Title: No Questions Asked
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Ianto Jones/Tenth Doctor
Fandom: Torchwood/Doctor Who
Rating: PG
Table: 2, 10_hurt_comfort
Prompt: 6, Outcast
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.

***

The Doctor looked up from the book he'd been reading, letting his eyes roam around the front room of Ianto's flat, his gaze resting on the small things there. Things that had become familir to him, that he almost thought as being a part of his life.

Of course, those things weren't his. They belonged to Ianto, but in a way, they were his, too. His lover kept saying that the Doctor should think of the flat as a home, that he belonged here just as much as Ianto did. That it was theirs to share.

It had taken him a while to feel that those words were true; though he knew that Ianto meant them sincererely, it was hard for him to feel at home anywhere but in the Tardis. But this little flat was starting to feel more comfortable as he spent more and more time here.

Strange, he reflected, how he felt more at home here, in a flat on Earth, than he ever had when he lived in the home that he'd grown up in on Gallifrey.

He would always miss that home; it had been a part of his life for so long, and there had been a time when he thought that it -- and the people there -- would always be there for him. That fallacy had ended with the Time Wars.

Nothing lasted forever, he reminded himself. Not places, not relationships .... not even planets, as he'd proved often enough. He couldn't expect anything in his life to be there for him whenever he might need it. That just wasn't possible.

But Ianto's love for him would always be there, he told himself, smiling slightly at the thought. That was one thing he would always be able to count on. Even if the young man wasn't always by his side, the emotions they shared would never leave him.

And wrapped in that love, he felt as though he belonged. Not to Earth, necessarily, and certianly not to Torchwood, even though it was a big part of Ianto's life. But he felt that he was no longer an outcast, no longer a wanderer with nowhere to call his home.

He'd never felt that way on Gallifrey, not even when he was a child. He'd always seemed different from everyone else, never able to fit in with others no matter what he did.

His differences had only grown more predominant as he'd gotten older. By the time he'd become a full-fledged Time Lord, people had avoided him, gone out of their way to stay away from him. Not obviously, of course, but it had been implied that he wasn't wanted.

That had hurt. It had taken him a long time to come to terms with that; he'd always hated feeling like an outcast in his own world, his own people. That was one reason that he'd taken to traveling in the Tardis with such enthusiasm; maybe he wouldn't feel like such an outsider in other places.

That, of course, had been a vain hope. He should have realized that it would be, but he'd been much younger and more idealistic then. He'd thought that there must be some place in the entire universe that could accept him for who and what he was.

There hadn't been. Oh, there had been places and people who had thought a lot of him, but still, he was an alien. He wasn't like them. The differences would always be there; it was impossible to hide them, and impossible for most people to look past them.

Ianto had done that. He didn't care that the Doctor wasn't human, that there were so many things about him that made him different. Ianto just loved him, unconditionally, completely.

No questions asked. Just a steady, strong love that had been there for him since the first time they'd had the courage to confess how they felt about each other. A love that hadn't wavered, that hadn't lost its strength or conviction.

And never would. He was absolutely positive of that; Ianto would never have doubts, never hold back. That was unusual for a human -- but then, Ianto was no ordinary human. Of course he wasn't. He was the lover and companion of a Time Lord.

If nothing else, that was one thing in his life that he could count on. Had he said that it was impossible for anything to last forever? He shouldn't have, he told himself, the smile staying on his lips at the thought. Some things did last.

Yes, he'd been an outcast for most of his life. But he'd found where he belonged with Ianto. It had taken him longer than it should have to be able to admit to his feelings for the young man, but that was another story entirely.

Well, he'd only taken so long because he'd been so sure that he would be rejected, the Doctor reminded himself. It wasn't as though the emotions weren't there. He'd simply been afraid to acknowledge them, afraid of being the outcast once again.

He should have known that wouldn't happen. From the first moment he'd met Ianto, he'd known that the young Welshman was different. That he would accept where others couldn't.

Jack had been the same way .... well, to a point. But Jack had been different himself -- well, at least by the time he and the Doctor had become involved. He'd had his own feelings of being an outcast, and the Doctor had to admit that he himself hadn't helped much with them.

If he hadn't left Jack behind when he had, what would his life be like now? Would he and the other man have drifted apart eventually, and would he be with Ianto? Or would he and Jack still be happy -- or at least think that they were?

The Doctor shook his head, pushing those thoughts firmly aside. There was no reason to dwell on them. Things hadn't worked out that way; they'd been very different, largely due to his own actions. And he wasn't going to relive the past, even in his thoughts.

It was all over and done; and the way that things had worked out in the end hadn't been bad for any of them. Jack might not have anyone at the moment -- but the Doctor was positive that he would find someone. A man like Jack wouldn't be without a lover for long.

And he had Ianto. The man who'd been destined for him, who it had taken him a lifetime to find. But that long wait had been more than worth the end result.

He was no longer an outcast. He would never have to feel like that again, as long as Ianto was a part of his life. He would always have a place to come home to, arms to hold him, a heart to love him as fiercely as it was possible to love.

For the first time in his life, he belonged. It was a good feeling.

One that he never intended to give up, and that he hoped would stay with him for the rest of his days. Smiling, the Doctor turned his attention back to his book, feeling much more at peace -- both with himself and with the rest of the world.

***