A Song as old as Time - part 10
Title: A Song as old as time (10 of 13)
FanFic_50 Prompt: Conspire
Rating: This part PG13, over all pg13.
Summary: A chance visit to a bar and the unexpected arrival of an old acquaintance raises a lot questions for Jack and creates a dangerous situation for Ianto.
Notes: This is set during the first series after 1x06 Countrycide, but before 1x08 They Keep Killing Suzie.
part one part two part three part four part five
part six part seven part eight part nine
After so long on Earth it’s an incredible feeling to be back out here amongst the stars, to once again see other races in a situation where they are not invaders or lost and frightened travellers.
Glancing over at Ianto who is watching the teaming alien life around them with an expression delight and amazement, Jack smiles, enjoying his excitement.
He wishes that their visit was under better circumstances, that he's got time to take Ianto off and explore, to show him just a few of the wonders that this planet holds.
But they don’t have time. Jack knows that Grell will be arriving soon, or possibly he’s here already, and after that, unless there’s any mishap, they’ll have to head straight back to Earth and Torchwood. Jack hopes that if this goes well and if he and Ianto part from Jubel on good terms then maybe he’d be able to persuade Jubel to come back to Cardiff at a later date and take them on a proper trip to the stars.
The walk to the customs house is short and uneventful. The building when they reach it is reminiscent, structurally at least, to a Roman or Greek temple, although the pale blue nearly metallic looking stone that it’s built from gives it an undeniably alien quality.
Sitting down half way up the steps and under the shade of the portico, Jack waits for Grell to arrive.
Jubel sits a few steps below him, lost in thought, a small photo that he has taken from his coat pocket held loosely in his hands.
The brief glimpse that Jack gets of the picture confirms what he had thought it might be, a snapshot of Jubel and Sidony standing in front of a house and holding a baby, their expressions ones of pure joy.
Jack looks away, unwilling to intrude, knowing that if their situations were reversed he’d probably want some time on his own about now.
Walking up the steps, Ianto stops as he reaches Jubel, his expression sad and understanding as he places a hand on Jubel’s shoulder. He says something that Jack can’t quite catch, although from Jubel’s reaction he’s sure that it’s something comforting and reassuring.
Jubel looks up and smiles tiredly at Ianto, his hand moving to cover Ianto's as he says, “Thank you.”
"It'll be alright." Ianto gives Jubel's hand a gentle squeeze, before walking over to Jack and sitting down next to him.
Jack waits for a moment to see if Ianto is going to say anything to him, to reveal what he’s just said to Jubel, but he remains silent, looking out over the city.
“So what do you think of Aphelion?” Jack asks, although given Ianto’s expression it’s pretty obvious how he feels. Jack asks simply to break the silence, because sitting and waiting quietly for something as tense as his meeting with Grell is likely to be has never been something that he’s good at.
“It’s incredible. I know we see aliens everyday, but this…” He gestures at the city, looking a little over whelmed. “It’s beautiful, I don’t think I’ve got the words to describe it. It’s all a bit much to take in really.”
“You are alright though?” Jack can feel worry start to set in as he begins to wonder how Ianto is coping with being surrounded by so many different aliens and their emotions. He’s surprised that it has taken this long for him even to consider how having all these alien minds around them might affect Ianto. He’d like to think that after their talk the previous night that he’s now got a better understanding of, and more consideration for, Ianto’s feelings. This however makes him doubt whether he really does have any more consideration or if he’s fooling himself in an attempt to make himself feel better about he has treated Ianto, and if he’s honest, the rest of the team, in the past.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” Ianto looks around concerned. “Is there something that you’re not telling me?”
“About Aphelion? No. I was just wondering how you were managing with all these alien minds and feelings around you, it must be strange.” He hadn’t wanted to worry Ianto, after all Aphelion is, as planets go, a pretty safe one. He wouldn’t have chosen it for the meeting with Grell otherwise.
