Kept my promise!
I promised alyssianagrace I'd post on Wednesday and I am. I expect my chocolate!
SPOILERS!: None
WARNING!: Fluff, pure fluff
The Doctor knew that as soon as Dean woke up he'd pull away and he did. He refused to look at him afterwards, excusing himself to the shower, and then he took off to find Rory. The Doctor let out a tired sigh, one giant step forward, then a shuffle back. Not too bad considering. He ran his hands through his hair then got out of bed and trudged off to change his own clothes then meandered down to the control room. He found Dean and the Ponds chatting there. Dean shot him a glance then quickly looked away, focusing his attention on Rory.
He sighed again. It's still progress. On the Rory front too. His near brush with death thawed the Centurion and Dean being here as well is also helping. That and Dean has yet to tell Rory just how he ended up traveling with them. It'll be their little secret.
Where to take his companions? He could take them to a planet completely covered by water, the inhabitants have a city under the ocean. He snorted softly. Or he could just take them to Atlantis in the Pegasus Galaxy. He perked up suddenly. He could take them to Atlantis. Dean would love it, by extent so would Rory, and Amy will go wherever he chooses.
Smiling, he told them to hang on and the TARDIS lurched, almost sending them crashing to the level below.
"What's wrong, old girl" he asked in concern.
"What happened?" Amy cried, grabbing Rory and Dean's hand to be pulled up.
"I don't know. She just stopped," he said, running a diagnostic on her controls. He turned to see Dean also helping, his guessing which controls would work but they're oddly correct. He suspects the TARDIS is helping him.
"She stopped all on her own. Where we trying to go?" Dean asked, glaring at him accusingly.
"Pegasus Galaxy. There's a surprise there I wanted you to see but I guess the TARDIS is taking offense to it. I'm sorry. There's no point in trying to force her to go where she doesn't want to," the Doctor explained, disappointed at the TARDIS for spoiling his surprise.
Dean shrugged. "Don't matter. I want to go to...what was it? There's this Great Library. A planet that is a library. I had a dream about it. It was weird. I couldn't see anyone's faces but I felt a pull there. Can we go?"
The Doctor who had been pulling up the coordinates, froze. River. Donna. "No," he coughed. "No. It's quarantined. Can't go there for at least a hundred years."
"Which is nothing when you have a time machine," Dean remarked.
"No. We can't go there."
"Doctor," Dean warned.
He shot Dean a helpess look. He shot a meaningful glance towards Amy and Rory, praying Dean gets it. Dean looked at the oblivious pair then back at him, frowning. He crossed his hearts, hoping Dean trusts him. Dean gave him an unhappy look but begged off from asking more until they were alone.
"How about we go to this little spa planet in the Praxian quadrant? You will love it!" the Doctor said with more exuburant cheer than is strictly necessary for the situation. His face twinged at how big his smile is. Dean is giving him a flat look; he shook his head and walked away.
"The planet isn't Midnight, is it?" Dean asked out of the blue. The Doctor flinched at the memory, shuddering in horror.
"No. That planet has been blacklisted from the TARDIS database. We are never going back to that planet. Speaking of, how do you know about it?"
Dean shrugged again. "Just popped into my head."
The Doctor felt a trickle of worry crawl down his spine. Dean should have never known about the Library or Midnight, he deliberately blocked those dreams from him, and Dean should have not even have an inkling of those memories. Then again, he dreamed about Crowley. Time must be punishing him through Dean by bringing up horrible memories in between Dean's dreams and his travels. There are so many, Time could bring up any one of those to hurt him by having Dean ask about them.
He just prayed they'd be the ones of after the Time War. He doesn't think he could handle Dean asking about his beloved granddaughter or Gallifrey.
Not yet. Maybe not ever.
"The Face of Boe," Dean said suddenly. "I hear ancient songs in my head, whispering, trilling, and lilting. Oh, how wonderful they are." Dean shook his head. "What the fuck was that?"
"Don't worry about it. It's not about you."
