Hey, gang! So sorry it's been so long since an update for this story but when I decided to end my break I got writer's block and distracted by other things. This is also a difficult story to write--I have to get in the Doctor's head from time to time and it's crazy in there.
Anyway, I hope you like this chapter and I hope you like the little twist I threw in. The idea came to me awhile back and I thought, 'well, why not?' This story well take longer than the others because I have to watch a lot of classic Who involving other Time Lords. The other day I got "Claws of Axos" from Netflix and that featured Doctor 3 and the Master. The Master was trying to steal the Doctor's TARDIS but it was all a jumble. While trying to fix it the Master said "It's like trying to fly a second hand gas stove." I laughed. I BTW love the Brigadier. Also, BTW, I am quite fond of the new Doctor, he's awesome.
Without further ado.
Chapter title: Hearts
Chapter summary: Picking up where we last left: while trying to meet Dylan Thomas the Time Lords take a wrong turn and end up meeting a different alcoholic writer instead over a hundred years before. After that the Doctor begins Ianto's time lord lessons, more or less.
Chapter rating: I'd say 'light T', mind that is my opinion.
Note: Ianto and the Doctor may seem a little OOC to some but that's to be expected I think. After all Ianto's now a Time Lord and the Doctor is hanging around a Time Lord who doesn't want to kill him. And with Ianto being so young, the Doctor does feel responsible for him.
Please enjoy.
Ianto had been aiming for 1953 Cambridge, Massachusetts to hear Dylan Thomas read in public but when he and the Doctor stepped out of the TARDIS and out of the alley way it didn't look quite right.
The Doctor looked at Ianto, "this does not look like 1953; I'd say it's pre-American Civil War."
Ianto nodded, "I have to agree."
"And it looks more like Baltimore," the Doctor picked up a newspaper that had been on the ground "Yes, I was right, Baltimore, Maryland 1842."
Well, they might as well make the best of it—there was after all another author Ianto wanted to meet, "We can meet Edgar Allan Poe then He's one of my favourites too."
The Doctor smiled, "That should be interesting especially since it's Halloween."
"What luck and it's night, maybe we can get him to read... wait, he won't write "The Tell-Tale Heart" till next year."
"Well, he does have other works just as distrubing."
"True."
The Time Lords started down the street and took in the sights. Soon they passed by a pub and a man stumbled out—he smelled like a distillery.
Ianto steadied him as he nearly tripped, "All right, mate?"
The man rubbed his temples, "No, woe is me," he blinked and looked at Ianto and the Doctor "Say, are you two inspectors?"
"We can be," the Doctor said, "do you have something that needs inspecting?"
The man looked to his left, then to his right and put a finger to his lips, "Shhh, come with me."
Ianto recognized him then, "You're Edgar Allen Poe."
"Unfortunately, I think. Are you going to help? It's a matter of life and death."
The Time Lords looked at each other and shrugged. Why not? It should prove interesting, even if it turned out to be just the drunken ravings of madman. They followed Poe as he led them to his house.
"It's my neighbour," Poe poured them both a drink which Ianto was about to accept when the Doctor shook his head.
"What about your neighbour?" Ianto asked.
Poe took a drink straight from the bottle, "I haven't seen him in a few days. He's a kind old man, always nice to me and my wife."
"Where is Mrs. Poe tonight?" the Doctor asked, looking around.
"Some god awful Halloween party, I said I was sick so I wouldn't have to tell a story."
Ianto gently pushed Poe into a chair, "I reckon you get a lot of that. You are the master of horror, after all."
Poe sighed, "I suppose, between the three of us," he leaned forward and whispered "I didn't originally intend that. It just always comes out, I try to write about happy things, puppies and kittens and fairies. I once tried to write my own version of Hansel and Gretel but it turned in the witch's favour. I knew people wouldn't like that so I burned it."
Ianto sighed and ran a hand through his hair. The Doctor whispered, "You should never meet your heroes."
Ianto sat next to Poe, "I think it would have been interesting. What if Hansel and Gretel were demon children and the witch was just an herbalist who meant no harm?"
Poe nodded, "Maybe. You should be a writer, Mr…what is your name?"
"Sorry, Ianto Jones," Ianto clasped Poe's hand "and I must say it is an honour to meet you Mr. Poe."
"Hello, I'm the Doctor" the Doctor shook his hand too "think you've had enough?" he indicated Poe's whiskey bottle.
"Nonsense. You two brothers then?"
