14
"Well done" the Commissioner was saying with open glee, "the DNA has confirmed this is The Snake, you did good."
Ianto stood there silently staring at the screen.
"You forewent your tail?"
"Lost it"
"Well… in accordance with our agreement… we hereby raise your rank." the commander sitting next to the commissioner said calmly and Ianto felt something inside him shift as he had not actually expected them to stand by anything they had proposed. He didn't know why, but he felt a sense of foreboding as they were doing something which can only mean… "We hereby reclassify you as General."
Ianto blinked, staring at the screen as this was not a flight rank… this was one that those shuffling papers held and NEVER a Meatstick "Are you benching me?"
"No… not at all. We are merely acknowledging your service and now it is completed… we are willing to allow you semi-retirement as promised." The Commissioner said briskly.
Ianto cleared his throat and smiled as he said softly "You promised me retirement… not semi at a desk! General? You know Meatsticks don't make Generals. Only posthumously. "
"Now General… you know you are Agency for life. We cannot simply throw you out to the wilderness, we may need your services" the commissioner laughed like it was a huge joke "Name your successor to lead your team, know that when it matters you will still lead them in battle while also liaising with us at other times and you may yet have your freedom."
"Ah... so you wave the semi-retirement at me, tell me to choose a successor from the ranks and then drop in there that you still need me as an overseer" Ianto sighed, then started to laugh "You know… it is actually more than I expected of you."
The commander looked hurt for a moment then sighed, nodding his agreement "I know we have a history of turning on promises but… if anyone deserves some freedom it is you. This was the best deal I could get for you."
"And I appreciate that Sir" Ianto then canted his head "And I feel another stipulation hanging over me that I may not like the sound of?"
"I know you wanted to go home to Old Earth… I am sorry Ianto. Their quarantine regulations mean you would have to self isolate for almost six months either side of the planetary jump… I know a year spent in a room with nothing to do would be more of a death to you than a bullet to the chest."
"I was growing afraid of that, the new regulations being so low key and not all released … I wondered what they were holding back. I can't do that. I can't last a year without service." Ianto leaned back, his heart weary as he knew he would never walk in water, never feel the lap of waves at his feet, and never look over a sea of water.
Once upon a time Earth was a place of beauty and although most looked at it like a cess pit… it was still beautiful to Ianto.
"It is what it is. I have a counter request then" Ianto said, making the commander start with surprise then grin as this was a different Ianto indeed.
"Very well General… hit me!"
"Captain Harkness has to be medicalled out, we all know this and it will mean an instant recall to the Agency for reclassification as a trainer… he cannot do this due to the child. If he could train the next wave here, we set up a training facility… we really do need one."
The commander stared at Ianto so long he wondered if the screen had frozen then the commander asked softly "Do you love him?"
Ianto nodded silently, not trusting his voice.
The commander drummed his fingers on the desk, leaning back to stare off screen then nodded to someone as the Commissioner made a noise, the commander then looked back to Ianto "OK. I will make the order and the Commissioner here can second it, we will do everything we can to get you want you need in way of supplies and manpower for this to work."
Ianto bowed his head to the man who had been his superior his entire life and the old man smiled as he looked at the man he had cultivated, handpicked from the nest of babies still so new their skin was wet from the birthing pools.
The one he knew was from his own DNA, the closest he would ever come to having a son… not that one in life-service gets that… he had bucked the system by bending the rules to watch this man develop, grow and to his delight show some of his own beloved mother's traits, especially the loud bray of laughter he had heard on the rare occasion.
Yes.
The commander would do all he could to make this happen… he had lived vicariously though this man, watched him with his brothers and sisters as he grew, led, fought, wept and screamed with the rage of a good man. Revelled in the tail's length as if grew… matching his own.
Yes.
His son deserved rest.
He would make it so.
