December 31, 2008

Jack leaned over Jacqui, with his hands braced on her desk, and nodded in agreement with her excited gesticulations. At the desk next to them, Peter had his feet up and a report in his hands, but he didn't seem to be paying much attention to it. Martin and Tiffany had given up all pretence and were standing by the coffee machine with their hands wrapped around mugs, and Ianto hadn't looked at his work for hours.

"Alright, people," he said, "we'll call it a day. The car is due in fifteen minutes, so let's go and meet it." There was a sudden flurry of activity, as people grabbed coats and overnight bags, and then they spilled out into the corridor, chattering happily. Ianto made sure everything was switched off and locked up, and brought up the rear, catching up with them at the top of the stairs.

Outside it was bitterly cold, crisp and clear and thankfully dry, and the tang of pollution was acidic in every breath that fogged in front of them in billowing clouds. Ianto strode quickly to the end of the road, where a taxi was already waiting to whisk them away down the river. It was only a short journey, even in traffic, and he settled back and let the conversation wash over him.

They piled out, presented invitations and security passes to the armed doorman, and were let into the airy, opulent atrium just as Big Ben struck two behind them. A dazzling Christmas tree, easily two storeys high, occupied the centre of the room and glittered with gold, silver and purple decorations. Delicate fairy lights peeked out of flower arrangements around the room, and a pianist was playing a haunting arrangement of Silent Night.,

"Downing Street?" A concierge greeted them and indicated her desk. "We're delighted you could join us. If you'll follow me? Your room keys are here. Floor five, turn left out of the lift. Antonio will take your bags and show you to your rooms. Tonight's event will begin at eight o'clock, with dinner served at nine. If you'd like to use the facilities, please don't hesitate to ask us. We have a fully equipped gym and swimming pool, plus spa facilities and a salon. And we have your reservation for afternoon tea at three o'clock."

"Thank you," Ianto murmured, accepting the keys from her. He kept hold of his own bag, but Antonio had collected them from some of the others and was leading the way to the lift. The entire hotel had been taken over for the Princes' New Year's Eve celebration, and agents from the military, UNIT and the secret services had been invited to celebrate that the country had survived another year. Ianto almost wanted someone to try to attack, to see what would surely have made Die Hard look like the Muppets do Christmas. Security was obvious, though, and even Antonio was armed with at least one gun and a nasty looking ring which would make a vicious knuckle duster.

The rooms were modernist and simple, tastefully decorated for the season, and dominated by enormous beds and picture windows with a view across the Thames. Ianto dumped his bag on the bed and hung his suit bag in the wardrobe, then started stripping out of his work suit, warned by their reflection in the glass of Jack's approach, so he leaned back into his arms and sighed. "Nearly 2009. That's weird."

"Yeah. I still think that we're 80s at times. Time is a really weird construct, actually. I remember one of my lecturers at the Time Agency Academy trying to explain why his lectures felt so long. It was just because he was really boring."

Ianto chuckled. "We're all had a teacher like that," he commented. "But maybe not teaching the same stuff."

"No. It's a shame. Theories of Temporal Variance can be quite interesting in the right hands, Just not his. I forget his name."

"He's not been born yet, He'd forgive you. What would happen to you if we brought about the end of the world?"

Jack leaned away to look at him. "The paradox would become unstable and the Reapers would come for me - look them up. You're not planning on it, I hope?"

"I know what they are. Would they, you know, stop you?"

He turned Ianto in his arms and searched his face. "Where did this come from? New Year's Eve is supposed to be positive, not morbid. Lighten up."

"Sorry," he said, chagrined. "I was just thinking. Dangerous business, I can't turn off work."

Jack frowned and released him. "Let's just keep the Earth safe, for now, and cross the next bridge when we come to it. I don't want to think about it, you know what."

"I'm sorry," Ianto repeated, reaching out for him. "It's just endings. The end of the year, and stuff. I don't really know what to do with them."

"Because they make you think about the past, or because they make you think about the future?" He watched Ianto and sighed. "Just be happy that we've made it to another."

"That's just it, though. It's a pretty lousy base mark for achievement, isn't it? Ally's off to Norway and Asia this year. I look back at 2008, and what did I achieve?"

