I don't own Doctor Who or Torchwood.
Also, Edited in November 2018. I wrote this while I was still young in the world of Fan Fiction and not much of a writer. So don't judge me on my writing skills, I promise I've gotten a lot better. I just can't be bothered re-writing the whole things, so I've only edited out my mistakes using Grammarly.
"Nice chips" Jack commented from his chair situated at the small makeshift table in the abandoned warehouse, a fire burning in a barrel nearby, as Martha sat down.
"Actually, they're not bad". The Doctor said replied, looking at Jack before he continues eating.
Meeting Jacks eyes, Martha gives him a look. Jack turns to the Doctor and asks what they're both dying to know the answers to.
"So Doctor, who is he? How did the ancient society of Timelords create a psychopath?" Martha picks up where Jack left off, looking at the Doctor, "And what is he to you? Like a colleague or…"
The Doctor looks down at his crossed legs. "A friend at first" he answers quietly pushing down the sudden hurt.
Martha huffs a laugh. "I thought you were going to say he was your secret brother or something".
The Doctor looks at her exasperated. "You've been watching too much TV. But, now that you mention it." the Doctor draws in a deep breath and rubs his jaw "I guess you could say, he's my husband."
Martha and Jack look at him, the shock was written plainly on their faces.
"What?! You married him?!" Jack practically shouts, shooting forward in his seat.
The Doctor looks at him, suddenly looking so tired as if you could see all the years he's lived within his eyes. "It wasn't always this way Jack, it all started on Gallifrey. It may have been perfect to look at. And it was, it was beautiful. He was beautiful." The Doctor says, looking into the distance, reality fading around him as he's lost within his memory of things long gone. He continues speaking, his voice filled with passion and pain, awe and agony.
"They used to call it the Shining World of the Seven Systems. And on the Continent Endeavour, in the Mountains of Solace and Solitude there stood the Citadel of the Timelords, the oldest and most mighty race in the universe looking down on the galaxies below. Sworn never to interfere, only to watch".
He continues explaining to his young human companions, not truly seeing them.
"Children are taken from their families at the age of eight to enter the Academy. And some say that's where it all began. When he was a child. That's when the Master saw eternity. As a novice, he was taken for initiation. He stood in front of the Untempered Schism, it's a gap in the fabric of reality through which you can see the whole of the vortex. You would stand there, eight years old, staring at the raw power of the time and space. Some would be inspired, some would run away and some would go mad". He draws a painful breath, bracing himself before going on as if his lives depended on it.
"And it wasn't noticeable at first. The Drums. The madness. We were young, barely 80 years old, just teenagers, when we bonded. So young, so in love. The thing about Timelords bonds is that they're made out of love. Pure, unadulterated love from both sides. They can't be broken and that scared him. It terrified him. So he ran. He ran away from me, he ran away from our love and into the embrace of madness". He huffs a laugh,
"He always used to say that the only thing that would drown out the sounds of the drums, make them stop, was the beating of my hearts as we held each other". The Doctor pauses and draws in a shaky breath, his next words filled with pain, lifetimes of pain;
"And it hurt. It hurt so much when he ran. My hearts broke when he left. I couldn't stay at the Academy where we had been so happy, so in love. So I stole a T.A.R.D.I. S, took Susan, my granddaughter, a Timelord We'd adopted and ran. Ran away from the pain. And I never stopped."
The Doctor draws a shaky breath, tries to swallow around the lump that has formed within his throat and whips away the tears that have gathered in his eyes. "I thought he died on Gallifrey, in the Time War with the rest of them. For almost 900 years he left a hole in my hearts, one that will never be filled."
The Doctor shivers suddenly as if coming down with a sudden chill and he's trying to shake off years, lifetimes of heartbreak off. "I don't know," he says suddenly remembering Martha and Jacks presence.
They're all quiet for a moment. Martha is looking down at her lap when Jack sighs slumping back into his seat from where he had been leaning forward enraptured before he says "Doctor, I'm sorry. But what about Rose? What about the Master? He has a wife, Lucy."
The Doctor looks at Jack, pushing away the constant ache in his chest. "Oh you can love others, but it wouldn't be true. Wouldn't be real. You can't be with them. You physically can't be with anyone else. He might be married on paper, but that's all it is, paper. And as for Rose, I loved her sure, but I will always be in love with him. My hearts beat for him and only him. Same goes for the Master and Lucy. It's physically impossible. The ultimate monogamy."
Martha opens her mouth to say something when Jacks wristwatch starts beeping.