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aviv_b_artworkTITLE: Chapter 88-Exoneration
AUTHOR: Aviv_b
RATING: Chapter 88- G/PG
CHARACTERS:: Ianto, Jack, Mickey
DISCLAIMER: Not mine; Aunty B's and RTD's
WORDS: ~ 2350
SUMMARY: The hearings are over and the verdicts are in. How will Jack and the Torchwood leadership fare? And what plans do Jack, Ianto and Mickey have for the future?
Title is from: The most beautiful words in the English language are 'not guilty'. Maxim Gorky
Ianto's Journey begins here: http://aviv-b.livejournal.com/1972.html
All Chapter are linked.
The weeks leading up to the end of the Security Council hearings seemed to drag on forever. While rift surveillance and alien rift-return continued unaffected, all future plans at Torchwood were put on hold. No one wanted to make any decisions concerning new operations or projects while Jack’s future was uncertain.
Ianto observed that Jack remained very detached from the day-to-day operations, not doing much more than listening to Mickey’s daily report and supporting or gently guiding Mickey’s decisions. After a week of staying at Ianto’s, Jack moved back to his own flat as Ianto began to deal with the personal fallout of the invasion of the Toclafane.
With Mickey and Jack’s blessings, Ianto had taken a leave of absence to deal with issues surrounding Aaron’s estate. Though Ianto had complete authority to make decisions on Aaron’s property, he asked for Stephen’s help with tying up the loose ends. He had also contacted Aaron’s sisters in Israel, but only heard back from Tamara. Aaron’s clothes were donated to charity with the exception of a few items that Ianto wanted to keep.
Tamara had asked if she could have some of Aaron’s photos from his childhood, so after Stephen and Ianto picked out a few for themselves the rest were boxed up for mailing. Ianto kept the collage of Aaron and Geoffrey and since Stephen didn’t want any other pictures, he took the photographs of Geoffrey that Aaron had packed away almost thirty years ago and sent them to Tamara as well. He also sent her a few sentimental items from Aaron’s life – a mezuzah that Ianto had never seen Aaron wear that Tamara later told him he had received from a great-aunt at his Bar Mitzvah as well as a gold watch that was one of a pair that Ronit had given them as a present following their commitment ceremony.
Ianto wasn’t certain that he wanted to stay in such a big house by himself, and while Aaron had wanted the house to revert back to ‘the family’ eventually, there wasn’t really any family left. Stephen wasn’t interested as he had the Brigadier’s former residence and refused to accept any of the proceeds if Ianto sold it.
‘But what about Bryan’s children? Should the house or the proceeds be put in trust for them?’
Stephen was adamant that nothing should be left to Bryan. “When Father and Aaron were sick, he never responded to any of our communications. And while I know his children aren’t to blame, I don’t think they should profit from their deaths.”
Ianto wasn’t sure that he agreed but he thought to himself that if he sold the house, he might put the money in a trust for those children to be disbursed upon his death. Or maybe…an idea began to form in his head. He would have to get some support from Torchwood, UNIT and the King for his idea, but he needed to think about it some more before he spoke to anyone about it.
Ianto sighed as he looked around him. Aaron had been seventy-two when he died and he and Ianto had been together for almost thirty years. All that time was now reduced to a few boxes of memories going to Stephen and Tamara and what remained at the house.
By the end of the first week, Ianto had dealt with all of Aaron’s personal possessions with the exception of items from Aaron’s study. Ianto had only been in the study once since Aaron’s death. A few days after Aaron’s funeral, he had thought he might sort through a few things, but when he went in he was overwhelmed by feelings of grief.
The room was such a reflection of Aaron, neat and orderly, yet if you looked closely on the shelves there were numerous little items from their life together. Ianto had opened a drawer of Aaron’s desk to be confronted with a key chain that he had given Aaron when they were traveling. It had a picture of a llama on it with the slogan, ‘The grass is tastier at Machu Picchu.’ Ianto had bought it for Aaron following the joke Aaron played on him about wanting to start a llama farm. Just a silly cheap souvenir, but when Ianto saw it, all the memories of that trip with Aaron and Shayna flooded back to him.
‘This is so hard,’ Ianto thought. ‘I never thought I would feel so lost and alone.’ As tears threatened to overwhelm him, he put the key chain in his pocket and started to leave the study. When he noticed the collage of Geoffrey and Aaron photos, he took it off the wall. ‘You shouldn’t have to stay here alone either,” he reckoned as he removed it from the study. He hadn’t been inside the room since.
