Will My Arms Be Strong Enough 22/45
Title: Will My Arms Be Strong Enough? 22/45
Pairings: Jack/Ianto, Gwen/Rhys...and others!
Characters: Jack, Ianto, Gwen, Rhys, John Hart, two OC's, Andrea (Andie) Carlowe and Nick Jones.
Spoilers: Set after Exit Wounds.
Summary: It's Christmas Day in the Hub!
Chapter 22
Christmas Day…
Ianto was woken up by the sound of singing coming from the kitchen. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, sighing when he realised that it was still dark outside. The only light was from the street lamps illuminating the still falling snow. Nevertheless, he eased himself out of bed, wrapping the duvet around himself as he made his way into the sitting room.
To his surprise, Jack was flipping pancakes in the air as he sang and danced around to ‘Silent Night’, working only by the lights of the Christmas decorations, which had grown to include a row of tea lights on the worktop and a single white candle on the table in front of the tree, set in the middle of a wreath of red and white flowers. He was wearing jeans and a thick green sweater with silver threads that sparkled in the light as he worked and sang along.
He turned round and spotted Ianto and, all at once, his smile broadened as he swept him in his arms and twirled him around, before planting a kiss onto the tip of his nose. “Merry Christmas.”
Ianto stared at him. “Jack, it’s seven o’clock in the morning. What’re you doing?”
“I’m cooking you Christmas breakfast. Look - pancakes with chocolate and cherries. I would have used raspberries, but I couldn’t find any that were good enough for my Ianto.” He smiled at the look of incredulity on Ianto’s face. “I just wanted us to have some time to ourselves before we have to go into work. After all, it is Christmas.”
Ianto smiled. “Yes, it is Christmas,” he whispered. “Jack, it’s lovely, thank you. I just don’t…really know what to say, besides that.” He helped Jack carry the plates over to the table. “You must have been up for hours doing this; how did you get all these flowers?”
“I contacted a friend who’s a florist and she got them for me,” answered Jack. “Although, I have to confess…I do have a sort of ulterior motive for doing this.”
Immediately, Ianto looked up from where he was making the coffee. “Jack, I’ve told you before; I am not having sex with you on the kitchen worktop.”
Jack stared at him. “No! No, that’s not what I meant. Come here.” He waited for the younger man to come over (armed with two mugs of steaming coffee) and then took his hand, lightly caressing the skin. “I got you something,” he said slowly, “that I didn’t want to give you in front of the others. It’s…well, it’s sort of a personal thing, I guess. And I know that you got me something you wanted to give me privately too, because…well, that’s the kind of amazing man you are. So…I thought that, we could…you know…do that now…I mean, if you want to.”
Ianto grinned. “I’d love to,” he said quietly. “But…you go first.”
“Okay.” With a smile, Jack reached down and picked up two presents, one slightly flat and oblong and the other a small square box. “Don’t worry,” he said hastily, seeing Ianto’s bemused look, “it’s not anything huge like a ring or anything like that.”
Ianto smiled slightly and unwrapped the present slowly and carefully, taking care not to tear the paper too badly. “We can use it next year,” he said as he revealed a sleek black box. He opened it slowly and his mouth dropped open. “Jack, how did you know I wanted these?”
“I didn’t,” Jack answered, honestly. “I was really struggling for ideas, so when Nick told me you were looking for a pair of cufflinks and I saw these and I thought of you.” He reached over and brushed a kiss over Ianto’s knuckles. “I just saw these and realised how gorgeous you look in red…” he trailed off slightly. “I didn’t realise that you’d already seen them; I just thought they were so beautiful and that you’d like them.”
“I do,” whispered Ianto. “They’re beautiful, Jack. I just can’t believe you got them.”
Jack lowered his eyes a little. “Okay, open your other present. Now, it isn’t much, but I was passing the shop and I couldn’t resist.”
Ianto laughed softly. “’Timeless Beauty’,” he whispered, tracing the silver lettering at the top of one of the sheets of personalised stationary. “Thank you.” He squeezed Jack’s hand and held his gaze for a moment, taking in his lover’s face as the candlelight flickered over it before he bent down and retrieved his gift. “This is for you,” he whispered, suddenly feeling painfully self-conscious and staring at the table as he watched Jack slowly open the present and swallowed at the small gasp he heard from across the table. Then, to his surprise and apprehension, Jack suddenly stood up and walked away from the table.
