Title: Blurring the Edges
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Ianto Jones/Tenth Doctor
Fandom: Torchwood/Doctor Who
Rating: R
Table: 1, 50scenes
Prompt: 20, Writer's Choice - Nightmare
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.

***

The Doctor sat bolt upright in bed, his cry filling the room. He wrapped his arms around himself, bowing his head and closing his eyes; but he couldn't shake the vision that had played itself out in his dreams, a terrifying nightmare that had seemed all too real.

He'd seen Ianto taken from him, dragged away screaming and protesting, trying to get back to him. He himself had been held captive, kicking and clawing but unable to escape the hands that had held him down, the bonds restraining his body.

He had seen his lover stripped and dismembered before his eyes, heard Ianto's screams, his pleas for help. And he'd been unable to give him that help, unable to do anything but watch and beg for Ianto's release, beg them to take him instead.

Of course, they hadn't. They had known that it would cut far more deeply into his hearts and soul to lose his lover, his soul mate, the man he'd bonded with. And they had used that knowledge to not only wound him, but to destroy him.

He would wander the world an empty shell, never being able to rid himself of what he'd seen. Whatever effectiveness he might have had as a Time Lord would be over; he wouldn't have the heart to do much of anything but mourn what he no longer had.

What had been more terrifying -- the sight of the man he loved being tortured and murdered, or the idea of himself as nothing but a mere cypher of what he had been, roaming the universe with no goal other than waiting to die but not having the strength to end it himself?

Ianto was siting up beside him, taking him into those strong arms, brushing his hair back from his face and kissing him gently. Ianto wasn't dead; his lover was here beside him, holding him, the warmth of his body flowing into the Doctor.

But the nightmare had seemed so real; he could still feel the lingering horror in his mind, even though the visions that had assailed him in his dreams were starting to slowly dissipate. He buried his face against Ianto's chest, taking deep breaths, trying to calm himself.

"Another bad dream?" Ianto whispered, his lips against the Doctor's hair. "I've been having some of those myself lately," he said softly, his arms tightening around the Time Lord's waist. "They're hard to get past, but they're only dreams, Doctor."

"I know." The Doctor's voice was muffled against Ianto's chest; he didn't want to look up, didn't want to leave the safe haven of those comforting arms. But after a few moments, he raised his head to look into his lover's eyes, sighing softly and shaking his head.

"It seemed so .... so real," he whispered, his voice catching in his throat. "I'm not usually prone to nightmares, even after all that I've seen in the universe. But the horrific dreams I've been having lately -- they're all about losing you."

Ianto's blue-grey eyes widened in surprise as he listened. "That's why my nightmares are about, too," he murmured, a frown marring his brow. "Losing you, seeing you taken from me and killed in front of my eyes while I'm held captive and can't save you."

"That's exactly what I dreamed about," the Doctor said slowly, a frown settling onto his features. "It's almost as though someone -- or something -- is trying to make us have the same nightmares, to turn our thoughts in one direction."

"It sounds like something the Master would do. Work his way into our minds and try to sabotage our relationship from the inside," Ianto said, the frown on his face matching the Doctor's. "Do you think it's possible? After all, he is a Time Lord."

"Yes, and he's more powerful in some areas than I like to admit," the Doctor told him, heaving a sigh. "I hate to say it, but he's perfectly capable of reaching into our minds. I don't know exactly how he's doing it, but the more I think about it, the more I think it's him."

"So, he's causing the nightmares," Ianto said thoughtfully, trying to focus on the thought, but already feeling it slipping away from him. "It's like .... damn, I'm losing my train of thought. I can't concentrate on what I wanted to say."

"He could be causing that, too," the Doctor told him, sitting up and pulling away from Ianto. "He knows that we'll be on to him sooner or later, and he's found some way to cloud our thoughts. I'm losing it, too, and he knows the strength of my mind."

"How can he be affecting you?" Ianto asked, struggling to keep his mind focused on the problem at hand. "Your mind is stronger than anyone's I've ever known, Doctor. And you've always been able to get the best of him in any confrontation."

