Title: Birthday Girl
Fandom: Torchwood
Pairing: Jack/Ianto, mentions of Ellie/OMC
Rating: FRT
Summary: It's Ellie's 16th birthday, but she's missing from her own party...
Author's note: This is set in Dylan Verse; it's set after 'Making Mistakes' and before 'Opening Night'. For a full list of Dylan fics, please see my profile.

x

The world was ending, Jack was certain of it. And it was ending in an explosion of balloons and streamers. Not to mention, it was also costing him more money than he cared to think about.

The police Captain looked at his partner in dismay. "What made us think this was a good idea?" he whined.

Ianto looked up from where he was inflating balloons and rolled his eyes at the other man's pitiful look. "Oh give up complaining," he instructed. "You only turn eighteen once in every lifetime, everyone deserves a party."

"Couldn't we just have something low key and private?" Jack pleaded. "We could go to a nice restaurant… preferably one that wouldn't cost me," he frowned deeply, "I don't even want to know how much I'm paying for this party."

Ianto glared at him and tied the balloon off, batting it to one side as he reached for another. "Okay, first thing," he said, moving over to the helium tank, "we're both paying for this. If you think you're the only one whose bank balance is affected by this party you can fuck off right now."

Jack grimaced and had the decency to look abashed. "Sorry," he mumbled, running a hand over the back of his neck. "You know I didn't mean it the way it sounded."

Ianto smiled affectionately and leant over to kiss Jack softly on the lips. "I know," he relented; even after more than twenty years, he found it very difficult to resist the Harkness charm – even more so when it was their son that was controlling the charm. "But, you know we can't not throw her this party; we threw one for Dylan when he turned eighteen and we threw one for him when he turned twenty one. Just like we will for Monster when she turns twenty-one."

Jack sighed and folded his arms across his chest, knowing that Ianto was right, but not entirely certain he wanted to admit it; the lawyer could be so annoyingly smug when he wanted to be.

"I don't think Ellie will mind sharing a dance with her daddy at some point during the evening," Ianto added, trying to bribe his partner and convince him that spending as much money on one night was worth it to see the look on their daughter's face.

Finally Jack sighed and a smile began to break through his somewhat irritated expression, before his drama queen side took over once more and he sighed heavily. "She's eighteen," he stated, "she's not going to want to dance with her dad in front of all her friends."

Ianto rolled his eyes and hit Jack on the arm. "Monster is the biggest daddy's girl I know," he informed his partner. "She has got you wrapped around her little finger – and has had since the day she was born. All her friends already think we're the coolest parents to ever exist. Trust me, dancing with you in front of them isn't going to be a problem."

Jack took a drink of the coke that was sitting on the table next to him and reached for a balloon, passing it to Ianto as instructed – he had already been ordered that he was not allowed to inflate any of the balloons himself; especially after Dylan's twenty-first birthday when the Captain had inflated them so much that hardly any survived the 'Balloon Massacre' as it had come to be known as.

"I suppose he's coming," Jack muttered under his breath with a dark scowl, tying a ribbon around the balloon and letting it float away from them.

Ianto rolled his eyes and glared at the other man. "Don't start, Jack," he warned. "I know you don't like him – hell, I don't either – but at the end of the day Ellie does and we're not the ones dating him; she is."

Jack returned the glare and grabbed another balloon. "You know he's no good for her. Why aren't you more opposed to them?" he demanded.

"I am," Ianto assured him, trying to soothe the other man. He had been with Jack long enough to be able to sense where there was full blown drama queen spat on the horizon; and he also knew how to diffuse one just as quickly. "But you have to think about it this way… Did your parents like any of the people you dated back when you were in school?"

Jack shook his head, looking for all the world like an abashed teenager who had been told off by his father, not his partner. "I would have ever introduced my parents to any of the people I dated back in school - male or female," he confessed.

Ianto smiled and kissed his partner softly. "Then stop worrying about her for five minutes and just enjoy tonight. I promise, after tonight she can be your perfect little girl once more."

x

The party was in full swing and had been going brilliantly well when Dylan noticed that the birthday girl was actually nowhere to be found.

