Dr. Harkness & Nurse Jones: Ghana (Part Four)
Dr. Harkness & Nurse Jones: Ghana (Part Four)
It was the longest walk of Jack’s life. Ianto moaned whenever they accidentally jostled him, which was much more often than Jack would have liked due to the narrow roads. Mickey was tense, and Jack had a feeling they weren’t out of the woods just yet. He didn’t know what Nehemiah’s mother had told Mickey, but the other man looked upset and angry, and his eyes did not stop scanning the crowds, which seemed to contain a lot more men then when they had arrived.
Finally they approached the end of the shantytown, and Jack could see the jeep pulling up to the corner.
“There’s Alex,” Beth said, sounding relieved. She darted forward to help him adjust the back seats.
A man stepped out of the crowd and planted himself in front of her. “You should not be helping that kind,” he said in heavily accented English.
Beth frowned at him. “Stand aside,” she commanded. “Please.” He was at least double her weight and towered over her.
He shook his head. “They are not welcome here. You should come with us.”
He reached out to grab her arm.
Beth was a tiny woman, but she had just lost her husband and come from seeing her colleague in a very similar situation. Now this man was trying to prevent her from helping him, as she had been unable to do for her husband. Alex had started forward to go to her aid, but he only managed two steps before a loud crack sounded, and the large man doubled over, clutching his arm. Beth had snapped it in one blow.
So much for ‘first, do no harm,’ Jack thought grimly.
The crowd surged forward, but Jack and Mickey had been expecting it. Jack braced himself to take more of Ianto’s weight, and Mickey drew one of the guns he had brought.
“Stay back!” he yelled at the crowd. They hesitated, allowing Alex to rush forward and take Mickey’s place at the stretcher. Mickey pulled another gun and waved them both around threateningly as Jack, Beth and Alex secured Ianto into the jeep. Beth hopped into the front passenger seat, Alex got behind the wheel and Jack slid into the backseat with Ianto. Mickey checked that they were all secure, waved his guns some more, then hopped onto the bumper, holding onto the jeep one-handed.
“Move, Alex!” he snarled.
Alex took off as quickly as he dared, and soon the noise from the crowd dissipated. A heavy silence descended on the jeep, broken only by Ianto’s occasional moan.
“Well,” Beth said finally. “I guess I fail at preventing an international incident.”
Alex snorted, Beth managed a smile, and suddenly Jack could not contain his hysterical laughter.
His laughter died down as they approached the clinic. He had a sneaking suspicion that Mickey knew more about why Ianto was attacked, and the actions of the crowd only reinforced it. As soon as he had seen to Ianto, he was going to get Mickey alone and grill him for as long as it took.
It wound up being several hours later before Jack had a moment to rest, and Mickey was back at his usual place in the guardroom. Harriet had contacted the police, and additional security was patrolling outside the walls of the compound. They did not seem to set Mickey’s mind at ease, however, and Jack braced himself to find out why. He left Beth monitoring Ianto, who had yet to fully wake up, and, bringing some leftovers from the kitchen with him, he knocked on the guardroom door.
Mickey opened the door, and the way he couldn’t meet Jack’s eyes told him he was right.
“I brought you some food,” he said, holding out his peace offering.
“Thanks.”
Jack decided there was no point beating around the bush, and just dived right in. “So those police outside? They here to protect us? Or to arrest us?”
Mickey looked up at that, and grimacing, shrugged his shoulders. “Dunno.”
Jack sighed, and looked out the window. “Maybe I should go out there and ask them.”
“Don’t you dare, Jack Harkness!” Harriet’s voice managed to sound indignant even over the tinny intercom system.
“Didn’t your mother ever tell you it was rude to eavesdrop on someone else’s conversation, Harriet?” Jack snapped back.
“Not when you’re being a prat! Jack, I have a plan, wait there.”