"And yet they're words in my head and images flashing across my eyes," Dean snarked.
"Dean," he begged, not wanting to fight.
"Fine. I'll just keep it to myself."
"Thank you."
"Whatever. Come on, Rory, we got a game of ping pong to play, Amy, you can be our referee. No siding with him because he's your husband," Dean admonished.
She only laughed at him. He gave her a betrayed look, it only made her laugh harder. "No promises!"
"Mean!"
The Doctor listened to them bicker all the way up the stairs and down the hall to the rec room, a soft, sad smile on his face. "Why didn't you want to go to Atlantis?" he asked the TARDIS, she remained mum on the subject.
He tinkered away until they came back down, fighting over whether or not a shot Rory made was legal. They waved hi and made their way to the kitchen, starving from playing ping pong.
"Come on, Doctor, Dean's making us lunch. You should join us. His foods amazing. I've been craving it ever since we last ate it," Amy said with a huge smile on her face.
"Be right there, Pond!" he called back. Oh, yeah, the last time they ate his food, it was the beginning of the end for their bond. Well, not end per se but pretty close. Their last month together has helped tremendously, and with Amy and Rory here, it should only get better.
"Go on, old girl, take us some place fun," he urged the TARDIS. She hummed and they were off. He smiled and gave her a fond pat then headed to the kitchen where Dean was making super deluxe nachos, meaning they're supreme nachos but five times bigger.
Dean actually smiled at him and kept eye contact. His precious human clearly in his element. He wished the Ponds could see Dean in the field, searching for stolen or lost artifacts, he's unstoppable and brilliant, oozing confidence. He's gorgeous. Beautiful even, though he'll never say that to Dean, he might get hit...again.
His companions are violent this time around.
They ate Dean's delicious food and they took off to their seperate areas. Dean to his study, Amy and Rory to the movie room, and the Doctor to the control room. He's got to find something else to do, he mused, working on the TARDIS.
"Hey, Doc!" Dean's loud, cheeful voice had him bumping his head.
"Ouch! Hey, Dean," he greeted back, rubbing his head. "What are you doing?"
"I wanted to see if you needed help," Dean replied with a shrug.
The Doctor stared at him, what's up with Dean? First he refuses to acknowledge him this morning and then the afternoon hit; smiled at him, joked around with him, and now Dean's here actually wanting to spend time with him.
"I'm okay actually," he said warily, watching for any change in demeanor.
Dean suddenly sagged. "Okay," he muttered and walked away.
The Doctor kicked himself. "Wait! I'm designing a room, don't ask why, but do you want to help me?"
"Yeah!" Dean's smile could have powered the TARDIS. "Oh, and can we update my personal library? I can't find a reference I'm looking for and I can't find the TARDIS library. Beautiful kept bringing me here."
"That's our girl, eh? Apparently she wanted us to spend time together."
"Apparently. Lucky for her I'm game. I miss you and I want us to be okay again," Dean said bluntly. "But if you ever lie to me again or withhold information that could hurt me, the Ponds, or yourself, then I am done. Do you hear me? I mean it. This is your second chance, you fuck up, and I'm gone. I don't care if you kidnap me again, I'll have Beautiful drop me back home. No more lies. No more manipulations. Just be as honest with me as you can. I'm not saying you have to tell me everything but if you feel insecure about me and you, then tell me, please. I love you, and I miss you, and I want us to be us. Okay?" Dean asked, passion lending strength to his voice.
The Doctor tried to talk but there was a large ball in his suddenly dry throat. He cleared it and tried again. "O-of course, Dean. I swear I won't lie, manipulate or withhold anything detrimental to you, us, or the Ponds. If I'm feeling jealous or insecure, I'll tell you."
"Swear to me on Nancy's name."
The Doctor stared at him, slightly gutted at the use of his beloved granddaughter's name but also somewhat proud. "I swear."
Dean grinned at him and though it didn't magically fix things between them but it was a leap in the right direction. They worked on the random room the Doctor decided to create, with Dean's input, they made it into a virtual room, taking you anywhere the TARDIS has been. Dean's idea.
