Torchwood: Divergence
Book Two: Adferiad

Chapter 33

Martha had taken them all to lunch at the French restaurant near the Memorial and there hadn't been a single peep from the Rift the entire two hours they'd spent there, not even when Gwen had gone off on a quick errand. Nor had it acted up prior to the outing, and as the day had moved into late afternoon it remained quiet. No one was complaining, appreciating the rare period of inactivity all the more because of the approaching Holiday.

The entire team had taken a break to open each other's gifts while relaxing with coffee and the remains of breakfast around the table by the couch shortly before 3:00 pm. Everyone had loved the items from Australia that Turlough had passed around, all the ladies receiving white opal earrings, with Ianto acquiring a set of red fire black opal and platinum cuff links, and Jack finding a clear glass paperweight with a marble sized lightning ridge black crystal opal suspended in the centre the blues and flecks of green within the dark stone so intense that they seemed to glow. Lois had given them all handkerchiefs she'd monogrammed one corner of by hand, in colours chosen specially for each teammate, and she'd delivered a card from Johnson wishing them all a good Holiday. Finally, Gwen's gifts had been opened, revealing a smart little pendant watch for Lois, teal dyed rabbit fur earmuffs for Martha to match her winter coat, and a dark green silk tie for Turlough that had tiny images of the symbolic Welsh Dragon shadow woven into the fabric. Jack and Ianto had been sure to display their gifts that they'd opened earlier, the cap winning applause from the entire team.

Time rolled by, and there was talk of knocking off early. With that in mind, Gwen went to her work station and pulled a small paper bag from behind the keyboard, which she then handed to the young Welshman who'd just passed out a new round of coffee. He accepted it with a raised eyebrow, carefully looking inside… only to close his eyes and mouth a curse.

"You said to be creative," Cooper grinned, a wicked gleam in her green eyes as the Changeling handed the bag to his partner and gave her a 'wait for the payback' smile.

"That'll get you the first verse of 'Tawel Nos' just before you leave for the day," Ianto stated, never losing his charming little smile. "If you want the whole carol, you'll have to agree to stay late on New Year's Eve and sit at least five hands of poker with me and Jack."

"Done," the raven-haired woman promised, then wondered what she'd just gotten herself into when the twenty-six-year-old chuckled and turned to raise his eyebrows questioningly at a grinning Captain. "Oh, shit… Can I take it back?"

"Nope," the two men replied in unison, the older taking a peek in the bag and letting out a loud bark of laughter.

"Minty fresh and tingly!" he crowed, tossing the bag back to his partner. "Best bribe ever… especially with the last-minute addition."

"That's it," Gwen said mournfully. "I'm a marked woman. You two are planning something horrid, I can tell."

"Come on, Gwen," Jack chided. "It's just a friendly game of cards."

"Strip poker," Ianto whispered as he passed her on the way to the office to put the 'bribe' in the bedroom.

Cooper's eyes widened in surprise and she quickly met the nearby American's carefully neutral gaze.

"Please say he's joking," she squeaked, moaning and dropping down on the couch beside Lois when the overly smug immortal wiggled his eyebrows and shook his head. "You are an evil young man, Ianto Jones! That's harsh for one bloody little song!"

The named team member reappeared, obviously trying hard not to laugh. Gwen hadn't seen the young Welshman this happy and high spirited in quite some time, and though she now deeply regretted agreeing to the New Year's card game, it was good to have him laughing and smiling. Which was why both she and Jack were instantly concerned, when the suddenly no longer smiling Archivist went pale and hurriedly returned to the dim confines of the office, loosening his tie as he went.

"Got it," Harkness called before the former PC could get up. "Why don't we wrap up any projects in the next hour and a half, and call it a day at 5:30, yeah?"

He didn't wait for an answer, instead striding up into the office and apparently beyond. The rest of the team split off to their stations, Lois heading back up to the kiosk with a worried glance toward the office. Nearly twenty minutes later, the Captain emerged from the darkened room and wandered over to the couch. Gwen came to join him, her concern obvious.