The intercom squeaked loudly. Jack glared at Mickey. He managed to look rather abashed. “Harriet’s a bit bossy,” he muttered.
Harriet herself didn’t knock at the door, but swept right into the little guardroom, Andy at her heels. “Okay, Jack, you stay here and keep an eye on Ianto; I’m going to see a few men on the city council and - “
“Saint Harriet to the rescue?” he interrupted snidely. Mickey and Andy kept quiet, eyes going back and forth between the two of them like they were watching a tennis match.
“Don’t be ridiculous. I know the language, I know the culture, I know these men, I can fix this.”
“I don’t need you to solve my problems for me, Harriet!”
“Stop being so obtuse; this isn’t just about you!”
“Worried about your little orphanage?”
“Well, yes, quite frankly, but I was referring to Ianto.”
“I can take care of Ianto!” A vein in Jack’s forehead began to throb, and he clenched his fists in frustration.
“No Jack, you can’t.”
“But I WANT to!” he roared.
Harriet didn’t say anything back. Finally she sighed, and laid a hesitant hand on his forearm. “Jack. Will you let me try?”
Jack looked at her a long moment. Harriet was stubborn and clever and loyal, and she was right. She was the one best equipped to deal with this situation. He gritted his teeth. “Go on.”
She gave him a swift smile and a peck on the cheek. “Keep faith. I’ll be back.”
She nodded in farewell to Mickey and Andy and walked out to the gate and then the street.
Andy frowned after her in consternation, then shook his head and turned to Jack. “I called Gwen, filled her in on things. I’ll call her again after Ianto wakes up. She’ll probably want to fly here straight away.”
Jack was absurdly grateful that he hadn’t had to tell Gwen that he had got her baby brother beaten to within an inch of his life. “Thank you, Andy.”
Andy took a deep breath. “And I wanted to apologize. I know - I know it was my fault, with those stupid fresh herbs, and God, Jack, I’m so sorry - ”
“Andy.” Jack cut him off. “It was not your fault.”
“But - ”
Jack interrupted him again. “They didn’t attack Ianto for herbs or even money.”
“Then why -”
“It is illegal to participate in a homosexual activity in Ghana.”
Andy looked quite taken aback. He shot Mickey a quick look, as if to check that he had heard that correctly. Mickey nodded, and walked back to his bank of monitors, focused on the police patrolling the street outside.
“Well. Well. How do they even know?”
Mickey answered from his perch by the monitors. “Apparently some of our patients spread tales. And then this afternoon, Ianto said goodbye in a ‘suspicious manner.’ An old man was watching, and he confirmed the rumors to his son, who spread the news in the marketplace.”
“Nehemiah’s mother told you all that, did she?” Jack asked him
“Yup. She doesn’t know how he got from the marketplace we use to the shantytown on the other side of Accra, but she saw him lying in a ditch and pulled him into her shack. Her kids remembered coming here, so she sent Nehemiah to get us. The two of you look enough alike, so Nehemiah called you brothers.”
“And I take it she didn’t want her kids to know she was helping a gay man, so she told them the story of the Good Samaritan?”
Mickey gave him a reproachful look. “Jack - ”
“Yeah, I know, I should be grateful she helped. I am grateful she helped! I’m just . . . I don’t know.” Jack pounded the wall in frustration. The three of them stood in silence for a minute.
“So . . . those police outside? Do you really think they might arrest you? Or all of us?” Andy sounded just a trifle nervous.
“Probably not. We’re not citizens of Ghana, they only have conjecture, and they’ll be worried about retaliation for the attack on Ianto.” Jack answered finally. “I’m more worried about the fate of the clinic and orphanage.”
“Jack?” Beth’s voice called over the intercom. “Ianto’s stirring.”
Jack left the other two keeping vigil in the guardroom and ran to his and Ianto’s room.
Ianto looked like crap, but when Jack burst into the room, he managed a tremulous smile. Beth discreetly walked out of the room, leaving them alone.
