Title: Gone But Not Forgotten
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Ianto Jones/Tenth Doctor
Fandom: Torchwood/Doctor Who
Rating: PG
Table: 20_est_relships
Prompt: 2, Surprise
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, let's go somewhere that neither of us have ever been before." The Doctor was standing in the control room of the Tardis, looking at his boyfriend with an expectant expression on his features. "I don't know about you, but I'm ready to have a little adventure."

"A place neither of us has been?" Ianto put aside the book he'd been reading, stretching and looking up at the Doctor. "Are you sure that's a good idea? After all, we don' want to go rushing into a place that could very well be dangerous."

"What's life if you don't live a bit dangerously?" the Doctor said, waving a hand as though to negate Ianto's caution. "We can't always play it safe and worry about not running into trouble, now can we?" he asked, raising one eyebrow and giving Ianto a rakish look.

Ianto couldn't help laughing; the Doctor's enthusiasm about new places that he'd never been before was infectious. "All right, then. Lead on, MacDuff."

"Actually it's 'lay on, MacDuff,'" the Doctor said absently, bounding over to the console of the ship and looking down at it. "What do you say to taking a trip somewhere in time, going to a place that would probably amaze both of us?"

The young man sat back against the couch, contemplating the Time Lord's words. Was there really anything in the universe that could amaze the Doctor? He'd been around for over 900 years; he'd seen everything there was to see.

If there was anything that could surprise the Time Lord, then Ianto himself would be surprised to find out what it was. He'd always thought that the Doctor couldn't be nonplussed by any situation he was flung into; he seemed to have answers for everything.

So maybe he was right, and it would be interesting to find a place that neither of them had ever seen before. That is, as long as the place didn't contain any nasty surprises that would be all too certain to land them in trouble.

Of course, trouble was practically the Doctor's middle name, he thought to himself, a smile curving his lips. How could he expect to stay out trouble while he was traveling the galaxy with his lover? That was like expecting the ocean not to be wet.

"Do you realise what day it is?" The Doctor's voice broke into his thoughts, as he turned around with a look of expectancy on his face. Ianto frowned, searching his mind for the date.

Finally, he had to shake his head with a look of defeat. He couldn't think of any reason why this should be a special day -- though there was something nagging at the back of his mind that made him feel he was missing something important.

"No, I don't have a clue," he said, feeling silly and wondering what it was that could put that look of expectation on the Doctor's face. "I know there's something that I should remember, but I don't. I'm afraid I've lost track of time, being here with you."

"Ianto!" The Doctor looked surprised -- no, shocked was more the word. "How in the world could you forget your own birthday? I've been looking forward to it for days, and now you tell me that you don't even remember?"

Ianto blinked a few times, doing a quick mental calculation. He'd known that his birthday was close, of course, but he hadn't really thought about it for a few days. It had completely slipped his mind; somehow, in the great scheme of the universe, it had ceased to seem important.

But the Doctor obviously thought it was important, he thought with a smile. He didn't like to think of growing older; it was just one more thing that pointed out his mortality, and made him realize that he wouldn't have as much time with his love as he wanted.

He pushed that thought to the back of his mind, getting up from the couch and going over to the console to stand by the Doctor, laughing and shaking his head.

"I haven't thought about my birthday in a while, Doctor. You should know how easy it is to forget about the conventions of time when you're out here -- I just haven't let it cross my mind. But I'm happy that you remembered it," he said softly, his gaze meeting the Doctor's.

The TIme Lord looped an arm around his waist, pulling him close into a hug and leaning against him. "Of course I remembered. Birthdays aren't something you should let yourself forget about, Ianto. That's why I want to take you to some exciting new place. As a gift."

Ianto felt remorse wash over him; the Doctor had wanted to give him something special for a day that he considered important, and here he'd been, cautioning the other man and worried about them getting into trouble. He should learn to be more grateful.

"I'd love to go somewhere that we've never been," he murmured, returning the Time Lord's hug and keeping his arms wrapped around the other man, reluctant to let him go. "But I'd be happy with anything you wanted to give, Doctor. You know that."

"And I want to give you everything," the Time Lord whispered, pulling away just a bit to look into his lover's eyes. "I want to give you the world, Ianto, the moon and the stars and everything in between -- if you'll let me."

"You know I will," the young man managed to say, swallowing hard around the sudden lump that seemed to have formed in his throat.

The Doctor cleared his throat, blinking as though he had something in his eyes. Ianto knew that wasn't the case, but he didn't want the Time Lord to become too emotional; neither of them could handle an outpouring of emotion at the moment.

"Well then .... let's see what we can find," the Doctor said, stepping out of Ianto's embrace and turning towards the console, leaning over it and studying the various buttons and gauges. "It should be a surprise, shouldn't it? Something you don't expect."

"Of course it should," Ianto agreed, stepping back a bit so he wouldn't see what the Doctor was doing. He did want this to be a surprise, after all, and he was leaning something about what to do to end up in certain places. He didn't want to guess where they might be going.

He glanced down at himself, realizing that he was hardly dressed as he usually was for going out exploring a new place. He generally wore one of his suits to do that; he somehow felt more able to cope with anything unexpected when he was wearing them.

At the moment, he was in jeans and a t-shirt, with Converse that matched the Doctor's. That was one thing he'd learned from his adventures with his lover, he told himself with an inner laugh. Always wear comfortable shoes -- because they never knew when they'd have to run.

He sincerely hoped that wherever they were going wouldn't require them to run. He wasn't in the mood to have any fears for his life -- or for the Doctor's.

"Oh dear." The Doctor's voice sounded a bit concerned; he looked towards the door, as though he wasn't sure of what might be lurking outside. "I think I may have made a bit of a mistake with getting us to a new place. You've seen this one before."

Ianto smiled, taking the Time Lord's hand as they both moved towards the door of the ship. "So it's a place I've seen before. I can deal with that. Come on, I'm sure that together the two of us can discover something new about the place, no matter where it is."

"I don't know about that," the Doctor began as Ianto flung open the door of the Tardis -- and stared about him in shock. Oh, he did indeed know this place ....

"Surprise!"

The Torchwood team stood there, smiles on their faces, all looking as though they were in on some spectacular joke. Tosh was holding a camera and snapping a photo of him; Ianto was sure that she'd captured a particularly befuddled look on his face.

The Doctor practically pushed him out of the ship, grinning from ear to ear as he hugged Ianto close to him. "Everyone wanted to surprise you for your birthday, and they asked me to help," he said, sounding delighted with the little deception he'd played.

Ianto couldn't help smiling; he didn't think anyone would have remembered his birthday, especially since he'd left Torchwood to be with his lover. Apparently, his former teammates still felt close to him; he might be gone, but he wasn't forgotten.

"It's a wonderful surprise," he whispered into the Doctor's ear, returning the hug and feeling a smile spreading over his own face. "One that I wouldn't have missed for the world."

***