Title: Wide Awake in Dreamland
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Ianto Jones/Tenth Doctor
Fandom: Torchwood/Doctor Who
Rating: PG-13
Table: 3
Prompt: 50, Vulnerable
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.

***

"No .... please .... stop .... no more ...."

Ianto woke with a start, the Doctor's restlessness shaking him out of sleep. Beside him, the Time Lord tossed in agitation, his words becoming more and more frantic.

The young man turned to his love, reaching out to shake the Doctor awake. It was more than a little disconcerting to see him like this; he was sweating profusely, delicate hands clenched into fists, his voice rising as his words became more panicked. He was also deep in the throes of sleep -- or rather, nightmare.

"Stop .... please .... don't ...." The Doctor's voice broke, the words almost coming out as a scream. Whatever he was dreaming about, it wasn't something that Ianto wanted him to remember.

Ianto sat up, reaching for the Doctor, wrapping his arms around the Time Lord and pulling him close. He was shocked when the Doctor screamed again, thin arms pushing against him, trying to free himself from Ianto's embrace.

"Doctor! Wake up!" His voice was urgent, firm without being frantic. He had to keep his arm firmly around the Time Lord's waist to keep him from squirming away, his other hand shaking the Doctor's shoulder.

The Time Lord continued to struggle, his nails scoring down Ianto's bare shoulder, leaving a trail of angry red scratches in their wake. Ianto pushed him down against the pillows, using his own body weight to hold the Doctor down as he continued trying to pull the other man out of his nightmare.

"Doctor, it's me, Ianto. Shhhh, beloved, don't fight me." He had the Doctor's wrists in his grasp now, holding the Gallifreyan's thin arms at his sides.

The Doctor's eyes snapped open, wide and terrified, gazing up at Ianto without seeing him. Gradually, he seemed to come back to reality, his slender body going still under Ianto's weight, his small fists relaxing, his chest heaving as he gasped for air.

"Shhh, love, it's only me," Ianto whispered, lowering his head to brush a kiss against the Doctor's mouth. He winced as the motion pulled at the scratches on his shoulder; he'd have to put iodine on those, and hopefully the Doctor wouldn't question where they'd come from.

The Doctor nodded, turning his face to the side and not meeting Ianto's gaze. The young Welshman slowly eased his grip on his love's wrists, moving his body off the Doctor's to lay beside the Time Lord, unable to resist the urge to take the other man into his arms.

He draped one leg over the Time Lord's slender thighs, moving a hand up the Doctor's back in a soothing caress. "It was just a nightmare, beloved," he murmured, feeling the Doctor's twin heartbeats thudding against his chest, the Gallifreyan's breaths still sharp and ragged.

"No, Ianto, it wasn't." The Doctor's voice was barely a whisper in the stillness of their darkened bedroom. "It was a memory."

"The scientists?" Ianto asked softly, his arms tightening around the Doctor's waist. He'd been appalled by what they'd seen in that makeshift laboratory, his own dreams in the past few nights haunted by the memory of what they'd tried to do to the Doctor's body.

The Doctor nodded, burying his face against Ianto's chest and curling up against his lover. Ianto's arms tightened around him, pulling the Time Lord close, cradling him protectively against the warmth of his own body. He silently cursed those "scientists" for the hundredth time, wishing they would find themselves and their "work" at the bottom of a very deep ocean.

"They won't harm you again, beloved," he murmured, stroking a hand through the Doctor's soft hair. "I'll just have to keep a more careful watch for threats, that's all."

"You can't be with me every moment, Ianto." The Doctor's voice trembled, his slender body shaking in Ianto's arms. "And I can't stay inside all the time and live in fear of what could happen to me."

Ianto pressed a gentle kiss to the top of the Doctor's head, at a loss as to what to say. Of course the Doctor couldn't stay inside all the time; he couldn't even stay here, in Ianto's time. And if it had indeed been the Master who had led them to the Doctor, then there was no telling what dangers could be waiting for him when he left.

"There's only one thing for it, then," Ianto said softly, his strong arms tightening protectively around the Time Lord's trembling frame. "I'll have to go with you whenever you leave. Even if you're just going around the corner for a quart of milk."

"You can't come with me, Ianto." The Doctor's voice was tired, defeated. "I can't take you away from Torchwood. Jack would have a fit."

"To hell with what Jack thinks," Ianto said under his breath. "I'll bloody well quit working for Torchwood. The one thing I won't do is let you go god knows where to face the Master alone."

"I can't let you do that, my sweet," the Doctor said softly, raising his head to look up at Ianto with anxious eyes. "Torchwood needs you. And they'd not thank me for taking you away from them."