Ianto had also been giving a lot of thought to his future at Torchwood. ‘I’m fifty-eight years old; I never expected to do this my whole life. Well I never thought I’d live this long working for Torchwood. Do I want to keep doing this for another five, ten, or maybe even fifteen years?’ Ianto honestly didn’t know the answer.
The Sunday before the results of the hearing were to be made public, he invited Jack over for the afternoon and dinner. As they talked, Ianto found himself telling Jack about the difficulty he was having cleaning up Aaron’s study.
“I’ll help you with it, Ianto. Really, I don’t mind.”
Ianto wasn’t sure it was a good idea, but Jack pointed out that it might help them both keep their minds off the ‘what ifs’ that were racing through both of their heads concerning the inquiry results.
As they packed up Aaron’s study, they kept stumbling upon little trinkets from Aaron and Ianto’s years together. Each one contained a memory which led to Jack asking surprisingly insightful questions and Ianto actually enjoying telling him the story about the item.
They ordered in pizza, opened some wine and continued eating, drinking and talking. As they laughed at another item Ianto had found tucked away, he realized that he had never had a conversation with Jack where he was the one telling the outrageous stories and Jack was the appreciative audience.
‘Oi! Don’t make fun of that T-shirt,’ Ianto typed. They had both burst into laughter when Ianto had unfolded the red Aaron sized shirt with an “I got Lei-ed in Hawaii.”
'I made him wear it out in public for a day after he lost a bet with me. Don’t remember what it was about… oh yeah, these attractive ladies were checking us out on the beach and Aaron was sure one of them would chat him up first. Well he lost, of course and I got to pick the punishment.'
Jack snorted. “I would have thought you could think up something a little more innovative than that,” Jack teased.
‘Turn the shirt over’. When Jack did he laughed so hard, he almost choked. On the front was a sickeningly sweet picture of a huge-eyed boy and girl dressed for the beach.
“You made him wear it the whole day?”
‘Yep, even to dinner under a sports coat. I remember the waiter rolling his eyes when he saw the shirt. I never saw it after we got home; I just assumed he had thrown it out.’
“But he didn’t.”
‘No, that was so like Aaron. He had this really stiff exterior when he didn’t know people, but he was really very sentimental. He was the one who wanted us to wear rings, I had never heard of something so ridiculous in my life.’ Ianto looked sadly at the T-shirt as he folded it back up.
‘I miss him Jack. I miss Cardiff and my sister and Gwen and Owen and Tosh and the way things used to be. And I miss you as well.’’ Jack looked puzzled. ‘You know the old you…the outrageous, flirtatious you.’
Jack suddenly looked so tired and careworn that Ianto changed tactics. ‘What I really wanto to know is who the hell are you and what the hell have you done to Jack Harkness,’ he teased.
“I think the old Jack burned out chasing around the universe for a thousand years. Are you tired of all this Ianto, cause I know I am.” Ianto nodded. “I’ve been thinking…”
They continued talking well into the night until Jack insisted that Ianto get some sleep. “Tomorrow is bound to be stressful and you don’t want to be sleeping through the results of the UN inquiry, do you? There’s not much left to pack up here and I’ll come back and help again ...if you want me to.”
‘That’d be good,’ Ianto said yawning. Ianto walked Jack to the door.
“How about I pick you up for breakfast at 9 AM. The hearings don’t start until 16:00 hours our time. That gives us plenty of time to eat breakfast, have a little pep rally with the staff and be ready.”
Ianto nodded.
“And think about what I told you and I’ll think about your plans as well. I think there’s still a chance for a…well for a happy ending, if you will.”
***
An aura of concern hung over the conference center. Ianto took a deep breathe. Only a few more minutes of the hearing to go.
“We now come to the matter of the leadership of Torchwood including the role of Director Harkness during the crisis,” Dr. Ing said.
“While these decisions were not unanimous, they are the conclusion of the majority of the participants on the Security Council. First, Mr. Michael (Mickey) Smith’s performance during the invasion has been found to be exemplary. He worked nearly around the clock during the invasion and remained responsive to the UN’s needs during the crisis. We therefore, are awarding him an UNDE for his service to the nations of planet Earth.” There were applause in the conference center and Jack noted how pleased everyone was with Mickey’s recognition.
‘Not that Mickey doesn’t deserve it, but yes, it’s really all about playing nice with the UN isn’t it,’ thought Ianto.
“Mr. Ianto Jones, along with Lt. Colonel Aaron Hamilton also performed admirably in organizing weapons training and the world-wide distribution of supplies. Lt. Colonel Hamilton in particular has been singled out for recognition of the almost superhuman effort he performed in getting weapons to Paris on very short notice. Therefore, we are awarding an UNDE to Aaron Hamilton, posthumously unfortunately,” Dr. Ing finished as his voice dropping a bit.