Ianto snorted, "Do we look like brothers?"
"Not in the slightest."
"There you have it," said the Doctor "You said your neighbour was old?"
"Oh, yes, my neighbour, Mr. Reynolds. I think he's dead."
"Well, if he was old…" Ianto began.
Poe shot up, "I believe he was murdered by his tenet!"
The Time Lords looked at each other and the Doctor said, "Have you gone to the police?"
Poe blinked, "Isn't that what I'm doing now?"
"Oh! Yes, of course," the Doctor flashed his psychic paper to Poe "but why haven't you gone before now?"
"You won't believe me. You'll think I'm mad."
Too late, Ianto thought.
"Tell us anyway," the Doctor nudged Poe back into his chair.
"The tenet, Mr. Welleye is very strange. He avoids eye contact with everyone and he jumps at every sound."
"Sounds paranoid," Ianto observed.
"Yes," Poe nodded "but there's more. I've seen strange lights coming from the house, coloured purple and green. Have you ever seen such lights?"
The Doctor nodded, "Once or twice."
"Will you investigate?"
"Let me confer with my associate and we'll let you know," Ianto said before the Doctor could speak. The two moved to the other side of the room.
"What do you think, Doctor?"
"Purple and green lights aren't common in 1842."
"Right, do you think we should check it out? It could just be the hallucinations of a drunk."
"Possibly but better safe then sorry. Let's have a chat with this Mr. Welleye."
"Can I be the bad cop?"
"What?"
"Well, Jack's always the bad cop."
"This isn't Torchwood."
"Fine we'll do it your way."
"Thank-you."
"Are you sure you two aren't brothers?" Poe was standing right next to them.
"Quite," said the Doctor.
Poe smiled slightly, "You're a couple then."
"A couple of what?" the Doctor blinked.
"It's okay," Poe said "it doesn't bother me and I won't tell anyone."
"What?"
Ianto couldn't hold it in anymore, he burst out laughing.
The Doctor sighed heavily, "Oh. No, no, just no." he put his hands on his hips, "Ianto, calm down, don't make me say your full name."
Ianto choked back his laughter, "Shall we go talk to Mr. Welleye then?"
"Yes, Mr. Poe, why don't you stay here?"
…
The house in question was next door to the right. The Doctor knocked and then Ianto knocked with a tune.
The Doctor looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "That was the anthem to Prydon Academy."
Ianto smiled, "Was it? I didn't even realise."
The door opened revealing a man who certainly looked human but there was something off about him, "May I help you?"
The Doctor flashed his psychic paper, "Yes, hello, Inspectors Smith and Jones. We've had a complaint. May we come in?"
"Certainly," Mr. Welleye stood aside, "What's this about?"
"Your neighbours are concerned about Mr. Reynolds," Ianto said "where is he?"
"Oh, he's away visiting family," Welleye gestured to a couple of chairs, "please have a seat."
The Time Lords sat and the Doctor said "we won't take up too much of your time, Mr. Welleye. We just have a few routine questions."
Ianto leaned forward, "Like did you kill Mr. Reynolds?"
"Ianto!" the Doctor snapped and he said to Welleye, "you'll have to excuse my companion, he's on edge today."
"Quite all right, really. It's Halloween, I understand," Welleye smiled yet there was sweat gathering at his temples.
"Yes, when do you expect Mr. Reynolds home?" the Doctor asked.
"Oh anytime," Welleye looked between them and just for a second his eyes changed colour. Anyone but a Time Lord would have missed it.
Ianto stood up, "What planet are you from?"
The Doctor touched his arm, "Ianto please, sit down."
Welleye gave a chuckle; "You are on edge tonight, aren't you?" he tugged at his collar, "I'm not an alien."
"Yes you are. A human in 1842 wouldn't say that, they'd say 'what are you talking about?'"
The Doctor stood too, "he's right, now honest answer, where's Mr. Reynolds?"
Welleye flinched, "I told you, he's away."
"What are you doing here?" Ianto took a step closer.
"Vacation," he tugged at his collar again.
"So you admit it," Ianto got closer still.
"No, I…" then he covered his ears, "I can't take it anymore! The heartbeats! The heartbeats! He's here!" he got on his knees and clawed at the floor "he's under here! I only took his eyes and hands, I swear. I had to eat. Now make it stop! Make the thumping stop!"
Then Welleye changed into his true from—a ravenoc, which was sort of half-man, half-raven. It was at that point Poe stumbled into the room, his eyes wide with terror.
