Chapter 50 - Passages
Jan. 13th, 2010 09:19 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
aviv_b_artworkTITLE: Chapter 50 - Passages
AUTHOR: Aviv_b
RATING: Chapter 50 - PG for language, and some sexual references
CHARACTERS: Ianto, Gwen, Owen, Tosh. Mickey, OCs - Brigadier Hamilton, Aaron
DISCLAIMER: Not mine; Aunty B's and RTD's
WORDS: ~ 3250
SUMMARY: Ianto moves to London. Mickey Smith joins Torchwood 3 , Ianto has a revelation about Jack. Tiime is moving quickly here, from September 07 to October 08.
Title is from: Time is not measured by the passing of years but by what one does, what one feels, and what one achieves. Jawaharlal Nehru
The Brigadier’s conversation with Ianto went much better than expected. Ianto was actually enthusiastic about sitting on the Torchwood One Taskforce. He wanted an excuse to get away from Cardiff for a bit, and here was the perfect solution. The team would surely let him know if Jack reappeared, but he wouldn’t have to deal with Jack’s absence on a daily basis.
There was one hang-up. Ianto would not agree to work with UNIT on the taskforce unless they voided Tosh’s contract to Jack and freed her from any further obligations either to Torchwood or UNIT. The Brigadier wasn’t sure he could do much about this, but in the end, the need for Ianto’s knowledge proved great enough to get the deal done. Tosh was understandably thrilled when Ianto told her, and surprised when Ianto told her he had insisted on one more thing in regards to her time with UNIT.
“What did you do?”
‘Well, now that you’re no longer beholden to UNIT, and have served bravely protecting Queen and Country, I arranged for The Queen to petition UNIT to destroy all records of you past relationship with them.”
“Do you actually think they’ll comply?” Tosh asked.
‘I’m sure obvious copies of all documents will be destroyed though they’ll hide copies away. But if they want to keep their headquarters in the UK, they’ll never be able to use the records against you. That’s really what I was trying to secure. I’ve already taken the liberty of destroyed all records that we have. And I’ll be checking UNIT’s computer files in a month or so to make sure they’ve expunged the record as well.
Tosh grabbed Ianto into a hug. “You are a wonder Ianto; I’ve never had a friend like you. Will you hate me if I say I don’t want you to leave?”
‘I’m going to miss you too, but I never would have been able to do this for you if I wasn’t moving to London. So if nothing else good comes of it, at least you have your freedom. And hey, I’m only a few hours a way. There’s no reason we can’t get together on a regular basis.’
Tosh sighed. She hoped they would still see each other, but when she thought about how busy the team was and Ianto’s new responsibilities she felt that Ianto’s statement was probably wishful thinking more than anything else.
Rhiannon and Mum were understandably upset when Ianto told them about his transfer back to London, but understood his need for a break from Torchwood Three.
As an early Christmas present, Ianto bought Mica and David cell phones with a family calling package so that they could call or text him at no charge.
‘I’ll be picking up the cost of the phones and the monthly service, but in exchange you have to promise to return my texts and not use the phones where they are not allowed. If your Mum or Tad tells me you’re not behaving or your grades have slipped, then I’ll have the service turned off. Understood?’
They tried out the phones and even Mica easily got the hang of sending a message, though voice was a lot easier for her than trying to spell words out on the phone. Rhiannon watched Ianto and her children laugh as they played with the phones and felt her heart ache a little. Ianto and her children were just really bonding and now he was leaving again. She sighed. When was her family ever going to catch a break? She blinked back some tears; she wanted this day together to be happy, so if the kids didn’t see him for a while they would have good memories of their time with Uncle Ianto. When they said their goodbyes, Ianto held her tightly and told her not to worry, that he would be back before she knew it.
The transition of duties to new staff proceeded quickly. Within a couple of weeks, two new employees were assigned to Torchwood Three from UNIT. As suggested by The Brigadier, Mickey Smith came down to work as a field agent and a woman named Penny Blair came to take over the archives. Both were quick learners and hard workers and Ianto could tell they were going to work out just fine. He was particularly impressed that Penny had mastered the Torchwood One archiving software in a matter of months at UNIT and seemed to intuitively understand the elaborate architecture that Ianto was building linking reports, objects and other information into one large data base.
The only drawback was that neither could make a decent cup of coffee. ‘Well, I suspect that Starbucks will be doing a bit more business after I go.’
