Title: Nervous Nights
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Ianto Jones/Tenth Doctor
Fandom: Torchwood/Doctor Who
Rating: PG-13
Table: 4, 50episodes
Prompt: 28, Sound
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 leaned against the console of the Tardis, sighing in relief. They were back in the timesteam again, and for once, he didn't care where they went. He was just glad to be away from the Hub, to have some time alone with the Doctor without any prying eyes around.

The longer they had been at the Hub, the more Ianto had found himself jumping at every sound around him; every time someone had come into a room, he'd been ready to pull out a gun that he no longer carried. He'd never been so nervous in his entire life.

What was it about being there that had made him feel so unsettled? He couldn't explain it, but after the second night they'd spent in Jack's bedroom, he'd talked to the Doctor and told his lover point-blank that he wanted to leave, that the Hub made him too nervous.

The Doctor had, to his surprise, agreed with him. He hadn't been able to tell that the other man was feeling the same as he did, but the Time Lord had confessed that being in the Hub was making him feel as though he was being observed on a constant basis.

Both of them needed to get away from the Hub, but neither of them felt as though Jack would understand why. After all, they were no closer to finding out just what the Master's plan might have been than they had been when they'd first arrived.

At least the dreams had stopped, Ianto thought with a sigh. Ever since the night that their lives had been dramatically changed, neither he nor the Doctor had suffered from the ever-worsening nightmares. It was as though they'd been entirely cut off, lost in the ether of time.

He hoped that they had been. The last thing he wanted was to have his sleep disturbed by any more dreams of the man he loved dying, slipping away from him as he watched helplessly, unable to stop the life from draining out of the Time Lord's body.

As far as he could remember, he'd had dreams for the last two nights, but they hadn't been those horribly disturbing ones that had rapidly turned into nightmares. It seemed as though they'd disappeared for good, and Ianto was grateful for that.

The Doctor hadn't dreamed again, either. He'd said that his only dreams had been things that he couldn't remember once he'd awakened, but that the nightmares that had plagued him for weeks seemed to have vanished, adding that he sincerely hoped that was the case.

Of course, this would be the first night they'd spent in the Tardis, away from the group of people they had grown to look at as their line of defense to keep Earth safe, Ianto reflected. Maybe they were expecting too much if they thought that the Master was going to back off.

There was no way that the Doctor's greatest enemy would give up and just go slinking away. That was certainly too much to expect. But Ianto was still holding on to the hope that he might not yet realize that the two of them were still alive -- which would give them the advantage.

That also might be too much to hope for, he told himself, sighing again and slumping against the console. The Master always kept a close eye on any aspect of a plan he formulated; he was sure to know that his attempts to kill Ianto and incapacitate the Doctor had failed.

Ianto had no doubt in his mind that the Master would come after them again. The question was -- just when would it happen? He hoped that they would have some time to adjust to the changes in their lives before they had to face something like that again.

Not that it was such a huge change for the Doctor, he thought, a small smile crossing his features. His lover had been granted an extraordinary gift -- he would apparently still be able to regenerate inwardly if he needed to, but his body would look the same.

What if his body was somehow damaged? That was the first question that Ianto had come up with, but the Doctor had hastened to assure him that his Time Lord body was resilient. And it could be possible that if he was somehow outwardly damaged, the inward regeneration would take care of that.

Ianto wasn't so sure, but he didn't want to tell the Doctor about his misgivings. He would just have to try his best to keep his lover protected; and now that he was the one with the immortal life span, he felt much more capable of doing so.

But how could he do that, if every little sound made him jumpy and nervous, even more so at night? Ianto straightened up, taking a deep breath and squaring his shoulders. He had to stop thinking that any little noise was going to bring some sort of danger.

Yes, he and the Doctor had both been through a terrible ordeal. He couldn't help but wonder if it hadn't actually been worse than the Doctor than for him -- after all, he'd been dead. He hadn't known what was happening. He hadn't felt any pain.

No, the Doctor had been the one to bear all of that. He was the one who'd held his lover in his arms, knowing that he would spend the rest of his life alone without the person he loved by his side. Ianto had been lucky not to go through that kind of anguish.

In fact, he felt guilty for putting the Doctor through it -- though of course it hadn't been his choice. He would certainly have preferred not to die, though if he hadn't, he wouldn't have the priceless gift of immortality that he'd been given.

Now, if only he could stop jumping at every sound that he heard, thinking that it would bring some fresh wave of impending danger .... Ianto almost wanted to laugh at himself; it was ridiculous for him to be this nervous when there was really no need to be.

After all, they were on the Tardis. The ship was safe; she was their home, their safety, their protection. There was no place in all the far reaches of the galaxy, in any time, where they would be safer than they were here on this ship.

But at the same time, he couldn't forget that those lightning bolts that had apparently brought about the Doctor's ability to retain the body he was in on a permanent basis had come from within the ship. Had they been caused by the Master, too?

What a stupid question, he told himself as soon as the thought came to his mind. Of course the Master had caused that lightning -- though the Doctor hadn't been able to figure out just how he'd achieved it. Still, the Tardis didn't seemed to be damaged in any way.

Ianto couldn't help worrying about that -- what if the same thing happened at a point when they were drifting through the timestream, and the Doctor couldn't get out of the way of those deadly lightning bolts? There was no telling what could happen.

The Time Lord had told him not to worry; he'd checked the Tardis over thoroughly, and there was nothing wrong with her. He was sure that the lightning had come from the dreams, energy that had built up and was just waiting to be released at a predetermined point in time.

The young man wasn't sure that his fears were completely calmed, but he had to trust the Tardis if he was going to continue being with the Doctor. She was their home -- and Ianto knew that she would never try to deliberately hurt his lover.

For the moment, it seemed that the majority of their troubles were over. Now, the two of them had to give themselves a bit of time to get used to the changes in their circumstances -- and Ianto wasn't sure that it was going to be an easy thing for them to do.

But as long as they were together, that was the important thing, he reminded himself, the thought bringing a smile to his face. Being with the Doctor was what mattered most in his life -- and now, he had an even longer time to spend with his lover. How long was anyone's guess.

Now, if only he could stop himself from being so jumpy and nervous, they were on the road to what seemed to be a long and happy life together, Ianto told himself, closing his eyes and sending up a prayer to whatever deity might be listening that his words were true.

The two of them deserved a long and happy life with each other. Of course, their lives would always involve a certain amount of danger -- but Ianto was more than willing to deal with that, as long as he could spend the rest of eternity by the Doctor's side.

Ianto raised his head as he heard the unmistakable sound of the Doctor's footsteps in the corridor, heading towards the control room. That was one sound that he would always love to hear, Ianto thought, a smile brightening his face at the sight of the man he loved.

***