Here's what was originally the second half of Chapter 09, but it grew so large it deserved its own chapter. One of the Lycan Pack Elders, Harold Jones, (the one who Jack thought resembled the actor Stewart Granger) makes an appearance.
Thanks to my friend Brenda for beta reading this chapter and putting up with my ranting!
This chapter rated PG-13.
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Cows and Choices
Ianto stormed out through the fake Tourist office slamming the door and not bothering to lock it. "Stupid Welsh cow!" he muttered pulling his coat on and striding off in the direction of the Blaidd gwâl (Wolf Lair) pub. Once there he walked straight to the barman, ordered a pint of bitters, paid for his drink, and sat down at a table in the far corner of the pub. Ianto drank half the pint in one long swallow before putting the glass down on the table with a slight thump. He closed his eyes for a moment and sighed as he tried to calm down.
"You've had a row, haven't you?"
Opening his eyes, Ianto looked up to see Harold Jones, one of the pack elders, looking down at him obviously concerned.
"Yeah," Ianto admitted quietly.
"I figured as much; the way you stomped in here I thought you were going to morph to lycan form and start tearing the pub up," Harold added, pulling out a chair and sitting down next to Ianto. "Daffyd told you taking a human male as a life mate wouldn't be an easy road. He also told you we'd be glad to help you anyway we can. Do you want to talk about it?"
"Wish I could, but it involves my work," Ianto replied.
"Ah, I see your dilemma," Harold agreed. Lowering his voice a little he suggested, "Look, why don't I tell you what I know about the company you work for and then you can decide what you can tell me, alright?"
"Okay."
"There's something in Cardiff which allows creatures and things to come here from other places and times and your company tries to protect Cardiff against what comes through," Harold began, getting a faraway look in his eyes. "I was just a teenager when I first became aware of Torchwood; when those two bitches were in charge (referring to Alice Guppy and Emily Holroyd). Those two heartless hags were dangerous, so I stayed out of their way," he confessed with a slight smile focusing back to Ianto. "Over the years, I've occasionally seen some Torchwood people in action, including your Jack and I've heard rumors your people sometimes make people forget about certain incidents associated with those creatures and things." Harold paused and drank some of his beer. "So, do you think you can share what happened between you and Jack?"
Ianto took another swig of his beer. "Bloody hell, Harold – does the whole pack know about Torchwood?"
"Hmm, most pack members are aware of Torchwood on some level. I mean it's kind of hard to ignore some of the creatures, because they stink of the sewer, but mainly the elders know more about Torchwood simply because we're each over 150 years old and very observant. After all we need to know what's going on for the safety of the pack."
"I hadn't thought of it that way, but you're right," Ianto agreed and then he realized something else. "So the elders know Jack has lived a long time and yet none of you questioned us about it when I announced he was my life mate – how come?"
Harold chuckled a little. "Jack's a human, perhaps an exotic human, but human nevertheless. Besides, it's none of our business, Ianto; you love who you love."
Ianto relaxed a little bit after Harold's reassurance. "I guess it would be okay to discuss what happened in general terms," he admitted.
"Good," Harold said sounding pleased. Standing up he added, "Let's take a walk so you can burn off some of that angry energy while you explain the situation." They put on their coats and headed out into the night. Harold listened and watched as Ianto talked and gestured explaining the space whale incident in a heavily edited version.
"In the end, we couldn't save the alien," Ianto said sadly.
"And you were almost killed, a coworker's husband was shot and some of the team was almost crushed," Harold ticked off the other facts Ianto had talked about. "You all had very close calls, but that doesn't explain your row with Jack."
"That actually happened afterwards," Ianto said. "Once we were back to our base, our medic took care of the coworker's husband's gunshot wound and just before she left to take him home Jack told her to give him the medicine we use to make people forget what they saw. She agreed to do it at first and left with her husband, only to come back a few minutes later," he added, remembering the scene vividly in his mind.
