RATING: Chapter 33 - PG for language
CHARACTERS: Ianto, Owen, Rhiannon, Johnny
WORDS: ~ 2040
SUMMARY: The second part of Ianto's Christmas Eve with with his family. Will his family welcome him with open arms, or will they kick him to the curb?
There can be no settlement of a great cause without discussion, and people will not discuss a cause until their attention is drawn to it. William Jennings Bryan
Ianto felt much better after his nap. Dinner was surprisingly enjoyable. David and Mica peppered Ianto with questions about his secret agent activities.
“Do you get to carry a gun?” David asked, “cause that would be so cool.”
Ianto explained that he did more mundane jobs like classifying and filing data and reports. Seeing David’s disappointment he added, ‘but sometimes I get to work with the secret agents. I could tell you about them, but then I’d have to kill you.’
David smirked, “Yeah, right, like you could kill someone.” Ianto shrugged.
“Oi, I’m gonna kill someone if they don’t start showing some manners,” Johnny warned David.
Mica wanted to know if he got to drive a fast car. ‘I don’t have any car right now. In fact, we borrowed Gwen’s car to see if I can drive with stick shift. We’re going to try that out tomorrow morning ’
Johnny queried, “Why wouldn’t you be able to drive?”
Ianto explained about the diminished strength and dexterity in his right hand and how he had trouble with some tasks like buttoning small buttons and twisting off the tops of jars. Rhiannon was terribly distressed by this news.
‘It’s really not that bad. My new dress shirts have French cuffs; it’s actually easier for me to use cufflinks than to try to work with those tiny buttons they put on shirt cuffs. Shoot, I don’t think I have any cufflinks…I’ll have to borrow some from Stephen or Bryan. Besides I’m glad I have these problems to worry about, I almost didn’t you know.’ It only took a moment for Rhiannon and Johnny to understand what Ianto was referring to.
“Well, I’m glad you have both your hands,” Mica piped up. Owen was shocked that Mica understood what Ianto had very obliquely mentioned. He looked at Johnny, then Rhiannon and then Ianto for an explanation.
Rhiannon sighed. “Yeah, she’s just like Ianto in physical appearance as well as that uncanny ability to know what you’re thinking.”
Dinner continued uneventfully and they began to talk about New Years. “Ianto and I have been invited to a very posh party at Brigadier Hamilton’s for New Years. That’s why we had to get him a new suit. He has a couple of nice ones already, but they don’t fit at all. Hopefully, once he puts on some weight we can get them altered to fit properly.”
Owen realized that they didn’t have a clue who The Brigadier was. “The Brigadier, he’s the one who has been overseeing care for the survivors. Ianto had his own UNIT medic in London and has been staying with one of the Brigadiers son’s now that he isn’t in in-patient rehab anymore. Yeah, he’s been kind of like a father to Ianto these last six months.”
‘And Owen has been like a mother to me, he scolds me worse than you do,’ he said to Mum.
Johnny translated, listened to Mum’s reply and then translated again for Owen. “She says she likes you even better; she could tell you were talking good care of her boy.”
Owen smiled at Mum and nodded.
Soon dinner was over, and with some fussing and cajoling with Mica and a few threats from Johnny to David, the kids got ready for bed. The adults still sat at the table drinking coffee.
Johnny looked at Ianto. “Now that the kids have gone to bed, can I ask you something? I’ve really never understood what an Information Architect does. Surely you’re doing more than just filing stuff?”
‘It’s hard to explain. The most important part of the job is trying to see connections between seemingly random events or pieces of information. And then coding or describing the information in a format where it can be easily retrieved or matched against new data. Kind of like having pieces to a puzzle, and figuring out how they go together when your not sure what the finished product looks like.’
“That’s why you’ve got all these government people checking on activities of suspected terrorists including their phone calls and Internet access, travel plans and the like,” Johnny concluded.
‘That’s exactly right, because if they intercept several strange communications about crazy glue, then maybe that’s code for a bomb or something.’
“Or maybe you just have a few head cases who love to talk about crazy glue,” Owen added. Everyone smiled.
Rhiannon wanted to ask something, but was afraid that Ianto would be upset. Ianto looked at her and asked her what she was afraid to ask.
“Oi, see what I mean, just like Mica.” She turned to Owen, “he’d do that as a kid, ya know, it was kind of creepy.”