“Where are you -” he started to say, but before he could finish the sentence, he felt himself being pulled to his feet and into a pair of strong arms. He gasped and breathed in his lover’s familiar scent for several minutes, before realising that the older man was trembling slightly. Pulling back, he saw to his distress that Jack’s eyes were slowly filling with tears.
“What is it?” he asked, reaching out to cup the time traveller’s face. “Jack, what’s wrong?”
Jack didn’t answer with words; instead, he reached out and pulled Ianto close before caressing his lips with an almost unbelievably soft and tender kiss, into which he poured all the feelings and words that he just couldn’t speak out. He was so overcome by Ianto’s gesture that he could feel tears slowly working their way down his cheeks as he held his young lover tight in his arms and thanked the stars above that he had been given this chance for happiness.
After a few minutes, when he felt he could trust himself to speak again, he pulled back and smiled. “Come on,” he said quietly, “let’s eat; we’ve not got all day, unfortunately.”
After breakfast, which went down a treat, Ianto started to go and get dressed, but Jack caught his arm and turned him around. “You’re not wearing a suit today,” he said, quietly, but firmly. “Just wear something casual today, for once.” When Ianto looked reluctant, he added, “Come on…seeing as it’s Christmas. Just for me?”
Ianto sighed, “Okay, all right - but I’m only doing this for you, so you can give me that red sweater with gold threads that I know you got me.”
Jack chuckled. “You’re partially right, but only partially. You see, Ianto…you know more about me than the rest of the team put together, including John. But there are still some things that you don’t know about me - one being that…I know how to knit.”
Ianto blinked. “Jack! Are you telling me…are you saying that you knitted that jumper you’re wearing yourself?”
“Not just that one. I also,” at this point, the former Time Agent plucked a thick red sweater from off a nearby chair and handed it to his partner, smiling as the gold threads sparkled in the lights, “knitted this one for you.” He gave Ianto a quick kiss and smiled. “Now, go and get dressed.”
~*~
When they entered the Hub two hours later, both shaking snow off their jackets, they were greeted by Andie who kissed them both on the cheeks and whispered, “Merry Christmas”. However, before either of the two men had the chance to burst into Christmas songs, she pressed a finger to her lips and pointed at the scene behind her. Jack glanced behind her and gasped softly.
“Ianto, look,” he whispered, catching his partner’s arm and pulling him closer. John was resting on the sofa, leaning against one of the cushions, a sheaf of reports in one hand and a tender smile on his face as he gazed down at Nick, who was lying fast asleep with his head resting in the older man’s lap. The former Time Agent seemed oblivious to the new arrivals; instead, he looked completely relaxed, one hand absently stroking Nick’s bright hair off his face.
“I was on Rift-watch with Nick last night,” explained Andie. “It was a pretty tough night, but nothing we couldn’t handle. He was cheerful, as usual, but he looked really tired. We finally got it all sorted out at about midnight and then he just sank back and in ten minutes, he was asleep. He didn’t even wake up when John came in.” She turned to Ianto. “I think he’s tiring himself out, trying to balance his job and looking after his kids.”
“I know,” sighed Ianto. “But that’s Nick. He’s as stubborn as anything.”
“It’s a Jones trait,” remarked Jack dryly.
“So is taming rogue Time Agents by the look of it,” retorted Ianto, as sharp as tack, but with the air of someone wanting to change the subject. He shrugged off his coat and tossed it towards the sofa. It landed right where he intended it to; covering Nick’s sleeping form like a blanket. At the same moment, John jumped and looked up, dropping the papers he was looking at and spotting them for the first time. A light blush covered his face, but he didn’t move an inch. A moment later, however, Nick started to stir, his eyes slowly flickering open. He blinked and looked up, staring at a pair of sparkling green eyes. At the same time, he also realised that something was digging into the back of his head and shifted a little so he could see exactly what it was…
“Oh…” he murmured, looking up again, an extremely dirty smile crossing his face as it dawned on him exactly whose lap he was lying in. “Hi.”
But he was distracted by a cough from behind him and turning round, his mouth dropped when he saw the rest of the team, minus Gwen, watching them with raised eyebrows. “Oops?”
“Hey, Gwen’s not here and these two have only just arrived,” said Andie.
“Happy Christmas, sleepyhead,” said Jack with a smile.
“You too.” Nick leaned backwards, brushing his hair out of his eyes. “And where have you been, Ianto? Slacking on the job - that’s not like you. Is Jack keeping you up all night?”
“Fuck you,” retorted Ianto, but good-naturedly.