Gwen stormed through the cogwheel door shouting, "I'm not doing it. I won't drug him."
"You have to," Tosh said.
"We can't allow him to remember," Owen added.
"It's the rules," Ianto confirmed.
Gwen replied, "But none of you have any partners outside of this."
"But we understand how you feel," Jack said trying to calm her down.
"No, you don't. No, you don't, Jack," Gwen said vehemently. "You all think it's cold and lonely out
there, but it isn't for me, because I have him. He matters, and I've lied to him for long
enough. What he did today was so brave. Braver than any of us, because we signed up for
this, but he didn't – he did it because he loves me! And I won't take that away from him!
I won't! And if that means I have to quit, or you retcon me or whatever, then, fine, fine.
Jack walked towards Gwen until they were toe to toe. "You really think you could go back to your old life before Torchwood?" he asked staring down at her face.
"I wouldn't know anything different," she replied.
"I would," Jack replied hoarsely. They stared at each other; the silence in the Hub was stifling. Finally Jack came to a decision and said, "Give Rhys my love and I will see you tomorrow." Gwen nodded once and left.
Owen and Tosh were surprised at Jack's decision, but Ianto felt he had been kicked in the stomach. Ianto watched Jack stride to his office, sit down and turn on the CCTV monitor by his desk. Jack watched the monitor in silence as Gwen appeared on screen next to her husband and they headed home together.
Ianto looked at Owen and Tosh; Owen shrugged and turned back to his computer to finish the surgical report on Rhys while Tosh hid her confusion and embarrassment by looking back at the computer programs she had been running. A slow burning anger was building up in Ianto and he walked into Jack's office.
"Mind telling me what that was all about?" Ianto asked with restraint.
Clearing his throat Jack said, "We can't afford to lose her," and turned his focus to the paperwork on his desk trying to focus.
"We can't or you can't, Jack?" Ianto inquired raising his eyebrow.
Jack paused, holding a piece of paper in his hand and looked at Ianto. Their eyes locked for a second before Jack broke contact and muttered, "Both."
"Right, well I guess I know where I stand then," Ianto replied.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Jack snapped.
"It means I'm your second choice because you can't have Gwen," Ianto retorted.
Jack stood up abruptly and protested, "That's not true!"
"Isn't it?" Ianto countered leaning his hands on Jack's desk raising his own voice. "When you got back from your little trip with the Doctor you didn't ask me out on a date until after you found out Gwen was engaged to Rhys!"
Jack was devastated. "If you truly believed that Ianto, then why did you even bother asking me to be your life mate?" Jack asked sadly.
"I don't know, Jack!" Ianto replied throwing his hands up. "I just don't know anymore." He stomped out of Jack's office but not fast enough.
He still heard Jack's quiet reply, "More the fool me for accepting then."
"Oh Ianto," Harold said sadly shaking his head after Ianto told him about the row.
"Yeah, things have really gone tits up," Ianto agreed running a hand over his tired face. The anger was gone leaving only exhaustion and regret.
Harold patted Ianto on the back. "It's not as bleak as you think. Between the traumatic event with the alien, the woman's outburst and your argument with Jack, it's no wonder you blew a gasket. Tell me truthfully do you still love him?"
"Yes," Ianto admitted.
"Good. So what must be resolved to make the situation better?" Harold prompted.
Ianto looked puzzled; "Don't you mean what I must do to resolve the situation?"
"No Ianto, this problem was caused by the actions of three people; the woman, Jack and you. You all must be part of the solution. What would you want from the woman?" Harold asked.
"What I want to do is slap the stupid cow," Ianto said without thinking.
Harold crossed his arms across his chest and raised an eyebrow at Ianto. "You're better than that, Ianto," he chided.
Sighing Ianto said, "Sorry. I guess I'd want her to apologize to everyone for her thoughtless comments; she made it sound like our lives weren't as important as her and her husband's lives," Ianto replied.
