Chapter Text
The Waiting Game
“You're always the mysterious one
With dark eyes and careless hair
You were fashionably sensitive
But too cool to care
You stood in my doorway, with nothing to say
Besides some comment on the weather
Well in case you failed to notice
In case you failed to see
This is my heart bleeding before you
This is me down on my knees”
“Foolish Games” by Jewel
A womans heart is a funny thing. Full of contradictions, countless dreams and wishes….hot and cold, light and dark all wrapped up in what usually is a nice and neat package made of glass for all to see. Problem is that glass can be shattered.
And when that happens, as it often will, hopefully there will be someone there to help pick up the pieces and put it all back together.
That kiss on the beach held so much promise. And the words that so needed saying were finally spoken but not by the man whom she had waited to hear them from. Those three little words should have come from the two hearted man who once again turned his back and ran away as he always did when things got too serious.
A warm hand took hers, knowing instinctively that the heart beating within the object of his affections was broken by the one person who she never thought would hurt her. It’s one thing to have a heart broken and quite another to have it purposely crushed underfoot. This ‘him’ understood that she would need time to accept the man left behind.
“I know you are angry at him” he said to her, “but he really did it because he thought I could give you a true forever.”
“I promised HIM forever and he just threw it all away” she said as she stared at the place where the Tardis had been.
He wanted to tell her that she was not the only person hurting. The ever present hum of the Tardis was gone leaving just the faintest of echoes in his mind, fading fast. He wanted to emphasize that he was the same man but didn’t think it was the right time to discuss how similar they really were. Or how different. He had no identity; half human and half Time Lord was something that had never occurred before. He was a freak of nature….even more so than Jack had been. The only thing that remained constant was his love for Rose. That was the only thing that kept him grounded. Even as she pulled her hand from his and turned to walk away he followed because wherever she was was where he needed to be.
“And I know that I can survive
I'll walk through fire to save my life
And I want it, I want my life so bad
I'm doin' everything I can”
“Elastic Heart” by Sia
It took a few weeks but they fell into an easy, if a bit confusing daily routine. She had not accepted him fully as yet but he still understood that it would take time. He had moved into her apartment and into the spare bedroom just down the hall from hers. There had been another spare room which became his workshop of sorts, quickly being filled with assorted computer parts that he would tinker with every evening.
Pete had secured a position for him at Torchwood knowing that he would be an incredible asset to the team. He didn’t know the half of it.
Even on his first day, there had been a small group of people who knew of his reputation and wanted to see if he lived up to the stories. He felt like the proverbial Pied Piper as his small group of escorts swelled the more departments he was introduced to. He did not disappoint as he ‘ohhhed’ and ‘ahhhed’ at all the alien technology that the company had acquired but had no idea what to do with.
He paid little attention to the speech that Pete was giving him as he ran his hands over the many mechanical bits and pieces cluttering the shelves. He stopped at one point, his eyes wide and his jaw set tight, his smile gone in an instant .
“But….but that is a Monselar Particle Dileanator!” he gasped out loud, “How the hell did you end up with one of those?!”
He lifted the heavy device and ran his fingers gently over it.
“Well, as I remember it I believe it was found at a crash site of a small interstellar ship….”
Someone was talking to him but he only partially registered what was being said. The device was dusty from sitting untouched for months, which the Doctor knew was an enormous blessing. He raised it, balancing it easily on his shoulder and pressed a hidden switch that even their top scientists had never found. A loud hum emanated from it that grew steadily until everyone had to cover their ears and was intense enough to cause the many test tubes on the shelves to shatter and the glass in the windows to shake violently.
“DOCTOR!!!”
He heard Pete’s panicking voice and immediately flipped the switch again turning it off leaving behind a room filled with broken and damaged equipment along with many terrified people.
“If you have more objects like this I am going to be kept very, very busy” and then added, “Do you know how lucky you are considering the fact that this could have easily destroyed not just this building but this whole town!”
He took out the Sonic Screwdriver that he had lifted from the full Time Lords’ collection and pointed it at the underside of the weapon. Turning it on caused a small piece of metal to fall into his open palm.
“There we go, much better” he sighed, as if he had been holding his breath the whole time, “It’s safe now.”
He pocketed the spare part so that no one would be tempted to reinstall it.
He looked directly at Pete, “So you said that this was picked up at a crash site….any bodies? Survivors?”
“Not exactly but there was what appeared to be bones and scales scattered around the seats.”
One man spoke up, then added almost as an after thought, “It is on the bottom floor…”
“You have it HERE?” the Doctor said, shocked. “Show me!” His commanding tone broached no argument. To take charge of a situation was what he did.