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aviv_b_artwork) wrote2010-03-07 08:50 am
Ianto's Journey, Part V-Redemption, Chapter 65-Waiting
TITLE: Chapter 65 - Waiting
AUTHOR: Aviv_b
RATING: Chapter 65 - PG
CHARACTERS: Ianto, Aaron. Ronit, The Brigadier, Owen, Jack, Rhiannon
DISCLAIMER: Not mine; Aunty B's and RTD's
WORDS: ~ 1975
SUMMARY: As Aaron's remains in a comatose state, Ianto and Ronit share memories of Aaron. Warning: Consumption of Goldschlager ahead.
Title is from: Life was always a matter of waiting for the right moment to act. Paulo Coelho
Days passed with no change in Aaron’s condition. Ianto stayed by his side only leaving to eat or sleep. He probably wouldn’t have even done that, but Ronit was staying at the house and she insisted that he return with her. She had warmed up considerably to Ianto when she observed the depth of his devotion to Aaron. And she worried that if Aaron survived, Ianto would be exhausted and unable to assist effectively in Aaron’s recovery.
They’d arrive home every evening from the hospital and picked up Shayna from Mrs. Goldsmith. Shayna would always be so happy to see Ianto and Ronit. But when they went into the house, Shayna would wander from room to room looking for Aaron before sadly settling down next to Aaron’s favorite chair.
“She really misses Aaron, doesn’t she,” Ronit remarked.
‘She really is Aaron’s dog. She’s always good natured, but you can see her light up when Aaron is around. The minute he comes home, she totally ignores me and focuses completely on him. It’s been like that since the day we adopted her. Not to mention that she understands Hebrew.’
Aaron had told his mother this and she thought he was making a joke. Now, she looked at Ianto saying, “Oh come on.”
‘No really, she does. I have a Hebrew language pack on my phone but for some reason she doesn’t respond all that well to it. I don’t think she always recognizes it as a ‘real’ voice; it just blends in with other electronically produced sounds like the TV that she ignores. Say something to her in Hebrew and watch what happens.’
“Ok.” Ronit thought for a moment. מי כלב טוב '’* Ma kelev tov?
Shayna came over to Ronit. “Shev.” Shayna sat down. “Da’ber.” Shayna barked once. Ronit laughed. It was the first Ianto saw her smile and he realized just how much Aaron’s smile looked like his mother’s.
“What? You’re staring at me, Ianto.”
‘I just never realized how much Aaron resembles you. The way you half close your eyes when you laugh, that’s exactly what Aaron does.’ Ianto choked up a little as he finished the sentence.
Ronit motioned Ianto over to where he was sitting. She hugged Ianto and began to cry. Though she was a small woman and at seventy-two years of age looked a bit frail, she was surprisingly strong. She held him tightly as she sobbed out her fears to Ianto, gasping between thoughts.
“He’s my oldest child…we hardly ever see each other. We’re all so busy, we think we have plenty of time… but we really don’t, do we? And it’s not right for me to finally get to know you only because of Aaron’s illness…and not right for me to have to think about burying my child.”
Ianto felt a few tears escape him as he held her until her crying finally stopped. They both sighed simultaneously. Ianto went into the kitchen and got them each a glass of water.
“Ianto, you wouldn’t happen to have something a little stronger? I think we could both use it tonight.”
Ianto went to a cabinet in the lounge area and took out a bottle and two shot glasses.
“Goldschlager, Aaron’s favorite,” Ronit noted. Ianto poured them each a shot.
As the evening progressed, Ronit began to tell Ianto stories about Aaron as a baby, his childhood shuttling back and forth between Israel and the UK several times a year. How she had wanted him to go to college in the UK so he would get to know his father better, but was devastated when he decided not to return to Israel.
“It sounds silly now, but it felt like a total repudiation of his Israeli family.”
Since then with work and family responsibilities they hadn’t seen each other more than once every four or five years. She had always hoped that Aaron would return to visit for more than a week or so, but now she worried that that might never happen.
Ronit had never heard the story of how Ianto and Aaron had first met at the Brigadier’s New Year’s party. She thought they had first met when Ianto moved back to London to work for Torchwood One. She was surprised when Ianto told her how they communicated empathically at the party.
After a few more shots, Ianto found himself telling her about his rescue from the rubble of Canary Wharf, his move to Cardiff, even his brief relationship with Jack there.
“I had no idea. You and Jack seem perfectly comfortable with each other, and I thought he was nothing more than a boss who was just being helpful.”
‘That’s all he really is now. It was awkward when he first took charge of Torchwood One, but a lot of time has passed…and the anger has dissipated.’
“And the desire?”
Ianto snorted. ‘On my side, certainly. With Jack, well he finds just about anything with a heartbeat desirable.’
“But what about that young man…Alonso?”
‘From what I can tell, they have a very open relationship…if you know what I mean.’
Her next question surprised Ianto. “Is Alonso from the future as well?”
Ianto poured himself a last shot. ‘Then you know about Jack.’ She shrugged. ‘Yeah he’s from the future but only a hundred years or so.’
“I thought that might be the case.” Seeing the startled look on Ianto’s face she continued, “Ianto, where do you think Aaron gets his empathic ability from? Mine was never as strong, and I have lost much of it through lack of practice, but some of Alonso’s feelings are pretty easy to sense. Don’t tell me you haven’t….”