Jack wanted to say that everything would be fine, that he was sorry, that he loved him. He crawled onto the bed next to Ianto, careful not to touch him. Ianto gazed at him blearily through drugged out eyes.
“Jack . . .” Ianto breathed out. “Stay safe . . .”
“Don’t worry, Ianto. We’re okay. You need to rest.”
Ianto looked up at him, trying to stay awake. “Will you . . .”
“I’ll be here when you wake up.” Jack leaned over and kissed his nose. “I’ll always be here.”
Ianto smiled, and fell back into unconsciousness. Jack lay there, watching him, trying to pinpoint the moment when his life had changed. Was it when he first saw Ianto, bruised and bloodied, lying in the shack? Or earlier that week, when he had inadvertently referred to Ianto as his family, if only in his own head? Or earlier yet, when Ianto had kissed him as the sun set on Cardiff Bay and he had agreed to come to this place with him? Whenever it was, his life was not the same. He worked with six other people, all of whom he found to be attractive, yet he had only slept with Ianto. He had only wanted to sleep with Ianto. Even outside the realm of the sexual, Ianto was who he wanted to spend time with, who he wanted to tell his stories to, who made him laugh. He had told Ianto he was wildly in love with him, and it was true. Instead of totally freaking him out, the knowledge made him calmer. Ianto was here, safe now, and going to recover. Whatever the results of Harriet’s talks turned out to be, he had Ianto. He could cope with the rest.
He lay there watching Ianto sleep for a long time before there was a soft knock at the door, and a head of dirty blonde curls poked itself inside the room. Harriet.
Jack sat up, and glanced down at Ianto to make sure he was still resting peacefully. Assured, he moved over to the door to confer with Harriet.
“Before you begin, I need to say thank you for your efforts, and I’m sorry I was a little short before.” Jack rolled his shoulders, working out the kinks. Harriet waited until he was finished. Jack couldn’t tell from her expression how her meetings had gone.
“I met with members of the city council first. They are not planning to press charges against Ianto’s attackers, and if you accept this, they will also not press charges against Ianto, yourself, or anyone else related to the Tyler Foundation in Ghana. They will not revoke the licenses for either the clinic or the orphanage, or insist on Ianto’s resignation. In return, they ask that the Tyler Foundation commits to remaining active in Ghana for the next ten years and all staff members refrain from engaging in homosexual activities in public.”
Harriet paused for breath before continuing. “I think that’s the best we could expect from them, really. I would have liked to have seen Ianto’s attackers face legal justice, but it would be hard to determine who they were. We have no conclusive proof that the man Beth struck was one of them, and she already told me that Ianto’s wounds looked like he was attacked from behind. He may not be able to identify them, either.”
Jack nodded. “You did a good job. I’ll talk it over with Ianto, see what he wants to do.”
“Thanks,” she whispered. She cleared her throat.
“I also spoke with the Christian Churches’ Coalition. As you know, their support is critical to keeping the clinic open, and getting the orphanage up and rolling. They will continue to support the orphanage, though perhaps not as vociferously. The orphanage will open as expected in two weeks’ time.“
“Well, that’s better than expected!” Jack exclaimed. “Why are you upset?”
Harriet looked down at her hands. “I wanted them to admit that the men were wrong to attack Ianto,” she answered in a small voice.
“No such luck, huh?”
She shook her head.
“Harriet, most liberal churches barely tolerate gays and bisexuals. You did a great job.”
“Thanks, but -”
“Your Jesus preached tolerance?”
Harriet dragged a weary hand across her forehead. “Jesus preaches love, Jack. Tolerance is a crumb from the table. You deserve better,” she sighed heavily. “But sometimes you have to make a meal from the crumbs.”
She looked him in the eye. “I’m sorry I couldn’t do more.”
