Author's Note: I can't believe how long it's been since I updated this. Finally, though I seem to have found some genuine excitement about writing again. Class, the new Doctor Who spin-off, has captured me and reminded me how much I love fandom. So, here we go again.

03 January 2009

"We're going to need help with this," Ianto admitted at last, rubbing at his eyes and pushing aside another wedding magazine. "Have you actually seen a gay couple in any of those?"

Jack flicked through the pile in front of him and shook his head. "Maybe one, but it might be groom and best man. Civil Partnerships not drawing the marketers yet. I mean, this is all just... stuff, isn't it? How much of it do we want?"

He shrugged. "I'm not fussed about the diamante encrusted carriage or the peacocks, but I don't want a curry down the pub. Can we find something between the two?"

"You could not narrow it down less. Weddings never used to be this complicated. Or this expensive. I think I spent the budget on a car." He flipped another page and shook his head. "Or half the budget, at least. Why would you pay that much for a cakeslice?"

Ianto chuckled. "We don't even have a venue. Sod the rest of it, what are we going to do about that? There's the big hotel out on the motorway, the golf resort? Or there's the castle, but every time we go there an alien invades. I mean, you want to invite Harry and William, I'd like to invite Gordon. We can't just do it down the register office in Cardiff and then go to the Hilton for the evening do. It's going to need security and stuff." He rested his head in his hands. "What did you do last time?"

"Uh... last time was Lucia. We eloped to Belgium."

"Why Belgium?"

"We wanted to go to Ghent, killed two birds with one stone." He shrugged. "It was only a weekend away, and I think it lasted longer than the marriage. We couldn't tell anyone we'd got married, or even that we were together. All hell broke loose when Anton found out. Wasn't worth it, apart from Alice."

"Yeah, well no eloping allowed this time, more's the pity. No keeping it secret from the boss, either, but only because I can't even work out who that would be. Would you keep it secret from me, me from you, both of us from Gordon? That's a hopeless idea, if I ever heard one." He turned and dumped a pile of marketing fliers into the recycling. "What do we actually want, Jack? I want to marry you, so I'll have to put up with a wedding, but I don't know what we're going to do."

"You said you wanted to want more things, now would be a good time to start. Make a decision. Colour scheme, cake flavour, venue, anything."

"What about..." He ran a hand through his hair. "Draycote Manor. You know, the UNIT conference place? It should be available at that time of year, especially if we try to book it this far in advance. I don't know if they even do private bookings, but if they do it would be nice. It would solve a lot of our problems, too."

Jack looked surprised. "That's not a bad idea, actually. They have security vetted caterers already, everything is on site. Amanda would be the one to talk to, wouldn't she?"

"She would, and she's based in London. I'll give her a call, see if she's free to meet up for coffee some time. Just to discuss the possibility, for a start." He jotted a note down. "We need to look at a new Hub, too. Remind me to have a look for suitable sites as soon as I get back into the office. In the meantime, I'm going to arrange for UNIT to take the inmates and, if possible, provide lab space. Then you should be able to run a skeleton service from one of the safe houses, or just be on call."

"Do you ever switch off work?" Jack asked.

"No. Do you? And don't lie, remember that we share a bed. You eat, sleep and piss Torchwood."

"You're such a romantic."

"I sold my soul to Torchwood a long time ago. Although, in my defence, I wasn't aware I had a soul at the time. People make stupid decisions when they're eighteen." He started to tidy up. "I am not immune to that. And I think black and white for the colour scheme, with a hint of silver and poissibly dark blue. It's classic, clean, and easy enough to shop in."

Jack blinked and then nodded. "Okay. I'll keep an eye out. Are we having bridesmaids?"

"God no. Do you want them?" He waited and Jack shook his head. "Thought not. Let's just get married and have a massive party, and then go away for a while on honeymoon. No aliens allowed."

"I'll see if I can get us the Bermuda monitoring station." He chuckled. "Although I'd actually have to run that one by my boss, so why don't you dig out the files and see what's happening with it? It might be rented out already, or used as a holiday let. One of those. There must be a property somewhere in the portfolio that's only let out short term and is available."

"Or we could pay for one," Ianto pointed out. "Let's ditch the wedding magazines, and think about holidays instead."

Jack rested his chin on his clasped hands. "I always wanted to go to the Carribean. It's one of the few regions I didn't visit. I spent a couple of years in India, saw most of Europe, did a tour of South Africa... Mostly work, of course. Never been a big one for holidays."

"Well, maybe we should both learn. Find a posh hotel that serves drinks with umbrellas and just... relax." He leaned over and kissed Jack. "We'll go mad within 3 hours, I bet you."

