Chapter Text
Ianto hated debriefs and this one was horrible from the get-go. He and his siblings had to explain what had happened during that hellish year to the Queen, the current President of the United States of America, and several people who needed to know what had happened, one of which was the Brigadier General of UNIT- Retired- and the another was Sir Arthur from Torchwood II. None of the Guardians were in a cheery mood and they were not in a very giving mood about the interfering Gallifreyan. Miss Martha Jones and the rest of her family were more forgiving of the alien, but Ianto had a lot of history with the bi-cardiac alien and his “more intelligent than thou” ways. Sometimes he had a point, but in others it just got in the way of what the Universe wanted. Besides, while he was sitting there in the wheelchair “attuning himself to the Arch Angel waves” the Earth was dying, and they were dying with it. Ianto glanced at his sister to see how well she was holding up.
He gave Harm a tap and nodded to their sister. She was not doing well at all.
“Will there be anything else?” growled Captain Rabb from his place at the head of his family. Some of the others were also wavering, but they also were trying to put up a brave face. They were all exhausted by that damn year and their first cousins were going to have to step up for a while. Ianto thought that there was going to be a collective wince when that was going to be told to the active members of the Seven in Denver and their cousin in New York.
The Queen raised an eyebrow while the President asked, “Why do you ask, Captain?”
“Permission to speak freely, sir?”
“Granted.”
Harm sighed, and the heaviness of the strain flooded the room from him. “That is just me, Sir, Ma’am.” It lifted from the room like a heavy fog in the sunlight, but the people involved in the debrief could still see it in the faces of the twelve people grouped together in support of each other. “Had my sister and brother joined me in releasing just what we are feeling, you would have been on the floor, unable to move from the sheer exhaustion. Imagine, now, what we are feeling from just ourselves and the fact that we hold the memory of the entire Earth dying while the Master was building his ships to take over the Universe. And the Doctor sat in his wheelchair absorbing the waves of the Arch Angel Network to stop him. Great. But where did he get the brass balls to forgive the murderer and beg the man to Regenerate. Death is a part of Life; we know this and live with it from birth to our own deaths. The Universe was not happy with the Master’s plan and the Master’s destruction of a planet that was still relevant to the Movement of the Spheres.”
Ianto watched the group study them, but the Jones clan wasn’t as forgiving as the Heads of State. The President and Queen knew of the difficult decisions that had to be made and the threat assessments that had to be considered. The Jones family, especially Miss Martha Jones, were loyal to the hero of the battle between the Gallifreyans. Ianto suspected that Martha Jones was bit in love with the arrogant Doctor.
“No accounting for taste,” Marie muttered lowly.
Harm cleared his throat and gave her a dark look that had her subside back to a bland look as she looked over the tops of the heads of the leaders of UNIT. Ianto did not want to know what was going through her head currently, but he did know that he was looking forward to going back to Harm’s house, seeing his friends, and getting some rest. That beer was calling his name and he was seriously considering digging into the Scotch- the older the better. Getting drunk was definitely on the agenda in the very near future.
“Is there anything you wish to add, Mr. Jones?” asked Her Majesty.
Ianto turned his eyes to look at the Queen, but he didn’t say anything since he wasn’t sure if she was speaking to him or one of the male members of the other Jones family.
“I think she was speaking to you, laddy,” said Sir Arthur with a chuckle at the confusion.
Ianto shook his head. “No, Ma’am,” he said. “I think that we covered everything in our debrief.”
“We just want justice to be given to those on the Valiant,” said Harm. “They helped to perpetrate the injustice and did nothing to stop the mad alien.”
“Do they even remember what they did?” asked some Colonel behind the current General.
“The ones on the Valiant remember everything,” growled Marie. “They were caught in the eye of the Time Storm when the paradox rewound. They know what they did and are hoping that no one else remembers so they can act as clean as a preacher’s sheets.”
“And we know they were just as guilty of the War Crimes against the Earth and the Jones family as the Master was. Any who argued against the Master were soon “taken care of”. Their bodies were object lessons for any who were on the fence about protesting the rule of the Master,” added Danny.
“When that stopped, countries were destroyed,” added Steve.
“And the population was enslaved to assemble his rockets to invade the Universe or they were killed by his Enforcers,” said Spencer quietly. “The people in the silver balls’ thoughts were chaotic at best and sociopathic at worst. They didn’t care they were killing their ancestors; they just listened to what the Master said.”
“And those of us who were dead had to watch him in the limbo as our living family members fought and died. The burden of the Earth fell on those who were still alive until it was only our sister left,” said Harm. “We never asked when she knew it was time to leave her hiding place to confront the Master, but she did and then Martha Jones came on the Valiant with nothing but a “weapon” and a foolhardy plan by a desperate alien. We finished what he should have ended. The Universe demanded it.”
“So, you having the Master killed by your pet assassin-” Ianto noticed that Martha glanced at Marie and discreetly moved away a bit more- “was better than the Doctor’s plan?”
“Do you hear the Universe whisper in your ear?” asked Harry. “Can you hear the outrage of the planets over the desecration of one of their own by one who was supposed to know better since he was so much smarter than the -what does the Doctor call us? -hairless apes? Had we not given judgement to the Master, then he would have been Judged by one of the many other second cousins we have in the Universe and we would have been called to task for not completing our job for our own planet. Even the Doctor would have been brought before them if we had not settled matters since he had plans of trying to save the raging maniac,” he finished sarcastically.
