Title: Morning Has Broken
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Ianto Jones/Tenth Doctor
Fandom: Doctor Who/Torchwood
Rating: PG-13
Table: 11
Prompt: 25, Beach
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.

***

The Doctor poked his head out of the front door of the Tardis, blinking in the morning sun. Well, at least the beach looked deserted. The sun was barely up over the horizon -- but of course, he was looking directly into it. That was becoming a bad habit that he needed to break, the tendency to look right at the origin.

He stepped out onto the sand, expecting it to be hot beneath his bare feet. Instead, it was cool; almost like walking on a carpet. Wonders never ceased, he thought, smiling a little.

It was an interesting feeling, dressing in the same way that Ianto did when he wasn't in the office. The soft fabric of the t-shirt he was wearing felt odd against his skin, but rather comfortable at the same time. Though he doubted that he would ever get used to these jeans ....

The Doctor shuffled his feet through the sand, enjoying the feel of it, the freedom that he wanted to keep up the illusion of having. He nearly snorted aloud at the thought. Of course he wasn't free. He had responsibilities, duties. He couldn't just do whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted. He had -- well, other things to think about.

Never mind that all he wanted was to forget about all his responsibilities and spend his time with Ianto.

He sighed, looking out over the waves that were rolling in. Dammit, why couldn't things be easy? Why was he always faced with choices he didn't want to make? And why, why, did he always have to make decisions that went against everything that he wanted?

The Doctor's lips tightened into a thin line. For once, he wasn't going to give in to that insistent voice that told him he couldn't have what he wanted. He'd spent too many years pushing aside his personal needs to do what was right. He was tired of doing what was right.

Years? This time, he did snort aloud at the thought. His whole life, rather. More than one life. Every regeneration had him running in the same circles, ignoring his own needs and desires, focusing on the world around him and trying to forget that he never seemed to be happy.

Ianto was his chance at happiness. It had been a long time in coming, but this was it -- and he wasn't going to turn his back on it this time.

He turned as he felt the change in atmosphere that meant another person was close at hand, smiling as he watched Ianto cross the expanse of sand to stand at his side. The younger man slipped an arm around his waist, and the Doctor leaned back against him, feeling more relaxed than he could ever remember feeling.

How could he give this up? There had been no particular words spoken between them, no declared "I love you's" -- no, it was too early for that. But there was something unspoken, an emotion that surrounded them, a crackling energy in the air that they didn't need words for.

Nothing had even happened between them yet, the Doctor reflected -- nothing more than a few kisses and two nights spent falling asleep fully clothed and waking next to each other. Yet, he felt as though Ianto was more his lover than anyone who had known him intimately, in any regeneration.

Ianto finally spoke, his Welsh accent low-pitched and musical. "I don't want to go back." The words were spoken with no bitterness, only a simple statement of fact.

"I don't want you to go," the Doctor murmured, ignoring the promptings of his subconscious that told him Ianto couldn't stay with him. No, he told himself fiercely. I'm not listening. I won't.

"Then I won't," the younger man said, dipping his head to brush his soft lips against the Doctor's smooth cheek. The Time Lord could feel a shiver run down his spine, Ianto's merest touch making his pulse race.

"Jack won't like not having you there," he cautioned Ianto, turning slightly in the other man's arms to look at him. What was it about this man that made him feel so safe, so protected, in a way that he'd never felt before, in any of his many bodies?

He didn't want to voice the four-letter word, not even in his own mind. But the Doctor was sure that it was the word he was searching for.

"Jack can kiss my arse," Ianto replied, a tiny smile lifting the corners of his lips. "He doesn't own me. If he wants to boot me out of Torchwood, then he can. But I won't leave you. Not now. Not ever, if I can get away with it."

"You can't always be with me," the Doctor murmured, turning his head and closing his eyes, inhaling the slightly musky scent of whatever cologne Ianto wore. "We'll inevitably have to be parted for a while, at some point."

Ianto raised one hand, his long, lean fingers caressing the strong line of the Doctor's jaw, turning the time lord's face to his own. "Then I'll count every second until I'm with you again. I know it sounds terribly romantic and maybe even a bit schoolgirlish -- but I'll wait for you forever, for as long as it takes."

"I'll always come back to you," the Doctor whispered, blinking back sudden tears that he wanted to tell himself were caused by the brightness of the sun's rays -- though he knew they weren't. "I promise you that."

Ianto's only answer was to lower his face to the Doctor's, their lips meeting and clinging together, his arms tightening around the time lord and drawing the thin body close against his own.

A shout broke the silence, and Ianto lifted his head unhurriedly, raising a hand to shade his eyes as he looked down the beach. There was a couple walking a dog, heading in their direction. He sighed softly, looking at the Doctor with a smile.

"I think we may have overstayed our welcome."

The Doctor nodded, glancing down the beach and then back at the Tardis. "I think we should go before we attract too much attention."

Ianto agreed, reluctantly loosening his hold on the other man. "We should come back here sometime," he said, looking around as though to take in the sight of the beach, the waves, the scene surrounding them one last time.

"We will," the Doctor promised, taking his hand and leading him back into the Tardis. "That's another promise that I intend to keep."

Moments later, the blue police box disappeared, shimmering into the air as though it had never existed.

***