He should have done this a long time ago but he never liked revisiting the places he's been. He won't say why, though Rory and Dean would say it for him, he's wham, bam, thank you ma'am kind of guy. One and done. Not his most favorite part of his personality. One Amy routinely looks over or turns a blind eye to, whereas Rory fixates on it and thrusts it back into his face, reminding him he's not a god. Dean teaming up with Rory...he can't hide who he is from them, they'd call him on it.
He smiled suddenly. He needs them. Both of them. He can share Dean with Rory.
But only this much.
Dean clapped him on the back as he stood up, a pleased smile on his face. His eyes were bright, no darkness within his emerald orbs, and he carried himself with a self-possession that had been sorely missing.
"Shall we show Amy and Rory?" he asked and Dean shook his head.
"Nah, not yet. Let's save it for a special occasion."
"Okay."
Dean gave him another smile then wandered off. "Take us somewhere fun," he called over his shoulder.
"We already are! The TARDIS found us a spot," he yelled back.
Dean stopped mid-step. "She has? Why didn't you tell us?"
"Because I was having too much fun designing the room and spending time with you," the Doctor responded honestly.
Dean blushed, pleased. "Really?"
"Really," the Doctor confirmed.
"Sweet. Let me go get Rory and Amy and we'll head out and explore, yeah?"
"You do that. I'm going to pack us a lunch. You never know!"
Dean laughed. "You do that, Doc."
The Doctor preened at making Dean laugh. Definite steps in the right direction.
DWSPN
Okay, maybe coming here without doing a preliminary check of the race and culture was a bad idea. Is a bad idea. They're currently running for their lives because he might have insulted the crown prince by calling him, more or less, a slut, but it wasn't his fault! Not completely. If the prince hadn't made goo-goo eyes at Dean then maybe he wouldn't have spoken without thinking. Because he knew Dean and Steve's relationship status, he acted in turn of Steven McGarrett and protected Dean's honor. More or less. He's saying that a lot.
The point is, he may have caused the royal family to make a vow of revenge, a blood feud if one wills. Hence them running for the hills, literally. He parked the TARDIS on a knoll a few miles from the village. In hindsight, parking so far away, with his track record, he really should have known better.
Dean is well ahead of them, the past few months doing wonders for his physique and endurance. Amy is lagging behind, with Rory keeping pace with her, and he's smack dab in the middle of them. Dean suddenly gave a burst of speed and he was gone from their sight. Panic surged through his veins when he lost track of Dean but Rory yelled at him not to worry and keep running. Instead of going against the Centurion's orders, he actually listened and kept on going, trusting the nurse knew what he was doing.
He let out a jubilant yell when he spotted the TARDIS a couple hundred yards away. No Dean though.
They skidded to an abrupt stop when the TARDIS disappeared behind a force shield. The inhabitants seemed rather primative, he's so wrong, and that'll teach him to judge a race by their appearance. He's learned his lesson. Now for the force shield, he's going to need a couple of minutes to disarm it, and they don't have a couple of minutes.
Where's Dean?
Rory shoved him and Amy forward while he pulled a pocket knife from his, well, pocket. He stood protectively in front of them to buy them some time while the Doctor worked on disarming the force shield. Amy grabbed some rocks for protection and to help Rory defend them.
The locals stop ten feet from them, waiting. For what?
They brandish their crude weapons in a show of strength and to spread fear to their enemies. Pretty effective in all honesty. He's quaking in his shoes.
Where's Dean?
The leader steps forward and sneers insults at them. Rory looks affronted and he flips the knife in challenge, yells back insults of his own. Instead of looking angry, the leader actually grins and laughs with his men, pointing at Rory, some looking impressed at the Centurion's courage.
The locals start to move forward, no hurry now that they have them cornered. It's far more menacing watching them walk slowly forward instead of running full tilt at them. The leader hefts his weapon and brings it down on Rory but it's intercepted by a blade, a katana if the Doctor had to guess. Where'd it come from?