“Ianto, do they have any idea who was behind the attack at Canary Wharf? Is anyone going to be held responsible?”
Ianto took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. ‘Honestly, someone knows something, but whatever it is they don’t want the public to know. And I have signed numerous secrecy and nondisclosure agreements that are still in force so I don’t think I should be saying anything that I think. I’m sorry, I really am, but I think its best we don’t talk about it.’
Rhiannon and Johnny had been patiently translating all of the conversation for Mum, and she began to speak angrily in Welsh. When she finished, Johnny explained, “She’s convinced it was the IRA. Says they’ve never really wanted peace and now they’re still bombing but are too cowardly to admit it. And the British government doesn’t want to jeopardize the so-called peace treaty, so they won’t admit that they know who it is. Well, that would explain, perhaps, her dislike for your lady friend in London.” Ianto nodded.
Johnny continued, “Personally, a lot of my mates think its aliens. Yeah, little green men or something. They say that they’ve been responsible for all the strange goings-on in London every Christmas. Good thing you’re here then. What do think, Ianto?”
Ianto shot Owen a quick glance that Johnny did not miss. He sighed, ‘Do you really think it’s true? Little green men from Mars coming here in their spacecrafts for what? What would London or Cardiff have for that matter that they would want? Trust me, if there are aliens, they’d be landing in Washington or Delhi or Beijing, somewhere where there might be some power or wealth that they wanted.’
Johnny shrugged; he had no idea what to think.
They talked on for hours catching up on the last five years; about Mum’s condition, Johnny’s jobs, David and Mica’s school, old friends and neighbors as well as changes to Cardiff. Ianto was surprised at how many of his old classmates were married with children or married and now divorced.
‘Oi, I can’t believe Michael has two kids with his first wife and one with a second wife. Why he’s not much older than me, 25 or 26, right?’
“Yeah,” Rhiannon sighed, “not much to do around here but get married and have babies. Which is why I’m really glad you left and got an education. I’m not glad that you didn’t keep contact with us, but really happy you’re back. Ianto, do you think this is a permanent move back to Cardiff or what?”
Ianto thought it best to be honest. ‘I don’t know Rhi, I really don’t. I’ve got work for now with Three but I don’t know if its something that will last long term or if there’s anything else I could do for them. Captain Jack would probably keep me on the payroll indefinitely if I know him, but I don’t want to be a charity case. Seriously, if I don’t stay on at Torchwood Three, I’m probably looking at moving back to London or some other major city at some point, but I promise if that were to happen, I won’t be the missing in action again.’
“And just remember, the train between Cardiff and London takes less than three hours, so we’ll hold you to that promise,” added Owen.
“Its probably none of my business, but are you going to get any settlement from the whole Canary Wharf business?” Johnny inquired.
Ianto hadn’t heard anything about settlements and looked at Owen puzzled. “Sorry Ianto, I totally forgot about the settlements. There have been settlements made with the families of all the victims in the last six months. That’s public knowledge. There’s a meeting in London sometime in January with the UNIT Canary Wharf Task Force including The Brigadier, Captain Jack, Archie from Torchwood Two as well as representatives of the Queen’s Treasury and Parliament to discuss settlements for the survivors. There are only a handful of you, so I think they are going to look at each survivor individually.
‘I don’t want their blood money. It’s not going to change anything that happened there!’
Rhiannon and Johnny were surprised at the bitterness of Ianto’s statement. Owen wasn’t surprised at all. “Listen, Torchwood One truly screwed up on the whole situation. But all of the higher ups are gone. Dead, Ianto. There isn’t anyone to hold responsible. Yvonne Hartmann was one of the first killed and con…a, well killed. All her direct reports were also killed by the terrorists. But for the families that were left behind without a breadwinner or lost someone dear to them, the only thing they can do is to pay some type of restitution. “
Ianto shook his head with disgust. ‘Well, I’m not dead, so what do I need a settlement for?’
“So if you can’t find work, or at some point are too disabled to work you won’t have to go on the dole. Or maybe you’ll need some modifications to your car, or something else that costs more because of your disability, its only right that you have some money to cover those expenses. Listen, you can put it into a trust and never touch it if you don’t need it. Use some of it for David and Mica’s university expenses. Give it away to charity. Once its yours, you can do with it what you like. But seriously, mate; no one knows what the future holds. I’d tuck it away somewhere safe in case you need it when you are old and gray.”