"Tad?" he asked, stepping up to Ianto even as he continued scanning the room for his sister. "Have you seen Monster?" he added, finally meeting the lawyer's curious gaze.

Ianto frowned deeply and shook his head. "Not for a good half hour," he admitted. "Do you think she's with Dennis?" he added, trying not to grimace at the name as he spoke it.

Dylan ran his hand over the back of his neck. "I don't remember seeing him arrive," he confessed. "Don't worry, I'll find her. Where's dad?" he said, looking at the empty chair next to Ianto.

Ianto rolled his eyes and nodded toward the bar, where Jack was very clearly flirting with a waitress. "Only Jack Harkness can spend forty minutes getting two beers in a bar this size."

Dylan laughed and nodded his head in agreement before moving away from Ianto to try find Ellie. He gave the room one more cursory glance before deciding that she definitely wasn't in the room, before slipping through the double doors and out into the hallway.

Ellie's party was being held at one of the fancier hotels in Cardiff. It was one of the things Jack and Ianto had agreed on; with their combined wages, they could afford to make sure their children celebrated their birthdays in the best way possible - despite Jack's bitching and moaning.

Dylan turned right as he exited the room and headed down the corridor towards the foyer of the hotel. The walls were a deep red - with an almost velvet look to them - lined with golden trim. The focal point of the foyer, however, wasn't the décor; it was the large staircase in the centre. It was a grand structure, with carpet even deeper red than the walls, which split off into two directions, leading to the hotel's many rooms.

At the bottom of said staircase, Dylan discovered something that make his heart break and the big brother inside him want to destroy things.

Ellie was sat on one of the bottom steps, her legs curled to her chest as her long - almost wedding gown style - dress flowed out around her. Her usually flawless face was smeared with mascara and her eyes were red rimmed from crying.

"What's wrong?" he asked, slowly taking a step closer to his sister; he didn't want to scare her when she was already emotional.

Ellie's head snapped up in surprise and she quickly brushed her hands over her cheeks in a futile attempt to hide the fact that she had been crying. "Nothing," she muttered. "I'm fine, I just needed some fresh air."

Dylan raised an eyebrow in a way that he knew was very similar to Ianto's own patented lawyer look - Jack always said it was weird how similar their mannerisms were, all things considered - and sat down on the step next to Ellie. "Bullshit, El," he stated, wrapping his arm around her shoulder. "What's wrong?" he repeated.

Ellie sighed and lowered her face, pressing her hands over her face. "It's stupid," she muttered, her voice muffled by her hands.

"Probably," Dylan agreed, making her glare at him; although, he did detect a slight quirk of her lip as a smile threatened to break through. "But tell me anyway," he instructed.

"It's Dennis," Ellie finally admitted, after staring at her brother long and hard; no doubt trying to decide if she should tell him, or not. "He didn't show."

Dylan drew in a breath and hugged her tighter. "Oh, El," he murmured, pulling her closer to his body and pressing a kiss against her forehead; she had far too many hairpins to kiss her hair without poking his eye out or something similar.

"Have you called him?" he asked. "Maybe something came up that he couldn't get out of." He knew he was reaching and what he was suggesting was very unlikely; but he also knew he had to try think of something for his sister's sake.

Ellie nodded her head. "I called him," she stated, nodding down to where Dylan hadn't noticed her mobile phone sat between the two of them. "The first two times he didn't answer so I left him a voice mail."

"Did he ever call you back?" Dylan asked softly, not liking the direction he could sense Ellie was heading in.

The teenager shook her head. "I called him a third time and a girl answered. She told me… She said she was Dennis' girlfriend and she didn't know who I was, but I needed to stop calling him."

Dylan drew in a breath between his teeth and hugged her tightly. "Oh, El," he repeated. "I'm so sorry," he added, slightly uncertain about what he should say to comfort her.

Ellie laughed, albeit it a bitter and slightly hysterical laugh, and rolled her eyes. "I would have thought you would have been happy about this," she muttered. "None of you have ever liked him."

