Title: World Goes Round
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Tenth Doctor/Ten.5
Fandom: Doctor Who
Rating: PG-13
Table: 6, 50ficlets
Prompt: 3, Earth
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 sighed as he leaned back into the Doctor's arms, closing his eyes and letting himself relax in his lover's embrace. "I should feel more of a connection to Earth, shouldn't I?" he sighed, shaking his head. "I wish I could, but it's just not there."

"Why do you feel that you should have some special connection to Earth, sweetheart?" the Doctor asked, running a gentle hand through Jamie's hair. "It's not as though you've spent a lot of time there. I don't blame you for not feeling connected to that planet."

"I should, because ...." Jamie's words trailed off; he wasn't exactly sure how to put everything that he was feeling at the moment into words. "Because I'm human," he finally said, the last word coming out on a sigh. "And because I have your memories."

"Just because you have my memories of Earth doesn't mean that you yourself should feel as though you fit in here," the Doctor pointed out. "There are a lot of humans who think they don't fit in on this planet. It's not all that strange that you would feel the same way."

"It's not just that." Jamie groped for an explanation, not sure how to express his inner feelings. "It's that you're half-human, too. I feel that there's so much human in me -- not just because of my body, but from being a part of you -- that I should be connected to Earth somehow."

The Doctor shook his head slowly, a frown forming between his brows. "I don't agree with you, Jamie," he said slowly, as though he was choosing his words carefully before he spoke. "I didn't feel all that much at home on Gallifrey for most of my life, you know."

"That's because you were so different from the rest of them," Jamie told him, wishing that he had been there to help the Doctor through those difficult years of his life. "They were all so xenophobic, so sure that they were better than others. You were better than them."

"Well, they wouldn't have thought so." The Doctor laughed, the sound somewhere between cynicism and bitterness. "I was always the outcast, the rebel. But you have my memories, love. You know how being the scapegoat felt, from day one."

"It's no wonder that you felt such a connection to Earth, as close as you were to your mother," Jamie said softly, wondering if he was saying the right thing by bringing up that subject. The Doctor could become sad and withdrawn when he talked of his human half.

"I think she was the one who gave me such an interest in other species on other planets," the Doctor said, his tone musing and thoughtful. "And I've always been grateful to her for that. I wish that she could have known you, love. You'd have loved her."

"I do," Jamie whispered, raising a hand to stroke gentle fingertips down the Doctor's cheek. "You forget -- I have your memories of her in my mind, and in my heart. I know her -- not as well as you did, obviously, but she's still a part of the memories in my head."

The Doctor nodded, blinking rapidly as if he was trying to push back tears. Jamie closed his eyes, resting his head on his lover's shoulder, realizing as he did so that it didn't really matter whether he felt at peace on Earth or not. He didn't need a connection with one particular planet.

The only person he needed a connection to was the Doctor, the only place that he needed to feel he belonged in was the Tardis. Every other place in the world was just somewhere for him to visit; his home was here, in this ship, with this man.

His human body didn't connect him to Earth; memories would do that, people and places that he had felt a kinship with, things that he was a part of. And he didn't have that, not with Earth. He probably never would -- and that didn't matter to him.

The world that called itself Earth would go round, spinning on its axis. And it could turn without him feeling that he had to be a part of it. He was here with the Doctor, in the place he belonged, the place that he did feel a connection with. The only place he needed -- or wanted -- to be.

Closing his eyes, he snuggled closer to the Time Lord, listening to those dual heartbeats beneath his ear. This was the only connection that was important to him -- the one that made him happy, and the one he wanted to hold on to, not only for the rest of his life, but for all of eternity.

***