Vampire: Someone You Can't Bear to Lose

Rating: Teen

Pairing: Eleven/Rose

Other tags: Vampire AU, WWI AU, Not Your Typical Vampire

Warnings: None

Summary: Somehow, in the middle of this terrible war, they managed to find each other. Yet circumstances still keep them from being truly together. But then an accident, or perhaps fate, ties them together forever.

Welcome to Day 14! Two weeks in, wow. Thanks for sticking around with me.

Here's another one that I couldn't decide on the plot for. But I settled on this from seeing a Tumblr post about how vampires would act in a war. I'm no historian, so apologies in advance if I got things wrong. But I credit my information to Google, since it's been 5 years since my last formal history class. Also, the book War Horse, which is a childhood favorite of mine.

Anyway, enjoy! This one is my longest one-shot yet. Title comes from the end of "The Girl Who Died."

UPDATE: the amazing TimeLadyHope made fanart of the vampire fic about a week ago. See it here: bit .ly/ 3aLQZol

Word Count: 2,341

Rose Tyler remained silent as the ambulance cart moved through the cool spring morning. The horses, a bright red bay named Joey and a beautiful black one named Topthorn, moved at a steady pace along the French countryside. Beside her, Doctor John Smith guided the horses over the worn path towards the battlefield. In the distance, they could hear the cannon fire of The Great War. Neither one of them spoke, for neither knew what to say. They'd been in the same unit for the past 6 months, since England entered The War, John as a doctor and Rose as a nurse. Almost everyone who'd been in the unit when they started had either been transferred somewhere else, killed by stray gunfire, or died of disease. As a result, the two of them had grown rather close.

John was a kind man, if a bit strange. He always wore a large-brimmed hat, a Stetson to be exact. He apparently got it from one Captain Jack Harkness, an American volunteer he'd been stationed with before he met her. He said he burned easily, and with how pale his skin was she wouldn't be surprised. He was sweet, able to make people smile or even laugh despite the situation they were in.

At the moment though, John was unusually quiet. The horses knew the way well, and he didn't need to guide them. Both reins were held in his right hand as he used his left to rub at the ring on his fourth finger. It was a heavy-looking ring with a large blue stone. It looked like a sapphire but wasn't. She had been told it had been his father's, a family heirloom passed on for almost a hundred years. Tired of the long silence, Rose decided to speak up.

"You know, I don't think we've ever talked about home. I grew up in London. My father is a businessman. Both of my parents pushed me towards helping others and doing good for our country, but they were both terrified when I volunteered for service. My younger brother, Tony, is not even a teenager yet, and I pray that this war ends long before he is old enough to be conscripted. But I write to my family as often as I can. So, John, where is home for you? What is your family like, do you have any siblings?" She looked to him and was surprised to see that he had stopped rubbing his ring. In fact, he had frozen completely. "Doctor Smith?"

"To be honest with you, Nurse Tyler, the reason that we haven't talked about families before is because I tend to avoid the topic myself. I, well, it is hard for me to talk about." Before Rose could tell him that he didn't need to tell her if he didn't want to, he continued. "I was born in Britain, but when I was five my parents moved from Cardiff back to their hometown here in France. It was a small seaside village up north, just a day's drive west of Calais. In fact, on a clear day you could just barely see the White Cliffs of Dover. Like I said it was small, but Gallifrey was home." Rose noticed he spoke about the town in past tense and the forced neutrality in his expression, and he saw her questioning look before she could keep it from her face.

"It's gone now. The whole town. It was destroyed in a German bombing only a few weeks after I joined The French Army. Everyone died. My parents, my older brother, everyone. Brax was going to join the service, but he was delayed when his wife had a baby." John took a shaky breath before giving her a sad smile. "It's ok, Rose. I'll be ok." Rose reaches out and gently touched his arm.

"Of course, you will be. But that doesn't mean you can't be sad."

Before either of them could say anything else, they both heard the telltale scream of a shell. But they were too far away from the battlefield for it to sound this loud. That was the last thing Rose thought before the ground behind them exploded.

~~~~~DW~~~~~

The first thing John became aware of was the sound of gasping and labored breathing. No, no. Not Rose. He opened his eyes, praying (and instantly feeling terrible for the thought) that the sound was coming from the horses. But no, they both lay prone nearby, startled but alive. Miraculously, neither was severely injured. The ambulance cart must have protected them. John cut the harnesses with his knife and saw the animals run back towards the hospital. He quickly looked around for Rose.

The young nurse was not uninjured. She lay on her back a few meters away from him, gasping as she struggled to breathe. She had gashes along her arms and legs, but there were two injuries that worried John the most: the piece of shrapnel that had pierced her lung, and the large cut on the side of her neck. Her eyes were open, but she didn't seem to be seeing him.

John reared backwards. For centuries, he'd been keeping himself alive from the blood of the already dead, helping those in need where he could to atone for the sin of his existence. But he hadn't been able to feed for nearly a week, and the blood was too fresh to be able to resist easily. His body screamed at him to feed on her, but he refused. He refused to do that to another living person, never again. Not after what he'd done to Gallifrey. He refused to allow another person to die that way, especially Rose.

Yes, somewhere along the line she stopped being Nurse Tyler and just became Rose. Just like he became John and not Doctor Smith. He knew the other nurses teased her about her "beau" just as the doctors did the same for him. If things were different, he would've considered asking her father for her hand. She was kind, smart, funny, and wise beyond her 28 years. He himself was that age in appearance. Oh, how he wished things were different.

The scent of blood grew stronger, and John knew he had to do something or else Rose would die. Lord, she might die anyway. He was broken out of his thoughts by the sound of Rose gasping out his name. She was struggling to breathe and John had to strain to hear it at all.

"John? John are you there?" He scrambled to her side and gently took her hand. "John, I, I don't think I have much time." She swallowed. "I just wanted to say, before I can't, that I truly enjoyed our time together. If the circumstances had been different, I feel that we could've had a future together. And, well…" She gasped again before whispering, "oh, to hell with it" and suddenly John felt himself pulled downward. His pure shock at her actions was the only reason she was able to move him at all. And suddenly, his mouth was on hers, and for a moment it was the best he'd felt in centuries. But the next, his self-control broke. Just for a moment, but it was enough. By the time he come back to his senses, it was too late.

