Chapter 3 The healing circle

Myfanwy glanced at her fledgling curled up in her nest. She was deeply worried about it. It was refusing to eat or fly. It refused all attempt of getting it to go hunt or play. Even her Humans were unsuccessful. Her fledgling just remained in the nest sleeping or staring at nothing. Sometimes it would make distressing noises that just broke her heart. She cooed at it and gave it a little nudge with her beak. It just curled into a tighter ball and the noises got more distressed. With a sigh she looked over the edge of the nest and down to where her human was holding her food bucket, calling her. With another sigh she flopped down beside her fledgling and put her wing around it. Whatever was ailing it maybe her presence could help…

Down on the floor Ianto sighed and stopped calling. He looked over at Gwen who was observing the two "reptilian" residents on the monitor dedicated to displaying the nest. She shook her head. Ianto's shoulders slumped in defeat. It had been going on for days now; ever since the date on Friday. They had yet to learn what had happened. Orion had completely refused to even recognise their presence. They had tried everything. They'd tried talking to him, holding him, leaving him alone, sitting by him; Toshiko had even tried yelling at him, when her frustration got the better of her. Nothing had worked. The only thing they had achieved was to drive him from his room up to Myfanwy's nest. That was the only recognition they had, that he was aware of them. And now he was in his dragon form and curled up in a nest, being miserable.

"Argh, there's got to be something we can do?" Gwen growled in frustration. It was enough to break a person's heart, seeing the kid so miserable. Surely the date hadn't gone that bad? What on Earth could have happened?

"You're not suggesting we shoot him down with a tranquilizer dart, are you?" Owen mocked. "That seems to be your standard solution to everything. Just gun it down and the problem will go away."

"Owen!" Toshiko burst out angrily. The man was outrageously out of line. The woman hadn't suggested that sort of thing in at least… well at least a month!

"Owen, you're not helping." Jack told him and stepped over to Gwen and put a hand on her shoulder. She was looking deeply affronted, that the medic would say such a thing. Jack looked back up toward the nest. "Right, time to call for help." The others looked at him, as he pulled up his sleeve and opened the device strapped to his wrist. While it could no longer transport him through space and time, it could send messages.

"Rea, it's Jack. Xarion had to leave for the week and we need your help. Something's wrong with Orion. He seems deeply depressed and won't respond to anything. He's not eating either. Please come." He sent the message on its way.

xxXxx

Three hours later Ianto was walking around the Hub tidying up. The others had gone out to investigate a sighting in the northern outskirts of town and shouldn't be back for another hour or so. Suddenly he found his path blocked and he almost walked into the obstacle. It was Rea.

"Oh, so sorry about that." She spluttered. "So hard to see were one is going sometimes." She was dressed in some rather unusual garments. Ianto couldn't help but think of them as some sort of ceremonial robes. She was dressed in loose white trousers and a white long sleeved blouse, but over that she wore a knee long tunic with strange swirly patterns. It was actually quite beautiful, he thought. The soft colours were very soothing to the eye.

"I came as soon as I could," she interrupted his contemplations and he blinked to get back on track. Hugging him briefly she continued: "can you tell me what's going on?" Ianto quickly filled her in on the recent events. She seemed to consider this for a long time.

"Where is the boy now?"

"He's up in Myfanwy's nest." He pointed first up at the location of the nest and then went over to the monitor showing what was happening up there. She came over and looked at the sad, yet touching image. Myfanwy was still curled around Orion's dragon form; her beak caressing the top of his front leg in gentle strokes.

"Right." She said and made to Jump. Ianto grabbed a hold of her arm.

"Wait, you can't go up there! Myfanwy would kill you." Rea smiled at him, as she released herself from his grip.

"No, she won't." and then she Jumped.

Ianto jabbed the activation switch on his comm and in a slightly panicked tone of voice said:

"Jack, Rea is here and she's just jumped up into the nest with Myfanwy!"

"Right, were heading our way back now anyway. Step on it, Owen!" Ianto didn't hear the response, as there was a loud furious screech from up above. Frantically he looked at the monitor.

Myfanwy was standing with her wings spread out, in a display meant to strike terror in the beholders. It also served to block any attempt at hurting the fledgling behind her.

"If you want to get to it, you have to go through me!" She screamed at the intruder. "This is MY fledgling and MY nest." The intruder stopped moving. Then it spoke. But it was just more of that gibberish the humans speak. She hissed her warning. And then… the oddest thing happened.

