Warnings: Character Study, Introspection, Mild Angst
A/N: This little ficlet was written for my dearest Irish. She had a meme that she had posted at her ElJay and for a laugh, I had her toss a prompt at me from it. She rose to the occasion admirably and gave me the title 'Some Other Sucker's Parade', which is a song from Del Amitri (that no, I still have not listened to but with hopes to remedy that oversight soon). The fiction that followed was off the cuff, with no intentions, ideas or plot in mind. If this reads confusing, that is likely why. If it reads well at all, it is a darned miracle. With all that said, I do hope that you find it enjoyable should you chose to read it. As always, this fic is mostly unbeta'd and written in one go, so please forgive any mistakes and/or blatant vagueness. And (as per usual), I apologize for any repetition, misspellings, sentence fails, grammatical oh-noes and general horridness. Unbeta'd fic is overly-thinky/blithery and unbeta'd.
Originally written: December 5, 2014
Disclaimer(s): I do not own the scrumptious Doctor or his lovely companions. That honor goes to the BBC and (for now) the fantastic S. Moffat. The only thing that belongs to me is this fiction - and I am making no profit. Only playing about!
"That should be you, you know." The Captain frowned at his VM and pretended to tap buttons so he wouldn't have to see the sour look on the Doctor's face. "You are the one that saved their necks. In fact, it's always you. But you never seem to take the credit when it counts the most."
"Hmm," the Time Lord shrugged, tugging the lapels of his tweed and carefully not looking at his Companion. "I always have help. And I'm arrogant enough without all that...fanfare. I mean, sometimes, being part of the crowd, looking on - that's the best. Look how happy they all are! This is a celebration! A dawn of a new era."
"That you brought about," Jack insisted stubbornly.
The Doctor shot him a warning look before his features melted into a smile that his eyes didn't quite seem to get in on. He carefully arranged his mouth to look arrogant and appeasing all at once, flipping the hair out of his eyes with a boyish toss that still seemed too stiff to be genuine.
"Not my scene, as you know." The Doctor shrugged again, careless, artfully flippant; the ripple of his narrow shoulders a barely perceptible shiver of motion, those moss-green eyes tired and shadowed under the bright sunlight. "I come in, create a big crashing mess, save the princess, get in my Girl and leave the clean-up to the locals. Right?"
"Yeah and I'd buy that if I didn't know you so well," Jack replied wryly. "That's too cut and dry. And I'm not PT Barnum's average joe."
"Wonderful chap," the Time Lord murmured. "Still didn't think he should have hired those acrobats though. Too much trouble those boys were."
"You're deflecting - and I'm talking about his catch-phrase that 21st century Earth is so fond of. This is a sham, you know," Jack waved impatiently. "The day is saved, yes - but by you, by the people here. The man this parade was orchestrated by -"
"Is a fool, I well understand, Jack," the Doctor sighed. "Which was why we were here to begin with. Get things in motion. Set the tables right. Better a fool than a tyrant, yes?"
"Better a wise man than a sucker," Jack retorted, wishing that smile of joy (false or no), would light those green eyes for just a moment. This was a win, yes - but it was also a loss.
"Yeah, well...let this other sucker have his parade." The Doctor muttered. Then turned on his heel and melted into the crowd.