Title: Love Like Blood
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Tenth Doctor/Jethro Cane
Fandom: Doctor Who
Rating: R
Table: 50ficlets
Prompt: 10, Blood
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 Jethro Cane. Please do not sue.

***

Jethro pulled back the covers and slipped into bed beside the Doctor, frowning as he reached over to plump up the pillows. He wanted the Time Lord to be as comfortable as possible after what he'd so recently been through.

He'd been terrified when he'd been in the midst of the fight that had felled the Doctor, unable to reach the man he loved, to come to his rescue. Though once the Doctor had fallen, his enemies seemed to lose interest, leaving the two of them to whatever might happen.

He had managed to get the Doctor back to the Tardis, carrying the other man to the ship, though each step had been a struggle.

The Doctor had come to once Jethro had collapsed on the couch in the control room, opening his eyes and whispering hoarsely, telling his young lover that it was merely a flesh wound and that it was nothing to worry about.

Jethro hadn't believed him at first -- when that spear had grazed the Doctor's side and torn through his clothes, there had been so much blood. He'd been sure that the weapon had hit some internal organ, that the Doctor would bleed to death before his eyes.

Fortunately, the blood had nearly stopped flowing by the time that he'd made it back to the Tardis with his precious burden. He'd forgotten that the Doctor's body had the capability of some self-healing; all he'd been able to think about was the possibility of losing his lover.

The Doctor had assured him that he would be all right, and that being in the Tardis would help to speed his recovery, telling him over and over again that there was no need to fear.

Still, it had been hard to swallow that terror when he'd pulled the Doctor's tattered jacket and shirt aside and seen the ugly scar across his pale skin, the blood welling from it. But the Time Lord was right; it was already starting to heal.

Jethro could only thank whatever deities existed that the Doctor's body was so resilient; if this man had been human, he was sure that his love would have already been lost to him. Maybe there were perks to being an alien ....

He closed his eyes, settling down in their bed and gathering the sleeping Time Lord carefully into his arms. He didn't want to wake the Doctor; even though the other man had told him that he wouldn't need much rest to recuperate, Jethro intended to make sure that he did rest.

At the moment, all he wanted to do was to sleep himself, and try to forget the horror that had paralyzed him when he'd seen the Doctor fall.

It had looked like so much blood .... all he'd been able to focus on was the fact that the Doctor was bleeding, that the man he loved might be suddenly taken away from him. That thought had rendered him helpless, unable to do or say anything, trapped within his own fears.

He'd known that the Doctor would heal quickly, but there had been a part of him that had held on to the childish impression that the Doctor didn't bleed, that he couldn't be hurt. That part of his belief had died a lingering death.

Seeing the Doctor go down under the onslaught of that attack, with nothing to defend himself with, had driven home the fact that his lover could be taken from him at any time that they happened to run into something like this. It was a terrifying realization.

They had been incredibly lucky that the Doctor's attackers in this primitive world had thought that their victim wouldn't rise again, and had walked away and left them alone. If they hadn't -- then the Doctor might very well have perished.

Or he might have had to regenerate. Jethro shuddered at the thought; he didn't want that to happen for a very, very long time -- if ever.

If it did, then they would have to deal with it -- but that would open up a whole new world of fears for him. What would the Doctor be like in a different body? Would he be the same man, or a different one? The same emotions, the same person, only with a different face and body?

Jethro hoped he would never have to find out. The thought of losing the Doctor in that way was even more frightening than the idea of losing him to a final death. He didn't think that he could bear to see his lover change into someone else.

Another thought occurred to him, sending another shiver through his body. Would there be blood when the Doctor regenerated, if he was around to see it? He was definitely starting to develop a serious distaste for anything involving even the thought of bleeding.

It was unsettling to see his lover bleed. Not just unsettling -- it was utterly terrifying. It broke into his comfort zone, made him realize that the Doctor wasn't all-powerful.

Not that he'd ever thought that, Jethro told himself with a frown. But he had to start realizing that his lover wasn't infallible -- and he had to accept the fact that his love could bleed and needed to be looked after more carefully.

With a sigh, he settled down into bed next to the Doctor, clasping the other man to him and closing his eyes He needed to sleep, too -- and he hoped that there would be no blood in his dreams to send him screaming out of slumber and back to reality.

***