‘No, never. I didn’t want to take a chance of finding something that would make me remember my time with Jack or to feel jealous of Alonso. He’s a decent guy, and I have to work with him. Even if he has questionnable taste in men,’ Ianto snickered. ‘But how did you learn about Jack?’
“I worked for UNIT, remember? And the Captain was working for Torchwood even back then.” She sighed. “Bastard hasn’t aged a day.”
Ianto felt the hairs of his neck stand up. ‘Oh gods, don’t tell me…’
“No, not that. But he tried to hit on me a few times. I was already engaged to Lloyd, so you can imagine how well they got along. I’m certain he doesn’t remember me, so let’s keep it that way, yes?”
Ianto nodded. ‘That’s just…so Jack.’
“In a strange way, its nice to know that some things really never do change.”
***
Days turned into weeks with no change in Aaron’s condition. Owen returned to Cardiff after the first week but was in contact with Ianto daily. The Brigadier began to more strongly assert that he felt Aaron should be taken off of life support. Ronit was furious at The Brigadier and on her last day before she returned home the two of them had a shouting match of epic proportions. Ianto tried to intervene but retreated to Aaron’s room as the anger between them got personal in nature. He texted Martha who came over and calmed them down, but he felt The Brigadier's recriminations deeply.
Rhiannon came down the following week so Ianto could have a little break from sitting all day at the hospital. Ianto told her what had happened between The Brigadier and Ronit.
‘She yelled that he never really loved Aaron and how could he want his son to die. Then he shouted back that keeping him alive was to feed the martyr complex that she, and apparently I have.’ Ianto sighed. ‘I don’t know what to do Rhi. I can feel him in there. He doesn’t feel mentally damaged, just trapped. Is it cruel to keep him alive this way?’
Rhiannon had no answers for Ianto. All she could do was be there with him and support his decisions.
***
Weeks turned into two months then three. Ianto could sense that everyone was getting impatient with him. Even Owen had gently hinted that maybe it was time for him to reconsider his options.
He had taken a leave of absence from Torchwood and spent all day, every day, at Aaron’s side. Most of the time it was just him at the hospital with Aaron. The Brigadier came by every Saturday afternoon, and by unspoken agreement, Ianto would leave the hospital at that point. They didn’t interact anymore, Ianto knew The Brigadier was enraged at his decision to keep Aaron on life support and The Brigadier could hardly stand to be in the same room as him.
Jack stilled called Ianto almost every day and filled him in on the latest news from Torchwood. He also came by the hospital a couple of nights a week and took Ianto out to dinner. Jack became increasingly concerned as he saw Ianto grow thinner and the black circles under his eyes getting darker.
“Ianto, are you sleeping at all?”
‘Not much. When I fall asleep I start hearing him calling to me. And then I’ll wake up in cold sweat and I can’t fall back to sleep. I don’t know if it’s him, or I’m dreaming or I’m going completely insane.’
“Ianto, do you think…” Jack started to speak.
‘Please don’t say it Jack, he really is still there. Not just alive but he knows what’s happening.
“Ianto, are you sure you’re not reading more into what you sense than is really there?”
‘When Aaron had his heart attack, I felt everything he felt...I can ignore his emotions if they are at a normal level, but I’m never completely disconnected from him. Even when he was far from London at the Commando Course, I could feel when he was straining himself. Not anything in detail, but the exhaustion and anything out of the ordinary comes through to me. And the sensations are at their strongest when I sleep.’
‘So no, I don’t think I’m exaggerating or imagining his emotions. You saw the increase in those wave patterns when I pushed out those questions. You were able to get a little reaction from him to your questions as well. No one else could. If the higher functions of Aaron’s brain are gone how can that change that be explained?’
“Ianto, I can tell that something is frightening you. More than just Aaron’s condition. You are broadcasting pretty loudly, but I can’t make sense of it. ..almost like you think you are going to die.”
‘Jack, if I feel everything that he’s experiencing so strongly, what will happen if he dies? I think my systems might shut down as well. And I’m not sure whether I’d be upset or not if that were to happen.’
Jack was startled by Ianto’s speculation. He wished he knew more about empathic pair bonding. There was nothing in the Torchwood archives on the topic and he could only dimly recall a few humanoid species that he had heard of having this capability.
He did recall something about pair bonds not being able to survive without each other. If that happened, he feared that The Brigadier wouldn’t be able to handle it. The Brigadier was angry at Ianto at the present, but Jack knew that he loved Ianto almost as much as he loved Aaron. And Ronit, gods what would happen to her. Not to mention his family and his friends from Torchwood and... ‘Ok, Jack finally admitted, what’s really frightening me is that I don’t think I can deal with it’.
Jack wasn’t prepared to abandon Ianto, any more than Ianto was ready to give up on Aaron. Timelines be damned, he wasn’t going to sit by helplessly and watch their deaths. There was something he could do, and nothing was going to stop him.
“I don’t know much about these types of bonds, but I know someone who does. Its time to call in a favor from an old friend.”
* translations: Who’s a good dog? Sit. Speak.
Chapter 66 here: http://aviv-b.livejournal.com/35425.html
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I hope JAck can find out about empathic pair bonding and help them both.
totally Awesome fic, more an dmore awesome as it goes on.
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