There was a slight catch in the Doctor's voice, a sound that was almost a sob. Ianto studied his love's face, realizing that the Doctor's mouth was trembling, his voice shaky as he said the words.

"What is it, my love?" he asked, running a gentle hand down the Doctor's naked back. "I can tell you're upset .... please tell me what's wrong."

"I know they need you," the Doctor whispered, the catch in his voice evident now, sounding as though he was on the verge of bursting into tears. "But .... but I need you, too. More than they do. I've always needed you."

"Sweet love, I need you, too." The tears had risen to Ianto's eyes as well, and he had to blink to keep them back. The Doctor was clutching him now, those long, elegant fingers digging into his biceps, holding onto him for dear life. And .... the Doctor was actually sobbing. The man he loved was crying in his arms.

"Shhh, love, shhh, don't cry." Ianto sat up, cradling the sobbing Time Lord in his arms, trying to soothe him as best he could. "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it, I promise. And I'll be with you. If I have to choose, you know that I'll always choose you."

Ianto rocked back and forth with the Doctor in his arms, murmuring soothing words and stroking the Time Lord's slender back. He had never seen the Doctor this vulnerable before; he'd always seemed so self-sufficient, as if he kept his emotions bound and locked away. But now, it was almost as though he was falling apart, his emotions spilling out in every direction.

He was becoming uncomfortably aroused; holding a beautiful naked man, having their bodies pressed close together, had that effect on him. He could only hope that the Doctor didn't notice, as he didn't want the Time Lord to feel that anything was expected of him. But the truth was, the Doctor's utter vulnerability and helplessness was .... stimulating.

Finally, the Doctor's tears stopped, only an occasional sniffle coming from him, though he didn't relinquish his hold on Ianto. The young Welshman let himself relax a bit, leaning back against the pillows with the Doctor still clasped in his arms.

"There's nothing to cry over, beloved," he said softly, gently brushing away a few tears that still trickled down the Time Lord's cheeks. "Whatever should happen in the future, I won't leave you. I won't give anyone else a chance to hurt you. Not ever again."

"You can't always protect me," the Time Lord murmured, one hand resting on Ianto's chest, his breath warm against his lover's skin. "I don't expect you to. I should be the one protecting you."

"And you can't protect me all the time, either," Ianto pointed out to him, twining his fingers through the Doctor's. "I suppose we'll just have to protect each other, as best we can."

"I'm so tired of it, Ianto," the Doctor whispered, the slight catch back in his voice. "I'm so tired of being expected to save worlds, to be the all-conquering hero. I don't want to. I want to be here with you. Nowhere else. Just here."

"Would it be easier if I was there with you?" Ianto placed two fingers under the Doctor's chin, raising his love's face to his, grey-blue eyes searching the Time Lord's chiseled features. "There's no way that I'm going to let you go off alone again, you know."

"I .... I don't know." The Doctor's voice was still trembly, though he didn't sound as though he was going to cry now. "I would always worry about you, always be terrified that I was taking you into some sort of danger with me. It was .... different with my companions. They were friends, but they weren't you. None of them were my soul mate."

"Being mated with you is going to be quite an experience for me, then," the young Welshman said firmly, pressing a gentle kiss to the Doctor's parted lips. "Because I have no intention of being left behind."

"Being mated with me has already gotten you hurt," the Doctor sighed, closing his eyes and resting his forehead against Ianto's chest. "I can't let that keep happening."

"It's my choice," Ianto said, his voice firmer than he'd intended it to be. He tightened his protective grip on the Doctor, drawing the thin Time Lord closer against his body. "You can't deny me the right of making my own decision to come with you."

"No, I suppose I can't." The Doctor sighed again, lifting anxious eyes to Ianto's face. "But I'm responsible for you."

"And I for you, my love," Ianto whispered, his soft breath teasing the Doctor's ear, ruffling his hair. "So, that makes us responsible for each other. And it's a responsibility I don't mind taking on."

"You don't know what you're getting into," the Doctor murmured, shaking his head. "It's hardly fair to you."

"It doesn't matter to me," Ianto told him, his gaze meeting the Time Lord's again. "The only thing that matters is that I'll be with you, by your side. Where I belong. Where I've always belonged."

"You may change your mind," the Doctor cautioned him. "It isn't exactly a way of life that most people would want to take on."

"I'm not most people." Ianto laughed softly, his hands moving up the Doctor's naked back to rest on his love's shoulders. "Haven't you guessed that yet, beloved? You've never met anyone like me."

"Indeed I haven't," the Doctor said softly, closing his eyes and resting his cheek against Ianto's shoulder. Ianto could feel the slender body relaxing in his arms, the Doctor's breathing becoming slow and steady as he surrendered to sleep.

Moments later, the young Welshman was asleep as well, the Doctor clasped protectively in his embrace.

***