The Solution: Jack
Exiting the lift, Jack followed the signs to the meeting area. He had already picked up his conference package, dropped it along with his suitcase in his room. He was on the look-out for Martha who had also been dragged into this charade. He hated these events being a veteran; he had respectfully requested he not be included. However it had been argued that his attendance was mandatory, the recommendation coming from the highest possible source. In a fit of pique he had demanded who it was but all he got was they were not allowed to divulge their source and he had to attend. He felt sour, dragged here, forced to sit with individuals he had long lost respect for, discussing redundant points of order equivalent with should we move the bookcase one foot to the left or to the right or should it stay where it was. After the last conference he swore he would never attend another one again.
He looked over heads and around shoulders, nodding a greeting where indicated and pointedly ignoring others when he stopped, the person following almost colliding into him as he came to a halt. His mouth went dry and his heart raced in his chest and a faint sheen of sweat broke out on his forehead as he headed to the side of the room.
He observed Martha and Ianto deeply absorbed in a conversation. Ianto was standing trying to balance a cup of coffee and keep a huge folder under his arms. Ianto must be the other delegate, or was he here for some other purpose? He pulled out the folded paper from his pocket with the list of all the delegates. He found the UK delegate section. His name was there but Ianto's were missing; only Martha was included and the other line was TBA.
What if Ianto was the TBA? He felt the urge to bolt. He had kept his promise to the letter, done everything in his power to ensure he had kept out of his way. He had done so for one reason: it was the only point of honour he had left.
He felt a flush of shame as he recalled Ianto's words that last afternoon. It had been a truth telling like no other. And like all truth telling's it was painful to hear. He didn't blame Ianto for his words, because he had said nothing but the truth. He was selfish, self-absorbed, and neglectful, and certainly didn't do domestic and had never contemplated leaving Torchwood Three. He was a braggart so caught up in his own sexual prowess he had forgotten that it was Ianto's first same sex relationship. He had made Ianto feel inadequate by his bragging, making him feel worthless and using him shamelessly, never once considering what Ianto might need from him. And maybe, just maybe, there was some truth in the fact he saw winning Ianto over for third time as a challenge. Compounding this was he had an affair in all but in name leaving Ianto deeply wounded. Along with all the others he could understand why Ianto had come to believe that Jack would never be faithful. On top of all this was the knowledge that Ianto had loved him and given him everything he had.
At the end of that conversation all he had left was the promise he made and now he was about to break it. On the other hand he couldn't go any lower in the man's estimation but he did wish he could show how much his words and honesty had changed him. He had left that day, returned to the Hub and spent the remainder of the day writing down everything he could recall Ianto had said to him along with a list of every promise he had broken. On completion he had packed his bags and left, not returning until weeks later.
During his time away he had gone through every sentence, phrase and point no matter how painful and examined each and every one of them against his past behaviour under the harsh light of day. He had come to some startling conclusions and done some serious re-evaluations about his life. Working through the wreckage he had put himself back together.
The problem was, and his heart thundering in his chest agreed, was being in the same room with a man he ached to be with and prove he was capable of the relationship Ianto deserved. It was one thing to be hundreds of miles apart; another to be thrown into each other's company for five days. 'Oh god five whole days.' He had to find a way to escape, there had to be a way out. What was he supposed to do, he could hardly leave, and part of his brief was to report back directly the Prime Minister's office and the Queen's representative in person. Too late he saw that Martha had seen him and was beckoning him across. Swallowing, he stepped forward.
"Jack," Martha squealed giving him a kiss on the cheek. Ianto's eyes widened and his jaw dropped as Jack joined them dressed in more formal attire than his normal RAF coat.
"It's good to see you," Jack said hesitantly as Ianto held his gaze. "I'm just going to get a coffee want a refill?" he offered. Not sure of what to say Ianto handed his cup over thinking if there was ever a need for coffee it was right now.
"How did this happen? Jack's here! We're here together, him and me, five days!" Ianto hissed as he tried to control the panic rising in his chest even as his eyes followed Jack across the room.
"The third delegate dropped out at the last minute due to a family emergency. I only found out you were the replacement until after I was on my way and I was given an updated list," she rattled out her prepared explanation handing over the information she been handed which clearly stated all three names.
"Martha you don't understand…," he started to explain in desperation.
"Oh I think I do," Martha interrupted knowingly as she watched the man become unhinged. He looked like he might bolt, but knew the situation was he couldn't because he was representing the United Kingdom and his presence was required and tried to keep the innocent look on her face she had adopted.
"Look I hurt the man, I said things; terrible things, they were unforgivable," he tried to explain as Jack re-joined them and he looked up and found he was being handed a coffee.
"I haven't had a look at the hand out, what are we up for tonight?" Jack checked as he handed over Ianto's refilled cup. "Black one sugar right?" he double checked as Ianto nodded and took a sip not able to keep his eyes off him, their gazes locked.
"According to the schedule of events there's a welcome followed by a buffet meal and basic get together, opening speeches and introductions tonight." Martha looked between the pair lost in each other. She looked at her watch. "Starting in about five minutes, once that's finished the next event is breakfast at seventy thirty tomorrow morning after which we all head off to our respective sessions," she explained wondering if either of them had heard.
"Sorry you were saying?" Ianto said as he tried to he pull his attention back to Martha.
