Title: Third Time Lucky
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Tenth Doctor/Owen Harper
Fandom: Doctor Who/Torchwood
Rating: PG-13
Table: VRD challenge - Purple, 5_prompts
Prompt: That's a great looking bruise
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.

***

The Doctor turned to Owen as soon as the two of them walked through the door of the Tardis and up the steps to the control room, his fists resting on his narrow hips. "Owen, how could you have done something so utterly stupid?"

His lover turned to him, a scowl forming on his features. It stopped abruptly when Owen winced, raising one hand to his eye. The bruise beneath it was spreading; it already looked painful, and the Doctor was sure that it would take quite a few days to heal.

"What was I supposed to do? Stand there and let some stranger paw you?" he asked indignantly, the scowl still trying to make itself seen on his face. "I let him get away with making passes at you, but when he put his hand on your arse, that was it."

The Doctor sighed, shaking his head. "Owen, I can take care of myself. I wasn't going to let him keep that up, but you didn't give me enough time to do anything about it. I could have simply told him to take his hand off my arse and move away."

"And do you think he'd have listened to you?" Owen demanded, the scowl deepening. He winced again, but his expression didn't change. "Men like that never pay any attention to what their intended victim says. I should know. I used to be one of them."

"You actually behaved like that when you went out to bars?" The astonished expression on the Doctor's face almost made Owen want to laugh. Did his lover really believe that he'd been a perfect little angel when he went out drinking?

"Don't all men?" he countered, not wanting to admit to the Doctor that he'd started fights, and used some pickup lines that he wasn't exactly proud of. The person he'd been then was left in the past. He'd turned over a new leaf since he'd fallen in love with the Time Lord.

The Doctor shook his head, looking bemused. "Well, I don't, but I'm not human. You probably have very different ways of picking up men in bars than I do." He looked thoughtful for a moment, then shook his head again. "But then, maybe that's not so true."

Owen didn't particularly want to get into a discussion of his methods for picking up one-night stands -- after all, that part of his life was over for good, and he had more important things to worry about. Besides, the bruise was starting to hurt. Badly.

"Right now, I'd just like to take care of this." He gestured to his face, a hiss escaping through his teeth as his fingers brushed the bruised skin. "It's not exactly pleasant. My face is starting to feel so stiff that I'm not sure how much longer I'll be able to smile."

"It'll heal," the Doctor told him, a frown appearing between his brows. "You shouldn't have jumped on him, Owen. I knew that he was the kind of person who'd be only too willing to start a fight. I'm just glad that we got out of there with you getting nothing more than a black eye."

Privately, Owen felt the same. He'd misjudged just how badly that drunken man had wanted the Doctor; he hadn't expected a fight. But that was what had ensued, and he knew that he was lucky to have been pulled away before he was beaten to a pulp.

He followed the Doctor as the Time Lord led the way to the infirmary, sitting down in a chair and watching the other man get antiseptic from a cabinet. Closing his eyes, he gave himself up to the Doctor's gentle ministrations, glad that he had someone here to take care of him.

How many times had he gone home with a black eye from some barroom brawl when he'd been living on Earth? Too many to count, Owen thought guiltily. That was something he didn't want to tell the Doctor about; he didn't want to admit that he was used to this.

He was a different person now. The Doctor had turned his life around, much in the same way that his involvement with Torchwood had done so long ago. This was the third time that he'd been given a new lease on life, so to speak.

Third time lucky, right? he thought to himself, wishing that it didn't hurt to smile. And this time around, he'd been given not only a chance to turn his life around, but a whole new life. It was a chance that he intended to make the most of.

Opening his eyes, he met the Doctor's intent gaze, realizing with a sense of relief that his lover didn't look angry. He knew that the Doctor was upset at him being hurt, but he'd only been trying to protect the man he loved. He couldn't be blamed for that.

"That's a great-looking bruise," the Doctor said softly, touching gentle fingertips to the purpling bruise that graced Owen's cheek and spread around his eye. "You're not going to want anyone to see that until it heals a bit. We should probably keep to ourselves for a while."

"I've got a good idea of just what we can do while we're keeping my bruises out of sight," Owen told him, a smile starting to spread across his face in spite of the discomfort it caused. "And it would be good for us. We'd still get some exercise."

He wanted to laugh as first a blush and then a smile crossed the Doctor's handsome features. "I don't think I could disagree with that," the Time Lord said, his tone soft and husky. "In fact, I think it's a rather good idea. We could use the .... errr, rest."

Standing up, Owen slid an arm around the Doctor's waist, pulling the slender man close against him. He might be bruised and a little battered, but that wasn't going to stop him from enjoying some time with the Doctor. Starting right now.

Owen winced again and held a hand to his cheek, though the pain didn't seem quite so acute now. If taking a punch and sporting a bruise meant that he and the Doctor could spend more time in bed, he thought with an inward smirk, then the bruise was well worth it.

***