Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Disclaimer I own none of these characters (except the OCs but I'm not too attached) and this is just a bit of fun.

To keep things easy I have changed the ages of the Sherlock Characters, but am keeping the age gap. This means that both Mycroft and Sherlock will be a bit older than the BBC TC show. I have made all the Sherlock characters 4 years older, but I think I might write as Sherlock started in 2006 as well, making them happen at roughly the same time.

There is 7 years between Mycroft and Sherlock and since the Sherlock show started in July 2010 it would make them;
Sherlock DOB 1977 age 33 (from the grave stone)
Mycroft DOB 1970 age 40

Torchwood started in October 2006
Ianto Jones DOB 19/08/1983 – 09/07/2009, he was 23 in the first episode of torchwood and died at 25 years old. (I still can't get over how young he was when he originally died)

In this fic,
Ianto 19/08/1983 (keeping it because I forgot how young he was)
Mycroft 17/10/1966 (Mark Gatiss’s birthday) (17 when Ianto was conceived)
Sherlock 06/01/1973
Rhiannon Jones 14/04/1981
Anthea/Aerfen 21/05/1970
Greg Lestrade 30/06/1963 (Rupert Graves birthday)

Ianto’s mum was 17 when she had Ianto, but she would have been 15 when she had Rhiannon

I will try to put the date (at least the year and maybe month) in the notes at the beginning of the chapters, as well as the characters ages.

Chapter Text

It was around 11pm when Mycroft finally got home after taking a “half-day” from his job as a minor governmental employee, a civil servant if you will, to admit Sherlock into rehab. After starting work at 6am and leaving at 2pm, he spent the rest of his day dealing with his darling little brother, Sherlock, who was coming down from whatever drug he was high on.

Mycroft was tired. He had to go into work early to sort some things out that apparently nobody else could do, before devoting the rest of the day corralling his brother.

He had strategically decided to book Sherlock in on a Friday afternoon, and after showing his face in work in the morning he not so subtly threatened everyone that he wanted a weekend of peace and to only contact him if there was war imminent, or the world was ending. The only person that was allowed to contact him was his newly appointed secretary who was a force all by herself and he trusted her to be able to screen the calls as they came.

Sherlock is a hard and nasty person for Mycroft to be around when he is sober, when he is high it is like hell on earth with a devil that likes to insult you and list all of your insecurities.

That being said, Mycroft is now at home and completely worn out and in need of a relaxing night.

He got changed into some comfortable clothes, a worn red jumper and a pair of dark grey joggers that nobody would believe he owned. He was almost fully unrecognisable, even more when he took out his contact lenses and put on his glasses. He would never be caught dead outside the house like this, or even worse, by Sherlock.

The sounds of Pink Floyd drifted through the library as he poured a glass of whiskey for himself. A drink he feels like he must learn to like if he wants to keep the respect that he has gradually gained the past few years. Contrary to popular belief, he did have his own interests involving popular culture and often indulged in different musical genres.

And then as he sits down with his glass in hand, the phone rings.

“Fuck!”

Mycroft definitely did not have a minor tantrum as he heard his phone ring. This was about to have been his first weekend off in a long time and now some incompetent ass couldn’t figure out how to do something and passed it onto him.

When he started working for the government in an actual minor position straight out of Uni when he was 21, he loved doing all the work people would give him. It was easier to overhear stuff and to read things that we would otherwise not know, allowing him to progress up the ranks in the past 10 years. But that was 10 years ago and there was nobody for him to answer to anymore, he was in the highest position that he could get and it came with a lot of work.

“I have already warned everyone that I won’t be in London until Monday morning, so this better be important.”

He could tell that the person on the other end of the phone wasn’t expecting that answer, and he could tell that they cleared their throat quietly before attempting to talk to him.

“Sir, this is Cardiff police station. Am I speaking to someone who goes by the name of… Mike?”

Mycroft sat up really quickly, he had only used that name a few times when he was a teenager, when he didn’t want to be recognised or remembered if he became a politician when he grew up. It was a variation of the name that his friends called him at school. Whatever this was about, it was linked to whatever he did when he was a teenager, but he was certain that nobody from back then had his number.

“Umm… Yeah, I guess. I haven’t gone by that name since I was a teenager.”

“Okay, well we currently have a 14-year old in our custody and he is telling us that his mum passed away a few months ago and she said that his dad went by the name Mike.”

Well shit.

“Did you happen to get his mums name from him?”

“I believe that he said his mum was called Sarah. He said that she had long brown hair when she was younger and spoke with a Welsh accent.”

Double shit.

Mycroft vaguely remembers a night he had being a “normal teenager” when he was around 17 and he could never forget the smile of the girl he met in that club. It was the year that O-Level (Now known as GCSE) results night was delayed until November and there were a lot of nightclubs celebrating it. They may have been 16 entry, but it was easy to get alcohol, even if you were underage.

He had went out with a few acquaintances that he made through the family, they were children of his parents friends. They weren’t really friends, but it was a night out and he got to meet a girl that was the embodiment of an angel.

“Yeah, that sounds familiar. Do you want me to come down tonight?”

“Yes please”

“I’m just outside Oxfordshire so it will take me around 2 hours to get there.”

***

Mycroft is stunned, he had almost forgotten all about that night, only seeing glimpses of that smile in his memories just attacking him without warning. He did not remember her name or where they had met, all he remembered was her smile.

He went around his house, turning off his music pulling on shoes and grabbing his keys and wallet before leaving to drive to Cardiff.

This was going to be a long night, an imperfect end to an already long day.

As driving he tried to remember that result day before the night he had with Sarah, to remember if it would be possible that this kid is his own.

***

Mycroft had come downstairs into the kitchen in the morning of O-level results day to get some breakfast before he left to collect his results. His mum and dad were already sitting at the table reading their newspapers, he knew they were very excited for him to get his results today.

They had come to a sort of agreement that Mycroft would have to complete his O-levels with the rest of his age group, but if he was able he would be able to carry out his A-levels in 1 year instead of 2. They did not set out how many O-levels he was allowed to complete, so he did all that interested him, raising from the normal 11 to 19. He had to keep himself busy with more subjects so that he didn’t get bored.

He was going to complete 6 A-levels over a single school year when the rest of his peers were going to take 2 years to complete 3 or 4. This was the beginning of being able to overtake his competition.

“Mickey, you know Johnathan and Veronica Blewett’s young boy. What was his name, isn’t he you age?”

He didn’t like where this was going, Fredrick was part of a rowdy group of boys from school, they definitely would not be attaining really good marks today, but they didn’t care, they came from really old money and daddy would be making sure that jobs would be available for them when they are done with university and party life.

“Fredrick, but he goes by Freddy. Why?”

“They were asking if you wanted to join them in London to celebrate results day, everyone is getting their own room in a hotel that Johnathan has connections to. They have an extra room and are offering it to you. They thought it would be the best way to fix few things since the results were held hostage for a few months this year due to that cheating scandal”

The results were coming out this year at the beginning of November, there was a large spread cheating scandal that was caught this year during exams, so everyone had to repeat the exams during the summer with more people invigilating. It was a bit of a disruption, but Mycroft knew that this wasn’t just groups of students cheating, it was specific schools that were giving the results to the students before exam days, to make them look better.

Mycroft paused and started to think. He had heard the boys talking about how they were going to celebrate results day. He knew that they were going to go out to some clubs, going to try and chance their luck. He also knew that the alternative he had for his own results night would be trying to have dinner at home, and attempting to do something that interested him whilst also having to listen to his younger brother have meltdowns and fits when something doesn’t go his way. Recently he had been trying to leave the house as often as possible to get away from the 9 year old.

His choice would be joining a group of people he could tolerate and attempt to be a normal 17 year old, trying to play the piano being distracted by a wailing 9 year old who doesn’t listen to reason, or to go and hang out with his uncle Rudy. He could do either of the last 2 choices any night, but it had been a long time since he was given an opportunity like this to hang out with others his own age.

He was going to go out.

“I think it would be nice to go out with the boys for once don’t you think.”

“Please Mikey, go out and have fun. Act like others your age for once. I’ll even give you some spending money so you can get a few rounds. Wait, what? Did you say you’ll go?”

Mycroft chuckled when he realised his dad had come up with a script to say in his head before they even told him. His dad was surprised when realised that he accepted the offer. He wondered if he should push his luck and ask for some more money to buy a nice going out top, but wondered if it would be better to ask Uncle Rudy.

“It would be nice to have a nice to let go a bit, I think. I’m going to have a bit of a busy year with schoolwork picking up after Christmas, wont I. Additionally it was just my birthday a few weeks ago and I didn’t want to do anything back then.”

“Yeah well, that was your choice.”

He knew that his parents disapproved with him trying to complete his A-levels within 1 year, they wanted him to have a normal childhood, but he was growing up and felt like he needed to get to university as soon as possible.

But if life goes how he wants it to, it will be very difficult to find time for socialising with peers without looking out for people with ulterior motivations.

“It will be fun to have a night away.”

The clock on the wall chimed once, signalling a half hour, it was 8:30 and they should be getting ready to leave for the school to pick up the results, and to accept the invitation to a night out.

Mycroft obtained 18 A* and 1 A, the one failure was from music. The main criticism that he had been given throughout studying the subject was that he was playing the notes on the sheet, but that the music that he played didn’t have much emotion.

It was like the results were mocking him, it will be like a stain he will have to hide the rest of his life, especially from Sherlock. He was already a music prodigy with the violin.

He walked out of the school and saw that his parents were talking to Fredrick’s parents. Accepting the invitation and taking away his window to refuse. There was no turning back now.

As he was walking over to the parents, Fredrick got there first and heard the news from his parents. He saw a smile light up on his face, is he actually happy that Mycroft will be going?

“You’re coming tonight?”

He was attacked by a Freddie-shaped boulder that ran towards him. They were knocked down to the ground and he heard.

“Mikey said he’ll come!”

He must have seen the other boys, because soon after he heard those words come out of Fredrick’s mouth, he there was more weight piled onto the two on the ground. Others had jumped on top. Mycroft thinks this would be labelled as a dog-pile.

After they were let up, Mycroft was already regretting his decision. He had found out he had basically failed a subject, got assaulted and then crushed. It wasn’t even 10am yet, in fact it wasn’t even 9:30 yet.

While outside the school Mycroft got all the details he would need for meeting up with the boys later, they were leaving from Freddies house at 2pm and that he would need to bring clothes for going out in, and clothes for tomorrow. That was all the details he was given. Mycroft almost felt like it wasn’t enough information. But everyone else thought it was alright, so he decided against asking questions.

As soon as they arrived home, Mycroft hurried to his room so that he could pack for his night away. He was starting to feel a strange emotion that he hasn’t felt in a long time, if ever, he was excited and almost giddy.

As he was deciding what to wear that night he heard the soft pitter patter of a child walking down the corridor.

“What are you doing? Are you packing an overnight bag? Where are we going?”

Sherlock must have escaped from his teacher. While their parents had been making sure that Mycroft stayed in school with people his own age as he was able to mix with them, even if he was bored. Sherlock did not do well in school, he had tutors and teachers that teach him at home.

Mycroft knew that Sherlock would not take it too well that he was leaving for the night without him, with no definite plan.

“I’m going out with acquaintances in London tonight, Sherlock. We are going to be celebrating our results.”

“Are you going to drink alcohol? Do drugs? Can I come? Please!”

“I think I’ll probably drink, I don’t think I’ll do drugs, no you can’t come.”

“Why not, I want to.”

“Because you can’t”

From the way that sherlocks face changed, the way that his body started to tense, Mycroft could sense that sherlock was about to have a large-scale meltdown because he wasn’t allowed to come.

“Ill tell you all about it when I get home, then you will be able to compare it when you go out and celebrate your own O-level results. You will have to come up with questions for me, so you can get the most information out of me, more data points.”

He watched as sherlock contemplated the proposal, and then watched as sherlock turned around and left his room, dressing gown flapping behind him, like a wizard’s cloak. Mycroft knows that he will have to dedicate a whole day to answer those questions when he gets home, but it would be worth it to be able to pack and leave without having to deal with a meltdown before he leaves. He looks back to his clothes, he just missed an opportunity to ask a second opinion on what to wear.

He had narrowed down the choice to two similar shirts, a light powdery blue one and a dark navy, when his dad knocked on the doorframe to get his attention. His dad came into the room closing the door over behind him.

Mycroft was a bit startled because his dad had never done something like this before, conversations were usually had at the table or in the family room. He could tell that his dad was embarrassed about something, he was holding his body awkwardly and had a slight blush on his cheeks, he also wasn’t meeting Mycroft’s eyes.

“I know that you are not a normal 17-year old and you are smarter and more mature beyond your years. But as people say, once the drink is in, the wit is out. I am not going to tell you not to drink because I know that you all will be probably going to a club in London, I am just telling you to be careful and safe.”

Mycroft saw his dad put something into his bag as he was talking. Obviously, he knew not to get into trouble when out later that day, but what would his dad be worried about.

After his dad left his room, finishing what he wanted to say, without actually saying anything other than telling him to be careful when drinking, Mycroft looked into the bag to see what his dad had just given him.

He found a brand new packet of condoms tucked into the bag, why his dad thought he might need them he didn’t know. He hadn’t even begun to find desire for anyone yet, believing he was above it, or even maybe broken. He placed them back into his bag because its better to be prepared instead of needing something that you don’t have.

Both shirts were packed into the bag as he couldn’t make a decision, he could ask the boys later which one looked better. It would be best getting someone his own age to help him pick out the shirt.

The whole family celebrated his results at lunch together, even Uncle Rudy came and gave him some money as a congratulations. Then he left to meet the boys at Fredrick’s house for the agreed upon time.

When he got there, he realised that he had arrive a few minutes too early and stood near the front door contemplating if he should wait until 2pm exactly, or if he should just knock. In the end he didn’t need to make a decision as another boy, Christopher Hatt arrived and knocked on the door, signalling the arrival of both of them.

They were not the first to arrive and were definitely not the last to arrive, that descriptive was given to Robert Shackleton, who arrived at almost half past 2. The rest of the boys were a bit annoyed initially, but after Shackley had explained why he was late, they couldn’t be annoyed for much longer. He was with his older brother and they stopped to on the way and bought beers for everyone.

All 8 of them had arrived and were ready to leave for a night in London. (I have listed all of the friends);
Fredrick Blewett (Freddie)
Mycroft Holmes (Mikey)
Christopher Hatt (Christy)
Tobias Carmine (Toby)
Michael Authbert (Bertie)
Robert Shackleton (Shackley)
Albert Whitehurst (Whitey)
Robert Mildenhall (Robbie)

Johnathan Blewett had booked a limousine for them to travel to London in, nothing would be too big of an expense for their precious Freddie. This was new for Mycroft, the Holmes’s did not flaunt their wealth in this way, not even Uncle Rudy who was a bit eccentric.

After packing their bags in the limousine, they sat inside and passed around the tins of beer, getting the party started.

It took about an hour for them to travel through London to the hotel. Where they got the keys for their rooms. Freddie, Bertie, Shackley and Whitey were sharing the penthouse suite, and the other 4 were in their own suites in the floor below. Mycroft was glad he had his own room that nobody else had the keys to, he had gotten a bit annoyed recently after falling asleep alone, but waking up with another body in his bed, Sherlock has been having nightmares.

His suite was across from Christopher Hatt’s, he was quite close to the boy as they had sat together in many classes if the teacher decided on alphabetical order. When they were going into their rooms, he made sure to ask if Christy would be able to help him pick out his shirt later after they had washed up and from what he could tell, the other boy was happy to help him.

Christy said that the long sleave navy shirt looked the best, but only if he rolled or bunched up the sleeves to just below his elbow and kept open a few buttons. He was right, Mycroft looked good when he styled the top that way.

When he and Christy were ready, they went up to hang out with the rest of the boys in the penthouse living area.

When they were all ready, they decided to order some room service, and as Whitey suggested “get something heavy to line the stomach” They had ordered a lot of food to spit between them.

They had also ordered some champagne with their dinner, because they were celebrating. It was at this point that Mycroft had figured out that they were all probably going to get very drunk tonight.

Toby had found the club that they would be going to, it was about a 5-minute walk from the hotel. Mycroft was already feeling tipsy when they left the hotel.

The boys had secured a booth (or was it a table), they had a place to sit down when they arrived and a table to set down their drinks.

They took turns to buy rounds of drinks and sometimes a shot accompanied them. There was nobody who was counting the number of drinks they had that night.

At some point Mycroft was standing against a wall beside the dancing area, talking to Christy and Bertie, and he sees an angel on the dancefloor.

Mycroft lost track of the angel when Bertie slaps him on the face because he wasn’t listening.

“Isn’t that right Mickey?”

“Wait, What?”

“See I told you he wasn’t listening.”

Mycroft tried to figure out what they were talking about, giving them his attention when he heard a Welsh accent speak to him.

“Do you want to dance with me?”

As he looked up and saw the angel that he was watching dance, Bertie took the opportunity to answer for him as Christy decided to push him away from the wall he was leaning on.

“Mikey would love to!”

They danced together and kissed each other.

They posed together for a photographer who was helping people document their results night and were given a Polaroid.

Mycroft woke up feeling like something had died in his brain, he could remember basically nothing after they arrived at the club the night before. He did remember watching an angel dance in the middle of the dancefloor and talking with the boys, nothing else.

He was naked and his hotel room was a mess, but when he looked into his bag, he saw the packet of condoms untouched. He definitely did not get lucky last night, unless his right hand was considered lady luck, he thought when he saw the mess on his underwear from the night before.

When having breakfast with the boys before travelling back home the mentioned that he left before them and asked questions about the girl he was dancing with. He did not tell them that he remembered kissing her, but told them that he was so drunk that he went home to sleep it off.

***

As Mycroft remembered what he could about that night throughout the drive and realised that the observations and conclusions he had came to in that morning when hungover were obviously wrong now.

How the hell was he going to be able to face his dad after he tried to warn him all the way back then, he even gave him condoms to prevent this.

He pulled up outside Cardiff police station at around 1:30am, and realised that he was still wearing his comfort clothes and glasses that he put on when he thought he would be able to relax for the night.

Well neither of them would be looking their best for their first meeting, so who cares, and he walks towards the entrance.

Chapter Text

As Mycroft entered the police station, he was once again reminded of what he was wearing when he saw his reflection in a window illuminated by the street lights. He realised that wasn’t going to command the same attention as he would if he was dressed properly. Nobody looked over to him when he walked through the door and he could hear muffled yelling, possibly from the holding cells. It was nearly 1:30am on a Saturday morning, those cells would probably be filled with drunks at this time.

He hopes that this child of his was not in a holding cell with inebriated adults.

“Hello, you called me about 2 hours ago about a 14-year-old on a who was caught pickpocketing. I think you called me Mike?”

The young girl from behind the reception desk was a bit startled when he started talking to her, she must have been concentrating on something else. She immediately started typing into the computer in front of her.

“He was placed in one of the interview rooms for his own safety, I’ll bring you to him so that we can complete our opened investigations.”

She let him into a dimmed room where he could see a mess of dark hair resting on a table and a blanket resting on the rest of the supposed body. The boy was sitting on a chair and resting his head against the table and someone must have covered him with a blanket whilst he waited.

“He fell asleep so we put a blanket around him to keep him war. I’ll just leave you for a moment and go get one of the officers to talk to you both”

He was then left alone with the child. The receptionist implied that they will both be talked to by the police officers, so did that mean that he had to wake him up? He still had no idea what the kids name was. He thought about it and then decided that it would be better to wake him up before anyone else came in, so he would have a bit of time to realise where he was before he had to answer questions.

“Hey, kid. Wake up”

He moved closer and touched where he assumed the boy’s shoulder would be and shook him gently to wake him up. When he felt the kid moving on his own accord, waking up, he felt that it would be appropriate to speak again to introduce his presence.

“Hey, you need to wake up so we can talk to the officers when they come in.”

The head slowly lifted off the table, revealing that it was resting on his arms. As he started to reveal the skin that was previously hidden Mycroft could see that there were bruises littering all over his arm. From the pattern of the bruises, he could tell that they were from a hand gripping his skinny arms, probably from a large man. As the boy turned his head, it revealed a black eye and a split lip with some more bruises around his mouth.

Mycroft’s heart sank as he was able to see the bruises in the lowly lit room, already able to see that they were at different stages of healing and that some were in the shape of an adult’s hands. He could see that the kid was slowly waking up and then his eyes lit up.

The kid looked him up and down obviously judging how he was dressed and smirked. The boy then threw out a hand indicating that he wanted to shake the mans hand.

“I’m guessing you’re Mike. You look like shit.”

Mycroft was taken aback by the kid’s actions thinking that it might be a form of coping with what had been happening in his life, but to be honest he did not look his best whilst wearing his comfy clothes so the kid wasn’t wrong. But when he smirked when the comment came into his head, it remined him of the memories he had from the dancing angel he met when he was 16. But, he also reminded him a bit of Sherlock when he knew something. This was definitely his kid, he didn’t need the confirmation, he could tell that this was his offspring.

“Yes, I spent all day dealing with my addict brother, your uncle, and now I’m in a police station with you so I didn’t think I would look my best. But that is neither here nor there, my name is Mycroft Holmes.”

“You’re English and you talk all posh. What’s your job?”

“I work in a minor civil servant position within the British Governmental buildings in London.”

Mycroft may be willing to tell the kid about Sherlock, because they were family. But he didn’t want to tell him all about his job just quite yet, or ever.

“Lie”

He was being stared at with judgemental eyes, maybe he was able to deduce others like himself and Sherlock. It wasn’t often that people would be able to tell that he was lying, the only person that could tell all of the time was his mummy. He brought a finger up glanced around the interview room, they didn’t know if anybody would be listening. He mouthed “later”, if this kid was as smart as he is beginning to think he was, Mycroft would have to tell him everything.

“What’s your name?”

“Ianto… Jones”

As that point the officers came through the door and Ianto shrank and curled up on the chair he was on, dragging the blanket around himself. He obviously didn’t trust them a lot, but Mycroft supposed that it was a given, since they had arrested the boy.

“Hello sir. We are here today because your son got caught stealing some purses and wallets from drunk people outside of a bar tonight. He won’t tell us where he lives. He only gave us your number after a long time of questioning him.”

“I told you I am not living anywhere, my mum died, that fucking asshole threw me out and Rhi is too busy with Steven to even see I’m not there. She moved out like two weeks ago and I only saw her for a few minutes the night before he threw me out.”

Well, that uncovered a few things. Mycroft assumed that the person who had been raising Ianto with his mum had found out that Ianto wasn’t his and since her death has decided that he wasn’t his problem anymore. Rhi must be an older sibling, sister maybe, who is dating someone of the name Steven. Just by Ianto’s tone alone, he didn’t like this Steven person.

Mycroft was curious.

“Who is the asshole?”

“Dafydd Jones, my mum’s husband. He wanted me to start paying him to live in the house, didn’t take no for an answer. Rhi moved out now so he can’t get rent from her either. He said I was grown now, so I needed to pay him.”

“When did this all happen?”

“Tuesday 19th, dropped it on me that I was late on the rent he never told me about on the day I turned 14”

As he was listening to what Ianto was saying, he realised that he had basically been homeless for a four days and Dafydd Jones had not even filed a missing person report. Otherwise, Ianto would have been brought back to him, or he would have been contacted when someone fitting the description was found. Mycroft was now getting angry about the situation his son was in.

The police officers were faster on the next question.

“Some of those bruises look a bit older than a few days, what has been happening to you?”

Ianto looked uncomfortable with that question, his eyes became downcast and he became very interested in the corner of the blanket in his hands.

“After mum died, even when she was still living but wasn’t all mentally there, Dafydd started drinking a bit more and then he would lash out at me for being a nuisance. I know my arms are bruised a lot but that was only to move me out of his way and he likes to hole them to make sure that I am listening to him, he usually likes to use a belt if I am in trouble.”

That confession makes the 2 police officers pause and Mycroft can see them communicating with each other by through notes being written on the papers they had in front of them. They were probably discussing the things that the boy was talking about, it was a very serious situation that he is describing.

Ianto was becoming more and more ashamed of himself for talking about this stuff with the police, he was watching them write notes to each other and was wondering if they thought he was making excuses for stealing. He was too tired to try to understand the situation from an adults eyes, he just didn’t want to get into too much trouble.

Mycroft was observing Ianto begin to spiral and knew that it wouldn’t be good it he broke down right now, he was a traumatised child and the police officers were probably discussing how to approach it. He decided to rest his arm across the back of Ianto’s shoulders and held his upper arm, it was something to ground Ianto but also not too intimate, like a hug, but something to show Ianto that he could trust him.

“Is there anything that I could do to settle the pickpocketing charges brought against him?”

The police officer was startled with the question and almost acting like he had almost forgotten about the reason why they had ended up here in the first place. It would be best if Mycroft could keep them from pressing charges, for Ianto’s future.

“Erm, no we will not be pressing charges. We just needed a parent or guardian to come collect him. It was the first time that he has been picked up for anything and with the extenuating circumstances surrounding it, we might just need a statement about the physical abuse that he has suffered, so that it will be there if he wanted to press charges now or in the future. Before we let you go, we will need to photograph the injuries he has at the moment, for documenting them as well. The photos will stay with the statement and will be stored away for if you would like to prosecute this man, Dafydd Jones.”

“So you will take photos of my arms and face, then what. Where am I going?”

After hearing that statement he realised that he hadn’t told the child that he wanted to be a part of his life. He needed to gain the boys trust and wanted to make sure that he was able to give the boy a safe place to live.

“You are coming home with me, I have space in my house for you. We will get some stuff sorted out for you and get you enrolled at a school, its almost time for you to begin your O-level studies.”

“Oh okay, at least it’s not sleeping rough again, or going back to that asshole. Oh and they are called GCSE’s now”

Ianto seemed to at least accept it quite quickly. It looked like he was looking forward to the fact that he wasn’t going to have to fend for himself as he had been doing for the last while.

The police officers left the room to set up things to photograph Ianto’s injuries, a thought came into Mycroft’s head.

“By the way, how did you know my number to call me?”

“When mum wasn’t right in the head, she always throw it into Dafydd’s face that she had left him after Rhi was born and met a guy called Mike. She called it a short relationship, but said that he, you, made her feel much better than he ever had. She had a Polaroid from a night out with a number on the back of it and the name Mike was also there, but she said that she rung it once and a very old man answered. I had the number memorised and it worked, I had to give them a number but didn’t want to give Dafydd’s.”

After hearing Ianto speak about how she tried the number before and an old man answering, Mycroft realised that it wasn’t his mobile that rang earlier in the night, it was the house phone. He must have written Uncle Rudy’s number down instead of home and when he inherited the house, he didn’t bother changing the landline number, it almost never rang.

“Oh, I must have written my Uncle Rudy’s number down. He passed away a few years back and I recently moved into his house.”

“Ahh okay, that actually makes sense. You both were only like 16 back then, right?”

“Yeah, we met when celebrating O-level results.”

Ianto nodded in response to that, signalling that he accepted what Mycroft had said.

The police officers came back and brought them into a different room to photograph the injuries and Ianto was asked to remove the blanket so that they could get a better view of the bruises.

But as he was helping Ianto remove the blanket, Mycroft noticed that there were bruises on the back of his neck, under the collar of his t-shirt, as the T-shirt was pulled to the side when the blanket was being taken off Ianto.

Did the kid have more injuries than he was letting everyone else know?

“Ianto, is do you have any bruises or scars under your T-shirt?”

“Umm, sorta. I think. I can’t really see my back but I think its marked by the belt beatings.”

“Would you be okay with the police documenting what marks you have there too?”

Mycroft watched as Ianto nodded and attempted to take off his T-shirt. It was very obvious that Ianto was tired and was struggling to even get his top off. But as the T-shirt was lifted, they could see that Ianto’s torso was covered in bruises, old scars and welts.

All the adults in the room looked at each other knowingly. There was a very high probability that this was from Dafydd Jones, a man who was meant to be a father figure to him.

They were watching as Ianto struggled alone with the clothes, so Mycroft help him remove his T-shirt fully so that they could get to know the full extent of the injuries, and document it to prosecute the asshole who has done this to his son.

The police officers acted quickly taking the photos so that Ianto wasn’t left standing undressed for a long time. They took a lot of photos and it was decided that Dafydd would be arrested on charges of child abuse. They probably wouldn’t need Ianto to speak out against him after taking these photos as evidence of what had been happening. Anyone could tell that the injuries would have had to be inflicted over a long period of time to get the different stages of healing that was present. There were even some healed cuts on his back that had faded pink scars indicating that they were once there.

When Ianto was fully dressed again and had the blanket back around him, the police let them go and Mycroft made sure to get the case number from them so that he could check up on it later in the week. He also made sure to give them his mobile number so that they could contact him when they would be able to collect Ianto’s things from the house.

Chapter Text

Mycroft finally drove into his driveway just after 6am, he was exhausted and just wanted to collapse into his bed. In fact, they were both in need of sleep. Mycroft had been awake for over 24 hours straight and Ianto had been sleeping rough for a few nights and days.

When Mycroft looked over, he noticed that Ianto had drifted off at some point during the 2-hour drive from Cardiff to Oxfordshire. He looked very peaceful curled up on the seat with the banket he had taken from the police station. When Mycroft realised that he had taken the blanket, he asked if he was meant to have left it in the station and was met with a “They didn’t ask for it back”.

The sun had risen as they drove and was lighting up the house with an early morning haze, showing that the surrounding gardens were covered with mildew. It was a really lovely sight but neither of the appreciated it as they were both so tired.

One the car was parked (or abandoned) near the door, Mycroft helped Ianto out of the car and guided his half-asleep son up the stairs and into a spare room that had sheets already on the bed. Ianto was so tired he didn’t look around the house as he was being guided through it, he was mainly trying to not fall over when kicking off his shoes as soon as they walked through the front door. Ianto lay down on top of the bed with his newly quired blanket still wrapped around him and went back to sleep.

Mycroft closed the curtains and closed over the door, letting Ianto to sleep peacefully. He also opened the bathroom so that Ianto would be able to find it if he went looking.

After locating his mobile phone on the sofa where he left it, he found no missed calls or texts. It was a bit relieving that nobody else found the need to contact him during the night, that he would not have anything urgent to deal with before he had some rest. Mycroft sent a text to his secretary asking for her to come over for lunch so that he could explain some things that had developed through the night, he couldn’t say over text and needed to get some sleep.

Then Mycroft finally crawled into his own bed for some much-needed rest.

***

Ianto woke up confused in a dark and warm room, still wearing the clothes that he had been wearing the past few days.

Initially, he wasn’t too sure where he was, the room was a much fancier bedroom than he had ever stayed in. He wondered what trouble he had got up to the night before and then he remembered that yeah, he actually did get into trouble last night. It wasn’t just a figure of speech right now because he had ended up getting arrested and he had to call someone, he chose to try to call the stranger called Mike. He didn’t actually think that anyone would answer, even his mum thought that that number was a dead-end. But the man answered the phone and came to collect him inn the middle of the night.

One of the main things that he could remember about the man was that his name is actually ‘Mycroft’ and that he was lying about what his job was, Ianto didn’t really understand why but will probably find out at some point.

He sat on the bed, remembering how Mycroft lied about his job to the police and then helped the police officers to document his body, like he was instructing them what to do. He is definitely the boss of some other people with the way he was able to direct them. Ianto remembers all of their faces when they were taking the photos, they were angry at Dafydd and they felt sorry for him.

Ianto knows that he shouldn’t have been out stealing other people’s belongings, and part of him was relieved when he was caught. It meant that he could have at least slept on a bed in the station instead of the cold ground. He just didn’t want to sleep another night on the streets.

But, he is warm now and still quite a bit hungry and in need to relieve himself, so he made his way out of the room through the door that had been left ajar. As the door opened more it lit up the rest of the room and let him see into the hallway, he realised that the house he was currently in was very old and very fancy. This Mike-guy must be rich.

After a quick glance, he noticed a door was left open in the hallway, it was the bathroom. Mycroft must have known that he would automatically go to the only other room that had its door open, it was probably done to help him. After doing his business he tried to clean himself as best he could, using the soap and hand towel sitting in the bathroom. He didn’t want to even try battling with a new shower right after waking up, that and he didn’t know if it would be loud and wake up Mycroft. Even after that wiping, he felt cleaner than he had in a few days.

After freshening himself up, he decided to venture down the corridor in search for the stairs to get downstairs and to the kitchen, so he kept walking along the corridor. After his first few steps he realised that his bare feet were on the carpet, he had forgone putting his socks back on after washing because they were absolutely disgusting. It was nice to walk along the carpet that stretched along the length of the wooden corridor floor.

The corridor soon opened out into a balcony that looked out onto the entrance hall below, he could see the front door and a set of stairs down to the floor he could see over the balcony. He could see his shoes beside the front door beside another pair that he doesn’t think he had ever seen before, must be Mycroft’s.

He made his way down the stairs and through a large room with many sofas around the room and books lining the walls, through a room with a large dinner table surrounded by chairs and found exactly what she was looking for, the kitchen.

Ianto started methodically looking through the kitchen, memorising what all the cupboards and drawers contained. After he knew the positions of everything in the kitchen, he went about making himself a cup of tea (milk, 2 sugars) and he made himself a small fry from the food he found in the fridge. There was bread, eggs, bacon, beans and butter in the fridge and Ianto was hungry, so he made himself a decent meal from the food.

When he had made his food, he settled himself down at the head of the large table to eat the food. He sat eating his food amazed at the artwork that was covering the walls in this dining room, he didn’t think he had ever felt as grand.

After finishing his food, he tidied up after himself and placed his dirty dishes into the sink. He made himself another cup of tea, to have something to hold as he continued to explore the house. It was nice to not feel hungry and to be warm both inside and out.

***

As Ianto was walking around what he assumed was the living room, he was studying the books that were on the walls around the large room. He was sipping his tea and reading the back of one of the books when he heard a knock on the front door.

The person who had knocked on the door did not wait for an answer or maybe didn’t expect an answer, so they opened the door and walked straight into the house. Ianto tried to hide behind the closes piece of furniture, one of the couches and listened to what was happening with the intruder at the front door.

There were a few clicks on the wooden floor near the door, maybe from high heels, so Ianto supposes that the intruder was a woman. He could hear the door close and someone sighed, then 2 thuds happened. Ianto could tell that it was definitely a woman that had come through the door and closed it behind her. She must have been annoyed with her shoes, or maybe they were just sore because as soon as the door was closed, she had taken them off.

Could this be a new step mum? But Mike didn’t mention that there was anyone last night. The only person that he mentioned was his brother, the addict who he had apparently spent all day putting into rehab.

The woman walked into the big room, past where Ianto had hidden himself against the side of one of the couches and then she went into the room with the large table. She sat down the bag that she had carried into the house and began to unpack files and pages, she also took out a large metal piece of equipment and brought a cord from the back of it to an opening in the floor.

Ianto supposed that this was a portable computer, were they called laptops, and she was plugging in into an electrical port, or an internet port on the floor. Ianto had never seen a laptop in person before, they had only heard about them in school and saw them on some Tv shows.

Ianto could see that the woman was very pretty, it was almost like she was a leading lady in a romance movie. She had long blond hair that was moving in ways that made it seem that she was an angel or a fairy.

After she had finished setting up things on the table she turned around and eventually saw him in the living room. She initially looked a bit shocked when she saw him and then her face hardened, it was like she was angry, Ianto hoped that she didn’t think he had broken into the house.

“Hi, I’m Ianto”

Ianto thought it might be best to introduce himself, but the woman had started to look a bit scary. She looks around the room and then her eyes settled back onto Ianto.

“Where is he?”

The only ‘he’ that Ianto could think of in the house was Mycroft and as far as he knew, Mycroft was still asleep.

“I think he is still sleeping.”

She left the room quickly and went upstairs. Ianto supposed that Mycroft had not told her about him yet, and used this opportunity to walk over and look at the laptop that was sitting on the table. It had big letters on it spelling out Toshiba, he assumed that it would be a very good and expensive brand.

***

Mycroft was woken harshly from his slumber by a pillow hitting him on the face and when he was processing how he was brought into consciousness, he could hear the curtains being yanked open and then his eyes were assaulted by the light coming into his previously dark room from the large uncovered windows.

He felt the bed move a bit and then there was a body on top of him and hands around his neck. He may not have been wearing his glasses or contact lenses but his attacker was close enough for him to realise that it was his secretary.

“What? Why?”

He croaked out questions as he tried to figure out why his most trusted confidant was now trying to kill him in his sleep.

“You tell me right now why there is a young teenager downstairs covered in bruises!”

“My son, he’s my son!”

She took his hands off his neck and sat backwards taking in the situation in front of him. Mycroft took the chance to breath properly, get his bearings and grab his glasses from his bedside table. He could understand why she felt the need to do what she did, but he still felt a bit violated.

“What?”

“I got home after dealing with Sherlock at like 11 last night, and then a police station in Cardiff called me about him. He had been living on the streets and was caught stealing a wallet from someone.”

“…And the bruises?”

“An asshole, the guy threw him out of his house a few days ago.”

It was at this point that Ianto had gotten curious about what they mystery woman was doing, and thought it best to check on his newly appointed Dad. He walked into the room he supposed they were in, the door had not been open earlier when he was checking out the corridor.

He immediately regretted the fact he followed her upstairs. She was sitting on top of Mycroft, who was breathing very strangely and that was all he saw before he turned around and ran out of the room slamming the door behind him as he left and yelled a ‘Sorry’

Mycroft looked at how they were positioned on the bed and assessed what they must have looked like to Ianto. He threw his secretary off of him to follow his son to explain a few things. It seemed like everyone had decided that it was a morning of jumping to conclusions, of not looking for more information that what is initially presented.

He found Ianto sitting on the sofa, sipping out of a mug in the sitting room and asked his secretary to sit down next to him as well so that they could all sort everything out.

“Ianto, this is my secretary and she was trying to kill me upstairs because she thought that I had done something to you and gave you the bruises. We are not in a relationship, she was merely trying to strangle me in my sleep.”

“This is Ianto, we found out about each other last night after he gave police officers my number when he was arrested.”

He introduced them to each other and observed them glance at each other, and they both raised their hands, indicating that they had questions. He believed that it was a subconscious reaction as he had been introducing them to each other like a teacher would introduce a new student to the class, he even included a little fact about them. He let Ianto ask his question first, finding out quickly that he had multiple questions to be answered.

“What did she think you did? Did she think that you hurt me like Dafydd or did she think you did something else? What is her name?”

She took it upon herself to answer Ianto.

“I… erm… thought that he had hurt you and you slept in the bed with him. Sometimes when a person is in a position of power, they do things that hurt other people in unimaginable ways. I didn’t expect it from him and was shocked. I am trying to pick a good, strong name for myself to go by. I’m bored with my old name.”

“Oh, so you thought I was something like a rent boy?”

“Sort of, I thought he had taken advantage of you.”

Mycroft watched as they talked back and forth, she was trying to simplify what she had been thinking, making it more suitable for Ianto to hear. He knew that Ianto was intelligent and observant, Mycroft was sure that he could make assumptions of what she was implicating. He could also see that Ianto found the situation funny, but his secretary was embarrassed about the leap she made, but could also find the humour in it.

“Can I ask my question now?”

His secretary now looked mischievous as she enquired about her question, so he nodded hesitantly.

“What are you wearing?”

As Mycroft looked down and saw that he was still in his ‘Comfy clothes’ that he had put on last night after dealing with Sherlock, he was standing in front of the two in a very wrinkled washed-out red jumper and dark grey joggers. He could imagine how messy his hair was, after sleeping and then the attempted murder, he was sure that it was standing on end. This would have been the first time his secretary would have seen him in anything other than workwear, he was mortified.

Ianto saw his father realised what he was wearing, and he realised that this must not be normal for him to wear and was getting embarrassed. He glanced over to the woman sitting beside him and she was looking at him, their eyes met and they burst into giggles.

Laughing at the absolute insanity that was their morning and after realising what they were laughing at, Mycroft joined them.

***

Mycroft and Ianto informed the secretary of the entire story of the night before explaining everything that had been happening and then they all decided that it would be best to go out for lunch.

Mycroft had given Ianto some old clothes of Sherlocks that he had in one of the spare rooms. Judging from the size, they must have been left in the house when Sherlock was a teenager and spent the rare night at Uncle Rudy’s. They were only slightly too big on Ianto, but it was the best option they had until they got some clothes. Ianto felt like he cleaned himself up well enough that morning, so just changed into the clothes and joined the woman back downstairs to wait for Mycroft.

However, Mycroft decided he needed some time to put himself back together, he had been through a lot in the last 24 hours, and he needed a decent shower and some time to think. He required time alone to charge the social battery that he would need for their outing and to be able to put his shield back together.

While back downstairs, Ianto was getting curious about the woman again.

“Do you have any ideas about names that you might choose?”

“Not at the moment, I just want something formidable, something not common but is related to an ancient name. I sort of want it to sound cool.”

Ianto lay back on the sofa, thinking, allowing his head to be supported by the back of the chair.

“I assume you don’t really want something as obvious as a play on Athena?”

“No, but that would be rather nice in the future, something like Anthea maybe. I could use it as a cover name in the future and it would let people know that I know everything. But I don’t think I would like it as my real name.”

“Yes, It probably doesn’t feel personal enough to you, like a stage name. What about a name with lesser-known Celtic origin, such as Aerfen or Aerten?”

“Aerfen sounds nice, what does it mean?”

“It’s the Welsh version of the Celtic Aerten, it is the name of the goddess of fate and warfare, meaning that she is renowned in battle. It is also the personification of a river, called Dee. The river was used to show victory or defeat during the Anglo-Welsh wars, depending on which bank it eroded away. There are local legends that the Dee had to have 3 human sacrifices every year to make sure that a victory would be made in war. I believe that the goddess, Aerfen, has a shrine in Glyndyfrdwy. Her closest comparison in other mythology would be Morrígan in the Irish Mythology.”

She watched Ianto as he explained the meaning of the name. He was just listing out facts from ancient Welsh mythology without having to take time to think. It was as he was describing the river that she realised that the boy wasn’t just interested in ancient religions, but must have a high-level intelligence like his father and uncle, but she felt that he was different. He cared enough to help her with the name, she had been asking Mycroft to help her for ages.

After not hearing a response, Ianto glanced at the woman and realised that she was just staring at him, with her mouth slightly opened She must think he is a smart-ass talking about ancient religions in relation to her picking a name that she identified with.

“That’s amazing Ianto, I really love that name. I think we can safely say that Wales is winning this battle, I think I might start going by Aerfen. The name really speaks to me.”

The name didn’t really speak to her more than Anthea, but Ianto did. She had wanted someone to help her pick a name with care and love. She made her decision during his passionate speech about the river.

“How do you spell Aerfen? I would like to know how to spell my new name.”

“A-E-R-F-E-N, you could pronounce it as Air-fen.”

“Thank you, really, this means a lot”

***

Once Mycroft came downstairs, he was met with his son and his secretory pretending to sleep on the sofa. He could hell that they were both awake and were making fun of how long it took him to get ready. It seems that they both got along well in his absence.

“Alright, I think we are ready to go out and get lunch”

After hearing that, they quickly left their charade of sleeping to collect their shoes and get into the car.

As they were sitting in the car with Mycroft driving, he saw Ianto’s arm creeping out past the front seats from where he was in the back seat and pokes his secretary’s arm a few times. It was obvious that Ianto wanted her to say something, wanted her to tell Mycroft something.

“I was talking to Ianto when you were upstairs and he helped me find a name that would suit me. I will be going as Aerfen from now on.”

“I don’t think I am familiar with the name, but as long as you are happy with it, I will make an effort to call you it.”

The rest of the drive was filled with Ianto informing Mycroft about the meaning of the name and what it symbolises. When Ianto was speaking, Mycroft met Aerfen’s eyes and they were both able to communicate the “can you believe this”, “he is like you, but I think he can function much better in society” just through their eyes.

Mycroft could tell that Ianto was obviously brilliant, but he was the opposite to how Sherlock was when he was around the same age. Ianto would be able to live a normal life, and Mycroft would make sure that he would have the best chance to.

***

They went to a nice countryside pub that Mycroft knew did very good ‘Pub grub’ and also had enough of a selection to ensure that it would suit everybody.

The owner knew Mycroft and got them a booth table that was hidden away from everyone else that would be in the pub. But there were very few people in the establishment apart from the regulars, after all it was only 2:30.

Mycroft had ordered a steak and mash with a side salad (for health), and water to drink. Ianto ordered fish and chips with water to drink, Mycroft had told him that it was one if his favourites when he usually come here, but was feeling like steak today. Aerfen ordered a jacket potato with chicken curry and cheese on top, with a large glass of the house red.

Mycroft and Ianto just looked at her until the server left, questioning the sudden request for alcohol in the middle of the day and she noticed them.

“I had a shock this morning, I need it to settle the nerves”

That made Ianto giggle, he thought that she sounded like an old woman with that statement.

They made small talk as they ate their food, nothing too serious. But when asking Ianto about his future plans for school, what GCSE’s he wanted to take. Ianto was dismissive, saying that he wasn’t planning to take them, he was likely to start working at the local greengrocers soon if he goes back to Wales, he wasn’t planning on being able to take them anyway, with the way Dafydd was.

Mycroft filed that bit of information away, he wanted Ianto to be able to reach his full potential, so that he would be able to do whatever he wanted. Not to be stuck in low end jobs because he had no education. He had a feeling that his son would reach heights that a person would never have reached before.

***

After they left the pub Mycroft drove them to the closest shopping centre so that they would be able to get Ianto some clothes. The boy currently didn’t have anything other than what he was arrested in the night before, he needed to have clothes that belonged to him. They had decided Ianto needed some clothes that he could pick out himself and that suited his tastes. He probably hadn’t been given the freedom to develop his own tastes.

When they got to the shopping centre, he sent Aerfen with Ianto and his debit card into the stores while he stayed in the car and made a few phone calls. He gave them the instructions to get at least 2 trousers, 5 tops, 10 pairs of underwear and socks, 2 new pairs of shoes, a jacket and a rucksack. He knew that Ianto would be hesitant getting enough clothes for himself in one shopping trip, that was why he made minimums for each of the different categories.

He stayed in the car to make a very needed phone call; he needed to make an attempt to tell his parents about the existence of Ianto. Using his mobile phone he called his parents house hoping that he could leave a message on the answering machine, or with his dad, but his mum answered.

“Holmes residence, Violet speaking”

“Mummy, Its Mycroft”

“What can I do for you dear?”

“I was wondering if I would be able to join you and dad for dinner tomorrow night?”

“Yes, you know that there is an open invitation for both my boys to join us for any meal. Is it to talk about how Sherlock has been acting recently, because it is making me worried.”

“Sort of, I admitted him into the rehab centre on Friday, he had been experimenting with drugs again.”

“Oh deary, did he get violent again?”

Mycroft knew that his mother was worried about her youngest, but Sherlock was far away in his mind at the moment.

“Not really, he had been rather destructive against himself recently. It was for the best to admit him, he wasn’t looking after himself well. I was actually calling to ask if I could bring someone with me on Sunday?”

“Yes, no problem, Is it that lovely secretary of yours? I do love having another person to talk to, what was her name again?”

“Her name is Aerfen, but no I will be bringing somebody else who I wanted to introduce you to.”

“Oh, another person, did you perhaps make a new friend or a romantic partner?”

His mummy was fishing for information about who he was bringing, he needed to stop it now otherwise he would tell her everything. He wanted to tell them in person, it felt like a conversation that would be best had face to face.

“Sorry, I need to go now Mummy, I have some urgent work to do. Regular time tomorrow?”

“Yes, dinner is at normal time. It will be good to see you tomorrow, Goodbye”

“Goodbye”

He would break the news to his parents tomorrow before they ate dinner.

He has noticed that since childhood, his mother has been keeping her words open, believing that both him and Sherlock were perhaps going to romantically be attracted to men. She wanted to make herself as open as possible to her boys. But they were never really romantically attached to others, so this was going to a big shock for them. Their parents have come to the conclusion that they would never have grandchildren because their children were averse to other people.

After that stressful phone call, Mycroft relaxed back in in his car seat, closing his eyes ‘for a minute’.

***

Aerfen followed Ianto as he walked through the Clarendon Center, making his way into a clothing shop called Etam. It felt like Ianto was on a mission to find something. Ianto had made his way through the shop and to the children’s area where he began to look around the boys section, searching for the jeans.

Ianto found the what he had been looking for, a pair of jeans. To Aerfen the jeans looked very similar to all of the rest of the jeans on the shelves. Ianto had seen her looking a bit confused at the fact he went looking for these exact jeans.

“Dad, sorry Dafydd, worked in Debenhams and we would get a discount. I always wanted to get these jeans, they look nice. He made me get those, they are cheaper, but they chafe something awful. Etam is the parent company of Debenhams, I wanted to know if they were here as soon as I saw the place.”

Aerfen saw as he motioned to another pair of jeans, they looked quite similar to the ones that he was holding, but there must be a difference in how they sit on the body or how the fabric felt on the skin, she supposed. She remembered back to this morning and the dirty jeans he had been wearing, they were the same as the ones he said he didn’t like.

“He gave me a minimum right; I can go over it?”

“Yes, he didn’t want you to get the bare minimum, he wanted you to have a choice of what to wear.”

“Ok, I think we might need a basket. There are no limits.”

Aerfen looked at him, realised that Mycroft had just given a teenager his bank card and said no limits, but gave him minimums. All she could think was at least it wasn’t her money, and that the boy definitely needed the clothes. She walked over and got a basket from the front of the store, wondering if they might need a trolly. She took 2 baskets instead; they could carry one each.

She found him standing looking at the t-shirts, holding two pairs of the jeans he had picked out earlier, as well as at least 2 pairs of joggers. He took a basket off of her when he saw her and placed his chosen trousers into the basket in her hands.

He selected at least 10 tops, all cool tones. Before picking out 2 multipacks of black underwear and 3 packs of colourful socks. He fulfilled the minimums given to him for the underclothes, he must not have had much feelings towards them or he just acknowledged that the minimums were enough for him.

As he turned to leave the socks and underwear section, but he stopped suddenly. Aerfen then watched him move towards the belt rack. She saw him look at all of the belts carefully examining all of the buckles. In an instant she remembered that they told her that Dafydd had hit him, it made her heart drop just watching him look at them so carefully. She didn’t know if this was taking him back to when the man had hit him, but she waited to see his reaction.

He had picked out a brown belt and made sure that it would go around his waist properly, then rolled it up and placed it into the basket. He had felt Aerfen watching him carefully when he looked at the belts, he was trying to pick out the one that best matched the jeans he had picked.

“I need a belt for the jeans, they have growing room for when I gain a bit of weight and get back to a normal size. I’m not traumatised by them, it’s just a belt.”

Leaving her behind, he then moved towards the jackets. She was shocked that he was able to compartmentalise things so well. The boy was apparently covered in marks inflicted by a belt, but he was looking for the one that would suit his jeans the best.

He was trying on a denim jacket when she joined him again, it was a bit big, but it suited him the way it was oversized. It joined the rest of the clothes in the basket he was holding, the basket was very full now.

Two jumpers soon joined the basket she was holding, a black one and a red one. As she looked at the she couldn’t help but draw comparisons to the jumper that she had seen Mycroft wearing this morning.

“I think that that’s everything.”

She looked at the baskets, knowing something was missing but couldn’t put her hand on it. Then she realised.

“There are no pyjamas, why don’t you go pick out a few pairs while I bring these baskets to the till.”

Ianto left the basket with her without complaint and went off, following what she had told him. Aerfen then struggled to carry the two full baskets to the till, regretting the decision that she had made. He brought some comic style pyjamas to her at the till when the cashier was packing all of the clothes from the baskets.

“I’ll go next door and pick out some shoes.”

As he left her again to go get the shoes, she wondered about him and how he was acting exactly like a normal teenager in a way she could never imagine Mycroft to act. It was strange. But then again, she would have never imagined Mycroft getting someone pregnant at 17, but here they were.

She paid and then struggled with the bags of clothes to the shoe store. Ianto had already picked out a pair of white converse and was looking at a pair of trainers. She didn’t know why he was reluctant to ask about them., so when she sat the bags of clothes down, she asked about them.

“Do you want them?”

“No, but I did want them a few years ago. It didn’t go down too well. I’m just waiting on the store clerk bringing another pair of shoes in my size.”

Before she could ask him anymore questions about the trainers, a store clerk brought over a box containing a pair of red converse and he stated that he was done shopping.

They brought the shopping haul back to the car, this time with Ianto helping with the bags because he finally saw how she was struggling to carry both of the bags. It was a relatively short shopping trip for Aerfen, but she believed that it went that quickly because of how focused Ianto was. He hadn’t spent time walking around the store ‘just to look’ like how she would normally do when shopping on her days off.

When they get to the car, they were greeted with a sleeping Mycroft sitting in the car with his mouth hanging open. Aerfen rapped on the window quickly with her knuckle to wake him up and they laughed at the startled response that came from Mycroft being woke up. When he was waking up the placed the bags in the boot of the car and got into the car. After sitting down, Aerfen passed the card back to Mycroft. Seeing the car being passed over reminded Ianto of the fact that he had just spent a lot of Mycroft’s money on himself, he was a bit embarrassed.

“Sorry, I sort of got a bit out of control when I saw everything.”

“It’s Okay, as long as you got all that you needed.”

***

After they got back to the house Ianto showed everything he had gotten to Mycroft and they then spent the rest of the day talking about random stuff. Mycroft told Ianto that they would be going out for a Sunday dinner the next day, withholding who they would be eating with.

Mycroft could already tell that Ianto will get on well with his parents, as long as they get over the fact that he even exists.

Chapter Text

When Mycroft woke up, he went downstairs and began to carry out his regular morning routine, coffee, porridge and emails. He found that he had verry little work that morning because he was on ‘holiday’, and his secretory had spent yesterday making nice with his son so didn’t have much time to send him through emails that had went to her. After they had gotten home the night before, Ianto showed him what clothes he had gotten and then they decided to play a few card games between the three of them.