~~~~~DW~~~~~

Rose slowly returned to consciousness as she felt someone hold a cool cloth to her forehead. She opened her eyes to see John looking at her with an odd expression, as if he was terrified of her. But that was impossible. She groaned as she sat up.

"John? What happened? I remember the shell hitting the ground behind us. I remember not being able to breathe. I remember you being there, I remember—" she cut herself of and blushed, remembering that she'd pulled him to her. He must think of her as a whore now. Suddenly, her throat felt dry. "Is there water?" John suddenly looked very nervous.

"It's all my fault. Rose, I'm about to explain something to you and I want you to know that it's all my fault. And I promise, as soon as I explain, you never have to see me again." Rose had no clue what he was talking about, but she nodded her understanding. John sighed before speaking.

"I wasn't born in England. I was born here, in France. Well, I was born in what is now called France. Back then, territories were constantly switching hands and new powers came into play frequently, at least frequently for that sort of thing. Gallifrey was real, at least its location and its people. We lived a simple life, back before the republic was established."

"But you couldn't… that can't be true. For you to be born before the French Republic, you would have to be over a hundred years old." Rose couldn't stop the words from coming out of her mouth. She was worried John might be upset she interrupted, but he just chuckled.

"Oh, my precious girl. You think me too young. I'm nine hundred and seven years old." John saw the shocked look on her face and chuckled again.

"But, but how? How is that possible? What… what are you? And how does that have anything to do with me?"

So, he explained it to her. How he came across a strange figure one day, how they figure bit him and turned him into a monster. How he didn't know what he'd turned into. His eyes filled with tears when he told her what he'd done to his home. How he'd come across a witch in the 12th century who gave him a ring to help keep back the urges to feed. How since then he had tried to atone for his sin by helping wherever he could however he could. How he'd been keeping himself alive by feeding on the blood of the already dead, usually those on the street.

John refused to look at her as he explained what had happened earlier that day. How the shell had hit right behind them. How he tried to think of a way to save her. How he was unable to keep his control before biting her. How one bite is all it takes.

"I didn't mean to, Rose. I'm so sorry. But as soon as you kissed me, my control broke. I realized it a moment later, but it was too late. The only way to keep you from turning would've been to… to kill you, and I could never do that. I promised myself I'd never curse another person with this life. But I also promised to never kill again. And between the two, I imagine that a world without you in it would be a much darker place. I understand if you hate me and want nothing to do with me. And that's fine, it's exactly what I deserve. But let me give you my ring to help you. I can manage without it until I get another.

"From the state of the cart and the fact that the horses will have reached the hospital by now, we both have probably been presumed dead. You can find your way back to England and enlist again under a different name if you really want to. I've done that before during wars. I'm sure we'll come across each other again eventually. After all, we have forever." John took off his ring, put it in her hand, closed her fingers around it, then kissed her fist. He then stood up from where he'd sat and starting walking away. It took Rose a moment to realize that he was leaving. She meant to just catch up to him and stop him. But one moment she was sitting on the grass and the next she was standing in front of him. They both froze.

"Clearly, there is more to... this than you're telling me. And clearly, I'm going to need some instruction. I don't blame you. It wasn't your fault. You could've just waited for me to die, but you didn't. You tried to help me. I don't think I can do this alone, John. And I don't want to. So, thank you for that. But don't blame yourself for this. And, well, this might be a blessing in disguise.

"I… I meant what I said and did. I understand if you don't feel the same way, but please don't leave because of that. At least not until you help me with this. I don't want to hurt any—" she got cut off when John pressed a chaste but firm kiss to her mouth. He gently pulled away but kept his hand behind her head. They smiled gently at one another. After a moment Rose decided to break the silence.

"So, what's with the Stetson? Is it so you don't get burnt up by the sun? Am I going to need one?" She blushed, realizing she'd just blurted out the first thing that had come to mind. John laughed gently and not unkindly.

"No. Well, yes, but not the way you think. The answers to your last two questions are yes and no in that order. Most of the vampire weaknesses you know of from things like Dracula are just untrue. Garlic is eatable, mirrors still work, and a storm of holy water won't melt us. I really do just get sunburnt easily." Rose couldn't help but laugh much too loudly at the irony. After a moment John joined in. "You know, you're right. I do have a lot of things that I need to teach you. I'd be glad to be of any help that I can be."

~~~~~DW~~~~~

John offered Rose his arm and she took it. She'd forgiven him. Somehow, she'd forgiven him. Even after telling her all that he'd done. And as he led her away from the ruined remains of an ambulance cart, he realized that maybe, just maybe, he could learn to forgive himself.

Honestly, I probably could've gone longer with this. But I didn't want to be writing this forever. I might expand on this AU in the future. Snapshots of them through the years. Could be interesting.