Title: Service
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Tenth Doctor/Ross Jenkins
Fandom: Doctor Who
Rating: PG-13
Table: 4, 50ficlets
Prompt: 26, Serve
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.

***

Ross lay back in bed, blinking in the dim light of the room. He'd already gotten used to being here on the Tardis; there was no longer a feeling of disorientation when he first woke up. This place felt more like home than anywhere else he'd lived.

The Tardis felt more like home than the house he'd grown up in, even though he had fond memories of that time in his life. His family hadn't been overly close, but he'd known that he was loved, and that had been the most important thing.

It was definitely more like home than the barracks he'd lived in when he was a member of UNIT. He hadn't particularly enjoyed that, even though he'd accepted it as part of a military life. It was what he'd chosen to do, and he couldn't back out of it at that point.

He'd gotten along well with his roommate, though he hadn't been able to share everything about himself with anyone he'd known when he was a member of the military. He hadn't really trusted them to accept him once they knew that he fancied men.

Of course, there had probably been a lot of other men there who had the same feelings that he did, Ross told himself with an inward sigh. But he hadn't really wanted to find them. He'd somehow known that his heart was held in reserve.

So many of them had been completely gung-ho about serving in the military; he'd never felt that way. He hadn't enjoyed frightening people, strutting about acting as though he was somehow superior to civilians because he had military training.

He'd been there to protect and serve the general public, but Ross had still seen himself as one of them. He didn't think he was above them simply because he was in the military; he didn't give himself any airs and graces above anyone else.

But he'd seen so many members of UNIT who did just that; so many of them seemed to think that being in the military gave them the right to push people around, to use force to get what they wanted, and to make threats to make themselves look powerful.

It was one of the things he'd hated about the military, and one of the reasons that he'd been glad to leave with the Doctor. Not everyone had been like that, of course, but there was enough corruption around him to make him feel that he hadn't chosen the right path.

Now, he could put all of that behind him -- though he had to admit that a part of him would still like to go back to Earth and expose some of the people he'd known during his time in the military for what they were, even if he was sure that no one would believe him.

Even the people he had served and protected probably wouldn't believe him. Most of them seemed to want to see the military as somehow being better than them; he didn't want people to think that about him, but some of them probably did.

That opened the door to a lot of corruption amongst the military, and Ross was glad he was out of that life. Besides, he had someone much more important to him to serve now -- though the Doctor probably wouldn't look at it in that way.

The Doctor wouldn't say that Ross served him. Rather, he would say that the two of them served the entire universe in any way that they could, helping where it was needed. He would never think that Ross was there to serve him in any way.

He really didn't see his role in the Doctor's life in that capacity -- other than when they were in some sort of bad situation where the Time Lord needed help. He wasn't there to serve, not really. Just there to help the Doctor in any way he could.

Well, really, wasn't that the definition of service? he asked himself with a wry smile. He really did serve the Doctor, if he only looked at his presence here in that way. But then, he wasn't here just to be a companion who helped the Time Lord.

He was here because the Doctor wanted him here -- and he was much more than merely a companion, as the Doctor had told him several times. The Doctor loved him; he was here more because of that love than for any other reason.

Ross smiled at the thought, looking down at the man sleeping in his arms. He would gladly serve the Doctor in any capacity he could -- as a companion, as a lover, and in any way that he was needed. And he would consider himself lucky to have the privilege.

After all, this man owned his heart. There was no one else he wanted to be with, no place else that he could possibly want to be, and nothing else he would rather be doing. He was right where he wanted to be -- and where he was sure that he'd always belonged.

***