They had made a note to never play Bullshit again when it was just the three of them. They were all experts at shielding their emotions on their faces, making it almost impossible to tell if they are lying or not. Monopoly would be a tamer game to play in the future.

The game showed them that Ianto had grown comfortable in Aerfen and Mycroft’s presence. They concluded that it was a good sign of their developing relationship, but he also knew that it wouldn’t always be like that.

Mycroft could already tell that he cared for Ianto a lot, even after knowing him for only a day. But he was also coming to the realisation that it won’t always be like yesterday, yesterday was an anomaly in his life as he wasn’t called away for work. He didn’t want Ianto to begin to resent him if he was never home, they needed to come up with a more concrete plan of what to do and what would be the best for Ianto.

***

Ianto was woken up by someone knocking on the door. This was the second time waking up in this fancy room and he felt like the design of the room was very old, it was weird to wake up somewhere that you had only seen similar on the tv.

He joined Mycroft downstairs and realised that he had been woken up because he had slept in a bit, they were meant to be going somewhere today for lunch and it was already 11am. He settled at the table, close to Mycroft and poured himself coffee from the French press sitting on the table.

“So, did you tell them about who you are bringing yet?”

“No”

Mycroft looked at his son and was attempting to figure out what to tell him, he didn’t want to keep anything from Ianto as he didn’t know how much Ianto could tell when he was omitting facts. Ianto had already indicated that he knew when Mycroft was lying, and last night’s game showed that he was good at reading him. Ianto already knew most of the miniscule tells that Mycroft and Aerfen had. All Mycroft could do would be hope that they would never be against him within a professional setting.

“I just don’t know how to tell them, they decided a long time ago that they probably wouldn’t get a grandchild.”

“Why?”

“Well, I am very busy with work, people don’t get close to me often and I wouldn’t date anyone from work. It would just get too messy, I am perfectly content with the way I have lived my life but if I met the right woman I wouldn’t say no. My brother swears that he is asexual and has never had a sexual urge in his life, but his gaze lingers on shirtless men on TV, draw your own conclusions. They never thought we would have children in their lifetimes.”

Ianto contemplated what Mycroft had said and smirked to himself. Mycroft could see Ianto fight with himself, struggling to hold back a comment he wanted to make.

“Say it”

With the given permission Ianto met his eye and just said;

“The right ‘Woman’?, wouldn’t person be a more fitting word?”

Mycroft just stared at his son. Well, he wasn’t completely wrong, but Mycroft hadn’t even admitted it to himself yet. He may get lustful thinking about other men and sometimes women, but has never acted upon those thoughts involving men. The amount of people he has had sexual encounters with could be counted on one hand with fingers left over. But he wasn’t going to have this conversation with his son.

“I think that I will not be having that conversation with you, but I will make sure to inform you if I ever find someone to be with me for an extended period of time. I believe that you should not throw stones before fully understanding if you are in a house of brittle glass or bulletproof steel.”

“Okay Okay, I get the point, I understand that I overstepped. I’ll excuse myself and go get changed, the conversation is over and never happened.”

He backed out of the room with both hands up, indicating that Mycroft’s answers were hostile and he was retreating from the conversation. Mycroft didn’t really care about it within the confines of his personal life and it didn’t seem as though Ianto cared much about the subject either. He was only asking the questions to annoy Mycroft.

As he was backing away, Mycroft noticed a wince when Ianto raised his hands. This reminded him that the boy was currently very heavily bruised in areas where he couldn’t see, he had been acting like he wasn’t feeling any pain and that impacted everyone around him, believing that he wasn’t as hurt as he knew that he was. But there were some reminders. The bruising on his face had reduced a bit, leaving behind a green and yellow tint to his skin and the cut on his lip kept opening when he was talking and smiling.

With the way that Ianto was acting, he had forgotten about how injured he was. It made him realised how strong Ianto was and how it was almost second nature for Ianto to divert attention away from himself.

***

Mycroft sat in the car outside his parents’ house, making no attempt to get out. He was obviously stalling and Ianto had noticed. Ianto left the car and walked around to open the driver’s side door, he then moved towards the door to the house and rang the doorbell. He took away the time that Mycroft was trying to give himself.

The kid was ruthless, forcing his hand with nothing but an innocent smile.

Mycroft left the car quickly after Ianto rang the doorbell, he had no clue of what Ianto would tell his parents if left to his own devices. He got to the door as at the same moment the door began to open. He pushed Ianto behind him a bit when he saw that it was his Mummy opening the door.

“Mikey, you’re early.”

His mummy came out and went to hug him but Mycroft stopped her.

“Mummy, I want you to meet someone I met recently. This is Ianto and it seems like he is my son.”

Mycroft moved out of the way, revealing his ‘guest’ and Ianto put on a big smile and waved.

“Hi”

Violet Holmes was in shock with the situation that she had found herself in, she screamed for her husband to come to the door as she didn’t believe what was happening on her doorstep. She stared at the boy in shock and used the doorframe to help her stay upright as her knees felt weak.

William heard his wife scream for him to come to the door, so he sat down the newspaper he had been reading and made his way to the door. He saw his wife reach out and support herself with the door, he became worried. As soon as he was able to look out to see his son, he saw a young boy with a slightly bruised face and a split lip standing beside him and in his heart, he already knew what Mycroft was here to tell him.

“Hi, I’m Ianto”

“Hello Ianto, I think we should take this all inside and let Violet sit down with a cup of tea, she will eventually come round.”

William settled his wife into her favourite chair and glanced up to Ianto where he was lingering in the doorway. The boy seemed uncomfortable and was observing how he and his wife were interacting, he was doing what he had seen both his own children do countless times, observing and learning the situation placed before him. He beckoned the boy over and motioned to the sofa to get him settled, before bringing Mycroft into the kitchen with him, with the excuse for helping with tea.

***

As soon as they got into the kitchen, William filled the kettle and put it onto boil. He then turned to his son.

“How old is he?”

“Just turned 14.”

“When did you meet his mother?”

“When I went to London for O-Level results with Fredrick Blewett, Christopher Hatt and the others”

William just stared at his son when he heard that response, he had thought the kid was a bit younger than that from his size. And then he paused, remembering the conversation that they had had before that specific trip to London.

“You mean the time I told you to be safe and careful, the time I gave you a entire packet of condoms?”

“Yes”

Mycroft could tell that his father was becoming a bit angry and exacerbated, and it was a completely reasonable response, considering the circumstances that they found themselves in. He thought back and that would have been the only time that he was given ‘The Talk’ and he has a child in tow from that exact trip.

William went about setting up a tea pot and a tray of cups, milk and sugar. He decided against setting out some biscuits as the dinner was ready, this was just to help settle his wife’s nerves and to make Ianto to feel a bit more welcome. Mycroft could hear his father talking under his breath as he busied himself getting things set up on the tray.

“Unbelievable, that complete idiot”

After the hot water was poured into the teapot Mycroft made a move to carry the tray, but was stopped by his father who had a bit more to say.

“That being said, you are allowed to be an idiot when you are a teenager, and to be fair, I did tell you to be normal for at least one night. I remember that you were really hungover the next day when you came home, and I was actually so happy that you had let loose for one night. I didn’t think that this would have resulted, but I am glad to have a grandchild. I didn’t think that one would show up on our doorstep in its teenage years, but at this point I am happy to have one. When did you find out about him?”

Mycroft was taken aback but what his father was saying, he had never heard him talk like this. And he had thought that he concealed his hangover that day, but obviously he didn’t do it as well as he thought.

“Late Friday night, he had been thrown out of his home on his birthday last week and was caught by the police pickpocketing drunkards on Friday evening. When he was pressed by the police he decided to try a number that was on the back of a Polaroid that his mum said was the number his father gave her that night. It was uncle Rudy’s landline that I must have written when I was tipsy.”

“Ok, will you be looking after him?”

“I don’t know, he spent the day yesterday with me and my secretary, but I won’t always be free like that. I had taken this weekend off to deal with Sherlock and ended up putting him into a different rehab this time. Oh, and she has decided on the name Aerfen, Ianto helped her pick it.”

“That’s a nice name, how is Sherlock doing by the way?”

“No serious complaints so far”

“Just so you know, your mother and I were thinking of moving to a nice little cottage somewhere different. I don’t think she would object to having another person to talk to. We would be more than happy to help out with wherever he would prefer to live.”

“Thank you for the offer, but I haven’t even breached the subject with him yet. I was going to talk to him tonight, and I believe Mummy would prefer me asking her personally before I even suggest it.”

“Okay, but just keep in mind that the offer is there from me. I believe that we have taken enough time, lets join them.”

***

Ianto was left with the woman that he supposed was his grandmother, he had heard the man, her husband and supposedly his grandfather, call her Violet. He wasn’t too sure what to make of the situation, he hadn’t had any contact with grandparents before.

“Umm, I did tell him that he should have told you both about me before we arrived today.”

“That would have been helpful… but it is a conversation best had in person. What happened to your face honey?”

As she calmed down a bit from the news that had just been shoved on her, she finally started to notice the boy sitting on her sofa. She observed his facial injuries in their healing stages, she knew that they weren’t fresh. She also saw him hesitate before starting to answer her question, he was unsure whether or not to tell her the truth.

“Yeah, my stepdad isn’t a very nice person and decided I was too much trouble to look after last week. It was a parting gift before I left… sort of a birthday present.”

Violet was shocked and angry with what she was hearing. She moved over to sit beside Ianto on the sofa and she took his hands into hers.

“Where was your mother during all of this?”

“She died a few months ago, January 6th. It was a Monday.”

“Was she ill?”

“I think they said she was depressed or she has a personality thingy, but she hadn’t been given a diagnosis for anything. I found her in the bath after school, don’t know if she did it on purpose or if she just fell asleep.”

“Oh honey”

After speaking to Violet, the emotions that he was trying to keep down over came him and the prickling tears that were threatening to come out, finally escaped. Violet took him into her arms and hugged him in a way only a mother could and he broke, he had missed hugs.

Violet held the sobbing boy as he finally got some desperately needed comfort, and tried to remember the last time that she held her own children. Mycroft must have been around 5 since the last time she held him like this with a response, now he lets her hug him but doesn’t respond much. The last time she held sherlock like this was about a week prior, when she had to go to the hospital because he had another overdose. She does wish that she had children that were more affectionate, but this could be another chance to experience raising a loving child.

“There will always be a place for you in my house, Okay.”

She just holds him, consoling him and makes sure that he knows that he will always have a place with her if he needs it.

Violet saw that the others opened the door to the kitchen, signalling their impending return to the room after making a pot of tea and from what it seems, having their own conversation about the situation in the kitchen.

“Look, the tea boys have returned from their adventure to the kitchen. Let’s hope that they brought some of the good biscuits.”

She kept her hold on Ianto, but by vocalising that the others were coming in, it allowed him to make a decision to move before they saw him. He didn’t try to move. She notices that Mycroft is a bit more drawn into himself a bit as he comes through the room, like a child that has just been told off. Mycroft’s whole demeanour changed when he saw that his son was crying curled up on his mum.

“Ianto, is everything alright?”

“Everything fine, you idiot boy. We were just talking about his mother.”

Mycroft had received the police report that morning, he hadn’t talked to Ianto about it yet, but was glad that mummy was the first one to talk to him about it. She was able to do these things better than he would ever be able to.

Violet looked at where her husband was setting out teacups and pouring the tea out, she didn’t see any of the biscuits that she knew were in the cupboard. It looked like they hadn’t forgotten anything else, and nobody was returning to get them, she sure hoped that they didn’t decide to forego the biscuits.

“Where are the biscuits, there is fresh oatmeal and shortbread in the cupboard beside the kettle. Mycroft you wouldn’t mind going and getting a few, I think that we need a bit of sugar to settle our nerves.”

He followed Mummy’s orders and got the biscuits that she wanted, but he knew that they were for Ianto. She wanted to show off a bit to him, so he put 4 of each type on the plate and before he left he opened the oven and stole a cocktail sausage. The sausage was much hotter than he expected, but he had been away too long, so he returned to the room after schooling his facial features.

As he was setting the plate down, he attempted to breath in through his mouth to cool down the sausage. This got his mummy’s attention.

“I hope you didn’t steal any of the food staying warm in the oven when you were in there.”

“No, I’d never do something like that.”

His voice was muffled, it was obvious that he had some food in his mouth and it made Ianto giggle. Ianto moved away from where his face was against Violet and wiped his tears on his sleeve.

“What did you take?”

Mycroft moved forward and fake whispered;

“Cocktail sausage, but I think I’ve burnt my entire mouth.”

“Serves you right, stealing my hard work when you are going to get your fair share later”

His mum heard him and he knew that it was one of her pet peeves, she hated people touching the food she made without her dishing it out. But he just couldn’t help himself when he was alone in the kitchen. The burnt mouth was probably a form of karma for taking it, and it was worth it to see Ianto’s watery smile.

They sat drinking their tea, eating their biscuits and talking about what they had gotten up to yesterday. Violet and William were amused when they heard that Ianto was able to keep up with Aerfen and Mycroft in their card games. It wasn’t common for their Mycroft to have actual competition in board and card games that required skill and strategy, Ianto was making his life more interesting already.

***

They eventually ended up eating their dinner after Ianto had fully settled down on the couch, and they heard his stomach begin to complain about not being filled. Violet became very apologetic when she noticed that the food must have been kept warming for a bit longer than she hoped, she insisted that the food wasn’t up to the standard that she usually produced.

While Ianto listened to Violet, he noticed that not once did she say that it was a result of being left longer. This meant that she wasn’t going to try to blame the food delay on his crying and overdramatics, she didn’t view it as his fault.

But when Ianto actually tasted the food that Violet had made, it was the best food that he had ever eaten. This wasn’t like the food that he had grown up eating, it was almost like he could taste the care and love in the food alone, it reminded him that this is what most people had. He just hadn’t been lucky so far, but it was all going to change.

The adults all watched as Ianto demolished a large pate of food, containing large helpings of roast beef, chicken and mountains of buttery mash. The plate had more food put on it than Violet expected Ianto to eat, she didn’t know whether or not he would be comfortable asking for more if he wanted more, so she made sure he had plenty of everything. But he did reach over and take a second helping of the cabbage with bacon bits, they were relieved that he was comfortable enough to help himself.

“That was probably the best food that I’ve ever ate. Thank you so much… Violet?”

It was the first time that Ianto called either Violet or William by their names and it didn’t feel right to him. Everyone noticed his hesitation when he said her name and could understand why he hesitated, they are his grandparents but he wasn’t given any indication on what to call them. It was Mycroft who started the conversation.

“I call them Mummy and Dad, you can call them whatever you feel comfortable with.”

“Well, I’ve never actually had grandparents before. You know, actually meeting them alive. I think I have always wanted a Mam-gu and a Thad-cu, or even a Bampi. There are also Nain and Taid if you would prefer it. But I think Thad-cu and Taid is too close to Tad, which I would like to call you if you would let me.”

They sat contemplating the choices that Ianto had put forward. It was very obvious that the boy had been dreaming about wanting grandparents in his life for a long time. He wanted people in his life that cared for him.

“Ianto, I would love to be called Mam-gu, it’s similar to Mummy but it’s different and just what I would like to be referred to by you.”

“I think I would like to be called Bampi, it’s a cool name and I would be able to show off that I’m not just a granda, I’ll be a Bampi. I can’t wait to tell the others at the social when I next go.”

William got very excited about the idea of having a unique grandparent nickname, and Violet was happy about officially having someone call her granny, or a form of the term. Neither notice that Mycroft had gotten quiet and was observing what his parents reactions. Ianto had just asked him if he was allowed to call him Tad and he has never wanted something so much in his life, he didn’t know he was even capable to feel these things.

“Ianto it is completely up to you, but I would greatly appreciate being your Tad. That is as long as I get to call you my son.”

The entire conversation made Ianto emotional again, so he decided to try something and see if it would be acceptable. He walked around the table and sat on his Tads thigh turning to hug him, just showing how much he loved this new family he became a part of. Ianto may have been 14, but he was really too small for his age and probably wouldn’t have been able to do it if he was any bigger. He may get embarrassed about it later, but they both held each other like they needed it, it was like they were becoming a family at that point.

***

They stayed and talked for a long time at his mam-gu and bampi’s house before returning to Mycroft’s estate house. Where Ianto noticed the change in atmosphere, the house that they had just left was filled with warm and love, this large house was cold in comparison.

Mycroft told him that it was rare for him to actually live at the estate for long periods of time and that he spent most of his living in an apartment in the middle of London, it was handier for work he said. This led onto a conversation to what Mycroft’s job actually was, and he told Ianto the truth.

It made Ianto aware about the fact that it might not be safe to live in London with his Tad and that it would probably be better if he moved in with Mam-gu and Bampi if they were already both wanting to move to a different place. School wasn’t going to start until September anyway, so he would live at the Manor until the next Sunday dinner at least.

***

When Mycroft left on Monday morning, he wanted to call in to stay with Ianto, but knew it wouldn’t be the right thing to do. But he didn’t want his son to be left on his own all day. But he had no choice.

Ianto had been left in the house and spent his time ‘exploring’ what was in the house, but it was like most of the things wasn’t even his Tads, it was someone else’s, probably this Rudy that had been mentioned before. Mycroft had left a notepad beside the house phone with important phone numbers that he might need, His mobile, Aerfen, his grandparents and even a number that was labelled ‘emergency’ it was another phone in Mycroft work. Mycroft did keep checking in with him throughout the day, but he was a bit lonely.

***

Aerfen had been busy on Sunday, she had looked into anyone who was in Ianto’s life and pieced together about what was happening in that house. She had come across the police report for Sarah Jones, her heart broke when she was reading about how Ianto found her. When she found the police report for Sarahs death, she forwarded it to Mycroft immediately as to make sure that there were no missteps when talking about his mum. She also found some hospital records for both Sarah and Ianto but they never were clear about how they got the injuries they were in for, broken wrists and suspected broken bones were the only reports she was able to find. Meaning that they must have been treating all injuries that they could at home.

Aerfen found that Dafydd had been struggling to hold down a job in the Cardiff branch of Debenhams, a job that he had for around 10 years. There were complaints about Dafydd arriving to work drunk or hungover, it looked like he was on his last warning. There were also some police reports about picking him up at various points because he being a drunken menace to society, nothing ever came of those arrests and he was always released when he sobered up.

She uncovered that Sarah was 16 when she met Mycroft and made Ianto, 17 at the time of his birth. But she had already had a child at 15, when she had Ianto’s older sister, Rhiannon. From what Aerfen could find out, Rhiannon was the child of Sarah and Dafydd, but he would have been 25 at the time of her birth. This man was making her even more angry and she had never met the guy and she hoped she never would.

After figuring out that Rhiannon would be 15, Aerfen tried to figure out where she would be. Ianto had said that she was living with someone who went by the name of Steven. After a bit of digging she was able to figure out that she was staying with a 17 year old and his mother, just about a 15 minute walk from the house that Ianto had been living, their family home. Rhiannon may be young, but she was also his older sister who left him with someone who physically abused him.

She made a note to get Ianto to contact his sister at some point so that they might be able to reconcile. Ianto probably felt a bit abandoned by his sister at the moment, but Aerfen hoped that they would be able to stay in contact when they grew up, they were both still children.

When Mycroft arrived into work on Monday morning, she showed him her findings. After reviewing the information, Mycroft decides that Dafydd needs to be dealt with because of what he did and his entire history.

Mycroft wanted Dafydd to pay for what he did to Ianto and his mother and Mycroft wasn’t above using his position in the government to ensure that he would get what he deserved. So that is what he spent his day organising with Aerfen, with some interruptions about random political emergencies.

***

When Mycroft arrived home to the manor, back to Ianto, he informed him of what they had been doing during the day. He wanted permission from Ianto to be able to begin everything that they had set in place earlier in the day. Ianto wanted Dafydd to be dealt with.

During Monday night, Mycroft got a phone call from Aerfen. A situation that had been developing throughout the day had had a conclusion that required his input, someone got convicted of a shoot to kill policy at the Berlin Wall, Egon Krenz. He had to help with international relations about this development.

***

Since Mycroft and Aerfen were busy, they finally got round to putting their plans into motion on Wednesday afternoon, when Dafydd Jones was arrested of the offense for child abuse. The large amounts of evidence and the photos of Ianto’s injuries were enough to get him arrested without pulling any strings.

They set it up so that they would be notified with any developments in the case, but Mycroft was going to push for the highest amount of the time in jail that he could get.

***

On Saturday, Mycroft gets a day off because everything is suspiciously quiet. So they decide to go with his parents to go look at houses in and around Cardiff. This was because after the week, they realised that Mycroft couldn’t raise Ianto by himself in a way that would be beneficial for Ianto.

They managed to find a nice cottage on the outskirts of Cardiff that was perfect for what they needed, so Mycroft finalised the agreement so that they could help start to decorate the new house. Ianto was able to choose his own room and he was promised that it would be his forever.

They also used that trip to Cardiff to collect Ianto’s things from his old house. Ianto didn’t have many belonging to collect, but remembered to get anything important, such as his birth certificate, his favourite teddy bear that his mummy bought him when he was a baby and a few items of clothes that he liked.

Ianto thought that since Mycroft had bought him new clothes, he wouldn’t need to take many of the old ratty ones that he used to have. He only took things that had sentimental value, things he wanted to keep. Everything was able to fit into 2 plastic shopping bags that Mam-gu and Bampi had in the car, but he had a feeling that he was missing something.

As he was watching his old life and his old house disappear through the back window of the car as they drove away, he remembered the old Polaroid.

“Stop, Stop, I forgot a photo.”

He took the keys being held out by Mycroft and ran back to the house, up the stairs and into his mummy’s wardrobe. He starts frantically looking through the handbags, trying to find the photo that has effectively saved his life. He found it in a really old clutch bag that his mummy never went out with since that night in London.

He left the house with a clear head and handed both the keys back to his Tad when he got back into the car. They sat in a stopped car looking at the photo of a young Mycroft and a beautiful girl who must have been Sarah.

“I was right, she did look like an angel.”

***

They decided to stay over at Mycroft’s parents house, having a nice dinner before trying to play some board games. They were staying over so they wouldn’t have to drive over for dinner the next morning.

But as they were all getting ready to go to bed during the early hours, Mycroft got a phone call that made him stop.

He started running around to get ready and leave for work, telling Ianto to not watch the news on the TV for the next few days, he shouldn’t have to see what is happening. He told his parents that they will find out in the morning paper. After such a nice day for them, he didn’t want them to start mourning with the rest of the country (or even world) until the next day.

Chapter Text

Ever since the death that shocked the nation Mycroft had been very busy with work. It was a very large surprise for everyone and there wasn’t even any plans in place for this exact type of situation. This meant that after the initial incident was sorted, they had to complete contingency plans for every situation a Royal, politician, or other persons of public interest would get into. It was a tedious job thinking of all possibilities that could occur, and it fell onto 2 people, Mycroft and Aerfen.

The contingency plans were handwritten on paper and stored in a large filing cabinet in Mycroft’s office, the only person with the key is Aerfen. Mycroft could remember all of the plans that they created, but it wouldn’t hurt to have another person who could have access to them if he was indisposed.

They notified the head of state (Queen Elizabeth II) and the current prime minister (Tony Blair) that there were now contingency plans put in place and that when notable persons are travelling, there will now be risk assessments that take place every single time. They would be giving themselves a lot more work and so were assigning themselves more funds to develop a trusted cabinet of people, handpicked by Mycroft and Aerfen. This cabinet would only be dealing with the risk assessments and surveillance, they were not trusted enough by either of them to be let view the contingency plan.

It was a busy September for both of them and they couldn’t spend a lot of time with Ianto, but he understood what was happening. Ianto had been getting settled into his new house, his new room and back into school. He was able to meet back up withhold friends and was able to do things he never had the chance to before, he started to play sports.

***

On Wednesday the 15th of October Mycroft was interrupted during work by the security of his work building informing him that there was an irate and erratic man looking for him. The description of the man that was given confirmed that Sherlock had arrived at his work.

When he got down to see Sherlock, His little brother was frantic in a way that he had never been before. He had initially thought that his security was exaggerating about he was acting, but Sherlock was really acting in a strange way, even for him. Mycroft’s initial thoughts were that Sherlock had either relapsed and this was a very bad trip, or his mind had turned on him.

Holding Sherlock by his shoulders he stopped his erratic pacing and was able to look him in the eyes. His pupils were very large, he was high, possibly cocaine. Mycroft relaxed a bit, it was just his addiction and not his mind deciding to devolve.

“What is wrong brother mine. Why did you think it was a good idea to show up at my work this time?”

“I just went round to Mummy and Dad’s house and it looks like they haven’t been there in a while. There was no evidence of a struggle and they must have known they were going somewhere in advance. There is no rubbish in the bin, no food spoiling in the fridge and most of their clothes are gone. There was nothing in any of the outside bins so they have been gone for at least 2 weeks, they never go on holiday for over 10 days because Mummy thinks 2 weeks is too much. I think they must have went away for a weekend and have gotten kidnapped. This could have been a result of whatever you are working on at the moment, what have you been doing?”

As he listened to Sherlock, he understood why he was acting like this. They had forgotten to inform Sherlock that they had moved away to a little cottage in Cardiff. Mycroft needed to inform Sherlock about the move, without mentioning his son. Mycroft has no idea if Ianto wanted to tell Sherlock, but he didn’t want to tell his brother in the middle of his workplace entrance.

“Nothing happened to them, they moved to the countryside for a change of scenery”

Mycroft could tell that Sherlocks understanding was definitely impacted by what he was on. It took a few seconds for him to realise that his parents had moved houses when he was in rehab and nobody told him.

“Why didn’t anyone tell me.”

Sherlock got angry when he figured out that his parents moved when Mycroft had locked him up. He was trapped in that place and they got on with their lives. They forgot about him and he was angry about it.

Mycroft felt sorry for Sherlock, knowing that he didn’t like missing something, being left in the dark. But he wasn’t going to talk about this anymore at work. He could tell for certain that it was cocaine that he was on because his bother kept touching his nose, a very telling action.

“They are coming back to London this weekend if you want to talk to them, I think they will be staying in the old house or maybe in a hotel. Ill tell them if you want to talk to them. Please take your leave now.”

“What no! Tell them to come talk to me right now. I want to talk to them, they left me.”

Sherlock wanted to talk to his parents in person. He hadn’t seen them since he was in hospital for his overdose in mid-August. He wanted to see mummy and Mycroft was in his way. He gripped Mycroft’s arms where they were still holding his shoulders and dug in his fingers as hard as he could. It released the hold that Mycroft had on him, letting him control the situation.

Before Sherlock was able to do any real damage to Mycroft, the building security stepped in. The security guards had difficulty ripping the brothers apart because of how strong the hold Sherlock had on Mycroft’s arms. Sherlock was a lot more stronger than he appeared.

After Sherlock was removed from Mycroft and restrained by the security, he started to calm down a bit. He looked like a complete mess being held down against the floor in his dirty clothes. He looked like what he was, a homeless drug addict. Mycroft hated to see his baby brother like this and had tried to help him out with everything, but Sherlock wouldn’t accept anything from him. Mycroft had given him apartments and paid the rent on them, but he ruined them and created disturbances and therefore was kicked out by the landlords that owned them.

As soon as the security deemed that Sherlock had calmed down enough to be released, they stopped holding him down. He immediately got up and started to straighten his clothes, trying to make himself look a bit more presentable in the tattered dirty clothes that he was wearing.

“Sherlock, do you need some help getting somewhere to live right now? Maybe some clean clothes?”

Mycroft knew that this was a very touchy subject to breech with Sherlock. His brother really wanted to show that he was able live by himself, and that he was capable of supporting himself. He hadn’t been able to achieve those things yet, but he was only 24. Sherlock just needed a guiding hand of someone he could trust, Mycroft just hadn’t found that person to help his brother yet.

“What do you need? I will go and get you what you need, but I am not just giving you money.”

Sherlock didn’t answer him, but Mycroft knew that he was a bit ashamed and too proud to ask for anything. Mycroft couldn’t just let his little brother leave in this state, so he made a decision and turned towards the building security.

“Tell everyone that I will be taking an hour for lunch, I’m going out with my brother. Only contact me if it is necessary.”

He guides Sherlock out of the building and into a nearby café where he ordered a decent meal for the both of them, along with a bottle of water as well. The lunch wasn’t without insults from Sherlock, who believed that everyone could be sustained with how much he could eat. He had decided that Mycroft ate too much, even if it was only one portion provided by the café. Mycroft tried not to let these comments get to him because he knew it was coming from Sherlocks own warped sense of appetite caused by his use of drugs.

Mycroft only let sherlock leave the café when he was able to eat at least half of the food that was placed in front of him. His brother was looking much too thin for someone released from rehab not even a week prior. The place that Mycroft had picked out for him sent him an email every day that involved information about what he was eating and if he was interacting with the therapists. Sherlock never interacted with them, but his eating was erratic and greatly improved if he was allowed into the gardens. Mycroft knew that this was because he spent the day watching how bees interacted with the flowers in the garden, there was a hive near the rehab institution that made really nice honey.

Ensuring that Sherlock took his water with him when they left, Mycroft brought Sherlock into a clothing store to get him replacements for what he was wearing, and a bag to hold his belongings. It wasn’t the first time he had had to do this for Sherlock and probably wouldn’t be the last.

He also got him a pre-paid Nokia and traded their numbers so that they would be able to contact each other. He ensured that sherlock would be contacted when their parents got to London within the next few days and would meet up with him at some point.

And then Sherlock left. He didn’t even ask why his parents were coming to London, not caring that it is for Mycroft’s birthday.

***

Violet and William made their way to London after Ianto got home from school on Friday. This gave him time to pack an overnight bag and to change out of his uniform. Over the last week Ianto had been given some money to get his Tad a birthday present and he had decided to get something that he would have liked, but it was to be a surprise until after dinner tonight. He was looking forward for his Tads reaction.

They made good time getting to the Mannor, where they would be staying for the weekend. This was decided because Violet didn’t want to have to clean up the old house and remove all of the dust catchers before replacing them all when they left on Sunday, it would be too much work. They would be staying at Mycroft’s manor house now.

The plan was to leave their stuff in the Manor and to get themselves ready for the birthday dinner in the city. Aerfen was picking them up in a car to brig them to a restaurant, because Mycroft didn’t trust anyone else from work to even know about the existence of Ianto.

They were going to a place that Mycroft had found a few months ago and absolutely loved their deserts. He wanted to share his new find with Ianto and his parents, he had spoken to Aerfen about the pace and she had tried it out for a date a while back. She found the food lovely, but the person didn’t act right apparently, and so has never been mentioned again. Mycroft never got a name, but would really like a conclusion to what happened, maybe she would talk about it with his parents.

***

Ianto was very excited, it was going to be the first time that he was going to eat at a ‘fancy restaurant’ and it was the first time that he was going to be going into the middle of London. The last few times he had been at the Manor thy went to places in the surrounding area, he had never been into the City of London before.

Along with the present for his Tad, Ianto had bought a disposable camera to help document this first family holiday that he was going to have with Mycroft. He only had that one single Polaroid of his Mum that had been copied and scanned by Aerfen so that there would always be a copy of it in case it got damaged. He didn’t have any other photos of her or even of his childhood, he wanted to make sure that he had the memories now with his new family.

He was planning on getting an album after he filled the camera and got it printed out, a permanent reminder that he had a family.

***

Aerfen rolled up and stopped outside what Ianto would call a pretty building, Mycroft was standing on the pavement waiting for them with another man. Ianto saw how Aerfen handed the other man the keys, telling him that the car would be picked up in the morning.

It was raining a little, spitting, and Ianto could hear Mycroft talking to his mummy about the rain over Ianto’s shoulder. She was still in the car and Mycroft was worrying about his mum’s hair, he didn’t want it to get messed up in the rain, he started talking about needing to have an umbrella to save them from the rain.

Ianto took a photo when of the building when he got out of the car, hoping that it would turn out well. He knew that the camera would have 27 photos, but he didn’t want to waste any film and forget something.

They walked up the stairs and through the entrance doors, and there was someone waiting for them at a desk as soon as they got past the foyer. Mam-gu and Bampi greeted Mycroft as they walked in, making sure to hug their eldest and to give him their best wishes for his birthday.

Ianto noted that the woman at the desk asked for their coats while asking for the reservation name. He could tell that she already knew what reservation they held, but was asking to reassure them that they screen people before they come in. He supposed that Aerfen told them that it was a party for 5 with a teenage boy or that she recognised either Mycroft or Aerfen. But Ianto was amazed at how she held herself elegantly, even as she was taking their coats. It was a quiet display of sophistication and already told Ianto that it was one of the reasons that Mycroft likes this restaurant so much.

They were brought to a room with a single large round table in the middle, a faint sound of instrumental music filled the room. Ianto didn’t know that you could get restaurants that had private rooms like this, but he supposed that he was going to learn a lot tonight about fancy rich people things.

The wait staff didn’t treat Ianto any different to the rest of them, even if it was obvious he had never done anything like this before as they got to the table and didn’t even try to take the birthday present bag from him. They could tell that he wanted to give it during the meal, he was planning to give it before or after the dessert so put it under the table when he went to sit down.

Ianto was a bit surprised when they weren’t given a menu but his Tad noticed when he was checking the table and then began watching for a waiter to come over with one.

“It’s a set menu, so there will be a lot of plates with different types of food. You might think that the portions are smaller than a normal restaurant, but there will be 10 courses. If you don’t like anything, or you don’t like it at all we will get you a burger and chips on the way to the theatre”

Ianto nodded, he had seen something like this in a movie before. He wasn’t fussy about food, but it did give him a bit of relief that there would be something else for him if he didn’t like the fancy stuff. But he wanted to try it.

“I think I’ll at least try everything. If there is 10 courses, how many desserts will there be?”

“I don’t know, we told them that it was for a birthday and that I liked their desserts the last time I was here. I’m hoping that there will be 3 desserts, but they usually only have 2.”

“You don’t know what the courses are?”

“No, they asked if we had any specific diets or if anybody had an allergy. Then they make a menu from the food they buy that day. Its very different, and the food tastes so fresh. It makes you think that all of it is healthy.”

Ianto sat and thought for a second, letting it sink in that his Tad trusted this restaurant so much, that he let them do whatever as long as the food tasted good.

“I was going to give you your present before dessert, but if we don’t know when dessert is… I’ll give you it now. Just know that it is one of my biggest interests that I am going to try to share with you.”

Ianto reached under the table and brought out the gift bag when his Mam-gu saw what was happening.

“He hasn’t told us what he got you. He said it would be a surprise and that we would give it away with our expressions.”

Mycroft was honestly surprised that Ianto had spent time to get him a present in secret, whatever it was he would cherish it forever. But as he looked as Ianto get the bag that he had been guarding for the night, he noticed a sly glint in his eyes. He had tried to peak into the bag earlier, but Ianto had put some newspaper into the bag to act as a barrier so that nobody could see into it.

After Ianto handed over the bag Mycroft sat it on the table and stood up to open it. Everyone else at the table watched on, wanting to know what Ianto had got him. Ianto sat observing with a giddy grin on his face and his camera in his hand.

The present was revealed to Mycroft after he peeled back the newspaper covering and it made him burst into laughter. He could tell that this was his son’s way to express his interests and try to get him involved in it, but also a way to be reminded of Ianto every time he looked at it. Mycroft carefully lifted it out of the bag to show everyone else.

It was a teddy bear with a rugby jersey, a Wales rugby jersey.

With the revealing of the present, everyone found it hilarious. They had known about Ianto’s growing obsession over rugby, he had joined the school team over the past few weeks and it had taken over his life.

“Thank you, Ianto, I will keep him very safe. He looks very cute.”

Mycroft hugged his son tightly. He already knew that he was going to cherish the bear, even if he didn’t support the team that the bear wore, it didn’t matter because it was his sons team and this was a present from him.

He set the bear on the table beside him, clearing a space for the bear to sit throughout the meal, proudly showing off what his son had given him.

It was only after the reveal of the present that the waiter came over with drinks for everyone. Ianto noticed that his looked very different to the rest. It was his Bampi that noticed him looking around.

“The drinks are matched with the food with each course. Sometimes they have a bit of alcohol in them and they will make you something else that works well with the food.”

“Oh okay, What is it?”

Ianto was looking at his drink and he couldn’t tell what it was, he had never had a drink that looked like it before.

“Something like that would be called a mocktail, to emulate a cocktail without alcohol. They will tell us what we are given when the plate of food comes out with it”

That answer satisfied Ianto and it was only a few seconds before he saw some plates come out with the food of the first course and after the plates were set down in front of them, the waiter explained what the food was and what the drinks were.

As the courses progressed, Ianto noticed that he liked all of the food being placed in front of him, and that it was slowly making him full. He didn’t expect it but was pleasantly surprised.

In the end courses 9 and 10 were deserts that tasted heavenly. They weren’t too sweet or too heavy, Mycroft loved them and when he thought the food was over and they were to have coffee to end the meal, the lights turned out and a cake was brought out with candles on top.

He let Ianto blow out the candles because he already got his wish, 3 desserts. Mycroft took Ianto’s camera and took a photo of him blowing out the candles of his cake. He didnt know if Ianto saw him, but he wanted Ianto to be reminded of how he looked. After the lights were put pack on, he asked one of the wait staff if they would take a photo of all of them, they obliged and took a photo of all of them around the cake.

It may have been Mycroft’s party but Ianto was the star of it.

They had about an hour until they had to go to the theatre, so they sat talking with their coffee. Violet had turned her questions to Aerfen when she mentioned that the food and atmosphere was much better than the last time she was here. This was exactly what Mycroft wanted, he wanted to find out what happened.

Aerfen had had a few alcoholic drinks and she was very comfortable with the family that has accepted her as one of their own. She decided to share what had happened.

“I had a date here a few months ago, at the beginning of summer. They weren’t very nice to the wait staff and started giving off about the size of the portions. They wouldn’t listen to me when I was telling them that the courses add up. I told them to leave because they were being embarrassing.”

That was almost everything that Mycroft had figured out about the date,but he didn’t know that they had been mean to the staff. He hates it when people are like that. They would be the people who wouldn’t think twice if you were mean and they were asked to put something into your food. It’s a self-preservation technique.

He didn’t mind that she was playing the pronoun game, she was answering his mother and a lot of people arnt very accepting. He made a mental note to have a conversation with her about it, that he didn’t mind and that she didn’t have to hide it from her if she didn’t want to. But a 14 year old doesn’t have enough tact for that.

“That’s awful that she would treat someone like that, especially people who have the chance to spit in your food.”

Sometimes they all forgot that Ianto could read between the lines very well, maybe could deduce people like Sherlock and Mycroft, but forgot that sometimes everything shouldn’t be said out loud.

William was the one to break the silence created by Ianto’s input when he realised that nobody else knew what to say.

“Well dear, you probably dodged a bullet with that one. I’m sure you will find someone that’s just right for you. That being said, my old friend Chuck has a daughter of the same inclination if you would like to be introduced. She is a year older than Mycroft, if you didn’t mind the age gap.”

“William, you can’t introduce her to that woman, she is an insufferable vegan. They wouldn’t be able to live or eat together. Plus, she smells, she doesn’t believe in chemicals. The idiot. Aerfen deserved much better”

Aerfen initially became drawn into herself as soon as Ianto picked up the pronoun game, and completely didn’t play along. But as she listened to Mummy and Daddy Holmes start to fight over who they could introduce her to, she realised that she had nothing to be afraid of. Maybe Ianto did it on purpose without thinking. This night might end up with her having another date or two and she was looking forward to meeting people screened by the Holmes. Hopefully they wouldn’t steer her the wrong way.

***

They decided to walk around the corner to get to the theatre, nobody needed to stop to get a takeaway, they had all ate very well and took advantage of the restaurant.

As Ianto walked forward with his Bampi and Mam-gu, Mycroft hung back to talk to Aerfen.

“I was making a plan to have a conversation with you at the office, telling you that I didn’t care about your preferences. They raised us encouraging anything and were very open minded about it, they didn’t want us to end up alone. I want you to know that I won’t tell anyone about you, but if anything happens at work I will be in your corner on this matter.”

The reassurances from Mycroft on the walk really calmed down the nerves that she didn’t know she was carrying.

***

They enjoyed the night at the theatre, it was a play that his parents had been wanted to see a for a while. Mycroft had organised for a large car to collect them afterwards so they wouldn’t have to stand in a line waiting for a cab that could lift the 5 of them.

***

Aerfen had stayed over at the Manor multiple times after work nights turned into wine nights and so had claimed her own room out of the many spares, so had some clothes stashed away for any occasion. They had already decided that Saturday morning was to be a relaxed day, so everyone was prepared.

For a late breakfast everybody gathered to have a large family fry up. Violet had decided to made homemade pancakes.

The conversation between Mycroft and his parents naturally drifted towards the topic of Sherlock who had still not contacted him or them since he saw him and gave him a phone on Wednesday prior. Sherlock made no effort when he got the answers he was looking for.

It made Mycroft a bit sad that he hadn’t reached out to their parents, but he did pass on the message that he had been to the old house and that he thought they might have been kidnapped. He also gave his parents the number for Sherlocks mobile hone so that they would be able to contact him if they wanted to.

They didn’t know what to do to help him, they couldn’t do anything to help him without enabling him. But it was hard watching him go through this hard time in his life. They could only offer support to him but he never reached out until he ended up in hospital and someone was contacted by them for a next of kin.

After the late breakfast (that was probably counted as lunch) they decided to play a few board games, they were all insanely competitive so it got serious very quickly.

It was during an intense game of go-fish that forgot something very important and rolled up the sleeves of his jumper. He didn’t know why the joy left everyone instantly and they were all staring at his arms, the arms that Sherlock grasped onto a few days prior.

His parents had seen injuries like this often enough after he had had to deal with sherlock, but this time they looked a lot worse because they were beginning to heal.

Aerfen knew that he had a scuffle with his brother on Wednesday before he went for lunch, but she had never seen any bruises on him done by his brother before.

Ianto looked completely devastated and angry that someone had hurt his Tad. Mycroft knew that they would have to have this conversation about his uncle now.

“Sherlock, my brother and your uncle has a problem with substances and doesn’t know how to regulate his emotions very well.”

It looked like Ianto wasn’t understanding Mycroft too well, or that he was understanding too well. Ianto had become blank, a mask that they hadn’t seen on his face in a while. All four of the adults in the room had been trying to show Ianto that people can drink alcohol in appropriate amounts and it wouldn’t make them like Dafydd. This was something that they had wanted to show him, to normalise around him without demonising it. Because if it was demonised or seen as something bad, he could turn to it as soon as he wanted to rebel. They didn’t want another person of the family turning to addiction. He decided to tell Ianto the full story.

“He is an addict, addicted to trying different drugs. He says that he isn’t addicted and is only experimenting. He only gets violent towards me because I am the one who always tried to get him to stop. The day I got the phone call from you in the police station was the day that I put him into rehab. We didn’t tell him about you yet and when he got out last week, he eventually tried to go back to see Mummy, probably to ask for money, he was surprised that the house was empty and he was worried about our parents. He has a phone to call them now.”

“Does he know about me?”

“No, there hasn’t been any appropriate settings to tell him yet. Do you want us to inform him that he has a nephew?”

Ianto slumped, his blank mask falling, this would be a tough decision for him. Especially since he just escaped from a house with a violent addict.

“I don’t think I want to see him yet. I don’t think I am ready to be around someone with an addiction again, maybe I can meet him if he stops his experiments with them? I don’t want to be around anyone that hurts me again, you say that he only hurts Tad, but what if he sees me as a smaller version. I don’t want to see him yet.”

They all understood that it would have been difficult for Ianto to say no to meeting some more family, but this was him trying to protect himself and they weren’t going to fight him on it. Not wit how serious this subject was. He was asked his decision and gave his answer, they would all respect it.

“How did he get like that if you are all so nice?”

They were surprised with the question, Violet started to answer first.

“There is a 7 year gap between the boys, so they were always in different stages of life and there wasn’t much overlap between them. We sent Mycroft to school and he was able to socialise with the other kids. He didn’t like them and thought that they were not on his level mentally, but he stayed in school and we only let him skip one school year, he did his A levels in one year. Mycroft made friends in school, or acquaintances that he calls them, but they still manage to meet up sometimes. Sherlock on the other had couldn’t calm his mind and became very overstimulated when around other children. We brought him to psychologists but they couldn’t do anything, its just how his brain processes things. He was homeschooled and never mixed with anyone outside the house until he was around 16. By that point he was already trying his own experiments that he had made with chemistry kits and wanted to try other things.”

As Ianto took that in, he realised that Sherlock was probably a very active kid like the ones that he saw on the estates, they couldn’t sit still in school and he was trying to remember what they called it.

“Sherlock was obsessed with chemicals that made you feel things that the body doesn’t normally feel. He was always asking me when I was in my mid to late teens if I was going to drink or try drugs if I ever left to meet others.”

That was Mycroft, remembering how a young sherlock would ask him too many questions.

“Do you think he would have that ADHD?”

“Maybe, but he observes a lot all of the time which can cause the overstimulation, he never learnt how to sort everything as it goes in, or how to not observe at some moments. I thin that is what he uses the drugs for. To help control how much he sees. See you and me, we can sort what we see and quickly discard useless information to pick out what we want, he cant do it.”

Ianto was surprised to hear Mycroft include him in that list, he just thought that everyone’s brains worked like that. His eyes went wide at the realisation.

“So everyone can’t sort their thoughts into things like a big massive library?”

“No, but that is an amazing way to sort everything, mines all sorted into a big building in different rooms.”

Mycroft was amazed at how Ianto thought everyone was able to sort everything int their minds. He was envious that Ianto’s mind seemed to be more organised than his was at that age, he had figured out a systematic way of sorting everything that meant that everything was all in books in one large room. He might need to walk along aisles to find the book, but he didn’t need to walk down corridors to find a door to a room that might have its own method of filing, be it books or a cabinet or just on the floor on scraps of paper.

Mycroft had tried but he couldn’t change they way his mind sorted things now, sometimes it took a while for him to get the information, but that wouldn’t be the same for Ianto if he kept up with the organisation of it.

“I don’t have anything like that, having a sorted mind is a very special thing to have”

Aerfen had never heard how Mycroft described his mind before, but she knew that if she wanted information, it would be a lot easier to find in a sorted library instead of a large building with multiple rooms.

This child in front of her had a more organised mind than someone running the country, who knows what he would end up doing, but she hoped he would be on her side.

***

The bruises weren’t talked about again and they returned to playing their games, shaken at the realisation that Ianto may be smarter and more sociable than any of them realised. He could hide how smart he was so he could fit in. that could end up being a very useful trait in the future if he wanted to do something with it.

Chapter Text

The school emptied quickly on the last day of the school term when they were getting off for Christmas, everyone was excited for the extended break and were hoping that they would get some snow when they were off.

Ianto and his friends were going to go to the Holmes house to hang out in his bedroom for a while, he had the biggest room and his Mam-gu and Bampi were amazing because they never told them off for being too loud. Violet liked to hear the teenager’s laughter throughout the house and loved making snakes for them, she had never had the chance to do those types of things before.

Ianto had just told his friends that he was living with his grandparents now and they didn’t really question it too much, they could tell that Ianto was a lot more relaxed and happy living here. They hadn’t even seen him this happy when his mum was alive. Those friends had been around for a long time, two of which he met was in nursery school with and they met the other one when they all went on to high school.

But as they were leaving the school gates, Ianto was stopped by the presence of Rhiannon standing at the gate. It looked like she was waiting for him so he told his friends to hang out for a bit so he could talk to her.

She explained that she wanted to see him on Christmas Eve, have a catchup with Chinese and that she went over to the old house the night before but nobody was there. Ianto was taken a bit aback because he hadn’t been living there since August, it had taken her months before she even came looking for him.

Ianto told her that he would only go as long as Steven wasn’t going to be there, but, Rhiannon said that it was no problem because he would be working and Stevens mum would be out at her singing club, she was spending her night carolling. It was when Ianto was assured that nobody else would be there that he agreed to meet her.

***

Ianto found the house very easily; it was just a few streets away from their old house. It was a part of the same estate. It made Ianto a bit angry that she lived so close but never tried to come find him. She was so close, but he didn’t even know to be able to reach out to her.

He stood at the door battling at his inner wills. He wanted to see his older sister after such a long time but at the same time he still didn’t want to look at her. But here he was standing outside of the door, he had made his decision and now just needs to knock.

The door suddenly swung inwards and he was met with an adult he had never seen before, wearing tinsel around her hair and a lot of strong and festive makeup. His shock and surprise were probably very easily seen on his face. The woman had an initial reaction of shock at a child standing on her doorstep, but quickly realised why he was there.

“You must be Ianto, Go on in. Your sister is in the kitchen. I’m running a bit late for my carolling group. Just go on in.”

She left in a whirlwind, the sparkling of tinsel from the streetlights and the faint sounds of bells from the pockets of her coat. She left the door wide open and Ianto could see the light coming from a room at the bottom of the hallway, he knew it was the kitchen, these houses all have the same layout.

He made his way down the hall and closed the door behind him. He walked in announcing his presence so that his sister didn’t get a fright.

“The crazy lady in tinsel let me in when she went out”

His sister was standing at the back door smoking in a dressing gown, it looked like she didn’t think anyone would be in the house. He had never seen her smoke before, but he knew she had taken it up at some point, she always smelt of it.

“Ianto, Sorry. I thought I would have like 30 minutes before you came. I’ll get dressed and we’ll go get that Chinese. My treat.”

Ianto watched in silence as his sister made his way up the stairs after stubbing out the cigarette in the ash tray on the counter at the back door. It looked like she changed a lot in the time that they had been apart.

He noted that she looked older and had gained a bit of weight, but he heard that that would happen if you got into a relationship, she just looked like she was beginning to get lines in her face. This is what was most concerning to Ianto. This shouldn’t be happening so young, but he couldn’t really do anything for her. He knew that stress could age someone and that the best cure would be getting away from the stressful environment, in this case it would probably be Steve.

When she was away getting dressed, he made the decision to tell her what happened, the full story, and there was another spare room across from him at the Holmes Cardiff house that they had offered her.

Once Rhiannon was ready, they began the walk to the Chinese.

They began talking about what they were going to order, even though they order the exact same thing each time. Sticky BBQ ribs a gravy chip for Rhi, and a half and half, curry sauce peas and onions for Ianto and a portion of chicken balls to share. They will exclaim that they say its too much food when they unpack it, but will end up eating everything, even the complementary prawn crackers that come with the order.

It is almost a ritual at this point to talk about the different food that they wouldn’t order before settling on their usual. It also helped break the ice that had formed over their relationship, to show that they were both acting ‘normally’.

As they were sitting waiting for their order, Ianto decided to begin to talk.

“Rhi, there’s been some things that have been happening since you moved out.”

“Yeah, I noticed that neither you or Dad were at home when I've walked past the past few times.”

“I don’t live there anymore, Dafydd thew me out on my birthday.”

Ianto decided to drop that Bomb as early as the conversation allowed, he wanted to have time to be able explain what happened, but also to explain how he couldn’t find her.

“What really? Where have you been living? Why didn’t you come to see me?”

“Yeah he didn’t like me much since Mum told him that he wasn’t my Dad, he got very violent when you weren’t around. I was on my own for like a week before the police picked me up for petty theft, they gave me the option to ring someone. You didn't leave an address or number so I couldn’t contact you, but I tried the number that mum had. You know, Mike. He answered and came down to pick me up immediately. His name is Mycroft and he works in London. I’m living with his parents, my grandparents Mam-gu and Bampi in a cottage outside town.”

Rhiannon sat taking in the information that Ianto was telling her, realising that he has found a completely new family and that he has two parental figures that obviously take care of him and that her brother has found a new family.

“What happened to Dafydd?”

Ianto knew the question would be coming. He needed to tell his sister that her Dad was currently in prison because of something done against him, it was good that they were in public in case this took a turn. He hesitated to say something until he looked up and made eye contact with her, he quickly looked away before answering.

“I wasn’t in a good condition when the police got me, they sort of took some photos for proof of what I looked like. Dafydd got very drunk and angry on my birthday. He got violent, not for the first time. This time I had bruises all over my face too, I couldn’t hide it and didn’t want to lie about it anymore. They documented it all and the fact that I had been thrown out, I think that either the police or Mycroft have charged him with child abuse.”

As Ianto finished talking about that night, he saw that his sister was very shocked. He let her mull over what he had told her without interrupting her. They sat in silence until the worker at the counter called out “Jones”. They collected the bag of food and made their way back to the house that Rhiannon was living at.

“Are you going to stay a Jones?”

“I think so. It was Mums last name and its your last name. I took mums name, not Dafydd’s. Plus it’s a whole lot of hassle to change it, they sound the same. Jones and Holmes.”

It drew a laugh out of Rhiannon, Ianto’s slow and exaggerated pronunciations of the names. It reminded her of how he acted when he was trying to make their mum laugh. He was trying to make sure that she was comforted after the information he told her, this was what he always did if he felt like someone else was down. Rhiannon knew her brother couldn’t feel her emotions, but sometime its like he knew exactly what she was feeling.

***
They got into the house and set about getting plates to set their respective meals onto them, the Styrofoam lids used to hold the divvied up chicken balls. Ianto always argued that the plates weren’t needed because they were eating out of a container, but there was almost always curry or gravy running down the sides of the containers, pooling onto the plates. So Rhiannon always made sure that they ate it off a plate, because cleaning plates is better that trying to get a curry stain out of a wooden table.

They migrated to the sofa in the front room, each of them feeling groggy after eating so much food. Rhiannon had changed back into her comfy clothes and house coat as she was now in for the night.

Ianto relished in the option he was given to curl up on a sofa beside his sister, neither of them had had this for a while. The sat talking about any other random updates in their lives that they could remember.

Rhiannon was told about how Ianto had now joined the school rugby team, that he now had time to hand out with his friends after school since he didn’t have to catch the earliest bus anymore. He also spoke about how Violet makes the best Sunday Dinner that he had ever eaten and gave her an invitation to come round any week. He left the address in a notebook that was laying around so that she would have it.

Ianto was able to hear about how her sister had been working as a cleaner in a hair salon, they were also teaching her. There was an option to joining the next apprenticeship opening starting January and she had signed up for it in the tech. the salon she was working in were trying to get her a qualification so she could get paid more.