Jack pulled her into a hug. Harriet was bossy, and stubborn, and just this side of self-righteous, but she was his. Jack couldn’t give a rat’s ass what the Christian Churches’ Coalition thought of him; he’d take Harriet’s idea of faith over theirs any day of the week. All in all, the repercussions could have been so much worse. He still had to make a report on the situation to Dr. Toshiko Sato, the Director of Tyler Foundation operations in Africa, but he knew he could count on her support. After all, she wasn’t a hypocrite.
Andy came up to sit with Ianto later that night while Jack showered and prepared something for Ianto to eat. Jack was not looking forward to hearing Ianto’s account of his attack, but knew that it would probably help Ianto to go over the details out loud.
As it turned out, Ianto didn’t really know the details. Beth’s assessment was correct: he had been attacked from behind. He never even saw his attackers. On the second day, Jack explained to him as gently as he could what they had figured out about the attack, what Nehemiah and his mother had done for them, and the concessions Harriet had wrangled.
Ianto was silent in response, at first. Then he asked if Nehemiah’s mother was in need of a job; Harriet was going to need help with the orphanage, after all. Jack replied that it sounded like a good idea to him; he’d pass it along. Ianto was quiet for a long moment after that. Finally Jack had to ask.
“What do you want to do?”
“How do you mean?”
“Do you want to accept their restrictions? Do you want to fight back? Do you want to leave?”
Ianto sighed. “I don’t want to leave.”
“That’s good. Neither do I.”
“But I feel . . . Jack, I don’t know who did this.”
“Yes. But the fact that it happened at all. Does that make you change your mind about anything?”
“I have no regrets.”
Jack swallowed hard. “I’m glad. So do you want to fight, then? Against the council, that church club, Big Brother, if you will?”
Ianto chewed his lower lip. “Jack, I know it could look like we’re settling if we take their offer, but . . . they didn't condemn us. They could have. But they didn't. And that has to count for something. It doesn’t look like a big step, but it’s in the right direction."
Jack nodded slowly. “Don’t you want more?”
“Of course I do! But we’re not going to get it tomorrow. We have to take the long view here, Jack.”
Jack was not good at taking the long view. “Okay. We’ll take the long view as regards the system. That doesn’t change the fact that a group of strangers beat you in the street and people just let it happen.”
“Not everyone. I’m alive because someone stopped it, and someone protected me. Not everyone was out to get us. I’m not a particularly optimistic person, but that gives me a little hope, at least.”
Jack leaned over and kissed him gently. “It gives me hope, too.” He stood up. “You get some rest now. Your sister’s going to be here soon.”
Ianto smiled, and sank further into the pillows. “That’s good.” He caught at Jack’s hands as they pulled a sheet up over him. “I love you, Jack.”
“I love you too, Ianto.”
Jack closed the door softly behind him when he left, and whistled to himself as he strode down the hall. Ianto was going to be okay. Gwen would be here soon, and she would help Ianto’s recovery. His staff was starting to gel as a unit. The orphanage would open in two weeks’ time, right on schedule. He had a man who loved him, whom he loved in return, and neither of them were going to get run out of town on a rail.
Jack walked out into the courtyard. It was dusk. He could smell Alex and Beth’s dinner simmering in the kitchen, and beyond that, the smell of Accra. He climbed the fire escape and stood on top of the clinic, surveying the city. Somewhere out there resided a group of people who thought they could get away with attacking his Ianto. They were going to find out that they were wrong. Until then, Jack was going to concentrate on helping Ianto heal. The wind shifted suddenly, and Jack’s head was filled with the scent of salt air off the Bay. He was reminded of a different evening, by a different Bay. Ianto had thrown his lot in with him there. In spite of everything, Jack wouldn’t change that for the world.
A/N: Thanks for reading! The final part of this story will be posted after NANOWRIMO. Holy crap, it's taking a long time! This one has been plotted out, though, so don't worry, they have not been abandoned to their fates! Certain characters that did not appear in this one (namely Gwen/Rhys and Tosh/Donna) will be in the final chapter!
