15.01.09
Darkness had already fallen when Ianto's train pulled into Cardiff, full of commuters on a snowy Friday evening. Thick fluffy flakes were still falling, harder than they had been in London, and even the busy station platforms were blanketed thickly anywhere they were exposed, albeit hard packed and trodden mucky by so many feet. He pulled his gloves back on whilst the crowd fought their way off the train, waiting for it to be clear, and wrapped the thick red cashmere scarf that Jack had bought him for Christmas tight inside his upturned coat collar. Then he pulled his bag down from the rack above him, settled it comfortably on both shoulders, and braved the weather.
His breath formed a cloud in front of him, and the cold stung as soon as he was in the doorway. He was just under the cover, so he watched the flakes falling from the dark sky and dancing under the orange street light. The crowds had all cleared by the time he dragged himself away, and he got through the underpass and ticket gates without having to queue. His phone rang as he crossed the echoing station hall, and he dug it out of his pocket with difficulty thanks to the gloves.
"I'm on my way," he told Jack once he'd managed to answer it. "Where are you?"
"Out the front, pretending I'm a taxi. If you're not quick, I'll get a ticket."
"Like you care," he scoffed, and hung up. True to his word, Jack was right outside the door, and Ianto threw himself into the front seat and dumped his bag over into the back. "Hi. Thank you." He leaned over and kissed him. "Good week?"
"Not bad. Still no Hub, but UNIT have come through. Making us feel completely irrelevant." He pulled out, engine purring and straining to get a grip on the icy surface. "It's actually just been really quiet, so I've been making a start on all the admin you wanted."
"All the admin we needed," Ianto corrected him, amused. "And what about outside work? Quiet on that front too?"
"Oh, yeah. Ally's taken the spare room for now, but we did a bit of flat hunting for her, went out for the evening with the team, took her shopping to get some things and make it a bit more her and less your mum. It's been nice having someone to cook for, too." He looked over at Ianto. "It's nice not having an empty house, too."
"Yeah, I know. It'll be good for both of you, actually, so there's no reason she needs to move out unless one of you wants her to. Just no sleeping with her." Ianto looked out of the window. "She's like my sister, it would be weird."
"Honestly, it hadn't crossed my mind. I do do monogamy, you know. Besides, it's Ally."
He nodded. "Okay. I just… I don't mind if you do with other people, as long as you don't bring anything home, but she'd definitely be bringing something home."
"Right…" Jack gave him a confused look. "Where did that come from? I mean, do you want to see other people?"
Ianto snorted. "No. Like I have time anyway. I'm just saying, if you do want to, whilst we're not living together, I'm okay with it. But only when we're not living together."
"Right. I don't want to, but thank you."
"I don't want to either."
"Good." They reached their apartment and Jack pulled into the parking space outside. "We've not got long before we need to go out, and I couldn't get a taxi because of the weather. It's down at the St David's, so we could just walk."
"That works for me. Means we can both have a drink, if you want to." He pulled a face. "Just don't let me drink as much as I did at New Year. I don't think I'm over that hangover."
Jack laughed. "Come on. I picked your suit up from the dry cleaner's for you, and I even polished your shoes."
"Oh. Really?" He smiled softly. "Thank you."
The apartment was bright and warm, with fairy lights and tinsel still wrapped around picture frames and in the window. Tosh, Owen and Ally were sitting at the table, heads together over a pile of paperwork, and called out greetings as they arrived and hinted that Ianto could make a fresh pot of coffee before he got changed.
He settled down on a stool at the counter with his own coffee for a while, and Jack wrapped his arms around him from behind. The hot drinks chased away the last of the winter chill, for now, and Jack's warm presence did the rest of the job. Tosh wrapped up her work and put her glasses away pointedly. "I've got the Rift alarm, Jack, so you two are safe unless something major comes up. Ally, dinner?"
Ally smiled and nodded. "My shout this time. You choose."
"Will you be back…"
"Yes, dad." Ally cut Jack off and kissed his cheek. "I'll wait up until midnight, and if you're not back I'll leave the deadlock off. Have a good night, both of you."
Ianto raised his eyebrows as the door shut and said nothing, but he didn't have to. "Don't," Jack told him. "Just don't."
"I'm not. I need to get changed, though, and so do you." He leaned over and kissed him. "Thank you, for getting my suit done and doing my shoes, and picking me up from the station and getting us tickets for tonight, and everything."
"I managed this sort of stuff for years before I met you, you know." he slid his arms around Ianto again. "But I am glad I don't have to any more. Have we got time to share a shower?"
He checked the clock and smiled. "I think we can probably fit that in and not be more than fashionably late."
# # #
They arrived at the hotel, freezing and with snow sticking to their coats, glad to be able to hand them off to a cloakroom attendant with scarves and gloves and boots and warm their hands on glasses of mulled wine. The lift reached the foyer and disgorged a group of elegantly dressed ladies, clearly staying in the hotel rather than braving the journey from home. Ianto almost regretted that they hadn't done the same, but as his apartment was less than five minutes walk from the front door, even in this weather, there was no way they could justify it.
Cathy Swanson spotted them and pushed through the crowd to reach them, hiding her surprise badly. "I thought you weren't going to make it," she said, air kissing Jack as quickly as she could and smiling insincerely. "I'm so glad you could."
"Me too," Ianto assured her, kissing her cheek. "I came back from London especially, you know."
