Title: Brand New Day
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Ianto Jones/Tenth Doctor
Fandom: Torchwood/Doctor Who
Rating: PG-13
Table: 5
Prompt: 14, Day
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 up in bed, blinking at the light that was pouring through the windows. For a moment, he coudln't remember where he was -- he definitely wasn't used to waking up to bright sunlight, not when he was on the Tardis.

Ah, but he and Ianto weren't on the Tardis. Remembrance came back to him; they were in London, in a hotel that Ianto had insisted they stay in for the night. He'd wanted to come back here, to spend a bit of time on Earth, all to themselves.

He certainly wasn't going to argue with that, the Doctor thought with a smile, glancing over at the other side of the bed and realizing that Ianto wasn't there. He wasn't worried; his boyfriend had probably gone out to get them something to eat.

It was actually quite relaxing to wake up here on Earth, he told himself, with another inward smile. This was a place that had become quite dear to him.

He stretched his arms over his head, looking towards the window. There was an entire city full of people out there -- people that he'd sworn to himself he would protect with his life, if need be. Humans who deserved a champion.

All right, so maybe all of them weren't the most benevolent of beings. He'd learned that often enough -- but there were bad apples in any species. Humans were by far the species he'd gravitated towards the most in all of his long life.

Besides, the man he loved was human -- and for him, Ianto was proof that there were good people in the world, people who were worth saving. Maybe all of the human race wasn't, but it wasn't his place to pass judgement on them all.

Throwing back the covers, the Doctor swung his long legs out of bed, standing up and moving over to the window to look down at the street eight stories below.

Ianto had certainly picked a nice place for them to stay, he thought, another smile crossing his face. Now that they didn't have a permanent flat in Cardiff any more, the two of them were beginning to get used to staying in hotels when they were on Earth.

Of course, there would probably be a point when money was a problem. He sighed at the thought, then pushed it out of his mind. He'd managed to live for over 900 years without worrying about currency -- this wasn't the time for him to start.

Besides, they always had the Tardis -- it had been his home for most of his life, even more so than Gallifrey had ever been. And Ianto seemed to have settled into the nomadic life quite well; he appaently enjoyed being on the ship.

They had plenty of time ahead of them to look forward to, the Doctor told himself as he observed the crowds below, wondering if Ianto was among them.

He had no worries that his young lover would have disappeared for some reason. If he'd meant to be gone for any length of time, he would have left a message on the table by the bed -- or more probably, on the pillow for him to see immediately when he awakened.

Ianto was definitely safe -- he had no doubts about that. The Doctor's hand moved to touch the softly glowing crystalline pendant that lay in the hollow of his throat; it was pulsing gently, letting him know that all was as it should be with the man he loved.

He'd known that these pendants would connect the two of them, though he hadn't realized just how strong that connection would be -- or how it would also form a bond between Ianto and the Tardis. But though he hadn't guessed at that connection, he was certainly glad of it.

If it hadn't been for that connection, he might very well still be with the Master -- or he might not even exist at all. The thought made a cold chill move down his spine.

That wasn't something he needed to concentrate on. It was in the past, and they'd told each other many times that they would move forward from it. The two of them took a new step forward into their future with every day that went by.

And every new day moved them further away from those events. The Doctor leaned his head against the cool windowpane, closing his eyes. This was a brand new day, one that he should be meeting with no memories of the past clouding the brightness awaiting him.

Taking a deep breath, he raised his head and scanned the crowd again. He couldn't see anyone who looked like Ianto; but he was so far above the street level that he probably wouldn't be able to recognize anyone from this distance, anyway.

Of course, if anyone happened to look up, they would get an eyeful, the Doctor thought ruefully, though he didn't take a step back from the window.

He was sure that the people on the street below him had seen a naked man before. And if they hadn't -- well, then it was time that they did. Besides, Ianto wasn't in the teeming throng below; his eyes swept over the people again, not expecting to see his lover there.

No .... he was wrong about there. There, at the edge of the crowd on the other side of the street, just coming out of a small café. That was definitely Ianto; there was no way that he could mistake the way Ianto carried himself, the small smile curving that delectable mouth.

He was carrying two cups of coffee and a small bag; obviously, he'd decided to get breakfast, just as the Doctor had thought. The Time Lord couldn't help smiling at that; the human need to fortify the body just after they awakened in the morning seemed strange to him.

But a lot of things about humans seemed odd to a Gallifreyan. Still, he'd learned to live with them -- and even to adopt some of those habits as his own.

A shaft of sunlight that flashed before his eyes caused him to raise a hand to his face, shading his gaze and squinting down at the street below. He could no longer see his boyfriend; Ianto had blended in amongst the rest of the crowd seamlessly.

Though he certainly hadn't vanished, at least not from the Doctor's thoughts, or his hearts. The Time Lord smiled as he turned away from the window, moving to the chair where he'd left his clothes. He needed to get dressed before Ianto got back to their room.

Or, on second thought .... he dropped his trousers back onto the chair as he headed for the bed, laying down and stretching his lean body on top of the covers. He really didn't want to go out -- not when they had the leisure time to spend the entire day here.

Yes, this was a brand new day -- the first day of the rest of their lives together. That was how he wanted to look at each and every day that he spent with his love.

Every day he spent with Ianto was better than the days that had gone before, he told himself, the smile still curving his lips. And he was making a vow to himself here and now to try and make each succeeding day get better and better for both of them.

Maybe he wouldn't succeed completely in doing that, he thought as he heard Ianto's footsteps outside the hotel room door, but he was certainly going to try -- starting from the moment that his boyfriend walked into this room.

It would be interesting to see just where that vow would take them -- and just how he would rise to the challenge of every new day.

And he had the definite feeling that he would at least be able to take Ianto's focus away from cofee and breakfast, the Doctor himself with an inner smirk. At any rate, he definitely intended to try his best.

***