The other three men looked at each other for a split second before replying, in perfect unison, “You wish!” Of course, Jack was the only one close enough to get slapped round the head.
Gwen chose that moment to arrive in the Hub, brushing snow out of her hair and throwing her coat over her chair. “Morning,” she said, “and Merry Christmas. So…shall we get down to work?”
Jack nodded. “Okay, John, I need you to finish those reports you were working on. Ianto…you stay with him and correct him when he does something wrong.”
“Hey!” protested John, pouting a little when everyone chuckled.
“Gwen,” Jack continued. “I want you to help Andie log the results from last night.”
Gwen looked surprised. “Why can’t Nick do that?” she asked. “He was on duty with Andie; surely he’ll have a better idea of what was happening.”
“True,” agreed Jack. “However, I need to have a word with Nick for a few minutes, so you’re helping Andie out. Nick, come with me.”
Nick swallowed. “Okay,” he said, before hastily slipping his glasses back on and flicking his hair off his face. With a quick smile towards Ianto, he sprinted up to the hothouse where Jack was sitting perched on the table, looking thoughtful.
“You wanted to see me?” he said, trying to keep the anxiety out of his voice.
Jack looked up and smiled. “Come in, you’re not in trouble,” he said. “I just wanted to talk to you and see how you’re doing. It’s not easy coming into a job like this.”
Nick blinked. “What?”
“It’s just,” Jack tried again, “you’ve been pretty tired recently and I just want to know if anything’s bothering you.” He leaned forwards slightly. “Is everything okay?”
“Jack, I’m fine,” answered Nick with a smile. “I mean, yes, I am a little tired, but we’ve all got to do our jobs, you know.”
There was a short pause. “Okay,” Jack said eventually. “Well…if you need anything.”
“I know. Thanks.”
Jack shook his head and watched the young doctor disappear down the stairs before going to sit beside John and rest a hand on his shoulder. A moment later, he turned back to find Ianto standing directly in front of him.
“You know, you should really start coming up with better excuses than asking me to help John with the reports,” he said dryly. “Jack, you know what Nick’s like. If we keep pushing him, he’ll just clam up completely. He’s stubborn, but he’s not stupid.”
“I know,” sighed Jack. “I’m just worried about him.”
“I know you are, and so am I. But it’s Christmas. Let’s not ruin it by fretting, okay? Let’s just enjoy today while we can. Look, the Rift’s quiet and it’s Christmas day - who knows when this is going to happen again, eh? Let’s just relax and enjoy it.”
Jack nodded. “Yeah…yeah, you’re right,” he said. “We should enjoy today. Thanks, Ianto.” He reached across and placed a kiss on his partner’s cheek before throwing open the door. “Everyone, come up here!” He pressed a button on his wrist strap that caused the lights in the Hub to dim until only the lights from the Christmas tree remained. Then, once everyone was in the hothouse he said, “All right, it’s Christmas so, come rain or shine -”
“Or snow,” added John, which made everyone laugh.
“Or snow,” agreed Jack. “Or, you know, whatever kind of weather - we’re going to have fun for a change. In the past, Christmas hasn’t been the best time of year here for one reason or another, but this time we are going to change that. We’re going to celebrate today the way it should be celebrated - with tidings of comfort and joy. Do you understand that?”
“What about the Rift?” asked Ianto.
“Oh, fuck the Rift!” laughed Andie. “Look, if anything really important happens, at least we’re here to deal with it. Otherwise, Jack’s right; we should enjoy today and we should get some time to relax.” She flicked a sidelong glance at Nick, who was holding hands with John, as she spoke.
“Okay,” said Jack, clapping his hands. “Well, thanks to the two who were on Rift duty last night, we’ve got all the presents safely under the tree. So without further ado…” and here, he reached into the back pocket of his jeans and pulled out a Santa hat, which he quickly donned. “Let’s do the presents!”
Ianto smiled and looked round. To his surprise, the first thing he saw was Nick with his head tilted in Jack’s direction and a calculating look on his face, his eyes flicking up and down Jack’s body.
“Nick!” he hissed, leaning over. “Stop picturing Jack in nothing but that Santa hat! I know that’s what you’re thinking and firstly, that’s my boyfriend you’re checking out and secondly…whatever you’re thinking can’t do justice to the real thing!”
Jack, overhearing this comment, laughed. “Oh, really?” he said. “And just what are you thinking then, Dr. Jones?”
To his credit, Nick didn’t even blush. “Wouldn’t you like to know, Captain?”
