Title: Christmas in Sully
By: Jessie Blackwood
Pairing: Jack/Ianto
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: I don’t own any of the characters, etc. etc. etc. no infringement of copyright intended, etc, etc. just playing with them, like everyone else here. Any resemblance to any persons living or dead is purely coincidental.
A/N: No particular timeline, maybe AU, everybody alive (like they should be!).
This story is by way of a tribute. John Barrowman was apparently seeking donations to Ty Hafan Children’s Hospice instead of folks sending him first night gifts for his panto season. Hopefully, this story might spread the word about Ty Hafan and the good work it does. My dad spent the last two weeks of his life in a hospice near our home and the kindness and compassion the staff displayed was amazing. This is dedicated to all hospice staff and the great work they do all year round to alieviate what is otherwise a hard time.
The song is called ‘Monster’s Lullaby’ by a lovely lady called Meg Davis who performed it at World Science Fiction Convention 1987. She has MS and cannot travel abroad any more, loves the UK and misses being able to attend conventions here. She, like John, is a rare singing talent and her song just seemed to fit. If you want to know how it sounds you can look her up on You Tube or her own website.
Summary: When Jack and the team go chasing after an escape pod near Ty Hafan, they find that they really are dealing with little green men, well, one to be exact, and one little girl finds that there really are monsters at the bottom of the garden...

“Oh, there's something in my garden and it's been there for a week,
I tried to feed it crackers but that only made it squeak
I tried to wash its scaly head but all it did was cry
So I think I'll put it back to bed and sing it a lullaby
A monster's lullaby.”

“We’ve got a spike…” Tosh called out, alerting the rest of the team. The last few days had been relatively quiet, even the weevils had hunkered down and seemingly hibernated for Christmas. The weather was cold, grey and uninviting whoever or whatever you were. Jack was catching up on paperwork, as usual never seeming to be able to keep on top of it all. Ianto was in the archives, his usual haunt, although he had been making coffee more often simply in order to keep everybody warm. Owen was sifting through his records and typing up his notes and Gwen was busy cross referencing some recent data with Police profiles.

“Where is it this time?” Jack bounded out of his office, eager to leave the paperwork behind and do something active.

“Sully, somewhere down the beach…”

“Sully? What the hell is it doing way out there…?” He shrugged on his coat as Ianto held it for him, butler-fashion, as he always did. “Where are the keys…?” he patted his pockets and Ianto held the SUV keys out to him and dropped them in his hand. “Where were they?” he mused as he watched Ianto shrug his own coat on.

“Where they always are, on your desk. Between the Tardis coral and the clock.” The younger man smiled and then the team was ready, Tosh grabbing her bag and Owen hurrying up from the autopsy bay with his. “OK, Team Torchwood ready?” Jack asked with a grin and lead the way out.

The Penarth Road was relatively quiet, a week to go to Christmas, very little on the roads, the calm before the panicked last-minute Christmas shopping. They travelled quickly through the early dusk, Tosh bringing up the computer screen and tapping away at the keyboard from her seat behind Ianto, attempting to get a lock on whatever had come through the rift.

“Its along the beach, round the bay from Sully…”

“Right…” Jack swung the SUV through the quiet village and out the other side, speeding past houses decked out with strings of lights attached to their eaves, flashing in the semi-darkness. Trees similarly festooned with tiny lights adorned a few gardens. One was so packed full the place must have cost a small fortune to light, from optimistic seasonal messages and a cat-burgling Santa climbing up the wall to animated pissed-off looking reindeer and manic elves. Several cars were parked along the road and people were admiring the place, kids being lifted up to see over the fence. “Bloody Hell!” exclaimed Owen, “Some people don’t know when to stop.”

“Its for charity.” Ianto said in defence. “Was on the local news last night. They ask for donations from the people who come to see it. Raised £800 last year for Ty Hafan.”

“What’s Ty Hafan?” Gwen asked. “It rings a bell…”

“The Children’s Hospice.” Ianto said, a shade too quickly and Jack shot him a look before Tosh told him to take the next left.

“We’ll have to play this carefully.” She said as Jack swung the SUV down a back lane towards the sea. They bounced down the rutted track and came to a car park near the sparse dunes. “This is as close as we can get without parking at the Hospice itself.”

“Why would we not want to park there?”

Tosh hesitated before replying “I cannot imagine they would want the disruption…” she suggested.