"Hey, now. Play nice, people," Dean taunted. He shoved the leader away from Rory, and called, "How about we have a one on one fight? What do you say? I win, you leave us alone and drop the force field, you win and you can kill us. Sound fair?"
The leader stepped back and conferred with his men before nodding his acceptence of Dean's deal. Dean smiles back and they bow to one another before engaging in a series of deadly parries and swipes, a deadly dance with one winner as the only outcome. Dean is a thing of beauty as he sparred with a far more experienced fighter but he's holding his own quite remarkably. Awe-inspiring, really. A lucky swipe has Dean hissing in pain, and the Orarino, the leader, presses his advantage but Dean recovers before any more damage could be done.
The Doctor shoots forward but Rory grabs him and shoves him back to the TARDIS.
"Shut down the force shield," he hissed, keeping his eye on Dean.
The Doctor could have slapped himself if his hands weren't busy. Of course! Dean's buying them the time he needed to take down the shield. He should have thought of that, he would have thought of that but he hadn't, Dean did. A few more minutes and the shield should be neutralized.
A cry of pain has him stopping, please don't be Dean. He slowly turned to see Dean holding his left side, blood oozing through his fingers, his eyes showed a hint of pain but there's also defiance and he suddenly stabs the katana forward in a feint then switches the thrust into a swipe, catching the Orarino by surprise, slicing him in the stomach.
Now they're both wounded.
"Hurry up, Doctor," Amy urges.
"Right," he says and goes back to shutting the shield off.
Within a minute the shield is down, he turns to tell Dean but shuts himself up. Dean and the Orarino are now engaged in a hand to hand fight, their swords tossed aside. Dean's just as deadly and the Orarino knows it, judging by the expression on the warrior's face. He backs himself towards the swords but Dean pivots and pushes him away. The Orarino snarls and lets loose a series of punches and jabs, Dean blocking them with ease. Fear starts to bleed into the Orarino's eyes and he starts to become desperate.
He kicks Dean's feet out from under him and dives for the swords. He barely grasps his when Dean grabs his right foot and pulls the warrior away, and the sword slips from his hand. He kicks out but Dean pins him and starts whaling on him. He doesn't stop until the Orarino stops moving.
Dean staggers to his feet, exhausted and in some serious pain. He stands up straight, daring the warriors to renege on their deal but they bow their heads in submission. Dean dips his head in acknowledgment and limps over to pick up his katana. Once he's inside the TARDIS the warriors check on their leader and him knocked out but alive. From this day on they would pass down the story of a great warrior who showed compassion for a fallen enemy by letting him live, and who had great skill with the sword and hand to hand combat. A worthy adversary. A worthy leader.
Dean collapses on the staircase, hissing in pain. Amy shoots off into the kitchen while Rory jumps down to the level below to grab the First Aid kit then runs back up to Dean. The Doctor quickly flies the TARDIS away to safety, trusting Amy and Rory to take care of Dean until he's done.
Rory gently helps Dean take off his shirt to assess the damage, he winces in sympathy when he gets a good look. Dean's going to need stitches, a lot of it. His entire left side has a gash from the Orarino's sword, bleeding has slowed down, but it just looks nasty and painful. He grabs the warm water and cloth Amy grabbed from the kitchen. He then orders her to go get Dean a clean shirt and trunks. She nods her head and takes off.
He gets to work sewing Dean up, cleaning the wound the best he can, and helps Dean take off his pants. Any other circumstance he'd be blushing hotly but he's in his nurse mindset and works with a professional air of compentency. Once Dean has been cleaned and sewed up, Rory takes a step back for a breather. He gives Dean a reassuring grin when the archaeologist looks at him. Dean smiles back faintly then gingerly moves to stand up. The Doctor shoots forward and helps Dean up, digging through the kit for the painkillers. Dean takes one without question or complaint, he must be in serious pain.
