighs practically nothing, anyway."

"I'm a fairy!" Micah told him. "We're really light."

"Yep, that must be it." He didn't look at Jack, but Tosh caught his eye and raised her eyebrows. "Anyway," he said quickly. "Did you get her settled back in?"

Her coat tried to fall off the crowded hook again, so she gave up and took it over to one of the stools by the bar, next to Jack's. "Yes, she was fine. She asked me to thank you again for lunch, Jack, and to tell you that she's blind but not stupid." She looked between them and over to her mother, who smirked. "I don't know what she meant by that, but she was very determined that I tell you."

"Oh Rhi, you do remind me of your dad some days," Ruth murmured. "But yes, thank you for lunch, Jack. It is good to know that Ianto's found himself a man who's as good at cooking as he is bad."

Ianto shrugged. "I have other talents to make up for it."

"I'll say," Jack agreed.

Rhiannon got Micah off Ianto at last and flapped a hand at him. "She's gone now, you can... canoodle all you like. Go kiss your boyfriend."

On the floor, staring at his GameBoy, David made a disgusted noise and Ianto laughed. "I don't know which impulse is stronger right now; not wanting to do what my sister tells me to or..."

"Yes, thank you Ianto." She bounced Micah and pulled her new necklace out of sticky little hands. "Micah, do you want to take your coat off? You must be getting very hot in it, and you don't want to get it mucky, do you?" Micah shook her head again and reached out for Ianto, but was distracted by a rustling in the Christmas tree. They all turned to look at it, watching pine needles shedding over the pile of discarded wrapping paper, and then Tybalt poked his head out from between the branches with a loud chirrup. Rhainnon was deafened by a screech of delight and Micah finally wriggled free to go and stand at the bottom of the tree, reaching up for him.

"That is the most adorable thing I've seen all year," Tosh murmured, grabbing her camera before Tybalt was scared off again. "He's so sweet!"

"He's a menace." Ianto felt Jack's arm wrap around his waist at last and leaned back against him, dropping his head onto Jack's shoulder. "But that is cute. There's going to be so much hoovering to do."

The normally clean and tidy room was cluttered and cramped with furniture and the huge tree. They'd had to borrow Tosh's dining table to fit everyone in, and had pushed the rest of the furniture back against the wall to get all nine of them in. Then, whilst Rhiannon took Aunt Mary back to the convent, they'd put the table in the office and dragged the sofas and arm chair back in closer together. Johnny was snoring in the armchair, and Rhiannon sank into the smaller sofa next to Ruth, glaring at him as she did so. "I wish I could sleep that easily, I do. David, will you put that thing away and talk to your uncles for a while? It's Christmas!"

"I think you're missing the point of us buying it for him," Ianto said. "At least he's enjoying it."

"Yep, and Micah is never going to take her coat off at this rate. Seems there's perks to having a brother you never get to see." She narrowed her eyes at him. "So what is it you do, again?"

"You know that line about, 'if I told you, I'd have to kill you'? Well that's where you're going."

"Ianto," his mother said quietly.

"It's the truth. I've told you everything I can." The phone rang in the office and he sighed but stepped out of the circle of Jack's arms. "Speaking of which, I've got to get that."

The dining table was really in the way, but he managed to reach across for the phone and slide down the side to get closer. "Ianto Jones speaking."

"Mr Jones," the colonel greeted him. "Merry Christmas, for the moment."

"And to you, Colonel. All's quiet in London, I hope?" He propped his hip against the table, which slid away on the wooden floor and left him stumbling.

"The Doctor has been in town," she told him, "as part of a tour group from a cruise liner that's currently in orbit around the planet. We had contact with them to approve the landings, but are currently unable to raise them."

He sighed. "Is he answering?"

"No. The ship is currently in a geo-stationery orbit above London, but appears to be descending." She paused and added, "They did not request clearance to enter our atmosphere."

He rubbed at his forehead. "What do we know about the ship? Fuel type and capacity, origin planet or system, anything?"

"Very little. Mr Jones, if it collides..."

"Yes, I'd figured that out." He took a deep breath. "The Doctor is on board. Don't activate the shields until there is no alternative. We can't risk him..." He drummed his fingers on the table. "Which one is it?"

She rustled papers and sighed. "The one who prompted the foundation of Torchwood. We don't even know if he's done that yet."

"Exactly. We can't risk him becoming collateral damage." Ianto ran his hand through his hair. "We have to trust him for the moment, and activate the shields if absolutely necessary."

"Absolutely. Mr Jones, you do realise that if... if we cannot stop this impact, if it is indeed heading towards the planet, that you are the highest placed leader outside the capital." Ianto stared at the wall and, after a pause in which he failed to find anything to say, she continued, "In the event of the destruction of London, you will assume leadership of the country's military."

He nodded slowly. "The Prime Minister is in his constituency..."

"Within the potential strike zone. He could be safe, but we can't guarantee that. The Deputy Prime Minister's is at his constituency home in Yorkshire, and Prince William is at Balmoral. Cars are ready to bring them to Cardiff, if that's required. You have a nuclear bunker, I believe..."