It was the longest walk of Jack’s life. Ianto moaned whenever they accidentally jostled him, which was much more often than Jack would have liked due to the narrow roads. Mickey was tense, and Jack had a feeling they weren’t out of the woods just yet. He didn’t know what Nehemiah’s mother had told Mickey, but the other man looked upset and angry, and his eyes did not stop scanning the crowds, which seemed to contain a lot more men then when they had arrived.
Finally they approached the end of the shantytown, and Jack could see the jeep pulling up to the corner.
“There’s Alex,” Beth said, sounding relieved. She darted forward to help him adjust the back seats.
A man stepped out of the crowd and planted himself in front of her. “You should not be helping that kind,” he said in heavily accented English.
Beth frowned at him. “Stand aside,” she commanded. “Please.” He was at least double her weight and towered over her.
He shook his head. “They are not welcome here. You should come with us.”
He reached out to grab her arm.
Beth was a tiny woman, but she had just lost her husband and come from seeing her colleague in a very similar situation. Now this man was trying to prevent her from helping him, as she had been unable to do for her husband. Alex had started forward to go to her aid, but he only managed two steps before a loud crack sounded, and the large man doubled over, clutching his arm. Beth had snapped it in one blow.
So much for ‘first, do no harm,’ Jack thought grimly.
The crowd surged forward, but Jack and Mickey had been expecting it. Jack braced himself to take more of Ianto’s weight, and Mickey drew one of the guns he had brought.
“Stay back!” he yelled at the crowd. They hesitated, allowing Alex to rush forward and take Mickey’s place at the stretcher. Mickey pulled another gun and waved them both around threateningly as Jack, Beth and Alex secured Ianto into the jeep. Beth hopped into the front passenger seat, Alex got behind the wheel and Jack slid into the backseat with Ianto. Mickey checked that they were all secure, waved his guns some more, then hopped onto the bumper, holding onto the jeep one-handed.
“Move, Alex!” he snarled.
Alex took off as quickly as he dared, and soon the noise from the crowd dissipated. A heavy silence descended on the jeep, broken only by Ianto’s occasional moan.
“Well,” Beth said finally. “I guess I fail at preventing an international incident.”
Alex snorted, Beth managed a smile, and suddenly Jack could not contain his hysterical laughter.
His laughter died down as they approached the clinic. He had a sneaking suspicion that Mickey knew more about why Ianto was attacked, and the actions of the crowd only reinforced it. As soon as he had seen to Ianto, he was going to get Mickey alone and grill him for as long as it took.
It wound up being several hours later before Jack had a moment to rest, and Mickey was back at his usual place in the guardroom. Harriet had contacted the police, and additional security was patrolling outside the walls of the compound. They did not seem to set Mickey’s mind at ease, however, and Jack braced himself to find out why. He left Beth monitoring Ianto, who had yet to fully wake up, and, bringing some leftovers from the kitchen with him, he knocked on the guardroom door.
Mickey opened the door, and the way he couldn’t meet Jack’s eyes told him he was right.
“I brought you some food,” he said, holding out his peace offering.
“Thanks.”
Jack decided there was no point beating around the bush, and just dived right in. “So those police outside? They here to protect us? Or to arrest us?”
Mickey looked up at that, and grimacing, shrugged his shoulders. “Dunno.”
Jack sighed, and looked out the window. “Maybe I should go out there and ask them.”
“Don’t you dare, Jack Harkness!” Harriet’s voice managed to sound indignant even over the tinny intercom system.
“Didn’t your mother ever tell you it was rude to eavesdrop on someone else’s conversation, Harriet?” Jack snapped back.
“Not when you’re being a prat! Jack, I have a plan, wait there.”
The intercom squeaked loudly. Jack glared at Mickey. He managed to look rather abashed. “Harriet’s a bit bossy,” he muttered.
