Title: Don't Want To Miss A Thing
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Tenth Doctor/Cal Lightman
Fandom: Doctor Who/Lie to Me
Rating: PG-13
Table: doctorwho_100
Prompt: 48, Lie
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 Cal Lightman, unfortunately. Please do not sue.

***

The Doctor glanced over at Cal as the two of them ambled along the sidewalk. Cal was whistling, his hands shoved into his pockets, acting as though he didn't have a care in the world. But the Doctor was sure that he was presenting a facade.

What was going through that shrewd mind? He wanted to ask Cal point-blank what he was thinking, but he didn't think he would get a completely honest answer. And he had to decide just what he would tell Cal when they reached the Tardis.

Would Cal believe him when he stated that he was an alien time-traveler? He didn't think so; Cal seemed to be a man who believed what was in front of him, not in what he could more than likely consider to be an esoteric flight of fancy.

But maybe, just maybe .... It was always possible that Cal would believe him without expecting to be shown proof. The Doctor almost snorted at that thought. No, Cal was the type of man who would require proof if he was told something that sounded outrageous.

Well, he would have proof once he saw the inside of the Tardis. No one would be able to deny the truth of what the Doctor was once they were there -- and he was sure that Cal would be just as mesmerized by the ship as others had been in the past.

Glancing over at the other man again, he wondered if there was any chance of Cal leaving the life he led on Earth and becoming his companion. Probably not -- but he was going to ask. There was no harm in that, was there? Even if the answer would almost certainly be a firm "no."

He was a bit disconcerted to find that Cal was watching him, a small smile curving his lips. He couldn't help but wonder just what that scrutiny was about; was Cal searching for answers to questions that he hadn't asked yet?

When their eyes met, Cal shrugged and laughed, looking away for a moment before his gaze came back to the Time Lord's face. "I can't help wondering just why you asked me to spend time with you," he said, raising an eyebrow in question. "You don't seem like the one-night stand type."

"I'm not!" the Doctor said with a laugh, raising both hands. "I just thought that you were an interesting man, and that I'd like to get to know you better. That's all. Though you might have some reservations about spending time with me."

"Why is that? Are you some sort of serial killer who's going to take me hostage, rape and kill me, and then bury me somewhere that my body will never be found?" Cal asked, his smile growing. "Nah, I don't think you're that type, either."

"So, what type of a man do you think I am?" the Doctor asked, his tone curious. He wanted to know just what Cal thought of him; he didn't think that he'd done or said anything to cause Cal to have a bad opinion, but it would be good to know, just in case.

"A man with secrets," Cal said abruptly, stopping in his tracks. "And I don't know if those secrets could be dangerous or not. Why do you want me to go .... wherever we're going? Is there some reason behind this that I haven't sussed out yet?"

The Doctor had a hard time making himself look at Cal; he hadn't wanted his revelations about who and what he was to come out in this way. It was obvious that Cal was suspicious of him already, and that definitely wasn't a good way to start.

"Yes, I do have secrets," he admitted, raising his gaze to the other man's and not looking away. "But I think you'll find that I have to keep them. If I didn't, I'd probably be thrown into the nearest lunatic asylum. You'd more than likely want to take me there yourself."

"Now why would I do that?" Cal asked softly, tilting his head to the side. The Doctor could hear the steely undertone under the softness of those words; he knew that Cal wanted answers to whatever his questions might be, and he wanted them now.

"Because you won't believe what I'm going to tell you -- not until you see the proof." The Doctor took a few steps back from the other man, spreading his hands to either side. "I'm an alien. I'm a time-traveler. I travel in time and space in my ship. She's called the Tardis."

"What?" Cal's expression had gone from suspicion to disbelief in only a few seconds. "You can't expect me to believe something so .... so completely and utterly crazy," he said, laughing and shaking his head. "You're right, I should probably take you right to the loony bin."

"I'm not an escaped lunatic, I swear," the Doctor said, taking another step back, just in case Cal might make an attempt at dragging him away. It probably wouldn't happen, of course, but he thought it best to be prepared. "I really am an alien, Cal. I'm not lying to you."

