Circus: We're Bound to Break and My Hands are Tied

Rating: General Audiences

Pairing: Nine/Rose

Other tags: Circus AU, Human AU, Forbidden Romance, Sad Ending

Warnings: Major Character Death

Summary: Rose is the star aerialist. Jason is the lead fire breather. They're perfect for each other. They and everyone else know it. But as long as they live the way they do, they can never be together.

Hello everyone, welcome to Day 25! The beginning of the last week. Let's do this.

Song of the fic: "Rewrite the Stars" performed by Zac Efron and Zendaya from the movie The Greatest Showman.

Word Count: 941

You know I want you
It's not a secret I try to hide
But I can't have you
We're bound to break and my hands are tied

Rose wove in between the organized chaos that was Gallifrey Circus. They'd been late leaving their last stop and were now forced to move twice as quickly to set up the fairgrounds before the sun set. Rose entered the recently set up Big Top, looking for someone to help her move her trapeze lines.

When she got to the designated area, she was surprised to see Wilf, their ringmaster, speaking with Jason, the circus's fire breather. They both turned when they heard her approach. Wilf broke into a grin.

"Oh, there you are Rose! Do you need help with your lines? I've got to get over to Mickey and help him set up the sound systems, but I'm sure Jason can help you." He turned to the other man, who nodded without looking at her.

Rose felt her stomach drop. This was exactly what she didn't want to happen. Alone time with Jason. Well, it wasn't that she didn't want it to happen. She wanted that more than anything. But she couldn't let it happen.

"Rose …." Jason trailed off after just that one word, and Rose took a deep breath before speaking.

"Just help me with the lines." She turned and left the tent without properly looking at him. She heard Jason scrambling to follow her.

"Rose, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to come on to you like that. I shouldn't have been so forward. I… I guess I misread you." She turned to look at him, and the look on her face made a lie die in her throat. She sighed.

"Jason, you didn't misread me." A look of shock, hope, and confusion passed over his face, but she continued. "It's that we can't. You know the rules. No relationships between performers."

"But we could hide it!" He was practically pleading at this point.

"No, we couldn't. You know Donna knows everything about this place. And as good of a friend she is, she could lose her job if she knew about us and stayed quiet." Jason stayed silent. Rose sighed again. "Look, let's just get everything set up for tomorrow. We can talk about this later."

~~~~~DW~~~~~

Rose looked up in confusion at the knock on her trailer door. It was late at night, everyone should be asleep. Nonetheless, she stood up from her couch, set her book to the side, and crossed the floor to her door. Opening it, she was surprised to find Jason there. He was more nervous than she had ever seen him. His leather jacket, which was already too big for him, seemed to engulf him.

"Hey. I was wondering if we could talk now. I know it's late, and we both need to get up early tomorrow. But I was hoping we could keep it quick. I just need to know: if it were not for the rule, would you have acted the same way? Would you have turned me down, or would everything be different?" Rose quickly glanced around. Seeing no one else, she silently steeped aside to let Jason enter her trailer. As he entered, she pulled her sweater closer to her.

"Jason, it's like I said before. I want to, really, I do. But we can't. Neither of us can risk our jobs, or put the jobs of anyone else in jeopardy. I would never forgive myself if something were to happen." She sank back onto the couch, and Jason sat next to her. "There's nothing more that I want. But it isn't our choice to make, and it isn't just our lives at stake." She turned away from him. "I'm sorry. But I can't."

Jason didn't say anything as he stood up and started to leave. Rose got up to follow him. Right before he reached the door, Jason turned around and kissed Rose hard on the mouth. She couldn't help but lean into the kiss and hold him closer. But after a moment, she remembered their conversation, their situation, and their lives. Reluctantly, she pulled away from him but kept her eyes closed. His breathing was hard and fast on her skin and in her ear.

"I'm sorry. It's just, I had to do that at least once in my life." He kissed her forehead. "Someday, when neither of us work here anymore, we can do what we want. We can be together." When Rose opened her eyes again, he'd already left.

~~~~~DW~~~~~

They never got to be together. Only a few short months after their late-night kiss, Jason was killed in a training accident. Harold Saxon, one of the other performers, misjudged a throw and it hit Jason. Despite the best efforts of Martha Jones and Harry Sullivan, he succumbed to the injuries. Several people suspected that it hadn't been an accident, as the two men had had a falling out shortly before Jason died. But it could never be proven.

Rose was inconsolable. Pretty much everyone knew that something had happened between her and Jason, even though no one said so. She wouldn't' eat, wouldn't sleep, and wouldn't do anything but sit in her trailer and stare at the door. Eventually she couldn't stay at the circus, surrounded by reminders of him. She left one day, saying nothing to anyone except Wilf. Most of her possessions were left behind, safe for a few pictures and clothes.

No one knew where she went after that, not even Mickey, her closest and oldest friend. Occasionally someone thought they saw her in the middle of the crowd during a performance, but when they looked again she was gone. She'd simply disappeared, almost as if she were a ghost.

… This is the second time I've killed off a human Doctor. *shrug*

I'm gonna be honest. Jason being a fire breather was probably influenced by my binge watching of Avatar: The Last Airbender. Zuko is my favorite character.

Also because of ATLA, this is the last story that I have prewritten before the day of posting. Anything from here on out will be written as I go. Unfortunately, this means that there will probably be delays, and I won't actually be done until early September. I'll do what I can, but I started my semester this week, so that'll cut into writing time.