Poioned-Thorns: Yeah, yeah. I know I'm sad, running so close to my chosen name. But that's the start of the problem for Jack and Ianto. Ianto's telling people he has a girlfriend? The sh*t will hit the proverbial fan.

katwinchester: Yeah he is, surprisingly enough I've written that he learnt how to break and enter off Gwen who's a cop! The irony!

XxTypoMasterxX: Nothing's going to happen at the after party (nothing bad anyway) it's going to be cute. But not in the whole disney crap way, oh god I've just realised I've gone soppy. Hm, it'll be cute but not in the whole fuzzy wuzzy bunnies kind of way. There will be pwp... just for the hell of it coz I hate cute/sweet/overly soppy romantic plots. Life just ain't like that.

Authors/Note: I've been trying to get chapters out for the festivities but things got away from me. I was aiming to get another chapter of Breaking 13 and EbAE out before this but writers stump strikes again. I know what to happen in the stories, just can't seem to get it down properly. Anyway on with the show! Lois makes an entrance as Owen's secretary, family matters come back to haunt Jack and we learn a little about his past. It's kinda bitter sweet, you might need hankies if stuff like that makes you cry/go sentimental. It could have been longer but I decided to cut the chapter off there and turn what I'd written into the next chapter. Merry Christmas! Don't forget to review and just enjoy it!

Chapter Seven

It was rare for Jack to come to the main offices, especially considering that a small portion of the offices were set aside for editing and promoting his works. But that's where he currently found himself; Owen had called him in to talk over the details of the press release and after party.

He got out of the lift at Etheridge-Branch Publishing and went in search of Owen, Jack looked in his friends' office but there was no sign of him. He was about to go see if Owen was in the break room when he bumped into a young girl carrying several folders. The collision sent the papers tumbling to the floor, both of them bending down to pick them up

"I am so sorry" she apologised nervously

"It's alright" he grinned in the hopes to stop her from frantically picking up the contents of the folders

"No, it's not!" she replied firmly "I only started today and everything's gone to hell. My boss had to go home because his wife had an emergency and now I've just mixed up all these manuscripts and one of the authors is supposed to be meeting with Mr Harper any minute and I don't know what to do!"

"Hey, hey, hey! Shhh, it's okay" he said trying to calm her down before finding out who she was "What's your name?" she paused for a moment, seeing him properly and felt herself blush. He was absolutely gorgeous!

"Lois. Lois Habiba" she told him as she finally got the manuscripts in some sort of order and stood up. Jack stood up too and held out his hand

"I'm Jack Harkness" he introduced himself "Owen, Mr Harper, wanted me to come into sort the details of the press release and after party but if he's not here then you can do it"

"Me?" she gasped

"I take it you're Owen's new secretary, am I right?"

"Yes, sir. Oh!" her eyes went wide as his name finally clicked in her head, this was one of the firm's top authors "You're his two o'clock!"

"Yeah. Good girl, now let's put these down for now and get to work" said Jack in a flirty manner as he took the files from her and put them down on someone's desk before grabbing her by the wrist and tugged her towards Owen's office.

Lois did her best not to react to the gorgeous man leading her into her boss's office but she couldn't help it. He was so attractive!

"Are you sure it's okay for us to be going through Mr Harper's files?" she inquired as Jack started going through the drawers

"Yeah, yeah it's fine. So what should we do first? Aha! Guest list!" he pulled out a sheet of paper from one of the files with all the people attending the press release and party afterwards

"Who has he invited? Is there anyone you're going to add?"

"Oh, I can think of a few" he grinned as he picked up a pen and began crossing out some names and adding Ianto's name to the top of the list. Yeah Ianto had to be the guest of honour for both the release and the after party, his mind drifted off imagining what Ianto would be wearing when he turned up. In Jack's mind they'd spend the night together just talking and dancing and then they would go back to Ianto's, he'd not been there yet and he wanted to fill the blanks in his imagination.

