Title: Healing Old Wounds
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Tenth Doctor/Ross Jenkins
Fandom: Doctor Who
Rating: PG-13
Table: 4, 50ficlets
Prompt: 21, Wounds
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 Ross Jenkins, just borrowing them for a while. Please do not sue.

***

"Doctor, are you all right?" Ross gasped as the two of them stumbled into the Tardis and slammed the door behind them, locking it securely. He helped the Doctor limp up the few steps to the control room, looking anxiously at his lover.

The Doctor nodded, taking a deep breath as Ross lowered him to the chair that he usually occupied in front of the viewscreen. "I'll be fine, Ross," he said, his voice trembling slightly. "A Time Lord body is resilient. I'm more worried about you than I am about myself."

"That was close," Ross said, throwing a worried look towards the door of the ship. "Shouldn't we be getting out of here as quickly as we can?" He was surprised that the Doctor had allowed himself to sit down before taking care of something that important.

"We're already out of there, Ross," the Time Lord told him, nodding towards the console. "The Tardis knew as soon as we burst through the door that something was wrong. And she's intelligent enough to take us out of the path of danger."

Ross let out a sigh of relief; he didn't know just what those scaly, almost raptor-like creatures were that had come after them, but after the horns of one had nearly gored the Doctor's leg, he didn't want to go back to find out more about them.

"Can you walk, Doctor?" he asked, looking worriedly at the Time Lord's ankle. The Doctor hadn't been gored, thank goodness, but that glittering horn had scraped against his leg, tearing his trousers and drawing blood. "Do we need to find a hospital?"

"Of course not!" The Doctor looked at him wide-eyed, shaking his head. "Ross, you know I'll be fine. It's just a scratch, love. And I've seen those creatures before -- their horns aren't poisonous, or anything like that. I'll just limp for a day or so, that's all."

"I know you don't think I need to worry," Ross said with a sigh, "but I can't help it. When I see you get hurt, it's one of the scariest moments of my life. I could deal with being wounded myself a lot more easily than having anything happen to you, Doctor."

"And I don't want to see anything happen to you, either, my love," the Doctor whispered, his gaze meeting Ross' eyes and not looking away. "There are still times when I wonder if I did the right thing by going back in my timeline to save you."

Ross blinked, feeling unwanted tears of frustration rise behind his eyes. "Of course you did!" he managed to say, hoping that he didn't sound upset. "If you hadn't, then I'd be .... well, I'd be dead, at least in another timeline. And you wouldn't have a companion."

"You've healed old wounds for me, Ross," the Time Lord told him, surprising the young man with those words. "Having you here has given me closure in so many ways -- and it's given me a new lease on life. It's pushed away so much loneliness."

Ross bowed his head, wishing that he had an answer for that. All he could think was that he was grateful to be here, more so than he could ever begin to put into mere words. The Doctor had to know that; he could read minds, after all.

"You've healed some wounds that I didn't even know I had," he whispered, not looking at the Time Lord. "I don't think I ever realized how lonely I was before you came into my life. And how much I wanted wot be with somebody and not have to hide who I really am."

"I'm glad that we could do that for each other, love," the Doctor told him his voice soft and gentle. "And I don't doubt that we'll keep healing those wounds. Things like that take a long time to heal completely, you know. I've learned that from experience."

"I'll always be here to heal any wounds that you have," Ross told him, kneeling at his feet and reaching for the Doctor's ankle. "I want to see how badly you got scraped, Doctor," he protested when the Time Lord seemed about to jerk his leg away.

The other man relaxed, letting Ross lift the hem of his trousers to see the scratch along his ankle. It didn't look too bad, Ross thought, feeling relieved as he looked up at the Doctor. "You're right -- it's just a little scratch," he murmured, taking a deep breath.

"I told you so," the Doctor said with a smile. "Now, why don't you help me along to the infirmary, and you can tend to that wound?" He let Ross help him to his feet, then leaned over to whisper into the young man's ear. "And then you can take me to the bedroom -- and search for other wounds."

"Oh, I won't mind doing that at all," Ross informed the Time Lord, returning the smile and feeling his heart lighten. The Doctor was all right, and they were headed away from that planet. Ross hoped that they wouldn't have to see it again for a long, long time to come -- if ever.

***