Title: Darkest Before Dawn
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Ianto Jones/Tenth Doctor
Fandom: Torchwood/Doctor Who
Rating: R
Table: 3
Prompt: 38, Poison
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own Ianto Jones or the Tenth Doctor. Please do not sue.

***

Ianto stood by the bed, his face drained of all color, looking down at the Doctor. The Time Lord's face was pale, a thin sheen of sweat on his skin, his eyes slightly glazed. The young man could feel his heart clench in his chest as his eyes rested on the man he loved.

The Doctor was dying. Would die, unless the Torchwood team could work some sort of miracle.

Jack entered the room, moving towards the bed to look down at the Time Lord. He placed a hand on Ianto's shoulder, as though trying to comfort the young Welshman in some way.

Ianto didn't want comfort. He wanted them to do something. He'd never felt so helpless in his life, knowing that the Doctor's life was slipping through their fingers and they couldn't stop it from happening.

"It's a slow-acting poison," Jack said softly, his eyes on the Doctor's face, his voice barely above a whisper. "Calculated to cause the maximum amount of pain while it's killing him."

"The Master," Ianto whispered, his fists clenching at his sides. "There's no one else who would have done this. The question is, how did he get to the Doctor to poison him?"

"He didn't have to," the Doctor rasped, shifting position slightly to look up at them, his voice hoarse and rasping in his throat. "He could have had the chance to administer it in the past, and it's only now taken effect. He's rather insidious like that, you know."

Ianto reached out gentle fingers to stroke the Doctor's cheek, swallowing hard to keep his voice from trembling. "Shhh, beloved. Don't talk. Save your strength."

The Doctor raised a thin hand to press it against Ianto's own, his gaze locking with his lover's. "There may be no need for that, my sweet," he said quietly, his tone one of quiet regret. "I've no way of knowing how far this has advanced."

Ianto shook his head, pushing the possibility of a world without the Doctor in it away from him. "No," he whispered, stubbornly refusing to believe that he could lose this man.

"You have to face this, Ianto," the Doctor whispered, his voice growing weaker with the words. "I may not survive. You can't hold on to a hope that will only crush you in the end."

The young man gulped, nodding, his eyes not leaving his love's face. Jack's hand on his shoulder tightened, as though he was trying to impart some of his own strength to Ianto.

"You need to rest," Jack told the Doctor, pressing his other hand against the Time Lord's shoulder. The Gallifreyan nodded wearily, sinking back against the pillow and closing his eyes, the pallor of his skin nearly the same stark white as the fabric beneath his cheek.

"And you need to eat something," Jack added to Ianto, turning him towards the door. "It won't do him any good if you pass out."

Ianto allowed himself to be led to the door, before turning back and looking at the Time Lord. He looked so frail, so defenseless. He couldn't turn his back and leave this room now. He couldn't.

"I can't leave him," Ianto whispered, trying to pull away from Jack's firm grasp. "Don't make me."

"It won't do him any good to have you falling apart," Jack said softly, not relinquishing his grip on the young man's shoulder. "He's fighting for his life, Ianto. It's not a fight you can help him with."

"I know." Ianto's words were barely audible. "I've never felt so useless in my life."

"We all feel helpless," Jack said, his voice soft with compassion. "None of us wants to admit that we may not be able to do anything."

Ianto nodded, words finally bursting from him when they were out of the room, out of earshot of the Doctor. "I know you all want to help him. But none of you are in my situation. None of you are bonded to him. None of you are his soul mate. None of you ...." He took a deep breath, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to spill over. ".... None of you love him."

"Don't say that." Was it his imagination, or did Jack's voice have an edge of pain to it, something that had been hidden until now? "Don't say that I don't love him."

Ianto glanced over at Jack, surprised by the expression on his face. The immortal looked haggard, worry pushing his nerves to the limit.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I know you care for him. But still -- you aren't me. It's a different kind of caring."

Jack sighed, squeezing Ianto's shoulder again. "I know it is. I can't even begin to imagine what you're going through. We'll save him, Ianto. If it's at all possible, we'll find a way. None of us wants to lose him. I think even Owen's fond of him by now, even though he won't say it."

As if on cue, Owen came rushing out of his office, his lab coat flapping behind him. He looked equal parts worried and relieved.

"I think we've found it," he told Jack, waving a sheaf of papers at him. "I managed to isolate the components of the poison. Now all we have to do is come up with some kind of antidote -- and hope it'll work on Gallifreyan physiology."

Jack nodded somberly, eyes flickering to the door behind them. "Do it, Owen. As quickly as you can. He may not have much time left."

"I should be with him," Ianto whispered, wrenching out of Jack's grasp. He wasn't going to waste a second of whatever precious time he might have left with his love.

Neither of the other men tried to stop him as he darted back through the door and fell to his knees by the bed.

Ianto took the Doctor's thin hand in both of his, twining his fingers through the Time Lord's. The tears that he'd been trying to hold back finally broke through, pouring down his face, torn from him in wrenching sobs.

"Don't leave me," he whispered, his eyes fastened on the Doctor's face. "I can't go through the rest of my life without you. I can't."

The Doctor didn't move, didn't speak. Fear coursed through Ianto's veins; he might even now be past the point of communication.

Without realizing what he was doing, Ianto got to his feet, sitting down on the bed and taking the Doctor's frail body into his arms. If it was already too late, it wouldn't matter that he'd spent these last few moments with the man he loved cradled in his embrace.