“I’m determined to figure out your coffee secrets before you take off,” Mickey told him. “I’m watching every pot you make, and I think I may be close to a breakthrough,” he announced.
“If that breakthrough was demonstrated by the pot you made this morning, Mickey, I don’t think Ianto’s in danger of being bested in the coffee arena,” Owen snarked.
Ianto found that Mickey was a very likeable fellow and it was hard for him to reconcile his very negative feelings toward The Doctor with his regard for Mickey. So when Mickey asked him to join him for dinner one night, Ianto was curious what Mickey wanted to talk to him about.
Afterwards, he was glad that he had done so. The information that Mickey shared with him was hard to take, but he was glad he had a better idea about The Doctor and his companions. Jack had told him a little about Rose, but Ianto had no idea that there was a relationship between Rose and Mickey.
“I can’t say I’m surprised,” Mickey said, looking a little upset. “She was my girlfriend. Well that is until she met The Doctor. Took off with him without a second thought, later asked me to travel with them, and then constantly mooned after him while I stood around and watched. He just has that affect on people. And he’s so busy saving the universe that he forgets that there are real people involved whose lives are thrown into chaos by his behavior.”
‘I almost hate to ask, but what do you know about Jack and The Doctor.’
"That’s a curious relationship. The Doctor didn’t like Jack when he first met him. Seems that Jack was a bit of a rogue; a conman to be precise. Then there was that whole thing with Rose and Jack and the vortex but then it seemed like The Doctor was afraid of Jack, called him something ‘Wrong.’ So I have no idea why Jack would go running off with him, but from the CCTV feed Gwen showed me, I think The Doctor was trying to leave without him once again.”
Ianto sighed. “Yeah,” Mickey continued, “The Doctor may save the earth time after time, but he sure has a way of mucking up his companions’ personal lives. But I’ll tell you one thing, I’m actually happier than I was when I was with Rose. I adored her, but that was the problem really. She had total control of the relationship; my fault as much as hers really, but I was always in the one down position with her. My new girlfriend and I have a much more balanced relationship and I’m better off for it. Really.”
“I think you’re telling me not to take it personally.”
“More than that, I’m telling you that at least in my experience, once someone’s been a companion to The Doctor, they tend to make poor companions for mere mortals. You will always want Jack but he will never be able to be what you need.”
‘Gee, Mickey, could you be a little more straightforward?’ Ianto snarked. ‘For a minute there you almost forgot to swing the sledgehammer down on me one last time.’
Mickey really did feel terrible about being so direct with Ianto, but he recognized that Ianto was suffering the same way he did when Rose went off with The Doctor. It had taken him several years to get over it, not to mention a considerable time in a parallel universe to finally develop his confidence again. And Ianto seemed to be a truly nice guy who’d been kicked about enough for one lifetime; Mickey didn’t want him to waste his time mooning over Captain Jack.
“And I promise you that if he shows his face around here, I’ll call you first thing, right after I give him what for.”
Ianto smiled. In less than two weeks, Mickey and Ianto had bonded over their mutual dislike of a certain Time Lord.
***
Ianto lived in an apartment rented by UNIT for his first few months in London. And while he didn’t bring anything with him except his clothes and some personal items, he really hated the temporary nature of the flat. It was drab and impersonal, not to mention small and cramped. When he wasn’t meeting with the taskforce he was working on putting together notes, agendas, and research items for their meetings the following day. There was barely enough room in the flat to set up his computer and printer with all the special security equipment necessary to keep his email and IMs secure.
He started looking for a place to lease monthly, and asked Jonathan, Stephen and Aaron for advice when they met for dinner one evening. Jonathan thought he ought to stay put until he knew whether he would be staying in London long-term. Stephen thought there might be some openings in his building but wasn’t sure if they would be available on a month-to-month basis. Aaron hadn’t said much the entire time.
‘What do you think Aaron?’
“What would you think about bunking at my place until you sort things out?” I have a whole house, two bedrooms are totally unused, it seems a shame to have you live someplace you don’t like when I’d be happy for the company. The price is right, but you will have to put up with my slightly anal retentive housekeeping style.”
Ianto glanced at Jonathan and Stephen to gage their reactions. Jonathan laughed. “Aaron that has to be the worst attempt at a seduction I’ve heard in a long time.” Stephen piled on with “yeah, if you want him to move in with you, you should probably take him to a movie and buy him a pizza first.”
