Title: Careless Whisper
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Tenth Doctor/Ross Jenkins
Fandom: Doctor Who
Rating: PG-13
Table: 4, 50ficlets
Prompt: 42, Whisper
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 paced back and forth across the control room of the Tardis, his teeth digging into his lower lip. He couldn't sit still; he couldn't concentrate on anything for longer than a few seconds, if that. He'd been this way ever since they'd gotten to Cardiff.

The Doctor was out in the Hub now, talking with Jack Harkness. With the man he used to be in love with, the man who he had thought would spend forever with him. The Doctor was with someone who had once held both of his hearts in the palm of his hand.

And Ross was terrified of what they might be saying to each other. He had the definite feeling that Jack didn't like him; well, maybe he didn't dislike Ross, but he obviously thought that the young man wasn't the person who should be the Doctor's companion.

He obviously knew that they were lovers, too, Ross told himself bitterly. The Doctor hadn't exactly hidden the fact that they were sharing a bedroom, and Jack was intelligent enough to put two and two together and come up with the requisite number.

Ross hadn't been able to miss the shrewd glances that Jack had thrown his way any time that the Doctor had rested his arm over Ross' shoulders, or slipped it around his waist. It had been very obvious that the two of them were very intimately acquainted.

He'd gotten the distinct impression that Jack wasn't thrilled with the state of things as they were. And he had no doubt that the immortal was, even now, trying to convince the Doctor that he'd made a mistake by taking Ross on as not only a companion, but a lover as well.

Should he be so worried? he asked himself, trying to calm his racing thoughts. The Doctor wasn't the sort of man who would let anyone else made his decisions for him; he'd made up his mind long ago that he had done the right thing in going back into the past to save Ross' life.

But could Jack talk out of that decision, make him feel that their whole relationship was a mistake? And if he did, then what would be the ultimate fate that Ross would have to deal with? He knew that he'd more than likely have to leave the Doctor if Jack had his way.

He couldn't do that, Ross told himself, feeling the beginnings of panic start to spiral within him. He wasn't going to leave the man he loved, not without a fight. If Jack Harkness thought that he could toss out a careless whisper to the Doctor and get rid of Ross, he had better think again.

Jack was whispering to the Time Lord now; Ross was sure of it. He wanted more than anything to leave the Tardis and go out into the Hub, to hear what was being said, to get into the middle of the conversation and negate anything that the immortal might say about him.

Ross sighed softly, leaning against the console and closing his eyes. He had no right to do that. The Time Lord had to be allowed to make his own decisions about who he wanted with him -- and if Jack influenced him that much, then he wasn't the man Ross thought he was.

His head jerked up as the Doctor entered the Tardis and closed the door behind him, then bounded up the steps to stand at the console beside Ross, a smile on his face and an expectant air about him. Slowly, Ross turned to face him, feeling tense and nervous.

"Are you ready to go?" the Doctor asked, and Ross could feel his heart sinking to his knees. The Doctor looked as though nothing was wrong, that Jack hadn't said anything to him, but Ross couldn't be sure of that unless he heard the words from the Time Lord's lips.

"What did he say to you?" the young man burst out, his voice trembling. "I know he doesn't want me with you. I know that he was whispering to you about something when I was in the room, before I came to the Tardis. What did he say? Did he convince you to let me go?"

"What?" The Doctor looked surprised, then upset. "No, Ross, it was nothing like that! Jack whispered to me because he didn't want you to know that he thinks you're very attractive, and that I've made a good choice in the person I've decided to be with."

"He said that?" Ross couldn't have been more dumbfounded if the Doctor had suddenly grown two heads and barked like a dog. Of all the things he'd expected, this definitely wasn't one of them. "He thinks I should be with you? That's what he was whispering about?"

"Yes!" the Time Lord told him, sounding pleased. "And now, it's time we left here and took ourselves off to a place where we can enjoy ourselves. And, as Jack said, where we can hopefully manage to keep out of trouble for more than five minutes!"

Ross couldn't help laughing at the Doctor's words as they dissipated the last of his doubts about what Jack might have said to him. It didn't matter what the other man might whisper into his lover's ear. He was the one who was here, with the Time Lord, and to Ross, nothing else really mattered.

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