Fandom: Torchwood

Characters: Jack, Ianto, Gwen, OCs

Author: m_findlow

Rating: PG

Length: 8,760 words

Content notes: none

Author notes: Written for Challenge 306 - Moon

Summary: Jack and Ianto go above and beyond for a school project.

Ianto tapped his pen idly against the empty page in his notebook as he sat at the table finishing breakfast.

'Someone's deep in thought,' Jack teased, sipping the last of his coffee and picking up the crumbs of toast off his plate with a wet fingertip. 'Anything you care to share?'

'Just trying to think up some brilliant ideas.'

'Ideas for what?'

'Tom has show and tell on Monday morning. So far he hasn't got anything he can think of to bring in for class. I was trying to come up with something for the weekend.'

Jack shoved aside his plate, honing in on the half a slice left on Ianto's which looked to be abandoned. He slipped it quickly off and inhaled it, chewing thoughtfully. 'Show and tell rolls around three times as often for us as it does everyone else,' he complained. 'You'd think Mrs Jansen would be smart enough to just lump them all together on the rota.'

Ianto had to admit that was a good point. Just because you had three children in the same class did not mean they should have to present more often than all the other kids in class, public speaking opportunities aside. 'I just thought maybe you could help me come up with some ideas.'

Jack groaned. 'Face it, Ianto. We suck at show and tell because we can't show anyone anything or tell them about it. We'd be the kings of show and tell if it weren't for that.'

'We did bring in Buddy one day, remember?' The over friendly labrador had been a real hit, as were any pets that made it to show and tell. He'd lapped up all the attention and patting and it was a wrench to have to take him back home, bereft of his new fan club.

'Yeah, and since then everything else has been rubbish,' Jack replied. 'Who thinks showing off tickets to Barry Island is exciting?'

'It wasn't about the tickets, it was about what they did when they were at Barry Island,' Ianto argued. Everyone knew the show part of the presentation was just a token to introduce the tell part. If anything, it was nice to know their kids could speak about the same things that other kids did, like going to the fun park, or a day at the beach. Anything that made their lives seem normal, even if they were often far from it.

'A trip to the beach,' Ianto said, inspired by the idea. 'Tom can bring in some seashells, or a cuttlefish bone if we find one.'

Jack groaned at the prospect. 'It'll be freezing at the beach this time of year. You really wanna spend all day getting blown about in icy winds searching for shells?'

'It's freezing at the beach most of the year,' Ianto replied. 'That's what you get for living in Wales. You learn to enjoy the beach in its natural state regardless of the temperature. We can't all grow up on a scorching hot seaside paradise.'

Jack snorted at the comment. 'Paradise was not quite how I'd describe Boeshane.'

'So, you're kiboshing my beach idea?'

'The hub is chock full of stuff. There must be something the kids could take.'

'You know the restriction on the removal of alien artifacts as well as I do,' Ianto lectured him. He'd been the one who'd written it, even if Jack had been the one technically in charge at the time. It was just one more of those things Ianto had done to make Jack's life at the top easier, and also one of the key reasons why Jack had eventually conceded the posting of overall head of Torchwood to him. Jack loved the running around, looking dashing and heroic, pointing his gun and saving the day. Worrying about politics and paperwork had been the bane of his existence.

Jack was silent and pensive for a moment. Ianto could see the internal debate warring on, etched in his expression before it cleared and a sparkle returned to Jack's eyes. He had an idea, which filled Ianto with equal parts excitement and wariness. 'I've got an idea.'

Ianto rolled his eyes. 'Didn't see that coming.'

'Moon rocks! We can go to the moon and collect some.'

'I'll just go power up the rocket ship in the garage then, shall I?'

Jack reached under the table and squeezed his knee a little harder than usual, a sure sign that he was being told to stop being flippant and dismissing Jack's ideas. 'I'm serious, Ianto. It's not like we don't have the capability of getting to the moon.'

Ianto reached under the table and set his hand over Jack's, which had now eased its pressure, content to just leave it there. 'We have enough trouble coordinating all five of us at the supermarket. I don't think a trip to the moon is all that wise. Not to mention how you expect three children to keep that a secret.' They weren't bad at holding their tongues, but at some point someone was going to let slip that they'd traveled in a spaceship to the moon. That was just too much to keep under wraps. Most people might think their dads had just made up a role play in their backyard, building a ship out of cardboard boxes, and pretending they'd landed on the moon, but more discerning questioning could bring them undone. 'Maybe when they're older,' he said, deciding that was for the best. Much older. Like fifty, he thought.

'They won't have show and tell when they're older,' Jack said.

'That's the way the cookie crumbles.'

Jack sighed. 'You're probably right. Taking them and asking them never to say anything would be a lot to ask. But, we could still go.'

'We?'

'You and me.'

Ianto pondered the suggestion. 'I've never been to the moon.'

Jack shrugged. 'You never asked. I'd have whisked you there in a heartbeat if I thought you were interested.'

Ianto smiled at the magnanimous offer. Jack did love to spoil him. 'After all the travel through space we did, the moon seems perfectly pedestrian.'

'It has its charms. So, let's do it! A moon trip date for us and a show and tell bombshell for the kids.'