"Oh." She gave him a suspicious look. "It doesn't seem like your 'thing'. Mind you, I'll admit that I don't know you that well…"
"Well, here's as good a place as any to start." He snagged a canapé from a passing server and smiled. "I also never turn down the opportunity for canapés. I'm becoming quite the connoisseur. If you ever get the chance, the Ministry of Defence Equal Opportunities Steering Group put on the best lunch in London, in the hope that people will turn up to their conferences. I'm not as convinced by MI5, though, if you know what I mean?"
She laughed and held up a bite-size morsel of salmon mousse on Melba toast. "How does tonight measure up?"
"Good so far, but watch out for the desserts. Rubbery victoria sponges and watery lemon mousse are the norm, once you've been lured into a false sense of security by decent pastry." He gestured across the room. "Twice as likely if there's an open bar, of course, because by the time the desserts are served no one will even notice. Never agree to be the designated driver if there's an open bar."
"Oh, no police officer ever would. Taxi or hotel room is the only choice." She pointed upwards. "I'm on the seventh floor. What about you?"
"Ah, we live just across the road. No excuse." He looked over at Jack and laughed. "Sorry. I think you two need to start afresh. Cathy, this is my fiancé Jack. Jack, Cathy doesn't bite if you don't ask nicely."
"So I see," he murmured. "Cathy, it's a pleasure to meet you."
She smiled. "This time." She looked back at Jack. "Jack caused problems the first day I moved to Cardiff. I suppose we got off on the wrong foot."
"That happens to him a lot."
"Why am I not surprised?" She laughed. "Anyway, what about you two? Did you get off on the wrong foot?"
"Well, sort of. I applied for a job…"
"You accosted me outside the office."
"I saved you first, remember? And then I stalked you for a few days until you gave me a job." He raised his eyebrow and sipped his wine. "Not the best start, but you were worth the hassle."
"Mmm. The jury's still out on you." He smiled at Ianto and rested a hand on his back. "And it took us forever to actually get together."
"And then I walked out on you."
"I proposed first, then you walked out." He looked at Cathy. "It's complicated. Or it was. Now we're just long-distance."
"I get the feeling I'd quite like you outside work. Shame you're such pains in the backside most of my waking life." There was the clear ringing of a spoon against a glass and she looked around. "Sounds like we're being summoned for dinner. I'll see you both later."
Dinner was a civilised affair, surrounded by worthy philanthropists in their finery, talking about their children's Gap Years and ski trips and their villas in the South of France, in this darling little village with an artisan bakery oh my gosh it's fabulous you must come and visit. After his second glass of wine Ianto was in full flow telling them all about the villa in Bermuda and the colonial-era palace in Northern India, lifted from the Torchwood property portfolio, and Jack was trying very hard not to laugh. Ianto managed to name drop half the cabinet and Royal Family, and by the time the speeches started Jack was telling a story of a short-lived relationship with a beat jazz poet from New York who Ianto was 99% certain was either dead, fictional, or actually an alien.
Of course, after the speeches, when there was more wine, there was an auction. This was what the night was all about, to raise money for the police charities. Ianto was surprised to learn that Torchwood had donated a helicopter flight over the Brecon Beacons, and gave Jack as firm a look as he could considering his relaxed state. Jack just grinned, unrepentant, and leaned close to tell him, "I was owed a favour, don't worry about it."
"I'm not worrying. Just… wondering." He squeezed Jack's thigh and smiled. "Don't let me bid, no matter how excited I am."
He ended up buying a hospitality package for a day at the cricket, a romantic break for two in Swansea, and a hideous painting of the Millennium Centre.
"I can't get it home without it getting more ruined," he said, leaning on a pillar in the foyer. "What am I going to do with it?"
"Leave it with reception and say we'll be round to pick it up when the weather lets up, then forget about it." Jack leaned around to look at it. "How much did you pay for that?"
"Hundred quid. I'm going to give it to Gordon. He'll hate it."
He laughed. "I love it when you're relaxed."
"You mean drunk."
"Both. London's been good for you. You're so much more alive."
Ianto nodded. "Sometimes. I don't know, though. So much of the time, we seem to be living our lives for other people. And what privacy do we have? Everyone knows all the gossip before we do."
"You work in intelligence. Don't be surprised that they're good at it." Jack took the painting off him and leaned in to kiss him. "Come on. I'm going to pour you into bed. Get your coat, and I'll deal with this."
He murmured agreement and drifted across towards the cloakroom. Cathy caught him halfway there with a hand on his arm. "Mr Jones, they clearly pay well at Torchwood."
"They do," he agreed. "Otherwise no one would be mad enough to do it."
She looped her arm through his and smiled at him sweetly. "So what is it you actually do?"
He wasn't that drunk. "If I told you that, Cathy, I would have to take drastic action I am not sober enough for. You will find out, one day. Once my boss clears it."
"Can you tell me who your boss is?"
"Of course. Line manager or the big cheese?"
"The big cheese. You claim to be like the police or the military, but you're not." She looked up at him, high heels now hanging from her fingers so she was no longer at eye level with him. "What are you?"
"I answer to the Queen, ultimately. We all do, in our own way. I'm just doing the best job I can to keep people safe, the same as you are." He kissed her cheek. "Good night Cathy. I'll tell you more when I can."
She sighed, frustrated, but left him to it, and he watched her head to the lift whilst his mind span.