Title: Crazy For You
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Ianto Jones/Tenth Doctor
Fandom: Torchwood/Doctor Who
Rating: PG-13
Table: 5, 50episodes
Prompt: 11, Crazy
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.

***

"You know, I have to wonder if the team at Torchwood ever thinks that I'm completely crazy to have gone with you into the stars," Ianto told the Doctor, glancing across the room at the Time Lord. "They didn't say anything, but I'm sure that's what they felt."

The Doctor looked up, raising his brows in question. "Really? I thought they seemed to be rather happy for the two of us. Especially Jack -- though I know he's not the sort of person who'd admit to it, he does have a bit of a romantic streak."

Ianto couldn't help laughing at the Doctor's words. "Oh, yes, he's romantic all right," he said, his tone wry. "You do realise that Jack's idea of 'romance' is spending the entire weekend in bed until his partner has a hard time walking, don't you?"

"Oh, yes, I'm well aware of that," the Doctor answered, laughing and shaking his head. "It's a good thing that I rescued you from all that, isn't it? Otherwise, you'd probably have arthritis long before your time, and you'd be complaining about not getting enough sleep."

"Well, he didn't keep me up every night!" Ianto objected, unable to keep back the smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth. "There were plenty of nights that I spent in my own flat -- when Jack wasn't with me."

"Do you really think that they would call you crazy for being with me?" the Doctor asked, a worried frown creasing his forehead. "I know that this might not seem like such a wonderful life to most humans, but I'd thought you enjoyed being here."

"You know I do," Ianto said softly, feeling a pang of guilt go through him. He should have chosen his words more carefully, he admonished himself inwardly. He didn't want the Doctor to feel that he was in any way dissatisfied with the life they led.

"There's nowhere else in the entire universe I'd rather be than with you," he continued, moving over to the console to stand beside the Doctor and slide an arm around the Time Lord's slim waist. "I was the one who started all of this with those notes and flowers, remember?"

The Doctor nodded, resting his head against Ianto's shoulder for a moment. "Yes, of course I do. Those notes were beautiful -- and the flowers were lovely, too. Though I have to admit that you nearly drove me crazy before I found out who they were from."

"Did I?" Ianto's tone was rueful, his words soft. "I'm sorry, Doctor. I probably should have been more open right from the beginning, but at the time, I had no idea if you could possibly feel the same way about me. I thought you wanted to get back together with Jack."

The Time Lord shook his head, the movement quick and emphatic. "Thank goodness I disabused you of that notion fairly quickly," he murmured. "I was interested in you from the very beginning. But of course, I thought that you might not be over Jack yet."

"Isn't it funny how he seems to crop up constantly in our relationship?" Ianto said thoughtfully, frowning. "It's almost as though Jack was the catalyst for the two of us finding each other. Though I guess he was, in a weird way. I'd never have met you if it wasn't for him."

"I don't know if that's quite true," the Doctor objected, turning to look at his lover. "I know that it was easier for us to discover each other through Jack -- but you and I would have eventually come together, even without his help."

"I'd have been able to find you anywhere, at any time," Ianto told him, raising a hand to stroke gentle fingertips down the Doctor's cheek. "I knew from the first moment we met that you were my other half. There was a missing piece that seemed to shift into place."

The Doctor nodded, his dark gaze locking with Ianto's. "I knew when I first looked into your eyes that you were the one," he whispered, his voice as intense as his gaze. "But I didn't know if you felt the same way -- which is why I held back."

"You didn't have to," Ianto told him, his voice barely above a whisper. "I knew in my heart that you were the one. I just didn't want to say anything at the time, because I didn't know how you felt. So I came up with the idea of the notes and flowers."

"I don't know why I didn't even suspect that it was you," the Doctor said, smiling in remembrance. "The wording of those notes was so beautifully romantic, and I knew that Jack would never think of anything like that. But I didn't think of you."

"You thought at first that it might be Jack?" Ianto's tone was almost hurt. "Doctor, you know him well enough to know that romance isn't in his line. Seduction, yes, but I don't think Jack cares deeply enough about anyone to be romantic."

"At one time, he might have done," the Doctor said, his voice quiet. Ianto didn't want to keep on with this line of conversation; it would only bring up questions that he'd be better off not knowing the answers to, questions that were better left unasked.

Besides, he didn't need any of those questions answered, he told himself firmly. He'd only drive himself crazy with worry and uncertainty if he asked them. What the Doctor had shared with Jack was long since over, and there was no reason for him to think about it.

He was the Doctor's soul mate, not Jack. How many times had his lover told him that? The Doctor wouldn't lie about his feelings -- and certainly not when he knew how well Ianto could sense his emotions and tune in to them.

"You have nothing to worry about, you know," the Doctor said, his voice soft and husky. "Yes, I loved Jack at one time -- and I believe he loved me. I believe that he loved you, too. But we've both found who we were meant to be with -- and it's not Jack."

"I would have been driven completely crazy if I'd stayed with Jack," Ianto told him, feeling his heart settle back into its normal rhythm. It had sped up during the last few moments, but the Doctor's words chased away any feelings of inadequacy.

"So would I!" the Time Lord said, rolling his eyes. "Jack is a good friend, and I do care about him as such. But he isn't the type of man to be faithful -- and I couldn't have stayed with him because of that. I don't believe that you could have, either."

"That was one of the things that always made my relationship with him so uneasy," Ianto sighed. "A day didn't go when I wasn't wondering if he was attracted to someone else, or if he'd suddenly tell me that we were over unless he wanted a quickie in his office."

"I think it's safe to say that we were both on the verge of being driven crazy by the instability of being with Jack," the Doctor said with a laugh. "It's a good thing that our own relationship isn't anything like that. We've learned our lesson about being involved with the wrong men."

"Or, in this case, the wrong man." Ianto couldn't help laughing; here they were, talking about their past relationships with Jack, when it was their own relationship that was important -- and that was the one he was most interested in.

The past was over and done, for both of them. They were together now, making a life for themselves -- a life that Ianto loved, and one that he never wanted to leave behind him. He had no regrets about leaving his life on Earth; he'd found a much better one here amongst the stars.

"It doesn't matter to me if everyone who knows me on Earth thinks I'm a bit crazy," he said with a smile, wrapping his arms around the Doctor and pulling him close. "I might even be a little crazy -- crazy for you, that is."

"And I'm crazy about you," the Doctor whispered, leaning into the embrace. When his lover looked at him like that, Ianto couldn't have cared less if the entire universe thought he was crazy -- if this was insanity, then he wanted to be crazy for the rest of his life.

***