“Not really, crowds like this are easy. There are so many people that nothing is that intense. It’s like being at a station or an airport, everybody’s in a hurry and they’re hungry, tired or bored from travelling. It’s sort of comforting to realise that they’re really not so different from us.” He smiles reassuringly at Jack. “So don’t worry, I’m not about to go crazy or anything.”
“So small groups of people worse than crowds then?” It seems at odds with Jack’s own, albeit limited, experience with telepaths. They’d told him the precisely the opposite, that it was crowds that made their heads ache with all the voices talking at once, while small groups of people were easier and clearer to read.
Ianto stares thoughtfully at the city for a moment before answering. “Not worse,” he says eventually. “Just clearer, more focused, more intense. But not always, it depends on how strongly people are feeling things and what they’re feeling. If they’re happy it can be the best thing in the world to be around them.”
Jack supposes that this makes some kind of sense, although it’s a little worrying as it means that if they get any strongly empathic aliens or any that feed on emotions he’ll need to keep Ianto well out of their way. Not that that would be anything like an easy task, because he knows that if he judges it wrong all he’ll end up with is Ianto being very annoyed at him for not treating him the same as the rest of the team and making it look like he didn’t trust him to do his job.
He has to wonders how, if small groups of people with emotions running high are difficult to cope with, Ianto manages at the Hub, when that situation describes a good part of most of their working days. He doesn’t even want to think about what it must have been like for Ianto on the last field mission that he took him on. Brynblaidd and its aftermath has been difficult for all of them, but knowing that Ianto could feel the fear of the other captives, and even worse the malicious delight of villagers, makes him feel decidedly queasy.
“What do you do if all the emotions around you are bad, how do you cope? ” It’s a difficult question to ask, but it doesn’t change the fact that he has to ask it. Because if Ianto isn’t coping then Jack knows that he’s got some difficult decisions ahead of him as to which missions he allows Ianto on, and on his place within the team.
“Who says I cope?” There is an undercurrent of dark humour to it and Ianto looks away before Jack can even attempt to gauge if the humour was really meant.
“You’d tell me if you weren’t though, wouldn’t you?” Jack’s hand strays on to Ianto’s leg, resting lightly on his jeans. He means it to be comforting, reassuring, a gesture that’s meant to let Ianto know that he cares about him. It’s only once he has that Jack wonders if what he’s doing really is about providing reassurance for Ianto or if it’s just about reassuring himself.
It’s baffling and almost infuriating to Jack that Ianto seems to have the ability to make him second-guess himself without even saying a word. It’s also something that Jack’s not sure whether to be happy or rather disturbed about as he can see it being both a positive and a negative thing.
“Yes.” Ianto answers quickly and with a rather less conviction than Jack would like, but he supposes it will have to do.
Sitting in silence they watch as Aphelion’s sun starts to set, the dust in the atmosphere the sky turning a deep red. Ianto hasn’t moved Jack’s hand from his leg, in fact Jack is pleased to note, Ianto has actually moved closer to him so that their shoulders touch.
“Would you give it up if you could? Feeling what all those around you feel.” Jack knows only too well what it’s like to have something not of your choosing governing so much of how you live your life. He knows that if Ianto says yes then he will find a way to make it happen, to relieve Ianto of what must sometimes be an unwanted gift.
Ianto looks surprised at Jack’s question, surprised and seemingly a little disturbed at the idea that Jack might make him give up something that had been a part of him for his whole life. “I’d rather not, but if I you feel it necessary to make me choose between it and staying with Torchwood, then I choose Torchwood.”
“I would never force you to do anything that you didn’t want to.” Jack leaves out the ‘unless what you want to do is going to put the whole world in danger’ part, that has no place in what he is talking about right now. This is not about Torchwood or aliens or national security, it is about the fragile but growing trust between them and his need to let Ianto know that he would never willing break that trust.
Ianto smiles, it’s a little shy and a lot knowing, as he says softly, “I know you wouldn’t.” He watches Jack through lowered eyes lashes, biting his lip thoughtfully, before continuing, “But you might be surprised by what I want.”