They lost track of time catching up and it was only when they heard someone coming through the front door, they realised how late it was.

The steps were a lot heavier than Ianto expected of the crazy lady that let in, it was then when he realised that it wasn’t the woman, it was Steven.

“I think that it time for me to leave, if he goes into the kitchen or upstairs I’ll leave. I don’t want to see him again.”

“I don’t know why you both hate each other, but give me a hug before you leave.”

As they stood up for a hug, they heard Steven walk into the kitchen and back out. Ianto could tell he was looking for Rhi and he wasn’t going to get as clean a get away as he hoped.

The door opened and Ianto ran past him and out of the front door, he didn’t want to deal with the guy after such a good night with his sister. He could hear him and Rhi as he left.

“Who was that?”

“I told you I was getting a Chinese with Ianto tonight. We lost track of time and he needs to get back home now”

Ianto could tell that the conversation continued when he was out of earshot, but he really didn’t want to talk to someone who obviously hated him like Steven did. They didn’t see eye to eye and that was because Steven was an idiot, well that was what Ianto thought. Ianto had a bad feeling about him and it wasn’t helped by the guy treating him like a toddler.

***

Ianto took a long walk back to the cottage, he had the option of having a lift, but he wanted to clear his head a mull over his night. He felt like the only way it could have went better was if steven never came home, but that would make Rhi sad, so he would have to take it.

Ianto arrived back to the cottage much later than he expected, but after he opened the door, he saw that the living room door was closed and a note was placed on the handle with his name on it.

“Ianto we hope that you had a good night with your sister. We have placed things in this room for Christmas tomorrow and would appreciate it if you didn’t look in it when you arrive home.
Signed, Your Mam-gu and Bampi.
Mycroft should be arriving in the morning at around 10 when we will have a special breakfast. We usually have our Christmas dinner at around 5pm.”

If the note wasn’t there, Ianto would have probably went to his room without stopping. It was the note that stopped him, it was very out of place. Just by its presence Ianto knew that he was on their mind when they went to bed, he was one of the last things that they were thinking about before they went to sleep.

After getting into his room Ianto noticed that there was a wrapped present sitting on his bed with another note sitting on top of it.

“We got you some new festive pyjamas so that you can join in on an all day pyjama day tomorrow, we couldn’t remember if we had told you about it yet.
Signed, Your Mam-gu and Bampi”

Ianto went to bed thinking about what a special Christmas breakfast would consist of, and he could feel that Aerfen would take up the invitation that was also extended to her weeks ago when they was at a Sunday dinner. It was going to be a different Christmas compared to other years, but hopefully that won’t be a bad thing.

***

Ianto woke up slowly on Christmas morning and he could tell by the light in the room, that it was a lot later than he would normally wake up. He realised that someone must have disabled his alarm on his bedside table. It was an amazing thing, a radio alarm, it played his favourite music station (Red Dragon Radio) to wake him up and had never let him down, yet, so someone must have turned it off. It was too big of a coincidence, that and he had been told to sleep in.

They were sneaky people if they really wanted something. But they didn’t know how to disable the alarm of the radio, they had just turned it off (It was probably Bampi), but he was going to need to fix the time at some point before school started. He couldn’t be mad though, he knew that it was done with good intentions.

The alarm clock being out of commission also meant that he had no idea of what time it was that he had woken up. He knew it was later than the rest of the times he got up that week, but how much later was a mystery to him.

He had slept in the new pyjamas and they were very fluffy and felt very soft when being worn. It wasn’t like the normal fabrics that his were normally made of, he liked these, they were long fluffy dark blue trousers with yellow stars and the top was a mimic of a woollen Christmas jumper, different patterns with red, white and green. He didn’t think he had ever had clothes like it before.

After he gathered his mind and prepared himself to be around everyone with an unknown amount of stimulus, he decided to venture out to the kitchen, where he believed that his grandparents would be in.

When he opened the door he saw that it wasn’t just his Mam-gu and Bampi in the kitchen, but Mycroft and Aerfen were there as well. It was much later than he had thought. He had woken up just in time for this special breakfast.

They were all gathered around the kitchen table, catching up of their lives talking about stuff that they had to before they could begin the festivities. (Mycroft was giving them an update on what was happening with Sherlock and were hoping to meet with him in the new year, but Sherlock wasn’t using the phone that was given to him. They hadn’t left sherlock out of the festivities, but he had been against the festive season for years, even before he moved out, and had made it clear he wasn’t going to ever come home for it.)

Violet began taking out the Christmas breakfast out of the oven. It was a decorate your own pancake stack. She brought out a large tray of thick fluffy pancakes and set them in the middle of the table and began setting many different toppings on the table. There was such a wide range of topping being placed on the table, including fresh fruit, jams, syrups, scrambled egg and bacon. A small bowl of porridge was also placed at each table setting as well, to keep everyone full until dinner.

Ianto sat down at the table beside Mycroft who was talking to his dad on the other side of him, they were having an intense discussion on whether they should have sweet or savoury toppings, and which was arguably better. Mycroft was saying that bananas and chocolate syrup with cream on top is the best, but William was saying that bacon, eggs and beans were better.

Ianto took note of what they were saying as he reached for his own topping. The playful arguing died down as they watched Ianto place bacon on his and covered with syrup and a big dollop of cream, sweet and savoury, something that could be viewed as a silent protest of their stupid argument that was taking place after he just woke up.

Violet and Aerfen watched this all happen in amusement from the other side of the table as they placed their own topping on their pancakes. They had both placed an array of fresh fruit on theirs, but Violet had opted for a blackberry jam being placed between the fruit and pancakes and syrup being poured over everything. Aerfen had topped hers with a dusting of sugar and lemon juice, with a bit of butter being placed on top.

It was a very different Christmas for Ianto to be part of, they were all eating different things but it was a family breakfast, a special type of breakfast.

When they finished their pancakes, the bowls of porridge had cooled down enough to be ate and they were interrupted by the laughter of the two women. They had been watching as all of the men had moved the bowl in front of them and had all taken a spoonful of the brown sugar to sprinkle on top. The grandfather, father and son were all in sync as they did these actions, and it was funny to the others at the table. They had no clue why they were laughing and had to wait until they had calmed down enough to be able to inform them that they were like a line of copycats.

The special breakfast went well and when everyone had eaten their fill, they retired to the living room with fresh hot drinks in their hands.

Letting Ianto be the first to open the door into the room. He was met with all of the blast of warmth, the fire was blazing in the hearth and the combination of the fire and the lights hitting the tinsel around the tree made it look so magical.

There had been presents sitting under the tree for days, but their numbers seem to have multiplied overnight. It looked like a scene out of a Christmas movie.

Ianto had never seen something like this before, usually at Christmas they had some presents placed under a tree in the front room. But this felt completely different. It looked magical and felt warm, not just from the fire but warm from inside is heart as well.

For the last 2 years there hadn’t really been a Christmas in the Jones’s house because of his mum’s mental health problems, but before that it wasn’t ever like this. Ianto had only thought that this atmosphere was only achievable in the movies.

Christmas was usually a day that was fun in the beginning when they woke up and saw what present they got that year, but Ianto remembers that his Mum would begin to get stressed out about the dinner. That was because she didn’t know if she would get everything ready for lunchtime. As he got older, he realised how little fun his mum had during Christmas morning, she was always running around, cleaning wrapping paper, finding batteries and having to cook the food.

It made him a bit sad that Christmas morning didn’t have to be as stressful as his mum thought. It made him miss his mum.

Last year they didn’t even have a Christmas celebration because she could barely get out of bed. He sat on the bed with her watching the Christmas day tv programme, sharing a Christmas pudding and custard for dinner when Ianto eventually got hungry and it was the only thing he could find in the house. He had no memory of where Dafydd was last year, but he knew that he wasn’t present on Christmas day.

Last year it was just Ianto and Rhiannon laying on their mums bed on either side of her. It wasn’t a good day, but it was just hitting him that it was the last Christmas he ever would have with his mum.

***

Mycroft watched as he saw Ianto look around the festive room, eyes flickering around to take everything in. He was in awe too, his parents hadn’t went all out like this since when Sherlock was a child, before he hated the entire holiday season. It was nice to start celebrating it properly again as a group larger than himself and his parents.

He noticed Ianto he lost in his head as he was looking at the decorations and decided that it might be best to take away his tea, in case he lost the grip on it. When he turned back to Ianto after setting their drinks down he noticed that his sons face had fallen, and he was beginning to start to tear up.

Mycroft remembered that the last time that Ianto had cried in front of him, he ended up on his lap with his head to his chest, looking for safety. He didn’t know why Ianto was crying but he could try to comfort him the same way that he did the last time. So, he tried to lift him up and sit with him on the couch, but it wasn’t as easy as he thought. Ianto had gained a bit of weight after eating a normal amount of food, so it was more like an awkward shuffle back to the couch.

It concerned everyone when Ianto started sobbing into his Tad’s chest but when they heard him try to mumble a few words, they could hear one clear sentence.

“I miss my mummy”

They had all known that it was a possibility coming up today because it is a celebration that is usually to do with being around families, but grief was a strange thing and they wouldn’t know what would trigger him. They knew that last year’s Christmas was probably not ideal as she passed away at the beginning of January, but they had no idea if that depression was present before the New Year.

Once they got him calmed down he asked if there was going to be Christmas pudding and custard after dinner later. Violet answered that she had some that her friend had homemade and that there was custard in the cupboard in the kitchen if her husband hadn’t snacked on it since she bought it, he retaliated saying that he wouldn’t just steal custard and that he didn’t take it as there was nothing to eat it with.

Ianto cracked a smile at the married couples antics and decided to tell them that they had ate a large Christmas pudding with custard in a bed watching TV the year before. When he noticed the adults looking a bit concerned, he made sure to tell them that it was one he and Rhiannon had bought the night before, it was one of the really big ones. Nobody was supervising the 13 year old and the 15 year old when they went out on Christmas eve, so the bought the biggest Christmas pudding that they could.

Ianto told them that when he walked in to the room he remembered how his mum was when he was little That she was always so stressed when looking back at it, and that he wished she could have experienced a Christmas like this at some point.

They managed to calm him down and reassured him that it was alright to miss family members that couldn’t make it for the holidays, or if they didn’t want to. William began telling Ianto a story of a Christmas from long ago, one where a 5 year old Sherlock was using a new science kit that he had gotten as a present and he blew up the turkey, right when William was trying to carve it at the table.

Hearing the random stories about his uncle always amused Ianto, he believed that his uncle would be considered ‘quite a character’. They only told him funny stories, but he could tell that the way he currently lived was hurting them. They were very upset that their youngest hadn’t reached out since they knew that he had a phone, that he hadn’t reached out for a holiday that they loved.

***

After they had swapped stories, Aerfen began to get a bit restless and stopped the talking by giving Ianto a small wrapped box from her bag.

“Sorry, but we can talk later, but I was promised present time would be before the Queens speech and then the dinner will need preparing. We need to do it now unless we want to unwrap presents when we are ready for a nice nap after food and I couldn’t think of anything else worse.
Ianto that is something that is considered the number 1 present this year and I don’t know if you will like it or not, but I didn’t want you feeling left out if you got back after winter break and didn’t have it.”

Ianto carefully opened the box and recognised it immediately, it was a Tamagotchi. He had seen it advertised a few times when watching TV and had heard a few people talk about them at school. He was curious. After lifting it out of the box he turned it over in his hands, not turning it on. He looked back up at her;

“Thank you so much, I was talking to some friends and they were getting Tamagotchi’s and I was really curious about them. Did you get one for yourself?”

He watched as her cheeks began to redden. He knew that she was almost expressionless at work and just a simple question from him caused her to lose all composure from embarrassment. It was just a simple bit of banter, but he was having fun.

Mycroft watched as his son was able to deduce from the present being given to him, that his secretary had also gotten the toy. He hadn’t even seen it at all and it was amazing to watch it happen, but he felt stupid. It made him ask himself if that was how normal people felt around him?

They all began swapping presents and they were mostly all clothing related, like socks and jumpers. Mycroft had gotten his parents each very good jackets, since neither of them had a decent once and the winter in Wales was a bit worse than just outside London. He wanted to make sure that his parents were being taken care of even when he wasn’t around.

William and Violet each had gotten Mycroft new ties, each picking out one to add to their sons growing collection of ties. Violet got him a nice navy tie with a thin red line crossing it diagonally It was a very professional looking tie, fitting for his job. William had gotten him a funky tie that was marron and had mini cookies on it.

Mycroft loves the funky ties that his dad gives him. They look very professional at a distance, but the pictures are able to be seen only if they are close up. It was fun to wear them to functions to see if anyone is actually paying attention to him, it was a fun game that he liked to play.

Then it was Mycroft’s turn to give a present to Ianto and he passed over a large box wrapped in festive paper. Ianto had seen that box under the tree and was hoping it was for him, but he did not know, not until it was handed to him. He shook the box a bit trying to figure out what was in the box, but could not figure it out. It was relatively light and didn’t make any sounds when being shook.

All of the adults were watching him closely to open the box, he could tell that they were waiting for his reaction. This means that they all know what the gift was.

He carefully opened the top of the box and what greeted him made him collapse in laughter. It was a teddy bear, similar to the bear he had gotten Mycroft on his birthday, but this one was wearing an England rugby shirt. It was probably the best thing he had gotten this Christmas, he was going to keep it forever. It a physical reminder that the person who ruled the British government was able to get into a petty war with his son about rugby merchandise.

Inato was so caught up in the pettiness that was the whole premise of the gift that it took him a while to see the envelope that the bear was holding. He lifted out the envelope and everyone was watching him for a reaction again. He opened the envelope and saw what it was, tickets. They were tickets to the England vs Wales match in the 5 nations championship. Ianto was ecstatic and flung him into his Tads arms to give him a hug in thanks.

Violet was watching as her son gave her grandson a gift that he would have probably been wishing for his whole life. They all knew how mad about rugby Ianto is. She decided to go and get Iantos disposable camera that he had gotten for Mycroft’s birthday. He hadn’t filled the camera yet, so she decided to take a few photos of the first Christmas Ianto was spending with them. She had them sit with the teddy bear between them, holding the tickets for the photo.

***

They finished opening all of the presents and Violet brought in a tray of tea in preparation of the Queens Christmas Day address. The past year had drawn a lot of attention to the royal family and Mycroft was watching to make sure that she only mentioned and talked about all of the points that they had agreed upon in their meeting earlier in the week.

This year was the 40th year that it was televised, but the first time that it was being produced by a new news station the Independent Television News, this was what was making Mycroft nervous. They watched the TV as she reminded everyone of the Princesses death and went on to speak about her own golden wedding anniversary. She also spoke about the delegation of power to Scotland and Wales, talking about how becoming a United Kingdom was a benefit to all of the countries.

After the message from the Queen, Violet began working on the final preparations of the food for the dinner. When his mother was preoccupied, Mycroft had decided to take a walk outside to congratulate the Queen on her performance and also took the opportunity to sneak in a quick smoke as he knew that his mother was too busy to catch him.

What Mycroft didn’t think of, was now there is a teenager who is also able to catch him as well and when he turned back to the house, he was met with Ianto standing in the doorway with his arms crossed, trying to act like he was angry. Mycroft held his hands up, beginning to make excuses.

“I don’t smoke often, but I have been very stressed lately and thought I deserved one.”

He was met with an unmoving and unforgiving face of a teenager.

“I know they are bad for you, I’m sorry.”

Mycroft was begging with his son and it wasn’t doing anything. Ianto uncrossed his arms and held out a hand. He placed the packet of cigarettes he had into the outstretched hand and the boy left the doorway, going back into the living room.

Mycroft followed Ianto close behind, curious what he was about to do. Surely the worst he could do would be telling on him, that was what he thought. However, Ianto decided to throw the packet into the roaring fire, letting the packet burn to a crisp as everyone watched.

Ianto had no idea what he was thinking when he found Mycroft smoking, but he decided to do what he couldn’t do with Rhiannon the night before, he took a stand and decided to let his thoughts be known. Plus, it was satisfying to watch the packet burn while nobody could do anything about it. He heard his Bampi burst into laughter at his actions and at fact that he basically told on Mycroft’s smoking. Aerfen smiled as it all happened, she hated smelling stale smoke off of Mycroft when they were in the car, Ianto had just done her a favour.

Violet called them into the kitchen when the food was ready and they all moved to the dinner table. Nobody mentioned to her about the fact that Mycroft had been caught smoking, they weren’t that reckless. Aerfen decided to take a photo of the family around the table before they started to eat.

***

After eating the dinner they returned to the living room, letting the food settle until they ate their dessert and Ianto got a bowl of warm Christmas pudding topped with custard.

They had kept the tv on in the living room and just let it play the Christmas day programme in the background at a low volume. The warmth from the fire, being well fed and the soft lull of sound coming from the TV was the perfect combination to justify a nap.

Violet had decided to get a head start on the dishes after eating dessert, but when she returned to the living room she was met with everyone else in the house sleeping. Her husband was sitting on a single armchair close to the fire and he had nodded off when trying to read the newspaper as it seemed, it was crumpled on his lap and the glasses on his face were crooked as he rested his head against the back of the chair.

What was more adorable than her own husband was the three sleeping on the couch, the unconventional family that had been thrown together. Aerfen had been sitting at the end of the couch and her head had fallen onto Mycroft’s shoulder and Mycroft was resting his head against the top of Aerfen’s head and the back of the couch, similar to his father. Ianto must have been resting against Mycroft before they had fallen asleep as Mycroft’s arm was around him, but he had curled up beside his Tad in his sleep. They looked like a family as they were all still in their festive pyjamas.

Violet thought they looked like an adorable sight and so took a photo to commemorate it. She went and got a blanket from the hot press and put it on their laps and around Ianto, letting them rest.

***

They eventually woke up from their naps and enjoyed some mince pies and cream for supper while watching some Christmas movies. Their movie watching lasted until late into the night until it everyone agreed that it would be best to go to bed.

Mycroft and Aerfen left after lunchtime on boxing day as there was an incident in Montserrat.

Chapter Text

Ianto had met up with his friends on Friday after school. They had separated at the school gates to go get changed and met up again at the park an hour later. The plan was to hang around the park and maybe play either football or some rugby, depending on if anyone bothered to bring a ball with them.

He met Sammy and Ioan already at the park and it was then that they realised that nobody had brought a ball with them. This was a disaster, Gethin never usually brought anything with him if he left his schoolbag at the house. It wasn’t a good situation and nobody wanted to walk all the way home to get a ball.

They were waiting for a while for him to arrive, and so turned their attentions to the newest development between the tree of them. Ioan had shaved his head last weekend and it was cool to touch.

When Gethin finally arrived Ioan was sitting on a swing with Ianto and Sammy rubbing his head, they didn’t notice his arrival as they contemplated if they should shave their heads too. Ianto didn’t think he could pull it off and Sammy was sure that his ma would kill him if he came home with no hair.

Ioan noticed Gethin’s arrival first, jumping up from the swing (with complaints from the other two) and going straight for the bag that he was holding.

“Please tell me you brought a ball”

“I don’t know, there might be a small foam one at the bottom of the bag.

Don’t mess up my notes.

Dude!”

They watched as Ioan went through the bag roughly before giving up and tipping the bag out. The loose papers that cluttered the bag fell like confetti onto the cold dirty playground floor.

No ball fell out of the bag, so Sammy and Ianto decided to guide Gethin into the swing Ioan was sitting on. Deciding to try to play with his long hair that was normally tied back, they hadn’t felt really short hair until about 30 minutes ago, so decided to play with long hair as well. They could understand why girls at school were always doing this.

Ianto was getting a bit hungry so decided to help guide the conversation to get everyone to go to the chippie.

“Ioan pick that up, he told you not to mess with his notes. I was talking to Cerys, whose sister works in the chippie, she was saying that there is a family deal going on this week. Apparently it’s a good deal some chicken, sausages and patsies with a sauce and a few packets of chips. It sounds good.”

It was Sammy that responded to him first.

“Is that Cerys with the blond hair, who wears the nice earrings.”

This got everyone’s attention. The rest of them were all thinking about the food that Ianto had mentioned, not the fact that he was taking to Cerys.

“Yes Cerys, do you want to get food… I am Hungry.”

Ianto may have been getting a bit hangry, but he noticed that Ioan had stopped picking things up, preparing to tease Sammy.

“You keep picking that mess up. You made it, so pick it up.”

While Ianto was getting annoyed because he was hungry, Gethin was trying to make up a plan to get Sammy to talk to Cerys.

“We could ask her sister where she would be tomorrow and you could introduce yourself to her if she is out somewhere.”

Ianto had a bit of knowledge that he had to chime in with.

“She takes dance classes on a Saturday, don’t know where.”

They started walking towards the chippie after Ioan had picked up all of Gethin’s things from his bag, including all of the rubbish that was on the ground in the area out of spite.

***

They walked from the park to the chippie and stood in from of the counter debating what they were going to order in the meal deal they were sharing. Sammy wasn’t listening to the rest of them because he was trying to hype himself up to ask Cerys’s sister where she would be the next day.

Ianto was the one to order because he never forgot something in the order, plus he knew everyone’s names. They were always more likely to get a discount if Ianto was the one they were looking at. He had a way with people.

“Hello Brynn, we would like one of the family meal deals with chicken and battered sausages and a tub of curry. Would it be possible if we could get salt sachets and some plastic forks to go. Thankyou.”

After paying he tried to make his way back to the others, but caught Sammys face. He knew that Sammy wouldn’t be trying to talk to Brynn tonight. So he turned back to her at the counter.

“Hey Brynn, we were talking earlier and were wondering where Cerys was going to be dancing tomorrow.”

“The group she is part of is performing at the old civic centre, you know the one with the stage in it. Who is thinking of going to watch her, Ianto?”

“Sorry I can’t I’m going to London to watch the rugby match. But I know that Sammy is definitely free tomorrow.”

Ianto was making eye contact with Brynn, a smirk on his face and Brynn knew exactly what he was trying to do. The last time he had been talking to Brynn she let it slip that Cerys had a crush on Sammy and they were never going to do anything about it f left to their own devices.

“I don’t know if there are any more tickets left, but I only have one. It was given to me but I can’t make it tomorrow. Sammy take it.”

She took the ticket out of her pocket and handed it over to the flustered Irish boy who couldn’t even make eye contact with her. She had been planning on giving it out to one of the old regulars if they were free the next day, but this was better than she hoped for.

***

They sat at one of the picnic tables near the chippie to divvy up the food between them. They were trying to give Sammy some advice for meeting Cerys the next day, well as much advice 14 year old boys could give without ever having a date before. He would be the first one of them to try to get a girlfriend, so everyone was invested.

There was a multitude of comments being thrown out ranging from making sure he was wearing clean clothes to bringing some flowers (which everyone thought was a good idea because you are meant to bring dancers flowers after a performance). In general it was probably the best advice that any of them could have given, but Ianto thought that if he was in that situation he would call Aerfen, she would know what to do.

When they were packing away their rubbish to throw away, they could hear a commotion happening further on down the street. They all turned in the direction of the noise, unsure of what it could be and sacred in case it was a loose dog that they would have to run away from.

They watched as out of the darkness of an alleyway a person came running out. It was too dark for them to see any details until the figure ran past a street light when they saw the strange face and the blue jumpsuit that it was wearing. It didn’t look human.

None of them moved or made a noise in case they caught its attention; it looked frightened but also looked like it could be violent. None of them wanted to chance getting its attention.

It was obvious to them that the figure was running away from something, but it hadn’t been revealed to the boys yet, until 3 people dressed in dark colours came out of the same alley way a few seconds later. Things started to make a lot more sense to the boys about what was going on.

They were those people from the government that everyone talks about. Ioan had heard from his older brother that they called themselves Torchwood, when he asked how they knew that his brother started laughing saying that they were all idiots. They always ordered takeaway under the name that they call themselves. So much for a secret governmental organisation.

Everyone knew that they were here to help protect Cardiff from strange goings on that always happen. It wasn’t talked about much, but people did talk about what they saw. They also talked about the fact that there was only a handful of them working and that people came and went, you would rarely see the same person working for them twice.

As the 3 people ran past near them, they could hear the man shouting in an American accent and the 2 women were responding in English accents. They knew that there were never any locals working with them.

When they all left and didn’t seem to be coming back, the boys tried to discuss what they had just witnessed. Gethin was the first one to break the silence.

“So do you think that one was an alien or one of those mad people?”

They all knew what he was talking about. It had been happening for a very long time, but people would sometimes disappear and then a few months later they might come back being completely mad. They usually end up in the mental hospital if they come back, but Ianto had seen some of theme there when his mum was in a bad condition. It wasn’t the right place for them.

“I think that’s an Alien. My sister’s friend says that there are ones that show in in the blue outfits, they all look the same so it might be the same one that keeps escaping. They said that they heard the American guy call it a weasel, so it might be its name.”

Ioan was the one who was responding, he got a lot of information from his older siblings and their friends. But Ianto was more interested in something else that he had figured out.

“The American guy in the big coat?”

“Yeah. Apparently, he has been around for ages.”

“I thought they didn’t stay around for long.”

The conversation lulled as they started to walk in the direction of their houses. They gave reassurances to Sammy that he would be fine meeting Cerys after her dancing and to remember to ask her what she wanted to do, to ask if she wanted to get food. Then they went on their separate ways as they passed the turn offs to each of their houses. The cottage was the furthest away from the centre, so Ianto was eventually abandoned and had to walk the remaining 10 minutes by himself.

***

Ianto woke up on Saturday, remembering what had happened the night before. They saw the ‘secret’ government agency run after a man in a jumpsuit and they had gotten Sammy a potential date. He was so interested to find out if they went on a date after her dance.

Ianto was slightly sad that he couldn’t be around to Spy on them like he thought Gethin and Ioan would be doing, but at least he wouldn’t be there when they were discovered. He was going to have a day watching the rugby in person with his Tad instead, he could only hope that Wales would become stronger to beat England.

The match was happening at around 2pm so his Mam-gu and Bampi were driving him to London where him and his Tad could go to the match after meeting for lunch with Aerfen. They had wanted time to spend in London to try to find his elusive uncle, they had been getting worried about him. Then they were all going to spend the night at the Manor, to save themselves driving at night. Mycroft had promised to treat his Mummy to a Sunday dinner out to save her cooking, but she loved being able to cook for her children and was planning on cooking it as normal, but in the Manor kitchen.

Ianto packed his overnight bag after eating a light breakfast with his grandparents, then they were on the road to London.

Ianto had put on the Welsh jersey that he had, his mum had bought it for his 13th birthday and it still fit, she had gotten it with a bit of growing room. It was a bit bittersweet that he was wearing one of the last things that his mum had gotten him when he was going out to a match with his Tad, but it made Ianto feel whole wearing it.

But even though nobody would ever replace his mum, he had slowly been realising that she wasn’t very good at looking after her kids. She couldn’t even look after herself most of the time. Ianto had found another person taking over a mothering role in his life and was trying to find the right time to tell her.

***

Aerfen and Mycroft met the rest of the family at one of their favourite lunch places, a nice sandwich shop a few streets away from their office. It was a place that they often ordered the food to be delivered, they trusted the owners. The owners had thought that they were a couple when they had came here in the beginning, which got very confusing when they overheard Mycroft asking Aerfen about one of her recent dates. Looking back the misinterpretation was very funny, but at the time they were so embarrassed about the whole thing.

Mycroft was looking forward to introducing his parents and Ianto to Carla and Frank (the shop owners, if only to help reinforce the fact that he and Aerfen were in fact not a couple and to show them a good place to get a sandwich in the city. Mycroft could tell that the married couple didn’t buy their story that they were just colleagues, but still believed they were a couple in difficulty.

After they had looked at the menu and ordered their meals, Ianto was left to watch the world around him as the adults began discussing where Violet and William would be most likely to find Sherlock. He was observing the two married owners watch how Aerfen and his Tad were interacting with each other, and how they were interacting with him. He realised after a while that they thought the two were in a relationship, a strange one where they knew the other was stepping out. He came to the realisation that they must think that Aerfen and Mycroft were in a polyamorous relationship, they were tempted to ask them about it. The realisation made Ianto giddy, he was going to have fun with this if his Tad hadn’t figured it out. This would be a good time to try to tell them that he was starting to see Aerfen in a mother-type position, but if it didn’t go down well he could joke it off.

Ianto was sitting between His tad and Aerfen and when the food was brought over to them, he had decided on what he was going to do. He waited until everyone had started eating their food and made sure that the owners were paying attention to them before he started.

“Tad, what did you get. Can I taste a bit?”

“Chicken tikka chicken in a club sandwich, yeah go ahead.”

Ianto cut himself a bit of the sandwich so that he could taste it. He was also using this to taste food he probably wouldn’t have ordered it himself. After eating the bit of the sandwich he realised that he wasn’t fond of the switch in the sandwich filling and turned back to his own classic club sandwich. After a few moments he turned to Aerfen.

“Ma, can I taste a bit of your salad?”

He could tell that everyone took a moment to process what he had said, and then he had everyone’s full attention. They were all waiting for her response when she looked up and saw how the owners were reacting, then she understood why Ianto had did it, he had seen something that they had all missed. Again.

“It’s a Caesar salad, I think you would like the croutons. They are the crunchy pieces of bread.”

She moved her bowl closer to Ianto so he could take what he wanted from the plate. But he noticed the glint in her eye, she had figured out what he was doing with the owners.

Ianto didn’t like how the word ‘ma’ sat in his mouth, he either wasn’t ready to call anyone that yet or it wasn’t the name to call her. He was going to keep this part of the experiment quiet until he figured it out.

Aerfen was right, he did like the croutons in the salad. He also liked the chicken in the salad. He turned to His Tad, who was still trying to figure out what was going on.

“The salad is better than your sandwich”

Mycroft was sitting in shock, eyes darting from Ianto then to his secretary who were both sitting with mischievous looks on their faces. He only managed to figure it out when he tracked Aerfen’s eyes glancing over to the owners of the shop (He had forgotten about their suspicions). Now they were looking at them with a bit of contemplation and he knew that they would have questions the next time they would be in.

The rest of the lunch was uneventful and then everyone went their separate ways. Aerfen was going back to work much to her displeasure when she mentioned that people would try to get her to the part in small talk when they see that the big boss wouldn’t be returning after the lunch break.

***

Mycroft and Ianto arrived at Twickenham Stadium for the 2pm kick off of the England vs Wales 5 nations match. They were brought up to the suite that they had seats in. It was when they were directed down the corridor Ianto realised that they would be sitting somewhere other than the normal stands that he saw on TV, they were being led to one of private suites.

Mycroft had bought tickets for a shared suite, there were no empty ones when he was ordering the tickets so he could only hope that nobody from work would turn up. He wanted to keep Ianto’s existence from those who would use it against him, but wasn’t willing to sacrifice what was left of his childhood.

Mycroft watched as Ianto ran around the room, taking in everything that was included with the suite. They were the first people arriving to the room. Mycroft made his way to the bar in the room to see what was included in it, he poured himself a dram of whiskey that he found on the shelf and got Ianto a coke.

They settled on the seats on the balcony closest to the middle line of the pitch, Ianto said It was because he wanted to see everything.

A few other parties joined the suite and then it was time for the match to start. The people who had joined the room were what Mycroft could tell, 2 more parent/child parties and a young couple. A mother had brought pre-teen and a father had brought his older teen. Nobody was talking to anyone else as they were either very interested with the match being played in front of them, or in the case with the parents of the other children, they were more interested in their laptops at the tables inside the suite.

Halfway through the first half of the match another party arrived at the suite, it was 2 gentlemen close in age to Mycroft. After a quick glance at then through the window when they arrived, Mycroft thought he recognised one of the men. He would try to figure it out by half time before he would have to face them. The two men helped themselves to a drink at the bar and then joined them on the balcony to watch the match.

It was only when the men sat down, Mycroft realised who the familiar man was, it was Christopher Hatt, Christy. Mycroft believed that he hadn’t seen the man since he left for university. He knew he would have to talk to the man during the half time break.

As he was thinking about how to talk to him and what to talk to him about, he was reminded that he would have to introduce him to Ianto which would mean that he could have many questions. Mycroft was imagining a difficult half time break for him to have to explain things, the distract it might be best to ask Christopher about his own life, to act interested.

***

Half time arrives and Mycroft is trying to comfort his son, as England was leading in the points. But honestly, he was slightly happy that his own team was winning.

“Ianto would you like to be introduced to an old friend of mine who seems to be sharing this suite with us?”

“Please”

They then walked towards Christopher who had retired into the suite to wait for the next part of the match. Mycroft could see when Christopher recognised him, his eyes lit up and a smile donned his face.

“Mikey!”

“Christy!”

They walked towards each other with their arms open and embrace each other in a way that they would always greet an old friend. (Ianto thought that they were acting like very posh people just because they could, not believing that this is how his Tad would greet a friend from school. He thought that the greeting was weird overall.)

The two exchanged pleasantries and both enquired about the others life and job, neither one answering fully but they both already knew what the other had gone on to do, so this was all just part of a very elaborate ritual. They had both grown up in the same circles and knew how to do these with little thought. Ianto was amazed as he was watching and listening to them, this was a part of his Tad that he had never seen before. In correction, this was a part of the upper class that Mycroft grew up in that he had never witnessed before.

The ritual of the reunited friends took place over the course of a long time and when they were ready to introduce their companions who accompanied them to the Rugby match, half time was almost over and they had left them to watch the teams arriving back onto the pitch. Mycroft had been getting ready to introduce Ianto, but saw that the boy was talking to the other man on the balcony, he could tell that they were talking about the match.

“It seems as though we have been abandoned”

“Yes, it seems we have”

They decided to help themselves to another drink from the bar set up when it was obvious that neither of them were making an attempt to go out and watch the game. The fans were already on the balcony.

“Who is with you?”

Mycroft watched as his simple question created a turmoil within his old friend, the two must have a hard to explain friendship or he doesn’t want to say the nature of this particular relationship. Christopher finally ended up on what he wanted to say.

“David. He is my everything. I met him about 2 years ago and I don’t know how I managed life without him.”

Mycroft had speculated that part of the relationship as soon as he saw the positions of their hands when the walked into the suite earlier. It did not surprise him.

“I’m guessing that it is him who is the rugby fan, from what I remember you cant stand sport.”

“Yes. We have tickets to all of the England games. It is torture, but I will bear it as it lets me see him smile.”

Mycroft watched as Christopher leaned back against the bar, just watching his love on the balcony. He could tell that they each had great feelings towards each other.

“The boy that you are with, is it that brother that would always be causing bother when you were younger?”

That exact question surprised Mycroft, causing him to loose his composure and begin laughing uncontrollably.

“God no, Sherlock is 25 years old now. That is my son, Ianto.”

“Oh! I didn’t know you had a wife?”

“I don’t.”

Mycroft could sense that Christopher was now approaching a topic that would make them both uncomfortable, but in the situation it would have been unavoidable.

“May I ask, how old is Ianto?”

“14”

“Good heavens. Did you have a girlfriend during that last year of school. I thought you were avoiding us because of all that school work you decided to do.”

Mycroft watched as his friend initially was extremely shocked and then turned to hurt as he thought that they had been lied to. Mycroft couldn’t keep up with the short answers when he noticed that his friend was genuinely hurt.

“No. We only met recently, I had no idea that he existed until this last summer. I met his mother that night we all had spent in London, in Freddies father’s hotel. Remember when you told that girl that I wouldn’t mind dancing with her, well I think we did a bit more than dancing.”

Christopher tried to remember back to that night years ago, it was the night that he had helped Mickey pick out a shirt to wear and then when a beautiful girl came over to ask him to dance, he had answered for him. He had known that Mikey would have never said yes if nobody would have done it.

"Yes, I remember, I told you that the navy shirt with pushed up sleeves was better. Didn’t I?”

“Yes, you did.”

They stopped talking and just watched the two on the balcony watch the match below them. Mycroft had forgotten how much Christy had interfered with him that night to get him to dance with Sarah, the angel. He had effectively dressed him and forced him to dance. Without his interference that hight, Mycroft would never had that night and Ianto would never have existed.

“Your boy must be supporting Wales. Every time David celebrates, he gets a bit more disheartened.”

“Yes, he is Welsh and proud. My parents moved down to Cardiff and are helping me raise him. I couldn’t raise him in London alone with the job I have, plus he has a sister down there too that he doesn’t want to be away from her.”

They stayed leaning against the bar, engaging in small talk as they waited for the match to finish. Mycroft insisted that he didn’t want to be introduced to anyone as Christopher had decided that his friend would be very presentable to some friends that he had, as he was a single Dad. Mycroft could feel as though it was going to be a losing battle and he would have to be vigilant if Christopher would be to ever ask him to meet him for dinner. He made a mental not to make sure Aerfen never met him, both of them would be able to gang up on him.

***

Ianto and David had been talking on the balcony when the second half of the match was going on, they had some good-natured fighting talk going on. But it didn’t stop the fact that the match was ultimately a slaughter. The score for the match was 60:26 to England.

Ianto didn’t expect that Wales would win the match, he wasn’t a fool and with the way the team had been playing recently, he didn’t have much hope. But it was still a bit disappointing that they didn’t win, but the overall experience was amazing.

They ventured back inside to where his Tad and Davids partner were still talking to each other at the suites bar. Mycroft beckoned him over and when he reached his Tad’s side, he was encapsulated in a one-handed hug that reached over his shoulders.

“I am going to be very honest. I am a bit sad that your team didn’t win, but I am also happy that my team did. I hope that you had a good experience despite not winning.”

Ianto was very comforted by his Tad in that moment, but his curiosity was getting the better of him as he broke free from the hug to be able to look at Christopher and David. They were looking at him with a strange fondness in their eyes.

“Ianto, this is my friend Christopher Hatt, Christy. He was the person who introduced me to your mother all those years ago.”

Ianto could tell that Christopher was surprised as how open Mycroft was being, but if that was how the conversation would be, he would insert anything to help with the story between them.

“Ianto I helped dress this fool before we went out that night. I hope he has learnt so sense of style since then, but looking at what he is wearing today he might not have. “

That comment drew a laugh out of everyone, Ianto was reminded of the dark shirt in the Polaroid with his mum.

“I saw how Mikey was watching your mum dance all night from where he was standing talking to us, but she had all of his thoughts that night. When she came over and asked him if he wanted to dance with her, I could tell that he was about to turn her down. So, I did what any good friend would do and I answered for him and pushed him onto the dancefloor.”

“Thankyou”

Ianto listened to what the man was saying and came to the realisation that he was the person who set things in motion that resulted in him being made. But it also reminded him of something else that was going on.

“One of my best friends is meeting a girl today after a dance performance. I hope that their relationship works out well too and I can be the person that put things in motion for their child to exist it would be pretty cool. I’d be like you.”

“What?”

As Mycroft was listening to what was going on in Ianto’s friend group, he came to the sudden realisation that it would be partly his responsibility if history repeated itself. Even if there was hopefully no alcohol being involved between 14-year-olds.

“I was talking to Brynn a few days ago and she asked me about Sammy because her sister Cerys likes him. Last night Sammy said that he liked Cerys so we got him a ticket to her dance that was happening today. If he listened to us he should have met her after the performance with flowers and then asked her if she wanted to get some food afterwards.”

Mycroft’s nerves calmed greatly as he listened to the juvenile plan to get two other kids Ianto’s age to start dating. Everything was okay, it did not sound like there was any risk of Ianto’s friends repeating history, yet anyway. He made a mental note to make sure to pay attention more when Ianto was talking about his friends.

Christopher and David, now knowing the situation of how Ianto came to be and then listening to what was going on with Ianto’s friends gave a sympathy smile towards Mycroft. They could somehow sense his inner turmoil about what he thought was currently happening. Christopher tried to help Mycroft and elevate his worries.

“That sounds like you are being a very good friend. Do you perhaps have anyone that you like at the moment?”

“No, not really. We were only talking about it last night because we forgot to bring a ball to the park.”

It made Mycroft feel a bit better that his son didn’t have a crush a the minute, but it did also make him wonder if he was destined to a life of loneliness like himself.

As they left the stadium Christopher and David continued to ask Ianto about his friends and his interests. They also exchanged mobile numbers with Mycroft with the promise to meet for dinner or drinks to catch up some other time. Then they parted their ways.

***

When Violet and William Holmes were left after their lunch at the sandwich shop they had a multitude to talk about when trying to find their youngest.

They talked about the fact that Ianto was messing with Aerfen and Mycroft by calling the former Mum during their lunch. Violet believed it was all in good fun but William believed that he was testing the waters but decided it wasn’t the right time. When they couldn’t come to an agreement they agreed to disagree and went on about their day.

They followed the directions that Aerfen had given them and had tried to locate their son in different hovels around the city before finding him sitting on the steps of a building in despair.

They couldn’t believe their eyes at the fact their son was sitting in ratty and dirty rags, smoking a cigarette that didn’t smell like tobacco and his hair looked like a vat of grease had been poured on him. They hated seeing him in this state and preferred to let Mycroft deal with him, but understood that he hadn’t much sway with his brother anymore.

“Sherlock William Holmes, you put that disgusting cigarette out right now.”

Sherlock head whipped round as he heard his Mummy shouting at him, the cigarette was thrown down and stomped on immediately.

Violet dragged her youngest into a nearby cab, making him sit on newspapers after promising the driver that he wouldn’t dirty the back of the cab. They were being brought to a small apartment that Mycroft had gotten for Sherlock. It was a small apartment, but it did have street access and its own kitchen and bathroom. These were things that they had found works best for sherlock, he didn’t play nice when others were in what he considered to be ‘his space’.

“This is where you will be living from now on. I don’t want you sleeping on the streets like that anymore. Your father will be paying your rent for you, so you won’t be kicked out for not paying again. We have the number to that landline and will be in touch and if you do not answer when we call, we will be putting you back into a facility.”

Violet really hated to do this but they couldn’t live anymore not knowing if their son was alive or dead. He never answered the phone that Mycroft had gotten him, so they thought it would be better if he didn’t know about his involvement.

She left Sherlock with his father with the instruction to clean him and put him into decent clothes. She needed some time away and also needed to do a food shop for her sons new apartment, the cupboards were bare and she couldn’t stand it thinking about how skinny her son had gotten. It was a situation that she never thought would happen, but she couldn’t live in the house with her youngest, but didn’t want him to continue living like the addict that he had become.

All she could do was try to make it comfortable. To try to make it a place where he would at least be safe. She knew that someone else outside of the family would at some point be able to help him, but at the moment they couldn’t offer him anything he wanted.

She unpacked her shopping into the apartment’s kitchen wrote down their phone number next to the landline that came with the apartment, as well as what times they will call and when they expect him to call them. Then she stood in the doorway, waiting for her husband to be ready after settling sherlock into the bedroom. She had heard sherlock shouting when she was in the kitchen, but she couldn’t look at her son, she couldn’t watch him act like that. She knew it wasn’t her little boy, it was just the choices he was making, the drugs.

***

When Mycroft and Ianto met Violet and William to begin their journey to the manor, they noticed that the older couple looked aged since the morning. They could tell that they had found Sherlock and it wasn’t a nice afternoon for them. It was William that broke the silence in the car.

“I hope you had a nice day at the match, I heard the score, but I hope it was a good day out altogether.”

It was Ianto who answered

“Yes, it was amazing we had our own room with a few other people and Tad met an ol friend, Christy. Apparently, he was the one who introduced Tad and my mum.”

“Christopher Hatt? He was a lovely young boy.”

“Yes”

Mycroft could tell that his Mummy was out of sorts, she would have loved to speak about him catching up with an old friend, but it was his father that was doing all of the talking in the car. He tried to tell them that seeing Sherlock wouldn’t be good for them.

“We got Sherlock settled, I got a bit of that grime off of him and got him into the bed. Your mother went out and got him some groceries to help tide him over. I also told him about the debit card that would only work in shops, that it wont work in ATM’s so he wont be able to withdraw the money with it. That was a really good idea Mikey.”

Mycroft was a bit surprised that his dad was the one who dealt with Sherlock that way, the man was normally so laid back. He must have finally realised how dire the situation was and how much Mycroft wasn’t telling them. They must have known that they weren’t getting the whole story when they realised that Sherlock was getting violent with him.

“We told him that if he doesn’t answer the phone to us or if he doesn’t ring us on specific days at specific times that we have written down beside the phone, we will put him into one of those facilities again.”

That surprised Mycroft, they were referring to one of the stricter rehab facilities that he had put Sherlock in years ago. The place that he had hated and his parents had told him that they were too rough on Sherlock. This was how they were stating that they had had enough of Sherlocks behaviour. He hoped that it wouldn’t come to sending Sherlock back there, he hated to see his little brother in such a place.

“Should we stop to get groceries for the dinner tomorrow before we reach the manor, or should I text Aerfen to make us a reservation to eat out tomorrow?”

He knew that his Mummy wanted to cook the dinner tomorrow, but he also knew that today would have taken a lot of energy. He didn’t want her overworking herself. In the end it wasn’t his Mummy who answered him, it was his Dad.

“I think we will eat out tomorrow, I am tired from today and I expect that your mother is as well.”

Chapter Text

Mycroft was being escorted through the halls of Buckingham Palace to a room that he had visited many times before. They usually have this meeting at lunch on the first Wednesday of the month. However, they had missed April’s meeting as there was a Royal Schedule taking place as well as some very serious political problems that needed Mycroft’s full attention. That and Mycroft had taken a few days off during the Easter school break.

They had both cleared their day and would be able to talk about the important things that had happened since their March meeting. It was going to be fun to catch up with each other aside from the work that they had to do. Mycroft had been informed that the Queen wanted him to be present at the palace for most of the day, from 9am until 4pm, and that she had very important things to discuss with him.

He was escorted into the cosy office that was only for meetings with people that were considered as close friends, it was like a personal living room with precious family photos decorating the entire room. Comfortable chairs surrounded a coffee table in front of a roaring fire, creating a nice atmosphere to talk about how the country and the world were falling apart.

Mycroft knew that even though she technically didn’t have any power, she loved to know everything that was occurring in her lands. He may have most of the power out of both of them, but he knew that she would be able to ruin his career if she wished. That is if he used his position of power to directly attack the Queen, but he wouldn’t do that to someone he considered a friend.

***

Mycroft had been waiting in the room for a few moments and then heard people approaching the door, he stood up to welcome her into the room. But was surprised by the corgis entering the room and bounding over to him as soon as the door opened.

He hadn’t seen the dogs often, but loved the company that they gave, they also gave an indication to how serious the meeting would be. It inferred that nobody would be accompanying them, such as the prime minister that just loved to be included in everything, in other words there would be no nosy politicians joining them, as they sometimes do (much to the displeasure of both of them)

The Queen then followed the dogs into the room and took her rest in a seat close to the fire.

***

After a bit of greeting small talk, they began talking about the important points that their meeting had to cover, such as the Indonesia riots that began on the 4th of May and the fact that they were only one month on from the Belfast Agreement (which is also called the Good Friday Agreement). They were very efficient at covering all of the topics needed as they related to the peace of the Kingdom or even the peace in the world, as some situations were being watched to ensure that they wouldn’t create a large impact for more countries than already impacted.

They were just finishing up on the last topic to be addressed when lunch had arrived and was being placed out on the table in the neighbouring room. Mycroft didn’t expect to have finished everything this early, they usually talk between topics but she was determined to finish everything before she asked anything about his personal life. She was determined about something and Mycroft knew that he would be at her wills during and after lunch, because they had no more work to address and he had no other work that could get him to leave early (these meetings were never allowed to be interrupted).

***

As they eat their lunch, the questions started.

“I saw that one of the reasons you gave about not rescheduling Aprils meeting later in the month was that you had booked a few days off. That isn’t like the Mr Holmes that never has any days off or a personal life.”

Mycroft thought about it for a few seconds and decided to tell her the truth as she already knew about Ianto. He had told her in their March meeting after accidentally mentioning Ianto when he was talking about the fact he had went to a stadium to watch a rugby match.

“I decided to take some time off because Ianto was off school for Easter break.”

“I never though I’d see the day that Mycroft Holmes took time off when there was something as big as the Belfast Agreement occurring. If it happened last year, you would have been watching it in person and micromanaging everything, but you actually delegated the work to others.”

“I made sure that the person I sent was a trusted member of my team. It didn’t feel good leaving important stuff in the hands of other people. But, it was the first Easter that Ianto has been a part of the family and my parents convinced me to take a break for a short holiday.”

“A holiday? Did you go anywhere nice?”

“I rented a house in the Lake District for a few days, I didn’t want to fly anywhere in case I was needed at work if anything developed.”

Mycroft could tell that she wanted to ask more about Ianto, but was holding herself back as he never used to talk much about his family in these meetings. But he was prod of his son even though he didn’t have many people to talk about him to.

“I think Ianto was just happy to have more than a weekend around me. He dragged me out a few of the days and was trying to teach me some rugby techniques that he had learnt in practice before the break. I think I still have the bruises I got during those sessions.”

“I take it that he is a bit of a rugby fanatic, they usually pick a sport in their mid-teens and it becomes their life. Just look at my Anne, Philip brought her by the horses when he was working with them and she was infatuated.”

It was that comment that made him realise that he was talking to a woman who would have considered herself very hands-on with child rearing whilst also working a large amount. That and she raised four children as well as having a large amount of contact with her grandchildren. It was almost like she could relate a bit to what he is dealing with. Mycroft wouldn’t say it out loud but he would suspect that he is having more contact with Ianto at the weekends and on random days he takes off than she ever had with her own children, with all of the travelling that she does.

“He just grows so much between the visits and I think it is his way with trying to keep me with him. He wants us to go to matches together, but wants me to understand what is happening. I must confess I was never much into sports, but I am trying for him.”

“If you are trying for him, does that mean you are turning from England in favour of Wales?”

It was said with a teasing tone but it flustered Mycroft in a way he never thought he could be. This was his Monarch asking him if he was turning away from the country that they shared. She watched leisurely as he stuttered and tried to put together a response to her teasing.

“No Mam. I am always rooting for England but it seems like Ianto if is full Wales fan and can’t be moved. I think its because their flag has the Dragon.”

It might have only sounded like a joke, but he had been thinking about it and it might be one of the contributors of why a 14-year-old wanted to follow the team. He knows that its because Ianto is Welsh and was raised in Wales, but the Dragon doesn’t help.

“Your Majesty, on a completely unrelated note. How would you feel about adding a cool thing onto our flag?”

That caused her to giggle uncontrollably, she wasn’t expecting it.

“I don’t think we could get something cooler than the Dragon, I’m sorry but I believe that I can’t help you with making the flag look better. You know that it is the politicians that have the final say, and they are all very boring.”

“True, very true.”

***

They continued to talk about Mycroft’s recent holiday with Ianto and his parents, and about how he couldn’t thank his parents more for what they are doing by helping him raise Ianto.

He knows that they love the experience of rising him compared to both himself and Sherlock because they both had much more obvious issues when they were his age. He could admit himself that he was a bit introverted and couldn’t make friends, as well as didn’t understand why he needed them. He didn’t know how Ianto was able to sociable as well as being as smart as the brothers, he didn’t know that it was an option. For years he thought that they had to give up something ‘normal’ to be extraordinary, but it doesn’t seem that it applies to Ianto.

She reminded him to make the most of the time they have together, because children grow up to be adults who have the ability to make very bad decisions. That sometimes they won’t have the ability to meet up regularly when Ianto grows up, and since that they didn’t have the chance to make the memories when Ianto was younger, they should be making the memories now in case they weren’t always together in the future.

***

After the break that they had taken for Lunch, they returned to the meeting room when Mycroft noticed that the Queens entire composure had changed. She was worried about talking to him about something.

“I believe that we should take a brief recess to freshen ourselves up and to let the dogs out for a bit. Let’s reconvene after our recess.”

Mycroft felt like he had gotten whiplash with the way that the Queen was acting. She was perfectly fine when talking in their meeting in the morning and he didn’t notice anything noteworthy during their lunch. The only thing that he can imagine that would make her act like that, was if she wanted to bring him something to look at.

It worried him about what she wanted to talk about if she was acting like this, even if she was only thinking of how to approach him.

***

After using the facilities and freshening himself up, Mycroft decided to take a stroll into the nearby gardens. He ventured through the garden to a small hidden veranda, it was a glorified smoking hut that he had used a few times if the meetings were especially challenging. That is, when a politician decided to join then and decided that they were much smarted than anyone else in the room. It was a place for stress relief, and a place for hiding.

As he stood savouring his cigarette, he wondered how much the next topic of discussion would have to involve him. He had an inkling that it might be a scandal involving a high-level Royal, but hadn’t heard any rumours to steer him in any one particular direction.

He took his time and made his way back to the meeting room when he could no longer hear the dogs playing around on the grass around the corner from the garden he was in.

***

“Aliens are real.”

They had sat back down in the room and Mycroft had been waiting for her to tell him what was wrong.

Of all things that she could have said, he did not expect that.

“Mam, are you feeling alright?”

“See, I knew you wouldn’t believe me. I’m not going crazy. I have gathered enough proof to show you. Go to my desk and get out the brown envelope labelled ‘Doctor’.”

He went and retrieved the file, hoping that there would be actual evidence of the aliens within it. That is because he supposed aliens could be managed, an insane Queen would need to be replaced if it was untrue. That would just be a lot more work for him, that and he wasn’t too fond of the replacement.

He decided to keep an open mind to whatever she was going to tell him. So that he could determine if it was a delusion that could be treated or if it was something that would result in her stepping back from the position.

He needed to fully assess the situation.

“I’ll keep an open mind and listen to whatever you want to tell me, but I have to confess that I do not believe you at the moment.”

She nodded along with his disclaimer and opened the file to show him some old photos of Churchill in his war room.

“To start this off I think its best to tell you about a man who calls himself ‘The Doctor’, he has no other name that I know of. Photos of the doctor have been littered throughout history and I don’t know if it is a title of a profession, or if it is just one person because it seems that he changes his appearance sometimes in a non-linear pattern throughout the photos.”

She started to place all of the photos that she had, chronologically and pointed out who she had identified as ‘The Doctor’ in them. It seemed that it was 3 different people who were identified with the title.