He rocked back and forth, the Doctor clasped in his arms, a soft, keening wail coming from his throat. This wasn't happening. The Doctor couldn't die. He'd been in Ianto's life such a short time. They'd had so much planned, so many years together that would be taken from them.

He could almost feel the Time Lord's heartbeats slowing, the life draining out of the fragile body pressed against his.

"No," he moaned, burying his face in the Doctor's hair. His own heart felt as though it was being torn out of his chest, squeezed until there was nothing left but a bloody pulp.

He wouldn't even consider going on without the Doctor. If the Time Lord's life ended, then his would too. He couldn't go through the rest of an empty life without his soul mate. Torchwood, his work, nothing mattered without the Doctor by his side.

Ianto could already see the empty, meaningless days stretching out in front of him. What seemed like an eternity without his love. An eternity of empty days and nights, his soul screaming for its other half. He couldn't live like that. Surely the Doctor wouldn't expect him to.

Surely he'd be forgiven for what he would have to do.

Owen came rushing into the room, a hypodermic needle in his hand, stopping short when he saw Ianto on the bed with the Doctor's unconscious body in his arms. "What the hell are you doing?"

Ianto glared at him, clutching the Doctor protectively. "You can't keep me from holding him."

"Lay him down," Owen said, moving to the side of the bed. "I think this will work. I'm not completely sure, but we have to take the chance. He's fading, Ianto. We have to do something now."

He didn't dare disobey; Owen knew much more about medical procedures than he did. And at this point, Ianto would do anything, grasp at any straw that might keep his love by his side.

He watched Owen as the young doctor took the Time Lord's arm, searching for a vein. Ianto had to look away when the needle was inserted, squeezing his eyes closed when Owen emptied the syringe into the Gallifreyan's system.

His eyes flew open when he felt Owen's hand on his shoulder. Of all the things he'd ever expected, Owen attempting to give him some kind of physical comfort wasn't one of them.

"We all care about him," Owen said quietly. "I can't say that I know what you're going through, but I can sympathize."

"Thank you," Ianto whispered, his eyes locked on the Doctor's face. The next few moments would give them their answer -- whether the Time Lord would live or die.

He held his breath, wanting to cross his fingers but not daring to. Something as silly as that wouldn't help his love; there was nothing that could help now. All he could do was pray; pray that Owen's antidote would counteract the poison flowing through the Doctor's body, pull him back from the edge.

There was nothing they could do but wait.

The Doctor stirred slightly, turning his head, murmuring a few words in a language that Ianto didn't understand. He kept his eyes on his lover's face, trying to forge some sort of connection with the Doctor, trying with all his might to hold the Time Lord in this world.

The Doctor opened his eyes, looking up at Ianto, blinking a little as his gaze focused.

A slow smile spread over his handsome features, one thin hand raising to press against the young man's cheek.

"I think the crisis has passed," he said softly, his gaze moving to Owen's anxious face. "And I believe that I have you to thank for it, doctor."

Ianto sagged against the side of the bed in relief, letting out the breath that he hadn't quite realized he'd been holding. The Doctor would be all right. Weak, not quite himself at the moment, but he was alive, and that was what mattered.

The Doctor's frail hand moved from Ianto's cheek to his shoulder, tugging at the young man's shirt. Ianto sat down on the bed, pulling the Doctor into his arms, brushing the tawny hair back from the Time Lord's face. He didn't know quite how it happened, but somehow, his lips were on the Doctor's, his hands caressing down the other man's back.

"Right." Owen seemed embarrassed to be in the room with the two of them. "I should go and tell Jack, then." He turned and left the room, turning to smile back at the two of them before he disappeared down the hallway.

"He's a bit prickly, but not a bad sort," the Doctor mused, watching Owen beat his quick retreat. "I owe him a great deal."

"I can never repay my debt to him," Ianto said softly, his eyes never leaving the Doctor's face. "He's given me my life back."

"Don't think like that, Ianto." The Doctor's words were quiet, serious. "You would have had to go on without me, no matter how hard it might have been. Suicide is never an option."

Ianto stared at his love with wide eyes; how could the Doctor have known what was in his mind during those desperate moments when he'd been so sure that he would be left alone?

The Doctor smiled mischievously, pointing at his own head with one long, slender finger. "Telepath. Have you forgotten?"

Ianto blushed, nodding. He had indeed forgotten about that singular talent of the Doctor's. One that could be rather disconcerting at times. "Let's not talk about that at the moment. The important thing is that you're going to be all right."

"And that I'm with you," the Doctor whispered, slender arms wrapping around Ianto's neck. "Is there any chance that we could go home and spend a bit of time alone?"

"I think that could be arranged right away." Jack stepped into the room, a broad smile on his face. "You had us scared for a while there, Doctor."

"I had myself frightened, too." The Doctor looked over at Jack, then back at Ianto. "I hope that never happens again."

"I couldn't agree more," Ianto murmured, standing up and turning to the bed to slide strong arms under the Doctor. He lifted his love in his arms, then moved towards the door, determined to carry the Doctor out to his car and get him home as quickly as possible.

"Don't come back here for a few days," Jack called after them, his voice echoing down the hallway. "I expect you to take some time off."

The Doctor and Ianto looked at each other, looks of surprise on both of their faces. Then Ianto grinned, shaking his head and laughing.

"I'm definitely going to take his advice," he said softly, bending his head to brush his lips against the softness of the Doctor's mouth.

"That sounds like a very good idea," the Time Lord sighed, closing his eyes and returning the kiss as Ianto carried him out into the bright sunlight.

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