4

"What is it now?" Jack asked as he watched John settle in a chair, looking around the expansive room that was Jack's office. Since things … changed… Jack became the official liaison and the voice of the Crusties. This was weird and it took a while for it to morph into him acting for just one people. There were still some slight skirmishes and such, but security was onto it, the fact Jack was openly with the Prince made it easier for him to seek help for those who had trouble adjusting, the Dwellers so nice and accommodating.

John was Head of Security, something he loved, and the uniform was sweet too, who knew John would like something so…. So… old fashioned. He looked like he has stepped out of some Old Sol3 ancient painting of a man in uniform with a horse and dogs or something. It suited him in a weird way.

"Well… there was a thought passed along to me to pass to you." John hedged the conversation, leaning back to place one shiny knee-high boot on the opposite knee, reclining like Lord of the Manor… there is was again. Jack fought the urge to pull at his fetlock. Then John added "A whinge and a possible solution."

Jack sighed as this was also a common thing. Those who were police, were now security and also considered councilors. They were privy to kinds of all things and some of those things made their way to Jack and Into. "Do tell."

"The cleaning crews are not enough. There are not the numbers needed to get it done quickly and we all know you can't make people grateful to be here, some expect it. So… the general chatter is that maybe we need to look below."

"Huh?"

"The prison population."

Ah. Those. One of the other things to develop since it all went tits up was the crime rate. Since not all Crusties were grateful or helpful, only human ya know, there were some degenerates that found out the hard way that this girl has dungeons.

"So, the idea is…" Jack prompted him to be the one to say it. God John loves the drama of it all.

"The idea is… if they go on to work release programmes it will lower their sentences." John pointed out "We will need all the hands we can get to make sure things are running smoothly and we cannot rely on the Dwellers to do all the work. We are supposed to be one people but there are still deep divisions. Maybe rubbing shoulders while sweating might help with that. Those in jail for stupid shit like drunk fighting or such… really?"

Jack leaned back to consider then said with a nod "I will take it to the table."

The Table.

Jack had settled into a seat at the table, still amazed that the seats had been shuffled to allow for several Crusty Representatives to join the heads of the families. Of course, Jack sat next to Ianto as not only the Crusty Captain, but Ianto's mate.

This simple act was not lost on anyone, least of all Jack who knew Ianto had made a major announcement the day he had simply patted the seat and looked pointedly at Jack as Ianto's father moved down the table.

It was clear.

Also, the strange and delicate family dynamics. Ianto's mother gone, his father estranged. His Uncle the de facto father to him as a child and then came the entire problem of his cousin/brother and Lisa. So far Ianto had ignored this… all of… this… but Jack knew it was eating at him. A glance down the table now and then filled with such anger, such pain. Sooner or later there had to be a reckoning there.

Ianto's mother's death had never been fully sorted out, had it. The anger and betrayal still tore at the fabric of the family unit and Jack felt it keenly. Ianto's pain is his pain.

.

.

"So, there was no real discussion… it just… happened?" Jack asked.

Duffy was sitting in Jack's office and Jack was eternally grateful that the poor man did want peace in the family. "No. When my sister was killed… murdered… little Ianto was just left behind. My brother-in-law is a weak man, always was. He simpered around my sister, even as he conspired to take her seat at the table. When the dust had settled, he was there in her spot, one up from where he belonged as a distant cousin to the Queen's dead husband."

"It rankled." Jack guessed "After all, you were her brother. You should have been the one to keep the seat warm for Ianto as his agent."

"Yes, but he had slimed around my mother, the Queen who was in deep mourning over the loss of her beloved daughter." Duffy nodded.

"So, Dwyer is older than Ianto, he must have known he was his cousin, not his brother and was the heir, not him" Jack tried to work out the dynamics still.

"Yes, but he also decided after a while that I would take the crown one day, then it would fall to him. Ianto's father sat in the chair of a dead Queen-to-be. With no blood claim, he could never take the crown. For some reason… my fickle son decided that I was next in line. It is as if he… forgot who Ianto is." Duffy shrugged "He was always as narrow minded and greedy as his mother."

"And her?"

"Died, drowned if you can believe that" Duffy snorted. "Wanted a pretty bird that had flown down… could not reach and was too impatient to get help. She was as blinkered as her son is."

"I thought you can all swim. Ianto told me that as newborns you can" Jack was confused.

"My wife was born a Custy. You lot are lax in the matter of learning to swim" Duffy grinned "As a small child she wandered down the tunnels, hungry, afraid and beaten by her father. She was taken in, loved and given a safe place."

"So, there was always the offer of friendship, we were just too arrogant of thick to see it" Jack laughed softly as he shook his head "Sounds like us."

Duffy smiled as he agreed that their peoples had much to still learn.

And at least now they were learning together.

On the same page at last.