1

Ianto knelt to hug the children as Jack waited impatiently shifting from foot to foot like a small child himself.

In the three months since the 'Drill' things had progressed quickly and now the crew saw them as a couple, even if not yet formally bonded. Preliminary reports had been done, Ianto had doctored a few and Jack was again amazed at the level of intelligence as Ianto liberally added spelling mistakes and bad grammar to some forms for crew members that had no idea they had submitted their reports already.

It was now about to come to a head as Torchwood orbited Sol3, the order to return to base one you do no ignore and Ianto was hoping it did not bode a court-martial.

He rose and addressed Rhiannon "Sissy. I know some are going down to see Slo3 … it is not home now. We can never think of it as that, please do not go."

"Awwww" David whined.

"David, our home is gone. Destroyed, do you want to feel sad or be grateful we are here? Mica might become upset if she sees, do you want that?" Ianto asked calmly, "When I get back we will have a fly over of some parts, Jack will want to see the oceans where the cleaning bots are anyway, yeah? I will take the Myfanwy low and you will see more than no anyway."

David pouted but agreed.

Rhiannon caught Ianto's eye and they shared a moment, their fear of not knowing if Ianto would come back at all. Soon he was moving with Jack beside him, the hand at the small of Ianto's' back more one of comfort than haste.

Myfanwy landed without fanfare and they were led to the room where Ianto was to learn his fate and that of the crew he had so carefully handled. The council were waiting and rose as they entered, looking with interest at the couple who wore the regulation gunmetal grey although Ianto did also have a small splash of green in his tie that Jack had noted already and not commented on.

That's Ianto. Defiant to the end.

"Captain Harkness, Lieutenant Jones please be seated" one intoned and Jack blinked as he turned to Ianto and mouth 'Lieutenant' to him. Ianto glared and sat, fidgeting with his papers.

"We have received the first of your reports and are interested in the exercise you undertook, especially the conclusion that although the crew did not act appropriately they succeeded in proving our point that humanity prevails." A man said softly and Ianto felt his balls shrivel as their Chairman looked down at them "I understand these are preliminary and it may be years before a full report is finished but the upgrade of the Torchwood that was downloaded to show the clever and efficient cleaning of the system is being added to the start up lists for all the fleet ships as they roll off the production line. The drills will help improve efficiency no end. This will greatly improve the efficiency of our birds as well as crew. I am impressed with the level of clarity here. Also … I note Mister Jones' submission that the red and green emergency lighting was frightening to crew who did not understand our warning colours that have existed for hundreds of years and after careful consideration it is the recommendation of the Great Council the that blanket ban be lifted on those two colours when onboard a Space Craft. Red and Green are important colours, they should be seen and not feared as they are what may save a life. Or a ship. For here on out, red and green are no longer to be subversive when in space however, Mister Jones is being defiant today."

Ianto bowed politely, "Sir, this was my father's tie. Good luck."

"Yes, I remember it well. Your father was a hard man but a fair one. He argued the colour bans as well. This drill had proven that we are not all machines and are capable of rational thought still. You agree with this view?"

"Sir, I believe we are capable of great things, terrible things and in the end only the righteous shall prevail. To this end, I would like to explore the restrictions set out in the past, do they still apply? Ave we now become so…afraid of compliance that we have lost some of the qualities that gave us the ability to create? Inspire? For it is no secret that we have not advanced as a people since these were imposed, for all the greatness of the wondrous change…I respectfully point out that we are stunted." Ianto felt Jack jerk with alarm as Ianto subversively challenged the rules, "My lords and ladies, I look at all of you and I do not see robes or autons but people with thoughts, opinions and individuality. Yet … where are the artists? Not a new piece of music to stir our hearts, the school teach the same thing as when I was a child, no advanced technology or applied sciences. In restricting colour, in imposing harsh regulations we have also, as a people, stunted our growth. IS this a good thing? Or not. I do not know and wish to explore that premise. I wish to have an embargo on the Torchwood, an exemption of the colour rules so we might explore the effects of the reintroduction of colours. To hear that you agree, the reintroduction of red and green into the world was both surprising and extremely exciting for me. I know I am on the right wave length as those of you who agreed to this must also see what I do. We are not stupid anymore and hopefully are now so well schooled in what happened that we have learned from it. Time to test the waters."

The room held its breath and the Chairman considered, for all the bullshit and bluster he was the only one who could decided such a thing and he silently nodded, the room focused as Ianto felt his jaw drop and cleared his throat to cover his shook at such an open win he hadn't expected.

Jack rose and Ianto bowed slightly, clutching the back of Jack's tunic as he sought to be calm and Jack said with equal shock, "As it is the will of our people, the agreement of our lords? The Torchwood will implement a new task. This task will not be easy and not without flaws but if we are about to reintroduce colours into our world we want to reassure the council that we will endure to continue the excellent way of life that was chosen by said council with their forward thinking and compassion for the people."

"Now bow and fucking run" Ianto hissed under his breath, both men bowing then walking from the room, both collapsing against the doors as they panted with shock.

"Ianto, did you just thumb your nose at them and get thanked for it? Shit. Shit. We are exempt from the rules?"

"Yeah" Ianto's face settling into a grin, "I just got the Torchwood to go natural."

Jack hoped this was a good idea.

Things were going to be crazy.