The intruder spoke again, but this time Myfanwy actually understood what the intruder was saying! She almost tumbled over from pure shock. Normally she could only understand a few words the Humans were speaking, like "no" or "food" or "chocolate". She also knew the name her Humans had given her. But that was about it. But now she understood the whole first sentence; every word of it.

"Please, I'm not here to hurt you." It was saying. "I'm only here for the [gibberish - as pteradons don't have the concept for boy]" Myfanwy hissed again, but didn't make a move. She kept glaring at the intruder. "Please, I only want to help. Orion needs help." This made Myfanwy pay extra attention. She knew her fledgling was called Orion by the Humans. Her suspicion waned ever so slightly, though she remained poised to strike if the intruder made a move toward her fledgling. Then the strangest sensation came over her; flooding her system like a great wave, came a sense of utter contentment. She had never felt better, like she was floating on clouds. She gazed dreamily at the intruder, whom she no longer perceived as an intruder at all, but rather as another nest mate. She made no attempt to stop her new nest mate, as it rushed past her and over to the fledgling. She chuckled at the world at large. Why had she been so tense before? She couldn't remember. 'Oh look, a spider!'

When the animal seemed to become distracted by staring at a spider crawling out of the straw of the nest Rea moved to check on her grandson. She knew the buzz the animal was feeling wouldn't last long. She had only triggered the release of a small amount of various natural endorphins in the animal's brain. It would feel a brief high and then return to normal with no ill effects. She looked down at the boy. She had almost laughed when she first saw the form he was in. The dragons were indigenous to Hallow IV, but they were much smaller, about the size of an Earth rat and serving much the same function. They were scavengers and opportunists, and thrived in places without predators. The city authorities were hard pressed to keep the numbers down. 'Orion must have a memory of one from his brief time on Hallow IV' she thought with a sad smile.

Glancing at the animal, who was still mesmerized by the spider, she turned her attention to her grandson. He was just lying there, curled into a tight ball, one wing tugged over his head, hiding his face. Gently she took the wing and pulled it away from his face. It moved without resistance. His eyes were shut, but he wasn't sleeping.

"Orion? It's Rea." She tried. No response. With a soft nod she made her decision. She closed her eyes and reached out with her mind. At first she was greeted by emptiness, a non-presence where there should have been one. 'He must have withdrawn deeper.' She moved further in until she encountered a presence. 'There he is.' She thought. It was almost like he was curled up into a ball inside his own mind too. She touched him with her awareness and a flood of emotion overwhelmed her and gasping she found her self in the outside world again.

She panted as she tried to make sense of the emotions she had felt. Grief was the strongest. Rejection coming at a close second. But also guilt and remorse. 'What in Miduna's name has happened?' She steeled herself and went back in. This time she was prepared and wasn't shocked away. She spent some time sifting through the emotions, like a gold miner panning for gold. But it didn't really tell her much about the cause. She was just about to pull out to ponder her options, when she noticed something odd. There was something missing.

It was like when you live by the ocean. You are always aware of it in the background and though it is very noisy you never really hear it, unless you concentrate on it. So you only really hear it when the noise is gone, like when there's a calm sea or when you've gone away somewhere. Then of course it's incredibly noisy when you return and you hear it constantly for the first few days until you adjust and it becomes background noise again.

What was missing was the background noise. And not just any background noise either. Full of fear she searched for what she knew should be making a lot of 'noise' but wasn't. The bond to his mate. Some Saluvians and Micurii'ans were bonded from birth; destined to be mated with their bond mate. It was considered a great gift, but it also proved a great peril. If the mate died, the surviving mate was also in risk of following them into death. Not so much from the severed bond, but more from the deep depression that caused them to become suicidal or they simply gave up their will to live.

Her own daughter, Sybille, had gone through that kind of withdrawal, when her bond mate died before they were old enough to consummate the bond. Only the joint effort of the family had pulled her through, but she was never the same person again. She had become wild and promiscuous. The Council had forced her into an arranged marriage, due to the procreation laws, but Lartorc had failed to calm her restlessness and well… 'We all know how that turned out' she thought bitterly and continued her search.