'We probably shouldn't tell them we're going. They'd be absolutely crushed that their dads had gone without them.'

'A playdate at Aunty Gwen's, then. Rhys could do with a bit of a run around the park.'

Ianto repressed a smirk. 'If you value your life, you'll steer clear of comments on Rhys' beer belly.' Even if he could stand to lose a pound or two.

'So, let's make a weekend of it, then. Chasing after those three for two days is bound to shed at least a pound off Rhys. And, if I'm going to take you to the moon we can at least spend some time there. Just us.'

Ianto beamed at the suggestion of a weekend to themselves. 'You did say you love me to the moon and back...'

'And we would be helping our children with their schoolwork.'

Ianto chewed it over, reminded how they'd ended up on the subject in the first place. There would need to be a few tweaks to explain how they came to be in possession of moon rocks. Their cover story was fairly simple - enough that a seven year old could explain - though it would need to become more elaborate as the years wore on. No one expected children to really understand what it was their parents did for a job. Most couldn't articulate the exact details unless their parents fell into straightforward professions like nurse, police officer, truck driver, receptionist. For them, it was enough that people thought they worked for a special branch of the government, dealing mainly in advanced research projects. Adding a space exploration arm to their field of expertise was not completely crazy since they'd been intentionally vague about it when asked by teachers and other parents at school functions. Rumours about Torchwood had never gone away, but after two decades of people in Cardiff accepting that the world hadn't ended - and that maybe the weird alien claims that some people made about their organisation were possibly unfounded - they'd just come to accept Torchwood as part and parcel of living in the city.

'I suppose...' Ianto slowly began, trying to concoct in his mind the full story of how three children would be allowed to take custody of something as rare as a piece of lunar rock. Just a temporary loan, of course. One of them should probably accompany it to school, which would help deflect any difficult questions. A sample on loan from NASA, used in their research. That wasn't a bad story to tell their own children either. One set of lies was easier to contain than multiple versions of the truth. Something from their archives. They could talk about the moon rather than where it came from. It was certainly more interesting than a lump for coal collected on a trip from the Blaenau Gwent colliery. 'Yes, alright.

Jack beamed, giving his leg another tender squeeze. 'It'll be great, I promise.'

'You really think you can pull it all off this weekend? Today's Friday, remember.'

'I know you've got a bunch of reports due today, but my schedule is free.'

Ianto narrowed his eyes at his husband. 'Poor planning on my part to leave you so idle.'

'Nonsense. Let me organise everything. Gwen will be happy to take the kids tonight. We can be ready to go first thing tomorrow.'



Jack stayed true to his word. Whilst Ianto was busy trying to get on top of a myriad of interagency briefings that he'd been putting off - when had he become so much like Jack? - Jack set about disappearing throughout the day, making whatever arrangements were needed. Ianto knew they'd include packing overnight bags for the kids and double checking with Gwen that it was most definitely okay to leave them with her for the weekend. There'd also be their own bags to pack, since Jack promised they'd take the whole weekend off.

Whatever else was needed to get two people to the moon and back Ianto wasn't entirely sure. He suspected Jack had a craft in mind from their collection in the vehicle bay, a large hangar sized extension of the hub that ran out towards the Penarth region, where they kept anything alien that was not much larger than double a B-double truck. Ianto knew full well that larger craft, those incapable of being securely stored here, were already parked up on the moon. Taking charge of the task of piloting them up there was of course Jack's domain, but once there, Ianto never really gave them much further thought. Maybe one day if they were faced with some kind of airborne alien attack, they might need to be called into action, but thankfully things had, during his tenure as leader, been relatively smooth sailing.

By the time seven o'clock rolled around, Ianto finally felt like he'd cleared his desk of everything pressing, and Jack was loitering in his doorway with an air of self-satisfaction on his face.

'Kids are packed off the Aunty Gwen's, the overnight bags are loaded in the car and I've got a delivery Mr Fong's dumplings with extra chili and soy sauce on its way to ours in twenty minutes.'

Ianto set down his pen and switched off his computer, unable to wipe the smile off his face. 'Happy Friday date night.'



Having the house to themselves was strange. They hadn't had a date night in so long that Ianto made sure he showed Jack just how much he appreciated it, even if it meant they might not get a lot of sleep. He'd forgotten what it was like to make love as loudly as he liked, not having to worry about little people overhearing, or worse, poking their heads though the door.

When he woke the next morning, wrapped in a tangle of arms and legs that should have been incredibly uncomfortable, but was actually quite pleasant, Jack was already awake, just lying there watching him.

Ianto stretched languidly, remembering that they were alone. 'Morning.'

'Morning. Ready for your big trip?'

Despite having traveled extensively with Jack and his Doctor, there was a flutter of excitement in his stomach. It had been simply forever since they'd been anywhere that didn't involve a park, playground or other entertainment suitable for small children. 'You shower, I'll get the coffee on.'

By nine they were both dressed and in the car, headed for the hub. Jack had insisted on a light breakfast only, toast and coffee, just on the off chance that hurtling through space in a small craft didn't agree with Ianto's stomach. The difference to what they'd done before, Jack explained, was that they'd traveled in larger craft which were better able to weather the solar winds that kicked up from time to time. Rather like comparing a dinghy to a cruise ship.

