AN: I've been trying to write my other Torchwood Fic "The Ones You Least Expect," and this story kept creeping into me head and wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote it. Its completely AU and not connected to my other Torchwood fics. The main couple in this one will be Ianto and the Tenth Doctor. The couple appeals to me and there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of them out there. So I repeat, Ianto/Ten Doc and will not be Janto, though Jack will likely show up.
The Doctor and His Rent Boy? - Prologue
The Doctor felt tired. In his over 900 years of living he's never felt as old and defeated as he does today. Rose was gone, he loved Rose. Was even ready to try and attempt a relationship with the amazing young woman. But she was gone, stuck in a parallel dimension with his meta-crises counter part. He was, is in love with her and handed her off to another man because it had had to be done. And then there was Martha.
Martha was brave and resourceful and everything he expected from a companion. But she had gone and fallen in love with the Time Lord. She was beautiful and amazing, but she wasn't Rose. So Martha had left him to pursue love and life elsewhere. But that was okay, because he had found Donna. Well more accurately Donna had found him.
Donna was unique. She was smart, resourceful, brave and every bit of here brimmed with absolute brilliance. A brilliance that in the end was to much for her body to handle. How he'd miss Donna. The woman was his best friend and now she wouldn't even know who he was.
The Doctor was feeling lonely, far more lonely then he's ever felt in his life. He was use to people begging to come with him, but right now those few he had left were caught up in their own lives. Even Jack.
Jack who had spent the greater part of more than a century trying desperately to be reunited with him, however decided in the end the team he had developed was more important to him.
So he did what he always did during his spells of extreme depression. He jumped into his TARDIS and told her to pick a time and place that he could go to and lose himself in the disasters that would inevitably show up. What he didn't expect was for the TARDIS to drop him off in the middle of in London in the year 2002, Christmas Eve. All of time and space for her to pick from and she takes him back a mere six years to the exact same city that, as far as he was concerned, was the source of his pain. But he trusted his TARDIS and her judgement so he stepped outside to investigate, which led him to where he was now.
The Doctor was running full speed as he zigzagged through the racks of clothing in a rather large mall. It was a Saturday so there were lots of people moving about last minute Christmas shopping hindering his escape, and boy was it ticking him off. With his current depression he really didn't have the energy to be running and wanted nothing more than to take a break. So he did what he normally never would have done in a his situation, he hide.
He made a quick turn around a corner leading into a larger room with several white doors spread about to form a sort of horseshoe of smaller rooms. He reached for the nearest door and yanked on the handle, locked. Quickly pulling out his beloved sonic screwdriver he deactivated the lock and dove straight into the room colliding with some poor soul who was already occupying the rather small room.
The man was wearing little more than a pair of tight black boxers and in the middle of trying to put on some jeans when the Doctor had invaded his space and collided with the young mans backside. Still not observing his surroundings the Doctor slammed the door shut behind himself and locked it. This done he finally realized he was not alone and found himself pressed rather intimately up against a young man who was all but naked.
"Who are you?" The Doctor asked annoyed that he had company in his hideout.
"Who am I?" the young man asked incredulously looking over his shoulder to get a look at the invader. "You barge into my changing room and you want to know who I am? Did you not see the 'occupied' sign?" The kid asked while raising an eyebrow.
Ignoring the questions and noticing the you mans state of undress, cloths scattered about the floor, a few hanging from a peg in the wall, the Doctor asked, "Why are you naked?"
The young man let out a exasperated sigh and said, "what part of changing room didn't you understand?"
The Doctor glared daggers at the kid, becoming irritated at his attitude. Sure the Time Lord knew he was in the wrong, but today that was besides the point. He had saved the Earth countless times and as far as he was concerned this upstart youth should show him some respect.
"Why aren't you getting dressed?" he finally asked, now noticing the young man was just standing there still facing away from him. "Its rude to not face someone when they're talking to you," he added.
"These rooms aren't exactly built for multiple people. I hardly have enough room to turn around let alone bend over to put on my pants. Now if you would leave I would be more than happy to dress."
"I cant, people are after me," the Doctor replied. "You're going to have to make do."
Letting out another sigh the young man reluctantly decided he best try and dress with the strange man pressed behind him. He wasn't exactly comfortable doing it but as he was clearly in trouble, likely with the law, he really didn't want to be caught in the crossfire.