“What would have happened to you if you did not go through with the Judgement?” asked Brigadier General Lethbridge-Steward.
“We would have been brought before the Council of the Guardians and stripped of our protection,” said Marie quietly. “Then we would be Marked as Oath Breakers to be Hunted by our once Family, including our cousins here on Earth. We would have a death sentence and the Earth would have little to no protection against what is out in the Universe as a whole.”
“You mean there are other things that the Doctor protects us from?” asked Mrs. Jones.
“There are other things that the Doctor is not even aware that we are in contact with,” said Nick with a sigh. “And while Ianto and his organization handles a small portion of the beings out in the Universe, there are others that come by other means. And there are things here on Earth that have to be watched that can affect the Universe as well.”
“Thus, we have to keep a weather eye on a lot of things,” said Harry with a shrug. He smiled a winning smile at the family. “Things don’t need to be interfered with, so we just watch them and go on with our own lives unless a spanner gets thrown in the works. Then we earn our keep.”
“If it’s not broke, don’t fix it,” muttered Sir Archibald.
“Exactly,” said Marie tiredly. Ianto noticed that she was starting to fade a bit quicker. She was trying to hold up, but it was a struggle. Harm noticed it was well.
The American President heaved a great sigh and looked at his English counterpart. “This is where I will be advising Congress to not let UNIT into the US. Only research stations that are there and they will be monitored by US military. Your Majesty, I will not presume to tell you what to do with your country or Protectorates, but UNIT has been getting a bit worse since Brigadier-General Lethbridge Stewart has retired. The good officers are not getting the promotions they need, and the politicians are getting placed where they do the worst jobs, to quote the complaints of a small group of people.” He winked at Ianto’s eldest siblings. “Now I feel we should let these good people be on their way and we should discuss what they have said about the things we can do something about.”
Ianto and his family rose, giving a salute to the assembled Heads of State and was escorted out of the compound. The Jones family was right behind them and Ianto could tell that they were not happy with how any of them felt about the great and powerful Doctor.
“Don’t,” he said.
“I’m sorry,” said Martha. At least Ianto thought it was Martha who was doing the talking.
“He said don’t,” said Tony tiredly. “In other words, the wounds are too fresh for all of us and emotions are still too high. None of us want to say something that we will regret later, so please, for now let it lie. If you really want to yell at us, I’m sure that UNIT will be able to help you find us. They like to keep tabs on us too. We just keep better ones.”
Each of Ianto’s brothers nodded to the Jones family as they got into the cars that would take them to the airport to take them back to the US. The last one took Harm, Harry, Ianto, and Marie to Harm’s home in London and Ianto was so grateful to see that front door.
“I don’t know what was worse,” he groaned. “Living through the ordeal or explaining it.”
“It’s a toss-up,” moaned Marie. “I’m tired from the mess from that slime from the 51st century dropping in and screwing everything up and the drive here and then this.” She levered herself out of the car. “I might skip dinner and just sleep until morning.”
“I might join you,” said Harm as he led the group to the door. Ianto watched as he unlocked the door and glanced over his shoulder to watch the car leave. Ianto didn’t want to even think what the reception was going to be like from Tosh and Owen.
It was a bit better than he thought.
“How was it?”
“I hate debriefs,” he said. “This is one reason why I left the Service.”
“I thought you left because you aged out,” said Harry “innocently”.
The name Ianto called him was not polite or in English. Harm and Marie were slap-happy enough to snicker. Harry just grinned at this older brother. Owen and Tosh were confused.
“My older and more decrepit siblings will be falling into bed to sleep due to being exhausted. I will, of course, try to make something for you to eat, but I don’t think that I will be that entertaining either. They wanted to know more about our time on the Valiant during that time that UNIT is calling the Year-That-Never-Was and it takes a toll emotionally and spiritually.”
“In other words, we are still recovering from the Master and having the tete-a-tete with the Queen, the US President, the retired heads of UNIT, the official head of UNIT, and the official head of Torchwood wrung us out,” said Ianto tiredly. He glanced at Tosh. “If I was ever rough with you after the debrief over the situation with Mary, I apologize Tosh.” Then Ianto looked at Owen. “If I ever get rough with you during a debrief, I apologize in advance.”
Marie grunted as she passed the group from Torchwood for the stairs to the second floor. Ianto watched as she ascended slowly, gripping the railing. The stairs were going to challenge him as well. The dreams were going to be worse.
“Go, Teaboy,” Owen said quietly. “We can take care of ourselves for the day. You and your family need the rest. Tomorrow you can entertain us.”
“Perish the thought,” said Harm. “I think that Harry and I can get something made up quickly for us tonight. We can do something special tomorrow.”
“I was going to show them the London I remember,” said Ianto as he started for the stairs himself.
Harm smirked at his younger brother. “I look forward to that guided tour. Maybe I can add a few things from when I was young.”
Ianto threw a withering glance over his shoulder as he started up the stairs. “By twenty years.”
“Still counts,” was returned.
