Title: Escape From Fate
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Ianto Jones/Tenth Doctor
Fandom: Torchwood/Doctor Who
Rating: PG-13
Table: 3, 50episodes
Prompt: 7, Bound
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.

***

The Doctor struggled against the ropes that bound him, closing his eyes and turning all his strength towards escaping. He should have known that he was walking into a trap; it was a good thing that Ianto hadn't come with him, or his lover would be in this situation, too.

Ianto was his only hope of escaping whatever the fates had planned for him, he thought, his frustration mounting when the ropes binding his wrists only seemed to become tighter the more he struggled against them. Ianto would find him and get him out of here.

That was, if Ianto hadn't been captured and taken to some damp, dank room, as well. The Doctor's hearts seemed to skip a beat at the thought; he didn't want to imagine that Ianto had been taken prisoner, as well. If he had, then they were both in more danger than he'd counted on.

He hadn't thought that the two of them would run into some sort of gang war on this planet; he'd known that there was some unrest, yes, but not that it had escalated to this point. And he hadn't been able to convince his captors that he wasn't on their rivals' side.

So he'd been bound and gagged, and left here in this building until his captors could make up their minds about what to do with him. There had been several suggestions, most of which had made his blood run cold -- and a few that had made him fear not only for his life, but for his virtue.

He wasn't going to let another man touch him, the Doctor vowed to himself. He had no idea how he could keep anyone who was hell-bent on rape from having their way with him in his present poistion, but he would manage to do it. He wasn't going to let himself be defiled.

That would have been bad enough if he was still alone in the world, if he wasn't with someone he loved and had bonded with not only for a lifetime, but for all of eternity. He wasn't going to let that bond be violated in any way. No one was going to lay their hands on him.

Such words were easy to say, a voice in the back of his mind that always seemed to pipe up during times of duress screamed at him. What was he going to do if they were bent on rape? He had no way to stop them, nothing he could say or do that would give them pause.

No, that wasn't going to happen, the Doctor thought, trying to subdue the beating of his rapidly pounding hearts and calm himself. Ianto would find him before those men came back. Ianto was out there now, probably looking for him even as he lay here helpless.

If only he could cry out, make some sort of sound! He grunted in frustration, the loudest sound he could make; the gag in his mouth kept that sound muffled, kept him from making any kind of noise that could possibly be heard outside of this room.

Ianto couldn't possibly be bound and gagged in the same way that he was, lying somewhere in another room, thinking that the Doctor was going to save him from whatever fate might seem to have in store for him. Ianto was safe, free, searching for him at this very moment.

The Doctor closed his eyes tightly, letting his body go limp, hoping that the sudden slackness of his muscles would somehow loosen the bonds that seemed to bite into the flesh of his wrists. He had to keep thinking along those lines. He had to think that Ianto was safe.

If he didn't, then he would lose hope -- and that was one thing that he couldn't allow himself to do. He had to believe that his lover would be able to rescue him; if he let himself think that Ianto was in the same situation that he was, then he would be lost.

Unfortunately, the ropes that bound him didn't loosen with the slackening of his body; they almost seemed to become tighter, cutting into his flesh with more insistence as he struggled. Maybe that was what they were intended to do, he thought, ceasing his movement.

It was very probable that he was bound with some sort of rope that tightened when there was resistance given; body heat could make it draw into itself, trapping the person within its coils even more tightly. If he lay still and didn't struggle, maybe the ropes would loosen.

But that didn't mean that he'd be able to free himself, that annoying little voice piped up from the back of his mind again. The moment he moved in the slightest way, the ropes would tighten again; another person would have to cut the bonds and free him.

He hated being bound like this, the Doctor fumed, struggling into a sitting position even though he knew that such movement would only draw the ropes tighter around his wrists and ankles. He hated feeling so helpless and unsure of what was going to happen.

All that he could do at the moment was hope that Ianto would find him before his captors came back -- because if he didn't, there was no telling what those vile men would have decided to do with him. He could think of several probable fates, and none of them were pleasant.

Given some of the suggestions that he'd heard before his captors had exited the room and slammed the door behind them, leaving him lying here bound and helpless, he was sure that his only hope of getting out here completely unharmed was if Ianto found him quickly.

And if Ianto didn't find him .... the Doctor shuddered, closing his eyes again and trying to beat back the fear that rose unbidden in his throat, making him swallow convulsively behind the gag. If Ianto didn't find him in time, he didn't want to think about what could take place.

A sound outside the door made the Doctor cease his struggles; for a few seconds, his blood seemed to have frozen in his veins. Could his captors be coming back? Had he run out of time? If they got back before Ianto managed to find him --

He squeezed his eyes closed as the door swung inward; the sound of a single set of footsteps echoed on the floor, around the cavernous space of the room. The voice that he heard made relief seep through him; he could almost feel his body going limp as his fears disintegrated.

"Doctor?" Ianto's voice had never been so welcome; he'd needed to hear that voice more than he'd ever needed anything in his life. Ianto was here; his lover had found him. He would be safe; they'd made it back to the Tardis and get the hell out of here.

He couldn't make any sound other than a muffled moan, but that was enough for Ianto to realize where he was and make his way across the room to kneel in front of him. The Doctor gasped as his boyfriend gently removed the gag from his mouth, taking a deep breath of air into his lungs.

"Are you all right, love?" Ianto asked anxiously, taking his Swiss army knife out of his pocket and slicing through the ropes that bound the Doctor. The Time Lord sighed as he began to chafe his wrists, closing his eyes for just a moment before he nodded in affirmation.

"I'm fine, sweetheart," he said, his voice sounding somewhat hoarse from being gagged for so long. "I hate that I let down my guard long enough to be captured like that -- it's a little embarrassing. But I'm just glad you found me. Now let's get out of this place."

Ianto nodded, helping the Time Lord to his feet and sliding an arm around his lover's waist. It only took the Doctor a few moments to walk steadily; by the time they cautiously opened the door and emerged into the empty street beyond, he felt normal again.

"I think the Tardis is that way," Ianto told him, pointing to his right. "That's the way I came -- and I made sure to have a fixed point that I knew I could get back to. When I did that, the Tardis was in sight. I don't think we'll have a problem making it back to her."

"We'll have a problem if those men decide to come after us," the Doctor said dryly, glancing down the opposite side of the street. At the moment, the place appeared to be deserted, but that didn't mean that his captors couldn't show up at any time.

"That's true," Ianto agreed, reaching for the Doctor's hand and twining their fingers together. "Let's get back to the ship and leave. I don't think there's anything much we can do here, Doctor. The gang wars have gone too far for just two people to have any kind of a calming effect."

The Doctor nodded, knowing that Ianto was right and that they should leave this planet as soon as possible. The fact that he'd been so easily captured and bound, held captive for quite a length of time, still rankled -- but he could think about that later, when the two of them were safe.

As his ears caught the sound of a rough laugh from what sounded like only a short distance away, the two men moved rapidly down the street to disappear around a corner. They'd make it back to the ship and leave -- and he was sure that it would be a long, long time before this planet saw them again.

***