Jack grins, he can’t help himself, the fact that Ianto has turned their conversation in a decidedly sexual direction is one hell of a turn on. He’s just about to ask Ianto what it is that he would like to do that might be surprising, when Grell and his delegation of Devor elders arrive.
Reluctantly, Jack takes his hand from off Ianto’s leg, and walks down the steps to meet them.
It’s strange to see Grell again, to see how time has changed him from an idealistic youth with his dreams of becoming a hero to the worn and seemingly compassionless figure now in front of him.
Grell walks slowly at the head of the small group, leaning heavily on a cane with each step, his left leg seeming to no longer be able to bend at the knee. The four elders that accompany him hang back slightly, watching Jack warily.
Stopping just in front of Jack Grell holds out his hand.
Accepting the gesture of friendship, although right now he feels a lot less than friendly towards Grell, Jack decides it’s time to make it clear to him that he’s in control of the situation, asking, “Where’s Jubel’s daughter?”
Grell shakes his hand enthusiastically. “Straight to business, that is good. All the same it is good to see you again after such a long time, to put to rest my debt to you.”
The scales on Grell’s hand are hot and dry to the touch, something that Jack knows is not normal for a Devor in good health. Not that Jack is going to allow that to sway what he thinks of Grell right now, being under the weather was hardly a valid excuse for holding anybody, and certainly not a child, hostage until a debt is paid.
“You still haven’t answered my question, where is she?”
“She’s waiting in the gardens. We shall go there now, get this over with.” Grell sounds determined not to let the situation drag on any longer than he can help, a fact for which Jack is grateful, knowing all this waiting and uncertainty must be hell for Jubel.
“Then lead on.”
Grell talks as they walk, seeming not to care he and Jack are hardly friends. “There are getting to be so few of us left who remember Telemar for what it really was. The Devor shall never forget, but time distorts the truth and there are still those that call for war and revenge even now. Maybe even more call for it now than they did then. They talk of glory because they have not seen the horror of it with their own eyes.”
Jack says nothing. He has seen it all too often before, the pointlessness and waste of war, and knows that he will again. He hadn’t expected was to find that Grell’s view of it is much the same as his own, but then again he supposes after living through what they had maybe it was inevitable.
The gardens are not far, only at the back of the customs house. Stopping at the entrance to them. Grell turns to Jack, saying, “I know you think my actions are harsh, I see the disapproval in your eyes, but I cannot afford to be seen as weak over things such as this. You may not believe it but I am the voice for moderation and change amongst the houses of the Devor, and I will not jeopardise my position over every sad story that gets put in front of me.”
“It’s not weak to show mercy.” Jack can feel Ianto’s eyes on him as he says this, and it makes him feel like a hypocrite. He knows that there’s no comparison between this situation and Lisa, but that does little to make him feel any better about it.
“It would be seen as such if I were write off the debt of a human just out of pity.” Grell sounds tired and angry at the whole situation as he watches the elders walk past him and into the gardens. “You have to understand, there are those seek any excuse to remove me from power, scared of the changes I have brought in. They cling to the past, they do not understand that if the Devor are to be strong again, to be a power in this sector once more, then they must change, they must become united and learn from the past rather than living in it.”
Jack wants to tell him that he doesn’t have to understand anything, but he doesn’t knowing that there’s no sense in aggravating the situation.
Waiting in the gardens, stood around an ancient looking metal disk, are three more Devor. A male and female who are dressed in the colours of Grell’s house and an older female who Jack realises with a start must be the shipmother for Grell’s family.
It was the only gender specific job, as far as Jack knows, within the Devor race, and one that carries a great level of respect, responsible as they are for the physical and emotional well being of the all the children in the family they are attached to. That Sibel is under the shipmother’s care means that Grell wasn’t lying when he’d said that she had not been harmed.