"You got engaged, you saved the world, you set up an organisation that will save millions of lives." He shrugged. "And you're only twenty five. There's plenty of time yet."

"I don't even have a dream, let alone a plan. I was thinking about things I'd like to do, and there's actually nothing that makes me excited." He turned around again and leaned on the glass. "What do I actually want from life, Jack? And don't look at me like that. I want to share it with you, but you're not on my bucket list. I just don't know what is."

He shrugged. "Then do something about it. You're the only one who can decide what you want from life."

"I don't even know where to start. What do you want? Do you have anything left on your bucket list?"

That made Jack pause, and he looked chagrined. "Fair point. I've not really thought about it, either. Torchwood doesn't leave much time for dreams."

"You need more staff, and a new location. It's working at the moment, but it's crushing us. What do Tosh or Owen want? Or have we all given up on dreaming? Gwen wants to have kids, but even she's given up on it. There's our New Year's Resolution - build a workplace where our teams can have dreams and work towards them. And you're one of my team. I'll do what I can to do that for you."

"There's too much responsibility on your shoulders."

"People have borne more younger." He turned back to Jack and met his eyes. "Just for now, I get to look after you, and I'm going to do it."

"I don't know what you do to the enemy, Ianto Jones, but you frighten me." Jack pulled him into his arms and held him tight. "Next New Year we're going to be less grimly determined, okay?"

"Deal," he agreed.

# # #

Martin and Jacqui were waiting by the lift when they emerged to head down for tea, and Ally, Tiffany and Peter were already seated in the foyer on low sofas near the tree. Ianto felt Jack's hand nudge against it and grabbed it, holding tight and turning to smile at him as they crossed over to join them. They chattered about their plans for the night, and then a waitress showed them to a round table right by the window with a view across the Thames. A white tablecloth, embroidered with blue and silver, hung nearly to the floor, and the seven places were set with delicate bone china cups and saucers and fine silver cutlery.

As they approached, Ianto heard hurried feet behind them, and a young woman shouted "Daddy!" By the time he'd caught his surprise Peter had been wrapped in a tight embrace and was laughing. "I didn't know you were going to be here," she said, grinning.

When he pulled back, Ianto could see the resemblance instantly. They had the same jaw line, and the same coffee-brown eyes. They even had the same smile, and Ianto wondered if she'd got her auburn curls from him as well, or if those were from her mother's side. They stared at each other a second longer and then Peter turned her with one arm around her waist. "Sorry, sorry. This is my daughter, Catrin. Catrin, This is Ianto, his partner Jack, Analyn, Tiffany, Jacqui and Martin."

"It's an honour to meet you," she told them. "Dad's told me a lot about you. No details, obviously," she laughed and gave him a fond look. "Have you told them anything about me? No, of course not. He's not a big talker, is he? I'm based at Thames House."

"Oh, MI5? Anything you can tell us about?" Ally asked.

Catrin gave her an amused look. "I can tell you I work in Asia. It's not as interesting as you probably imagine."

"These jobs never are," Ianto agreed. "We were about to eat; would you join us? I'm sure they can adapt."

"Oh, I couldn't... are you sure? Thank you, I'd love to." She didn't protest long. "I only got back into the country last night, and then I was rather pressured into coming to this. You know how it is, have to show willing, even when what you really want to do is pour a large glass of wine and sleep for a week."

"I know the feeling," Ianto told her. "We're all just out for the night out, though. No agenda. Just free food."

She laughed. "Oh, I'll tag along with you, then. I'm sure no one will notice anyway."

A waitress approached, and although Ianto could see her counting she didn't say anything about the extra person at the table. "Here is the tea menu. We also have coffee or hot chocolate if you'd prefer." She placed them on the table and stepped back. "I'll give you some time to make a decision. And would anyone like mulled wine to begin?"

They all said they would, and Catrin chuckled as she walked away. "I've thrown a spanner in the works for her. You should have told me to sod off, Ianto."

"They'll cope. You're hardly a big spanner." He smiled at her. "Besides, it's the time of year for it."

She returned his smile. "You're young to be in charge, if you don't mind me saying it."

"No, you're right. I was only supposed to be an administrator." He smiled ruefully. "Or that's what they told me when they hired me. They didn't tell me quite how... primordial the organisation would be."

