Ianto woke slowly from his sleep to a very familiar sound. He frowned for a moment, trying to remember where he recognised it from, sitting up quickly once he did. He felt Jack doing the same beside him, and the both watched as a blue police box slowly materialised in the corner of Ianto's bedroom. The covers pooled around their hips, leaving their bare chests open to the night air as the door of the police box opened and out stepped a suited man.
Jack and Ianto stared at him, and he stared back, none of them saying a single word until the suited man broke the silence.
"Jack? What are you doing here?" he asked, bemused.
"Shouldn't you be the one answering that question, Doctor?" replied Jack, a hint of anger in his voice.
Ianto laid a hand on Jack's arm to calm and silence him, before he turned to the Doctor.
"You look different," he said simply.
"Different? Oh yes, regeneration. You see, I died, well not really, more like almost died, and then I healed myself but I had to regenerate; new face, new personality, new everything! Isn't it brilliant?" replied the Doctor excitedly. "But that doesn't answer my question. What's he doing here?"
Jack opened his mouth to answer, but a slight pressure on his arm from Ianto stopped him.
"He was sleeping, before you got here," replied Ianto calmly. "Before that, we were having sex."
The Doctor blanched slightly at that piece of information, but continued his questioning, "In general. Why is he in your flat?"
"We're together," replied Ianto, "I love him, he loves me, and it's complicated but we deal with it. Now what are you doing here?"
"Oh, nothing much, thought I'd pop in for a visit, check how you were doing, that sort of thing," said the Doctor in an offhand manner.
Ianto sighed softly, before replying, "Turn around," he said.
"What?" asked the Doctor.
"Just turn around, I need to put some pants on."
"Oh," said the Doctor, slightly embarrassed, and he turned around quickly. Ianto slid out of the bed to pull on a pair of trousers and a t-shirt, and Jack did the same on the other side.
"I suppose you'd better come into the kitchen. I'll put some coffee on," said Ianto briefly as he left the room, not checking if either of the other two men were following. This was not a good situation. He had left the Doctor years ago, and he'd got his life sorted since then. He didn't need the Timelord coming in and messing everything up again. It wasn't that he regretted his time with the Doctor, in fact it had been extremely enjoyable and an amazing eye opener. But it hadn't been the right time. Both he and the Doctor had been far too broken, and they hadn't been able to fix each other.
Ianto had eventually found the right person in Lisa, and later Jack, and he wondered if the Doctor had ever found his Lisa. He supposed he must have, the few stories he'd been able to pry out of Jack had told the tale of a man who did the right thing and inspired others. It was obviously not Ianto's Doctor he was talking about. That man hadn't cared about the consequences, or what others thought of him. He'd been violent and ruthless, and although exciting, a rather scary person to know.
Ianto himself hadn't been much better. Just run away from home, a criminal record (he'd wiped most of it before joining Torchwood), a brief drug addiction and no home or job to speak of. The Doctor had weaned him off the drugs (oh the miracles of alien technology), and made him want to try again, but he couldn't really help Ianto. He didn't have the time or the patience to deal with a depressed teenager, so at Ianto's request he'd been left in London with a credit card, ID and little else.
He'd found a job at a café, and had been recruited to Torchwood a short while later when they'd noticed him poking around an alien attack site. Then he'd met Lisa, and she'd healed him. She'd given him a real reason to live again. And then she'd died. And he'd been back at the start again. He would have given up then and there if not for Jack. Jack, with boundless energy who refused to let him pine his life away, who'd let him mourn Lisa, but also made him celebrate the good times. Jack, who'd made him feel alive in ways he'd never felt before.
He didn't need the Doctor, not now, not ever. But if he'd learnt one thing from his travels with the Doctor, the Timelord wouldn't leave before he'd got what he'd come for. Ianto just hoped it wouldn't be something he couldn't give.
Ianto poured the coffee into three cups and picked up two of them, handing them to the two men standing behind him. He then picked up his and took a long sip from it, watching Jack and the Doctor closely. There was a lot of tension between the two; Jack kept shooting the Doctor glances that were somewhere between nervous and suspicious, and the Doctor seemed to want as much space between him and Jack as possible.
"What are you doing here, Doctor?" he asked, after about three minutes of tense silence.
"Checking up on you, seeing how you're doing, that sort of thing," replied the Doctor.