Ianto bent down trying to recover the discarded trousers that he dropped after the collision. As he did so his arse pushed back directly into the other mans crotch causing the older man to jump. The force of the jump pushed him forward and as he was currently in the bent over position his head connected head on with the unforgiving wall ahead.
"Fuck," the young man cried out rubbing his head.
"Language."
"Why the hell did you push me?" The man asked still rubbing his head.
"You're the one who was grinding into me!" The Doctor retorted in his defence.
"I was trying to get dressed like you told me too! Not exactly a lot of room in here," the man replied as he waved his hands about indicating how small the closed off area was.
The young man carefully attempted turning around. Their shoulders bumped and he accidentally elbowed the Doctor in the head as he did so.
"Watch it," the Doctor cried as he pushed at the man trying to create more space between them.
The two men now stood facing each other, neither really able to move and both unwilling to exit. The Doctor for fear of pursuit and the young man for more obvious reasons, given he was still standing about in his boxers.
The Doctor took sometime to examine the closed off space more closely. There was two sets of cloths lying about. One was worn and definitely used and the other all knew clothing the young man was probably planning on purchasing. Only one thing was off. All the security tags had been removed and were currently resting on the floor in one of the corners.
"You're stealing, aren't you!" The Doctor exclaimed in disapproval.
"Go call security then!" the young man retorted, feeling pretty confidant that the other man wouldn't as he seemed to be hiding from somebody too.
The Doctor gave an appraising glance eyeing the young man, deciding that the attractive young man, clad in his boxers, with questionable morals, the Doctor made an assumption that the man must be some sort of hoodlum or hustler. And given he didn't seem beat up at all he went with the latter.
"I'd rather not," he replied. Now, lets not talk, I tend not to associate with rent boys."
If looks could kill the Doctor would be in the process going through his eleventh and possibly twelfth regenerations right now. The young man was livid. He was just about to make a reply when all of a sudden the door they were hiding behind was ripped off its hinges and tossed to the side as if it were nothing more than a sheet of paper. The Doctor turned to see his pursuers had found him, reminding him exactly why he never hid.
He grabbed at the young mans wrist and shouted out to him, "run!"
The young man tried to protest as he pulled his arm free of the Time Lords grasp, but the Doctor was having none of it. He bolted out the door grabbing onto the waist line of the young mans boxers and gave him a rough yank. The man let out a yelp as he quickly stopped resisting realizing that by doing so would in all likelihood leave him completely in the nude.
The two men ran out of the changing area and dashed towards the mall exits. The two quickly drew attention to themselves as they ran through the crowds of shoppers. The lanky man in the pinstriped suit tugging along a fit young man by the underpants. The younger man shouting all the way, it took the Doctor a moment before he realized what he was saying.
"Take my wrist, take my wrist!" he shouted in quick succession. The man quickly came to the conclusion that if he had to go with this man he would much rather be led about my the hand then risk further disrobing.
The Doctor quickly let go of the mans waistband allowing it to snap shut causing his companion to wince. Grabbing the young mans hand they flew out the door and into the cool London air. The two continued running down the sidewalk and were just turning the corner when they collided with a large group of pedestrians forcing the Doctor to let go of the young mans hand. The Doctor turned to see the man running off in the opposite direction crossing the street.
The young man had barely reached the other side when a squad car pulled up beside him and two police officers arrested him. Likely for indecent exposure given the circumstances. The Doctor almost felt bad given it was his fault he was outside in his current state of undress. He was about to intervene when he remember the man was stealing, so he shrugged his shoulders and thought it must be karma.
The young man stood in a small prison cell, thankfully alone given the officers hadn't given him any cloths. He was stuck in his thoughts staring at the wall arms crossed trying to warm himself when a familiar voice called out behind him.
"I never did get you name," the Doctor said as he stared at the young man still dressed in nothing but boxers.
"I never gave it, but if memory serves me, you never told me yours either."
"I'm The Doctor."
"Seriously? Can only imagine what kind of folks you had. What were your siblings names, the teacher?" Ianto deadpanned.
"Are you always this sarcastic?" the Doctor asked as he approached the bars.
"Pretty much," he shrugged.
"Anyway, I told you my name. How about you return the favour."