"You-you are not of this world," he pointed at the ravenoc with a shaking finger.
"Mr. Poe," said the Doctor "just turn around and go home."
The ravenoc glared at Poe and licked his beak, "I have been craving his eyes," he charged at Poe, Ianto pulled out his gun and shot at the ravenoc. Poe promptly fainted and the ravenoc, clearly not expecting a gun jumped out the window.
"I should have known it was a ravenoc," the Doctor ran a hand through his hair.
"I remember hearing about them," Ianto said "from the planet Nevermore, right?"
"Yes, come on, we have to find him and put that away," he indicated the gun, "we'll talk about it later."
….................
They chased the ravenoc around the neighbourhood and eventually cornered him in an alleyway.
"Mr. Welleye," the Doctor said, catching his breath, "you need to stop and you need to leave this planet. You're violating the Shadow Proclamation."
Welleye frantically looked all around him, "You're Time Lords aren't you? With your two hearts, your loud, loud hearts. But how can you be Time Lords, I thought they were… nevermore."
"Except us," the Doctor said.
"It's a long involved story," Ianto added "now, you need to return to Nevermore."
"But I can't… nevermore."
"Why? You've a teleport 'round your waist. Is it broken?" Ianto pulled out his sonic scout knife, "I can fix it."
The Doctor looked at him, "You haven't fixed Jack's manipulator have you?"
"No sir, he wouldn't let me, said you'd only undo it."
"I'm glad he's learned sense."
"He has plenty of sense," Ianto got on the defensive. "By the way, it wouldn't have broken in the first place had you not left him on that space station."
"I couldn't help it, he felt wrong."
"It's not his fault your girlfriend brought him back to life!"
The Doctor's eyes narrowed, "Iantoevorausrllendar!"
"Did I say you could call me by my full name?"
"Who's the elder Time Lord?"
The ravenoc cleared his throat, "I'm still here."
The Time Lords looked at him, "Sorry."
The Doctor sighed, "Is your teleport broken?"
"No. I can't go home because Nevermore is… nevermore."
Ianto arched his brows, "What do you mean?"
"It's gone, disappeared, there is no trace of it."
"When was this?" the Doctor asked.
"Five years ago."
"All right then you need to go to the Shadow Proclamation. You cannot stay here."
"I know but there's something about humans, they taste so good."
Ianto shuddered, momentarily flashing back to the Brecon Beacons, "I'm sure but you need to leave now."
"I suppose I must, now that you've caught me. By the way, are you two related?"
"No" they both said.
"Then you're together?"
"No!" Ianto said vehemently, "He's old enough to be my father."
The Doctor wrote something on a piece of paper and stuck it in the ravenoc's belt while doing something with his screwdriver, "I think you need to leave now. Give that to the Shadow Proclamation."
"Absolutely," the ravenoc pressed some buttons "not." He disappeared.
The Doctor flipped his screwdriver in the air and caught it, "Yes you will." Then he faced Ianto, hands on his hips, "About that gun…"
"Can the lecture wait? We should make sure Edgar is all right."
Poe was still passed out when they returned to the house. The Doctor sighed, "All right, let's get him back to his house, then we'll leave a message with the police."
"Okay, shoulders or feet?"
"You take his shoulders since you like him more."
As they were setting Poe in his chair he stirred, "What happened? I heard thumping."
"Don't worry about it Mr. Poe, it's over," the Doctor said gently, "get some rest."
Ianto dug in his coat, "But first, please sign this, it's just routine."
"Whatever you like Inspector," Poe picked up a quill from the side table, dipped it in ink and signed his name.
"Thank-you sir."
…
As the Time Lords made their way back to the TARDIS Ianto asked, "You think what little he remembers is what inspires him to write 'The Tell-Tale Heart'?"
The Doctor nodded, "And later 'The Raven', probably. I think he was still awake when you mentioned Nevermore. Now, what was that you had him sign?"
Ianto smiled, "Just my pocket collection of some of his greatest works."
"You can't show that to anyone."
"Sure I can, I can show it to my friends. Toshiko would get a kick out of it."
The Doctor rolled his eyes, "Now about that gun, I won't have guns…"
"You've met Toshiko before, at Albion."
"I have?"
"Yes, with the space pig, Jack sent her because Owen was unreachable. This was before my time at Torchwood 3."
"That girl was with Torchwood?" the Doctor shook his head, "Ianto, don't change the subject when I'm talking to you. I won't allow guns."
