Title: Stop This Game
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Ianto Jones/Tenth Doctor
Fandom: Torchwood/Doctor Who
Rating: PG-13
Table: 1, 10_prompts
Prompt: 7, Darkness
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.

***

He was groping through darkness, not knowing which way to go. Where was he? Where was Ianto? How had the two of them gotten here -- and how had they gotten separated? Try as he might, the Doctor couldn't formulate an answer to any of those questions.

Reaching out to his side, his hand came into contact with what appeared to be a wall. He couldn't tell just what it was -- he'd expected Ianto to be there, right next to him. But his lover was nowhere to be had -- and that made panic rise in him, threatening to take him over.

"Ianto!" His voice sounded almost explosive in the still darkness, even though he'd spoken in a quiet voice -- well, at least as quiet as his voice could be when he could literally feel the panic rising within him in a wave that would crest at any moment.

But there was no answer, no indication whatsoever that Ianto was with him, somewhere in this stygian darkness that surrounded him. The Doctor could feel the panic escalating, making him want to cry out, to run through this black void searching for his lover.

"Ianto!" His voice was more insistent this time, on the verge of panicking and rising into a scream. Taking a deep breath, the Time Lord forced himself to stand still, trying to concentrate on Ianto, to establish a bond with the other man.

He couldn't find Ianto with his mind -- or with his hearts. His lover simply wasn't there. Now, the panic that had been threatening to overwhelm the Doctor ran rampant; he dropped to his knees, burying his face in his trembling hands.

"Doctor!"

That was Ianto's voice. Ianto was here. He was near. He was calling.

"Doctor!" His lover's voice was louder, breaking into the blackness that felt as though it was slowly and insidiously wrapping itself around him, drowning him in a stygian void that he would never be able to find his way out of ....

"Doctor!" The Time Lord's eyes snapped open, the nightmare that he'd been in the throes of falling away from him as he realized that Ianto was shaking him and calling his name. He blinked, unable to shake off the dream immediately and come back into reality.

"Ianto ...." His voice trailed off as the realization came to him that he had been caught up in a nightmare, a dream that had only been in his own mind. There was no engulfing, choking darkness here; there was light and softness and love, and Ianto's arms around him.

His young lover was gazing at him with concern written on his features; the Doctor wanted to make light of the bad dream, shrug it off as though it had meant nothing, just to assuage the worry on Ianto's face. But he knew that wasn't possible. Not now.

These dreams had become far too frequent for his comfort. He was almost positive that they were caused by the Master -- that somehow, the renegade Time Lord had managed to find a way into his mind, to haunt his dreams.

And through his own emotional bond with Ianto, he was fairly sure that the Master was also able to burrow his way into his lover's mind as well. That was entirely his fault; he was the one who had brought Ianto into his world, into the danger that the Master represented.

It had been selfish of him to fall in love with Ianto, to take him away from the life and the world he'd always known. It didn't matter that this young man was his soul mate; he should have turned away from that knowledge, leaving Ianto safely out of harm's way.

Even as the thought solidified in his mind, he was pushing it away. No, that wouldn't have worked. Ianto would never have consented to be left behind. He had come with the Doctor of his own free will -- he knew the dangers, yet he still chose to be here.

Ianto knew what the risks were, and he chose to take them willingly. The two of them couldn't be parted -- they'd found that out already. No matter what the risks might be in having Ianto with him, he knew that they were stronger together, and that he couldn't leave his lover behind again.

"I'm all right," he finally managed to say, running a hand through his damp hair. "It was one of those dreams again, Ianto. I-I thought that I was wandering through pitch darkness, and you were nowhere near. I couldn't find you. Not even with my mind."

Ianto's arms were around him, his lover's voice soft and soothing in his ear.

"Shhh, love, I'm here." Those were the only words that needed to be said. "I'm here."

The Doctor closed his eyes, swallowing hard and letting himself relax in Ianto's arms. How many more times would these nightmares try to envelop him? How many more of them would he have to deal with before he could find out just what was causing them?

"It's the Master, isn't it?" Ianto asked softly, the words ending on a sigh. "He's been getting into your head somehow. He's the one who's been turning your dreams into nightmares -- and until we confront him, it's not going to stop. It's only going to get worse."

"Only the Master would be able to put that kind of darkness into my mind," the Doctor agreed, his sigh mirroring Ianto's. "I don't know what his game is, but I have to stop him. Which isn't going to be so easy to do, considering that I don't know where he is."

"We'll find him, love," Ianto said, his arms tightening around the Time Lord's waist. "Or more than likely, he'll find us. He always seems to show up when he's not wanted, just like the proverbial bad penny. Only this time, we actually want to find him."

"Well, I don't really want to," the Doctor said, lifting his head from Ianto's shoulder and giving his lover a wan smile. "But I have the definite feeling that confronting him is the only way to get him out of my head and out of my dreams. And I have to do that, for my own sanity."

"If he keeps coming into your dreams, there's no telling what else he could be doing in your mind under cover of those dreams," Ianto agreed, frowning. "Do you think that he might come searching us out? If he knows that he's got your attention, that's always possible."

"Not only possible, but probable," the Doctor said grimly. "He's been using my dreams and the cover of darkness to get into my head. He has to know just what kind of an effect he's having -- and the Master has never been one not to know how to time an entrance."

He'd had enough of these games. They didn't just involve himself and the Master any more; they weren't simply facing each other over the chessboard of the universe. He had Ianto now; he had their life together to think of. There was too much at stake to let this go on.

His jaw hardened, his eyes narrowing as he thought of his enemy.

The Master had put him through more pain and suffering, both emotional and physical, than he could remember over the centuries that they'd battled each other. But no more. He was going to stop this game. It was past time for their decisive battle to take place.

If the Master wasn't stopped once and for all, then he and Ianto would be running from the Master for the rest of their lives. It was time to stop running. It was time for them to turn and fight, to stand their ground -- to stop the menace that never seemed to leave their lives.

The Doctor leaned into the comfort of his lover's embrace, wishing that he could shake the dark feeling of apprehension that was growing within him. But he knew that the feeling would continue to grow -- until he and Ianto confronted the cause and put and end to this game once and for all.

***