Jack turned right and headed away from the hub, driving directly for the hangar in Penarth which had its own entrance, saving them an underground walk of several miles, or even a drive in the little buggy contraption that they used to get around through those more extensive passages. The SUV slipped unobtrusively into a pokey garage at street level and down a winding ramp hidden behind its shabby doors, leading them down into the underground complex. It was hard not to think of it as being Batman's cave or some MI5 cachepresided over by Q. Jack pulled the SUV to a stop inside. It looked so boring and plain when standing next to so many alone ships.

'Here we are,' Jack announced, walking up to one of the spacecraft parked in its own space. It was one of the larger ones, but still small compared to some of the behemoths they'd recovered from crash sites out in the boondocks of rural Wales over the years. 'This baby is our ride for the weekend,' he said, stroking the metal shell lovingly.

'It all works as it should?' Ianto asked. Some things down here were beyond repair, or they simply didn't have the parts or special alloys needed to patch them up. Their value as active assets of Torchwood versus the cost to procure the parts necessary was a fine balancing act.

'Of course,' Jack replied. 'This model is the Vauxhall of its kind, common as muck, but a good sturdy and reliable craft. Been keeping her oiled up and maintained for years, just waiting for a chance to take her for a spin.'

'Oh, so that's where you disappear for hours at a time, is it?'

Jack smiled. 'You bury yourself in boring reports, I like to spend my time working on ships.'

Ianto knew Jack was a grease monkey at heart. Any chance he could get to pull something apart and put it back together again made him happy. He should have known Jack couldn't resist coming down to their equivalent of a garage and tinkering with the toys he kept down here.

'She's got a lot of legroom for a ship this size,' Jack went on. 'Full accommodation quarters and a real working shower. I know how much you hate those sonic showers.'

'Feeling clean with no water and soap to scrub yourself with is something I'll never get used to.' In space it made practical sense to conserve water, but he still preferred a real shower when it boiled down to it.

'Can I escort you aboard, sir?' Jack said, holding out a hand like a well trained chauffeur.

Ianto grinned at his ridiculous lover. 'You may.'

The inside of the flight deck was nothing Ianto hadn't seen before. All ships seemed to have a similar configuration of panels and buttons, and at least two piloting seats of a shape and size that roughly accommodated most bipedal species. As to the actual operations of such a craft, Ianto was no pilot. Jack had let him dabble here and there when they'd traveled, but basically he was content to let Jack do all the heavy lifting. All he really wanted to know was, in an emergency, where were the escape pods, parachutes or panic buttons, on the off chance that Jack was too incapacitated to direct his efforts.

'Strap yourself in and we'll get going,' Jack said. 'I can show you around the rest of the ship once we're beyond atlas orbit.'

Ianto slid into the right hand seat, remembering that most aliens tended to pilot from the left hand side, rather like a commercial jet. It took some getting used to when he was accustomed to being a left hand side passenger in a car. He watched Jack flip switches and study indicator panels like he did this kind of thing every day, and soon the ship was humming underneath them as it defied gravity like a hovercraft.

'Opening hub hangar hatch,' Jack said.

'Don't forget the cloak,' Ianto reminded him. The last thing they needed was to come back to newspapers with photos plastered all over their front pages loudly declaring a UFO took off from underneath the Penarth cliffs, and a picture of their vessel.

'Already done,' Jack replied. He gripped the control stick and grinned. 'I love this part,' he said, pulling back on it and letting the craft zoom out at lightning speed. Bright grey cloudy sky gave way to midnight black in mere seconds as they breached the stratosphere, heading out into space. Jack hooted with delight. 'Just like the old days!'

Just like the old days indeed, Ianto thought, feeling his stomach try to pull itself inside out. Small craft, he reminded himself, feeling some of the G forces despite the shielding that was protecting them from the worst of it. Jack was enjoying himself at least but then again, he drove the SUV in much the same way, trying as often as possible to make Ianto lose his lunch - or breakfast in this case - and glad he'd heeded Jack's earlier advice about eating a small meal.

'Setting course for the dark side of the moon,' Jack reported, keying some instructions into the flight deck panel.

'Pink Floyd would be so jealous,' Ianto quipped.

'Might be worth doing a quick fly by and scan just to make sure all our assets are still up there,' Jack suggested.

'I thought we were having the weekend off work?'

'Well, I mean we could always do it another weekend, or maybe during the week? You're the one who's going to be upset if someone has dropped by and knicked something.'

'They can do that?'

'Well, sure. I mean, it'd take a bit more than a bent coat hanger to bust into one and hot wire it, but it can be done. I've done it loads of times.' He looked genuinely pleased about that admission. There was no getting rid of the skills Jack had picked up during his conman days.

Ianto hummed in a disconcerted way. 'Perhaps we should install some security cameras up there, then.'

Jack huffed. 'Here I am, trying to find an excuse for us to go joyriding on the boss's dime and you're looking for a cheap alternative.'

Ianto smiled despite himself. 'Just remember that I'm the boss and the boss's dime belongs to me. An annual audit perhaps.'

'Monthly.'

'Quarterly.'