"I'll be amazed if you survive the flight. Call Amanda, see what she can do, and then let's think about honeymoon. And tomorrow I'll see if the boss can get me enough time off."

"Double your staff by June, and there will not be a problem. That's both bribery and a promise."

04 January 2009

They met Amanda in the quiet of the restaurant of Claridges, before the afternoon's tea service started, out of the milling January Sale shopping crowds. She was dressed down for the occasion, more casual than Ianto had ever seen her, in a soft cashmere jumper and well-fitted jeans tucked into ankle boots, and brushed snow off a heavy duty winter waterproof as she approached them. "Ianto, Jack, Merry Christmas." She leaned in and kissed them each on the cheek. "How was your New Year?"

"Memorable, for some of us," Jack joked, smiling at Ianto fondly. "We went to the Princes' party, opposite the London Eye. Fantastic night, but Ianto was rather the worse for wear in the morning."

"I'm not surprised. I've been to a few of those myself, and the hangover is always to die for." She settled into a chair gracefully and accepted a menu from the waitress. "I'll have a latte, please. Thank you."

"Two black coffees for us. Are you wanting to eat, Amanda?"

"Oh, no thank you. I have dinner with my parents tonight, and you know what mothers are like. We're still eating leftovers from Christmas."

"Likewise, thank you," Ianto told the waitress, and she left them to it. "We have dinner reservations and theatre tickets, although I don't get to find out what we're seeing until I get there. My treat, apparently."

"Making the most of our last day together, now you've surfaced from your hangover. It's good seeing Wills and Harry again. They've grown up so fast." Jack chuckled. "I remember when they were tiny."

"We all grow up eventually. Well, I assume you will one day." Amanda had to lean back to let the waitress serve their drinks, and then sat forwards to drop a sugar lump in. "My daughter's five now. It seems only yesterday I found out I was pregnant. They don't stay small for long enough. But, I do see a lot more of her than I expected back then." She explained, "I applied for the events management position when I was preparing to come back to work. Under UNIT's parental policy I had the option to take early retirement, return to my role as I left it, or apply for a new role in the same grade or lower. I took a salary reduction, moved down a grade and made sure I can be there to put her to bed every night and do the school run in the morning. It also means I can tell Danny more of what I do, which is a blessing."

"Are you planning on staying with UNIT, then?"

"For the moment. I'm enjoying the challenges, and the section leader position is coming vacant within twelve months, and they've asked me to apply for it when it does come up, so yes, it's looking good. It would probably mean a move to the continent, though." She tapped her spoon on the edge of her mug and looked up at them. "And how are the wedding plans going for you two?"

"That's… kind of what we wanted to talk to you about," Jack admitted. "We're run off our feet and have no idea about planning weddings. The more we look at it, the more complicated it becomes."

"So," Ianto picked up from him. "We were wondering about using Draycote Manor. We loved it when we were there for the conference, and it's big enough and has plenty of security. The catering staff were amazing too, and all we really want is a meal and a party. It would be perfect for the photos, too."

She nodded slowly. "You wouldn't be the first. It is licenced for ceremonies. All we'd really need to do is organise the catering and whatever music you wanted, and arrange for someone to do security checks on your guests and photographer. Unless you want the full package?"

"No, no. Just security and catering, really. We haven't really thought about much of it," he realised. "There's a lot more involved than I had anticipated."

Jack laughed. "Having second thoughts?"

"Only about eloping." He sighed. "It's supposed to be a celebration, not a performance, but… there's so much involved."

"It'll be fine," Jack assured him. "It'll all fall into place, you know it will."

Amanda nodded encouragingly. "Honestly, Ianto, it's a piece of cake. Speaking of which, you need to get that sorted too, but a wedding is one of those things you can throw money at and have it fall into place. Look, I'm more than happy to help sort the venue. I'll ask tomorrow whether it needs to be done internally or whether I need to take it outside office hours, but I'm sure I'll be able to secure the venue for you and the security will definitely be an inside job. I'll see what arrangements need to be made and email you details through, and then we'll arrange a meeting to set things up, if that's okay?"

"That would be brilliant. Even if it were just having a venue nailed down, that would be a good start. There's always so much to organise."

"And you're not living together or even close, which makes it so much harder. Don't worry about it, really, I'll do what I can. And here," she said, pulling her card out of her purse and scribbling a note on the back. "This is Angela, who planned my wedding. I just gave her a list of what I wanted to be done, and she did it. It went like a dream, and I wouldn't change anything. Give her a call. She can at least give you some advice and get you on the right track."

"Thank you," he breathed, accepting it gratefully.