Aaron shrugged and just stared at his glass. Ianto felt uncomfortable with their remarks. They were always giving Aaron such a hard time, and he was just trying to be nice. They probably didn’t realize how much the teasing bothered Aaron, but Ianto could feel Aaron’s embarrassment.
‘All right you two, that’s enough. I think it’s a great idea and if Aaron can cope with my OCD when it comes to housekeeping, I think we’ll get along fine.’ Aaron looked up from his glass, smiling a little, and Ianto couldn’t resist adding, ‘And if he wants to seduce me, something tells me he’ll do it without telling you both first.” Both Stephen and Jonathan pretended to be shocked.
“I think Ianto’s coming on to you Aaron, better watch out, he’s had training from Heartbreaker Harkness…” Jonathan started but stopped when he saw the hurt on Ianto’s face.
'Ok, party’s over, why don’t you two run along and let Aaron and me make some plans here….I'm sure you have better things to do than listen to us decide how we're going to split household expenses and the like.'
Stephen rolled his eyes. “We know when we’re not wanted,” he laughed.
“Good, then haul your arses out of here before I hand them to both of you,” Aaron growled.
‘Hey you OK?’ Ianto asked once the others had left.
“Yeah, I just hate always being the butt of their jokes. I know they’re just kidding around but sometimes I just want to smack the crap out of them.”
Ianto was totally astonished by Aaron’s confession. “I know, I’m the ‘nice’ son, the well-behaved one. I think they forget that I didn’t get to be a Lieutenant Colonel in the Royal Marines by being anybody’s pushover. But I hate being reminded that when it comes to personal stuff, I’m not exactly the smoothest guy around.
Ianto laughed. ‘Don’t worry about it…but I do want to be clear that my moving in is strictly on the terms of friendship. I don’t want there to be any romantic expectations, and I certainly don’t want to hurt your feelings.’
“Understood. But honestly, if you ever want to change those parameters, just tell me that its time to ask you out for a movie and pizza,” Aaron said laughing.
So Ianto moved into Aaron’s house using one spare bedroom for sleeping and the second spare bedroom as a study. They both worked long hours and strange schedules so they didn’t really spend much time together. Once every week or so, Ianto would make dinner for the two of them; Aaron wouldn’t let Ianto pay for anything but his own groceries, so it was the only way he had to say thank you. Occasionally they’d watch a DVD together – Aaron had a large collection of German silent films that Ianto had never seen and found fascinating. As for their housekeeping styles, they themselves couldn’t decide who was more fastidious (ok anal retentive) about things.
***
Another Christmas came. Ianto went home for a week to spend time with his family and his Torchwood Three friends. No one had heard anything from Jack. Ianto spent New Years once again at The Brigadier’s house. He almost lost it when he went to put on the black suit that Jack had bought him. He felt so lonely and alone without Jack. Aaron was a great friend, the best of friends even, but he missed the intimacy of a relationship. Not just the sex, though he missed that as well, but the feeling of being a priority in someone’s life. He wondered if Jack had ever really felt that way about him, or whether he had projected his own feelings onto Jack.
Ianto drank a little too much that New Years and Aaron ended up having to practically drag him up the steps to his house. Once inside, he made a clumsy drunken pass at Aaron that had them both laughing and crying.
“Ianto, you know I would like nothing better than to have you as my lover, but not like this. You’ll end up hating me and yourself if we go anywhere with this tonight.”
‘How long do I wait, Aaron? How long would you wait? I feel like a little piece of me dies every day I wait for him. And yet, I feel like being with someone else would be a betrayal. Tell me what to do.’
“I wish I could Ianto, but I can’t. I’m not a disinterested observer and anything I say will be tainted by my own desires. All I can tell you is to do what feels right in your heart.”
The next day, Ianto nursed a terrific hangover, and things were a little awkward, but Ianto and Aaron avoided discussing the events of that evening. Within a week it was as if it never happened.
***
In February Jonathon and Kelly got married. Ianto and Aaron both attended but joy eluded them as they each silently reminisced about their absent lovers.
Spring came and Ianto went alone to Rhys and Gwen’s wedding. He watched them dance together and thought about how Jack should have been there to celebrate such a grand day for Gwen. Owen and Tosh were obviously a couple now; he teased them about when he might be attending their wedding.
“We’re getting engaged in a few weeks,” Tosh whispered to him. “We decided to wait until after Gwen’s wedding so we wouldn’t steal any of the limelight from her and Rhys.” “We’ll be married around Christmas, and we want you to be our best man. Would that be OK?” Ianto let her know that he would be delighted.