Dylan winced, knowing that she was right but not wanting to admit it. "None of us wanted to see you like this, though," he argued.

When Ellie didn't say anything in response, Dylan placed his hand in hers and pulled her to her feet, despite her protesting that she wanted to stay where she was. "Come on," he instructed, leading her up the stairs to the third floor where they had a room each. "Clean yourself up and we can get back to enjoying your party."

Ellie shook her head. "Dylan," she whispered, her eyes filling up with tears again. "I don't think I can face all them after this."

Dylan rolled his eyes and reached for her clutch bag, pulling out her room key and opening the door for Ellie. "You can," he argued. "Now, go get sorted out, or I'll be forced to use my big brother voice," he smirked. "I'll wait here for you," he added.

Ellie smiled brightly and stood on her tiptoes, raising herself a few extra inches so she was closer to his height, and pressed a kiss on his cheek. "Thanks, Dyl," she whispered, hugging him tightly before ducking into the room.

x

Ianto looked up when Jack finally returned from the bar, carrying a pint and a bottle in his hands. "Did you get her number?" he asked, accepting the glass from his partner.

Jack frowned in confusion as he slid into his seat. "What?"

The lawyer nodded across the room to where the girl behind the bar was watching Jack with a forlorn expression on her face. Jack followed his gaze and let out a knowing, "Ah," when he realised what Ianto was talking about. "Sorry?" he offered, throwing Ianto an apologetic smile.

Ianto rolled his eyes and placed his arm on the back of Jack's chair, resting his hand lightly on the police officer's shoulder. He felt a degree of smug satisfaction when he saw the girl behind the bar turn away with a sad expression on her face.

Jack immediately noticed what Ianto had done and hit him lightly. "That was mean," he scowled; although, the corners of his mouth were trying to turn into a small smile.

"Not my problem," the lawyer muttered, shrugging his shoulders and taking a drink. "Have you seen either of your demon children?" he asked suddenly, realising that Dylan had disappeared a short while ago.

Jack raised an eyebrow. "Why are they my demon children?" he demanded.

"They're only mine when they've been behaving," Ianto stated, throwing Jack a smug smile.

"Which isn't very often these days," Jack commented, taking a swig from his bottle.

Ianto watched his action and sighed heavily. "Haven't I managed to break you of that habit, yet?" he muttered, eyeing the bottle with disdain.

Jack rolled his eyes. "Don't start that again," he instructed. "You don't suppose they've ripped each other's throats out, do you?" he asked, moving back to his original statement about their children.

The Welshman's eyes were already roaming the room, looking for Ellie and Dylan. He frowned deeply and blinked to ensure he wasn't seeing things, before a smile spread across his face. "I don't think we have to worry about them fighting anymore," he stated.

Jack looked at him in confusion and Ianto pointed across the room to the dance floor. Ellie's friends had parted like the red-sea to allow Dylan – who was wearing the proudest smile – and the birthday girl through to the centre.

"What the-?" Jack murmured, mimicking Ianto's actions and blinking to make sure he wasn't seeing things. "Tell me I'm not hallucinating," he begged of his partner.

Ianto shook his head. "You're not seeing things, Jack," he assured him. "Our children are actually getting along."

Jack chuckled and rested his head against Ianto's, watching the siblings dance with each other. "They both look so beautiful," he whispered, his voice so soft it could barely be heard over the music.

"Don't let Dylan hear you call him beautiful," Ianto advised. "He wouldn't stop complaining about how girly it sounds."

The police officer murmured an agreement and nodded his head. He reached for the camera and took a few pictures of their children – zooming in so he didn't have to move – before placing it back on the table in front of them. "Do you want to dance?" he asked, pulling his head away and turning to fully face Ianto.

Ianto shook his head, pulling Jack back into his arms and turning his attention back to Dylan and Ellie. "Let's sit this one out," he suggested. "This is their dance."

The End

A/n: I am offering two fics (one Dylan, one AI) in the help haiti auction. If you're interested, please see my livejournal at cazmalfoy [dot] livejournal [dot] com