Title: No Mistakes
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Ianto Jones/Tenth Doctor
Fandom: Torchwood/Doctor Who
Rating: PG-13
Table: 5, 50episodes
Prompt: 39. Morality
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 sighed in relief as the Doctor leaned over the Tardis' console, pressing a few buttons. He felt the familiar displacement of time and space as the blue box shimmered into nothingness on the planet they'd been on, as though it had never existed.

He was more than glad to see the last of that place; it had seemed wild and untamed, which might have been exciting at an earlier point in his life, but now seemed fraught with dangers that he'd rather not deal with. But at least there hadn't been a bad situation arising there.

He'd seen enough lawlessness and violence to last him several lifetimes, Ianto thought as he made his way to one of the chairs near the console and sat down. That wasn't the way he wanted to live -- and he was a little shocked at the thought that anyone could relish that kind of life.

"What's bothering you, Ianto?" the Doctor asked softly, sitting down beside him and taking his hand. Ianto smiled a little wryly; he should have known that the Time Lord would immediately feel his uneasiness. It was amazing how attuned they were to each other.

Ianto shook his head slowly, trying to put his feelings into words. "I didn't feel comfortable on that planet, Doctor. I suppose it's all the violence that seems to be the norm there. Maybe that's what some people find exciting, but I've had enough of it."

The Doctor nodded, his expression thoughtful. "I agree -- but you have to realise, Ianto, that's how some cultures live. It's what they know, and they have to be given time to find out that violence only goes around and around in a circle, and that it's never the answer."

"I know, but ...." Ianto let his voice trail off, uncertain of what to say. "I know that we should never try to force our own culture or beliefs on other planets. But it seems so wrong to let them go on in the way they are. They'll end up destroying each other."

"That's very possible," the Doctor told him, his tone sober. "But we have to give them that freedom of choice, Ianto. We can't dictate how they should live -- or what their morality should be. Just because we don't agree with it doesn't mean that we have the right to interfere."

"No one has the right to force their own morality on anyone else," Ianto agreed. "But if it's for the good of the planet, and the people there --" He broke off as the Doctor shook his head, wondering why the Time Lord was disagreeing so vehemently.

"No, Ianto. I hate to say it, but even though we believe that our morality is right, it could be wrong for those particular people." The Doctor squeezed his hand, sighing softly. "It's hard to explain. Just rest assured that leaving them to find their own way is the right thing to do."

"It's that way with every planet, and every species in the galaxy, isn't it?" Ianto asked, curious as to just how the Doctor had come to this conclusion. "They should all be left alone to find their own way. I can see that, but what about species like the Daleks?"

A shadow crossed the Doctor's handsome features; he looked down at their clasped hands, his grip tightening. "I'd like to say that they should be left alone, but that would be contradicting the fact that I've spent lifetimes fighting them, wouldn't it?"

"And the Cybermen, as well," Ianto added, watching the Time Lord's face. He himself hated the Cybermen more than he could put into words; they'd turned his life upside down, and had taken away someone who had meant a great deal to him.

But if that hadn't happened, then he wouldn't be where he was today, a small voice piped up in the back of his mind. He wouldn't have the Doctor, he wouldn't be immortal, and he wouldn't have the kind of life that he could only have dreamed about in the past.

So, was it really so bad that his life had been disrupted? Of course, he wouldn't wish the Cybermen's attack at Canary Wharf on the world, but it hadn't been such a horrible disaster for him as it had seemed at the time. He'd recovered from it.

Yes, he had lost someone he'd cared deeply for. But he had also gained much, much more in the aftermath of all the destruction than he ever would have believed he could. He'd been a valued member of Torchwood -- and he'd met the love of his life.

What would he have done with the rest of his life if the Cybermen hadn't attacked, and Lisa hadn't been taken from him? He would probably have married her, continued to work with the part of Torchwood he'd been a member of at the time, and continued with the business of living.

But would he have been happy? He really didn't think so. He might have been satisfied -- but he wouldn't have known that there was so much more to life than what he had. He'd never have been able to expand his horizons, to see beyond that little box he'd been living in.

If he'd never come out into time and space with the Doctor, he would still be living under the perception that his morality was the only one that mattered -- just as most people who stayed in the same place all of their lives thought. He wouldn't have wanted that.

"I hate the Cybermen," the Doctor muttered, those words pulling him back from his musings to the present. "They've taken so much from so many people, including you. They deserve to die -- but I don't have the right to make that choice."

"You made that choice for Gallifrey, when you knew that the Time Lords threatened the safety of the rest of the galaxy," Ianto pointed out -- and was immediately sorry the moment the words left his lips. That was one thing that he didn't like to remind the Doctor about.

"And look what it cost me." The Doctor heaved a sigh, staring down at the floor and not meeting Ianto's gaze. "I'm the last of my kind, Ianto. Except for the Master, and he's gone so far beyond the edge that he doesn't seem like one of my people any more."

"I don't think he's ever had the same morality that you do," Ianto murmured, knowing that his words were true. "Not even when you were children. There's always been something twisted in his soul, Doctor. That isn't your fault. It's just the way that he was made."

The Doctor shook his head, sighing. "No, it's what he was turned into," he said, his voice tinged with sadness. "He could have been so much more than he is, Ianto. But he was forced into something that he shouldn't have been pushed into -- and it destroyed him."

"I'm sorry," Ianto whispered, not knowing what else to say. "I know what it's like to lose someone you had considered a friend -- thought not to that extent." Privately, he wondered how the Doctor could ever have called the Master a friend -- but he doubted that he'd ever understand why.

"He's never been a moral being in any way," the Doctor agreed, squeezing Ianto's hand again. "I accepted that a long time ago, Ianto. He might be a Gallifreyan -- but remember, I'm half-human. So I have just as much in common with you as I do with him."

"He's tried to force his own version of morality on so many others," Ianto mused, frowning. "How did he ever become a Time Lord? He should never have been allowed to have that much power -- or to live that long. Someone made a serious mistake somewhere."

"The Time Lords liked to think that they made no mistakes -- but with him, they did.." The Doctor nodded, dropping Ianto's hand and standing up. "We have to deal with him as he is now -- without trying to force our ideas of morality on him, even though it's hard not to want to do it."

Ianto nodded, sighing as he stood up along with the Doctor. "I suppose that all we can do is hope that he might come around one day -- and stop him if he doesn't," he murmured, wishing that those words didn't make him feel so helpless.

He would hold on to his morality, even if he didn't have the right to impart it to others. Something told him that there might be times in the future when he would have need of those beliefs -- and maybe there would come a time when someone else might need to reach out for them.

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