Title: I See Red
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Tenth Doctor/Owen Harper
Fandom: Doctor Who/Torchwood
Rating: PG-13
Table: VRD challenge - Red, 5_prompts
Prompt: Seeing red
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 Owen Harper, unfortunately. Please do not sue.

***

Owen looked at himself in the mirror, turning to one side and then the other, studying his image critically. Maybe a bathroom mirror wasn't the best place to examine how he looked, but it was the only thing available at the moment.

What did it matter how he looked, anyway? he asked himself with a grin. He already had the person he wanted in his life. The Doctor knew how he looked, and apparently liked what he saw. What other people thought didn't matter in the slightest.

Satisfied with how he looked, the young man headed out of the bathroom, pushing the door open and making his way back to the bar where the Doctor was waiting for him. He'd left the Time Lord standing at the bar, knowing that he would be back in a few minutes.

Owen stopped at the end of the hallway, his eyes widening. There was a crush of people in the bar now; certainly it couldn't have filled up like this in less than ten minutes? But apparently it had; interstellar bars were obviously different from human ones.

Oh, well, it shouldn't be too hard to find the Doctor, as long as the Time Lord had stayed at the bar. He was easy to spot; no one could miss that tall, lanky frame, even if he wasn't wearing his usual buttoned-down pinstriped suit.

Owen had to laugh inwardly at that thought; the Doctor didn't seem to mind wearing clothes other than that suit when they were alone on the Tardis, but when they went out, it was almost like a uniform. He'd had a hard time convincing his lover to wear jeans and a t-shirt.

He'd spotted the Doctor through the crowd; pushing past a knot of people in front of him, Owen began to make his way to the bar, to take his place beside his lover. But it was harder pushing through the crowd than he'd at first anticipated.

Still, he was determined to get back to the Doctor's side as quickly as possible. As he pushed through the last few people, Owen stopped in his tracks as his eyes fell on the Time Lord -- and the man who was now standing beside him.

No. It had to be his imagination. No one would dare to touch the Doctor's ass. Owen blinked, trying to convince himself that he hadn't seen what he just thought he did. Surely he was imagining that hand placing itself firmly on his lover's backside.

But no -- he wasn't imagining it. And he wasn't imagining the look of horror on the Doctor's face, either. The Time Lord moved away from the man who was standing beside him, but that hand didn't move; rather, the man who owned it followed the Doctor's movement.

All Owen could see in front of him was a haze of red as he watched. Unless his imagination was working overtime -- and he was fairly well sure that it wasn't -- that man was actually squeezing the Time Lord's bottom, leaning forward to whisper into his ear.

This was going to stop. This was going to stop right now. Owen strode forward, grabbing the offending hand and flinging it aside as he stepped between the unknown man and the Time Lord, turning to his nemesis with a snarl.

"I'm this man's lover," he said, his voice measured and even, but with a menacing undertone. "And I don't take it well when other men touch him. So if you want to touch someone, I suggest you look for a person who's alone and doesn't have a vengeful boyfriend with him."

The other man looked at Owen with wide eyed, then raised his hands and backed away a few paces. "I didn't realise that he was taken," he protested in a blustering voice. "He was standing here alone, and I just assumed --"

"I think you know what assuming can do," Owen snapped, his temper already starting to fray. "It makes an arse out of you. So kindly go finish making an arse of yourself someone else." He slid an arm around the Doctor's waist, pulling the Time Lord close against him.

Turning back to the other man, he uttered a parting threat. "And if I see you anywhere near my boyfriend again, you'll regret the day you laid eyes on either of us." So saying, he turned to the Doctor, leaning forward to press a lingering kiss to the Gallifreyan's lips.

When the two of them finally broke apart from the kiss, both panting slightly, the other man was nowhere to be seen. Owen gave the Doctor a satisfied smile as he reluctantly released his hold on the Time Lord, turning to the bar and ordering a drink.

"What would you like?" he asked, glancing at the Doctor with a raised eyebrow. "Banana daiquiri, I should think?" That seemed to be the Time Lord's favorite drink, but he thought that it was only polite to ask, just in case he was in the mood for something different.

The Doctor nodded, a small smile quirking his lips as he looked at his lover. "I don't think I've ever seen you get quite so .... vehement before," he murmured, glancing towards the door. "You certainly knew how to take care of that little problem."

"I don't like other men touching my boyfriend," Owen told him, moving closer to the Time Lord and sliding a protective arm around his waist again. "When I saw him touch your arse, I -- well, I literally saw red. I think I'd have challenged him to a fight if he hadn't left."

"I'd see red if another man touched you, too," the Doctor said, his gaze locking with Owen's. "Thank you, sweetheart. It's nice to know that I'm so well protected. And that I have a boyfriend who's willing to go to the wall for me if need be."

"Any time," Owen responded, his voice soft and husky. The bartender handed the two men their drinks; turning to each other, they clinked glasses before they each took a drink, their gazes meeting over the rims of the glasses in silent anticipation of what the evening could yet bring.

***