Author's Notes: Well, for such a prompt, of course I was going to send them to Victorian times (and yes, I do know that the prompt was properly referring to the 'running out of time' sense of the expression, but we've got time travel here. I've got every right). That's what I usually do with characters anyway and plus, a Victorian Christmas is, well, like Christmas morning to me and I feel like I put a lot more feeling into it than into the New York one (and it's also long as hell when compared to most of the chapters), so I hope you enjoy it.

Day Twenty-Eight: Out of Time

"If we end up in the Victorian era one more time – I don't care which country it is – I am never going to let you out of the TARDIS again."

"Don't be like that, Jack." Ianto's voice was cheerful and light-hearted as he swung his cane around. He'd brought it mostly because it suited his clothes, and Jack couldn't deny that said clothes had been well-chosen: Ianto was wearing a suit again, only this one was compliant to the age they'd arrived in – a top hat and a long coat. "It's going to be fun."

"I keep telling you, you're romanticising an era that really wasn't all that great."

"You're the last person I know that can talk about romanticising a few years of human history, Captain," Ianto said pointedly. "And plus, it's nice, look. Not all that crowded as it was when I lived here, carriages and corseted dresses and–"

"And the smell of smoke and horse, ah, leftovers all over the place," Jack said tersely. "Very romantic. Just what we needed. Are you sure you understand the definition of 'calm and quiet', Ianto?"

"'Course I do." Ianto was all innocence now; wide blue eyes staring back at Jack and daring him to blame him for anything. "London is very calm and quiet in the late 19th century."

"Yeah, and that's why all sorts of fishy stuff is happening everywhere," the Captain said darkly. "Seriously, Ianto, if I didn't know better I'd think you've purposefully dragged us into trouble."

"Never." Ianto threw him a scandalised look. "I just wanted to enjoy the place. We could rent a house, with servants and everything. The TARDIS gave us enough money for it if we'll only stay a week and even I have to admit that hotels in this time are suspicious places. You want a honeymoon and a honeymoon you shall get. You'll see. It's gonna be amazing."

o.O.o

Only several hours later, they had already chosen a house and Jack had managed to convince himself that he was only playing along because he liked the sight of Ianto in a top hat. The year and the city really weren't all that bad and there was no chance of running into Torchwood yet, so he let himself enjoy it. Ianto seemed to be entertained by anything this time and place could offer him and Jack soon found that he felt very much the same way. There was no knowing if it was Ianto's influence or his own opinion, though.

Ianto had made sure that they were recreating everything with historical accuracy. Jack could tell that he was doing it for his benefit from the expectant looks he chanced at Jack every now and then when he decided to try something typical for that age that was also new for him, and for the most part, the Captain approved of it all.

Jack could bet on anything that Ianto was paying good money to the servants to keep their mouths shut for anything that happened in the house and, after the first night of general 'getting used to the situation' kind of fuss, he realised that he could very much see this working, especially when Ianto fell asleep with a smile on his face as they both brought the covers – full of feathers and yet strangely light – over their bodies to try and shield themselves from the winter frost outside. Through the window, Jack could see the snow-covered rooftops of the buildings in London. He could see Big Ben in the yellowish dark sky as the snow quietly fell outside and wondered what exactly could be happening in Ianto's beautiful mind that made him see this as the perfect place to live.

It wasn't until three days later when Jack actually found out when exactly Ianto had chosen for them to be. He knew that it was winter, of course, but it was only when one of the servants said "Merry Christmas, Mr Jones!" that Jack realised it and lifted an eyebrow in Ianto's direction. "Christmas, eh? First your birthday, then the Fourth of July and now Christmas?"

"Go big or go home is what most people would have said to this," Ianto said delicately, then shouted after the maid, "Becky, tell the others they can go home. You can leave too, when you like. I left your payment in the kitchen."

Becky turned around, her expression one of a pleasant surprise, then nodded. "Thank you, Mr Jones."

Everyone in the house responded to Ianto because he'd introduced Jack as his cousin from America and, even though Jack suspected that at least the staff of the house knew the truth, it hadn't been brought up until now.

"You're really in your element here, aren't you?" He asked as Ianto put on his gloves with the air of someone who had just finished a job well done. "Seriously, what is it with you and this century? I thought it was some strange fixation at first, but now I'm starting to think there's more to it.

Ianto shook his head as they went out of the house, Jack tightening his coat around himself. He had changed his usual clothes mostly because he didn't want to cause paradoxes and now felt frankly uncomfortable in what he was wearing. Not because there was something wrong with the clothes, but because it was plain unusual.

Even after all these years, he still wasn't used to the cold. It had never been cold where he'd been born and he guessed that it was somehow in his genes to not stand any temperature below twenty degrees. He remembered his team in Torchwood in their entirety – Ianto, Gwen and Owen had fought the rain bravely or for the most of the time hadn't really paid attention to it, and Tosh took the coldness as a mild annoyance and it didn't seem to bother her too much either, so Jack had always been putting all his faith in his coat.

"Not really," Ianto answered to his previous question and his voice pulled Jack out of his thoughts. "I've just – ever since I became human, that was what I saw the most. Queen Victoria, the founder of Torchwood. Britain's greatest queen. I just started thinking that it was a bit of an Utopia here and... well, I was right. And yes, today is Christmas Eve. I've rarely ever celebrated Christmas, so it seemed fitting."

