Title: The Unbreakable Chain
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Ianto Jones/Tenth Doctor
Fandom: Torchwood/Doctor Who
Rating: PG
Table: 1, 50ficlets
Prompt: 27, Bond
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.

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The Doctor leaned his head back against the stone wall behind him, closing his eyes. There was no use struggling, no use trying to free himself from the cuffs around his wrists. He'd already tried, but without his sonic screwdriver, he couldn't do anything.

If only they hadn't taken his trenchcoat away from him, he thought, raising his head and staring at the table where the coat lay, not more than twenty feet away from him. But there was one problem that kept him from getting to the coat, besides the cuffs and chains that anchored him.

The bars of the cell that he was being held prisoner in weren't simply going to disappear, even if he wasn't bound. They were one more impediment to keep him here.

And it certainly wasn't going to do him any good to engage his captors in conversation. They'd already informed him that if he tried to use his voice, his powers of persuasion, he'd find himself gagged as well as bound.

So. Escape was impossible, as was any hope of talking himself into a better position. There was nothing he could do but .... wait.

Ianto would find him. The young man knew where he was; it was only a matter of time before he'd be here, and he would find a way to turn this situation around in their favor. He had to hold on to that hope.

The bond that he shared with his companion and lover would guide Ianto here, he told himself, fervently hoping that his thoughts would prove true. It had done so before; there was no reason to believe that it wouldn't this time.

How many times had he been caught in a situation where he'd had to rely on that bond? Too many to remember; it had been happening ever since he and Ianto had given way to their feelings. And that bond seemed to grow stronger each time it was put to use.

He only hoped that his young lover would be careful, and not take any unnecessary risks. Better that something should happen to him than to Ianto.

That was his greatest fear, actually; not being held prisoner here, or the apprehension as to what his captors might be planning to do with him. No, his biggest worry was that Ianto would be harmed in trying to rescue him.

Or was his greatest fear that the bond between himself and Ianto would somehow be severed, that it would cease to exist and that he would be alone again? He shifted restlessly, wishing that he could put that thought out of his mind.

But he couldn't; now that it had been given credence, it wouldn't go away. It kept burgeoning in his head, blossoming like the mushrooming cloud of a bomb, growing larger and larger until it loomed on the horizon of his mind's eye.

What if that thought came to pass? What if his bond with Ianto was, even now, twisted and strained to the point where it was broken for good?

That wouldn't happen, the Time Lord told himself firmly, trying his best to push the thought away. He and Ianto were too close for that to ever come to pass. Their bond wasn't just that of friends and companions, but soul mates who were destined for each other.

Ianto was meant to be his, and he had no doubt that he belonged to the young Welshman in every way possible. Nothing was going to make the strength of their physical and emotional bond diminish; it could only grow stronger.

He had to believe that. If he didn't, he was done for. He had to hold on to the hope that Ianto would find him, that his lover could find him and get him out of here.

What was that? The Doctor raised his head, sure that he could hear a disturbance outside. There was someone -- what sounded like more than a few someones -- out there.

He could feel his hearts starting to gallop in his chest. Was this the rescue he'd been hoping for? And if it was -- where in the world had Ianto managed to find other people to come to his aid? Was there something going on that he didn't know about?

It didn't matter. As long as Ianto was here, and he wasn't harmed, then everything was going to work out. He'd been right to think that their bond would lead Ianto to him, that it was an unbreakable chain that linked the two of them.

He stood up and faced the door of his prison, feeling hope surge through him as his body tensed, prepared for whatever might be about to happen.

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