"He's developed the unscrupulous side of himself, Ianto," the Doctor said softly, his gaze resting on his young lover. "He's willing to go into people's minds without their consent, to invade them in a way that I would never consider doing. That puts him on another mental plane."

Ianto shivered at the thought of having the Master in his mind, even when he didn't know that the other man was there. A renegade Time Lord who'd run mad centuries ago wasn't someone he wanted to invite into his head, to know his thoughts and emotions intimately.

"How does he do it?" Ianto asked, his frown intensifying. "I thought he had to have some kind of contact with the person whose mind he was trying to invade. It's not as though he's been around either of us for quite a while now."

"No, but ...." The Doctor's brow furrowed; it was obvious that he was trying to concentrate on his words and get them out before they dissipated in his mind. "He knows my mind, Ianto. And he's had enough contact with me to be able to make his way into yours."

"Do you mean that he can actually make a pathway from your mind to mine through the bond that you and I share?" Ianto asked, horrified. He hadn't considered such a possibility; it was almost too much for him to fathom that someone could do that.

The Doctor nodded, his mouth a grim line. "Yes. And I believe he may have found a way to blur reality into our nightmares, so that he can have some way of controlling what we think -- and what we feel. It's a way for him to exert control over us through our subconscious thoughts."

"Is there any way to stop it?" Ianto asked, not sure exactly what he was asking about but wanting to get the words out while they were still in his head. He couldn't hold onto his thoughts; they were slipping away from him more rapidly with each passing moment.

"I-I don't know." The Doctor sounded unsure, as though he himself wasn't sure of just what they'd been discussing. "I have to, Ianto. I can't let the edges of that line between nightmare and reality become blurred. If I do, then he'll have a way in that I can't control."

Ianto shook his head, trying to keep himself focused and oriented. The shards of his thoughts seemed to be flying randomly through his mind; he could barely remember what the two of them had been talking about, other than the Doctor's nightmare.

"He's found some sort of way to push into our minds when we sleep, when our barriers are down," the Time Lord muttered, one hand pressed to his forehead. "And he can make our thoughts about him dissipate when we're more conscious and thinking clearly."

Ianto wasn't sure just who the Doctor was talking about; it was probably for the best that he didn't say anything, he told himself, reaching for the Time Lord again and pulling the other man into his arms. But he could give the Doctor some comfort from his nightmare.

The Time Lord sighed softly, relaxing into Ianto's embrace and sliding his own thin arms around the young man's waist. "I can't remember what we were talking about," he murmured, shaking his head. "It must not have been all that important."

"I don't think it was," Ianto replied, nuzzling his cheek against the softness of the Doctor's hair. "I know you had a nightmare, though. I'm here, love. I'm safe. And nothing is going to take me away from you. Remember that. Don't think about whatever you saw in that dream."

"It was s-so real," the Doctor whispered, a shudder going through his thin body. "It didn't feel like a bad dream, Ianto. It felt more real than anything I've experienced in a long time. It even f-felt more real than being here with you now."

Ianto frowned, the Master's face flashing before his mind's eye. But the vision was gone in a moment, replaced by concern for his lover. All thoughts of the renegade Time Lord were pushed away in the need to comfort the Doctor, to make sure that the nightmare was banished.

They could find out whatever had caused the nightmare later. For the moment, his concern was in comforting the Doctor, and nothing else. He could tell that the Time Lord was shaken, and that the other man wouldn't sleep again tonight.

What could have caused his lover to dream something so horrific? He wasn't prone to nightmares; it had to be something in his subconscious that was bringing his fears forward, and that made Ianto uneasy. It was almost as though the dreams had been .... planted.

He didn't think of the Master again as he pulled the Time Lord more securely into his arms, leaning back against the pillows and closing his eyes. The Doctor was slowly relaxing against him, but Ianto knew tha it would be some time before either of them fell asleep again.

***