Title: Moonlight Sonata
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Ianto Jones/Tenth Doctor
Fandom: Doctor Who/Torchwood
Rating: PG-13
Table: 11
Prompt: 04, Moonlight
Author's Note: No, I don't capitalize "Tardis." It's a personal choice to write it like a proper name -- since I happen to think that it has a personality and motivations of its own, I choose to write it more like a character than a machine. I realize it's canon to capitalize it, but this is fanfic. It's for fun, not serious bizness.
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my own imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the Tenth Doctor or Jack Harkness. Please do not sue.

***

Ianto rose from the bed, casting a look at the sleeping Time Lord next to him. The corners of his mouth twitched upwards as he regarded the man lying there, unable to resist leaning down to brush a gentle kiss against the Doctor's bare shoulder. The thought of waking the Doctor for another interlude crossed his mind, but he reluctantly pushed the thought from his mind and walked to the window, pushing aside the curtains to look out over the city.

He rested his head against the windowpane, contemplating the events of the past few days. Ianto had known that he wanted the Doctor from the first time that he'd ever set eyes on the Time Lord, and his feelings had only grown stronger over the time they'd already managed to spend together. He was sure that those feelings wouldn't diminish.

Ianto closed his eyes, one hand clenching around the fabric of the curtains. He was sure of his own feelings, more sure than he'd ever been of anything in his life. But what of the Doctor's feelings? After all, he was only half-human. Did his emotions run as deep as Ianto's? Was this something that he could easily forget, easily leave behind?

He'd heard the Doctor whisper endearments when they were making love, lying locked together in post-coital bliss. He'd heard them slip out in speech, when the Doctor seemed to be unaware of the words he uttered. Ianto had held those words to his heart, keeping them close, replaying them over and over in his mind.

There was no reason for him to question what was in the Doctor's heart; he knew that the Gallifreyan wasn't a man to be disloyal. Hearts, he corrected himself with a smile, glancing back at the sleeping Time Lord in his bed. Two hearts -- just another thing that he would have to get used to referring to.

Ianto returned his gaze to the slumbering city outside his window, his eyes scanning the bright lights reflected in the plate-glass windows. How long would it be before the Doctor would be a part of those lights outside his window, bidding him farewell and leaving him behind with no guarantee as to when he'd be back?

He had said that he would go with the Doctor, and he would -- if it was at all possible. But Ianto knew that the Doctor was just as stubborn as he himself was -- and that the Time Lord was perfectly capable of leaving him behind if he thought that anything he was headed into would put Ianto in the path of danger.

What would he do if he awakened one morning and the Doctor wasn't there by his side?

What could he do? Ianto asked himself. There would be nothing for him to do but wait -- wait and pray that his love came back to him.

He rested his head against the windowpane again, feeling his throat constrict with the threat of tears. No, he wouldn't cry, he told himself, pushing the urge away. The Doctor was still here. He hadn't left yet. Surely that was a good sign.

Ianto was so lost in his own thoughts that he didn't hear the Time Lord slip out of bed and move stealthily across the room, his bare feet making no sound on the thick carpet. The younger man jumped when the Doctor touched his shoulder, relaxing in a moment at the sight of the man he loved standing beside him.

"It's a beautiful night, isn't it?" the Doctor asked softly, nodding at the window and the city spread out in a panorama in front of them.

The young Welshman turned to contemplate the man he'd let himself love, his eyes moving over the Doctor's nude body. He swallowed hard, feeling his body tighten in response to the sight before his eyes. He was sure that no sight could be more beautiful to him than the Doctor standing at his side, no matter what the situation.

"Yes, it is," Ianto murmured, brushing his lips against the Doctor's cheek, unsure of what to say. Should he bring up the subject that was uppermost in his mind? No, he decided, closing the door firmly on the thought. He didn't want to spoil this night with any discussions that might lead to their first argument.

He moved behind the Doctor, wrapping his arms around the slender Time Lord and pulling the Doctor's body back against his own. Moonlight spilled through the large picture window, illuminating the naked bodies of the two men standing there, neither one caring if they could be seen be anyone who might happen to look out of another window.

Do you love me? Ianto thought, the words almost coming out before he could stop them, only managing to keep himself from uttering them at the last moment. But they were too strong, too insistent to keep them back.

"Do you love me?"

Ianto wanted to sink through the floor, to run for the Tardis and go anywhere, any time, any place other than here, that fateful question hanging in the air and his every nerve tense and attuned to what the Doctor might or might not say.

The Doctor twisted slightly in Ianto's embrace, looking up at his lover with a quizzical gaze. Turning to face Ianto, he lifted one delicate hand to place it against the young man's smooth cheek, his voice soft yet decisive.

"Of course," he whispered, his dark gaze locking with Ianto's. "How could you doubt it?"

"I don't," Ianto whispered back, blinking back the tears that threatened to spill over. Tears of happiness, the Doctor's words burrowing into his heart and settling there. "I never could."

The Doctor continued to look at him with raised brows, his own gaze steady on Ianto's face. It took the young man a few moments to realize that he was waiting for the same words that Ianto had needed to hear.

"I love you too," he said softly, moving to embrace the Time Lord again, his lips finding the other man's as he moved his hands down the Doctor's body, down his sides, over his hips, before coming to rest at the small of his back.

The Doctor leaned close to his lover, brushing his soft lips against Ianto's ear. "Then I believe that you should come back to bed and show me the proof of that."

"Gladly," Ianto breathed, moving back across the moonlit room towards the disordered bed.

The worries that had beset the younger man earlier disappeared, swept away from his mind in a tide of feeling stronger than anything he'd ever known.

***