10.05.2009

Alice and Steven had arranged to visit them for Sunday dinner and, because it was Cardiff and Torchwood and their life, the Rift hadn't played fair. They'd been up until three in the morning chasing a small, fluffy and terrified animal around a warehouse, and eventually cornered it in the homewares department, huddled in the top of a box full of pillows that it had made quite a mess of. It cried all the way back to the Hub, where Owen had hooked it up to one of the scanners and sent them both home to sleep. In the morning Ianto had left Jack in bed and slunk back into the office, where he found it curled up on his desk chair and making contented little whistles and beeps whenever Tosh came close.

Owen insisted on showing him the scan results, despite the distinctly blurry look of complete confusion that must have been broadcasting Ianto's state of awareness to half the galaxy, and explaining how the shape of the teeth and the configuration of its stomachs showed that it must be herbivorous, and the way its brain reacted to its ears being stroked showed that it was a species that practiced communal grooming. Either because she could see that Ianto was taking in about one word in four or because she was bored of Owen's showing off, Tosh explained that UNIT had about two dozen of them living in one of their offices in Canada. He rubbed its ear like it apparently liked, let it sniff his fingers, and then left them to it and went to pick up the car to do some last-minute shopping.

By the time he got back to the house, bread and wine in hand as was appropriate for a Sunday, there was an unfamiliar car parked outside their apartment block and the bedroom curtains were open. He paused outside, called himself several kinds of fool, and let himself in. There was music blaring from their downstairs neighbour's apartment that drowned out his footsteps up the metal staircase, and when he got to their door it was just on the latch, for the first time since the attacks. Ianto slipped in and dropped his keys into the bowl with Jack's and raised his hand in greeting to the woman who glared at him from the sofa. He recognised her from the photo Jack had kept in his bunker, although that had been of a much younger woman. The little boy playing with Tybalt he'd only seen in baby photos.

"Hello!" He put the bottles and the loaf down on the counter and leaned against it, trying to project the same confidence he would have found when facing down the Cabinet. Alice was significantly scarier than the Cabinet. "You must be Alice and Steven."

"And you must be Ianto," Alice got up at last and approached him, offering him her hand. "Jack's told me so much about you."

Jack, who was sitting on the sofa next to where Steven was playing with Tybalt, chuckled. "Good things, I promise."

"That's definitely true." She shook Ianto's hand and then shot a frustrated eyeroll in Steven's direction. "Steven, leave Tybalt alone for a minute and come and say hello."

"But he's so soft..." Still, he did as he was told and trailed over to press himself against his mum's side and peer up at Ianto. "Hello Uncle Ianto."

"Hello Steven." He'd not had much experience with children at any point in his life, and relied on Rhiannon to nudge him in the right direction to deal with Micah and David. They were both younger than Steven, though, so he didn't even have experience to fall back on. He settled for looking as cheerful as he could and relying on Tybalt to save him. "Have you been making friends with Tybalt?"

"Yes. He's lovely. Mum won't let me have a pet, but I looked after the class hamster last month. I'd love a kitten like Tybalt." It wasn't remotely subtle, and it wasn't working either judging by the look on Alice's face. "Is he easy to look after?"

Alice shook her head, but her eyes crinkled like Jack's did when he was trying not to laugh. "Steven, behave," she chided him gently. "You're not having a kitten, no matter how easy Tybalt is. But maybe we can come and visit him?"

"I think he'd like that," Ianto assured her, speaking more for Jack than for Tybalt. "We're not far away, after all. Even if the Severn is in the way."

"Yes, well, I suppose it's hardly the Atlantic Ocean."

Ianto glanced over at Jack, who was watching them like a hawk, and smiled brightly. "Can I get you a drink? Coffee?"

"Thank you. Jack has raved about your coffee. Of course, being half Italian I do have strong opinions on coffee."

"Oh, yes, Jack said you lived in Italy for a while." He hurried across to the coffee machine which, whilst not as good as the one in the Hub, was definitely a bit much for their small apartment. Still, it was nice to be able to show off a bit at times like this. "Was that in the north or the south?"

