The Prison (2/13) [PG-13]
Author: memory777
Pairing: Ten/Ianto
Rating: PG-13
Summary: The TARDIS lands on a strange planet. Ianto becomes curious.
Disclaimer: RTD and the BBC own all these characters, I'm just borrowing them.
Authors Notes: Second part of my thirteen part series featuring Ianto as the Doctor's companion. Not the slashiest part, but certainly has a bit more slash then the first. Don't worry, there's a nice long slashy chapter coming up. :) I hope the voices are better, I felt they were a bit off last time.
Previous Chapters
Prequel - ( A Smile Is All It Takes)
Part One - ( Passport to the Galaxy)
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The Prison
The Doctor had been waiting for half an hour before Ianto finally decided where he wanted to go first. He'd never had so much fuss with Rose, Jack or Martha before. Then again, Ianto had at first picked some places the Doctor was definitely not willing to go to. For example, Ianto had suggested a small planet on the outer rim of the Circle of Debain called Lori. The Doctor had been to Lori around a hundred years earlier, and found his companion unwilling to leave the planet. He wasn't going to let Ianto stray off so soon after coming on board.
Finally, Ianto pointed at a barely visible planet on the edge of the map that was displayed on the screen at the control panel. "What about this one?" he asked politely, waiting for the Doctor to come up with some excuse why they shouldn't go there. It didn’t come.
The Doctor began to run round the console, flipping switches and pushing buttons as he went. Ianto felt completely useless standing there, watching him do nothing. “Anything I can do to help, sir?” Ianto asked. The Doctor’s head rose from the console and Ianto saw he had an eyebrow raised in question. “Did you just call me sir?” he asked, bemused.
Nodding, Ianto frowned. “Is that a problem, s-” The Welshman cut himself off before he finished the sentence.
“No, none at all! It’s just odd, that’s all. Over all my years no-ones ever called me sir. Well, except for that young glibbo back on Tyrain, but that couldn’t be helped due to the disease he had which made him call everyone sir. Nasty little disease, made him grow red and yellow spots all over his body. He never looked normal again.” The Doctor rambled on, completely ignoring Ianto, who was the one looking bemused now.
The Doctor looked up at his companion, “What?”
Grinning, Ianto shook his head, “You’re mad!”
The Doctor grinned back, pushing his glasses back up his nose. “I know, it’s great isn’t it!” The Doctor suddenly pushed down on another button and the TARDIS violently shook, knocking both men to the floor.
The shaking didn’t stop for another three minutes. By that time, Ianto had managed to take cover under the console panel, whereas the Doctor was clinging on for dear life to a rail.
Then, it just stopped. Everything stopped. The TARDIS was no longer humming, the center wasn’t moving up and down as it always had.
“You alright?” called the Doctor as he got to his feet. Ianto left his hiding place, brushing the dust off his suit. “I think I’m fine. There’s an awful lot of dust under there though.” Said Ianto, making sure his suit was spotless. The Doctor rolled his eyes, heading towards the door. “Stay here for a second; I’m just going to go find out were we are.” Ordered the Doctor as he opened the TARDIS door and peered out. Then, the Time Lord grumbled “Oh no.”
Frowning, Ianto asked “What is it, Doctor?” as he began to make his way to the door. The Doctor stepped back inside, closing the door behind him. “We need to get out of here, and soon!” explained the Doctor as he strode back to the console. He flicked a few buttons, and then cursed in anger.
Ianto had the door open slightly and peered out; he wasn’t going to let the Doctor refrain him from seeing where he was. Everything seemed fine to Ianto - they were in the middle of a field and nothing was in sight. The sky was grey and the grass was dark brown but they were the only differences from Earth.
“Don’t go out there!” came a cry from inside the TARDIS. Ianto turned round, confused. “Why not?” the Welshman asked, but before the Doctor could reply, Ianto had disappeared into thin air. The Doctor let the sonic screwdriver fall from his hands. This certainly was not good.
The Doctor had wasted no time. Staying only seconds to grab his long coat from the chair, the Doctor bounded out of the TARDIS and into the field. Looking around, the place seemed completely empty. No buildings or other people in sight. But the Doctor knew this place and he knew all the tricks its inhabitants liked to play on it’s visitors.
Grimacing, the Doctor pulled out his sonic screwdriver. He turned in a circle with it outstretched and the button pressed down, trying desperately to pick up some form of life. When he turned north-east, the screwdriver began to make a shrill noise. Switching it off, the Doctor pocketed it as he bound across the field, hoping that the screwdriver had detected real life.