Ianto grumbled in Welsh as he climbed the rest of the way to the second floor. In his room, he considered just leaving his suit in a pile on the floor, but then remembered it would wrinkle and sighed as he picked it up to put it in the dirty laundry. At least if it was wrinkled in the laundry, he wouldn’t have to see it until it was taken to the cleaners. Finally comfortable in sleep pants and a cotton shirt, Ianto was turning down the bed when there was knock at the door. It was his sister.
“Want some company?” she asked.
“Are you sure? I tend to kick with my dreams.”
“And I flop like a dead fish, so you will be jostled, and I will have bruised shins. And maybe we’ll both have a better night’s sleep. I’ll take my chances.”
Ianto smiled and invited his sister into his room. They settled into the bed facing each other before wishing each other good night. The night was uncomfortable for everyone in the house as the empathic protections of the three oldest people in the house dropped and the emotions were let loose for everyone to feel and be affected by. Ianto’s dreams affected his emotional mood, thus letting out the bits of anger and resentment he felt at the loss of Canary Warf when friends were killed and the only ones who seemed to care were his family. Next to him, he felt the paralyzing fear of his sister’s first rape and the long climb to be the survivor that she was at his first meeting with her in a Canadian clearing. Down the hall, their oldest brother added to the mix the resentment of not being good enough for the father who fathered him but kept his blue blood wife and Harm’s younger half-brother. Overall, the night was far from restful for the other three people under Captain Harmon Rabb’s roof.
The next morning Ianto woke to see his sister looking at him with a resigned look on her face.
“Our empathic protections fell last night, didn’t they?” he asked quietly.
“How can you tell?” she returned.
“Memories that weren’t mine,” he said. “I remember how you looked when I first met you in Canada. I’m guessing you dreamed of your first rape?”
“Yes. And you went through the Hell of Canary Warf again.”
Ianto winced. It wasn’t easy on his sister either. He remembered how she was armed with a headset uplink to a doctor, propofol, and a gun. While he tried to keep UNIT from stripping Torchwood I of everything, she was doing a mercy kill of everyone she found in the conversion units. Ianto was convinced that she had practically stripped many of the hospitals in the area of all their propofol supplies. It was only when she found Lisa that Marie had called Ianto from his self-appointed task of trying to save as much of the Archives from UNIT as possible. She gave him enough time to say good-bye but didn’t let him try to take her out of the conversion unit. She gave him the cold, hard truth: Lisa’s soul was gone and in its place was a program that was slowly taking over. Ianto lost a good friend that day, but he still had the memories before that terrible horrible awful day. Marie had preserved them for him by not letting him see a wonderful woman’s death.
Marie had shooed him off to protect his Archives from UNIT and the last he saw was her drawing up the dose of propofol to arrest Lisa’s breathing. He didn’t hear the gunshot that made sure that the Cyberman inside of Lisa’s body wouldn’t rise.
And he saved most of the Archives and computer system for Captain Harkness and Torchwood 3.
“I think that Harm also had some past issues that came up in his dreams too,” said Ianto. “I got the impression of not being good enough.”
“Well, Harkness was giving you the impression that you weren’t good enough for a while,” said Marie tiredly. “You had to fight for what respect you had for a while.”
“But I have some; more now thanks to Owen and Tosh,” said Ianto. “They at least know that I know what I’m doing and know how to handle myself.”
“True. And I’m sure they would like to know what was going on last night.”
“And yesterday.”
“Time to face the music.”
“I’ll make the coffee.”
“I’ll make the breakfast.”
“What about Harry cooking breakfast?”
“I don’t want to have such a heavy breakfast. I’m still teaching him that he can use more than what Petunia taught him for breakfast.”
“What if I want a full English breakfast?”
“Then you can clean up the mess. I want an omelet, preferable a Farmer’s Omelet. If you want pancakes, then you better be nice to me.”
“I’ll pass it on to the rest of the family.”
Ianto watched as his sister left to get ready for the day and he dressed comfortably. No suits, just jeans and a tee shirt, which would have shocked the Captain. He made it down to see his baby brother talking with Owen and Tosh in the kitchen. They all looked a bit worse for wear and he felt a bit ashamed that they had allowed their empathic protections to drop in their sleep at the same time.
Tosh was the first to see him in the doorway and rose to greet him. “Ianto, are you feeling better?
Ianto looked down, feeling abashed. “A bit.” He looked up through his brows. “Sorry about the awful sleep we gave you last night.”
Harry shrugged. “If the three of you were dropping your protections like that, then all three of you were really on edge. Hopefully the healing can start for all of us.”
“That includes Harkness as well as Owen and Tosh,” said Harm as he joined the rest of the group. “So, who is making breakfast?”
“Marie said that she wants a Farmer’s Omelet and said that she would make pancakes if I was nice to her,” Ianto said. “I hope I was nice enough.”
“What would be in her Farmer’s Omelet?” asked Tosh.
“Ham, potatoes, onion, green peppers, and mushrooms, with cheese on top,” said Marie as she came down. She poked Ianto. “Don’t you have coffee to make?”
“I’ll take the pancakes, if you don’t mind,” said Owen. He looked at Ianto. “Could you hurry with the coffee? I’m going through withdrawals.”