"North, Turin actually. My mother was from the area originally, and after she left the UK she went back there and worked for Fiat as an engineer. I think she wanted me to go the same way as her, get into engineering or something scientific, but I was never much interested in that." She slid into one of the bar stools, so she couldn't see Jack behind her watching her every move. "Fortunately for me, Turin is a really good place to grow up if you're into the arts too."

"You're a lecturer, aren't you? Literature?"

"Yes, and Italian, for my sins." She looked back at Jack at last, then turned her attention back to Ianto. She was trying, at least, and so far they'd avoided any potentially dangerous subjects. "What about you? Did you avoid academia?"

He chuckled. "I did about two terms at university before I decided it wasn't worth it and dropped out. It was only really a way out of Newport, and I found cheaper ways to spend my time than sitting through 9am seminars I wasn't really interested in. But it did get me from Newport to London, which I'll always be grateful for. Even if I did end up back here in the end."

"Well, Cardiff is at least a step up on Newport. Most places are."

"I wish I could disagree, but I have actually been there recently. It's a dive, isn't it?" The water finally reached the boil, so he turned away to make up three coffees and a hot chocolate for Steven. An awkward silence settled over the room again, so when he turned back it was with a flourish. "Your coffee. Milk, sugar?" Whilst they sorted that out, Ianto looked over to Jack again and thought fast. " I'd better get on with dinner – I thought I'd do a curry, and it's always best left to marinade for a while. If that's alright?"

"Fine with us," Alice confirmed. She took the hint and slid off her bar stool. "Come on Steven, let's get out from under Ianto's feet."

They left him to it and drifted back to the other end of the room, where Jack had opened the doors onto the balcony and was watching them all. Steven plonked himself back on the floor with Tybalt, leaving Alice and Jack free to talk away from curious young ears, and Ianto free to keep half an eye on them whilst he worked.

Once he'd got the chicken back in the fridge and ready to go in the oven, he scuttled into the bedroom to get changed out of his work suit and into something more comfortable, maybe even younger. Jack had dressed much like he always did, and even Alice had gone for smart casual in chinos and a silk blouse, which reduced Ianto's options somewhat. In the end he settled for a pair of black jeans and a deep burgundy shirt that Jack liked, or at least had liked in the past. He sighed at the way he found himself questioning every decision as soon as he'd made it. Back in the living room he found that Steven had taken over the conversation, or possibly stepped into an awkward silence, and was telling Jack about a recent cricket match he'd played in, at great length and with physical demonstrations of his bowling, the batsman's terrible attempt at a pull shot, and even the bails being dislodged. Alice shook her head and mouthed 'not quite' at him, but he laughed obediently and settled himself down on one of the dining chairs.

"You like cricket then, Steven? Have you been to been to a match at the County Ground?"

"No, not yet. I really, really want to, though," he said, turning puppy-dog eyes back on his mum again. She sighed and ruffled his hair. "It would be so cool, wouldn't it?"

Jack glanced up at Ianto. "Aren't England playing there later this month? I bet we could get you tickets. If… that's alright with you, Alice?"

She looked startled, and more than a little defensive, but there was no way she could say no with that look on Steven's face. There was every chance Jack was going to get an earful over it afterwards, actually, although he seemed oblivious to this. Alice smiled down at Steven and stroked his hair back again. "That would be lovely, actually. What do you say?"

"Thank you, Uncle Jack! Will you both come?"

Ianto was about to agree when his brain caught up and reminded him of the dates. "I can't, I'm afraid. I'm off on a… work trip to America. I'd rather be at the cricket, but…" He shrugged to indicate 'what can you do?' and smiled. "We should be able to watch it, though, so I'll keep an eye out and see if I can spot you all."

"Oh." His face fell for a moment, but Ianto was braced for the seemingly endless curiosity that he bounced back with. "Where are you going in America? What do you do there? Do you get to go on a plane?"

"I'm a government advisor," he said, in a fake posh voice that made Steven laugh. "It's very boring, really. I just do the research and then make the Prime Minster look like he knows everything. He's got some big meeting to go to."

Alice gave him a very grateful look and stepped in smoothly to take over with her sanitised version of the story. "You know I told you the other day that aliens are real? Well, Ianto is an expert on aliens."

