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aviv_b_artworkFandom: Torchwood
Schmoop: Prologue-None, Chapter 1 - Pets (used for my Wild Card space); Chapter 2 - Lazy Sunday
Title: Who Let the Dogs Out?
Words: 4965 Total
Rating: Prologue & Chapter 1 - PG, chapter 2 - PG-13/R
Characters: Ianto/Aaron, Owen, Jack
Summary: Aaron and Ianto's lives have gone to the dogs.
A Ianto’s Journey verse story in two parts (and a Prologue)
What you need to know – After Jack leaves with the Doctor, Ianto moves back to London to help with the rebuilding of Torchwood One. He meets Aaron Hamilton, a Lieutenant Colonel in the Royal Marines. They become lovers and later partners. They both have empathic abilities (and are both a bit over the top with things being orderly). Jack returns to Earth two years later and ends up the head of Torchwood One.
Other info that will help to understand the story - Ianto uses a voice synthesizer app on his cell phone to communicate since his voice was damaged during the battle of Canary Wharf. Aaron’s father is a Brigadier at UNIT (who was in charge of the cleanup at Canary Wharf) and his mother was an Israeli intelligence officer working for UNIT early in her career.
Everything else is explained within this story.
There were only a couple of areas that Aaron wouldn’t compromise on. One was how to make a fried egg. Ianto thought the yolks should be thoroughly cooked. Aaron refused to eat eggs unless the yolks were runny. So Ianto gave in on that one, and Aaron secretly enjoyed the look of horror on Ianto’s face as he watched Aaron eat his eggs. And while Aaron wasn’t crazy about pets, he was adamant about not having a dog. It took a long time for Ianto to find out Aaron’s reason, but apparently Aaron had been bit by a dog as a child and had a distrust for them ever since. With his long hours at Torchwood and Aaron’s training duties that took him out of town for almost two months at a stretch, Ianto felt they probably were better off without the responsibilities of a pet.
A few months after Jack had been appointed the Director of Torchwood London, Ianto received an unexpected phone call. He and Jack had a somewhat uneasy truce; Ianto was always polite and respectful, but he kept his interactions with Jack brief, infrequent and impersonal. Now Ianto was going to have to ask for some unscheduled time off and he wondered nervously how Jack would react.
To Ianto’s surprise, Jack didn’t hesitate in letting him take three days off despite several projects with critical deadlines looming. After all, Jack had been at Canary Wharf when Ianto had been rescued. And if Ianto wanted to attend the funeral of Sam Shuster who, along with Owen, was responsible for Ianto’s rescue, Jack could certainly understand.
Jack had only a dim memory of Mr. Shuster, as he had been preoccupied with helping UNIT to clean up the converted bodies, break the Torchwood One Access codes and cover-up the alien attack. It was only a few days off and it seemed like an appropriate gesture of good will toward Ianto who was still very nervous around him. Owen was driving from Cardiff to also attend the funeral and would be meeting Ianto at the train station in Leeds. From there they would drive together to Otley for the funeral.
***
“I’m screwed,” Ianto told Owen as they began the drive home after the funeral. Owen laughed.
“Its not funny. Aaron’s going to be furious. It all happened so fast that I found myself asking for her before I had a chance to think.”
“Ianto its not like you committed a crime. You’ll tell Aaron the truth and he’ll get over it…eventually. But you may be in the dog house for a while.”
“Not funny Owen.”
A bark came from the back seat. “Well the dog thinks it’s a good idea.”
At the funeral, one of saddest things was the behavior of Molly, Sam’s search and rescue Golden Retriever. Technically, she was the one who had heard Ianto’s desperate scratching as he lay under tons of concrete in the ruins of Torchwood One. Without her, there was no doubt that Ianto would not have survived.
So when Ianto saw her sitting near the grave, whining and watching intently as the coffin was being lowered into the ground he felt terrible. But when, as the grave began to be filled in, she barked hysterically, pulled loose from her lead, jumped into the grave and began to try to dig the coffin out, almost everyone attending started crying. Several men finally dragged Molly out.
“Poor girl, I know she’s going to a good shelter, but I can’t think she’s going to really struggle with all the sudden changes. Its shame his brother can’t take her, but they’re not allowed dogs where he lives.”
Owen and Ianto looked at each other. A few rounds later at the local, Ianto had convinced Sam’s brother and sister-in-law that he could communicate with Molly through hand signals and commands from his voice synthesizer. And while Molly was still subdued, she sat at Ianto’s side leaning against him as he petted her head.
Ianto sighed. “Well if Aaron is adamant about not having a dog, I reckon I could probably find someone at Torchwood or maybe even UNIT who would like a nicely trained dog. Maybe even Scotland Yard could use her skills. Though at seven years old, I think she’s probably too old for active duty.”
“Now you’re thinking,” Owen replied. “So just take a deep breath and get her in the house and cleaned up before Aaron gets home.” They arrived at Ianto’s house around 5 PM. Ianto had suggested that Owen stay over, but he was anxious to get back to Cardiff. They unpacked the car and Owen helped Ianto carry all of Molly’s stuff into the house. There was her bed, dog food, a dog crate, a box of toys, and her grooming supplies.
As they finished bringing the last of Molly’s things in, they heard a door open upstairs in the house. A sleepy Aaron came down the stairs. He suddenly noticed the dog. “What is that?” he asked looking at the dog in horror.
‘I am sooo fucked,’ Ianto thought.