For a moment, even Jack looked caught off guard, but then he smiled. “Oh…I see what you’re getting at,” he said. “How about…a Jones sandwich with a Captain -”
“Don’t even think about it,” interrupted Ianto. “Or you!” he added, turning to John, who was watching the action with undisguised glee.
Jack rolled his eyes a little. “I’m dating the wrong Jones,” he muttered. “I’m joking!” he added quickly as Ianto smacked him round the head again. “Right, well…presents?” Without waiting for an answer, he dove under the tree and came out with armfuls of brightly wrapped parcels. “All right, there’s one here for each of us, so…when you’re ready.”
Gwen went first and unwrapped a silvery silk scarf with tiny beads hanging off it. “Oh…Ianto, it’s beautiful!” she gasped, leaning over to kiss him on the cheek.
John went next and found himself holding a book with a dark cover on the front. He laughed softly. “Only you, Jack!” he gasped. “Only you!”
“I didn’t even realise I’d kept it,” admitted Jack, blushing.
“What is it?” asked Ianto.
“I think the closest way to explain it would be to call it the fifty-first century version of the Kama sutra,” explained John. “It’s very useful, I can tell you.”
“I bet it is,” answered Nick, his eyes twinkling.
Once everyone had recovered from that remark, Andie opened up a large box of bubble baths. “Oh my…Nick, how did you know I’d been looking for these?”
“Andie, I’m a Jones,” answered Nick, flipping his hair off his face. “I know everything. And you had a picture of them stuck to your computer screen.”
“It’s true,” replied Ianto. “It is something of a Jones trait to know everything.”
Twenty-five minutes later, everyone had opened at least one of their presents and they were now resting underneath the large tree, occasionally eating the chocolates which Gwen and Rhys had bought the team and surrounded by bright paper. Jack was almost half-asleep, the Santa hat having dropped over one eye. Ianto was sat beside him, absently picking threads on his jumper.
Suddenly, John stood up. “I know what’s missing!” he cried and hit one of the buttons on his wrist strap. Immediately, music started blasting around the Hub. With a blazing smile, he caught Nick’s arm and pulled him up, dancing him around the room as he belted out the words.
“Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle-bell rock.
Jingle bells swing and jingle bells ring.
Snowing and blowing up bushels of fun.
Now the jingle hop has begun!”
“Oh, now it feels like Christmas morning!” laughed Gwen. “Just takes me back to when I was a little girl and my parents would dance around to all those silly songs.”
“Jack!” shouted Ianto. “Where’s my camera?” But Jack wasn’t paying attention; he had managed to find his own camera somewhere in amongst the mess and was frantically recording the scene.
“Look at them,” Andie whispered to Ianto as John twirled Nick around, still belting out the lyrics. “You have to admit…they do look good together.”
“Yeah,” replied Ianto. “They really do.”
“Mix and a-mingle in the jingling feet.
That’s the jingle-bell,
That’s the jingle-bell,
That’s the jingle-bell rock!”
On the last word, John swooped down and dipped Nick to the ground so that their faces were only inches apart. They were both breathless from laughing and dancing and, in John’s case, singing, but the former Time Agent, still managed to gasp out, “Merry Christmas, Dr. Jones.”
“Merry Christmas indeed, Captain Hart,” replied Nick as he pulled himself upright and wrapped his arms around John’s neck before kissing him deeply.
Jack tapped Ianto’s arm. “Hey, while they’re…otherwise engaged,” he drew another parcel out from behind him. “Martha sent this for both of us,” he whispered, a teasing smile crossing his face. “And I wonder…” he waggled his eyebrows suggestively.
Ianto rolled his eyes at him. “You are insatiable,” he said, but the grin on his face took any heat out of his words. “Save it for New Year’s Eve. And,” he added, raising his voice, “when you two have quite finished - we’ve still got reports to finish.”
He ignored the grumbles from the others as he sprinted back down the stairs. “I know it’s Christmas, but, even if the Rift doesn’t spit anything out, the work won’t do itself. Having said that” and he ran back up the stairs again, “there’s no reason why we can’t still enjoy the day when we’re working. In fact, things will go so much quicker if we’re having fun as well.” He set the pile of reports in the middle of their little circle and a couple of boxes of crackers and bags of food on the table behind them and began to unpack them. “Is that a fair compromise?”
Jack stared at his partner for a few seconds. “Ianto?” he eventually stammered.
“Yes, Jack?”
“Work us some coffee magic, could you?”
“I thought you’d never ask!”