Then the next day when they woke up they would shower and have breakfast together before going to the match. Ianto would run up and down the pitch, his team would win the game and he get suitably dirty! So dirty in fact that he would ask him to clean him up, his mind was running away from him as Jack pictured tugging off Ianto's tight dirty uniform and pulling him into a large shower

"Mr Harkness?" Jack blinked, coming back to focus on reality. He was aware of two things; Lois was staring at him like he was mad and he was bordering on being painfully hard.

"I'm sorry, I was lost in thought"

"Are the ones you've highlighted VIPs?" she inquired as she took the list from him. He nodded slowly just as Owen returned, the acerbic Londoner had the most unusual grin on his face. Lois noticed again that Jack wasn't paying any attention so she turned to look at what he was staring at

"What?" demanded Jack

"Katie's pregnant" he announced with the biggest out of place grin Jack had ever seen on him

"We're having a baby?" chuckled Jack before the happy expression was replacing with one of shock "You don't want me to deliver it do you, coz I can't do that again!"

"No you daft queen. I don't want you to deliver it! It's going to be delivered by a proper doctor, god only knows what you've done to Gwen's baby! Gethin is probably going to be traumatised for years to come after you being the first thing it saw out of the womb"

"Shut up. He should be grateful that I was there to help him into the world"

"So you want to deliver Katie's baby?" he smirked, Jack's eyes went wide with terror

"God no!" he shook his head no. Once had been more than enough! "Is she going to be there tomorrow night? I should get her a baby card"

"Gray called" Owen announced quietly before spotting Lois "Lois, can you leave Jack and I alone for a moment" she glanced at Jack who face had gone dark as a stormy evening, she could see the thunder ready to crash behind his tight jaw. This wasn't going to be pretty and she was glad for her boss giving her the out.

As soon as the door clicked shut leaving Owen and Jack alone in the room, Jack jumped up and began to pace anxiously

"Why didn't you tell me? What does he want?"

"He wanted to see you" stated Owen as he moved round the space to sit in his chair now that Jack had vacated it "He wants to come and stay with you. He wants to come to the release party"

"No!" Jack said vehemently "I don't want him in my life and I don't want him anyone near the people I care about"

"Jack... he's your brother!"

"No, Owen, he's not. He gave up the right to be my brother when he sided with my dad and beat the crap out of me. I know you think you're trying to help but there's a reason I cut all ties with my family and you're more than aware of it, why are you doing this?"

"I'm trying to help... and Gray's getting married"

"Then send him a congratulations card and tell him to bugger off"

"He's getting married to a man called Adam Smith" Owen told him and Jack's jaw dropped open in disbelief

"You're kidding me" he mumbled then clapped his hand over his mouth when he saw that his eldest friend was serious "Well... um, is he okay? Does daddy know?"

"He's staying with Adam, Franklin beat him up pretty badly. Jack, Gray is here in Cardiff and he wants to see you. He wants you to come to his wedding"

"Owen, what do I do?" he whispered almost tearfully

"You go see him. Sort things out between you two and then continue working on your book and spend time with your boyfriend"

"I'm scared, the last time I saw my brother he almost killed me" Owen got up from his chair to cross the room and cup Jack's face in his hands

"Jack, I love you. I always have and that's because you're such a warm and loving and kind hearted person despite how your family treated you when you were a kid. I remember how you always used to look out for Gray and how he used to follow us around wherever we went. I also remember that you loved him and protected him from all the bullies. He needed you then and he needs you now"

"You're right" nodded Jack, Owen offered him a small soft smile and reached over his desk to pull a post it note out of the top draw

"Go" he handed the post it to Jack and ushered him out the door. Jack was halfway down the corridor when he heard Owen calling to him "Don't let it interfere with your work!" which made Jack chuckle.

