Title: State of Independence
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Tenth Doctor/Bob Melnikov
Fandom: Doctor Who/ReGenesis
Rating: PG
Table: 5, sound_of_drums
Prompt: 23, Independent
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the Tenth Doctor or Bob Melnikov. Please do not sue.

***

As they walked along towards the Tardis, the Doctor couldn't help sneaking surreptitious looks at Bob. This man seemed to grow more attractive with every minute, and he couldn't help wondering if Bob felt the same way about him.

But he was in love with this man named David, the Doctor thought with an inward frown. He couldn't have the same sort of feelings for someone else -- and besides, they'd just met. Bob didn't seem like the sort of man to transfer affection quickly or easily.

It would remain to be seen just what he thought of the Tardis. And if he would be willing to go on a trip -- just one trip, as he told all of his companions -- and then decide for himself whether or not he'd like to stay on a more permanent basis.

From what he could tell, Bob was the sort of man who would find the lure of time and space hard to resist. He was a scientist, after all; he could see and discover so much with the the Doctor that he would never even dream of here on Earth.

But at the same time, he had friends, a job, things that would tie him to his home, the Doctor thought with a sigh. And ultimately, it would be Bob's decision to make, not his.

Ah, the Tardis was sitting there at the end of the street, looking a bit out of place in this world he loved spending time in. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Bob frown when he saw the ship; he was probably wondering what something so odd was doing there.

"I don't remember ever seeing a police call box there before," Bob said softly, frowning as though he was going over something in his mind. "I pass by that corner every day, and I've never seen one. That's really strange. I usually notice things like that."

"That's my .... my home," the Doctor murmured, suddenly unsure as to how he would explain all this to Bob -- and get the other man to believe him. He hesitated to use the word "ship" -- that might send Bob running in the other direction as fast as he could go.

"Your home?" Bob asked, a look of incredulity on his face. "No one can live in one of those. You couldn't even move around in it!" He looked over at the Doctor with wide eyes, shaking his head. "No, really. That's a good joke, but you can't expect me to believe that."

The Doctor smiled, moving closer to the other man and taking Bob's hand. He was gratified when, after a moment, those long, slender fingers seemed to curl around his own.

"You'll see what I mean in a few minutes," he said softly, nodding his head towards the ship. "It's bigger on the inside, really." How many times had he said that to people? And would this man believe him any more than others had before they'd stepped into the Tardis?

Bob shook his head, a frown forming between his brows. "That's not possible. It might seem like it's bigger if there's just an empty space inside and nothing but darkness, because your sense might tell you that it's a larger space than it actually is. But it can't be bigger than it is on the outside."

"You'll see." The Doctor said no more than that as he stopped in front of the Tardis and put a hand on the door. "She's called the Tardis. It stands for Time and Relative Dimension in Space. Once you step inside her, you'll understand what that means."

"Space?" Bob looked confused, the frown deepening. "Are you saying this police box warps the laws of space? Is that why you think it's bigger on the inside than it actually is?" He looked thoroughly puzzled, and the Doctor couldn't help smiling at his expression.

"She's a ship, Bob." It was the only way he knew how to explain what he meant -- by telling Bob the truth. "She travels through the galaxy, through time and space."

Bob opened his mouth, then closed it again, as though he couldn't think of anything to say. He looked the Tardis up and down, but he didn't step closer to her. But he didn't back away either, and that gave the Doctor hope that he wouldn't turn and walk away.

"One trip in her," the Doctor said, offering Bob the same thing that he told anyone who he considered to be a prospective companion. "Only one. And then I'll bring you back to Earth, if you want me to. But I can only promise you one little adventure."

"You must be insane," Bob muttered, shaking his head and shoving his hands into his pockets. "Or I'm insane, walking into this. Like everybody says I am. This is proof that I'm stark raving crazy." But he still didn't back away; he merely stood there, staring at the door of the ship.

"You don't have to come with me if you don't want to," the Doctor said softly, his eyes on Bob's face. "I'm not going to force you, if that's what you're worried about. But if you don't, you could be missing out on the chance of a lifetime, to see things you've never even dreamed of."