Harriet herself didn’t knock at the door, but swept right into the little guardroom, Andy at her heels. “Okay, Jack, you stay here and keep an eye on Ianto; I’m going to see a few men on the city council and - “
“Saint Harriet to the rescue?” he interrupted snidely. Mickey and Andy kept quiet, eyes going back and forth between the two of them like they were watching a tennis match.
“Don’t be ridiculous. I know the language, I know the culture, I know these men, I can fix this.”
“I don’t need you to solve my problems for me, Harriet!”
“Stop being so obtuse; this isn’t just about you!”
“Worried about your little orphanage?”
“Well, yes, quite frankly, but I was referring to Ianto.”
“I can take care of Ianto!” A vein in Jack’s forehead began to throb, and he clenched his fists in frustration.
“No Jack, you can’t.”
“But I WANT to!” he roared.
Harriet didn’t say anything back. Finally she sighed, and laid a hesitant hand on his forearm. “Jack. Will you let me try?”
Jack looked at her a long moment. Harriet was stubborn and clever and loyal, and she was right. She was the one best equipped to deal with this situation. He gritted his teeth. “Go on.”
She gave him a swift smile and a peck on the cheek. “Keep faith. I’ll be back.”
She nodded in farewell to Mickey and Andy and walked out to the gate and then the street.
Andy frowned after her in consternation, then shook his head and turned to Jack. “I called Gwen, filled her in on things. I’ll call her again after Ianto wakes up. She’ll probably want to fly here straight away.”
Jack was absurdly grateful that he hadn’t had to tell Gwen that he had got her baby brother beaten to within an inch of his life. “Thank you, Andy.”
Andy took a deep breath. “And I wanted to apologize. I know - I know it was my fault, with those stupid fresh herbs, and God, Jack, I’m so sorry - ”
“Andy.” Jack cut him off. “It was not your fault.”
“But - ”
Jack interrupted him again. “They didn’t attack Ianto for herbs or even money.”
“Then why -”
“It is illegal to participate in a homosexual activity in Ghana.”
Andy looked quite taken aback. He shot Mickey a quick look, as if to check that he had heard that correctly. Mickey nodded, and walked back to his bank of monitors, focused on the police patrolling the street outside.
“Well. Well. How do they even know?”
Mickey answered from his perch by the monitors. “Apparently some of our patients spread tales. And then this afternoon, Ianto said goodbye in a ‘suspicious manner.’ An old man was watching, and he confirmed the rumors to his son, who spread the news in the marketplace.”
“Nehemiah’s mother told you all that, did she?” Jack asked him
“Yup. She doesn’t know how he got from the marketplace we use to the shantytown on the other side of Accra, but she saw him lying in a ditch and pulled him into her shack. Her kids remembered coming here, so she sent Nehemiah to get us. The two of you look enough alike, so Nehemiah called you brothers.”
“And I take it she didn’t want her kids to know she was helping a gay man, so she told them the story of the Good Samaritan?”
Mickey gave him a reproachful look. “Jack - ”
“Yeah, I know, I should be grateful she helped. I am grateful she helped! I’m just . . . I don’t know.” Jack pounded the wall in frustration. The three of them stood in silence for a minute.
“So . . . those police outside? Do you really think they might arrest you? Or all of us?” Andy sounded just a trifle nervous.
“Probably not. We’re not citizens of Ghana, they only have conjecture, and they’ll be worried about retaliation for the attack on Ianto.” Jack answered finally. “I’m more worried about the fate of the clinic and orphanage.”
“Jack?” Beth’s voice called over the intercom. “Ianto’s stirring.”
Jack left the other two keeping vigil in the guardroom and ran to his and Ianto’s room.
Ianto looked like crap, but when Jack burst into the room, he managed a tremulous smile. Beth discreetly walked out of the room, leaving them alone.