Thinking about it, Jack realised that Ianto must have had only five Christmases in his life and Ianto apparently caught up on that train of thought, because he nodded almost unnoticeably. "The first Christmas on Earth I spent by myself – I wasn't completely sure what it was for and what I was meant to do and now I know why it was like that. The second and the third, I was with Lisa. She had a million cousins and aunts and wanted to send presents and postcards to all of them and so she dragged me around the shops and I didn't even know what advice was expected," Ianto's smile was warm, if a bit sadder now, and Jack could see that he was looking down the street without really seeing anything. "The fourth one was with the team." Jack laughed at the memory of this particular Christmas; it had been something he liked to bring up all the time, mostly because it embarrassed Ianto. It was the infamous case with the single malt and the Weevil and Ianto didn't particularly fancy being reminded of it, considering he mercifully didn't remember most of it. "And this is the fifth one."

And the only one that wasn't marked by a tragedy in Ianto's memories, too, Jack thought. The first one had been right after he'd been torn out of his own world, and the losses Torchwood had forced upon him shadowed the other ones, so it was only fair if they did something to change that. Jack, on the contrary, had had many Christmases but he had rarely enjoyed any of them quite as much because of the same reasons – Torchwood took everything away and didn't leave anybody with much to be happy about, and that meant that they both had something more to expect from a holiday that they weren't born with but that had often brought them hope.

"Let's make it perfect, then."

o.O.o

Looking at the situation later, Jack realised that he should have known that it wouldn't be that easy and that perhaps, it wasn't always the Doctor's fault. Just as they got back to the house, well into the evening, with all the things that in their opinion could make a good holiday, Ianto practically collapsed in his arms.

"Ianto, what's wrong?" Jack asked immediately as Ianto leaned against the wall and closed his eyes, biting his lower pip in concentration. Jack knew that look; had seen it a million times ever since he'd hired Ianto to work for him. It was the look he got when he was in pain but wanted to hide it. "Talk to me!"

"There's something... Jack, you've got to call the Doctor."

"Why, what is it?" The Captain tried to help Ianto as he held tight onto the wall and started going up the stairs, seemingly with a lot of effort.

"You know that when we're children, they get us to see the Vortex." Jack nodded curtly. "Well, it does things to you. It's happened to the Doctor and he warned me. It's a bit like... getting glimpses of yourself in the future. It's a paradox and that's never good and– Ah!" Ianto's fingers clawed at the wall as he tried to keep himself up.

"None of that, you," Jack said firmly and swiftly pulled Ianto up in his arm. "Come on. We've got to get you to bed before you fall down the stairs and break your head open, I wouldn't put it past you. Then I'll call the Doctor."

Despite Ianto's protests that he could walk on his own, Jack took him up the stairs with no difficulty – Ianto had always been the scrawny type and back on Earth Jack had carried him to the bedroom just because the undignified muttering and struggling amused him greatly.

"How did it feel?" he asked once Ianto was already in their bed, still with his clothes on. "Looking into the Vortex?"

Ianto smiled tiredly. "Amazing. At first I was scared – they came to take me at night and I thought I'd done something wrong and when they led me there– it was amazing, Jack. It was so much. I couldn't tear my eyes off it and at last, one of the supervisors had to make me look away because it was dangerous."

And Jack could picture it perfectly – eight-years-old Ianto staring at all of time and space and having no desire to ever, ever stop. There was a moment of fleeting anger at the Time Lords for doing this to their children. He could remember clearly what the Doctor had said. Some would be inspired, some would run away, and some would go mad. He might have been wrong – some were inspired and some ran away, but they all went at least a little mad and really, it was no wonder that Gallifrey had fallen, because a perfect society can swift its imperfections under the carpet for only so long.

"What did you see, just now?" Jack asked, even though he knew what the response would be. And he wasn't surprised – Ianto just shook his head. "You know I can't tell you."

"Okay." With a sigh of resignation, Jack stood up from his place at the foot of the bed. "You go to sleep, and I'll call the Doctor."

o.O.o

In the next two days as they waited for the Doctor (he had told Jack that he'd land 'as close as possible' and yet, close wasn't close enough) Ianto didn't get worse but he didn't get better either and Jack was frustrated at his inability to help. Ianto took the situation as a proper young gentleman from this century probably would – he remained in bed, all pale and romantic, and refused everything the increasingly concerned servants tried to bring to him. If the situation weren't so serious, the Captain supposed that he would have been amused by it, but as it was, the only thing he felt was immense relief when the TARDIS materialised right into the bedroom.

"You're two days off, but at least the location's perfect," Jack said instead of a greeting as the Doctor came out and immediately spotted Ianto on the bed.

"I'm sorry," he murmured as he pressed his fingers against Ianto's temples. "I thought they'd made it better with time. That it wouldn't be as bad for the new ones they accepted."

"It's not that bad," Ianto croaked. "It's just... exhausting."

"It's a paradox," the Doctor gritted his teeth. "It's draining your power; you're not supposed to see that. Come on, in you go. Jack, take your luggage. The TARDIS'll try to help him in the meantime."

Jack sighed and did as told while the Doctor helped Ianto into the TARDIS and the Captain tried to remember how many times that had happened before. No, living with Time Lords definitely wasn't easy. But it was worth it.