"Everyone wants an invitation, you know. It's going to be the party of the year." She laughed. "I'll send through some details of the venue capacity first of all, then you can work on the guest list."

"We're eloping," he said firmly, sagging back into his seat. "Somewhere warm. Please?"

Jack took his hand and squeezed it. "You'll manage it. We'll manage it. It's going to be great, trust me."

"You know I do."

XxXxX

January 5th, 2009

"Right," Ianto said, settling down at his desk and pulling his notebook out, "let's get some details nailed down, shall we?"

Ally shuffled forwards and nodded, flattening her palms in her lap and then reaching for her pen, which she twisted between her fingers. "How long do you want me to go to Cardiff for?"

He studied her whilst he thought about it. "Three months. It's not as long as I'd like, but possibly longer than I'd like. Don't run before you can walk, though. Start out gradually, but by the end of three months you should be leading field missions." He looked over at Jack. "I want weekly progress reports, she doesn't do anything without you signing off on it in advance, and I want you to train her in field work like she's never done it before before she even faces a Weevil. Okay?"

"Yes sir," Jack agreed. "What about the rest? Recruitment and all the back room stuff… the stuff you used to do."

"Who's doing it at the moment? Anyone?" He sighed. "Yes, then, I want you to help out with recruitment. I'm going to give you some targets, Jack, because I know what you're like. You need a new doctor to join the team, a trained counsellor, and two other members of staff, within the next six months. I have already signed off on their salaries, all you need to do is find someone to take it up. I also want you, both of you, to put together a plan for a new base. Use UNIT's team if you need help with that, you don't need an architect on staff unless Gwen's managed to find someone suitable, and give first priority to brownfield sites. I've had a look at the property portfolio, and there's nothing suitable in there, but there's plenty on the market."

Jack grabbed a sheet of paper and stole Ally's pen. "So what are our requirements there? A secluded site, but not remote. Good access, easy to secure, easy to cover up and explain…" He looked up again. "Or are we not ranking that as important any more?"

He hesitated. "Be prepared for both. If you can monetise a cover, all the better. Bring Rhys in and run a haulage business, or follow your dream and have an antiques shop. Actually, that's not a bad idea."

"Showroom by appointment only?" Jack laughed. "We'll put our heads together. It depends on what site we can get hold of."

"Obviously." He capped his pen again and sat back. "Cardiff isn't a defined role sort of place, Ally, you know that. You will be doing a bit of everything. And if you're going to take over from me, that's going to be the same. You need to be involved in recruitment, training, admin, procurement, and field work. Research I'm not as worried about, you weren't hired for that, but you do need to know containment and safe handling procedures to go with your archiving skills. Most of it, honestly, you already know. I've made it up as I go along since coming here, it's not exactly hard."

She chuckled. "So is there a plan I need to follow and sign off?"

"Plans and Torchwood don't mix. I just need to get you both to sign the temporary transfer form, and then you're good to go." He flipped the file open and pulled out the copies. "Autographs please."

Jack watched Ally sign first. "When are the interviews for her…"

"For my replacement?" She finished for him, smiling and passing the form over. "He's allowed to replace me so he can promote me. Phone interviews are tomorrow, aren't they? Then in person on… Friday?"

"And on Monday I should have a short-list of three to test, if I need to. Currently the short-list is at twelve, so I'm going to be doing phone interviews all day tomorrow." He rubbed at his eyes. "I think I know who I'm going to hire, but I need to be sure."

"Get your eyes tested," Jack told him. "Even if it's just giving you a headache and you need reading glasses, you should get them."

"I know," he sighed, rolling his eyes. "I'll get around to it, I promise. Anyway. Delilah has put in an application for transfer, like we hoped. You have first refusal, if she's willing to move to Cardiff, but if she won't then I'll gladly have her. Ally has her file."

Jack nodded. "It's all coming together. Big changes."

"They were always going to. You just needed a bit of a push." He waited for Jack to meet his eyes. "The future is coming, Jack. We've got to be ready."

"I know. I'm just a bit set in my ways." He smiled and shook his head. "You're writing history, do you realise that?"

"Yes, and I don't want to." Ianto closed his eyes, leaning back in his seat. "I just hope… it's the right version."

"It will be," Ally assured him. "Otherwise the Doctor would be here already." He smiled ruefully at that and she stood up. "And we need to go. I'm not mad keen on driving in the snow, I definitely don't want to be driving in the dark as well. Ready, Jack?"

"Yeah, nearly." He got to his feet and pulled Ianto into an embrace. "I'll see you soon?"

"Of course. Travel safe. Call me to let me know you've arrived." They pulled on their coats again, and Ianto waved them off, then settled back down to work through the mountain of emails and tried to stop thinking.