Title: Left in the Dark
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Ianto Jones/Tenth Doctor
Fandom: Torchwood/Doctor Who
Rating: PG
Table: 1, 50scenes
Prompt: 45, Ignored
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 glanced over at Ianto, trying to be unobtrusive as he studied his young lover's face. It had been a while now since he and Ianto had been making their permanent home here on the Tardis, and he still worried about how Ianto was adjusting.

It hadn't been easy for the other man to give up his flat in Cardiff, to leave Torchwood and the life he'd known on Earth behind. But he'd done so, and he'd made the choice himself. The Doctor hadn't forced him into it in any way.

Still, he couldn't help feeling a bit guilty that things had come down to this. But that wasn't his fault -- or anyone's, really. Jack had given Ianto the choice of staying with Torchwood or spending more time with the Doctor, and Ianto had done what he'd wanted to do.

Jack had privately told the Time Lord that he'd felt Ianto needed that impetus to make his decision, and that he'd do it again if he had to.

"I don't him to feel that he's being kicked out of Torchwood," the immortal had explained, frowning and shaking his head. "But he's almost ignored there sometimes. There's not enough for him to do -- and even though I don't want to lose him as a team member, he's better off with you."

The other man had looked at him steadily, taking in the effect his words had on the Doctor. "Besides, you need him more than we do," he'd said softly, reaching out to lay a hand on the Time Lord's shoulder. "You need to have him with you."

The Doctor had started to protest, then closed his mouth and only nodded. Jack was right. Ianto was the other half of his soul; he needed the comfort and security that he had when his lover was with him, needed the knowledge that Ianto was safe.

Of course, he wouldn't always be safe, traveling through time and space, the Doctor thought, but at least he knew that the young man was by his side, and that if Ianto faced any dangers, the two of them would be together when he did.

When he'd been with Torchwood, he could have been running into all kinds of horrible situations that the Doctor knew nothing about, risking his life at every turn. And his lover wouldn't have known that anything had happened to him until after the fact.

He didn't want to live like that -- and he didn't want Ianto to have those same worries about him when they were apart.

Maybe Jack more or less giving Ianto an ultimatum that he had to be with the Doctor or with the Torchwood team hadn't been the best way to go about making Ianto see that he had to make that choice, but it was done -- and the young man was here.

Ianto had complained at first that it seemed he was being thrown out of the job he'd wanted so badly and that had meant so much to him, but he'd hastily assured the Doctor that if he had to make the same choice again, he'd have done the same.

"Nothing is as important to me as being with you," he'd said softly, taking the Time Lord in his arms and pressing a gentle, heartfelt kiss against his parted lips. "This is where I belong, Doctor. I've known that for a long time -- and it's time I did something about it."

The Doctor sighed, propping his chin on his hand and pulling his long legs up onto the couch under him. He didn't realize that the sigh had been audible until Ianto looked up at him with a quizzical expression, moving over on the couch until they were right beside each other.

Ianto slid an arm around his waist, pulling him close. "Doctor, what is it? You've been looking as if something's worrying you -- care to tell me what's on your mind?"

The Time Lord almost protested that there was nothing for him to be worried about, then decided against it. He'd promised Ianto that he would always be truthful about his inner thoughts -- and now wasn't the time to start keeping secrets from his lover.

"I've been .... thinking about you having to leave Torchwood -- and Earth," he said, his voice a bit hesitant. "I know you made that choice willingly, Ianto -- but I can't help worrying that you might feel you were forced into it."

Ianto shook his head, his arm tightening around the Doctor's waist. "No, I don't feel that way -- and I don't think I ever will. My time at Torchwood was coming to an end anyway, Doctor. I didn't feel that I was really needed there."

Now it was the Doctor's turn to shake his head. "Jack thought differently, you know," he said softly, with an almost inaudible sigh. "He didn't really want you to leave, but he said that you belonged with me -- and that we both needed each other more than he needed you to be there."

"He's right," Ianto murmured, bending his head to brush a kiss against the Doctor's forehead. "I was almost invisible there sometimes, love. I suppose I felt .... ignored."

"Jack had mentioned that, too," the Doctor told him, resting his head on Ianto's shoulder. "But I didn't know you felt like that, love. I know that you didn't have much to do sometimes, but -- I thought you were happy with Torchwood."

Ianto shrugged, a frown forming between his brows. "I can't say that I didn't enjoy working there -- but once I met you, it became much less part of my life -- and much less important to me. And now .... I'm right where I want to be. Don't ever doubt that, Doctor."

The Time Lord closed his eyes, letting himself relax. Ianto didnt feel that he'd made a mistake by being here with him. That was the worry that had been eating away at him; he wouldn't voice those words aloud, but that was the crux of his anxieties.

Thank goodness, Ianto had driven those worries away. He had nothing to worry about; his lover was right where he wanted to be. And if the Doctor had any say in the matter, he would be here for a very long time to come.

"You'll never feel ignored with me," he told Ianto, raising his head to look at his young lover as he reached out to twine his fingers through the other man's. "In fact, you'll probably get terribly tired of me being overprotective of you."

Ianto laughed, shaking his head. "I might get a little impatient with it at times -- but I know it's done in love, Doctor. And I certainly can't fault that. I'll be the same way with you, you know."

The Doctor smiled, feeling his hearts lighten and soar in his chest. "I don't doubt that at all," he said softly, leaning forward to press his lips against Ianto's, murmuring against that soft mouth. "I've never had anyone be that way with me before. I think I'll enjoy it."

In fact, he was sure that he would. He'd spent a great deal of his life being ignored, too, he thought -- by many of the people who should have been his peers. But that was over; now he had his soul mate, the man who would always be there for him.

He couldn't keep back a smile at the thought that the man who'd always been considered an outcast, whose supposed strangeness had always been ignored and left in the dark, had finally found the person who embraced his differences, and loved him because of them.

Neither of them would feel alone again -- or feel that they were ignored and thrust aside, he vowed as Ianto's arms wrapped around him and he was pulled into a firm embrace. He'd make sure of that. And judging by Ianto's response, he was already doing quite a good job of it.

***