15.07.2009
The leaden skies of another washed out day were almost a relief after the blindingly white sterility of the medical office where he'd been dragged for yet another check up. Ianto emerged through the security doors onto an otherwise unremarkable London street, with skyscrapers towering above him like the walls of a canyon. A faint drizzle made its way down into the chasm, and suited office workers scuttled past him under umbrellas, oblivious as they'd ever been. He looked up into the rain and stepped out into it, letting it soak into his suit for a minute before he set off down the road towards where Jack was waiting in the Jaguar.
He tucked a newspaper behind the seats as Ianto got in, and leaned over to kiss him. "All good?"
"Sort of." He regretted his choice of words when Jack paused with his hand halfway to the key in the ignition and a look of undisguised panic in his eyes. "It's nothing we didn't know about," he assured him quickly. "Just…"
When he trailed off, unable to find the words to explain, Jack settled back in his seat and let his hand fall away from the key, landing as if by accident on Ianto's knee. "Are you okay?"
"I'm benched. Probably for good, but that depends on whether my fitness levels improve." He shrugged. "I'm still young, but the last few months haven't been easy, have they? Between the Sontarans and John Hart."
Jack sighed. "I'm sorry."
He grunted and reached for his seatbelt. "Don't be. None of it is your fault." When Jack looked away, Ianto leaned over to kiss his cheek. "It'll be fine. And it'll be better for your nerves as well."
"You're not fine with it, though." He started the engine at last and they pulled out into the one way system, immediately caught in the snarl of traffic that had been made worse by the Daleks destruction. His hands clenched at the wheel and he glanced over at Ianto again. "How bad is it?"
"I'm not allowed to drink for at least six months. Although she did give me a special dispensation for the wedding day, as long as I don't exceed six units. Whatever that works out as." He rubbed at his face and turned to stare out of the window at the bland office reception they'd come to a stop outside. "And if I smoked, I'd have to stop. Good job I gave that up."
"And you're not allowed in the field?"
He nodded. "They'll reassess me in twelve months. My fitness levels really dropped when I was in London, and the damage ATMOS did to my lungs hasn't recovered fully. If I'm going to insist on higher standards for everyone else, I should lead by example. However hard it is." The traffic started moving again and Jack had to drag his gaze back to the road. "It could be worse, though. And at least now the office is above ground."
"There is that," Jack agreed with a half-forced chuckle. "You'll get to see daylight."
That was a path he was not going to take Jack down today, so he looked up at the sky again and smiled ruefully. "It might be a blessing in disguise, I suppose. I don't think I was going to get the hang of being Director if I was out in the field all the time. I'll probably have too many meetings to go to and conference calls to sleep through to even think about going out there anyway."
"You know, it is kinda hot when you pull rank on me."
He smirked. "I'll bear that in mind." The traffic ground to a halt again and the smirk slipped. The world had changed around them and kept changing. Every time he thought he'd got to grips with it it shifted again, his area of command spreading and growing constantly. Ally had demanded, and been given, the budget to expand Torchwood London into two separate branches, and was already scouting out locations along the Thames for a new field and technical support base. In Cardiff, Jack had let Christina and Micky loose and been presented with a thick file of potential recruits. He'd had more meetings with UNIT about the new structure than he could count and had even more booked into his diary on top of the inevitable spontaneous ones. Restructuring Torchwood and UNIT had seemed like an ambitious challenge when he proposed it, and that had been without factoring in rebuilding the world after a Dalek attack. Perhaps the Sontarans had done him a favour. He definitely wasn't going to credit it to Hart.
"Penny for your thoughts?"
"I'm just wondering when we're next going to get a chance to relax like this," he admitted. "And when we reached a stage that a three hour drive from London to Cardiff is relaxing."
Jack chuckled as they ground to a halt yet again. "I think it might take more than three, to be honest. We might have to go via Oxford, maybe stop off for lunch on the way."
"How dreadful." They looked at each other and Ianto couldn't have fought back his smile if he'd tried. "Well, you are in charge. For now…"
# # #
Westminster Hall had never felt as big as it did in that moment. The ancient hammer beam roof that had seen so much over the years was about to be witness to yet another twist in Britain's history. Ianto wiped his palms on his trousers again and glanced over at Jack, who stood ramrod straight in his formal military regalia. Ianto hadn't even known he had it until Gordon instructed him to wear it, and he supposed, in hindsight, that he should have been less surprised by the medal collection too. At least he'd kept them, even if it was in one of his tins of memories tucked away from sight. Ianto reached down and caught his hand, holding it for just a moment.
