Title: The Chemistry Between Us
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Ianto Jones/Tenth Doctor
Fandom: Torchwood/Doctor Who
Rating: PG-13
Table: 15, substituted for 4
Prompt: 31, Chemical - substituted for 37, Animal
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 heaved a sigh as he blinked in the bright sunlight, raising a hand to his eyes to shade his vision. He and the Doctor were sitting on a blanket near the Tardis, on a high hill that overlooked the city of Cardiff sprawling below them.

It almost looked like a dollhouse version of the city to Ianto; they were up so high above it that it didn't seem quite real. But it was, he told himself, imagining all the people walking through the streets, people who he couldn't see from this far away.

Jack was down there somewhere, and the life he'd left behind him when he'd made the decision to leave Torchwood for good to be with his lover. A decision that he hadn't regretted for a single moment, he thought with a smile, glancing at the man beside him.

The Doctor rested his head against Ianto's shoulder, one arm moving around the younger man's waist. "Do you miss it, Ianto?" he asked softly, not looking at his lover as he spoke. "Do you miss being there in Cardiff, working with Torchwood every day?"

Ianto shook his head without hesitation. "No. I don't miss it. I'm exactly where I belong, Doctor -- and exactly where I want to be."

"Then why were you sighing?" the Time Lord asked, lifting his head, a slight frown marring his brow. "It sounded as though you might have some regrets about leaving Cardiff now that you're taking a good look at it after spending some time away."

"That wasn't an unhappy sigh," Ianto protested, shaking his head with a smile. "It was sigh of utter and total contentment. Being here with you is exactly where I should be, Doctor. I have no regrets for anything I've left behind -- either in Cardiff or with Torchwood."

"That's good to know," the Doctor answered, heaving a sigh of his own. "I thought for a moment that you might be having some regrets, and that made me worry. The last thing I'd want to do is cause you any sort of unhappiness, Ianto. I've done that enough in the past."

"Shhh, love. Don't think about the past." Ianto tightened his arm around the Doctor's waist, pulling the other man closer against him. "We have the future to think of now. A future that we'll share. And we won't have to be apart again."

"Did you think that we would turn out like this that first time we met?" the Doctor asked him, squinting as he glanced at Ianto. "After all, our first meeting was a bit rushed."

Ianto started to shake his head, then he stopped to consider. "You know, I'm not sure," the young man mused thoughtfully, leaning back on his elbows. "Our very first meeting was quick, but there was this odd kind of chemistry between us even then."

The Doctor nodded, turning onto his side and regarding Ianto with a slight smile on his lips. "So you felt it, too. Even though I didn't know more about you than your name and that you worked for Torchwood, I could feel that chemistry pulling me towards you."

"I felt it from the first second I looked into your eyes," Ianto said softly, smiling up at his lover. "But at the time, I thought you were there because you wanted to be with Jack. At first, I thought I could step back, but I was wrong about that."

"The chemistry between the two of us is stronger than anything I've ever felt before." The Time Lord's voice was soft and husky, his dark gaze fixed on Ianto's face. "I may have tried to deny it at first, too, but I think my hearts knew why I'd come back to Torchwood."

"I'm surprised that you didn't realize it was me leaving you those notes and flowers," Ianto teased, laughing softly. "I wondered if you would at least hazard a guess."

"I wanted to think it was you," the Doctor said, reaching out a hand to twine his fingers through Ianto's. "But I kept telling myself that it wasn't possible. You had been involved with Jack, after all, and I thought that there was no way I could measure up to him."

"Measure up? To Jack?" Ianto shook his head, laughing. "Sweetheart, there's no contest between you and Jack. He's the one who could never measure up to you. He might think he's some sort of great lover, but he's nothing compared to you."

"What did he say when he first found out that you were with me?" the Doctor asked, his tone curious. "I know we've talked about how he might feel about our relationship, but you've never told me just what he said when you told him that we were together."

Ianto shrugged, searching his memory. "Honestly, I can't remember his exact words. He just gave me that smile that can look so sad sometimes, and said that he always knew I would find the man I was meant to be with and that he wanted us both to be happy."

"I would have expected him to say something about pheromones and chemicals or the like," the Doctor said thoughtfully. "Trying to explain our feelings in a less emotional way."

"You know, he seemed to understand that you and I aren't just about a chemical reaction, the way he usually has a tendency to write off any attraction," Ianto told him, feeling a bit surprised himself at the realization. "He knew it was more than a chance sort of chemistry."

"He did seem to think that it wasn't unusual for us to be together," the Doctor mused, shaking his head. "That's a bit unlike Jack. I'd have expected him to liken us to a chemical explosion, and expect it to be something that would die off quickly."

"I think Jack could tell from our first meeting that you and I were meant to be," Ianto said, propping himself up on one elbow and reaching out to stroke a hand through the Doctor's hair. "He said as much when he told me what the pendants mean."

"He may have seen the chemistry between us right from the beginning -- even if I didn't," the Doctor said, looking rueful. "How could I have missed that? I suppose I was so caught up in the mystery of who my secret admirer was that I didn't look right in front of me."

"And if you had -- would you have been surprised to find who it was?" Ianto inquired, a smile hovering around the corners of his mouth.

"Of course I would," the Doctor said softly, his dark gaze meeting Ianto's. "I wouldn't have throught that such a beautiful young man who had his entire life ahead of him could possibly want a Time Lord who's over 900 years old and outside of his realm of experience."

"Then you would have been wrong," Ianto murmured, leaning forward to brush his lips against the Time Lord's soft mouth. "I didn't care about your age, or your differences. I only cared about being with you -- and letting that chemistry between us do its work."

"I'm glad you acted on those feelings," the Doctor said, laying down on the blanket with his arms crossed behind his head. "If you hadn't -- then we might never have let those feelings come out, and all of those wonderful chemicals would have gone to waste."

"Oh, I wouldn't have let that happen," Ianto whispered, leaning over the Time Lord and bending down to kiss him again before swinging one leg over the Doctor's body and straddling him. "Not then -- and certainly not now."

The Time Lord's eyes opened wide, blinking up into Ianto's face. The young man leaned down to press another kiss to his lover's lips, wrapping his arms around the Doctor and letting that chemistry that raged between them take over.

***