***

Gray got the fright of his life when Adam went out to see who was at the door and came back with his big brother Jack trailing after him

"It's your brother" Adam told him. Adam had never met Gray's big brother, he'd only had the unfortunate luck to be on the homophobic end of his soon to be father in law

"Jackson" gasped Gray

"Grayson" Jack chuckled softly before becoming serious, Gray was propped up on the couch with several pillows. His left arm was bandaged and there was a large cut running through his right eyebrow highlighting the purplish bruise over his eye

"Jack I..." Jack crossed the room in three strides and wrapped his arms around his baby brother effectively silencing him. Gray began to sob against his brother's shoulder, he was in pain from the hug but he couldn't care. It had been almost ten years since he'd seen or heard from Jack and now he was here.

Adam stood watching the scene knowing how much Gray had been wanting to see his brother; he'd spoken of nothing for weeks after Franklin found out that Gray was marrying a man. Adam had used his cop connections to track down anyone who could help and he'd found Owen Harper who had been Jack's best friend in high school.

When Jack finally pulled back he couldn't help but smile; it had been ten years since he'd last seen his brother and Gray was only fifteen when Franklin kicked Jack out

"You're all grown up"

"I'm sorry, Jack" he mumbled, Jack noticed how cracked and dry his brother's lips were, didn't help that the lower lip was severely split

"It's in the past. You don't need to apologise"

"But what I did..."

"Let it go, I have, it was a long time ago and you've obviously grown up and changed" he stated with a sly glance at Adam who was still standing in the doorway watching the Harkness brothers interacting "He's cute" it made Gray chuckle

"I've been calling Owen for weeks now trying to convince him to tell you that I was here..." Gray looked away as his lower lip shook and he stuck his jaw out trying not to cry "I was so scared and even though I've got Adam... I just felt so alone. Mommy and daddy disowned me"

"It's okay, it's okay. It's going to be okay, I'm here now" he pulled Gray into his arms and rocked him as he sobbed. Gray cried himself to sleep.

Jack stood up and Adam was waiting for him, he nodded towards the kitchen and he followed his brother's fiancé.

"You must be Adam" he held out his hand and Adam shook it

"Nice to meet you, even if it's under really stressful circumstances" he chuckled lightly as he pulled out two beers and offered one to Jack

"How long have you been together?" he took the beer and twisted off the cap

"About two and a half years. My job brought me out here about two months ago with a case, I was visiting Gray down in London when Franklin found out" he explained the situation and Jack just nodded mutely

"Was it really bad? Why didn't mommy..." he shook his head as he closed his eyes "How long has Gray been gay?"

"Four years. I met him eighteen months after he realised it and I've been with him ever since, I looked out for him. He told me what happened to you; what Franklin did to you and... that Gray helped"

"That was why I was so wary about coming here. He's my brother and I always love him but when he helped daddy beat me and kick me out I hated him, he hurt me so much and mommy never stopped them from doing what they did. If I'd have known that it would be like this... then maybe I wouldn't have been so quick to cut him out of my life. Franklin could have killed him"

"Gray was lucky I was there. I'm a cop, I stopped Franklin... he nearly did kill him"

"God" he sighed heavily "Thank you"

"Look I'm glad you're here, for Gray's sake, but I need to know... are you going to hurt him? You wouldn't do that, would you?"

"He's my brother!"

"Yes, I know. But that didn't stop him... Jack, I happen to be really in love with your brother and he's been through some serious shit the past few weeks. I'm just trying to protect him"

"I'm not going to hurt him. I do still feel a bit angry about what happened when I last saw him but that can't be helped. I'm not going to hold it against him, he wasn't to blame and it does kinda make sense now. When are you getting married? Have you set a date?"

"Not yet, we just got engaged" Adam explained with a massive grin spreading across his face

"Who asked who?"

"He asked me. Didn't ever think he'd have the guts to but he did! Fancy restaurant, down on one knee! The works! You will come to the wedding won't you? Because Gray... he wanted you to be the one who gave him away"

Jack smiled, nodding slowly as tears came to his eyes. Adam couldn't help but smile too; he had been deeply worried about how Jack would be about all this, especially since they hadn't really had much luck in contacting him

"I'd be honoured to give him away. So you're going traditional"

"We've talked about it. So, are you still... gay?"

