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aviv_b_artworkIANTO'S JOURNEY, PART V- REDEMPTION
AUTHOR: Aviv_b
RATING: Chapter 56 - PG for language
CHARACTERS: Ianto, Jack, Tosh, Owen, Mickey, Gwen, Aaron
DISCLAIMER: Not mine; Aunty B's and RTD's
WORDS: ~ 2250
SUMMARY: Jack travels to London to learn if he will be reinstated as the leader of Torchwood Three. He confronts Aaron - and some fireworks ensues, followed by even more fireworks back at the Hub.
Title is from: This is the mark of a really admirable man: steadfastness in the face of trouble. Ludwig van Beethoven
While the team waited to hear from the Queen’s representative about Jack resuming his old position, Jack spent the next several weeks at the Hub reading incident files from the previous two years. At least that was what he was supposed to be doing anyway. In actuality, Jack spent a fair amount of time trying to find out as much as he could about Aaron. He was much more skilled with computer hacking than he let on to the team, and getting into the personnel records for the Royal Marines was far easier than expected.
As he read through Aaron’s records, he was struck by the fact that there wasn’t a blemish on his record. He was the typical career soldier, dutifully performing his job and working his way up the ranks over the course of almost twenty years. He also noticed that Aaron had seen combat and earned several commendations for service in the First Gulf War and Bosnia.
Several other items caught Jack’s attention. He knew that the Royal Marines had the most extensive and difficult training regime of all NATO troops. It took almost a full year to become a Marine and the wash-out rate was high. The Commando course, four grueling tests over a seven day period was the culmination of training. Aaron had passed all four tests in four consecutive days, an almost unheard of achievement. Aaron had also completed specialist sniper training early in his career and later the Physical Training Instructor course as his primary job now was the training and assessment of new recruits.
Jack chuckled as he noticed the reviews that Lieutenant-Colonel Hamilton received from those who qualified as Marines. Several commented that Aaron was the toughest bastard they had ever met. Others spoke to how he inspired them to succeed when they felt they couldn’t go on. And several expressed amazement that he still did at least one Commando test with each group of recruits; after all he was over forty! Jack had a feeling that under other circumstances that he would probably like Aaron a lot. ‘Tough and smart,’ Jack thought, ‘I can see why Ianto was attracted to him. He’s just like me!’
Understandably Jack was shocked when he tracked down CCTV recordings of Aaron. He was so ordinary looking. Certainly not the dashing, handsome heroic figure Jack had imagined. He was nice looking, obviously fit, but really no one you’d turn around to look at twice. What the hell did Ianto see in him? Jack was even more puzzled when he accessed images of Ianto and Aaron together. Ianto seemed far more mature than he remembered. He looked healthy and had a fair bit of muscle on him. That was surely Aaron’s influence. It was clear that Aaron and Ianto adored each other, the way they discretely held hands in public, the kisses they exchanged when no one was looking and most of all, the constant small smile on Ianto’s face spoke to the depth of their partnership. Being the shorter of the two, Aaron would often rest his head on Ianto’s shoulder when they embraced, while Ianto would hold Aaron around the waist with his right arm and cup Aaron’s head with his left hand. ‘Talk about love being blind,’ Jack smirked as he viewed the images. ‘At least we know who’s the wife in their relationship.’
As the weeks passed, the rest of the team with the exception of Mickey began to relax in Jack’s presence. While he still wasn’t actively working, they began to include him in on strategy meetings. Gradually he was back to eating lunch with them, joking around and telling his outrageous stories while his audience laughed appreciatively. Even Mickey found himself smiling occasionally at Jack. That was the thing about Harkness, Mickey pondered, he was a lot like The Doctor, an irresistible flame for moths to gather around.
Right after 2010 began, Jack was asked to attend a series of meetings in London where his continuing role with Torchwood would be decided. He would be meeting individually with the Queen’s liaison to Torchwood, several UNIT officials as well as the current Interim Director in Chief of Torchwood London. Jack was certain that after he met with them, he would be reinstated to his position as head of Torchwood Three.
*****
Jack’s first day in London consisted of meeting with officials from UNIT. For convenience they met at the new Torchwood One building, and Jack had hoped to get a glimpse of Ianto. He had no luck on that point, but after his meetings had ended on the first day he headed over to the cafeteria to get a cup of coffee and write up some notes about the sessions while they were still fresh in his mind. As he walked toward an empty table with his coffee, he spotted a familiar face. It was Aaron. Jack hesitated only a moment before deciding to go over and speak to him. ‘This could be interesting,’ he thought.
Aaron appeared to be engrossed in reading something and took no notice of Jack’s approach. Jack was wondering how he should get Aaron’s attention when he heard Aaron say, without looking up, “What can I do for you Captain?”
Jack did his best to cover his surprise while he sat down and gave Aaron his best dazzling smile. Aaron just looked up saying nothing which unnerved Jack a bit.
“So Aaron, I thought I should come over and introduce myself.” Aaron continued to stare.
“I’m well aware of who you are Harkness, the question is what do you want.”
“Hey, I just thought it might be nice to meet Ianto’s new boyfriend and my apparent rival.”
A small smile crossed Aaron’s lips. “Did you now? You know Captain; I could almost feel sorry for you if you weren’t such an arrogant fellow. My rival. No, I don’t think so. Surely someone must have told you that Ianto is my civil partner, as well as my lover and best friend.”
“Well sure I know you guys are playing house together, but now that I’m back it’s only a matter of time before he comes back to me.”
“So tell me Harkness, what exactly are you going to do to steal him away? Promise him fidelity? Or monogamy? Oh, that’s right, you don’t believe in those quaint 21st Century concepts do you?”
