FIC: Torchwood (drabble) - Faith

[fajrdrako]

Title: Faith
Author: fajrdrako
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack, Ianto
Challenge: tw100, challenge: episode tag
Rating: G
Disclaimer: Not mine, no claims, all property of the BBC.
Notes: Episode tag for Torchwood series 1, episode 4, "Cyberwoman". Cross-posted to my lj, and to tw100.


Faith

Ianto stared at the night lights of the bay, feeling the cold wind. Jack walked up behind him, greatcoat swirling.

Lisa almost destroyed the world. Ianto almost let her. What he had done to Jack, his boss, his lover, was unforgivable. Ianto said aloud, "For a crime so great, what expiation can there be?"

"Expiation is beside the point." Jack was neither angry nor judging, not now. "You paid the greatest price. You lost what you valued most. You lost Lisa. Now you need to come to terms with that."

"Can I?"

Jack smiled. "You can. You will. Believe it."

Comments

[cionaudha.livejournal.com]

Jack certainly knows about that. But I don't believe for a minute that he's come to terms with losing the Doctor. Though he's had to get over his wife, and other S3 spoilery things.

I love the theme of Ianto and religion. The very word "expiation" implies so much more than amends or repayment. Expiation is a very personal, spiritual battle.



In other news, I don't know how I managed not to see this for a full year: a bit of Jack's dialogue cut from the KKBB office scene.

What is wrong with me? I never do this, I never stumble, I never don't know what to say.

The great Captain Harkness, undone by a boy.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I don't believe for a minute that he's come to terms with losing the Doctor.

Depends how you define 'come to terms'. He's living without the Doctor well enough; but he hasn't forgotten him for a moment, loves him no less, and (I think) hopes and believes that they will be together again in the future. I'd say he's come to terms with the situation, but hopes the situation will change.

I too love theme of Ianto and religion, or at least, Ianto and religious values. I like the intersection of Jack's futuristic humanist values with Ianto's Earth-culture traditions. I like the way Ianto worries in spiritual terms. Or so it seems. But I do think Ianto would think in terms of 'expiation'. We haven't been told, but I would guess that Ianto grew up with some form of traditional Protestantism.

And Jack himself is portrayed in religious terms, adding a level of interest to the mix.

a bit of Jack's dialogue cut from the KKBB office scene. "What is wrong with me? I never do this, I never stumble, I never don't know what to say."
The great Captain Harkness, undone by a boy.

I wish they'd left that in. It would have made the scene make more sense to me. I'm still working on that one.

Captain Harkness, undone by a boy.

Ianto has become his weakness. He loves it, of course. I wonder at the ramifications.

[cionaudha.livejournal.com]

I would guess that Ianto grew up with some form of traditional Protestantism.

I'm sure of it. It would apparently place him and his family in a tiny minority: only 9% of Welsh people are church-goers.

I wish I had seen more than that delicious discarded bit of script about "studied for the priesthood". (Which can only be Anglican a/k/a Church in Wales, if he's Protestant.)

His personal austerity, reticent demeanor, and emotional maelstrom make him a questionable choice for ministry, which presumably became obvious at some point.

Did he lose faith in God? Does he believe in God but not trust Him? Have Jack and Torchwood completely replaced that construct in his heart?

Regardless, it seems that certain qualities are bred in the bone: his sensitivity to the idea of sin and expiation as you say, and his need to serve a universal good for the salvation of mankind. I retract that last bit. That's not him at all. It's personal for him. Let's just leave it "his need to serve".

If Ianto has discarded the Apostles' Creed, what creed replaces it?

I believe in God, the Father almighty,
creator of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord.
He was conceived by the power of the Holy Spirit
and born of the Virgin Mary.

He suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.

He descended to the dead.
On the third day he rose again.
He ascended into heaven,
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the holy catholic Church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and the life everlasting.


It's not too great a leap to transfer a lot of those qualities to Jack. Has he? GDL thinks so.


If Ianto has become a weakness, then he's also become a liability. I wonder what S3 will show us?


ETA: Eh, what a bunch of unstructured blather. Sorry.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

It would apparently place him and his family in a tiny minority: only 9% of Welsh people are church-goers.

Not true in the past, though. Ianto has a lot of the hallmaks of a former believer, or at least being from a family of believers. (Knowledge of the Bible, for instance.)

(Which can only be Anglican a/k/a Church in Wales, if he's Protestant.)

Which I would guess he is, though one can't rule out Catholicism.

His personal austerity, reticent demeanor, and emotional maelstrom make him a questionable choice for ministry,

His impish sense of humour - which is sometimes even morbid - would be a problem too, I think; he has a strongly reverent nature with a streak of irreverence in it.

Did he lose faith in God?

Might the Battle of Canary Wharf have shattered his faith? I think not; I'd think it went back further than that. That's just a guess, though.

Does he believe in God but not trust Him?

Gwen still seems to sustain some vague sense of belief. I'd guess that Ianto have overlaid a former devoutness with a layer of cynicism and skepticism where traditional Christianity is concerned.

Have Jack and Torchwood completely replaced that construct in his heart?


I'd say the evidence is "yes" but it isn't exactly explicit. Implied.

It's not too great a leap to transfer a lot of those qualities to Jack. Has he? GDL thinks so.

Unless further evidence shows us something else, I think so, too. Though he makes am effort - perhaps even a conscious effort - to defy Jack from time to time; taking Owen's part against Jack in "End of Days", expressing his anger than Jack left him in "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang", disobeying his wishes in "Adrift". (Which, personally, I think is more of a big deal than most other fans seem to think.)

If Ianto has become a weakness, then he's also become a liability

I think he is a weakness in some ways, but also a strength. Jack functions best with a lot of personal loving. I think Jack trusts Ianto deeply, and has more faith in him than Ianto has in himself. Which is, in turn, important to Ianto's sense of achievement and self worth. I've said that I think Tosh and Owen bring out the worst in each other - her shyness, his insensitivity - but it's the opposite with Ianto and Jack: they bring out the best in each other.

Eh, what a bunch of unstructured blather. Sorry.

Don't apologize! I love it.