“There’s wisdom in what Owen’s saying, Ianto,” Johnny told him with concern. “What if something comes up later from your injuries that you didn’t anticipate? At least the one thing you won’t have to worry about is money. I’m now going to be terribly rude and ask Owen what he thinks you’ll get.” Ianto rolled his eyes.
“Yes filthy lucre, I know. The settlements have been from around 1.2 million pounds to just over 3 million pounds. I think he’ll get around the average which was almost 2 million pounds.”
Ianto was shocked. ‘Two million pounds. I don’t know if that’s a ridiculously large or ridiculously small settlement for the loss of my voice and some use of my hand. But I can tell you, they could keep their money if I could have my voice back.’
“Ianto, I’m sorry, I know how you feel. But they can’t do that so what else can they do? And don’t you even think about refusing it. The Queen has made these settlements her personal responsibility and you would disgrace yourself, your family and Torchwood if you refused.”
‘Why would anyone care? I’m nobody.’
“Ianto, the press is developing a growing fascination with the survivors. Since you’ve been in a UNIT medical facility, and then secluded at Stephen’s, they haven’t been able to get to you. That’s one of the reasons The Brigadier and Captain Jack thought you’d be better off in Cardiff. Here you’re the hometown hero and the Cardiff press has a little more respect for privacy than the London press does. But don’t kid yourself, at some point someone’s going to start asking a lot of intrusive questions and we’re going to have to prepare you for that.”
“And you can bet that as we get closer to the one year anniversary of the attack, the requests for interviews and the like are going to intensify. Yeah, didn’t mean to spoil your Christmas, but you’ve been sheltered from the media circus up till now, but that’s going to change once you’re living independently. I know The Brigadier is going to spend some time with you and some UNIT public relations folks after New Years working with you on this.”
Ianto sighed. ‘Maybe Santa could bring me a Taser for Christmas. Sounds like I might need one to deal with the press.’
Mum said something which Johnny translated. “Mum says if they pick on her boy, they are going to have to deal with her, and they’ll be very sorry.” Ianto looked at his mother in her wheelchair and realized that her love for him was unwavering. Except for the mild scolding she’d given him earlier, she was totally supportive and protective of him. She didn’t even seem to care if he was dating a man!
And Rhi and Johnny, they were acting the same way. They weren’t holding a grudge and they welcomed him home with open arms. He felt terribly guilty at how he had turned his back on them five years ago, feeling they weren’t good enough for him. And now here he was, damaged goods, and they did nothing but make him feel loved and accepted. He felt tears welling up in his eyes.
‘I have the best family anyone could ask for. Really. I don’t deserve it. I’ve been such a fool, I’m so sorry for the time we lost.’ He couldn’t help himself as tears began to run down his face.
Johnny and Rhiannon pulled Ianto up off his chair into an embrace. “We love you Ianto, we’re your family," Johnny said quietly. “And what Rhi told you before, about wanting you to be happy, that’s true for me as well. Don’t you dare shut us out again. Cause like it or not, you’re stuck with us, mate.”
“And you, Owen, are stuck with us too,” Rhiannon said, turning to Owen and hugging him tight. “For better or worse, you’re family now; welcome to the Jones’.”
Mum signaled that she wanted to hug Ianto and Owen as well so they both went over and hugged her together. She said something that had Ianto laughing. ‘She says it’s been many years since she’s had two handsome men hug her at the same time. And no, I’m not going to ask her when the last time was.’
It was getting on 11 PM and they began to clean the table and discuss plans for tomorrow. Rhiannon pointed out that Ianto and Owen weren’t going to want to come over early to see the kids open their presents. They both nodded in agreement. They decided to meet at Noon on Christmas day to share an early dinner. That way they could make an early evening of it in preparation for Ianto having to go back to London the next day.
As they drove back to Owen’s flat, Ianto and Owen reflected on how the day had progressed. “See, I told you your family was nice. You got yourself all worked up for nothing.”
‘Yeah, I’m a daft fool for not wanting to see them. I think this is probably the best Christmas I’ve ever had. I’m with my family, my big brother, I have a job, things are looking up.’
Owen snorted. “And since you won’t say it, I will. You’ve also got the hottest stud around wrapped around your little finger. Ianto you are going to be one busy boy when you get back here.”
‘You think?’
“I know.”
‘Who am I to argue with your brilliance?’
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