They got out and peered into the rapidly increasing darkness, torches sweeping the ground where fields met sand. The beach was threaded with dark lines like wood grain, coal and shale in the rough sand. The tide was out but the sea was a sullen roar not far away. Jack strode off in the direction of the beach, Tosh following with her hand-held scanner. Ianto, Owen and Gwen flanked them, spreading out and drawing firearms as they walked onto the windswept sand. The moon was up, a bright ball a few days off full which made it easier to see once their eyes had become accustomed to the gloom.

“You got anything Tosh?” Jack asked as they walked.

“Nothing, just that its here somewhere.” She tuned the scanner and turned to look up the beach “Further up there…” and she strode off, the rest of the team in tow.

“What’s that?” Ianto was pointing towards a dark bulk against the sand, indistinct in the gloom. Jack frowned and drew his Webley, the others followed suit with their M1911s. The ‘bulk’ turned out to be some kind of pod, a sleek black shape, open and empty.

“Great. Now we have to look for the occupant.” Jack said, surveying the inside of the craft. “Which isn’t very big. This thing is small…” It was outfitted for short range travel, probably nothing more than an escape pod. However, ‘short range’ didn’t apply when talking about stuff the rift spat out. This guy might have travelled thousands of light years. There was no way of knowing.

They found tracks in the sand, unfortunately leading towards the Hospice. The tracks were a little indistinct but the looked definitely non human, three or four toes with claws. They disappeared as they hit the garden, losing them on the hard paved walkways and lawns.

“Now what?” Gwen asked nobody in particular.

“We find it the old fashioned way?” Ianto offered “With our eyes…”

Tosh turned a dial and pressed a button and the machine squeaked.

Chorus ~ “Nyah, nyah, your mother eats toads.
May you grow a fine wart on the tip of your nose.
Ding dong, the cat's in the well,
So go and fetch another one.”

“Sally, come away from the window Darling.” Nurse Davis said gently “You should be in bed and asleep.” The little girl reluctantly crossed the room and climbed back into bed, her dark eyes huge as she told the nurse all about the bright light she had seen in the sky that had woken her up. “It must have been the star.” She said “You know, the star that told the three kings where baby Jesus was.” Nurse Davis smiled and tucked her in, telling her gently but firmly to go to sleep again. Then she switched the light off and went out.

“How is she?” Tania asked as Lisa Davis left the room.

“As well as can be expected.” Lisa answered “Thinks she saw a light in the sky, like the Christmas Star she told me.”

“Bless. Probably the Air Sea Rescue helicopter going over, thought I heard it earlier.”

They spent a tense half-hour searching the grounds of the Hospice with no luck. Owen thought he saw something slinking off in the direction of the road but it turned out it was just a local cat on the prowl. It hissed at him and shot off towards the trees. They rendezvoused at the front of the building and drew a blank.

“What now?” Gwen asked.

“We know something came through.” Tosh said “We found the pod.”

“And we saw tracks so we know something was in it.” Jack commented. “and we know it was small, maybe 2 feet high, anything larger would have problems fitting in there.”

“We could be at this all night…” Owen said sullenly. “Who knows where the bloody thing has gone. It might have been injured, crawled off and died somewhere…”

“Chance would be a fine thing.” Gwen said.

“Those tracks were fairly regular, not unevenly weighted or anything. If its injured, its probably superficial. Right people, we need to make a decision. Once more round the grounds then call it a night but Gwen, put out a police warning, escaped criminal or something, make sure people report anything unusual, make sure the police do as well, make sure folks stay safe inside and lock their doors.”

“Right-oh.”

“Ianto? You OK?” Jack caught Ianto staring at the building with an odd look in his eyes.

“Hmm? Oh, yes, yes, I’m fine.” He said distractedly, not fooling anybody.

“Come on, with me. You and I will go to the west. The rest of you, go round to the east. One more sweep then we’ll go secure the pod.” With that he was off and running, shining his torch into the shrubbery. With a shrug, Ianto trotted to catch up and the others disappeared around the other side of the big building.

“So, what's wrong?” Jack came straight to the point.

“Sir?” Ianto said evasively.

“Come on Ianto, I saw your expression. Something about this place disturbs you. What is it?”

“Nothing…”

“Ianto!” Jack faced him with an exasperated frown. “Look, I figured you might not want to spill the beans in front of the others so…?”

Ianto sighed “Sorry…Sir. Its just…it’s the place…memories…”

“Got plenty of those myself. So?” Jack as not letting him avoid the issue.

