Title: Gone
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Tenth Doctor/Mick St. John
Fandom: Doctor Who/Moonlight
Rating: PG-13
Table: 5, sound_of_drums
Prompt: 14, Gone
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my own imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the lovely Tenth Doctor or Mick St. John, just borrowing them for a while. Please do not sue.

***

Mick leaned back in his chair in front of the Tardis' viewscreen, frowning as he studied it. There was nothing depicted there but a lot of stars; the strangeness of being out here in space hadn't really worn off for him yet, and he could stare at that screen for hours.

So far, nothing about being here had posed any kind of a problem for him. He had been able to get blood from Earth; his contacts at blood banks and morgues were still friendly with him, even though they didn't quite understand why he hadn't been around for a while.

He couldn't very well explain to them that he was involved with an alien, a Time Lord from a faraway planet who looked human but wasn't, who was over nine hundred years old but looked about thirty, and who had two hearts and could travel in a blue box through space and time.

No one would believe that, even in his world where vampires existed and seemingly extraordinary things happened every day as a matter of course. So he'd had to tell them that he'd merely moved to another country because he'd wanted a change.

At some point, they would go back to Earth, and he'd let his friends meet the Doctor. He wanted them to see his lover, to be introduced to the man who he intended to spend eternity with. The people who were close to him had a right to know about his life.

Even Josef. Mick's heart felt as though it was being squeezed in his chest when he thought of his former lover; Josef was the one person he hadn't wanted to leave, but also the one he'd known that he had to leave to move forward with his life.

It hurt too much to think of Josef. Besides, that relationship was in the past. They had parted friends, and had sworn that they would keep being friends. But it was easier to not be in Josef's life, and not to be in the city where his former lover lived.

Of course, if Josef needed him, then he would be back on Earth to help the other man. And the Doctor would be right there with him, by his side, throwing himself into any danger that might threaten. The Time Lord was nothing if not loyal to the person he was with.

The Doctor didn't seem to harbor any resentment towards Josef; he understood that Mick would have had lovers in past, some who he'd cared for deeply. In fact, he seemed to be interested in meeting Josef, and not to show off the fact that he was with Mick now.

What had the Doctor's words been? "He sounds like a very lonely man. We should make sure that he's doing all right, Mick. That he's happy and getting along well. That's what anyone should do for their friends." Words that had been completely sincere.

Maybe that was what they should do the next time they went to Earth, Mick thought with a sigh. They should go to see Josef, so he and the Doctor could meet. He wanted to see his former lover, anyway, to make sure that Josef was all right.

Of course he was all right, Mick told himself with a wry smile. Josef was over four hundred years old; he knew how to look after himself. He'd been doing that long before he'd met Mick; he'd keep doing it far into the future, even if the two of them lost touch.

He somehow had the feeling that they would lose touch. It happened a lot in the vampire world; someone would be in danger of being exposed as a vamp, and they would have to leave wherever it was they were living and start a new life in a faraway place.

Josef had done that all his life. It was amazing that he'd stayed in Los Angeles for as long as he had; it had been more than fifty years, and he was still happy where he was. Before that, he'd been in New York for at least that long.

It was something that he should have long ago learned to accept as a part of the vampiric existence, but he never had. He'd never quite learned how to let go of people he cared about, even if he knew that them leaving and never being from again was for their own safety.

At least that wasn't the case with him. The Doctor had programmed his cell phone so that he could call anyone he wanted, at any time. Of course, if they were in another time, or another galaxy, he wouldn't know what time it was on Earth ....

But did that really matter? he asked himself. Well, it did when it came to some people. Josef would hate being awakened in the middle of the night for nothing more than a friendly phone call. He couldn't just call his former lover any time and expect a happy conversation.

That was better than Josef simply thinking he was .... gone. That he had done what so many vampires they had both know had finally had to do, slipping off to another part of the world and leaving no trace behind, choosing to cut all past ties.

It hurt when someone had to do that, especially anyone he'd been close to. And he would never want the man he'd once loved so desperately to think that he'd done so, without even saying goodbye. Josef had to know that he wasn't ever going to do that.

He wasn't gone, not in the way that so many people had gone from their lives. He was still Josef's friend; they could still be a part of each other's lives. He could still talk to his former boyfriend, and hopefully, the Doctor and Josef would be friends as well.

He wouldn't be one of those people who just left without a word, who were gone from the lives of those they'd called friends without a backward glance. He couldn't do that to Josef. The man who had been his lover, as well as a mentor of sorts, deserved better than that.

And besides, the Doctor wouldn't let him turn his back on all the people he'd known and cared for in his past, Mick thought with a slight smile. The Time Lord believed strongly in holding on to one's friends, and he would make sure that Mick did just that.

He didn't want to let go of his friends. He wanted to be able to go to them when they needed him, and to still be a part of their lives. Just as the Doctor was a part of the lives of people from his past -- and just as he would help them in any way he could if he was needed.

Mick frowned as he thought of the people that the Doctor had told him about, a small stab of jealousy ricocheting through him at the thought of Jack Harkness. He'd been the Doctor's lover, and he sounded like some kind of invincible superman at times.

How could a vampire compete with someone like that? But it wasn't a competition, Mick reminded himself sternly. Just as Josef was in his past, so was Jack in the Doctor's. They had both moved on, and they had no reason to want to step away from what they had now.

Could the Doctor possibly feel that little twinge of jealousy whenever he mentioned Josef? If he could feel that way about Jack, Mick supposed anything was possible. The Doctor wasn't immune to emotions, after all -- and jealousy could be a major motivator.

No, the Doctor couldn't be jealous. He tried not to talk about Josef and his past very much -- and if he did bring up the subject, then he always let the Doctor talk about his own past, as well. The two of them had nothing to hide from each other.

Taking out his cell phone, Mick looked at it resting in his hand, wondering if he should call Josef. He didn't want his friend to think that he was one of the many who were just gone, disappearing from his life without a goodbye or a backward glance.

He flipped the phone open, going to his list of contacts and scrolling to Josef's name. What time was it on Earth? Should he call the other man? Or should he wait -- and then possibly not do it at all? He wasn't sure what was best at this point.

Closing his eyes, he pressed the button that would connect him to Josef. He wasn't going to simply be gone from anyone's life, especially not someone who had been such a big part of his past. He would keep those connections -- even if the timing might be a little inconvenient.

***