Author's note: I can't believe how long I've been writing this story. Adulthood continues to get in the way but I am, gradually, getting there.

13.02.09

"We will shortly be arriving at Wendover. Wendover is the next station stop. Please ensure you take all your belongings with you. Wendover is the next station stop."

Ianto glanced out of the rain-splattered window at the street lights and flipped his journal closed. He slid the pen into the loop and the notebook into his satchell, and then had to rush to collect his suitcase from the rack above his head as the train crawled into the station. It bumped against his legs as he navigated the narrow aisle, and then splashed water up his trousers from every puddle. He picked it up to jog up the stairs and over the bright blue bridge, and then hurried down the other side and udner the station canopy, following a flood of well-heeled commuters. His step quickened as soon as he got through the ticket barriers and saw Jack waiting for him just inside the door with a bunch of red roses.

"Oh, you absolute..." He slowed to a stop in front of Jack and looked pointedly at the roses. "Hi."

"Hey." Jack looked down at them and grinned. "Welll, I have said that red is your colour."

He laughed and leaned across them, cupping Jack's cheek in his free hand and kissing him softly. "Thank you."

Jack smiled back at him and held them out. "Here, swap. I'll take your bag, you take your flowers."

That sounded like a reasonable trade to Ianto, so he did that, keeping hold of his satchel, and followed Jack outside and down to the car park. "How long ago did you get here?"

"Long enough to find a florist, but not long enough to get a decent cup of coffee."

"Poor you." He tucked his satchel into the boot and took the flowers with him, keeping them on his lap as he sat down to stop them getting damaged. "We should go and sort that."

Jack chuckled. "I'm not going to argue. I think I passed our hotel on the way in, too. It's only just up the road."

"Good." He reached across and squeezed Jack's hand. "I'm really looking forwards to this weekend."

"Me too." Jack looked back at him, turning his hand to tangle their fingers together. "We're doing well so far. This... taking time thing. It's working."

He laughed and let go so Jack could drive. "Yeah, so far. We're less than two months in, though."

"Cynic."

"You knew this when you asked me to marry you." The drive up the road to the hotel was frankly ridiculous, and it took them longer to find a gap in the traffic to pull into the car park than it did to get there. The rain continued to patter against the windows, counterpointed by the steady rhythm of the windscreen wipers, and Ianto stared out of it at the back of the half-timbered coaching inn. "You don't mind, though."

It wasn't a question, but Jack answered anyway. "I mind sometimes. But we're working on it."

He smiled and nodded, then reached for the door handle with a sigh. "Let's brave the rain."

They dashed across the courtyard, dodging drips from the parasols that hung limply over wet tables and offered no protection at all, and into the reception. A faux-antique bar took up half of the room, faced by a table with an artistically styled desk showcasing their wedding venue services. Ianto took a look at it whilst they waited for someone to notice them, and he felt Jack's hand on the small of his back as he joined him. "Not very us, is it?" he murmured.

Jack kissed his cheek. "I don't know. The red..."

He huffed and shook his head. "Down, boy."

He was saved by the arrival of a member of staff at last. She lifted the bar to get behind it, apologising all the while. "I take it you're here to check in," she said, without pausing for breath. "Mr Harkness, is it?"

Jack stepped away from Ianto and nodded. "Two nights."

"Ah yes, there we are." She frowned for a secong and shook her head. "You're in the Honeymoon Suite. We must have had a cancellation..." Brushing that aside like she would an alien invasion, she pulled open a drawer and handed over two brass keys. "That's all paid for. Breakfast is in the front bar between 7 and 10 every morning. If you want it later, just let someone know. Check out is at 11 when you leave... And I think all I need to do now is show you to your room. I'm afraid it's across the courtyard."