Standing beside the shipmother and holding her hand is a small blue skinned child, maybe four years old, who, upon seeing Jubel, starts to wave enthusiastically at him.
Jubel clutches at Jack’s arm, nearly crying with relief. “It’s her, it’s Sibel. She’s alright.”
"I told you she would be." Jack's just glad he was right, otherwise the situation would be getting ugly right about now.
Grell watches Jubel for a moment, his harsh expression softening a little, before waving the shipmother over to him. “Give Panorian his daughter, there is no sense in keeping him waiting. I trust Jack will not break his part of this agreement.”
“You know I won’t.” Jack waits until Sibel has been handed over to her father before turning back to Grell. “I suppose we’d better get started.”
"Yes." Grell walks over to where the elders are gathered about the metal disk.
Upon closer inspection of it, Jack find that it is made of old silvered metal and is engraved with the names of all the previous heads of Grell’s house. In places the disk is worn almost smooth, the names barely legible with the passage of time.
Grell strokes the surface of it with a look of reverence, careful not to knock it from where it has been balanced across three thin legged stands, before turning to the elders. “Mine is an ancient and noble house. All of you here know that I was not born to lead it, but through battle and deed and word I rose to it, forging the house of Kortel into what it is today. One of nine prime houses of the Devor.”
He looks at Jack and indicates for him to place his hand on the disk.
“Without this human, I and many others of our race would not have survived Telemer. But for his actions I would not have lived to see my house rise from the ashes, nor watch my sons and daughters grow, their deeds bringing honour to my family and this house.” He nods to the elders, two moving to stand either side of him, the remaining two going to stand either side of Jack.
“The life debt I owe him for this is more than I thought I would ever be able to repay. It has weighed heavy on me these forty-three years, and it is a burden that I had no wish to pass to my children.”
Jack feels a little guilty now about leaving Grell with what he considered to an almost unpayable debt for so long, he hadn’t known that the debt was transferable either, that it would have been passed on through Grell’s line until it was finally repaid.
The ceremony drags on with Grell listing the all precedents of life debts that had been settled by mutual agreement or trade rather than by the debtor laying down his life in the course of the repayment.
Jack really doesn’t remember the original ceremony taking this anywhere near this long or being so formal, but he suspects that what he got back on Telemar would have been the shorted version. After all they had been huddled in a cave, the supposedly accidental bombardment roaring and echoing overhead, it really hadn’t been a time for formalities or standing on ceremony.
The four elders place their hand on the disk. “Do you both agree with what had been said and acknowledge that when raise you hands from the disk that all debts and claims between you will be paid?”
“Yes.” Jack has to stop himself from adding ‘and about time too.’ He doubts whether the elders would be remotely appreciative of it.
“Yes.
“Then the debt is paid.” The elders nod to Grell, then one by one they leave the disk, going to stand with the shipmother who is smiling fondly at the sight of Jubel talking to his daughter.
Jack looks at Grell, “So that’s it? It’s all done?” It seems almost inconceivable to him that this should have gone as smoothly as it has, although he supposes that it might just be working for Torchwood that’s made him come to always expect the worst.
“Yes, and it has been an honour to do business with you and to have known you.” Grell leans forward across the disk to shake hands with Jack. “If more humans were like you, letting their actions speak for them and standing by their words when it matters most then perhaps there would not be such a desire for conflict between our races.”
Honour isn’t exactly the word that Jack would choose to use, but the deal is done and Sibel’s happy chatter in the background now that she is reunited with her father makes it worth it. It’s times like this that Jack looks forward to, times when just for a few minutes everything seems right.
He leans forward and takes Grell’s hand. “Let’s just hope that we never need to do this again.”
“This has been enough for one lifetime.” Grell smiles wearily. “And getting a speech that the elders would all agree on took half the night.”
Jack is about to reply when Ianto shouts, “Get down!”
