Title: Hardly Wait
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Ianto Jones/Tenth Doctor
Fandom: Torchwood/Doctor Who
Rating: PG-13
Table: 5
Prompt: 19, Envious
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.

***

The Doctor leaned over the console and pressed buttons, taking the Tardis away from the Hub. Ianto glanced over at the Time Lord, wondering why the other man looked so grim, his lips pressed together in a thin line.

He felt the familiar slight displacement of time and space as the Tardis left Earth, reaching out a hand to the console to steady himself even though he knew that he wouldn't lose his balance. Heaving a sigh, he considered whether or not to ask the Doctor why he seemed angry.

The Time Lord looked over at him, his expression unreadable. He was obviously upset about something, Ianto told himself, though he had no idea what could possibly have made the other man look this annoyed.

He went over everything that had happened in the Hub in his mind, searching for any incident that could have led to the Doctor's annoyance.

After a few moments, he gave up, telling himself that he'd just have to ask the Doctor what had taken place to make him look so angry. Well, not angry, he amended, stealing another look at his lover. It was more of a look of .... petulance.

"Doctor --" he began, unsure of what to say. "Did something happen while we were in the Hub that I don't know about? I know you're angry -- or upset, one or the other, or maybe both -- but I have no idea why. I wish you'd tell me what's wrong."

"You mean you couldn't tell?" the Doctor snapped, keeping his eyes focused on the console and not looking up at his young lover. "It should have been fairly obvious, considering that your time was utterly monopolized while we were there."

Ianto's eyes widened; he cast his mind back over all the events at the Hub, wondering what the Doctor could possibly mean by those words.

Nothing had really happened while they were there, for once. There had been no emergency to take care of, nothing that they'd had to risk themselves over. It had been a quiet time, and they'd been able to laugh, talk, visit with friends who they hadn't seen in a while.

What could have possibly .... Oh. Oh. Ianto almost groaned as the answer to his question came to him. It had been Jack's attitude, of course. His constant flirting, the way he'd gone out of his way to keep Ianto close to him and away from the Doctor.

He'd ignored it, knowing that he would be leaving with the Time Lord, secure in the fact that what they had was something that Jack could never touch. He had no intention of flirting back, or of giving the immortal any sort of encouragement.

But apparently, that flirting had annoyed the Doctor to the point where he now looked as though he was ready to explode -- and that annoyance had to be directed at him.

"Doctor, I'm sorry," Ianto said softly, hoping that his words would appease the Time Lord and take the edge off his annoyance. "I didn't know that he was going to do that. And if I'd known that you were so upset by it, I'd have told him publicly to stop."

The Doctor looked down, shaking his head and turning away from Ianto. To his amazement, the young man realized that the other man was raising a hand to his face, as though to wipe away tears that he didn't want his lover to see.

"I'm not angry at you, Ianto," the Doctor said, his tone choked. "I'm angry at him. He knows how much I love you. And he knows that I'll always be jealous of the fact that he had you first, that he was the first man you gave your heart to."

Ianto moved over to the Doctor, wrapping his arms around the Time Lord's waist from behind and resting his cheek against the softness of the other man's hair.

"There's nothing for you to be jealous of, you know," he whispered against the Doctor's hair. "I'm never going back to him, Doctor. I have no feelings for Jack any more, other than friendship. There's nothing else there in my heart. There hasn't been for a long time."

"Realistically, I know that," the Doctor said, his voice still sounding choked and a little tearful. "But the truth is, I hate seeing him touch you, Ianto. I hate seeing him act as though you're still with him, as though he owns you. I'm envious of what you once shared with him."

Ianto was at a loss as to how to reply to that declaration. He and the Doctor both knew that there was nothing to be envious of -- Jack didn't have him any more, and he didn't want Jack. He hadn't looked at the immortal in that way since he'd met the Doctor.

But there was no accounting for emotions -- and apparently the Doctor's hearts were rebelling against Jack even being friendly with him.

The truth was, Jack had a tendency to try to start trouble. Ianto hadn't even realized that he was being a flirt the entire time they'd been at the Hub -- probably because he didn't care about Jack in that way, and the flirting meant absolutely nothing to him.

It seemed to mean a great deal to the Doctor, though; and Ianto was annoyed at himself for not having realized what Jack was up to. If that bastard had somehow managed to drive a wedge between the Doctor and himself, he would go back to Earth and .... and ....

"No, Ianto, you won't go back to Earth and do anything," the Doctor murmured, shaking his head. "I know you're angry at him, and so am I. But this isn't going to hurt us in any way. I'm not angry at you. I'm angry at him -- and at myself, in a way."

"At yourself?" Ianto was startled by the Time Lord's admission. "You haven't done anything to be angry about. You're the one he was trying to annoy."

"Which is exactly why I'm upset with myself," the Doctor told him, sighing. "I'm doing exactly what he wanted me to do -- I'm letting myself get carried away by my emotions. He wants to upset me, rattle me. He wants to feel that he still controls me."

"I wasn't aware that he could ever control you," Ianto said softly, wondering just what the Doctor's past relationship with Jack had been like. If it had been anything like his own, it was very one-sided -- with the Time Lord doing all the giving, and Jack being nothing but a taker.

It didn't even occur to him that the Doctor had read his mind -- his own emotions must have been screaming out at him for him to be able to interpret them so easily. He must be more upset than he'd thought at the idea of his love being angry.

"He didn't -- not as much as he thought he did," the Doctor sighed, shaking his head again. "And I'm not going to give him the chance to do it again -- or to control you, either. Jack doesn't have a hold on either one of us any more."

"No, he doesn't," Ianto agreed, feeling more than a little annoyed with himself at not realizing what had been going on during their stay. "And he never will."

"I'm sorry, love," the Doctor said softly, turning in Ianto's arms to face his young lover. "I didn't mean to let you see how annoyed with him I was. I should have said something while we were there -- let him see that his behavior isn't going to be tolerated."

"Oh, I'll do that the next time we're there," Ianto said, giving the Doctor a wolfish smile. "He might think he can get away with things like that, but he's got another think coming. He's in for a big surprise the next time he sees the two of us. I can hardly wait."

"Let's not go back there too quickly," the Doctor cautioned. I'm not in a hurry to see him again -- not after what I've had to put up with for the last few hours."

Ianto nodded, wanting to reassure the Doctor. "Of course not, love. But when we do see him again, I'm going to go in with guns blazing. He won't know what hit him."

The Doctor laughed softly, leaning forward to press his lips against Ianto's. "I have a feeling that our next meeting with Jack is going to be .... rather explosive," he murmured, slipping his arms around the young man's waist.

Ianto couldn't help but agree with the Time Lord. The next time he saw Jack, he would have more than a few sharp things to say to the immortal -- things that he'd wanted to say for a long time. It almost made him look forward to their return to the Hub.

Well .... almost.

***