“It feels like a long time ago…I was 17…” Ianto took a deep breath and let it go slowly “You know what this place is, don’t you?”

“Yeah, it’s a hospice. Respite care for sick kids.”

“It cares for ‘life limited children’.” He explained carefully. “I came here with Mam and Rhi’ once, our cousin had cystic fybrosis, Mam’s sister’s kid, Ewan. He stayed here for the last two months of his life. Mam wanted to support Glynis as she was divorced and her bloody ex-husband didn’t want anything to do with it.” Ianto glowered, his opinion of the ex-husband clear. “This place is amazing. Everybody is so kind, its incredible. But it was upsetting to see Ewan so ill, he was only 12. Frightening really.” Ianto stared back at the building. “Mam was upset and so was Glynis. Rhi couldn’t understand it all. I was no help, didn’t know what to say or do. Its just…not a time I want to remember…”

“I’m sorry.” Jack said softly. “Thank you for telling me though. Come on, lets get back and secure this damned pod, do you think we can get it into the SUV?”

The pod had to be fetched with a van, there was no other way. It was too big for the SUV’s boot. Jack elected to stay with the pod and was about to order them all back but Ianto said he would stay. Jack didn’t gainsay him, he was glad of the company.

“What made you stay?” Jack asked after the others had gone.

Ianto frowned “Haven’t had much time alone with you recently.” He grinned “I’ll take anything I can get.”

Jack frowned “Have I been paying you so little attention, Yan?”

“Well, you know, it is Torchwood after all. No free time, well, not much anyway, and the hours…always long and unsociable…that never changes.” he stopped talking and looked at Jack across the body of the pod. “Haven’t seen much of you lately actually, no.” he admitted.

“Sorry. We ought to go out on another date.” Jack leaned on the top of the pod and sighed. “How about we spend Christmas together?” he asked.

“I’d like that, but I did promise the family I’d be there…” he said almost apologetically. “Come with me, I’m sure Mam won’t mind…”

“Are you sure she won’t mind her son’s boss inviting himself to dinner…?”
“He won’t be, I am. Besides, I think you ought to meet them sooner rather than later…”

“Oh, there's something in my garden and it has a lovely nose
It has three heads, a wind up body and twenty pairs of toes
Oh, I'd call it Ken, or Martin but it wouldn't understand
And although it smells a bit like trash I think it is quite grand, yes, indeed,
Oh, I think it is quite grand.”

The sun was bright the following day and Tracy thought it would be good for Sally to get out into the garden. She agreed on condition she could take some bread and feed the birds. The day was fairly mild for the middle of winter but Tracy insisted that Sally go out in scarf, coat, gloves and boots. Tracy pushed the wheelchair round into the sunshine and Sally watched as two of the boys threw a ball between them retrieved by two of the volunteer staff, Ceri’ and Maggie, when they dropped it. Sally had brought out her sketchbook and sat drawing the trees.

“Tracy? Phone!” came the voice from the window and Tracy looked at Sally.

“Will you be OK for five minutes?”

Sally nodded and Tracy called to Maggie to keep an eye on Sal’ while she went to take the call. Maggie grinned at her and Sally grinned back. Today was a good day.

“Oh, there's something in my garden and I tried to feed it toast
But it only smiled and tried to eat my best leather coat.
I hope my mother likes him. He seems so fresh and green
And I think my scary monster friend is very, very keen, yes, indeed,
He's very, very keen.”

As sally sat drawing a rather large bush, there was a scurry of movement under it and something caught her eye. It was a pair of eyes, staring out at her through the evergreen. They blinked and Sally blinked back. It looked solemnly back at her and ducked its…head? She wasn’t sure. Suddenly Maggie and Ceri’ and the two boys had gone, she was alone with this…thing, beneath the holly. It crept out a little way and Sally gasped. It was green, all over fresh green, like grass. It looked both ways, as if scared it might be seen. Then it crept out and rushed over, darting under the cover of a bush behind her, in the herbaceous border beneath the windows, where it peeped out, camouflaged in the shrubbery.

“You needn’t be scared” Sally said. “Who are you?”

“Groip…” it said.

“Groip?”

“Groip…”

“Aren’t you cold?”

“Cold…?”