"Cool! Have you met any aliens?"

That was going to take some getting used to. "Loads," he admitted. "Most of them aren't very friendly, unfortunately. They think of Earth as a bit like Newport, really. Not many want to come here, and they're not very happy if they arrive here by accident. I know I wouldn't be."

"Do you have to fight them?"

He looked over at Alice, who gave him a look that said 'no' in very large letters. "It's mostly research," he repeated. "I make sure everyone knows what they need to know to keep people safe. It's like being a walking encyclopaedia."

"You must be very clever."

"Nah. I just have a really good filing system. It's because I tidied my room when my mum told me to – got me in the habit for life."

Alice snorted. "Nice try. I don't think there's any hope of that, is there?"

Steven weighed this up, and then shook his head firmly. "I thought I'd lost my school jumper the other day, but Mum found it on top of the bookcase. We have no idea how it got there!"

"The world is full of mysteries," Ianto murmured, whilst Alice tried not to laugh.

# # #

"And that's when his Personal Private Secretary walked in," Ianto finished, sending Alice into another fit of laughter that had tears streaming down her cheeks and smudged her eyeliner even more. He topped up her wine whilst she dabbed at her eyes carefully and shook his head. "I've not been invited back since, for some reason."

"You're awful," she told him, "absolutely dreadful. And the Home Secretary! Well, I'll never look at the news the same way again."

He tried and failed to hide a smirk. "And you thought that Whitehall Farces were named after the theatre."

"Well, I have seen the news before." She took a sip of her wine and frowned at it. "This is a nice white. Good judgement or total luck?"

"Good advice from the highest halls of power, of course. Always look on the bottom shelf and pick the middle priced bottle." He checked Jack's glass, which was nearly untouched as usual, and filled up his own instead. "Jack's the expert on spirits and liqueurs, but I'm happy to admit I go for quantity over quality. He did get a beautiful Japanese whisky at Christmas, though."

Alice looked at Jack consideringly. "I would never have taken you for a whisky man. I don't know why."

"I... don't drink much," Jack said after a long pause. "Too many late night shifts."

"Quality over quantity, quite right." Alice peered into her glass again. "Advice I should probably have taken several hours ago. Ianto, I'm blaming you for tomorrow's hangover."

"Oh..." He managed to cut himself off before he swore in front of Steven, who was watching them with suitably wide-eyed amusement. "You were supposed to be driving back tonight, weren't you?" He shrugged. "Well, what's a spare bedroom for if not for drinking slightly too much German Riesling?"

She hesitated, but by that stage there really wasn't an alternative option. "Alright, but we're going to have to be up really early tomorrow, Steven. I want to be out of here by seven. Thank you so much, both of you. I... should probably have done this years ago."

"Better late than never," Ianto assured her. He checked the time, which had flown by like the wine, and got to his feet. "Tell you what, I'll clear the table and go and make the bed up before we get into another bottle of wine. It's a double, but..."

"We'll be fine, thank you Ianto." She rested her chin on her hand and turned to look at Jack, who had remained silent, as he had throughout most of the meal. In his defence, that was largely because between Steven's excitement about his latest school trip and Ianto's nervous chatter he hadn't really been able to get a word in edgeways, but it had never stopped him before. Ianto stacked the plates next to the sink to sort later and ducked into the spare bedroom, hoping that his absence would give Jack the space to relax a bit.

It was a good job he'd decided to check the spare room, it turned out. Tosh, Ally and Christina were the last ones to use it so, whilst there were no state secrets strewn across the bed, it was still a bit too James Bond for Steven's eyes. Alice was clearly moderating his news intake carefully, and she'd steered them away from discussions about Torchwood and aliens with a deft hand. It could have made things awkward, but Steven was just so excited to see them (and about everything) that the conversation had never really ebbed at all. They'd talked, or rather he had talked and Jack and Ianto had listened, about cricket and rugby, Steven and Alice's last holiday to Spain, the various school trips he'd been on that year, and the time his dad took him to the beach in Weston Super Mare and he got food poisoning. Children were better than cats for maintaining a flow of conversation.