Glancing round, Jack feels a rush of air past his face, followed by a wet spray of blood as something strikes Grell in the throat and he topples forward, collapsing the disk between them.
part eleven
FanFic_50 Prompt: Conspire
Rating: This part PG13, over all pg13.
Summary: A chance visit to a bar and the unexpected arrival of an old acquaintance raises a lot questions for Jack and creates a dangerous situation for Ianto.
Notes: This is set during the first series after 1x06 Countrycide, but before 1x08 They Keep Killing Suzie.
part one part two part three part four part five
part six part seven part eight part nine
After so long on Earth it’s an incredible feeling to be back out here amongst the stars, to once again see other races in a situation where they are not invaders or lost and frightened travellers.
Glancing over at Ianto who is watching the teaming alien life around them with an expression delight and amazement, Jack smiles, enjoying his excitement.
He wishes that their visit was under better circumstances, that he's got time to take Ianto off and explore, to show him just a few of the wonders that this planet holds.
But they don’t have time. Jack knows that Grell will be arriving soon, or possibly he’s here already, and after that, unless there’s any mishap, they’ll have to head straight back to Earth and Torchwood. Jack hopes that if this goes well and if he and Ianto part from Jubel on good terms then maybe he’d be able to persuade Jubel to come back to Cardiff at a later date and take them on a proper trip to the stars.
The walk to the customs house is short and uneventful. The building when they reach it is reminiscent, structurally at least, to a Roman or Greek temple, although the pale blue nearly metallic looking stone that it’s built from gives it an undeniably alien quality.
Sitting down half way up the steps and under the shade of the portico, Jack waits for Grell to arrive.
Jubel sits a few steps below him, lost in thought, a small photo that he has taken from his coat pocket held loosely in his hands.
The brief glimpse that Jack gets of the picture confirms what he had thought it might be, a snapshot of Jubel and Sidony standing in front of a house and holding a baby, their expressions ones of pure joy.
Jack looks away, unwilling to intrude, knowing that if their situations were reversed he’d probably want some time on his own about now.
Walking up the steps, Ianto stops as he reaches Jubel, his expression sad and understanding as he places a hand on Jubel’s shoulder. He says something that Jack can’t quite catch, although from Jubel’s reaction he’s sure that it’s something comforting and reassuring.
Jubel looks up and smiles tiredly at Ianto, his hand moving to cover Ianto's as he says, “Thank you.”
"It'll be alright." Ianto gives Jubel's hand a gentle squeeze, before walking over to Jack and sitting down next to him.
Jack waits for a moment to see if Ianto is going to say anything to him, to reveal what he’s just said to Jubel, but he remains silent, looking out over the city.
“So what do you think of Aphelion?” Jack asks, although given Ianto’s expression it’s pretty obvious how he feels. Jack asks simply to break the silence, because sitting and waiting quietly for something as tense as his meeting with Grell is likely to be has never been something that he’s good at.
“It’s incredible. I know we see aliens everyday, but this…” He gestures at the city, looking a little over whelmed. “It’s beautiful, I don’t think I’ve got the words to describe it. It’s all a bit much to take in really.”
“You are alright though?” Jack can feel worry start to set in as he begins to wonder how Ianto is coping with being surrounded by so many different aliens and their emotions. He’s surprised that it has taken this long for him even to consider how having all these alien minds around them might affect Ianto. He’d like to think that after their talk the previous night that he’s now got a better understanding of, and more consideration for, Ianto’s feelings. This however makes him doubt whether he really does have any more consideration or if he’s fooling himself in an attempt to make himself feel better about he has treated Ianto, and if he’s honest, the rest of the team, in the past.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” Ianto looks around concerned. “Is there something that you’re not telling me?”
“About Aphelion? No. I was just wondering how you were managing with all these alien minds and feelings around you, it must be strange.” He hadn’t wanted to worry Ianto, after all Aphelion is, as planets go, a pretty safe one. He wouldn’t have chosen it for the meeting with Grell otherwise.
