Title: Free To Fall
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Ianto Jones/Tenth Doctor
Fandom: Torchwood/Doctor Who
Rating: PG-13
Table: 1, fanfic50
Prompt: 42, Fall
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 leaned back in his chair, propping his feet up on the Tardis' console and assuming a relaxed pose. Crossing his arms behind his head, he looked up at the ceiling, a smile curving his lips as his mind went back over the past few days.

How had he gotten so lucky as to have someone like Ianto in his life? He'd thought that he would never have another companion who was more than a friend to him after his relationship with Jack had ended, but he'd obviously been wrong about that.

He didn't fall in love easily; that was one thing that all of his bodies, all of his personalities over the passing centuries, had in common. He was always careful to watch his heart, though there had been times when he'd thrown caution to the winds.

He'd done that with Jack -- and had regretted it. He hadn't expected the immortal to walk away from him, and he'd sworn after it happened that he would never give his hearts so completely to anyone else. The pleasure of loving wasn't worth the inevitable pain.

But there had been one good thing about losing Jack in the way that he had, the Doctor told himself. That loss had left him free to fall in love again -- free to heal, and to give his hearts again when he knew that he was ready and the time was right.

Though he certainly hadn't planned on doing that any time soon, he thought wryly. He'd been so sure that he wasn't going to give his hearts again, and that he was destined to be alone for the remainder of his life -- in this body or in any other.

Then he'd met Ianto -- and those good intentions of protecting himself and his hearts had flown right out of the window. He'd fallen so hard and so quickly that he'd been shocked at his own reactions to this young man, amazed at the depth of his own emotions.

But he really shouldn't have been so surprised, he told himself with a soft sigh of contentment. There had been something that had drawn him to Ianto from the first moment their gazes had met, the first physical contact of their hands touching.

He hadn't quite known what he was about the first time he'd looked into Ianto's blue-grey eyes. He'd been blindsided, unable to think of anything other than the feelings the young man stirred in him -- and wondering if he should run from them.

That had been his first instinct; that of self-preservation. But something about Ianto had drawn him ever nearer, until he'd been unable to keep away. He'd wanted to take the chance of getting too close to the flame, take the risk of being burnt to a cinder.

He'd known from the beginning that his feelings for Ianto ran more deeply than they had for anyone else. He hadn't wanted to admit to himself that this young man -- this human -- could be the person that he was meant to bond with. It hadn't seemed possible.

But the longer he was around Ianto, the more time they spent together, the more hopelessly he fell -- until he finally had to admit to himself that he was caught in a web, entangled in a situation that he didn't want to extricate himself from.

He chuckled as he remembered the first time he'd told Ianto how he felt -- how his words had stumbled out, one after the other, hesitant and frightened. He'd been so terrified that Ianto would say that he didn't feel that same, that he'd face a terrible rejection.

But of course, that hadn't happened. Ianto had stepped forward, the light of love glowing in those eyes, and taken the Time Lord into his arms. Their lips had finally met in their first kiss, the kiss that he'd longed for ever since he'd first seen Ianto's face.

From that moment on, falling in love hadn't with this young man hadn't seemed so frightening. He had known beyond a shadow of a doubt that they belonged together, that his hearts weren't leading him in the wrong direction and that he wouldn't be emotionally scarred.

Ianto wasn't Jack. He had to remind himself of that fact constantly at first; there had been a devilish little voice in his ear that had poured warnings into his mind, trying to make him draw back in mistrust, to not give his hearts and soul completely.

He'd managed to push that voice away, lock it down and not listen to it. Falling in love always involved a risk, didn't it? And the longer he was with Ianto, the more he was convinced that this man was his soul mate, the one he'd always been meant to bond with.

Of course it was frightening to give himself so completely to anyone, especially after the pain he'd felt when Jack had left him. But this relationship was completely new and different; Ianto wasn't going to walk away and leave him bereft.

Before Ianto, he'd been afraid to let himself fall in love again. He'd loved before during the course of his long life, but those loves had always chosen to walk away from him, in the way that Jack had. None of them had ever lasted.

Jack had been his last love, and the one who he'd thought he would never get over. He'd admonished himself time and time again after the immortal had walked away from him about falling in love, told himself over and over again that it was always a mistake.

Ianto had changed his feelings about falling in love, holding out a hand and assuring him that it was safe to love again after he'd been hurt so badly. It hadn't been easy for him at first, but he'd closed his eyes, reached out blindly, and put his trust in this young man.

And the rewards had proved to be worth the risks. He'd never met anyone in his life who was quite like Ianto; no one else had ever given him this feeling of safety and security, not even Jack. This was a love that he could put his trust in, wholly and completely.

He'd never fallen this hard before -- but then, he'd never met anyone like Ianto before. And he'd never known with anyone else, from the first moment they met, that this was the person he wanted to spend all of his life with, if that were possible.

Ianto was more than just a companion or a lover; he was the Doctor's soul mate, the man that he had been intended for from the moment he came into being. Even though centuries and galaxies separated their births, they had always been meant for each other.

He had felt that connection from the first touch, the first look. When they'd shared their first kiss, he'd known beyond any doubt that Ianto was the man he was meant for. They had been a part of each other's hearts and souls from that moment.

Maybe he hadn't expected to fall in love when Jack had told him that there was someone at Torchwood he should meet, but somewhere in the confines of his hearts, he'd known that he was moving towards his destiny at a rapid pace.

Ianto occupied a place in his hearts that not even Jack had been able to fit into. A place that had always been reserved solely for the person who would be his soul mate, the one he chose to bond with -- the person he would fall in love with for all of eternity.

The Doctor swung his long legs down from the console as he heard Ianto's soft footsteps in the corridor that led from their bedroom into the control room, his smile growing. Yes, he was free to fall -- and with Ianto, he'd fallen more completely than he'd ever thought he possibly could.

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