Cal studied him intently for a few moments, not saying a word. Just when the Doctor thought that he couldn't take the silence any more, the other man spoke. "If you are lying, then it's the most convincing lie I've ever heard. You really believe what you're telling me."

"I believe it because it's the truth," the Doctor sighed, dropping his hands to his sides. "I'm from a planet called Gallifrey. A planet that doesn't exist any more -- because I was forced to destroy it. I'm the last of my kind. Do you really think I could make that up?"

Cal frowned, then shook his head slowly. "I'm a lie detection expert. I know what to look for in faces to know whether or not someone is lying. And from what I can see -- you're not lying. So either you're telling me the truth, or you're seriously deluded."

The Doctor shook his head, sighing and shrugging his shoulders. "I'm not deluded. And I am telling you the truth. Not just as I believe it, but as it is. If you want proof of that, come with me. I'll show you the Tardis, and you can draw your own conclusions."

"So .... you have a spaceship parked here?" Cal asked, falling into step beside the Doctor as the Time Lord headed in the direction of the ship. "Isn't it a bit hard to hide that? Or to get a parking permit? Or to even find a place big enough for it to fit into?"

"Laugh all you want," the Doctor told him, an unwilling smile curving his lips. "You'll be surprised when you first see her. She isn't going to be at all what you expect." Turning the corner of the street where the Tardis was waiting, he pointed to the blue police box. "Voila."

Cal looked at the Doctor, then at the Tardis. His gaze moved up and down the blue box before he turned to the Doctor, a smile on his face that slowly became a laugh. "You have got to be kidding me. You expect me to believe that this is a spaceship?"

"Well, yes," the Doctor admitted, feeling a little embarrassed. "She's a Type 40 Tardis, you see. She's a bit obsolete -- and her chameleon circuit is faulty, which means that she's, well .... stuck in this look. But I rather like it."

"What did you do, take a trip back to the Sixties?" Cal asked, laughing as he swept a hand towards the Tardis. "A phone box is barely big enough for one person to fit into. I seriously doubt that could be called a ship of any kind -- unless you're four years old."

"The Fifties, actually," the Doctor said with another shrug. "I'm not lying to you, Cal. This is a ship, and believe me, she's much bigger on the inside." He indicated the Tardis with a nod of his head. "Go on. Look inside and see."

Cal followed his glance, then fixed his gaze on the Doctor again. "You actually expect me to just walk blithely into a phone box, without knowing anything about you, and think that you're not planning to do away with me in some way?"

The Doctor rolled his eyes, resting his hands on his hips. "You're so bloody suspicious! I promise you, I'm not going to 'do away with you.' If you look inside the Tardis and you don't want to look any further, or you don't believe me, then you can just walk away."

The shorter man studied the Time Lord for several long moments before he looked back at the blue box again. "But you don't think I'll want to walk away, do you?" he asked, his voice soft. "You truly believe in what you're saying. You're not trying to deceive me."

"No, I'm not." The Doctor's voice was equally soft; his gaze didn't waver from Cal's for one moment. "I not only believe in what I'm telling you, Cal -- I swear to you that it's the truth. I'm an alien. I travel through time and space in this ship. See for yourself."

Cal looked at the Tardis again, then shrugged. "All right. I'll trust you not to lock me in there, or to do anything else I might not expect. But I'll warn you, I've been inside a phone box before. This one isn't going to hold any surprises for me."

"You could be wrong about that," the Doctor said, making a sweeping gesture towards the Tardis. "After you," he murmured, smiling as Cal moved slowly to the Tardis and hesitated a moment in front of the ship. "You're going to be pleasantly surprised."

"Will I be?" Cal asked, glancing back at him. To the Doctor's surprise, the other man winked at him, flashing a crooked smile that the Time Lord couldn't help but return. It seemed that Cal at least had something of a sense of humor.

"Oh yes, you will indeed," the Doctor murmured as Cal reached out a hand to open the door. He held his breath as Cal took a step into the interior of his ship, taking a deep breath as he himself moved forward. He didn't want to miss a thing that Cal might have to say.

***