Dignitaries and officials, well wishers and nosy parkers continued to file into the room behind the serried ranks of cameras. He recognised plenty of faces, but there were plenty more he didn't. Prominent journalists huddled off to one corner, arguing over the best spots to do a final live broadcast before the ceremony started, and Gordon and Prince Charles were sequestered at the back behind some suitably subtle security guards, going over their speeches and plans one more time. Ally caught Ianto's eye and gave him two thumbs up, then turned her attention back to her charges with a bright, excited smile.
"Relax," Jack told him, with laughable hypocrisy considering his own tension. "If it all goes wrong, we'll just get the Doctor to take us on honeymoon to Barcelona and stay there."
"The planet or the city?"
"Oh, planet definitely." Jack brushed their fingers together again. "It will be okay, I promise."
Ianto smiled up at the ceiling, because it was easier than looking out at the crowd still. "Of course it will. We've got each other."
There was a long pause, in which Ianto could see Jack rolling his eyes even without looking at him. "I'd say sarcasm doesn't suit you, but you know it does." He let out a breath. "Nearly show time."
There was a clatter of camera flashes going off and everyone got to their feet as the start of the ceremony was announced, with a lot more pomp and grandeur than Ianto had hoped for. But that was how it was going to go now. This was real, it was out there, and the focus was going to be on them for the rest of his life. He swallowed hard and kept his eyes fixed straight ahead.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I would like to thank you, first of all, for attending today. The whole world is reeling from the brutal attacks which forced us to accept a truth many of us must admit we had known for a long time. We are not alone in the universe." Gordon's soothing tones rolled across the room, and Ianto fancied that he wasn't the only one relaxing automatically at the sound. Britain couldn't have chosen a much better Prime Minister to see them through a time like this, if only because his voice was so reassuring. "After the attacks on Cardiff, still so fresh and raw in our memories, it seems a cruel twist of fate that the warnings we were given then would be proved true so quickly. But for those of us standing here now life must go on. We must face up to and indeed embrace this new world we have found ourselves in. It is therefore my privilege to cede the podium to His Royal Highness Prince Charles, to bring the hard work and dedication of Torchwood into the light at last."
There was a murmur of interest through the room, and the journalists began scribbling furiously. Ianto, for his part, felt sick again.
Prince Charles took the podium amidst a sea of mutters and whispers, but a quick glance from him was all it took to still the crowd once more. He and the rest of the family had been rushed to safety in a combination of nuclear bunkers and isolated hunting lodges. Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle had, in the end, taken some mild damage but been largely ignored by the Daleks. A race with more emotional understanding would have done far worse. The Queen had greeted the news of the Dalek attack, Ianto was told, with nothing more than frustrated contempt and had demanded a pistol, then demanded it again when she was told that they would have no effect against the Daleks' armour. She was, of course, one of the few people alive who knew of the Daleks' attack on London during the Second World War.
"This hall is over nine hundred years old," Prince Charles intoned. "It has seen the trials of King Charles 1 and Guy Fawkes, amongst many others. William Churchill and my grandmother, the Queen Mother, laid in state here. If the statues could talk, they would tell the history of our country. And today we add one more tale to that great history, because today we finally acknowledge the dedication, the sacrifice, and the devotion of Torchwood.
"Torchwood was founded by Queen Victoria in 1879, following her encounter with a group of aliens who threatened Britain. From the very start, Torchwood recruited the brightest and bravest to defend the Empire, regardless of their background, and soon the organisation spread throughout the British Empire. Offices opened from India to the West Indies, in the heart of Australia's Red Centre and in the middle of London. For over a hundred years, they have carried out their work in secret, often paying the greatest price to protect the people they pledged their lives to, always unseen, unheard and unrecognised. Hundreds of people have stood between their cities and a hidden threat and held back the tide.
"Last week, they did it once more. Members of Torchwood in both London and Cardiff were amongst the first to recognise the threat we face and take action against it. Thanks to their quick thinking and advice, gleaned from hard won experience, many thousands of lives were saved, whilst Captain Jack Harkness, leader of Torchwood Cardiff, joined the small group who took the fight directly to the Daleks and saved not only our world but many, many more. Because we did not stand alone that night. Twenty seven planets were ripped from their homes into the darkness, and in the midst of the same destruction that was wrought on Earth, many of them reached out with a warning. The people of Shallacatop, in particular, were our partners on that dark day. Their warning was the first to reach us, and without them we would have had little chance to prepare for what was to come. I am told that we have been able to make contact with them since returning to our place in the universe. They suffered many losses, as we did, but they too are setting out on the road to recovery, and stand with us as our friends and allies."