"Never again," he tells Dean as he carries him to his room. Dean just huffs out a laugh.
"I'm with the Doctor on this one," Rory says behind them, his hand on the small of Dean's back.
Dean snorts. "Not like I planned this you know. Though a thank you should be in order. I did save all your asses."
"True. Thank you," the Doctor says genuinely.
"Thank you," Rory echoes emphatically. Amy murmers a thanks behind him.
"You're welcome. Now someone please give me some more painkillers or something to knock me out," Dean begs. His face becoming pale and sweaty.
"We need to get you in bed. I'm going to put a salve on the wound that should speed up. I'll put some on your cuts and bruises on your face too. He must have gotten in some lucky shots, yeah?" he asked Dean in hopes of taking his mind off the pain.
"Lucky shots, yeah. He hit like a girl. Granted a girl on steroids but the simile still stands," he panted with a pained smile. Amy gently smacked his arm in indignation. He laughed and blew her a kiss.
They managed to get Dean in bed and took off his clean shirt much to Rory's annoyance. He had a hell of a time putting it on Dean. The Doctor couldn't of told him about the salve before he put the shirt on the archaeologist? He put his friend through some unneeded pain.
Dean let out a sigh of relief as soon as the salve hit his skin. "God, that feels like nirvana. What is it? Know what, never mind. I really don't care. Just keep it on."
"It will heal you a lot faster than going the usual route. Give it a day, maybe two, but by the third day you will feel a lot better and will have a new scar," the Doctor said with a reassuring smile. He gave Dean a light kiss on his head before heading back down to the control room. Amy planted a kiss on his cheek then followed the Doctor. Rory stayed with him, making sure he had everything he needed for two night's rest.
"Go, I'm okay," he urged the nurse who stubbornly shook his head.
"No. I'm not going anywhere until I know you're okay. Need to go to the bathroom?" At Dean's negative, he went on, "Hungry? Thirsty?"
"Both. Running and fighting takes a lot out of you," he quipped with a tired grin.
Rory grinned back. "I'll go get you a sandwich and some crisps, yeah?"
Dean nodded and the Centurion took off. He let out a pained sigh and curled on his bed. What he does for his adoptive family. Oy. Fighting a superior warrior was not his brightest idea but he knew the Doctor would need time to disable the force shield. He remembered seeing a katana lying on a grave. He knew it belonged to a fallen warrior, he offered a prayer and left a token of thanks before taking the sword out of the grave. It served him well. He had planned on putting the sword back before leaving, yeah, that plan's gone to hell. "Sorry," he whispered to the unknown warrior.
Rory returned with the promised food, much to the thanks of Dean's rumbling stomach. They managed to sit him up enough where he's still resting and he can eat without choking. They chatted for a couple of hours before Rory left him to rest.
He zonked out for the rest of the day.
The next day he stayed awake long enough to relieve himself, eat, drink, talk a little bit then fell back asleep for the remainder of the day. On the third day, he woke up feeling awesome. He checked the gash on his side and saw that it was puckered slightly, pink from new skin. He grinned. Well, I'll be damned, he thought. He's taking some of that salve home.
He took a shower then headed down to the control room where the Doctor and Ponds were arguing over who gets to pick where they go to explore. Rory said it's his turn, as he hadn't had a turn yet, and Amy claims it's hers. Dean shook his head.
"Let's go to a food court. A massive one. Planet size," Dean offered. Their heads shot up in surprise before grinning at him.
"Done," the Doctor said, grinning widely at Dean's recovery.
"Sounds good," Rory and Amy agreed.
The planet turned out to be a good idea. No locals trying to kill them or hit on Dean. All in all a good choice. They ended up pigging out, sampling all the foods they could stomach. It was a fun day.
The next day they ended up going to a spa planet, not Midnight, and allowed Amy to pick out their spa treatments. It wasn't as horrible as they thought it would be. Dean never felt more relaxed and rejuvenated, he will not admit it to Amy under pain of death, and his chi has never been more centered. Whatever they did got rid of any kinks or knots he's ever had.