He stripped and remade the bed quickly, although not as quickly as he would have done an hour ago, and tucked anything incriminating away into the locked drawer in the desk. Even once he was satisfied that the room was ready, he paused by the door to give them a bit more time.

When he returned to the living room, Steven was holding court again and Jack was listening intently. There was a strangely lost look on his face, the confidence that he'd always worn day in and day out for as long as Ianto had known him completely missing. He realised then that it had been for days, ever since John Hart's attack, and he had no idea what to do. Even Alice, watching the pair of them, looked nearly as worried as he felt when she caught his eye across the table. Ianto did his best to hide it as he grabbed another bottle of wine and the pavlova out of the fridge. He'd considered not getting a dessert in so that he could use it as an excuse to duck out if he felt too awkward, but was starting to think he should have left it as an excuse for Jack instead.

"Oh my goodness," Alice said as he approached with the pavlova plate balanced on one hand and the bottle in the other. "Don't tell me you made that too?"

"Ah, no. Courtesy of Tesco, I'm afraid. Never quite got the hang of meringue. Or tried, to be honest."

She took the wine off him and recharge their glasses whilst he served. "That's alright, then. I was starting to think I was going to have to steal you away, but if you can't do meringues Jack's just going to have to keep you."

"Well," he said quickly, "after all the work Jack's put into house training me, it would be a bit unfair." Alice laughed, thankfully, and Jack relaxed a little. "Besides, someone has to keep him safe from my mum. If she ever finds out how her phone works, we're all in big trouble."

"Oh, your mum likes Jack?"

"Loves him. I mean, who wouldn't? Actually, I can't work out whether she or my sister is worse. Rhi can be a handful too. And then there's Micah, my niece. She's only five but she's a big fan." He laughed, shaking his head at the thought. "In fact, the whole Jones clan, which obviously includes half the Welsh population, are a bit of a handful."

"It must be nice to have a big family, though. There was only me, my mum and my step-dad, and I wasn't even close enough to them to stay in Italy. Something must have brought you back to Wales."

He shrugged, uncomfortable with the void between the pretence and the brutal reality of that time. "It was a lack of options more than anything else. But I'll admit, it worked out for me. For all of us, I suppose."

"Things often do in the end, one way or another."

Ianto looked up at Jack again, who had finally drained his wine but couldn't meet his eyes.

# # #

Because of the early start that Alice and Steven had ahead of them they turned in earlier than usual, at about ten. Ianto could hear Alice and Steven talking quietly in the next room so he kept his own voice low to avoid being overheard. "That went well. Better than I expected. Not that I expected it to go badly…"

"You two seemed to get on well," Jack agreed, shrugging his shirt off and chucking it somewhere near the laundry basket. He ignored Ianto as he went over to pick it up and drop it in the basket with his own. "I should have known you would."

There was a bit too much bite to it to ignore, and Ianto had had a bit too much wine. He shoved the shirts deep into the basket with more force than it really needed and fumbled with the button on his jeans. "Would you rather it had gone badly?" he hissed. "Should I apologise for putting an effort in with your family?"

Jack flinched. "I've been trying for years to get closer to her. And then you come along in one night and…" He trailed off and his shoulders sagged. "Ignore me."

"Fuck's sake." Ianto rubbed at his eyes, sinking down on the edge of the bed with a groan. "She didn't go to that effort for me, Jack. We both did it for you. She wasn't even interested in coming to the wedding before so maybe, just maybe, she was worried about you and that changed her mind."

"I… she what?"

"As of right now, she's not coming. Unless she's told you she's changed her mind and you haven't told me." He reined in his irritation as much as he could. "She had absolutely no interest in meeting me or having anything to do with me."

What little fight had been left in Jack drained out of him, leaving him leaning against the walls with his eyes closed. "I forgot," he said in a voice barely more than a whisper. "I… there's so much I don't remember."

"Then I'll help you," Ianto promised him almost desperately. "I'll do whatever I can, I just need you to tell me what you need. Look, we'll ask Alice about the wedding again in the morning, arrange for Steven to stay with Micah and David for the day, sort out something so they can all meet each other. It's going to work out."

Jack didn't look like he entirely believed him, but he did manage a genuine smile. It was, at least, progress.