Title: State of Love and Trust
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Tenth Doctor/Spencer Reid
Fandom: Doctor Who/Criminal Minds
Rating: R
Table: slash_me_twice
Prompt: 85, Indifference
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my own imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the Tenth Doctor or Spencer Reid, unfortunately. Please do not sue.

***

The Doctor fidgeted in his chair, trying his best to stay seated and not jump up to roam around the room; it really wouldn't do for Spencer's colleagues in the BAU to think that he was nervous and jumpy around them, even if he was.

He really hadn't expected this to work out the way it had. He'd thought that Spencer was going to want to go back to his profiling work, not that the young man would go back to explain to his friends that he was leaving their team to be with his lover.

They were certainly taking it well -- at least outwardly. The Doctor could tell that they were all more than a little dismayed at Spencer's decision, but they weren't trying to talk him out of it. Another factor that he found rather surprising.

Well .... at least, not all of them were. He'd expected the team leader, Aaron Hotchner, to try and convince Spencer to stay, but he seemed to be the most level-headed of them all. And the women weren't taking his young lover aside and trying to talk him into staying. They seemed to think that he was making the right decision for himself.

No, it was the man who Spencer had said spent a great deal of time trying to talk him into going out with him as more than friends who didn't seem able to accept that Spencer had found someone he wanted to be with.

The Doctor was trying to feign indifference to the fact the Morgan was obviously trying to talk Spencer out of his decision, but inside, he was seething with anger.

How dare this man try to convince Spencer that he was making a mistake? Spencer had told him more than once that he wasn't interested in any sort of relationship other than merely being friends -- and he still kept trying to push it further.

The Doctor wanted to strangle the ugly bald man with his bare hands. He wanted to make himself a barrier between that .... that thing and his beloved Spencer, to protect his boyfriend from those unwanted advances. But he'd promised Spencer that he would let him handle this on his own, and he meant to keep that promise.

He trusted Spencer implicitly; he knew that the young man wouldn't let himself be talked into backing out of the decision he'd made, now that it was firm in his mind. Spencer didn't take that decision lightly; he'd thought about it a great deal.

But of course, the man who wanted him and couldn't have him wouldn't want Spencer walking away. The Doctor shuddered at the thought of him touching Spencer; he'd do anything in his power to keep that horrible thought from ever becoming a reality.

Spencer was his. And he wasn't going to give up his lover, especially not to someone with an overinflated ego and nothing to recommend him.

At least the man who Spencer had admitted to being in love with at one point didn't seem to have a problem with the decision he was making. The Doctor stole a glance at Aaron, who was sitting behind a desk going through some papers.

He actually seemed to be a decent person; the Doctor had the feeling that if they were allowed to spend some time together and talk, he would like this man and consider him a friend. Aaron seemed very steady and thorough, and the Time Lord couldn't help but admire those qualities.

Aaron was also a very handsome man, he thought, his eyes narrowing. Could he picture this man with his Spencer? Maybe. It was hard to think of his lover with anyone else without seeing a red haze fall over his vision, but he couldn't dislike Aaron. After all, this man had never returned Spencer's feelings -- he probably hadn't even known they existed.

If Aaron had shown any kind of proprietary attitude towards Spencer, it wouldn't be so easy for him to be indifferent to that -- it was hard enough to keep up that pose with what was happening now. But at least he knew that Aaron didn't want Spencer in that way.

With Morgan, it was a different matter. He was all too obvious about what he wanted, and the Doctor was having a very hard time ignoring that. He knew that Spencer wasn't interested, but it was hard to ignore the other man's obvious attentions to his boyfriend.

Morgan didn't seem to have the slightest inkling that Spencer didn't want him, or that he was involved with someone who was right there in the next room. He kept making improper advances, as if he and Spencer were the only ones there.

The Doctor glanced up towards the other room where Spencer and Morgan were -- just in time to see the bald man place his hands on Spencer's shoulders.

With a low growl, he half-rose from his chair, his small hands clenching into fists. He wasn't going to put up with that; he'd had enough of that hideous thing trying to put his hands on Spencer, forcing his boyfriend into an uncomfortable situation.

"Doctor."

The voice startled him enough to bring him out of his anger; the quiet tone of it made him stop in his tracks, halfway towards the door. He chekd his stride, turning to see Aaron looking up at him and shaking his head. The other man gestured towards the next room, and the Doctor's eyes followed the gesture. Spencer had stepped away from Morgan at this point.

He felt his muscles relax somewhat, and he took a deep breath as he turned to face Aaron. He couldn't let Morgan get to him. He had to trust in Spencer, and he had to realize that his boyfriend wasn't going to let anyone come between them.

"He's wanted Spencer for a long time, Doctor. But Spencer has always turned him aside, even before he met you. There's nothing to worry about. With you in his life, he'll be more adamant about that than ever," Aaron said, his voice low and measured.

"It's just .... very hard to pretend that his insistence doesn't make me angry," the Doctor muttered, unable to resist glancing towards the other room again. Now Spencer was standing behind a desk, putting some distance between Morgan and himself.

"You can't love where you don't trust," Aaron said, looking down at his papers again. "You have to decide whether your level of trust is equal to the love you feel."

The Doctor turned back to look at Aaron, but the other man was perusing his papers again, looking calm and unruffled. Slowly, the Doctor retraced the few steps he'd taken towards the door, unable to resist throwing another look into the next room.

Spencer was sitting down behind the desk now, smiling and shaking his head. Morgan was all the way across the room, at the door, hands shoved into his pockets. He didn't look happy, but at least he wasn't near Spencer any more.

The Time Lord leaned back in the chair, exhaling and feeling that he'd averted a crisis. If he'd gone barging into that room, spouting accusations at Morgan as he'd intended to do, he would have made it look as though he didn't trust Spencer -- and it would have caused a rift in their relationship, one that might not have been able to be repaired.

He might have to keep feigning indifference the entire time they were here, but Spencer's tenure with the BAU would be over soon enough, and then he wouldn't have to worry about Morgan being anywhere near his lover again.

That thought brought a smile to his face; Spencer was making it obvious that he chose the Doctor over anyone else, and no one could fail to see that. He was the one that Spencer would be walking out of here with, the one that he'd be spending the rest of his life with.

The Doctor took another deep breath, looking over at Aaron again. The team leader was studying him, a slight smile curving his lips. The Doctor couldn't help wondering what was in the other man's mind, but he wasn't going to be rude and try to intrude on his thoughts.

Could he possibly know that Spencer had once been in love with him? There seemed to be such a keen mind behind that innocuous expression .....

If he did know, it was obvious that he wasn't going to use those feelings to try and kindle anything that might be buried. Spencer had made his choice, and Aaron accepted that. Whatever Spencer had felt for this man was gone -- or at least changed into a different emotion. He was leaving old feelings behind, and heading into a whole new life.

The Time Lord looked toward the door as he heard a soft cough from that direction, his face lighting up when he saw Spencer standing there, holding out a hand. Standing up, he moved to where his young lover was standing, taking Spencer's hand in his own.

One look told him that everything was all right between them. There was nothing for him to worry about, as Spencer had removed any threat that the Doctor might have felt hung over their relationship; the state of love and trust between them was clear.

He didn't need words to know how Spencer felt -- or to express how he felt about the other man. Though when they got back to the Tardis, he certainly intended to show Spencer just how he felt -- and he was sure that the other man planned to do the same with him.

***