It took her a while before she found it. Orion was in fact curled around it, his presence muffling it to her. The bond still existed, she realised with relief, but it was far from being a healthy, vibrant bond. Like an umbilical cord the bond stretched dimly out to wherever the mate was located. Even to her indirect impressions she felt coldness, where there should have been warmth. 'No wonder the boy is near catatonic!' She withdrew with a heavy sigh. She was going to need help.

When she returned to the outside world she saw the animal sitting quietly off to the side, glaring at her. It had long since come down from it's high and was thankfully not attacking. Rea sent a feeling of calm assurance to it and it cocked its head.

"I need to take him down to the others." She said kindly and sent an image of herself bringing Orion down into the waiting arms of his fathers. Myfanwy startled greatly and flapped her wings in distress. She shook her head at the strange image. But somehow she found she understood. The intruder wanted to bring her fledgling down to her Humans to help it. Distressed she looked at her fledgling. It was still just lying there, not doing anything. If the Humans thought they could help, then she would let them. She moved over to the fledgling, making the intruder tense up, and touched it with her beak. She cooed. Then she flapped her massive wings and took off; making one great arch around the Hub she flew outside and headed for the woods.

xxXxx

"If I ever meet this mate I'm gonna wring its neck!" Owen said furiously. There were various sympathizing expressions around the table. They were all gathered in the meeting room. Rea, the Torchwood team and Rhiannon with her family. Jack had put up a huge fight but Rea had insisted they needed their help. So Rhiannon, Johnny and the two children had been blindfolded and brought down into the Hub. Jack still hadn't decided if he was going to retcon them afterwards. They had a clear agreement that Rhiannon and Co were not allowed in the Hub and he still thought the agreement was valid.

"Now Owen," Rea said reproachfully "while I understand your sentiment, please bear in mind that we don't know the cause of the rejection." Owen scoffed. In his mind there was no valid excuse for dumping his almost-nephew. Not that he would ever admit to caring for the brat. Rea looked sternly at everyone around the table. "I mean it. There is evidence Orion's mate is younger than him and therefore still a child. It is possible his mate doesn't realise the consequences of their actions." She paused. "Not all parents see fit to inform their children of the facts of life." There was various muttered grumblings around the table.

Rea looked around at them. The two children, Mica and David, were standing by their parents seated at the table. Mica had her mother's arm around her and seemed to be taking everything in her strides. The boy, David, stood between their parents and looked rather intimidated. She smiled reassuringly at him.

"Orion's mate isn't the most important thing right now. Helping Orion is. I've asked a healer to come and lead us in what is called a healing circle." They were all looking at her with interest now, protests and anger put aside.

"What that means is, that the loved ones gather into a circle around the person in need and they join a telepathic web. They will be able to communicate through memories, thoughts, emotions, images and sensations; not only with each other but with the one in need as well. The healer's job is to facilitate the web and to guide the loved ones." She looked at them all carefully, trying to gauge their reactions. She knew Humans valued the privacy of their own minds and the thought of telepathic contact often scared them. "We need to reach out to Orion and flood him with love and warmth. We need to give him a reason for living and a substitute for the loss he is feeling."

She gave them time to digest the information. Ianto grabbed a hold of Jack's hand and squeezed it, making Jack smile a little at him. Toshiko was staring at a point in front of her, as if she was trying to burn a hole through the table by use of eyesight alone. Owen was lost in his own thoughts. Gwen looked speculative and it was she who first asked a question.

"This web… as you call it… does that mean we can read each other's minds?"

"No. It's not that type of contact. It's more like a conversation. Just like when you talk out loud, the others can only know what you choose to let them know." There were signs of relief around the table.

"Even if it meant us putting our deepest darkest secrets on display for the world to see, we would do it." Johnny stated calmly with a confident voice. The entire room turned to look at him. With the exception of rugby, he wasn't normally one to make great statements of sentiment. "Orion's our kin. We'll do anything for 'im." They all smiled at him and Rhiannon looked at him with such pride and love, that he almost began blushing like some bleedin' schoolgirl.

"Hear hear!" Mica shouted. And the room laughed, releasing some of the tension.

xxXxx

An hour later Orion had been placed on a mattress on the floor of the Hub. They were all sitting or kneeling around him; each of them touching a part of him as well as touching the person next to them. The healer, Nipyar-tuk, had arrived twenty minutes earlier and had explained the process to them in detail. The physical touch aided the connection to Orion and the web. Rea had explained to Jack and Ianto that Nipyar-tuk was an experienced healer with a specialty in the mind arts. It had also been Nipyar-tuk who had counselled her after the loss of her daughter and grandchildren.

