Title: Two Into One
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Ianto Jones/Tenth Doctor
Fandom: Doctor Who/Torchwood
Rating: R
Table: 11
Prompt: 45, Jewellery
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 nodded to Jack and the others as he made his way to his office, arching an eyebrow at Tosh and scowling at Owen. For some reason, he seemed to notice his colleagues' stares more acutely in the past few days.

He sighed as he sat down at his desk, adjusting his tie and resting his elbows on the polished mahogany. Maybe that was because they knew that he wasn't exactly in the best shape to return to Torchwood. But he'd insisted -- over the Doctor's impassioned protests. He hadn't given the Time Lord a chance to voice his objections.

The Doctor had threatened to spend his days at the office with Ianto -- until he'd spoken to Jack and gotten a solemn promise from the immortal that he wouldn't let Ianto even think about venturing out into the field with the rest of the team. Not until he was fully healed, the Doctor had insisted, and Jack had wholeheartedly agreed.

Ianto had frowned, scowled, pouted, and come as close to throwing a diva fit as he possibly could and still feel that he'd kept his dignity. But all to no avail. The entire team had simply stood there shaking their heads, arms crossed, reminding him that if anything happened to him again, the Doctor wouldn't be in wonderful shape, either.

That had done it, as they'd all known it would. Ianto might throw himself into the path of danger -- but he would never risk doing anything that could cause his lover any kind of pain, be it physical or emotional.

He sighed, leaning back in his chair and steepling his fingers in front of his face. If only it wasn't so damned bloody boring being here in the office. When the rest of the team went out, it only left Myfanwy for company.

He had to smile at the idea. By now, he should be used to having aliens for company ....

His mouth curved upwards in a soft smile as his hand moved to the thin gold chain around his neck, the chain that held the pendant resting on his chest, against his heart. The Doctor had given it to him only last night, and Ianto had a hard time not taking it out and staring at it. The intermingling colors fascinated him, as did the intricate swirls of the workmanship.

The Doctor hadn't told him much about it, only the name of the planet where he'd gotten it. His voice had been soft and husky when he'd slipped the strong, thin chain over Ianto's head and pressed a kiss to his lips.

"I've always known that I would give this to the right person. I'd given up hope of meeting him, but .... there's no doubt in my hearts that you're the one."

Ianto's fingers curled around the pendant, pulling it out of his shirt and letting it rest where it could be seen. Tosh was the first one to notice it, her eyes caught by the light on the polished surface.

"I never would have thought you would have such great taste in jewelry," she said, leaning over Ianto's desk to have a closer look. "It looks like opal -- but it's not. It's almost like the colors are .... moving. Shifting."

Ianto looked down at the pendant, surprised. But Tosh was right -- the colors were intermingling in a strange way.

"Where did you get that?" Tosh asked pointedly, frowning at him. Ianto had to fight to keep his temper down; Tosh should know that he wouldn't disobey the rule about taking anything alien out of the Hub. Not with the chaos that had caused in the past.

"It was a gift from the Doctor," he said shortly, turning away from her and busying himself with the coffeepot.

He didn't want to say that the Doctor had given it to him when they'd been entwined in each other's bodies in bed together; that he'd just made love to the Time Lord and that the Doctor had nearly cried out in pain when Ianto's thrusts had become a little too rough. That was personal, private; he didn't want to share his love life with his co-workers.

And he wasn't about to tell her that the sight of the tears on the Doctor's cheeks had brought his own to the surface.

The pendant wasn't remarked on again until Jack entered his office, heading right for the coffeepot. Once he'd poured himself a strong cup of coffee, he turned and leaned against the edge of the table, sipping it and looking contemplatively at Ianto.

The young man tried to ignore the fact that he was being stared at, but gave it up as impossible after a few minutes. "What?" he almost snapped, crossing his arms protectively over his chest and staring up at Jack from his seat behind his desk.

"He gave you that, didn't he?" Jack said softly, indicating the pendant.

Ianto's fingers closed protectively over the necklace, wondering why Jack would ask him that question. "Yes, he did. Why do you want to know?"

"Because I know where it comes from," Jack said, his voice still soft, a little smile on his lips. "Ianto, do you know what it means?"

Ianto looked bewildered, shaking his head. "I just assumed it was something that meant a lot to the Doctor, and that he wanted to give it to me, that's all."

Was there more to the pendant than that? The Doctor certainly hadn't seemed to be all that chatty about his reasons for giving it to Ianto the night before. Now he had to wonder just what was so special about it, other than the fact that it was beautiful and that it had been a gift from the man who owned his heart.

Jack shook his head, moving to the chair in front of Ianto's desk and sitting down in it. "Those pendants are from a planet the Doctor and I have been to a few times. The inhabitants of that planet treasure them."

Ianto raised his eyebrows, leaning forward with an expectant look on his face. "Care to tell me just why that is?"

Jack's eyes met his, something unfathomable in their dark depths. "That pendant interlocks with the one he has. They'll fuse together if they're held next to each other. You can part them, but they're drawn together, no matter how far apart they are."

"Why is that?" Ianto couldn't imagine an inanimate object doing something like that, almost as though it were .... alive. As if it were being drawn to its mate -- or towards something that was an irresistible force.

The immortal's eyes seemed to mist over a little as he gazed at Ianto. "Those pendants are only meant to be given to one's soul mate."

The young Welshman's eyes widened; he stared at Jack unbelievingly, gripping the links of the gold chain.

"Breathe, Ianto." Jack laughed softly, reaching out to wave his hand in front of Ianto's shocked face. "Don't tell me you didn't realize just how much you mean to the Doctor."

When he found his voice again, it sounded dazed and faraway to his own ears. "I know how much he means to me. And I know that he loves me, yes. But I .... I hadn't realized that his feelings for me went that deep."

"Ianto ...." Jack took his hand, and Ianto stared down at the strong, capable fingers clasping his own. "The Doctor has had that pendant for centuries. He's cared for a lot of people in that time. He's been torn apart when some of them were taken away from him. But he's never even thought of giving it to anybody. Not until he found you."

Soul mate. Why hadn't he thought of that? He knew how sensitive the Doctor was, how deeply the Gallifreyan had been affected when he had thought they would be parted by death. He should have realized that the pendant was more than a pretty trinket.

"He's trying to tell you that he belongs to you, Ianto." Jack's voice was barely a whisper now. "He's telling you that you're melded together, not just now, in this present time. For all time, for all of his lives. You're his other half."

"And he's mine," Ianto whispered, tears coming unbidden to his eyes so that he head to bow his head to hide them. "He has been from the moment I saw him."

Jack released his hand, getting up and going to the door. He turned to look back at Ianto, his words making the young man raise his head and look at him with wide eyes.

"I nearly gave you mine. But something told me that you were destined for someone who would love you more completely than I ever could. And I was right."

And with that, he gave Ianto a smile and disappeared into his own office.

Jack's words seemed to linger in the air for several long moments after he'd left the room.

Ianto closed his eyes, suddenly wishing that he didn't have to spend the rest of the day in the office. The hours stretched in front of him, hours handling all the niggling little things at work that he didn't want to deal with. All he wanted to go was to go home to the man he loved, to wrap the Doctor securely in his arms and hold him until they fused into one.

The Doctor. His love. His heart. His soul mate.

Ianto stood up, heading purposefully for the door. To hell with work. He belonged elsewhere, and there was nowhere else he wanted to be. He was sure Jack would understand. And if he didn't, to hell with it.

Minutes later, Ianto headed out of the buidling towards his car, almost running in his haste to get back to the man waiting patiently in his apartment.

***