Disclaimer: I have $100 in my bank account. I doubt that's enough to buy Doctor Who. I couldn't even buy Mickey. So, no, these characters aren't mine I'm just borrowing them. They belong to BBC and a bunch of other people.

Summary: Mickey and Tom meet for a chat. Just a random one-shot inspired by the random pairing generator's prompt "Mickey Smith/Tom Milligan/patience". And no, it's not THAT sort of pairing. Just mates in a pub.

"Hey, mate, been waitin' long?" Mickey joined a waiting Tom at the corner table of his favourite pub.

"No, not long. Thanks for coming."

Mickey nodded, "Sure thing, everything alright?" Mickey and Tom had become fast friends after Martha introduced them, so of course Mickey had come when a distressed Tom had phoned him.

"Martha and I had a row. Again." Tom shook his head, "I love her, Mickey. You know I do. It's just, sometimes, I wonder if she feels the same."

"C'mon, don't say that."

"Sometimes I think she wishes she were still...y'know. With the Doctor."

Mickey laughed, "Oh-ho! There it is! You're jealous of the Doctor, is that it?"

"Jealous? No! No. Well, yeah. I mean, all Martha talks about some days is Torchwood and aliens, and how it was when she was travelling with the Doctor. Don't I have a right to be a little jealous?"

Mickey nodded, "Yeah, I s'pose so. It's tough. Believe me, of all the people in the world, I know exactly how you feel." Tom looked at Mickey questioningly. All the time they had spent together, and Mickey still hadn't told him about Rose. Hesitating, he sucked in a breath before he continued. "Did Martha ever tell you about Rose?"

Tom nodded in recognition at the name. "Yeah, she was the girl who travelled with the Doctor before Rose. He was in love with her, I guess."

Mickey nodded. "She was my girlfriend." Nothing more needed to be said, and for a while they sat in silence, taking long gulps of their beer. Finally, Mickey spoke again. "It's easy to feel like you're not good enough when your competition is the Doctor. But in the end, there's only two things you can do. One, be the best you can be, regardless of the Doctor. And two, be patient."

"Patient?"

"Be patient with Martha. It's hard adjusting to normal life after travelling through time and space. But if this wasn't where Martha wanted to be, she could still be out there. She chose you, mate. That's gotta be worth something."

Tom smiled. "Thanks, Mick. You're right." He got up and pulled on his coat. "I think I've got to go get some flowers and apologize to Martha."

"Good idea." Soon, Mickey was alone at the corner table, thinking about his friends Martha and Tom. As amazing as the Doctor was, Martha still chose Tom. Rose would never have chosen Mickey. He took a deep breath, but smiled, knowing he had made the right choice staying in this universe and working with Martha and Jack. He made a mental note to thank Tom for calling him down to the pub to chat.