Title: Not A Magic Number
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Ianto Jones/Tenth Doctor
Fandom: Torchwood/Doctor Who
Rating: PG-13
Table: lover100
Prompt: 27, Threesome
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.

***

Ianto looked over at the Doctor as the Time Lord picked up the coffeepot to bring it to the table where he sat. This wasn't a subject that he'd planned to broach this morning, but now that it was in his mind, he couldn't hold it back any longer.

"Doctor ...." Ianto swallowed, not quite sure exactly how to phrase his question. The words were sticking in his throat, not wanting to come out and be spoken. Maybe it was best if he didn't speak them at all; this could be his mind's way of warning him to let well enough alone.

But he couldn't stop himself, now that the thought had taken root in his mind. If he didn't get the question out, it would drive him insane. He'd always wonder what the answer would be, and not knowing would only add to the uneasiness the question made him feel.

"Yes, Ianto, what is it?" The Doctor sat down on the opposite side of the table, pouring coffee for both of them before he looked up at Ianto, giving his young lover his full attention. "You seem to be bursting with curiosity this morning."

"Have you ever ...." Ianto's voice trailed off; his throat was dry, his lips almost refusing to work. He cleared his throat, trying again to get the question out. "Have you ever thought about the two of us having a threesome with Jack?"

The Doctor's dark eyes widened; he set down his coffee cup on the table so abruptly that some of the liquid sloshed over the rim, making a dark stain on the white tablecloth. He didn't say a word, only sat there staring across the table at Ianto.

"Why would you ask me that?" he finally said, his voice trembling. "Do you want us to have a threesome with him, Ianto? Are you tired of being with me? Am I not enough for you?" He looked as though he would burst into tears at any moment.

Ianto sat back in his chair, feeling as though he'd unwittingly opened Pandora's Box. This wasn't what he'd expected; he had thought that the Doctor would shrug the question off with a joke or a flippant remark, not look as though he would cry.

Immediately, Ianto was out of his chair and kneeling in front of where the Doctor sat, reaching out to grasp the Time Lord's hands. He wanted to show some sort of atonement for what he'd suggested, wanted to make those words go away.

If only they could be unspoken, taken back into the realm of thoughts and never have been expressed out loud. But they couldn't. He'd said those words now, and whatever the consequences might be, he would have to live with them.

What if those words somehow caused a rift between himself and the Doctor? What if those words, so thoughtlessly spoken, formed a barrier between the two of them, so that his relationship with the man he loved was never the same again?

Ianto wanted to curse himself for saying those words out loud, for giving voice to a thought that he'd only toyed with in his mind. He didn't want a threesome with Jack. He'd only wondered if the Doctor had ever thought about it, even in passing.

It was too late to take those words back now. Whatever he might have caused by saying them, he would have to either find a way to fix the damage, or live with it. Ianto just hoped that his words hadn't caused irreparable damage to the bond between himself and the Doctor.

"I don't want to have a threesome with Jack," he began, trying to explain his words. "I really don't. It's just that .... I wonder sometimes if you ever think of doing that, since we were both with him at one time. I wonder if you ever .... miss him."

The Doctor slowly shook his head, raising his dark eyes from their entwined hands to meet Ianto's gaze. "No, I don't," he said, his voice hoarse. "Not in that way. Sometimes I miss him as as friend, being able to talk with him. But I've never missed him as a lover."

"Neither have I," Ianto whispered, willing the Doctor to feel what was in his heart. "Since the day I met you, Jack has been a background figure in my life, Doctor. He's still a friend, but I don't want him. Not in that way. I just couldn't help wondering if maybe you felt differently."

His voice trailed off again, and he looked down at the floor. Why had he brought up something so utterly stupid? He should have known that the Doctor would feel the same as he did -- and that there was no need for such a question to arise in his mind.

The Doctor sighed softly, squeezing Ianto's hands. "I don't want Jack in that way either, Ianto. And I don't think that you do. I suppose it's impossible not to wonder what it would be like for three former lovers to all be together. It's a natural question."

"No, it isn't," Ianto sighed, shaking his head. "I'm letting my imagination get away with me -- and my fears. I guess there's a part of me that keeps wondering what you would do if you had the chance to be with Jack again, because I know you loved him."

"Yes, I did," the Doctor agreed, nodding. "I loved him -- but he wasn't my soul mate, Ianto. He could never be what you are to me." The Time Lord raised a hand to touch the glowing pendant at his throat, his voice soft when he continued speaking.

"Do you remember when I gave you that pendant, Ianto?" he asked, his voice barely a whisper. "I told you that it was something I could only give to my soul mate -- that the power behind those pendants only works when two hearts are irrevocably linked to each other."

Ianto nodded, swallowing hard, his hand moving to the matching pendant that he wore. His fingers closed around the glowing, shifting stone that looked like opal but wasn't, feeling the reassuring, comforting warmth seem to seep into his skin.

"Jack told me that he'd thought about giving me his second pendant -- but that he couldn't do it because he knew that I wasn't meant for him," Ianto murmured, remembering the immortal's words to him. "He said that he always knew I was supposed to be with someone else."

"And he understood why I could never give him my pendant," the Doctor told him, sighing. "He knew that the two of you weren't meant to be soul mates, any more than he and I were. I think he may have known even then that the two of us were destined."

"But you can be sure that he thought about us having a threesome," Ianto said in an attempt to lighten the mood. He regretted the words once they'd slipped out, but again, it was too late to take them back and make them disappear unsaid.

"Oh, I'm sure he did," the Doctor answered, a small smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "It would be just like Jack to think that was possible. But he also knows me well enough to know that I'm not going to share my soul mate. Not with him, or anyone else."

"And he knows I'd never share you, either," Ianto said, a wave of relief washing over him. They'd been able to discuss this without it degenerating into a fight, or having some horrible misunderstanding drive a wedge between them.

"It's best for us not to delve into that idea," the Doctor sighed, his grip on Ianto's hand loosening. "We've both had our time with Jack -- and he wasn't the one for either of us. When someone isn't your destiny, it's best to let them go -- at least as a lover."

"I wonder if he's let us go, in his own thoughts?" Ianto said, again wishing that those words had remained unspoken. "I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if Jack thought about sleeping with the two of us together," he said hastily, wanting to clarify his meaning.

"I'm sure he has, but there are all kinds of warning bells going off in my head at the mere thought," the Doctor said, his tone serious again. "It wouldn't be a good idea for any of us, Ianto. You and I are happy with what we have. For us, three is not a magic number."

Ianto nodded, getting up from where he'd been kneeling in front of the Doctor and moving to sit in his chair again. "I couldn't be happier, Doctor. And I hope you are, too. Though I doubt that Jack is ever going to be happy with anybody again."

"Oh? Why do you say that?" the Doctor asked, his tone curious, his brows raised in question. "I'm sure that at some point, Jack is going to find the love of his life. He might not think he's capable of that kind of fidelity, but I believe he will be -- when he finds his soul mate."

Ianto shook his head, looking over at the Doctor and smiling as he reached out to take his lover's hand. "He's already been with you," he said softly, twining his fingers through the Time Lord's. "He's had the best -- and lost it. He couldn't be satisfied with less."

The Doctor didn't answer him, but the blush on his lover's cheeks told Ianto that he'd said the right thing. He let relief surge over him, picking up his coffee cup and telling himself that this wasn't a subject he should try to bring up again -- no matter how curious he might be.

***