He was in the background of photos taken at what people would consider as critical points in history, whoever had done all of this research had dedicated a long time to looking at old photos. Looking at the photo, Mycroft noticed that one of the faces appeared after large periods of time without signs of aging.

“Even if it is a title, it doesn’t explain how the same face would appear over 50 years apart. Its like they don’t age.”

Mycroft noticed that they appeared as an advisor in most of the photos, like people trusted them to help in times of need. He also noticed something else.

“The clothes that they are wearing doesn’t fit with the times that the photos were taken. Are you sure that these photos haven’t been doctored in any way to introduce the images of the men?”

“I was told that these are images taken from the original photos, the originals are in a safe place to keep them from being damaged. It seems to have escaped my notice that they were wearing clothes out of time, but looking at them again I don’t know how I never noticed it before. I mean is that black leather jacket, when were they invented?”

“I believe that the first one was made in the very early 1900’s, but it says that that photo is from 1869. Is that Charles Dickens beside him in that photo. That must mean that he visited Dickens a few months before he passed.”

Mycroft sat wondering what this all meant, these men were present in at many moments throughout history and didn’t seem to age, they also didn’t seem to be in the same place at once. He thought that they may change places every so often to ensure that people didn’t notice that they didn’t age, they must be acting as watchers, sitting on the sidelines ensuring that humanity was making the correct steps, at least in the instances when they are present.

“There is also some more things that may be a bit harder to believe, look at these photos taken of paintings that are in the stores here in the palace. I only came to know about them recently.”

Mycroft looked at the photos of the paintings, the men must have been highly regarded by the royals of the past. They were paintings of Queen Elizabeth the first along with one of the men. It seemed like they were marriage portraits, indicating that he must have had a relationship with the late Queen at one point.

“It seems as though they had a relationship, I also uncovered some letters written by her to the man. She also only called him The Doctor, its what makes me believe that it is a name rather than a title.”

“Oh really, that marriage was never in the history books that I read.”

“I don’t think it lasted very long, in the letters that I have read it seems as though he left shortly after the marriage, talking about saving his world. She wasn’t very pleased.”

“His world?”

“Yes, its mentioned that he said something of the sort before leaving and is one of the reasons I believed that they are Aliens. Or that it is one body that changes form, it might be something that he can do, if it is even a ‘he’.”

There was a break as Mycroft inspected the photos, trying to find any parts that may indicate them being faked. He couldn’t see anything in these copies that indicated that the men weren’t present at the time the photos were taken.

“There is also more, can you get me the file labelled Torchwood from my desk.”

Mycroft followed her direction, but was feeling a bit uneasy about that this next file would show him. He had heard the word Torchwood in passing, it was an organisation that had a building in London, he hadn’t really looked into it as it never made its way onto his radar. He was regretting it a bit in this moment.

“I am sorry to interrupt the roll we are on at the moment, but I fell like am getting a bit overwhelmed with this knowledge. I think I might need to go for a stroll for some fresh air before we start this next portion.”

“Yes, that is alright, I think the dogs would benefit with another run around outside. I would like to ask you to ensure that you do get some fresh air when you stand in the garden this time. There are a selection of fragranced sprays in the restroom, I do ask you take advantage of them after your stroll. I am not partial to the smell of smoke.”

“I am trying to stop, but you do have to admit that I have a stressful job.”

He shrugged as though it was enough of an answer and then left the room to think over what he had just learnt about ‘The doctor’. He didn’t have enough information to tell if they were a friend or foe, but he was leaning towards friend as he had notice that they appeared in times that were associated with struggle and was considered as an advisor to the leaders of the time.

***

After taking time to process the fact that there may be such things as aliens or even immortal men who involve themselves with the world, it was a bit unbelievable and it worried him about what the future would hold. He was only just keeping on top of everything human related at the moment, he didn’t need this.

He made himself presentable again after glancing at his reflection in the restroom, he had raked his hands through his hair when he was outside and trying to process what he had been told. It was a habit he had developed as a teenager and he believed that it happened in stressful situations. He tried not to give into doing it, but sometimes he did it without thinking. It was very annoying and it makes it look like he has lost composure.

In this instance he thought it was understandable about how he was stressed out about the premise of aliens. It wasn’t just himself anymore, his bloodline wasn’t going to end with him. He had someone who would live in this world when he left it, it made him think more about how the younger people would be living in the country.

He didn’t think he was ready, but it was his duty to figure out what the organisation that he had overlooked had done. He joined back to the room where it was obvious that she was waiting for him to calm his nerves, it took him a long time and he was a bit surprised that she hadn’t sent someone to go and retrieve him.

The words on the file were teasing him, it meant something and it was starting to tease him. It was like the riddles that he would do with Sherlock when they were younger, there was something to be found out.

“It was recently brought to my attention that there is an organisation that was built to fight against aliens that is right in the heart of London, Torchwood. There are others that exist such as rouge teams and it as a part of the duties of the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce, also called UNIT. Unit was formed in the 60s from what I understand. I believe that we have been kept in the dark for a long time about some of the things going on in the world.”

It makes Mycroft’s brain stutter for a second, multiple organisations had been developed to fight against alien invasions, and he knew nothing about them.

“You mention that all these people are fighting against aliens, is there any proof of them apart from these Doctor people.”

“Yes, I reached out to Unit and they have given me contact details for them and i will pass them onto you. It seems that they are very forthcoming with their information with what they are doing if you ask the right questions. They have been trying to contact the prime ministers that are in position and it seems like they don’t believe the threats that are present. I asked why they didn’t contact me or you, they thought that I wouldn’t have the power to do anything and that they didn’t know that a person existed in a position such as yourself. I think they are to get in touch with you very quickly.”

That sounded plausible to Mycroft’s ears, but it made him realise how busy he would be. He was going to have learn all about what UNIT knew, on top of navigating the political world. He could already see his free time getting even smaller than what it already was.

“From what I could understand when talking to UNIT is that they know of someone that once travelled with one of the Doctors, I believe that they mentioned that they are an investigative journalist. I think that UNIT might help try to get you a meeting with them.”

“That seems like an area to start into the investigation into these Doctor men, and I will be speaking to them about getting me a weekly summary of what is occurring with the aliens. I think it would help with getting a better understanding of what is going on. They might even answer some questions that I am currently having about some certain people that I wouldn’t bother you with without some concrete proof. All you need to know is that I believe some people are cheating the system, so to say, at the moment and I haven’t figured out how they are doing it at the current time.”

“Please inform me if any of that results in an answer.”

Another lull in the conversation draws Mycroft’s eyes back to the Torchwood file, it hasn’t been open yet. It is a bit suspicious that UNIT was talked about in such little time with a solution with what to do, but this other organisation has an entire file on them.

The Queen noticed Mycroft’s eyes on the file, deciding to inform him more of the differences between the organisations.

“While UNIT responded to me and answered my questions on what they were doing, Torchwood has not yet answered me. I attempted contact at the end of last year.”

She let the statement sink in, both indicating on how approachable the organisations were and that she had been trying to look into this herself for months. Mycroft knows why the timeframe was there, she wanted to have enough evidence to convince him to look into it.

“All I can find out about Torchwood is in this folder. It was discovered that they were formed to protect the world against the enemy, the Doctor.”

The statement shocked Mycroft, it would have been amazing if she had put this into the previous file, but from her tone and facial expressions he can tell that it isn’t the whole story.

“UNIT are a lot more forthcoming about their feelings about the Doctor. According to them the men have been protecting the world against threats, they may not like them but it seems that when UNIT is in trouble, they turn to the Doctors to help.”

“That makes the situation a bit more complicated.”

“Indeed, I have also found an old document in a building that was once owned by Torchwood. It seems to be a diary entry or something similar, it mentions that the Earths relationships with aliens would begin to change in the 21st century. That everything was going to change.”

Mycroft read the note that was found, the paper looked like it had been ripped out of a book or of something larger. The nature of the handwriting was like the person wasn’t confident writing in English, but wanted to write it down. It was almost as though they were writing it for themselves in a hurry, like they were going to forget.

“The note was folded up a lot and was used to hold a desk from wobbling, it was only discovered when they were moving the furniture out of an abandoned office block. It was kept by the furniture removal people because they thought it was a funny note to be found in an office, they gave it to us when I sent someone enquiring about the ethics of the previous owners of the office. Also, if you look at the bottom, where it is damaged by bottom of the desk leg, it sort of looks like a name.”

“Yes, the name sort of looks like Boe, but it has writing above it. That might be the end of the name.”

Mycroft wondered about this Boe person, about how they were afraid when writing the note. But he supposed that they may have died at some point, the note was left many years prior and not under good circumstances. It made him think about what could possibly be happening in Torchwood.

“They also found a quote from someone who was previously employed by torchwood, the poor man was not in his right mind when they met him. It seems like he had a type of psychotic break. He was only able to tell us something that may have been considered a motto at the workplace, it was the only thing he said when Torchwood was mentioned. It was ‘outside the government, beyond the police, tracking down alien life on earth and arming the human race for the future’.”

“That is quite the motto. I don’t like what it implicates.”

“Neither do I.”

“It could mean that a single offensive movement against one of the aliens that they encounter could cause drastic reactive implications from their spaceship or home planet. If they don’t think things through, it could mean the end of the world and the downfall of humanity.”

As it seemed that all of the information about Torchwood was shared, it made Mycroft look back to the note that was found as well as the photos taken of the Doctor men near very influential historical figures.

It makes him wonder if he will make the correct determination about them, makes him wonder it he will make the right deduction.

***

It took a while for Mycroft to go through the information before him, trying to create a mental plan to try and incorporate them into his schedule.

He left the palace at the time that his meeting was scheduled to be finished. He did have the option to leave the palace before the scheduled time, but had to create a plan on how to tell Aerfen about what he had learnt. He was never going to be able to do all that was needed without her help.

That and the dogs had started whining, wanting someone to play with them and it was quite obvious that the Queen in her current state couldn’t play with them in the way that they wanted. Only looking back on that interaction he realised that he was sort of forced against his own will to play with the dogs. The exact comment that commanded him to play with the dog was;

“I am 72 years old, I cant play with them like my grandchildren. I’m sure that you wouldn’t mind throwing the ball for them, a young strapping lad like yourself. You are only 30 years old.”

It was only after he had thrown the ball a few times, he realised that she could have gotten anyone else in the palace to do it. He concluded that it was probably because she wanted him to calm down a bit before beginning the journey back to the office. It was almost a bit cathartic.

It was only when he was sitting in traffic, driving back to the office, when he realised what he was missing earlier.

It’s an anagram.

It was so simple he hadn’t even thought of it. He realised that ‘Torchwood’ was an anagram of the word ‘Doctor’ with the extra letters ‘H, O and W’ it was a simple word problem that had been wrecking his brain since he saw the words written down on the files. He wasn’t proud to admit that he had missed the connection, but to be fair he had just been given some evidence that immortal men were existing among them and that aliens might be real and the fact there were extra letters.

The only options that Mycroft saw for the extra letters were the words ‘how’ and ‘who’, it was like torchwood had made their name to either figure out who was a ‘Doctor ‘ or how to become a ‘Doctor’

***

On the way back to the office, he stopped off to collect some food for their dinner because he didn’t think that it would be a quick or easy conversation to have with Aerfen.

They had had a quick conversation before he left the palace when he asked if she had any plans for the night, but she hadn’t. He then asked her for her food order to help try to get into her good graces before telling her to stay later to talk about what had been discussed at the palace.

They didn’t always talk about the monthly meetings he had with the Queen as there wasn’t usually new information given out about them. By asking what food she wanted, it was a subtle indication that something had occurred.

All of this resulted in them sitting at either side of his desk eating Thai food, talking about how neither of them were having any luck in the dating sphere. Aerfen was actually trying but the dates weren’t working out, and this was making her want to set Mycroft up with people to see if he had better luck. This was all happening against Mycroft’s will. They didn’t often have conversations about their dating life, but it was an unwritten rule that he would answer all of her questions if he had to stay behind after work and they ended up eating at the desk.

After the takeaway containers were taken off of the desk and cleared away Aerfen was sitting, waiting for Mycroft to start talking. Mycroft took the files out of his briefcase and threw them onto the table.

“Aliens are real and everyone knows about them apart from us!”

Chapter Text

As it was approaching his birthday, Ianto began reflecting back on how the previous year had changed the way that his life was. It was almost a whole year since Dafydd threw him out of the house after beating him up. He remembers at one point when he was on the street, he thought that he wouldn’t live to see 15. That all changed when he was arrested for trying to take that wallet from a drunkard.

It had almost been a year since he left his childhood home that used to be filled with memories of his mum, but now only reminds him of the pain he suffered within its walls. He is reminded every day he looked in the mirror of what he went through a year ago, the scars he sees on his body left by the belt. After the cuts healed, they left behind long pink raised scars all over his back.

Some of the scars even wrapped around his side and ended on his stomach in a weird pattern, probably from where the buckle hit. He had healed greatly since the photos were taken a t the police station and hoped that with time, the scars would fade. He wasn’t even going to try hoping for them to disappear completely, because he knew that they probably never would.

Ianto knew that even though he had a nice family now, he would try to never forget how his mum was like on her good days. On the days that she would smile and laugh with him and Rhiannon. He would never forget her, especially now that he had the old Polaroid with ‘Mike’ on his shelf. It was the only photo that he had of her when she was smiling, it was a photo reminder of what his parents could have been growing up. But instead, the man who was meant to be like a dad to him ended up scaring him for the rest of his life.

***

It was Tuesday, the night before his birthday when he met with his sister. It was a thing that Rhiannon had started when he was a child, but it was a tradition that happened every year. Rhiannon always gives him a birthday present the night before, so that she will always be the first to give him a present.

It was a quick gift exchange the year before as Rhiannon had just moved out of the house a week prior to move in with Steven. It was his first birthday without his mum, so at least Rhiannon kept up that one tradition at least. The siblings had met up every so often to catch up, but this would be the first time that Rhiannon would be coming to the cottage. Ianto knew that she had been avoiding it, probably because she doesn’t want to see him a part of a home without the family that she grew up with. Ianto understood it completely.

They had been trying to meet up often throughout the year, but their schedules didn’t match up too often to meet. They found themselves meeting up one night roughly every fortnight after Ianto’s school and Rhiannon’s shift at the salon. They usually ended up walking around the town talking about anything that had happened in their lives.

Rhiannon arrived at exactly the time she said that she would be able to come over to the cottage. She was coming straight from the salon and wanted to be able to attend a dinner made by Violet Holmes since Ianto had been talking about the food that she makes at almost every time they met up. She knew that he had been doing it on purpose, but now she was intrigued and wanted to experience the food that he had been talking about for most of the year.

After ringing the bell, Rhiannon waited with anticipation of what the night would bring.

The door opened a few minutes after she rings the doorbell and it is opened by a very sweet old woman. She felt that the woman was very happy as soon as she realised who was at her door, it seems that Ianto wasn’t exaggerating about how much Violet wanted to meet her.

Violet welcomed Rhiannon into the house explaining the reason that Ianto didn’t answer the door was the fact that the ‘boys’ were too preoccupied playing games. When she was led into the living room, she was greeted by the sight of her baby brother playing chess with who she assumed was William, his new grandfather.

They greeted her when they noticed that she had arrived, but continued playing their game, Rhiannon didn’t know who was winning.

As she watched Ianto move pieces across the board in response to what William had done, she became interested in the match and started to ask some questions to help understand the moves.

It was soon clear to her that William had been teaching Ianto how to play chess recently and was getting him to answer her questions to make sure that he had picked up the rules of how to play, and she realised quickly that the game has lots of rules. It was interesting to watch Ianto being excited about an ancient boardgame and it was fun to listen to him try to explain it to her. She knew that he would try to teach it to her at some point, but she wasn’t really interested in playing herself, she wanted to watch Ianto.

The entire atmosphere of the cottage was something that Rhiannon hadn’t experienced before, not in their old house and not with Steven and his mum.

There was something about it that made Rhiannon feel like an outsider to the family, but Ianto had been very insistent that they wanted her to be a part of the family too. Having just experienced the atmosphere; it made her want to reconsider her stance about not getting closer to the family. But she would keep her decision unmade until after trying the food that Violet was making, it smelt heavenly from where she was in the living room.

Eventually, the three of them were called into the kitchen because the food was done. The change in scenery was a bit daunting compared to the low amount of effort she was putting into the conversation with Ianto and William in the living room. She could tell that William Holmes was a man of few words, but that meant that his wife was probably going to ask her a lot of questions about herself during their meal.

When the food was set in front of her, Rhiannon realised that Violet had made one of her favourite meals entirely from scratch, chicken and ham pie with cheesy mash. This is what make her get teary eyes, she pulled Ianto into her side with one arm from where they were sitting at the table, trying to give him a hug. This was all while thanking Violet multiple times for making her favourite food and tasting the food, realising at how tasty it was. It felt like a hug in an edible form.

It made her feel like she had taken over Ianto’s birthday meal, they were doing everything for her.

“Violet, thank you so much. You really didn’t have to make my favourite food; it should have been Ianto’s choice today.”

“Honey, I make that boy’s favourite foods all of the time. He wanted his birthday meal to be your favourite because he wanted to make sure that you would feel happy during your visit. We wanted you to know that you will always be welcome here, even if it’s just for a cup of tea and a chat or if you needed somewhere to stay. Ianto did tell you that we have bedroom that will be kept empty for you.”

Rhiannon was a bit shocked hearing those words from the woman who obviously ran the house, it made the offer feel more real. Ianto had obviously told her before, but she had just thought that he was acting like an impulsive teenager and it wasn’t a genuine offer made by the couple.

“Ianto had mentioned the offer before, but I thought it was his idea. I didn’t know that it was an offer coming directly from you. I am comfortable where I am living at the minute, but I wouldn’t say no to some movie nights in the future.”

Ianto knew that Rhiannon would have a different reaction to the room offer when I came directly from Violet, especially after meeting William. He knew that his sister would have understood that Violet Holmes was the person in charge in the family. It felt really good knowing that Rhiannon felt comfortable enough to even say that she might take the room for sleepover nights when hanging out with him. He could also tell that his mam-gu and bampi were excited about the premise of her being around more often, but he could tell that it was bittersweet and he didn’t know why.

“Oh that is amazing, next time you are over you can help me pick the wallpaper and bedsheets that you would like in the room. I will have the samples for your next visit. I do admit that I have already raised my Mycroft and Sherlock, but I don’t really have much experience with having a girl in the house. However, I will be here for anything you need.”

Rhiannon was overwhelmed by Violet’s offers; she hadn’t really had a mother figure in her life for years. Not since her own mum started acting metal and had to be admitted. Steves mum didn’t count, she was crazy too.

Ianto heard Violet’s response to Rhiannon and realised that she hadn’t said that she never raised a daughter, she just said that she didn’t have much experience. It sounded to him that there may have been a third Holmes child at one point, a girl, but she isn’t spoken about anymore. Maybe she died in childhood, before the boys, and they didn’t know anything about it or maybe she just didn’t like talking about her.

After the dinner was over, William and Ianto were instructed to clear up the dishes as Violet showed Rhiannon her room as well as showing her around the rest of the house. Rhiannon’s room is upstairs, it was the only room that didn’t have any other claim on it. The master bedroom where Violet and William slept and the bedrooms that Mycroft and Aerfen had claimed were all upstairs as well. Ianto had chosen a room on the ground floor, at the back of the house, which gave him a bit more privacy but also meant that he could stay up late without disturbing the others.

After the tour and the dishes were done, they all sat down in the living room with tea and dessert. Rhiannon sat talking to the Holmes’s, getting to know them and listening to some funny stories that they were telling about their kid when they were younger.

The couple left after a while, leaving the siblings alone so that Rhiannon could give Ianto his birthday present. She had left it by the front door when she arrived, but was waiting until they were alone so that she could give it to him.

She always got him random presents that she thought he would find cool, but this year she had gotten him something that he always wanted. This year she had gotten the present months in advance when she saw it in a shop and thought it was perfect. It was a lava lamp with neon green blobs in a dark blue background. He had always been entranced by them any time he saw them, but had never had one himself, until now.

He was amazed by the gift as soon as he unwrapped it and couldn’t wait to actually see it, but soon realised that it would take many hours for it to get into the blobby state, so he would turn it on tomorrow to watch it. He loved the gift and expressed it to his sister, not really believing that she had actually gotten him it.

They continued talking until late into the night and it was time for Rhiannon to go home, she was working in the morning. Ianto had been having fun talking with her and decided to walk her home so that they could continue talking. It was partly to continue talking, but the shortcut to Steve’s house goes through a dodgy area of Splott and he would prefer it if she didn’t walk it alone at 11pm.

He walked her home and they didn’t run into any trouble, but he did see the curtains move when they reached the house. Steve was waiting for her to get home. Ianto still didn’t like the guy; he had a bad feeling about him. But he liked walking her home, knowing that she was at least safe.

***

It was Wednesday, the day that he officially turned 15 and Ianto was feeling very happy. He had had an amazing year after finding the Holmes’ family, he was feeling loved by many people he didn’t know this time last year when he was in his lowest.

Tonight, he was going to have another birthday dinner with his Tad, his grandparents and Aerfen. He would have liked it if Rhiannon would have been able to come as well but she was working late, she had already taken bookings at the salon before she was asked about going to the dinner. He wasn’t gong to complain about it because she had offered to stay for dinner last night instead when he had brought up his birthday to her weeks before. It arguably worked out better when introducing Rhiannon to his grandparents, without anyone else being present it was easier for her to converse with them.

Mycroft and Aerfen arrived at the house much earlier than anyone had expected. Apparently, they had been having a slow day and they didn’t like what it symbolised. They had wanted to make sure that they spent time with the birthday boy because they had a feeling that there would be a political nightmare develop, everything was too quiet.

They had explained their reasons fully to Ianto to make sure that he was aware that it would be unlikely that they would be staying the night, but they did have their bags in the car if nothing happened. They were prepared for both outcomes, but were anticipating one over the other.

Ianto fully understood that the two were very busy people and were taking time during the week to celebrate him, he just loved the fact that they actually were able to come. Even if it is just for a short time, he had plans to see his Tad in a few days anyway. He didn’t fully understand why they had drove 2 hours to Cardiff when they would be called back for work later, but he appreciated their effort.

Mycroft and Aerfen arrived with multiple gift bags that they brought in from the car, they were all presents for Ianto. He hadn’t had this many presents for his birthday before, but he was excited to be able to open them. To see what they had thought he would like.

After welcoming them, they all joined in the living room for tea and to give Ianto this presents. Since the dinner wasn’t yet ready as they had arrived before Violet thought they would, she was internally debating whether or not to have the cake now or after their meal. She didn’t want the two to be called away back to London before the boy had his cake. So, Violet decided to bring the cake she had made the day prior into the room when she brought the tea tray.

Ianto began to open the presents left as they were given to him. Violet and William had gotten him a jumper that he had mentioned that he had wanted a few weeks prior and they had also taken his old disposable camera and had gotten his photos developed. They had already sorted the photos into a photobook for him and had dated the photos with a short explanation.

As he was looking through the photo album, he noticed that there were a few that he didn’t realise were taken. Quite a lot of the photos were taken during the dinner they had in London for Mycroft’s birthday.

One of the photos that catches his eye was a photo outside the restaurant that night, the lights from the building catching the raindrops that were falling. Mycroft was looking at Ianto in the photo and in the background Aerfen could ne seen handing the keys to the valet. It was a very pretty photo that felt very artistic, but also made him remember that night at the fancy restaurant.

The photo directly under the one outside, was one of Mycroft sitting at the table inside the restaurant. The picture was taken as he lifted the bear in the Welsh rugby shirt out of a present bag. You could tell that he was laughing as he was looking at the skip that was on the bear. It was a nice to have a physical reminder of that memory, because Ianto thought it was hilarious, and that he was a genius for thinking of the idea for the gift.

They all watched as Ianto flicked through the photo album, looking at the photos that he collected through the year. Occasionally he stopped at a photo to show the others in the room, like the first ‘family’ photo with all of them around Mycroft’s cake. This photo made Ianto verbalise that he should have gotten another camera to take some photos of his own birthday. The only response he was given was to wait until he had opened all of the presents.

One of the last photos in the album was one from Christmas, it was in the wrong place chronologically. But it was the best place for this exact photo. It was a photo that Violet had taken when they had finished their Christmas dinner. It was of Mycroft, Ianto and Aerfen all sleeping on the same sofa that they are sitting around when he looks at the photo.

The album holds precious memories that can help him remember how he felt when the photos were taken. Ianto thinks that the photos are almost magic, they can make him remember what happened in the past so vividly, like he is experiencing it all again. He set the album to the side knowing that he would cherish the photos for all his life.

He then attempted to pick up another present where he was stopped by his Tad who indicated that he might want to open a different present first. It was one of the ones he carefully lifted into the house from the car, meaning that it had some sort of significance. It was apparently an important present for Mycroft to be giving him.

He carefully unwrapped the present, revealing that it was a digital camera. I was a more permanent solution to his disposable camera running out of film.

“It already has a fully charged battery and a memory card in place. If you want to take a few photos right now, it would be perfectly capable of functioning now. The instructions on how the different modes on the machine are in the box, if you wish to read them.”

As soon as he heard that it was fully functional, Ianto began opening the box and started pressing buttons to turn it on. All of the buttons were clearly labelled and it was easy for him to get it set up to be able to take photos. When he figured out how to set the internal timer, he told everyone to get ready to take a photo.

They sat on the sofa, Ianto and Aerfen sitting on the arms and then Ianto sat the camera on the top of the fireplace and started the timer, running back to the place he picked on the sofa. They smiled waiting for the flash. It took longer than anyone was expecting, but nobody faltered.

They all sighed a breath in relief after the photo was taken, it was sore on their mouths to smile for such a long time. Ianto ran back to the fireplace to check the camera to see what the photo it captured looked like. It worked perfectly, from what he could see on the tiny screen showed that everyone showed that everyone had their eyes open and was looking at the camera.

Mycroft watched as his son opened the rest of his presents with great excitement and showed genuine gratitude for everything that he was receiving, even if most of it included clothing. Everyone had ended up getting him some form of clothing as he had changed so much in the year he had known them. He was much taller and broader with decent portions of food and from playing rugby at school. In comparison to the photos in the album he had grown a lot and they could all see it. It was almost like he was transforming in front of their eyes.

After Ianto had opened all of the presents that he had received Violet left to check on the food. The indicates to all of them that they will be called to eat the food in 10-15 minutes, it was very rare that Violet Holmes mistimed the cooking of a meal and the time will be used to plate the food. Ianto used the time to show Aerfen and his Tad the lava lamp that he had plugged in earlier in the day.

Ianto had been mesmerised watching how the solid at the bottom softened and began moving upwards to the top of the lamp, then it cooled down and moved back to the bottom to be warmed up again. The cycle kept going as it reached a certain temperature and then it started moving like the bubbles he had seen in lava lamps before. He wanted to show it off, he wanted to show what his sister had given him.

They were also mesmerised watching the blobs moving, watching the rippled travel along the surface of the blob a soon as the surface tension breaks when they come into contact with the top or the bottom of the lamp. About how they stay away from each other in their travels in the middle of the lamp.

They were all smart enough to understand the science and physics behind it, but it was something else to watch in person. When Violet came to fetch them for their meal, she found Aerfen sitting on the edge of Ianto’s bed and her son and grandson sitting on the floor, all just staring at the lamp with wonder in their faces. It was such a sight she didn’t break their concentration but went and collected the digital camera to take a photo of the ‘children’ amused with the lamp. They were startled with the flash and realised that Violet had only just taken the photo because she saw them ‘looking cute’ when she was getting them for dinner.

Violet corralled them away from the lamp and into the kitchen to the dinner table with little complaints, where they were met with William smiling as they came through the door, she had definitely told him that they were just sitting watching the blobs. It wasn’t really the best situation for two governmental agents to be caught in., completely unawares.

“Well honey, I guess that we have found a way to overthrow the government. They are all just cats in disguise, you just need to plug in a lava lamp in the middle of the MI5 and MI6 buildings. I think I could overthrow them in an afternoon, if I wished.”

Mycroft was a bit embarrassed with his father’s teasing, but he knew that it was all just for fun. It was soothing to just sit and watch the lamp; it was something that Ianto was obviously very interested in and he was happy to just experience it with him.

They talked about any interesting developments that had happened in their lives, all just small talk. Aerfen had shared that she had been talking to someone and had met her for lunch a few weeks prior, which was news to Mycroft. She hadn’t told him about it, but he supposed that she wouldn’t want to tell anyone in case it went badly, this must mean that it was going well between them.

She then shared that she had met her in the sandwich shop and everyone was more interested in the reaction from the couple who owned the café. Aerfen believed that they just thought they were friends out for lunch, because when she collected lunch for Mycroft, they had mentioned that she must be bringing it to the ‘hubby’ at work. This made everyone laugh, but Ianto was revelling in the situation he had made and it was amazing.

Mycroft remembers when she brought him a sandwich from the café a few weeks earlier. She hadn’t told him that she was meeting anyone that day, in fact she had just disappeared around lunchtime when he was preoccupied reading weekly reports from the numerous agencies that he was keeping an eye on.

They were all having a good time talking at the dinner table after finishing their food when both Aerfen’s and Mycroft’s mobiles began to ring, this signalled to everyone that there was something very serious happening.

After wishing Ianto a good birthday and a fun weekend, they left for London with Aerfen driving and Mycroft working on a laptop in the passenger seat with a phone against his ear. Ianto finds out on the news that night that the Archbishop Desmond Tutu (The South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission chairperson) had released some documents that contained an alleged plot by the western countries to assassinate the UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjöld of Sweden. It was something that sounded very serious to him, but he didn’t really try to read into politics too much, it just sounded like a lot of people with the temperament of toddlers fighting between themselves. He really didn’t think that he could ever do what his Tad does.

***

Ianto was celebrating his birthday with a sleepover with his friends on a Friday night. He had met up with the boys earlier in the day to hang out at the park and as the day got later, they decided to walt to everyone’s houses to get their things for the sleepover. They also needed to make a trip to rent some movies for the night to watch later.

Sammy and Ioan had both just packed their things into their schoolbags and were carrying them on their backs as they were walking through the movie rental store. But Gethin’s mum had packed him a large sports bag containing a sleeping bag and a pillow as well as his rucksack, he was having a bit of trouble manoeuvring through the narrow aisles. Ianto had tried to tell Gethin’s mum that they had enough pillows and blankets for everyone, but she couldn’t be argued with and they were stuck with carrying the bag around with them until they got to the cottage.

It took them almost an hour to decide what movies they were going to watch, but they ended up getting Alien, Aliens, Alien 3 and Ghostbusters. This decision was not just made on the fact that they all appreciated the aesthetics and acting of Sigourney Weaver, but that they had heard that they were all really good movies as well.

They picked all the movies based on the presence of Sigourney Weaver, none of them had watched the movies before and they didn’t believe that any of the movies would be too scary to watch even though they are labelled ‘Horror’, the ghostbusters DVD was also labelled as a comedy so it couldn’t be too bad.

Ioan was a bit worried about what was in store for later, he didn’t deal with scary things too well but he didn’t want to ruin the vibe of the movie night. So he went along with the choices that were made, he agreed with everyone else that she looked very pretty.

Ianto handed over the DVD’s that they had picked out so that he could rent them for the night, only to realise that all of the cases were empty sitting on the shelves, the man at the till opened one of the large files behind him after reading the numbers on a sticker inside the cases and placed the correct movies into their cases. He planned to return them the next day, so only needed them for one night.

Their next stop before going to the cottage was picking up snacks in a garage that was on the way. Ianto had been given some money for snacks so everyone was able to pick up their favourites. They all picked a family sharing bag of crisps and a sharing bag of sweets. Then they decided on what flavour of microwave popcorn to pick, Ianto suggested that they picked butter when Sammy and Ioan were fighting over the flavours. Sammy wanted salted and Ioan wanted sweet, but with butter they could add salt or sugar after it was popped. They didn’t need to get any drinks, Violet had picked up a selection during the weekly shop.

After getting the snacks they were done with their shopping and made their way to the cottage. They walked the rest of the way, carrying their overnight bags and bags of shopping. Once they got there Sammy set down his bags in the entrance and collapsed in the hallway, he was tired from carrying his bag on his back the whole time, his shoulders were aching and he was feeling dramatic.

“Good heavens, that is an awful lot of bags. You boys must be exhausted.”

Violet had heard a commotion at the door and came out to the hall to see that the boys had entered through the front door and one of them was laying on her floor, blocking the way for the rest of them coming in. She could see that they were all holding at least one personal bag and a plastic shopping bag, even Ianto.

“If you want to leave your bags outside of Ianto’s room it will keep the floor clear for when you move the mattress into the room. I’ll let you all catch your breath before you move it. I assume it will be two to a mattress?”

There were muffled replies indicating that she was correct, but they didn’t want to have to move the mattress. The plan was for them to move a mattress and bedding from one of the unoccupied rooms to a cleared space on Ianto’s floor. They had all previously preferred this plan compared to a blow-up mattress.

After they cleared her entrance-way, she sat them down and gave them some of the leftover cake from the family party from days prior. They were re-charging after walking all over town with their relatively heavy bags, some were heavier than others.

Soon after finishing their cake, they were given their marching orders to bring a mattress downstairs and to set it up properly with blankets and pillows. Violet wanted everything set up so they weren’t rearranging her house when it got dark and interrupting her shows. She had recently started to watch a regular soap that was on at the same time on weekday evenings and didn’t want it interrupted with the noise.

They brought the bare mattress down the stairs, through the hallways and doorways on its edge, with 2 people at each side. It was hard work navigating through the house with a double mattress but eventually they got it situated on the floor of Ianto’s bedroom floor. They then covered the mattress with a sheet, blankets and pillows.

Gethin immediately placed his sleeping bag on the side that he claimed as soon as the mattress was covered with a sheet. He claimed the part of the mattress that wouldn’t be tripped over if someone tried to leave the room in the dark, he didn’t want to be woken up by someone falling on him. It had been decided that he was sharing the mattress on the floor with Sammy, Ianto and Ioan were sharing Ianto’s double bed.

They would all be able to see the Tv on the dresser from where they would be laying on the mattresses, meaning they wouldn’t have to move much from the room during their movie night.

***

After getting the room set up the boys went outside again to play in the garden for a while because it was summer and a good day. If they were going to sit and watch 4 movies later, it wouldn’t hurt to play a bit of football in the garden. They only came inside when Violet called them in to get their pizza order. It was a rare treat for the Holmes cottage to get takeaway instead of a cooked meal, but it was what Ianto wanted to eat with his friends, so Violet and William were going to join them as well.

In the end they ordered 3 large pizzas to all share and William went and collected the dinner. There was a plain cheese pizza, a multiple meat pizza and a peperoni pizza, they all sat down at the kitchen table to eat dinner together before retiring to either the bedroom or the living room to spend the night watching the TV.

William and Violet liked being able to have a full house of teenagers that all had pretty good manners, they had never experience anything like it before. Usually, the boys went home for their dinner in their own houses or they would grab a takeaway and eat it in the park. It was nice to experience the relative rowdiness of teenage boys that were comfortable in a house.

Violet had gotten a decent understanding of the boys and had expressed to them that she trusted them to be able to help themselves to things in the kitchen through the night, as long as they cleaned up after themselves and she didn’t need to clean up any messes in the morning. She also told them that if they needed help finding anything, just ask Ianto.

In preparation for the first movie, Alien, they decided to change into their pyjamas to keep the bedclothes clean and to get themselves comfortable. Since they had just eaten, they were waiting until Aliens, the second movie, to start with the snacks.

The closed the curtains and got comfortable as the DVD was inserted into the TV and begun to start up. Other than the Tv, the only light in the room was coming from the lava lamp on the dresser beside the Tv as well as some light coming around the edges of the curtains. The darkness of the room made Ioan uneasy as he sat on the bed beside Ianto as the movie started.

Throughout the movie there were multiple jump-scares that got to all of them, especially the stomach scene, but during the ‘scary parts’ it seemed that Sammy had made his way closer to Gethin and Ioan had made his way closer to Ianto. They knew that Sammy would never admit to being scared, but after a while Ianto ended up holding Ioan’s hand to make sure that he was okay, comforting him.

Everyone separated to save face when the movie ended and Ianto noticed that it had gotten darker compared to when the movie had started. The sunlight that was being let in from the side of the curtain had lessened, so Ianto turned on his bedside light when the credits ran. He knew that they will all start eating snacks for the next movie and he wanted to pop the popcorn before Violet and William went to bed. He didn’t know if it would wake them up if they did the popcorn later, so he just wanted to avoid annoying them after all they have done for him.

They all descended on the kitchen and the downstairs bathroom to get ready for the next movie, the made their preferred popcorn in large bowls and refilled their drinks. They had about a 10-minute break between the movies to get prepared, it could have been longer if they had taken their time but they decided to run around like headless chickens as to not ‘waste time’.

For the second movie they kept the beside table light on as Sammy argued that ‘they could spill the snacks’ but they could all tell that he was still a bit scared from the first movie. Ioan was relieved a lot by Sammy wanting the light to stay on. Gethin and Ianto didn’t care much either way, the basis of this movie franchise was interesting to them for different reasons. Ianto was interested with the storyline and he was always interested in the extraterrestrial, Gethin was interested in the artwork and machinery used for the special effects in the movie, he was interested in the special effects.

They were also all interested to watch the rest of the movies after watching the acting of Sigourney Weaver.

It turned out that the second movie wasn’t as scary as the first one, and when the credits rolled Sammy decided to share what had been weighing down his bag on the journey around town and out to the cottage. He had stolen a large bottle of cider from his brother’s bedroom, he thought it would be fun to drink it between the 4 of them. They were all going to be 15 by Christmas and he was the youngest but had already had a pint from his Da to see what it tasted like.

They were all very intrigued by the bottle and took it in turns to read the alcohol in it, it was 2.5litres and had 7.5% alcohol. Ianto did some calculations in his head.

“It’s just a bit more than a pint each if we split it evenly. I don’t think it would get us drunk, maybe a bit tipsy. I’d like to try some”

Gethin and Ioan listened to Ianto’s determination that they wouldn’t get very drunk if they split it evenly and decided to trust him. It would be both Ianto and Gethin’s first time trying a full alcoholic drink, they have had sips of others drinks before ‘to try’, and it was going to be Ioan’s first time that he would ever try alcohol.

Ianto had read somewhere that cider and beer were both best drank cold but while it wasn’t typical to put ice in beer, cider was often served with ice. He shared his knowledge with the others but it was agreed to try it without the ice and to add it later if it didn’t taste very good.

They ventured back into the kitchen to get clean glasses to pour the cider into and they all tried it as the same time. It was mutually agreed upon after the first taste that it would be better to try it with the ice because it was very warm sitting in Sammy’s bag. The ice made it a lot better, so they decided to place the rest of the bottle into the fridge to cool down a bit, because they used a lot of ice to make the liquid in their glasses cold. They then got prepared to watch the next movie, Alien 3. Violet and William had long gone to bed before the 3rd movie was put on.

They started the movie and it had a bit of a different vibe from the previous two movies. There were a few moments that made Ianto feel uncomfortable and his attention was drawn to the lava lamp beside the TV, especially during the scenes in the prison. Those types of scenes made him feel very angry and upset, he knew that nothing had actually happened, but he didn’t like it. When the credits rolled the rest of them had similar views on it.

They decided to stretch their legs a bit and get some fresh air before they started the last movie, so they poured themselves another glass of cider and went outside to kick about the football a bit more to clear their heads. Ianto had turned on some lights inside the house to light up the garden, but it was still quite dark, so they just sat on the backdoor step to talk before the last movie.

They were talking about random things until Gethin tried to bring up something and was almost instantly hushed by Sammy and Ioan, making Ianto very interested. He hadn’t been paying attention to what Gethin had been saying, and felt like he was missing out on something very important with how everyone acted.

It was very easy to make Sammy break and tell him what had been going on, what they were keeping from him.

“We just were wondering why you didn’t try to come to any of our houses last year, you were homeless for like a week. All of our families would have made room for you and tried to help you.”

Ianto was a bit stunned and without the bit of alcohol in his system, he had no doubts that they would have never had this conversation.

“I was going through a lot and I did stay over at all of your houses at the weekends when my mum passed. I didn’t want to be too much of a burden on your families, they helped me so much earlier in the year and I didn’t want them to feel like I was taking advantage.
I know that you probably don’t feel that way, but you were all going through stuff too. Sammy you were saying that your brother was getting into a lot of trouble, Gethin your nanna was very ill and staying in the spare room at your house and Ioan one of your sisters was having a lot of trouble this time last year, I don’t think any of us want to talk about it.
We were all having a hard time last year, don’t take it out on yourselves. It worked out well for me in the long run, I have an entire family now because I had to ring someone when I got arrested.”

Ianto forgot how much they had known and shocked them with the fact he had gotten arrested during his time in limbo. He was assaulted with tonnes of questions about it and wanted to make sure that he answered them without revealing more.

Eventually they were calmed down and everyone was ready to watch the last movie, Ghostbusters. It definitely felt like a lighter movie to watch compared to the one previously, parts were definitely comedic and had them laughing. It was the right idea to end on a ‘fun’ movie, to make it easier for everyone to sleep and when the credits rolled, they were ready for sleep.

It was after 4am when the final movie ended and they all worked quickly tidying up after themselves and hiding the cider evidence so that Violet wouldn’t think they had been up to something during the night. They had been warned to not leave a mess and decided to do their dishes, so she didn’t have to do them when she woke up and to make sure that she didn’t smell the cider from the empty glasses.

They took their time cleaning up, to increase the possibility that they would be able to do another night in the future and then crashed in their beds, falling asleep quickly.

***

Ianto woke up slowly to the smell of bacon, but quickly realised that there was something strange to how he was sleeping. He soon realised that the strange feeling was Ioan laying against him, he had never woken up before with someone touching him and it felt weird but not unpleasant.

He could still smell the bacon and when he noticed the time, he realised that Violet must be making them lunch. He slowly extracted himself from the bed, trying not to wake Ioan, and then he was free to roam. As soon as he got out of the bed, he saw that there was nobody on the mattress on the floor and went exploring to try and find his friends.

They were sitting at the kitchen table talking to William when he found them and he soon learned that they weren’t awake long but had carried the weekly shop into the house for Violet, who had responded to their kindness by beginning to make them lunch after everything was packed away. Violet was very impressed with how clean the kitchen was when she woke up, especially because they had done their dishes, so everyone was welcome back anytime according to her.

Sammy and Gethin were explaining the movies that they had watched to William, purposefully omitting scenes, but he had decided that those type of movies didn’t appeal to him much. He stated that any science fiction that he was interested in in the past was ruined by his know-it-all sons, so he just didn’t even try with the genre any more, as well as mystery he says.

It was a very nice atmosphere to wake up to and when Violet finished cooking, all 3 of them were sent to wake Ioan because it was ‘unacceptable to sleep through 2 meals in a day’. After the breakfast fry that Violet had made for lunch they returned the mattress to the room they had taken it from and eventually got dressed and packed their bags.

The DVD’s were returned before the store closed and then the boys were returned to their homes. On his walk home, Ianto realised that it had been a perfect birthday celebration he had with his friends. They had watched movies that he had wanted to watch for ages, and he learned that they were actually worried about him after learning about his troubles the year before.

***

Ianto went back to the Manor with Mycroft after Sunday dinner, Mycroft had booked Monday off because it was exactly 1 year since he had met Ianto. In the very early hours of the 23rd of august last year they met in Cardiff police station.

They had decided to go to the cinema and watch something at random as a matinee showing, and then the plan was to treat themselves to some takeaway. They are calling it a treat, but both of them know that they had both been eating complete rubbish for weeks.

Ianto’s room at the Manor had been slowly changing to his tastes throughout the year and looked less like the old regal room that it used to look like, Ianto had clothes that stayed here and he chose the bedclothes on the bed. He had been given an option to change the bedclothes to something that he wanted, so it was currently the Welsh Rugby bedclothes that he had discovered in a discount bin a few months back. It was initially a joke, but he really liked how the bed stood out in the room, sort of like Ianto felt when he was in the Manor.

But it was also like there was a permanent part of ‘him’ in the Manor when he wasn’t even here. He hadn’t been to the Manor much in the past year, usually Mycroft travelled to Cardiff to see him when he wasn’t busy at work.

On Monday morning during breakfast, they checked the times of the nearest cinema in the newspaper that he had gotten for the sole purpose to check the movie times. They mutually decided that the movie that they both would like to see was Armageddon.

Mycroft had heard people talk about the movie as he walked past them at work and it intrigued him, Ianto just thought I looked like it would be a good movie that they would both enjoy. The time that it was showing suited them as well, and since it was a matinee showing it would be less likely that anyone would notice and recognise Mycroft.

They wanted to spend the day hanging out together and had made it happen with Aerfen’s help with fielding Mycroft’s calls. It was Ianto’s idea that they dressed in comfortable clothes, like how Mycroft was dressed when he came to the police station. Having Mycroft dressed in such a different way to what is usually dressed also was to help reduce the risk that he would be recognised.

They went to watch the movie, surprised at how good it was, and then went to get some food from a nearby sit-in chippie because they were in the mood for burgers. Ianto loved these rare days that they acted like a ‘normal family’ but he knew that it couldn’t happen more often because of their situations.

They just sat in the chippie talking about insignificant things, such as how Mycroft found the best smoking area in Buckingham palace where the staff don’t come near him and annoy him, and the fact that he has actively been hiding from a few politicians because he just doesn’t want to talk to them but would rather talk to their secretaries. Ianto had been learning that the most important people to talk to are the ones most trusted by the person in charge, such as secretaries.

In settings like this it is so easy for them to talk to each other, if felt like they had been each others lives for years. It made Ianto feel like he could talk to his Tad about anything, honestly, he knew that Mycroft had made mistakes when he was younger, his existence was proof of that. He decided to share that he and the boys had drank some cider a few nights before and to his shock, Mycroft wasn’t surprised or angry, he was actually a bit proud of him for sharing it.

Mycroft was a bit touched that Ianto had decided to share with him that he and his friends had tried alcohol in a safe environment. He trusted that Ianto wasn’t going to make any mistakes that he had made, and preferred that they tried different things inside a house where they could ask an adult for help if anything went wrong, he had heard storied about kids getting drunk in fields and getting into trouble.

He would prefer that Ianto is safe if he were to start doing things like that, it did worry him a bit when he realised that Ianto didn’t tell him how they had got the alcohol, but he didn’t want to ask too many questions and prevent Ianto from opening up to him again.

He wanted Ianto to continue to trust him and he realised that it was really hard to prevent teenagers from doing things like this. But he did tell Ianto that he was okay with him having the occasional drink with friends as long as they were in a safe place, but to never attempt any drugs because of the troubles that Sherlock has went through. Ianto agreed with him fully about the stance on drugs.

Mycroft didn’t care about being a ‘cool’ dad but would like to be trusted by Ianto, but he would run by the decisions he made about the situation with Aerfen at the next possible convenience that they would be able to talk about it.

Chapter Text

Mycroft had noticed that Aerfen wasn’t in the best of moods at work.

It wasn’t anything very obvious, but Mycroft could still tell that something was off in how she was acting, the whole atmosphere around her was different. She hadn’t been asking him any personal question all day, like she normally did if they were having a slow day. God forbid they actually acknowledged that the work was slow some days, but there were days that they had more time than usual to socialise with others.

She wasn’t talking as much as he expected and he had noticed that her footsteps were a bit heavier than normal but she hadn’t got new shoes and there was no evidence of any injuries that may have cause it. He had also noticed that she had been lifting and setting things down with a bit more force than she normally did.

He could tell that something was bothering her and he didn’t like not knowing things, especially when it involved those that were considered family to him.

He had made her a coffee when getting himself some herbal tea and used it as an excuse to walk over to her desk to make a conversation. He knew that she would be more inclined to agree if it meant that she could know more about what his brain was doing, his mind was included when she was asking about his personal life.

“Hey, some things have been on my mind recently and I would like to run them by you. Do you have any plans later after work?”

She sat down the pen that she had been twirling in her hand whilst reading some papers in front of her and lifted the coffee that he had just sat down. Over the brim of the cup, she answered:

“Not anymore…”

She then took a long drink out of the steaming latte, confirming Mycroft’s suspicions that there was an issue at hand.

“I have a nice vintage red that I was wanting to open at the apartment, would you like to join me.”

She mulled over the proposition, knowing that if they drank in the city they could have delivery food. But she decided that it would be a good time to treat herself, she deserved it.

“I get to pick the food and the spare room better be made up for me, it’s calling my name.”

Mycroft agreed to her terms and left her to get on with her work, wondering how bad it was going to be if she didn’t want to spend the night alone. She rarely invited herself to stay over if it wasn’t anything to do with Ianto, she liked interacting with him and liked to have someone to let her use her motherly instincts. It wasn’t like she was going to have a child of her own any time soon, so she was making the best of the situation that they found themselves in.

***

Mycroft drove them back to the apartment when their work was finished, arriving in the apartment carpark at 8pm. It was the perfect timing to avoid traffic and long waits for the delivery, they avoided the rushes. On the way up to the apartment Mycroft let the buildings security aware that he would be ordering a food delivery, just to call up when it arrived.

Aerfen was quite fond of the security that worked in the apartment building, they were very respectful and professional any times that she was here. It was her understanding that they took one look at her and decided that she was merely a secretary, like most people did, but treated her with more respect than others who had come to that concussion did. She also liked the fact that they were diligent checking those coming into the building and all deliveries were investigated to ensure that they were expected and that they consisted of the correct contents.

As soon as they made their way into the apartment their shoes were kicked off at the door and Aerfen made her way to the kitchen to make a very important decision, pick which place to get food from. She found an Indian menu in the pile of menus that Mycroft kept in a drawer and knew exactly what she wanted.

“I think I’ll get chicken saag, pilau price and some onion bhajis, make sure to order the saag spicy. I’ll share a naan with you if you want.”

Mycroft had just opened the wine, letting it breath a bit before pouring it, and was handed the menu and given the order. He watched as she left the kitchen, leaving him to order the food. She had put the idea of onion bhajis into his head and he knew that she wouldn’t share them

“Hello… I’d like to order for delivery… Two portions of onion bhajis, spicy chicken saag, pilau rice, lamb biryani with a tub of curry sauce and a naan… One second, I’ll just check.”

The person on the phone just asked him what type of naan he wanted, and he didn’t know which one Aerfen would prefer. He yelled out into the apartment, unsure where she went, but needed a reply.

“Do you want garlic or peshwari?”

“Garlic”

She answered from somewhere far into the apartment, he was wondering what she was doing because it didn’t come from the direction of the living room, or the bathroom.

He decided to order both types, he was in the mood from something sweet as soon as she picked the garlic. If they had anything left over, it would be alright to eat for breakfast. After giving the building address and instructions to give the food to the staff at the door, he hung up and went looking for Aerfen.

He found her sitting in the living room and it became obviously clear what she had been doing. She had changed out of her white blouse and helped herself to one of his larger sweaters. It was obviously very oversized on her with the sleeves rolled up.

“Wanted to change out of that blouse, didn’t feel like trying to clean curry out of it if I managed to get anything on it.”

“So, my clothes are free game?”

“Yes!”

Mycroft noticed that as she spent more time with Ianto, they were both able to walk all over him. He found that he couldn’t stand up to either of them, it was like having a wife without all the feelings.

He brought in the wine and the glasses into the living room without being prompted and sat them down on the coffee table, informing her that the food wouldn’t be too long.

***

They sipped on their wine talking about work, waiting for the food to arrive. Aerfen then changed the conversation to what Mycroft wanted to know.

“I know why you asked if I was free tonight. I ended up breaking up with the girlfriend last night. She was asking too many questions about my scars, wouldn’t accept me dismissing them. I told her that they were a part of my past and that I don’t like talking about them. She didn’t accept that as a proper answer.”

Mycroft knew immediately what scars she was talking about. He had first met Aerfen when he was observing some MI6 training, she stood out from the others for her composure and ability to compartmentalise. After observing those traits along with her ability to physically protect and attack, he looked at her testing scores. He was amazed at the scores that she had, she basically had perfect scores in every category tested. It was then that he offered her the job and gave her his number when she declined the offer.

That was 5 years ago.

Last year, a few months before Ianto called him, she finally reached out enquiring about the job. She had been working undercover in many positions for years and had gained a lot of experience as well as some physical reminders of those missions in the form of scars. She had decided to try a different job, leaving behind the secret missions and wanted to build a proper life. It was the main reason that she wanted a permanent name that had meaning, tying her to others.

She was much more than a secretary, but liked the job title and how people underestimated her because of it. She was able to do a lot more when people underestimated her. But she now was a part of the family, and did not like being reminded about her time in the past.

Mycroft completely understood that she wouldn’t want to stay with someone if they didn’t accept her answers about the scars. It was preventing future arguments with the other person.

“If she didn’t accept you for your answers, I’m sure that you will find someone else that will accept you how you are without explanations.”

The mine must have been hitting her already with her empty stomach because her next action was to throw herself lengthways on the sofa she was sitting on and to scream into one of the pillows that was sitting on it. Mycroft understood her frustration, but did note that she looked a bit like a toddler having a tantrum, the oversized sweater didn’t help with that either.

“It’s just so annoying”

Mycroft had no answer for her, he didn’t have the best luck in his own love life and had no answers for her. All he could do was offer her things that his mummy had said to him, he wasn’t the most comforting person in the world.

They were effectively ‘saved by the bell’ when the intercom starts to ring, indicating that the food had arrived to the building security. They were ringing up to clarify that the food was what they were expecting and didn’t look tampered with, ensuring that nobody was going to take advantage of the situation.

They quickly gathered plates and cutlery and brought them to the coffee table, making sure that they would be ready to unpack the food as soon as it came through the door.

***

As they were eating it became plainly obvious that they had ordered way too much food, but Aerfen made a point to eat all of her bhajis as a justification to not share in the future. Mycroft could see exactly what she was doing by forcing herself to finish eating them before declaring that she was too full.

Mycroft didn’t care, the leftover food would be eaten eventually so it wouldn’t go to waste.