'Sold!' Jack beamed and unbuckled himself. 'Come on. Let me show you around. You won't believe how much I had to do yesterday, but I think you'll like the outcome.'

Thought the ship appeared small on the outside, it economised space on the inside. Ianto stopped himself before making the statement that it was bigger on the inside. The Doctor had been so annoyed with him for stating that the TARDIS was smaller on the outside. Apparently that sort of thing just wasn't said.

Ianto had to admit, Jack had been busy. The commissary was stocked with food and water, all Jack's favourites, and many of Ianto's. The bathroom had all their toiletries laid out in a neat little caddy so they wouldn't topple if the ship lurched unexpectedly, along with a pile of fluffy towels just ready to be used. Jack really had been busy sorting out everything whilst he'd been buried under a mountain of paperwork yesterday. Jack was getting quite good at this domesticated role, making sure they had all the normal comforts of home.

The bedroom, and this surprised Ianto more than anything, looked just like a normal bedroom. They'd bunked on ships before, hitching a ride when needed, but most had basic sleeping quarters. Only their room aboard the TARDIS had ever resembled a real bedroom. This however had a full oval-shaped queen-sized bed pod, storage compartments on either side and a curved section above the bedhead that contained lights for reading. The duvet cover he recognised from their linen cupboard, and there were pillows and cushions galore. He wondered if it was too late to change his mind about those monthly audits, or even just to leave the ship parked in Cardiff and use it as a temporary hotel room. Amazing how easy it was to forget he had a family and three kids that needed them nearly twenty four hours a day. Moments like these had to be the exception rather than the rule.

Jack took him by the hand and lead him reluctantly out of the bedroom. Apparently there was still more to see, as he was tugged into an even larger space that was, judging by the soft rug and the plush sofa, the main living room. He could happily curl up there with a good book but hadn't asked if Jack had packed any.

'One of the things I love more about this ship,' Jack began, moving over to a panel on the wall, 'is the living space. And this one is the luxury model,' He hit the panel and the wall which had appeared to be nothing more than brushed steel was suddenly crystal clear, like the most polished glass Ianto had ever seen. Beyond it, the floor to ceiling view of space was breathtaking. 'Nice, huh?'

'A flying five star hotel,' Ianto mused.

'Only the best for you,' Jack replied, taking him by the hand and leading him back towards the bedroom. 'I believe you were a little loathe to leave this room. We've still got a few hours until we reach lunar orbit.'

'I could get used to these kinds of homework assignments,' he said, letting Jack pull him into a kiss.



Ianto didn't realised he'd dozed off until he opened his eyes and realised his arm was falling asleep under Jack's shoulder. He gently tugged it out, letting the pins and needles tingle down it as Jack stirred from his own light nap. 'You know, if you'd wanted to stay in bed and make love all weekend we didn't have to go to the moon to do that.'

'Yeah, but we wouldn't have the view,' Jack argued, having activated a second panel in the bedroom that made the entire left wall transparent. 'Making love under the stars is better in space.'

'Let's just hope there were no spy satellites out there that got a sneak peak of us doing just that through the windows.' That ought to put the Russians off space exploration, he thought, chuckling a little.

'What's so funny?'

'Nothing. Just me being silly.' He lay back down, letting Jack spoon him with a lazy hand stroking his bare hip. He stared out at the stars as they moved by one slow inch at a time despite their own hurtling speed. He had missed this, giving it all up for the responsibility of running Torchwood and raising a family. It had been years since they'd done anything like this and he'd forgotten how much it could take your breath away. There'd be time enough for all of this again, somewhere off in the distant future. That was the benefit of being immortal, even if there'd be pain and heartache as well along the way. It was important to focus on what he had right here and now, three beautiful children he loved to bits, and a husband who loved them just as much. He had work and friends and family, all things that wouldn't live forever like them. Even stars wouldn't live forever, but there were enough of them out there that it didn't matter. He'd get time to enjoy them later, though just for a few hours he could enjoy them now as well. He definitely wanted to bring the kids out here when they were old enough. Seeing the world from up here changed how you viewed life.

Eventually they dragged themselves back out of bed. Ianto's watch said it was late afternoon but it was impossible to tell time in space. Seating himself back down in the co-pilot's chair, the moon now loomed large in front of them. It was just like the pictures, all grey and pockmarked.

'Moving us into parabolic orbit so that we can land,' Jack said, leaning slightly over to his side of the console to do so.

'I thought we were landing on the dark side of the moon? It looks kind of daylight out there.'

'This is the dark side. It's just the side that can never been seen from Earth, not that it never gets a dose of sunshine.'

Ianto squirmed in the seat. 'I knew that.' It was easy to forget that kind of thing when you were confronted with a sight that maybe only a dozen other people had ever stepped foot on.

Jack pointed vaguely off to the left. 'Just over that ridge is where our inventory is. Wanna take a drive by?'

'Since we're here.'

Jack lowered their craft closer to the moon's surface. What had looked relatively smooth from a distance was now full of craggy ridges and craters, hills and parts that could even be described as mountainous. The smallest craters were bigger than a football pitch and the larger ones he couldn't even tell anymore. They just looked like sharp hills at the edges which stretched for miles and miles.