Ianto snorted. "You don't just 'check up' on people, Doctor. I didn't know you for long, but I learnt that much. What do you want?" he asked, in a no-nonsense tone of voice.
The Doctor let out a sigh, realising he couldn't get anything past Ianto. "Can I talk to you alone?" he asked, shooting a glance at Jack.
"Anything you say to me, you can say in front of him. I'd tell him everything afterwards anyway, so there's no point," said Ianto shortly, losing his patience slightly. His view of the Doctor had been heavily influenced by what Jack had been through, and even though Jack somehow found it within himself to forgive the Timelord for abandoning him, Ianto couldn't do the same. He could see how hurt Jack still was, and he knew it had a lot to do with the Doctor.
The Doctor tried to stare Ianto down, but it didn't work. Ianto loved fiercely; he would do anything for them, and no-one, not even the Doctor, would make him change.
"Fine," said the Doctor. "Well, I stopped by in Cardiff to refuel, and I wondered if you wanted to come travelling with me?"
Ianto's nostrils flared at that comment as he tried to rein his anger in. He looked at Jack, seeing clearly the hurt displayed in his lover's face and body language. Jack's face was tight, as though he was trying not to cry, and Ianto could see his eyes turning red. The older man's chin quivered once, before he turned and walked quickly into the bathroom.
Ianto then turned his gaze on the Doctor, glaring as hard as he could at the other man. "What?" he asked, very quietly, very dangerously.
"You, me, the TARDIS, the universe?" the Doctor offered in a hopeful tone.
Ianto exploded, "How dare you ask that!" he almost yelled. "How could you even think I would want to come with you! You've hurt Jack, so much, so how could I even consider travelling with you again! I suggest you get out now, unless you want me to kill you. Because I will, I promise you that."
"Ianto-" the Doctor protested.
"No," said Ianto shortly, "You don't get excuses. You've hurt Jack twice now, and this is your final warning. You do anything, anything, to hurt him again, and I will destroy you. Now get out, and don't you dare come back unless the world is ending."
The Doctor took one last look at Ianto, his face emotionless, before turning to the bedroom where the TARDIS resided. Ianto watched as the TARDIS disappeared, the familiar noise filling his flat for the second time that evening.
Jack had obviously stepped out of the bathroom when the TARDIS was leaving, because once the noise stopped, Ianto felt a pair of strong arms wrap around his waist from behind. Jack buried his nose in the hollow between Ianto's shoulder and neck, as he whispered a quiet thanks to his lover.
Ianto turned around until they were facing, Jack's arms still holding him tight, and cupped Jack's cheek with one hand.
"I'm not going to let him hurt you, I promise. No one is ever going to hurt you like that again, Jack, not while I'm here to stop them," he spoke softly to Jack, calming and reassuring him. "Come on, let's get to bed," he said, leading Jack to their room.
The both stripped over again, getting under the covers and looking at each other.
"Tell me a story?" Jack asked, looking so adorable Ianto could barely resist.
"What do you want to hear about?" Ianto asked, "I don't have many good stories."
"Tell me about you and the Doctor."
Ianto's brow furrowed, "Are you sure you want to hear about him?" he asked, a little confused.
"Your Doctor, my old Doctor, not this one. Tell me a story of the universe, Ianto. Please?"
Ianto could never resist Jack when he said please, especially not when he was naked, so he began to talk about his adventures.
"He took me to the Library, the most wonderful library I've ever seen. It was a whole planet, filled with every record of human existence. But there were the Plagiarists, stealing stories to twist reality to their whims."
Ianto kept talking, about the Library, and meeting Ian Fleming, and all the other adventures he'd had. Sometime during the story about a planet with purple grass and green sky, Jack fell asleep. Ianto noticed the small smile on Jack's peaceful face, and pressed a light kiss to his lover's lips before he too fell asleep.
AN: This was a very determined plot bunny who wanted Ianto to have some prior relationship with the Doctor, and I liked it, so it got written. Jack's character is based off how he is in Doctor Who, and what I imagine he would be like if the Doctor wanted Ianto but not him. Ianto's character comes from how he was with Lisa, doing everything for the one he loved. I hope I got the Doctor right! In Torchwood timeline, set after Martha visits them, but before Exit Wounds. In the Doctor Who timeline, set between Voyage of the Damned and Partners in Crime. Hope you enjoyed it, and please review.