"And what you want from Jack?" Harold inquired.
"I want him to explain why he reacted the way he did to the idea of reconning the woman and her leaving Torchwood," Ianto replied. "And I want to know that I'm not his second choice," he added quietly.
"I'm surprised he hasn't been calling you every five minutes since you stormed out," Harold commented.
"Shit!" Ianto exclaimed pulling his mobile out. "I turned off my mobile when I left the Hub." He turned it on and found he had several texts from Jack and a voice mail. "Jack's been texting me and left me a voice mail."
"Sounds like a man in love who's worried about his mate," Harold commented.
"Yeah he does," Ianto agreed looking through the text messages all of which basically said the same thing.
"I love you and I'm sorry. – Jack"
Ianto accessed his voice mail to hear the message Jack recorded.
"Ianto, it's Jack. I've been trying to reach you all night and I'm worried about you. I guess you don't want to talk to me tonight, so I'll stop bothering you. I'm staying at the Hub tonight to figure some things out, so please go home to the flat and get some rest. I've sent text messages to the rest of the team to come to a 10 a.m. meeting in the board room and I hope you'll come to the meeting too.
I love you. Bye."
Ending the call Ianto said, "Jack said he's sorry and that he loves me. He sounded so sad."
"Sad just like you," Harold said. Ianto looked exhausted. "Do you need a place to crash tonight?" he asked.
"No, Jack's at work so I can go home to the flat," Ianto replied. "Thanks Harold for listening to me vent. You've been a big help."
Harold smiled; "That's what elders and friends do, Ianto. Now go home and get some sleep. You've got a relationship to work on tomorrow.
"Thanks again and good night," Ianto said shaking hands with Harold and heading home to his flat. Once he got inside his flat he locked the door and got ready for bed. Even though he was exhausted he took a moment to text Jack.
"I'm home and going to bed. Love you too. – Ianto"
Ianto sent the text message and then went to sleep.
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They all met at the Hub at 10:00 a.m. Ianto walked in with Tosh, Owen and Gwen; he hadn't seen Jack since their argument yesterday afternoon. They all headed to the conference room and found Jack sitting in his usual chair writing a note in a folder. His face was pale and there were shadows under his eyes. Everyone settled into their usual chairs.
Jack stood up and faced his team. "I spent last night here going over the space whale case including the recon incident here at the Hub afterwards. Before I tell you some my decisions I need to tell you, Tosh, Owen and Gwen, about the Year That Never Was. I already told Ianto this information because, as my life mate, he deserved to hear about it first. I'm only going to say this once so no interruptions and no questions during or after – agreed?" All three nodded their heads in agreement and Jack proceeded to tell them about the Master, the Toclafane, being captured, tortured and killed for a year and how all three of them were killed in the Himalayas and Ianto was murdered in front of Jack eyes aboard the Valiant. He then explained how the Doctor, Martha and he were able to stop the Master and reset the timeline. By the time he finished his explanation all of them were fighting back tears.
"That's why I agreed that Gwen didn't need to recon Rhys. I had already lost all of you once and didn't want to start losing you now. Now and in the future I will decide on a case by case basis whether your current or future partners or family members may be allowed to know you work for Torchwood. I hope this decision will make your jobs here at Torchwood more bearable.
Having said that," Jack added turning his attention to Gwen, "Gwen, you owe everyone in this room an apology. You insulted all of us by what you said about our lives yesterday. Tosh and Owen don't currently have partners, but they have suffered personal losses and tragedies which make what happened to Rhys yesterday pale in comparison. And you insulted Ianto and me by totally glossing over the fact we're life mates." Jack placed his hands on the conference table and leaned in Gwen's direction. "I had to stand by and watch helplessly yesterday as Ianto fought for his life; if the gun hadn't jammed he'd be dead. But did I get to comfort him? No, I had to send him after those bastards because the space whale was thrashing about and I couldn't get to him. Our relationship is every bit important as yours."