Ianto watched his sister purse her lips before nodding her head and bringing out the iron flat pan and an iron skillet. Both were set up to warm up on the stove as she set about cutting up the vegetables for her omelet. Then they were mixed and set aside so she could cut up a bit of ham. That too was mixed in and set in the refrigerator to wait for the skillet to warm up to the right temperature. Another bowl was sacrificed to the beginnings of the pancake mixture as Marie watched the pans and moved around Ianto as he made the coffee.
“Is that heathen still in Texas?” he asked absently as Marie flicked water on the flat pan to watch it dance and sizzle.
“Which one? Nick? He’s in Las Vegas as a CSI, but you knew that. Vin? He’s up in Denver with Ezra. They’re part of an ATF unit.”
“And yes,” Harm added. “He still likes coffee strong enough to stand a horseshoe up in.”
“Heathen.”
“Cowboy,” Marie and Harm both returned.
Harry snorted in laughter and smiled at Ianto’s coworkers. “It’s a long-standing joke. Don’t worry about it. May be one day you’ll meet them and find out why Ianto calls Vin a heathen. Although, Ezra might be one too considering what he does to tea.”
That got a snicker from both Harm and Marie. “If you don’t like what Ezra does to tea, then what we did was absolute sacrilege,” said Harm.
“Practically treasonous,” snickered Marie.
Ianto rolled his eyes and poked Marie. “Breakfast. I’m hungry.”
Marie flicked water on the iron skillets and nodded as she watched the water skitter across the surface. Then she poured the pancake mixture in round circles on the flat pan while she lowered the temperature on the skillet. Ianto noticed his coworkers watching how his sister was making the pancakes and smiled to himself. She was making them like she was working in a lumber camp, or so he was told. But it still was enough for more than one person at a time and free style. It was also fun to watch as she flipped them. “Too bad you don’t use a pan, then you can try to flip them with the pan,” he teased.
She just scowled at him while Harm snickered. Ianto assumed it was tried once and it didn’t go well.
The pancakes were finished and put on a platter for all who wanted them while the vegetables were cooking, and the flat pan was readied for the scrambled eggs. It was an interesting process to watch and Ianto saw that his coworkers watched his sister cook with a different style than they were used to. “Short order cook,” he said.
“What?”
“It means that I have cooked in a restaurant before. Usually they are small diners where people walk in and order when they are ready. I don’t do the fancy stuff.”
“Tim does that on occasion,” Harm adds as he applied himself to the pancakes. “Too bad we don’t have maple syrup.”
Ianto watched as Marie smirked at their oldest brother; England was going to get insulted by the born colonist. “The heathens don’t know how to tap the sweet maple trees,” she said innocently. “Or they don’t like the imports.”
“Or we like our fruits,” Owen said.
“Store bought or homemade?”
“Don’t fight at the table,” Ianto sighed. “Wait until after we leave to have the knock-down-drag-outs.” Ianto didn’t like the grins that either party were sporting, or the bewildered look his other two brothers had. Tosh just looked excited to see what was going to happen when the pair was going to go at it. Ianto just hoped that they weren’t too badly off that they would say something that would put the other in a worse position. “And don’t kill each.”
“Take all the fun out of it,” was muttered, but Ianto didn’t want to know who muttered it. He wanted plausible deniability.
When they finally did go out into London proper, the first thing they did was visit Harmon’s job. He needed to make sure everything was running without him for a few days and that there were no emergency calls that needed him. Ianto figured that any call from San Diego could wait or Harm’s second could talk with that one. She was too pushy by half and was still trying to make him regret leaving her in the bar. Even the Marine JAG finally figured out that Harm was better off without the emotional abuse she was putting Harm through. Too bad it took a small family intervention at the time of Harm’s wet down. That reminded Ianto- he would have to see about sending something nice to Bud and Harriet (the sometimes Harridan when it comes to that stupid Marine lawyer in California) for their anniversary.
Fortunately, Harm’s immediate boss was alerted to Ianto’s brother’s need for a few days off for “mental health” reasons. The second seemed to be competent enough to handle the operations without needing to yell for Harm every three to six hours, so we were free to show the younger members of our group and Marie the sights of London and share our memories. Marie was willing to share some of her memories, but she only came over rarely; she stayed close to the continent of her birth.
The day was fulfilling and full of stories. Between Harm and Ianto, some of the more outrageous and funny stories were shared about their time in London. Ianto even told them of some of the things he experienced with Helena while working with Warehouse 12. And the memories of the night of Torchwood’s birth.
That brought back bittersweet memories.
Canary Warf brought back bitter memories for all of them.
“I can’t believe that there are still businesses here,” Owen muttered. “People died here.”
“It’s prime commercial real estate,” said Ianto quietly. “They wouldn’t let the land go so quickly.”
“Besides, who remembers what really happened?” asked Harm. “The survivors, who probably don’t want to remember; UNIT, who doesn’t really care; and us, who had to walk through trying to find survivors and put down awake Cyberpeople.”
Owen and Tosh winced; they remembered hearing about that. They wondered how much medication was used to put all those people out so a bullet could be administered.
“I’m thinking that we are getting into the territory that needs alcohol if we are going to broach it more,” Harry said. “Marie is looking a bit tense.”