Jack wanted to say that everything would be fine, that he was sorry, that he loved him. He crawled onto the bed next to Ianto, careful not to touch him. Ianto gazed at him blearily through drugged out eyes.
“Jack . . .” Ianto breathed out. “Stay safe . . .”
“Don’t worry, Ianto. We’re okay. You need to rest.”
Ianto looked up at him, trying to stay awake. “Will you . . .”
“I’ll be here when you wake up.” Jack leaned over and kissed his nose. “I’ll always be here.”
Ianto smiled, and fell back into unconsciousness. Jack lay there, watching him, trying to pinpoint the moment when his life had changed. Was it when he first saw Ianto, bruised and bloodied, lying in the shack? Or earlier that week, when he had inadvertently referred to Ianto as his family, if only in his own head? Or earlier yet, when Ianto had kissed him as the sun set on Cardiff Bay and he had agreed to come to this place with him? Whenever it was, his life was not the same. He worked with six other people, all of whom he found to be attractive, yet he had only slept with Ianto. He had only wanted to sleep with Ianto. Even outside the realm of the sexual, Ianto was who he wanted to spend time with, who he wanted to tell his stories to, who made him laugh. He had told Ianto he was wildly in love with him, and it was true. Instead of totally freaking him out, the knowledge made him calmer. Ianto was here, safe now, and going to recover. Whatever the results of Harriet’s talks turned out to be, he had Ianto. He could cope with the rest.
He lay there watching Ianto sleep for a long time before there was a soft knock at the door, and a head of dirty blonde curls poked itself inside the room. Harriet.
Jack sat up, and glanced down at Ianto to make sure he was still resting peacefully. Assured, he moved over to the door to confer with Harriet.
“Before you begin, I need to say thank you for your efforts, and I’m sorry I was a little short before.” Jack rolled his shoulders, working out the kinks. Harriet waited until he was finished. Jack couldn’t tell from her expression how her meetings had gone.
“I met with members of the city council first. They are not planning to press charges against Ianto’s attackers, and if you accept this, they will also not press charges against Ianto, yourself, or anyone else related to the Tyler Foundation in Ghana. They will not revoke the licenses for either the clinic or the orphanage, or insist on Ianto’s resignation. In return, they ask that the Tyler Foundation commits to remaining active in Ghana for the next ten years and all staff members refrain from engaging in homosexual activities in public.”
Harriet paused for breath before continuing. “I think that’s the best we could expect from them, really. I would have liked to have seen Ianto’s attackers face legal justice, but it would be hard to determine who they were. We have no conclusive proof that the man Beth struck was one of them, and she already told me that Ianto’s wounds looked like he was attacked from behind. He may not be able to identify them, either.”
Jack nodded. “You did a good job. I’ll talk it over with Ianto, see what he wants to do.”
“Thanks,” she whispered. She cleared her throat.
“I also spoke with the Christian Churches’ Coalition. As you know, their support is critical to keeping the clinic open, and getting the orphanage up and rolling. They will continue to support the orphanage, though perhaps not as vociferously. The orphanage will open as expected in two weeks’ time.“
“Well, that’s better than expected!” Jack exclaimed. “Why are you upset?”
Harriet looked down at her hands. “I wanted them to admit that the men were wrong to attack Ianto,” she answered in a small voice.
“No such luck, huh?”
She shook her head.
“Harriet, most liberal churches barely tolerate gays and bisexuals. You did a great job.”
“Thanks, but -”
“Your Jesus preached tolerance?”
Harriet dragged a weary hand across her forehead. “Jesus preaches love, Jack. Tolerance is a crumb from the table. You deserve better,” she sighed heavily. “But sometimes you have to make a meal from the crumbs.”
She looked him in the eye. “I’m sorry I couldn’t do more.”