When Ianto woke, he had no clue where he was. His head throbbed with pain and he could barely see straight. The mattress he was lying on was hard, not at all like the one in his apartment back in Cardiff or even the one in the TARDIS. Getting to his feet, Ianto found it hard to stand so he steadied himself against the wall.
It was then his surroundings became clear. The only light came from a barred window at the top of the room, above the mattress. Opposite the mattress was a sealed door. The only other object was a small screen above the door, but it seemed to be switched off and he had no way of turning it on. Ianto may not have known what planet he was, but he certainly knew he was in a prison.
The Doctor had been bounding across the empty field for an hour before he came across any sort of life. At first, the Doctor almost missed it. It was not until he saw the wooden handle protruding out of the ground when he realized were the life was coming from.
Grinning, the Doctor cried out “This is it!” He looked up, expecting to find his companion asking what it was exactly - and then he remembered why he was doing this in the first place. Ianto had been taken.
Grimacing, the Doctor tugged at the handle and a section of the ground swung up, revealing a futuristic-looking corridor below. The Doctor made sure no-one was looking above ground, or under it before he dropped down, pulling the hatch with him.
The Doctor soon realized how Ianto had disappeared in front of his eyes. Whilst hiding from the small, green, alien occupants of the base he caught sight of a metal bar around their wrists. A cloaking device, the Doctor mused as he slipped through a sealed door, using his psychic paper as a keycard.
Inside of the room, the Doctor found the control room of the entire area. However, as soon as he had entered, four of the aliens had blasters to his chest, asking questions in their own language. It was a language the Doctor had never bothered to learn, as he’d never wanted to come to the planet, knowing what it was.
Finally, the aliens cottoned on that he didn’t speak their language and one of them said fiercely “Who are you!?”
The Doctor lifted up his psychic paper for the aliens to see. They lowered their blasters at once. “We’re sorry sir; we were not informed of a health inspector arriving.”
The Doctor decided to act along. “I’ll be using this room for my report, and I will need peace. Please leave.” Praying it would work, the Doctor stepped to the side. It seemed the aliens had high trust towards a “Health Inspector for the Galactic Empire” and they left without hesitation.
Pocketing the psychic paper, the Doctor pulled out the sonic screwdriver instead. His eyes were immediately drawn to a huge file on the control panel. Grabbing it, the Doctor flicked through the first few pages until he found what he wanted.
“Species: Human
Gender: Male
Date Arrived: 04/07/4198
Cell Row: 32G
Cell: 12984”
Grinning, the Doctor moved over to the touch screen on the control panel. He selected option to contact a cell and typed in the cell number he’d found. It seemed to be a one-way camera. The Doctor could talk to whoever was inside the cell, but he could not see or hear them. The Doctor took a deep breath.
“Ianto Jones? I don’t know if you’re getting this, but I hope you are.” Ianto looked up for where he was sat on the floor to see the Doctor’s face on the screen. Ianto’s eyes immediately lit up. “Stay calm and keep safe. Don’t let anyone take you anywhere.” Ianto nodded, but he wasn’t sure if the Doctor could see him. “I’m coming to get you.” With that, the Doctor’s face disappeared from the screen which seemed to turn itself off. Ianto let out a sigh of relief.
Now for the hard part, thought the Doctor as he switched the screen off in the control room. Then, without warning, alarms started blaring. “Typical. Those aliens had to go blabbing, didn’t they?” the Doctor didn’t seem to be phased that he was talking to himself. Tearing the page out of the file with Ianto’s cell number on it, the Doctor ran to the other door and left the room. Seconds later, it was flooded with the aliens, all looking for the intruder.
The Doctor raced down the corridor, shoving workers aside when they tried to get in his way. The Doctor literally jumped down the stairs, not looking back. The lower floor was filled with entire rows of cells. The Doctor raced down the corridor he was in, looking at the row numbers. 29G… 31D… 32A… 32G! The Time Lord skidded to a halt and then began to run down the row, checking the door numbers trying to find Ianto.
It didn’t take him long to find the right cell. Next to the door was a key card slot. The Doctor once again pulled out his trusty psychic paper and slid it down to slot. Noises of the bars blocking the doors being moved away could be heard on both sides of the door. Then, the door slid open, revealing Ianto sitting on the bed.
As soon as the door opened, Ianto ran forward and embraced the Doctor. Their lips brushed, but the Doctor pulled away because he claimed they “didn’t have the time for a kiss and tell”. Ianto found his hand being grabbed and dragged back along the row. Then, without warning, the Doctor halted. At the end of the row was an army of the aliens. “That’s not good I’m guessing.” said Ianto as he and the Doctor slowly began to step backwards.
