Title: Weapons of Love
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Tenth Doctor/Owen Harper
Fandom: Doctor Who/Torchwood
Rating: PG-13
Table: 50ficlets
Prompt: 30, Weapon
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.

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He wasn't used to using weapons. They were foreign to him -- at least, weapons that could maim or kill. He hated guns, and he wasn't too fond of other kinds of weapons, either. Weapons were for cowards, or so he'd always thought.

Besides, with his superior intelligence, weapons gave him an unfair advantage, the Doctor thought with a sigh. He'd always felt that, and he wasn't going to change his mind now.

But this battle that he was fighting had nothing to do with actual physical combat. He wasn't trying to protect the universe, or even a single world. He wasn't trying to save a planet, or a race of people, or an idea that he thought should be able to grow.

He was only trying to protect his hearts.

The problem with the situation was that he didn't quite know how. Oh, he knew that the easiest way to protect himself would be to run away, to pull back and not let the object of his affection know how he felt. That was the sure-fire way to keep himself safe.

He'd had enough of that. He'd spent so much of his life playing it safe, being afraid to open himself up to anyone, to let them see what was in his hearts. It was time to stop running away when his hearts were involved.

That hadn't happened much in the past, mainly because he hadn't let it. But this time .... this was so different. This was something that could last, he was sure of it.

Well, it could last -- at least he hoped so -- if he had the couarge to actually let Owen know how he felt. If he could break through the walls of reserve that he always kept pulled tightly around himself and tell Owen that he wanted them to be together.

Of course, there was always the chance that Owen would reject him, back away from him, say that he didn't want to become involved with an alien. But the Doctor didn't think that would happen, for several reasons that he kept turning over and over in his mind.

Owen hadn't backed away from him yet. He'd dropped hints, subtle hints that he was sure the other man had picked up on. But that doubt was still in the back of his mind that maybe Owen hadn't understood what he'd meant.

That was ridiculous, he chided himself. Owen wasn't a child; he was an experienced man who knew more about flirting than anyone -- oh, all right, except for Jack.

He'd told himself over and over again that all was fair in love and war -- and though this obviously wasn't anything approaching a war, he certainly had every right to use whatever weapons of seduction he might be able to bring to bear on the situation.

The Doctor smiled wryly at the thought; what weapons of love did he have to draw Owen to his side? Nothing that he thought would attract the other man, unless he was interested in traveling through time and space and seeing different worlds.

And if he didn't want that .... then he would be defeated in his desires. He wasn't going to beg, and he wasn't going to try to push Owen for something he didn't want to give. It might even be that he was incapable of giving his heart to anyone.

He knew about Owen's past; the fianceé who had died, and the other woman, the cold, calculating bitch who had abandoned him. He certainly wouldn't blame Owen if he didn't want to give his heart. He knew only too well how badly abandonment could hurt.

But Owen had to know that he was someone who wouldn't walk out. There had to be a way to get that across to him, both in words and in actions.

This was a battle that he was sure he could win; he just had to convince Owen of the sincerity of his feelings. And he had to find the courage to hold his hearts out to the other man, to give Owen a chance to take those hearts into his keeping.

He wasn't just asking the other man to be his companion; he wanted so much more than that. There had been an attraction from the first time they'd met, a spark that had flared between them, and he was sure that Owen had felt it as much as he had.

Owen knew what he wanted; he also had no doubt of that. And he was almost positive that the other man wanted it just as much as he did. There had been no denying the sexual tension between them; it was only a matter of time before they gave in to it.

And when they did, he wanted them to be on the Tardis, away from anyone who could look on and judge them for what they felt, or tell them that it would never work.

Maybe it wouldn't work. Maybe he was taking a terrible chance to take on another human as a companion -- and as a lover. But it was a chance that he was willing to take. He had to take that chance; he couldn't spend the rest of his life with regrets if he didn't.

The Doctor took a deep breath, straightening his shoulders and heading towards the door of his ship with a purposeful stride. He was going to talk to Owen; it was now or never. And he was going to bring out all the weapons of love that he had and hope that they would work in his favor.

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