“Here, you can have my scarf, that might keep you warmer. Look, my room is on the other side of the building…”

A tapping woke Sally that night. It was coming from the window. They had all been told not to open their window under any circumstances but Sally knew the…Groip, or whatever it was, needed her help. It was cold and alone and, well, it was cool. Smelled a bit like rubbish but she didn’t care. There really were monsters at the bottom of the garden! She opened the window just enough for it to creep in and it sat there, on her mat, shivering and wrapped almost mummy-like in her scarf. Not much of it showed above the wool. It seemed to be made up of a tuft of dark hair and a pair of green eyes and a lovely nose that wiffled about which was obviously the way it had found her. The fact that it had four small arms didn’t seem to phase her at all. It gazed at her trustingly as she fed it some toast snaffled from her supper tray. The ‘Groip’ squeaked happily.

*

“Jack? Yes, I’m afraid we have a situation…” Tosh had called him up on the phone. He and Ianto were having breakfast at Ianto’s flat, smiling at each other across the dinner table. Last night had been good, better than good, in Jack's opinion. The best bit of course was that Ianto had made him breakfast.

“OK, what have you got?” he asked, munching toast.

“There’s been a sighting of something at the hospice, in one of the bedrooms. They can’t get the little girl out of there…”

“OK, on our way. Meet us there and bring some containment equipment…”

“Its what? Green? Got four arms and is about 2ft tall…no chance the witnesses have been on the happy juice then?” Ianto was talking to Tosh as they drove up the Hayes Road. “Right, we’re nearly there…” He turned to Jack and said “Apparently we really are dealing with little green men. Well, one to be exact.”

“Must be our pod person.” Jack said as he turned off onto the approach road to the hospice and parked the SUV next to two police cars that had blocked the entrance. He leapt out and loped off towards the main door.

“Jack!” Ianto called and the man waited for him to catch up.

“What now?”

“Nothing, just…remember where you are eh? This is a place of safety and calm, we can’t risk upsetting anyone…”

“Ianto, we’ll do what needs to be done…we have retcon…”

“And we have no idea what effect it will have on the patients here!” Ianto snapped “For God’s sake Jack, have some feeling. They’re all kids!”

“I had plenty of feeling last night…” he leered and Ianto rolled his eyes. “Alright, I’m not completely insensitive. Softly, softly, catchee monkey eh?” and he flashed his ID at the policeman on the door and went inside.

Oh, there's something in my garden and it's been there for a week
I tried to feed it crackers but that only made it squeak
I tried to wash its scaly head but all it did was cry
So I think I'll put it back to bed
And sing it a lullaby
A monster's lullaby.

It seemed like Groip had liked the toast and crackers Sally had offered and sat there making crumbs on the mat. He had squeaked appreciatively and whiffled his nose at her. Suddenly though, the door had opened. Fright had made the little man react quickly. From nowhere two rows of extremely sharp teeth were bared and he lunged at the intruder…Lisa Davis, Sally’s nurse. Lisa had shrieked and stumbled back out of the door, to have it slammed in her face and locked. Sally had looked on horrified and Groip said “oops…”

“Who are you? Can you please tell me what the hell is going on?!”

Jack eyed the pretty nursing sister who stood in front of him, her green eyes flashing danerously from beneath a fringe of dark hair. Just like Gwen, very forthright, very…Welsh. He smiled his best reassuring Harkness grin and held out his hand “Captain Jack Harkness, Torchwood. We’ll have everything under control just as soon as we can get some details. Who are you?”

“Tania Adams, I run the centre.”

“Well, Ms Adams, can you tell me what you saw?”

“I didn’t. It was Lisa Davis, Sally’s nurse…”

“Sally?”

“The little girl in the room with that…thing, whatever it is…”

“Right, is Ms Davis around?”

Lisa had seen the tail end of the creature running for cover when she checked on Sally. Sally had woken up and begged her not to hurt it, when it made a run for her, showing masses of teeth in two rows. Diving out of the door, she had run straight way to report the intruder.

“And what did it look like?” Ianto asked gently, trying not to notice Tania scrutinising him over Jack's shoulder.

“Small, about two feet high…oh, this sounds mad…”

“Please, go on.” He reassured her.

“It was green. Please, you have to believe me, it was two feet high and green! And teeth…two rows, very sharp…oh God I’m going mad…”

“No, you’re not.” Ianto said firmly “Now, was there anything else?”

“No, I don’t think so…”

“Come on then, lets get you a nice cup of coffee…” and he led the woman away. "Where's your kitchen?"