“Marie is getting to the point of walking away and finding a good winery,” Marie muttered. “Or someplace with a decent selection of noncarbonated alcohol.”
Ianto straightened up and started to gather the group together. “Okay, time to get the supplies together. Food and plenty of alcohol for us to get very drunk.”
“And hope we don’t do something that the rest of the family will have to clean up,” muttered Harm.
“Haven’t they before?” Marie asked.
“Yes,” Ianto said.
“And then gave us crap for it,” said Harm. “For years.”
“And years,” continued Ianto.
“And years,” sighed Marie. “Point.”
Owen and Tosh watched the byplay then looked at Harry. “Are they always like this?” Owen asked.
Harry shrugged. “Sometimes worse. My older brothers say that those three can gang up on the rest of the family if they really want to. I haven’t seen it yet, but the Christmas get togethers are fun.” Harry’s smile grew bigger. “Hey, Ianto!”
Ianto looked up with dread from the discussion with his older siblings. Harry had an idea and it was tied to his co-workers. It might be good, or it might be bad. He was reserving judgement at this point until he heard it and then he would see about a nice high place to jump from. He was beginning to think that staying in Avalon with Myfanwy was beginning to look good. “What?”
“Maybe we should invite your friends to Christmas this year. We could have it here.”
“Think you can remember what an English Christmas is like, English?” Ianto heard Marie ask.
“Think you can behave yourself in a foreign country for a little bit?”
“Me? I’d be more worried about our cowboy cousins. You know how Vin and Ezra get when they get uncomfortable.”
“Don’t remind me,” Ianto growled as he smiled at Harry. “That sounds like a great idea. You can host it.”
“What?!” he squawked. “Why me?”
“Your idea?” shrugged Ianto. “We’ll bring the decorations and the food. Just let your staff know we’re coming.”
“You do know they’ll object.”
“And so will your Captain,” muttered Marie.
Ianto shrugged. “They can help with the decorating and he can either come along or pout. I’m not giving up my family because he’s insecure.”
“Ianto, I don’t think that Jack is insecure,” Tosh said.
“About me, I think he is. He goes hot and cold. One day he flirts and the next he-”
“And this is where we need the alcohol and privacy,” announced Owen.
“Got that right,” muttered Harm. “I don’t know if I want to know half of what is going on with those two.
“Nothing beyond good friends,” said Marie as she took Tosh’s arm to walk away from the group. “I’m getting my wine. Tosh can come with me. Get what you want, and we’ll figure out dinner at the house. Ianto, hold that thought.”
When everyone returned to the house with their alcohol of choice, Ianto noticed that Tosh had a cheaper version of the type that she usually bought. He arched an eyebrow and looked at his co-worker. “She said that sometimes the best wine isn’t always the most expensive,” Tosh shrugged. “She said that she has bought some Rieslings for less than $30 American and said that to her they taste just as good as the more expensive ones. She also said that she preferred her wines sweet and that she is not a wine snob.”
“Which is why she buys the cheaper wines,” Ianto muttered. “She doesn’t drink them often and doesn’t want to waste money on something she won’t like.”
That night was more about funny and embarrassing stories about each other and trading information about their pasts. Tosh and Owen didn’t know as much about Ianto as they originally thought and even less about their temp help when she was with them. “So, you were around when Torchwood was formed?” asked Tosh as she listened to the three tell the story about the Doctor, Rose, and Queen Victoria at Torchwood House.
Ianto scowled. “Yes,” he growled a bit drunkenly. Ianto realized he was past tipsy and on his way to drunk. Good. “The pair were making a game of trying to make Queen Victoria say “We are not amused”. She finally did say it right before banishing the Doctor from England- after she Knighted them both. In the morning she created Torchwood to fight the obscure and alien. Torchwood House was to house the findings. And, of course, that made our job sooo much harder.”
“Oh God, yes,” saluted Harm from his seat on the other love seat. He looked a bit drunk himself. “When there was a situation in England, we had to TRY to circumvent the Queen and her two attack bitches. Poor Ianto was sent in to see if he could mitigate the damage the pair were doing, but he got banished to Scotland and he was finishing some work with Warehouse 12 at the time.”
“And the darling women decided to use Captain Harkness as their enforcer cum executioner when they damn well felt like it,” finished Marie from her spot on the floor by Tosh. They had finished one bottle between the pair of them and were working on a second. They looked about the most sober of the group. “The only time the dear captain was able to leave was during the Wars and he had to use fake names to keep from being mixed up with the real Captain Harkness.” She looked over at Ianto. “Did you meet the man once?”
Ianto had to think about it before he nodded. “Yeah, I think I did. It was before I shipped out. He was just coming in with his group and I was getting ready to leave for the Continent. I accidentally bumped into him. I didn’t realize the significance until I realized that my Partner was using a dead man’s name.”
“And where were you during the Wars?” asked Tosh. “If it’s not too painful to ask?”
“Ah, the first one I was keeping the home fires burning for a bit before getting illegally married to an abusive man. Then, to quote our cousin Vin, I lit a shuck and hid until they came home. It took a bit for me to recover from that. Harm was almost beating himself up again for that.”
“Well, it happened again after I promised that I wouldn’t let it,” he said.
“And I knew you tried for many years to protect me,” Marie said. “You couldn’t have counted for a shady couple who took advantage of a war.”
