Title: Wash It Away
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Ianto Jones/Tenth Doctor
Fandom: Torchwood/Doctor Who
Rating: PG-13
Table: 4
Prompt: 41, Storm
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.

***

"Ow!" Ianto stifled a colorful curse as he raised a hand to the back of his head. Looking around for candles in a seldom-used box in the bottom of his closet might not have been a good idea -- it was far too easy to do things like bump his head when he was getting up.

"What happened?" He rose to his feet, still rubbing the sore spot on the back of his head, to see the Doctor standing in the doorway of their bedroom, looking startled. Ianto shook his head, indicating that it was nothing for the Doctor to be worried about. He had other things to worry about besides whining that he now had a headache.

"Nothing, really. I bumped my head when I was getting up," he explained, raising the package of candles that he'd managed to find. "But I did find these. They're even scented -- I thought you'd probably like that." He smiled, holding out the package to the Doctor for his perusal. The Time Lord took it, opening the plastic package and inhaling.

"Oh, these smell good!" He looked over at Ianto, practically beaming. "I've been caught in storms before, but I've never had scented candles with me to use for light. This is going to be a much more pleasant experience than some of the situations I've been in that required the use of candles. I'm quite looking forward to it."

"Storms can be .... exciting," Ianto conceded, reaching to take the package of candles and shaking two of them out into his hand. "We can keep one in here, and another in the living room. There's really no reason to burn a lot of them at once."

The Doctor looked a bit pouty, his lower lip jutting out, but he didn't protest. Ianto went to the small table by their bed, fitting the candle into a holder and reaching for the lighter that he always kept there. He was in the habit of lighting candles to scent the flat, so he kept a lighter handy. He was nothing if not prepared.

"It hasn't broken yet," the Time Lord noted, looking out of the window. "But it looks as though it's going to any second .... and really, I think it's best to already have the lights off and other things unplugged when the power goes out. After all, it's not as though everyone else won't be without the same things, as well."

Ianto nodded, reaching for the Doctor's hand and leading him down the hall to the living room. Making his way across the room to the couch, he sat down and reached for the candle holder on the coffee table, fitting the candle into it and setting it alight. He glanced towards the window, his eyes widening at the sight. He hadn't expected it to be that dark.

"This is going to be one hell of a storm," he said under his breath. "The last time it looked that dark outside before a storm broke, I thought the rain would never end. There was no power in my parents' house for two days. It was .... something of an adventure."

"But now that you're older, you're quite used to adventures, aren't you?" The Doctor laughed softly, leaning back against the couch cushions and looking over towards the window. "I think I have to agree with you, Ianto. It looks as though it's going to hit rather hard. But we're safe here, and the Tardis will be fine. Not to worry."

Ianto finished lighting the candle and turned to the Doctor, reaching for the other man and slipping his arms around that slender waist. He leaned back against the pillows piled at one end of the couch, letting the Doctor lean against him, enjoying the feel of the Time Lord's body pressed closely against his own.

"Yes, I'm used to adventure since I began working with Torchwood," he murmured into the Doctor's ear, nuzzling his cheek against his lover's. "But I much prefer an adventure of the kind I can share with you. Somehow, when you aren't there, it doesn't really seem as though I should be, either."

The Doctor relaxed into Ianto's arms, focusing his gaze on the window. The clouds were darkening, gathering over the city; it was obvious that the storm would break in only a few moments. Ianto could feel the tension in his lover's body, a coiled excitement waiting to break free. He hadn't known that the Doctor was so interested in storms.

The Time Lord hadn't replied to Ianto's words, and the young man decided that it was probably best to leave that avenue of discussion alone for the moment. The storm was going to break at any moment, with a brilliant display of the fury of nature -- he didn't want to start another storm within the flat that would keep them from witnessing the glory of the one outside.

A streak of lightning sizzled across the sky, followed by a boom of thunder, then rain began sheeting down as though the heavens had opened up in a deluge. The Doctor jumped slightly as the thunder cracked again, and Ianto tightened his arms around the Time Lord, as though to keep him safe from the elements raging outside their window.

"I hope you're not afraid of a bit of thunder," he whispered into the Doctor's ear, making the Time Lord laugh and shake his head. Ianto held him more tightly, enjoying the feel of that slender body clasped in his arms. It felt as though it had been far too long since they'd been this close, this intimate.

The Doctor laughed up at him before focusing his attention back on the window and the storm outside. "No, love, I'm not .... I was a bit startled, that's all. There's something incredibly majestic about a storm, isn't there?" He settled comfortably against Ianto, turning slightly to the side and pillowing his head on his lover's shoulder.

"Yes, there certainly is," Ianto said softly, watching as the rain poured down and the streaks of lightning flashed across the dark sky. It was beautiful, forceful, untamed -- in some ways, the storm raging outside was a good deal like the man in his arms. There were times when the Doctor was as much of an unstoppable force as a storm.

They sat there for a while, companionable in their silence, both of them watching the storm rage outside, lost in their private thoughts. When the Doctor spoke, Ianto was almost surprised to hear his words; he'd gotten used to sitting there listening to the sound of the rain pounding down on the windows.

"I suppose the two of us are a great deal like this storm, aren't we?" the Time Lord asked, leaning his head back to look up at Ianto.

The young man had to think about his lover's words for a few moments, but really, the Doctor was right. Especially considering how their relationship had been of late, he told himself, unconsciously tightening his hold on the man in his arms. Their relationship had been rather stormy, though it seemed that they were in calmer waters now.

He nodded, his gaze meeting the Doctor's. "Yes, I'd say that we are," he murmured, bending his head to brush his lips against the Time Lord's mouth. "But you know, I believe it's brought us closer together -- and that it's made us stronger, as well."

The Doctor sighed softly, resting his head against Ianto's chest again, one hand playing aimlessly with the fabric of the young man's shirt. "Yes, I suppose you're right," he agreed, his tone musing and a little hesitant. "Though no matter what the benefits have been, I would never want to repeat that part of our relationship."

"Nor would I," Ianto said, feeling the Doctor shudder in his arms. He wished with all his heart that he could make what had happened disappear, that he could clear it from the other man's mind. It had been bad enough for him, not knowing where the Doctor was or what had been done to him -- but it had been infinitely worse for the Time Lord.

"It's in the past, Ianto," the Doctor whispered, pressing his face against Ianto's shirt as though he was trying to hide from the memories. "I don't want what happened to keep affecting us, and I certainly don't want either of us to keep thinking about it. It's over and done, and we need to learn to put the past away."

"I have no problem with doing that." Ianto tilted the Doctor's face up to his own, kissing the Time Lord again, murmuring against those soft lips. "It's almost as though the storm can wash the past away, isn't it? If you look at it metaphorically, that is."

"Not all of the past," the Doctor breathed, shifting his position so that he was sitting up, then turning to face Ianto and swinging one long leg over his lover's body. He sat back with a satisfied look, straddling Ianto's thighs and leaning over him.

"You know, you're blocking my view of the storm," Ianto teased, affecting a mock pout and pretending to push the other man out of his way.

"Bugger the storm," the Doctor said softly, leaning forward to kiss Ianto's neck, tugging at the young man's shirt and moving his hands up Ianto's body under the fabric. "I'd say that we have more interesting things to concentrate on, wouldn't you?"

"I couldn't agree more," Ianto sighed, wrapping his arms around the Doctor's slender waist and pulling the Time Lord down on top of him. The storm was forgotten as the two of them lost themselves in each other, not even noticing when the rain stopped and a bright sun peeked out from behind the last of the clouds.

***