"As the day is long, my friend" he laughed as he swigged his momentarily forgotten beer

"Will we be expecting you to bring a guest when you attend the ceremony?" he asked casually

"For a cop, your investigative skills are shit. Yes, if we're still together whenever you set the date then yes I'll be bringing someone. We only started dating officially yesterday"

"He nice?"

"Oh yeah, got a great arse" Jack told him, they moved away from the counters they were leaning on and sat down at the table

"What's his name?" Adam asked as he played with his bottle lid

"Ianto" Jack couldn't help but beam when he said his boyfriend's name, he was so head over heels

"Local boy, then?" he nodded at Adam's question. He was about to tell him more when the phone rang, Adam got up to answer it brushing a hand through his light dirty blonde hair "Hello?"

Jack watched as his face darkened to whoever was on the phone. Adam glanced up sparing a look at his guest before clearing his throat

"Who is it?" they turned to see Gray leaning against the doorframe clutching the blanket tight around him; it reminded Jack of when they were children.

"It's your mother" he replied as he held the receiver away from his face for a moment. Jack jumped up quickly, the chair scraping loudly over the wood floor and he took the phone from Adam

"Hello?"

"Gray... I'm really sorry for what daddy's done. Please, I'm here in Cardiff... I just want to see you, to make sure you're alright! He's not here, it won't be like last time! I promise"

"Mommy" he almost growled angry all of a sudden and she went quiet

"J-Jackson?" she mumbled "W-What are you doing there? Where's Gray?"

"I'm at his house mommy. I'm at his house with Gray and his boyfriend"

"Stop it. This is you isn't it? This is your fault!"

"You should be the one to stop it. I haven't seen you or daddy or Gray for ten years, how the hell do you reckon I managed to 'interfere'? Through subliminal messaging? Putting drugs in the water? Didn't you hear, all of Cardiff's gone gay!"

"Jack!" snapped Gray sulkily but Jack wasn't going to let it go; this had gone too far already and enough was enough. He'd struggled after his family kicked him out effectively turning against him because of who he was. It had taken so long for him to be comfortable in his own skin and it had been a long road, Jack didn't want Gray to go through that. Not when he was already taking those first few steps

"This has nothing to do with me. If Gray chooses to be gay then that's up to him, I didn't hold a knife to his throat and force him! You need to accept that or get out of his life like you did with me. I know haven't exactly been there for him over the years, not that you actually gave me a chance to when you and daddy threw me up but I'll be there for him now. He's my brother and I love him, that's all. If you can't look past who he chooses to love and see your son then you shouldn't bother! Don't make promises and apologises that mean nothing"

"Do you want to meet up tomorrow?" she asked quietly after a long pause

"Where and when?" Jack asked her, there was another pregnant silence before she answered

"On the plass for lunch? You and Gray?"

"Sure. We're bringing our partners. See you then" he promptly hung up before sagging against the wall. Gray was staring at him expectantly

"Well?! What did she say?" he demanded before coughing, Adam rushed over to him carefully wrapping his arms around his lover

"We're meeting her for lunch tomorrow. All of us"

"Daddy?" Gray mumbled falling strangely quiet. Jack shook his head and Gray sobbed once before falling against Adam.

Adam helped him back to the couch and laid him covering him with the blanket before turning to look pointedly at Jack

"He needs his rest, you should go" he told him, Jack nodded as Adam led him out. They stopped by the front door and Adam sighed "If he gets hurt by what happens tomorrow then I'm going to blame you. Gray doesn't need this right now! He's still recovering and this isn't going to help"

"It will in the long run. I'm not sure how strong he is but right now he's looking pretty broken, and this is only the start. It's hard when they do this, when they turn you away... it hurts Adam and he shouldn't have to go through that. If mommy is here that means she's willing to make an effort, we'll meet her and find that out and if not then we'll know and I'll do everything to make Gray feel loved in the absence of our fine parents"

"Hm, good. We'll see you tomorrow, on the Plass" he said finally before shutting the door.

TBC...