Title: Tread Softly
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Ianto Jones/Tenth Doctor
Fandom: Torchwood/Doctor Who
Rating: PG-13
Table: 3, 50episodes
Prompt: 12, Cynical
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.

***

"I should have known that he would try something like this," the Doctor fumed, stomping into the Tardis and slamming the door behind him. Ianto, at the top of the short flight of steps, turned to look at his lover, one brow raised in question.

"Surprise," he said, sighing as he spoke. "Doctor, what did you expect? We both know that the Master isn't going to turn over a new leaf and become a decent person. I'm just sorry that the cry for help didn't get to us in time to do something about it."

Silently, the two men made their way to the console; the Doctor pressed a few buttons, and the familiar displacement of time and space made them both sway on their feet a bit. The Time Lord lifted his head to look at Ianto, a slight frown between his brows.

"Ianto, cynicism doesn't suit you," he said, his voice gentle. "I know that what we found on that planet upset you -- I feel the same way. But there was no way that we could have known this was the Master's doing before we got there."

"I know." Ianto closed his eyes, shaking his head. "I'm just so frustrated, Doctor. We keep trying to find him, to make him answer for some of the things he's done -- and we're always too late. It's as though he's always one step ahead of us, no matter what."

"I've felt like that about him for most of my life." The Doctor's voice was quiet, a little regretful. "He's always had a way of being able to get away with whatever he did -- even though he had been made to answer for some of his crimes in the past."

"Not nearly enough, if you ask me," Ianto replied, regretting the snappish sound of his words as soon as they were out of his mouth. "I"m sorry, Doctor," he apologized. "I'm just feeling frustrated and angry right now. What he did was so .... useless."

The Doctor nodded, turning away from Ianto for a few moments. The young man regraded his lover with a somber expression, knowing that the Time Lord was just as horrified by the loss of life as he himself was. The sheer cruelty of what the Master had done overwhelmed him.

Ianto was only glad that they hadn't been near the planet and had seen what was happening as it took place -- it was bad enough that the Master had left one surviving member of that race to reach out for help, long after the window of opportunity for rescue was past.

Those people's bodies had .... turned against them. They had been consumed from the inside out, their bodies literally destroying themselves in a desperate effort to find the sustenance they needed. The Master had outdone himself this time.

The bodies that Ianto and the Doctor had seen when they had left the Tardis hadn't even looked like people. Ianto didn't want to remember what his first impression had been; he'd almost felt as though he had to run back into the ship and deny what he'd seen.

At least he'd been able to face it without retching; he'd almost expected himself to do that, but some of what he'd seen with Torchwood had enabled him to be stronger than he'd have thought he was. There was something to be said for not disgracing himself in that way.

The cynicism that he was trying to adopt now was only his way of attempting to hide the horror of what he'd seen; the Doctor knew that, but he was probably right in saying that cynicims didn't suit his lover, Ianto thought. He'd never been good at masking what he felt.

"We'll never know how the Master's mind works," the Doctor finally said, the words coming out on a sigh. "There's no way for us to fathom exactly why he does what he does, Ianto. But in this instance .... I almost think that he did it simply to goad us into some kind of action."

"I wouldn't be surprised," Ianto said, a bitter tinge to his words. If only those people could have sent their message to the Doctor in time, then the two of them might have been able to stop this. But of course, the Master would have seen to it that they were too late.

He should know by now that that Master's prime objective was to make the Doctor feel helpless; Ianto had seen enough of that plan in action to know that the Master absolutely reveled in trying to bring the Doctor down to his level, to make the Time Lord feel hopeless.

But that was one of the reasons he was here with the Doctor, Ianto thought, lifting his chin defiantly. He wasn't going to let his lover be beaten down by the Master's attempts to bring out the guilt he felt over not being able to save everyone in the universe.

He was here to watch the Doctor's back, to protect him not only from any surprise attacks, but from his own attacks of conscience, and from the unwarranted guilt that the Master could so easily shove onto him. He wasn't going to let that happen. Not again.

"Doctor, what happened here isn't your fault in any way," he said softly, hoping that he could make the Time Lord believe in his words. "He didn't let them send a message out until he knew that it was already too late for them. He wanted you to find them like this."

The Doctor nodded, closing his eyes and letting his shoulders slump as he grasped the console with both hands. "I know that, Ianto. I know that it's not my fault. But if only they'd been able to get a message out before .... before ...." His words trailed off into a tired sigh.

"I wish they'd had the chance," Ianto said, his heart heavy with sorrow. He hadn't expected to see such a horrible sight when they'd left the Tardis, but he couldn't help feeling that the more that they dealt with the Master, the more he would have to steel himself against such visions.

"So do I," the Doctor whispered, taking a deep breath and turning to his lover. "But we can't keep focusing on the things we can't do anything about, can we? I feel bad about their fate, but the most important thing is to try and stop the Master before he has a chance to do something like that again."

"The first thing to do is to find out exactly how he made that abomination happen," Ianto said, shuddering at the remembrance. "Was it something he put in their food, released into the air .... how did he do it? And where did he get whatever it was?"

"That's something we're not going to find out easily, I'm afraid," the Doctor answered, looking grim. "The Master doesn't let go of his secrets without a fight. I've found that out in the past -- and I'm sure it still hols true. And this means that we'll have to tread softly from now on."

Ianto nodded, smiling wryly. "As if we weren't already careful when it comes to him, after all he's put us through," he said, shaking his head. "The next thing we'll probably have to do is wear protective suits whenever we think we'll have to be around him."

"We might just have to do that, Ianto," the Doctor told him, sounding sober. "There's no telling what he used to bring every person on that planet to their deaths. It could be toxic to both of us -- and I'm not going to let you go running into danger without a lot of protection."

There was no cynical comeback he could make to that statement, no quip that could lessen the horror of what they'd seen, and the possibility that it could happen to either of them. Would that be a way for the Master to effectively end the immortality they'd so recently found?

Ianto didn't want to think along those lines, didn't want to believe that anything could happen to himself and the Doctor now that they'd achieved a state of being that should render them invincible. But he knew they would have to be more cautious than they'd ever been from now on.

All he could do was nod, knowing that the Doctor was right. They would have to watch every step they took, keeping their senses alert, watchful for anything that might seem out of place. They could no longer afford to relax and keep their guard down.

And he couldn't afford to be flippant about anything concerned with the Master, Ianto told himself. The time for cynicism was over; it seemed as though their next struggle with the Master might be the definitive one, the conflict that would decide who the ultimate victor in their ongoing battle would be.

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