Title: True Hearts
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Tenth Doctor/Ten.5
Fandom: Doctor Who
Rating: PG-13
Table: 6, 50ficlets
Prompt: 08, Heart
Author's Note: The human version of the Doctor is being referred to as John Smith in this fic, since it's the Doctor's human alias and his clone needed a name.
Author's Note: Spoilers for Journey's End, somewhat. This is an completely alternate take on the ending of Season Four.
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 his human clone. Please do not sue.

***

Jamie placed a hand on his chest, feeling the rhythm of his single heartbeat pounding strong and steady. It still felt strange to him to only be able to feel one heartbeat -- though he really had no idea why it should. After all, he'd always had only the one.

Maybe it was simply because his Time Lord brain expected more, he told himself with a sigh. There was a very good chance that he would never be able to get used to being n a human body; it wasn't something that his mind could easily adapt to.

Having one heart would always seem strange to him, as long as his mind was still that of a Time Lord's. And since he couldn't change his brain into a human one ....Jamie sighed, closing his eyes, leaving his hand on his chest to feel his heartbeat.

He couldn't fault that single human heart of his; it beat strong and true, and there was nothing wrong with it. It was a heart that would always belong to only one man, one person who he had loved from the first moment their eyes had met.

There might only be one heart beating in his chest instead of the two that a Time Lord possessed, and it might always feel strange to him when he pressed his hand to that heartbeat, but he knew one thing about his human heart -- it was true and faithful.

So many people -- even Time Lords -- didn't give their hearts faithfully to one person. He'd seen that so many times among humans; they might say that they loved, but their fickle natures would lead them astray, and their hearts were changeable at best.

He would never be like that. He had no idea what it was about his particular mixture of human and Time Lord emotional makeup that made his heart so steadfast, but he knew that there was no way he would ever forsake the man he loved.

Why was it so easy for others to do so? He'd never really understood that; how could any of the Doctor's former companions, at least those who had left the Time Lord of their own free will, have wanted to do so? How could their hearts have changed so radically?

It didn't really matter though, did it? he asked himself. Those people were a part of the Doctor's past; it had ceased to matter whether their hearts had been true the moment that they had turned their backs and walked out of the Time Lord's life.

He was the one who was here now -- and it was his single human heart that concerned the Doctor. That heart was indeed true to the Time Lord; Jamie was determined that the Doctor would always know Jamie's single human heart belonged to him.

Other races might look at him as being far inferior to the Doctor because he only had one heart -- there were times when he himself had that sort of attitude. But it wasn't true, Jamie told himself fiercely. His heart was stronger than others could possibly know.

His heart could be seen to be fragile and weak because it was housed in a human body -- a body that didn't have a long life span, a body that was prone to all kinds of ailments. But Jamie knew that a human heart could beat more strongly and passionately than anyone could imagine.

And the Doctor's dual hearts were just as true to him as his own were to the Time Lord. There could be no doubt of that; Jamie knew that the Time Lord loved him more passionately and fiercely than he had ever loved anyone in the entirety of his long life.

Their hearts were truer than anyone's -- Jamie was sure of that fact. He could never ask for a more steadfast lover than the Doctor, and he knew the extent of his own devotion to the Time Lord. The two of them were destined, meant to be.

His heart would always belong to the Doctor; even after he had passed on into the next realm, he knew that their hearts would be true to each other. The Doctor would still love him; he had no doubt that he was the love of the Time Lord's long life, and always would be.

And even after he had passed on into the next realm, his love would still hold strong as he waited for his lover to eventually join him. The thought made Jamie smile as he closed his eyes and let himself drift off to sleep, his hand still resting over his strongly beating single heart.

***