"Jack, I —" Gwen began.
Jack held up his hand. "I'm not done yet Gwen." She had sense enough to close her mouth. He continued, "If Rhys lets our secret slip, even accidentally, we will have to recon him and, if you insist, you as well. So I'm counting on you to make him understand how serious this matter is. You do not discuss new cases with him unless I deem it necessary. In addition because your actions in the warehouse endangered us, especially Rhys and Ianto, you'll be on Rift watch at night for a month, plus you'll clean out the cells as well."
"But Jack,"
"Is there something you don't understand, Gwen?" Jack asked his voice cold and distant.
Gwen started twice to say something before she decided it wouldn't be a good idea. "No, Jack I understand," she agreed.
"Good. I suggest you go home and get some sleep before your shift starts." They all watched as Gwen left. Once the cogwheel door closed behind her Jack sat down in his chair. "I'm sorry I handled things so poorly yesterday," he said to Ianto, Tosh and Owen. "Hopefully my actions today have fixed things," he added with a sigh.
"I think your actions have more than made up for it, Jack," Tosh said. "Now if you'll all excuse me, I have some computer programs running which I need to check on." She left the room and went to her work station.
"Owen, I'm sorry you had to euthanize the space whale yesterday; if you hadn't some of us would have died," Jack said quietly.
"I really hated doing it, but I know it was the right thing to do," Owen replied. "I appreciate you sharing what happened to you while you were gone with the Doctor. It explains why you've changed and some of the decisions you've made. Thanks for standing up for us and setting Gwen straight." Standing up from his chair Owen added, "I've got to go finish the reports on the space whale. I could definitely use a cup of coffee when you have a moment, Ianto." He saw Ianto nod before he headed over to join Tosh in their work area.
Silence enveloped the conference room briefly before Jack said, "I failed you yesterday, Ianto; as a leader and as a life mate. I hope you can forgive me." Reaching out he grasped Ianto's hand afraid he would pull away. Ianto didn't.
"You fixed most of your mistakes in the meeting just now," Ianto replied.
"Why do I feel there's a 'but' in there somewhere," Jack murmured. "I want to make things right between us Ianto – talk to me please."
Ianto gazed into Jack's eyes for several minutes before he was able to ask, "Was I your second choice?" He was surprised by Jack's reaction; tears rolled down Jack's face.
"Oh, Ianto, I'm a poor excuse for a life mate if you have to ask that question," Jack began. "There was never a choice between you or Gwen. You're the only one who takes my breath away when you enter the room. The thought of resetting the timeline and getting you back, my love, was the only thing which kept me going through that horrible year. There's no choice involved, it's you and only you."
Ianto felt the pain in his heart melt away. Jack had let his barriers down and laid his heart at Ianto's feet. Ianto leaned forward and cupped Jack's face with his hands using his thumbs to wipe Jack's tears away. "I believe you Jack, I do," Ianto said kissing Jack. Catching his breath he added, "And I'm sorry for what I said to you yesterday. I've wanted you to be my life mate and you made me so happy when you said 'yes.' We're going to be alright." He stood up and pulled Jack up by the hand and led him to Jack's office and down the manhole to Jack's sleeping quarters.
"Looks like they've made up," Tosh said looking away from the CCTV monitor where they had watched Jack and Ianto's progress from the boardroom to Jack's office.
"About bloody time too," Owen agreed. "Means I won't be getting coffee from Ianto anytime soon though," he complained.
"How about a trip to Starbucks – my treat," Tosh offered.
Owen offered one of his rare smiles. "Love to Tosh," he replied.
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A note from socalrose: So what did you think of Harold; did you like him? Was his advice sound? Would you like to see Ianto interact with his fellow lycans more?
What about Ianto and Jack's argument; did Jack resolve a lot of it when he held the meeting? Please let me know what you think; comments, suggestions and questions are always welcomed.