Title: Wrong Impression
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Ianto Jones/Tenth Doctor
Fandom: Torchwood/Doctor Who
Rating: PG-13
Table: 50ficlets
Prompt: 16, Dream
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 ...." The Doctor's head turned from side to side, his voice rasping in his throat as he gasped out the words. "No .... it isn't time .... not yet ...."

"Doctor!" Ianto's voice was sharp, an edge of fear in his tone. His hands were on the Time Lord's shoulders, shaking him, trying desperately to wake the other man. "Doctor, you're dreaming. Wake up, love."

The Doctor's eyes flew open wide, taking a few moments to focus on his young lover leaning over him with a worried expression on his face. "Ianto? I ...." He closed his eyes again, swallowing hard. "I must have been dreaming."

Ianto nodded, loosening his grip on the Time Lord's shoulders and letting his own body go limp with relief. "Yes, you were. I don't know what it was about -- but it must have been terrible, considering how you were on the verge of screaming."

"It was." The Doctor offered up no more explanation than that; he didn't open his eyes, didn't look at the young man by his side.

Ianto took a deep breath, trying to relax himself and keep his voice calm. "Do you want to tell me what it was about?" he asked, his tone soft, sliding his arms around the Doctor and pulling the slender man close against the warmth of his body.

The Time Lord shook his head, then sighed and opened his eyes to gaze into Ianto's face. "No, I don't, not really. But I suppose that I should -- so you'll at least know and you won't have to worry yourself with wondering."

He snuggled into his boyfriend's embrace, pressing his face against Ianto's chest and taking a deep breath before continuing. "I .... thought I was regenerating. It felt so .... so real. It didn't feel like a dream. I could have sworn that it was actually happening."

Ianto felt a cold chill go through him; he hated to think of his lover changing, becoming someone else, having a new body that was nothing like the one he loved so much.

"But it wasn't real," he said softly, trying to comfort the Time Lord, though he had an acute need for that same kind of comfort himself at the moment. "You're here, you're in this body, and there's no need for you to regenerate."

The Doctor nodded, his thin arms wrapping around Ianto's waist; he was clinging to his lover as if Ianto would be able to keep even the idea of a regeneration away from him. "I don't want to lose this body, Ianto. I'm afraid if I do .... that I'll lose you."

Ianto brushed his lips across the Doctor's brow, wanting to reassure the other man but knowing that it would be nearly impossible to do so. After all, he didn't want the Doctor to lose this body any more than the Time Lord did.

This was the body he loved. The body that he'd made love to, the body that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

How would he react to seeing his lover in another guise, to seeing someone else there? It wouldn't be the same man, not really. The Doctor had told him enough about regenerations for him to know that there were even things in his personality that would change.

The Doctor would still be himself, on a basic level. He would still have his memories, and still retain his emotions. He might even still love Ianto -- though the intensity of that emotion could change, too. That was what he was most afraid of.

If he lost the Doctor's love, he would lose everything. And what if he himself couldn't love the body that the Doctor regenerated into? What if those emotions were still there, but the physical attraction disappeared? What if they couldn't be lovers any longer?

They could only hope that the Doctor wouldn't regenerate, that he'd be able to stay in this body for as long as possible. And that these dreams didn't become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

He knew that the Doctor was just as frightened of all these possibilities as he was; and he knew that it was his duty to comfort the Time Lord and assure him that none of this would happen. But how could he do that -- when he was unsure about it himself?

Ianto closed his eyes, resting his cheek against the softness of the Doctor's hair and wondering how he was going to manage to reassure his lover that everything would be all right. He wasn't even sure that the Time Lord would believe him if he said those words.

But he had to try. He couldn't let the man he loved torture himself with worry, thinking that Ianto would turn away from him at some point.

"I love you," he finally whispered, not knowing what else he could say. "These are just dreams, Doctor. They aren't real. They're not going to come true -- they're just a part of your imagination, one that you need to push away."

He desperately hoped that his words would prove to be true, and that those dreams were giving them both the wrong impression of what could very well become their future.

***