Title: Under Control
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Ianto Jones/Tenth Doctor
Fandom: Torchwood/Doctor Who
Rating: PG-13
Table: 1, 50scenes
Prompt: 19, Control
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.

***

Ianto threw the papers that he was holding down on his desk, scowling at them and looking up at the clock on the wall of his office. How long was he going to have to stay here, messing about with paperwork, while the Doctor waited for him at home in his flat?

He hated this. He really did. Torchwood controlled too much of his life, and it even dictated when he could and couldn't spend time with the man he loved. There were times when he sincerely wished thta this place wasn't such a huge part of his life.

Of course, if he wasn't a member of Torchwood, then he'd never have met the Doctor in the first place -- and the man he loved wouldn't even be known to him. He took a deep breath, trying to focus on that thought and calm himself down.

No, that wasn't quite true. Somehow, he and the Time Lord would have managed to find each other. It was only fate that had decreed they meet through his work.

Maybe that wasn't strictly true, but it was what Ianto wanted to believe. His bond with the Doctor was something that ran so deeply, so strongly, that he was absolutely positive he would have found the other man in some way, even without Torchwood to guide him.

Or would he? The thought of not having the Doctor in his life made a chill sweep over him; he could distinctly remember one of his grandmother's old sayings to describe the feeling it left in its wake. As though someone was walking over his grave.

Ugh. That wasn't a pleasant thought, and not one he wanted to associate with his relationship. Better to take his mind away from that particular train of thought, and the sooner the better.

Besides, even if he hadn't known of the Doctor's existence, the Time Lord could have possibly been able to find him. He spent a lot of time on Earth, in this particular time, because Jack was here. Even if Ianto didn't work for Torchwood, the Doctor would still be here ....

Something told hm that they would have discovered each other even if they'd just bumped into one another walking in the park, or strolling along the pavement of a city street. And he was sure that his feelings would have been exactly the same.

A movement by the door of his office distracted him, and he turn to scowl at the person standing there. Jack. The man who was keeping him here, when he'd rather be at home with his love. The man who controlled nearly everything he did -- at least during working hours.

And with Torchwood, you never really stopped working. It went home with you -- everything you did and saw, all the memories, the good and the bad. The things you saw that were amazing, and the things you'd rather not have seen and wanted to forget.

Jack was just standing there, looking at him with that half-smile on his face. Ianto wanted to stamp his foot like an angry child. That look always irritated him.

"What?" he demanded, his voice almost sounding like a growl. With his dark brows knitted over his stormy blue-grey eyes in a forbidding frown, he amost resembled a bear, though he wouldn't have believed anyone who'd told him that.

Jack shook his head, a look of amusement on his face. "Don't look so mad at the world, Ianto," he said mildly, his own brows lifting in an inquiring look, as if he was silently asking the younger man what was wrong. "There's somebody here to see you."

Ianto straightened up, his frown changing to a look of surprise, wondering who could possibly be coming to the Hub to pay him a visit -- and who would be let into the place. It wasn't as though he associated with a lot of people who even knew that Torchwood existed.

His eyes widened when the Doctor entered his office, a smile on his face. He looked around the small room, his eyes finally coming to rest on his young lover.

"It hasn't changed much since the last time I saw it," he said softly, moving across the room and sitting down in a chair by Ianto's desk. "It's actually rather cozy for an office, isn't it? I've always liked small rooms. They seem so much more .... intimate."

"What are you doing here?" Ianto blurted out, the only words that would come to his lips at the moment. "I mean -- not that I don't want you here, but you've never come here when I was working before. What is it? Has something happened?"

The Doctor shook his head, leaning back in the chair and looking amused. "No, not a thing. I just felt like coming to see you, that's all. I had the feeling that you might be feeling a little out of sorts -- and besides, I just wanted to see you."

"I was on the grumpy side -- until I saw you," Ianto said, sitting down in his desk chair with a smile. It was true. His bad mood had seemed to disappear when the Doctor had walked in.

"And why was that?" the Time Lord inquired, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees, looking interested in whatever Ianto had to say. "You certainly didn't seem annoyed about anything when you left the flat this morning."

"I've just .... had a bad day." Ianto was going to leave it at that, but somethng made him say more. "I feel as if this place controls everything I do. The hours I have to spend away from you, more than anything else. I hate that. I wish my time was more my own."

"Ianto." The Doctor's voice was soft, his expression gentle. "Nothing controls you, not unless you let it. Torchwood no more controls you than it does anyone else who works here. You have to relinquish control for something else to take it over. And you haven't done that."

Ianto blined at those words, trying to make sense of what his lover was saying. "But I have to be away from you so much of the time, when you can't always be here on Earth. I don't have a choice. I have to be here when I don't want to be."

"Have you asked for the time away from Torchwood?" The Doctor leaned back, his eyes fixed on Ianto's face. "I'm sure that Jack would understand if you explained."

"I .... No." He shook his head, a little embarrassed to admit that he hadn't thought about asking Jack anything like that. He'd just assumed that the immortal would give him a flat "no," without bothering to consider if he might need that time away.

"You don't know if you don't ask, do you?" The Time Lord stood up, holding out his hand to Ianto. "Come on. We'll go talk to Jack now. And I'll have to see what I can do about this 'control' issue of yours. I think you're simply looking at things in the wrong way."

"Maybe I am," Ianto admitted, feeling a little shamefaced. Why was it that the Doctor could always make him see situations so clearly? His anger at feeling that he had no control over some aspects of his life seemed childish now, something that he shouldn't have given a second thought.

"You know," the Doctor murmured, coming to stand next to him, so close that Ianto could almost feel the beating of the dual hearts in the Time Lord's chest, "I wouldn't mind letting you have that sort of control over me. In fact, I'd like it."

"Oh?" Ianto's brows raised, a smile curving his lips. "Then we'll have to see what we can do about that. If you'll let me, that is."

"I'd let you do anything," the Time Lord whispered, leaning close to him, so close that their lips were almost touching, so close that he could feel the other man's warm breath. "You should know that by now."

"I'll hold you to that," Ianto told him, wrapping his arms around the Doctor's waist and pulling the other man into his arms. He didn't care that the door was open, or that he had something to ask Jack. That could wait.

Right now, he was in control of this situation, and he meant to take full advantage of that fact.

Ianto never quite knew how he managed to move to the door and kick it closed, or just how the lock clicked into place. But he did know that the day had suddenly become much more pleasant -- and that maybe he had more control over what he did at work than he might have thought.

***