After they had eaten, Mycroft decided to approach the topic that had been on his mind since he was informed about it.

“I want to ask your opinion about something. Ianto recently told me that he and his friends had drank alcohol together. I didn’t punish him because he told me the next time I saw him in person, I didn’t want to stop him from coming to me in the future. Do you think I did the right thing?”

Aerfen laughed to herself a bit, noticing that Mycroft was asking about Ianto drinking alcohol, while they were both drinking. But she quickly realised that he was seriously worried that he might have done the wrong thing.

“It depends, did they put anyone in danger? Was anyone pressured into drinking? Did anyone get very drunk and become ill?”

Mycroft took a second and thought about the questions and realised that the boys hadn’t binge drank, like how most teenagers do. They had shared a bottle of cider between the four of them.

“No, to all of them. From what I was told, they got a bottle of frosty jacks and shared it between the four of them. I checked, it’s a large bottle of cider.”

“Oh wow, that means that they were technically drinking responsibly. Apart from the age thing.”

“When you put it like that, its probably better for them to try different drinks in their own time to understand if they like them. That is if they continue to do it. It might be better for them in the long run if they do this safely.”

Aerfen looked at the worried father sitting next to her, not believing that this was the same man who she met years before. Parenthood changes people and this was enough evidence for her.

“That sounds like the boys are being cautious around alcohol and making sure that they are taking care of each other when drinking. It seems that they are being responsible, considering. I remember the first time I tried alcohol and it definitely wasn’t as controlled like that.”

“Yeah, alcohol was rare when I was younger and it was defiantly abused when I was around friends when I was a teenager. But I’m not the best example, I have a child from one of those nights.”

That comment took Aerfen by surprise, causing her to burst out laughing.

“Yeah, you definitely don’t want him to take after you in that sense. You are too young to be a grandad!”

That made him pause, he definitely didn’t want to be a grandad yet.

“I’m too young to be a grandad! I’m only 31!”

“I think some people have become grandparents at 30, maybe even earlier.”

“That’s not going to happen in this situation.”

The conversation lulled as they finished the bottle of wine. Then Aerfen had an idea.

“Have you ever tried frosty jacks?”

The question took Mycroft by surprise, he wasn’t expecting it but he could tell where the conversation is about to go. He could see that she was looking at the empty bottle and glasses on the table in front of them.

“No. I believe that it is a type of a very cheap cider that comes in large plastic bottles. Why?”

“I was just wondering if we should go and get some to see what it tastes like. I mean, teenagers are more likely to drink if they find the taste pleasant. Look at alcopops as an example. If it didn’t taste nice, they won’t be quick to try more. It would be better for us to try it to better understand what they might do.”

She argued her case well in Mycroft’s eyes, and he had to admit that he was curious too of what it tasted like.

“Okay, we will go get a bottle and try it.”

“Yeah, Fieldtrip!”

She put her arms up in celebration and it what then when Mycroft realised that Aerfen was acting a bit too relaxed. Then he stood up, to begin clearing up the leftovers, and noticed that he was a bit tipsy himself. The half-bottle of wine the each had was affecting them in a way that they didn’t expect. It was probably a reflection on how bad they were at eating regular meals when at work.

They managed to clean up after themselves before getting their shoes on and leaving the apartment. Once they got down to the buildings entrance, they made to leave when Mycroft had an idea to help them find a place that sold frosty jacks, just to make sure that they weren’t going to be walking aimlessly. He walked up to see who was working at the desk.

“Hey Jerry, I was just wondering if you knew anyplace around here that sells frosty jacks.”

“Good evening, Mister Holmes. I believe that there is an off licence that sells it 2 streets over, on the end of the street closest to the green. I think there is an underground opening near it.”

“Thank you!”

Mycroft knew exactly where the man was talking about, he had waled past the place many times when trying to get ‘fitter’ it was a part of the circuit he walked. They then went on their journey towards the off license after waving their goodbyes to Jerry because it never hurts to be nice to those who just helped you.

***

It was a quick walk and they were soon venturing into a shop with a run-down entrance and chipping paint around the windows and doors. They both knew that it indicated that it had been open quite a while, probably had quite a few regulars that darkened its door. There was a loud buzz when the door opened, indicating that there was a customer.

Mycroft glanced up observing the mechanism on the door, it buzzed when something on the door touched something dangling from the ceiling. It was probably something electric that only sounded when the circuit was completed when the two parts were touching. A very useful simple piece of equipment for a store, Mycroft mused.

Aerfen had noticed that Mycroft had been getting distracted with random things on their walk, so she pulled him over to the fridges so they could pick out what they needed and they were surprised at the size of the bottles that the cider came in.

Quickly they took one of them and bought it, with the intention of getting back to the apartment building without being noticed by anyone the knew. They had managed to see their reflections in the fridge, realised that they both looked less than ideal. Mycroft’s shirt was wrinkled and his tie had been pulled to one side to loosen it and to allow the top button to be undone, he had forgotten that he had done that. Aerfen was still wearing the grey oversized sweater that was obviously not hers and her skirt was just peeking out at the bottom of it, showing off around an inch of different fabric and letting others know that she was actually wearing something underneath.

In other words, they looked like they were in a very different type of relationship than friends or co-workers and would like to get back to the apartment without anyone noticing them.

When they were walking back to the apartment building, they both heard a loud greeting from across the road making them both stop. They recognised the voices calling out to them and when they turned towards the voices, they were met with the waving and smiling Carla and Frank Colapinto. The couple who owned the sandwich shop, the ones who strongly believed that they were a married couple and they were crossing the road to greet them.

It was probably the second worst people that could have seen them, first being anyone from work. They definitely wouldn’t be able to talk themselves out of being perceived as a married couple by them ever.

“Hello, I was just talking to Frank about the fact I hadn’t seen either of you two in a few weeks. Is everything okay?”

“Nice to see you Carla, sorry we haven’t been in the café in a while. It’s been chaos at work, we will make sure to grab lunch there next week.”

Aerfen greeted Carla with some simple small talk while Frank and Mycroft just stood beside them and shook their hands in greeting, they didn’t really talk to each other much. The women traded information quickly between the two of them, with the men waiting for a time to break them apart.

It was when Carla was asking about ‘the boy’ and Aerfen was talking about how he had just turned 15 when Frank decided that they were at risk of missing their train home. Quick goodbyes were said and then they separated.

Aerfen and Mycroft thought they had gotten away with their states of dress not being commented on until Frank yelled as they walked away.

“Enjoy the rest of the night without the kid, have your fun while you can!”

They smiled and waved as the couple got further away, laughing at the situation that they had found themselves in. Turns out that they hadn’t gotten away with looking like they had debauched each other, but at lease it was people who already thought they were a couple that caught them.

***

They eventually made their way back into the apartment building and were greeted by their return by Jerry and Mycroft just had to ask him a question out of curiosity.

“Jerry, by any chance did you want to mention how we were dressed before we left?”

The man looked at both of them, wondering what he was being asked about and then it clicked and a smirk came across his face.

“I didn’t really notice both of you when you were leaving, I mainly pay attention to the people coming into the building. I know that you are colleagues, but that it quite unfortunate. I hope nobody you knew saw you.”

“Everything was alright, but I am giving permission for any time in the future for you to stop me if you see me dressed in such a way again.”

Jerry nodded with confirmation and told him he would make a note about it. Mycroft would like confirmation that if he lost his mind, he would be stopped before walking out into public in the daylight if he wasn’t dressed correctly. It was more of a peace of mind thing that he would never have even gone out like that.

He knew that Aerfen was a bit embarrassed about being noticed by people she regularly ran into, and would prefer someone telling her to take another look at the outfit. She had only gone out in the sweater earlier because she had forgotten that she had changed it, she was just too comfortable to notice before they left.

***

Eventually the made it back into the apartment and poured out two glasses of the cider. They tried it and were pleasantly surprised at how nice it tasted, it was a very crisp refreshing simple cider. It definitely wasn’t the worst that either of them had tried, but they unanimously decided that cider tasted better out of a glass bottle or from draught.

They sat talking in the living room into the early morning, topping up their glasses with the cider like they had with the wine previously. They may have been a bit tipsy after the wine, but it would be fair to say that they were drunk by the time they finished the cider.

Aerfen fell asleep first on the sofa and when Mycroft noticed, he covered her with a blanket and turned off the light before retiring to his own room.

Chapter Text

While looking into what Sherlock had been up to Mycroft was pleasantly surprised for once, Sherlock had been seen going in and out of St Bartholomew's Hospital in London. He had also been put onto their pay system; it looked like he had gotten himself a real job.

It made Mycroft want to know what his little brother was getting involved in. As long as he was staying away from drugs, he didn’t really care about what Sherlock was doing to occupy his time. But he had to make sure that he wasn’t going to put himself in personal danger or in danger of relapse.

He soon found out that Sherlock was working within the research department under a Mike Stamford, someone who he must have met during his time in university. Mycroft confirmed these suspicions when he dug a bit deeper into Stamford, he was a visiting lecturer for a module when Sherlock was attending university.

Eventually he found something that Sherlock may be taking part in whilst looking into research studies being conducted by other people in the hospital. A Molly Hooper was developing a study for the completion of her specialist registrar portfolio and was doing it under the supervision of Mike Stamford. This Dr Hooper was very heavily educated for someone who was only 26, Mycroft considered that she must be a very intelligent and determined woman to end up in the position she was in.

The research study was something that couldn’t just be done by Mike and Molly, they would require research fellows to be able to complete it to a degree of completion to be able to publish the results. Mycroft determines that Sherlock was employed as a research fellow, something that correlated with the pay that he was getting and it was a subject that would keep him interested enough to keep clean to see it through.

The research proposal was “The development of a database to help determine the different types of bruising on a body post mortem, focusing on how injuries develop after being inflicted pre-mortem as well as post mortem” proposed by M. Hooper as part of the specialist registrar portfolio under the supervision of M. Stamford.

All they needed to do as a research team would be to develop a concrete enough study for others to want the continuation of documentation, it was the start of compiling a database that could help with determining cause of death along with helping with murder investigations. It was an area that had yet been developed into a universal database.

Mycroft could see the appeal and the usefulness of having it he only hoped that Sherlock wouldn’t be kicked out of the study because of the atmosphere or behaviour. It was a good opportunity that he had gotten for himself and he hoped that he was able keep it.

It wasn’t too long after he made his discoveries about Sherlocks life and didn’t tell anyone as to not scare him away from his new ventures, that their parents were curious at how he was getting on in London. The planned to visit him for the weekend, leaving Ianto at home.

This made Mycroft worry about multiple things that could go wrong in one weekend without his interruption, they could scare Sherlock away from the job but Ianto could also take advantage of the situation and drink with his friends again. Sherlock would never accept any help from him, so he could only impact Ianto and the best way for him to know what the boys would be doing would be giving them the alcohol, so he knew how much they were getting.

It was almost a certainty that they would drink alcohol left alone for a weekend on Halloween, so it would ease his mind knowing how much they were going to have access to.

***

Ianto was included in the conversation when his mam-gu and bampi were talking about wanting to go and meet up with his uncle. He could tell that they were very worried about him, especially since his Tad had brought up that he had gotten himself a job.

There had already been plans in place for Ianto and his friends to have a horror movie marathon on Halloween because it was occurring on a Saturday this year. Nobody wanted to change the plans that were already in place, but they were a bit hesitant to leave him alone giving his previous childhood.

They trusted him to be left alone and to come home with the house still standing, but they were worried in case he wouldn’t reach out if anything happened. He had a history of hiding if he was injured and if he was struggling with something, such as not asking for help from his friends and their parents when he was thrown out. He could see why there were so worried, but didn’t think it was problem and looked at his Tad to try and help him plead his case.

Mycroft didn’t quite know at what point in the conversation the discussion moved from his parents coming to stay in his London apartment on their trip to wee Sherlock to mother-hening Ianto. It was going to be the first time that they were leaving him, he usually left them to stay somewhere else that had adults in the building. They were worried about him being left alone, even though his friends would be there as well.

He had Ianto promise that if anything happened that contained an injury of any kind or something being broken, that he would ring him. He stated that he wanted to be told if Ianto had even got a papercut and that if there is an emergency, he needed to ring 999 and then him to inform him of what had happened.

Mycroft was mainly making his mummy more comfortable with leaving Ianto, but he did have his own concerns. He wanted his son to trust him and this was a situation that he could tell would set a precedent for the future. After all this was the first time he was being left by himself since he met Violet and William.

Mycroft wanted Ianto to know that he was concerned about his wellbeing, but he also wanted Ianto to be able to grow into his own person without being moulded into a shape that didn’t suit him. He didn’t want to be viewed as an overbearing absent father figure because he knew people usually didn’t stay in contact with them into adulthood as there is usually no love lost within the relationship.

It was quite an easy navigation of the situation that produced an outcome that was agreed upon by everyone in the room, much preferable to the other proposed solution of getting a friend of Violet’s to check in on the boys through the night. That had been adamantly objected by Ianto who had been saying that they didn’t want a stranger coming to the house when they were watching horror movies. One of the arguments that the boy put forward was that it might actually kill Ioan, it was said that he could have a heart attack.

***

After their conversation Mycroft took Ianto out for a walk, using this time to approach the topic of trying alcohol again. He wanted to know if they had any more plans to try things and he knew that if he tried to stop them, they would only become more secretive.

As they walked Ianto was asking questions about how different types of alcohols would taste, just to get a better idea of if he would like them when he got round to trying them. But he was getting very vague responses from his Tad. It soon became clear to him that Mycroft was a bit of a novice around alcohols that didn’t have an aura of class about them. Mycroft had taken time to learn about different wines and whiskeys to have small talk when at large gatherings for work.

Ianto had uncovered a large gap in Mycroft’s knowledge as he dint know much about any that he didn’t study, he rarely drank them. He supposed that he must have tried a variety of drinks when he was younger and went out on the rare occasion with his high school friends. But he didn’t remember much from those nights.

It was agreed that when the boys were staying at the cottage, they were only allowed to drink the alcohol that Mycroft had gotten for them. He wanted to prevent them mixing too many types of alcohol which would increase the risk of the throwing up. He then asked what they would like to drink for the upcoming movie night.

He was torn between choosing two different types, beer or tins. Mycroft said that he could talk to the boys before he made his decision. He would prefer that they choose the beers and not the pre mixed drinks, but they would end up drinking spirits at some point and at least in that form they were already measured out and it wasn’t like they were pouring the spirits themselves.

They made arrangements that Ianto would tell them their choices over the phone before the Halloween weekend and he would provide for them. He would only be doing this as long as they didn’t abuse the privilege of the access he was giving, a stance had been made on wanting them to learn and develop their own tastes without getting each other in danger.

From an outsider’s perspective it could look like Mycroft was enabling teenagers and giving them alcohol. But after experiencing Sherlock when he was ‘experimenting’ with no boundaries, he wanted to make sure that Ianto had less access and that he knew exactly what they were doing. He really didn’t wish for history to repeat itself.

***

Violet and William made the journey to London, a venture that they had rarely made since moving out to the cottage in Cardiff. They both loved the simple life outside of large towns and cities, preferring to live in the countryside outside of the rushing lives that exists. Although they visit the city on the rare occasion to see two of their children who had both chosen busier lifestyles that they would have ever enjoyed.

This trip was on a happier note than the previous times that they had went to see their youngest son. They had been informed that he had actually gotten himself a job, they needed to confirm it for themselves.

They had previously arranged through the week to meet with Sherlock at the flat that they had moved him into in February. Violet had wanted to check in to see the state of the apartment that he was living in, she had found that her son usually emulated how his mind was feeling in his surroundings. If Sherlock hadn’t been coping well, his surroundings tended to fall into disarray, but it was different to the mess that normally accumulated after him. It was easy for Violet to tell the difference between the two, she had experience picking up after a lazy boy and knew what the mess consisted of.

There was also a distinct smell that surrounded places that he had been living when at the worst of his drug use and Violet didn’t know if the smell came off the drugs or if was her son’s body rotting from what he had put it through and she didn’t really care to find out the answer. She wanted to be able to see and smell things for herself.

Once they arrived, they let themselves into the apartment. They had ensured that they would always be able to access the space, to be able to check in on Sherlock if it was needed. They were pleasantly surprised with what they were greeted with when the door opened.

The apartment was relatively tidy, better than either of them were expecting. There were loose papers scattered around the place and some dirty mugs sitting around the place. William had never seen one of Sherlocks living spaces be so clean before. He had been expecting clothes to be laying around the place but there wasn’t any in at least the room that the door opened up into.

Noises could be heard from the kitchenette area and after a few moments, Sherlock came into view in the doorway.

“Welcome, you are early”

Walking through the room with his dressing gown, looking at his watch-less wrist as if checking the time. He didn’t pay them much more attention as he walked past them to get to the bedroom, presumably to change clothes. William checked the time himself when they were left, noticing that they had arrived 15 minutes before they told him they would arrive.

The reaction was justifiable.

His reaction was actually very measured to what they had been seeing from him in the past. They didn’t expect much pleasantries from him, knowing that he didn’t really understand their use and thought that they were useless words. But at least he acknowledged their arrival.

Violet moved into the kitchenette, trying to figure out what they had interrupted and was greeted with a sink filled with empty plates and mugs. It was showing that he was actually picking up after himself and from the state of them, he was eventually washing them at some point. There was no evidence of fungi growing in the sink, showing that it had been sitting for no longer than a week.

There was cushion sitting on a chair near the window in the kitchenette. The window was laying open and an ashtray was sitting on the windowsill, indicating that Sherlock had definitely not lost all of his vices. He must have been sitting at the window waiting for them to arrive, smoking because he knew he wouldn’t be able to in front of his mummy.

“Did you find what you were looking for?”

Sherlock had gotten himself ready and had seen them looking at his little nook in the kitchen, seeing how his mummy was very obviously interested in his ashtray.

“Not at all sweetie and that is what we were hoping for.”

“Right…”

Sherlock didn’t believe them, knowing that they would prefer if he had given up all of his vices. But it didn’t seem that they were going to mention the ashtray or the smell that had blown into the apartment from the window.

“Why don’t we walk to lunch and talk about your new job on the way.”

William sensed that Sherlock was about to start getting defensive if they were to stay talking in the small kitchen for a longer amount of time. He wanted this day to be good and he wanted to learn about how his son’s life had changed over the past few months since he was in such a different state than he had been for years.

“I got offered a job, it’s nothing big only in the position as a research assistant”

“Who offered the position to you?”

William knew that if he asked questions that Sherlock wanted to answer, if he was talking about something that was currently interesting to him, he would get a lot more information and conversation out of him. He needed to ask questions that Sherlock would answer, but needed to get the information that Violet wanted. The boys tended to talk more to him if he asked about their interests.

“Mike Stamford, he was a guest lecturer that had an interesting lecture when I was at university. We exchanged emails because I had questions and he wanted to send me digital copies of his source papers. He now has a teaching position at St Bartholomew's Hospital, Barts, he is starting a study with a few PHD candidates.”

“Did he contact you about being one of the candidates?”

“He did offer it to me, but we both decided it would be better if I started in a position with a little bit less responsibility. I helped develop the idea for what I am assisting with now, Mike won’t let me into the building unless I’m sober.”

It surprised them a bit to hear that sherlock hadn’t wanted to do the PHD when it was offered to him, but it also showed that this Mike Stamford was actually looking out for their son as well.

“So what is the study that you are working on?”

“We are developing a database of how different injuries look on post-mortem bodies when they were made pre-mortem and also if the were inflicted post-mortem as well. The PHD student is working on it from the direction to help with autopsies and how the differences will help in the cases of criminal investigations.”

“That sounds like it would be a very useful thing to have, it’s a wonder that someone hadn’t already made one.”

“That’s because everyone else is stupid”

That answer made Violet chuckle, she had guessed Sherlocks answer as soon as the question had left her husband’s mouth. It was a predictable answer.

“Do you like what you are doing?”

It took Sherlock a few moments to come up with an answer, longer than his parents though it would take him.

“I think so, but sometimes there are boring parts of the day. Dr Hooper tries to use that time to try to talk to me.”

“Dr Hooper, is that another person overseeing the study?”

“No, she’s the PHD student. Already has the Dr title from completing medical school, she is trying to get more relevant qualifications in the area that she wants to work. Trying to be a pathologist.”

William looked over to see that Violet was very interested with what Sherlock was talking about, it was the first time he would be around a woman for long periods of time.

“What age is Dr Hooper, it sounds like she is already heavily qualified.”

“26, I believe that she was born the May before me.”

Violet almost tripped it came as a shock to her that he was spending his days around a woman who was his age. It was something he had never voluntary done, interacting with the other students was why he went off the rails in university.

“Oh, is she nice?”

“I’ve been told that she is very smart, but she is a stuttering mess when she tries to talk. Mike says that she is just like that when I’m in the room, he says that’s its because she gets nervous around new people.”

It was a small bit of information that Sherlock had given his mother, but she took it and filed it away. Her son was going to be spending his days around a girl his age that might already have a small bit of a crush on him. Hopefully he would be able to figure it out himself.

Violet had a bit of renewed hope that her sons were not as socially inept as she thought, she had a renewed interest that they would eventually find someone to spend their lives with. They knew that Mycroft had Aerfen, but that was a close working relationship that they would consider friendship. But Sherlock had never had someone like that.

The couple had worked well to get all of the information they wanted from their son, finding out that he was in fact sober and that he had a decent job that he was interested in. Although they could tell that he wasn’t completely out of the woods and may be at risk of relapsing if he felt like the work had gotten ‘too boring’ but at least a way to motivate him to get sober had been discovered.

He could only work on what interested him if he was sober.

It seemed that Sherlock had eventually started to try to get his life together, eventually.

***

Mycroft had gotten Ianto and his friends 2 4-packs of Carlsberg pints, with the idea that it was enough for them to have a good night but not enough for them to get too crazy. They were kept in his bedroom until mam-gu and bampi left to see his uncle on Saturday morning, then they were moved into the fridge to cool down.

The plan was to watch some movies tonight, camping in the main living room so that they could see if any trick-r-treaters were walking up to the house. This was to save themselves from heart failure, or at least to save Ioan and Sammy, he and Gethin weren’t startled as easily.

Violet had left a large supply of sweets for them to give out to any kids that had made their way to the cottage, but they had permission to eat away at them. She had also gotten them some food for them to heat up for snaking and a small spooky themed cake, wanting them to know that she was thinking about them during the holiday even if she wasn’t there to play host.

Ianto had told the boys that she was doing all of these things because she trusted them to be left in the house since they had proven that they could clean up after themselves the last time. It was understood that she would only trust them again if they left the house in an acceptable position when left without adult supervision, they knew not to make a mess.

The boys had been asked to come over whenever they were free and to bring a movie that they wanted to watch, horror themed of course. Ianto already had his picked out when coming home the day before, he was using the morning to get ahead in schoolwork because he had decided to try to take as many GCSEs as he could apply for. He didn’t even have physical classes to go to for some of them, only books. He just wanted to learn as much of anything that he could, placing the information into the library in his brain, filling up the ever-expanding bookshelves that only he had access to.

***

Eventually the boys all finally arrived and they set to arranging the living room into a place that they could take advantage of the bigger TV screen. The sofas had been moved back as close to the walls as they could get and the coffee table was placed in front of the chest that the TV was sitting on top of, with the idea that they could arrange their snacks on it like a feast.

When the space had been cleared on the floor, they began the careful extraction of the mattresses from the upstairs spare room and the one from Ianto’s bed, making sure not to damage or break anything on their journeys through the house until the ended up in their designated space that they had cleared in anticipation.

The outside began to darken and they decided to make some of the food that they had been given in preparation for the feast, that was the entire freezer bags of chicken dippers and potato wedges that Violet had left them and some cocktail sausages that Gethin’s mum had sent.

It was when they had everything ready and were waiting for the food to finish cooking, they decided to look at what movie everyone had brought and decide what order they should them in.

Gethin had decided to pick the movie ‘Halloween’ purely on the fact that it was the easy choice since it was the holiday that they were celebrating, everyone mutually decided that they should watch it first because of its name.

Sammy decided to be an asshole and get the scariest movie that he had ever heard of, he had brought ‘The exorcist’ Nobody was looking forward to watching it. They mutually decided that they should watch it second because it would give them time to calm down between watching it and going to sleep.

Ianto had chosen the movie ‘Carrie’ he knew that it was based on the book from Steven King and had been meaning to read it. He knew that he had read somewhere that Steven king himself had liked the movie, that he though that it represented the book in a way that he had wanted. It just seemed like it would be a good pick for their horror movie night. It was chosen to be watched third because the all mutually agreed that Ioans would go last because it was probably going to be the least scary.

Ioans had picked Scream, his justification was that it was still considered as a horror movie even if it was also classified as a slasher. It was mutually decided that it would be best to watch it last since it was considered the least scary out of all of the choices.

They had a plan for what they were to watch and their food was almost going to be ready, making the beginning of the movie night.

They placed the food into bowls, setting them on the coffee table and they all gathered round to eat while the movie played. Sharing the mattresses like they had before, Gethin with Sammy and Ioan with Ianto. Ianto had chosen a his place so that he would be able to see the path to the front door, the outdoor light would be able to show if anyone was to approach the house.

The first movie wasn’t too bad, they had all been able to eat their food whilst it was playing. There were a few jump scares that had got to them, but it wasn’t something they would lose sleep over. They had to pause the movie a few times for trick-r-treaters, it didn’t disrupt their night but let them have a break to be able separate the movie from reality.

After Halloween, Ianto decided to bring out the beers that his Tad had gotten them, distributing one can to each of them before pressing play on the second move, The Exorcist.

They were all drawn into the movie playing in front of them and they were lost in the suspense created by the movie.

And then as Karras jumped out of the window there was loud knocking at the door and the doorbell was ringing throughout the house.

The unexpected noise coming from a direction other than the TV made them all jump and yell out in terror.

Sammy managed to crawl over Gethin, away from the door, getting himself between Gethin and Ioan for protection. They were all rightfully startled.

Once Ianto got his bearings, he realised what had happened, they had gotten a bit too into the movie and forgotten about the risk of trick-r-treaters showing up and interrupting them in such an attention-grabbing scene that they had been suck into.

Whilst Ioan and Sammy were trying to remember to breath correctly, Ianto went to give the kids some sweets, leaving them in the care of Gethin. He left the movie playing in the background, knowing that they probably wouldn’t like to rewind it and watch the scene that the incident had happened at. Looking at the time, he knew that there wasn’t long left and since his attention was pulled away, he had sort of lost interest in watching the end. He assumed that the rest were of same mind.

He handed out fistfuls of the sweets from the bowl to two kids dressed in decorated trash bags, who were probably too old to be trick-r-treating. He assumed that they had gotten bored and begun decorating the bags when they saw younger kids getting sweets handed to them, it would explain why they were out such later than all of the rest of them.

When he arrived back into the room, he noticed that they had actually removed the CD and were sitting waiting for him. Sammy looked up to him as he entered the room, as if he was looking for confirmation that nothing scary happened to him when he was handing out sweets.

They mutually agreed that they needed a bit of a break before putting the next movie on and moved into the kitchen, looking through the stash of snacks for something to eat. They settled on cutting into the cake, it would be too awkward to eat when watching a movie anyway, and if they dropped anything the chocolate would make such a mess in their blankets and pillows.

They had mainly been too enthralled by the movie that they had forgotten about their beers that had been set on the table in front of them. Gethin had insisted that they set the drinks there to make sure that if anyone got startled, they would spill it over the place that they were going to be sleeping. Ianto and Ioan both could tell that he thought it would be something that Sammy would do, he tended to move around a lot when scared and Sammy was meant to be sharing a mattress with Gethin.

They soon learned that chocolate cake did not taste well when mixed with lukewarm beer.

They spent their time eating cake and teasing how Sammy was completely in love with Cerys. They tried to imitate the puppy eyes that he held when walking around after her in school. Thin in turn made Sammy vocalise that Gethin was asked out a few days prior by a girl in the year above but he had said no. Gethin had his reasons, all of which made Sammy question his sanity, but he came to realise that Gethin didn’t want a girlfriend at the current time, similar to Ianto.

Listening to how everyone understood that Ianto didn’t want a girlfriend because he was too busy and that Gethin wanted to develop his own life before sharing it with someone. It made Ioan start to realise that not everybody wanted to date someone like Sammy and Cerys, but Gethin and Ianto had talked about how they were waiting to meet someone in the future. He didn’t think he was ready to date currently, but he never thought that he would be dating anyone in the future either. He realised that he wasn’t completely strange, but he didn’t have the same reasons as Ianto and Gethin. He needed more time to really figure it out, but he was glad that nobody was rushing him and that he wasn’t the centre of the relationship conversation.

They eventually returned to the living room, to the den that they had created, to watch the next movie with a fresh cold beer. They had came to the consensus that the beer was less sweet compared to the cider that they had before, but it was nice in its own way. Ianto privately thought that it tasted like how bread smelt, but he did not dislike it.

Carrie was the next movie and it was the one that Ianto had been looking forward to. He thought that it was an amazing movie, but it made him wonder how much of the bullying would actually happen in a school in America. They didn’t have much bullying in their school because usually everyone knew everyone and it would get back to your parents if you were acting like that, you couldn’t do anything like that in a tight-knit community like those who lived in Cardiff for a long time.

There were a few scenes that made them jump, but it didn’t scare them like the movies before.

They then watched the last movie, snacking on sweets and crisps. It was a funny movie to watch after all of the movies that they had watched before, in the fact that it didn’t take itself too seriously while also having a very intriguing storyline. The fact that there was someone completely dissecting the horror movie concept in the middle of the movie made them think back to the other movies, almost proving what the character was correct in his deductions.

It was the perfect movie to end on before going to sleep.

***

The boys had a nice long sleep in, through till the afternoon when they decided to clean up before making food.

They didn’t know when Violet and William would be coming back home and wanted to make sure that they would still be welcome at the cottage. It was the best place for all of them to meet, there were no annoying siblings or overbearing parents here.

Ianto made sure to hide all evidence of the beer, making sure to crush up the empties and put them inside a crisp packet, making sure that Violet wouldn’t be able to see them if she looked into the bin. His Tad told him to make sure that Violet didn’t find out about the alcohol, not knowing how she would react.

It was a good thing that they had already tidied up because the two Holmes came through the door when the boys were sitting down eating their breakfast at a time that Violet would consider lunch late. She made sure to tell them that they had already wasted half a day.

Judging his mam-gu’s emotions, Ianto could tell that his uncle must have been in good condition when they had met him. They were very obviously happy and it looked like they appeared younger, they must have been so worried about Sherlock but it seems like a lot of those worried had been eased since he last saw them.

Chapter Text

It was Christmas Eve and Mycroft was attempting to finish his yearly summery of what he had been observing while carrying out his duties throughout the year. He found that doing these helped if anything developed and others required the information he help, if he was already pre-occupied it was a failsafe but that didn’t make it any less boring.

It felt like he was having to re-live a year of work again. He had meant to start each of the documents either at the start of the year for things he had been looking at for years, or to start them when a situation made itself known to him.

Every time he opened a file; he realised that he had let the continuous contributions die out. He had lost interest around March and was now having to deal with the consequences that he had otherwise tried to avoid.

There had been many minor things that had the potential to develop into much bigger things in the future, so he was planning to keep a close and careful eye on them. Throughout the year he had seen things being done by the United States and their military services that made him feel very concerned, especially with what was happening with the middle east. It required him to keep close tabs on everything that the country had done throughout the year, especially since the accusations that had been placed before the president, Bill Clinton.

He had been working on his summaries for most of December as it had been a very busy year, but a not so busy month. He had time to catch up before reaching his self-set deadline at the turn of the year. But there were a few that he just couldn’t get himself motivated enough to attempt to complete, such as the American Military movements and the one on Torchwood.

He had just finished completing a summery of everything that had been happening within Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland with the Good Friday agreement, he had been working on it for days because it had already caused many things to happen on the island. The decommissioning of the paramilitaries and having to deal with the people imprisoned by the troubles caused a large headache for everyone who was working with Northern Ireland.

He could almost predict that there would be court cases because of the treatment of people in the future, because of what had happened in the H block and everything else that should never have been able to take place. There would also have to be lengthy investigations into many of the incidences that had happened during the troubles and the Omagh bombing which meant that there were people not sticking to the agreement since it had only occurred in the August just past and everything was signed at easter. Then it was the matter of the many people whose bodies were still missing.

He wanted to be ready for when they happened, even if it will be years before the investigations would be due to start.

The next file he was going to attempt to complete was one that he didn’t have much information on, Torchwood.

He had been putting it off because he still had too many unanswered questions about the organisation. All that he knew was that they had a connection to the people who went by the title ‘The Doctor’ who had been around in the shadows of important events for hundreds of years. The men seemed to be immortal.

He also knew that they wouldn’t talk to UNIT, another organisation that dealt with things not from this world. But at least he knew UNIT’s stance on the extraterrestrial lifeforms that they came in contact with. He may not agree with UNIT’s practices, but at least they were telling them what they were doing, it was still radio silence from Torchwood.

The only thing that he had about Torchwood was that they weren’t very nice to someone many years ago, the forgotten diary entry that was found stabilising the table in that abandoned building. The only name they had in relation to that piece of paper was the word ‘Boe’ the rest of the name was damaged from being worn away against the floor. He had looked into the name and found nothing that could help him, but it would be reasonable to assume that it may have been written by someone who came from the future, giving the fact that it was talking about how earth was meant to change in the 21st century.

He made note to mention that ‘Boe’ may not even be the full name, they could be missing some letters. Making it even harder to find who could have written it. The mannerisms of the handwriting had been analysed and others confirmed his assumptions that ‘Boe’ was terrified when writing the entry, it made him scared about what they would find out about Torchwood.

Although he had no proof, he could feel it in his bones that they were doing something that they would always want to keep hidden. He wanted to know what they were trying to keep from him.

He needed to asses the treat level of the organisation functioning in the middle of London, they had the potential of putting millions of lives at risk.

***

After summarising all he had found out about torchwood he decided to make a list of all of the questions that he had about the organisation as well as noting down his own thoughts about them as well. He may not have observations, but it was the things that he hadn’t seen that was worrying him. It was essentially a completely secret organisation that was operating within his city and they wouldn’t talk to him.

The whole situation was annoying him.

As soon as he finished, he decided that since there were no serious situations that needed to be dealt with in the world, there was no developing situations either, he let everyone go home early for Christmas.

He wanted to go home for Christmas and he wanted to get there before the snow was too thick. It had been on the radio all day about how the snow was going to disrupt travel. He wanted to get home to his son tonight, not wanting to risk travelling in the morning.

***

Ianto was spending Christmas Eve with Rhiannon again, in Steven’s house.

The atmosphere was different this time and Ianto didn’t know why, they were alone together like the year before but something was different and he couldn’t figure it out.

Steven and his mum weren’t in the house, but he could guess that she would be out singing with her carolling group dressed in tinsel, like she was last year, and he was just glad that he didn’t have to deal with Steven.

It was difficult for them to meet up often, their schedules just didn’t let them.

They could feel that their lives had started to drift apart and they didn’t want to drift too far away, Ianto was the only family that Rhiannon could talk to since her Dad was in prison because of him. Even though he knew it wasn’t his fault, he could still feel bad for her and the situation that she is in.

When thinking about it, their drifting apart might be the reason that he felt a weird atmosphere when he was in the house. He decided to try to avoid thinking about the strange feeling, trying to enjoy the time that he was spending with his big sister.

They decided to get another Chinese, carrying the tradition that they had started the year before. It was almost set in stone that they would get the same order that they would always get. Sticky BBQ ribs a gravy chip for Rhi, and a half and half, curry sauce peas and onions for Ianto and a portion of chicken balls to share

Ianto began feeling a bit sad on their walk to order the food, he knew it was because he reminded himself that his situation was much better than Rhi’s, he wanted to do something to remind the of their mum and a thought came into his head.

He left Rhi in the Chinese with at “Trust me, you’ll like what I’m going to get” and made his way round the corner to the shop.

He wouldn’t let Rhi see what he had gotten with promises to let her see it when they finish their dinner.

***

They had once again taken over the entire kitchen table with their feast of Chinese food and once again they had managed to eat every single thing that they had ordered.

After eating Ianto set about cleaning up the mess they had made and set up his surprise when Rhiannon was out of the room, smoking at the back door.

When she returned into the kitchen she was met with a small, single portion of Christmas pudding sitting in the middle of the table beside a snack pot of custard. Two spoons sat at either side of the offering and Ianto sat looking at her with a soft smile, anticipation in his eyes.

It was enough to make her cry.

At the end of the tradition that they had created Ianto had decided to get the food combination that they had eaten with their mum on her last Christmas.

Seeing his sister cry when she realised why he had gotten the dessert, he could feel his own eyes well up. They still weren’t completely healed from what had happened, but they had each other and they could help each other try to begin healing. Ianto got up from his seat, coming round the table to hug his big sister, knowing that they both just needed a hug and to calm down enough to be able to eat their dessert.

“You could have told me that you had gotten dessert, I wouldn’t have ate those last few chips if I had known.” Rhiannon had begun complaining about being too full to share the small dessert that he had surprised her with. Even with her complaints, they managed to eat the dessert, slowly, remembering how they managed to eat one of the very large ones a few years prior.

***

The siblings stayed in the house in front of the fire in the living room talking about their lives and reminiscing of days that had past. They had realised that unless they talked to each other about their mum, they wouldn’t talk about her at all. Ianto had read that you could forget aspects of a person if you didn’t remind yourself about them often. He didn’t want either of them to start to forget mum.

As they talked, they had noticed that snow had started to fall outside. It was creating a very nice atmosphere to stay inside and to talk, but then they noticed that the snow had begun to fall faster with larger flakes. It made Rhiannon start to worry that the weather might be taking a turn for the worse and that Ianto might have trouble getting back to the cottage if he stayed any later.

They both studied the snow and knew that nature was telling them that Ianto should leave, otherwise it might end up getting dangerous for him. Goodbyes are quickly said so Ianto could get home safe.

Ianto ran back to the cottage using the longer route that he knew would have some type of street lighting in place. He moved quickly with his coat held tight around his neck to make sure a rough snowflake didn’t shock him by getting blown in under his coat and top. Running against the flurries being lit up by the orange streetlights was cool, he knew that he would appreciate the memory to look back on when he was somewhere warm and out of the snow.

***

Mycroft and Aerfen had arrived at the cottage just before the light, soft snowfall started to become heavier. If they had left London any later than they did, it would have been very likely that they would have run into complications. There was a reason that people were being told to not travel long distances with the snow.

Aerfen had joined Violet and William in sharing a bottle of wine that they had in the cupboard. Mycroft had recognised it as one that he had bought them for their last wedding anniversary. He was glad that they were actually getting round to trying it. He had decided to have a hot chocolate instead.

They had spent the night talking with his parents after finding out that Ianto would be out with his sister, as he had been the year before. They hadn’t expected him to be in the house when they arrived, but Mycroft had wanted to see his son before retiring to bed and sometimes wine made him feel sleepy.

Eventually his parents decided to go to bed and Aerfen decided to go up to her room to read a book that she had brought with her. Mycroft had noticed that she was obsessed with reading a series of books nowadays, she had been finding her reading them when they had some downtime at work but he couldn’t find the appeal of books that were marketed towards teens and young adults.

He was left alone, waiting for Ianto to return.

As he watched the weather get worse, he was getting more and more worried about Ianto. He knew that it was expected for Ianto to be back late because he was with his sister, he hoped that they both had realised that the weather was becoming dangerous.

***

Eventually Mycroft heard someone come through the front door and he could hear shoes being removed before they came down the hallway.

Ianto rounded the corner and was greeted by his Tad sitting waiting for him in the living room. He was taking off his coat with the intention to drape it over the back of a seat near the fire to dry it off.

He hadn’t been expecting his Tad or Aerfen to be at the cottage until the next morning and he had missed the car in the driveway because of the heavy snow that he had been running through. It was a shock that his Tad had gotten here early.

Once he had gotten his wet coat off, he greeted his Tad with a hug.

“Everyone else has retired to bed but I wanted to stay up to make sure that you managed to get home safely.” Mycroft explained where everyone else was when he saw Ianto look around the room, probably looking to see if Aerfen was in the room.

“I thought you were going to come in the morning, why was there a change in plans?” Ianto began asking, Mycroft didn’t think much of the questions because he knew that Ianto just wanted to know why things were different from what they had told him earlier in the week.

“We wanted to get here tonight instead of getting stuck in traffic tomorrow, we didn’t want to risk not getting here in time for breakfast.” The answer was accepted without further questions.

They sat on the sofa in front of the fire and Mycroft could see that Ianto was trying to warm himself up, a result of being outside in the cold weather. So, he offered to make them some special hot chocolate (the special part was a dash of the baileys that he saw in the cupboard earlier). He wanted to have a nice festive drink with his son while talking.

He knew it was a dangerous game to treat his son in ways that others would treat friends. But because of their small age gap and the little time they had known each other, he found that he was more comfortable with their informal parent-child relationship.

When Ianto had warmed up and the hot chocolates were done, they decided that it was late enough to go to bed. They knew that they would have to be up before 10am for the breakfast that Violet was going to be making.

***

On Christmas morning they all gathered in the kitchen, around the table dressed in matching Christmas pj’s. Ianto made a point to take photos of the day on his digital camera that he had gotten the year before; he had taken to using the camera at any time that he was gathered with either his friends or with his family. He wanted to have tonnes of photos to look if anyone else passes away, since he only had one of his own mum.

It was nice to have a day where his Tad and Aerfen weren’t going to be called away, knowing that they wouldn’t be able to leave anyway because of the state of the roads.

They ate their pancakes and porridge with their own personal topping choices, similar to the year before William and Mycroft had an argument about the savoury and sweet toppings.

Even though he could see the similarities between the years, Ianto noted that the family felt more together this year. Aerfen was slightly louder than last year and was a lot more comfortable talking with Violet and William. Ianto could see that she was a lot more comfortable around the family, that she had came to the realisation that she had been fully accepted by everyone at the table. Like a daughter by Violet and William, like a sister to Mycroft instead of a coworker and Ianto felt she was like a mother figure to him.

He had come to a decision to ask her about it.

***

They gave gifts after breakfast in the nice, warm living room. There were less presents under the tree compared to the year before, Ianto was thankful that they hadn’t gone overboard this year again. He preferred getting things that he would actually get use out of, he was still thankful that they had gotten him so much the year prior but he was glad he would have less things to try to put away this year.

Everyone had gotten some form of socks and everyone had gotten Mycroft a tie to add to his collection, it looked like this would start to become a situation where they would get him the funniest tie each year. Ianto had to make a note to get a gag tie for the next year.

Ianto was surprised to find out that Aerfen had given him three similar photo albums, looking like a encyclopaedia Brittanica on the spine but was labelled in gold the years 1997, 1998 and 1999. She mentioned that it would be best to have his collection in similar albums with the promise of getting him in the future to keep his collection. Ianto couldn’t wait to transfer the photos into the 1997 album and to get the 1998 photos printed off.

Mycroft had gotten Ianto two tickets to the England vs Wales rugby match, like the year before. But this year there was another envelope containing 5 tickets to the Wales vs Ireland match for him to attend the match with Ianto and his friends, hoping to get to know his sons’ friends a bit.

Ianto was over the moon with his gifts and couldn’t wait to tell his friends so he excused himself to be able to tell them the good news over the phone.

***

After relaxing with their gift opening and a cup of tea while they watched the Queens speech, Violet moved into the kitchen to start preparing the Christmas dinner and the others decided to break out the chess board to have a few games.

While Mycroft and William were playing Ianto decided it would be the best time to have his conversation with Aerfen. They were sitting on the opposite side of the room, watching the ones engrossed in their game when Ianto began talking to her quietly.

“Aerfen, I want you to know that I feel like you are a large part of my family with Tad, Mam-gu and Bampi. You have felt like a mother figure to me for a while and I would like to ask you if I could call you Ma or Mam?” He could see Aerfen begin to tear up a bit, but he had to continue. “If you would like to be called mum I could call you it, but I would like to keep It for my first mum.”

Aerfen was trying to control her emotions to be able to answer him and she could tell that he thought her silence was a potential refusal when he started to explain his reasonings for the options that he was giving her. She quickly grabbed him into a hug to comfort him and to also give herself some time to answer.

When she was able to answer she got to eye level with the teenager and answered him. “I would love to go by whatever you wanted to call me. You helped give me a name before for everyone to call me, you are allowed to call me something different if you wish. I already feel like I have had a hand in raising you, obviously not as much as Violet, but if you want to I would be honoured with a title like ma or mam from you. I would let you pick whichever feels more natural for you to say, but I have been waiting for you to ask me since you called me Mum in the sandwich shop near the beginning of the year. I wanted it to be your choice that you made in your own time.”

She kissed him on the forehead as he started crying with her acceptance and her acknowledgement of the situation in the sandwich shop before the rugby match earlier in the year.

His crying had caught the attention of the two chess masters across the room, drawing them away from their match. But Aerfen just dismissed them with a look and mouthed that she had it handled. That seemed to keep their questions at bay, at least for a little while.

Just as Ianto began to calm down, Violet called from the kitchen informing them that the dinner was ready.

***

They were once again sitting round the kitchen table, eating the food that Violet had prepared and talking about how it was all delicious, like it always is. They knew that she loved it when they vocalised how much they liked the food, so they made sure to mention it.

As there was a lull in conversation, Ianto found the perfect opportunity to disclose his new nickname for Aerfen. He wanted some more gravy and the boat was closest to her.

“Ma... Can you pass me the gravy?” Aerfen caught on immediately and wordlessly followed Ianto’s lead by handing him what he had asked for. They continued to eat their food as nothing much had happened, letting the others come to their own conclusions and hoping that they wouldn’t have too many questions.

Violet caught on after a split second, initially thinking that Ianto was asking her until she saw Aerfen move. She had heard him try out a term months before but neither of them had seemed to talk about it. Now it was obvious that they had had a conversation about it and they were both comfortable with it.

William heard and saw everything that had happened, he had been listening to their conversation when he was trying to distract Mycroft over chess. It just meant to him that Ianto was feeling close to Aerfen which was reasonable since he had known her as long as he had known the rest of them. It also made it clear that Aerfen was feeling comfortable within his family. It wasn’t his place to talk about it, but he did feel proud for both of them.

Mycroft was the last for the news to hit home and he was confused. He was glad that Ianto was close to Aerfen, but he didn’t want to date her and she definitely wouldn’t like to date him. He wasn’t her type.

He was the first to talk, mostly to clarify the confusion that he was feeling.

“But I’m not dating Aerfen” This caused everyone to start laughing, purely from fact that the smartest guy in the room hadn’t realised that it was a result of his son finding a mother figure and accepting her, instead of accepting a partner of his Tad.

“We know!” Ianto and Aerfen eventually answered him after laughing at his misunderstanding.

Violet took pity on her son when she noticed that he was still confused at the situation.

“I don’t think he sees it like you have a romantic relationship with Aerfen, I think it would be because he feels like she is a motherly figure to him. Like you are acting like a father figure to him, it doesn’t mean that you need to view things like a typical family because we all know that this family is not fully normal.”

“Tried being in a nuclear family before, didn’t work out too well. I like what we have now.” Ianto’s statement made Mycroft stop and think. His mummy had explained things well and then Ianto confirmed that he was seeing their family dynamic different to what they had all been raised to emulate.

It gave him more to think about, but he knew that it shouldn’t change how he sees Aerfen but it might make him be more inclined to ask her to come join them on their father-son days, or maybe to encourage bonding between the two in other ways. It gave him more to think about, but he did realise that Ianto had brought them together as a closer family unit.

***

Ianto spent the rest of the night relaxing in the living room, laying on the floor in front of the fire watching the Christmas TV programme, exhausted with the emotional roller-coaster that he had been through throughout the day.

He was alternating between watching whatever was on and going through the photos on his camera, deleting the rubbish pictures so they wouldn’t be a wasted photo print when he went to the shop to get them printed. He had transferred the 1997 photos to the new album and was spending time making sure that they were organised properly.

He wasn’t too interested in what the adults were doing around him.

As the adults sat around digesting their dinner, they sat watching how Ianto was completely absorbed in his photos, glancing up to the Tv during interesting parts. He was unaware of how they were all looking at him with doting eyes.

Or well, Violet, Willaim and Aerfen were watching Ianto arrange his photos in the presents that she had gotten him. Mycroft was glancing between his son and Aerfen and was realising how much he had missed. Aerfen was looking at the boy like he had seen his mum look at Sherlock when they were younger, what they were trying to explain to him earlier had become obvious to him.

***

They were all woken up on the 26th by someone knocking on the front door at a time too early for a Saturday, or the day after Christmas. It was around 10am.

This got everyone in the Cottage’s attention, bringing them out into the hallway from where they had been quietly resting, or sleeping.

Violet and William were brought out from the kitchen where they had been eating their breakfast and reading their newspapers. Mycroft had been brought out of the living room where he had been trying to do a bit of work on his laptop while the house was quiet. Aerfen had been brought down the stairs from her room when she had been relaxing with a cup of coffee, a beauty mask applied and the next book in the series. Ianto had been brought out of a nice dream and walked into the kitchen, following William and Violet through to the front door.

Mycroft reached the door first, opening it to two police officers.

The police officers were invited into the house as soon as Mycroft noticed that they weren’t there for anyone in the house, but to deliver some news.

“We are here to deliver some news to a Ianto Jones.” Ianto could feel that the men weren’t there for a good reason and he remembered one from his ‘arrest’ over a year prior.

They sat him down in the kitchen at the table. Violet tried to be polite and offer them tea or coffee, but they declined with the reasoning that they might not want them to stay after delivering the news.

Ianto heard what they were saying but it felt like he was underwater when they were speaking. His Tad held his shoulder, grounding him as he was processing what the policemen were saying to him.

Dafydd was dead!

His old excuse for a step father had passed away late on Christmas Eve. It turned out that the man had been battling liver disease, probably as a result of his overindulgence of alcohol. He had passed away around the time that Ianto had returned to the cottage from his dinner with Rhiannon and was greeted with his Tad and special hot chocolate.

He had been drinking with his Tad, warming up after coming home after spending the night with his sister. It was almost poetic knowing that he spent the night feeling so loved when the man died alone in pain in prison.

Ianto didn’t know how to feel, he was numb.

He was sad for Rhiannon, this made her an orphan but he didn’t feel anything for the death of the man that had left permanent scars all over his body while he was growing up.

He was conflicted with his emotions when he felt himself get sad, but this was the death of the man that his own mum loved at one point when she was alive. He was mourning the person that his mum had fell in love with, mourning the man that should have been a dad to him and Rhiannon.

Mycroft reassured him that he would organise everything for them, it would mostly be for Rhiannon.

He hoped that his sister would be able to get through losing another parent.

Chapter Text

Mycroft had made a mistake!

That was all he was thinking when he was driving back from Cardiff with four 15-year-olds in the car, all of them dressed in their country’s colours, singing along to the songs on the radio.

The singing was better than the fighting.

He had been informed by his mummy that the one he had come to learn was Sammy had been picking fights with the rest of them when waiting for him to come to pick them up. The reason why was obvious.

There were 3 teenagers dressed in red and 1 teenager dressed in green. The one dressed in green had taken it upon himself to inform the others that his team was going to win, the rest didn’t agree.

And the arguing went round in circles, giving Mycroft a headache.

It made him think back to when he was asking Aerfen if she had wanted a ticket to join them, she had only giggled and told him that she could think of a hundred other things that she would rather do. He should have understood that as a warning that the day would be very draining for any adults involved.

He should of listened to what had been unsaid, but he didn’t and now he was paying that price.

He had thought that Ianto surrounded himself with like-minded friends, but he was wrong. It seems that Ianto can fit into situations in any way he deemed fit. However, he wasn’t hiding parts of himself around the boys, they accepted him the way that he presented himself. Mycroft had noticed that his son was genuinely having fun with his friends and it was amazing to see it first-hand, even if he had to medicate himself to be around the boys.

***

They made it to London in good time, getting to the Wembley stadium and parked close by without much hassle.

The match that they were going to was considered to be a Wales home match, Ireland away. But the national stadium in Cardiff was getting rebuilt in preparation for the world cup, was going to be reopened as the Millenium stadium as a result. It was the reason why he had to travel to the Wembley stadium with 4 teenage boys in his car, over 2 hours of a car ride stuck in a small metal container.

He got the boys up to a suite like the one he had been in before with Ianto the year prior. He was glad to have the boys separated from the rest of the fans because they were a mixed team group and he wasn’t sure that he would be able to stop Sammy if he tried to antagonise other Welsh supporters.

He definitely didn’t want to return the boy to his family with the after-effects of a brawl dotted across his body. That would probably ensure that he wouldn’t be able to take the children out again.

He had learnt over the past 2 hours that Sammy and Ioan were the most likely to bicker, Ianto was more likely to pacify them but if it amuses him, he will add fuel to the fire. Gethin was more likely to watch them, edging them on, and then he would physically separate them if it got too far.

It could be seen that the small group could self-govern and was relatively balanced, even if they were 15-year-olds.

Ianto had brought his camera with him and Mycroft couldn’t help himself and took a few photos of the boys sitting on the balcony, looking at the field and away from him. He made sure to take a photo of them unaware before he got their attention to smile for a photo.

One of the other people who they were sharing the suit with noticed that they were taking photos and offered to take one of the boys with him. Mycroft initially turned their offer down, but the boys had heard it and they decided to gang up and peer pressure him into joining them in a photo.

After thinking about it, the photos would be very nice to have as a memory of the match in the future. It was the first rugby match that all of the boys were going to watch together, in person.

***

As the first half of the game progressed, they all came to learn that it was very clear where the game was heading. That, and Sammy was an insufferable winner. The first half ended with a score of 16-6 in Irelands favour.

With that score, the Welsh boys tried to explain to Mycroft during the break that if they lose this game they were at risk of getting the wooden spoon. They then had to explain that this meant that Wales were at risk of losing the entire 5 nations, they had lost their game with Scottland in the first week. It was only the second week and their team were at risk of losing the entire thing already.