"We can't get into the Hub currently." His brain caught up with his mouth and he cursed, colourfully. "We have the ability to time travel. If needs be, we'll step forwards in time beyond the strike. It won't come to that, though."

"I hope you're right. Our scientists estimate half an hour. We'll keep you informed."

"Thank you." He hung up and took the phone with him out into the living room. Jack was dangling David upside down, and spared Ianto just a momentary worried look before he gave David his full attention again. The others paid him no heed, and he dragged one of the bar stools around into the kitchen so that he could rest his elbows on the counter and his head in his hands.

Jack's hand rested on the back of his neck, rubbing gently, and roused him from his thoughts. It had fallen quiet, Ruth and Rhiannon chatting with Tosh by the tree, Micah asleep against her dad's chest and David back to staring at his game, so Ianto tipped his head back and dragged Jack down for a fierce kiss. "I love you," he whispered. "I'm just... I need you to know."

"You know I know." Jack wrapped his arms around Ianto and rested their foreheads together. "What's the matter?"

"There's a spaceship heading for London. In freefall." He glanced over at his mother and gave her a weak smile. "We need this flat back."

Jack held him tighter for a moment, then pulled back and cradled his face in his hands to kiss him again. When they broke apart Ianto was breathing heavily, and Jack's hair was a mess. Ruth cleared her throat and Ianto looked over sheepishly. "Good news in that phone call, I take it?" she guessed.

Ianto laughed and shook his head. "Something like that. Work, actually. I think..."

"We should probably be going anyway," she said. "Micah and Johnny are already asleep, and it's forecast to snow later on tonight. Don't want Rhiannon to be driving home in the dark and the snow, do we?"

Rhiannon glanced from one to the other and turned to collect her coat. "Good point. Thanks for having us, boys, it's been lovely." She reached across to kiss Ianto's cheek and then turned around to get David up off the floor and wake her husband. "Come on, time to go home."

Ianto gave his mum a grateful smile and came around to hug her. "I'm sorry I can't explain more," he whispered, "but it really is secret stuff."

"I know, dear." She pulled back and cupped his cheek in one hand. "Are you safe, at least?"

He smiled. "Not really. But I'm keeping Micah and David safe. And you."

"Oh Ianto." Ruth glanced over at Rhiannon and dropped her hand. "We'll talk about this. Official Secrets Act or no, we're going to talk about this."

"It doesn't work like that," he murmured. "But... yeah." He kissed her cheek and then took Micah for a hug. She was half asleep still, and just rested her head against his and yawned. "Travel safely. And thanks for coming."

A few minutes later they waved them off, the car loaded down with presents, and Ianto bundled Tosh and Jack back into the flat. "Alright, we've got issues in London," he said as soon as they got the door shut. "There is a spaceship in freefall heading for the city."

"Of course there is. It's Christmas in London." Tosh hurried through towards the bedrooms and they trailed after her, finding her setting her laptop up on the end of the bed. "Nice bedding, by the way."

"Thanks. Had to get something nice for when Mum comes over. We should get your table out of the office, then we can use it."

"We'll be fine in here." Her fingers rattled across the keyboard faster and they settled in behind her. "UNIT have let me into their systems, which is nice of them... There we are. That ship is definitely descending."

"Life signs?" Jack asked.

"We've got nothing, but they've not been able to raise anyone on the ship either." She looked over at him. "That would explain the rapid descent."

"The Doctor's on board," Ianto told them. "Martha's Doctor. So..."

"So we can't use the shields over London," Jack commented, crossing his arms across his chest. "He must be alive up there, and we have to keep it that way."

Ianto nodded and leaned forwards to see over Tosh's shoulder. "We're relying on him, basically. UNIT are going to be in touch with more information soon."

"What are they expecting us to do about it?"

He scrubbed one hand through his hair again. "They're going to give us a predicted strike time, and we have to jump it." They all glanced at Jack's wrist in unison and he cleared his throat. "If London goes, we're in charge. Prince William will come from Scotland, the deputy Prime Minister from Yorkshire..." He licked his lips and nodded to himself. "If it comes to it, of course."

"It won't," Jack insisted. "He pulled his sleeve up and started pressing buttons on his strap. "But just to be safe... ten minutes, do you think? No shagging through the apocalypse."

"Not this time." He smiled. "We never get to shag through the apocalypse. One of us is always in the middle of it."

Tosh cleared her throat again and the phone rang in Ianto's hand. "Someone had to intervene," she muttered.

Ianto closed his eyes and answered the phone. "Jones." He held his breath through the instructions and nodded slowly. "Yes, sir. Good luck, and I'll call you on the other side."

"Some Christmas." Tosh craned around and flipped her laptop shut. "What do we do?"

"Standard Time Agency procedure I told Ianto about," Jack told her. "You just skip a few minutes, and thanks to the Doctor..." he stabbed at the buttons again and offered his wrist out. "Hold on to my wrist." He wrapped his other arm around Ianto, holding on tighter than the confidence in his voice would have suggested. "Ready?"

They nodded, and Jack chuckled. "Ianto, that red button..."

He pressed it and the world turned inside out.