Title: Invincible
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Tenth Doctor/Spencer Reid
Fandom: Doctor Who/Criminal Minds
Rating: PG-13
Table: 4 10_hurt_comfort
Prompt: 3, Sick
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 Spencer Reid, unfortunately. Please do not sue.

***

The Doctor sat up in bed, reaching for a tissue from the box on the bedside table. He barely had time to bring it to his face before he sneezed, once, twice, then a third time. He shook his head, a frown settling between his brows as he tossed the tissue into the wastebasket.

Within seconds, he was reaching for another tissue; this time, he only sneezed twice, but with more force than the first three. He frowned again, giving in to the childish urge to hurl the tissue across the room. It didn't get far; he watched as it floated slowly to the floor by the bed.

He hated being sick. He hated being confined to bed, even if he knew that rest was the best thing for him at the moment. If he wanted to get over this little bug, he needed to keep himself calm and stay out of trouble as much as possible.

Not that he ever went looking for trouble, the Doctor reflected as he lay back against the pillows. It just always seemed to come looking for him. Well, this time trouble had found him again -- in the form of the common cold, which he was just as susceptible to as humans were.

Fortunately, Spencer didn't seem to be coming down with a cold. The Doctor had worried that it would spread to his young lover, and at first, he'd told Spencer to stay away from him -- though he'd quickly found out that was a bad idea.

Spencer had pouted at first, then shaken his head firmly and told the Doctor in no uncertain terms that indeed he was not going to sleep in a separate bedroom, or stay away from the Time Lord just because he was sick. And he'd refused to listen to the Doctor's protests.

The Doctor looked towards the door as he heard Spencer's soft tread in the hallway. His boyfriend had been in the kitchen, apparently making something that he said would take the stuffiness away from the Time Lord's sinuses; the Doctor hoped that he was right about that.

He gave Spencer a wan smile as the young man walked through the door, carrying a tea tray. "Ah, I should have known you were making tea," the Time Lord murmured, moving over on the bed so Spencer could sit down beside him. "It cures all ills, you know."

"Does it?" Spencer sat the tray on the small beside table, picking up the teapot and one of the mugs and proceeding to fill it. "I don't know about that. I just happen to know that chamomile tea has always helped my sinuses when I have a head cold."

"You're forgetting that I'm not human," the Doctor reminded him, taking the mug as Spencer handed it to him and sipping cautiously at the hot tea. "What would you do if my body reacted differently than yours does? My system is different, even if we look the same."

Spencer shook his head, smiling and pouring his own mug of tea. "You're not that different. From what you've told me, and the books I've read in the Tardis' library, you've got a lot of the same organs. Just in different places. And admittedly, some that I've never heard of."

"You know that you're always welcome to .... errr .... explore my body to look for anything you're not sure about," the Doctor joked, stretching his lean body out under the covers. "Though that doesn't include cutting me open to look inside."

"I'd never do that," Spencer told him, his voice soft. "I'm happy with feasting my eyes on the outside and just knowing what the inside is like from books." He took another sip of his tea, looking down at the Doctor with a slight smile curving his lips.

"What are you smiling about?" the Time Lord asked, wondering why Spencer had such an expression of satisfaction on his face. Surely his young lover couldn't be glad that he was feeling ill. No, that wasn't it. Spencer had been worried when he'd caught this cold.

"Just the fact that of all the diseases that you'd think could be spread around the galaxy -- and maybe other planets might have found cures for -- the common cold is something that any species seems to be able to catch," Spencer said with a soft laugh. "It's invincible."

The Doctor nodded, his lower lip jutting out in a mock pout. "You're right about that," he muttered as he reached for another tissue. This time, he only sneezed once, but he knew that there was another one coming. "Spencer, you shouldn't be around me when I'm sick."

"Why? Because I might catch a cold?" Spencer shrugged, shaking his head. "Doctor, I've had dozens of colds in my lifetime -- and I'll probably have dozens more. Besides, even if I'm not immune to catching a cold, I'm probably more used to them than you are."

"I don't know about that," the Doctor told him, a reluctant smile coming to his lips. "I'm over 900 years old, Spencer. I've had a lot of colds in my lifetime -- though admittedly, diseases aren't something that attack a Time Lord often, unless they're induced."

Spencer looked as though he'd like to discuss that, but instead he simply nodded with a smile. "I know you've experienced a lot more than I have -- but let's just say that I know a lot about the common cold," he murmured. "And if I catch a cold, we'll deal with it as best we can."

"If we both have colds and feel under the weather, that isn't going to do either of us any good," the Time Lord pointed out with what he thought was perfect good sense. "I don't want you to be under the weather as well."

"Don't worry about it," Spencer told him firmly, tucking in the covers around the Doctor. "Like I said, if I get sick, we'll figure out a way to cope with it. And if I do, hopefully by that time you'll feel better. I've gone to work at the BAU with colds before. It's not that big a deal for me."

The Doctor opened his mouth to protest, then closed it again. Whatever he said, it would only seem as though he was worrying too much -- and maybe Spencer was right. If his lover caught his cold, they would simply have to deal with it.

Spencer leaned forward, brushing his lips against the Doctor's. When he pulled back slightly, he was smiling, shaking his head again. "If I catch your cold, then I do. I'm not going to worry about it to the point where I don't feel like I can kiss the man I love."

The Doctor couldn't help but return the smile; maybe Spencer was right, after all. He couldn't lie here and worry about his lover getting sick; if he did, then it would be unfortunate, but they would get through it, just like they made it through everything else in their lives.

"Finish your tea," Spencer told him, a mock-scolding note in his voice. "You said it cures all ills, right? So if that's true, maybe it'll help you get past this cold quicker than you would without it. That's why I made it, anyway."

The Doctor raised the mug to his lips obediently, taking another few sips of tea -- and then set it back on the table quickly as he felt another round of sneezing coming on. This time, he didn't have to reach for a tissue; Spencer was there to give him a handful of them.

"I think you might need to be warmer," Spencer told him, kicking off his shoes and pulling back the covers. "So I'll just spend some time in bed with you to take care of that." He slipped both arms around the Doctor's slim waist, pulling the Time Lord down beside him.

The Doctor closed his eyes, snuggling into the warmth of Spencer's embrace. If this was what his lover intended to do any time he wasn't feeling well, then maybe being sick wasn't such a bad thing after all. It was actually turning out to be quite pleasant, at least in his point of view.

***