On the other hand, Mycroft came to learn why Sammy was so excited about Ireland winning. His team had a large chance of winning a triple crown if they won this match.

It was a very interesting situation where both teams really wanted the win, they would tell you that they needed the win.

Mycroft learned that it was a very interesting match that he had brought the boys to, and he was regretting it a bit that he was letting all of them to stay at his house later. If they fell out over the result it would be a nightmare.

***

The second half started and within 10 minutes of the game resuming, at the 50th minute of the game, the score was at 26-6 to Ireland. It was looking very very bad for Wales and Ianto was becoming disheartened, so he reached out to hold his Tad’s hand to comfort him.

But something happened, something that could have been considered magic. Wales started to fight back and they made ground.

It was amazing to watch, how Wales finally found their footing and they started to gain points with ease and quickly. Ireland still played strong, but Wales changed their game and it had everyone on the edge of their seats.

By the 80th minute the final score was 29-23, Ireland had stayed in the lead but it was amazing to see Wales flourish and gain so much.

Everyone was happy with how the game ended, even if Wales lost, they had such a good end to their game. It would be hard to be angry or sad. Sammy was also ecstatic because his team had won.

Mycroft was glad that everyone was happy with the game that they had just watched, it was a much better result than if Ireland had completely dominated the game. He checked in with the boys to make sure that they were content with the result, that there wasn’t a risk of them having a big fight later in the night. He wanted to avoid having to drive to Cardiff again in one day, especially in the middle of the night.

***

On the car ride home, it seemed to dawn on Sammy that he might have been a bit too much when he was celebrating is countries win, all of his friends had lost.

“Well bais, I know that you guys lost and all. But at least you still have the All-Ireland trophy with you.”

This made everyone sit in confusion at what the boy was talking about. He had looked around to all of the, believing that they had understood what he was referencing to. And then he came to the conclusion that he had to explain to them.

“It’s the trophy for the All-Ireland county football competition. Gaelic football, not soccer football. The trophy is called Sam’s cup, or the Sam Maguire.
Sorry, thought you knew about it. It seems like Ianto knows everything and it is strange when he doesn’t know something that I am talking about.”

There was a murmuring from the rest of the boys when they realised that their bone-headed friend had been talking about himself. Mycroft thought about it for a few minutes and then entered himself into the conversation.

“Are both your parent’s big fans of the game?”

“Not really, I’m from a part that is split into two communities. Its mostly only one side that follows the game, my Dad is a fan and my mum is from the other community. It was a mixed marriage and it was one of the reasons we moved away, that and my brother was getting into trouble.
My mum was raging when she found out why my Dad was so happy when she suggested to name me Samuel. From what I’ve heard, she found out about the cup during the final a few months after I was born.”

Mycroft had already known why the Maguires had moved to Cardiff, he had looked into the lives of his son’s friends. It didn’t seem as though the were a threat to his son, just people trying to give their kids a quieter life than where they had been raised. The town that they lived in had been quite literally split through the middle and had such a problem with bombs that cars weren’t allowed to be left in the town without someone in it. Hopefully after the signing of the good Friday agreement that he had observed, the town would begin to change. But he completely understood why they had moved.

“Did she still like the name after she found out?”

“Yeah, she soon came around. I’m her little prize!”

That sappy answer had lost the rest of the boys and they voiced their annoyance to the answer.

It also made Mycroft wonder why the boy was the only one of them that had a girlfriend. He was positively annoying and yet, he was the only one that was dating someone.

Teenagers still didn’t make any sense to him, but he knew that he had to make sure that the teasing was taken in good faith. He didn’t want any of the boys under his care to feel like they were being bullied by someone that they considered a friend. Through his probing he realised that this was how friends sometimes talked, that they all knew that there were no hard feelings.

It irked him in a way that Sammy had answered all of his questions without thought, like the kid was used to answering questions about ‘the trouble’ that had been occurring. He didn’t want to as any more that others might have asked, the child had obviously been asked way too many questions before.

***

When he got them to the manor he tried to tell them that there was enough room for them all to have their own rooms, but the 3 boys that weren’t his own were awed at the sight of the building before them. He soon learned that they were more comfortable staying in the same room when on their sleepovers, the houses that they usually stayed in didn’t have the room for them to be separate and they had grown comfortable with the sleeping arrangements that they were used to.

He could soon hear them attempting to move one of the other mattresses from one of the other rooms to the room that Ianto had taken over. He hoped that they had been smart enough to choose the room across from Ianto to take from, it would be less likely for them to hit the walls.

He let the boys be, trying to process the day that he had just experienced. He fully understood why most parents became functioning alcoholics from just spending one day with teenagers, he doesn’t even want to think about how worse it would be with younger children.

In one afternoon, it cemented the idea that one of Mycroft’s worst nightmares would be attending a children’s birthday party, like at one of those disease-ridden soft play areas. It would be unlikely that he would make it out of one of those places alive or of sound mind.
As he could hear the boys talking, echoing through the walls, he knew that they could get his attention if they yelled out. He decided that he needed to talk about his day to someone. It wasn’t often that he found himself wanting to talk to someone. He couldn’t call his parents or Aerfen as he didn’t want to admit defeat after going up against the boys all day. That meant that there was only other option to call, and it wasn’t someone that he talked to often.

***

The phone was ringing for a long time, and just when Mycroft was about to hang up, the phone stopped ringing. It had been answered.

“Hello?”

“Christopher, hello. Sorry about calling out of the blue, but do you have time to talk for a bit?”

“I have time to talk, but David is making dinner so I will probably have to leave abruptly when I am called.”

“Completely understandable.”

“I am guessing that this is a social call.”

“Absolutely, I just need to vent about my day to someone and don’t want to tell my assistant or family about it.”

“If you are sure that you are able to tell me without it risking my life, then go ahead.”

“No, this is of a personal nature. Do you remember when I introduced you to my son last year at that rugby match?”

“The Welsh boy? Yes.”

“Today was the Wales versus Ireland match and I brought Ianto and three of his friends. One of them is an Ireland supporter and the rest are Welsh supporters. They are stay over at my house tonight, remember my Uncle Rudy’s house, he gave it to me.”

“You sound like a very good Father from what you are telling me, what happened?”

“It’s just a bit much. Even when I was younger, I couldn’t stand being around other teenagers for a long time. I think I misjudged how hard it was to control teenagers from how easy I had found raising Ianto from the time I have known him.”

Mycroft could hear Chirstopher laughing over the line, the man probably could understand what he had been through all day. He could hear another voice over the line in the distance, David checking in to see what was making Christopher laugh. Mycroft could hear how his old friend explained his complain to his partner. He was saying that Mycroft had called him to complain about parenthood and that he would tell him more when the dinner was finished and it made Mycroft feel slightly better that they were treating it like a natural complaint. Reinforcing his suspicions of why Aerfen had laughed at him when he was getting the tickets.

“The boys are lovely, its just that they are so loud. – I wanted Ianto to know that I am interested in his life.”

“Just by doing something like this you are saying a lot more that you might even realise. Many parents don’t really do things like this when their kids are your Ianto’s age. They probably think that you are a young cool dad. You have a secret job in the government, a large house and have brought them to London to watch a rugby match that they all were very interested in it. They might even think of you like an older sibling of Ianto’s. Trust me, Ianto will love you for making the effort.”

“When you put it like that, it does make more sense.” Mycroft let out a large sigh when he realised what Christopher was telling him. “But I have told them what I do for work, I am just in a minor position in the government.”

“When adults hear that, they think of paperwork and office work, but when teenagers hear things like that they try to figure out what you actually do. To them it sounds like a lie because nobody would choose a boring job like yours, they probably think that you are a spy or something.”

It made Mycroft hold his breath for a few seconds, processing how the boys might be seeing him. But he had to play this off in a way that his childhood friend wouldn’t think he was lying. “I wish I was a spy, they are always going to sunny countries. I could travel more than to just my office.”

“It does sound good doesn’t it. I think I hear my name being called so I have to go, but I’ll see you at the England and Wales match in April, right?”

“Yes”

“See you then… James Bond!”

Chirstopher hung up on him and he was left to his own thoughts again. More confident that he hadn’t made a mistake bringing the boys to the match because even if he had a headache, he knew that they were having a good time.

***

After his reassuring phone call with Christopher he decoded to try to complete some work that he had sitting in his office in the manor. He was trying to fill time, waiting for the boys to tell him that they were ready for food. He could still hear them struggling with the rearranging of furniture upstairs and he didn’t want to go up and see what they were doing.

All he could do is hope that they weren’t destroying the house. He knows that mummy allowed the boys free reign of her house, but he has his suspicions that she had a soft spot for Ianto and loved the fact that he had friends around the house. She probably wouldn’t care too much if they left their mark in the cottage, she probably was secretly wishing for it so she could look at it whenever she visits Wales in the future to remind her of the boys. To remind her of having a house filled with laughing teenagers that she never experienced when he was younger, with her own children.

***

Eventually Mycroft heard something akin to a heard of elephants coming down the stairs and the entry to his office darkened by 4 figures. They had come down to tell him that they wanted to order pizza and were wondering what to order for him. The plan was that they would order the phone and he would go and collect it for them, he was obviously paying.

He would even let it be mentioned that the boys would pay for their food when under his supervision. He had heard stories about families doing something like that, it was obviously rude but also considered like social suicide within parental groups. He had overheard stories of colleagues (underlings) that had been ostracised after doing something of the sorts.

Mycroft had been trying to get parenting advice from others learned experiences, but without telling them that he had gained a child of his own. He had been trying to be more interested in other peoples lives, mainly to gain some information that could be useful to himself. He didn’t get that much relevant information about parenting doing this, but he did learn that other parents judged you a lot for how you interacted with their children. Mainly that you shouldn’t ring them on their night ‘off’ from parenting with a useless check-in. Phone calls are usually only for if the child wants to go home and are unconsolable or if they were seriously injured.

It was another reason why he wanted to prove himself and didn’t want the boys to fall out among themselves. He didn’t want to fail this first time that he was doing this, he didn’t want to ruin other people’s perspective of Ianto’s father who worked in London and left the raising of his son to his grandparents. They had been told that he didn’t want to move Ianto away from his friends, his sister and where he grew up, but they might not have believed it.

He had never felt this need for other people’s approval before in his life, but he needed it now. This was a test for him and he needed to pass it, for Ianto.

***

As the boys ate their food Mycroft noticed that Gething and Ioan became calmer when he was in the room. He had heard all of them talking and shouting when they were rearranging his furniture but they were quieter when they were around him. He knew that they must be trying to present themselves in a good light to an adult that they hadn’t met really well before. It made him wonder if the boys were more alike Sammy or Ianto when they were comfortable, or if they were different.

From what he knew, Sammy was loud and arrogant in a way that would be very off-putting if he didn’t have a natural cheeky charm about him. That boy had a way of holding and presenting himself in a way that made a person feel comfortable, but also made you think that the boy was a pit cocky. Mycroft had met a few people from all over Ireland that showed this exact charm when they were comfortable with him. He could grow up to have a silver tongue that could command a room if he wanted to. It wasn’t unsurprising that this boy had a girlfriend, but Mycroft was surprised that they had been dating for almost a year. Usually the ones he met that were like him were single because the women around them got annoyed with their behaviour.

Mycroft noticed that Gethin was the calmest, maybe he was always like that. But he had noticed that he tended to get on Ioans nerves, that he did it on purpose. He remembered that Ianto used to speak about them fighting sometimes, but nobody usually got hurt. Ianto just said that it was because Gethin was too chill and Ioan was too anal (Mycroft had to later ask Aerfen what being anal was). Even their appearances were drastically different, Gethin had grown out his hair but Ioan always has his hair very short.

From what he could tell, Gethin was more artistically inclined and was aiming to go to an art school after he graduated. Ianto had shown him sone of Gethin’s artwork and Mycroft did find it appealing. Ioan was more academically inclined and Mycroft had heard from Ianto that he was either aiming to go into medicine or into accountancy, both would suit the boy in his own opinion.

His own son didn’t tell him much about what he wanted to do with his life, telling him that he wouldn’t understand it. But Mycroft knew that he was aspiring to do something that interested him, and that he would probably find it out in due course. He had a feeling that Ianto was trying to follow in his own footsteps but somehow his end goal was different than his own. Ianto liked knowing everything and doing everything himself, but didn’t really like taking charge that often and Mycroft could see that even in this small friend group.

***

The next day Mycroft found himself with his head against the table in his mummy’s kitchen, being handed painkillers and a cup of tea.

The headache had evolved into a migraine and the pain had increased tenfold.

The boys had been wonderful all night, but he realised that the house wasn’t as sound-proof as he had previously thought when he had went to bed. He could hear the boys talking about meaningless things all night until he fell asleep shortly after 3am. He could hear that they were all having fun and hadn’t wished to ruin their mood, but it was at his own disadvantage.

And then in the morning he was trying to get as much sleep as possible but the boys had woken up well before 9am. He knew that they had been up for a long time because that was around the time when the smoke alarm in the kitchen went off. They had been making themselves breakfast and someone had turned the toaster up high, creating toast so burnt that everyone was notified by a blaring alarm from the kitchen ceiling.

Normally having little sleep didn’t effect him this much, but it was the combination of the little sleep and being around so many people the day before at the stadium and then hearing the boys the whole time he was awake at the manor. He didn’t really have any quiet time to collect his own thoughts.

When he pulled up to the cottage in Cardiff the boys all thanked him and begun walking home together, Ianto going with them for the walk.

Mycroft was glad of the break from the noise.

Violet had taken pity on her son when she talked to the boys when they returned, telling her about how they accidentally set off a fire alarm in the morning when they were trying to make breakfast quietly. From what Mycroft understood, his mummy had never been around when the boys were cooking for themselves, either she did it or she arrived after they had cleaned up after themselves. He thought that they must be very efficient when cleaning up after themselves, especially after what he observed in his kitchen that morning.

He still didn’t understand teenagers and voiced his defeat, but his Dad replied that people never do. That they don’t even understand themselves.

It was all worth the pain when Ianto came back to the cottage with a smile on his face, exclaiming that it had been an amazing weekend.

***

A month and a bit later Mycroft and Ianto found themselves back in London to watch the England vs Wales match. The plan was to meet wit Christopher and David again, because it gave Mycroft a chance to catch up with his old friend and Ianto would have someone to talk to about the match. Not saying that Mycroft didn’t want England to win, but he wasn’t as interested in the game as his son.

Ianto hadn’t been hopeful when walking into the stadium on the 11th of April, knowing that Wales weren’t performing too well this year. He was just planning on having a fun day out.

But the match shocked everyone watching. It was neck and neck the whole match and nobody could believe it. The red shirts filled the stands erupted when the whistle was blown and Wales won the match with a score of 32-31.

Ianto was thrilled at the unexpected result.

As the four of them left the stadium after the Wales win, intending to go to get dinner. They could see the streets outside of the Webley stadium filled with a sea of red, celebrating. Ianto was surrounded by his own countrymen in the capital of England and all that could be heard from all around was the crowd singing Hey there Delilah.

It was as if the two parts that made him who he was had combined for one afternoon to celebrate his country’s win.

Chapter Text

On Friday afternoon Violet’s weekly clean of the house was interrupted with a knock on the door. She set aside her duster and went to see who the unexpected visitor was and was completely shocked at what met her when she opened the front door.

It was Rhiannon.

Her face was covered in blood, seeping from a cut on her brow. She had been bleeding for quite a while, the neck and the front of her top was completely saturated. As Violets eyes moved down, trailing after the blood, she noticed that the girl was holding her arm in a protective manor.

She was obviously very hurt, so Violet ushered into the house and got her settled in the kitchen so she could understand what had happened. As soon as she got Rhiannon into the house, with her arm around her shoulders, the girl lost the control she was holding over her body and begun crying.

Violet had no idea what had happened to her to get her into this state, but she had a slight inclination that it might be related to something that she had witnessed a week and a half before. Violet and William had brought her out for dinner to a restaurant in Cardiff for her 18th birthday on the 14th of the month. When they were at the dinner, she had thought it was a trick of her eye, but now she wasn’t sure, she thought she had seen the girl flinch when her boyfriend had put his arm around her when they had finished their meal.

Looking back on the interaction, she assumes that Ianto had seen it as well. They boy had been happy for the celebration of his sister’s birthday, but he had been throwing faces to Steven all night. Violet hadn’t thought much about it since her grandson had a habit of making hateful faces towards the young man, he didn’t make his feelings about his sister’s boyfriend a secret.

If Steven really did this to her, she knows that Ianto will be on a warpath when he finds out. He is nothing if not a loyal to those he considers close to him.

***

William came back to the cottage after his regular walk to the corner shop to get his newspaper. He was met with a crying teenager, covered with blood and his wife was trying to wipe up the blood and tears up to try to fix the situation.

It was a startling situation to be greeted with, when he was expecting to just annoy his wife into leaving her cleaning so that she would sit down with him and try the buns that he had bought when he saw them in the shop, they were decorated with cute easter designs.

“So, what seems to be the problem here?” He noticed that Rhiannon was in no shape to talk to them, and just needed to calm down a bit. Then he remembered about the easter buns that he had just bought. “I think I have some buns that need to be eaten and then once you are calmed down a bit, you might be able to talk to us. Does that sound okay with you?”

She nodded after hearing his proposition, wanting to have some time to calm herself before telling them what had happened.

With Rhiannon’s attention diverted, the tears slowly stopped and Violet was able to clean up her face better with the tea-towel and pressed a folded piece of kitchen towel on her forehead.

William plated up the buns and started on some tea, to help calm her down but while he was preparing the tea his wife asked him to give her some of the medical tape that they had in one of the drawers in the kitchen. They didn’t have a first aid kit in the kitchen, just the tape but everyone knew where the tape was, so it was better not to move it because it was good to have it easy to hand.

***

Rhiannon Eventually calmed down enough to be able to tell the Holmes what had happened to her, what had gotten her into the state that she was in.

She explained that Steven had hit her a few times before, but he always apologised immediately afterwards. It had never left a mark on her before, just a few slaps when he had been drinking. But this morning was different.

He had been laid off the day before when he was at work, something had happened. He had spent the rest of the day drinking; he had already been angry sober but was furious when drunk. She though he had been sleeping this morning and took a can from his hand before it was going to fall to the floor, it looked like it had been slipping. He had moved his hand holding the can when she touched it to move it. The rim of the can had hit her brow, it was what split her skin. He had grasped her arm with her other arm and twisted it, because she tried to ‘steal’ from him.

The pain had been one of the worst things that she had ever physically felt. It was like her arm was ripping under the skin, and then her arm snapped. Steven let go after feeling the snap, and then he stumbled upstairs to the bedroom.

She didn’t know what to do, stunned by what had happened.

She had kneeled on the floor where she had been standing, beside the chair that Steven had been sitting in. She was in shock over what had happened and was numb. She could only bring herself to move when she realised her top was getting damp. She looked down and realised that there was blood on her top, she was bleeding.

It was like the sight of the blood made her remember the pain that her body was in, she realised that she needed to go to someone for help. She realised that it was just after 11am, so Ianto would be at school, but his grandparents would be at the cottage. She knew that they would know what to do, she knew that they would welcome her into the house without hesitation.

So, she left the house and started walking to the cottage.

***

After Rhiannon tells Violet and William about her morning, they looked at her arm to figure out if it was very badly damaged. Violet only needed to look at it to determine that they needed to go to the hospital, it was already quite swollen and bruised.

As she was preparing to get Rhiannon into the car and to the hospital, Violet asked William to ring Mycroft or Aerfen and inform them what had happened. She wanted more people to be home when Ianto found out because they didn’t know how he would react.

***

Aerfen was sitting in the corner of a meeting room, making notes about things being discussed in front of her when she noticed that there was a light going off in her bag. The screen on her phone was lighting up indicating that someone was trying to contact her. She had the ringer turned off because of the meeting.

She subtly lifted the phone out of her bag and onto her lap to see who was trying to contact her, It was William Holmes.

Fear ran right through her, she had never been called by their of the Holmes parents during the week, and if they did call her it would be arranged over text messages beforehand. This was extremely out of the ordinary and her only thought was that it was something to do with Ianto and it scared her.

She was getting distracted from the meeting, and Mycroft noticed. He was intrigued to what could shake his colleague so much that she would get distracted at work, he knew that it was important.

The room cleared as Mycroft mentioned that everyone should take a break to stretch their legs and to get tea or coffee. He was asking for them to leave the room and everyone took the hint.

“What has happened?” Mycroft asked with a tired voice, thinking that something dreadful had happened around the world. That it had a large impact scale with how his resilient secretary was acting.

“Your Father is trying to get my attention. I have at 3 missed calls from him.” She turned her phone screen to him, showing her call log. He had been trying to call her every few minutes, indicating that he was trying to get her attention urgently. After seeing the call log and what it suggested, he pulled out his own phone to see if his dad had been calling him as well. As Mycroft got his phone out, it lit up with an incoming call from his father.

“Hello, What’s wrong?”

“Thank God! You answered. I think you need to come back now, Rhiannon showed up at the cottage covered in blood with a broken arm. Your mother is at the hospital with her. It was Steven and we think that we might need help when a certain person finds out what happened.” William had realised that he might have said too much after he had gotten the message out half-way, but he managed not to name Ianto. Mycroft appreciated that, but he was worried that his son was going to let emotions take control, that he was going to do something that couldn’t be undone.

“Thank you for informing me. We will be there in due course.” He hung up the phone and knew that they needed to get back to the cottage before his son got back after school.

“We need to go now. Give everyone the rest of the day off, there is only a few hours left of the work-day. Meet me at the car in 15minutes and I will tell you on the way.”

That was all Aerfen needed to know, and she carried out what was asked of her. She knew that her boss wouldn’t do anything like this unless there was something seriously wrong. It was unheard of that he would stop work in the middle of the day, no less in the middle of a meeting. It was the weekly summery meeting; nobody was allowed to miss it without taking up residence in a hospital bed.

***

Mycroft and Aerfen got to the cottage just after 3pm, in time for Ianto getting out of school. They would be there when Ianto got home, nobody knew if he had plans to hang out with his friends or if he was coming straight home.

They all knew that he wouldn’t take the news well, especially not with what his gut had been telling him about his sister’s boyfriend ever since they first met.

They all had seen how he had grown since meeting the skinny, bruised and malnourished 14-year old almost 2 years ago. With large nutritious meals every day and joining the rugby team in school, he had grown a lot. He was taller now, but he was also stronger and the all knew that he would probably win if he picked a fight with Steven. But the question was if he would stop after winning, or if he would continue.

William and Violet were worried that they wouldn’t be enough to contain the boy, but Mycroft and Aerfen were more adept to situations like this. They were younger than they were and they knew that Aerfen had some experience taking down people much stronger than herself. After all, Mycroft trusted his life and his family’s lives in her hands.

***

4 o’clock passed and someone approached the front door of the house, getting the attention of all inside the house. They were waiting for anyone to arrive home, but hoping that Ianto came first so they could explain things first without him jumping to conclusions.

They heard female voices as the door opened, it was Violet returning with Rhiannon. They greeted them as they entered the kitchen where they were sitting, William had been reading his newspaper while Mycroft and Aerfen had been working on their laptops. They may have left their place of work, but that didn’t make their workload or emails disappear.

It wasn’t long after they arrived, that the backdoor of the cottage opened and a backpack was thrown down the hallway towards the lone bedroom on the ground floor. They hadn’t expected him to come in through the backdoor.

Ianto was home.

***

They all watched as the boy burst into the house, throwing his stuff around like he owned the place (technically he did, but it was rare to see him this nonchalant about his bag). He was in a good mood, but the smile on his face dropped as he noticed everyone in the kitchen of the cottage.

At most he expected 2 people (his mam-gu and bampi) but everyone was there (His mam-gu, bampi, tad, mam and Rhiannon). It shocked him that there were so many people in the house, and then he noticed the state that his sister was in.

Ianto’s eyes skirted over all of them before glancing over Rhiannon, taking in the plaster on her brow (hiding the stitches that she had gotten to close up the cut), the blood on her clothes and the cast on her arm.

“Was it him?”

The question was directed towards his sister, but the reactions of everyone gave him the answer he was looking for. He left the cottage through the house he arrived through with one single destination on his mind.

Mycroft watched as Ianto took in the scene he was met in the kitchen, understanding the situation and getting an answer for their reactions after his 3 worded question. He left before any of them could vocalise an answer, they realised immediately that none of them had stood a chance of stopping him before he made a bad choice. They knew that none of them were able to out-run a teenage boy fuelled by rage.

“Call the police for a physical altercation at Steven’s house, make sure to tell them everything. Especially why Ianto is involved.” Mycroft handed the phone to Rhiannon before grabbing his car keys and beginning his way to the council house.

***

Ianto had never understood the term ‘seeing red’ before, but he was being fuelled by his rage and he could see where the term came from.

He made his way to the house that his sister had been living for a few years, not even thinking about what he was going to do when he got there. He had no plan.

He let himself into the house and went through it, room by room, trying to find him. Ianto found him passed out on the bed that he used to share with his sister. When faced with him, Ianto didn’t know what to say, he couldn’t find anything that he wanted to say to the man. All he could think about was the fact that his sister was obviously hurt and had been to the hospital during the day, she had a cast covering her arm. He had broke her arm and hurt her face, and maybe had hurt her even further in areas that he couldn’t see.

His body acted without him telling it what to do and he dragged the man out of the bed, waking him up by landing on the floor. Then he was on top of him, hurting his face like he hurt Rhiannon.

***

Mycroft and Aerfen pulled up to the house at the same time as the police responder, they must have been nearby to respond as quickly as they did. The door to the house was open and the police officers went straight on in. They could hear yelling coming from the house, but didn’t approach, knowing that it would be too crowded for anybody to do anything if the went inside.

They could hear talking from inside the house and soon Ianto was being escorted out of the house with his hands behind his back in handcuffs. He was placed in the back of the squad car, not noticing that his Mam and Tad were even there. It was like he was zoned out.

Mycroft watched as the officer placed his son in the back of the car and then went to the front to get call for an ambulance to attend the scene through the radio. The possibility that Ianto had seriously hurt the man is very high, he had seen the blood on the boy’s knuckles when he was escorted out of the house.

***

Once Ianto had gotten Steven on the ground he got on top of him and pinned his legs with his own shins. He had only punched the other man once, on his face where he saw the plaster on Rhiannon before he left the house. He couldn’t bring himself to hit the man again, just pining him to the ground. He faintly remembered hearing his Tad tell someone to call the police on him, they would be arriving soon.

He didn’t want to ruin his life forever by losing any more control.

Steven didn’t take being woken up out of a deep sleep and then being punched in the face very well. Ianto didn’t get up because he didn’t want to get hit himself and he knew that a punch would be coming his way if he lessened his hold on the man.

It didn’t take long from the police officers to find them it that position, Steven was seething and shouting abuse at him.

The officers noticed that Ianto was holding the man down and that he was threatening him and didn’t know what was happening, they ended up separating both of them and placing both of them in handcuffs. Just to get a semblance of control over what had been happening.

After getting the cuffs onto who they would later learn is Steven, he began shouting for an ambulance because of the pain that he was in. The officers knew that once he asked for it, they had to get one out before they could bring him to the station. They brought the younger one out to the car, just to get him out of the way as they dealt with the louder of them.

The officers had been given a brief rundown of what they were going to attend, a brother had found out that his sister’s boyfriend had been hurting her. After hearing to the man rant about how the little snot was overstepping a boundary and that she deserved a little slap every once in a while, they could make a guess on who was who. The man asking for an ambulance just had a split on his eyebrow, it had bled a bit, but it wasn’t streaming.

***

Eventually they were all being questioned at the police station and Rhiannon was being asked if she wanted to press charges against her ex-boyfriend. There would be no question about if Steven had actually abused her or not because of his admissions when in police custody, at the house and during his questioning.

They understood why had done what he did, but that didn’t make it any less wrong. Steven was asking for him to be done for abuse. Mycroft and Rhiannon were able to smooth things over by explaining what had happened, they could see the evidence of what had happened earlier on the day in her injuries. It wasn’t the most unusual situation, but Ianto’s age did cause some problems.

Ianto was protecting his sister and was still a minor, so it would be recorded on his juvenile record that would be sealed when he turned 16. When the officers began to make a file for the boy the were surprised that there was already a file on the system for him and they looked at it to make sure this wasn’t a repeating offense. They uncovered the photos taken during the last time he was under arrest, he was caught pickpocketing after being homeless for a number of days after being beat by his stepfather before being thrown out of the house.

It made his actions earlier in the day more understandable, the officers were glad that he wasn’t being charged with anything more. He was released shortly after they updated his juvenile file.

***

While Mycroft and Rhiannon stayed at the police station for Ianto and to press charges against Steven, Violet, William and Aerfen returned to the house to get Rhiannon’s belongings. She wasn’t going to be living there any longer and was taking the Holmes up on the offer of their spare room, the room that they previously said was hers if she wanted it.

They had the unfortunate experience of telling Steven’s mother about what had occurred during the time that she had been at work, explaining that her son had laid hands on the girl that had been living under her roof, that he broke her arm this morning. It was a devastating shock to her, but she understood why they were collecting Rhiannon’s belongings, she helped them pack.

They made sure to get everything, not wanting her to have to return to the place where she was hurt. Her clothes were packed into some plastic bags that Steven’s mum had given them, her salon tools were already sitting in their own bag which was easy to pack into the car and the rest of her belongings were easy to transfer to the car without damaging anything.

Once the belongings were brought to the room, Aerfen thought it was very depressing to see the girls belongings all in plastic bags on the floor, so she began unpacking the clothes into the wardrobe and drawers that were in the room. Violet helped her unpack when she got the bed ready.

***

Mycroft returned to the house with the siblings, stopping off to collect dinner from the chippy with directions from his mummy. It had bee a long day for all of them and his mummy hadn’t got around to making dinner yet.

As they were sitting around the table eating their food, Aerfen informed Rhiannon what they had done while the three of them were at the police station.

“We collected your things from the house and I have taken the liberty of putting your clothes away upstairs in your room. Violet has mentioned that you can decorate the room however you wish, so I left all of the things you had sitting out in a box for you to do that yourself. The bag of stuff for work is sitting in the alcove under the stairs, where the coat rack is. We thought you might like having it outside of your room to give you more space, but its your stuff place it where you please.”

Rhiannon was taken a bit aback, she hadn’t even thought about having to go and get her things from the house. She didn’t want to go back.

“Thank you.” She looked around at all those who had helped her throughout the day “Thank you all, for everything. I don’t know what I would have done if you weren’t here.”

Rhiannon took a few measured breaths, trying to keep her composure and get out what she was trying to say. She turned towards her brother.

“Thank you for standing up for me, but please don’t do that again. I don’t want you to throw away your life on split second reaction in protection of someone else. Didn’t you hear about that guy who died from a single punch at the pub a few months ago. I don’t want you killing anyone for me or anybody else, you got that?”

Ianto nodded, not looking at his sister in the eyes. He knew that someone would tell him off for his actions but he didn’t think that his sister would be the first to do it.

“Yes, we do need to talk to you about the fat you didn’t think about the consequences your actions may create. I think it might be best for you to start doing something that might help you redirect those feelings that you felt today, it seems like you might not know how to deal with emotions like that.”

William was listening along with what was being said as he ate his fish supper, and an idea came to him. “All of the boxers on the telly say that they started the sport when they were young to get rid of extra energy or to help them control their mind and body. Doing something like that might make you think more before you do something, or it might just make you better at throwing a punch. I think there is a place in town that does that jujitsu kung-fu stuff.”

“I did find that learning Krav Maga helped me understand how to move better and it helped me understand my body more. I don’t know if it helped me with my emotions, but the lessens did help me out in the long run.” Aerfen stepped in, having experience learning something similar to what was being proposed. “Looking back at my training, they did make you do exercises that made you more mindful. But that was to help understand your own body. It couldn’t hurt for him to learn it anyway.”

They were all looking between Ianto and Mycroft, knowing that his Tad would have the most influential say about if he joined or not.

The idea of learning something like jujitsu, kung-gu or Krav Maga really interested Ianto, it made him think that if he started learning something in the class in town, then Aerfen might teach him some really cool moves if he got good.

There was further discussions about Ianto joining a class because it might teach him some discipline, but Mycroft and Violet were worried that he could get hurt during the classes. Also, there was the fact that it might distract him from his studies and let him progress through school at a normal pace with his friends without getting too bored.

It was later agreed that it would be beneficial for Ianto to join another class or group outside of his school friends and the family that was in that room. Ianto thought it could be very fun to do some of the classes, he could be like the karate kid or something.

Rhiannon Was glad that she was brought into the house so readily, but Violet had been offering her the room for a long time. Her only wish was that she had moved in sooner and under different circumstances.

Chapter Text

Ianto was off for summer break and was spending a few weeks at the manor, letting his mam-gu and bampi go on a cruise with some of their friends from before he came into their lives. They didn’t often get to see them because everyone was on grandparent duties regularly, but theirs were usually younger than Ianto. Mycroft had organised for them all to go on a three-week adults only cruise to relax without children being around.

Mycroft wanted to thank his parents for all they were doing for him, they were raising his son for him. He didn’t deserve it for how he treated them after leaving the family home until finding out about his son, he was very distant and didn’t visit much. Through Ianto, he felt like he had grown closer to his own parents and they felt like a real family now, including Aerfen.

It had been relatively quiet at work for Mycroft and Aerfen so they were spending a few days relaxing with Ianto instead of travelling into the office, they had left detailed notes for others for certain situations that they believed would be occurring over those days. They had a few people in the office that they trusted would follow their contingencies, but would also be able to notify them if they were feeling out of their depth. There was nothing worse than someone believing that they knew more or better than the ones making the plans, it always made things worse.

They were all enjoying the good weather that the country was experiencing, they were planning on having a Barbeque later in the day. They had prepared everything earlier and were laying out in the good weather, music from the radio coming out to them from the open patio door at the back of the manor.

Aerfen had put on some suncream and was sitting out in the sun in a lounger with a book, an iced drink sitting on the ground in the shade of her lounger. It wasn’t often that she got to relax in the sun and was taking the most from the opportunity. Mycroft was sitting in the shade of a parasol with his book abandoned next to his drink and his attention was on the chess board on the table, he was playing against Ianto who had become a worthy opponent.

Ianto had been alternating between playing chess with his Tad and playing with a football on the lawn, he was trying to figure out a trick that he had been talking about with his friends the previous week. It was sort of a competition for all of them to get the trick first, for bragging rights of course.

It was a very relaxed atmosphere, and then that was broken by the ringing of one of the phones sitting in the shade on the table.

It got everyone’s attention because it was Mycroft’s work phone, it had a different ringtone than his personal one. If anyone was calling him from work without trying to reach Aerfen, it generally meant that shit had hit the fan and she was being rung by someone else and her phone would be ringing in a few seconds.

Aerfen walked over to be ready to answer her own phone as Mycroft answered the phone.

“Holmes” It was a formal way to answer the phone, letting the person trying to contact him know that the person answering was the person that they were trying to reach.

“Hello Sir. This is Colm from the security department.”

This confused Mycroft a bit but he motioned to Aerfen, letting her know that she wasn’t going to be called also. That department was to ensure that the people in his department were not collecting attention from anywhere else. If anyone was, they would send him a report over, it was very strange for them to actually ring him about something.

“Yes, go ahead”

“Well Sir, it was noted that your name has been searched by the Metropolitan Police Station, also known as Scotland Yard. It was entered into the system by a Sergent Gregory Lestrade about two minutes ago. If you give me a few seconds I will be able to tell you more, a booking information has just been entered into the system.”

Mycroft sighed, he knew exactly what the form would show. Sherlock had given his name instead of his own when he had been arrested for some charge, probably possession. He looked up the Aerfen and Ianto who were looking him with some markers of anxiety on their face, they thought there was something very wrong happening.

“I think Sherlock has gotten into some legal trouble and gave them my name. I’ll probably have to go into town in a bit.” He could see their tension ease as they realise that it wasn’t anything to do with national security. They also seemed to realised that they would be left for the rest of the day while Mycroft sorted out his brother, and decided to walk a bit away and to talk about what they could do for the rest of the day.

“Sir, it seems as though a man has given your name to the sergeant when he was being taken in for possession and public disturbance. Do you want me to send someone to the station to sort this out for you?”

“No, Colm. I will sort this out myself, it is more than likely that this is my brother. I would greatly appreciate it if my personal family situation would not make it onto any of the forms that could make their way around the office.”

“Yes sir, but I will have to note that the incident. I will redact all relevant information but the incidence must be noted for the numbers.”

“That is acceptable, I will approve the report the next time I am in my office.”

Mycroft hung up and just took a long breath, mentally preparing for the day he was anticipating. He could faintly hear the other two talking about organising to visit a spa for the rest of the day, he knew that Aerfen just wanted to go to the spa and wanted to try to get Ianto to agree to it.

It was only 5 minutes after he got off the phone from work about the search of his name, his personal phone began to ring with a number that he didn’t recognise. It was only logical to assume that this was to do with Sherlock. He answered it.

“Holmes” He noticed that the caller was in a very noisy environment, people were talking and there were things being moved around.

“Mycroft Holmes?”

“Yes, I am him.”

“Hello, I am Sergent Lestrade. I am calling to inform you that there is someone that has stolen your identity.”

Mycroft was surprised that he was being contacted about this so quickly, or at all.

“Is the person a tall, skinny man with curly brown hair?”

“Yes, I assume that you are familiar with him?”

“Brother. How did you get this number?” There was shuffling of stuff around, presumable he was trying to find something on his desk.

“It was written on a piece of paper that was in one of the compartments of the man’s wallet. There were 4 different numbers with the letters V, W, H and M. I took a chance that the M may indicated Mycroft, the name that was given to us and decided to ring it.”

“They would probably indicate me, my mum Violet, my dad William and I assume H means either home or Hooper, someone that he has been working with.” Mycroft could only assume that Sherlock had been the one to write the numbers and carry them with him.

“May I ask, how did you know that he was giving you a wrong identity?”

“He doesn’t look old enough for the date of birth he gave, I assume that there is a bit of an age gap between the two of you.”

“7 years” Mycroft knew that he sounded tired with that answer, but he couldn’t help it. He really is tired with this cycle that Sherlock is in.

“Could you please come into the Yard, that is the metropolitan police station, to sign some things about the identity stuff.”

“Okay, I will be there in the hour. Will I just ask for Lestrade?”

“Yes, they will bring you to my desk.”

The Sergent hung up on him and he didn’t find it offending. The man sounded like he was juggling multiple cases at the same time, organising papers for other cases while on the phone to him.

Mycroft sat back, glancing over to Aerfen and Ianto. It seemed that Aerfen had worn Ianto down and she was going to get her spa day, she was on her phone and had called somewhere to book their treatments. He waited until she hung up to tell them of his plans.

He told them about how he had to go into town to clean up the mess that his dear brother had gotten himself into and they informed him of their plans to go to the spa. The spa that just so happened to be Aerfen’s favourite and was on the way into town, so that he would be able to drop them off on the way and pick them up on his way home.

She assured him that Ianto was only going to get an age appropriate facial and they were going to recommend him some things to use for his skin because he had been recently beginning to get the odd spot. She mentioned that she didn’t feel it would be appropriate for a 15 year old to get a body massage. They were also booked in with pool and facilities access, meaning that Ianto could swim for a bit while she sat in the sauna. They would be otherwise occupied while Mycroft was in London.

The plan was for Mycroft to text when he was leaving the city to allow Aerfen and Ianto to begin to get themselves ready to be collected. They would then get back to the manor to have the barbeque that they had prepared for earlier in the day.

They all went into the manor to prepare for their new plans. Mycroft got himself dressed into one of the suits that he believed made him look good, Sherlock always tried to ruin his self image so he would at least be wearing something that he felt good in. Aerfen got dressed into some loose clothes that still made her look quite professional, the workers were used to her coming in after work so she had to keep up the appearance. She packed her swimsuit in the bag she was brining. Ianto didn’t change out of his jeans, T-shirt and guddies but he did pack his swimming trunks into his rucksack, along with a change of socks and underwear. Ianto was excited to swim.

***

Greg had been having a long day.

He wasn’t meant to be working today, but someone else had called in sick and they were already on the bare minimum staff. They were understaffed because of people taking time off during the summer and he had to come in to fill a gap, it was the first day he had requested off in weeks and he couldn’t even have it.

Sharon was pissed with him when he had to tell her that morning after he got the phone-call. His wife was a high-school English teacher and had wanted to have some time with him over the summer. She was 5 months along in her pregnancy and she wanted to buy things for the nursery today, but Greg had heard her call a friend from work to come out shopping with her after he had told her that work had called. At least she wasn’t going to have to go shopping alone.

It wasn’t that he was glad of the extra money he would be making from picking up the shift, its just that things were becoming more tense at home because of his working hours, that she felt lonely when she came home from work. It was causing a strain on their relationship and he didn’t know how to fix it because they needed as much money as they could get before baby got here. He planned to be there for his family.

The day that he had been having was probably the worst day that he had ever had in Scotland yard.

After his fight with Sharon that morning, he made his way into work and as he was settling into his desk and getting ready for the day, he treated himself to a coffee. When he left the breakroom with his coffee someone bumped into him as they were running down the hallway and the steaming cup of black coffee was splashed all down his previously crisp whit shirt.

He tried his best to clean his shirt, but the coffee did leave a large faint brown stain down the front of his shirt. At least his tie was a dark enough colour to not show that something had spilled on it, that and covered most of the stain.

Then the very first case he was sent out to be a part of was a very violent interaction that had happened during the night, there were two male bodies found a living room at a house with another male sleeping in a bedroom upstairs. They were all cut and bruised, a fight had happened between them. The living one did not go into custody easily and had harmed the 2 PC’s (Police Constables) that had come across the scene first.

He was eventually transferred into holding and was causing a headache for everyone in the department, kept kicking and hitting the door for attention. His injuries had been photographed when he was brough in and they were glad that he had been placed in the holding cell with a working camera, they were recording proof of what he was doing to make sure that he couldn’t turn around and blame them for his injuries. But his yelling was getting to everyone.

Greg was trying to use his time to catch up on some paperwork that had slowly built up on his desk over the past month when he was asked to help with the intake of an ‘uncooperative druggie’ that was the words of the female domestic that had been sent to fetch more hands to help with the situation. The man in question was a mess of flailing arms and legs, he was acting like a fluid which was making it difficult for them to bring him in from the car. From what he understood was that he was trying to be as difficult as possible and had slipped his hands out of the cuffs that they put on him during the arrest.

Once there was enough of them to lift the man safely, they brought him into an intake cell and removed anything that could be used to injure himself or others. His belongings were placed onto a tray with his shoes outside the door in view of the cameras to make sure that nothing could go missing.

While going through his belongings to create a detailed intake form, they discovered a bag of whit powder in a section of the man’s wallet. It was probably one of the reasons why he was creating so much trouble when transferring him from the car to the holding cells. It was noted and taken away to test the substance.

The PC’s gave him over their report about their arrest, it was over public disturbance. The man had been shouting at random people on the street, telling them that their husbands or wives were cheating on them. From what he was being told, Greg was amazed that nobody had gave the guy a haymaker for what he was saying. He wasn’t exactly being tactful about his observations.

After the discovery of the bag, it seemed like that man would be charged with both public disturbance and possession if it turned out to be anything nefarious. Greg had a hunch that it was cocaine, it looked like cocaine to him.

He couldn’t find any ID for the man in the wallet that was found on him and it would be easier for him to process the man with a name and date of birth to attach to him. It would just make everything go quicker if they didn’t have to wait for a fingerprint to be checked against the database. Asking him couldn’t make this go any slower, or so he initially thought.

Greg talked to the man through the observation sliding gap in the door, not trusting him enough to open the door because of the behaviour he had witnessed earlier in the day. The man told him that his name was Mycroft Holmes and his date of birth was the 17th of October 66, making the man 32 years old.

There was no way that Greg believed the man in the holding cell was 32 years old, the man was just collecting offenses now. Maybe to complete a bingo card for all he could guess at this point, Greg couldn’t understand.

The only lead he had into the man was the information that he had given up, so Greg decided to check it in the system to check if there was a note on file or something. The man could be regularly giving the wrong information to law enforcement.

He found nothing at all and he didn’t know what else to do.

He decided to make a note under the information given to him about the situation that had occurred that day, in case it ever happened again and someone else looked it up. He closed the file and began create a plan of what else to do with their uncooperative unidentified man.

The man’s wallet was still sitting on the tray outside the holding room; it had been left there after they had concluded that it did not contain any more drug paraphernalia or any Identification cards. Greg had an idea, he decided to check the wallet for anything else that could help him with identifying the man. He systematically took everything out of the wallet with the intent to look at the contents in detail and try to find a name on one of the cards. It s not that he didn’t trust the other staff to have missed something when going through it earlier, its just that he wanted to double check.

He found a very thin piece of paper in one of the small slits that is made to hold cards in place. Greg had initially thought it was a piece of packing paper from when the wallet was made, but once he took it out he realised that there were phone numbers written on the page, 4 of them. They were all labelled with a letter, V, W, H and M.

He took the chance of calling the M number, hoping that they would be able to help him out a bit with the potential that it could be Mycroft Holmes.

“Holmes” His genius was frightening, he managed to find the man with very little information, Greg was proud of himself by solving the little mystery that had raised in the department.

“Mycroft Holmes?”

“Yes, I am him.”

“Hello, I am Sergent Lestrade. I am calling to inform you that there is someone that has stolen your identity.” Greg couldn’t find any other way to tell him what had been happening.

“Is the person a tall, skinny man with curly brown hair?” The man that they had in custody was obviously known to Mr Holmes.

“Yes, I assume that you are familiar with him?”

“Brother. How did you get this number?” Greg was attempting to take notes of the phone call, but was struggling to find a pen that was actually working. None of the pens that were sitting on his desk were making marks on the notepad, it was as if it was a coordinated attack to him. But the two being brothers did explain a bit of why the man had given the wrong name, he had observed other siblings having a similar type of relationship.

“It was written on a piece of paper that was in one of the compartments of the man’s wallet. There were 4 different numbers with the letters V, W, H and M. I took a chance that the M may indicated Mycroft, the name that was given to us and decided to ring it.”

“They would probably indicate me, my mum Violet, my dad William and I assume H means either home or Hooper, someone that he has been working with.” Greg was writing all of this down, it was giving him more people to contact for the man in the cells.

“May I ask, how did you know that he was giving you a wrong identity?”

“He doesn’t look old enough for the date of birth he gave, I assume that there is a bit of an age gap between the two of you.”

“7 years”

“Could you please come into the Yard, that is the metropolitan police station, to sign some things about the identity stuff.”

“Okay, I will be there in the hour. Will I just ask for Lestrade?”

“Yes, they will bring you to my desk.” Greg hung up the phone to talk to the PC standing next to his desk with a stack of files that he needed looked at by someone more senior, like Greg.

Once Greg began talking to that one PC about his files, it seemed that everyone else around him took it as an opportunity to get their things looked at. Greg was inundated with people and files that really should have been looked at by a sergeant many weeks prior. He couldn’t dismiss them, but he was a bit shocked at how many things needed signed off, other sergeants definitely weren’t doing their bit and it was falling to him.

He was disappointed and a bit angry with his co-workers, but he was trying his best to pick up their slack.

Eventually Greg got fed up with people milling around his desk waiting for him to look at their files and asked them to just be set into a pile in the corner of his desk and he would hopefully get round to them. He was making comments in the files with sticky notes.

He lost track of time, fuelled solely on the annoyance that these were creating a backlog because the other sergeants weren’t pulling their own weight. That and coffee.

Greg’s hyperfocus was broken by a cough from someone standing beside his desk.

“Sergent Lestrade?” Greg didn’t even look up, it was probably another person who wanted a file to be looked over. He was getting tired of being interrupted by people who couldn’t follow his simple directions.

“I already made an announcement. If you have a file that needs to be looked over, place it into the pile and I might get round to looking at it. If I get round to it, there will be a post-it on the front of the file later, if not try again with someone else another day.” Greg was slowly realising that he wasn’t going to get through all of them today if he wanted to get home to Sharon on time, like he promised.

“I do not seem to have a file. But you did ask me to come in to talk about my brother. I am Mycroft Holmes.”

Shit, Greg had forgot.

“I am so sorry sir, I got a bit preoccupied with some of the file build up happening when people have been taking time off for holidays.” Greg was trying to clean up his desk, his attempt was futile and seemingly making it worse. “Please take a seat” He motioned to the chair beside his desk.

As the man sat down, he was finally able to see the man. He was dressed in an obviously very expensive suit and knew how to wear it, he unbuttoned the jacket with ease as he sat down and smoothed out any forming wrinkles on his thighs as soon as seated. Greg did not get distracted with how the man’s thighs looked through the suit trousers. He had to remind himself not to stare as he pulled up the details of the arrest on the computer in front of him.

“Your brother was arrested for basically disturbing people in the street, he was taken in by a patrol team who was concerned that someone my punch him for what he was saying. He was making accusations about people’s relationships. He slipped his cuffs at some point and started to be combative and when they were processing his belongings they found a bag of unknown powder. It was sent for testing which isn’t back yet. When we asked him for his name and date of birth he gave yours, you know the rest from there.”

The man, Mycroft, just looked exhausted as it was explained to him, fully realising it that it wouldn’t disappear if he didn’t press charges. There was a lot more to it that the identity thing.

“I would place a guess that it is cocaine, he gets a bit like this. I believe that it is part of my duty to asl for the least charges against him as possible, I wont be pressing charges over stealing my identity. He doesn’t exactly like me much, but if you need a character reference I can get you the contact details for his boss. He has been working in a position under Dr Mike Stamford at St Barts, but that was under the condition that he was clean while working. I believe that he will let him back to work if he sobers up.”

Greg watched as the man started writing the information for the doctor down, resigning himself from dealing with his brother with ease. He could tell that the man had been called to tonnes of situations like this in relation to his brother, addiction affects a lot more than the person addicted.

“His name is Sherlock Holmes, and is actual date of birth is the sixth of January nineteen seventy-three, he is 26 years old. I would ask that you don’t let him see me, or tell him that I was here. He doesn’t appreciate me trying to clean up his messes.” Greg understood how the man didn’t want to antagonise his brother, knowing how the man, he now knows is Sherlock, uses his words like a vipers venom. It wouldn’t be nice to be on the receiving end of that as many times as he believes an older brother would be, especially with their age gap.

“I will take your advice and contact the Doctor, I wouldn’t recommend him being released until he calmed down anyway.” Greg was looking up the new identity information to check the man up and was met with a long list of drug related offences, the addiction had been going on for a long time from what he could tell.

“Can I have the form to sign to state that I have no intention of pressing charges for the identity situation?” He was looking at Greg with a blank expression, clearly not pleased that he had to come to the station today. But Greg couldn’t blame him for that, he looked very out of place in the plastic chair beside his desk in his expensive suit and had an aura about him that just made him stick out like a sore thumb.

“I’ll get right on it.” It spurred Greg to go through his drawer to find the set of forms that he needed, not wanting to keep the man waiting in the station for longer than he had to be here. It looked like he had come directly from work. Greg supposed that having a brother like Sherlock would effect everything about your life (work, friends and relationships) because it seemed like he was always the one that delt with him. He had made no mention of their parents other than to identify the numbers that were on the page.

Maybe the older brother took responsibility for his younger brother’s antics often, sparing their parents from the heartbreak of watching their child become unrecognisable before their very eyes. Greg recognised that the man may have fallen into a parental role in his relationship with his brother, especially with the 7-year age gap, he was probably considered ‘bad cop’ and their parents ‘good cop’ in the youngers mind.

It took Greg just less than an hour since Mycroft showed up to get the documents all processed and to make updates on Sherlocks file, including a note to get a photo and fingerprints taken from him before he was released. Taking all the steps to make it easier to identify Sherlock if needed.

After everything was done, Greg escorted Mycroft out of the building with the intent to use the trip as an excuse to take a smoke before he went back to his paperwork. It surprised him that the other man beat him to it and offered him one, he didn’t seem like a smoker.

They had a brief bit of small chat while standing out the front of Scotland yard, Greg was sharing that he wasn’t actually meant to be working that day, to watch out for his name on the news in case Sharon finally snapped. Mycroft shared that he hadn’t actually been at work, but had to get dressed up in case he was caught by a colleague in the street. With a hint of a smile he shared that it was well known and documented that you always meet someone when you are at your most run down, he stated it like it was a fact but they both knew it was a faint attempt at a joke.

That got Greg curious, he didn’t know what the man did for a living but he assumed that he didn’t take too many days off. The only answer that he got for in enquiry’s was that the man worked in a ‘minor’ position in the government. Greg didn’t believe one bit that the man had a job following orders, he had the aura of someone that was always listened to.

They departed ways when their smoke break was over, Greg returned to the madhouse back to his paperwork.

Eventually it was time to deal with Sherlock, Greg was just there to help sign the papers of the things that he had requested, making sure that they were followed through on. It became immediately clear how the man had gotten away without fingerprints being taken before, he was just too annoying and Greg observed that did it to personally antagonise the officers dealing with him. He was having fun messing with people.

At one point Sherlock was just staring at Greg, trying to see something to use against him.

“Don’t tell me that that piece of lard had been here. Always sticking his face into business that doesn’t concern him.” It took Greg a few moments for him to understand that he was talking about Mycroft. The lard comment threw him off, Greg thought the man had been in a good condition, but that being said the addict in front of him hardly had any meat on his bones.

Sherlock’s attention had been taken over by something else, the arrival of Mike Stamford who was collecting him. Sherlock’s case was being passed onto the court system and he probably wouldn’t be doing any time for the drug possession since it was such a small amount.

Greg’s life went on like normal and he almost forgot about meeting the brothers, but every so often he was reminded of the hint of a smile from the man he had a cigarette from.

***

As Mycroft made it back to the car all he could think about was how the Sergent was biting on the tip of a pen when reading a file as he walked up to his desk. The man clearly cared about his job, but it was wearing on him. He could see that some lines had begun to form on his face from scrunching his brow when reading, indicating that he really should go for an eye test, he has been straining to read. Frown lines had also formed as well, he had physical markers that showed that he had worked for his position.