Once inside the TARDIS, the Doctor held out his hand, "give it to me."
"What for?"
"I don't like violence."
"How many times have you destroyed the daleks?"
"I tried to reason with them. I always try to reason with them! Don't argue with me, boy."
"Did you just call me boy?"
"Iantoevorausrllendar," the tone of voice the Doctor was using just then, Ianto figured he hadn't used since his kids were kids.
Ianto sighed, "All right," he gave the gun to the Doctor who went up the stairs and into a room.
Ianto stared at the consol, "Just for that" he ran around the controls.
…..
A few hours later Ianto and the Doctor ran back into the TARDIS, covered in slime.
"You, Iantoevorausrllendar," the Doctor flipped a switch "are no longer allowed to fly my ship by yourself. At least I took my TARDIS test."
"I got Jack home the day we left."
"Beginners luck."
"What makes you think I didn't go to the Slime Planet on purpose?"
"The way you acted out there. You can't lie to me Ianto, so don't even try."
For the next few days the TARDIS sat stationary in space while the Doctor began Ianto's lessons. Ianto had not after all completed his studies at the Academy.
"Quick question," Ianto held up a hand "this isn't going to be the same curriculum as the academy is it?"
The Doctor pulled a face, "Of course not. What do you want to learn?"
"Well, I need to do better at looking into someone's mind so Jack doesn't use that horrible machine ever again," and Ianto told him about Beth, the sleeper agent. "Oh god," Ianto's eyes stung "I shot at her, oh god, I'm sorry."
The Doctor put a hand on Ianto's shoulder, "It's not your fault. I think Ianto, the first thing you need to do is figure out who you want to be. I would like you to stop thinking like Torchwood but it's your decision. Here, come with me, there's something I should have told you from the start."
The Doctor took Ianto to the library.
Ianto looked around, "Why is the pool in here?"
"I don't know, it changes places every time the TARDIS remodels itself. Once my bedroom was in the conservatory," he climbed a ladder and took down what appeared to be a photo album. He the moved to a table, sat down and motioned for Ianto to join him.
When Ianto was seated, the Doctor flipped to a page and showed him. The photo was of a young blonde woman in a pink coat and a long white scarf.
"Who's this?"
"Romana. She travelled with me for awhile."
Those syllables sounded familiar, "Romana?"
"Short for Romanadvoratrelundar."
Ianto knew that name well and he ignored the sudden stinging in his eyes, "She's my big sister."
"I know, I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner."
"That's okay. She travelled with you?"
"Yes."
"I take it she regenerated since I saw her last."
"Yes, this is her second incarnation," the Doctor flipped the page "here's her first."
Ianto smiled slightly, "There she is," then he laughed "I look like her more now than I did before."
"Yes well, thing about us. Besides you took after your mother didn't you?"
"Yeah, Romy was more like Father."
The Doctor raised his eyebrows, "Romy?"
"It's what I called her, only one who get away with it. She hated it though, How'd you get her to accept Romana?"
"It was either that or Fred."
"She would have liked Fred."
The Doctor sighed, "She did but I liked Romana. I kept calling her that till she stopped arguing."
Ianto smiled, "She is—was rather easy to wear down. What was she doing travelling with you?"
"It's a long story but originally she was assigned by the council to help me with something. When we finished she stayed for awhile. She kept getting into trouble though before she regenerated, screamed a lot."
"She was a bit jumpy."
"She wasn't much older than you was she?"
"Few years."
The Doctor furrowed his brows, "How old does Jack think you are?"
"When we first met I told him I was sixteen—it was the age I looked."
"Yeah but you were older than that."
"I know but it was easier than explaining the Time Lord aging process."
"Good point."
"Especially with all those questions Jack was asking," Ianto thought for a moment, "I guess now I'd be about one hundred twenty-six."
"Your sister was around that age when she travelled with me."
"That is just creepy. Will you tell about your adventures with her?"
The Doctor smiled wistfully, "Absolutely."
So, what'd you think? Romana is Ianto's big sister, well I like the idea and I have a plan for bringing her back. Yeah, I made of Ianto's full name, it wasn't too difficult, I used Romana's full name as inspiration. If you feel Ianto should have a different Time Lord full name, let me know and I will take any suggestions into consideration.
Oh and I may or may not work with the 'End of Time' plot when we get to that point. I haven't decided yet; we'll see how the story progresses from here.
TTFN