“Not really, crowds like this are easy. There are so many people that nothing is that intense. It’s like being at a station or an airport, everybody’s in a hurry and they’re hungry, tired or bored from travelling. It’s sort of comforting to realise that they’re really not so different from us.” He smiles reassuringly at Jack. “So don’t worry, I’m not about to go crazy or anything.”
“So small groups of people worse than crowds then?” It seems at odds with Jack’s own, albeit limited, experience with telepaths. They’d told him the precisely the opposite, that it was crowds that made their heads ache with all the voices talking at once, while small groups of people were easier and clearer to read.
Ianto stares thoughtfully at the city for a moment before answering. “Not worse,” he says eventually. “Just clearer, more focused, more intense. But not always, it depends on how strongly people are feeling things and what they’re feeling. If they’re happy it can be the best thing in the world to be around them.”
Jack supposes that this makes some kind of sense, although it’s a little worrying as it means that if they get any strongly empathic aliens or any that feed on emotions he’ll need to keep Ianto well out of their way. Not that that would be anything like an easy task, because he knows that if he judges it wrong all he’ll end up with is Ianto being very annoyed at him for not treating him the same as the rest of the team and making it look like he didn’t trust him to do his job.
He has to wonders how, if small groups of people with emotions running high are difficult to cope with, Ianto manages at the Hub, when that situation describes a good part of most of their working days. He doesn’t even want to think about what it must have been like for Ianto on the last field mission that he took him on. Brynblaidd and its aftermath has been difficult for all of them, but knowing that Ianto could feel the fear of the other captives, and even worse the malicious delight of villagers, makes him feel decidedly queasy.
“What do you do if all the emotions around you are bad, how do you cope? ” It’s a difficult question to ask, but it doesn’t change the fact that he has to ask it. Because if Ianto isn’t coping then Jack knows that he’s got some difficult decisions ahead of him as to which missions he allows Ianto on, and on his place within the team.
“Who says I cope?” There is an undercurrent of dark humour to it and Ianto looks away before Jack can even attempt to gauge if the humour was really meant.
“You’d tell me if you weren’t though, wouldn’t you?” Jack’s hand strays on to Ianto’s leg, resting lightly on his jeans. He means it to be comforting, reassuring, a gesture that’s meant to let Ianto know that he cares about him. It’s only once he has that Jack wonders if what he’s doing really is about providing reassurance for Ianto or if it’s just about reassuring himself.
It’s baffling and almost infuriating to Jack that Ianto seems to have the ability to make him second-guess himself without even saying a word. It’s also something that Jack’s not sure whether to be happy or rather disturbed about as he can see it being both a positive and a negative thing.
“Yes.” Ianto answers quickly and with a rather less conviction than Jack would like, but he supposes it will have to do.
Sitting in silence they watch as Aphelion’s sun starts to set, the dust in the atmosphere the sky turning a deep red. Ianto hasn’t moved Jack’s hand from his leg, in fact Jack is pleased to note, Ianto has actually moved closer to him so that their shoulders touch.
“Would you give it up if you could? Feeling what all those around you feel.” Jack knows only too well what it’s like to have something not of your choosing governing so much of how you live your life. He knows that if Ianto says yes then he will find a way to make it happen, to relieve Ianto of what must sometimes be an unwanted gift.
Ianto looks surprised at Jack’s question, surprised and seemingly a little disturbed at the idea that Jack might make him give up something that had been a part of him for his whole life. “I’d rather not, but if I you feel it necessary to make me choose between it and staying with Torchwood, then I choose Torchwood.”
“I would never force you to do anything that you didn’t want to.” Jack leaves out the ‘unless what you want to do is going to put the whole world in danger’ part, that has no place in what he is talking about right now. This is not about Torchwood or aliens or national security, it is about the fragile but growing trust between them and his need to let Ianto know that he would never willing break that trust.
Ianto smiles, it’s a little shy and a lot knowing, as he says softly, “I know you wouldn’t.” He watches Jack through lowered eyes lashes, biting his lip thoughtfully, before continuing, “But you might be surprised by what I want.”