~*~
Two and a half hours later…
“Damn it!” cursed Nick, who was rubbing the side of his wrist hard.
Ianto looked up and raised an eyebrow. “Wrist cramp?” he asked with a note of smugness in his voice. “I’d have thought that you, as a doctor, would be more than used to paperwork.”
“Yeah,” replied Nick. “But I’ve never done it for this long without a break!”
“Don’t be wearing that wrist out, Dr. Jones,” remarked John. “You’re going to be needing it in fully functioning order tonight!”
Nick snorted and threw his pen in the other man’s direction. Unfortunately, John ducked theatrically to the side and the pen hit Ianto square on the shoulder.
“Sorry!” he spluttered. “I was aiming for -” but he never finished his sentence as a rubber smacked him square in the middle of his forehead. “Oh, you did not just do that.”
“Oh, I think I did,” replied Ianto. “And John, get your head out of my crotch!”
“Oh, you are asking for it, now!” shouted Nick and, without a pause, he picked up a pencil sharpener and emptied the contents of it straight into Jack’s hair.
“So that’s how you’re going to play it, is it?” asked Ianto. “Well…you mess with my boyfriend; I’m going to mess with yours!” He reached out for the box of paper clips and, while apparently working on his pile of reports, started to flick paper clips at John’s head. As John attempted to bat them away (occasionally sending them across to the other side of the circle), Ianto gave Gwen a tiny wink, which went unnoticed by the others, until she sprang into action.
“Hey!” shrieked John, who had been distracted by the paper clips. “Stop…stop putting paper down my trousers!”
At this point, Andie cut in. “Guys, come on!” she shouted and then leapt to her feet and raced down the stairs. “Let’s take this outside!”
The other five team members looked at each other for about a second, before they followed her down the stairs, racing outside like a herd of elephants.
Once they were outside in the whirling snow, Andie spoke again, “All right, Jack and Nick you’re with me. Ianto, you, John and Gwen are going to work together.”
“Work together on what?” asked Gwen.
There was a long silence as Andie bent down. “Well, since some of you clearly can’t keep your hands to yourselves, I suggest we work off some of this energy through -” but she was cut off when a snowball flew past her ear and hit John square in the chest.
“Team snowball fight!” shouted Jack, before sending off an attack which caught Ianto and Gwen at the same time.
Andie raised her eyebrow. “Very mature, Jack,” she said. “But yes.”
As the boys all started to rush at each other at those words, the blonde woman caught Gwen’s arm and whispered, “And he’s our boss?!”
Gwen nodded as she aimed a snowball at Nick. “Tell me about it,” she muttered, only to reel backwards in shock as Andie calmly shoved a handful of snow down her shirt and ran away, laughing loudly.
Jack rolled forwards in the snow, ignoring the cold, and launched two snowballs, both of which hit John right where he had intended them to. “Oh, snow-balls!” he cried.
“You’re going down, Harkness!” shouted Ianto.
“Going down?” repeated Nick, who had finally cleared the snow off his glasses for the fourth time in ten minutes. “You are such a girl at times!”
“Oh, you have no idea,” replied Jack. However, he soon found himself flat on his back as Ianto tackled him and shoved snow straight down his shirt.
“Now, who’s the girl?” asked Ianto as he tickled Jack mercilessly, scattering him with snow.
“Okay!” Jack shrieked. “I give! Now let me go - I can’t feel my ears!”
Nick paused in the middle of pelting John with snow. “Can you ever feel your ears?”
Jack looked thoughtful, but didn’t say anything. Instead, with a well-practiced air, he grabbed Ianto’s wrists and flipped him over so that the young Welshman was now lying on his back.
“I think the answer is still you,” he said, before leaning down and giving him a kiss.
“Jack!” shrieked Ianto, pulling away. “Your lips are freezing!”
“So, you give in?”
“I don’t know about him,” butted in John, who was mopping his forehead in exhaustion. “But I certainly give in. Nick Jones, you are just too…” but he couldn’t finish the sentence before he collapsed to his knees, gasping. “He’s too much,” he eventually panted.
“Thank God!” breathed Andie. “It was getting ridiculous seeing him beat you so easily, even with snow all over his glasses. Besides,” she mopped her forehead. “I’m hungry.”
***
Next Time: More Christmas fluff with presents and Torchwood’s version of Christmas dinner! Well, they’re hardly going to cook a turkey in the Hub, are they? A pterodactyl on the other hand…don’t worry, I’m only kidding!