It was worth the mild soaking they got as they scurried across. Even Ianto had to admit that. The room was dominated by a four poster bedwith a deep, soft mattress and thick, fluffy duvet. Three of the walls were a bright cheery yellow, and the other was panelled so that the solid oak wardrobe almost blended into it. A door at the far end of the room opened into a small but comfortable bathroom, complete with jaccuzi bath. "You pulled out all the stops," he murmured to Jack, who had his best smug grin on. "Trying to impress me?"

"Maybe." Jack reached out for him and pulled him in. "Is it working?"

He chuckled. "Not really. Sorry."

"Spoil sport." Jack walked him backwards towards the bed. "So... got anything in mind that might impress you?"

Ianto grinned and caught Jack's lips. "Lock the door, and then we'll see," he murmured against them.

# # #

To Ianto's slight disappointment, the following day dawned bright and cold, with a few stubborn clouds scudding across the sky. A frost clung to cobwebs and the edges of the few evergreens in the yard, andhad hardened the ground enough for walking. He peered into his mug of coffee suspiciously for a moment and then turned his gaze back to the sliver of countryside they could see at the far end of the car park, a soft smile curling his lips. Jack stretched his legs out from the other side of the table and their ankles pressed together. The table was strewn with pamphlets from the little display in the reception, but they were no closer to a decision.

"There's always the Natural History Museum," Ianto murmured. "That's not far from here. But the weather's too nice to stay indoors."

"I don't remember the last time I tried to be a tourist." Jack started stacking the pamphlets again with a sigh. "My plan was just to stay in bed all day, but apparently not."

Ianto snorted. "Mine too. We could still do that, you know."

The waitress brought their breakfasts over just as Jack finished clearing a space for them, and he smiled up at her, dimples on full blast. "Hey, mind if we ask you a question?"

"Not at all. You're looking for something to do today?" She reached across for the pamphlets and flipped the top one over to show a map of the area. "If you go up that road, you get to Chequers - that's the Prime Minister's official second residence. You can't get in there, of course, but there's a lovely walk up onto Coombe Hill, to the War Memorial, which has a stunning view of it. It should be nice in the weather today, but wet under foot until you get onto the top."

"We can cope with a bit of wet," Ianto assured her. "That sounds great, actually; thank you."

She grinned back at him. "My pleasure. If you want to do it, I'll fetch a better map for you. It's hard to miss the route, but if the clouds descend you can end up coming down the wrong side into Princes Risborough. Which is a nice little town, don't get me wrong, but it's not where you started."

They laughed and Ianto looked over at Jack. "What do you think? Up for a hike?"

"I'll follow you wherever, you know that."

He rolled his eyes. "I'm pretty sure it's usually the other way around. Yes please, we'd love that map."

"I'll bring it over when you've finished breakfast," she promised. "Enjoy your meal."

Ianto watched her go and his gaze drifted to the window. "Looks like a good day for it."

"I wouldn't know." Jack murmured. "Too busy staring at you."

He chuckled and turned to look at Jack, resting a hand on his chin. "Sorry, dear. Is this better?"

"Much." Jack reached for his coffee mug with one hand and a slice of toast with the other. "It won't take a full day to do the walk. Unless we get lost and go to Princes Risborough."

"I thought we could get lost and flagrantly abuse my security clearance to go to Chequers." Ianto suggested.

Jack stared at him for several seconds before his face lit up with a blinding grin. "Sounds perfect. I haven't been there for years."

"Name dropper."

"Says Mr 'Let's Abuse My Security Clearances'. So we can just drop in on your best friend the Prime Minister." He grinned. "Maybe we should call in on my godsons some time."

Ianto laughed, bright and sudden. "I do love you."

"Good. It's a bit late to decide now that you don't." He smirked. "Again."

"You shouldn't mock the afflicted. Even if they're afflicted with colossal stupidity."

Jack smirked over his coffee cup, but as he set it back down he grew serious. "I'm glad you took the job offer. Wish you hadn't dumped me for it, but you're the right person for that role. You don't have big dreams. You just see a job that needs doing, and you do it. The people who end up at the top, they're usually those with a vision, and they miss the details. You sweat the small stuff."