The young man stared at the Doctor a moment, eyes appraising him from head to toe before he finally said, "Ianto Jones."
"Pleasure to meet you, Ianto Jones. Now if you'd be so kind I would like to know what you did with my property you stole."
Ianto's hand disappeared behind his back and a moment later it reappeared wiggling the Doctor's sonic screwdriver tauntingly.
The Doctor's eyes went wide with shock as he gaped at Ianto who stood with a grin on his face and his sonic screwdriver in hand. "I'm not going to ask where you were hiding it, I'd just like it back."
"Lets make a deal. You get me out of here and you can have it," Ianto bargained.
"You're a thief you belong there," the Doctor scowled at the young man.
"That may be true, but unless you want to come search me for it I suggest you get me out," Ianto replied as he put the item back into its hiding place.
"Lets skip how unhygienic that is for now and you tell me how you think I have the ability to get you out of there? I'm not a officer," The Doctor told him.
"Considering they just let you back here without so much as an escort on Christmas Eve I'm guess you have your methods. Just get me out and its all yours and we can both go on living our lives."
The Doctor sighed in frustration. He really wanted his screwdriver back but was not about to go digging for it. Reluctantly excepting the terms he pulled out his psychic paper and called for the warden.
"I want you to release the boy into my custody," he told the guard. "And bring him some cloths."
Within half an hour Ianto and the Doctor stood outside the precinct. The officers had given Ianto a pair of grey sweats and a plain blue shirt to wear. Ianto, as promised handed the Doctor back his beloved tool. The Doctor holding it by the tip in his finger and thumb as if it were the plague, he turned to thank the young man.
Having retrieved his tool and thanking the young thief for returning it the Doctor turned to depart before his companion spoke.
"How did you do it?" Ianto asked.
"Do what?"
"Convince them to let me go with nothing but a blank sheet of paper."
The Doctor abruptly turned to face Ianto. He looked him over for a good long while as his mind wondered. Surely the boy hadn't seen past his psychic paper, only some of the greatest minds in history would not be fooled. And yet this 'rent boy' was able to see it for what it really was. The Doctor couldn't help but wonder if this was why the TARDIS had dragged him here. Yes he stopped a group of possessed demon security guards from destroying London but that was same old, same old.
Even if the boy did turn out to be brilliant he wouldn't associate with a common thief, so he would have to know first. "I'll tell you, but first I'd like to know why you were shoplifting."
Ianto looked away, a look of shame etching into the young mans features. It was his first attempt and he hadn't wanted to have to resort to such measures. "I'm broke. Lost my job and could barely make rent this month. That while trying to pay my way through Uni I was desperate. No decent cloths meant no job, no job, no school. But its not really a good enough excuse, I know."
Remorse was clearly planted in the young mans eyes and the Doctor couldn't be happier. The TARDIS had found what he needed, a new companion who had a great potential for brilliance.
"Ianto Jones, as it would happen I have some cloths I've been meaning to give away, if you come with me I can let you have them," The Doctor beamed getting more excited by the second.
Ianto couldn't explain why but he had the strange desire to go with this odd man. Growing up in the poor end of Newport Ianto would never even have considered it, but for some reason he found himself compelled to follow this stranger.
"I would really appreciate it, though you're a tad on the thin side, don't think I'd fit them."
"Wasn't always this thin, Mr Jones," the Doctor replied. "Now, right this way then. By the way, how old are you?"
"Nineteen."
The two men turned the corner and the Doctor led them into a back alley and stopped just before the blue police box.
"What's a police box doing sitting around in a back alley?" Ianto asked sceptically.
"Its my spaceship!" The Doctor beamed as he unlocked the TARDIS and pushed the door open.
"Great, I followed a complete nutter into a secluded back alley."
"No time to dawdle, come along rent boy," the Doctor teased as he disappeared into the TARDIS.
"I'm not a blood…" Ianto began to shout furiously as he stormed after the Doctor ready to give him a piece of his mind. He cut off mid sentence as he entered the blue police box and marvelled at its inner workers. The Doctor stood back enjoying the look on his hopefully knew companions face. A look filled with wonder, excitement and filled with complete awe.
"Its bigger on the inside."
The Doctor smiled to himself, that was exactly what he needed to hear.
AN: This story will be a second priority to my other Fic and will likely get new chapters when I need a little break from them.