Jack smirked. “Oh I can give him some things that I’m sure he’s not getting with you.”
“Ah yes, you must be referring to your intergalactically renowned blow-jobs. Your mother must be so proud of you.”
“Why I’m shocked Aaron, you really are a son-of-a bitch.”
“Thank you, I’m glad you realize that,” Aaron said, his voice darkening.
“Are you threatening me?” Jack asked.
Aaron laughed. In fact he laughed so hard that he had to wipe some tears from his eyes. “Ianto and I are an empathically bonded pair. I think that’s pretty rare, even in your time.”
Jack eyes opened a bit wider in shock.
“And you do realize what that means?” Aaron queried. Actually, true pair-bonds were rare even in the 51st century. Jack searched his memory for anything that would answer Aaron’s question.
“Our bond can only be broken by death or by consent of both parties. And before you start plotting my demise….”
“So you would hold him against his will?” Jack retorted.
“Oh please, spare me the righteous indignation,” Aaron sighed, rolling his eyes. “It’s tiresome. The truth Captain is that if I thought that you could make Ianto happier than I can, I would insist on the bond being dissolved. That’s because I love him. I know, another quaint 21st century concept. What about you? Do you love him? Do you love him enough to let him go if that was what he needs?” Aaron asked.
Jack went to speak and then realized he couldn’t deny what Aaron was saying. He’d had dozens of lovers over the years, a few spouses even, and never had any difficulty in walking away when it suited him. And what had he and Ianto had really. Some great sex, a little comfort, a few laughs. Why was he unable to let Ianto go?
Aaron continued, “He’s not a toy for you to play with, he’s a person with feelings and wants and desires of his own. Do you ever think of anyone but yourself? You made a choice to leave him without a word of warning, and now you have to live with the consequences of your actions. You’re what, a hundred years old; grow up already.”
“I didn’t mean to be gone that long…”
“That really doesn’t change anything. The minute you chose to go with the Doctor you effectively voided any claims of loyalty or love you had with Ianto. I’ve earned Ianto’s respect and love and he has my complete devotion in return. That’s just a reality you are going to have to accept.”
Aaron got up from the table. “Please excuse me; I have to go meet my partner.” And with that, Aaron got up from the table, turned his back on Jack and walked away.
Jack sighed as he watched Aaron walk away. Rationally he knew that Ianto would be better off with Aaron. Aaron was unyielding in his devotion to Ianto. Jack had felt it; he would stick by Ianto no matter what and Jack knew that was a commitment he could not, would not make.
‘I’m going to leave him alone, I’m going to try to be the man The Doctor thinks I can be,’ Jack silently promised. He held no delusions about how difficult if not impossible letting Ianto go would be.
Jack met with more UNIT officers for several more days before returning to Cardiff. He went out of his way to avoid anyplace he might run into Ianto or Aaron. He needed the position back in Cardiff more than ever and focused his energy to that goal. He hoped that he would have something left of his old life to look forward to at the end of his week in London.
***
No one was surprised when shortly after his return to Cardiff, Jack was reinstated as the head of Torchwood Three. Jack tried his best to include both Gwen and Mickey in his decision making process and while they both seemed to accept this, there were still moments when a quick decision had to be made, and it fell to Jack to make that call. Jack didn’t always make the right call and Mickey would be infuriated.
“I can’t believe you let Gwen and Penny go on their own to handle four weevils,” Mickey shouted at Jack. He and Owen had had to go out and help capture the weevils after Gwen had almost been savaged by one as she zapped a second one.
“You never send out a team that’s outnumbered two to one. That’s just suicide. Well not for you maybe, but for the rest of us…” Mickey groused.
Jack, never one to admit mistakes easily ended up yelling back with, “I’m in charge here. Don’t you dare question my authority.”
“He’s right to challenge you, if your authority is going to get us all killed,” Owen shouted.
“Go home, all of you,” Jack roared.
Tosh had never seen Jack so upset. She grabbed Owen before he had a chance to say anything more. “Come on, let’s get out of here before this gets more out of hand.” Owen looked at her and could see how the infighting was taking a toll. She was now almost seven months pregnant and Owen pondered how soon he could put her on medical leave without either her or Jack throwing a fit.
Later at home, Tosh and Owen talked about the growing conflict between Jack and Mickey.
“The problem is,” Tosh offered, “that they are both so alike. They both have great field capabilities, but Mickey has a better sense on what the team can handle, while Jack has the better understanding of anything new that comes through the rift. And they’ve both pushed Gwen to the background in their fight for dominance, which isn’t right at all.”
Owen agreed, but couldn’t see any way to solve the conflict. “Short of anyone leaving, this is just going to go on. I just hope that no one has to get killed before they realize that their stubbornness is a danger to us all.”
Another five months passed without anyone managing to get seriously injured. Tosh had given birth to a healthy baby girl that she and Owen named Kimiyo (Kim for short). She was off enjoying several months of bonding with the baby, and working on her rift prediction program in peace when she got a call from Owen.
“Well, it finally happened,” Owen told her. “Mickey almost got killed today. And it really was due to Jack’s carelessness. A Viking came through the rift. Yeah, horned helmet and everything. Jack figured it was no big challenge and sent Mickey out on his own to nab him. Apparently Jack then felt uneasy about his decision and got there in time to get himself decapitated rather than Mickey. I haven’t seen fireworks like this since the Millennium New Years.”
In the end, Jack and Mickey both sent requests to the Queen’s representative asking that one of them be reassigned to another location. The proposed solution shocked everyone. Jack was asked to leave Cardiff and become the head of Torchwood One.
Chapter 57 here: http://aviv-b.livejournal.com/30156.html