He inclined his head, a warm glow colouring his cheeks. "Never promote someone who can't source Post-It notes."

"Yeah," Jack agreed, laughing. He reached across for Ianto's hand. "I'm glad you're coming back, though."

# # #

"Mr Jones, Captain Harkness." Amanda swept down the corridor towards them, hand outstretched. "Good to see you again. No Tybalt today?"

Ianto shook her hand and chuckled. "No, no chaperone for this trip. He's keeping an eye on things in Cardiff for us. You know, keeping an eye on the pawperwork."

She snorted. "Ianto, that was terrible. Welcome back."

"Thank you. Good to see you too." He stepped back and let Jack greet her with a kiss on the cheek, rolling his eyes. "I hope you've not been as busy as we have, but I suspect..."

"Always busy," she confirmed. "We're preparing for the IT conference, three training sessions already this year, and we've gtot this wedding coming up." She sighed theatrically. "As if I didn't have enough on my plate."

Jack nodded. "So inconsiderate of us, I know."

"We'll cope." She reached for a file behind her and held it out to Ianto. "I've prepared some details for you, but I think I know you well enough to know what the plan will be. You said you're thinking June?"

"That's the plan," Ianto agreed, flicking open the file. "Hopefully we'll get good weather. Certainly better than we got at the conference."

"Yeah. It would ne nice to be able to use the grounds," Jack agreed. "I remember a few years back we had a really cold January, with a lot of snow. The lake froze over and we got snowed in here. We ended up having a snowball fight between Torchwood and UNIT. We had to get backup from Liberty Towers - Canton was always up for that sort of thing. Wow, that dates it a bit..."

Amanda shook her head. "The last time the lake froze over was 1978-79. Before my lifetime."

"And mine," Ianto agreed cheerfully.

"You both missed out, then." He glared at them both, but his eyes sparkled despite his best efforts. "Althoguh I'm pretty sure they called that the Winter of Discontent. Getting snowed in here was the best thing that could have happened to me."

Amanda laughed again. "Didn't you drinik the bar dry wththe first two days of the snow-in?"

"Officially, yes. Unofficially..." He grinned. "I'm pretty sure we just stsole all the bottles at about three in the morning. Me and Canton again."

"Canton as in Everett Delaware the Third? He's quite the legend," Ianto observed.

"Yeah. Mostly for the quantity he can drink. That was back when we still had Torchwood offices all over Ireland, and they prided themselves on drinking us under the table. Canton and I kept up. Mind you, I was a bit of an alchoholic at the time.""

Amanda raised an eyebrow. "Should I hide the bottles?"

"If Canton and I are together... definitely." Jack laughed. "It had better be an open bar."

Ianto groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I have a feeling I'm going to learn more about you on our wedding day than I have in the last few years. Your stag do is going to be one of those events that becomes part of Torchwood mythology, isn't it?"

"Mine is? What about yours? You, Ally and your sister in the same bar." Jack stopped at Ianto's horrified expression and grinned. "Hadn't thought about that?"

"Oh god."

Amanda laughed at him. "Anyway. I hope I'm getting an invitation to both of these. Shall we go and look at the hall, though?"

Ianto flipped through the file again as he followed her. "It seems like the perfect venue. Security already in place, plenty of rooms for overnight guests, and the catering staff are fantastic."

"They are. Always have been," Jack agreed. "You must have conferences here every month."

"Probably two thirds of the year we're hosting," Amanda confirmed. "Mostly small training events, though, inter-branch departmental meetings, that sort of thing. The ones you avoid, Jack."

"Well, you don't pull out the big guns for those."

She smirked. "We will for this. I know it's presumptuous of me, but I've told the kitchen that créme brulee will have to be on the menu." Jack beamed and she squeezed his arm. "Come on. I'll give you the official tour, and then we can discuss the fine details over afternoon tea."