"He was so happy," she murmured with a frown. "What happened?"

"Double flashback," Jack explained with a slight grimace. "He was thinking about singing for you, and remembered that the last time he sang in front of anyone was when we were trying to lure the alien from the Silent Planet and all the terrible things that happened. You know he still blames himself for the fact that Mr. Powell will never sing again. And right on top of that he recalled that the last time he sang the carol he promised you, he was fourteen and sang it for his family right before an epic argument between his parents. Both of those things combined with the fact that he honestly still isn't quite fully recovered from what I put him through yesterday, pushed him far enough to trigger a seizure. He could feel it kicking in, got himself to the bedroom before it hit so he didn't hurt himself or disturb the team. But I had him ditch his boots, jacket and tie, got him a blanket and had him lay down for a bit."

"Poor thing," Cooper sighed sadly. "He pushes himself way too hard. And I keep doing things that don't help."

"I'm the worst offender for that," Harkness insisted, closing his eyes for a moment. "And he pushes himself more than he should because he feels like I expect it of him. I don't know how to make him understand that I really don't, and just want him healthy and happy. That having him alive and with me is more than enough."

"You'll work it out," Gwen reassured, resting a comforting hand on her friend's shoulder. "You've got all the time in the world, yeah?"

"Yes, we do," the American managed to smile, relaxing back against the cushions. "I keep forgetting that, especially when he's hurt or sick. I still get that cold feeling in the pit of my stomach, that stab of fear that I'll lose him. I know it'll go away in time, the more I witness his returns from the Dark the more it'll sink in. But right now, it's still such a novel concept it doesn't always click."

"Not all a bad thing," Cooper pointed out quietly. "That little 'what if' helps to keep you from taking him for granted. I know Ianto still worries about you not reviving when you go down, is scared you'll get bored with him or find someone else you'd rather be with. And it's not because he's afraid of dying over it. Suicide would just be the end result, because losing you would break his heart and shatter his soul so completely now, that there's no way he could try to live without you. No, he just wants as much time with you as he can possibly get. So, he goes out of his way to please you, bears more than he should to prove he's worthy of you, shoulders blame he doesn't deserve to keep from upsetting you, and tries to hide anything he thinks you'd worry about or disapprove of. Some of that may fade in time too, but he's very conscious of the fact that there are no guarantees in life, especially after Thames House. So, he'll likely always go that extra step to hold on to you. Think of how far he was willing to go for Lisa… then multiply it by at least ten, because he loves you that much more."

"Meaning I have to be willing to really step up my game too," Jack nodded. "We talked about occasionally taking a few days off to travel. Just him and me, with nothing to connect us to Torchwood for a while. I never would have considered it in the past, but now I have a strong leader I know I can trust when I'm away, with a good solid team to back you up. And I think a long weekend every couple of months would do him and me both a lot of good."

"I think you're right," Gwen agreed, then grimaced. "Though I'll worry whether you'll be back or just disappear forever each time."

"It's pretty safe to say that Ianto will always make sure of that," the former Time Agent half-smiled. "This is home."

"A fact for which I am incredibly grateful," his companion sighed, giving his shoulder another squeeze. "I'd best get back to that programme I was running. You relax awhile too."

Harkness gave her a quick salute and closed his eyes, listened to her move back across the deck plates toward her work station. He'd go wake Ianto at about 5:10 so he'd have time to spruce up before delivering the promised Christmas carol. Until then, the Captain intended to simply stay where he was and enjoy watching his team work.

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AN: Ianto did say he wanted a nap so he'd not be cranky staying up for Saint Nick… but I don't think he was counting on the seizure beforehand. All will be right with the world again when Jack gets him up though… Promise.

Double post tomorrow, then back to single chapters, but I will post both Saturday and Sunday next weekend before going back to just Saturdays.

Thank you to those reading the story. And thank you to those who have followed, favourited, and reviewed. NM