Jack turned to Tania and said “I think, nuts as this might sound right now, I know what it is. Now, I suggest you leave it to us and we’ll have this sorted as soon as we can. My people will be arriving any minute. If you could greet them and bring them to the room, I’d be grateful.” And he strode off down the corridor to Sally’s door.

*

“It’s a Groipyl.”

“What the hell is one of those?” Ianto asked.

“Did you retcon Lisa?”

“Absolutely. She’s better off. Just believes it was some kind of animal…possibly covered in green paint.”

“To answer your question, my dear Ianto, a Groipyl is part plant, part animal. It’s a little far from home, not sure how to send it back either.”

“You can communicate with it?”

“Possibly, we’ll have to see.” Jack sighed “If it knows Trade Speak I might be able to talk to it…” he knocked “Here goes.” The next words out of his mouth were an odd conglomeration of something unintelligible but Ianto was fairly sure was made up of several different languages. There was a pause then the door cracked open. Jack breathed a sigh of relief and opened it “Looks like my luck is holding.”

“Don’t hurt him!” Sally cried as they both went into the room. The Groipyl was sitting beside her on the bed, scrutinising them as they entered.

“Its alright Cariad.” Ianto said to her “We don’t mean him any harm, as long as he doesn’t hurt you.”

“Oh, Groip would never do that, would you?” and she stroked its scaly head and it cried in a little wistful voice at the touch.

“Greetings” Jack said to it, although Ianto had no idea what he was saying.

“Greetings” the little man said solemnly “And you are?”

“Jack.” Which was the only word the others understood. “Yourself?”

“Monimm Paliss of the Chetan Tribe.” It looked him up and down, nose whiffling “You do not smell like these.”

“No, I’m not from round here.”

“Human though?”

“Yes, through and through. Now, we found your pod.”

“I was escaping my ship, it was boarded by pirates.”

“Destroyed?”

“Pretty much.”

“I’m afraid you’re a little out of your way…”

“I fell into a rift, I know. I gather I am on Earth, but probably not in my time…”

“21st century.”

It said something that could only have been a native swear word and sighed.

“Sorry.” Jack said sympathetically. “and I’m afraid we have to…take care of you.”

“You are Security?”

“Kinda. These folks aren’t used to ‘off-world foreigners’ yet…”

“You are going to kill me.” It was a statement of fact.

“No. Actually gave up doing that a hundred years ago. We can offer you basic accommodation, food, safety, well, relative safety…sorry its not very plush but its all we have.”

“I’m impressed. Sanctuary. How kind.” He looked thoughtful “no way to send me back then?”

“Not right now. Maybe we can arrange something with a friend of mine but it won’t be for a while yet.”

“In that case, I accept.”

“Good. Thank you for your co-operation.”

“Not at all, I know when I’m offered a good deal. But what of the girl? She was kind to me. And she is sick…poor thing, she will not live much longer…”

“They haven’t eradicated the disease yet. They’re on the way but it won’t be for a while yet.”

“You talk as if you are not one of them…”

“As I said, I’m not from round here.”

“I would like to help her…”

“Not sure that’s a good idea.”

“Oh I’m sure I can make it look…natural?”

“You’re taking him away!” Sally cried, distressed.

“Sally, he has to come with us. He doesn’t belong here.” Ianto sat on the bed and held her hand.

The little green man jumped back on the bed and, in a gesture curiously similar to ET, pressed a finger to her nose and smiled. “Groipyl, happy.” He said distinctly. “Sally, be happy.” And he jumped down and walked out with Jack as Ianto sat on the bed.

“He’s going some place safe Sally, I promise.” Ianto dragged a book from the shelf. “You like reading?” he studied the book “I like reading too. Can I read you a story or anything?”

Sally looked at him and frowned “You might not like my stories…”

“Sure I do. Used to love fairy stories when I was your age.” And he opened the book and began to read ‘Rumplestiltskin’.

Tania caught up with Jack as he stood in the foyer, looking out of place as the police cleared up and cleared out. He was watching his team as they carefully placed a large box into the boot of the SUV, a discreet exit for Monimm. They would let him out when they got to the safety of the Hub.

“Thank you…Mr Harkness?”

Jack turned and smiled “Any time. How’s Nurse Davis?”

“A little overwrought. I think she was in shock…She’s very tired and I know she was worried about Sally.”

“It happens to the best of us.”

“She says she saw an animal of some kind but it looked green in the light.”

