Title: Blinkers in a Shade of Rose

Author: Angel Leviathan

Disclaimer: Doctor Who, characters, concept, etc, aren’t mine.

Spoilers: General for the first of the new series, Parting of the Ways.

Notes: Written for the 20_20challenge.

-

He has a problem.

It’s a serious problem, and its in the form of a young human girl named Rose Tyler.

She makes him do stupid things.

The Doctor has always had this problem with her. He promised to protect her and keep her safe, and has even gone as far as to give up one of his lives for her. Were he human, he would have died for her. Though she was sacrificing herself for him, so perhaps he was returning the favour. Either way, it doesn’t matter, she still makes him do stupid things. Ridiculous things, even. Given the choice of a planet-full of life forms or Rose, she wins. She always wins. Given the choice between her and anyone, anything, she wins. Its stupid. Its beyond stupid.

Maybe he’s infatuated.

Maybe he loves her.

It was certainly infatuation to begin with. Everything he had ever known and loved was dead, and it was his fault. She gave him something to love again. Something to live for. He couldn’t give her up, he couldn’t let her die like everything else. Not another life taken because of him. Not someone with her innocence. She was so alive and he was so…empty. She was naïve and she needed to be taught and directed and saved. He needed her.

Their dynamic has changed and though he knows she doesn’t always need him to save her any longer, he still desperately needs her. He doesn’t know why. Rose is his weakness. He would destroy worlds for her. Given the chance, he will. He can’t distance himself from her. She’s his best friend and more. Sometimes he can’t remember not being with her and has to remind himself that he has travelled with many people in his life time. He should not be blinded by her. He should not live in the moment and live to be with her.

Whether the Doctor has been drawn from her side or she’s throwing herself into his arms, he can’t stop thinking about her. If she’s taken from him, he will fight to get her back. He will do the right thing up to a point, but if it risks her and means he’ll never see her again, he always has to think twice. They have cheated death so many times he sometimes thinks they are indestructible. She blinds him completely. She won’t always bounce back and one day he won’t be able to save her. He needs to escape her. But he can’t. He doesn’t want to.

Oh yes, he has a problem.

A serious one.

Fin