Title: Search and Destroy
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Tenth Doctor/Josef Kostan
Fandom: Doctor Who/Moonlight
Rating: PG-13
Table: 100_situations
Prompt: 98, Destroy
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 Josef Kostan, unfortunately. Please do not sue.

***

The Doctor took a deep breath, not quite sure of what he should say to this young man -- no, this vampire -- who was standing in front of him with his head tilted to the side, obviously waiting for some great revelation to come from him.

"I'm a time traveler," he finally said, keeping his gaze fixed on Josef's face. "I'm an alien. I'm from a planet called Gallifrey -- a planet that I had to destroy in the Time Wars. I'm a Time Lord, Josef. I travel in time and space, in a ship called the Tardis."

Josef's eyes widened slightly, but other than that, he didn't say anything, or even give the Doctor any sort of indication that he believed -- or didn't believe -- what he was hearing. After a few moments, he nodded his head slowly, as though he was musing on the Time Lord's words.

"All right," he said, his voice soft. "I'll buy that. It's not entirely impossible, is it? I mean, if you can believe that I'm a vampire without seeing any proof -- and believe me, I don't think you want to see it right now -- then I can believe that you're an alien."

"Ah, but I can show you proof," the Doctor told him, holding up a hand to stop the flow of words. "I can take you to the Tardis right now. I can take you on a trip out into time and space. I can prove to you that everything I'm saying is the absolute truth."

Josef smiled, his eyes twinkling with what might have been warmth -- or amusement. "Okay, Doctor," he said, his voice still soft, his tone still somewhat cynical. "Let's see this ship of yours. I'm interested in finding out if you're telling the truth, or just giving me a line."

"Why would I give you that kind of a line, if I wanted to reel you in?" the Doctor asked with a shrug. "You have to admit, being a vampire is something that a lot of people would look at as being 'romantic.' Being an alien time traveler? Not so much."

"I guess you're right," Josef said with a laugh, inclining his head. "So, are you going to take me to this ship of yours? I'm all intrigued now. I want to see if you really are what you say you are. Even though I don't think you've got much of a reason to lie."

"I don't," the Doctor told him cheerfully. "And somehow, I don't think I have a reason to be afraid of you. You might drink human blood for sustenance, and you might take it straight from someone's neck -- but I don't think you're an indiscriminate killer."

"I'm not," Josef murmured, his voice suddenly much softer than it had been. "I was when I was first turned, but I was a different person then. I've mellowed over four centuries of living. But I've done my share of what you might call indiscriminate killing -- when I had to survive."

"No one who kills for their own survival can be blamed for it," the Doctor said softly, wanting to reach out and take Josef's hand, but hesitating to do so. "There's a huge difference between killing just because you want to, and killing because you've been driven to it."

"I wish everybody could understand that." Josef's voice was a little hoarse, and he had to clear his throat before he could speak again. "Most people would want to immediately destroy me once they found out what I am. You're refreshingly different."

"But a lot of people would also think, as you said, that what you are is romantic and alluring," the Doctor pointed out. "I don't know if I lean in that direction, but being a vampire is certainly .... well, interesting. I don't believe I've ever been friends with one before."

"Really? So you've met vampires before?" Josef asked with a smile, his brows lifting in question. "Don't answer that," he added, holding up a hand. "I don't really want to know. If you have, then you might have a bad impression of what I am."

"I might have a bad impression of vampires in general, but I wouldn't let that extend to my personal opinion of you," the Doctor protested, shaking his head. "I try never to lump one person into a category. Everyone isn't the same -- vampires, humans, or otherwise."

"It's a shame that more people don't have that outlook," Josef said, a bitter edge to his voice. "Most of the humans I've met -- the ones who don't think vampires are romantic, that is -- would stake me first, and ask any questions they might have later. Much later."

"I think nearly anyone would do that, given the myths that have sprung up around your race," the Doctor ventured, wondering where that bitterness had come from. Did Josef not want to be a vampire? Did he hate his life? Did he hate what he was?

That didn't seem to make sense, he told himself, casting a glance at the other man. Josef didn't seem to be the sort of person who would hate the life he led, or hate anything about himself, for that matter. So where had that sudden dissatisfaction come from?

Maybe he would have a chance to find out about that later, the Doctor told himself. After all, even though Josef was a vampire, this young man intrigued him. He wanted the chance to take Josef on at least one trip out into the stars -- and maybe more than that.

"I've met way too many people in my life who wanted to do a search and destroy on me," Josef told him, shrugging as he spoke. That nonchalant shrug might have been meant to cover up the bitterness that had leaked through into his words, but the Doctor wasn't fooled.

"I'm not one of them," he said, his voice firm. "Even if I was a little afraid of you -- which I'm not, because you haven't attacked me, and you've been honest about yourself -- I wouldn't want to destroy you. I'd want to find out why and how you became what you are."

"That's a long story," Josef said with a sigh, glancing at the Doctor and shoving his hands into his pockets. "It'd take a long time to tell -- but hey, if you're a time traveler and can go through time and space, you've probably got a lot of time on your hands, don't you?"

"You'd be surprised at how much time I have," the Doctor told him, laughing. "In fact, I've got nothing but time. I'd be glad to hear your story, Josef. I could tell you mine, as well -- that is, if you decide that you're interested in hearing it."

"I'd like to find out what an alien is doing here on Earth," Josef said with a lift of his eyebrows. That small smile on his lips told the Doctor that this young man still didn't quite believe that he was what he said he was -- but Josef would soon find out the truth of that.

"You'll find out once you've known me for a while," he told Josef, glancing at the other man again. "As it happens, my mother was human. So I have more than a passing interest in your race -- even though I was born on Gallifrey, and I consider myself Gallifreyan."

"Half human, hmmm?" Josef looked interested at the Doctor's words, stopping in his tracks and turning to the Time Lord. "I'm learning more and more about you every minute, Doctor. And everything I'm hearing just intrigues me more."

"Rest assured that I'm not one of those people who would try to destroy you, Josef." The Doctor felt that he had to say those words, just to reassure the man beside him. "I've had far too many people try to do the same to me. I know what that's like."

Josef nodded, taking a deep breath. "I felt that," he murmured, his voice very soft. "I don't know why, but it was like I could tell when we first started talking that you were somebody who could understand part of what it's like to be an outcast from the world you live in."

"Oh, I know that feeling all too well," the Doctor sighed, suppressing a shudder. "I felt like that through most of my childhood." He shook his head, pushing the memories away as he turned to look at Josef. "But I don't think that's what you were talking about."

The other man laughed, shaking his head. "No, not exactly," he said, raising an eyebrow. "I wasn't turned until I was in my twenties. But I'm guessing that you haven't exactly felt at home in your own skin for most of your life, not just when you were young."

"You would be right about that," the Doctor told him. "Oh, turn left here," he added as they approached the corner. "The Tardis is at the end of this block. I think she's fairly well hidden, but I've found that people in Los Angeles don't look at their surroundings very much."

"So I take it that this ship isn't something that people are going to notice?" Josef sounded incredulous, as though he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "If I saw a spaceship in the middle of this city, I'd know what it was, alright. And I'd be curious about it."

"The Tardis may not be quite what you expect, Josef," the Doctor told him, grinning. "In fact, she may just destroy every preconception you've ever had of what a ship should be. She's something completely unique -- especially as Gallifrey doesn't exist any more."

"Oh, really?" Josef raised an eyebrow, his interest obviously piqued once more. "Then lead on, Doctor, and show me what this amazing ship of yours is like." He followed the Doctor down the street, their steps more rapid, both of them wondering just what the future might hold.

***