Jack pulled her into a hug. Harriet was bossy, and stubborn, and just this side of self-righteous, but she was his. Jack couldn’t give a rat’s ass what the Christian Churches’ Coalition thought of him; he’d take Harriet’s idea of faith over theirs any day of the week. All in all, the repercussions could have been so much worse. He still had to make a report on the situation to Dr. Toshiko Sato, the Director of Tyler Foundation operations in Africa, but he knew he could count on her support. After all, she wasn’t a hypocrite.
Andy came up to sit with Ianto later that night while Jack showered and prepared something for Ianto to eat. Jack was not looking forward to hearing Ianto’s account of his attack, but knew that it would probably help Ianto to go over the details out loud.
As it turned out, Ianto didn’t really know the details. Beth’s assessment was correct: he had been attacked from behind. He never even saw his attackers. On the second day, Jack explained to him as gently as he could what they had figured out about the attack, what Nehemiah and his mother had done for them, and the concessions Harriet had wrangled.
Ianto was silent in response, at first. Then he asked if Nehemiah’s mother was in need of a job; Harriet was going to need help with the orphanage, after all. Jack replied that it sounded like a good idea to him; he’d pass it along. Ianto was quiet for a long moment after that. Finally Jack had to ask.
“What do you want to do?”
“How do you mean?”
“Do you want to accept their restrictions? Do you want to fight back? Do you want to leave?”
Ianto sighed. “I don’t want to leave.”
“That’s good. Neither do I.”
“But I feel . . . Jack, I don’t know who did this.”
“Yes. But the fact that it happened at all. Does that make you change your mind about anything?”
“I have no regrets.”
Jack swallowed hard. “I’m glad. So do you want to fight, then? Against the council, that church club, Big Brother, if you will?”
Ianto chewed his lower lip. “Jack, I know it could look like we’re settling if we take their offer, but . . . they didn't condemn us. They could have. But they didn't. And that has to count for something. It doesn’t look like a big step, but it’s in the right direction."
Jack nodded slowly. “Don’t you want more?”
“Of course I do! But we’re not going to get it tomorrow. We have to take the long view here, Jack.”
Jack was not good at taking the long view. “Okay. We’ll take the long view as regards the system. That doesn’t change the fact that a group of strangers beat you in the street and people just let it happen.”
“Not everyone. I’m alive because someone stopped it, and someone protected me. Not everyone was out to get us. I’m not a particularly optimistic person, but that gives me a little hope, at least.”
Jack leaned over and kissed him gently. “It gives me hope, too.” He stood up. “You get some rest now. Your sister’s going to be here soon.”
Ianto smiled, and sank further into the pillows. “That’s good.” He caught at Jack’s hands as they pulled a sheet up over him. “I love you, Jack.”
“I love you too, Ianto.”
Jack closed the door softly behind him when he left, and whistled to himself as he strode down the hall. Ianto was going to be okay. Gwen would be here soon, and she would help Ianto’s recovery. His staff was starting to gel as a unit. The orphanage would open in two weeks’ time, right on schedule. He had a man who loved him, whom he loved in return, and neither of them were going to get run out of town on a rail.
Jack walked out into the courtyard. It was dusk. He could smell Alex and Beth’s dinner simmering in the kitchen, and beyond that, the smell of Accra. He climbed the fire escape and stood on top of the clinic, surveying the city. Somewhere out there resided a group of people who thought they could get away with attacking his Ianto. They were going to find out that they were wrong. Until then, Jack was going to concentrate on helping Ianto heal. The wind shifted suddenly, and Jack’s head was filled with the scent of salt air off the Bay. He was reminded of a different evening, by a different Bay. Ianto had thrown his lot in with him there. In spite of everything, Jack wouldn’t change that for the world.
A/N: Thanks for reading! The final part of this story will be posted after NANOWRIMO. Holy crap, it's taking a long time! This one has been plotted out, though, so don't worry, they have not been abandoned to their fates! Certain characters that did not appear in this one (namely Gwen/Rhys and Tosh/Donna) will be in the final chapter!