“And the second World War?” asked Owen. “Somehow I don’t think that you stayed home for that one.”
“And you would be right,” Harm said with a bitter laugh. “While FDR was tap dancing around the issue, promising help to England, and making deals with the Japanese, she was at Pearl Harbor with the Naval nurses.”
“And on December 7, 1941, I came out of the hospital to hear the air raid sirens going off and watching Japanese airplanes slamming into American ships. I was at that hospital the rest of the day helping with any wounded that managed to make it to the hospital, but I could hear the dead and dying in the ships that sank in their berths in the harbor. After the attack, they tried to get to the sailors still trapped, but many still drowned in those ships. The only one to survive the attack was the Missouri. I still have trouble going to Pearl to this day because I can still hear them calling from the sunken ships.”
“The next day we declared war on Japan and Nazi Germany,” said Harm. “Most of us were in the Western Front, but Marie and Cousin Ezra and Cousin Vin were in the Pacific. Too bad they weren’t stationed closer together, then maybe I wouldn’t have been so nervous about you three.”
“Oh, like how we felt when you went up again the Red Baron during the first World War?” asked Ianto. “I do know that Marie had heard about your stunts and a few of the creative curses had left her mouth.”
Harry grinned at Tosh and Owen as they listened to the three siblings bickering good naturedly. “Yes, they do argue like this on occasion. It’s when they gang up on the rest of us that it gets annoying.”
Ianto peered at the group. “That’s because when we gang up on the rest of them, we use our seniority,” he said. “Tony tries to counter it by saying that he has just as much experience, but Harm and Marie tell him that he didn’t fight in the whole War of 1812, only part of it.”
“We found the stripling Tony DiNozzo fighting with others around the Spring of 1814,” Harm said. “He was all of 16 years old. Marie was married at that age back in the Winter of 1761.”
“He had run off to help defend the Country that took his Famiglia in when they lost everything in the Old Country. It was his way of showing his pride in his Country of his birth,” said Marie. “Of course, we had to teach him how not to burn down everything in sight when he started to come into his abilities.”
“And tell him that Seeing the Future doesn’t mean that it will come to pass,” added Harmon. “He got used to it.”
“He didn’t get used to Welsh for a long time though,” smirked Ianto. “He said that it was as difficult as Ojibway.”
“He figured it out though,” Marie said with a wave of her hand. Ianto saw that she didn’t seem to care what a young Antonio DiNozzo thought about her childhood language; she had to learn his childhood language to add on to the four others she already knew.
“Uh, what time is it?” asked Harry.
“Either not late enough or too damn early, I can’t tell which,” said Ianto as he tried to look at the clock.
“You don’t have your watch?” asked Tosh.
“Left it in my room. I didn’t want to break it accidentally.”
“Unfortunately, I have to be back to work in the morning,” said Harry. “So, this is where I leave you and hope I didn’t drink too much. Snape would just love to shove a Sobering potion down my throat if I come in drunk still or Hermione will take great pains to be nice and loud if I come in with too much of a head.”
“Drink plenty of water,” said Marie from her spot on the floor, “and eat something light like toast. Severus shouldn’t be too hard on you if you tell him you were reliving some bad memories, but Hermione should be avoided if you are able. Her and the two youngest Weasleys are just this side of tap dancing on my nerves; I might introduce them to the four of the Magnificent Seven and one FBI agent. Chris Larabee might be able to scare them with just his glare.”
“Severus Snape.”
“You don’t know Chris Larabee.”
“Or his ability with a gun,” added Harm.
“Or we could sic Ezra on them,” Ianto suggested. “He could con them into not bothering Harry for a good 20 years.” Ianto looked at his two brothers and one sister; they all agreed: “Back up plan.”
“Who is this Chris Larabee and Ezra?” asked Tosh.
“Yeah,” Owen added. “They sound dangerous.”
“They are,” said Marie. “Chris Larabee and JD Dunne are two of five cursed Regulators from a small Territorial town in the American West who should have been Guards, much like Ianto, Harry, Harm, and I are Guardians. They watch our backs and the Earth when we are not able to. Ezra Standish and Vin Tanner woke up before the curse could touch them. We found one more Guard in the New York FBI by the name of Martin Fitzgerald, who is a descendent of Vin’s through Martin’s mother’s side. He’s the only one who should have woke up around this time naturally.”
“The other three cursed Regulators have this life and one more before they give up the opportunity of staying with their brothers and breaking the bonds,” said Harm. “Some of them are having a crisis of faith over the issue. Others just think it’s a bunch of “hooey”.”
Ianto listened as Harry laughed as he went up the stairs to his room. It was a bit sobering to think that they were all going to have to go back to their jobs soon. Harry was still working even with his jumpiness over the Lost Year and Harm was a “shivering ship at the bottom of the sea”. They were both at their jobs. Ianto and Marie were at his job, which was almost the ground zero for the whole fiasco since they were supposed to be the experts on aliens. Of course, there were others who were supposed to be alien experts in their countries, and they were fooled by the being who became the Prime Minister of Great Britain. Ianto will have to go back soon and he will have to bring his co-workers back with him. He just hoped that Tosh and Owen were rested up from the last few months where Gwen had tried to take over and they gave her the difficulties that she deserved.