But the Doctor had a plan, “On three. One… two… three!” Ianto hadn’t needed to run; the Doctor pulled him along to the other side of the row anyway. It appeared the aliens weren’t that smart, they’d blocked off one exit and not the other.
It didn’t take the duo long to find the stairs and soon they were bounding up them, back onto the main floor. The Doctor’s eyes were trained on the ceiling, but Ianto didn’t know what for. He guessed when the Doctor suddenly stopped. Ianto looked up, and found a circular shaped dent in the ceiling. Next to it, on the wall, was a ladder. “How are we going to get out!?” asked Ianto, slightly worried, as he noticed the army of alien prison warden’s coming towards them.
The Doctor didn’t reply, instead he pulled out the sonic screwdriver and aimed it at the dent. In no time, it swung open, revealing the outside above them. “Up the ladder!” cried the Doctor and Ianto immediately followed his orders.
As the cold wind hit Ianto’s face, he realized how close he had been to never feeling it again. As the Doctor pushed the hatch shut, Ianto turned round and kissed the Doctor on the lips. The Doctor responded, but pulled away after a few seconds. “You are impatient aren’t you, Mr. Jones?” Ianto grinned at the Doctor and began looking around for the TARDIS. He couldn’t remember how he’d got into the prison in the first place.
“We can do that on the TARDIS, now come on!” cried the Doctor as he raced towards the TARDIS, which was just a speck in the distance. “Stay close to me!” he called back.
Ianto didn’t need to be told twice, he wasn’t going to be taken prisoner again. Ianto glanced over his shoulder, grimacing as he realized the hatch was slowly opening. “Come on!”
When they began to approach the TARDIS after several minutes of sprinting, the Doctor clicked on his sonic screwdriver and the doors opened by themselves. The duo leaped inside, landing on the floor as the doors closed, keeping the wardens outside. Ianto looked at their current position and then grinned. “I think I’m getting déjà vu.” He muttered before the Doctor leaned over and hugged him.
Ianto was glad to find the Doctor had plenty of suits his size in the humongous wardrobe. He was just slipping into a nice, crisp quit with a red tie when he felt eyes watching him. Turning, he wasn’t surprised to see the Doctor standing by the staircase, grinning as always. “It looks good on you” said the Doctor as he stepped forward. Ianto blushed, and turned his attention to getting his tie down when he felt a hand gently pull his chin up. Ianto smiled and the Doctor leaned in for a kiss.
The Doctor had wandered back to the control room to allow Ianto to finish picking out clothes. The Doctor fiddled with a few of the controls, waiting for Ianto to return. When he did, the Doctor had become so indulged with radiation patterns showing on the screen that he didn’t even notice Ianto appear at the top of the spiraling staircase. It wasn’t until Ianto coughed into his hand that the Doctor noticed him. Taking his glasses off, the Doctor asked “How long have you been standing there?”
Ianto grinned, replying “A couple of minutes. You’ve got a nice arse you know.” The Doctor raised his eyebrows, grinning along with Ianto. “So are you going to explain why they took me and where exactly we are, now?” asked Ianto, breaking the silence.
The Doctor cleared his throat and began “This is the planet Melfadora. It’s inhabited by small aliens known as Melfains. They’re very unkind to any “strangers” that turn up on the planet. In fact, it’s law that no species other then the Melfains is aloud to stand on the planet. If they do, they’re immediately taken to the prison, like you were.”
“How come I couldn’t see them when I looked out of the TARDIS then?” asked Ianto, adding “They were pretty visible in the prison.”
“Did you see the bands they had on their wrists?” asked the Doctor. Ianto nodded. “They were cloaking devices. It made then blend in with the environment so you wouldn’t see. When they touched you, the effect was passed on. They must have dosed you with a sleeping serum too, by the looks of it.” continued the Doctor.
Ianto nodded, finally understanding as the pieces of the puzzle came together. “I guess I should have closed the door when you told me to.” muttered Ianto.
The Doctor frowned, saying “It would have happened to anyone. It’s in a human’s DNA to be curious at the unknown. The greatest flaw of the human body. You’re not the first companion I’ve had to save from imprisonment.” Ianto somehow felt comforted by this, knowing that it could have happened to anyone and that he certainly wasn’t the first. Ianto made a silent promise to himself; he was going to be more careful from now on.
The Doctor’s hands brushed against his and Ianto felt himself blush again, as the TARDIS began to sing its sweet song once more.