Title: When It Started To Begin
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Ianto Jones/Tenth Doctor
Fandom: Torchwood/Doctor Who
Rating: PG
Table: doctorwho_100
Prompt: 1, Beginnings
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.

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Ianto looked around the control room of the Tardis, hardly able to believe that he was here. He'd felt that way ever since the first time he'd entered the ship; he'd almost felt as though he was trespassing, as if he didn't belong there and never would.

Over time, he'd grown to feel differently; the Doctor had, of course, welcomed him into the ship as though he'd always been meant to make it his home. In the Time Lord's eyes, that was true -- for him, Ianto was a permanent fixture in his life.

But he himself hadn't always felt that way, Ianto thought wryly. He'd been terrified at first that he would do or say something to annoy or offend the Doctor, something that they wouldn't be able to work out between themselves, and that he'd find himself back in Cardiff.

That hadn't happened, of course. His relationship with the Time Lord grew stronger with each day that passed, and he could only see them continuing to do so.

When he'd first met the Doctor, he'd been certain that he didn't have a chance with the Time Lord against Jack's urbane charms. After all, he'd fallen for those charms himself in the past, so it made sense to him that the Doctor would, too.

He hadn't counted on the fact that the Doctor had been able to look past that, to see that Jack would never be the kind of man he wanted. The immortal wasn't capable of being faithful -- or even of truly loving anyone other than his own reflection.

Ianto had expected the Doctor to still carry a torch for Jack, though he'd known in the back of his mind that idea was ridiculous. The Doctor wasn't the kind of man to have expectations for a love affair that had ended; he was a man who looked to the future.

He was the Doctor's future. He'd known that from the first time he'd looked into the Time Lord's eyes, when the two of them had started to begin.

Exactly when had they started? Ianto's thoughts went back to their first meeting, when Jack had introduced the two of them in the Hub. He hadn't been able to take his eyes from the Doctor; he'd thought that the Time Lord was the most beautiful man he'd ever seen.

And there had obviously been an attraction on the Doctor's side of things, too. The other man's eyes had lingered on him; Ianto had felt that gaze from across the room, and he could have sworn he could still feel those dark eyes on him even when the Doctor wasn't near.

That had only been his imagination, of course. Or had it? He might not have been in direct view of the Time Lord, but he must have been on the other man's mind. He would have had to be, for him to feel that scrutiny so strongly.

He himself had gone out of his way to find excuses to be around the Doctor, even though he could sense that Jack was irritated at him for interrupting them.

Had Jack been trying to revive their relationship? Ianto had thought so at the time, but he hadn't dared to ask the immortal about it. Their personal relationship had been over for a while by then, and he hadn't felt that he had the right to pry into Jack's life.

But he'd wanted to. Oh, how he'd wanted to. He'd even felt a burning jealousy of the immortal -- he got to spend so much time with the Doctor, having the other man by his side nearly the entire time that the Doctor had remained at the Hub.

It hadn't been until later that he'd discovered the Doctor's real reason for staying there so long -- he'd wanted to spend time with Ianto, to be able to talk with him, get to know him. It hadn't happened then, unfortunately -- they'd had to wait until later for time to be together.

Maybe later was when they'd first started to begin, Ianto mused, leaning back on the couch and staring up at the ceiling.

It had been a month or so later when the Doctor had come back -- and this time, he'd managed to approach Ianto when Jack wasn't around and ask him if they could meet somewhere that they could talk alone. Ianto had thought he was dreaming.

He'd had such a hard time believing that ther Doctor could possibly want his company when Jack Harkness was there -- but amazing enough, he did. They'd gone to Ianto's flat, sat in the living room on the couch, and talked half the night.

That had been the first glimmer he'd had of the Time Lord's interest in him. At first, he'd thought that there was a good chance he was reading more into their conversation than he should; it had seemed so hard to fathom that this man could want to be with him.

But he'd pushed his reservations aside and let himself open up in a way that he hadn't done with anyone in the past -- not even Jack when they had been together.

The true beginning of their relationship had been that night, even though all they'd done was talk and talk, and the Doctor had gone back to the Tardis and not spent the night with him. Ianto could almost find it in himself to wish that had been different.

He'd wanted the Doctor to stay with him -- and he had felt sure that the Time Lord wanted to stay, too. But it would have been wrong at the time, he told himself firmly. It had been enough to know that they wanted to be with each other.

They hadn't needed to jump into their relationship; they hadn't needed a physical confirmation of how they felt. If he'd been with Jack, sex would have been a foregone conclusion. But the Doctor wasn't that sort of man; he didn't need to mark his territory.

The next day at the Hub, Ianto hadn't been able to stop smiling; his colleagues had asked him why he looked so happy, but none of them had guessed.

He and the Doctor hadn't wanted them to know. But they'd found out another few days later, when the Doctor had prepared to leave Cardiff and abruptly asked Ianto to leave Torchwood and come along with him -- not only as his companion.

Ianto hadn't expected to hear that invitation so soon; he'd thought that his relationship with the Doctor would be a much more gradual thing. But his heart had spoken for him, and he'd found himself saying yes, and meaning it with all his heart.

It had almost been like a proposal, he thought to himself, smiling up at the ceiling of the Tardis. And in effect, maybe that was just what it had been. It had sealed their relationship -- they'd become lovers that very night.

They hadn't looked back since. And Ianto was perfectly happy with what they had; he'd never been so happy in any relationship before.

He only hoped that the Doctor was just as happy as he was, but something told him that he didn't need to worry on that score. His relationship with the Doctor strengthened on a daily basis, ever since that first meeting when their eyes had met and held.

Besides, it didn't matter where they had begun, Ianto told himself, standing up and stretching, then heading towards the corridor that led to the bedroom he shared with the Doctor. The important thing was where the future that they were walking into hand in hand.

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