Jack grins, he can’t help himself, the fact that Ianto has turned their conversation in a decidedly sexual direction is one hell of a turn on. He’s just about to ask Ianto what it is that he would like to do that might be surprising, when Grell and his delegation of Devor elders arrive.
Reluctantly, Jack takes his hand from off Ianto’s leg, and walks down the steps to meet them.
It’s strange to see Grell again, to see how time has changed him from an idealistic youth with his dreams of becoming a hero to the worn and seemingly compassionless figure now in front of him.
Grell walks slowly at the head of the small group, leaning heavily on a cane with each step, his left leg seeming to no longer be able to bend at the knee. The four elders that accompany him hang back slightly, watching Jack warily.
Stopping just in front of Jack Grell holds out his hand.
Accepting the gesture of friendship, although right now he feels a lot less than friendly towards Grell, Jack decides it’s time to make it clear to him that he’s in control of the situation, asking, “Where’s Jubel’s daughter?”
Grell shakes his hand enthusiastically. “Straight to business, that is good. All the same it is good to see you again after such a long time, to put to rest my debt to you.”
The scales on Grell’s hand are hot and dry to the touch, something that Jack knows is not normal for a Devor in good health. Not that Jack is going to allow that to sway what he thinks of Grell right now, being under the weather was hardly a valid excuse for holding anybody, and certainly not a child, hostage until a debt is paid.
“You still haven’t answered my question, where is she?”
“She’s waiting in the gardens. We shall go there now, get this over with.” Grell sounds determined not to let the situation drag on any longer than he can help, a fact for which Jack is grateful, knowing all this waiting and uncertainty must be hell for Jubel.
“Then lead on.”
Grell talks as they walk, seeming not to care he and Jack are hardly friends. “There are getting to be so few of us left who remember Telemar for what it really was. The Devor shall never forget, but time distorts the truth and there are still those that call for war and revenge even now. Maybe even more call for it now than they did then. They talk of glory because they have not seen the horror of it with their own eyes.”
Jack says nothing. He has seen it all too often before, the pointlessness and waste of war, and knows that he will again. He hadn’t expected was to find that Grell’s view of it is much the same as his own, but then again he supposes after living through what they had maybe it was inevitable.
The gardens are not far, only at the back of the customs house. Stopping at the entrance to them. Grell turns to Jack, saying, “I know you think my actions are harsh, I see the disapproval in your eyes, but I cannot afford to be seen as weak over things such as this. You may not believe it but I am the voice for moderation and change amongst the houses of the Devor, and I will not jeopardise my position over every sad story that gets put in front of me.”
“It’s not weak to show mercy.” Jack can feel Ianto’s eyes on him as he says this, and it makes him feel like a hypocrite. He knows that there’s no comparison between this situation and Lisa, but that does little to make him feel any better about it.
“It would be seen as such if I were write off the debt of a human just out of pity.” Grell sounds tired and angry at the whole situation as he watches the elders walk past him and into the gardens. “You have to understand, there are those seek any excuse to remove me from power, scared of the changes I have brought in. They cling to the past, they do not understand that if the Devor are to be strong again, to be a power in this sector once more, then they must change, they must become united and learn from the past rather than living in it.”
Jack wants to tell him that he doesn’t have to understand anything, but he doesn’t knowing that there’s no sense in aggravating the situation.
Waiting in the gardens, stood around an ancient looking metal disk, are three more Devor. A male and female who are dressed in the colours of Grell’s house and an older female who Jack realises with a start must be the shipmother for Grell’s family.
It was the only gender specific job, as far as Jack knows, within the Devor race, and one that carries a great level of respect, responsible as they are for the physical and emotional well being of the all the children in the family they are attached to. That Sibel is under the shipmother’s care means that Grell wasn’t lying when he’d said that she had not been harmed.
Standing beside the shipmother and holding her hand is a small blue skinned child, maybe four years old, who, upon seeing Jubel, starts to wave enthusiastically at him.