"Could you repeat that," Jack requested as Martha repeated her earlier statement as she watched the pair throw furtive looks at each other.
"Reading between the lines we're here to suggest ways to deal with first contact situations so before we retire tonight we need get together and discuss how we're going to manage this. If this is anything like the last one we will need to find a way to summarise information in a coherent manner," Jack said moving in slightly closer towards Ianto.
"Agreed," Martha said.
"I'm new to this so any guidance is much appreciated," Ianto added looking at Jack as he heard a bell ring and large door opened.
"Where do we meet if we get separated?" Martha asked.
"I hesitate to offer, I don't want this to seem like I planned it," Jack said still looking at Ianto, 'but I've cleared my room of bugs." He leaned over. "I mean of the electronic kind so we can talk without being heard, but I'm open to any where you might suggest otherwise."
"I'm okay with that," Ianto replied quickly nodding as Jack looked relieved and Martha stifled a smile.
Ianto handed over the electronic notepad he had been given as part of the registration package to Jack. Laying it beside the one Martha had also just handed over.
Reaching into his pocket Jack pulled out a small device and with practiced ease wiped it carefully over each pad then smiled.
"We're clear," he said, looking at both Ianto and Martha.
"Ianto I know this seems a bit over the top, so I'll explain. This is a top security conference; there will be some sessions where information shared will be highly sensitive but we have to be able to record information, summarise each discussion, note interesting points, and jot down our own ideas and so on. The screen is writable and can translate written words to type face or you can type into it. We need to keep a summary of what is discussed because our recommendation will appear in the conference report. This report will be the official report that will go back to each respective party involved," Jack explained.
Martha took over. "In our case it will go to UNIT, the Queen's representative for Torchwood and current Government liaisons for UNIT, Torchwood and the Department for Alien Affairs," she told him. Ianto raised his eyebrows as Jack handed him back his pad.
"Our last day here will be to formulate recommendations, and the powers to be's responsibility will be to ensure they are followed through within reason," Jack explained thinking normally this involved some minor adjustment of no great importance, but this was Ianto's first taste of this sort of thing and if nothing else he could make it as enjoyable as possible.
"So anything I recommend that's in the report gets done?" Ianto checked out trying to get his head around the idea that someone might actually take note of something he had come up with. Both Martha and Jack nodded.
"Within reason and if it's politically expedient," Martha added as Ianto he indicated he understood.
"Right now there's the CIA, British Secret Service, and UNIT to name just three here all of them have competing agendas and they will have no idea what each group of delegates will recommend until it appears in the final report," she added.
"I don't understand," Ianto told her.
"We put forward our recommendations on the final afternoon. We hand them in in secret; they are then compiled with the overall general report which summarises each session of the conference, which is then forwarded on. It means no one gets to see what we hand over," Martha said.
"Why go to all this trouble?" Ianto asked.
"It's the only way to ensure undue pressure is not put on delegates and ensures that there is a free flow of ideas without influence," Martha told him
"That's not to say they won't try," Jack added thinking it was all so petty but each respective party and participating governments didn't see it that way.
"The best way is to access the electronic note pads. I've just made it impossible for them to download any information from any of our pads and I've ensured there is the one room that we can talk freely in." He looked to check Ianto was okay with this. "But I'm happy if we use Martha's room if your uncomfortable using this one," he added quickly.
"No I'm okay with it. It's like being in a James Bond film," Ianto commented. Jack went to touch his arm in relief then realised what he had doing, stopped and pulled his hand away with extreme reluctance.
"And now to make sure none of your conversation aren't overheard outside this room," he said taking off his tag and pulling out the same pen as Martha and Ianto followed suit.
Ianto watched with fascination, as Jack attached a device the size of a full stop to each tag.
"Care of Tosh, this is something she developed to create a white noise effect which makes it impossible to hear any speech within an area approximately two feet in diameter."
Holding out the tag Martha took hers and put it back on. "I'm not sure about you but I'm off to bed," Martha told them both as she picked up her note pad and went to leave. "I'll see you two at breakfast." Ianto gave her the thumbs up and left so quickly Ianto was left on his own.
The door closed and Jack felt he had to say something.
"I'm not sure how to say this but I didn't set this up. I made a promise I would keep out of your way. If I had known you were involved I would have pulled out. I know how difficult it is for you to be placed on the spot…I don't want you to think…" he told Ianto who was looking serious and raised his hand to interrupt.
"I know, Martha filled me in. I was a last minute replacement and she had no idea I was a delegate either," he said as Jack looked relieved. "It's good to see you," he added as Jack looked at him in surprise.
"Yeah?" he checked out.
"Yeah," Ianto replied slowly. After a few moments Ianto started feeling uncomfortable in the silence that followed. "Been a long day, I'll think I better head off too," Ianto said reluctantly as he picked up his folder. As he did Jack picked up Ianto's tag and carefully pinned it on Ianto's jacket and patted it down, his fingers lingering then running them down the inside of his lapel.
"Thank you," Ianto said softly as he leaned into Jack's touch, realised what he was doing then pulled away.
"Good night," Jack said gently opening the door.
"Good night," Ianto hesitantly as if he wanted to say something but then turned and left heading his own room.
Closing the door Jack put his hand on it and let out a deep sigh.