From where Mycroft had been sitting, he could see how the sergeant had begun to develop a large collection of grey hairs around the temples with a dusting all over his head. The patter was indicative of it starting at an early age, potentially in his twenties. Mycroft thought the grey suited the man, he would guess that he was around his own age, but the grey didn’t make him look much older.

He could tell that the other man cared about his appearance a bit, enough to exercise regularly but not enough to dye his hair. Another indication that he had been greying for a large amount of his adult life. Even though the other man may just have a naturally good physique, he didn’t think that it would be sustained through the mid-thirties, indicating that he did some form of exercise (even if it was just running one morning a week or playing in a 5 a side football team). Mycroft had been a bit distracted the whole time at the desk by the exposed forearms of the Sergent, revealed because his shirt sleeve had been pushed up.

Mycroft couldn’t remember a time where he was so interested in someone else’s appearance in their first meeting. Actually, he could, but this was the first time that it has happened sober.

The way that the Sergent held himself when smoking was also etched into Mycroft’s mind, the vision of what would be considered a ‘cool’ smoker. But Mycroft knew that he had no chance, the man was very obviously dedicated to his expecting wife, blinded to the fact that the woman didn’t seem to like him. Greg was so happy to share that he was about to be a Dad, but Mycroft could only hope that the child was actually his. He had a feeling it wasn’t.

***

Aerfen and Ianto walked into the building that made Ianto feel immediately out of place, it was a type of fancy that he had never seen in person before. The wall as you walked in was a waterfall, water was coming from the roof and cascading down the slates in the wall and collecting in small pool area at the bottom. It filled the room with a sound of running water, Ianto made a guess that it was probably to create a relaxing atmosphere.

Aerfen booked them in while talking to the receptionists, asking if she could get her treatment while Ianto had some time in the pool and the he could get his treatment nearer to the end of their stay. She thought that it would be better than him playing in the pool after getting stuff onto his face. Ianto zoned out a bit when she began talking about his skin type and active ingredients. He was only doing this because there was a pool here, he had not went swimming in ages.

“Ianto, can you come over and sign this paper. Its just saying that you don’t have any allergies and there is some advice after getting a facial. Its because there are some serums that don’t react well with sunlight and some people don’t take the advice seriously. You arnt getting any of those serums.” Aerfen could tell that he was a bit confused over signing a document, knowing that he would read it all anyway. “They will also teach you some things that will help you, like cleaning your face every day and using sun cream when outside in the sun for long periods of time.”

“But we never get decent sun, it’s always cloudy.”

“If you can get burned, you can get cancer. I’m only making sure that you live a long and healthy life.” She was handed a pair of keys from the receptionist. “This one is your key, there should be slippers and a dressing gown in the locker and they are for walking around in. Lock your things in the locker when you leave and the key goes around your wrist or your ankle. I wont see you until after my treatment so go straight on through to the pool once you’re changed.”

They separated and Ianto entered the male changing room and discovered that he had it all to himself. It was very different to the changing rooms at the leisure centre. Instead of dingy metal lockers that didn’t even lock properly, rusty metal benches that nobody trusted with their own weight and drains on the floor that always stank and always was covered in some type of black gunk, a forever smell of lynx with an undercurrent of mould. This placed looked like someone cared about it and it smelt nice, like flowers.

Ianto got himself ready and left to the pool with a thick, heavy dressing gown around him and thick slippers on his feet.

He managed to find his own way to the pool area and realised once he opened the door that there mustn’t be many people at the spa resort today, it’s a random Tuesday in the middle of July. He assumed that most of their regulars would be at home with their own kids during the summer holiday. There was nobody in the pool, but there was two women talking to each other in the hot tub at the side. He didn’t pay much attention to them and began his swimming.

He began to swim lengths along the pool, keeping an internal counter of the lengths he made, he enjoyed himself.

Eventually he saw Aerfen come into the room when he was about to begin another set of lengths after resting for a bit. He had been catching his breath after trying to complete 2 lengths of the pool in one breath, he almost was able to do it.

He got out of the pool and met his Mam when she was getting into the wooden room with the glass wall in the corner. There was a similar room opposite it filled with steam, that’s probably the steam room, so the wooden room would logically be the sauna. Ianto remembered that the procedures gave access to the rest of the amenities of the spa, consisting of the pool, jacuzzi, sauna and steam room. By process of elimination, he is sure that his Mam just walked into the sauna and he followed.

The room was very warm, like he was breathing in the summer heat through the embers of a bonfire. It felt like it was burning all the way down to his lungs. “It’s very hot in here. I don’t think I will be able to stay in here long.”

“It won’t be long until you are called for your treatment. Did you have fun with your time in the pool, I assume that nobody else went into it.” Ianto could see how his mam was relaxing, resting against the corner of large wooden steps with her legs in front of her, like she was sitting on a sofa in her pyjamas. It was his first time ever seeing her in this state of dress and he noticed a lot of scars over her exposed skin. He knew that she used to have a very dangerous job before working with his Tad but he had never realised it was so bad before.

“No, there was a few groups of Women older than you. They all went into the jacuzzi to talk to each other. I had the whole pool to myself. The changing room was so cool as well, different from the leisure centre I go to with the boys.” Ianto tried to get himself more comfortable in the wooden room, but he felt like he was cooking. “Is the heat not getting to you in here?”

“The sweating helps keep your body young, or that was what I heard a long time ago when I was working for a long time in a different country. The heat apparently helps the body and keeps you healthy.” Ianto had noticed that she looked a lot younger than her Tad, but he knew that there was only a few years between them.

“Why does everyone want to be young all the time.”

“People like looking younger because it make them feel better. Throughout my career people have underestimated me because I look younger than I am. It’s a power thing for the other person, but if you know you look young you can use it to your advantage. I did anyway. People still think I am too young to help your Tad, even if they think I’m just organising his meetings.’

“So you can get away with more if people think you are younger and inexperienced?”

“Exactly.”

Ianto was contemplating that bit of knowledge that was shared with him when he saw one of the receptionists come into the pool area, looking for someone. Maybe looking for him?

He used it as an escape to leave the burning room because he knew that he would be at risk of passing out if he stayed in too much longer. The woman must have been looking from him because she perked up and waved him over when she finally saw him.

He quickly put his slippers and gown on and followed the woman.

Ianto quickly learned that a facial consisted of laying on one of those massage chairs with a pillow under his head and tonnes of different goop was spread over his face. She was explaining what each step she was doing, but the only takeaway that Ianto took from it was not to open his eyes when stuff is on his face. He learnt that it feels like his eyeball had acid poured onto it, wouldn’t be doing that again.

Eventually the ‘treatment’ was over and he made his way back to his Mam, who was just laying on one of the sunbeds sitting around the pool with her gown on and reading a book she brought with her. She sat down the book with his arrival and moved her feet to give him space to sit down on her seat.

“So… Did you like it?”

“Sorta, I think I want to take care of my skin but I don’t like the way that it feels like I am smothering when they spread the different things on my face. I do like how my skin feels now though.”

Aerfen took a few seconds to think, not liking that feeling herself when other people put stuff on her face. She had opted for a back massage for her treatment but didn’t think it would have been suitable for a 15-year-old. “If you want I could get you some of those sheet masks that I use sometimes at the cottage, I just put them on and read a book or watch tv while they work. I think they will keep your skin soft for when you start growing facial hair, you really don’t want to deal with irritation from the razor you’ll end up using.”

“I’d like that.” Ianto hadn’t even begun to think about his face would change when he started getting a beard or moustache.

Their conversation was brought short when Aerfen’s phone indicated that it had received a text message. It was Mycroft telling them that he was leaving London and to get ready.

***

After returning to the manor, they all decided to get dressed into comfortable clothes to lounge around the house until they felt like they were ready to start the barbeque.
Ianto had taken a book off of one of the many shelves to read, it was about ancient Greece and he was enjoying the short stories that it held. Aerfen was also reading, but it was the book that she had been reading earlier in the day, she had explained it to them in the car ride home. It was about a boy who was trying to find a fallen star for a girl he wanted to date, but he crossed a border wall into a crazy land and all he was trying to do was get back home but witches and princes are also looking for the fallen star. She was enthralled by the story and wanted to know what happens in the end.

Mycroft on the other hand was doing a bit of research into the man he had met earlier in the day. As a boy Gregory Lestrade was put up for adoption and was taken in by an older lower-class couple who from what it looked like tried their best, they had both passed in his late teens/early 20’s. He had applied to the police academy instead of university after finishing school, wither a dream career or he didn’t have any other options apart from the army. He had worked his way to the position of a Sergent, but he was effectively acting as a detective without the pay upgrade. From what Mycroft could tell, he wasn’t playing any games with his supervisors or even refused to play them and was rewarded with no advancement that he rightfully deserved.

At some point, he had fallen in love with a woman, Sharon, and he was now married with a kid on the way. He looked into her as well. She was a high school English teacher and that was pretty much all he could find out about her. It was purely an assumption, but he had a feeling that Sharon was sleeping with another faculty member. He wouldn’t tell Aerfen about any of this because he could already hear the teasing about him obsessing over a competent man, how rare they are.

Mycroft made a mental note to try to help Greg advance in his career if he was still stalled in a few years, knowing that he would be useful as a detective. It was rare to find someone that cared about their job like Greg Lestrade, he just approved of his work ethic.

***

Once they all agreed that they were getting hungry, it was time to BBQ and to eat their weight in the meats that had been marinating all day.

They all fell asleep before the sun had set on the couches with books falling out of their hands and onto faces or floors.

Chapter Text

Ianto entered the building through the door that was described to him over the phone and a very large man was waiting for him, he had the build of a bodyguard squeezed into a shirt and nobody was allowed into this building without his say when he was working. The door was locked behind him as soon as he entered it. He was lead through the building to an elevator that the worker navigated, he was brought up to the correct floor.

He had come to London by the train from Cardiff for the first time because everyone else was busy. His mam-gu and bampi had a call from Sherlock in the night and had to go up to him immediately to see him. He sounded confused on the phone and they thought he had overdosed, it turned out that he had went out drinking with a few people from the research department he was working in and called them when he got home, he called his mummy because he couldn’t find something. Violet had taken this as a sign that Sherlock missed them and decided to spend the weekend with their baby boy at their old house. It didn’t seem that Sherlock was given mush say in the matter.

They had woken Ianto up in the night before they left to explain what was going on, and then left him an update over the phone before he went to school.

All of his friends were busy this weekend, leaving him alone until Monday. He knew that his mam and tad were working on something this weekend, it said on the Calander that they were going to be busy so they had been planning to work on something. There was no immediate serious thing that they had to deal with to his knowledge, so he called to see if he could visit them in London for the weekend.

When he knocked on the door, it was answered by his mam who he could tell was really tired. She was still in her work clothes but her jacket had been swapped for a large, work cardigan that didn’t match the blouse she was wearing and she was walking around with fluffy socks on instead of her regular work stockings. It looked like she had gotten annoyed with her hair because it was tied up out of her way, but she usually took more care with how she styled her hair. She was also wearing her glasses that she rarely ever wore.

Just from his mam’s appearance, he knew that they were working on something that had hit a brick wall, they were struggling with something.

“We were waiting for you to show up before ordering dinner, I’ll get you the menu after you put your things in the spare room. It’s down that hall and is the last door to the left.” She gave him the directions and went back to the piles of paper that his tad was looking at on the table. His Tad waved at him from the table to acknowledge his welcome.

It seemed that it had been a long day for all of them

***

The food was ordered and the adults took a break from their files to catch up with Ianto about his week, about what his friends were doing this weekend and what happened the night before with Sherlock’s phone call.

They told Ianto that they were taking another attempt at trying to figure out how to deal with a organisation in the middle of London that wasn’t cooperating with them and they couldn’t get any past employees to tell them anything about it. They kept going round in circles with them.

As they were talking, the food was delivered and they cleared the table to eat the food. When Ianto was setting the plates down he saw a word on one of the papers.

“Is the organisation Torchwood? Like the ones down in Cardiff Bay?”

Mycroft and Aerfen were stunned, they had no idea that there were more of them.

“What do you mean?”

“Theres a group of like 5 or 6 people in Torchwood in Cardiff, they change all the time but there is an American man that seems to be in charge. Strange things happen in the town and they deal with it.”

Over dinner they basically interrogated Ianto over what he knew about Torchwood in Cardiff, recording it to make notes afterwards.

Apparently, all the locals knew about them, about the fact that they keep Cardiff safe because of the strange things that happen. The help the police with strange deaths and look after them.

He tells them what he had heard from someone who talked to a nurse who was contacted by them. Apparently, there was tear in space and time just over Cardiff and it takes and gives. Some people can go missing for months and years, and then they come back different. The nurse said that she was hired by the captain to look after those who weren’t well after they came back, in a facility on flat holm. Ianto had to explain that it was an island that used to have a military bunker years ago, so that must be what they are using out there, its only accessible by boat and the nurses who work there are on a schedule of 2 weeks on and 2 weeks off apparently.

The captain had always employed local nurses to look over the patients in flat holm from what Ianto could figure out, but everyone knew that the team that ran around Wales never had a local involved and the strange questions they asked always got talked about.

He told them about the time that he and his friends had seen them try to chase down a strange creature in a boiler suit, apparently they were common enough that many people had seen them. It’s a rumour that they had taken to living in the sewers under the town because some people had seen one down there when they were fixing a blocked inlet.

After devolving all he knew about them, Ianto knew that it looked like he had been a bit of a stalker and tried to explain himself. He had been hearing stories about this team that fought aliens for years while he grew up and he was interested in what they did, he wanted to grow up to help them and needed to know everything he could.

He also remembered to tell them about the American, the one that the nurse called the captain. It seemed like he was the one in charge, but he had been for many years without aging much. There were people who saw a glimpse of him over 30 years back who swore that he looked the same as he did back then, that he was wearing the same coat as well.

Mycroft asked Ianto to stop until they finished their mean because the description he was getting was very similar to that of the illusive Doctors that they also had proof didn’t age through the years. He made the decision that he wanted Ianto to look at all of the information that they had.

***

After they finished eating Mycroft was antsy and immediately brought out the files again as soon as Aerfen and Ianto cleared the table. He was trying to figure out the order to through them with Ianto. The photos of the men, or the organisation who were trying to hunt him down.

He started with the photos of who throughout time, was referred to as only ‘Doctor’ form what they could understand. He laid out all of the images they had of someone who had been labelled as the Doctor chronologically as they appeared throughout time, and grouped by the face. He made it clear that they didn’t know if it was an organisational rank, if it was a singular person, or if it was a position that got replaced after an unknown variable.

They watched as Ianto checked all of the faces and the clothes depicted in the images, hoping that he was going to tell them that they matched the American ‘Captain’ that seemed to be running around Cardiff.

“None of these look like who I saw. He didn’t even dress like any of them. He always wears a really long coat, I think its like a dark navy and its nearly down to the ground. It waves around a lot when he is running.” Ianto tried his best, but he didn’t recognise any of those men in the images.

They write down to make a note to try to contact the man and try to question him about how he feels about the doctors and the torchwood organisation within London. Mycroft makes a note that the small group in Cardiff seemed to do things very differently from those in London.

He had formed some hope in the chances that the American would be more forthcoming with information than those in London.

Mycroft and Aerfen then talked Ianto through what they knew about the Torchwood organisation in London, that another organisation called UNIT had told them that Torchwood was formed to fight against the Doctor, but UNIT was at the Doctors disposal they had effectively formed an army to help him. Aerfen explained that UNIT initially was an acronym of the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce but now it is the United Intelligence Taskforce, that it was an international organisation that gave them weekly reports of any large threats and they had informed them that they once employed one of the Doctors, but that was a long time ago.

They had information that that doctor had worked closely as a scientific advisor to Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart, but he wasn’t able to talk to them himself.

Mycroft explained that they couldn’t get any information from inside the Torchwood organisation at all, not disgruntled past employees that were willing to talk about them. Nothing.

They only thing that they knew for definite, was that the administrator of the organisation was Yvonne Hartman, but they couldn’t get close to her.

Mycroft watched as his son flitted through all of the useless notes he had of Torchwood in London, the boy had known more than their 2 years of research from mere local gossip over the Cardiff division of the organisation.

It seemed like Ianto was looking for something after he saw the surveillance photos of Yvonne Hartman, like he was looking for something that they didn’t have.

“Yvonne Hartman, any evidence if she is married or in a long-term relationship?” Ianto’s question was completely random and out of the blue, Aerfen scrambled through her notes to find the answer. Mycroft didn’t even know off the top of his head.

They both agreed that they had no knowledge of any relationship that Ms Hartman was in and Aerfen questioned Ianto’s inquiry.

“She has a different assistant in the reconnaissance photos that you have of her, none of them last longer than what seems to be four months. All of them seem to be young men with similar characteristics. It might be possible that she hires for their looks and fires them when she is tired at how incompetent they are at their job.” He was pointing at the men in the background of the photos, laying down those photos in chronological order to show what he had seen. He had been looking at the people around Yvonne as well as what they were doing. The men always seemed to be carrying her belongings along with their own files or satchel, looking like an overworked assistant.

“They are all very conventionally attractive. The are relatively handsome, styled dark hair and seem to have shaven faces that make them look quite a bit younger than Hartman. We wouldn’t have missed this aspect if we were investigating a male with changing female assistants.” Aerfen was stating the obvious, but sometimes that was the things most overlooked.

This revelation made Mycroft want to look over all of the information again, trying to find anything else he missed, but he knew that it would be futile.

***

Aerfen had taken a step back from the table, trying to take a wider look at the information that they had. Ianto had helped them realise that they had been looking too close that they couldn’t see the forest because of the trees. The 16 year old had given them more information than they had gathered in over a year, it shifted a lot of how she viewed everything.

Once she realised that Mycroft had begun obsessing over the papers on the table, writing down notes of notes without change, she realised that she needed to stop him. They had to stop working otherwise they would be running round in circles all night.

She had to do something.

“I think its time to put this all away now; Ianto had helped us out a lot and but I don’t think we will be able to see anything else tonight. Wouldn’t it be best to let it rest tonight and look at it with fresh eyes in the morning with all of the new information we have.” She started filing everything back into their folders without giving Mycroft an option to refuse or stop her.

She was able to take everything from him and put it away without a fight. It wasn’t often that she took control like this, but it was a part of her job to make sure that Mycroft didn’t cause himself any harm by obsessing over some of the work. It wouldn’t end up well if he became consumed by only one topic. They were already spending too much time on it, but with the extra information from Ianto they could be able to make some advances.

***

Mycroft watched as all of their research was put away into the paper sleeves and placed into the cardboard box. He was just so tired and done with the situation with the torchwood organisation that he was trying to investigate. For what seems to be such a big organisation it still baffles him that they can’t get anyone to talk to.

Mycroft felt like he needed a drink to help process everything, and to allow himself to begin to calm down and become less hyperaware of the information he knew about Torchwood.

Aerfen may have cleaned up the physical files of the case, but he was still mentally in a room with all of the information spread all around him. He needed help to get out of the room and was going to use a harsh method to throw him out of the room instead of filing everything away. The room in his mind would never be tidy until he got more information to let it rest.

He got up and stared to prepare himself a drink that would knock his mental self out of the room that it was stuck within. It needed to be a drink that would take over his body, he needed something to take over his senses.

He found a bottle of soju within his alcohol cupboard that he had been gifted by a politician from South Korea. It had been explained to him that it would taste faintly like vodka, but that it is drank without being diluted like a drink made with vodka. It felt like the most appropriate to try out in the situation. He grabbed three glasses and returned back to Aerfen and Ianto who had moved onto the sofa and were in the process of picking a TV show to watch.

The had agreed on a general knowledge show that was airing on a channel, he didn’t pay much attention to it as he set down the glasses and the small green bottle of soju and began to pour a small amount into each of the glasses.

“Anyone want to try some soju? Apparently, you should take the whole measure in one swallow and it tastes faintly like vodka. It was gifted to me a while ago and I would really appreciate getting rid of it, it messes up with the height of the other bottles in the cupboard. It’s short and has to be at the front and gets in the way when I try to get other things out. I have never tried it before.”

They eyed up the alcohol and Mycroft could tell what they were thinking. He knew that Aerfen knew that he was trying to distract his mind, she lifted the glass closest to her. Ianto was thinking about what had just happened, he had just been offered a type of alcohol that his father believed he had never tried before “a spirit”, he had never tried anything stronger than beer or cider, nothing that would ignite when a flame was presented towards it. He tentatively took a glass when he noticed that Aerfen had taken hers, following her example but Mycroft knew that he was curious about it as well.

Mycroft took hold of the final glass and Aerfen was the first to take hers, by hitting the bottom of the glass on the coffee table before taking it as a shot. He noticed that Ianto was watching her every move and then began to copy her, Mycroft matched his movements to his son and was surprised at the taste that happened in his mouth as he tried to swallow the liquid.

It took a few seconds, but he noted that it tasted exactly like watered down vodka. His musings over the taste was interrupted when he heard Ianto coughing. He had been shocked by the taste.

At least he had enough evidence to know that his son hadn’t formed an idea about the taste of straight vodka, since he had been surprised by the taste.

The took a while to let the shot settle, fully absorbing the taste and letting their bodies react.

They all were looking at the show on TV, but they all knew that nobody was actually watching it. Mycroft knew that he was thinking about the Torchwood evidence, he knew that Aerfen was thinking about him but he had no clue what was clouding Ianto’s mind, but he knew that his son thought that it was important enough to think over.

He wanted to know what was plaguing his son’s mind, he knew that it was important.

He pored them all another drink, but didn’t move to return the glasses back to them, he wanted Ianto's attention to be distracted.

Once the had all picked up their glass and the adults started to drink, Ianto started to ask a question.

“Do you think I will fit the looks of Yvonne Hartman’s personal assistant once I am an adult?”

It took both Aerfen and Mycroft by surprise when they were trying to take their drink. They were the ones coughing and spluttering after that drink as Ianto took his after dropping that question.

They all knew that Ianto had the exact qualities of Yvonne Harman’s personal assistants but his Mam and Tad couldn’t admit it to themselves, it was what their subconscious had been obsessing over since the heard Ianto mention the appearance of the assistants.

“I’m not saying that we pimp me out, but we track her life outside the building and find another place to introduce me to her. A place to let me show off how efficient I am. Like a place that I will be able to work in part time when attending university in a few years. Wouldn’t it be very informative of having a reliable person in that position that is able to remember everything that happens, like me.”

Mycroft noted that his son was making very rational arguments but he felt in his chest that he could let his son go into a position with a high turnover rate in an organisation that he didn’t know what exactly occurred in it. But he knew in his brain that it was very logical.

Mycroft knew that Yvonnes personal assistant would be the equivalent to his Aerfen, a person who knows as much a him, but was able to give a different point of view on situations. Aerfen was essential for his work and how he was able to work, having a person in this position would be really helpful to them in understanding the world of Torchwood. Or even the space of torchwood.

Aerfen was stunned at the question and as soon as she had recovered from her surprise and the unexpected soju in her lungs she realised how beneficial having a person in that position would be. If she was able to be tempted, she was in a position of turning against Mycroft and breaking apart the British government. She could ruin the country all by herself with the information she had personally gained through her position.

She understood what Ianto was saying and nodded in agreement.

She was confident in herself that she could prepare Ianto with everything that he would need to complete the mission that he had proposed himself. She instinctively knew that Ianto had already made his decision about it. Especially if he has been wanting to work with the organisation for years. This is the golden opportunity to get him near the top of an industry he had been idolising for years.

Mycroft didn’t answer, just pouring another drink. The other two knew that he was internally debating over the subject.

They didn’t talk about the subject again that night, all pretending that they were invested with the questions being asked in the game show being aired on the TV.

***

Torchwood wasn’t mentioned at all the rest of the weekend that Ianto stayed at the apartment with his Mam and Tad. But he knew that what he had noticed and what he had said was all weighing on them.

He could tell that they knew that he was right, they wouldn’t get anyone as reliable to them as he was.

He had planted the seeds and all he needed to do was watch them grow.

Ianto honestly enjoyed the rest of the weekend in London with his mam and tad. It had been rare for him to get time with them without his grandparents, but he loved it as it made him remember stories of what his friends would tell him as he was younger.

They had all walked to a cinema to watch the new Star Wars movie, The Phantom Menace, which was technically episode one since they had renamed the original movies as four, five and six. It was a movie that Ianto had been talking about for months, he had been looking forward to watching it after seeing the other movies with his friends months prior.

Chapter Text

It had been strangely quiet in the space between Christmas Eve and New Years Eve.

The absence made Mycroft and Aerfen feel like something was brewing, especially since there were talks about the world ending when the year turned over. They had come back to London to check a few things and were debating whether or not they should return to Cardiff to celebrate the new year with Violet and William. The Holmes parents were planning on celebrating the new year with the national broadcast and a bottle of champagne, a quiet affair.

Ianto had made plans to celebrate with his friends, they didn’t know much more than that.

They made it as far as the Manor but decided to stick around, both of their guts were telling them that it was going to be a busy night. They were trying to rest and mentally prepare for whatever was going to happen.

***

They didn’t have to wait long.

It was early in the evening, they hadn’t even eaten dinner yet and the front gate buzzer sounded.

Mycroft went to the enquire who it was, they weren’t expecting any company.

Especially not without a phone call warning first.

“State your name and your business here” He talked down to the speaker at the gate, wishing that he had installed a camera to see what was happening at the gate, who was there.

“Sorry sir about the intrusion. Her Royal Majesty insisted on meeting with you and seemed to be resistant to contact you by phone or electronic means.” Mycroft was trying to understand what had happened, if the person at the gate really was with Lizzy. And then he heard another voice come through the speaker.

“Mikey? Can you hear me? I need to talk to you about the… ‘aliens’… that we talked about. I think that one of them have contacted me.”

She sounded scared, something that he had never heard in her voice before. Whatever had scared her must be a big threat. He let them trough the gate and quickly made himself more presentable looking. Aerfen had already straightened up her outfit when she heard what was being said, the only things out of place on her were the fluffy slippers still on her feet.

The car pulled up to the front door and the queen of the entire country got out looking haggard. Her clothes looked rumpled her hair unruly with a scarf tied over it to hide how bad it is. Mycroft had never seen her like this before, this is a woman who didn’t even have public photos of any of her pregnancies, even when she worked all through them.

She looked like a rattled granny that had just witnessed something traumatic, she didn’t even look like herself.

The driver who must have spoken to Mycroft through the intercom stayed in the car. He obviously thought that the woman was losing her mind and was running to seek shelter at a random stranger’s house. Hopefully he at least knew that this was an address to one of the people she meets with monthly.

They ushered her into the house and got her into a comfortable seat, with an offer of tea or something stronger. She requested dry white wine if they had it and it was brought to her. It calmed her out of her shaken state and then she began to tell them about what she had experienced earlier in the day.

“I was watching the television with Beatrice and Eugenie, they are 11 and 9 so we were watching a tape that they had picked out. Harry was in and out of the room but felt like it was too young for him. Then the screen changed to static and we thought it was an issue with the tape, but it started talking directly to me, calling me the leader. They said that they were ready to take over earth via the computers. We took out the tape, thinking that it was a cruel trick but the image didn’t change and they were still talking to me. They were responding directly to what we were doing. I didn’t know where else to go after leaving the children with Anne.”

Mycroft heard the story and looked up to Aerfen and they both were thinking the same thing, that they didn’t know how to fix this.

The only contact that they had would be UNIT, so Aerfen rang them.

Aerfen got through quickly to someone higher up that they could talk to, but was under instructions to make it brief. It seemed like Unit was very busy tonight.

She was transferred to the extension of General Randall and explained who she was with and what had just happened. It was immediate that he knew exactly what she was talking about and began barking orders at others at the unit base.

It turned out that they had known about this threat for many months and had enough resources to keep it under control. Their opposition must have gotten desperate and tried to scare someone who they deemed to have enough power to derail the defence against them.

The General was understanding about the situation that the Queen was in and was grateful that Aerfen had called in case Unit knew anything about the attack, because they could have ruined their entire plan that was months in the making.

He explained that a race called the Voracians were using the fear of the millennium bug that was already in place among the general public to piggyback off of and were trying to take over using a sentient program called Voractyll which would initially mimic the expected disruptions that people expected from the millennium bug before taking over. The General assured them that the threat was controlled by the Geocomtex company which worked alongside their scientists and doctors to prevent them from being able to take over the world.

General Randall helped ease the Queens anxieties over the threat that she had experienced but she wanted to be personally updated of the threat, especially in the early hours when she assumed that the systems would be at their weakest. He agreed, but told them that they would be adequately protected at the time where they believe that the attempted switch over would happen.

The call was terminated after contact details were exchanged, the Queen was serious about wanting an update after the year change.

Mycroft could tell that she wasn’t entirely calmed down after the phone call. But Mycroft assured her that the millennium bug was essentially a myth that had been spread among the general public because the year was counting up from the 1000’s to the 2000’s. Her concerns about a weak point were lessened as Mycroft explained that computers all know how to count, it was a simple thing for them to do and the only thing that was going to change was the Calander date.

Once the Queen’s questions were answered, she began to look around the home. It was her first time actually visiting the manor.

***

When it was obvious that the Queen wasn’t in a rush to leave, Aerfen went out to her driver sitting outside to give him an update and to offer him some refreshments.

When she returned, she saw the Queen was studying a photo that was sitting on one of the bookshelves surrounding the lounge room. Mycroft wasn’t in the room to stop her looking at it as closely as she was.

Aerfen’s heart sank when she realised what the photo that had captured the Queens attention was.

It was the most recent photo that had been put up, one that had been taken of the family at Ianto’s 16th birthday.

“They have the same brow and nose, but they don’t look like each other much. He definitely has his mothers face shape, eyes and hair.” The woman acknowledged Aerfen’s presence but doesn’t make a big deal about Ianto’s existence, so Mycroft must have told her. She concludes that he must have told her during one of their many meetings.

“He does have his mothers eyes and jaw, and his father’s forehead, but I would say that he has a mix of their noses. They might look more alike when Ianto is able to grow more facial hair, but I don’t know about the hair and hairline.” Aerfen looked up from the picture to look for another one that she knew was around the room, one of the Holmes family from around when Mycroft was 16 and brought it over to let the woman see. “He has a similar hairline to Mycroft in his youth, but his brother also has dark hair with a bit of a curl to it.”

“Hopefully he got his hair from his mother and he isn’t cursed with the receding hairline of the Holmes family.” Mycroft startled them with his input as he entered the room, brushing his hair back as if to emphasise his hairline to the women.

“Don’t worry I am fully aware that Ianto looks miles better than I did when I was his age. He is definitely growing into a striking young man who currently has no idea how others view him. The amount of tales I’ve heard about school mates acting ‘weird’ at school, even I could tell from his stories that these friends are trying to flirt with him. He will understand in time, he’s a smart boy.”

They all stand looking at the photos, comparing how Ianto looks like Mycroft in some ways but completely different in others. It was something that Mycroft had never taken time and done before, he had compared Ianto to the photo he had of them together when they met, but he had just thought that Ianto just looked like Sarah, that he didn’t see any resemblance of himself in the boy at all. His mummy had disagreed with him, but this was the first time that he recognised it himself.

It was a while before anyone said anything, but Lizzy took the glass off of Mycroft and sipped away. He had been filling her glass after she had finished it.

“You know, my Harry is 15 years old.” Lizzy said, in a way that grandmothers only could.

They all recognised the direction that the conversation was going, especially after talking about Ianto’s photo where a cake with the number 16 was so clearly visible. Everyone knew the age of the William and Harry even if their jobs didn’t involve the intricacies of the monarchy and politics, they were never out of the news with their ages so proudly sitting beside their names.

“He is a lonely boy. Could do with some good role models in his life.” Mycroft could tell where she was going with this. He really didn’t want his son to be in the public eye, something that came with being close to the future princes. He had to do this tactfully.

“Ianto doesn’t come to London very often, usually only travels here to the manor if he is the one making the journey. Usually we travel down to see him in Cardiff, but I think that he would love to meet with Harry sometime. But I am hesitant about him being on the papers, we are a private family.” She waved at him, dismissing what he was saying.

“Obviously they wouldn’t be seen anywhere in public together. Just accept my invitations to attend some of the private functions that I throw for family. You are closer to me than most of them are anyway.”

Mycroft had been putting those things off for years, there were certain members of the Royal family that he just didn’t have any patience for and some he didn’t like at all.

He didn’t answer, but they all knew that he didn’t want to go to them. The Queen knew that he would give in at some point so she just kept extending the invitation, even if it was always turned down.

***

They sat and talked for a while, until she finished her glass and then began to say her goodbyes. Mycroft escorted her to her car and told the driver to bring her back to the rest of her family, knowing that she was in a reminiscing mood.

The driver didn’t say anything, only nodded after checking on the general condition of the queen, noting that it was drastically different from the way she was when she exited the car earlier. Even if she was slightly tipsy and had a bit of a wobble in her step as she got to the car.

They stood in at the door, watching as the car made it off the grounds and through the gate out of their sights. They felt like they could breathe comfortably again.

Being around the Queen always felt so exhausting, even if she was only there for an hour.

Once back inside, they made their way into the kitchen and started to make themselves dinner from the what they could find in the freezer, a selection of meals that Violet had made for them just in case.

***

They were eating their reheated lasagne and cottage pie in peace when the phone rang. Interrupting the silence that had fallen over them.

The caller ID said that it was General Randell calling Mycroft’s cell phone.

Their hearts sank, knowing that he wouldn’t be calling before the beginning of the new year unless something had seriously gone wrong. Questions were running through their minds, wanting to know if they had underestimated their opponents and how long they had until the earth was no longer for humans.

Mycroft answered the call.

“Holmes”

“It’s General Russell, nothing more has happened on the situation we have been handling. There has been another situation crop up and we need more hands on to deal with it, you two are the most suitable to sort it out that I can get in contact with at this late hour.”

“Go ahead” Aerfen had moved to the seat beside Mycroft, not being subtle in her attempt to listen in to the conversation.

“We have had a situation develop in the Cardiff division of Torchwood, its under control and the assailant is contained. We just need someone to organise cleanup as there are multiple bodies, the whole team bar one who raised the alarm. From what I understood, the leader was taken over by a parasite and tried to eliminate the whole team before turning the weapon on himself after finding out that he was locked it. The remaining team member has requested help to clean up and removed the bodies, not enough space at this time in their internal stores.”

Mycroft was astounded at what he was hearing, but knew that they would be able to sort it out like any regular workplace if this situation occurred, as long as the alien thing was dealt with by the team member. “So you want us to ensure what has been told to us is true, make a believable cover and pass it on. Hopefully using any useable internal security footage to reinforce our story.”

“Exactly. The entrance to the base is the closed tourist information desk at the Roald Dahl Plass in Cardiff and to reverse the internal lockdown just enter 827347 into the keypad in the store room behind the information desk. The remaining member, Jack, he sounded the alarm and should be able to get you onto the computer systems. Bit of a warning, he is a weird one. From our records he lives in a reinforced room within the building, from what we could tell it’s his own choice to do so.”

Aerfen had been taking notes on a notepad that was within arm’s reach when the call came through, abandoned earlier in the night on the dining table. She paused momentarily when writing down about the team member’s living arrangements. “I will begin making arrangements for somewhere for him to stay for the next few days, give time for the cleaners to be able to do a good job. It will be limited resources tomorrow; I’ll try to get a room until Monday or Tuesday. The contractors will be limited in people with the bank holiday, will book until Tuesday and increase the stay if the extra time is needed for the clean-up.”

“I trust that you will be able to deal with this, call if there are any complications. I will call at between one and two o’clock when I am sure that the other issue has been handled appropriately to give you closure. Hopefully we won’t need to speak between then” The general was hinting that he didn’t want to speak with them until the early hours, a sentiment that they all seemed to share.

“Hopefully not”

The phone was hung up. Aerfen and Mycroft set about to pack their bags and to ring Violet and William that they expect that they would be staying the night at the cottage once they were finished with work. It was only 10pm as they made the preparations, but they knew that the year would turn over soon after they reached Cardiff and it would take a while to talk to the sole survivor.

The Holmes parents hadn’t changed their plans but could give more insight on what the younger population were doing that night. Ianto was going with his friends to celebrate the New Year with Cerys and her friends, in a set of ruins in a field that someone’s parents owned. From what William could tell, they were planning on having a campfire and to listen to the countdown over a radio.

Mycroft could read through the lines, the 16-year-olds were going to celebrate without adults and were probably going to do something stupid.

They were also informed that Rhiannon had gotten dressed up and was celebrating with her friends in the town centre. She had been working a lot recently, voicing that she wanted to be able to move into her own place soon. She wanted somewhere of her own and nobody was forcing her out of the cottage, in fact Violet wanted her to stay for a while to get a bit of stability. William had told her that she would find it easier if she had some savings before renting because she wouldn’t be living pay check to pay check while trying to set up a new home. She wouldn’t accept any money form the Holmes’s, too proud.

It was nice to see that the children were both having a fun night out with friends, especially with what they had lived through in the past few years.

***

They arrived at the Plass at a quarter past 11, parking along the main road of the town. They had taken advantage of the empty roads they had driven along and made the journey in good time.

Aerfen took her time to get ready to deal with anything that they may come across, not bothering with many hidden weapons and rather opting to put on her custom utility belt that she rarely got to use in her job position now. It always made her feel like Lara croft when she put it on, even if she wasn’t wearing Lara’s other clothes, she loved her belt.

Mycroft just made sure to have his guns properly situated in places that he would be able to reach, then they were as ready as they could be.

***

The door to the tourist information centre was locked when they got to it, but it was easy for Aerfen to pick the lock to gain access. The building had obviously not been in use in years, the dust had piled up on the shelves, desk and on the cobwebs that decorated the air. All Mycroft could think of was that it was a poorly maintained cover story for a secret organisation.

But then again Ianto was able to tell them that they had a base down here, the locals likely knew that the information office was never in use as well. Even idiots could put those two together and draw a plausible conclusion.

It just showed how much the community was able to pretend to not see, just because they knew that they were being protected by the team. Selective invisibility as it were.

After carefully moving through the information centre, they found the panel in what seemed to be a store room behind the desk and entered the code. It was obvious that the wasn’t the main entrance, but it was the only point of entrance that they had been given.

They were both fully aware that they were attending a scene that was caused by a parasite, so were making sure to check everywhere they were going, preventing them from being infected unawares. It was like they were trapezing through the place ready to shoot any spiders that were to make an appearance.

The door opened and revealed a dark stairway leading downwards, one would assume that it leads to underneath the Plass.

They soon found a large round vault-like door at the end of the stairs; it opened with ease like it was moved regularly.

***

Mycroft had no idea of what to expect when they walked into the torchwood base. He had been expecting it to be as clinical as how he believed Yvonne Hartman kept the London tower, but as they walked down the stairs and were presented with the vault door, he knew that it would be a completely different atmosphere than what would suit Ms Hartman.

It was essentially a warehouse sized bunker filled with clutter and wires, evidence of a very busy atmosphere. There were random desks spattered around the place with bursts of personality on each one, the workers had been comfortable to make their space their own.

There was also blood all over the place, splashed on the walls indicating that there had been people hit by gunshot and pooling on the concrete slabs on the floor, around the bodies.

“Well, Hello…” A flirty American drawl could be heard over the silence of the bunker, Aerfen was the one who was further into the space and Mycroft could only assume that the sole survivor who had reported the incident, could see her.

“I would come over and introduce myself but I’m a bit busy over here. Any chance you have a gun handy? I lost mine earlier, haven't been able to move from this position or risk of it getting free again.”

Mycroft walked further to see who was speaking and was met with a man sitting on top of an upside-down bin, presumably the parasite that caused all of the trouble was underneath it. The man in question was dressed quite uniquely, a vintage fit with the shirt and suspenders.

The guns were aimed immediately and they were ready to shoot as soon as the bin was lifted.

Nothing was there when the bin was lifted.

“Fuck, Come on you little shit!” He started to shake the bin viciously to get something to fall out, and it did.

Aerfen had thought that the parasite would be sort of like a big and small, spider side. She was not expecting what dropped out of the bin, it was the size of a rat you would expect on the underground and had vibrant purple legs with a neon green body. It was too many legs for her liking, over 10, and she started shooting and only stopped when she was sure that it had been obliterated into a goo that wouldn’t support life.

Both men were a bit stunned as they watched her completely take out the parasite by herself. Mycroft was a bit taken aback by the overkill shown by his assistant and closest friend.

She noticed them staring at her.

“Bugs freak me out” She shrugged as she said it, like she hadn’t just destroyed the first alien she had ever came in contact with.

“That was so hot!” He threw the bin to the side and approached them. “Captain Jack Harkness at your service, I assume that the General sent you.”

“Mycroft Holmes. We understand that you need help dealing with your collegues and will help ensure that they will be brought to their families and the place will be cleaned. Where is the control for your security systems?”

He pointed over to a computer station as Mycroft fully took in the scene around him. Aerfen made her way to get the security feed.

“I didn’t catch your name” He was trying to get her attention as she walked past him.

“She didn’t say it.” Mycroft answered absentmindedly as he tried to make the connection his brain was screaming at him. There were 5 bodies on the floor, all fatally shot. A self-inflicted head wound via gunshot was the cause of death closest to where Jack and the bin had been, presumably the one who had been infected.

The others had all died shortly after being wounded, not moving far from their final resting place. But there was more blood not consistent with any of the bodies on the floor, showing that a sixth person had been shot. It was a head shot with how little blood was on the floor, but with how much was on the nearby wall.

Jack had matted blood on the back of his hear, covering his hair at the back of his head.

“So, the infected person came out of that alcove, the medical area I presume, and began shooting all those in the surrounding area. At a fast enough speed that there was a delay in response. You were all field agents and trained to react quickly for your own life. It killed all five of you and then shot the host before trying to escape. You trapped it before it was able to leave the building into the wider community.”

“Sir, there is only five bodies, you are saying there should be six?”

Aerfen had been listening as he was explaining what he had saw in the blood, but he was watching how Jack reacted to him.

He just looked tired, like Mycroft had found out something that had been weighing him down.

“It just doesn’t seem to stick, Do you want me to identify them for you. The host, that was Alex Hopkins, the boss.” Jack walked them through, telling them his colleagues names and what they did to contribute to the workforce. They each had unique specialties that Mycroft could assume was vital to the workings of what they did. He got sidetracked a bit and told them how they had been recruited, dropping their ages into it as well.

They were all in their twenties, none had made it to 30 and it didn’t seem that Jack was surprised with that fact when it was pointed out.

“I’ve heard from reports that you have been working with Torchwood in Cardiff for at least 10 years, are you at least in your 30s then?” Mycroft had been curious about the consistency of the American throughout the years according to Ianto, especially with the high turnover rates that are a result of the high mortality rate of the job. Not being able to die would defiantly be an advantage in this dangerous form of work.

“Think I’m at about 175 years now. Was a bit confusing there for a while, travelled.”

“So you were born in the 1800’s?” Aerfen was listening in and made sure to remind them, asking a question that Mycroft would want answered as well. “The footage doesn’t show Jack’s death, and I’ve taken the liberty to take the audio out of it to ensure others won’t be able to understand what was spoken about. We could hand the video and the bodies over to trusted police and they will be able to do the mundane things for us.”

“Ensure it gets filed onto Lestrade’s desk at Scotland yard, he can be trusted.” Mycroft looked at his watch and saw the time, almost midnight. He could make the call now and be certain that it would be answered. “I’ll call him now and pass on the basic information.”

***

The phone was answered almost immediately.

“Lestrade” Mycroft noted that it didn’t sound like the man was celebrating the new year, no noise in the background.

“Its Mycroft Holmes, I was wondering if you would have a moment to talk. Its about work.”

“Yeah go ahead, just sitting watching the tele. Waiting for the new year to come. Sharons away out with friends tonight, first big night out after the baby.” Mycroft remembered that when he last met the man, he had mentioned that his wife was 5 months pregnant, the baby would only be around a month old now. Strange that they didn’t want to celebrate the new year together, but who was he to judge. Especially since he was working and his own son was getting drunk in a field.

“Oh congratulations, what did you have?”

“Girl, named her Megan.”

“Lovely. Sorry to call you at this late hour but there was a murder suicide that has taken place in a governmental department, I was wanting to know if you could help contacting the victims families. The entire thing was caught on camera, happened earlier tonight. Seems like the boss just snaped.”

“Shit, yeah, I can help process it. I assume that the government doesn’t want a whole load of coppers crawling over the scene. Send me over the video and I’ll tell you if it will be enough to process without seeing the scene, not back to work till the 3rd but the bodies can be entered into the building as long as they are associated with a case number.” He trailed off, Mycroft could tell that his attention had been taken away from him.

“The countdown has just started…” He had turned on the tv in the background and Mycroft could hear the chanting down from 8 all the way down to what he assumed was the turn of the year, signalled by a tonne of screaming and fireworks.

“Happy new year, glad I’m not entering it all by myself”

“Happy new year to you too detective”

“So you’ll send that video through on my email?”

“Yes, my assistant will have that to you within the half hour.” Mycroft could tell that the Sergeant had been bored before his call, that he was glad to finally have something to do.

***

Aerfen was left with the Captain while her boss called the Sergeant.

“I wasn’t born in the 1800’s, was born in the 51st century. My job for a while was to find some stuff that got lost in time. Something happened and death doesn’t stick too well now. Waiting for the right Doctor to show up and help me.”

It caused Aerfen to pause a bit, this was a golden opportunity to get more information about the doctors. She had to word this well to get more information about it.

“Would that be ‘The Doctor’?”

“Yes, have you ever met him? Which face did he have?”

“We haven’t met him yet, just trying to gather enough information to figure out if he is friend or foe. Are you saying that all of the different faces, it is one being?”

“They guy changes his face when he ‘dies’ from what I can tell. Definitely older than me, hoping that he has some answers that could help with my situation” He did quotations around the dies, as if he believed that the man couldn’t die either.

“If he is a friend or foe, that’s a bit more complicated. Generally, he is always trying to save innocents, he mentioned once that he was the last of his species, so he might be trying to make sure that others don’t face the same fate. When I first met him, he was travelling with someone from the early 2000’s. Think he gets bored and tries to show off to random humans.” Aerfen saw Mycroft returning back to the, the phone call with Lestrade must have went well.

“When did you meet The Doctor?”

“I met him in London during the Blitz. I was trying to salvage a war ship but it turned out to be medical nanobots that didn’t know how to heal humans. There was a bit of trouble with a kid and a gas mask but the Doctor fixed it. It honestly was like something out of a horror movie.”

“Really?” They all knew what Aerfen was going, she was playing into the man’s story to get more information out of him. It was a tactic that they sometimes used on politicians that had taken a shine to her. Mycroft could tell that Jack had caught on very quickly to what she was doing, but seemed to enjoy telling a story that hadn’t been told in a long time if at all before.

They had migrated over to the well-loved couches in the corner, away from the bodies that were still on the floor. The man may also be talking so much to distract him from what had happened earlier in the night. Mycroft decided to use one of the commutes surrounding them to send the video to Lestrade, mentally making a note to check in on the man’s work history to see if he would be better suited as a Detective. Mycroft that the man was better suited to be a detective, he was certainly smart enough.

“From what we could tell, the nanobots couldn’t tell the difference between boy and gas mask, fused it onto his face and tried to ‘fix’ anyone else that they came into contact with. It was like weird zombies that continuously asked about their mummy’s. The doctor figured out that if we got the mom to touch the boy, the nanobots would recognise the genetic material and figure it out themselves. That’s what the doctor does, he saves people.”

“A fitting name. Does he go by anything else?”

“Not really, just goes by Doctor. If he is doing anything undercover. he usually goes by John Smith, most common name there is. Nobody knows his real name, its like it died with his people, I think that he called them the Time Lords or something. He doesn’t like to talk about it often.” That is fair, the Doctor probably didn’t like to be remined that he was alone in the universe. Aerfen knew that she should venture away from the topic to keep the man in a talkative mood.

“You mentioned that you were from the 51st century, does that mean that the Earth is still around then?”

“God no. The human race is a very robust species, very resourceful and willing to mate with pretty much any species they come across as they begin to travel the universe. The standard of time evolves into earth orbit years because the human population is so vast. I’m originally from the Boshane Peninsula, doesn’t even exist in the skies yet.” The listened attentively, wanting to hear about how things happen in the future, that they arnt just destined to burn on earth as it slowly heats up. The man was obviously remembering his home planet as he described where he was from, reminiscing of his childhood.

“I’ve always been this pretty you see, won a childhood beauty companion when I was a kid. The face of the Boshane Peninsula, gave us a food supply to do the family for an entire year.” Aerfen and Mycroft could hear the implication, it wasn’t an easy childhood that the man experienced. They had seen such prizes in struggling areas here on Earth in the current day. But something else catches Mycroft’s attention, Boshane and the ripped piece of paper found in the search for Torchwood London. He may have had a very bad experience with them from his reactions and the situation that the note was found in.

Aerfen had been asking questions that he was willing to answer and elaborate, but there are things that Mycroft wants to know.

“If its not to rude to ask, but were your born without the ability to die? The London Blitz was a dangerous time to be in London, especially if you were mortal at that time.”

Jack exhaled deeply and Aerfen thought that Mycroft may have stepped too far. The man looked exhausted, and the day was definitely catching up with him. There was a prolonged silence before he started to talk.

“No I wasn’t always like this, I was a time agent, it wasn’t the most respectable job and the doctor despises them. Apparently, we were children messing with time according to him, he broke my watch. It was how we jumped from time to time.” He showed them the watch still on his wrist, like he couldn’t say goodbye to it. “It was a bit of relief really, fell into the job but the ones I worked with used it as an excuse to commit crimes that they could never be caught for.”

He let them fill in the blanks, which they did. They could infer that he was basically working for a less than legal company, potentially a gang or criminal organisation. They always attracted the bad of the bad and those who just needed a job.

“I adopted the name and life of Captain Jack Harkness after meeting him shortly before his death during World War II. It rolls of the tongue better than Javic Piotr Thane. Just telling you before you try to search for me and find his picture instead, I assume that you will have access to a larger more conclusive database than the general public.”

Aerfen just shrugged and took down than mans actual name, but they knew to call the man by the name that he preferred. Especially since she didn’t go by her birth name either.

“I travelled with the Doctor and another companion, Rose, for a while and then Satellite 5 happened. We had been on the satellite at a few different times throughout traveling, but when we landed on Earth orbit year 200,100 it was very different. A war happened against the species that killed the Time Lords and I got killed. They are called the Daleks, run if you ever meet them otherwise, they will exterminate you. If you can’t run, aim for their eye or their weapon. They are basically squishy aliens that look like an octopus but they have surrounded themselves with a customised tank that they never leave.”

Mycroft was taken aback, the nab hadn’t shown much emotions so far but once he got onto the topic of his death, he was so serious. He was warning them about these Daleks. Mycroft could tell that he was terrified about the concept of meeting them again. The would heed the warnings and ensure if the Daleks ever came to earth, they wouldn’t hold back but also Mycroft would be hesitant to ask Jack for help. It might be better for him to never encounter them again.

“I died, but Rose couldn’t accept it. I don’t really know what happened, but she did something very dangerous and brought be back. Now I always come back. The Doctor said that I am an unnatural fixed point and couldn’t stand to look at me, he experiences things differently than humans and didn’t like my presence afterwards. He left me behind and I eventually got my watch to get me off of the satellite. Ended up on earth around the 1850’s, been waiting for him ever since.” That explained why he kept the watch on, it could get him out of places if he worked on it a bit, but might not be reliable enough to get to a specific place or time anymore.

“How did you find yourself in Torchwood Cardiff of all places?” Aerfen was curious, such a random place for him to end up.

“Got captured by torchwood London at some point, they tried to figure out what made me immortal. I believe the cell they kept me in is still saturated with my blood. They didn’t believe it was a soul thing not a cell thing. The documentation for it probably got lost through the years. Then found out about this base in Cardiff, got recruited for my ability to deal with some species that shows up here.”

“You were tortured and then began working for your torturers?”

“What makes Cardiff so special?”

The questions were asked at the same time and it made Jack chuckle, probably because he was the centre of attention. They needed him for answers and didn’t seem to be wanting to repeat history by taking him into custody.

“Cardiff is widely different to London, and its because of their interactions of alien species. There is a rift of space and time throughout Cardiff and it spits out species and technology often. The Doctor’s spaceship uses it to refuel sometimes so I have a high chance of meeting him again if I stay here.”

It made sense, correlating with what Ianto had told them about what he knew. Cardiff was sort of like a door to other places and effectively needed bouncers to manage it.

They needed capable people who had unique skills and capabilities to help them protect Cardiff and the wider area of threats that come through the rift.

Mycroft’s pondering was interrupted by an incoming text on his phone.

“Greg’s just texted, says the video is enough evidence. Send the texts to inform the cleanup teams and begin the transport of the bodies. He’ll be in touch with the case number soon, might be the morning so don’t be transporting them until then. Don’t want to show up to Scotland yard with unexpected bodies.”

Aerfen began texting her contacts immediately after staring at Mycroft and mouthing the word ‘Greg’. That was definitely going to be a conversation later when she decided to tease him.

“We understand that you seem to live here, we will should have everything cleaned up by the 3rd, but will inform you if it takes longer. Please pack a bag and we will drop you off at the hotel that we have set you up in. Apologies, we could only get a double room in the voco St David’s, everywhere if fully booked because of the holiday.” She sent Jack away as she was texting, not looking up at the man.

“You should speak to him about working underneath you with monthly reports. It would be best if this place didn’t work underneath the London division anymore. I will complete all of the paperwork within the week if he agrees. He is more than qualified to control this place, maybe a bit chaotic but it does seem that the job requires it.”

Aerfen was in her element ordering them about, Mycroft knew that she was telling him the most logical next steps.

They hadn’t even approached the topic of flat holm, but it might be netter not to at the moment. Jack had mentioned that things come out of the rift but hadn’t offered the fact that it took things and people away as well. It could be used as a bargaining chip if needed in the future.

***

They drive the man to the hotel and get him booked in, it was a whole ordeal with the festivities and celebrations occurring and the fact that Jack still had blood caked on the back of his head. Aerfen had to spin a story to get them to take pity on him and give him the room key. They did allow it but it was on the promise that he would wash it out before laying down on the bed.