That got attention. There were more mutterings through the hall, whispers of shock. The journalists were enjoying it a lot.
"It is in the darkest times that we find the brightest lights. Shallacatop and Torchwood were two of those lights, and they were joined by a network of civilians brought together by one man. The Doctor." He looked around the room to give that a moment to sink in, for people to connect rumours and whispers they'd heard over the years. "He is an alien, from a planet now lost to the very Daleks we faced ourselves. But following the loss of his planet, he has devoted his long life to protecting our world and so many others. Without him and the group of talented, brilliant people he has nurtured, our world would be a far darker place. He, alas, cannot join us, but it is my great honour, now, to pay tribute to those brave people, and to confer upon them the George Cross, Britain's highest civilian honour."
There was a thunderous round of applause as the honours were read out. Harriet Jones was the first, commended for her quick thinking that had brought the group together in Earth's hour of need. Then there was Sarah Jane Smith, Martha Jones and Mickey Smith, who had stood with the Doctor on the Dalek Crucible, and Jo Grant who had helped to coordinate the surrender of Sydney and started its recovery. All of them, as Prince Charles was more than happy to explain, had held the line between Earth and destruction on more than one occasion.
And then it was Torchwood's turn. Ianto wiped his palms on his trousers yet again and raised his eyes to the ceiling. Prince Charles turned to him and smiled, looking far more pleased about the situation than Ianto was.
"Through it all, Torchwood has stood. It is time, past time, that the organisation was recognised. Our world has been changed by what we all experienced, and Torchwood must change with it. We face challenges greater than any of us feared, but also opportunities greater than any of us hoped. We have taken our place on an intergalactic stage, and built alliances in the darkness with worlds we never knew existed. It is going to take a huge collective effort to embrace these opportunities and guide Torchwood into the future that lies before us. So today, here in this historic hall, it is my honour to introduce Ianto Jones, present him with the Victoria Cross, and invest him as Director of the Torchwood Institute."
If there was applause, it was drowned out by the ringing in Ianto's ears. Jack squeezed his hand once more and Ianto stood. His legs supported him all the way to the stage, which was nice of them. He shook the prince's hand as he'd been instructed and stood very still whilst the medal was pinned on him. It was then his turn to take the podium and face the crowd, and the however million people were watching it live on TV at home.
He channelled his inner Gordon, looked to Ally for another thumbs up, and stepped up to the microphone.
"It is an honour beyond words to accept this honour today, and the position of Director of Torchwood. But I know as I stand here today that I receive them only because I am one of the lucky ones. Countless of my peers, friends and colleagues, as well as so many that went before us, have given their lives in defence of a country and world that they loved. And I know that every one of them would do it again if they could, just as we would do it today. It has been our privilege to hold that line, and now it is my privilege to finally acknowledge their sacrifice." He swallowed hard and didn't think about Canary Wharf. "But as we have all said, today isn't simply about looking back. Today we look forwards, to the future of our organisation, our country, and our planet. The world we woke up to today is not the same one that we awoke to on that Saturday morning. It's a new world, one with a bigger and brighter future ahead of it than we ever knew. None of us could have imagined what we would face that day. But we rose to the occasion, and whilst we honour and mourn those we lost, we also honour the courage of those who stand today. Not just Torchwood and our allies across the world, but every single person. That day, Earth stood together, alongside twenty six other planets, in the face of seemingly impossible odds. And we triumphed. Whilst Shallacatop warned us of the threat we faced, we bore witness to the cruelties exacted on Adipose Three and broadcast our own hopes and fears into the darkness. Every broadcasting telescope on earth played music to the stars. And down here on Earth, it was much the same. People reached across national boundaries and religious divides with a hand of friendship and support in the darkness. When we asked you to check on your neighbours, you did it. When we asked for aid for those who had lost everything, you gave it and continued to give it. Wars stopped, enemy soldiers fought side by side to protect civilians, churches, mosques and synagogues opened their doors to everyone who was in need.
"We can't let that end today. A new dawn has risen and the danger is past, but we are still human. A wise man has told me, many times over the years, that the twenty first century is when everything changes. Let this be the first change. Let the hand of friendship remain extended to our neighbours, just as we extend the hand of friendship to the stars." He wasn't sure what he'd expected as a response to that, but it wasn't for a thunderous standing ovation that brought tears to his eyes. It rolled on for a long time, whilst he clung to the podium to stay upright.