Jack crested the ridge and beamed. 'Welcome to your first look at the official lunar Torchwood parking lot. A whole lot cheaper than paid parking in Cardiff and no congestion tax.'

In the lee of what must have been a huge crater, a shadow was cast across the closest edge and some of the craft were in semi darkness. There'd of course been many photos of them in their files on the server, but seeing them all gathered together made it look like any one of dozens of space ports they'd visited, where ships clustered for fuel and repairs, like an intergalactic roadhouse.

Ianto pointed at a sleek looking craft. 'That one looks just like our very first sigma cruiser.' Like the first car he'd ever owned everything they'd flown in since then got inadvertently compared to the love he had for that first ship. It's not as fuel efficient as our sigma was, or, I wish the navigation computer was as intuitive as that one we had in the sigma...

'That is our sigma cruiser,' Jack confirmed. 'I had it shipped back from Sector Eight Delta years ago. Couldn't bear to sell it after all the good times we had in it. Maybe we'll have some more one day.'

'One day,' Ianto agreed.

Jack waved a pointed finger in the air in front of his face, visually counting them off as he saw them through the windscreen. 'Seventeen. All present and accounted for.'

'Very good, Captain. Now, I think we have one other important task to do.'

'One show and tell showstopper coming right up,' Jack said, whizzing past the cluster of ships inside the crater, leaving them far behind,

'You don't want to park down next to them?'

'Nah. Want to make sure our first moonwalk is an uninterrupted view.'

After a few minutes of flight, Jack finally settled on a spot, bringing the ship smoothly down to land. The view through their windscreen looked to be split in half, the lower being silvery grey and the upper half pitch black.

'Your Captain has now turned off the seat belt sign,' Jack announced. 'Your tour group departs from the outer airlock in twenty minutes.'



Inside the airlock, Jack had a large utility trunk packed with exo-suits, a more modern version of the traditional astronaut spacesuit, without the clunky arm and leg joints and a longer air supply and better protection against solar radiation.

'It took a while to get some suits,' Jack confessed, helping Ianto into his suit and making sure all the connections were sealed up. 'This ship didn't have any and a lot of the ones we've got in storage at the hangar are either damaged, too big or too small.'

Ianto tugged on the vacuum zip at the front, sealing himself inside up to his collar. It wasn't his first time in something like this but it never hurt to have someone run double checks on everything. 'But Goldilocks managed to find some that were just right?'

'Nothing worse that a spacesuit that doesn't fit. Think leather pants that are a size too small or your grandmother's Sunday house-cleaning dress.'

'I'll take your word for it.'

Jack grinned and pecked him on the cheek before slipping the helmet over his head, sealing him all the way inside his suit.

Ianto rummaged through the trunk whilst Jack got his own suit sorted, organising the things they might need once they were out there, mainly a small netted sack for carrying back their prize rocks, some basic tools and a few jars for taking samples of the soil. Some of the boffins at their research facility in London would get a kick out of studying something a little closer to home than they were accustomed to. There probably wasn't much of strategic value up here but it never hurt to be sure.

Jack flipped open a panel on the wrist of his suit, which connected up to their systems aboard the ship. 'Ready to go out?' He pressed some buttons and the inner airlock door hissed shut, letting the atmosphere inside the lock vent out before the outer door released.

'One small step for Torchwood,' Ianto joked. He stepped down the short step after Jack, finding his footing. It didn't crunch heavily under his boot like he expected it might. It was kind of powdery and soft. 'I thought it was all rock?'

'It is,' Jack said turning back so that his visor included Ianto in its field of vision. 'Just remember, even with that suit on you'll be lucky if you weigh twenty kilos.'

'I'd been wondering how to shed those extra two pounds from Christmas,' he quipped back.

Jack took a large bounding step, demonstrating the effect of the lower gravity. Mostly they'd been accustomed to everywhere in space having its own artificial gravity. Zero gravity experiences hadn't been Ianto's cup of tea. They just made him feel clumsy and bump into things, but this wasn't so bad. At least he still had some gravity to maneuver himself about in. He took a test jump, coming to land down a lot softer than normal.

'Lightweight,' Jack teased. 'Watch this.' He took a bit of an ambling run, heading for the edge of a shallow crater and bounding off the edge. He must have gone fifteen feet at least and another few up in the air before slowly dropping down and using that momentum to bounce again, going another ten feet.

'The king of bouncy castles has finally found the adult equivalent,' Ianto muttered to himself. He bounded slowly after Jack but had to admit that the weightless loping was kind of fun. Mostly the surface was a mix of large rocks and sand, a bit like a desert. It was alien yet not really, since it was the same moon he'd seen up in the sky his whole life.

He finally caught up with Jack who was writing their names into the soil with a big love heart around them, making sure the whole artist endeavour was at least twenty feet wide.

'Someone's going to see that and start wondering,' Ianto said. 'Come to think of it, how is it that none of the space telescopes or exploration craft have ever spotted all those ships parked up here?'

'Oh, they've tried. Their navigational computers just get a little screwy if they get too close and end up taking a slightly altered orbit around the moon.'