Rory got to choose where they went to next, and he chose to go to a planet that held world wide LARPing. Dean damn near had a nerdgasm. It was so fun. Amy and the Doctor at first made fun of them but as soon as they discovered their fantasy lives, they allowed themselves to enjoy the experience.
Rory was, take a guess, a Roman general. Amy was a warrior princess, and the Doctor was a wizard. Dean, well, he was an assassin. Not bad. He's got the coolest LARP life as far as he's concerned. At least he's not the hero or villian. He's neutral.
Dean chose to go to comic-con. Again, Amy and the Doctor made fun of him and Rory, and again they ended up loving it. Amy dressed up as Kahlan the Mother Confessor, Rory dressed up as Gandalf the Grey, the Doctor chose to be Harry Potter, much to their amusement, and Dean cosplayed as Captain America. It was awesome! They goofed around with other cosplayers, Dean jokingly pretended to make-out with a Bucky cosplayer and got their picture taken as the famous sailor/nurse pose. Attending panels and contests throughout the weekend to top it off.
At the end of the week, TARDIS time, they found a planet to have picnic on and watch the planet's famous sunset. They chatted about nothing in particular and just enjoyed each other's company. It was nice.
The months flew by, Rory and Amy sometimes going home while Dean and the Doc continued traveling. Their bond is almost remade. They talked over what the Time Lord did wrong and how they could prevent it from happening again, and eventually the Doctor became secure enough of his bond with Dean to ask about Steve. The way Dean lit up at the SEAL's name had the Doctor swallowing any acerbic remarks and listened with an open mind.
"Thanks, Doc," Dean whispered after their heart to heart.
"Any time. I would like to hear more about him to make sure he won't hurt you, and if he does, I get first dibs at beating him up," the Doctor said with a flex of his..."muscles".
Dean laughed. "Sure, Doc, but you're going to fight Sam for that honor. Kamekona too. Oh, and Danny. Chin and Kono too. Damn. That's a lot of people. Cool," Dean said with a smile.
"Don't sound so surprised, Little One. You have a pure spirit and heart. It draws people to you and it makes them want to be in your life."
Dean ducked his head. "Yeah, I've been told that by a friend."
"Listen to them. They know what they're talking about."
"Hmm."
They lapsed into silence, a companionable silence, a welcome one. Not long after, Dean said goodnight and trudged up to bed.
Four hours later, Dean traipses back down with a blank look on his face. Fear rushes up the Doctor's spine. Something's wrong.
"Dean," he called out softly, keeping his beloved human in front of him. Instinct yelling at him to not let Dean leave his eye line. Nothing. Dean doesn't respond, he only grabs the katana they left by the stairs. He looks it over then slowly makes his way to the Time Lord, casually swing the sword around with deadly grace and competency.
He follows a series of moves that showed immense skill and concentration, oddly enough. The Doctor figured out rather quickly Dean is sleep walking but he still does not allow Dean behind his back. As far as he knows Dean's never sleep walked before. Is it because of him and their bond? Worry over Sam and Steve? Rory and Amy? River? He dare not add his name yet. Dean's still pissed at him, rightly so.
Or is it because Time is changing him into his Yang? He's the force of good in this universe, there's a balance to things and the only way to right things here is to make Dean the force of bad/evil. Karma perhaps, for the Doctor's hubris. Awfully ironic should the Time Lord's own soul mate be his arch nemesis. Poetic even.
Dean completed his regiment and placed the katana back by the stairs before walking back up to his room. He watched him go up the stairs and had the TARDIS lock Dean's door for the rest of the night. He knew its highly unlikely for Dean to sleep walk again but rather safe than sorry.
"Oh, Dean, I really need to get you home," he murmured to the empty room, well, almost empty, for the TARDIS hummed her agreement. "We'll get him home, eh, Sexy?" She hummed again, this time in determination.
So...? Whatcha think?
Next up: The Wedding of River Song!