"Is that a kind word for 'disorganised'? Jacqui asked, laughing. "Ianto was brought in to start a whole new branch, but no one told him."

The waitress returned with an extra place setting on a tray with the jugs of mulled wine, and set everything out quickly in front of Catrin before she served the wine. "Have you made your decisions for drinks?"

They hadn't, so Ianto shook his head. "Whatever is recommended, I think." She collected the menus with a smile and disappeared again and he sighed. "I'm not making any more decisions."

"I'll believe that when I see it," Jack told him. He looked over at Catrin again. "So how did you end up in the secret services?"

"She followed me in," Peter murmured, and Ianto wasn't the only one who looked up in surprise at him. "I didn't want her to, but she's not listened to me since she was ten."

Jack smiled sadly and Ianto squeezed his hand under the table. He was saved from having to respond by the food being delivered to the table on elegant cake stands, piled high with cakes and pastries and finger sandwiches. The plates were decorated with faint silver snowflakes, and among the more standard and traditional delicacies there were tiny stollen and Christmas logs, turkey and cranberry sandwiches, mince pies, and what turned out to be chocolate Brussels sprouts.

By the time they finished eating the sun was setting in a clear sky, painting it in pinks and oranges that glittered off the towers of Canary Wharf. Ianto caught himself staring across the river, and felt Jack's hand slip back into his hand. "London is... so strange," he muttered.

"It's change," Jack said. "And permanence. The city's been here for two thousand years and will be here in two thousand, so we indulge in culture from the nineteenth century with a view of the twentieth whilst we sail into the twenty-first."

"It's quite exciting, isn't it?" Ally asked.

"Definitely exciting," Jack agreed. "The future is coming..."

"And you've got to be ready," Ianto finished for him. He leaned over and kissed him, smiling. "We know."

# # #

Come midnight, Ianto's feet were sore and he was dizzy and quite drunk, leaning on the railings overlooking the river and laughing at Ally. She had her shoes hanging from one hand and a champagne flute in the other, and Catrin's arms wrapped around her waist. Fireworks were scattering across the night sky all across the city, and down below them torches and the light of mobile phones showed the vast crowd stretching back from the edge of the river where boats drifted up and down. Music that was more beat than tune pumped out of bars far below them, and raucous jazz was in full swing in the rooftop bar behind them. Everyone was crowded onto the freezing balcony, warmed either by the free bar or by coats wrapped tightly over evening dresses and suits.

Jack fought his way through to them with a magnum of champagne and leaned in for a kiss when he reached Ianto. "Two minutes to go," he shouted to be heard over the party. "Ready?"

"I love you," he shouted back. "Ready."

Jack laughed and kissed his cheek. "You're going to be so hungover in the morning."

He nodded and leaned on the rail again. "So worth it." Down below them the countdown soon started up, and Jack's arms wrapped around his waist, holding the champagne in front of them. As the first fireworks exploded and the cheers erupted, Jack popped the cork out into the darkness and Ianto craned his neck to claim a deep kiss.

And then the night sky exploded, and the crowd fell silent, speechless at the spectacle and silenced by the sheer volume. Silver, gold, red and green, a constant barrage of glittering, transfixing spectacle that seemed to go on forever. The London Eye was the centrepiece, with fireworks erupting so far above it they must have been visible outside the city, and the power of the explosions was a force he could feel in his chest. Jack's arms tightened around him and he laced their fingers together. He could tell he wasn't the only one caught between awe and flight, too many people on that balcony as fearful as they were fascinated, but still none of them could look away. Every time they thought the display had stopped, another barrage erupted and split the night sky with light.

Eventually, after twenty minutes or more, the river fell silent again, and then the cheering began. Jack released his grip and started pouring the champagne, and Ianto had to lean on the rail for a moment to get his composure back. He felt Jack's hand rest in the small of his back and turned to smile at him. "That... was impressive," he admitted.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, fine," he brushed him off. "Just drunk. Here, make me more drunk."

Jack chuckled. "You don't have to be okay, you know."

"No, but I want to be."

"Then you will be." He topped up their glasses and held his own up for a toast. "Happy New Year Ianto."

"Happy New Year," he agreed, and pulled Jack in for another kiss.