When it eventually died down he wiped at his eyes quickly and resumed. "Torchwood will be there for you, today and into the future. We are ready to support the recovery and prepare for the future, just as we have for over a century." He looked up again and managed a smile. "It is my great honour, therefore, to present Torchwood's current membership."
The small group, so small in this vast hall and with the eyes of the world on them, stood up. It would have been easier with UNIT, but they were waiting for their moment, watching Torchwood to see the response they received. He sort of wanted to kick them, especially in that moment when the applause started up again and refused to stop. UNIT had lost more that day than anyone else, and their survivors deserved to share in this recognition. As it was, he stepped back and introduced each of them in turn, starting with Ally and finishing with Jack, as each of them was awarded the Victoria Cross and then, finally, Jack was announced as the head of the Cardiff branch once more and Ally as the head of the London branch. Prince Charles took the podium again to talk about the plans for a permanent memorial and other things that sailed past Ianto's head as he resumed his seat and clasped Jack's hand tightly, a broad grin he couldn't fight splitting his face.
# # #
"You did great," Ally assured him, standing on tip toes to hug him and press a kiss to his cheek. "I'm so glad I didn't read the draft. I cried, you know? Arse."
He chuckled and returned the hug so tightly she squeaked. "Thanks, Ally. How do you feel about the new title?"
She laughed. "You've only give it to me because the rest of them refused it. Don't think I don't know that.." Her smile softened and she pulled back to look up at him, pushing her hair off her face again. "I'm looking forwards to it. There's a lot to do, like you said, but, well, here we go."
"You'll be great. Better at it than I was."
"Yeah, well, my mind isn't in Jack's pants all the time. Speaking of which..." Her smile was pure evil, it really was. "I think most of the paps got the shot they wanted in the end."
He groaned at the reminder. One day he'd learn that there was no such thing as a private moment. A photo of him and Jack holding hands during the ceremony was already trending on Twitter. "Yes, well. They're just jealous."
"Pretty much." She straightened up a little and her eyebrows shot up. "Incoming."
"Incoming?" He turned around and found Prince Harry weaving through the crowd towards him, smartly turned out in his uniform and a bright grin in place. "Your Highness."
The Prince laughed. "Oh, you can give that up. You're marrying my godfather, remember?"
He blushed. "I... had actually forgotten that. Not the marrying bit, but..."
"You forget how well connected he is? Has he told you about his drinking sessions with Grandma? They're rather legendary." He offered his hand to Ianto and then Ally. "Proud to have you both on board. I've heard a rumour that you might find your names on the Birthday honours list, too, but keep that to yourselves."
Ally laughed. "I've gained so many titles in the last couple of days, I don't think there's any risk of me remembering them all. It's... bloody weird, if you don't mind me saying so."
"Don't mind at all, I'd feel the same. Say, is it true that you're an alien?"
Her eyes went very wide, making it all the more obvious that it was true. "Uh... yes? Well, and no. I was born in Basingstoke, but my mother is from Haligh. It's a planet two systems over from here. She came as a tourist and just never left."
"Well, it's lovely to meet you, Dame Craig." He kissed her hand and winked at her. "I'm sure we'll catch up at the party later."
Ianto and Ally caught each other's eyes as he left and tried not to gape. "Did he just? I don't want to know." She nodded past Ianto and nudged him. "Incoming again."
This time it was Jack, with a glass of wine in each hand. "Sorry, Ally, I didn't know you'd be here." He greeted Ianto with a kiss on the cheek and Ianto could feel the smile in it. "So, Director Jones..."
"Mmm, apparently so." He accepted the wine, despite Ally's unsubtle hints. "Ready for the twenty first century?"
"I think so. A very wise man told you that this is when everything changes, after all." He slipped an arm around Ianto's waist and smirked at him. "I can't wait to get you back to the hotel room."
"Okay!" Ally threw her hands up. "Hint taken. I'll catch you both later." She stood on tiptoes to kiss Jack on the cheek this time and then sashayed off through the crowd towards her team, leaving Jack and Ianto to a moment's peace and quiet before the real party kicked off.
Ianto reached up to straighten Jack's hair, and couldn't stop smiling. "We made it."
"We did. We deserve it."
"We do." He leaned in to kiss him. "Mm. I quite like being your boss, but I'm definitely looking forwards to being your husband."