They help him bring his stuff up to the room and when Mycroft begins to broach the subject Aerfen told him to talk about, his phone began to ring.

It was well after 1am at this point and nobody from work would even attempt to ring him unless it was an emergency, especially not without calling Aerfen first.

It was Ianto.

“Sorry it’s my son” Mycroft excused himself and answered the phone on his way to the stairwell.

He trusted that Aerfen would be able to communicate the deal that she proposed. They hadn’t talked about costs, but he trusted her to be able to make an inviting offer that wouldn’t cause too much a dent in their pretty unlimited budget. She knew more about those type of contacts anyway.

“Ianto? What’s wrong?” There was a bit of heavy breathing and he could hear the phone being passed between people, like they were fighting over who would talk.

“Mr Ianto’s Dad sorry for waking you up but we think we have lost Ianto.” It was a young girl, presumably a friend of Ianto’s, and before he was able to speak the phone changed hands and a familiar voice could be heard.

“Mycroft, its Sammy. Me and Cerys went for a walk and left everyone at the fire but when we got back Gethin and Ioan were fighting and everyone else was gone. Ianto left his jacket behind, the phone was in the pocket. The rest of the girls were due to be picked up 10 minutes ago but we don’t know where Ianto could have gone. Do you think he left because of the fighting? I know that he has a bad history with angry drunks.”

There were two things that Mycroft had gotten from Sammy, his son was missing and the couple on the phone to him definitely weren’t on a walk. There were potentially 4 drunk teenagers looking for Ianto in a random field at nearly half 1 in the middle of winter.

It was a recipe for disaster.

“By any chance do you know what they were fighting about?” Mycroft had no idea how to progress; he needed Aerfen to tell him what to do.

“We aren’t too sure, think it might have started over something small. But they always fight is there isn’t someone ready to stop them. They are too similar in some ways and too different in others. We usually make sure that they aren’t left alone together for long.” Well he knew that, he had witnessed their bickering in person when they stayed at the manor for the rugby match.

He knew that he needed to get them to calm down, he could tell that they were panicking too much for them to do anything logical at that moment.

“You mentioned that there were people leaving, perhaps he walked with them and took a lift from the person lifting them?”

“Maybe…” Sammy didn’t sound too convinced but he could hear Cerys agree with him in the background, saying something about someone called Sasha.

“Did he have his camera in his jacket? I know that he had left the cottage with it earlier.”

“…erm. No, it wasn’t there”

“He could have decided to go and take photos, lost track of time.”

“That sounds like something he would do.” He could hear it in Sammy’s voice, the building hysteria in the boy was beginning to fade away.

“So, you don’t think that he left because of the fighting?” Sammy was still very worried about Ianto. Mycroft could tell that he was a really good friend to his son with his worries, but hadn’t noticed any avoidant tendencies in Ianto in relation to people fighting or those under the influence. As long as it wasn’t directed towards him.

“I wouldn’t blame it on the fighting; Ianto is fully aware how Gethin and Ioan get on. If he was uncomfortable with it, I believe that he would have voiced it a lot sooner.”

There was a lull in the conversation, neither knew what else to say. Mycroft suspected that they felt more comfortable being in contact with an adult so he didn’t hang up or say goodbye. It wasn’t often that he could say that his presence was comforting.

There was soon movement that came across the phone and he suspected that the prodigal son had returned to near the fire and they could see him.

“Where the fuck have you been?”

“Dude, where were you?”

“We thought you were dead!”

“I was worried about you dickhead”

“Bastard, nearly gave me a heart attack”

They were all talking over each other and Mycroft took that as a hint that his son was no longer missing and he was no longer required to be on the phone.

He hung up as Aerfen joined him in the stairwell.

“That was Sammy, they lost Ianto but no worry, they found him again too. Sammy was worried about Ianto being scared off with Gethin and Ioan fighting.”

Aerfen just responded with a confused look, even she knew that Gethin and Ioan were always fighting.

“Don’t look at me like that, they are drunk and common sense probably wouldn’t be that easy to find.”

“Captain Harkness has agreed to our terms to the oversite of the Cardiff division of Torchwood, otherwise known as torchwood 3. It turns out that he owns the building that the organisation works out of and that helps greatly to separate them from torchwood 1, London. Just need to figure out if the organisation is already registered or trademarked, but it is unlikely as they are a secret organisation. Legal pathways will be out best way.”

“1 and 3, how many are there?”

“He mentioned that there were 5 that he knows of, but one of them is just a storage area and another is currently missing. He says to not even try to understand it.”

“Is that everything?”

“General Russel called and had confirmed that there were no complications. He has taken the liberty to inform her Majesty about it and has informed her that we are otherwise occupied with another case. She wants you to call her tomorrow some time in the afternoon.”

Mycroft nodded, tired with everything that had taken place throughout the night. He was exhausted physically and mentally, ready to sleep until at least the 4th. They had encountered their first alien today and Aerfen had killed it before he had gotten a good look at it but he couldn’t blame her.

He really couldn’t tell if he wanted to see any more or if it should be left to the professionals. Time would tell wither way but he was getting more and more worried about Ianto and his future. Ianto had expressed that it was his dream to join Torchwood, but he just found out that they very rarely made it to their 30th birthday.

It made him uneasy in a way he only felt when he was called to the hospital for Sherlock’s overdoses.

He was trying to not think about it, but had a bad feeling about Torchwood in general.

***

The cottage was silent when they arrived, Violet and William had gone to bed shortly after the countdown. To their surprise, the front door was locked and no light was turn on at the front door. There wasn’t even a hallway light left on for their arrival.

All Mycroft could think of was that his mummy had forgotten about him.

Aerfen didn’t pay the front door much attention and made her way to the back of the house, if Ianto was expected home at some point in the night, they were more likely to leave to door open near his room.

The back door was unlocked and the back light was on, there was also a glass of water sitting beside the back door on the counter as they walked in, lest for Ianto no doubt.

It was confirming his suspicions that his son was his parent’s favourite child, nothing could make him think otherwise now.

***

It was a lazy morning the next day, no shops would be open and most of the population was sleeping off hangovers. Mycroft sat reading emails beside his dad who was reading yesterday’s newspaper.

Mycroft spent the morning skimming over any other developments that had happened throughout the night but could be dealt without his input. He was being sent reports about what the incidents were and how they were resolved.

There were only a few things that he may need to look into further.

His so had shown signs of life and graced them with his presence.

“So nice of you to join us, Houdini.”

“Ha…Ha…Ha, who told you?” Ianto flopped down beside him, stealing his cup of tea with no hesitation. It sounded like he was fed up with the situation that had happened in the early hours, he likely had to explain everything in detail to his friends when he had got back.

“I got a very unusual call from your phone when you were missing. Sammy and Cerys got back from their… ‘walk’… and found the other boys fighting. They were very worried about you.”

“They all just overreacted. Do you really want to know what happened?”

“Yes, but if you went on a… ‘walk’… please spare me the details, I just hope that you will have used protection.”

William had been listening to the conversation up until this point without stepping in, but he couldn’t help the chuckle that came out of him. His son sounded like such a hypocrite. But at least they both were aware of him listening in.

“I didn’t do anything like that! All I did was slip away for a pee and when I was walking back I got kidnapped by Sasha and Kelly, Cerys’s friend They wanted to know more about Gethin and the they wanted a few photos of the two of them to remember the night. I think it was because Sasha has a crush on him. Kellys brother was picking them up and I got talking to him cause he was working in the club earlier in the night. Said he saw Rhiannon and that she kissed someone at midnight, Johnny Davis. Got talking about what he knows about him, seems like a decent block. Then I walked back to find that I was a missing person, they thought I was dead and had called you.”

“Was that it? You could have at least gotten an interesting story from the disappearance” William was thinking back to his own childhood, what he had gotten up to on long nights out. Ianto’s night was very tame in comparison.

“They just thought I went missing cause they were too preoccupied to notice me being kidnapped.”

Ianto began telling them about the whole night, about how they spent the night around the fire among friends. Eventually he got his camera to show them some of the photos that he had taken throughout the night, planning to get them printed before school started back up

Mycroft and William watched as Ianto was willing to show his photos with his friends, that they all were so happy in the photos. They definitely had taken timed photos at some point because all of them were looking at the camera at points, nobody was missing behind the camera. Mycroft could just tell that those photos would have to be printed multiple times, they would all want copies for the memory of how they celebrated the millennium.

William was just happy for Ianto to feel comfortable with him to show him the photos, he had had friends through the years mention these moments that they had had with their own sons. He always felt left out because his own sons were unique in their own ways and didn’t express things in such ways. He finally found out why his friends felt to share these moments with the rest of them, it felt special to effectively be let into Iantos’s personal life that he had been developing with his own friends.

Ianto was choosing to share these moments with them.

***

Jack contemplated all that he had told the couple that had dealt with the situation the night before as he sat in his room in the only 5-star hotel in Cardiff. They had a lot of pull and he could sense that they held a lot of power.

They worked together like they shared the same thoughts, it was unnerving but also comforting. He knew that they wouldn’t have been called in unless they would be capable of handling a situation like what had occurred. But he had never seen the channels that they had used before, the bodies were being processed through the normal police and expert cleaners were being called in to clean up.

He just knew that there wouldn’t be any evidence left for him to clean up.

The man, Mycroft Holmes was obviously the boss between the two but didn’t hold any control over the pretty woman he never got a name for, not without trying. They used her looks to their advantage, they were aware of what they were capable of.

It will be interesting to work underneath them, he had no qualms that they wouldn’t be able to do what they had promised him. Torchwood 3 was officially going to be separate from the abomination that was Torchwood 1. It was something he had wanted for a long time, but had never even dreamt about it because he always felt was an unreachable goal.

He wanted to know more about them, but didn’t even know where to start looking.

Jack had no idea what would have happened when he sent out that alert to unit, suspecting that a lot of them would show up in their uniforms and hats to come help him. He did not expect the two people that showed up, they were definitely not unit by any standards. Unit didn't employ anyone that competent."

Chapter Text

It was summer and the boys wanted freedom.

They had been stuck at home around their parents, guardians and siblings when not hanging out with each other. They had been home for weeks since their exams had finished and now the streets and parks were filled with younger children whose schools had been let out too.

The weather was perfect for them to be outside all the time and it gave them an idea; they could go camping to escape their homes for a while.

It took them a few weeks to get everything sorted out, getting their parents to agree and getting the right equipment they would need for a few days camping.

They planned on 3 days and 2 nights because they couldn’t think of any other way to keep food from spoiling if they were out longer. Ice boxes only last so long.

It was planned and proposed to the parents that 8 of them were planning to go camping. They were going to need 4 tents, Ianto and Ioan, Sammy and Gethin, Cerys and Sasha, Kelly and Rebecca. Obviously, Cerys and Gethin were planning on switching, but they didn’t want to tell any of their parents about that.

Gethin had approached Sasha after Ianto told him about his ‘missing’ time on New Years Eve and they had started dating shortly after.

***

They were dropped off at the side of the road with their things and then began their journey through a field to get to trees where they would be camping in, there was a clearing that people regularly used for camping. The land owner allowed anyone to use the grounds to camp as long as it was respected and no rubbish is left behind.

It was the perfect place because they didn’t have to walk for ages with their bags and tents, but it was nowhere near anyone else and a river from the mountains ran nearby.

Once they got to the clearing, the pairs began to figure out where would be best to put their tents, the position of the fire was already determined by an area that was clearly damaged by past fires with a small rock wall around it, they set up their chairs around where they would light the fire.

After what seemed forever and multiple arguments, the tents were up and a fire had been started.

***

They were having fun, just talking drinking and eating around the fire. There had only been 1 casualty so far in the form of a sausage that fell off the grate on top of the fire, Gethin ate it without complaint. It definitely wasn’t his own fault that it fell into the dirt beside the fire when accidently kicked the grate when exaggerating his motions as part of a story.

Ianto could tell that everyone was having fun, and then he noticed Ioan had become withdrawn.

Ianto had seen how Ioan had spent the day glancing at the couples, nothing had happened so Ianto could surmise that it was something that Ioan had been thinking bout had made him quiet. He had a history of getting lost in his head when obsessing over a problem.

He had to wait for the right time to ask.

***

The perfect opportunity to speak to Ioan appeared when they were sent to retrieve some snacks that was packed in Iantos’s bags. (They each had particular shared items that they were responsible to bring with them to make it fair)

He asked Ioan to come with him to get the snacks that Violet had packed for them. He motioned to Gethin and Sammy that he was going to talk to Ioan as the walked away, they had noticed their friends quietness too and were worried as well.

Once they got to the tent which was facing away from everyone else’s view, door facing out into the trees, he asked him.

“So what’s up with you? You’ve been too quiet”

Ioan lay down on top of his sleeping bag, looking up and nowhere near Ianto. “Nothing really, just trying to figure something out.”

“If you want to tell me, maybe I could help.”

Ioan sighed, rubbing his hand with his face and Ianto could tell that he was going to tell him, but he was working himself up to tell him. “You know that I went out on a date with Emily a few weeks ago”

“Yeah”

“She kissed me, when I was walking her home. I didn’t like it.”

“Oh, do you think it could have been just a bad kiss. Doesn’t Emily have braces, could it have been something to do with that.”

“No, I don’t think it was anything about the kiss. I just don’t think I feel that way about girls, I’ve also tried porn. Nothing.” Ioan was saying this stuff like he was speaking a secret he didn’t even want to believe himself.

“Could you maybe like boys instead? Tad has a friend who has a boyfriend, we always meet them when we watch the England Wales rugby games. Do you think you could be gay?” Ianto was trying to be as careful as he could be, didn’t want to offend or embarrass Ioan in any way. Hopefully he knew that they wouldn’t think any differently of him either way.

“I’m not too sure, tried gay porn too. Wasn’t any different from the other stuff. Thought it would be different when I finally did something in person but I felt nothing.”

“So you didn’t like kissing Emily, it might just be that you haven’t formed a connection with her yet. My mam likes girls, you know, and told me about other ways people label themselves so they don’t feel like the only ones going through something. Theres something called pansexuality which means you don’t care about the other persons gender, its about your own connection with the other person. Theres also demisexuality which means you don’t feel a romantic attraction to a person until you have formed an emotional bond with them first, you need to know the other person before you feel attracted to them. And there is also asexuality, it’s when you don’t feel a sexual attraction to others.”

“So… I’m either gay or one of those other words”

“Or you really just don’t like Emily the way you thought” Ianto didn’t want Ioan to completely make up his mind off of what he said, but it was also a possibility that the kiss was just that bad. He had no way to know, but he wanted Ioan to know that there were many options and he wouldn’t be the only person in the world that felt the way he did. “You could come over next time mam is in town and ask her more about them, get a better understanding over what they mean.”

“Yeah, I think I’d like that. Would be better talking to someone who knows more. But…” He stuttered a bit, and Ianto was confused why he was feeling embarrassed and shy after telling him everything on his mind. But it was obviously something that he was struggling to ask of him.

“Could I maybe… Kiss you… Only to see if it feels any different from Emily. I understand if you don’t want to.”

It’s not like Ianto hadn’t been expecting that request, he had thought Ioan may have asked it as soon as he realised that he kept beginning up the fact that he may be in fact gay. It was highly likely for him to ask since he had already a benchmark from Emily, procession of comparison and elimination.

“Yeah okay. But this is only cause I want to help you figure this out. Don’t fall in love with me over this, I already know I am the looker out of the four of us.”

“Fucking hell you are, if I grew my hair out I would crush you all.”

“But you don’t, so you arnt.”

Throughout their conversation Ianto had gotten the snacks out and placed them on the top of his own sleeping bag, near the door so they could just grab them when they were leaving. But now he sat down next to Ioan, making it easier for them to kiss.

Ianto was nervous, he hadn’t kissed anyone before and hadn’t thought too much into it. It was just something that happened at some point and at this point he was happy that it was happening with one of his best friends instead of a random girlfriend that he may break up with and never see again.

Ioan held Ianto’s jaw in place, and kissed him.

To Ianto, it felt like fireworks along his skin and it made him want to move his lips, to chase the feelings that he was experiencing. He had never felt anything like this before, it felt like electric currents running through his skin, wanting him to move.

Then Ioan broke them apart, it had only been a few seconds.

“That felt the exact same as Emily, I’ll talk to Aerfen next time she is round”

Ianto was a bit to stunned to answer just yet, so he only nodded to agree with him. He finally found his voice eventually.

“When you feel ready, bring some of the snacks round to the rest of them. I’ll be a few minutes, gonna send a text for you.”

Ianto needed some time by himself before going out to see the rest of them and was using his mam as an excuse. He probably would end up texting her as well, but he just needed to get his body to calm down and he didn’t want to let Ioan know. It would be like throwing his insecurities back at him. Ianto didn’t think much about how his own body was reacting because it had been acting up recently, it wasn’t much to think about.

“Thank you so much” Ioan left with armfuls of snacks, happy with the knowledge that someone will probably have the answers to explain things to him.

When he left Ianto Lay back on Ioan’s sleeping bag and began to text his mam, explaining what Ioan had told him.

***

Ianto was just finished typing out the text to his mam and it was sending when he heard a rustle from the tent flap, he thought it was Ioan coming to check were he was.

“I’ll be there in a minute, the text is just sending”

He looked up, expecting to see someone looking at him through the flap and was shocked at what he saw. A small dragon had snuck into the tent and was eating some of the chocolates from a bag that had been spilled onto the floor.

Ianto wasn’t proud of his reaction, but to be fair he thought he would be next after the chocolate.

So, he screamed for help. “HELP!!!! THERES A FUCKING DRAGON!!!!!”

***

Ioan had returned to the fire and the rest of them with crisps and some buns that Violet had made, he had strategically left the things prone to melt for Ianto to carry over because he had seen that some of the packets had already been opened. He didn’t want his arms to be covered in chocolates.

He had explained that Ianto was texting someone and would be a few minutes to Sammy and Gethin on his return, when the girls were going through the selection of snacks.

They had found some skinny sticks and were about to start toasting some of the marshmallows that were among the snacks when they heard Ianto’s shout.

“HELP!!!! THERES A FUCKING DRAGON!!!!!”

The boys just looked up and stared at each other, making sure that they had all just heard the same thing and then they began running. Sammy yelled back when they were running to Ianto, telling Cerys and the rest of the girls to stay around the fire.

They made it to the tent, where Ioan had left him.

They could hear movement in the tent, a light from inside the tent allowed them to see that Ianto was in one of the back corners and there was something relatively large just inside the tent, beyond the tent flap.

Gethin was the first one to make a move to open the flap and as soon as it was raised a few inches, they could see something that definitely wasn’t mammal in origin.

It definitely had skin that looked like it would be found on a reptile.

Gethin lifted the flap further.

“Is that a fucking WING?” Sammy had the best view of it once the flap had moved up and he could see the entire back of the creature, it was like a featherless Buzzard, but bigger.

“I think that’s bigger than any birds we have in Wales, can’t be a featherless buzzard” Ioan knew the local wildlife that existed, his father was an enthusiast and had dragged him out bird watching enough for him to know that this thing was bigger than anything naturally occurring in Wales.

Gethin tied up the tent flap and finally got to look into the tent properly, and saw how scared Ianto looked. The inside of the tent was only lit up by the small phone screen that looked like Ianto had dropped it when he had noticed something had joined him in the tent.

The creature was very interested in something at the entrance of the tent and didn’t seem as though it hadn’t noticed Ianto yet.

Gethin motioned to Ianto to tell him to try to slip out of the tent when the creature was distracted with whatever it seemed to be eating on the floor.

Once the flap had been opened and tied back Ianto could see a way that he could get past the dragon. He noticed that Gethin motioned for him to get out and extended an arm to help him out. He managed to get his body to move and reached out to grasp Gethin’s extended hand and he half jumped and was dragged out through the tent opening.

Ianto landed on the ground outside the tent with a loud thud.

***

Things almost went completely silent after Ianto landed outside the tent, the only thing that could be heard was the creature eating chocolates.

They decided to gather Ianto off of the floor and make a strategic retreat to where the girls were, to make sure that they were okay (they definitely were not running away).

The girls were relieved when they saw all four of them return and they were readily waiting to hear about how about what had happened, if it actually was a dragon in the tent. Sasha had made it very clear that she didn’t think it would be an actual dragon, but something that might have been easily mistaken for one. Something that may share similarities with them. The rest of the girls agreed with her, all knowing how over dramatic the boys had been when they were complaining when putting up the tents.

Rebecca had mentioned that it might just be a lizard that had escaped or been released by its owner. That it might not even be related to the weird stuff that happened in town sometimes. Emily hoped that she was right, she avoided the town at night cause that was when it usually went weird.

“Cerys, it’s looked like a bird but made out of lizards. It’s got wings and Ioan says it’s bigger than any birds in Wales.” Sammy was trying to explain everything to his girlfriend as soon as they got back.

“I didn’t see much, but it looked like a baby dragon. Do we even know what size dragons are meant to be?” Ianto was trying to fill in the gaps, but he really didn’t get too see that much. It had been dark in the tent and all he could see was what had been lit up from the small screen of the phone. It looked like a draig to him.

***

Eventually they all managed to gather enough courage to venture back around to the tent, so they could get a better look at what it was because the girls didn’t believe them. That and they wanted to make sure that the tent would be okay for them to sleep in it tonight after the creature leaves.

Once they had got to the tent, they were pleasantly surprised with what they had found. The creature had managed to move out of the tent and had managed to spread the chocolates around the grass and was picking through them. It looked a lot smaller than what they thought it had been in the tent, but it was still not anything they had ever seen living before.

They had a better view of the creature and it definitely wasn’t a Dragon.

It was a creature that was long gone from the earth, something that Ianto hadn’t even thought when he initially thought of mythical creatures. It was a fucking dinosaur, a pterodactyl to be more accurate.

“Oh, is that one of those dinosaurs that they have hung up in the big hall of the museum in London, I thought they were meant to be much bigger.” Kelly was trying to remember what she had seen during their school trip to the museum a few years prior, she had thought that the bones showed a much larger creature.

“Pterodactyl” Ianto remembered reading the description of the skeleton while everyone had been walking through the hall. He remembered that it said that pterodactyls were a type of pterosaur and they had ranged rom wingspan of 25cm to up to 11m, from what he could remember a pterodactyl’s wingspan could be up to 1.5m in some adults. But for all they could know, this could be one of the smaller species or one of the larger ones.

“It must be a baby…” Sasha voiced the most logical conclusion, but it didn’t really solve the question of where it had came from and if it had a mum looking for it.

“Aww. Poor thing is probably so scared.” Cerys’s statement makes Ianto look round and all of the girls looked like they were ready to start approaching the dinosaur like it were a stray kitten or puppy.

Rebecca tries to get the attention of the creature like one would of a stray cat, trying to get it to approach her.

The boys just listened and watched as the girls were essentially trying to tame the dinosaur that they had been running scared from a few minutes earlier. Eventually Rebecca got it to look up at her and it tried to squawk at her, like it had just realised that they were there. Initially it seemed scared of them and was trying to retreat back into the tent, and then all of the girls decided to either crouch down or to sit on the ground.

“Sit down, you have to make sure it doesn’t think you are a threat. Someone towering over you always feels threatening so you have to get onto their level.” Sasha stated it like it was a well known fact so they followed her orders, she probably had the most experience out of all of them since she had helped her dad with his horses on weekends.

It didn’t seem like anyone had any better ideas.

It took a few minutes of being observed by the creature before it got curious and began walking over to them. It got close and walked around them and as it did that, it made it clear that it liked some people more than others. There was a clear dislike to Sammy and it looked like it visibly showed anger towards him as it squawked at him, similar to how a cats hairs stand up when it hisses in displeasure at someone.

“I think it can tell you aren’t Welsh” Gethin had to say the thing that they were all thinking, it was the only thing that would make Sammy stand out to them and it is just funny to think a dinosaur would worry about birth places of countries that didn’t exist when they roamed the Earth.

It seemed to like Sasha and Cerys as it went around them, actually jumping into Sasha’s crossed legs for a split second before jumping out again. It was gaining courage around them and getting bolder in its actions.

Then it turned its attention to Ianto and circled him once before jumping up onto his crossed legs. It was immediately clear that it was treating Ianto different as it began to turn in small circles and made itself comfortable before sitting down and resting its head on Ianto’s chest with the end of its mouth angled upwards and against the side of his neck.

“I think is chosen its favourite”

“Oh definitely”

“It’s adopted Ianto to look after it, like when cats choose you.”

“I think that means the rest of us can go back to the campfire, its getting dark and we haven’t even started into the drinks we have brought.”

They all began to get up and return to the fire, leaving Ianto and the dinosaur on the ground but promised to bring him a beer out of the cooler because it seemed that he was the chosen one that was comfy enough to be napped on. He got a few pats to the head and someone decided to mess up his hair when they passed him.

Nobody brought him his drink but he soon came to the realisation that the creature had fallen asleep with the change in its breathing, it had turned into a rattle, similar to how a cat purrs.

He risked moving with it, cradling it like a sleeping baby against his body and slowly got up and made his way to look about the beer that had been promised to him.

***

The rest weren’t surprised when Ianto appeared with the babe in his arms, knowing that he would follow at some point. There was a drink handed to him as soon as he sat down and it was still cold and covered in water, there must have been a melting bag of ice inside the cooler that Sammy had brought. He wasn’t complaining.

They spent the next few hours sitting by the fire and trying to figure out a name for the creature along with trying to figure out its gender.

They had no clue how to sex a prehistoric creature so the used the Jurassic Park logic that all of them had to be female due to how they brought them back. They used what they had because they had no idea what else to go on, so they decided that she was female until proved otherwise.

Then it was trying to figure out what to name her and there were multiple names put forward that were immediately shot down by the others because ‘it didn’t suit her’.

It eventually ended up that they were listing off names that were in popular songs and someone brought up the song commonly sung in the stands of rugby matches, Myfanwy.

The boys all thought it was an amazing idea, but the girls were on the fence until Ioan explained what the song was about, that it was written about a childhood sweetheart of Joseph Parry, his beloved.

They were eventually convinced and the pterodactyl was named.

And as soon as they named her, she decided to wake up, walk around the fire and check what each of them had on their hands. Once she found nothing that interested her, she flew away, abandoning them.

It felt like they were used, that they had had their chocolates stolen and Ianto was used for his body heat for a nap.

They finished off their drinks and made their way to their tents after they had been abandoned after talking a bit more of where they thought she had came from. It was a general consensus that she probably came from the same place as those things in jumpsuits that sometimes found themselves lost in the town.

***

Their next day camping was pretty uneventful compared to that of the one previous, they just went down to the river and had a peaceful day relaxing.

Myfanwy decided to grace them with her presence when they were cooking their dinner and began squawking at them, demanding food from them and when she realised that that wasn’t working she began rubbing her head against their legs while she did her rounds. There was another sausage incident when she startled Kelly when she went to move one them, it was immediately grabbed by her like she was waiting for someone to drop something.

They had initially been worried about her burning herself after eating it but didn’t show any signs of being hurt, but was rather content after eating and curled up on the floor beside where Ianto was sitting and seemed to take another nap. It was like she was waiting for something else.

It didn’t take too long for them to realise what she was waiting for.

They brought out the last of the sweet treats that they realised what Myfanwy was waiting for. She went around judging what everyone had and turned her sights on Sasha who was snacking on pieces of dark chocolate that she had brought for herself.

She definitely had a preference between the types of chocolate they soon learned after some of their own tests that they performed (This consisted of placing a bit of milk chocolate and a piece of dark chocolate about half a meter away from each other. They found that there was a strong preference for the darker chocolate.

Eventually she crawled back into Ianto’s lap and took another nap by the fire as the sun set.

It was clear that she definitely had chosen favourites among them, Sasha and Ianto. And the conversation across the fireplace that night was what they were going to do about her when they left the camp site. They had gotten worried about how she was going to feed herself when left alone, worried about how she would be able to survive the winter that would be approaching in the next few months.

They eventually decided to bring her with them if she was still around the next day when they were gathering up the campsite and walking back to the pace where they would be collected. Sasha said that they had an unused barn that she could stay in and Ianto mentioned that his Tad had a heated garage that she could stay in during the winter.

They had a plan, now they needed to get their parents to agree.

***

Myfanwy didn’t abandon them the second night like she had done the first, instead she followed Ianto around like a little puppy when he got up from his chair and as he got ready to go to bed.

Ianto had gotten a text earlier in the day that he had to talk to Ioan about, his mam had responded to him. She had mentioned that she was available the next day and would be willing to collect them and offer to leave Ioan home also, to have that conversation with him and give him a list of websites and books that could be helpful to him. He just needed to tell Ioan about her offer.

They eventually get to chat about what his mam had said as they were laying in their sleeping bags with Myfanwy curled up in the space between them. Ianto told him that his mam had offered to collect him when they were being picked up and there was an offer extended to give him a lift home, that Aerfen had collected some resources that could help him figure stuff out if he wanted it. Ianto also made sure to mention that he could turn it down, that he wouldn’t hurt anyone’s feelings for wanting to take some time before approaching the subject again.

Ioan took a few moments to think about it and said that he would be up for it as long as they brought Myfanwy with them and didn’t mention her presence as they got into the car. Like it was an elephant in the corner, but it was a pterodactyl in the back seat. He wanted to know if they would ask about it or if they could get her a lift without explaining it.

Ianto agreed with it because he knew that Aerfen wouldn’t mention it, only raise an eyebrow at her presence and ask about it later. The real challenge would be if his tad came as well, he would make it more obvious that he notices her presence and keep looking at it.

It was going to be fun if Myfanwy stuck around.

***

She stayed around the camp site in the morning and watched as they began to take down the tents. They assumed that she was trying to help, but they realised quickly that she was getting in the way and it was taking longer for them to fold away the tents and sleeping bags. It was as if she wanted to be rolled up like a burrito in a sleeping bag, they definitely didn’t roll her up to keep her out of the way and keep her content as soon as they found out that she liked it. (It was loose enough for her to crawl out when she wanted)

They eventually got everything gathered up and sorted the bags up between them and decided what cars they would be going in as people were coming to pick them up. Ianto mentioned that his mam was in town and wanted to pick him up and had offered to take someone with them to reduce the amount of stops the other cars had to do and Ioan took that time to immediately take up the opportunity, they had planned it out earlier that morning so it wouldn’t be weird for the others if an extra unexpected car came to pick them up.

Ianto also mentioned that they would attempt to bring Myfanwy with them and that they would stay in contact with Sasha to see if the empty stable would be suitable to set up a nest for her, otherwise they might just create an area for her in the garden of the cottage because it was at the edge of town and would be easy for her to get to the fields that way.

They had assumed that she may have been feeding herself with small wild animals that were found in the countryside, such a birds, squirrels, rabbits and mice. So, they wanted her to be close to wildlife so that she could continue to feed herself, or learn to feed herself if she hadn’t learnt yet.

***

Aerfen and Mycroft pulled up as they were waiting to be collected and it was clear to Ianto that the two were just on their way into Cardiff and had timed it so they would be able to collect them.

As soon as they stopped the car, Ianto and Ioan placed their bags into the boot and quickly got into the back seat after saying their goodbyes to their friends. Myfanwy was bundled in a coat until she was placed on the middle seat and then she managed to work her head free.

Nobody had noticed her yet.

Aerfen began to drive and as she reached the main road she told Ioan that all of the information that she could gather for him was in a plastic folder in the pocket behind her seat, she also mentioned that there was a list of other resources if he needed it along with a few telephone numbers of people who run safe spaces and would have access to more resources than she could find.

She had been looking in the rear view mirror as she was talking to him, makins sure that he was taking in the information that she was telling him. Making sure that he knew that there were other people that he could talk to.

And then she noticed the middle of the back seat, a little yellow eye was looking at her when she moved her site to check in on Ianto. She acted just as how Ianto had thought she would, she just looked at him with a question on his face and he smiled at her through the mirror. He knew that he would be questioned in detail as soon as Ioan left the car and he was mentally preparing the answers that he would give to those questions.

Mycroft didn’t see her until they dropped off Ioan and he checked the back seat to ensure that nothing was left behind.

He saw the questions forming in his Tad’s face as figured out what was in the back seat.

“Mam, Tad, this is Myfanwy and we have found out that she likes dark chocolate. Sasha is going to try to see if her dad’s old stable is in good enough condition for her to live there because we haven’t seen any evidence that she can hunt for herself yet. She’s just a little baby.”

“Sounds like you have thought about it, I can’t wait to meet her once we get to the cottage.” He had answered all of the questions that he had assumed his mam was going to ask him and had made the executive decision to say it all at once to get it over with quickly.

His tad on the other had was still trying to understand what type on animal was in the back seat of the car. “So… Erm… Pterodactyl?”

“Probably, but might be another species of pterosaur, wont really know until it becomes an adult and we know its full wingspan. But yeah lets go with pterodactyl for know, it’s the most well known pterosaur.”

“Is it dangerous?” Ianto could tell that his Tad was still buffering a bit.

“Most we’ve seen is that it completely destroyed a packet of chocolates, but hasn’t shown aggression to any of us. Doesn’t really like Sammy though but pretty much acts like a cat.”

He just nods and tries to process it as they pull into the driveway of the cottage.

***

Myfanwy ends up living between the Sasha’s stable and a crate Ianto put up beside the coal bunker at the cottage, sheltered enough and insulated enough for her to be comfortable in the winter months. She never ended up staying in the heated garage at the manor.

Chapter Text

For Ianto’s 17th birthday they decided to have a BBQ part at the cottage and it was nearing the end of the summer holiday and they were making use of the good summer weather that they were experiencing.

All of Ianto’s friends had arrived and had helped Violet and William set up their barbeque prepare the food so that things would go better when the food was cooking. Ianto and Sammy were put forward to build the new barbeque under the direction of William and Mycroft who stood out of the way reading the instructions out to them (it seemed to work out well). Gethin, Ioan and Cerys were helping out making kebabs out of the chicken Violet had marinated overnight and some veggies that had been cut for the kebabs. Violet and Aerfen were preparing some new recipes that they had found for a potato salad and a pasta salad. Rhiannon and her new boyfriend, Johnny, were going to help out with the food prep but had instead been sent out to get a gas canister because it had previously been forgotten about, and it was important that they had fuel to connect to the barbeque once it was built so they could cook the food.

Everyone had been given jobs and it was an altogether fun atmosphere as they prepared for the party. They were all carefully observed from trees and under tables, Myfanwy and her eagle eyes trying to see if any food would be dropped.

It was what Ianto had wanted for his birthday, just to have fun with his friends and family.

He also thought that it was the perfect time to see how Johnny interacted with the family as well as Rhiannon. He had met the guy in passing and didn’t have any off feeling about him, but had wanted to get to know him a bit better. Especially since his sister had told him that she was thinking about moving out of the cottage and had been thinking about talking with Johnny about renting a house together.

***

Johnny and William too charge of cooking the meat on the barbeque, but they used it as a teaching opportunity to show the younger boys how to cook the food because they needed to learn ‘to be proper gentlemen’. So that if they were ever at another barbeque, they could offer to take over since most people tries to stay away from the smoke and extreme heat, especially if they had put on makeup or had done their hair.

It was a lesson that Johnny told them was very important and Ianto could understand why it was. That if they were over at a girlfriend’s house it would be a way to win over the parents and to potentially bond and get closer to the father. It was what Johnny was trying to do with him and William, but the formula had to be changed for Jonny at this moment. He had adapted what he was trying to tech them to work within their family and the dynamics that took place between them.

As they cooked and ate the food Myfanwy had learned that she could make people drop some of their food if she brushed against their legs with force when they were either walking or standing.

They all found it hilarious and it also showed that the new addition was capable of learning new tricks, but only when she benefited from it. When Gethin tried to teach her tricks like roll over, she saw the food that he were holding out and instead of doing the motion and being given the food, she jumped up and helped herself to the morsel he had been holding out.

They learnt that she was now showing off her intelligence. That she was showing off in front of the large gathering of people at the cottage, she liked the attention that she was getting.

***

As dusk fell over Cardiff, Ianto and his friends began playing with a football in the garden with Johnny, a form of keep the ball away from Myfanwy. Mycroft and William stood at the back door and watched as the boys played, the girls had all moved inside to open a bottle of wine and drink it without the flies torturing them.

Aerfen poured them generous glasses as Violet remarked that it was rare for William and Mycroft to be so interested in the football being played, but that was just some of the changes that happened when Ianto was around them. They loved being able to see their son and grandson grow up and have fun with his friends.

They had been sitting inside for a while and then Rhiannon noticed that Cerys hadn’t touched her drink but had been staring at it like it was a puzzle. “You know its legal to drink with adults at home when you are older than fourteen. It’s okay to drink it.”

“I know, I just don’t really feel like drinking today. I thought I was, but now its in front of me I just don’t feel like it.” Cerys responded, she speaks quietly even though it is only the four of them sitting at the table, she pushed the glass over to Rhiannon who took it and split it up between the Violet and Aerfen’s glasses.

“Cerys, I have some clothes upstairs that are too small for me now and I was going to donate it during the week. Come on up and have a look through to see if you want anything.” Rhiannon finished her drink and went upstairs and Cerys followed, leaving the older two women but it seemed like Aerfen knew what was happening and was distracting Violet with a conversation about the last time William had tried to play football (he was trying to show off when they were dating).

***

Once Rhiannon got Cerys upstairs and alone she begins talking to her as she empties bags of clothing onto her bed. “Have you been feeling unwell or out of sorts for a long time or is it a recent thing?”

“Recent” Cerys answers as she looks closer at a dress that caught her eye.

“If you think that taking a test could help, there is a pack of two in the bottom drawer of the bathroom cabinet. Just if that’s something that you might need” Cerys paused for a moment as she was going through the clothes, and continued to go through the pile without responding to Rhiannon.

It took a minute before Cerys moved, picking up the dress that she had been looking at. “I think I might go and try this dress on in the bathroom… Bottom drawer, right?”

Rhiannon confirmed and just sat on her bed and waited because she just had a feeling that she might be needed, whatever the answer was going to be.

After 10 minutes Rhiannon hadn’t heard anything from the bathroom and Cerys hadn’t came out yet, she just knew what the result was without being told. She quietly knocked on the door while asking if Cerys was okay but didn’t get an answer, but could hear that the door became unlocked.

She had been sitting on the floor, crying into the dress that she had brought with her and Rhiannon didn’t even think about what she was going to do, she just took her into a strong hug because she just knew that the girl didn’t want to be alone in this moment.

Rhiannon didn’t know how long they sat on the floor of that bathroom, but when Cerys calmed down a bit she tried to tell her that it wouldn’t be the end of everything. That things might work out well for her because she has Sammy, a boyfriend that has shown that he can step up in stressful times. And that a lot of her friends had already had kids at her age, and they seemed to get on well.

Cerys was listening to Rhiannon talk about her friends when they were both startled by a commotion happening outside, something had happened with the boys. They quickly freshened up their faces and Cerys tried to compose herself and they went down to see what had happened.

***

Ianto and the boys had been playing keep the ball away from Myfanwy until she got annoyed with them and made her way back to her home. They then decided to play a game with teams but the only problem was that there was only 5 people playing, so they sort of bullied Mycroft into joining them to even up the teams.

Mycroft had flat out refused but his own father pushed him away from where he had been standing and made him join in. His skills had been immediately evaluated and he was put into goals (which was marked out on the ground with some of Ianto’s coats and jackets that had been grabs from his room earlier).

Mycroft had been having fun even if he let past more goals than he stopped, it was nice to be included in a game like this. He couldn’t think of being a part of anything like this unless it was part of physical education in school, but this was fun compared to that.

Ianto had been taking photos all day and William had taken his camera to catch a few of his eldest having fun playing football. William didn’t know when he would ever get the chance to take a photo of his boy playing football again, he was currently 33 years of age and it is the first time he had ever seen it. He and Violet would have to write it down in his red book, under the first time playing with others section.

Violet and Aerfen had joined William in watching the match at some point when they figured out that Mycroft was playing with them.

It wasn’t a close match but when Mycroft saw the ball come towards him, he really tried to stop it. But one time he attempted to step backwards to catch the ball but he trips over something and goes down to the ground.

The next sensation Mycroft could feel was pain in his leg after he hits the ground.

***

Gethin had kicked the ball and Mycroft had tried to stop it but he tripped over something that was behind him, that something got what it wanted, Myfanwy finally got the ball that she had been longing for.

Myfanwy had been watching them play with her full attention and had found the weakest link. She managed to stop them and get the ball that she had wanted but after she got it into her possession, it lost all appeal since the others weren’t making it move around anymore.

All of the people had gathered around the one she had made fall as he held one of his legs, this was interesting to her so she made her way over to see what had happened. She ended up curling up on the body of the fallen man.

***

Mycroft felt the pain in his leg after he tripped over Myfanwy and just knew that he had really buggered his knee. When the rest of them noticed that he wasn’t attempting to get up they became concerned and came over to see what was wrong. When he was trying to show where on his leg it was sore, Myfanwy came over and crawled up on him as he was laying there.

It was like she was adding salt to the wound that she created.

He was in pain and found out how if feels to be a pet bed. It was a unique few moments that he was able to experience, maybe something than others only got to experience a mere 200million years prior.

Eventually the boys helped him into the house and he was lain on the sofa and a bag of frozen peas was put onto his leg. It was just his luck for trying to participate in physical sports with his son’s friends who were all roughly half his age.

Mycroft’s injury essentially marked the end of the BBQ and the boys began tiding up all evidence that they had been there before making their way home with Cerys with them. Mycroft had noticed that Cerys and Rhiannon had came down from upstairs when he was injured and it had been obvious to him that Cerys had been crying but had tried to hide it. All he could think was that hopefully Rhiannon had helped her with whatever had been troubling the girl.

Soon after the boys and Cerys left, Ianto and Johnny helps Mycroft up the stairs so he could get ready for bed and get to see how bad his leg looked. He had already felt that there was no breaks and that it was probably ligament or muscle, the swelling but absence of developing bruises that he found on his leg when he was getting changed let him know that it was probably more likely to be ligament damage. He would get it checked out in the morning if he was unable to put weight on it.

***

Ianto had had a good birthday, it had been fun for him to celebrate the day in the way that he wanted, he had been surrounded by his family and friends almost the entirety of the day and it was good until his tad ended up on the ground.

He felt so bad about letting Sammy and Ioan dragging him into the match after his Bampi pushed him towards them. He somehow felt like it was his fault, even if everyone told him that it was a complete accident. His mam had actually joked with him that if anyone was to blame for it, it would either be Mycroft for playing football with people half his age or Myfanwy for purposefully tripping him up to get the ball.

It eased his concerns about his tad and stopped him from blaming himself.

When they had brought his Tad into the living room, Ianto noticed that it took a while for Rhiannon and Cerys to show themselves and when they did, he noticed that their eyes were red and watery.

He concluded that they must have been crying together over something upstairs. He noticed that his sister seemed to have a protective arm over Cerys’s shoulder as they walked in, indicating that they had been discussing something in relation to Cerys. It drew it attention to Cerys as everyone helped his mam-gu tidy up the house before they left to go home.

It was as if she moved in a way to protect her stomach. This made Ianto draw three conclusions, two of which he thought was plausible.
Option 1 – The one he immediately dismissed because Cerys seemed to accept Rhiannon’s comforting was the option that Rhiannon had hit her in the stomach, Cerys also didn’t seem to be in too much pain either.
Option 2 – Cerys may have been feeling unwell and Rhiannon was helping her, but then there was a question to why the didn’t ask for help from either Aerfen or Violet.
Option 3 – Rhiannon had provided Cerys a pregnancy test and she had found out that it was positive. Rhiannon had been trying to comfort her.

He could make an educated guess to figure out what had taken place upstairs while they had been playing football, all he could do was hope that she would tell Sammy and some trusted adults and that they would be able to help her. He knew that he would personally kill Sammy if he messed things up.

***

Cerys walked with Sammy as they went home and she couldn’t hold back from telling him what she had found out later in the day. “I was upstairs looking at some clothes Rhiannon was donating and when I was looking at them she asked why I didn’t drink my wine that had been given to me earlier in the day. But I wasn’t feeling myself and when that glass of wine was in front of me I realised that I’m late.”

“What did you miss something today, did you have other plans?” Sammy got very worried over the fact that it sounded like Cerys was late to something important, she seemed upset. He would really hate himself is she felt pressured into coming to Ianto’s birthday party.

“Not that kind of late!” She laughed a bit, at the situation that she had found herself in, but it also made her worried a bit. “My period is late, Rhiannon gave me a test to take. Sammy, it was positive.”

Cerys started welling up again and Sammy knew to not ask about what they should do, he could just feel like she had been asking that to herself ever since she had found out.

“Here is what we’ll do, we’ll go to bed tonight and tomorrow we will tell either my mum or dad and you’ll get checked out by a doctor, just to be sure and then if you really are, we will tell your parents. I want you to know that I will be with you every step of the way, you get that?” Sammy had stopped to stand in front of her and was trying to get through to her that he wouldn’t leave, that he would always be there for her as he wipes away the tears gathering in her eyes.

They were going to deal with this together.

***

Mycroft never ended up getting his leg checked out by a professional because he couldn’t bring himself to admit to the doctor that he had tripped when playing football. He had tried to rest his leg as much as possible, but walking was unavoidable in his line of work and he ended up using an umbrella that he had found in his office to help him get around, like a crutch or walking stick.

He liked how he looked with it, and he even got a rare complement from Aerfen in relation to his outfit. Apparently, the umbrella worked well with the suit he was wearing that day and it didn’t matter about what the weather was doing, she said it was a statement accessory.

He leaned into the novelty of having an aid with him in the form of the Umbrella and found quickly after a day or so, that it was actually functional when stopping someone from leaving a room before he was done talking to them. It let him show that he was in control without having waste time arguing, it felt powerful.

***

On the Thursday after he got hurt, he had his random monthly check in with Sherlock to see his brother’s condition and check in with any complaints he had. He checked in once a month on a completely random schedule to ensure that Sherlock wouldn’t be able to predict the day that he was coming and avoid him, he planned out each of his visits using a 31-sided dice that he had picked up on his travels. It comes in handy in situations like planning random schedules.

Sherlock seemed to be fine, a bit bored when he was talking to him but there was no obvious drug use or tells that indicated that he had relapsed again.

Mycroft was getting a bit worried about his brother, he had seen that his brother had been doing many experiments within Barts for multiple different researchers, not just with Dr Hooper. It indicated that he was beginning to get restless at work as well, it must be getting too routine for him.

But it made him wonder what was making him stay clean, to keep away from experimenting with substances like he always did.

Sherlock was in the middle of complaining about one of his neighbours and their incessant need to play their television at an outrageous volume. Apparently, they were currently obsessed with a television show called Big Brother and Sherlock didn’t understand why it would be called that since there was no explanation about the contestants siblings and that there was a mixed population within this Big Brother house. They couldn’t have all been elder brothers and it had been mentioned that some of the contestants were only children.

But he was interrupted before Mycroft could answer his questions by the doorbell.

Gregory Lestrade let himself into Sherlock’s apartment with a box of files in his hands. “Here’s a few of cold cases that I got approved to give you copies of.” He sat the box down on Sherlock’s table and Mycroft cold see the moment that the man recognised that he was in the apartment as well.

“Oh hey, Mycroft, isn’t it? Sherlock had mentioned that he needed to keep his brain busy so I asked around and got some permission to let him go through some cold cases. If he is able to make some breakthroughs it would be amazing, nobody else has found much answers going through these files that hasn’t been investigated yet. Thought he could put his brain to some use.”

“It’s heavily required, we were just talking about the new TV show, Big Brother, which he has been following along when his neighbour is watching it.”

“Haha, Big Brother is always watching” Mycroft and Greg laughed at the situation and how it reflected on someone listening into another in their home, life was imitating art, or in this case life was imitating reality Tv based on a book.

Sherlock didn’t like the fact they were laughing about something that he didn’t understand, it made him feel left out and the subject of the joke. “Yes, I get it. It’s funny that my older brother comes and visits to check in on me. I get that everyone doesn’t trust me to be by myself completely, that you all think I am weak because of the drugs but I can stop any time when I’m no longer bored”

“Mate no, I’ll explain it all out to you as long as you promise to listen.” Greg was better at talking to Sherlock, if it was just up to Mycroft he would have told time that he was being stupid before leaving. Greg was explaining it to him to ensure that his brother had enough information to know that they were referring another source.

Sherlock agreed to Greg’s explanation on the condition that Mycroft didn’t speak.

“Okay, the Reality Tv show is based on a book by George Orwelll which is about governmental control over personal life, it’s a joke about the cameras and viewers that watch the show, that Big Brother is always watching. It was a important part of the book. I had made a joke that you were a bit like Big Brother because you were listening in to your neighbour. It was nothing to do about your own relationship with Mycroft.”

“So… Big Brother was an overbearing Governmental body that intruded on others private business?” Sherlock was asking the question to Greg, but was making eye contact with Mycroft with a suspicious glint in his eye.

“Yeah, I think in the book it was illegal to think against the system, there was thought police and all. It’s called Nineteen Eighty-Four, if you would want to read it. I think I might have a copy lying somewhere in the house.” Greg didn’t show that he had seen the smug look from Sherlock to his older brother, but he could infer that it was probably to do with Mycroft’s own job. Minor position in the government my ass.

After he got his answers, Sherlock turned his attention to the box of files that Greg had brought him.

“Let yourselves out” He speaks without looking up at them as he begins reading one of the files.

***

Greg and Mycroft leave the building that Sherlock was living in and it was when they got out onto the street, that the now Detective Sergent realised that Mycroft was limping and using an umbrella to walk.

“You get injured at your governmental desk job, Big Brother?” Greg was talking to him in a way that Mycroft now knew was a joking tone, he had learnt that from watching Ianto interact with his friends. The man was asking him what had happened in a way that didn’t seem too inquisitive whilst also referring back to a prior conversation.

“Afraid not” Mycroft took a second to comprise what he was to explain his injury, but the made the decision that it would be best for someone trustworthy to have some information about Ianto in case of an emergency. “I tripped after being roped into a football match with my son and his friends”

“I didn’t know you had kids. Sherlock didn’t mention it”

“He doesn’t know, I got a phone call about his existence the night I placed Sherlock in Rehab. His mother had passed and they contacted me. He lives with my parents and I try to see him as often as I can. They like the arrangement as they can finally raise a relatively normal child, one that has friends with others”

Greg and Mycroft walk down to the corner of the street before realising that they wouldn’t mind continuing the conversation and made their way to a nearby café for coffee.

“So how did the trip occur?” Greg asked and Mycroft somehow knew that he wanted a sensationalised story about what had happened, similar to how tales may be embodied to tell over the fire like battles fought in days past.

“My skills had previously been assessed before I was given a position and I was relegated to the goals because I was so bad.” That got a laugh, apparently it was well-known that you were put in goals if you didn’t show that you were better than the rest of the team.

“I really was trying to save the balls that came near me and at some point the stray that hangs around my parents house got behind me. I think she intentionally tripped me up to get the ball.” He laughed like it was an absurd thought and Mycroft felt like he needed to stand up for himself.

“When I was laying there she took the ball and played with it when I was in pain. And then she even came over and sat on me while I was still on the floor.”

Greg laughed at the image, and had came to a conclusion that the animal that they had been talking about was feline in nature. He began telling a story about a time that he was in the middle of arresting people a few years ago and a cat decided that one of the ones in cuffs was the perfect place for it to watch them arrest the rest of them.

They continue to talk about strange interactions with cats and then the conversation turned towards Greg's own life and how life had been treating him since his daughter’s birth. Megan was nine months old now and Greg was proud to tell Mycroft that she had been pulling herself up and standing by herself in the past few weeks.

***

They spent the better part of an hour talking, until Greg notices the time and realises that he needed to leave soon to pick up Megan from the minders because Sharon had to go to a teacher’s meeting for when the school term were to start back up again in the next few weeks.

As they were leaving the café, Greg's attention was drawn back to the Umbrella.

“I know it might be sore, but did your fancy hospital not have a crutch that you could use to help you walk when it heals?”

“I’ll have you know that I, like the rest of my family are quite comfortable to go to the National Health Service. But I didn’t feel as though the situation was such that I would require their services. My mother made me sit on the sofa with a pillow underneath my leg and a bag of frozen peas on my leg. It seemed to work well enough.”

“Well enough, but here you are using an umbrella to walk down the street.”

“My assistant said that the umbrella suited my usual clothing choices and I have found that it has come in handy with my workday already. Does it look stupid?”

Greg took a step back to look at Mycroft’s whole ensemble, it made Mycroft feel a bit like a cell under a microscope.

“It works with your whole thing you have going on. I think it would be a bit naff if I were to wear it, but it suits you.”

Mycroft felt a little fuzzy inside when ne noticed that Greg was sincere and truthful with his statement, that he thought that what he was wearing was okay. He had felt Greg’s eyes trail all over him and didn’t know how to feel about it but after he mentioned that his outfit suited him, it pleased him.

Greg thought that he had put his foot in it when he mentioned the umbrella again and it became clear that Mycroft was s bit self-conscious of his new development in his personal style. He could tell that the man genuinely wanted his opinion on his clothing, like he actually wanted his opinion.

“Thank you, I think I might keep it even when my leg is healed. But that may be a long time, I think it might be a ligament.”

“A friend of mine tore a ligament a few years back, says it still acts up when the weather changes now. Not saying that that is going to happen to you, but just saying.”

“I already know the long-term effects of an injury like this.”

They stood on the street, conversation dwindling and neither wanted to get into another subject since Greg had already expressed the need to go pick up his daughter soon. And then Mycroft had a thought.

“I would appreciate it if you didn’t mention the existence of my son to Sherlock. I a going to tell him eventually when I feel he will be able to process that information. I am trying to do what is best for both of them.”

Greg understood his hesitation, especially after knowing how Sherlock and Mycroft interacted with their strained relationship. He had also noticed how Sherlock seemed to reserve any drug fuelled violence for his brother. He never got violent with anyone else, apart from Mycroft.

They separated with that understanding and went about the rest of their day.