Ianto came to a standstill. 'Huh. And how come we don't employ that sort of thing on Earth? I could do without all the random visitations for aliens thinking Earth is a tourist destination. Passport control is not part of the job I signed up for.'

'It only works on primitive technology. Any alien ship wouldnt be fooled by that.'

'I don't know if I should feel insulted or not.'

'Stop worrying about work and diplomacy. Just enjoy it. You're on the moon!'

Yes he was. It took the plaintive statement to realise he should be enjoying himself, even if he did feel more than a little guilty that the kids would hate them when they eventually found out - hopefully not until about three decades from now. He rifled inside his small carry bag pulling out the alien equivalent of a camera, capable of withstanding the zero atmosphere conditions, snapping pictures of the top of the large hills that loomed over them, turning around to photograph their ship parked in the middle of a lunar landscape, ones of his footprints in the dirt - the ones that no one else would apparently ever see - and a picture of Jack's romantic artwork. He almost wished he could get that one framed, but there'd be too many questions. Maybe just for his office, rather than at home.

'Have you found any good rocks yet?' Jack called back, forgetting that they had microphones for communicating and that yelling was only repeating Jack's words exceedingly loudly into Ianto's headset.

'I can hear you just fine without yelling, you twat!' Ianto chastised.

Jack trundled back to where Ianto was standing, taking another picture of a large rock formation. 'You haven't been doing the whole geeky tourist thing all this time, haven't you?'

Ianto rolled his eyes at the remark. They'd never really done outdoorsy holidays and most alien places they'd been were civilised, or at least they were the kind of outdoors that was was best described as eco-tourism. In other words, outdoors but within walking distance of their five star hotel. This was way more rugged and outdoors than anything they'd done before.

'I didn't realise we were in a rush.'

'We're not, but I just thought you'd get business out of the way so that we could indulge in pleasure.'

Ianto cast his gaze around his feet. There were no small rocks here, just large chunks varying from the size of a shopping trolley to the size of a car. They could possibly use some of their tools to break a piece off but it wouldn't be the same, it would have one edge with tool marks and he really wanted a piece that looked natural.

'Nothing here, Jack.' He pointed towards a set of holes about a mile or two away. 'Maybe over there where the ground is a bit more uneven.'

'You're not going to be like you are at the beach, are you?'

Ianto set his hands on his hips, which weren't quite where he thought they should be on account of the suit. 'What's that supposed to mean?'

Jack shrugged. 'You know, all, this shell has a slight chip in the edge, or this one's too grey...'

'I'm entitled to be choosy! Besides, we have a whole moon to pick from and no one else has been here before us to take all the good rocks.'

Jack snorted through his microphone. 'If you say so.'

He did say so, but that didn't stop him from being judicious as they explored. He wanted three pieces that would all be roughly the same size, somewhere between an orange and a grapefruit, he'd decided. They should each be unique in some way as well, though, so that everyone could tell theirs apart and feel that theirs had something special about it that the other two didn't. These were the sorts of considerations that came naturally to him these days. Sometimes three of the exact same thing were in order to keep the peace. Other times everyone wanted to be their own individual and not lumped together as triplets. He wouldn't mind a piece for himself either, if he was honest. Something a bit less round, more oblong perhaps, and which would sit flat of his desk without rolling away. He picked up a few here and there, comparing them and discarding the least viable options. Jack offered up a few decent candidates and then left Ianto to his fussing, taking charge of collecting the soil samples instead.

He finally got down to three he thought would suit, and tucked them deep into his carry bag before a yawn snuck up on him. 'What time is it?' he asked.

Jack checked his wrist display. 'About one am local Earth time.'

No wonder he was yawning! Time had flown whilst they'd been out here.

'You got what we came for now?'

Ianto nodded. 'Three moon rocks just perfect for three very lucky children.'

'Only three?' Jack asked dropping their collective samples back in his carry bag.

'I couldn't find one I liked for me.'

'Okay, well what about this?' Jack said, handing over one from his own bag. 'I saw it and thought it looked very Ianto. Couldn't very well bring you all the way up here and not get you a souvenir. Found it when I was doing my first couple of moon bounces.'

Ianto had to admit, it was an intriguing shape, full of little holes and crannies, yet it worked. Maybe he should have left the moon rock hunting to Jack and they would have been done hours ago. 'I love it. It's perfect.'

'Well, then, what's say we hoof it back to the ship for some zs? Actually, why don't we leap back. Longest highest leap wins.' Jack didn't wait for Ianto to agree with him, bounding off.

'What exactly do I win?' he responded, finding one last reserve of energy to go springing after Jack.



Despite not falling into bed until nearly two am, Jack was prodding him back awake at six.

'What?' Ianto grumbled, disliking being woken for anything less than the end of the world.

'Time to get up,' Jack said, leaping out of bed like he'd been asleep for day, totally refreshed in a way that had always irked Ianto. He'd always assumed it was Jack's immortality that made him so energetic, but having experienced immortality himself now he knew that wasn't the case. He tired just as easily as before and didn't bounce back from late nights or long days any better than when he'd been a plain old mortal. Jack was just uniquely annoying on multiple fronts. 'You still haven't told me why you're dragging me out of bed.'

'We've got stuff to do, and we need to stick to a tight schedule.'

