Title: Anything Can Happen
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: gen
Fandom: Doctor Who
Rating: PG
Table: 100moods
Prompt: 6, Apathetic
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my own imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the Tenth Doctor. Please do not sue.

***

The Doctor looked around him at the control room of the Tardis, scowling as he did so. Everything was .... just the same as it always was. Nothing different. Nothing that changed. Nothing that was even slightly interesting.

He was almost surprised at himself for feeling like this. He was .... he searched for a word, not wanting to use the obvious one that came into his mind.

Finally, he shrugged, resigning himself to using a word that he'd often told his companions shouldn't be in use. He hated the word, but this was one time when it definitely applied to him.

Bored. He was bored.

How many times had he told someone that boredom wasn't a state that anyone should ever be in when there was so much to do and see in the world? Hundreds, possibly thousands. But now he was discovering what it was like to be bored -- and he didn't like it. Not one bit.

Why was he bored? he asked himself, his scowl intensifying. He could go to any place he wanted, any time period that he chose. Any place in the galaxy that he might be interested in seeing. The possibilities, for him, were limitless.

And yet .... he didn't feel like doing any of that. Actually, he didn't know what he wanted to do. For once, he was at a loss, not wanting to move in any direction.

This definitely wasn't a state of affairs that he should allow to go on for long, he told himself, sighing and leaning back in his chair to gaze up at the ceiling. For one thing, it would make him a terrible hypocrite, as many times as he'd told others that boredom simply shouldn't exist.

He hated feeling like this, so unable to pick himself up and make himself do anything. It didn't happen to him often, but when it did, it was as though he couldn't make himself move, that he was being smothered by ennui.

Why was this happening now? He gritted his teeth and almost stamped a foot on the floor, in a childish display of temper.

If he was honest with himself, he knew why. This was happening because he had no one with him, no one to talk with, no one to take to new and different and exciting places. No one to share his life with. No one to ....

The Doctor sighed, running a hand through his hair before he could finish the thought. He didn't want to think that way. There would be another companion. Of course there would be. He could always find someone who'd want adventure, excitement.

But the words forced their way through to the forefront of his mind, no matter how he tried to push them back. .... No one to care.

That had ended with Jack, the kind of companionship he craved, he told himself sternly. Any person he chose to be his companion from now on would be someone like Donna, someone he would look at as a friend and nothing else. Nothing more than that.

No lovers. No one he could build dreams around. No one who he could fool himself would stay with him forever.

No one he could make himself believe would love him, selflessly and completely.

That was over. He didn't want to recreate it. He couldn't, not really. What he'd had with Jack was something that had never happened before, and would never happen again. It was an interlude in his long life that he didn't want to bring back.

It had hurt him far too much when it had ended so abruptly, with Jack walking away from him. He wasn't going to put himself through that kind of pain again.

But this apathy had to end. He couldn't keep sitting around the Tardis, doing nothing but feeling sorry for himself. Wishing didn't make things happen, as he'd so often told people. It took action to make wishes come true.

He heaved another sigh as he slowly removed his feet from the console, putting them down to the floor and trying to decide what to do. He definitely couldn't sit here all day.

Reluctantly, he got to his feet, looking towards the door of the Tardis. For a few moments, he was unsure as to what he should do.

Should he decide on a time and place to go to and set the coordinates? Or should he open the doors of his ship and take a stroll outside, have a look around, just to see what was going on in the world around him?

There might be a possibility of finding a companion out there. It was possible that there could be someone sitting on a park bench who he'd start a conversation with and find that they seemed to be the perfect person to spend some time with.

Or .... he could always take a walk near the Hub, where Jack would be. The thought made his hearts bump a little in his chest, his breath hitching in his throat.

No. That wouldn't be a good idea. He should avoid the Hub altogether, even though he was in Cardiff. Avoid Jack. If the immortal wanted to see him, he'd send a message via the psychic paper. He'd find a way to get in touch if the Doctor was needed. He always did.

And if he didn't? Then things would continue on in the way they were now. Which might not be so bad, if he could shake the gloom that threatened to swallow him whole.

The Doctor frowned, looking between the door of the ship and the console. Which would be the better choice? Stay here and let himself sink deeper into his gloomy thoughts, or go out there and perhaps find what he was looking for?

With a shrug, the Doctor shoved his hands into his pockets and headed for the door of the Tardis. What could it hurt to go out for a stroll around Cardiff? He hadn't been out and about the city in a while. It might raise his spirits to have a look around.

And if he just happened to run into Jack while he was there, well ..... There would be nothing to keep him from talking to an old friend, right?

He smiled, his steps quickening as he hurried towards the door and pulled it open. Bright sunlight greeted him, shining down onto his face as he stepped out of the blue box and closed the door behind him. He could almost feel the apathy falling away from him.

It was a beautiful day. A splendid day, in fact. A day where anything could happen.

As he'd told so many people before -- the possibilities were endless. And he intended to make the most of every one of them.

***