1

Just another day at the bloody office.

That's what Ianto thought as he cleaned out the back of the SUV.

Owen was furiously yelling about the condition of his converse while Gwen told him to man-up.

The fact that she had refused to step out of the SUV into the bog and ruin her Jimmy Choos was not lost on anyone.

Ianto knew his oxfords were ruined but you didn't hear him complaining, did you?

Jack had reveled in the mess so Ianto knew he had a coat as well as boots to clean waiting up in the office once he was finished with this mess.

The containment box was nestled in amongst the unused wet weather gear and Ianto wondered why he had ever bothered packing it.

He was god tired, having worked for almost 48 hours since the initial alarm had sounded and was fed up with this shit, all round!

Gwen and Owen hadn't been called in until four hours ago and still they whine like little babies.

At least Tosh had brought him a mocha from the place he liked when she had tripped in six hours ago.

Jack hadn't even noticed how demanding he had been as they tracked the coordinates and mapped the area by drone first.

Even the nookie that had been promised hadn't transpired thanks to a Unit call to 'share'.

Tosh was waiting downstairs with a look of total sympathy as he trudged past and he whispered to her that she had been the lucky one, staying back at base.

"Was that squealing really Owen?" she hissed as she kept up, trotting to match his long strides.

Yep. Slid out of the SUV, straight into a cow pat!" Ianto paused to savor the memory and she giggled as she slapped at his arm.

"You're terrible!" she giggled.

"Well, I didn't squat there!" he said with fake horror and she ran back to her station giggling madly.

Jack watched from the walkway outside his office and smiled softly as Ianto's smile seemed to glow before sliding away to the resting bland face he had mastered.

Jack sighed.

Gwen was heading out the door with a backward wave, due back in a few days, off on a weekend with Rhys to his parent's house for a wee pre-wedding meeting and shindig.

Jack felt nostalgic and reminded himself to dig that old tin out; weddings always made him feel that way.

Ianto wandered down the winding corridors to the Secure Archive Room, being careful to check his angle, so Tosh couldn't be a minx with that camera in the corner that she thought he didn't know about, and he punched in the pass code.

The door swung slowly, showing that this vault was not only humidity controlled but also on exacting timers.

Ianto slipped in as the door stopped its swing and started to automatically close.

He turned to watch with a shudder as he recalled the file he had found on an agent's death due to that door closing while struggling a large box through the entrance.

It opened and closed on its own time, nobody else's.

He logged the box in reading the tag as he did so even thought he wrote the original notes.

Rift Debris

Unknown Origin

Landed 14.03

….

He then added his own thoughts in the notes area and hit the save knowing the system would add date stamps and size, weight as he sat it on the computer pad for mapping.

He took the chance to stretch and feel his wet clothing shift against his skin, sighing as he resisted the urge to scratch as his scars on his upper arm.

Only Jack and Owen knew of the hand shaped burn mark that was Lisa's last gift to him. He always wore sleeves and never rolled them past the elbow.

Wet cotton sliding against the scar tissue was maddening.

Ianto finally heard the ping telling him it was done and he lifted it as he looked to the wide screen that displayed the new entry.

Strange that a little tin of ashes could produce the reaction Jack had but the strange alien language seemed to mean something to him as his hands had shook while handling it.

Ianto looked at the box again and frowned.

He got the classification number and hit the enter button then moved to the printer where a sticker was printing.

He carefully stuck the label onto the box and stepped over to the shelving, looking for the corresponding number already marked and placed the box into its new home.

He paused for a quick scratch, pushing his cuff up higher as he slid his fingers inside the sleeve.

Another ping had him swinging with surprise as a message flashed across the screen from Tosh requesting a copy of the writing for analysis.

Ianto cursed under his breath as he removed the box and started to log the opening for documentation purposes and he went to reach for gloves when his upturned cuff caught the corner of the box.

Ianto grunted as he fumbled with the box, trying to catch it as it toppled over the side of the table and crashed to the floor.

Ianto let loose loud yells of rage at himself for such a stupid mistake.

God, he was so tired.

He sighed and lent over the box to pick it up and noticed that the box had sprung open and the tin was cracked.

Great.

Gloves.

Ianto looked over at the gloves as the tin's lid popped off.

He looked back with surprise as the smell of burnt flesh assaulted his nose.

.

.

.

Tosh turned to Jack and smiled as he wandered over.

"Whatcha doing little birdie?" he said cheekily and she pointed to the screen where the outer door of the Secure Archive Room was visible.

"I asked Ianto to take some shots of the words before he taped it all down" she said with glee, "Gonna try my new program ….."

Her voice tapered off as Jack swore and hit his coms, "Ianto? Don't open the box, I repeat …"

The entire base froze as klaxons sounded and red lights flashed up.

The crashing and banging drowned out by Jack screaming Ianto's name as he ran for the Secure Archive Room.

The Hub was on lock-down.