The taskforce was finishing up its work and Ianto was offered the position of Director of Research Analytics at the soon to be re-launched Torchwood One. The position was perfect for his skills and he accepted. He turned the lease of his apartment in Cardiff back to UNIT who wanted to keep it as a guest apartment. The furniture stayed, and Ianto had the rest of his personal items shipped to Aaron’s.
The second anniversary of The Battle at Canary Wharf consisted of just a small ceremony at the Wharf including the dedication of a large stone monument with the names of all the casualties engraved on it. It felt like everyone but the survivors and the families of the victims had forgotten about the tragedy. There was no TV coverage, no press at the dedication ceremony, no write ups in the newspapers. And no Jack Harkness to be found anywhere.
Ianto’s 26th birthday passed without any celebration. He was too engrossed in the plans for the re-launch of Torchwood One. He was sitting on multiple committees, including archive construction, mission definition and ethics oversight. He already knew that he would head the Ethics Committee at the new Torchwood One. No experiment or activity other than data gathering and analysis would be permitted without the consent of this new committee. The Committee would report directly to a representative of the Queen so no one sitting on it had to be afraid to vote their conscience.
Meanwhile, Aaron was away much of the late summer and fall coordinating training exercises for new recruits. Ianto received occasional emails from him describing the failings of his latest batch of would-be marines. And while a lot of the stories were funny, some of his critiques made Ianto glad that he wasn’t on the receiving end of Lieutenant Colonel Hamilton’s wrath.
In October, Ianto received the invitation for Owen and Tosh’s wedding. He stared at it dreading the idea of having to go to another wedding alone. He had waited over a year for Jack to return and had heard nothing from him. He felt an unexpected bitterness about waiting for a year. He wasn’t sure what he had expected to happen, but he thought he would have received some indication by now of whether Jack was coming back. Then it struck him. Maybe this was the indication; Jack wasn’t coming back and even if he did at some later point, it was time to move on. If Jack came back they would sort it out then.
At the end of October, Aaron returned from his training exercises in the mid-Atlantic. Ianto planned a dinner for the two of them a week after his return. Aaron had spent that Saturday running errands and trying to catch up on several months’ worth of mail. He knew Ianto was making dinner for him and sighed as he thought how he wished his relationship with him was something more than best friends.
When he came down for dinner he was surprised to find that Ianto was dressed up a bit. Ianto acted like it was just a regular dinner but Aaron wasn’t fooled for a minute. He could feel the waves of nervous excitement radiating from Ianto, not to mention the sexual tension. Aaron had a feeling that this was going to be a very interesting evening.
Chapte 51 is here: http://aviv-b.livejournal.com/26737.html
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no subject
Date: 2010-01-14 08:09 am (UTC)I approve of Ianto moving on under the circs and Aaron's a nice chap - trouble is he's nice, not stunning :) No Saxon so no YTNW?
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Date: 2010-01-14 02:19 pm (UTC)No Saxon or the YTNW directly in this one. I may do something with that in a separate fic, but I'd have to go back and rewatch those DW episodes - I don't remember enough of the details of the story arc to feel comfortable writing about it.
no subject
Date: 2010-01-14 06:04 pm (UTC)The only thing is sometimes you use a lot of American English (stick shifts, fall etc) What is a trainer, the only usage I know is trainers (sneakers).
Loved the scene with the hash brownies, it had me in hysterics. So did Ianto's first meeting with Aaron.
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Date: 2010-01-14 06:47 pm (UTC)Trainer - this is a UK word for pullover sweater. And I keep forgetting that pants = underwear in Britspeak.
Thanks for reading.
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Date: 2010-01-14 06:55 pm (UTC)and SQEEEEEE!! Tosh and Owen getting married!!!I LOVE YOU GIRL!!!!!!
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Date: 2010-01-14 07:07 pm (UTC)So I could put their wedding on the list for a separate story in this verse if you would like. (Who knows maybe a few chapters about their courtship - but I can't promise that. It will depend on how cooperative the plot bunnies are). But usually once I get an idea in my head, the bunnies start hopping.
Jack coming back creating problems - ya think?
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Date: 2010-01-14 07:26 pm (UTC)oh yes please write about the courtship and the wedding on the list for a seperate stoy in this vierse I will be first in line to read them all.
BTW you just made my day, should have said that in mycomment but am saying it now!
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Date: 2010-01-14 07:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-01-15 01:39 pm (UTC)