“Deep thoughts?” asked Tosh.
“Thinking about how we will have to return soon,” Ianto said quietly.
Harm smiled softly as he looked at their sister who was drowsing against the couch. She opened an eye and sighed as she started to maneuver herself off the floor. “I guess I should go to bed myself.” Harm said good night to her and was echoed by Ianto.
“She’s getting better,” Ianto said after she left.
“Legs hasn’t tried to take someone out by the time we left Cardiff.” Owen paused. “Unless you count that sleaze ball that Harkness used to run with.”
“He deserved to be taken out,” Tosh said. “I wished he did do something that resulted in Marie filling him full of shot.”
“Would she have done it?” asked Owen. “I know she said she would, but I know Gwen says things too and she’s gone back on her word.”
“Oh, she would have done more than just the buckshot if she needed to,” said Harm. “If he was still moving, she would have shot him some more, used any knives she had on her, or anything she could find for weapons. If he was a threat, then he was dead.”
“She doesn’t make idle threats when it’s serious.”
“So, when should we go back?” asked Tosh, changing the subject.
Ianto looked at his older brother. “You are welcome to stay as long as you need,” he said.
“We should probably leave tomorrow to get Myfanwy. She’s visiting Merlin again.”
“Thought it was easier than hoping Jack or Gwen feeding her?” asked Harm.
“I thought that it would be more responsible. Besides, I don’t think that angering a Dragonlord would be wise.”
Harm barked a laugh in agreement before rising from his seat. “You’re right there, brother. He might make us regret it later. I’ll see you in the morning.”
Tosh and Owen looked at Ianto as the last of his family left the Torchwood group in the living room. “When do you want to leave?” asked Owen.
“Not too early,” Ianto said. “We are not going to be in much of a hurry and neither will Merlin.”
“Who is this Merlin?” asked Tosh. “Other than the one from the Arthurian legends.”
Ianto just smiled and gathered their glasses.
“Ianto?” Owen asked as he looked at the Welshman. “Are you saying that he’s real?”
Ianto just left the room with the dirty glasses. He was having fun with his co-workers. When he returned, they were in a buzz about the about the possibility of Merlin being a real person. “Well, I’m off to bed. I’ll see you in the morning.” He went up the stairs to his room and readied for bed. He expected to see Daleks and Cybermen in his dreams tonight. May be if his subconscious was merciful, he would just see Warehouse problems and not Canary Wharf nightmares.
He got his wish partially. It was a mishmash of the Warehouse 12, Canary Wharf, and the Lost Year with the crazy sliver balls. Martha revealing that they were the heads of the last of the humans in the Universe was just horrifying in and of itself; the information just added to his nightmares. He hoped that the mental protections for his empathy stayed up this time because he didn’t want to make Harry, Tosh, and Owen’s night worse than it was the night before. He was sure that they had their own nightmares.
The next morning Harry left with a slight grimace and a bottle of painkillers. Marie gave him a bottle of water to go with the painkillers and whispered something in his ear that made him smile a bit. Ianto didn’t eavesdrop and concentrated on what was sitting in front of him. “Oatmeal?”
“With fresh fruit,” Marie said. “I believe that I gave you blueberries.”
Ianto raised an eyebrow. “Fresh blueberries.”
“I bought them in season and froze them. You don’t know when the ones in the grocery store were frozen.”
Ianto grunted but settled into his breakfast. He enjoyed his breakfast, but he liked to make his sister work a bit when she gave him something different. He watched as she gave Owen the same as he, but Tosh was given apple and cinnamon oatmeal.
“Playing favorites?”
“I figured that she might like to try something different,” Marie shrugged. “Next time you can introduce Tosh to blueberry oatmeal.”
“Or you can when we come to visit.”
“Or peaches.”
“Save them for the pies and cobbler.”
“I canned enough for the Pits, don’t worry.”
“I sometimes think that there are never enough peaches for the Bottomless Pits,” Harm said as he joined them. He grabbed a thermos of coffee and his lunch. “They will never have enough peach pie or cobbler. You will run out of canned peaches before they will admit that they are sick of your peaches. Even if the peaches are not from Georgia.”
Marie watched Harm get ready for work and raised an eyebrow. “No breakfast?” Harm raised his coffee. “Not good enough.”
“I’ll get something at the office.”
Marie rolled her eyes and huffed a sigh. Ianto ducked his head to hide a smile, but Owen didn’t hide his laugh. Tosh just watched the two siblings before looking at the third.
“When will we be leaving?” she asked, looking like she didn’t want to leave the light environment.
Ianto looked at Owen and Tosh. “I was thinking a bit before noon. I want to try to get out of London before the traffic gets worse than usual.”
“Where will we be going to meet this Merlin to get the flying lizard?” asked Owen.
Ianto looked up from the path of light on the floor he was watching. “Further up the Welsh coast from Cardiff. We’ll be nearby if Jack needs us.”
“Are you okay?” asked Tosh. “You looked a bit preoccupied.
“Just getting something strange from Wales.” Ianto shrugged. “It’s like something was waking up that Wales didn’t understand. If it falls into our realm, then we will hear about it soon.”
They were well on their way to the coast when Ianto was called by Captain Harkness. “When are you going to be back?”