Jubel clutches at Jack’s arm, nearly crying with relief. “It’s her, it’s Sibel. She’s alright.”
"I told you she would be." Jack's just glad he was right, otherwise the situation would be getting ugly right about now.
Grell watches Jubel for a moment, his harsh expression softening a little, before waving the shipmother over to him. “Give Panorian his daughter, there is no sense in keeping him waiting. I trust Jack will not break his part of this agreement.”
“You know I won’t.” Jack waits until Sibel has been handed over to her father before turning back to Grell. “I suppose we’d better get started.”
"Yes." Grell walks over to where the elders are gathered about the metal disk.
Upon closer inspection of it, Jack find that it is made of old silvered metal and is engraved with the names of all the previous heads of Grell’s house. In places the disk is worn almost smooth, the names barely legible with the passage of time.
Grell strokes the surface of it with a look of reverence, careful not to knock it from where it has been balanced across three thin legged stands, before turning to the elders. “Mine is an ancient and noble house. All of you here know that I was not born to lead it, but through battle and deed and word I rose to it, forging the house of Kortel into what it is today. One of nine prime houses of the Devor.”
He looks at Jack and indicates for him to place his hand on the disk.
“Without this human, I and many others of our race would not have survived Telemer. But for his actions I would not have lived to see my house rise from the ashes, nor watch my sons and daughters grow, their deeds bringing honour to my family and this house.” He nods to the elders, two moving to stand either side of him, the remaining two going to stand either side of Jack.
“The life debt I owe him for this is more than I thought I would ever be able to repay. It has weighed heavy on me these forty-three years, and it is a burden that I had no wish to pass to my children.”
Jack feels a little guilty now about leaving Grell with what he considered to an almost unpayable debt for so long, he hadn’t known that the debt was transferable either, that it would have been passed on through Grell’s line until it was finally repaid.
The ceremony drags on with Grell listing the all precedents of life debts that had been settled by mutual agreement or trade rather than by the debtor laying down his life in the course of the repayment.
Jack really doesn’t remember the original ceremony taking this anywhere near this long or being so formal, but he suspects that what he got back on Telemar would have been the shorted version. After all they had been huddled in a cave, the supposedly accidental bombardment roaring and echoing overhead, it really hadn’t been a time for formalities or standing on ceremony.
The four elders place their hand on the disk. “Do you both agree with what had been said and acknowledge that when raise you hands from the disk that all debts and claims between you will be paid?”
“Yes.” Jack has to stop himself from adding ‘and about time too.’ He doubts whether the elders would be remotely appreciative of it.
“Yes.
“Then the debt is paid.” The elders nod to Grell, then one by one they leave the disk, going to stand with the shipmother who is smiling fondly at the sight of Jubel talking to his daughter.
Jack looks at Grell, “So that’s it? It’s all done?” It seems almost inconceivable to him that this should have gone as smoothly as it has, although he supposes that it might just be working for Torchwood that’s made him come to always expect the worst.
“Yes, and it has been an honour to do business with you and to have known you.” Grell leans forward across the disk to shake hands with Jack. “If more humans were like you, letting their actions speak for them and standing by their words when it matters most then perhaps there would not be such a desire for conflict between our races.”
Honour isn’t exactly the word that Jack would choose to use, but the deal is done and Sibel’s happy chatter in the background now that she is reunited with her father makes it worth it. It’s times like this that Jack looks forward to, times when just for a few minutes everything seems right.
He leans forward and takes Grell’s hand. “Let’s just hope that we never need to do this again.”
“This has been enough for one lifetime.” Grell smiles wearily. “And getting a speech that the elders would all agree on took half the night.”
Jack is about to reply when Ianto shouts, “Get down!”
Glancing round, Jack feels a rush of air past his face, followed by a wet spray of blood as something strikes Grell in the throat and he topples forward, collapsing the disk between them.
part eleven