Bob looked from the ship back to the Doctor, as though he was weighing the situation in his mind. Then he took a step forward -- and another, until he was right by the door.

"I've always felt like I should do what other people advised me to do," he murmured, reaching out a hand to rest it on the wood of the Tardis' structure. "I've never really let myself be independent. But maybe it's about time I did -- even though everybody I know would tell me this is crazy."

"It's not crazy," the Doctor told him, his voice still soft and a little husky. Did people try to hold this man back because he suffered from Asperger's? If so, that was a shame. Bob was obviously intelligent, even if he did have some problems that some people might not be able to see past.

"David .... always tells me that I should do more," Bob said, turning back towards the Doctor. "But then in almost the same breath, he says that I'm not good with new things. Even if they're things I want to do. He thinks I can't function properly outside of the lab. But he's wrong."

"Of course he is." The Time Lord felt a surge of anger sweeping through him; it seemed that this David person encouraged Bob and beckoned him forward with one hand, while at the same time he held this man back with the other. It didn't seem right.

"Consider this a declaration of your state of independence," he said as he stepped back from the Tardis door, letting Bob make the choice to enter the ship ahead of him -- or not.

After a moment's hesitation, Bob took another step towards the door, pulling it open and looking inside cautiously before taking a step into the ship. The Doctor could hear a startled gasp, a sound that brought a wry smile to his lips.

That was everyone's first impression, wasn't it? That they couldn't possibly be seeing what was before their eyes. Bob was no different from other humans in that respect, but since he was scientist, he would be able to understand the concept of the Tardis much more readily than some.

It would be refreshing to have someone of Bob's mental caliber for a companion, the Doctor thought to himself. Someone who would be able to grasp concepts that most humans found impossibly complex, someone who could see the universe in a scientific way.

That was, if Bob chose to come with him after the initial trip. The Time Lord sighed, following the other man into the interior of the ship and closing the door. He had no idea what Bob might decide to do, and he wasn't going to push the other man into staying if he seemed reluctant to do so.

All he could do was hope that Bob would want to stay, he thought as he made his way up the shallow flight of steps to stand beside the other man. Taking a deep breath, he looked over at Bob, wondering what he might be able to read on those handsome features.

What he saw made the smile on his face broaden into a grin. Bob certainly didn't look hesitant about what he was seeing; he was looking around him with a kind of awe, a light in his eyes that not many people had the first time they saw the interior of his ship.

Turning to the Time Lord, Bob breathed a few words, his wide eyes meeting the Doctor's, an excited tone in his voice that the Gallifreyan hadn't often heard. "How soon can we leave?"

"Right away, if that's what you want," the Doctor told him, not resisting the urge to laugh. "If you're sure that you're ready to go now." He wasn't sure that would be the case; humans usually weren't ready to take off into time and space at a moment's notice.

"I am! I'm ready!" Bob was almost jumping up and down; he was like the proverbial kid in a candy shop, the Doctor thought to himself, feeling lighthearted and exhilarated himself. It was going to be marvelous to have this man for a companion; he could feel it already.

"You might want to know something about me first," the Doctor told him, taking Bob's arm and leading him over to the couch at the side of the control room. "By the time you know a bit about who and what I am, you might not want to spend your time with me."

"I don't think finding out more about you could change my mind," Bob told him, his voice a little husky. "I think I'd have come with you even if my better judgement told me not to. There's just .... something about you. And I feel like I can trust you."

"You can," the Doctor told him, taking both of Bob's hands in his. "Just think of me as the man who's helping you to declare that state of independence I mentioned."

Taking a deep breath, he began to talk, knowing that once he had told Bob everything he might need to know, there might be a very good chance that the other man might decide that he wasn't ready to declare his independence after all.

But that was a risk worth taking. He had to lay all the facts in front of Bob, to let him know exactly what he was getting into -- or at least to let him know just who he would be traveling with. It was more than he usually told people, but somehow, he felt that this man needed to know.

And with any luck, he'd be able to find out more about Bob in the days to come. Maybe they would have more than just a few days; maybe Bob would decide to stay with him. He would have to leave that up to the man sitting next to him -- and hope that the ultimate decision would be the one he wanted to hear.

***