“Soon,” Ianto said.
“Can you give me a time?”
“No,” Ianto said. “I have to visit someone before we return to Cardiff. If there is an emergency, we will return. A real emergency, not “there is no coffee” emergency.”
“What if I want to see you in your suits?” asked Captain Harkness.
“That is harassment, sir,” said Ianto. “And I am busy. I will see you when we return. Don’t get hurt.” Ianto hung up the phone and looked at his passengers. Tosh had a slight smile and Owen looked like he didn’t know if he should be scowling or smiling. He settled for a grimace.
“So, Harkness is feeling a bit overwhelmed?”
“I would say so,” said Ianto. “But I would say that that feeling from Wales is connected with his call.”
“Then, maybe we should hurry,” said Tosh.
At the coast of Wales, Ianto walked to the water’s edge and stared out to the horizon. Owen and Tosh joined him and looked out to see what he was looking at. All they see was open water, but it looked like Ianto was watching something. “What do you see?” Tosh whispered.
“Fog.”
“Fog?” Owen asked skeptically. “I don’t see any.”
“That’s because you aren’t being allowed to see it. I see it because of who I am and my connection to Wales. A hole in my sight would cause more of a problem since the magic wouldn’t work on me.”
“Which is why I’m curious as to why your brother was hidden from you lot for 13 years,” said a stranger to their right.
“We are still looking into that,” growled Ianto. “We think that something close to Black Magic or Blood Magic was used to hide him. And it wasn’t the Blood Wards that he claimed it was to Harry’s aunt or Harry.”
The young man raised an eyebrow and looked thoughtful. “I would have to look through my books to see about that. You might be right. You just couldn’t find him, and it wasn’t a hole someplace?”
“Right,” Ianto agreed. “We didn’t really start to become aware of him until the end of his 4th year of school. According to Harry, that was when his blood was used in a ritual to bring back an enemy.”
“And it might have been the only way to break what was hiding him from you,” said the young man. “I hope that person who did that is in jail?”
“Killed himself for the “Greater Good”.”
The young man snorted. “That is a good excuse. I want to know what the definition of “greater good” is.”
“You and quite a few others,” muttered Ianto. “So, I was here to see if Myfanwy was willing to come back to Cardiff with me.”
“Little Storm Dragon,” chuckled the young man, “she has been waiting for you to come get her. I would invite you over, but Arthur has been stirring and Kilgarrah said that it would be a better idea to keep strangers off Avalon for a bit.” He looked at Owen and Tosh before looking back to Ianto. “Bring them back later and we will see if they are welcome to Avalon. I have a feeling that they might be very welcome.”
“And Arthur would be very surprised to see someone like them let alone like me when he wakes,” said Ianto.
“Eh,” said the young man. “I would say more like your sister. You and your brother are more in-line to the people of these lands, even France. But your sister would be strange considering she is a very large bird.”
Ianto shrugged. “Different beliefs, different forms. We are waiting to see what the younger brothers and cousins will be like when they are able to Change. Ezra and Vin should be able to soon.”
“They will be more like your sister, won’t they?”
“Probably,” Ianto said with a shrug. “Vin was influenced by the native people in his youth and who knows what Ezra will be like.”
“Well, it should be interesting. The Welsh Dragon is on her way, so she will meet you at Cardiff when you return to your home.”
Ianto bowed to the mysterious young man. “Our thanks for watching over Myfanwy, Lord Merlin. I will bring Owen and Tosh around sometime to see if Avalon will accept them.”
Merlin grinned. “Please. And bring that young man you work with that death can’t keep. But don’t bring the woman. She had her chance and rejected it.”
Ianto looked at him questioning. “When was that?”
“It was after Camelot, but before the meeting with Charles Dickens. I’m not sure if it was the taint from the old woman or if it was a personal choice, but Avalon has rejected her and her family.”
“That sounds sad,” said Tosh.
Merlin looked at the kind woman. “It is, but with each choice has a consequence. This is the consequence of her ancestor; just as the consequence of her choice in the Lost Year will come about later.”
“You remember that year too?” asked Owen.
“Yes, and you don’t want to,” said Merlin. “Ianto has bad enough nightmares from before that year, but this is only going to make it worse. Him leaving with the pair of you for a bit was good for him and you and for the other family members who you met. Keep in touch with them; they will keep you grounded better than the cursed one.”
“Jack?” asked Tosh.
“The woman,” disagree Merlin. “The one calling himself Jack Harkness now is not cursed, just overly blessed.”
“That is not what he thinks,” said Ianto.
“Then maybe he should talk to the Space and Time Machine a bit more,” said Merlin. “She might be able to explain things a bit more. He has work to do.”
“Which is why I ask my brothers not to look into his future that often,” said Ianto.
“Good idea. You might not want to look into the future very often; it gets dangerous.”
“And has too many paths to know what will happen,” said Ianto. “We just watch until all three of our brothers agree on a path.”
“That is a good idea. Now, I must get back to see what the sleeping king is doing, and you have Sleepers waking. I would get back and make sure that the cursed one doesn’t do something that will destroy South Wales.”
Ianto exchanged looks with Owen and Tosh. This didn’t sound good and Ianto wondered what Merlin meant by “Sleepers”.