“It was one of those large feral cats...looked like it had gotten covered in green paint from somewhere. We’ll ship it to the Vet and get it cared for, probably send it to a zoo somewhere. So don’t worry.” Jack lied and then looked around him. “Ianto was telling me about your good work.”

Tania smiled “Ianto Jones? I thought I recognised him. I remember him…it’s a while ago now, I was lower down the scale then, I only took over running the place a couple of years ago. He came with his mum when she came to help her sister. I was his cousin Ewan's nurse. I remember Ianto was a bit uncertain, he wasn’t happy…” she cast a glance out the window, thoughtfully. “Takes people like that sometimes, its hard for a young person to know what to do or say. Ianto was kind though, I remember that. He wasn’t much older than some of our patients, I think that was what disturbed him more than anything, the thought that it might have been him. But that’s what we do here, we’re here for the whole family, not just our patients. Some of these kids won’t be here next year…and every moment is special. We try to make sure families get the best possible chance to share those moments. You never stop hoping, but even in the face of death, you can’t be pessimistic…these little loves are wonderful, beautiful souls…they don’t expect much, and they give their all.” Tania sighed and smiled as she and Jack stood at Sally’s door.

Ianto was singing softy, an odd little song but one that seemed to fit the situation. Sally and Lisa Davis were clapping gently in time to it.

“Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, hold the horse 'till I get on
Hold it fast, and hold it sure ‘till I get across the misty moor.
Last night, and the night before a lemon and a pickle came knocking at my door.
I went down to let them in and they hit me with a rolling pin.
Roses are red, violets are blue, carnations are sweet and so are you
And so are they that send you this, and when we meet we'll have a kiss.”

“Sally doesn’t have anyone” Tania was saying “She was taken into care…diagnosed with terminal cancer last year…” Tania was looking fondly at the little group. Then she looked up and said “We’re the nearest thing to a family she’s ever had.” Jack heard the unspoken implication. Sally wouldn’t be around to enjoy that much longer.

“At this point somebody usually asks “Where is God?”. You people usually do” Jack asked, “They want answers to a situation that has non.”

She smiled and pointed to Ianto, sitting with Sally reading her a story “I don’t need to.” She said gently “He’s right there. If there is a God, he’s in all the people who work here and contribute.” She looked at him shrewdly “The world works as it will. Fairness is a human concept Captain. The world is not human and so doesn’t recognise ‘Fair’ or ‘unfair’. So people need to find God within themselves and instead of asking ‘Where is God?’ they need to start asking ‘Where are we? What are we doing?’. We need to be God’s instruments and we need to all be playing the same tune…”

Jack smiled “From a distance…”

“Pardon?”

“Just a song…appropriate lyrics…”

“Bette Midler? I remember…” she smiled “Maybe you’d like to sing it for us, we’re having a Christmas Party and we need people to entertain…” her grin broadened.

Jack looked dubious “I’m not that good…”

“We’ll see. Ianto has a nice voice, maybe he’ll sing it.”

*

“You’d make a wonderful dad, you know that?” Jack was leaning against the doorframe, watching him as he gingerly got up from the bed and put the book away. Sally had fallen asleep and Ianto crept carefully from the room, trying not to disturb her. He looked at Jack with an odd expression and walked out into the communal area down the corridor before speaking.

“This is where I’m spending Christmas.” He said firmly.

“Is that an ultimatum?” Jack replied, frowning.

“Kind of. I’m going to see Mam and Tad and Rhi but I’m coming back here. I want to be part of this. I want to see if Sally really is OK and maybe help with the party.”

“Then I’d better come too, if I want to see you at all…” Ianto looked surprised “Oh I can hear the steel in your tone Mr Jones, I know how stubborn you Welshmen can be…”

“Its just…”

“You’re putting something back, is that it? You couldn’t do anything for Ewan, but you can for Sally?”

“Sometimes, you are shrewder than you act…”

“Not sure how to take that” he said, with a quirk of an eyebrow. “How is she by the way?”

“Oh, seems better. She’s due a check up in a couple of days, we’ll see then.”

“Monimm seems to think she’ll be fine.”

“That’s good, but it’s a shame he can’t do it for all of them…”

“You know that can’t happen Yan.”

“Yeah, just seems hard.”

“I know but he was repaying a debt. The Groipyl always pay their debts.” Jack looked at him “Just like you Ianto. You’re one of life’s good guys, don’t ever change.” And Jack threw an arm round him and guided him back to the SUV.