18

"Did you ever meet him?" Jack asked calmly.

"Who? Granddad?" Ianto frowned, "No. She said they lost touch. I never saw any of her people."

"So you never knew your mother's family" Jack said and Ianto frowned at him for sounding weird.

"Are you just going to keep repeating that in different ways?" Ianto asked and Jack smiled as he shook his head.

"Sorry Darl … Ianto. Just thinking." Jack turned to Gwen, "See what you can find."

She nodded enthusiastically as Ianto looked at her with a soft frown. He knew she would find nothing, even Mainframe hadn't efforted that one.

He rose and made for the door, then slowed and looked back, "Er, Owen? Got a minute?"

Owen looked up from his PDA and smiled, placing it on the table and following him.

"Owen?" Ianto said softly as they walked down to the kitchen, "Are you OK?"

"Me?" Owen snorted, "You're the one in the wars ya numpty!"

"Yeah" Ianto grinned with affection, "You're so quiet. Katie? I'm sorry if I dragged things up, it was a mean thing to do. Using her memory like that."

"Hey, you were making a point. And you were right. Katie and I never got to walk down the aisle thanks to aliens, you and Lisa were the same deal." Owen patted Ianto's arm and then bit back a soft laugh and Jack suddenly appeared, pushing between them.

"Come on, let me help you with the coffee" Jack gushed, taking Ianto by the elbow and steering him away from Owen.

Ianto looked confused for a moment, then giggled as he realised what was going on. He looked back at Owen and winked as Owen poked out his tongue.

He made the coffee with a soft smile, the crush Owen had on him was no real secret between them. They had talked it over and agreed it would never work with their personalities. Ianto had caught the humour in the medic and Jack's possessiveness. He would need to have words with Owen when he got a chance. Ianto looked over at Jack and realised he might not get a chance. Jack wasn't going anywhere, anytime soon.

"Jack?" Ianto said softly, "One of the others is just as good for keeping me safe if you have other things to be doing."

"Nope, nothing better to do" Jack grinned as he leaned back against the bench.

Ianto snorted and slid a cup over.

"This isn't my mug!" Jack said as he stared at the red mug.

"Gwen's. This week anyway, until she breaks it" Ianto shrugged, "Could you add the two sugars?"

"Oh!" Jack crowed as he gleefully poured two heaped tea spoons of sugar from the bowl to the cup. So full that they dribbled over the bench and Ianto rolled his eyes as he saw a clean-up in his future.

The next mug was blue with small flowers, "Toshi. Just a dab of cream."

Jack did it perfectly and Ianto smiled as he knew Jack had made Tosh coffee before.

A jet black one with skull and crossbones.

"Owen?" Jack grinned, "Any sugar or creamer?"

"No, he likes it as is" Ianto said as he worked.

The next mug was placed down and Jack grinned as he recognised his own, "Where's yours?"

"Here" Ianto replied as he placed a plain white one down.

"That's it? No Welsh dragon? No quote?" Jack asked as he examined it.

"No point getting attached, I seem to go through mugs these days" Ianto answered as he reached for the sugar bowl.

"Sugar?"

"Yes honey?"

Jack snorted and then pushed Ianto with his shoulder.

"Stop it ya git, I'm spilling!" Ianto giggled.

"Jack?" Gwen stood in the doorway and when she spoke the smile faded from Ianto's face again as he turned quickly to fetch a cloth.

"Gwen?"

"Ianto's mother doesn't exist. No birth Certificate, no social security number, no drivers licence. The wedding certificate and death certificate are the only proof she even walked this earth." Gwen folded her arms, "No school record, no medical history pre-marriage and it looks like she dropped from the sky!"

Jack frowned and stepped towards her, aware of the frozen Welshman at the sink, "Be careful in your choice of words, Gwen. If you are going to suggest she is from the rift then you better back it up with proof!"

Ianto turned to glare at her and Gwen realised her mistake.

"No, no. I'm sorry pet, I didn't mean to sound cold" she said as she stepped forward to accept the cup he was now offering. "I'm sure she was a good mum. You turned out to be a lovely fella."

"She was" Ianto sighed, "Cuddles, kisses and lots of exciting stories come bedtime."

"Stories?" Gwen grinned as she sipped her coffee, "Me Daddy likes to tell me stories. What kind?"

"She did tell me a story once" Ianto said as he turned to Jack, "about a warrior race that made soldiers fully grown out of a single persons DNA. She used to tell it to me about it at bedtime. A progenation machine! That's what she called it. From the planet Messaline. She was so good at stories. But she said that was why we had no family."

"So she explained her orphan state on a war?" Gwen smiled and nodded. "Clever."

"Jenny Smith, that was her birth name." Ianto suddenly remembered, "Then she said her father was a Storm or something so she changed it when she left the army."

Jack was stunned to silence as he looked at Ianto with fresh eyes, "Ianto? What's the time?"

"Thirteen and a half minutes past two, why?" Ianto asked as he canted his head.

"How do you know that?" Jack stepped closer.

"Don't be silly, because that's the time." Ianto frowned, "Can't you feel it?"