Ianto was bemused by Jack's comments, since so often it was Ianto trying to get Jack to stick to schedules, and usually failing. He gave Jack the benefit of the doubt and followed him out to the flight deck.

'Just a short hop,' Jack said, already keying commands into the flight module, before retreating as the ship lifted and began a slow hover across the moonscape. 'Time enough for a bowl of cereal. You want muesli or cornflakes?'

Ianto let Jack take charge of their breakfast, watching his husband potter around the small commissary pod, filling bowls. 'Where are we going?'

'To see where Neil and the boys landed, of course. It's kind of the main tourist attraction around here. Eat up,' he said, waving emphatically at Ianto to start digging in his spoon. 'We'll be there in ten. Can't spend all day eating breakfast.'



With a bit of food in their stomachs, having skipped several meals since breakfast yesterday, Ianto realised, they were back in their suits and heading back out of the airlock once their ship had landed.

Ianto immediately spotted the American flag plonked out in the middle of nowhere. It felt strange to see it there, like it didn't belong and was ruining the view. He took a picture of it anyway, either as proof that there was no conspiracy about men having landed on the moon, or otherwise as a terrible prank perpetrated by passing aliens who thought it might be funny.

He could make out the footprints of those men in the soil, with their familiar striped tread making deep impressions. He was loathe to disturb them by adding footprints of their own and wondering if someone would come back one day and notice them. He scuffed out the first couple but then gave up. There were just too many as he drifted around the landing site.

Off a few dozen yards, Jack was already leaning over the space buggy that had famously trundled around over the undulating ground. Ianto took another picture when Jack wasn't looking, too fixated on the machine. He was like a boy obsessed with cars. Ianto eventually tracked over to find out what he was up to.

'Was hoping we could go for a spin in it,' Jack explained, 'but turns out the battery is dead and it doesn't look like I can charge it up from anything we've got.' He groaned. 'Primitive sixties technology.'

'Probably for the best,' Ianto conceded. 'They might get their satellites diverted away from the Torchwood garage, but I think they definitely would notice if they suddenly saw a whole bunch more donuts driven into the soil than are in the photos from 1969. You'll just have to pose like you're driving it.'

There were a few more photos and a few selfies of them in the buggy, them standing and pointing at the flag, them picking up bits of gear left behind from various moon missions and then it was back to their own considerably more modern craft.

'I'm going to grab a shower and then fix us some real food,' Jack announced, not waiting for agreement or even an offer to share his shower. Ianto left him to it, using the brief period to organise their collection from yesterday and pack it away safely. Jack was done in no time at all and Ianto was looking forward to a nice hot shower himself.

It really was heaven, he thought, as he stood under the water and let it pelt him with a decent amount of pressure. This was one thing their beloved sigma had not had - a scalding hot torrent of water to wash away the days weariness and muck.

When he stepped out and back into the bedroom, Jack had laid out clothes for him on the bed. Not jeans and a pullover like he might have expected, but pajamas, slippers and his fluffy dressing gown. He took it as a sign that Jack intended some form of relaxation so took his time getting dressed. This had been a weekend for them but so far they'd mostly been busy and hadn't done much relaxing.

When he stepped out into the living space, Jack was similarly dressed in his most comfy sleepwear and slippers, putting the finishing touches of a huge spread of food across the low table in front of the sofa.

'My hopes for greasy bacon and eggs dashed,' Ianto remarked, taking in the huge platter of cheese and olives, fresh fruit and buttery pastries. There was antipasto and bread sticks, crisps and a selection of dips, and, Ianto noticed, a very expensive bottle of wine. 'You shouldn't ever serve champagne at altitude,' he said. 'It ruins the palate.'

'That's why I chose a flat white,' Jack replied, snapping open the top and pouring him a glass. 'You're just in time.'

'Time for a very naughty late breakfast? Or is it lunch now? Brunch?' Certainly no time of day when they should be drinking, in any case.

'Sit,' Jack said, patting the sofa as he sat down himself. He reached over and picked up his own wine glass before wrapping his free arm around Ianto's shoulders. 'The Earth is due to come up in about five minutes.'

Ianto snaffled a piece of brie, setting it on a cracker and popping it in his mouth before settling back against Jack with his wine. It was a very nice drop and Jack was refilling his glass just as a hint of blue began to peek over the grey horizon. He'd done a lot of sunrises and sunsets with Jack, even the odd solar eclipse, but he'd never seen an earthrise before. It really was something, seeing a monochrome landscape injected with so much colour all of a sudden.

Wine and cheese, fluffy dressing gown and slippers, and a view of the Earth rising over the moonscape horizon, a black sky dusted with a million stars. He'd seen loads of stars before, and even the conjuction of seven suns on the most auspicious day in the Demesne calendar year, but there was something different about seeing his own planet from afar, surrounded by constellations he could name without thinking. He could pick out the outlines of countries obscured by swirling bands of white cloud, even spotting his beloved Wales, trying to imagine life going on down there as normal, people just tiny invisible specks at this distance. Maybe if other people saw Earth the way he was now, they'd think twice about polluting it. Space was so vast and there were so many places where nothing could possibly survive, separated by distances that the human mind couldn't even fathom. To have so much life and diversity on this one tiny ball of rock was nothing short of a miracle. This was why he loved the job he did, and why Jack had so passionately dedicated his life to it. Theirs was to protect that little planet and everyone on it, to protect the miracle of life. It wasn't a bad job to have.