One by one they were linked to form a web. It was an odd sensation Ianto thought, as he felt Jacks presence join him, Gwen and Tosh. Jack radiated such a profound love toward him that it moved him to tears. He revelled in it. Any lingering doubt he might have had in the darkest recesses of his mind disappeared. Jack loved him. There was no question about it. He sent his own feelings back to Jack and smiled through happy tears as he felt Jack's happiness. Then he felt Owen sending him an image of him throwing up in a waste paper basket along with the underlying emotion of friendship. Chuckling he sent Owen the thought 'Aww, I didn't know you cared so much.' He could hear Gwen and Toshiko laughing in the background.

Then the professional presence of the healer took charge and pulled them all along, giving them the direction they needed to go. Ianto could feel Rea's formidable presence focus on Orion and could feel her help Mica send a memory to Orion.

They were in the park on a sunny day. There were no leaves on the trees and there was still a chill in the air. Orion was looking to be about nine years old. They were dressed in warm snow suits and knitted hats and gloves. They were laughing at something, when Orion suddenly stopped and cried out: "Look! Flowers!" and he rushed over to the nearby bushes. "Oh! Snowdrops!" Mica exclaimed happily when she saw them on the ground. They were the first flowers they had spotted and they signified that soon it would be spring. Orion quickly bent down and pulled the little group of delicate flowers from the ground.

"What are you doing?" Rhiannon asked as she approached. Orion broke into the trademark Harkness smile and with a flourishing bow presented the flowers to her, with roots and dirt and all. Smilingly she accepted them and moved off. Turning back Orion saw the slight pout on Mica's face and with a wink he presented her with a single pristine snowdrop. She lit up in a big smile as she took the snowdrop from his hand and held it in her gloved hand all the way home.

Ianto wanted to hug Mica and he sent the sentiment to her, feeling the smile she sent back. Then Gwen sent the memory of the incident in the bathroom at Christmas. The team was a bit taken aback, seeing as how none of them knew what had happened. But Ianto sent them all his happiness at how it had turned out and sent a hug to Gwen as well. Toshiko followed it with the memory of how much fun they had had that night and how they had laughed when Jack 'read' the Torchwood version of 'Twas the night before Christmas'. Rhiannon, Johnny, Mica and David laughed heartily, because they had not heard the story before. The healer made sure their merriment and happiness was sent down the web to Orion.

When they had calmed a little Jack chose to send the memory of Orion's first steps. Ianto watched the memory with tears in his eyes. He had missed that because he had been out shopping for them. He sniffled as he saw baby Orion embrace his Daddy and laughed when Jack realised he had hung up on the Queen and how long it had taken for her to talk to him again. He then chose to share the memory of the flying Christmas tree and how grateful he was they had made it. A wash of supportive emotions flowed his way. Then Johnny shared his memory of Jack dressed in drag after the incident with turning David pink. This time it was Rea, Owen, Gwen and Tosh who had a serious laughing fit.

Then Rhiannon shared the memory of seeing Orion waking up after the long illness and how worried they had all been for him and the other kids, as well as how happy they all were that they were all healthy again. The emotions flowed back and forth, like an ebb and tide. Nipyar-tuk made sure Orion received everything. Rea then shared her memories of Orion's birth and how his mother had looked at him the first time. How happy she had been when she presented him to his siblings. The memories were accompanied by sadness for the loss of her daughter and grandchildren. She shared the memory of sending him away to go to Earth and how unhappy she had been to part with him. She also shared her joy of being reunited with him and getting to know him. A stream of warm emotions and comfort flowed to her.

Toshiko then sent a memory of the first time Orion saw snow. It was a cold, dark dreary Tuesday morning in February. She had hurried along, so as to get out of the cold weather. It had snowed during the night and the city was busy clearing the roads and sidewalks. As she stomped through the ankle deep snow on the Plass heading over to the tourist office, she was met with the sight of a stunned looking Orion at the door. He was looking like a six or seven year old at the time. He stood there open-mouthed and just gawked at the white blanket. Then, very carefully as if he thought it might hurt him, he crouched down and touched the snow. A look of pure wonder and delight appeared on his face.

