Title: Empty Destiny
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Ianto Jones/Tenth Doctor
Fandom: Doctor Who/Torchwood
Rating: PG-13
Table: 1, 50scenes
Prompt: 16, Empty
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my own imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the Tenth Doctor or Jack Harkness. Please do not sue.

***

It seemed that his life had always been like this.

Empty.

The past, the future, the present that he was living in, all melding into one -- all the paths not taken, the paths that could be taken. He could see them all. And in his mind's eye, in the all-knowing vision of a Time Lord, they all led to the same place.

More emptiness.

How could he know which path would eventually take him where he wanted to be -- where he was meant to be? There were so many to choose from, with so many fragmented possibilities. Even with his singular gift, he couldn't possibly fathom every deviation, every monkey wrench that could be thrown into the final equation.

He knew what he wanted. More importantly, he knew who he wanted. Who he was destined to be with. It was meant to be. Written in the annals of eternity.

The Doctor let his mind focus on the features of the young man who had haunted his thoughts since that fatal first glimpse, the first meeting of their eyes in the dim artificial light of Jack's office.

Ianto.

His inner vision pieced together that face, the most perfect face he'd ever seen. The curve of the Welsh boy's cheekbone, the velvety texture of his skin, that shell-pink cupid's bow of a mouth. The dark, liquid eyes, eyes that could see right through him. Eyes that touched his soul, no matter how he might try to hide.

Ianto was the one.

Ianto was also human. Humans had a finite life span. They aged. They died. It was inevitable, and the Doctor had long ago come to accept that fact.

He couldn't let himself continue along this path. He would eventually lose Ianto, lose him to a death that would be infinitely more painful than any loss he'd ever experienced before. He couldn't keep living with that pain screaming in his mind during every waking moment.

How could he face the days of eternity without that vision of Ianto to give him hope for his future? The days would be interminable.

And the nights. Yes, the nights would be the worst.

The Doctor sighed, turning onto his side in the huge four-poster bed. It wasn't going to work. He was drawn to Ianto, drawn as a moth to a flame. He couldn't stay away. He would inevitably give in, and set his feet moving step by step down the path he was meant to be on.

There was no use fighting it. He and Ianto were destined to be mated. He could deny it in his conscious mind all he wanted -- but it would happen. Even with all his control, there was no way to subvert that destiny, whether he wanted it or not. Nothing to do but give in and accept what he couldn't change.

The Time Lord sat up, reaching for a pillow and holding it against his chest. Would that it were Ianto, clasped close in his arms.

He could almost feel his consciousness reaching through the emptiness, reaching for something he'd told himself for centuries that he could never allow himself to have.

An end to the emptiness. Was it possible?

He didn't want to let himself think. Didn't want to let himself dream.

But in spite of all his cautions, there was still a glimmer of hope. Maybe .... just maybe .... maybe it wouldn't all turn out the way he envisioned. Maybe there would be some miracle that would let him hold on to happiness instead of having it slip through his fingers, grain by grain, until he was holding emptiness.

Maybe.

And maybe that momentary happiness would only lead to more emptiness.

The Doctor sighed again, closing his eyes and clutching the pillow against his chest. So many variables, so many "what ifs." So much that was unknown, even to him.

The inevitability loomed in front of him, pulling him step by reluctant step in a direction that he wasn't sure he wanted to go.

It was destiny. In a constantly changing world, it was the one thing he couldn't change.

His eyes snapped open as the realization came to him, as clearly as the sun breaking through a cloud cover.

It was a destiny that he didn't want to change.

***