'We should do this more often,' Jack said, selecting a danish and taking a large bite from it.

'A lot of effort to go to for a show and tell project.' And no one would ever know just how much effort it had taken, not even their own children. They'd just assume their dads went trawling through that dusty old storeroom at the hub and found by accident.

'I don't know,' Jack mused. 'I could get used to this,' he added, pulling Ianto a little tighter against his body.

'You don't want to stop by Mars on the way? We're in the neighbourhood.'

Jack frowned at him. 'You don't wanna go to Mars. You've read the files on the Martians. If there's any left down there they're either buried deep or in stasis so that's just how we should leave them.'

True enough. He had read the files and he could do without the hassle of warmongering, battle-hardened Martian soldiers coming to take back what they believed was their by right, planet Earth included. 'Guess that just means more time snuggled with you,' he said instead.

'Hold that thought,' Jack said, getting up. 'Gotta go set the autopilot of otherwise we won't make it back home in time.' He left Ianto to pick over the smorgasbord of food as the engines whirred back into life. As the ship rose, so did his view of the Earth, until the grey surface of the moon disappeared from view altogether and then blackness of space enveloped them once more.

'On our way,' Jack reported, settling back on the sofa. 'ETA four hours and thirteen minutes.'

They nibbled at the food, finished the bottle of wine, and by then Ianto was so full and so sleepy that he simply nestled against Jack and napped all the way home.



It was strange to step outside when Jack pulled up the SUV in front of Gwen's house. It was one of those breezy autumn days where the sun was shining but without much warmth. Despite that Ianto felt every last bit of sunshine warm him from the outside in. Hard to believe that just a few hours ago they'd been walking on the moon in below freezing conditions. Earth was so bizarre by comparison with all its trees and buildings and cars and people everywhere. It was positively overcrowded with stuff.

Happy squeals could be heard even before Jack pressed the doorbell. The must have heard the SUV doors slamming, because all three were practically underfoot when Gwen answered the door.

Jack grabbed for the closest parka-covered child and wrapped them in a bear hug swinging them around, not worrying about which one it was. 'Did you miss us?'

Gwen beamed happily. 'We only just got back from the park. We had fun, didn't we?'

'Yeah!' came the sound of three indistinguishable cries.

Jack put down his daughter, Sian it turned out once Jack had pulled back the hood on the parka to reveal the face underneath.

'Did you two have a nice weekend?' Gwen asked, idly ruffling a hand through Tom's hair as he clung to her side.

'Oh,rufflinNot as much fun as you guys by the sound of it, though,' Jack said, an air of nonchalance about his reply

'Do anything special?' Gwen fixed Jack with a well known look that said she wanted an answer but none of the details. She'd heard far too many kiss and tells from Jack over the years and was perfectly capable of using her imagination.

Ianto stepped in to perpetuate the lie. 'Just some quality time together.'

'Well, we've been learning all about the moon, haven't we?' Gwen said. 'Just like you asked,' she said referring to Jack.

'It's Tom's big show and tell project for tomorrow,' Ianto replied.

'It's not made of cheese,' Eleri announced.

Jack grinned. 'Really? Are you sure? Uncle Rhys thinks it's cheese, doesn't he?' He gave Gwen a playful wink. 'Oh, and Tom,'

'Yeah, Dad?'

'Your Dad found you something else you can take for show and tell tomorrow. It's a piece of moon rock.'

The little boy's eyes lit up. 'Like, for real from the moon?'

'Yup. It'd be pretty boring just talking about the moon without a real piece of it to show.'

'Cool! You're the best, Dad!'

Gwen fixed Ianto with a look. It very clearly said "Oh, so that's what you were up to? Couldn't just catch a grasshopper or a centipede out in the backyard, could you?". There was an air of the stern mother figure in that look suggesting that as parents themselves, they'd somehow cheated the system and broken the unspoken rules of parenting.

Sian tugged at the bottom of Ianto's jacket. 'Daddy? Can we have a piece of moon, too?'

He stroked her hair. 'Of course, baby.'

'Yeah, Daddy founds heaps of them when we were-'

'Tidying up,' Ianto said, cutting Jack off, not trusting him to stick to simple lies. 'NASA must have loaned them to us ages ago and forgotten all about asking for them back. I guess they don't mind us keeping them so long as we take extra good care of them.' There was another disbelieving glance from Gwen. Ianto ignored it. She didn't have to buy their lies, she just had to not sell them up the river.

'Isn't that lucky, Tom?' she said instead. 'Your Dad must have spent ages tidying up to find those.'

Jack wrapped his arm around Ianto's waist. 'You know how much Ianto loves cleaning up. Bound to turn up something good eventually.'

Gwen hummed thoughtfully. 'And I know how much you'd love spending the weekend cleaning up, Jack.'

He grinned unrepentantly. 'It's growing on me. Any time you want to have the kids for the weekend, you just say the word. We have a lot of cleaning to catch up on.'