Then the moment was broken and the child rushed out onto the Plass, wearing nothing but his indoor clothing. He kicked up the snow with a laugh and threw him self down and made a snow angel. Just as Toshiko was about to speak and make her presence known a snowball came in out of nowhere and hit her. She turned. It was Owen. And he was busy making a new snowball. 'Oh it's on!' she made her own ball and threw it hard. It struck Owen on the shoulder and he cried out. Orion was laughing, so she made another ball and threw it at him. For a moment he looked stunned at what she had done, and then he caught on and made his own ball and returned fire. The three-way snowball fight lasted only a few minutes, until Rhiannon discovered Orion had run outside, and not properly dressed for it and had yelled for him to come inside that instance.

Then an unusual presence was included into the web and a feeling of cuddling in a nest and then a feeling of joy in soaring through the sky next to each other flowed along the web and down to Orion. Myfanwy! It caused a bit of a stir among the Humans. Rea had felt her presence and included her briefly.

Then another presence made it self known.

Orion's.

They could feel him slowly returning, unfolding him self. The healer sent encouragement to him and they all joined him. Ever so slowly he became aware of what was going on and all the people around him. Timidly he sent out a feeling of love tinged with the feel of a question. '?' An overwhelming wash of positive emotions flowed back to him and he lapped it up. Then he remembered. His bond mate had rejected him! Anguish flooded him again. The circle of loved ones cried out in shared pain and sent love and comfort to him.

Rea couldn't help her self. She broke away from the telepathic group hug and followed the faint bond as far as she dared go. Then she sent out a strong burst of emotion, shattering the barrier the mate had erected to seal of the connection. Rea felt a great satisfaction in the sensation of the bond coming back to life again, the energy of it flowing down the bond like water after removing a blockage in a river. She had been right. The mate had not realised what would happen when rejecting ones mate and had suffered greatly from the withdrawal as well. She sent a feeling of comfort to the mate and withdrew. They would have to sort the rest out for themselves, she knew.

Owen couldn't help himself. He was still angry at this mysterious mate they hadn't known about. Why hadn't they known about it, by the way? And just what had happened to cause this whole debacle? Orion noticed his disgruntlement and cringed. The others hurried to send loving support to him and telepathic versions of glares at Owen, even though several of them echoed the doctor's sentiment, though less obtrusively. Feeling incredibly embarrassed and awkward Orion shared the memory of kiss and the consequences with them. He got the distinct impression of Tosh virtually having to hold Owen back, to prevent him from tearing off after his bond mate.

Both his parents were hugging him, flooding him with understanding, support and love. He was so glad he had them. He knew they would always support him no matter what. He sent them a feeling of embarrassed shame along with an apology for never having told them about his mate. It had just never occurred to him. His mate had been with him for almost as long as he could remember. Its presence was as normal and right as breathing air or flying when he was in his dragon form. That's why it had felt so wrong when they had closed the bond to him. It had felt as if he had been trying to breathe in a room without air. Now the bond was open again he felt he could breathe again. He immersed himself in his parent's telepathic hug, savouring the sensation.

Slowly he became aware of the discordant feeling of pain thrumming along the bond. At first he tried to ignore it, feeling a little vindictive and very hurt by his mate's actions. But in the end he knew he couldn't ignore them. They needed him. With a sigh he pulled away from his parent's telepathic embrace and focused on his bond mate. He could feel how upset they were and the pain they were in. There was a great deal of loneliness, confusion, self recrimination and fear emanating from his mate. He knew they were younger than him and he just couldn't stay mad at them. He was the oldest, so he would have to be the mature one. He mobilized every warm and good feeling he had had before the awful date and sent them along the bond. He also sent forgiveness and a tentative reprimand, a kind of don't-do-it-again feeling.

His mate's response was to break down in a mixture of remorse and relief. Orion sent more warm feelings along the bond, essentially holding his bond mate in a tight hug, until he felt them drift of into sleep. With a sigh he pulled away but kept the connection strong knowing his mate needed to feel him even in sleep.

He found that the others had been pulled out of the web, except for his parents and the faint presence of the healer. Orion sent them the feeling of hunger. It had after all been several days since he last ate something. Laughing his parents sent the promise of pizza to him and one by one the healer pulled them out and disintegrated the web. Orion was once again alone with his bond mate.

He smiled.


Okay, sorry if this got too hippie-touchy-feely for you.

Also thank you to those who've reviewed, fav'ed and alerted. I'm tickled pink you still want to read this (continued) story.