“God save the King… and he did,” one of the research directors said loudly.
“In the matter of Director Jack Harkness we find that there was no malice or deliberate misconduct on his part. We do admonish him for not alerting the UN sooner than he did, but we are convinced that the Doctor had forbidden him to do so. Still, while we believe his communications skills and management style leave something to be desired, this certainly does not rise to a criminal matter.”
The group gathered in the conference center grumbled loudly and a few ‘boos’ were voiced. As Jack signaled for quiet, one employee in the back shouted out, “Feck the UN, they’re just a bunch of wankers.”
“The complete report, with redactions as previously indicated will be available to the public at the conclusion of these hearings.” Dr. Ing had a few more words about procedural issues and then surprised everyone.
“Director Harkness has indicated that he would like to make a short statement at the end of these proceedings. We will now go to live feed from Torchwood London for his statement.”
A deathly silence fell over the conference center as Jack walked to the podium. “I would like to thank the work of the UN Security Council. I believe their analysis to be unbiased and their conclusions well thought out and reasonable. I would also like to announce that I have tendered my resignation as Director of Torchwood Worldwide to his Majesty King William as I believe that new talent and leadership is needed at our organization.” A collective gasp went through the room.
“The King has requested and I have agreed to stay on for a six month period to ensure an effective transition of operational duties. However, effective immediately, by the order of the King, Mr. Michael (Mickey) Smith is hereby appointed the permanent Director of Torchwood. I can’t think of anyone better qualified to lead Torchwood as we move toward the latter half of the 21st century. I hope I can count on everyone at Torchwood, UNIT and the United Nations to support Mr. Smith in his new role.”
Practically everyone, including Mickey and Dr. Ing was shocked. Mickey had thought that one day he might have a leadership role in London, but not this, and not so soon.
Dr. Ing looked stunned. He had spoken to Jack privately a few nights before and had reassured him that no legal repercussions would occur and that any negative comments in the report would be nothing more than political posturing. And Jack had assured him that he understood and wasn’t upset by it. Looking back, clearly Harkness had already tendered his resignation when they had their conversation. He quickly gathered his composure.
“I’m sorry to hear of your decision, Director Harkness. You can count on the UN’s complete cooperation during this period of operational realignment.”
“Thank you. I’ll be turning the transmission back to you,” Jack said before he cut his video feed.
Dr. Ing quickly brought the hearings to a conclusion. No one was paying much attention as the buzz of Jack Harkness’ resignation ran through not only Torchwood, UNIT and the UN but the World Wide Web as well.
‘That should keep the rumor mill happy for a while,’ Ianto thought with some amusement. ‘I’ll tell Mickey of my resignation tomorrow. Not that he’ll be surprised, but I can’t imagine anyone outside of my direct reports is going to care right now.’
Jack walked over to him and whispered, “Time for you and me to make some plans. We’re going home.”
****
A/N: I originally intended to end the story here with Jack’s ‘Redemption.’ But from the comments I’m pretty sure that everyone would like to know what happens between Ianto and Jack after they leave Torchwood. So there will be one additional (short) section to Ianto’s Journey – Part VI – ResolutionChapter 89 here: http://aviv-b.livejournal.com/52353.html
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no subject
Date: 2010-06-10 11:52 pm (UTC)I'm glad there will be that extra section. The overarching story has been called Ianto's Journey, and you're right that in this last part it has become more about Jack's Redemption... It seems fitting that there should be a last part that ties the two aspects of the story together! Thanks!
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Date: 2010-06-11 02:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-11 02:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-11 01:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-11 05:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-11 01:55 pm (UTC)Ianto is beginning to move past Aaron's death, but it will be a while before he's ready to completely let go.
no subject
Date: 2010-06-11 09:38 am (UTC)I would love to read what happens after Ianto and Jack leave Torchwood, I am gald you are continuing this.
Poor IAnto I feel sad for him cleaning up Aarons study and I am glad Jack was there to help him.
Grat chappie.
no subject
Date: 2010-06-11 01:59 pm (UTC)I'm going to try really hard to keep the last section fairly short. I can always add some additional stories to this part of the verse later if the plot bunnies cooperate.
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Date: 2010-06-11 04:52 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-11 05:14 pm (UTC)Thanks as always - time to move Jack into that really nice flat.
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Date: 2010-06-15 12:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-06-15 01:24 pm (UTC)